Category: History

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | September 15, 2018

An extract from the Farmington Weekly Courier of Friday, February 5, 1864.

A Letter from Milton Mills:

Milton Mills, Jan. 29, 1864 –

I am pleased to know, that someone has the courage  and “goaheaditiveness” to start a paper in this part of the county, and hope it may prove as profitable to its Editor as interesting to its patron.  News in this  (the Northeast) corner of the county, is at this time quite meager.  It is now the sleighing, and the farmers and wood men are busily engaged in carrying to market their surplus stock of wood, which this winter brings them a good round price, compared with the prices of former winters.

Some of the lovers of the “finny tribe” in this locality are enjoying the luxury of fishing upon Horn and Garvin Ponds, for pickerel, these pleasant days, with good “luck,” and this, as you well know, Mr. Editor, is fine sport, when you have plenty of “Tom Cod” for bait, and a “nibble” every now and then from each line.  

Business in this locality is very good, with plenty of work for those disposed to “earn their living by the sweat of their brow” and otherwise.

The flannel Mill of John Townsend, Esq., is now in full blast, (and, by the way, it is reported to be the best woolen mill in New England) and turns out about thirteen thousand yards of flannel per week, which finds a ready sale in Boston, New York and Philadelphia.  There is some prospect of having a new mill, put up the coming season, by our enterprising citizen, Edward Brierly, who is now engaged quite extensively in the printing and finishing of flannels, table covers, balmoral skirts, etc. 

We boast of but four regular stores in our quiet little village, that of Asa Fox & son, Bray C. Simes, John U. Simes and Asa Jewett, all of which are doing a fair  amount of business.  We have beside these, three or four places where groceries, etc., are sold, much to the disadvantage of the regular trade.  There is probably not a village of the size of this in New Hampshire, where so much blacksmith work is done, as in this — We have now four blacksmiths, (working early and late) and plenty of work for four more.

We are furnished daily, in this out-of-the-way locality, with the Boston morning and evening papers, by our friend Elbridge W. Fox, of the firm of Asa Fox & son, who also has charge of the Express Office of Canney & Co.  

Did I say “this out-of-the-way locality?”  Yes.  Well, it is true in some respects, for we are situated four long miles east of the “head of locomotion” of the Great Falls & Conway Railroad at Union; but thanks to our enterprising Expressmen, Messrs. Canney & Co., we are provided with a good span of “chestnuts” and when once “aboard,” the “ribbons” in the hands of the faithful messenger and careful driver – Asa A. Fox — we are soon there.

One thing, among the many, that we need to give our village a more lively and business like appearance, is a shoe manufacturer; one with means and energy, capable of doing a large business, for we have plenty of good work men in this vicinity that would gladly make shoes for a home manufacturer, rather [than] freight stock from Rochester, Dover, Haverhill and Lynn.

But enough of this.  People are beginning to talk politics, now the conventions are over.  Excuse me, Mr. Editor, you don’t talk politics in your paper, so I will stop.  More Anon.

Vulpes.

N.B. The pseudonym Vulpes is Latin for “Fox.”

For more about the Great Falls & Conway Railroad, see our piece on Milton’s Railroad Line.

References:

Farmington Weekly Courier. (1864, February 5). A Letter from Milton Mills. Farmington, NH

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | September 14, 2018

MILTON’S CENTENNIAL

Events of the Day

The centennial celebration of the town of Milton, held August 30, 1902, was in honor of the one hundredth anniversary of the first town meeting. This meeting convened at the tavern of Lieut. Elijah Horne, August 30 1802, only a short time after the charter, which gave Milton its independent existence, had been signed by Governor Gilman. This instrument had been granted at the June session of the legislature of New Hampshire at the petition and largely through the efforts of Capt. Beard Plumer, one of the representatives from Rochester, who, with others, felt that the time had come for Milton to sever the ties which bound her to the mother town.

At the annual meeting held in March, 1902, it was voted to celebrate in an appropriate manner the closing of the first century of the town’s existence. An appropriation was made and a general committee selected. As a result of the able and painstaking efforts of this committee, together with those chosen to assist, the observance of the centennial was made eminently fitting to mark the close of the first century of Milton’s history.

