New Hampshire Missing Places: Janesville

New Hampshire has had very few places named after women.  In fact, I don’t know of any others beside Janeville (Janesville in some documents).  Leave it to the city “fathers” to obliterate the name of the only ancient village in Manchester (and possibly in New Hampshire) named after a woman. Janeville is roughly the area located between Bridge and Lowell Streets and Nashua and Wilson Streets.

[Editor’s note: a blogging friend of mine, Paul Sands of Pun Salad, reminded me that Francestown is named after a woman.  But the woman, Frances Deering Wentworth, who became the wife of Governor John Wentworth who named the town, never lived there.  In the case of Janesville, it was named after a woman who resided there.].

In the book: “Manchester. A brief record of its past and a picture of its present, including an account of its settlement and of its growth as a town and city; a history of its schools, churches, societies, banks, published 1875 by J. B. Clarke, it is stated: “The city has several villages which arose from geographical circumstances, viz …. Janesville, [named] for , wife of Taylor M. Southwark [sic Southwick], whose maiden name was Jane Young and who inherited the land there….Hallsville and Janesville once had their tavern and stores, but they are all now only localities, their identity being slowly lost in the city’s expansion.”  Jane Street (located between Lowell and Nashua Streets) is the only vestige of Jane Southwick’s presence on land that once mostly belonged to her and her family.

The other early villages of Manchester include Piscataquog, Amoskeag, Manchester Centre, Goffe’s Falls, Bakersville, Hallsville, Youngvsille and Towlesville–named either after the aboriginal location name or after men who settled there. Though not used as frequently as they used to be, most of these names are still familiar to us through schools or cemeteries or localities that continue to bear these names. Jane(s)ville continued to be called by the village name at least up to 1875.

Janeville’s namesake, Jane (Young) Southwick, was the daughter of James & Martha (Hall) Young, and the grand-daughter of John and Elisabeth (Dickey) Hall who had a tavern at Manchester Centre prior to 1810 where local residents met to first incorporate the town of Derryfield.  Her parents and grandparents were greatly influential in the (then) town’s early history, helping to shape its future.

According to the Manchester Historic Association Collections, Volume I, Part One, 1896: “In early times Thanksgiving shooting matches were held near a little tavern stand at the intersection of Bridge and Russell streets in Janesville.”  A wooden schoolhouse was built in 1842 on Amherst Street near Janesville and moved in 1850 to the corner of Lowell and Jane Streets.  Probably because this section of town was not under the management of the Amoskeag Mills, the streets frequently did not run parallel or perpendicular to each other. You knew you were in Janesvile “when the streets run crossways like the great avenues in Washington.”

This section of Manchester was infamous in 1845 as being a location related to the murder of Jonas L. Parker, a tax collector.  A fire at Janesville June 3, 1857 “destroyed Baldwin & Co.’s steam-mill, there being no water to extinguish it, was remarkable for the death of Charles Horr, who was killed by the falling of a brick wall expanded in the heat, upon the building he was in, crushing it to the ground and burying him beneath it.”  Manchester, A brief record of its past, a picture of its present,” by John B. Clarke, 1875: “John B. McCrillis & Son (John A. McCrillis) who have a shop in Mechanic’s Row in addition to their manufactory in Janesville, are the proprietors of a business which has been twenty-five years established. They employ forty men and make annually two hundred and fifty carriages and twenty-five sleighs. They have repositories in northern New York and in Michigan.”

