THE NEW HAMPSHIRE ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE: ITS HISTORY AND INFLUENCE ON RURAL LIVING 1935-1950

222 Pages·010.483 MB·English

by  WASS, PHILMORE BURLON

THE NEW HAMPSHIRE ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE: ITS
HISTORY AND INFLUENCE ON RURAL LIVING
1935—1950
^7
Philmore Burlon Wass
This d issertatio n has "been approved for fin a l examination by
the student’s D issertation Committee whose w ritten
approval is on file in the Advanced School*
D issertation Committee:
E rling M. Hunt, Chairman
Frank W. Gyr, Member of Committee
Ryland W* Crary, Member of Committee
Submitted in p a rtia l fu lfillm en t of the
requirem ents for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
in the Faculty of Philosophy, Columbia U niversity
1951
•/
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Coos
NEW HAMPSHIRE
S cale- Statute Miles
G rafton
BELKNAP
V/"////
Sullivan
M errimack
Rockingham
w,
HILU350RO
Cheshire
Areas served by the New Hampshire E lectric Cooperative
hi
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PERIOD OF MAXIMUM POPULATION
IN
NEW HAMPSHIRE TOWNS
UNPOPULATED FOREST AREAS
^ 1810 OR BEFORE
Q /820- 30-40-50 OR 60
H 1870 - 80- 90 OR 1900
■ 1910 - 2 0 -3 0 OR 40
LAKE AREAS
/. COLEBROOK
p. LISBON
3, PLYMOUTH
4. SUNA PEE %
5. LEMPSTER
6. PITTSFIELD
7. OSSIPEE
V
Vii •
oj
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PREFACE
BACKGROUND AND METHOD OF THIS STUDY
In 1935 there were in sparsely se ttle d areas of New
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Hampshire 14,301 homes without e le c tric ity , A sm all group
of men in the sta te Grange, knowing th at good lig h tin g arid
machines for home and farm work could revolutionize the lives
of rural people, desired to extend e le c tric power to a ll of
these u n electrified homes. They decided, a fte r the passage
of the Rural E le ctrific atio n A dm inistration Act of 1936, to
ask the Rural E le ctrific atio n A dm inistration in Washington,
D. C,, for assistan ce. Through the e ffo rts of these local
leaders and the REA, an electric cooperative was formed on
July 19, 1939, to serve every u n electrified home in ru ral
New Hampshire. By July 31, 1950, the New Hampshire E lectric
Cooperative was serving 5,255 members throughout the state,
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and had plans fo r serving many others.
The w riter f ir s t became in terested in th is Coopera­
tiv e in the spring of 1947 through an address given by its
then manager, Richard Messer, who presented some im pressive
%ew Hampshire Rural E le ctrific atio n Survey, General
Report, p. 2.
^Report to the Board of D irectors, New Hampshire
E lectric Cooperative, July 1950 (See Appendix C),
iv
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facts about the accomplishments of the Cooperative. A short
time la te r the w riter was employed by the Cooperative in a
summer position which required traveling over many m iles of
country roads to advise individuals who lacked e lectric
service.
Observation along the hundreds of m iles of narrow,
winding roads, passing cella r holes, abandoned houses, and
summer homes, raised the question, "Why were these homes
b u ilt and then abandoned?" The relationship of these aban­
doned farms to the m igrations of people resu ltin g from the
In d u strial and A gricultural Revolutions and the Westward
Movement was obvious. But was there any clear pattern of
abandonment? And what were the im plications of the exten­
sion of electric-pow er lin es for the remaining iso lated farms
and non-farm ru ral homes and for abandoned areas?
Many of those interview ed were extrem ely anxious to
get e le c tric ity and had made extensive plans for power u ti­
liz a tio n . Dairy farm ers were enthusiastic over the increased
efficiency made possible by the use of e le c tric m ilk coolers
and m ilking machines. Many new homes were being b u ilt by
both summer and permanent residents along the Cooperative
power lin e s. How deep was the change th at power had made in
the lives of these people? How many e le c tric appliances had
they been able to purchase? Had e le c tric ity increased th e ir
incomes? How had i t changed th e ir liv in g h ab its, including
th e ir use, of leisu re tim e? What impact had i t made on th e ir
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ways of thinking and enthusiasm for the future? Was the
presence of e le c tric ity influencing more fam ilies to move
into ru ral areas? The follow ing year, when an opportunity
to work on a research problem presented I ts e lf , the w riter
recalled the Cooperative and the many unanswered questions
th at had been raised by trav el through ru ral New Hampshire.
This d issertatio n attem pts to answer some of those questions.
The study has two main purposes. The f ir s t is to
w rite a detailed account, based on careful h isto ric a l re ­
search, of how one of the thousand or more REA cooperatives
in the United States has developed and progressed over a ten-
year period. The New Hampshire E lectric Cooperative is of
p articu lar in te re st because i t is one of the few coopera­
tiv es that has been unable to make a ll of its required pay­
ments on money borrowed from the REA. An explanation of th is
financial failu re is given in the follow ing chapters. The
second purpose is to present inform ation which w ill help
a ll members to rea liz e th at they must take an active in te r­
est in the problems of th eir Cooperative if it is to be suc­
cessfu l. There is a discouraging amount of apathy among the
members. Many f a il to see th a t, unlike the p riv ate power
companies of the sta te , the C ooperative's success is dependent
upon the direction given by o ffic ia ls, dem ocratically elec­
ted by the people who benefit from the e le c tric service.
No one person is obliged to give great atten tio n to Coopera­
tiv e affairs because he owns a large in te re st in the business.
vi
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Every person has an equal privilege and responsibility* It
is hoped th at the inform ation in th is d issertatio n may be
used by the Cooperative in educating its members to a fu ll
knowledge of the Cooperative’s origin and growth, and the
