HISTORY OF NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE - Part V
DUNSTABLE (NASHUA NH) FROM 1800 to 1860
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SOURCE: History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire 
Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Co., 1885, 878 pgs.

page 170
NASHUA, N.H.
by John H. Goodale
EXCERPTS ONLY... SEE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT FOR COMPLETE DOCUMENT

CHAPTER X

DUNSTABLE FROM 1800 to 1820
Olden-Time Vehicles And Tools-- Women's Labors-- Dunstable "Barrens"--
The Farmers' Yearly Trip-- Deacon Hunt's Inn-- Dunstable Tavern-Keepers--
"Flip and Back-Strap"-- Bar-room Discussion-- "Uncle Joe"--
Birth of 'Nashua Village'-- Gradual Growth-- Cold Summer of 1816--
Meeting-House Raising-- The Old Cider Mills-- Huskings--

After the close of the Revolutionary War the American people found themselves
essentially an agricultural community, with scarcely any commerce or
manufactories. Steam as a motive-power was unknown. Water-power was only used
for sawing lumber and grinding grain. Farming implements, furniture, carriages,
clothing, in brief, everything, was made by hand labor. Tools of all kinds were
crude and unwieldly. The plow was a rude implement, furnished at a greater cost
and worked by double the strength required at this time. The strength of women's
foot turned the wheel, the skill of her fingers spun the thread, and the power
of her arm drove the shutttle; the hand-saw, the "pod" auger, the gouge and
chisel were the perfection of mechanical tools; and the two-wheeled cart the best
vehicle for transportation. Experimental improvements did not succeed at once.
When the first four-wheeled wagon came to this town the drive found no space
large enough to enable him to turn around until he reached the "triangle"
opposite Mrs. Godfrey's residence.
  The year 1800 found the Dunstable people with very few of modern conveniences.
There was no post-office, no mails, no library, a weekly two-horse stage-coach
and less than a score of weekly newspapers. Whether for the better or worse,
there were no lawyer, no doctor, and only one clergyman. Nor was it increasing
in population as rapidly as the towns more recently settled to the north and
west. Amherst had three times the population of this town, and Peterborough,
Hillsborough, Antrim, Milford, Weare and New Boston, had surpassed it in
numbers and were rapidly acquiring the thrift which peace, industry and
frugality are sure to bring. The seaboard towns of Eastern Massachusetts had
little of the commerce and none of the manufactories of later times, and their
surplus population were seeking homes among the rounded hills of Central New
Hampshire.
  The reader of to-day may not fully understand why, eighty and ninety years ago,
the upper towns were growing more rapidly than Dunstable. The better soil of this
town was already occupied. The extended plain embracing all the central portion
of the township, and on the eastern part of which the city of Nashua now stands,
was covered with a native growth of scrub pine, and the sandy soil on which
it rested was really of little value. "Dunstable Plains" were often the subject
of much merriment to people of other sections, as it seemed to them the
embodiment of the idea of poverty of soil. Mr. Fox, in his history, related that
some wicket wag in our Legislature once undertook to disparage our soil,
declaring that "it would not support a chipping squirrel to the acre," and
capped the climax of his oratory by relating the story "that a grasshopper was
once seen perched upon the top of a dry mullein-stalk, with the tears rolling 
down his cheeks, looking in vain to discover one blade of green grass to allay
his hunger."
  Meanwhile, with little addition from abroad, there was a desirable increase
from the growth of resident families. A majority of the households could boast
of eight to ten children, and the seven school district into which the town was
divided had, in 1800, an average of forty scholars. New dwellings and larger
barns were built, and on the river road one-half of the residences were the
large, square, two-story farm-houses, of which quiet a number still exist.
The farmers in winter carried the products of the farm--pork, poultry, butter,
cheese, wool and grain--to the seaboard markets with their own teams. Boston was
not then the sole commercial port of Massachusetts, but Salem and Newburyport
were successfully competing with her for the West and East Indian trade. A large
majority of the products of Hillsborough County eight years ago were carried to
Salem and Newburyport....
  The valley of the Merrimack, then as now, afforded a natural thoroughfare for
a large part of New Hampshire to the markets on the sea-coast. Though there was
a limited supply of money in circulation, the amount of barter trade began to be
of some importance before the Revolution, and rapidly increased after its close.
During the first ten years of the present [1800's] century, the European wars
gave an impetus to New England commerce, and the products of the farm were in
fair demand.  The farmers who had taken up and were clearing new lands among the
hill-ranges which lie between Merrimack and the Connecticut Valleys were in 
extreme need of axes, plows, chains and numerous other articles of out-door
and in-door use.  Those who had already secured improved farms had ample wants
to be supplied, and thus each succeeding year witnessed an additional amount of
travel through Dunstable from the up-country.  This gradually led to a system of
hostelry on the river road, so extensive as to be not only a source of profit,
but a social influence.  The old-fashioned tavern is known to the young people
of today only in a legendary sense, but from 1775 to 1825 it was practically
an institution of marked prominence in this town.

