TOWN REPORTS FIRST PRINTED--PETITION TO ANNEX AMOSKEAG TO MANCHESTER--REPRESENTATIVES INSTRUCTED TO OPPOSE IT--AMOSKEAG ANNEXED TO MANCHESTER--LEGISLATURE LEGALIZES ORIGINAL LINE BETWEEN DUNBARTON AND GOFFSTOWN--GREGGS FALLS MILL PRIVILEGE SOLD FOR TAXES--SHIRLEY ROAD BUILT--ATTEMPT TO FORM A NEW TOWN CALLED DAYTON--FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION--PARTISAN POLITICS--EXCITING ELECTION 1864--BLACK BROOK ROAD BUILT--MECHANICKS MILLS INCORPORATED--POOR FARM SOLD--BLACK BROOK AND CRAM ROADS BUILT--GREAT RAIN STORM AND DAMAGE--P. C. CHENEY CO. EXEMPT FROM TAXATION--NORTHERLY END OF BLACK BROOK ROAD BUILT--DISCOUNT VOTED ON TAXES--PORTION OF WEARE AND NEW BOSTON SEEKS ANNEXATION TO GOFFSTOWN--UNCANOONUC ROAD COMPANY INCORPORATED--APPROPRIATION MADE FOR DECORATION DAY
At the annual meeting holden in the spring of 1850 the town voted to have the town reports printed together with the auditor's report and that of the superintending school committee. Five hundred copies were to be printed and ready for distribution at the next annual meeting.
The reports were printed and distributed in accordance with the vote and have been each succeeding year since. John Tewksbury, Gilman Robertson and William P. Warren were the selectmen and they received $60, S40, and $38 for their services. Enoch P. Sargent collected the tax for $50; James Kennedy, Jr., had the care of the town house from March 16, 1849, to March 16, 1850, and received the munificent sum of $1.50. The town's poor were doctored for one year and medicine found for $8.
The agent of the town farm sold potatoes for $.30 per bushel, and paid $5.75 for a barrel of flour; $.20 for a spelling book and arithmetic, and $3.75 for a coffin and digging grave for Mrs. George; he also paid $1.00 per day for an able man to assist him in haying. The prices mentioned are not exceptional, and are in sharp contrast with those of the present day.
This year the town voted to pay all those soldiers that did duty in the infantry company $.75 cash for their services. At the present day this may seem a ridiculous figure, but evidently the soldiers got $.75 worth of merriment in addition out of the muster.
In May, 1852, a special meeting was holden and one of the subjects acted upon was the railroad crossing upon what is now known as East Union Street. The voters at that time evidently realized, as everyone has since, that it was a dangerous grade crossing, and the town "voted that the selectmen notify the New Hampshire Central Railroad to build a bridge over said railroad where it intersects with the Mill Road," so called. Whether the selectmen failed to notify the corporation or not there is no record, neither is there any record of the construction of an overhead bridge.
At the election in November, 1852, for presidential electors, there was an article inserted in the warrant as follows: "To take the sense of the legal voters upon the petition of Clark Kimball and others for a new highway in Goffstown and Dunbarton," extending from Dunbarton through the easterly part of Goffstown, and the town voted "to instruct the selectmen to oppose the same to the utmost of their endeavors." And also at the same meeting the following article was inserted in the warrant "to take the sense of the legal voters on the petition of Daniel Farmer and others to the legislature of New Hampshire to have a portion of territory now embraced in the town of Goffstown disannexed therefrom and annexed to and made a part of the city of Manchester."
Upon the foregoing article the town voted first to choose a committee to oppose the disannexing of Amoskeag and annexing the same to the city of Manchester, and instructed the representatives to oppose, and employ counsel to represent them before the committee of the legislature.
At the March election in 1853 no notice was taken of the matter. A short time thereafter the almost unprecedented high water in the Merrimack carried away the bridge at Amoskeag. On the 9th day of April at a special town meeting a committee, consisting of Seth Woodbury, George Poor and Alfred Story, was chosen to examine various plans for building bridges and the cost of each; also to ascertain whether or not under the present circumstances Goffstown was obliged to build a bridge; also to confer with the petitioners for annexing Amoskeag to Manchester and the authorities of the city of Manchester to see whether they would accept of that part of the town upon such conditions as the committee may suggest and if not upon what terms they would comply. The meeting adjourned to the 27th, and at this meeting the committee reported several designs of bridges and the cost of each; and it was "voted to accept the report of the committee and not to rebuild the bridge." It was also voted at this time "to instruct the representatives to oppose the setting off the east part of the town and of annexing it to Manchester, and to employ counsel to oppose the same."
