Chapter 4 - Exeter Under the State Government from History of Exeter, Rockingham County, NH (1888) From: Ida Ransom - iransom@earthling.net Source: History of Exter, New Hampshire by Charles H. Bell, publisher J. E. Farwell & Co, Boston, Mass., 1888 Page 90 CHAPTER IV. EXETER UNDER THE STATE GOVERNMENT. THE Constitution adopted by New Hampshire in the early part of 1776, though in some respects imperfect, as might naturally have been expected, being the first of its kind, yet served the purposes of the people sufficiently well until it was superseded by a more complete instrument, framed about the close of the Revo- lution. Exeter, by the census of 1775, containing seventeen hundred and forty-one inhabitants, had become practically the capital of the State, the seat of government, and the centre of all civil and military activity in New Hampshire. There is little upon the records of the town to show that the people had become sovereign, except that new safeguards were set up against the selection of unsuitable persons for public office. The members of the council, for example, were required to be respectable freeholders, and no man could sit in either house of the Legislature who had treated electors with liquor to gain their votes. The people evidently valued at its true worth the privilege of governing themselves, which they were paying so heavy a price to secure. THE ASSOCIATION TEST OF 1776. The Continental Congress resolved on the fourteenth of March, 1776, to recommend to the several Assemblies or Committees of Safety of the United Colonies immediately to cause to be disarmed all persons within their respective colonies who were notoriously disaffected to the cause of America, or who refused to associate to defend by arms the United Colonies against the hostile attempts of the British fleets and armies. The Committee of Safety of New Hampshire in order to carry this resolve into execution, on the twelfth of April, 1776, sent circulars to the selectmen of the several towns and places in the Page 91 colony, requesting them to desire all males above twenty-one years of age (lunatics, idiots and negroes excepted) to sign the following declaration, and, when that should be done, to make return thereof together with the names of all who should refuse to sign the same, to the General Assembly or Committee of Safety of the colony. The declaration was in these words: We the subscribers do hereby solemnly engage and promise that we will, to the utmost of our power, at the risk of our lives and fortunes, with arms oppose the hostile proceedings of the British fleets and armies against the United American Colonies. It is a matter of deep regret that the complete return from Exe- ter has not been preserved. At least three hundred names, and probably more, must have been reported, for or against the patri- otic declaration, but all except those upon a single sheet, forty- eight only, are lost. The names preserved are here given. From what is known of the sentiments of the voters of the town it is believed that the number of those refusing to sign might be counted on the fingers of one hand, with some to spare. Josiah Beal Samuel Folsom Oilman William Odlin John Bond Zebulon Gilman John Patten John Cartee Nathaniel Gordon Samuel Quimby Benjamin Cram Daniel Grant Jos. Rollins Stephen [(Creighton?] Samuel Harris David Smith Thomas Dolloff Jonathan Hopkinson Theophilus Smith Noah Emery Kinsley H. James Joseph Stacey Gerould Fitz Gerould. Benjamin Kimball Benjamin Swasey Josiah Folsom Robert Kimball Joseph Swasey Bartholomew Gale Edward Ladd Joseph Thing Eliphalet Giddinge Joseph Lamson Stephen Thing John Giddinge Samuel Lamson Winthrop Thing John Giddinge, Jr. Robert Lord Thomas Tyler David Gilman Thomas Lyford Dudley Watson Joseph Gilman Benjamin Morse Josiah Weeks Josiah Gilman, Jr. Habertus Neale Josiah Wyatt FIRST READING OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. A little more than seven months after New Hampshire had "taken up government," a scene was witnessed in Exeter which is worthy of a brief description. Page 92 Hostilities had been waged between Great Britain and the United Colonies for more than a year, and the foolish obstinacy of the king forbade all hopes of reconciliation on terms that Ameri- cans could submit to without disgrace. Even the conservative and the timid had begun to think of "independency" as something within the range of possibility, while the ardent sons of liberty chafed at the delay in shaking off the yoke of allegiance to the mother country. We have already seen that the subject had been mooted long before in the Provincial Congress of New Hampshire. The leading men of Exeter and of the State government were fully prepared, and even anxious, for the final step of separation. Both houses of the Legislature had united in instructions "to our delegates in the Continental Congress to join with the other colo- nies in declaring the thirteen United Colonies free and independent States; solemnly pledging our faith and honor that we will on our parts support the measure with our lives and fortunes." From this time forward all was impatience in Exeter to learn the action of the Continental Congress on the momentous question. At length, on the eighteenth day of July, 1776, the wished for news arrived. A courier rode into the village, bringing with him a packet addressed to the chief executive of New Hampshire, containing the immortal declaration of American Independence, under the authentication of John Hancock, president of Congress. As soon as its contents were ascertained, it was determined that the paper should be publicly read to the citizens, forthwith. The Legislature had adjourned, but the Committee of Safety were in session. The tidings circulated through the town with lightning rapidity. Men, women and children dropped their employments, and gathered about the court-house, to listen to the words that made them free. John Taylor Gilman was chosen for the signal honor of reading for the first time in the capital of the State, the charter of Ameri- can freedom. Prominent among his hearers were Meshech Weare, the President of the State, Matthew Thornton, who was himself a few months later to set his hand to the Declaration, General Nathaniel Folsom, Colonel Pierse Long and Dr. Ebenezer Thomp- son, all sterling patriots and members of the Committee of Safety. There too was Colonel Nicholas Gilman, the New Hampshire financier of the Revolution and the right hand of the executive. He had ardently