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THE 

GRANITE MONTHLY 



A New Hampshire Magazine 

DEVOTED TO 

History, Biography, Literature 
AND State Progress 



VOLUME L 
NEW SERIES, VOLUME XIII 



CONCORD, N. H. 

PUBLISHED BY THE GRANITE MONTHLY COMPANY 

1918 



concord, n. h. 

The Rum ford Press 

1918 



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 

:;7 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, bj^ 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 63 

Cheney, Dr. Jonathan M 128 



iv Contents 

New Hampshire Necrology — Continued. 

ChM, Dr. William 128 

Clark, Hon. A. Chester 239 

Crawford, Col. John G 126 

Cummings, Edward J 239 

Elliott, WilUam H 239 

Emery, Woodward 191 

Gallinger, Hon. Jacob H , . 190 

Harris, WHliam 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 

SulUvan, Roger G 191 

Varney, Albert H., M.D 64 

Watson, Irving Allison, M.D 127 

Wbitcher, Hon. William F 127 

Wright, Prof. Henry P 128 

POETRY 

A Cycle, by Lawrence C. Woodman 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 ^ 

In July, by Fred MjTon 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 

Quem 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 144 

To "The Haverhill," by Frances Parkinson Keyes 186 

Twilight, by Florence T. Blaisdell 124 

Uncle Sam's Bride, by Charles Poole Cleaves 221 

Victory, 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 1-^1 




COL. JOHN H. BARTLETT 



The Granite Monthly 

Vol. L, Nos. 1-3 JANUARY-MARCH, 1918 New Series, Vol. XIII, Nos. 1-3 

A MAN OF THE HOUR 

Elsewhere in this issue of the and the efficient conduct of, the great 

Granite Monthly, appears a timely war, so far as American participation 

article upon "New Hampshire's Con- therein is concerned; and it is safe to 

tribution to Naval Warfare," from say, in view of what the State has al- 

the pen of Col. John H. Bartlett of ready accomplished, the spirit of 

Portsmouth — timely because of the service and sacrifice which its people 

fact that shipbuilding, is one of the generally have exhibited, and the 

great industries upon which the Na- splendid record which the gallant 

tion must depend, not only for sue- young soldiers of the Granite State 

cess in the great war in which it is are already making on the battle-front 

engaged with the liberty-loving na- in Europe, that their efforts have not 

tions of Europe for the suppression of been in vain. 

German Caesarism, but for its pros- We believe it is not over-stating the 

perity and progress in the days after case, however, when we say that no 

the war when its commercial interests man in New Hampshire has been 

will be of predominating importance, heard so generally, and none to better 

It is but fair to say that the effect, in public addresses throughout 

Granite Monthly is glad indeed to the State for the past year, along 

be able to present an article upon this patriotic lines, arousing the people to 

subject, at this time, from the pen of the exigencies of the situation they are 

one who holds so prominent a posi- facing, as has Col. John H. Bartlett of 

tion in the public eye in New Hamp- Portsmouth. 

shire, as does Colonel Bartlett. Colonel Bartlett has devoted his 
Many men of the State have given time and abilities unsparingly for 
much time and effort to the work of many months to public speaking along 
arousing the patriotic spirit of its this line. He has been heard on anni- 
people, and inspiring a thorough real- versary occasions, before woman's 
ization of the great crisis in the world's clubs. Grange meetings, board of trade 
history now facing our own and all gatherings and church organizations, 
other civilized peoples. Governor day and night, in all sections of the 
Keyes has done his full duty in this State; he has been speaking to the 
regard, and the active members of the people — men and women, old and 
Public Safety and National Defense j'oung — impressing upon all the mag- 
organizations, the Food and Fuel nitude of the great work to be done to 
Administrations, and other organized suppress the monster of ''Kaiserism" 
agencies, have been actively and ef- and make the world safe for liberty, 
fectively at work in their different democracy and humanity, and inspir- 
spheres to bring New Hampshire into ing all to do their full share of that 
the front line among the States of the work, for all of which he is entitled 
Union in the proper preparation for, to the grateful thanks of the people. 



4 The Granite Monthly 

HER BOY 

By E. R. Sheldrick 

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— 

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 facie 'twixt sea and sky — 

At last a fatal letter, 

A proud but broken heart. 
The mother's compensation — » 
Her boy has done his part! 
Wilton, N. H. 



FRANCES PARKINSON 

An 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, New 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 graduat-ed from 
Nassau Hall (now Princeton LTni- 
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 New 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 1778 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." 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 Hfe 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, Emploj^ed 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 
EHzabeth 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 only of their 
own brood, but to those of half the 
country-side as well, it would seem as 




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 
were 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 
Euchd. 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! Slowl}' 
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 lov^ed 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 «ense 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 li\dng-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 



8 



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 3"0u had led him to expect the 
other — you 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 




The Woburn Parsonage 



This was the first and the most 
important lesson which she tried to 
teach her children and grandchildren; 
but she taught us many other things 
as well. She was an old lady when I 
first knew her — eighty-five when she 
died; but to the end her mental 
brilliance and her spiritual vision 
remained unclouded. We learned 
whole chapters at a time from the 
Bible at her side — chapters which 
seemed alive and real as she taught 
them to us; she taught us Latin and 
French ancl 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 
birthda}^: 

My dear Frances: 

When I date this letter I am reminded that 



The Flag We Love 



9 



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 Rowe 

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. 
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 Hve 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. 





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 1918." 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 

1 1 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 
eff'ects 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 l)uildin.2; 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 
$68,000. 

The dedicatory exercises in the 
evening of March 5, opened with 
music by the New England Con- 
servatorv 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 Piscataqiia River, by the 
thread of whose channel the state of 
New Hampshire divides jurisdiction 
with the state of Maine, forming a 
delta of many 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 verj' 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 Navj' Yard, sit- 
uated in Portsmouth Harbor, on 
certain islands in this delta of the 
river, is, by 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 Revolutionarv 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 
Faidkiand. 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 Historj^ tell us 
again of our early beginnings; that 
not only was the Faidkiand 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 
America 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 Countrv." 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 loj'al 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 

ushered in, for no longer were the very clearly to the probability that 
colonists willing to add ships to the the Ranger was the first ship that flew 
Royal Navy, but, on the contrary, the "stars and stripes." Jones de- 
were determined to resist the tyranny scribed her as "slow and crank," and 
of King George III (a German des- jokers like to remind us that he found 
pot), who denied them the priv- fault that he had to start out on this 
ileges of self-government. Then the voyage with only "30 gallons of rum 
"oaks and pines" began to creak, for the crew to drink on passage." 
and the anvils ring, for liberty. After her historic voyage the Ranger 
Then, in succession, were launched in was finally burned in Charleston 
New Hampshire's only seaport, the Harbor, at the surrender of that city, 
battleships, Raleigh, Ranger, America, While it was Jones that made the 
and Crescent; and around each one of Ranger famous, instead of the reverse, 
these there clusters some of the most yet we claim Jones as a New Hamp- 
thrilling legends and stories that ever shire character, and we delight to 
delighted the student of history. recall his wonderful victory with his 
Of these the Ranger is the bright, ship, Bonhomme Richard,^ in Euro- 
shining star of history, not simply pean waters over that British Frigate, 
local history, but in every school text- the Serapis, when, with boats lashed 
book or encyclopedia we are sure to together, they fought hand-to-hand by 
find the name of the greatest Amer- moonlight until his foe surrendered, 
ican naval hero, Jones, linked forever The Seventy-four America, i\iQ most 
with the name of this sloop which was formidable ship of her time, was 
built and launched from the north built in Portsmouth Harbor under 
end of Pring's Wharf at Portsmouth, the supervision of Jones who expected 
New Hampshire. This was the bold to do great things with her. But just 
Yankee boat that literally ravaged as she was launched in 1782 a French 
the southern coast of England. This ship of the same size was acciden- 
was the little wizard-ship of history tally lost in Boston Harbor, and our 
that gave that enchanted mariner, government immediately presented 
Jones, his opportunity to electrify the .4 menca to her ally to compensate 
the world. If we can say figuratively for this misfortune. After various 
that the powder captured by Sullivan adventures, and cruising, in the 
and others at Newcastle, N. H., fired French Nav>^ she was captured by 
the shots at Bunker Hill that were the British in Lord Howe's engage- 
heard around the world, it may ment in 1794. 

equally well be said that the Ranger, The second warship-building era 
piloted by Jones, followed the sound at New Hampshire's port was in the 
of those shots around the world; for "sixties" when we produced that 
he sailed from Portsmouth on No- immortal conqueror the Kearsarge. 
vember 1' 1777, on a world vayage. Her antagonist, the Alabama, was 
He sailed his ship to the harbor of built at Liverpool. INIany now living 
Brest, there refitted, "and, in 1778 will remember how, for a long time, 
began one of the most memorable the Alabama terrified the seas, as 
cruises in our naval history. In the Germany is doing now, sinking sixty- 
short space of 28 days he sailed into six merchant vessels, one after an- 
the Irish Channel, destroyed four ves- other, until this New Hampshire boat 
sels, set fire to the shipping in the port finally challenged her to a duel, brought 
of Whitehaven, fought and captured her face to face, and, in a gallant engage- 
the British armed schooner Drake, ment in the English Channel, put her 
sailed around Ireland with his prize, forever "under many feet of water." 
and reached France in safety" (Mc- The old Constitution was so com- 
Master). As if this was not glory pletely rebuilt at Portsmouth that 
enough for one vessel, history points 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 
$600,000. 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 Raynes' 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 company of strong men, for the 
purpose of converting it into a mam- 
moth plant for the construction of 
steel ships. This corporation is cap- 
itahzed at $3,000,000. It has a 
contract with the Emergency 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 

Bij Howard F. Hill 

[The compiler thinks these details once an official residence of the Gov- 
are worthy of preservation in print, ernors Wentworth. These feeders are 
They would be lost were they not steady of flow, rapid of current and 
gathered into one place. This paper produce quite a volume of power, 
was prepared at the request of Rum- They flow in at Meredith and Wolfe- 
ford Chapter, D. A. R., and has also boro. Another of lesser volume, but 
been read before Molly Stark Chapter, adequate to sawmill uses, wanders in 
The compiler is largely indebted to at Alton Bay. The whole watershed 
George Waldo Brown, in the Manches- of the region seeks the high plateau, 
ter Historical Society's Collections, enclosed in solemn mountains and 
for particulars in regard to navigation, hills which would be called mountains 
Some facts have been drawn from in most places. 

Bouton's History of Concord. Other The Pemigewasset receives Baker's 
information has its origin with Hons. River just above Plymouth, the 
Joseph B. Walker, John Kimbafl, luncheon place to and from "The 
John M. Hill and Major Henry Mc- Mountains," a short distance from 
Farland. The new History of Con- the Franconias and the abutments 
cord has a wealth of notes and maps which outly them, and the White 
on our river and its bed changes. Mountains. Baker's River, in early 
Mrs. Lydia F. Lund and Joseph W. days, was a dark and bloody ground 
Lund deserve thanks for material where red men and pioneers joined 
help. The remembrance of various battle. The Squam River is the outlet 
talks with old-time worthies has of. the lovely Squam Lakes and re- 
added to the facts incorporated. The enforces the Pemigewasset not far 
quotations are not indicated, as the below Ashland village. Its fall is 
full text has not been always used very heavy and many a wheel is 
herein.] turned by the rushing waters. At 

The river discovered by Champlain Bristol comes in the short Newfound, 
on July 17, 1605, is formed by the an impetuous stream, from New- 
junction of the Winnipesaukee and found Lake, embracing the watershed 
Pemigewasset rivers, "just behind of Cardigan and the semi-mountains 
Warren DanieU's barn," in Franklin, called the Bridgewater Hills. (To 
as once rephed a school boy of that be a mountain, in New Hampshire, 
place. The Winnipesaukee begins at intends at least 3,000 feet above the 
"The Weirs," the great, great fishing sea level.) This considerable tribute 
place for all the aboriginal people, makes quite a flow and hum at Bris- 
Here is the famous "Endicott Rock," tol. Here, then, are about seventy- 
in the first rush of the pure water on six square miles of reservoir surface 
its quest of ocean. Lito what every and that means, in all but exceptional 
New Hampshire man calls "The seasons, when regulated, a steady and 
Lake," the Lake par excellence, empty reliable power for a host of looms and 
Waukewan Lake, a really considera- spindles. The low- water mark at 
ble body for most states less favored Concord is 253 feet above the sea 
than our own; also. Smith's Pond, of level. When you consider that a 
really dignified size, at which was one-inch fall in a mile constitutes a 



18 



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 bej'ond 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 15 x 14 
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 
(Edward Johnson) 


S W 
(Simon Willard) 


W. P. 

(Worshipful) 


John Endicut 


I S 
(John Sherman) 


I I 

(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 Whittier's eyes, sujch 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, Whittier'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 survey may, not impossibly, be made 
coal, hme, cement, etc. A flat-bot- again and yet again, but the river 
tomed steamer of the grasshopper pat- will be the monarch of all its surveys, 
tern (stern wheel) was running as late All dreams of coal, cotton, machinery 
as 1900, between Haverhill and Black and heavy freight may be dismissed 
Rocks, at the end of SaHsbury Beach, from the thoughts of those "clothed 
It was a delightful trip to make. It and in their right minds," when set 
passed under Chain Bridge, now no in opposition to rail transportation, 
more, the first suspension bridge in Navigation was once practicable 
America. The rock island which parts and practical, as well as profitable, 
the river here was the home of Har- but ox and horse-drawn teams did 
riet Prescott Spofford, an authoress of heavy duty for passengers, mails and 
worth and note. The clam chowder much freight between here and Bos- 
served on that boat has a distinct ton. Following the river, one main 
place in my memory. It would rank water route ended at Newburyport. 
with the nectar and ambrosia of A canal made another route to Bos- 
Olympus. It had the real bouquet de ton. Its exact course, I cannot give, 
7ner. The delicacies the old Roman nor can I separate it from the side 
gourmands described in Plautus, had lines. The traces of this canal are 
nothing better. Baked elephant's very plain on the right of the railroad, 
foot is described by African travellers going coast wards, just above and be- 
as a mass of luscious jelly, but I low Lowell. This was completed in 
would pass it by for a spoonful of that 1808 by Loammi Baldwin and partly 
rich, rapturing, thrilling, real-thing financed by a lottery (like the canal 
chowder, a concoction more delight- round the falls at Amoskeag, just 
ful than any with which the cooks of above Manchester). This lottery was 
Heliogabalus ever struggled, plenti- chartered by our Legislature and that 
fully based on "the strawberry of the of Massachusetts, 
sea," as Charles Levi Woodbury fitly The Middlesex Canal was 27 miles 
called it. long and entered the Merrimack two 
But, to pass this by, I w^ould say miles above Lowell. It was 30 feet 
that the large expense of canals and wide at the surface; bottom, 20 feet 
locks around mill dams and in con- and depth three feet. Lockage, 136 
gested city quarters would seem to feet, with 20 locks. Passengers were 
be prohibitory, aside from mainte- carried. Last trip was in 1851. The 
nance in easier places. The flow, so stones of some of the locks were used 
diminished from reason of deforest- for mill and railroad purposes at 
ing, and needing to be helped out by Lowell. In later days, under the Mer- 
steam in years of sharp drought, rimack Boating Company, flat-boats 
would have to be well weighed, and were able to go as far as Sewall's Falls, 
the rock-ledged and boulder-filled above West Concord, where the elec- 
bed, extremely shallow between trie power plant now is. This made a 
Nashua and Manchester, and the water course of 52 miles. Rosy hopes 
character of the stream to the right, had been entertained to reach Win- 
going toward Boston, just as we pass nipesaukee. The Merrimack Com- 
the railroad bridge at Goff's Falls, . pany, a Concord corporation, actu- 
are great diflftculties for a canal in ally did a large business, for those 
these days. Amoskeag and Hook- days. The trip was five days up to 
sett falls require consideration. The Concord and four down. Twenty 
less than half year of navigation tons was a full cargo up to Lowell and 
caused by winter, all other difficul- fifteen beyond. It cost $13.50 per 
ties set aside, would pay but for a ton to Manchester and $8.50 to Bos- 
small part of up-keep and service, in ton from that place. In 1838, the 
view of railroad competition. The charges were $5 and $4, 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 $470,000 
business was done on the up route, 
and about half that on the down 
route. Before boating began, about 
$20 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." 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 jol). 
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 $15 
to $24 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 da^^s, 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 bi-ead, 
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 Just south of the Lower Bridge, on 
great log drives down our river, the western side, a pier was to be 
though not five times a day, perhaps, seen as late as 1900. Posts (piles) 
as did the loggers. Anyway there was were also to be seen at low water, 
strong food and plenty. This was the great freight house. 
I have alluded to rafting as the The house extended over the water 
fitting-school in which these canalers and goods were lifted through a trap 
were broken in. Though born in door. These posts were the support 
1846, I never saw one. However, I of the outer end. On the left of the 
own a large colored lithograph, dated railroad, going towards Boston, just 
August, 1853, printed for Appleton, a above Hooksett station, relics of the 
view of Concord. The buildings lock round the falls can be seen very 
therein are easily recognizable, nota- plainly. On the right of the road just 
bly the State House, with its domina- after passing through the Federal 
ting eagle, and the old South Church, Bridge at East Concord, going north, 
on the site of the present Acquilla evident traces of the canal can be 
Building. In this picture, in the fore- seen as little frog ponds, and a careful 
ground, is represented, in a somewhat search up the intervale discloses other 
meagre stream, one of these rafts. It traces. Parts of the lock are in the 
is in two parts, probably connected piers of the railroad bridge. The old 
by some cable, with a man in front Butters' Tavern, standing until 1911, 
with a great steering oar and another where the trolley road divides for the 
similarly equipped on the rear of the Manchester line and the Pillsbury 
second section. The notable feature Hospital, was a great place for the 
consists of two women, well-bonneted canalers to obtain refreshments, some 
and attired, admiring the prospect of which came from Medford, one of 
from a seat, and attended by the one the termini of transportation, 
loyal, loving friend of our species, a One of the first uses made of the 
dog. I am doubtful of the correctness river was the floating of huge logs, 
of this scene of interstate commerce. In every place where the great oaks, 
But there is one part which the artist ash and pine of old growth were to be 
did not create: great cumulus clouds found, a royal forester made it his 
of fleecy white, glowing with beauty business to mark these spires with the 
in the sun, and hke a castle with huge broad arrow for the King's Navy. 
towers. I recall the artist's capture All prime timber for planking, spars 
of this superb and remarkable forma- and masts, were thus arbitrarily set 
tion. His stand was at the head of apart at the landowner's expense. 
Bridge Street, and though I was but To take these ''sticks" as they were 
seven years old, the impression is still called, for private use was a serious 
vivid. This was the time of the offence. They were generally run at 
candidacy of Franklin Pierce and his high water to avoid breakage and 
home town was very much an object prevent "hanging up." Much bad 
of public interest throughout our na- blood resulted and even grave fra- 
tion. I have also an oil picture on cases occurred, amounting to treason, 
wood, dating, probably, about 1830, under the law. Sometimes an official 
in which a three-section raft is de- of easy conscience held the office, 
picted. The scene is the Great Bend, making things less strenuous. When 
at the Passaconaway Club House. worse came to worst, the forester was 
The survival of the old canal in not disinclined to act as an inter- 
Concord! At Sewall's Falls, there is cessor with the Colonial Governor, 
a stone pier on the eastern side, not for law it was, though like some other 
otherwise to be accounted for, and laws, inequitable and undiscrimina- 
which I have been told by the an- ting. To you, the name of a station 
cients belonged to the landing place, just above Concord, the Mast Yard, 



22 



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 Iving'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 Europe. 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 Hampsliire was the great cutting 
ground for mast and lumber, and Piscataqua* 
the great shipping port. Cartwright and 
other commissioners in 1665, found "7 or 8 
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 
thej^ 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 ground. It was espe- 
cially stipulated in the Royal grant that pine 
trees fit for masting the royal nav>' 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 seventy 
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, but 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 1812, 
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, filled 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 Sewall's 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 off for their commer- 
cial "pipe dream" aspirations. 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 
Thorndike, is a representation of a 
canal boat and locks. It appears to 
be the official seal of a compan}^ 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 falls. 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 u,iid 
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 
<^he 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 GiUis, 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 Shenstone's lines: 

Whoe'er has travelled life's dull round, 
WTiere'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 Worren 

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 



Pittsfield, N. H. 



GOD OF AMERICA 

By Hester M. Kimball 

God of America, 

To thee we come and bow; 
Long have we failed to heed th}- 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 ow^n. 
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. 



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 




U. S." Government Building 



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

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



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

The establishment of a govern- 
ment shipbuilding plant at Ne wing- 
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- 
tory, it is the history-making of the 




View on Pleasant Street 

peace and quiet of our ancient city, future that is of more interest just 

disappearing. now. Unless all signs fail, we shall 

Portsmouth will not be happy until have a city of 25,000 within a year or 

it attains its deserved title of being two. If we should take in greater 

the metropolis of the State. For Portsmouth, it would bring the popu- 

thirty years I have been shouting to lation up to 40,000. 




