Coos County
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The town of Pittsburg, formerly known as "Indian Stream Territory," embraces all that portion of the state lying north of the parallel of 45° north latitude, excepting a small tract included within the limits of the town of Clarksville, and is bounded on the east by Maine, southerly by the parallel of 45° and the Connecticut river, westerly by the main easterly branch of Hall's stream, and northerly by the Highlands forming the divide between the Connecticut, the Androscoggin, and the St. Lawrence waters, and contains an area of 360 square miles, of which, in 1880, there were 15,000 acres under improvement.
It was first explored by a party of land surveyors, under the direction of the Canadian government, in 1787, by whom a considerable portion of the territory was divided into townships during the following year, and included a part of the present municipal corporations of Hereford, Aukland and Emberton, Quebec, and the whole of the township of Drayton was located in the westerly part of the territory, and embraced the valley of Indian stream northerly to the south line of Aukland. This territory at that period formed a portion of the hunting-grounds of the St. Francis Indians, a tribe located in the valley of the St. Francis river some twenty miles north of the Highlands. Large parties of these Indians made frequent visits hither, attracted by the abundance of fur-bearing animals and moose, and deer which roamed through these vast forests, otherwise undisturbed. The valleys of Indiam stream and Connecticut river seem to have formed the principal camping-grounds of the tribe during their annual visits, relics of which are not infrequently found even now.
The surface presents a bold and rugged appearance, the easterly and northerly portions having many broken and abrupt elevations belonging to lateral spurs of the White Mountain chain, and evidently of volcanic origin; these continue northerly, terminating at Megantic mountain, from whence the land gradually inclines northwardly to the valley of the St. Lawrence. This elevated plateau, forming the divide between the waters flowing northerly into the St. Lawrence and southerly into the Atlantic ocean, was considered by Professor Agassiz to be the oldest land on the continent; which opinion is strengthened by the evidence of Plutonic, volcanic and non-fossiliferous stratified rocks showing very distinct traces of glacial abrasion, particularly in the vicinity of Connecticut lake and on the heights between Indian and Perry streams; and, further, also, by dikes of quartz abundantly dispersed, and ejected through the superincumbent slates in the northwestern portion of the territory. A large portion of its soil evidently consists of various kinds of disintegrated rock and other materials transported a considerable distance in a southeasterly direction.
Topographical
Features. — The eastern portion of the town (bordering on the state of Maine for
a distance of nineteen miles) is separated from the westerly portion by the
water-shed between the Connecticut and the Androscoggin waters. It contains an
area of 33,000 acres. Mt. Magalloway (having an elevation of 2,800 feet, and on
which the United Coast Survey has a signal station, erected in 1879,) is
situated in the southwesterly portion of this tract; also Mt. Carmel, with an
elevation of 3,750 feet — the line between Maine and New Hampshire passing
midway over its summit. The three main branches of Dead Diamond stream (a
tributary of the Androscoggin) have their rise in the central portion of this
part of the town: Little Magalloway, flowing into the main river of that name
four miles below Parmachenee lake, has its source southwesterly of Mt. Carmel,
and the most northwesterly head of the Androscoggin river rises in a small pond
a little west of the state line, and one-half mile south of the iron monument on
which are cast in raised letters the names of Albert Smith and Lieut. -Col. I.
B. B. Escourt, British commissioners appointed under the treaty of Washington to
mark the boundary between the United States and Lower Canada; also the name of
Col. Henry O. Kent, commissioner appointed on the part of New Hampshire to
re-adjust and straighten the boundary line between Maine and New Hampshire. This
monument also bears the date of the treaty (1842), and was placed here in 1845,
at the extreme northerly point of the state, to mark the boundary between Maine,
New Hampshire, and Canada. At this point a person, by walking around it as near
as possible, can pass through a portion of each of these political divisions.
Westerly of this divide, and within one mile of the northern boundary, begins
the chain of lakes in which the Connecticut
river takes it rise. The upper
one of the chain, commonly called "Third" lake, and more correctly known by its
Canadian designation, ''Lake St. Sophia," is small, nearly circular in form, and
about one mile in width, with an extreme depth of ninety feet. The Connecticut
at its source is a small stream, twenty feet in width, flowing due south a
distance of five miles, receiving a considerable tributary on the easterly side,
and discharging its waters into the second of the chain, commonly known as
"Second" lake, and, more properly, as "Lake Carmel" (from the mountain of that
name in full view in a northeasterly direction). This pond is two miles in
length, of varying width, irregular in shape, and contains an area of about
1,000 acres; its greatest depth is eighty feet. The stream flowing from this
lake is eighty feet wide, and for the first mile after leaving the lake has a
fall of 300 feet, affording excellent water-power. It pursues a southwesterly
direction for four miles, receiving two considerable tributaries on the west,
and falls into "Lake Connecticut," usually considered the main source of the
Connecticut river. This lake, in its greatest extent, is about four miles in
length by three in breadth, with a depth of 100 feet, and has an altitude of
1,850 feet. From the foot of this lake to the southeasterly part of the town,
where the Connecticut crosses the parallel of forty-five degrees (thirteen
miles), it has a fall of 450 feet, (principally above and below Fletcher's
mills, for a distance of two miles, and in the first two miles of its course
after leaving the lake.) Some very fine interval lands border the banks of this
river, commencing two miles below Connecticut lake, and extending for five miles
below; and again at the mouth of Indian stream. The most important tributaries
received in this distance are Perry's stream, forming its junction with the main
river one and one-half miles below the lake, Indian stream, seven miles below,
and Hall's stream, forming the western boundary of the town, flowing into the
Connecticut fifteen miles below the lake, in the town of Canaan, Vt.
These streams have their sources in the high lands forming the northern boundary of the town, have a general uniform parallel southwesterly course, and are each about twenty miles in length, and of sufficient size to float the large spruce which grows in abundance along their banks. Quite extensive tracts of good interval lands are found along their banks, up to a point from four to six miles from their source; more particularly in the valleys of Indian and Hall's streams.
Rogers's pond, in the center of the town near the main highway, is about one mile in length by three-fourths in width; Round pond, one mile north of Lake Connecticut, a gem nestling among the green-clad hills in their summer verdure; and numerous smaller ponds dotting the landscape here and there, unite in giving a pleasing diversity to the woodland scenery.
Rocks. — But little granite is found near the surface. Small detached bowlders are found in the lower valley of Hall's stream, and a very little farther east. Conglomerate rocks, in the alluvial formation in the valley of the Connecticut, and in the vicinity of Indian stream, are frequent. Probably the most widely dispersed rocks are a sandstone in a fragmentary state, lying near the surface, and a species of argillaceous slate, in the same condition. It is mainly to the abundance of these that the rough appearance of the surface of the country is owing, and in many localities they materially enhance the labor in the successful cultivation of the soil. Near the center of the town is a belt of rock extending from the Connecticut river in a northeasterly direction about five miles, varying in width from one to three miles, having a crystalline structure like granite, but of a darker color, very readily disintegrating wherever exposed to atmospheric influences, called by Prof. Huntington a kind of green schist, containing a considerable percentage of potash. It is one of the best fertilizing rocks found in New England. In the valley of Perry stream, and extending from the Connecticut northerly a distance of six miles, the main outcropping rock is a light sandstone grit, showing a very clearly defined stratification, having in many places nearly a vertical position, and bearing abundant evidence of recent displacement, which changed the direction of the watercourses in its vicinity, and turning the main stream, flowed over its bed in a new direction, forming a junction with the Connecticut five miles above its former outlet. In the northeasterly portion of the town a species of hornblende is found in considerable abundance in massive form, and in detached bowlders, and forms no inconsiderable portion of the rugged hillside which so prominently mark the sources of the streams flowing northerly, easterly, and southerly. The high ridge of land forming the elevation or divide between Indian and Hall's streams is a slate formation, through which large and frequent dikes of quartz have been ejected. The most southerly point of its surface-indications is one mile north of the Connecticut river. It crops out quite often towards the boundary northwardly (a distance of eighteen miles), varying in width from two to four miles, and covers an area of probably not less than 35,000 acres. It is easily quarried into slabs of any required size and thickness, and has been pronounced by experts good roofing slate. This proving true, it only awaits suitable facilities for transportation to become of immense value. It is in this formation that gold has been found on the head waters of Indian stream, at several points over an area of 4,000 acres, and more frequently in Annance gulch, a vein leading into the middle branch on the east side thereof, three miles south of the Highlands, where evidence of (piite extensive mining operations (probably by parties from Canada), such as deep excavations in the banks and former beds of the stream, marks of quite extensive camping grounds, and sluice-boxes in the lasl stages of dacay, are found. This formation forms the bed-rock of the celebrated gold mines of the Hon. John H. Pope on the head-waters of Little Ditton river in the township of Ditton, Quebec, six miles north of the boundary at the head of the middle or main branch of Indian stream. These have been worked for twenty years, with large profit on the capital invested. Traces of lead and copper are found in the northeastern portion of the town in the vicinity of Lake Carmel, and iron in small quantities is met with in the central and southwestern sections.
