QR Code Tour #8 - Eagle Hall
This beautiful building that sits on the East side of the oval with an Eagle on top of the cupola has a very interesting history.
The first meeting of the Southwest Parish of Amherst was held at the home of Thaddeus Grimes, later to become known as the Humphrey Moore house on Elm Street. At their annual meeting in March of 1783 it was decided to raise L32 (Pounds) to discharge expenses of the Parish and L95 to purchase timber, shingles and other materials for the building of a meetinghouse. Later that year it was decided to build a meetinghouse to sit twenty rods south of Shepard’s Bridge (today we call this The Stone Bridge) on a rise of ground between Shepard’s Bridge and the town common between two pine stumps. It was also decided that year to procure stone for the under pinning of the meetinghouse. David Goodwin’s 1846 diary stated “The house, it was voted, should be the size of the meetinghouse in the N. W. Parish of Amherst (now Mt Vernon). It was noted that the work of the frame should be done at 3/day and the workmen to find themselves with victuals and drink”. Temperance principles were not adhered to and the Parishioners “voted that the Committee provide 1 Barrel of Rum and 2 barrels of cider and 1 gr sugar for the raising”” according to the Goodwin diary. The first Monday in June 1784 the building began. It would cost L35 towards the expense, L20 to pay the preacher and 3 Shillings a day to each worker (he had to provide his own board). Money was scarce and the timbers had to be hewn by hand. The meetinghouse was raised the summer of 1784 and was known as the Third Church of Amherst until Millford was incorporated in 1794 when it became known as The First Congregational Church of Millford.
December 25, 1785 it was voted to have the windows, sashes, doorframes, door and other stuff completed by June 1786. Sashes were bid by Thomas Boynton L15 ½ old tenor; window frames by David Chandler L3, 10s; front door – Benjamin Conant 20 Shillings; body seats –Nathan Hutchinson, no sum given.
The parish met as a parish for the last time on October 29, 1792 and voted to paint the meetinghouse. January 11, 1794 the legislature charted the Town of Millford deriving its name from this area which was called The Mill by the Ford. (The State of New Hampshire required that a town have a meetinghouse before incorporation.
At the March 1798 annual meeting the house was glazed, painted and in most respects finished. The town voted to build four additional pews to be done by Abail Holt. There were a total of 42 pews in the meetinghouse. This substantially completed the house except for the belfry which was afterwards erected.
After years of interim pastors and offers to other pastors, the first pastor to accept the call was Humphrey Moore on October 13, 1802. He was born October 19, 1778 in Princeton, MA. His great, great, great Grandfather was John Moore who emigrated from England and settled in Cambridge but moved to Sudbury in 1643. Rev. Moore graduated from Harvard in 1799 at the age of 21.
In 1803 a meeting of the town was called to see if the town would erect a belfry in which to hang a bell. The town voted to build this belfry uniform with one at Francestown and when it was built one of the porches was removed. David Goodwin’s 1846 diary states ‘Sold 4 pews belonging to the town at from $99 to $136 each towards the expense of the belfry”. The bell was a gift from Perkins Nichols of Boston, a friend and distant relative by marriage of Humphrey Moore. This was the first home of our famous Paul Revere Bell . Goodwin’s diary states “The bell weighed about 800 pounds and cost about 50 cents per lb”. This would put the cost of the bell at about $401.00.
1783 to 1798 – fifteen years from conception to completion. It is not possible to determine the complete cost of the building due to imperfect records and a disturbed currency at the time. By 1794, when the South West Parish and other grants of land were charted by the State as the Town of Millford, the Dollar had come into use, doing away with the British Pound.
In January 1833 the town voted that each denomination should have the use of the meetinghouse for a portion of the year. Separation of church and State had occurred in 1824 but did not actually take effect until 1833. The Congregational church was allotted six months a year and the Baptist the other six months. When they were not using the building, the Congregationalists met at the Whitney & Bartlett Hall which was in the building now known as the Wallace Block at the corner of Union Square and South Street. At the end of 1833, The Congregational Church offered the town $500 for the meetinghouse, pay individuals for the pews, give the town the use of the building for all town business and keep the building in good repair at all times. The offer was rejected by town vote. There was no alternative for the Congregational Church but to leave and build their own church, which they did on Union Street in 1834.
