Skip to main content

Full text of "The Granite monthly : a magazine of literature, history and state progress"

See other formats


£Yf  -•-"->  ''toricau 

SENEr-  ■    COLLECTION 


M 


ALLEN  COUNTY  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 


3  1833  01742  4794 


GENEALOGY 
974.2 
G7659 
1918 


s 


HE 


GRANITE   MONTHLY 


A  New  Hampshire  Magazine 


DEVOTED  TO 


History,  Biography,  Literature 
and  State  Progress 


VOLUME  L 


NEW  SERIES.  VOLUME  XIII 


$l> 


S-  /* 


CONCORD,  N.  H. 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  GRANITE  MONTHLY  COMPANY 
1918  I 


I 


The  Granite  Monthly 


CONTENTS,  JANUARY-DECEMBER,  1918 

Old  Series,  Volume  L 
New  Series,  Volume  XIII 

Page 

Address  of  Rev.  Raymond  H.  Huse,  Nov.  11,  1918 223 

Album  Quilt,  The,  by  Eva  Beede  Odell 187 

An  Interesting  Occasion •. 77 

Anniversary  Address,  Acworth,  by  John  Graham  Brooks 179 

Battle  of  Chelsea  Creek,  The,  by  Fred  W.  Lamb 120 

Beginnings  of  New  England,  The,  by  Erastus  P.  Jewell 47 

Bridge  of  Fire,  The,  by  J.  K.  Ingraham 230 

Burgum,  Emma  Gannell  Rumford,  by  J.  Elizabeth  Hoyt-Stevens 122 

Dipper  in  the  Sky,  The,  by  Charles  Nevers  Holmes 59 

Dow,  Moses,  Citizen  of  Haverhill,  by  Frances  Parkinson  Keyes 141 

Drew,  Hon.  Irving  W 127 

Editor  and  Publisher's  Notes 64,  128,  192,  240 

From  the  Summit  of  Loon  Mountain,  by  Norman  C.  Tice 237 

Grand  Old  Red  Hill,  by  Mary  Blake  Benson 183 

History  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Concord,  N.  H.,  by  Frank  J.  Pillsbury 207 

John  Mason's  Three  Great  Houses,  by  J.  M.  Moses 116 

Last  Notch,  The,  by  Anabel  C.  Andrews 61 

Man  of  the  Hour,  A 3 

Martin,  Hon.  Nathaniel  E : 131 

Merrimack,  The:  Sources,  Navigation  and  Related  Matters,  by  Howard  F.  Hill 17 

New  Hampshire's  Contribution  to  Naval  Warfare,  by  John  Henry  Bartlett. 13 

New  Hampshire  Pioneers  of  Religious  Liberty,  No.  1,  Elder  Benjamin  Randall,  by  Rev. 

Roland  D.  Sawyer 169 

New  Hampshire  Preparing  for  War,  by  Prof.  Richard  W.  Husband *  102 

N.  H.  Pioneers  of  Religious  Liberty — Rev.  Elias  Smith,  by  Rev.  Roland  D.  Sawyer. .  227 

Old  Home  Sunday  Address,  Concord,  by  Rev.  William  Porter  Niles 145 

One  Hundredth  Anniversary  of  the  First  Congregational  Sunday  School,  Concord,  by 

John  C.  Thorne 165 

Parkinson,  Frances,  by  Frances  Parkinson  Keyes 5 

Passing  of  the  Old  Red  Schoolhouse,  The,  by  Francis  A.  Corey Ill 

Peterborough's  New  Town  Hall 11 

Portsmouth,  Old  and  New,  by  Fernando  Wood  Hartford 27 

Public  Career  of  Rolland  H.  Spaulding,  The,  by  An  Occasional  Contributor 67 

Sanborn,  Hon.  Walter.  H 202 

Scotch  Presbyterian,  The,  in  the  American  Revolution,  by  Jonathan  Smith 37 

Sunapee's  Anniversary,  by  Albert  D.  Felch 173 

William  Plumer  Fowler,  by  Frances  M.  Abbott 189 

William  Tarleton,  by  Frances  Parkinson  Keyes 195 

Wilmot  Camp-Meeting — Historical  Sketch,  by  Ernest  Vinton  Brown 153 

New  Hampshire  Necrology .63,  126,  190 

Annis,  Daniel  G. .  .  . 127 

Ayling,  Gen.  Augustus  D \ . .  126 

Bingham,  Prof.  George  W \ 63 

Bostwick,  Mrs.  Mary  A •  127 

Brackett,  Hon.  John  Q.  A 126 

Brooks,  Nathaniel  G.,  M.D 128 

Burbank,  Hon.  Charles  E ,  63 

Carter,  Col.  Solon  A , 63 

Chase,  Hon.  William  M Y. . .  fi.Q r^.QC*. Q •  •  68 

Cheney,  Dr.  Jonathan  M ... . .  .*r!^. .  .^ 128 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/granitemonthlymav50conc 


iv  Contents 

New  Hampshire  Necrology — Continued. 

Child,  Dr.  William 128 

Clark,  Hon.  A.  Chester 239 

Crawford,  Col.  John  G ,  . .  126 

Cumrnings,  Edward  J '. 239 

Elliott,  William  H ! 239 

Emery,  Woodward 191 

Gallinger,  Hon.  Jacob  H. 190 

Harris,  William  S. 64 

Hoitt,  Col.  Thomas  L .................... 64 

Jones,  Hon.  Edwin  F 239 

Leonard,  Rev.  Charles  H.,  D.D , 192 

Maynard,  Frank  P. . . 240 

Sanborn,  Daniel  W 63 

Sturtevant,  Dr.  Charles  B 126 

Sullivan,  Roger  G , 191 

Varney,  Albert  H.,  M.D 7 64 

Watson,  Irving  Allison,  M.D ............... 127 

Whitcher,  Hon.  William  F ,...,..'.'.... "? , 127 

Wright,  Prof.  Henry  P 128 

POETRY 

A  Cycle,  by  Lawrence  C.  Wroodman .  . ! 205 

April,  by  Bela  Chapin . -  35 

At  the  Symphony,  by  Milo  E.  Benedict 45 

Bell  of  Ghent,  The,  by  L.  Adelaide  Sherman ...-,..,.... 238 

Christmas  Day,  by  Fred  Myron  Colby 225 

Creation  of  Habit,  by  Georgie  Rogers  Warren 25 

Eventide,  by  M.  E.  Nella 119 

Flag  We  Love,  The,  by  Stewart  Everett  Rowe 9 

Fleur-de-lis,  The,  by  Ernest  Vinton  Brown 162 

Freedom's  Pleading,  by  Martha  C.  Baker . 163 

God  of  America,  by  Hester  M.  Kimball . 26 

Harp,  The,  Translated  from  the  Spanish,  by  Lawrence  C.  Woodman 115 

Her  Boy,  by  E.  R.  Sheldrick , : 4 

In  July,  by  Fred  Myron  Colby 138 

In  the  Old  Home  Once  Again,  by  E.  M.  Patten 200 

Made  Poetry,  by  Hattie  Duncan  Towle 124 

Not  Cross  Nurse,  The,  by  Edward  H.  Richards 185 

Not  What  She  Ordered,  by  Myron  Ray  Clark .  . *. 226 

Old,  Old  Home,  The,  by  Charles  Nevers  Holmes . , *. 135 

Our  Childhood's  Christmas  Tree,  by  Charles  Nevers  Holmes 229 

Quern  Deus  Vult  Perdere,  Prins  Dementat,  by  E.  M.  Patten 178 

Spirit  of  the  Old  Home  in  War  Time,  by  Rev.  Raymond  H.  Huse 150 

Sword  of  Jesus,  The,  by  H.  H.  M 36 

Success,  by  Fred  Myron  Colby . 60 

Summer,  by  M.  E.  Nella .- 151 

Thought,  by  Horace  G.  Leslie,  M.D 234 

Tiltonia,  by  A.  W.  Anderson 170 

To  a  Wild  Bee,  by  Rev.  Sidney  T.  Cooke = ,  •  H4 

To  "The  Haverhill,"  by  Frances  Parkinson  Keyes - .  -  186 

Twilight,  by  Florence  T.  Blaisdell 124 

Uncle  Sam's  Bride,  by  Charles  Poole  Cleaves 221 

Victors-,  by  Martha  S.  Baker 101 

Voice  from  the  Past,  A,  by  Sarah  Fuller  Bickford  Hafey 62 

Voices  from  an  Old  Abandoned  House,  by  Martha  S.  Baker 139 

World  War,  The,  by  Georgie  Rogers  Warren 151 


' 


.     m  n  >shir 


r 


■       '.'...     j   ,  :....•,...        g  .....      ;:  1  HUE     -w 


!    ■  i  '    Proatls      : 


;;       i"   -  .  .  •'  -'.■■  ■■       '•■•     ^''  -"-'■'■ ;    ■■   ;'    '      •" 

By  Howard  . 

.   ■    tted.  "    .. 

I      The  Seotdfe-'Prab^etfaii- ii*.  tlia  .&&ericnair  Beroliitton  ^.V.r. 
By  J  .    t  !     .  ',  . 

...  .     .  I      »  >  -  r 

|t  " -.'By Erasmus  P."Je-"€r,,    T;Ju3tra:,cd.  -■■■.'.'■  iV\--  '.'.-•■•■  -v.:r?-,  -  « 

]J  "        ">.    '•.•■-■  ■  '-'  .    ■■"■''■'       '.    ■'     ■-.■''■■.'""'■•■-■■      -■■';-: 

,:;■...."_■...■■..".■.  ■  ,  ,       ",'-",      .        *   '     *■ 

I  '■"  Editor  -and '  PabUsher't  Hates         .        .     "" .- 


■.     KltKBtrated. 
.  '  ■  'lW.  HaxapsMre's  geatrfbwtiozi  to  Ismi  Warfare  '  >'    .  y-^>-  .■;.-  v  '■  ^.rll  ".  If    . 

:  -  -  - 


•    not  paid 


■       v-  "jnthly- 'Company. ■ 

•  '       ;-  .-*■/-••-■  ■-•••"•■  '■■  ■■■■  --.: -/■:.'. ":-^--v- 

..  F,   Editor  and      ■=.  ;,-ger. 


fc*,  — *■    l^.fciiiA^-.-^-ui 


COL.   JOHN   H.   BARTLETT 


The    Granite    Monthly 


Vol.  L,  Nos.  1-3 


JANUARY-MARCH,  191 S 


New  Series,  Vol.  XIII,  Xos.  1-3 


A  MAN  OF  THE  HOUR 


Elsewhere  in  this  issue  of  the 
Granite  Monthly,  appears  a  timely 
article  upon  "New  Hampshire's  Con- 
tribution to  Naval  Warfare/'  from 
the  pen  of  Col.  John  H.  Bartlett  of 
Portsmouth — timely  because  of  the 
fact  that  shipbuilding,  is  one  of  the 
great  industries  upon  which  the  Na- 
tion must  depend,  not  only  for  suc- 
cess in  the  great  war  in  which  it  is 
engaged  with  the  liberty-loving  na- 
tions of  Europe  for  the  suppression  of 
German  Caesarism,  but  for  its  pros- 
perity and  progress  in  the  days  after 
the  war  when  its  commercial  interests 
will  be  of  predominating  importance. 

It  is  but  fair  to  say  that  the 
Granite  Monthly  is  glad  indeed  to 
be  able  to  present  an  article  upon  this 
subject,  at  this  time,  from  the  pen  of 
one  who  holds  so  prominent  a  posi- 
tion in  the  public  eye  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, as  does  Colonel  Bartlett. 
Many  men  of  "the  State  have  given 
much  time  and  effort  to  the  work  of 
arousing  the  patriotic  spirit  of  its 
people,  and  inspiring  a  thorough  real- 
ization of  the  great  crisis  in  the  world's 
history-  now  facing  our  own  and  all 
other  civilized  peoples.  Governor 
Keyes  has  done  his  full  duty  in  this 
regard,  and  the  active  members  of  the 
Public  Safety  and  National  Defense 
organizations,  the  Food  and  Fuel 
Administrations,  and  other  organized 
agencies,  have  been  actively  and  ef- 
fectively at  work  in  their  different 
spheres  to  bring  New  Hampshire  into 
the  front  line  among  the  States  of  the 
Union  in  the  proper  preparation  for, 


and  the  efficient  conduct  of,  the  great 
war,  so  far  as  American  participation 
therein  is  concerned;  and  it  is  safe  to 
say,  in  view  of  what  the  State  has  al- 
ready accomplished,  the  spirit  of 
service  and  sacrifice  which  its  people 
generally  have  exhibited,  and  the 
splendid  record  which  the  gallant- 
young  soldiers  of  the  Granite  State 
are  already  making  on  the  battle-front 
in  Europe,  that  their  efforts  have  not 
been  in  vain. 

We  believe  it  is  not  over-stating  the 
case,  however,  when  we  say  that  no 
man  in  New  Hampshire  has  been 
heard  so  generally,  and  none  to  better 
effect,  in  public  addresses  throughout 
the  State  for  the  past  year,  along- 
patriotic  lines,  arousing  the  people  to 
the  exigencies  of  the  situation  they  are 
facing,  as  has  Col.  John  H.  Bartlett  of 
Portsmouth. 

Colonel  Bartlett  has  devoted  his 
time  and  abilities  unsparingly  for 
many  months  to  public  speaking  along 
this  line.  He  has  been  heard  on  anni- 
versary occasions,  before  woman's 
clubs,  Grange  meetings,  board  of  trade 
gatherings  and  church  organizations, 
day  and  night,  in  all  sections  of  the 
State;  he  has  been  speaking  to  the 
people — men  and  women,  old  and 
young — impressing  upon  all  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  great  work  to  be  done  to 
suppress  the  monster  of  "Kalserism" 
and  make  the  world  safe  for  liberty, 
democracy  and  humanity,  and  inspir- 
ing all  to  do  their  full  share  of  that- 
work,  for  all  of  which  he  is  entitled 
to  the  grateful  thanks  of  the  people. 


1  The  Granite  Monthly 

HER  BOY 

By  E.  R.  Sheldnck 

A  warm  soft  roll  of  sweetness, 
A  rosy,  dimpled  face, 

A  thing  to  love  and  cuddle, 
A  baby's  dainty  grace — 

A  naughty,  meddling  darling, 
In  mischief  all  day  long, 

Two  sleepy  ears  that  listen 
To  Mother's  "bye  low''  song 


t> 


Wilton,  N.  H. 


A  heap  of  toys  on  the  door-step, 
Cut  fingers  and  bumped  head, 

A  good-night  kiss  for  Mother, 
Two  prayers  beside  the  bed — 

A  thousand  vague  ambitions, 

A  wond'rous  appetite; 
Rents  and  holes  by  dozens 

For  Mother  to  mend  at  night — 

A  pile  of  books  on  the  table, 

A  shrilly  whistled  call, 
Lessons  and  chores  forgotten, 

A  noisy  game  of  ball. 

A  manly  arm  to  lean  on, 

A  heart  by  strength  made  kind, 
And  eyes  where  honor  glistens, 

A  firm  courageous  mind — 

The  voice  of  a  stricken  country, 

A  nation's  cry  of  need; 
A  prompt  and  willing  offer 

That  urgent  call  to  heed. 

A  strong  handclasp  at  parting, 
A  kiss  and  fond  good-bye, 

Great  gray  ships  weigh  anchor, 
And  fade  'twixt  sea  and  sky — 

At  last  a  fatal  letter, 

A  proud  but  broken  heart, 

The  mother's  compensation — 
Her  boy  has  done  his  part ! 


FRANCES    PARKINSON 


Ail  Appreciation  of  a  New  Hampshire  Girl  by  her 
Grand-Daughter 

Frances  Parkinson  Keyes 


"William  Parkinson,  and  his  young 
wife,  Esther  Woods,  emigrated  from 
Scotland,  and  settled  in  Londonderry, 
Ireland,  about  1739.  In  that  city 
their  eldest  son,  Henry,  was  born  in 
1741.  In  1744  they  came  to  this 
country,  and  settled  with  their  Scotch 
kindred  in  Londonderry,  Xew  Hamp- 
shire, where  five  daughters  and  five 
more  sons  were  added  to  them. " 

This  information,  gathered  from 
Cochran's  History  of  Francestown,  is 
the  first  we  have  of  the  Parkinson 
family  in  America.  William  and 
Esther  were  not  among  the  famous 
''original  settlers"  of  Londonderry, 
and  we  have  no  ground  for  belief  that 
they  distinguished  themselves  in  any 
way  after  they  arrived.  But  the 
succeeding  generations  showed  such 
remarkable  qualities — such  persist- 
ence and  courage,  such  a  thirst  for 
knowledge,  and  such  high  and  un- 
shaken ideals,  that  we  cannot  help 
believing  that  the  humble  founders 
of  the  family  must  in  some  way  have 
inspired  and  encouraged  these  prin- 
ciples. Two  of  the  six  sons  mentioned 
went  to  college;  five  of  them  were 
soldiers  in  the  Revolution;  and  the 
eldest,  Henry,  had  quite  a  remarkable 
career.  In  1764  he  graduated  from 
Nassau  Hall  (now  Princeton  Uni- 
versity) and  remained  there  as  a 
teacher  for  some  years  afterwards. 
His  parents  had  destined  him  for  the 
Presbyterian  ministry,  but  he  was  not 
able  to  accept  the  doctrine  of  "elec- 
tion." He  must,  indeed,  have  had 
ample  opportunity  for  religious  dis- 
cussion, for  Theodore  Romeyn,  the 
founder  of  Union  College,  and 
Jonathan  Edwards  were  among  his 
classmates  and  intimate  friends. 
Before  the  Revolution  broke  out  he 


had  returned  to  Londonderry,  and  at 
the  time  of  the  Lexington  Alarm  he 
promptly  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the 
First  Xew  Hampshire  Regiment,  com- 
manded by  John  Stark.  His  promo- 
tion was  equally  prompt  for  on  July 
4,  1775,  he  became  quartermaster  of 
the  regiment,  and  on  January  1,  1776, 
lieutenant  and  quartermaster  of  the 
Fifth  Continental  Line.  He  served 
at  Bunker  Hill,  Ticonderoga,  Crown 
Point,  and  Trenton,  resigning  his' 
commission  in  1777  on  account  of  ill- 
health.  In  177S  he  married  Janet 
McCurdy  of  Londonderry,  purchased 
land  in  Francestown,  and  "took  her 
home  to  dwell."  In  Francestown  he 
served  as  town  clerk,  as  justice  of 
peace,  and  as  chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Public  Safety;  and  moving, 
later  on,  first  to  Concord  and  then  to 
Canterbury,  he  established  a  famous 
boys'  school,  and  taught  until  the 
time  of  his  death  in  1820,  preparing 
many  young  men,  among  them, 
Daniel  Webster,  for  college. 

"Ireland  gave  me  birth;  America- 
nourished  me;  Nassau  Hall  educated 
me;  I  have  fought,  I  have  taught, 
with  my  hands  I  have  labored.7'  So 
reads  (in  Latin)  the  quaint  inscription 
on  Henry  Parkinson's  tombstone  in 
the  quiet  cemetery  at  Canterbury 
Center;  and  it  is  because  his  capacity 
for  doing  well  all  these  things  seems 
to  have  been  passed  down  to  his 
descendants,  that  I  have  felt  it  permis- 
sible to  sketch  his  life  so  fully  before 
attempting  to  describe  that  of  his 
granddaughter,  Frances. 

Robert,  the  eldest  son  of  Henry  and 
Janet  Parkinson,  was  educated  by 
his  father,  and  we  read  that  he  was 
a  ''great  reader,  a  teacher  in  early 
life,  a  scholarly  and  capable  man"; 


The  Granite  Monthly 


but  it  is  his  skill  and  courage  in 
" laboring  with  his  hands"  that,  most 
commends  him  to  us.  Employed  by 
Colonel  Timothy  Dix  to  build  a  road 
through  Dixville  Notch,  then  an 
unbroken  wilderness,  Robert  bought 
a  tract  of  land  in  East  Columbia, 
hewed  logs  for  a  cabin,  cleared  the 
ground  for  grain,  and,  after  living 
there  nearly  a  year  alone,  married 
Elizabeth  Kelso  of  New  Boston,  and 
brought  her  there  to  live.     In  her  he 


It  was,  then,  in  this  little  log  cabin 
in  Columbia  that  my  grandmother 
was  born,  on  March  9,  1819,  and 
named  Frances  for  an  ancestress  for 
whom  the  village  of  Francestown  had 
long  before  been  christened.  Coming 
halfway  down  the  line  of  eight  chil- 
dren, and  into  a  family  where  the 
father  and  mother  were  trying  to 
minister  to  the  needs,  not  onh'  of  their 
owm  brood,  but  to  those  of  half  the 
countrv-side  as  well,  it  would  seem  as 


V4T 


s 

-  ...  ~"° 


Frances  Parkinson 


found  the  true  mate  for  his  intrepid 
nature,  and  their  rude  farm  buildings 
became  the  shelter,  the  school,  and 
the  sanctuary  of  all  the  pioneers  who 
followed  in  their  wake.  Here  the  first 
school  sessions  and  church  services  were 
held,  and  here  the  cold,  the  friendless, 
and  the  poor  found  a  welcome  at  all 
times.  Here,  too,  their  eight  children 
vvTere  born,  with  a  heritage  and  example 
of  learning  and  courage  and  practical 
ability  that  few  have  been  fortunate 
enough  to  possess. 


if  there  must,  of  necessity,  have  been 
little  time  to  devote  exclusively  to  her. 
But  it  has  been  proved  again  and 
again  that  it  is  as  impossible  to  keep 
back  a  child  who  is  determined  to 
forge  ahead  as  it  is  difficult  to  shove 
one  on  who  does  not  care  to  learn. 
She  went  to  the  public  schools  in 
Columbia  and  New  Boston,  and 
wrung  from  them  all  they  could 
possibly  teach  her;  and  when  she  was 
fourteen  years  old  she  was  already 
teaching  herself,  to  earn  the  money  to 


Frances  Parkinson 


go  away  and  study  more.  For  several 
years  she  progressed  in  this  way — she 
taught  at  Mont  Vernon,  then  went 
herself  to  the  Nashua  Academy;  she 
taught  at  Milford,  and  went  to  Mt. 
Holyoke,  the  academy  then  recently 
opened  by  that  pioneer  in  women's 
education,  Mary  Lyon,  and  the 
longed-for  goal  of  almost  every  in- 
tellectually ambitious  young  woman 
in  New  England  at  that  time. 
Blessed  with  the  sturdiest  health, 
indifferent  to  privations,  sustained 
not  only  by  her  ambition,  but  by  her 
tremendous  religious  faith  and  inspir- 
ation, she  attained  an  education  which 
few  women  of  her  generation  were  able 
to  boast  of.  After  she  had  begun  to 
teach,  she  walked  fifteen  miles  in  her 
first  vacation,  and  bought  a  copy  of 
Euclid.  The  spirit  which  drove 
Henry  Parkinson  to  make  the  diffi- 
cult journey  from  Londonderry  to 
Nassau  Hall  fifty  years  earlier  must 
have  been  strong  within  her!  Slowly 
and  painfully  she  collected  a  library 
of  Latin,  French,  and  English  books, 
finding  means  to  buy  whatever  she 
could  lay  her  hands  on;  and  having 
finally  secured  an  excellent  position 
as  teacher  in  the  Northampton  High 
School,  she  stayed  there  four  years, 
learning  much  herself,  and  helping 
many  others  to  do  the  same,  when 
her  marriage  put  an  abrupt  end  to 
her  career  as  a  teacher. 

She  was  by  this  time  nearly  twenty- 
nine  years  old,  and  though  she  was 
never  pretty,  she  must  have  been 
extremely  attractive — no  girl  so  earn- 
est, so  healthy,  and  so  animated  could 
fail  to  be  that.  She  loved  people  and 
company  and  the  mere  business  of 
being  alive  was  vitally  interesting  to 
her.  Certainly  more  than  one  man 
had  been  drawn  to  her;  but  up  to 
that  time  she  had  been  too  absorbed 
with  her  efforts  along  mental  and 
spiritual  lines  to  consider  marriage 
seriously.  Even  then  it  hardly 
strikes  one  now  as  a  love-affair  in  the 
generally  accepted  sense  of  the  word, 
for  the  man  she  married,  Melanc- 
thon  Wheeler,  was  a  widower,  much 


older  than  herself,  a  clergyman, 
delicate,  refined,  high-bred  and  poor. 
She  never  addressed  him  except  as 
"Mr.  Wheeler, "  and  seemed  to  be 
drawn  to  him  more  by  a  deep  respect 
for  his  gentleness  and  noble  character, 
and  a  desire  to  help  him  in  his  work, 
than  by  any  other  feeling.  He  was 
at  that  time  doing  clerical  work  for  a 
missionary  society,  but,  later,  began 
to  preach  again,  and,  after  filling 
several  pastorates,  finally  became  the 
minister  of  the  North  Congrega- 
tional Society  in  Woburn,  Massachu- 
setts, and  remained  there  until  his 
death  in  1870.  The  house  given  him 
for  a  parsonage  had  originally  been 
built  for  Count  Rumford;  it  was 
spacious,  beautiful,  and  sadly  out  of 
repair.  The  former  dancing-hall 
became  the  family  living-room:  fires 
were  lighted  under  the  carved  mantel- 
pieces, and  drafts  from  defective 
windows  forgotten;  simple,  homely, 
meals  were  cooked  where  banquets 
had  been  planned;  and  on  a  salary 
which  never  reached  a  thousand  dol- 
lars a  year,  five  children  were  brought 
up.  It  is  impossible  to  estimate 
what  they  must  have  gone  without; 
but  what  they  had  is  certainly  re- 
markable, for,  after  a  childhood  that 
was  helpful  and  healthful  and  happy, 
every  one  of  them  received  a  college 
education!  I  think  part  of  the  secret 
of  it  all  was  my  grandmother's  atti- 
tude towards  what  she  considered 
non-essentials — it  was  not  a  question 
of  being  hard  to  do  without  them; 
she  absolutely  refused  to  recognize 
their  existence!  With  a  certain  goal 
in  view,  there  was  only  one  considera- 
tion— that  goal  must,  by  her  own  ef- 
forts, and  with  God's  help  be  reached! 
That  was  all  there  was  to  it.  Nor 
did  she  waste  either  time  or  strength 
in  pretending  to  herself  or  anyone  else 
to  have  what  she  did  not.  When 
her  husband  died,  leaving  her  almost 
penniless,  she  did  her  own  washing 
and  lived  in  two  rooms,  she  received 
her  visitors  wearing  a  gingham  apron, 
and  wore  the  same  shabby  black  to 
church    for    years    and    years.     My 


The  Granite  Monthly 


earliest  recollection  of  her  is  a  terrible 
scolding  that  I  received  from  her: 
she  was  taking  care  of  my  cousin 
Royal  and  myself,  and  we  were  play- 
ing together  near  her.  I  pretended 
that  I  was  going  to  kiss  him — and  I 
bit  him  instead!  I  never  shall  forget 
the  wrath — and  the  scorn — with 
which  she  descended  upon  me!  It 
might  be  pleasant  to  kiss  a  little  boy; 
it  might  be — perhaps — necessary  to 
bite  him;  that  was  entirely  beyond 
the  point — you  must  not  do  the  one 
if  you  had  led  him  to  expect  the 
other — A^ou  must  be  honest ! 


those  horrible  examples  about  a  rab- 
bit and  a  dog  taking  leaps  of  various 
lengths  (I  have  recently  found  one  of 
my  own  children  in  tears  over  a  de- 
scendant of  that  example!).  I  was 
quite  ready  to  give  up  my  educational 
career  rather  than  pursue  the  course 
of  those  two  miserable,  animals  any 
further;  but  in  a  few  minutes  I  was 
able  to  regard  them  as  amiable  and 
harmless — they  leapt  across  a  sheet 
of  paper  in  my  grandmother's  hand 
with  the  greatest  ease! 

Frances  Parkinson  died  as  she  had 
lived,   with   almost   no  money.     The 


«Mss» 


I::;*-. 


%S&     Iff    i 
v    §  I   i  ■ 


? 


'•    i 


mm 


;£-_  ... 


"i-'-it^x'-''  &s 


i.-~!3!,=v   „.. 


The  Wobum  Parsonage 


This  was  the  first  and  the  most 
important  lesson  which  she  tried  to 
teach  her  children  and  grandchildren; 
but  she  taught  us  many  other  things 
as  well.  She  was  an  old  lady  when  I 
first  knew  her — eighty-five  when  she 
died;  but  to  the  end  her  mental 
brilliance  and  her  spiritual  vision 
remained  unclouded.  *We  learned 
whole  chapters  at  a  time  from  the 
Bible  at  her  side — chapters  winch 
seemed  alive  and  real  as  she  taught 
them  to  us;  she  taught  us  Latin  and 
French  and  mathematics  as  well.  I 
went  to  spend  Sunday  with  her  once 
after  struggling  for  hours  over  one  of 


little  legacy  she  left  me — the  same 
that  all  her  grandchildren  had — 
barely  sufficed  to  buy  a  simple  neck- 
lace, which  I  wear  constantly. 
Before  she  died,  she  had  already 
given  me,  because  I  was  her  name- 
sake, the  Bible  that  was  my  grand- 
father's engagement  present  to  her, 
and  her  first  French  book — a  stained 
and  tattered  copy  of  Racine's  Plays. 
I  have  also,  among  others,  the  letter 
which  came  to  me  from  her,  enclosing 
a  small  sum  of  money,  on  my  fifteenth 
birthday: 

My  dear  Frances: 

When  I  date  this  letter  I  am  reminded  that 


The  Flag  We  Love 


9-\o 


the  21st  of  July,  a  day  that  will  always  be 
sacred  to  me  is  nearing  us.  and  I  wish  we  were 
near  enough  to  be  together  on  that  day. 

There  are  no  stores  here  (northern  Maine) 
where  I  can  buy  anything  that  would  be  of 
the  least  value  to  you,  but  I  want  to  enclose 
my  trifle,  which  will  remind  you-  that  your 
birth  was  a  joyous  occasion  to  me,  and  that  I 
still  hope  and  trust  that  your  life  in  this 
world  may  be  a*  blessing,  not  only  to  near 


relatives  and  friends,  but  to  many  others  as 
well,  and  may  be  the  beginning  of  a  Life 
Eternal.  Please  convert  my  little  gift  into 
something  that  will  always  remind  you  that 
your  grandmother  loves  you. ,? 

That,  after  all,  was  her  real  legacy 
to  us  all — the  knowledge  of  her  love, 
and  the  memory  of  her  learning,  and 
courage,  her  usefulness  and  her  faith. 


"THE  FLAG  WE  LOVE" 

By  Stewart  Everett  Roive 

On  Freedom's  summit  high, 
It  waves  against  the  sky, 

The  flag  we  love. 
By  its  immortal  might 
It  makes  us  do  the  right 
And  leads  us  through  the  night, 

Like  God  above. 

We  love  its  ev'ry  fold, 
And  it  is  precious  gold 

To  me  and  you. 
For  it  we  laugh  and  cry, 
For  it  we  dream  and  try, 
For  it  we  live  and  die, 

Steadfast  and  true. 

It  made  us  all  we  are 

And  each  old  Stripe  and  Star 

Will  sacred  be; 
Where'er  we  chance  to  roam,  a 
On  land  or  tossing  foam, 
They  speak  to  us  of  home, 

Our  land  so  free. 

So  free  for  each  and  all 
To  answer  manhood's  call 

In  ev'ry  way; 
Yes,  free  for  you  and  me 
To  live  our  lives  if  we 
Will  true  and  honest  be 

From  day  to  day. 


God  bless  the  Stripes  and  Stars! 
We'll  shield  it  from  all  scars 

Of  battle's  roar; 
We'll  give  it  strength  and  might, 
We'll  make  it  do  the  right 
We'll  see  it  leads  the  fight 

Forevermore. 


u 


PETERBOROUGH'S  NEW  TOWN  HALL 


PETERBOROUGH'S  NEW  TOWN  HALL 


The  town  of  Peterborough,  located 
in  one  of  the  most  charming  sections 
of  New  Hampshire's  "hill  country/' 
has  been  for  a  century  and  a  half,  one 
of  the  most  thriving  and  prosperous 
towns  in  the  state,  inhabited  by  an 
intelligent,  industrious  and  public- 
spirited  class  of  people,  whose  pride  in 
their  town  has  been  rivalled  only  by 
their  loyalty  to  the  state  and  nation. 

As  indicative  of  the  intelligence  of 
the  people  of  the  town,  it  only  needs 
mention  of  the  fact  that  the  first  free 
public  library  in  the  United  States 
was  established  here,  and  continues  as 
the  Peterborough  Town  Library;  and, 
as  showing  the  industrial  enterprise 
of  the  community,  it  may  be  men- 
tioned that  the  first  cotton  cloth 
woven  by  water-power  in  the  state, 
was  produced  in  the  old  "Bell"  mill 
in  this  town  100  years  ago  next  -May. 
The  town  was  at  that  time  one  of  the 
most  wide-awake  manufacturing  cen- 
ters in  the  state  with  several  factories 
of  different  kinds,  and  a  population, 
as  shown  by  the  census  of  1810,  of 
1537.  Four  governors,  at  least,  sev- 
eral eminent  lawyers,  and  three  mem- 
bers of  Congress  have  had  their  home 
in  Peterborough  in  the  past,  and  in 
recent  years  its  representative  citi- 
zens have  exercised  large  influence  in 
the  public  affairs  and  in  the  business 
life  of  the  state. 


On  Tuesday,  March  5,  an  elegant, 
substantial  and  capacious  new  town 
hall,  erected  on  the  site  of  the  fine 
building  which  had  been  occupied  for 
town  purposes  for  quite  a  number  of 
years,  and  was  destroyed  by  fire 
nearly  two  years  ago,  or  so  badly 
damaged  as  to  render  reconstruction 
impracticable,  was  opened  to  the  pub- 
lic for  the  first  time,  and  dedicated  by 
exercises  characterized  as  "informal," 
but  full  of  interest  to  the  large  num- 
ber of  people  in  attendance. 


A  description  of  the  building,  a  cut 
of  which  is  presented  on  the  opposite 
page,  by  courtesy  of  the  Peterbor- 
ough Transcript,  is  copied  from  that 
paper,  as  follows: 

The  building  faces  on  Grove  Street  with  a 
frontage  of  65  feet,  and  runs  back  on  Main 
Street  a  distance  of  106  feet,  and  covers  6,943 
square  feet  of  ground ;  is  two  stories  high  be- 
sides basement  and  has  a  slate  roof.  It  is  60 
feet  from  the  ground  to  the  ridge-pole,  and 
the  tower  and  weather-vane  stands  52  feet  in 
addition  to  that,  making  a  total  of  112  feet 
from  the  ground  to  the  extreme  top  of  the 
weather-vane. 

The  building  of  Colonial  architecture,  is  of 
brick  with  white  trimmings  with  limestone 
belt  between  the  first  and  second  stories. 
Over  the  center  door  in  limestone  is  carved 
the  inscription,  "Town  House  191S.''  The 
thresholds  and  outer  steps  are  of  granite;  the 
three  sets  of  double  doors  to  the  auditorium 
are  of  birch,  stained  with  mahogany,  repre- 
senting the  old  work.  A  brick  terrace  ex- 
tends in  front  of  the  building  a  distance  of  14 
feet,  with  walls  on  either  side  with  limestone 
finish  on  the  top.  Besides  the  entrances  on 
the  front  on  Grove  Street,  is  a  bulk-head  to 
the  basement,  and  an  entrance  to  the  stage  on 
the  north  or  Main  Street  side;  four  entrances 
on  the  south  side,  one  to  police  station,  high- 
way agents',  furnace,  and  water  commission- 
ers' rooms. 

The  basement  contains  boiler  room  24  x  36 
feet,  cell  room  15  x  18,  officer's  room  8  x  15, 
besides  1527  square  feet  for  storage,  and  a 
coal  bin  of  720  square  feet. 

The  assembly  room  is  on  the  first  floor 
50  x  62  feet,  with  coat  rooms  on  either  side 
11  x  15,  and  a  kitchen  in  the  rear  15  x  18  with 
all  the  up-to-date  appointments,  the  cup- 
boards already  filled  with  dishes  and  utensils 
for  serving  a  banquet  at  any  time,  together 
with  a  large  range.  On  the  right  of  the  main 
entrance  on  the  first  floor  is  the  selectmen's 
room  15  x  30  feet,  besides  a  large  fire-proof 
vault  for  the  keeping  of  town  books  and 
records;  on  the  left  is  the  court  room  15  x  27 
with  the  judge's  stand  already  placed,  and 


12 


The  Granite  Monthly 


speaking  tubes  connected  with  the  officer's 
room  below. 

On  the  second  floor  at  the  right  is  the  men's 
room,  11  x  14  and  at  the  left,  the  ladies'  parlor 

11  x  14  feet.  The  latter  is  a  dainty  room  with 
wicker  furniture  upholstered  in  blue  cretonne 
with  blue-bird  designs,  the  draperies  at  the 
windows  being  of  the  same  colorings,  while  a 
large  mirror  and  solid  mahogany  table  com- 
plete the  furnishings.  On  entering  the  audi- 
torium on  the  second  floor,  the  delicate  col- 
orings are  pleasing  to  the  eye,  and  the  lighting 
effects  with  the  large  high  windows,  and  the 
electric  lights  at  night  are  restful  to  the  mind 
and  body.  This  room  is  54  x  62  feet.  Over 
each  window  hangs  a  beautiful  American  flag, 
and  those  of  our  allies,  and  at  the  left  of  the 
stage  is  a  Chickering  concert  grand  piano. 
The  seating  capacity  of  the  auditorium, 
reached  by  wide,  winding  stairs,  is  571.  The 
balcony,  at  the  east  end  of  the  building,  will 
seat  197,  making  a  total  of  768,  and  fifty  or 
sixty  more  seats  can  be  added  if  deemed 
necessary-. 

The  new  stage  is  29  feet  long  and  22  feet 
deep  while  the  old  stage  was  19  x  16  feet. 
Below  is  a  stage,  and  men's  dressing  room 

12  x  14  and  the  ladies'  dressing  room  10  x  18 
feet. 

The  ladies'  and  men's  rooms  are  all  con- 
nected with  toilet  rooms  and  lavatories. 

The  stage  is  equipped  with  street,  forest, 
garden,  parlor  and  kitchen  scenes,  with  a 
heavy  gray  velour  curtain  which  draws  to 
either  side. 

The  auditorium  is  painted  in  grey,  the  re- 
mainder of  the  interior  being  finished  in 
white  with  the  exception  of  the  kitchen,  which 
is  a  natural  finish. 

The  committee  having  in  charge 
the  construction  of  this  building  con- 
sisted of  James  F.  Brennan,  Robert  P. 
Bass,  B.  F.  W.  Russell,  A.  J.  Wal- 
bridge  and  F.   G.   Livingston.     The 


contractors  were  the  J.  H.  Mendel! 
Co.  of  Manchester,  construction;  John 
H.  Stevens,  heating  and  plumbing, 
and  M.  B.  Foster  Electric  Co.,  light- 
ing. The  corner-stone  was  laid  June 
16,  1917,  and  fires  were  first  started 
in  the  boilers,  October  16,  last.  The 
total  cost,  of  the  structure  is  placed  at 
168,000. 

The  dedicatory  exercises  in  the 
evening  of  March  5.  opened  with 
music  by  the  New  England  Con- 
servatory orchestra  of  Boston,  while 
addresses  were  given  by  Frederick  G. 
Livingston,  treasurer  of  the  com- 
mittee; Andrew  J.  Walbridge;  B.  F. 
W.  Russell,  junior  partner  of  the  firm 
of  Little  &  Russell,  the  architects,  as 
well  as  a  member  of  the  building  com- 
mittee, who  delivered  the  keys  to  the 
chairman,  following  which  a  telegram 
of  congratulation  and  regret  was 
read,  from  Ex-Governor  Bass,  of  the 
committee  whose  work  for  the  gov- 
ernment at  Washington  rendered 
his  presence  impossible.  The  last 
speaker  was  Maj.  James  F.  Brennan, 
chairman  of  the  committee,  who  in 
closing  his  address,  before  delivering 
the  keys  to  the  selectmen,  which  were 
accepted  by  C.  W.  Jellison,  chairman, 
for  the  board,  with  brief  remarks, 
said : 

"We  now  hand  over  this  building, 
through  the  selectmen,  to  the  town 
and  it  is  to  your  candid  judgment, 
on  the  result  of  our  efforts,  that  we 
look  with  interest  and  respect.  We 
have  gladly  given  our  time  in  the 
hope  that  our  efforts  might  meet  your 
approval  and  that  we  might  have  a 
safe  and  substantial  building  in  which 
we  could  all  take  pride  and  which 
would  promote  the  educational  and 
moral  advancement  of  our  people." 


NEW  HAMPSHIRE'S  CONTRIBUTION  TO 
NAVAL  WARFARE 

By  John  Henry  Bartlett 


The  Piscataqua  River,  by  the 
thread  of  whose  channel  the  state  of 
New  Hampshire  divides  jurisdiction 
with  the  state  of  Maine,  forming  a 
delta  of  mam'  islands,  as  its  deep, 
swift  waters  spread  and  empty  into 
the  Atlantic  Ocean,  is  rapidly  be- 
coming again  a  busy  scene  of  ship- 
building, and  naval  construction, 
which,  at  once  reminds  us  of  the 
similar,  though  more  primitive,  ac- 
tivities of  the  very  early  American 
days,  when  the  same  waters  and 
shores  echoed  with  the  sounds  of. 
''hammers,  blow  on  blow/'  the  forge, 
the  anvil,  and  the  thrills  of  impend- 
ing war.  History  is,  indeed,  repeat- 
ing itself,  causing-  the  acts  of  those 
pioneer  patriots  to  breathe  a  now 
more  significant  meaning  for  us  and 
compelling  us  to  review  them,  at  least 
sufficiently  to  catch  their  spirit,  and 
to  learn  afresh  the  cost  of  our  inherit- 
ance of  liberty. 

The  Portsmouth  Navy  Yard,  sit- 
uated in  Portsmouth  Harbor,  on 
certain  islands  in  this  delta  of  the 
river,  is,  b}"  geographical  technicality, 
on  the  state-of-Maine  side  of  the 
dividing  thread,  but,  commercially 
and  industrially,  it  is  chiefly  a  New 
Hampshire  child,  although  the  beau- 
tiful and  historic  town  of  Kittery, 
Maine,  should  not  be  deprived  of  any 
of  the  credit  of  joint  parentage.  The 
United  States  government  did  not 
purchase  'the  first  and  larger  part  of 
these  islands  for  the  beginning  of  a 
naval  station  until  the  year  1806, 
paying  therefor  the  modest  sum  of 
$5,500  (added  to  in  1866),  yet  our 
forebears  began  to  build  all  varieties 
of  sailing  vessels,  including  battle- 
ships, on  this  river  as  early  as  the 
year  1690,  or  eighty-five  years  before 
the  Revolutionary  War,  when,  as  a 


faithful  colony  of  Britain,  they 
fashioned  from  these  native  oaks  and 
pines  the  first  real  fighting-ship  ever 
built  in  this  country,  namely,  that 
primitive  craft  which  they  called  the 
Faulkland.  She  was  built  for  the 
Royal  Navy  (Britain),  and  they  made 
her  so  ''staunch  and  strong''  that  she 
''weathered"  all  seas  and  storms,  even, 
for  thirty-five  years,  and,  with  her 
fifty-four  guns,  was  considered  a  very 
formidable  enemy,  a  proud  contribu- 
tion to  the  English  sea-fighters,  al- 
though we  have  no  record  in  detail 
of  any  of  her  naval  engagements. 
And  since  we  are  today  warring  as  an 
ally  for  the  second  time  of  that  same 
Britain,  and  our  entire  floating  navy 
is  co-operating  with  her  great  navy, 
it  is  interesting  to  let  History  tell  us 
again  of  our  early  beginnings;  that 
not  only  was  the  Faulkland  built  for 
England  here  in  New  Hampshire 
waters  in  those,  early  colonial  days, 
but  that  there  were  also  constructed 
here  two  other  then  doughty  war- 
ships, the  frigate  Bedford  of  thirty- 
two  guns,  in  1696,  and  the  frigate 
.4  merica  of  sixty  guns  in  1749. 

This  boat  America  we  must  not 
confuse  with  the  later  more  famous 
war-vessel  America  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary days.  But  so  very  interest- 
ing unpublished  events  are  associated 
with  her  and  her  builder,  a  private 
contractor  by  the  name  of  Nathan- 
iel Meserve,  that  they  may  not  be 
too  out  of  place  here.  In  the  first 
place  the  New  Hampshire  side  of  the 
river  can  claim  her  birthplace  for  she 
was  built  in  that  part  of  Portsmouth 
near  what  is  now  the  North  Mill 
Bridge,  Raynes'  Shipyard,  before  the 
bridge  was  constructed.  It  was  said 
to  be  a  wonderful  product  of  the 
"New  Country."     The.  builder  had 


14 


The  Granite  Monthly 


been  commissioned  a  Colonel  in  the 
expedition  against  Louisburg,  where 
he  did  valiant  service  for  the  English 
forces,  and  it  was  largely  out  of  rec- 
ognition of  these  services  that  he 
was  commissioned  to  build  this  ship 
for  the  Royal  Navy.  He  acquired  a 
considerable  fortune  in  shipbuilding 
and  it  was  feared  that  this  had  some- 
thing to  do  with  the  fact  that  he  re- 
mained loyal  to  the  mother  country 
longer  than  nearly  every  other  Gran- 
ite stater.  His  son,  George  Meserve, 
was  in  England  either  by  chance  or 
design,  at  the  time  Britain,  in  its 
policy  of  oppression,  enacted  the  in- 
famous "Stamp  Act"  which  so  in- 
censed the  colonists  in  1765,  and  it 
was  highly  significant  that  he  was 
appointed  ''Stamp  Master"  by  the 
King,  to  sell  and  distribute  such 
stamps  in  New  Hampshire. 

Our  fathers  had  heard  [of  his  ap- 
pointment by  some  means  (not 
wireless)  before  he,  himself,  reached 
Boston  on  his  return;  and,  as  a  con- 
sequence, when  he  did  arrive,  he 
found  the  public  feeling  so  enraged 
over  it  that  he  at  once  resigned.  But 
before  Portsmouth  people  received 
the  news  of  such  resignation,  they 
hastily  enacted,  with  considerable 
formality,  a  "triple  effigy-hanging. " 
in  front  of  the  local  jail.  They 
"rigged  up"  three  life-sized  figures, 
naming  one  Lord  Bute,  the  name  of 
the  author  of  the  "Stamp  Act,"  one 
George  Meserve,  the  Stamp  Master, 
and  the  other  the  Devil,  the  latter 
being  by  them  considered  the  best  of 
the  trinity.  When  the  execution 
ceremonies  had  been  completed,  the 
three  forms  were  taken  down  and 
cremated  in  the  "public  square. " 

Although  they  had  learned  of  Me- 
serve's  resignation  before  he  arrived 
in  Portsmouth  a  week  later,  yet,  to 
make  sure,  they  led  him  to  the  same 
"square,"  and  compelled  him  to 
publicly  proclaim  again  such  resigna- 
tion. Even  this  was  not  sufficient 
for  those  irate  people. 

Later,  when  the  specified  date  ar- 
rived for  the  "Stamp  Act"  to  go  into 


effect,  New  Hampshire  patriots  held 
a  great  public  funeral,  tolled  all  the 
bells,  formed  a  lengthy  funeral  pro- 
cession, marched  through  the  main 
streets  of  the  city,  carrying  at  the 
head  a  huge  black  coffin  marked 
"Liberty";  they  finally  lowered  it 
carefully  in  a  grave.  At  length,  signs 
of  life  appeared  in  the  coffin,  then 
suddenly  the  muffled  drums  beat  up 
a  lively  air,  the  tolling  bells  changed 
to  ringing  bells,  and  a  new  spirit  of 
hope  possessed  the  people. 

But  even  this  was  not  enough. 
Finally  the  document,  the  Stamp 
Master's  commission,  arrived  from 
England.  Then  a  real  historic  event 
occurred,  comparable  to  the  Boston 
Tea  Party.  A  group  of  patriotic 
citizens,  calling  themselves  "Sons  of 
Liberty"  holding  swords  in  their 
hands,  presented  themselves  with 
great  determination  before  Meserve' s 
residence.  He  came  to  the  door. 
They  demanded  the  commission.  He 
promptly  complied.  It  was  pierced 
by  the  end  of  a  sword,  held  high  in 
the  air,  and  its  bearer  led  the  proces- 
sion down  through  the  public  streets 
of  Portsmouth  amid  the  noisy  dem- 
onstrations of  practically  the  entire 
population  of  New  Hampshire,  to  a 
bridge  on  the  tide  water,  on  what 
was,  and  is,  known  as  Water  Street. 
Assembling  here  they  compelled 
Stamp  Master  Meserve  to  take  an 
oath  before  a  magistrate  that  he 
would  never  attempt  to  execute  the 
office;  and  then  they  tore  the  commis- 
sion into  "scraps  of  paper,"  threw 
the  scraps  upon  the  waves  of  the 
ocean  and  bade  them  return  to 
England  whence  they  had  come. 
Next  they  erected  a  Liberty  Standard 
to  mark  the  spot,  which  has  ever  since 
been  marked,  now  and  for  many 
years  past  by  a  large  flag  pole,  from 
which  Old  Glory  floats;  and  this 
bridge  has  since  been  known  as  "Li- 
berty Bridge."  It  is  located  just 
across  the  river  in  plain  view  of 
Uncle  Sam's  great  present  naval 
station. 

A  new  era  in  shipbuilding  was  then 


New  Hampshire's  Contribution  to  Naval  Warfare 


15 


inhered  in,  for  no  longer  were  the 
colonists  willing  to  add  ships  to  the 
Royal  Navy,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
were  determined  to  resist  the  tyranny 
of  King  George  III  (a  German  des* 
pot),  who  denied  them  the  priv- 
ileges of  self-government.  Then  the 
"oaks  and  pines"  began  to  creak, 
and  the  anvils  ring,  for  liberty. 
Then,  in  succession,  were  launched  in 
Xew  Hampsliire's  only  seaport,  the 
battleships,  Raleigh,  Ranger,  America, 
and  Crescent;  and  around  each  one  of 
these  there  clusters  some  of  the  most 
thrilling  legends  and  stories  that  ever 
delighted  the  student  of  history. 

Of  these  the  Ranger  is  the  bright, 
shining  star  of  history,  not  simply 
local  history,  but  in  even'  school  text- 
book or  encyclopedia  we  are  sure  to 
find  the  name  of  the  greatest  Amer- 
ican naval  hero,  Jones,  linked  forever 
with  the  name  of  this  sloop  which  was 
built  and  launched  from  the  north 
end  of  Pring's  Wharf  at  Portsmouth, 
New  Hampshire.  This  was  the  bold 
Yankee  boat  that  literally  ravaged 
the  southern  coast  of  England.  This 
was  the  little  wizard-ship  of  history 
that  gave  that  enchanted  mariner, 
Jones,  his  opportunity  to  electrify 
the  world.  If  we  can  say  figuratively 
that  the  powder  captured  by  Sullivan 
and  others  at  Newcastle,  N.  II.,  fired 
the  shots  at  Bunker  Hill  that  were 
heard  around  the  world,  it  may 
equally  well  be  said  that  the  Ranger, 
piloted  by  Jones,  followed  the  sound 
of  those  shots  around  the  world;  for 
he  sailed  from  Portsmouth  on  No- 
vember 1,  1777,  on  a  world  voyage. 
He  sailed  his  ship  to  the  harbor  of 
Brest,  there  refitted,  "and,  in  1778 
began  one  of  the  most  memorable 
cruises  in  our  naval  history.  In  the 
short  space  of  28  days  he  sailed  into 
the  Irish  Channel,  destroyed  four  ves- 
sels, set  fire  to  the  shipping  in  the  port 
of  Whitehaven,  fought  #nd  captured 
the  British  armed  schooner  Drake, 
sailed  around  Ireland  with  his  prize, 
and  reached  France  in  safety7'  (Mo- 
naster). As  if  this  was  not  glory 
enough  for  one  vessel,  history  points 


very  clearly  to  the  probability  that 
the  Ranger  was  the  first  ship  that  flew 
the  "stars  and  stripes."  Jones  de- 
scribed her  as  "slow  and  crank,"  and 
jokers  like  to  remind  us  that  he  found 
fault  that  he  had  to  start  out  on  this 
voyage  with  only  "30  gallons  of  rum 
for  the  crew  to  drink  on  passage." 
After  her  historic  voyage  the  Ranger 
was  finally  burned  in  Charleston 
Harbor,  at  the  surrender  of  that  city. 
While  it  was  Jones  that  made  the 
Ranger  famous,  instead  of  the  reverse, 
yet  we  claim  Jones  as  a  New  Hamp- 
shire character,  and  we  delight  to 
recall  his  wonderful  victory  with  his 
ship,  Bonhomme  Richard,  in  Euro- 
pean waters  over  that  British  Frigate, 
the  Serapis,  when,  with  boats  lashed 
together,  they  fought  hand-to-hand  by 
moonlight  until  his  foe  surrendered. 

The  Seventy-four  America,  the  most 
formidable  ship  of  her  time,  was 
built  in  Portsmouth  Harbor  under 
the  supervision  of  Jones  who  expected 
to  do  great  things  with  her.  But  just 
as  she  was  launched  in  1782  a  French 
ship  of  the  same  size  was  acciden- 
tally lost  in  Boston  Harbor,  and  our 
government  immediately  presented 
the  America  to  her  ally  to  compensate 
for  this  misfortune.  After  various 
adventures,  and  cruising,  in  the 
French  Navy,  she  was  captured  by 
the  British  in  Lord  Howe's  engage- 
ment in  1794. 

The  second  warship-building  era 
at  New  Hampshire's  port  was  in  the 
"sixties"  when  we  produced  that 
immortal  conqueror  the  Kearsqrge. 
Her  antagonist,  the  Alabama,  was 
built  at  Liverpool.  Many  now  living 
will  remember  how,  for  a  long  time, 
the  Alabama  terrified  the  seas,  as 
Germany  is  doing  now,  sinking  sixty- 
six  merchant  vessels,  one  after  an- 
other, until  this  New  Hampshire  boat 
finally  challenged  her  to  a  duel,  brought 
her  face  to  face,  and,  in  a  gallant  engage- 
ment in  the  English  Channel,  put  her 
forever  "under  many  feet  of  water." 

The  old  Constitution  was  so  com- 
pletely rebuilt  at  Portsmouth  that 
scarcely  any  of  her  original  parts  re- 


16 


The  Granite  Monthly 


mained.  About  twenty  other  wooden 
men-of-war  were  built  here  during 
this  period^  and  five,  after  wooden 
men-of-war  became  obsolete. 

The  first  steam  vessel  of  the  navy, 
the  Saranac,  the  largest  ship  in  the 
old  navy,  the  Franklin,  and  the  well- 
known  Santee  were  built  here  just 
before  the  Civil  War. 

Portsmouth  vessels  have  a  priva- 
teering history.  In  1812-14,  ten 
brigs  and  schooners  were  built  here, 
armed .  as  privateers,  and  captured 
millions  of  dollars  worth  of  property. 
It  is  said  that  419  vessels  were  cap- 
tured by  16  Portsmouth  privateers. 
The  Portsmouth  schooner  Fox  in  1814 
received  §3,650  as  bounty  for  prison- 
ers captured  from  enemy  vessels. 

While  this  sketch  confines  itself  to 
war  vessels,  it  is  interesting  to  note  in 
passing  that  for  the  first  fifty  years  of 
the  nineteenth  century  Portsmouth 
turned  out  an  average  of  nine  mer- 
chant ships  a  year. 

But  at  last  and  unexpectedly  came 
the  World  War.  New  Hampshire  is 
again  to  build  ships  and  contribute 
to  a  stupendous  undertaking.  She 
does  not  rejoice  in  this  kind  of  pros- 
perity, but  gravely  recognizes  the 
necessity  and  goes  to  the  task  with 
determination.  Now  the  Navy  Yard 
has  a  modern  dry  dock,  new  machine 
shops,  up-to-date  equipments,  en- 
larged acreage,  naval  hospital,  naval 
prison,  and  all  that  goes  to  complete 
a  first-class  naval  station.  It  is  em- 
ploying some  3,000  to  4,000  men, 
increased  from  1,000  before  the  war, 
is  building  submarines,  constructing 
small  boats,  parts,  accessories,  and 
repairing  big  warships,  all  rushing  at 
top  speed. 

Four  miles,  up  the  river  on  the  New 
Hampshire  side,  a  new  wooden  ship- 
building plant  is  now  getting  well 
under  way  in  the  simultaneous  con- 
struction of  twelve  ships  of  3,500 
tonnage,  each  281  feet  6  inches  long, 
46  feet  beam,  and  23  feet  6  inches 
draw,  being  oil  burning  steamers.  A 
large  force  of  men  are  now  swarming 


amid  weird-looking  projections,  soon 
to  look  more  like  ships,  and  the  man- 
agement states  that  they  hope  to 
launch  at  least  three  of  the  vessels 
before  next  July.  The  plant  is  owned 
by  the  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation, 
and  when  completed  will  cost  about 
8600,000.  The  contractor  construct- 
ing the  ships  under  the  direct  super- 
vision of  the  government  is  the  "  L.  H. 
Shattuck",  Inc. " 

On  the  same  side  of  the  river,  on 
New  Hampshire's  soil,  and  much 
nearer  Portsmouth,  is  a  magnificent 
tract  of  land  of  one  hundred  and 
fourteen  acres,  with  extended  and 
easily  approached  tide-water  facili- 
ties. It  is  the  exact  site  where  mer- 
chant ships  were  built  fifty  to  a 
hundred  years  ago,  and  just  north  of 
the  old  Paynes'  shipyards,  being  the 
property  where,  at  a  cost  of  millions, 
a  paper  mill  project  two-thirds  com- 
pleted has  lain  for  a  few  years  para- 
lyzed in  bankruptcy.  This  property 
has,  within  a  few  weeks,  been  pur- 
chased by  the  "Atlantic  Corporation," 
a  compam-  of  strong  men,  for  the 
purpose  of  converting  it  into  a  mam- 
moth plant  for  the  construction  of 
steel  ships.  This  corporation  is  cap- 
italized at  83,000,000.  It  has  a 
contract  with  the  Emergen cy  Fleet 
Corporation,  under  the  United  States 
Shipping  Board,  to  construct  ten 
large  steel  vessels  of  8.800  tons  dead 
weight  carrying  capacity.  This  com- 
pany is  apparently  in  earnest.  It 
brought  to  the  plant  hundreds  of 
men,' when  three  or  four  feet  of  ice 
and  snow  covered  the  land,  and  the 
adjoining  river  was  frozen  for  the  first 
time  in  known  history  and  began 
dynamiting  snow,  ice,  and  ledge  in  a 
manner  that  made  the  natives  ".sit  up 
and  take  notice."  It  gives  promise 
of  being  another  "eye-opener"  to  the 
credit  of  Yankee  ingenuity  and  enter- 
prise, and  it  is  believed  it  will  become 
a  permanent*  New  Hampshire  in- 
dustry, for  the  United  States  has 
clearly  embarked  upon  an  era  of  world 
commerce. 


THE   MERRIMACK:  SOURCES,   NAVIGATION 
AND  RELATED  MATTERS 

By  Howard  F.  Hill 


[The  compiler  thinks  these  details 
are  worthy  of  preservation  in  print. 
They  would  be  lost  were  they  not- 
gathered  into  one  place.  This  paper 
was  prepared  at  the  request  of  Rum- 
ford  Chapter,  D.  A.  R.,  and  has  also 
been  read  before  Molly  Stark  Chapter. 
The  compiler  is  largely  indebted  to 
George  Waldo  Brown,  in  the  Manches- 
ter Historical  Society's  Collections, 
for  particulars  in  regard  to  navigation. 
Some  facts  have  been  drawn  from 
Bouton's  History  of  Concord.  Other 
information  has  its  origin  with  Hons. 
Joseph  B.  Walker,  John  Kimball, 
John  M.  Hill  and  Major  Henry  Mc- 
Farland.  The  new  History  of  Con- 
cord has  a  wealth  of  notes  and  maps 
on  our  river  and  its  bed  changes. 
Mrs.  Lydia  F.  Lund  and  Joseph  W. 
Lund  deserve  thanks  for  material 
help.  The  remembrance  of  various 
talks  with  old-time  worthies  has 
added  to  the  facts  incorporated.  The 
quotations  are  not  indicated,  as  the 
full  text  has  not  been  always  used 
herein.] 

The  river  discovered  by  Champlain 
on  July  17,  1605,  is  formed  by  the 
junction  of  the  Winnipesaukee  and 
Pemigewasset  rivers,  "just  behind 
Warren  Danieli's  barn,"  in  Franklin, 
as  once  replied  a  school  boy  of  that 
place.  The  Winnipesaukee  begins  at 
"The  Weirs,"  the  great,  great  fishing 
place  for  all  the  aboriginal  people. 
Here  is  the  famous  "Endicott  Rock," 
in  the  first  rush  of  the  pure  water  on 
its  quest  of  ocean.  Into  what  every 
New  Hampshire  man  calls  "The 
Lake,"  the  Lake  par  excellence,  empty 
Waukewan  Lake,  a  really  considera- 
ble body  for  most  states  less  favored 
than  our  own;  also,  Smith's  Pond,  of 
really    dignified   size,    at    which    was 


once  an  official  residence  of  the  Gov- 
ernors Wentworth.  These  feeders  are 
steady  of  flow,  rapid  of  current  and 
produce  quite  a  volume  of  power. 
They  flow  in  at  Meredith  and  Wolfe- 
boro.  Another  of  lesser  volume,  but 
adequate  to  sawmill  uses,  wanders  in 
at  Alton  Bay.  The  whole  watershed 
of  the  region  seeks  the  high  plateau, 
enclosed  in  solemn  mountains  and 
hills  which  would  be  called  mountains 
in  most  places. 

The  Pemigewasset  receives  Baker's 
River  just  above  Plymouth,  the 
luncheon  place  to  and  from  "The 
Mountains,"  a  short  distance  from 
the  Franconias  and  the  abutments 
which  outly  them,  and  the  White 
Mountains.  Baker's  River,  in  early 
days,  was  a  dark  and  bloody  ground 
where  red  men  and  pioneers  joined 
battle.  The  Squam  River  is  the  outlet 
of  the  lovely  Squam  Lakes  and  re- 
enforces  the  Pemigewasset  not  far 
below  Ashland  village.  Its  fall  is 
very  heavy  and  many  a  wheel  is 
turned  by  the  rushing  waters.  At 
Bristol  comes  in  the  short  Newfound, 
an  impetuous  stream,  from  New- . 
found  Lake,  embracing  the  watershed 
of  Cardigan  and  the  semi-mountains 
called  the  Bridge  water  Hills.  (To 
be  a  mountain,  in  New  Hampshire, 
intends  at  least  3,000  feet  above  the 
sea  level.)  This  considerable  tribute 
makes  quite  a  flow  and  hum  at  Bris- 
tol. Here,  then,  are  about  seventy- 
six  square  miles  of  reservoir  surface 
and  that  means,  in  all  but  exceptional 
seasons,  when  regulated,  a  steady  and 
reliable  power  for  a  host  of  looms  and 
spindles.  The  low-water  mark  at 
Concord  is  253  feet  above  the  sea 
level.  When  you  consider  that  a 
one-inch  fall  in  a  mile  constitutes  a 


IS 


The  Granite  Monthly 


strong  current  for  power  and  three  a 
rapid,*  your  respect  for  our  familiar 
river  will  be  increased.  Whittier 
speaks  of  it  as  "a  broad,  slow  stream" 
and  so  it  was  when  his  childhood  eyes 
and  the  dim  ones  of  his  venerable 
years  beheld  it  at  Haverhill  and 
Amesbury.  He  rests  about  a  mile 
from  the  mountain-born  tide  which 
finds  chronicle  in  his  chaste,  rippling 
verses.  Here  I  observe,  apropos  of 
that  term  mountain-born,  that  in  its 
very  upmost  reaches,  some  of  its 
head-waters  come  from  just  beneath 
the  very  chin  of  that  huge  profile 
which  is  our  peerless  wonder,  a  won- 
der beyond  our  limits.  Here  the  red 
man  saw  Manitou,  his  God,  and  in 
reverence  looked  upon  him,  awed,  and 
I  fear  not  to  say,  trembling,  also.  It- 
has  no  small  power  of  like  kind  on 
people  more  spiritually  illumined. 

Here,  let  me  make  some  pertinent 
diversions. 

I  spoke  of  the  Endicott  Rock,  vis- 
ible from  the  cars  at  Weirs.  It  is 
enclosed  in  a  granite  structure  built 
by  the  State  in  1891.  It  is  15x14 
feet  and  13  high.  I  quote  from  the 
panel  of  the  protecting  building: 

ENDICOTT   ROCK 

The  name  of  John  Endicott  Gov. 
and  the  initials  of  Edward  Johnson 
and  Simon  Willard,  Commissioners 
of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony, 
John  Sherman  and  Jonathan  Ince, 
surveyors,  were  inscribed  on  this 
rock,  August  1,  1652,  to  mark  the 
head  of  the  Merrimack  river. 

The  inscription  on  the  rock  is 


E  I 

S  w 

(Edward  Johnson) 

(Simon  Willard) 

W.  P. 

John  Endicut 

(Worshipful) 

I  s 

I  I 

(John  Sherman) 

(Jona.  Ince) 

All  Latin  students  will  recall  text- 
books which  had  no  j,  and  used  i.  J 
is  the  youngest  letter  of  the  alphabet, 
invented  in  Holland  about  a  century 
and  a  half  ago.  Its  origin  is  indicated 
by  the  dot  above  it,  in  what  printers 
call  "the  lower  case." 

*Not  sure  of  exactness. 


I  spoke  of  Whit  tier's  eyes,  such  a 
source  of  grievous  headaches  to  him, 
because  of  a  disabling  derangement 
now  recognized  by  oculists.  Do  you 
remember  the  pictures  of  Daniel 
Webster,  whose  great,  dark,  deep- 
set,  solemn  eyes  seemed  caverns  and 
often  overpowered  strangers  when 
turned  suddenly  on  them?  These 
eyes,  Whit-tier's  and  Webster's,  came 
from  Rev.  Samuel  Bacheler,  famous 
in  Hampton's  records. 

The  name  of  the  river  has  always 
been  spelled  in  our  State  with  a  final 
k,  which  has  not  been  the  case  in 
Massachusetts,  but  is  now  the  official 
spelling  on  all  Government  maps. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  name  of 
the  great  lake,  our  highland  beauty, 
has  to  be  printed  lengthwise  of  the 
State  on  many  maps.  We  can  put  up 
with  almost  any  banter  as  long  as  we 
have  the  lake  with  us  as  a  sure  pos- 
session. The  name  has  suffered  many 
things  of  many  scribes  in  regard 
to  spelling.  The  termination  aukee 
means  place.  The  whole,  "Beautiful 
water  in  a  high  place." 

Old-timers  will  recall  many  en- 
deavors, by  Congressional  action,  to 
secure  surveys  of  the  river  with  a 
view  to  navigation.  These  efforts 
form  part  of  what  is  roughly  called 
the  "pork  barrel."  It  is  connected 
with  the  rivers  and  harbors  bill,  a 
much-abused  form  of  legislative  ap- 
propriation, with  which  congressmen 
are  wont  to  prop  up  their  popularity. 
However  much  pleasure  we  may 
have  at  prospective  expenditures  in 
our  neighborhood,  it  is  plunder,  pure 
and  simple.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  at 
least  one  survey  had  been  made  as 
far  as  Lowell,  long  since.  A  later 
survey,  1914-15,  has  been  made  as 
far  as  Manchester,  with  the  report, 
"Impracticable." 

Passing  in  by  the  mouth,  we  see 
Plum  Island  on  the  left,  some  five 
miles  long,  created  in  the  centuries  by 
sand  deposits,  as  the  water  slackens 
on  contact  with  the  ocean.  Small 
steamers  and  schooners  are  able  to 
get  as  far  as  Haverhill  without  break- 


The  Merrimack 


19 


ing  bulk.  The  freight  is  principally 
coal,,  lime,  cement,  etc.  A  flat-bot- 
tomed steamer  of  the  grasshopper  pat- 
tern (stern  wheel)  was  running  as  late 
as  1900,  between  Haverhill  and  Black 
Rocks,  at  the  end  of  Salisbury  Beach. 
It  was  a  delightful  trip  to  make.  It 
passed  under  Chain  Bridge,  now  no 
more,  the  first  suspension  bridge  in 
America.  The  rock  island  which  parts 
the  river  here  was  the  home  of  Har- 
riet Prescott  Spofford,  an  authoress  of 
worth  and  note.  The  clam  chowder 
served  on  that  boat  has  a  distinct 
place  in  my  memory.  It  would  rank 
with  the  nectar  and  ambrosia  of 
Olympus.  It  had  the  real  bouquet  de 
mer.  The  delicacies  the  old  Roman 
gourmands  described  in  Plautus,  had 
nothing  better.  Baked  elephant's 
foot  is  described  by  African  travellers 
as  a  mass  of  luscious  jelly,  but  I 
would  pass  it  by  for  a  spoonful  of  that 
rich,  rapturing,  thrilling,  real-thing 
chowder,  a  concoction  more  delight- 
ful than  any  with  which  the  cooks  of 
Heliogabalus  ever  struggled,  plenti- 
fully based  on  "the  strawberry  of  the 
sea,"  as  Charles  Levi  Woodbury  fitly 
called  it. 

But,  to  pass  this  by,  I  would  say 
that  the  large  expense  of  canals  and 
locks  around  mill  dams  and  in  con- 
gested city  quarters  would  seem  to 
be  prohibitory,  aside  from  mainte- 
nance in  easier  places._  The  flow,  so 
diminished  from  reason  of  deforest- 
ing, and  needing  to  be  helped  out  by 
steam  in  years  of  sharp  drought, 
would  have  to  be  well  weighed,  and 
the  rock-ledged  and  boulder-filled 
bed,  extremely  shallow  between 
Nashua  and  Manchester,  and  the 
character  of  the  stream  to  the  right, 
going  toward  Boston,  just  as  we  pass 
the  railroad  bridge  at  Goff's  Falls, 
are  great  difficulties  for  a  canal  in 
these  days.  Amoskeag  and  Hook- 
sett  falls  require  consideration.  The 
less  than  half  year  of  navigation 
caused  by  winter,  all  other  difficul- 
ties set  aside,  would  pay  but  for  a 
small  part  of  up-keep  and  service,  in 
view   of   railroad   competition.      The 


survey  may,  not  impossibly,  be  made 
again  and  yet  again,  but  the  river 
will  be  the  monarch  of  all  its  surveys. 
All  dreams  of  coal,  cotton,  machinery 
and  heavy  freight  may  be  dismissed 
from  the  thoughts  of  those  ''clothed 
and  in  their  right  minds,"  when  set 
in  opposition  to  rail  transportation. 

Navigation  was  once  practicable 
and  practical,  as  well  as  profitable, 
but  ox  and  horse-drawn  teams  did 
heavy  duty  for  passengers,  mails  and 
much  freight  between  here  and  Bos- 
ton. Following  the  river,  one  main 
water  route  ended  at  Newburyport. 
A  canal  made  another  route  to  Bos- 
ton. Its  exact  course,  I  cannot  give, 
nor  can  I  separate  it  from  the  side 
lines.  The  traces  of  this  canal  are 
very  plain  on  the  right  of  the  railroad, 
going  coast  wards,  just  above  and  be- 
low Lowell.  This  was  completed  in 
180S  by  Loammi  Baldwin  and  partly 
financed  by  a  lottery  (like  the  canal 
round  the  falls  at  Amoskeag,  just 
above  Manchester).  This  lottery  was 
chartered  by  our  Legislature  and  that 
of  Massachusetts. 

The  Middlesex  Canal  was  27  miles 
long  and  entered  the  Merrimack  two 
miles  above  Lowell.  It  was  30  feet 
wide  at  the  surface;  bottom,  20  feet 
and  depth  three  feet.  Lockage,  136 
feet,  with  20  locks.  Passengers  were 
carried.  Last  trip  was  in  1851.  The 
stones  of  some  of  the  locks  were  used 
for  mill  and  railroad  purposes  at 
Lowell.  In  later  days,  under  the  Mer- 
rimack Boating  Company,  flat-boats 
were  able  to  go  as  far  as  Sewall's  Falls, 
above  West  Concord,  where  the  elec- 
tric power  plant  now  is.  This  made  a 
water  course  of  52  miles.  Rosy  hopes 
had  been  entertained  to  reach  Win- 
nipesaukee.  The  Merrimack  Com- 
pan\T,  a  Concord  corporation,  actu- 
ally did  a  large  business,  for  those 
days.  The  trip  was  five  days  up  to 
Concord  and  four  down.  Twenty 
tons  was  a  full  cargo  lip  to  Lowell  and 
fifteen  beyond.  It  cost  SI 3.50  per 
ton  to  Manchester  and  S8.50  to  Bos- 
ton from  that  place.  In  1838,  the 
charges  were  $5  and  S4,  with  more 


20 


The  Granite  Monthly 


experience  and  expert  knowledge. 
The  granite  for  Quincy  Market,  Bos- 
ton, was  shipped  from  Concord.  It 
was  often  sent  as  far  as  to  New  Or- 
leans. From  1816  to  1842,  a  8470,000 
business  was  done  on  the  up  route, 
and  about  half  that  on  the  down 
route.  Before  boating  began,  about 
S20  per  ton  was  the  ruling  rate  from 
Manchester  to  Boston  on  a  road  next 
to  level. 

A  boat  built  on  the  Piscataquog 
River,  near  Manchester,  by  Isaac 
Riddle  and  Major  Caleb  Stark  of 
Dunbarton  was  doubtless  the  first 
which  ever  ploughed  ''the  raging 
canal''  between  Manchester  and  Bos- 
ton. It  was  a  scow  called  ''The  Ex- 
periment.7' The  load  was  lumber.  It 
was  "received  with  great  reception" 
at  the  Hub.  A  thunderous  roar  of 
venerable  field  pieces  and  a  more 
continuous  roar  of  human  voices  from 
leathern  lungs  was  its  greeting  before 
it  tied  up  from  its  rural  seaport. 
Even  then.  Boston  was  an  inchoate 
Liverpool  of  worthy  ambition  and  this 
was  an  event  of  Brobdignagian  pro- 
portions toward  that  consummation. 
There  was  "a  hot  time  in  the  old 
town"  that  night.  This  was  in  1812. 
In  1817,  steam  was  tried  over  this 
route,  but  one  trip  was  enough. 
Power  enough  could  not  be  developed 
and  wood  fuel  did  not  harmonize  with 
large  cargoes. 

The  Concord  Boating  Company 
was  organized  in  1823  and  was  op- 
erated until  1844.  Twenty  boats 
were  afloat  at  one  time.  They  were 
not  less  than  45  feet  long;  sometimes 
70.  They  were  9  or  9-|  feet  wide  in 
the  middle,  narrowing  somewhat  and 
rounded  at  each  end,  three  feet  deep 
in  the  middle  and  not  more  than  one 
foot  at  the  ends.  They  were  of  two- 
inch  old  pine  and  sometimes  carried 
a  sail,  which  was  really  of  advantage 
at  times.  But  the  real  means  of 
propulsion  was  man-power  push. 
Here  what  is  roughly  called  "beef" 
counted.  Weight  and  muscle  were 
what  did  the  work,  using  setting- 
poles.     Two  men  worked,   aided  by 


the  pilot,  when  his  duties,  by  no  means 
light,  allowed.  Runts  and  skinny 
men  were  no  good  at  this  arduous  job. 
The  poles  were  of  smoothed  ash,  15 
feet  long,  shod  with  an  iron  point. 
The  men  stood  on  the  bow  fronting 
the  stern,  walked  on  a  path  and  came 
back  to  repeat  the  process.  It  took 
avoirdupois  to  do  this  from  the  time 
when  the  first  hint  of  rosy-fingered 
dawn  appeared  in  the  east  till  the 
afterglow  arrived.  The  steersman  had 
a  huge  oar,  20  inches  of  blade-width 
and  when  his  knees  were  bent  it  was 
not  in  sitting.  With  the  others,  he 
had  a  sculling  oar  for  favorable  con- 
ditions. Here  "quitters"  were  not 
wanted  and  one  found  inadequate  for 
this  task  never  took  a  second  voyage 
and  departed  with  no  dubious  opin- 
ions of  his  value.  It  was,  literally, 
toil  which  called  for  sons  of  Anak. 
The  crews  were  paid  at  the  rate  of  815 
to  824  per  month  and  were  generally 
broken  in  on  lumber  rafting. 

Courage  was  sorely  needed  some- 
times, particularly  in  spills  or  a 
man  overboard.  Occasionally,  a  race 
took  place.  As  the  result  of  one, 
Isaac  Merrill  died  in  his  boat  from 
great  and  protracted  exertion.  But 
he  brought  it  in  one  length  ahead  at 
Boston.  A  trip  from  Piscataquog 
was  once  made  in  four  clays,  Middle- 
sex Canal  way,  to  Medford  and  back 
to  'Squog,  loading  and  unloading  in- 
cluded. This  was  probably  done  on 
a  full  moon,  perhaps  with  relay  help- 
ers. This  was  verily  "going  some." 
The  last  boat  over  this  route  was  run 
in  1851.  The  Concord  Boating  Com- 
pany gave  up  business  in  1844.  The 
railroad  reached  here  in  1842. 

The  diet  of  these  men  was  gener- 
ously adapted  to  the  toil.  Those  of 
our  old-timers  familiar  with  the  Nor- 
cross  log  drivers  know  the  quantities 
of  pork  and  beans  (always  baked  in 
the  ground),  brown  and  ginger  bread, 
fried  pork,  salt  and  fresh,  biscuits  and 
like  filling-power  provisions  which 
they  consumed,  topped  off  with  tea 
of  90  per  cent  nervous  energy  and  of 
black  ink  grade.     The  boatmen  had 


The  Merrimack 


21 


about  the  same  as  the  men  had  on  the 
great  log  drives  down  our  river, 
though  not  five  times  a  day,  perhaps, 
as  did  the  loggers.  Anyway  there  was 
strong  food  and  plenty. 

I  have  alluded  to  rafting  as  the 
fitting-school  in  which  these  canalers 
were  broken  in.  Though  born  in 
1846,  I  never  saw  one.  However,  I, 
own  a  large  colored  lithograph,  dated 
August,  1853,  printed  for  Appleton,  a 
view  of  Concord.  The  buildings 
therein  are  easily  recognizable,  nota- 
bly the  State  House,  with  its  domina- 
ting eagle,  and  the  old  South  Church, 
on  the  site  of  the  present  Acquilla 
Building.  In  this  picture,  in  the  fore- 
ground, is  represented,  in  a  somewhat 
meagre  stream,  one  of  these  rafts.  It 
is  in  two  parts,  probably  connected 
by  some  cable,  with  a  man  in  front 
with  a  great  steering  oar  and  another 
similarly  equipped  on  the  rear  of  the 
second  section.  The  notable  feature 
consists  of  two  women,  well-bonneted 
and  attired,  admiring  the  prospect 
from  a  seat,  and  attended  by  the  one 
loyal,  loving  friend  of  our  species,  a 
dog.  I  am  doubtful  of  the  correctness 
'of  this  scene  of  interstate  commerce. 
But  there  is  one  part  which  the  artist 
did  not  create:  great  cumulus. clouds 
of  fleecy  white,  glowing  with  beauty 
in  the  sun,  and  like  a  castle  with  huge 
towers.  I  recall  the  artist's  capture 
of  this  superb  and  remarkable  forma- 
tion. His  stand  was  at  the  head  of 
Bridge  Street,  and  though  I  was  but 
seven  years  old,  the  impression  is  still 
vivid.  This  was  the  time  of  the 
candidacy  of  Franklin  Pierce  and  his 
home  town  was  very  much  an  object 
of  public  interest  throughout  our  na- 
tion. I  have  also  an  oil  picture  on 
wood,  dating,  probably,  about  1830, 
in  which  a  three-section  raft  is  de- 
picted. The  scene  is  the  Great  Bend, 
at  the  Passaconaway  Club  House. 

The  survival  of  the  old  canal  in 
Concord!  At  Sewail's  Falls,  there  is 
a  stone  pier  on  the  eastern  side,  not 
otherwise  to  be  accounted  for,  and 
which  I  have  been  told  by  the  an- 
cients belonged  to  the  landing  place. 


Just  south  of  the  Lower  Bridge,  on 
the  western  side,  a  pier  was  to  be 
seen  as  late  as  1900.  Posts  (piles) 
were  also  to  be  seen  at  low  water. 
This  was  the  great  freight  house. 
The  house  extended  over  the  water 
and  goods  were  lifted  through  a  trap 
door.  These  posts  were  the  support 
of  the  outer  end.  On  the  left  of  the 
railroad,  going  towards  Boston,  just 
above  Hooksett  station,  relics  of  the 
lock  round  the  falls  can  be  seen  very 
plainly.  On  the  right  of  the  road  just 
after  passing  through  the  Federal 
Bridge  at  East  Concord,  going  north, 
evident  traces  of  the  canal  can  be 
seen  as  little  frog  ponds,  and  a  careful 
search  up  the  intervale  discloses  other 
traces.  Parts  of  the  lock  are  in  the 
piers  of  the  railroad  bridge.  The  old 
Butters'  Tavern,  standing  until  1911, 
where  the  trolley  road  divides  for  the 
Manchester  line  and  the  Pilisbury 
Hospital,  was  a  great  place  for  the 
canalers  to  obtain  refreshments,  some 
of  which  came  from  Medford,  one  of 
the  termini  of  transportation. 

One  of  the  first  uses  made  of  the 
river  was  the  floating  of  huge  logs. 
In  every  place  where  the  great  oaks, 
ash  and  pine  of  old  growth  were  to  be 
found,  a  royal  forester  made  it  his 
business  to  mark  these  spires  with  the 
broad  arrow  for  the  King's  Navy. 
All  prime  timber  for  planking,  spars 
and  masts,  were  thus  arbitrarily  set 
apart  at  the  landowner's  expense. 
To  take  these  " sticks"  as  they  were 
called,  for  private  use  was  a  serious 
offence.  They  were  generally  run  at 
high  water  to  avoid  breakage  and 
prevent  " hanging  up."  Much  bad 
blood  resulted  and  even  grave  fra- 
cases occurred,  amounting  to  treason, 
under  the  law.  Sometimes  an  official 
of  easy  conscience  held  the  office, 
making  things  less  strenuous.  When 
worse  came  to  worst,  the  forester  was 
not  disinclined  to  act  as  an  inter- 
cessor with  the  Colonial  Governor, 
for  law  it  was,  though  like  some  other 
laws,  inequitable  and  undiserimina- 
ting.  To  you,  the  name  of  a  station 
just  above  Concord,  the  Mast  Yard, 


99 


The  Granite  Monthly 


will  hereafter  sound  more  intelligible. 
A  pine  was  once  cut  in  Hopkinton 
which  was  so  large  that  a  yoke  of  oxen 
had  room  to  turn  upon  the  stump. 
Thus  saith  Rev.  Dr.  Bouton,  our 
first  chronicler,  who  cannot  be  ac- 
counted much  of  a  romancer.  This 
broad-arrow  timber  was  a  part  of 
the  things  which  made  the  Revolu- 
tionary War  possible,  even  for  men 
who  had  fought  under  the  King  and 
held  civil  or  military  commissions. 
It  was  certainly  the  first  yeast  cake  of 
sedition,  to  use  an  anachronism. 

The  following  article,  by  Oliver  L. 
Frisbee.  in  The  Granite  Monthly, 
touches  more  fully  on  a  subject  to 
which  the  compiler  has  just  alluded: 

The  mast  fleet,  to  and  from  the  Old  World 
and  the  Piscataqua  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, was  the  forerunner  of  the  great  fleets 
crossing  the  Atlantic  in  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury. These  ships  were  built  especially  for 
the  mast  trade.  They  were  of  about  four 
hundred  tons  burthen,  and  carried  from  forty- 
five  to  fifty  mast.  These  ships  had  the  priv- 
ilege of  wearing  the  King's  Jack,  and  had  a 
special  convoy.  When  ships  could  not  be 
found  for  this  trade  they  sent  large  rafts  of 
mast  and  lumber,  shaped  like  a  vessel,  and 
rigged  like  a  ship,  across  to  Europ>e.  One  of 
these  rafts  made  the  passage  in  twenty-six 
days. 

The  mast  fleet  was  the  courier  of  the  sea, 
the  surest  and  quickest  means  of  communica- 
tion between  the  two  continents. 

No  colonial  product  commanded  so  much 
attention  in  Europe  as  the  masts,  and  pipe 
staves  and  other  lumber  from  the  Piscataqua. 

New  Hampshire  was  the  great  cutting 
ground  for  mast  and  lumber,  and  Piscataqua* 
the  great  shipping  port.  Cartwright  and 
other  commissioners  in  1665,  found  ''7  or  S 
ships  in  the  large  and  safe  harbor  of  Piscat- 
aqua and  great  stores  of  mast  and  lumber." 
As  early  as  1631  the  Piscataqua  had  its  first 
sawmill,  and  gundalows  to  carry  the  lumber 
down  the  river. 

The  British  Government  paid  a  premium  of 
one  pound  per  ton  on  mast  and  yards  and 
bowsprits.  The  masts  were  not  to  exceed 
thirty-six  inches  at  the  butt  and  be  as  long  as 
the  mast  was  inches  in  diameter.  In  1664 
they  were  worth  from  ninety-five  to  one  hun- 
dred fifteen  pounds  per  mast. 

The  broad  arrow  of  the  King  was  placed 
on  all  white  pines  twenty-four  inches  in  diame- 
ter three  feet  from  the  around.  It  was  espe- 
cially stipulated  in  the  Royal  grant  that  pine 
trees  fit  for  masting  the  royal  navy  were  to  be 

♦Timber  was  largely  floated  round  from  Newburyport 
to  Portsmouth.    Editor. 


carefully  preserved,  and  the  cutting  for  any 
other  purpose  led  to  the  forfeiture  of  the  grant. 
They  were  as  tall  as  the  giant  trees  of  Cali- 
fornia are  today.  To  fall  these  pines  from 
thirty-three  to  thirty-six  inches  in  diameter 
and  from  two  hundred  to  two  hundred  seven  ty- 
feet  in  length,  was  a  business  in  itself,  and 
called  for  the  exercise  of  great  care  in  falling 
them  or  they  would  break.  It  took  forty 
cattle  to  move  the  massive  load  to  the  shore 
to  start  it  on  its  mission  to  the  Royal 
Navy. 

Ships  even  came  to  the  Piscataqua  after  the 
battle  of  Lexington  for  masts  which  were 
ready  for  them,  <U*&-  the  people  kept  them  for 
their  own  use.  The  broad  arrow  remained  on 
the  trees.  Many  of  these  trees  took  new 
growth  from  republican  soil.  They  even 
served  in  equipping  the  stout  cruisers  of  1S12, 
that  fairly  beat  the  great  navy  that  took  all 
the  great  trees  of  the  subject  colony. 

The  mast  and  lumber  industry  of  the  Piscat- 
aqua contributed  to  the  glory  of  England,  as 
much  as  the  gold  of  the  New  World  did  to  the 
glory  of  Spain.  Spain  was  the  mistress  of  the 
world,  the  queen  of  the  ocean,  the  terror  of 
the  nations.  England  saw  the  only  way  to 
overcome  was  to  build  ships  and  send  them 
all  over  the  world,  rilled  with  sailors  and  ad- 
venturers. These  outstripped  the  French, 
conquered  the  Dutch,  and  finally  put  England 
at  the  head  of  the  world,  and  the  lumber  and 
masts  from  the  Piscataqua  enabled  her  to 
do  it. 

This  scheme  of  internal  navigation 
extended  to  wild  proportions.  It  was 
proposed  to  start  at  SewalPs  Falls 
and  go  to  the  Connecticut,  via  the 
Contoocook,  Warner  and  Sugar  riv- 
ers. The  survey  was  actually  made 
by  Loammi  Baldwin,  Jr.,  John  Farrar 
and  Henry  B.  Chase.  The  start  of 
digging  was  to  be  made  at  where  the 
woolen  mill  (Holden's)  in  West  Con- 
cord, now  stands,  near  Penacook 
Park.  The  drawings,  map  and  pro- 
file, are  in  the  archives  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  State.  United  States  Army 
engineers  made  a  resurvey  in  1838 
and  reported  to  Congress  by  the  War 
Secretary.  Even  Lake  Champlain 
was  not  too  far  ofT  for  their  commer- 
cial "pipe  dream"  aspiration^.  The 
cash  for  these  enterprises  was  never 
banked.  Where  a  contract  was  act- 
ually made  and  work  actually  car- 
ried out,  as  in  case  of  Middlesex 
Canal,  the  workers  on  that  successful 
enterprise,  were  in  demand.  Com- 
modore   Bainbridge,    via    Middlesex 


The  Merrimack 


23 


Canal,  got  timber  to  refit  Old  Iron- 
sides and  build  the  Independence, 
from  *our  forests.  The  oak  and  ash 
for  the  famous  ship  Kearsarge  was  cut 
by  Joseph  Barnard  of  Hopkinton  on 
the  slopes  of  the  mountain  of  that 
name  in  Merrimack  County,  which 
has  been  officially  settled  as  that  for 
which  the  vessel  was  called. 

There  were  various  minor  com- 
panies formed  for  enterprises  which 
never  ripened.  There  was  a  lively 
ferment  over  the  rates  and  a  new 
Union  Boat  Company  came  into  be- 
ing. The  Merrimack  Company  was 
goaded  into  reprisals  and  set  up  a 
store  for  iron,  sugar,  tea  and  other 
standard  groceries  and  goods,  wet 
and  dry.  If  one  side  was  composed 
of  greedy  rascals,  the  other  had  the 
same  possible  ingredients,  for  both 
finally  came  together. 

The  business  of  these  venturous 
men  is  now  something  to  smile  at. 
But  it  was  a  large  enterprise  then. 
In  a  Gazetteer  of  New  Hampshire, 
printed  by  John  Farmer  and  Jacob  B. 
Moore,  Concord,  1823,  a  cut  on  the 
title  page  is  suggestive.  There  are 
heavy  storm-clouds  in  the  back- 
ground, two  islands  with  trees  and 
what  is  recognizable  to  the  eye  of 
faith  as  a  canal  boat  and  crew.  On 
a  seal,  now  possessed  by  Miss  Effie 
Thorn  dike,  is  a  representation  of  a 
canal  boat  and  locks.  It  appears  to 
be  the  official  seal  of  a  company  called 
the  Bow  Canal  Corporation,  1808. 
The  name  is  new  to  any  record  I  can 
find.  It  is  a  cut,  metal-back,  and  had 
to  be  imprinted.  The  artistic  char- 
acter of  it  does  not  call  for  excessive 
enthusiasm. 

Let  me  suggest  reference  to  the 
very  first  page  of  the  new  History  of 
Concord.  You  will  find  several  page- 
size  maps,  and  though  familiar  you 
may  think  yourself  with  the  stream, 
you  will  experience  surprise  at  its 
tortuous  course,  for  it  is  an  enlarged 
Meander.  From  this  fact  arises  the 
Indian  name,  which  we  call  Pena- 
cook,  crooked  place.     (The  last  sylla- 


bles are  aukee,  in  reality!)  It  has  six 
great  bends  in  as  many  miles.  On  the 
bluff  at  the  bend  first  above  the  Free 
Bridge  was  fought  a  sanguinary  bat- 
tle: between  Indians.  These  bends 
force  the  current  towards  the  east, 
resulting  in  a  constant  erosion  of  that 
bank,  with  corresponding  additions 
to  the  western.  In  twenty-four  years, 
to  give  an  exact  example,  over  three 
acres  have  been  added  to  the  Gerrish 
Farm  in  Boscawen  in  this  manner. 

This  shifting  character  of  the  bed 
makes,  year  after  year,  new  shoals,  so 
that  where  it  was  deep,  where  I 
learned  to  swim,  a  tall  man  can  now 
wade  from  bank  to  bank,  with  dry 
shoulders.  Per  contra,  it  may  drop 
six  or  eight  feet  from  these  shallows, 
even  more,  on  the  instant.  This  fact- 
has  made  it  fatal,  historically,  to  un- 
wary youth  or  those  who  had  not 
established  confidence.  I  cannot  re- 
call a  year  in  which  it  has  not  claimed 
its  sacrifices.  The  most  notable  of 
these  was  the  drowning  of  Willie 
Fletcher,  an  only  son,  a  boy  who 
could  have  stood  as  a  Little  Lord 
Fauntleroy  for  beauty  and  promise. 
Sometimes  it  has  taken  three  days' 
search  by  swimmers,  deep-sea  divers 
and  by  firing  cannon  to  find  a  body. 
The  population  of  the  city,  at  such 
times,  has  been  roused  and  every 
means  and  possible  helpers  made  use 
of  freely.  The  Fletcher  boy  was 
never  found  and  was  supposed  to  be 
caught  in  some  root  or  submerged 
tree. 

The  landing  house  of  which  I  spoke 
as  just  south  of  the  Lower  Bridge, 
(then  a  toll  bridge)  will  bear  descrip- 
tion. It  appears  from  a  rude  picture, 
to  have  been  about  75  x  25  feet,  one 
story,  with  the  common  peak  roof. 
The  abutment  was  solid,  of  large, 
split  stone.  The  house  overhung  the 
river  about  fifty  feet,  supported  on 
strong  posts  which  rested  on  stone. 
The  boats  were  run  up  under  it  and 
unloaded  by  tackle  and  fails.  Sam- 
uel Butters  presided  over  this  freight 
house  and  Stephen  Ambrose  was  the 


24 


The  Granite  Monthly 


genius  loci  at  East  Concord.*  It 
seems  strange  that,  besides  the  ma- 
chinery, molasses,  rum,  salt  fish  and 
the  amazing  variety  of  the  rural 
country  store,,  that  grain,  flour  and 
butter  were  imported.  En  route,  the 
dry  goods  sometimes  became  wet 
goods,  for  the  unsalted  waters  had 
their  wrecks  like  those  on  the  great 
deep.  Theodore  French  was  one  of 
the  chief  men  interested  in  the  canal 
trade.  His  daughter,  Mrs.  C.  C. 
Lund,  told  me  that  there  never  was  a 
shortage  of  fabrics  damaged  by  water 
in  his  household,  and  that  these  were 
used  as  linings,  just  as  useful  but  not 
so  good  to  look  at,  especially  when  the 
dye  was  "  runny. "  These  wrecks 
were  sometimes  attended  with  fatali- 
ties to  the  boatmen  and  there  were  not 
infrequent  rescues  worthy  of  Carne- 
gie's biggest,  brightest  medal,  were 
there  such  a  thing  at  that  time. 

Along  the  highways,  in  fitting 
weather,  were  droves  of  cattle,  sheep 
and  even  turkeys.  With  the  latter, 
especial  care  was  taken,  toward  even- 
ing, for  they  knew  full  well  their 
roosting  time.  Hot,  winged  words, 
clubs  or  stones  could  not  swerve  them 
from  their  purpose.  Strings  of  Cana- 
dian and  Vermont  horses  made  their 
way  towards  Boston.  In  Winter, 
round  hogs,  sides  of  beef,  butter, 
apple-sauce,  pearl  and  potash  and 
other  rural  goods  were  carried  on 
low,  single-runner  sleds,  shod  and  un- 
shod. All  the  year  round,  the  mail 
coach  (or  sleigh)  loaded  top  and  rack 
with  luggage,  the  driver's  seat  and 
one  still  higher,  and  full  inside  like- 
wise, made  a  triumphal  progress. 
With  honest  iron  and  woodwork, 
wheels  that  would  bear  much  grief, 
on  leather  thoroughbraces,  it   defied 

*The  names  of  other  agents  were,  Caleb 
Stark,  Pembroke;  Richard  H.  Ayer,  Dunbar- 
ton;  Samuel  P.  Kidder,  Manchester;  N. 
Parker,  Merrimack;  Adams  &  Roby,  Thorn- 
ton's; James  Lund,  Litchfield;  Coburn  Blood, 
Dracut ;  Levi  Foster,  Chelmsford;  Noah  Lund, 
Billerica;  Jotham  Gillis,  Woburn;  William 
Rogers,  Medford;  Thomas  Kettell,  Charles- 
town;  David  Dodge,  Boston,  Rust's  wharf, 
just  above  Charles  River  bridge. 


ordinary  conditions.  Its  tin  horn 
called  the  surprised  and  dilatory  to 
this  chariot's  approach,  but  its  com- 
ings were  generally  anticipated  and 
greeted  with  acclaim.  Papers  and 
parcels  were  dropped.  Commissions 
reported  on,  letters  taken  on  and  de- 
livered and  any  startling  news  com- 
municated in  compact  summaries. 
The  whole  household,  cat  and  dog  in- 
cluded, generally  made  it  convenient 
to  attend.  A  crack  of  the  whip  and 
four  and  even  six  horses  buckled  to  it 
and  in  a  whirl  of  dust  made  up  the 
brief  time  of  waiting.  That  whip  had 
a  stock  five  feet  long.  The  lash  must 
have  been  all  of  twelve  and  was  han- 
dled in  adept  fashion.  The  driver  was 
one  who  had  presence  of  mind  and  was 
resourceful  in  tight  places. 

Of  course,  there  were  regular  stages 
from  neighbor  towns,  chief  of  which 
was  that  from  Pittsfield — six  horses, 
whose  grand  entree  was  the  small 
boy's  delight,  whose  hoop-la  dash  up 
Bridge  Street,  True  Garland  driver, 
is  something  to  be  remembered. 
There  were  moving  teams  and  supply' 
carts  for  country  stores;  things  com- 
ing and  going;  something  doing  al- 
ways, for  Concord  was  a  large  dis- 
tributing center. 

The  start  and  arrival  of  these  stages 
at  terminals  were,  literally  a  public 
function,  unless  very,  very  early  in 
the  morning.  There  were  partings 
and  greetings,  tears,  kisses,  handker- 
chief wavings  and  hat  and  hand  sa- 
lutes. It  was  indeed  much  more  than 
animated.  Later,  at  the  White  Moun- 
tains, it  was  a  dress  parade  of  every- 
body. The  landlord  was  the  grand 
chamberlain  and  master  of  cere- 
monies. He  personally  greeted  each 
guest  with  a  hearty  word  and  warm 
hand.  Glad  to  see  you!  Come  again! 
Don't  forget  us!  This  might  be  in- 
definitely elaborated.  It  was  a  mov- 
ing picture. 

Concord's  very  first  tavern  ap- 
pears to  have  been  where  the  First 
National  Bank  now  stands.  Here,  to 
Osgood's  Tavern,  were  carried  the 
bodies  of  those  massacred  by  Indians, 


The  Merrimack 


25 


on  the  Millville  road.  Stickney's 
Tavern,  for  long  years  in  the  hands  of 
a  landlord  of  that  name,  was  at  the 
corner  of  Main  and  Court  streets. 
There  was  a  huge  elm  there,  on  land 
very  much  higher  than  the  present 
elevation.  George  Peabody,  the 
banker  philanthropist,  sawed  wood 
(real  wood  and  real  saw),  at  this  place 
to  pay  for  accommodations.  There 
was  a  long  hall  there,  often  used  for 
dances  and  banquets.  The  old- 
fashioned  landlord  was  always  at  the 
fore  on  state  occasions  and  received  his 
guests  in  due  and  ancient  form,  assisted 
by  a  volunteer  staff  and  regular  helpers. 
His  person  vouched  for  what  was  to  be 
found  within  the  hostelry.  This  brings 
up  Shenst one's  lines: 

Whoe'er  has  travelled  life's  dull  round, 
Where'er  his  courses  may  have  been, 

May  sigh  to  think  he  still  has  found 
His  warmest  welcome  at  an  inn. 

The  food  was  of  the  most  substan- 
tial kind,  meats,  fowl  and  seasonable 
viands  predominating.  Gass'  Hotel 
was  later  the  leading  house,  on  the  site 
of  White's  Opera  House.  Butters' 
Tavern,  at  the  South  End,  was  of  an- 
other class,  but  more  than  good.  The 
fluids  dispensed  at  these  were  mainly 
rum  and  brandy,  though  port,  sherry 
and  sometimes  Madeira,  were  in  favor. 
The  rum  was  pure;  the  wines,  viva- 
cious. Malt  liquors  were  next  to  un- 
known to  real  popularity,  except  in  the 
form  of  flip,  produced  by  the  insertion 
of  a  hot  iron  in  the  brown  fluid,  which 
had  been  reinforced  by  an  element  of 
distilled  liquor.  It  was  common  to  see 
a  person  "chipper"  and  greater  lapses 


were  not  unpardonable.  Decanters 
were  seen  on  sideboards,  and  tippling 
was  a  part  of  barn  raisings  and  even 
church  occasions. 

These  taverns!  The  story  is  sus- 
ceptible of  vast  enlargements.  There 
is  a  six-foot-shelf  library  in  the  sug- 
gestion. Here,  in  this  then  little 
town,  came  men  of  fame,  such  as 
Talleyrand  and  Lafayette.  Presi- 
dents honored  us  and  vice  presidents, 
also  governors,  senators,  congressmen, 
judges,  professors,  divines,  physicians 
and  all  kinds  of  people;  legislators 
and  the  interested  persons  who  flock 
here  during  "  General  Court "  sessions. 
Debates  came  off  daily,  following 
other  debates  of  more  formal  char- 
acter. National  politics  and  state 
affairs  fairly  sizzled.  Policies  and 
strategic  movements  were  settled  and 
scuttled.  Orations  were  born  in  these 
tavern  rooms;  verses,  written;  super- 
heated editorials  were  dashed  off; 
correspondence,  mailed.  Romances 
were  begun,  to  end  only  with  life 
itself.  Jealousies,  envyings  and  hates 
sprang  up  in  this  human  hive.  And 
sometimes  a  hush  occurred  as  one  was 
stricken  and  his  passing  followed. 
The  pen  of  an  Irving  or  Cooper  is 
needed  to  describe  the  pulsing  of  the 
old-time  tavern's  heart.  Under  one 
roof,  it  was  a  mosaic  of  life,  where 
gathered  the  best,  the  noblest,  the 
wisest,  the  most  brainy  and  energetic 
(and  perhaps  some  others  whom  we 
now  pass  over),  as  well  as  the  purest, 
sweetest,  fairest  of  our  little  State,  who 
added  wholesome  leaven  in  their  time 
of  sojourn. 


CREATURES  OF  HABIT 

By  Georgie  Rogers  Warren 

Make  up  your  mind  just  the  right  thing  to  do — • 
And  then  form  a  habit — that  just  suits  you — 
Never  skip  a  day,  nor  an  hour,  nor  a  minute 
To  keep  this  habit— it  will  help  you  to  win  it. 
You  can  accomplish  anything — everything  in  sight, 
Only  know  the  habit  you've  formed — is  right — 
It  will  bring  health,  wealth,  and  wisdom  as  well, 
So  "get  the  habit"  today — but  never  tell. 


26  The  Granite  Monthly 


GOD  OF  AMERICA 

By  Hester  Jtf.  Kimball 

God  of  America, 

To  thee  we  come  and  bow: 

Long  have  we  failed  to  heed  thy  call, 
But  we  are  contrite  now. 

Lord  grant  us  soon  a  lasting  peace, 

And  let  this  dreadful  conflict  cease. 

God  of  America, 

We  kneel  before  thy  throne, 

Turn  to  this  land  thy  gentle  face, 
And  keep  us  as  thine  own. 

Help  in  thy  love  the  world  to  aid. 

And  bid  war's  ruthless  arm  be  stayed. 

God  of  America,, 

Bare  now  thy  powerful  arm. 

For  if  Thou  only  say  the  word, 
Swift  speeding  will  come  calm. 

Speak  Lord!  the  nations  then  must  hear, 

And  cease  the  strife,  both  far  and  near. 

God  of  America, 

Thy  mercy  we  implore; 
We  have  no  virtue  of  our  own, 

But  contrite  we  adore. 
Lord  in  thy  pitying  tender  grace, 
Turn  to  us  thine  averted  face. 

God  of  America. 

Whose  wise  far-seeing  eye 
Looks  on  the  good  to  come 

That  will  be  bye  and  bye, 
Help  us  to  see,  to  trust,  to  pray, 
And  leave  with  thee  each  coming  day. 

God  of  America, 

Midst  all  the  grief  and  woe, 

Still  with  unwavering  faith, 
To  thy  high  throne  we  go, 

There  may  we  leave  our  deep  distress — 

God  of  America — oh  bless. 
Pittsfield,  N.  H. 


PORTSMOUTH,  OLD  AND  NEW 

By  Fernando  Wood  Hartford 


Can  you  picture  Portsmouth  as  the 
industrial  center  of  the  State?  Well 
that  is  just  what  it  is  destined  to  be- 
come, and,  instead  of  the  old  pictur- 
esque "City  by  the  Sea/'  visitors  will 
find  a  hustling  manufacturing  com- 
munity. Portsmouth  with  its  ancient 
buildings,  rich  in  history,  will  remain, 
but  in  addition  we  will  have  hundreds, 
yes  thousands  of  new  and  modern 
homes. 


for  the  manufacture  of  munitions  and 
the  training  and  equipping  of  men. 
It  is  here  that  Uncle  Sam  is  building 
twelve  of  the  latest  submarines — 
those  dreaded  under-sea  fighting  ma- 
chines. Besides  this  work  which  is 
being  done  at  the  navy  yard  there  is 
the  manufacture  of  supplies  and  the 
fitting  out  of  war  ships.  This  work 
has  brought  about  an  increase  of  from 
1/200  men  to  4,000  and  this  number 


/ 

/ 

#T 

p* 

5? 

fSk 

: 

7      "    -         -:--r  ...  . 

■       .    '--■     V.              .-. 

i      i         :         '. 

■>•-? .' 

§* 

„v~~- 

. 

f  ' 

| 

1 

.TV,'. 

r 

5 

......          s  -  - 

•      - 

_..„..,_-^,~ 

-      -     ._ 

w$ 

-      —  -.  ^j.--x^r«~*«>-~ 

i ~; 

..-_~' '  ■'-»>-." 

%  J 

■    ' :  "    ' r  v  ■. 

""""  •  -     •»?_.m;  - 

U.  S.  Government  Building 


Today  one  has  difficulty  in  getting 
through  our  small  business  section  on 
account  of  the  crowds,  and  no  western 
boom  town  has  ever  exceeded  it  in 
business  life.  Hundreds  of  skilled 
mechanics  and  laborers  are  arriving 
daily  and,  with  from  five  to  ten  thou- 
sand army  and  navy  men,  one  can 
easily  picture  the  "New  Portsmouth." 

The  reason  for  all  this  change  is 
"the  war" — the  old  town  has  been 
turned  into  an  exclusively  war  camp 


will  be  increased  to  over  5,000.  With 
this  big  increase  in  mechanics,  there  is 
also  the  great  increase  in  facilities, 
new  buildings  and  equipment. 

The  establishment  of  a  govern- 
ment shipbuilding  plant  at  Newing- 
ton  in  June  last  has  given  employment 
to  800  and  this  will  be  increased  to 
2,200,  The  Atlantic  Corporation, 
which  has  taken  over  the  old  paper 
mill  plant  at  Freeman's  Point  to  build 
ten  steel  cargo   steamships  of  8,800 


28 


The  Granite  Monthly 


tons  each,   will   give  employment  to 
3,000  skilled  workmen. 

With  this  industrial  change  you  see 
the  picturesque  Portsmouth  of  a  few 
years  ago,  with  its  famous  breweries 
and  shoe  shops  only  disturbing   the 


and  bounding  upward  until  there  is 
not  an  inch  to  spare  in  sleeping  ac- 
commodations. Portsmouth  of  the 
old  days  is  now  a  thing  of  the  past, 
and  while  we  like  to  revel  in  its  his- 
torv,  it  is  the  historv-making  of  the 


jugate 


<•"/". 


\ 


I 


View  on  Pleasant  Street 


peace  and  quiet  of  our  ancient  city, 
disappearing. 

Portsmouth  will  not  be  happy  until 
it  attains  its  deserved  title  of  being 
the  metropolis  of  the  State.  For 
thirty  years  I  have  been  shouting  to 


future  that  is  of  more  interest  just- 
now.  Unless  all  signs  fail,  we  shall 
have  a  city  of  25,000  within  a  year  or 
two.  If  we  should  take  in  greater 
Portsmouth,  it  would  bring  the  popu- 
lation up  to  40,000. 


Itif.lfigSjS1 


.fv 


!■:! 


m 


-4 


'"'"•''ts. 


Portsmouth  Hospital 


our  citizens  that  "Old  Strawberry 
Bank''  possessed  the  natural  advan- 
tages that  would  some  da}'  put  her 
where  she  belonged — the  largest  city 
in  the  State. 

We  have  got  the  old  town  rolling 


THE  OLD  PORTSMOUTH 
Portsmouth,  settled  in  1623,  the 
port  of  entry  and  one  of  the  county 
seats  of  Rockingham  Count}',  New 
Hampshire,  is  situated  on  the  Piscat- 
aqua  River.    The  city  is  served  by  the 


Portsmouth,  Old  and  New 


29 


Boston  &  Maine  Railroad  and  electric 
car  lines  to  the  neighboring  towns  and 
beaches.     During  the  summer  season 


While  Portsmouth  is  the  oldest  per- 
manent settlement  in  the  State,  and 
one  of  the  oldest  in  the  country,  she 


.•■vi 


I 


ma  v  --''? 


•i^H 


St.  John's  Church 


The  Athenaeum 


there  is  an  important  trade  with 
neighboring  watering-places;  there  is 
also  a  large  transit  trade  in  coal. 


has  kept  pace  with  modern  ideas,  but 
not  to  such  an  extent  as  to  sweep 
away  all  of  her  native  charms..  On 
the  contrary,  she  still  preserves,  and 
there  is  a  growing  demand  that  she 
continue  to  preserve,  many  of  the  fine 
old  houses  and  places  of  historical  in- 
terest that  are  essential  to  her  own  rep- 
utation as  one  of  the  finest  "old  mod- 
ern towns'7  in  this  country.  Ports- 
mouth has  much  to  interest  tourists — 
in  her  ancient  architecture,  in  her 
quaint  customs,  in  her  charming  man- 
ners, and,  last  but  not  least,  in  her 
local  characteristics.  It  is  no  exag- 
geration to  say  that  a  stranger  will 
experience  a  confusion  of  delight  when 
he  finds  himself  in  our  midst.  The 
physical  features  of  the  surrounding 
country  contribute  an  additional 
charm  to  its  attractiveness.  The  land, 
with  its  miles  of  open  country  leading 
gracefully  to  the  seashore  and  to  the 
mountainous  structure  of  this  grand 
old  State,  is  exceedingly  rich  in  nat- 
ural   beautv.      During    the    summer 


30 


The  Granite  Monthly 


months  the  climate  is  unexcelled,  the 
warm  days  being  made  delightfully 
comfortable  by  eastern  breezes  from 
off  the  broad  Atlantic.  Portsmouth 
is,  indeed,  a  most  desirable  resort  for 
tourists,  as  these  facts  set  forth.  It 
is  the  "Beauty  Spot  of  New  Hamp- 
shire." 

The  city  is  well  supplied  with  pub- 
lic buildings,  schools,  churches,  chari- 
table institutions,  clubs,  societies  and 
fraternal  organizations.  The  streets 
and  roads  are  good  and  a  strong  effort 


It  has  the  distinct  advantage  of  being 
the  one  port  on  the  Atlantic  coast 
which  is  open  at  all  times  of  the  year, 
for  no  matter  how  severe  the  winter 
the  harbor  never  freezes.  This  was 
never  more  evident  than  in  the  winter 
of  1917-1918,  when,  with  all  of  the 
harbors  from  Baltimore  north  block- 
aded with  ice,  there  was  not  enough 
here  to  interfere  with  the  small  river 
boats. 

The  United  States  Geodetic  Sur- 
vey is  the  authority  for  the  fact  that 


z"'% 


3 


arsss^^s^ri^-  5i':,w-«j  *£*S.  ^.v*^ 


"   S£B6 


Portsmouth  Savings  Bank 


is  being  made  to  keep  them  up  to  a 
high  standard  of  excellence.   • 

Portsmouth  is  a  summer  resort  cen- 
ter, and  more  than  nine  million  dollars 
have  been  invested  in  this  section  by 
summer  colonists.  The  city  has  some 
of  the  finest  stores  east  of  Boston. 
Trolley  lines  connect  it  with  the  sur- 
rounding towns. 

Portsmouth  Harbor 

The  greatest  asset  of  the  city  is  the 
splendid  harbor,  which  can  accommo- 
date the  largest  ships  and  makes  pos- 
sible  commerce   with  all   the   world. 


Portsmouth  harbor -is  the  deepest  on 
the  Atlantic  coast  and  to  this  might 
be  added,  with  just  as  much  positive- 
ness,  that  it  is  one  of  the  safest  and 
best.  In  the  harbor  and  river  there 
is  a  channel  eight  miles  long  with  a 
depth  of  water  of  at  least  seventy  feet 
at  low  tide.  This  extends  from  the 
mouth  of  the  harbor  to  Dover  Point, 
five  miles  above  the  city.  The  channel 
at  the  widest  part,  in  front  of  the 
navy  yard,  is  about  5,000  feet  and  in 
the  narrowest  part  700  feet,  thus  af- 
fording a  sea  way  for  the  largest  ves- 
sel that  is  now  afloat. 


Portsmouth,  Old  and  New 


31 


The  lower  harbor  has  a  fine  hold-  very  substantial   structure.     Iu   this 

ing  ground  for  anchorage,  and  it   is  building  is  housed  the  Postoffice,  In- 

60  landlocked    that    once    inside    of  ternal  Revenue  Department  of  Maine, 

Whale's  Back  light,  shipping  is  safe  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont,  Port 


1 

{                ' 

t^~Pji 

""" ,-. "::...%.  if  1  :  ■  i.  2  -  ^4§sfl 

".    •  -  -  •■  --■•..  .             •■ " ','  1  j 

1  ■"• : " 

-» 

p 

-V.-       «.* "  "'■;    '"  .'.  V   .'.  ..  J    s2K&83 

, 

.pees**---* ■ 

1  ■"" 

_ 

-  -**>r£ .'    •  •  "~  3352^ 

Public  Library 

from  the  hardest  blow.    The  entrance  Collector     and     the     United     States 

is   marked   by   two   lighthouses   and  Court. 

there  are  no  bars  or  reefs  to  trap  the  The    Rockingham    County    Court 

careless  navigator.  House  was  built  in  1891,  and  is  but  a 


S3     '  ■■:"/'/-'-'-.     t 

^^V^g    _■ \- 

.    ■  ■     ■•                                     '    v-. 

Wfy£&& 

{,  ■  ■  >  •-•' 

■'/''.:,' 

"    ,    .'    -"^ 

•■  -       • 

;                 "■'-'•    .  S 

«  •     ■ 

!  i 

\f             ■  ■•    -flff" 

t 

i 

fcfjy^^j;;i3..>.. 

"    r    ■                          "   "                   'M 

i.:-  * -'-— ■  .-.'?.■■-  -- 

3            1  : 

-  •          -    *•*-- --   _ .  _ 

•"  •  ■  ^:--^r~'!7:- 

The   Custom    House   axd 

office  Building 
Was  erected  during  the  administra- 
tion of  President  Franklin  Pierce.    It 
is  built  of  Concord  granite  and  is  a 


Governor  Langdon  Mansion 

Post- 


short  distance  from  the  Postoffice. 
The  Rockingham  County  Bar  has  had 
many  celebrated  legal  lights,  among 
whom  were  Jeremiah  Mason  and 
Daniel  Webster. 


32 


The  Granite -Monthly 


»  Industries 

Portsmouth  has  several  industries 
which  would  do  credit  to  a  larger  city. 
Among  them  are  the  Atlantic  Corpo- 
ration; the  Morley  Button  Company, 
the  largest  concern  of  its  kind  in  the 
world;  the  Gale  Shoe  Company, 
which  employs  several  hundred  hands; 
the  American  Arquenthol  Chemical 
Company  Plant;  the  Portsmouth 
Tannery  Company;  the  Portsmouth 
Foundry  Company;  the  Rockingham 
Count}'  Light  and  Power  Company, 


have  had  much  to  do  with  the  early 
history  of  the  settlement. 

St.  John's  (Episcopal)  Church,  one 
of  the  historic  spots  of  the  city,  dates 
back  to  about  1638.  Nearly  all  the 
first  settlers  were  members  of  the 
Church  of  England.  The  original 
plate  and  service  were  sent  over  by 
John  Mason.  The  present  structure 
was  built  in  1806  on  the  site  of 
Queen's  Chapel,  which  had  been  de- 
stroyed by  fire.  The  North  Congre- 
gational Church  also  dates  back  to 


j-'-VV'- 

m  ^jv "  r>-  y '  *-  *  ■ l  *■"">•  .     *««(■  . . 

fc"C'  ."''•• 

gf§!     '  ::%^ 

v 

.■■^■'■^■/     ■       t  ■  '.■  .  v      5  J  * 

•      ■  ■-/■  :££*  ;%^ 

Wt 

;     i    <;■   .    ~  '--  ■;■    • 

\ 

0  ■                   ,            .;  :\ 

!j  il  Zi  n 

:  -'- 

"•'.  s 

■ 

-  :   i    ^23 

~r       ■■■  ..:..,\       I 

I    .. 

