Chapter 15 - Portsmouth (Continued - Banks, Newspapers, Fires, Architecture, Famous Inhabitants, Schools) from History of Rockingham County, NH From: Susan Sauve - ssauve@ecentral.com Source: History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire and Representative Citizens by Charles A. Hazlett, Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, Ill., 1915 Page 184 CHAPTER XV PORTSMOUTH-(Continued) Banks--Newspapers--Fires--Architecture, Various Events--Famous lnhabi- tants--Schools, Parks and Playgrounds BANKS Chronology.--New Hampshire Bank incorporated 1792, expired 1842.* New Hampshire Union Bank incorporated 1802, expired 1842.* Portsmouth Bank incorporated 1803, expired 1843.* Rockingham Bank incorporated 1813, succeeded by Rockingham National Bank 1865, expired 1905.* Branch Bank of the U. S. established 1816, closed 1835.* Portsmouth Savings Bank incorporated 1823. Piscataqua Bank incorporated 1824, succeeded by Piscataqua Exchange Bank incorporated 1844, succeeded by First National Bank 1863. Commercial Bank incorporated 1825, succeeded by Mechanics and Traders Bank 1844, succeeded by National Mechanics and Traders Bank 1865- New Hampshire Bank incorporated 1855, succeeded by New Hampshire National Bank 1865. Rockingham 10-Cent Savings Bank incorporated 1867, closed 1876.* Portsmouth Trust & Guarantee Company incorporated 1871. Piscataqua Savings Bank incorporated 1877. The First National Bank is a successor of the Piscataqua Bank of 1824 and the Piscataqua Exchange Bank of 1844. The First National Bank is number I in the Treasury Department. The $30,000 U. S. 6% bonds to secure circulating notes, sent to Washington on April 9, 1863, were the first received from any bank in the United States and its bonds were kept in Box No. I, by the United States treasurer during the term of the original charter. The bank opened July 7, 1863, being number 19 on the Comptroller's books. Presidents.--Samuel Hale, 1824-1844; William H. Y. Hackett, 1844- 1878; Ichabod Goodwin, 1879-1882; Edward P. Kimball, 1882-1910; John K. Bates, 1910-1914. Cashiers.--Samuel Lord, 1824-1871; Edward P. Kimball, 1872-1882; Charles A. Hazlett, 1883-1914. Long Services.--The three cashiers were employed in the bank 53, 47 * No Successor. Page 185 and 41 years respectively. Five directors have acted on the board 53, 51, 49, 47 and 41 years respectively. For 80 years the bank messenger, his father and grandfather, have faithfully served the banks in this city. The officers elected January 13, 1914, were: J. K. Bates, president; C. A. Hazlett, vice president; R. W. Junkins, cashier; J. M. McPhee, assistant cashier; L. B. Wright, teller. Directors: John H. Broughton, Henry A. Yeaton, Wallace Hackett, Charles A. Hazlett, Joseph 0. Hobbs, John K. Bates and Edward T. Kimball. The National Mechanics' and Traders' Bank is a successor of the Com- mercial Bank, which was chartered in July, 1825. Isaac Walton, president; George Melcher, Jr., cashier; succeeded by Richard Jenness, president; James T. Shores, cashier. This bank was succeeded by the Mechanics' and Traders' Bank, chartered 1844. Richard Jenness, president; James T. Shores, cashier. This was succeeded by the National Mechanics' and Traders' Bank, organized May,1864. George L. Treadwell, president; James T. Shores, cashier. Mr. Shores died in 1871, and was succeeded by G. W. Butler, cashier. G. L. Treadwell resigned in February, 1876, succeeded by John Sise. G. W. Butler resigned in April, 1881; succeeded by John Laighton, who resigned in March, 1882, when James P. Bartlett was elected cashier, and resigned in 1895. He was succeeded by C. F. Shillaber in 1895. The present officers are: G. Ralph Laighton, president; C. F. Shillaber, cashier. Directors: J. W.. Peirce, G. R. Laighton, Gustave Peyser, C. F. Shillaber, Wm. E. Marvin, F. H. Sise, John J. Berry. The New Hampshire National Bank is a successor of the New Hamp- shire Bank, incorporated in 1855. The present bank was organized as a national bank in 1865. Peter Jenness was president from 1855 to 1866, when he was succeeded by Mr. J. P. Barttett, who remained until 1882, and was succeeded by E. A. Peterson who served till 1890. Thomas A. Harris was president from 1890 to 1893, and Calvin Page president from 1893 to 1914. J. P. Bartlett was cashier from 1855 to 1866, L. S. Butler from 1866 to 1890, and W. C. Walton from 1890 to 1914. The present officers are: Calvin Page, president; W. C. Walton, cashier; W. L. Conlon, assistant cashier. Directors: Calvin Page, H. Fisher Eldredge, A. F. Howard, F. H. Ward, J. W. Emery, W. C. Walton. Portsmouth Savings Bank.--May 26, 1818, some of the most prominent citizens of the town met and organized an "Institution for the Deposit and Investment of Monies," and applied for a charter, which, however, the Legis- lature declined to grant. But in 1823 the charter of the "Portsmouth Savings Bank" was obtained, and this bank is therefore among the oldest of such insti- tutions in the United States. At first the bank was open for deposits and withdrawals only on Wednesdays from 3 to 5 P. M. and occupied a chamber of the building then on the site of their new building. The following is a list of the presidents and treasurers of the bank: Presidents, Nathaniel A. Haven, 1823-31; Henry Ladd, 1831-39; James Rundlett, 1839-40; Robert Rice, 1840-44; William M. Shackford, 1B44-69; William Simes, 1869-80; William H. Rollins, 1880-93; C. E. Batcheder, 1893- 95; J. S. H. Frink, 1895-1905; G. Ralph Laighton, 1905. Treasurers, Samuel Lord, 1823-69; James F. Shores, Jr., 1869-77; Joseph H. Foster, 1877-85; Page 186 Geo. Tompson, 1885-89; G. Ralph Laighton, 1889-1905; Harry E. Boynton, 1905. The present officers are: G. Ralph Laighton, president; H. E. Boynton, treasurer. Trustees: Joseph W. Peirce, D. F. Borthwick, Gustave Peyser, H. E. Boynton, Moses A. Safford, G. Ralph Laighton, William E. Marvin. The Portsmouth Trust and Guarantee Company, a savings bank, incor- porated in 1871. The presidents have been George L. Treadwell, Ezra H. Winchester, Jeremiah F. Hall, Frank Jones and Calvin Page. Charles H. Rollins was treasurer until December, 1876, when he was succeeded by G. L. Treadwell, who officiated until April, 1879 when Mr. Rollins was re-ap- pointed. Samuel J. Gerrish was treasurer from 1892 to 1911 and was suc- ceeded by Wm. C. Walton in 1911. The present officers are: Calvin Page, president; A. F. Howard, vice president; Wm. C. Walton, treasurer; Willis E. Underhill, assistant treasurer; Percival C. Sides, clerk. Directors: Calvin Page, B. F. Webster, A. F. Howard, John H. Bartlett and W. C. Walton. The Piscataqua Savings Bank was incorporated in 1877. The first presi- dent was W. H. Y. Hackett, who was succeeded by Governor Ichabod Good- win in 1878. E. P. Kimball served until 1910. The present president, C. A. Hazlett, was elected in April, 1910. Robert C. Peirce was treasurer from 1878 to 1893, W. C. Fraser to 1906, and C. W. Brewster to 1913. The present officers are: President and acting treasurer, Charles A. Hazlett; assistant treasurer, E. Curtis Matthews, Jr. Trustees: John H. Broughton, Alfred F. Howard, Henry A. Yeaton, Wallace Hackett, Joseph 0. Hobbs (North Hampton), Lewis E. Staples, Charles A. Hazlett and John K. Bates. Portsmouth Building and Loan Association.