West Landaff Versus East Landaff – The Bunga Road Controversy

PHOTO: The old “Peg Mill” at East Landaff where the meeting to approve the building of the Bunga Road was made.

by Robert Hanaford Smith, Sr.
Weirs Times Contributing Writer

When one group of people want to do something there is usually another group of people who don’t want them to do it. In many of these situations, whether it involves a whole town, the board of selectmen, a club or other organization, a school, church, or another group of people, a compromise can be worked out. However, sometimes there is no middle ground, either you do the proposed action or you don’t. Such is the situation when there is a proposal to build a new road, you build it or you don’t.
The town of Landaff, New Hampshire spent a whole decade trying to make a final decision about building a road which was called the “Bunga Road.” The decade was from 1850 to 1860 and the planned highway was to begin in the east part of the town at Bowen Hill which later became the town of Easton and extended through the valley of the Wild Ammonoosuc River to the village of Swiftwater in the town of Bath.
The idea to build the seven mile highway was supported by the residents of the eastern and southern portions of Landaff because they saw the road as an easier way to transport wood and lumber. The idea was opposed by the residents of West Landaff because they did not see how the road would be of any benefit to them, so they didn’t want to have to pay for its construction. A standoff resulted which lasted for ten years or more and resulted in bitterness arising between the two factions with relatives, in some cases, being on opposite sides of the issue.
The usual political party affiliations ceased to be a factor in the elections in the town of Landaff as people were voted into or out of office based on their attitude towards the proposed “Bunga Road.”

Two brothers, James C. and Rufus C. Noyes, were on opposing sides of the issue, and the two ran against each other for years seeking the office of Town Moderator. The battle over whether or not the road should be built had its impact on the opinion of adjoining towns, particularly the town of Benton, even though the road was not to go through that town.
The candidates for Representative in the State Legislature in the area were not in agreement as to the wisdom of building the new seven mile highway. Those candidates happened to be brothers-in-law. Apparently the minds of the citizens of Landaff were so evenly divided that the contention over the proposed road continued from year to year from 1850 to 1860 without a resolution by a favorable vote.
Both sides were have said to have imported people into the town so they could vote in the March election. One was eligible to vote after establishing residency in the town for ninety days. Young men who were attending school were given their board by residents of Landaff so they would be eligible to vote on the road question. The story is told of a man who lived in the adjoining town of Franconia but just a few rods from East Landaff who was in favor of building the road. The tale is that one night he went to bed in the town of Franconia and woke up in the town of Landaff because while he slept his house had been moved across the town line into Landaff. He thus voted for the road at the March town meeting, after which his house was moved back to Franconia.

The men vying for the position of Representative to the New Hampshire Legislature were Daniel Whitcher and George W. Mann. There was a pretty young woman from the town of Benton by the name of Sarah Glasier who told Henry Sisco that she would marry him if he voted for George Mann to be the Representative. Henry’s preferred candidate was Mr. Whitcher but the prospect of marrying Sarah was enough for him to vote for Mr. Mann which he proceeded to do; however, when he went to see Sarah, his intended bride, she told him that she “could never think of marrying a man base enough to sell his vote.”
By the year 1857 the residents of the East side of Landaff, who favored building the seven mile Bunga Road, seemed to be in the majority, but it wasn’t until the 1860 town election that the matter was clearly decided, and not until some “fireworks” or a “tornado”, as The Granite Monthly called it in a 1920 article, took place in the meeting place at East Landaff called the “Peg Mill.”
As the voters began to gather for that town meeting there was the feeling that things might not go smoothly in the meeting. The meeting was called to order by Sargent Moody who read the articles in the warrant and then presided over the election of a Moderator.
It was when the result of that vote was announced and James C. Noyes was the winner that everyone realized that the East Landaff faction would be victorious in having the Bunga Road built. The West Landaff voters were not ready to accept the road without a fight, however.
Someone yelled “Seize the check-list” and people rushed to get at that list so as to destroy it and make the meeting illegal, but, according to The Granite Monthly, “…as they came toward the rail which enclosed the officers, Sargent Moody drew from the desk a revolver and pointing it at the leaders of the movement, he thundered, ‘The first man who dares come inside this rail will have a funeral tomorrow.’”
William Shattuck pulled apart an old chair and handed several pieces of it to his friends to use for their defense if needed. Otis Willey, who had allowed his curly hair to grow all winter, got into an argument with someone who grabbed his hair and started pulling him around. When he escaped Otis ran to a neighbor’s house where he had his haircut before returning to the meeting. Apparently some additional scuffles took place with some punches thrown leaving John (Buck) Chandler with four less teeth.
Finally, some of the West-side voters admitted defeat and headed for home. After a decade of debating the issue and having it defeated it was finally voted to construct ‘The Bunga Road.”
One person more than any other was credited with spending more money and energy to bring about the building of the road and that was Daniel Whitcher.
Mr. Whitcher not only was the leader of those in favor of the road, he was the supervisor of its construction. A good outcome of the ten year conflict was that after the road was built, those who had been opposed to it agreed that it was a valuable asset, the bitter feelings that had prevailed went away, and East and West Landaff were reconciled.
Another significant and controversial event occurred in Landaff’s history in 1876 when a new town came into being with East Landaff becoming the town of Easton.

Robert Hanaford Smith, Sr., welcomes your comments at danahillsmiths@yahoo.com.