ADDRESS.

BY REV. CYRUS W. WALLACE.

Many solemn reflections rush upon the mind on an occasion like the present. A century! How many events of thrilling interest, which left their impress on after time, have been crowded into its passing years.

And how many other events, unknown to the world and to fame, but which really constitute the sum of human life, have perished from the records of the living. Three generations have been swept from the earth during this period. What hopes, what fears, what joys, what sorrows, once animated the bosoms of those millions, who now sleep in the dust.

The past is the key to the future. The crowning excellence of man appears in that he is able to profit by the experience of those who have lived before him. One generation can commence their researches and improvements where the preceeding [sic] terminated--thus showing the vast superiority of the lowest over the highest instinct.

An hundred years afford time for the trial of great experiments. A nation will scarcely attain its manhood, and demonstrate that its institutions rest on a firm basis, in a period less extended.

The first inhabitants of a new country are mainly drawn together by certain affinities of blood, or religious, or industrious habits. They lay foundations as in their wisdom they deem best. And when a period has elapsed sufficient to make a fair experiment, it is well to inquire for the result. Do we not thus learn what are the true elements of national life? Are we not enabled to judge what are the institutions, civil and religious, that tend to secure the richest and most lasting blessings? 'Tis well, also, to walk among the graves of the departed, because it chastens the spirit, and reminds us that we are actors in a vast drama, whose shifting scenes will soon introduce us to another state of being.

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

The original charter by which the town of Derryfield was incorporated, bears date Sept. 3, 1751. It was granted by George II, styled in the instrument, "By the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Holland, King, Defender of the Faith," and signed by Benning Wentworth, Governor and commander of the Province of New Hampshire.

The first town meeting was called by John McMurphy, and was held Sept. 20, at the house of John Hall, Innholder.

The tract of land covered by the Charter, embraced a portion of what was originally Chester, a part of Londonderry, and likewise a piece of land belonging to the purchase of John Tufton Mason, and never before included in any town.^A

This last mentioned tract was a narrow strip of land, eight miles in length, situated on the bank of the river. In the early records, it is sometimes called "waste land," and sometimes dignified with the name "Harrytown." In 1810, the name of Derryfield, by act of the legislature, was changed to that of Manchester. It has been said that this change of name was suggested and mainly effected by the efforts of a man then resident in the town, by the name of Stickney, who predicted that, as a manufacturing place, Manchester of New England would one day vie in importance with the Manchester of Old England.

Much of the soil is of a light, sandy quality, and poorly adapted to thriving agriculture, yet there are some farms that will bear comparison with any in the neighboring towns, and, taken as a whole, it would seem, that the land is better than the reputation it has had in former years.

A few weeks since, I met an old man above 80, a native of the town. At the age of 21 he emigrated to the western part of the State, and his early impressions as to the poverty of the land, I found were very vivid. He said "his father owned 400 acres, and he was an only son. But," said he, "it was not worth ninepence an acre. My father wished me to stay with him; but I told him I could not,--I must go where land was better."

And he related the old story of the grasshopper, which was found by the traveller on some of the Manchester pine plains, wiping the tears from its swarthy cheeks; and when inquired of about the cause of its grief; replying, "the last mullen leaf is wasting, and I see nothing but certain death by starvation."

The Indians left this part of the country some years before the white man made any permanent settlement. The Penacooks, who inhabited the valley of the Merrimack as far down as Nashua and Lowell, removed from this ancient seat of the Sagamons, about 1680 or '85.^B Historians are not agreed as to what became of the last remnant of this once powerful, and remarkably friendly tribe.

Wonnalancet and a part of his tribe, went to Canada soon after the war with Philip. Some suppose they all went. But as we hear of the Penacook and other Indians, in connexion with an attack on the settlement of Dover, some years later, the most probable conclusion is, that the tribe had separated, a part going with their chief to Canada, while the rest united with other Indians at the East, about the Androscoggin in Maine.

We have no time to devote to the Indian history, and yet we cannot pass it by, without feelings of regret and of pity for the poor red man.

Once he stood the proud monarch of the western world.--But the white man came, and the sons of the forest faded away before the march of civilization, till now only a few scattered remnants are left to tell us of their former greatness. It is sad, thus to see a mighty people pass away, even though a nation more mighty may take their place. And a deeper sadness comes over us, from the conviction that this was a much injured race, and though themselves guilty of cruelty, yet experiencing cruelty perhaps still greater from those who became possessors of the soil.

An anonymous poet expresses the truth but too plainly, when he makes the Indian say,

It was probably nearly forty years after the Indians left this part of the Merrimack valley, that white men first became permanent residents in this town. The exact date of the first settlement cannot now be determined.

The first inhabitants of Londonderry arrived in 1719. That town was settled very rapidly, and as the land was taken up, the people spread into other townships.

