BARNSTEAD REUNION.
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��nelp noticing the immense labor our early! settlers must have given to the building] of these roads, and the heavy stone walls that protect them. They are among the works that tell us ©f the labor and ener- gy of our fathers.
The first record of any Town Meeting for the election of Town and County Of- ficers bears date November 22, 1775. The call included the town of Gilmanton, and was held in a private house. The Legis- lature was held at Exeter that year, and Joseph Badger was the chosen Repre- sentative. The population of the town at this time was 252. At a Town Meet- ing, April 26, 1775, it was voted : " Cap- tain Richard Cinclair 11. lis. 6<2., lawful money, for his and the men's expenses in going down below for the defence of our country." "John Tasker and Samuel Pitman a Committee of Safety." "The town's proportion of corn for the army was 3885 pounds." $52.00 bounty for every man who would go to the army. " $ 600 to the men to serve at Crown Point," etc., etc. " That ' Silver money,' (dollars of our daddies) be paid to our three years' men, and no more."
The first mail route established by gov- ernment run from Dover to Gilmanton, a distance or sixty miles. A Mr. Bragg was the mail carrier, he carrying the rnuils in saddle-bags, on horse-back. There were oats on one side for his horse, and the mail on the other for the people. In 1808 another mail route was establish- ed, running from Barnstead to Gilman- ton, once a week, and others followed soon after. The first Postmaster was Charles Hodsdon, Jr., his office being in his dwelling house on the Province road. The New Hampshire Patriot was the first weekly paper taken in town. A news paper iu those days was a great luxury, and at the sounding of the horn crowds would gather round the mail carrier for the news. The New Hampshire Patriot continued to be the leading paper taken, and through its medium the people im- bibed their early democracy. Barnstead has always been true to its democratic principles. Write it down democratic, every time, without waiting for the elec- tion returns.
Caleb Merrill opened the first law of-
��'fice at the Parade in 1811. Isaac O. I Barnes commenced practice in 1822, but f after a law term of nine years moved to Massachusetts. Norris, Elkins, and oth- ers, opened offices in Barnstead, but the good behavior of its people did not give sufficient support for them to remain, and they afterwards became notable in other places.
Dr. Joseph Adams settled in Barnstead as the first physician, in 1792. Quite ad- vanced in years, he did not enter into ac- tive practice, but occupied his time and attention on a farm he purchased on the Province road, near Gilmanton line. Dr. Jeremiah Jewett also settled in 1762. He was a young man, twenty-five years of age. He purchased five acres of land, and built the second house at the Parade, the first being built by Benjamin Hodg- don. For a quarter of a century he was the only active physician in Barnstead. He died in 1S36. Dr. N. T. George set- tled in 1822, and was particularly noted for his literary abilities, having supplied the press with numerous articles, and the publisher of several small books. He died in 1849.
The first man who opened a store in Barnstead was Richard Cinclair, in 1774. He was followed successfully by Paul G. Hoitt, Moses Stiles, Nathaniel Goodhue, Charles G. Sinclair from Bethlehem, and others of a later day. Samuel Webster commenced business at North Barnstead in 1820, and entered largely into the lum- ber trade. I remember him well, for when six or seven years of age I was in his employment, cutting carrot tops at three cents a day, and made more money proportionally, than I have ever been able to do since.
At the time of our earliest settlers, and for fifty years afterwards, manufactured articles were made by hand. Farmers made their own plows, and other agricul- tural implements. Every article of wear- ing apparel, and household furniture were made without the aid of machinery. If these early settlers could have stepped into Machinery Hall during the Centen- nial Exhibition, the most ingenious of them would have been surprised. The farm produced the flax and the wool, and the young wife was happy in her carding,
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