Portsmouth Hospital 



our citizens that "Old Strawberry THE OLD PORTSMOUTH 

Bank" possessed the natural advan- Portsmouth, settled in 1623, the 

tages that would some day put her port of entry and one of the county 

where she belonged — the largest city seats of Rockingham County, New 

in the State. Hampshire, is situated on the Piscat- 

We have got the old town rolling aqua River. The city is served by the 



Portsmouth, Old and New 



29 



Boston & Maine Railroad and electric While Portsmouth is the oldest per- 

car lines to the neighboring towns and manent settlement in the State, and 
beaches. During the summer season one of the oldest in the country, she 




St. John's Church 




The Athenaeum 



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



has kept pace with modern ideas, but 
not to such an extent as to sweep 
away all of her native charms. On 
the contrary, she still preserves, and 
there is a growing demand that she 
continue to preserve, many of the fine 
old houses and places of historical in- 
terest that are essential to her own rep- 
utation as one of the finest "old mod- 
ern towns" 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 beauty. During the summer 



30 



The Granite Monthly 



months the chmate 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 




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. In this 

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

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

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




Public Library 



from the hardest blow. The entrance 
is marked by two hghthouses and 
there are no bars or reefs to trap the 
careless navigator. 



Collector and the United States 
Court. 

The Rockingham County Court 
House was built in 1891, and is but a 




Governor Langdon Mansion 



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



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 emplo3^s several hundred hands ; 
the American Arquenthol Chemical 
Company Plant; the Portsmouth 
Tannery Company; the Portsmouth 
Foundry Company; the Rockingham 
County 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 




New Hampshire National Bank 



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

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

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



very early days, having been estab- 
lished in 1640, with a location on its 
present site since 1712. The Unita- 
rian (South Parish) dates back to 
1715; the Universalist to 1784; the 
Christian Church to 1802; the Metho- 
dist to 1790; the Middle Street Bap- 
tist to 1828; and so on to the Christ 
(Episcopal) Church, which was the 
scene of the Te Deum 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 Piscata- 
qua River, and is one of the finest and 
best located naval stations in this 



here. In 1866 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. 




Portsmouth Athletic Club 



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



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




Gale Shoe Factory 

was purchased by the federal govern- large naval prison and the best naval 

ment for a navy yard. It was the hospital on the coast have recently 

scene of considerable activity during been erected. It employs today 

the War of 1812, but was of nuich nearly 5,000 men. 

greater importance during the Civil 

War, when the famous Kearsarge and A City of Colonial Houses 

several other war vessels were built No city in New England is richer 

3 



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 1784 
by Governor John Langdon, a direct 
descendant still living there; the Gov- 
ernor Benning 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 
1866 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 Story of a Bad 
Boy." 




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 
man}^ of these houses have long since 
been recognized as among the finest 
to be found. 

Aldrich Memorial 

The boj'hood home of the well- 
known author, Thomas Bailey 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- 
tui'es in the city. It is located in a 
prominent position in Market Square. 



Portsmouth, Old and Neio 



35 



The Portsmouth Athenaeum was es- 
tabhshed 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 





- 


— 














T 
















4 








- 1 /"• 


\j^^\l 


■■y 


' 






'■■ *f •*► 


^Wp 


*^ 


^ 




b ;.;i 




»' 




Jim 








- 


"■::»■.■*■■" " 



U. S. S. Chester Leaving the Navy Yard 



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

Parks and Playgrounds 

The park and playground system of 
Portsmouth cannot be equaled by an}' John Porter. 



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- 



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 JEgUS" 

[On reading Harold Bell 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 s\vord. 

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. 



*rvT .* 



t 



THE SCOTCH PRESBYTERIAN IN THE 
AMERICAN REVOLUTION 

By Jonathan Smith 



At the beginning of the Revohition 
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 




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 



38 



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 imphcit 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 countrj^ 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 king 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 forl^idding 
the export of cattle to England. By 
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 their 
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 pett}^ 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 Leister 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 trel^led 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 : omewhat 



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 they 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 
annuall}^ 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. The.y 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 
Hampshire 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 disciphne 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 6f 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, N. 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 eff"ect asserted the 
same thing. "Thus," says the his- 
torian Bancroft, "was Mecklenburg 
County in North 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 wdien 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 
betw^een 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 Tryon 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 Assemblj^ 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 
ill 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 Henry, 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 mem})ers 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, 
1776, the members seemed reluctant 
to affix their signatures. Wither- 
spoon in a speech of great abihty 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 New 
England they did more of the real 
fighting of the Revolution. Two of 
the three colonels appointed by New 
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 arm}-. 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 tb 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 line, 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 ^^irginia 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 by 
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, 1918 — ^Reflections 

Grave and Gav 

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! 

* These half humorous lines, written in a journalistic vein, which were prompted bj' 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 bj^ 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 ; Isut 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 

Of 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 Nicolai 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. Wheaton. 

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

I've just one reflection to offer that's grave: 
From using revolvers — "Save 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 Thor,. 
And made us forget we're a nation at war. 



THE BEGINNINGS OF NEW ENGLAND 

By Erastus P. Jewell* 



I have chosen for a brief talk this 
evening the stormy beginnings of New 
England, the turl^ulent 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 daj's 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 iru 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, 1837, 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, floorless, 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, 1620, 
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 New 
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 th^ 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 1623 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 animal fat to afford some protection 
and notched and locked at the ends, through the winter, 
soon adorned these little farms. The ancient shoes were made by 
They were rude affairs, these early hand and were very rare. They were 
log houses; built without bricks, nails, things of beauty, and, if one owned a 
glass or boards, tightened with mud pair, a joy almost forever. They had 
or clay, without floors, and frequently the merit of endurance, but, as I have 
one third of the space was occupied said, they were not worn every day, 
by the great rock chimney. They and so one pair lasted a long time and 
were without cellars, and seldom frequently served several members of 
contained more than one room, in the family in turn — sons and daugh- 
which the humble dwellers crowded, ters as well. The main point to be 
cooked, lived, slept and died. Cook- observed in the construction was the 
ing then was simply roasting and size. Ye gods! what shoes they were! 
boiling in that most useful and valu- 
able of early household goods, the Advancing now to 1719, we touch a 
everlasting iron pot. pivotal point. This year flax was 
Outside of a few centers like Salem introduced. Now everything seemed 
and Boston, the scattered settlers to change. Linen fabrics, of which 
really had no furniture. They used the people were justly proud, came 
rude benches and blocks for seats, and into general use and added immense!}'' 
occasionally some one had brought to the comfort and thrift of the people, 
some old article of furniture. Beds Business boomed, and it may be 
were made of hemlock boughs and said the second century was marked 
skins. No supplies could be pur- by great material advancement. But 
chased, even of the simplest kinds, even now such things as tea, coffee, 
this side of the ocean. Such rude milk and sugar, outside of a few sec- 
implements as they were obliged to tions, were unknown. Pine knots con- 
have and their clothes soon became stituted about the only lights, except 
worn and out of repair, and there was from the fires in the roaring throats of 
no supply at hand to make good the the huge chimneys. Lamps and can- 
wornout garments. During the first dies had not appeared, and the friction 
hundred years men and women, as a match was yet to be discovered. Fire 
rule, went barefoot from early spring had to be kept day and night, summer 
till late in the fall, from necessity, and winter. The loss of fire was 
The garments which our ancestors sometimes a calamity and occasioned 
sometimes wore were simply shocking great distress. The utmost care had 
in a multitude of cases. People wore to be observed to preserve it in every 
to church what today would not be home. Especially was this the case 
tolerated by the humblest laborer in in habitations far removed from 
our street ditches, and no woman of neighbors. 

today could be induced to appear in These old homes were without 

her domestic labors as the women of clocks, and a watch did not exist in 

New England appeared in public, dreams. The noon mark, and very 

Modesty was out of the question, rarely a sundial made of pewter, with 

The conditions which environed them a three-cornered piece to cast a 

were hard and unyielding and not shadow, served a useful purpose in 

calculated to develop taste, elegance sunshine, and the time of day could 

or refinement. Even the decencies be guessed with reasonable certainty, 

of life could scarcely be observed. It It was a different thing in cloudy 

was often a weary battle for existence, weather and in the night-time. The 

For a large part of the first century, clepsydra came later for use in the 

children could be found with their night. This, as you know, was a 

little feet wrapped in rags dipped in contrivance to measure time by 



50 The Granite Monthly 

water leaking from a glass in a given I have examined with care and with 
time. It was not very accurate and a great deal of interest such inven- 
was a very poor substitute for a clock, tories of the period as I have been able 
but in those pioneer days it was a to find, and find nothing more ex- 
treasure and it was very rare. Only tensive than is indicated in the house 
a few were in use. The great major- of Nicholas Gate of Maine. He was 
it}', for the first century, had no means a selectman, a notable person who 
whatever to determine the hours of maintained a fashionable house. His 
night. house was furnished with a kettle, 

Prior to 1800, rye, corn, beans and a pot and pot-hooks, a pair of tongs, 

squashes were about all that the a pail and a pitcher. This house had 

planters raised. Wheat flour at that a chamber, where we find a bed and 

time was not in use at all. Game, bedding, and other articles valued at 

fish and strawberries, which soon fifty cents. 

became abundant in their new fields, I have selected these last estates as 

added to their simple bill of fare, an illustration. They are verj^ far 

though butter, sugar and milk as a above the average for the first three 

rule were entirely wanting. A do- fourths of a century. What should we 

mestic beer, of some kind, could be expect to find in the humblest New 

found everywhere. It was com- England log houses of 1680, when 

pounded of roots, barks and herbs, in the richest families actually suffered 

all sorts of ways, and frequently was such deprivations? Even in the first 

a very good drink. families, we note an entire absence of 

Judge Bourne, the historian of books, except in homes of clergymen. 

Wells, says: "Perhaps till the close Not even an almanac furnished the 

of the 17th century the New England means of telling the day of the week 

settlers as a rule lived in houses of but or month, and sometimes the most 

one and occasionally two rooms, and ridiculous mistakes were made in 

had but one bed, and only those of regard to Sunday. Multitudes of 

the largest means had two." This is children were born and grew up who 

his description of the furniture of one never saw their faces in a looking- 

house in Wells: "In looking around glass. Scarcely one could be found, 

we discover a table, a pewter pot, a or even a fragment of a mirror. One 

hanger, a little mortar, a dripping pan, was owned by Joseph Gross, of Ogun- 

and a skillet. There was no crockery, quit. He had no chairs in his house, 

tin or glass ware, no knives, forks or but his little looking-glass was an 

spoons, and not a chair in the house, object of curiosity, and so fixed itself 

There were two rooms and a bed in in the minds of the people that it 

each. The inventory shows a blanket found a place in history, of which I 

and a chest. We have been through speak tonight. 

the house. They have nothing more The wigwams of the Indians fur- 
in it. ' And this is the house of nished more comforts to the victims 
Edmund Littlefield, the richest man than could be found in the very ear- 
in town. He had a large family and liest homes of their white neighbors, 
hved in style." They had some neat articles of bone, 

In the house of Ensign John Barrett, shell and stone, very good earthen 

who was quite eminent in his day and pots of different sizes, baskets of twigs, 

had an elegant house, we find two birch bark, and some very fair vessels 

beds, two chests, a box, four pewter of wood, to which were added beds 

dishes, four earthen pots, two iron made of skins exceedingly well tanned 

pots, seven trays, two pails, some but usually abominably dirty, 

wooden ware, a skillet and a frying Soon after the arrival of the first 

pan. Nothing else. No chairs, knives, settlers, many adventurers came and 

forks, spoons, or crockery. 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 tyranny, but unconsciously 
they became tyrannical themselves. 
They did, no doubt, w^hat they thought 
was best to promote order among the 
new settlers and to advance w^hat they 
considered the "cause of God." 

Their laws and the punishments 
inflicted for their violation reveal in 
the most striking manner 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 uniformitj^, 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 lelied 
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 w^oman 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 
with 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 wdth 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. AVhatever the 
ancient ministers and the magis- 
trates who took their guidance desired 
to be law was law. They were re- 
sponsible to nobody, and nobody could 
appeal from the enforced will of these 
grim and surly men. The few an- 
cient books which constituted the 
intellectual food, found only in minis- 
ters' libraries, impressed and fixed 
necessarily the severe and inflexible 
nature of their authors. No one 
except ministers, as I have intimated, 
had books, and the old leaders of 
thought and opinion were hardened 
into an intellectual tyranny by the 
influence of an older age. 

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



52 



The Granite Monthly 



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

The few old controversial books 
read by the Mathers, Wheelwright, 
Prince and Hubbard exhibit them- 
selves in the laws of two hundred 
years ago. They reveal the flavor 
and breathe the spirit of ancient 
thought, just as the books and litera- 
ture of 1890 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 praj^er- 
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 New 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 Eiigland 53 

against the unfortunate sufferers, the lives of the enemies of the cause 

which is still preserved in Salem, read so dear to them with a relish, and 

the death warrants and the evidence with fasting and praj^er continued to 

of executions and could discover noth- slaughter until the red stain of their 

ing — not a thing — to cast suspicion delusion hangs forever upon us to 

upon the accused, I was struck with mark with shame this conspicuous 

wonderment that such delusions, tri- chapter of New England history, 

als, convictions and executions could In the original laws of Massachu- 

disgrace our history. setts Bay Colony were to be found 

As the witch literature retired be- thirteen death penalties. Such was 

fore the advance of intelligence, so the temper 'of the times that not only 

vanished the witch from the thoughts witchcraft was punished with death, 

of men, until now only in the dark- but idolatry, blasphemy, false witness, 

est alcoves of ignorance can traces smiting father or mother after sixteen 

of the hobgoblin be found. years of age, filial rebellion after the 

Within three or four centuries, such same age, were also punished by 

was the level of intellectual develop- taking the life of the offender. No 

ment that the great and good, all one can fail to see the same cast of 

believed in witchcraft and kindred thought in these laws, as well as in 

delusions. The fires of the church the lower grades o? offences, where 

were constantly employed in burning we find punishments adjudged and 

innocent, agonizing sufferers, till, inflicted for what seem to us most 

crisped to cinders through unutterable trivial, questionable, and even ludi- 

suffering and torture, upon chariots of crous matters. 

flame, the innocent sufferers reached Whipping was mercilessly applied 
their rest at last. The judicial execu- for numerous offences. Branding with 
tions in England in two centuries a hot iron and clipping the ears 
were more than thirty thousand, were well-known penalties. Richard 
The great Matthew Hale caused two Hopkins was severely whipped and 
to be burned as late as 1664. Three branded for selling powder to the 
thousand were executed during the Indians. To deny the authority of 
long parliament. Neither church nor the Scriptures cost fifty -pounds or 
state spared any rank or condition, forty stripes, and the fifty pounds pen- 
In 1716 Mrs. Hick and her child only alty was considered light compared 
nine years old were executed as with the stripes. Philip Radcliff had 
witches. In fifteen years nine hun- his ears cut off, was whipped and ban- 
dred were burnt in Lorraine, five ished because he did what I do tonight, 
hundred in Geneva in three months, He censured the church which ap- 
one thousand in Como in one year, proved of the killing of witches. At 
and thirty were executed in a village one time no man could be qualified 
of six hundred in four years. More either to elect or be elected to an 
than one hundred thousand perished office who was not a church-member, 
in Germany, among them an eminent Consequently the distance was very 
Catholic priest accused of having great between the two classes, — 
bewitched a whole convent. The between the church men and those 
last sufferer in Scotland was in 1722. who ventured to question their au- 
The damnable laws in England were thority. 
not repealed until 1736. As I have stated, the making and 

But the ancient champions of executing the laws in the early times 

justice, as they thought themselves, were entirely the work of those espe- 

were honest, fearfully in earnest, and cially interested in advancing the 

devoted to the service of the Holy cause of religion and planting the 

One, and these hard-visaged, solemn- Gospel in the New World. Religion 

minded old soldiers of the cross took and Law went hand in hand, and the 



54 



The Granite Monthly 



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

The first meeting-houses were 
owned by the town, and seats were 
allotted by a committee. Children 
were given the low benches in front 
and were made to feel that the house 
of God was truly an awful place. 
Vigilant and severe men were ap- 
pointed to keep strict watch, and 
nothing escaped their observation. 
These men were frequently armed 
with a club big enough to kill an ox, 
with a knob on one end and feathers 
or a foxtail on the other. This club 
absorbed the almost undivided atten- 
tion of "Young America" 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 health3^ 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 every 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 propriet3^ I will quote 
exactty 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 cutt, 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 wa'ong 
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 
pra5''er. 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 oi the old churches they 
seemed to hate, and a simplicity of 
the most severe type took deep root 
to choke out all forms of beauty in 
the New World. 

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



56 



The Granite Monthly 



but not for the strengthening of the 
divine hfe. 

The ancient worshipers, regardless 
of storms and snow, Avent long dis- 
tances frequently to the old meeting- 
houses upon the coldest hills, and 
in the fireless, forbidding, cheerless 
sanctuary worshiped as they did 
everything else with characteristic 
persistence and rigidit}', 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, whip]5ing 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 1657. The Quakers were as stub- 
born as the Puritans and sometimes 
seemed to enjoy their afflictions, as if 
they were accounted worthj^of stripes. 
So the very next year Holden and 
Copeland appear again, this time to 
lose their ears and get into prison. 
No Quaker escaped unnoticed. 
Many were pursued and suft'ercd 
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 he related. " 
At last, to his everlasting credit, the 
king of England interposed and bj'' 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 wa^'s, 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 difficultj^ 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 l^ap- 
tized in Boston: Pit}", 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, Hate, 
Evil and Holdfast. Many masculine 
names, enough to destroy a sensitive 
ear, 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 New 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 
1626 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 
Frey." Also, ''Snuffers of Divine 
Love," "Hooks and Eyes for be- 
lievers' breeches," "High heeled shoes 
for Dwarfs in holiness," "Cruiiibs 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 Charity 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 Fish." 
All of these works were laboriously 
prepared by their pious authors as 
Baxter prepared and published the 
confession of his faith in 1655 "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 
danger 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 



I have taken this brief mental ex- 
cursion to the olden days, not so much 
for entertainment as for instruction, 
if perchance there are some of my 
hearers who are not quite familiar 
with the ground over which we have 
so hastily traveled. To such as 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 ignorance 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 day 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 very first day 



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 
speedil}^ 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 Nevers Holmes 



There is a dipper in the sky, at 
least it looks hke 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. Now, 
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 w^ll 
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 dipper belongs is known 
as Ursa Major or the Greater Bear, 
and, forgetting for a moment that it 
resembles a dipper, we can imagine 
that it forms part 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 
firmamental 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 

Bij Fred Myron Colby 



Success will come to him who toils 

And thinks, and cares not for the fame 

He wins. The homage of an horn- 
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. 



I £ 



THE LAST NOTCH 



By Anabel 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 enjo}^ 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 me 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." 

" 0, 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 should n'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 
thev 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 your business?" 

"Yes." 

"Might one ask in what way?" 

"My business now is to help 
defend the colors you wear at j^our 
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 early in the morn- 
ing." 

"I don't seem able to grasp your 
statement Jim — wasn't it a very sud- 
den decision on 3'our 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 your long mirror, and 
see what I mean — oh child wake 
up!" 

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

With one last look Jim went. 



"Well, 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 
httle 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 Tproposals 
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 tear. 

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! 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 
July 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 & 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, 1906, he was united in mar- 
riage with Lily Owen, ]\I.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 stafT 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 N. H. Executive Council in 
1915-16. An extended biographical sketch 
of Colonel Carter appeared in the Granite 
Monthly for August, 1909. 

HON. WILLL\M M. CHASE 
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 80 years, having been born in Canaan, 
December 28, 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 1862, 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, clied 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. Sanborij 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 1884 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, Derry, 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, 1863, who died 



"64 



The Grcmite Monthly 



March 4, 1892. 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, Northwood, 
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 
ior many years, died at his home in Newfields, 
January 16, 1918. 

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



and was graduated from Harvard Medical 
School in 1857. He commenced practice in 
Chicago, but soon returned East, and located 
in Newfields in 1860, 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, 
1918. 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 New 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 iDe 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 ab.solutely 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, partj' 
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- 
crans W. Pillsbury, George H. Moses, Gov. 
H. W. Keyes and ex-Gov. Rolland H. Spauld- 
ing, with a strong possibility of further entries. 
The contest for the nomination promises to 
be a decidedly warm and interesting one. 




HON. HOLLAND H. SPAULDING 



The Granite Monthly 

Vol. L, Nos. 4-6 APRIL-JUNE, 1918 New Series, Vol. XIII, Nos. 4-6 

THE PUBLIC CAREER OF ROLLAND H. 