. 

if     ■■'    I    j*    •"  ' 

%    ■ 

jT'if 

'   •••---  .     jj  ,.  .„,.-;                  _  ,         ,    .      _ 

IS  i-~j 

'       ;       ..                    '      i                          g          -       V    1             ..      ,. 

as  .;■—•.- 

S  ! 

1 

-'     i  *-j!      -if                  $ 

Fvfll 

j 

I    •  .  -.     ! 
. . "  .•        >.  i          j.  - 

USB 

c".  ' 

i_.   -.^li^ 

t-            - 

.     ._.  ^, 

= 

.--■^■,ri-.----;g^ 

New  Hampshire  National  Bank 


and  the  W.  H.  McElwain  Shoe  Com- 
pany's extensive  lumber  wharves  on 
the  upper  river  front. 

Portsmouth  is  the  coal  port  of  the 
State  of  New  Hampshire  and  a  good 
part  of  Maine  and  Vermont.  More 
than  half  a  million  tons  are  annually 
shipped  by  rail  to  the  great  mills  at 
Manchester,  Dover,  Concord  and 
other  inland  cities. 

A  City  of  Churches 
Portsmouth  has  no  less  than  fifteen 
churches,  representing  nearly  every  de- 
nomination.    Some  of  these  churches 


very  early  days,  having  been  estab- 
lished in  1640,  with  a  location  on  its 
present  site  since  1712.  The  Unita- 
rian (South  Parish)  dates  back  to 
1715;  the  Universalist  to  1784;  the 
Christian  Church  to  1802;  the  Metho- 
dist to  1790;  the  Middle  Street  Bap- 
tist to  1828;  and  so  on  to  the  Christ 
(Episcopal)  Church,  which  was  the 
scene  of  the  Te  Deuin  for  the  end- 
ing of  the  Russo-Japanese  War,  the 
services  being  held  on  the  afternoon 
following  the  signing  of  the  Treaty  of 
Portsmouth,  and  on  each  anniversary 
a  peace  service  is  held. 


Portsmouth,  Old  and  New 


33 


The  Navy  Yard 
A  United  States  navy  yard,  offi- 
cially known  as  the  Portsmouth  Navy 
Yard,  is  on  an  island  of  the  Piseata- 
qua  River,  and  is  one  of  the  finest  and 
best   located    naval   stations    in    this 


here.  In  1S66  the  yard  was  enlarged 
by  connecting  Seavey's  Island  with 
Fernald's.  The  yard  has  a  modern 
equipped  plant  with  a  stone  dry  dock 
750  feet  long,  100  feet  wide  and  35 
feet  deep,  excavated  out  of  solid  rock. 


'■■55." 


i 


* 


I 

i  ■ 

L 


1,-.  a 

.  .IV!',- 


Portsmouth  Athletic  Club 


country.  The  yard  has  a  water  front- 
age of  nearly  three  miles,  practically 
all  of  it  with  a  depth  of  water  ranging 
from  fifty  to  seventy-five  feet  at  low 
water,  allowing  the  largest  battle- 
ships that  can  ever  be  built  to  reach 
its  docks.     In  1800  Fernald's  Island 


On  Seavey's  Island  the  Spanish  sail- 
ors captured  during  the  Spanish- 
American  War  were  held  prisoners  in 
July-September,  1898.  In  1905  the 
treaty  ending  the  war  between  Russia 
and  Japan  was  negotiated  in  what  is 
known  as  the  " Peace  Building."     A 


-^vV 


*ffm    1 


■■ ""   .    . . 


Gale  Shoe  Factory 


was  purchased  by  the  federal  govern- 
ment for  a  navy  yard.  It  was  the 
scene  of  considerable  activity  during 
the  War  of  1812,  but  was  of  much 
greater  importance  during  the  Civil 
War,  when  the  famous  Kearsarge  and 
several  other  war  vessels  were  built 
3 


large  naval  prison  and  the  best  naval 
hospital  on  the  coast  have  recently 
been  erected.  It  employs  today 
nearly  5,000  men. 

A  City  of  Colonial  Houses 
No  city  in  New  England  is  richer 


34 


The  Granite  Monthly 


in  fine  old  Colonial  houses  than  Ports- 
mouth. Here  are  some  of  the  finest 
examples  of  colonial  architecture  to  be 
found,  and  in  most  cases  they  have 
been  preserved  in  their  original 
beauty. 

Among  the  finest  examples  is  the 
Governor  John  Langdon  mansion  on 
Pleasant  Street,  adopted  as  a  model 
for  a  New  Hampshire  house  at  the 
Jamestown  exposition,  erected  in  17S4 
by  Governor  John  Langdon,  a  direct 
descendant  still  living  there;  the  Gov- 
ernor Penning  Wentworth  mansion, 


drich,  was  built  previous  to  1812.  On 
August  1.  1907,  the  house  was  pur- 
chased and  opened  to  the  public. 

Thomas  Bailey  Aldrich  was  born 
in  Portsmouth,  November  11,  1836. 
In  early  manhood  he  entered  a  mer- 
cantile house  in  New  York,  but  in 
1SG6  he  removed  to  Boston  and  be- 
came editor  of  Every  Saturday,  and 
afterward  of  the  Atlantic  Monthly. 
He  was  equally  eminent  as  a  writer 
of  prose  and  a  poet.  His  best  known 
prose  work  is  "The  Storv  of  a  Bad 
Boy." 


%■   .-■■-■'       T   " 


The  Aldrich  Memorial 


at  Little  Harbor,  made  famous  by 
Longfellow;  the  Governor  John  Went- 
worth house,  built  in  1769;  the  War- 
ner mansion,  on  Daniel  Street,  built 
of  brick  in  1712-15;  the  Moffat 
house  on  Market  Street,  the  home  of 
William  Whipple,  and  now  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Colonial  Dames;  the 
Pierce  mansion,  on  Middle  Street, 
and  many  others.  The  front  doors  of 
many  of  these  houses  have  long  since 
been  recognized  as  among  the  finest 
to  be  found. 

Aldrich  Memorial 
The    boyhood    home    of   the    well- 
known    author,    Thomas    Bailev    Al- 


PORTSMOUTH    PUBLIC    LIBRARY 

Was  designed  by  that  celebrated 
architect,  Charles  Bulfinch.  and 
erected  in  1809  for  an  academy.  It 
was  used  as  such  until  1868  when  it 
became  a  public  school.  In  1881  it 
was  remodeled  and  became  the  home 
of  the  public  library.  The  library  is 
maintained  by  the  city  and  has  a 
fine  endowment  for  the  purchase  of 
books.  There  are  now  20,000  vol- 
umes, many  of  them  very  rare. 

The  Portsmouth  Athenaeum 
Is  one  of  the  handsomest  old  struc- 
tures in  the  city.     It  is  located  in  a. 
prominent  position  in  Market  Square. 


Portsmouth,  Old  and  New 


35 


The  Portsmouth  Athenaeum  was  es- 
tablished as  a  library  by  an  act  of 
the  legislature  in  1817,  It  contains 
one  of  the  finest  and  most  valu- 
able libraries  in  the  country.  It  is 
especially  rich  in  rare  prints  and 
pamphlets  of  early   provincial    days. 


city  of  its  size.  The  principal  play- 
ground is  situated  in  the  center  of  the 
city,  bordering  the  shores  of  the  South 
pond,  and  contains  nine  acres.  Here 
is  found  every  equipment  necessary 
for  playground  work,  including  a 
large  ball  field,  tennis  courts,  running: 


.-  - 


X 


£9837 


M       i 


I 


U.  S.  S.  Chester  Leaving  the  Navy  Yard 


It  has  received  many  legacies;  among 
the  most  valuable  were  those  of 
Benjamin  T.  Tredick  of  Philadel- 
phia, and  Charles  Levi  Woodbury  of 
Boston. 

Parks  and  Playgrounds 

The  park  and  playground  system  of 
Portsmouth  cannot  be  equaled  by  smy 


track,  etc.  Three  parks,  Langdon, 
Haven  and  Goodwin,  having  a  total 
area  of  seven  acres,  all  pleasantly  sit- 
uated and  well  kept  up,  afford  fine 
recreation  grounds  for  visitors  and  the 
public.  At  Goodwin  Park  is  the 
soldiers  and  sailors  monument,  and  at 
Haven  Park  is  a  statue  of  Gen.  Fitz- 
John  Porter. 


APRIL 

By  Bela  Chopin 

Now  the  April  winds  are  blowing 
Over  valley,  hill  and  plain, 

And  the  streams  are  overflowing 
With  the  melted  snow  and  rain. 


36  The  Granite  Monthly 

Cheering  sunbeams,  gentle  showers, 
Will  reanimation  bring; 

Haste  away,  ye  tardy  hours, 
Hasten  on  the  welcome  spring. 

Long  did  winter  rule  in  rigor, 
^  Long  did  freezing  north  winds  blow 
Now  will  spring  awake  in  vigor 
And  life-giving  joy  bestow. 

April  with  its  winds  and  showers 
Comes  with  many  pleasures  rife; 

Even  now  in  woodland  bowers 
Budding  flowers  wake  to  life. 

Now  is  gone  the  wintry  sadness, 
Dreariness  that  reigned  so  long; 

Now  returned,  and  full  of  gladness, 
Doth  the  robin  pour  his  song. 

In  the  valleys,  on  the  mountains, 
In  the  fields  and  forests  bare, 

By  the  rivers,  by  the  fountains. 
Nature  wakes  new  life  to  share. 


"THE  SWORD  OF  JESUS" 

[On  reading  Harold  B?U  Wright's  wonderful  article  in  the  American  Magazine  for  February 

1918  entitled  as  above] 

O  sword  of  Jesus,  sacred  blade, 
On  Freedom's  holy  altar  laid! 
In  hand  divine,  lead  thou  the  fight, 
Of  allied  millions,  for  the  right. 

Lead  thou  the  fight  against  the  Hun, 
Until  the  glorious  work  is  done. 
And  all  the  round  world  safe  shall  be 
For  Freedom  and  Humanity! 

Lead  thou  us  on,  oh  shining  sword, 

In  Christ's  own  hand, — our  Master,  Lord, — 

Till  all  the  serried  hosts  of  wrong 

Are  vanquished  by  our  legions,  strong. 

Oh  sword  of  Jesus,  lead  the  fight, 
For  truth  and  justice  and  for  right, 
Till  War  forevermore  shall  cease, 
And  reigns  an  everlasting  peace! 

.-     H.  H.  M. 


THE   SCOTCH    PRESBYTERIAN    IN  THE 
AMERICAN  REVOLUTION 

By  Jonathan  Smith 


At  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution 
the  people  of  the  Colonies  were  com- 
posed of  several  nationalities  of  which 
the  English  were  by  far  the  most  nu- 
merous. Next  in  point  of  numbers 
were  the  Scotch  Irish  from  Ulster. 
Besides  these  were  the  Dutch  in  New 
York,  the  Germans  in  Pennsylvania, 
Swedes  and  Finns  in  Delaware,  and 
the  French  Huguenots  in  South  Caro- 
lina. 

The  propriety  of  the  name,  "Scotch 
Irish,"  to  designate  the  immigrants 
from  the  north  of  Ireland,  has  been 
challenged  by  Irish  writers  but 
wrongly  so  when  the  purpose  of  its 
use  is  seen.  It  is  applied  to  that  por- 
tion of  the  inhabitants  of  Ulster  who, 
themselves  or  their  ancestors,  had 
migrated  from  Scotland  to  the  north 
of  Ireland  in  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries,  and  had  not  in- 
termarried with  the  Celtic  Irish, 
though  they  had  intermarried  to  a 
limited  extent  with  the  English  and 
French  which  had  settled  there. 
They  were  Protestant  in  faith  and 
held  certain  political  and  religious 
views  not  accepted  by  the  native  in- 
habitants. The  term  has  no  refer- 
ence to  racial  origin  but  is  rather  one 
of  convenience  to  distinguish  a  certain 
class  of  immigrants  of  Scotch  descent 
and  holding  certain  political  and  re- 
ligious views.  They  were  as  purely 
Scotch  in  blood,  character,  temper, 
and  habits  as  if  they  had  been  born  in 
Edinburgh,  and  were  almost  as  dis- 
tinct in  race  and  religious  organiza- 
tion from  the  people  of  England  as 
they  were  from  the  Catholic  and  "Cel- 
tic Irish  population  which  they  dis- 
placed. The  portion  of  them  which 
came  to  this  country  prior  to  1775 
were  of  the  Presbyterian  faith  and 
ardent  Calvinists.  *  The  term  as  ap- 


plied to  these  people  is  in  general  use. 
It  was  employed  by  Froude  and  by 
Windsor,  Bancroft,  Campbell,  Fiske 
and  others  of  the  American  historians. 
It  is  universally  used  by  the  people 
and  their  descendants  in  this  country 
but  not  elsewhere. 

These  Scotch  Irish  Presbyterians 
accepted  the  five  points  of  Calvinism: 
Election,  Total  Depravity,  Particular 
Redemption,   Irresistible   Grace,   and 


s 


/ 


\ 


V 


■y 


y.i^ 


Jonathan  Smith 

the  Perseverance  of  the  Saints,  with- 
out doubt  or  hesitation.  Its  harsh 
doctrines  harmonized  with  the  Scotch 
disposition  and  temper.  Calvinism 
was  based  on  three  great  axioms:  the 
Sovereignty  of  God,  the  Supremacy 
of  the  Divine  Law,  to  which  princes 
and  potentates  were  equally  subject 
with  the  humblest  citizen,  and  the 
dignity  and  worth  of  the  Individual 
Soul.  It  was  a  theology  that  elevated 
man  because  it  honored  God.  Under 
its  creed  and  discipline  the  humblest 


3S 


The  Granite  Monthly 


member  of  the  church  sought  to  know 
the  Divine  Law  which  was  to  raise  the 
temporal  kingdoms  of  this  world  into 
the  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  to  this 
Law  he  yielded  implicit  obedience. 
Human  ordinances  were  to  be  re- 
spected only  so  far  as  they  conformed 
to  the  Divine  Law,  and  in  case  of 
conflict  the  human  law  must  and  did 
give  way.  No  church,  bishop,  or 
priest  was  permitted  to  interpose  be- 
tween the  human  soul  and  its  Creator, 
for  the  individual  stood  alone  in  his 
"Great  Taskmaster's  eye." 

In  the  interpretation  of  his  creed 
the  Presbyterian  went  to  the  Bible 
for  its  meaning,  and  in  the  last  analy- 
sis his  own  reason  and  conscience 
were  the  final  interpreters  of  his  faith. 
It  made  of  the  Calvinist  a  thinker  and 
student,  stimulated  his  intellectual 
powers,  led  him  to  be  fearless  in  his 
judgments,  and  independent  in  politi- 
cal and  religious  principles  and  ac- 
tions. His  deductions  thus  formed 
regulated  his  conduct  in  civil  and 
church  affairs.  The  Bible  was  to 
him  the  great  authority  and  he 
studied  the  Old  Testament,  with  its 
tales  of*  cruel  wars  and  awful  judg- 
ments against  the  persecutors  of  the 
chosen  people,  rather  than  the  New 
with  its  gentler  teachings  of  love, 
mercy,  and  forgiveness.  "A  man's 
religion,"  says  Carlyle,  "is  the  chief 
part  of  him,"  and  it  was  particularly 
true  of  the  Calvinist  believer.  Both 
in  principle  and  application  it  was 
thoroughly  democratic  and  no  people 
once  accepting  it  has  ever  bent  the 
knee  to  despotic  power.  It  drove  the 
Spaniard  from  the  Netherlands,  its 
Huguenot  believers  emigrated  from 
France  after  the  revocation  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantes,  it  overthrew  the 
Stewarts  in  England,  and  in  Scotland 
its  followers  slew  two  kings  of  the 
Stewart  line,  deposed  two,  drove 
Queen  Mary  from  the  country,  took 
captive  her  son,  James  VI,  and  car- 
ried him  around  the  country  a  pris- 
oner. It  was  the  first  to  raise  the 
standard  of  rebellion  against  Charles 
I,  and  later,  gaining  possession  of  his 


person,  sold  him  to  his  English  ene- 
mies for  a  price. 

Of  this  faith  Scotch  Presbyterian- 
ism  was  the  fullest  and  most  complete 
expression,  and  by  it  Calvinistic  doc- 
trines were  pushed  farthest  to  their 
logical  conclusions.  Its  form  of  church 
government  and  creed  were  demo- 
cratic in  principle  and  practice.  In 
the  church,  in  the  Presbytery,  the 
Synod,  and  in  the  General  Assembly, 
the  laity  were  represented  and  joined 
with  equal  voice  in  determining  ac- 
tion and  general  policies.  The  demo- 
cratic principle,  dominant  in  creed 
and  form  of  church  government,  was 
naturally  carried  into  political  ac- 
tion. In  his  famous  "Counterblast" 
John  Knox  gave  full  expression  to 
Presbyterianism  as  it  applied  to  civil 
affairs,  defining  the  limits  of  royal 
power  and  the  rights  of  the  people, 
and  laid  down  the  following  doc- 
trines: first,  the  authority  of  kings 
and  princes  was  originally  derived 
from  the  people;  second,  that  the 
former  are  not  superior  to  the  latter 
collectively  considered;  third,  that  if 
rulers  became  tyrannical  or  employed 
their  power  for  the  destruction  of 
their  subjects  they  may  be  lawfully 
controlled,  or  proving  incompetent 
may  be  deposed  by  the  community 
as  the  superior  power;  fourth,  ty- 
rants may  be  lawfully  proceeded 
against  even  to  capital  punishment. 
In  his  famous  interview  with  Queen 
Mary,  Knox  repeated  these  precepts 
to  her.  "Think  you,"  said  the  Queen 
to  him.  "that  subjects  having  the 
power  may  resist  their  princes?"  "If 
princes  exceed  their  powers,  madam, 
no  doubt  they  may  be  resisted  even 
by  power,"  was  the  bold  reply.  And 
Andrew  Melville  was  still  more  auda- 
cious to  James  I  (James  VI  of  Scot- 
land); "There  are  two  kings  and  two 
kingdoms  in  Scotland,  there  is  King 
James  the  head  of  the  Common- 
wealth and  there  is  Christ  Jesus  the 
King  of  the  church  whose  subject 
King  James  is  and  of  whose  kingdom 
he  is  not  a  kins;  or  a  lord  nor  a  head 
but  a  member."    These  statements  of 


The  Scotch  Presbyterian  in  the  American  Revolution 


39 


Knox  and  Melville  expressed  the  at- 
titude of  the  Scotch  Presbyterian 
towards  the  civil  power  and  in  action 
he  was  consistent  therewith  both  in 
Great  Britain  and  America. 

He  professed  loyalty  to  the  govern- 
ment so  long  as  that  government  rep- 
resented the  will  of  the  people  and 
was  not  arbitrary  and  tyrannical  in 
its  laws  and  their  administration;  but 
he  separated  the  religious  from  the 
civil  authority.  The  church  in  his 
view  was  independent  of  all  political 
control,  not  only  as  to  its  religious 
creed  but  in  its  forms  of  worship  and. 
church  government.  He  was  op- 
posed to  taxation  without  representa- 
tion, and  recognized  the  fact  that- 
civil  and  religious  liberty  stood  or  fell 
together.  Herein  is  the  key  to  the 
position  and  conduct  of  the  Scotch 
Presbyterian,  both  in  Ulster  and  in 
this  country  prior  to  the  Revolution. 

The  Scotch  Presbyterians  coming 
here  were  from  the  north  of  Ireland. 
Prior  to  the  Revolution  the  numbers 
migrating  from  Scotland  were  few 
and  negligible.  The  causes  of  the 
large  migration  from  Ulster  to  Amer- 
ica between  1719  and  1775  are  well 
understood.  In  all  wars  and  con- 
troversies occurring  in  Ireland  the 
Scotch  Presbyterians  had  taken  sides 
with  the  crown.  By  their  victory  in 
the  siege  of  Londonderry,  in  1689, 
against  King  James  and  his  French 
allies,  they  had  saved  the  city  and 
Ireland  to  Great  Britain  and  made 
secure  to  William  III  the  English 
throne.  Under  the  laws  theretofore 
existing,  they  had  become  prosperous 
and  reasonably  happy  and  content. 
But  England  was  not  satisfied,  and 
soon  passed  a  series  of  enactments 
which  wrought  a  radical  change  in 
the  condition  of  the  people.  The 
first  of  these  was  a  statute  forbidding 
the  export  of  cattle  to  England.  Bv 
the  Fifteenth  of  Charles  II,  Ireland 
was  brought  under  the  provisions  of 
the  Navigation  Acts,  under  which  its 
shipping  was  treated  as  the  shipping 
of  foreigners  in  English  ports.  Later, 
a  law  was  passed  forbidding  the  peo- 


ple of  Ireland  to  export  their  woolen 
cloth  to  England;  and  later  still,  an- 
other, forbidding  them  to  sell  the  it- 
wool  to  any  other  country  than  Eng- 
land, thus  enabling  the  English  man- 
ufacturers to  purchase  it  at  their  own 
price.  In  1704  came  the  Test  Act, 
which  deprived  the  Presbyterians  of 
all  civil  and  military  offices  down  to 
the  petty  constable.  The  effect  of 
this  law  was  to  empty  the  town  coun- 
cils of  Londonderry  and  Belfast  of  a 
large  number  of  representatives,  a 
majority  of  whom  had  fought  in  the 
siege  of  the  former  city  and  help  save 
it  to  the  British  crown.  Many  Pres- 
byterian marriages  were  annulled  and 
their  children  declared  illegitimate. 
Acts  were  passed  depriving  Presby- 
terian ministers  of  their  holdings,  un- 
der which  in  Ulster,  sixty-two  of 
them  were  driven  from  their  livings, 
and  their  pulpits  were  filled  by  cu- 
rates of  the  established  church,  some 
of  whom  were  unworthy  of  the  sacred 
office.  In  parts  of  Ulster  they  were 
not  even  permitted  to  bury  their  dead 
unless  an  Episcopal  minister  was  pres- 
ent and  read  the  liturgy.  Between 
1715  and  1775  the  leases  under  which 
they  held  their  land  expired  and  as 
fast  as  they  ran  out  the  landlords  im- 
mediately doubled  and  trebled  the 
rent.  The  results  of  all  these  things 
were  destructive  and  far-reaching. 
Agriculture  and  the  woolen  industry 
were  ruined  and  chronic  scarcity  al- 
ternated with  actual  famine. 

Rev.  Daniel  McGregor,  on  the  eve 
of  the  departure  of  the  Londonderry 
(N.  H.)  settlers  from  Ireland,  thus 
stated  their  reasons  for  coming  to 
America : 

First,  to  avoid  oppression  and  cruel 
bondage;  second,  to  avoid  persecu- 
tion and  designed  ruin;  third,  to 
withdraw  from  the  communion  of 
idolators;  fourth,  to  have  an  oppor- 
tunity of  worshiping  God  according 
to  the  dictates  of  conscience  and  the 
rules  of  the  inspired  Word.  Such 
were  their  motives  for  leaving  Ireland 
and  migrating  to  America. 

These   facts   are   stated   fomewhat 


40 


The  Granite  Monthly 


fully  because  they  furnish  the  key  to 
the  Scotch  Irish  Presbyterian  charac- 
ter, and  explain  his  presence  and  at- 
titude in  the  Colonies  in  their  strug- 
gle with  the  mother  country.  While 
the  exodus  began  as  early  as  1683  it 
did  not  attain  considerable  propor- 
tions until  1719,  when  the  first  large 
company,  seven  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  in  number,  arrived  in  Boston. 
From  that  time  on  to  1775  the}'  came 
in  shiploads  every  year.  It  has  been 
estimated  that  from  1720  to  1750  the 
average  number  coming  was  twelve 
thousand  a  year.  The  historian 
Lecky  places  it  at  twelve  thousand 
annually  for  several  years.  In  1736 
one  thousand  families  sailed  from 
Belfast  alone.  In  1772  and  1773, 
thirty  thousand  arrived  in  Philadel- 
phia from  County  Antrim.  So  .large 
was  the  migration  that  the  Quaker 
governor  of  Pennsylvania  expressed 
fears  that  these  immigrants  would 
soon  be  in  the  majority  in  the  state 
and  control  its  policy.  In  1775  Penn- 
sylvania had  a  population  of  350,000 
of  which  one-third  was  Scotch  Irish. 
Large  numbers  came  to  Virginia, 
North  Carolina,  and  South  Carolina. 
They  were  numerous  also  in  [Mary- 
land and  New  York  and  were  found 
in  all  the  thirteen  states.  By  1775 
they  composed  from  one  fifth  to  one 
fourth  of  the  entire  population  of  the 
Colonies  and  in  numbers  and  influ- 
ence were  far  greater  than  the  Hol- 
landers, French,  and  Germans  com- 
bined. The  migration  was  in  families, 
the  young,  the  middle-aged,  the 
brave,  the  energetic;  all  filled  with  an 
earnest  desire  to  better  their  economic 
condition  and  enjoy  their  chosen 
faith.  They  brought  with  them  to 
this  country,  their  arts,  tools,  and 
habits  of  industry,  a  knowledge  of 
agriculture,  and  a  fearlessness  of 
perils  from  the  savage  and  the  wilder- 
ness. They  also  brought  with  them 
bitter  memories  of  cruel  oppression, 
religious  persecution,  and  the  poverty 
and  distress,  which  they  had  suffered 
at  the  hands  of  royal  and  priestly 
power  in  Ireland.    A  home  was  sought 


here  that  they  might  be  free  from 
English  tyranny,  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  work  out  their  political 
destiny,  and  to  worship  under  the 
forms  of  their  chosen  faith.  It  was 
inevitable  that  when  the  struggle  be- 
tween the  Colonies  and  the  mother 
country  began  they  should  be  found 
on  the  side  of  the  people  and  that 
they  would  serve  the  American  cause 
with  an  unanimity  and  efficiency  not 
equaled  by  any  other  people.  Their 
aims  were  constantly  before  them  for 
on  the  walls  of  the  Scotch  Presby- 
terian's humble  home  were  placed 
copies  of  the  national  covenant  of 
Scotland  which  many  of  their  an- 
cestors had  sealed  with  their  blood. 

Presbyterian  churches  were  numer- 
ous in  all  the  Colonies:  In  1775  there 
were  of  the  Presbyterian  faith :  twenty- 
eight  in  Maine,  thirty-eight  in  New 
Plampshire  and  Vermont,  eighteen 
in  Massachusetts,  fifty-five  in  New 
York,  eighty-three  in  New  Jersey, 
ninety-two  in  Pennsylvania,  sixty- 
nine  in  Virginia,  forty-five  in  North 
Carolina,  and  forty-three  in  South 
Carolina.  In  all  there  were  more 
than  five  hundred  churches  and  Pres- 
byterian settlements  in  the  states, 
which  were  grouped  in  presbyteries, 
some  ten  or  more  in  number,  located 
in  different  parts  of  the  country. 
These  presbyteries  were  united  in  a 
general  Synod,  first  organized  in  1717, 
and  which  met  annually  in  Philadel- 
phia. The  ministry  was  an  able  one, 
most  of  the  clergy  being  graduates  of 
Scotch  universities.  They  were  not 
like  the  Apostle  Peter  who  "sat  by 
the  fire  warming  himself"  in  the 
crisis  of  his  Master's  fate.  On  the 
contrary  they  were  leaders  of  their 
flocks,  bold,  aggressive,  and  defiant 
for  what  they  believed  to  be  the  civic 
and  religious  rights  of  their  people. 
These  presbyteries  were  made  up  of 
the  clergy  and  lay  elders  of  the  dif- 
ferent churches  and  were  centers  of 
political  no  less  than  religious  influ- 
ence. At  the  meetings  all  questions 
affecting  the  people  in  their  civic  and 
church   relations   were   debated,   and 


The  Scotch  Presbyterian  in  the  American  Revolution 


41 


so  their  convictions  were  nourished 
and  confirmed.  It  was  deemed  an 
offence  worthy  of  discipline  for  a 
minister  to  exhibit  British  sympa- 
thies. One  Captain  Johann  Heinrich 
of  the  Hessian  troops  wrote  thus  from 
Philadelphia  in  1778  to  a  friend, 
"Call  this  war  by  whatever  name  you 
may  only  call  it  not  an  American  re- 
bellion, it  is  nothing  more  or  less  than 
a  Scotch  Irish  Presbyterian  rebellion." 

The  Scotch  Irish  Presbyterians 
holding  strongly  to  their  opinions 
omitted  no  opportunity  to  assert 
them  when  the  people  thought  they 
had  been  unjustly  dealt  with.  They 
were  probably  the  very  first  to  oppose 
the  arbitrary  power  of  the  British 
authorities  in  America  and  were  the 
most  irreconcilable,  the  most  deter- 
mined in  pushing  the  quarrel  to  the 
last  extremity.  In  1735,  twenty-six 
years  before  James  Otis  made  his 
famous  speech  on  the  Writs  of  Assist- 
ance, one  John  Peter  Zenger  was  sued 
for  libel  in  New  York  City.  He  was 
defended  by  Andrew  Hamilton,  a 
Scotch  Irish  lawyer,  who  in  his  argu- 
ment to  the  jury  contended  for  the 
principle  of  free  speech  and  for  a  free 
press  and  the  right  of  the  people  to 
resist  arbitrary  power  exercised  by 
those  in  authority.  Gouverneur  Mor- 
ris cited  this  speech  of  Hamilton's  as 
the  beginning  of  our  liberty. 

It  was  eight  years  later  that  Rev. 
Alexander  Craighead,  a  Scotch  Irish 
Presbyterian  minister,  gathered  his 
followers  together  at  middle  Octararia 
in  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania, 
and  led  them  in  a  renewal  of  the 
Scottish  Covenant.  At  this  meeting 
the  members  declared  with  uplifted 
swords  their  separation  from  the 
crown  which  had  so  infamously  vio- 
lated its  covenant  engagements  on 
both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  They  de- 
nied the  right  of  George  II  to  rule  over 
them  because  of  his  being  the  estab- 
lished head  of  the  Church  and  be- 
cause of  his  connection  with  the  pre- 
latical  system  of  government.  This 
declaration  caused  so  much  excite- 
ment that  complaint  was  made  against 


Craighead  for  these  utterances  and 
later  he  removed  to  North  Carolina. 
The  churches  there  founded  by  him 
were  composed  wholly  of  Scotch  Irish, 
Presbyterians,  delegates  from  which, 
at  the  convention  at  Charlotte,  X.  C, 
on  the  20th  of  May,  1775,  passed  the 
celebrated  Mecklenburg  declaration 
of  independence.  "We,"  reads  that 
famous  declaration,  "do  hereby  dis- 
solve the  political  bonds  which  have 
connected  us  with  the  mother  country 
and  hereby  declare  ourselves  free  from 
all  allegiance  to  the  British  crown, 
and  we  hereby  declare  ourselves  a 
free  and  independent  people." 

The  fact  of  this  action  has  been 
challenged,  but  whether  such  meeting- 
was  held  or  the  resolution  adopted 
were  true  or  not,  it  is  historically  true 
that  on  the  30th  of  the  same  month 
and  year  the  Presbyterians  of  the 
same  county  and  in  the  same  place, 
composed  of  the  ministers  and  dele- 
gates from  the  same  Scotch  Irish 
churches,  met  and  passed  resolutions 
which,  while  not  expressed  in  the 
same  language,  in  effect  asserted'  the 
same  thing.  "Thus,"  says  the  his- 
torian Bancroft,  "was  Mecklenburg 
County  in  Xorth  Carolina  separated 
from  the  British  Empire."  Indeed, 
it  was  not  the  Cavalier  nor  the  Puri- 
tan from  New  England  but  the  Pres- 
byterian from  Ulster  that  made  the 
first  call  for  the  freedom  of  the  Colo- 
nies. The  governors  of  the  central 
and  southern  colonies  were  not  far 
wrong  when  they  informed  the  home 
government  that  the  Presbyterian 
(or  Scotch  Irish)  clergy  were  to  blame 
for  bringing  about  the  Revolution, 
and  it  was  their  fiery  zeal  which  in- 
stigated the  people  to  resistance. 

The  first  battle  of  the  Revolution 
between  the  Colonists  and  British 
authority  is  usually  fixed  as  at  Lex- 
ington on  the  19th  of  April,  1775.  It 
was  four  years  earlier,  however,  that 
the  Scotch  Irish  of  North  Carolina, 
in  May,  1771,  assembled  and  peti- 
tioned the  royal  governor  Try  on  for  a 
redress  of  grievances  and  demanded 
the  right  to  regulate  their  own  politics 


42 


The  Granite  Monthly 


and  the  punishment  of  crime.  The 
governor  raised  a  force,  marched  . 
against  them,  and  a  battle  ensued. 
Twenty  of  the  Scotch  Irish  citizens 
were  killed,  a  large  number  wounded 
or  taken  prisoners,  and  several  of 
them  were  hanged.  This  action  of  the 
people  was  a  movement  against  the 
arbitrary  and  despotic  power  of  the 
government.  This  bat  tleof  Alamance 
was  as  much  a  fight  against  the  Brit- 
ish crown  as  either  that  of  Lexington 
or  of  Bunker  Hill. 

While  the  Scotch  Irish  Presbyte- 
rians were  foremost  in  their  resistance 
to  British  oppression,  not  all  were  so 
ready  in  their  action  as  those  con- 
cerned in  the  cases  mentioned.  In  a 
general  way,  at  least  up  to  1775,  they 
professed  loyalty  to  the  English  crown, 
while  systematically  and  strenuously 
opposing  the  oppressive  measures  of 
the  government  relating  to  the  Col- 
onies. Thus  the  Synod  of  New  York 
.and  Pennsylvania,  the  highest  eccle- 
siastical body  of  Presbyterians  in 
America  and  composed  of  represent- 
atives of  all  the  presbyteries,  both 
clerical  and  lay,  when  the  conflict 
opened  in  1775  addressed  to  their 
churches  a  circular  letter  which,  while 
it  professed  loyalty  to  the  government 
of  England,  contained  strong  expres- 
sions of  sympathy  for  the  people  in 
the  contest,  "A  contest  which  could 
not  be  abandoned  without  the  aban- 
donment of  their  dearest  rights/' 
This  body  was  the  very  first  religious 
organization  to  declare  for  resistance 
and  to  encourage  the  people  to  take 
up  arms.  A  year  later  the  large  Pres- 
bytery of  Hanover,  Va.,  after  the 
congress  had  adopted  the  Dec- 
laration of  Independence,  recognized 
that  Act,  and  openly  identified  itself 
and  members  with  the  cause  of  free- 
dom and  independence.  It  was  the 
first  body  of  clergymen  in  America 
to  range  itself  on  the  side  of  the  Colo- 
nies. At  the  same  time  this  Pres- 
bytery addressed  a  memorial  to  the 
Virginia  Assembly  asking  for  the 
separation  of  Church  and  State  and 
leaving  the  support  of  the  churches 


to    the    voluntary    contributions    of 
their  members. 

The  Scotch  Irish  Presbyterians 
were  among  the  very  first  to  declare 
for  independence  and  when  Congress 
finally  took  that  step  in  1776  they 
supported  the  action  with  all  the 
energy*  and  enthusiasm  of  which  they 
were  capable.  The  only  exception 
was  a  small  settlement  of  Highlanders 
in  North  Carolina  who  had  immi- 
grated to  that  state  after  the  battle 
of  Culloden.  Other  than  this  the 
Scotch  Irish  were  practically  unani- 
mous in  the  support  of  American  In- 
dependence. 

Their  services  to  that  great  feature 
of  American  government,  the  separa- 
tion of  Church  and  State,  were  of  the 
utmost  importance.  In  Virginia  the 
two  were  united.  In  the  state  con- 
vention of  1776,  called  to  form  a  con- 
stitution, Patrick  Plenry,  the  son  of  a 
Scotchman,  though  belonging  to  the 
established  church,  was  the  leader  and 
in  the  movement  to  separate  the  two 
was  strongly  supported  by  the  Scotch 
Irish  Presbyterian  and  the  Baptist 
members.  Through  their  efforts  a 
constitution  was  framed  and  adopted 
in  which  Church  and  State  were  for- 
ever divorced. 

Mingled  with  men  creating  a  sen- 
timent for  independence  and  sup- 
porting the  movement  when  the  issue 
of  battle  was  joined,  were  found  many 
of  the  most  influential  leaders  of  the 
Presbyterians.  Among  them  were 
Rev.  J.  G.  Craighead  of  North  Caro- 
lina, John  Murray  of  Maine.  David 
Caldwell  of  North  Carolina,  and 
William  Tenant.  Of  the  early  gov- 
ernors, were  George  Clinton  the  first 
governor  of  New  York,  John  Mc- 
Kinley  the  first  governor  of  Dela- 
ware, Thomas  McKeen  the  war  gov- 
ernor of  Pennsylvania,  Richard  Cas- 
well the  first  governor  of  Georgia, 
and  John  Rutledge,  the  war  governor 
of  South  Carolina.  Out  of  the  fifty- 
six  members  of  Congress  which  de- 
clared for  independence,  eleven  were 
Scotch  Irishmen.  John  Witherspoon 
of  New  Jersey,  the  president  of  Prince- 


The  Scotch  Presbyterian  in  the  American  Revolution 


43 


ton  College,  had  great  influence  in  the 
Congress.  When  the  Declaration 
came  up  for  signature  in  the  latter 
part  of  July  or  the  first  of  August, 
177G,  the  members  seemed  reluctant 
to  affix  their  signatures.  Wither- 
spoon  in  a  speech  of  great  ability  said, 
"To  hesitate  at  this  moment  is  to 
consent  to  our  own  slavery.  That 
noble  instrument  on  your  table  which 
insures  immortality  to  its  author 
should  be  subscribed  by  every  person 
in  this  house.  He  that  will  not  re- 
spond to  its  accents  and  strain  every 
nerve  to  carry  into  effect  its  provi- 
sions is  unworthy  the  name  of  free- 
man. Although  these  gray  hairs 
must  soon  descend  to  the  sepulchre,  I 
would  infinitely  rather  that  they  de- 
scend hither  by  the  hand  of  the  exe- 
cutioner than  desert,  at  this  crisis, 
the  cause  of  my  country."  So  pro- 
found was  the  impression  made,  that 
when  he  ceased  speaking  all  hesita- 
tion to  sign  on  the  part  of  the  members 
was  gone. 

The  number  of  soldiers  the  Pres- 
byterian Scotch  Irish  furnished  for  the 
armies  of  the  Revolution  can  not  be 
stated,  as  the  existing  rolls  do  not 
give  either  the  nationality  or  the  re- 
ligious faith  of  the  men.  The  num- 
ber, however,  was  very  large,  proba- 
bly more  in  the  aggregate  than  that 
of  any  other  race,  and  outside  of  Xew 
England  they  did  more  of  the  real 
fighting  of  the  Revolution.  Two  of 
the  three  colonels  appointed  by  Xew 
Hampshire  in  1775,  John  Stark  and 
James  Reed,  were  Scotch  Irishmen. 
At  Bunker  Hill  Stark  held  the  rail 
fence  on  the  left  of  the  redoubt.  Two 
of  his  companies  were  composed  en- 
tirely of  his  own  race  and  there  were 
many  representatives  in  the  other 
companies.  Stark's  services  at  Ben- 
nington need  no  rehearsal.  The 
Scotch  Irish  of  New  Hampshire  and 
western  Massachusetts  formed  a  large 
contingent  of  his  little  army  and  the 
battle  could  scarcely  have  been  won 
without  their  effective  assistance. 

When  the  news  of  the  battle  of 
Lexington    reached    Virginia,    Daniel 


Morgan,  a  Scotch  Irishman  and  Pres- 
byterian elder,  raised  a  body  of  militia 
among  his  own  people  and  marched 
to  Cambridge,  six  hundred  miles  to 
reinforce  Washington's  army.  Mor- 
gan was  with  Arnold  in  his  march 
through  the  wilds  of  Maine  the  fol- 
lowing winter  in  the  invasion  of 
Canada,  and  when  Arnold  fell  under 
the  walls  of  Quebec,  December  31st, 
he  assumed  command.  Taken  pris- 
oner, and  exchanged  the  following 
year,  he  immediately  went  to  Vir- 
ginia, raised  a  corps  from  his  own 
church  followers,  and  joined  "Wash- 
ington who  sent  him  to  reinforce 
General  Schuyler  at  Saratoga.  At  the 
battle  of  Bemis  Heights,  October  7, 
1777,  he  held  the  most  important  po- 
sition in  the  American  line.  It  was 
his  men  who  mortally  wounded  Gen- 
eral Frazer  which  threw  the  British 
army  into  confusion  and  won  the 
battle.  After  the  surrender,  General 
Burgoyne,  on  being  introduced,  said 
to  him,  "Sir,  you  command  the  finest 
regiment  in  the  world."  Of  the  fa- 
mous Pennsylvania  hue,  which  was 
the  backbone  of  the  Continental  army, 
two-thirds  were  Scotch  Irishmen. 

But  it  was  in  the  Southern  cam- 
paign in  1780  and  1781  that  their 
services  were  most  efficient.  The 
American  cause  was  then  at  its  low- 
est ebb.  The  currency  was  worth- 
less, the  troops  were  without  food, 
pay,  and  ammunition.  Gloom  and 
despair  had  settled  upon  the  army 
and  the  people.  Cornwallis  had  over- 
run South  Carolina  and  crushed,  or 
thought  he  had  crushed,  all  opposi- 
tion to  the  royal  cause.  In  August, 
1780  he  administered  a  crushing  de- 
feat to  General  Gage  at  Camden, 
which  seemed  to  end  the  war  in  the 
South.  With  his  army  Cornwallis 
started  north  through  North  Caro- 
lina and  Virginia  to  subdue  those 
states.  His  line  of  march  lay  through 
Mecklenburg  County,  N.  C,  the  cen- 
ter of  the  Scotch  Irish  settlement  of 
that  colony.  There  were  thirty  Pres- 
byterian churches  and  many  preach- 
ing stations  lying  directly  in  his  line  of 


44 


The  Granite  Monthly 


march,  and  he  described  the  country 
as  a  " hornets'  nest/'  Detaching 
Colonel  Ferguson  with  1,100  men  to 
scour  the  country  and  rally  the  Tories, 
that  officer  took  position  on  Kings 
Mountain.  The  Scotch  Irish  settlers 
of  the  mountain  districts  rallied,  sur- 
rounded the  British  forces  and  killed, 
wounded,  or  captured  Ferguson's 
entire  army.  Five  of  the  American 
officers  commanding  in  the  battle 
were  Scotch  Irish,  elders  in  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  and  almost  all  the 
men  were  of  the  same  faith.  Kings 
Mountain  was  the  decisive  battle  of 
the  war  in  the  South,  turned  the  tide 
and  compelling  Cornwallis  to  change 
his  plans  completely,  ultimately  drove 
him  to  his  doom  at  Yorktown.  Cow- 
pens,  where  the  same  General  Mor- 
gan commanded  the  American  forces, 
and  "the  drawn  battle  of  Guilford 
Court  House  soon  followed.  In  the 
former  engagement  Morgan's  forces 
were  almost  entirely  of  his  own  race, 
and  in  the  latter  battle  they  were  a  sub- 
stantial part  of  General  Greene's  army. 
By  these  engagements  the  struggle 
came  virtually  to  an  end  in  the  Caro- 
linas.  Cornwallis  entered  Virginia 
with  his  army  reduced  in  numbers  by 
one-half,  and  a  few  months  later  was 
compelled  to  hand  his  sword  to  General 
Washington  in  token  of  utter  defeat. 

Another  service  rendered  by  this 
people  should  be  mentioned  for  it  was 
of  vast  importance  to  the  future  of 
the  country.  At  the  time  of  the  Revo- 
lution Virginia  claimed  all  that  was 
afterwards  known  as  the  Northwest 
Territory,  but  Great  Britain  had  by 
1776  seized  all  the  forts  and  garri- 
sons north  of  the  Ohio  and  south  of 
the  Great  Lakes  which  were  scattered 
throughout  the  Territory,  In  1777 
and  1778  George  Rogers  Clark,  a 
Scotchman,  conceived  the  idea  of  re- 
conquering the  Territory,  and  under 
the  direction  of  Governor  Henry  of 
Virginia  raised  a  military  force  from 
among  his  own  Presbyterian  people 


of  the  mountain  districts  of  West  Vir- 
ginia, North  Carolina,  and  the  east- 
ern parts  of  Kentucky,  and  crossing 
the  Ohio  River,  recaptured  or  de- 
stroyed every  British  post  in  what 
now  comprises  the  great  states  of 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Michigan. 
Thus  he  secured  to  the  Colonies  all 
the  country  lying  south  of  the  Great 
Lakes  and  north  and  east  of  the  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  Rivers. 

It  can  be  truly  said,  as  Dr.  Engle, 
State  Librarian  and  Historian  of 
Pennsylvania,  remarked,  "I  say  now 
without  fear  of  contradiction  that  had 
it  not  been  for  the  outspoken  words, 
the  bravery  and  the  indomitable 
spirit  of  the  Scotch  Irish  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, Virginia,  and  the  Carolinas, 
there  would  have  been  no  Independ- 
ence and  the  now  glorious  Union 
would  be  but  an  English  Colony!" 

The  war  could  not  have  been  won 
without  Scotch  Irish  assistance. 
This  is  not  saying  that  they  alone 
could  have  achieved  the  victory,  but 
neither  could  the  English  Colonists  b}* 
themselves  have  made  it  a  success. 
The  utmost  efforts  of  both  groups 
were  required,  and  neither  could  have 
succeeded  in  the  struggle  without  the 
other.  Their  sympathies,  their  politi- 
cal and  religious  views,  their  concep- 
tions of  liberty  and  functions  of  gov- 
ernment, and  the  bitter  memories  of 
their  experiences  at  the  hands  of  royal 
and  priestly  power  in  Ireland  compelled 
the  Scotch  Irish  Presbyterians  to  side 
with  the  Colonial  cause,  and  that 
cause  they  served  with  a  unanimity, 
courage  and  devotion  not  equaled  by 
those  of  any  other  class  of  people. 
The  value  of  their  contribution  far 
outweighs  their  numbers  in  the  ranks 
of  the  Americans;  for  as  soldiers  they 
were  the  best  of  the  best  and  the 
bravest  of  the  brave.  Their  hearts 
were  in  the  issue,  and  had  America 
been  defeated  in  the  struggle  they 
would  have  been  the  very  last  to  lay 
down  their  arms. 


At  the  Symphony  45 

AT  THE   SYMPHONY 

Phenix  Hall  Concord.  February  19,  19.18— Reflections 
Grave  and  Gay 

Last  concert  of  the  third  series,  New  England  Symphony  Orchestra,  Carlyle  W.  Blaisdell,  Conductor* 

By  Milo  E.  Benedict 

Good  luck,  Mr.  Blaisdell,  to  you  and  your  "band," 

The  public  approves  of  the  work  at  your  hand. 

You've  sorted  and  chosen  and  brought  to  the  fore 

An  orchestra  we  should  have  long  known  before. 

A  tentative  effort?     Well,  more  is  the  glory; 

With  salaried  men,  'twere  a  different  story! 

A  Foundation  Fund  for  good  music  alone 

Is  yet  a  pale  dream.     Did  ye  ask  for  a  stone? 

To  keep  art  in  motion,-— not  all  for  the  few — 

Is  a  modern  notion  right  good  to  pursue. 

The  work  of  rehearsals,  which  orchestras  need, 

Is  conditioned  by  clothing,  and  money  and  feed; 

In  short,  as  you  know,  the  up-keep  of  men 

Who  play  for  the  public  is  serious  when 

There's  only  the  box  office  cash  to  divide 

With  printers  and  gas  men  (and  heat  on  the  side). 

And  so  we  may  make  in  this  season  of  ice 

A  show  of  our  thanks  for  your  true  sacrifice. 

We  know  what  it  means  to  make  music  the  goal; 

It  means  the  exchange  of  our  talent  for  coal. 

So  many  tons  go  for  a  song  or  a  waltz, 

Sometimes  it's  hard  telling  whose  measure  is  false. 

Prometheus  stole  all  his  fire  from  Heaven, — 

Enough  to  keep  heat  in  his  hall  up  to  'leven. 

But  men  of  this  age  must  usher  in  dollars 

To  keep  in  the  van  of  white  cuffs  and  collars, 

Of  swallow-tailed  coats,  when  swallows  are  scarcer 

Than  hen's  teeth,  or  diamonds!     Which  are  the  more  rare,  Sir? 

But  I  see  my  ink  is  beginning  to  spatter, 

So  let  me  not  digress  too  far  from  the  matter 

Of  telling  the  world  that  music's  no  cinch. 

We  all  have  to  work  for  it  inch  by  inch. 

But  oh!  for  a  million,  no  less,  no  more, 
To  put  all  our  music  upon  the  ground  floor, 
With  organ,  and  stage,  and  a  gorgeous  front  door! 
How  people  would  flock  here  to  see  and  adore! 

m  *  These  half  humorous  lines,  written  in  a  journalistic  vein,  which  were  prompted  by  the  occa- 
sion indicated  in  the  heading,  will,  we  believe,  be  read  with  interest  by  many  of  our  readers. 
They  express  a  certain  conviction  as  to  the  gain  music  has  been  given  in  the  State  through  the 
efforts  of  Mr.  Blaisdell  in  promoting  the  "Symphony"  idea  and  in  getting  together  a  body  of 
such  highly  qualified  players  as  he  has  found.  The  abilities  displayed  by  the  various  mem- 
bers of  the  orchestra  itself,  to  which  some  of  the  lines  most  pleasingly  refer,  justify,  it  seems 
to  us,  the  tribute  the  poet  has  seen  fit  to  offer.  A  number  of  pertinent  thoughts  are  brought 
to  the  reader's  observation  by  the  mention  of  the  need  of  a  fund  for  the  support  of  orchestral 
concerts  in  the  State.  Not  that  music  needs  official  sanction;  but  it  does  need,  in  the  case  of 
the  orchestra,  something  more  dependable  than  the  attendance  of  audiences  whose  movements 
are  subject  to  the  caprices  of  the  weather. — Editor. 


46  The  Granite  Monthly 

Ne'er  was  the  light  on  a  cool,  damp  sea 

More  weird  than  the  bassoon  when  Mr.  Crampsey 

Elicited  tones  from  its  superb  bass, 

And  plied  his  deft  hands  on  its  long  drawn  face. 

Too  long  has  this  instrument  labored  unheard; 

Kept  under  by  riotous  strings,  preferred 

Because  of  their  eagerness  for  the  front  seats 

Like  children  among  those  who  do  greater  feats. 

Of  brass,  could  I  make  it  to  sound  like  gold, 
I  then  could  a  wonderful  tale  unfold. 
But  I  leave  that  art,  and  my  futile  endeavors, 
To  the  ample  accomplishments  of  Mr.  Nevers. 

Most  modest,  reserved, — he  gave  us  no  hint 

Gf  the  breadth  of  his  art — that  gifted  young  Mindt, 

Until  he  appeared  in  his  spirited  style 

And  gave  us  a  solo  without  any  guile. 

And  there  is  another  whose  style  has  a  sheen, — 
I  refer  to  our  gracious,  good  friend,  Mr.  Green. 
But  why  should  he  hike  to  the  snows  of  Laconia 
Where  they  make  cars  and  dodge  the  pneumonia? 


I  felt  a  wild  tyranny  in  the  big  drum, 
But  it  never  got  out  under  Robinson's  thumb. 
His  bells  were  a  shaft  of  blue  and  white  light 
Let  down  from  Aurora  to  chasten  the  night. 

The  'cellos  and  viols  gave  stronger  persuasion 
To  wood  winds  keyed  up  to  some  lighter  occasion. 
They  strengthened  the  sentiment,  lest  one  should  shirk, 
Like  generals  leading  their  soldiers  to  work. 

More  starch  in  old  Xicolai  than  in  Peer  Gynt! 
But  I  may  be  wrong.     Is  it  so,  Mr.  Quint? 
One  thing  we  have  seen:  old  Orpheus  beaten 
With  the  flute  in  the  hands  of  our  own  Mr.  Wheatoiu 

The  clarinet  work  was  not  done  by  a  Hoosier, 
For  no  one  out  west  can  quite  equal  our  Tozier. 
So  nimble  in  fingers  and  s  moo  the  in  his  tone 
One  fancies  oneself  on  a  thistledown  blown. 

I've  just  one  reflection  to  offer  that's  grave: 
From  using  revolvers — "Save  0  Save." 
All  right  for  the  junkers  who,  like  Boy-Ed, 
Have  evil  designs,  and  are  over  joy-ed 
When  ever  our  powder  blows  up  in  our  face, 
Just  so  the  old  Kaiser  may  slacken  his  pace. 
But  this  is  no  critique.     I've  merely  said 
Just  a  few  things  that  flashed  into  my  head 
While  the  "boys"  banished  the  thunders  of  Thorr 
And  made  us  forget  we're  a  nation  at  war. 


THE  BEGINNINGS   OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

By  E vastus  P.  Jewell* 


I  have  chosen  for  a  brief  talk  this 
evening  the  stormy  beginnings  of  New 
England,  the  turbulent  days  when  the 
earliest  settlers  toiled  upon  the  found- 
ations of  the  Republic.  Some  of 
them  now  have  been  sleeping  for 
more  than  two  centuries  and  a  half. 
They  fell  in  the  wilderness  then, 
where  states  like  empires  rise  today 
upon  the  soil  where  savages  hunted 
in  silence  undisturbed  three  hundred 
years  ago. 

About  two  hundred  and  seventy 
years  ago,  in  early  winter,  after  sixty- 
three  days  upon  the  waves,  just  one 
hundred  persons  sighted  the  New 
England  coast.  They  were  tempest- 
beaten  and  weary  of  the  sea.  Yet  far 
more  forbidding  was  the  desolate 
shore.  Nature  at  that  time  was 
presenting  her  most  repulsive  winter 
features.  The  cold  sea  with  ceaseless 
roar  was  beating  in  upon  the  sands 
and  the  coast  line  looked  defiant  and 
wrathful  upon  the  feeble  and  shiver- 
ing invaders.  The  winds  from  the 
unknown  islands  smote  the  defence- 
less strangers  as  with  whips  of  steel. 
A  heartless  foe  seemed  to  stand  guard 
in  the  solitude  to  strike  down  the  de- 
fenceless few,  and  in  the  accurate  and 
simple  language  of  the  old  historian, 
"they  were  soon  smitten  with  disease 
and  desperate  coughs,"  and  in  about 
three  months  sixty  of  the  one  hun- 
dred were  in  their  graves.  "    He  adds: 


"Such  were -the  solemn  trials  of  God, 
so  great  was  their  distress  in  times  of 
general  sickness  that  there  were  no 
more  than  six  or  eight  to  care  for  all 
the  sick  and  dying. "     Then  he  added 


Erastus  P.  Jewell 

the  fearfully  significant  remark:  "If 
the  greater  part  had  not  been  removed 
by  death,  all  would  have  perished  for 
want  of  food."  No  picture  can  be 
drawn  which   will  faithfully  portray 


*  This  address,  or  lecture,  by  Mr.  Jewell,  was  delivered  on  several  occasions  nearly  thirty 
years  ago.  The  manuscript  of  the  same  was  found  among  the  papers  left  in  his  office  by  the 
late  State  Historian  Albert  S.  Batchellor,  and  is  deemed  worthy  of  publication  at  this  time  on 
account  of  its  general  interest  and  historic  value. 

Erastus  P.  Jewell  was  a  prominent  lawyer  of  Laconia  for  many  years.  Born  in  Sandwich,. 
March  16,  1S37,  he  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  and  New  Hampton  Literary  Institution, 
but  was  obliged  to  relinquish  his  studies  on  account  of  ill  health.  Finally  he  was  able  to  take 
up  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  the  late  Col.  Thomas  J.  Whipple  of  Laconia,  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  March,  1865,  commenced  practice  in  company  with  Colonel  Whipple,  and  con- 
tinued with  marked  success,  in  several  successive  partnership  connections,  until  his  death, 
April  3,  1909.  He  was  not  only  an  able  lawyer,  but  a  widely  read  historical  student,  having 
made  a  special  study  of  early  New  England  history,  and  the  habits  and  customs  of  the 
Aborigines. 


48 


The  Granite  Monthly 


the  misery  and  suffering  of  that  first 
winter,  when  the  half-clad  and  desti- 
tute colony,  scarcely  daring  to  eat 
of  their  scanty  food,  from  window- 
less,  doorless,  fioorless,  ill-constructed 
camps  were  committing  one,  two  and 
three  of  their  decreasing  numbers  to 
the  earth  daily,  until  it  did  seem  as  if 
the  God  in  heaven  to  whom  they 
constantly  and  imploringly  prayed  for 
aid  had  forgotten  them  or,  wearied 
with  prayer,  mocked  their  calamity. 

They  were  beyond  the  reach  of 
human  aid.  God  seemed  their  only 
refuge,  and  never  from  the  time  when 
Edward  Thompson,  who  was  the  first 
to  die,  fell  asleep,  December  4,  1G20, 
until  the  last  of  the  sixty  victims  of 
the  winter  was  put  away,  did  these 
historic  founders  of  a  nation  ever 
doubt  that  Heaven  heard  their  peti- 
tions, and  when  the  first  soft  air  of 
March  touched  their  emaciated  and 
furrowed  faces,  it  is  written:  "They 
fell  upon  their  knees  in  thanksgiving 
to  God  that  they  had  been  such 
objects  of  his  special  care.  "  Emerg- 
ing from  a  winter  of  such  unparalleled 
sufferings,  well  might  these  mighty 
old  builders  of  history  rise  superior  to 
material  woes,  as  faith  touched  the 
border  line  of  a  majestic  future 

The  unexpected  conditions  which 
confronted  these  new  settlers  found 
them  unprotected.  Many  had  left 
homes  of  ease  and  comfort.  They 
expected  to  winter  in  the  milder 
climate  of  New  York  or  Virginia. 
Of  a  terrific  encounter  with  a  Xew 
England  winter  they  had  never 
dreamed.  For  it  they  were  not  pre- 
pared, and  they  were  not  equal  to 
the  tremendous  exposure.  Twenty-six 
women — nineteen  wives  and  seven 
daughters  of  the  Pilgrims — faced  the 
storms  and  shared  their  scanty  allow- 
ance of  pounded  corn  with  their 
stronger  companions  during  the 
memorable  winter  of  1620-21.  Ten 
cold  camps  constituted  the  homes  of 
the  entire  population.  When  the 
spring  came,  says  Winthrop,  "men 
actually  staggered  with  faintness  for 
want   of   food."     For   two    or    three 


years  the  food  supply  was  shared  by 
the  entire  population  as  one  family, 
and  at  times  it  was  so  low  that  the 
people  were  brought  to  the  verge  of 
starvation.  Prodigious  efforts  were 
required  at  all  times  to  secure  enough 
food  of  any  kind  to  sustain  life,  while 
they  practised  the  greatest  economy 
in  its  use. 

In  1(323  the  distress  was  so  great,  in 
spite  of  all  efforts  to  secure  food,  that 
it  was  decided  that  each  should  plant 
for  himself  and  make  a  special  effort 
to  increase  the  supply.  The  new  ar- 
rangement was  attended  with  marked 
improvement,  but  the  increase  was 
not  sufficient  to  prevent  want,  suffer- 
ing and  danger  at  times. 

This  year  the  Plymouth  Colony 
were  reduced  to  one  old  boat,  upon 
which  the  inhabitants  actually  de- 
pended for  existence.  They  con- 
structed a  great  net,  which  enabled 
them  with  the  boat  to  procure  bass, 
which  providentially  and  unexpect- 
edly came  upon  the  coast  and  into 
the  creeks  in  unusual  quantities.  All 
summer,  early  and  late,  they  toiled 
with  that  old  boat,  with  all  their 
might,  to  procure  fish.  Had  it  not 
been  for  this  seemingly  miraculous 
supply  of  fish,  it  is  likely  that  the 
whole  colony  would  have  perished. 
When  there  was  a  great  scarcity  of 
fish,  and  when  the.  game  disappeared, 
which  was  not  an  unusual  occurrence, 
our  fathers  resorted  to  the  humble 
clam,  which  afforded  food  when  other 
means  of  sustenance  failed.  The 
game  supply  was  always  unreliable. 
Some  years  its  scarcity  was  surprising 
and  unaccountable,  considering  the 
abundance  at  other  times.  The  sud- 
den appearance  of  fish  or  game  in 
quantities  sufficient  for  the  needs  of 
the  pioneers  seemed  to  the  eye  of  faith 
an  answer  to  prayer. 

At  first  only  a  small  portion  of  land 
was  set  apart  for  each  planter  to 
cultivate,  but  it  worked  so  well  that 
in  1627  twenty  acres  were  allotted  to 
each  and  the  New  England  home 
advanced  a  little.  Small,  rough 
houses  of  logs,  hewn  a  little  on  two 


The  Beginnings  of  New  England 


49 


sides  and  placed  one  upon  another 
and  notched  and  locked  at  the  ends, 
soon  adorned  these  little  farms. 
They  were  rude  affairs,  these  early 
log  houses;  built  without  bricks,  nails, 
glass  or  boards,  tightened  with  mud 
or  clay,  without  floors,  and  frequently 
one  third  of  the  space  was  occupied 
by  the  great  rock  chimney.  They 
were  without  cellars,  and  seldom 
contained  more  than  one  room,  in 
which  the  humble  dwellers  crowded, 
cooked,  lived,  slept  and  died.  Cook- 
ing then  was  simply  roasting  and 
boiling  in  that  most  useful  and  valu- 
able of  early  household  goods,  the 
everlasting  iron  pot. 

Outside  of  a  few  centers  like  Salem 
and  Boston,  the  scattered  settlers 
really  had  no  furniture.  They  used 
rude  benches  and  blocks  for  seats,  and 
occasionally  some  one  had  brought 
some  old  article  of  furniture.  Beds 
were  made  of  hemlock  boughs  and 
skins.  No  supplies  could  be  pur- 
chased, even  of  the  simplest  kinds, 
this  side  of  the  ocean.  Such  rude 
implements  as  they  were  obliged  to 
have  and  their  clothes  soon  became 
worn  and  out  of  repair,  and  there  was 
no  supply  at  hand  to  make  good  the 
wornout  garments.  During  the  first 
hundred  years  men  and  women,  as  a 
rule,  went  barefoot  from  early  spring 
till  late  in  the  fall,  from  necessity. 
The  garments  which  our  ancestors 
sometimes  wore  were  simply  shocking 
in  a  multitude  of  cases.  People  wore 
to  church  what  today  would  not  be 
tolerated  by  the  humblest  laborer  in 
our  street  ditches,  and  no  woman  of 
today  could  be  induced  to  appear  in 
her  domestic  labors  as  the  women  of 
New  England  appeared  in  public. 
Modesty  was  out  of  the  question. 
The  conditions  which  environed  them 
were  hard  and  unyielding  and  not 
calculated  to  develop  taste,  elegance 
or  refinement.  Even  the  decencies 
of  life  could  scarcely  be  observed.  It 
wns  often  a  weary  battle  for  existence. 
For  a  large  part  of  the  first  century, 
children  could  be  found  with  their 
little  feet  wrapped  in  rags  dipped  in 


animal  fat  to  afford  some  protection 
through  the  winter. 

The  ancient  shoes  were  made  by 
hand  and  were  very  rare.  They  were 
things  of  beauty,  and.  if  one  owned  a 
pair,  a  joy  almost  forever.  They  had 
the  merit  of  endurance,  but,  as  I  have 
said,  1he}r  were  not  worn  every  day, 
and  so  one  pair  lasted  a  long  time  and 
frequently  served  several  members  of 
the  family  in  turn — sons  and  daugh- 
ters as  well.  The  main  point  to  be 
observed  in  the  construction  was  the 
size.     Ye  gods!  what  shoes  they  were'. 

Advancing  now  to  1719,  we  touch  a 
pivotal  point.  This  year  flax  was 
introduced.  Xow  everything  seemed 
to  change.  Linen  fabrics,  of  which 
the  people  were  justly  proud,  came 
into  general  use  and  added  immensely 
to  the  comfort  and  thrift  of  the  people. 
Business  boomed,  and  it  ma}'  be 
said  the  second  century  was  marked 
by  great  material  advancement.  But 
even  now  such  things  as  tea,  coffee, 
milk  and  sugar,  outside  of  a  few  sec- 
tions, were  unknown.  Pine  knots  con- 
stituted about  the  only  lights,  except 
from  the  fires  in  the  roaring  throats  of 
the  huge  chimneys.  Lamps  and  can- 
dles had  not  appeared,  and  the  friction 
match  was  yet  to  be  discovered.  Fire 
had  to  be  kept  day  and  night,  summer 
and  winter.  The  loss  of  fire_  was 
sometimes  a  calamity  and  occasioned 
great  distress.  The  utmost  care  had 
to  be  observed  to  preserve  it  in  every 
home.  Especially  was  this  the  case 
in  habitations  far  removed  from 
neighbors. 

These  old  homes  were  without 
clocks,  and  a  watch  did  not  exist  in 
dreams.  The  noon  mark,  and  very 
rarely  a  sundial  made  of  pewter,  with 
a  three-cornered  piece  to  cast  a 
shadow,  served  a  useful  purpose  in 
sunshine,  and  the  time  of  day  could 
be  guessed  with  reasonable  certainty. 
It  was  a  different  thing  in  cloudy 
weather  and  in  the  night-time.  The 
clepsydra  came  later  for  use  in  the 
night.  This,  as  you  know,  was  a 
contrivance     to     measure     time     by 


50 


The  Granite  Monthly 


water  leaking  from  a  glass  in  a  given 
time.  It  was  not  very  accurate  and 
was  a  very  poor  substitute  for  a  clock, 
but  in  those  pioneer  days  it  was.  a 
treasure  and  it  was  very  rare.  Only 
a  few  were  in  use.  The  great  major- 
ity, for  the  first  century,  had  no  means 
whatever  to  determine  the  hours  of 
night. 

Prior  to  1S00,  rye,  corn,  beans  and 
squashes  were  about  all  that  the 
planters  raised.  Wheat  flour  at  that 
time  was  not  in  use  at  all.  Game, 
fish  and  strawberries,  which  soon 
became  abundant  in  their  new  fields, 
added  to  their  simple  bill  of  fare, 
though  butter,  sugar  and  milk  as  a 
rule  were  entirely  wanting.  A  do- 
mestic beer,  of  some  kind,  could  be 
found  everywhere.  It  was  com- 
pounded of  roots,  barks  and  herbs,  in 
all  sorts  of  ways,  and  frequently  was 
a  very  good  drink. 

Judge  Bourne,  the  historian  of 
Wells,  says:  "Perhaps  till  the  close 
of  the  17th  century  the  New  England 
settlers  as  a  rule  lived  in  houses  of  but 
one  and  occasionally  two  rooms,  and 
had  but  one  bed,  and  only  those  of 
the  largest  means  had  two. "  This  is 
his  description  of  the  furniture  of  one 
house  in  Wells:  "In  looking  around 
we  discover  a  table,  a  pewter  pot,  a 
hanger,  a  little  mortar,  a  dripping  pan, 
and  a  skillet.  There  was  no  crockery, 
tin  or  glass  ware,  no  knives,  forks  or 
spoons,  and  not  a  chair  in  the  house. 
There  were  two  rooms  and  a  bed  in 
each.  The  inventory  shows  a  blanket 
and  a  chest.  We  have  been  through 
the  house.  They  have  nothing  more 
in  if.  And  this  is  the  house  of 
Edmund  Littlefield,  the  richest  man 
in  town.  He  had  a  large  family  and 
lived  in  style." 

In  the  house  of  Ensign  John  Barrett, 
who  was  quite  eminent  in  his  day  and 
had  an  elegant  house,  we  find  two 
beds,  two  chests,  a  box,  four  pewter 
dishes,  four  earthen  pots,  two  iron 
pots,  seven  trays,  two  pails,  some 
wooden  ware,  a  skillet  and  a  frying 
pan.  Nothing  else.  No  chairs,  knives, 
forks,  spoons,  or  crockery. 


I  have  examined  with  care  and  with 
a  great  deal  of  interest  such  inven- 
tories of  the  period  as  I  have  been  able 
to  find,  and  find  nothing  more  ex- 
tensive than  is  indicated  in  the  house 
of  Nicholas  Gate  of  Maine.  He  was 
a  selectman,  a  notable  person  who 
maintained  a  fashionable  house.  His 
house  was  furnished  with  a  kettle, 
a  pot  and  pot-hooks,  a  pair  of  tongs, 
a  pail  and  a  pitcher.  This  house  had 
a  chamber,  where  we  find  a  bed  and 
bedding,  and  other  articles  valued  at 
fifty  cents. 

I  have  selected  these  last  estates  as 
an  illustration.  They  are  very  far 
above  the  average  for  the  first  three 
fourths  of  a  century.  What  should  we 
expect  to  find  in  the  humblest  New 
England  log  houses  of  1680,  when 
the  richest  families  actually  suffered 
such  deprivations?  Even  in  the  first 
families,  we  note  an  entire  absence  of 
books,  except  in  homes  of  clergymen. 
Not  even  an  almanac  furnished  the 
means  of  telling  the  day  of  the  week 
or  month,  and  sometimes  the  most 
ridiculous  mistakes  were  made  in 
regard  to  Sunday.  Multitudes  of 
children  were  born  and  grew  up  who 
never  saw  their  faces  in  a  looking- 
glass.  Scarcely  one  could  be  found, 
or  even  a  fragment  of  a  mirror.  One 
was  owned  by  Joseph  Cross,  of  Ogun- 
quit.  He  had  no  chairs  in  his  house, 
but  his  little  looking-glass  was  an 
object  of  curiosity,  and  so  fixed  itself. 
in  the  minds  of  the  people  that  it 
found  a  place  in  history,  of  which  I 
speak  tonight. 

The  wigwams  of  the  Indians  fur- 
nished more  comforts  to  the  victims 
than  could  be  found  in  the  very  ear- 
liest homes  of  their  white  neighbors. 
They  had  some  neat  articles  of  bone, 
shell  and  stone,  very  good  earthen 
pots  of  different  sizes,  baskets  of  twigs, 
birch  bark,  and  some  very  fair  vessels 
of  wood,  to  which  were  added  beds 
made  of  skins  exceedingly  well  tanned 
but  usually  abominably  dirty. 

Soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  first 
settlers,  many  adventurers  came  and 
a  large  proportion  of  them  were  not 


The  Beginnings  of  New  England 


51 


altogether  intent  upon  the  worship  of 
the  Most  High.  Still  the  leading, 
dominant  class  were  religious,  and 
their  religion  was  heroic.  The  laws 
of  England  did  not  come  across  the 
ocean  to  oppress  them  nor  to  protect 
them.  In  their  new  home  new  laws 
had  to  be  made,  courts  constructed 
and  officers  appointed  to  enforce  the 
laws.  At  the  beginning  of  New 
England  there  was  no  law,  no  courts, 
no  executive  officers.  At  first  the 
leading  men  assumed  judicial  author- 
ity. They  constituted  a  council  and 
made  such  rules  as  to  them  seemed 
proper.  Their  work  was  rude  and 
rough.  These  men  had  fled  from  what 
seemed  tATanny,  but  unconsciously 
they  became  tyrannical  themselves. 
They  did,  no  doubt,  what  they  thought 
was  best  to  promote  order  among  the 
new  settlers  and  to  advance  what  they 
considered  the  " cause  of  God.'7 

Their  laws  and  the  punishments 
inflicted  for  their  violation  reveal  in 
the  most  striking  maimer  the  char- 
acter of  the  fathers.  Fearlessly  they 
cut  loose  from  precedent  and  in- 
augurated strange,  unheard-of,  inap- 
propriate and  unequal  punishments. 
There  was  no  uniformity,  but  great 
dissimilarity  in  the  laws  as  enforced 
in  different  localities.  Prior  to  about 
1648,  it  should  be  remembered,  there 
were  no  printed  statutes.  The  ca- 
pricious and  dangerous  rules  relied 
upon  to  regulate  society  before  that 
time  were  originated  and  enforced  by 
self-constituted  bodies,  from  whose 
decisions  there  could  be  no  appeal. 
They  savor  of  bigotry,  superstition 
and  intolerance.  They  were  often 
cruel,  unjust  and  oppressive.  In- 
variably woman  as  an  offender  was 
visited  with  unreasonable  and  dis- 
proportionate punishment. 

In  1679  Sarah  Morgan  struck  her 
husband.  She  was  made  to  pay  fifty 
shillings  and  stand  all  day  before  the 
people  at  town  meeting  in  Kittery 
Avith  an  almost  unendurable  gag  in 
her  mouth.  And  this  treatment  of 
the  defenceless  woman,  without 
doubt,   met   the  approbation   of  the 


good  men  of  the  times.  One  George 
Rogers  and  a  woman  whose  name 
appears  upon  the  record  were  con- 
victed of  the  same  offence.  Each  was 
beaten  with  thirty-nine  stripes,  but  the 
woman  was  branded  with  a  hot  iron 
and  had  her  disgrace,  as  they  put  it, 
made  enduring,  while  he  resumed  his 
standing  with  the  good  people  in  the 
church,  having  expressed  sorrow  for 
his  sin. 

No  one  could  safely  denounce  such 
defenceless  laws  or  question  their 
sometimes  brutal  enforcement,  with- 
out great  risk  of  becoming  a  victim 
himself. 

In  1648  some  laws  were  published 
which  were  made  by  the  ministers  and 
magistrates,  who  had  been  working 
upon  them  from  time  to  time  and  ar- 
ranging such  rules  for  the  conduct  of 
the  people  as  seemed  good  to  them. 
Penalties  were  attached  for  their 
violation,  and  the  mind  of  the  clergy- 
man of  the  period  can  be  plainly  read 
in  the  laws.  Courts  were  created  for 
their  execution  and  they  enforced  the 
will  of  the  lawmakers  with  the  same 
merciless  spirit  which  characterized 
the  dominant  minds.  Whatever  the 
ancient  ministers  and  the  magis- 
trates who  took  their  guidance  desired 
to  be  law  was  law.  They  were  re- 
sponsible to  nobody,  and  nobody  could 
appeal  from  the  enforced  will  of  these 
grim  and  surly  men.  The  few  an- 
cient books  which  constituted  the 
intellectual  food,  found  only  in  minis- 
ters' libraries,  impressed  and  fixed 
necessarily  the  severe  and  inflexible 
nature  of  their  authors.  No  one 
except  ministers,  as  I  have  intimated, 
had  books,  and  the  old  leaders  of 
thought  and  opinion  were  hardened 
into  an  intellectual  tyranny  by  the 
influence  of  an  older  age. 

As  yet  the  masses  were  in  mental 
chains.  The  age  of  newspapers  and 
magazines  had  not  arrived.  No  op- 
portunities were  open  to  the  masses 
when  the  few  old-fashioned,  strong- 
willed  men  lived  in  the  cold  atmos- 
phere of  unquestioned  power  above 
the  common  people.     While  the  many 


52 


The  Granite  Monthly 


were  hopelessly  ignorant,  the  few  in 
advanced  conditions  of  intelligence 
properly  assumed  the  direction  and 
leadership  in  public  affairs.  And, 
with  all  their  faults  and  shortcomings, 
we  conclude  they  followed  the  right 
as  it  seemed  to  them. 

The  few  old  controversial  books 
read  by  the  Mathers,  Wheelwright, 
Prince  and  Hubbard  exhibit  them- 
selves in  the  laws  of  two  hundred 
years  ago.  They  reveal  the  flavor 
and.  breathe  the  spirit  of  ancient 
thought,  just  as  the  books  and  litera- 
ture of  1S90  breathe  the  spirit  of 
today.  Then  but  a  very  few  read 
only  a  few  books  and  received  from 
them  few  ideas;  and  much  of  error 
took  root,  outgrowing  and  uprooting 
the  truth. 

The  witch  lived  in  the  old  literature, 
and  through  it  the  strange  delusion 
crept  into  the  brain  of  the  old  scholar, 
filling  his  head  with  ridiculous  fancies 
and  alarms.  The  witch  became  an 
object  of  terror  to  our  fathers,  when 
they  saw  that  the  learned  and  saintly 
leaders  were  alarmed.  The  air  was 
filled  with  beings  who  floated  through 
the  fevered  night  to  vex  and  disturb 
mankind  with  the  spirit  of  the  devil. 
It  is  very  difficult  now  for  us  to  realize 
how  the  early  settlers  were  afflicted 
with  dreadful  superstitions.  The 
old  historians,  with  great  gravity, 
have  recorded  the  most  absurd  and 
impossible  occurrences,  which  they 
supposed,  of  course,  to  be  true.  Even 
Winthrop  says  that  on  the  18th  of 
June,  1643,  the  devil  was  seen  over 
against  two  islands  in  Boston  harbor 
in  the  form  of  a  man  and  emitting 
sparks  and  flames  of  fire,  etc.  Hub- 
bard, who  wrote  forty  years  later, 
again  records  the  story  and  sends  it 
along  the  ages  as  an  historical  fact,  to 
be  remembered  forever.  These  de- 
luded leaders  and  teachers  crowded 
the  minds  of  their  humble  followers 
with  fears.  Strange  and  appalling- 
sights  and  sounds  filled  the  air.  Evil 
spirits  teased  and  tormented  day  and 
night,  encompassed  their  fields  and 
waters,  wandering  maliciously  through 


the  thick  woods  and  screaming  along 
the  storm-swept  coasts. 

The  senseless  mummeries  of  the 
old  or  the  insane  were  looked  upon 
with  dread,  as  the  undoubted  work 
of  Satan.  The  gnawing  of  a  prayer- 
book  by  mice,  the  destruction  of  a 
house  by  lightning,  an  accident,  early 
frost,  or  any  thing  unusual  and  out  of 
the  everyday  course  of  nature,  was 
caused  by  the  interference  of  super- 
natural powers.  Chapters  of  silly 
accounts  of  such  things  can  readily 
be  found  scattered  all  along  the  path- 
way of  our  earliest  history,  written  by 
the  scholarly  and  sincere  historians 
for  preservation. 

With  what  caution  should  we  read 
history,  when  the  falsehoods  are  so 
conspicuous,  when  the  superstitious 
authors  honestly  endorsed  lies  and 
thus  served  the  evil  one  whom  they 
so  thoroughly  despised! 

Laws  enacted  under  such  condi- 
tions and  born  of  such  fearful  delu- 
sions took  cruel  shape  in  Xew  England 
to  smite  down  the  enemies  of  God  and 
destroyers  of  mortal  peace.  In  their 
great  contest  with  the  evil  of  witch- 
craft in  Salem,  with  fasting  and  prayer 
the  heroic  old  Christians  asked  of 
God  special  guidance,  while  in  his 
special  service  they  destroyed  his 
foes.  One  instance  will  suffice  to 
illustrate  at  once  the  zeal  and  madness 
of  the  times. 

Bridget  Bishop  was  the  first  victim 
to  this  strange  fanaticism.  Innocent 
as  an  angel  (as  all  now  admit),  this 
despairing,  frightened  woman  was 
roughly  dragged  from  her  home  in 
Washington  Street,  Salem,  to  a  public 
place  of  execution,  in  an  open  and 
conspicuous  manner,  "to  make  the 
spectacle  appalling,"  as  was  written. 
Cotton  Mather  seriously  affirmed  that 
in  passing  ''she  gave  a  look  at  the 
meeting  house  and  the  devil  tore  down 
a  part  of  it."  This  outrageous  false- 
hood was  used  against  her  and  may 
have  been  and  probably  was  of  great 
weight  in  the  trial  and  conviction  of 
other  victims.  A  few  years  ago,  as  I 
read  the  testimony,  faded  with  years, 


The  Beginnings  of  New  England 


53 


against  the  unfortunate  sufferers, 
which  is  still  preserved  in  Salem,  read 
the  death  warrants  and  the  evidence 
of  executions  and  could  discover  noth- 
ing— not  a  thing — to  cast  suspicion 
upon  the  accused.  I  was  struck  with 
wonderment  that  such  delusions,  tri- 
als, convictions  and  executions  could 
disgrace  our  history. 

As  the  witch  literature  retired  be- 
fore the  advance  of  intelligence,  so 
vanished  the  witch  from  the  thoughts 
of  men,  until  now  only  in  the  dark- 
est alcoves  of  ignorance  can  traces 
of  the  hobgoblin  be  found. 

Within  three  or  four  centuries,  such 
was  the  level  of  intellectual  develop- 
ment that  the  great  and  good,  all 
believed  in  witchcraft  and  kindred 
delusions.  The  fires  of  the  church 
were  constantly  employed  in  burning 
innocent,  agonizing  sufferers,  till, 
crisped  to  cinders  through  unutterable 
suffering  and  torture,  upon  chariots  of 
flame,  the  innocent  sufferers  reached 
their  rest  at  last.  The  judicial  execu- 
tions in  England  in  two  centuries 
were  more  than  thirty  thousand. 
The  great  Matthew  Hale  caused  two 
to  be  burned  as  late  as  1664.  Three 
thousand  were  executed  during  the 
long  parliament.  Neither  church  nor 
state  spared  any  rank  or  condition. 
In  1716  Mrs.  Hick  and  her  child  only 
nine  years  old  were  executed  as 
witches.  In  fifteen  years  nine  hun- 
dred were  burnt  in  Lorraine,  five 
hundred  in  Geneva  in  three  months, 
one  thousand  in  Como  in  one  year, 
and  thirty  were  executed  in  a  village 
of  six  hundred  in  four  years.  More 
than  one  hundred  thousand  perished 
in  Germany,  among  them  an  eminent 
Catholic  priest  accused  of  having 
bewitched  a  whole  convent.  The 
last  sufferer  in  Scotland  was  in  1722. 
The  damnable  laws  in  England  were 
not  repealed  until  1736. 

But  the  ancient  champions  of 
justice,  as  they  thought  themselves, 
were  honest,  fearfully  in  earnest,  and 
devoted  to  the  service  of  the  Holy 
One,  and  these  hard-visaged,  solemn- 
minded  old  soldiers  of  the  cross  took 


the  lives  of  the  enemies  of  the  cause 
so  dear  to  them  with  a  relish,  and 
with  fasting  and  prayer  continued  to 
slaughter  until  the  red  stain  of  their 
delusion  hangs  forever  upon  us  to 
mark  with  shame  this  conspicuous 
chapter  of  New  England  histoiy. 

In  the  original  laws  of  Massachu- 
setts Bay  Colony  were  to  be  found 
thirteen  death  penalties.  Such  was 
the  temper  of  the  times  that  not  only 
witehcraft  was  punished  with  death, 
but  idolatry,  blasphemy,  false  witness, 
smiting  father  or  mother  after  sixteen 
years  of  age,  filial  rebellion  after  the 
same  age,  were  also  punished  by 
taking  the  life  of  the  offender.  No 
one  can  fail  to  see  the  same  cast  of 
thought  in  these  laws,  as  well  as  in 
the  lower  grades  of  offences,  where 
wc  find  punishments  adjudged  and 
inflicted  for  what  seem  to  us  most 
trivial,  questionable,  and  even  ludi- 
crous matters. 

Whipping  was  mercilessly  applied 
for  numerous  offences.  Branding  with 
a  hot  iron  and  clipping  the  ears 
were  well-known  penalties.  Richard 
Hopkins  was  severely  whipped  and 
branded  for  selling  powder  to  the 
Indians.  To  deny  the  authority  of 
the  Scriptures  cost  fifty  pounds  or 
forty  stripes,  and  the  fifty  pounds  pen- 
alty was  considered  light  compared 
with  the  stripes.  Philip  Rad cliff  had 
his  ears  cut  off,  was  whipped  and  ban- 
ished because  he  did  what  I  do  tonight. 
He  censured  the  church  which  ap- 
proved of  the  killing  of  witches.  At 
one  time  no  man  could  be  qualified 
either  to  elect  or  be  elected  to  an 
office  who  was  not  a  church-member. 
Consequently  the  distance  was  very 
great  between  the  two  classes, — 
between  the  church  men  and  those 
who  ventured  to  question  their  au- 
thority. 

As  I  have  stated,  the  making  and 
executing  the  laws  in  the  early  times 
were  entirely  the  work  of  those  espe- 
cially interested  in  advancing  the 
cause  of  religion  and  planting  the 
Gospel  in  the  New  World.  Religion 
and  Law  went  hand  in  hand,  and  the 


54 


The  Granite  Monthly 


stocks  in  which  offenders  were  con- 
fined stood  appurtenant  to  the  church, 
and  the  pillory  was  a  kindred  terror 
to  evildoers  and  a  great  moral  force 
and  power.  In  one  case,  a  carpenter 
-charged  too  much,  as  was  adjudged, 
for  making  a  pair  of  stocks,  and  was 
sentenced  for  the  offence  to  be  put 
into  them  himself  for  one  hour  and  to 
pay  a  fine  just  equal  to  what  he 
charged  for  making  them. 

The  first  meeting-houses  were 
owned  by  the  town,  and  seats  were 
allotted  by  a  committee.  Children 
were  given  the  low  benches  in  front 
and  were  made  to  feel  that  the  house 
of  God  was  truly  an  awful  place. 
Vigilant  and  severe  men  were  ap- 
pointed to  keep  strict  watch,  and 
nothing  escaped  their  observation. 
These  men  were  frequently  armed 
with  a  club  big  enough  to  kill  an  ox, 
with  a  knob  on  one  end  and  feathers 
or  a  foxtail  on  the  other.  This  club 
absorbed  the  almost  undivided  atten- 
tion of  '"Young  America'7  of  those 
days,  as  it  was  carried  about  to  thump 
the  heads  of  masculine  sleepers  or  to 
brush  the  noses  of  the  ladies  should 
they  chance  to  be  unmindful  of  the 
solemn  sentences  of  the  preacher. 

This  meeting-house  tyrant  looked 
after  the  whipping  post,  stocks  and 
pillory,  which  were  conveniently  near 
and  in  readiness  if  any  were  deemed 
worthy  of  punishment  By  this  exact- 
ing official.  These  great  moral  appur- 
tenances were  not  kept  for  ornament, 
not  at  all;  but  for  use  whenever  the 
man  with  the  club  thought  such 
agencies  were  healthy.  I  find  a  case 
where  one  was  whipped,  suffered  the 
loss  of  both  ears,  and  was  then  ban- 
ished, for  what  was  termed  "  slander- 
ing the  church."  Captain  Stone,  of 
Boston,  called  Ludlow,  who  was  a 
justice  of  the  peace,  a  just  ass;  and 
for  this  offence  the  old  law  took  one 
hundred  pounds  and  sent  him  into 
banishment,  "not  to  return  on  pain 
of  death,  without  the  governor's 
leave."  A  fine  of  one  penny  was 
fixed  for  even'  time  of  taking  tobacco 
in  any  place,  and  in  Plymouth  Colony 


there  may  be  found  the  record  of  a  fine 
of  five  shillings  for  taking  tobacco 
while  on  a  jury  before  the  verdict  was 
rendered.  At  this  time  there  was  a 
penalty  for  not  attending  church, 
of  ten  shillings  fine  or  imprisonment. 

Private  conference  (whatever  that 
might  be)  in  a  public  meeting  was 
fined  twelve  pence.  And  then,  as  a 
kind  of  omnibus,  as  lawyers  say,  we 
find  this  really  rich  statute:  "No 
person  shall  spend  his  time  unprofit- 
ably  under  pain  of  such  punishment  as 
the  court  shall  think  meet  to  inflict.'' 
This  was  the  great  statute  under 
which  the  court  could  pick  up  and 
punish  any  body  or  any  thing  which 
they  were  pleased  to  consider  an  un- 
profitable use  of  time,  and  the  amount 
and  kind  of  punishment  were  deter- 
mined according  to  the  notions  of  the 
court.    . 

Not  only  did  these  ancient  men 
attempt  to  regulate  the  acts  and  con- 
duct of  the  people,  but  the  dress  must 
be  made  in  accordance  with  their 
ideas  of  strict  propriety.  I  will  quote 
exactly  now :  "  No  person  either  man 
or  woman  shall  make  or  buy  any 
slashed  clothes,  other  than  one  slash 
in  each  sleeve,  and  another  in  the 
back,  also  all  ciitt,  embroidered  or 
needle  workt  caps,  bands,  vayles  are 
forbidden  hereafter,  under  the  afore- 
said penalty, "  that  is,  such  penalty  as 
the  court  think  meet  to  inflict.  In 
Boston  in  1639  the  law  provided  that 
"no  garment  should  be  made  with 
short  sleeves  whereby  the  nakedness 
of  the  arm  may  be  discovered  in  the 
wearing  thereof."  The  same  statute 
provided  that,  when  garments  were 
already  made  with  short  sleeves,  "the 
arms  should  be  covered  with  linen  or 
otherwise. "  Also,  "  No  person  was  al- 
lowed to  make  a  garment  for  women 
with  sleeves  more  than  half  an  ell 
wide"  and  "so  proportionate  for 
bigger  or  smaller  persons."  Kissing 
was  regulated  then  by  law,  and  one  at 
least  endured  twenty  lashes  because 
he  refused  to  pay  a  fine  of  ten  shillings 
for  kissing  his  own  (not  another's) 
wife  in  his  own  garden;   and  in  re- 


The  Beginnings  of  New  England 


55 


venge,  it  is  recorded,  he  swore  he 
would  never  kiss  her  again  in  public 
or  private.  Fines  and  whippings 
were  frequently  resorted  to  to  bring 
this  troublesome  matter  of  kissing 
within  the  prescribed  rule. 

There  is  some  doubt  about  the  date, 
but  I  think  Ward's  collection  of  laws, 
called  '"Body  of  Liberties,"  was  pub- 
lished about  1641.  In  this  collection 
were  intertwined  religion  and  law,  ac- 
cording to  the  author's  idea,  as  he 
had  been  a  lawyer  in  England  and 
minister  here.  A  hundred  laws  were 
drawn  up,  largely  by  this  minister  of 
Ipswich,  who  had  no  restrictions  upon 
him  and  was  the  best  prepared  of  any 
in  the  colony  to  prepare  the  compound 
which  was  destined  to  be  adopted 
to  purge  the  community  of  evil.  In 
this  remarkable  work  appears  the 
attempt  to  banish  every  thing  this 
earnest  author  thought  to  be  wrong 
or  which  did  not  conform  to  his  no- 
tions of  propriety.  If  in  any  given 
case  this  old  "Body  of  Liberty"  did 
not  furnish  the  remedy,  the  magis-. 
trate  did  not  hesitate  to  extend  it. 
He  supplied  the  deficiency  and  the 
penalty,  and  there  was  no  appeal. 
Of  course,  there  were  many  things 
which  could  be  found  in  the  laws  of 
England,  but  much  in  the  "Body  of 
Liberty"  which  was  a  wide  departure. 
Every  thing  that  Puritanism  touched 
was  distinctly  impressed  by  it. 
Houses  of  worship,  dress,  manners, 
customs  and  names,  as  well  as  laws, 
revealed  the  presence  of  its  mighty 
and  strange  influence.  Old  forms  and 
ceremonies  were  shivered  into  frag- 
ments by  these  stern  and  fearless  men. 
They  went  directly  to  Sinai  and  its 
thunders,  took  their  laws  from  God, 
and  whatever  they  took  them  to  be 
they  were  enforced.  The  Puritan  was 
destructive.  He  was  a  born  fighter 
and,  armed  with  "Thus  saith  the 
Lord,"  he  was  well-nigh  invincible. 
No  other  character  could  have  sub- 
dued the  wilderness  and  so  success- 
fully contended  with  the  obstacles 
and  conditions  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years  ago. 


To  them  God  was  an  "ever  pres- 
ent help  in  every  time  of  need,"  and 
in  their  warfare  against  every  form 
of  ungodliness  they  confidently  relied 
upon  his  assistance  in  answer  to 
prayer.  Thus  believing  in  God,  they 
prayed  for  his  guidance  and  support 
continually,  and  unhesitatingly  moved 
in  obedience  to  his  will,  as  they  inter- 
preted it,  from  conquering  to  conquer, 
but  having  broken  down  and  de- 
stroyed old  conditions  they  had  no 
power  to  erect  new  systems  except 
such  as  grew  out  of  force. 

The  Puritan  destroyed  nature's 
wild  but  majestic  harmonies  with  the 
zeal  of  the  Crusader,  but  no  divine 
art  replaced  what  he  had  destroyed. 
His  stubborn  and  unyielding  tastes 
closed  his  eyes  to  a  world  full  of  tran- 
scendent beauty  and  settled  the  night 
shadows  of  unloveliness  over  all. 
The  work  of  Puritanism  was  entirely 
wanting  in  every  thing  that  we  call 
attractive.  It  has  been  character- 
ized as  "a  dreary  waste  overhung  by 
a  wintry  sky."  The  imposing  forms 
of  worship  of  the  old  churches  they 
seemed  to  hate,  and  a  simplicity  of 
the  most  severe  type  took  deep  root 
to  choke  out  all  forms  of  beauty  in 
the  New  World. 

Ornamentation  was  simply  abom- 
inable in  the  sight  of  God.  A  modest 
ribbon  was  the  devil's  chain ;  a  bow  or 
flower  upon  a  bonnet  or  a  garment  in 
a  Puritan  church  would  not  have  been 
tolerated  a  moment,  and  under  the 
laws  would  have  brought  down  some- 
thing like  vengeance  on  the  wicked 
and  proud.  Our  modern  churches — 
the  plainest,  even  the  sanctuaries  of 
the  Quakers — by  these  old  religious 
pioneers  would  not  be  regarded  as 
"'fit  dwellings  for  the  holy  spirit." 
The  furnace,  carpet,  organ  and  fres- 
coing of  our  beautiful  churches  to  the 
dear  old  Christian  of  1640  would  be 
dreadful,  and  the  graceful  spire  -with 
gilded  top  and  deep-toned  bell  would 
suggest  the  vengeance  of  heaven  upon 
these  unsanctified  and  carnal  devices 
of  men,  and  in  the  modern  service 
they  would  find  food  for  abhorrence 


56 


The  Granite  Monthly 


but  not  for  the  strengthening  of  the 
divine  life. 

The  ancient  worshipers,  regardless 
of  storms  and  snow,  went  long  dis- 
tances frequently  to  the  old  meeting- 
houses upon  the  coldest  hills,  and 
in  the  tireless,  forbidding,  cheerless 
sanctuary  worshiped  as  they  did 
everything  else  with  characteristic 
persistence  and  rigidity,  and  with 
amazing  fortitude  often  sat  in  a  tem- 
perature below  freezing  and  listened 
to  the  hard  doctrinal  sermons  of  the 
past;  and  when  they  went  to  rest  at 
night  the  day  was  closed  with  offering 
thanks  for  the  great  privileges  they 
had  enjoyed.  They  believed  in  a  very 
straight  and  very  narrow  way.  It 
mattered  not  to  them  that  the  sermon- 
was  two  hours  long.  The  freezing 
temperature  of  the  meeting-house 
and  the  discomforts  attending  getting 
to  it  were  not  considered,  they  were 
so  insignificant  compared  with  the 
privilege  of  sitting  under  the  sound 
of  the  Gospel  where  there  was  none 
to  molest  nor  make  afraid.  They 
knew  nothing  of  toleration.  The 
right  to  shut  the  doors  against  in- 
truders was  as  undoubted  as  their 
right  to  breathe.  Episcopalians,  Bap- 
tists, Catholics,  Quakers  were  all  offen- 
sive, and  the  Quakers  in  particular 
suffered  extreme  persecution. 

Upon  their  very  first  arrival,  Quak- 
ers were  arrested,  and,  although  there 
was  no  express  law  against  them, 
they  were  condemned,  confined  and 
banished.  All  their  books  were  for- 
cibly taken  and  publicly  burned. 
Strict  laws  were  at  once  enacted  to 
keep  them  out,  as  if  a  Quaker  was  an 
incarnate  Satan.  Any  master  of  a 
vessel  who  brought  one  was  fined  one 
hundred  pounds  and  required  to  give 
security  to  take  him  away.  The 
Quaker  in  the  meantime  should  re- 
ceive twenty  stripes  and  be  sent  to 
the  house  of  correction  for  no  offence 
except  his  faith.  All  who  befriended 
or  entertained  one  of  the  unfortunates 
were  fined  forty  shillings  an  hour.  If 
the  offender  persisted,  he  should  lose 
an  ear.     If  he  repeated  the  offence,  he 


was  to  lose  his  other  ear.  As  a  last 
resort  to  correct,  whipping  and  boring 
the  tongue  with  a  hot  iron  followed. 

Myra  Clark,  Christopher  Holden 
and  John  Copeland  endured  the  most 
inhuman  whipping  with  knotted  cords 
in  1(357.  The  Quakers  were  as  stub- 
born as  the  Puritans  and  sometimes- 
seemed  to  enjoy  their  afflictions,  as  if 
they  were  accounted  worthy  of  stripes. 
So  the  very  next  year  Holden  and 
Copeland  appear  again,  this  time  to 
lose  their  ears  and  get  into  prison. 
Xo  Quaker  escaped  unnoticed. 
Many  were  pursued  and  suffered 
cruel  and  brutal  treatment.  Robin- 
son, Stevenson.  Mary  Dyar  and  others 
were  put  to  death.  Mr.  Drake  says 
"the  cruelties  perpetrated  upon  these 
poor  misguided  people  are  altogether 
of  a  character  too  horrid  to  be  related." 
At  last,  to  his  everlasting  credit,  the 
king  of  England  interposed  and  by  an 
order  dated  September  9,  1661,  put 
a  stop  to  the  cruel  work.  A  banished 
Quaker  brought  the  order  from  the 
king  to  Governor  Endicott's  hands. 
Upon  seeing  the  Quaker  with  his  hat 
on,  the  severe  old  governor  told  him 
sternly  to  take  off  his  hat.  It  is. 
recorded  that  upon  receiving  the 
mandamus  the  governor's  own  hat 
came  off  and  he  replied  "We  shall 
obey  his  majesty's  command."  And 
so  they  did,  so  far  as  taking  life  was 
a  penalty,  but  the  persecution  con- 
tinued in  various  and  almost  unen- 
durable ways,  until  at  last  they 
got  a  foothold  in  spite  of  opposition. 
Times  then  began  to  change,  the  laws 
against  them  became  unpopular  and 
could  not  be  enforced,  and  at  last, 
with  his  gospel  of  "peace,"  the 
Quaker  found  a  home  where,  he  too,, 
could  worship  in  peace.     So 

Step  by  step  since  time  began 
We  see  the  steady  march  of  man. 

As  we  recall  the  hardfaced  old 
settlers  of  1640,  barefooted,  men  and 
women,  poorly  clad  in  patched,  scanty 
and  ill-fitting  garments,  crowded  into- 
small  and  smoky  log  habitations  or 
garrison  houses  in  times  of  danger  from 


The  Beginnings  of  New  England 


57 


the  Indians;  as  we  recall  the  old  barn- 
Like  churches  and  the  worshippers 
attending  with  their  guns,  we  have 
little  difficulty  in  tracing  the  effect  of 
such  unyielding  conditions  upon  their 
minds.  We  grow  charitable  towards 
the  failings  of  the  suffering  pioneers 
who  hopefully  and  valiantly  labored 
upon  the  rough  foundations  of  New 
England. 

We  find  a  strange  suggestion  in  the 
names  of  the  first  three  children  bap- 
tized in  Boston:  Pity,  Joy  and  Recom- 
pense. The  same  serious  tone  pervaded 
all  the  old-time  homes,  as  children  re- 
sponded to  the  names :  Patience,  Deliv- 
erance, Prudence,  Charity,  Hope,  De- 
pendence, Thankful,  Content,  Plate, 
Evil  and  Holdfast.  Many  masculine 
names,  enough  to  destroy  a  sensitive 
car,  were  designed  to  perpetuate  a  re- 
membrance of  such  Bible  characters 
as  had  greatly  impressed  them. 

The  titles  of  books  and  pamphlets 
published  on  the  other  side  of  the 
water  about  the  time  of  the  settlement 
of  Xew  England  afford  food  for  reflec- 
tion and  abundant  opportunity  to 
ascertain  the  true  level  of  thought  of 
such  as  gave  direction  and  shape  to 
public  opinion  as  it  prevailed  in  the 
colonies.  A  pamphlet  published  in 
1G26  was  entitled,  ''A  most  delecta- 
ble sweet  perfumed  nosegay  for  God's 
saints  to  smell  at."  Twenty  years 
later  we  find,  "A  pair  of  bellows  to 
blow  off  the  dust  cast  upon  John 
Prey. ,r  Also,  "  Snuffers  of  Divine 
Love,"  "Hooks  and  Eyes  for  be- 
lievers' breeches/'  "High  heeled  shoes 
for  Dwarfs  in  holiness,"  "Crumbs  of 
comfort  for  chickens  of  the  covenant, " 
"Spiritual  Mustard  Pot  to  make  the 
soul  sneeze  with  devotion,"  "A  shot 
aimed  at  the  Devil's  headquarters 
through  the  tube  of  the  cannon  of 
the  covenant,"  "A  Reaping  hook 
well  tempered  for  the  stubborn  ears 
of  the  coming  crop  of  biscuits  baked 
in  the  oven  of  Chanty  carefully  con- 
served for  the  chickens  of  the  church 
the  sparrows  of  the  Spirit  and  the 
sweet  swallows  of  Salvation."  "Some 
sobs    of    a    sorrowful    soul    for    sin, 


in  seven  penetential  psalms  of  the 
Princely  Prophet  David,  whereunto 
are  also  annexed  William  Humuls* 
handful  of  Honey  suckles  and  divers 
Godly  pithy  ditties  now  newly  aug- 
mented," "A  sigh  of  Sorrow  for  the 
sinners*  of  Zion  breathed  out  of  a 
hole  in  the  wall  of  an  earthen  vessel 
known  among  men  as  Samuel  Pish." 
All  of  these  works  were  laboriously 
prepared  by  their  pious  authors  as 
Baxter  prepared  and  published  the 
confession  of  his  faith  in  1055  "es- 
pecially concerning  the  interest  of 
Repentance  and  sincere  obedience, 
written  for  the  satisfaction  of  the 
misinformed,  the  conviction  of  Ca- 
lumniators and  the  Explication  and 
Vindication  of  some  weighty  truths." 
In  these  ancient  works  there  is  a 
marvelous  revelation  of  the  spirit  and 
tendency  of  the  age,  of  the  temper  and 
capacity  of  the  men  who  were  the 
models  of  the  New  England  fathers. 

The  most  conservative  will  now 
smile  at  their  robust  superstitions  and 
wonder  that  such  notions  were  en- 
tertained by  reasonable  men,  and  yet 
the  honest  and  conceited  old  authors 
showed  monumental  contempt  for  all 
who  differed  with  them,  and  evidently 
with  great  self-satisfaction  thought 
they  had  reached  the  limit  of  unaided 
human  reason,  beyond  which  point 
they  walked  with  majestic  fortitude 
by  faith,  not  by  sight;  laying  hold  of 
the  promises  of  God,  as  it  seemed  to 
to  them,  they  were  fearless,  never 
doubting  the  Almighty  aid  upon 
which  they  were  taught  to  rely. 

If  famine  threatened,  they  prayed. 
If  disease  invaded  their  homes,  if  the 
clanger  of  Indian  massacre  hung  like  a 
fearful  cloud  above  them,  they  sent  up 
their  petition  for  divine  help.  And, 
whatever  of  safety  or  comfort  came 
to  them,  to  their  minds  came  in  an- 
swer to  their  petitions     To  them 

Prayer  was  the  Christian's  vital  breath, 

The  Christian's  native  air, 
His  watchword  at  the  gate  of  death. 

They  entered  heaven  by  prayer. 

*  Reading  doubtful. 


58 


The  Granite  Monthly 


1  have  taken  this  brief  mental  ex- 
cursion to  the  olden  days,  not  so  much 
for  entertainment  as  for  instruction, 
if  perchance  there  arc  some  of  my 
hearers  who  are  not  quite  familiar 
with  the  ground  over  which  we  have 
so  hastily  traveled.  To  such  a?  are 
most  familiar  with  our  early  history 
no  apology  is  necessary,  for  we  cannot 
too  often  recur  to  this  memorable 
period. 

In  the  clearer  light  of  today,  we 
part  company  with  the  enslaving 
superstitions  and  some  of  the  errors 
of  the  past.  We  look  at  them  occa- 
sionally, as  we  do  at  the  garments  and 
toys  of  childhood,  which  may  be 
treasured  when  outgrown  and  after 
the  days  of  their  usefulness  are  past. 

The  superstitious  ignoranre  of  the 
childhood  of  mankind,  which  be- 
shrouded  the  religion  of  the  founders 
of  New  England  and  edged  many  of 
their  laws  with  almost  inhuman  bar- 
barity, we  cannot  recall  with  pleasure, 
and  yet  we  gladly  throw  around  them 
the  great  mantle  of  charity  and  recog- 
nize outside  of  their  few  shortcomings 
that  tireless  spirit  of  resistless  energy 
which  characterized  their  historic 
labors  and  which  is  still  felt  at  the 
heart  of  New  England  today. 

On  the  whole  they  did  their  work 
well  and  in  their  clay  marched  up 
with  fortitude  and  great  courage  and 
held  the  picket  line  of  thought,  just 
as  we  now  hold  it  two  hundred  years 
in  advance  of  their  time.  Two  event- 
ful centuries  have  lifted  the  race  far 
above  the  mental  level  of  1680,  and 
the  distance  covered  by  the  advance 
is  so  vast  that  it  can  scarcely  be  com- 
prehended. But  let  us  not  be  vain- 
glorious and  fall  into  the  ancient  error 
of  overestimating  our  own  attain- 
ments. The  summit  yet  to  be 
reached  is  not  yet  in  sight.  We  are 
in  the  morning  of  the  verv  first  dav 


of  the  mighty  march  of  mankind. 
The  call  is  to  advance.  It  is  the 
morning  reveille  that  is  sounding  now. 
The  ground  which  we  occupy  will  be 
immediately  left  behind  as  we  ad- 
vance. The  scholars  of  two  cen- 
turies hence,  as  they  review  our  times, 
will  be  charitable  to  our  faults,  but 
we  may  rest  assured  that  the  just 
criticisms  upon  much  of  our  work  and 
upon  our  religion  and  laws  will  not  be 
calculated  to  glorify  the  century,  still 
characterized  by  wars,  conspicuous 
for  crimes  and  permeated  with  cor- 
ruption. 

There  will  undoubtedly  be  great 
progress  in  the  next  two  hundred 
years,  as  there  has  been  in  the  last 
two  hundred,  but  each  succeeding  age 
will  forever  push  on,  discarding  the 
rubbish  of  the  outgrown  past,  as  the 
unchained  human  soul  continually 
advances  into  the  purer  and  higher 
regions  of  thought. 

The  ancient  knights,  mail  clad  and 
armed  with  cumbersome  and  unwieldy 
weapons,  to  strike  down  and  brain 
their  foes,  were  the  heroes  of  coarse 
and  brutal  war.  We  have  outgrown 
and  passed  out  entirely  beyond  the 
ideas  of  the  days  of  the  crusades; 
and  may  we  not  hope  that  the  super- 
stitions which  still  remain  in  the  minds 
of  men  and  our  ideas  of  warfare  may 
speedily  be  outgrown  as  well,  and 
that  in  the  immediate  hereafter  war 
in  any  form  shall  be  looked  upon  as 
brutal  and  unworthy  of  nations  who 
bow  before  and  worship  the  Prince  of 
Peace? 

We  are  not  responsible  for  the  con- 
ditions which  surround  us  at  birth, 
but  we  are  under  divine  orders  to 
advance. 

Not  enjoyment  and  not  sorrow- 
Is  our  destined  end  or  way, 

But  to  act  that  each  tomorrow 
Find  us  farther  than  today. 


THE  DIPPER  IN  THE  SKY 

By  Charles  Nepers  Holmes 


There  is  a  dipper  in  the  sky,  at 
least  it  looks  like  one,  a  dipper  of 
stars!  We  cannot  see  it  in  the  day- 
time because  our  sun  shines  so 
brightly  that  his  light  hides  all  the 
other  stars  from  sight;  but  at  night 
it  twinkles  plainly  before  our  eyes. 
If  we  go  out-of-doors  and  stand  in 
some  spot  where  our  view  of  the 
darkened  skies  is  unobstructed  by 
electric  lamps  and  buildings,  we  shall 
see  the  dipper  in  the  north.  Now, 
this  dipper's  sky-position  changes 
from  hour  to  hour,  for,  as  we  know, 
our  sun's  position  changes  from  hour 
to  hour.  The  dipper  circles  around 
and  around  what  is  called  the  north 
star;  but  if  we  search  for  it  at  9  p.  m. 
on  a  certain  night  in  the  year  we  shall 
find  it  exactly  in  the  same  place  at 
9  o'clock  just  a  year  from  that  night. 
If  we  look  for  it  in  winter  it  will  be  in 
the  northeast;  in  spring  well  over- 
head; in  summer  northwest;  and  in 
fall  not  far  above  the  northern 
horizon.  Of  course,  these  are  the 
dipper's  positions  for  the  seasons 
about  9  p.  m.;  but  during  every 
twenty-four  hours  the  dipper  revolves 
once  wholly  around  the  north  star, 
so  that  at  midnight  it  would  not 
have  the  same  place  in  the  sky  as  at 
some  earlier  hour. 

The  dipper  is  such  a  noticeable 
firmamental  object  that  we  can 
easily  find  it.  Besides,  it  is  formed 
by  seven  stars,  all  of  about  the  same 
brightness,  and  it  occupies  quite  a 
large  space  in  our  firmament.  Then, 
it  looks  very  much  like  a  dipper,  with 
its  handle  of  three  stars  and  its  bowl 
of  four.  The  three  stars  of  the 
handle,  beginning  at  the  end,  are 
named  Benetnasch,  Mizar  and 
Alioth,  while  the  four  stars  of  the 
bowl  are  Megrez,  Phecda,  Merak  and 
Dubhe.  If  we  carefully  study 
Megrez,  the  star  that  joins  the  handle 


to  the  bowl,  we  see  it  is  not  as  bright 
as  any  of  the  six  other  stars.  Xow, 
astronomers  watch  these  suns — for 
they  are  suns  just  as  is  our  own  sun — 
with  telescopes,  and  if  we  should 
observe  with  a  strong  glass  the 
second  sun  in  the  handle,  Mizar,  we 
should  discover  that  it  is  really  two 
stars  instead  of  one  star.  In  other 
words,  we  should  discern  that  Mizar 
is  a  " double  star,"  a  larger  and  a 
lesser  sun,  this  lesser  sun  being  visible 
without  a  glass  to  those  of  us  posses- 
sing keen  eyesight.  And,  if  we  use 
our  telescope  still  more,  we  discern 
the  colors  of  these  seven  remarkable 
stars:  Benetnasch  being  white,  Mizar 
white  and  green,  Alioth  very  bright, 
Megrez  yellowish,  Phecda  yellow, 
Merak  greenish  and  Dubhe  yellow. 
These  last  two  suns,  the  further  of 
four  stars  forming  the  dipper's  bowl, 
Merak  and  Dubhe,  should  be  partic- 
ularly observed  and  remembered 
because  they  are  the  famous 
" pointers."  That  is,  they  point  or 
aim  in  the  general  direction  of  the 
north  star,  the  sun  which  is  our 
north  sky-guide.  This  north  star 
is  also  called  Polaris;  but  unlike 
other  suns  Polaris  has  so  little  motion 
that  we  know  always  where  to  find 
him.  Although  not  more  noticeable 
than  any  one  of  the  dipper's  stars,  he 
is  truly  a  fixed  sun  in  the  north,  and 
once  we  stand  facing  him,  east  is  at 
our  right,  south  behind  us  and  west 
at  our  left.  When  one  is  not  well 
acquainted  with  the  whereabouts  of 
this  north  star,  the  ''pointers"  of 
the  dipper  are  a  great  help  in  finding 
him,  although  we  should  remember 
that  Merak  and  Dubhe  do  not  aim 
exactly  at  Polaris,  that  he  is  not  very 
conspicuous  and  that  he  twinkles 
some  distance  firmamentally  from 
the  nearer  sun,  Dubhe.  As  has  been 
stated,  the  dipper  circles  around  and 


60 


The  Granite  Monthly 


around  our  north  star;  but  when  we 
have  discovered  the  seven-starred 
dipper  it  is  very  easy  to  find  Polaris 
which,  by  the  way,  is  not  as  it  ap- 
pears a  single  sun  but  is  two  suns,  a 
larger  and  a  lesser  one,  so  far  distant 
and  so  closely  associated  that  they 
sparkle  to  our  unassisted  eyesight 
just   like   one   star. 

Astronomers  have  given  names  to 
the  different  groups  of  suns,  just  as 
names  have  been  given  to  the  different 
countries  on  earth.  The  star-group 
to  which  the  clipper  belongs  is  known 
as  Ursa  Ala j or  or  the  Greater  Bear, 
and,  forgetting  for  a  moment  that  it 
resembles  a  dipper,  we  can  imagine 
that  it  forms  pan  of  the  body  and  the 
tail  of  a  big  sky-bear,  with  the  legs  of 
the  bear — alas,  only  three  good  legs — 
extending  in  front  of  and  below  the 
dipper.  This  star-group,  or  constel- 
lation, was  named  Ursa  Major  many 
centuries  ago;  indeed,  the  starry 
heavens  are  full  of  imaginary  animals, 
but  it  is  certainly  easier  to  see  the 
outlines  of  a  dipper  than  of  a  bear  in 
this  particular  star-group.  There  is 
another  constellation  called  Ursa 
Minor  or  the  Smaller  Bear,  and 
Polaris  our  north  star  is  end-sun  in 
this  Smaller  Bear's  tail  just  as  Benet- 
nasch  is  end-sun  in  the  Greater  Bear's 
tail. 


There  are  at  least  four  "dippers''  in 
the  sky,  visible  to  those  of  us  living 
north  of  the  equator,  one  of  which  is 
called  the  Great  Square  of  Pegasus 
and  another  the  dipper  in  the  beauti- 
ful Pleiades.  But  the  dipper  of  Ursa 
Major,  is  grandest  of  the  four;  and 
although  other  star-figures  glitter 
impressively  before  our  eyes  none  of 
them  is  more  noticeable  than  this 
flrmamental  ladle.  Its  seven  suns 
shine  at  vast  distances  from  our 
earth,  the  double-star  Mizar  being 
more  remote  than  Polaris.  In  fact, 
we  cannot  really  appreciate  the  dis- 
tances of  suns  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  times  as  far  from  us  as  is  our  own 
sun.  Indeed,  were  our  own  sun  put 
in  the  place  of  Megrez,  the  dimmest 
star  in  the  dipper,  that  sky-outline 
would  appear  to  us  as  possessing  only 
six  suns!  Various  names  have  been 
given  to  this  remarkable  star-outline, 
such  as  the  plough,  the  butcher's 
cleaver,  the  saucepan,  and  so  on; 
but  to  those  of  us  who  dwell  in  the 
United  States  the  term  "dipper" 
seems  most  appropriate.  Yet  what- 
ever the  word  chosen  to  describe  it, 
this  seven-starred  figure  in  Ursa 
Major  is  certainly  one  of  the  most 
noticeable,  most  symmetrical  groups 
of  suns  to  be  seen  by  unassisted  sight 
in  these  northern  latitudes. 


SUCCESS 

By  Fred  Myron  Colby 

Success  will  come  to  him  who  toils 

And  thinks,  and  cares  not  for  the  fame 

He  wins.  The  homage  of  an  hour 
Is  vain;  not  so  a  worthy  name. 

Then  let  us  courage  take,  anew 
Gird  up  our  loins  for  battle-strife; 

Do  what  we  have  to  do,  content 
If  we  but  win  immortal  life. 


THE  LAST  NOTCH 

By  A  nab  el  C.  Andrews 


"The  notches,  presumably,  are 
proposals?" 

"Surely!" 

"Mine  will  never  make  another." 

"Why  so  certain?" 

"When  I  ask  a  girl  to  marry  me,  it 
will  never  be  one  who  displays  her 
scalps  like  an  Indian  chief!" 

''Almost  thou  persuadest  me  to  try 
for  the  notch." 

"Time  wasted — take  your  ghastly 
record.  How  many  of  those  notches 
mean  ruined  lives,  and  broken-hearted 
mothers?  You  will  enjoy  telling  me 
that;  so  kind  and  womanly. " 

"Not  one.  You  have  no  right  to 
be  so  unpardonably  rude  to  me.  I 
■don't  deserve  it.  Ever  since  we 
were  kids  you  have  always  seemed  to 
feel  a  great  responsibility  for  me; 
you've  never  had  the  slightest  hesi- 
tation in  directing,  and  reproving 
me;  allow  mc  to  tell  you  that  I  don't 
-care  for  any  more  of  it." 