--John W. Emery, president; John Pender, secretary and treasurer. NEWSPAPERS The New Hampshire Gazette.--This is the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. The first number appeared October 7, 1756, and the imprint reads, "Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Printed by Daniel Fowle, where this paper may be had at one dollar per annum, or an equivalent in Bills of Credit, computing a dollar this year at Four Pounds old Tenor." Daniel Fowle, who was the first printer in New Hampshire, was born at Charlestown, Mass., and began business near the head of King (now State) Street, in Boston, in 1740. In 1754 he was arrested by order of the House of Representatives, on suspicion of having printed a pamphlet entitled "The Monster of Monsters, by Tom Thumb, Esq.," which contained severe animad- versions on some of the members. He was cast into jail, but subsequently suffered to depart without trial. Unable to obtain satisfaction for the illegal imprisonment, and disgusted with the provincial government of Massachu- setts, Fowle accepted an invitation from several prominent gentlemen of this state to remove to Portsmouth, and the result was the issue of his first number of the New Hampshire Gazette on the date above mentioned. This number, of which a fac-simile was produced at the centennial anni- versary of the introduction of the art of printing into New Hampshire. cele- brated in Portsmouth, October 6, 1856, was 17xlO inches, and was published Page 187 in this size until the beginning of the year 1757, when it was enlarged, and in July of that year, and occasionally after, was doubled in size in its issue. In 1797 it was permanently enlarged. But little is known of the location of the office. The paper did not give that information. The first issues were from an office in an old wooden building at the corner of Pleasant, Washing- ton, and Howard streets, removed a few years since, to be succeeded by the brick dwelling-house built on the site by Mr. John E. Colcord. In 1767 we find it published by Daniel and Robert Fowle, "near State House, in the Street leading to the Ferry," now Market Street, and perhaps this was the first removal from the Pleasant Street location, which was until then near the center of business of the town. An ancient deed of land at corner of Pleasant and Richmond streets would lead us to infer that Fowle had this site as late as 1772 for his office. In any event the office has been frequently removed, having been in Congress Street, on the site of the present Franklin Building, on Daniel Street, and on Pleasant Street opposite to the locality where for the past twenty-one years it has been published. But the fact remains certain that if the office of publication changed, the weekly appearance of the paper has never ceased for more than a century and a half of its existence. Fowle published the Gazette, either alone or with his partner, until 1785, when he sold the paper to two of his apprentices, John Melcher and George Terry Osborne. Fowle died in 1787. The publication up to 1785 was as fol- lows: By Daniel Fowle, from 1756 to 1764, when Robert Fowle became interested in the paper, and continued until 1773. Benjamin Dearborn was publisher in 1776, but two years after, Mr. Fowle resumed the publication, and was succeeded by Mercher & Osborn, in 1785. Mr. Osborn shortly after retired, but Mr. Melcher continued until 1802, when he sold to Nathaniel S. and Washington Peirce, who changed the politics of the Gazette from federal to republican. Mr. Melcher was the first state printer,--an office continued to the publishers of the Gazette down to 1814. N. S. and W. Peirce, in connection with Benjamin Hill and Samuel Gardner, published the paper for little more than seven years, when it was sold to William Weeks, who came to Portsmouth from Rutland, Me., and conducted the paper up to 1813. He was followed by Gideon Beck and David C. Foster, whose firm of Beck & Foster was dissolved by the death of Mr. Foster in 1823. From this time to 1834, Mr. Beck was the publisher. Then Albert Greenleaf was admitted as partner, and in 1838 Mr. Beck retired. After this Thomas B. Laighton, formerly a prominent politician of Portsmouth, but who afterwards spent his declining years at Appledore, Isles of Shoals, was for a year or more interested with Abner Greenleaf, Jr., as the imprint informs us, and subsequently from late in 1839, and Mr. Greenleaf alone conducted the paper down to 184I. Then Samuel W. Mores, a practical printer, with Joel C. Virgin acting as editor, and George Greenleaf, published the paper until 1844, when Abner Greenleaf (Sr.) is named as editor. Then appears "A. Greenleaf & Son." For the succeeding two years the paper was owned and managed by certain prominent democrats, who gave no sign of editorship or proprietorship. In 1847, William Pickering Hill, a son of ex-Governor Isaac Hill, came from Concord, where he had been interested in the Patriot, and purchased the Gazette, and also an opposition democratic paper called the Republican Union, Page 188 and the Gazette was then enlarged. He also started a daily Gazette, but his efforts were not successful, and he retired after a loss of no little amount of money during his management. Mr. Hill was succeeded by Gideon H. Rundlett, who was an able and fearless writer, and as far as a politica1 paper was desired he supplied the need. He was followed by Edward N. Fuller, formerly of Manchester, who took the paper in 1852, and remained until 1858, when he removed to Newark, N.J. He attempted to publish a daily Gazette, which was a reputable paper, but the enterprise was not appreciated, and it was