That’s water over the bridge.
By Bill Nichols
In 1776, a year before Antrim existed on paper, and before there was any legal road, there was only one bridge in town; a bridge crossed the Contoocook on what is now known as Depot Street. It would later be known as Baldwin Bridge. All other brooks, streams and rivers had to be crossed by teams of horses or oxen.
In Whiton’s history, which covers the first 100 years, 1744 to 1844, he reports “Over the Contoocook and North Branch rivers, and Great Brook are sixteen bridges; none of them large.” Cochrane reports, ”...about eighteen wooden bridges to support; (North) Branch River being bridged seven times”. That’s only two additional bridges by the time he published his history in 1880, but I want to concentrate on a lesser-known bridge in the northern part of town.
In the late 1700s, the current Breezy Point Road continued into what is now Pierce Lake (impoundment didn’t occur until 1927), and continued south, crossing the North Branch river, then it went southeasterly until it connected with what we now know as Pierce Lake Road. The distance from the Hillsboro town line to the Pierce Lake Road is about one half of a mile. Eventually, the selectmen decided it was time for a bridge over the North Branch River at that location, and around 1783 that wooden bridge was built. It was rebuilt in 1801, the town voting that the selectmen purchase one gallon of rum for the rebuilding of the bridge. Over the years, funds were raised to replace the wood decking many times.
In 1795, Jacob “Judge” Tuttle, age 28, came to Antrim from Littleton, MA, and opened a store in North Branch, and acquired many acres of land in the North Branch area. One of his sons, James Madison Tuttle, also lived on the homestead. James Madison’s son, James A. Tuttle, lived unmarried on the homestead, and left a sum of money to build the town of Antrim the James A. Tuttle Library. When this bridge got its name, we do not know, but seeing that the closest home belonged to a Tuttle, we can be pretty sure where Tuttle Bridge got its name.
In May of 2021 I was contacted by the NH American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). They were looking for information on the Tuttle Bridge so that they could get it added to the NH ASCE Civil Engineering Landmark, the Five Stone Arch Bridges. I remembered some photos of mine that I had come across recently of the Tuttle Bridge, and when I found them, I scanned them and sent them off. I then started to do more research on the bridge to find ”...everything pertaining to the bridge, but in particular: photos, information on the construction, dimensions, plans, the designer, who built it, etc.”, as requested by the ASCE. The hunt was on, and the results turned out to be quite interesting, and revealing.
On February 23, 2002, James L. Garvin, State Architectural Historian, wrote a document titled, Notes on the Origins of Arched Stone Bridges in the Contoocook River Valley of New Hampshire, which covered the process of building, and the history of the bridges in the Hillsborough and Henniker area. In the document, there is a section that lists all references to bridges in the Town of Hillsborough, Town Reports beginning in 1842 and ending in 1903. This covers 4 pages of the 15-page report. The second entry in this section is dated 1858, and states; “Ezra Clement, building bridge, $115.00. [Note that a Manahan photograph of the Tuttle Bridge bears a caption stating that this bridge was “Built by Dow, {and} Clement.” The 1858 county map indicates a Tuttle living near what is today called Breezy Point on the Jackman Reservoir or Franklin Pierce Lake, where an arched stone bridge remains under water. The bridge that is captioned the “Tuttle Bridge” is not among those currently accessible in Hillsborough. It is unique in having projecting granite beams on at least one side. These receive and support diagonal iron braces that extend up to the bridge rails.]”
When I read this, I realized that this was the lead that I needed, so I started to research Dow & Clement in the many Antrim town histories. Reverend Cochrane’s history from 1880, includes a very lengthy, and very informational section on genealogies of Antrim during that time. That’s when I concluded that Dow & Clement wasn’t actually a company building bridges, it was a gentleman by the name of Jonathan Dow Clement, who went by the name “Dow”, which was his grandmother’s maiden name.
From Cochrane’s history;
JONATHAN D. CLEMENT, known as "Dow” Clement, was son of Jonathan D. and Lucretia (Merrill) Clement of Deering, and grandson of Carleton and Kesiah (Dow) Clement, also of Deering. He married Vienna P. Dickey of that town. Moved here onto the John Shedd farm in 1870.