  The first tavern in Dunstable for the accomodation of the up-country people
and their teams was opened by Deacon William Hunt in 1759.  It was a large,
square, two-store house, and stood on the east side of the Lowell road, two and
a half miles below the city hall, on the site of the present "Elm House."
The two barns, forming a right-angle, were on the opposite side of the road.
Deacon Hunt was a man of worth and ability. He was for many years a town official
and a member of the State Convention, which, in 1788, ratified the national
constitution.  Genial, but not loquacious, he was a popular inn-keeper, and in
the winter often twenty or more wayfarers sought repose for themselves and their
teams at his hostelry.  We must not omit to mention that the deacon, though a
church official, kept a bar, which was well supplied with Medford rum. The
temperance sentiment had not then been developed in New England.  "Flip," was the
high-toned beverage of those days; but "black-strap," a compound of run and
brown sugar, sold at three cents a glass, was the usual beverage of the farmer
and the teamster. THe flimsy suberfuges of modern times were not needed, and the
deacon's decanters stood boldly on the shelf inviting patronage.
  There would have been more drinking had money been plenty and the times less
serious. But the public mind was excited, and often when night set in the
Blanchards, Lovewells, Lunds and many of the citizens gathered at Deacon Hunt's
spacious bar-room to discuss the state of the country and the events of the day.
There was no division of opinion. The tyranny of King George, the Stamp Act,
and the Tea Tax were vigorously denounced.
  When the Revolutionary War was ended the rapid increase of travel led to an
increase of taverns. Captain Benjamin French opened a public-house near the
Tyngsborough line, where Alfred P. Kendall now lives. It was a good location.
Timothy Taylor kept the first tavern on the north side of the nashua River,
and the building is the ell of the present Indian Head House; while
Cummings Pollard, at the "Centre," offered shelter for man and beast on the
premises now occupied by Mrs. Godfrey.
  In 1801 the travel on this line of road received a new impulse from the
completion of the second New Hampshire turnpike, which extended from Claremont
to Amherst. Teams from a portion of Central Vermont began to pass over this
route, and instead of the two-horse coach of Joseph Wheat, which made a weekly
trip from Amherst to Boston and back without a change of horses, a line of
four-horse coaches began to run tri-weekly from Windsor VT to Boston, returning
on alternate days.  Large droves of cattle and sheep went to market over the
road, and the amount of freight in both directions soon became so large that
six-horse teams were employed at all seasons of the year.  Ox-teams grew out of
use, and when the farmer, ignoring the professional teamster, still continued
in winter to take his own produce to market, he used the double "pung" with
steel shoes an inch thick.
  The winter was still the harvest-time of the Dunstable tavern-keepers. It was
essential to give a comfortable, home-like aspect to the premises. The first
requisite was a bar-room of ample size, and a fire-place in winter equally ample,
from which in cold weather the oak-wood fire should send forth its glowing
warmth.  The floor was well swept, and the old clock ticked slowly in the corner,
and at one end of the room was the alluring bar, with its row of decanters
on the shelf behind, while the tin drainer on the counter had a display of
tumblers, mugs and toddy-sticks. In the fire-place the loggerhead was kept at
white heat to do speedy service when needed. There were days in December and
January when an unbroken procession, a mile in length of two, four and six-horse
teams left the Dunstable taverns for the up-country. There were in 1808 nine
taverns between the Indian Head House, and the Massachusetts line, and their
reputation for good cheer was such that the Vermont teamsters usually contrived
to be overtaken by night in their vicinity.
  NO doubt there were jovial nights in these old-time hostelries when, after a
hard day's drive, the teamsters, having sheltered and fed their tired horses,
sat down in front of a blading fire to recount the incidents of the day,
the probabilities of the weather and the ruling prices of the market.  After
supper, the drought of the summer, the superiority of Vermont farms and horses,
and the probabilities of a war with England were debated until the ten strokes
of the old clock announced the hour for sleep.
  But there were other gatherings at these old-time taverns than those of the
traveling public.  The farmers of that day had few sources of general 
information.  During the heavy snows of the winter they would gather in the
afternoon at some central barroom and talk of local news,--the marriages, births,
deaths, sickness and accidents of the vicinity, and of those among their
down-country friends, the land from whence they ccame, and to which they made
occasional pilgrimages.  These were not mere gatherings of barroom loafers, but
of industrious and honest farmers, dressed in sheeps' gray frocks, reaching just
below the knees, the enterprising and shrewd business men of the town; and the
ambitious young politicians came together to discuss questions of town
management, to spout, talk and wrangle about the laying out of roads, the
building of bridges, the locating of school-houses and the building of a new
meeting-house.  It was here that many a young man took his initiation in public
speaking, and felt his first aspiration for public office and honors.

[The section on temperance is purposefully omitted.  See original document for
that section].

 
The year 1803 was the beginning of a new era in the history of Dunstable. 
Hitherto the only semblance to a village in the town was at the "Centre," as the
cluster of houses at the old meeting-house was called. It was really up to this
time the business centre for the townspeople, having a tavern, store, three or
four shops and several dwellings. The new post-office, just established, was also
located there. But during the previous year, Robert Fletcher had started a store
at Indian Head, Timothy Taylor had already opened a tavern, John Lund had a
dwelling-house where G.W. Perham now resides, and several new buildings were this
season in progress.  Added to this, Mr. Fletcher completed in June a canal-boat,
of singular structure, for the transportation of goods on the Merrimack river.
The enterprise was favorably regarded. It was launched on the 4th of July, and
the event was celebrated by a public meeting with an oration by Daniel Abbott,
a young lawyer, who had just opened an office at the Centre.
  A landing was fitted up for the boat near the junction of the Nashua River
with the Merrimack. WIth due ceremony it was named the "Nashua," and the new
village, a mile up the river westward, which had hitherto been known as
"Indian Head," received for the first time the name of Nashua Village.
  The village was thus incorporated had its earliest buildings around Abbott
Square.  But the tendency of business was towards the river. In September of 1803
the long, low building afterwards known as the "Old Tontine" was built, and soon
after occupied by Daniel Abbott, who removed his office from the Centre; by
Dr. Elias Maynard, physician; Deacon James Patterson, bookbinder; and Joseph
Clements, saddler.  This building stood near the head of what is now called
Main Street, and from it two roads led northward,--one directly north toward
Concord, the other northwest toward Amherst.  These three were the only highways
then existing, except a rough road down the north bank of Nashua River to the
boathouse and ferries.
  At the Harbor in 1803 there were only three dwelling-houses. On the south side
of the Salmon Brook there were two small cottages; while on the north side, more
than forty years before, General Noah Lovewell had built the two-story house he
still occupied.  Afterwards it was for many years the residence of Hon. Jesse
Bowers. It is on the east side of Main Street, close to the brook, and is the
oldest two-story dwelling-house in the city, having been built in 1759. The
entire frame and much of the other materials of this house were tkaen from what
was known as the "Bird meeting-house," which was built by Jonathan Lovewell and
others in 1747.  The front-door is tod-day the same as when it was taken from
the meeting-house, retaining its unusual width and antiquated panels.
 In 1803 there was an unbroken forest of dwarf pines from General Lovewell's
house to the north side of Nashua River. Mrs. Elizabeth Butterfield, now in her
ninety-first year, was at that time eight years of age, and lived with her
parents on the south side of Salmon Brook. She very distinctly remembers that
in going alone over the lonely road between the Harbor and the Nashua bridge,
a half-mile with a dense thicket on both sides, she naturally moved with timid
and nimble feet. Three years later her father, Mr. John Whittle, bought eight
acres on the east side of Main Street, and built the house at the corner of
Main and Tyler Streets, now owned by his grandson, Edward G. Tyler. The next
year a small house was built and occupied by Dr. Peter Howe, on the lot now
occupied by the Noyes block.
  The next year 1804, a further impulse was given to the growth of the new
village by the completion and opening of the Middlesex Canal, extending from the
basin at Charlestown to the head of Pawtucket Falls, at Chelmsford. This opened
a direct communication by water with Boston, and heavy freight could reach that
market at less cost than Salem and Newburyport. The same year Samuel Foster
opened a store on the lot north of the Indian Head tavern, and several buildings
were erected near the Nashua bridge.  At the Harbor, Isaac marsh built and
occupied as a tavern the house now owned by Mrs. Morrill, just south of the
bridge. Soon after, Isaac Hunt Sr., came from Dracut, and built the first house
beyond the bridge on the west side.
  The promise of growth of Nashua village began to attract the attention of 
active and enterprising young men.  In 1808, Joseph Greeley, and soon after, his
two brothers, Ezekiel and Alfred, came from Hudson and engaged in transporting
goods by boating from the head of Middlesex Canal to the Nashua River. A few
years later they opened a store opposite the Indian Head tavern, in the building
now used as a carriage store-house. The Nashua bridge was rebuilt and raised
considerably above its former level, reducing the steepness of the road from the
river to Abbott Square.
  Between 1800 and 1810 the population of Dunstable increased from eight hundred
and sixty-two to one thousand and forty-nine,-- a gain of one hundred and eighty-
seven. This was not a rapid growth for a New Hampshire town at that period, 
and nine-tenths of this gain was in the new village, and on the river road. In
population the town was still lagging behind her neighbors, the census of 1810
showing Hudson to have thirteen hundred and seventy-six, and Hollis fifteen hundred and twenty-nine inhabitants. The condition of the people of the town,
however, had been greatly improved.