"You  do  deserve  it — it  will  be  good 
for  you  to  hear  the  truth — pity  I  wasn't 
here  before;  might  have  been  able  to 
have  prevented  some  of  your  mischief. " 

"Without  doubt.  You  may  possi- 
bly recall  that,  when  we  were  in  col- 
lege, if  you  told  me  not  to  go  on  a 
fruit  raid  with  the  others,  I  always 
stayed  in  my  room  that  night." 

"I  recall  that  you  went  then,  if 
you  hadn't  intended  going  before.  I 
also  recall  that  you  often  wished  that 
you  had  stayed  in  your  room  during 
the  raids.  I  recall  one  night  in  par- 
ticular when  you  wished  it  so  fervent- 
ly that  you  cried  your  wisp  of  lace 
and  linen  sopping;  and  I  offered  my 
hanky  to  sop  up  the  rest  of  'em." 

"O,  tell  the  rest  of  it,  while  you  are 
about  it;  that  I  tore  my  dress;  and 
you  took  it  home  for  your  mother  to 
mend:  so  my  mother  shouldn't  know 
I  went  stealing  fruit — most  gentle- 
manly to  recall  that  particular  night. " 


"Plenty  of  others,  if  you  prefer 
them.  Shall  I  recall  the  night  that 
you  tied  the  bell-clapper  to — " 

"I  wish  you  wouldn't  say  'recall' 
again — it  sounds  so — so — ■" 

''I've  been  in  town  just  two  hours 
Daphne;  the  one  I've  spent  with  you 
has  not  been  particularly  peaceful— 
we  have  quarreled  constantly." 

"Did  I  commence  it?" 

"No.  I  can't  truthfully  say  you 
did;  but  my  remarks  were  not  re- 
ceived by  you  in  the  spirit  in  which 
they  were  made." 

"Indeed!" 

"Indeed  they  were  not.  I  am 
sorry — for  I  shall  not  be  at  home 
again  in  a  long  time;  with  a  strong 
chance  that  I  never  shall." 

"Changing  vour  business?" 

"Yes." 

"Might  one  ask  in  what  way?" 

"My  business  now  is  to  help 
defend  the  colors  you  wear  at  your 
throat.  Where  that  business  will 
take  me,  I  do  not  now  know:  but  I 
leave  here  tomorrow." 

"Tomorrow?" 

"  I  go  tomorrow.  I  came  home  only 
to  say  good-bye  to  mother,  and  to 
you;  must  leave  earlv  in  the  morn- 
ing." 

"I  don't  seem  able  to  grasp  your 
statement  Jim — wasn't  it  a  very  sud- 
den decision  on  your  part?" 

"No.  Should  have  informed  you 
sooner;  but  preferred  telling  you, 
rather  than  writing  you.  You  will 
write  me,  Daphne?  I'll  tell  you  how 
to  send  mail,  as  soon  as  I  am  told  my- 
self. And  now  good-bye;  and  God 
bless  you  girl!  Cut  out  the  non- 
sense Daphne;  put  on  some  clothes, 
and  make  of  yourself  the  woman  you 
were  meant  to  be." 

"'Put  on  clothes!'  What  do  you 
mean  by  such  an  ungentlemanly  re- 
mark?" 


62 


The  Granite  Monthly 


''Look  in 
see  what  I 
upr  " 


your   long 
mean — oh 


mirror,    and 
child    wake 


So  grateful  for  all  your  kind  ad- 
monitions,   and     complimentary    re- 
marks— don't  crush  my  hand  please." 
With  one  last  look  Jim  went. 


"Weil,  Daphne  Davies,  you  should 
be  very  proud  of  yourself  this  day. 
To  send  a  man  like  Jimmie  Lewis  to 
war,  with  a  good-bye  like  that — you 
need  shooting — I  hate  you;  yes,  I 
do!"  snapping  the  parasol  handle 
as  she  talked.  ''I'll  put  you  in  our 
old  stove  oven,  where  Jim  and  I  have 
cooked  since  we  were  kids.  I'll  make 
a  burnt  offering  of  you,  if  there  is 
just  one  match  left  in  our  old  tin 
box — and  there  is,  glory  be!  now 
blaze!  oh,  how  I  hate  you,  and  my- 
self!    I'll  never'dare  go  home;  every 


last  one  of  'em  will  know  I've  been 
crying;  oh  dear,  oh  dear";  and  the 
tears  had  their  own  way;  to  such  an 
extent  that  the  cremating  of  the- 
parasol  was  seen  through  a  heavy 
shower.  Just  as  the  coals  were  turn- 
ing to  ashes,  came  hasty  steps 
through  the  trees — and  Jim's  voice 
crying:  " Please  marry  me;  dearest 
little  Spitfire  in  all  the  world.  Give 
me  the  parasol;  I'll  cut  my  notch; 
and' — what!  You've  been  crying? 
Do  you  care  a  little,  sweetheart?" 

"Ye-es — a  very  little." 

"Well,  let  me  have  the  parasol; 
for  I've  none  too  much  time;  but,  if 
you  wanted  another  notch,  I  meant 
you  to  have  it." 

"I — I  burned  the  parasol." 

"You  burned  it?" 

"  Yes,  in  our  old  oven;  and,  Jimmie, 
it  was  for- — well,  rejected  proposals, 
you  know,  only." 


A  VOICE  FROM  THE  PAST 

By  Sarah  Fuller  Bickford  Hafey 

A  voice  from  the  Past  is  calling, 

Its  dulcet  tones  we  hear; 
And  joys  we've  tasted  greet  us, 

Though  misty,  with  a  teai\ 

Its  pleasures  and  its  sorrows, 

Its  daily  cares  and  mirth; 
Its  blighted  hopes  and  blessings, 

As  old  Time  gave  them  birth. 

But  'tis  a  passing  picture, 

Those  scenes,  of  long  ago; 
As  we  grope,  into  the  Future, 

And  hasten  the  boat,  we  row. 

But  in  the  Past,  could  we've  known  how 

To  live,  as  we  do  now, 
'Twould  have  been  a  different  Future, 

From  that,  to  which,  we  bow. 


A  voice  from  the  Past!     O  listen, 
To  its  joy's  and  sorrow's  chime; 

And  the  changes  Time  has  brought  us, 
Are  a  medley,  in  its  rhyme. 


NEW  HAMPSHIRE  NECROLOGY 


HON.    CHARLES   E.   BURBANK 
Charles  E.  Burbank,  son  of  Jason  C.  and 
Edna  (Willey)  Burbank.  born  in  Claremont 
JuJv  5,  1866,  died  at  the  Peter  Bent  Brigham 
Hospital  in  Boston,  March  4,  1918. 

Mr.  Burbank  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  Claremont  and  Boston,  the  Har- 
vard School  for  Social  Workers  and  the  Boston 
University  Law  School,  graduating  from  the 
latter  in  1894.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
law  firm  of  Stebbins,  Storer  tfc  Burbank  of 
Boston,  and  also  had  an  office  in  Brockton 
where  he  was  associated  with  Harold  S.  Lyon. 
Politically  he  was  a  progressive  Republican. 
He  served  in  the  Massachusetts  State  Senate 
in  1913,  being  one  of  the  two  Progressives  in 
that  body.  He  was  a  close  friend  of  Gov. 
Samuel  W.  McCall.  took  an  active  part  in 
the  campaign  for  his  election,  and  was  ap- 
pointed by  him,  in  1916,  State  Supervisor 
of  Administration,  which  office  he  held  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  and  in  which  he  had  ren- 
dered conspicuous  service.  He  had  practiced 
for  a  time  after  graduation  in  Colorado  and 
California  and  had  travelled  in  Europe, 
studying  social  conditions.  He  was  a  Mason, 
a  member  of  the  Economic  Club  of  Boston, 
and  actively  connected  with  the  Associated 
Charities. 

October  10,  3906,  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Lily  Owen,  M.D.,  by  whom  he  is 
survived. 

COL.  SOLON  A.  CARTER 
Col.  Solon  A.  Carter,  who  held  the  office- of 
State  Treasurer  of  New  Hampshire  longer 
than  any  other  man  ever  held  any  state  office 
in  New  Hampshire,  died  at  his  home  in  Con- 
cord, January  28,  1918. 

He  was  a  native  of  Leominster.  Mass.,  born 
June  22,  1837,  but  removed  to  Keene  in  early 
life,  where  he  was  engaged  in  business  when 
the  Civil  War  broke  out.  He  enlisted  in  the 
Union  service,  was  Assistant  Adjutant  Gen- 
eral on  the  stuff  of  Gen.  E.  W.  Hinks,  and 
was  brevetted  major  and  lieutenant-colonel 
for  gallant  and  meritorious  service.  He  was 
a  representative  from  Keene  in  the  legisla- 
ture of  1869  and  1870,  was  elected  State 
Treasurer  in  1872,  and  served  continuously 
until  1913,  with  the  exception  of  a  single 
year  from  June,  1874,  to  June,  1875.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  X.  H.  Executive  Council  in 
1915-16.  An  extended  biographical  sketch 
of  Colonel  Carter  appeared  in  the  Granite 
Monthly  for  August,  1909. 

HON.   WILLIAM   M.   CHASE 
p   Hon.  William  M.  Chase,  former  associate 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  Hamp- 
shire,  and  one  of  Concord's  most  eminent 


citizens,  an  extended  sketch  of  whose  life- 
may  be  found  in  the  Granite  Monthly  for 
November,  1907,  died  at  his  home  in  the 
Capital  City,  February  3,  1918,  at  the  age- 
of  SO  years,  having  been  born  in  Canaan, 
December  2S,  1837. 

He  was  the  son  of  Horace  and  Abigail  S. 
(Martin)  Chase,  graduated  from  the  Scientific 
Department  of  Dartmouth  College  in  1858, 
taught  school,  studied  law  with  the  late 
Anson  S.  Marshall,  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1S62,  and  engaged  in  practice  in  Concord, 
first  as  a  partner  with  Mr.  Marshall,  after- 
ward with  the  late  Chief  Justice  Sargent,. 
and  later  with  Frank  S.  Streeter.  He  served 
as  an  associate  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court 
from  April  1,  1891,  till  December  28,  1907, 
when  he  was  retired  by  age  limitation.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  State  Senate  of  1909-10, 
and  had  holden  many  corporate  offices. 

DANIEL  W.   SANBORN 
Daniel  W.  Sanborn,  a  long  prominent  rail- 
road man  of  New  England,  died  at  his  home 
in  Somerville,  Mass.,  January  7,  1918. 

He  was  born  in  Wakefield,  Mass.,  February 
27,  1834,  and  was  a  brother  of  the  late  Hon. 
John  W.  Sanborn  of  that  town.  He  com- 
menced his  career  as  a  trainman,  on  the  old 
Eastern  R.  R.;  became  a  conductor  in  1870; 
was  transportation  master  from  1878  to  1884; 
was  superintendent  of  the  Eastern  Division 
of  the  B.  &  M.  R.  R.  from  1SS4  to  1891,  when 
he  became  general  superintendent  of  the- 
Boston  &  Maine  continuing  till  his  retire- 
ment in  1906.  He  is  survived  by  a  wife  and 
two  children  by  his  first  marriage,  Fred  E. 
Sanborn,  general  superintendent  of  the  Maine- 
Central  Railroad,  and  Mrs*.  J.  M.  French  of 
Somerville. 

PROF.  GEORGE  W.  BINGHAM 
Prof.  George  W.  Bingham,  a  noted  educator,, 
native  of  Claremont,  born  October  23,  1828, 
died  at  his  home  in  Derry,  February  12,  1918. 
He  was  educated  at  Kimball  Union  Acad- 
emy and  Dartmouth  College,  graduating- 
from  the  latter  in  1863.  He  served  as  prin- 
cipal of  Gilmanton  Academy  two  years,  was 
in  educational  work  in  Pennsylvania  and 
Iowa  for  some  time,  was  principal  of  Coe's 
Academy,  Northwood,  from  1884  till  1888, 
when  he  became  principal  of  Pinkerton  Acad- 
emy, Deny,  continuing  until  retirement  in 
1909,  after  which  he  was  principal  emeritus. 
He  was  deeply  interested  in  religious  and 
Sunday-school  work,  and  represented  this 
State  at  the  World's  Sunday-school  Conven- 
tion in  London  in  1889. 

He  married  Mary  Upham  Cogswell  of 
Northwood,    November    1,    1803,   who   died 


64 


The  Granite  Monthly 


March  4,  1S92.  August  3,  1906,  he  married 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Cogswell  Prescott,  a  sister 
of  his  first  wife,  who  died  five  years  ago. 

WILLIAM   S.   HARRIS 
William  Samuel  Harris,  born  in  Windham, 
March  29,  1861,  died  in  that  town  December 
17,  1917. 

He  was  the  son  of  William  C.  and  Philena 
(Dinsmore)  Harris,  and  was  educated  at 
Pinkerton  Academy,  Pennsylvania  State 
College,  and  by  private  study.  He  taught 
school  many  years,  his  most  important  service 
in  this  line  being  that  of  instructor  in  Science 
and  English,  in  Coe's  Academy,  Xorthwood, 
for  twenty  terms.  He  was  best  known,  how- 
ever, as  a  writer  on  historical  and  genealogical 
subjects,  nature  studies,  etc. 

ALBERT   H.   VARNEY,    M.D. 

Dr.  Albert  H.  Varney,  one  of  the  best 
known  physicians  of  Rockingham  County 
for  many  years,  died  at  his  home  in  Newfields, 
January  16, 1918. 

H^  was  born  at  North  Berwick,  Me., 
March  27,  1836,  attended  Berwick  Academy, 


and  was  graduated  from  Harvard  Medical 
School  in  1S57.  He  commenced  practice  in 
Chicago,  but  soon  returned  East,  and  located 
in  Newfields  in  I860,  where  he  continued 
through  life,  gaining  an  external  practice, 
and  also  maintaining  an  office  in  Exeter  for 
many  years.  Politically  he  was  a  Republican 
and  had  served  his  town  as  selectman,  as 
representative  in  1871,  and  as  town  clerk 
for  twenty-three  years.  He  is  survived  by  a 
widow,  who  was  Miss  Olive  Fernald,  and 
three  daughters. 

COL.  THOMAS  L.  HOITT 
Col.  Thomas  L.  Hoitt,  a  prominent  citizen 
of  Barnstead,  died  in  that  town  January  30, 
191S.  He  was  born  in  Barnstead,  April  1, 
1837,  son  of  Benjamin  and  Mehitable  (Bab- 
son)  Hoitt.  His  mother  was  a  granddaughter 
of  Gen.  John  Stark,  and  he  was  one  of  two 
living  great-grandsons  of  the  General,  at  the 
time  of  his  death.  He  was  a  Congregation- 
alist  and  a  Democrat,  and  represented  the 
Stark  family  and  the  State  of  Xew  Hamp- 
shire at  the  Centennial  celebration  of  Stark 
County,  Ohio,  September  6,  1911. 


EDITOR  AND  PUBLISHER'S  NOTES 


The  Granite  Monthly  for  the  first 
quarter  of  1918 — January,  February  and 
March — is  herewith  presented,  in  accordance 
with  the  plan  outlined  in  the  last  issue  for 
1917.  The  greatly  increased  cost  of  produc- 
tion, over  that  of  ante-war  times  rendered  it 
necessary  to  adopt  this  plan  or  to  double  the 
annual  subscription  price.  The  amount  of 
valuable  and  interesting  matter  presented  in 
this  issue  should  be  sufficient  to  reconcile 
all  our  patrons  to  the  change  that  has  been 
made,  yet  which  it  is  hoped  may  not  neces- 
sarily be  permanent.  Subscribers  are  now 
reminded  that  payment  for  1918  should  be 
made  upon  receipt  of  this  issue,  in  all  cases 
where  it  has  not  been  made  in  advance.  This 
is  an  absolutely  necessary  requirement. 


On  the  second  Tuesday  of  March,  at  the 
annual  meetings  in  the  towns  and  at  special 
meetings  in  the  cities  not  holding  regular 
elections  on  that  day,  delegates  to  a  consti- 
tutional convention  ordered  for  the  first 
Wednesday  in  June,  by  the  legislature,  were 
chosen,  a  large  proportion  of  able  and  experi- 
enced men  being  included  in  the  number 
elected.  There  is  a  wide  difference  of  opin- 
ion as  to  what  course  should  be  pursued  by 
the  convention  when  assembled.  It  is  con- 
tended by  some  that  the  body  should  adjourn 
sine  die,  at  once.  Others  insist  that  it  should 
effect  an  organization  and  then  adjourn  at 
the  call  of  the  president,  after  the  war  is 
ended;  while  others  insist  that  having  been 


legally  called  it  should  attend  to  its  work, 
and,  if  in  the  judgment  of  the  majority 
amendments  to  the  constitution  are  desirable 
the  same  should  be  drawn  and  presented  to 
the  people  for  adoption  or  rejection  at  the 
next  election,  on  the  ground  that  any  changes 
needed  in  time  of  peace,  are  no  less,  and  prob- 
ably more  necessary'  in  time  of  war.  Already 
there  are  several  men  mentioned  for  the  pres- 
idency of  the  Convention,  and  one  at  least 
is  reported  to  be  making  an  active  canvass. 
The  general  assumption  seems  to  be  that 
some  Republican  will  be  made  president,  be- 
cause all  presidents  of  such  conventions 
have  been  Republicans,  since  that  party 
came  into  existence.  This  ought  not,  neces- 
sarily, to  follow,  however.  Party  politics  ought 
to  be  left  out  of  sight  entirely,  and  the  ablest, 
most  experienced  and  best  qualified  man 
chosen,  regardless  of  his  partisan  affiliations. 


The  political  pot  is  already  "simmering" 
in  this  state,  preparatory  to  the  coming  cam- 
paign, especially  on  the  Republican  side. 
Although  there  is  but  one  declared  candidate 
for  the  gubernatorial  nomination  in  that 
party  as  yet,  and  not  likely  to  be  another, 
there  are  at  least  four  men  in  the  field  for 
the  nomination  for  U.  S.  Senator,  viz.:  Rose- 
erans  W.  Pillsburv,  George  H.  Moses,  Gov. 
H.  W.  Keyes  and  ex-Gov.  Roiland  H.  Spauld- 
ing,  with  a  strong  possibility  of  further  entries. 
The  contest  for  the  nomination  promises  to 
be  a  decidedly  warm  and  interesting  one. 


...,:>..  -.■.^■r.,;«.?.„ .,,-,,,.... .>,*.-.»*•?.  W  .    .^^r.--'  »•  -    »:*-mSBJBaBsiOW«wj 


t»  tif  No*.  4—6 


APRIL-JUNE,  191-3 


1   I 


THE 


1 


NEW  SERIES,  Vol  XIIL  No*  *-* 


*-'     ',.  W" 


f  j        .   '  1    ^ 


A   New    Hampshire    Magazine 

Devoted  to  History,  Biography,  Literature  and  State  Progre 


CONTENTS  FOR  APRIL -JUNE 

The  Public  Career  of  Holland  H.  Spaulding--*Watn  Frontispiece    « 

By  an  OccaeiouaLCoatributor. 

The  Constitutional  Convention ~ IHustrsted. 

An  Interesting  Occasion  —  Illustrated.      .         . 

New  Hampshire  Preparing  for  War 
By  Prof.  Richard  W.  Husband. 

The  Passing  of  the  Old  Bed  Sehooihouse     . 

By  Francis  A-_  Corey. 

John  Mason's  Three  Great  Houses       .        .' 

By  J.  "M.  Moses. 

The  Battle  of  Chelsea  Crenk 

By  Fred  W.  Lamb. 

Emma  Gannell  Rumforti  Burgum 

By  J.  Elizabeth  Hoyt  Stevens.    Illustrated. 

Hew  Hampshire  Necrology 

Editor  p.nd  Publisher's  Motes 


77 

1.32 

111 
116 

120 

122 

12% 
128 


Poems 

By  Martha  S.  Baker,  Lawrence  E.  Woodmaa,  M.  E. 
Duiican  Towle. 


ilia,  Florence  T.  Blaisdell,  Hat  tie 


Issued  by  The  Granite  Monthly  Company 

HENRY  H.  METGALF,  Editor  and  Manager 


'ERMS:  Si.oo  ^t  annum,  in  advance;  $1.50  i£  not  paid  in  advance.     Single  copies*  25  cent®  \ 

CONCORD,  ft.  H*3  1318 

Entered  at  fcise  post  office  at  Concord  as  second-class  mail  matter. 


;:v;.;,  SiSSSI  :.■:•-.    , 


PRICE  25  CENTS  PER  COPY 


; 


&S" 


->; 


1  i  - 


. 


HON.  HOLLAND  H.  SI'AULDING 


The    Granite    Monthly 


Vol.  L,  Xos.  4-6 


APRIL-JUNE,  19IS 


New  Series,  Vol.  XIII,  Nos.  4- 


THE  PUBLIC  CAREER   OF  ROLLAND  H. 

SPAULDIXG 

By  An  Occasional  Contributor 


The  public  career  of  Rolland  H. 
Spaulding  of  Rochester,  while  com- 
paratively brief,  has  been  so  bril- 
liantly and  exceptionally  successful 
that  his  many  friends  and  admirers 
have  good  warrant  for  their  belief 
that  it  is  to  be  further  adorned  with 
new  and  higher  honors  and  that  its 
usefulness  is  to  progress  and  increase 
along  ways  of  even  broader  oppor- 
tunity for  achievement  and  accom- 
plishment. 

It  is  only  a  few  years  since  Mr. 
Spaulding  was  called  from  his  great 
and  rapidly  growing  private  business 
to  take  his  place,  in  the  public  affairs 
of  state  and  nation;  but  during  those 
few  years  his  ability  and  his  courage, 
his  steadfast  sincerity  and  his  un- 
wavering desire  and  determination  to 
serve  the  public  good  and  that  alone 
have  entrenched  him  in  the  hearts 
and  in  the  confidence  of  the  people  at 
large  to  a  degree  without  parallel  in 
the  political  history  of  the  state. 

The  secret  of  his  success  is  simple: 
He  knows  what  is  right  and  he  dares 
to  do  it.  Arid,  moreover,  he  will  not 
be  driven  or  led,  pushed  or  pulled, 
bullied  or  coaxed,  into  doing  anything 
which  he  does  not  believe  to  be  right. 
Show  him  a  worthy  cause,  a  public 
benefit,  a  forward  step  to  be  taken,  an 
injustice  to  be  remedied  and  you  will 
have  his  prompt  and  powerful  aid; 
but  he  will  be  just  as  prompt  to  op- 
pose, without  thought  of  personal 
consequences  to  himself,  any  propo- 


sition in  which  he  detects  dishonesty, 
chicanery  or  demagogism. 

Rugged  honesty  has  been  the  sure 
foundation  upon  which  Spaulding 
success  in  business  has  been  built; 
and  Spaulding  participation  in  public 
life  could  have  no  other  basis  and  be 
consistent  with  his  personality  and 
his  record. 

Ancestry  and  training,  heredity 
and  environment,  have  worked  to- 
gether in  his  case  to  produce  the  same 
result,  a  man  typical  of  New  England's 
best,  alike  in  mind  and  heart,  brain  and 
conscience. 

Rolland  H.  Spaulding  was  born  in 
Townsend  Harbor,  Mass.,  March  15, 
1873,  the  son  of  Jonas  and  Emma  C. 
(Cummings)  Spaulding,  the  family 
hues  of  both  his  father  and  his  mother 
going  back  to  the  beginnings  of  New 
England  history  and  including  sol- 
diers, farmers,  teachers,  preachers 
and  business  men  in  their  roster. 
He  was  educated  at  Phillips  Academy, 
Andover,  Mass.,  preferring,  as  did 
his  older  brothers,  Leon  and  Huntley, 
to  make  an  early  start  in  business 
with  their  father,  rather  than  to  at- 
tend college. 

That  business  was  a  prosperous, 
but  not  large,  leather-board  mill  in 
Townsend  Plarbor,  which  in  a  very 
few  years  proved  too  small  to  con- 
tain the  activities  of  the  three  young 
men  and  they  went  up  into  Xew 
Hampshire  at  North  Rochester  to 
begin  to  branch  out  for  themselves. 


GS 


The  Granite  Monthly 


Today  they  have  half  a  dozen  sep- 
arate plants-  in  four  states  and  in 
England  and  their  products  have  an 
international  reputation  as  the  best, 
the  most  up  to  date  and  the  most  de- 
pendable in  their  line  in  the  world. 

To  achieve  this  result  while  they 
were  still  young  men  the  three 
SpauJding  brothers  found  it  necessary 
to  give  themselves  almost  absolutely 
to  their  work.  In  the  earlier  years, 
especially,  of  their  endeavor,  it  re- 
quired from  them  unremitting  at- 
tention and  the  hardest  kind  of  per- 
sonal toil  with  their  own  hands  about 
the  factories  as  well  as  with  their 
heads  in  the  counting  room.  They 
were  husky  boys,  built  for  business, 
and  the  hard  work  agreed  with  them, 
but  for  a  number  of  years  it  kept 
them  from  having  many  outside 
interests. 

Now  their  great  business  is  so  well 
organized  and  so  efficiently  syste- 
matized that  even  with  the  increased 
demands  upon  it  which  war  activities 
are  making,  it  runs  on  smoothly  and 
successfully,  allowing  at  the  same 
time  Huntley  Spanieling  to  prove 
himself  the  best  state  food  adminis- 
trator in  the  country  and  Holland 
Spaulding  to  direct  state  Red  Cross 
drives  and  to  assume  other  public 
duties. 

It  was,  however,  because  of  this 
early  absorption  in  business  that  the 
youngest  of  the  Spaulding  boys  found 
no  time  for  active  participation  in 
politics  until  within  the  present  dec- 
ade. 

He  always  was  interested  in  local 
good  government  and  ready  to  do 
anything  in  his  power  to  secure  it. 
Also,  he  always  was  a  Republican  in 
political  belief,  thoroughly  subscrib- 
ing to  the  principles  of  government 
upon  which  the  partly  was  founded 
and  which  it  maintains  to  this  day. 
In  his  clear  conception  of  these  funda- 
mentals and  his  unswerving  devotion 
to  them,  Mr.  Spaulding  shows  the 
high  quality  of  his  Republicanism, 
rather  than  in  pulling  the  wires  of 
political  partisanship  and  in  repeating 


the  stereotyped  phrases  of  three 
generations  of  stump-speakers. 

Through  one  phase  of  his  business 
activities,  Mr.  Spaulding  came  in 
touch  with  the  inside  of  New  Hamp- 
shire state  politics  and  the  experience 
caused  him  to  join  heartily  in  the 
well-remembered  ''Lincoln  Repub- 
lican" movement  to  better  certain 
conditions  then  existing  in  the  ma- 
jority party.  The  earnest  support 
he  gave  to  this  endeavor  was  without 
thought  of  personal  profit  or  prom- 
inence and  when  his  peculiar  fitness 
for  the  place  caused  his  name  to  be 
mentioned  in  connection  with  mem- 
bership on  the  public  service  com- 
mission at  the  time  of  its  establish- 
ment he  promptly  vetoed  the  idea. 

The  third  party  Progressive  move- 
ment did  not  enlist  the  support  of 
Mr.  Spau'ding  although  he  believed 
sincerely  in  many  of  its  principles. 
He  chose,  rather,  to  remain  within  the 
Republican  party  and  to  use  his  in- 
fluence there  towards  combining  a 
forward  looking  program  with  loyal 
adherence  to  the  faith  of  the  fathers. 
With  this  purpose  in  mind  he  ac- 
cepted an  election  as  delegate  to  the 
Republican  National  convention  of 
1912  in  Chicago. 

Two  years  later  both  wings  of  the 
Republican  party  in  New  Hampshire 
were  equally  desirous  of  bringing 
about  the  return  of  their  part}'  to 
power  in  the  state  and  they  looked 
about  for  a  leader  under  whose 
standard  each  faction  could  rally 
with  equal  confidence  in  the  man  and 
without  surrender  of  their  convictions. 

Such  a  leader  was  found  in  Rolland 
PI.  Spaulding  of  Rochester  and  his 
nomination  in  the  Republican  prim- 
ary by  a  plurality  of  4,007  and  his 
election  by  the  people  with  a  plurality 
of  almost  13,000  are  still  fresh  _  in 
mind.  His  campaigns  for  the  prim- 
ary and  for  the  general  election  were 
open,  direct  and  clean.  He  went 
straight  to  the  people  and  told  them 
without  oratory,  camouflage  or  cir- 
cumlocution who  he  was,  for  what  he 
stood  and  what  he  would  try  to  ac- 


The  Public  Career  of  Holland  H.  Spaulding 


69 


complish  if  nominated  and  elected 
governor.  He  made  no  trades  and 
he  gaVe  no  promises,  save  only  his 
pledge  to  try  to  do  his  duty  as  he  saw 
it. 

The  people  liked  the  man  and  his 
maimer.  His  absolute  lack  of  pre- 
tense and  affectation  appealed  to 
them.  He  stood  before  them,  sin- 
cere, straightforward  and  successful, 
and  told  them  the  truth.  They  be- 
lieved in  his  ability  and  his  integrity 
and  they  elected  him  governor. 

The  day  after  his  election  Mr. 
Spaulding  began  to  study  the  new 
business  of  which  he  had  been  made 
manager  and  he  did  not  relax  his 
efforts  in  this  direction  during  the 
ensuing  two  years.  He  delved  deep 
into  state  reports;  he  visited  state 
institutions,  unheralded  and  unan- 
nounced; he  found  out  how  the  wheels 
went  around.  And  from  his  study  of 
the  state  government  mechanism  he 
arrived  at  an  important  conclusion  to 
which  he  remained  steadfast;  that 
wherever  he  found  a  weak  cog  in  the 
machinery,  a  useless  or  imperfect 
part,  he  would  replace  it,  if  he  had 
the  power,  no  matter  who  put  it 
there  or  who  wanted  it  kept  there; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  where  he 
found  the  output  of  the  plant  satis- 
factory, he  would  make  no  changes, 
no  matter  who  wanted  jobs  or  how 
badly  they  wanted  them.  This  was  a 
new  policy  in  partisan  New  Hamp- 
shire and  it  made  trouble  for  Governor 
Spaulding  in  his  own  party  from  the 
start;  but  the  people  saw  that  it  was 
good  business  sense  and  they  stood 
behind  the  Governor  as  he  put  it  in 
force  and  kept  it  in  force.  It  is  one 
of  the  principal  reasons  for  the  large 
*" independent"  following  which  even 
the  Spaulding  opponents  admit  that 
he  has. 

Governor  Spaulding's  inaugural  ad- 
dress was  out  of  the  ordinary.  It  was 
brief,  but  packed  full  of  suggestions 
for  economies  and  improvements  in 
the  management  of  the  state's  busi- 
ness. Reforms  in  municipal  finances; 
less  injustice  in  the  taxation  of  in- 


tangible property;  more  direct  re- 
sponsibility in  state  highway  affairs; 
a  business  manager  for  state  institu- 
tions; the  limiting  of  political  expendi- 
tures; the  perfecting  of  the  workmen's 
compensation  law;  the  reorganiza- 
tion of  some  state  departments  and 
the  combining  of  others;  were  among 
the  recommendations  that  he  made. 

Some  of  these  forward  steps  which 
Governor  Spaulding  advocated  were 
taken  by  the  legislature  which  he 
addressed;  some  are  to  the  credit  of 
the  legislature  of  1917;  and  some  are 
still  in  process  of  attainment.  All 
attest  the  ability  and  the  sincerity 
which  the  governor  brought  to  the 
discharge  of  his  duties. 

As  the  session  progressed  many 
important  matters  made  their  ap- 
pearance which  made  demands  upon 
the  wisdom  of  the  executive  as  well 
as  the  legislative  departments  of  the 
government.  Among  them  may  be 
mentioned  the  investigation  into  the 
management  of  the  state  hospital; 
the  attempted  rehabilitation  by  re- 
organization of  the  Boston  &  Maine 
Railroad;  the  reorganization  of  the 
local  courts  of  the  state;  and  the 
codification  of  the  fish  and  game  laws. 

An  especial  object  of  the  attention 
of  Governor  Spaulding  during  the 
legislative  session  and  throughout  his 
administration  was  the  finances  of  the 
state.  On  this  line  his  successful 
business  experience  proved  of  the 
greatest  value  to  him  and  to  the  state 
and  he  was  able  to  effect  some  notable 
economies  without  in  the  least  crip- 
pling the  activities  or  lowering  the 
usefulness  of  any  department  of  the 
government.  The  net  result  was  a 
reduction  of  $50,000  a  year  in  the 
state  tax,  followed  and  supplemented 
by  a  reduction  of  832,000  in  the  net 
indebtedness  of  the  state  at  the  end  of 
his  administration. 

The  seriousness  with  which  Gov- 
ernor Spaulding  regarded  the  oath 
which  he  took  on  assuming  office 
made  it  necessary,  in  his  estimation, 
for  him  to  differ  on  several  occasions 
with  a  majority  of  his  own  political 


70 


The  Granite  Monthly 


party  in  the  legislature  and  in  the 
executive  council.  On  these  occasions 
he  did  not  dodge,  flinch  or  swerve, 
but  stood  by  his  guns  in  the 
open.  In  every  instance  he  went  to 
the  people  with  a  public  statement 
of  the  case  and  their  verdict  was  in 
his  favor.  His  three  legislative  vetoes 
received  a  majority  vote  in  their  sup- 
port, and  in  his  controversies  with  his 
council  over  certain  appointments 
the  opinion  of  the  state  as  voiced  by 
the  press  was  on  his  side. 

It  was  hard  for  many  people,  es- 
pecially politicians,  to  believe  that 
Governor  Spaulding  in  making  ap- 
pointments was  actuated  solely — as 
certainly  he  was — by  a  desire  to  se- 
cure efficiency  in  the  office  to  be 
filled.  He  sanctioned  the  removal 
from  office  of  one  of  his  personal 
friends,  not  because  the  man  was  a 
Democrat,  but  because  the  governor 
believed  it  to  be  for  the  advantage  of 
the  state  to  have  a  very  efficient  Re- 
publican official  restored  to  the  place 
from  which  a  Democratic  administra- 
tion had  ousted  him.  He  named 
a  Republican  politician  to  one  of  the 
most  important  places  within  his 
gift,  not  because  the  man  was  a 
Republican  and  a  politician,  but  be- 
cause in  the  past  he  had  proved  him- 
self peculiarly  well  adapted  to  the 
duties  of  the  position.  He  insisted 
upon  keeping  Democrats  in  some 
offices  for  which  they  had  shown  es- 
pecial fitness;  Commissioner  of  Agri- 
culture Felker,  for  instance,  and 
Judge  (plancy  of  the  Nashua  district 
court;  but  where  he  was  convinced 
that  the  efficiency  of  the  office  could 
be  increased  and  improved  he  had  no 
hesitation  in  replacing  Democrats 
with  Republicans. 

Business  methods  and  political  in- 
dependence were  the  two  chief 
characteristics  of  Governor  Spaulding 
as  a  chief  executive;  but  he  also  was 
well  known  as  a  hard  working  gov- 
ernor; a  governor,  to  whom  access 
was  easy;  a  governor  who  was  a 
kindly,  thoughtful,  generous  gentle- 
man.    No   chief  executive  ever  was 


more  popular  with  those  who  came 
to  know  him  best,  with  those  with 
whom  he  was  in  closest  contact. 
Many  there  were  who  urged  him  to 
break  New  Hampshire's  imwise  prec- 
edent and  become  a  candidate  for  a 
second  term  as  governor,  but  such 
was  not  his  desire. 

He  was  content  to  relinquish  the 
reins  of  office  at  the  end  of  his  two 
years  and  to  turn  over  to  his  suc- 
cessor a  state  treasury  better  filled; 
a  state  government  better  manned; 
a  more  efficient  administrative  ma- 
chine doing  more  useful  work  than 
when  he  assumed  office. 

Not  only  in  his  strictly  official 
duties,  but  in  the  many  outside  de- 
mands upon  a  chief  executive,  Mr. 
Spaulding  proved  himself  an  excel- 
lent governor.  Whenever  it  was 
possible  for  him  to  do  so  without 
neglecting  the  affairs  of  state,  Gov- 
ernor Spaulding  made  it  a  point  to 
accept  invitations  to  occasions  and 
gatherings  where  the  presence  of  the 
head  of  the  state  was  desired  and  de- 
sirable. There  his  pleasure  at  meet- 
ing his  fellow  citizens  and  their 
wives  and  children  was  so  evidently 
sincere  that  his  friendship  was  re- 
turned in  full  measure  and  to  the 
high  esteem  which  his  official  acts 
gained  for  him  throughout  the  state 
was  added  a  remarkable  degree  of 
personal  popularity  which  still  en- 
dures. 

In  his  speeches  on  these  occasions. 
as  well  as  in  Ins  addresses  to  the 
legislature  and  other  formal  utter- 
ances, Governor  Spaulding  made  no 
attempts  at  oratory.  He  soon  came 
to  be  known  as  one  whose  speeches 
were  sure  to  be  brief  and  to  the  point, 
always  conveying  clearly  and  con- 
cisely a  worth  while  message.  This 
was  true,  also,  of  his  gubernatorial 
proclamations  and  other  official  doc- 
uments. Whenever  and  whatever 
Governor  Spaulding  says  or  writes, 
he  never  leaves  any  doubt  as  to  his 
meaning  in  the  mind  of  the  person 
addressed.  That  always  is  his  in- 
tention  and    it   is   easv   for   him   to 


The  Public  Career  of  Holland  H.  Spaulding 


71 


cany  it  out  because  he  says  what  he 
thinks  and  believes  and  does  not  have 
to  search  for  language  with  which  to 
conceal  his  real  meaning  or  mental 
attitude  in  relation  to  any  question. 
Honesty  is  his  motto  in  words  as  well 
as  in  deeds. 

During  his  term  of  office  Governor 
Spaulding  became  well  known  in 
public  life  without  the  state  as  well  as 
within  it.  He  attended  the  confer- 
ence of  governors  at  Boston  in  1915 
and  presided  over  one  of  its  sessions 
and  the  next  year  he  addressed  the 
similar  gathering  held  at  Washington. 

The  services  of  Mr.  Spaulding  to 
the  state  were  suitably  recognized  by 
its  two  principal  educational  institu- 
tions, Dartmouth  College  conferring 
upon  him  the  honorary  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts  and  New  Hampshire 
College  that  of  Doctor  of  Laws.  As 
an  ex  officio  member  of  the  boards  of 
trustees  of  both  institutions  he  mani- 
fested a  constant  and  lively  interest 
in  their  affairs  which  has  continued 
beyond  his  term  of  office  and  which 
highly  gratifies  their  graduates  and 
other  friends. 

Comment  has  been  made  in  this 
article  upon  the  fact  that  in  matters 
political  Governor  Spaulding  and  a 
majority  of  his  executive  council  did 
not  always  agree.  This  is  true,  but 
it  should  be  added  that  in  matters  of 
the  state's  business  they  usually  did 
agree  and  to  much  effect  for  the  state's 
advantage.  Under  their  joint  di- 
rection the  appearance  of  the  state 
house  and  its  grounds  was  very  much 
improved.  The  work  upon  the  state 
highways  never  was  more  carefully 
watched.  Rare  good  sense  was  ex- 
ercised in  the  matter  of  pardons  from 
state  prison  and  in  other  relations 
between  the  executive  department 
and  the  state  institutions.  And, 
finally,  in  such  financial  matters  as 
the  settlement  of  the  Nesmith  es- 
tate tangle  the  advantage  of  an  ex- 
pert business  administration  of  the 
state's  affairs  was  made  strikingly 
manifest. 

The  retirement  of  Mr.   Spaulding 


from  the  office  of  governor  at  the  close 
of  his  two  year  term  was  made  the 
occasion  for  editorial  comment  of  the 
most  favorable  character  by  the  news- 
papers of  the  state  upon  his  record 
as  New  Hampshire's  chief  executive. 
It  was  then  said  and  has  been  re- 
peated often  that  the  state  could  not 
spare  him  from  her  service  and  that 
his  experience  as  governor  must  be 
utilized  as  having  fitted  him  for  most 
useful  work  at  another  eapitol,  that 
of  the  nation,  at  Washington. 

Governor  Spaulding,  however,  made 
all  preparations  for  returning  to 
private  life  and  giving  renewed  at- 
tention to  his  own  interests.  But  the 
entrance  of  this  country  into  the  world 
war  changed  his  plans  as  it  did  those 
of  so  man\'  others.  During  his  term 
as  governor  Mr.  Spaulding  had  lent 
the  weight  of  his  official  position  and 
had  given  freely  of  his  own  time, 
money  and  efforts  to  the  work  of 
relief  for  the  Belgian  refugees  and 
other  sufferers  from  the  early  years 
of  the  great  conflict. 

With  America  in  the  war  there  was 
need  for  more  of  this  work,  and  for 
other  greater  endeavors  as  well. 
When  the  New  Hampshire  Com- 
mittee on  Public  Safety  was  formed 
ex-Governor  Spaulding  was  made  a 
member  of  its  executive  committee 
and  vice-chairman.  In  this  capacity 
he  has  been  faithful  in  attendance 
upon  the  meetings  of  the  committee 
and  has  proved  a  very  valuable  mem- 
ber because  of  his  wide  experience  in 
certain  lines  of  its  work. 

Of  the  great  Red  Cross  drives  in 
New  Hampshire  for  members  and  for 
funds  Mr.  Spaulding  has  been  the 
chairman,  and  their  remarkable  suc- 
cess, it  is  generally  acknowledged,  has 
been  due  in  no  small  part  to  the 
wonderfully  ,  thorough  and  efficient 
organization  with  which  he  has  cov- 
ered the  state.  As  a  district  chairman 
and  member  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee in  the  liberty  Loan  and  Red 
Triangle  campaigns  he  has  had  equal 
success;  and  when  the  full  history  of 
Xew    Hampshire's    part    in   the   war 


72 


The  Granite  Monthly 


activities  of  1917-18  is  written  the 
share  in  it  of  the  Spaulding  brothers 
will  be  found  to  be  very  great. 

In  these  patriotic  endeavors  the 
same  qualities  in  Governor  Spauld- 
ing's  character  are  prominent  as  in 
his  public  career  and  his  private  life. 
They  are  the  ability  and  the  desire 
to    do   an    extraordinary   amount    of 


hard  work,  honest  work,  result- 
bringing  work  in  whatever  line  en- 
gages his  attention.  They  made  his 
two  years  as  governor  valuable  years 
for  the  state  of  New  Hampshire. 
They  would  give  the  same  effect  to 
his  service  in  the  United  States  Sen- 
ate at  Washington. 


THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION 

Assembled,  Deliberated  and  Adjourned,  all  Within  Three  Days 


The  Constitutional  Convention  of 
1918,  summoned  by  the  people,  at  the 
election  of  November,  1916,  by  a 
vote  of  21,589  yeas  to  14,520  nays, 
met,  in  accordance  with  the  action  of 
the  last  Legislature,  making  provision 
for  -its  session,  in  Representatives 
Hall  at  the  State  House,  at  11  o'clock, 
a.  m.,  on  Wednesday  June  5. 

The  delegates  were  called  to  order 
by  Maj.  William  H.  Trickey  of  Tilton, 
Commandant  of  the  N.  II.  Soldiers' 
Home,  and  a  delegate  from  that  town, 
and  prayer  was  offered  by  Rev.  Will- 
iam H.  Pound,  D.  D.,  of  Wolfeboro, 
also  a  delegate  and  pastor  of  the  Con- 
gregational church  in  Wolfeboro. 

On  motion  of  Hon.  Rosecrans  W. 
Pillsbury  of  Londonderry,  Hon. 
Hosea  W.  Parker  of  Claremont — a 
member  of  the  N.  H.  Legislature  in 
1859  and  I860,  and  of  the  National 
Congress  from  1871  to  1875 — was 
elected  temporary  president,  and  was 
escorted  to  the  chair  by  Messrs. 
Pillsbury,  and  Brennan  of  Peter- 
borough. Briefly  expressing  his 
thanks  for  the  honor  conferred,  Mr. 
Parker  set  the  wheels  of  business  in 
motion  after  the  manner  of  the  ready 
presiding  officer. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Kinney  of  Clare- 
mont, a  committee  of  twenty,  on 
credentials,  was  appointed,  with  that 
gentleman  as  chairman,  and  soon  re- 
ported 426  delegates  elected  and  en- 
titled to  seats,  including  William  A. 
Lee  of  Concord,  Ward  8,  chosen   in 


place  of  Edson  J.  Hill  elected  and  since 
deceased;  and  Everett  Kittredge  of 
Bradford,  in  place  of  Frank  J.  Peaslee, 
resigned.  The  committee  also  recom- 
mended that  Horace  F.  Hoyt  and 
Frank  A.  Updike  of  Hanover,  who  re- 
ceived an  equal  number  of  votes,  be 
given  seats,  with  half  a  vote  each, 
and  Albion  Kohler  and  Theodosius  S. 
Tyng  of  Ashland,  similarly  tied,  be 
allowed  the  same,  which  report  was 
accepted  and  the  recommendations 
adopted. 

Mr.  Snow  of  Rochester  nominated 
Hon.  Albert  0.  Brown  of  Manchester 
for  permanent  president,  moving  that 
the  temporary  secretary,  A.  Chester 
Clark  of  Concord,  secretary  of  the 
last  convention,  cast  one  ballot  for 
him,  which  motion  prevailed  and  Mr. 
Brown  was  elected.  He  was  con- 
ducted to  the  chair  by  Messrs.  Hutch- 
ins  of  Stratford  and  Streeter  of  Con- 
cord, and  addressed  the  Convention 
in  a  carefully  prepared  speech  on  the 
war  situation. 

A.  Chester  Clark  of  Concord  was 
elected  secretary  and  Bernard  W. 
Carey  of  Newport  assistant  secretary. 

A  committee,  of  which  Frank  P. 
Quimby  of  Ward  7,  Concord,  was 
chairman,  reported  a  list  of  minor 
officers  for  the  convention,  and  the 
same  were  elected,  as  follows: 

Chaplain,  Archibald  Black,  Con- 
cord; serjeant-at-arms,  Walter  J.  A. 
Ward,  Hillsborough;  doorkeepers, 
Guy  S.  Neal,  Acworth,  George  Law- 


The  Constitutional  Convention 


73 


rence,  Manchester,  Albert  P.  Davis, 
Concord,  Edward  K.  Webster,  Con- 
cord; warden  of  coat  room,  George 
Goodhue,  Concord;  assistant  warden, 
John  C.  O'Hare,  Nashua;  messenger, 
Frank  Aldrich,  Manchester;  pages, 
Joseph  H.  Lane,  Concord,  Walter 
Pillsbury,  Deny;  stenographers, 
Margaret  Conway,  Concord,  Bessie 
Goodwin,  Newport. 


it  was  voted  to  go  into  Committee  of 
the  Whole,  immediately  after  the 
opening  of  the  next  morning's  session, 
for  the  consideration  of  Mr.  Lyford's 
first  proposed  amendment,  which 
would  authorize  the  Legislature  to 
provide  an  equitable  arrangment  for 
the  taxation  of  growing  wood  and 
timber. 

At  the  opening  of  the  second  day's 


-■••--: 


~~™ 


l\      • 


HON.  KOSEA  W.  PAKKLK,  Temporary  President 


The  balance  of  the  first  day,  after 
organization,  was  devoted  to  an  at- 
tempt on  the  part  of  Mr.  Lyford  of 
Concord  to  commit  the  Convention 
to  an  adjournment  until  after  the 
close  of  the  war,  immediately  after 
the  consideration  and  disposition  of 
two  amendments  relating  to  taxation; 
and  one  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Varney  of 
Rochester,  to  such  adjournment  at 
"nee,  both  of  which  were  defeated 
after  protracted  debate;    whereupon 


session,  seats  were  drawn  by  the  dele- 
gates, after  the  five  oldest  delegates, 
all  over  eighty  years  of  age — Messrs. 
Pierce  of  Winchester,  Parker  of  Clare- 
mont,  Patterson  of  Concord,  Morri- 
son of  Peterboro  and  Woods  of  Bath 
— and  Mr.  Streeter  of  Concord,  a 
former  president,  had  been  accorded 
the  privilege  of  selecting  their  seats, 
and  the  delegates  who  were  members 
of  the  G.  A.  R.  had  been  assigned  three 
rows  in  the  center  section.    The  draw- 


1H 


»-■ 


■ 


HON.  ALBERT  O.  BROWN,  President 


The  Constitutional  Convention 


To 


iflg  having  been  disposed  of,  and  sev- 
eral proposed  amendments  presented 
&nd  referred,  the  Convention  went 
into  Committee  of  the  Whole,  with 
Mr.  Snow  of  Rochester  in  the  chair, 
on  the  Lyford  amendment,  which  was 
debated  aUlength,  and  finally  de- 
feated by  a  decisive  majority  in  com- 
mittee, and  immediately  after  in 
<  "onvention. 


\ 

i 
I 


■ 


was  done,  except  the  announcement 
of  standing  committees  by  the  presi- 
dent, and  the  adoption  of  resolutions 
pledging  support  of  the  Administra- 
tion in  its  conduct  of  the  war,  and 
that  payment  for  attendance  be  re- 
ceived in  Thrift  Stamps. 

The  adjournment  resolution  pro- 
vides for  the  recalling  of  the  Conven- 
tion by  the  president  and  a  committee 


/ 
i      '¥ 
s    - 

\ 


Igf 


KONT.   A.   CHESTER   CLARK,  Secretary 


This  defeat  practically  put  the  Con- 
vention out  of  business,  for  it  so  dis- 
heartened the  advocates  of  timber 
taxation  amendment  that  many  of 
them  were  ready  to  vote  for  adjourn- 
ment, and  when,  upon  the  assembling 
°f  the  Convention  Friday  morning, 
after  a  few  proposed  amendments  had 
been  introduced,  the  motion  to  ad- 
journ until  after  the  close  of  the  war 
was  renewed,  it  was  carried  by  a 
two  to  one  vote,  and  nothing  further 


of  one  delegate  from  each  county 
named  by  him,  at  some  time  after  the 
close  of  the  war,  and  at  least  within 
one  year  after  the  declaration  of 
peace;  but  the  opinion  seems  to  be 
quite  generally  entertained  that  no 
such  call  will  ever  be  issued.  The 
committee  named  by  President  Brown, 
to  act  with  him  in  the  matter,  con- 
sists of  Scammon  of  Exeter,  Snow  of 
Rochester,  Kennison  of  Ossipee, 
Plummer  of  Laconia,  Lvford  of  Con- 


76 


The  Granite  Monthly 


cord,  Emerson  of  Milford,  Rice  of 
Rindge,  Barton  of  Newport,  Bartlett 
of  Hanover  and  Hutchins  of  Stratford. 

The  standing  committees  named  by 
the  president  are: 

Bill  of  Rights  axd  Executive 
Department — Street er  of  Concord, 
Hall  of  Dover,  Buxton  of  Boseaweh, 
Cavanaugh  of  Manchester,  Pat  tee  of 
Manchester,  Gaffney  of  Nashua, 
Jacobs  of  Lancaster,  Bartlett  of  Han- 
over, Bowker  of  Whitefield,  Howard 
of  Portsmouth,  Towne  of  Franklin, 
Charron  of  Claremont,  Header  of 
Rochester,  Norwood  of  Keene,  Clem- 
ent of  Warren,  Frost  of  Fremont, 
Towle  of  North  wood,  Bartlett  of 
Pittsfield,  Goulding  of  Conway,  Til- 
ton  of  La  coma. 

Legislative  Depart  m  e  n  t — Ly- 
ford  of  Concord,  Amey  of  Lancaster, 
Snow  of  Rochester,  Barton  of  New- 
port, Doyle  of  Nashua,  Scammon  of 
Exeter,  Brennan  of  Peterborough, 
Spaulding  of  Manchester,  Watson  of 
Keene,  McAllister  (Geo.  L)  of  Man- 
chester,  Hale  of  Laconia,  Evans  of 
Gorham,  Wright  of  Sanbornton, 
Brown  of  Berlin,  Duffy  of  Franklin, 
Eastman  of  Portsmouth,  Edgerly  of 
Tuftonborough,  Haslet  of  Hillsbor- 
ough, Hutchins,  of  Stratford,  Foote  of 
Wakefield. 

Judicial  Department — Plummer 
of  Laconia,  Howe  of  Concord,  De- 
mond  of  Concord,  Upton  of  Bow, 
Hamblett  of  Nashua,  Belanger  of 
Manchester,  Prescott  of  Milford, 
Colby  of  Claremont,  Madden  of 
Keene,  Donigan  of  Newbury,  Al- 
drich  of  Northumberland,  Woodbury 
of  Salem,  Lewis  of  Amherst,  Pet  tee  of 
Durham,  Smith  of  Haverhill,  Doe  of 
Somerswortlu  Sise  of  Portsmouth, 
Baker  of  Hillsborough,  Hodges  of 
Franklin,  Rice  of  Rindge. 


Future  Mode  of  Amending  the 
Constitution — Stone  of  Andover, 
Page  of  Portsmouth,  Wallace  of 
Canaan,  Walker  of  Grantham,  Var- 
ney  of  Rochester,  Bartlett  of  Deny, 
Lawrence  of  Haverhill,  Jones  of  Leba- 
non, Craig  of  Marlow,  Emerson  of 
Milford,  Hull  of  Bedford,  Rogers  of 
Pembroke,  Morrison  of  Peterborough, 
Young  of  East  on,  Shirley  of  Conway, 
Ripley  of  Stewartstown,  Farrell  of 
Manchester,  Hodgman  of  Merrimack, 
Shellenberg  of  Manchester,  Spring  of 
Laconia. 

Time  and  Mode  of  Submitting 
Amendments — Pillsbury  of  London- 
derry, Wilson  of  Manchester,  Went- 
worth  of  Plymouth,  Keyes  of  Mil- 
ford, Chase  (L.  J.)  of  Concord,  Calla- 
han of  Keene,  Duncan  of  Jaffrey, 
Hovt  of  Sandwich,  Beede  of  Mere- 
dith, Hill  of  Plaistow,  Morse  of  Lit- 
tleton, Dow  of  Manchester,  Angell  of 
Deny,  Farmer  of  Hampton  Falls, 
Hayden  of  Flollis,  Duncan  of  Han- 
cock, Foster  of  Waterville,  Parsons  of 
Somersworth,  Beaman  of  Cornish, 
McNally  of  Rollinsford. 

Among  the  amendments  intro- 
duced and  referred  are  several  re- 
lating to  the  mode  of  providing  for 
future  amendments,  one  of  which 
proposes  doing  away  entirely  with 
conventions  and  having  amendments 
submitted  by  the  legislature,  alone, 
by  two-thirds  vote  in  joint  conven- 
tion; one  providing  for  the  initiative 
and  referendum,  one  abolishing  the 
executive  council  and  another  taking 
away  its  negative  of  the  governor's 
appointments;  one  providing  for  re- 
duction of  the  house  of  representa- 
tives, several  in  relation  to  taxation, 
and  one  eliminating  the  words  "  Prot- 
estant" and  "Evangelical"  from  the 
Bill  of  Rights. 


AN  INTERESTING  OCCASION 

The  Hanging  of  Portraits  of  Deceased  Lawyers  on  the  Walls  of 
Plymouth  Court  House 


It  was' an  occasion  of  more  than 
ordinary  note,  when,  on  May  14.  last, 
ten  portraits  of  eminent  deceased 
lawyers,  secured  for  the  purpose  after 
no  little,  effort,  were  formally  hung 
upon  the  walls  of  the  Superior  Court 
room  at  Plymouth,  heretofore  una- 
dorned in  this  regard. 

Associate  Justice  William  H.  Saw- 
yer of  the  Superior  Court,  who  had 
taken  much  interest  in  the  work  of 
securing  these  portraits,  presided 
upon  the  occasion.  The  portraits  in 
question  were  those  of  Hons.  John  1M. 
Mitchell,  Alonzo  P.  Carpenter,  Harry 
Bingham,  George  A.  Bingham,  Lewis 
W.  Fling,  Albert  S.  Batchellor,  Wil- 
liam H.  Mitchell,  George  H.  Adams, 
Joseph  C.  Story  and  last  but  by  no 
means  least,  Daniel  Webster.  Fol- 
lowing are  the  remarks  of  Judge 
Sawyer,  and  various  members  of  the 
Bar,  incident  to  the  occasion,  which, 
as  they  relate  to  some  of  the  most 
distinguished  lawyers  and  eminent 
citizens  of  Xew  Hampshire,  in  their 
day  and  generation,  are  deemed  of 
sufficient  interest  for  preservation  in 
these  pages: 

Judge  Sawyer:  Gentlemen  of  the 
Bar — It  is  well  for  us,  amidst  the 
cares  of  a  bus}-  professional  life,  to 
pause  once  in  a  while  and  reflect  upon 
the  character  and  the  achievements  of 
those  of  our  profession,  who  have 
gone  before  us.  The  law  is  a  jealous 
mistress,  but  she  amply  repays  those 
who  are  industrious. 


While  it  is  doubtful  if  the  members 
of  the  Bar,  whom  we  are  here  today 
to  honor,  could  have  accomplished  the 
work  that  is  attained  today  with  the 
modern  facilities  that  the  Bar  of  today 
has,  yet  I  sometimes  wonder  if  with 
the  modern  aids  there  is  induced  that 
careful  '  preparation,  originality  of 
thought  and  research,  that  men  of 
the  older  school  were  induced  to 
make. 

I  am  frequently  filled  with  amaze- 
ment when  I  read  and  reflect  upon 
some  of  the  new  legal  treatises  that 
bear  so  plainly  the  earmarks  of  the 
dictagraph,  and  I  am  wont  to  pause 
and  with  reverence  reflect  upon  men 
like  Story  and  Kent  and  Thomas  M. 
Cooley,  who  produced  such  master- 
pieces with  their  own  pens  in  all  lines 
of  law,  from  the  common  law  to 
constitutional  law. 

The  Grafton  County  Bar  has  been 
favored  as  fully  as  any  bar  of  the 
state  of  Xew  Hampshire  in  its  per- 
sonnel, and,  as  I  said,  it  is  good  for  us 
to  pause  and  reflect  and  give  heed  to 
the  lives  and  the  industry  of  those  of 
our  brethren  who  have  gone  before 
us.  It  is  not  sufficient  alone  that  we 
should  have  written  and  spoken  w^ords 
of  commendation,  but  it  is  well  that 
we  should  have  their  faces  before  us 
for  the  inspiration  we  gain  from  them, 
as  well  as  for  the  lessons  that  the 
younger  generations  and  those  who 
come  after  us  may  derive  in  honoring 
the  character  and  the  ability  that  they 
possessed,  and  which  their  faces  re- 


78 


The  Granite  Monthly 


fleet,  and  which  we  honor  by  placing 
them  in  our  halls  of  justice. 

There  have  been  presented  to  the 
Bar  of  Grafton  County  portraits  of 
the  Hons.  John  M.  Mitchell,  Alonzo 
P.  Carpenter  and  George  A.  Bingham, 
Justices  of  this  Court;  and  we  also 
have  today  the  portraits  of  the  Hons. 
Harry  Bingham,  Lewis  W.  Fling, 
George  H.  Adams,  William  H.  Mitch- 


Court,  a  learned  man,  a  gentleman 
and  a  scholar,  and  of  whom  his  part- 
ner, the  Hon.  Harry  F.  Lake,  of  Con- 
cord, will  speak. 

Harry  F.  Lake,  Esq.:  May  it 
please  the  Court — I  have  been  asked 
in  this  hour,  dedicated  to  the  memory 
and  deeds  of  men  familiar  to  this 
Court  in  the.  years  gone  but  now  no 


Hon.  William  H.  Sawyer 


..?-••:■■•,-■     =  -- 


ell,  and  Joseph  C.  Story;  and  we 
were  to  have,  and  shall  have  by  to- 
morrow, the  portrait  of  our  late 
brother,  the  Hon.  Albert  S.  Batchellor, 
and  we  are  also  favored  with  an  en- 
graving of  Daniel  Webster.  And  it 
may  not  be  inappropriate  if  I  call 
first  to  your  attention  the  first  one  I 
have  just  named,  who  was  a  native  of 
Plymouth,  the  Hon.  John  M.  Mitch- 
ell, for  some   time  a  Justice   of   this 


more  with  us  in  the  flesh,  to  say  some 
words  in  appreciation  of  the  late  Hon. 
John  M.  Mitchell,  who  at  the  time  of 
his  death  was  an  Associate  Justice  of 
the  Superior  Court. 

Such  an  opportunity  is  indeed  a 
privilege.  If  to  have  admired  a  man 
for  his  conspicuous  ability,  to  have  re- 
spected him  for  his  integrity  of  char- 
acter, to  have  been  influenced  by  his 
high-minded    philosophy   of   life   and 


An  Interesting  Occasion 


79-*> 


his  kindness,  and  if  to  have  loved  a 
man  as  a  father  because  one  can  re- 
member no  other,  gives  one  a  right  to 
speak  a  word  concerning  a  lost  friend, 
then  I  may  even  claim  such  privilege 
as  my  own. 

To  be  born  of  worth}'  but  poor 
parents  in  the  midst  of  hard  circum- 
stances and  the  lack  of  ready  ad- 
vantage, and  then  by  inherent  ability 
and  untiring  industry  attain  a  posi- 
tion in  the  administration  of  our  laws 
requiring  such  qualities  of  head  and 
heart  as  are  possessed  or  can  be  at- 
tained by  a  few  only,  and  in  that  posi- 
tion to  be  accorded  the  universal  judg- 
ment of  conspicuous  success,  and  in 
dying  to  commend  the  attention  and 
the  expression  of  the  affection  and  the 
heartfelt  sense  of  loss-  of  an  entire 
state,  is  the  brief  story  of  his  life. 

Many  of  you  present  knew  Judge 
Mitchell  for  a  long  time  before  I  did, 
and  many  of  his  accomplishments 
that  are  biography  only  to  me  were 
personally  known  to  you.  Born  here 
in  the  town  of  Plymouth,  July  6,  1849, 
his  parents  soon  removed  to  Derby, 
Vermont,  whence  John  M.  Mitchell 
came  to  Littleton  to  enter  the  law 
office  of  Harry  and  George  A.  Bing- 
ham, in  September,  1870,  and  where 
he  stayed  until  his  removal  to  Con- 
cord in  June,  1881.  It  should  be 
stated  that  before  he  left  Derby  he 
laid  the  foundation  of  his  education 
by  short  term  attendance  in  Derby 
Academy,  and  by  service  as  Super- 
intendent of  the  Schools  of  the  town 
for  two  years  between  the  ages  of 
nineteen  and  twenty-one.  Likewise, 
in  Derby  he  was  a  student  of  the  law, 
registered  in  the  office  of  Edwards 
and  Dickerman. 

Judge  Mitchell  was  so  devoted  to 
bis  profession,  that  I  can  never  be- 
lieve that  he-  ever  sought  for  public 
office.  However,  early  in  his  legal 
career,  he  served  as  solicitor  of  Graf- 
ton County — this  was  in  1879,  seven 
years  after  his  admission  to  the  Bar. 
In  1888,  he  was  appointed  Democratic 
member  of  the  Board  of  Railroad 
Commissioners;  and  served  until  his 


resignation  in  1891.  Once  only,  in 
1892,  he  served  his  constituency  in 
Ward  4,  Concord,  as  Representative 
to  the  Legislature,  but  undoubtedly 
because  the  work  was  more  to  his 
liking  he  was  delegate  from  the  same 
Ward  to  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tions of  1902  and  1912. 

From  a  training  of  thirty-eight  ar- 
duous years  at  the  Bar,  where  he  had 
taken  a  notable  place  in  much  of  the 
important  litigation  in  the  state,  com- 
plemented by  a  participation  in  busi- 
ness matters  of  the  greatest  moment, 
he  was  called  to  the  Superior  Court 
Bench,  and  assumed  his  duties  Octo- 
ber 1,  1910. 

As  an  earnest  admirer  of  Judge 
Mitchell,  and  jealous  of  his  good 
name,  I  have  taken  pains  to  learn  the 
estimation  in  ^vhich  he  was  held  for 
his  work  upon  the  Bench  during  his 
career  there,  which  was  all  too  short. 
It  has  been  the  absolutely  unani- 
mous judgment  that  from  the  first 
day  of  his  service  he  was  a  great 
judge.  Of  the  certainty  of  his  success 
there  could  well  be  no  doubt.  No 
man  in  our  times  ever  springs  full- 
armed,  without  preparation,  to  the 
necessities  of  a  great  work.  But  in 
the  case  of  Judge  Mitchell,  the  prep- 
aration was  there.  It  had  come 
through  the  two  score  years  of  study 
and  of  meeting  men  in  earnest  con- 
tests over  things  big  and  litt'e.  It  had 
come  through  countless  arguments  to 
the  jury,  and  the  preparation  and 
presentation  of  countless  arguments 
to  the  Law  Court.  It  had  come  be- 
cause he  had  added  to  the  instincts  of 
a  warm  and  sympathetic  heart  the 
view-points  of  all  sorts  and  conditions 
of  men,  in  all  the  walks  of  life.  He 
was  prepared  to  be  a  great  judge 
because  from  the  first  of  his  ripening 
years  he  had  participated  in  the 
greatest  study  of  mankind,  which  is 
man.    He  knew  human  nature. 

May  I  suggest  a  few  characteristics, 
which  I  believe  mark,  and  hence  make 
up,  the  man?  His  kindness  was  ex- 
treme, but  was  never  for  display.  I 
have  personally  never  known  a  man 


■  .   ■ 

\  \,  ■'{ 


HON.  JOHN   M.   MITCHELL 


An  Interesting  Occasion 


81 


to  whom  so  many  people  resorted  for 
favors  and  advice,  which,  within' all 
reasonable  limits,  they  obtained. 
Not  only  this,  but  I  knew  instances 
where  his  money  was  spent  for  food, 
clothing  and  other  necessities  in  cases 
which  called  for  an  expenditure  of 
impressive  amounts.  After  these 
years,  I  could  name  the  exact  amount 
he  gave  that  an  humble  servant  girl 
might  have  a  decent  burial,  except 
that  delicacy  forbids.  His  philosophy 
of  life  was  not  merely  to  "live  in  a 
house  by  the  side  of  the  road  and  be  a 
friend  to  man," — he  found  his  greatest 
pleasure,  I  believe,  in  the  tumult  of 
the  people  wherever  men  were  strug- 
gling upwards. 

He  was  one  of  the  most  truly  re- 
ligious men  I  have  ever  known.  As 
he  respected  other  men  in  their  views, 
he  commanded  respect  for  his  own, 
and  received  it.  He  exemplified,  as 
few  men  of  my  acquaintance  have, 
the  fine  doctrine  that  has  made  the 
world  so  good  a  place  to  live  in  through 
all  the  ages, — that  the  strong  should 
bear  the  burdens  of  the  weak.  It  was 
for  this  reason  that  men  in  trouble 
came  to  him,  and  in  him  found  a 
friend  and  helper. 

I  think  he  was  one  of  the  most  con- 
sistent fighters  I  ever  knew — there 
was  something  about  the  air  of  con- 
test that  stirred  his  blood.  He  never 
let  go  without  a  struggle,  and  then  it 
came  hard;  and  yet  on  many  occa- 
sions, I  have  heard  him  say  that  if  both 
parties  to  a  contest  would  make  con- 
cessions and  so  compromise  a  suit, 
each  would  generally  come  out  of  it 
better  than  would  the  victor  after  a 
contest  in  Court. 

John  M.  Mitchell  was  an  honest 
man.  I  have  seen  him  working  with 
compensation  and  without  it — for 
poor  clients  and  for  wealthy  ones — 
where  he  was  opposed  in  the  conduct 
of  cases  by  men  of  large,  and  by  men 
of  small,  ability;  and  I  have  never 
seen  him  resort  to  a  mean,  ignoble 
act  in  practice,  or  do  a  dishonest 
deed. 

Of  the  time  he  spent  in  enterprises 


that  interest  the  good  citizen  only,  of 
the  efforts  in  behalf  of  his  church,  and 
of  education  in  his  community,  I  can- 
not take  the  time  to  speak.  Cer- 
tainly, few  men  have  equalled  him  in 
responding  to  such  calls.  When  it 
means  labor  of  a  difficult  nature,  when 
it  takes  the  time  that  should  be  given 
over  to  rest  and  recreation,  when  it 
means,  as  I  think  it  did  in  his  case, 
the  impairment  of  health,  such  re- 
sponse means  a  sacrifice,  but  Judge 
Mitchell  did  not  refuse,  for  he  felt  it 
was  the  part  of  the  ideal  lawyer  to  so 
respond. 

This  brings  me  to  what  I  think  was 
the  great  passion  of  his  life — the  law, 
itself,  and  his  part  in  it.  He  regarded 
the  law  as  a  sacred  thing,  and  the 
career  of  the  lawyer  as  a  high  mission. 
I  have  never  heard  from  any  lawyer 
so  passionately  high-minded  a  con- 
ception of  the  place  of  the  lawyer  in 
our  modern  life.  To  him,  a  lawyer 
was  always  the  pioneer,  the  moulder 
of  public  opinion,  the  discoverer  of 
new  remedies,  and  the  ever  ready 
assistant  of  the  courts  in  the  pro- 
nouncement of  new  decisions  to  fix 
the  rights  of  our  people.  He  thought 
in  a  large  way.  He  regarded  a  deci- 
sion of  the  Supreme  Court  as  of  more 
than  local  interest,  as  a  contribution, 
indeed,  to  the  jurisprudence  of  the 
world.  He  deplored  to  an  unmeas- 
ured degree  any  tendency  for  the 
practice  of  law  to  degenerate  into  a 
mere  business.  To  his  mind,  the  ideal 
lawyer  was  he  who  could  take  his 
client's  case  from  the  very  beginning 
through  all  stages  of  preparation, 
trial  and  appeal,  to  final  judgment  and 
execution.  He  considered  the  place 
of  the  lawyer  as  one  of  peculiar,  even 
sacred  responsibility,  and  to  this  re- 
sponsibility he  gave  his  all  in  most  un- 
stinted fashion. 

You  knew  him  as  a  student,  but  we 
in  the  office  knew  of  the  countless 
decisions  he  read  and  pondered  and 
discussed,  the  many  times  he  wrote 
and  re-wrote  an  argument,  the  strug- 
gle to  make  a  sentence  or  a  para- 
graph mean  just  what  he  wanted  it  to 


82 


The  Granite  Monthly 


mean, — and  sometimes  it  was  a  battle 
royal, — his  carefulness  as  to  punctua- 
tion, and  his  avoidance  of  the  un- 
thinkable heresy  of  a  misquotation. 
A  more  tireless  worker. I  have  never 
known!  I  knew  the  care  with  which 
he  composed  some  of  his  charges  to 
the  jury,  and  the  delicate  weighing  of 
the  evidence  in  court  cases.  There  is 
in  my  possession  the  charge  to  the 
Grand  Jury  as  he  first  gave  it  upon 
his  ascendency  to  the  Bench,  and  what 
I  have  said  about  his  unusually  high- 
minded  regard  for  the  law,  often 
passionately  and  vehemently  ex- 
pressed, runs  through  this  like  a 
golden  thread.  I  hope  in  some  way 
this  charge  may  be  put  into  perma- 
nent form  as  a  contribution  to  the 
state. 

These  I  think  are  merely  honest 
statements  of  Judge  Mitchell's  par- 
ticular characteristics  as  a  lawyer. 
It  is  but  the  bare  statement  of  a  fact 
that  in  his  private  life  no  unworthy 
act  or  deed  tarnished  the  pure,  white 
standard  by  which  he  chose  to  live. 
No  period  of  his  life  could  make  a 
greater  appeal  to  his  friends  and  inti- 
mates than  the  last  months,  when, 
almost  like  a  soul  apart,  especially 
after  the  death  of  Mrs.  Mitchell,  a 
woman  of  rare  gentleness  and  beauty 
of  character,  he  grieved  and  worked, 
until  in  the  midst  of  grief  and  work 
his  remaining  strength  was  beaten. 
down,  and  so  the  fine,  heroic  soul 
passed  away,  March  4,  1913. 

"If  a  man  die  shall  he  live  again?" 
is  the  query  old  as  Job.  Because, 
however,  the  Kingdom  of  God  is 
within  us,  because  Heaven  com- 
mences now,  because  Immortality  is 
from  the  very  beginning,  then  we 
filing  back  into  empty  space  the 
thoughtless  .  words  that  say  such  a 
man  is  ever  dead.  We  believe,  not 
with  the  ancient  orator,  but  consistent 
with  a  more  optimistic  philosophy, 
that  the  good  a  man  does  lives  after 
him  forever  and  a  day. 

This,  then,  is  the  man!  The  farmer 
boy's  ambition  to  rise  above  the  aver- 
age fulfilled,  the  burden  of  many  a 


wayfarer  lightened,  a  large  circle  of 
friends  made  better,  a  strong  man's 
full  portion  of  the  world's  work  ac- 
complished, the  ancient  precept  to 
"Do  justly  to  love  mercy,  and  to 
walk  humbly"  with  one's  God,  made 
a  living  fact  in  a  man's  life,  and  to 
have  fought  the  good  fight  that 
stretches  all  the  way  from  babyhood 
to  the  grave. 

So  to  us  who  knew  and  loved  him, 
he  still  lives,  though  his  visible  pres- 
ence is  withdrawn.  The  body  per- 
ishes,— what  of  it? 

"This  body  is  my  house, 
It  is  not  I ; 
Triumphant  in  this  faith 
I  live  and  die." 

Judge  Sawyer  :  The  Chief  Justice 
has  desired  me  to  express  his  regrets 
in  being  unable  to  be  here  today, 
which  would  have  been  particularly 
appropriate,  and  it  was  his  earnest 
desire  to  have  been  here,  but  the 
urgencies  of  the  Court  at  Manchester 
have  prevented  it,  and  he  desired  me 
to  present  his  regrets.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  Brother  Daley  of  Berlin, 
whom  I  expressly  desired  to  have 
been  here  today,  as  there  was  some- 
thing regarding  Judge  Mitchell  that  I 
earnestly  desired  him  to  tell  the  Bar. 
Brother  Daley  said  his  first  acquaint- 
ance with  Judge  Mitchell  was  in  1883 
when  he  was  a  student  in  the  office  of 
Hayward  &  Hayward  of  Lancaster — 
that  was  his  first  close  acquaintance; 
he  had  met  him  casually  in  Grafton 
County — but  he  was  admitted  to  the 
Bar  at  that  time  and  after  his  ad- 
mittance he  received  a  letter  from 
Judge  Mitchell  saying  to  him,  "You 
have  recently  spoken  to  me  of  the 
fact  that  you  have  not  acquired  any 
library  as  yet;  there  is  a  lawyer 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  state"  (I 
think  his  name  was  Burhank)  who  was 
planning  to  go  away  and  Brother 
Mitchell  said  to  Brother  Daley  in 
that  letter,  "The  New  Hampshire  Re- 
ports, the  General  Laws,  Town  Officer 
and  Sheriff,  and  such  books  as  you 


An  Interesting  Occasion 


83 


will  need,  are  for  sale  for  §242,  and  I 
suggest  that  you  get  them,  as  they 
are  a  bargain."  To  which  Brother 
Daley  replied  he  did  not  have  the 
means  at.  that'time,  and  there  he  sup- 
posed the  matter  dropped,  but  a  few 
days  later  a  large  case  of  books  came 
to  his  office,  upon  opening  which  he 
found  the  XewT  Hampshire  Reports 
and  the  other  books  which  Judge 
Mitchell  wrote  him  about,  and  in  due 
time  he  received  a  letter  from  Judge 
Mitchell  saying  "I  have  purchased 
these  books,  and  at  your  convenience 
you  can  pay  me."  I  earnestly  wish 
Brother  Daley  might  have  been  here 
to  tell  us  about  this  and  I  expected  he 
would  until  last  evening  when  he  tele- 
phoned me  the  condition  of  his  wife 
would  not  allow  him  to  be  present,  as 
he  could  not  leave  her  bedside, 

E.  J.  Cummixgs,  Esq.:  I  wish  to 
present  the  following  resolutions  and 
move  their  adoption: 

"Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Grafton 
County  Bar  be  tendered  to  Miss  Agnes 
Mitchell  of  Concord,  N.  H.,  for  the  gift  of 
this  most  excellent  portrait  of  her  father,  the 
Hon.  John  M.  Mitchell,  late  Justice  of  the 
.Superior  Court,  which  from  its  position  on  the 
wall  behind  the  Bench  in  the  Court  room  of 
thL-s,  his  native  town,  will  ever  remind  the 
Bar,  not  only  of  his  eminent  legal  attainments, 
but  also  of  his  personal  characteristics  of 
courtesy  and  fairness,  which  earned  for  him 
the  affectionate  respect  of  the  entire  Bar  of 
the  county  and  of  the  state. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Clerk  be  instructed  to 
spread  these  resolutions  on  the  records  of  the 
Court  and  to  transmit  a  copv  thereof  to  Miss 
Mitchell." 

Judge  Sawyer:  The  resolutions 
will  be  received  and  unless  objection 
is  made  they  will  be  unanimously 
adopted,  and  are  so  adopted. 

Those  of  us  who  have  moved  from 
the  country  to  the  city,  even  though 
they  be  the  small  cities,  looking  back 
on  the  small  communities  it  seems 
almost  incredible  that  the  small  vil- 
lage, nothing  much  more  than  a  ham- 
let, could  have  supported  a  lawyer 
that  ranked  head  and  shoulders  with 
I  he  leaders  of  the  bars  of  the  state,  but 


such  is  the  past  and  such  is  the  pres- 
ent. Chief  among  the  jurists  of  Xew 
Hampshire  who  have  become  noted 
and  adorned  the  Bench,  and  a  com- 
panion of  Chief  Justice  Doe — one  of 
the  greatest  legal  minds  that  ever 
lived — and  the  mind  that  most  nearly 
matched  Doe's,  was  Carpenter,  whose 
portrait  is  behind  the  Bench,  and  pre- 
sented to  the  Bar  by  his  son-in-law — ■ 
and  his  good  wife,  Mrs.  Streeter,  the 
daughter  of  Judge  Carpenter-— Frank 
S.  Streeter;  and  General  Streeter  is 
here  favoring  us  with  his  presence 
today,  and  he  will  speak  to  us  of  the 
late  Alonzo  P.  Carpenter. 

Hon.  Frank  S.  Streeter:  If  the 
Court  please  and  the  Gentlemen  of 
the  Bar — I  want  to  express  my  grati- 
fication in  being  able  to  be  here  at  the 
time  these  portraits,  representing  tins 
group  of  men,  are  to  be  presented  to 
the  Bar,  for  as  Your  Honor  read  the 
list,  I  realized  that  I  knew  all  of  them 
very  very  well,  excepting  Mr.  Story. 
I  knew  many  of  them  intimately,  and 
some  of  them  I  loved  as  one  man  may 
love  another. 

It  was  very  difficult  for  me  to  realize, 
as  I  was  sitting  here  and  thinking 
about  this,  that  Judge  Carpenter  died 
twenty  years  ago  this  month.  I  asked 
my  friend  Veasey,  in  looking  at  the 
members  of  the  Bar  who  were  present, 
how  many  knew  Judge  Carpenter  per- 
sonally. It  is  quite  certain,  I  think — ■ 
you  may  correct  me  if  I  am  mistaken 
— that  there  are  here  present,  aside 
from  myself,  only  two  members  of  the 
Bar  wrho  knew  Judge  Carpenter  as  a 
lawyer.  I  am  referring  to  my  old 
friend  "Ned"  Woods,  who  lived  be- 
side him  in  Bath,  and  Mr.  Burleigh. 
I  do  not  see  any  one  else  here  who 
knew  him  as  a  lawyer,  because  he  left 
the  practice  of  the  law  thirty-seven 
years  ago.  There  are  very  few  here — ■ 
Brother  Veazey  and  I  have  tried  to 
make  an  inventory — that  knew  him  in 
his  capacity  as  a  Judge.  We  make 
perhaps  half  a  dozen,  not  more  than 
seven  or  eight,  out  of  this  crowd  that 
knew  him  at  all. 


84 


The  Granite  Monthly 


The  Judge  was  born  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  some  member  of  the  Bar 
will  at  sometime  write  a  history  of 
that  territory  lying  north  of  Wells 
River  and  on  both  sides  of  the  Con- 
necticut River  up  towards  Lancaster 
and  beyond  and  will  enumerate  the 
list  of  great  lawyers  that  were  born  in 
what  appeared  to  be  a  special  territory 
for  the  raising  of  great  men.  He  was 
sent  to  Williams  College,  as  he  very 
frequently  and  jokingly  remarked,  so 
that  he  would  have  the  benefit  of  Mr. 
Hopkins,  and  he  thought  his  father 
was  somewhat  disappointed  in  the  re- 
sult. He  graduated  in  1849,  and  he 
went  to  Bath  to  study  law.  No,  he 
went  to  Bath  to  teach  in  the  commu- 
nity and  then  fell  in  love  with  Miss 
Goodali,  the  daughter  of  Ira  Goodali, 
who  was  of  the  great  firm  of  Goodali 
and  Woods,  and  married  and  settled 
down  in  Bath  in  1863.  He  there  prac- 
ticed until  1881  when  he  was  ap- 
pointed a  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  to  succeed  the  old  friend  of  some 
of  us,  Judge  William  H.  Foster.  The 
story  of  that  and  the  distinguished 
men  that  composed  that  court  will 
sometime  be  written;  there  is  no  op- 
portunity to  tell  about  those  men  now 
— but  Your  Honor  has  referred  to  the 
fact  that  he  was  regarded  as  the  only 
man,  as  an  equal  to  Judge  Doe  in  some 
respects  and  the  only  man  on  the 
Court  that  could  match  Doe  in  intel- 
lectual discussion.  He  was,  upon 
Judge  Doe's  sudden  death  in  1896, 
made  Chief  Justice,  and  held  that 
position  until  his  death  just  twenty 
years  ago,  almost  this  very  day. 

Now,  Your  Honor,  there  are  two  an- 
gles from  which  we  would  look  at  a 
man  who  has  first  been  a  great  lawyer, 
and,  second,  a  great  judge.  One  is  of 
course  the  judicial  side,  and  it  is  for- 
tunate that  the  fame  of  the  jurist  sit- 
ting upon  a  court  is  permanently  se- 
cured for  Ins  dignity,  his  reasoning 
powers,  his  common  sense,  and  his 
judgment,  all  of  which  are  reflected  in 
the  published  opinions  of  the  Court, 
to  which  we  and  our  successors  have 
a  common  access.    Without  reviewing 


that  portion  of  his  life.  I  shall  be  en- 
dorsed by  all  those  who  knew  him, 
and  about  him,  in  the  statement  that 
he  was  a  great  judge,  and  will  be  so 
regarded  by  those  who  succeed  us  here 
at  the  Bar.  But  there  is  another  side 
that  I  like  to  think  about  in  connec- 
tion, not  only  with  Judge  Carpenter, 
but  with  these  other  men  whose  por- 
traits are  placed  here,  and  that  is  the 
human  side — what  kind  of  lawyers 
were  they,  what  kind  of  men  were 
they?  That  is  the  side  that  appeals 
to  us  I  think  especially  after  the  lapse 
of  so  many  years. 

I  went  into  Judge  Carpenter's  office 
in  the  fall  of  1875.  I  was  sort  of 
wished  on  to  him;  I  became  engaged 
to  ins  daughter,  not  perhaps  with  his 
entire  approbation,  but  thinking  he 
might  have  two  to  support  instead  of 
one,  he  thought  he  would  take  me  into 
the  office.  I  entered  there  and  studied 
under  him,  and  as  illustrating  the  dif- 
ference in  the  way — in  the  method  of 
teaching  or  training  students  then  and 
now,  I  remember  that  he  was  always 
home  Saturdays,  and  always,  not  al- 
ways, but  almost  always  went  away 
Monday  morning.  When  he  went 
away  one  Monday  morning  he  handed 
me  out  some  papers,  which  were  state- 
ments regarding  an  action  of  slander 
which  some  woman  had  brought 
against  old  Asa  Barron — you  older 
men  in  Bath  knew  him — and  said 
;iNow  I  wish  you  would  make  a  dec- 
laration in  that."  I  didn't  know  any- 
thing more  about  a  declaration  than 
I  did  about  the  duties  of  the  King  of 
Heaven,  and  I  went  at  them  and  I 
found  a  way,  finally  struck  Chitty  on 
Pleadings,  and  I  worked  pretty  hard 
that  week, — and  of  course  it  wasn't 
of  any  consequence.  There  was  an- 
other advantage  in  those  days  that 
the  boys  had  that  they  don't  have 
today  in  going  into  a  large  office.  The 
students  have  their  places  in  the  office, 
but  they  are  not  present  at  the  con- 
sultations. Now  during  the  time 
Eastman  and  I  were  in  his  office  we 
were  present  at  every  talk  he  had  with 
his    clients.      The   statement   of   the 


An  luff  resting  Occasion 


85 


client  to  Carpenter  and  his  advice, 
his  examination  to  get  at  the  facts  of 
the  case,  and  his  advice  were  all  open 
to  us. 

Now  as  a  lawyer,  I  think  perhaps 
the  most  striking  quality  was  his 
power  of  concentration  upon  any  sub- 
ject in  hand  and  a  tremendous  power 
of  cross  examination.  I  think  the 
older  men.  of  the  Bar  will  justify  me 
in  saying  that  there  was  no  more  skil- 
ful cross  examiner  to  get  at  the  truth 
than  Judge  Carpenter.  Another  thing 
he  excelled  in  to  a  marked  degree,  and 
that  you  younger  men  at  the  Bar  may 
perhaps  remember  with  profit, — he 
felt  that  the  opening  statement  to  the 
jury  was  the  most  important  part  of 
the  case.  He  has  told  me  many  times 
"If  I  can  open  the  case  to  the  jury 
and  get  the  first  hack  at  them  I  don't- 
care  who  argues  it."  He  opened  his 
cases  with  the  greatest  particularity 
and  anticipated  in  his  opening  every 
possible  defence  that  could  be  sug- 
gested by  the  other  side. 

I  feel  a  good  deal  like  reviewing 
some  of  the  things  that  happened  in 
this  very  group  of  men.  Judge  Mitch- 
ell was  just  coming  to  the  Bar,  he  was 
four  years  my  senior,  he  was  with 
Harry  Bingham.  1  refer  to  that  revo- 
lution in  the  practice  which  was  car- 
ried on  by  Judge  Doe  without  any 
legislative  system;  the  absolute  revo- 
lution of  the  practice  at  the  Bar  which 
was  begun  in  1876 — he  went  on  to  the 
Bench  (didn't  he?),  the  second  time  in 
1S7G — and  I  tell  you,  you  younger 
men  of  the  Bar.  that  it  was  a  very 
painful  procedure,  and  this  group  of 
men,  including  John  Mitchell  who 
was  very  much  younger  of  course,  but 
Carpenter  and  Harry  Bingham  espe- 
cially held  caucuses  on  some  of  those 
newest  decisions,  and  while  they  were 
both  good  nieir,  they  had  a  great  com- 
mand of  language,  not  only  sacred  but 
somewhat  profane,  and  those  men  got 
together  and  discussed  this  last  per- 
formance of  Doe's.  Doe  would  have 
such  and  such  a  case,  they  would  re- 
view it,  and  I  happened  to  be  in  a 
position  where  I  realized  the  pain  that 


that  revolution,  judicial  revolution  by 
judicial  authority,  and  not  by  the 
help  of  the  Legislature,  produced — ■ 
how  it  was  discussed. 

In  addition  to  his  being  a  great  law- 
yer, Carpenter  was,  I  think,  the  best 
student,  scholar,  that  we  have  ever 
had  at  the  Bar.  It  would  seem  strange 
to  you,  gentlemen,  to  know  that  he 
not  only  kept  up  his  Latin,  familiarly 
kept  it  up,  but  he  also  kept  up  his 
Greek.  Now  I  don't  think  he  could 
speak  either  Italian,  Spanish  or  Ger- 
man, but  he  certainly  kept  up  his 
knowledge  of  those  subjects  and  read, 
and  apparently  with  interest,  books 
in  each  of  those  languages.  Also  he 
was  a  great  lover  of  mathematics,  and 
I  have  seen  him  when  he  got  ''tuck- 
ered'' and  tired  and  worn  out,  I  have 
seen  him  take  down  from  a  little  shelf 
over  his  desk  in  the  corner  of  the  fire- 
place, his  geometry  and  take  and  fig- 
ure a  problem  in  geometry  and  work 
it  out.  There  are  very  few  members 
of  the  Bar  that  can  do  that. 

Now  one  of  the  most  striking  things, 
most  striking  qualities,  was  his  con- 
sideration for  others  and  his  sense  of 
humor.  He  had  a  sense  of  humor  that 
floated  him  over  the  most  troublesome 
things,  where  some  of  us  without  a 
sense  of  humor  get  lost.  One  of  the 
first  illustrations  of  his  consideration 
of  others  that  I  remember — Attorney- 
General  Eastman  was  with  him  in  the 
office,  it  was  in  1876,  and  under  the 
old  bankruptcy  form  there  were  three 
lines  left,  "to  the  matter  of"  and 
coming  next  ''The  name  of  the  man" 
then  right  under  that  '"Bankrupt," 
they  all  ended  on  the  same  line,  and 
then  there  was  a  brace — if  Dr.  Dunn 
wasn't  here  I  should  say  it  was  a  Sun- 
da}'  morning  we  were  in  the  office,  and 
Eastman  had  been  preparing  a  bank- 
ruptcy paper  and  Eastman  had  drawn 
a  brace  so  that  it  didn't  look  much 
like  a  brace ;  it  wasn't  very  good  shape, 
and  he  passed  it  over  to  Carpenter 
and  Carpenter  began  to  jolly  him  and 
laugh  at  him  and  so  on,  and  finally 
Eastman  got  mad  and  I  will  never 
forget  it,  it  was  the  only  time  I  ever 


86 


The  Granite  Monthly 


did  see  him  get  mad.  he  turned  around 
and  he  said  "Mr.  Carpenter.  I  want 
you  to  understand  I  don't  advertise 
to  draw."  Well,  the  way  in  which 
Carpenter  smoothed  that  off — "That 
is  all  right,  I  guess  that  is  better  than 
I  could  do."  He  disposed  of  it  as 
finely  as  could  be. 

I  say  he  had  an  unusual  sense  of 
humor.  Every  time  he  got  into 
trouble,  and  we  all  do,  except  all  un- 
friends sitting  along  here  don't  have 
trouble — every  time  he  got  into 
trouble,  he  would  think  of  a  story, 
and  nothing  he  enjoyed  more  than  to 
tell  a  joke  on  himself.  I  remember  of 
an  old  sheriff  up  in  Littleton.  He  was 
out  picking  up  pelts  one  winter  morn- 
ing, he  drove  down  the  hill  and  he  had 
some  pelts  with  him,  he  swung  up 
around  by  the  office  and  hulloed  and 
Carpenter  went  to  the  door,  and  he 
sung  out  "I  say  there  got  any  pelts 
to  sell?"  Carpenter  looked  at  him,  I 
guess  he  swore  a  little,  and  says  "No, 
I  haven't.".  He  says  "Well,  I  didn't 
know  but  you  had,  I  know  vou  take 
them." 

Another  thing  he  used  to  tell,  which 
always  delighted  me.  The  old  gentle- 
man who  lived  opposite  him  was 
Uncle  Chester  Huckins.  He  had  a 
farm  and  Carpenter  had  a  farm,  and 
they  used  to  swap  work  in  carrying  on 
their  farms,  and  Uncle  Chester,  whom 
Mr.  Woods  knew,  was  of  the  salt  of 
the  earth.  He  was  a  Christian  gen- 
tleman, not  only  a  member  of  the 
church  but  Superintendent  of  the  Sun- 
day School.  Carpenter  didn't  make 
man}'  pretensions.  They  always  set- 
tled up  at  the  end  of  the  year.  Uncle 
Chester  would  bring  his  books  over  to 
the  little  office  and  they  would  look 
them  over  and  settle  up,  and  pass  a 
balance.  This  time  the  question  was 
raised  about  a  load  of  pumpkins, 
which  Uncle  Chester  either  had  of 
him  or  he  had  of  Uncle  Chester,  which 
they  had  charged  in;  there  was  a  ques- 
tion about  it.  It  started  in  the  mild- 
est kind  of  a  way.  If  it  was  Carpenter 
who  had  them,  he  said  "Chester,  I 
don't  remember  about  having;  them." 


"Oh.  yes,  you  had  them  so  and  so." 
Carpenter  tried  to  think  and  the  more 
he  thought  about  it  the  more  he 
thought  he  didn't  have  them,  and  the 
more  he  thought  he  didn't  have  them 
the  more  Uncle  Chester  thought  he 
did,  and  finally,  as  we  have  seen  in 
actual  daily  life  starting  from  a  little 
simple  thing,  they  both  got  thor- 
oughly aroused  until  each  said  harsher 
and  harsher  things,  and  finally  Uncle 
Chester  got  so  thoroughly  mad  he 
called  Carpenter  a  damn  liar — then 
Carpenter  saw  right  off  what  the 
trouble  would  be,  he  shut  up  the 
books,  he  says  "Uncle  Chester,  you  go 
home  and  we  will  drop  this,  and  we  will 
get  together  later  and  fix  it  up."  Car- 
penter said  that  night  he  sat  in  his 
library  reading,  along  about  half  past 
nine  or  ten  he  heard  the  old  man's 
feet  coming  up  the  stone  walk;  the 
old  man  opened  the  door,  broke  in 
very  greatly  agitated  and  said  to  Car- 
penter "We  had  trouble  this  after- 
noon," he  says,  "we  got  mad."  He 
says  "Here  I  am  a  member  of  the 
church,  Superintendent  of  the  Sab- 
bath School,  a  follower  of  Jesus,  and 
I  got  mad  and  called  you  a  'damn 
liar.'""  He  says,  "If  you  had  done 
that  to  me  nobody  would  have  thought 
anything  about  it." 

One  of  the  last  things  that  Carpen- 
ter said  to  me,  illustrates  his  sense  of 
humor.  One  Sunday  he  and  I  walked 
out  to  the  Snow  Shoe  Club,  some 
three  miles  out;  it  was  a  pretty  long 
walk  for  the  Judge,  but  he  wanted  to 
do  it.  Just  as  we  got  back,  and  were 
about  to  separate — this  was  a  short 
time  before  he  was  taken  with  his 
final  illness — he  stopped  and  said  very 
seriously:  "Streeter,  I  want  you  to  go 
up  to  the  cemetery  and  buy  a  double 
lot  for  our  families."  He  says,  "T 
wish  you  would  do  it  now,  I  wish  you 
would  do  it  when  we  are  all  pretty 
well  and  not  wait-  until  we  get  sick." 
He  says,  "I  don't  care  where  you  do 
buy  it."  He  says,  "  Jule" — that  was 
his  wife  Julia — he  says,  "She  wants  a 
lot  back  under  the  trees  where  it  will 
be  quiet  and  retired,  and  Lillian — his 


An  Interesting  Occasion 


87 


daughter — she  wants  one  down  on  the 
broad  hill  side  where  she  can  get  a 
pood  view."  He  says  "I  don't  care, 
you  go  and  get  the  lot  and  I  will  be 
satisfied." 

This  is  a  very  inadequate  represen- 
tation of  Carpenter;  but  the  humorous 
side  of  Carpenter,  exceedingly  humor- 
ous side,  because  he  was  so  delightful  in 
his  refined  courtesy,  comes  back  to  me. 

Now  those  of  us  who  knew  him  in- 
timately will  remember  that  side  of 
him  and  probably  there  are  few  of  us 
left,  but  we  shall  remember  that  side 
with  a  great  deal  of  pleasure.  The 
others,  the  younger  members  of  the 
Bar,  will  know  about  Carpenter,  what 
Carpenter  really  was  from  the  repre- 
sentation of  himself  that  was  reflected 
in  his  opinions.  He  was  a  good  man 
and  we  all  loved  him  and  everybody 
respected  him. 

George  F.  Morris,  Esq.:  Please 
the  Court — I  want  to  present  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions,  and  move  their 
adoption: 

"Resolned,  That  the  Bar  of  Grafton  County 
accept  with  deep  gratitude  the  portrait  of  the 
late  Hon.  Chief  Justice  Alonzo  P.  Carpenter, 
^hieh  has  been  presented  by  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Frank  S.  Streeter,  of  Concord";  which  will  ever 
remain  upon  the  walls  of  this  Court  room,  an 
inspiration  to  others  to  attain  the  heights 
in  their  profession  which  he  so  gloriously 
achieved. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Clerk  be  instructed  to 
extend  these  resolutions  upon  the  records  of 
the  Court  and  to  transmit  a  copy  thereof  to 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Streeter.'' 

Judge  Sawyer:  The  resolutions 
will  be  received,  and  unless  objection 
be  made,  they  will  be  unanimously 
adopted,  and  are  so  adopted.  . 

General  Streeter  refers  to  men  that 
were  raised  on  the  Connecticut  River 
— Vermont  produced  her  share,  and 
we  are  happy  to  say  that  some  came 
from  New  Hampshire.  It  is  rare  in- 
deed that  one  family  shall  have  pro- 
duced three  such  wonderfully  able 
men  as  were  found  in  the  three  broth- 
ers, Harry,  George  and  Edward  Ring- 
ham.    Of  those  three,  two  were  mem- 


bers of  the  Bar  of  this  county,  Harry 
Bingham  and  George  A.  Bingham; 
the  other  member  of  the  Bar  followed 
the  advice  of  Greeley  and  went  West, 
to  make  his  success  in  the  state  of 
Ohio,  and  later  in  the  District  of 
Columbia.  The  two  that  were  mem- 
bers of  this  Bar,  probably  no  person 
present  was  more  familiar  with  than 
our  friend,  the  Hon.  James  W.  Rem- 
ick,  who  will  speak  of  them. 

Hox.  James  W.  Remick:  May  it 
please  the  Court  and  Brothers  of  the 
Bar — Not) ling  could  bring  to  mind 
more  forcibly  the  difference  between 
our  relation  and  that  of  our  Allies  to 
the  present  world  struggle  than  the 
fact  that  while  the  temples  of  our 
Allies  are  being  shot  to  pieces  by  the 
ruthless  Hun,  we  are  assembled  in  se- 
curity adorning  our  temples  with 
the  portraits  of  those  whose  lives  were 
associated  with  them.  It  is  fitting 
that  we  should  do  this,  if  in  doing  it  we 
neglect  no  war  duty.  That  no  such 
neglect  is  involved  in  what  we  are 
doing  is  attested  by  the  leadership  of 
Plymouth  and  all  Xew  Hampshire  in 
every  form  of  war  activity  and  by  the 
fact  that  the  son  of  the  Presiding 
Justice,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for 
this,  as  for  so  many  other  forms  of 
public-spirited  service,  is  at  this 
moment  on  the  firing-line  in  France. 
By  re-dedicating  our  temples  of  jus- 
tice as  we  are  doing  today,  we  are  re- 
dedicating  ourselves  to  the  struggle 
to  preserve  them  and  all  that  they 
stand  for,  at  whatever  cost.  It  is 
noteworthy  in  this  connection  that 
Ambassador  Gerard  in  his  latest 
book  says,  "The  Emperor  .  .  .  . 
has  an  inborn  contempt,  if  not  for 
law,  at  least  for  lawyers.  In  October, 
1915,  for  instance,  he  remarked  to 
me,  'This  is  a  lawyers'  war — Asquith 
and  Lloyd  George  in  England,  Pom- 
care  and  Briand  in  France.'  '  It 
was  to  be  expected  that  one  who  de- 
liberately wrote  and  published, 
"From  childhood,  I  have  been  in- 
fluenced by  five  men,  Alexander  the 
Great,   Julius    Caesar,   Theodoric    II, 


88 


The  Granite  Monthly 


Frederick  the  Great  and  Napoleon. 
Each  of  these  men  dreamed  a  dream 
of  a  world  empire.  They  failed.  I 
have  dreamed  a  dream  of  a  German 
world  empire,  and  my  mailed  fist 
shall  succeed' ' — and  who,  to  achieve 
that  object,  has  made  the  world  a 
human  slaughter-house  and  himself 
the  arch-butcher  of  mankind,  and 
then  invoked  God  in  justification — 
I  say,  it  was  to  be  expected  that  such 
a  one  would  have  contempt  for  every- 
thing savoring  of  justice  and  every- 
body having  to  do  with  the  admin- 
istration of  justice.  Had  I  known 
before  accepting  the  invitation  to 
speak  here  today  that  the  Kaiser 
held  such  opinions  about  law  and 
lawyers,  I  might  have  declined.  As 
it  is,  I  see  no  way  but  to  go  forward 
with  my  part  of  the  program,  notwith- 
standing his  majesty's  sentiments. 

I  count  it  the  most  fortunate  cir- 
cumstance in  my  own  humble  career 
at  the  Bar  that  it  was  begun  in  the 
home  town  of  those  legal  giants, 
Harry  and  George  A.  Bingham,  and 
at  a  time  when  they  were  in  the  full 
strength  and  maturity  of  their  power. 
The  pleasure  of  self-conscious  impor- 
tance, which  is  sometimes  the  privilege 
of  the  young  lawyer  in  a  country 
community,  was  impossible  in  as- 
sociation with  these  men.  On  the 
contrary,  to  such  a  one  their  towering- 
eminence  gave  a  depressing  sense  of 
insignificance  and  obscurity.  In  the 
shadow  of  their  greatness,  it  was  for 
him  to  be  a  sort  of  chore-boy  in  the 
profession.  But  for  all  the  depriva- 
tions for  which  they  were  responsible, 
in  the  way  of  early  recognition  and 
youthful  conceits,  they  compensated 
a  thousandfold  by  the  lasting  in- 
spiration and  helpfulness  of  their 
example  and  association. 

Harry  Bingham  was  at  once  lawyer, 
statesman,  scholar,  sage  and  phi- 
losopher. As  a  lawyer,  he  was  worthy 
to  sit  with  the  great  men  who  adorn 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States.  As  a  statesman,  he  belonged 
with  those  who,  in  earlier  times, 
fashioned    the    republic    and    wrote 


"The  Federalist/'  and  with  the  Ed- 
munds, the  Thurmans,  and  the  Sher- 
mans of  modern  days.  As  a  scholar 
and  philosopher,  he  was  a  marvel  to 
all  who  were  admitted  into  his  life  of 
study  and  contemplation.  For  virility 
of  mind,  breadth  of  vision,  and  wealth 
of  learning,. he  belonged  to  the  highest 
classification. 

To  those  who  find  his  measure  in 
the  offices  he  held,  and  the  attention 
he  attracted  in  the  nation  at  large, 
our  estimate  may  seem  exaggerated. 
Indeed,  his  fame  was  in  no  way  com- 
mensurate with  his  ability.  This 
argues  nothing  against  the  latter. 

Reputation,  as  has  been  well  said, 
is  ''Oft  won  without  merit  and  lost 
without  deserving."  It  should  not 
be  confounded  with  character,  nor 
political  notoriety  mistaken  for  true 
greatness.  "The  grasshoppers  make 
the  fields  ring  with  their  importunate 
chinks,  while  the  great  cattle  chew  the 
cud  and  are  silent."  By  means-  of 
wealth,  brazen  self-assertion,  political 
craftiness  and  snare-drum  eloquence, 
hundreds  of  men  were  famous  in  his 
day,  as  so-called  politicians  and 
statesmen,  who  were  not  worthy  to 
unloose  the  latchets  of  his  shoes. 
Wealth,  position  and  reputation  are 
but  the  trappings  of  circumstance. 
The  true  test  of  a  man  is  the  measure 
and  quality  of  his  mind,  heart  and 
soul. 

Harry  Bingham  was  never  a  sen- 
ator of  the  United  States,  but  he  was 
immeasurably  greater  than  many  who 
have  been  and  are,  and  no  one  will 
question  that  he  was  worthy  to  be. 
To  deserve  a  high  office  is  a  dignity 
to  which  no  man  has  attained  who  has 
simply  secured  it. 

Those  who,  conscious  of  his  power, 
stood  by  him  in  his  last  hours,  and 
sawr  the  great  light  fade  and  go  out, 
may  well  ask,  in  view  of  the  scant 
visible  reward  and  apparent  end  of 
all,  "What  profit  hath  a  man  of  ail 
his  labor?" 

As  a  result  of  his  work,  Harry 
Bingham's  mental  horizon  embraced 
the  earth  and  planets,  and  all  races 


An  Interesting  Occasion 


89 


and  times.  The  origin  and  devel- 
opment of  man,  civilization,  and  gov- 
ernment were  to  him  an  open  book. 
Sitting  in  his  office,  among  the  hills 
he  loved  so  well,  he  could  close  his 
eyes  and  see  the  whole  world  as  a 
panorama-Has  it  was  and  as  it  is. 

Suppose  that  death  ends  all;  was 
not  his  capacity  to  hold  communion 
with  all  that  is  and  that  has  been, 
source  of  infinite  satisfaction,  and 
profit  enough?  But  death  does  not 
end  all.  He  still  lives,  at  least  in 
your  lives  and  mine.  By  such  in- 
dividual endeavor,  operating  in  in- 
visible ways  upon  the  generations, 
mankind  has  advanced  and  is  still 
advancing.  Is  it  not  profit  enough, 
when  death  comes,  to  know  that  we 
have  contributed  our  most  to  this 
great  forward  movement?  And  fi- 
nally, if,  as  we  believe,  death  is  but  a 
transition,  who  shall  measure  the 
eternal  advantage  of  a  life  of  noble 
and  strenuous  endeavor  here? 

Besides  knowing  George.  A.  Bing- 
ham in  other  relations,  it  was  my 
good  fortune  to  be  a  student  in  his 
office  for  about  one  year.  Of  him  in 
this  relation,  I  cannot  speak  too 
highly.  When  I  entered  his  office,  it 
was  with  something  of  awe,  but  he 
soon  had  me  at  ease  by  stating  the 
legal  question  he  for  the  moment  had 
under  consideration,  and  asking  my 
opinion.  It  was  not  done  with  the 
air  of  condescension,  nor  from  curios- 
ity to  test  the  quality  of  my  mind. 
It  was  done  in  a  sincere  and  genuine 
spirit  of  inquiry.  He  really  wanted 
my  opinion,  and  he  could  not  have 
asked  for  it  with  appearance  of  greater 
respect  had  I  been  his  peer  at  the 
Bar — if  he  had  been  the  student  and  I 
the  preceptor.  However  absurd  the 
opinion,  there  was  no  offensive  dis- 
approval, no  humiliating  analysis,  no 
sting  of  ridicule  in  word  or  look,  but  it 
was  received  with  the  same  thought- 
ful and  respectful  consideration  as  if 
it  had  been  the  wisest  deliverance 
of  the  greatest  sage.  This  was  not  a 
rare  exception  due  to  a  moment  of 


relaxation  and  good  nature.  It  was 
the  uniform  habit  of  the  man.  From 
that  time  on  during  my  term  in  his 
office,  I  worked  with  him  a  great  deal, 
examining  law,  writing  opinions,  mak- 
ing briefs  and  preparing  oral  argu- 
ments and  he  was  always  the  same 
unsophisticated,  confiding  and  agree- 
able person.  Nor  was  his  conduct  in 
this  respect  any  mark  of  favor  to  me. 
It  sprang  from  the  very  constitution 
of  his  mind  and  nature.  My  ex- 
perience was,  I  venture  to  say,  the 
experience  of  every  young  man  who 
was  ever  associated  with  him. 

He  was  a  tireless  investigator  of  the 
law,  not  in  a  philosophic  and  scholas- 
tic sense,  but  always  with  reference  to 
the  case  in  hand.  He  taught  his 
students  the  inestimable  habit  of 
thorough  and  exhaustive  examination 
of  legal  questions,  and  thus  put  them 
under  an  obligation  which  a  thousand 
tributes  would  not  discharge. 

In  making  briefs  and  writing  opin- 
ions, his  mental  process  was  labori- 
ous. His  mind  ground  slowly,  but  it 
ground  exceeding  fine.  The  heat  of 
forensic  conflict  furnished  a  needed 
•  stimulus,  and  on  such  occasions  he 
would  astonish  those  accustomed  to 
his  office  habits  by  his  ready  repartee 
and  quick  command  of  resources. 

Along  with  his  other  judicial  at- 
tributes, he  possessed  in  a  marked 
degree  that  indispensable  quality  of 
a  great  judge — he  was  a  patient 
listener.  The  same  characteristics 
which  attached  his  students  to  him, 
made  him  beloved  by  the  younger 
members  of  the  Bar  as  a  Judge  upon 
the  Bench. 

He  clung  tenaciously  to  the  law. 
He  accepted  in  the  fullest  sense  the 
oft-expressed  idea  that  "the  law  is  an 
exacting  mistress,"  and  allowed  noth- 
ing to  attract  him  from  it.  In  his 
devotion  to  it,  he  denied  himself  that 
intellectual  and  physical  diversion 
which  health  of  mind  and  body  de- 
mand. I  do  not  know  that  he  ever 
read  a  novel.  I  cannot  say  that  he 
departed  from  the  strict  line  of  his 
practice  to  read  the  lighter  literature 


90 


The  Granite  Monthly 


of  the  profession.  I  am  not  aware 
that  he  even  so  far  relaxed  as  to 
engage  to  any  considerable  extent 
in  historical,  political,  or  philosoph- 
ical reading.  The  seductions  of  so- 
ciety and  the  charms  of  nature  could 
not  lure  him  from  his  cases;  night  and 
day,  year  in  and  year  out,  he  plodded 
on  in  life-destroying  consecration  to 
his  calling. 

If,  like  his  distinguished  brother,  he 
had  sought  more  of  change  and  re- 
laxation in  political,  philosophical 
and  historical  reading  and  contem- 
plation; or  like  his  former  partner, 
Judge  Aldrich,  he  had  now  and  then 
put  aside  his  briefs  and  cases  and 
found  near  to  nature's  heart,  in 
forest  and  on  lake  and  stream,  health- 
giving  sport  and  recreation, — I  be- 
lieve his  majestic  figure  would  be 
towering  in  our  midst  today  instead 
of  sleeping,  as  it  does,  over  yonder. 
But  that  unyielding  persistency 
which  broke  natural  limitations  and 
made  him  the  leader  of  men  of  greater 
genius,  had  fixed  upon  him  a  habit  of 
work,  from  which  the  attractions  of 
life  could  not  lure  nor  the  apprehen- 
sions of  death  terrify. 

More  than  five  years  before  he  died, 
he  was  admonished  by  failing  health 
of  the  necessity  of  diversion  and  rest, 
but,  impotent  to  resist  the  force  and 
momentum  of  habit,  he  worked  on 
almost  to  the  hour  of  his  death. 

He  was  a  strong  lawyer,  an  able 
judge,  and  an  exemplary  husband, 
father  and  fellow-citizen.  No  ec-* 
centricity  marred  the  outline  of  his 
character.  His  manhood  was  stained 
by  no  excess.  In  all  the  relations  of 
life,  he  was  a  dignified  and  wholesome 
gentleman.  No  higher  tribute  than 
this  could  be  paid  to  any  man. 

Never  was  maternal  love  more 
richly  rewarded  than  in  the  birth  and 
life  of  the  brothers,  Harry,  George 
and  Edward  Bingham.  Three  sons, 
and  every  one  a  king  among  his  fel- 
lows— kingly  in  stature,  pose  and 
step;  kingly  in  eye,  voice  and  ges- 
ture; kingly  in  mind  and  soul  and 
will  and  character — but,  thank  God, 


without  touch  of  the  Kaiser  kind  of 
kingliness,  made  up  of  moustache 
and  egotism,  blasphemy  and  bru- 
tality/ 

I  am  sure  you  unite  with  me  in 
reciprocating  the  Kaiser's  contempt 
and  in  paying  tribute  to  such  great 
and  noble  exemplars  of  our  profession. 

Raymond  U.  Smith,  Esq.:  I  ask 
leave  to  offer  the  following  resolu- 
tions and  ask  their  adoption : 

"Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Grafton 
County  Bar  be  extended  Mr.  Justice  George 
H.  Bingham  of  the  Circuit  Courts  of  Appeals, 
and  to  his  sisters,  Miss  Helen  Bingham  and 
Mrs.  Walsh,  for  the  portraits  of  their  late 
father,  Mr.  Justice  George  A.  Bingham,  and 
of  their  Uncle,  the  late  Hon.  Harry  Bingham, 
whom  the  Bar  loved  and  respected. 

''Resolved,  That  the  Clerk  be  instructed  to 
record  these  resolutions  on  the  records  of  the 
Court,  and  to  transmit  a  copy  thereof  to  Mr. 
Justice  Bingham,  Miss  Bingham  and  Mrs. 
Walsh." 

Judge  Sawyer:  The  resolutions 
will  be  received  and  unless  objection 
is  made  they  mil  be  unanimously 
adopted  and  are  so  adopted. 

Nature  is  kind  to  some  men;  it- 
was  kind  to  Judge  Bingham  in  pro- 
longing his  life  so  long;  and  when  it 
is  kind,  and  we  meet  one  of  the  mem- 
bers of  our  profession  who  is  on  the 
western  slope,  going  down  into  the 
deep  valley,  and  who  has  come  to 
a  ripened  old  age,  and  whose  faculties 
are  clear,  it  is  indeed  a  pleasure  to 
associate  with  him  and  listen  to  his 
experiences.  Of  the  members  of  the 
Bar  whom  it  has  been  my  pleasure 
to  know,  who  have  passed  into  the 
great  beyond,  there  was  none  to  me 
more  pleasing  than  the  dear  old  man, 
Mr.  Fling  of  Bristol.  He  told  me  at 
one  time  he  had  attended  one  hundred 
and  twenty  terms  of  Court  in  this 
county  without  missing  one.  It  was 
my  pleasure  to  call  upon  him  at  his 
home  in  Bristol  two  years  ago  this 
summer,  and  there  to  review  with 
him  many  of  the  instances  of  his 
early  practice  and  to  look  over  with 
him  and  hear  his  comments  upon  the 


An  Interesting  Occasion 


91 


collection  of  photographs  made  by 
the  late  Chief  Justice  Doe  between 
the  years  of  1SG4  and  1S74.  It  was 
an  inspiring  visit.  As  he  took  my 
hand  at  parting  he  said  "Brother 
Sawyer,  I  fear  we  shall  never  meet 
again  in  this  world.''  He  was  a  dear 
companion,  a  man  of  upright  char- 
acter, of  high  ideas,  who  honored  his 
profession,  and  we,  the  Bar  of  Grafton 
County,  are  honored  today  with  the 
portrait  of  that  dear,  good  man,  pre- 
sented to  us  by  his  son,  Charles  W. 
Fling  of  Bristol,  and  his  daughter, 
Mrs.  Eva  Fellows  of  Bangor,  Maine, 
who  have  likewise  honored  us  with 
their  presence  here  today.  Among 
those  who  knew  him  best  is  his  former 
partner,  Ira  A.  Chase  of  Bristol, 
who  will  speak  of  him. 

Hon.  Ira  A.  Chase:  May  it 
please  the  Court  and  Brothers  of  the 
Bar — As  suggested  of  some  other 
members  of  the  Grafton  and  Coos 
Bars.  Mr.  Fling  came  to  us  from  Ver- 
mont, having  been  born  in  Windsor, 
Vermont.  He  had  a  very  excellent 
education  for  the  times,  in  the  dis- 
trict schools  and  high  schools  of 
Vermont  and  New  Hampshire,  and 
at  the  old  Norwich  University  in 
Vermont,  then  a  very  celebrated  uni- 
versity or  military  institute,  as  it  was 
called.  After  graduating  he  was  a 
teacher  in  New  Hampshire  and  became 
acquainted  with  the  late  Mr.  Sargent, 
or  I: squire  Sargent,  a  lawyer  practising 
m  Canaan,  New  Hampshire,  and  Mr. 
Sargent  very  kindly  suggested  it  would 
be  a  very  good  idea  for  him  to  enter  his 
office  and  study  law.  Mr.  Fling  upon 
reflecting  took  kindly  to  that  idea  and 
entered  the  office  in  the  spring  of 
1847.  However,  Mr.  Sargent,  de- 
ciding that  Wentworth  was  a  more 
fertile  field  than  Canaan,  removed  to 
V/cntworth  find  Mr.  Fling  went  with 
him;  there  he  pursued  the  study  of 
law  and  in  a  practical  way.  Mr. 
Sargent  soon  acquired  an  extensive 
practice;  he  was  county  solicitor 
at  one  time,  and  had  a  large  business 
there,    and    Mr.    Fling    had    the    ad- 


vantage of  the  law  theoretically  and 
of  it  practically.  As  has  been  sug- 
gested he  was  called  into  conference 
like  as  it  was  in  Judge  Carpenter's 
office,  when  matters  were  to  be  de- 
cided or  to  be  talked  over,  where 
cases  were  to  be  prepared  and  the 
law  examined,  and  he  was  made  to 
assist  in  that  work.  He  was  admit- 
ted to  the  Bar  in  1851,  and  was  a 
partner  of  Judge  Sargent  for  about  a 
year  and  a  half,  when  he  heard  of  an 
opening  in  Bristol,  which  he  thought 
would  be  advantageous  to  him,  and  he 
went  there,  and  succeeded  the  Hon. 
N.  B.  Bryant,  who  was  about  re- 
moving, taking  his  practice  and  his 
office,  wherein  he  continued  for  sixty- 
four  years,  and  they  are  still  in  the 
occupation  of  his  son,  a  prominent 
business  man  in  Bristol.  Mr.  Fling 
at  once  secured  an  extensive  practice 
in  that  locality,  and  took  a  leading 
place  among  the  men  of  that  town. 
He  was  interested  in  all  public  mat- 
ters affecting  the  interest  of  the  town, 
as  well  as  the  state.  He  was  super- 
intendent of  schools  as  a  young  man. 
He  was  also  much  interested  in  the 
church,  and  was  the  leader  of  the 
choir,  which  he  enjoyed  very  much, 
having  a  fine  voice.  He  was  also 
president  of  the  bank.  Being  a 
Democrat  in  a  Republican  or  a  Whig 
town,  as  it  was  then,  he  was  not 
favored  with  local  office,  although  he 
was  always  the  leader  of  his  party  in 
that  town.  In  1871  and  again  in  1872, 
when  the  Republican  rule  was  over- 
thrown, he  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Senate,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Judiciary  during  both  ses- 
sions, and  its  chairman  during  one 
session.  In  those  days  when  there 
were  only  twelve  members,  and  the 
Senate  was  about  equally  divided  be- 
tween Republicans  and  Democrats, 
one  man's  influence  was  very  great. 
The  importance  of  his  assignment  to 
committees  attests  the  respect  with 
which  he  was  regarded.  This  was,  I 
think,  all  of  the  political  career  that 
he  enjoyed.  He  was  favored  at  that 
time  by  receiving  the  degree  of  Master 


92 


The  Granite  Monthly 


of  Arts  from  Dartmouth  College.  A 
similar  degree  was  also  conferred 
upon  Hon.  Daniel  Barnard  at  the 
same  time.  Mr.  Barnard  and  Mr. 
Fling  while  frequently  opposed  to 
each  other  in  court,  were  yet  very 
great  friends.  1  remember  Mr.  Fling- 
told  me  upon  congratulating  Mr. 
Barnard  of  his  degree,  that  the 
latter  replied  that  Mr.  Fling  was 
already  master  of  more  arts  than 
Dartmouth  College  could  conceive 
or  confer  upon  him. 