longed for the time when independence should be proclaimed, and now he was to hear, from the lips of his son, that the hour had struck. Page 93 As soon as his hastily gathered audience had assembled, the youthful reader began his grateful task. We can imagine with what bated breath all listened for the first time to that impressive statement of the causes which led America to take up arms. The clear tones in which the eloquent periods were enunciated never faltered, until the masterly climax was reached, when the rush of patriotic feeling became too great for speech, and for a moment the reader was compelled to pause, to regain the power of utter- ance. Often as the charter of our liberties has been since repeated in Exeter, in times of national trial and of national prosperity, it was never listened to with more devout thankfulness, greater faith, or more honest pride than on this, its first reading. THE EVILS OF A PAPER CURRENCY. The colonies committed the often repeated mistake of attempt- ing to carryon a war by means of bills of credit. The result was a rapid inflation of the prices of all the necessaries of life, which the people vainly attempted to control, by legislation. On May 5, 1777, a meeting of the town was called "to regulate and affix the prices of goods and other articles, for said town, and to do and act in all affairs agreeable to the directions of an act of this State passed the tenth day of April last." The following persons were chosen a committee to make report upon said matters: Eliphalet Hale, Josiah Barker, David Fogg, Samuel Folsom, Joseph Lamson, Josiah Gilman, Peter Coffin and Samuel Brooks. No report of their doings is upon record, but it is safe to say that any plan they could have devised, short of a complete change of the circulating medium, would have been inadequate to relieve the financial troubles of the time. On May 11, 1778, the town chose Nathaniel Folsom, Samuel Hobart and John Pickering delegates to the convention to be held at Concord on the tenth of June following, to form a permanent plan of government for the State. Another fruitless attempt to stay the constantly waning value of the paper currency was made by the town, a year later. On July 19, 1779, Josiah Robinson, Nathaniel Gordon, Eliphalet Giddinge, Eliphalet Hale, Eliphalet Ladd, Gideon Lamson and John T. Gilman, a committee appointed by the town to consider the subjects of a reduction of the price of the necessaries of life, and Page 94 the support of the credit of the currency, reported the following scale of prices, to hold good until the succeeding first of Septem- her, viz.: West India rum 8l. 8s. per gallon Salt made in New England, 7l. 4s. New England rum 5l. 8s. " " per bushel Molasses 4l. 16s. " " Indian corn 5l. 8s. per bushel Brown sugar 16s. to 18s. " lb. Rye 6l. " " Chocolate 26s. " " Wheat 9l. 12s. " " Coffee 22s. " " Lamb 5s. " lb. Tea 8l. 8s. " " Beef 4s. 6d. " " Cottonwool 40s. " " Veal 4s. 6d. " " {No W. I. or other foreign salt Salt pork 12s. " " {to exceed 9l. 12s. per bushel Butter 12s. " " Best English hay 30l. per ton Other hay in proportion thereto. The committee also reported the following resolutions: Resolved, That wool, flax, cloth and other articles of the produce of this country not herein particularly mentioned, shall not exceed the price of twenty shillings for what was commonly sold for one shilling in the year 1774, and in that rule of proportion to any sum or sums. Resolved, That we will sell no articles of merchandise not par- ticularly above mentioned, at a higher price than they are now sold. Resolved, That the tradesmen and laborers of this town will not exceed the above rate of twenty for one for their labor and manu- factures, including those articles they may have of the produce of this country, and excluding those of foreign import, and that they will reduce the same in proportion as the prices of merchandise and the produce of the country are from time to time lowered. Resolved, Upon condition the other towns in this State adopt similar measures respecting their merchandise and produce, that from and after the first day of September next, we will continue to lower the prices month by month, unless some other general plan shall be adopted by the people of this State . Resolved, That all those who shall hereafter dare to refuse con- tinental currency, or require hard money for rent or any other article whatever, or shall in any way endeavor to evade the salu- tary measures proposed by this body, shall be deemed enemies to the interest and independence of this United States, and shall be treated in such manner as the town shall hereafter order . Resolved, That the foregoing be offered for signing, to every male inhabitant of this town, paying taxes. Page 95 The report of the committee was unanimously adopted. Stephen Thing, David Fogg and Simeon Ladd were chosen a committee to offer the resolves to the inhabitants, for their signatures. At an adjourned meeting the committee reported that some persons had declined to sign the resolves. The town instructed them to present them to such persons a second time, and upon their refusal, to return their names to the selectmen, who were directed to publish the same in the New Hampshire Gazette. So far as can be learned from the imperfect files of the Gazette known to be in existence, no such publication of names was found to be necessary. But resolutions, however patriotic, could not annul the laws of finance and trade. On the twenty-sixth of March, 1781, the credit of the paper currency had sunk so low that a day's work on the highway was by order of the town estimated at forty dollars. On the thirty-first of March, 1783, after the bills of credit had gone out of circula- tion, and accounts were kept in metallic currency, the same was reckoned at no more than three shillings. The constitution agreed upon by the convention of 1778 for the government of the State, having been rejected on reference to the people; and another convention having been ordered, to be held in Concord on the second Tuesday of June, 1781, the town on the fourth of that month appointed Nathaniel Folsom and John T. Gilman delegates thereto. The fourth of July, 1778, according to the recollection of a gen- tleman who witnessed it, was suitably observed in Exeter, although it is not known with what ceremonials. The first printed account of a celebration of the anniversary which has been met with, was that of 1781. A contemporary journal describes the day as "ushered in by