EVENTS BETWEEN 1810 and 1820--In the decade between 1810 and 1820 the growth of
Dunstable was disturbed by events of a national, and other of a local character.
The war with Great Britain, of course disturbed the whole nation; the cold
seasons of 1815 and 1816 were not harmful beyond New England, and were most
severely felt in Maine and New Hampshire.
  The second wa with Great Britain began in 1812, and continued three eyars.
It originated in a series of aggressions upon American commerce by British ships
of war. Some of our merchant vessels were fired into and many of our seamen
were forcibly carried into captivity. Dunstable furnished some soldiers for our
army on the Canadian frontier, and in the autumn of 1814 sent a dozen men to
Portsmouth which was thought to be in peril from an attack by the British fleet.
The attack was not made, and the men after sixty days returned home. Six weeks
later the war was terminated by the brilliant victory of General Jackson at
New Orleans, on the 8th of January 1815. Though Dunstable suffered very little
from the loss of men, yet the depression of business from the loss of foreign
trade was such that the town made little progress during its continuance. The
return of peace was hailed with great joy. Mr. Jefferson, then living, said,
"The first war with England gave us existence; it required the second to give
us independence."
  The cold period included the two years 1815 and 1816. In 1815 the winter
lingered in the lap of spring, and the summer was so damp and cold that the corn
and fruit crops were scanty. But 1816 was far more discouraging to the farmer.
On the 6th day of June, when the Legislature met at Concord, there was a brisk
fall of snow, followed by two frostly mornings. As the record may be of interest
to the reader, we give the following schedule of the cold weather for the
three summer months of 1816, as recorded by John Farmer, of Concord,--
 "June 6.--Snow squalls.
 "June 10.--Frost last night.
 "June 11.--Heavy frost, destroying all corn.
 "July 10.--Frost on low ground.
 "August 22.-- Very heavy frost."

Thus passed the summer. Early and severe September frosts so far destroyed the
corn crop that hardly a bushel of sound kernels could have been found in the 
State had there not been planted a very few acres of that very early variety,
called "Canada" corn. There would have been a famine in New Hampshire that winter
had it not been for the moderate crop of hay and an unusually good crop of rye,
the former feeding the live-stock and the latter supplying the people with bread.
  The effect of thes two cold sumemrs in succession was to lead many a farmer
to the conclusion that it was vain to think of raising their bread in New
Hampshire, and hence they had better remove to the West, where a more generous
climate gave assurance of an unfailing plenty. The "ohio fever" began to show
itself in every town in the State. Not less than fifteen hundred families
removed westward in the two years following the "cold summer" of 1816. A dozen
families left Dunstable for the "Far West," as OHio was then called. Another
cold season would have led to a still greater emigration.
  But in 1817 there came warm winds from the South in March, and the snow
disappeared early. The summer months had no frosts, no chilling gales, no
drought. Corn and other crops were abundant. The farmers took courage, and at
the close of this decade in 1820, Dunstable had a hopeful outlook for the
future. The gain for the past ten years had been small. In 1810 the population
was one thousand and forty-nine; in 1820 it was eleven hundred and forty-two,
a gain of ninety-three only. The adjacent towns had done no better.
  There were a few local events between 1810 and 1820 of marked importance. In
1811 the post-office, established eight years previous, was removed from
Pollard's tavern, at the Centre, to the Harbor, and located in the house of
Israel Hunt Sr.  General Noah Lovewell continued to be postmaster until his death
in 1820, when John M. Hunt succeeded him.
  In 1812 the old meeting-house which for sixty years had stood in the triange
opposite Cummings Pollard's tavern had become dilapidated. It had no belfry or
bell, no plastering, and the bats a night flitted among the beams and rafters.
So the town voted to build a new and first-class edifice for public worship.
It was located nearly half a mile nearer to Nashua village, and on the lot just
below the cemetery. The raising of the frame took place on the Fourth of July.
It was a notable occasion, and nearly every man and boy in town, and half of
the women and children were present. The women had provided a bountfful
collation. John Whittle was the master-carpenter, and greatly to his annoyance,
Parson Kidder made a prayer of an hour's length.
  But at ten o'clock the huge broadsides lay in readiness to be raised. The
stout yeomanry of DUnstable ranged themselves side by side. The master-builder
gave the word, "All ready," and, aided by his encouraging shouts, the heavy
broadside slowly rises until nearly erect; then it moves slowly, and a hush
comes over the anxious crowd, till the hugh posts settle firmly into their
resting-places. THe spectators now breathe freely, and the workmen, now 
confident, are not laggard. Before one o'clock the frame of the main structure is
in position. The lunch follows and is found to be ample; and long before the rays
of the setting sun have departed, the roof, with its crowning frame-work of a
steeple towering babove, is firmly in place.
  This edifice, years after known as the Old South Meeting house, was spacious
and well finished, having three doors in front, a tall spire and a clear-toned
bell. For twenty years it was well filled on Sundays; but the rapid growth of
Nashua village, and the concentration of the population around the mills and
work-shops, letd to the building of new churches in what is now the city proper.
The old meeting-house ceased to be occupied, and soon after was sold and removed.
  In 1820 the orchards of Dunstable yielded three times the crop of apples that
are now raised in town. Every well-to-do farmer had a large and thrifty
orchard. There was no grafted fruit and no market for the abundant crop other 
than the cider-mill.  What heaps of red and yellow apples were piled up at every
farm house! What crowded bins shone with the golden fruit around every 
cider-mill!  With what avidity the boys on an October afternoon gathered around 
Deacon Leach's Isaac Bowers' and Clifton Lund's cider-mills! How the cog-wheels
did their crushing work, while the old horse dragged round and round the
creaking sweep!  How the wooden levers compressed the cheese, neatly inclosed in
fresh straw, until the gushing juice flowed in streams from its sides! Then
every urchin with oatn straws surrounded the tub, and showed a capacity for
suction only surpassed by the modern steam fire-engine!
  Corn-huskings, however, were the grandest amusement of the harvest season.
Usually, they were on the pleasant evenings of October. Often fifty or sixty
attended, representing every neighborhood of the town. These gatherings were
largely mdae up of grown boys and girls, young men and their wives, and enough of
the old folks to give dignity to the occasion. The corn was piled up in the
centre of the capacious barn-floor, and around the heap were seated the jovial
huskers. The barn was spectrally lighted by suspended lanterns. Great ardor was
exhibited in pursuit of the red ear.  Usually it was found by some swain whose
excessive bashfulness caused the utmost merriment. An hour before midnight the
pile was finished, and the golden ears stowed in the garret. THen came the
supper. There were great dishes of beans, and Indian puddings, pumpkin pies,
pewter platters full of doughnuts, sweet cakes, fruit and cheese, cider and,
thanks to the sensible farmers, generally nothing stronger. After supper came
the fun and frolic. Some engaged in dancing, and others in a variety of rustic
games. So merrily passed the time that the small hours were more than reached
before the party disbanded. Who can blame them? It was the fitting time to be
jubilant, for peace, plenty and health abounded.

