Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 5.djvu/440

 40 2 THE GRANITE MONTHLY.

"This government continued till 1836, when the governments of Lower Canada and of New Hampshire, each endeavored to exercise jurisdiction over the territory, resulting in the arrest and carrying off across the border, by an armed force of twelve men, from Canada, Richard L Blanchard, a deputy sheriff, for the discharge of his duty as such under the laws of New Hampshire, and his rescue, on Canadian soil on the same day by a party of mounted men, some sixty in number, from the adjoining towns in Vermont and New Hampshire. Two of the Canadian party were severely wounded in the melee — one by a pistol shot in the groin, the other by a sabre cut in the head.

"This was immediately followed by what is known as the Lidian Stream war. The 5th company infantry, 24th regiment New Hampshire militia, under the old military organization, under command of Capt. James Mooney, was called out by Adjt.-Gen. Low and stationed at Fletcher's mills, to protect the inhab- itants against the encroachments of the Canadian authorities. The whole difficulty was happily terminated by the treaty before referred to.

" From its incorporation in 1843, to i860, the increase in population was only about fifty. At the commencement of the Rebellion, the town contained four hundred and fifty inhabitants, — yet this small number furnished seventy men to aid our country in the hour of its peril, being largely represented in the 2d and 13th New Hampshire regiments. Amos and Simon Merrill were the first to enlist at the first call for three months and reenlisted before the expira- tion of their term, for three years, or during the war. The former was shot dead on the field at the first battle of Bull Run. The last mentioned, after having been engaged in thirteen regular battles, lost a leg at Gettysburg, and is now doing good manual labor in clearing up a new farm in this town. A fear- ful fatality seemed to decimate the ranks of our Pittsburg soldiers, — shown by desolate homes and the mutilated and scarred veterans who returned.

" From the close of the late war to the present time, Pittsburg has slowly but steadily gained in population and material prosperity. It has now a popu- lation of 618, with 160 voters, and a taxable valuation of $450,000.

" It contains two stores, one church (Methodist), two hotels, two postoffices, three saw mills, two grist mills, and is the center of an extensive and prosper- ous lumbering operation, carried on by the Connecticut River Lumber Com- pany, having its principal office at Hartford, Conn., Hon. Asa Smith, president and manager.

" This lumber company has already expended about ^80,000 in this town on the river and streams, to facilitate the driving of logs.

"The company employs from 500 to 700 men, about nine months in the year, and one hundred horses, in cutting and driving logs, mostly spruce, down the Connecticut to their mills at North Hampton, Holyoke, and Hartford, Conn., and manufacture 40,000,000 feet per annum.

"Their supplies, amounting to 250 tons per annum, are drawn by teams from North Stratford station, on the Grand Trunk Railway, to Connecticut lake, a distance of thirty-eight miles.

" This company has 98,000 acres of timber lands in Pittsburg, and 10,000 acres in the Connecticut valley below.

"The Mclndoes lumber company, George VanDyke manager, owns 10,000 acres of land, now manufacturing 12,000,000 feet per annum.

" The soil of Pittsburg is particularly adapted to grazing purposes, being of slate formation. Very little granite is found here.

" Excellent meadows are found in the valleys of Hall and Indian streams and on the main Connecticut river. Back from the river and streams the sur- face of the country is broken and uneven — the lateral spurs of the White Mountain range extending across the country to a considerable extent in the lake region.

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