Saturday, August 30, 1902, was a beautiful day; there was scarcely a cloud in the sky and the temperature was ideal for the purposes of the occasion. Sunrise was accompanied with the ringing of bells and a cannon salute of thirty-three guns. One hundred guns were fired during the day, a second thirty-three at noon and the remainder at sunset. Although the celebration had practically begun on Friday night with the huge bonfire on the summit of the historic Mt. Teneriffe, it was not until Saturday morning that the guests commenced to arrive in large numbers.

Every incoming train was heavily laden and hundreds came in teams from surrounding towns. It was the largest crowd that Milton ever saw being variously estimated by the press at from seven to ten thousand.

From 8.30 to 10 o’clock field and water sports were held; from 9 to 10 o’clock the Hanson American band of Rochester gave a concert on the Upper square. Then came the street parade. This was a fine feature of the day, including many beautifully trimmed floats and private teams, bicycles, and not a few grotesque and humorous make-ups. The marshal was Major Charles J. Berry, Milton Mills, N.H.; assistant marshal, James F. Reynolds, Wakefield, Mass.; aides, Clifford A. Berry and Charles Manser, Milton Mills; Walter Holden, Wakefield, Mass.; Scott Ramsdell, Samuel E. Drew, and Fred S. Hartford, Milton.

Following the parade a good old fashioned New England dinner was served in large tents, on the Nute High School grounds, to over two thousand people. It was at high noon, also, that the new town clock in the Congregational Church was officially started. This was presented to the town of Milton by Mr. Albert O. Mathes of Dover, N.H., as a memorial to the Rev. James Doldt, who was pastor of the Congregational Church from 1850 to 1871.

Promptly at two o’clock the commemorative exercises began in the grove, on the Nute High School grounds, Hon. Elbridge W. Fox, of Milton Mills, Ex-Senator from this district, presiding as President of the day. In addition to those upon the official programme, Mayor Bradley of Rochester spoke in behalf of the mother town and Mr. Edward P. Nichols of Lexington, Mass., treasurer of the Great Falls Manufacturing Company, delivered a short address. The violin used as an accompaniment to the singing was played by Miss Annie B. Kimball, of Milton, while the old violincello which took the place of the church organ in the early days of the town, was restrung and played by Mr. Sumner Hodsdon of Dover, N.H.

One of the most attractive and appropriate features of the day was the collection of antiquities in the old Worcester House, itself past one hundred years in age. These rare and valuable articles, from 75 to 200 or more years old, and gathered from many sources, by Mr. Albert O. Mathes of Dover N.H., were intimately connected with the early history of the town. Many of the interesting buildings in the village had placards placed upon them, giving the date of their erection and other matters of interest. Among these were the following: The home of Dr. Stephen Drew, 1820-1873, built by John Bergin in 1773; the house in which Lewis W. Nute was born; the building formerly the Union meetinghouse, 1838-1859; John Fish’s house, 1794, where was located the first post-office in 1818; the site of the first tavern built in 1787 by Benjamin Palmer; the house of Thomas Leighton, 1810-1860; the site of the house of Gilman Jewett, first town clerk, 1800; the site of the first tannery, owned by John Bergin, 1773.

The celebration was in every respect an unqualified success, and reflected the greatest credit upon all concerned. All of those present, whether natives of the town or friends, felt that the observance was in every way worthy of the occasion and of Milton.

See also Report of the Milton Centennial Committee

References:

Mitchell-Cony Co. (1908). The Town Register Farmington, Milton, Wakefield, Middleton, Brookfield, 1907-8. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=qXwUAAAAYAAJ

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | September 12, 2018

Selectman Lucier held forth on the History of Milton and its implications, as he sees them, at the Board of Selectmen’s (BOS) meeting of Monday, September 10, 2018.

Chairman Thibeault: Alright, next on the agenda, History of Milton.