I  entered  his  office  as  a  student  of 
the  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
Bar,  and  to  the  firm  in  1SS1,  a  rela- 
tion which  lasted  until  1S94  when  it 
was  dissolved  by  mutual  and  friendly 
consent.  Mr.  Fling,  as  those  of  you 
who  knew  him  are  aware,  was  a  man 
of  distinguished  appearance.  He  was 
erect  in  stature,  due  undoubtedly  to 
his  early  military  training.  He  was 
a  man  who  was  very  affable  and  cour- 
teous in  his  manner;  very  dignified 
and  yet  very  kind;  he  was  a  man  of 
judicial  temperament,  a  natural  jur- 
ist who  would  have  adorned  the 
Bench  if  he  had  been  placed  there. 
He  was  an  able  lawyer,  well  read, 
and  a  man  of  great  good  sense  and 
sound  judgment;  and  for  his  clients, 
a  wise  and  discerning  counsellor. 
He  was  respected  by  his  associates 
at  the  Bar  and  by  his  fellow  citi- 
zens. During  his  long  career  he  was 
interested  in  many  important  cases. 
being  associated,  either  with  or 
against,  every  person  whose  portrait 
appears  here  today,  with  the  ex- 
ception, of  course,  of  Daniel  Webster. 
He  was  on  terms  of  intimacy  with 
all  of  these  distinguished  men,  and 
with  many  others  like  Judge  Ladd  and 
Ossian  Ray  and  very  many  more 
whom  I  coukl  mention.  He  knew 
them  very  well,  he  called  them  into 
his  cases  and  he  was  called  into  theirs. 
I  might  say  in  passing  in  reference  to 
the  Hon.  Harry  Bingham — I  didn't 
think  of  it  until  Brother  Remick  was 
so  eloquently  speaking  of  him — he 
was  once  associated  with  Mr.  Fling 
in  a  case,  where  a  certain  man's  wife 


was  injured  on  the  railroad,  and  this 
man  was  a  spiritualist.  Mr.  Fling 
was  counsel  for  the  plaintiff  and  had 
Harry  Bingham  with  him  in  the  case. 
The  husband  of  the  injured  woman 
was  present  during  the  trial  and  at 
one  of  the  consultations  he  remarked 
that  Daniel  Webster  was  with  them 
in  this  case  in  spirit,  Bingham  re- 
plied with  ;*I  wish  we  had  him  in 
flesh." 

Brother  Fling  was  a  most  agree- 
able and  companionable  man  in  the 
office,  being  much  like  Judge  Car- 
penter in  respect  to  humor;  he  had 
a  very  keen  sense  of  the  ludicrous  and 
humorous,  in  fact  exceedingly  keen, 
and  he  had  a  great  power  of  char- 
acterization. He  had  such  a  long 
career,  and  knew  the  leaders  of  the 
Bar  so  intimately,  and  had  been  as- 
sociated with  them  in  so  many 
cases,  that  he  had  a  fund  of  stories 
and  reminiscences  that  was  remark- 
able, and  which  he  was  fond  of  re- 
peating. I  can  recall  a  great  many 
stories  and  interesting  events  that 
he  related  to  me,  that  have  occurred 
in  this  and  other  court  rooms,  concer- 
ing  about  every  person  whose  por- 
trait adorns  these  walls.  Mr.  Fling 
was  of  a  naturally  philosophical  tem- 
perament; he  was  a  man  who  read 
and  thought  a  great  deal,  and  he  en- 
joyed reading  the  finer  and  better 
things  in  this  world,  the  finer  litera- 
ture, and  for  many  years,  except 
when  engaged  in  the  active  matters, 
he  spent  his  evenings  in  reading. 
He  was  naturally,  speaking  from  a 
physical  standpoint,  an  indolent  man. 
I  should  say  he  didn't  like  manual 
labor  of  any  kind,  and  as  far  as  I 
could  observe  he  never  indulged  in 
it  unless  he  was  obliged  to;  but 
when  it  came  to  the  preparation  of 
his  case,  he  was  untiring  in  his  labor. 
He  gave  himself  entirely  to  his  client, 
and  he  worked  heroically.  He  was 
always  faithful  to  his  clients.  When 
before  the  Court  or  jury  he  was  a 
formidable  antagonist,  adroit,  tactful 
and  resourceful. 

Owing;    to    the    evenness    of    his 


An  Interesting  Occasion 


93 


temperament  and  habit  of  tin-owing 

off  the  care  and  business  of  life  at 
evening  and  passing  that  time  in 
reading,  he  attained  the  great  age  of 
more  than  ninety-two  years,  and  at 
his  death  was  the  oldest  member  of 
the  Bar  of  Grafton  County,  and  per- 
haps of  the  state  of  New  Hampshire. 
He  was  kindly  cared  for  during  his 
last  years  by  his  son  and  daughter, 
who  are  with  us  today.  His  son, 
Charles  Fling  of  Bristol,  accompanied 
by  his  mother,  and  also  his  daughter, 
Mrs.  Fellows  accompanied  by  her 
husband,  a  prominent  lawyer  in 
Maine,  who  has  been  Speaker  of  the 
House,  have  come  today  from  their 
distant  home,  with  their  two  sons, 
who  are  also  honorable  members  of 
the  Bar,  leading  men  in  Maine.  I 
am  very  glad  they  could  be  present 
with  us  today  to  hear  these  remarks 
in  regard  to  these  distinguished  men, 
the  friends  and  associates  of  their 
father  and  grandfather. 

Clarence  E.  Hibbard,  Esq:  I  de- 
sire to  present  the  following  resolu- 
tions and  move  their  adoption: 

"  Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Grafton 
County  Bar  be  extended  to  Charles  W.  Fling  of 
Bristol,  and  to  his  sister,  Mrs.  Eva  Fellows  of 
Bangor,  Maine,  for  the  portrait  of  their 
father,  Hon.  Lewis  W.  Fling,  late  of  Bristol, 
whose  genial  countenance  reflects  the  beauty 
of  his  character,  and  the  high  ideals  by  which 
he  was  ever  guided. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Clerk  be  instructed  to 
record  these  resolutions  on  the  records  of  the 
Court,  and  to  transmit  a  copy  thereof  to  Mr. 
Fling  and  Mrs.  Fellows." 

Judge  Sawyer:  The  resolutions 
offered  by  Mr.  Hibbard  are  received 
and  unless  objection  is  made  will  be 
unanimously  adopted,  and  they  are 
so  adopted. 

Mr.  Chase  might  have  added  that 
one  of  Mr.  Fling's  grandsons,  who 
has  favored  us  with  his  presence,  is 
the  Clerk  of  the  Federal  Court  in 
Portland,  Maine. 

Among  my  early  recollections  of 
the  New  Flampshire  Bar — among  the 
happiest    of    them    in     my    student 


days — was  that  of  our  genial  friend 
the  Hon.  Albert  S.  Batchellor,  a  man 
who  was  possessed  of  the  combined 
qualities  of  a  good  lawyer,  a  thor- 
ough student  of  history,  and  the 
qualities  of  good  fellowship,  which 
made  him  an  enjoyable  companion. 
His  portrait  was  to  have  been  with 
us  but  I  received  word  this  morning 
that  it  had  been  delayed  and  would 
not  reach  here  until  tomorrow.  It 
has  been  presented  and  will  adorn 
the  walls  of  this  Court  room  tomor- 
row, the  gift  of  his  daughter,  Mrs. 
Bertha  Sulloway  of  Franklin.  We 
all  knew  him  so  well  that  in  our  minds- 
eye  we  can  carry  the  memory  of  his 
face  as  though  it  adorned  the  walls. 

Among  those  who  knew  Brother 
Batchellor  best  in  his  last  days, — per- 
haps none  knew  him  better — is  our 
Brother  Fletcher  Hale  of  Laconia,  who 
will  speak  of  him. 

Fletcher  Hale,  Esq.:  May  it 
please  the  Court.  Your  Honor,  when 
you  asked  me  to  speak  of  Brother 
Batchellor  I  sensed  a  feeling  at  once 
of  intense  gratification,  and  of  sin- 
cere regret.  Gratification,  that  such 
a  compliment  should  come  to  me — ■ 
that  an  opportunity  should  arise  by 
which  I  might  say  a  few  words  con- 
cerning the  man  whom  I  so  loved  and 
revered — and  regret,  Your  Honor, 
that  I  did  not  know  him  all  through 
his  life  that  I  might  present  his  case 
justly  and  truly  as  it  is. 
•  Albert  Stillman  Batchellor  was 
born  in  Bethlehem  the  22nd  day  of 
April  1850.  He  attended  Tilt  on  Sem- 
inary, graduating  from  there  in  1SGS, 
and  then  went  to  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege, where  he  graduated  in  1872. 
He  immediately  entered  the  office  of 
Harry  and  George  A.  Bingham,  in 
Littleton,  and  with  them  studied  law, 
being  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1875. 
From  the  time  he  graduated  from 
college  his  name,  and  his  fame,  if 
you  please,  have  been  associated 
with  the  great  names  of  Bingham  and 
Mitchell  right  down  almost  to  the 
time  when  he  died,  in  1913.     In  other 


94 


The  Granite  Monthly 


words,  all  his  training,  all  his  ex- 
perience grew  out  of  association 
with  these  great  men,  of  whom  we 
have  heard  this  afternoon  so  well. 
His  history,  I  think  Your  Honor,  is 
not  dimmed  by  the  record  of  his  as- 
sociates, who  stood  in  their  sphere 
for  certain  things  which  go  to  make 
great  lawyers.  Judge  Batchellor 
stood  in  his  sphere  for  those  things 
and  other  things  which  go  to  make 
great  lawyers  and  good  men. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  a  man 
of  his  calibre  was  honored  in  his  town 
by  almost  every  office  he  could  hold. 
In  addition,  he  served  as  Solicitor  of 
Grafton  County  shortly  after  he  was 
admitted  to  the  Bar,  represented  the 
town  of  Littleton  many  times  in  the 
Legislature,  and  became  a  member  of 
the  Governor's  Council  in  1887  and 
18S8.  For  many  years  he  served 
faithfully  and  efficiently  as  Justice  of 
the  Littleton  Municipal  Court,  Trus- 
tee of  the  State  Library  and  as  a 
member  of  the  Public  Printing  Com- 
mission. In  1890  he  was  appointed 
State  Historian,  an  office  which  he 
held  until  his  death,  and  the  work  of 
which  I  really  think  gave  him  the 
greatest  delight  of  his  life.  Lie  edited 
several  volumes  of  the  New  Hamp- 
shire State  Papers  and  of  the  Laws  of 
New  Hampshire  during  the  Provin- 
cial period,  wrote  many  historical 
pamphlets  and  treatises,  and  prob- 
ably no  man  ever  lived  who  possessed 
such  accurate  and  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  the  history  of  his  State  as  he.  • 
He  was  intensely  proud  of  Xew 
Hampshire,  and  intensely  proud  of 
being  an  American.  His  opinion  on 
matters  of  history  was  widely  sought 
by  the  foremost  historian^  of  the 
country.  His  attainments  as  lawyer 
and  scholar  were  well  recognized  by 
Dartmouth  College  in  1910  when  he 
was  the  recipient  of  the  honorary  de- 
gree of  D.Litt. 

He  took  particular  pride  in  belong- 
ing to  that  group  of  men  to  whom 
General  Streeter  and  Judge  Remick 
have  referred, — that  great  group  of 
giants,  which  seemed  to  rise  in  that 


north  countiy  in  that  period.  He 
•  did  not  have  the  temerity  to  class 
himself  as  one  of  them,  as  a  peer 
with  them,  but  to  be  associated  with 
them  and  to  speak  of  them  as  as- 
sociates of  his  in  his  daily  life,  was 
one  of  the  rich  things  he  enjoyed.  I 
think  his  admiration  for  Harry  Bing- 
ham amounted  almost  to  idolatry. 
He  told  me  that  he  believed,  if  cir- 
cumstances had  adjusted  themselves 
so  that  Harry  Bingham  could  have  en- 
tered the  Legislative  Halls  of  the 
Lnited  States  his  name  and  fame 
would  have  been  handed  down  from 
generation  to  generation  among  the 
people  of  this  country.  And  Harry 
Bingham's  thoughts  and  philosophy, 
to  a  large  extent,  impressed  them- 
selves upon  Judge  Batchellor's  na- 
ture, naturally,  because  he  admired 
him  as  one  man  may  admire  another. 

I  first  became  acquainted  with 
Judge  Batchellor  during  my  senior 
year  in  College.  His  son  and  I  were 
in  the  same  class  in  Dartmouth. 
Judge  Batchellor  came  down  from 
Littleton  to  attend  our  Commence- 
ment exercises,  and  lie  was  invited  to 
speak  to  the  class  at  our  banquet. 
The  magnetism  of  the  man,  I  think, 
may  well  be  illustrated  when  I  say 
that,  after  he  had  finished,  the  boys 
rose  as  a  unit  and  voted  him  a  mem- 
ber of  the  class  of  1905,  and  he  joined 
us,  sat  at  the  table  with  us  and  re- 
mained one  of  us.  That  thing,  of 
itself,  shows  the  way  he  impressed  not 
only  men  of  his  own  age,  but  the 
younger  men.  That  is  the  way  he 
impressed  me.  It  was  only  shortly 
after  that, — I  think  it  was  in  the  fall 
of  1905  or  the  early  part  of  1906,— 
that  I  received  a  letter  from  his 
son — I  had  then  commenced  to  study 
law — saying  his  father  had  lost  his 
eyesight,  and  asking  me  if  I  would 
consider  coming  to  Littleton  to  do  his 
reading  and  writing  for  him,  while  I 
was  obtaining  my  legal  education. 
It  was  really,  it  seemed  to  me,  an 
unusual  opportunity  for  a  young  man, 
and  I  accepted  at  once.  I  went  to 
Littleton  and  entered  his  office,  ex- 


An  Interesting  Occasion 


95 


pecting  to  find  a  man  who  had  gone 
Mind,  a  man  who  had  worked  ac- 
tively and  industriously  all  his  life, 
and  then  been  stricken  in  that  ter- 
rible way — expecting,  Your  Honor, 
to  find  a  man  broken  in  spirit,  de- 
jected, ready  to  give  up  and  set 
back  and  take  things  as  they  came. 
But,  Your  Honor,  although  his  afflic- 
tion had  been  upon  him  but  a  few 
months,  I  found  a  man  who  had  al- 
ready discounted  the  philosophy  of 
Milton  in  his  ode  on  his  blindness, 
"They  also  serve  who  only  stand  and 
wait," —  and  had  made  his  creed  that 
the  rest  of  his  life  should  be  one  of  ac- 
tive service — that  he  would  die  in  the 
harness. 

Now,  Your  Honor,  you  have  spoken 
of  his  good  fellowship,  and  it  was  a 
remarkable  part  of  his  nature,  his 
good  cheer,  and  his  fund  of  stories 
which  he  could  tell  in  his  inimitable 
way.  I  think,  sometimes, — I  know, 
— it  bothered  him:  He  told  me  if  he 
had  his  life  to  live  over  again — that 
was  after  he  had  lost  his  eyesight 
and  had  begun  to  see  the  serious 
parts  of  life  more  clearly  than  ever — 
he  thought  he  would  never  tell  a 
funny  story  again.  He  was  afraid 
men  held  him  in  the  light  of  a  buffoon 
instead  of  a  man.  But  I  told  him, 
in  my  humble  way,  that  if  he  were 
able  to  bring  good  cheer  into  the 
world,  if  he  were  never  able  to  do 
anything  else,  the  good  cheer  which 
he  had  brought  into  the  world  was 
work  enough,  and  more  than  most  of 
us  could  ever  hope  to  do.  I  think 
the  men  here,  who  knew  him  well, — 
General  Streeter,  Judge  Remick,  Mr. 
Martin  and  Colonel  Jewett  and  all  the 
others,  would  say  he  is  held,  not  as  a 
clown,  as  a  buffoon,  but  as  a  gentle- 
man, as  a  scholar,  as  an  able  lawyer, 
and  as,a  good,  honest,  faithful  and 
industrious  man. 

He  was  particularly  painstaking 
that  nothing  should  go  out  over  his 
name  unless  it  was  absolutely  cor- 
rect so  far  as  he  knew  how  to  make  it 
so.  He  believed  in  industry  to  the 
limit,  and  if  there  was  anything  he 


could  discover  to  make  his  work  bet- 
ter, then  it  mattered  not  whether  he 
worked  late  into  the  night,  it  mattered 
not  whether  he  was  paid  for  it.  So 
long  as  anything  that  went  out  over 
the  name  of  Albert  S.  Batchellor  was 
correct,  that  was  sufficient  compensa- 
tion for  him. 

I  think  perhaps  I  am  taking  up  too 
much  of  the  time.  Your  Honor,  but  I 
want  to  say  in  closing  that  it  was  an 
inspiration  to  a  young  man  to  go  into 
that  office  and  work  for  him,  who 
could  not  see  the  light,  and  do  his 
reading  and  writing  for  him,  and  see 
him  work  day  after  day  in  the  face 
of  the  '  greatest  obstacle,  probably, 
that  can  come  to  man,  and  yet  pre- 
serve his  good  cheer,  his  patience  and 
his  faith  unto  the  end.  If  I  had  not 
known  of  him,  if  I  had  never  heard  of 
him,  if  I  had  known  him  only  from 
the  time  when  I  first  came  into  his 
office  to  work  for  him,  I  would  have 
seen  there  exhibited  his  whole  life. 
It  was  simply  summed  up  in  a  fight 
for  the  right  with  industry  and  faith 
and  loyalty. 

He  was  a  man  who  loved  his  friends, 
I  think,  better  than  any  man  I  ever 
knew,  and  because  he  loved  them  he 
made  many  and  kept  them.  It  was 
a  source  of  great  delight  to  him,  after 
his  affliction  came  that  such  men  as 
Your  Honor  and  Judge  Remick  and 
others,  whenever  they  came  to  Little- 
ton, came  in  to  see  him.  No  one 
knows  the  pleasure  he  experienced 
after  a  visit  of  that  sort. 

So  he  lived  in  spite  of  the  dark- 
ness, the  physical  darkness  which 
confronted  him,  with  his  eyes  of 
conscience  and  heart  lifted  always 
towards  the  sun. 

George  W.  Pike,  Esq.:  I  have  a 
resolution  I  desire  to  offer  and  move 
its  adoption: 

"Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Grafton 
County  Bar  be  extended  to  Mrs.  Bertha 
Batchellor  Sulloway  of  Franklin,  for  the  por- 
trait of  her  father,  the  Hon.  Albert  S.  Batchel- 
lor, whose  life  was  devoted  most  honorably 
and  assiduously  to  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession and  to  recording  the  history  of  the 


96 


The  Granite  Monthly 


state;  and  who  merited  and  received  the 
esteem  and  confidence  of  his  brethren  of 
the  Bar. 

"Repaired,  That  the  Clerk  be  instructed  to 
record  these  resolutions  on  the  records  of  the 
Court,  and  to  transmit  a  copy  thereof  to  Mr?. 
Sulloway. " 

Judge  Sawyer:  The  resolutions 
offered  by  Brother  Pike  will  be  re- 
ceived and  unless  objection  is  made 
they  will  be  unanimously  adopted, 
and  they  are  so  adopted. 

Brother  Streeter,  in  suggesting  the 
strong  men  that  came  from  the  Con- 
necticut Valley  on  the  Vermont  side, 
spoke  of  two  brothers  born  on  the 
Vermont  side,  and  the  first  speaker  of 
today  spoke  of  one  that  was  born  in 
this  town  and  honored  the  Bench. 
Shortly  after  John  Mitchell's  birth  the 
family  moved  to  Vermont,  and  there, 
I  believe,  his  brother  William  H. 
Mitchell  was  born ;  he,  like  his  brother 
John,  came  over  into  New  Hampshire 
and  came  to  Littleton,  where  he  stud- 
ied in  the  office  of  Bingham  &  [Mitchell, 
and  it  is  particularly  fitting  that  his 
portrait  should  adorn  the  walls  of  this 
room,  the  room  where  he  made  and 
achieved  his  great  successes,  and 
showed  to  the  Bar  of  New  Hampshire 
his  most  remarkable  skill  in  the  prep- 
aration of  the  case  of  State  v.  Frank 
Almy  for  murder.  Mr.  Mitchell  was 
at  that  time  Solicitor  of  this  county, 
and  he  achieved  therein  the  admira- 
tion of  Iris  fellow  members  of  the  Bar, 
as  he  always  commanded  their  respect 
and  love.  His  ideals  were  high:  he 
was  a  whole-souled,  whole-hearted 
man;  to  be  associated  with  him  was  a 
pleasure.  His  portrait  adorns  the 
wall  of  this  room,  presented  by  Mrs. 
Clay.  There  are  few  of  us  left  that 
studied  in  his  office.  Our  genial 
Clerk,  Mr.  Dow,  and  Brother  Hodg- 
man,  Clerk  of  the  Federal  Court,  and 
Brother  Bingham  and  myself,  I  think, 
are  the  sole  survivors  of  the  men  who 
studied  in  that  office,  and  of  him  his 
brother-in-law  has  kindly  consented 
to  speak. 


Hox.  Harry  Bingham:  Your 
Honor,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen — 

Hon.  William  H.  Mitchell  was  born 
in  Wheelock,  Vermont,  in  1856,  was 
educated  in  the  northern  Vermont 
schools,  Derby  Academy,  and  at 
Standstead  in  the  Province  of  Quebec. 
He  graduated,  I  believe,  or  attended 
school  at  the  Littleton  High  School, 
in  1S77.  He  commenced  the  study 
of  law  with  his  brother,  the  late  Hon. 
John  M.  Mitchell  of  the  firm  of  Bing- 
ham &  Mitchell,  at  Littleton,  and 
while  he  studied  he  taught  school  at 
Dow  Academy  in  Franconia  for  a 
brief  period.  I  have  met  occasionally 
two  or  three  men  from  that  district 
and  outside  who  said  they  had  the 
pleasure  and  honor  of  going  to  school 
to  Mr.  Mitchell,  that  they  profited  by 
their  training,  and  that  they  consid- 
ered him  a  fine  teacher.  In  1880,  Mr. 
-Mitchell  was  admitted  to  the  Bar,  and 
in  1SS2  he  became  a  member  of  the 
firm  of  Bingham,  Mitchells'  &  Batch- 
ellor.  Judge  John  M.  Mitchell  and 
the  senior  member  of  the  firm  opened 
an  office  in  Concord  in  1881,  although 
retaining  their  interests  in  the  Little- 
ton firm  until  perhaps  '85  or  '86,  when 
John  M.  Mitchell  retired  and  the  firm 
became  known  as  Bingham,  Mitchell 
&  Batchellor. 

Mr.  Mitchell  was  very  much  inter- 
ested in  educational  matters,  was 
President  of  the  Littleton  Board  of 
Education  from  about  '86  or  '87  to 
'95  or  '96.  He  was  a  Trustee  of  the 
State  Normal  School,  located  here  at 
Plymouth,  for  about  the  same  time; 
he  was  a  member  of  the  New  Hamp- 
shire State  Senate  in  1889,  where  he 
rendered  conspicuous  service  on  the 
principal  committee  in  that  bod  v. 
From  1889  to  '96,  he  was  Solicitor  of 
this  County,  and  in  '91  he  was  in  the 
case  of  which  Your  Honor  spoke, 
State  v.  Almy.  Perhaps  most  of  you 
remember  that.  Perhaps  I  might  re- 
call a  certain  circumstance  there. 
There  was  a  young  lady  in  Hanover, 
found  murdered;  suspicion  fell  upon 
Almy  who  had  worked  for  her  parents, 


An  Interesting  Occasion 


97 


and  who  disappeared  concurrently  with 
the  crime.  He  was  hunted  for  all  over 
the  country,  and  finally,  some  weeks 
after  the  crime  was  committed,  some  of 
the  people  in  Hanover  found  evidences 
of  food  around  a  barn,  and  a  guard  was 
placed  around  it.  In  a  night  or  two  a 
man  came  out  of  the  barn  and  went 
to  an  apple  tree,  and  they  found  it  was 
Ahny;  they  surrounded  the  place  and 
finally  he  made  the  proposition  that 
he  would  see  the  County  Solicitor. 
He  was  in  the  hay  mow  of  the  barn, 
and  he  said  he  would  talk  with  Mr. 
Mitchell;  Mr.  Mitchell  came  and 
climbed  into  the  hay  mow,  and  went 
over  and  had  an  interview  with  Almy 
in  which  he  gave  himself  up.  That 
you  may  know  the  heroism  and  cour- 
age of  Mr.  Mitchell, — I  might  add  that 
Almy  was  armed  and  had  exchanged 
shots  with  some  of  those  who  had 
attempted  his  capture,  and  said  he  was 
prepared  to  shoot  anybody  that  came. 
After  a  trial  in  this  Court  room  Mr. 
Almy  was  sentenced  to  death  before 
two  Justices  of  this  Court. 

Mr.  Mitchell  was  a  .very  busy  man, 
having  great  executive  ability.  Upon 
his  entering  into  the  firm  of  Bingham, 
Mitchells'  &  Batchellor,  it  became 
apparent  at  once  he  was  just  the  man 
needed  for  the  details  of  a  large  country 
practice,  and  he  became  very  expert  in 
that  position. 

He  had  always  been  a  Democrat 
prior  to  1896,  when  he  declined  to 
follow  Mr.  Bryan  on  the  silver  plat- 
form. He  became  a  Republican  at 
that  time.  I  believe  he  did  not  hold 
any  office  under  the  Republican  party, 
except  that  he  was  presidential  elector 
in  this  state  in  the  McKinley-Roose- 
velt  campaign  in  1900. 

Mr.  Mitchell  was  an  untiring 
worker.  I  remember  an  instance  well 
illustrating  his  industry.  I  think  it 
was  in  the  summer  of  1887  during  the 
great  railroad  fight  in  the  Legislature. 
We  had  gone  to  bed  about  half  past  ten, 
at  the  Eagle.  About  twelve  o'clock 
he  sat  up  in  bed  and  said,  "I  haven't 
seen  -so-and-so/  "  I  don't  remember 
who  it  was.     I  says,  "You  can  see 

3 


him  today."  He  replied,  "Well,  I 
suppose  I  can,  I  believe  I  know  exactly 
where  I  can  see  him;  I  think  he  is 
over  to  the  telegraph  office."  Up  he 
got  and  dressed  himself  and  started 
out,  and  in  about  half  an  hour  he  re- 
turned, saying,  "Well,  I  saw  him,  and, 
it  is  all  right;  I  had  a  satisfactory 
talk  with  him. "  "  Weil  now, "  I  said, 
"it  would  have  been  much  better  if 
you  had  staid  right  here  in  bed  and 
seen  him  tomorrow."  He  replied, 
"I  might  have  done  that,  but  at  the 
same  time  I  can  now  go  to  bed  and 
sleep,  otherwise  I  would  have  been 
thinking  about  it  all  night.  I  had  to 
get  it  off  my  mind." 

In  the  last  ten  or  twelve  years  of  his 
life  his  health  was  not  good,  and  he 
and  Mrs.  Mitchell  made  several  trips 
abroad  for  the  benefit  of  his  health. 
What  has  been  said  here  of  Hon.  John 
M.  Mitchell,  about  his  integrity  and 
about  his  life,  equally  applies  to  his 
brother,  the  Hon.  William  H.  Mitchell. 

The  north  country — in  fact  the 
whole  state — lost  a  big  man  when  he 
passed  away,  and  many  there  are  who 
say  they  lost  a  friend  in  him,  wThose 
place  no  one  can  fill. 

In  April,  1912,  he  was  stricken  with 
pneumonia,  and  he  was  not  strong 
enough  to  withstand  the  ravages  of 
that  disease,  and  so  one  of  the  grand- 
est men  in  Littleton,  and  the  sole  re- 
maining member  of  one  of  the  greatest 
firms  of  lawyers  in  New  Hampshire 
passed  to  that  unknown  country  from 
wdiose  bourne  no  traveler  returns. 

Hox.  Charles  H.  Hosford:  May 
it  please  Your  Honor — I  desire  to 
offer  the  following  resolutions  and 
move  their  adoption: 

"Resolved,  That  the  Grafton  County  Bar 
express  its  thanks  to  Mrs.  Delia  Bingham  Clay, 
for  the  portrait  of  her  former  husband,  the  late 
Hon.  William  H.  Mitchell,  whose  service  at 
the  Bar,  for  the  state  and  for  his  clientelle,  was 
ever  recognized  as  of  the  highest  order  and 
merit;  and  whose  genial,  whole-souled  char- 
acter endeared  him  to  all  with  whom  he  came 
in  contact. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Clerk  be  instructed  to 
record  these  resolutions  on  the  records  of  the 
Court,  and  to  transmit  a  copy  thereof  to  Mrs. 
Clay." 


98 


The  Granite  Monthly 


Judge  Sawyer:  The  resolutions 
offered  by  Brother  Hosford  will  he  re- 
ceived and  unless  objection  is  made 
will  be  unanimously  adopted,  and 
they  are  so  adopted. 

We  are  getting  closer  to  the  home 
town,  closer  to  this  Court  House,  gen- 
tlemen, where  we,  as  younger  men, 
were  accustomed  to  see  that  genial 
whole-souled  man,  George  H.  Attems, 
who  served  his  county  as  Solicitor, 
his  state  as  Insurance  Commissioner, 
and  who  had  a  large  clientage,  which 
he  served  faithfully  and  well.  No  one 
knew  him  better  than  his  partner  the 
Hon.  Alvin  Burleigh,  who  will  speak 
to  us  of  Brother  Adams. 

[Mr.  Burleigh  read  extracts  from  his 
address  upon  Mr.  Adams,  printed  in 
the  N.  H.  Bar  proceedings  for  1915.] 

Hox.  Walter  M.  Flint:  I  wish 
at  this  time  to  present  the  following 
resolutions  and  move  their  adoption: 

"Resolved  by  the  Bar  of  Grafton  County 
that  its  thanks  be  expressed  to  Mrs.  S.  Kath- 
erine  Adams,  for  this  beautiful  portrait  of  her 
late  husband,  Hon.  George  H.  Adams,  which 
adorns  the  walls  of  the  Court  room,  within 
the  shadow  of  the  building  where  for  so  many 
years  he  served  his  clients  with  an  energy  and 
faithfulness  exceeded  by  none  and  equalled  by 
few. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Clerk  be  instructed  to 
record  these  resolutions  on  the  records  of  the 
Court,  and  transmit  a  copy  thereof  to  Mrs. 
Adams." 

Judge  Sawyer:  The  resolutions 
offered  by  Brother  Flint  will  be  re- 
ceived, and  unless  objection  is  made 
they  will  be  unanimously  adopted, 
and  are  so  adopted. 

Among  the  younger  element  of  the 
Bar  for  many  years  there  was  no  more 
upright  man  in  his  relation  to  his 
clients  than  our  late  brother,  Joseph 
C.  Story,  of  whom,  Brother  Asa 
Warren  Drew,  who  was  a  student  in  his 
office,  will  speak. 

Hon.  Asa  W.  Drew:  It  gives  me 
pleasure  at  this  time  to  attest  to  the 
sterling  qualities  of  one  of  New  Hamp- 
shire's sons,  the  late  Joseph  Clement 


Story  of  Plymouth,  or,  as  he  was  famil- 
iarly known  by  his  close  acquaint- 
ances, ''Clem"  Story.  He  was 
born  in  Sutton,  New  Hampshire, 
August  28,  1855,  and  early  in  his  life 
the  family  moved  to  Canaan  where  he 
resided  up  to  the  time  of  his  marriage. 
From  early  life  he  evidenced  those 
traits  which  characterized  him  in  after 
years — a  thorough  determination  to 
succeed  along  whatever  lines  he  fol- 
lowed. He  attended  school  at  Meri- 
den,  at  Phillips  Academy  and  at  other 
places.  After  completing  his  school 
course  his  aptitude  for  logical  reason- 
ing led  him  to  the  consideration  of  the 
law.  He  studied  law  in  the  offices  of 
George  W.  Murray  of  Canaan,  of  Pike 
&  Leach  of  Franklin,  and  in  the  office 
of  E.  B.  S.  Sanborn  of  Franklin  and  at 
the  Boston  Law  School.  In  years 
after  he  would  often  relate  some  inci- 
dent that  occurred  during  his  stay  in 
the  different  offices  whereby  some 
legal  point  was  impressed  upon  his 
mind  never  to  be  forgotten. 

He  began  the  practice  of  law  in  the 
town  of  Wentworth,  but  after  a  short 
time  he  came  to  Plymouth.  While  at 
Wentworth  he  became  acquainted 
with  Helen  Louise  Smith,  the  daugh- 
ter of  Hazen  Smith,  to  whom  he  was 
married,  October  18,  1881.  By  this 
union  he  had  two  charming  daughters, 
Charlotte  Louise  Story,  who  at  one 
time  was  in  the  office  of  Brother 
Thompson  at  Laconia,  and  Marion 
Story,  who  was  musically  inclined  and 
learned  to  play  the  cornet,  and  at  one 
time  was  known  as  the  "  Child  Cornet- 
ist  of  New  England." 

It  was  my  pleasure  to  be  in  the  office 
of  Mr.  Story  as  a  student  and  assist- 
ant for  some  two  years  and  a  half. 
While  apparently  somewhat  aggres- 
sive in  his  nature,  yet  at  the  same  time 
he  possessed  one  of  the  most  sensitive 
natures  it  has  ever  been  my  lot  to 
find.  One  of  the  strongest  character- 
istics of  Brother  Story  was  his  loyalty 
to  his  clients  and  to  his  friends.  He 
was  never  known  to  sit  idly  by  when 
a  friend  was  being  abused;  he  was 
ready   to   resent    reproachment   of   a. 


An  Interesting  Occasion 


99 


friend  as  if  the  shaft  was  aimed  at 
himself.  While  this  attitude  occa- 
sioned some  displeasure,  in  the  end  it 
won  for  him  many  friends. 

He  was  associated  with  Brother 
Burleigh  in  the  trial  of  Almy  for  the 
murder  of  Christie  Warden,  and  at 
various  other  times  became  connected 
with  the  leading  cases  in  Grafton 
County.  His  success  at  the  Bar  did 
not  depend  so  much  on  brilliancy  of 
oratory,  as  on  the  most  thorough 
preparation  of  his  cases.  He  intro- 
duced evidence  with  tact  and  astute- 
ness, and  acquired  more  than  a  local 
reputation  in  the  trial  of  his  cases.  In 
speaking  of  dispatch,  it  may  be  stated 
that  at  one  time  he  tried  four  divorce 
cases  in  a  space  of  fifteen  minutes  and 
was  on  his  way  back  to  the  office. 

In  the  last  three  years  of  his  prac- 
tice, he  was  considered  as  one  of  the 
rising  lawyers  of  New  Hampshire  and 
his  future  was  accordingly  looked  to 
with  a  great  deal  of  interest  by  his 
many  friends.  Some  years  prior  to 
his  decease  he  had  an  illness  from 
which  it  was  thought  he  never  com- 
pletely recovered,  and  in  the  fall  of  "92 
and  the  earl}^  part  of  '93,  he  succumbed 
to  "acute  melancholia,  from  which  he 
died  January  27,  1894. 

He  had  his  own  peculiar  views  of 
the  after  life,  and  while  he  did  not 
often  speak  of  them,  yet  it  became  my 
privilege  to  have  some  conversations 
with  him  on  that  subject.  Being  asked 
"If  a  man  die  shall  he  live  again?"  he 
replied,  "Well,  what  is  the  evidence 
to  prove  that  he  dies?" 

He  had  not  been  in  practice  as  a 
lawyer  quite  fourteen  years,  at  his 
decease,  but  in  that  time  he  had  won  a 
reputation,  not  only  locally  but 
throughout  the  state,  and  will  be  re- 
membered by  the  members  of  the  Bar 
of  Grafton  County  and  a  host  of 
friends,  as  an  able  and  honest  lawyer, 
and  the  firmest  and  most  faithful  of 
friends. 

Eri  C.  Oakes,  Esq.:  Your 
Honor — May  I  offer  the  following 
resolutions  and  move  their  adoption? 


"Resolvedj  That  the  Bar  of  Grafton  County 
extend  its  appreciation  and  thanks  to  Mrs. 
Helen  L.  Story  for  the  portrait  of  her  husband, 
the  late  Hon.  Joseph  C.  Story,  a  strong  and 
energetic  lawyer,  whose  faithfulness  to  the 
cause  he  espoused,  and  whose  never  failing 
courtesy  to  his  associates,  secured  for  him  the 
highest  regard  and  affection  of  his  brethren  of 
the  Bar. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Clerk  be  instructed  to 
record  these  resolutions  on  the  records  of  the 
Court,  and  to  transmit  a  copy  thereof  to  Mrs. 
Story." 

Judge  Sawyer:  The  resolutions 
offered  by  Brother  Oakes  will  be  re- 
ceived and  unless  objection  is  offered 
they  will  be  unanimously  accepted, 
and  they  are  so  accepted. 

This  completes  the  list  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Grafton  County  Bar. 

We  have  been  honored  in  the  pres- 
entation of  a  steel  engraving  of  another 
lawyer,  not  one  of  the  members  of  the 
Bar  of  Grafton  County  but  a  member 
of  the  Bar  of  America,  foremost  of  the 
American  statesmen  in  his  life- 
time. His  portrait  adorns  our  walls, 
facing  out  upon  the  little  building 
where-on  is  the  tablet  certifying  to  the 
fact  that  in  that  building  he  argued  his 
first  case  to  a  jury/  Brother  Went- 
worth  will  speak  of  Mr.  Webster, 

Hon.  Alvix  Wentworth:  Daniel 
Webster  was  born  on  the  18th  day  of 
January,  1782,  began  the  study  of 
law  in  1801,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
Bar  in  Boston  in  1805.  He  soon  after 
returned  to  New  Hampshire  and 
opened  his  office  in  the  little  town  of 
Boscawen,  in  order  that  he  might  be 
near  his  father.  At  his  father's  de- 
cease Daniel  assumed  his  debts  and 
then  began  the  practice  of  law  in 
Portsmouth. 

While  in  Boscawen  the  incident  in 
the  practice  of  law  which  connects 
him  with  Plymouth  took  place.  The 
Grand  Jury  at  the  May  term  holden 
in  Plymouth  in  1806  found  two  in- 
dictments, one  for  killing  Russell 
Freeman  and  one  for  killing  Captain 
Starkweather.  Josiah  Burnham  was 
tried  on  the  Starkweather  indictment. 


100 


The  Granite  Monthly 


In  the  indictments  it  was  alleged 
that  the  murders  were  committed 
December  17th,  1S05,  and  that  the 
victims  died  the  following  day.  At 
the  same  term  of  the  Court  of  Judica- 
ture. Chief  Justice  Jeremiah  Smith 
presiding,  the  attorneys  for  the  state 
were  George  Sullivan.  Attorney  Gen- 
eral; Benjamin  J.  Gilbert  of  Hanover, 
County  Solicitor.  Alden  Sprague  of 
Haverhill,  and  Daniel  Webster  then 
of  Boscawen,  were  assigned  by  the 
Court  as  counsel  for  Burnham,  the 
defendant. 

In  reference  to  the  trial.  Judge  Nes- 
mith  in  the  Granite  Monthly,  re- 
cords that  Daniel  Webster  informed 
him  that  ''Burnham  had  no  witnesses. 
We  could  not  bring  past  good  char- 
acter to  his  aid,  nor  could  we  urge  the 
plea  of  insanity  in  his  behalf.  At  this 
stage  of  the  case  Mr.  Sprague,  the 
senior  counsel,  declined  to  argue  in 
defence  of  Burnham,  and  proposed  to 
submit  the  case  to  the  tender  mercies 
of  the  Court."  Webster  objected  to 
this  proposition,  and  claimed  the  priv- 
ilege to  present  bis  views  of  the  case. 
"I  made, "  said  Webster,  "my  ^vs^ 
and  the  only  solitary  argument  of  my 
whole  life  against  capital  punishment; 
and  the  proper  time  for  a  lawyer  to 
urge  this  defence  is  when  he  is  young 
and  has  no  matters  of  fact  or  law  upon 
which  he  can  found  a  better  defence." 

The  New  Hampshire  Gazette,  June 
10,  1806,  contains  the  following  ac- 
count of  the  trial: 

."At  the  last  term  of  the  Superior 
Court  in  the  County  of  Grafton,  two 
bills  of  indictment  were  found  against 
Josiah  Burnham;  one  for  the  murder 
of  Joseph  Starkweather,  Jr.,  and  the 
other  for  the  murder  of  Russell  Free- 
man, Esq.  On  Monday  the  2nd  inst., 
he  was  brought  to  trial  on  the  first 
indictment.  The  Attorney  General 
discharged  the  painful  duties  of  his 
office  with  fidelity  and  ability,  and 
the  counsel  for  the  prisoner  managed 
his  defence  with  great  ingenuity.  The 
evidence  was  too  clear  and  explicit  to 
admit  of  doubts.  The  jury  retired, 
and  after  a  short  consultation  agreed 


that  the  prisoner  was  guilty.  The 
Chief  Justice,  on  Tuesday  morning, 
in  a  solemn  and  impressive  manner, 
pronounced  against  the  prisoner  the 
awful  sentence  of  the  law,  in  which  he 
stated  the  aggravations  of  his  offence, 
the  candid  and  impartial  trial  which 
had  been  granted  him,  and  the  clear- 
ness of  the  proof  against  him,  and 
after  recommending  to  him  sincere 
repentance  for  his  sins  and  a  firm  re- 
liance on  his  Saviour  for  mercy,  con- 
demned him  to  death.  The  prisoner 
appeared  affected  with  the  heinous- 
ness  of  his  offence  and  regretted  that 
he  had  not  prevented  the  trouble  and 
expense  of  a  public  trial  by  pleading 
guilty." 

Judge  Ebenezer  Webster,  the  father, 
died  in  April,  1806,  several  weeks  be- 
fore the  Burnham  trial  at  Plymouth. 

In  Curtis'  Life  of  Daniel  Webster, 
the  author  erroneously  states  that  the 
Burnham  trial  was  in  1805,  and  refer- 
ring to  other  cases  tried  by  Webster  in 
1805  he  expresses  an  inability  "to  de- 
termine which  of  them  is  to  be  re- 
garded as  his  first  case." 

If  Curtis  had  written  with  a  knowl- 
edge that  the  plea  of  Webster  at  Ply- 
mouth was  made  in  1806,  and  after 
the  death  of  Judge  Ebenezer  Webster, 
his  statements  and  conclusions  would 
have  been  changed.  It  is  evident 
that  the  defence  of  Burnham  at  Ply- 
mouth was  not  the  first  plea  made  by 
Daniel  Webster  in  the  Courts  of  New 
Hampshire. 

The  little  building  now  used  as  the 
Public  Library  in  Plymouth,  which 
stands  directly  east  of  the  Court 
House,  is  the  building  which  was  then 
used  as  the  Court  House  in  which 
Webster  argued  in  defense  at  the 
Burnham  trial.  It  was  afterwards 
used  for  various  purposes.  The  build- 
ing is  now  not  only  being  preserved 
for  its  historic  antiquity  but  is  also 
being  made  active  use  of  as  a  Public 
Library. 

In  May,  1852,  Mr.  Webster  said  to 
Professor  Silliman  "I  have  given  my 
life  to  law  and  politics.  Law  is  un- 
certain and  politics  are  utterly  vain." 


An  Interesting  Occasion 


101 


It  was  a  sad  commentary  for  such  a 
man  to  have  made  on  such  a  career, 
but  it  is  said  that  it  fitly  represented 
Mr.  Webster's  feelings  as  the  end  of 
life  approached.  His  last  years  were 
not  his  most  fortunate  and  still  less 
his  best  years. 

If  Mr.  Webster's  moral  power  had 
equalled  his  intellectual  greatness,  he 
would  have  had  no  rival  in  our  history, 
but  this  combination  and  balance  are 
so  r;?re  that  they  are  hardly  to  be 
found  in  perfection  among  sons  of  men. 

The  very  fact  of  his  greatness  made 
his  failings  all  the  more  dangerous  and 
unfortunate.  To  be  blinded  by  the 
splendor  of  his  fame  and  the  lustre  of 
his  achievements  and  prate  about  the 
sin  of  belitting  a  great  man  is  the 
falsest  philosophy  and  the  meanest 
cant.  The  only  thing  worth  having, 
in  history,  as  in  life,  is  truth;  and  we 
do  wrong  on  our  part,  to  ourselves, 
and  to  our  posterity,  if  we  do  not 
strive  to  render  simple  justice  always. 
We  can  forgive  the  errors  and  sorrow 
for  the  faults  of  our  great  ones  gone; 
we  cannot  afford  to  hide  or  forget 
their  shortcomings. 

His  last  wish  seemed  to  have  been 
granted,  and  that  was  that  he  might 


be  conscious  when  he  was  actually 
dying,  and  on  the  morning  of  October 
24thT  1852,  just  before  he  breathed  his 
last,  he  roused  from  an  uneasy  sleep, 
struggled  for  consciousness,  and  ejacu- 
lated, "I  still  live." 

I  wish  to  offer  the  following  resolu- 
tions and  move  their  adoption: 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Bar  of  Grafton  County 
express  to  Mrs.  Marie  Hodges,  its  gratitude 
and  appreciation  of  the  fine  engraving  of 
America's  foremost  statesman,  Daniel  Web- 
ster, whose  portrait  is  now  hanging  upon  the 
walls  of  this  Court  room,  so  close  to  the  hum- 
ble building  where  his  eloquent  tongue  and 
melodious  voice  first  plead  in  behalf  of  a  client. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Clerk  be  instructed  to 
record  these  resolutions  on  the  records  of  the 
Court,  and  to  transmit  a  copy  thereof  to  Mrs. 
Hodges." 

Judge  Sawyer:  The  resolutions 
offered  by  Brother  Wentworth  will  be 
received  and  unless  objection  is  made 
they  will  be  unanimously  adopted, 
and  are  so  adopted. 

Let  me  at  this  time  say  to  those  who 
have  been  of  so  much  assistance  to  the 
Court  in  gathering  these  portraits 
that  I  desire  to  express  to  them  my 
heart v  and  sincere  thanks. 


VICTORY 

By  Martha  S.  Baker 

I  hear  the  steady  march,  the  tramp  of  coming  feet, 
Of  our  victorious  army  that  never  knew  defeat. 

I  see  the  lofty  purpose  in  eager,  flashing  eye, 
I  see  heroic  action  from  motives  born  on  high. 

1  hear,  I  hear  them  coming,  I  see  each  stalwart  son, 
Erect,  triumphant,  proud  for  righteous  battles  won. 

An  army  of  the  free,  a  brotherhood  of  man, 

The  Prince  of  Peace  their  guide,  the  herald  of  the  van. 

They  bring  their  trophies  with  them,  the  prize  for  which  they  fought; 
Not  selfish  gain  nor  conquest  was  that  they  meanly  sought; 

It  was  justice,  it  was  freedom,  democracy  made  pure, 
The  golden  rule  of  Christ  that  ever  shall  endure. 

Make  ready  for  their  coming,  make  straight  each  crooked  way, 
Prepare  the  laurel-wreath  for  each  victor  in  the  fray. 

All  honor  to  the  nation,  all  honor  to  her  brave, 
Who  hazard  life  in  service,  humanity  to  save! 


NEW  HAMPSHIRE  PREPARING  FOR  WAR* 


By  Prof.  Richard  W.  Husband 


Two  years  and  eight  months  of 
careful  observation  of  the  war  as  it 
raged  in  Europe  showed  the  American 
nation  that  success  in  warfare  is  to- 
day based  upon  sound  business  meth- 
ods much  more  than  it  is  upon  excite- 
ment or  mere  enthusiasm.  Before  we 
ourselves  declared  war  we  realized 
thoroughly  that  our  part  in  it  would 
be  insignificant  unless  we  organized 
effectively  in  order  that  each  effort 
would  attain  its  best  results.  The 
most  impressive  fact  about  our  par- 
ticipation in  the  struggle  is  that  for 
the  first  time  in  the  history  of  warfare 
a  very  considerable  portion  of  the 
work  is  dependent  upon  civilian  ac- 
tivity and  civilian  organization.  The 
part  played  by  the  private  citizens  of 
New  Hampshire  in  preparation  for 
making  the  power  of  the  state  most 
useful  and  valuable  is  of  noteworthy 
magnitude. 

The  one  organization  existing  from 
the  outbreak  of  war,  and  having  as 
its  primary  object  the  operation  of  its 
members  in  war  activities,  was  the 
American  Red  Cross.  The  service 
rendered  by  the  Red  Cross  to  the 
sufferers  of  all  the  belligerent  nations 
was  well  known  to  our  own  people  and 
to  all  other  civilized  nations  of  ihe 
world.  As  we  drew  closer  to  the  point 
of  joining  in  the  struggle,  a  great 
effort  was  made  to  extend  the  Red 
Cross  membership  in  New  Hampshire, 
and  the  result  of  the  campaign  was 
most  marked.  By  the  time  the  United 
States  declared  war  there  were  nearly 

*ThLs  article  is  a  revision  of  an  article 
by  Professor  Husband  which  appeared  in  the 
"Resource  edition''  of  the  Manchester  Union 
of  February  23,  without  his  signature.  It 
is  deemed  of  sufficient  importance  and  interest 
to  he  put  in  more  permanent  form  for  preser- 
vation, with  due  credit  to  the  author. 


one  hundred  and  fifty  active  chapters 
in  the  state  under  the  direction  of  a 
state  chapter.  More  recently  there 
has  been  some  change  in  the  organ- 
ization, due  to  a  desire  that  the  sys- 
tem obtaining  in  other  states  should 
prevail  in  New  Hampshire  also.  The 
work  done  by  the  Red  Cross,  however, 
has  constantly  maintained  its  high 
standard  of  excellence,  and  the  vol- 
ume of  its  product  has  increased. 
The  people  of  New  Hampshire  not 
only  contributed  their  full  share  of 
the  one  hundred  million  dollar  fund 
raised  in  the  United  States  in  1917  for 
the  work  of  the  Red  Cross,  but  women 
in  every  town  have  agreed  to  devote 
a  certain  number  of  hours  each  week 
to  the  actual  labor  of  making  the 
materials  so  much  in  demand  for  the 
relief  of  suffering  and  the  giving  of 
comfort  to  the  soldiers.  This  agree- 
ment has  been  more  than  fulfilled,  as 
the  large  quantities  of  surgical  dress- 
ings and  garments  sent  to  the  front 
bear  witness. 

One  hundred  and  seventy-seven 
thousand  surgical  dressings  and  made 
up  garments  have  been  made  by  the 
women  of  the  New  Hampshire  chapter. 
In  addition  to  this,  over  seventeen 
thousand  knitted  articles,  including 
sweaters,  socks,  helmets,  wristlets  and 
mufflers,  have  been  sent  to  the  same 
headquarters.  Eleven  hundred  Christ- 
mas packages  have  been  packed  and 
forwarded  for  the  boys  at  the  front. 

During  the  summer  of  1917  the 
American  Red  Cross  adopted  the 
system  of  dividing  the  country  into 
districts.  New  Hampshire  was 
placed  under  the  direction  of  the  New 
England  division.  The  purpose  was 
to  have  each  community  directly 
under  the  supervision  of  the  division 


New  Hampshire  Preparing  for  War 


103 


rather  than  under  the  direction  of  a 
•state  chapter.  New  Hampshire  has 
at  present  about  thirty  local  chapters, 
with  many  branches  and  auxiliaries. 
Each  chapter  has  jurisdiction  over  its 
own  branches  and  auxiliaries,  and  the 
New  England  division  has  juris- 
diction over  the  chapters.  Within 
the  past  few  months  the  output  in 
materials  has  greatly  increased  due 
to  the  inspiration  that  has  come  as  the 
result  of  sending  our  own  soldiers  to 
the  front.  The  final  figures  relating 
to  the  Second  Red  Cross  War  Fund 
Drive  just  completed  are  not  at  the 
time  of  writing  fully  made  up.  So 
far  as  known  at  this  moment,  New 
Hampshire,  with  a  quota  of  8300,000, 
has  subscribed  $510,000. 

Beginning  with  the  end  of  the  year 
1917,  a  new  Red  Cross  activity  has 
come  into  the  state.  This  is  called 
Home  Service  work.  In  every  chap- 
ter a  Home  Service  section  exists, 
which  has  the  duty  of  caring  for  the 
families  of  the  soldiers  and  sailors 
who  are  in  the  service.  This  section 
has  a  double  function:  (1)  to  save 
the  families  of  the  soldiers  and  sailors 
from  anxiety  and  suffering  by  means 
of  quieting  their  fears  and  encouraging 
self-help  in  order  to  maintain  the 
standard  of  comfort  and  health 
among  the  families  and  thereby  to 
sustain  the  morale  of  the  fighting 
men;  and  (2)  to  give  information 
relative  to  the  sending  of  material, 
learning  the  whereabouts  and  con- 
dition of  the  soldiers  in  the  field, 
securing  prompt  payments  of  allot- 
ments and  allowances  from  the  gov- 
ernment, and,  where  necessary,  pro- 
viding financial  assistance. 

The  first  attempt  to  induce  the 
state  systematically  to  make  itself 
reads'  for  engaging  in  war,  provided 
war  became  inevitable,  resulted  in 
the  formation  of  the  New  Hamp- 
shire League  to  Enforce  Peace.  This 
league  was  organized  in  June,  1915, 
but  was  superseded  in  May,  1916,  by 
the  Xew  Hampshire  League  to  Pro- 
vide for  National  Defense  and  to  En- 
force International  Peace.     Early  in 


March,  1917,  a  reorganization  again 
took  place,  as  a  result  of  which  all 
members  of  the  New  Hampshire 
league  became  members  of  the  Na- 
tional Security  League.  The  special 
purpose  for  which  the  league  was 
formed  is  expressed  in  the  following 
words  taken  from  a  statement  issued 
by  its  executive  officers:  "It  is  in 
fact  an  attempt  to  mobilize  the  patri- 
otic men  and  women  of  the  state  into 
a  compact  organization  which  can  be 
relied  upon  to  furnish  public  opinion 
in  support  of  every  measure  which  the 
governor  and  council  may  adopt  for 
carrying  on  the  work  of  the  state  in 
the  present  crisis."  The  work  of  the 
league  has  consisted  chiefly  in  holding 
patriotic  meetings  throughout  the 
state  and  in  assisting  other  enter- 
prises, especially  engaged  in  active 
preparation  for  the  war. 

It  was  about  the  middle  of  March 
that  the  legislature  of  New  Hamp- 
shire became  impressed  with  the  nec- 
essity for  taking  immediate  action, 
with  the  result  that  a  large  number 
of  bills  were  introduced  and  passed  by 
practically  unanimous  vote,  having  a 
far-reaching  effect  upon  the  attitude 
of  the  state  and  upon  its  war  activi- 
ties. Among  the  bills  thus  passed  by 
the  legislature  may  be  mentioned 
those  permitting  military  instruction 
in  the  public  schools,  establishing  a 
militia  to  be  composed  of  all  male 
citizens  between  the  ages  of  18  and 
45,  providing  for  a  State  Guard,  pro- 
viding aid  for  dependents  of  soldiers 
and  sailors,  directing  the  governor 
and  council  to  assist  the  United  States 
in  the  present  crisis,  and  various  other 
measures  of  great  importance.  In 
fact,  the  patriotic  fervor  of  the  legis- 
lature was  so  aroused  that  they  dis- 
played a  readiness,  almost  without 
discussion,  to  adopt  any  suggestion 
whereby  New  Hampshire  might  ren- 
der some  contribution  to  the  military, 
industrial,  or  economic  strength  of 
the  nation. 

The  next  stage  in  the  active  prepa- 
ration of  the  state  consisted  in  the 
appointment   of   the   Committee   on 


10-1 


The  Granite  Monthly 


Public  Safety.  The  idea  of  the  for- 
mation of  such  a  committee  seems  to 
have  been  due  to  the  initiation  of  a 
similar  movement  in  Massachusetts. 
On  March  13  a  meeting  was  held  in 
Boston  of  the  governors  of  the  several 
New  England  states  to  discuss  plans 
of  common  interest  in  connection  with 
"the  present  disturbed  condition  of 
affairs.''  At  this  meeting  a  resolution 
was  adopted  and  signed  by  all  the 
governors  present,  pledging  their  sup- 
port to  the  president  of  the  United 
States  in  carrying  out  his  announced 
policy  of  protecting  American  lives 
and  American  property  on  the  high 
seas.  The  resolution  urged  upon  the 
national  government  the  necessity  of 
making  forthwith  the  most  energetic 
preparation  for  national  defense  upon 
land  and  sea. 

Two  weeks  later,  on  March  27,  the 
governor  of  New  Hampshire  appointed 
a  Committee  on  Public  Safety,  con- 
sisting of  90  private  citizens  and  the 
mayors  of  the  10  cities  of  the  state,  to 
cooperate  with  the  civil  and  military 
authorities  in  the  work  of  prepared- 
ness. On  March  30  the  Committee  of 
One  Hundred  held  its  only  full  meet- 
ing, and  then  entrusted  its  active 
work  to  an  executive  committee  which 
has  put  into  effect  the  systematizing 
of  the  efforts  of  New  Hampshire  to 
assist  the  national  government  in  per- 
forming its  appropriate  part  in  the 
world's  struggle. 

The  New  England  states  preceded 
the  remainder  of  the  country  in  the 
formation  of  state  committees.  When 
later  the  Council  of  National  Defense, 
composed  of  six  members  of  the  cabi- 
net, undertook  the  creation  of  sub- 
ordinate councils  of  defense  in  every 
state,  they  simply  took  over  the  Com- 
mittees on  Public  Safety  in  New  Eng- 
land and  made  them  part  of  the  na- 
tional organization.  In  this  manner 
the  Committee  on  Public  Safety  in 
New  Hampshire  has  become  the  ac- 
cepted representative  of  the  national 
council,  which  in  turn  is  the  actual 
representative  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment.    The  committee   has   had   no 


powers  conferred  upon  it  by  the  leg- 
islature, nor  by  the  governor  or  the 
federal  authorities,  but  it  is  recog- 
nized as  the  unofficial  mouthpiece  of 
the  governing  bodies  that  are  seeking 
to  have  democracy  plan  the  business 
of  war  in  a  truly  democratic  manner. 
The  systematic  nature  of  the  work 
performed  by  the  Committee  on  Pub- 
lic Safety  constitutes  the  great  dif- 
ference between  the  war  activities  of 
the  state  in  the  present  struggle  and 
those  in  all  previous  warfare.  Since 
it  has  become  the  recognized  agent  of 
the  federal  administration  in  the  fur- 
therance of  its  war  aims,  there  is 
scarcely  an  undertaking  in  the  posi- 
tive preparation  for  war  that  has  not 
either  originated  with  the  Committee 
omJPublic  Safety,  or  been  endorsed  by 
it.  The  result  of  this  is  that  the  total 
effort  of  the  state  has  been  carried 
forward  without  crossing  of  purposes 
and  without  unnecessary  and  com- 
plicated machinery. 

Immediately  upon  its  creation  the 
committee  established  an  office  in  the 
state  house  and  began  its  task  of  or- 
ganizing the  state  by  forming  local 
committees  in  each  city  and  town. 
The  response  from  all  parts  of  the 
state  to  the  suggestion  of  making 
local  organizations  was  remarkable, 
and  within  two  weeks  in  almost  every 
community  in  the  state  three  com- 
mittees were  formed — an  executive 
committee,  a  committee  on  food  pro- 
duction, and  a  committee  on  state  pro- 
tection. Somewhat  later  a  woman's 
committee  was  organized  under  the 
direction  of  the  woman's  division 
of  the  Council  of  National  Defense. 
In  addition  to  these  four  committees, 
various  groups  or  bodies  have  been 
created  for  specific  purposes,  but  these 
commonly  disappear  as  soon  as  the 
particular  enterprise  upon  which  they 
are  engaged  reaches  its  definite  con- 
clusion. The  local  committees  have 
been  requested  or  instructed  in  many 
respects  to  work  along  definite  lines 
in  order  that  every  section  and  every 
home  may  be  reached  with,  war  un- 
dertakings.     The    majority    of    the 


New  Hampshire  Preparing  for  TT"«j 


105 


committees  have  performed  excellent 
service,  some  going  far  beyond  their 
instructions. 

The  cooperation  of  the  Committee 
on  Public  Safety,  a  civilian  body,  with 
other  civilian  organizations  in  ad- 
vancing the  necessary  undertakings 
of  the  state  during  a  period  of  war, 
may  be  illustrated  by  one  or  two 
instances,  which  will  serve  also  to 
illustrate  the  fact  that  the  federal 
government  is  to  a  degree  hitherto 
unknown  depending  upon  the  citizen 
body  for  assistance  and  vital  support. 
When  the  national  movement  to  raise 
$100,000,000  for  the  Red  Cross  took 
place  in  mid-summer,  not  only  did  the 
lied  Cross  organization  have  all  its 
local  branches  working  systematically 
and  harmoniously  to  raise  this  fund, 
but  it  enlisted  the  cooperation  of  the 
Committee  on  Public  Safety  and  used 
its  local  committees  to  aid  in  the  task 
of  raising  the  allotment  of  $350,-000. 
In  the  places  where  there  was  no  local 
chapter  of  the  Red  Cross  the  Com- 
mittees on  Public  Safety  were  asked  to 
raise  the  quota  for  their  towns.  When 
the  first  Liberty  loan  campaign  was 
begun  the  State  Liberty  Loan  Com- 
mittee expressed  the  desire  that  the 
Committee  on  Public  Safety  assist  it 
in  reaching  every  citizen  of  the  state 
in  order  that  the  subscriptions  to  the 
loan  might  be  taken  as  broadly  as 
possible.  To  this  end  a  joint  meet- 
ing was  called  of  representatives  of 
the  Liberty  Loan  Committee  and  the 
Committees  on  Public  Safety  at  which 
the  state  was  divided  into  districts 
and  the  local  committees  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Public  Safety  were  asked 
either  to  become  local  representatives 
of  the  Liberty  Loan  Committee  or  to 
cooperate  with  the  Liberty  Loan 
Committee.  i 

This  is  also  the  first  instance  in 
the  history  of  warfare  of  a  huge  or- 
ganization built  upon  business  prin- 
ciples making  an  effort  to  supply  com- 
fort and  recreation  to  the  soldiers. 
Fhis  is  done  in  the  present  war  by  the 
\-  M.  C.  A.,  which  has  the  particular 
aim  of  sending  the  soldiers  into  actual 


fighting  line  in  excellent  mental  and 
physical  condition,  so  that  their  fight- 
ing qualities  and  their  morale  will  be 
at  the  highest  point  of  effectiveness. 
As  long  as  there  was  a  mobilization 
camp  in  Xew  Hampshire  so  long  also 
did  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  hut  exist  there, 
maintained  by  the  state  organization. 
Since  the  removal  of  New  Hampshire 
troops  to  camps  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  state,  each  resident  of  Xew  Hamp- 
shire has  had  the  opportunity  of  con- 
tributing money  to  the  support  of 
this  organization  which  has  been  so 
beneficial  to  Xew  Hampshire  bo3rs. 
The  campaign  for  Y.  M.  C.  A.  funds 
has  been  carried  on  by  a  most  success- 
ful organization  composed  entirely  of 
civilians  and  making  the  effort  to 
reach  all  civilians. 

Another  most  important  opportu- 
nity offered  to  the  civilian  population 
to  participate  in  the  war  and  indeed 
to  prove  to  the  world  that  in  a  de- 
mocracy each  citizen  is  a  useful  factor 
has  been  found  in  the  raising  of  the 
Liberty  loans.  Within  a  period  of 
five  months  the  country  raised  by 
popular  subscription  over  seven  bil- 
lions of  money  and  within  a  year 
nearly  twelve  billions.  The  secre- 
tary of  the  treasury  is  in  charge  of 
the  campaigns  and  behind  him  stands 
the  organization  of  the  Federal  Re- 
serve banks.  The  officials  of  these 
banks  organized  committees  of  civil- 
ians, who  place  before  each  citizen 
the  method  by  which  subscriptions 
could  be  made  and  the  advantage  of 
making  subscriptions.  As  a  result 
Xew  Hampshire  contributed  more 
than  827,000,000  in  the  first  two 
loans  and  S17,2S2,300  in  the  third. 
So  far  the  war  is  being  financed 
almost  exclusively  by  popular  sub- 
scription, and  in  the  first  two  cam- 
paigns, the  number  of  individual  sub- 
scriptions in  the  state  exceeded  the 
total  of  10L000. 

Only  recently  the  war  tax  has  be- 
gun to  operate  and  to  be  felt  by  the 
citizens.  It  may  be  of  interest  to  note 
that  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War, 
the  state,  and  not  the  federal  govern- 


106 


The  Granite  Monthly 


ment,  was  expected  to  finance  the  first 
enlistments  and  equipment  of  volun- 
teers. Banks  and  private  citizens  of 
New  Hampshire  came  to  the  assist- 
ance of  the  governor,  and  loaned  the 
state  nearly  $700,000. 

Long  before  the  federal  govern- 
ment took  any  active  measures  to  in- 
crease the  food  supply,  New  Hamp- 
shire, among  other  states,  had  begun 
a  campaign  both  to  enlarge  the 
planted  area  and  to  bring  about  a 
thorough-going  conservation.  When 
this  became  a  feature  of  the  federal 
administration  and  a  federal  food  ad- 
ministrator was  appointed,  the  chair- 
man of  the  food  committee  of  the 
Committee  of  Public  Safety  was  ap- 
pointed food  administrator.  The  food 
administrator  of  New  Hampshire  has, 
in  a  measure,  become  a  federal  officer, 
and  yet  he  is  a  civilian.  His  staff  of 
workers  is  composed  entirely  of  civil- 
ians and  his  representatives  and  com- 
mittees throughout  the  state  are  all 
private  citizens.  The  work  of  the 
food  administration  has  taken  three 
main  lines — increase  in  production, 
conservation  of  the  product  and  sub- 
stitution of  one  kind  of  food  for  an- 
other. The  success  of  the  first  divi- 
sion of  the  work  is  well  indicated  by 
the  computation  made  that  the  farm 
acreage  for  the  season  of  1917  was 
about  double  that  of  an  ordinary  sea- 
son, while  the  small  gardens  had  in- 
creased 400  per  cent.  In  conserva- 
tion the  effort  has  been  directed 
against  wastefulness.  This  has  re- 
sulted in  a  reduction  in  households  of 
large  amounts  of  wholesome  and 
palatable  food  formerly  thrown  away. 
In  public  places,  such  as  hotels  and 
restaurants,  the  immediate  effect  has 
been  a  decided  decrease  in  the  size  of 
portions  served  to  patrons,  so  that 
Hoover's  gospel  of  the  " clean  plate" 
has  taken  firm  hold  upon  the  state. 
"While  conservation  is  evidently  being 
practised  faithfully  throughout  the 
state,  the  use  of  substitutes  for  ordi- 
nary foods  lagged  behind  the  other 
parts  of  the  program.  The  point  at 
which    substitution    seems    reallv    to 


begin  is  at  the  point  where  it  becomes 
impossible  to  secure  the  ordinary 
foods.  The  food  administrator  re- 
quested that  the  amount  of  sugar 
consumed  be  reduced  and  the  amount 
of  wheat  flour  used  be  lessened.  A 
decrease  actually  came  when  sugar 
and  flour  were  scarce.  This  has 
been  the  most  difficult  part  of  the 
work  of  the  food  administration. 
During  the  last  few  months  the  at- 
tention paid  by  our  citizens  to  the 
use  of  substitutes  has  increased  most 
remarkably.  While  this  has  been 
brought  about  partly  by  regulation, 
the  spirit  of  householders  and  house- 
keepers has  radically  changed.  Very 
rarely  indeed  is  the  slightest  objection 
raised  to  any  regulation  or  suggestion, 
however  drastic  it  may  be.  The 
visits  paid  each  month  to  every  home 
by  the  town  units  of  the  woman's 
committee  are  largely  responsible 
for  the  new  attitude.  But  the  es- 
sential point  of  the  whole  movement 
is  that  the  problem  was  not  solved  by 
federal  enactment  but  through  volun- 
tary organization  on  the  part  of  the 
civilian  body. 

A  group  of  citizens  connected  with 
the  Committee  on  Public  Safety  un- 
dertook to  make  an  industrial  survey 
of  the  state.  The  reason  for  taking 
the  survey  was  that  it  was  realized 
that  the  federal  government  would 
wish  to  know  what  industrial  agen- 
cies in  each  state  existed  upon  which 
it  could  rely  for  the  manufacture  of 
materials  required  in  conducting  the 
war.  It  was  the  intention  of  this 
committee  after  making  the  survey 
to  place  its  results  at  the  disposal  of 
the  state  and  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment. A  long  and  painstaking  in- 
vestigation resulted  in  securing  from 
manufacturers  an  explicit  statement 
regarding  the  kind  of  goods  they 
made,  the  quantities  they  produced, 
the  nature  of  their  equipment  and  the 
number  of  their  employes.  The  de- 
scription of  their  equipment  indicated 
whether  or  not  the  factories  could 
readily  be  turned  into  establishments 
for  making  the  classes  of  goods  re- 


New  Hampshire  Preparing  j>r  War 


107 


quired  by  the  government.  The  tab- 
ulation of  the  results  of  this  investi- 
gation has  already  proved  of  service 
to  the  government  in  placing  orders 
for  essential  war  materials.  It  is 
of  further  interest  in  connection  with 
the  granting  of  transportation  prefer- 
ence to  establishments  engaged  in 
work  for  the  government.  If  the 
time  comes  for  a  definite  curtailment 
of  the  manufacture  of  non-essentials, 
this  tabulation  will  become  of  in- 
estimable benefit  to  the  government, 
to  the  transportation  officials  and  to 
the  manufacturers.  Such  a  change 
might  involve  a  very  considerable 
shift  in  the  supply  of  labor,  and  might 
even  include  a  partial  removal  of 
employes  from  one  center  to  another. 
Apart  from  this  immediate  advantage, 
the  tabulation  constitutes  a  valuable 
record  of  the  industries  as  they  existed 
in  the  state  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war. 
A  committee  was  also  formed  to 
locate  all  points  in  the  state  where  it 
seemed  possible  that  damage  to  prop- 
erty might  occur  through  accident  or 
design.  This  committee  ascertained 
the  position  of  all  bridges  of  impor- 
tance, of  dams,  factories  and  other 
places  of  public  utility.  They  made  a 
list  of  the  chief  contractors  of  the 
state,  together  with  the  equipment 
and  tools  of  all  kinds  possessed  by  the 
contractors,  as  well  as  a  tabulation  of 
their  materials  for  building  purposes 
and  the  number  of  men  employed  by 
them.  The  idea  at  the  base  of  this 
survey  was  to  find  the  method  where- 
by damage  done  to  property  might 
be  repaired  with  all  possible  speed. 
The  method  adopted  was  simple. 
Competent  men  were  appointed  in 
every  small  section  of  the  state,  whose 
duty  it  was  to  notify  headquarters  as 
soon  as  an  accident  occurred  and  re- 
ceive directions  as  to  the  best  system 
of  setting  about  making  repairs.  By 
good  fortune  no  necessity  has  yet 
arisen  for  calling  upon  the  services  of 
this  group  of  civilians,  but  it  has  been 
a  notable  achievement  for  civilians  of 
such  number  and  great  private  in- 
terests to  take  part  in  accomplishing 
the  work  of  this  committee. 


Anotiue  matter  of  considerable  im- 
portance las  been  placed  in  the  hands 
of  privait  <itizens.  A  shortage  in 
coal  was  a  first  threatened  and  later 
became  a-rual.  A  citizen  of  the  state 
was  appenied  fuel  administrator  to 
represent  he  national  fuel  adminis- 
tration. The  New  Hampshire  ad- 
ministrator has  appointed  represent- 
atives in  dl  important  positions  in 
the  state.  To  these  representatives 
has  beer,  assigned  the  duty  of  en- 
deavoring to  conserve  the  coal  which 
has  alrearv  come  to  the  state,  to  se- 
cure an  eraitable  distribution  of  that 
which  m.v  come  in  hereafter,  to  see 
to  it  that  lj  fair  standard  of  prices  is 
maintained  and  in  any  other  manner 
possible  ti  obtain  an  adequate  supply 
of  fuel  to:  rhe  coming  winter.  This 
depart  men  bears  a  resemblance  to 
the  work  )f  the  food  administration 
in  the  factthat  it  also  possesses  actual 
power  o:  regulation.  The  fuel  ad- 
ministrator: has  been  granted  the 
right  to  fe  trices,  just  as  the  food  ad- 
ministrate possesses,  as  one  of  his 
duties,  sinervision  over  the  retail 
trade  to  tie  extent  of  forbidding  ex- 
cessive pnnts.  Since  there  appears 
to  be  no  r.ospect  of  immediate  relief 
from  the  mortage  of  coal,  the  coal  ad- 
ministrate- has  undertaken,  with  the 
help  of  he  Committee  on  Public- 
Safety  aid  the  State  Forestry  De- 
partment, to  induce  the  owners  of 
wood  threighout  the  state  to  cut  a 
sufficient  ruantity  of  wood  to  com- 
pensate fe  the  lack  of  coal. 

It  is  aba  new  in  the  history  of  war- 
fare that  i  ivilians  have  been  desig- 
nated altu&ti  exclusively  to  secure  an 
army  for  the  government.  In  this 
war,  thf-  greater  part  of  those  who 
have  enlked  in  New  Hampshire  have 
been  indued  to  do  so  through  vol- 
"  untary  eiilian  agencies,  or  through 
draft  beads  composed  of  private 
citizens.  The  Committee  on  Public 
Safety  apiomtecl  a  recruiting  com- 
mittee when  conducted  rallies  in 
order  to  ring  the  National  Guard 
and  the  Bgular  army  up  to  war 
strength.  A  most  systematic  organ- 
ization  edited  and  systematic  pub- 


108 


The  Granite  Monthly 


licity  was  given  to  the  rallies  which 
were  planned  by  this  committee. 
The  great  success  obtained  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that,  when  the  quotas  for 
the  draft  army  were  first  made  up, 
that  for  New  Hampshire  was  pro- 
portionately extremely  low.  This 
was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  National 
Guard  had  already  been  recruited  to 
war  strength  and  the  quota  of  the 
regular  army  remaining  unfilled  was 
small,  ^'hen  the  time  came  to  add  to 
the  armed  forces  by  a  selective  pro- 
cess the  execution  of  the  selective 
service  act  was  entrusted  by  the  war 
department  to  civilian  boards.  In  the 
state  of  New  Hampshire  sixteen  such 
boards  exist  with  the  right  of  appeal 
against  the  decisions  of  these  boards 
to  a  district  board  which  is  composed 
of  civilians.  The  district  board  has 
its  headquarters  in  the  state  house, 
in  order  to  have  ready  access  to  the 
offices  of  the  Adjutant  General  and 
the  Governor.  Already  the  state  has 
given  3,500  soldiers  to  the  country 
through  the  operation  of  these  boards 
and  the  department  of  war  has  ex- 
pressed the  belief  that  the  results  ob- 
tained by  the  civilians  who  are  mem- 
bers of  the  boards  are  eminently 
satisfactory.  So  successful  has  this 
work  been  that  the  administration  of 
the  selective  service  act  will  continue 
to  be  in  the  hands  of  civilians  during 
the  remaining  period  when  it  will  be 
necessary  for  the  country  to  increase 
or  maintain  its  armed  forces.  The 
only  military  man  in  the  state  con- 
nected with  the  whole  undertaking  of 
securing  troops  according  to  the  se- 
lective process  is  the  adjutant  general. 
Otherwise  the  matter  has  been  en- 
tirely assigned  to  civilians.  Instruc- 
tion on  matters  of  mobilization,  se- 
lection, qualification,  regulation  and 
assignment  of  quotas  come  to  the 
governor,  who  transmits  them  to  the 
Local  and  District  Boards.  The  ad- 
jutant general  is  the  disbursing  officer 
of  the  state,  under  the  Selective 
Service  Law,  and  is  the  source  of 
information  as  to  the  application  of 
the  Selective  Service  Regulations. 
The  regular  navv  and  armv  recruiting 


stations  are  still  in  operation  and  are 
now  rapidly  getting  recruits  for  these 
two  branches  of  the  service. 

Early  in  the  year  11)17  the  Council 
of  National  Defense  in  Washing- 
ton appointed  a  committee  of  ten 
women  to  organize  the  war  work  that 
might  be  performed  by  the  women  of 
the  country.  A  committee  of  women 
has  been  appointed  in  every  state  in 
the  union  for  the  purpose  of  lining  up 
each  state  with  every  other  state  and 
of  dealing  with  problems  that  are 
somewhat  local.  In  the  state  of  New 
Hampshire  a  committee  of  women 
also  exists  in  each  town.  The  town 
units  receive  suggestions  from  the 
state  committee  and  the  state  com- 
mittee in  turn  receives  suggestions 
from  the  national  committee.  The 
national  committee  is  in  close  contact 
with  the  Council  of  National.  De- 
fense and  with  the  federal  depart- 
ments charged  with  the  responsibility 
of  superintending  the  preparations  for 
war.  The  woman's  committee  has 
been  instrumental  in  securing  signa- 
tures to  the  Hoover  pledge,  in  teach- 
ing thrift  to  the  housewives  of  the 
state,  in  conducting  lectures  and  in- 
structions in  conservation  and  sub- 
stitution of  foods  and  in  t'e  broadest 
manner  of  inducing  women  to  per- 
form all  the  varied  services  that 
women  may  render.  As  an  example, 
a  committee  of  women  obtained  sub- 
scriptions to  the  second  Liberty  loan 
amounting  to  more  than  S3, 000,000. 
The  work  performed  by  women  in  the 
Red  Cross  organization  is  quite  inde- 
pendent of  that  of  the  woman's  com- 
mittee and  it  is  quite  possible  that 
the  Red  Cross  organization  would 
have  been  fully  as  successful  as  it  has 
been  if  the  woman's  committee  had 
not  been  formed,  but  one  is  tempted 
to  believ:1  that  the  existence  of  a  vig- 
orous Red  Cross  movement  was  of 
value  in  enlistinz  sympathy  for  the 
formation  of  the  woman's  committee 
and  it  may  well  be  that  he  new  ac- 
tivities of  women  gave  an  impetus  to 
the  work  of  the  Red  Cross. 

The  Committee  on  Public  Safety 
has    undertaken    to    supply    to    the 


New  Hampshire  Preparing  for  War 


109 


plate  information  upon  war  activi- 
ties, regulations  and  the  duties  of 
citizens,  and  to  inspire  the  citizens 
to  a  sense  of  their  responsibility  for 
the  earnest  prosecution  of  the  war. 
To  accomplish  these  things  two  organ- 
izations have  been  effected:  a  Speak- 
ers' Bureau,  which  has  a  list  of  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  of  the  best 
speakers  of  the  state,  who  have  vol- 
unteered to  speak  at  public  meetings 
in  any  part  of  the  state  to  which 
they  may  be  called;  the  four-minute 
men,  who  have  confined  their  activi- 
ties to  delivering  four-minute  speeches 
in  the  local  theaters  and  moving- 
picture  houses.  A  plan  is  now  con- 
templated whereby  the  operations 
of  the  four-minute  men  will  be  in- 
creased to  such  an  extent  that 
these  short  addresses  may  be  de- 
livered in  meetings  of  all  kinds 
wherever  groups  of  persons  congre- 
gate. For  the  same  general  purpose 
a  War  Conference  was  held  in  Concord 
on  May  9,  at  which  speakers  of 
national  reputation  from  Washington 
wore  present  to  give  both  information 
and  inspiration  to  the  war  workers  of 
the  state.  The  State  Conference  has 
been  followed  by  local  meetings  in 
many  towns,  to  which  the  members  of 
the  Speakers'  Bureau  have  carried 
the  messages  they  themselves  re- 
ceived from  the  speakers  at  the  War 
Conference.  Soldiers  who  have  re- 
turned from  the  front,  belonging 
either  to  our  own  army  or  to  those  of 
our  allies,  have  added  materially  to 
tiie  inspiration  of  these  meetings. 

Somewhat  recently  a  new  sub-com- 
mit tee  has  been  established  by  the 
Committee  on  Public  Safety  to  deal 
with  Americanization.  A  realization 
of  the  lack  of  unity  now  existing  in 
tiie  country,  due  to  a  failure  on  the 
part  of  Americans  to  assimilate  prop- 
erly the  millions  of  foreigners  who 
have  come  to  our  country  to  live,  has 
made  it  inevitable  that  we  should 
either  definitely  undertake  to  instruct 
those  who  come  to  us  in  American 
ideals,  American  sympathies  and 
American  ways,  or  give  up  forever 
the  idea  of  a  unified  national  spirit. 


The  immediate  means  to  be  adopted 
in  this  movement  consists  iti  the  effort 
to  make  English  the  universal  lan- 
guage of  the  country.  It  is  proposed 
that  this  be  accomplished  by  means  of 
evening  schools,  by  assistance  of 
officers  of  industrial  plants,  and  by 
various  voluntary  organizations  deal- 
ing with  questions  of  sanitation, 
child  welfare,  and  other  topics  of 
philanthropic  or  uplifting  nature. 

A  state  director  of  the  National 
War  Savings  Committee  has  been  ap- 
pointed, who  in  turn  has  chosen  a 
representative  in  each  town  and  city 
in  the  state  to  engage  in  the  sale  of 
United  States  Thrift  Stamps.  The 
sale  of  stamps  in  New  Hampshire  has 
progressed  fairly  satisfactorily  so  that 
at  the  present  time  the  per  capita 
purchase  amounts  to  about  82.00. 
In  this  respect  New  Hampshire  has 
done  as  well  as  the  majority  of  the 
eastern  states  but  has  fallen  far  be- 
hind the  western  states.  Attention 
is  now  being  seriously  given  to  the 
formation  of  War  Savings  Societies, 
each  composed  of  a  small  number  of 
persons  who  form  a  natural  group. 
Societies  are  established  in  stores, 
factories,  schools,  city  blocks,  lodges 
and  other  organizations  that  might 
properly  be  formed  into  units.  In  this 
way  it  is  anticipated  that  the  sale  will 
soon  be  greatly  increased. 

At  the  request  of  the  Federal 
Department  of  Labor,  a  state  di- 
rector of  the  United  States  Public 
Service  Reserve  has  been  appointed, 
to  whom  has  been  given  the  task  of 
enrolling  men  of  the  state  engaged  in 
many  different  occupations  who  were 
willing  to  engage  in  wTork  useful  to  the 
government  in  its  war  activities. 
Up  to  the  present  time  the  chief  task 
of  the  state  director  has  been  that  of 
procuring  the  enrollments  of  1,698 
men  for  work  in  shipyards.  In  ad- 
dition to  this  there  have  been  re- 
quests for  smaller  assignments  in 
various  organizations,  either  military 
or  civil.  New  Hampshire  has  been 
asked  to  furnish  a  few  men  to  engage 
in  tank  service;  others  to  enter  the 
railwaj^    unit;     others    to    enter    the 


110 


The  Granite  Monthly 


ordnance  department  for  specified 
technical  employment.  In  seeming 
enrollments  and  in  locating  New 
Hampshire  men,  the  State  Depart- 
ment of  Labor  has  given  most  valu- 
able and  hearty  aid  to  the  state 
director. 

Two  other  movements  lately  in- 
stituted may  here  be  mentioned.  A 
sub-committee  on  research  has  been 
appointed,  to  which  has  been  as- 
signed by  the  federal  government  the 
duty  of  discovering  methods  whereby 
the  waste  products  from  industrial 
plants  in  the  state  may  be  utilized. 
In  many  instances  this  may  involve 
investigation  lasting  many  months. 
The  manufacturers  of  the  state  have 
shown  a  very  hearty  sympathy  with 
the  movement  and  are  cooperating 
with  the  sub-committee  in  a  most 
effective  manner. 

The  second  of  these  two  movements 
is  that  relating  to  the  preservation 
of  the  health  and  life  of  children. 
It  has  been  realized  that  all  the  bel- 
ligerent countries  must  devote  more 
serious  attention  than  they  have  done 
in  the  past  to  improving  conditions 
surrounding  childhood  in  order  that  a 
larger  percentage  than  heretofore  of 
children  may  grow  into  vigorous 
manhood  and  womanhood.  This  has 
become  necessary  in  order  that  the 
loss  of  life  and  inefficiency  on  the 
part  of  those  of  our  men  who  have 
gone  to  the  front  may  be  replaced. 
This  movement  is  under  the  direction 
of  the  woman's  committee,  with  the 
advice  and  assistance  of  the  Commit- 
tee on  Medicine,  a  sub-committee  of 
the  Committee  on  Public  Safety. 

The  wide  range  of  subjects  dis- 
cussed and  acted  upon  by  the  execu- 
tive committee  of  the  Committee  on 
Public  Safety  shows  evidence  of  the 
great  number  of  topics  that  must  be 
treated  in  the  state's  preparation  for 
war.  Among  the  topics  treated  by  the 
committee  are  daylight  conservation, 
universal  military  training,  geologi- 
cal survey  of  the  state,  boys'  working 
reserve,  national  prohibition,  fuel, 
training   camp   activities,,  war   econ- 


omy, industrial  safety.  Hoover  pledge 
cards,  research  in  natural  and  applied 
science,  storage  facilities,  four-min- 
ute men,  public  information,  safe- 
guarding the  civil  rights  of  soldiers 
and  sailors,  adjustment  of  labor  dis- 
putes, economy  in  Christmas  giving, 
and  military  record  of  New  Hampshire 
men  employment  exchange  system. 

The  attempt  is  being  made  to  com- 
pile a  record  of  all  Xew  Hampshire 
men  who  have  entered  the  military  or 
naval  service  of  the  country  during  the 
war.  Card  catalogues  made  in  tripli- 
cate are  being  kept  of  all  the  men  who 
have  enlisted  or  who  have  been  taken 
under  the  selective  service  act.  This 
is  no  small  task  today,  since  there  is 
no  Xew  Hampshire  regiment  and  no 
New  Hampshire  unit  of  any  kind. 
The  men  of  each  state  who  are  serv- 
ing under  the  colors  are  today  scat- 
tered in  all  kinds  of  units,  singly  or  in 
small  groups  from  Texas  to  eastern 
France.  There  is  no  group  anywhere 
that  bears  the  name  of  New  Hamp- 
shire. For  this  reason  the  list  of  New 
Hampshire  men  in  the  service  is  not 
to  be  found  officially,  in  any  office  of 
the  wrar  department.  It  was  thought 
advisable,  therefore,  that  the  office  of 
the  Committee  on  Public  Safety  un- 
dertake to  compile  the  complete  his- 
tory of  each  man  while  he  is  in  the 
service.  For  a  knowledge  of  the  facts 
the  office  is  dependent  upon  the  vol- 
untary efforts  of  the  local  historians 
in  each  town  of  the  state  and  this 
work  is  progressing  in  a  most  satis- 
factory manner.  Eventually  it  is  ex- 
pected that  all  of  the  records  of  either 
state  committees  or  local  committees 
will  be  deposited  in  the  central  office 
and  be  available  hereafter  as  a  part  of 
the  state  records  of  the  history  of  the 
war. 

At  the  end  of  May,  1918,  there 
were  approximately  12,000  New 
Hampshire  men  in  the  service.  Dur- 
ing the  month  of  May  alone  nearly 
2,000  entered  the  National  Army  or 
the  various  sections  of  the  military 
or  naval  forces  to  which  enlistment  is 
still  open. 


THE  PASSING  OF  THE  OLD  RED 
SCHOOLHOUSE 

By  Francis  A.  Corey 


A  New  Englander,  coming  back  to 
his  native  heath,  after  years  of  ab- 
sence, misses  an  ancient  landmark 
that  was  very  dear  to  his  heart — the 
old  red  schoolhouse.  Gone,  almost 
altogether,  are  the  squat,  one-storied 
buildings  that  once  upon  a  time 
crowned  the  hills  and  dotted  the  val- 
leys. The  inexorable  years  have  seen 
them  vanish  one  by  one.  Their  pass- 
ing was  inevitable.  They  had  served 
their  purpose — served  it  wonderfully 
well  all  things  considered.  But  needs 
and  conditions  changed.  With  the 
country's  growth  in  wealth  and  cul- 
ture old  things  naturally  gave  way  to 
the  new  order.  An  ebb-tide  struck 
the  hill  regions;  the  boys  and  girls 
were  absorbed  by  the  town  schools 
with  their  superior  advantages.  And 
thus  has  it  come  about  that  our  eyes 
rest  sadly  upon  waste  places  where 
hardly  a  vestige  remains  of  the  struc- 
tures that  glorified  them  in  days 
gone  by. 

Not  that  the  old  red  schoolhouse 
was  ever  a  thing  of  beauty.  Grim  and 
unlovely  of  architecture,  without  a 
line  of  symmetry  or  a  redeeming 
mace,  it  stood,  as  a  rule,  at  the  fork 
of  the  road  in  a  pasture-clearing  where 
the  soil  was  too  stony  and  arid  to 
warrant  tillage.  In  summer  no  flow- 
ers bloomed  about  the  door,  no  em- 
bowering trees  ,droopecl  sheltering 
boughs  over  its  lowly  roof.  The  front- 
yard,  more  often  than  otherwise,  was 
a  hopeless  tangle  of  trampled  grass. 
If  a  few  scattering  hemlocks,  or  a 
thicket  of  spruces,  had  been  left  to 
break  the  cruel  force  of  the  winter 
wind,  it  was  more  by  accident  than 
design.     Solitary  and"  alone,  it  lifted 


weather-scarred  walls,  growing  a  little 
grayer  and  a  little  grimmer  with  every 
passing  year. 

Within  it  had  something  of  the 
austerity  and  frugal  quality  of  the 
exterior.  A  long,  narrow  entry  ex- 
tended the  width  of  the  building,  at 
the  remote  end  of  which  was  piled  in 
orderly  fashion  the  winter's  supply 
of  seasoned  wood.  Stout  hooks  gar- 
nished either  side,  where  the  boys  and 
girls  hung  caps  and  sunbonnets  in 
summer  and  a  multitude  of  warm 
wraps  in  winter.  In  well-ordered 
schoolhouses  there  was  usually  a  shelf 
or  two  that  afforded  convenient  stor- 
age for  dinner-pails.  But  woe  to  one 
who  made  use  of  these  receptacles  in 
zero  w  eat  her!  All  too  frequently  the 
toothsome  contents  of  the  pails  con- 
gealed into  a  solid  mass  that  must, 
perforce,  be  thawed  at  the  box  stove, 
a  slow  and  trying  process  when  the 
victim,  as  was  usually  the  case, 
chanced  to  be  a  hungry  boy. 

Schoolrooms  everywhere  bore  a 
likeness  to  each  other,  as  if  all  had 
been  run  in  the  same  mold.  It  would 
be  hard  to  imagine  anything  more 
dreary  and  uncomfortable.  Invaria- 
bly there  was  a  raised  platform  for  the 
teacher's  desk.  From  this  coign  of 
advantage  an  absolute  monarch  ruled 
a  little  kingdom  of  submissive  sub- 
jects. A  "recitation  bench'7  ex- 
tended along  either  wall.  Desks  for 
the  pupils  were  graded  back  to  the 
rear  of  the  room  where  sat  the  older 
boys  and  girls — wisely  separated  by 
a  dividing  aisle!  The  "tots," — for 
the  country  school  was  always  made 
up  of  assorted  sizes — occupied  the 
low  front  seats  where  they  were  di- 


112 


The  Granite  Monthly 


rectly  under  the  teacher's  eye.  The 
schoolroom  furnishings  were  exceed- 
ingly primitive.  Webster's  Una- 
bridged held  the  place  of  honor  on  the 
teacher's  desk  beside  a  globe  that 
could  be  made  to  revolve.  A  few 
maps  adorned  the  whitewashed  walls 
and  a  blackboard  was  very  much  in 
evidence.  The  windows — invariably 
six  in  number — were  so  high  up  that 
such  tantalyzing  glimpses  as  the  boys 
and  girls  got  of  the  world  outside  con- 
sisted wholly  of  clouds  and  sky. 

Not  an  alluring  picture.  But,  ah 
me!  what  delightful  memories  throng 
upon  one  when  an  idle  hour  is  given 
over  to  retrospection!  And  some  not 
so  pleasant  if  the  truth  must  be  told! 
However  far  away  the  days  of  our 
youth,  the  scenes  and  incidents  of  that 
happy-go-lucky  time  never  lose  their 
charm  and  vividness.  We  see  again 
the  tumultuous  rush  for  places  at  the 
tap  of  the  bell — maybe  we  are  among 
the  boisterous  boys  crowding  upon 
each  other's  heels.  And  how  quickly 
hushed  are  the  noisy  play  and  shouts 
of  laughter!  As  the  real  work  of  the 
day  begins  the  schoolroom  takes  on 
an  air  of  chastened  sobriety  with  a 
suddenness  truly  amazing.  Even  the 
youngest  child,  as  he  settles  into  his 
place,  bears  upon  his  shoulders  the 
burden  of  a  responsibility  that  he 
assumes  with  surprising  grace  and 
dignity. 

One  is  forced  to  the  conviction  that 
the  New  Englander  of  fifty  years  ago 
had  less  of  initiative  than  his  descend- 
ant of  today.  Or,  possibly,  he  was 
more  hampered  by  custom  and  tradi- 
tion, in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the 
country  was  ridiculously  young  and 
history  had  hardly  begun.  Be  that  as 
it  may,  an  unwritten  law,  seldom 
deviated  from  in  the  slightest  particu- 
lar, governed  the  exercises  of  the  old- 
time  school.  A  chapter  in  the  New 
Testament  immediately  followed  roll- 
call.  Afterward  came  the  reading  les- 
sons and  the  classes  in  arithmetic. 
How  exasperating  most  of  us  found 
those  intricate  problems  in  "Col- 
burn's!"     ''Adams's  Arithmetic"  was 


a  blessed  deliverance,  for  slate  and 
pencil  were  now  permissible  and  one 
was  spared  headaches  and  heartaches 
— the  inevitable  result  of  having  to 
struggle  through  bewildering  mental 
calculations  where  the  important 
points  had  a  maddening  habit  of 
slipping  hopelessly  away  before  they 
could  be  fully  grasped  and  assimilated. 

Always  a  ripple  of  interest  ran 
through  the  school  when  the  infant 
class  was  summoned  to  the  teacher's 
knee.  And  this  was  not  wholly  be- 
cause the  cherub  age  has  an  appealing 
charm  to  which  young  and  old  are 
alike  susceptible.  The  most  unex- 
pected things  were  liable  to  happen, 
and  the  older  pupils,  having  this  pos- 
sibility in  mind,  kept  one  ear  " cocked'' 
while  "industriously  studying  their 
lessons.  One  memory  is  of  a  very 
small  toddler  who,  on  being  asked  to 
give  the  name  of  the  letter  "w," 
answered  that  he  did  not  know. 
"Double  you,"  prompted  the  teacher. 
The  little  fellow,  who  had  been 
closely  following  the  point  of  the 
teacher's  pencil,  looked  up  with  a 
brightened  face.  "Ain't  it  double 
mother,  too?"  he  asked.  Such  art- 
lessness  provokes  a  smile;  and  yet  the 
incident  has  another  side  than  the 
humorous — it  goes  to  show  the  innate 
loyalty  and  devotion  of  the  American 
boy. 

The  morning  session  closed  with 
the  spelling  classes,  usually  half  a 
dozen  in  number.  There  was  a  "  noon- 
ing" lasting  an  hour — a  gay  and  fes- 
tive time  to  which  both  boys  and 
girls,  especially  those  living  far  enough 
away  to  bring  their  dinner,  looked 
forward  expectantly.  For  a  hilarious 
sixty  minutes,  wild  and  unearthly 
sounds  echoed  within  the  four  walls  of 
the  schoolroom.  A  chance  passerby 
well  might  have  concluded  that  a 
band  of  hostile  Indians  had  come  sud- 
denly from  out  the  forest,  and  a 
massacre,  terrible  as  those  of  the 
early  days,  was  being  there  enacted. 
But.  punctually  at  one  o'clock  the 
tinkle  of  the  bell  called  lads  and 
lassies  to  their  places — with  never  a 


Passing  of  the  Old  Red  Schoolhov.se 


113 


ecalp  missing!  Then  there  would  be 
more  reading,  beginning;  this  time 
with  "Milliard's  Fifth."  Our  fathers 
and  grandfathers  had  profound  faith 
in  the  helpfulness  of  this  exercise. 
Rut  what  a  farce  it  became  when  the 
teacher  was  incompetent  or  indifferent 
and  permitted  a  monotonous,,  sing- 
gong  tone  that  robbed  the  exquisite 
thoughts  of  poet  and  essayist  of  all 
beauty  and  dignity! 

Geography  and  grammar  belonged 
by  divine  right  in  the  curriculum  for 
afternoon.  Map-drawing  from  mem- 
ory was  one  of  the  strenuous  tasks  of 
this  particular  time  of  da}' — and  yet 
not  so  strenuous  if  one  had  the  out- 
lines well  in  mind,  for  rivers  were 
merely  represented  by  sinuous  lines 
and  mountains  by  short,  parallel 
scratches  curiously  suggestive  of  the 
vertebrae  of  the  horned  pout.  Gram- 
mar, to  the  majority  of  boys  and 
girls,  was  a  study  without  a  redeem- 
ing feature.  Stumbiingly  and  halt- 
ingly the  class  went  through  the 
ordeal  of  "parsing."  "Paradise  Lost," 
and  Young's  "  Night  Thoughts/'  wells 
o!  English  undefiled,  were  invariably 
chosen  for  this  purpose.  Indeed,  in 
those  grandiloquent  days,  the  modern 
classics  were  regarded  with  something 
akin  to  contempt.  The  inevitable 
reaction  may  be  one  reason  why  the 
poems  mentioned  are  now  so  little  read. 

Afternoon  was  likewise  the  pre- 
ferred time  for  history.  It  is  singular 
how  religiously  our  forefathers  rele- 
gated the  "lighter"  studies  to  the 
latter  half  of  the  school  day.  Mathe- 
matics were  good  discipline  of  a  morn- 
ing when  the  rough  edges  of  one's 
thinking  needed  the  wholesome  fric- 
tion of  "sums  and  figures";  but  the 
chastened  atmosphere  of  afternoon 
was  accounted  the  only  fitting  time 
for  the  so-called  ornamental  branches; 
and  there  was  something  almost  sac- 
ramental in  the  strictness  with  which 
this  order  was  adhered  to. 

Shortly  before  four  o'clock  the 
various  spelling  classes  again  had  the 
floor.  And  thus  ended  the  lessons  of 
the  day.  " 


Occasionally  the  monotony  would 
be  broken  by  a  diversion  of  some  sort. 
With  what  delight  were  such  occa- 
sions hailed!  The  simplest  humorous 
incident  sufficed  to  set  the  whole 
school  in  a  roar.  An  instance  comes 
to  mind  at  this  moment.  The  class  in 
history  was  reciting,  the  subject  being 
the  North  American  Indians.  The 
question  was  asked  if  any  member  of 
the  class  had  ever  seen  a  tomahawk. 
Five-year-old  Benny,  sitting  on  a 
near-by  bench,  drinking  everything 
in,  eagerly  raised  his  hand. 

"Well,*  Benny,  what  is  it?"  the 
teacher  paused  in  the  lesson  to  ask. 

"Please,  teacher,  I  never  see  a 
tomahawk,"  quavered  Benny,  "but 
I've  seen  a  hen  hawk." 

Many  were  the  devices  to  which 
the  old-time  teacher  resorted  to  keep 
all  the  cogs  running  smoothly.  A 
story  is  told  of  a  famous  old  school- 
master in  the  day  of  the  open  fire- 
place. The  youngest  lad  was  getting 
restless,  so  the  master  set  him  down 
at  a  mouse-hole  in  the  brick  hearth 
and  gave  him  the  tongs,  bidding  him 
keep  a  sharp  lookout  and  catch  the 
mouse  living  down  below.  For  a 
time  perfect  quiet  reigned  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  fireplace  and  the 
master  had  momentarily  forgotten 
the  small  boy  on  guard  when  a  shrill 
little  voice  piped  triumphantly, — 

"Dosh!     I  dot  him!" 

And  he  held  up  a  struggling  mouse 
firmly  imprisoned  in  the  tongs. 

Two  hours  out  of  every  week  were 
given  over  to  the  noble  art  of  pen- 
manship. The  pot-hook  and  tram- 
mel stage  well  passed,  learning  to 
write  was  regarded  a  pleasing  diver- 
sion rather  than  a  hard-and-fast  task. 
And  then  what  wise  and  wonderful 
precepts  headed  the  pages  of  the  copy- 
book! When  these  had  been  repro- 
duced twenty  times  over  with  pains- 
taking care,  a  faint  comprehension  of 
their  beauty  and  wisdom  naturally 
filtered  through  the  outer  crust  of 
heedlessness  and  found  lodgment  in 
the  youthful  mind.  Saints  and  solons 
were    the    legitimate    outcome;      but 


114 


The  Granite  Monthly 


alas!  human  nature  is  pretty  much 
the  same,  whether  in  adult  or  child. 

The  older  hoys  and  girls  were  re- 
quired, every  alternate  week,  to 
"speak  pieces'7  or  write  compositions. 
At  such  times  life  seemed  hardly 
worth  living.  The  girls  hunted  wildly 
for  subjects  that  had  not  been  worn 
threadbare  from  frequent  use.  The 
boys  wrestled  and  perspired :  and  yet 
they  had  rather  the  best  of  it.  If 
nothing  better  turned  up,  they  could 
fall  back  upon  Hamlet's  soliloquy,  or 
"Old  Ironsides,"  or  "The  Sailor  Boy's 
Dream."  And  this  was  what  usually 
happened.  Sometimes  a  venture- 
some girl  would  give  a  "recitation"; 
but  composition-writing  was  consid- 
ered her  especial  province,  the  one 
thing  in  which  she  could  outstrip  the 
boys.  If  a  poetical  effusion  was  born 
of  much  travail,  the  writer  became 
the  envy  of  le^s  gifted  classmates  and 
was  straightway  exalted  to  a  place  of 
honor. 

One  rarely  hears,  nowadays,  of  the 
revival  of  anything  so  archaic  as  the 
old-fashioned  spelling-school.  Indeed 
we  have  well-nigh  forgotten  how  to 
spell.  In  the  hurry  and  bustle  of 
modern  life  we  have  fallen  into  the 
pernicious  habit  of  making  elemen- 
tary sounds  do. most  of  our  oral  work; 
and  frequent  apostrophes  mark  elis- 
ions on  the  written  page.  Already  it 
seems  a  long  way  back  to  the  day 
when  spelling  was  accounted  one  of 
the  accomplishments.  Every  one 
could  not  attain  to  the  same  degree  of 
proficiency — there  are  born  spellers  as 
truly  as  there  are  born  poets — but  the 
noble  art  was  taught  with  scrupulous 
fidelity.  Even  a  cursory  examination 
of  present  day  business  letters — and 
other  correspondence  for  that  matter 
— brings  a  sigh  for  the  more  abundant 
leisure  when  things  were  done  thor- 
oughly and  well.  In  the  early  nine- 
teenth century  a  redundant  letter  was 
rarely  found  in  a  word,  and  it  was  just 
as  unusual  for  one  to  be  left  out. 
Little  is  thought  of  such  carelessness 
nowadays,  although  the  meaning  is 
ofttimes  radically  changed.    To  quote 


an  actual  occurrence:  Not  so  very 
long  ago  a  certain  business  firm  sent 
to  the  manufacturer  a  rush  order  for 
a  bicycle  "for  a  tall  young  lady  to  be 
stripped  and  painted  yellow!" 

When  spelling-schools  flourished 
the  simple  life  was  at  its  best.  The 
thousand  and  one  interests  and  diver- 
sions of  the  present  day  had  not  been 
evolved  from  man's  fertile  brain. 
Every  country  school  held  one  or 
more  of  these  contests  during  the  win- 
ter terra,  to  which  all  near-by  schools 
were  invited.  Sides  were  chosen  and 
the  battle  began.  Great  was  the  re- 
joicing of  the  school  whose  "crack" 
speller,  usually  a  girl,  spelled  every- 
body down!  This  was  rarely  accom- 
plished, however,  before  the  North 
American  Spelling-Book  had  been 
gone  through  from  cover  to  cover, 
foreign  quotations,  abbreviations  and 
all! 

The  last  afternoon  of  the  school 
term  was  usually  a  festive  occasion. 
In  summer  nimble  fingers  decorated 
the  bare  walls  with  wild  flowers  and 
graceful  festoons  of  plaited  oak  leaves; 
in  winter  resort  was  had  to  trailing 
evergreen  and  hemlock  boughs.  It 
was  all  very  crude,  and  yet  a  little 
pathetic  when  one  considers  what  was 
behind  these  poor  attempts  at  decora- 
tion. A-  goodly  number  of  visitors, 
mostly  the  mothers  clad  in  their  best 
alpaca  gowns,  usually  straggled  in, 
looking  worried  and  anxious,  uncer- 
tain whether  their  offspring  would 
acquit  themselves  well  or  ill.  It  must 
be  conceded  that  they  were  rarely  put 
to  the  blush  while  the  lessons  in  re- 
view went  on.  The  decisive  test  came 
with  the  dialogues  and  recitations 
that  made  up  the  greater  part  of  the 
afternoon's  "entertainment."  Inva- 
riably there  would  be  choking,  halting, 
stammering — ofttimes  a  premature 
and  ignominious  retreat  wholly  inex- 
plicable to  the  mortified  parent  after 
the  evenings  and  the  mornings  she 
had  stood  with  both  hands  in  soapy 
dishwater,  the  book  propped  open  be- 
side her,  hearing  that  particular 
"piece"  rehearsed.     She  might  have 


Passing  of  the  Old  Red  Schoolhouse 


115 


done  some  judicious  prompting,  but 
that  would  have  been  out  of  place  in 
the  schoolroom.  Etiquette  must  be 
observed  though  the  heavens  fell. 

The  "committee  man"  was  always 
in  evidence,  and  closed  the  exercises 
with  eulogistic  "remarks."'  The 
writer  vividly  recalls  one  of  these 
dignitaries — a  stalky,  clean-shaven 
man  in  bright  blue  broadcloth  and 
glittering  brass  buttons,  the  bravery 
of  which  made  a  profound  impression 
on  his  youthful  mind.  That  blue  suit 
must  have  been  made  of  good  mate- 
rial, for  it  survived  the  writer's  gen- 
eration in  all  its  pristine  splendor. 
Sometimes,  to  the  unbounded  disgust 
of  squirming  martyrs,  the  minister 
and  the  doctor  came  also:  then  there 
would  be  three  long  and  tiresome 
speeches  instead  of  one. 

The  boys  and  girls  of  the  red  school- 
house  were  not  without  their  simple 
pleasures.  In  hours  of  relaxation  old- 
fashioned  games  were  played  with  a 
vigor  and  zest  quite  amazing  to  one 
who  had  witnessed  the  languid  lolling 
over  desks  during  the  school  session. 
In  surnmer  there  were  May  parties 
and  picnics  and  long  rambles  in  the 
woods  in  search  of  wild  flowers.  In 
winter  skating,  coasting  and  snow- 
balling were  sources  of  never-failing 
delight.  Taken  all  in  all,  it  was  a  gay 
and   joyous   time   and   brought   such 


rapture  to  the  youthful  heart  as  chil- 
dren of  the  present  day,  surfeited 
with  pleasures,  never  know. 

Yes.  the  old  red  schoolhouse  that 
crowned  the  heights  or  hid  in  half- 
forgotten  byways,  is  passing  never  to 
return.  Now  and  then,  as  we  journey 
through  the  almost  deserted  hill- 
country,  a  turn  in  the  road  brings  into 
view  the  sagging  roof,  then  the  many- 
pane'd  windows,  of  one  that  has  out- 
lasted its  kind.  Sudden  moisture 
comes  into  the  eyes,  the  heart  quick- 
ens a  beat;  there  is  an  impulse  to 
take  off  one's  hat  to  it.  It  is  deserv- 
ing of  reverence  in  its  decay.  The 
greatest  of  the  world's  thinkers,  schol- 
ars, philanthropists  and  merchant 
princes  were  nursed  in  just  such  crude 
and  humble  cradles.  Grander  struc- 
tures have  since  arisen  in  the  scattered 
villages — more  up-to-date  methods 
have  superseded  the  customs  of  that 
by-gone  time.  " Forward"  is  the 
rallying  cry  the  world  over.  x\nd  that 
means  constant  change  and  readjust- 
ment. But  let  honor  be  given  where 
honor  is  due.  Only  those  who  have 
left  behind  the  morning  of  life  and  are 
facing  evening  and  the  sunset,  can 
fully  appreciate  the  debt  we  owe  as 
individuals  and  as  a  nation  to  the 
little  red  schoolhouse  of  our  fathers. 
Long  may  it  be  held  in  loving  and 
grateful  remembrance. 


THE  HARP 

(Translated  from  the  Spanish  of  Gustavo  Adolfo  Becquer  by  Lawrence  C.  Woodman) 

In  a  dark  corner, 
Forgotten  perhaps  by  its  master, 
Strangely  silent  till  covered  with  dust, 
Is  seen  a  harp. 

How  many  notes  in  its  strings, 
Like  birds  in  branches,  are  sleeping! — 
Asleep,  but  awaiting  the  hand  of  snow 
That's  coming  to  call  them  forth! 


And  how  many  times  does  genius 
Thus  sleep  in  the  depths  of  the  soul! — 
Awaiting  a  voice  like  that  which  woke  Lazarus: 
"Arise  and  fare  ye  forth!" 


JOHN  MASON'S  THREE  GREAT  HOUSES 


By  J.  M.  Moses 


"Great  House"  was  a  term  used 
for  the  manor  house  of  an  English 
manorial  estate,  on  which  the  ten- 
antry lived  in  small  houses,  the 
landlord  in  a  larger  one.  It  was 
applied  by  the  settlers  of  New 
Hampshire  to  each  of  the  three  main 
buildings  of  the  three  Masonian 
plantations  on  the  Piscataqua. 
These  plantations,  as  named  by 
John  Mason  and  others  in  a  letter  of 
December  5,  1632,  to  Ambrose  Gib- 
bons, were  "  Pascattaway  "  (Odiorme's 
Point),  "Stmwberry-bancke"  (Ports- 
mouth), and  ''Newiehwannick" 
(South  Berwick).  The  letter,  which 
did  not  reach  Gibbons  till  the  fol- 
lowing June,  assigned  the  houses  at 
these  places  respectively  to  the  care 
of  "Mr.  Godfrie,"  "Mr.  Wannerton," 
and  Ambrose  Gibbons. 

Replying,  July  13,  1633,  probably 
after  Godfrey  had  left,  Gibbons 
wrote,  "Mr.  Wanerton  hath  charge 
of  the  house  at  Pascatawa,  and  hath 
with  him  William  Cooper,  Rafe  Gee, 
Roger  Knight  and  his  wife,  William 
Dermit  and  one  boy.  For  your 
house  at  Newichwannicke,  I,  seeing 
the  necessity,  will  doe  the  best  I  can 
there  and  elsewhere  for  you  until  I 
hear  from  you  a  game."  He  did  not 
mention  Strawberry  Bank. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  for  the  Ma- 
sonians  the  mouth  of  the  Piscataqua 
was  at  Little  Harbor.  Its  channel 
was  perhaps  safer  for  small  craft. 
Here,  on  Odiorne's  Point,  was  their 
capital,  "  Pascattaway,"  where,  in 
a  "strange  and  large  house"  (Maver- 
ick), dwelt  their  governor,  Walter 
Neale,  till  called  home  for  consulta- 
tion in  the  summer  of  1633.  Pie  was 
lord  of  the  enterprise,  the  only  man 
empowered    to    grant    land,    though 


Gibbons  was  the  chief  business  man. 
For  three  years  Neale  represented 
Gorges  for  Maine,  as  well  as  Mason 
for  New  Hampshire.  Their  plan  for 
their  new  country  was  that  of  a  land- 
holding  aristocracy,  with  subject  ten- 
antry, as  in  England. 

John  Mason  died  in  December, 
1635.  His  heirs  neglected,  and  soon 
abandoned  his  plantations  on  the 
Piscataqua.  With  the  assumption  of 
jurisdiction  by  Massachusetts,  in 
1641,  Strawberry  Bank  was  adopted 
as  the  seat  of  government  and  center 
of  business,  while  Odiome's  Point 
was  left  an  isolated  tract  with  few 
people.  The  manorial  system  of  land 
tenure  so  completely  disappeared 
that  by  March  30,  1660,  Joseph 
Mason,  in  a  deed  of  that  date, 
thought  it  necessary  to  recite  that 
"Capt.  Jno  Mason  of  London  gent. 
was  at  his  death  seazed  &  posest  of 
Certaine  Land  at  piscataway  in  New- 
England  as  namely  the  great  house 
upland  &  marishes  nere  unto  it  ad- 
joyneing  in  the  River  of  piscataq,  & 
that  the  said  Mason  had  in  his  life  time 
many  servants  &  Stockes  of  Cattle 
upon  the  premisses,  did  Intrust  one 
Ralph  Gee  a  servant  of  his  more 
Pticuler  to  looke  unto  the  said  Cattle 
&  did  furnish  him  with  a  plantation 
neere  adjoyneing  upon  the  same  lands 
to  him  belonging  for  the  better  Pform- 
ing  of  his  trust,"  etc. 

The  deed  goes  on  to  say  that  Gee 
died  in  1645,  leaving  "his  house  & 
grownd  &  Small  Stock  upon  it,"  but 
insolvently  indebted  to  William 
Seavey,  who  was  appointed  adminis- 
trator "to  receive  all  &  pay  him  seife, 
which  he  hath  sithence  done,"  etc. 
The  deed  does  not  convey  the  property, 
as  Seavey  was  already  in  possession  of 


John  Mason's  Three  Great  Houses 


117 


it,  but  acquits  him  of  all  claim  by 
Mason's  estate  "to  the  said  plantaeon 
of  house  upland  &  marshes"  of 
Ralph  Gee. 

Everything  about  this  deed  sug- 
gests that  the  ".Great  House"  men- 
tioned was  that  on  Odiorne's  Point, 
where  Joseph  Mason  was  probably 
living.  (See  Granite  Monthly, 
Vol.  48,  page  171.)  Seavey  in  1640 
was  just  west  of  Odiorne's  Point  and 
south  of  Sherburne's  Creek.  (See 
N.  H.  Genealogical  Record,  Vol.  1, 
page  4.)  In  16G0  he  had  only  twelve 
acres  in  possession,  probably  the  Gee 
land. 

There  is  a  deposition  of  May  10, 
1699,  by  Christopher  Palmer,  aged 
about  seventy-three,  that  "Mr.  Gee 
and  severall  other  men  whose  names  I 
do  not  remember  lived  at  little  har- 
bour and  that  they  were  reported  to  be 
agents  &  servants  to  Capt.  John  Mason 
deceased  and  had  an  house  at  little  har- 
bour aforesaid  called  Randezvouz  and 
that  they  had  in  their  possession 
severall  head  of  diverse  Sorts  of  cat- 
tell  which  were  reported  to  belong 
unto  Said  Capt.  Mason."  (Court 
Files,  Xo.  25S02.) 