On the 28th of May following another special meeting was holden, and the town voted "to rebuild that part of the Falls Bridge situate in Goffstown," and that George P. Hadley, Thomas R. Butterfield and William Shirley, selectmen of Goffstown, be empowered to hire the sum of $5,000 to defray the expense thereof.
A building committee consisting of Joseph Dunlap, D. L. Robinson and Thomas R. Butterfield was chosen for the purpose above stated, and the whole subject of the construction of the bridge was left with said committee. The legislature convened on the first of June; Alfred Story and Dr. Alonzo F. Carr represented Goffstown.
As previously mentioned in this article a large majority of the voters of Goffstown were against the project. The residents of Amoskeag, led by Daniel Farmer, Sr., were in favor. The first reference to legislative action on the subject in the House of Representatives was on the 10th day of June, when the petition was referred to the committee on towns and parishes, and a hearing was appointed on the 17th. Samuel H. Ayer appeared for the petitioners and Judge Perley for the remonstrants. After the introduction of testimony the arguments of Messrs. Perley and Ayer occupied an hour each, and were masterly efforts. As far as Goffstown was concerned, arguments had little to do in the matter, as the committee was favorable to the annexation from the first.
On the 22nd of June the house committee on towns reported the petitions and the remonstrances with a bill entitled, "An act to sever certain tracts of land from the towns of Bedford and Goffstown." Dr. Carr moved that the bill be laid on the table, but his motion was lost, and the bill was ordered to a second reading the following day. Accordingly on the 23rd of June the bill was read a second time, when Dr. Carr moved that Bedford and Goffstown each retain their public property, which was decided in the affirmative. An effort was made to have the bill so amended that Goffstown and Bedford might have a voice in the decision, but of course this was denied them, and the same day the bill was read a third time and referred to the Senate.
On the 25th of June another special town meeting was called to see if the town will reconsider the vote to rebuild the Amoskeag Falls Bridge; the vote to hire $5,000; the vote to recall any instructions given the Goffstown representatives in the legislature to oppose the annexation of Amoskeag to Manchester, and to see if the town will take any action relative to that subject. And it was "voted not to reconsider the vote relative to rebuilding the bridge and hiring the money, and to dismiss the article relative to withdrawing the instructions to the representatives." At this meeting Thomas S. Montgomery was chosen a member of the building committee in place of D. L. Robinson who probably resigned, inasmuch as he first acted on the board, and the following year received pay.
The bill at this time was in the Senate, and on the 29th of June it was read a third time and passed the Senate, and the following day reported back to the House with the concurrence of the Senate, and on the first day of July was approved. By the terms of the bill the question of annexation must be finally settled by the city councils of Manchester, which accordingly ratified the act of the legislature upon the 6th day of August, 1853, and Goffstown lost to the city of Manchester all that part of her territory east of the line between the 11th and 12th ranges of lots upon the northerly side of the river, and this line prolonged upon the southerly side to Bedford.
By the annexation to the city of Manchester of the above described territory Goffstown lost four thousand acres of land together with all the valuable rights and privileges thereto pertaining.
On the 13th of July a special town meeting was called, and it was "voted to instruct the Amoskeag Falls Bridge committee not to make any contracts until after the decision of the city council of Manchester is made known in regard to the annexation of Amoskeag, and to dispense with the services of the building committee." By the provisions of the act the city of Manchester assumed, and was responsible for the maintenance of all roads and bridges within the limits of the territory severed also assumed the proportional part of the town debts, and the town of Goffstown retained its public property. The following year a special act was passed by the legislature, apportioning the public taxes to be raised by the city of Manchester and the towns of Goffstown and Bedford. As we notice the construction of the extensive electric light plant at Greggs Falls we contemplate the great change in value of the original property. February 19, 1853, the Greggs Falls Mill privilege was sold for non-payment of taxes for the sum of $12.31 to John Richards, who owned the same for nearly forty years.