The first exploration by New Hampshire people was made in 1789 by two adventurous rangers — David Gibbs and Nathaniel Wales, the former from Haverhill, the latter from Concord, N.H., — who, pushing their way through the thick forests on the banks of the Connecticut far beyond the scattered settlements then gradually extending up the river in the "Upper Cohos," finally reached the broad intervals at the mouth of Indian stream late in the month of September. Here they remained nearly a month engaged in trapping the fur-bearing animals, exploring the adjacent country, and tracing the Connecticut river to the lake which bears the same Indian name. Returning home in the late Indian-summer days, they gave glowing accounts of the country they had discovered; representing it, as it then appeared in its primeval solitude, as a country of vast extent, far richer in its flora and fauna than any hitherto known portion of New England; with broad meadows bordering the banks of the streams through their whole extent; with huge white pines growing plentifully along its principal water courses, and towering far above the surrounding forests; and with its gently-sloping hillsides covered with a heavy primitive growth of rock maple; its rich autumnal colors blending with the deeper hues of the evergreens, then unmarked by the woodman's axe, giving a pleasing diversity to the landscape, when illuminated by the slanting rays of the Indian-summer sunlight.
The streams and ponds are abundantly stocked with trout, "lunge," and various other kinds of edible fish, while through its forests moose, deer, and caribou roamed in such numbers as had never been found in any of the more southerly portions of the state. Beaver were plenty, and the results of their labors, in the small meadows and embankments scattered along streams, still remain, bearing ample evidence of their intelligence and indefatigable industry. Otter, mink, muskrat, and sable were found in great numbers, and to the discoverers this region seemed the very paradise of hunters. They are said to have represented the soil as being of remarkable fertility, and such were the flattering reports they gave that in June following (1790), three others joined them in an expedition to this section, with a view of forming a settlement. Purchasing such supplies, as were needed for the proposed trip from the frontier settlers, they pushed boldly into the wilderness and reached the Indian stream meadows. Here they proceeded to make "pitches," or preempt their claims, by cutting a few trees, erecting rude cabins or camps on the cleared plots, and making such improvements as should show their intention to permanently occupy these lands.
These beginnings or "pitches" were located as follows: David Gibbs, on the farm now known as the Baldwin place, and occupied by the Baldwin Brothers; Nathaniel Wales, on that now known as the Nathaniel Perkins farm; Nathan Smith, on the Tabor farm; Royal Gage, on the Connecticut river, five miles below the lake, at the mouth of the brook which still bears his name. The other member of the party, James Smith, located near the mouth of Deadwater stream in the present territory of Clarksville.
But few Indians were met with, and these were appearing friendly, so little apprehension was felt from that source. After remaining here some three months or more exploring the country nearly to the Highlands, supplementing their scant stock of provisions from the forests and streams, and becoming somewhat weary of their solitary life, these hardy pioneers returned to their respective homes, where they gave very flattering reports of the country, particularly of the remarkable fertility of the soil as indicated by the luxuriance of the wild grasses which grew in great abundance on the open meadows. These several beginnings have since broadened into large interval farms with elegant and commodious farm buildings, showing the wisdom of this early selection.
This country was only visited by occasional hunting parties after this until 1796, when certain individuals, notably Thomas Eames, John Bradley, Jonathan Eastman and Nathan Hoit, obtained the famous deed from King Philip and claimed possession of this territory. This deed was acknowledged June 30, 1796, "received for record" November 22, 1796, and recorded in liber 23, fol. 206 of the records of Grafton county. They immediately organized under the proprietary act, and opened their lands to settlement, offering to immigrants lots of 100 acres each to a limited number, allowing them to select the locality, on condition of performing "settler's duty"; which consisted in clearing five acres of land, erecting a log cabin or some structure which might answer for a domicile, and performing a certain amount of labor annually, during a stated number of years, in cutting and clearing roads.
It was supposed by most of the early settlers, under the grants from the proprietors claiming to hold their lands by virtue of the title derived from this Indian chief, that they were secure in the tenure of their holdings as against any claim by the state of New Hampshire. In fact it was held by many well-informed in colonial matters and usages that the territory lying north of the 45th parallel and south of the Highlands, formed a sort of "terra incognita" wholly outside of the jurisdiction of the government of New Hampshire, or that of Lower Canada; and, at this distant clay, it is difficult to perceive, in view of the fact that it has long been the settled policy and practice of the United States government to acquire the lands of the Indians by treaty or purchase, how the state of New Hampshire ever acquired any title to this territory otherwise than by usurpation. There appears very little, if any, evidence that it Was included within the limits of the royal patent issued by Charles II., in 1679, constituting the province of New Hampshire. Neither does it appear that during the long period of forty-nine years when New Hampshire formed a part of the province of Massachusetts, that the northern boundaries of the colony were understood to extend north of the Ammonoosuc.
The proprietors claiming under this Indian deed held out flattering inducements to settle on their lands, and settlements of a permanent character were soon commenced. Hither came Ebenezer Fletcher, from Charlestown, N. H., in 1811, who soon after built a frame dwelling-house and a saw and grist-mill, on the falls on the Connecticut which still bear his name. The frames of the barn and mill were massive structures, and are still standing in a very tolerable state of preservation, as monuments of his indefatigable industry. He was reputed to be a man of considerable wealth for that period, kind and liberal to his poorer neighbors, rendering them material assistance in the hardships and privations incident to pioneer life. The original Fletcher farm, containing 500 acres, has been much subdivided, and now forms a small village. In the same year came Samuel Osborne and Daniel Haines; also John Comstock, who settled on Indian stream, on what is now known as the Tabor farm. John Haines came, in 1813, from Lisbon, but the increase and prosperity of the settlement was seriously retarded by the war with Great Britain; many left fearing hostile Indian incursions from Canada, as straggling parties often evinced a very unfriendly disposition; but they were held in check by a military garrison near at hand on the frontier. Under its protection a few remained, and some additions to the settlement were made, as will hereafter be seen.
Nathan Judd came, in 1813, from Piermont, and Nathaniel Perkins, in 1814, from New Hampton. The latter locating on the westerly bank of Indian stream on the farm bearing his name, and originally containing 700 acres. Clark J. Haines and William Byland came in 1815; the former from Lisbon, the latter from Bradford, Vt. Abner Hyland and came from the same place in 1816; Emer Applebee, from Franconia, in 1819; also Gen. Moody Bedel and Samuel Danforth, from Haverhill; Rufus Brockway (for a long period a private mail-carrier, during which there was no post office nearer than Stewartstown); David Eaton, from Plymouth; James T. Boynton and Zebulon Flanders, from Warner; and Enoch Carr, from Lisbon.
The year 1820 added seventeen families to the new settlement; these locating mainly in the central and northeasterly portions, along the Connecticut valley and north side of Connecticut lake. Their names and places of residence, so far as can be ascertained, were as follows: Paul Tabor, Jeremiah Tabor, and Elisha P. Tabor, from Bradford. Vt., located on Indian stream; Simeon Wright, from the same town, settled on the Connecticut, one and one-half miles above Indian stream: Moses Thurston, from Corinth, Vt., bought out the claim of Royal Gage near the mouth of the brook which still bears his name; Southwood Sibley settled on a lot easterly and adjoining; Richard I. Blanchard, from Haverhill, and Josiah Rogers, from Windsor, Vt., located in the center of the town, near the southerly side of Rogers's pond; Jeremy George, from Newbury, Vt., located on the north side of this pond; Abiel Holt, (who surveyed and lotted 2,000 acres of land in the same year, in the northeasterly portion of the settlement, principally along the north shore of Connecticut lake.) Joshua Parker, Noah Fletcher, Archelaus Cummings, Seth Blood, and Burleigh Blood, all from Temple, located in the "lake settlement," the last named locating on, and clearing, the farm at the head of the lake, then, as now, the extreme northeasterly farm in the state; David Mitchell (formerly a merchant in Bath, and said to have been the first and only Freemason in the colony at that period); John Langdon Haynes, from Lisbon. Sylvester Hutchins, Reuben Sawyer, and Jonathan Hartwell came in 1821. In 1822 only five permanent additional settlements were made, viz.: by John Parker, Jonathan French, John Parsons, Elisha Abbott, and Peter Barns, from Corinth, Vt., who built a saw and grist-mill at the foot of the lake. Sampson Rowell, from Piermont, Eben and Silas Gettchell, from Haverhill, came in 1823. In 1824 three additional families moved in; those of Col. Samuel Huggins, formerly sheriff of Sullivan county, Britton Cook, and Ephraim C. Aldrich, from Bradford, Vt.