Bedford (Souhegan East) received her first inhabitants in 1737. Tradition says that Derryfield began to be settled a year or two previous. The Walkers, who were the first to make a settlement in Bedford, lived a short time on this side the river, near Moor's Ferry, (Goff's Falls,) before they commenced west of the Merrimack.

Archibald Stark, father of the General, came into town in 1736. Col. John Goff was probably among the first residents. His home was at Goff's Falls. He afterwards moved to Bedford. The Perham family, also Hall, Dickey and McMurphy were among the early settlers.

So far as can now be ascertained, there are no authentic records, to any great extent, that reach back prior to the incorporation of the town. Some scraps of history are found, relating to individuals, but nothing like a connected account of the first settlement.

Church records, which usually furnish the earliest and most accurate information, concerning the settlement of our New England towns, are here entirely wanting.

From what data we have, however, there is no difficulty in tracing the origin of a majority of the early inhabitants. They were from the north of Ireland, or sons of the first settlers of Londonderry. Their ancestors were of Scotch origin, and in those days were called "Scotch Irish."

Col. Barnes, in his centennial address at Bedford, says, "It is true that nearly all this class of settlers, or their fathers and mothers, came to this country directly from the great northern province of Ulster, in Ireland; yet they were nevertheless not Irishmen. No Irish blood ran in their veins. The two races were, and are entirely distinct, as much as it is possible they can be, with the same general features and the same color." No one acquainted with the history of the Scotch and Irish, will doubt the correctness of what is here said of the distinction between the two races.

During the reign of Henry VIII, there began in England and Scotland a long and bitter struggle for supremacy, between the Episcopal church on the one hand, and the church of Rome on the other. It was a struggle for power, without very much of conscience or piety in either party. About the same time, there arose a third party, the Puritans in England and the Presbyterians in Scotland. They contended for greater rights of conscience, and for a purer faith and form of worship, and in consequence were persecuted both by King and Pope.

To escape from this persecution, to enjoy liberty of conscience, and to leave to their children an inheritance of civil and religious liberty, the Puritans sought an asylum in this western world.

About the same time, and for the same purpose, large numbers of the Scotch emigrated to the north of Ireland. But not finding there all the freedom they desired, many of them, or their descendants, emigrated a second time, and came to this country. One colony settled in Londonderry, and from thence went out many of the first inhabitants of Bedford, New Boston, Antrim, Peterborough, Acworth and Manchester. Most of the first settlers of Manchester were, therefore, of the right stock. Perhaps a nobler race of men never lived, than the Scotch Irish. It is true they did not possess so much that is courteous and refined in manner, as may be desirable, and in those qualities they might be behind their English neighbors; but in stern integrity, in uprightness of purpose, in a conscientious regard to truth, they were surpassed by no men who ever lived.

They were the worthy descendants of those who withstood the long and bloody seige [sic] of Londonderry, in their adopted Ireland; worthy themselves to lay the foundation of civil and religious liberty in their chosen country--worthy to be the fathers of those, who afterwards fought at Bunker Hill and Bennington.

It is worthy of notice, that among the most distinguished opposers of British aggression, were the Scotch Irish. The doctrine of the divine right of kings, which had so long held in chains the best minds of Old England, and which had contributed to warp the consciences of not a few in New England, had long sat loosely on the minds of the emigrants from Ulster in Ireland. Their views of religious liberty, the rights of conscience and of the obligations of the law of God, as above all edicts of kings and popes, contributed to this result. The civil and religious oppression they had felt in the mother country, had prepared both the Puritan and Presbyterian mind to throw off, in this country, without any sacrifice of conscience, allegiance to the king and parliament.

Those who acknowledged the king to be the head of the church, found a serious drawback to their patriotism, in their religious obligations. It was not so with dissenters in England and Scotland. They had already found a "Church without a Bishop," and from that, the step was a short one to a "State without a King."

Hence, when the cry "to arms" sounded along the valley of the Merrimack, the Scotch Irish were ready for the conflict.--Not only had they no scruples of conscience to overcome, but conscience was with them. Like Cromwell and his men, they carried the force of religious principle into the hottest of the fight. Their trust was in the righteousness of their cause. The blow they struck was for "God and their native land."

Thus in the town of Londonderry there were but 15 men who refused to sign what was called "The Association Test;" by which they pledged themselves "at the risk of life and fortune, with arms, to oppose the hostile proceedings of British fleets and armies." And in forty days after the battle of Bunker Hill, they had nearly one hundred men in the Continental army.

Bedford, also, possessed the same spirit. Not a single man, except the minister, refused to sign the test act." The same was true of New Boston, Antrim and Peterborough. The best of the sons marched to the bloody field, and did noble service for the truth and the right. Nor was Derryfield, according to her numbers and ability, a whit behind the best of them. The selectmen, in their return, say, "we have presented the within declarations to the inhabitants of said town, and they have all signed said declarations, which we, in our judgement, thought had a right to sign the same." And they were ready to perform all that the test required. First among the number of patriotic citizens, stands the name of Stark.

