By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | October 19, 2018
The New-Hampshire Register and Political Manual for the Year 1870 directory entries for Milton in 1870. The compiler gathered his information from data available in 1869.
MILTON, (Originally part of Rochester) incorporated June 11, 1802. Population – 1820, 1232; 1850, 1619; 1860, 1862.
Рostmasters – Еzra Н. Twombly; Mills, Elbridge W. Fox; West, ______ Kenney; South, H.V. Wentworth. Selectmen – Еlbridgе W. Fox, Charles Hayes, Henry B. Scates. Town-clerk, Geo. W. Tasker. Clergymen – James Doldt, Caleb F. Page (Mills), Cong. Physicians – Stephen Drew, George W. Peavey, Charles E. Swasey (Mills). School Com. – James Doldt, M.V.B. Cook, James W. Applebee. Justices – Charles Jones, Luther Hayes, State; Elbridge W. Fox, Joseph Plumer, Ebenezer Wentworth, Charles A. Cloutman, Asa Jewett, Joseph Cook, Robert Маthes, Ira C. Varney, George Lyman, George Peavey, Маrtin V.B. Cook, John T. Hersey, George W. Tasker, Edward W. Fox, Ezra H. Twombly, Thomas H. Roberts, John U. Simes, Larkin A. Craig.
Mеrchants – John E. Twombly, Joseph Sayward, Mark H. Hart (Milton), Asa Fox & Son, Bray U. Simes, John U. Simes, Benjamin F. Hubbard (Mills), variety. Manufacturers – Milton Mills Manufacturing Co., George H. Jones, E.R. Mudge & Co., flannels; Edward Brierly & Co., flannels and table covers; Hiram V. Wentworth, boots and shoes; Luther Hayes, shooks [i.e., barrel staves]. Hotels – Milton, by William Н. Huntress, Central, by Ira Miller (Mills).
Elsewhere in the directory, we find the value of Milton’s land and farm stock, as of April 1868, and its votes in recent elections.
Value of Lands in New-Hampshire, and Number & Value of Farm Stock, per Inventory, April, 1868.
Milton, [Lands. Value.] $276,478, [Horses, etc. No.] 188, [Horses, etc. Value.] $12,386, [Cows, Oxen, etc. No.] 897, [Cows, Oxen, etc. Value] $30,245, [Sheep. No.] 786, [Sheep. Value.] $1,758.
TABULAR STATEMENT BY TOWNS of Distance from Concord, of Vote for Railroad Commissioner, 1869; Population of 1860; Ratable Polls; Valuation of 1868; and proportion on $1000 of State Tax.
40 [Miles from Concord], Milton, 255 [Votes for Quarles], 90 [Votes for Donahue], 1,862 [Population], 388 [Rateable Polls], $511,028 [Valuation], $3.43 [per $1,000 State Tax rate].
Vote for Governor, March, 1869, March, 1868, and for President, Nov. 1868.
Milton, 250 [Stearns], 95 [Bedell], [0, Scattering]; 262 [Harriman], 124 [Sinclair]; 226 [Grant], 78 [Seymour].
NH Secretary of State Walter Harriman (1817-1884), of Concord, won election as NH Governor in 1867 and 1868. Former NH State Senator Onslow Stearns (1810-1878), of Concord, won election as NH Governor in 1869 and 1870. They were both Republicans. Governor Stearns was succeeded as governor by Manchester Mayor James A. Weston. (Weston’s election over Republican opponent James Pike was close enough that the final result was decided in the state legislature).
Under the Strafford County entry, Hayes, Luther, Milton (South), was Strafford County Sheriff.
For State Senate District No. 6, Milton voted for Republican Ezra Gould, 262 votes [70.6%], over Democrat Edwin Pease, 109 votes [29.4%], in 1868. Pease received 4,400 votes [51.6%] in the overall district vote, while Gould received 4,059 votes [47.6%], and “scattering” received 76 votes [0.9%]. The result was reported as “Pease’s majority.”
For State Senate District No. 6, Milton voted for Republican Ezra Gould, 254 votes [73.0%], over Democrat Edwin Pease, 94 votes [27.0%], in 1869. Gould received 3,754 votes [49.7%] in the overall district vote, while Pease received 3,744 votes [49.5%], and “scattering” received 61 votes [0.8%]. The result was reported as “no choice.”
Under the Government of New-Hampshire entry, CHARLES JONES, Milton, held the District No. 2 seat on the five-seat Governor’s Council in 1870, under Governor Onslow Stearns, of Concord. By virtue of his seat on the Governor’s Council, Jones also held an ex-officio seat on the State Board of Education.
Republicans George Lyman and Samuel G. Chamberlain held Milton’s two seats in the NH House of Representatives. Middleton had its own representative, Democrat Franklin Colbath.
(Note: Today, the Milton and Middleton share a single district with two representatives, versus the two towns having independently two and one representatives, respectively, for a total of three representatives. Increases in population have occurred since then, and have occurred in greater proportions elsewhere than in Milton and Middleton, thus occasioning reduced representation compared with that of the past. (See The Mathematical Limits of Representation).
The New England Farmer reported on the agricultural fair held at Great Falls, i.e., Somersworth, in September 1869, during which Hiram V. Wentworth was selected as a board member:
AGRICULTURAL FAIRS. Strafford County, N.H. Fair at Great Falls, Sept. 14-16. The Journal says that the entries of Stock, Fruit, Vegetables, implements, manufactures, &c., were large and attractive. In the procession were town teams of eleven yoke of oxen each from Barrington, Somersworth, Rollinsford, and the County Farm; and ten yoke from Dover, drawing huge carriages, tastefully ornamented, and filled with singing children and other happy people. The Journal does not give the premiums awarded, but remarks that the exhibition is ahead of all previous one, and all are perfectly satisfied. The receipts are about $5000, which will place the Society on good footing pecuniarily.
On Wednesday morning the following board of Directors was chosen – M.C. Burleigh, S.C. Chick, Great Falls; Noah Tebbetts, Joseph Nutter, Rochester; H.V. Wentworth, Milton; W.R. Garvin, Rollinsford; C.R. Meserve, Madbury; Wm. F. Jones, Durham; E. Bartlett, Lee; C.W. Davis, Farmington; A.G. Orne, Middleton; G.S. Gilman, New Durham; R.B. Peavey, Strafford; Elisha Locke, Barrington (New England Farmer, September 25, 1869).
Previous in sequence: Milton Businesses in 1868; next in sequence: Milton Businesses in 1871
References:
Jenks, George E. (1869). The New-Hampshire Register and Political Manual for the Year 1870. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=K0A4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA100
Wikipedia. (2018, October 18). Onslow Stearns. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onslow_Stearns
Wikipedia. (2018, October 9). Ulysses S. Grant. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_S._Grant
Wikipedia. (2018, October 18). United States Presidential Election, 1868. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1868
Wikipedia. (2018, August 24). Walter Harriman (Governor). Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Harriman_(governor)
Milton Observer 