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1918
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HE
GRANITE MONTHLY
A New Hampshire Magazine
DEVOTED TO
History, Biography, Literature
and State Progress
VOLUME L
NEW SERIES. VOLUME XIII
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
/
/
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p*
5?
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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:
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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.^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
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-: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?.
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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.
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