Goodwin’s 1846 Diary states “July 1846 the Town voted to remove the old town meeting House about 4 rods N.E. of the former site, and fit it up for a Town House etc. with basement story for Fire Engine etc. The work commenced the 10th of August.” The building was turned halfway round so that the end of the building that faced went west now faced south; the square pews were taken out and the interior remodeled to make it more convenient for the general purposes of the town. The building was raised, two stores underneath completed, one of which was the post office. Pews varied in price – broad isle pews $2 per year; wall pews $1; gallery pews fifty cents and all others $1. At this time the Eagle was placed on the town house. The Eagle was said to have been carved by Mr. Chamberlain and brought to Milford by a horse and wagon. It was made of yellow pine, painted with gold leaf and had a wingspan of six feet. The town residents agreed to pay sums of money for the purchase of the Eagle, with the Eagle itself costing a total of $50. The signed agreement read “We the undersigned will pay sums set against our names to purchase an Eagle to be placed on the Town House. The expense will be $55. Milford N. H. Sept 14, 1846. Twenty-six men, the F&F Crosby firm and “The committee on the repair of the town House” donated various amounts. The town put in$20. The total expense was $64.50.
In 1866 a town clock was installed in the building. This clock was first lighted in 1923, From 1861 to 1870 the street floor space was occupied by the post office run by Edward Lovejoy and a lending library also run by Mr. Lovejoy. Other merchants also occupied space in the building. The basement served as the town jail until 1869 and as storage space for the fire department until 1857. In 1868 in preparation for the construction of the new town hall, the town purchased a lot of land called The Mill Lot from the Milford Cotton & Woolen Mill for $925.90 on which to place Eagle Hall. After Eagle Hall was moved, the town sold the land and the building to the Eagle Hall Company, a group of spiritualists, which included J.F. Boynton, Almon Booth, William Richardson, William Lovejoy and James Marvell. They held ghostly meetings in the hall until the fad died out.
When Eagle Hall was moved in 1869 the Common was enlarged to its present size. The addition of this area on the north side of the Common made it more of an oval shape, which is where the name “The Oval” was acquired. After 1869 the north storefront was occupied by druggist D. S. Burnham, while J.A. Wheeler’s hardware store occupied the south space. In 1889 William F. French, a pharmacist, purchased the stock of Mr. Burnham. Mr. French was a quiet man and a strong Baptist and would not sell tobacco in any form. He stocked his store with quality goods. Louis Hall was Mr. French’s right-hand man and it was he who cooked in the back room of the store a mouth-watering chocolate syrup which was used at the fountain to make the famous chocolate ice cream sodas and milk shakes, the smell of which carried out on the sidewalk, In 1903 the Eagle Hall Company enlarged the street front by removing the columns and sidewalk roof. In 1904 Mr. French bought out the stock of the hardware store from a Mr. Farnsworth and ran both businesses until he died in 1935. Grocery stores and hardware stores continued to occupy the storefronts until 1938 when the Aubuchon Company started their store and continued until 1979. Many other businesses have occupied the storefront and today in 2011 it is occupied by a Chinese restaurant.
In 1912 the Hall was briefly used for the showing of moving pictures. Mrs. Mary Burnham Richardson received a license to operate regular moving-picture shows. Clarence Richardson, a lifelong resident of Milford, told this writer many years ago that he remembered going to the movies in Eagle Hall. The moves became so popular that later in 1912 Mrs. Richardson purchased the Shanahan barn on Middle Street and remodeled it into the Star Theatre, which later became the Strand Theatre. In 1919 the heirs of the Eagle Hall Company sold the building to the Odd Fellows. Since that date the upstairs hall has been used strictly for their meetings and for those of the Rebecca’s.
