men took position close to either side of the boat, facing the bow and about six feet from it, and each worked his oar against a thole-pin placed in the opposite gunwale, the oar handles crossing, so that they were necessarily worked simultaneously. The skipper also had his oar, which he worked in a similar manner when his attention was not wholly taken up in steering. When there was a fair wind the sail would be hoisted. The current also materially assisted on the downward trip, and sometimes the poles would be used. and, with his feet firmly braced against the cross-timbers in the bottom of the boat, he exerted the strength of his body and legs to push the boat forward. As it moved, he stepped along the bottom of the boat still bracing his shoulder firmly against the pole until he had walked in this manner to the mast-board,-or, rather, until the movement of the boat had brought the mast-board to him. He then turned round and walked to the bow, trailing his pole in the water, thrust it again to the bottom of the river, and repeated On the return trip against the current, the setting poles were the chief reliance, but sometimes aided by the sail. The cargo was so piled in the boat as to leave a narrow passage next each gunwale from the bow to the mastboard. There was also a clear space of six to ten feet left at the bow, and enough at the stern to allow the tiller to be moved freely across the boat. To propel the boat by poling, a bowman stood on either side of the bow, with his face towards the stern, and thrusting the pike end of his pole down beside the boat in a slanting direction towards the stern until it struck the bottom of the river, he placed his shoulder against the top of the pole, the pushing movement. The skipper also had his pole, but having very limited space to work in, and being obliged to mind the helm pretty closely in moving against the current, he could do comparatively little to aid the progress. These modes of propulsion applied only to the river and the river canals. The boats were towed through the Middlesex canal by horses. A trip from Concord to Boston and return usually took from seven to ten days. Concord, Piscataquog, Litchfield, and and Nashua each had its lines of boats, making in the aggregate quite a little fleet. The broad reaches of the river below Nashua were at times rendered especially picturesque by the bellying sails as the boats drove before the structed for navigation purposes about wind. the same time as the other Merrimack river canals but by different parties, who subsequently (in 1821) sold out to the Lowell manufacturing companies. Newburyport rafts usually consisted of ship-timber, masts, lumber, and wood; and, if starting from any place below Amoskeag falls, could be made into larger shots than those destined to pass through the Middlesex canal, because the Pawtucket canal locks were much larger. This part of the river had also upon it, for three or four years subsequent to 1834, a fair-sized steamboat, plying for passengers and freight between Nashua and Lowell. She was commanded one season by Capt. Jacob Vanderbilt of Staten Island, New York, brother to the late Commodore Vanderbilt. In the early part of the season, while the water of the river was at its highest stages, it was also thronged with logs and lumber being taken down for market. The larger falls being impassable except by a great enterprise in that day. Boston The construction of these canals was their canals the logs and lumber had necessarily to be bound into rafts of such dimensions as would pass through the locks. And at the larger canals, such as the Amoskeag and Middlesex, the labor of locking down and towing these rafts called shots was very considerable and consumed much time. Between canals these shots were bound together into large rafts of eight or ten shots, called bands, and floated down with the current, generally at high water, avoiding the locks at the smaller canals by running the falls. Many of these rafts continued down the river to Newburyport, passing the Pawtucket falls through a canal and locks con was a town of only about twenty thousand inhabitants when the Middlesex canal was opened; neither Lowell nor Manchester had been commenced; Nashua was a small place, without manufacturing, and Concord was a country village. Massachusetts granted in aid of the Middlesex canal two townships in Maine, of small value at that time, and but little was realized from them. Curiously enough, a very considerable portion of the money for the enterprise was raised by lotteries. Notably so in the case of the Amoskeag canal, the projectors of which were at several different times authorized by the legis managers alleged that a part of the money which they did pay over was illegally used by Blodgett in building "a splendid mansion" for his own residence. The "mansion" in question was certainly built (about 1795) and occupied by Blodgett until his death in 1807; but it was asserted by him, and seems wholly probable, that the cost of its construction came entirely from his private purse. The engraving at the head of this article gives a good representation of the house and its surroundings about forty years after its erection, at which time sketches were taken from which the present drawing was made. It stood between the river and the old boating canal, below the upper locks, and a little north of the present site of the Hoyt paper mills. In 1870, or about that time, it was torn down to but still a heavy, matter-of-fact structure, relieved only by the picturesque row of tall, lombardy poplars, then in fashion at houses of any pretension, and by the soft yellow and red colors in which the buildings were painted. Internally it had its large square rooms, its tall