a display of colors and the most lively tokens of joy. At noon the principal gentlemen assembled at the Raleigh tavern, kept by Colonel Samuel Folsom, where they were honored by the company of the honorable council, and speaker of the Assembly, at a genteel collation, after which a number of suitable toasts were drank and thirteen cannon discharged." The people of Exeter endured their full proportion of the hardships that were caused by the War of the Revolution. A large share of the business from which the town had derived its support, was arrested, and had it not been that the public offices and State administration were transferred to the town, there would have been much more suffering. But the Legislature was in session Page 96 much of the time, and during its adjournment the Committee of Safety, with equal powers, sat in its stead. Exeter was also the headquarters for most of the military operations; so that, altogether, there was no small amount of activity and remunera- tive employment in the town. What Exeter did to furnish soldiers for the war, will be told in another chapter. Her citizens were loyal to their own country, with scarce an exception. A few were lukewarm, but the only downright tory that is known was Robert Luist Fowle, the printer, who was committed to prison on the charge of counterfeiting the provincial paper currency, but made his escape, and took refuge within the British lines. But after the war was over, there came a time of peculiar stress. The Utopia that so many had looked forward to, as the natural result of independence, was not realized. Times were hard and cash was scarce. Ignorant and unreflecting people fancied that the panacea for these ills was for the government to issue fresh bills of credit. But, fortunately, there were those in authority in the State with sufficient knowledge of political economy to prevent the Legislature from resorting to that deceptive remedy for finan- cial troubles. But they could not convince the "green-backers" of those days; and at length matters came to such a pass that the infatuated clamorers for paper currency determined to make an attempt to dragoon the Legislature into sanctioning it. THE PAPER MONEY MOB OF 1786. A body of men from the towns in the western part of Rocking- ham county by a concerted movement assembled September 20, 1786, at Kingston, thence to march to Exeter, where the State Legislature was in session. They were mustered in a sort of military array under leaders, some of whom had served in the revolutionary army. Joseph French of Hampstead, James Coch- ran of Pembroke and John McKean of Londonderry were the prin- cipal officers. In the afternoon they made their entry into the village of Exeter, by way of Front street. They numbered about two hundred, one-half of them marching on foot and armed with guns or swords, and the remainder following on horseback, and carrying clubs or whips. The General Court was sitting in the First church and the Superior (judicial) Court in the town-house on the opposite side of the street. The insurgents marched into Page 97 the centre of the village, and by mistake surrounded the latter building. If their object had been to overawe the legal tribunal within it, they would have signally failed, for Judge Samuel Liver- more was presiding, and so far was he from being daunted, that he ordered the business of the court to proceed, and sternly forbade everyone to look out of the windows. But it was the General Court that tile insurgents meant to intimidate, and they attempted to stretch a cordon of men around the meeting-house where the legislators were. But there was by this time a great body of spectators on the ground, partly citizens of the town, and partly inhabitants of neighboring places who had come in to witness the proceedings. They were generally opposed to the lawless intruders, so that when the latter endeavored to draw near the meeting-house, they found it no easy matter to overcome the inertia of the unfriendly crowd. Little by little, however, they forced their way to the building, and stationed sen- tinels at the doors and windows. They then, after ostentatiously loading their fire-arms, announced their purpose to compel tile Legislature to enact a law for the emission of abundant paper money which should be made a legal tender for debts and taxes, and their determination to hold the law-makers in durance until the demand was complied with. One or two representatives who attempted to make their escape were driven back with insult. It fortunately happened that the chief executive of the State was a man of courage and resolution, and not unacquainted with arms, John Sullivan, who had gained the rank of major general in the Revolution. He appeared at the entrance of the building and listened to the requirements of the assemblage. In a temperate and reasonable reply he gave them to understand that they need not expect to frighten him, for he had smelt powder before. "You ask for justice," he continued, "and justice you shall have." But he did not order them to disperse; he perhaps thought it was wiser to let them keep together, in order the more effectually to stamp out the tendency to insurrection against the constituted authorities. The afternoon wore away; the General Court were still prison- era, and no progress had been made towards an adjustment. By this time many of the better class of citizens of Exeter were filled with shame and indignation at the unchecked riotous demonstra- tion, and one of them, Colonel Nathaniel Gilman, with the assist- ance of others, successfully practised a ruse de guerre, in order to Page 98 raise the siege. It had then become dusk, and a high and close fence around the church-yard prevented the rioters from seeing distinctly what was going on outside. He caused a drum to be beaten briskly at a little distance while a body of citizens approached with a measured military step, and then cried out in his stentorian voice, "Hurra for government! Here comes Hackett's artillery!" The cry was echoed by others, and the insurgents did not wait for more. Their valor was not up to the fighting point, and they rapidly retreated, standing not on the order of their going. They afterward made their rendezvous on the western side of the Little river, on the road to Kingston, and there a great part of them spent the night. No sooner had they retired than steps were taken to crush this revolt in the bud. Messengers were sent into the neighboring towns bearing orders to the officers