The  first  manor  houses  were  doubt- 
less built  mainly  of  logs,  though  that 
on  Odiorne's  Point,  built  by  David 
Thompson  in  1623,  seems  to  have 
been  partly  of  stone.  (For  accounts 
of  it,  see  the  first  chapter  of  the 
History  of  R}'e,  Jenness'  First  Plant- 
ing of  New  Hampshire,  also  Old 
Eliot,  Vol.  9,  page  176.)  It  was  a 
large  cabin,  or  small  hall,  of  one  room 
on  the  first  floor,  with  an  immense 
chimney  in  the  west,  end.  The  others 
were  probably  like  it.  Whether  or 
not  it  was  ever  called  Mason  Hall,  it 
can  be  said  that  it  resembled  the 
primitive  hall  of  the  chief,  of  earlier 
times  in  England. 

Of  one  built  ten  years  later,  near 
Cape  Elizabeth,  by  John  Winter,  a 
description  written  by  him  has  been 
preserved.  He  wrote  "I  have  built 
a  house  here  at  Richmond  Island 
that  is  40  feet  in  length,  and  18  feet 
broad,  within  the  sides,   besides  the 


chimney;  and  the  chimney  is  large, 
with  an  oven  in  each  end  of  him. 
And  he  is  so  that  we  can  place  a 
kettle  within  the  mantle  piece.  We 
can  brew  and  bake  and  boil  our  kettle 
within ,  him,  all  at  once  within  him, 
and  with  the  help  of  another  house 
that  I  have  built  under  the  side  of  our 
house,  where  we  set  our  sieves  and 
mill  and  mortar  in,  to  break  our  corn 
and  malt,  and  to  dress  our  meal  in. 

"I  have  two  chambers  in  him,  and 
all  our  men  lies  in  one  of  them. 
Every  man  hath  his  close  boarded 
cabin  [bunk],  and  I  have  room  enough 
to  make  a  dozen  close  boarded  cabins 
more,  if  I  have  need  of  them;  and 
in  the  other  chamber  I  have  room  to 
put  the  ship  sails  into,  and  allow  dry 
goods  which  is  in  casks;  and  I  have  a 
store  house  in  him  that  will  hold  18 
or  20  tuns  of  casks  underneath.  Also 
underneath  I  have  a  kitchen  for  our 
men  to  set  and  drink  in,  and  a  stew- 
ard's room  that  will  hold  two  tuns  of 
casks,  which  we  put  our  bread  and 
beer  into.  And  every  one  of  these 
rooms  is  closed  with  locks  and  keys 
unto  them." 

The  Odiorne's  Point  plantation 
had,  besides  agriculture,  a  fishing  and 
fish-drying  industry,  which  was  ex- 
pected to  yield  profit.  It  was  dis- 
appointing in  that,  but  furnished  an 
important  part  of  the  sustenance  of 
the  settlers. 

The  plantation  at  South  Berwick 
was  the  most  important.  It  had,  be- 
sides the  farm,  a  sawmill  at  Great 
Works,  and  a  trading  post  for  the 
Indians,  which  was  so  well  patronized 
that  Gibbons  sometimes  had  to  en- 
tertain one  hundred  of  them  at  one 
time.  July  13,  1633  he  wrote  that 
his  family  consisted  of  himself,  wife 
and  child  and  four  men,  Charles 
Knell,  Thomas  Clarke.  Stephen  Kid- 
der and  Thomas  Crockett,  and  that 
he  was  far  from  neighbors.  August  6, 
1634  he  wrote  Mason,  "Your  car- 
penters are  with  me,  and  I  will 
further  them  the  best  I  can." 

Continuing,  he  wrote,  ''You  have 
heare  at  the  great  house  9  cowes,  1 


118 


The  Granite  Monthly 


Bull,  4  Calves  of  last  year  and  9  of 
this  year;  they  prove  very  well," 
etc.  He  also  spoke  of  goats,  and  boards 
from  the  mill.  This  great  house 
stood  opposite  the  site  of  the  later 
house  of  Temple  Knight.  In  the 
same  letter  he  recommended  sending 
more  cows,  adding.  "A  good  husband 
with  his  wife  to  tend  the  cattle  and 
to  make  the  butter  and  cheese  will  be 
profitable;  for  maides,  they  are  soon 
gone  in  this  country."  There  were 
marriageable  men  neighbors  by  this 
time. 

This  plantation  was  the  busiest, 
and  the  most  profitable  to  the  pro- 
prietors, for  the  trade  in  peltry 
yielded  considerable  returns.  It  was 
afterwards  claimed  that  Mason  had 
made  most  of  his  expenditure  in 
Maine.  But  it  was  short  lived.  By 
May  25,  1640,  Gibbons  was  down  in 
Portsmouth,  where  he  was  assistant 
governor  and  a  signer  of  the  glebe 
grant.  Humphrey  Chadbourne  is 
said  to  have  succeeded  him  at  South 
Berwick,  but  not  for  long.  By  1645 
the  buildings  were  burned  and  the 
estate  completely  wrecked.  Mean- 
while Thomas  Gorges  had  assumed 
the  governorship  of  Maine,  living 
1640-1643  at  Gorgeana  (York),  and 
Maine  was  referred  to  as  the  Province. 

The  plantation  at  Strawberry  Bank 
could  hardly  have  been  more  than 
agricultural.  Its  great  house,  built 
in  1631,  is  said  to  have  stood  at  the 
corner  of  Court  and  Water  streets. 
It  was  first  occupied  by  Thomas 
Warnerton,  who  went  to  Pascattaway 
in  1633,  but  perhaps  returned. 

Reference  is  made  to  this  great 
house  in  the  town  records  of  August 
15,  1646,  when  John  Pickering  was 
to  have  four  acres  of  ''salt  marsh  at 
the  great  house  adjouninge  to  the 
great  paund  [South  Mill  pond]  in 
the  south  side."  (N.  H.  Genealogical 
Record,  Vol.  1,  page  3.)  Under  the 
Massachusetts  jurisdiction  John  and 
Richard  Cutt  took  possession  of  this 
building  and  claimed  to  own  it. 
Richard  Leader  had  it  in  1653,  when 
Joseph    Mason     probably    had    the 


Odiorne's  Point  house,  and  grants  of 
land  were  made  to  both.  (N.  II . 
Genealogical  Record,  Vol.  1,  page  9.) 
The  south  end  of  it,  with  the  chim- 
ney, was  standing  in  1700. 

Rev.  E.  S.  Stackpole's  History  of 
New  Hampshire,  Appendix  A,  pp. 
373-376,  gives  an  account  of  the  suc- 
cessive ownership  of  this  house,  end- 
ing with  a  denial,  against  high  author- 
ity, that  the  house  of  Odiorne's 
Point  was  ever  called  a  great  house. 

It  would  be  strange  if  that  house 
alone  of  the  three,  the  first  built,  and 
the  residence  of  the  first  governor, 
was  never  called  a  great  house 
(though  called  a  large  one).  I  am 
convinced  that  it  was  so-called  in  at 
least  one  record  that  still  exists. 

June  5,  1643  a  ferry  was  granted  by 
the  court  to  Henry  Sherburne  from 
"the  great  house"  to  Strawberry 
Bank  and  three  other  places.  (See 
Granite  Monthly,  Vol.  48,  page 
167.)  Plainly  this  great  house  was 
not  at  Strawberry  Bank.  The  fares 
show  that  it  could  not  have  been  at 
South  Berwick.  For  single  pas- 
sengers they  were  six  pense  to  Straw- 
berry Bank,  twelve  pence  to  "the 
Province"  (Maine),  two  pence  to 
Great  Island  (Newcastle),  and  two 
pence  to  "Rowes."  In  my  article 
on  Sanders  Point  (Granite  Monthly 
Vol.  48,  page  167),  I  tried  to  solve 
the  problem  mathematically,  as- 
suming that  the  fares  corresponded 
to  the  distances,  with  the  result  of 
placing  the  starting-point  on  Sanders 
Point  or  Blunt Ts  Island.   . 

This  grant  of  a  ferry  may  be  com- 
pared with  two  other  grants  of  fer- 
ries; that  to  James  Johnson,  October 
6,  1649,  from  Odiorne's  Point  (Gran- 
ite Monthly,  Vol.  48,  page  170), 
and  that  to  William  Hilton,  June  26, 
1648,  from  Kittery  Point  (N.  E. 
Register,  Jan.,  1917).  Fares  were 
not  determined  wholly  by  distances; 
other  elements  of  difficulty  were  con- 
sidered. Something  extra  was  al- 
lowed for  crossing  the  main  river,  prob- 
ably owing  to  the  tide.  The  fare  al- 
lowed to  Henry  Sherburne  and  James 


John  Mason's  Three  Great  Houses 


119 


Johnson  agree  for  trips  to  Newcastle 
and  Maine.  Johnson  was  allowed 
twice  as  much  for  rowing  to  Straw- 
berry Bank,  and  the  ferry  to  Henry 
Sherburne's  seems  to  have  made  that 
to  Rowe's  unnecessary.  Perhaps 
Rowe's  was  then  on  Sanders  Point, 
where  it  could  be  reached  by  land 
from  Sherburne's. 

On  the  whole  I  am  convinced  that 
Henry  Sherburne's  ferry  started  from 
the  great  house  on  Odiorne's  Point, 
as  claimed  by  the  History  of  Rye 
(page  71).  It  is  not  unlikely  that 
he  and  his  father  Gibbons  were  then 
living  in  this  great  house.  Gibbons 
on  coming  to  Portsmouth  would  have 
occupied  some  Masonian  building, 
and  this  one  was  very  near  his  land 
grant,  on  which  Sherburne  was  settled 
three  years  later.  Even  if  Sher- 
burne had  settled  there  by  1643,  he 
would  have  been  within  shouting  or  sig- 
naling distance  of  Odiorne's  Point,  and 
could  have  operated  a  ferry  from  there. 


I  imagine  this  great  house  was 
granted  by  the  Masonian  heirs  to 
Joseph  Mason,  their  kinsman,  in 
consideration  of  his  coming  here  in 
his  old  age  to  care  for  their  interests. 
They  would  surely  have  given  him  a 
tenement.  The  house  at  Strawberry 
Bank  was  otherwise  occupied.  I 
think  he  deeded  the  house  July  21, 
1668  to  James  Randall.  (Granite 
Monthly,  Vol.  48,  page  171.) 

According  to  the  historian  Hub- 
bard, it  had  mostly  disappeared  by 
16S0;  only  "the  chimney  and  some 
part  of  the  stone  wall"  were  then 
standing.  Its  position  was  across 
the  road  that  has  since  been  made 
down  to  the  shore  by  the  monument. 
The  road  here  has  been  excavated, 
removing  all  traces  of  the  building, 
except  some  of  the  foundation  of  the 
chimney,  which  can  still  be  seen,  and 
was  seen  by  the  Piscataqua  pioneers, 
on  their  excursion  to  this  region 
August  31,  1909. 


EVENTIDE 


By  M.  E.  Nella 

I  crossed  the  shallow  river 
On  a  narrow,  shaky  trestle, 
To  the  grove  of  silvery  poplars 

Near  the  ledge. 
An  old  boat  lay  at  anchor, 
In  the  bend  beyond  the  willows, 
And  reed  birds  lightly  poised 

Upon  the  edge. 

A  sheen  was  on  the  water, 

And  barn  swallows  skimmed  across  it; 

While  pickerel  leaped  for  flies 

Beneath  the  bridge. 
The  whip-poor-wills  were  calling 
From  tamarack  and  pine  land, 
And  nightingales  gave  answer 

From  the  ridge. 

I  saw  the  moon  rise  slowly 
Above  old  Mount  Monadnock, 
And  tiny  stars  come  gleaming 

Through  the  blue. 
I  watched  the  twilight  fading, 
The  darkness  creeping  over — 
And  with  it  came  the  screech-owls 

Weird  "whoo-whoo." 


THE  BATTLE  OF  CHELSEA  CREEK 


By  Fred  W.  Lamb 


Upon  the  alarm  of  April  19.  1775, 
the  patriots,  as  is  well  known,  began 
to  pour  into  Cambridge,  Mass.,  from 
all  the  surrounding  country.  Among 
the  patriot  leaders  who  were  the  first 
to  arrive  was  John  Stark,  from  Derry- 
field,  now  Manchester,  N.  H.  He 
was  followed  by  a  large  number  of  his 
friends  and  neighbors  from  all  over 
the  southern  part  of  New  Hampshire. 
YvTith  these  men  he  soon  organized  a 
regiment  and  was  stationed  at  Med- 
ford,  Mass. 

The  headquarters  of  the  British 
army,  under  General  Gage,  was  lo- 
cated in  Boston,  Mass.,  and  British 
troops  were  distributed  at  various 
points  from  Roxbury  Xeck  to  the 
foot  of  Hanover  Street  in  Boston.  'A 
detached  force  of  some  three  hundred 
men  was  about  this  time  stationed  at 
an  outpost  on  Noddles  Island  (now 
East  Boston),  and  formed  the  extreme 
right  of  the  line. 

To  keep  up  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
patriots  there  were  several  expedi- 
tions projected  by  the  leaders  to  seize 
the  supplies  of  live  stock  and  hay 
which  had  been  gathered  on  the 
islands  in  Boston  harbor  by  the 
British.  One  of  these,  and  the  most 
important,  the  never  half-known 
battle  of  Chelsea  Creek,  occurred  on 
the  27th  of  May,  1775,  at  winch  time 
quite  an  engagement  was  fought  and 
won  by  the  patriots. 

Colonel  Stark  was  ordered  by  the 
Committee  of  Safety  to  take  a  detach- 
ment of  some  three  hundred  men  and 
drive  the  cattle  and  sheep  from  Hogg 
and  Noddles  islands  across  Chelsea 
Creek,  which  could  be  forded  at  low 
water. 

*  Tliis  article  by  Mr.  Lamb  was  published 
in  a  pamphlet  ten  years  ago,  and  is  here  pre- 
sented by  the  author's  permission. 


Accordingly,  at  eleven  o'clock  on 
the  morning  of  the  27th  of  May,  he 
started  on  his  errand. 

The  sheep  on  Breed's  Hill,  Winthrop 
(then  Hogg's  Island),  were  removed 
successfully,  but  when  it  came  to  cross- 
ing to  East  Boston  (Noddles  Island) 
for  the  cattle  there,  the  outpost  of 
British  regulars,  some  fifty  in  number, 
which  was  later  reinforced,  stood  their 
ground  and  opened  fire  by  platoons, 
briskly,  upon  the  embattled  Yankees 
on  the  Chelsea  side  of  the  creek. 

The  British  Admiral,  Samuel 
Graves,  immediately  sent  a  schooner 
and  a  sloop  towing  barges  filled  with 
soldiers  up  Chelsea  Creek,  intending 
to  cut  off  the  return  of  the  patriots  to 
the  mainland  from  Hogg's  Island. 
The  schooner  was  armed  with  four 
six-pounder  cannon  and  the  barges 
were  provided-  with  twelve  swivels, 
but  with  all  their  banging  away  at  the 
green  hillsides  of  Chelsea  (where 
round  iron  balls  have  been  found 
quite  frequently)  none  of  the  patriots 
were  killed,  while  on  the  deck  of  the 
armed  schooner  ran  blood  until  it 
dripped  out  of  the  scuppers,  according 
to  a  British  letter  home  about  the 
affair. 

A  force  of  grenadiers  was  also  sent 
to  aid  the  British  marine  guard  on 
Noddles  Island,  as  stated  before,  and 
Colonel  Stark  was  finally  obliged  to 
withdraw  to  Hogg's  Island,  and  then 
to  the  mainland,  taking  advantage  of 
the  ditches  cut  through  the  marshes, 
at  the  same  time  returning  a  hot  fire, 
inflicting  a  heavy  loss  of  killed  and 
wounded  on  the  enemy.  He  suc- 
ceeded, however,  in  carrying  off  the 
greater  part  of  the  live  stock. 

The  schooner  continued  to  fire  at 
the  Americans  after  they  had  reached 
Chelsea  Neck,  but  General  Putnam, 


The  Battle  of  Chelsea  Creek 


121 


who  fortunately  came  up  with  rein- 
forcements, among  whom  was  Joseph 
Warren,  serving  as  a  volunteer, 
opened  a  brisk  fire  in  return.  For 
the  first  time  in  the  American  Revo- 
lution, artillery  rumbled  between 
Chelsea's  hedgerows,  along  with  the 
inarching  hosts,  or  rather  two  little 
four-pounders  commanded  by  Capt. 
Gideon  (?)  Foster.  The  Provincials 
now  numbered  in  all  about  one  thou- 
sand men,  according  to  Hon.  A.  D. 
Bosson  of  Chelsea,  Mass. 

All  the  afternoon  the  popping  at 
the  redcoats  lasted,  and  at  nine  o'clock 
at  night  the  impetuous  Put  nam  began 
the  work  for  a  finish.  Mounting  his 
two  cannon  on  a  knoll  near  the  river 
edge,  backed  by  his  whole  force,  as 
the  becalmed  British  vessels  ap- 
proached that  point  on  their  retreat, 
towed  by  the  sailors  and  marines  in 
the  barges,  all  far  and  near  shots 
from  the  shore,  Putnam  and  his  men 
waded  out  waist  deep  into  the  water 
and  poured  a  fierce  fire  to  kill  into 
the  vessels  and  boats  Vith  demands 
for  surrender.  It  was  too  hot  for  the 
regulars.  At  eleven  o'clock  at  night, 
abandoning  their  vessels,  they  sought 
safety  in  flight  in  the  boats,  and  the 
enemy's  schooner  was  burned  by 
pulling  her  ashore  at  the  ferries  and 
burying  her  up  in  heaps  of  hay,  after 
removing  from  her  decks  four  cannon, 
the  sails  from  her  masts  and  clothes 
and  money  from  her  cabin.  In  this 
way  the  schooner  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  patriots  with  all  her  supplies, 
stores  and  equipments. 

As  the  Americans  were  all  trained 
marksmen,  the  casualties  among  the 
British  were  many.  The  action  at 
this  point  lasted  from  nine  to  eleven. 
The  Americans  had  three  or  four 
wounded  but  ,  none  killed.'  The 
British  loss  was  greatly  exaggerated 
at  the  time.  General  Gage  stated  in 
his  official  report  that  "two  men  were 
killed    and    a    few    wounded."     The 


New  Hampshire  Gazette  of  June  2, 
1775,  said  that  "  'Tis  said  between 
two  and  three  hundred  marines  and 
regulars  were  killed  and  wounded,  and 
that  a  place  was  dug  in  Boston 
twenty-five  feet  square  to  bury  their 
dead/  One  man  stated  that  he  saw 
sixty-four  dead  men  landed  at  Long 
Wharf  from  one  boat.  Edwin  M. 
Bacon's  "Historic  Pilgrimages  in  New 
England"  in  an  account  of  this  en- 
gagement, says  that  "the  Americans 
had  four  men  wounded,  while  the 
British  had  twenty  men  killed  and 
fifty  wounded." 

Gordon,  in  his  "History  of  the 
American  Revolution,"  states  that 
"at  least  two  hundred  British  were 
either  killed  or  wounded. " 

"Putnam,"  Bacon  says,  "got  the 
credit  for  this  fight";  and  it  is  stated 
that  the  conduct  of  this  affair  in- 
fluenced the  vote  in  the  Continental 
Congress  to  make  him  a  major-gen- 
eral. The  schooner  was  named  the 
Diana,  and  was  commanded  by  Lieut. 
John  Graves,  a  nephew  of  Admiral 
Samuel  Graves. 

In  the  battle  of  Chelsea  Creek, 
which  opened  so  redly,  our  men  fight- 
ing in  the  water  with  the  shore  rising 
behind  them  in  the  darkness,  or  stand- 
ing or  lying  on  the  higher  land,  could 
be  but  dimly  seen,  while  themselves 
firing  at  figures  clearly  cut  out  against 
the  surface  of  the  water. 

Judge  Bosson  (of  Chelsea),  in  his 
address  delivered  to  the  old  Suffolk 
Chapter  of  the  Sons  of  the  American 
Revolution,  two  years  ago,  expresses 
his  conviction  that  between  two  and 
three  hundred  of  the  British  were  killed 
and  wounded.  There  is  very  little  ot 
be  found  on  record  of  this  engagement 
in  print,  which  should  be  accorded  a 
place  as  the  second  battle  of  the 
Revolution,  Lexington  and  Concord 
being  the  first  actual  clash  of  arms 
between  the  British  and  American 
troops. 


»«?<* 


EMMA   GANNELL  RUMFORD  BURGUM 

By  J.  Elizabeth  Hoyt  Stevens 


Emma  Gannell  Rumford  Burgum 
was  born  in  London,  April  20,  1826, 
daughter  of  Henry  and  Mary  Grove 
Gannell  and  adopted  by  the  Countess 
of  Rumford  while  in  London. 


In  1814  the  Count]  died  at  Auteuil, 
near  Paris.  The  Countess,  who  was 
at  Havre,  France,  was  informed  of  his 
death  by  Baron  Delessert  and  di- 
rected to   come  to   Auteuil    for    the 


'■.:,;J                ■■.—*■--■              ■:.../'..■ 

- 

^£>x^.;/ 

\ 

- ' 

*  J." 

%     *'  /  - 

-' 

Emma  Gannell  Rumford  Burgum 


Count  Rumford  (Benjamin  Thomp- 
son), while  yet  in  the  service  of  the 
Elector  of  Bavaria,  visited  London  in 
the  year  1796  and  bought  a  house 
for  himself  at  45  Brompton  Row. 
Through  his  agent  he  became  ac- 
quainted with  a  man  named  Grove 
whom  he  secured  to  manage  his 
affairs  in  London. 


funeral,  which  she  did,  remaining 
there  for  a  short  while  after.  Then 
she  went  to  London  and  took  posses- 
sion of  her  father's  house.  She  di- 
rected Grove  to  make  some  changes 
in  the  house.  After  a  time,  being 
lonesome,  her  friends,  Lord  and  Lady 
Palmerston,  Sir  Charles  Blagden  and 
others    besides    her    father,    having 


Emma  GarmgM  Rumford  Bur  gum 


123 


passed  away,  she  thought  to  adopt  a 
child  and  asked  her  mar..  Grove,  if  he 
knew  of  some  Little  girl  thereabout, 
whom  she  could  get  to  come  to  live 
with  her  as  a  companion?  Grove 
replied  that  he  had  a  little  girl,  eight 
years  of  age.  whom  he  thought  would 
be  glad  to  come  to  her  and  she  did 
come,  remaining  with  the  Countess 
in  London  nine  years,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  she  accompanied  her  to 
Paris  and  lived  with  her  there  three 
years.  After  their  return  to  London, 
Mary  Grove  married  Henry  Gannell 
in  1824.  Gannell's  business  as  a 
traveling  merchant  taking  him  so 
much  from  home,  it  was  decided  that 
his  wife  might  remain  with  the 
Countess,  which  she  did  until  time 
for  her  baby  to  be  born.  Then  she 
went  to  her  father's  home  to  be  con- 
fined, but  she  soon  returned  with  her 
child  to  the  Countess.  The  Countess 
became  very  fond  of  baby  Emma 
and  used  to  beg  the  mother  to  give 
the  child  to  her  for  her  own.  When 
Emma  was  one  year  old  Mrs.  Gan- 
nell left  the  Countess  to  live  with  her 
husband  in  London.  Being  able  to 
visit  the  Countess'  home  daily,  Emma 
was  left  there  and  as  other  children 
(a  girl  and  two  boys),  came  to  the 
Gannell  family,  Emma  was  eventu- 
ally given  up  to  the  Countess. 

In  1835  the  Countess  of  Rumford 
sailed  for  America  bringing  the  nine 
year  old  Emma  with  her.  Here 
they  remained  three  years,  and  in- 
teresting are  the  stories  she  now  tells 
of  those  childhood  days,  at  play  in 
various  well  remembered  historic 
houses  in  and  about  Concord,  where 
she  and  the  Countess  used  to  visit. 

In  1838  they  sailed  from  America 
to  Paris  where.they  lived  seven  years. 
It  was  early  arranged  for  the  now 
twelve  year  old  Emma  to  enter  St. 
•Joseph's  Convent  as  a  pupil.  An 
outfit   of   clothes   and   silver   marked 

Emma  Rumford"  was  ready,  when 
Baron  Benjamin  Delessent  per- 
suaded the  Countess  that  if  she  sent 
the  child  there,  for  an  education, 
pressure   would   be   brought   to   bear 


on  the  child  that  would  result  in  her 
becoming  a  nun;  then  the  Countess 
would  never  have  her  at  home  again. 
So  the  engagement  at  St.  Joseph's  was 
cancelled  and  Emma,  much  to  the 
child's  disappointment,  was  sent  to 
a  Protestant  private  school  in  Paris, 
and  the  writer  has  seen  a  sampler 
made  by  the  child  at  the  school. 
It  is  marked  "Fait  par  Emma  Rum- 
ford, Fait  dans  la  Pension  de  Madame 
Schuts  1839."  The  Countess  was 
fond  of  painting  and  worked  much  in 
water  colors.  She  gave  the  child  a 
master  in  oil  and  had  her  well  in- 
structed in  this  art  while  in  Paris. 
In  traveling,  because  of  her  being  un- 
married the  passports  always  read 
"The  Countess  of  Rumford  and  her 
niece  Emma  Rumford."  In  18-15 
they  returned  to  America. 

In  1850  there  came  on  a  sailing- 
vessel  from  Birmingham,  England, 
to  Boston  a  man  named  John  Bur- 
gum.  His  voyage  had  been  of  a 
month's  duration.  He  was  by  trade 
a  painter  of  clock  dials.  The  first 
thing  he  spied  on  landing  in  Boston 
was  an  omnibus  having,  as  most 
vehicles  in  those  days  had,  landscape 
pictures,  as  well  as  coloring  and  letter- 
ing upon  them.  He  enquired  of  the 
driver  where  it  had  been  ornamented 
and  soon  made  his  way  to  the  manu- 
factory, secured  a  position  and  this 
on  his  very  first  day  in  America. 
Some  time  later  George  Main  (the 
late  florist)  then  foreman  of  the 
paint  shops  at  the  Abbot  Coach 
factory  in  Concord,  N.  H.,  was  in 
Boston  looking  up  a  man  for  this  kind 
of  work.  He  heard  of  Mr.  Burgum 
and  secured  him — in  spite  of  the  Bos- 
ton firms'  protestations — they  not 
wishing  to  lose  so  valuable  a  work- 
man and  artist.  His  first  work  in 
Concord  was  on  a  circus  wagon. 
Afterward  he  painted  coaches  that 
went  over  the  world,  among  them 
was  the  famous  "Deadwood  Coach." 

In  course  of  time  Hiram  Rolfe 
brought  Burgum  to  the  Countess' 
home  to  see  Count  Rumford's  paint- 
ings,    books,     etc.     Following    that, 


124 


The  Granite  Monthly 


Burgum  was  a  frequent  visitor  at 
the  Countess'  home.  Within  a 
year's  time  he  had  obtained  the 
Countess'  permission  to  make  Emma 
Rumford  his  wife.  October  30,  1S52, 
the  couple  were  married  somewhat 
earlier  than  had  been  planned  be- 
cause of  the  Countess'  illness  and  her 
wish  to  see  them  married  before  she 
should  pass  away.  The  marriage 
ceremony  was  performed  by  Rev. 
Nathaniel  Bout  on  in  the  Old  North 
Church.  The  Countess  died  De- 
cember 2,  1852,  two  months  after  the 
wedding. 

Most  of  the  domestic  articles  of 
the  house  were  left  to  Emma  Rum- 
ford,  who  continued  with  her  hus- 
band to  live  there  for  six  months 
after  the  death  of  the  Countess; 
then  they  went  to  live  in  their  own 
house  which   Mr.   Burgum  had  pre- 


pared for  his  wife  at  68  South  State 
street,  according  to  present  day 
numbering.  Mrs.  Burgum's  father 
died  in  1848.  In  1S55  her  mother, 
Mrs.  Gannell  came  to  America  for  a 
year's  visit  with  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Burgum. 

An  interesting  fact  concerns  the 
cradle  in  which  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bur- 
gum's  six  children  and  some  of  their 
grandchildren  were  rocked.  It  was 
made  out  of  the  bread  trough  which 
had  belonged  to  the  Countess'  mother, 
to  which  Mr.  Burgum  fitted  rockers  and 
applied  paint  and  Mrs.  Burgum  fitted 
a  quilted  wadded  lining.  It  now  sits 
at  rest  in  the  Burgum  attic  at  68 
South  State  street  where  Mrs.  Bur- 
gum is  still  living  at  the  age  of 
ninety  two  years,  a  most  interesting 
lad}',  spry  and  more  active  than  many 
a  younger  woman. 


TWILIGHT 

By  Florence  T.  Blaisdell 

When  one  beholds  at  daylight's  slumber  time, 

The  works  of  God,  tinged  o'er  with  rosy  hue, 
How  small  the  deeds  of  simple  man  then  seem, 

How  grand  creation's  art  appears  anew! 
Each  shape,  each  form,  takes  on  a  different  cast; 

Our  hearts  are  filled  with  reverence  divine. 
Our  thoughts  roam  backward  through  the  past 

And  onward  through  the  boundless  realms  of  time. 


ilADE  POETRY 

From  English  Literature  Authors 
By  Hattie  Duncan  Towle,  Chicago 

1.  'Tis  just  a  little  nosegay  of  conceits — 

2.  But  take  it  not  I  pray  you  in  disdain — 

3.  Each  posy  in't  hath  perfume  faint  which  doth 

4.  Remembrance  make,  with  all  her  busy  train. 

5.  I,  too,  can  scrawl,  and  once  upon  a  time, 

6-.  Ambition  bred  such  monstrous  hopes  and  fears, 

7.  But  that's  between  the  green  bud  and  the  red, 

8.  We've  thoughts  that  often  lie  too  deep  for  tears. 


Made  Poetry  12: 


9.  An  honest  man's  the  noblest  work  of  God, 

10.  So  think  not  meanly  of  thy  low  estate, 

11.  Uneasy  lies  the  head  that  wears  a  crown, 

12.  They  also  serve,  who  only  stand  and  wait. 


13.  Man  was  not  made  to  trifle — life  is  brief, 

14.  How  long  we  live,  not  years  but  actions  tell, 

15.  And  that  life's  long  that  answers  life's  great  end, 

16.  'Tis  virtue  makes  the  bliss  where'er  we  dwell. 

17.  The  way  to  bliss  lies  not  on  beds  of  ease, 

18.  So  rise  to  works  of  high  and  holy  love, 

19.  Nor  cast  a  longing,  lingering  look  behind, 

20.  Content  to  wait  the  recompense  above. 

21.  There  is  no  easy  recipe  for  joy, 

22.  We  cannot  solve,  though  zealously  we  try, 

23.  Life's  riddle  deep  its  myst'ries  vast  unfold 

24.  In  form  complete,  no  happiness  can  buy. 

25.  There's  aye  a  yearning,  vague  though  it  may  be, 

26.  Perhaps  some  heart's  desire  that  naught  fulfills, 

27.  While  life's  a  plain  prosaic  character, 

28.  We  love  the  lights  and  shadows  on  the  hills. 

29.  'Tis  Winter,  Summer — Xight  before  the  day, 

30.  Some  grief,  some  joy;  some  smiles  and  bitter  cries, 

31.  For  shade  and  sunshine  every  life  is  planned, 

32.  Next  Calv'ry — just  beyond — lies  Paradise. 

33.  Lift  bad  to  good,  lift  better  up  to  best, 

34.  You'll  find  that  love's  a  perfect  bit  of  heaven: 

35.  Just  help  the  world  progress,  that's  all  and  know 

36.  That  what  is  dark  on  earth,  will  be  light  in  heaven. 

The  foregoing  poetical  curiosity  made  up  from  lines,  quoted  from  many  different  authors, 
was  composed  by  Hattie  Duncan,  sixty  years  ago  living  in  Concord,  X.  H.,  a  member  of  Deacon 
John  A.  Gault's  family,  now  Mrs.  Hattie  Duncan  Towle  and  resident  in  Chicago. 

The  composition  exhibits  great  skill  and  patience  in  the  finding  and  arranging  the  poem — 
which  has  a  wonderful  continuity  of  thought,  considering  the  many,  many  writers. 

The  Key  is  given  below  showing  the  name  of  the  author  of  each  line. 

Key  to  the  names  of  Authors:  1,  Addison;  2,  Chaucer;  3,  J.  G.  Mills;  4,  Goldsmith; 
5,  Byron;  G,  Phillips;  7,  Swinburne;  S,  WadsWorth;  9,  Pope;  10,  Holmes:  11,  Shakespeare; 
12,  Milton;  13,  Bonar;  14,  Watkins:  15,  Young;  16,  Collins;  17,  Quarles;  18,  Wilcox;  19, 
Cray:  20,  Bethune:  21,  Colerktee;  22,  Kant;  23,  Kant;  24,  Drvden;  25,  Moore;  26,  Shelley; 
27,  J.  S.  Mill;  28,  Spencer;  29,  Cary;  30,  Keats;  31,  Anon;  32,  Unknown;  33,  Emerson;  34, 
Doddridge;  35,  Congreve;  36,  Whiuier. 


NEW  HAMPSHIRE   NECROLOGY 


HON.  JOHN  Q.  A.   BRACKETT 

'  Hon.  John  Quincy  Adams  Brackett,  one  of 

New  Hampshire's  most  distinguished  natives 
and  Massachusetts'  most  honored  citizens, 
died  at  his  home  in  Arlington,  Mass.,  April  6, 
1918. 

He  was  a  native  of  the  town  of  Bradford, 
born,  June  S,  1S42.  He  was  educated  at 
Colby  Academy,  New  London,  Harvard  Col- 
lege, class  of  1865,  and  the  Harvard  Law 
School,  graduating  from  the  latter  in  1868, 
being  admitted  to  the  bar  and  commencing 
practice  in  Boston,  at  once,  where  he  contin- 
ued. He  took  much  interest  in  public  affairs, 
as  a  Republican,  served  four  terms  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Boston  Common  Council,  of  which 
he  was  president  in  1S7G.  In  that  year  he  was 
elected  to  the  Massachusetts  house  of  repre- 
sentatives, and  served  eight  years,  through 
successive  re-elections,  being  speaker  the  last 
two  years.  In  1SS6  he  was  chosen  lieutenant 
governor,  serving  three  years,  and  in  18S9  was 
elected  governor,  but  was  defeated  the  next 
year  by  the  Democratic  candidate — the  late 
Hon.  William  E.  Russell.  He  was  a  delegate 
in  the  Republican  National  Conventions  of 
1892  and  1900,  and  president  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts electoral  college  in  1S96.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  present  Massachusetts  Con- 
stitutional Convention,  and  prominent  in  the 
deliberations  of  the  same  during  the  session 
of  1917.  He  had  been  president  of  the  Mer- 
cantile Library  Association  of  Boston,  and 
prominent  in  the  Masonic  order.  In  religion 
he  was  a  Unitarian.  (An  extended  sketch  of 
Governor  Brackett  appeared  in  the  Granite 
Monthly  for  June,  1913,  in  the  article  on 
Bradford.) 

Mr.  Brackett  married,  June  20,  1878,  Miss 
Angie  M.  Peck,  daughter  of  Abel  G.  Peck  of 
Arlington,  Mass.  For  a  time  they  resided  on 
Union  Park  Street,  Boston,  but  their  later 
home  was  on  Pleasant  Street,  Arlington.  He 
is  survived  hy  his  widow,  a  son.  Judge  John 
G.  Brackett  of  the  Municipal  Court,  and  a 
daughter,  Miss  Beatrice  Brackett,  of  Arling- 
ton. 

COL.   JOHN   G.   CRAWFORD 

John  Gault  Crawford,  born  in  Oakham, 
Mass.,  April  21,  1834,  died  in  Manchester, 
February  24,  1918. 

Colonel  Crawford  attended  the  public 
schools,  served  as  a  dry  goods  clerk  in  Wor- 
cester, and  at  the  age  of  21,  went  to  Kansas, 
where  he  ''mixed  up"  in  the  contest  between 
the  so-called  '"Border  Ruffians"  and  the 
John  Brown  raiders,  on  the  side  of  the  latter. 
Subsequently  he  located  in  Michigan,  where 
he  studied  law,  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  en- 
gaged in  practice,  went  into  politics  and  was 
elected  to  the  State  Senate.  In  1870,  he 
came  to  New  Hampshire  and  located  in 
Lancaster,  where  he  was  first  a  Democrat 
and  then  a  Republican  by  turns,  served  as 
U.  S.  Consul  to  Coaticook,  P.  Q.,  1881-84, 


and  removed  to  Manchester  in  1S90.  since 
when  he  had  been  a  Republican  and  as  such 
was  elected  to  the  last  legislature.  He  was 
a  unique  character,  and  had  appeared  effect- 
ively on  the  stump  for  both  parties. 

Colonel  Crawford  married,  April  16,  1863, 
Emma  Tindall  who  died  in  1S66.  June  7, 
1S67,  he  married  Abbie  True  Stevens  of 
Paris,  Me.,  who  died  February  2.  1882. 
April  30,  1SS4,  he  married  Mary  A.  Harring- 
ton, who  survives  him.  He  leaves  also  a  son, 
Dr.  Harry  C.  Crawford  of  New  York  and  a 
daughter,  Mrs.  John  W.  Chapman  of  Man- 
chester. 

GEN.  AUGUSTUS   D.   AYLING 

Gen.  Augustus  D.  Ayling,  who  though  not 
a  native  of  the  state,  nor  a  resident  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  was  essentially  a  New 
Hampshire  man,  having  spent  most  of  his 
active  life  in  the  state,  died  at  Centerville, 
Mass.,  January  9,  1918. 

He  was  a  native  of  Boston,  born  July  28, 
1840,  and  was  educated  in  the  Boston  schools 
and  Lawrence  Academy,  Groton,  Mass. 
He  was  in  the  employ  of  J.  C.  Ayer  <fe  Co.,  at 
Lowell  before  the  Civil  War,  upon  the  out- 
break of  which  he  enlisted,  serving  through- 
out, being  mustered  out  as  a  first  lieutenant. 
After  the  war  he  was  in  business  in  Nashua, 
and  was  captain  of  Company  F,  Second  Regi- 
ment, New  Hampshire  National  Guard.  He 
was  appointed  adjutant-general  of  the  State 
of  New  Hampshire  July  1,  1879,  by  Gov.  Natt 
Head,  and  served  in  that  capacity  until 
January  1,  1907,  when  he  retired.  This  long 
service  made  him  ranking  adjutant-general 
of  the  United  States. 

By  direction  of  the  New  Hampshire  State 
Legislature,  General  Ayling  prepared  the 
"Revised  Register  of  Soldiers  and  Sailors  of 
New  Hampshire  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion 
1861-1865,"  which  was  published  in  1905. 


DR.  CHARLES  B.  STURTEVANT 

Dr.  Charles  B.  Sturtevant,  long  a  prominent 
phvsician  of  'Manchester,  died  in  that  city, 
April  12,  191S. 

He  was  born  in  Barton,  Vt.,  April  2,  1850, 
son  of  Paschal  and  Louisa  A.  (Harvey)  Stur- 
tevant. He  was  educated  at  the  Northwood 
and  Pittsfield  Academies,  studied  medicine 
with  Dr.  John  Wheeler  of  Pittsfield,  and  at  the 
Long  Island  and  Dartmouth  Medical  colleges, 
graduating  from  the  latter  in  1874.  He  prac- 
ticed eight  years  in  New  Boston,  and  then 
settled  in  Manchester,  where  he  continued 
through  life.  While  in  New  Boston  he  was 
superintendent  of  schools  for  five  years.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  First  Congregational 
Church  of  Manchester,  the  Manchester  Histor- 
ical Association  and  the  New  Hampshire 
Medical  Society. 

He  had  been  twice  married  and  is  survived 
by  two  married  daughters. 


New  Hampshire  XecroJogy 


127 


HON.  WILLIAM  F.  WHITCHER 

William  Frederick  Whitcher.  born  in  Ben- 
ton, August  10,  1S45,  died  at  his  home  in 
Woodsvilie.  May  31,  1918. 

Mr.  Whitcher  had  been  known  for  many 
years  as  one  of  the  most  active  and  public 
spirited  citizens  of  Northern  New  Hampshire. 
He  was  the  son  of  the  late  Hon.  Ira  Whitcher, 
a  leading  Democrat  and  prominent  citizen. 
and  was  educated  at  Tilton  Seminary  and 
Wesley  an  University,  graduating  from  the 
latter  in  1S71  and  from  Boston  University 
Theological  School  in  1S73.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Southern  N.  E.  Methodist  Confer- 
ence for  nine  years,  holding  pastorates  in 
Providence  and  Newport,  R.  I.,  and  New- 
Bedford,  Mass.  Abandoning  the  ministry  he 
was  engaged  for  eighteen  years  in  journalism 
in  Boston,  as  reporter  and  editor,  first  with 
the  Traveler  and  later  with  the  Advertiser ,  re- 
siding in  Maiden,  where  he  was  a  member  and 
chairman  of  the  school  board  for  several  years. 

On  the  death  of  his  father,  in  1S9S,  he  re- 
moved to  Woodsvilie,  where  he  purchased  the 
Woodsvilie  News,  and  edited  the  same  until 
1910,  when  he  sold  it.  on  account  of  failing 
health.  Meanwhile  he  was  active  in  public 
affairs,  serving  as  representative  in  the  Legis- 
lature in  1901,  -4)3,  -05.  -07,  and  1911  and  in 
the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1912.  In- 
the  Legislature  he  was  among  the  most  in- 
fluential members,  acting  upon  the  Judiciary 
Committee  each  year  of  his  service,  taking  an 
active  part  in  debate,  and  closely  scanning  ail 
legislation  of  general  importance.  He  was 
one  of  the  most  active  supporters  of  the  meas- 
ure providing  for  the  erection  of  a  statue  of 
Franklin  Pierce  in  the  State  House  grounds, 
and  was  one  of  the  speakers  at  its  dedication. 
Politically  he  was  reared  a  Democrat  and 
continued  such  on  all  questions  except  the 
tariff.  He  was  a  warm  advocate  of  Woman 
Suffrage,  and  a  devoted  student  of  New 
Hampshire  history.  He  was  the  author  of  a 
history  of  Coventry  (Benton)  and  had  nearly 
completed  a  history  of  the  town  of  Haverhill. 
lie  had  served  several  years  as  a  trustee  of  the 
New  Hampshire  State  library,  and  was  con- 
nected with  various  business  enterprises  in 
Woodsvilie. 

He  was  twice  married:  first  to  Jeannette 
Marie  Burr  of  Middletown,  Conn.,  December 
4,  1S72,  who  died  September  22,  1894,  and, 
second,  to  Marietta  H.  Hadley  of  Stoneham, 
Mass;,  November  -1,  1890,  who  survives  him, 
as  does  one  son  bv  the  first  marriage.  Dr. 
Burr  Koyce  Whitcher  (Dartmouth  1902)  of 
W  est  Somerville,  Mass. 

IRVING   ALLISON   WATSON,   M.D. 

Dr.  Irving  Allison  Watson,  secretarv  of  the 
New  Hampshire  State  Board  of  Health,  died 
at  his  home  in  Concord.  April  2,  1918. 

Dr.  Watson  was  the  son  of  Porter  B.  and 
L'ivia  E.  (Laddj  Watson,  born  in  Salisbury 
September  6,  1849.     He  was  educated  in  the 


common  schools  and  Newbury  (Vt.)  Seminary, 
studied  medicine,  and  attended  lectures  in 
The  Dartmouth  and  Vermont  University  Med- 
ical colleges,  graduating  M.D.,  from  the  latter 
in  1871.  He  immediately  commenced  prac- 
tice at  Groveton,  remaining  ten  years.  While 
there  he  was  prominent  in  public  affairs  as  a 
Democrat;  was  several  years  superintendent 
of  schools,  and  represented  the  town  of  North- 
umberland in  the  State  Legislature  in  1S79 
and  1881.  In  the  latter  year  he  was  appointed 
secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Health,  then 
just  established,  and  continued  in  that  office 
until  his  death,  making  a  record  for  efficient 
service,  and. devotion  to  duty  unsurpassed  in 
the  State  or  nation.  He  was  connected  with 
various  organizations,  having  served  as  sec- 
retary of  the  American  Public  Health  Asso- 
ciation from  18S3  to  1S97;  president  of  the 
International  Conference  of  State  and  Pro- 
vincial Boards  of  Health  in  1903.  and  assistant 
secretary-general  of  the  first  Pan-American 
Medical  Congress.  He  was  a  permanent 
member  of  the  American  Medical  Association, 
and  was  president  of  the  New  Hampshire 
Medical  Society  in  1903. 

Aside  from  his  reports  as  secretary  of  the 
State  Board  of  Health,  and  of  the  American 
Public  Health  Association,  he  had  edited 
various  publications  including  ''Physicians 
and  Surgeons  of  America,"  and  written  num- 
berles  papers  on  medical  and  sanitary  sub- 
jects. 

Dr.  Watson  married,  in  1S72.  Lena  A.  Fan* 
of  Littleton,  who  died  January  30,  1901.  He 
is  survived  by  a  daughter,  Bertha  M.  of 
Concord. 

DANIEL  G.  ANNIS 

Daniel  G.  Annis,  native  and  life  long  resi- 
dent of  London  derrv,  was  born  January  25, 
1S39  and  died,  February  20,  1918.  He  was 
long  engaged  in  mercantile  business,  but  re- 
tired many  years  since,  devoting  himself _  to 
agriculture  and  historical  and  genealogical 
reasearch.  He  published  the  "Vital  Statis- 
tics of  Londonderry,"  some  years  ago.  He 
was  prominent  in  the  Grange,  and  the  Junior 
Order  of  American  Mechanics.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Lon- 
donderry, and  a  long  time  its  treasurer. 

MRS.   MARY   A.   BOSTWICK 

Mary  A.  Dunton  Bostwick,  a  native  and 
long  time  resident  of  Newport,  died  in  that 
town  Saturday,  May  11,  aged  09  years,  8 
months  and  22  days. 

She  was  the  daughter  of  William  and  Lois 
(Corbin)  Dunton,  her  father  having  been 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  scythes  at 
North  Newport  in  company  with  the  late 
E.  T.  Sibley,  and  her  mother  being  a  daugh- 
ter of  the  late  Hon.  Austin  Corbin,  Sr.,  and  a 
sister  of  Austin  Corbin,  the  eminent  banker. 
She  was  educated  in  the  Newport  schools  and 


128 


The  Granite  Monthly 


at  the  Millbury  (Mass.)  Academy,  and  taught 
in  Newport  for  some  time  in  youth. 

In  18SG,  she  married  Oscar  O.  Bostwick,  a 
prominent  merchant  and  banker  of  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  and  resided  in  that  city  until  his  death, 
several  years  later,  when  she  returned  to  New- 
port, and  had  since  resided  there. 

She  was  a  woman  of  modest  virtues  and 
rare  graces  of  manner,  and  enjoyed  a  wide 
circle  of  friendship.  A  Universalist  in  relig- 
ious faith,  she  had  united  with  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  Newport ;  was  a  member  of  Reprisal 
Chapter,  D.  A.  R.,  of  the  Newport  Woman's 
Club,  the  Equal  Suffrage  League,  and  was  an 
active  worker  in  the  King's  Daughters  and 
Red  Cross  organizations. 

She  leaves  one  brother,  Frederick  Dunton, 
of  Hollis,  L.  I. 


PROF.   HENRY   P.   WRIGHT 

Prof.  Henry  P.  Wright,  born  in  Winchester, 
N.  H.,  November  30,  1839,  died  at  his  home 
in  New  Haven.  Conn..  March  17.  191S.  He 
served  with  the  51st  Massachusetts  Volunteers 
in  the  Civil  War,  and  graduated  from  Yale  in 
186S  as  valedictorion  of  his  class,  with  the 
highest  standing  that  had  ever  been  attained 
in  that  college.  He  was  made  tutor  in  1S70, 
assistant  professor  in  1871  and  professor  of 
Latin  in  1876.  In  1SS4  he  was  made  dean  of 
the  University,  holding  the  office  till  1909. 
He  was  given  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philoso- 
phy by  Yale  in  1SS6,  and  Doctor  of  Laws  by 
Union  College  in  1895. 

He  is  survived  by  a  widow,  who  was  Martha 
E.  Burt  of  Oakham,  Mass.,  and  two  sons,  the 
eldest  being  Prof.  Henry  B.  Wright  of  the 
Yale  School  of  Religion. 


NATHANIEL  G.  BROOKS,  M.D. 

Dr.  Nathaniel  G.  Brooks,  a  prominent  phy- 
sician of  Charlestown.  died  at  his  home  in 
that   town.   March   10,    1918. 

Dr.  Brooks  was  a  native  of  Acworth,  son  of 
Dr.  Lyman  and  Mary  (Graham)  Brooks, 
born  October  1,  1838.  He  graduated  from 
the  Dartmouth  Medical  School,  and  prac- 
ticed, all  his  life,  in  Charlestown.  He  was  a 
surgeon  in  the  Civil  War,  and  was  wounded 
at  Gettysburg.  After  the  war  he  had  charge 
of  the  hospital  at  Brattleboro  for  a  time. 
Prominent  in  public  affairs  in  Charlestown — 
selectman,  representative  and  state  senator, 
first  president  of  Springfield  &  Charlestown 
Street  Railway. 

He  married  Miss  Emma  Pressler  who  sur- 
vives, with  three  sons,  Lyman,  Dr.  Nathaniel 
P.,  now  in  France  with  Army,  and  Philip  P. 
of  Boston. 

DR.  JONATHAN  M.  CHENEY 

Jonathan  M.  Cheney,  M.D.,  son  of  the  late 
Col.  Thomas  P.  Cheney,  was  born  in  Holder- 
ness  (now  Ashland)  December  15,  1863,  and 
died  in  that  town,  March  4,  1918. 

Dr.  Cheney  was  educated  at  New  Hampton 
Institute  and  the  Vermont  Medical  College; 
also  studying  in  Boston,  New  York  and  Ger- 
many. He  located,  in  practice  in  his  native 
town  and  there  continued.  He  was  active 
in  politics  as  a  Republican,  served  in  both 
branches  of  the  Legislature,  was  a  member 
of  the  Grafton  County  Medical  Advisory 
Board,  and  prominent  in  Masonry. 

He  is  survived  by  one  daughter,  Airs.  Rich- 
ard V.  Chase  of  Lakeport,  and  one  son, 
Thomas  P.  Cheney,  a  lieutenant  in  the  service 
of  the  government. 


EDITOR  AND  PUBLISHER'S  NOTES 


The  New  Hampshire  Old  Home  Week  As- 
sociation held  its  annual  meeting  at  the  State 
House,  Monday,  June  3.  H.  H.  Metcalf  was 
reelected  president;  Andrew  L.  Felker,  secre- 
tary, and  J.  Wesley  Plummer,  treasurer;  with 
a  vice-president  from  earn  county,  headed  by 
Gov.  H.  W.  Keyes,  and  an  executive  commit- 
tee composed  of  Nathaniel  S.  Drake  of  Pitts- 
field,  Warren  Tripp  of  Epsom,  Henry  E. 
Chamberlin  of  Concord,  Dr.  James  Shaw  of 
Franklin  and  Robert  W.  Upton  of  Bow. 
Old  Home  Week  this  year  opens  Saturday, 
August  17.  Three  towns — Acworth,  Henni- 
ker  and  Sunapee — observe  their  one  hundred 
and  fiftieth  anniversaries  during  the  week. 


The  forty-fifth  annual  session  of  the  New 
Hampshire  State  Grange  will  be  •  held  in 
Rochester,  at  the  City  hall,  December  10,  11 
and  12.  Instead  of  alternating  between 
Manchester  and  Concord,  as  was  the  custom 
for  some  years,  it  has  been  the  policy  of  the 
organization  of  late  to  hold  its  annual  gather- 
ings in  different  sections  of  the  state,  Dover, 
Portsmouth,  Nashua,  Keene  and  Laconia,  all 
having  had  sessions  within  the  last  few  years. 


There  is  a  strong  feeling  in  Concord  and 
Portsmouth,  that  some  small  portion  of  the 
money  allotted  for  railway  improvement  in 
New  England,  under  the  present  regime, 
should  be  devoted  to  the  reestablishment  of 
direct  communication  between  the  capital 
and  the  seaport  city,  which  latter  is  now  loom- 
ing large  on  the  industrial  horizon.  The 
Suncook  and  Candia  rails  should  be  restored. 


As  was  ajiriounced  in  the  last  issue  for  1917, 
the  Granite  Monthly  for  1918  appears  in 
quarterly  issues.  The  first  appeared  in  March, 
and  the  second,  for  April,  May  and  June,  is  now 
presented.  It  was  understood  that  payment 
for  the  year  was  to  be  made  on  receipt  of  the  first 
issue,  where  not  already  made  in  advance. 
Many  subscribers,  thus  promising  to  pay,  hare 
forgotten  to  do  so.  That  they  will  remit 
promptly  on  receipt  of  this  issue  is  now  ex- 
pected. Consult  the  date  on  your  address  label, 
and  if  the  same  is  not  up  to  January,  1919, 
please  remit  the  necessary  amount  at  once. 


't+j  <**/  jL*a%       z>  %J  J-,  O 


Y-SEFTEM8E 


IE 


NEW  SERIES,  Vol.  XIII,  '<<-...  7-3 


1PA 


New    f*        pshire    Magazine 

'oted  to  History,  Biography,  Literate  g 


Li  • . .  fir 


j                 CONTENTS  FOE  JULY -SEPTEMBER 

!! 

h       Hon.  Nathaniel  E.  Martin    .                  .                  ,         .     "  .         ... 

[j 

131 

1}                     Illustrated.                                                                                                               . 

1 

ji       Hon.  Irving  W,  Brew              .                           ,                 .         .         .         .         . 

U7 

1                    Illusti 

I 

1        Moses  Dow,  Citizen  of  Haver  Mil         .  '      .        ■;        .        .         .         , 

lit     i 

By  Frances  Parkinson  Keyes.-    Illustrated. 

!' 

j         Old  Horns  Sunday  Address,  Concord          .         -         .-■■■...' 

ur>     \\ 

By  vVilham  Porter  Niles.    Illustrated. 

1 

jj      Wilmot  Camo-Meeting— Historical  Sketch 

iss     1 

By  Ernest  Vinton  Brc  a.     ".'.        ated. 

t 

!       One  Hundredth  Anniversary,  First  Congregational  Sunday  School, 

II 

Concord      .         .         .         .   - 

165         i 

By  John  Calvin  Thome.     Illustrated: 

1 

New  Hampshire  Pioneers  of  Religious  Liberty         .         ... 

189        j 

By  Rev.  Roland  D.  Sawyer. 

I 

Sunapee's  Anniversary      .     .        .        -.        .        . '       .        .         .        . 

173       | 

By  Albert  D.  Feich.     Illustrated. 

m    | 

Anniversary  Address,  -dcworth      .         . 

byJorjaU-Jii5':ii'Oci:i. 

iss     ! 

j       Grand  Old  lied  Hill        .         .  "     .         .         .         .         .         .         .       '  .    .     . 

J                        -j  Mary  Blake  Benson. 

i 

j!       The  Alhv:a±  Quilt 

1ST       J 

By  Eva  Beede  OdelL 

(i       William  Plume?  Fowler 

ISS 

By  Frances  Abbott.     Illustrated. 

New  Hampshire  Necrology   . 

iso      I 

Editor  and  Publisher's  Notes 

192 

j      Poems 

By  Charles  Nevers  Holmes,  Fred  Myron  Colbv,  Martha  S.  Baker.  Rev.  Sidney  T\  Cooke 

, 

Rev.  Raymond  H.  Huse,  M.  E.  Nella,  Georgie  Rogers  "VS'arrer;,  Ernest  Vinton  Brown 

?.u.ry  0.  But^  A.  W.Anderson,  E.  M.  Patten,  Edward  H.  Richards,  Frances  Parkinsor 

L        ' 

Keyes. 

f 

Issued  hy  The  Granite  Monthly  Company 

HENRY  H.  METCALF,  Editor  and  Manager 
ESMS:  fi.oo  per  annum,  in  advance;  $1.56  if  nvi  paid  lit  advance.     Single   coplesj  23  c< 

CONCORD,  H.  H«,  1918 

Entered  at  the  post  cSc€  at  Concord  as  eeeomi -class  ma!3  matter. 


I 

I 


il 


-nts 


at. 


fc&fc 


{■  1 

I  "  m 


HON.  NATHANIEL  E.   MARTIN 


The    Granite    Monthly 


Vol.  L,  Nos. 


JULY-SEPTEMBER 


New  Series,  Vol.  XIII,  N03.  7-9 


HON.    NATHANIEL  E.   MARTIN 

Democratic  Candidate  for  Governor  of  New  Hampshire 


The  Democrats  of  New  Hampshire, 
at  the  recent  primary  election,  nomi- 
nated Hon.  Nathaniel  E.  Martin,  the 
present  senator  for  District  No.  15,  as 
their  candidate  for  governor,  to  be 
voted  for  at  the  election  on  November 
5.  As  was  the  case  with  Col.  John  H. 
Bartlett,  the  Republican  candidate, 
Mr.  Martin  had  no  contestant  for  the 
nomination,  and  that  the  vote  cast 
for  him  was  small  in  comparison  with 
that  which  Colonel  Bartlett  received, 
is  due  simply  to  the  fact  that  there 
was  an  exciting  Senatorial  contest  to 
bring  out  the  Republican  voters  and 
nothing  of  the  sort  to  stimulate  Demo- 
cratic attendance  at  the  polls. 

The  first  quarterly  issue  of  the 
Granite  Monthly,  this  year,  pre- 
sented a  frontispiece  portrait  of  Col- 
onel Bartlett,  of  whom  an  extended 
biographical  sketch  was  published 
in  its  pages  a  few  years  since.  With 
this  issue  Mr.  Martin's  portrait  ap- 
pears as  a  frontispiece,  and  some  ref- 
erence to  his  career  may  be  deemed 
pertinent  at  this  time. 

Nathaniel  E.  Martin  was  born  in 
the  town  of  Loudon,  August  9.  1855, 
the  son  of  the  late  Theophilus  B.  and 
Sarah  (Rowell)  Martin,  and  a  great- 
grandson  of  James  Martin,  a  Revo- 
lutionary soldier,  of  Pembroke.  Of 
the  same  family  came  the  late  Dr. 
Noah  Martin  of  Dover,  governor  of 
New  Hampshire  in  1852  and  1853, 
and  Abigail  Martin,  mother  of  the 
late  Judge  William  Martin  Chase. 

Nathaniel  Martin,  son  of  James  and 


grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  settled  in  Loudon  ninety 
3rears  ago,  upon  the  farm  which  has 
ever  since  remained  in  the  family,  and 
became  a  successful  farmer  and  lead- 
ing citizen,  as  did  his  son,  Theophilus, 
the  father  of  Nathaniel  E.,  who  repre- 
sented his  town  in  the  legislature,  was 
treasurer  of  Merrimack  County,  and 
a  trial  justice  for  many  years. 

Endowed  with  a  strong  constitu- 
tion, and  inured  to  hard  labor  on  the 
farm  in  early  life,  young  Martin  devel- 
oped mental  capacity7  and  ambition 
commensurate  with  his  physical  abil- 
ity, and  he  soon  determined  to  secure 
a  better  education  than  the  country 
school  afforded,  and  to  fit  himself 
for  professional  life.  To  that  end  he 
entered  the  Concord  High  School 
from  which  he  graduated  in  June, 
1876,  and  immediately  entered  the 
office  of  Sargent  &  Chase  for  the  study 
of  law.  Under  the  instruction  of 
these  learned  jurists  and  able  prac- 
titioners he  became  well  grounded  in 
the  principles  of  the  law  and  their 
application  to  particular  causes.  He 
also  developed  a  habit  of  industry 
and  a  love  for  his  work,  so  that  when 
admitted  to  the  bar,  August  14,  1879, 
the  promise  of  success  in  Ins  chosen 
profession  was  clearly  manifest  to  his 
friends,  and  it  is  needless  to  say  that 
the  promise  has  been  fulfilled  in 
abundant  measure. 

Commencing  practice  in  Concord, 
he  continued  alone  for  some  time,  but 
for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  has 


132 


The  Granite  Monthly 


been  associated  with  DeWitt  C.  Howe, 
also  regarded  as  one  of  the  ablest- 
lawyers  at  the  Merrimack  bar.  The 
business  of  the  firm  has  constantly 
increased  till  it  is  now  unquestion- 
ably, so  far  as  the  trial  of  causes  is  con- 
cerned, larger  than  that  of  any  other 
firm  in  the  county,  and  extends  into  all 
parts  of  the  state. 

As  a  successful  jury  lawyer  Mr. 
Martin Jhas  no  superior  and  few  peers 
in  the  estate.  His  clientage,  in  the 
main,  is  from  the  ranks  of  the  com- 
mon people,  he  never  having  catered 


his  cases  is  one  of  his  leading  char- 
acteristics as  a  lawyer,  as  wrell  as 
plain  matter-of-fact  statement  in  their 
presentation.  He  resorts  to  no  ora- 
torical arts  or  rhetorical  devices  in  his 
argument,  whether  to  the  court  or  the 
jury;  but  depends  upon  plain,  com- 
mon-sense statement,  in  the  every-day 
language  which  all  can  understand, 
for  the  desired  result;  and  his  wonder- 
ful success,  especially  before  the  jury, 
attests  the  wisdom  of  his  judgment 
in  this  regard. 

His  knowledge  of  men  as  well  as  of 


sokes  ■■  W"^ 


m 


I  g^-->a.--^ 


Residence  of  Hon.  Nathaniel  E.  Martin 


for  corporation  practice.  Indeed  he 
is  generally  known  as  "the  people's 
lawyer, ;'  and  fewT  men  of  great  wealth 
are  seen  in  the  crowd  of  waiting  clients 
usually  filling  his  outer  office.  His 
remarkable  success  results,  in  large 
measure,  from  his  thorough  knowledge 
of  men,  whom  he  has  studied  all  his 
fife  with  care  and  diligence.  Famil- 
iarity with  the  motives  of  men,  and 
the  springs  of  human  action,  is  as 
essential  to  professional  success  on  the 
part  of  the  lawyer  as  knowledge  of 
the  law  itself,  and  in  this  regard  Mr. 
Martin's  equipment  is  unsurpassed. 
Thoroughness  in  the  preparation  of 


the  law,  and  his  familiarity  with  the 
practical  affairs  of  every-day  life,  in 
city  and  country  alike,  qualify  him, 
in  high  degree,  for  the  public  sendee, 
which  he  has  never  sought,  but  into 
which  he  has  been  called  to  greater 
extent  than  most  lawyers  of  his 
extensive  practice,  in  communities 
where  the  party  in  opposition  to  their 
own  is  ordinarily  in  the  ascendant. 

A  Democrat,  by  inheritance  and 
conviction,  in  both  the  social  and 
political  sense  of  the  term,  Mr.  Mar- 
tin has  always  been  allied  with  the 
party  of  that  name,  and,  although 
strongly  devoted  to  his  profession  and 


Eon.  Nathaniel  E.  Martin 


133 


avoiding  rather  than  seeking  prefer- 
ence and  position  at  the  hands  of  his 
party  or  the  public,  he  has  rendered 
the  former  no  little  service,  and  has 
been  called  by  the  latter  into  positions 
of  trust  and  responsibility,  in  all  of 
which  he  has  acquitted  himself  with 
honor,  and  to  the  eminent  satisfac- 
tion of  the  people.  He  has  served 
upon  the  Democratic  ward  and  city 
committees;  as  a  member  for  many 
years  of  its  State  Committee,  and  as 
secretary  and  chairman  of  the  same; 
as  president  of  its  State  Convention, 
and,  in  1904,  was  a  member  of  the 
New  Hampshire  delegation  in  the 
Democratic  National  Convention  at 
St.  Louis. 

Nominated  for  solicitor  of  Merri- 
mack County  in  1886,  notwithstand- 
ing the  normal  Republican  majority 
in  the  county,  he  was  elected  to  that 
office,  and  his  administration  was 
characterized  by  the  only  successful 
attempt  in  the  history  of  the  state,  up 
to  that  time,  to  enforce  the  existing 
prohibitory  law,  which  had  been 
practically  a  dead  letter  throughout 
the  state  since  its  enactment  thirty 
years  before,  and  enforced  only  in 
special  cases,  and  against  particular 
individuals,  for  the  furtherance  of 
partisan  ends.  Twelve  years  later, 
nominated  by  his  party  for  mayor  of 
Concord,  his  reputation  for  law  en- 
forcement gave  him  the  election, 
though  the  city,  then  as  now,  was 
normally  Republican  by  a  large  ma- 
jority. His  administration  as  mayor 
was  creditable  to  himself  and  his 
party,  but  was  hampered  by  an  ad- 
verse majority  in  the  city  councils, 
blocking  the  way  to  the  practical  re- 
forms which  he  sought  to  institute. 

In  the  Constitutional  Convention 
of  1912  Mr.  Martin  was  a  delegate 
from  Ward  Six,  Concord,  in  which  he 
resides,  and  took  a  prominent  part  in 
the  work  of  the  Convention.  In  1914 
the  Democrats  of  the  Concord  Sena- 
torial district  impressed  Mr.  Martin 
into  the  service  as  a  candidate,  with 
the  result  of  his  election  by  a  plurality 
of  150,  when  the  Republican  guber- 


natorial vote  in  the  district  exceeded 
the  Democratic  by  260.  Although 
with  the  minority  in  the  Senate,  Mr. 
Martin  was  an  acknowledged  leader 
in  all  matters  not  purely  partisan,  and 
Ins  influence  in  practical  legislation 
was  second  to  that  of  no  other  mem- 
ber. Renominated  in  1916,  he  was 
again  elected  by  a  substantial  major- 
ity, and  to  his  presence  and  influence 
in  the  Senate  the  state  is  indebted  for 
much  valuable  legislation,  not  the 
least  among  the  same  being  the  pres- 
ent prohibitory  law,  which  could  not 
have  been  passed  in  that  bod}'  but  for 
his  earnest  and  effective  support. 

Mr.  Martin's  interest  and  activities 
have  not  been  confined  entirely  to  his 
professional  and  public  service.  He 
has  been  associated  with  others  in 
extensive  lumbering  operations  at 
different  times,  and  has  large  real 
estate  interests  in  the  city  of  his 
adoption,  besides  owning  and  man- 
aging the  old  homestead  farm  in  Lou- 
don, where  he  was  born,  and  where  in 
former  years  he  bred  and  reared 
much  excellent  stock,  including  some 
fine  horses,  among  which  was  the  cel- 
ebrated "Newflower"  which  once 
made  the  fastest  time  then  recorded 
on  the  Concord  State  Fair  Grounds. 
He  has,  also,  extensive  holdings  of 
land  in  Loudon,  outside  the  home 
farm,  some  of  which  is  heavily  tim- 
bered. 

He  was  one  of  the  incorporators  of 
the  Concord  Building  &  Loan  Asso- 
ciation in  1887,  and  has  been  treasurer 
of  the  same  since  its  organization,  it 
being  one  of  the  largest  and  most 
prosperous  institutions  of  the  kind  in 
the  state.  He  does  not  figure  prom- 
inently as  a  i:  joiner, "  but  has  been  a 
member  of  Rumford  Lodge,  No.  46, 
I.  0.  0.  F.,  nearly  forty  years,  and 
passed  the  chairs  in  that  organization 
many  years  ago.  He  is  also  a  mem- 
ber of  Canton  Wildey,  No.  1,  Patri- 
archs Militant. 

Mr.  Martin  married,  first,  March 
27,  1902,  Mrs.  Jennie  P.  Lawrence,  a 
daughter  of  the  late  Ashael  Burnham 
of    Concord,    who    died    October   20, 


MRS.  NATHANIEL  E.  MARTIN 


The  Old,  Old  Home                                           135 

1911.     On    June    14,    1915,    he    was  cord,  and  who  will  with  equal  grace 

united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Mar-  perform  the  duties  devolving  upon  the 

£nret  W.  Clough,  daughter  of  Warren  "first  lady"  of  the  state  should  her 

and  Georgia  (Colby)  Clough  of  Bow,  husband  be  elected  to  the  high  office 

a  charming  and  accomplished  young  for  which  he  has  been  nominated,  and 

lady,  who  presides  gracefully  over  his  which  he  is  so  admirably  qualified  to 

fine  home  at  No.  8  South  Street,  Con-  fill. 


THE   OLD,   OLD   HOME 

By  Charles  Nevers  Holmes 

How  we  love  when  years  have  flown, 
Seated  at  our  hearth  alone, 

As  the  evening  shadows  fall  on  vale  and  hill, 
To  revisit  then  once  more 
Like  some  dreamland  scenes  of  yore, 

And  our  old,  old  Home  whose  recollections  thrill. 

O,  that  Home  where  we  were  born! — 
Where  the  bird  sang  ev'ry  morn 

And  the  cricket  chanted  in  the  meadow  near; 
Where  noon's  sunshine  was  so  bright 
And  the  Harvest  Moon  so  white, 

And  no  tragic  grief  had  shed  its  bitter  tear. 

There  still  live  those  aged  trees, 
Whisp'ring  in  the  summer  breeze, 

There  that  garden  blooms  before  our  eyes  again, 
And  the  barn  stands  sweet  with  hay 
Where  we  used  to  romp  and  play, 

And  "drive  home  the  cows"  along  yon  shady  lane. 

Dreaming — dreaming  'mid  the  gloom, 
Now  we  see  each  humble  room 

And  the  front  porch  where  the  lilacs  thickly  grew; 
And  our  dear  good  mother's  face 
Hallows  all  this  long-lost  place 

With  her  smile  so  fondly  tender  and  so  true! 

How  we  love  when  years  have  flown, 
Seated  at  our  hearth — alone, 

-As  the  gloaming  softly  steals  o'er  vale  and  hill, 
To  revisit  thus  once  more 
Like  some  dreamland  scenes  of  yore. 

And  our  old,  old  Home  whose  recollections  thrill! 

^1  Arlington  St.,  Newton,  Mass. 


HON.   IRVING   W.  DREW 


HON.  IRVING  W.  DREW 

Recently  Appointed  United  States  Senator  by  Governor  Keyes 


On  the  second  day  of  September 
Governor  Keyes  appointed  the  Hon. 
Irving  W.  Drew  of  Lancaster  to  fill 
the  vacancy  in  the  United  States 
Senate  occasioned  by  the  death  of 
Dr.  Jacob  H.  Gallinger,  who  had 
served  in  that  office  for  more  than 
twenty-seven  years — a  far  longer 
period  than  any  other  incumbent 
from  this  state.  It  is  but  fair  to  say 
that  in  this  selection  the  governor 
manifested  admirable  judgment,  the 
eminent  qualifications  of  Mr.  Drew 
for  this  high  office  being  universally 
recognized.  He  has  long  been  well 
known  to  the  people  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, but  a  brief  sketch  of  his  life 
may  not  be  inappropriate  at  this 
time,  and  perhaps  none  more  compre- 
hensive can  be  produced  than  that 
which  was  embodied  in  the  article  on 
Lancaster  in  the  Granite  AIonthly 
of  September-October,  1914,  which 
is  as  follows: 

Hon.  Irving  W.  Drew 

Irving  Webster  Drew,  long  known 
as  one  of  the  most  brilliant  lawyers 
in  the  state,  son  of  Amos  Webster 
and  Julia.  Esther  (Lovering)  Drew, 
was  born  at  Colebrook,  X.  H.,  Jan- 
uary 8,  1845.  He  fitted  for  college 
at  Kimball  Union  Academy,  Meriden, 
and  graduated  at  Dartmouth  in  the 
class  of  1870.  He  studied  law  in  the 
office  of  Ray  &  Ladd,  at  Lancaster, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  No- 
vember, 1871.  William  S.  Ladd  hav- 
ing been  appointed  a  judge  of  the 
Supreme  Judicial  Court,  Mr.  Drew 
succeeded  him  as  a  member  of  the 
firm,  of  Ray  &  Drew.  In  1873  the  firm 
became  Ray,  Drew  &  Heywood.  In 
1876,  Chester  B.  Jordan  succeeded 
Mr.    Heywood.     The   firm   remained 


Ray,  Drew  &  Jordan  until  18S2, 
when  Philip  Carpenter  became  a 
partner  of  Ray,  Drew,  Jordan  <fc 
Carpenter.  Mr.  Ray  was  elected  to 
Congress  in  1880  and  retired  from  the 
firm  in  1884,  Air.  Carpenter  in  1885. 
From  this  time  this  law  firm  was 
known  as  Drew  &  Jordan  until  1893, 
when  William  P.  Buckley  was  taken 
into  partnership.  The  firm  contin- 
ued Drew,  Jordan  &  Buckley  until 
1901,  when  Merrill  Shurtleff  entered 
the  firm.  The  name  remained  Drew, 
Jordan,  Buckley  &  Shurtleff  until  the 
death  of  Air.  Buckley,  January  10, 
1906.  The  following  March  George 
F.  Morris  became  a  partner.  Air. 
Jordan  retired  January,  1910.  For 
three  years  the  firm  name  was  Drew, 
Shurtleff  &  Morris.  In  1913,  Eri 
C.  Oakes  was  admitted  to  the  present 
firm  of  Drew,  Shurtleff,  Morris  & 
Oakes. 

Mr.  Drew's  career  as  a  lawyer  has 
been  long  and  successful.  During 
forty-two  years  of  active  practice  he 
has  devoted  his  best  powers  to  the 
profession  which  he  loves  and  honors. 
He  was  admitted  to  all  the  Federal 
Courts  in  1877.  A  loyal  member  of 
the  New  Hampshire  Bar  Association, 
he  was  elected  president  at  its  annual 
meeting  in  1899. 

Air.  Drew  has  been  actively  inter- 
ested in  politics,  state  and  national. 
He  was  chosen  delegate  to  the  Demo- 
cratic National  Conventions  of  1880 
at  Cincinnati,  and  1892  and  1896  at 
Chicago.  But  when  "William  J.  Bryan 
was  nominated  for  President  on  a  free 
silver  platform,  he  became  a  Repub- 
lican. He  was  a  member  of  the  State 
Constitutional  Conventions  of  1902 
and  1912.  He  was  commissioned 
major  of  the  Third  Regiment,  New 


138 


The  Granite  Monthly 


Hampshire  National  Guard,  in  1876 
and  served  three  years. 

Mr.  Drew  has  been  much  interested 
in  the  business  affairs  of  his  town  and 
state.  During  the  great  contest  be- 
tween the  Boston  &  Maine  and  Con- 
cord Railroads,  in*  1887,  he  suggested 
to  George  Van  Dyke  that  there  was 
an  opportunity  to  secure  the  building 
of  the  Upper  Coos  Railroad.  At  the 
organization  of  this  railroad  in  1S87, 
he  was  made  a  director  and  was 
elected  president  in  1909.  He  was  also 
for  some  years  a  director  of  the  Here- 
ford Railroad.  For  many  years  a 
trustee  of  the  Siwooganock  Guaranty 
Savings  Bank,  Mr.  Drew  was  made 
its  president  in  1891.  Since  its  organ- 
ization he  has  been  director  of  the 
Lancaster  National  Bank.  He  has 
been  a  trustee  and  the  president  of  the 
Lancaster  Free  Library  for  many 
years,  and  always  an  enthusiastic 
supporter   of   churches,    schools    and 


other  town  and  state  institutions.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  New  Hampshire 
Historical  Society,  a  Knight  Templar 
in  the  Masonic  Order,  and  an  Odd 
Fellow. 

On  August  12,  1914,  at  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  one  hundred  fiftieth  anni- 
versary of  the  founding  of  the  town  of 
Lancaster,  N.  H.,  Mr.  Drew,  as 
"  President  of  the  Day,"  presided  at 
the  commemorative  exercises  and  at 
the  ceremony  of  the  unveiling  of  the 
memorial  to  the  founder  of  the  town. 

Mr.  Drew's  home,  since  he  began 
the  study  and  practice  of  the  law,  has 
been  at  Lancaster.  He  married,  No- 
vember 4,  1869,  Caroline  Hatch  Mer- 
rill, daughter  of  Sherburne  Rowell  and 
Sarah  Blackstone  (Merrill)  Merrill  of 
Colebrook.  Of  their  four  children,  a 
son,  Pitt  Fessenden  Drew,  and  a 
daughter,  Sally  (Drew)  Hall,  wife  of 
Edward  Kimball  Hall,   survive. 


IN  JULY 

By  Fred  Myron  Colby 

In  July  the  streams  run  low; 
In  the  gardens  poppies  blow; 
Wild  bees  wander  murmuring. 
From  the  brakes  the  blackbirds  sing. 
Banks  of  daisies  meet  the  eye, 
Dreaming  sweet  beneath  the  sky; 
Breath  of  lilies  scent  the  air, 
Feathery  clouds  are  few  and  fair, 
In  July. 


In  July  the  rose  leaves  fall, 
And  the  harvest  groweth  tall; 
Like  the  billows  of  the  sea 
Clover  fields  toss  wild  and  free. 
O'er  the  lakelet's  glassy  rim 
Wings  of  swift  and  swallow  skim; 
Corydon  woos  his  rustic  maid 
In  the  languorous  woodland  shade, 
In  July. 


VOICES  FROM  AN  OLD  ABANDONED  HOUSE 

By  Martha  S.  Baker 

I  pass  an  old  gray  house  upon  rny  way, 
Then  turn,  retrace  ni}r  steps  a  while  to  stay, 
To  dream,  to  ponder,  let  my  fancy  play. 

It  stands  bereft,  abandoned,  quite  alone, 
A  voice  from  out  the  past  in  minor  tone; 
A  worn  and  faded  picture  dimly  shown. 

The  faded  lilac  blooms  about  the  door, 

A  gracious  welcome  bring  from  days  of  yore, 

A  call  the  tangled  paths  to  wander  o'er. 

A  startled  bird  its  nesting  place  reveals, 
A  gnarled  old  apple  tree  that  half  conceals; 
A  distant,  tinkling  cow-bell  faintly  peals. 

The  murmur  of  a  tiny,  cooling  stream, 

Whose  trickling  waters  through  the  tall  grass  gleam, 

Adds  tuneful  voice  to  mingle  in  my  dream. 

Beside  a  crumbling  wall  of  stones,  a  rose, 
Its  wasteful  fragrance  on  the  still  air  throws; 
A  cat-bird's  song  in  sweet  abandon  grows. 

The  vagrant  breezes  play  among  the  trees; 

I  hear  the  drowsy  droning  of  the  bees. 

How  restful  nature's  music,  real  heart's  ease! 

I  muse  of  all  the  music  of  a  home, 

The  dearest  place  beneath  the  sky's  blue  dome, 

A  hallowed  spot  wherever  one  may  roam. 

I  fancy  children's  laughter  glad  and  gay, 
Its  cheery  echo  from  some  bygone  day; 
Young  men  and  maids  who  trill  a  merry  lay. 

I  dream  of  matrons  sweet,  serene,  demure, 

Of  pleasant,  kindly  voice  in  love  secure; 

Of,  sun-browned,  stalwart  men  whose  hearts  are  pure. 

I  think  of  gala  days,  of  marriage  bells; 
Of  sorrow,  tears,  the  sadness  of  farewells, 
And  this  the'silence  of  the^oldjhouse  tells. 
***** 

Not  now  a  time-worn,  battered  frame  it  stands, 
But  wistful,  yearningly,  with  outstretched  hands, 
A  home  once  loved,  revered  it  large  expands. 


\if    i'.W:  ■■■'    ■■      -      ,      ^.:>.1;  ^.-     .■':■■  . __  __. 


FRANCES  PARKINSON  KEYES 
(Mrs.  Henry  W.  Keyes) 


MOSES  DOW,  CITIZEN  OF  HAVERHILL 

By  Frances  Parkinson  Keyes 


Shortly  before  the  outbreak  of  the 
American  Revolution,  a  young  man 
named  Moses  Dow  left  his  native  town  - 
of  Atkinson,  and,  after  remaining  for 
a  short  time  in  Plymouth,  went  to 
Haverhill,  established  himself  there, 
and  remained  for  the  rest  of  his  life. 

His  arrival  must  have  created  quite 
a  stir  in  that  quiet,  isolated  and  agri- 
cultural district.  He  was  a  young 
gentleman  of  some  elegance  and  fash- 
ion, very  handsome,  with  an  excellent 
education  and  an  independent  income; 
he  was,  moreover,  a  lawyer — appar- 
ently the  first  who  had  thought  of 
settling  there.  It  would  not  have 
been  strange  if  a  person  of  this  type 
had  succeeded  only  in  antagonizing 
his  new  neighbors  by  assuming  airs  of 
superiority,  or  if  he  had  found  the 
quiet  life  of  the  place  distasteful  to 
him,  and,  when  the  first  novelty  had 
worn  off,  decided  to  go  elsewhere. 
But  neither  of  these  things  happened. 
He  bought  land,  built  himself  a  house, 
and,  marrying,  brought  up  his  family 
there;  and  the  affection  winch  he  felt 
for  his  self-adopted  town,  and  the 
substantial  ways  in  which  he  showed 
this  affection,  were  acknowledged  and 
rewarded  again  and  again  by  the  posi- 
tions of  prominence  and  trust  which 
he  was  called  upon  to  fill  by  his  fellow- 
citizens. 

It  does  not  appear  that  the  ancestry 
of  Moses  Dow  was  illustrious  or  even 
remarkable.  Thomas  Dow,  the  first 
member  of  the  family  to  emigrate 
from  England,  was  one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  Newbury,  Mass.;  he  moved 
from  there  to  Haverhill,  Mass.,  where 
he  died  in  1664,  and  Haverhill,  for 
several  generations,  remained  the 
home  of  the  Dows.  In  1741  the  state 
boundary  line  was  changed,  and  the 
northern  part  of  the  town  of  Haverhill, 
Mass.,  became  the  town  of  Atkinson, 


N.  H.  The  first  house  built  there — 
and  still  occupied  by  one  of  his  de- 
scendants— was  erected  by  John  Dow, 
great-grandson  of  Thomas,  and  father 
of  Moses.  This,  and  the  fact  that  he 
sent  his  son  to  Harvard,  where  he 
graduated  in  1769,  and  encouraged 
him  to  become  a  member  of  the  bar, 
showed  that  he  must  have  beem  a  man 
of  some  enterprise  and  ambition;  but  I 
have  found  no  further  record  of  his 
achievements. 

Of  Moses  Dow,  however,  and  of  his 
fearlessness,  his  integrity,  his  fine 
mind,  distinquished  appearance,  and 
notable  attainments,  there  are  rec- 
ords in  plenty.  He  was,  first  of  all, 
a  gentleman  in  the  highest  sense  of 
that  much-abused  word,  and,  secondly 
a  keen  student  and  an  able  lawyer. 
In  1774  he  was  appointed  by  the  Court 
of  the  General  Sessions  of  the  Peace  to 
act  as  King's  Attorney  in  the  absence 
of  the  Attorney-General;  he  was  for 
four  years  solicitor  of  Grafton  County, 
and  thirty  years  register  of  probate; 
in  1808  he  was  appointed  judge  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas,  an  office 
which  he  held  until  his  death,  and 
which  necessitated  at  one  time  a 
temporary  residence  in  Plymouth. 
The  many  responsibilities  which  his 
own  profession  brought  him  would 
probably  have  seemed  to  a  less  afele 
man  to  entirely  fill  his  life;  but  Moses 
Dow  seems  to  have  found  plenty  of 
time  for  public  affairs  as  well.  He 
was  the  second  postmaster  of  Haver- 
hill, his  commission  for  that  position 
being  signed  by  George  Washington; 
and  his  keen  desire  to  see  his  own 
town  improve  in  every  way  is  shown 
not  only  by  the  fact  that  he  was  one 
of  the  original — and  one  of  the  heavi- 
est— subscribers  to  the  stock  of  a 
bridge  company  formed  for  the  pur- 
pose of  building  a  bridge  across  the 


142 


The  Granite  Monthly 


Connecticut  River7  between  the  towns 
of  Haverhill  and  Newbury  (Vermont) 
just  opposite,  and  one  of  the  incor- 
porators of  Haverhill  Academy,  but 
also  by  the  type  of  house  which  he 
built  for  himself,  and  which  served 
for  many  years  as  one  of  the  finest  ex- 
amples of  Colonial  architecture  in  the 
vicinity.  Set  upon  a  slight  plateau, 
shaded  by  elms  and  pines,  surrounded 
b}'  fertile  meadows  which  sloped  on  the 
west  side  straight  down  to  the  Con- 
necticut, and  on  the  east  to  the  high- 
road, more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
from  the  house,  and  far  beyond  it; 
dignified,  spacious  and  simple,  it  rep- 
resented all  that  was  best  in  the 
building  and  the  living  of  its  time. 
Outside,  it  was  painted  white,  with 
green  blinds  and  broad  piazzas;  inside- 
it  had  large  square  rooms,  with  hand- 
wrought  latches  on  the  doors,  white 
pannelling,  and  great  fireplaces.  The 
one  in  the  dining-room  was  especially 
remarkable,  as  the  crane  that  hung 
there  was  over  twelve  feet  long,  and  a 
six-year-old  child  could  easily  step 
inside  of  it,  and  look  up  at  the  sky. 
(As,  many  years  later,  I  was  one  of  the 
numerous  youngsters  who  delighted 
in  proving  the  truth  of  this  statement, 
I  know  that  it  was  no  idle  boast.) 
Neither  pains  nor  expense  were 
spared  in  providing  furniture  for  the 
house  which  should  be  worthy  of  it, 
and  among  items  of  interest  in  this 
regard  is  one  in  the  History  of  the 
Town  of  Newbury,  which  says  that 
"Colonel  Thomas  Johnson  and  Moses 
Dow  were  the  first  men  in  this  locality 
who  bought  pianos  for  their  daughters, 
and  who  had  them  brought  up  from 
Boston,  and  set  up  in  their  houses,  at 
great  expense." 

Having  established  his  home  and 
his  profession,' and  seen  Haverhill  be- 
ginning to  take  a  proud  stand  among 
the  towns  of  the  state,  Moses  Dow 
began  to  indulge  his  tastes  and  his 
talents  for  politics.  In  1780  he  be- 
came a  member  of  the  state  legislature, 
and  not  long  after  that,  a  member  of- 
the  Governor's  council;  in  1790  he 
was  sent  to  the  state  Senate,  and  was 


chosen  president  of  that  body;  he  was 
also  major-general  of  the  state  militia, 
the  office  Which  gave  iiim  the  title  by 
which  he  was  commonly  called.  He 
must  have  filled  all  these  positions 
well,  for  Dartmouth  College  awarded 
him  the  honorary  Degree  of  A.  M.  in 
recognition  of  his  public  services,  as 
well  as  on  account  of  his  literary  at- 
tainments, and  in  due  time  he  was 
elected  to  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
New  Hampshire.  We  cannot  help 
feeling  that  he  would  have  filled  this 
position  well  also;  but  Moses  Dow 
did  not  think  so,  and  spoke  his  mind 
with  the  same  frankness  with  which 
he  had  protested  against  being  taxed 
for  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  It 
did  not  matter  to  him  whether  the 
question  at  hand  was  for  his  own  ad- 
vantage, or  against  it — he  had  the 
courage  of  his  convictions,  and  he 
stuck  to  them.  "As  I  have  had  no 
apprehension "  (no  thought  of  being 
called  to  so  responsible  a  position), 
he  wrote  to  the  governor,  "I  had  en- 
tirely neglected  every  necessary  pre- 
caution. The  present  infirm  state  of 
my  health,  the  real  conviction  of  my 
inequality  to  the  business  of  the  mis- 
sion, render  it  extremely  difficult — or 
rather,  impossible — for  me  to  engage 
in  a  trust  so  arduous  and  so  interest- 
ing," 

Deeply  as  we  must  regret  that  the 
Nation  should  have  lost  so  valuable  a 
statesman  as  General  Dow  would 
doubtless  have  proved  himself,  we 
cannot  help  experiencing  a  thrill  of 
admiration  for  such  rare  and  self- 
sacrificing  conscientiousness. 

Moses  Dow  died  in  1811,  univer- 
sally beloved,  esteemed  and  regretted. 
He  was  survived  by  his  wife,  who  be- 
fore her  marriage  was  a  Miss  Phebe 
Emerson,  and  by  two  sons  and  two 
daughters.  One  of  the  daughters 
married  into  the  Hazeltine  family, 
and  her  daughter — also  named  Phebe 
— became  the  wife  of  Haynes  Johnson, 
a  son  of  Col.  Thomas  Johnson  of  New- 
bury, which  was  considered  a  "great 
match"    in    those    days.     The    sons, 


Moses  Dow,  Citizen  of  Haverhill 


143 


Moses  Dow,  Junior,  and  Joseph 
Emerson  Dow,  were  both  lawyers, 
and  the  younger  was  a  graduate  of 
Dartmouth,  but  neither  appears  to 
have  possessed  his  father's  abilities 
and  force  of  character.  Joseph  Dow 
eventually  removed  to  Franconia, 
where  his  son,  also  named  Moses, 
founded  Dow  Academy,  and  later  in 
life  established  the  Waverly  Maga- 
zine, in  Charlestown,  Mass.,  through 
which  he  made — and  lost — a  fortune. 
By  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  there  were  no  Dows  left  in 
Haverhill   who   cared   about  the   old 


father,  Col.  Thomas  Johnson,  built 
for  his  son  David  (brother  of  the 
Haynes  who  married  Phebe  Hazeltine) 
and  in  the  early  fall  of  1900,  we  were 
horrified  at  the  news  that  "the  old 
Dow  Place" — "the  Keyes  Farm" — 
was  on  fire!  In  those  days  there  were 
few  telephones  with  which  to  send 
news  rapidly,-  and  no  fire  apparatus  of 
any  sort.  I  jumped  on  horseback, 
and  rode  up  and  down  the  valley 
giving  the  sad  tidings.  Everyone  in 
both  towns  did  all  that  was  possible 
in  the  way  of  rendering  immediate  and 
efficient  help,  but  it  was  of  no  use. 


t-'" 

,  .  -  % .  ||& 

~'!:..-. 

l 

* '  *sf -"^ 

-  "\ . 

1 

-"   '  ~t* 

! 

-■■■    W* 

-'■■.  ■    "& 
$1 

L.,,,... 

:.j  ■     --.'..- 

'■■& 

M 

The  Old  Moses  Dow  Mansion,  North  Haverhill,  N.  H. 


place  enough  to  wish  to  keep  it,  and 
the  house  and  farm  were  sold  in  1848 
to  Hemy  Keyes,  a  rising  young  mer- 
chant who  had  recently  come  to  New- 
bury. For  years  it  was  occupied  only 
by  his  farmer;  but  when  his  eldest  son 
graduated  from  Harvard,  he  decided 
to  make  it  his  home,  just  as  Moses 
Dow  had  done  a  hundred  years  before; 
and  the  "Dow  Farm"  gradually 
changed  its  name  by  common  consent 
to  the  "Keyes  Farm",  and  began  to 
resume  its  former  position  in  the  coun- 
try-side. 

As  a  young  girl,  I  always  spent  my 
summers  at  the  old  house  in  Newbury, 
Vt.,    which    my    great-great    grand- 


The  fire,  the  cause  and  origin  of  which 
are  still  unknown,  had  gained  too 
much  headway  before  it  was  discovered 
and  in  a  few  hours  nothing  remained 
of  the  lovely  old  Colonial  mansion  but 
a  pile  of  ashes. 

So,  in  these  days,  the  Dow  House 
like  the  Dow  family,  is  only  a  memory 
in  Haverhill;  but  it  is  because  it  seems 
to  me  a  memory  so  worthy  of  being 
kept  green  that  I  have  tried  to  give 
some  account  of  both.  The  brick 
house,  to  which  I  came  as  a  bride, 
and  which  was  built  on  the  site  of  the 
one  which  Moses  Dow  erected,  bears 
not  the  slightest  resemblance  to  its 
predecessor.     The    present   owner   is 


144  The  Granite  Monthly 

connected  by  no  ties  of  blood  to  the  place  still  survives — that  the  ideals 

first  one;  though  we  cannot  help  being  which  he  cherished  are  still  followed, 

struck  bv  the  curious  coincidence  of  QxrQ1~  ;c  +urt„  „„„  „ni.    1              j.*  •     j 

,1       •    -TJ    •,        fil    •      ,          ,              ,  even  it  tnev  are  not  always  attained, 

the  similarity  of  their  characters  and  ,  .,         ~             .      .  .  .J                 . ' 

careers  in  several  respects.  But  I  and  that  the  mantle  of  hls  courage  is 
like  to  think  that  the  spirit  winch  still  wrapped  around  us  and  our  de- 
Moses  Dow   first  breathed  into  the  seendants,  for  ever  and  ever. 


,  TO  A  WILD  BEE 
1918 
By  Rev.  Sidney  T.  Cooke 

O  you  little  hummer 

Humming  in  the  summer, 
Know  you  not  that  war  is  on  the  earth? 

Seem  you  so  unheeding 

Of  the  red,  red  bleeding, 
Law  of  Death  usurping  Law  of  Birth. 

You  have  but  one  notion 

As  you  guide  your  motion 
In  the  glow  and  warmth  of  sun  crowned  noon; 

Life  is  joy  of  living, 

Soul-free  music  giving, 
Whether  death  o'er  take  you  late  or  soon. 

What  your  combination 

With  the  whole  creation 
Said  to  groan  together  until  now? 

Bring  you  rhyme  or  reason 

To  a  war  time  season 
When  with  joy  our  grief  you  would  endow? 

Ah — ,  so  sweetly  stealing 

O'er  me  grateful  healing! — 
Logic  goes  in  face  of  working  truth. 

See  I  how  your  coming 

With  your  tuneful  humming 
Serves  to  brace  the  mind  of  age  and  youth. 

For  you  teach  endurance 

Though  without  assurance: 
Reck  you  not  of  fate  while  life  obtains; 

'Tis  not  self  deceiving 

To  ignore  our  grieving 
If  a  buoyant  hope  our  courage  gains. 

Note  how  much  you've  taught  me: 

Unto  hope  you've  brought  me, 
And  I  feel  like  going  further  still. 

Once  from  hope  to  praying,  .  . 

You  will  hear  me  saying, 
Death  can  break  not  Life's  eternal  will! 


Rochester,  N.  H. 


OLD  HOME  SUNDAY  ADDRESS 


At  Rollins  Park,  Concord,  on  Sunday  August  18,  1918 
By  Rev.  William  Porter  Ariles 


Stand  fast  in  the  liberty  wherewith  Christ 
has  made  us  free,  and  be  not  entangled  again 
with  the  vuke  of bondage: 

Galatians  V:  1. 
For  whosoever  would  save  his  life  shall  lose 
it,  but  whosoever  shall  lose  his  life  for  my  sake, 
the  same  shall  find  it: 

St.  Luke  IX:  24. 

There  are  two  things  I  wish  you  to 
think  about  this  afternoon:  the  liberty 


L 


% 

5f 

:-iv>.\- 

\    ■ 

1 

i 

V 

"~Otf 

j 

'-:'% 

0^ 

\ 

Ai* 

l 

■■ 

i 

Rev.  William  P.  Niles 


for  which  our  forefathers  lived,  strove, 
fought  and  were  willing  to  die,  and  the 
sacrifice  which  all  of  us  are  called  upon 
to  make  to  preserve  that  liberty  for 
ourselves,  and  to  extend  it  to  all  men. 

We  may  be  sure  that  the  liberty 
which  we  enjoy  is  in  accordance  with 
God's  will  and  is  the  result  of  the  as- 
pirations which  fill  men's  hearts  as  a 
result  of  the  teachings  of  Christ  and 
the  practice  of  the  Christian  religion. 
For  God  desires  that  every  man  and 

2 


every  nation  should  be  free,  for  only  as 
men  and  nations  are  free  can  they  be 
held  responsible  for  their  actions,  and 
only  thus  can  their  good  or  evil  actions 
be  to  themselves  merit  or  demerit  or 
give  to  God's  heart  joy  or  sorrow. 
Freedom  of  action,  individual  or  na- 
tional, confers  upon  the  acts  of  a  man 
or  a  nation  a  significance  utterly  lack- 
ing in  the  acts  of  a  slave  or  a  subject 
race.  God  wants  the  allegiance  which 
comes  from  free  choice,  not  the  service 
of  slaves  or  the  allegiance  of  states 
which  have  no  self-determining  choice, 

Liberty  was  the  most  precious  pos- 
session of  the  early  settlers  of  this  re- 
gion, who  were  the  product  of  the 
seventeenth  century  in  England  in 
wThich  despotism  was  overthrown 
and  representative  government  es- 
tablished. Parliament,  not  the  king, 
henceforth  determined  the  policy  of 
England,  and  the  American  colonies 
came  out  from  England  with  a  larger 
measure  of  self-government  than  any 
colonies  had  enjoyed  before.  In  fact, 
so  nearly  complete  was  the  self-gov- 
ernment of  the  American  colonies  that 
they  chafed  under  its  few  remaining 
ties  to  the  home  government,  and  won 
in  the  Revolution,  that  complete  self- 
government  which  is  essential  to  the 
Anglo-Saxon  always  and  everywhere. 

But  in  the  years  before  the  Revolu- 
tion, with  an  aptitude  for  self-govern- 
ment which  demanded  scope  and  op- 
portunity, men  sought  grants  from 
Massachusetts  or  New  Hampshire 
and  so  proprietors  laid  out  planta- 
tions or  townships  in  which  great  care 
was  taken  to  ensure  that  only  proper 
settlers  should  be  given  land,  and 
thought  was  directed  from  the  start 
to  the  educational  and  religious  wel- 


146 


The  Granite  Monthly 


fare  of  the  people  as  well  as  to  their 
civil  rights. 

Such  was  the  settlement  of  Pena- 
cook,  later  called  Rumford  and  finally 
Concord,  and  if  you  examine  the  rec- 
ords of  the  early  days  of  the  town 
you  see  the  great  pains  which  were 
taken  that  everything  should  be  done 
in  an  orderly  and  legal  way  and  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  common  welfare. 

The  early  settlers  had  to  contend  not 
only  with  the  natural  difficulties  of 
making  a  new  settlement,  but  had  to 
be  constantly  on  their  guard  against 
hostile  bands  of  Indians  who  at  times 
took  their  toll  of  lives.  These  diffi- 
culties and  dangers  made  men  strong 
and  self  reliant  and  made  them  jealous 
of  the  liberties  and  privileges  so  dearly 
bought.  It  is  not  surprising  that  such 
men  should  have  been  prompt  to  re- 
sent and  resist  British  oppression  and 
to  protest  through  lawful  channels  such 
oppression;  such  protest  rinding  its 
culmination  in  a  resolution  of  the  Gen- 
eral Congress  of  New  Hampshire, 
June  16,  1776,  by  which  the  delegates 
to  the  Continental  Congress  were  in- 
structed to  join  with  other  colonies 
in  declaring  the  thirteen  colonies  free 
and  independent. 

And  when  news  came  of  the  fight- 
ing at  Concord  and  Lexington  a  com- 
pany of  volunteers  from  our  Concord 
marched  to  Cambridge  without  delay. 
Bunker  Hill  saw  Concord  well  repre- 
sented by  three  companies.  Concord 
men  were  at  Ticonderoga  and  Quebec, 
fought  bravely  under  Stark  at  Ben- 
nington, shared  in  the  victory  over 
Burgoyne  at  Saratoga,  suffered  at 
Valley  Forge  and  were  with  Washing- 
ton at  Princeton  and  Trenton. 

The  names  of  those  early  days,  the 
men  who  laid  the  foundation  of  this 
community  in  which  we  take  just 
pride,  names  of  Kimball,  Walker, 
Bradley,  Chandler,  Stevens,  Rolfe, 
Eastman,  Carter,  Abbot,  Hall,  Coffin, 
Stickney,  Herbert,  Hutchins,  Farnum, 
and  many  others,  are  names  which 
through  the  history  of  Concord,  stand 
for  its  wisdom,  strength  and  patriot- 


ism. Today  as  of  old  they  are  names 
of  honor. 

Now  the  long  struggle  for  liberty, 
and  the  cost  of  such  a  struggle,  has 
made  that  liberty  precious  and  worth 
fighting  for.  And  when  that  liberty 
and  the  liberty  of  the  world  are  threat- 
ened, the  descendants  of  the  early 
settlers,  Indian  fighters,  Revolution- 
ary soldiers  and  defenders  of  the  Union 
go  forth  from  Concord,  side  by  side 
with  more  recent  comers  of  varied 
races,  in  the  noblest  war  for  righteous- 
ness man  ever  fought. 

Liberty  fought  for,  maintained,  en- 
joyed and  appreciated  must  be  pre- 
served for  all  men  and  all  time.  How 
is  this  to  be  done?  Only  by  the  sac- 
rifice of  those  who  fight  and  those  who 
stand  behind  the  fighters  with  support. 

This  brings  me  to  the  second  thought 
— victory,  with  its  blessings,  can  come 
only  through  sacrifice. 

Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  said:  "Who- 
soever would  save  his  fife  shall  lose 
it,  but  whosoever  shall  lose  his  life  for 
my  sake  the  same  shall  save  it." 
Christ  evidently  thought  this  to  be  a 
vital  truth,  for  it  is  four  times  recorded 
that  He  said  it.  It  teaches  one  of  the 
great  lessons  of  the  Gospel,  the  truth 
of  living  through  dying,  elsewhere 
expressed  by  Him  in  the  words  "Ex- 
cept a  grain  of  wheat  fall  into  the 
ground  and  die  it  abidcth  alone,  but 
if  it  die  it  bringeth  forth  much  fruit"; 
And  St.  Paul  teaches  the  same  truth 
when  he  says  "Likewise  reckon  ye  also 
yourselves  to  be  dead  indeed  unto  sin, 
but  alive  unto  God  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord. " 

This  thought  seems  paradoxical, 
but  it  means  that  he  who  would  save 
this  life  shall  lose  life  eternally,  but 
he  who  would  lose  his  life  here  and 
now  for  Christ's  sake  the  same  shall 
have  life  eternal. 

The  quality  of  an  act  is  in  the  will, 
and  God  alone  can  judge  the  value  of 
an  act.  A  man  with  the  best  of  inten- 
tions may  fail;  another  man,  for  self- 
ish purposes,  may  do  things  which 
help  men  and  win  applause.  But 
God's  approval  is  won  on  different 


Old  Home  Sunday  Address 


147 


terms.  He  may  brand  as  failure 
what  man  terms  success;  and  what 
man  looks  upon  as  failure,  God,  seeing 
the  heart,  may  stamp  with  His  ap- 
proval. It  should  be  a  real  comfort 
to  many  of  small  attainment  that  long- 
ings and  aspirations,  unselfish  purpose 
and  the  spirit  of  sacrifice,  all  have 
value  and  recognition  with  God. 
Browning  has  expressed  this  thought: 

"Not  on  the  vulgar  mass 
Called  "work"  must  sentence  pass; 
Things  done  that  look  the  eye  and  had  the 
price; 
O'er  which,  from  level  stand, 
The  low  world  laid  its  hand, 
Found  straightway  to  its  mind,  could  value 
in  a  trice. 

But  all  the  world  's  coarse  thumb 

And  ringer  failed  to  plumb, 
So  passed  in  making  up  the  main  account 

All  instincts  immature, 

All  purposes  unsure, 
That  weighed  not  as  his  work,  yet  swelled  the 
man's  amount." 

The  character  of  a  man's  eternal 
future  is  shaped  by  the  purposes 
which  controlled  him  in  this  life,  the 
will  which  was  the  mainspring  of  his 
actions.  Whosoever  will  save  his 
life  here  and  now  at  any  cost,  will  pay 
as  the  price  his  own  eternal  life,  and 
whosoever  shall  lose  his  life  here  and 
now  for  Christ's  sake  and  right's  sake, 
shall  save  it  forever. 

If  a  man  is  so  determined  to  save 
his  life  that  he  will  sacrifice  all  else  to 
that  end,  he  has  so  degraded  his  soul, 
and  debased  his  character  that  there 
is  no  place  for  it  among  those  who, 
while  loving  life,  have  loved  home, 
country,  honor  more. 

The  devil  says,  as  quoted  in  the 
book  of  Job,  "Ail  that,  a  man  hath 
will  he  give  for  his  life. "  There  is  no 
greater  slander  on  human  nature,  for 
men  of  all  times,  irrespective  of  race 
or  religion,  have  by  a  God-given  in- 
stinct ever  been  willing  to  throw  their 
lives  into  the  gap  and  die  to  save 
loved  ones,  national  existence,  or  na- 
tional honor.  Yes,  even,  so  regard- 
less of  this  present  life  are  men  found 
to  be  that  they  are  frequently  risking 


it  for  those  who  have  no  claim  upon 
them  but  their  humanity  and  need. 

If  a  man  will  give  all  he  has  for  life, 
sacrificing  honor  and  duty  and  sacred 
obligation  of  family,  country  and  hu- 
manity, he  loses  the  value  of  his  life, 
he  retains  it  a  worthless  thing. 

A  man  in  a  shipwreck  who  saves 
himself  while  the  weak  and  helpless 
perish,  with  no  thought  or  effort  for 
anyone  beside  himself,  saves  a  life  as 
good  as  dead.  The  coward  and  the 
shirker  in  war  saves  his  life  at  the  cost 
of  rendering  it  useless  and  contempti- 
ble. There  is  nothing  finer  in  recent 
years  than  the  noble  self-control  of 
ordinary,  everyday  men,  of  whom 
little  of  nobility  was  to  foe  expected, 
in  great  disasters  such  as  those  of  the 
.Titanic  and  the  Lusitania — such  men 
redeemed  misspent  lives  by  the  utter 
disregard  of  self  and  an  intense  inter- 
est in  others  when  the  supreme  test 
came.  By  such  an  attitude  in  the 
last  hours,  is  it  not  possible  that  a 
man  shall  save  his  soul  alive?  Many 
a  seeming  failure  has  redeemed  his 
life  by  freely  offering  it  as  a  sacrifice. 

Many  a  young  man  of  careless, 
unpromising  life  has,  in  recent  months, 
heard  the  call  of  duty  and,  disregard- 
ing present  comfort  and  certain  risk, 
has  thrown  himself  into  the  service  of 
his  country,  or  in  the  earlier  days  of 
the  war  into  a  cause  far  removed  from 
his  country  which  appealed  to  his 
sense  of  right  and  chivalry.  In  such 
a  laying  of  life  on  the  altar  of  his 
country  many  a  man  has  redeemed 
his  life.  There  are  no  men  more  en- 
viable than  those  who  have  sacrificed 
life  willingly  for  a  noble  object,  who 
showed  disregard  of  this  present  life 
except  as  means  to  an  end. 

The  compelling  power  of  Christ  is 
His  willing  sacrifice  upon  the  Cross. 
"I  have  power"  He  says,  "to  lay 
down  my  life  and  I  have  power  to  take 
it  again. "  His  glory  was  not  that  He 
had  the  power  to  lay  down  His  life, 
but  that  He  had  the  will  and  that  He 
did  it.  He  was  willing  to  lose  His 
life  that  He  might  save  it  eternally 
and  above  all  might  save  your  life  and 


148 


The  Granite  Monthly 


mine.  "I,  if  I  be  lifted  up"  He  says, 
"I  will  draw  all  men  unto  me."  He 
has  drawn  all  men  unto  Him  by  the 
power  which  appeals  to  the  best  in 
men,  the  power  of  a  life  freely  given 
that  others  might  live. 

This  spirit  of  sacrifice  has  been  a- 
roused  in  the  American  people  by  the 
German  menace  which  has  threatened 
the  world  for  four  years  and  which  has 
forced  itself  on  men's  minds  with  un- 
equalled fury  and  success  since  the 
twenty-first  of  last  March. 

The  seemingly  irresistible  onrush 
of  innumerable  Germans  across  Pic- 
ardy,  then  further  North  towards 
Flanders  and  again  South  beyond  the 
Marne  brought  as  never  before  to 
men's  imaginations  the  fact  that  civil- 
ization was  at  stake;  that  there  was 
danger  of  the  collapse  of  that  civiliza- 
tion in  which  we  rejoice  and  the  sub- 
stitution for  it  of  what  we  falsely  call 
the  civilization  of  Germany  which  is 
no  civilization  at  all,  because  it  lacks 
the  prime  elements  of  civilization, 
noble  qualities  of  heart  and  mind  and 
soul,  and  seeks  to  replace  them  by 
system  and  laboratory  and  card  index 
and  machinery  and  other  things  which 
spell  efficiency  of  a  certain  sort  with 
humanity  and  heart  left  out.  Such 
a  civilization  is  merely  a  thin  veneer 
of  civilization  over  an  arrant  barba- 
rism, making  that  barbarism  all  the 
more  dangerous  because  armed  with 
the  efficiency  and  dressed  in  the  sheep's 
clothing  of  civilization,  with,  however, 
a  disregard  and  contempt  for  Chris- 
tian virtues  which  the  world  as  a  rule 
recognizes  as  the  common  law  of  civil- 
ization. 

We  have  been  passing  through  the 
most  momentous  period  of  human  his- 
tory, because  our  vaunted  civilization 
has  been  in  the  balance.  There  have 
been  times  in  history  when  the  civili- 
zation of  the  world  seemed  to  be 
threatened  with  destruction.  When 
the  Northern  tribes  rushed  down  from 
their  homes  to  plunder  the  cities  of 
the  south,  swarmed  across  the  rich 
plains  of  northern  Italy  and  sacked  the 
Eternal  City  of  Rome,  it  seemed  as  if 


the  ancient  civilization  of  Home,  the 
product  of  centuries  of  conquest, 
wealth,  art,  literature  and  legislation 
were  about  to  vanish  before  the  inroads 
of  barbarism.  But  Rome  absorbed 
the  conquerors,  received  a  new  im- 
pulse, an  infusion  of  new  blood  and 
her  decadence  was  arrested  and  her 
civilization  maintained.  So  in  the 
seventeenth  century  when  the  Mo- 
hammedan hordes  overran  Europe, 
captured  city  after  city  and  subdued 
ruler  after  ruler,  and  were  only  halted 
before  the  gates  of  Vienna  by  John 
Sobieski,  it  seemed  as  if  the  civiliza- 
tion of  those  days  was  to  be  submerged 
by  the  civilization  of  Mohammed, 
and  the  cross  to  be  replaced  by  the 
crescent.  But  if  the  civilization  of 
Rome  in  the  fourth  century,  or  of 
Europe' in  the  seventeenth  had  been 
replaced  by  the  barbarism  of  the 
Goths  and  the  Vandals  and  the  flight 
of  Mohammedanism,  the  civilization 
which  would  have  been  lost  was  but 
a  crude  civilization  compared  with 
the  civilization  we  enjoy,  the  product 
of  nineteen  centuries  of  Christian  cul- 
ture, a  state  of  development  in  which 
intercommunication  has  brought 
the  nations  of  the  world  together, 
overcome  antipathies  and  broken 
down  barriers  and  made  of  the  world 
one  great  neighborhood.  It  is  the 
civilization  which  we  know  and  enjoy 
which  is  at  stake  and  which  Germany 
seeks  to  destroy. 

Now  our  young  men  in  this  country 
led  the  way  in  seeing  the  vital  nature 
of  this  war,  that  it  was  no  family 
quarrel  in  Em-ope,  but  a  fight  to  the 
finish  between  Christian  civilization 
and  pagan  domination:  they  saw  that 
future  generations  would  inherit  free- 
dom or  bondage  according  to  the  out- 
come of  this  war.  So  while  the  "old 
men  dreamed  dreams  the  young  men 
saw  visions,"  the  vision  of  a  world 
freed  and  rescued  from  oppression 
by  the  struggle  of  free  men  for  the 
freedom  of  men.  While  you  and  I 
and  official  Washington  were  hesita- 
ting these  young  men,  20,000  strong, 
went  across  the  line  into  Canada  and 


Old  Home  Sundew  Addrcsi 


149 


across  the  ocean  to  England  and  en- 
listed and  went  to  France  and  joined 
the  air  service  and  the  ambulance  serv- 
ice and  laid  down  their  lives  freely, 
willingly,  cheerfully,  for  the  cause  of 
humanity  and  the  welfare  of  genera- 
tions as"  yet  unborn.  And  in  their 
train  have  gone  a  million  and  a  half 
to  France,  Italy  and  Russia  to  com- 
plete the  work  they  so  nobly  began. 
And  from  dead  and  living  alike  comes 
the  appeal  to  us  to  carry  on  their  work 
and  support  them  in  their  work  for  us 
and  for  all  men.  This  appeal  is  pic- 
tured to  us  as  coming  from  the  other 
world  by  Lieut.-Col.  John  McRae 
who  himself  died  on  Flanders  fields: 

In  Flanders  fields  the  poppies  blow 
Between  the  crosses,  row  on  row, 
That  mark  our  place,  and  in  the  sky 
The  laiks,  still  bravely  singing,  fly, 
Scarce  heard  amid  the  guns  below. 

We  are  the  dead.     Short  days  ago 
We  lived,  felt  dawn,  saw  sunset  glow, 
Loved  and  were  loved;  and  now  we  lie 
In  Flanders  fields. 

Take  up  our  quarrel  with  the  foe! 
To  you  from  failing  hands  we  throw 
The  torch:  be  yours  to  hold  it  high! 
If  ye  break  faith  with  us  who  die, 
We  shall  not  sleep,  tho'  poppies  grow 
In  Flanders  fields. 

And  some  one  has  written  an  an- 
swer in  verse,  which  America  is  also 
making  in  multitudes  of  men: 

Kest  ye  in  peace,  ye  Flanders  dead! 
The  fight  that  ye  so  bravely  led 
We've  taken  up,  and  e'er  will  keep 
True  faith  with  ye  who  lie  asleep 
With  each  a  cross  to  mark  his  bed, 
And  poppies  blowing  overhead 
Where  once  his  own  life  blood  ran  red; 
So  let  your  rest  be  sweet,  and  deep 
In  Flanders  fields. 

Fear  not  that  ye  have  died  for  naught; 
The  torch  ye  threw  to  us  we  caught; 
Ten  million  hands  will  hold  it  high, 
And  Freedom's  light  shall  never  die! 
We've  learned  the  lesson  that  ye  taught 
In  Flanders  fields. 

Their  lesson  is  the  lesson  of  sacrifice, 
full  and  complete.  Their  language  is 
the  language  of  sacrifice,  sacrifice  of 
the  beginnings  of  success,  of  honor- 
able ambitions,   of  home  and  loved 


ones,  of  health  and  life,  a  language 
inarticulate  but  altogether  intelligible. 
If  we  would  speak  to  them  we  must 
learn  their  language.  It  is  always 
necessary  to  learn  a  man's  language 
if  you  would  speak  to  him,  therefore, 
when  we  would  speak  to  Germany  we 
cannot  use  the  language,  we  are  used 
to,  the  language  of  sacred  treaty,  of 
honest  speech,  of  humanity  and  de- 
cency, but  we  must  learn  the  only  lan- 
guage Germany  can  understand,  the 
language  of  force  without  limit,  and 
we  are  learning  it  with  great  speed 
and  proficiency  at  Camp  Devens  and 
other  camps  so  that  we  may  speak  to 
Germany  in  terms  which  are  intelligi- 
ble to  her  and  in  a  way  that  is  unmis- 
takable. So  we  must  speak  to  our 
boys  in  their  language,  the  language 
of  sacrifice,  which  as  we  speak  it,  in 
self-denial  and  service  of  every  kind, 
will  encourage  the  living  wTho  fight  our 
battles  and  by  some  strange  telepathy 
go  beyond  the  barriers  of  death  and 
give  a  grateful  message  to  those  who 
have  died  for  humanity;  a  message 
that  we  are  in  harmony  with  their 
sacrifice  and  will  see  this  struggle 
through  to  the  end  at  all  cost. 

No  great  thing  is  attained  without 
sacrifice.  Sacrifice  and  risk  paved  the 
way  for  the  Magna  Carta,  the  charter 
of  English  liberty;  sacrifice  made  rep- 
resentative government  in  England 
possible;  sacrifice  gained  American 
Independence  and  maintained  the 
Union,  and  only  sacrifice  can  save  the 
world  today.  Sacrifice  is  of  the  es- 
sence of  Christianity;  it  is  taught  by 
the  birth,  life,  and  death  of  Christ, 
"He  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto 
but  to  minister  and  to  give  His  life  a 
ransom  for  many,"  "by  His  stripes 
we  are  healed,"  the  law  of  sacrifice 
wras  the  law  of  His  earthly  existence. 
The  language  of  Christ  is  the  language 
of  sacrifice.  The  language  of  our  men 
wmo  fought  and  died  or  who  fight  and 
live  is  the  language  of  sacrifice.  Our 
answer  must  be  in  the  language  of  sac- 
rifice full,  free,  willing  and  without 
stint, 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  THE  OLD  HOME  IN  WAR  TIME* 

By  Rev.  Ray?nond  H.  Huse 

He  drives  the  cows  liimself,  tonight, 

O'er  pastures  brown  and  green, 
Neath  sunset  skies  aglow  with  light 

While  night-hawks  fly  between. 

