HISTORY OF BELMONT, BELKNAP COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE ---------------------------------- Information located at http://www.nh.searchroots.com On a web site about GENEALOGY AND HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE and its counties TRANSCRIBED BY JANICE BROWN Please see the web site for my email contact. ---------------------------------- The original source of this information is in the public domain, however use of this text file, other than for personal use, is restricted without written permission from the transcriber (who has edited, compiled and added new copyrighted text to same). ======================================================== SOURCE: History of Merrimack and Belknap Counties, New Hampshire Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Co., 1885, 1108 pgs. Page 717 Previous to 1859 the section comprising the present town of Belmont was part of Gilmanton. In 1761 the proprietors of Gilmanton laid off a tract, six miles square, on the Barnstead line. This section was thereafter known as the Lower Parish. The rest of the town was divided into two parts--Gunstock Parish on the northeast, and Upper Gilmanton, or, as it was called later, the Upper Parish, on the southwest. In June, 1812, Gunstock Parish was severed from Gilmanton and incorporated as a town under the name of Gilford. Previous to this time the term Upper Parish appears to have been applied to the whole section of the town lying north of the Lower Parish; subsequently, it was employed to describe what is now the town of Belmont. Previous to the division, in 1859, the political and general history of the section comprising the present town of Belmont was so closely identified with that of the rest of the town of Gilmanton that it is obviously impossible, at this late day, to separate the one from the other. The Upper Parish does not appear to have been a very important part of the town. The Lower Parish (Gilmanton) was settled at an earlier date, and, in addition to this advantage, the founding of the academy, in 1794, formed a nucleus around which, or, at least, in whose near vicinage, was gathered by far the greater proportion of the wealth, culture, enterprise and social distinction of the town... The settlement of the Upper Parish progressed but slowly. The site of the present village of Belmont remained an unbroken forest for many years after the "Corner," as the Academy village is still called, had become a thriving and somewhat noted settlement. The first store was opened in 1820. In 1834 an association of public-spirited citizens, foremost among whom was Governor Badger, built a brick factory for the manufacture of cotton cloth. This building is still standing [in 1885], and is used by the Gilmanton Mills Company... Previous to the building of the factory, the village, if it may be dignified by that name, had been known as "Fellows' Mills,"--the ambitious plural being possibly justified by the fact that the one building was used both as a grist-mill and as a saw-mill. This building long ago destroyed is said to have been located on the right bank of the river, below the bridge, and not far from the dam of the present Gilmanton Mills. After the building of the Badger factory, the village grew quite rapidly, and was called "Factory Village," as a compliment to the new industry. About the time that the factory was built, Governor Badger also built a saw-mill and grist-mill, at the upper dam, a few rods above the bridge. The saw-mill was situated on the left bank, and nearly opposite. In the spring of 1852 there was a great freshet. The dam at the reservoir, five miles up the stream, was broken through, and the flood wrought sad havoc in the little village. Several buildings were swept away, and among them the grist-mill. The other mill escaped. In 1876, it was purchased by the Gilmanton Mills Company, enlarged and altered, and used in the manufacture of cases. It was burned in May 1883. ...For several years there was no meeting-house, the religious services being held in private homes and in barns. The first church in the Upper Parish was erected at the Province road (so called) in 1792. The members of this church adopted the tenets of the Free-Will Baptist denomination in 1816. In 1835 it was incorporated by the name of the "Third Free-Will Baptist Meeting-House Society in Upper Gilmanton." Soon after, the society lowered its meeting-house to one story, removed the gallery pews, and made other alterations. So far as the writer can learn, this building, still in use [1885] and in a good state of preservation, is the one that was erected in 1792. If so, it is the second oldest building of the kind in this section of the State. There are no church records to be found previous to 1835, but it would appear, from Lancaster's "History of Gilmanton" (1845) that "Elder John Knowles," one of the founders of the church was its pastor from 1816 until his death in 1837. In 1810, a church composed of person who had previously constituted the "Third Monthly Meeting," was established at what is now Belmont village. Lancaster's "History of Gilmanton" states that the meeting-house was built in 1811, but private information puts the date of its erection at 1815. In 1835 the society was incorporated by the name of the First Free Baptist Society in Gilmanton Upper Parish. Rev. Clark was the first pastor, and officiated for more than thirty years... A Christian Baptist Church was established in the village in 1839. It was incorporated in 1841. A meeting-house was built in 1840, and was burned in 1867. The present building was erected in 1868. The most distinguished citizen in the history of the town was Hon. William Badger, who was born in 1779. He was the son of Hon. Joseph Badger and the grandson of General Joseph Badger. Both these gentlemen were distinguished soldiers in the Revolution. Joseph Badger (2d) removed from the Lower to the Upper Parish in 1784 and settled upon the farm which has ever since been owned by the Badger family. His son, William Badger, received his education in the common schools and at Gilmanton Academy. He was an active Democrat, and early became prominent in political life. He was representative in 1810-1812, State Senator in 1814-1816, and president of the Senate in the 1816; justice of the Court of Common Pleas frmo 1816 to 1820; sheriff of Strafford County from 1820 to 1830; Governor of the State in 1834-35; and Presidential elector in 1836 and 1844. He was also for a long time president of the board of trustees of Gilmanton Academy, and filled other places of trust. He was chiefly instrumental in building the cotton factory and other mills at the village, and may be said to have been the founder of the manufacturing industry in Belmont. Governor Badger's first wife was the daughter of Rev. Isaac Smith, the first settled pastor of Gilmanton. She died in 1810, leaving a son and a daughter, both of whom died a few years later. In 1814, Mr. Badger married Hannah Pearson Cogswell, daughter of Dr. William Cogswell, or Atkinson. She was a woman of great ability, highly accomplished, and distinguished for her benevolence and public spirit. She came of a family that is very prominent....among her numerous relatives now living and eminent in political circles, may be mentioned her nephews, John B. Clarke, of the "Manchester Mirror," Colonel Thomas Cogswell, of Gilmanton, and her cousin 'Long John' Wentworth, of Illinois. She died in February, 1869. Her two sons are living -- Colonel Joseph Badger, who lives at the old homestead, and Captain William Badger, U.S.A., at present [1885] stations at Salt Lake City. ...the old Badger mansion..is situated on a high hill, at a right angle, in the road from Belmont to Gilmanton, midway between the two villages. The present building is a large two-story wooden house, fronting the southwest, and was erected by Governor Badger in 1825. The Badgers have lived on this farm for more than a hundred years. The house contains objects...in the west parlor are the oil portraits of Governor and Mrs. Badger painted in the early days of their married life [description not included], the sitting room is papered with rich brown and wood tints..that cost one hundred dollars in Portsmouth sixty years ago...suspended from the wall are the Governor's sword and horse-pistols. The sword was taken from a British soldier near Crown Point, in 1777, by General Joseph Badger, the Governor's father. It has an ornamental silver hilt, and its faded scabbard attest to its age...[more description of house and contents not included here]. HON. W.Y. HACKETT A few rods south of the Badger mansion is the early home of the late Hon. W. H.Y. Hackett, a distinguished lawyer, banker and legislator of Portsmouth. Mr. Hackett was born at the Academy village, September 24, 1800, but his parents removed to this part of the town nine years later. He received his early education in the common schools, and at the academy, walking daily to and from the latter institution. He began the study of law in the office of Matthew Perkins, Esq. of Sanbornton, and remained there a year and a half. In 1822 he went to Portsmouth and continued his studies in the office of Hon. Ichabod Bartlett. He was admitted to the bar in 1826, and immediately entered upon the practice of his profession in Portsmouth. In the same year he married Olive, daughter of Joseph W. Pickering of that city. Mr. Hackett was assistant clerk of the Senate in 1824-25; clerk of the Senate in 1828; representative in 1850-52, 1857, 1860, 1867-69; Senator in 1861-62, and president of the Senate in 1862; Presidential elector in 1864; member of the Constitutional Convention in 