of the militia to muster then. commands, and march at once to the scene of action; and in Exe- ter a company of the first citizens enrolled themselves under the command of Captain Nicholas Gilman, who had served as an officer through the war. The next morning saw nearly two thousand men under arms in Exeter. President Sullivan assumed the direction of the column, which at once moved against the insurrectionary force, the volunteers of Exeter claiming tile post of honor in the van. Arrived within about an eighth of a mile from their antagonists, they were halted by order, when a small troop of horsemen under Colonel Joseph Cilley, a revolutionary officer of distinction, galloped forward, forded the river, and made prisoners of the principal leaders of the insurgents; after which their followers surrendered at discretion. Thus terminated the most formidable demonstration against the government which was ever made on the soil of New Hampshire. The happy result of it was in no small degree due to the loyal feeling and prudence and pluck of the people of Exeter. The attempt to dictate legislation by force having proved so ignomin- ious a failure, it was not deemed necessary to inflict serious pun- ishment upon the offenders. But the Legislature, in order that the opinion of the people of the State should be fairly tested on the expediency of issuing a paper currency, passed a bill to authorize its emission, to be sub- ________ *Tradition says that Major Jonathan Cass, the father of the statesman Lewis Cass, distinguished himself on this occasion, and in the charge leaped his horse completely over a well. Page 99 mitted to the voters of the several towns for their approval or rejection. And on the twenty-third of October, 1786, a meeting of the citizens of Exeter was held for the expression of their opinion. A committee of leading men consisting of John T. Gilman, Oliver Peabody, Samuel Tenney, John Phillips, Nicholas Gilman, Thomas Folsom and Noah Emery was appointed, to make a report upon the subject, who prepared full and elaborate reasons in writing against the measure, which were read in the meeting; and when the vote was taken it was found that there were but six in favor of the plan, and seventy-nine against it. THE CONVENTION FOR THE ADOPTION OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION. On the thirteenth of February, 1788, assembled in convention at the court-house in Exeter the delegates chosen by the several towns in the State, to consider and pass upon the constitution framed for the government of the United States, under which we now live. It was an anxious period. The proposed constitution contained a provision that it was to go into effect upon its ratifica- tion by nine of the thirteen States. Eight had already voted their approval of it, and the interest of the country centred upon New Hampshire, the ninth to act upon it. The session of the conven- tion in Exeter lasted ten days. So great was the opposition devel- oped to the adoption of the new instrument, that its friends thought it wiser to postpone final action upon the question for a season; and the convention was adjourned to meet again at Concord in the following June. The public sentiment had by that time so distinctly manifested itself that after a session of four days the convention was ready by a fair majority to ratify the constitu- tion, and thus to put the new government into operation. The delegate of Exeter, who was one of the most influential in bringing about this result, was John Taylor Gilman. THE VISIT OF WASHINGTON. The year 1789 is one to be remembered in Exeter, by a visit from the Father of his country. George Washington, having been inaugurated the first President of the Republic, was then making a tour through the Northern States. He had passed two or three days in Portsmouth, and left that place in the morning of the fourth day of November. His habits of extreme punctuality are well known, Page 100 and he probably set out from Portsmouth exactly as the hands of the clock pointed to the half hour after seven. The people of Exeter had made arrangements to receive him with a handsome cavalcade. But some of the party were a little dilatory, and before they were in the saddle Washington made his appearance, it not yet being ten o'clock. He was mounted on horseback, as was his practice when entering a town, and was attended by his two secretaries, Colonel Tobias Lear and Major William Jackson, who rode in an open carriage, and by a single servant. He wore a drab surtout and a military hat. The streets were thronged with people waiting to welcome the distinguished visitor, and Captain Simon Wiggin in command of the artillery company of Exeter, had his men promptly in line, and received his Commander-in- Chief with a salute of thirteen guns. The party alighted at the public house kept by Colonel Samuel Folsom, where they were waited upon by Colonel Nicholas Gilman, who had been a staff officer under Washington at Yorktown, and other revolutionary ,soldiers and citizens, proud to do the honors of the town to the President. They invited him to tarry for a night and partake of a public dinner. But his engagements, pre- viously made, compelled him, with reluctance as he informs us in his diary, to decline. They, however, gave him a collation, which he graciously accepted. Among those who had the honor of waiting on him at the table was a young lady relative of Colonel Folsom, who had solicited the privilege. Washington saw at once that she was no menial servant, and calling her to him, addressed her a few pleasant words and kissed her. She lived to attain a good old age, and was the friend of some of the most distinguished men of a subsequent generation, but probably no incident of her life made so lasting an impression upon her memory as the kiss of Washington. The few hours of Washington's stay in Exeter were soon ended, and he resumed his journey. A cavalcade or gentlemen escorted him outside the village. He took the road to Kingston, on his way to Haverhill, Massachusetts. When he reached the top of Great hill, he directed the driver of his carriage to halt, that he might look back upon the wide view of Exeter and its vicinity. He gazed a few moments at the fair landscape that lay at his feet and stretched away to the ocean, and remarked admiringly upon its beauty; and with this pleasant farewell to Exeter he went on his way. Page 101 COURT-HOUSE, FIRE ENGINE, LIBRARY, ETC. The town, on October 13, 1788, had instructed the selectmen