From 1928 to 1930 the Eagle on Eagle Hall was refurbished as it had suffered damage to a wing and a foot in a bad wind storm. It had taken a year to dry out the wooden bird and a year to restore and paint it. It was then replaced on its perch. In February 1996 the Eagle again suffered damage as one wing broke off during a storm. The Eagle had been taken down and “a new Eagle carved by John Weidman of Brookline. He chose aged western red cedar because this wood is resistant to pests and the weather. The special lumber was donated by PJ Currier Lumber Co Inc. of Amherst. According to the Inventory of American Painting and Sculpture of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, this is the largest free standing carved wood eagle in the country listed in their database at that time. The new eagle has a wingspan of 8 feet 10 inches and a body length of 5 feet, which is 6 inches long than the original Eagle. The Eagle was replaced Wednesday, September 15, 1999 at 2 pm with a great ceremony attended by local school children and hundreds of local residents. The cost of the new Eagle was approximately $12,000 with the cost of installation about $45000. All this work was done by donations raised by Dalton Jewett with major donations by the Gen Frank E. Kaley Foundation, the Arthur L. Keyes Memorial Trust, Hitchiner Manufacturing Co as well as private citizens.
The original 1846 Eagle now sits in the balcony of the Town Hall auditorium. It was also restored by Mr. Weidman of Brookline for a cost of approximately $7,000 from the Arthur L. Keyes Memorial trust. The Eagle has a wingspan of 8 feet 6 inches and weighs about 200 pounds and was installed on its perch in the balcony at a ceremony at 10 am on Tuesday, September 11, 2007. John Stanyon’s “The Eagle” poem was read again at this ceremony.
Goodwin’s 1846 Diary states “July 1846 the Town voted to remove the old town meeting House about 4 rods N.E. of the former site, and fit it up for a Town House etc. with basement story for Fire Engine etc. The work commenced the 10th of August.” The building was turned halfway round so that the end of the building that faced went west now faced south; the square pews were taken out and the interior remodeled to make it more convenient for the general purposes of the town. The building was raised, two stores underneath completed, one of which was the post office. Pews varied in price – broad isle pews $2 per year; wall pews $1; gallery pews fifty cents and all others $1. At this time the Eagle was placed on the town house. The Eagle was said to have been carved by Mr. Chamberlain and brought to Milford by a horse and wagon. It was made of yellow pine, painted with gold leaf and had a wingspan of six feet. The town residents agreed to pay sums of money for the purchase of the Eagle, with the Eagle itself costing a total of $50. The signed agreement read “We the undersigned will pay sums set against our names to purchase an Eagle to be placed on the Town House. The expense will be $55. Milford N. H. Sept 14, 1846. Twenty-six men, the F&F Crosby firm and “The committee on the repair of the town House” donated various amounts. The town put in$20. The total expense was $64.50.
At the time the Eagle was placed on the meetinghouse, John M. Stanyon, Milford’s poet, wrote and read a very lengthy poem about the Eagle quoted in part here:
“All hail, brave Bird! You’re a trump, you’re a brick. All other national birds you can lick -…
We’ve got ye on our Town House, on its majestic dome. And whoever ‘twas that stuck ye there, ye don’t appear at home. With claws and wings outspread, I really do believe that if you weren’t a woodenhead, you’d not be slow to leave; Tho’ I’ll credit ye with this, that while we’ve be acquainted You never looked so well as since you had your footing painted. …
But Eaglebird, excuse me, I’m in hast now, for Here cometh the tax collector, so, — “au revoir!”