given up. In 1858, Mr. Fuller was succeeded by Amos S. Alexander, Esq., a lawyer from the interior of the state, who held an office under the administra- tion, but was not always in the line of service acceptable to the party managers. He gave way to Samuel Gray, a native of Portsmouth, and a practical printer, in February, 1859. In September, 1861, Mr. Gray sold out to Frank W. Miller, who had started with others the Daily Chronicle in 1852, and the Gazette establishment became united with the Chronicle office. The New Hampshire Gazette was then removed from the office in Daniel Street oppo- site the old custom-house to its present location in Exchange Building in Pleasant Street, and its time-honored name appeared at the head of the weekly paper published at the Chronicle office. Many of its former subscribers continued to take the paper, which now became transformed from a political organ to a newspaper, and its circulation began to increase. In 1868, Mr. George W. Marston became a partner with Mr. Miller, and the paper was published by Frank W. Miller & Company. Mr. Miller sold his interest in October, 1870, to Mr. Washington Freeman, who owned one- half of the paper. Mr. Marston disposed of his interest in June, 1877, to William H. Hackett, who, with Mr. Freeman, published the paper under the name of the "Chronicle and Gazette Publishing Company." In June, 1882, Mr. Hackett disposed of his interest to Mr. Charles W. Gardner, a practical printer of Portsmouth. During the proprietorship of Mr. F. W. Miller and his successors there have been in the editorial chair Messrs. Tobias Ham Miller, Jacob H. Thompson (afterwards connected with the editorial department of the New York Times), and Israel P. Miller. After Mr. Marston purchased an interest in the paper it advocated the principles of the republican party, but it has of late aimed to excel in serving its readers with general and local news rather than with abstract dissertion upon political topics. During the lifetime of the Gazette many newspapers have come and gone in Portsmouth, among the last to cease publication being Millers Weekly, a temperance journal, which stopped soon after the decease of its founder and owner, the late Frank W. Miller, the American Ballot and Post. The Daily Chronicle, which was started by Messrs. F. W. Miller, Thomas M. Miller, and Samuel Gray in 1852, under the firm of Miller & Gray, has been in turn owned by this firm, F. W. Miller & Company, Marston & Free- man, by the Chronicle and Gazette Publishing Company and F. W. Hartford since March 1, 1898, who also publishes the Herald, an evening paper. Since its establishment the local news of Portsmouth has been carefully produced by the papers, a feature which is appreciated by the many natives of the "City by the Sea," who go to live beyond its borders, and yet cherish a desire for news from home. Page 189 The States and Union.--The first number of the States and Union news- paper was issued on January 2, 1863, by Mr. Joshua L. Foster, because (as he announced in his salutatory) of "the indispensable necessity of a sound and thoroughly democratic journal in this section of the state." The old Gazette presses and material were purchased for the new enterprise, and the paper was issued from the office which had for many years been occupied by the Gazette, No. 31 Daniel Street. At the commencement of the second volume Mr. George W. Guppy's name appeared as publisher in connection with Mr. Foster. The paper was decidedly outspoken and fearless and because of its views upon the conduct of the war it was mobbed on April 10, 1865, everything contained within the office--type, presses, material and machinery of every description--being destroyed and thrown into the street. After this the type was set and press-work for the paper done for a few weeks in Manchester, until new material and presses could be procured and brought to Portsmouth, when work was resumed in the office, and the paper has been issued regularly ever since. The paper is at present published by Col. True L. Norris as the weekly edition of the Portsmouth Times and has a wide circulation throughout New Hampshire and Western Maine. The Daily Evening Times.--On March 16, 1868, the Daily Evening Times began to be issued from the same establishment, with Joshua L. Foster as editor and proprietor, George W. Guppy as publisher, and William M. Thayer as local editor, and the paper has been regularly issued ever since. In May, 1870, Mr. Foster sold the establishment to Messrs. Thayer & Guppy, and their connection continued till November, 1873, when Mr. Guppy bought his partner's interest, and was sole editor and proprietor until December 15, 1879, when he sold out to Mr. Alpheus A. Hanscom, who was formerly publisher of the Maine Democrat, at Saco, Me., and for the fifteen years immediately previous to his purchase of Mr. Guppy was one of the proprietors and editors of the Union Democrat and Manchester Daily Union, at Manchester, N. H. In the fall of 1877 Mr. Hanscom sold the Times to the late Charles A. Sinclair who conducted it with True L. Norris as manager and editor until March, 1893, when Mr. Norris bought the property and has remained the owner up to the present time. The Portsmouth Journal.--The original title of the "Journal" was "The Oracle of the Day." It was established by Charles Pierce, June 3, 1793, and published semi-weekly until January, 1798, when it was enlarged and became a weekly, the editor giving as a reason for the change that the public demand was for "one very large paper per week in the room of two." The "very large" paper measured 12Xl9 inches. The Oracle started and was conducted in the interest of the federal republican party. January 4, 1800, on the week that the paper was in deep mourning for the death of Washington, its name was changed to The United States Oracle of the Day. Mr. Pierce sold out July 4, 1801, to WillIam Treadwell & Co., on account of "the impaired state of his health" and "the excessive fatigue attendant in the publication of a newspaper." In October of that year the name of the paper became United States Oracle and Portsmouth Advertiser. The publishing firm became Wil- liam & Daniel Treadwell, December 11, 1802. The name Portsmouth Oracle Page 190 was adopted October 22, 1803, and Daniel Treadwell left the firm just two years afterwards. Charles Turell became the publisher September 25, 1813. In January, 1821, the paper was purchased by Nathaniel