CHAPTER XI
GROWTH OF MANUFAcTURES AND TRADE
NASHUA VILLAGE in 1820-- Ferry-Boats-- The Water-Power and Canal--
Religious Societies-- Nashua Manufacturing Company-- Jackson Manufacturing
Company-- Building Cotton-Mills-- Nashua and Lowell Railroad-- 
Rapid Growth in Population and Trade-- List of MERchant in 1840--
List of Professional Men-- Legal Change of Name to Nashua

Very few of the citizens of Nashua who were actively in business here sixty-five
years ago are now living.  Thomas Chase, Esq., now in his eighty-eighty year, 
and with memory unimpaired, is an exception. Mr. Chase came to Nashua from
Dunbarton in 1819, and has resided here ever since, and within ten years has been
constantly in business. We are indebted to him for much reliable information in
regard to Nashua village at the period when the water-power began to be used for
manufacturing purposes.
  In 1820, when the United States census was taken, there were returned from
Dunstable one meeting-house, nine school districts and houses, six taverns,
five stores, three saw-mills, three grist-mills, one tannery and one carding
and fulling mill. At that time Nashua village was small in size and limited in
business. It contained six two-story houses, three of which were dwelling-houses,
and are still standing on the north side of Abbott Square. One was occupied by
Colonel Joseph Greeley, and is now the residence of John H. Barr; one was the
residence of Daniel Abbott, Esq., and is now owned and occupied by G.W. Perham;
the third was owned and occupied by Sally Lund, and is now the residence of B.F.
Kendrick. The landlord of the Indian Head tavern was Aaron Mansur, who was soon
after succeeded by Moses Tyler. On the east side of Main Street, just north of
the present Lowell depot, was a large house built by Robert Fletcher. It had been
converted into a tavern, and was kept by Joseph Higgins. Some years later it was
moved to the north side of what is now Railroad Square, and will be remembered
by older residents as the Central House.
  Of the five stores in 1820, one was kept by Samuel Foster in the building now
occupied by G.H. Brigham, on the south side of Abbott Square; one was kept by
Moses Foster, just north of the Indian Head Tavern; the third was kept by J.E. &
A. Greeley, opposite the above-named tavern; the fourth was at the Harbor, and
kept by Israel & John M. Hunt, where the post-office was then located; the fifth
was that of William F. Boynton, at the "Centre" on the site now occupied by the
barn of Mrs. Godfrey.  Mr. BOynton kept a large miscellaneous stock, and had a
larger business than any other trader until the building of the mills.
  The Harbor, by using the water-power of Salmon Brook Falls, had at that time 
an equal advantage with Nashua village for manufactures. Israel Hunt Sr., had a
saw and grist-mill, Isaac Marsh manufactured scythes, E.F. Ingalls made hoes in
the shop afterwards occupied by A.H. Sanders, Jacob Hall was a wheelwright,
Stephen Bates a baker, and Enoch Dickerman carded wool and fulled cloth near the
Allds bridge. At the Nashua village, just above the bridge, James Patterson put
up a grist-mill on the north, and Willard Marshall a saw-mill on the south side
of the river.
  The annual town-meetings continued for many years to be held at the Old South
meeting-house, a mile and a half below the city hall. The line of stages between
Boston and Windsor VT., continued to run tri-weekly, passing through
Francestown, Hillsborough and Claremont; but there was no stage-line nor any
kind of public conveyance between Dunstable and Concord.  Hopkinton was the
half-shire town of Hillsborough County, and Lawyer Abbott, Sheriff Bowers and
all the Dunstable men who were so unfortunate as to have "cases" in court rode
to Hopkinton on horseback.
  For a time, water for the lower part of the village was obtained in a wooden
pipe from Artillery pond; but the supply proving irregular and insufficien, the
villagers forms a company and procured water by a lead pipe from Danforth's
spring, a mile north of the bridge on West Concord road.  It gave a fair supply
for the small number then living in the village. There was no fire-engine in
town, and fires at the village were fought by lines of men and women passing
buckets from hand to hand. The village had no band of music, and none was
needed during spring and early summer, for the inhabitants of Artillery Pond
gave a free, open-air concert every evening. The large area south of the Nashua
River, now included in Wards Five, Six or Seven, was still a forest of dwarf
pines, with only the houses of John WHittle, Dr. Howe and William Hastings, on
Main Street, between Nashua River and the Harbor. In 1821 the citizens joined in
setting out shade-trees at the Harbor, on Abbott Square and on both sides of
Main Street. The trees transplanted were mostly elms. Among the young men who 
took part were Thomas Chase, B.S. Tyler, Israel Hunt Jr., B.F. French and Alfred
Greeley. Few of these trees are now standing; but notably surviving is the large
elm at the Acton railroad crossing, and several sycamores at Abbott Square.
  At that time there was no bridge across the Merrimack between Pawtucket Falls,
at Lowell, and Amoskeag Falls, at Derryfield. The ferry Between Dunstable and
Hudson, known as Hamblett's ferry, was just above the present Rochester railroad
bridge. The road leading to the ferry from Main Street is the present Hollis
Street.  As the merchants in summer obtained their goods by the canal-boats, a
store-house was built at the ferry for their safe keeping. In the spring, when
the ice was breaking, it was dangerous, and for a few days, impossible, to cross
the river to Hudson at Hamblett's ferry, and in 1825 the ferryman, Noah Lund,
was drowned while crossing with a small drove of cattle.
  For a century and a half there had been only one religious denomination in
Dunstable,--the Congregationalists. There had been considerable disagreement in
the church for many years, the "Blanchard party" adhering rigidly to the
doctrines of Calvinism, and the "Lovewell party" adopting the views of 
Whitefield, or Arminianism.  Much of the time the town had been without a settled
minister. Meanwhile, the people for the past fifty years had listened to the
preaching of the venerable Joseph Kidder. Soon after his death, in 1822, the
first Baptist Society was organized. From ten years it was few in numbers and
without a church edifice.
  In 1824 the Unitarian Society was formed and had regular religious services.
The church they now occupy was built in 1827, Rev. Nathaniel Gage being ordained
as the first pastor.