The  boy  wrho  used  to  drive  them  down, 
And  sometimes  make  them  prance, 

Now,  in  a  suit  of  olive  brown, 
Is  driving  Huns  from  France! 

His  father,  who  to  tell  the  truth, 

Is  older  than  he  vows, 
Is  camouflaging  long  lost  youth 

And  driving  home  the  cows. 

It  seems  to  him  but  yesterday, 

A  little  barefoot  boy, 
With  garments  tattered  from  his  play 

And  face  aglow  with  joy, 

Was  walking,  talking  by  his  side, 

So  many  tales  to  tell, 
He  had  to  hush  him,  while  he  tried 

To  hear  the  distant  bell. 

He  sees  again  the  sudden  fright 

At  whirr  of  partridge  wings, 
Recalls  again  his  grave  delight 

With  every  bird  that  sings. 

Remembers  how  when  from  the  track 

He  strayed  upon  a  thistle 
He  wrinked  his  childish  tear  drops  back 

And  started  up  a  whistle. 

And  when  at  last  he  reached  the  gate, 

His' pride  and  joy  complete, 
To  see  his  mother  smiling,  wait 

Her  grown-up  son  to  greet. 

He  boasted  how  he  now  could  keep 

From  her  all  lurking  harms, 
But  when  that  night  he  went  to  sleep 

He  slept  within  her  arms. 

Oh,  those  were  days  more  safe  and  glad 

Than  anybody  knew, 
Before  the  world  had  grown  so  sad — 

When  summer  skies  were  blue! 

♦Written  for  and  read  at  Old  Home  Sunday  service,  at  Rollins  Park.  Concord,  August  18,  191 S. 


Summer  151 


He  drives  the  cows  himself  tonight, 
But  thanks  his  gracious  God 

That  should  he  fall  in  perilous  fight 
And  sleep  'neath  foreign  sod, 

The  boy,  God  gave  him,  clean  and  true 

As  heroes  famed  in  story, 
Has  helped  to  bear  Red,  White  and  Blue 

To  victory  and  to  glory! 

And  though  tonight  he  falls  asleep 

On  fields  with  carnage  red, 
Where  angel  armies  vigil  keep 

Above  the  hero  dead, 

Fm  sure  that  he  is  just  as  safe 

As  when  by  mother's  knee; 
For  God  ivho  made  us  love  him  so 

Must  love  him  more  than  we. 


SUMMER 

By  M.  E.  Nella 


In  the  brook  cow  lilies  are  blooming, 

Gleaming,  round  balls  of  gold; 
And  about  them  the  wild  bees  hover, 

Droning  a  song  so  old. 
The  dragon  flies  poise  on  the  petals, 

Or  dart  from  pads  of  soft  green, 
Which  rest  on  the  warm,  brown  water, 

WTiere  scarcely  a  ripple  is  seen. 

There  are  hordes  of  white  butterflies  flitting 

Round  the  spearmint,  which  borders  its  edge, 
And  a  bull-frog  far  out  calls  a  challenge 

To  one  who  keeps  guard  near  the  sedge. 
The  bobolinks  sing  in  the  meadow, 

Gray  catbirds  call  back  from  the  tree; 
And  the  hot  sun  beats  on  the  curing  hay, 

While  earth  basks  in  its  fragrancy. 


THE  WORLD  WAR 

By  Georgie  Rogers  Warren 

The  penalty  of  being  "  physically  fit,"  my  son, 

Is  to  "train  for  the  service" — "go  across" — "over  there" — "somewhere 

And  face  the  "Hun" — with  your  heart  and  gun. 

The  honor  of  being  physically  fit,  my  lad, 

Is  when  you  have  won — which  is  soon  to  come — 

And  you  have  made  the  whole  world — glad. 


£2  J 


#■  /"""^VC-       -:/^V-:  V'' 


*r  s»  *  . 


■  1 1     ! 


- 


WILMOT  CAMP-MEETING,    1870 

Group  of  preachers,  singers  and  laymen  taken  at  preacher's  stand  by  Mr.  Bachelder.  Rev. 
George  W.  H.  Clark,*  presiding  elder,  stands  behind  desk.  At  his  right  hand  are  seven  ministers  : 
from  left  to  right,  Rev.  O.  W.  Scott,  Rev.  E.  A.  Smith,  Rev.  A.  C.  Coult;*  Rev.  Reuben 
Dearborn,*  Rev.  Silas  Quimby,*  Rev.  0.  II.  Jasper,  Rev.  Hugh  Montgomery,*  close  to  stand; 
directly  in  front  of  the  latter  are  two  unidentified  clergymen.  In  the  left  foreground  are 
Joseph  G.  Brown*  and  Samuel  Stevens.*  At  the  right  of  the  stand  are  Rev.  R.  X.  Tilt  on.* 
Rev.  Newell  Culver,*  and  Rev.  Daniel  C.  Babcock.*     In  front  of  the  stand,  back  row,  are  Mrs. 

Sarah  Piper,*  Mrs.  Eben  Kibbee,*  Mrs, Baker,*  Rev.  W.  H.  Jones;  middle  row,  Rev. 

W.  H.  Stuart,*  Rev.  Lucien  W.  Prescott*  and  Mrs.  Prescott,*  Miss  Lydia  Hill*  (afterwards 

Chadwick).     First  row,  at  right  of  tree,  Rev.  James  Thurston, ,  Rev.  A.  W.  Bunker.* 

In  right  foreground,  Rev.  C.  F.  Trussell,  Rev.  Jacob  Spaulding.  [Note — Identification  of 
some  of  the  above  is  uncertain  but  made  as  accurately  as  writer  could  determine.  Those 
starred  are  undisputed. 1 


WILMOT  CAMP-MEETING 

SKETCH 

By  Ernest  Vinton  Broicn 


HISTORICAL 


A  fiftieth  anniversary  was  observed 
by  the  YVilmot  Camp-Meeting  Asso- 
ciation during  the  first  week  of  Sep- 
tember, 1018,  at  the  time  of  its  annual 
series  of  services.  The  occasion  was 
the  fiftieth  annual  session  on  the 
grounds,  close  to  the  northern  base 
of  Kearsarge  mountain,  and  was  the 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  camp- 
meeting  held  at  Wilmot  Center  in 
18GS. 

This  camp-meeting  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  denomination  is  in 
direct  continuance  of  the  one  held  for 
many  years  at  Alexandria,  in  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
and  which  was  transferred  to  Leba- 
non in  I860. 

The  program  began-  on  Tuesday, 
September  3,  with  religious  services 
which  continued  daily  till  Friday 
evening.  The  sessions  of  Wednesday, 
September  4,  were  especially  devoted 
to  the  anniversary  observance.  In 
the  forenoon  there  was  a  flag  raising 
with  patriotic  addresses  by  Rev.  D. 
E.  Burns  of  Haverhill,  Rev  H.  J. 
Foote  of  Littleton  and  Rev  F.  P. 
Fletcher  of  Sunapee.  This  was  fol- 
lowed by  an  historical  sketch  by 
Ernest  Brown  of  Concord.  In  the 
afternoon  the  Rev.  Elwin  Hitchcock 
of  Newport  and  Rev.  R.  T.  Wolcott 
of  Sunapee,  former  district  superin- 
tendents, gave  reminiscent  addresses. 

Letters  of  congratulation  were  read 
by  the  president  from  Gov.  Henry  W. 
Keyes,  Bishop  Edwin  H.  Hughes; 
Rev.  Adolphus  Linfield,  superinten- 
dent of  Concord  district ;  Rev.  Jesse 
M.  Durrell  of  Tilton;  Rev.  Otis  Cole, 
who  was  present  at  the  first  meeting 
on  the  ground;  Rev.  Edgar  Blake  of 
Chicago,  General  Secretary  of  the 
Board    of    Sunday    Schools;     Rev. 


Charles  Parkhurst  and  Rev.  E.  C.  E. 
Dorion,  editors  of  Zions  Herald, 
Boston;  Rev.  0.  S.  Baketel,  of 
Newark,  N.  J.,  editor  of  the  Metho- 
dist year  book;  Rev.  E.  A.  Durham 
of  Nashua,  and  Rev.  F.  F.  Adams  of 
Connecticut. 

The  -erotamg  was  given  over  to  a 
"canipfire,"  at  which  many  personal 
experiences  were  related.  The  ses- 
sions were  presided  over  by  the  Rev. 
T.  E.  Cramer  of  Manchester,  district 
superintendent,  and  president  of  the 
association. 

The  preachers  of  Thursday  were 
Rev.  Elwin  Hitchcock,  Rev.  A.  H. 
Morrill  of  Woodstock,  Vt.,  and  Rev. 
Donald  C.  Babcock  of  Lebanon. 
Friday  there  were  addresses  by  Rev. 
E.  A.  Tuck  of  Concord,  field  agent 
of  the  Lord's  Day  League  and  Mrs. 
Ellen  R.  Richardson  of  Concord, 
president  of  the  N,  H.  W.  C.  T.  U. 


The  historical  sketch  by  Mr.  E.  V. 
Brown  was  in  part  as  follows: 

It  is  impossible  to  present  an  ade- 
quate history  of  the  Wilmot  Camp- 
Meeting.  To  do  so  it  would  be 
necessary  to  write  hundreds  of  biog- 
raphies and  to  consider  the  religious 
life  of  more  than  a  score  of  towns. 
Neither  can  it  be  limited  to  fifty 
years.  There  were  tremendous  forces 
which  brought  men  together  in  this 
grove  in  1869,  and  tremendous  forces 
will  continue  to  go  forth  from  this 
grove  for  years  to  come.  We  do  not 
bow  down  in  this  place  to  worship 
nature  as  God,  but  the  very  trees  about 
us  join  in  saying  "The  place  whereon 
thou  standest  is  holy  ground."  And 
here  have  many  seen  the  descending 
tongues  of  Pentecostal  fire.  The 
very  air  about  seems  filled  with  the 


154 


The  Granite  Monthly 


spirits  which  have  here  in  mortal 
form  praised  God  for  redemption 
through  the  Blood  of  the  Lamb.  The 
only  adequate  history  of  this  spot  is 
being  written  on  the  books  of  eternity. 

The  first  camp-meeting  held  on 
these  grounds  was  in  1S69.  The 
records  do  not  give  the  dates  of  open- 
ing or  closing.  The  Kearsarge  Camp- 
Meeting  Association,  however,  held 
meetings  on  Wednesday,  September 
1,  Thursday,  September  2,  and  on 
Friday,  September  3.  It  seems  prob- 
able that  the  religious  meetings 
began  on  Tuesday  and  continued 
during  the  week.  There  is  no  record 
as  far  as  I  know  of  what  tent  com- 
panies were  present  or  of  the  preachers 
who  gave  sermons.  Of  those  who 
appear  in  the  business  records  Rev. 
Lewis  Howard  was  stationed  at 
Antrim,  Rev.  Newell  Culver  at  Hill, 
Rev.  Charles  H.  Chase  at  East 
Canaan,  Rev.  Simeon  P.  Heath  at 
Claremont.  John  Smith  of  Sunapee 
was  made  a  member  of  the  executive 
committee  and  that  charge  was  prob- 
ably represented. 

The  Wilmot  Camp-Meeting  is  so 
intimately  connected  with  the  history 
of  Methodism  in  Wilmot  and  the 
surrounding  towns,  that  before  enter- 
ing upon  its  particular  history  it  is 
well  to  go  back  more  than  sixty  years 
previous  to  1869  to  an  incident  which 
links  us  to  the  founder  of  American 
Methodism.  Wilmot  was  incorpo- 
rated in  1807.  A  few  years  previous 
the  Fourth  New  Hampshire  Turnpike 
was  incorporated.  "It  was  made  in 
1803,  through  an  entire  forest,  with- 
out any  inhabitants  for  fourteen  miles 
above  and  about  six  miles  below 
Wilmot.' '  There  were  then  in  exist- 
ence two  county  roads  which  trav- 
ersed portions  of  what  is  now  Wilmot. 
One  was  the  road  which  passed  just 
to  the  south  of  the  camp  ground  up 
over  the  hill  by  the  cemetery  at  the 
Center  where  the  first  town  meeting 
house  was  erected,  crossed  over  by 
the  Pedrick  place,  then  through  the 
meadow  at  the  foot  of  "Bog  Moun- 


tain," or,  as  I  prefer," Old  England," 
and  on  through  Springfield. 

The  other  road  was  the  North 
Road  which  crossed  the  northern 
extremity  of  the  town  and  has  left 
us  a  name  for  one  of  the  two  early 
settlements  in  Wilmot.  The  pro- 
prietors of  the  Fourth  New  Hamp- 
shire Turnpike  naturally  selected  a 
route  with  as  few  hills  as  possible,  as 
it  was  designed  to  be  one  of  the  main 
arteries  of  commerce  on  the  route 
from  Montreal  to  Boston.  This 
turnpike,  extending  from  Concord  to 
Hanover,  was  constructed  in  the  years 
about  1S04-6.  Wilmot  was  half  way 
of  its  length  and  became  an  important 
center  on  tins  account.  The  road  is 
still  known  as  the  Turnpike,  as  its 
course  runs  from  WTest  Andover  to 
Wilmot  Center  and  Springfield,  and 
the  old  county  road  was  crossed  about 
half  a  mile  east  of  the  Gay  tavern, 
two  miles  above  Wilmot  Center.  In 
1806  this  turnpike  probably  had  few 
houses,  having  been  built  such  a  short 
time  and  the  settlers  resided  on  the 
older  roads. 

If,  however,  on  a  beautiful  May 
morning  of  that  year  one  had  stood  a 
scant  mile  from  the  camp  ground  to 
the  north  on  the  then  new  Fourth 
New  Hampshire  Turnpike,  he  might 
have  seen  a  man  on  horseback  riding 
down  the  pike.  The  man  had  long, 
whitish  hair,  keen  blue  eyes,  wore  a 
frock  coat  and  a  low-crowned  broad- 
brimmed  hat.  Behind  him  a  pair 
of  saddle-bags  would  contain  a 
few  books  and  tracts  among  other 
things.  The  man's  face  would  have 
shown  the  marks  of  an  outdoor  life, 
spent  on  horseback.  Yet  there  would 
have  been  marks  upon  it  of  the  thinker. 
As  he  passed  by  so  near  the  spot 
which  now  for  fifty  years  has  been 
associated  with  Methodism,  I  like  to 
imagine  him  in  meditation  or  prayer, 
and  that  the  spirit  of  Francis  Asbury, 
the  great  pioneer  bishop  of  America, 
hovers  over  this  place. 

In  his  journal  on  May  19,  1806,  he 
wrote: 


Wilmot  Camp-Meeting — Historical  Sketch 


155 


"New  Hampshire — We  crossed  the 
mountains  and  came  into  New  Hamp- 
shire at  Andover,  and  continuing  on, 
dining  and  praying  at  Salisbury,  to 
Concord,  forty  miles;  we  lodged  at 
Mr.  Ambrose's  tavern,  our  host  was 
polite  and  attentive.  We  came 
on  Wednesday  eighteen  miles  to 
dinner  at  Harvey's,  Northwood,  then 
through  Durham  and  Dover,  into 
Berwick.  Maine,  the  first  town  in  the 
district,  where  we  put  up  for  the 
night," 

This  entry,  evidently  made  after 
reaching  Berwick  and  from  memory 
is  slightly  confusing.  Whether  the 
similarity  of  sound  of  Hanover  and 
Andover  or  whether  the  lack  of  in- 
habitants on  the  New  Turnpike 
caused  the  peculiar  wording  can  not 
be  determined.  It  would  be  about 
fort}^  miles  from  Hanover  to  Salis- 
bury. 

It  is  probable  the  Methodist  itin- 
erants passed  and  repassed  through 
the  rapidly  increasing  settlements  of 
this  region  during  the  early  years  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  In  an  inven- 
tory of  the  town  of  Wilmot  in  1822, 
after  the  passage  of  the  Toleration 
Act  of  1819,  when  the  public  money 
for  preaching  was  divided  between 
the  denominations  according  to  adher- 
ents, Daniel  W.  Stevens  is  listed  as  a 
Methodist.  A  few  years  later  three 
union  churches  were  built  in  town: 
at  the  Center,  at  the  Flat  and  at 
North  Wilmot.  ■Methodists  soon  had 
part  in  each  church  and  the  circuit 
preacher  occupied  the  pulpit  at  the 
Center  on  the  fifth  Sunday  of  months 
in  which  occurred  five,  and  at  North 
Wilmot  one  Sunday  each  month. 

Wilmot  was  linked  with  various  of 
the  surrounding  towns.  Salisbury, 
Andover,  New  London,  Sutton, 
Springfield,  Danbury,  appear  in  the 
appointments  coupled  with  Wilmot. 
In  the  forties  a  quarterly  conference 
was  held  in  this  territory. 

How  well  these  itinerants  sowed  the 
gospel  seed  will  be  revealed  only  in 
eternity.  Enough  strength  had  been 
gained  in  the  early  forties  so  that  a 


camp-meeting  was  held  in  town.  It 
was  accompanied  by  a  great  revival. 
This  old-fashioned  tent  meeting  was 
held  near  the  town  poor-farm,  on  the 
road  to  South  Danbury.  This  was  a 
point  easy  of  access  to  North  Wilmot, 
then  the  most  populous  part  of  the 
town.  Two  young  men,  drawn  by  curi- 
osity, attended  the  meeting,  became 
interested  and  stayed.  The  father  of 
one  hitched  up  his  team  and  took 
other  members  of  the  family  to  dis- 
cover the  cause  of  the  youth's  deten- 
tion. The  whole  family  thus  spent 
the  week  at  the  revival  Beans  were 
baked  at  night  in  the  brick  oven  and 
were  carried  with  other  substantial 
food  to  the  grove  each  day.  This 
was  typical  of  the  old-fashioned  tent 
meeting.  Many  conversions  took 
place  and  Methodism  was  strength- 
ened throughout  the  entire  region. 
That  was  the  first  camp-meeting  in 
the  town.  While  I  have  not  yet 
learned  the  date  it  was  probably 
about    1841. 

There  followed  a  period  of  religious 
activity  and  then  a  declining  interest- 
on  the  part  of  the  public,  but  those 
who  had  been  converted  at  that  camp- 
meeting  seem  generally  to  have  re- 
mained steadfast  Christians  through- 
out  their  lives. 

In  1867  a  stalwart  Irishman,  six 
feet  tall,  was  pastor  at  Grantham. 
A  man  of  force,  wit  and  great  native 
ability,  he  was  a  power  for  God  wher- 
ever he  was.  He  is  remembered 
throughout  New  England  as  a  power 
in  the  temperance  cause.  In  a  nar- 
rative of  his  life  is  the  following: 

" North  Wilmot,  about  seventeen 
miles  from  Mr.  Montgomery's  home, 
was  a  wicked  place.  It  had  a  church 
edifice,  but  no  minister,  and  no  pub- 
lic worship,  though  there  were  a 
few  excellent  people  whose  hearts 
mourned  over  the  sin  by  which  they 
were  surrounded.  Nine  years  pre- 
viously a  number  of  praying  men, 
among  whom  was  a  pious  Congrega- 
tional deacon  by  the  name  of  Stearns 
[Jenness],  had  covenanted  together 
to  meet  once  a  week  at  the  school- 


156 


The  Granite  Monthly 


house  to  pray  for  the  outpouring  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,,  until  a  revival  of 
religion  should  be  given.  They  thus 
met  faithfully  for  some  months, 
when  one  dropped  off,  and  then 
another,  and  so  on,  until  the  good 
deacon  was  left  alone.  He  could 
not  let  go  his  hold  upon  God.  As 
often  as  the  appointed  evening  came, 
he  took  his  way  to  the  schoolhouse, 
lighted  his  candle,  read  a  portion  of 
Scripture,  and  offered  his  prayer. 
For  more  than  eight  years  did  this 
saintly  old  man  thus  meet  alone  with 
his  God,  and.  keep  the  solemn  cove- 
nant which  he  had  made.  And  God, 
who  is  ever  faithful,  heard  his  serv- 
ant's cries,  and  graciously  poured 
out  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  com- 
munity. 

"In  the  scenes  that  followed  Mr. 
Montgomery  was  called  to  partici- 
pate. He  says  of  them:  'One  cold 
night  in  the  middle  of  winter  I  was 
awakened  from  sleep  by  a  loud  knock- 
ing at  my  door.  I  arose  and  opened 
it  and  before  me  were  two  men  heavily 
clad,  covered  with  frost,  and  with 
icicles  hanging  from  their  beards.  I 
bade  them  come  in.  I  found  that 
they  had  rode  seventeen  miles  to  see 
me,  and  after  doing  their  errand  they 
must  immediately  return,  so  as  to  be 
at  their  labor  the  next  morning.  I 
made  a  fire  to  warm  them,  and  gave 
them  a  cup  of  tea.  They  told  me 
that  at  North  Wilmot  there  were 
indications  of  a  great  awakening, 
and  they  had  come  to  get  me  to  go 
there. 

"'  Brother  Montgomery/  they  said, 
'the  Lord  is  at  work  among  the 
people;  but  we  have  no  minister. 
Won't  you  come  and  preach  to  us 
next  Sabbath  evening?' 

"'I  don't  see  how  I  can/  I  replied, 
'for  I  am  now  in  the  midst  of  a  revival 
in  this  place.' 

"Those  two  strong  men  burst 
into  tears  and  pleaded  with  me  to  go. 
They  were  so  urgent  that  we  knelt 
down  and  asked  the  Lord  to  direct 
us,  and  after  prayer  I  decided  to  go 
as  desired ,     They  were  very  joyful 


over  my  answer,  and  left,  thanking 
me." 

The  two  men  referred  to  were  the 
late  Rev.  Charles  F.  Trussell  and 
the  late  Joseph  G.  Brown. 

The  church  was  filled,  Montgom- 
ery arrived  after  going  three  miles 
out  of  his  way  in  a  snowstorm,  and 
forty  presented  themselves  at  the 
altar  for  prayers.  He  remained  sev- 
eral days  and  he  says:  "The  zeal  of 
the  people  was  unbounded,  many 
coming  five  and  six  miles  every  night. 
on  sleds  drawn  by  oxen." 

In  1868  some  Christian  Baptists 
at  Grafton  asked  the  Methodist  con- 
ference for  a  minister  and  Montgom- 
ery7 was  sent.  Arriving  at  the  house 
of  the  leader  at  eleven  o'clock  at 
night  he  found  the  project  had  fallen 
through  and  they  refused  to  keep  him. 
He  found  a  Methodist  at  work  in  a 
sawmill  who  gave  him  his  bed  for  the 
night  and  the  next  day  went  to  Wil- 
mot. Mr.  Trussell  saw  the  opportu- 
nity and  proposed  his  moving  to  Wil- 
mot. A  house  was  purchased  and  his 
goods  moved.  He  says  of  the  work: 
"I  preached  or  held  a  prayer-meeting 
every  night  somewhere  in  that  or  one 
of  the  neighboring  towns  for  a  circuit 
of  fifteen  miles  from  my  home.  Vital 
goodness  was  nearly  dead  in  that 
whole  section ;  and  my  soul  was  deter- 
mined, by  the  help  of  God,  if  the  hon- 
est preaching  of  the  truth  would  do  it, 
to  awaken  a  new  life  in  His  cause. 

"In  pursuance  of  this  purpose  I 
planned  a  meeting  to  be  held  in  the 
autumn  for  eight  days,  hoping  to 
draw  to  it  the  people  of  all  the  country 
round  about.  I  hired  a  large  tent  for 
the  services;  I  also  secured  the  town 
hall  and  spread  upon  its  floors  a  couple 
of  tons  of  straw  for  lodging  purposes. 
The  meeting  was  widely  advertised 
and  thousands  attended.  Ten  or 
more  of  my  brethren  in  the  ministry 
came  to  my  help  and  preached. 
Among  them  was  Bishop  Baker,  who 
early  saw  the  value  of  the  movement. 
Brother  Lewis  was  another;  he  la- 
bored with  us  the  entire  eight  days, 
contributing    very    greatly    to    our 


\Vibnol  Camp-Meeting — Historical  Sketch 


15? 


success.  He  was  a  noble  workman 
and  a  sweet  singer. 

"  Nearly  a  hundred  souls  professed 
to  have  been  saved  by  faith  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  A  large  propor- 
tion of  these  converts  lived  in  towns 
around  us  where  there  were  no  Meth- 
odist churches  and  they  sought  spirit- 
ual homes  in  other  folds. 

"The  Kearsarge  Camp-Meeting 
grew  out  of  this  meeting  which  I  have 
described.  Bishop  Baker,  while  he 
was  with  us,  with  a  wise  look  ahead, 
advised  the  purchase  of  the  ground. 
It  was  bought,  and  the  necessary 
grading,  building,  and  seating  were 
done  in  sufficient  season  for  the  first 
camp-meeting  to  be  held  there  the 
next  year." 

The  tent  meeting  of  1SGS  was  held 
in  the  pasture  now  owned  by  Harriet 
M.  Woodward,  close  to  the  Black- 
water  river  in  the  rear  of  the  residence 
of  Miss  M.  Emma  Brown.  A  shop 
on  the  river  bank  owned  by  Calvin 
Fisk  and  the  townhouse  were  used  by 
the  attendants.  Straw  was  strewn  on 
the  floor  of  the  townhouse  and  it  was 
used   for   sleeping   quarters. 

The  story  as  told  by  the  Rev. 
Hugh  Montgomery  gives  us  much  of 
interest.  But  other  things  had  com- 
bined to  give  him  his  opportunity. 
For  a  few  years  previously  a  camp- 
meeting  had  been  held  at  Lebanon. 
The  records  of  the  association  which 
conducted  it  somewhat  quaintly  re- 
cord the  following: 

"In  compliance  with  a  generally 
expressed  desire  by  the  Methodist 
Churches  in  t,he  Northern  part  of 
Claremont  District,  N.  IE.  Conf.  a 
Camp-meeting  was  appointed  &  held 
by  Rev.  Elisha  Adams  P.  E.  in  the 
fall  of  1860 — on  land  owned  by  Rev. 
A.  C.  Hardv  in  the  town  of  Lebanon, 
N.  H. 

''There  were  a  goodly  number  of 
tents  pitched,  but  for  some  reason  or 
reasons  the  meeting  did  not  appear  to 
be  as  useful  as  it  was  expected  it  would 
be.  Still  some  souls  were  converted,  & 
the  churches  quickened.  Several  re- 
vivals followed  this  meeting. — 


"The  Second  Camp-Meeting  on  the 
Claremont  District  N.  Hamp.  Conf. 
was  organized  on  Tuesday  September 
9th  1863  by  Rev.  Elisha  Adams  P.  E. 
on  land  leased  from  widow  Sweatland 
for  the  term  of  five  years  &  situated 
about  one  mile  west  of  Lebanon 
Center.  The  ground  was  easy  of 
access  &  well  prepared  for  the  meet- 

ing.-" 

This  camp-meeting  adopted  the 
name  of  "The  White  River  Junction 
Camp-Meeting  Association."  In  pass- 
ing I  desire  to  quote  from  its  records 
action  taken  in  1862:  "The  Asson 
voted  adverse  to  permitting  an  Agent 
presenting  the  matter  of  the  Contra- 
bands of  Port  Royal,  lest  the  attention 
of  the  people  be  distracted  from  the 
purpose  for  which  they  came  together." 
As  the  camp-meeting  at  Lebanon  was 
the  immediate  predecessor  in  the 
Claremont  district  of  the  Wilmot 
Camp-Meeting  it  may  be  interesting 
to  note  that  in  1863  the  records  state: 
"Nine  tents  are  pitched." 

"When  the  association  met  in  1866  a 
committee  was  appointed  to  see  on 
what  terms  the  Sweatland  farm  could 
be  leased  for  ten  years.  This  com- 
mittee reported  at  a  session  held  dur- 
ing the  meetings  that  "the  owners  of 
the  ground  wished  for  a  greater  com- 
pensation." 

The  ownership  appears  to  have 
changed  and  a  vote  in  1867  indicates 
twenty-five  dollars  was  asked  for  the 
use  of  the  land  that  year.  The 
association  discussed  securing  some 
other  location,  one  being  found  within 
one  mile  of  White  River  Junction, 
and  a  grove  to  be  controlled  by  the 
Northern  Ltailroad  was  considered. 
The  Sweatland  farm,  it  was  found, 
could  not  be  re-leased  and  its  price — 
S3, 500 — was  evidently  prohibitive.  A 
committee  was  appointed  to  negoti- 
ate with  the  Northern  Railroad  in 
regard  to  a  grove. 

Then  on  the  records  appears  the 
following: 

"There  being  no  session  of  the 
camp  meeting  for  1868  the  Associa- 
tion was  called  together  at  Wilmot, 


158 


The  Granite  Monthly 


at  a  tent  meeting,  by  the  P.  E.  of 
Claremont  District  on  Thursday,  Sept. 
17,  at  which  meeting  a  motion  was 
made  that  the  lumber  remaining  on 
the  old  ground  be  sold  and  the  proceeds 
put  into  the  hands  of  the  Treasurer. 
After  some  discussion  the  motion  was 
withdrawn  and  it  was  moved  that  t he- 
matter  be  left  with  the  Executive 
Committee.  Carried.  Bro.  Folsom 
of  Lebanon  was  chosen  Treasurer. 
Adjourned  to  meet  to-morrow  morn- 
ing." 

Rev.  B.  W .  Chase  of  Enfield  signed 
as  secretary  and  the  next  day  re- 
corded : 

"The  Association  met  according 
to  adjournment.  Moved  that  Bro. 
Rowe  of  Wilmot  Flat  be  added  to  the 
Ex.  Committee.  Carried.  Moved 
that  the  Executive  Committee  have 
instructions  to  secure  a  ground  in 
Wilmot  for  a  Camp-Fleeting  and  that 
it  shall  be  done  as  soon  as  may  be. 
Carried.    After  a  free  talk  adjourned." 

The  next  record  in  the  book  is  of  a 
meeting  of  the  Kearsarge  Camp- 
Meeting  Association  at  the'  preachers' 
stand  on  the  grounds  on  September 
1,  1869.  The  ground  had  been  pur- 
chased, buildings  erected,  and  seats 
provided.  These  latter  arranged  in 
a  semicircle,  were  of  plank  laid  across 
peeled  hemlock  logs  and  were  in  the 
same  location  as  the  present  seats. 

Thus  the  zealous  energy  of  Hugh 
Montgomery  had  resulted  in  the 
securing  for  Wilmot  of  the  camp- 
meeting  established  for  the  old  Clare- 
mont district,  after  difficulty  had 
been  met  with  in  securing  a  suitable 
grove  at  Lebanon.  The  experience 
at  that  place  pointed  the  necessity  of 
outright  purchase  of  a  site,  rather 
than  leasing,  and  with  good  business 
judgment  the  Kearsarge  Camp-Meet- 
ing Association  took  steps  to  that 
end. 

Rev.  G.  W.  H.  Clark  was  the  presid- 
ing elder  and  thus  was  its  first  presi- 
dent. The  other  officers  elected  were 
Rev.  S.  P.  Heath  as  secretary,  an 
office  he  declined  and  for  which  he 
nominated  Rev.  C.  H.  Chase  who  was 


then  elected;  Robert  M.  Rowe  as 
treasurer  acted  for  the  association  in 
securing  the  present  grounds;  the 
executive  committee  was  composed 
of  Rev.  Charles  F.  Trussell,  Minot 
Stearns  of  Wilmot,  George  W.  Mur- 
ray, William  George  of  Caanan, 
John  Smith  of  Sunapee,  David  Frye 
of  Grantham  (an  interesting  story  of 
whose  conversion  is  related  in  Mont- 
gomery's book),  and  Aysten  Berry  of 
Bristol. 

Mr.  Rowe  at  a  meeting  held  the 
next  day  reported  that  the  land  cost 
S325.00,  boarding  house,  seats  and 
work,  8475,  or  thereabouts,  making 
the  whole  expense  $800.  The  associa- 
tion received  from  the  Northern  Rail- 
road S100,  from  the  White  River 
Junction  Association  $80,  leaving  a 
debt  of  about  $620. 

Steps  were  taken  to  have  the  prop- 
erty insured  and  the  record  states: 
"The  treasurer  was  instructed  to  sell 
anything  he  thought  not  needed  by 
the  association." 

When  the  association  met  in  1870 
a  more  definite  report  was  made  show- 
ing nearly  $900  had  been  expended  in 
the  purchase  of  the  grounds  and  fitting 
them  up  for  the  meeting,  and  that 
there  was  a  balance  of  $543.13  against 
the  association.  A  collection  toward 
paying  this  debt  was  voted  and  $42.47 
was  raised  at  the  afternoon  service  of 
Thursday,  September  17. 

That  year  it  was  also  voted  to  take 
a  subscription  and  collection  for  a  bell 
for  the  stand,  and  $10.93  was  secured 
for  that  purpose. 

It  is  recorded  that  "Mr.  Bachelder, 
an  Artist,  paid  into  the  hands  of  Br. 
Chase  $5.00  for  the  privilege  of  taking 
some  views  of  the  meeting." 

This  is  an  appropriate  point  to 
briefly  draw  a  picture  of  those 
early  camp-meetings.  Mr.  Bachelder, 
whose  work  as  a  photographer  com- 
pares favorably  with  that  of  the  pres- 
ent, pitched  his  tent  near  the  entrance 
to  the  field  each  year.  Many  a  first 
picture,  a  tintype,  was  taken  in  that 
tent.  Horses  and  carriages  filled  the 
field  south  of  the  grove  and  lined  the 


\Vitmot  Camp-Meeting- — historical  Sketch 


159 


road  for  half  a  mile  to  the  north  as 
well  as  around  the  field.  The  board- 
ing tent  had  large  quantities  of  fruit 
and  confectionery,  to  attract  the 
youthful,  while,  at  meal  times,  baked 
beans  and  brown  bread  were  served 
on  heaped-up  plates.  Places  at  the 
tables  were  not  always  easy  to  obtain. 

In  the  grove,  especially  on  Wednes- 
days and  Thursdays  there  was  a  surg- 
ing crowd  during  the  intermissions. 
The  seats  would  be  full  with  many 
standing  during  the  services.  In 
front  of  the  platform  the  ground 
would  be  thickly  strewn  with  straw. 
This  was  the  "altar."  In  the  circle 
of  cottages  would  be  several  large 
white   tents. 

Early  in  the  morning  teams  would 
begin  to  arrive  and  they  would  con- 
tinue to  stream  in  until  toward  noon. 
Many  had  risen  before  daylight, 
done  their  farm  chores  and  driven 
many  miles  to  be  present.  Nor  were 
all  present  religiously  inclined.  On 
the  roadside  would  be  horse  trading, 
and  the  horses  would  be  driven  along 
the  road  by  the  grounds  to  display 
their  qualities.  Sometimes  in  the 
neighboring  woods  a  bottle  would 
pass  from  hand  to  hand  and  many  a 
session  had  an  accompanying  trial 
of  some  liquor  vender  before  a  justice 
of  the  peace.  At  noon  the  family  groups 
would  gather  and  eat  their  lunches. 
The  cottages  would  have  their  cook 
stoves  going.  From  each  train  vvould 
come  a  many-seated  team,  the  driver 
flourishing  a  long  whip  which  he 
carried  with  him  as  a  badge  of  author- 
ity as  he  went  about  to  announce  his 
departure  for  the  station.  - 

These  scenes,  however,  are  not  the 
substantial  picture.  That  is  limned 
in  deeper  colors  in  the  hearts  of  those 
who  have  known  the  glories  of  Wil- 
mot  Camp-Meeting.  There  was  the 
morning  prayer  service.  It  began  at 
eight  o'clock,  and  lasted  till  nearly 
time  for  the  forenoon  preaching. 
The  Wilmot  cottage  would  be  crowded 
and  those  moments  would  be  filled 
with  song,  prayer  and  testimony, 
fervid j    sometimes   crude   and   some- 


times cultured,  but  always  breathing 
the  spirit  of  deep  religious  experience. 
Then  came  the  forenoon  preaching, 
ending  with  a  stirring  exhortation 
when  the  straw-carpeted  altar  would 
be  filled  with  worshippers,  and  sinners 
would  be  urged  to  the  open  gateway 
of  salvation.  At  one  o'clock  would 
come  the  noon  prayer-meetings  in 
the  larger  cottages,  with  halleluiah 
shoutings  and  religious  ecstasy.  The 
seats  would  be  full  and  the  doorways 
crowded  with  those  who  came  from 
manj"  motives. 

In  the  afternoon  there  would  be 
a  larger  attendance  than  in  the  fore- 
noon. The  ablest  men  in  the  con- 
ference would  speak  at  these  services 
and  another  altar  service  would  follow. 
Many  from  a  distance  would  leave, 
at  the  close  of  the  preaching  but 
enough  always  remained  to  make 
the  altar  service  one  of  interest. 

At  the  noon  hour  there  wTas  a  gen- 
eral renewal  of  acquaintanceship, 
while  at  the  supper  hour  the  social 
greeting  was  of  a  more  intimate 
nature.  Evening  preaching,  with  kero- 
sene lamps  lighting  the  grove  and 
its  approaches,  was  appealing  to  the 
imagination.  And  then  in  the  cottage 
prayer-meeting  would  be  the  driving 
home  of  the  day's  truths,  the  gather- 
ing of  the  harvest.  On  the  last  even- 
ing this  meeting  might  be  protracted 
till  a  late' hour  and  many  have  been 
quickened  and  renewed  in  spirit. 

After  evening  service  the  Wilmot 
"tent  master"  wxmld  be  importuned 
by  many  for  an  opportunity  to  sleep 
in  the  bunks  above  the  main  room. 
These  bunks  extended  the  length  of 
the  "tent,"  and  each  year  were  filled 
with  straw.  Horse  blankets  would 
be  spread  over  the  straw  and  the 
places  crowded  so  one  could  not  turn 
in  the  night  without  the  consent  of 
their  neighbors.  A  board  partition 
down  the  center  separated  the  men 
from  the  women. 

Each  year  the  association  which  is 
the  business  organization  of  the  camp- 
meeting  held  its  sessions.  These  did 
the  prosaic  things  required.     It  may 


160 


The  Granite  Monthly 


be  of  interest  to  note  some  of  them. 

In  1871  it  voted  to  build  a  fence  on 
the  south  and  east  sides  of  the  grove 
to  Mr.  Flanders,  line.  Tins  was  to  be 
of  posts  and  spruce  boards  six  inches 
wide  and  four  boards  high,  and  was 
the  one  removed  recently.  The  com- 
mittee was  William  .  Flanders,  Win. 
Nelson,  C.  F.  Trussell,  R.  M.  Rowe, 
J.  K.  Wallace. 

Elder  Trussell  was  also  appointed 
to  see  the  selectmen  and  "have  a 
police  of  six  suitable  legally  invested 
with  authority  and  appointed  to 
serve  in  that  capacity  during  the 
time  of  our  camp-meeting/' 

The  executive  committee  of  that 
year  consisted  of  Wm  G.  Nelson,  Z. 
Dustin  of  Henniker,  Ruel  Whitcomb 
of  New  London,  Chas.  F.  Trussell, 
Theodore  Clarke,  John  Fitch  of  Sun- 
apee,  David  Frye  of  Grantham,  J.  K. 
Wallace,  Chas.  Whitney  of  New  Lon- 
don and  Chas.  H.  Chase  of  Enfield. 

This  meeting,  held  at  the  preachers' 
stand  on  September  6,  1871,  took 
important  action  when  it  "Voted 
that  Br.  Chas.  PL  Chase  be  a  com- 
mittee to  see  to  obtaining  an  Act  of 
incorporation  for  the  society." 

This  resulted  in  the  passage  by  the 
legislature  of  an  act: 

"That  James  Pike.  George  W. 
Norris,  Chs.  H.  Chase,  Moses  T. 
Cilley,  J.  Mowry  Bean,  Schuyler  E. 
Farnham,  Chas  H.  Hall,  Watson  W. 
Smith,  John  H.  Hillman  and  Lucien 
W.  Prescott,  their  associates  and 
successors  be  and  they  hereby  are  a 
body  politic  and  corporate  by  the 
name  of  the  Wilmot  Camp-Meeting 
Association,  for  such  religious  and 
moral,  charitable  and  benevolent  pur- 
poses as  said  corporation  may  from 
time  -to  time  designate."  The  act 
was  dated  June  26,  1872. 

The  first  meeting  was  called 
through  the  Zioris  Herald,  as  required 
by  the  act,  and  was  held  at  Canaan, 
October  29,  the  same  year.  The  act 
was  accepted  and  by-laws  adopted. 

The  incorporators  organized  with 
Rev.  James  Pike,  the  P.  E.  as  presi- 
dent, Chas.  F.  Trussell  as  secretary 


and  R.  M.  Rowe  as  treasurer.  The 
executive  committee  were  the  preach- 
ers at  Enfield  and  Canaan,  Ruel 
Whitcomb  of  New  London,  Green 
Johnson  of  Wilmot,  William  G.  Nel- 
son of  Wilmot  and  Zachariah  Scribner 
of  Salisbury. 

Another  meeting  was  held  at  Wil- 
mot on  March  15,  1873,  when  "Br. 
R.  M.  Rowe  signified  his  willingness 
to  convey  by  Deed  the  grounds 
occupied  by  the  Camp-Meeting  Asso- 
ciation. The  Association  directed  Chs. 
H.  Chase  to  make  a  Corporation  Note 
for  the  balance  S425  due  him  on  the 
grounds." 

September  11,  1873,  the  associa- 
tion voted  that  the  secretary  be 
authorized  to  draw  upon  the  treasurer 
for  money  to  pay  the  note  he  gave 
for  the  association,  $425.  Thus  in 
four  years  the  association  had  cleared 
itself  of  indebtedness  and  stood  in 
possession  of  a  valuable  property. 

It  "appears  as  if  the  change  of  name 
by  the  incorporation  was  questioned, 
for  it  was  at  this  meeting  "voted  that 
the  secretary  be  requested  to  learn 
the  name  by  which  the  association  is 
Incorporated." 

In  1873-6  the  presiding  elder  was 
Rev.  M.  T.  Cilley. 

In  1874  it  was  voted  to  open  the 
camp-meeting  on  Friday  and  close  on 
the  following  Thursday,  but  when 
the  association  met,  September  8, 
at  the  time  of  the  meetings  it  had 
proved  unsatisfactory  and  it  was 
voted  "that  next  year  the  camp- 
meeting  shall  not  be  held  over  the 
Sabbath." 

At  this  same  meeting  the  preachers 
present  were  constituted  a  committee 
"to  confer  with  such  persons  from 
adjoining  towns  as  are  present  in 
regard  to  an  earnest  effort  to  compass 
the  object  of  society  tents." 

In  1S71  Rev.  J.  W.  Merrill  was 
appointed  to  collect  money  by  sub- 
scription to  bring  water  on  to  the 
ground,  and  he  reported  $15.25. 

In  1874  it  was  voted  to  clapboard 
the  preachers,'  stand,  to  put  backs 
on  one  half  of  the  seats,  commencing 


Wilmet  Camp-Meeting — Historical  Sketch 


161 


with  those  nearest  the  stand,  to 
enlarge  the  kitchen  by  adding  ten 
feet  to  the  length,  to  build  a  fence  the 
remaining  distance  on  the  road,  to 
have  the  necessary  lumber  got  out 
on  the  grounds  during  the  winter,  to 
secure  a  division  of  the  fence  on  the 
north  side  and  to  build  the  association 
part,  that  Wm.  G.  Nelson  be  a  com- 
mittee to  bring  the  water  into  the 
kitchen  before  the  next  camp-meet- 
ing, and  purchase  of  crockery  was 
authorized. 

These  indicate  the  prosperity  of 
the  association,  which  the  treasurer 
reported  was  free  of  debt  and  with  a 
balance  on  hand  of  SI 78.59,  and  the 
secretary,  Rev.  George  N.  Byrant, 
adds,  "The  committee  feel  as  though 
God  was  smiling  on  their  efforts  and 
look  upon  the  future  of  the  meeting 
as   especially   encouraging." 

In  1875  W.  G.  Nelson's  offer  to 
move  the  preachers'  stand  back  ten 
feet  for  $10  was  accepted.  The  vote 
to  bring  water  into  the  cook  house 
was  rescinded. 

The  improvements  made  in  1 875 
caused  an  indebtedness  of  $62.65. 
The  treasurer  reported  $106.29  paid 
on  seats,  $116.35  on  boarding  house, 
and  $44.88  on  furnishings,  a  total  of 
$267.52. 

Rev.  George  J.  Judkins  became 
presiding  elder  in  1877.  At  a  meet- 
ing in  June  that  year  a  committee 
was  appointed  to  arrange  a  lease  of 
the  well  dug  on  Mr.  Clark's  farm, 
with  the  right  to  repair  the  pipe,  and 
in'  September  reported  their  success. 

In  1881  at  the  annual  meeting  of 
the  association  "Dr.  Jasper,  the  pre- 
siding elder  peremptorily  declined  to 
act  as  president  of  the  association, 
taking  the  ground  that  "no  body 
could  legislate  a  man  into  office 
against  his  will." 

The  same  year  the  retiring  secre- 
tary, J.  A.  Steele  of  Canaan,  signed 
as  acting  secretary  of  a  meeting,  held 
after  his  successor  was  chosen,  and 
appended : 

"I  make  the  above  record  although 
not  regarding  myself  as  Secretary  as 

3 


I  was  elected  only  to  hold  office  till 
my  successor  was  elected.'' 

Rev.  0.  H.  Jasper  in  1883  declined 
to  conduct  the  affairs  of  the  associa- 
tion as  president  and  the  executive 
committee  instructed  Rev.  C.  F. 
Trussell  to  perform  all  the  duties 
usually  devolving  on  the  president  of 
the  association  and  he  served  also 
in  1884. 

Dr.  Jasper,  a  scholarly  Christian 
gentleman,  aroused  because  of  the 
liquor  selling  on  neighboring  ground 
of  which  the  association  vainly  tried 
to  obtain  control,  determined  at  the 
session  of  1SS2  to  close  the  camp- 
meeting  on  Thursday  afternoon.  The 
news  spread  rapidly  and  aroused 
the  townspeople  and  its  supporters. 
They  crowded  into  the  altar  and 
pleaded  with  him.  At  first  he  would 
make  no  concession  but  finally  stated 
that  if  forty  voters  would  clean  out 
the  liquor  venders  in  the  adjacent 
swamp  the  meetings  might  continue. 
More  than  the  number  volunteered, 
but  when  they  reached  the  spot  there 
were  only  a  few  broken  bottles. 

The  announcement  by  Dr.  Jasper 
led  to  one  of  the  most  stirring  in- 
cidents in  the  history  of  the  camp- 
meeting.  Spontaneously  the  people 
crowded  at  the  altar,  burst  into  sing- 
ing, "Praise  God  from  Whom  All 
Blessings  Flow."  And  for  an  hour 
and  a  half  the  people  sang  hymns, 
repeating  verse  after  verse  in  fervid 
thankfulness.  None  thought  of  sap- 
per and  few  patronized  the  victualling 
tent  that  night,  food  being  forgotten 
■  in  the  excitement. 

Tins  occurrence  probably  influenced 
Dr.  Jasper  in  his  attitude  towards  the 
carnp-meeting.  But  liquor  selling 
from  that  time  became  less  rampant 
and  gradually  died  out.  Decreas- 
ing population,  changes  in  social  life, 
vacation  habit,  and  Old  Home  gather- 
ings reduced  the  attendance.  The 
camp-meeting,  however,  still  holds 
its  historical  attitude  in  remaining  a 
purely  religious  gathering  in  its  beau- 
tiful grove  looking  out  on  the  north- 
ern slope  of  Kearsarge. 


162  The  Granite  Monthly      - 

The  presiding  elders  and  later  the  IT.  Chase,  Charles  F.  Trussell,  James 
district  superintendents  who  have  Pike,  George  W.  Norris,  Moses  T. 
had  to  do  with  arranging  the  annual  Cilley,  J.  Mowry  Bean,  Lucien  W. 
programs,  and  ex-officio  were  its  Prescott,  John  H.  Hillman,  George 
presidents,  have  been:  Revs.  G.  W.  C.  Noyes,  George  N.  Bryant. 
H.  Clark,  1869-70;  James  Pike,  The  laymen  whose  names  appear 
1871-2;  Moses  T.  Cilley,  1873-6;  in  the  first  dozen  years  of  the  camp- 
George  J.  Judkins,  1877-80;  0.  H.  meeting  include  Robert  M.  Rowe, 
Jasper,  1881-4;  J.  E.  Robins,  1885-  Joseph  K.  Wallace,  Theodore  Clark, 
9;  G.  W.  Norris,  1890  and  1897-9;  John  Felch,  David  Fry,  Albert  San- 
0.  S.  Baketel,  1891-6;  G.  M.  Curl,  born,  William  G.  Nelson,  Ruel  Whit- 
1900-2;  El  win  Hitchcock,  1903-8;  comb,  Green  Johnson,  Zachariah 
R.  T.  Wolcott,  1909-14;  E.  C.  Scribner,  Moses  Brown,  Lowell  T. 
Strout,  1915;  T.  E.  Cramer,  1916-18.  Buswell,  Arthur  A.  Miller,  Joseph  J. 
During  Dr.  Jasper's  term  Rev.  C.  F.  Chase,  Augustus  E.  Phelps.  None  of 
Trussell  was  in  charge.  these  remain  with  us  today  and  for 

The  ministers  whose  names  appear  each   a  golden  star  appears  on   the 

on  the  records  of  the  association  in  service    flag    which    memory    raises 

the  earlier  years  include  Revs.  Chas.  within  this  sacred  grove. 


THE  FLEUK-DE-LIS 

By  Ernest  Vinton  Brown 

O  knights  of  holy  memory, 

Look  now  on  France  and  see, 
Descendants  of  their  chivalry 

Who  flew  the  fleur-de-lis. 

The  sunlight  with  its  alchemy, 

Transmutes  the  flag  we  see, 
From  one  tri-colored  splendidly, 

Unto  the  fleur-de-lis. 

Beneath  that  banner's  errantry, 

The  knightly  nations  be, 
Which  honor  noble  ancestry, 

WTho  blessed  the  fleur-de-lis. 

These  latter  knights  live  righteously, 

For  Christ  of  Galilee, 
Or  bear  for  Him  most  willingly, 

The  cross-like  fleur-de-lis. 

They  fight  with  beasts  and  dragon's  brood, 
Whose  captives  they  would  free, 

And  over  home  and  womanhood, 
They  raise  the  fleur-de-lis. 

Their  triple  vow  is  poverty, 

Obedience  and  chastity, 
As  with  such  noble  fealty 

They  serve  the  fleur-de-lis. 


The  Fleur-de-lis  163 ~\bH 

They  seek  the  Holy  Sepulchre, 

Of  Him  who  knew  the  tree, 
They  meet  the  host  most  sinister, 

Who  hate  the  fleur-de-lis. 

They  fight  to  gain  His  Calvary, 

These  knights  the  ancients  see, 
Where  watch  that  ghostly  company, 

Who  love  the  fleur-de-lis. 

They  wield  the  sword  of  Liberty, 

These  knights  so  brave,  so  free, 
Who  hold  from  God  equality, 

Who  love  the  fleur-de-lis. 

From  faith  they  draw  a  warranty, 

That  men  should  brothers  be, 
So  seal  in  blood  and  gallantry, 

The  royal  fleur-de-lis. 

When  wearied  by  the  mystery 

That  life  and  death  should  be, 
Behold,  they  see  the  Trinity, 

Within  the  fleur-de-lis. 

While  they  who  join  the  company 

Of  ghostly  knights  so  free, 
Stand  near  with  that  majority 

Which  guards  the  fleur-de-lis. 


FREEDOM'S  PLEADING 

By  Mary  C.  Butler 

On  that  desolate  horizon, 

Whence  all  living  things  have  fled, 
See  proud  Freedom  crushed  and  bleeding, 

Millions  dying,  millions  dead. 
Hear  her  children,  tortured,  groaning, 

Starving,  wailing,  asking  bread. 
Hark!  Joan,  herself,  is  pleading. 

See'st  thou  not  that  queenly  head? 
See  the  maid's  pure  eyes  entreating, 

Asking  for  her  people  bread. 
Will  ye  fail  me  now,  my  people? 

Shall  your  cherished  rights  lie  dead? 
See,  those  mighty  armies  falter! 

Shall  my  just  cause  fail  for  bread? 
Rise  ye  up,  my  slumbering  freemen ; 

Raise  the  standard  high  o'erhead; 
Go  ye  forth  to  save  and  labor, 

Fight  for  Freedom's  cause  with  bread. 


1 


■*-•■- '    *  . 


f  h  H 


V      &        SI 


to 


•■* 


Si 


■ 


P'w^.-V 


li>  ?     i 


:.. 


THE    "OLD  NORTH    MEETING   HOUSE" 

First  Congregational  Church,  Concord,  N.  H.     Erected  1751 — Burned  1870 
(Site  now  occupied  by  Walker  School  House) 


ONE  HUNDREDTH  ANNIVERSARY 


Of  the  Sunday  School  of  the  First  Congregational  Church, 

Concord,  N.  EL* 

By  John  Calvin  Thome,  Church  Historian 


This  year  we  reach  the  one  hun- 
dredth anniversary  of  the  beginning 
of  our  Sunday  School,  founded  under 
the  leadership  of  Dr.  Asa  McFarland, 
the  third  pastor  of  our  church,  from 
1798  to  1825.  He  succeeded  the  Rev. 
Israel  Evans,  A.M.,  who  was  known 
as  Washington's  Chaplain,  and  who 
continued  throughout  the  entire  .War 
of  the  American  Revolution;  and  was 
followed  by  Dr.  Nathaniel  Bouton, 
known  as  Concord's  first  Historian. 

Last  year,  May  8th,  to  the  13th, 
the  American  Sunday  School  Union 
intended  celebrating  its  100th  anni- 
versary, at  its  headquarters  in  Phila- 
delphia, with  exercises  of  a  notable 
character  to  be  held  in  the  great 
Academy  of  Music.  But  as  war  with 
Germany  was  being  declared  by  our 
government,  it  was  decided  to  post- 
pone the  occasion  until  Peace  should 
again  come  to  the  earth. 

This  national  organization  has  been 
interdenominational  in  its  work,  labor- 
ing in  the  smaller  communities,  rather 
than  in  the  large  towns  and  cities  of 
our  country.  During  the  hundred 
years  of  it?  existence  it  has  organized 
131,814  schools,  or  nearly  four  schools 
for  every  day  of  the  century.  In 
these  were  enrolled  699,034  teachers 
with  5,179,570  scholars.  For  the  last- 
sixty  years  it  has  published  174,000,- 
000  pieces  of  periodical  literature, 
which  if  placed,  one  upon  the  other, 
it  is  estimated,  would  make  a  column 
fifty  times  higher  than  the  Washing- 
ton monument.  It  is  a  great  and 
noble  work  which  this  national  so- 
ciety has  done  in  laying  the  founda- 


tion of  religion  throughout  rural 
America; — it  has  been  the  pioneer  of 
the  Sunday  School  and  the  forerunner 
of  the  church. 

But  to  revert  to  our  own  history, 
leaving  the  National  Society  to  carry 
on  its  exalted  labor,  we  must  now  ask 
ourselves  what  has  been  done  in  the 
years  past,  and  what  are  we  doing  at 
present  in  our  own  church? 

On  looking  at  our  early  records  I 
am  obliged  to  quote  from  a  paper  1 
presented  at  the  150th  anniversary 
of  our  Church,  November  IS,  1880. 
on  the  "  History  of  the  Sabbath 
School,"  from  which  I  am  able  to  give 
briefly  the  facts  of  the  foundation 
and  growth  of  this  Garden  of  the 
Lord's  planting.  (For  further  and 
fuller  information  see  the  Historical 
Pamphlet  published  1880.) 

History  records  that  in  the  Spring 
of  1818  our  church  organized  four 
different  schools  in  Concord,  then 
being  the  only  religious  institution 
in  the  town  (as  we  had  been  for  the 
previous  hundred  years),  although 
that  year  the  First  Baptist  Church 
began  its  life  among  us,  whose  100th 
anniversary  is  celebrated  next  month. 
One  of  our  schools  was  opened. at  the 
old  Town  House  (located  where  the 
present  Merrimack  County  Court 
House  stands);  one  in  the  School- 
house  (where  is  now  situated  the 
Abbott-Downing  Co's  carriage  shops) ; 
one  in  the  West  Parish,  and  one  in 
the  East  Parish. 

The  one  with  which  we  are  most 
intimately  connected  was  the  first 
one    mentioned,    which    met    at    the 


*  Address  delivered  by  Deacon  Thome,  Sunday,  Sept.  22,  1918,  it  bein^  the  100th  anni- 
versary of  the  Sunday  School  of  the  First  Congregational  Church  of  Concord. 


166 


The  Granite  Monthly 


Town  House.  This  school  gathered 
at  9  o'clock  in  the  morning,  at  the 
ringing  of  the  first  bell,  and  after  their 
exercises  were  completed,  then  any- 
one looking  out  on  Main  Street,  at 
the  time  of  the  opening  of  the  morn- 
ing sendee  at  the  church,  would  have 
beheld  the  beautiful  sight  of  the 
scholars  walking  in  the  order  of  their 
classes,  accompanied  by  their  teach- 
ers, from  the  Town  House,  where  they 
had  assembled  for  the  Sunday  School 
at  9  o'clock,  to  attend  divine  worslnp 
at  10.30  o'clock,  at  the  Old  North 
Meeting  House,  standing  where  is 
now  the  Walker  Schoolhouse. 

The  schools  in  the  outlying  districts 
gathered  at  5  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
of  the  Sabbath.  This  arrangement 
was  employed  until  the  3-ear  1842, 
when  we  removed  from  the  old  church 
edifice  to  the  one  on  the  present  loca- 
tion; then  all  the  schools  were  con- 
solidated and  met  at  the  noon  hour 
in  the  church.  This  method  has 
been  continued  until  the  present 
year,  as  being  the  best  possible  time 
for  all  concerned. 

The  trial  of  returning  again  to  the 
earlier  way  of  seventy-five  years  ago 
is  now  presented  to  us  as  something 
quite  new,  it  is  thought  by  some, 
but  is  really  an  old  idea  and  obsolete 
for  three  fourths  of  a  century.  It 
would  seem  as  if  the  value  of  the 
noon  hour  for  our  Bible  School  has 
been  firmly  established  by  the  custom 
and  experience  of  more  than  two 
generations. 

May  we  not  ask  ourselves — Is  it 
not  better  for  our  minister,  who  is 
also  a  teacher,  for  the  teachers  also, 
and  most  of  the  scholars,  especially 
the  older  classes,  many  of  whom  can- 
not positively  attend  at  the  early 
hour,  to  hold  to  the  noon  services? 
Shall  our  school  be  divided?  Who 
will  take  that  responsibility? 

The  only  way  of  teaching  the  Bible 
in  the  Sunday  School,  in  the  begin- 
ning, was  by  committing  to  mernory 
verses  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  re- 
citing the  same  without  any  explana- 
tion or  comment  by  the  teacher.     It 


is  a  matter  of  record  that  in  1826, 
eight  years  only  after  the  opening  of 
the  schools,  480  scholars,  not  above 
fifteen  years  of  age,  repeated  during 
the  term  of  six  months  161,446  verses 
— five  times  the  whole  number  in  the 
Bible,  a  wonderful  record  certainly. 
It  was  not  until  1838,  twenty  years 
after  the  beginning  of  Sunday  Schools 
in  our  midst,  that  adult  classes  were 
formed  under  the  pastorate  of  Dr. 
Bouton. 

Considering  this  first  method  of  in- 
struction, of  committing  to  memory 
the  words  of  Holy  Writ,  may  we  not 
ask — Was  there  not  much  truth  in- 
culcated into  the  growing  minds  of 
the  young?  Who  can  den}T?  That 
life-giving  thoughts  were  in  this  way 
treasured  in  Memory's  rich  store- 
house, there  cannot  be  any  doubt, 
ready  to  be  called  upon  in  later  years 
for  hope  and  strength  to  fight  life's 
battle.  In  these  days  is  it  not  pos- 
sible that  we  are  getting  away  from 
an  intimate  knowledge  of  God's 
direct  word  by  relying  too  much 
upon  the  many  explanatory  books  and 
helps  of  all  kinds,  thus  losing  the 
close  and  full  contact  with  the  Word 
which  in  the  beginning  was  with  God, 
and  which  is  God? 

It  was  in  this  same  year  of  1826, 
which  was  one  of  a  great  awakening 
and  deep  religious  interest  in  the 
progress  of  the  Sabbath  School,  that 
our  library  was  established.  It  re- 
mained and  retained  its  usefulness 
for  more  than  three  fourths  of  a 
century.  Recent  years  have  seen  it 
gradually  supplanted  by  the  free 
public  library-  and  by  many  publica- 
tions of  infinite  variety  and  value, 
issued  by  the  steam-printing  presses 
and  spread  broadcast  over  the  land. 
Much  of  this  change  was  due  to  the 
many  weak  and  over-sentimental 
style  of  books  furnished  for  our  li- 
braries— la  clang  in  originality,  inter- 
est or  any  real  worth.  When  today 
our  city  libraries  are  passing  out  to 
the  multitude  of  readers  much  liter- 
ary trash,  with  some  good  books  of 
general     importance,     however.,      it. 


One  Hundredth  Anniversary 


167 


may  be  a  question  whether  or  not,  a 
small  but  well-selected  list  of  suitable 
and  instructive  reading,  prepared 
along  the  lines  of  the  coming  advance 
in  religious  education,  might  not  de- 
mand a  place  upon  our  library  shelves? 

Our  School  has  been  through  a 
great,  many  changes  in  its  teaching 
methods,  in  its  hundred  years  of 
existence,  generally  moving  forward 
in  its  endeavor  to  maintain  a  high 
standard  of  moral  and  religious  in- 
struction. At  the  first  merely  re- 
citing verses  from  the  Bible;  then 
came  "  Select  Scripture  Lessons," 
the  text  being  repeated  from  memory, 
then  remarks  by  the  teacher  to  ex- 
plain and  impress  the  truth  upon  the 
scholar.  This  latter  was  certainly 
an  improvement  over  simply  rehears- 
ing the  words  of  the  Scripture.  This 
better  way  came  the  very  next  year 
after  the  remarkable  record  of  thous- 
ands of  verses  being  given  by  the 
pupils.  It  is  quite  evident  that  the 
management  of  that  early  day  saw 
the  graet  need  of  instruction  ac- 
companying the  text.  After  five  years 
of  this  manner  of  teaching  came  the 
preparation  of  the  subjects  of  the  les- 
sons by  the  pastor,  Dr.  Bouton,  with 
the  approval  of  the  teachers.  This 
plan  was  continued  for  more  than 
thirty  }rears  including  in  the  range  of 
topics  the  whole  Bible.  (We  have 
most  of  these  lesson  slips,  for  each 
term,  on  file  with  our  church  papers.) 
In  1857  a  question  book  was  intro- 
duced, called  "Useful  and  Curious 
Questions  on  the  Holy  Bible."  This 
was  in  use  for  a  few  years  in  connec- 
tion with  the  regular  lessons  men- 
tioned. 

It  was  in  1865  that  the  "Union 
Question  Book"  series  was  adopted 
and  continued  for  several  years  as  a 
guide  to  Bible  study. 

In  1872  the  "International  Uni- 
form Sunday  School  Lessons"  came 
into  use,  and  have  been  accepted  as  a 
leader  to  higher  thought  and  nobler 
living  by  nearly  all  the  Christian 
people  of  the  world.  At  present  the 
"Improved    International    Lessons'" 


have  been  recognized  and  received  as 
best  fitted  to  direct  in  the  study  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures.  Mutual  classes 
have  been  formed  for  independent 
investigation,  also  other  adult  groups 
of  men  and  women  who  have  pursued 
a  choice  of  courses. 

Yearly  anniversary  exercises  of  the 
school  were  first  observed  in  1825, 
by  Dr.  Bouton  in  the  first  year  of  his 
pastorate.  The  school  assembled  in 
the  order  of  their  classes,  in  the  body 
of  the  church:  an  address  adapted  to 
the  occasion,  with  reports  of  the  offi- 
cers, would  be  presented.  This  ar- 
rangement continued  under  the  minis- 
try of  Dr.  Bouton  and  Dr.  Ayer  for 
some  fifty  years,  and  it  was  an  im- 
portant feature  in  exhibiting  to  the 
church  membership  the  work  of  its 
school. 

Through  all  the  many  years  we 
have  had  faithful  and  able  superin- 
tendents, also  both  men  and  women 
teachers — a  long  list  of  names  of 
noble  volunteers  who  have  led  the 
way  to  a  higher  life.  They  are  known 
to  us  all,  and  all  shall  receive  their 
reward  as  good  and  faithful  servants 
of  the  Lord.  We  are  fortunate  to 
have  had  the  ability  and  fine  service 
rendered  to  our  school  by  our  present 
superintendent:  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
he  may  return  to  us  and  continue  his 
good  work. 

The  present  is  calling  for  more  thor- 
oughly trained  workers  in  religious 
education  in  our  Sunday  Schools,  as 
well  as  in  the  secular  lines  of  instruc- 
tion. An  intelligent  people  see  the 
need  and  are  demanding  more  system 
and  a  better  preparation  in  the  leader- 
ship of  our  spiritual  life.  Perhaps 
even  paid  superintendents  and  teach- 
ers, as  under  Robert  Raikes  in  Eng- 
land in  1780,  will  have  to  be  em- 
ployed. Those  who  can  give  trained 
thought,  time  and  strength  to  the 
work  will  ere  long  be  required  to 
make  our  Sabbath  Schools  what  they 
might  be  and  what  they  should  be 
for  the  existing  and  coming  conditions 
which  our  country  will  have  to  meet. 

A  new  era  is  dawning  in  this  work. 


168 


The  Granite  Monthly 


We  have  had  and  are  having  con- 
ferences on  Sunday  School  methods 
in  different  states  for  the  training  of 
workers.  One  such  has  been  held  in 
our  own  state,  the  last  four  years,  at 
Dartmouth  College,  and  largely  at- 
tended: some  of  our  own  people  have 
been  students  there,  and  gained 
knowledge  along  this  present  move- 
ment in  preparatory  work.  It  cer- 
tainly has  been  to  them  a  great  source 
of  inspiration  and  benefit.  A  fund 
has  been  given  for  this  special  course 
and  plans  are  under  way  for  incor- 
poration. Many  of  the  foremost 
leaders  and  instructors  in  the  country 
have  placed  this  school  in  high  stand- 
ing— its  success  has  been  due  to  the 
splendid  planning  of  the  Dean,  Mrs. 
Nellie  T.  Hendrick. 

Many  colleges  are  introducing  re- 
ligious education  in  their  curriculum; 
there  are  also  Community  Schools 
organized  in  our  larger  cities  for  the 
same  purpose. 

At  the  very  present  moment  the 
Sunday  School  Council  of  Evan- 
gelical Denominations,  made  up  of 
thirty  leading  church  bodies  of  Am- 
erica, have  united  for  a  great  drive 
for  Teachers'  Training  during  Sep- 
tember and  October.  They  realize 
that  the  greatest  weakness  is  the  lack 
of  an  adequate  force  of  trained  super- 
intendents and  teachers.  The  great 
majority  show  the  need  of  prepara- 
tion in  their  profession,  for  such  it  is 
coming  to  be,  so  this  Council  has 
adopted  standards  and  courses  of 
study,  and  is  ready  to  move  forward. 
Next  Sunday,  September  29th,  is  to 
be  observed  as  Teacher  Training  Day, 
when  there  will  be  special  effort  to 
awaken  an  interest  in  this  matter 
most  vital  to  the  churches. 

The  plan  is  that  there  be  at  least 
one  Teacher's  Training  Class  in  every 
Sunday  School  in  the  United  States, 
to  meet  once  a  week;  that  there  be  a 
Monthly  Workers'  Conference;  also 
a  cooperative  Community  School  of 
Religious  Education — to  graduate  for 


special  work,  and  to  train  superin- 
tendents in  their  administration  duties 
and  teachers  as  leaders  of  local  classes; 
and  finally  to  aid  in  the  right  selec- 
tion of  current  literature  and  books  on 
this  important  subject. 

This  new  advance  in  Sunday  Schools 
is  to  be  committed  to  the  supervision 
of  the  Education  Society,  and  they 
will  give  every  possible  aid  to  pastors, 
superintendents  and  teachers  in  fur- 
nishing information  for  the  desired 
end. 

As  a  very  great  assistance  in  this 
new  and  to  be  desired  advance,  there 
will  be  for  all  those  possible  to  attend, 
here  in  Concord,  this  next  month, 
October  9,  10  and  11,  at  the  South 
Church,  the  "N.H.  Sunday  School 
Convention."  The  program  pre- 
sented will  embrace  information  and 
discussion  on  all  the  various  phases 
of  the  new  methods  that  have  here 
been  outlined. 

This  splendid  movement  to  estab- 
lish on  stronger  foundations  the  Bible 
Schools  of  our  land  must  meet  with  a 
reacty  response.  How  often  in  the 
consideration  of  the  greatest  book  on 
earth,  of  the  most  sublime  thought 
and  exalted  teachings,  how  indifferent 
we  have  been;  how  little,  and  how 
poorly  we  have  labored  to  prepare 
ourselves  for  living  in  this  world, 
and  still  more  for  the  life  that  is  to 
come. 

It  is  due,  to  our  present  pastor,  and 
long  list  of  able  superintendents  and 
teachers,  to  say  that  the  work  has 
been  carried  on  with  a  high  measure 
of  earnestness  and  fidelity.  All  honor, 
then,  to  those  who  began  and  have 
maintained  this  school  of  the  church 
among  us.  Who  can  tell  of  the  in- 
fluence of  such  an  institution  for  one 
hundred  years  upon  the  intelligence, 
morals  and  character  of  our  com- 
munity? 

"The  Sunday  school.     Earth  has   no  name 
Worthier  to  fill  the  breath  of  fame. 
The  untold  blessings  it  has  shed 
Shall  be  revealed  when  worlds  have  fled." 


NEW  HAMPSHIRE  PIONEERS  OF  RELIGIOUS 

LIBERTY 


By  Rev.  Roland  D.  Sawyer 


No.  1 


Elder  Benjamin  Randall 
Founder  of  the  Free  Baptists 

James  Arminius,  the  eminent  Dutch 
preacher  who  occupied  a  chair  in 
theology  at  Leyden  from  1603  to  his 
death  in  1609,  became  the  founder  of 
a  movement  of  remonstrance  against. 
Calvinism.  After  his  death  the  remon- 
strants became  an  anti-Calvinist  party 
with  "  Arminianism ,;  as  their  rally- 
ing slogan.  In  1618  the  synod  of  Dort, 
consisting  of  deputies  from  England, 
Scotland  and  the  Protestant  countries 
of  Europe,  summoned  Episcopius  and 
other  active  Arminians  before  them 
and  banished,  excommunicated,  and 
drove  from  all  ecclesiastical  and  civil 
offices,  all  who  accepted  Arminian 
doctrines.  This  tyrannical  treatment 
defeated  its  own  purpose,  for  the 
scattered  Arminians  became  agitators 
in  the  various  communities  where 
they  took  refuge,  and  a  few  years 
later  Arminians  appeared  everywhere, 
and  by  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century  it  was  a  movement  fighting 
valiantly  against  the  intolerant  Cal- 
vinism. 

In  America  the  Massachusetts  col- 
ony was  under  the  iron  sway  of  the 
Calvinist  Puritan?  and  the  more  liberal 
ideas  of  the  Arminians  made  little 
progress.  New  Hampshire,  however, 
offered  a  more  congenial  soil. 

Benjamin  Randall  was  born  in  the 
little  seagirt  town  of  New  Castle, 
February  7,  1749.  His  father  was  a 
sea-captain.  The  boy  was  a  deeply 
religious  minded  boy  from  five  years 
of  age.  When  George  Whitfield  vis- 
ited Portsmouth  and  Exeter  in  Sep- 


tember of  1770,  Randall  went  to  hear 
him.  Though  deeply  impressed  by 
the  earnestness  and  power  of  Whit- 
field, Randall  steeled  himself  against 
Whitfield  because  the  great  preacher 
was  supposed  to  be  not  a  sound  Cal- 
vinist, though  Whitfield  broke  with 
Wesley  because  Wesley  too  far  aban- 
doned Calvinism.  Whitfield  preached 
at  Portsmouth  for  the  last  time  on 
September  29,  and  the  same  day  went 
to  Exeter  where  he  preached  his  last 
sermon,  going  from  there  to  Newbury- 
port,  where  he  died  in  the  night.  A 
mounted  herald  rode  into  Ports- 
mouth on  September  30  announcing 
"Mr.  Whitfield  is  dead."  One  of 
the  first  to  hear  the  message  was 
young  Randall.  His  heart  smote 
him.  Had  he  done  right  in  harboring 
his  prejudices  against  the  man  who 
appealed  to  him  so  earnestly  the  day 
before  and  whose  voice  was  now 
stilled  in  death? 

Out  of  the  experience  came  a  deeper 
and  more  tolerant  religious  conception. 
The  War  of  the  Revolution  broke  out 
and  Randall  served  a  year  and  a  half. 
He  became  a  Baptist  on  the  question 
of  Baptism  and  planned  to  go  to  Strat- 
ham  to  be  baptized  by  Dr.  Shepard, 
but  hearing  that  Wm.  Hooper  was  to 
be  ordained  at  Berwick,  Maine,  he 
went  there  instead.  The  same  year 
the  little  colony  from  Durham  went 
into  the  North.  Country  to  establish 
the  town  of  New  Durham,  and  the 
Randall  family  went  with  them. 
Randall  had  now  become  an  Arminian 
and  fellowshipped  with  those  in  Elder 
Lock's  church  of  Loudon  and  Canter- 
bury people  who  were  forming  an 
Arminian  church.  For  this  he  was 
expelled  by  the  Baptists,  and  the  next 


170  The  Granite  Monthly 

year,  1780,  he  formed  the  first  "Free"  and  experiences  of  the  movement. 
Baptist  church  at  New  Durham.  Later,  missionaries  went  to  the  middle 
The  movement  spread  throughout  west  of  the  nation.  Randall  and  the 
the  state  and  Maine,  and  then  into  Free  Baptist  preachers  who  helped 
other  states.  The  earnestness  of  the  him  appeal  to  the  people  made  a  last- 
Free  Baptist  preachers  impressed  ing  imprint  upon  the  religious  life  of 
people  everywhere,  and  their  milder  America,  and  on  the  whole  life  of  New 
views  took  where  the  harsher  Calvin-  Hampshire.  And  in  thus  calling 
ism  failed  to  appeal.  Memoirs,  jour-  about  him  his  earnest  little  band  he  be- 
nals  and  autobiographies  of  all  the  came  the  first  of  the  New  Hampshire 
early  Free  Baptist  preachers  are  in  Pioneers  of  a  more  tolerant  religion 
print,  and  from  them  one  may  get  a  than  had  been  given  New  England  by 
first-hand  vision  of  the  religious  views  the  settlers  from  the  old  world. 


TILTONIA 

By  A.  W.  Anderson 

Thou  beautiful  tiara  of  the  granite  hills! 

Thy  river  flowing  from  the  smitten  rock  bestride — 
To  thee,  and  thy  fair  name,  Tiltonia,  we  thrill; 

Thou  art  the  cherished  object  of  thy  people's  pride! 

From  out  the  dimming  shadows  of  the  misty  past 
Come  forth  the  forms  of  thy  brave  pioneers; 

We  hear  their  axes  ringing  in  the  forest  vast — 
And  straightway  vanish  all  the  intervening  years. 

The  veil  is  lifted,  and  before  us  lies  outspread 

Primeval  wilderness,  and  foaming  cataract; 
Unfettered  flows  the  river  o'er  its  rocky  bed; 

On  rushing  thru  the  hills  to  meet  the  Merrimack. 

In  woodlands  deep  and  dark,  the  naked  Indian  prowls, 
And  in  his  heart  the  secret  dread  of  white  men  bears; 

While  from  the  wilds,  at  evening,  the  gray  wolf  howls, 
And  mothers  'lone  with  little  children  hide  their  fears. 

Hemlock  and  pine  before  the  lusty  woodsman  fall; 

The  giant  oaks  go  crashing  down  beneath  his  blows; 
And  where  of  late  was  heard  at  morn  the  wild  bird's  call, 

The  thrifty  farmer  plows  and  plants  his  garden  rows. 

Where  beat  his  drum  the  ruffled  grouse  at  mating-time 
Now  stands  the  settlers'  staunchly  builded  hut  of  logs, 

And  where  the  squirrels  undisturbed  the  beeches  climbed 
The  wearied  hunter  makes  his  camp,  and  feeds  his  dogs. 

The  years  fleet-footed  pass  away  and  changes  come; 

The  forest  disappears  replaced  by  fruitful  fields; 
Where  stood  the  fort-like  cabin  stands  the  modern  home, 

And  where  the  thorn  tree  stood,  the  vine  its  bounty  yields 


Tiltonia  171 


Still  flows  the  lovely  river  from  her  granite  howl; 

No  longer  wasted  is  the  might  of  her  cascades, 
For  man  has  learned  from  nature's  force  to  take  his  toll — 

And  now,  enslaved,  she  turns  the  wheels  of  busy  trade. 

The  wigwam  of  the  Indian  is  seen  no  more; 

Nor  breaks  his  birch  canoe  the  river's  silv'ry  sheen; 
The  smoke,  upcurling  from  his  camp  fire  on  the  shore, 

Is  gone;  supplanted  by  the  fact'ry's  murky  screen. 

Unchanged  remains  thru  all  time's  strange  vicissitudes 

In  their  posterity  the  spirit  of  thy  sires; 
And  in  the  stress  and  strain  of  fortune's  varying  moods, 

The  courage  of  thy  patriarchs  thy  youth  inspires. 

When  tyrants  rise  to  drench  the  peaceful  world  with  blood, 
And  set  at  naught  Columbia's  just  and  honorable  claim; 

Thy  sons  have  been  the  foremost  in  the  human  flood 
That  rushes  forth  to  save  America's  fair  name. 

And  when  the  nation  calls  for  succor  and  for  aid, 

Or  poor  humanity  lies  bleeding  and  distressed; 
Thy  noble  daughters  every  sacrifice  have  made, 

And  dying  soldiers  their  sweet  ministrations  blessed. 

But  not  in  times  of  trouble  only  do  they  shine 

Like  meteors  that  sudden  flash,  then  quench  their  light, 

In  times  of  peace  these  daughters,  and  these  worthy  sons  of  thine, 
A  bulwark  strong  have  ever  been  for  truth  and  right. 

The  stranger  in  thy  midst  by  various  circumstance 

Instinctive  feels  the  friendly  warmth  of  thy  home-fires, 

Thy  leadership  in  human  brotherhood's  benign  advance 

The  fainting  heart  with  courage  new  and  purpose  strong  inspires. 

Thy  founders,  ever  mindful  of  omnipotence, 

Their  God  acknowledged  in  their  daily  lives, 
And  sanctuaries  budded  where  in  reverence 

They  humbly  sought  the  dictates  of  His  guiding  rod. 

So  walk  thy  loyal  children  in  this  latter  day, 

Foregathering  each  Sabbath  morn  in  faith  devout, 

With  loving  hearts  for  help  divine  to  pray 

Not  for  themselves  alone  but  all  the  world  without. 

And  from  these  centers  of  the  Christian  virtues  bright 

The  leaven  of  the  holy  gospel  permeates 
The  social  mass;  like  winds  of  heaven  recondite 

And  human  lives  and  aspirations  elevates. 

Thrice  blessed  art  thou  in  those  who  at  thine  altars  stand 
And  preach  the  law  sublime  of  righteousness  and  love 

With  single  hearts;  like  Gideon's  triple-tested  band 
Devoted  to  their  people  and  their  King  above, 


172  The  Granite  Monthly 

Nor  art  thou  blessed  less  in  those  that  throng  the  gates 
And  reverent  hear  the  message  from  the  sacred  word; 

From  them  the  grace  of  human  kindness  radiates 

Like  golden  sunshine  bursting  through  the  gloomy  cloud. 

With  cordial  handclasp  and  with  kindly  word  they  greet 
Both  friend  and  stranger  in  the  common  meeting-place; 

Of  purpose  lofty  and  in  unity  complete 

They  vie  in  shining  deeds  of  courtesy  and  grace. 

And  thy  twin  settlements;  how  peacefully  they  live 
Together  on  the  banks  of  thy  fast  flowing  stream; 

The  blessings  springing  from  this  happy  union  give 
A  ruddier  glow  to  friendship's  ever  brightening  beam. 

High  on  her  green  acropolis,  with  honor  crowned, 
Thy  queen  of  erudition  lifts  her  regal  head; 

Thru  all  the  land  for  learning  and  for  worth  renowned 
She  in  the  vanguard  of  enlightment  has  led. 

The  youth  of  nations  foreign  and  of  peoples  strange 
Dream  of  her  classic  beauty  and  her  walls  that  stand 

Like  beacons,  beckoning  to  wisdom's  wider  range 
Children  of  far  Formosa  and  the  "Sunrise  Land." 

To  those  who  'neath  her  constant  benediction  dwell, 
And  knowledge  find  in  life's  bright  morning  at  her  feet 

The  mellow  music  of  her  tower-cloistered  bell 

A  message  seems  to  bear  from  regions  of  the  great. 

And  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  pass  her  portals  thru, 
The  treasured  names  of  her  loved  pedagogues  are  found; 

Dear  memories  of  faithful  friends  and  mentors  true 
Who  share  their  future  glory  in  the  heights  the}'  gain. 

And  they,  who  guide  with  gentle  hand  and  patient  love 
Thru  learning's  mysteries  the  childhood  of  thy  hold, 

The  crown  of  everlasting  gratitude  shall  have — 
And  benedictions  fervent  from  the  young  and  old. 

So  ever  thus,  Tiltonia,  may  thy  fortunes  be, 
And  future  generations  rise  to  call  thee  blest! 

May  genius,  honor,. wealth  and  peace  inhabit  thee 
And  righteousness  remain  thy  constant  guest! 


SUNAPEE'S  ANNIVERSARY 


Historical  Address  Delivered  Monday,  September  %  1918 

By  Albert  D.  Felch 


The  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  anni- 
versary of  the  present  town  of  Suna- 
pee,  granted  as  Saville,  Nov.  27,  176S, 
occurring  this  year,  the  town  voted  at 
its  last  annual  meeting  to  celebrate 
the  event  in  connection  with  the  an- 
nual Firemen's  Field  Day  and  Labor 
Day  parade,  on  Monday,  September 
2.  The  necessary  committees  were 
appointed,  the  arrangements  made 
and  duly  carried  out.  The  weather 
was  fine,  the  attendance  large,  and 
everything  passed  of!  in  a  satisfactory 
manner.  A  parade,  led  by  the  New- 
port band,  including  many  fine  floats 
and  decorated  autos,  was  the  feature 
of  the  forenoon.  The  exercises  of  the 
afternoon  were  presided  over  by  Al- 
bert D.  Felch,  who  also  gave  the  his- 
torical address,  prayer  being  offered 
at  the  opening  by  Rev.  F.  P.  Fletcher. 
Col.  John  H.^Bartiett  of  Portsmouth, 
a  native  of  the  town,  also  gave  an 
address,  and  informal  remarks  were 
made  by  Franklin  P.  Rowell  of  New- 
port and  Gen.  Joseph  M.  Clough  of 
New  London.  x\n  exciting  ball  game, 
between  the  Newport  and  Sunapee 
teams,  won  by  the  former,  with  a 
score  of  11  to  9,  followed  the  exercises. 
and  a  band  concert,  moving-picture 
exhibition  and  dance  in  the  evening 
concluded  the  day's  festivities. 

The  historical  address  by  Albert  D. 
Felch  was  as  follows: 

Historical  Address 

This  town,  originally  of  23,040  acres 
(now  15,666  acres,  2,700  of  which  is 
covered  by  a  portion  of  the  lake)  then 
in  Cheshire  county,  was  known  as  Cor- 
eytown,  granted  November  27,  1768, 
to  Oliver  Corey,  John  Sprague  and 
others,    under   the   name   of   Saville. 


The  name  was  changed  to  Wendell  in 
honor  of  John  Wendell  of  Portsmouth 
in  1781.  The  southern  part  of  the 
town  was  combined  with  portions  of 
Newport,  Lempster,  Unity  and  New- 
bury to  constitute  the  town  of  Goshen 
December  27,  1791.  Small  tracts  were 
severed  between  George's  Mills  and 


k-s* 


Hon.  Albert  D.  Felch  , 

the  twin  lakes  and  annexed  to  New 
London  December  11,  1800,  and  June 
19,  1817.  The  name  was  changed  to 
its  present  name  July  12,  1850.  The 
lake  was  found  on  maps  engraved  in 
London  and  Paris  as  early  as  1750  as 
Sunope  and  Sunipee,  showing  that  the 
lake  was  known  to  King  George's  sur- 
veyors. The  names  are  two  Algonquin 
words,  meaning  Goose  Lake,  implying 
that  it  was  a  favorite  hunting  ground 


174 


The  Granite  Monthly 


for  the  Penacook  Indians  during  the" 
autumn  months.  During  the  French 
and  Indian  War,  one,  Timothy  Cor- 
liss, the  great-grandfather  of  Mrs. 
Grin  Cross,  was  taken  captive  by  the 
savages  at  Weare  Meadows  and  car- 
ried to  Lake  Sunapee.  The  Indians 
showed  hini  a  vein  of  ore  on  the  east- 
ern slope  of  Sunapee  mountain  from 
which  lead  was  mined  and  bullets 
made.  Corliss  was  kept  in  prison  till 
after  the  fall  of  Quebec,  when  the 
Indians  withdrew  to  Canada.  The 
first  white  settlement  was  made  in 
1772  by  a  small  company  of  immigrants 
from  Rhode  Island,  who  were  soon 
followed  by  an  enterprising  band  from 
Portsmouth.  The  names  of  the  gran- 
tees of  Saville  in  176S  were  ninety- 
four  in  number,  only  fourteen  of  the 
names  now  appearing  on  our  tax  list. 
The  census  of  1775  was  only  65;  1790, 
267;  1830,  637;  1850,  787;  1880,  895, 
and  the  last  census  of  1910  was  1,071. 
As  early  as  1800  to  1815  Elder  Nehe- 
miah  Woodard,  a  Coiigregationalist, 
settled  in  the  south  part  of  the  town, 
which  is  known  as  the  ministers'  lot, 
on  the  east  side  of  the  road  on  the 
farm  now  owned  by  Frank  M.  Harding. 
Services  were  held  for  about  thirty 
years  in  private  houses  or  school- 
houses.  Elder  Woodard  was  of  a  mild 
temperament  and  easily  satisfied,  his 
salary  being  the  products  of  the  soil. 
Meetings  were  also  held  in  the  north- 
ern part  of  the  town  in  dwellings  of 
Elijah  George  and  others,  Thomas 
Smith  and  Deacon  Adam  Reddington 
being  the  leaders.  July  24,  1830,  Elder 
Elijah  Watson  organized  a  Free-will 
Baptist  church  with  fourteen  mem- 
bers winch  for  twenty  years  was  the 
leading  society.  Mrs.  Mary  Conant, 
widow  of  Josiah  Conant^  was  the  last- 
survivor.  The,  church  edifice,  now 
standing  at  the  lower  village,  was 
built  in  1832  and  dedicated  Novem- 
ber 8  of  the  same  year,  N.  J.  Gardner 
raising  the  purchase  price  of  the  bell. 
At  an  adjourned  meeting  of  the  legal 
voters,  held  June  1st,  it  was  voted 
that  Nathaniel  Perkins,  Jr.,  John 
Young  and  Charles  Sargent  be  the 


building  committee,  and  it  was  further 
voted  that  those  that  purchased  pews 
should  pay  for  the  same,  one-half  in 
money  and  one-half  in  grain.  For 
twenty  years  there  was  no  permanent 
minister,  being  chiefly  supplied  from 
the  Universalist  faith.  By  decree  of 
court  the  property  was  sold  to  W.  W. 
Currier  in  1906.  In  1833  a  similar 
church  was  built  in  South  Sunapee, 
occupied  for  a  time,  but  after  many 
years  of  disuse,  was  torn  down  and 
the  land  *reed  to  enlarge  the  church 
cemetery.  Methodism  began  in  Suna- 
pee in  1805  under  the  old  circuit  sys- 
tem, a  Mr.  Jones  preaching  in  the 
house  of  John  Chase,  now  occupied  by 
Louis  Davis,  followed  by  Shaw,  Beck 
and  Twitchell.  In  1818  services  were 
held  in  the  schoolhouse  on  the  hill 
near  David  Harrison.  In  1823  Steele 
preached  in  the  house  of  Abiathar 
Young,  afterwards  Jordan  and  Hed- 
ding.  In  1853  the  Methodist  confer- 
ence sent  Joseph  C.  Emerson  to  Suna- 
pee, and  during  his  pastorate  the  first 
church  was  built  on  the  site  of  the 
N.  A.  Smith  house,  being  dedicated 
October  29,  1856,  and  wTas  burned 
June  10,  1871.  Three  years  later  the 
present  church  was  dedicated  June  18, 
1874.  The  pastors  from  1853  have 
been  Emerson,  Norris,  Johnson,  Hayes, 
Eastman,  Robinson,  Prescott,  Stuart, 
Hillman,  Quimby,  Chase,  Keeler,  Kel- 
logg, Dorr,  Wolcott,  Pillsbury,  On- 
stett,  Taylor,  Tasker,  Bartlett,  Mar- 
tin, Foote,  Parsons  and  the  present 
pastor,  F.  P.  Fletcher. 

Elder  John  Young,  known  to  this 
generation,  a  minister  of  the  Christian 
faith,  preached  within  a  radius  of 
twenty  miles  of  Sunapee  nearly  all 
his  long  life,  and  is  credited  with  con- 
ducting nearly  one  thousand  funerals 
and  half  as  many  marriages.  He  died 
Sept.  29,  1905.  Ezra  S.  Eastman  was 
another  local  preacher,  who  died  Sept. 
24,  1874.  Those  who  have  gone  from 
Sunapee  as  ministers  to  preach  the 
gospel  are  Edward  R.  Perkins,  Charles 
E.  Rogers,  Joseph  Henry  Trow,  Alden 
O.  Abbott,  Almon  B.  Rowell  and 
David  Angell. 


Sunapee's  Anniversary 


175 


The  first  general  store  was  kept  by 
John  Dane  in  1820,  on  the  site  of  the 
]•  hvin  Bartlett  house,  followed  in  1S25 
by  John  Colby,  who  built  a  store  about 
1830  opposite  the  home  of  N.  P.  Baker 
when  it  was  moved  in  1S53  to  what  is 
now  conducted  as  the  H.  B.  Sawyer 
store.  The  store  now  run  by  D.  A. 
Chase  was  built  by  Josiah  Turner  and 
has  had  several  owners,  N.  P.  Baker 
occupying  it  for  over  thirty  years. 
The  store  at  the  lower  village  was 
built  by  a  Mrs.  Marble  for  her  son. 
At  Ms  decease  it  was  continued  by 
Wadley,  Colcord,  Edson,  Russell  and 
Brooks.  0.  T.  and  J.  N.  Hayes  con- 
ducted a  store  at  George's  Mills  in  its 
early  settlement  which  has  continued 
to  do  business  up  to  the  present  time. 

The  schooling  for  our  town  has  al- 
ways been  considered  a  most  vital  as- 
set. Up  to  1885  the  town  was  divided 
into  school  districts,  each  district  hir- 
ing their  own  teacher  from  five  to  ten 
dollars  per  week,  the  teacher  boarding 
around  in  the  families.  By  an  act  of 
the  legislature  in  1885  the  old  district 
system  was  abolished  and  a  school 
board  created  to  care  for  the  schools 
of  the  town.  We  now  have  but  five 
schools  aside  from  the  high  school 
established  in  1914  (Hattie  M.  Smith, 
Albert  D.  Felch  and  Martha  H.  Ab- 
bott composing  the  school  board).  In 
our  schools  the  foundation  has  been 
laid  by  many  who  have  brought  much 
credit  to  our  town  and  success  to 
themselves,  not  the  least  of  whom 
one  who  is  with  us  today,  who  brings 
back,  not  only  credit  to  our  schools, 
but  to  the  state  in  which  be  is  soon  to 
be  made  governor,  Col.  John  H. 
Bartlett, 

The  first  town  meeting  was  held 
April  23,  1778,  in  conjunction  with 
the  towns  of  Newport  and  Croydon. 
Benjamin  Giles  of  Newport  was 
elected  moderator,  Samuel  Gunnison 
of  Saville,  clerk.  Moses  True,  Esek 
Young  and  Samuel  Gunnison  were 
elected  selectmen  of  Saville.  Decem- 
ber 5, 1782,  Benjamin  Giles  was  chosen 
to  represent  the  town,  being  in  the 
class  with  Goshen,  until  the  popula- 


tion reached  six  hundred,  which  was 
not  until  1824.  Then  the  town  elected 
Thomas  Pike  to  represent  her  alone, 
and  has  been  well  represented  since, 
George  E.  Gardner  being  our  present 
representative  and  Frank  M.  Hard- 
ing, George  E.  Gardner  and  Charles 
G.  Hutton  our  efficient  selectmen.  It 
is  interesting  to  note  that  the  first 
town  charge  was  that  of  a  son  of 
widow  Simister,  whose  labor  was  sold 
at  auction  to  the  highest  bidder. 
Three  years  later  Hannah  Woodard, 
sister  of  the  first  minister,  to  board 
and  tobacco,  was  sold  to  the  lowest 
bidder  for  twenty  cents  per  week. 

Those  among  the  first  settlers  who 
fought  in  the  Revolutionary  War 
were  six  in  number,  their  names  being 
given  as  Abiathar,  Robert,  Cornelius, 
Esek  Edward  and  James  Young  and 
Christopher  Gardner,  all  of  whom 
returned  without  a  scratch.  Twenty- 
seven  men  fought  in  the  War  of  1812, 
whose  names  are  on  record.  The  Sa- 
ville Guards  was  organized  in  1841,  a 
company  of  the  31st  regiment,  5th 
brigade,  3rd  division  N.  H.  Militia, 
with  William  Young  as  its  first  cap- 
tain, Joseph  Lear  ensign  and  Francis 
Smith  lieutenant.  Its  last  muster  was 
held  in  Newport  in  1851.  At  this  time 
there  was  an  independent  company 
called  the  Bold  Rangers,  and  men  by 
the  name  of  Putney,  Roby,  Young 
and  Muzzey  being  saluted  as  captains. 

We  come  now  to  the  war  of  rebel- 
lion, in  which  Sunapee  contributed  46 
men,  only  three  of  whom  are  living, 
Samuel  O.  Bailey,  living  in  Croydon, 
Jacob  Sleeper  in  Laconia,  and  our 
respected  townsman,  whom  we  are 
pleased  to  have  with  us  today,  Wilbur 
Young. 

December  3,  1702,  Joel  Bailey  of 
Newport  was  invited  to  accept  a  gift 
of  twenty  acres  as  an  inducement  to 
build  a  grist  and  sawmill,  but  the  first 
gristmill  was  not  built  until  1784, 
when  John  Chase  erected  a  mill  on 
the  site  of  the  Emerson  Paper  Co., 
sawmill.  In  1780  a  dam  was  built 
across  the  river,  back  of  H.  B.  Saw- 
yer's store  of  today,  and  the  gristmill 


176 


The  Granite  Monthly 


built  and  run  for  many  years  in  the 
building  now  used  by  the  Emerson 
Paper  Co.,  for  a  tenement  house. 
About  IS20  Hills  Chase,  son  of  John 
Chase,  established  a  privilege  below 
the  gristmill,  erecting  a  clothing  mill 
in  which  homemade  cloth  was  fulled 
and  dressed.  Jonathan  Wooster  and 
D.  B.  Colcorcl  followed  Chase  in  the 
business,  Colcord  moving  the  same 
to  George's  Mills,  closing  the  business 
in  1845,  the  products  of  factories  tak- 
ing the  place  of  home  manufactured 
goods.  In  1842  the  foundation  was 
laid  for  a  tannery  by  George  Keyser 
and  David  Haynes,  the  building  still 
standing  at  the  harbor.  The  tanning 
business  was  run  successfully  for  many 
years,  the  power  was  formed  by  throw- 
ing a  dam  across  the  river  below  the 
grist  mill  dam.  In  1S37  the  substan- 
tial stone  dam  was  built  east  of  the 
Harbor  bridge,  but  nothing  was  done 
on  this  until  1844,  when  Christopher 
Cross,  from  Lowell,  built  the  sawmill 
on  the  south  end  of  the  dam.  About 
the  same  time  Ephraim  Whitcomb 
built  a  shop  just  below  the  bridge  on 
the  present  site  of  the  Brampton 
Woolen  Co.,  for  the  manufacture  of 
bedsteads,  and  that  business  was  con- 
tinued until  1852  when  Dexter  Pierce 
engaged  in  making  clothespins.  The 
basement  was  used  by  Royal  Booth 
for  the  making  of  cardboard  machin- 
ery and  in  1857  took  fire  and  not  only 
destroyed  this  building,  but  one  east 
of  the  bridge  occupied  by  Abiathar 
Young  for  the  manufacturing  of  shoe- 
pegs.  The  peg  business  was  carried  on 
by  Abiather  Young  for  many  years  in 
a  shop  east  of  the  harbor  bridge;  that, 
too,  in  April,  1887,  was  destroyed  by 
fire  and  the  business  discontinued. 
Threshing  machines,  imitation  leather, 
excelsior,  among  other  things  named, 
have  been  manufactured  on  our  vil- 
lage stream. 

In  1867  the  "name  business  was 
started  on  the  site  of  the  Brampton 
Woolen  Co.  and  developed  under  the 
ownership  of  Bartlett  and  Powell  un- 
til it  was  united  with  the  Andover 
Hame  Works  and  the  hame  business 


of  the  middle  west  into  the  largest 
industry  of  its  kind  in  the  United 
States,  with  the  principal  plant  at 
Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

John  B.  Smith,  a  Sunapee  boy,  in- 
vented and  patented  a  clothespin  ma- 
chine in  1S0S,  which  with  a  few  minor 
improvements  leads  the  world  today 
in  the  making  of  clothespins,  turning 
out  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  fin- 
ished pins  per  minute.  Mr.  Smith  in 
his  declining  years,  interested  him- 
self in  the  making  of  telescopes,  selling 
one  to  the  Cambridge  Observatory. 
His  heirs  still  have  in  their  possession 
the  largest  he  ever  built,  having  six- 
inch  lenses. 

Sunapee  claims  the  honor  of  having 
the  first  inventor  of  a  horseless  car- 
riage in  the  person  of  Enos  Merrill 
Clough,  who  forty-nine  years  ago 
brought  out  a  finished  product  after 
fourteen  years  of  study  and  labor  an 
automobile  containing  5,463  pieces. 
The  machine  was  propelled  by  its 
power  to  Newport,  St.  Johnsbury,  Vt., 
Lebanon,  Lancaster,  Landaff  and 
thence  to  Lake  Village,  now  Lakeport, 
for  exhibition.  Although  the  inven- 
tion was  really  a  success,  the  authori- 
ties forbid  Mr.  Clough  running  it  on 
the  highways  as  it  frightened  horses. 
Mr.  Clough  became  discouraged  and 
sold  the  machine  to  Richard  Gove  of 
Lakeport,  who  ran  it  into  a  fence, 
doing  considerable  damage  to  the  car. 
The  machine  was  afterwards  dis- 
mantled, the  engine  being  sold  to  be 
used  in  a  steamboat  on  the  lake  and 
the  carriage  part  was  afterwards  de- 
stroyed by  fire.  This  car  was  finished 
in  a  shop  just  east  of  our  Methodist 
church  connected  with  the  house  occu- 
pied by  Mr.  Clough.  Mr.  Clough  pre- 
dicted that  he  would  live  to  see  the 
streets  full  of  horseless  carriages,  a 
prediction  which  has  been  abundantly 
verified.  Mr.  Clough  was  struck  by 
a  New  York  machine  while  doing  flag 
duty  at  the  Lakeport  R.  R.  crossing, 
and  died  from  the  injuries  received 
August  2,  1916,  in  his  eighty-second 
year. 

Among  many  who  have  gained  dis- 


S  una  pee' s  Anniversary 


177 


tinction  in  other  lines  as  natives  of 
Sunapee  are  Charles  H.  Bartlett,  late 
of  Manchester,  Alfred  T.  Batchelder 
of  Keene,  Caleb  Colby  of  New  York 
and  Dr.  G.  A.  Young,  late  of  Concord, 
whose  well-established  business  in 
dentistry  is  continued  by  his  son, 
William  A.,  and  Dr.  Edwin  P.  Stick- 
ney  of  Arlington. 

N.  S.  Gardner  purchased  of  Moses 
George,  about  1860,  what  is  known  as 
Little  Island  in  Lake  Sunapee  for 
fifty  cents,  and  in  1875  built  the  first 
public  building  thereon  with  bowling 
alley.  At  that  time  there  were  but 
twelve  rowboals  on  the  lake  and  one 
sailboat,  but  immediately  following, 
Lafayette  Colby  built  several  for  the 
accommodation  of  those  desiring  to  go 
to  the  Island.  The  lake  was  first  rec- 
ognized as  a  summer  resort,  at  this 
time,  W.  S.  B.  Hopkins  of  Worcester, 
Mass.,  and  Dr.  John  D.  Quackenbos 
of  New  York  being  among  the  first  to 
locate  upon  its  shores.  In  1854  Timo- 
thy Hoskins  and  William  Cutler  built 
a  horse-power  driven  boat  with  a 
carrying  capacity  of  one  hundred  peo- 
ple. The  boat  was  operated  eight 
years  when  it  was  broken  up.  In  1859 
George  Goings  of  New  London  built 
the  first  steamboat.  It  was  a  side- 
wheeler  with  a  carrying  capacity  of 
three  hundred  people.  The  boat  had 
but  little  use  and  in  1861  Goings  en- 
listed, was  made  captain  and  his  boat 
dismantled.  In  1876  N.  S.  Gardner 
purchased  and  placed  on  the.  lake  a 
small  steamer  called  the  Penacook,  for 
the  benefit  of  his  fifty-cent  Island 
enterprise.  The  boat  did  not  run  satis- 
factorily and  was  remodeled  and 
named  the  Mountain  Maid,  being 
owned  and  operated  by  Captain  Na- 
than Young.  In  the  same  year,  1876, 
Frank  and  Daniel  Wood  sum  of  Maine 
built  the  Lady  Woodsum  and  have 
since  added  the  Armenia  White,  Kear- 
sarge,  Weetamoo  and  Ascutney.  In 
18S5  another  commodious  boat  was 
launched,  called  the  Edmund  Burke, 
which  had  a  short  life  due  to  accidents 
and  litigation. 

While  it   has  been   the  custom  of 


many  of  our  townspeople  to  rely  upon 
Newport  for  medical  aid  and  other 
needs,  yet  as  early  as  1815  a  physician 
by  the  name  of  Buswell  located  in 
town  and  was  followed,  after  a  short 
practice,  by  Elkins  and  Corbin.  In 
1829  John  Hopkins,  a  native  of 
Francestown,  began  practice  in  town 
and  remained  here  till  1864.  During 
his  stay,  several  young  practitioners 
came  in  and  took  part  of  the  business, 
among  whom  was  Isaac  Bishop,  who 
came  here  in  1859.  He  moved  to 
Bristol,  N.  H.,  and  Dr.  Hopkins  went 
to  Vineland,  N.  J.,  the  same  year, 
where  he  died  in  1879,  aged  eighty- 
seven  years.  In  1866,  Ira  P.  George, 
whose  father  was  a  native  of  Sunapee, 
practiced  here  for  three  years,  remov- 
ing to  Newport  and  finally  to  Ne- 
braska. D.  M.  Currier,  a  graduate  of 
Dartmouth,  practiced  from  1868  to 
1871,  removing  to  Newport.  C.  F. 
Leslie  from  Maine  followed  in  1874, 
and  moved  to  Windsor,  Vt.,  in  1883. 
His  place  was  soon  filled  by  our  pres- 
ent physician,  Dr.  Edwin  C.  Fisher. 

Sunapee  owes  very  much  to  William 
C.  Sturoc,  a  historical  son  of  Scotland, 
who  died  in  Sunapee,  May  31,  1903, 
leaving  much  on  record  in  our  Sullivan 
County  history  and  elsewhere. 

July  4,  1779,  a  liberty  pole,  cut  from 
the  Rogers  woods,  was  raised  on  the 
northwest  corner  of  the  John  Dame 
lot,  now  owned  by  Elwin  H.  Bartlett, 
from  which  flew  the  stars  and  stripes, 
which  has  given  us  protection  to  this 
day.  We  have  renewed  the  raising  of 
our  flag  today,  which  not  only  stands 
for  our  liberty  but  for  liberty  of  all 
our  allies.  The  church  and  commu- 
nity flag  today  represents  thirty-four 
boys  of  our  best  blood  who  are  in  the 
service ;  and  it  is  up  to  us  to  do  our  bit 
by  keeping  our  brains  working,  and 
our  hands  from  shirking,  doing  the 
things  needed  to  be  done,  to  keep  the 
money  flowing  to  the  boys  that  are 
going  to  fight  until  our  liberty  is  won. 

I  will  ask  you  to  rise  as  the  names  of 
these  brave  boys  are  read  and  at  the 
conclusion  join  in  .singing  America, 
led  by  the  band. 


178  The  Granite  Monthly 

Lieut.  William  Koob,  John  Brown,  Charlie      Lear,      Harold      Campbell, 

E.  J.  Blake,  Merlon  Sargent,  Elmer  Harold    Gove,    Andrew   Abbott,    Joe 

Rollins,  Irving  Young,  Howard  Sanne,  Gamsby,  Cecil  Hadley,  Willis  Hoyt, 

William  Werry,  Ernest  Deny,  Ernest  Kay  Cooper,  George  Bartlett,  Harry 

Collins,  Jack  Mathews,  Robert  Hayes,  Sanborn,  Lester  Walsh,  George  Lear, 

William   Morgan,    Edwin   Thornton,  Percy  Muzzey,  John  Rowell,  Clarence 

Sergt.  Jack  Whitney,  Ralph  Cooper,  Davis,  Clifton  Hayes,  Leon  J.  Drew 

Wm.    J.    Hardy,    Raymond    Haven,  and  William  Lambert. 


QUEM  DEUS  VDLT  PERDERE,  PRIUS  DEMENTAT 

By  E.  M.  Patten 

Once  a  mighty  nation  nourished,  rich  in  science,  music,  art; 
A  Mecca  for  all  students;  of  the  earth  a  living  part. 
But  hark!  Didst  hear  the  tocsin  sound  the  hatred  of  the  world 
.     For  Prussia,  when  her  lawless  flag  in  Belgium  she  unfurled? 

When  babes  were  slaughtered,  boys  were  maimed,   and  men  were 

crucified; 
Nuns,  maids,  and  mothers  raped  and  slain,  all  laws  of  God  defied 
By  the  ruthless  Hun  invader,  by  the  Prussian  vandals,  mad 
As  the  devilled  swine  in  Galilee.     They  are  mad,  mad,  mad. 

The  world,  at  first,  could  not  believe  such  awful  deeds  were  wrought; 

Crimes  worse  than  heathen  savages  have  ever  done,  or  thought. 

But  proofs  on  proofs  were  multiplied;  there  was  no  pause,  no  shame; 

Destruction  of  world  treasures  forever  will  defame 

The  scutcheon  of  the  Teuton;  through  all  the  years  to  come 

The  Lusitania's  fate  shall  damn  the  record  of  the  Hun; 

His  name  shall  be  anathema;  Ins  language  shall  be  banned 

Till  all  the  German  people  shall  rise  and  rule  their  land. 

One  by  one,  the  world's  great  nations  arose  in  righteous  rage 
Against  foul  deeds  that  soiled  the  screed  on  history's  darkest  page; 
From  land  and  sea,  his  victims  cried  for  vengeance  on  the  Hun, 
But  a  blasphemed  God  of  justice  hath  his  punishment  begun; 
For  eye  must  see,  and  ear  must  hear,  and  memory  shall  not  cease; 
Ghosts,  night  and  day,  his  heart  shall  flay,  and  he  shall  have  no  peace 
From  the  drowning  face,  from  the  dying  shriek,  from  the  maimed 

and  blinded  lad, 
Till  to  God  he  cry,  "0,  let  me  die,  for  I'm  mad,  mad,  mad!" 

Hanoi 'er,.N:  H. 


ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESS 


At   the   Celebration   of    Acworth's   One   ^Hundred    and    Fiftieth 
Anniversary,  August  21,  1918 

Bit  John  Graham   Brooks 


When  the  invitation  came  to  me  to 
speak  at  this  anniversary,  I  had  been 
interested  in  three  town  histories  that 
tell  us  of  New  England  life  and  ways 
in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centimes.  I  doubt  if  any  records 
exist  that  are  more  informing  and  in 
many  ways  more  profitable  for  us,  es- 
pecially in  these  days. 

We  meet  to  revive  something  of 
that  past,  and  listen  to  any  message  it 
may  have  for  us  and  for  our  day. 
Yet  something  disturbing  is  in  all  our 
minds;  something  throwing  its  shadow 
backward  into  the  past  and  forward 
into  the  future.  I  shall  not  discuss  it, 
but  it  cannot  go  unmentioned.  We 
have  begun  the  fifth  year  of  a  war 
that  has  destroyed  outright  more  than 
ten  nullions  of  human  beings  and, 
directly  and  indirectly  crippled  more 
than  fifty  millions — nearly  twice  as 
many  as  existed  in  our  entire  country 
at  the  time  of  our  Civil  War.  Through 
the  life  of  the  youngest  person  here, 
and  indeed  much  longer,  it  will  prob- 
ably stand  out  as  the  world's  most 
overpowering  and  tragic  event.  This 
brief  word  must  be  given  because  on 
such  occasion  as  this  we  cannot  keep 
it  out  of  mind.  We  cannot  speculate 
about  the  past,  or  dream  about  the 
future,  apart  from  the  staggering 
record  of  these  four  years. 

But  what  has  this  to  do  with  our 
early  histories  and  their  instruction 
for  us?  I  went  to,  them  first  to  see 
what  people  were  thinking  and  saying 
when  days  looked  black  to  them; 
when  they,  too,  thought  the  world 
w-as  tottering.  It  was  a  relief  to  get 
away  from  too  constant  dwelling  on 
our  daily  press  and  to  see  how  people 
lived  and  braved  it  out  in  other  times 
and  under  other  difficulties. 


We  take  up  Mr.  Merrill's  history 
of  Acworth  and  note  that  the  first 
settlers  had  barely  made  a  home  of  it 
and  the  first  baby  that  came  in  the  ox 
cart  with  all  the  family  goods  had 
hardly  learned  to  toddle  alone,  when 
troubles  broke  out  which  looked  to 
those  of  that  time  as  if  devils  had 
been  let  loose  and  were  trying  with 
some  success  to  destroy  the  world. 
Acworth  men  had  to  march  away  to 
face  a  storm  which  did  not  clear  for  a 
dozen  years,  while  those  at  home  took 
up  the  burden.— I  want  to  dwell  a 
little  on  that  burden. 

I  do  not  imply  that  it  had  any  such 
measure  of  horror  as  the  present  con- 
flict, although  there  was  far  more  suf- 
fering and  anxiety  than  any  of  us  can 
in  the  least  realize.  But  what  I  em- 
phasize is  that  thousands  of  our 
countrymen  then  honestly  believed 
that  nothing  worse  had  ever  hap- 
pened or  was  likely  to  happen.  John 
Adams  was  a  cool  man,  but  he  thought 
Boston  was  to  suffer  martyrdom  and 
to  expire.  When  salt  cost  twenty- 
seven  dollars  a  bushel,  tea  and  mo- 
lasses ten  times  what  they  now  cost, 
and  loaf  sugar  four  dollars  a  pound, 
and  they  had  finally  to  get  it  out  of 
corn  stalk;  when  they  made  tea  from 
sage,  thoroughwort  and  currant  leaves 
and  could  get  no  coffee;  when  labor 
had  gone  up  seven  and  eight  hundred 
per  cent,  and  could  hardly  be  had  at 
that,  John  Adams  wrote  from  Phila- 
delphia beseeching  his  wife,  a  most 
thrifty  woman,  to  be  not  only  frugal 
but  parsimonious.  Let  us,  he  says, 
eat  potatoes,  drink  only  water,  and 
wear  canvas  and  undressed  sheep- 
skins. There  were  bitter  complaints 
about  food,  because  pumpkins  had 
to  be  eaten  even  for  breakfast — and 


180 


The  Granite  Monthly 


not  only  in  pies  but  in  bread  and  sauce. 
There  was  a  forced  Hooverizing  of 
which  we  have  but  the  slightest 
conception. 

A  common  needle  was  so  rare  that 
any  fortunate  possessor  had  to  lend 
it  about  the  village  every  spare  mo- 
ment when  it  was  not  in  use.  The 
needles  most  in  service  were  made  from 
sharp  thorns,  polished  bones  and  even 
of  wood.  Pins,  so  much  more  essen- 
tial then  than  now,  rose  to  unheard-of 
prices,  but  could  rarely  be  got.  We 
are  proud  of  the  incessant  knitting 
for  soldiers  all  about  the  land,  but 
they  were  doing  it  too  in  old  Acworth 
and  everywhere  else.  There  was 
then  not  a  factory  in  the  country. 
The  tiny  house  was  indeed  itself  the 
factory. 

At  Rowley,  Mass.,  for  instance,  all 
the  adult  women  (thirty-three  of 
them)  were  up  an  hour  before  light, 
through  with  breakfast  and  ready, 
wheels  in  hand,  at  the  village  par- 
sonage. 

At  Northboro,  forty-four  women 
spun  2,200  knots  in  one  day.  Then 
there  was  hoarding  of  food,  very  gross 
profiteering  and  conditions  in  Con- 
gress incomparably  worse  than  any- 
thing the  sharpest  critic  would  sug- 
gest against  our  present  Congress. 
The  air  was  charged  with  incessant 
and  venomous  criticism  and  faction 
against  faction,  party  against  party, 
one  prominent  man  against  another, 
which  we  should  not  tolerate  today 
through  a  single  election. 

By  a  happy  accident,  I  -knew  one 
man  who  connects  us  directly  with  the 
time  we  celebrate.  He  was  a  his- 
torical scholar  especially  in  our  New 
England  traditions,  Dr.  George  Ellis. 
Though  he  was  then  almost  exactly 
my  present  agje,  he  seemed  to  me  tot- 
tering on  the  edge  of  the  grave. 
He  told  me  of  a  visit  he  made  in  his 
youth  to  John  Adams  at  Quincy,  then 
over  ninety  years  of  age.  In  passing 
through  a  connecting  hall  to  the 
dining  room,  the  young  man's  atten- 
tion was  caught  by  a  portrait  of 
George  Washington  somewhat  differ- 
ent from  anything  he  had  seen.     He 


stopped  to  look  at  it.  Mr.  Adams 
turned  sharply  and  said,  "Don't  stop 
to  look  at  that  old  fool."  Now  this 
was  not  wholly  a  joke.  If  this  strong 
and  educated  man  of  Washington's 
own  Federalist  party  could  talk  like 
this,  what  is  it  likely  that  the  father 
of  his  country  had  to  suffer  from  those 
we  now  call  democrats  and  from  his 
enemies  generally. 

It  is  such  glimpses  as  these  that  our 
most  trustworthy  histories  record, 
yet  I  have  given  you  only  one  leaf 
out  of  a  stiff  volume. 

But  I  confess  it  is  not  quite  worthy 
of  us  to  seek  comfort  for  our  ills  by 
dwelling  on  the  equal  or  greater 
troubles  of  other  peoples.  It  is  not 
this  I  have  in  mind,  but  rather  the 
certain  proof  these  old  records  show 
us  that,  however  ugly  times  then 
looked,  we  can  now  see  them  as  a  part 
of  progress.  We  now  see  our  har- 
rassed  ancestors,  by  strange  and  zig- 
zag ways,  slowly  getting  on  and 
reaching  up  to  something  better; 
better  politics,  better  religion  and 
better    citizenship. 

Following  close  upon  our  own 
Revolution  came  the  far  more  ter- 
rible uprising  in  France  which  tore 
and  shattered  Europe  for  another 
dozen  years.  One  of  the  wisest  men 
of  those  times  thought  the  race  was 
committing  suicide.  Another  thought 
that  as  an  individual  may  become  in- 
sane, whole  peoples  can  fall  into  mad- 
ness. Yet  as  we  now  look  back  upon 
that  great  upheaval,  we  see  it  a  con- 
dition and  a  birth  time  of  immense 
and  permanent  improvement.  As  it 
swept  away  huge  abuses,  it  brought 
newr  liberties  and  new  equalities. 