1876. He was president of the First National Bank of Portsmouth (which was the first national bank organized in the country0; president of the Piscataqua Savings-Bank; and trustee of the Portsmouth Savings Bank. He also held many other positions of honor and trust in the city which was his home for more than fifty years. Originally a Whig, he naturally joined the Republican party, and for years was one of its acknowledged leaders. He ranked among the ablest lawyers and most successful financiers of the State... He always retained an active and affectionate interest in his native town. Indeed, so warmly was he attached to "old Gilmanton," that when the bill to change the name of Upper Gilmanton to Belmont was introduced in the Legislature in 1869, he voted against it. Mr. Hackett died August 9, 1878 and was buried in the South Cemetery at Portsmouth. His brother, Charles A. Hackett, occupies the old homestead. Belmont owes its existence as a separate town to a combination of political convenience and partisan advantage...[including issues of traveling 8 or 9 miles in order to vote over roads either blocked by snow-drifts, or rendered equally impassible by the spring thaw]. The bill to separate Upper Gilmanton was introduced into the House by A.H. Cragin of Lebanon, afterwards United States Senator from New Hampshire. The representatives from Gilmanton were Abraham S. Gale, Joshua B. Pulcifer and Enoch Brown, all of them Democrats, and all opposed to the division. The bill was warmly contested... it was put upon its passage June 24, 1859, and the bill passed by a vote of one hundred and seventy-four to one hundred. The Senate approved the bill on June 28, 1859 [as Upper Gilmanton]. The first meeting for the choice of town officers in Upper Gilmanton was called by John E. Page and Isaiah Piper, August 6, 1859. Due to confusion with post office delivery, and with the length of the town's name, in 1869, the citizens of Upper Gilmanton petition the legislature to have the name of the town changed to "Belmont." The bill passed, and the rechristening of the town was celebrated by a picnic held in Sawyer's Grove, July 5, 1869 the day when the act went into effect. An amusing incident in connection with this change of name, is to be found in the town records. It appears that a meeting was called on the second Tuesday of November, 1869, "to see if the town would vote to notify Hon. August Belmont of New York, that the town had been named Belmont, as a mark of honor to him, and invite him to make a donation to the town as a token that he appreciates this action of the town." It further appears from the records that "the prayer of the petitioners was granted." But this language only applies to the action of the meeting. The prayer for a donation has been been granted. The great banker has shown himself surprisingly indifferent to the high honor thus conferred upon him, not having acknowledged the compliment even by the inexpensive formality of a courteous letter. ... It should be added, for the good name of the town, that only fifty-eight voters were present at the meeting in question, to share the responsibility for this mendicants' appeal. The Belmont of today [1885] is a thriving famring and manufacturing town. By "Fogg's Statistical Gazetteer" (1875) it ranks twenty-first among the towns of the State in the value of its agricultural products.... GEOGRAPHY: Belmont is bounded on the north by Laconia and Gilford; east by Gilford and Gilmanton; south by Gilmanton and Canterbury; west by Northfield and by the Winnipesaukee River and its line of lakes which separate the town from Tilton and Sanbornton. The surface of the town is broken, hills abounding everywhere except in the southwestern part, where the land is low and level. The western and northern parts of the town..boast of several houses for the accomodation of summer guests, the largest and best-known being the "Bay View," near the Laconia line. The views from "Ladd Hill," "Gale Hill," and "Prescott Hill," all within two miles of Laconia cannot easily be surpassed... ROADS There are many pleasant drives, the most attractive being the "Province Road," the road from Belmont village to Laconia, that to Gilmanton Academy, and the shadowy, leafy "Hollow Route," -- always pronounced "holler out" in the local vernacular. .. The most notable natural curiosity in town, is "Porcupine Ledge," one and one-half miles southeast of the village. The name carried its own explanation. Porcupines are seldom seen at this time, but quills are frequently found. The "Ledge" is really a remarkable place, and well repays the slight trouble which a visit to it involves.... It consists of a mass of great rocks, roughtly tumbled upon each other, and is about one hundred and fifty feet in height. Either the ascent or descent is considerably laborious, but entirely