Gen. John Stark was one of those men, who are raised up for a specific purpose, prepared beforehand for great events, ready at the hour of trial, to perform the duty assigned them.

His early life was spent in this then frontier settlement, inuring him in youth to danger and hardship. Spending much of his time in hunting, he often came in contact with wandering parties of Indians, and once became their prisoner.

At the age of 26, at the commencement of the French and Indian war, he entered the British army as an officer. Through a long and bloody campaign, he served faithfully at one of the most important and dangerous posts of duty.

Twelve years after, when the war of the revolution began, he was among the first to march to the scene of conflict.

Although he had been an officer in the British army, and many who had served with him, (his own brother, among others,) were found opposed to the colonists, Stark was, from the first, true to the cause. Says his biographer,--"Within ten minutes after the reception of the intelligence of the battle of Lexington, Stark had mounted his horse and was on his way towards the seacoast, having directed the volunteers of his neighborhood to meet at Medford."

After the battle of Bunker-hill, he remained some time in the army under the immediate command of Washington, taking part in several engagements, and everywhere distinguished as a brave officer. The event, however, which did most to establish the military character of Stark, was the battle of Bennington.

Taking all the circumstances into the account, circumstances which preceded, attended and followed the engagement, it was evidently one of the most important battles of the Revolution.

Up to this time, the American army had manifested skill and bravery, which would have gained credit on any sanguinary field. Still our arms had gained no decisive victory. Everything was dark. The colonists began to feel the burden of the war. They were disheartened, and doubt hung in gloom over the future. The mind of Washington himself was not entirely free from that doubt which pervaded other minds.

In a letter he wrote, dated only thirty days previous to this battle, he said, "Though our affairs have for some days worn a gloomy aspect, yet I look forward to a happy change." That happy change, which the hopeful mind of Washington anticipated, occurred when Gen. Stark, at the head of troops raised in New Hampshire and Vermont, and among the hills of Berkshire, met the enemy at Bennington. It was a decisive victory. It turned the tide of affairs. It led the American people to "lose sight of past misfortunes," and urged them to fly to arms, to afford every aid in their power.

From this hour the American cause brightened. Other successful engagements with the enemy soon followed; and the star of promise never again left our political sky, till the last foreign foe was driven from our shores.

It is not claimed for Gen. Stark, that he possessed qualities of mind or heart, that in civil life, would have distinguished him above many other men. But, as a military officer, he had few equals. He belonged to the Putnam perhaps to the Napoleon school. He never dreamed of victory but by hard fighting; and that hard fighting, he had both the courage and the will to perform.

How large a number of Stark's townsmen fought with him the battles of our country, we are not informed.^C I have met with the name of no one who deserted the American cause, except that of William, brother of the General, who became a Col. in the British army, and was killed by a fall from his horse on Long Island.

From the records of the town at that exciting period, and from other historical fragments, it is evident there was no want of the right spirit among the inhabitants.

In March, 1775, the constable issued his warrant for town meeting, in the name of "His Majesty, the King." In December of the same year, another meeting was called in the name of America. In the mean time, other steps were taken, which show there was no wavering in regard to the aggressions of Great Britain.

While, however, we delight to speak of the early inhabitants of this town as the sons of noble sires; while it gives us pleasure to bear witness, that they stood shoulder to shoulder with their countrymen, in the struggle for Independence, still it must be confessed that in some important respects, they were unlike the first settlers of other towns who descended from the same noble ancestry. This difference appears in the sacrifices that were made to support the institutions of religion. Our Puritan fathers believed, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that "Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come." In accordance with this conviction, wherever they commenced a settlement, they laid the foundation of religious institutions, with forms of faith and worship, according to their views of the teachings of scripture.

The Scotch Presbyterians acted on the same principle. Wherever they went, the ark of God went with them. To build a tabernacle in the wilderness was among their first duties. The colony which came to Londonderry brought their minister, Rev. James McGregor with them. On the day after their arrival, under a large oak he preached from Isaiah 3-22. "And Aaron shall be a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."

From that day the institutions of religion have been maintained among the people. In Bedford, a similar course was pursued. Within two months after the act of incorporation, a call was extended to a minister to become their pastor. He declined, but others were invited. A pastor was soon settled, and the institutions of religion have been maintained by their descendants to this day.

From some cause, however, a different state of things prevailed here. For some years after the incorporation of the town, a good degree of interest was manifested in the support of religious institutions, as appears from the following records;--At a legal meeting, called Nov. 1751 it was voted "to raise 24 pounds, old tenor, to pay for preaching the present year."