This  then  is  my  question:  Are  not 
wc  also  justified  in  thinking  that  even 
in  the  waste  and  misery  of  this  war, 
forces  maybe  at  work  to  which  those  of 
a  wiser  future  will  look  back  as  upon 
steps  that  lead  to  still  more  liberty 
and  to  a  still  higher  social  order? 
Our  faiths  are  at  least  as  good  as  our 
doubts — our  hopes  as  our  fears— and 
this  faith  and  hope  shall  be  ours  as 
we  look  backward  on  this  day  of 
memories.  


A  n  7iiver$ar  y  A  deb  ess 


181 


We  are  trying  on  this  August  day  to 
commemorate — that  is,  call  up  again 
the  far-off  beginnings  of  our  town. 
Some  five  generations  have  lived  out 
their  allotted  space  on  these  hills. 
Many  left  them  for  other  scenes,  but 
one  and  all  of  our  ancestral  roots  are 
here,  and  no  more  than  these  village 
maples  can  we  wholly  cut  ourselves 
off  from  our  roots  and  really  live. 
Far  more  than  any  of  us  know,  those 
roots  are  a  part  of  all  that  we  now  are. 
Here  on  these  hills  the  child  became 
father  to  the  man.  Here  we  were 
taught  our  first  lessons  and  here 
dreamed  our  first  dreams.  However 
grizzled  we  have  become,  there  is  not 
a  single  pictured  memory-  of  those  old 
days  but  enters  into  the  life  we  now 
live.  Yes,  the  older  we  grow,  the 
more  vivid  become  those  first  impres- 
sions. We  turn  back  to  them  oftener, 
and  I  hope  a  little  more  fondly.  We 
talk  about  them  more,  as  if  our 
latest  days  could  only  be  enlivened 
and  made  tolerable  by  living  again 
the  days  of  our  youth.  To  call  this 
"  second  childhood"  does  not  fully 
or  rightly  express  it.  It  is  rather  the 
natural,  ripened  and  completed  "life 
for  every  one  of  us. 

What  better  use  can  our  anniver- 
sary have  than  to  make  us  rational 
and  cheerful  about  our  own  lives  and 
our  own  times?  I  am  going  to  read 
you  a  few  lines  from  one  of  the  most 
deep-seeing  and  far-seeing  Americans 
■ — a  wit,  a  scholar,  a  poet  and  states- 
man— James  Russell  Lowell.  He  had 
very  black  moods  at  the  time  of 
our  Civil  War.  But  in  this  passage 
he  looks  back  and  out  on  the  great  life 
scene,  and  this  is  the  summing  up  .of 
his  faith.  The  forefathers  who  wor- 
shipped in  this  church  would  have 
thought  it  rather  blasphemous,  but 
there  is  not  an  irreverent  syllable  in  it. 

"The  more  I  learn,  the  more  my 
confidence  in  the  general  good  sense 
and  honest  intentions  of  mankind  in- 
creases, the  signs  of  the  times  cease 
to  alarm  me,  and  seem  as  natural  as 
to  a  mother  is  the  teething  of  her 
seventh  baby. 


"I  take  great  comfort  in  God  and 
think  that  he  is  considerably  amused 
with  us  sometimes  and  that  he  likes 
us  on  the  whole  and  would  not  let  us 
get  at  the  match  box  so  carelessly  as 
he  does,  unless  he  knew  that  the  frame- 
work of  his  universe  was  fire-proof." 

Our  own  backward  look  should 
have  this  spirit  in  it.  We  need  it  the 
more  1  think,  because,  as  the  sparks 
fly  upward,  too  many  of  us  are  prone 
to  fault  finding.  We  have  a  great 
talent  for  complaining  of  the  time  arid 
events  in  which  we  live.  I  am  going 
therefore  to  suggest  a  good  remedy 
for  this  weakness.  I  want  to  imagine 
us  all  for  the  moment  in  the  world  of 
magic  and  fairyland  where  we  can  do 
the  most  impossible  things.  I  want 
to  put  every  one  of  you  (myself  in- 
cluded) back  into  the  old  Acworth  for 
a  vacation  of  about  two  weeks.  We 
have  got  to  stay  there  and  live  exactly 
as  they  lived.  We  must  live  in  a  log 
shelter,  probably  of  one  room.  Even 
when  the  first  chimney  was  built  and 
one  spare  room  under  the  roof,  we 
must  reach  it  by  climbing  up  the  side 
of  the  chimney.  There  is  no  such 
thing  as  a  match  or  a  bit  of  glass  to  let 
in  the  light.  There  is  no  doctor,  and 
a  dentist  was  as  much  unknown  as 
an  airship. 

We  must,  of  course,  eat  as  they  ate 
and  just  what  they  ate.  We  must  get 
the  wood,  make  the  fire,  and  bring 
the  water.  We  must  dress  as  they 
dressed  and,  if  sick  or  aching,  we  must 
take  their  medicines.  I  have  a  long 
list  from  which  I  select  but  two. 

For  a  trouble  of  the  eyes  there  was 
concocted  an  elaborate  mixture  of  de- 
cayed creatures  and  bitter  herbs  made 
sticky  by  infusion  of  tar.  One  would 
think  that  even  sore  eyes  might  be 
useful  until  the  meal  was  eaten,  but 
this  sorry  mess  was  to  be  abundantly 
applied  before  each  meal.  If  you 
waked  in  the  night,  you  must  daub 
it  on  again.  Who  of  us  would  not 
think  sore  eyes  a  luxury  if  we  could 
avoid  medicine  like  that? 

One  more  I  take  from  the  records  of 
a  community  in  which  one  of  the  most 


182 


The  Granite  Monthly 


enlightened  women  of  those  days  is 
our  informant — Abigail  Adams,  wife 
of  our  second  President  of  the  United 
States. 

This  is  the  medicine  for  one  of  the 
commonest  diseases.  You  were  to 
hunt  until  you  filled  a  peck  measure 
with  snails.  These  were  then  to  be 
well  washed  in  small  beer  and  put  in 
a  hot  oven  until  they  "stopped  mak- 
ing any  noise."  They  were  then  to 
be  taken  out  and  wiped  with  the  green 
froth  exuded  in  the  oven;  then 
bruised  to  powder  in  a  stone  mortar. 
You  are  by  no  means  done  yet. 
You  have  to  go  out  with  a  quart  meas- 
ure and  fill  it  with  what  we  used  to 
call  here  fish  worms.  These  were  to 
be  carefully  scoured  in  salt,  then  slit 
into  strips. 

I  pause  here,  I  think,  for  the  same 
reason  that  made  the  old  chronicler 
hesitate  to  add  the  further  ingredients 
and  the  process  of  dosing  soon  to  begin. 
There  were  a  great  many  medicines 
much  worse  than  this  and  probably 
just  as  utterly  useless.  It  seems  to 
have  been  a  first  principle  that  the 
more  nauseating  and  disagreeable  the 
dose,  the  more  certain  it  was  to  cure 
you.  And  this  principle  applied  also 
to  a  good  deal  of  the  religious  instruc- 
tion and  observances.  Even  Judge 
Sewall  gets  such  a  moral  shock  at  the 
most  innocent  April  fool  practices 
that  he  writes  to  the  schoolmasters 
to  stop  the  affront  to  the  Almighty 
because  in  his  own  words  it  is  "so 
defiling."-: 

One  of*  the  Mathers  confesses  that 
he  had  often  sinned,  but  of  all  his  sins 
he  says  "none  so  sticks  upon  me  as  that 
I  was  whittling  on  the  Sabbath  Day  and, 
what  was  worse,  I  did  it  behind  the 
door."  He  says  it  is  a  specimen  of 
atheism.  The  play  of  jolly  little 
Sammy  Mather,  aged  ten  years,  is 
called  by  his  father  "a  debasing 
meanness."  This  explains  another 
healthy  boy's  perplexity.  After  three 
Sunday  sermons,  he  wanted  to  walk 
out  for  a  little  exercise  but  was  refused. 
He  came  back  to  his  mother  with  the 
question  what  "Holy"  meant.     She 


was  a  little  uncertain  but  said  it  was 
"good'' — it  was  the  best  thing  we 
could  imagine;  the  boy  went  away 
puzzled,  but  returned  to  ask  why  God 
picked  out  such  a  disagreeable  day  as 
Sunday  and  then  called  it  a  "Holv 
Day." 

And  so  I  insist,  if  we  were  all  set 
back  into  those  days  to  live  their 
lives  to  the  letter  as  they  lived  them — 
especially  to  be  dosed  medically  and 
religiously  during  our  vacation — we 
should  all  come  back  to  present-day 
ways  of  living,  in  spite  of  all  their  de- 
fects, with  an  enthusiasm  and  a  satis- 
faction which  would  shame  most  of 
the  grumbling  well  out  of  us,  I  hope, 
for  our  remaining  days. 

May  I  close  this  simple  tribute  to 
the  Founder's  Day  with  an  old  and 
perhaps  too  familiar  story.  I  choose 
it  because  it  has  the  soul  and  spirit 
of  such  memorials,  as  well  as  its  les- 
son for  us  on  this  occasion.  I  choose 
it  too  because  some  of  Acworth's 
best  past  citizens  link  us  close  to 
Scotch  history. 

A  Scotch  regiment,  led  by  one  of  the 
Campbells,  though  in  many  a  tough 
contest,  was  said  never  to  have  been 
beaten  even  if  the  battle  was  lost  to 
others.  The  colonel  was  a  silent 
man,  but  he  always  made  a  speech 
to  his  men  that  put  fire  and  valor  into 
them.  It  had  one  purpose,  to  recall 
and  vivify  old  home  memories — to 
call  them  up  out  of  the  past  and  make 
them  live  in  the  present  moment. 

As  the  men  stood  there,  tense  for 
the  fight,  their  leader  always  repeated 
the  same  words,  "Scots,  remember 
your  hills."  The  very  sound  of  them 
fired  something  which  nerved  them 
for  victory. 

I  have  looked  on  those  Scotch  hills 
and  they  are  not  fairer  than  our  own, 
nor  do  I  believe  their  traditions  are 
worthier  than  our  traditions.  So 
changing  a  word  or  two,  but  keeping 
the  soul  of  them,  let  us  take  up  the 
spirit  of  that  old  valor-cry, 

"  Men  and  women  of  Acworth, 
Let  us  'Remember  our  hills.'  " 


GRAND  OLD  RED  HILL 


By  Mary  Blake  Benson 


Of  all  the  charming  scenes  which 
greet  the  eye  as  one  sails  up  the 
beautiful  bay  of  Center  Harbor,  none 
surpass  grand  old  Red  Hill. 

For  ages  it  has  looked  out  over  our 
beloved  Winnipesaukee,  and  down 
upon  the  smaller,  but  none  the  less 
lovely  Lake  Quinnebaug,  nestling  at 
its  foot.  Years  ago,  before  the  white 
man  invaded  this  territory,  the  red 
men  knew  Red  Hill  as  their  hunting 
ground,  and  from  its  top  gleamed 
their  council  fires.  Gradually,  how- 
ever, their  graceful  birch  canoes  dis- 
appeared form  the  calm  waters  of 
the  lake  below,  and  their  tribal  feasts 
were  held  no  more  along  its  shore. 

Always  generous  with  its  favors, 
the  old  Hill  showered  them  as  freely 
upon  the  white  men  as  she  had  upon 
the  Indians  in  whose  steps  they  fol- 
lowed. Brave  pioneers  settled  in  its 
shadows,  and  built  their  log  cabins 
of  the  staunch  old  trees  which  grew 
along  its  slope.  Among  its  forests 
they  hunted  game,  and  from  the  lake 
at  its  foot  they  caught  their  fish; 
while  on  the  fertile  lowlands  they 
planted  fields  of  corn.  Thus  Red 
Hill  befriended  the  white  man  and 
became  his  home,  even  as  it  had  been 
the  Red  man's  from  time  immemo- 
rial. 

In  1797  its  name  was  changed  to 
Mt.  Went  worth,  in  honor  of  Governor 
A  Vent  worth  of  that  time.  Just  how 
long  this  name  endured  is  not  known, 
but  to  one  who  has  been  fortunate 
enough  to  see  the  Hill  in  all  the  splen- 
dor of  its  autumn  dress,  there  can  be 
no  wonder  that  the  name  Red  Hill 
or  Red  Mountain,  clings  above  all 
others.  Its  sides  are  thickly  covered 
with  a  growth  of  oak  whose  foliage 
in  the  fall  turns  to  a  brilliant  red. 
flere  and  there  stately  pines,  in  their 


never  changing  beauty,  and  the 
bright  yellow  of  maples  and  birches, 
stand  out  in  striking  contrast  against 
the  deep  rich  color  of  the  oaks.  Thus 
through  all  the  beaut y  of  the  long 
autumn  days,  Red  Hill  looks  out 
over  the  surrounding  country  serene 
in  its  glory — a  wonderful  mountain 
of  red! 

About  1800,  a  family  by  the  name 
of  Cook  located  near  the  summit  of 
its  western  slope.  Mr.  Cook  was  a 
man  of  Revolutionary  fame,  as  vigor- 
ous and  strong  as  the  very  trees  of 
which  he  built  his  little  cabin  on  the 
mountain  top.  Just  why  he  chose  so 
isolated  a  spot  for  his  home  is  hard  to 
tell.  It  is  said  that,  in  the  early  days, 
pioneers  settled  on  high  land,  not  on 
account  of  its  fertility,  but  to  avoid 
the  trails  of  the  savages  which  were 
made  along  the  river  banks  and  by  the 
lake  shores. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  the  site  of  the 
old  Cook  house  was  truly  a  delightful 
and  picturesque  spot.  And  the  view 
from  it  was  unsurpassed  by  any  in 
New  England.  Here  at  least  three 
generations  of  the  family  lived  and 
died. 

One  of  the  earliest  records  which 
we  have  of  them  is  found  in  an  old 
Log  Book  which  was  presented  to 
them  by  Charles  A.  Wirithrop  of  New 
Haven,  Conn.  This  book  was  kept 
at  the  Cook  house  and  all  who  visited 
the  mountain  top  were  requested  to 
write  their  names  therein. 

As  the  town  of  Center  Harbor  be- 
came settled,  and  its  hospitable  hotels 
were  opened  to  summer  guests,  many 
visitors  found  their  way  to  this  beau- 
tiful lake  region  and  likewise  to  the 
summit  of  Red  Hill  itself.  Accord- 
ing to  the  Log  Book,  a  party  of  people 
ascended  the  Hill  on  a  sight-seeing 


184 


The  Granite  Monthly 


trip  as  early  as  1S21  and  the  record 
tells  us  that  this  party  was  the  third 
one  which  went  up  the  narrow,  rag- 
ged trail  on  a  similar  mission. 

These  old  Log;  Books,  in  two  vol- 
umes, covering  the  years  from  1S32 
to  1869  inclusive,  bear  silent  testi- 
mony to  the  hundreds  of  people  who 
came  from  all  parts  of  the  world  to 
pay  homage  to  our  wonderful  New 
England  scenery.  Among  the  first 
entries  in  the  book  we  find  the  follow- 
ing: "John  Q.  A.  Rollins  visited  the 
Hill,  June  3d,  1832,  accompanied  by 
other  gentlemen  from  Concord,  N. 
H.  Come  all  you  young  men,  wher- 
ever you  be;  come  and  visit  Red  Hill 
and  see  what  vou  can  see." 

"July  4,  1834.  John  H.  and  Ed- 
ward E.  Wood  ascended  Red  Hill  this 
day  and-  were  highly  delighted  with 
the  prospect;  they  would  advise  every 
one  that  visits  Lake  Winnipissiogee  to 
ascend  the  Hill,  for  it  is  the  most 
beautiful  picture  of  natural  scenery 
that  the  eye  ever  witnessed.  Ladies 
may  ascend  with  safety;  should  they 
ascend  on  horseback,  it  would  be  well 
to  descend  on  foot.  Their  horses 
will  be  able  to  descend  without  assist- 
ance, never  mistaking  the  path  laid 
out  for  them.  Adieu,  Red  Top. 
Adieu,  Mrs.  Cook  and  Family. " 

"July  9,  1835.  Franklin  Pierce  of 
Hillsborough,  N.  H.,  ascended  Red 
Mt.j  in  company  with  Simon  Drake, 
Esquire."  (As  is  well  known,  Frank- 
lin Pierce  later  became  president  of 
the  United  States.) 

After  Mr.  Cook's  death  Mrs.  Cook 
continued  to  live  on  the  mountain, 
with  her  son  and  daughter,  the  latter 
being  both  deaf  and  dumb.  In  sum- 
mer they  sold  blueberries  and  milk  to 
the  many  tourists  who  stopped  at 
their  humble  home  for  rest  and  re- 
freshments. 

From  some  of  the  later  entries  in 
the  Log  Book,  we  have  chosen  the  fol- 
lowing: "May  the  kind  old  lady  who 
lives  here,  and  is  called  by  the  name  of 
'Mother  Cook,'  live  long  to  show  her 
kindness  to  others  as  she  has  extended 
it  to  us  today.     Fifty-nine  years  has 


she  lived  here  in  this  romantic  spot. 
God  bless  her,  and  may  the  rest  of  her 
days  be  calm  and  peaceful,  and  may 
she  sink  to  rest  like  the  summer's  sun 
sinking  behind  the  summit  of  Red 
Mountain. — William  O.  Barnicoat, 
Boston;  Isaiah  A.  Young,  New  York. 
August  31,  1848." 

"September  14th,  1848.  Paid  my 
first  visit  to  Red  Hill.  I  am  highly 
gratified  with  the  prospect  and  scenery, 
which  is  most  delightful.  The  terrific 
grandeur  of  the  Ossipee  Mountains, 
connected  with  the  aquatic  scenery 
of  the  lakes,  form  a  scene  difficult  if  not 
impossible  to  describe.  I  must  not 
forget  the  kindness  of  Mother  Cook; 
she  gave  us  a  very  kind  reception;  she 
also  produced  a  number  of  potatoes 
which  were  planted  in  the  middle  of 
June,  which  are  equal  if  not  superior 
to  any  in  my  native  country. — 
Patrick  Calhoun  Mossaugh,  Ennis- 
killen,  Ireland." 

Reginald  Neville  Mantell,  C.  E., 
from  London,  England,  visited  and 
lunched  at  Aunt  Cook's  on  August  5, 
1869,  being  on  a  tour  of  the  United 
States  for  the  purpose  of  studying  the 
interesting  objects  of  science,  art,  and 
nature.  The  books  are  filled  with 
beautiful  quotations  and  interesting 
bits  of  information  from  the  pens  of 
those  who  sought  in  this  way  to  express 
their  appreciation  both  of  the  lovely 
landscape  spread  out  before  them, 
and  also  of  the  kindness  and  charm  of 
old  Aunt  Cook.  One  writer  put  it 
very  gracefully  when  he  wrote: 

"Led  by' the  Lady  of  the  Lake'  * 

Our  hearts  with  beauty  oft  did  thrill, 
But  our  gratitude  was  wakened, 
By  the 'Lady  of  the  Hill.'" 

Romantic  as  the  life  of  the  Cook 
family  may  seem  to  have  been  in  sum- 
mer, the  long  severe  winters  must  have 
tried  the  resources  of  these  brave 
people  severely.  In  those  days  only 
a  bridle  path  led  from  the  base  of  the 
mountain  to  the  top,  and  this  was,  of 
course,  nearly  if  not  quite  impassable 
during  the  deep  snows  and  blinding 

*The  "Lady  of  the  Lake"  was  formerly  a 
passenger  steamer  on  Lake  Winnipesaukee. 


Grand  Old  Red  Hill 


185 


storms  of  our  New  England  winters. 

In  the  days  of  the  old  Senter  House, 
which  stood  where  the  Nichols  Me- 
morial Library  now  stands,  many  were 
the  merry  parties  which  left  its  hospi- 
table doors  to  make  the  trip  to  Red 
Hill.  Large  covered  wagons,  their 
seats  filled  with  laughing,  joyous 
crowds,  each  morning  made  their  way 
from  the  hotel  to  the  foot  of  the  moun- 
tains. There,  ponies  were  secured, 
and  the  final  journey  to  the  top  of 
the  mountain  was  begun. 

In  after  years  the  bridle  path  was 
widened,  and  a  very  good  road  was 
laid  out  as  far  as  the  Cook  house. 
From  there  the  climb  was  not  long  and 
was  easily  accomplished  on  foot.  Still 
later,  when  the  last  of  the  Cook  family 
had  been  laid  to  rest  in  the  shadow  of 
the  Hill  they  loved  so  well,  a  new  trail 
to  the  top  was  made,  which  turned 
off  about  a  mile  below  the  Cook 
house.  Eventually  the  old  farm  fell 
into  other  hands  and  was  finally  aban- 
doned. Now,  only  an  occasional  visi- 
tor follows  the  overgrown  path  which 
leads  to  the  site  of  the  home  of  these 
fine  old  pioneers.  The  remains  of  an 
old  house  and  barn  may  still  be  seen, 
but  the  woods  on  all  sides  are  gradually 
creeping  up  and  winning  back  for 
their  own,  the  fields  once  cleared  at 
such  an  expense  of  labor  and  time.  A 
few  old  apple  trees  still  drop  their 
fruit  among  the  tall  grasses,  and  the 
squirrels  and  wild  deer  find  in  them  a 
dainty  luxury. 


A  grapevine  wanders  at  will  over 
an  old  stone  wall,  and  yields  its  purple 
grapes  to  the  feathery  folks  who  nest 
in  the  near-by  trees,  and  even  among 
the  ruins  of  the  old  house.  It  would 
be  sad,  indeed,  if  in  the  future  years  all 
trace  of  this  old  homestead  should  be 
lost,  for  on  this  little  plot  of  land,  high 
upon  this  grand  old  mountain,  three 
generations  lived  and  died,  secure 
and  happy  in  their  peaceful  home. 
Mighty,  indeed,  was  the  struggle  which 
they  must  have  made  against  the  ele- 
ments, and  many  the  hardships  they 
must  have  undergone  in  such  a  place. 
Yet  the  mountain  was  their  home,  and 
nobly  it  pr-otected  them.  Wonderful 
beyond  description  were  the  scenes, 
daily  spread  before  their  eyes,  by  the 
everchanging  work  of  Mother  Nature's 
fingers.  Truly,  the  Everlasting  Hills 
were  their  refuge. 

Secure  in  its  grandeur,  Red  Hill  still 
stands  guard  over  the  surrounding 
country,  rugged  and  beautiful.  Swept 
by  the  icy  storms  of  winter  and  bathed 
in  the  glory  of  the  summer  sunshine, 
it  grows  dear  to  the  heart  of  its  admir- 
ers with  each  passing  year.  Nature 
lovers  still  make  their  pilgrimages  to 
its  summit,  and  gaze  in  awe  and  won- 
der at  the  charming  scene  before  them; 
while  the  little  lake  below  continues  to 
smile  tenderly  up  at  the  old  mountain 
whose  reflection  it    has    mirrored  for 


THE  NOT  CROSS  NURSE 

By  Edward  H.  Richards 

I  know  a  skilful  Not  Cross  nurse 

Out  on  life's  firing  line, 
Who  does  her  duty  every  day 

From  early  dawn  till  nine. 

Sometimes  she  binds  a  wounded  toe 
And  sometimes  to  her  breast 

She  draws  a  little  tired  foe 
Into  a  cozy  nest. 


186  The  Granite  Monthly 

At  eve  we  see  her  in  the  camp, 
With  soldiers  round  the  fire, 

Telling  tales  of  wondrous  deeds 
Of  Him  who  dwells  up  higher: 

While  eager  faces  all  intent, 
Of  what  she  has  to  say, 

Are  drinking  in  the  truth  she  tells — 
To  be  recalled  some  day. 

And  then  each  soldier  bows  his  head 
Around  her  easy  chair 

And  lists  devoutly  while  is  said 
The  nurse's  evening  prayer. 

Anon  the  mantle  clock  rings  out 
The  bed-time  bugle  call 

And  straightway  up  the  soldiers  get 
And  file  out  in  the  hall. 

Then  up  the  steps  they  march  away. 
Obedient  to  command. 

And  bye  and  bye  we  hear  her  say, 
"They've  gone  to  slumberland." 

O,  patient,  gentle  Not  Cross  nurse, 
Oh,  charming  mother  mine, 

How  many  battles  would  be  lost 
Without  you  on  the  line! 


TO   THE   "  HAVERHILL  " 

Launched  August  24,  1918 

By  Frances  Parkinson  Kcyes 

Go  forth,  sturdy- ship,  from  the  shores  of  New  Hampshire, 
As  stalwart  and  strong  as  the  state  of  your  birth, 

And  bear  on  the  ocean,  wherever  you  venture, 
The  message  she  sends  to  the  rest  of  the  earth. 

The  message  which  rings  from  the  tops  of  her  mountains, 
From  boulders  of  granite,  and  meadowlands  green, 

From  still,  sunny  lakes,  and  from  swift-rushing  currents, 
She  trusts  now  to  you,  in  the  Merchant  Marine. 

Remember  the  woods  where  grew  trees  for  your  timbers, — 
The  freedom,  and  healing,  and  peace  that  they  give; 

Remember  the  hands  of  the  workmen  that  wrought  you — 
And  sink,  if  you  must,  that  the  nation  shall  live. 

Go  cany  the  name  of  the  home  of  your  sponsor 
Where  need  is  the  greatest,  and  carry  it  well; 

Go  make  it  a  symbol  of  strength  and  salvation 

Through  darkness  of  death,  and  through  horror  of  hell. 

Go  show  all  the  world  that  your  state  stands  for  courage 
Which  never  will  falter,  and  never  will  quail; 

For  truth — and  for  faith — and  for  far-reaching  vision — 
Then  you  never  can  stop — and  you  never  can  fail! 


THE  ALBUM  QUILT 


By  Eva  Beech  Odell 


The  Benson  farm  was  next  to  the 
last  one  on  the  road  which  lost  itself  at 
the  foot  of  the  mountain.  One  fine 
spring  morning  in  the  early  fifties, 
Susan,  the  ten-year-old  daughter  of 
the  house,  heard  a  wagon  cross  the 
dooryard,  and  then  a  very  energetic 
"Whoa!"  Exclaiming,  "Oh!  some- 
body's come, "  she  skipped  to  the  door, 
followed  by  her  mother  and  Aunt 
Phcebe. 

"Of  all  things,  Mis'  Pettingill," 
said  Mrs.  Benson,  "who'd  ever  'ave 
thought  o'  seein'  you  this  time  o'  day? 
Hitch  up  to  the  corn-barn  post  there 
an'  come  right  in." 

"Good  land!  This  's  ol'  Kate. 
She'll  stan'.  She  druther  stan'  than  go 
any  time,"  was  the  response.  "I 
sh'll  hev  ter  tell  ye  my  errant  spry  an' 
be  a-movin'  on,  fer  I'm  a-layin'  out  ter 
go  all  round  in  the  neighborhood  this 
forenoon.  Dretful  warm  spell  fer  the 
time  o'  year,  hain't  it?  I'm  heftier  'n 
I  uster  be  an'  it  takes  holt  on  me." 

"Susan,  you  run  up  chamber  an' 
fetch  down  one  o'  Aunt  Phcebe's  gray 
goose  fans, "  said  Mrs.  Benson,  as  Mrs. 
Pettingill  settled  herself  in  the  big- 
rocking  chair.  Then,  as  the  good  lady 
slowly  fanned  herself,  she  unfolded  her 
plan. 

"Wall,  you  know  there  hain't  be'n 
much  talked  on  lately  'ccpt  Beniah 
Wood's  goin'  out 's  a  forrin  missionary, 
an'  what  a  gre't  honor  'tis  to  our  soci- 
ety. I  do  pity  his  pore  mother,  though. 
I  shouldn't  s'pose  she'd  'spect  ter  ever 
set  eyes  on  him  ag'in  in  this  world,  but 
he  got  so  chock  full  o'  religion  off  t'  the 
'cademy  that  he  felt  it  his  duty  ter  go 
ter  Indy  an'  convert  the  heathen. 
Course  you  knowed  that  he  was  a-goin' 
iev  merry  Elder  Ethridge's  darter, 
down  t'  the  Lower  Village.  There  was 
three  gals  gin  out  word  that  they  was 


willin'  ter  go,  but  he  went  ter  see  Phil- 
indy  Ethridge  fust,  an'  was  so  well 
pleased  with  her  that  he  didn't  look  no 
further.  Folks  say  they  may  be  two 
months  on  the  v'yage,  an'  like  'nough 
seasick  most  o'  the  time.  I've  heern 
tell  'twas  a  dretful  squeamish  feelin'. 
Sairy  Ann  Judkins  says  she  hopes  ter 
mercy  the  natives  won't  make  'em 
into  a  stew  fust  thing  when  they  land. 
He's  so  kind  o'  spare  like,  mebby 
he  won't  be  so  temptin',  but  she's 
purty  plump.  Now  what  I  come  up 
here  for  is  ter  tell  ye  about  the  album 
quilt  that  we  wimmin  wants  ter  git  up 
for  'em.  Each  one  is  to  make  a 
square  out  o'  some  pieces  o'  her  calico 
gownds,  dark  an'  light,  with  a  block 
o'  white  in  the  center  to  write  her 
name  on  in  indelible  ink.  I  sh'll  put 
on  mine  'Mr.  and  Mrs.  Amos  Pettin- 
gill.' I've  fetched  ye  the  partem," 
said  she,  diving  into  the  depths  of  her 
carpet  bag.  It'll  be  sot  together  with 
a  sash.  His  mother  an'  Aunt  Hitty  an ' 
the  gals  is  a-goin'  ter  do  that,  then 
everybody  that's  pieced  up  a  square's 
ter  be  invited  ter  the  quiltin'." 

One  beautiful  afternoon,  a  few 
weeks  later,  when  the  short  grass,  like 
a  dainty  green  carpet,  spread  over  the 
broad  fields,  and  the  trees  had  just 
come .  out  in  the  delicate  shades  of 
spring,  the  good  women  met  at  the  old 
homestead,  at  the  end  of  the  mountain 
road,  which  had  sheltered  the  Wood 
family  for  three  generations,  to  quilt 
Beniah's  album  quilt.  The  west  room 
was  opened  for  the  occasion.  The 
heavy  green  paper  curtains,  behind  the 
dainty  white  muslin  ones,  had  been 
rolled  up,  letting  the  sunshine  in.  It 
shone  on  the  pretty  spindle-legged 
table  and  the  mahogany  bureau.  It 
lighted  up  the  gilt-framed  looking- 
glass  and  brought  out  the  beautiful 


18S 


The  Granite  Monthly 


shades  in  the  peacock  feathers  around 
it.  Even  the  face  of  the  woman,  in 
mourning  garb,  leaning  against  the 
family  monument  under  the  weeping 
willow  tree,  in  the  dark  frame  above 
the  fire-place,  brightened  in  the  sun- 
light. It  rested  on  the  plaster  of  Paris 
cat  and  dog  watching  each  other  from 
opposite  ends  of  the  mantelpiece, 
glinted  the  tall  brass  candlesticks  and 
the  snuffers  in  the  painted  tray,  and 
gleamed  from  the  great  polished  balls 
on  the  andirons  standing  on  the  hearth 
below. 

Here  in  readiness  was  the  quilt. 
Busy  fingers,  with  darning  needles  and 
'strong  wrapping  yarn,  had  sewed  the 
lining  into  the  quilting-frames,  had 
laid  on  the  thin  sheets  of  batting,  and 
then  had  basted  on  the  patchwork. 
The  corners,  where  the  frames  crossed 
were  held  in  place  by  gimlets  and  put 
between  the  slats  in  the  backs  of  four 
kitchen  chairs, 

The  only  child  in  the  company  was 
Susan.  "She  c'n  quilt  as  good  's  any 
on  us,"  said  Aunt  Amos.  Then,  as 
Mrs.  Benson  did  not  enjoy  very  good 
health,  Susan  went  everywhere  with 
Aunt  Phoebe;  together  they  roamed 
the  woods  and  pastures,  breaking  off 
great  bunches  of  hemlock  for  brooms, 
digging  roots  to  put  into  beer  for  the 
haymakers,  picking  the  wild  berries 
and  gathering  herbs  for  tea  to  cure 
all  ailments.  The  one  exception  was 
when  Aunt  Phcebe  was  called  upon  to 
sit  up  nights  with  sick  neighbors;  there 
she  watched  alone. 

Susan  wore  her  hair  in  braids  crossed 
at  the  back  of  her  neck.  Her  calico 
dress  had  a  brownish  stripe  and  one 
of  rosebuds  on  a  background  of  light 
blue.  It  was  cut  with  a  low  yoke, 
long  sleeves,  a  short  waist  and  scant 
skirt,  reaching  nearly  to  her  calf-skin 
shoes,  which  were  made  by  the  travel- 
ing shoemaker,  who  during  the  winter 
months  went  from  house  to  house. 
Each  woman  had  on  a  new  calico  dress 


and  a  long  white  apron  and  the  older 
ones  wore  white  lace  caps. 

By  half-past  one  all  were  in  their 
places  around  the  quilting-frames. 
The  skeins  of  thread  were  cut  in  two 
lengths  and  braided  in  the  middle  to 
avoid  snarling  when  needlefuls  were 
drawn  from  the  hanks.  Little  Susan 
kept  up  with  the  older  quilters  and 
followed  the  long  chalk  lines  with 
straight  rows  of  daintily  set  stitches. 
When  each  one  had  quilted  as  far  as 
she  could  reach,  then  they  were  ready 
to  roll  up.  The  gimlets  were  un- 
screwed and  the  quilt  was  rolled  over 
the  frames  as  far  as  it  was  finished. 
New  lines  were  chalked  as  the  women 
seated  themselves  to  the  work  again. 
After  the  second  roll-up,  it  was  not 
long  before  the  quilt  was  ready  to  be 
ripped  from  the  frames. 

During  the  visiting  time  which  fol- 
lowed, some  took  out  their  snuff-boxes 
and  exchanged  friendly  pinches  with 
their  neighbors,  but  soon  the  hostess 
appeared  in  the  doorway,  saying, 
•''Now,  all  walk  right  out  ter  supper.'' 
A  beautiful  pink  tea-set  graced  the 
table,  with  little  glass  cup  plates  in 
which  to  stand  the  cups  when  not  in 
use,  for  the  custom  was  to  pour  the 
tea  into  the  "sassers"  to  cool  and 
drink  it  from  them.  Cold  meat  with 
warm  biscuit,  fresh  butter,  tansy 
cheese,  and  hot  maple  syrup,  plum 
cake  and  caraway  cookies  to  eat  with 
the  cup  custard  which  stood  by  each 
plate,  made  a  bountiful  repast. 

The  women  went  home  early  to  get 
supper  for  the  hungry  men  folks  who 
were  doing  the  spring  plowing,  but  the 
good  time  they  had  over  Beniah's  al- 
bum quilt  they  never  forgot.  Across 
the  ocean  it  went  to  a  foreign 
land,  and  for  many  a  year  comforted 
the  hearts  of  the  missionary  and  his 
wife,  as  again  and  again  they  read  the 
names  of  the  dear  home  friends  so  far 
away. 


WILLIAM  PLUMER  FOWLER 


By  Frances  M.  Abbott 


The  death  of  William  P.  Fowler, 
which  occurred  at  his  summer  home 
at  Little  Boar's  Head  on  the  afternoon 
of  Wednesday,  July  3d,  calls  for  more 
than  passing  mention  in  the  city  of  his 
birth.  The  third  son  and  fourth 
child  of  the  late  Judge  Asa  and  Alary 
Cilley  (Knox)  Fowler,  he  was  born 
at  the  "old  North  End"  in  what  is 
now  the  Streeter  house,  Oct.  3,  1S50. 
This  house  was  built  by  Judge  Fowler 
in  1840,  but  about  1S70  the  family 
moved  to  the  Governor  Gilmore  place, 
now  occupied  by  St.  Mary's  School, 
which  continued  to  be  their  Concord 
home  till  Judge  Fowler's  death  in 
1885. 

William  P.  Fowler  was  educated  in 
the  Concord  schools,  graduating  from 
the  High  School  in  1S67  under  the 
stimulating  principalship  of  the  re- 
nowned Moses  Woolson.  He  took 
his  A.B.  at  Dartmouth  in  1872,  was 
admitted  to  the  Massachusetts  bar  in 
1875,  and  after  that  Boston  became 
Iris  permanent  home. 

Air.  Fowler  was  much  more  than  a 
successful  lawyer.  A  man  of  fine 
literary  taste,  conversant  with  the 
best  literature  of  the  world,  a  judicious 
philanthropist,  devoting  years  of  his 
life  to  unpaid  service  in  connection 
with  the  city's  important  charities; 
a  man  of  domestic  qualities,  whose 
immediate  relatives  had  most  occa- 
sion to  know  his  sterling  worth — 
withal  a  religious  man  who  reverently 
followed  the  deeds  of  the  Master  as 
well  as  the  observances  of  the  church, 
he  preferred  the  higher  things  of  life 
and  contributed  to  the  world's  sum 
of  good.  His  death  is  a  distinct  loss 
to  the  community  in  which  his  lot 
was  cast. 

For  many  years  a  parishioner  and  a 
close  friend  of  Edward  Everett  Hale, 


he  acquired  many  of  the  ideals  of  the 
latter,  as  well  as  Dr.  Hale's  broad 
religious  views  and  wide  interest  in 
human  welfare.  The  Fowler  family 
has  always  been  identified  with  the 
Unitarian  faith  and  they  were  among 
the  up-builders  of  this  church  in 
Concord.  William  P.  Fowler  bet- 
tered the  traditions  of  his  people. 
Not   onlv  in   Boston,   where   he   was 


_/.i 


William  P.  Fowler 


chairman  of  the  Unitarian  Festival 
Committee  for  many  years,  but  at 
Little  Boar's  Head,  where  he  was 
most  active  in  promoting  the  reli- 
gious services  in  the  Union  Chapel, 
will  he  be  missed. 

For  a  quarter  century  he  was  presi- 
dent of  the  Cambridge  Shakespeare 
Club,  succeeding  the  famous  critic, 
Dr.  William  J.  Rolfe.  Possessed  of  a 
rich,  mellow  voice  and,  like  other 
members  of  his  family,  trained  from 


100 


The  Granite  Monthly 


youth  to  memorize  the  best  poetry 
Mr.  Fowler  was  peculiarly  well  fitted 
to  interpret  the  great  authors  and  his 
readings  will  long  be  remembered  as 
a  delight.  Only  last  September  the 
writer  heard  him  at  Little  Boar's 
Head  give  selections  from  Kipling. 
Whitman  and  other  poets  in  a  way 
that  will  linger  in  the  memory. 

The  gift  of  the  Fowler  Library 
building  to  Concord  in  1888  was  a 
noteworthy  act.  Although  our  town 
had  been  in  existence  more  than  a 
century  and  a  half,  up  to  that  date 
none  of  its  citizens  had  ever  reared  a 
structure  for  its  benefit.  That  Wil- 
liam P.  and  Clara  M.  Fowler,  a  brother 
and  sister  in  the  early  prime  of  life, 
should  thus  be  mindful  of  their  native 
city  made  the  benefaction  of  double 
value.     They   gave   joyously,   freely, 


generously,  while  in  the  flower  of  their 
youth  and  health,  instead  of  waiting 
for  the  time  when  earthly  goods  must 
be  laid  aside  upon  the  inevitable 
summons. 

On  October  14,  1S99,  William  P. 
Fowler  was  married  to  Susan  Farn- 
ham  Smith  at  North  Andover,  Mass. 
Besides  his  widow  he  is  survived  by 
three  children,  William  P.,  Katherme 
and  Philip;  by  his  only  sister,  Miss 
Clara  M.  Fowler,  and  by  the  three 
children  of  his  elder  brother,  the  late 
Judge  George  R.  Fowler,  Minot, 
Mary  and  Robert  of  Jamaica  Plain, 
Mass.,  and  by  two  nieces  at  Concord, 
N.  H.,  Elizabeth  and  Evelyn  Fowler. 
Many  outside  the  immediate  family 
circle  have  reason  to  mourn  the 
passing  of  a  good  man  and  a  useful 
citizen. 


NEW  HAMPSHIRE  NECROLOGY 


HON.   JACOB   H.   GALLINGER 

Jacob  H.  Gallinger,  United  States  Senator 
from  New  Hampshire  since  March  4,  1891, 
died  at  the  hospital  in  Franklin,  to  which  he 
had  been  removed  for  care  and  treatment  from 
his  summer  home  in  Salisbury  a  short  time 
previous,  on  Saturday,  August  17. 

Senator  Gallinger  came  home  early  in  the 
summer,  after  a  strenuous  winter's  service  in 
Washington,  hoping  to  regain  strength  for 
further  sendee,  as  he  had  done  the  previous 
year  in  the  bracing  atmosphere  and  amid 
the  cheerful  surroundings  of  his  summer 
home  at  Salisbury  Heights;  but,  at  his  ad- 
vanced age,  his  recuperative  powers  proved 
unequal  to  the  demand.  Dangerous  symp- 
toms developed,  his  removal  to  the  hospital 
followed,  and  the  final  summons,  to  which  all 
must  respond,  sooner  or  later,  came  on  the 
date  above  named. 

The  career  of  Senator  Gallinger,  who  had 
represented  the  state  in  the  upper  branch  of 
Congress  longer  than  any  other  man,  has  been 
sketched  more  than  once  in  the  pages  of  the 
Granite  Monthly,  but  the  following  brief 
outline  is  not  out  of  place  at  thus  time: 

Jacob  Harold  Gallinger  was  born  at 
Cornwall,  Ontario,  Canada,  March  28,  1837, 
the  son  of  Jacob  and  Catherine  (Cook)  Gal- 
linger. He  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  and  b;>'  private  tutors;  graduated 
M.  D.  from  the  Medical  Institute,  Cincin- 
nati, in  1858;  from  the  New  York  Homeo- 
pathic Medical  College  in  1868  and  received 
the  honorary  degree  of  A.  M.  from  Dartmouth 


College  in  1S85.  He  was  of  German  ances- 
try on  the  paternal  side,  his  greatgrandfather, 
Michael  Gallinger,  having  emigrated  to  this 
country  and  settled  in  New  York  in  1754, 
later  removing  to  Canada,  while  his  mother 
was  of  American  stock;  one  of  twelve  children, 
he  learned  and  worked  at  the  printer's  trade, 
before  entering  upon  the  study  of  medicine; 
located  in  medical  practice  in  Keene,  but  re- 
moved to  Concord  in  18G2,  where  he  has  since 
resided;  early  allied  himself  with  the  Re- 
publican party  and  entered  actively  into 
politics;  was  a  member  of  the  New  Hampshire 
House  of  Representatives,  in  1S72  and  1873, 
and  again  in  1691;  member  of  the  Constitu- 
tional Convention  in  1876;  State  Senate,  1S7S- 
79-80,  being  president  the  last  two  years; 
surgeon-general  on  staff  of  Gov.  Natt  Head, 
with  rank  of  brigadier-general,  1879-80; 
chairman  of  New  Hampshire  Republican 
State  Committee  for  eighteen  years;  at  one 
time  New  Hampshire  member  of  Republican 
National  Committee;  chairman  of  the  New 
Hampshire  delegation  in  the  Republican 
National  Conventions  of  1888,  1900,  1904 
and  1908,  member,  United  States  House  of 
Representatives,  1885-89;  elected  United 
States  senator  for  six  years  from  March  4, 
1891  and  four  times  re-elected,  the  term  for 
which  he  was  last  elected  ending  March  4, 
1921,  being  the  oldest  member  of  the  Senate 
in  point  of  service;  president  pro  tem  of  the 
Senate  in  the  sixty-second  Congress;  minority 
floor  leader  since  1915.  and  long  regarded  as 
a  leading  champion  of  the  protective  tariff 


New  Hampshire  Necrology 


191 


policy;  chairman  of  the  Senate  committee  on 
District  of  Columbia  for  many  years  and 
instrumental  in  promoting  many  public  im- 
provements; member  of  the  important  com- 
mittees on  Appropriations,  Finance,  Library, 
Printing  and  Rules;  chairman  of  the  Mer- 
chant Marine  Commission  of  1004-05;  mem- 
ber of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Columbia 
Hospital  for  Women,  and  of  the  board  of 
visitors  to  the  Providence  Hospital;  member  of 
the  National  Forest  Reservation  Commis- 
sion, the  National  Washington  Monument 
Association,  and  vice-chairman  of  the  Water 
Ways  Commission;  Baptist;  Mason,  Odd 
Fellow,  Patron  of  Husbandry,  member  of 
University  Club  and  Lock  Tavern  Club  of 
Washington,  D.  C. 

He  married,  August  3,  1S60,  Mary  Anna 
Bailey,  daughter  of  Maj.  Isaac  Bailey  of 
Salisbury,  who  died  in  Washington,  February 
2,  1907,  having  been  the  mother  of  six 
children,  of  whom  one  only,  Mrs.  H.  A. 
Norton  of  Winchester,  Mass.,  survives,  the 
last  to  pass  away  being  Dr.  Ralph  E.  Gal- 
linger,  a  successful  practitioner  in  his  native 
city  and  physician  at  the  New  Hampshire 
State  Prison. 

ROGER   G.   SULLIVAN 

Roger  G.  Sulhvan,  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent citizens  of  Manchester,  and  leading 
cigar  manufacturers  of  the  country,  died  in  a 
Boston  hospital  on  July  13. 

He  was  a  native  of  the  town  of  Bradford, 
born  December  IS,  1854.  When  five  years 
of  age  he  removed  with  his  parents  to  Man- 
chester where  he  attended  the  Park  Street 
Grammar  School,  but  early  in  life  learned 
the  painter's  trade,  which  he  followed  some 
years  at  Amesbury,  Mass.  Returning  to 
Manchester  in  IS 74,  he  commenced  the 
manufacture  of  cigars  on  a  small  scale,  em- 
pk^ing  one  man  to  work  with  himself,  but 
gradually  developed  his  business,  through 
the  excellence  of  his  product,  till  his  estab- 
lishment became  one  of  the  largest  in  the 
country,  employing  more  than  1,000  hands, 
and  _  producing  1,000,000  cigars  per  week. 
He  is  said  to  have  been  the  largest  indi- 
vidual tax-paver,  to  the  internal  revenue 
department,  in  the  United  States. 

Outside  of  his  manufacturing  his  business 
interests  were  extensive.  He  was  a  director 
of  the  Amoskeag  National  Bank,  the  New 
Hampshire  Fire  Insurance  Company,  the 
Manchester  Traction  Light  &  Power  Com- 
pany, and  the  Deny  ^Street  Railway,  of  which 
he  was  also  president,  and  was  a  trustee  of 
the  Manchester  Public  Library.  He  was  a 
Catholic,  a  Knight  of  Columbus  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Derryfield  Club.  Politically  he 
was  a  Democrat,  and  was  one  of  the  electors 
who  cast  the  vote  of  New  Hampshire  for 
Wilson  and  Marshall  in  1912. 

In  March,  1875,  he  married  Susan  C.  Fer- 
nalcl  of  Manchester,  who  survives,  with  three 
married   daughters. 


SAMUEL  D.   BEMIS 

Samuel  Dana  Bemis,  a  leading  citizen  of 
the  town  of  Harris ville,  died  at  his  home  at 
Chesham  in  that  town  August  IS,  191S. 

He  was  born  on  February  S.  1833,  in  that 
part  of  the  town  of  Dublin  which  later  became 
a  part  of  the  new  town  of  Harrisville,  the 
son  of  Thomas  and  Anna  (Knight)  Bemis,  and 
was  educated  in  the  academies  at  West- 
minster, Vt.,  and  Hancock,  N.  H.  In  early 
life  he  was  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
wooden  ware,  but  later  bought  a  farm  and 
continued  in  agriculture  to  the  time  of  his 
death.  Through  his  efforts  the  township  of 
Harrisville  was  incorporated,  the  town  being 
a  part  of  towns  of  Dublin  and  Nelson.  He 
served  as  moderator  at  the  first  town  meeting 
and  held  that  position  until  about  ten  years 
ago.  He  was  also  the  first  selectman  chosen 
and  served  on  the  board  of  selectmen  for 
twenty  years,  being  chairman  of  the  board 
most  of  the  time.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
school  board  for  sixteen  years  and  always 
took  great  interest  in  the  educational  welfare 
of  the  town.  He  was  also  treasurer  of  the 
school  district  for  a  number  of  years,  holding 
that  position  when  he  died. 

Mr.  Bemis  was  the  second  representative 
sent  from  the  town,  serving  in  1S72.  He  also 
was  sent  as  a  delegate  to  the  Constitutional 
Convention  in  1870.  In  politics  he  was  a 
staunch  Democrat  and  long  one  of  the  leaders 
of  the  party  in  Cheshire  County. 

September  27,  1S59,  Mr.  Bemis  married 
Calista  M.  Russell,  who  survives  him.  They 
celebrated  their  golden  wedding  in  1909.  He 
leaves  one  son,  Bernard  F.  Bemis  of  Chesham, 
and  three  grandchildren. 

WOODWARD  EMERY 

Woodward  Emery,  a  prominent  Boston 
lawyer,  died  on  Thursday  night,  July  11,  at 
his  home,  160  Brattle  Street,  Cambridge, 
Mass. 

He  was  born  in  Portsmouth,  N.  IL,  Sept. 
5,  1842,  the  son  of  James  and  Martha  Eliza- 
beth (Bell)  Emery.  He  was  graduated  from 
Harvard  College  in  1864,  received  the  degree 
of  LL.  B.  from  Harvard  Law  School  and  was 
admit  ted  to  the  bar  in  1867.  He  was  a  spe- 
cial judge  of  the  Cambridge  Police  Court, 
from  1872  to  1878,  and  a  member  of  the 
Massachusetts  Legislature  in  1885.  Pie  was 
a  member  of  the  Commonwealth  Harbor 
and  Laud  Commission  from  1894  to  1900.  and 
served  as  its  chairman.  He  joined  the  Bos- 
ton Bar  Association  as  a  charter  member, 
and  long  had  been  prominent  in  his  profession, 
Ids  office  being  at  110  State  Street,  Boston. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Union  Club. 

He  is  survived  by  a  widow,  Anne  Parry 
(Jones)  Emery,  a  son,  Frederick  I.  Emery  of 
Brookline,  who  is  treasurer  of  the  Suffolk 
Savings  Bank,  and  a  daughter,  Mrs.  Alfred  C. 
Cox,  Jr.,  of  New  York,  formerly  Helen  Prince 
Emery. 


192- m 


The  Granite  Monthly 


REV.    CHARLES   K.    LEONARD,    D.    D. 

Rev.  Charles  Hall  Leonard,  D.  D.,  long 
dean  of  the  Crane  Divinity  School  at  Tufts 
College,  died  at  his  home  in  Somervilie,  Mass., 
August.  27,  1918, 

He  was  born  in  Xorthwood,  N.  H.,  Septem- 
ber 16,  1S22,  the  son  of  Lemuel  and  Cynthia 
(Claggett)  Leonard,  and  was  educated  at 
Haverhill,  Mass.,  and  Atkinson  (X.  H.) 
Academies,  Bradford  (Mass.)  Seminary  and 
the  Clinton  (X.  Y.)  Theological  School  from 
which  he  graduated  in  1848,  immediately 
entering  the  Universalist  ministry  as  pastor 
of  the  church  at  Chelsea,  Mass.,  where  he 
continued  till  1871.  Meanwhile  he  was  made 
Goddard  Professor  of  Homiletics  and  Pas- 
toral Theology  in  the  Crane  Divinity  School, 
Tufts  College,  in  1S69,  and  resigned  his  pastor- 
ate to  devote  himself  to  the  duties  of  that 
position.  In  1SS4  he  was  made  dean  of  the 
school,  continuing  till  1914.  While  pastor  of 
the  church  in  Chelsea  he  instituted  the  cus- 
tom of  observing  the  second  Sunday  in  June 
as  Children's  Day,  which  has  since  been 
adopted  by  churches  throughout  the  country. 
He  was  the  author  of  several  notable  religious 
works. 

DR.   WILLIAM   CHILD 

William  Child,  M.  D.,  born  in  Bath,  X.  11., 
February  24,  1834,  died  at  the  home  of  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  M.  A.  Meader,  at  Xorth 
Haverhill,  July  20,  1918. 

He  was  educated  in  the  public  schools,  and 


at  the  Bath  Academy  under  the  instruction 
of  such  men  as  Rev.  Edward  Cleveland, 
Nathan  Lord,  Jr.,  and  the  late  Hon.  Alonzo 
P.  Carpenter,  walking  six  miles  per  day  for 
four  years  to  attend  this  latter  school,  at 
which  he  was  prepared  for  advanced  standing 
in  college,  but  entered  the  Dartmouth  Medi- 
cal School  in  1S54,  graduating  in  1S57.  He 
rode  for  six  months  with  the  celebrated  Dr. 
McXab,  of  Wells  River,  Vt.,  and  commenced 
practice  in  his  native  town,  where  he  met  with 
a  high  degree  of  success,  and  established  a 
reputation  for  professional  skill  and  ability. 

In  August,  1S62,  he  was  appointed  assist- 
ant surgeon  of  the  Fifth  Xew  Hampshire 
Regiment  in  the  Civil  War,  and  later  became 
surgeon  of  that  famous  fighting  organization. 
He  was  present  at  all  important  battles  in 
which  the  regiment  was  engaged,  and  was  a 
division  surgeon  at  the  close  of  the  war. 
After  the  war,  he  at  once  resumed  his  practice 
in  Bath,  and  entered  into  a  large  and  suc- 
cessful business  in  his  chosen  profession.  He 
never  sought  public  office,  but  was  twice 
elected  representative  from  his  native  town 
to  the  general  court  of  Xew  Hampshire.  He 
was  for  some  years  president  of  the  Xew 
Hampshire  State  Medical  Society,  and  is 
credited  with  having. read  more  papers  before 
that  society  than  any  other  member. 

He  is  survived  by  three  sons  and  two 
daughters  and  a  widow  who  was  his  third  wife, 
his  former  wives  having  been  sisters,  and 
daughters  of  the  late  Capt.  Sherburne  Lang, 
of  Bath. 


EDITOR  AND  PUBLISHER'S  NOTES 


The  absence  of  all  political  excitement  over 
the  approaching  Xovember  election  in  this 
state,  is  due  entirely  to  the  universal  and 
commanding  interest  in  the  great  war,  in 
which  the  civilized  world  is  involved.  Xot- 
withstanding  the  death  of  Senator  Gallinger 
renders  necessary  the  choice  of  two  L'nited 
States  Senators,  and  a  governor  and  two 
members  of  Congress  are  to  be  chosen  as 
well  as  a  council  and  legislature,  it  seems  to 
be  utterly  impossible  to  arouse  partisan 
interest  in  the  outcome  to  any  extent.  Can- 
didates may  be  anxious,  but  the  people  mainly 
are  intent  only  upon  winning  the  war  and  the 
promotion  of  the  public  welfare,  and  candi- 
dates generally  will  be  voted  for  with  ref- 
erence to  their  ability  and  fitness,  rather  than 
their  partisan  affiliation  or  service.  Xor  is 
the  state  likely  to  suffer  because  of  such 
action.  — ■ 

On  Wednesday,  September  13,  memorial 
tablets,  placed  on.  a  boulder  in  the  old  burial 
ground  on  Chapel  Street,  Dover,  marking  the 
last  resting  place  of  the  remains  of  Maj. 
Richard  Waldron,  slain  by  the  Indians  in.  the 
famous  massacre  of  1689,. when  a  large  part  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Dover  were  killed  by  the 
savages,  were  .formally  dedicated  under  the 


auspices  of  Margery  Sullivan  Chapter, 
D.  A.  R.,  and  the  Xew  Hampshire  Society  of 
the  Colonial  Wars.  The  placing  of  the  memo- 
rial is  due  to  the  efforts  of  Margery  Sullivan 
Chapter,  of  which  Mrs.  Olive  Hill  Houston  of 
Dover  is  regent. 


The  Congregational  church  at  Lebanon 
observed,  during  the  week  commencing  Sun- 
day, September  23,  the  one  hundred  and 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  its  organization.  The 
pastor,  Rev.  F.  G.  Chutter,  gave  an  historical 
address  on  Sunday  morning,  and  on  Friday 
following  was  held  the  anniversary  day  proper, 
with  appropriate  exercises,  and  an  address  in 
the  evening  by  Rev.  Burton  W.  Lockhart, 
D.  D.,  of  Manchester. 

A  neat  little  volume  of  verse,  entitled 
"Songs  from  the  Granite  Hills/'  just  issued 
by  the  Gorham  Press,  Boston,  is  from  the 
pen  of  Clarke  B.  Cochrane  of  Antrim,  and  is 
a  meritorious  contribution  to  the  lyric  litera- 
ture of  the  state,  which  will  be  appreciated 
by  every  lover  of  true  poetry.  The  writer 
has  surely  quaffed  deeply  from  the  Parnassian 
spring,  and  his  verse  gives  evidence  of  the 
inspiration  derived  therefrom. 


FOURTH  Ql         CERLY  ISSUE,    19.18 


VOL.  L.,  Nos.  10-12 


OCTOBER-PECEMBER,  1918      NEW  SERIES,  Vol.  Xlil,  Nos.  j^n      I 


fwi,  ^ 


hie 


r%  f         k\  t  v:  nn 


•v    , 


A   New    Hampshire    Magazine 

Devoted  to  History,  Biography,  Literature  and  State  Progress 


f 


CONTENTS  FOR  OCTOBER  -  DECEMBER  . 

William  Tarleton     .         .'       .        -.         .        ,"       .         .         .         .         .        »     195 

By  Frances  Parkinson  Keyes.     Illustrated. 

Hon.  Walter  H.  Sanborn,  LL.D.  .-        ..      .     '.        .        .         .         .        .201 

Hlu?t  rated. 

History  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Concord,  N.  H.    .        .  .    -.        .    207 
By  Frank  J.  Pilisbury.    Illustrated. 

Address  of  Bev.  Raymond  H.  Huge    .  .     .        .      . .        .        .  *-      .        .228 

Nenr  Hampshire  Pioneers  of  Religious  Liberty  .        ..        ."        .  227 

By  Rev.  Roland  D.  Sawyer. 

The  Bridge  of  Fire .         .         .         .        ...         .        •        .      -.         . 

By  Professor  J.  K.  Lagraham. 

From 'the  Summit  of  Loon  Mountain       .         .         .         .         . 
By  Norman  C.  Tree. 


New  Hampshire  Necrology    . 
Publisher's  Announcement  . 


.  2-30 

.  237 

.  239 

.  240 


Poems 

By  E.  M.  Patten,  Lavrrence  C.  Woodman,  Charles  Poole  Cleaves,  Fred  Myron  Colby, 
Myron  Ray  Clark,  Charles  Nevers  Holmes,  Horace  G.  Leslie,  M.  D.,  and'L.  Adelaide 
Sherman. 


Issued  by  The  Granite  Monthly  Company 

HENRY  H.  METCALF,  Editor  and  Manager 


TERMS:  $i.oo  per  ann-um,  in  advance;  $x,$o  if  not  paid  in  advance,     Single  copies,  23  cents 

CONCORD,  N,  HM  1918 

Entered  at  the  post  office  at  Concord  &s  second-class  mail  matter. 


PRICE  25  CENTS  PER  COPY 


-    - 


"Ik 
m 


£^-_«^_Xjau«S 


.^J*  tii*;»;«»  , 


The  Granite  Monthly 


Vol.  L,  No-.  10-12 


OCTOBER-DECEMBER,  1918       New  Series,  Vol."  XII  I.  Xos.  10-12 


WILLIAM  TARLETON 

Tiie    Tavern    Keeper    of   Picrmoiit 

By  Frances  Parkinson  Keyes 


Not  far  from  the  White  Mountains, 
a  little  lake  called  Tarleton,  with 
thickly  wooded,  sloping  shores,  lies 
high  among  the  hills  of  New  Hamp- 
shire. Long  ago,  there  were  several 
prosperous,  though  small  settlements 
of  farmers  in  its  vicinity,  but  these 
were  gradually  deserted,  and  for  some 
time  the  country  around  the  lake  re- 
mained wilder  than  any  near  it.  The 
beauty  and  peacefulness  of  its  location, 
the  high  elevation  and  splendid  air,  all 
conspired  against  its  permanent  aban- 
donment, however.  One  by  one,  a 
few  little  camps  were  erected  on  its 
shores;  and,  finally,'  the  splendid 
possibilities  of  further  development 
becoming  apparent,  a  company  was 
formed,  and  a  clubhouse  built. 

The  success  of  the  undertaking  was 
immediate.  Within  a  year,  the  club- 
house could  not  begin  to  accommodate 
the  would-be  guests  clamoring  for  ad- 
mittance. One  addition  after  another 
had  to  be  arranged  for.  and  bungalows 
under  the  same  central  management 
were  also  erected  for  families  who 
wished  to  live  by  themselves  ancl  still 
be  relieved  of  all  household  cares. 
Tennis-courts,  golf  links,  and  wide 
gravel  walks  began  to  replace  hitherto 
undisturbed  pasture  land.  A  garage, 
a  boathouse,  and  a  steam  laundry 
sprang  up  as  if  by  magic;  and  throngs 
of  pretty  women  in  dainty  summer 
dresses,  romping  children,  and  men  in 


white  trousers  and  knickers  began  to 
crowd  the  place  which  a  few  years  be- 
fore had  been  very  nearly  a  wilderness. 

The  Tarleton  Clubhouse  of  today, 
however,  is  not  the  first  hospitable 
hostelry  beside  the  quiet  lake  to  open 
its  doors  to  an  eager  public.  Not  far 
from  it  stands — though  now  changed 
by  additions  and  "modern  improve- 
ments" almost  past  recognition — a 
farmhouse,  where,  almost  a  century 
and  a  half  ago,  a  young  man  named 
William  Tarleton  established  himself, 
and  hung  in  the  breeze  a  beautifully 
painted  sign,  made  of  a  single  piece  of 
solid  oak.  This  sign  is  still  preserved,  in 
excellent  condition.  On  one  side  there 
is  a  picture  of  General  Wolfe  (who  was 
in  the  heighth  of  his  fame  when  this 
tavern  was  opened)  in  full  uniform, 
with  the  name  "  William  Tarleton" 
above  it,  and  the  date  "1774"  below 
it;  while  on  the  other  side  there  is  a 
representation  of  "  Plenty, "  which 
must  have  immediately  suggested  to 
the  tired  traveller,  journeying  over 
the  old  turnpike  road  on  foot,  on  horse- 
back, or  by  stagecoach,  that  he  would 
be  sure  of  finding  rest  and  refreshment 
within. 

For  many  years  the  tavern  prospered ; 
the  little  lake  by  which  it  stood  became 
known  far  and  wide  by  its  landlord's 
name,  and  William  Tarleton  himself 
became  one  of  the  most  famous  hosts 
of  his  day — a  position  of  some  influence 


196 


The  Granite  Monthly 


and  importance  in  Colonial  times. 
The  railroad,  when  it  came,  however, 
swung  far  to  the  west  of  the  old  stage 
road,  following  closely  along  the  line 
of  the  Connecticut  River,  and  there 
was  soon  no  incentive  to  keep  the  old 
inn  open;  the  tide  of  travel  had 
turned  another  way.  But  now  that 
the  place  has  once  again  sprung  into 
prominence,  it  is  interesting  to  trace 
the  history  of  the  man  who  first 
brought  it  fame. 

The  earliest  record  I  have  found  of 
the  Tarleton  family  dates  back  as  far 
as  1400.  There  were  two  branches  in 
England,  one  in  London,  one  in  Liver- 
pool. In  the  former,  there  was  a  well- 
knowm  actor  of  Shakespeare's  plays, 
at  the  time  they  were  written,  who  is 
said  to  have  been  able,  when  Queen 
Elizabeth  was  serious — "I  dare  not 
say  sullen"  remarks  the  faithful 
chronicler — to  "undumpish  her  at 
will."  A  man  who  could  "undump- 
ish" this  great  but  hardly  sweet-tem- 
pered sovereign  must  have  possessed 
no  small  amount  of  good  humor  and 
talent  himself,  and  indeed  we  further 
read  that  to  make  "  comedies  complete, 
Richard  Tarleton  never  had  his  match 
for  the  clown's  part,  and  never  will." 

For  the  most  part,  however,  the 
London  Tarletons  were  tradespeople 
of  comfortable  means,  but  of  no  special 
talent  or  distinction.  The  Liverpool 
branch  was  more  noteworthy.  There 
wTere  several  mayors,  justices  of  the 
peace,  and  naval  officers  among  its 
members,  and  Sir  Banastre,  one  of  its 
later  scions, was  very  prominent  on 
the  Tory  side  during  t  he  American  Rev- 
olution. Mr.  C.  W.  Tarleton,  in  his 
"History  of  the  Tarleton  Family,"  to 
which  I  am  indebted  for  much  valu- 
able information,  says  of  him  : 

"At  the  outbreak  of  the  War,  Ban- 
astre left  the  study  of  law,  and  pur- 
chased a  cornetcy  of  dragoons.  In 
December,  1776,  he  commanded  the 
Advance.  Guard  of  the  patrol  which 
captured  General  Lee  in  New  Jersey, 
and  served  with  Howe  and  Clinton  in 
the  campaigns  of  1777-1778.  After 
the    evacuation    of    Philadelphia,    he 


raised  and  commanded,  with  the 
rank  of  Lieutenant7Colonel,  a  Cavalry 
Corps  of  Regulars  and  Tories  called 
the  British  Legion.  This  Corps  was 
constantly  rendering  important  serv- 
ice to  Cornwallis  until  he  and  Tarleton 
surrendered  at  Yorktown.  In  May, 
17S0,  he  surprised  Colonel  Buford, 
and  massacred  his  entire  force,  refus- 
ing to  give  quarter,  and  so  'Tarle- 
ton's  Quarter'  became  a  synonym  for 
cruelty.  He  was  in  many  engagements, 
and  was  a  brave  and  skilful,  though 
cruel  officer." 

He  continued  his  military  career 
after  his  return  to  England,  becoming 
finally  Major-General  of  the  Eighth 
Light  Dragoons.  He  was  also  made 
a  baronet,  and  a  member  of  Parlia- 
ment, serving  twenty-two  years.  Sir 
Banastre's  grand-nephew,  who  in- 
herited his  estate,  as  the  former  died 
childless,  became  an  admiral  in  the 
Royal  Navy,  serving  in  many  engage- 
ments, and  displaying  both  courage 
and  wisdom  in  his  command. 

Such  was  the  family  to  which  the 
first  Tarleton,  Richard,  who  came  to 
this  country  belonged — the  sturdy, 
"upper  middle-class  of  Great  Britain," 
hardy,  prosperous,  and  brave.  There 
seem  to  have  been  no  students  among 
them;  yet  all  were  possessed  of  a 
good  education  for  their  time  and 
position  in  life;  only  one  minister,  but 
many  church  members;  no  men  of 
great  wealth,  but  no  paupers  either. 
Such  families  form  the  backbone  of 
every  nation  in  which  they  are  found, 
and  Richard  promptly  set  about  to 
form  such  a  family  in  the  New  World. 

He  appears  to  have  come  to  New- 
castle between  1685  and  1690,  with 
John  Mason,  as  a  master  workman,  a 
carpenter,  to  build  houses  on  the 
island.  He  lived  there  until  his  death, 
from  drowning,  in  1706.  The  Assem- 
bly seems  to  have  met  at  his  house 
between  1693  and  1696,  and  he  was 
one  of  thirty-two  signers  of  a  petition 
to  the  Governor  asking  that  Newcas- 
tle be  incorporated  as  a  separate  town 
and  not  considered  a  part  of  Ports- 
mouth. 


William   Tarletoti 


197  ~\<\8 


He  was  a  man  of  solid  worth, 
though  not  of  great  note  in  the  com- 
munity. His  first  wife,  Edith,  had 
died  before  he  came  to  this  coun- 
try, and  he  left  one  daughter  there. 
About  1692  he  married,  in  Newcastle, 
Ruth  Stilcman,  who,  with  four  chil- 
dren, survived  him.  The  eldest  son, 
Elias  (a  name  which  occurs  over  and 
over  again  in  the  annals  of  theTaiieton 
family)  was  a  cooper  in  Portsmouth, 
dying  at  the  ripe  age  of  ninety-two 
after  a  busy  and  useful  life  during 
which  he  was  active  in  all  matters  of 
value  to  the  public  welfare;  and  his 
eldest  son,  also  named  Elias,  was  the 
father  of  the  genial  tavern-keeper 
whom  it  has  taken  me  so  long  a  time 
to  reach. 

William  Tarleton  was  born,  either 
in  Portsmouth  or  Rye,  on  November 
23,  1752.  There  is  no  record  of  his 
mother's  name,  or  the  date  of  her 
marriage  or  death,  but  he  had  a  sister 
and  three  brothers,  and  he  must  have 
passed  an  interesting  childhood,  for 
Ins  father,  who  started  life  as  a  ship's 
carpenter,  was  also  a  soldier,  both  in 
the  French  and  Indian  Wars,  and  in 
the  American  Revolution,  and  later 
became  keeper  of  the  lighthouse  at 
Fort  Point,  a  position  which  he  held 
until  the  time  of  his  death;  even 
while  he  was  absent  at  war,  he  was  reg- 
ularly paid  as  guardian  of  the  light. 
When  and  why  William  left  Ports- 
mouth we  do  not  know,  but  he  was  in 
Orford  in  1772,  and  his  name  appears 
on  a  list  of  young  men  in  that  town 
who  had  improved  land  there.  Two 
years  later — that  is,  when  he  was  only 
twenty-two  years  old — he  had  moved 
to  Piermont,  and  was  ''Master  of 
the  Inn''  at  Tarleton  Tavern.  And 
there  he  remained,  except  during  his 
Revolutionary  service,  until  his  death 
in  1819— a  period  of  forty-five  years. 
It  is  seldom  indeed  that  a  young  man 
finds  his  "life  job"  as  early  as  William 
Tarleton  did,  and  having  found  it, 
sticks  to  it,  and  makes  the  success  of 
it  that  he  did. 

As  a  soldier,  he  seems  to  have  been 
very  little  less  distinguished  than  his 


distant  cousin,  Banastre,  who  fought 
on  the  opposite  side  in  the  war,  and 
there  is  no  black  stain  of  cruelty,  no 
"Tarleton's  Quarter,"  against  his 
name.  He  served  first  as  a  sergeant 
in  Colonel  Bedel's  regiment,  and  later 
on  his  rank  was  raised  first  to  that  of 
captain,  and  then  to  that  of  colonel. 
He  was  twice  married  and  his  patriotic 
interest  shows  itself  quite  markedly 
in  the  names  of  his  fifteen  children, 
among  whom  we  find  George  Wash- 
ington, Thomas  Jefferson,  Benjamin 
Franklin,  and  James  Monroe — a  col- 
lection, which,  had  they  been  endowed 
with  the  diverging  opinions  and 
characteristics  of  their  namesakes, 
must  have  produced  a  considerable 
amount  of  family  discord!  After  the 
Revolution,  he  became  deeply  inter- 
ested in  politics;  he  served  as  select- 
man in  Piermont,  as  high  sheriff  of 
Grafton  County,  twice  as  member  of 
the  state  legislature,  and  twice  as 
presidential  elector.  But  it  was  as 
host  of  Tarleton  Tavern  that  he  shone 
supreme. 

in  those  days,  the  keeper  of  all  inn, 
if  he  possessed  any  force  of  character 
at  all,  was  inevitably  a  man  of  in- 
fluence and  high  standing.  The  Inn  was 
not  only  the  hotel,  in  the  modern  sense 
of  the  word,  of  its  village — it  was  the 
club,  the  railroad-station,  the  bank, 
the  news-bureau,  and  the  political 
nursery.  William  Tarleton  was  en- 
tirely equal  to  the  position  of  barten- 
der, train  (or,  to  be  strictly  literal, 
stage)  despatcher,  cashier,  journalist, 
and  statesman!  He  welcomed  and 
sped  each  arriving  and  departing 
guest;  saw  that  the  game  roasting  in 
front  of  the  huge  fireplace  was  done  to 
a  turn,  that  the  brass  warming-pans 
were  passed  through  the  linen  sheets 
of  the  high  wide  beds,  and  that  the 
stage-  and  saddle-horses  which  crowd- 
ed his  dooryard,  no  less  than  their  mas- 
ters and  mistresses,  had  good  food  and 
good  quarters  against  their  next  day's 
journey.  He  made  money,  and  he 
deserved  to;  no  better  inn  was  to  be 
found  for  miles  around.  He  became 
famous,  and  that  also  he  deserved,  for 


a 


William  Tarlcton 


199 


genius,  like  virtue,  often  consists 
merely  in  doing  well  our  "duty  in 
that  state  of  life  in  which  it  has  pleased 
God  to  call  us.M 

Can  the  lady,  stepping  from  her 
limousine  at  the  door  of  the  Lake 
Tarleton  Club  today,  her  "motor- 
trunk''  instantly  seized  by  waiting 
bellboys,  herself  and  her  belongings 
quickly  installed  in  a  "room  and  bath," 
electrically  lighted,  cooled  by  electric 
fans  in   summer,    warmed   by   steam 


season,  to  sleep  in  a  great  feather  bed, 
and  perform  such  ablutions  as  she 
could  with  the  help  of  a  "ewer  and 
basin"  which  we  should  consider 
hardlv  large  enough  to  serve  a  dessert 
in! 

Can  the  leisurely  male  golfer,  or  the 
more  strenuous  tennis  player,  disport- 
ing himself  on  the  club's  carefully 
cultivated  grounds,  form  a  mental 
image  of  the  traveller  of  the  same  pe- 
riod, who  helped  take  care  of  his  own 


Autumn  Scene  on  Road  from  Pike  to  Lake  Tarleton 


heat  in  spring  and  fall,  picture  the 
lady  of  1774  alighting  from  the  coach, 
or  from  the  pillion  behind  her  husband's 
saddle,  her  belongings  wrapped  in  a 
round  bundle,  or — very  rarely — in  a 
little  raw-hide  trunk;  her  wide  skirts 
billowing  around  her,  after  she  had 
eaten  her  evening  meal  in  the  main 
hall  with  the  rest  of  the  travel- 
lers— and  probably  enjoying  her  mug 
of  foaming  ale  with  her  lord! — repair- 
ing by  the  light  of  a  tallow  candle  to 
the  little  chamber  under  the  eaves, 
shivering  or  sizzling,  according  .to  the 


horse,  and  bring  in  the  great  pine  knots 
for  exercise?  And  is  it  not  in  a  way 
almost  a  pity,  that  the  immaculate 
little  girls  and  boys,  in  their  well- 
guarded  play,  superintended  by  watch- 
ful nurses  on  the  club  piazzas,  know 
so  little  of  the  healthful  hardships  of 
those  youngsters  of  a  hundred  and 
fifty  years  ago,  travelling  in  their 
mothers'  arms,  wrapped  in  shawls  and 
"comfortables,"  sleeping  at  night  in 
trundle-beds,  eating  heartily  of  bacon 
and  corn-bread  and  foaming  milk? 
There  are  none  of  us,  probably,  who 


200 


The  Granite  Monthly 


could  truthfully  assert,  that  we  would 
willingly  exchange  the  conditions  of 
the  Lake  Tarleton  Club  for  those  of 
Tarleton  Tavern;  but  if  we  are  truth- 
ful we  cannot  help  confessing  that 
those  conditions  produced  a  type  of 
men  and  women  from  which  the  most 
luxury-loving  among  us  is  proud  to 
have  descended. 

We  are  amply  supplied — oversup- 
plied,  some  cynical  persons  think — 
with  fact  and  fiction  concerning  the 
bravery  of  Revolutionary  soldiers,  the 
learning  of  Revolutionary  scholars, 
the  piety  of  Revolutionary  clergymen; 


will  not  some  novelist  with  real  imagi- 
nation, or  some  chronicler  with  the 
poetry  of  history  in  his  soul,  do  jus- 
tice to  the  true  hospitality  and 
sterling  worth  of  the  Revolutionary 
innkeeper,  and  present  his  story  to  the 
managers  and  proprietors  of  hotels, 
and  to  the  guests  that  fill  them 
throughout  the  country  today?  And 
if  such  a  writer  can  be  found,  and  will 
undertake  this  pleasant  and  far  too 
long-neglected  task,  what  better  sub- 
ject could  he  have  for  his  labor  than 
William  Tarleton,  the  Tavern  Keeper 
of  Piermont? 


IN  THE    OLD   HOME,   ONCE   AGAIN 

By  E.  M.  Patten 

From  the  far  West,  I've  been  writing  to  my  parents  in  the  East; 

They  will  get  the  letter  Christmas;  they  will  read  it  at  their  feast. 

And  my  thoughts  go  with  the  message  speeding  toward  that  home  of  mine. 

Till,  'mid  dirty,  noisy  cities,  I  can  smell  the  balsam  pine. 

Now,  methinks  I  cross  loved  Boston  and  just  catch  the  Concord  train, 
Soon,  it  seems  that  I  am  walking  down  the  village  street  again. 
Ah!  I  see  the  white-haired  deacon;  there's  Judge  Fitts  and  Doctor  Towle; 
There's  the  minister  and  lawyer,  and  my  dear  old  Grandma  Cole! 

How  I  fain  would  stop  and  gossip  with  each  one;  the  large,  the  small; 
But  that  I  must  hurry,  hurry,  to  the  dearest  one  of  all!     .     .     . 
This  old  latch  is  out  of  order;   I  am  sure  that  gate  swings  out; 
I'll  just  step  'round  to  the  kitchen;  mother's  there  without  a  doubt. 


ee  her  sitting  in  her  old  armchair! 

.     and   waken,   wake   to   find   no   mother 


There  she  is!     Oh,  I  can 
"Mother,   dear,"   I   cry 

there.     .     .     . 
Yes,  my  letter's  speeding  onward,  but  I  take  the  midnight  train; 
Til  be  there  in  time  for  Christmas,  in  my  old  home  once  again. 

Hanover ,  N.  ti. 


HON.  WALTER  II.  SANBORN,  LL.D. 

Presiding  Judge,  U.  S.  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals* 


One  of  the  ablest  and  most  dis- 
tinguished members  of  the  judiciary 
of  the  United  States  resides  in  St. 
Paul,  Walter  H.  Sanborn,  United 
States  Circuit  Judge  and  presiding 
judge  of  the  United  States  Circuit 
Court  of  Appeals  of  the  Eighth  Ju- 
dicial Circuit;  in  population,  in  area 
and  in  varied  and  important  litiga- 
tion the  largest  circuit  in  the  nation, 
comprising  the  thirteen  states,  Min- 
nesota, North  Dakota,  South  Dakota, 
Iowa,  Nebraska,  Colorado,  Wyoming, 
Utah,  Missouri,  Kansas,  New  Mexico, 
Oklahoma  and  Arkansas. 

For  twenty-one  years  Judge  San- 
born was  an  active  member  of  the 
Minnesota  bar  and  as  a  practicing 
lawyer  added  many  laurels  to  the 
name  which  has  some. of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished associations  in  this  state. 
While  as  a  lawyer  and  public-spirited 
citizen  Judge  Sanborn  has  for  more 
than  forty  years  been  prominent  in 
St.  Paul  and  the  State  of  Minnesota, 
his  services  as  a  judicial  officer  in  the 
United  States  Circuit  Court  of  Ap- 
peals long  ago  elevated  him  to  the 
rank  of  a  national  figure.  He  was 
commissioned  United  States  Circuit 
Judge  March  17,  1892,  and  for  more 
than  twenty-two  years  has  served  as 
a  member  of  the  United  States  Circuit 
Court  of  Appeals  of  the  Eighth  Cir- 
cuit, and  since  1903  has  been  the 
presiding  judge  of  that  court. 

It  has  been  said  of  him  that  he  has 
done  more  in  recent  years  to  make  St. 
Paul  famous  than  any  other  man. 
Since  he  has  been  on  the  bench  he  has 
delivered  some  of  the  most  important 
and  influential  opinions  ever  ren- 
dered in  this  country,  opinions  so 
broad  and  comprehensive,  so  replete 
with  legal  learning  as  to  constitute  in 
reality   clear,    vigorous   and   authori- 

*  This  sketch  is  taken  from  a  recently  publi; 


tative  treatises  upon  their  respective 
subjects.  Conspicuous  among  these 
are  his  opinion  on  the  power  of  rail- 
road companies  to  lease  the  surplus 
use  of  their  rights  of  way,  in  the  Omaha 
Bridge  cases,  2  C.  C.  A.  174,  51  Fed. 
309;  his  definition  of  proximate 
cause  and  statement  of  the  rules  for 
its  discovery  and  the  reason  for  them 
in  Railway  Company  v.  Elliott,  55 
Fed.  949,  5  C.  C.  A.  347;  his  declara- 
tion of  the  effect  by  estoppel  of  the 
usual  recitals  in  municipal  bonds  and 
rules  for  their  construction  in  National 
Life  Ins.  Co.  v.  Huron,  G2  Fed.  778, 
10  C.  C.  A.  637;  his  treatise  on  the 
law  of  patents  for  inventions  in  his 
opinion  in  the  Brake-Beam  case, 
10G  Fed.  918,  45  C.  C.  A.  544.  which 
has  been  cited  and  followed  by  the 
courts  in  many  subsequent  decisions 
and  has  become  a  leading  authority 
upon  that  subject;  his  opinions  in 
United  States  v.  Railway  Company,. 
67  Fed.  948  and  in  Howe  v.  Parker, 
190  Fed.  738,  setting  forth  and  illus- 
trating the  quasi-judicial  power  of 
the  Land  Department  and  the  rules 
governing  the  avoidance  of  its  patents 
and  certificates,  and  many  others 
that  cannot  be  cited  here.  He  has 
delivered  more  than  one  thousand 
opinions  for  the  Circuit  Court  of  Ap- 
peals, opinions  that  in  clearness  of 
statement,  strength  of  reason  and  of 
diction  are  equalled  by  few  and  that 
disclose  an  intuitive  sense  of  justice, 
a  profound  and  accurate  knowledge  of 
the  law  and  an  amount  of  labor  that 
have  rarely,  if  ever,  been  excelled. 

The  great  national  judicial  issues 
during  the  last  twenty  years  have  con- 
cerned the  supremacy  and  extent  of 
the  provisions  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  and  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  federal  anti-trust  act,, 
hed  volume  of  sketches  of  "Minnesota  Men." 


■n-* 


■  "-: .   "■'•'  '  •  :  ■-  < ■■ 


HON.   WALTER   H.   SANBORN 


Hon.  Walter  H.  Sanborn,  LL.D. 


203 


and  upon  these  questions  Judge 
Sanborn's  opinions  have  been  pioneer 
and  formative.  It  was  he,  who, 
while  a  practicing  lawyer,  argued 
before  the  Minnesota  Legislature  the 
unconstitutionality  of  the  bill  for 
the  "dressed  beef  act,"  and  after 
its  enactment  challenged  it  in  the 
United  States  Circuit  Court  and  in 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  and  sustained  his  position  that 
it  was  violative  of  the  commercial 
clause  of  the  national  constitution 
(see  In  re  Barber,  39  Fed.  641,  Min- 
nesota v.  Barber,  136  U.  S.  313); 
it  was  he,  who,  in  1911,  when  the 
State  of  Oklahoma  by  legislation  and 
by  refusal  to  permit  transportation 
across  its  highway's,  undertook  to 
prevent  the  export  of  natural  gas 
from  its  borders,  in  a  logical  and  lu- 
minous opinion  established  the  propo- 
sition subsequently  adopted  by  the 
Supreme  Court  that  ''neither  a  state 
nor  its  officers  by  the  exercise  of,  or 
by  the  refusal  to  exercise,  any  of  its 
powers  may  prevent  or  unreasonably 
burden  interstate  commerce  in  any 
sound  article  thereof,"  Haskell  v. 
Cowhan,  187  Fed.  403,  221  U.  S. 
261;  and  it  was  he,  who,  when  in 
1911  the  question  became  instant 
whether  national  or  state  regulation 
of  railroads  should  prevail  when  in 
conflict,  demonstrated  in  an  exhaust- 
ive opinion  that  the  nation  may  reg- 
ulate fares  and  rates  and  all  inter- 
state commerce,  that  to  the  extent 
necessary  completely  and  effectually 
to  protect  the  freedom  of  snd  to  reg- 
ulate interstate  commerce  it  may  affect 
and  regulate  intrastate  commerce, 
and  that  where  a  conflict  arises  be- 
tween such  national  regulation  and 
state  regulation  the  former  must 
prevail,  184  Fed.  766;  and  while  the 
Supreme  Court  modified  the  practical 
result  in  that  case,  230  U.  S.  352,  it 
subsequently  affirmed  that  principle 
and  the  reasoning  on  which  it  was 
based  and  they  have  now  become  the 
established  law  of  the  land,  234  U.  S. 
342. 

In  1893,  before  the  national  anti- 


trust act  had  been  construed  by  the 
courts  of  last  resort,  it  became  the 
duty  of  Judge  Sanborn  to  interpret  it, 
and  he  delivered  an  exhaustive  opin- 
ion to  the  effect  that  it  was  in  reality 
an  adoption  by  the  nation  of  the  com- 
mon law  upon  the  subject  of  combina- 
tions in  restraint  of  trade,  and  that 
under  it  those  combinations  only 
that  were  in  unreasonable  restraint 
of  competition  and  of  trade  violated 
it  and  that  in  each  particular  case  the 
restrictions  under  the  facts  and  cir- 
cumstances presented  must  be  con- 
sidered in  the  light  of  reason.  Trans- 
Missouri  Freight  Assn.,  5S  Fed.  58. 
In  1896  the  Supreme  Court,  by  a  vote 
of  five  to  four,  reversed  that  opinion 
and  adopted  the  view  that  every  re- 
straint whether  reasonable  or  un- 
reasonable rendered  a  combination 
unlawful,  166  U.  S.  291.  Fourteen 
years  later,  however,  that  court  by  a 
vote  of  eight  to  one  abandoned  that 
conclusion  and  adopted  the  new 
originallv  taken  by  Judge  Sanborn, 
Standard  Oil  Co.  v.  United  States, 
221  U.  S.  1,  and  it  did  so  in  a  case  in 
which  the  opinion  it  was  reviewing 
was  written  by  him  and  affirmed  by 
that  court.  In  1914  he  delivered  a 
dissenting  opinion  founded  on  the 
same  principles,  214  Fed.  1002,  which 
has  since  been  followed  by  the  Judges 
of  two  circuits  and  is  now  under  con- 
sideration by  the  Supreme  Court. 
These  and  other  like  opinions  have 
established  his  reputation  throughout 
the  nation  as  one  of  the  ablest  jurists 
of  his  time. 

In  addition  to  his  labors  in  the 
Court  of  Appeals  the  administrative 
work  of  the  circuit  has  fallen  upon 
him.  There  are  nineteen  district 
judges  and  courts  in  the  Eighth  Cir- 
cuit and  it  is  his  duty  to  supply  the 
places  of  judges  disqualified  and  to 
assign  the  district  judges  to  the  courts 
where  their  services  are  most  needed. 
As  a  part  of  his  administrative  work, 
and  of  a  quasi-judicial  character,  he 
has  successfully  conducted  great  re- 
ceiverships and  operated  great  rail- 
roads:   the  Union  Pacific  from  1894 


204 


The  Granite  Monthly 


to  1S9S,  the  Great  Western  in  190S 
and  1909,  and  the  St.  Louis  &  San 
Francisco  Railroad  Co.  in  1913,  1914 
and  1915.  In  the  management  of 
the  receiverships  of  the  Union  Pacific 
and  its  twenty  allied  railroads  he  col- 
lected through  his  receivers  and  ap- 
plied to  the  operation  of  the  railroads 
and  the  distribution  to  creditors  more 
than  two  hundred  and  sixty  millions 
of  dollars  without  the  reversal  of  a 
decree  or  order  or  the  loss  of  a  dollar. 

In  Free  Masonry  he  wrought  long 
and  faithfully  to  reach  and  to  teach 
the  lofty  ideals  of  liberty,  fraternity 
and  justice  the  members  of  its  order 
seek  to  attain  and  he  commanded 
their  respect  and  confidence.  He  was 
elected  eminent  commander  of  Da- 
mascus Commandery  No.  1,  of  St. 
Paul,  the  oldest  commandery  in  the 
state  and  one  of  the  strongest  and 
most  famous  in  the  land  in  1886,  1887 
and  18SS,  and  in  1889  he  was  elected 
grand  commander  of  the  Knights 
Templar  of  the  state. 

Walter  H.  Sanborn  was  born  on 
October  19,  1845,  in  the  house  in 
which  his  father  and  grandfather  were 
born,  on  Sanborn's  Hill  in  Epsom. 
His  great  grandfather,  who  was  state 
senator  three  terms,  representative 
eight  terms  and  selectman  twenty 
years,  built  this  house,  which  has 
long  been  Judge  Sanborn's  summer 
residence,  in  the  year  1794,  and  it 
and  the  farm  upon  which  it  stands 
have  descended  to  the  eldest  son  of 
the  family  since  1752,  when  Eliphalet 
Sanborn,  a  soldier  of  the  French  and 
Indian  and  of  the  Revolutionary  War 
and  clerk  of  the  town  in  the  mem- 
orable years  1773,  1775,  1776  and 
1777,  and  selectman  in  1772,  1773  and 
1774,  settled  upon  it.  Honorable 
Henry  F.  Sanborn,  the  father  of  the 
Judge,  was  selectman  of  his  town  six 
years,  representative  in  1855  and  a 
member  of  the  state  senate  in  1866 
and  1867,  when  that  body  consisted 
of  but  twelve  members.  He  entered 
Dartmouth  College,  but  failing  health 
compelled  him  to  abandon  a  profes- 
sional career  and  he  devoted  his  life 


to  education  and  farming.  His 
mother,  Eunice  Davis  Sanborn,  of 
Princeton,  Mass.,  was  a  granddaugh- 
ter of  that  Thomas  Davis  who  served 
under  Prescott  at  Bunker  Hill,  took 
part  in  the  battle  of  White  Plains,  was 
one  of  the  victorious  arm}'  which  com- 
pelled and  witnessed  the  surrender  of 
Burgoyne.  served  through  the  war  and 
was  one  of  the  veterans  present  whom 
Webster  addressed  as  (i  Venerable 
'Men"  at  the  laying  of  the  corner- 
stone of  the  Bunker  Hill  monument  in 
1825. 

Walter  H.  Sanborn  spent  his  boy- 
hood and  his  youth  in  manual  labor 
on  the  homestead  farm,  except  when 
he  was  attending  school  and  college, 
until  he  was  twenty-two  years  of  age. 
He  was  fitted  for  college  in  the  com- 
mon schools  and  academies  of  his 
native  county,  and  entered  Dart- 
mouth College  in  1863.  During  his 
four  years  in  college  he  taught  school 
five  terms,  was  elected  by  all  the 
students  of  the  college  in  1866  one  of 
two  participants  in  the  annual  col- 
lege debate,  led  his  class  for  the  four 
years  and  was  graduated  in  1867  with 
the  highest  honors  as  its  valedictorian. 
He  received  from  his  college  in  due 
course  the  degrees  of  A.B.  and  A.M., 
and  on  June  19,  1893,  Dartmouth 
College  conferred  upon  him  the  de- 
gree of  Doctor  of  Laws.  In  1910  he- 
was  elected  President  of  the  Associa- 
tion of  the  Alumni. 

From  February,  1867,  until  Feb- 
ruary, 1870,  he  was  principal  of  the 
high  school  in  Milford,  and  a  law 
student  in  the  office  of  Hon.  Bain- 
bridge  Wadlcigh,  afterwards  United 
States  Senator.  In  February,  1870, 
he  declined  a  proffered  increase  of 
salary,  came  to  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  and 
in  February  1871,  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  Minne- 
sota. "  On  May  1,  1871,  he  formed  a 
partnership  with  his  uncle,  General 
John  B.  Sanborn,  under  the  firm 
name  of  John  B.  and  W.  H.  San- 
born, and  practiced  with  him  for 
twenty-one  years,  until  on  March  17, 
1892,    he   was   commissioned   United. 


Hon.   Walter  11.  Sanborn.  LL.D. 


205^Jo<* 


States  Circuit  Judge.  He  was  one 
of  the  attorneys  in  several  thousand 
lawsuits  and  leading  counsel  in  many 
noted  cases. 

In  politics  he  is  a  Republican.  In 
1890  he  was  the  chairman  of  the  Re- 
publican County  Convention  and  for 
fifteen  years  before  he  was  appointed 
a  judge  he  was  active,  energetic  and 
influential  in  every  political  contest. 
In  1878  he  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  city  council.  In  1SS0  he  removed 
his  place  of  residence  to  St.  Anthony 
Hill  and  in  1885  he  was  elected  to  the 
-city  council  from  that  ward,  which 
was  the  wealthiest  and  most  influen- 
tial in  the  city.  From  that  time 
until  he  ascended  the  bench  he  was 
reelected  and  served  in  that  position. 
He  was  vice-president  of  the  council 
and  the  leading  spirit  on  the  commit- 
tees that  prepared,  recommended  and 
passed  the  ordinance  under  which  the 
cable  and  electric  system  of  street 
railways  was  substituted  for  the  horse 
cars.  When  he  entered  the  city  coun- 
cil there  was  not  a  foot  of  pavement 
or  cement  sidewalk  on  St.  Anthony 
Hill,  but  under  his  energetic  super- 
vision that  hill,  as  far  west  as  Dale 
'.Street,     including    Summit     Avenue, 


was  paved,  boulevarded  and  supplied 
with  cement  sidewalks.  He  was 
treasurer  of  the  State  Bar  Association 
from  1885  to  1892  and  president  of 
the  St.  Paul  Bar  Association  in  1890 
and  1891. 

On  November  10,  1874,  he  was 
happily  married  to  Miss  Emily  F. 
Bruce,  the  daughter  of  Hon.  John 
E.  Bruce,  of  Milford,  and  ever  since 
1880  they  have  maintained  their 
town  home  in  spacious  grounds, 
shaded  by  more  than  twenty  native 
oaks  and  elms  at  143  Virginia  Ave- 
nue, St.  Paul,  and  their  summer  home 
at  the  old  homestead  on  Sanborn's 
Hill  in  Epsom.  Their  children  are 
Mrs.  Grace  (Sanborn)  Hartin,  wife 
of  Mr.  C.  G.  Hartin,  Mrs.  Marian 
(Sanborn)  Van  Sant,  wife  of  Mr. 
Grant  Van  Sant,  Mr.  Bruce  W.  San- 
born, attorney  at  law,  and  Mr. 
Henry  F.  Sanborn,  General  Freight 
Agent,  at  St.  Paul,  of  the  Great 
Northern  Railwav  Companv,  all  of 
St.  Paul. 

Judge  Sanborn  is  a  member  of  the 
Minnesota  Club,  the  Congregational 
Church,  the  Commercial  Club  and 
the  Minnesota  Historical  Society. 


A   CYCLE 

By  Lawrence  C.  Woodman 

Days  of  sun, 

And  nights  of  moon, 
Apple  blossoms. 

Sunrise-time— June! 

The  joy  of  summer! 

.     .     And  summer's  joys! 
Lure  of  life, 

And  life's  alloys. 

Time  of  harvest. 

The  afterglow     .     .     . 
Saving  my  life 

From  the  undertow. 

Came  the  snow, 

And  then  the  rain, 
Washing  the  ground 

And  my  heart  again. 


V 


"W 


%> 


I    r  .- 

(1/    '  "     -1  i  *^;" 

«/     V      /'       V 

\  ill     w  / 

■\//A  -'I  } 


z 


/ 


-:1  J 


FIRST  BAPTIST  CHURCH,  CONCORD,  N.  H. 


..  ^ii--i;.^~».-' 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  BAPTIST  CHURCH, 

CONCORD,  N.  H. 

By  Frank  J.  Pilhbury 


The  First  Baptist  Church  of  Con- 
cord, next  to  the  old  North  or  First 
Congregational  Church  in  years  and 
influence  upon  the  religious  life  of  the 
Capital  City,  observed  its  one  hun- 
dredth anniversary  on  Wednesday 
evening,  Dec.  4.  An  elaborate  pro- 
gramme had  Veen  prepared  for  the 
anniversary,  which  really  occurred  Oc- 
tober 8;  but  on  account  of  the  preva- 
lence of  the  influenza  at  the  time  this 


•- 


to  I 


Rev.  Walter  C.  Myers 

had  to  be  abandoned,  and  it  was  de- 
cided, finally,  that  the  occasion  should 
be  celebrated  in  a  less  formal  manner, 
and  in  connection  with  the  church 
supper,  on  the  date  above  named, 
when,  after  the  material  feast,  the  as- 
sembly was  called  to  order  and  the 
following  carefully  prepared  history  of 
the  church  was  read  by  the  author. 
Dea.  Frank  J.  Pillsbury,  after  which 
many  pleasant'  reminiscences  were 
given  by  others  present: 


Historical  Address 

The  first  Baptist  preaching  in  Con- 
cord was  by  Rev.  Hezekiah  Smith, 
pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in 
Haverhill,  Mass.,  who,  with  some  of 
the  members  of  his  church,  came  here 
on  a  missionary  tour  in  1771,  almost 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  The 
doctrines  taught  and  held  by  the 
Baptists  were  looked  upon  with  but 
little  favor  in  those  da}'S.  The  old 
established  form  of  worship  was  con- 
sidered to  be  the  thing,  and  those  who 
differed  from  it  were  regarded  as 
meddlers  and  opposers  of  the  truth. 
The  bond  of  union  and  sympathy  be- 
tween those  of  different  beliefs  was 
lacking.  It  required  courage  and  a 
strong  faith  in  God  to  break  away 
from  "The  Church"  as  it  was  then  con- 
sidered. Thank  God  this  feeling  is 
rapidly  passing  away.  We  believe  our 
church  has  had  a  large  share  in  bring- 
ing about  this  result. 

It  does  not  appear  that  an\-  im- 
mediate results  followed  this  first 
service,  but  it  is  very  probable  that 
the  seed  sown  at  that  time  fell  on  good 
ground  and  later  resulted  in  the  forma- 
tion of  the  church,  whose  centennial 
we  are  now  observing. 

During  the  succeeding  years  there 
was  occasional  preaching  by  Baptist 
clergymen — elders  they  were  then 
called— who  passed  through  the  vil- 
lage of  Concord,  and  there  certainly 
were  members  of  Baptist  churches,  in 
other  places,  residing  here,  prior  to 
1814.  Rev.  P.  Richardson,  a  mis- 
sionary of  our  faith  and  practice, 
spent  several  days  here  in  1817;  but 
nothing  was  done  looking  to  the 
organization  of  a  church  until  the 
spring  of  1818.  Our  book  of  records 
says:     "May  20  IS  18— A  number  of 


208 


The  Granite  Monthly 


brethren  and  sisters  living  in  this  town 
and  belonging  to  different  Baptist 
churches,  met  at  the  house  of  Mr. 
Richard  Swain,  in  said  town,  for  the 
purpose  of  ascertaining  what  degree  of 
fellowship  exists  among  them  in  the 
faith  and  order  of  the  gospel,  and  to 
consider  what  were  the  prospects  with 
regard  to  the  formation  of  a  church  of 
their  own  number,  agreeably  to  the 
principles  and  practices  of  Our  Lord.'' 
At  this  meeting  two  brothers  and  four 
•sisters  gave  to  each  other  an  expres- 
sion of  their  Christian  fellowship.  A 
few   days   later   three   sisters   related 


Frank  J.  Pillsbury,  Historian 

their  experience,  and  the  record  says: 
"  Those  present  who  had  previously 
united  expressed  to  them  their  Chris- 
tian fellowship." 

At  this  meeting  Mr.  Oliver  Hoit 
related  the  dealings  of  God  with  him, 
and  after  deliberate  examination  they 
unanimously  agreed  to  give  him  fel- 
lowship in  the  ordinance  of  baptism 
and  that  it  be  administered  on  the 
next  Lord'  Day  at  half-past  twelve, 
noon.  This,  most  likely,  was  the  first 
instance  of  baptism,  as  we  hold  it,  in 


the  town  and  most  likely  it  was  ad- 
ministered in  the  Contoocook  River. 
This  Mr.  Hoit  was  the  first  settler  in 
the  part  of  the  town  known  to  us  as 


Horse  Hi 


coming  there  in  1772. 


His  name  appears  among  those  who 
signed  "The  Association  Test"  in 
1776,  and  the  next  year  the  town 
voted  "To  lay  out  the  money  which 
they  shall  receive  for  land  sold  Oliver 
Hoit  for  a  town  stock  of  ammunition." 
He  died  in  September,  1827,  aged 
eighty  years. 

Dr.  Bouton's  History  says:  "He 
was  a  worthy  member  of  the  Baptist 
Church  and  had  honored  His  Savior 
by  a  uniform  life  of  piety  for  a  number 
of  years."  Some  brethren  from  the 
church  in  Bow  were  present  by  invita- 
tion at  this  meeting  to  advise  in  the 
matter  of  forming  a  church  organi- 
zation. The  record  says:  "They 
unanimously  advised  to  imbody, 
organize  and  invite  the  neighboring- 
churches  to  give  us  fellowship  as  soon 
as  might  be  convenient." 

Sunday,  September  20,  the  brethren 
and  sisters  met  at  eight  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  listened  to  the  experience  of 
Mr.  Nathan  Putnam,  and  it  was 
voted  to  receive  him  into  member- 
ship after  baptism.  The  record  says: 
"After  the  forenoon  service,  repaired 
to  the  water  side  when  he  was 
baptized  and  came  up  straightway  out 
of  the  water."  He  was  chosen  the 
first  clerk  of  the  church,  but  did  not 
long  remain  in  the  town,  having  been 
dismissed  in  April,  1824. 

On  September  23  the  members 
agreed  to  call  a  council  to  give  them 
fellowship  as  a  church  of  Christ,  to  be 
held  on  the  8th  day  of  October  at  two 
in  the  afternoon  and  "To  send  for  the 
assistance  of  the  Baptist  churches  in 
Salisbury,  Weare  and  Bow." 

On  the  eventful  day  named — Octo- 
ber 8 — the  brethren  and  sisters  met 
precisely  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing. At  this  time  they  received  Elder 
William  Taylor,  his  wife  and  one 
other  sister  to  their  fellowship.  "  The 
council,  after  deliberating  by  them- 
selves,   voted    unanimously    to    give 


History  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Concord,  N.  H. 


209 


the  brethren  and  sisters  named  fellow- 
ship as  a  church  of  Christ,  and  that 
the  moderator  give  the  right  hand  of 
fellowship." 

The  founders  of  the  church,  and  it 
would  seem  there  should  be  a  tablet 
bearing  their  names  on  our  wall,  were 
Elder  William  Taylor,  James  Willey, 
Oliver  Hoit,  Nathan  Putnam,  Sally 
Bradley,  Deborah  Elliott,  Sally  Mann, 
Mary  Whitney,  Pollv  Hoit,  "Hannah 
Colby,  Betsy  Elliott,  Ruth  Eastman, 
Mary  Robinson  and  Sarah  Taylor, 
four  men  and  ten  women.  Services  of 
recognition  were  held  in  the  "Green 
House,"  so  called.  Elder  John  B. 
Gibson  of  Weare  preached  the  sermon. 
Elder  Otis  Robinson  of  Salisbury  gave 
the  right  hand  of  fellowship  and  Elder 
Henry  Veazey  of  Bow  offered  the  clos- 
ing prayer. 

At  this  meeting  the  members 
adopted  articles  of  faith,  twenty-five 
in  number,  and  a  covenant  of  consid- 
erable length  and  fully  covering  the 
duties  of  church-members.  It  is  said 
"The  several  parts  were  performed 
according  to  previous  arrangement 
and  to  general  satisfaction." 

The  building  in  which  this  service 
was  held  was  near  the  State  House, 
and  was  called  the  "Green  House," 
not  on  account  of  its  color  but  because 
it  was  the  residence  of  Judge  Samuel 
Green,  one  of  the  first  lawyers  to 
practice  in  Concord  and  for  twenty 
years  a  judge  of  the  Superior  Court — a 
prominent  citizen.  As  he  was  not 
connected  with  the  Baptist  Church  we 
can  suppose  that  he  was  one  of  those 
noble,  broad-minded,  generous-hearted 
men  found  in  every  community — of 
which  our  city  always  had  and  still 
has  its  full  proportion — who  have 
sympathy  with  and  are  willing  to  aid 
a  good  cause.  So,  as  there  were  no 
public  halls  in  those  days  and  his 
house  was  large  and  roomy  he  opened 
it  for  the  infant  organization.  The 
first  church  meeting  was  held  on 
October  12,  at  two  of  the  clock  in  the 
afternoon.  Brother  Nathan  Putnam, 
as  has  been  stated,  was  chosen  clerk 
and  Elder  William  Taylor  moderator. 


The  Salisbury  Baptist  Association  was 
formed  just  after  this  date  and  our 
church  voted  to  apply  for  admission, 
which  request  was  granted.  Elder 
Taylor  and  Brother  Putnam  attended 
this  first  meeting  which  was  held  in 
Salisbury. 

Eider  Taylor  would  appear  to  have 
been  a  missionary  preacher,  an  en- 
thusiastic, self-sacrificing  worker,  well 
fitted  for  pioneer  labor  and  at  that 
time  he  was  considered  one  of  the 
leading  Baptises  in  this  section.  In  the 
spring  of  ISIS,  passing  through  Con- 
cord, he  stopped  over  and  preached. 
The  meeting  that  day  was  held  in 
the  Carrigan  House.  Most  likely  he 
spent  more  time  here  and  that  his 
efforts  on  this  occasion  resulted  in  the 
organization  of  the  church  some 
months  later.  Certainly  our  church' 
should  be,  as  it  always  has  been,  a 
missionary  church.  The  Carrigan 
House  is  still  standing  on  North  Main 
Street,  the  residence  of  Dr.  William  G. 
Carter,  now  deceased.  It  was  built 
by  Philip  Carrigan,  a  brilliant  Scotch- 
man, at  one  time  secretary  of  state 
and  the  publisher  in  1816,  of  the  first 
map  of  New  Hampshire.  There  is 
nothing  to  show  that  Mr.  Taylor  was 
ever  called  to  be  the  pastor,  or  that 
any  stated  salary  was  given  him.  It 
would  rather  appear  that  he  supplied 
the  pulpit  from  Sunday  to  Sunday  and 
received  such  compensation  as  the 
brethren  and  sisters  saw  fit  to  give 
him. 

On  November  5  the  church  voted 
to  hold  communion  services  once  a 
quarter — on  the  first  Sabbath  in  Feb- 
ruary, May  August  and  November. 
James  Willey  was  chosen  deacon  at 
this  meeting.  He  continued  to  serve 
in  that  office  till  his  death  in  August, 
1853,  nearly  thirty-five  years.  He 
was  ever  active  in  the  affairs  of  the 
church,  and  enjoyed  the  confidence 
and  esteem  of  the  community. 

Some  of  the  expressions  in  the  record 
book  sound  rather  queer  to  us.  When 
coming  as  a  member  by  baptism  they 
say,  "  Voted  to  receive  to  the  Ordi- 
nance of  Baptism."     When  joining  by 


210 


The  Granite  Monthly 


letter,  "Voted  that he  a  mem- 
ber of  this  church."  Speaking  of  the 
communion  service — and  for  several 
years  there  is  an  entry  on  the  record 
book  for  each  such  service — they  use 
such  words,  "Then  proceeded  to  an 
agreeable  communion.''  Many  re- 
quests were  received  for  meeting  in 
council  with  other  churches  for  va- 
rious purposes.  Voted  "to  send  to 
their  assistance.'1  On  May  26,  1S26,  • 
after  entering  their  church  home  they 
voted  to  hold  communion  each  month, 
except  December  and  January. 

For  the  first  four  and  one-half  years 
there  are  no  records  of  any  business  of 
a  secular  nature  being  attended  to; 
nothing  about  money  affairs  whatever ; 
but  on  March  12,  1823,  a  meeting  was 
held  in  the  town  hall  at  which  time  the 
record  reads:  "Voted  that  we  accept 
the  constitution  and  that  we  avail 
ourselves  of  the  privileges  of  incor- 
poration by  giving  notice  of  our 
existence  in  the  Concord  Patriot." 
The  first  article  of  the  constitution 
reads:  "We,  the  subscribers  to  the 
following  constitution,  wishing  to  pro- 
mote the  cause  of  truth,  and  feeling 
the  importance  of  establishing  relig- 
ious order,  do.  for  that  purpose,  form 
ourselves  into  a  Baptist  Society  and 
adopt  the  following  articles,  agreeing 
to  be  governed  by  the  same."  This 
was  signed  by  sixteen  men,  six  of  them 
members  of  the  church,  the  other  ten, 
citizens  of  the  town,  and  so  was  com- 
menced the  body  which,  until  October, 
1904,  over  eighty  years,  had  the  care 
of  the  temporal  and  physical  affairs  of 
the  organization.  Our  notes  from 
this  time  on  will  be  made  up  of  extracts 
from  both  the  church  proper  and  soci- 
ety records.  Article  7  reads :  "  It  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  committee,  which 
consists  of  three  members,  to  employ 
a  regular,  Calvinistic  Baptist  preacher, 
and  by  order  to  draw  money  from  the 
treasury  to  remunerate  him  for  his 
services." 

The  meetings  of  the  church  during 
these  early  years  were  held  in  various 
places,  at  the  home  of  the  pastor  or 
some   of   the   members,    occasionally 


with  some  one  in  the  West  Village, 
also  in  the  East  Milage,  and  very 
many  times  in  the  village  schoolhoise, 
probably  meaning  what,  in  later  years, 
was  known  as  the  Bell  School  House, 
such  a  wonderful  building  in  those 
days  as  to  cause  people  from  the  sur- 
rounding towns  to  come  and  see  it. 
It  stood  on  the  lot  now  occupied  by 
the  Parker  School,  but  nearer  State 
Street.  The  western  part  of  the  lot 
is  described  as  part  frog  pond,  part 
sand  bank. 

But  the  time  had  come  when  they 
felt  that  to  maintain  their  position  and 
accomplish  the  good  they  felt  the  head 
of  the  church  had  for  them  to  do,  they 
needed  a-  church  home.  As  much  of 
the  help  in  building  must  come  from 
outside  parties,  a  society,  as  conditions 
then  were,  was  a  necessity.  It  was  a 
great  undertaking;  money  was  not 
plenty;  but  their  faith  was  strong; 
the  cause — Baptist  preaching  and 
doctrines — not  altogether  popular; 
but  they  had  a  vision.  They  felt  the 
Lord  hacl  called  them  to  do  a  certain 
work  and  they  trusted  Him  to  pro- 
vide the  means.  So  they  decided  to 
arise  and  build. 

We  can  well  believe  that  there  were 
many  anxious  prayerful  gatherings. 
Help  from  outside  was  given.  It 
would  be  very  interesting  to  have  the 
names  of  the  helpers,  but  we  only 
know  that  the  land  on  which  the 
church  stands  was  given  by  Col. 
William  A.  Kent,  a  prominent  and 
well-to-do  citizen,  not  a  member  with 
them.  In  passing  we  will  say  he  also 
gave  the  land  on  which  the  Unitarian 
Church  stands,  and  it  was  his  desire  to 
give  the  town  of  Concord,  a  large  tract 
of  land  in  what  is  now  the  central,  the 
thickly  settled  part  of  the  city,  for  a 
public  common  or  park.  The  town 
fathers  did  not  feel  it  was  wise  to  ac- 
cept his  offer.  "Pity  'tis  'tis  true." 
The  condition  of  the  gift  was  that  the 
land  should  always  be  used  for  relig- 
ious purposes,  and  that  a  house  of 
public  worship  should  be  built  within 
two  years. 

At  the  second  meeting  of  the  society 


History  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Concord,  N.  H. 


211 


it  was  voted  to  raise  thirty-two  dollars 
for  the  support  of  Baptist  preaching. 
On  May  10,  1823,  a  building  commit- 
tee was  appointed  and  at  a  meeting 
a  few  days  later  their  duties  and  pow- 
ers were  set  forth  in  a  paper  containing 
six  articles.  As  originally  planned 
the  building  was  to  be  sixty  feet  long, 
fifty  feet  wide  and  two  stories  high, 
but  at  a  later  meeting  it  was  voted  to 
add  ten  feet  to  its  length.  The  com- 
mittee consisted  of  Col.  John  Carter, 
Benjamin  Damon  and  Dea.  James 
Willey.  This  John  Carter  was  never 
a  member  of  the  church,  but  was  an 
active  and  efficient  member  of  the 
society.  He  was  a  Revolutionary 
soldier,  a  colonel  in  the  War  of  1812, 
and  a  prominent  man  in  the  commu- 
nity. He  was  repeatedly  chosen  as 
moderator  of  the  meetings  and  served 
on  various  committees  many  times. 
He  is  buried  in  the  Old  North  Ceme- 
tery, where  a  granite  monument 
records  his  services  to  our  country. 
He  was  the  grandfather  of  our  Dea. 
Orin  T.  Carter,  and  lived  at  the  south 
end,  near  what  is  now  known  as  "The 
Pines." 

Benjamin  Damon  was  one  of  a  num- 
ber of  young  men  who  came  here  from 
Amherst,  about  1S06,  all  of  whom, 
with  one  exception,  proved  to  be  of 
great  help  to  the  growing  town.  Mr. 
Damon  did  not  become  a  member  of 
the  church  until  August,  1832,  but  he 
was  one  of  the  most  active  in  society 
matters,  and  after  his  baptism  was 
equally  efficient  in  church  affairs. 
He  was  elected  to  the  office  of  deacon 
January  31,  1810,  and  continued  to 
honor  that  office  until  his  death,  Sep- 
tember 18,  1872.  He  built,  and  for 
many  years  lived  in,  a  house  where  the 
State  Block  now  stands.  This  was 
burned  in  the  fire  of  November  14, 
1801,  when  the  deacon  bought,  and  oc- 
cupied for  the  rest  of  his  life,  a  house 
standing  where  Col.  G.  B.  Emmons 
now  lives. 

Deacon  Willey,  as  has  been  already 
mentioned,  was  the  first  one  to  hold 
that  office,  and  well  did  he  fulfill  its 
duties.     He    was   a    blacksmith    and 


lived  in  a  house  still  standing  on 
West  Street.  Neither  of  the  last  two 
named  have  any  descendants  in  this 
city  that  we  have  any  knowledge  of. 

In  the  spring  of  1824  Elder  Taylor 
visited  Boston  and  Salem  and  collected 
8320  for  the  building.  So,  in  various 
ways,  the  fund  grew"  and  on  May  28, 
1824,  the  corner-stone  was  laid  with 
appropriate  services,  as  follows:  Sing- 
ing the  127th  Psalm,  "Except  the 
Lord  build  the  house  they  labor  in  vain 
that  build  it."  Address  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Taylor.  The  stone  was-  placed  in 
position  bv  Mr.  Tavlor,  assisted  by 
Rev.  Dr.  "McFarland  of  the  North 
Church,  thus  showing  that  the 
pleasant  Christian  spirit  existing  be- 
tween the  "Old  North"  and  the 
" First  Baptist"  is  not  a  tiling  of  re-, 
cent  growth.  Elder  Taylor,  standing 
on  the  stone,  offered  a  fervent  prayer 
to  the  Most  High  and  the  services 
closed  by  singing  Psalm  84,  "How 
amiable  are  Thy  tabernacles,  Oh 
Lord  of  Hosts." 

The  work  of  building  progressed 
slowly,  so  that  the  dedication  did 
not  take  place  until  December  28, 
1S25.  The  order  of  exercises  was: 
Anthem;  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Robinson  of  Salisbury;  reading  short 
portion  of  Scripture  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Barnabee  of  Deerfield ;  singing  Psalm 
132,  L.  M.;  dedicatory  prayer  by  Rev. 
N.  W.  Williams,  who  was  later  to  be 
the  pastor  of  the  church;  singing 
Hymn  132,  C.  M. ;  sermon  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Ellis  of  Exeter— text,  Haggai  ii, 
9,  "And  in  this  house  will  I  give 
peace,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts" ;  prayer 
by  Rev.  Mr.  Carleton  of  Hopkinton; 
singing  Hymn  136;  closing  with  an 
anthem.  The  singing  was  by  the 
"Concord  Central  Musical  Society," 
which  had  been  invited  "To  take 
charge  of  singing  on  the  day  that  our 
new  brick  meeting  house  is  dedicated." 