INTRODUCTION OF MANUFACTURES--While they existed as colonies, the people of this
country were not permitted by the British government to introduce manufactures.
After independence was gained the want of capital prevented their rapid
introduction. Machinery for spinning cotton was first used in Rhode Island in
1790, but the state of the country was not favorable to its growth. Yet, in 1803
a cotton-factory was built at New Ipswich, and a few years later at Peterborough,
Hillsborough, Pembroke, and Jaffrey. These investments were only moderately
successful.  During the War of 1812, however, the need of home manufacturing
was practically realized, and more careful and judicious efforts after its close
led to the building of mills with improved machinery at Waltham and Lowell.
  The success of the investment at Lowell attracted the attention of the more
enterprising of the business men of Nashua village, and led them to inquire if 
the water-power of the Nashua RIver could not be utilized to advantage. The fall
of water at Mine Falls was so great as to establish the certainty of a large
manufacturing capacity. The idea at first suggested was to build the mills at
Mine Falls, three miles west of the village. But that locality was removed from
the line of travel and business, and the adjacent grounds were less favorable
for the site of a village. This led to the plan of bringing the water, by digging
a canal from the falls, directly to the village. A survey was made and its
practicability ascertained.
  Meanwhile, the few individiauls who had investigated the plan formed an
association, and in 1822 and 1823 purchased the greater portion of the lands 
lying on the river above Main Street as far as the falls. In June 1823, a charter
was granted to Daniel Abbott, Joseph Greeley, Moses Tyler and others by the name
of the Nashua Manufacturing Company, with the right to increase their capital to
one million dollars. The capital stock was at first fixed by them at three
hundred thousand dollars, and was divided into three hundred shares of one
thousand dollars each.  Of these, Daniel Abbott subscribed for thirty shares;
B.F. French, thirty shares; J.E. and A. Greeley, thirty shares; Foster & Kendrick
thirty shares; Moses Tyler, thirty shares; John Kendrick of Boston, fifteen
shares; Daniel Webster, also of Boston, sixty shares.
 The stock, however was not all taken until the next year, 1824, when
capitalists in Boston and Salem took the remainder. Mr. Webster visited Nashua
village, rode to Mine Falls, expressed great confidence in the enterprise, but
the sixty shares for which he subscribed were taken by a wealth citizen of
Boston, whose family still retains the stock. The dam at Mine Falls was built,
and the excavation of the canal pushed forward to completion. It is about three
miles in length, forty feet wide and ten feet deep, and affords a fall of
thirty-six feet. In December 1824, the machine-shop was completed, and went into
operation. Ira Gay, Esq., was appointed superintendent of the machine-shop, and
Colonel William Boardman wheelwright and engineer. The first factory (Mill No. 1)
of the Nashua Corporation was built in 1825 and went into partial operation
in the spring of 1826.
  In the mean time the trade from the up-country and from the adjacent towns
began to centre in the village; in the fall of 1824 and the spring of 1825
fifty new dwelling-houses and tenements were erected.  A new village over the
Nashua River, on Main Street, was built on account of the raising of the water
by the new dam.  The canal, with the needed dam and locks of solid granite,
twenty-four feet high, were built in 1825, so that freight could reach the 
village and the mills by water transportation.
  In May 1825, the lower water privilege, now occupied by Jackson Cotton
Manufacturing Company, was bought by Charles C. Haven and others, under the
name of the Indian Head Company, for the purpose of erecting woolen-factories.
Mills were built in 1826 and were operated under the agency of Mr. Haven.
But the company became embarrassed and the works stopped, and in 1828 the entire
property was sold to a new company, which was incorporated under the name of
the Jackson Manufacturing Company. The establishment was converted into a cotton
manufactory, with four hundred and eighty thousand dollars capital stock.
  In 1827 the Nashua Company built Mill No. 2, and put it in full operation in
1828. Both of the mills of this company were one hundred and fifty-five feet long
and forty-five feet wide--the first five, and the second six stories high. They
ran eighteen thousand five hundred spindles and five hundred and forty looms.
  
The first newspaper printed in this town was the NASHUA CONTELLATION, which was
issued by Andrew E. Thayer in February 1827. Mr. Thayer was a man of literary
taste and discipline, and had previously been a teacher and bookseller in the
village. He soon after sold the paper to Israel Hunt Jr., who changed its name
to the NASHUA GAZETTE. It was at that time the first and only Democratic paper
in the county.

Up to the year 1825 the business, as well as the growth of Nashua village had 
been entirely on the north side of the river. But the building of the first
cotton-mill and the erection of boarding-houses on the south side of the river
had necessarily led to the laying out and the occupancy of several new streets
on the same side. Noticeably among them were Factory, Water, Walnut and
Chestnut Streets. WIth the exception of Factory, however, they were as yet little
else than open lanes. On Factory Street several "ten-footers" were built in
1827, to catch the retail trade of the mill operators. It soon became a street
of considerable importance.
  In 1826 the Taylor's Falls bridge across the Merrimack to Hudson was built and
opened for travel. Up to this time the people crossed by ferry, there being no
bridge between Lowell and Amoskeag. It was thirty-three rods in length, and cost
twelve thousand dollars. It occupied the site of the present iron bridge, and it
proved to be a great benefit to the public.  The post-office was this year
removed from the Harbor to the village, and for some years was kept at the
corner of Main and Factory Streets.  In 1830 the population of Dunstable had
increased from eleven hundred and forty-two to two thousand four hundred and
seventeen, having more than doubled its population during the decade. Nearly
two-thirds of the people resided in the village. Dunstable now tooks its position
as the most populous town in Hillsborough County.
  We have given in brief an outline of the condition of Dunstable from 1820 to
1830. Hitherto farming had been the leading interest and almost sole occupation
of the inhabitants of the town. But this decade witnessed the introduction of
the manufacturing enterprises which have since made it a thrifty city of
fifteen thousand people.

EVENTS FROM 1830 to 1840--Between 1830 and 1840 the growth of Nashua village
was far more rapid than at any previous period in her history. It was a decade
of marked progress in all the elements of prosperity. The increase in population
was an index of her growth in manufactures and trade. In 1830 her population was
2417.  In 1836 it was 5065.  In 1838 it was 5691.  By the United States census of
1840 it was 6054,-- an incresae of 150 percent in ten years. Of those employed
in the cotton-mills, only a small percent were males, and the census divided
the sexes thus: Males, 2322; females 3732.

  The Nashua Corporation, in 1836, built a third mill of a size corresponding 
with the two already in operation. The complex had now an aggregate of thirty-two
spindles and seven hundred and ten looms, and made nine million three hundred
thousand yards of cotton cloth annually. The number of female operatives was
seven hundred and eighty-four, all of American birth, and one hundred and forty-
nine males, seven of whom were foreigners.  The first agent of the company was
Asher Benjamin, who was succeeded by Ira Gay. Mr. Gay resigned and became
superintendent of the machine and repair-shop at the head of Water Street. In
1835, Thomas W. Gillis became agent of the Nashua Company, and held the position
for eighteen years. He had risen from a picker-boy through the several grades of
promotion, and had the advantage of a large practical experience. A decided
improvement in the prosperity of the company followed.

  The Jackson Manufacturing Company had two cotton-mills, each one hundred and
fifty-five feet long, forty-seven feet wide and four stories high. These mills
had eleven thousand five hundred spindles, three hundred and eighty-eight looms
and made five million six hundred thousand yards of cotton cloth annually. The
number of females employed was four hundred and seventeen, and of males,
eighty-three.  The first agent was Benjamin F. French. Mr. French was a lawyer
by profession, having been in practice in Nashua Village ten years, and had
represented the town in the Legislature three years.  Of course, he was not a
practical manufacturer, and the success of his management was due to his general
executive ability and his correct estimate of the capacity of other men. Under
him the fabrics of the Jackson Company gained a high reputation. The
practical manager under Mr. French, and who contributed largely to the success
of the company, was David Gillis, afterwards for many years agent of the
Amoskeag Mills, at Manchester.  In 1832, Mr. French became agent of the Boott
Mills, at Lowell, and was succeeded by Edmund Parker, of Amherst.  Judge Parker
was a sound lawyer and widely known as Judge of Probate for the county. He was
popular in his general managment, but had no special qualifications as a
manufacturer.
  
The Nashua and Lowell Railroad Company was incorporated in 1836, and the work
upon it commenced in 1837. It was opened for the use of passengers October 8,
1838. Its length is fourteen miles and fourteen hundred and twenty-nine feet,
of which five and one-quarter miles are in this State.  It was the first
railroad-track laid in New Hampshire, and its completion added largely to the
business of Nashua. There were three passenger-trains to Boston. FOr some years
it had a single track, and its original cost was about four hundred thousand
dollars. THe original board of directors were Daniel Abbott and Jesse Bowers,
Nashua; Charles H. Atherton, Amherst; Henry Upton and Henry Simmins, Boston.
Daniel Abbott was president; Charles J. Fox, treasurer; and Onslow Stearns,
superintendent.