to put up a chimney in the town-house, and to make such repairs on the building as to render it suitable for the sessions of the General Court and county courts. But three years afterwards the need of a new court-house became apparent, and on the twelfth of Septem- ber, 1791, the town voted to raise, to be assessed the next year, two hundred and fifty pounds for the purpose of building one, to be placed on the land between the house of the late General Folsom and that of Ward Clark Dean; and that so much of said land as should be necessary, be appropriated for the purpose. This location was in the middle of the present Court square, just in front of the town-house. The building was completed, there, in season for the town to hold its annual meeting in it, in March, 1793. The State constitution which was adopted by the people in 1783 was found on trial to require amendment, and on August 8, 1791, the town, at a meeting held for the purpose, appointed Samuel Tenney a delegate to the convention to be held at Concord on the succeeding first Wednesday of September, to revise the constitu- tion. At the March town meeting in 1794, it was voted to raise a sum not exceeding seventy pounds, for the purchase of a new fire engine, hooks, etc., for the use of the town; and that Gideon Lamson be empowered to bargain for the same, and to sell the engine then belonging to the town, and account for the proceeds thereof. The former engine here referred to was procured in 1774 at the cost, including transportation, of fifty-two pounds. It was also voted that any persons who might be unwilling to pay their taxes assessed for the new engine, could have them abated upon application to the selectmen, by the first Monday of May following. This, and one or two other similar cases of con- sideration, exhibited by the majority, for the inability or opposition of a minority of the tax-payers, are worthy of being recorded, to the credit of the town. They are in sharp contrast to the ideas and practice of some communities, in later times. At the adjourned annual meeting in March, 1797, it was voted by the town that Benjamin Clark Gilman and his associates should have the privilege of sinking an aqueduct in Fore street, and such other streets as they might find convenient, for supplying water to customers; and of breaking ground to repair the same; on condi- Page 102 tion that they should put the streets in as good a state as they found them in, within a reasonable time, and should indemnify the town against prosecutions on that account. In 1797 the Legislature incorporated several of the principal citizens of the town as the "Exeter Social Library." They at once completed an organization, and adopted rules and regula- tions. From a little pamphlet printed for their use by Henry Ranlet in the same year, it appears that they began with thirty- eight proprietors and one hundred and sixty-eight volumes. The number of the latter was subsequently much increased, and the society continued in existence for a considerable period, until the books having probably become pretty familiar, the interest in the library so far abated, that its contents were divided among the proprietors. In the year 1798 a number of citizens, for the better protection of their property from loss by fire, entered into a voluntary asso- ciation called the "Fire Society of Exeter." Their constitution provided that the number of members should not exceed twenty- five, and that no person should be admitted, except at a meeting where three-fourths of the society were present; and if more than a sing1e ballot were cast against him. Each member was to keep always in readiness two leather buckets, and two bags a yard and a half in length and three-quarters of a yard in breadth, with strings at the mouth; and at every alarm of fire was instantly to repair with his buckets and bags to the house or other building of the member whose danger should appear greatest, and make every exertion for the preservation of his building and personal property. Various fines were prescribed for delinquencies, which went, if this society was conducted like similar associations elsewhere, to pay for an occasional dinner and jollification for the members. The society, having this happy commingling of the utile with the dulci, was kept up for many years, and was the precursor of other combinations for the same object. The "Junior Fire Society" was in successful operation in 1817, and the "Phoenix Fire Society" in 1882. HONORS TO THE MEMORY OF WASHINGTON. Nearly all the sessions of the State Legislature were held in Exeter from the beginning of the year 1776 to 1784; but for the succeeding fifteen years they were distributed among three or four towns, Exeter receiving but a small share of them. The Page 103 last meeting there was in December, 1799. Near the close of the session intelligence was received of the death of Washington, which occurred on the fourteenth day of the month. The General Court immediately suspended business and resolved, in respect to the memory of the deceased patriot, to go into mourning for the term of three months. And on the day following, the executive and legislative officers of the State, with the selectmen and citizens of the town, escorted by a military company of students of the academy in uniform with proper badges of mourning, marched in procession to the First meeting-house, where religious exercises ,vere performed, appropriate to the sad event. The citizens of the town resolved to take further and more formal notice of the national bereavement. They accordingly invited the Hon. Jere- miah Smith to deliver a eulogy on the late President. On the succeeding twenty-second of February, which was generally observed as a day of mourning throughout the land, they gathered, with all the insignia of respect and grief, in the meeting-house of the First parish, and there listened to an eloquent oration in honor of the deceased First Citizen of America, pronounced by one who was fully capable of appreciating his greatness and his virtues, and who had known him in public and in private life, in his official position at the national capital and as his visitor at Mount Vernon. In 1799 the streets of the town for the first time received authoritative names, recommended by a committee of citizens, and adopted by the town, as they are given upon the plan drawn by Phineas Merrill in 1802, a copy of which is contained in this volume. In 1801 the "Exeter Aqueduct" received incorporation from the