The population of the settlement at this period (1824) was 285: estimated area of the territory 150,000 acres (since proving by actual survey to be much greater); estimated value thereof by legislative committee of investigation twelve and one-half cents per acre; number of acres under improvement 847, valued at $5 per acre.
A very large proportion of those mentioned remained as permanent residents. They were mostly strong, stalwart men in the plentitude of physical strength, possessing in a large degree the spirit of adventure united with indomitable energy and perseverance, and aided by their wives, who generally possessed corresponding traits of character, they cheerfully and courageously endured the hardships and privations incident to pioneer life.* They were valuable citizens, gradually clearing up large farms, building comfortable homes, and, generally, rearing large families of rugged and healthy children, many of whom, and their descendants, are scattered far and wide throughout the country (although their early opportunities for acquiring an education were scant and limited indeed), have taken prominent parts, and are now occupying prominent positions, in social, political, professional, and mercantile life.
*Bear Story. — [As a specimen of what might occur on
any day, or night rather, to the early settlers, and as throwing a little light
on their surroundings and character, we insert what befell Kimball B. Fletcher
in 1834 in Pittsburg, using in the greater part his own language. — Editor.]
"I then lived at Fletcher's Mills; a Canadian sheriff with five or six men
had arrested Luther Parker, and were taking him to Hereford for examination. As
they passed my house, he requested me to go to Clarksville and have Miles
Hurlbert go to Colebrook and procure a lawyer for him. The night was very dark
and somewhat rainy. I tried for an hour to find my horse but could not, so I
must go on foot two miles and a half, through heavy woods most of the way. I
took my tin lantern, put about seven inches of candle in it, and lighted it. As
it was so damp I thought it of no use to take my flint-lock gun. The first two
miles of my way was a muddy track cut through solid woods, and hardly to be
called a road. After going about half a mile (it was as dark as a negro's
pocket) I heard it thunder, as I supposed. I walked on one or two rods further
and heard the noise again. This time I knew it was not thunder, so I stopped to
see what caused it. I could see nothing, but all the time heard a low whining
and growling. I knew then that there was business close by, and opened the
lantern door a little, and turned the lantern around until the light fell on the
object I was looking for, and there, not twenty-five feet, from me, and right in
my path, sitting up as straight as a man could stand, was a very large bear
weighing at least 300 pounds. She was as tall as I was, and she had two cubs of
about fifty pounds each. Now what could I do? She was making up all kinds of
faces at me, and showing her teeth to the best advantage. I had killed several
bears, but had never met one in a dark night with young ones at her side. I
could see, however, that she was not of an amiable disposition. I wished for the
old gun; with that I could have settled matters quickly. But I must go on. I did
not feel in the least afraid, and opened the door, and let the light shine right
on to the bear, took out my jack-knife, opened it, and with it in my right hand
and my lantern in my left, I walked toward the bear. When I was within a rod of
her, she growled and grunted and bounded out off the road. There sat the cubs,
however, and I could have kicked one in passing, but knew it would not do as the
old one would be there in a instant. I travelled on, and soon heard something
behind me. I kept on, looking back every now and then, but could only see two
small balls of fire gleaming at me. I began to get nervous. I knew that any
moment I might get a powerful blow from the bear that I knew was within four or
five rods of me all the time. I felt queerly. I was only twenty-four years old,
and weighed 180 pounds, but I felt as light as a feather. I was in the solid
woods more than a mile from a human being; the night was as black as a stack of
black cats: I was being followed by a huge bear in whose paws an unarmed man
would be but a plaything. I have heard that when a person was scared their hair
would stand up straight. Was that the case with me? I took off my hat, put up my
hand, and my hair seemed as stiff as bristles. I crowded it down hard, but it
rose right up again. All this time those eyes were watching me as closely as a
cat would watch a mouse. You may think none but a great coward would feel like
this, but if you had been in my boots at that time you would have seen the
hand-writing on the wall as Nebuchadnezzar of old did. I stood there and
reasoned in this way. 'Is not that bear as afraid of me as I am of her? I have
driven her out of the road away from her cubs once, and she dares not come near
enough to me to hurt me; she is only escorting me out of the woods away from her
babies.' So, with my knife in one hand, determined to sell my life as dearly as
possible, I travelled on. She followed me eighty or one hundred rods further,
and I heard no more of her. On my return the next morning I saw her tracks along
the road for a mile. Her feet were as long as mine, and fully six inches wide
across the toes. I am in my seventy-fifth year, lived in the woods thirty-six
years, have killed eighteen bears and one large wolf, but never had my nervous
system so stirred up as on that night."
But little attention was paid by the state to this section prior to 1820, at which period information was filed with the attorney-general against "certain settlers said to be encroaching upon the public domain," north of the parallel of 45 degrees north latitude, and suits were subsequently brought to eject them from their holdings under the proprietary titles. At the June session of the legislature of 1824 a committee of three members was appointed to visit the ''Indian Stream Territory" (as this country was then generally designated) and report at the November session following.
This action on the part of the state was in answer to a petition from the proprietors, claiming under this Indian deed, and from the settlers, asking relief from certain suits which had been brought against them in the Supreme Court, to eject them from their holdings. The report of this committee was referred to a select committee of the House, at the November session of the same year, which submitted the following report: —
"The petitioners claim under a deed from one Philip, an Indian chieftain, and the depositions of Daniel Farrington, Ward Bailey, Andrew Oilman, Benjamin Willey, John Osgood, and John Evans (taken at the expense of the proprietors in 1804 in perpetua re memoriam). were laid before them by the petitioners, and that the grantor, King Philip, was the chief, or sachem of the Upper Coos tribe of Indians, that was regarded as such by the Indians inhabiting the Upper Coos, and by the white inhabitants of that country. The committee further find that King Philip, from and after the execution of the deed and until the time of his death in 1797, and Molley Mussell, wife or companion to said Philip, until her death, were supported at the expense of the original proprietors. The committee further find that the first meeting of persons claiming rights or shares of a certain tract of land conveyed to John Bradley, Esq., and others by Philip, an Indian chief, at the head of Connecticut, Androscoggin, and other rivers, was holden at Concord on the 17th of June, 1797. The committee further find, that at subsequent meetings, sixty-eight in number (and which have mostly been held at Concord during the session of the legislature), the proprietors have 'Voted (December 10, 1798,) to lay out a township six miles square within the grant, or such other tract as the committee hereafter named may think proper; — not to interfere with any grant heretofore made by the states of New Hampshire, Vermont, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, or the Province of Lower Canada; to give one hundred acres for settling to every settler who may settle within the same, and another one hundred acres by draught within the same, and the settler paying the proprietors fifty dollars to be expended under the direction of the proprietors in making roads. At the same meeting a committee was appointed for the proprietary to settle or compromise with any other persons who may have trespassed on said Philip's Grant.' At the meeting held at Concord Jan. 7, 1800, it was voted 'to accept the survey of sixty-four thousand acres of said Philip's grant lying north of the parallel of forty-five degrees north latitude, being laid out into lots, thirty-two in number, and containing two thousand acres each'; and, at the same meeting, the proprietors drew lots for the lots. June 11, 1800, a committee was appointed to lay out land betwixt Hall and Indian streams, and authorized to agree with settlers. June 10, 1801, voted, 'Jeremiah Eames be, and he hereby is. authorized to put on settlers, and give quitclaim deeds, of conveyance of such number of acres as hath been heretofore voted.' June 14, 1804. voted that ' Captain John Eastman. Jeremiah Eames, Jr., and Samuel Bradley be a committee to lay out the whole of Philip's Grant, and lot the same in such a way and manner as they shall think most conducive to the interest of said proprietors.' August 10, 1819, voted 'to chooses committee to go around and survey the remaining part of the land in Philip's Grant, or such part thereof as their judgment may direct when on the spot, and that they be authorized to make contracts with any persons who are now settlers or who may become settlers in the course of the present year on the lands in Philip's Grant, giving them not exceeding two hundred acres of land each as settlers, by their signing an instrument that they hold their lands by virtue of a title from the proprietors of Philip's Grant, and from no other quarter.' The committee attended to the duty assigned them, and made a report which, at a meeting of the proprietors, Dec. 27, 1819, was approved of as being 'very intelligent,' and from this report the committee ask leave of the House to submit for their consideration the following extracts: 'From Fletcher's Mills we took our departure in a northerly direction towards the lake Connecticut, distant six (eight?) miles, to the outlet of said lake; thence in a northerly direction, half a mile distant from the shore of said lake; from there we proceeded up the inlet in a canoe about two miles, and then proceeded several miles into the forest, and then returned to the canoe and came down about the middle of said lake from the inlet to the outlet which is about eight miles, which gave us a beautiful view of the land explored. We found the whole country as far explored an excellent deep soil, rising into large, gentle swells, admirably adapted to cultivation and covered with a fine growth of large timber remarkably tall and very little underwood. The timber is chiefly the sugar-maple, beech, and birch. We discovered very little of what is called beech land. The land is not broken into mountains, nor so stony as to injure the cultivation, as is the case in many of the towns in New Hampshire. We are induced to believe that three or four townships may be located within the boundaries of said tract, which for fertility of soil, and pleasantness of situation would not be exceeded by any town in New Hampshire.'