A. Haven. Jr., who changed its name to The Portsmouth Journal of Literature and Politics. The name and the plain style of the heading was always retained. Charles Turell published it until February 7, 1824, when the publication was assumed by Harrison Gray & Co., Mr. Turell continuing to print it. It was made a six-column paper in January, 1823. November 20, 1724, the publishers were H. Gray and E. L Childs. Mr. Haven conducted the Journal four years. He was a gentleman of the best literary ability and attainments, and gave to the paper a high standing in the community. Miller & Brewster purchased the Journal July 2, 1825, and thereafter edited and published it at No.3 Ladd Street, where it continued to be pub- lished until January, 1870, when the office was removed to State Street. October 20, 1827, the Journal absorbed the Rockingham Gazette, published at Exeter by Francis Grant; and June I, 1833, it also included the State Herald, a Portsmouth paper, these names appearing at the head of the paper until August 13, 1836. T. H. Miller retired from the firm April 26, 1834. The paper was enlarged in June, 1838, again in January, 1853, and again February 29, 1868. Lewis W. Brewster became connected with the publication of the paper in January, 1856, in the firm of Charles W. Brewster & Son. The senior partner died August 4, 1868. The Journal ceased publication in May, 1903. FIRES As late as 1855 there were three independent fire societies: the United, instituted in 1761; the Federal in 1789 and the Mechanics in 1811. The last two retain their organizations and hold regular meetings. Portsmouth has suffered severely from fires. On December 24, 1802, 132 buildings were destroyed; December 26, 1806, 14 buildings and on December 22, 1813, 241 buildings covering 15 acres with a loss of $300,000. The present fire department consists of four steam fire engines, one auto combination chemical, one hook and ladder truck, one supply wagon valued with the buildings and fire alarm system at $60,000. The annual appropria- tion is $20,000. Eighty officers and firemen including six permanent drivers and engineers are on the roll of the fire department. ARCHITECTURE Like all our older seaboard towns, Portsmouth has a dual life and a dual architecture. There is the old life, with its social and colonial importance, its magnates, of more than local influence, and, as a consequence of this, there is the old architecture in dwellings and churches, which represents the best of a vigorous period. On the other hand there is the new life, with its modern interests and activity. It is customary to call the old work colonial. This is a wide-reaching term, Page 191 which embraces every building erected between the days of the early settle- ment and the first quarter of the present century. Grouped under one head, we find the wide-spread one-story building with big pitched roof, the two- storied house with gambrel roof, and the square house, two or three stories high, with low pitched roof. All these dwellings, and the churches and public buildings which accompanied them, are termed colonial. So the word "colonial" is made to cover a multitude of architectural sins. Up to the eighteenth century this country was in too primitive a condition to demand any real architecture, and houses like the Jackson house or the New Castle Jaffrey house have little claim to be classed as under any particular style. This is by no means to say that these simple little homesteads have no archi- tectural interest or value. They are frank, straightforward expressions of needs met. They are sincere, unpretentious, honest, simple. Later, better education and more means made houses on a larger scale possible; but the good taste and refinement, which seemed instinctively to avoid what was pre- tentious and extravagant, still guided and guarded them. With the nine- teenth century the fine appreciation of what was good began gradually to disappear. Riches meant extravagance and display, ostentation took the place of beauty, and for many years vulgarity seemed supreme. When they built in wood, they showed architectural intelligence and skill in the way they adapted the old examples to the new material. On the whole, however, they but varied the harmony of the old tune. The New Englander, having no ample farm lands, and neither occasion nor wish to isolate himself, but having instead the distinct need of community life, selected the compact square plan of the English townsman, suited for a small lot rather than for a many-acred estate; and in doing this, he showed great ability and taste in making the most of a small piece of land. Our Portsmouth houses are the result of these aims. All are houses of town people. Some belong to the civic authorities, some to ministers, some to doctors, and some like the Ladd house, belonging to ship-owners, who built so as to command their wharves and be in easy touch with their business. The very early houses do not rank as exponents of any architectural style; but they have more than an antiquarian interest. The rooms are well proportioned, although low. The big kitchen with its wide fireplace and crane and the oven adjoining, the sunny parlor with its outlook on garden or on orchard are not without a distinct architectural charm. Simple require- ments, simply and directly met,--they have truth, which is, after all, the keynote of good architecture. Between 1730 and 1800 most of the best houses were built. Nearly all of these were of the same general type,--the square plan, two stories and a gambrel roof. One of the latest, as well as one of the best, is the Governor Langdon house on Pleasant Street, a well-designed house, well placed on the land and flanked in dignified manner by its small guard-houses. The Ladd house on Market Street, to which reference has already been made, built in 1763, differs from the others of this time in being three stories, the first of this type, and is an unusually complete example; for it has a well-designed exterior with good detail, a good setting on the street overlooking the harbor, and a Page 192 well-laid-out garden, terraced up from the house, and filled with flowers, shrubs and fruit trees, an exceeding spot. Moreover, the hall is quite exceptional in size and in detail of stairs and finish. One cannot well enumerate all the good houses of this prolific time. Many are lost, some have fallen into evil hands or evil ways; but the greater number are still in existence, and in most