The Concord Railroad was completed four years later (September 1, 1842) having a
length of thirty-four miles and three thousand and forty-eight feet. Its capital
stock was originally eight hundred thousand dollars, but has been increased to
one million five hundred thousand dollars. It has always paid ten percent, 
per annum. Its first officers were Addison Gilmore, president; Isaac Spalding,
treasurer; and N.G. Upham, superintendent.
  
The NASHUA BANK (the first banking institution organized in the town) went into
operation in 1835, with Daniel Abbott president and John M. Hunt cashier. Its
directors were Jesse Bowers, Jesse Estey, Zebadiah Shattuck, James Pierce, and
Isaac Spalding. Its capital was one hundred thousand dollars. John M. Hunt was
cashier during its entire existence of about thirty years. It was a profitable
institution, and closed its business on the introduction of the present national
banking system.

The SECOND newspaper in Nashua, the NASHUA TELEGRAPH, was established in 1832 by
Alfred Beard. After his death, which soon occurred, it was owned and edited by
his twin brother, Albin Beard, until his death in 1862.  It advocated the views
of the Whig party, and was, politically, the opponent of the NASHUA GAZETTE,
then owned and edited by Charles P. Danforth.


In the summer of 1833, GENERAL [ANDREW] JACKSON, having been re-elected to the
Presidency,  visited New England for the first time. Reaching Boston the middle
of June, he accepted the invitation to visit the capital of New Hampshire, the
Legislature being at that time in session. He was met by Governor Dinsmoor's
staff at the State line, four miles below this village. Having left Lowell at
an early hour, he reached Nashua at eight, and breakfasted at the Washington
House, then kept by Thomas Chase. He was the first President who visited Nashua.

The rapid growth of the manufacturing industries of the village, the facilities
for obtaining goods from Boston by water transportation and the prospective
completion of a railway from that city began to attract the attention of
enterprising business men in the adjacent towns. Isaac Spalding, who had been a
successful trader at Amherst, had already removed here and engaged in general
merchandise until he went into the wider field of railroad enterprise, in 1838.
In 1833, J.C. Dodge, of the well-known firm of Clark & Dodge, Francestown,
removed here, and, forming a partnership with Albert McKean, then a young man
of twenty-three years, commenced a wholesale and retail trade in the large
wooden building then occupying the site south of the present Lowell depot. 
W.D. Beasom and Elbridge G. Reed opened a dry-goods store on Factory Street in
1836. Several men of note in mechanism and in the professions also came here at
this time.
  The amount of trade had increased so largely that in 1840 there were fifty
stores and shops for trading purposes in the village. From the "Directory,"
published at that time, we collect the names of a majority of the merchants
who were then in active business, some of whom are still residents of the city.
  "West Indian Goods and Groceries: W.A. & N. McKean, Reed & Spalding, Kendrick &
Tuttle, Hugh Jameson, Flagg & Abbott, Kimball & Weston, Tenney & Hubbard, 
N. Kendall & Co., G.W. Perham, Welton & Phillips, Robinson & Patch, E.G. Gage.
  Dry-Goods: Beasom & Reed, Merrill & Kimball, E.P. Hosmer, W.E. Graves, H.F.
Courser, Philbrick & Marshall, Gage & Chase, Root & Conant
  Drugs and Medicines: E.H. Lerned, Albert Gilchrist
  Watches, Clocks and Jewelry: N.W. Goddard, C.T. Ridgway, B.D. Binham
  Stoves and Tinware: Reuben Goodrich, James Hartshorn
  Tailoring and Men's Clothing: J.B. & H. J. CHapman, C.H. Nutt, J.W. Windus
  Book-Stores: C.T. Gill, A.E. Thayer, Jonathan Hosmer
  Boots and Shoes: Simonds & Goodwin, W. Russell
  Hats and Caps: John Taylor, E.B. Hines
  Hard and Glasswares: F.& C. Winch
  Furniture: John Coggin
  After the lapse of forty-five years, it is not surprising that only three of 
the above business men are still engaged in the same occupation, namely Henry J.
Chapman, Charles T. Ridgway and John Coggin. Mr. C.H. Nutt is still in active
business, but of a different kind.

In 1840 there had also been a large increase in the number of professional men
in the village. There were recorded the names of eight physicians--
Ebenezer Dearborn, Elijah Colburn, Micah Eldridge, Josiah G. Graves, 
Edward Spalding, Josiah Kittredge, Evan B. Hammond, Stephen Spear.
  There were also eight lawyers--Daniel Abbott, Charles F. Gove, Aaron F. Sawyer,
Charles G. Atherton, George Y. Sawyer, Peter Clark Jr., Charles J. Fox,
Benjamin F. Emerson.
  There were seven clergymen at that time,--Jonathan McGee, Austin Richards,
Congregationalists; Dura D. Pratt, Baptist; Samuel Osgood, Unitarian;
Samuel Kelly, Methodist; Lewis C. Browne, Universalist; Thomas M. Preble, Free-
Will Baptist.
  All of the lawyers and clergymen in the above list, except Rev. L.C. Browne are
dead; but of the doctors, three are still active citizens and residents of the
city, though retired from practice, namely, Edward Spalding, Evan B. Hammond,
and Josiah G. Graves.
  Several of the attorneys in the above list were men of note and ability.
Charles F. Gove, was a native of Goffstown. In 1840 he was Attorney-General of
the State, and soon after became a judge of the Superior Court. The last
position he resigned to become superintendent of the Nashua and Lowell Railroad,
which he held until near his death, in 1856.  He was a man of marked traits,
stern, resolute, exacting, yet discriminating, impartial and honorable. As a
judicial officer he rendered the State excellent service by his firm 
execution of the laws.
  Charles G. Atherton belonged to a wealthy and aristocratic family, and had the
advantage of an early and thorough training. He began practice here, and soon 
after represented the town in the Legislature. He entered Congress in his
thirty-fourth year, was six years a member of the House, and died during his
second term in the United States Senate, in November 1853, and in the
forty-ninth year of his age. His political reputation is clouded by his 
subserviency to the slave power.
  Charles James Fox was born in Antrim in 1811, graduated in 1831, commenced
practice in Nashua in 1834, entered the Legislature in 1837, and was associated
with Judges Joel Parker and S.D. Bell in revising the laws of the State. He had
great industry and had prepared notes for the "History of the Old TOwnship of
Dunstable," but his failing health and death in February 1846, prevented the
completion of the work, as he intended. It was published after his decease, but
failed to do justice to his ability.
  George W. Sawyer was born in Wakefield [MA] in 1805, commenced the practice of
law at Laconia [NH] and removed to Nashua in 1834. He soon attained a high 
professional standing and extensive practice, and as a member of the Legislature
had great influence in giving direction to its action.  In 1855 he was appointed 
a judge of the Court of Common Pleas and afterwards of the Supreme Judicial 
Court. He died in 1882.
  In closing this review of Nashua in 1840, we must not omit to call attention to
what half of the people now resident here are not aware of--that fifty years ago
the present name of our city had no legal existence whatever. More than two
centuries ago, when that "merry King of England," Charles the Second, rules over
our forefathers, emigrants from Massachusetts settled on the intervales above
and below the mouth of Salmon Brook. A town charter with the name DUNSTABLE was
given to these lands.  Afterwards, in 1746, the colonial government of New 
Hampshire renewed the charter and indorsed the name DUNSTABLE. When New Hampshire
became an independent State the town of Dunstable chose a delegate to the
convention to frame the constitution under which we live.  But in 1836 this same
town, through her representatives in the Legislature, petitioned for a change of
name.  The petition was certainly reasonable, for the village on the Nashua
River, which had grown up within a generation, now included five-sixth of the
population, and was universally known and recognized as the village of "Nashua,"
while practically the name of Dunstable was becoming unused and unknown. The
petition therefore, was granted by the passage of the following act:
  "State of New Hampshire
  "In the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six 
  "An Act to change the name of the town of Dunstable
  "Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Court convened: That the town of Dunstable, in the County of Hillsborough, shall
from and after the last day of December, in the year of our Lord, one thousand
eight hundred and thirty-six, be called and known in law by the name of NASHUA.
  "Approved Dec. 8, 1836
  "Isaac Hill, GOvernor."