SPAULDING 

By An Occasional Contributor 

The public career of Rolland H. sition in which he detects dishonesty, 

Spaulding of Rochester, while com- chicanery or demagogism. 

paratively brief, has been so bril- Rugged honesty has been the sure 

liantly and exceptionally successful foundation upon which Spaulding 

that his many friends and admirers success in business has been built; 

have good warrant for their belief and Spaulding participation in public 

that it is to be further adorned with life could have no other basis and be 

new and higher honors and that its consistent with his personality and 

usefulness is to progress and increase his record. 

along ways of even broader oppor- Ancestry and training, heredity 

tunity for achievement and accom- and environment, have worked to- 

plishment. ' gether in his case to produce the same 

It is only a few years since Mr. result, a man typical of New England's 

Spaulding was called from his great best, alike in mind and heart, brain and 

and rapidly growing private business conscience. 

to take his place in the public affairs Rolland H. Spaulding was born in 

of state and nation; but during those Townsend Harbor, Mass., March 15, 

few years his ability and his courage, 1873, the son of Jonas and Emma C. 

his steadfast sincerity and his un- (Cummings) Spaulding, the family 

wavering desire and determination to lines of both his father and his mother 

serve the public good and that alone going back to the beginnings of New 

have entrenched him in the hearts England history and including sol- 

and in the confidence of the people at diers, farmers, teachers, preachers 

large to a degree without parallel in and business men in their roster, 

the political history of the state. He was educated at Phillips Academy, 

The secret of his success is simple: Andover, Mass., preferring, as did 

He knows what is right and he dares his older brothers, Leon and Huntley, 

to do it. And, moreover, he will not to make an early start in business 

be driven or led, pushed or pulled, with their father, rather than to at- 

bullied or coaxed, into doing anything tend college. 

which he does not believe to be right. That business was a prosperous, 
Show him a worthy cause, a public but not large, leather-board mill in 
benefit, a forward step to be taken, an Townsend Harbor, which in a very 
injustice to be remedied and you will few years proved too small to con- 
have his prompt and powerful aid; tain the activities of the three young 
but he will be just as prompt to op- men and they went up into New 
pose, without thought of personal Hampshire at North Rochester to 
consequences to himself, any propo- begin to branch out for themselves. 



68 



The Granite Monthly 



Today they have half a dozen sep- 
arate plants in four states and m 
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 
Spaulding 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 Spaulding 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 party 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 
poHtical 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. Spaulding although he believed 
sincerely in many of its principles. 
He chose, rather, to remain within the 
Republican partj^ 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 party 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 RoUand 
H. Spaulding of Rochester and his 
nomination in the Republican prim- 
ary by a plurality of 4,607 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. Spauldijig 



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 
manner. 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 $32,000 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 more popular with those who came 
executive council. On these occasions to know him best, with those with 
he did not dodge, flinch or swerve, whom he was in closest contact, 
but stood by his guns in the Many there were who urged him to 
open. In every instance he went to break New Hampshire's unwise prec- 
the people with a public statement edent and become a candidate for a 
of the case and their verdict was in second term as governor, but such 
his favor. His three legislative vetoes was not his desire, 
received a majority vote in their sup- He was content to relinquish the 
port, and in his controversies with his reins of office at the end of his two 
council over certain appointments years and to turn over to his suc- 
the opinion of the state as voiced by cessor a state treasury better filled; 
the press was on his side. a state government better manned; 
It was hard for many people, es- a more efficient administrative ma- 
pecially politicians, to believe that chine doing more useful work than 
Governor Spaulding in making ap- when he assumed office, 
pointments was actuated solely — as Not only in his strictly official 
certainly he was — by a desire to se- duties, but in the many outside de- 
cure efficiency in the office to be mands upon a chief executive, Mr. 
filled. He sanctioned the removal Spaulding proved himself an excel- 
from office of one of his personal lent governor. Whenever it was 
friends, not because the man was a possible for him to do so without 
Democrat, but because the governor neglecting the affairs of state, Gov- 
believed it to be for the advantage of ernor Spaulding made it a point to 
the state to have a very efficient Re- accept invitations to occasions and 
publican official restored to the place gatherings where the presence of the 
from which a Democratic administra- head of the state was desired and de- 
tion had ousted him. He named sirable. There his pleasure at meet- 
a Republican politician to one of the ing his fellow citizens and their 
most important places within his wives and children was so evidently 
gift, not because the man was a sincere that his friendship was re- 
Republican and a politician, but be- turned in full measure and to the 
cause in the past he had proved him- high esteem which his official acts 
self peculiarly well adapted to the gained for him throughout the state 
duties of the position. He insisted was added a remarkable degree of 
upon keeping Democrats in some personal popularity Avhich still en- 
offices for which they had shown es- dures. 

pecial fitness; Commissioner of Agri- In his speeches on these occasions, 
culture Felker, for instance, and as well as in his addresses to the 
Judge Clancy of the Nashua district legislature and other formal utter- 
court; but where he was convinced ances. Governor Spaulding made no 
that the efficiency of the office could attempts at oratory. He soon came 
be increased and improved he had no to be known as one whose speeches 
hesitation in replacing Democrats were sure to he brief and to the point, 
with Republicans. always conveying clearly and con- 
Business methods and political in- cisely a worth while message. This 
dependence were the two chief was true, also, of his gubernatorial 
characteristics of Governor Spaulding . proclamations and other official doc- 
as a chief executive; but he also was uments. Whenever and whatever 
well known as a hard working gov- Governor Spaulding says or writes, 
ernor; a governor, to whom access he never leaves any doubt as to his 
was easy; a governor who was a meaning in the mind of the person 
kindly, thoughtful, generous gentle- addressed. That always is his in- 
man. No chief executive ever was tention and it is easv for him to 



The Public Career of Rolland H. Spaulding 71 

carry it out because he says what he from the office of governor at the close 
thinks and ])eheves and does not have of his two year term was made the 
to search for language with which to occasion for editorial comment of the 
conceal his real meaning or mental most favorable character by the news- 
attitude in relation to any question, papers of the state upon his record 
Honesty is his motto in words as well as New Hampshire's chief executive, 
as in deeds. It was then said and has been re- 
^During his term of office Governor peated often that the state could not 
Spaulding became well known in spare him from her service and that 
public life without the state as well as his experience as governor must be 
within it. He attended the confer- utilized as having fitted him for most 
ence of governors at Boston in 1915 useful work at another capitol, that 
and presided over one of its sessions of the nation, at Washington, 
and the next year he addressed the Governor Spaulding, however, made 
similar gathering held at Washington, all preparations for returning to 

The services of Mr. Spaulding to private life and giving renewed at- 

the state were suitably recognized by tention to his own interests. But the 

its two principal educational institu- entrance of this country into the world 

tions, Dartmouth College conferring war changed his plans as it did those 

upon him the honorary degree of of so many others. During his term 

Master of Arts and New Hampshire as governor Mr. Spaulding had lent 

College that of Doctor of Laws. As the weight of his official position and 

an ex officio member of the boards of had given freely of his own time, 

trustees of both institutions he mani- money and efforts to the work of 

fested a constant and lively interest relief for the Belgian refugees and 

in their affairs which has continued other sufferers from the early years 

beyond his term of office and which of the great conflict, 

highly gratifies their graduates and With America in the war there was 

other friends. need for more of this- work, and for 

Comment has been made in this other greater endeavors as well, 

article upon the fact that in matters When the New Hampshire Com- 

pohtical Governor Spaulding and a mittee on Public Safety was formed 

majority of his executive council did ex-Governor Spaulding was made a 

not always agree. This is true, but member of its executive committee 

it should be added that in matters of and vice-chairman. In this capacity 

the state's business they usually did he has been faithful in attendance 

agree and to much effect for the state's upon the meetings of the committee 

advantage. Under their joint di- and has proved a very valuable mem- 

rection the appearance of the state ber because of his wide experience in 

house and its grounds was very much certain lines of its work, 

improved. The work upon the state Of the great Red Cross drives in 

highways never was more carefully New Hampshire for members and for 

watched. Rare good sense was ex- funds Mr. Spaulding has been the 

ercised in the matter of pardons from chairman, and their remarkable suc- 

state prison and in other relations cess, it is generally acknowledged, has 

between the executive department been due in no small part to the 

and the state institutions. And, wonderfully thorough and efficient 

finally, in such financial matters as organization with which he has cov- 

the settlement of the Nesmith es- ered the state. As a district chairman 

tate tangle the advantage of an ex- and member of the executive com- 

pert business administration of the mittee in the Liberty Loan and Red 

state's affairs was made strikingly Triangle campaigns he has had equal 

manifest. success; and when the full history of 

The retirement of Mr. Spaulding New 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. H. 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 1860, 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 WiUiam 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 O. 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; sergeant-at-arms, Walter J. A. 
Ward, Hillsborough; doorkeepers, 
Guy S. Neal, Ac worth, 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, Derry; 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 




HON. HOSEA W. PARKER, Temporary President 



The balance of the first day, after 
organization, was devoted to an at- 
tempt on the part of IVIr. 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 
once, 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- 




HON. ALBERT O. BROWN, President 



The Constitutional Convention 



75 



ing having been disposed of, and sev- 
eral proposed amendments presented 
and referred, the Convention went 
into Committee of the Whole, with 
Mr. Snow of Rochester in the chair, 
on the Lyford amendment, which was 
debated at^ length, and finally de- 
feated by a' decisive majority in com- 
mittee, i and immediately after in 
Convention. 



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 




HON. 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 
of 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, Lyford 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 and Executive 
Department — Streeter of Concord, 
Hall of Dover, Buxton of Boscawen, 
Cavanaugh of Manchester, Pattee of 
Manchester, Gaffney of Nashua, 
Jacobs of Lancaster, Bartlett of Han- 
over, Bowker of Whitefield, Howard 
of Portsmouth, Towne of Franklin, 
Charron of Claremont, Meader 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 Laconia. 

Legislative Department — 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, McAlhster (Geo. I.) 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, L^pton 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, Pettee of 
Durham, Smith of Haverhill, Doe of 
Somersworth, 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 Derry, 
Lawrence of Haverhill, Jones of Leba- 
non, Craig of Marlow, Emerson of 
Milford, Hull of Bedford, Rogers of 
Pembroke, Morrison of Peterborough, 
Young of Easton, 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, 
Hoyt of Sandwich, Beede of Mere- 
dith, Hill of Plaistow, Morse of Lit- 
tleton, Dow of Manchester, Angell of 
Derry, Farmer of Hampton Falls, 
Hayden of Hollis, 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 "Evangehcal" 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 Maj^ 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 M. 
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 New 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 busy professional life, to 
pause once ia 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 
hke 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 New 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 words 
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 b}^ 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 todaj^ the portraits of the Hons. 
Harry Bingham, Lewis W. Fling, 
George H. Adams, William H. Mitch- 



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

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




Hon. William H. Sawyer 



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



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

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



An Interesting Occasion 79 

his kindness, and if to have loved a resignation in 1891. Once only, in 

man as a father because one can re- 1892, he served his constituency in 

member no other, gives one a right to Ward 4, Concord, as Representative 

speak a word concerning a lost friend, to the Legislature, but undoubtedly 

then I may even claim such privilege because the work was more to his 

as my own. liking he was delegate from the same 

To be born of worthy but poor Ward to the Constitutional Conven- 

parents in the midst of hard circum- tions of 1902 and 1912. 

stances and the lack of ready ad- From a training of thirty-eight ar- 

vantage, and then by inherent ability duous years at the Bar, where he had 

and untiring industry attain a posi- taken a notable place in much of the 

tion in the administration of our laws important litigation in the state, com- 

requiring such qualities of head and plemented by a participation in busi- 

heart as are possessed or can be at- ness matters of the greatest moment, 

tained by a few only, and in that posi- he was called to the Superior Court 

tion to be accorded the universal judg- Bench, and assumed his duties Octo- 

ment of conspicuous success, and in ber 1, 1910. 

dying to commend the attention and As an earnest admirer of Judge 

the expression of the affection and the Mitchell, and jealous of his good 

heartfelt sense of loss of an entire name, I have taken pains to learn the 

state, is the brief story of his life. estimation in which he was held for 

Many of you present knew Judge his work upon the Bench during his 
Mitchell for a long time before I did, career there, which was all too short, 
and many of his accomplishments It has been the absolutely unani- 
that are biography only to me were mous judgment that from the first 
personally known to you. Born here day of his service he was a great 
in the town of Plymouth, July 6, 1849, judge. Of the certainty of his success 
his parents soon removed to Derby, there could well be no doubt. No 
Vermont, whence John M. Mitchell man in our times ever springs full- 
came to Littleton to enter the law armed, without preparation, to the 
office of Harry and George A. Bing- necessities of a great work. But in 
ham, in September, 1870, and where the case of Judge Mitchell, the prep- 
he staj^ed unti' his removal to Con- aration was there. It had come 
cord in June, 1881. It should be through the two score years of study 
stated that before he left Derby he and of meeting men in earnest con- 
laid the foundation of his education tests over things big and htt'e. It had 
by short term attendance in Derby come through countless arguments to 
Academy, and by service as Super- the jury, and the preparation and 
intendent of the Schools of the town presentation of countless arguments 
for two years between the ages of to the Law Court. It had come be- 
nineteen and twentj^-one. Likewise^ cause he had added to the instincts of 
in Derby he was a student of the law, a warm and sympathetic heart the 
registered in the office of Edwards view-points of all sorts and conditions 
and Dickerman. of men, in all the walks of life. He 

Judge Mitchell was so devoted to was prepared to be a great judge 
his profession, that I can never be- because from the first of his ripening 
lieve that he ever sought for public years he had participated in the 
office. However, early in his legal greatest study of mankind, which is 
career, he served as solicitor of Graf- man. He knew human nature, 
ton County — this was in 1879, seven May I suggest a few characteristics, 
years after his admission to the Bar. which I believe mark, and hence make 
in 1888, he was appointed Democratic up, the man? His kindness was ex- 
member of the Board of Railroad treme, but was never for display. I 
Commissioners, and served until his have personally never known a man 



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^^^F^ ''j^^^^l 



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 delicac}^ 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 ^uit, 
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 wealth}- 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 

2 



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 lawj^er 
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 wayfarer lightened, a large circle of 

roj^al, — his carefulness as to punctua- friends made better, a strong man's 

tion, and his avoidance of the un- full portion of the world's work ac- 

thinkable heres}^ of a misquotation, complished, the ancient precept to 

A more tireless worker I have never "Do justly to love mercy, and to 

known! I knew the care with which walk humbly" with one's God, made 

he composed some of his charges to a living fact in a man's life, and to 

the jury, and the dehcate weighing of have fought the good fight that 

the evidence in court cases. There is stretches all the way from babyhood 

in my possession the charge to the to the grave. 

Grand Jury as he first gave it upon So to us who knew and loved him, 
his ascendency to the Bench, and what he still lives, though his visible pres- 
I have said about his unusually high- ence is withdrawn. The body per- 
minded regard for the law, often ishes, — what of it? 
passionately and vehemently ex- 
pressed, runs through this like a "This body is my house, 
golden thread. I hope in some way It is not I; 
this charge may be put into perma- Triumphant in this faith 
nent form as a contribution to the I live and die." 
state. 

These I think are merely honest Judge Sawyer: The Chief Justice 
statements of Judge Mitchell's par- has desired me to express his regrets 
ticular characteristics as a lawyer, in being unable to be here today, 
It is but the bare statement of a fact which would have been particularly 
that in his private life no unworthy appropriate, and it was his earnest 
act or deed tarnished the pure, white desire to have been here, but the 
standard by which he chose to live, urgencies of the Court at Manchester 
No period of his life could make a have prevented it, and he desired me 
greater appeal to his friends and inti- to present his regrets. The same may 
mates than the last months, when, be said of Brother Daley of Berlin, 
almost like a soul apart, especially whom I expressly desired to have 
after the death of Mrs. Mitchell, a been here today, as there was some- 
woman of rare gentleness and beauty thing regarding Judge Mitchell that I 
of character, he grieved and worked, earnestly desired him to tell the Bar. 
until in the midst of grief and work Brother Daley said his first acquaint- 
his remaining strength was beaten ance with Judge Mitchell was in 1883 
down, and so the fine, heroic soul when he was a student in the office of 
passed away, March 4, 1913. Hay ward & Hay ward of Lancaster — 

"If a man die shall he live again?" that was his first close acquaintance; 

is the query old as Job. Because, he had met him casually in Grafton 

however, the Kingdom of God is County — but he was admitted to the 

within us, because Heaven com- Bar at that time and after his ad- 

mences now, because Immortality is mittance he received a letter from 

from the very beginning, then we Judge Mitchell saying to him, "You 

filing back into empty space the have recently spoken to me of the 

thoughtless words that say such a fact that you have not acquired any 

man is ever dead. We believe, not librarj^ as yet; there is a lawyer 

with the ancient orator, but consistent in the southern part of the state" (I 

with a more optimistic philosophy, think his name was Burbank) who was 

that the good a man does lives after planning to go away and Brother 

him forever and a day. Mitchell said to Brother Daley in 

This, then, is the man ! The farmer that letter, " The New Hampshire Re- 
boy's ambition to rise above the aver- ports, the General Laws, Town Officer 
age fulfilled, the burden of many a 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 New 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 Dalej^ 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. CuMMiNGS, 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 
this, 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 copy 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 lawj'er 
that ranked head and shoulders with 
the leaders of the bars of the state, but 



such is the past and such is the pres- 
ent. Chief among the jurists of New 
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, w^hose 
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 this 
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 who 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 ver}' 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 
Goodall, the daughter of Ira Goodall, 
who was of the great firm of Goodall 
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 Wilham 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 his 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 his 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 
"Now I wash 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 Interesting Occasion 85 

client to Carpenter and his advice, that revokition, judicial revolution by 

his examination to get at the facts of judicial authority, and not by the 

the case, and his advice were all open help of the Legislature, produced — 

to us. how it was discussed. 

Now as a lawyer, I think perhaps In addition to his being a great law- 
the most striking quality was his yer, Carpenter was, I think, the best 
power of concentration upon any sub- student, scholar, that we have ever 
ject in hand and a tremendous power had at the Bar. It would seem strange 
of cross examination. I think the to you, gentlemen, to know that he 
older men of the Bar will justify me not only kept up his Latin, familiarly 
in saying that there was no more skil- kept it up, but he also kept up his 
ful cross examiner to get at the truth Greek. Now I don't think he could 
than Judge Carpenter. Another thing speak either Italian, Spanish or Ger- 
he excelled in to a marked degree, and man, but he certainly kept up his 
that you younger men at the Bar may knowledge of those subjects and read, 
perhaps remember with profit, — he and apparently with interest, books 
felt that the opening statement to the in each of those languages. Also he 
jury was the most important part of was a great lover of mathematics, and 
the case. He has told me many times I have seen him when he got "tuck- 
"If I can open the case to the jury ered" and tired and worn out, I have 
and get the first hack at them I don't seen him take down from a little shelf 
care who argues it." He opened his over his desk in the corner of the fire- 
cases with the greatest particularity place, his geometry and take and fig- 
and anticipated in his opening every ure a problem in geometry and work 
possible defence that could be sug- it out. There are very few members 
gested by the other side. of the Bar that can do that. 

I feel a good deal like reviewing Now one of the most striking things, 
some of the things that happened in most striking. quaUties, was his con- 
tliis very group of men. Judge Mitch- sideration for others and his sense of 
ell was just coming to the Bar, he was humor. He had a sense of humor that 
four years my senior, he was with floated him over the most troublesome 
Harry Bingham. I refer to that revo- things, where some of us without a 
lution in the practice which was car- sense of humor get lost. One of the 
ried on by Judge Doe without any first illustrations of his consideration 
legislative system; the absolute revo- of others that I remember — -Attorney- 
lution of the practice at the Bar which General Eastman was with him in the 
was begun in 1876 — he went on to the office, it was in 1876, and under the 
Bench (didn't he?), the second time in old bankruptcy form there were three 
1876 — and I tell you, you younger lines left, "to the matter of" and 
men of the Bar, that it was a very coming next "The name of the man" 
painful procedure, and this group of then right under that "Bankrupt," 
men, including John Mitchell who they all ended on the same line, and 
was very much younger of course, but then there was a brace — -if Dr. Dunn 
Carpenter and Harry Bingham espe- wasn't here I should say it was a Sun- 
cially held caucuses on some of those day morning we were in the office, and 
newest decisions, and while they were Eastman had been preparing a bank- 
both good men, they had a great com- ruptcy paper and Eastman had drawn 
mand of language, not only sacred but a brace so that it didn't look much 
somewhat profane, and those men got like a brace; it wasn't very good shape, 
together and discussed this last per- and he passed it over to Carpenter 
forniance of Doe's. Doe would have and Carpenter began to jolly him and 
such and such a case, they would re- laugh at him and so on, and finally 
view it, and I happened to be in a Eastman got mad and I will never 
position where I realized the pain that 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 my 
friends sitting along here don't have 
trouble — every time he got into 
trouble, he would think of a stoiy, 
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 you 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 
many 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, the}^ 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, "I 
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 



8- 



daughter — she wants one down on the 
broad hill side where she can get a 
good 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 : 

"Resolved, That the Bar of Grafton County 
accept with deep gratitude the portrait of the 
late Hon. Chief Justice Alonzo P. Carpenter, 
which has been presented by Mr. and Mrs. 
Frank S. Streeter, 6i Concord; which will ever 
remain upon the walls of tliis Coiu-t 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 Bing- 
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. 