Jane Young had married Taylor Little Southwick of Boston between 1840-1850. Taylor L. Southwick was son of Nathaniel & Hephzibah (Little) Southwick, grandson of Taylor & Elizabeth (Morse) Little, and a descendant of George Little of Newbury, Massachusetts. Jane and Taylor settled by 1840 in a house in Manchester NH, located at the corner of Bridge and Nashua Streets [The 1848 Manchester City Directory lists: Southwick, T.S. h cor Bridge & Nashua sts. Janesville. The Baldwin & Co.’s steam mill noted in the paragraph was located nearby].  In 1840 Taylor Southwick was chosen a constable. They appeared to not have any children, though Taylor did have one child by a previous wife who died in infancy in 1831 in Boston MA.  On the 6 June 1855 both Jane Southwick, and her husband Taylor Southwick signed a document, attesting to their knowledge of the wedding of Benjamin & Mary Griffin, of Manchester, New Hampshire, and the later death of Benjamin. [Editor’s Note: Another blogging friend, Heather Wilkinson Rojo of “Nutfield Genealogy,” has said that Jane Southwick’s husband is descended of Cassandra Southwick, who was the subject of one of Whittier’s poems.]

Jane (Young) Southwick died 29 Dec 1856 in Manchester NH, age 72 years, 3 months 23 days of consumption, and was buried here. [Editor’s note: I suspect that Jane was buried in either Hall/Young Cemetery where there are several broken and missing stones, or in the Center Cemetery, both of which contain graves of her family members].   Taylor Southwick continued to live in Manchester until about 1870.  By 1880 he is found living in Newport, Sullivan County, NH, where he died 24 Dec 1880.

Today the Jane(s)ville area is known as Corey Square. The City of Manchester gives the following description: “Corey Square is a grassed triangular traffic is land at the intersection of Maple and Lowell Streets. It contains a flagpole and dedication sign to William Corey “whose efforts helped develop this area of the city.” The square is in satisfactory condition. Improvements would include tree planting and seating areas given the nearby school and eateries.”

So who exactly was William Corey.  To be honest, despite having read many books on the history of Manchester, New Hampshire, his name was unknown to me.  The first clue on his identity was the 1846 town directory that shows: “William Corey Co., needles 250 Concord cor Maple [in the current vicinity of Corey Place].” Reportedly the manufacture of latch needles was a cottage industry in the city until William Cory arrived.

There were at least three William Coreys who resided in Manchester, New Hampshire about the same time.  The William Corey, focus of this narrative, was son of Hiram & Mary (Palmer) Corey, born 31 Jan 1841 Stanbridge PQ, died 23 Aug 1912 Manchester NH. His death certificate states he was “married, manufacturer, died of apoplexy.”  He is buried at Pine Grove Cemetery, Manchester NH.   He had married Jennie M. Laporte, daughter of Francis LaPorte. She was born 25 Dec 1848 in Milton VT and died 2 July 1933 at Elliot Hospital Manchester NH, of a fractured hip from an accidental fall.  William and Jennie (Laporte) Corey had only one child: William C. Corey, born 11 July 1881, d. 2 March 1907.

 

Manchester: A Brief Record of Its Past and Present, and a Picture of Its Present, by J. B. Clarke 1875, page 316, states: “William Corey and Company (J.P. Martin) near the corner of Franklin and Auburn streets, employs twenty persons in the manufacture of knitting-needles and knitting-machines. They make three thousand needles a day and use a pound of cast steels for every five hundred needles.” [Editor’s note: this would be the Forsaith Building on Franklin Street, then near the freight depot.  Thank you Pete Baker for helping to identify this building].

Probably around 1884 William Corey built a larger needle manufacturing building at 250 Concord Street, at the site of his 1877 original shop, which was very near his home at 488 Maple Street.  By 1890 the Boston Journal announced that “The William Corey Company has been organized at Manchester for the manufacture of machine knitting latch needles. The capital stock is $30,000 with William Corey President.”  By 1891 the William Corey needle works manufactured machine needles for hosiery and knitting mills throughout the country.

William Corey as early as 1886 had begun to move his needle company further north.  In 1888 had closed out his Laconia Needle Co. business at Laconia and moved the machinery to his shops at Lake Village,  having purchased the entire plant of the Wardwell Needle Co.  (Note: This firm was unrelated to the later Laconia Needle Co., established at Laconia in 1907 by Warren D. Huse).

