The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1902-09-05
A Letter to Old Home Friends.

early DOynOOQ nome. IL Was rem
iniscent letter and later appeared
in the Haverhi1l Evening Gazette.
From that paper we copy it, as be-
low:
81 remember Haverhi1l, Mass,
with good deal of pleasure and
have many very pleasant recollec-
tions of my ten years residence
there. My fathers family moved
to Haverhi1l from Boston about 1880,
and we moved to Bradford VT, in
June, 1910, when l was nearly 10
years of age. l remember all about
Haverhi11, it's streets and buildings,
the Merrimack and Little rivers,
Round pond, Plug pond and Great
pond, as they were then called. l
was there when the Congregational
church divided and the Unitarians
took the old church edifice and the
Orthodox built fine house later on
old house stood. l went to school
in the old town schoolhouse on the
north side of the common before
there was any system in the matter
of schools or any grades. When I
first went to school in the town
house school there were over 100 boys
of all ages and sizes in one room
under the instruction of Giles Kim
ball, who ruled with the rod and fer
taught by Charles H. Allen, who
advertised to instruct without corpo-
raj punishment, but he changed his
method before the middle of the
first term. Rev. Mr.. Whittlesey was
the pastor of the Congregational
(the Orthodoxy church. My mother
was a member of the Orthodox church
and our family worshipped there.
Squire Parker was the superintend-
ent of the Sunday school.
"Drs. Whiting and Longley are
the doctors that l remember. Col.
William Brown kept the Eagle hotel
on Main street and Rufus Slocum
kept hotel on Water street, or per-
haps it was Merrimack street. The
Boston & Maine railroad came into
town before we left in 1910. l sup
pose there were not $500 people in
Haverhi1l then. Shoemaking was
the great business of the town, but
all the work was done by hand. The
shoemakers came into town from
distance of more than so miles and
took the stock home and made the
shoes in their own houses and re-
turned them when they had finished
case of 600 pairs.
"'The boys were permitted to slide
down hill on Main street. One or
two ships were built and launched
in Haverhill every year, and re-
member one being rugged there.
Capt. Caldwell ran a New England
rum distillery near the shipyard.
Small coasting vessels came up the
river to Haverhi1l. Shad and salm-
on and sturgeon were caught at the
Sands in seines to the number of
over a hundred at a haul.
perhaps I may be permitted to
say a word about myself in this RAM
bling letter. 1 began to study Lat
in in the Haverhi11 academy and fit
ted for college two years in advance
at the Bradford, VT, academy, where
you later went to school to me as
preceptor of that academy. I grad
uated at the University of Vermont
in Burlington in 1S49. 1 taught &C
ademies in Durham, Canada, and
Franklin and Bradford, VT. 1 was
to the bar in 1857, was state
attorney in 1860 to 1862, was state
senator in 1869 and 1870. 1 was
in the war of the rebellion
in 1861, and observation-disclosures in
1862 and 1868; also governor of Yer
mont from October, 1880, to October,
1882.
81 visited Haverhil1 in 1890 and
stopped at the home of the late DR..
Crowel1, who was an old playmate of
mine before 1910. then met Caleb
Jersey, whom l had known when
boy.
"But 1 must stop. 1 wanted to
show you how much 1 thought of
the home of my boyhood.
If you meet any person who remem-
bers me or my fathers family, give
them a hearty greeting for me.
Your friend and preceptor,
ROSWELL FARNHAM. F."