"The committee further find that the proprietors have received no consideration from the tenants for the lands allotted to them; that they have expended very considerable sums of money in making roads, erecting a bridge, and building grist-mills and saw-mills, and if the legislature should hereafter consider that the petitioners have no legal claim, the committee have no doubt that their important betterments will secure for them the equitable consideration of the legislature. And the committee further find, that an act entitled 'an act to prevent and make void clandestine and illegal purchases of lands from the Indians' passed the General Assembly of the province of New Hampshire in the year 1719, the first section of which enacted 'that all deeds of bargain, sale, lease, release, or quitclaim, titles or conveyances whatsoever of any lands, tenements or hereditaments, within this province, as well for a term of years as forever, had, made, gotten, procured or obtained from any Indian or Indians, by any person or persons whatsoever at any time or times since 1700, without the license or the approbation of the General Assembly of this province, and all deeds, &c, which shall hereafter be had, &c, shall be judged in law to be null, void, and of none effect, to all intents and purposes, as though they had never been made.' And the committee further find that in 1792 this act was repealed; and that the legislature of this state, in the year 1789, appointed a committee for the purpose, and caused the boundary lines between this state and that part of Massachusetts then called the district of Maine, and between this state and the Province of Canada to be ascertained and run, and monuments to be erected thereon; and that the lines there run include within this state, some portions at least, of the lands claimed by the petitioners. The committee further find that Nathan Hoit, one of the grantees named in the deed, was a member of the above committee. And the committee further find that no grants have been made by this state of any lands lying northerly of the tract of land granted to Dartmouth college. And the committee further find that the following resolution passed the legislature at the November session, 1820.
"'Resolved, That the Attorney-General be, and he is hereby authorized and required to institute due proceedings in law against such of said persons (the settlers on the lands lying northerly of the tract of land granted to Dartmouth College) as he shall deem proper, in the name and behalf of the state, and the same to prosecute to final judgment, to the end that the said persons, in case it shall be found that they have unlawfully entered and infringed upon said lands, may be removed therefrom.'
"And the committee further find that the attorney-general, in compliance with the above resolution, did institute legal proceedings against certain of the settlers in the Supreme Court in and for the county of Coos. And the committee further find that a plea to the jurisdiction of the court was filed, and that the question of the jurisdiction of the state involved in the plea remains undecided. And the committee further find, that the true boundary line between the United States and the Province of Canada has not yet been ascertained and determined.
"The committee ask leave of the House to report that in their opinion no decisive measures can be recommended by them and adopted by the legislature as to the sale and conveyance of any portion of the lands lying north of the 45th degree, until the question of the extent of the jurisdiction of the state is settled, and that this must depend upon the determination of the boundary lines. If, ou the final establishment of the boundary line between the United States and the Province of Canada, any part of the land claimed by either the state or the petitioners, should be found to fall without the jurisdiction of the United States, the committee have no reason to doubt, that on proper representation being made by the senators and representatives of this state, in the Congress of the United States, the same would be by an act, annexed to this state to which it ought of right to belong. Believing as the committee do that the right of jurisdiction (or in other words its right to legislate) to the full extent over the lands claimed by the petitioners is not at present a proper subject for judicial decision; and believing further that tin tenants had reason to put great confidence in the representations of those who publicly claimed the right of soil and under whom they entered, the committee are of opinion that the tenants are entitled, if not to be fully quieted in their possessions of land, at least to exemption from prosecutions. They ask leave therefore to submit for the consideration of the House the accompanying resolution.
"(Signed)
William Smith.
"For the Committee."
"Chapter 83. — Section 1. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened, That all the land north of the 45th degree of north latitude, which has been at anytime supposed to be within the limits of the state, and which is not known and established to be within the state of Vermont or Maine, or within the province of Lower Canada, shall be taken and deemed to be within the limits, and under the jurisdiction of this state and shall constitute a part of the County of Coos.
"Section 2. And be it further enacted, That all the right and interest which the state of New Hampshire hath or may have to such parts of the tract or parcel of land situate in said state, north of the 45th degree of north latitude commonly called King 'Philip's Grant ' which are now in the possession of any actual settler be, and the same are, hereby granted and released to such actual settler, his heirs and assigns forever. Provided however, that no such actual settler shall be quieted in his title under this resolution for more than two hundred acres, excepting Jeremiah Tabor, Esq., who is hereby quieted in his title as to any claim by this state to such of said lands, as are in his actual possession not exceeding five hundred acres; and Nathaniel Perkins Esq.. who is hereby quieted in his title as to any claim by this state to such of said lands as are in his actual possession, not exceeding seven hundred acres.
"Provided however, that nothing hereby contained, shall effect any action or process now pending in the Supreme Court of Judicature in the name or behalf of the state against any such settler, but said court shall proceed in the same to final judgment; and in case such judgment shall be rendered against such settler, no writ of restitution, execution, or other process shall be issued on such judgment without the further order of the legislature. — Approved Dec. 22, 1824." — Laws of New Hampshire, November Session, 1824.
No further attention was bestowed on the territory by the authorities of the state for a period of ten years, during which the population slowly but steadily increased. Neither state or county taxes were levied, as is done in other unincorporated places. There was no law for the prevention or punishment of crime, the enforcement of civil contracts, or any of the multiform necessities of civilized communities, for which human governments are instituted. Private schools were supported by subscription. Roads were cut through the forests, and improved by voluntary contributions of labor; and school-houses were built in the same manner. There was but little crime. Every one found work enough to do in clearing up the forests, and providing for the wants of their families, in a newly settled country, remote from markets, where there was but little money and most of the necessities of life must be produced at home. Barter was an important factor in trade, but little credit was given. The payment of debts was a matter of honor, and the methods of modern commercial and financial transactions but little known.
A mild form of Lynch law, never proceeding to extreme measures, sufficed for the punishment of the more flagrant offences against the public peace, and for a while everything went well. But disorganizing and quarrelsome elements eventually sprang up, and the necessity for a compact or form of government for mutual protection was very generally recognized by nearly the entire community. Accordingly, on the 6th day of April, 1829, a public meeting of the citizens was held at the Center school-house, the "Independence Hall" of Pittsburg, at which they asserted their independence of both the governments of Great Britain and the United States; drew up a preamble and bill of rights, and adopted a constitution and form of government, very democratic in its provisions. It consisted of three distinct departments — representative, executive, and judicial. The representative branch was decidedly primitive in its organization, being composed of the entire voting population of the territory, each directly representing his own interests. The executive department consisted of five persons chosen annually, officially known as the "Supreme Council," and forming a semi-judicial tribunal or court of appeal from the lower courts. The judicial branch of the government was vested in justices of the peace elected by the people in their municipal capacity, and had provisions for trials by a jury of six persons, whenever demanded, with right of appeal to the Supreme Council.
At the meeting for the organization of the government a committee of three persons was chosen, consisting of Nathaniel Perkins, John Haines, and David Mitchell, to draft a code of laws for the government of the territory to be submitted to the people, when assembled in their legislative capacity, for approval. This "legislature'' met in June following, and the code reported by the committee was substantially adopted. All the offices under this rather novel form of government were elective. A common school system was established. A military organization formed for protection against foreign invasion or domestic violence, consisting of one company of forty men, of which Hermon Batchelder was chosen captain. Taxes were levied for municipal purposes, the boundaries of school and highway districts defined, and schools established, to be supported by taxation. The collection of debts for the first time during the existence of the colony was enforced by legal process, and all the varied municipal functions of the government were soon placed in working order. Reuben Sawyer was elected sheriff; Nathaniel Perkins, John Haines, David Mitchell, Jeremiah Tabor, and Phineas Willard, councillors; John A. Mitchell, clerk and register of deeds; Richard I. Blanchard, Clark J. Haines, and Burleigh Blood, justices of the peace.
The first criminal brought to trial under the new judicial system was an old offender against domestic tranquility on a charge of felonious assault, who claimed a trial by jury, which was duly empanelled. After a rather lengthy trial, involving a large amount of ludicrous and contradictory testimony, the complainant relenting somewhat (her evidence was not of a very damaging character), the case was given to the jury, which returned a verdict of "not guilty." The respondent was requested by the presiding justice to stand up and listen to the verdict. The court then addressed him: "Prisoner at the bar. It gives me pleasure to inform you that you have been honorably acquitted by a jury of your countrymen of the atrocious crime with which you were charged; but this court deems it its duty to admonish you, that, if you are ever caught in another nasty scrape of this kind, you will be punished severely."
