History in towns: Haverhill Corner, New Hampshire

Magazine Antiques, Dec, 2004 by William Nathaniel Banks

The advertisements of local merchants and innkeepers in Haverhill Corner's weekly newspapers in the early decades of the nineteenth century evoke the style of life in the village. In January 1823, for example, Noah Davis (see Fig. 1) announced that he had just received

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from the City of Boston, a good assortment of GOODS, which he offers for
sale on the most reasonable terms, for Cash, most kinds of Produce, or
approved credit.... His assortment is too numerous to enumerate in an
advertisement, consisting of American, English and West India Goods,
Groceries, Crockery and Glass Ware, Hard Ware--shoes of all kinds--
Ladies' and Misses boots a very necessary article for this season of the
year--also DRUGS and MEDICINES. (1)

In November 1825 Prentiss Knight (1797-1874)

Respectfully informs the gentlemen of Haverhill, and the public, that be
has commenced the TAILORING BUSINESS, in this Village, and now offers
them the newest fashions of every description of Gentlemen's Clothing.

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In March 1824 Stephen Adams (see Fig. 1 and Pls. III, VI, VII, XVI) notified "his Customers ... that they can be accommodated with as good and Fashionable Furniture, as can be found in any of the New-England states." (3) In March 1829 Adams's competitor, the partnership of Carleton and Tracy.

Inform their friends and the public that they continue to carry on the
Cabinet Making Business in all its branches.... They have on hand and
are constantly manufacturing the following articles of rich and tasty
CABINET FURNITURE ... sideboards, secretaries, lockers, bureaus, with
top drawers and looking glasses. Grecian, Card, Dining, Pembroke,
Extension, Work and BREAKFAST TABLES with and without bags. Sofas,
Chairs, & c. (4)

The shopper might also be tempted by stores displaying ladies' millinery, jewelry, silverware, and ornamental paintings, and the visitor was urged to patronize the Grafton Hotel (see Pl. XII) in an advertisement in the New Hampshire Post for February 24, 1830, inserted by Jonathan Sinclair, the proprietor of the hotel. He informed

his friends and former customers ... that his accommodations are much
superior to what they formerly were, and inferior to none in the
country. To the public generally he would observe, that his house shall
never become the haunt of tiplers, gamblers and idlers, but shall on all
occasions be found a pleasant and commodious resort for the weary
traveller, the man of business, and the gentlemen of pleasure.

All these amenities suggest a degree of affluence and urbanity remarkable for a country village in northern New Hampshire during the first half of the nineteenth century. This was, in fact, the golden age of Haverhill Corner, often called the Corner, one of the five villages comprising the township of Haverhill. (The others are East Haverhill, Pike, North Haverhill, and Woodsville.) It occupies the southwest corner of the township and perches serenely on a bluff two hundred feet above the Connecticut River, overlooking the alluvial meadows formed by the bends in the river. Handsome dwellings and public buildings surround a spacious fenced park divided into the north and south commons by Court Street (see Pl. II and Fig. 1) In the Corner's heyday a good private school, Haverhill Academy, prepared young men for college, and also accommodated young ladies. According to the Reverend John Leverett Merrill (1833-1913): "The village ... owes its early reputation for culture and refinement largely to the academy." (5) For almost a hundred years the Court of Common Pleas and the Court of Sessions of Grafton County met in Haverhill Corner, and until the advent of the railroad in 1853 the village was the hub for stage lines that connected the township with Concord, Boston, and New York City. In short, for the first half of the nineteenth century Haverhill Corner was the political, commercial, and social center of northern New Hampshire and the most important and liveliest village north of Concord.

Haverhill is situated in what is known as the Coos country, (6) in the upper Connecticut River valley. Eighteenth-century reports of the resources of the region were propitious. Hunters and trappers described fertile meadows and hills forested with white pine, birch, beech, maple, and hemlock. However, potential settlers were intimidated by the hostility of the French colonists and their Indian allies during the succession of wars between England and France. In the spring of 1752, while on a hunting expedition, John Stark (1728-1822) of Londonderry, New Hampshire, was captured by a party of Indians and was marched up the east bank of the Connecticut River to Canada. In the summer, following his release, he returned home by the same route, and his favorable account of the north country was an impetus to exploration and, eventually, settlement.

In 1754 Captain Peter Powers (1707-1757) led an exploratory party to the Coos country and confirmed Stark's report of wonderful resources. However, it was not until the capture of Montreal by the English in September 1760 virtually eradicated French power in America that colonists felt sufficiently safe to begin settling the upper Connecticut River valley.