In 1852 a survey was made upon the town line, which separates the towns of Goffstown and Dunbarton, by Franklin Crombie of Auburn, a civil engineer of more than local reputation. By Mr. Crombie's survey important changes were made in the location of the town line, and portions of farms were severed and annexed to each town. Another feature of the survey was that parties bounded by the town line were dissatisfied with the new survey; accordingly, the following year a bill was passed by the legislature establishing the line between Dunbarton and Goffstown by the old monuments, metes and bounds as formerly recognized before 1852.
On the 30th of May, 1850, a court's committee laid out what has since been known as the Shirley Road, extending from New Boston line over Shirley Hill to a point near the present residence of Albert S. Tirrell. The town of Goffstown opposed the same and instructed its selectmen to employ counsel, and if possible avoid the construction. Notwithstanding the lengthy contest and the large expense attending the same the town was obliged to build, and after four years of litigation in the summer of 1854 the road was constructed. Before the completion of this road the cost to the town of Goffstown was $4,000.
The grade and fill across the Addison Meadow was so slight that in periods of high water the road was sometimes covered to a depth of three feet; and in the summer of 1858 the town raised the grade sufficiently to bring the road above high water mark, which incurred an expense of about $300. In 1858 the town instructed the selectmen to request the court to pay a part of the expense incurred in building the road.
For some years Goffstown was a prohibition town in sentiment, as will be seen by the following vote passed at the annual election in the spring of 1853, when the town instructed the selectmen to use all legal measures to suppress the sale of intoxicaing liquors, except for medicinal and mechanical purposes, within the limits of the town.
From about 1854 to some years after the Civil War, partisan strife in Goffstown was intense, perhaps no more so in this town than in others, but at certain times political excitement was at its highest pitch; politics dominated everything, town meeting, school meeting, church, fireside and family. The excitement was so intense that those of one party would not patronize the business of the other.
The annual elections occurred in the month of March. A citizen to become a voter had only to reside in town three months, and generally about the first day of December both parties were alert and very active in the importing and colonizing transient voters. This element was not an especially desirable class of citizens, and before the following April they were entirely conspicuous by their absence. They were carefully guarded and watched for a number of days preceding election until the day after, when this care and guardianship ceased.
An election day then meant a day of intense activity. Active preparations were carried on most of the preceding winter in anticipation. Early in the spring of 1860 active operations were carried on for the control of the town politically. The Democratic party had been in power since March, 1856, and the political parties in town were quite evenly balanced.
The Democrats carried the town at the March elections in 1860 and 1861. In April, 1861, the War of the Rebellion began and, as was natural, the Republican party favored the war and a portion of the Democratic party did not. During the winter of 1861 and early spring of 1862 a special activity developed in both parties. About an equal number of voters from each party was absent in the war. The Republicans gained a few votes from the war Democrats, and the Democrats had lost more men from natural causes than the Republicans, which the Republicans were not slow to notice upon the tabulated returns, which they had from every school district and fireside.
Perchance their list might have been augmented at the last moment by other persuasive means than augumented powers, but be this as it may the election opened in the morning of the 11th of March, 1862, with decks cleared for action and both parties ready for the contest. The Democrats were in power, and at that time, by the statutes, the selectmen had the control of the checklist which was considered of some little significance, since they could deal with a doubtful voter as they saw fit.
The first article in the warrant was to choose a moderator to preside in said meeting. The vote for moderator was generally considered a test vote. By a very small margin the Democrats elected the first officer, which was their only successful election during the day, and the Republicans held the supremacy this day gained until the spring of 1872.
The election of March, 1863, was without incident. In March, 1864, there were grave apprehensions of disturbance; bitter feelings were aroused on account of the regulation of the checklist and the meeting was not allowed to proceed. The first day of the meeting the only officer elected was the moderator, and late in the afternoon they adjourned. Early the following morning a company of the N. H. Volunteer Infantry was quartered near the town house, and the business of the day was conducted in a quiet orderly manner.
In 1857 Samuel Poor, through Mr. David M. Taggart of Goffstown, the representative, petitioned the legislature to disannex that portion of his homestead within the city of Manchester and annex the same to the town of Goffstown, but the bill was opposed, and the committee on towns and parishes reported that the same be indefinitely postponed.