As  originally  built  the  church  was 
seventy  feet  long,  about  two-thirds 
the  length  of  the  present  edifice,  and 
fifty  feet  wide.  It  had  seventy-two 
pews  on  the  ground  floor,  and  thirty 
in  the  galleries,  which  were  on  three 


212 


The  Granite  Monthly 


sides  of  the  church,  supported  by  pil- 
lars. There  were  two  rows  of  windows, 
one  in  each  of  first  and  second  stories. 
The  windows  on  the  south  end  of  the 
building,  each  side  of  the  vestibule, 
give  us  an  idea  of  these  windows,  and 
how  the  original  church  looked  on  the 
outside.  The  pulpit,  elevated  seven 
feet  from  the  floor,  supported  by  col- 
umns and  entered  by  winding  stairs  on 
each  side,  was  at  the  south  end,  bet  ween 
the  inside  entrance  doors,  and  there 
was  a  small  vestry  over  the  vestibule. 
The  tower  was  erected  at  this  time. 
Each  pew  was  valued  at  eighty  dollars 
and  they  were  all  to  be  sold,  except 
four  which  were  called  "the  society 
pews,"  and  were  held  as  the  equiva- 
lent of  the  money  collected  by  Elder 
Taylor  from  the  friends  in  Boston  and 
Salem,  Mass.  They  were  the  straight 
backed,  wooden  looking  pews  now 
occasionally  seen  in  some  ancient 
country  church.  Each  pew  had  a 
door  which  the  occupant  was  supposed 
to  close  on  entering.  As  first  arranged 
there  were  only  two  aisles,  the  pews  on 
each  side  being  built  into  the  walls. 
We  can  well  believe  there  were  no 
cushions  on  these  pews.  A  deed  was. 
given  by  the  committee  and  the  pew 
was  looked  upon  as  so  much  property, 
as  witness,  many  old-time  wills  say, 
"To  my  son  Jacob  or  my  daughter 
Rebecca  I  give  and  devise  Pew — in  the 

Church."     We  are  fortunate  in 

having  one  of  these  deeds  to  present 
at  this  time.  A  tax  was  levied  on 
each  pew,  the  amount  to  be  deterrnined 
Jyy  assessors,  chosen  at  the  annual 
meeting.  The  proceeds  from  the  rent 
of  the  pews,  with  the  money  received 
from  the  town,  were  for  the  expenses 
of  the  society.  These  taxes  could  be 
collected  by  law,  at  that  time,  the 
same  as  on  any  other  property. 

The  building  was  a  much  more  ex- 
pensive one  than  had  been  the  original 
intention,  but  the  offers  of  assistance 
from  residents,  not  connected  with  the 
organization,  encouraged  them  to 
build  the  edifice  as  described.  It  cost 
some  $7,000,  one  third  of  which  was 
unpaid.     This  debt  was  a  source  of 


anxiety  for  a  number  of  years.  It  was 
difficult  to  meet  the  payments  as  they 
became,  due.  People  in  Concord,  not 
connected  with  it,  offered  to  pay  the 
debt  if  they  could  control  the  pulpit. 
As  this  most  likely  would  have  de- 
feated the  object  for  which  the  church 
was  formed,  this  offer  was  courteously 
declined.  Aid  was  then  asked  from 
people  outside  the  town,  outside  the 
state  even,  and  at  last  the  indebtedness 
was  paid.  It  may  be  interesting  to 
note  that  the  church  in  Bow  gave  S100, 
a  very  liberal  donation  in  those  days — 
another  reason  why  we  should  have  a 
missionary  spirit. 

Nothing  in  the  records  show  that 
Mr.  Taylor,  Elder  Taylor  as  he  was 
called,  ever  preached  in  the  building 
which  he  was  so  active  and  instru- 
mental in  securing.  Doubtless  there 
was  some  good  reason  for  this,  but  we 
are  not  able  to  state  what  it  was. 
The  only  reference  regarding  his  going 
away  is  on  June  30,  1826,  when  he  and 
his  wife  were  dismissed  to  join  the 
church  in  Sanbornton.  He  died  in 
Schoolcraft,  Mich.,  June  7,  1852. 

A  subscription  paper,  dated  Decem- 
ber 31,  1825,  reads:  "'We  the  sub- 
scribers agree  to  pay  the  sum  affixed 
to  our  names  to  be  appropriated  to  the 
purchase  of  a  bell  and  clock  to  be 
placed  on  the  Baptist  Meeting  House 
in  Concord,  N.  H."  To  this  paper 
eighty-two  persons  signed  their  names, 
and  the  amount  pledged  was  8705. 
William  A.  Kent,  who  so  generously 
gave  the  land  for  the  church,  gave 
8100;  Joseph  Low,  one  time  post- 
master and  the  first  mayor  of  the  city, 
850;  Isaac  Hill,  editor  of  the  New 
Hampshire  Patriot,  one  time  United 
States  Senator,  three  years  governor 
of  the  state  and  solicitor  of  the  treas- 
ury under  President  Jackson,  gave 
8150.  Eight  others  gave  8155,  the 
balance  being  made  up  of  small  con- 
tributions. Among  other  names  is 
that  of  Andrew  Capen  who  died  on 
the  Isthmus  while  on  his  way  to  the 
land  of  gold.  Pie  was  ah  uncle  of  our 
treasurer,  William  A.  Capen.  A 
perusal  of  the  list  shows  that  it  was  a 


History  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Concord,  N.  H. 


21Z-MH 


town  affair,  only  a  few  members  of  the 
church  signing  it,  nearly  every  prom- 
inent family  of  the  time  being 
represented;  but  such  are  the  changes 
ninety  years  make  in  a  community, 
very  few  of  the  names  are  now  found 
among  us. 

The  clock  and  bell  were  placed  in 
position,  and  gave  great  pleasure  to 
the  people  of  the  town;  two  town 
clocks  in  the  village  the  size  Concord 
then  was  being  an  uncommon  thing. 
The  clock  did  faithful  service  for  fifty 
years  when,  the  illuminated  one  hav- 
ing been  placed  on  the  Board  of  Trade 
Building,  it  did  not  seem  to  be  needed 
and  was  sold  to  a  church  in  another 
town,  where  it  continues  to  remind  the 
passer-by  of  the  flight  of  time.  Some 
misfortune  befell  this  first  bell,  for  a 
paper  dated  June  12,  1827,  reads: 
"Whereas  the  bell  on  the  South  Meet- 
ing House"  (you  will  remember  there 
were  but  two  churches  in  the  town  then) 
"  is  unfortunately  broken  and  rendered 
useless,  whereby  the  public  sustains 
a  loss  in  being  deprived  of  the  use  of 
it,  and  likewise  of  the  clock  attached 
to  the  same,  we  the  subscribers,  being- 
sensible  of  the  loss  and  desirous  of 
assisting  in  procuring  another  bell,  do 
engage  and  obligate  ourselves  to  pay 
the  sum  set  against  our  respective 
names."  The  people  from  all  parts 
of  the  town  responded  freely.  Gover- 
nor Hill  again  helped  with  a  contribu- 
tion of  SI 5.  The  others  from  nine- 
pence— 12-|  cents— to  So.  The  bill 
for  this  second  bell  is  interesting: 
"  Messrs  Isaac  Hill,  Win.  Gault  and 
John  H.  Chaffin  to  Joseph  W.  Revere, 
Dr.,  Boston,  August  17,  1827,  to  a 
church  bell,  1240  lbs.,  35  cents; 
Tongue,  28  lbs.,  35  cents,  S443.80. 
Deduct  old  bell  i  and  tongue,  1252 
lbs.  at  30  cents,  $375. GO — balance, 
$68.20.  This  bell  is  warranted  for 
twelve  months,  accidents  and  improper 
uses  excepted,  and  unless  it  be  rung  or 
struck  before  it  is  placed  in  the  belfry, 
or  toiled  by  pulling  or  forcing  the 
tongue  against  the  bell  by  string  or 
otherwise,  received  payment  for  the 
same.     Joseph  W.  Revere." 


The  bell  was  brought  to  Concord  by 
the  Concord  Boating  Company,  a 
corporation  operating  a  line  of  boats 
between  Concord  and  Boston  at  an  ■ 
expense  of  S7.25.  Tins  second  bell 
was  unfortunately  cracked  after  a  serv- 
ice of  many  years  and,  June  4,  1855 
a  committee  was  authorized  to  pro- 
cure a  new  bell  as  soon  as  possible. 

The   first   mention   of  heating  the 
building  is  under  date  of  October  30, 
1S26:    "Voted  to  accept  the  use  of 
Col.  William  Kent's  stove,  and  a  com- 
mittee of  four  be  appointed  to  procure 
funnel    from    him    for    said    stove." 
Colonel  Kent  came  here  as  a  worker 
in  tin  and  sheet  iron,  and  doubtless 
had  a  stock  of  stoves  for  sale.     So,  it 
would  appear  that,   during  the  first 
year,  the  brethren  and  sisters  depended 
for  external  heat  on  foot  stoves,  as  was 
then  the  custom.     One  of  these  stoves 
is  on  the  platform.     Later  on,  we  do 
not  know  just  when,  two  of  the  large 
cast-iron  stoves  used  in  public  places 
years  ago  were  placed  in  the  south  end 
of  the  building,  and  a  long  arrange- 
ment   of   funnel    made    the    building 
somewhat  comfortable,  and  used  up 
a  large  quantity  of  wood.     Some  of 
the  older  people  of  the  city  remember 
this  method  of  heating,  or  attempting 
to  heat.     It  would  seem  that  furnaces 
were  installed  some  time  before  1856, 
as  on  January  21  of  that  year  some 
action  was  taken  regarding  the  furnace 
"as  it  does  not  heat  properly."     This 
same   old   story   has   been   told   over 
and  over  again  in  the  past  sixty  odd 
years. 

Rev.  Nathaniel  West  Williams,  of 
Windsor,  Yt.,  and  his  wife,  were  re- 
ceived into  the  membership  of  the 
church  July  2,  1826,  and  it  would 
appear  he  then  entered  upon  the  duties 
of  the  pastorate,  though  the  formal 
vote  of  the  church  to  call  him  was  not 
taken  until  November  18,  1827.  Rev. 
Mr.  Williams  had  been  a  seafaring 
man  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years 
was  captain  of  a  ship  engaged  in  the 
East  India  trade.  Although  brought 
up  in  a  different  belief  he  there  met 
some    Baptist    missionaries,    and    his 


fifth** 


t?. 


>  f  1 


ii'  • 


«    < 


PR?}.' 


H§f 


History  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Concord,  N.  II. 


215 


acquaintance  with  them  changed  the 
course  of  his  life.  In  IS  16  he  entered 
the  ministry.  No  doubt  his  experience 
led  him  to  emphasize  the  work  and 
worth  of  missions,  thus  early  in  its 
history  causing  our  church  to  be  a 
missionary  church.  He  is  spoken  of 
"as  being  a  clear,  sensible,  methodical 
but  not  a  brilliant,  preacher.''  Rev. 
Baron  Stowe  wrote  of  him,  "He  under- 
stood his  own  capabilities  and  never 
ventured  beyond  his  depth.  He  re- 
spected the  rights  of  others,  was  not 
a  controversalist,  but  loved  peace  and 
the  tilings  which  made  for  peace."  Mr. 
Williams  continued  to  serve  the 
church  and  was  a  help  to  it  for  nearly 
five  years,  resigning  his  charge  and 
asking  letters  dismissing  himself  and 
wife,  June  26,  1S3 1 ,  which  was  accepted 
and  letters  granted,  and  suitable  reso- 
lutions adopted. 

For  the  next  few  months  the  church 
had  supplies,  how  regularly  we  do  not 
know.  But  Rev.  Mr.  Freeman  and 
Rev.  Mr.  Randall  of  Methuen  are 
mentioned  as  having  administered  the 
rite  of  baptism. 

In  those  early  days  the  records  say: 
"Met  in  church  conference  and  exam- 
ined the  brothers  and  sisters  with 
regard  to  the  exercise  of  their  minds." 
Occasionally  it  says,  "Found  them  in 
a  low  state,"  but  more  often  "Found 
them  to  be  in  a  comfortable  frame  of 
mind."  These  meetings  were  held  in 
the  afternoon  of  some  weekday. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  society,  Febru- 
ary 26,  1832,  it  was  voted  "To  concur 
with  the  church  in  giving  the  Rev.  E. 
E.  Cummings  a  call  to  become  their 
pastor."  And  at  a  later  date  it  was 
voted  "To  offer  Rev.  E.  E.  Cummings 
$350/  to  supply  the  desk  for  the 
present  year." 

The  salary  of  the  janitor  was  fixed 
at  $15  for  the  year.  Mr.  Cummings 
was  continued  in  the  pastorate  with 
an  increase  in  salary  from  time  to 
time  so  that  the  last  year  it  was  voted 
to  pay  him  $800  and  allow  him  two 
weeks'  vacation,  the  pulpit  to  be  sup- 
plied at  the  expense  of  the  society, 
thus    disproving    the    statement     we 


often  hear  that  the  church,  in  former 
days,  did  not  provide  for  a  pastor's 
vacation. 

In  the  spring  of  1835  important 
changes  were  made  in  the  interior  of 
the  church,  the  gallery  in  the  north 
end  being  removed,  the  pulpit  placed 
on  a  platform  at  that  end,  and  the 
pews  turned  to  conform  to  this  ar- 
rangement. The  room  over  the  vesti- 
bule which  had  been  used  as  a  vestry, 
to  be  for  the  singers'  scats  as  then 
called.  The  pews  were  set  nearer 
together  so  that  eight  pews  were 
added.  The  committee  having  this 
work  in  charge  were  to  take  the  ad- 
ditional pews  to  pay  for  the  same. 
Faithful  service  was  rendered,  for  the 
committee  having  charge  of  the  altera- 
tion reported  that  "They  have  the 
satisfaction  of  saying  that  the  work 
has  been  perseveringly  attended  to 
and  faithfully  performed,  and  in  the 
opinion  of  the  committee  the  under- 
takers have  done  more  for  the  interest 
of  the  pew  holders  than  for  their  own 
interest."  The  society  accepted  and 
concurred  in  this  report  and  further 
say,  "That  we  believe  the  property  in 
said  house  is  greatly  advanced  in 
value  by  the  alteration." 

The  galleries  were  supported  by 
pillars  which  interfered  with  the  view 
of  some  of  the  people,  and  it  was  later 
voted  that  the  committee  might  re- 
move them,  provided  they  would  put 
in  iron  rods  for  support  and  provided 
further  that  the  committee  take  the 
pillars  for  their  pay.  Probably  the 
outside  of  the  building  was  painted 
about  this  time,  1837  or  1838.  In 
1845  the  attendance  had  so  increased 
that  more  room  was  needed  and  other 
improvements  were  desired.  Twenty 
feet  were  added  to  the  north  end  of 
the  building,  the  galleries  on  the  sides 
removed,  the  windows  lengthened, 
and  the  pews  rearranged  to  form  a 
center  and  two  side  aisles,  as  we  now 
see  them.  A  neatly  constructed  pul- 
pit, painted  white  and  highly  polished, 
was  placed  on  the  platform,  and  from 
the  ceiling  hung  a  large  chandelier  of 
curious  workmanship.     The  ladies  of 


216 


The  Granite  Monthly 


the  congregation  purchased  a  carpet 
for  the  platform  and  aisles. 

A  writer  of  that  date  says:  "The 
congregation  reentered  their  im- 
proved and  beautified  house  of  worship 
October  26,  1845,  having  been  absent 
from  it  three  months  and  six  days." 
The  text  of  the  first  sermon  preached 
in  the  remodeled  edifice  was  from 
II  Samuel  vi,  11,  ''And  the  ark  of  the 
Lord  continued  in  the  house  of  Obed- 
edom  the  Cittite  three  months:  and 
the  Lord  helped  Obed-edom  and  all 
his  household."  The  same  writer 
says,  "The  church  and  congregation 
entered  their  renovated  sanctuary 
with  gladness  and  thanksgiving. 
Everything  seemed  to  be  in  harmony 
with  the  tastes  and  wishes  of  its 
people." 

"The  walls  and  ceiling,  with  the 
pulpit  and  platform,  were  of  immacu- 
late whiteness,  and  in  beautiful  con- 
trast with  the  carpet  and  pews,  and 
when,  subsequently,  green  blinds 
wrere  furnished  for  the  windows,  the 
contrast  was  intensified." 

Mr.  Cummings  resigned  June  22, 
1859.  His  pastorate  had  been  very 
successful.  The  church  had  prospered 
in  every  way,  A  writer  in  the  history 
of  Concord  says:  "Few  of  the  Bap- 
tist ministers  in  the  state  were  college 
graduates  and  the  fact  that  Dr. 
Cummings  held  a  diploma  from 
Waterville  College  enhanced  his  stand- 
ing in  the  denomination.  He  was  an 
old-style  preacher,  strong  on  denomi- 
national points,  not  eloquent  but 
vigorous."  During  his  pastorate  oc- 
curred the  noted  revival,  under  the 
leadership  of  Rev.  Jacob  Knapp.  A 
very  great  number  were  converted, 
united  with  the  church,  and  for  the 
next  forty  or  fifty  years  were  among 
its  most  active  and  useful  members. 
From  the  lips  of  one  of  the  number  we 
have  it  that  on  one  occasion  when  the 
hand  of  fellowship  was  given  the  can- 
didates stood  across  the  front  of  the 
church  and  on  each  side  of  the  main 
aisle. 

On  December  15,  1842,  the  clerk 
says    "one    hundred    and    thirty-six 


have  united  with  this  church  within 
three  months,  one  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  by  baptism."  We 
think  the  last  survivor  of  those  who 
united  during  this  work  of  grace  was 
Mrs.  Dr.  Oehme,  formally  Miss  Clara 
Walker,  who  was  baptized  at  the  age 
of  ten  years.  She  was  the  daughter 
of  the  second  clerk  of  the  church  and 
died  in  Portland,  Ore.,  which  had 
been  her  home  for  many  years. 
September,  1917,  so  that  the  lives  of 
this  father  and  daughter  embraced 
nearly  the  entire  time  this  good  old 
church  has  existed.  All  who  knew 
Mr.  Cummings  revered  him  because 
of  his  kindheartedness  and  benevo- 
lence, and  he  was  affectionately 
known  as  "'Father  Cummings."  He 
is  the  only  native  born  son  of  New 
Hampshire  who  has  served  us  as 
pastor  and  the  only  one,  also,  who  is 
buried  in  our  city.  He  died  in  Con- 
cord, July  22,  1886,  aged  eighty-six 
years. 

Rev.  Charles  W.  Flanders  was  in- 
stalled as  pastor,  January  13,  1851,  at 
six  o'clock  in  the  afternoon — notice 
the  early  hour  at  which  the  service 
was  held.  Rev.  Baron  Stow,  one  of 
Boston's  leading  pastors,  preached 
the  sermon  and  several  other  ministers 
from  Massachusetts  had  parts  in  the 
service.  The  concluding  prayer  was 
offered  by  Rev.  D  .  Bouton.  Dr. 
Flanders  entered  on  the  work  of  the 
ministry  after  having  labored  for 
several  years  as  a  carpenter.  He 
graduated  from  Brown  L'niversity  in 
1829,  and  studied  theology  under 
President  Way  land.  His  first  settle- 
ment was  in  Beverly,  Mass.,  where 
he  remained  ten  years.  He  was  a 
man  of  distinguished  appearance  but 
quiet  manner.  He  was  scholarly 
rather  than  brilliant,  but  was  popular 
because  of  his  kindly  spirit,  his  work 
among  the  young  people  and  for  the 
deep  interest  he  took  in  the  families 
of  the  society  and  for  the  personal 
calls  he  made  in  the  parish. 

The  church  prospered  under  his 
ministration,  over  two  hundred  being 
added  in  the  fifteen  years  he  served 


History  oj  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Concord,  N.  II. 


217 


us.  This  extract  from  the  resolution 
adopted  by  the  church  and  concurred 
in  by  the  society  shows  the  apprecia- 
tion in  which  he  was  held :  "  Resolved, 
that,  so  long  as  irreproachable  integ- 
rity and  manly  consistency  may  be 
regarded  as  elements  of  true  nobility, 
will  we  remember  with  especial  pleas- 
ure the  devotion  to  his  calling  and 
duty,  the  purity  of  character,  up- 
rightness of  life,  kindly  and  benevo- 
lent impulses  in  behalf  of  the  poor  and 
affiicted,  and  high  Christian  attain- 
ments of  our  pastor,  whose  resigna- 
tion we  accept  with  deep  regret." 
While  he  was  our  pastor  we  had  what 
was  known  as  the  "Verse-a-Day 
Class"  composed  of  members  of  the 
Sunday  School  who  were  to  learn  and 
repeat  once  a  month  a  verse  of  Scrip- 
ture for  every  day.  The  ones  doing 
this  for  a  certain  time — a  year  we 
think  it  was — received  a  Bible. 
Several  of  these  Bibles  may  yet  be 
found  in  the  homes  of  our  people. 
This  was  the  Sunday  School  Concert, 
was  of  great  interest,  and  was  largely 
attended.  Dr.  Flanders  died  at  the 
age  of  sixty-eight  years,  in  Beverly, 
Mass.,  August  2,  1S75.  He  had  re- 
tired from  pastorate  labor. 

Rev.'  D.  W.  Faunce  was  called  July 
30,  1S6G,  and  entered  on  his  work  as 
our  fifth  pastor  in  September.  His 
previous  pastorates  had  been  in  Wor- 
cester and  Maiden,  Mass.  A. gradu- 
ate of  Amherst  College,  he  was  a 
preacher  of  a  very  different  class  from 
any  of  his  predecessors.  A  clear 
thinker,  a  ready  writer,  a  good  speaker, 
his  pulpit  addresses  we  e  earnest, 
eloquent,  and  practical.  During  the 
time  he  was  with  us  he  delivered  the 
sermons  which  afterward  were  in- 
corporated in  the  book,  "A  Young- 
Man's  Difficulty  with  His  Bible"— a 
book  which  at  once  became  popular 
and  still  continues  to  be  one  of  the 
standard  books  on  religious  subjects. 
He  also  received  the  Fletcher  Prize 
from  Dartmouth  College,  for  the  best 
essay  on  Christian  Doctrine,  the  book 
known  as  "The  Christian  in  the 
Wrorkl."     He  also  prepared  a  ques- 


tion book  for  Sunday  Schools,  which 
was  largely  used  in  New  England  and 
to  some  extent  in  other  sections.  A 
leave  of  three  months'  absence  was 
voted  him  that  he  might  visit  the 
Holy  Land.  On  his  return  we  were 
favored  with  many  interesting  lec- 
tures concerning  the  things  he  had 
seen  on  his  trip.  The  fiftieth  anni- 
versary of  the  church  was  held  while 
he  was  our  pastor.  On  this  occasion 
the  third  and  fourth  pastors  and  the 
son  of  the  second  pastor  were  present 
and  took  part  in  the  exercises.  An 
original  hymn,  written  by  our  sister, 
Lucy  J.  H.  Frost,  was  sung  and  his- 
torical addresses  of  the  church  and 
society  were  given  by  Dr.  Faunce 
and  Hon.  J.  H.  Gallinger.  On  Janu- 
ary 31,  1875,  he  resigned  to  accept  a 
call  to  Lynn,  Mass.  He  afterwards 
preached  in  Washington,  D.  C,  and 
died  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  June  3,  1911. 

During  these  last  two  pastorates- 
the  Ladies'  Charitable  Society,  every 
year,  secured  the  service  of  some  dis- 
tinguished preacher  from  another 
place  to  deliver  a  lecture  on  Sunday 
evening.  These  services  were  looked 
forward  to  with  interest  by  the  whole 
community  and  resulted  in  a  large 
collection  for  the  use  of  the  society. 

Rev.  William  V.  Garner  preached 
his  first  sermon,  as  our  sixth  pastor, 
on  Sunday,  September  5,  1875.  He 
came  to  us  from  the  Charles  Street 
Baptist  Church  in  Boston.  He  was 
a  Christian  gentleman  in  every  re- 
spect and  as  fine  an  orator  as  ever 
filled  a  Concord  pulpit.  Some  of  us- 
remember  well  his  reading  the  Scrip- 
tures, especially  the  Psalms.  The 
words  seemed  to  stand  forth  in  their 
full  meaning.  A  kindly  man  to  meet, 
he  was  popular  in  the  church  and  in 
the  community  as  well.  The  church 
prospered  under  his  ministrations. 
During  the  summer  of  1875  extensive 
repairs  were  again  made  on  the  church 
edifice,  which  left  it  as  we  now  see  it, 
except  that  the  walls  were  frescoed, 
as  was  then  the  style.  While  the  re- 
pairs were  in  progress,  by  the  kind- 
ness of  our  Pleasant  Street  brethren, 


218 


The  Granite  Monthly 


we  held  our  services  in  their  church 
Sunday  afternoons.  Rededicatory 
services  were  held  on  the  afternoon  of 
December  23.  Rev.  Dr.  Cummings 
gave  an  interesting  historical  address. 
The  pastor  preached  the  sermon  and 
Dr.  Faunce  offered  the  dedicatory 
prayer.  The  hymn  sung  at  the  lay- 
ing of  the  corner-stone  was  sung. 
The  organ,  a  gift  of  George  A.  and 
Charles  A.  Pillsbury  of  Minneapolis, 
Minn.,  former  members  of  this  church, 
was  used  for  the  first  time  at  this  serv- 
ice. Our  friend  and  brother,  who  so 
lately  departed  this  life,  George  D.  B. 
Prescott,  officiated.  In  the  evening 
the  installation  services  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Garner  as  our  pastor  were  held.  Rev. 
Dr.  Faunce  preached  the  sermon. 
from  Jonah  iii.  2,  "Go  preach  the 
preaching  that  I  bid  thee."  Dr. 
Cummings  gave  the  charge  to  the 
pastor;  Rev.  S.  L.  Blake  of  the  South 
Congregational  Church  welcomed  him 
to  the  city;  Dea.  J.  B.  Flanders  gave 
the  hand  of  fellowship. 

Rev.  Mr.  Garner  resigned,. to  take 
effect  July  1,  1884,  having  been  called 
to  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Bridge- 
port, Conn.,  where  he  died  quite  sud- 
denly on  November  23,  1892.  The 
Watchman,  our  leading  denomina- 
tional organ,  summed  up  the  story  of 
his  life  in  these  fitting  words:  "Mr. 
Garner  was  an  accomplished  preacher, 
a  faithful  pastor  and  a  noble  Christian 
man.  He  was  highly  esteemed  by  his 
brother  ministers  and  by  all  who 
knew  him." 

Mr.  Garner  was  succeeded  by  Rev. 
C.  B.  Crane,  former  pastor  of  the  old 
historic  First  Baptist  Church  of  Bos- 
ton— which  church  was  established  in 
1665— and  commenced  his  labors  with 
us  April  5,,  1885.  Dr.  Crane— what 
a  flood  of  memories,  what  a  host  of 
recollections  that  name  invokes — was 
a  genial,  loving,  lovable  man  of  wide 
experience  which  had  made  him 
charitable  and  considerate  of  the 
opinions  of  others,  though  not  in  the 
least  disposed  to  be  a  charlatan.  He 
thoroughly  believed  in  the  Baptist 
faith,  but  was  broadminded  enough 


to  feel  there  might  be  good  in  other 
denominations.  So  it  came  about 
that  he  counted  as  one  of  Ins  best 
friends,  Father  John  Barry,  whom  all 
Concord  honored  and  respected  and 
whose  tragic  death  we  all  so  much  de- 
plored. Dr.  Crane  was  a  tactful  man, 
able  to  smooth  out  any  differences  that 
might  arise;  popular  not  only  in  our 
church  but  in  the  community,  so  that 
his  going  away  was  considered  a  pub- 
lic loss.  In  speaking  of  the  close  of 
his  ministry  the  Monitor  voiced  the 
general  sentiment  when  it  said:  "In 
the  broadest  sense  Dr.  Crane's  life  in 
Concord  has  shown  him  to  be  a  Chris- 
tian; he  has  struck  hands  with  every 
servant  of  the  Lord  who  was  intent 
in  doing  his  Master's  bidding.  It  is, 
therefore,  in  no  ordinary  sense  that 
his  removal  from  this  state  and  from 
the  activities  of  the  ministry  is  a  loss." 
His  resignation  was  accepted  Septem- 
ber 25,  1896,  when  he  removed  to 
Cambridge,  Mass.,  where  he  acted  as 
supply  for  several  years  in  various 
pulpits  though  not  being  settled  as  a 
pastor.  His  death  occurred  in  that 
city  in  January,  1917. 

The  pulpit  was  supplied  fro&*4y^4o~ 
ber,  1896.  to  August,  1898,  by  Rev. 
Roland  D.  Grant.  He  was  a  brilliant, 
interesting  preacher  and  considerable 
additions  were  made  to  the  church  as 
a  result  of  his  labors,  but  he  did  not 
care  to  accept  the  call  to  become  our 
settled  pastor.  When  he  closed^  his 
labors  with  us  quite  a  number  of  his 
friends  asked  for  and  received  letters 
and  formed  an  organization  known 
as  "The  Friends'  Christian  Union," 
which  held  services  in  different  hails 
for  several  months,  but  the  enterprise 
finally  came  to  an  end. 

Rev.  Joel  Byron  Slocum  entered 
upon  his  pastorate  December  4,  1898. 
He  was  a  younger  man  than  any  of 
the  former  pastors,  but  he  possessed 
ability  as  a  preacher  and  tact  as  a 
pastor.  Largely  through  his  efforts 
an  invitation  was  extended  to  those 
who  had  gone  out,  as  mentioned  above, 
which  invitation  was  accepted  by  very 
many,   and   though   several   of   them 


History  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Concord,  X.  H. 


219 


have  been  called  away  the  remaining 
ones  have  been,  and  still  are,  among 
our  most  valued  members.  During 
his  pastorate  the  duplex  system  of 
envelopes  was  introduced  and  has 
continued  to  gain  in  popularity  be- 
cause it  seems  to  be  the  best  method 
yet  devised  of  raising  money  for  the 
work  of  the  church.  In  July,  1899, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Slocum  started  on  a 
trip  to  Japan,  returning  in  October. 
We  enjoyed  many  interesting  accounts 
of  what  they  saw  while  abroad. 
While  Mr.  Slocum  was  away  we  were 
favored  with  the  services  of  our 
former  beloved  pastor,  Rev.  D.  W. 
Faunce,  D.  D. 

Rev.  Mr.  Slocum  resigned,  to  take 
effect  November  1,  1903,  having 
accepted  the  call  to  the  First  Baptist 
Church  in  Columbus,  Ohio.  After- 
wards he  served  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y., 
-and  Norwich,  Conn.,  and  is  now  the 
beloved  pastor  of  one  of  the  leading 
Baptist  churches  in  New  York,  the 
Warburton  Ave.,  in  Yonkers. 

Rev.  Sylvanus  E.  Frohock  was  in- 
stalled as  pastor  March  16,  1904. 
Dr.  Faunce  preached  the  sermon  and 
the  other  parts  of  the  service  were 
rendered  by  pastors  of  other  churches 
in  the  city.  While  he  was  with  us 
the  society  was  dissolved,  and  the 
church  as  a  body  assumed  charge  of 
the  secular  as  well  as  its  spiritual 
affairs.  December  6,  190G,  Brother 
Frohock,  having  received  a  call  to  the 
Chestnut  Street  Baptist  Church  in 
Camden,  Me.,  tendered  his  resigna- 
tion to  take  effect  January  31,  1907, 
which  was  accepted,  and  suitable 
resolutions  adopted.  Though  he  had 
been  with  us  but  a  short  time  his 
ministry  had  been  successful;  ad- 
ditions had  been  made  to  our  numbers 
and  he  had  labored  for  our  upbuild- 
ing. We  have  learned  he  has  re- 
cently concluded  his  labors  in  Camden 
and  is  now  settled  over  the  church  in 
Milo,  Me. 

On  March  29,  1907,  the  commit- 
tee appointed  to  select  a  pastor  re- 
ported, recommending  Rev.  Virgil  V. 
Johnson   of   Claremont,    and   it   was 


voted  to  extend  the  call  to  him.  He 
commenced  his  services  with  us  July 
7,  1907,  after  having  taken  a  trip  to 
Rome,  France  and  England.  Rec- 
ognition services  were  held  September 
19,  the  sermon  being  given  by  the 
pastor's  brother,  Rev.  Herbert  S. 
Johnson  of  Boston,  the  ministers  of 
other  churches  in  the  city  taking  part 
in  the  services.  The  records  say: 
"Exercises  were  very  interesting  and 
the  attendance  large." 

On  October  29,  1911,  Pastor  John- 
son tendered  his  resignation  to  take 
effect  November  12,  in  order  that  he 
might  enter  on  the  work  of  the  ''Men 
and  Religion  Forward  Movement." 
It  was  voted  to  accept  the  resignation 
and  resolutions,  expressing  our  high 
appreciation  of  him  as  a  man  and  a 
preacher,  were  adopted.  He  has  since 
been  engaged  in  social  settlement 
work  in  New  York  City,  in  Rockford, 
111.,  and,  for  some  time,  was  engaged 
in  religious  work  in  some  of  our  army 
camps.  At  present  he  is  in  Philadel- 
phia, as  district  secretary  of  the 
Travelers'  Aid  Society. 

During  the  next  three  months  the 
pulpit  was  supplied  by  different  minis- 
ters. The  record  says:  "We  have 
had  very  interesting,  helpful  sermons 
and  the  attendance  has  been  very 
good." 

On  December  28,  1911,  it  was  voted 
to  extend  a  call  to  our  present  pastor, 
which  call  was  accepted,  and  he 
preached  his  first  sermon  February 
IS,  1912,  from  I  Corinthians  ii,  2, 
"For  I  determined  not  to  know  any- 
thing among  you  but  Jesus  Christ  and 
Him  crucified."  That  he  has  ever 
had  in  mind  the  purpose  this  expres- 
sion indicates,  all  who  have  listened 
to  him  will  bear  witness.  His  ser- 
mons have  been  founded  on  The  Book, 
in  which  he  firmly  believed  from  the 
first  word  in  Genesis  to  the  last  word 
in  Revelations,  no  doubts,  no  ques- 
tions, but  "Thus  saith  the  Lord." 

All  the  ministers  we  have  had  have 
been  respected  and  held  in  high  es- 
teem by  the  public  and  no  one  of  the 
ten    who    have    preceded    him    have 


220 


The  Granite  Monthly 


been  regarded  more  highly  than  Rev. 
Walter  Crane  Myers.  He  has  always 
been  willing  to  take  his  stand  for  the 
advancement  of  the  best,  the  highest 
things  in  the  community. 

Vestries  or  Chapels 

As  has  already  been  stated  the  room 
over  the  entry  was  used  as  a  chapel 
for  some  time.  The  first  mention  of 
a  vestry  in  a  separate  building  was 
under  date  of  April  2,  1S39,  when  it 
was  voted  to  have  it  insured.  It 
would  seem  that  this  was  a  company 
affair.  It  was  a  long,  bleak  two- 
story  building,  the  upper  part  being- 
owned  and  used  by  Prof.  Hall  Roberts, 
a  member  of  the  church,  for  a  private 
school.  The  building  completely 
changed  in  appearance  now  stands 
on  Tahanto  Street  and  is  owned  by 
Mr.  Arthur  II .  Britton.  The  need  of  a 
more  convenient  chapel  became  ap- 
parent and,  on  April  11,  1S53,  it  was 
voted  to  proceed  with  the  erection  of 
one  as  soon  as  possible.  A  com- 
mittee of  seven  of  the  leading  mem- 
bers of  the  society  was  chosen.  Not 
one  of  the  seven  is  now7  represented 
in  our  church  or  city.  It  was  dedi- 
cated with  appropriate  services  De- 
cember 1,  1S53.  The  seats  at  that 
time  were  stationary  like  the  pews  in 
the  church,  and  there  were  also  seats 
on  each  side  of  the  platform.  The 
walls  were  whitewashed.  In  1877 
settees  took  the  place  of  the  pews, 
and  other  repairs  were  made.  The 
part  now  used  as  a  ladies'  room  and 
the  kitchen  were  built  at  tins  time. 
Later  on  these  settees  were  replaced 
with  the  seats  now  in  use,  and  in  1916, 
when  the  repairs  on  the  church  were 
made,  the  chapel  walls  were  repainted 
as  we  now  see  them. 

Music  in  the  Church 

The  first  reference  to  a  musical  in- 
strument in  this  First  Baptist  So- 
ciety, Concord,  N.  H.,  is  as  follows: 
" Bought  of  Abraham  Prescott,  Con- 
cord, April  25,  1829,  one  double  bass 
viol,  $50."  This  was  paid  for  by  sub- 
scription,  William  Gault  giving  half 


the  amount;  seventeen  parties  giving 
the  balance.  What  became  of  the 
bass  viol  there  is  nothing  in  the  rec- 
ords to  show. 

Soon  after  1845  we  find  action  taken 
about  the  organ,  which  had  been  pre- 
sented to  the  church  by  a  few  individ- 
uals. The  names  of  the  donors  are 
unknown.  A  piano  had  been  bought 
some  time  before  May  20,  1861.  Our 
present  organ,  as  has  been  already 
stated,  was  placed  in  the  church  in 
1875. 

Baptisms 

Baptisms  have  been  administered 
in  several  places.  As  has  been  already 
said  it  is  probable  the  first  observance 
of  the  rite  was  in  the  Contoocook 
River  at  Horse  Hill  and  at  the  same 
place  at  other  times,  as  on  September 
4,  1828,  mention  is  made  of  the  bap- 
tism of  James  Hoit  and  others.  This 
Mr.  Hoit  w^as  a  very  active  member  of 
the  church  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago,  and 
was  the  great-grandfather  of  our  sis- 
ter, Ruth  Bugbee.  Several  times  it 
was  observed  in  the  Contoocook  River 
near  Fisherville,  now  Penacook;  also 
on  several  occasions  in  the  Soucook 
River  in  the  towns  of  Chichester  and 
Loudon,  in  which  latter  place  we  at  one 
time  had  a  branch,  as  it  was  called. 
In  the  East  Village,  near  the  bridge 
over  the  Merrimack,  the  ordinance 
was  administered  more  than  once; 
while  in  the  city  proper  it  was  many 
times  administered  in  the  Merrimack 
near  the  Free  Bridge,  in  Horse  Shoe 
Pond,  in  Hospital  Pond  and  in  a  pond 
of  which  few  now  have  any  knowledge, 
between  Jackson  and  Lyndon  streets, 
near  Beacon.  On  one  occasion,  at 
this  place,  a  thunder  shower  came  up 
and  the  record  says,  "All  present  were 
impressed  with  the  deep  solemnity  of 
the  scene.'7 

As  far  back  as  1829  Pastor  Williams 
introduced  the  subject  of  a  baptistry 
and  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
consider  the  matter.  Reading  be- 
tween the  lines  it  would  seem  that 
some  of  the  members  felt  the  ordi- 
nance could  only  be  administered  in. 


History  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Concord,  N.  H. 


221 


running  water,  and  the  project  was 
dropped.  Several  times  in  later  years 
the  matter  had  been  agitated  but  it 
was  not  until  November  25.  1854, 
that  a  baptistry  in  the  church  was 
obtained.  Four  persons  were  bap- 
tized on  that  date,  but  no  representa- 
tive of  them  is  now  living. 

Other  Churches  and  Sunday 
Schools 

On  June  3,  1842,  letters  were 
granted  to  twenty-three  persons  to 
form  a  church  in  Boscawen,  which  is 
now  known  as  the  First  Baptist 
Church  of  Penacook.  The  first  pas- 
tor of  that  church,  Rev.  Edmond 
Worth,  was  a  member  with  us. 

On  November  11,  1S53,  letters 
were  granted  to  thirty  brothers  and 
sisters  to  form  the  Pleasant  Street 
Baptist  Church. 

We  rejoice  in  the  prosperity  God 
has  granted  these  churches  and  we  are 


glad  to  welcome  representatives  from 
them  on  this  occasion. 

The  Sunday  School  was  organized 
in  1826.  Its  fiftieth  anniversary  was 
fittingly  observed  on  June  25,  1S76. 
Senator  Jacob  H.  Gallinger  delivered 
an  address  and  there  were  other  ap- 
propriate exercises.  Its  seventy-fifth 
anniversary  was  observed  June  23, 
1901.  Quite  an  elaborate  program 
was  presented.  For  fear  of  exhaust- 
ing the  patience  of  the  audience  we 
forbear  any  extended  account  of  this 
helpful  adjunct  of  the  church.  Later 
on,  we  hope,  God  willing,  to  prepare 
a  paper  giving  an  account  of  that, 
and  of  other  organizations  that  have 
been  or  are  now  connected  with  our 
church,  as  well  as  mentioning  several 
who  have  brought  special  honor  to  us: 
albo,  to  present  some  other  interesting 
incidents  connected  with  our  history 
and  a  complete  list  of  those  who  have 
served  us  in  official  capacities. 


UNCLE   SAM'S   BRIDE 
An  Historical  Ballad  of  1918,  A.  D. 

By  Charles  Poole  Cleaves 

I  ain't  no  mother's  darling,  and  beauty  makes  me  shy; 
But  some  gals  kinder  fancy  me  and  keep  me  on  the  fly. 

There  was  Massachusetts  steadied  me;  and  old  New  York  can  rule; 

And  me  and  Miss  Virginny — why,  I  went  with  her  to  school! 
But  I  kinder  took  a  notion,  and  my  taste  fined  with  my  pride, 
That  some  day  I'd  lead  the  chorus  with  New  Hampshire  for  my  bride. 

States'  Chorus: 

"Wait  for  the  wagon!     Wait  for  the  wagon! 
Wait  for  the  wagon  and  we'll  all  take  a  ride!" 


Now  I  am  some  inventor;  but  I'm  slow  to  take  a  hint; 

And  Dandy  Booze,  he  had  a  rig — how  that  machine  could  sprint! 

'Twas  some  like  an  automobile,  but  was  named  an  autobust; 

And  he  took  the  gals  all  riding,  and  he  loved  'em  all  the  wust. 
Then  I  sighed  for  my  NewT  Hampshire,  riding  on  that  pesky  thing. 
JBut  I'm  just  a  plain  old  Democrat  and  Dandy  Booze  was  king! 

u  Wait  for  the  wagon!     Wait  for  the  wagon! 
Wait  for  the  wagon  and  we}ll  all  take  a  ridel" 


222  The  Granite  Monthly 

I  had  a  dear  old  steady,  Maine,  way  down  by  Water  Mew. 
And  we  grew  up  together,  and  she  knew  a  thing  or  two. 

She  was  so  darned  independent  she  could  take  no  what  nor  which; 
But  she  could  use  a  hammer;  and  she  hammered  out  a  hitch 
That  she  called  a  water  wagon.     And  she  ran  it  sixty  years. 
(She  can  tell  her  age.)     She  did  it,  so  she  said,  by  saving  tears! 
"Waitjor  the  wagon!     W  a  it  for  the  wagon! 
Wait  for  the  wagon  and  well  all  take  a  ride!" 

Then  some  other  gals— young  Kansas,  Oklohomy  and  the  rest, 
Caught  on  to  her  invention,  right  before  me.  Til  be  blest! 

There  was  wheels  a-whizz  and  whirring!     Dandy  Booze,  he  druv  ahead,. 
To  court  'em  unci  to  keep  'em  he'd  ha'  stolen  half  my  bread; 
And  when  he  rode  down  to  Washington  he  swore  he'd  see  me  fried 
Before  I'd  lead  any  chorus  with  Xew  Hampshire  by  my  side. 
"Wait  for  the  wagon!     Wait  for  the  wagon! 
Wait  for  the  wagon  and  we'll  all  take  a  ride!" 

Xow  Xew  Hampshire,  she  was  sensible.     She'd  let  me  have  my  say: 
But  I  saw  her  riding  off  with  Dandy  Booze,  and  ev'ry  day, 
A  fussin'  her  and  mussin'  her,  he  kept  her  up  o'  night, 
Until  the  dudes  o'  Boston  p'inted  fingers  at  her  plight; 
And  she  looked  so  jade  and  wilted  that  I  kind  o'  lost  my  pride. 
When  folks  said:    "You  think  you  want  her?  Want  Xew  Hampshire  for 
your  bride?" 

UW ait  for  the  wagon!     Wait  for  the  wagon! 
Wait  for  the  wagon  and  we'll  all  take  a  ride!" 

Then!     I  took  my  latest  wagon — Hooverized  and  some  complete — 
And  I  washed  it  off  and  dusted  it  and  drove  up  Congress  Street 
To  some  fellers  that  I  knew  there,  run  a  water-motor  shop. 
And  I  got  down  off  that  wagon  and  I  said  to  them:  "You  hop! 
You  make  this  a  water  wagon  and  I'll  let  my  ploughing  slide 
Till  I  get  the  gals  behind  me  and  Xew  Hampshire  by  my  side." 
"Wait  for  the  wagon!     Wait  for  the  wagon! 
Wait  for  the  wagon  and  we'll  all  take  a  ride!" 

Then  Xew  Hampshire — stole  my  wagon!  Yes,  by  hook!  she  up  and  did  it; 
Came  and  stole  it  in  the  winter,  and  she  ran  it  off  and  hid  it; 

And  I  looked  a  thousand  daggers  when  we  passed  in  town  next  day; 
But  she  laffed  and  swore—  she'd  run  it.  all  herself,  the  First  of  May. 
And  I  hadn't  got  my  peas  hoed  before  I  looked  up  to  see 
Hampy  on  that  water  wagon,  calling:  "Come  and  ride  with  me!" 
u  Wait  for  the  wagon!     Wait  for  the  wagon! 
Wait  for  the  wagon  and  well  all  take  a  ride!" 

Lord!     How  quick  I  leaped  beside  her!     I've  took  medicine  before, 
But  O,  how  it  stirred  and  thrilled  me  when  Xew  Hampshire  at  rny  door 
Sat  there,  furbished  up,  all  ready!  lost  her  signs  o'  young  decay. 
Dimpled  up  and  gay  and  laughing:  "Sam,  is  this  the  First  of  May?" 
Said  I,  "Hampy,  will  you  have  me?     I'll  be  chauffeur  by  your  side." 
But  she  took  my  hand  and  kissed  me.     "Dear  old  Sam!  I'll  be  the  bride!" 
"  Wait  for  the  wagon!     Wait  for  the  wagon! 
Wait  for  the  wagon  and  well  all  take  a  ride!" 


ADDRESS  OF  REN'.   RAYMOND   H.   RUSE 

At  the  Patriotic  Praise  Service  in  the  South  Church, 
Concord,  N.  II.,  November  11,  1918 


It  is  very  easy  for  the  average 
American  to  speak  extravagantly. 
We  are  apt  to  be  generous  with  our 
words  as  well  as  with  our  possessions. 
The  last  storm  is  the  biggest;  the 
last  winter  is  the  coldest;  the  last 
event  is  the  most  wonderful.  But  I 
think  I  am  speaking  words  that  his- 
tory will  calmly  verify  in  the  cool 
light  of  life's  tomorrow  when  I  say 
that  this  is  the  greatest  day  since 
Jesus  Christ  burst  the  bonds  of  death, 
put  Easter  in  the  calendar  and  hope 
in  the  dictionary! 

I  did  not  know  but  what  this  cele- 
bration might  possibly  break  loose 
while  we  were  at  church  yesterday 
and  so  I  went  prepared.  I  gave  my 
organist  and  chorister  instructions  and 
I  carried  with  me  Whittier's  poems 
that  I  might  read  the  lines  he  wrote 
at  the  ratification  of  the  amendment 
to  the  United  States  Constitution  abol- 
ishing slavery. 
.  In  that  poem  lie  said. — 

"Did  we  dare 

In  our  agony  of  prayer 

Ask  for  more  than  lie  has  done? 

When  was  ever  His  right  hand 

Over  any  time  or  land 
Stretched  as  now  beneath  the  sun? 

"How  they  pale 

Ancient  myth  and  song  and  tale 

In  this  wonder  of  our  days; 
When  the  cruel  rod  of  war 
Blossomed  white  with  righteous  lawT 

And  the  wrath  of  man  is  praise!" 

It  is  good  to  hear  a  serene  gray- 
coated  Quaker  shout  like  that  over 
the  victory  of  human  freedom. 

But,  without  minimizing  the  im- 
portance of  the  event  that  set  his 
heart  singing,  it  had  to  do  with  but 


one  ocean-bound,  hide-bound  repub- 
lic, for  that  is  what  we  were,  then. 
This  event,  this  day,  concerns  the 
world  and  the  gladness  of  its  shining 
spreads  as  far  as  man  is  found. 

This  morning  while  the  Boys'  Club 
was  having  its  quiet  celebration  in 
front  of  the  State  House,  tidings  were 
traveling  on  feet  of  fire  over  all  the 
world  that  made  every  tyrant  on 
earth  feel  for  the  back  of  his  neck  to 
see  if  his  head  were  still  on!  De- 
mocracy's day  has  dawned  for  hu- 
manity. 

It  is  natural  and  appropriate  that 
we  think  of  the  heroes  of  the  hour. 
One  of  the  best  poems  I  have  seen  in 
the  war  was  in  one  of  our  daily  papers. 
It  was  this: 

"Boche! 
Foch!! 
Gosh!!!" 

Not  by  the  side  of  Napoleon  who 
fought  for  name  and  fame,  nor  Caesar 
nor  Alexander  does  he  stand  in  his- 
tory's hall  of  heroes,  but  with  Wash- 
ington and  Lincoln  and  with  Moses, 
who  loved  a  cause  more  than  he  loved 
himself  and  led  that  cause  to  victory 
and  to  glory! 

Somebody  has  suggested  that  it  is 
time  for  Pershing  to  make  one  of  his 
famous  speeches  such  as  he  made  at 
the  tomb  of  La  Fayette  and  say  this 
time,  "William,  we  are  here!7'  The 
difference  is  that  when  he  made  the 
first  speech  who  can  doubt  that  the 
spirit  of  LaFayette,  hovering  ever- 
more in  holy  helpfulness  above  the 
sacred  soil  of  France,  was  there  to  get 
the  message.  But  when  Pershing  was 
ready  to  make  the  second  speech, 
"William,  we  are  here,"  there  was 
"Nobody  on  this  line  now.     Please 


"224 


The  Granite  Monthly 


excuse  us."  William  Hohenzollern 
has  made  his  exit! 

Then,  there  is  that  master  man  of 
England,  King  George.  I  do  not  refer 
to  the  kindly  grandson  of  Queen 
Victoria  who  to  his  credit  has  come 
through  this  war  with  unsullied  honor 
and  unstained  hands.  I  mean  Lloyd 
George,  great  commoner  and  Chris- 
tian democrat ! 

I  might  mention  the  generals  of 
Italy,  but  I  hardly  dare  to  try  to  pro- 
nounce their  names!  They  do  not  dare 
to  pronounce  them  in  Austria  either! 
I  might  speak  also  of  the  brave  mon- 
arch of  war-rent  Belgium,  Albert,  al- 
most the  only  king  in  Europe  who  has 
come  through  the  fire  with  his  crown 
on  straight! 

I  do  not  want  to  introduce  any 
matter  that  is  partisan  at  this  time, 
but  I  cannot  resist  the  temptation  of 
saying  that  I  am  a  Republican  of  the 
Republicans  and  as  such  I  wish  to 
declare  my  belief  that  Woodrow  Wil- 
son has  come  to  the  kingdom  for  such  a 
time  as  this.  He  is  the  voice  of  Amer- 
ica, crying  in  the  wilderness  of  the 
world,  "  Prepare  the  way  for  Democ- 
racy and  make  her  paths  straight." 

But,  as  great  as  have  been  and  are 
their  leaders,  their  work  would  have 
been  impossible  and  the  victory  would 
never  have  come,  had  it  not  been  that 
the  cleanest  and  most  glorious  bunch 
of  men  the  sun  ever  shone  on,  in 
trench  and  camp  and  on  deck,  with 
look  of  morning  on  their  faces,  have 
followed  the  example  of  Him  who 
gave  His  life  a  ransom  for  many. 

We  may  say  of  this  meeting  and  of 
every  meeting  like  it  that  is  being 
held  today,  as  Lincoln  said  at  Gettys- 
burg, that  the  world  will  little  notice 
nor  long  remember  what  we  say,  but  the 
world  will  never  forget  what  they  did! 

It  has  been  our  sacred  privilege  to 
stand  behind  the  men  behind  the  guns 
during  these  years.  Let  us  do  it  still. 
The  United  War  Work  appeal  is  no 
less  keen  because  the  bells  cliime  of 
victory  arid  of  peace.  It  is  after  the 
strain  is  broken,  in  the  reaction  of 
nerve  and  muscle  and  mind  and  soul 


that  comes  now,  that  our  boys  will 
need  all  the  Christly  ministry  that  can 
be  given  them.  Don't  shout  too 
loud  today  unless  you  are  willing  to 
give  tomorrow. 

There  is  a  beautiful  little  story  oft 
told,  of  a  man  in  Chicago  who  was 
walking  out  with  his  little  child  when 
the  evening  star  was  blossoming  up 
there  in  the  afterglow  of  sunset,  and 
the  child  said,  "Look  daddy,  God  has 
hung  out  His  service  flag.  He  must 
have  a  son  in  the  icar.,J 

It  is  in  recognition  of  that  fact  that 
we  have  gathered  in  the  church  this 
day,  following  the  sacred  custom  our 
fathers  have  followed  before  us  on 
similar  occasions.  We  have  seen  that 
the  victory  of  the  day  would  have 
been  impossible  without  both  leaders 
and  soldiers.  It  would  also  have  been 
impossible  without  God.  His  Son 
has  been  in  the  war. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  recall  the 
interpositions  that  seem  almost  super- 
natural in  their  divineness, — Was  it 
Kitchener  who  said  that  God  must 
have  miraculously  stopped  the  Teu- 
tonic onslaught  at  the  first  battle  of 
the  Marne? — nor  to  remember  the 
vision  of  the  White  Comrade  on 
the  fields  of  Flanders,  nor  even  to 
remind  ourselves  that  since  America 
went  to  its  knees  for  a  day  of  prayer 
in  May  the  whole  map  of  Europe 
has  been  changed.  Down  underneath 
these  things  there  is  the  deep  under- 
current of  a  conviction  that,  "work- 
ing invisible,  watching  unseen"  the 
God  of  justice  and  of  right  has  been 
helping  the  forces  of  liberty  who 
were  fighting  for  humanity  "for 
whom  Christ  died";  strengthening  the 
morale  of  mothers  and  of  men,  steady- 
ing the  hand  and  heart  of  the  people 
and  the  army;  guiding  events  by  His 
own  providential  laws,  so  that  to- 
day we  would  be  blind  and  deaf  and 
dead  if  we  did  not  recognize  that  the 
victory  is  God's.  Not  wholly  God's 
for  He  is  no  selfish  tyrant,  but  a 
Father  who  delights  to  share  His 
work  and  His  glory  with  His  children, 
but  chiefly  God's/ 


■Address  of  Rev.  Raymond  II .  II use  225 

And    to    recall    again    the    famous  Let  us  keep  our  national  life  and 

saying  of   Lincoln   it    has    come    not  our  personal  life  so  clean;  let  us  share 

because  God  is  on  our  side  but  be-  the    passion    for    humanity    and    for 

cause   we   are    on    God's   side.      The  universal    brotherhood     of    the    im- 

battle    of    liberty    is    always    divine,  mortal  Christ.    Let  us  follow  Him. 

The  war  for  human  rights 'tugs  ever-  „He  has  sounded  forth  His  trumpet 

more  at  the  heartstrings  of  the  ever-  That  wiU  never  call  *etreat; 

lasting  lather!  He  is  sifting  out  the  hcarts  of  men 

In  this  our  hour  of  triumph  let  us  Before  His  judgment  seat; 

dedicate  our  lives  anew  to  be  on  His  0  be  swift  my  soul  to  answer  Him, 

side  in  times  of  peace  as  well  as  times  Be  jubilant  my  feet, 

of  war.  Our  God  is  marching  on." 


CHRISTMAS   DAY 

By  Fred  Myron  Colby 


O  Christmas  bells!  O  Christmas  bells!  ring,  ring  a  merry  chime, 
And  set  our  hearts  to  music  on  this  joyous  festal  time; 

Call  up  again  the  memories  that  haunt  this  natal  night. 

The  glorious  scenes  of  olden  time  that  fill  the  world  with  light. 
Bring,  bring  to  us  the  love  of  Christ,  the  grace  that  does  not  fail, 
And  let  us  pray  as  church  bells  tell  the  wondrous  Christmas  tale. 

We  see  the  town  of  Bethlehem  'neath  far-off  Judean  skies: 
And  shines  the  Star  with  luster  bright  that  dazed  the  Magi's  eyes; 
We  see  the  Babe,  the  manger  low,  and  Mary's  saintly  face. 
We  see  the  treasures  of  the  East  spread  in  that  lowly  place; 
We  hear  the  echo  of  that  choir  that  sang  in  accents  clear — 
"Peace  on  earth,  good  will  toward  men  and  Christmas'  holy  cheer." 

King  Herod  in  his  marble  halls  o'erheard  that  sweet  refrain, 
But  in  his  worldly  heart  of  pride  felt  but  a  moment's  pain. 

Caiphas,  God's  own  chosen  priest,  with  deafness  closed  his  ear, 
And  haughty  Scribe  and  Pharisee  turned  pale  with  sickly  fear. 
But  fishermen  and  publicans  and  they  of  low  degree 
With  pleasure  heard  the  angel  strain  that  startled  earth  and  sea. 

The  cattle  in  a  thousand  stalls,  the  sheep  upon  the  hills; 

The  palm  trees  whispering  in  the  shade,  the  grasses  by  the  rills,  * 
And  song  birds  in  the  Orient  groves  with  adoration  bright 
Welcomed  the  coming  of  that  Light  which  banished  heathen  night. 

On  Carmel's  height  a  radiance  shone  o'er  the  dark  salt  Sea; 

It  flashed  along  Esdraelon  to  waves  of  Galilee. 

And  ever  since  those  holy  beams  have  widened  broad  and  far; 

O'er  heathen  lands  and  Christendom  shines  down  the  Christmas  Star. 
That  wondrous  birth  is  welcomed  with  ]oy  in  every  land 
From  bleak  Norwegian  fiords  to  India's  coral  strand.  -  . 

For  Pagan  and  for  Christian  the  Christmas  bells  shall  ring, 

To  tell  to  all  the  story  of  Christ  our  Saviour  King! 


226  The  Granite  Monthly 

NOT  WHAT  SHE   ORDERED 

By  Myron  Ray  Clark 

Letitia  Jane  MacNicoll  was  a  spinster  in  our  town, 
Whose  stocks  and  bonds  and  real  estate  secured  her  much  renown. 
Her  wealth  of  golden  ducats  brought  her  suitors  by  the  flock; 
But  none  came  twice  because  her  face  would  really  stop  a  clock. 

She  lived  alone  except  for  cats,  of  which  she  kept  a  score, 
And  though  she  had  so  many,  she  was  always  getting  more. 
Her  tender  nature  simply  loved  the  entire  feline  breed, 
And  drowning  tiny  kittens  wasn't  part  of  Letty's  creed. 

At  night  she'd  put  her  Tabithas,  each  in  its  little  bed; 

And  tuck  them  in  and  kiss  them  all  and  then, — her  prayers  said,— 

She'd  carefully  examine  all  the  closets  in  the  place, 

A  smile  of  expectation  plainly  writ  upon  her  face. 

The  search  was  ever  fruitless,  but  her  hope  refused  to  die, — 
She'd  just  blow  out  the  candle  and  she'd  breathe  a  little  sigh, 
And  go  to  bed  to  dream  about  a  gallant  Lochinvar, 
Who'd  come  some  day  to  fetch  her  in  a  mighty  motor-car. 


Now  "Sulky  Spike"  McNulty  was  a  burglar  of  some  fame, — 
Once  shot  by  a  policeman  and  resultantly  quite  lame. 
This  handicap  precluded  him  from  urban  operations, 
So  country  ward  perforce  did  "Spike"  divert  his  machinations. 

He  reached  our  town  and  limped  about  a  bit  to  reconnoitre, — 
"A  rich  bloke  there,  all  right,"  he  growled,  "I  hope  he  gets  a~goitre." 
What  roused  his  ire  was  Letty's  house,  the  finest  in  the  viTage, — 
It  fanned  in  "Spike's"  resentful  breast  a  fierce  desire  to  pillage. 

By  ten  p.  m.  the  sleeping  town  was  plunged  in  deepest  gloom, 
And  "Sulky  Spike"  was  groping  blindly  'round  Letitia's  room. 
He'd  scaled  the  front  veranda  by  a  honeysuckle  vine 
And  found  a  window  open  and  he'd  gently  murmured:  "Fine!" 

Just  then  Letitia's  sprightly  tread  resounded  on  the  stair, — 

If  you'd  been  there  to  listen,  you'd  have  heard  "Spike"  softly  swear. 

His  refuge  was  a  closet  where  he  tried  to  hide  himself 

Beneath  the  frills  and  furbelows  upon  the  bottom  shelf. 

Letitia  stood  before  the  glass  and  laved  her  face  with  lotions, 
Then  knelt  beside  the  bed  and  made  her  usual  devotions. 
Then  she  peeked  inside  the  closet  where — Oh  such  is  Fate's  caprice — 
She  discovered  "Spike"  concealed  behind  a  crepe-de-chine  chemise. 

She  screamed  just  once—then  slammed  the  door  and  quickly  turned  the  key, 

While  "Spike"  felled:  "Lernme  out!"  with  fierce  impetuosity. 

"You  naughty  man!"  she  simpered,  "not  without  a  chaperone." 

'Til  get  one  now,"  she  cooed,  and  called     .     .     .     the  sheriff  on  the  phone. 


NEW   HAMPSHIRE   PIONEERS  OF 
RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY 

Rev.  Elias  Smith  of  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire's  Theodore 

Parker 

By  Rev.  Roland  D.  Sawyer  of  Kensington 


New  Hampshire  had  its  Theodore 
Parker  as  well  as  Massachusetts,  and 
he  came  a  half  century  earlier.  Rev. 
Elias  Smith  of  Portsmouth  was  a  man 
much  after  the  type  of  Boston's  great 
prophet-preacher.  He  was  born  at 
Lyme,  Conn.,  June  17,  1769.  At  six 
years  of  age  he  was  taught  to  read 
from  the  New  Testament,  and  that 
book  became  his  great  center  of  in- 
terest through  his  life.  The  battle  of 
Bunker  Hill  was  fought  on  his  sixth 
birthday,  and  when  news  reached  him 
he  was  terrified  and  feared  death  for 
all  his  family  from  the  victorious  Red- 
Coats.  Hearing  his  elders  discuss  the 
Tories,  Regulars  and  Rebels,  his  boyish 
mind  became  averse  to  Tories  and  Reg- 
ulars, and  that  aversion  continued 
till  his  death,  for  he  was  ever  a  pioneer. 
In  1782  his  father  moved  to  Wood- 
stock, Vt.,  and  Smith's  autobiography 
gives  us  a  vivid  picture  of  the  hard- 
ships endured  by  the  settlers  of  upper 
Vermont  and  New  Hampshire. 

Being  a  serious-minded  lad  he  ac- 
quired some  education  and  became  a 
school-teacher.  He  gave  much  time 
to  serious  thinking  on  the  one  supreme 
intellectual  topic  of  the  countryside, 
religion;  and  when  he  was  twenty-one 
years,  one  month  and  four  days  old, 
preached  his  first  sermon.  He  fol- 
lowed his  father  in  being  a  Baptist,  and 
was  strongly  set  against  the  estab- 
lished Congregational  Church,  and 
its  Calvinist  creeds.  After  the  cus- 
tom of  his  time,  he  set  out  in  1791  on 
an  itinerant  preaching  tour,  having  as 
his  destination  the  groups  of  Baptists 
in  southern  New  Hampshire;  the 
brethren  at  Bradford,  Vt.,  having  pro- 
vided him  with  "a  poor  cross  horse/' 


a  watch,  pair  of  boots  and  $7.50  in 
money. 

He  finally  landed  at  the  home  of 
Josiah  Burley  in  Newmarket.  With 
this  family  he  made  his  home,  and 
from  it  made  preaching  tours  among 
the  Baptists  of  Epping,  Stratham, 
Brentwood;  Salisbury  and  Amesbury 
in  Massachusetts.  He  made  an  agree- 
ment to  preach  two-thirds  of  the  time 
at  Lee  and  live  there,  and  the  other 
third  at  Stratham,  stopping  with  Rich- 
ard Scammon  while  there.  Smith's 
ordination  took  place  at  Lee,  in 
August,  1792,  on  a  stage  built  before 
the  meetinghouse,  and  it  is  estimated 
that  3,000  people  were  present,  an 
Elder  Baldwin  coming  from  Boston  to 
preach  the  sermon.  The  next  day  the 
newly-ordained  preacher  and  Elder 
Baldwin  rode  horseback  to  Kingston 
Plain,  where  they  separated,  Baldwin 
going  on  to  Haverhill  and  Boston,  and 
Smith  off  to  East  Kingston  and  South 
Hampton  on  a  preaching  tour. 

These  travelling  Baptists  were 
thorns  in  the  flesh  to  the  established 
Congregationalists,  and  as  Smith  held 
radical  views,  believing  that  the 
clergy  should  not  be  called  "reverend/' 
receive  stated  salaries  and  be  per- 
manently located  in  a  pastorate,  he 
was  especially  obnoxious.  In  Candia 
the  established  preacher  ordered  him 
from  his  parish,  but  Smith  of  course 
did  not  go. 

In  January,  1793,  he  was  married 
to  Alary  Burleigh  of  Newmarket,  and 
for  the  next  nine  years  was  an  active 
Baptist  propagandist  in  New  Hamp- 
shire and  eastern  Massachusetts. 
But  the  Baptists  were  growing  more 
and   more   prosperous   and   adopting 


228 


The  Granite  Monthly 


more  and  more  of  the  ways  of  the  Con- 
gregationalisms, and  accepting  the 
hated  Calvinist  doctrines,  and  in  1S02 
Smith  broke  with  the  Baptist  clergy 
and  issued  his  pamphlet,  "The  Clergy- 
man's Looking-Glass."  It  was 
mainly  directed  against  the  Ports- 
mouth clergy  and  was  a  scathing 
indictment  and  led  to  his  later  expul- 
sion from  the  Baptist  clergy. 

In  October  of  1802  Smith  came  to 
Portsmouth  and  opened  his  popular 
meetings  in  Jefferson  Hall;  he  became 
a  free-lance  preacher,  after  the  manner 
of  Theodore  Parker,  and  proclaimed 
political  as  well  as  religious  ideas.  In 
June,  1803,  Elder  Abner  Jones  who 
had  formed  a  "Christian"  church  in 
Vermont  came  to  see  Smith,  and  his 
ideas  appealed  to  Smith  as  beyond  his 
own,  and  he  joined  Jones  to  become  a 
propagandist  of  the  new  order  of 
"'Christians,"  and  was  soon  accepted 
as  the  leading  light  of  the  new  faith. 

"Reformations,"  as  they  called 
them,  followed  their  preaching,  and 
in  little  towns  the  "Christian" 
churches  were  built.  The  "Chris- 
tians" held  to  Smith's  radical  ideas; 
their  preachers  were  called  "Elders" 
rather  than  "reverend";  black  coats 
and  settled  pastors  were  looked  upon 
as  marks  of  popery;  in  fact  all  creeds 
and  ideas  not  expressly  taught  in  the 
New  Testament  were  rejected  and  the 
New  Testament  was  literally  taken  as 
the  rule  of  the  new  order.  One  great 
advance  the  new  order  made  was  to 
adopt  the  use  of  the  New  Testament 
discipline  of  members  who  violated 
New  Testament  ethics;  this  made  the 
new  churches  practical  rather  than 
doctrinal.  The  "Christians"  were  a 
growing  force  till  1843  and  1844, 
when  their  popular  character  and  self- 
educated  ministry  made  them  pecu- 
liarly susceptible  to  the  Millerite 
dissension,  and  the  churches  were 
split  and  weakened  and  began  to  fade 
away. 

Smith,  however,  was  not  always  in 
good  favor  with  all  Christian  churches; 
he  accepted  a  form  of  Universalism 
and  denied  the  doctrine  of  the  trinity 


as  an  un-New-Testament  idea,  which 
was  received  coldly  by  many.  In 
1S05  he  began  the  publication  of  a 
quarterly  magazine,  and  in  1808  he 
began  the  publication  of  the  first  re- 
ligious newspaper  in  America,  The 
Herald  of  Gospel  Liberty.  Smith  was 
a  strong  follower  of  Thomas  Jefferson, 
and  had  been  active  among  the  ad- 
herents of  the  Republican-Democrats 
who  sprang  up  after  Jefferson's  return 
from    France. 

Portsmouth  and  Rye  had  gone  anti- 
federal  in  the  election  of  1797,  the 
first  New  Hampshire  towns  so  to  vote. 
John  Langdon  and  Nicholas  Oilman, 
signers  of  the  Federal  Constitution, 
had  become  Republican-Democrats. 
The  centers  of  conservatism  were 
the  established  churches;  around  this 
church  in  every  town  was  organized 
the  religious  and  political  and  social 
life  of  the  town.  Strongly  intrenched 
as  these  centers  were,  the  Republican- 
Democrats  accepted  the  Jeffersonian 
doctrine  of  religious  liberty  and  de- 
clared for  it  in  every  state. 

The  established  clergy  now  became 
fiery  opponents  of  Jefferson's  party; 
but  the  numerous  members  of  the  new 
sects — Baptists,  Free-Baptists,  Chris- 
tians, Universalists — were  too  strong, 
and  Vermont  went  Jeffersonian  and 
repealed  its  religious  statute  in  1807. 
The  next  year  New  Hampshire  sought 
to  compromise  and  granted  freedom 
to  Universalists  and  Baptists,  but  the 
Jeffersonians  could  not  be  placated. 
The  leader  in  the  fight  for  this  tenet 
of  Jeffersonianism  was  Elias  Smith.  By 
public  choice  and  through  his  paper  he 
was  praising  Jefferson  and  attacking 
the  established  clergy.  Over  the  top 
of  his  paper  he  boldly  declared,  "Jef- 
ferson will  always  be  loved  by  those 
who  love  liberty,  equality,  unity, 
peace;  for  this  he  is  hated  by  the 
hypocrites  who  would  grind  the  people 
in  the  dust  and  deprive  them  of  their 
rights." 

Success  attended  the  brave  efforts 
of  Smith  and  his  followers,  and  in  1819 
New  Hampshire  granted  full  religious 
freedom. 


Our  Childhood's  Christmas  Tree 


229 


Rev.  Elias  Smith  was  a  restless  sou], 
but  a  pioneer,  and  his  influence  is 
stamped  forever  on  New  England  life. 
While  in  Massachusetts,  the  farmers 
of  the  central  and  western  part  of 
the  state  were  Republican,  the  well- 


to-do  classes  along  the  shipping 
coast  were  strongly  conservative; 
Portsmouth  was  in  striking  contrast 
with  Salem,  Boston  and  Newbury- 
port — due  some  what  to  the  work  of 
Elias  Smith. 


OUR  CHILDHOOD'S   CHRISTMAS  TREE 

By  Charles  Xevers  Holmes 

From  days  of  yore,  0  Memory, 

Bring  back  our  childhood's  Christmas  tree! 

Bring  back  that  old-time  Christmas  tree, 

Cut  down  by  father's  sturdy  hand, 

Amid  a  pathless  timber  land, 
And  dressed  by  mother's  thoughtful  care, 
With  dainty  touches  here  and  there; 

Adorned  by  ribbons  red  and  white, 

A  festive  and  enticing  sight, 
Where  pop-corn,  candies,  nuts  were  strung, 
And  tinselled  trinkets  thickly  hung. 

How  beautiful,  on  Christmas  night, 
It  stood,  ablaze  with  candle  light; 

When  round  that  tree  in  times  gone  by 

The  household  gathered — you  and  I! — 
Awaiting  eagerly  our  share 
Of  gifts  that  hung  so  tempting  there, 

Which  Santa  Claus,  in  costume  grand, 

Presented  with  a  lavish  hand. 

Upon  us,  like  some  sleepy  spell, 
The  fire-light  shadows  softly  fell, 

And  sometimes  at  the  window  pane 

There  tapped  a  fast  and  frozen  rain; 
Around  our  tree  of  love  and  cheer 
We  lingered,  far  from  strife  or  tear, 

When  'mid  that  room's  low-posted  space 

There  was  as  yet  no  missing  face. 

Bring  back  our  childhood's  Christmas  tree 
From  days  of  yore,  0  Memory! 


THE  BRIDGE  OF  FIRE 


By  Professor  J.  K.  Ingraham 


It  was  a  rainy  day  at  the  old  farm, 
"Bear  Camp,''  in  Ossipee,  N.  H. 
We  played  in  the  barn  until  we  were 
tired.  Then  we  scampered  over  the 
wet  lawn  to  the  house  and  teased 
grandfather  to  tell  us  a  story. 

Grandfather  Chase  closed  the  old 
family  Bible  and  replied: 

"Yes,  my  little  dears,  I  will  tell 
you  a  true  story  of  the  early  days 
among  the  White  Mountains. 

"When  I  was  eighteen  years  old,  Red 
Serpent,  an  Indian  boy  of  the  same 
age,  Bessie  Brown,  seventeen  years 
old,  and  I  went  hunting  on  Moat 
Mountain.  When  we  were  near  the 
top,  Bessie  exclaimed:  ' There's  a 
bear.'     Then  she  fired  her  gun, 

"The  biggest  bear  I  ever  saw 
shambled  from  the  bushes.  Red  Ser- 
pent and  I  fired  quickly.  But  the 
three  bullets  did  not  kill  the  big  bear. 
He  came  at  us  on  a  mad  run,  scream- 
ing with  pain  and  foaming  with  rage, 

"At  this  moment  the  mountain 
trembled.  We  heard  strange  sounds. 
The  earth  trembled  more  and  more. 
We  had  hard  work  to  stand  up.  We 
heard  a  great  tearing  and  grinding  all 
around  us.  The  bear  cowered  upon 
the  ground  and  whimpered  with 
terror. 

"  'Heap  bad,'  shouted  the  Indian 
boy.  'Heap  bad.  Landslide.  We 
slide.  We  killed  sure.  Heap  bad. 
Heap  bad. ' 

"Then  I  knew  what  had  happened. 
W^e  were  going  down  the  mountain  on 
ajandslide.    , 

"The  trembling  of  the  earth  grew 
worse  every  moment.  The  ground 
rose  and  fell  in  waves.  We  could  not 
stand  up.  We  cowered  on  the  ground, 
like  the  bear.  The  tearing  and  grind- 
ing became  deafening.  Suddenly,  the 
earth  opened  and  swallowed  up  Bessie 
and  the  bear. 

"  'Heap  bad,'  shouted  the  Indian 


boy.  'Heap  bad.  Girl  gone.  Bear 
gone.  We  go  soon.  Heap  bad.  Heap 
bad.' 

"Far  below,  I  saw  the  famous  In- 
dian village  of  Pequaket.  now  Con- 
way. The  landslide  was  shooting  to- 
ward it,  with  a  great  roaring,  like  the 
crashing  of  thunder.  Squaws,  pa- 
pooses and  dogs  were  running  out  of 
the  wigw^ams  in  wild  terror;  but  an 
army  of  red  warriors  faced  us  calmly. 

"The  landslide  arrived  at  the  foot 
of  the  mountain  and  began  to  slide 
over  the  plain.  It  slowed  up.  Red 
warriors  took  the  Indian  boy  and  I  by 
our  arms  and  led  us  before  Paugus, 
the  famous  Sagamore  of  the  Abnakis 
Indians.  He  looked  at  us  as  calmly 
as  though  we  had  come  by  the  usual 
road  to  Pequaket. 

"  'The  white  boy  and  the  red  boy 
have  had  a  good  slide, '  he  said.  ' They 
may  go  with  me.'  Then  Paugus, 
wTith  his  red  army,  started  to  raid  the 
white  folks.  This  was  the  beginning 
of  Lovewell's  Indian  War,  the  worst 
in  the  early  history  of  New  Hampshire. 

"A  short  distance  from  the  village, 
Paugus  halted.  His  red  warriors 
laid  me  on  the  ground,  on  my  back, 
with  my  legs  and  arms  extended. 
They  tied  my  wrists  and  ankles  to 
four  stakes. 

"The  fatal  fifth  stake  was  driven 
into  the  ground  about  ten  "feet  from 
my  head.  An  Indian  laid  a  buckskin 
bag  near  this  stake.  He  opened  it 
cautiously.  Slowly,  out  of  this  bag, 
came  the  repulsive  head  .&£>,&.., big 
rattlesnake, 

"With  a  forked  pole,  a  warrior 
quickly  pinned  the  head  of  the  rattle- 
snake to  the  ground.  With  a  similar 
pole,  a  second  Indian  held  the  tail. 
A  third  warrior  tied  a  rawhide  cord  a- 
round  the  neck  of  the-  rattlesnake. 
Paugus  tied  the  other  end  of  this  cord 
to  the  fifth  stake.     The  forked  poles 


The  Bridge  of  Fi 


re 


231 


were  then  raised  and  the  warriors 
bounded  out  of  danger. 

<;This  rough  treatment  had  enraged 
the  big  rattlesnake.  It  coiled  swiftly, 
sounded  its  warning  rattles  and  darted 
straight  at  my  head.  The  fangs  of 
the  rattlesnake  came,  so  near  to  my 
head  that  I  could  feel  them  at  the  ends 
of  my  hair.  Then  the  cord  stopped 
them,  with  a  rough  jerk.  This  in- 
creased the  rage  of  the  rattlesnake. 
It  darted  madly  at  my  head  again  and 
again. 

"Paugus  laughed  with  joy. 

"  'The  rattlesnake  does  not  reach 
the  paleface/  he  said.  "But  it  will 
rain.  The  wet  rawhide  will  stretch 
enough.'  Then  Paugus  and  his  red 
raiders  marched  away.  I  was  left  a- 
ione  with  the  mad  rattlesnake. 

"Presently,  I  heard  some  one  com- 
ing on  a  run.  My  bonds  were  cut 
swiftly.  I  was  pulled  away  from  the 
rattlesnake.  I  saw  the  face  of  Bessie 
Brown.  I  heard  the  sweetest  laugh 
in  the  world. 

"  '0  Bessie,  I  thought  you  were 
dead/  I  exclaimed. 

"  'Oh,  I'm  all  right/  laughed 
Bessie.  'When  the  earth  opened,  the 
bear  and  I  and  a  lot  of  sand  dropped 
into  a  gully.  I  climbed  put  and 
watched  you  and  Red.  Now  let's 
find  Red.' 

"We  soon  found  him.  The  In- 
dians had  cut  the  thick  branches  from 
a  low  hemlock,  so  as  to  leave  sharp 
stubs.  Then  they  had  wound  wet 
rawhide  many  times  around  the  boy's 
body  and  the  tree.  As  the  rawhide 
dried,  it  would  shrink  and  draw  the 
poison  points  slowly  into  the  body  of 
the  boy. 

"Bessie  cut  the  rawhide  quickly. 
She  trembled.  Her  face  was  pale. 
'  Let's  go  home  as  quick  as  we  can,' 
she  said,  in  a  faint  voice.  'We  ought 
to  have  minded  our  folks  and  not  gone 
so  far  away  from  home. ' 

"  'Heap  bad,'  cried  the  Indian  boy, 
'Can't  go  home.  More  Indians  come. 
Burn  us  at  stake.  Look.  Heap  bad.' 
All  the'  Indians  in  the  'village  were 
running  toward   us,   in  great   excite- 


ment. We  were  three  children,  with 
no  weapons,  except  Bessie's  small 
knife. 

"At  such  times,  the  -mind  with  the 
greatest  capacity  assumes  the  com- 
mand. Bessie  was  transformed.  Her 
large  gray  eyes  shone  like  stars  as  she 
said  to  the  Indian  boy: 

"  '  You  run  the  fastest.  Run  home. 
Tell  them  John  and  I  are  in  the 
Haunted  Ruins,  without  food,  water 
or  weapons,  and  surrounded  by  In- 
dians.    Run  your  best  for  our  lives.' 

"Her  inspiring  words  changed  the 
bo}^  into  a  warrior.  He  did  run  his 
best,  with  great  odds  against  him. 
To  me,  she  said,  in  the  same  tone  of 
command:  'Follow  me,  John.  Our 
only  hope  for  life  is  in  the  Haunted 
Ruins. 

"These  Haunted  Ruins  are  one  of 
the  most  interesting  remains  of  the 
mysterious  people  who  lived  among 
the  White  Mountains,  before  the  In- 
dians. They  are  the  ruins  of  a  strong- 
hold on  the  middle  of  a  plain.  Tins 
plain  is  surrounded  by  a  deep  moat. 
From  this  moat,  the  nearest  moun- 
tain was  named  Moat  Mountain. 
The  Indians  believed  these  ruins  were 
the  abode  of  the  Evil  Spirit.  They  do 
not  enter  them. 

"These  Haunted  Ruins  were  about 
half  way  to  the  Indians.  I  followed 
Bessie  on  a  swift  run  to  the  moat. 
We  crossed  it  on  a  rude  bridge  of  one 
log.  At  the  same  time,  the  Indians 
arrived  at  the  moat  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  plain.  The  women  and 
children  leaped  about,  brandishing  all 
kinds  of  weapons  and  shouting  mad 
threats  at  us.  The  men  assembled  in 
council. 

"The  council  was  soon  over.  The 
Indians  went  around  the  moat  to 
where  we  had  crossed  it.  This  gave 
us  an  unguarded  road  for  escape  to 
our  homes.  Bessie  was  troubled. 
She  had  heard  old  men  say  that  an 
Indian  council  developed  deep  devil- 
try. 

"  'Climb  to  the  top  of  the  ruins, 
John,'  she  said.  'See  what  they  are 
doing.     Be  careful.     Remember,   In- 


232 


The  Granite  Monthly 


dians  are  good  shooters.'  I  climbed 
to  the  top.  I  saw  no  Indians  on  the 
side  of  the  plain  toward  our  home. 
They  were  busy  on  the  other  side.  I 
could  not  tell  what  they  were  doing. 
I  was  not  careful.  I  heard  a  gun.  A 
red  hot  iron  entered  my  leg.  I  fell  on 
the  stones.  I  tried  to  get  up.  I 
could  not  use  or  move  my  right  leg. 

"In  a  moment,  Bessie  was  at  my 
side.  She  carried  me  to  a  safer  place. 
Then  she  cut  strips  of  cloth  from  her 
petticoat,  stopped  the  flow  of  blood 
and  dressed  my  wound.  Suddenly, 
she  turned  pale  and  trembled. 

"  'What's  the  trouble,  Bessie?'  I 
asked. 

"  'The  Indians  are  setting  fires/ 
she  answered. 

"  'You  must  go  home,  while  you 
can/  I  advised.  'The  Indians  will 
not  hurt  me  now.  The}-  will  wait  till  I 
get  well,  so  I  can  suffer  longer  torture. 
Our  folks  will  have  time  to  rescue  me. ' 

"  'You  do  not  quite  understand  the 
situation,  John,'  replied  Bessie,  in  a 
gentle  voice.  'This  plain  is  covered 
with  dry  branches,  mostly  pine. 
There  are  many  dead  trees.  The 
wind  blows  this  way.  In  a  few  min- 
utes there  will  be  a  big  fire. ' 

"  'You  must  go  now,  Bessie/  I 
pleaded.  '  You  have  a  father,  a  mother 
two  sisters  and  a  brother.  For  their 
sakes,  go,  now.  If  you  stay  here,  you 
cannot  help  me  a  bit.  If  you  go  now, 
you    can    save    your    own   life.     Go7 


now. 

(i  < 


I  will  go,  John,  you  will  go  too.' 
"Bessie  took  me  in  her  arms  and 
carried  me  out  of  the  ruins.  When 
the  Indians  saw  us,  they  danced  and 
yelled  with  glee.  I  was  a  good  sized 
boy.  I  weighed  125  pounds.  This 
was  a  heavy  load  for  a  girl  of  seventeen 
to  carry  in  her  arms.  Bessie  carried 
me  a  few  yards.  Then  she  was  so 
tired  she  had  to  lay  me  down.  After 
a  moment's  rest,  she  took  me  in  her 
amis  again  and  ran  as  far  as  she  could. 
In  this  way,  running  and  resting,  she 
carried  me  toward  the  bridge. 

"The  fire  spread  faster  and  faster. 
The  strong  wind  carried  sparks  and 


burning  brands  to  start  new  fires. 
Dead  pines  blazed  furiously.  The 
fire  gained  on  us.  I  felt  the  heat. 
Sparks  fell  upon  us.  Fires  started  all 
around  us.  There  were  times  when 
the  smoke  was  so  thick  I  could  not  see. 

"Bessie  did  her  best.  As  she  car- 
ried me  in  her  arms  on  a  run,  I  heard 
the  panting  of  her  lungs,  I.  felt  the 
furious  beating  of  her  heart.  The 
fire  was  soon  right  upon  us.  From 
the  tops  of  tall  trees,  great  flags  of 
flame  unfurled  and  waved  in  the  wind, 
almost  above  our  heads.  Burning 
brands  fell  upon  us  in  showers.  Our 
clothes  caught  fire.  The  heat  was 
something  fearful.  We  could  not  live 
in  it  much  longer. 

Bessie  toiled  on  over  the  burning 
plain  with  her  great  load.  She  did 
not  dare  to  stop  to  rest.  Her  long, 
thick,  golden  hair  had  worked  loose. 
It  caught  fire  in  several  places.  I  put 
out  the  fires  with  my  hands. 

"  Presently,  Bessie  stumbled  and  fell. 
I  thought  she  had  swooned.  She  rose 
slowly  upon  her  hands  and  knees, 
but  she  did  not  rise  to  her  feet.  I 
thought  she  was  somewhat  dazed. 
'Bessie,  you  have  done  all  you  can,' 
I  pleaded,  once  more.  'Rim  home 
and  get  help.  I  can  now  crawl  to  the 
bridge.  I  can  straddle  the  log  and 
hitch  myself  across  the  moat  with  my 
hands.     I  can  crawl  out  of  danger/ 

"Bessie  did  not  answer.  She  was 
on  her  knees.  Her  hands  and  face 
were  raised  toward  Heaven.  I  heard 
her  pray:  '  Oh,  God,  give  me  strength. 
Give  me  strength.'  The  prayer  was 
over.  Bessie  removed  her  shoes  and 
stockings.  She  took  me  in  her  arms 
again.  Her  panting  had  ceased.  Her 
heart  was  steady.  She  carried  me  as 
if  I  were  a  baby.  We  soon  came  to 
the  moat.  This  was  bridged  with 
one  birch  log,  long  and  slender. 

"The  top  of  this  log  was  on  fire  in 
several  places.  I  did  not  think  the 
fires  had  burned  deep  enough  to  weak- 
en the  log  much. 

"We  were  on  the  log  bridge.  With 
her  bare  feet,  Bessie  felt  her  way  along 
the  log,   carefully  and  safely.     With 


The  Bridge  of  Fire 


233 


her  great  load,  she  could  not  have 
walked  safely  with  her  slippery  shoes 
on  the  smooth  bark  of  the  slender  log. 

''I  could  see  down  into  the  moat. 
At  this  place,  it  was  deep  and  wide. 
It  looked  like  a  natural  rift  in  the 
ledge.  The  bottom  and  sides  were 
rough  rock,  with  points  as  sharp  as 
knives.  The  slender  log  bent  and 
swayed  under  Our  weight.  Every 
step  shook  off  burning  coals  and  blaz- 
ing bark. 

"I  shuddered  with  sympathy  for  the 
intense  pain.  Bessie  was  walking 
with  her  bare  feet  upon  live  coals  of 
fire.  There  was  no  other  way.  The 
log  was  old  and  punky.  In  several 
places  the  fires  had  smoldered  into  a 
bed  of  live  coals,  a  yard  or  so  in  length. 

"Every  moment,  the  birch  bark 
kindled  and  blazed  up  fiercely.  •  Bes- 
sie's clothes  caught  fire  a  number  of 
times.  But  the  homespun  woolen 
cloth  smoldered  and  smoked  without 
flame.  Bessie  had  to  feel  her  way 
carefully  with  her  bare  feet  upon  these 
burning  coals. 

"Suddenly,  we  were  threatened  by 
a  more  startling  danger.  After  their 
council,  the  Indians  had  appeared 
to  go  half  way  around  the  moat 
and  leave  this  bridge  unguarded. 
But  several  strong  warriors  had  stayed 
behind.  These  warriors  were  hidden 
in  some  thick  bushes.  They  had  a 
rope  which  was  fastened  to  one  end 
of  the  log  bridge. 

"When  we  were  on  the  middle  of 
this  bridge  of  fire,  these  red  warriors 
would  pull  on  their  rope  and  draw  the 
log  into  the  moat.  Then  Bessie  and 
I  would  fall,  about  twenty-five  feet, 
upon  the  stone  points  as  sharp  as 
knives. 

"With  Indian  cunning,  they  had 
concealed  the  rope  with  grass  and 
bushes.  I  did  not  see  the  rope  till  it 
moved  when  the  Indians  began  to 
pull.  It  was  then  too  late  to  escape. 
The  Indians  had  driven  us  by  fire 
from  the  Haunted  Ruins  into  this 
death  trap. 

"At  this  moment,  I  heard  a  great 
snapping,     The    log    was    breaking. 


We  were  shooting  through  the  air.  I 
heard  the  broken  log  go  crashing 
down.     I   fainted. 

"■I  revived.  A  strong  man  was  by 
my  side. 

"  'Am  I  hurt  very  bad?'  I  asked, 
in  a  faint  voice.  ''Bless  you,  no,  you 
aren't  hurt, '  replied  the  man  in  a  most 
reassuring  way.  'You've  got  a  hole 
in  your  leg,  but  it  will  soon  heal.' 

"I  sat  up.  Bessie  was  lying  near 
me.  Two  other  men  were  wrapping 
bandages  around  her  f eet .  How  white 
and  still  she  was.  'Is  Bessie  dead?' 
1  asked. 

'"  'Bless  you,  no,  she's  only  fainted,' 
replied  the  man,  'Her  feet  are 
burned  to  blisters,  her  clothes  and 
hair  are  burned  full  of  holes,  but  she'll 
soon  be  the  queen  of  the  settlement!' 

"Strong  men  were  .all  around  me. 
They  had  guns.  The  fire  was  d}ung 
down.     The  Indians  were  gone. 

"  'What's  happened?'  I  asked. 

"  'I'll  explain,'  replied  the  man, 
after  a  sharp  glance  to  see  if  my  mind 
was  clear.  'We  are  hunters  and  trap- 
pers. When  we  heard  about  the  In- 
dian war,  we  came  from  the  mountains. 

"  'A  short  distance  from  here,  to- 
ward the  settlement,  an  Indian  boy 
caught  up  with  us.  He  told  us  that 
Captain  Chase's  son  and  Deacon 
Brown's  daughter  were  in  the  Haunted 
Ruins,  without  food,  water  or  weapons. 
They  were  surrounded  by  a  mob  of 
yelling  Indians.  Most  of  us  had 
served  under  Captain  Chase  in  the  old 
war.  We  were  on  our  way,  to  his 
house  to  ask  him  to  lead  us  against 
Paugus.  When  we  heard  about  his 
son,  we  started  on  a  run  for  the  ruins. 
We'd  give  the  Indians  something  to 
yell  for.  We  came  in  sight  j  ust  as  the 
girl,  with  golden  hair  started  to  cross 
the  bridge  of  fire,  with  a  wounded  man 
in  her  arms.  We  didn't  dare  to  shout 
to  her,  because  it  might  startle  her 
and  cause  her  to  fall. 

"We  saw  the  girl,  with  the  greatest 
load  a  girl  ever  carried,  pick  her  way 
so  slow  and  careful,  with  her  bare  feet 
on    burning    coals,    with    many    fires 


234 


The  Granite  Monthly 


blazing  fiercely  before  her  and  behind 
her,  with  her  elotb.es  and  hair  on  fire 
in  a  dozen  places. 

'  We  heard  the  log  snapping. 


thought  the  girl  was  lost.     But 


We 

she 


made  a  swift  run.  At  the  right  mo- 
ment, just  before  the  log  parted,  the 
girl  made  a  wonderful  jump.  She 
landed  on  this  side,  all  right. 

"  'It  was  the  grandest  feat  in  the 
history  of  the  White  Mountains. 
We  cheered  her  as  we  never  cheered 
before.  She  turned  toward  us.  tot- 
tered a  few  steps,  swayed  blindly  to 
and  fro  and  fell  in  a  deep  swoon.  The 
girl  had  done  all  she  could  and  'twas 
enough. 

"  'Young  man,  the  love  of  this 
noble  girl  is  the  greatest  treasure  in 


this  world.  Always  remember  how 
she  saved  your  life  today.' 

"I  always  have  remembered,"  con- 
cluded my  grandfather,  Jonathan 
Chase,  as  he  wiped  the  tears  from  his 
eyes.  "  Every  day  I  remember  how 
Bessie  carried  me  in  her  arms  out  of 
the  doomed  castle,  over  the  burning 
plain,  across  the  bridge  of  fire,  out  of 
the  jaws  of  Death." 

My  grandmother,  Bessie  Chase, 
rose  from  her  easy  chair,  with  a  slight 
flush  on  her  still  beautiful  face.  "Now 
Jonathan,"  she  said  in  a  tone  of 
gentle  reproof,  ''you  know  you  are 
praising  me  too  much,  for  it  was  not 
my  strength  that  saved  your  life,  but 
it  was  the  Hand  of  God,  in  answer  to 
my  prayer." 


THOUGHT* 

By  Horace  G.  Leslie,  M.  D. 

Thought  is  eternal  as  the  years 

And  every  spark  of  flame  divine, 
Kindled  in  all  the  ages  past, 

Lives,  and  will,  throughout  all  time. 

The  purple  light  in  Western  sky 

That  lingers  after  sunset  hour, 
Is  not  the  Stardust  science  claims 

But  thought's  unloosed  immortal  dower. 

Could  wre  command  a  crystal  lens, 

Moulded  with  .rare  alchemic  skill, 
We'd  find  the  old  Platonic  germs 

Were  moving  in  their  cycle  still. 

They  come  and  go  with  varying  force, 

Awakening  life's  lethargic  cells, 
As,  far  across  some  distant  field, 

The  sleeper  hears  the  morning  bells; 

And  odes  of  the  Homeric  muse, 

Unclaimed  by  pen  or  printer's  art, 
Await  in  evening's  silent  air 

The  meeting  of  some  kindred  spark. 

*This  poem,  written  by  the  late  Dr.  Leslie  of  Amesbury,  Mass.,  for  the  Granite  Monthly 
raany  years  ago,  has  never  before  been  published. 


Thought 


235 


They  are  not  dead  in  all  these  years, 
But  breathe.  Lcthea's  breath  alone, 

And  need  but  hand  to  smite  the  rock 
And  claim  the  water  for  its  own. 

The  wise  man  said  that  no  new  thing 
Has  found  a  place  in  earthly  field; 

That  only  things  were  new  to  us 
When  fate  the  other  side  revealed. 


Thought  is  no  plant  of  annual  growth. 

The  rings  concentric  slowly  form; 
The  breath  of  the  eternal  years 

Must  buffet  it  like  autumn  storm, 

To  give  the  fibre  and  the  strength 
To  beams  that  bear  the  lofty  roof, 

Beneath  whose  shade  the  unchained  soul 
Holds  converse  with  the  King  of  Truth. 


All  that  Greece  heard,  or  Rome  e'er  knew, 
Was  but  a  sample  sheaf  of  grain, 

Snatched  from  the  shallow  furrowed  earth — 
A  promise  only  of  the  brain. 

The  present  welds  the  broken  links, 
Scattered  along  the  path  of  time, 

(The  artifice  of  unknown  hands) 
Into  one  perfect  chain  of  mind. 

These  books  of  mine,  with  vellum  bound, 
Hold  part  of  what  some  one  has  dreamed; 

Oh,  could  we  know  that  other  part 
No  earthly  hand  has  ever  gleaned! 

The  poet  sings  some  sweet  refrain, 
That  echoes  in  the  vale  of  years. 

We  feel  he  had  some  other  note, 

Unsung,  save  in  the  distant  spheres. 

This  is  the  song  we  fain  would  hear 

The  music  of  a  broader  ife; 
The  harp  strings  tuned  in  silent  space 

Beyond  the  jar  of  human  strife. 


The  pages  of  historic  lore 

Are  stained  by  hands  of  prejudice; 
And  what  should  be  but  facts  alone 

Oft  prove  but  frame  for  fancy's  dress. 


236 


The  Granite  Monthly 


The  fruit  of  this  erratic  vine 

Needs  mell'wing  power  of  sun  and  light; 
And  days  should  be  a  thousand  years 

In  which  to  set  its  flavor  risht. 


Too  near  the  lens  the  view  is  blurred, 
And  strange  distorted  visions  rise; 

'Tis  distance  gives  a  clearer  sight 
And  juster  value  in  the  eyes. 


>m 


E'en  creeds  and  doctrines  change  with  need; 

No  fixed  stars  shine  in  sky  of  thought; 
The  children  cast  the  temples  down, 

On  whose  strong  walls  their  fathers  wrought, 


The  water  that  was  sweet  of  old 
Grows  bitter  as  in  Marah's  spring, 

And  over  ruined  dreams  and  hopes 
Forget  fulness  like  grev  vines  cling. 


When  Romance  spins  her  gauzy  strands 
^Across  the  window  pane  of  life, 
The  warp  and  woof  of  checkered  web 
Is  but  a  dream  of  love  and  strife, 

Caught  by  that  spider's  cunning  plan, 
And  served  for  food  of  present  needs; 

The  marsh  gas,  fitful,  wavering  flame 
Around  a  pool  of  mud  and  w^eeds. 

And  yet  it  oft  a  purpose  serves, 

As  mulch  around  some  tender  shoot, 

To  guard  it  from  the  frost  and  cold, 
'Till  thought  secures  a  firmer  root. 

Truth  sometimes  needs  a  coat  of  sweet 

As  we  the  bitter  pill  disguise. 
The  virtue  still  remains  the  same 

Though  hid  from  sight  of  peering  eyes. 

Thus  thought,  in  all  these  varying  ways, 
Is  brought  before  the  human  mind, 

And  ever  up  its  tendrils  creep 

Around  life's  moss-grown  trunk  entwined. 


f**eVttsBh»'' 


'<^<£*i<fv7a^ 


FROM  THE  SUMMIT  OF  LOON  MOUNTAIN 

By  Norman  C.  Tice 


One  pleasant  morning  in  October 
I  was  standing  on  the  summit  of 
Loon  Mountain,  not  far  from  the 
summer  village  of  North  Woodstock. 
There  had  been  frosty  nights  but  as 
yet  no  wild,  rough  storm  had  de- 
spoiled the  foliage  of  its  beauty. 
The  clear  blue  sky  was  nearly  ob- 
scured by  lowering  clouds,  but  sudden 
bursts  of  sunshine  lighted  up  the  val- 
ley and  the  surrounding  mountain 
range. 

The  mountain-ashes,  on  the  slope  of 
the  peak,  vied  with  the  sumac  in  vivid- 
ness of  colors,  and  were  heavily  fruited 
with  clusters  of  crimson  berries. 
Every  dwarf  shrub  was  clothed  with 
bright-hued  leaves,  and  the  gray 
rocks  and  the  winding,  mossy  trails 
were  splashed  with  blots  of  fallen, 
gay-colored  leaves. 

In  the  distance  were  the  purple  and 
gold  slopes  of  Mount  Moosilauke. 
The  purple  was  the  clumps  of  spruces, 
wrapped  in  the  smoky  veils  of  Indian 
Summer.  The  gold  was  the  Midas- 
touched  foliage  of  the  slender  paper 
birches.  The  summit  of  this  peak- 
was  capped  with  a  floating  mass  of 
filmy  clouds  that  drifted  away  to- 
ward the  south.  The  blue  shadows 
brooded  over  the  slopes  of  the  moun- 
tain and  crept  down  the  winding  valley. 

Franconia  Notch  was  half  in 
shadow  and  alternate  bands  of  sun- 
-shine.    Where  the  stripes  of  sunshine 


came  could  be  seen  the  vivid  foliage  of 
Autumn,  now  a  blur  of  red,  then  one 
of  yellow,  or  orange.  Toward  the 
Notch,  and  somewhat  lower  than  the 
summit,  could  be  seen  the  shores  of 
Loon  Pond.  The  cold,  gray  waters 
mirrored  the  cloud  streaked  sky,  the 
gorgeous  foliage  in  the  trees  that  over- 
hung the  stream,  and  the  leaning 
birches  and  spruces. 

In  the  valley  below  were  the  nes- 
tling villages.  Bordered  by  fields  of 
green  aftermath  and  outlined  by 
groves  of  trees  in  Autumn  dress,  they 
seemed  like  painted  pictures.  Now 
and  then  a  cloud  shadow  crept  over 
the  valley,  darkening  the  green  fields 
and  the  gay  trappings  of  the  trees, 
slid  over  the  mountain  wall  and 
vanished. 

The  stream  that  curved  down  the 
valle\r  gleamed  in  some  open  eddy,  in 
a  long  line  of  yellowish  foam,  then 
hied  away  in  the  shrubbery.  It  ap- 
peared now  and  then  as  if  coquetting 
with  the  observer,  then  vanished  in 
the  purple  haze  at  the  end  of  the 
valley. 

In  the  rustling  of  the  gold  leaves  of 
the  paper  birches  and  in  the  ruby 
cheeks  of  the  mountain-ash  berries, 
one  could  read  the  signs  of  the  ap- 
proaching winter,  when  the  village  in 
the  valley  and  the  wooded  slopes  of 
the  encircling  peaks  would  be  wrapped 
in  snowy  dreams. 


THE   SPIRIT   OF   THE   BELL   OF   GHENT 

By  L.  Adelaide  Sherman 

(The  ancient  alarm  bell  of  the  Belgian  city  of  Ghent  was  inscribed  with  these  words:  "My 
name  is  Roland;  when  I  toll  there  is  fire;  when  I  ring  there  is  victory.") 

.  The  bell  has  long  been  silent;  long  ago 
The  church  and  tower  have  vanished  quite,  but  lo, 
A  mighty  host  has  gathered  once  again — 
Yea,  all  the  hero  dead  from  hill  and  plain, 

With  folded  hands  and  heads  in  reverence  bent 
To  hear  the  message  of  the  Bell  of  Ghent. 

Ring,  ring  the  bell,  St.  George,  that  England  may 
Hear  the  good  news,  rejoice  with  us  today. 
For  O  her  dead  have  borne  a  gallant  part — 
Their  names  shall  live  in  every  patriot  heart. 
And  still  Britannia  rules  the  ocean  waves 
To  prove  that  Britons  never  shall  be  slaves. 
Ring,  ring  the  bell.     Its  word  from  sea  to  sea 
^  'Is  Victory  and  Victory  and  Victory. 

Ring,  ring  the  bell,  Joan,  that  France  may  hear — 
Her  children  answer  with  a  jubilant  cheer. 
Pull,  pull  the  cord,  while  Belgium's  blue-eyed  king 
Shall  hear  the  joyful,  peace-winged  message  rin< 
Rejoicing  that  he  checked  the  foe's  advance 
And  saved  the  honor  of  his  sister,  France. 
Republic  France!     Thy  word  from  sea  to  sea 
Is  Liberty — is  blood-won  Liberty. 

Yea,  Father  of  thy  country,  Washington, 
Ring,  ring  the  bell,  while  every  loyal  son 
Hearkens  to  its  inspired  peal;  it  rings 
The  downfall  of  all  coronets  and  kings. 
Rejoice,  ye  dead,  for  from  your  sacrifice 
Freer  and  holier  nations  shall  arise. 
Ring  out,  ring  out  your  word  from  sea  to  sea, 
Democracy,  Democracy,  Democracy. 

The  vision  fades!     And  One  in  robes  of  white 
Stands  by  a  Cross,  bathed  in  eternal  light. 
English  and  German,  Frank  and  Austrian  stand 
In  adoration  with  hand  clasping  hand. 
Their  voices  blend  in  one  triumphant  strain, 
And  heaven  is  echoing  the  glad  refrain; 
The  angels  sing  it  round  the  crystal  sea, 
Christianity,  Christianity,  Christianity. 

Contoocook,  Ar.  B. 


'o> 


N.  H.  NECROLOGY 


EDWARD   J.   CUMMINGS 

Hon.  Edward  J.  Cummings,  Democratic 
i  •  id  lidate  for  Congress  in  the  Second  New 
Hampshire  District,  died  at  his  home  in 
Littleton,  N.  IT.,  September  23,1918. 

Mr.  Cummings  was  born  in  Littleton 
August  13,  1881,  graduated  from  the  Littleton 
fiigh  School  in  1900,  from  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege in  1904,  and  the  Harvard  Law  School  in 
ic<)7,  when  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  and 
practiced  in  Concord  with  Hon.  Henry  F. 
Hollis  till  the  fall  of  190S  when  he  located  in 
practice  in  Littleton  and  there  continued. 
lie  was  elected  solicitor  of  Grafton  County,  as 
a  Democrat,  in  1912,  serving  for  two  years 
following.  He  was  a  member  of  the  legisla- 
ture  from  Littleton  dining  the  last  session, 
and  took  an  active  part  in  legislation,  being 
especially  prominent  in  advocacy  of  pro- 
hibition and  woman  suffrage.  In  the  last 
state  primary* — September  £ — he  was  nomi- 
nated for  Congress  by  the  Democrats  of  the 
Second  District,  but  died  suddenly  of  pneu- 
monia twenty  days  later. 

He  was  active  in  the  affairs  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  Littleton,  and  prominent  in  the 
Independent  Order  of  Foresters,  having  held 
the  office  of  high  chief  ranger  for  New  Hamp- 
shire and  Vermont. 

He  married  in  June,  1911,  Eunice  J.  Marsh 
of  Haverhill,  Mass.,  who  survives,  with  a  son. 


WILLIAM  H.  ELLIOTT 

William  H.  Elliott,  a  prominent  citizen  of 
Keene,  died  at  his  summer  home  in  Nelson, 
August  2,  1918. 

Mr.  Elliott  was  born  in  Keene,  May  25, 
1850,  son  of  John  H.  and  Emily  A.  (Wheelock) 
Elliott.  He  was  educated  at  Phillips  Exeter 
Academy  and  Harvard  College,  class  of  1872; 
studied  law,  and  received  the  degree  of  LL.B., 
from  Harvard  Law  School;  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  and  took  up  his  residence  in  Keene, . 
but  devoted  himself  mainly  to  business  and 
financial  affairs.  He  was  a  director  and 
president  of  the  Cheshire  National  Bank, 
president  of  the  trustees  of  Elliott  City  Hospi- 
tal, founded  by  his  father;  president  of  the 
Beaver  Mills  Corporation,  of  the  Keene  Gas 
and  Electric  Co.,  and  a  director  in  many 
other  corporations.  He  was  a  Unitarian, 
and  a  Republican,  and  was  several  times  a 
member  of  the  Keene  city  government. 

He  married,  in  1882,  Mary  Fiske  Edwards, 
daughter  of  the  late  Hon.  Thomas  M.  Ed- 
wards, who  survives  him,  with  a  son  and  two 
daughters. 


HON.   A.   CHESTER  CLARK 

Allan  Chester  Clark,  judge  of  the  Municipal 
Court  of  Concord,  died  at  the  Margaret  Pills- 
bury  Hospital  in  that  city,  from  pneumonia, 
September  23,  1918. 

Judge  Clark  was  born  in  Center  Harbor. 
N.  II.,  July  4,  1877.  He  was  educated  at  the 
Meredith  High  School,  New  Hampton  Insti- 
tution and  Dartmouth  College,  leaving  the 
latter  after  the  first  year.  He  studied  law  for 
a  time  with  Bertram  Blaisdell  of  Meredith, 
but  soon  removed  to  Concord  and  engaged  in 
journalistic  work,  as  Concord  correspondent 
of  various  newspapers,  meanwhile  pursuing 
his  legal  studies,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
June  27,  1913.  being  soon  after  appointed 
judge  of  the  Concord  Dis'rict  Court  by  Gov. 
Samuel  D.  Felker.  When  the  district  court 
system  was  overturned  by  the  Republican 
legislature,  in  1915,  to  get  rid  of  the  Demo- 
cratic judges,  Judge  Clark  was  one  of  the  very 
few  Democrats  retained  by  Governor  Spauld- 
ing,  and  was  made  judge  of  the  new  municipal 
court  which  position  he  filled  with  marked 
ability,  establishing  a  reputation  which  ex- 
tended throughout  the  state  and  beyond  its 
borders. 

.  He  was  a  Unitarian,  a  Democrat,  a  Knight 
Templar  Mason,  a  Patron  of  Husbandry,  and 
a  Knight  of  Pythias,  having  been  a  chancellor 
of  Concord  Lodge  and  deputy  grand  chan- 
cellor of  the  New  Hampshire  Grand  Lodge. 
He  was  a  delegate  from  Center  Harbor  in  the 
Constitutional  Convention  of  1902,  and  secre- 
tary of  the  conventions  of  1912  and  1918. 

He  married,  June  12,  1917,  Jennie  A.  Ross 
of  New  Brunswick,  who  survives  him,  with  a 
son,  Allan  Chester,  Jr.,  born  subsequent  to 
his  decease. 


HON.  EDWIN  F.  JONES 

Hon.  Edwin  F.  Jones,  born  in  Manchester, 
April  19,  1859,  son  of  Edwin  R.  and  Mary  A 
(Farnham)  Jones,  died  in  that  city,  from 
pneumonia,  October  6,  191S. 

He  was  educated  in  the  Manchester  schools 
and  Dartmouth  College,  graduating  from  the 
latter  in  1880;  he  studied  law  with  the  late 
Hon.  David  Cross,  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1883,  and  was  in  practice  in  Manchester 
till  the  time  of  his  decease,  with  distinguished 
success. 

Mr.  Jones  was  a  L^nitarian  and  a  Republi- 
can. He  served  as  assistant  clerk  of  the  New 
Hampshire  House  of  Representatives  in  1881; 
as  clerk  in  1883  and  1885,  as  city  solicitor  of 


240 


The  Granite  Monthly 


Manchester  twelve  years,  from  1SS7.  as 
treasurer  of  Hillsborough  County  from  1887 
to  1S95,  as' a  delegate  in  the  Constitutional 
Convention  of  1902,  and  as  {resident  of  the 
Convention  of  1912.  He  was  president  of 
the  Republican  State  Convention  in  1900, 
and  a  delegate  at  large  from  New  Hampshire 
in  the  Republican  National  Convention  at 
Chicago  in  1908.  He  had  been  a  trustee  of 
the  Manchester  City  Library  since  1906,  was 
a  member  of  the  American  Bar  Ass'n.  N.  H. 
Bar  Ass'n,  (president,  1906-8),  a  32d  degree 
Mason  and  Knight  Templar,  and  grand  master 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  New  Hampshire  in 
1910.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Manchester 
Committee  of  Public  Safety,  and  chairman  of 
the  Speaker's  Bureau  of  the  New  Hampshire 
Committee  of  Public  Safety. 

On  December  21,  1887,  he  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Nora  F.  Kennard  of  Man- 
chester, who  survives.  A  daughter,  Rebecca, 
died  in  October,  1902,  at  the  age  of  twelve 
years. 


FRANK    P.    MAYNARD 

Frank  P.  Maynard,  a  prominent  business 
man.  and  for  many  years  an  extensive  shoe 
manufacturer  of  Claremont,  died  on  Novem- 
ber 7. 

Mr.  Maynard  was  born  in  Fairfield,  Me., 
August  25,  1S50.  He  went  to  California  in 
youth  where  he  was  engaged  three  years  in 
mining.  Returning  East,  he  engaged  in  shoe 
manufacturing  in  Nashua,  where  he  con- 
tinued eight  years,  then  engaged  in  the  retail 
shoe  trade  in  Boston  for  a  time,  but  removed 
to  Claremont  in  1SS3,  where  he  established 
an  extensive  shoe  manufacturing  plant  and 
conducted  the  same  many  years  with  great 
success.  He  was  prominent  in  many  other 
business  enterprises,  was  president  of  the 
Claremont  Building  Association,  Peoples 
National  Bank,  and  the  Claremont  Gas  Light 
Co.  He  was  instrumental  in  introducing 
electric  lighting  in  Claremont.  In  politics 
he  was  a  Republican,  and  served  on  the 
staff  of  Gov.  George  A.  Ramsdell. 

He  leaves  a  widow  and  one  daughter. 


m 


PUBLISHER'S  ANNOUNCEMENT. 


The  subscriber,  who  founded  the  Granite  Monthly  in  the  city  of  Dover,  in  1S77,  removing 
the  same  to  Concord  two  years  later,  who  has  been  irs  editor  and  publisher  during  a  considerable 
portion  of  its  existence,  hereby  announces  its  sale  to  Harlan  C.  Pearson  of  Concord,  who  assumes 
control  January  1,  1919. 

It  is  with  no  Little  regret  that  he  takes  this  step,  but  advancing  years  and  other  interests 
render  it  necessary.  He  has  the  satisfaction  of  knowing,  however,  that  the  magazine  is  passing 
into  the  hands  of  one  who  is  abundantly  qualified  to  make  it  a  publication  in  which  every  New 
Hampshire  man  and  woman,  at  home  or  abroad,  may  well  take  pride;  and  whose  succeeding 
volumes  will  fitly  supplement  the  fifty  volumes  already  issued,  as  a  repository  of  New  Hamp- 
shire history  and  biograplry,'  and  of  literary  and  descriptive  matter  pertaining  to  the  State  and 
its  welfare. 

No  man  in  New  Hampshire  is  better  acquainted  with  the  State,  its  people  and  its  interests, 
than  Mr.  Pearson,  who  has  been  the  Secretary  of  six  of  its  governors  and  long  editor  of  the  Con- 
cord Monitor  and  Statesman,  also  Concord  correspondent  of  the  Associated  Press  and  rnany 
newspapers  in  and  out  of  the  State.  The  subscriber  bespeaks  for  him  the  hearty  support  of  all 
present  patrons,  and  of  the  general  public  in  the  earnest  and  honest  effort  which  he  will  make 
to  improve  the  character  and  extend  the  influence  of  this  magazine. 

Volumes  49  and  50  of  the  Granite  Monthly,  embracing  the  issues  for  1917  and  1918,  bound 
together,  in  one  book,  after  the  style  of  preceding  bound  volumes,  will  be  ready  for  delivery  to 
such  subscribers  as  have  been  accustomed  to  exchange  their  unbound  numbers  for  the  same, 
early  in  the  coming  year. 

Subscribers  who  are  in  arrears  should  make  payment  up  to  January  t,  1919,  before 
that  date,  as  all  bills  not  then  paid  will  be  placed  for  collection  at  the  advertised  rate 
of  $1.50  per  year  for  subscriptions  not  paid  in  advance. 

H.»  H.  Metcalf, 

#  "  Publisher. 


THE    BEST    THAT    CAN     BE    HAD     IN 


P 


PRINTING  BINDING 

PHOTO-ENGRAVING. 


RU (VI FORD  PRESS 

RAILROAD  SQUARE 

CONCORD,     MEW    HAMPSHIRE 


M 


^ 


OPTOMETRISTS 


^  Iw*^  $Pli 


MANCHESTER 


CONCORD      I 


Perfectly  correcting  sight  defects  with  glasses 
has  been  our  specialty  for  many  yearg 


m 


m 


m 
m 

p 

m 


ilffil^llilMllllllUlHilillBlMilMlllllllHIH^Ili^l^ll^ 


SUBSCRIBERS  IN  ARREARS 
for  THE  GRANITE  MONTHLY 
SHOULD  REMIT  AT  ONCE 


IE 


m 


M 

ill 


ili-rjLSx-i 


:-;;.-;z;iiiliiiiliiiiii]liiiiii  nniisiiiiiiiii[2i-£.: 


1 


■  ■■■  !i  ' ' 

:.-:!.:::':V,>,;'-',;+:-'ii-";"!'' 

i  li 


"/n    roe/;?/  respects  The  Springfield  Republican  stands  as  (he  hightsi  achievement  of  American. 
Journalism." — From  the  New  Republic.  * 


I 


•  1      H,? 

4         & 


for  jjfl.50  a  lear 

The  Clearest,  Strongest  Editorials  and 

Reconstruction  Articles  in  the  Country 

From  the  Country's  Most  Famous  - 

I N  D  E P E NDE N  T     N  E  W  S  P  A  P  E  R 

Founded  in  1824,  a  quarter-century  before  the   republican  party 
was  born,  it  was  given  the  name, 


HH         |  "7-.  :r%  % 


ma  dpringneia  jk 

not  because  of  political  affiliations,  but  because  of  the  intention  to 
make  it,  and  always  to  maintain  it, 

A  SERVANT  OF  THE  REPUBLIC 


It  owes  allegiance  to  no  party.     It  supports  those  candidates  and 
policies  which  best  seem  to  assure  the  public  welfare.     It  sup^ 
ported   TAFT   in   1908    and   WILSON    in  1912  and  1916. 


T 


w. 


vVeekly 


Kepu 


c& 


containing  an  expert  condensation  of  the  news,  together  with  the 
week's  collected  and  selected  editorials  and  many  special  features 
and  interesting  departments, 

OFFERS   FOR    $1.50     ' '/.  ;V 

a  more  comprehensive  and  intelligent  survey  of  what  is  going  on 
in  the  world  than  any  other  weekly  magazine.  It  goes  into  every 
state  in  the  Union. 


SUBSCRIPTION  RATES 
$1.50  a  year,  40  cents  a  quarter,  15  cents  a  month,  5  cents  a  copy. 

Send  a  three-cent  stamp  for  specimen  copy. 

All  subscriptions  are  payable  in  advance.     Address 

■  THE   REPUBLICAN,   Springfield,   Mass. 


5  ISI 


H 
m 


HE 


ifflflffj.jWrai 


i^^ 


JOSmSBBM 


^m 


mm 


.SM.J.'V*.?!^