Everything pertaining to this new government worked harmoniously for a period of four years, but it early became evident that it contained the germs of disintegration and decay. To be sure, slavery had no existence within its limits. There were no violent convulsions of nearly-balanced political parties fiercely contending for places at the public crib, or questions of protection as against free trade, civil service reform, bimetallic currency; nor did an overflowing treasury threaten its perpetuity; but from its weakness it became inert, and soon lost all power to enforce the execution of its laws. Having no jail or secure place for the detention and punishment of criminals, it could only resort to fines (without imprisonment) in default of payment. Treason, against which there existed no statutory provisions, eventually crept in, and completed its destruction in 1835. Thus disappeared one of the smallest and most democratic of governments known to have existed, after a life of only five years.
Society was again chaotic. Many of the people invoked the protection of New Hampshire; some that of the Canadian government. Fierce and bitter quarrels sprang up between the parties seeking these diverse protections. New Hampshire had shown a disposition to extend a quasi jurisdiction over the territory in the early part of the year, by sending officers. on several occasions, here to serve processes issued by her courts. These met with some resistance from the Canadian party, and nothing further was done until August 6, 1835, when Col. John H. White, sheriff of Coos county, had an interview with many of the leading citizens, assuring those favorably disposed of the protection of New Hampshire, and warning others of the consequences of treasonable acts, and appointed Richard I. Blanchard (a resident citizen) deputy sheriff.
Very soon after this, Alexander Rae, a magistrate of the County of Compton. Lower Canada, also visited the place; and, calling a meeting of those in favor of Canadian jurisdiction, he addressed them at considerable length, and in quite inflammatory language, assuring them of the immediate protection of His Britannic Majesty's government and advising them to resist, by any and all means within their power, what he termed, "the encroachments of the authorities of the state of New Hampshire." Thus assured, several of the Canadians openly defied the authorities of the state, fortified their houses, armed themselves and threatened vengeance on those loyal to the state. Many made threats against Deputy-Sheriff Blanchard in his attempts to discharge his official duties, and, on the morning of the 2d of October, he awoke to find his dwelling surrounded by a body of armed men from Canada, augmented by a small detachment from the immediate neighborhood, headed by a sheriff, who immediately arrested him on a Canadian warrant, and started with him on foot, en route for Canada. The news of his arrest soon spread over this and the border towns in New Hampshire, and created an intense excitement. By noon of the same day a party of nearly 150 mounted men, armed with a great diversity of implements of warfare, were in close pursuit, paying very little attention to the boundary line. They came up with the party having Blanchard one mile from the boundary on the Canadian side, and, after a short skirmish, in which two of the Canadians were wounded, (Bernard Young, from a pistol shot in the groin, and Alexander Rae, by a sabre-cut across the head,) Blanchard was rescued and conducted to Canaan, Vt., where, after celebrating their victory on a foreign soil in their happy manner, these patriotic volunteers, so suddenly organized as an invading military force, as suddenly disbanded and quietly returned to their respective homes.
These counter invasions by armed men formed the subject of a long diplomatic correspondence between the governments of Great Britain and the United States, and was finally amicably settled by the treaty of Washington in 1842. Public feeling was much excited along the frontier, on both sides, by these events; and considerable apprehension was felt by many of the citizens of this territory for their safety. The animosity existing between the parties was greatly intensified by these acts of violence. Most of the citizens armed themselves in self-defense, and a general condition of anarchy and confusion existed.
[See "Indian Stream War" in County History.]
The period succeeding the "war" for seven years was a season of comparatively quiet rural life, unmarked by any disturbing element, or prominent political or social action. The year 1836 brought a cold season, with frosts every month in the year. Crops failed to ripen, and the material prosperity of the settlement was very considerably retarded by the scarcity of provisions resulting from the unfavorable weather. There was a continuous succession of favorable seasons after this for a long period. Extensive clearings were made in the surrounding forests, the virgin soil yielded abundant returns for the labors of the husbandman, and a very marked degree of agricultural prosperity prevailed.
Pittsburg was incorporated at the November session of the legislature in 1840, and at that time contained about sixty ratable polls, fifty-four voters, and a total valuation of about $50,000, exclusive of the state lands, which were not considered subject to taxation for municipal purposes, although within the corporate limits of the town.
[Kimball B. Fletcher, son of Ebenezer, was appointed postmaster at Indian Stream, December 12, 1836. This office was kept at his residence near Fletcher's Mills, and discontinued after three years. This appointment was made when United States officials were held in little respect, except where their own prowess demanded it, and Mr. Fletcher slept at night with a heavy, loaded hunting-rifle hanging within reach over his head, a large smooth-bore, loaded with a ball and six buck shots, by the side of his bed, and a double-barrelled rifle-pistol with sixteen-inch barrels under his pillow. It is safe to say that if there had been any attempt to interfere with him, some one would have been hurt, and the Canadian sympathizers knew it, and he was not molested.
In early times "raisings" of barns and houses were matters of neighborhood jollity. People assembled from many miles around: the men to lift or "raise" the heavy timbers into position; the women to aid in the cooking required for so large a company. When the "raising" was com pleted, some bright man either gave a name to the building or a toast to the owners. The day's work was succeeded by a night of merriment and dancing. The subjoined toast was composed and delivered by Kimball B. Fletcher at the raising of Parker Tabor's house in Pittsburg in 1835. — Editor.]
"Here is a fine frame! It stands high on dry land.
The
owner is rich, and a very fine man.
At home he is honored, and abroad it's
the same;
May he still keep increasing in honor and fame.
This house it
stands square, and in a fair view
Of a river, fine meadows and neighbors a
few.
The timber is square, and is well put together:
May God bless the
owner forever and ever!
This house shall be finished from bottom to top.
There's one thing I'll mention I like to've forgot:
He has a wife ready
courted that is worthy of praise.
In this house both together fat babie's
they'll raise."
Tornado. — July 30, 1868, a fearful hurricane came from the northwest, cut through the dense forests a breadth of three-quarters of a mile, tearing rocks from their beds, and tossing them into the air. As it came through the Tabor Notch, it entirely destroyed the Tabor sugar-orchard of 300 trees; passing Indian Stream, it tore down 100 acres of massive maples and elms belonging to E. L. Farnham; continuing over the southwest side of Fletcher mountains, it turned its course northward, and nearly demolished the great sugar-orchard of E. C. Aldrich. Buildings were overthrown, the old Fletcher house rent into thousands of pieces, and the large Fletcher barn, made of immense timbers of hardwood built by Ebenezer Fletcher very early, and considered the strongest structure in the county, after being moved some inches from its base, had its roof taken off, and many of its timbers carried eighty rods. Mr. Aldrich's family were all there at the time, but had fled to the shed for safety, and that, strange to say, escaped destruction. The tornado also did much damage to stock, buildings, and crops; but the only serious injury to man was the breaking of Mr. Chappell's leg by a flying timber.
At the June session of the legislature in 1844 an act was passed authortizing a "survey of the public lands in the town of Pittsburg," and Ephraim Cross, of Lancaster, was appointed agent. James W. Weeks, of Lancaster, assisted by William D. Weeks, was employed for the field work under the direction of the agent. Work was commenced on the ground in August following. The boundaries of the town were traced and plotted; and a section containing 20,000 acres, embracing a considerable part of the settled portion of the town within its limits, and including more than two-thirds of the lands granted to the original settlers by the act of 1824, and which had been surveyed and lotted, and the lines marked, nearly a quarter of a century before. Cross proceeded to reorganize the old boundaries of improved lands, cutting up and dividing farms regardless of the rights of owners, by arbitrary lines traced on the ground and monuments erected at the corners of the lots. This work is still known as "Cross's survey," and only recognized as determining the boundaries of lots not hitherto granted. A map of the work was prepared by J. W. Weeks, and placed on file at Concord. The north line of this survey, known as "Cross north line," forms the southern boundary of the "Colebrook Academy Grant," and the "Pittsburg School Grant." This survey was indefinitely suspended at the next session of the legislature.