cases occupied by those whose fami- lies built them. With the nineteenth century we pass the days which can be called colonial, but much of the work done in the first two decades is still classed architecturally under that name. The work of this time is not as a whole as good as that of the earlier period; but it is still genuine, spontaneous work. The square three storied house is the typical one; and the ornament, while somewhat more delicate, is not as vigorous as that which enriched the former work; but in many cases, as in the interior woodwork of the Pierce house, shows the intelligence and artistic ability of the builder. In these houses the ornament is almost exclusively such as can be pro- duced with chisel and gouge,--simple mechanical patterns, within the ability of any skilled carpenter. There is no carving and no ornament of papier- mache. One questions whether it was a special providence or accident which saved the academy (designed by Charles Bulfinch) from being quite ruined when it was remodelled, and each one wonders whether the Athenaeum will escape destruction or renovation. Perhaps we may accept these as indications that a better time is coming, and that those in power are beginning tb appreciate that they have a true treasure, which once destroyed, can never be replaced. In 1758 a state-house was, by direction of the General Assembly, built in this town; there for a number of years Dr. Haven, of the South Parish, and Dr. Langdon, of the North Parish, alternately officiated as chaplains. On the 20th of April, 1761, Mr. John Stavers commenced running a stage from this town to Boston, drawn by two horses and sufficiently wide to carry three pas- sengers, leaving here on Monday and returning to this town on Friday, and the fare about three dollars. Independence and Peace.--In the year 1783 the articles of peace were cele- brated in this town with great enthusiasm and display. Bells were rung, salutes fired, and the North Church crowded for a religious service, at which Dr. Haven and Mr. Buckminster both offered prayers, which were spoken of as most eloquent and pathetic, a prayer in those days not unfrequently having all the preparation, characteristics, and effects of a most studied and brilliant orator. Visit of Washington.--In 1789 the President, George Washington, visited Portsmouth, and was received most heartIly by the whole populatIon. Full and glowing as our accounts are of this interesting event in our history, we can still depend only upon the imagination to fill out the picture of the enthu- siastic oration, and the spontaneous gratitude and respect whlch were pald to this illustrious general and statesman. In 1838 Edward Everett read to a Portsmouth audience from the diary of President Washington, hls own account of his visit to Portsmouth from October 31 to November 4, 1789, as it appears printed In full In the first series Page 193 of the Rambles. Washington wrote in detail of his attendance at the church services; his fishing trip down the harbor; his calls on Governor Langdon and Mrs. Lear, the mother of his secretary and comments on the ladies at the ball. At the time of his visit, Portsmouth with its population of 4,720, was one of the large towns of the country. A decade later by the census of the United States of 1800 with a population of 5,339 it ranked the twelfth town or city in the United States and practically among the first ten for Hart- ford had only eight and Albany ten more inhabitants. Visit of Lafayette.--On the 21st day of September, 1824, General Lafayette was given a hearty reception by the inhabitants of Portsmouth. He was escorted to the residence of Governor Langdon by a procession of military, the trades and school children. He attended a reception and ball in the evening. His autograph letter of acknowledgment of the invitation to the town is framed and hung in the public library. Lafayette's first visit to Portsmouth was in September, 1782. In 1817, President Monroe visited Portsmouth and in 1847 President Polk. The fore-runner of the "Old Home Week," was the return of the sons and daughters of Portsmouth on July 4, 1853, and repeated in 1873, 1883 and 1910. The dedication exercises of the Thomas Bailey Aldrich Memorial on June 30, 1908, at Music Hall, brought a large gathering of authors and friends to the city. Addresses were made by Mark Twain, Gov. Curtis Guild, Hamilton W. Mabie, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Richard Watson Gilder, Thomas Nelson Page, William D. Howells and P. Dunn. An average of 2,500 visitors pay admission fees to the memorial build- ings each year since they were open to the public. The public reception to Lieut. A. W. Greeley, U. S. A., and his comrades, and the naval officers of the Arctic Relief Association, August I to 4, 1884, was a notable occasion. Shillings and Pence.--As recent as seventy years ago prices of goods in stores were given in shillings and pence--seven and sixpence, two and four pence, etc., and not in dollars and cents. The shilling of that date, in Ports- mouth and throughout New England, was never represented by a coin; it was an inconvenient nondescript, one-sixth of a dollar, or sixteen and two thirds cents. That meant seventeen cents, when you paid a shilling in a store, and sixteen cents when you received a shilling in change. In this remarkable monetary system, too, an astonishing arithmetical feat was ac- complished; four was exactly one-half of six. The four pence was six and one quarter cents; the six pence was twelve and one-half cents--not half of a shilling, but exactly half of a quarter-dollar. There were plenty of four pences and sixpences, or what were called and passed for such, in circulation, but these were all Spanish or Mexican coins, the madeo being called a four pence, and the real a sixpence. These coins were driven from circulation, by the government, by the announcement that after a certain date they would not be accepted at the postoffices and custom houses. First class mechanics were paid nine shillings to "ten-and six" per day. Page 194 FAMOUS INHABITANTS Every town in New England stands by its claim to honorable mention; points to its roll of good and useful sons--men of much repute in their day and generatIon. One may be pardoned if he smile at the terms used by the orator of an occasion, who boasts that the particular spot where he is speak- ing has greater claim to honor than almost any other part of the country. The truth is, the