Photo of Goffstown Trolley to Uncanoonuc Mountain

Surely it is the dictate of wisdom, to study the history of those that lived before us, that we can avoid their follies, and improve by their experience.

--Address. By Rev. Cyrus W. Wallace.
History of Manchester, 1856

TIDBITS

   In old militia times Goffstown, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, was the rendezvous where the military of the surrounding country assembled annually for drill. It was an occasion that drew together young and old for many miles around, and its parades, sham-fights, personal encounters, gambling, drinking, and general uproariness made "Goffstown Muster" a familiar name to all who ever dwelt in the central or southern portions of the State.
   Very early in the morning of one of those memorable days an aged couple, living some miles away, started on foot for the parade ground. To shorten the distance they took a short-cut through the old burial-ground at Goffstown Centre, from which they emerged just as Sam W___ was passing along the highway. Sam was bound for "muster," and had taken an early start, so as to lose none of the fun. Arriving at the grave-yard, Sam looked toward it and saw the old man and wife coming over the stile: in the early dawn he could distinguish just enough to see that they were very old, and concluded at once that they were inhabitants of the silent tombs awakened by the unusual stir. So, waving them from him with both hands, he shouted,

   "Go back, old man! go back! This isn't the general resurrection; it's only Goffstown Muster!"

SOURCE: Harper's new monthly magazine, Vol 45, Issue 269, Pub. Harper & Bros., October 1872; Editor's Drawer pp 799
Retyped and reformatted by Kathy Leigh, April 21, 2001



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Tidbits
Hillsborough County
ALHN-New Hampshire
Created April 21, 2001
Copyright 2001