Hon. James W. Remick: May it 
please the Court and Brothers of the 
Bar — ^Nothing 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 New 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, Poin- 
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 Csesar, Theodoric II, 



88 The Granite Monthly 

Frederick the Great and Napoleon. "The Federahst," and with the Ed- 
Each of these men dreamed a dream mimds, the Thurmans, and the Sher- 
of a world empire. They failed. I mans of modern days. As a scholar 
have dreamed a dream of a German and philosopher, he was a marvel to 
world empire, and my mailed fist all who were admitted into his life of 
shall succeed" — and who, to achieve study and contemplation. For virility 
that object, has made the world a of mind, breadth of vision, and wealth 
human slaughter-house and himself of learning, he belonged to the highest 
the arch-butcher of mankind, and classification. 

then invoked God in justification —  To those who find his measure in 

I say, it was to be expected that such the offices he held, and the attention 

a one would have contempt for every- he attracted in the nation at large, 

thing savoring of justice and every- our estimate may seem exaggerated, 

body having to do with the admin- Indeed, his fame was in no way com- 

istration of justice. Had I known mensurate with his ability. This 

before accepting the invitation to argues nothing against the latter, 

speak here today that the Kaiser Reputation, as has been well said, 

held such opinions about law and is "Oft won without merit and lost 

lawyers, I might have dechned. As without deserving." It should not 

it is, I see no way but to go forward be confounded with character, nor 

with my part of the program, notwith- political notoriety mistaken for true 

standing his majesty's sentiments. greatness. "The grasshoppers make 

I count it the most fortunate cir- the fields ring with their importunate 

cumstance in my own humble career chinks, while the great cattle chew the 

at the Bar that it was begun in the cud and are silent." By means of 

home town of those legal giants, wealth, brazen self-assertion, political 

Harry and George A. Bingham, and craftiness and snare-drum eloquence, 

at a time when they were in the full hundreds of men were famous in his 

strength and maturity of their power, day, as so-called politicians and 

The pleasure of self-conscious impor- statesmen, who were not worthy to 

tance, which is sometimes the privilege unloose the latchets of his shoes, 

of the young lawyer in a country Wealth, position and reputation are 

community, was impossible in as- but the trappings of circumstance, 

sociation with these men. On the The true test of a man is the measure 

contrary, to such a one their towering and quality of his mind, heart and 

eminence gave a depressing sense of soul. 

insignificance and obscurity. In the Harry Bingham was never a sen- 
shadow of their greatness, it was for ator of the United States, but he was 
him to be a sort of chore-boy in the immeasurably greater than many who 
profession. But for all the depriva- have been and are, and no one will 
tions for which they were responsible, question that he was worthy to be. 
in the way of early recognition and To deserve a high office is a dignity 
youthful conceits, they compensated to which no man has attained who has 
a thousandfold by the lasting in- simply secured it. 
spiration and helpfulness of their Those who, conscious of his power, 
example and association. stood by him in his last hours, and 

Harry Bingham was at once lawyer, saw the great light fade and go out, 

statesman, scholar, sage and phi- may well ask, in view of the scant 

losopher. As a lawyer, he was worthy visible reward and apparent end of 

to sit with the great men who adorn all, "What profit hath a man of all 

the Supreme Court of the United his labor?" 

States. As a statesman, he belonged As a result of his work, Harry 

with those who, in earlier times, Bingham's mental horizon embraced 

fashioned the republic and wrote 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 — as 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. B3' 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 deUverance 
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 
hstener. 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 without touch of the Kaiser kind of 
that he even so far relaxed as to kingUness, made up of moustache 
engage to any considerable extent and egotism, blasphemy and bru- 
in historical, political, or philosoph- tality. 

ical reading. The seductions of so- I am sure you unite with me in 

ciety and the charms of nature could reciprocating the Kaiser's contempt 

not lure him from his cases; night and and in paying tribute to such great 

day, year in and year out, he plodded and noble exemplars of our profession, 
on in life-destroying consecration to 

his calling. Raymond U. Smith, Esq.: I ask 

If, hke his distinguished brother, he leave to offer the following resolu- 

had sought more of change and re- tions and ask their adoption: 
laxation in political, philosophical 

and historical reading and contem- ''/^foZM That the thanks of the Grafton 

, ,. 1-1 1 • r X County Bar be extended Mr. Justice George 

plation; or like his former partner, h. Bingham of the Circuit Courts of Appeals, 

Judge Aldrich, he had now and then and to his sisters, Miss Helen Bingham and 

put aside his briefs and cases and Mrs. Walsh, for the portraits of their late 

found near to nature's heart, in father, Mr Justice George A Bmgham and 

~ , 1 ,1 1 , 1 lii of their Uncle, the late Hon. Harry Bmgham, 

forest and on lake and stream, health- ^.hom the Bar loved and respected, 

giving sport and recreation, — I be- " /ge.soZyed, That the Clerk be instructed to 

lieve his majestic figure would be record these resolutions on the records of the 

towering in our midst today instead ?o^'"t' ^^^ to transmit a copy thereof to Mr. 

J. 1 . -J. 1 1 Justice Bingham, Miss Bingham and Mrs. 

oi sleeping, as it does, over yonder. Walsh." 

But that unyielding persistency 

which broke natural limitations and Judge Sawyer: The resolutions 
made him the leader of men of greater will be received and unless objection 
genius, had fixed upon him a habit of is made they will be unanimously 
work, from which the attractions of adopted and are so adopted, 
life could not lure nor the apprehen- 
sions of death terrify. Nature is kind to some men; it 

More than five years before he died, was kind to Judge Bingham in pro- 
he was admonished by failing health longing his life so long; and when it 
of the necessity of diversion and rest, is kind, and we meet one of the mem- 
but, impotent to resist the force and bers of our profession who is on the 
momentum of habit, he worked on western slope, going down into the 
almost to the hour of. his death. deep valley, and who has come to 

He was a strong lawyer, an able a ripened old age, and whose faculties 

judge, and an exemplary husband, are clear, it is indeed a pleasure to 

father and fellow-citizen. No ec- associate with him and listen to his 

centricity marred the outline of his experiences. Of the members of the 

character. His manhood was stained Bar whom it has been my pleasure 

by no excess. In all the relations of to know, who have passed into the 

life, he was a dignified and wholesome great beyond, there was none to me 

gentleman. No higher tribute than more pleasing than the dear old man, 

this could be paid to any man. Mr. Fling of Bristol. He told me at 

Never was maternal love more one time he had attended one hundred 

richly rewarded than in the birth and and twenty terms of Court in this 

life of the brothers, Harry, George county without missing one. It was 

and Edward Bingham. Three sons, my pleasure to call upon him at his 

and every one a king among his fel- home in Bristol two years ago this 

lows — kingly in stature, pose and summer, and there to review with 

step; kingly in eye, voice and ges- him many of the instances of his 

ture; kingly in mind and soul and early practice and to look over with 

will and character — but, thank God, 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 186-4 and 1874. 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 Esquire Sargent, a lawyer practising 
in 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 
Wentworth and 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 countj^ 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 l)e 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 RepubHcan or a Whig 
town, as it was then, he was not 
favored with local office, although he 
was always the leader of liis party in 
that town. In 1871 and again in 1872, 
when the Republican rule was over- 
thrown, he was elected a member of the 
Senate, and was a member of the Com- 
mittee on Judiciary during both ses- 
sions, and its chairman during one 
session. In those days when there 
were only twelve members, and the 
Senate was about equally divided be- 
tween Republicans and Democrats, 
one man's influence was very great. 
The importance of his assignment to 
committees attests the respect with 
which he was regarded. This was, I 
think, all of the political career that 
he enjoyed. He was favored at that 
time by receiving the degree of Master 



92 



The Granite Monthly 



of Arts from Dartmouth College. A 
similar degree was also conferred 
upon Hon. Daniel Barnard at the 
same time. Mr. Barnard and Mr. 
Fling while frequently opposed to 
each other in court, were yet very 
great friends. I 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 1881, a rela- 
tion which lasted until 1894 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 could 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 jvuy he was a 
formidable antagonist, adroit, tactful 
and resourceful. 

Owing to the evenness of his 



An Interesting Occasion 



93 



temperament and habit of throwing 
off the care and business of Ufe at 
evening and passing tliat 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 Countj^ and per- 
haps of the state of New Hampshire. 
He was kindly cared for during his 
last 3^ears by his son and daughter, 
who are with us today. His son, 
Charles Fhng 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 l^e 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 
Countj^ Bar be extended to Charles ^^'. Fling of 
Bristol, and to his sister, Mrs. Eva Fellows of 
Bana:or, 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 Saw^yer: The resolutions 
offered by Mr. Hibbard are received 
and imless 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 Hampshire 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, INIrs. 
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 1 etter — 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 feehng 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 Tilton Sem- 
inary, graduating from there in 1868, 
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- north country in that period. He 
perience grew out of association did not have the temerity to class 
with these great men, of whom we himself as one of them, as a peer 
have heard this afternoon so well, with them, but to be associated with 
His history, I think Your Honor, is them and to speak of them as as- 
not dimmed by the record of his as- sociates of his in his daily life, was 
sociates, who stood in their sphere one of the rich things he enjoyed. I 
for certain things which go to make think his admiration for Harry Bing- 
great lawyers. Judge Batchellor ham amounted almost to idolatry, 
stood in his sphere for those things He told me that he believed, if cir- 
and other things which go to make cumstances had adjusted themselves 
great lawyers and good men. so that Harry Bingham could have en- 
It is unnecessary to say that a man tered the Legislative Halls of the 
of his calibre was honored in his town United States his name and fame 
by almost every office he could hold, would have been handed down from 
In addition, he served as Solicitor of generation to generation among the 
Grafton County shortly after he was people of this country. And Harry 
admitted to the Bar, represented the Bingham's thoughts and philosophy, 
town of Littleton many times in the to a large extent, impressed them- 
Legislature, and became a member of selves upon Judge Batchellor's na- 
the Governor's Council in 1887 and ture, naturally, because he admired 
1888. For many years he served him as one man may admire another, 
faithfully and efficiently as Justice of I first became acquainted with 
the Littleton Municipal Court, Trus- Judge Batchellor during my senior 
tee of the State Librar}^ and as a year in College. His son and I were 
member of the Public Printing Com- in the same class in Dartmouth, 
mission. In 1890 he was appointed Judge Batchellor came down from 
State Historian, an office which he Littleton to attend our Commence- 
held until his death, and the work of ment exercises, and he was invited to 
which I really think gave him the speak to the class at our banquet, 
greatest delight of his life. He edited The magnetism of the man, I think, 
several volumes of the New Hamp- may well be illustrated when I say 
shire State Papers and of the Laws of that, after he had finished, the boys 
New Hampshire during the Provin- rose as a unit and voted him a mem- 
cial period, wrote many historical ber of the class of 1905, and he joined 
pamphlets and treatises, and prob- us, sat at the table with us and re- 
ably no man ever lived who possessed mained one of us. That thing, of 
such accurate and thorough knowl- itself, shows the way he impressed not 
edge of the history of his State as he. only men of his own age, but the 
He was intensely proud of New younger men. That is the way he 
Hampshire, and intensely proud of impressed me. It was only shortly 
being an American. His opinion on after that, — I think it was in the fall 
matters of history was widely sought of 1905 or the early part of 1906, — 
by the foremost historians of the that I received a letter from his 
country. His attainments as lawyer son — I had then commenced to study 
and scholar were well recognized by law — saying his father had lost his 
Dartmouth College in 1910 when he eyesight, and asking me if I would 
was the recipient of the honorary de- consider coming to Littleton to do his 
gree of D.Litt. reading and writing for him, while I 
He took particular pride in belong- was obtaining my legal education, 
ing to that group of men to whom It was really, it seemed to me, an 
General Streeter and Judge Remick unusual opportunity for a young man, 
have referred, — that great group of and I accepted at once. I went to 
giants, which seemed to rise in that Littleton and entered his office, ex- 



An Interesting Occasion 



95 



peeling to find a man who had gone 
bhnd, 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 
anj-thing 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 an\i:hing 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: 

"Received, 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 Mo7ithly 



state; and who merited and received the 
esteem and confidence 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. 
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 his fellow members of the Bar, 
as he alwaj's 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. 
Cla3^ 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. 



Hon. 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 1877. 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 1882 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 body. 
From 1889 to '96, he was Sohcitor 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 
Almy; 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 Repubhcan 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 



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. " " Well 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. Wilham 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, whose 
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 
whose 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 Cla}', 
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. 
Clav." 



98 



The Granite Mojithly 



Judge Sawyer: The resolutions 
offered by Brother Hosford will be 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 3'ounger men, 
were accustomed to see that genial 
whole-souled man, George H. Adams, 
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.] 

Hon. 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 



All Interesting Oecasion 



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 early 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. 

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



" Resolved, 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- 
wbrth will speak of Mr. Webster, 

Hon. Alvin 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, 1805, 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. Gill)ert 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 his views of the case. 
"I made," said Webster, "my first 
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 Harnpshire 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 be conscious when he was actually 

man to have made on such a career,, dying, and on the morning of October 

but it is said that it fitly representee! 24th, 1852, just before he breathed his 

IVIr. Webster's feelings as the end of last, he roused from an uneasy sleep, 

life approached. His last years were struggled for consciousness, and ejacu- 

not his most fortunate and still less lated, " I still live. " 

his best years. I wish to offer the following resolu- 

If Mr. Webster's moral power had tions and move their adoption : 
ecjualled his intellectual greatness, he 

would have had no rival in our history, "Resolved, That the Bar of Grafton County 
but this combination and balance are ^^P^''^^^ *» ¥r?- Marie Hodges, its gratitude 
J.J , xi 1 n + ) ^^^ appreciation ot the nne engraving of 
so rare tnat tney are narcuy to oe America's foremost statesman, Daniel Web- 
found in perfection among sons of men. ster, whose portrait is now hanging upon the 

The very fact of his greatness made walls of this Court room, so close to the hum- 

his failings all the more dangerous and ^\ building where his eloquent tongue and 

t , , rn I 1 r 1 1 I j-i melodious voice nrst plead in behalf of a client, 

unfortunat^ To be blinded by the -Resolved, That the Clerk be instructed to 

splendor ot his fame and the lustre of record these resolutions on the records of the 

his achievements and prate about the Court, and to transmit a copy thereof to Mrs. 

sin of belitting a great man is the Hodges." 

falsest philosophy and the meanest to r^>^ , • 

cant. The only thing worth having, J'^^'^f ?-^wyer: The resolutions 

in historv, as in life, is truth; and we o^^^!^^ ^^ Brother Wentworth will be 

do wroni on our part, to ourselves, received and unless objection is made 

and to our posterity, if we do not ^^^^y will be unanimously adopted, 

strive to render simple justice always. ^ ^^^ ^^ adopted. 
We can forgix^e the errors and sorrow 

for the faults of our great ones gone; Let me at this time say to those who 

we cannot afford to hide or forget have been of so much assistance to the 

their shortcomings. Court in gathering these portraits 

His last wish seemed to have been that I desire to express to them my 

granted, and that was that he might hearty 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. 

I 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 the 
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 

* This 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 be 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 milhon 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 boj^s 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 $300,000, 
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 
ready 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 New 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 



104 



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 
authoi'ities 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. \\ hen 
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 
on Public 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 War 



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 
Red Cross organization have all its 
local branches working systematically 
and harmoniously to raise this funcl, 
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. 

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. 
This is done in the present war by the 
Y. 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 New 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 New Hamp- 
shire has had the opportunity of con- 
tributing money to the support of 
this organization which has been so 
beneficial to New Hampshire boys. 
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 
New Hampshire contributed more 
than $27,000,000 in the first two 
loans and $17,282,-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 104,000. 

Onh^ 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 b}' 
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 really 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 for 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. 



Another matter of considerable im- 
portance has been placed in the hands 
of private citizens. A shortage in 
coal was at first threatened and later 
became actual. A citizen of the state 
was appointed fuel administrator to 
represent the national fuel adminis- 
tration. The New Hampshire ad- 
ministrator has i ppointed represent- 
atives in all important positions in 
the state. To these representatives 
has been assigned the duty of en- 
deavoring to conserve the coal which 
has already come to the state, to se- 
cure an equitable distribution of that 
which may come in hereafter, to see 
to it that a fair standard of prices is 
maintained, and in any other manner 
possible to obtain an adequate supply 
of fuel for the coming winter. This 
department bears a resemblance to 
the work of the food administration 
in the fact that it also possesses actual 
power of regulation. The fuel ad- 
ministrator has been granted the 
right to fix prices, just as the food ad- 
ministrator possesses, as one of his 
duties, supervision over the retail 
trade to the extent of forbidding ex- 
cessive profits. Since there appears 
to be no prospect of immediate relief 
from the shortage of coal, the coal ad- 
ministrator has undertaken, with the 
help of the Committee on Public 
Safety and the State Forestry De- 
partment, to induce the owners of 
wood throughout the state to cut a 
sufficient quantity of wood to com- 
pensate for the lack of coal. 

It is also new in the history of war- 
fare that civilians have been desig- 
nated almost exclusively to secure an 
army for the government. In this 
war, the greater part of those who 
have enlisted in New Hampshire have 
been induced to do so through vol- 
untary civilian agencies, or through 
draft boards composed of private 
citizens. The Committee on Public 
Safety appointed a recruiting com- 
mittee which conducted rallies in 
order to bring the National Guard 
and the regular army up to war 
strength. A most systematic organ- 
ization existed and systematic pub- 



108 



The Grajiite 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. When 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 Avill be 
necessary for tlie 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 cjuotas 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 navy and army recruiting 



stations are still in operation and are 
now rapidly getting recruits for these 
two branches of the service. 

Early in the year 1917 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 tlie 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 conservaticn 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 $3,000,000. 
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^ that the existence of a vig- 
orous Red Cross movement was of 
value in enlistin i 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 



state information upon war activi- 
ties, regulations and the duties of 
citizens, and to inspire the citizens 
to a sense of their responsibiUty 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 
were 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 
the inspiration of these meetings. 

Somewhat recently a new sub-com- 
mittee has been established by the 
Committee on Public Safety to deal 
with Americanization. A realization 
of the lack of unity now existing in 
the 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 in 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 $2.00. 
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 work 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 
railway unit; others to enter the 



110 



The Granite Monthly 



ordnance department for specified 
technical employment. In securing 
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 New 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 New 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 war 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 weather-scarred walls, growing a little 

his native heath, after years of ab- grayer and a little grimmer with every 

sence, misses an ancient landmark passing year. 

that was very dear to his heart — the Within it had something of the 
old red schoolhouse. Gone, almost austerity and frugal ciuality of the 
altogether, are the squat, one-storied exterior. A long, narrow entry ex- 
buildings that once upon a time tended the width of the building, at 
crowned the hills and dotted the val- the remote end of which was piled in 
leys. The inexorable years have seen orderh^ fashion the winter's supply 
them vanish one by one. Their pass- of seasoned wood. Stout hooks gar- 
ing w^as inevitable. They had served nished either side, where the boys and 
their purpose — served it wonderfully girls hung caps and sunbonnets in 
well all things considered. But needs summer and a multitude of warm 
and conditions changed. With the wTaps in winter. In well-ordered 
country's growth in wealth and cul- schoolhouses there was usually a shelf 
ture old things naturally gave way to or two that aflforded convenient stor- 
the new order. An ebb-tide struck age for dinner-pails. But woe to one 
the hill regions; the boj^s and girls who made use of these receptacles in 
were absorbed by the town schools zero weather! All too frequently the 
with their superior advantages. And toothsome contents of the pails con- 
thus has it come about that our eyes gealed into a solid mass that must, 
rest sadly upon waste places where perforce, be thawed at the box stove, 
hardly a vestige remains of the struc- a slow and trying process when the 
tures that glorified them in days victim, as was usually the case, 
gone by. chanced to be a hungry boy. 