Thus on New Years Day, 1837, this city, then a town, legally received, and for
many a century, we trust will retain its present name--NASHUA

NASHUA FROM 1840 to 1860
The Public Schools-- A Sharp Disagreement-- The New Town of Nashville--
Nashua Town Hall-- New Railroads-- Increase of Business-- Nashua and Nashville
Become a City-- New Enterprises-- Bobbin and Shuttle-Works-- Iron-Works--
Irish Emigration-- Athanaeum--

The growth of Nashua village between 1840 and 1850, though less rapid than for
the ten years previous, was very satisfactory. The educational interests of the
town received more attention, better school buildings were provided and the
selection of teachers made with more care. In 1840 the superintending school
committee were Rev. Samuel Osgood, Dr. Edward Spalding and Rev. L.C. Browne.
For several years previous and afterwards the first two-named members continued
their supervision, and aided largely in establishing a systematic method of
school management.  In 1840 the amount expended in the public schools was three
thousand four hundred and eleven dollars.  There were seventeen schools and
twenty-six teachers. The number of children of school age was fourteen hundred 
and fifty-two, but the average attendance was only seven hundred and 
eighty-eight.  The greater per cent, of negligence was among the families who
had recently become residents.
  In the spring of 1840, David Crosby established a private school under the 
title of the Nashua Literary Institution. In any other occupation, Mr. Crosby
would have been moderately successful, but he had rare qualities as an 
instructor. He loved the duties of the school-room, and for more than forty years
devoted himself exclusively to the instruction of the young, and with a 
fidelity and success rarely equaled.
  At the annual town meeting in March 1842, held as heretofore, at the Old
South meeting-house, it was the popular expression that a growing village having
already more than six thousand inhabitants ought to have within its limits a
public building, suitable for holdings its annual and other meetings, and 
avoiding the inconvenience of a mile's travel outside the village.  It was 
therefore unanimously voted to build a town-house. A building committee was 
elected, consisting of Leonard W. Noyes, Thomas Chase, Israel Hunt Jr.,
Franklin Fletcher, and Samuel Shepherd.
  It soon became evident that the location of the building would be a source of
contention,--the voters on both sides of the Nashua River claiming it without
reservation. An adjourned meeting was, therefore, held, at which every voter
expressed his preference by a monosyllabic ballot. Those in favor of locating
the hall on the north side of the river voted "North," and those in favor of a
location on the south side voted "South."  The result was: Ballots for the
north side, three hundred and ninety six; ballots for the south side, five
hundred and eighty-two.  So the popular vote showed a majority of one hundred and
eighty-six for locating the town hall on the south side of the river. This 
settled the location of the Nashua town hall; but it did not settle the
dissension it had called forth. The patricians on the north side of the river, in
truth everybody on that side of the nashua, was thoroughly indignant. It was
not enough that they had secured the railroad station, they must have the town
hall or they would not consent to remain as fellow-townsmen with the victorious
and probably rather boastful majority. So they at once announced that at the
coming session of the Legislature they should petition to be set apart as a
district and separate town, under the name of NASHVILLE.  As no opposition was
made, the Legislature granted the petition by the passage of an act on the 23d
of June 1842, making that part of Nashua north of Nashua River, "a separate and
corporate town to be known by the name of Nashville."
  The town towns now went quietly forward with their distinct organizations.
No disturbance ever after occurred between them during the eleven years of
separation which followed. When the temporary excitement had passed, doubtless
a majority of the intelligent citizens realized that the two towns, so closely
identified in all their interests, should never have been separated.
  The building committee of Nashua completed the town-house, the location of
which had been the cause of so much contention, in the spring of 1843, at a 
cost of twenty-two thousand six hundred dollars. It is the edifice now so well
known as the city hall. It stands to-day just as it was finished forty-two 
years ago.  That is has stood the test of constant use for so long a time without
the reconstruction of a single partition or staircase is a compliment to the
committee.  The building is sixty-six by ninety feet. The basement is for the
use of the police department. The first-story contains, in front, the offices of
the city clerk and city marshal.  Next are the rooms of the mayor and aldermen
and the common council. In the rear is the County Court-room. The second story
is the public hall, seventy feet long, sixty three feet wide and twenty-four
feet high. It will seat twelve hundred people. The attic is used by the
assessors and for storage. The height of the building to the top of the cupola
is one hundred feet.

The NASHUA OASIS, a weekly literary and miscellaneous newspaper, was issued by
Murray & Sawtelle in January 1843, by Murray & Kimball to 1849, by Dodge & Noyes
until 1855, and by S.H. Noyes until 1858. It was conducted with considerable
ability and literary taste, and during its eighteen years' publication secured
a fair circulation.

In 1844 the Nashua Manufacturing Company built Mill No. 4.  It was one hundred
and ninety-eight feet long, fifty feet wide and five stories high. After the
completion of this mill this corporation employed one thousand hands--eight
hundred and fifty females and one hundred and fifty males. It used ten thousand
bales of cotton and manufactured thirteen million yards of cloth annually. The
company had built forty tenements for the overseers and boarding-houses.

The Worcester and Nashua Railroad Company was incorporated in 1845. The road
was opened December 8, 1848, having a length of forty-five miles, and a capital
of one million five hundred thousand dollars.  The Wilton Railroad was commenced
in 1847 and completed in Wilton in 1851, having a length of sixteen miles.

Between 1840 and 1850 a large number of dwelling-houses and stores were built in
the village, but very few of them were of an expensive class. The school
buildings and the railroad stations were mostly wooden, and none of the large
brick blocks now erected on Main STreet had been built. In 1850, of the nine
churches, all of them Protestant, only two were built of brick--the First Baptist
and the Pearl Street Congregational Churches.  At that time the Catholics, now
the most numerous religious sect in the city were practically unknown. In 1840
there were not a dozen in Nashua. In 1850 there were less than one hundred.

In 1845 the population of the town of Nashua was 4429; the population of
Nashville was 2432,--total, 6861.  By the census of 1850 their united 
population was 8942,--a gain of 2888 since 1840.