relatio n of its problems to the problems of ru ral New Hamp­
sh ire.
If individuals are to act in te llig e n tly as Coopera­
tiv e members and citizen s, they must understand the history
of ru ral New Hampshire and the geographic environment which
has helped to shape both the past and present liv in g pat­
terns of its people. Members must see th at the problems of
the Cooperative are interwoven w ith the problems of the re­
gion in which i t is located. The same rocky, mountainous
te rra in which has presented d iffic u ltie s for farm ers in t i l l ­
ing New Hampshire’s so il has also presented d iffic u ltie s for
the Cooperative in building and m aintaining power lines*
The cold w inters and heavy snowfall which burden towns w ith
snow-removal expense also burden the Cooperative w ith a large
expense fo r repairing lin es damaged by severe storm s. The
growth of towns around facto ries and the westward m igration
of people caused a depopulation of ru ral areasJ stead ily
shrinking tax ro lls have handicapped towns in m aintaining
roads and schools. The same m igrations have, over the years,
le ft a scattered population d iffic u lt for the Cooperative to
serve. On the other hand, developments th at bring prosperity
to the ru ral people and towns also help the Cooperative.
v ii
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When c ity people rebuild abandoned farms into summer homes
they not only help solve the tax problem by creating taxable
wealth but also provide a market for Cooperative e le ctric
power. In turn the Cooperative helps to create w ealth by
making otherwise undesirable areas a ttrac tiv e for people wish­
ing to build cottages and homes.
Chapter One, compiled largely from secondary works,
presents the h isto ric a l background necessary to understand
the current problems of ru ral New Hampshire. The chapter, in
b riefly describing early pioneer liv in g , explains why the peo­
ple often selected high lands for th eir homes instead of the
lower valley lands which have since proved to be more fe rtile .
I t explains why many sm all towns reached th eir peaks of popu­
latio n in the early years of subsistence agriculture and have
stead ily declined since. The chapter makes clear th at th is
decline could not be prevented, because a series of adjust­
ments had to be made to keep pace w ith a constantly changing
and expanding national economy. The so il of northern New Eng­
land was th in and rocky and there was l it t le land to be taken
up and improved by the younger generations. The rich so ils
of the Middle West were a great lu re. Another a ttrac tio n
which depopulated the h ill country was the opportunity to work
in the m ills and facto ries which were being b u ilt on the streams
of the New England sta te s. Many of the children of large farm
fam ilies moved to the c itie s . As those farm ers who remained
grew older, the farms declined and the fo rests encroached on
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the land. When they died th e ir farms were often le ft unoc­
cupied. The chapter indicates th a t, in sp ite of the steady
decline in population, a few farm ers, who held the b etter
lands, were able to make satisfacto ry adjustm ents in th eir
ag ricu ltu ral a c tiv itie s.
Chapter Two, drawing mainly on government reports,
traces the growth of the ru ral e le c trific a tio n movement in
th is country to the time when the REA was organized. It
shows the influence on American policy of ru ra l-e le c trific a -
tion effo rts in Europe and in Canada. Sweden and Germany
were both fa r advanced in extending e le c tric power to ru ral
areas before the United States was w ell started . Canadian
experiments w ith public e le c tric systems also attracted the
atten tio n of ru ral leaders in the United S tates. The chapter
then te lls of the organization of the REA and describes b rie fly
the program that carried, by the end of June, 1949, central-
statio n e le c tric ity to 78.2 per cent of the farms in the Uhi-
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ted S tates. F inally the chapter traces the h isto ry and p rin ­
ciples of the cooperative movement and shows why cooperatives
have served well in ru ral e le c trific a tio n .
Chapters Three and Four te ll the 3tory, to 1950, of
the great effo rt made by a small but determined group of men
to extend power to the s ta te ’s ru ral people not already served.
^■"Statistics on Rural E le c trific a tio n ," Rural Elec­
trific a tio n A dm inistration, W ashington, D. C*, September 30,
1949 (one page, typed).
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Obtaining inform ation about such a new organization proved
d ifficu lt* However, several Individuals who had worked with
the Cooperative from its inception gave much inform ation and
v erified facts given by others. The C ooperative's o ffic ia l
records were used extensively. Private correspondence of
early leaders yielded some inform ation. Leon H untress, firs t
manager, had the foresight to keep a large scrapbook of news­
paper clippings which supplied considerable inform ation con­
cerning early events. George Duncan, president of the board
of directors for many years, knew and contributed many fa c ts.
Other directors were also interview ed. The section en titled
'’Opposition to REA,” in Chapter Four, was based on inform ation
gathered from the o ffic ia l records of the Cooperatives and in ­
terview s w ith the Manager and other key o ffic ia ls. These facts
were checked in every instance by interview ing residents of
the communities where incidents involving opposition occurred.
Chapter Five gives the resu lts of a random-sampling
survey made to discover what influence easily available elec­
tric power has had on the way the people of ru ral New Hamp­
shire liv e. The Cooperative had approxim ately 3,000 permanent
resident consumers at the time the survey was made. Every
tenth card was selected from the C ooperative's membership file .
V isits were made by the w riter to 142 Cooperative members lis ­
ted on these cards. Inform ation was sought on such questions
as the follow ing: What influence has the extension of electric
power into a ru ral area had in helping to rebuild its population
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