In 1848 an act was passed "defining the boundaries of the town of Pittsburg," and adding to it the "township" of Carlisle, including an area of 60,000 acres, and which had not hitherto been considered within the corporate limits of the town. Also, in the same year, another act was passed, exempting the town from the provisions of the general law in regard to dividing towns into school districts, and authorizing the selectmen of the town to divide the settled portions thereof into districts in such manner as they might deem just and proper, (some act of this kind being deemed necessary from the fact that it was impossible to comply with the existing statute in relation thereto, requiring all the land in the several towns to be districted, while the public domain within the limits of this town was not subject to local taxation.) At the November session of the legislature in 1848, an act was passed directing a further survey of the "state lands in the town of Pittsburg," and David Blanchard, of Pittsburg, and John Flanders, of Stewartstown, were appointed agents by Governor Dinsmore to make the survey. Field work was commenced in March, 1849, by David Blanchard, James W. Weeks, and John H. Spaulding. The principal streams were surveyed and plotted; the boundaries between the public lands, and a considerable portion of those of the settlers, determined; about 30,000 acres of the state lands lotted in lots of 206 acres, each including six acres as allowance for highways; the boundaries of the "Colebrook Academy Grant" determined and marked; and a plan of the work filed in the office of the secretary of state in June, following. This was the last survey by the state of the public lands in town. At the June session of the legislature of 1850, an act was passed "granting to each actual settler on the public lands in Pittsburg, who had entered on the same since 1824, the lands in his possession not exceeding the amount of one hundred acres." Another supplementary act was passed July 4, 1860, as follows: —
"That the title of this state in and to all lots of land in the town of Pittsburg, upon which any settler, his heirs, or assigns have been in actual possession, bona fide, and making improvements for the period of six months last preceding the passage of this act, or upon which any settler, having heretofore entered and made improvements, or the assessors of said town have so far considered the same to be owned by any individual as to tax and cause the same to be sold for taxes, is hereby confirmed and released in each case in, and to, said settler, his heirs, or assigns and to the purchaser under said sales."
At the June session, 1858, an act was passed granting to the town a tract of 6,000 acres of land lying between Indian and Perry streams and north of Cross's north line, for the aid and benefit of common schools. This grant was sold the following year, and the proceeds invested at six per cent, the income from which is annually expended for educational purposes.
In 1865 the state granted to the town a tract of 5,000 acres to aid in the construction of a road from the outlet of Connecticut lake to the town of Aukland, Quebec, a distance of eleven miles. This road was subsequently located, the timber cut out, and the section between Perry and Indian streams, about three miles, made passable for carriages; but the work proving very difficult, and the prospective benefit to be derived from the road when completed not promising to be sufficient to warrant the expense of keeping it in repair if built, the enterprise was abandoned. The town, soon after, conveyed its right to the land to Charles H. Weeks and Frank Aldrich for $5,800, and applied the proceeds in part payment of the war debt of the town.
In June, 1867, an act was passed authorizing the sale of the public lands in Pittsburg, amounting in all to about 100,000 acres; reserving and excepting from such sale, however, the amount of 100 acres to each of two actual settlers thereon. These lands were accordingly sold, on the 17th of October, 1867, to William H. Smith, of Bangor, Me., for twenty cents per acre; and, thus passing into private hands, became subject to municipal taxation. The taxes assessed thereon materially lighten the burden of the residents in the matter of town expenditures.
Action of the Town During the Rebellion. — At a meeting holden June 18, 1864, it was voted "to raise $300 to pay each man who was drafted May 18, 1864." Also, "voted to pay each inhabitant the sum of $300 as a bounty, who may be drafted to serve in the army of the United States during the existing Rebellion from and after this date, or to the substitutes of such drafted men." At a meeting held July 5, 1864, it was voted "to pay to the men who have been, or shall hereafter be drafted from this town, or to the substitutes for such conscripts the sum of $100." At a meeting held July 23, 1864, it was voted "to furnish a substitute for each man for the term of three years who will pay into the town treasury the sum of $200." At a meeting held August 29, 1864, it was voted "to pay non-residents the sum of $300 for three years men." Also voted to pay residents of the town $300 for one year men; also voted "to pay residents of the town $600 for three years men, who shall enlist and be mustered into the service of the United States to fill the quota of this town under the present call for troops." Chose an agent to fill the quota under the present call for troops. At a meeting held February 11, 1865. it was voted "to pay the sum of $500 to residents of this town who shall enlist and be mustered into the service of the United States for the term of one year to fill the quota of this town under the President's call of December 19, 1864, for 300,000 volunteers." Also, voted "to pay the sum of $300 to each non-resident who shall enlist, and be mustered into the service of the United States for the term of three years to fill the quota of the town under said call." At the annual meeting, held March 14, 1865, it was voted "to pay the sum of $200 to each drafted man who may be accepted to serve in the army of the United States for one year."
Civil List and action of Town from March 9, 1841, to March, 1887, inclusive. First Annual Meeting. —
1841. Nathaniel Perkins, clerk; Nathaniel Perkins, Ross C. Haines, Abner Hyland, selectmen; Nathaniel Perkins, Samuel Mecham, Samuel Whitney, superintending school committee. Voted to raise $100 for schooling the year ensuing. Voted to raise $300 for the repair of highways and bridges. Voted "that the selectmen be a committee to district the town anew, both school and highway, and report at the next annual town meeting their doings thereon." The whole number of votes cast for governor was fifty-three, of which John Page, Democrat, received forty-five, and Enos Stevens, Free Soil, eight.
1842. Nathaniel Perkins, clerk; Burleigh Blood, Jeremiah Tabor, Samuel Huggins, selectmen; Nathaniel Perkins. Abner Hyland, Richard I. Blanchard, superintending school committee. Sixty-three votes were cast for governor, of which Henry Hubbard, Democrat, received fifty-one, and Enos Stevens, Free Soil, twelve.
1843. Nathaniel Perkins, clerk; Nathaniel Perkins, John Haines, Richard Quimby, selectmen; David Blanchard, Nathaniel Perkins, Jr., Ephraim C. Aldrich, Jr., superintending school committee. At the annual meeting, March, 1843, it was voted "that the cattle shall have the privilege of running at large this year as they did last." Pittsburg, Clarksville, Dixville, Millsfield, and Errol were classed for choice of representative.
1844. Samuel Mecham, clerk; John Haines, Parker Tabor, David Johnson, selectmen; Nathaniel Perkins, treasurer; Nathaniel Perkins, representative. John Haines was appointed collector of taxes, and his compensation fixed at 5 per cent, on the amount collected. Voted to put up Adeline Small, a town pauper, and dispose of her at the lowest bidder.
1845. Samuel Mecham, clerk; Simon Danforth, Ira C. Bowen, Ross C. Haines, selectmen; Richard I. Blanchard, treasurer; David Blanchard, Samuel Mecham, E. C. Aldrich, Jr., superintending school committee.
1846. Samuel Mecham. clerk; Abner Hyland, Samuel Mecham, Hiram Perkins, selectmen; David Blan chard, E. C. Aldrich, John T. Amy. superintending school committee.
1847. Amos F. Abbott, clerk; Richard I. Blanchard, Burleigh Blood, Richard Quimby, selectmen; Amos F. Abbott, David Blanchard, Moody B. Haynes, superintending school committee. Voted to divide the portion of the surplus revenue of the United States belonging to said town one-half on the invoice of the town, and the other half per capita, and chose Richard I. Blanchard agent to distribute the same.
1848. Samuel Mecham, clerk; Richard I. Blanchard, Richard Quimby, Cyrus E. Farnham, selectmen; David Blanchard, Samuel Mecham, William C, Locke, superintending school committee; Richard I. Blanchard, representative. Number of votes cast for governor seventy-three. Voted that several barn-yards be constituted "pounds" the ensuing year. Voted that the barn-yards of William C. Locke, Clark J. Haines, and Israel W. Tyler be constituted "pounds." (At the June session of the legislature the state appropriated - 150 for repairs of highways in town, and Richard I. Blanchard was appointed agent to lay out the same.
1849. Samuel Mecham, clerk; Richard I. Blanchard, Cyrus E. Farnham, William C. Locke, selectmen; John T. Amy. Amos F. Abbott, Erasmus D. Hutchinson, superintending school committee. Chose Josiah A. Young, of Clarksville, to represent the district.
1850. Erasmus D. Hutchinson, clerk; Parker Tabor, Ross C. Haines, Burleigh Blood, selectmen; JohnT. Amy, Erasmus D. Hutchinson, and John C. Haynes, superintending school committee; Simon Danforth, treasurer. Benjamin Coon, a pauper, was bid off by the week; and it was voted that ''the pay was to cease at his death."
1851. John T. Amy, clerk; Ross C. Haines, Ephraim C. Aldrich, Jr., Elias L. Farnham, selectmen; John T. Amy, Alonzo Lyndsey, Allen B. Young, superintending school committee; Parker Tabor, treasurer; John T. Amy, representative.
1852. Erasmus D. Hutchinson, clerk; Ross C. Haines, Amos F. Abbott, Samuel Dailey, selectmen; John T. Amy, superintending school committee; Ross C. Haines, treasurer; John T. Amy, representative. Whole number of votes cast eighty-four.
1853. E. D. Hutchinson, clerk; Samuel Dailey, John T. Amy, Jonathan Heath, selectmen; E. D. Hutchinson, superintending school committee; John T. Amy, treasurer; Amos F. Abbott, representative. Whole number of votes cast eighty-three.
1854. John C. Haines, clerk; Burleigh Blood, David Johnson, Jonathan Heath, selectmen; John T. Amy. superintendent of schools; Samuel Dailey, treasurer: Ira Quimby, collector of taxes, with compensation fixed at $1. Number of votes cast eighty.