devoid of danger. The summit of the cliff is formed by the great, overhanging "Table Rock"... Directly below is "Pulpit Rock," the largest of the number. It is about seventy-five feet high on its lower side, and almost perfectly perpendicular. The main rock is surmounted by a smaller one, whose fancied resemblance to a pulpit doubtless explains the name. Other points of interest are the "Kitchen," the "Arch," "Devil's Den" and the "Bottomless Pit," -- the last tow having no know diabolical associations that would seem to justify their unfortunate names. Local tradition has it that many years ago a gang of counterfeiters here made their rendezvous. The place has long been a favorite resort for those who have known of its charms. It enjoys high favor among the students of Gilmanton Academy who come hither en masse at least once a year. Indeed, the "Ledge" appears always to have had a subtle but strong attraction for all love-sick youths and maidens, whether fresh from academic halls, or escaping for an hour from the din of factory life. The well-worn path down its steep side is a veritable "Lovers' Lane." The great rocks, could they speak, might repeat many an amorous tale whispered within their inviting shade....The scarred trunks of the old tres bear the illegible outtlines of many a pair of initials carved in close and suggestive propinquity... The only village in Belmont, the "Factory Village" of a half-century ago, and the "Fellows' Mills" of a still more remote period, is situated five and one-half miles east of Tilton, six miles south of Laconia and eighteen miles north of Concord, and occupies both banks of the Belmont River, or Great Brook, as it was formerly called. The village has a population [1885] of between five hundred and six hundred, or nearly one half the entire population of the town... The principal business block is the building erected by Geo. W. Riley in 1874, and now owned [1885] by Haven Grant. The building is forty by sixty feet; and lower part is used for the post office, a store, and tenements, the second story for tenements, and in the third is the principal hall of the town. The First Fre-Will and Christian Churches (referred to earlier) are located here. In 1885 the business directory is as follows: Postmaster, C.O. Judkins; groceries and dry goods, D.S. Hoyt Co. and Bean & Smith; watches and jewelry, F.K. Johnson; meats and provisions, A.T. Bean; papers and periodicals, G.W. Hunt; millinery, Mrs. R.G. Hoyt; confectionery and cigars, C.O. Judkins; drugs E.C. Bean; hotels, Brown's Hotel (A.W. Brown), Belmont House (Ira Mooney); Gilmanton Mills, hosiery, M. Sargent, Jr., agent, D.W. Gale, clerk; lawyer; E.P. Thompson; physician, S.A. Merrill; justices, W.C. Wells, C.A. Hackett, A.P.B. Currier, I. Piper, J.W. Wells, E.P. Thompson, D.W. Judkins, I. Mooney, A.J. Hackett, E.C. Bean, C.E> Moody, J.B. Matthews, M.H. Philbrick, F.K. Johnson; livery stable, N.D. Garmon; blacksmiths, Abbott & West; builders, Cyrus Norris, Edgar Willard, Andrew Phillips, Dayton Hunkins; barbers, G. Woodward, H.J. Fuller. Belmont has no railroad, but excellent mail and passenger facilities are afforded by the Tilton and Gilmanton line of stages, Davis & Son, proprietors....A branch line of the Winnipesaukee Bell Telephone Company runs through the town to Gilmanton Corner and Gilmanton Iron-Works, the central office in Belmont being the post-office. Gilmanton Mills, of Belmont [the largest manufactory of hosiery in New Hampshire in 1885], is situated on the south of the road to Tilton, and occupy the site of the old Badger mill (and this building erected in 1834 is still standing and forms one of the group)... previous to 1865 the mill was used in the manufacture of cotton Sheeting. At that time M. Sargent Esq. of Lake village, bought it, put in new machinery, and began to manufacture hosierty. In 1870 Hon. Amos Lawrence of Boston became the owner. Farrarville is a small collection of houses, situated on the river, one and a half miles northeast of the village. Formerly there was a mill here for the manufacture of cotton batting. The site is at present [1885] occupied by N.D. Garmon's lumber mill. SOME OFFICERS OF THE TOWN 1859 --, --, representative; John L. Keasor, Lyman B> Fellows, Jeduthan Farrar, selectmen; N.D. Garmon, clerk; John W. Wells, treasurer, S. Lowell French, school committee. 1860 - Morrison Rowe, representative; Lyman B. Fellows, Perley Farrar, Stephen L. Taylor, selectmen, N.D. Garmon, clerk; John W. Wells, treasurer; S. Lowell French, school committee. [book goes on to list town officers from 1861-1885, not listed here]. BIOGRAPHIES Mentions Joseph M. Folson, John W. Wells, Charles A. Hackett, Moses Sargent, Jr., Napoleon B. Gale, Hazen Gale, Captain William Badger, but briefly and with little genealogical material of value, so it is omitted in this abstract. (end)