Monadnock Moments

Era 4: 1815-1860

Monadnock Moments No. 91: Robbery in the Dark Valley

Before route 12 was widened to its current width between Keene and Troy,  it was considered a dark and forbidding pass between tall ledges and steep hills.  It was on this lonely stretch of highway that George Ryan, armed with a knife and pistol, attempted his hand at...

Monadnock Moments No. 88: Cal Tenney and the Cattle Drover

The book entitled “Marlborough Recollections” issued by the Marlborough Historical Society contains a collection of local folktales.  One of these tales concerns Calvin Tenney, a mid 19th century Marlborough tavern keeper. Much of Cal Tenney’s business came from...

Monadnock Moments No. 79: Joseph Ames, Portrait Painter

Cheshire County has been the home of many fine artists over the years, some of which have gained national recognition for their work.  One local artist who was well known in his day, but has been virtually forgotten by today’s residents of the region was portrait...

Monadnock Moments No. 78: Rosebury, New Hampshire

If a group of residents of Chesterfield, Swanzey and Winchester had had their way in 1815, today’s residents or portions or these three towns would now live in a town called Rosebury, New Hampshire.  In May of 1815 twenty families in these three towns prepared a...

Monadnock Moment No. 76: Roxbury’s Professor Dolbear

Amos Emerson Dolbear was born in Norwich, Connecticut in November of 1837.  He was orphaned at the age of four and came to Roxbury, New Hampshire to live with Deacon Moses Guild.  Dolbear attended the one room district school in Roxbury and was noted as a quiet and...

Monadnock Moments No. 72: Wakefield at South Reading

Cyrus Wakefield was born in what is now the town of Roxbury, New Hampshire on February 7, 1811.  He was the third child of James and Hannah Hemenway Wakefield.  Cyrus grew up on the family farm and walked 1½ miles to the local school when it was in session. At age 15...

Monadnock Moments No. 71: Stoddard’s Stone Arch Bridge

Near the Stoddard/Antrim town line, beside New Hampshire highway Route 9, stands a twin arch highway bridge made of stone.  This bridge was built without any mortar and is sustained solely by the shaping of its archstones.  It is one of several surviving bridges of...

Monadnock Moments No. 68: A Year Without a Summer

Although there were many complaints about the lack of summer in some years, our ancestors experienced a summer unknown to current generations.  The severe weather during the year of 1816 has become known as “the year without a summer.” The spring season that year was...

Monadnock Moments No. 65: Lightning Strikes

Injuries caused by lightning, because of their frightening and unpredictable nature, were recorded by our ancestors just as they are recorded by us today.  One well known case occurred at the home of Daniel Nims in Sullivan in the summer of 1839. On July 8th of that...

Monadnock Moments No. 52: Marlow’s Ink and Extract Manufacturers

One of the most unusual and least remembered industries in the town of Marlow was the ink and extract manufactory operated by the Farley family.  Bethuel Farley, born in Marlow in 1794, and his son Lucius and grandson Frank ran the business for more than fifty years....

Monadnock Moments No. 49: Dr. Jewett’s Health Restoring Bitters

The Jewett family of Rindge, New Hampshire was an enterprising group with interests in several mills and factories in that town.  The family was best known, however, for its involvement in the medical field. Dr. Stephen Jewett was born in 1764, the son of Ezekiel and...

Monadnock Moments No. 43: P. T. Barnum’s Woolly Wonder

In 1842 the famous circus showman P.T. Barnum made an announcement that a special expedition to the wild Rocky Mountains had captured “a new wonder of the world, strange and unique beyond description.”  This new wonder was a horse covered with wool, like sheep’s wool,...

Monadnock Moments No. 42: Hinsdale’s Governor Haile

William Haile was born in Putney, Vermont in 1807.  When he was fourteen years of age his family moved to Chesterfield, New Hampshire.  Haile attended and taught school there until the age of sixteen when he became a clerk in the store of Ezekiel Pierce.  Haile soon...

Monadnock Moments No. 39: Amos Pollard at the Alamo

In 1836 the state of Texas won its independence from Mexico.  The Alamo is one of the most remembered battles during this struggle for independence.  Of the 180 men who fought and died at the Alamo, one of the defenders was a man from Surry, New Hampshire. Amos...

Monadnock Moments No. 34: The Bungling Bank Robbers

At about 9:00 o’clock on the evening of June 11, 1850 Abijah Larned and an accomplice broke into the bank at Charlestown, New Hampshire.  By midnight they had loaded nearly $12,000 in gold, silver, and bills into their carriage and drove peacefully out of town. Eleven...

Monadnock Moments No. 32: Ithamar Chase’s Son

Ithamar Chase was a resident of Cornish, New Hampshire when he married Janette Ralston of Keene in 1792.  Janette was the daughter of Alexander Ralston, owner of the Ralston Tavern in Keene.  Shortly after the death of Ralston in 1810, the Chase’s, with their several...

Monadnock Moments No. 30: Acworth Grave Robbing

Back in 1824, when Acworth was still a part of Cheshire County, the Old Cemetery in town was the scene of a late night grave robbing.  Despite its terrible nature, the crime of grave robbing was apparently not unusual at that time as a means of obtaining cadavers for...

Monadnock Moments No. 20: Chesterfield Academy

The New Hampshire Register of 1810 lists the Chesterfield Academy as one of only twelve academies in the state.  Academies, private secondary educational institutions, were virtually the only means of obtaining a secondary education in New Hampshire at the time. The...

Monadnock Moments No. 15: Eliza Ballou of Richmond

The Ballou family was among the earliest settlers of the town of Richmond at the southern border of Cheshire County.  Twelve year old James Ballou came to Richmond in 1773 with his parents and several brothers and sisters.  James grew up in Richmond, married Mehitable...

Monadnock Moments No. 1: Navigation on the Ashuelot River

Of the thousands of people who daily cross the Ashuelot River over the bridge on West Street, nearly all of them would be astounded to realize that more than 150 years ago the River was considered practical for navigation. Yet on June 24, 1819 the New Hampshire...