Selectman Lucier: I put this on just to kind of shed some light on what’s going on in the … in Milton. I mean, you just brought up as far as bringing people into the beach. I mean – that was – I think that was kind of plopped into my other spiel, but …

You know, the town of Milton was a thriving boomtown. I mean … you had … you had two stores in Milton Mills. You had the tannery in Milton Mills, where everybody worked. So, I mean, now Milton Mills has basically turned into a bedroom community. I mean, you came down … you used to come down, start up … There was no Spaulding Turnpike. You came down [NH] Route 16, this was Route 16.

You had the Christmas Bell shop. You had Dawson’s Antiques. You had Louis Herron’s apple stand, that sold more apples than MacKenzie’s sells. You had, you know … So, this was back in the 70s, late 70s, early 80s. You could come right come down through town, there was Ray’s Marina was booming, everything was booming. So, what, what happened? All the way to Rochester. Rochester was … even [NH Route] 125 into Rochester was booming.

What changed? The Spaulding Turnpike came. In 1978, they started cutting trees and basically that took … everybody that came … went to the North Conway went through Milton. So, they saw Milton. I mean …

And now, we … nothing against Economic Development, I think they’re doing a great job of moving the town forward, of getting businesses back in, which we’ve got to do, but we’ve got to sell Milton. Because, whether it’s advertising or … I mean we’ve got the lake. We don’t have the seven lakes that Wakefield does that draws the huge crowds in and, you know, keeps the tax rates low, but we’ve got to do something to … I mean, I don’t know how … I know that when they put the Turnpike in – that they gave on [NH] Route 75, they only gave two accesses – and that was off to the side of where Frizzell’s is at Commerce Drive. You know they won’t allow anything off the right-hand side and they won’t allow anything, anything off from the Turnpike itself. They kept a 50-foot buffer,  so that, so that nothing can be developed.

You know the town of Milton used to get a ton of business off from the … there was a huge mom & pop’s all up and down these streets. I mean, they’ve all gone away. There were antique stores galore, especially downtown. I mean now it’s … you know, Ray’s Marina is sitting there because the State’s put the clamp down as far as what he can do as far as developing … I mean, you had Russo’s restaurant, you had the Craig Keg Room lounge, you had the lobster pound. I mean, there was a ton, a ton of businesses, but …

Thibeault: So … so, that’s the past. How do we …

Lucier: I am just trying to, you know, get out there that … we’ve got to do something to promote Milton. I mean, I like the idea of a State boat launch, don’t get me wrong on that, I just don’t think the town beach is the location for it.

I mean, back in the old days [the mid 1960s?] when we used to be playing ball, we’d have to stop and wait for the guy pulling his boat and trailer out to go across the soccer field, so … You know, that’s the way it was. I mean, there was no … the ballfield – you’d have to got out and pick up a handful of nails before the soccer game, because that’s where the old ice houses were. So, the town, Milton’s changed. The biggest change? The Spaulding Turnpike went through and the State – I don’t know whether it’s something we can … it was actually the Federal government that did it.

That put the kibosh to developing the other side of it [NH Route 75 from Exit 17 towards Hayes Corner and Farmington] because people would like to develop it – both sides of [NH Route] 75, which moving forward I don’t know if that’s something – you know, there used to be – when that Turnpike was built, it was supposed to be maintained by the Turnpike Division, and they didn’t catch it until what? – two or three years ago, when they made the State build a shed down at Exit 16, the State barn at Exit 16. So, the barn right here by – the State shed – by [NH] Route 75 doesn’t plow the Turnpike anymore – they can’t – so, they plow [NH Route 11] all the way from Planet Fitness in Rochester to the Alton traffic circle. From Milton, you know, that’s … but anyway … We’ve lost, I mean, we’ve lost a ton of drive-through business … I mean that’s what … I mean, I don’t know what to do to promote …

Vice-Chairwoman Hutchings: Can I? As [BOS Ex Officio] representative for Milton Economic Development, we’ve just submitted an application to the State to make Exit 17 an ERZ Zone [Economic Revitalization Zone], which will give tax breaks and such to businesses coming into the area.

Lucier: Well, but it’s …

Hutchings: It’s a start.