Legislature of the State, and brought into the village water drawn from springs not far from the present station of the Boston and Maine Railroad. It was conveyed through perforated logs, and, of course, the supply was quite limited. Benjamin Clark Gilman was the projector of the enterprise in 1797; and in later time the management of the aqueduct fell into the hands of Nathaniel S. Adams, and finally of John Bellows. It was abandoned a number of years ago. At the annual town meeting in 1804 it was voted that the select- men, in case of blocking snows, should employ proper persons to open the roads, at the expense of the town. In 1811 the town voted that the selectmen purchase for the use of the town a new fire engine and appurtenances at a cost not Page 104 exceeding three hundred dollars; the engine of 1794 being deemed insufficient. TEMPERANCE; WAR OF 1812; PRAYER IN TOWN MEETINGS. As early as 1812 germs of the temperance reform began to show themselves in the action of the town. A vote was passed at the annual meeting to request the selectmen to prevent the selling or having of any liquors at the court-house on town-meeting days, and to make it the duty of a constable to see that the vote should be carried into full effect. The following preamble and resolution were also adopted: Retailers of ardent Spirits duly observing the laws are a nec- essary class of men. But when they so grossly abuse the trust and confidence reposed in them as to sell ardent spirits in less quantities than the laws permit, harbor citizens of the town in their stores and shops day after day and night after night, spend- ing the money which ought to be expended in the support of their families in corrupting the morals and setting a destructive example before others, it is time for the town to arouse from their slumbers, place the axe at the root of the tree of vice and idle habits by rigidly executing the laws amply sufficient to effect it. This is an increasing evil, and for which a remedy is immediately wanted. Resolved, therefore, That the selectmen and overseers inspect all disorderly licensed houses, etc., and prosecute such offenders with the utmost severity of the law. The war against England, which was declared in 1812, was regarded by the majority of the people of New England as un- necessary and wrong. Exeter partook of that feeling, and when a meeting of the town was cal1ed in August, 1812, to see what pay and bounty should be offered to the militia called into the service of the United States, appointed a committee, consisting of John T. Gilman, Oliver Peabody, Samuel Tenney, Gideon Lamson and Joseph Tilton, Jr., to take the subject into consideration. At an adjourned meeting the committee submitted a written report, setting out that for reasons therein given, the town ought not to pay bounties or add to the compensation provided by law for men employed in the military service in that war. The report was accepted. On the second of November following, the meeting of the citi- zens for the choice of representatives in Congress and presidential electors, was opened by "a well adapted prayer by the Rev. Mr. Page 105 Rowland." This appears to have been the inauguration or possi- bly the revival of a practice which afterwards continued for more than a quarter of a century. SUPPORT OF THE POOR. In 1817 the town passed a vote that the selectmen and over- seers be authorized to purchase a farm or house for the use of the town where they might place the poor, and that they hire for that purpose a sum not exceeding four thousand dollars. A purchase was accordingly made of a house and land near Beech hill; and in 1821 the town voted to enlarge the town farm by the addition of the "Cuba" land adjoining it, and to establish an almshouse and house of correction. Prior to that time the mode of providing for those who needed support was by letting them out by auction, or rather by diminution, to the lowest bidder. Their number was comparatively small, and their several capacities and incapacities were well known. The responsible citizens who were willing to board, clothe and care for them at the least cost to the town, were allowed to take them to their homes, and have the charge of them. It is believed that under this system the paupers usually received good treatment; and they certainly were not sent far away from their acquaintances and familiar surroundings, to pine among strangers in a strange place. In 1823 the town adopted an act of the Legislature for the es- tablishment of police in towns. In 1826 the town appropriated four hundred dollars to procure a lot of land for the use of the county, to erect a fire-proof build- ing upon, for public offices and the preservation of public records. The building was constructed of brick with stone vaults to contain the books and files of the county, and was located on front street, just easterly of the Phillips Exeter Academy. It answered its purpose satisfactorily for half a century, but the increase of the records, and the demand for greater care for their preservation, will soon render necessary enlarged and better constructed accom- modations. At the annual meeting in March, 1832, the town appropriated three hundred dollars for the purchase of a hay scale. It was placed nearly opposite the First church and in front of the lot on which the Squamscot House was afterwards erected, in 1837. The situation of the court-house was felt to be inconvenient on Page 106 many accounts, and in 1834 the town gave the selectmen authority to purchase a lot of land, and remove the court-house thereon, and fit up the same fit the expen8e of the town, upon condition that one hundred and fifty dollars of the cost should be contributed by individuals. The condition was complied with, and the build- ing was removed to the southerly corner of Court and River streets, where its immediate successor still stands. Petitions were subse- quently presented for the sale or lease of the lot where it had stood, but the town wisely declined to part with the control of the land, and it has since constituted what is known as Court square, and now has a very useful drinking fountain in the centre. In 1838, at the annual meeting, the town again put upon record its sentiments in relation to the mischiefs of the habit of strong drink, as follows : Resolved, That as much of the pauperism, disease and misery existing among us may be attributed to intemperance, it is desir- able that all suitable means should be used for the promotion of the temperance