After his death in 1912, and by 1920 the business had been sold, but not his manufacturing building on Concord Street.  January 29, 1920: “Chauncey A. Williams of Manchester NH is the largest individual manufacturer of latch needles in the world, and has the second largest plant producing them in the United States. At his new factory, 267 Wilson Street, he is making 25,000 needles daily and his intentions are to turn out eventually …… Since January 1, 1920 he has been operating the Wilson street plant entirely under his own name. The plant at 250 Concord Street, known as the William Corey Company, owned by Mr. Williams, and the factory on Wilson street are run as separate units.”

The City of Manchester had been looking for property near Central High school in order to provide alternative education choices.  According to Dan Brian of the web site, Manchester Oblique, “In 1924, Dr. Louis P. Benezet, arrived as the school system’s most progressive and “erudite” superintendant. Benezet denounced much of the classical curriculum that colleges still held high and felt —with an egalitarian attitude— that it was the schools’ mission to attract all manner of students and hold their interests in education. Benezet is often cited as instrumental in the Manchester schools providing a wider variety of subjects and activities. In a round-about way, he protected and rationalized the PA and Corey buildings’ purpose to the public, besides the far more obvious reason of stemming a rising tide in student enrollment.”

According to the official Manchester records, in 1926 Mrs. Corey leased the needle manufactory to the City of Manchester at a reduced rate of $1,000 per year.  Mrs. Corey died in 1933, and at that time they had probably purchased the building and property, or it had been donated to them.  The Industrial Education Magagine, Vol 28, 1926 touted: “The William Corey Needle Factory at Manchester, New Hampshire, has been turned into a manual training school by the city. In honor of Mr. Corey, who at the time of his death several years ago, was one of the city’s most prominent manufacturers, the name “William Corey Manual Training School,” has been given to the new school.” The building was eventually determined to be a “fire trap” by the fire department, and was closed in 1959, (and later demolished) when the school began to use their newly built Industrial Arts building.  Probably about the same time that the building was closed, a plaque was placed near the site of the old needle factory (see photograph above).

The 2010 Planning Board, and other Manchester City boards now regard this section of town as Corey Square, and only occasionally refers that it was originally the village of Jane(s)ville.  Since the City of Manchester does not honor a single (named) woman with a square or plaque, it would be a singular honor if they could, even in a small way, continue to mention the woman whose name was once on the lips of all residents.

=====PARTIAL GENEALOGY OF JANE (YOUNG) SOUTHWICK=====

– John Young & Sarah —
– John Young & Sarah Wadleigh
– Israel Young & Martha Beadle/Bedell of Amesbury MA
– Israel Young & Elizabeth Clark of Amesbury MA, Salem NH and Manchester NH; Constable of Derryfield NH, one of Capt. John Goff’s company during the French & Indian War from Derryfield.

James Young, son of Israel & Elizabeth (Clark) Hall b. 6 Nov 1757 Salem, Rockingham Co. NH d. –. Resided in Manchester NH. He married by 1788 probably in Derryfield NH to Martha Hall, daughter of John and Elisabeth (Dickey) Hall. [p 219, 224 Dickey Genealogy] She was b. Apr 1760 in Manchester NH; Martha’s parents had a tavern at Manchester Centre prior to 1810 when Manchester was still called Derryfield, and where the first meeting to organize the town was held.
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Children of James & Martha (Hall) Young:
1. James Young, b abt 1788 Manchester NH; m. 21 April 1792 in Londonderry NH to Mary/Polly Chase, dau of Jacob & Mary/Polly (Hardy) Chase. Children (YOUNG): Ephraim, Henry C., James Jr., Jonas, Stillman, and Susan.
2. Israel Young, b. Manchester NH, born Manchester NH; died 13 May 1848; married 12 Oct 1820 at Manchester NH to Esther Stevens. Resided Manchester and Londonderry NH. She m2) Amos Griffin of Methuen MA and died there 19 Oct 1868. 9 children (YOUNG): Charles Edward, Mary Ann, Jonathan, John Henry, Hastings, James Franklin, David Hamblett, Taylor Southwick, Sarah Elizabeth.
3. +Jane Young, b abt 1792 Manchester NH; m. Taylor L. Southwick and res. in Manchester and Londonderry NH; no children
4. Mary Young; m. James Page of Hooksett
5. John Young b Feb 16, 1796, m. 7 Dec 1819 Edna C. Saunders. She b. 4 Jan 1798, and died 19 Sep 1859. He was a farmer and stone-mason. Resided in east Manchester but removed to “Hallsville” section of the city where he died 6 May 1843. Nine children (YOUNG): Ruth Hall, Orlando H., John P., Robinson Hall, Orlando H 2nd, Roxana Davis, Charles Nelson, Betsey Frances and Joseph Blanchard.
6. Jonathan Young, went to Maine
7. Daniel Young, m. Mary Young, 2 daughters died early

