Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 5.djvu/143

THE OLD RED MILL. 121 Hopkinton, and, for nearly thirty years thereafter, not one was found in Henniker or Warner, — went forward, and, at large expense, erected a mill at the "great falls," whereon is now the site of St. Paul's School. This is the Old Red Mill whose memory we would perpetuate.

Lovejoy's stay here was short. He sold his interest to his partner, and removed to what is now West Concord, where he erected another mill, which stood (the writer is informed), on the ground now occupied by Holden's upper woollen factory, and Barachias Farnum was henceforth the sole proprietor of this far-famed mill on Turkey River. Here, for a quarter of a century and considerably more, he stood at his post, giving faithful service to all his patrons, whether from far or near.

But the times were perilous. From 1742 to 1754, Lidian atrocities, in and about Penacook, as well as in other parts of the province, were of frequent occurrence. These depredations were not committed by the Penacooks, but by Indians mostly from Canada, who were instigated by the French to their deeds of blood. So long as the Penacooks remained in this section of the country, they were, mainly through the kind consideration extended to them by the first minister of Concord, friendly to the inhabitants.

In 1739, there were apprehensions of danger from these foreign Indians, and the town of Penacook, by vote, ordered "that a garrison should be built round the house of Rev. Mr. Walker, and that five pounds should be granted to Barachias Farnum to enable him to build a flanker in order to defend his mills on Turkey River."

In 1742, on the Hopkinton road, about seventy rods from the Old Red Mill, the wife of Jonathan Eastman was captured by a party of Indians, and carried to Canada. She was soon thereafter redeemed, with a price, and restored to her family.

August 11, 1746, the great Rumford Massacre occurred. This, too, was on the Hopkinton road, and about three fourths of a mile to the eastward of our mill. Abner Clough, clerk of Captain Ladd's company of Indian scouts, gives a graphic description of this massacre, from whom we quote: —

Captain Ladd and his company were from Exeter, and that region, and the "garrison," mentioned above, to which this squad of men was marching, stood on a ledge, on the south side of the Hopkinton road, and about eighty rods from the Old Red Mill. Indications of the exact spot where this garrison stood are yet visible.

Clough continues: —