1753, an article was inserted in the warrant, calling the town-meeting,"--To see if the town will choose where the minister shall preach,"--and it was voted that "Benj. Stevens barn and Wm. McClintock's barn be the place of public worship, till the money voted last March be expended."

The same year 1753, the town voted to extend a call to Rev. Mr. McDowell to become their minister, in connexion with Bedford. He however declined the offer. Twenty years after the town extended a call to Rev. George Gilmore, who likewise declined. The town continued to employ some clergyman to preach a few Sabbaths each year, but it does not appear that any minister of any denomination was ever settled in town, or became a permanent resident of it, until a very recent period.

In 1756, some steps were taken towards building a house of worship, the same that now stands in the centre of the town. The work, however, proceeded very slowly. After some years the frame was put up. Then we hear in town meeting, about boarding and shingling the house, and still later, of setting up of doors, and, finally, in 1792, of the outside of the house being covered, and the pew-ground being sold to the highest bidder.

It could hardly be said, however, that the house was ever in a finished state, while it was occupied as a place of worship.--One part would decay before another part was completed, so that it was always in a dilapidated condition. And those who met there to attend to the ordinances of the gospel on a summer's Sabbath, might have been reminded of those beautiful words of the Psalmist: "The sparrow hath found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, 0 Lord of Hosts."

No christian church was regularly constituted in this town, until within comparatively a recent period. The first organized, was a Presbyterian church at the centre of the town. The letter missive, inviting the council, was signed by twelve persons. The council was convened on the 21st of May, 1828, in the old meeting house. Of this council, Rev. Abraham Burnham was chosen Moderator, and Rev. Stephen Morse, scribe.--Six persons appeared and were examined on profession of their faith in Christ, and two presented letters from other churches. These eight persons, two men and six women, were organized into a church, and constituted the first church in Manchester.--They soon received some accessions, but remained few in number. They sustained the preaching of the gospel a part of the time, but never had a pastor. Eleven years after, in August, 1839, this church united with the Congregational church at Amoskeag, and became the First Congregational Church in Manchester. A pastor was settled over this church in January, 1840, and was the first of any denomination settled in the town.

The next church organized, was the Methodist, in Sept., 1829. An itinerant ministry has been sustained in connection with this church, I believe, since its organization.

(Other matters of an ecclesiastical character, of recent date are found noticed in their place, but come not within the scope of the present address.)

In the matter of education, the early inhabitants of the town pursued a course very different from that of their neighbors.--The good old Puritan custom of building the school house beside the church, was imitated by the Scotch Irish. In 1753 a school was kept 6 months in Bedford. The same course had been pursued in Londonderry, and the example was followed by other towns.

But for some reason this town furnished an exception. At the annual meeting, 1756, the question of appropriating money for the support of schools was introduced, but the article was dismissed. A few years after it was called up again, and again voted down. The same question shared the same fate in a number of instances, till 1788, when a small sum was appropriated to this purpose. But the next year a step backward was taken, and it was not till some years after, that there is evidence that the Common School System went into general operation.

As one of the consequences or causes of this neglect of education, it is worthy of notice, that for nearly a century after the settlement of the town, there was neither lawyer, physician or minister, among its permanent inhabitants. And so far as we can learn, during this long period, no man born in the town, has devoted his life to the pursuit of either of these professions.--No son of Manchester has been graduated at college until within the last 2 years; and it is a gratifying circumstance, that our first and only example is present on this occasion, to speak for himself, and to present testimony here, that he is a true scion of the right stock, and that a hundred years of waiting has not been in vain. In making this statement, it is by no means intended to intimate that none were educated here for the various departments of active life. There were many such, and some of them have been especially distinguished as merchants.

The causes which have contributed to produce this state of things, so unlike what appears in other towns, as Londonderry, which furnishes a list of 50 or 60 college graduates, and Bedford, over 30, must be looked for far back in the history of the people. The institutions of religion and education stand or fall together.

Among the first settlers of the town there was, no doubt, a respectable number who were anxious to support these institutions. But there were leading minds opposed to them, and the majority of the people were unwilling to make the sacrifice, and hence followed the results we have been obliged to notice.

These facts are full of important instruction for those, who are laying the foundations for coming generations. The Bible, the Sabbath, the Sanctuary, the school-house, laws to promote virtue and punish vice, our Puritan fathers found equal to all their wants.

They are instrumentalities which have lost none of their power, and we shall fail to procure from any other source the rich blessings which they afford.

We pass to the notice of other subjects of historical interest. At the time white men first settled along the banks of the Merrimack, the river was distinguished for its supply of fish. The the salmon the shad, the alewife and the lamprey-eel, were here found in great abundance. Amoskeag falls afforded peculiar facilities for taking these fish, and the inhabitants from all the towns in vicinity, resorted here in great numbers for this purpose.

