Collection number:
Size:
(1 box)
(0.1 cu.ft.)
About Springfield, NH
Springfield, Sullivan County, N.H. was settled in 1769 as Protectworth and incorporated as Springfield in 1794. Prior to 1827 it was part of Cheshire County. The population in 1840 was 1,252 and had shrunk to 540 by 1890.
About the Selectman's Correspondence
This small collection of correspondence covers many aspects of public and private life in Springfield between the 1840s and 1890s. Topics include road maintenence, board of the town's poor, taxes, child abuse, surveying, births and deaths, town votes, school district redivisioning, and so on. Levi Richardson was the town clerk during the early part of this collection's years, followed by Martin M. Wiggens by the 1870s.
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
This collection is open.
Copyright Notice
Contents of this collection are governed by U.S. copyright law. For questions about publication or reproduction rights, contact Special Collections staff.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], [Folder Number], Springfield New Hampshire Selectmen's Correspondence, 1841-1893, MC 349, Milne Special Collections and Archives, University of New Hampshire Library, Durham, NH, USA.
Acquisitions Information
Donation by Carmin Valentino, 2018
Collection Arrangement
Arrangement is chronological.
Collection Contents
| Folder 1 | Correspondence, 1841-1842
Town boundry survey notice; Town road survey; Petition for a new road in town (road commissioners: Bartholomew Smith; William H. Gage; Daniel Bachelder; Thomas Chellis; John Gunnison; -hiel Silsby). |
| Folder 2 | Correspondence, 1854-1858
Road work petition; Request for muskets; Request for support of a John Small from the town of Jaffery; Demand for recompense following the injury of a horse on Springfield roads; Town tax report from Levi Richardson town clerk; Matters related to the estate of Jos Nichels; Request from Manchester NH for support of Moses E. Flanders and his wife (several letters); Reply to a request to Newbury for the support of James B. Richardson and family; Request to fix road; Reply from Stewartstown re: support of Daniel F. Collins and wife; Request for funds to cover the board of Rhoolia (sp.?) Russell from Lorenzo Bailey; Request to reaccess school taxes; Notifications of town meeting; Correspondence relating to a lawsuit brought by Edwin Stewell over the condition of Springfield's roads; Contract between Abram S. Philbrisk and wife for work on the town poor farm. |
| Folder 3 | Correspondence, 1860-1869
Support of Mother [illegible] in Wililamsburg VT by an E.K. Perkins; Injury of a horse falling through a town bridge; Support of Mrs Betsy George "insane" in the city of Manchester; Petition for correction of taxes from Smith N. Stevens; Letter from Mary E. Heath; Correspondence regarding the 1865 draft; Injury of Rev. W.H. Mason's horse; Deed transfers; Requests for school tax payments; Ongoing haggles over money paid for "broken horses"; Request for money to cover cost of hams destroyed in a mudslide covering a town road; Filling vacancy in no. 9 school district; Petition for attention to the matter of Oscar R. Buswell's horse, etc. |
| Folder 4 | Correspondence, 1870-1879
Support of paupers (Reuben F. Stevens, Joseph Bailey, Amos Fowler and wife, Charles E. Fletcher with wife and two children, Wallace Corlis or Corles, Jeremiah Stevens, Hannah or Hanah Philinda of Grantham, Henry Willey and family of Hill, Frank Russell and family, Jack F. Rowell); Claims against the town for horse injuries on its roads; Notifications of debts owed; Taxes on women's property when held by their husbands; Money owed by the town; Support of daughter-in-law of Warren Lewis and her children in Newport 1873; Distruction of Jonathan Clay's flock of sheep by a loose dog; Death in January 1874 of a Mrs. George C. Austin (possibly African American - mentions emanciption); Notice of town meeting; Highway survey for 1879. |
| Folder 5 | Correspondence, 1880-1889
Support of town paupers (Nelson Young and family - extensive correspondence, Sarah H. Tabine or Jabine, widow of Heirane S. Barber, Levi Ray son-in-law of Alenzo J. Barden, Orwin P. Heath of Graften Center, Aaron Rowell); Estate of Horence S. Fowler; Schoolhouse repairs; Complaints about the roads; Petition to remove a grandchild from the care of Jane Corliss and Jim Whalor due to abuse; Complaints about taxation; Information from other towns about maintaining their roads; Request to disinter an infant child of Mrs. Alexander Stevens and move it to be with its brother Charles who also died young; Lawsuits related to road conditions. |
| Folder 6 | Correspondence, 1890-1893
Request for funds to cover Mrs. Manly's stay in the state hospital; Request for town reports from the NH Historical Society; Requests to answer mail. |
| Folder 7 | Correspondence, Undated
Matters related to money and land abutments/taxes; Results of town meeting votes; A warning to look out for Charles Quimby; Requests for food and supplies to be sent via the stage. |