1855. Moody B. Haines, clerk; John T. Amy. Samuel Dailey, Elijah C. Sawyer, selectmen; John T. Amy, superintendent of schools; Samuel Dailey, treasurer; Samuel Comstock, of Clarksville, representative. Whole number of votes cast seventy-seven. (It was during this year that the extension of the river road was laid out, from the east line of the Aldrich farm to the Center school-house.)
1856. David Blanchard, clerk; Elijah C. Sawyer, David Blanchard. Ira Quimby, selectmen; David Blanchard, superintendent of schools; Samuel Dailey, treasurer. Number of votes cast seventy-two.
1857. David Blanchard, clerk; Samuel Dailey, Thomas P. Judd, John C. Haines, selectmen; Walter W. Barnes, superintendent of schools; Ephraim C. Aldrich, Jr., treasurer; Moody B. Quimby, representative. Number of votes cast sixty-eight; whole number of names on check-list seventy-nine.
1858. Moody B. Haines, clerk; David Johnson, Samuel Dailey, Thomas P. Judd, selectmen; John T. Amy, superintendent of schools: David Johnson, treasurer; Moody B. Quimby. representative.
1859. Moody B. Haines, clerk; David Johnson, Samuel Dailey, Sydney P. Luther, selectmen; John T. Amy, superintendent of schools; David Johnson, treasurer; David Johnson, representative. Number of votes cast seventy-three.
1860. David Blanchard, clerk: John T. Amy, David Johnson, John C. Haines, selectmen; John T. Amy, superintendent of schools; David Johnson, treasurer. Whole number of votes cast eighty-five.
1861. David Blanchard. clerk; John T. Amy, Elias L. Farnham, John C. Haines, selectmen; Jeremiah W. Tabor, superintendent of schools; Samuel Dailey, treasurer; George Washburne. representative.
1862. Moody B. Haines, clerk; Moody B. Haines, George Dennett, David Johnson, selectmen; Jeremiah W. Tabor, superintendent of schools; Samuel Dailey, treasurer.
1863. David Blanchard, clerk; Ephraim C. Aldrich. David Blanchard, Roswell W. Danforth. selectmen: Jeremiah W. Tabor, superintended of schools; Samuel Dailey, treasurer. Number of votes cast ninety-nine.
1864. George Dennett, clerk: John T. Amy. Moody B. Haynes, Otis Parker, selectmen; Moody B. Haynes, superintendent of schools; George Washburne, representative; John C. Haines, treasurer.
1865. John C. Haynes. clerk; John C. Haynes. Cyrus E. Farnham, George Washburne, sell ctmi a; Fernando C. Jacobs, representative; John T. Amy. superintendent of schools: John C. Haines, treasurer.
1866. John C. Haines, clerk: John T. Amy. Elias L. Farnham. David Johnson, selectmen; John T. Amy, superintendent of schools; Fernando C. Jacobs, representative; John C. Haines, treasurer. Number of votes cast eighty-nine.
1867. John C. Haines, clerk; Calvin J. Danforth, David Johnson, Elijah C. Sawyer, selectmen; John T. Amy, superintendent of schools; John C. Haynes, representative; John C. Haines, treasurer. Whole number of votes cast eighty-nine.
1868. George Dennett, clerk; Elias L. Farnham, David Johnson, Hiram B. Shuff, selectmen; Lorenzo Farnham, superintendent of schools; John C. Haines, representative. Number of votes cast 105.
1869. Justus W. Baldwin, clerk; Sydney P. Luther, James W. Baldwin, Calvin J. Danforth, selectmen; John T. Amy, superintendent of schools; Thomas C. Hart, representative; Albert Locke, treasurer.
1870. Moody B. Haines, clerk; Calvin J. Danforth, Parker T. Danforth, Fernando C. Jacobs, selectmen. Thomas C. Hart, representative; Samuel Dailey, ___(?).
1871. Moody B. Haines, clerk; Sydney P. Luther, Richmond P. Tabor, Parker T. Danforth, selectmen; Justus W. Baldwin, superintendent of schools; Elias L. Farnham, treasurer; Thomas F. Johnson, representative.
1872. Justus W. Baldwin, clerk; Sydney P. Luther, Calvin J. Danforth, James W. Baldwin, selectmen; Justus W. Baldwin, superintendent of schools; Samuel Daily, representative; Elias L. Farnham, treasurer. Whole number of votes cast 162.
1873. Moody B. Haines, clerk; Sydney P. Luther, Richmond P. Tabor, Timothy Blanchard, selectmen; Moody B. Haines, superintendent of schools; Elias Farnham, treasurer.
1874. Moody B. Haines, clerk; Calvin J. Danforth. Sydney P. Luther, Samuel Dailey, selectmen; Moody B. Haines, superintendent of schools; Elias L. Farnham, treasurer; Samuel Dailey, representative.
1875. Justus W. Baldwin, clerk; Calvin J. Danforth, Elias L. Farnham, Amasa S. Huggins, selectmen; Moody B. Haines, superintendent of schools; Elias L. Farnham, treasurer; Parker T. Danforth, representative. Voted not to appoint a liquor agent. For governor, Hiram R. Roberts, Democrat, had fifty-two votes; Person C. Cheney, Republican, fifty votes.
1876. Justus W. Baldwin, clerk; Sydney P. Luther, Hiram B. Shuff, George F. Farnham, selectmen; David Blanchard, superintendent of schools; Elias L. Farnham, treasurer; John W. Straw, representative; David Blanchard, delegate to the constitutional convention to be held at Concord in December, 1876. The vote for presidential electors in November was, Democrat, fifty-one; Republican, fifty-nine.
1877. Justus W. Baldwin, clerk; Calvin J. Danforth, Hiram A. Shuff, Harvey S. Shoppe. selectmen; Justus W. Baldwin, treasurer; Moody B. Haines, superintendent of schools; John W. Straw, representative. Voted to raise the sum of $2,500 for highways.
1878. Justus W. Baldwin, clerk; Calvin J. Danforth, Hiram A. Shuff, Charles S. Holmes, selectmen; David Blanchard, superintendent of schools; Calvin J. Danforth, representative; Charles Judd, James H. Bacon. Hiram B. Shuff, supervisors.
1879. Justus W. Baldwin, clerk; Calvin J. Danforth,
John H. Hawes, Harvey S. Shoppe, selectmen; Elias L. Farnham, treasurer; David
Blanchard, superintendent of schools: Calvin J. Danforth, representative.
1880. Justus W. Baldwin, clerk; Moody B. Haines, Charles S. Holmes, William
H. Tebbetts, selectmen; Moody B. Haines, superintendent of schools; Elias L.
Farnham, treasurer; Moody B. Haines, representative. Voted to raise $3,000 to
apply on the town debts. (At the election, November 2, 1880, for the choice of
presidential electors, James A. Garfield received seventy-eight votes, and
Winfield S. Hancock sixty-live votes.) At the meeting held December 28, 1880,
for the election of member of Congress, Jewett D. Hosley received nineteen votes
and Ossian Ray fifty-three votes.
1881. Justus W. Baldwin, clerk; Moody B. Haines, Samuel Dailey, Ernest A. Lyford, selectmen; David Blanchard, superintendent of schools; Elias L. Farnham, treasurer. Voted to raise $3,000 for building and repairing highways and bridges, "six thousand (6,000) to apply on town debts." $700 for the support of schools, and $100 for the support of the poor.
1882. Justus W. Baldwin, clerk; Dudley S. Keysar, George F. Farnham, Albion P. Watts, selectmen; Herbert M. Smith, representative; E. L. Farnham, treasurer; David Blanchard, superintendent of schools. Voted to raise $1,150, including the amount required by law for the support of schools, $150 to purchase a uniform system of text books for the public schools, $1,000 to apply on town debts, $150 for the support of the poor, $300 for the current expenses of the town, and $3,000 in money, and $2,000 to be paid in labor, for building and repairing highways. At the November election 130 votes were cast — Democrat forty-six, Republican eighty-four. A census of the town taken by the selectmen in April of this year showed the population to be 618.
1883. Justus W. Baldwin, clerk; Albion P. Watts, George F. Farnham, William A. Abbott, selectmen; Elias L. Farnham, treasurer; David Blanchard, superintendent of schools. Voted the school money amounting to $1,200 be divided equally anions the several districts. Voted to raise $500 in $3,000 to be paid in labor to build and repair highways, also to build a town-house.
1884. Justus W. Baldwin, clerk: Albion P. Watts, John W. Straw, William A. Abbott, selectmen; David Blanchard, superintendent of schools; George F. Farnham, treasurer: James W. Baldwin, representative. At the meeting for the choice of presidential electors eighty-five votes were cast for Grover Cleveland, sixty-two for Jami S G. Blaine and nine "scattering." Also voted that the use of the town hall be granted to G. A. R. Post, No. 65, for public purposes. Samuel E. Watts, James W. Baldwin, Ivan F. Dennett were chosen supervisors.