In a journal kept by Hon. Matthew Patten, of Bedford, we find the following entry:--"1759, June 8-9--Fished at Namoskeag Falls, and got 120 shad and I gave Robert McMurphy 10 of them, and I got 4 shad and 1 small salmon for my part from the setting-place. Wm. Peters fished for me by the haLves."

The habits of these fish were such, that they passed up the river in the months of June, and July, when they were taken by means of nets and hooks prepared for the purpose. Some fishing stands were prepared and owned by individuals. Others, and those the most important, were formed by nature at the angle of rocks, and eddies in the stream. These were common property, and were held for the time by whoever might occupy them.

If, for instance, a man wished to gain possession of a particular fishing place, he must watch his opportunity, and, in the absence of any occupant, enter and take possession, his title being good while he remained, but vanishing the moment he left, and made room for a successor who wished to take his place.--So important were some of these stands regarded, that they would be watched for weeks, before a fish of any kind appeared in the river. Sometimes, however, the right of possession was not so clear and indisputable, but that it required the boiling of Irish blood, backed up by angry words, and heavy blows, to determine to whom the claim belonged.

Records and traditions have preserved the names of many of these fishing places. One was called the "Sitting Place," another the "Maple Stump." And to these may be added, the "Eel-pot," and the "Puppy-trap," the "Crack in the Rock," and last, though not least, the "Pulpit." Shad and salmon were also taken by the Fly and Drag-nets along the shores of the river, and immense quantities of alewives were caught in the stream which empties the Massabesic Lake into the Merrimack at Moor's Ferry or Goff's Falls.

In the early settlement of the country, fishing was, no doubt, a pleasant and profitable employment. It furnished a very acceptable article of food at little expense. But it soon became a very precarious business. No one could tell when the fish would run, or who would [sic] catch them when they did. Besides, it broke in upon the work of the farm, at a very important and busy season of the year.

It also tended to promote habits of idleness and intemperance. And while it was a kind arrangement of Providence to supply the necessities of the first settlers, yet we may doubt whether, on the whole, it was an advantage for a long time, before it was discontinued.

Manchester, stretching, as it does, for eight miles along the bank of the river, lying both above and below the Falls, and having the "Alewife Brook" passing directly across the centre, would be likely to receive all the advantages and disadvantages arising from this business, and it is to be feared, more of the latter than the former.

Still, some of us remember how very unwilling the old fisher men, dwelling in the neighborhood of the Falls, were, to part company with their shad and eels. When dams were thrown across the river to divert its channel, and thus prevent the free passage of the fish, these men felt that the rights were invaded, and, had they possessed the power, they might have felt themselves justified in resorting to almost any measures to restore the ancient order of things, even to the stoppage of every saw and spindle carried by our water falls.

The first important work of art prosecuted in this town, was the construction of the Amoskeag Canal around the Falls for the purpose of rafting. This work was designed and erected by Samuel Blodgett, Esq. Of the early life of Mr. Blodgett, little is known beyond the time and place of his birth, which was Woburn, Mass. April 1, 1724.

He was evidently a man of considerable note in his day, possessing an inventive mind, and far reaching sagacity, which really made him a man ahead of his age.

We hear of him as a Sutler in the French and Indian war, and when Fort William Henry was taken by the French, Blodgett was found concealed under a batteau [sic]. He was suffered to go at liberty, after being plundered of every thing but his scalp. It is said that he was never partial to military service afterwards.

We next hear of Mr. Blodgett as a merchant and as one of the assistant deputies of the "King's Woods," under Governor Wentworth. He was also an excise officer appointed to collect duties on all spirituous liquors. These commissions he held till Independence was declared. Whether owing to the recollections of the affair at Fort William Henry, or to the patronage he enjoyed from the mother country, we know not, but from some cause, he appears to have taken no part in the revolutionary struggle.¹

In an appeal he made to the public, dated December, 1803, he says:--

   "It is very painful indeed to me to reflect on a ten years ardent exertion, at this stage of my life, sparing no pains in my power, with the utmost stretch of invention to finish this canal, the expence [sic] of $60,000, already having been devoted to it, and the canal not yet completed."

By great exertions on his part, by the help of lotteries and by money raised by the sale of shares in the property, the Canal was finished about the time of his death in 1807.

When we take into account the circumstances under which this enterprise was commenced and prosecuted; when we reflect on the pecuniary depressions of the country; when we consider that there were no engineers or mechanics who understood the kind of work,--when to this we add that the enterprise was the first of the kind of any importance anywhere in this country--and above all the fact that it must, to a great extent, have originated in the mind of Mr. Blodgett: When we take into view these things, the Amoskeag Canal assumes an importance which places it among the great enterprises which distinguished the last century.