Lucier: It’s only going to be on the south side of …

Hutchings: But, it’s a start. And we’re working on other ideas to promote business here in town. We just ordered signs, [EDC Committeeman] Bob Bourdeau just ordered signs for – actually the downtown area here is an ERZ area – and the signs have been ordered to be purchased. We’ll put those up here in the downtown area. So that it’s a “known” ERZ. Does it actually help to bring the business in, right now, by putting that sign up? No, but when people see those signs, they realize there’s an incentive for putting a business in there. So, with that being said, the Milton Economic Development is working on … projects.

Town Administrator Thibodou: They seem very active.

Hutchings: They’re active, they’re very active. So, …

Lucier: Milton was volunteers. We’ve got to get more people to … you know, step up to the plate to make things happen.

Thibeault: Alright.

Previous Milton and the Spaulding Turnpike and Milton’s Railroad Line pieces cover much of the same ground as Selectman Lucier’s recollections. Selectman Lucier does identify the location of the ice sheds (at the Town Beach ballfield), once so integral to Milton’s seasonal ice industry. Very interesting. He does not mention the hotels that sprang up to house the seasonal ice workers or the railroad that fostered this vital local industry, now gone with the wind. (The advent of refrigeration killed the seasonal ice industry in the late 1920s).

N.B. I do not necessarily endorse or agree with Selectman Lucier’s interpretations of the meaning of these events, nor with his and the Board’s prescriptions for what must be done, if anything.

References:

Bergeron, Chip. (2010). The Tannery, Milton Mills, NH. Retrieved from www.authorsden.com/visit/viewPoetry.asp?id=282253

Card Cow. (2004-18). Russo’s Italian-American Restaurant. Retrieved from www.cardcow.com/297493/russos-italian-american-restaurant-milton-new-hampshire/

Town of Milton. (2018, September 10). BOS Meeting Agenda, September 10, 2018. Retrieved from youtu.be/PlwhI_Uz_rs?t=2238

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | June 12, 2018

Milton

Town Beach Open

The town beach gates swung open the past week-end [June 18-19] to begin another season at this cooling-off spot. More picnic benches have been added to accommodate additional picnickers. The commissioners also have purchased a ride-around lawn mower to keep the alfalfa under control.

References:

Rochester Courier. (1960. June 23). Town Beach Open. Rochester Courier: Rochester, NH

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | May 21, 2018

A description of Milton as it appeared in an 1859 gazetteer:

MILTON, in the southeastern [SIC] part of Strafford County, is an irregularly-shaped town, containing 27,000 acres, and is forty miles from Concord. It formerly belonged to Rochester, from which it was set off and incorporated June 11, 1802. The settlers came principally from Dover, Madbury, Rochester, and towns in that vicinity, and were a hardy, industrious, and intelligent people, early manifesting an interest in religion and education. The Congregational church was organized September 8, 1815, under the labors of Rev. Curtis Coe, who continued to preach as long as he was able; but prior to his settlement they had occasional preaching. With the exception of Teneriffe Mountain, which runs along the east part, the surface is comparatively level, and the soil good for pasturage. This is an agricultural community, and stock is raised to some extent. Salmon Falls river runs along the whole eastern boundary, thirteen miles, while a branch of the same river crosses from the south part of Wakefield, uniting near the centre of the eastern boundary. Milton pond and Gould pond are the only bodies of water. There are three villages – Milton Three Ponds, South Milton, Goodwinville, and Milton Mills; two church edifices – Congregational and Christian; twelve school districts, and three post-offices – Milton, Milton Mills, and West Milton. The Milton Mills, with a capital of $50,000, have eighteen looms and 1,200 spindles, and manufacture woolen and cotton goods to the amount of $90,000. The boot and shoe industry is also prosecuted to a considerable extent, there being $480,000 invested. The Great Falls and Conway Railroad passes through Milton. Population, 1,629; valuation, $494,066.

Previous in sequence: Milton in 1857

References:

Coolidge, Austin J., and Mansfield, John B. (1859, April). A History and Description of New England, General and Local. Boston, MA: Austin J. Coolidge