In 1858 a petition signed by Seth Woodbury and a large number of others residing about Goffstown Center and the easterly part of the town petitioned the legislature for a division of the town of Goffstown, by running a line through the town from Dunbarton line south to Bedford line to include the Center districts 9 and 16, the part so severed to be incorporated under the name of Dayton. Major George Poor represented the petitioners. Remonstrances were filed by prominent citizens residing in different sections of the town. The bill was referred to the committee on the division of towns, and ordered to a second reading, and on the 17th of June the bill was read a second time and upon the motion of Representative David M. Taggart of Goffstown was indefinitely postponed and Goffstown remained entire.
A Fourth of July celebration was holden July 5,1858, at David Steele's Grove in Goffstown on land now owned by Walter S. Clement, a short distance west of the mill of Oliver B. Pierce. A procession was formed, starting from the Common near the Knights of Pythias Block, preceded by a band of music from Goffstown and one from New Boston, and proceeded to the grove. A large concourse of people were in attendance from Goffstown and surrounding towns.
David Steele, Esq., was president of the day; Dr. Alonzo F. Carr delivered the oration; David Pattee read the Declaration of Independence; Henry D. Carr acted as toastmaster. An elaborate dinner was served, extensive tables being arranged in the grove, and a company of horribles closed the day.
In 1862 a middle section of the Thomas Colby or Black Brook Road was built, extending from the "Shanty Road," so-called, near Thomas R. Hoyt's to John Bartlett's corner. This road had been previously laid out by a court's committee, and the town was under indictment for neglect of construction, and hence was obliged to build in this year of the war.
July 13,1864, George Poor, Benjamin Greer, Dr. Daniel Little, John S. Little, Nelson V. Merrill, Alfred Poor, John Greer, Charles George and William Brown were incorporated under the name of Mechanicks Mills for the purpose of carrying on the manufacture of doors, sash and blinds, cotton and woolen goods or either of them, and such other branches of business as may be necessarily or conveniently connected therewith at Goffstown. The plant was located at what was then Goffstown Center upon the site of what was afterwards known as the pulp mill, owned by P.C. Cheney Co., and was destroyed by fire a few years after, rebuilt, burned again, reconstructed and used for the manufacture of pulp and lately burned a third time.
At the annual meeting on the 13th of March, 1866, the town "voted that the selectmen be instructed to sell the Poor Farm and all the personal property connected therewith at auction previous to the first day of April, 1866." The vote was carried into effect and the avails of the sales were $5,819.10.
This year the town built the southerly end of the Thomas Colby Road, so-called, from what was known as John Bartlett's corner to the Farmer place. In 1862 a middle section of the Thomas Colby Road was built, previously mentioned. When the middle section was completed the petitioners for the same had gained their point, and could say to the townspeople, "you must and shall construct the remaining sections," which the town was obliged to do this year in part, and later the remainder. The road leading from the Wallace Road southerly of Samuel Orr's up the valley of the brook to the road leading from Leonard Cram's to John Ferson's was also built this year.
On the 3rd and 4th of Octoher, 1869, a great rain storm occurred, and most of the roads were so badly washed as to be impassable, and many of the bridges carried away, including the one at the village; no trains were run on the railroad until the 13th. A town meeting was called on the 20th, and the selectmen were instructed to borrow the sum of $6,000 to repair and rebuild the highways and bridges in town, to be expended under the supervision of the selectmen. The selectmen and highway surveyors in the several districts had their time fully occupied for a greater portion of the remainder of the fall in repairing the damage done by the flood.
In 1871 a number of citizens, interested in the welfare of the town and desirous of increasing the business therein, petitioned the selectmen to call a town meeting to ascertain the minds of the voters relative to exemption from taxation, for a period of five years, of the Water and Power Company property now owned by the P. C. Cheney Co. at Goffstown Center, provided said water-power is again occupied. This plant had been destroyed by fire a short time before, and the town "voted to exempt the water-power, mill and machinery, if rebuilt, for the term previously stated."
This year the town built the northerly end of the Thomas Colby or Black Brook Road previously mentioned, the same being laid out by the commissioners of Merrimack and Hillsborough counties. The expense attending this section of the road was $2,600. The construction of this hiatus completed almost a direct line from Dunbarton Center to Manchester.
At the spring election in 1875 the town "voted to discount on all taxes paid on or before July 1, 5 per cent; before August 1, 4 per cent; September 1, 2 per cent, and the vote has never been rescinded." The year the vote was passed the discount was $218.67, and the year 1916, $654.82; allowing $400 as an average for the forty years the town has paid $16,000 in discounts, or in other words has hired people to pay their taxes at an expense of $16,000.