Invention is the rare quality of a few minds. Imitation is comparatively easy. It is the former that places the names of Fitch, and Folsom and Arkwright, and Morse so high on the scroll of fame, showing that the first humble and crude attempts of inventors indicate the presence of greater genius than may be expected by the most polished and successful imitators. It is in this view that we hesitate not to pronounce the Blodget Canal a greater work in its day than was the construction of the Erie Canal twenty years after, or than it would be now to construct a rail-road from St. Louis to SanFrancisco.[sic]

We have never been taught to place the name of Blodgett among the patriots or reformers of his age, but as a man of genius and deathless perseverance he had few equals.

As to the morality of raising money by lotteries, it is now justly regarded as very questionable; but if any think otherwise, and wish to try their luck at a game of chance, there is an abundance of Blodgett's tickets still on hand, which may be was obtained cheap, and which may be warranted about as likely to draw prizes, as any in the market.

But it is the manufacture of cloth, which, more than any thing else, will distinguish this city in coming time.

The rise and progress of this great interest of the place, claim our notice. The machinery first used for manufacturing purposes, was erected on the west side of the river. It is difficult, however, to find the precise time when it put into operation It was more than forty years ago when the undertaking was commenced by Mr. Benjamin Prichard. For want of capital, he was unable to proceed, and disposed of his interest to a company, becoming himself a partner in the concern.

The first record of the meetings of the directors of this company, that I can find is as follows:--

   "At a legal meeting of the Directors of the Amoskeag Cotton and Wool Factory, being duly notified and holden at the house of Robert McGregor, Esq., in Goffstown, March 9, 1810.
   Present, James Parker, Samuel P. Kidder, John Stark, Jr., David McQueston and Benj. Prichard."

From the votes passed at this meeting, it is evident that the factory was then in operation. At subsequent meetings, holden soon after the above date, the names of other directors appear and Jotham Gillis signs his name as clerk of the corporation, though the record of his appointment does not appear.--It is possible Mr. Gillis was, in fact, agent of the company as well as clerk, from March 9th, 1810, till August, 1813, at which time Frederic G. Stark, Esq., was appointed, and made solemn oath before David L. Morril, Esq., that he would faithfully discharge the duties incumbent on him as agent of the Amoskeag Cotton and Wool Factory.

The first building, as we have said, was erected on the west side of the river, at the falls, on the spot where the old factory stood which, three years since was destroyed by fire. It was, indeed, a part of that building. It was small, perhaps forty feet square, and two stories high.

For a number of years after the old factory went into operation, the business was limited to spinning cotton, and it is curious to learn under what disadvantages this now simple operation was performed.

The first step after the cotton was received, was to send it out into the families in the neighborhood, in lots of from fifty to one hundred pounds, to be picked. This was done by first whipping the cotton with rods in a rude frame prepared for the purpose, and afterwards separating the seed by hand. Four cents per pound was paid for picking cotton.

This old fashioned whipping machine operated by a boy with two sticks, has given place to the picker of our day.

The work of carding and spinning was performed at that day by machinery less perfect; but the yarn manufactured, as to strength and durability, would compare well with the article at the present day. Some years after the manufacture of yarn was commenced, perhaps because the market was more than supplied, the company introduced the weaving of cloth. It was, however, not done at the mill, but by hand-looms, in the families in the neighborhood.

Among the most vivid recollections of my childhood, is that of seeing Mr. Gillis ride up to the house where I then lived, with large bundles of yarn to be woven into cloth by the hand-loom process. It was before the days of Railroads, it was even before carriages had become very common, and the clerk of the Amoskeag Cotton and Wool Factory, found it convenient to travel a distance of five miles on horse-back, and carry his yarn in bundles, tied about his saddle.

As it is no part of my purpose to attempt any thing like a history of manufacturing in this place, it may be sufficient to mention that the machinery in this old mill was sold to Gen. Riddle for $1000, and was moved to Merrimack. He was offered the whole privilege, building and all, for $500 more. But he declined the offer. Afterwards, a Mr. Babbit came in, and commenced the manufacture of Gingham. Then followed a Mr. Robinson, and then the property passed into the hands of a corporation. An addition was made to the old mill spoken of, in 1826. The machinery was put into the belt mill, so called, the same year, and the foundation laid for a mill on the Island. These mills have all been burned. That on the Island in 1840, the other in 1848.

The first spindles, on the Manchester side of the river, commenced running in July, 1839. But not to dwell on matters of recent date--let me advert to some points of comparison between the past and the present, that may be noticed with interest:--

First, in the price of labor. When Judge Stark made solemn oath before D. L. Morril, that he would faithfully perform the duties of agent, he was to receive by contract, $15 per month--quite a contrast, probably, with what agents now receive. A Mr. Robinson, was engaged in 1811 to build machinery. An entry in the book states that he was to receive $3,50 per day, and board for himself and hands, and they find their own spirits.--A Mr. Cushing was paid as overseer $1,25 and boarded himself. The highest price paid for the labor of females was $1 per week, and from that down to almost no price at all. The price paid for weaving in hand-looms varied according to the texture of the cloth, from eight cents the minimum up to sixteen cents the maximum price per yard. Common shirting was twelve and a half cents.

