JUNE

LIVERMORE FALLS REVISITED

In our August 1999 Supplement we described the combined summer outing of our three York Rite Bodies (RCC, KYCH, HRAKTP) which would be held on the 15th of that month, involving the Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad and a trip from Meredith to Livermore Falls and return. Although we were aware of Livermore Falls in Maine, we admitted our ignorance about a place called Livermore Falls in New Hampshire, which we could not find on any of our maps. We invited any information about that place that might be available in hopes that an explanation might be possible in a future supplement.

Well, our invitation was accepted, and a wealth of information on this subject has been provided to us by Brother and Companion George V. Durgin of Plymouth. He is Secretary of Pemigewasset Chapter No. 13, RAM, and Recorder of Omega Council No. 9, R&SM, both in Plymouth. We sincerely thank him for his interest and diligence in providing a full account of the Livermore family, and their impacts in the communities near Plymouth, including the Falls that carry the Livermore name. The following is a brief description of this most interesting bit of history.

The first Livermore to arrive from England was John, who came to New England with his wife Grace (Sherman) in 1634. They settled in Watertown, MA, and later New Haven, CT, where he was a prominent citizen and selectman in both towns. They had 10 children. Their son Samuel (1640) and his wife Anna (Bridge) lived in Watertown where he owned a grist mill and was a maltster and a selectman. They had 12 children. Their son Jonathan (1678) and his wife Rebecca (Barnes) lived in Watertown where he was a tanner. Their son Samuel (1702) and his wife Hannah (Brown) also lived in Watertown where he was a town clerk, a selectman for 22 years, representative for 18 years, town treasurer, and a deacon. They had 9 children. Their son Samuel (1732) was a distinguished lawyer in Portsmouth, Londonderry, and Holderness. As a fifth generation Livermore in this Country, he really begins our story about Livermore Falls.

Samuel Livermore was a distinguished lawyer at Portsmouth, Londonderry, and Holderness. On account of the imperfect and incompleted surveys of the towns, there was a great amount of litigation over conflicting titles. In such and other cases Samuel Livermore was constantly employed, and in several suits conducted by the joint grantees of a township he was paid in lands. He acquired other tracts by purchase, and at one time he owned several rights in the propriety of Plymouth, and many acres of divided land. He owned two-thirds of the whole township of Holderness. He never lived in Plymouth, and none of the family had a legal residence in that town, but he was counsel of the proprietors and of many citizens of the town. He was a potent factor in public affairs. He was Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Judicature, delegate from New Hampshire in the Continental Congress, representative in the Federal Congress, and United States Senator. He married Jane (Brown) in 1759. They had 2 children born in Portsmouth, and 3 children born in Londonderry. Their fourth child, Arthur (1766), continues our story of the Falls.

Arthur Livermore was a distinguished lawyer and jurist in New Hampshire. He and his brother opened a law office in Concord, and removed the next year to Chester. He was a representative and solicitor. He moved to Holderness in 1799, having been appointed to the bench. He was Associate Justice and later Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Judicature. Upon reorganization of the courts in 1813, he was appointed a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court. He was a presidential elector in 1800. He was elected to the 15th, 16th, and 18th Congresses. He was a State Senator, an appointed judge of probate in Grafton County, and Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. He was a trustee of Holmes Plymouth Academy (1808-1826). In 1827 he sold the Livermore farm in Holderness and moved to Campton. To his new home he gave the name of 'Cragie Burn', and there he remained until his death in 1853. This home near the Falls was really a quiet harbor after a long (86 years) and notable but often stormy life.

The Falls, which now bear the name of Livermore, were earlier known as Little's Falls, having been named for Moses Little (another story) who was prominent among the earlier settlers of Campton. In fact, the Little family had more to do with the history and growth of this section of the town than did any Livermore. The saw mill and grist mill located there, and built by Moses Little, appear on a map surveyed in 1773.

However, Judge Livermore was so much the great man at the Falls in the early 1800's that the neighbors were rather proud of his autocratic ways and eccentric speeches. They liked to tell the story of the small child who, one winter day, fretted and whined and annoyed everyone. At last the Judge, in exasperation, threw up the window, seized the astonished youngster and tossed him into a snowdrift to cool off. They also told of the service in the little Holderness church when a visitor, sitting near the Livermore pew, failed to kneel at the proper time. The Judge glared at him in displeasure, but without effect, and finally leaning forward, tapped him sharply on the shoulder with his cane. "Kneel!" said the old man imperiously, - and it is safe to say that the offender knelt.

We have a poem by Marie A. Hodge that really sums up the feelings of those in the neighborhood of Judge Livermore in his later days. Here it is:

ECHOES

From distant years the echoes ring, and to our minds the echoes bring

The deeds and fame of olden days, of olden times, and olden ways.

Long years ago, near Plymouth town, lived there a man of great renown;

His name and fame went far and wide beyond this little country-side.

His mansion stood beside the road, a fitting place for his abode,

With spacious rooms, and lofty halls, with polished floors and pictured walls.

Great elms their plumy shadows spread upon the door-yard's grassy bed.

His meadows stretched in either side, and were at once his joy and pride.

The river ran below the hill and turned the wheel of one old mill,

The ledgy banks led to the hills whose wooded slopes the picture fills.

A scene it was, - so it would seem, - to satisfy an Artist's dream.

Judge Livermore was lord of all, and we today his name recall:

The Falls, the Street, the Hall in town bear witness to his great renown.

And glad and proud are we today to hear his praise, and honor pay

To one whose fame went far and wide beyond our little country-side.

We hope that you have enjoyed reading this account of Livermore Falls, and how they came to bear that name. It was a joy to prepare it from such good material. RAR

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