In 1866 a town clock was installed in the building. This clock was first lighted in 1923, From 1861 to 1870 the street floor space was occupied by the post office run by Edward Lovejoy and a lending library also run by Mr. Lovejoy. Other merchants also occupied space in the building. The basement served as the town jail until 1869 and as storage space for the fire department until 1857. In 1868 in preparation for the construction of the new town hall, the town purchased a lot of land called The Mill Lot from the Milford Cotton & Woolen Mill for $925.90 on which to place Eagle Hall. After Eagle Hall was moved, the town sold the land and the building to the Eagle Hall Company, a group of spiritualists, which included J.F. Boynton, Almon Booth, William Richardson, William Lovejoy and James Marvell. They held ghostly meetings in the hall until the fad died out.
When Eagle Hall was moved in 1869 the Common was enlarged to its present size. The addition of this area on the north side of the Common made it more of an oval shape, which is where the name “The Oval” was acquired. After 1869 the north storefront was occupied by druggist D. S. Burnham, while J.A. Wheeler’s hardware store occupied the south space. In 1889 William F. French, a pharmacist, purchased the stock of Mr. Burnham. Mr. French was a quiet man and a strong Baptist and would not sell tobacco in any form. He stocked his store with quality goods. Louis Hall was Mr. French’s right-hand man and it was he who cooked in the back room of the store a mouth-watering chocolate syrup which was used at the fountain to make the famous chocolate ice cream sodas and milk shakes, the smell of which carried out on the sidewalk, In 1903 the Eagle Hall Company enlarged the street front by removing the columns and sidewalk roof. In 1904 Mr. French bought out the stock of the hardware store from a Mr. Farnsworth and ran both businesses until he died in 1935. Grocery stores and hardware stores continued to occupy the storefronts until 1938 when the Aubuchon Company started their store and continued until 1979. Many other businesses have occupied the storefront and in 2011 it was occupied by a Chinese restaurant.
In 1912 the Hall was briefly used for the showing of moving pictures. Mrs. Mary Burnham Richardson received a license to operate regular moving-picture shows. Clarence Richardson, a lifelong resident of Milford, told this writer many years ago that he remembered going to the movies in Eagle Hall. The moves became so popular that later in 1912 Mrs. Richardson purchased the Shanahan barn on Middle Street and remodeled it into the Star Theatre, which later became the Strand Theatre.
In 1919 the heirs of the Eagle Hall Company sold the building to the Odd Fellows. Since that date the upstairs hall has been used strictly for their meetings and for those of the Rebecca’s.
From 1928 to 1930 the Eagle on Eagle Hall was refurbished as it had suffered damage to a wing and a foot in a bad wind storm. It had taken a year to dry out the wooden bird and a year to restore and paint it. It was then replaced on its perch. In February 1996 the Eagle again suffered damage as one wing broke off during a storm. The Eagle had been taken down and “a new Eagle carved by John Weidman of Brookline. He chose aged western red cedar because this wood is resistant to pests and the weather. The special lumber was donated by PJ Currier Lumber Co Inc. of Amherst. According to the Inventory of American Painting and Sculpture of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, this is the largest free standing carved wood eagle in the country listed in their database at that time. The new eagle has a wingspan of 8 feet 10 inches and a body length of 5 feet, which is 6 inches long than the original Eagle. The Eagle was replaced Wednesday, September 15, 1999 at 2 pm with a great ceremony attended by local school children and hundreds of local residents. The cost of the new Eagle was approximately $12,000 with the cost of installation about $45000. All this work was done by donations raised by Dalton Jewett with major donations by the Gen Frank E. Kaley Foundation, the Arthur L. Keyes Memorial Trust, Hitchiner Manufacturing Co as well as private citizens.
The original 1846 Eagle now sits in the balcony of the Town Hall auditorium. It was also restored by Mr. Weidman of Brookline for a cost of approximately $7,000 from the Arthur L. Keyes Memorial trust. The Eagle has a wingspan of 8 feet 6 inches and weighs about 200 pounds and was installed on its perch in the balcony at a ceremony at 10 am on Tuesday, September 11, 2007. John Stanyon’s “The Eagle” poem was read again at this ceremony.
So now we know the story of the beautiful building on the Oval with the Eagle on top and 228 years of its history.