*Jane (Young) Southwick, daughter of James & Martha (Hall) Young, b abt 1793 MA or Manchester NH; d. 29 Dec 1856 in Manchester NH, age 72 years, 3 months 23 days of consumption, wife of Taylor Little Southwick. Burial: Manchester NH. She married between 1831-1840 to Taylor L. Southwick, son of Nathaniel & Hephzibah (Little) Southwick. He was born 8 Oct 1798 in NH, died 24 Dec 1880 Newport NH; He m1)13 June 1830 in Boston MA to Mary D. Shepherd. [from Descendants of George Little, Newbury MA by George Thomas Little, Auburn Maine 1882]
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1827 Boston City Directory
Taylor Southwick
Myrtle Court, Boston MA
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1829 Boston MA Directory
Taylor L. Southwick
6 Pitts Street, Boston MA
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1840 Residing in Manchester NH
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1848 Manchester NH Directory
Southwark P., b 35 A.C.
Southwark S., b 64 A.C.
Southwick, T.S. h cor Bridge & Nashua sts. Janesville
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8 August 1850
US Census > NH > Hillsborough > Manchester
Taylor S. Southwick 52 M Labourer 2000 Mass
Jane Southwick 57 F Mass
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1858, 1860 Manchester NH Directory
Southwick Taylor L. house Bridge, near steam mill, Janesville
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1864, 1866 Manchester Directory
Southwick, Taylor L. house Bridge, cor. Nashua, Janes.
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1869 no Southwick in City Directory
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1880 US Census > NH > Sullivan Co. > Newport
Deming John M M W 39 farmer
Deming Charlotte W F 79 mother
Taylor L. Southwick 81 retired farmer
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Child of Taylor L. & Mary D. (Shepard) Southwick:
1. daughter, d 9 June 1831, buried June 12, City of Boston records

 ====INFORMATION ABOUT WILLIAM COREY=====

William Corey, son of Hiram & Mary (Palmer) Corey, b 31 Jan 1841 Stanbridge PQ, d. 23 Aug 1912 Manchester NH. Married, manufacturer, died of apoplexy. Died at 484 Maple Street. Buried Pine Grove Cemetery, Manchester NH. He married Jennie M. Laporte, daughter of Francis LaPorte. She was b. 25 Dec 1848 in Milton VT and d. 2 July 1933 at Elliot Hospital Manchester NH, of a fractured hip from an accidental fall.  They resided at 488 Maple street, the house is still standing. They had one child, a son who predeceased them.
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1900 US Census > NH > Hillsborough > Manchester > 164 Maple Street
William Corey Head M 59 Canada English MA Can Jan 1841 Needle Manufacturer
Jennie M. Corey F Vermont VT VT Dec 1848
William A Corey Son M NH Can VT July 1881
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1905 Corey, William pres William Corey Co. 250 Concord house 488 Maple
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Child of William & Jennie M. (Laport) Corey:
1. William C. Corey, b. 11 July 1881, d. 2 March 1907