same thrift, the same force of character united to a strong feeling of local attachment, is seen in all these New Englanders, so that the merits of no town or village are suffered to go unheralded. All honor to this genuine, wholesome, local pride! Should any son of Portsmouth find himself in the least degree uncertain as to events, or men who participated in them, that have surely done honor to his birthplace, let us call the roll as did Rev. Dr. Burroughs at the recep- tion of the Sons of Portsmouth resident abroad, who returned to their old home July 4, 1853. In the ministry, Joshua Moody, Dr. Stiles, afterward President of Yale; Emerson, Fitch, Doctor Haven, Timothy Alden, Arthur Brown, of Trinity College, Dublin; Dr. Samuel Langdon, afterward President of Harvard College; Dr. Buckminister, Doctor Parker, Ballou, Stow, Burroughs him- self, Davies, afterward Bishop of Michigan; Doctors Peabody, Lamson, De Normandie and Starr King. Of the eminent physicians we have the Jacksons the Cutters, Brackett, Pierrepont and Cheever. At the bar were Pickering, Sherburne, Parker, Livermore, Mason, Cutts, Webster, Woodbury, Bartlett, Hatch, Hackett and Frink. Of our merchants and bankers, besides the Cutts, the Wibirds, and the Wentworths, there may be named Rindge Long, Atkinson, the Penhallows, Sherburne, the two Langdons, the Jaffreys, the Sheafes, Moffat, Warner, Manning, Goddard, Gaines, the Peirces, Marsh, the Parrotts, the Rices, the Ladds, the Havens, Goodwin, Toppan, the Tredicks, the brothers Jones, Samuel Lord, Jenness, Pickerings, Capt. William Ladd, the " Apostle of Peace" and Frank Jones, mayor, congressman, hotel proprietor and success- ful brewer. It can never be forgotten that at Portsmouth was displayed the first open defiance of the king in the trying hours just preceding the Revolution. I refer to the daring incursion made upon Fort William and Mary, the seizure of powder under the leadership of Pickering and of Sullivan. (See New- castle.) The name of Gov. John Langdon is indissolubly connected with Portsmouth. So is that of Paul Jones, who sailed out of this port in the Ranger, built and manned by Portsmouth men. Here too was launched the first war ship ever built on this side of the Atlantic. Among the many Revolutionary incidents of this town, it may be noted that one winter morning in the dark days of the struggle a ship came to anchor in our harbor, having on board a man whose heart beat warm in the cause of American liberty. He landed at Portsmouth, and went straight- way to his task of creating out of our army an efficient soldiery. He was Baron Steuben. Page 195 The War of 1812 saw many a busy scene along our wharves. When the war for the Union came Portsmouth did her duty. We point to our war Governor, Ichabod Goodwin, who personally raised the money to fit out the First and Second N. H. regiments, to the many officers and soldiers who marched from here, and to the gallant sailors that Portsmouth contributed to our navy. Fitz John Porter was born here; so was Craven, the Sidney of the navy, whose last words are imperishable--" After you, Pilot." From here sailed the ship, built here and manned by men of this neighborhood that gained lasting honor, the Kearsage. Farragut died at the Navy Yard, and Admiral Dewey married here a daughter of Governor Goodwin. Nowhere, in the land do the associations of Memorial Day take on a deeper pathos than upon this spot where were found plenty of strong and willing hands in time of peril. If we have a lasting record of what has been done here, we have no reason to be ashamed of our rank in the field of literature. One of our early poets is the author of the line "No pent up Utica, etc."--Jonathan Mitchell Sewall. "Penhallow's Indian Wars" is a standard history. Of ser- mons and essays few surpass the writings of Buckminster. It was when he was a young lawyer of Portsmouth that Daniel Webster addressed that memorable paper to President Madison in 1812. Dr. Samuel Haven wrote the finest tribute ever paid to Washington. When there was some discus- sion as to the terms with which the president should be addressed, upon the occasion of his visit to Portsmouth, Doctor Haven wrote the following impromptu lines: "Fame spread her wings, and with her trumpet blew- "Great Washington is near! What praise is due? "What title shall he have? She paused and said: Not one, "His name alone strikes every title dead." In later days, not to mention Fields or Celia Thaxter, there are one or two names whose place in American literature is secured. Thomas Bailey Aldrich--who is more gratefully associated with Portsmouth, all over the English speaking world, than he? Of the minor poets, no one can read the verses of Albert Laighton or of Harriet McEwen Kimball and not be per- vaded by a sense of the Divine goodness as interpreted in their song--pure, sweet, yet well sustained--of life and its vicissitudes. Sam Walter Foss wrote the class poem when he graduated at our high school in 1877 and in after years came to address the graduates and read his famous verses. Then there is B. P. Shillaber, James T. Fields, Mrs. Whiton-Stone and a score of others. Of three Portsmouth authors Professor Barrett Wenden of Harvard College, a native of Portsmouth, in his address on July 4, 1910, said: When one asks where any place in this round world belongs in the history of literature, one is brought to pause. There is hardly a spot anywhere where human beings have not attempted expression; there are few, one grows to feel, where some expression has not been made true enough, sweet enough, Page 196 to give lasting pleasure to those who sympathetically know or discover it. There must be not a few of us, who have pleasant memories of that whole- some volume, The Poets of Portsmouth, which will still assure whoever possesses it that Portsmouth folk, in those days when literature in New England was alive, were moved to sing and sing melodiously. The America of the mid-nineteenth century, and particularly New England between 1830 and 1880, produced literature recognized all over the English speaking world. Of its comparative importance, in the full record of European expression, this is not the time to reason. We should all agree that it beautifully and purely expresses the traditional spirit of our native land, and that the records of English speaking humanity would be the poorer without the names of Emerson, of Longfellow, of Lowell, of Whittier, of Holmes and of Haw- thorne. Not