When wages were at these rates, cotton yarn was worth from seventy-five cents to one dollar per pound. Common sheeting and shirtings from thirty to forty cents per yard. Calicoes which may now be bought for twelve and a half cents, cost then from forty to fifty cents.

From this statement it appears that the prices now paid for female labor are more than double what they were forty years ago--while the more common and necessary articles of wearing apparel, cost not more than one-third as much now as they did then. The difference in the price paid for men's work is not so great. It has, however, increased perhaps, one-third.

If the principle laid down, that the greater the price paid for labor, the greater the prosperity of the country, be true, then New England has greatly increased her pecuniary prosperity within the last forty years. If the old proverb, that money is power, be true, and if the price paid for woman's labor goes on increasing for forty years to come, as it has for forty years past, they will, ere long, become the lords of creation, and nothing but some compromise will save those who have hitherto swayed the sceptre, from a subordinate position.

There is, however, consolation in the thought--if the sceptre must pass from the hands of those who have so long held it, it will be transferred to those who in all ages have been proverbial for kindness and generosity.

If, therefore, such a change must come we will still hope to secure a dwelling-place, should we be deprived of our former dignity and honor.

A few figures will show us something of the progress that has been made in the manufacturing interest in this neighborhood within forty years, and as this is a very fair representation of the advance of this branch of industry, in our country, it is an item of much importance.

I have examined the accounts kept in the beautiful round hand of Judge Stark for the month of October, 1813. For fifteen days in succession, during that month, there were manufactured at Amoskeag, three hundred and fifty-eight skeins per day, of cotton yarn. This was about the average amount.--This three hundred and fifty-eight skeins, at factory price, was worth twenty-nine dollars and twenty-two cents.

The Stark mills, in this city, have for six months in succession, manufactured thirty miles of cloth per day.

The Amoskeag mills have manufactured forty miles in length per day. The Manchester mills are now manufacturing about seventeen miles per day.

We have then, this result:--In October 1813, they could spin at Amoskeag, three hundred and fifty-eight skeins of cotton yarn per day. In October, 1851, thirty-eight years afterwards, they can manufacture eighty-seven miles of cloth per day, an amount sufficient to stretch a web across the Atlantic in thirty-four days, and to belt the Globe in two hundred and eighty-seven days.

It would be a quick passage for one of our fastest sailing vessels to make a voyage round the earth in a period so limited.

As the progress made in manufacturing in the place, is only a fair index of the progress made throughout the country, it is easy to see that a vast change has taken place in the industrial habits of the country. For it will be borne in mind, that other branches of industry have advanced in an equally surprising ratio.

The question naturally arises, what is to be the effect of all this change in the country at large? We point to our spindles and looms, to our forges and machine-shops, to our rail-roads and steam-presses, and call it prosperity. But is it real substantial prosperity? Is it an advancement for which the generations to come will bless us?

Was not the community as well off; when the sons of our farmers remained quietly at home, to enlarge and beautify the old homestead, and pass life free from all the bustle and turmoil of the day in which we live? When their daughters sought wool and flax, and worked diligently with their hands for six-pence per day? Was it not as favorable to the general weal as the present condition of things, with all our progress? This is certainly a fair question, and there are those who say,--"The former days were better than these!"

But if we begin to go backwards where shall we stop? If we conclude nothing has been gained by spinning and weaving by machinery, by what arguments shall we show that the steam press is an advantage to the world? If the rail-car is no benefit, how does it appear that the wagon and chaise are so?--Why not go back to the old pillion? If anything is gained by sawing a board by water-power, why not plane it by the same power, and gain as much more? I confess myself a convert to the doctrine of human progress. I do not regard labor as an affliction. But any discovery that reduces the elements of nature to the service of men, diminishes the toil of human life, and at the same time multiplies the sources of enjoyment, and supplies the means of gratification.

Instead of going backward till all labor-saving machinery should be silent, and commerce swept from the ocean, my hope and belief is, that the world will yet go onward, mind constantly making new triumphs over matter, till a point is reached as far in advance of that which we now occupy, as the present is in advance of the remotest past. Such is the destiny of our race, and the man who most helps to roll on this tide of improvement, stands among the greatest benefactors of earth.

But to whom is the world indebted for all this improvement? Every cultivated mind has contributed its share, and a large share to the common advancement. Every class of society has furnished its individuals who have struck out new trains of thought, and executed new works of skill. But to one class in an especial manner, the world is indebted for this progress, I mean that of the practical mechanic. Every department of industry, every friend of human enterprise, has given new impulse to his power, and received in turn new impulse from the reaction. It has been said that God has bestowed special honor on agriculture, by making it the employment of the first pair, and by choosing many of the prophets and kings from this occupation.