Not that the old red schoolhouse Schoolrooms everywhere bore a 
was ever a thing of beauty. Grim and likeness to each other, as if all had 
unlovely of architecture, without a been run in the same mold. It would 
line of symmetry or a redeeming be hard to imagine anything more 
grace, it stood, as a rule, at the fork dreary and uncomfortable. Invaria- 
of the road in a pasture-clearing where bly there was a raised platform for the 
the soil was too stony and arid to teacher's desk. From this coign of 
warrant tillage. In summer no flow- advantage an absolute monarch ruled 
ers bloomed about the door, no em- a little kingdom of submissive sub- 
bowering trees drooped sheltering jects. A "recitation bench" ex- 
boughs over its lowly roof. The front tended along either wall. Desks for 
yard, more often than otherwise, was the pupils were graded back to the 
a hopeless tangle of trampled grass, rear of the room where sat the older 
If a few scattering hemlocks, or a boys and girls — wisely separated by 
thicket of spruces, had been left to a dividing aisle! The "tots," — for 
break the cruel force of the winter the country school was always made 
wind, it was more by accident than up of assorted sizes — occupied the 
design. Solitary and alone, it lifted 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 
ancl 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 
awa}^ 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 Schoolhouse 



113 



scalp missing! Then there would be 
more reading, beginning this time 
with "Hilliard's Fifth." Our fathers 
and grandfathers had profound faith 
in the helpfulness of this exercise. 
But what a farce it became when the 
teacher was incompetent or indifferent 
and permitted a monotonous, sing- 
song 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 day — 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. Stumblingly and halt- 
ingly the class went through the 
ordeal of "parsing." "Paradise Lost," 
and Young's "Night Thoughts," wells 
of English undefiled, were invariably 
chosen for this purpose. Indeed, in 
those grandiloquent da3^s, 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 hira 
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 boys and girls were re- 
quired, every alternate week, to 
"speak pieces" or write compositions. 
At such times life seemed hardly 
worth living. The girls hunted wildly 
/or 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 less 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 term, 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 th^ir 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 sciuirming 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 summer there were ^lay 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 bj^waj's, 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- 
paned 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. And 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 Enghsh 
manorial estate, on which the ten- 
antry Hved 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), "Strawberry-bancke" (Ports- 
mouth), and "Newichwannick" 
(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 againe." 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. He 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 Odiorne'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 sa}^ 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 selfe, 
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 plantacon 
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 1646 
was just west of Odiorne's Point and 
south of Sherburne's Creek. (See 
N. H. Genealogical Record, Vol. 1, 
page 4.) In 1660 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, No. 25802.) 

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 Rye, 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, beisides 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-drjang 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. H. 
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 's 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 Maso7i'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 chstance 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 Randalh (Granite 
Monthly, Vol. 48, page 171.) 

According to the historian Hub- 
bard, it had mostly disappeared by 
1680; 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. 
With 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 Neck 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 b}^ 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 which 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. 

* This 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 vohmteer, 
opened a brisk fire in return. For 
the first time in the American Revo- 
hition, artillery rumbled between 
Chelsea's hedgerows, along with the 
marching 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 Putnam 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 with 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 clearh' 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 Burgiim 
was born in London, April 20, 182G, 
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 




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 



Enwia Gannell Rum ford Bur gum 



123 



passed away, she thought to adopt a 
child and asked her man, Grove, if he 
knew of some Uttle 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 bu.siness 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 1845 
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 x\bbot 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, 1852, 
the couple were married somewhat 
earher 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 Bouton 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 wdfe at 68 South State 
street, according to present day 
numbering. Mrs. Burgum's father 
died in 1848. In 1855 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 j^ears, a most interesting 
lady, 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. 



MADE 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 125 



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 — Night 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 Hying in Concord, N. 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, .\ddison; 2, Chaucer; 3, J. G. Mills; 4, Goldsmith; 
5, B>Ton; 6, Phillips; 7, Swinburne; 8, Wadsworth; 9, Pope; 10, Holmes; 11, Shakespeare; 
12, Milton; 13, Bonar; 14, Watkins; 15, Young; 16, Collins; 17, Quarles; 18, Wilcox; 19, 
Gray; 20, Bethune; 21, Coleridge; 22, Kant; 23, Kant; 24, Dryden; 25, Moore; 26, Shelley; 
27, J. S. Mill; 28, Spencer; 29, Gary; 30, Keats; 31, Anon; 32, Unknown; 33, Emerson; 34, 
Doddridge; 35, Congreve; 36, Whittier. 



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 8, 1842. 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 fom- terms as a mem- 
ber of the Boston Common Council, of which 
he was president in 1876. 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. Li 1886 he was chosen lieutenant 
governor, serving three years, and in 1889 was 
elected governor, but was defeated the next 
year by the Democratic candidate — the late 
Hon. WiUiam E. Russell. He was a delegate 
in the RepubUcan National Conventions of 
1892 and 1900, and president of the Massa- 
chusetts electoral college in 1896. 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 reUgion 
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 
Angle 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, Arhngton. He 
is survived hy his widow, a son, Judge John 
G. Brackett of the Municipal Court, and a 
daughter, Miss Beatrice Brackett, of Arhng- 
ton. 

COL. JOHN G. CRAWFORD 

John Gault Crawford, l)orn 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 Repul)lican by turns, served as 
U. S. Consul to Coaticook, P. Q., 1881-84, 



and removed to Manchester in 1890, 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 1866. June 7, 
1867, he married Abbie True Stevens of 
Paris, Me., who died February 2, 1882. 
April 30, 1884, 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 
tune 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 & 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 imtil 
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 
physician of Manchester, died in that city, 
April 12, 1918. 

He was born in Barton, Vt., April 2, 1850, 
son of Paschal and Louisa A. (Harvey) Stur- 
tevant. He was educated at the North wood 
and Pittsfield Academies, studied medicine 
Avith Dr. John Wheeler of Pittsfield, and at the 
Long Island and Dartmouth Medical colleges, 
graduating from the litter in 1874. He prac- 
ticed eight years in New Bo.ston, 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 ^^lanchester, 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 Necrology 



127 



HON. WILLIAM F. WHITCHER 

William Frederick Whitcher, born in Ben- 
ton, August 10, 1845, died at his home in 
Woodsville, 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 
Wesleyan University, graduating from the 
latter in 1871 and from Boston University 
Theological School in 1873. 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 j-ears 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 1898, he re- 
moved to Woodsville, where he purchased the 
Woodsville News, and edited the same until 
1916, when he sold it, on account of faihng 
health. Meanwhile he was active in pubhc 
affairs, serving as representative in the Legis- 
lature in 1901, -03, -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 all 
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. 
He had served several years as a trustee of the 
New Hampshire State library, and was con- 
nected with various business enterprises in 
Woodsville. 

He was twice married: first to Jeannette 
Marie Burr of Middletown, Conn., December 
4, 1872, who died September 22, 1894, and, 
second, to Marietta H. Hadlev of Stoneham, 
Mass., November 4, 1896, who survives him, 
as does one son bv the first marriage, Dr. 
Burr Royce Whitcher (Dartmouth 1902) of 
West Somerville, Mass. 

IRVING ALLISON WATSON, M.D. 

Dr. Irving AllLson 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 
Luvia E. (Ladd) 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 Universitv 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 1879 
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 1883 to 1897; 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 1872, Lena A. Farr 
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 Londonderry, was born January 25, 
1839 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 69 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 1886, 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 m 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 HoUis, 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, 1918. He 
served with the 51st Massachusetts Volunteers 
in the Civil War, and graduated from Yale in 
1868 as valedictorion of his class, with the 
highest standing that had ever been attained 
in that college. He was made tutor in 1870, 
assistant professor in 1871 and professor of 
Latin in 1876. In 1884 he was made dean of 
the University, holding the oflfice till 1909. 
He was given the degree of Doctor of Philoso- 
phy by Yale in 1886, 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 hfe, 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 pubUc 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 Phihp 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 to^^^l, 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, Mrs. 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 each county, headed by 
Gov. H. W. Keyes, and an executive commit- 
tee composed of Nathaniel vS. 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. 

There is a strong feehng in Concord and 
Portsmouth, that some small jjortion of the 
mone}^ 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. 



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. 



As was announced 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. 




HON. NATHANIEL E. MARTIN 



The Granite Monthly 



Vol. L, Nos. 7-9 



JULY-SEPTEMBER 



New Series, Vol. XIII, Nos. 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 Wilham Martin Chase. 

Nathaniel Martin, son of James and 



grandfather of the subject of this 
sketch, settled in Loudon ninety 
years ago, upon the farm which has 
ever since I'emained 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 capacity 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 his 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^has no superior and few peers 
in thel^state. 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 well 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 




Residence of Hon. Nathaniel E. Martin 



for corporation practice. Indeed he 
is generally known as "the people's 
lawyer," and few men of great wealth 
are seen in the crowd of waiting cUents 
usually filhng his outer office. His 
remarkable success results, in large 
measure, from his thorough knowledge 
of men, whom he has studied all his 
life with care and diUgence. 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 hfe, in 
city and country alike, qualify him, 
in high degree, for the public service, 
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 
poHtical 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 



Hon. Nathaniel E. Martin 



133 



avoiding rather than seeking prefer- 
ence and position at the hands of his 
party or the pubhc, he has rendered 
the former no Httle 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 
his 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 body 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 hoi'ses, 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 "joiner," but has been a 
member of Rumford Lodge, No. 46, 
I. O. O. 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 

garet 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. 

0, 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 five 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 another'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 ! 



41 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. Galhnger, 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 Monthly 
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 Juha Esther (Lovering) Drew, 
was born at Colebrook, N. 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 & Hey wood. In 
1876, Chester B. Jordan succeeded 
Mr. Hey wood. The firm remained 



Ray, Drew & Jordan until 1882, 
when PhiUp Carpenter became a 
partner of Ray, Drew, Jordan & 
Carpenter. Mr. Ray was elected to 
Congress in 1880 and retired from the 
firm in 1884, Mr. 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 Mr. Buckley, January 10, 
1906. The following March George 
F. Morris became a partner. Mr. 
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. 

Mr. Drew has been activeh'' 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 1887, 
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 my way, 
Then turn, retrace my 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 trickhng 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 old house tells. 

Not now a time-worn, battered frame it stands, 
But wistful, yearningly, with outstretched hands, 
A home once loved, revered it large expands. 




FRANCES PARKINSON KEYES 
(Mrs. Henry W. Keyes) 



MOSES DOW, CITIZEN OF HAVERHILL 

By Frances Parkinson Keyes 



Shortly before the outbreak of the 
American Revohition, 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 which 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 feflow- 
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 able 
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 River, between the towns 
of Haverhill and Newbury (Vermont) 
just opposite, and one of the incor- 
porators of Haverliill 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 
by 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 wliich gave him 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 abihties 
and force of character. Joseph Dow 
eventually removed to Franconia, 
where his son, also named Moses, 
founded Dow Academy, and later in 
life estabhshed 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 Henry Keyes, a rising young mer- 
chant who had recently come to iSlew- 
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 by the curious coincidence of ^^^^ ^f ^1^ ^^^ not always attained, 

the similarity of their characters and j ^.u + ^.u ^-^ t u- 

. -^ 1 ^.^ r>„4- T and that the mantle of his courage is 

careers in several respects. But i ^ 

like to think that the spirit which still wrapped around us and our de- 
Moses Dow first breathed into the scendants, 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'ertake 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 Niles 



Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ 
has made us free, and be not entangled again 
with the yoke 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 




Rev. William P. Niles 

for which our forefathers Uved, strove, 
fought and were wilhng 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 



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 
which 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 



^he 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 finding 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 life 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 abideth 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 finger 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, "All 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 be 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 Rome, th^ 
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 Europe, 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 Sunday Address 



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 larks, still bravely singing, fly, 
Scarce heard amid the guns below. 

We are the dead. Short days ago 
We lived, felt dawn, saw svmset glow, 
Loved and were loved; and now we he 
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: 

Rest 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 who 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 
was the law of His earthly existence. 
The language of Christ is the language 
of sacrifice. The language of our men 
who 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. Raymond H. Huse 

He drives the cows himself, tonight, 

O'er pastures brown and green, 
Neath sunset skies aglow with light 

While night-hawks fly between. 

The boy who 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 winked 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, 1918. 



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, 

I'm sure that he is just as safe 

As when by mother's knee; 
For God who 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. 

Where 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"— "some where"— 

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. 




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. O. H. 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. N. Tilton,* 
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.] 



WILMOT CAMP-MEETING-HISTORICAL 

SKETCH 

By Ernest Vinton Brown 

A fiftieth anniversary was observed Charles Parkhurst and Rev. E. C. E. 

by the Wihnot Camp-Meeting Asso- Dorion, editors of Zion's Herald, 

ciation during the first week of Sep- Boston; Rev. O. S. Baketel, of 

tember, 1918, at the time of its annual Newark, N. J., editor of the Metho- 

series of services. The occasion was dist year book; Rev. E. A. Durham 

the fiftieth annual session on the of Nashua, and Rev. F. F. Adams of 

grounds, close to the northern base Connecticut. 

of Kearsarge mountain, and was the The evening was given over to a 

fiftieth anniversary of the camp- "campfire, " at which many personal 

meeting held at Wihnot Center in experiences were related. The ses- 

1868. sions were presided over by the Rev. 

This camp-meeting of the Meth- T. E. Cramer of Manchester, district 

odist Episcopal denomination is in superintendent, and president of the 

direct continuance of the one held for association. 

many years at Alexandria, in the The preachers of Thursday were 

middle of the nineteenth century. Rev. Elwin Hitchcock, Rev. A. H. 

and which was transferred to Leba- Morrill of Woodstock, Vt., and Rev. 

non in 1860. Donald C. Babcock of Lebanon. 

The program began on Tuesday, Friday there were addresses by Rev. 

September 3, with religious services E. A. Tuck of Concord, field agent 

which continued daily till Friday of the Lord's Day League and Mrs. 

evening. The sessions of Wednesday, Eillen R. Richardson of Concord, 

September 4, were especially devoted president of the N. H. W. C. T. U. 

to the anniversary observance. In 

the forenoon there was a flag raising The historical sketch by Mr. E. V. 
with patriotic addresses by Rev. D. Brown was in part as follows: 
E. Burns of Haverhill, Rev H. J. It is impossible to present an ade- 
Foote of Littleton ancl Rev F. P. quate history of the Wilmot Camp- 
Fletcher of Sunapee. This was fol- Meeting. To do so it would be 
lowed by an historical sketch by necessary to write hundreds of biog- 
Ernest Brown of Concord. In the raphies and to consider the religious 
afternoon the Rev. Elwin Hitchcock life of more than a score of towns, 
of Newport and Rev. R. T. Wolcott Neither can it be limited to fifty 
of Sunapee, former district superin- years. There were tremendous forces 
tendents, gave reminiscent addresses, which brought men together in this 

Letters of congratulation were read grove in 1869, and tremendous forces 

by the president from Gov. Henry W. will continue to go forth from this 

Keyes, Bishop Edwin H. Hughes; grove for years to come. We do not 

Rev. Adolphus Linfield, superinten- bow down in this place to worship 

dent of Concord district; Rev. Jesse nature as God, but the very trees about 

M. Durrell of Tilton; Rev. Otis Cole, us join in saying "The place whereon 

who was present at the first meeting thou standest is holy ground." And 

on the ground; Rev. Edgar Blake of here have many seen the descending 

Chicago, General Secretary of the tongues of Pentecostal fire. The 

Board of Sunday Schools; Rev. 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 1869. 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 1804-6. Wilmot was half way 
of its length and became an important 
center on this account. The road is 
still known as the Turnpike, as its 
course runs from West 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 camp-meeting was held in town. It 

mountains and came into New Hamp- was accompanied by a great revival, 

shire'^ at Andover, and continuing on, This old-fashioned tent meeting was 

dining and praying at Salisbury, to held near the town poor-farm, on the 

Concord, forty miles; we lodged at road to South Danbury. This was a 

Mr. Ambrose's tavern, our host was point easy of access to North Wilmot, 

polite and attentive. We came then the most populous part of the 

on Wednesday eighteen miles to town. Two young men, drawn by curi- 

dinner at Harvey's, Northwood, then osity, attended the meeting, became 

through Durham and Dover, into interested and stayed. The father of 

Berwick, Maine, the first town in the one hitched up his team and took 

district, where we put up for the other members of the family to dis- 

night." cover the cause of the youth's deten- 

This entry, evidently made after tion. The whole family thus spent 
reaching Berwick and from memory the week at the revival. Beans were 
is slightly confusing. Whether the baked at night in the brick oven and 
similarity of sound of Hanover and were carried with other substantial 
Andover or whether the lack of in- food to the grove each day. This 
habitants on the New Turnpike was typical of the old-fashioned tent 
caused the peculiar wording can not meeting. Many conversions took 
be determined. It would be about place and Methodism was strength- 
forty miles from Hanover to Salis- ened throughout the entire I'egion. 
bury. That was the first camp-meeting in 

It is probable the Methodist itin- the town. While I have not yet 

erants passed and repassed through learned the date it was probably 

the rapidly increasing settlements of about 1841. 

this region during the early years of There followed a period of religious 
the nineteenth century. In an inven- activity and then a declining interest 
tory of the town of Wilmot in 1822, on the part of the public, but those 
after the passage of the Toleration who had been converted at that camp- 
Act of 1819, when the public money meeting seem generally to have re- 
for preaching was divided between mained steadfast Christians through- 
the denominations according to adher- out their lives. 

ents, Daniel W. Stevens is listed as a In 1867 a stalwart Irishman, six 

Methodist. A few years later three feet tall, was pastor at Grantham, 

union churches were built in town: A man of force, wit and great native 

at the Center, at the Flat and at ability, he was a power for God wher- 

North Wilmot. Methodists soon had ever he was. He is remembered 

part in each church and the circuit throughout New England as a power 

preacher occupied the pulpit at the in the temperance cause. In a nar- 

Center on the fifth Sunday of months rative of his life is the following: 

in which occurred five, and at North "North Wilmot, about seventeen 

Wilmot one Sunday each month. miles from Mr. Montgomery's home, 

Wilmot was linked with various of was a wicked place. It had a church 

the surrounding towns. Salisbury, edifice, but no minister, and no pub- 

Andover, New London, Sutton, lie worship, though there were a 

Springfield, Danbury, appear in the few excellent people whose hearts 

appointments coupled with Wilmot. mourned over the sin by which they 

In the forties a quarterly conference were surrounded. Nine years pre- 

was held in this territory. viously a number of praying men, 

How well these itinerants sowed the among whom was a pious Congrega- 

gospel seed will be revealed only in tional deacon by the name of Stearns 

eternity. Enough strength had been [Jenness], had covenanted together 

gained in the early forties so that a 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- 
ery 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 iniles 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 



Witmot Camp-Meeting — Historical Sketch 



157 



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 1868 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 the Northern part of 
Claremont District, N. H. 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. Hardy 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 
9'^ 1862 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 Asso° 
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 Railroad was considered. 
The Sweatland farm, it was found, 
could not be re-leased and its price — 
$3,500 — 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 the 
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-Meeting 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 
$325.00, boarding house, seats and 
work, $475, or thereabouts, making 
the whole expense $800. The associa- 
tion received from the Northern Rail- 
road $100, 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 



Wilmot 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, 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 
many 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 was 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" would 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. This 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 WilHam Flanders, Wm. 
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. H. 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 Zion's 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 $425 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 1871 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 



Wilmot 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 $178.59, 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 1875 
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 meetilig 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 



I was elected only to hold office till 
my successor was elected." 

Rev. O. H. Jasper in 1883 dechned 
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 1882 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 sup- 
per and few patronized the victualhng 
tent that night, food being forgotten 
in the excitement. 

This occurrence probably influenced 
Dr. Jasper in his attitude towards the 
camp-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 
district superintendents who have 
had to do with arranging the annual 
programs, and ex-officio were its 
presidents, have been: Revs. G. W. 
H. Clark, 1869-70; James Pike, 
1871-2; Moses T. Cilley, 1873-6; 
George J. Judkins, 1877-80; O. H. 
Jasper, 1881-4; J. E. Robins, 1885- 
9; G. W. Norris, 1890 and 1897-9; 
O. S. Baketel, 1891-6; G. M. Curl, 
1900-2; El win Hitchcock, 1903-8; 
R. T. Wolcott, 1909-14; E. C. 
Strout, 1915; T. E. Cramer, 1916-18. 
During Dr. Jasper's term Rev. C. F. 
Trussell was in charge. 

The ministers whose names appear 
on the records of the association in 
the earlier years include Revs. Chas. 



H. Chase, Charles F. Trussell, James 
Pike, George W. Norris, Moses T. 
Cilley, J. Mowry Bean, Lucien W. 
Prescott, John H. Hillman, George 
C. Noyes, George N. Bryant. 

The laymen whose names appear 
in the first dozen years of the camp- 
meeting include Robert M. Rowe, 
Joseph K. Wallace, Theodore Clark, 
John Felch, David Fry, Albert San- 
born, Wilham G. Nelson, Ruel Whit- 
comb, Green Johnson, Zachariah 
Scribner, Moses Brown, Lowell T. 
Buswell, Arthur A. Miller, Joseph J. 
Chase, Augustus E. Phelps. None of 
these remain with us today and for 
each a golden star appears on the 
service flag which memory raises 
within this sacred grove. 



