Stories from the History of Nashua’s Police and Fire-Rescue Departments.
As the calendar approached 1920, the automobile, as a police fleet vehicle, or as a civilian means of transportation to be controlled, was a larger focus of the Nashua Police Department. It is unknown at this point how many vehicles the police department had in their fleet. However, expenses for maintaining a motorized fleet of vehicles, that ran constantly, began to pile up. Here are the bills from the 1919 fiscal year:
- Pollard Auto Co. – repairs and supplies – $1,063.62 (car dealer)
- Standard Oil Co. – gasoline – $433.50 (at about .30 per gallon)
- Nashua Auto Co. – repairs – $88.10 ( Ford dealer)
Nashua was growing and stood at 28,400 residents in 1920. For the first time, in FY 1921, the number of cars stolen (5) and recovered (4) were reported in the Nashua Annual Report. Cars were surely stolen prior to this, but their value was likely co-mingled with the value of other stolen property for the year. Also, there were 245 accidents reported. (It is assumed these were traffic accidents because of the way they were reported in the Annual Report.) The number of autos recovered in Nashua stolen from other municipalities was 11.
The Police Commissioner’s Report for FY 1921 noted that the police department had performed well despite the growing traffic in Nashua during the “busy season” in the summer months. Before the advent of the F.E. Everett Turnpike, all traffic headed north and south used Rt 3 which ran through the center of Nashua, Manchester and Concord creating traffic tie-up going through the city’s center. To better control traffic, the Commission placed a traffic officer at the intersection of Main and Temple St. As traffic increases, the Commission suggested an officer be placed at the intersection of Pearl and Main St. A motorcycle officer was placed on duty during the “season of heavy traffic to prevent unlawful acts.”
It would appear that the Police Department purchased another vehicle in FY1922. The budget shows an expense of $1846.15 paid to “Clement Bros., Inc. Auto.” The Clement Brothers operated a Buick and Oakland dealership from about 1916 at 124 Amherst St., which seems like an unlikely spot for a car dealer since most car dealers at that time gravitated to a city’s center. This address is now a private residence.
Controlling Nashua’s motoring public was more than just directing traffic at an intersection. If you have ever wondered who figured out where to place a pedestrian crosswalk, originally, it was the Nashua Police Dept. On May 9, 1922, a City Resolution is passed authorizing the Nashua Police Dept. to “designate by painted lines, or otherwise as they deem appropriate, certain points along Nashua’s streets as they think necessary for crossing points for pedestrians.”
Around 1970, many of Nashua’s streets were deemed one-way to better control traffic and keep it moving smoothly. It was very confusing for several days. But the first Nashua street to go one-way was Eldridge St., running from Spring St. to Main St. alongside the Sacred Heart School and St. Pat’s Rec Center.
Author’s Note: The spelling used in the FY 22 Annual Report uses an “e” in the name – Eldredge Street. The current spelling (2024) is with an “I” – Eldridge Street.
Author’s Note: The Annual Report for FY22 is the first time Officer James Roche’s name shows up in the department roster. On September 23, 1928, he will be the first Nashua Police Officer to die in the line of duty. More on that in a future article.
In 1922, after almost 100 years of steady growth, demand for Nashua’s textile products began to lag. Mills in the southern U.S. offered stiff competition. Newer factories used newer and more efficient machines allowing them to produce textiles faster and cheaper. Mill workers took a 20% cut in pay – and soon after, another 20% cut. – and then went out on strike. Red ink was flowing freely through Nashua! It was a tough time.
Along with increasing traffic, crime was becoming more of a problem. In his Inaugural Report, incoming-mayor Eaton Sargent notes that more emphasis should be placed on the regulations concerning the licensing of pool halls including a look into the “character” of the person applying for the license. Evidently Nashua’s pool halls have been the scene of some illegal activities and the mayor wanted to make sure the halls served the “public good” and not just provide another place for crimes to fester.
In 1923 there were 1,367 arrests; among them were 138 violations of motor vehicle laws, although none were enumerated. And for the first time in Nashua’s history, there were two arrests for “violation of narcotics laws.” There may have been narcotics arrests prior to this point but they were never identified in the Annual Report. There were also 447 traffic accidents reported; five of them proved fatal. There were also 4 trolly car accidents.
In a Nashua Telegraph article of October 5, 1923, Cyrus Bailey, one of two or possibly three then-survivors of the Nashua Police Department from the 1880s was interviewed by a Nashua Telegraph reporter. Here is an excerpt from that interview:
Bailey begins, “The uniforms were blue with brass buttons, much the same as now, but the coats were very heavy, and we used long heavy clubs as weapons. Of the ten men shown in the picture, Bailey, Hunt, Chase and Berube were Civil War veterans and Wallace was in the navy. I served (on the Nashua Police) force 16 months and then there was a change in the city administration and the Board of Aldermen had to appoint the members of the force and I was dropped. Conditions were very different then.”
Bailey goes on, “The city was about two-thirds the size it is now. There were gas lights instead of electric lights and there was no street railway. There were no patrol boxes from which we could telephone like those now in use. The police station was in the city hall then, and the cells were under it. There were six men on the night watch and four during the day.”
Bailey talks about crime in those days, “There were almost as many violations of the law then as now but the character of them has changed excepting there about as many drunks. I could stand on my beat and throw a stone into any one of five liquor saloons. There were less insane cases.”
Because law enforcement is such a specialized profession, it is especially interesting to see what people did both before and after their law enforcement career. Bailey noted that following his time as a Nashua policeman, he was a postal letter carrier. Officer Clovis Gamache took a job with the Nashua Public Works Department. Before they were on the force, Officer Charles Bagley was a mill hand, Officer Robert Chamberlain worked for the Balcom Ice Company, Officer Henry Webster was in the furniture business, Officer Enoch Chase was with the Chase Lumber Company, possibly a family business. Officer Clovis Gamache was a “shoe worker” (as many in Nashua were) both before and after his stint with the department, and Joseph Wallace was a shop keeper. Henry McCaffery turned in his police beat to be a truant officer. City Marshal James Hunt seemed to have the most varied career, serving not only as a city’s top peace officer but he also worked as a stable keeper, county commissioner, served in the state legislature, and was a state senator.
Excerpted from “Nashua’s Finest: The History of Law Enforcement in Nashua NH”
Yester-Heroes author Gary Ledoux grew up in Nashua’s Crown Hill area, attending Nashua schools and graduating from Nashua High in 1970. He attended NH Vo-Tech for a time, then moved to Amherst, then Manchester, and Weare. He served as a volunteer on the Amherst Fire Dept from 1974 to 1977. A career in the automotive business took him to Florida and then to southern California. After 48 years, he retired in 2017, moving back to Florida with his wife, Rachel, and two dogs. He has published seven books, including two about Nashua history, and has been a contributing editor or contributor to 10 different magazines. Gary can be reached at mayorclum@mayorclum@yahoo.com