A Man with the name of Goss

Conclusion of Tavern article

From The New Ipswich Papers 1936

From a collection of Papers Written for the Historical Society of New Ipswich, New Hampshire and Read at Society Meetings - Compiled and Edited by Mrs. Abbie L. Phelps

Goss was a large man

 A MAN BY THE NAME OF GOSS kept a public house at the Four Corners at the Dr. Stillman Gibson place for a while, probably about 1875. The place burned down in 1878. Mr. Goss was an extremely large man, and was once having a suit of clothes made at the tailor shop of Mr. Josiah Webber. Mr. Webber employed several women at the time, and two of them made a wager that they could get their entire body into a leg of the trousers and this they proceeded to do and were able to fasten the top together easily around them both. This story was told by one of the workers in the shop at the time and who saw it done,

     A public house is known to have been kept in High Bridge in one of the two double houses now there. Ezra Mansur kept it in 1828 and Thomas Dinsmore in 1830. In 1840 it was kept by Nathan Cummings but nothing is known between these dates. William E. Mansur came soon after Mr. Cummings, and moved from there in 1850 to Clark's Hotel in the village. It is thought there were two or three later ones but the names have been forgotten. 

    E. P. Hammond kept Tavern in the Nichols house a short time about 1826, and E. P. Edwards kept one for a short time in the Otis Preston House about 1830. About 1785 Josiah Fletcher built and used as a store the building later used as a bake house by Joseph Davin and during his ownership it had great notoriety, rum being dealt out freely to lure customers. 

   Jeremiah Smith kept store in Smithville and sold the usual drinks of the day. From 1850 to 1840 he has been found granted a license by the town, and it is well known: that the Old Corner Store kept pace with the rest. 

   This appears to end the Taverns and drinking places of the past, but the list is open to criticism. It is more of a task than one might think to go back into the long ago, and there are few left now who can help out from mam It would seem as if we as a town had done our part in entertaining the traveller, and our neighboring towns took up the lines where we laid them down, as Bagley's on the Sharon road, Prescott's on the the Jaffrey, and Children of the Wood on the Rindge road can testify. 

   The Wayside Inn has fallen from its high estate through the coming of railroads and automobiles, and from the same cause, along with the Introduction of other beverages and prohibition laws, the glory of Flip has departed, and its very name forgotten. 

   Those days are past and gone, and would we recall them if we could? Were they not happier days than these? We, with our automobiles hurrying along covering more miles in three hours than they would in a day's Journey. With us it is hurry all the time, so much so that we have no time to look around us and see the beautiful things in nature God has made for our happiness and enjoyment. 

   It may be they got more enjoyment out of their Stage Coach Journeys than we with all our haste. That they really were what we have so often heard them called- "THE GOOD OLD DAYS."

Residence of Stillman Gibson - 1850

Etching of residence of Dr. Stillman Gibson

Formulas

Stephen A. Thayer’s “One Hundred Formulas” was published in 1883. It contains recipes from everything from printing ink to pain killers. Flavored cigars.

WARNING: Please don’t try any of these “remedies”, many contain ingredients which have been shown to be harmful.

James Roger diary entry

December 13, 1908 (Sunday)

Cloudy with snow flurries in afternoon.  Lit both furnaces in Church today.  Mr. Peacock preached from Timothy, “Husbands and Wives”  S.S. after C.E. Topic “Books” I led.  10 present.  Wrote to Hamish, Alice & May.”