THE FLEUR-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. 

Who blessed the fleur-de-lis. 

These latter knights live righteously, 

For Christ of Gahlee, 
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 

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 equahty, 

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. 




THE "OLD NORTH MEETING HOUSE' 



First Congregational Church, Concord, N. H. Erected 1751 — Burned 1870 
(Site now occupied by Walker School House) i 



ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY 

Of the Sunday School of the First Congregational Church, 

Concord, N. H.* 

By John Calvin Thorns, 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 13tli, 
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 its 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 I 
presented at the 150th anniversary 
of our Church, November 18, 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 Go'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 Thorne, Sunday, Sept. 22, 1918, it being the 100th anni- 
versary of the Sunday School of the First Congregational Church of Concord. 



166 The Granite Mvnthly 

Town House. This school gathered is a matter of record that in 1826, 
at 9 o'clock in the morning, at the eight years only after the opening of 
ringing of the first bell, and after their the schools, 480 scholars, not above 
exercises were completed, then any- fifteen years of age, repeated during 
one looking out on Main Street, at the term of six months 161,446 verses 
the time of the opening of the morn- — five times the whole number in the 
ing service at the church, would have Bible, a wonderful record certainly, 
beheld the beautiful sight of the It was not until 1838, twenty years 
scholars walking in the order of their after the beginning of Sunday Schools 
classes, accompanied by their teach- in our midst, that adult classes were 
ers, from the Town House, where they formed under the pastorate of Dr. 
had assembled for the Sunday School Bouton. 

at 9 o'clock, to attend divine worship Considering this first method of in- 
at 10.30 o'clock, at the Old North struction, of committing to memory 
Meeting House, standing where is the words of Holy Writ, may we not 
now the Walker Schoolhouse. ask — Was there not much truth in- 
The schools in the outlying districts culcated into the growing minds of 
gathered at 5 o'clock in the afternoon the young? Who can deny? That 
of the Sabbath. This arrangement life-giving thoughts were in this way 
was employed until the year 1842, treasured in Memory's rich store- 
when we removed from the old church house, there cannot be any doubt, 
edifice to the one on the present loca- ready to be called upon in later years 
tion; then all the schools were con- for hope and strength to fight life's 
solidated and met at the noon hour battle. In these days is it not pos- 
in the church. This method has sible that we are getting away from 
been continued until the present an intimate knowledge of God's 
year, as being the best possible time direct word by relying too much 
for all concerned. upon the many explanatory books and 
The trial of returning again to the helps of all kinds, thus losing the 
earher way of seventy-five years ago close and full contact with the Word 
is now presented to us as something which in the beginning was with God, 
quite new, it is thought by some, and which is God? 
but is really an old idea and obsolete It was in this same year of 1826, 
for three fourths of a century. It which was one of a great awakening 
would seem as if the value of the and deep religious interest in the 
noon hour for our Bible School has progress of the Sabbath School, that 
been firmly established by the custom our library was established. It re- 
and experience of more than two mained and retained its usefulness 
generations. for more than three fourths of a 
May we not ask ourselves — Is it century. Recent years have seen it 
not better for our minister, who is gradually supplanted by the free 
also a teacher, for the teachers also, public library and by many publica- 
and most of the scholars, especially tions of infinite variety and value, 
the older classes, many of whom can- issued by the steam-printing presses 
not positively attend at the early and spread broadcast over the land. 
hour, to hold to the noon services? Much of this change was due to the 
Shall our school be divided? Who many weak and over-sentimental 
will take that responsibihty? style of books furnished for our h- 
The only way of teaching the Bible braries— lacking in originality, inter- 
in the Sunday School, in the begin- est or any real worth. When today 
ning, was by committing to memory our city libraries are passing out to 
verses of the Holy Scriptures, and re- the multitude of readers much liter- 
citing the same without any explana- ary trash, with some good books of 
tion or comment by the teacher. It general importance, however., it 



One Hundredth Anniversary 167 

may be a question whether or not, a have been recognized and received as 

small but well-selected Hst of suitable best fitted to direct in the study of 

and instructive reading, prepared the Holy Scriptures. Mutual classes 

along the lines of the coming advance have been formed for independent 

in rehgious education, might not de- investigation, also other adult groups 

•mand a place upon our library shelves? of men and women who have pursued 

Our School has been through a a choice of courses, 
great many changes in its teaching Yearly anniversary exercises of the 
methods, in its hundred years of school were first observed in 1825, 
existence, generally moving forward by Dr. Bouton in the first year of his 
in its endeavor to maintain a high pastorate. The school assembled in 
standard of moral and religious in- the order of their classes, in the body 
struction. At the first merely re- of the church: an address adapted to 
citing verses from the Bible; then the occasion, with reports of the ofii- 
came "Select Scripture Lessons," cers, would be presented. This ar- 
the text being repeated from memory, rangement continued under the minis- 
then remarks by the teacher to ex- try of Dr. Bouton and Dr. Ayer for 
plain and impress the truth upon the some fifty years, and it was an im- 
scholar. This latter was certainly portant feature in exhibiting to the 
an improvement over simply rehears- church membership the work of its 
ing the words of the Scripture. This school. 

better way came the very next year Through all the many years we 

after the remarkable record of thous- have had faithful and able superin- 

ands of verses being given by the tendents, also both men and women 

pupils. It is quite evident that the teachers — a long list of names of 

management of that early day saw noble volunteers who have led the 

the graet need of instruction ac- way to a higher life. They are known 

companying the text. After five years to us all, and all shall receive their 

of this manner of teaching came the reward as good and faithful servants 

preparation of the subjects of the les- of the Lord. We are fortunate to 

sons by the pastor, Dr. Bouton, with have had the ability and fine service 

the approval of the teachers. This rendered to our school by our present 

plan was continued for more than superintendent: it is to be hoped that 

thirty years including in the range of he may return to us and continue his 

topics the whole Bible. (We have good work. 

most of these lesson slips, for each The present is calling for more thor- 

term, on file with our church papers.) oughly trained workers in religious 

In 1857 a question book was intro- education in our Sunday Schools, as 

duced, called " Useful and Curious well as in the secular lines of instruc- 

Questions on the Holy Bible." ^This tion. An intelligent people see the 

was in use for a few years in connec- need and are demanding more system 

tion with the regular lessons men- and a better preparation in the leader- 

tioned. ship of our spiritual life. Perhaps 

It was in 1865 that the ''Union even paid superintendents and teach- 
Question Book" series was adopted ers, as under Robert Raikes in Eng- 
and continued for several years as a land in 1780, will have to be em- 
guide to Bible study. ployed. Those who can give trained 

In 1872 the "International Uni- thought, time and strength to the 

form Sunday School Lessons" came work will ere long be required to 

into use, and have been accepted as a make our Sabbath Schools what they 

leader to higher thought and nobler might be and what they should be 

living by nearly all the Christian for the existing and coming conditions 

people of the world. At present the which our country will have to meet. 

"Improved International Lessons" 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 ne\^^ methods that have here 
been outlined. 

This spl(3ndid movement to estab- 
lish on stronger foundations the Bible 
Schools of our land must meet with a 
ready 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 Puritans 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 establi-sh 
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" 
Baptist church at New Durham. 
The movement spread throughout 
the state and Maine, and then into 
other states. The earnestness of the 
Free Baptist preachers impressed 
people everywhere, and their milder 
views took where the harsher Calvin- 
ism failed to appeal Memoirs, jour- 
nals and autobiographies of all the 
early Free Baptist preachers are in 
print, and from them one may get a 
first-hand vision of the religious views 



and experiences of the movement. 
Later, missionaries went to the middle 
west of the nation. Randall and the 
Free Baptist preachers who helped 
him appeal to the people made a last- 
ing imprint upon the religious life of 
America, and on the whole life of New 
Hampshire. And in thus calling 
about him his earnest little band he be- 
came the first of the New Hampshire 
Pioneers of a more tolerant religion 
than had been given New England by 
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 l)y 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 bowl ; 

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 campfire 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 builded 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 they 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 2, 1918 

By Albert D. Felch 



The one hundred and fiftieth anni- 
versary of the present town of Suna- 
pee, granted as Saville, Nov. 27, 1768, 
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 off 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. Bartlett 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. An 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 




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- 
Hss, the great-grandfather of Mrs. 
Orin Cross, was taken captive by the 
savages at Weare Meadows and car- 
ried to Lake Sunapee. The Indians 
showed him 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 1768 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 Congregationahst, 
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 
Ehjah Watson organized a Free-will 
Baptist church with fourteen mem- 
bers which 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 used 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 was 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 hfe, 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 
Elwin Bartlett house, followed in 1825 
by John Colby, who built a store about 
1830 opposite the home of N. P. Baker 
when it was moved in 1853 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 his 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 disti'icts, 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 he 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 Heutenant. 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 0. 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 1820 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. Colcord 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 1837 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, iinitation leather, 
excelsior, among other things named, 
have been manufactured on our vil- 
lage stream. 

In 1867 the hame business was 
started on the site of the Brampton 
Woolen Co. and developed under the 
ownership of Bartlett and Rowell 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 1868, 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- 



Sunapee'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-estabKshed business in 
dentistry is continued by his son, 
Wilham A., and Dr. Edwin P. Stick- 
ney of ArUngton. 

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 
pubHc building thereon with bowUng 
alley. At that time there were but 
twelve rowboats 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 di-iven 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 Woodsum of Maine 
built the Lady Woodsum and have 
since added the Armenia White, Kear- 
sarge, Weetamoo and Ascutney. In 
1885 another commodious boat was 
launched, called the Edmund Burke, 
which had a short hfe 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 Sulhvan 
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, 
E. J. Blake, Merton Sargent, Elmer 
Rollins, Irving Young, Howard Sanne, 
William Werry, Ernest Derry, Ernest 
Collins, Jack Mathews, Robert Hayes, 
WiUiam Morgan, Edwin Thornton, 
Sergt. Jack Whitney, Ralph Cooper, 
Wm. J. Hardy, Raymond Haven, 



Charlie Lear, Harold Campbell, 
Harold • Gove, Andrew Abbott, Joe 
Gamsby, Cecil Hadley, Willis Hoyt, 
Ray Cooper, George Bartlett, Harry 
Sanborn, Lester Walsh, George Lear, 
Percy Muzzey, John Rowell, Clarence 
Davis, Clifton Hayes, Leon J. Drew 
and William Lambert. 



QUEM DEUS VULT PERDERE, PRIUS DEMENTAT 

Bij E. M. Patten 

Once a mighty nation flourished, 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; his 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 Fm mad, mad, mad!" 



• Hanover, N. H. 



ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS 

At the Celebration of Acworth's One ^Hundred and Fiftieth 

Anniversary, August 21, 1918 

By John Graham Brooks 

When the invitation came to me to We take up Mr. Merrill's history 

speak at this anniversary, I had been of Acworth and note that the first 

interested in three town histories that settlers had barely made a home of it 

tell us of New England life and ways and the first baby that came in the ox 

in the seventeenth and eighteenth cart with all the family goods had 

centmies. I doubt if any records hardly learned to toddle alone, when 

exist that are more informing and in troubles broke out which looked to 

many ways more profitable for us, es- those of that time as if devils had 

pecially in these days. been let loose and were trying with 

We meet to revive something of some success to destroy the world, 
that past, and listen to any message it Acworth men had to march away to 
may have for us and for our day. face a storm which did not clear for a 
Yet something disturbing is in all our dozen years, while those at home took 
minds; something throwing its shadow up the burden. — I want to dwell a 
backward into the past and forward little on that burden, 
into the future. I shall not discuss it, I do not imply that it had any such 
but it cannot go unmentioned. We measure of horror as the present con- 
have begun the fifth year of a war flict, although there was far more suf- 
that has destroyed outright more than fering and anxiety than any of us can 
ten millions of human beings and, in the least realize. But what I em- 
directly and indirectly crippled more phasize is that thousands of our 
than fifty millions — nearly twice as countrymen then honestly believed 
many as existed in our entire country that nothing worse had ever hap- 
at the time of our Civil War. Through pened or was likely to happen. John 
the life of the youngest person here, Adams was a cool man, but he thought 
and indeed much longer, it will prob- Boston was to suffer martyrdom and 
ably stand out as the world's most to expire. When salt cost twenty- 
overpowering and tragic event. This seven dollars a bushel, tea and mo- 
brief word must be given because on lasses ten times what they now cost, 
such occasion as this we cannot keep and loaf sugar four dollars a pound, 
it out of mind. We cannot speculate and they had finally to get it out of 
about the past, or dream about the corn stalk; when they made tea from 
future, apart from the staggering sage, thoroughwort and currant leaves 
record of these four years. and could get no coffee; when labor 

But what has this to do with our had gone up seven and eight hundred 

early histories and their instruction per cent, and could hardly be had at 

for us? I went to them first to see that, John Adams wrote from Phila- 

what people were thinking and saying delphia beseeching his wife, a most 

when days looked black to them; thrifty woman, to be not only frugal 

when they, too, thought the world but parsimonious. Let us, he says, 

was tottering. It was a relief to get eat potatoes, drink only water, and 

away from too constant dwelling on wear canvas and undressed sheep- 

our daily press and to see how people skins. There were bitter complaints 

lived and braved it out in other times about food, because pumpkins had 

and under other difficulties. 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 shghtest 
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, poHshed 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 Hght, 
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 age, 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 
dwelHng 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 
new liberties and new equalities. 

This then is my question: Are not 
we 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. 



Anniversary Address 



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 I 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 clays is was a little uncertain but said it was 

our informant — Abigail Adams, wife "good" — it was the best thing we 

of our second President of the United could imagine ; the boy went away 

States. puzzled, but returned to ask why God 

This is the medicine for one of the picked out such a disagreeable day as 

commonest diseases. You were to Sunday and then called it a "Holy 

hunt until you filled a peck measure Day." 

with snails. These were then to be And so I insist, if we were all set 

well washed in small beer and put in back into those days to live their 

a hot oven until they "stopped mak- hves to the letter as they lived them — 

ing any noise." They were then to especially to be dosed medically and 

be taken out and wiped with the green religiously during our vacation — we 

froth exuded in the oven; then should all come back to present-day 

bruised to powder in a stone mortar, ways of living, in spite of all their de- 

You are by no means done yet. fects, with an enthusiasm and a satis- 

You have to go out with a quart meas- faction which would shame most of 

ure and fill it with what we used to the grumbling well out of us, I hope, 

call here fish worms. These were to for our remaining days. 
be carefully scoured in salt, then sHt May I close this simple tribute to 

into strips. the Founder's Day with an old and 

I pause here, I think, for the same perhaps too familiar story. I choose 

reason that made the old chronicler it because it has the soul and spirit 

hesitate to add the further ingredierits of such memorials, as well as its les- 

and the process of dosing soon to begin, son for us on this occasion. I choose 

There were a great many medicines it too because some of Acworth's 

much worse than this and probably best past citizens link us close to 

just as utterly useless. It seems to Scotch history. 

have been a first principle that the A Scotch regiment, led by one of the 

more nauseating and disagreeable the Campbells, though in many a tough 

dose, the more certain it was to cure contest, was said never to have been 

you. And this principle applied also beaten even if the battle was lost to 

to a good deal of the religious instruc- others. The colonel was a silent 

tion and observances. Even Judge man, but he always made a speech 

Sewall gets such a moral shock at the to his men that put fire and valor into 

most innocent April fool practices them. It had one purpose, to recall 

that he writes to the schoolmasters and vivify old home memories — to 

to stop the affront to the Almighty call them up out of the past and make 

because in his own words it is "so them live in the present moment, 
defiling." As the men stood there, tense for 

One of the Mathers confesses that the fight, their leader always repeated 

he had often sinned, but of all his sins the same words, "Scots, remember 

he says "none so sticks upon me as that your hills. ''^ The very sound of them 

I was whittling on the Sabbath Day and, fi^ed something which nerved them 

what was worse, I did it behind the for victory. 

door." He says it is a specimen of i have looked on those Scotch hills 

atheism. The play of jolly Httle and they are not fairer than our own, 

Sammy Mather, aged ten years, is nor do I believe their traditions are 

called by his father "a debasing worthier than our traditions. So 

meanness." This explains another changing a word or two, but keeping 

healthy boy's perplexity. After three ^^^ ^^^^ of ^^em, let us take up the 
Sunday sermons, he wanted to walk ..^ ^^ ^^^^ ^j^l valor-cry, 
out for a little exercise but was refused. ^ 

He came back to his mother with the " Men and women of Acworth, 

question what "Holy" meant. She 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. Wentworth, in honor of Governor 
Went 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. 
Here 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 beauty 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. Winthrop 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 1821 and the record 
tells us that this party was the third 
one which went up the narrow, rug- 
ged trail on a similar mission. 

These old Log Books, in two vol- 
umes, covering the years from 1832 
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 you 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. Frankhn Pierce of 
Hillsborough, N. H., ascended Red 
Mt., 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 hke the summer's sun 
sinking behind the summit of Red 
Mountain. — William 0. 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 protected 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 
ages. 



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, 

Telhng 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." 

0, 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 Keyes 

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 carry 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 Beede Odell 

The Benson farm was next to the willin' ter go, but he went ter see Phil- 
last one on the road which lost itself at indy Ethridge fust, an' was so well 
the foot of the mountain. One fine pleased with her that he didn't look no 
spring morning in the early fifties, further. Folks say they may be two 
Susan, the ten-year-old daughter of months on the v'yage, an' like 'nough 
the house, heard a wagon cross the seasick most o' the time. I've heern 
dooryard, and then a very energetic tell 'twas a dretful squeamish feelin'. 
"Whoa!" Exclaiming, "Oh! some- Sairy Ann Judkins says she hopes ter 
body's come," she skipped to the door, mercy the natives won't make 'em 
followed by her mother and Aunt into a stew fust thing when they land. 
Phoebe. He's so kind o' spare like, mebby 

"Of all things. Mis' Pettingill," he won't be so temptin', but she's 

said Mrs. Benson, "who'd ever 'ave purty plump. Now what I come up 

thought o' seein' you this time o' day? here for is ter tell ye about the album 

Hitch up to the corn-barn post there quilt that we wimmin wants ter git up 

an' come right in. " for 'em. Each one is to make a 

"Good land! This 's ol' Kate, square out o' some pieces o' her calico 

She'll Stan'. She druther stan' than go gownds, dark an' light, with a block 

any time," was the response. "I o' white in the center to write her 

sh'll hev ter tell ye my errant spry an' name on in indelible ink. I sh'll put 

be a-movin' on, fer I'm a-layin' out ter on mine 'Mr. and Mrs. Amos Pettin- 

go all round in the neighborhood this gill.' I've fetched ye the partem," 

forenoon. Dretful warm spell fer the said she, diving into the depths of her 

time o' year, hain't it? I'm heftier 'n carpet bag. It'll be sot together with 

I uster be an' it takes holt on me." a sash. Hismother an' Aunt Hitty an' 

"Susan, you run up chamber an' the gals is a-goin' ter do that, then 

fetch down one o' Aunt Phoebe's gray everybody that's pieced up a square's 

goose fans, " said Mrs. Benson, as Mrs. ter be invited ter the quiltin'. " 

Pettingill settled herself in the big One beautiful afternoon, a few 

rocking chair. Then, as the good lady weeks later, when the short grass, like 

slowly fanned herself, she unfolded her a dainty green carpet, spread over the 

plan. . broad fields, and the trees had just 

"Wall, you know there hain't be'n come out in the dehcate shades of 

much talked on lately 'cept Beniah spring, the good women met at the old 

Wood's goin' out 's a forrin missionary, homestead, at the end of the mountain 

an' what a gre't honor 'tis to our soci- road, which had sheltered the Wood 

ety. I do pity his pore mother, though, family for three generations, to quilt 

I shouldn't s'pose she'd 'spect ter ever Beniah's album quilt. The west room 

set eyes on him ag'in in this world, but was opened for the occasion. The 

he got so chock full o' religion off t' the heavy green paper curtains, behind the 

'cademy that he felt it his duty ter go dainty white muslin ones, had been 

ter Indy an' convert the heathen, rolled up, letting the sunshine in. It 

Course you knowed that he was a-goin' shone on the pretty spindle-legged 

ter merry Elder Ethridge's darter, table and the mahogany bureau. It 

down t' the Lower Village. There was hghted up the gilt-framed looking- 

three gals gin out word that they was glass and brought out the beautiful 



188 



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 Phoebe 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 WilHam 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 Mary 
Cilley (Knox) Fowler, he was born 
at the "old North End" in what is 
now the Streeter house, Oct. 3, 1850. 
This house was built by Judge Fowler 
in 1840, but about 1870 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 1867 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 
his permanent home. 