cause, and we, the citizens of this town, in town meeting assembled, authorize our selectmen to take aI1lawful and equitable measures for the removal of this evil from among us. CELEBRATION OF BI-CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY. The year 1838 being the two hundredth anniversary of the foun- dation of the town, was recognized as a proper occasion for public exercises in commemoration of that event. The necessary prep- arations were seasonably made, and the Hon. Jeremiah Smith was designated to prepare a historical address to be pronounced on the occasion. The fourth of July was chosen as a suitable day, and the citizens of the neighboring towns which had once formed parts of Exeter, were invited to join in the celebration. The day was favorable. A procession, composed of a large body of citizens, the children of the Sunday schools and of the town schools, and the students of the Phillips Exeter Academy, escorted by the company of Exeter Artillery, all under the direc- tion of Captain Nathaniel Gilman, 3d, chief marshal, marched through the principal streets of the village to the meeting-house of the First parish, which was tilled to overflowing. After music by the band, and the singing of appropriate pieces by the choir, the Rev. Isaac Hurd offered all impressive prayer. Then the ven- erable Judge Smith delivered his interesting and valuable address, extracts from which will be found in the appendix to this volume (III). Page 107 After the close of the exercises at the meeting-house a proces- sion was again formed, of the invited guests and subscribers to the public dinner, and moved to the court-house, in the lower story of which the tables had been arranged. The Hon. Timothy Farrar presided at the dinner, assisted by the Hon. William Plumer, Jr., of Epping, Captain Nathaniel Gilman, 3d and William W. Stickney, Esq., of Newmarket. After the cloth was removed the presiding officer made an address of welcome and congratulation. A series of sentiments were then read, which were severally responded to, by the Hon. William Plumer, Jr., the Hon. Prentiss Mellen, and other gentlemen of note present. In the evening there was a levee at Howard hall, and the day was closed with a brilliant display of fireworks. The entire cele- bration was most satisfactory, and was highly enjoyed by the numerous assemblage which had gathered from far and near. The chairman of the committee of citizens, to whom much credit was due, was Joseph Tilton, Esq. RE-NAMING STREETS; NEW COURT-HOUSE. In 1840 the selectmen received authority to name the streets anew, and performed that duty as follows: The street leading from Great bridge towards Hampton is to be called High street. From Mary Jones's comer towards Stratham, Portsmouth avenue. " Great bridge to James Grant's, Pleasant street. " " " to Joseph Furnald's, Water street. " " " to Christian chapel, Franklin street. " Franklin street to Court street, South street. " Joseph Tilton's to John Gordon's, Front street. " Kimings's brook to James Bell's, Main street. " James Bell's to Jeremiah Smith's, Middle street. " Squamscot house to Little river bridge, Court street. " Widow Odiorne's to Exeter bank, Centre street. " Margaret Emery's to Colonel Chadwick's, Ladd street. " Sherburne Blake's to William Lane's, Spring street. " J. Robinson, Jr.'s to Main street, Academy street. " Isaac Leavitt's to Samuel Philbrick's, Winter street. " Samuel Philbrick's to Water street, Back street. " Rev. Mr. Rowland's to Joseph Furnald's, Summer street. " Samuel Moses's to Back street, Cross street. " Cross street to Water street, Green street. Page 108 Most of the streets still retain the names here given them, but a few have taken others, more in accordance with the fitness of things. Cross street, for example, has given place with great pro- priety to Cass street, as it contains the house where the Hon. Lewis Cass was born. And therein is a hint that ought to be taken and improved. The town is noted for the number of dis- tinguished men who have resided in it. What more appropriate nomenclature for its streets could be adopted than the names of its principal inhabitants and families? Wheelwright, Hilton, Dudley, Gilman, Folsom, Phillips, Sullivan and other historic names are far preferable for this purpose, in every point of view, to such unmeaning appellations as Front, Back, Middle, Centre, and the like. This would be a graceful method of keeping green the memory of the Exeter worthies of the past, and the quarter millennial anniversary of the town is a peculiarly suitable occasion to make the change. In the spring of 1841 the court-house, that had been moved seven years before into Court street, was destroyed by fire. An exhibition called the "Burning of Moscow" had just been held in it, and was the cause of this less extensive conflagration. The town held a meeting on the sixth of April of the same year, and appropriated the sum of three thousand five hundred dollars for a town-house, to contain a town hall and court rooms. The building committee were James Burley, Nathaniel Gilman, Jr., William Conner, James Bell and Ira B. Hoitt. The building was promptly erected, of wood, and is still standing on the lot where the former court-house was situated, but is now occupied by the Town Library, the Natural History Society, the Grand Army of the Republic, etc. It was used for the purposes for which it was originally designed, only about fifteen years. At the March town meeting in 1842 a resolution was passed, to license one apothecary to sell spirituous liquors, for medicinal pur- poses and the arts only, and to grant no further license therefor. And the next year it was resolved, with but a single dissenting voice, to license one town agent and no more, and to prosecute offenders against the license law. In 1844 the useful practice was begun of printing the annual accounts of the selectmen and overseers, for distribution among the tax-payers. The practice has been kept up each year since, and has been extended to the reports and accounts of all the officers of the town. Page 109 The selectmen had been empowered in 1840 to procure to be made a survey and plan of the town. This was accomplished in 1845. Joseph Dow of Hampton was the surveyor employed, and from his draft two plans were published, the one of the village and the other of the entire township. Similar plans had been issued forty-three years previously, by Phinehas Merrill of Stratham; and a plot of the village on a larger scale has been