of Portsmouth, any of these chief worthies in our American literary history, though all of them, I think knew the old town, and some of them have left verses which help keep alive its own sturdy traditions. It is hardly too much, however, to say that no one of them could possibly have been all he was and all he is but for the presence, beside them, among them, of that son of Portsmouth, who seven and thirty years ago today spoke in some such manner as that we are now concerned with. The active life of Mr. Fields was passed not in Portsmouth, but in Boston. In Boston, the while he never let them forget what he himself always remembered that, he came from here, and that here grew towards its maturity his wonderful power of friendly sympathy with literature and men of letters which made his friendship so profoundly stimulating an influence in the literary of nineteenth century New England. He was himself a man of let- ters. His unique power was that, when New England was ready for its best expression, it found in him at once the most faithful of publishers and the most whole-hearted of friends. He knew how to evoke from others what they could best accomplish. Had Portsmouth given to the literature of New England no other figure than his, the place of Portsmouth in our literary record would be happily secured. Yet Fields is so far from alone here that his is hardly the name which would first come to one in search of our literary worthies. We should rather think first, I take it, of the poet and story teller who is commemorated in Court Street, in the literary monument which is now the most interesting in all New England. For the house where Aldrich passed his "Bad boyhood" is not only restored to the state in which he knew it almost seventy years ago, and thus stands today as the best example any- where of the pleasant, simple gracious life of an old New England town- ship; but the museum beside the garden, containing the records and collections of his long eager life is among the few real treasures of literary traditions anywhere in this continent. As one by one they passed, however, nothing grew more clear than that, in the generation which followed them, Aldrich was easily the first. In grace, in delicacy, he sometimes surpassed them all. In purity of spirit, in wholesomeness of nature, he was the equal of any. It is a happy chance that what seems his most familiarly enduring work preserved his memories of boy life in his old town where he was his own bad boy, and where his career is so beautifully commemorated. He lived here but little, but spent many Page 197 summers here, indeed the greater part of the story of a Bad Boy was written here. Like Fields, however, he never forgot, and never suffered any of us to forget, that here was where he came from. So just as Portsmouth contributed a great stimulating force to the chief days of New England literature, so it contributed the one persistent and de- lightful artist of the days when New England literature gently declined. There is a third name, too, belonging to both periods friendly to both until one hardly knows with which to place it. Celia Thaxter, more than either of the others, she lived here or here- abouts through so much of her brave, beautiful life that one hardly thinks of her as ever elsewhere. It is not quite the old town which gathers about the memory of her. The lingering traditions of its vanished vice-regal grace, deeply characteristic as they are, seem somehow foreign to her immense wholesome human nature. One thinks of her as the true child of the rocks, and the seas, and the bright flowers of the Isles of Shoals as the Isles of Shoals used to be. No utterance of New England ever came straighter than hers from the heart of New England nature; none was more instinct with the courageous, aspiring purity of spirit which animates the free breezes we somehow know to be peculiarly our own. MAYORS OF THE CITY OF PORTSMOUTH (The original Charter of the City was adopted by the inhabitants August, 21, 1849.) Abner Greenleaf, 1850; John Laighton, 1851; Christopher Toppan, 1852; Horton D. Walker, 1853-54-55; Richard Jenness, 1856; Robert Morrisson, 1857-58-59; John R. Reding, 1860; William Simes, 1861; Jonathan Dearborn, 1862-63; John H. Bailey, 1864-65-66; Jonathan Dearborn, 1867; Frank Jones, 1868-69; Joseph B. Adams, 1870-71; Horton D. Walker, 1872; Thomas E. 0. Marvin, 1873; Frank Miller, 1874; Moses H. Goodrich, 1874-75; John H. Broughton, 1876-77; William H. Sise, 1878-81; John S. Treat, 1882-83; Calvin Page, 1884; Marcellus Eldredge, 1885-86; George E. Hodgdon, 1887- 88; Edmund S. Fay, 1889-90; John J. Laskey, 1891-92; Charles P. Berry, 1893-94; William 0. Junkins, 1895-96; John W. Emery, 1897; John S. Tilton, 1898; Calvin Page, 1899; Edward E. McIntire, 1900-01; John Pender, 1902; George D. Marcy, 1903-04; William E. Marvin, 1905-06; Wallace Hackett, 1907-08; Edward H. Adams, 1909-10; Daniel W. Badger, 1911-12-13; Harry B. Yeaton, 1914. CITY CLERKS John Bennett, 1850-1862; Marcellus Bufford, 1862-1876; Mercer Good- rich, 1876-1878; Daniel J. Vaughan, 1878-1884; Mercer Goodrich, 1884-1892; Samuel R. Gardner, 1892-1895; C. Dwight Hanscom, 1895; William H. Moore, 1896-1899; George D. Marcy, 1899; William H. Moore, 1900; William E. Peirce, 1901-1905; W. E. Underhill, 1905; William H. Moran, 1906; Lamont Hilton, 1907-1911; Guy E. Corey, 1911-1913; Frederic E. Drew, 1913-1914. Page 198 PORTSMOUTH PHYSICIANS J.J. Berry, J.D. Carty, E.S. Cowles, J.H. Dixon, E.B. Eastman, C.W. Hannaford, A.C. Heffenger, M.A. Higgins, C.E. Johnston, W.0. Junkins, S.T. Ladd, A.J. Lance, T.W. Luce, J.H. Neal, G.E. Pender, F.W. Pike, A.B. Sherburne, H.L. Taylor, F.S. Towle, W.D. Walker, B.C. Woodbury. LAWYERS C. Page, S.W. Emery, Jr., Wallace Hackett, Ernest L. Guptil, W.E. Marvin, J.H. Bartlett, T.H. Simes, E.H. Adams, Charles H. Batchelder, John L. Mitchell, H.W. Peyser, H.K. Torrey, N.0. Foust, A.R. Hatch, A. W. Rundlett. Joseph P. Conner, Postmaster. I. H. Washburn, Asst. Postmaster. Sherman Newton, Collector of Customs. Seth W. Jones, Collector of Internal Revenue. Silas H. Harding, Superintendent First District U. S. Life Saving Service. Keepers: E.S. Hall, Harbor Station; S.F. Wells, Wallis Sands; A.L. Remick, Straws Point; B.F. Smart, Hampton Beach. THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS The schools of the city are maintained at a high degree of efficiency, and the schoolhouses will, as a rule, compare favorably with those of