Mr. 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 manj^ 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. Wilham P. Fowler bet- 
tered the traditions of his people. 
Not only in Boston, where he was 




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 



l&O 



The Granite Monthly 



youth to memorize the best poetry 
Mr. Fowler was pecuharly well fitted 
to interpret the great authors and his 
readings will long be remembered as 
a deUght. 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, 1899, Wilham P. 
Fowler was married to Susan Farn- 
ham Smith at North Andover, Mass. 
Besides his widow he is survived by 
three children, Wilham P., Katherine 
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. GaUinger, United States Senator 
from New Hampshire since March 4, 1891, 
died at the hospital in FrankKn, to which he 
had been removed for care and treatment from 
his summer home in Sahsbury a short time 
previous, on Saturday, August 17. 

Senator GaUinger came home early in the 
summer, after a strenuous winter's service in 
Washington, hoping to regain strength for 
further service, 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 
foUowed, and the final summons, to which all 
must respond, sooner or later, came on the 
date above named. 

The career of Senator GaUinger, 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 
outUne is not out of place at this 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 by 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 1885. 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 1862, 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 1872 and 1873, 
and again in 1891; member of the Constitu- 
tional Convention in 1876; State Senate, 1878- 
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 



ISIew 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 1904-05; 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, 1860, Mary Anna 
Bailey, daughter of Maj. Isaac Bailey of 
SaUsbury, 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. Sullivan^ 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 18, 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 1874, he commenced the 
manufacture of cigars on a small scale, em- 
ploying 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-payer, 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 
Hampshrre Fire Insurance Company, the 
Manchester Traction Light & Power Com- 
pany, and the Derry Street Railway, of which 
he was also president, and was a trustee of 
the Manchester Public Library. He was a 
Cathohc, a Knight of Columbus and a mem- 
ber of the Derry field 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- 
nald of Manchester, who survives, with three 
married daughters. 



SAMUEL D. BEMIS 

Samuel Dana Bemis, a leading citizen of 
the town of Harrisville, died at his home at 
Chesham in that town August 18, 1918. 

He was born on February 8, 1833, in that 
part of the town of DubUn 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 1872. He also 
was sent as a delegate to the Constitutional 
Convention in 1876. In politics he was a 
staunch Democrat and long one of the leaders 
of the party in Cheshire County. 

September 27, 1859, 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. H., 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 
admitted to the bar in 1867. He was a spe- 
cial judge of the Cambridge PoUce Court, 
from 1872 to 1878, and a member of the 
Massachusetts Legislature in 1885. He was 
a member of the Commonwealth Harbor 
and Land Commission from 1894 to 1906, and 
served as its chairman. He joined the Bos- 
ton Bar Association as a charter member, 
and long had been prominent in his profession, 
his 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 



The Granite Monthly 



REV. CHARLES H. LEONARD, D. D. 

Rev. Charles Hall Leonard, D. D., long 
dean of the Crane Divinity School at Tufts 
College, died at his home in Somerville, Mass., 
August 27, 1918. 

He was born in Northwood, N. H., Septem- 
ber 16, 1822, the son of Lemuel and Cynthia 
(Claggett) Leonard, and was educated at 
Haverhill, Mass., and Atkinson (N. H.) 
Academies, Bradford (Mass.) Seminary and 
the Clinton (N. 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 1869, and resigned his pastor- 
ate to devote himself to the duties of that 
position. In 1884 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, N. H., 
February 24, 1834, died at the home of his 
daughter, Mrs. M. A. Meader, at North 
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 1854, graduating in 1857. He 
rode for six months with the celebrated Dr. 
McNab, 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, 1862, he was appointed assist- 
ant surgeon of the Fifth New 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 pubhc office, but was twice 
elected representative from his native town 
to the general court of New Hampshire. He 
was for some years president of the New 
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 si.sters, and 
daughters of the late Capt. Sherburne Lang, 
of Bath. 



EDITOR AND PUBLISHER'S NOTES 



The absence of all political excitement over 
the approaching November election in this 
state, is due entirely to the universal and 
commanding interest in the great war, in 
which the civilized world is involved. Not- 
withstanding the death of Senator Galhnger 
renders necessary the choice of two United 
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 affiUation or service. Nor is 
the state likely to suffer because of such 
action. 

On Wednesday, September 18, 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 New Hampshire Society of 
the Colonial Wars. The placing of the memo- 
rial is due to the efforts of Margery Sullivan 
Chapter, of which Mrs. OHve 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 httle volume of verse, entitled 
"Songs from the Granite Hills," just issued 
by the Gorhani 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. 




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The Granite Monthly 

Vol. L, No-,. 10-12 OCTOBER-DECEMBER, 1918 New Series, Vol.-^XIII, Nos. 10-12 



WILLIAM TARLETON 

Tiie Tavern Keeper of Piermont 

By Frances Parkinson Keyes 

Not far from the White Mountains, white trousers and knickers began to 
a little lake called Tarleton, with crowd the place which a few years be- 
thickly wooded, sloping shores, lies fore had been very nearly a wilderness, 
high among the hills of New Hamp- The Tarleton Clubhouse of today, 
shire. Long ago, there were several however, is not the first hospitable 
prosperous, though small settlements hostelry beside the quiet lake to open 
of farmers in its vicinity, but these its doors to an eager public. Not far 
were gradually deserted, and for some from it stands — though now changed 
time the country around the lake re- by additions and "modern improve- 
mained wilder than any near it. The ments" almost past recognition — a 
beauty and peacefulness of its location, farmhouse, where, alniost a century 
the high elevation and splendid air, all and a half ago, a young man named 
conspired against its permanent aban- William Tarleton established himself, 
donment, however. One by one, a and hung in the breeze a beautifully 
few Uttle camps were erected on its painted sign, made of a single piece of 
shores; and, finally, the splendid solid oak. This sign is still preserved, in 
possibilities of further development excellent condition. On one side there 
becoming apparent, a company was is a picture of General Wolfe (who was 
formed, and a clubhouse built. iu the heighth of his fame when this 

The success of the undertaking was tavern was opened) in full uniform, 
immediate. Within a year, the club- with the name "William Tarleton" 
house could not begin to accommodate above it, and the date "1774" below 
the would-be guests clamoring for ad- it; while on the other side there is a 
mittance. One addition after another representation of "Plenty," which 
had to be arranged for, and bungalows must have immediately suggested to 
under the same central management the tired traveller, journeying over 
were also erected for families who the old turnpike road on foot, on horse- 
wished to live by themselves and still back, or by stagecoach, that he would 
be relieved of all household cares, be sure of finding rest and refreshment 
Tennis-courts, golf links, and wide within. 

gravel walks began to replace hitherto For many years the tavern prospered; 

undisturbed pasture land. A garage, the little lake by which it stood became 

a boathouse, and a steam laundry known far and wide by its landlord's 

sprang up as if by magic; and throngs name, and William Tarleton himself 

of pretty women in dainty summer became one of the most famous hosts 

dresses, romping children, and men in 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- 
known 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 
were 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 the 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 Lieutenant-Colonel, 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, 
1780, 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 ParHa- 
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 Tarleton 



197 



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 Stileman, who, with four chil- 
dren, survived him. The eldest son, 
Elias (a name which occurs over and 
over again in the annals of the Tarleton 
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 
his 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 Httle 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 an 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 l>etter inn was to be 
found for miles around. He became 
famous, and that also he deserved, for 




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William Tarleton 



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." 

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 
hardly 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 faction 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 

Bij 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. 

There she is! Oh, I can see her sitting in her old armchair! 

"Mother, dear," I cry; . . . and waken, wake to find no mother 

there. . . . 
Yes, my letter's speeding onward, but / take the midnight train; 
I'll be there in time for Christmas, in my old home once again. 

Hanover, N. H. 



HON. WALTER H. SANBORN, LL.D. 

Presiding Judge, U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals* 

One of the ablest and most dis- tative treatises upon their respective 
tinguished members of the judiciary subjects. Conspicuous among these 
of the United States resides in St. are his opinion on the power of rail- 
Paul, Walter H. Sanborn, United road companies to lease the surplus 
States Circuit Judge and presiding use of their rights of way, in the Omaha 
judge of the United States Circuit Bridge cases, 2 C. C. A. 174, 51 Fed. 
Court of Appeals of the Eighth Ju- 309; his definition of proximate 
dicial Circuit; in population, in area cause and statement of the rules for 
and in varied and important litiga- its discovery and the reason for them 
tion the largest circuit in the nation, in Railway Company v. Elliott, 55 
comprising the thirteen states, Min- Fed. 949, 5 C. C. A. 347; his declara- 
nesota. North Dakota, South Dakota, tion of the effect by estoppel of the 
Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, usual recitals in municipal bonds and 
Utah, Missouri, Kansas, New Mexico, rules for their construction in National 
Oklahoma and Arkansas. Life Ins. Co. v. Huron, 62 Fed. 778, 

For twenty-one years Judge San- 10 C. C. A. 637; his treatise on the 

born was an active member of the law of patents for inventions in his 

Minnesota bar and as a practicing opinion in the Brake-Beam case, 

lawyer added many laurels to the 106 Fed. 918, 45 C. C. A. 544, which 

name which has some of the most dis- has been cited and followed by the 

tinguished associations in this state, courts in many subsequent decisions 

While as a lawyer and public-spirited and has become a leading authority 

citizen Judge Sanborn has for more upon that subject; his opinions in 

than forty years been prominent in United States v. Railway Company, 

St. Paul and the State of Minnesota, 67 Fed. 948 and in Howe v. Parker, 

his services as a judicial officer in the 190 Fed. 738, setting forth and illus- 

United States Circuit Court of Ap- trating the quasi-judicial power of 

peals long ago elevated him to the the Land Department and the rules 

rank of a national figure. He was governing the avoidance of its patents 

commissioned United States Circuit and certificates, and many others 

Judge March 17, 1892, and for more that cannot be cited here. He has 

than twenty-two years has served as delivered more than one thousand 

a member of the United States Circuit opinions for the Circuit Court of Ap- 

Court of Appeals of the Eighth Cir- peals, opinions that in clearness of 

cuit, and since 1903 has been the statement, strength of reason and of 

presiding judge of that court. diction are equalled by few and that 

It has been said of him that he has disclose an intuitive sense of justice, 

done more in recent years to make St. a profound and accurate knowledge of 

Paul famous than any other man. the law and an amount of labor that 

Since he has been on the bench he has have rarely, if ever, been excelled, 

delivered some of the most important The great national judicial issues 

and influential opinions ever ren- during the last twenty years have con- 

dered ill this country, opinions so cerned the supremacy and extent of 

broad and comprehensive, so replete the provisions of the Constitution of 

with legal learning as to constitute in the United States and the enforce- 

reality clear, vigorous and authori- ment of the federal anti-trust act, 

*This sketch is taken from a recently published volume of sketches of "Minnesota Men." 




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 
unconstitutionalit}^ 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 highways, 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 and 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., 58 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 view 
originally 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 dehvered 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 
estabhshed 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 1898, the Great Western in 1908 to education and farming. His 
and 1909, and the St. Louis & San mother, Eunice Davis Sanborn, of 
Francisco Raih'oad Co. in 1913, 1914 Princeton, Mass., was a granddaugh- 
and 1915. In the management of ter of that Thomas Davis who served 
the receiverships of the Union Pacific under Prescott at Bunker Hill, took 
and its twenty allied railroads he col- part in the battle of White Plains, was 
lected through his receivers and ap- one of the victorious army which com- 
plied to the operation of the railroads pelled and witnessed the surrender of 
and the distribution to creditors more Burgoyne, served through the war and 
than two hundred and sixty millions was one of the veterans present whom 
of dollars without the reversal of a Webster addressed as "Venerable 
decree or order or the loss of a dollar. Men" at the laying of the corner- 
In Free Masonry he wrought long stone of the Bunker Hill monument in 
and faithfully to reach and to teach 1825. 

the lofty ideals of liberty, fraternity Walter H. Sanborn spent his boy- 
and justice the members of its order hood and his youth in manual labor 
seek to attain and he commanded on the homestead farm, except when 
their respect and confidence. He was he was attending school and college,, 
elected eminent commander of Da- until he was twenty-two years of age. 
mascus Commandery No. 1, of St. He was fitted for college in the com- 
Paul, the oldest commandery in the mon schools and academies of his 
state and one of the strongest and native county, and entered Dart- 
most famous in the land in 1886, 1887 mouth College in 1863. During his 
and 1888, and in 1889 he was elected four years in college he taught school 
grand commander of the Knights five terms, was elected by all the 
Templar of the state. students of the college in 1866 one of 
Walter H, Sanborn was born on two participants in the annual col- 
October 19, 1845, in the house in lege debate, led his class for the four 
which his father and grandfather were years and was graduated in 1867 with 
born, on Sanborn's Hill in Epsom, the highest honors as its valedictorian. 
His great grandfather, who was state He received from his college in due 
senator three terms, representative course the degrees of A.B. and A.M., 
eight terms and selectman twenty and on June 19, 1893, Dartmouth 
years, built this house, which has College conferred upon him the de- 
long been Judge Sanborn's summer gree of Doctor of Laws. In 1910 he 
residence, in the year 1794, and it was elected President of the Associa- 
and the farm upon which it stands tion of the Alumni, 
have descended to the eldest son of From February, 1867, until Feb- 
the family since 1752, when Eliphalet ruary, 1870, he was principal of the 
Sanborn, a soldier of the French and high school in Milford, and a law 
Indian and of the Revolutionary War student in the office of Hon. Bain- 
and clerk of the town in the mem- bridge Wadleigh, afterwards United 
orable years 1773, 1775, 1776 and States Senator. In February, 1870, 
1777, and selectman in 1772, 1773 and he declined a proffered increase of 
1774, settled upon it. Honorable salary, came to St. Paul, Minn., and 
Henry F. Sanborn, the father of the in February 1871, was admitted to the 
Judge, was selectman of his town six bar by the Supreme Court of Minne- 
years, representative in 1855 and a sota. On May 1, 1871, he formed a 
member of the state senate in 1866 partnership with his uncle, General 
and 1867, when that body consisted John B. Sanborn, under the firm 
of but twelve members. He entered name of John B. and W. H. San- 
Dartmouth College, but failing health born, and practiced with him for 
compelled him to abandon a profes- twenty-one years, until on March 17, 
sional career and he devoted his life 1892, he was commissioned United 



Hon. Walter H. Sanborn, LL.D. 



205 



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 1880 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) 
of Mr. C. G. Hartin, 
(Sanborn) Van Sant, 
Grant Van Sant, Mr. Bruce W. 
born, attorney at law, and 



Hartin, wife 
Mrs. Marian 
wife of Mr. 
San- 
Mr. 



Henry F. Sanborn, General Freight 
Agent, at St. Paul, of the Great 
Northern Railway Company, 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 joj'^s! 
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. 




FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, CONCORD, N. H. 



HISTORY OF THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, 

CONCORD, N. H. 

By Frank J. Pillsbury 



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 been prepared for the 
anniversary, which really occurred Oc- 
tober 8; but on account of the preva- 
lence of the influenza at the time this 




Rev. Walter C. Myers 

had to be abandoned, and it was de- 
cided, finally, that the occasion should 
be celebratecl 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 Kev. 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 days. 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 feehng is 
rapidly passing away. We believe our 
church has had a large share in bring- 
ing about this result. 

It does not appear that any 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 looldng to the 
organization of a church until the 
spring of 1818. Our book of records 
says: "May 20 1818— 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 e>.ists 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 Hill," coming there in 1772. 
His name appears among those who 
signed "The Association Test" in 
177G, 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 dietl 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 Wilham Taylor, James Willey, 
Oliver Hoit, Nathan Putnam, Sally 
Bradley, Deborah Elliott, Sally Mann, 
Mary Whitney, Polly Hoit, Hannah 
Colby, Betsy EUiott, Ruth Eastman, 
Mary Hobinson 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 communit}^ — 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. 

Elder 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 Baptists in this section. In the 
spring of 1818, 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 brilhant 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 be a mem- with some one in the West Village, 

ber of this chm'ch." Speaking of the also in the East Village, and very- 
communion service — and for several many times in the village schoolhouse, 
years there is an entry on the record probably meaning what, in later years, 
book for each such service — they use was known as the Bell School House, 
such words, "Then proceeded to an such a wonderful building in those 
agreeable communion." Many re- days as to cause people from the sur- 
quests were received for meeting in rounding towns to come and see it. 
council with other churches for va- It stood on the lot now occupied by 
rious purposes. Voted "to send to the Parker School, but nearer State 
their assistance." On May 26, 1826, Street. The western part of the lot 
after entering their church home they is described as part frog pond, part 
voted to hold communion each month, sand bank, 
except December and January. But the time had come when they 

For the first four and one-half years felt that to maintain their position and 
there are no records of any business of accomplish the good they felt the head 
a secular nature being attended to; of the church had for them to do, they 
nothing about money affairs whatever; needed a church home. As much of 
but on March 12, 1823, a meeting was the help in building must come from 
held in the town hall at which time the outside parties, a society, as conditions 
record reads: "Voted that we accept then were, was a necessity. It was a 
the constitution and that we avail great undertaking; money was not 
ourselves of the privileges of incor- plenty; but their faith was strong; 
poration by giving' notice of our the cause — Baptist preaching and 
existence in the Concord Patriot.'' doctrines — not altogether popular; 
The first article of the constitution but they had a vision. They felt the 
reads: "We, the subscribers to the Lord had called them to do a certain 
following constitution, wishing to pro- work and they trusted Him to pro- 
mote the cause of truth, and feeling vide the means. So they decided to 
the importance of establishing relig- arise and build. 

ions order, do, for that purpose, form We can well believe that there were 

ourselves into a Baptist Society and many anxious prayerful gatherings, 

adopt the following articles, agreeing Help from outside was given. It 

to be governed by the same." This would be very interesting to have the 

was signed by sixteen men, six of them names of the helpers, but we only 

members of the church, the other ten, know that the land on which the 

citizens of the town, and so was com- church stands was given by Col. 

menced the body which, until October, William A. Kent, a prominent and 

1904, over eighty years, had the care well-to-do citizen, not a member with 

of the temporal and physical affairs of them. In passing we will say he also 

the organization. Our notes from gave the land on which the Unitarian 

this time on will be made up of extracts Church stands, and it was his desire to 

from both the church proper and soci- give the town of Concord, a large tract 

ety records. Article 7 reads : " It shall of land in what is now the central, the 

be the duty of the committee, which thickly settled part of the city, for a 

consists of three members, to employ public common or park. The town 

a regular, Calvinistic Baptist preacher, fathers did not feel it was wise to ac- 

and by order to draw money from the cept his offer. "Pity 'tis 'tis true." 

treasury to remunerate him for his The condition of the gift was that the 

services." land should alwaj^s be used for rehg- 

The meetings of the church during ious purposes, and that a house of 

these early years were held in various public worship should be built within 

places, at the home of the pastor or two years. 

some of the members, occasionally 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 Revolutionar}^ 
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 1806, 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, 1840, 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 
S320 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 by Mr. Taylor, 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 thing 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, 

1825. The order of exercises was: 
Anthem; prayer by the Rev. Mr. 
Robinson of Salisbmy; reading short 
portion of Scripture by Rev. Mr. 
Barnabee of Deerfielcl; 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, between 
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 Few — 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 determined 
by assessors, chosen at the annual 
meeting. T he 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 ol)ject 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 $100, 
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 $705. 
William A. Kent, who so generously 
gave the land for the church, gave 
$100; Joseph Low, one time post- 
master and the first mayor of the city, 
$50; 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 
$150. Eight others gave $155, 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. He was an 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. 21$ 

town affair, only a few members of the The bell was brought to Concord by- 
church signing it, nearly every prom- the Concord Boating Company, a 
inent family of the time being corporation operating a line of boats 
represented; but such are the changes between Concord and Boston at an 
ninety years make in a community, expense of $7.25. This second bell 
very few of the names are now found was unfortunately cracked after a serv" 
among us. ice of many years and, June 4, 1855 
The clock and bell were placed in a committee was authorized to pro- 
position, and gave great pleasure to cure a new bell as soon as possible. 
the people of the town; two town The first mention of heating the 
clocks in the village the size Concord building is under date of October 30, 
then was being an uncommon thing. 1826: "Voted to accept the use of 
The clock did faithful service for fifty Col. William Kent's stove, and a com- 
years when, the illuminated one hav- mittee of four be appointed to procure 
ing been placed on the Board of Trade funnel from him for said stove." 
Building, it did not seem to be needed Colonel Kent came here as a worker 
and was sold to a church in another in tin and sheet iron, and doubtless 
town, where it continues to remind the had a stock of stoves for sale. So, it 
passer-by of the flight of time. Some would appear that, during the first 
misfortune befell this first bell, for a year, the brethren and sisters depended 
paper dated June 12, 1827, reads: for external heat on foot stoves, as was 
" Whereas the bell on the South Meet- then the custom. One of these stoves 
ing House" (you will remember there is on the platform. Later on, we do 
were but two churches in the town then) not know just when, two of the large 
" is unfortunately broken and rendered cast-iron stoves used in public places 
useless, whereby the public sustains years ago were placed in the south end 
a loss in being deprived of the use of of the building, and a long arrange- 
it, and likewise of the clock attached ment of funnel made, the building 
to the same, we the subscribers, being somewhat comfortable, and used up 
sensible of the loss and desirous of a large cjuantity of wood. Some of 
assisting in procuring another bell, do the older people of the city remember 
engage and obligate ourselves to pay this method of heating, or attempting 
the sum set against our respective to heat. It would seem that furnaces 
names." The people from all parts were installed some time before 1856, 
of the town responded freely. Cover- as on January 21 of that year some 
nor Hill again helped with a contribu- action was taken regarding the furnace 
tion of $15. The others from nine- "as it does not heat properly." This 
pence — 12^ cents — to $5. The bill same old story has been told over 
for this second bell is interesting: and over again in the past sixty odd 
"Messrs Isaac Hill, Wm. Gault and years. 