since published from a survey made in 1874. In 1844, at the annual meeting, an appropriation of four hun- dred dollars was made for the purchase of a town clock, which was set up in the tower of the First church. On October 8, 1850, the town appointed Gilman Marston, John Kelly and Joseph G. Hoyt delegates to the convention to be held at Concord on the sixth of November following, to revise the con- stitution of the State. In 1852 the town, taking warning from a disastrous conflagra- tion which had recently occurred, by which the two principal hotels had been laid in ashes, caused the purchase of another fire engine at the cost of six hundred and fifty dollars, and laid out a further considerable sum in the improvement of the reservoirs. The wooden town-house which was erected in 1841 was found to be ill located, and insufficient, and a movement was made in 1853 to build another, better suited to the public needs. For that purpose the town authorized an appropriation of thirty thousand dollars. The measure was not carried without strenuous and bitter opposition. Some of the older and more conservative citi- zens contended that the building then in use answered its end suf- ficiently, particularly as it had been erected only twelve years before, and were especially aggrieved by the exorbitant sum pur- posed to be expended. The question of the location of the pro- posed building, too, caused a difference of opinion, which was not settled until March, 1855. The Dean lot, at the northwestern corner of Court square and Water street, received the majority of suffrages, and there the new building, which is of brick, and of fine architectural proportions, and has from that time to the present been equally ornamental and useful to the town, was placed. It was in 1853 that the first appropriation was made by the town for the establishment of the Public Library. The project originated with some public spirited citizens, who laid the founda- tions for its success by contributing to the infant Library, from Page 110 their own collections, a considerable number of useful books. The town was quite ready to adopt the enterprise, and appropriated for the care and increase of the Library for the first few years three hundred, and since then five hundred dollars annually, besides providing suitable rooms for its accommodation in the old town-house. As the expense of library service is small, the chief part of the annual appropriations has been laid out in books, and from that source, and by donations from various quarters, the shelves have been gradually filled. A fund of five thousand dollars for the enlargement of the Library was given by the late Dr. Charles A. Merrill; the income of which is to be applied to the purchase of works of sterling value. The number of volumes now in the Library amounts to more than six thousand. They are, with few exceptions, well selected, and are very generally circulated in the households of the town, and diligently perused. LIGHTING STREETS; SIDEWALKS; STEAM FIRE ENGINE; WATER WORKS. The streets of the town were first lighted in 1863, although gas works had been in operation several years previously. The lights at first were rather few and far between, and some persons com- plained that they only served to make the darkness more visible; but the number has since been so much increased that there is no longer any question of their utility. In the same year it was voted to fund thirty thousand dollars of the debt of the town, which had been incurred in building the town-house, and in bounties and aid to soldiers' families in the War of the Rebellion. About the year 1871 the sidewalks of the village underwent a very general renovation. Before then they were mostly made of gravel, except in the business part of Water street. It was felt that they were hardly up to the requirement of the times, and an order was adopted to encourage the citizens to reconstruct them in an improved fashion. The town agreed to repay to all land- owners in the village one-half the expense of sidewalks of con- crete, brick or other durable materials, which they should cause to be laid in front of their respective lots. The offer was quite generally taken advantage of, and the village has since afforded better facilities for pedestrians than are to be found in most places of equal population and means. Page 111 Notwithstanding Exeter had for a century been quite in the fore front of country towns in providing against the danger of fires, and had made very considerable annual payments for that purpose, yet, up to the year 1873, nothing more efficient than hand engines had been procured. It was then determined that a steam fire engine was a necessity. Though the expense of it and of all the needful accompaniments, including a substantial house of brick on Water street, was somewhat onerous, yet the service rendered by the acquisition, on one or two occasions, fully out- weighed the cost. The fire department of the town is highly effi- cient, and its members have shown their pluck and endurance on many a hard fought field. And now that abundant hydrants have been added to all other safeguards, the risk of any wide conflagra- tion seems reduced to a minimum. A new convention to revise the constitution of the State was ordered, to be held at Concord on the sixth of December, 1876, and the town elected as delegates thereto, William W. Stickney, Gilman Marston, William B. Morrill and John J. Bell. The "Exeter Water Works" went into operation in 1886. This is the title of an incorporated company, which has established its reservoirs and pumping apparatus on a little stream which leads to the historic "Wheelwright's creek." Thence the water is driven to a stand pipe on the summit of Prospect hill, which gives it a sufficient head to reach the top of the highest building in the village. A contract has been executed between the corporation and the town, by which the former, in consideration of an annual subsidy of two thousand dollars, engaged to furnish to the town for the term of twenty years, all the water needed for the extin- guishment of fires and for other municipal purposes; and also, on certain conditions, to turn over to the town, its works, plant and property, upon being reimbursed the cost thereof. ********************************************************************** * * * NOTICE: Printing the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIORto uploading to any other sites. 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