In May, 1875, a notice was served upon the town of Goffstown that an application would be made to the next legislature of the state to sever a portion of the towns of Weare and New Boston and annex the same to the town of Goffstown. The town of Weare opposed the same and at their annual meeting adopted the following resolution:
"Resolved: That the Selectmen be authorized and required to take such measures as they may deem advisable to oppose the object of the petitioners in being set off from this town to Goffstown, employing an agent or agents for that purpose, or such other means as they may deem proper the more effectually to carry into effect the wishes of the town."
The opposition the measure received at home soon put a quietus upon the matter in the legislature.
Sunday, the 31st of December, 1876, was one of those extremely severe days incident to a New Hampshire winter. Dr. Jacob W. Mooar, a physician of Manchester, started with a team for the purpose of visiting a patient at Riverdale. Having proceeded upon his journey to a point between the residence of Sylvanus B. Gilchrist and Little's Crossing he encountered a drifted road well-nigh impassable. He attempted to force his horse through the drifts and, having failed in this, he managed to return to Manchester. Claiming an injured horse he brought a suit against the town of Goffstown, which caused a lengthy and protracted trial and in which the town was successful.
As early as 1850 a passable road had been built to the summit of the southeasterly Uncanoonuc Mountain, and the U.S. Coast Survey established a station there that year and also occupied the same in 1860. Likewise Professors Hitchcock and Quimby had stations there afterwards. The mountain had become quite a resort for pleasure and observation of the surrounding country.
June 21, 1877, Edward C. Shirley, George B. Chandler, Charlton K. Pierce, John B. Varick, William H. Plumer and Bradley P. Cilley formed a corporation by the name of the Uncanoonuc Road Company. By their charter they were empowered to build and keep in repair a road, leading from the residence of Charlton K. Pierce to the summit of the Uncanoonuc Mountain, with certain privileges thereon. The capital stock of the corporation was fixed at $600, and the same was paid into the treasury in the year 1877.
The road was constructed, as was also a building upon the summit. On the 15th day of September, 1877, dedicatory exercises were holden upon the summit; Stark's Cornet Band was in attendance and enlivened the occasion with music; appropriate remarks were made by B. P. Cilley of Manchester, 0. C. Moore of Nashua and Deacon Thomas Holbrook of Bedford. For a few years the road did quite a flourishing business, but upon the completion of the Incline Railroad it was abandoned.
The Piscataquog Valley Association was organized September 1, 1878, for the purpose of holding an agricultural fair. The association included residents of the city of Manchester and towns of Dunbarton, Weare, New Boston, Amherst and Goffstown. The officers were: President, George A. Wason of New Boston; Vice-President, Samuel M. Christie; Secretary, D. Arthur Taggart; Treasurer, John M. Parker; Executive Committee, Oliver B. Pierce, George Pattee and J. H. Willey; all except Mr. Wason were residents of Goffstown.
The first fair was held on the Fair Ground northerly of the present Shirley Station of the Boston & Maine Railroad, October 1, 2 and 3, 1878. There was a fine exhibition of horses, neat cattle, oxen, steers, sheep, swine and poultry and a splendid display of fruit, grain and vegetables of all kinds. In the exhibition hail was a fine show of farming tools, mechanical implements, inventions, stoves and hardware, and in the adjoining hall, flowers, canned goods, household furnishings, antique and modern, and fancy goods.
The society held a fair each succeeding year for five years, the last, September 26 and 27, 1882. The association dissolved in 1883 and the buildings were sold and removed.
In March, 1879, the town for the first time made an appropriation for the decoration of the soldiers' graves, and the exercises were observed in the evening in the town hall. Each year since an appropriation has been made by the town, the day properly observed, the exercises taking place alternately each year between the village and Grasmere.
The census in the town of Goffstown in 1850 was taken by John Warren Johnson, Assistant Marshal of Weare, who reported a total of 2,270 inhabitants.
In 1860 an enumeration was made by E. A. Bailey of Weare and the number of inhabitants was 1,740.
In 1870 the enumeration was made by Isaac W. Hammond of Concord and the number of inhabitants was 1,650.
In 1880 the enumeration was made by George P. Hadley of Goffstown and the number of inhabitants was 1,699.
Chapter 24