Francestown, New Hampshire in the 1860s: what life was like

Looking around

You stand in a small New Hampshire hill town, not a city: the whole town counts only about 1,082 people in 1860³. The old road through town is the Second New Hampshire Turnpike route², once a Boston-to-Montreal stage connection. Around the center are civic and school buildings tied to Francestown Academy², where pupils have come from beyond the town. Beyond the village the land is worked as farms, with waterpower places such as the Carson saw and grist mill⁵ on the New Boston Road. Soapstone is not folklore here: Francestown stone is cut into sinks, tubs, fireplaces, boiler tops, and stove linings⁴. The town has merchants selling dry goods and groceries, a postmaster, selectmen, a town clerk, physicians, and Congregational clergymen. But the place is thinning: by 1870 the count will fall to .

Yore

What the sources say

Francestown’s population was recorded as 1,082 in 1860 in one census-derived local table. from the sources³

Francestown’s population fell from 1,114 in 1850 to 1,082 in 1860 and to 932 in 1870, a sharp postwar decline. from the sources³

The Second New Hampshire Turnpike, completed in 1800, crossed Francestown from southeast to northwest on the Amherst-to-Claremont route. inferred²

The Francestown section of the old turnpike had two toll sites, but the road ceased to be a toll road in 1837, before this decade. inferred²

Francestown Academy operated from 1800 to 1921 and offered high-school-level instruction. inferred²

Francestown Academy taught subjects including arithmetic, geography, history, Greek, and Latin, and some students boarded in local homes. inferred²

A New Hampshire legal opinion published in 1860 described Francestown soapstone being made into sinks, tubs, fireplaces, boiler tops, grate linings, stove linings, and slabs. from the sources⁴

The Carson saw and grist mill at Mill Village, first built in 1785 and later rebuilt, was sold in 1863 to John West, who continued its operation. inferred⁵

The same Carson mill burned in 1870 after Horace Manahan bought it, just at the end of the decade. inferred⁵

Francestown was incorporated on January 8, 1772 and had earlier been called New Boston Addition. from the sources⁶

An 1868 New Hampshire political register listed Samuel D. Downs as Francestown postmaster. from the sources⁶

The same 1868 register listed Thomas E. Fisher, Henry Richardson, and Newell D. Dean as selectmen, and Daniel F. Patch as town clerk. from the sources⁶

In 1868 Francestown merchants included Downes Brothers and Vose & Clark, described as dealers in dry goods and groceries. from the sources⁶

In 1868 the register named Austin Richards, D.D., and Samuel C. Bradford as Congregational clergymen in Francestown. from the sources⁶

In 1868 the register named Daniel F. Frye and George H. Bixby as Francestown physicians. from the sources⁶

The town history’s table of contents treats the Military Record of Francestown, Francestown Academy, roads and bridges, mills and manufactures, the soapstone quarry, villages, and post offices as major topics. from the sources¹

The Civil War would have been the largest national event of the decade for Francestown families, because New Hampshire furnished Union regiments and local men served in them. inferred

No online source opened here gives a room-by-room description of ordinary Francestown houses in the 1860s. not known

No online source opened here gives everyday wages or store prices for Francestown in the 1860s. not known

Francestown, New Hampshire in the 1860s

Looking around

Francestown, New Hampshire in the 1860s

Looking around

Work

Farms, mills, stone

Faith

Congregational authority remains

Law & power

Selectmen run the town

In the air

Academy learning, war politics

What people feared

War and waterpower

Home & table

Boarders in houses

Money

Stores, but prices missing

Roads & news

Road, post, stage memory

Year by year

What the sources say

Sources

Nearby, about the same time

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