Cochrane continues to reveal the following story:
“Mr. Clement was out in the late war in the service of his country, and had some thrilling and terrible experiences. He was detailed to run a locomotive from New Orleans eighty miles, into Texas, and back, daily. At one time, to accommodate another engineer who wished to bury his dead child, he took a second train and stayed over night in Texas. That very night the rebels broke the connection and tore up the track. Clement and his associates were captured. They had lost several engines by " burning them too hard," and accused him of being the "d—d Yankee " who had spoiled the engines, and ordered him to be hanged to the nearest tree. While preparations were being made, he asked permission to say a few words. He was answered that he " might say a very few words, couldn't stop to hear much." He then told the facts in the case, assured them he had never destroyed the engines, but was specially sent there to preserve them. His statement seemed so reasonable, that they granted a reprieve, and ordered him off, under guard, fifty or sixty miles to have his case investigated. He was ultimately acquitted of the charge, but detained as a prisoner of war for a long time. Was at last exchanged, and after various services and perils reached home in safety.”
Quite a story to be sure, but not quite what I expected. No mention of any engineering or bridge building experience, nor does Cochrane state “Jonathan Dow Clement built the Tuttle Bridge!”, but all was not lost.
I came across Dow’s grave on the Find-A-Grave website, and posted there, from the Arlington Historical Society, Arlington, MA, was a picture of Dow Clement and a man, an engineer, in New Orleans, LA. Recently, while researching Dow’s genealogy online, I found that Dow’s 6th great-grandfather (my 9th great-grandfather), was Robert Clements (1595-1658) and came here from England in 1642 on his own ship, the Clement & Job. Robert Clements was also one of the founders of Haverhill, MA. Now I had a good lead that Dow was indeed the builder of the bridge, but I still needed more proof, and so did the ASCE.
Searching through the Town of Antrim, Town Reports from 1880 to 1889, I came across several payments to many of the Tuttles for road repairs, bridge repairs, bridge planks and the like. When I got to the 1889 report, just 4 pages in, there it was. The answer I had been looking for; J. Dow Clement, building Tuttle Bridge. $1000.00, side walls and iron work, $200.00, bridge center, $76.86, lighting road near bridge, $13.14, railing on Keene road, $37.10.
Not only did he get paid for building a bridge, it was actually the Tuttle Bridge. I looked over the report several times to see if there was anything I missed, or if there were any other entries, but I was unable to find anything.
As stated in the Cochrane genealogy, Dow bought and lived at the old John Shedd Farm. This farm was located across the road from the James Tuttle Farm and just down the road from the location of the Tuttle Bridge. This would have made it very convenient for someone embarking on a construction project of this size.
Jonathan Dow Clement’s name comes up quite a bit in the local papers in the 1890s, and into the 1900s, but it’s what shows up in the Hillsborough Messenger on April 7, 1927 that puts the icing on the cake. This article was written at a time when the new Jackman Dam had just been completed in December of 1926. The dam was now operational, and the lands behind it were beginning to be flooded.
“It has been requested that something be said on the
flowage question for the benefit of those who live in distant towns or cities. While, of course, this correspondent knows the changes in a general way, she hopes not to be criticized if things are not exactly accurate. At the present time the houses known as the two Tuttle places, the Dow Clement place and the James Tuttle place are vacant. Water has come into the cellars of the older Tuttle place, also the Clement place. I do not know as to the other two. So, of course, the bridge at this place is under water. This bridge was built by J. D. Clement, probably forty years ago. The water on Wheeler's meadow was ten feet deep when the ice was harvested and we judge is about that height now.”
There it is again, in black and white, ”...built by J. D. Clement, probably forty years ago”, which would be 1887 which is within one year of the Antrim Town Report. I felt good about what I had found, so I put all of my notes together, and sent it off for the ASCE to submit their report.
Just recently, I spent several hours in the town vault going through the original town records, and took photos of everything I could find related to the Tuttle Bridge, including the original handwritten record of Dow’s payments. Over the past year, while working with the ASCE, I’ve gathered many photos of the Tuttle Bridge from back in the 1880s, and onward, including 1984 when the lake was drained for dam repairs. The photos posted here really show you what a beautiful and unique structure it was in its day.
In the winter, when the water at Pierce Lake is low, and has frozen over, the Tuttle Bridge’s granite arch protrudes through the ice. This provides a chance for people to get a look at the 134 year old structure. Unfortunately, this is also the time that people will walk or snowmobile across it, which could do severe damage or possibly collapse it.
The Tuttle is a “dry arch bridge”, which means it was made without the use of mortar. Smaller rocks are placed between the larger granite pieces, and along with gravel, and gravity, they hold the bridge in place. Walking or riding on the bridge, and even removing the smaller stones could damage, or even collapse the bridge. This problem was reported in the local papers in 1984 when the lake was drained.
So, if you venture to see the bridge some time, be sure to take plenty of photos, and enjoy it from a distance. This bridge is an important part of Antrim’s history, and needs to be preserved for another 134 years, at least.