most other cities of its size. The first town schoolhouse was built in conformity with a vote of the town meeting of I709, and was opened in 1713. It was a wooden structure of one story, and stood nearly where the present Haven schoolhouse stands, on South School Street. There had previously been a town school, however, Thomas Phipps having been appointed town schoolmaster in 1697, and taught a number of years in a wooden building on what is now State Street, which was rented from Ebenezer Wentworth, and in 1735 became the property of the town. The "sellectt men" engaged him to teach the "readers, sypherers and Latterners." The first school in the town to which girls were admitted was opened in 1780 by Benjamin Dearborn, on Market Street. In 1700 Mrs. Graffort gave to the town the highway, now called Daniel Street, but which for more than half a century after it was opened was called Graffort's Lane, and also "one lot of land in my great field for erecting a schoolhouse," there being then no schoolhouse owned by the town. The Haven School.--On South School Street, at its junction with South Street, was built in 1846, and has recently been extensively remodeled and improved. The Farragut School.--On School and High streets was built in 1889. The Whipple School.--On State Street, near the top of Mason's Hill, was built in the same year as the Farragut. Cabot Street School.--The two-story wooden schoolhouse fronting on Cabot Street, at its junction with State Street, was built in 1860, on the site Page 199 of an old two-story schoolhouse of brick, with a pitch roof, built previous to 1815. The Franklin School.--On Maplewood Avenue, popularly known as Christian Shore, was built in 1847. The High School is on Islington Street. The city issuing $100,000 bond to pay for same in 1893. The school opened September 4, 1905. There are three suburban schools, namely, the Plains School at the Plains, the Lafayette School on Lafayette Road, and the Spalding School on Wood- bury Avenue. A training School, kindergarten schools, evening school and vacation school are maintained. The total enrollment in the public schools in 1913 was 2,052, which with the pupils enrolled in the parochial school and under private instruction make a total over 2,400 or about twenty-one per cent of the entire population as reported by the 1910 census. The expenditures for schools in 1913 were $54,400. The valuation of school buildings and equipments $253,000. Superintendents.--Charles H. Morss, 1886-1892; J. Clifford Simpson, 1892-1899; Henry C. Morrison, 1899-1904; Ernest L. Silver, 1905-1909; James A. MacDougall, 1909-1912; James N. Pringle, 1912. Portsmouth Training School was established in 1887. Twenty-five of the sixty-two teachers now employed in the Portsmouth elementary schools are graduates of the training school. Kindergartens.--(Haven and Cabot streets) were established in January, 1895. Manual training was established September, 1908. Sewing was in- troduced into some of the schools in 1856 and has been continuously taught since 1865. PARKS AND PLAYGROUND Langdon Park.--In 1867 John Langdon Elwyn gave about five acres of land lying on the south side of the South Mill Pond, to trustees for a public park, to be laid out as such any time they deemed most expedient. The Lang- don Park Association was formed in 1875 and reorganized in 1876 with Frank W. Miller as chairman, who was energetic in securing and planting over six hundred trees. The Park was opened May 25, 1876, with addresses by Rev. James DeNormandie, Ichabod Goodwin, Daniel Austin, Charles Levi Woodbury, and Alfred Langdon Elwyn, a full account of which appears in a pamphlet published by the chairman. The park was improved in 1907 by Woodbury Langdon, Esq. Haven Park.--Rev. Dr. Samuel Haven house formerly stood on the south side of Pleasant Street, midway between Edward and Livermore streets. It was built in 1751 by Dr. Samuel Haven, who, from 1752 to 1806, was pastor of the South Parish. He died March 3, 1806, and his wife the following day, and both were deposited at the same time in the tomb under the pulpit. Under a provision of the will of the descendants of Doctor Haven, upon the death of the last member of the family, the mansion was taken down, and the grounds, with the land of the Parry and Hatch estates adjoining, were purchased and given to the city, in 1898, to be known as the "Haven Park"; Page 200 $18,000 were left for the purchase of land and buildings; $2,000 to put the park in order, and $5,000 as a park fund. The Fitz John Porter monument in the park was erected in accordance with the will of R.H. Eddy of Boston, who left the sum of $30,000 for an equestrian statue. Goodwin Park.--In 1887 the heirs of the late Ichabod Goodwin sold the Goodwin field at a nominal price, conditional that it should always be kept as a public park. It was purchased by the Eldredge family and presented to the city. The Soldiers and Sailors' Monument was erected in 1888, by popu- lar subscription, the dedication taking place on July 4th of that year, the orator of the occasion being the Hon. Charles Levi Woodbury. The Hovey Fountain.--The marble and bronze drinking fountain on the lawn south of the post office is inscribed as follows: "In Memory of Charles Emerson Hovey, United States Navy, born in Portsmouth, N. H., January 10, 1885; killed in action, Phillipine Islands, September 23, 1911; son of Rev. Henry Hovey and Louise Folsom Hovey." Ensign Hovey graduated from U. S. Naval Academy, 1907; ordered to Phillipines, 1910; was commanding expedition against outlaw Moros when he met his death. His last words were: "Get on the job, McGuire." The Playground.--In May, 1907, an ordinance was passed creating a park commission, and Mayor Hackett appointed C.A. Hazlett and Dr. F.S. Towle, park commissioners. The marsh on the west side of the park had been used as a dumping ground for ashes and refuse. The land surrounding the marsh was secured mainly through the efforts of Councilman H. E. Boynton. The volunteer receipts from base ball audiences have supplied seats and improved the grounds. A shelter building has been erected and the city and citizens have been liberal in maintaining the grounds, the outdoor gymnasium, tennis courts and children's playground. **************************************************************************** * * * * Notice: Printing the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. 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