clock, its brass fire-irons in open fireplaces, its wide kitchen chimney and its great chambers and attic, common to all its class. But the attaching outbuildings were uncommonly numerous, and included a little red store, containing that indescribable and innumerable assortment of goods required by a rural community. The owner and master of this mansion, from 1820 to 1837, was Frederick G. Stark; a man of the times; in the meridian of life contemporaneously with the canal; superintendent of all the navigation works upon the river above Middlesex canal; merchant, politician, trial justice, surveyor, and among the foremost in all the business activities of the time and place. A short sketch of his life may appropriately be given in this connection. Silhouette profile of Frederick G. Stark. Frederick Gilman Stark was born in the house of his grandfather, General John Stark, at Derryfield, now Manchester, August 6, 1792. The place of his birth was upon land in the northerly part of Manchester, now owned by the state of New Hampshire, and occupied for the Reform School. The house was destroyed by accidental fire in 1866. Of the five sons of General John Stark, the third one, John, Jr., known in his day as the "justice," inherited the family mansion and home farm, where he had lived with and assisted his distinguished father during the last forty years of the life of the old patriot, and where he spent the remainder of his own long life engaged mostly in agricultural pursuits. His third son, Frederick, the subject of this memoir, was one of a family of twelve children, all of whom lived to advanced age and raised families of their own. Starting in life with the advantage of a good physical constitution, as indicated by the remarkable longevity of the family, and what may perhaps be considered a further advantage of comparative poverty, the family property being inadequate to the support of so many children without exertions of their own, -Frederick seems to have developed at an early age a rugged spirit of selfreliance, and a determination to make his way in the world by his own efforts. The years of childhood were passed at home. The daily duties of the establishment required such aid from the children as they were able to give. In the winter there was some schooling, and in this direction he seems to have shown great aptitude, especially for figures. There is now in existence a manuscript book of complete arithmetic of the higher grade wholly in his handwriting, with all the rules and examples worked out in detail, embracing simple rule of three, inverse proportion, compound proportion, practice, tare and tret, single fellowship, simple interest, compound interest, commission brokerage, insurance, discount, bank discount, equation of payments, barter, loss and gain, alligation medial, alligation alternate, position, double position, vulgar fractions, and decimals. This manuscript book is dated in 1809, and has the appearance of being his own composition. There is no positive evidence of its originalty, but it is at least evident that he thoroughly mastered the subjects of which it treats. He was then seventeen years of age and in attendance upon school in Londonderry. His studious inclinations in these early youthful days seem to have opened many schoolhouses to his care; and from 1810, when he was eighteeen years old, until more mature years brought higher responsibilities that absorbed all his time and energies, we find records of his teaching, for the usual short periods of winter schooling, in various districts of Manchester and the neighboring towns. During this period he also mastered, without a teacher, the art of surveying land; and subsequently, up to a late time in his life, his ability as a surveyor was endorsed by extensive employment throughout his own and neighboring towns. His surveys, plans, and papers relating thereto are yet much sought after as standard references. He was also an elegant penman and bookkeeper, his account-books being models of neatness and accuracy. But teaching in those days could not be a regular occupation. Schools were only for a short term in the winter. Teachers were poorly paid, and only taught when more profitable occupation was not at hand. Other business must be depended upon, in the main, for a livelihood. A natural aptitude and inclination for trade led him first to apply for a situation in a country store; and in 1810 he took his first lessons with Riddle & Whittle, in their Bedford (Piscataquog) store, and remained with them about six months. He then changed into the neighboring store of Parker & Palmer, where he remained two years, leaving December 26, 1812. That winter he kept school in district No. 1 of Manchester; and in the spring of 1813, desiring to see something of the surrounding country, he travelled through most of the towns of Hillsborough, Rockingham, and Middlesex 66 Sunday-Went to the Roman Catholic Church in the forenoon, and in the afternoon went in company with Charles Stark over Cragie's bridge and round to Charlestown. Went on to Bunker Hill; climbed on to General Warren's monument, and saw two British frigates lying off in Boston Bay; returned to Boston. Boston "Monday - Started from about 11 o'clock and travelled to old Concord. Put up at Davis'es, about two miles north of the town. "Tuesday Passed up as far as Westford. Sold five or six dollars' worth of goods during the day. "Wednesday-Passed through Carlisle and Groton and put up in Pepperell. "Thursday - Went from Pepperell to the upper part of Hollis. Stayed at the clothiers. "Friday-Arrived at Amherst about noon; took dinner, and then came on and put up a little before night at the widow's. "Thursday, April 29th- Passed through Londonderry, Hampstead, |