John H. Chaffin to Joseph W. Revere, Rev. Nathaniel West Williams, of 
Dr., Boston, August 17, 1827, to a Windsor, Vt., and his wife, were re- 
church bell, 1240 lbs., 35 cents; ceived into the membership of the 
Tongue, 28 lbs., 35 cents, $443.80. church July 2, 1826, and it would 
Deduct old bell and tongue, 1252 appear he then entered upon the duties 
lbs. at 30 cents, $375.60 — balance, of the pastorate, though the formal 
$68.20. This bell is warranted for vote of the church to call him was not 
twelvemonths, accidents and improper taken until November 18, 1827. Rev. 
uses excepted, and unless it be rung or Mr. Williams had been a seafaring 
struck before it is placed in the belfry, man and at the age of twenty-one years 
or tolled by pulling or forcing the was captain of a ship engaged in the 
tongue against the bell by string or East India trade. Although brought 
otherwise, received payment for the up in a different belief he there met 
same. Joseph W. Revere." some Baptist missionaries, and his 



History of the First Baptist Church, Concord, N. H. 



215 



acquaintance with them changed the 
course of his hfe. In 1816 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 things 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, 1831, 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 R^v. 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' seats 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 Gittite 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 
were 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 liad 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 University 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. H. 



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 
afflicted, 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, 1875. He had re- 
tired from pastorate labor. 

Rev. D. W. Faunce was called July 
30, 1866, 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 wee 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 
World." 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. L, 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. Pihsbury 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 his 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 from Octo- 
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 halls 
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, N. H. 



219 



Tiave 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, 1906, 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 
18, 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, 1839, 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 H. Britton. The need of a 
more convenient chapel became ap- 
parent and, on April 11, 1853, 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 now represented 
in our church or city. It was dedi- 
cated with appropriate services De- 
cember 1, 1853. 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 this 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, WilUam 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 was 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." 

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 glad to welcome representatives from 
dropped. Several times in later years them on this occasion, 
the matter had been agitated but it The Sunday School was organized 
was not until November 25, 1854, in 1826. Its fiftieth anniversary was 
that a baptistry in the church was fittingly observed on June 25, 1876. 
obtained. Four persons were bap- Senator Jacob H. Galhnger delivered 
tized on that date, but no representa- an address and there were other ap- 
tive of them is now living. propriate exercises. Its seventy-fifth 
^ ^ ^ anniversary was observed June 23, 
Other Churches and Sunday 1901. Quite an elaborate program 
Schools -vyas presented. For fear of exhaust- 
On June 3, 1842, letters were ing the patience of the audience we 
granted to twenty-three persons to forbear any extended account of this 
form a church in Boscawen, which is helpful adjunct of the church. Later 
now known as the First Baptist on, we hope, God willing, to prepare 
Church of Penacook. The first pas- a paper giving an account of that, 
tor of that church, Rev. Edmond and of other organizations that have 
Worth, was a member with us. been or are now connected with our 
On November 11, 1853, letters church, as well as mentioning several 
were granted to thirty brothers and who have brought special honor to us; 
sisters to form the Pleasant Street also, to present some other interesting 
Baptist Church. incidents connected with our history 
We rejoice in the prosperity God and a complete list of those who have 
has granted these churches and we are 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 j'ined w^th my pride, 
That some day I'd lead the chdrus with New Hampshire for my bride. 

States' Chorus: 

"Wait for the wagon! Wait for the wagon! 
Wait for the ivagon 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 New Hampshire, riding on that pesky thing. 
But I'm just a plain old Democrat and Dandy Booze was king! 

"Wait for the wagon! Wait for the wagon! 
Wait for the wagon and we'll all take a ride!" 



222 The Granite Monthly 

I had a dear old steady, Maine, way down by Water View. 
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! 
'^W ait for the wagon! Wait for the wagon! 
Wait for the wagon and we'll all take a ride!^' 

Then some other gals — young Kansas, Oklohomy and the rest, 
Caught on to her invention, right before me, I'll be blest! 

There was wheels a-whizz and whirring! Dandy Booze, he druv ahead.. 
To court 'em and 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 New Hampshire by my side. 
"Wait for the wagon! Wait for the wagon! 
Wait for the wagon and we'll all take a ride!" 

Now New 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 nuissin' 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 New Hampshire for- 
your bride?" 

"Wait for the wago7i! 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 
TilM get the gals behind me and New Hampshire by my side." 
"Wait for the wagon! Wait for the wagon! 
Wait for the wagon and we'll all take a ride!" 

Then New 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 Mav. 
And I hadn't got my peas hoed liefore I looked up to see 
Hampy on that water wagon, calling: "Come and ride with me!" 

"Wait for the ivagon! Wait for the wagon! 
Wait for the wagon and we'll all take a ride!" 

Lord! How quick I leaped beside her! I've took medicine before. 
But 0, how it stirred and thrilled me when New Hampshire at ray 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 ivagon! 
Wait for the ivagon and we'll all take a ride!" 



ADDRESS OF REV. RAYMOND H. HUSE 

At the Patriotic Praise Service in the South Church, 
Concord, N. H., 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 he said, — 

"Did we dare 

In our agony of prayer 

Ask for more than He 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 law 

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 LaFayette and say this 
time, "William, we are here!" 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 Repul)lican 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 chime of 
victory and 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 ivar." 

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 hiunanity "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 H. Huse 



225 



And to recall again the famous 
saying of Lincoln it has come not 
because God is on our side but be- 
cause we are on God's side. The 
battle of liberty is always divine. 
The war for human rights tugs ever- 
more at the heartstrings of the ever- 
lasting Father! 

In this our hour of triumph let us 
dedicate our lives anew to be on His 
side in times of peace as well as times 
of war. 



Let us keep our national life and 
our personal life so clean ; let us share 
the passion for humanity and for 
universal brotherhood of the im- 
mortal Christ. Let us follow Him. 

"He has sounded forth His trumpet 
That will never call retreat; 

He is sifting out the hearts of men 
Before His judgment seat; 

be swift my soul to answer Him, 
Be jubilant my feet, 

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 joj^ous 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 joy 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 Httle 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. 

dt: * ^ * * 

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 vil'age, — 
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 bhndly '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 cr^pe-de-chine chemise. 

She screamed just once — then slammed the door and quickly turned the key,. 

While "Spike" yelled: "Lemme out!" with fierce impetuosity. 

"You naughty man!" she simpered, "not without a chaperone." 

"I'll get one now," she cooed, and called . . . the sheriff on the phone. 



>r 



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 a watch, pair of boots and S7.50 in 

Parker as well as INlassachusetts, and money. 

he came a half century earlier. Rev. He finally landed at the home of 
Elias Smith of Portsmouth was a man Josiah Burley in Newmarket. With 
much after the type of Boston's great this family he made his home, and 
prophet-preacher. He was born at from it made preaching tours among 
Lyme, Conn., June 17, 1769. At six the Baptists of Epping, Stratham, 
years of age he w^as taught to read Brentwood; Salisbury and Amesbury 
from the New Testament, and that in Massachusetts. He made an agree- 
book became his great center of in- ment to preach two-thirds of the time 
terest through his life. The battle of at Lee and live there, and the other 
Bunker Hill was fought on his sixth third at Stratham, stopping with Rich- 
birthday, and when news reached him ard Scammon while there. Smith's 
he was terrified and feared death for ordination took place at Lee, in 
all his family from the victorious Red- August, 1792, on a stage built before 
Coats. Hearing his elders discuss the the meetinghouse, and it is estimated 
Tories, Regulars and Rebels, his boyish that 3,000 people were present, an 
mind became averse to Tories and Reg- Elder Baldwin coming from Boston to 
ulars, and that aversion continued preach the sermon. The next day the 
till his death, for he was ever a pioneer, newly-ordained preacher and Elder 
In 1782 his father moved to Wood- Baldwin rode horseback to Kingston 
stock, Vt., and Smith's autobiography Plain, where they separated, Baldwin 
gives us a vivid picture of the hard- going on to Haverhill and Boston, and 
ships endured by the settlers of upper Smith off to East Kingston and South 
Vermont and New Hampshire. Hampton on a preaching tour. 

Being a serious-minded lad he ac- These travelHng Baptists were 

quired some education and became a thorns in the flesh to the established 

school-teacher. He gave much time CongregationaHsts, and as Smith held 

to serious thinking on the one supreme radical views, beheving that the 

intellectual topic of the countryside, clergy should not be called ''reverend," 

religion ; and when he was twenty-one receive stated salaries and be per- 

years, one month and four days old, manently located in a pastorate, he 

preached his first sermon. He fol- was especially obnoxious. In Candia 

lowed his father in being a Baptist, and the estabhshed preacher ordered him 

was strongly set against the estab- from his parish, but Smith of course 

lished Congregational Church, and did not go. 

its Calvinist creeds. After the cus- In January, 1793, he was married 

tom of his time, he set out in 1791 on to Mary Burleigh of Newmarket, and 

an itinerant preaching tour, having as for the next nine years was an active 

his destination the groups of Baptists Baptist propagandist in New Hamp- 

in southern New Hampshire; the shire and eastern Massachusetts. 

brethren at Bradford, Vt., having pro- But the Baptists were growing more 

vided him with "a poor cross horse," and more prosperous and adopting 



228 The Granite Monthly 

more and more of the ways of the Con- as an un-New-Testament idea, which 
gregationahsts, and accepting the was received coldly by many. In 
hated Calvinist doctrines, and in 1802 1805 he began the publication of a 
Smith broke with the Baptist clergy quarterly magazine, and in 1808 he 
and issued his pamphlet, " The Clergy- began the publication of the first re- 
man's Looking-Glass." It was ligious newspaper in America, The 
mainly directed against the Ports- Herald of Gospel Liberty. Smith was 
mouth clergy and was a scathing a strong follower of Thomas Jefferson, 
indictment and led to his later expul- and had been active among the ad- 
sion from the Baptist clergy. herents of the Republican-Democrats 

In October of 1802 Smith came to who sprang up after Jefferson's return 

Portsmouth and opened his popular from France. 

meetings in Jefferson Hall; he became Portsmouth and Rye had gone anti- 

a free-lance preacher, after the manner federal in the election of 1797, the 

of Theodore Parker, and proclaimed first New Hampshire towns so to vote, 

political as well as religious ideas. In John Langdon and Nicholas Oilman, 

June, 1803, Elder Abner Jones who signers of the Federal Constitution, 

had formed a "Christian" church in had become Republican-Democrats. 

Vermont came to see Smith, and his The centers of conservatism were 

ideas appealed to Smith as beyond his the established churches ; around this 

own, and he joined Jones to become a church in every town was organized 

propagandist of the new order of the religious and political and social 

"Christians," and was soon accepted life of the town. Strongly intrenched 

as the leading light of the new faith. as these centers were, the Republican- 

" Reforniations, " as they called Democrats accepted the Jeffersonian 

them, followed their preaching, and doctrine of religious liberty and de- 

in little towns the "Christian" clared for it in every state, 
churches were built. The "Chris- The established clergy now became 

tians" held to Smith's radical ideas; fiery opponents of Jefferson's party; 

their preachers were called "Elders" but the numerous members of the new 

rather than "reverend"; black coats sects — Baptists, Free-Baptists, Chris- 

and settled pastors were looked upon tians, Universalists — were too strong, 

as marks of popery; in fact all creeds and Vermont went Jeffersonian and 

and ideas not expressly taught in the repealed its religious statute in 1807. 

New Testament were rejected and the The next year New Hampshire sought 

New Testament was literally taken as to compromise and granted freedom 

the rule of the new order. One great to Universalists and Baptists, but the 

advance the new order made was to Jeffersonians could not be placated, 

adopt the use of the New Testament The leader in the fight for this tenet 

discipline of members who violated of Jeffersonianism was Elias Smith. By 

New Testament ethics; this made the public choice and through his paper he 

new churches practical rather than was praising Jefferson and attacking 

doctrinal. The "Christians" were a the established clergy. Over the top 

growing force till 1843 and 1844, of his paper he boldly declared, "Jef- 

when their popular character and self- ferson will always be loved by those 

educated ministry made them pecu- who love liberty, equality, unity, 

harly susceptible to the Millerite peace; for this he is hated by the 

dissension, and the churches were hypocrites who would grind the people 

spht and weakened and began to fade in the dust and deprive them of their 

away. rights." 

Smith, however, was not always in Success attended the brave efforts 

good favor with all Christian churches; of Smith and his followers, and in 1819 

he accepted a form of UniversaHsm New Hampshire granted full religious 

and denied the doctrine of the trinity freedom. 



Our Childhood's Christmas Tree 



229 



Rev. Elias Smith was a restless soul, 
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 j and Newbury- 
port — due some what to the work of 
Elias Smith. 



OUR CHILDHOOD'S CHRISTMAS TREE 

By Charles Nevers Holmes 

From days of yore, O 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 frona 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, O Memory! 




THE BRIDGE OF FIRE 



By Professor J. K. Ingraharn 



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. 
We were going down the mountain on 
a landslide. 

"The trembhng of the earth grew 
worse every moment. The ground 
rose and fell in weaves. We could not 
stand up. We cowered on the ground, 
Uke 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 wigwams 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 sljde, ' he said. ' They 
msiy go with me.' Then Paugus, 
with 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 of a big 
rattlesnake. 

"With a forked pole, a Avarrior 
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 Fire 



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 w^et rawhide will stretch 
enough.' Then Paugus and his red 
raiders marched away. I was left a- 
lone with the mad rattlesnake. 

"Presently, I heard some one coni- 
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. 

" 'O 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 out 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 
bodj^ and the tree. As the rawhide 
dried, it would shrink and draw the 
poison points slowly into the body of 
the bo3^ 

"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 
boy 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. This 
plain is surrounded by a deep moat. 
From tliis 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 burning brands to start new fires. 

to the top. I saw no Indians on the Dead pines blazed furiously. The 

side of the plain toward our home, fire gained on us. I felt the heat. 

They wei-c busy on the other side. I Sparks fell upon us. Fires started all 

could not tell what they were doing, around us. There were times when 

I was not careful. I heard a gun. A the smoke was so thick I could not see. 

red hot iron entered my leg. I fell on "Bessie did her best. As she car- 

the stones. I tried to get up. I ried me in her arms on a run, I heard 

could not use or move my right leg. the panting of her lungs, I felt the 

"In a moment, Bessie was at my furious beating of her heart. The 

side. She carried me to a safer place, fire was soon right upon us. From 

Then she cut strips of cloth from her the tops of tall trees, great flags of 

petticoat, stopped the flow of blood flame unfurled and waved in the wind, 

and dressed my wound. Suddenly, almost above our heads. Burning 

she turned pale and trembled. brands fell upon us in showers. Our 

" 'What's the trouble, Bessie?' I clothes caught fire. The heat was 

asked. something fearful. We could not live 

" 'The Indians are setting fires,' in it much longer, 

she answered. Bessie toiled on over the burning 

" 'You must go home, while you plain with her great load. She did 

can,' I advised. 'The Indians will not dare to stop to rest. Her long, 

not hurt me now. They will wait till I thick, golden hair had worked loose, 

get well, so I can suffer longer torture. It caught fire in several places. I put 

Our folks will have time to rescue me. ' out the fires with my hands. 

" ' You do not quite understand the " Presently, Bessie stumbled and fell, 

situation, John,' replied Bessie, in a I thought she had swooned. She rose 

gentle voice. 'This plain is covered slowly upon her hands and knees, 

with dry branches, mostly pine, but she did not rise to her feet. I 

There are man}^ dead trees. The thought she was somewhat dazed, 

wind blows this way. In a few min- 'Bessie, you have done all you can,' 

utes there will be a big fire. ' I pleaded, once more. ' Run home 

"'You must go now, Bessie,' I and get help. I can now crawl to the 

pleaded. ' You have a father, a mother bridge. I can straddle the log and 

two sisters and a brother. For their hitch myself across the moat with my 

sakes, go, now. If you stay here, you hands. I can crawl out of danger. ' 

cannot help me a bit. If you go now, "Bessie did not answer. She was 

you can save your own life. Go, on her knees. Her hands and face 

now.' were raised toward Heaven. I heard 

" 'I will go, John, you will go too.' her pray: 'Oh, God, give me strength. 

"Bessie took me in her arms and Give me strength.' The prayer was 

carried me out of the ruins. When over. Bessie removed her shoes and 

the Indians saw us, they danced and stockings. She took me in her arms 

yelled with glee. I was a good sized again. Her panting had ceased. Her 

boy. I weighed 125 pounds. This heart was steady. She carried me as 

was a heavy load for a girl of seventeen if I were a baby. We soon came to 

to carry in her arms. Bessie carried the moat. This was bridged with 

me a few yards. Then she was so one birch log, long and slender, 

tired she had to lay me down. After "The top of this log was on fire in 

a moment's rest, she took me in her several places. I did not think the 

arms again and ran as far as she could, fires had burned deep enough to weak- 

In this way, running and resting, she en the log much, 

carried me toward the bridge. "We were on the log bridge. With 

"The fire spread faster and faster, her bare feet, Bessie felt her way along 

The strong wind carried sparks and 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 feet. How white 
and still she was. 'Is Bessie dead?' 
I 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 dying 
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 
yelhng 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 just 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 this world. Always remember how 

her, .with her clothes and hair on fire she saved your life today. ' 

in a dozen places. "I always have remembered," con- 

" 'We heard the log snapping. We eluded my grandfather, Jonathan 

thought the girl was lost. But she Chase, as he wiped the tears from his 

made a swift run. At the right mo- eyes. "Every day I remember how 

ment, just before the log parted, the Bessie carried me in her arms out of 

girl made a wonderful jump. She the doomed castle, over the burning 

landed on this side, all right. plain, across the bridge of fire, out of 

" 'It was the grandest feat in the the jaws of Death." 

history of the White Mountains. My grandmother, Bessie Chase, 

We cheered her as we never cheered rose from her easy chair, with a slight 

before. She turned toward us, tot- flush on her still beautiful face. "Now 

tered a few steps, swayed bhndly to Jonathan," she said in a tone of 

and fro and fell in a deep swoon. The gentle reproof, "you know you are 

girl had done all she could and 'twas praising me too much, for it was not 

enough. my strength that saved your life, but 

"'Young man, the love of this it was the Hand of God, in answer to 

noble girl is the greatest treasure in mypra3^er." 



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 we 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, 
many years ago, has never before be.en published. 



Thought 235 



They are not dead in all these years, 
But breathe Lethea'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 hght; 

And days should be a thousand years 
In which to set its flavor right. 

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. 

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 
Forgetfulness like grey 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 weeds. 

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. 



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 
valley 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 ring, 
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, N. H. 



N. H. NECROLOGY 



EDWARD J. CUMMINGS 

Hon. Edward J. Cummings, Democratic 
candidate for Congress in the Second New 
Hampshire District, died- at his home in 
Littleton, N. H., September 23, 1918. 

Mr. Cmnmings was born in Littleton 
August 13, 1881, graduated from the Littleton 
High School in 1900, from Dartmouth Col- 
lege in 1904, and the Harvard Law School in 
1907, when he was admitted to the bar and 
practiced in Concord with Hon. Henry F. 
Hollis till the fall of 1908 when he located in 
practice in Littleton and there continued. 
He 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 during 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 3 — 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 svirvives, 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) 
ElUott. 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. H., 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 District 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, 1918. 

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 Unitarian 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 Gr-anite Monthly 



Manchester twelve years, from 1887, as 
treasurer of Hillsborough County from 1887 
to 1895, as a delegate in the Constitutional 
Convention of 1902, and as president 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, 1850. 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 1883, 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 
stafT of Gov. George A. Ramsdell. 

He leaves a widow and one daughter. 



PUBLISHER'S ANNOUNCEMENT. 



The subscriber, who founded the Granite Monthly in the city of Dover, in 1877, removing 
the same to Concord two years later, who has been its 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 Kttle 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 pulalication 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 biography, 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 States7na7i, also Concord correspondent of the Associated Press and many 
newspapers in and out of the State. The subscriber bespeaks for him the hearty support of all 
present patrons, and of the general pubhc 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 1, 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.