It is said that special honor was conferred on the employment of the sailor by the man of Calvary, when he chose so many of his disciples from among the fishermen of Galilee.

We take no honor from other professions. But when God arched the Heavens, and hung the earth on nothing, and set in motion the wheel of nature, yea--when he formed the wonderful mechanism of the human body, and gave instinct to the animal creation, he exhibited a skill which the mechanic is only attempting to imitate.

And every advance he makes in the cultivation of his art, is only helping to move the world onward to that perfection, which its author intended it should reach.

Who, that contrasts the savage with the civilized state, who that looks at the printing-press, brought to such perfection by mechanical skill, who that beholds the steamboat sitting quietly on the ocean wave, or flying, as on the wings of the wind, thus facilitating commerce and international communication, can doubt that the mechanic has much to do in accomplishing the world's renovation?

Ah! when we are dead and the world has grown wiser, willing hands will take the laurel wreath from the warrior's brow, and entwine it upon that of the humble artisan, as a token of the world's gratitude to him who has done so much to "beat the sword into the plough-share, and the spear into the pruning-hook."

In bringing my remarks to a close, allow me to recur again to the thought with which I commenced. We dwell in a changing world, amid scenes that are shifting and passing away. As we have walked to-day among the monuments of the dead; we have been reminded of the influence of the past on the present. We owe a debt of gratitude to those who have lived before us. They have labored; have brought to light principles; perfected schemes of improvement; and left them a rich inheritance to the present generation. Let us be thankful for these blessings, first of all to Him from whom "cometh down every good and perfect gift," and then to those by whose skill, enterprise, and virtue, under God, have been accomplished these blessed results.

We are proud to speak of our Pilgrim ancestors, and regard it as an honor that the blood of such men flows in our veins; we delight to build their monuments, and point to the principles of civil and religious liberty, which they planted, as the seed of our golden harvest.

While we praise their virtues, let us imitate their example, and while we do honor to their principles in name, let us see to it, that the substance does not slip from our embrace.

Let us remember, that the only way in which we can pay the debt of gratitude we owe the past, is by living for the future. The only gold which is lawful tender in this commerce, is virtue, embodied in truthful and well directed actions.

Every human being has the same right to life, liberty, improvement, and happiness, that he has to enjoy the light of the sun--to breathe the air of heaven, or drink at the gushing fountain.

Be it ours to pay the debt we owe the past, by living to confer these blessings on all men the world over. Above all, let us keep in mind that we are fast hastening through the brief period of our earthly existence. The men connected with the events we celebrate today, have long since passed away, and long before another occasion like this shall occur, our names will all be blotted from the record of the living, but we go to witness other scenes, and to bear a part in other events. May we so keep in view our accountability to our great Creator, and so rely on Him who is the "Resurrection and the life," that when our names shall perish from the memory of the living, they may be found treasured in the records of the just.

APPENDIX.

   A. It seems that a portion of this City, next to the Merrimack, consisting of a strip of land three miles in width, extending through its entire length, was granted, in 1635, to Ephraim Hildreth, John Shepley and others, by the Province of Massachusetts, that Province claiming that their north line extended three miles north and east of the Merrimack. Hildreth and Shepley for themselves and other Soldiers under Capt. William Tyng, petitioned the general Court of Massachusetts Province, for the grant of a tract of land six miles square lying on both sides of Merrimack River at Amoskeag Falls. The petition was presented on the ground of services rendered in an expedition against the Indians on snow shoes, in the winter of 1703.
   This petition was granted and the tract of land included within it was known was known by the name of Tyngstown. Tyngstown extended from "Suncook or Lovewell's town," (now Pembroke,) to Litchfield, and was bounded on the west by the Merrimack, and upon the east by a line parallell [sic] to the Merrimack, and at a distance of three miles from the same. Thus the town was about twelve miles in length, and three miles in width.Return
   B. While probably the Indians did not continue to reside permanently in the vicinity of Amoskeag much later than 1690 or '95, still not unlikely, for forty or fifty years afterwards, they spent much time in the neighborhood of the Falls. Which fact may account for the extensive knowledge of the Indian character possessed by some of the early settlers. Return
   C. From a record made by the selectmen of Derryfield, September 4th, 1775, it is ascertained that the whole number of the inhabitants was 285 males--between the age of sixteen and fifty-forty-one-of them sixteen were in the army. They also state that of those not in the army, only twenty are fit to bear arms.
   Probably no town in the State, perhaps none in the country furnished a larger number of soldiers in proportion to the number of inhabitants between the ages of sixteen and fifty fit to bear arms. Return

¹This is probably a mistake. It is said Mr. B. was engaged for a time in the revolutionary war. Return

       

Address.
History of Manchester
Hillsborough County
Created June 17, 2001
Copyright 2001