1885. George Dennett, clerk; John W. Straw, Jamon Perry, Horace Bigelow, selectmen; David Blanchard, superintendent of schools; Hiram B. Shaff, treasurer. Voted the free use of the town hall to the I. O. G. T.; Timothy Blanchard was chosen janitor of the hall; also voted the free use of the hall to the G. A. R.
1886. Justus W. Baldwin, clerk; Ernest A. Lyford, George W. Baldwin. Jamon Perry, selectmen; Justus W. Baldwin, treasurer; chose Ernest A. Lyford, George Dennett. Sydney P. Luther. board of education under the recently-enacted law, known as the town system.
1887. Justus W. Baldwin, clerk; George W. Baldwin, Albion P. Watts, Dudley S. Keysar, selectmen; Justus W. Baldwin, treasurer. Town indebtedness as per treasurer's report, March, $640. Voted to purchase a road-machine, and to raise $250 to pay for it. Voted to raise $1,750 for highways, $300 for payment on town debt, $200, in addition to the amount required by law, for the support of schools, $50 for the support of the poor. Also voted the free use of the hall to the I. O. G. T. and the G. A. R.
The first church organized in this territory was the Congregational, in 1822, by Rev. Dr. Rankin, assisted by Dr. Hale. "This church soon failed to keep up its organization, and was succeeded two years later by a Free Will Baptist church under Rev. Aaron Buzzel, from Strafford, N. H., an able but somewhat eccentric divine, who occasionally visited the place, and ably assisted this feeble church for many years thereafter." It existed, under various pastorates, for a period of twenty years.
A Methodist church was organized here about 1826, by Rev. Henry J. Woolley, who was succeeded in his missionary labors by Rev. Chester Livings, Joseph Baker, Charles Cowan, Harry Latham, George Putnam, Solomon Gleason, Edmund T. Manering, Holman Drew, James Dow, Lorenzo Dow, __ Blodgett, Pickens Boynton and D. J. Smith. Samuel Danforth officiated as deacon of the church for a long period of years.
The first church edifice was built in 1875 by the M. E. church, near the center of the town; this was a neat and commodious structure. The first pastor installed was Rev. Mr. Presby; he was succeeded by E C. Langford, John Wesley, Albert Brown, Albert Smith, and the present (1887) incumbent, Rev. W. Warren.
Rev. Samuel Drown, a Free Will Baptist minister, moved here in 1829, from Sheffield, Vt., and ministered to the spiritual wants of his parishioners for a period of ten years. He was an eloquent and able preacher. He practiced medicine to some extent, was a noted horse-tamer, and very popular with all classes. The church of the Second Advent has also many followers in this section, but does not maintain regular preaching.
The first school taught in the territory, of which there is any knowledge, was kept about 1821, in a log-house on Indian stream, by Betsey Rogers. The first school-house built was a log structure standing near the road on the brook between the Jonathan Hartwell place and Samuel Danforth's; Elisha Abbott was the first teacher. He is said to have combined with his profession as a teacher, considerable musical talent, and one of his rather novel methods of school discipline was the promise, as a reward for good behavior, to play the violin for his pupils to dance at the noon recess. At a little later period a frame school-house was built at Indian Stream, near what is known as "French brook." This part of the town is now known as school district No. 1.
In the year 1828 a substantial and convenient frame building was built for school purposes, (since known as the Center school-house, district No. 3,) by voluntary contribution; and for a long period served as school-house, town-hall, court-house and church. Private schools in this house were supported for a period of twelve years by the citizens of the town. The first school taught here was by Eunice Bunnel from Claremont, between forty and fifty pupils usually attending. She was succeeded by Alanson Cummings, John A. Mitchell, Mercy Danforth, Ahaz S. French and Samuel White. During the existence of the "Indian Stream Government," at this humble institution of learning, men, now holding prominent positions at the bar, in the pulpit, in the medical profession, and in mercantile life, received their early elementary education. This building has been kept in good repair; and, in 1886, was purchased by the town under the school law, known as the town system. This town has nine schools, about 130 pupils, and annually expends $1,000 for educational purposes, usually having two terms of ten weeks in each district. A uniform system of textbooks has been supplied by the town.
Polls, Valuation, and Agriculture. — The whole number of ratable polls in the town of Pittsburg, April 1, 1887, was 175. Its taxable valuation $300,815.
Agriculture forms the most important industry of the town, and grazing, to which the soil is particularly well adapted, the principal branch thereof. Considerable attention is given to the introduction of improved breeds of domestic animals, and the herds of cattle of most of the leading farmers show many high-grade animals of Hereford, Durham, and Jersey blood. Shropshire, Southdown, and Leicester sheep are the principal breeds in favor with the farmers, and thrive remarkably well in the luxurient pastures covering the hillsides. The raising of horses for the lower New England markets, from standard strains of blood, is becoming one of the leading branches of farming in this section. In natural adaptation to agricultural purposes Pittsburg has but few equals in the state, more particularly as a grazing country, producing, where cleared, excellent first crops of the English grasses, and being abundantly well watered, seldom suffers from drought. With the advent of convenient railway facilities for transportation, which the Upper Coos railroad will furnish, few sections will be found affording better opportunities for extensive dairying operations. In reviewing the history of its agriculture, very manifest improvement is observed in this town. The stumps and surface-rocks have mostly been cleared from the upland farms during the last half century, and improved modern agricultural implements very generally introduced. Good substantial farm buildings are found on most of the farms; and many very fine residences have recently been built, which will compare favorably with country homes in the southern portion of the state. There are upwards of sixty miles of highway, on which a roadmachine is used for the purpose of repairs; and, although somewhat hilly, the road-bed is generally well worked, and good carriage roads extend to every part of the town.
Lumbering forms another very important branch of domestic industry. Many of the farmers having teams working on their farms during the summer, find remunerative employment in the lumber swamps during the winter, either in cutting and hauling from their own lands, or in working for the larger companies.
The Connecticut River Lumber Company, chartered in 1879, under the laws of the state of Connecticut, owns upwards of 125,000 acres of timber lands in this town, besides a large amount elsewhere, and has one of its principal offices at Connecticut lake, at which point it has built and runs a hotel for public accommodation, and a small steamer, the "Hartford," in connection therewith on Connecticut lake. The company has also erected several commodious barns, a store, saw-mill and other buildings necessary for the successful operation of its business at this point. New York capitalists, together with George Van Dyke, of Lancaster, president, comprise the company, which has mills at Hartford, Conn., Holyoke and Northampton, Mass., Bellows Falls, Mclndoes Falls and Guildhall, Vt., and on the Androscoggin river in Maine, and employ in the woods in the winter annually some 400 men and 200 horses, cutting and hauling annually about 40,000,000 feet of spruce logs, and driving them down the Connecticut in the spring to their various mills on the river. They employ generally from 700 to 800 men during the early period of this work. This business furnishes a good market for the surplus agricultural products and labor of the country at remunerative prices; and on its large invoice of taxable property pays a very important proportion of the local taxes, and annually distributes great sums of money; thus contributing largely to the material prosperity of the town.
Hon. Asa Smith, of Hartford, Conn., one of the pioneers in the lumbering business, was the first president, and business manager of the Connecticut River Lumber Company during the first four years of its corporate existence. He is kindly remembered by the many friends who sustained business relations with him, and enjoyed his friendship during his administration. He was succeeded in office by George Van Dyke, a man possessing indomitable energy and perseverance.
This town has four saw-mills, two grist-mills, one machine shop, two hotels, two postoffices, a town hall, three stores, and three blacksmith shops. It has telephonic communication with North Stratford and intermediate points.
The Upper Coos River and Lake Improvement Company, chartered by New Hampshire, together with the Connecticut River Lumber Company, has expended large sums in the clearing of obstructions from the principal streams, and in building dams at the lakes to facilitate driving lumber.
The Hereford Branch Railroad, a branch of the Canadian Pacific railway, connecting with the Upper Coos railroad at the boundary near the mouth of Hall's stream, is located near, and extends six miles along the westerly border of the town. These railroads have given a new impetus to business interests; already a manifest improvement is shown in the enhanced value of real estate; and, although the easterly portion of the town is at a considerable distance from the nearest railroad station, yet, with the certain prospect of an early construction of a branch road to Connecticut lake, Pittsburg, with its vast undeveloped resources of forests, minerals, abundant water-power, extensive areas of uncleared lands well adapted to agricultural purposes, and already opened to settlement, unrivalled attractions as a place of summer resort for tourists, its abundance of cool, refreshing, spring water, its altitude and healthful climate where hay-fever is an unknown disease, can hardly fail soon to become one of the most important towns of New Hampshire.
Contributed 2025 Nov 02 by Norma Hass, extracted from History of Coos County, New Hampshire by Georgia D. Merrill, published in 1888, pages 696-720.
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