NASHUA in 1850 to 1860--The growth of Nashua, between 1850 and 1860 was not so
great as during the previous decade. In common with the other manufacturing
towns of New England, the revulsion in business in 1857 and the two succeeding
years paralyzed to some extent all the manufacturing interests of the country
during that period.
  During these ten years, however, some progressive steps were taken by the
Nashua people, and which have had a permanent effect upon its welfare. One of
the most important of these was the reunion of the two towns of Nashua and
Nashville, which had been separated by a legislative act in 1842. Though not
realized at the time, it soon became evident that the separation would result
disadvantageously. The educational system could not be as comprehensive and
efficient. The Fire Department was weakened; the Police Department was more
expensive and less serviceable, and the minor details of town affairs were less
satisfactory to the public. The proposed supplying of the village with water
and gas would also be more difficult under a twofold management.
  Added to this, Manchester, in 1846, and Concord, in 1849, had adopted city
charters, and with manifest advantage to their local interests.  Nashua and
Nashville had now an aggregate population equal to that of either of those
cities at the time of their incorporation.  In view of these circumstances, the
more enterprising citizens of both towns applied to the Legislature of 1853 for
a city charter. This was granted on the 27th of June, with the proviso that
it must first be accepted by a majority of the legal voters of each town at a
meeting called for that purpose.  In September the acceptance of the charter
was submitted to the popular vote, and with the following results:
                                     YES     NO     MAJ.
Nashua.............................  468     334    134
Nashville..........................  249     115    134
                                     ___     ___    ___
      TOTAL.......................   717     449    268

So, the city charter, having been sanctioned by both towns, Nashua and Nashville,
were again united, and will, it is fervently hoped, be known for many a century
in the future as the
  CITY OF NASHUA--The election of city officers took place immediately after the
acceptance of the charter by the two towns. By the original charter, a majority
was required to elect the mayor.  The first trial results in no cohice, there 
being three candidates,--Josephus Baldwin (Whig), Bernard B. Whittemore 
(Democrat) and Winslow Ames (Free-Soil).  On the second trial Mr. Baldwin was
elected.

JOSEPHUS BALDWIN, the first mayor of the city, was born in the south part of
Nashua in 1803. His father lived on the Highland Farms, and possessed unusual
mechanical and inventive ability. The son gave his attention to the improvement
of cotton machinery. His first experiment was at New Ipswich in making shuttles
and spools to supply the few cotton-mills then running in New Hampshire. After
the building of the mills at Nashua he returned and began the making of bobbins
and shuttles at the Highland Farm.  In 1836 his works, including a large stock
just finished for the market, was burned.  Without means, he began work in a
room of the machine-shop of the Nashua Manufacturing Company. Here his works were
burned out a second time. But in 1843 he demand for that kind of furnishing which
Mr. Baldwin, of all others, was best able to supply, became so great that,
starting his business on Water Street, he soon built up an extensive manufactory,
employing one hundred and ninety hands.  For fifteen years Mr. Baldwin was the
largest manufacturer of bobbins and shuttles in this country. Like many
enterprising and ingenious men, he gave no attention to financial details, and
allowed the free use of his name to friends, so that he became embarrassed in
1858, and the business, built up by him, passed into the hands of Dr. F.B. Ayer
and Isaac Eaton, by whom it has been continued until recently. Mr. Baldwin died
in 1872.

In 1851 the Harbor Cotton Manufacturing Company (Vale Mills) was organized with
a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, employing seventy hands and producing
one million yards of sheeting and drillings annually.

The Nashua Edge-Tool Company was organized in 1852, locating their works at 
the mouth of Salmon Brook, on the Nashua and Lowell Railroad, one mile from the
city.  John H. Gage was president, G.W. Underhill, superintendent, and C.B. Hill,
treasurer. They made axes of every pattern, hatchets, chisels, adzes and most
kinds of edge-tools.  The company employed fiften men and had a capital of
sixty thousand dollars.

The NASHUA LOCK COMPANY went into operation the same year. It was chiefly owned
by L.W. Noyes and J.D. Otterson, and made locks, door-knobs and door-bells of
every pattern, and employed sixty men. At first it was located on Water Street,
but was soon removed to its present location on the corner of Spring and East
Hollis Streets.

The Nashua card and glazed paper business originated with C.T. Gill and O.D.
Murray in 1849, who put up a small building on Water Street. J.H. and C.P. Gage
became partners.  Mr. Gill died soon after. The business grew and was removed
to East Hollis Street. The original firm was Gage, Murray & Co., who with a 
dozen hands and limited capital, began an enterprise which has since grown to be
a large and successful business.

The Nashua Foundry Company, one of the earliest of our industries, was at this
time doing a good business on Temple Street, with Seth Williams as leading
proprietor, at the same location now occupied by Charles Williams & Son.  At a
later date J.D. Otterson established a foundry on Foundry Street, which he 
operated until his death in 1880. It is now the property of the Co-operative
Company.

The Nashua Gas-Light Company was incorporated in 1853, with a capital of
seventy-five thousand dollars.  Its works were located in the northeastern part 
of the city, near the Junction depot. Its first president was T.W. Gillis.

The Pennichuck Water-Works were also incorporated in 1853, with L.W. Noyes
president, and E.P. Emerson treasurer. The water supply was obtained from the
Pennichuck Brook, three miles north of the city, by forcing the water into a 
larger reservoir on Winter Hill.

The increased number of manufactories in the city required increased banking
facilities, and in 1851 the Indian Head Bank was incorporated with Joseph Greeley
president and Albert McKean cashier, with a capital of one hundred and fifty
thousand dollars. In 1855 the Pennichuck Bank was incorporated with one hundred
thousand dollars capital, and A.W. Sawyer president, and Harrison Hobson cashier.

The Irish immigration was hardly noticeable in the city until 1850. They 
increased rapidly for the ensuing ten years, and were largely employed in the
mills and iron-works. With rare exceptions, they were Roman Catholics. In
October 1855 the Catholic Church was first organized in this city under the care
of Rev. John O'Donnell, who held services every other Sunday in Franklin Hall.
The Catholic population at that time numbered about six hundred. The church on
Temple Street was built in 1857.  Father O'Donnell continued in charge of this
church and people for twenty-four years. He died on the 22d day of January 1882,
at the age of sixty-one.  Aside from his own people, Father O'Donnell had the
confidence and respect of all classes. Decided in his opinions and devoted to
the welfare of his parish, he did not forget that he was an American citizen.
He was a believer in our free institutions and a firm friend of our public
schools.

ST. LUKE'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH was organized in 1857. Its Sunday services were held
in Odd-Fellows' Hall. Its first rector was Rev. E.P. Wright. Its numbers for
some years were small, and its services at times suspended.

The ANTHENAEUM, a voluntary library association, was instituted in 1851. Though
a private organization, its purpose was to supply a public want.  There was a 
large class of young people of both sexes, largely employes in the mills, who
needed and would be benefited by suitable books for reading, and for whom there
was no existing provision. This association had corporate powers, and by sales
of shares at five dollars each, by subscriptions and assessments, secured a
library of thirteen thousand volumes, which were loaned to individuals for a
small fee per week.  The Anthenaeum kept its library at Gill's and afterwards
at Greene's book-store, was useful in its time, and prepared the way for its
successor,--the Nashua Public Library.

(end)