Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume II, Part 132

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed; Adams, William Frederick, 1848-
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 1008

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Mr. Bouton was ordained at Concord, New Hampshire, March 22, 1825, in the presence of a large assemblage of ministers and delegates convened at the court house. For fifty-three years he continued as pastor of the Congrega- tional church with great acceptability, never neglecting his obligations as pastor and accomp- lishing besides a great amount of historical and literary work. His labors and merits were fre- quently recognized and rewarded with positions of distinction and honor. He was given the degree of Doctor of Divinity by his alma mater. In this connection a few extracts from the memoir of Dr. Bouton will be found of interest : "His special fitness and all-round ability appeared in his important work on the town school committee for fourteen years, and also as president of the Concord academy trustees. Later on he displayed the same rare qualities on a higher level as trustee of Dartmouth College between 1840 and 1877. He was a warm friend of every philanthropic enterprise. His early and constant interest in the State Asylum for the Insane is a case in point. From 1867 to 1870 he was its chaplin. During the civil war his fervid patriotism and intense energy, in words and acts, were powerful stimulants of public opinion to save the union and abolish slavery. He had a shrewd presci- ence of benefits possible to the community from new and sound ideas of improvement and progress, and aided them as best he could." "At the outset of his ministry the 'Old North' was the only meeting house, and so by seniority he was the dean of the clergy, and in every asso- ciated effort among them was put forth as spokesman. In the dedication of Congrega- tional churches far and near, or the installation of pastors he was expected to preach the ser- mon, or offer the right hand of fellowship. There is a free masonry that draws antiquaries together, and it was not long before John Farmer and Jacob B. Moore and Philip Carri- gan and other kindred spirits found him out. They often called at his house and were glad to enlarge their own extensive stock of lore from the fund of qucer information which he was always picking up in his rides and walks® about the parish and his examination of the oldest inhabitants. His thirst for this kind of knowledge was insatiable. He was particularly strong in gencalogics and often able to supply missing links. The New Hampshire Historical Society elected him a member, and he was its president for two years and its corresponding secretary for thirty-four ycars. A compart- ment called the 'Bouton Papers,' collected and

ImBr Bouton

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presented by him, attests today his interest in that useful organization. The New Hamp- shire Antiquarian Society claimed him as its most serviceable friend. He was correspond- ing member of several historical societies out of the state. He was trustee of the New Hampshire Missionary Society about twenty years and its president for six years ; president of the Ministers' and Widows' Charitable Fund; director of the New Hampshire Bible Society and of the New Hampshire Educa- tional Society; trustee for thirty-seven years of Dartmouth College, and secretary of the board; vice-president of the American Home Missionary Society, and corporate member of the American Board of Congregational Foreign Missions. In temperance reform he was a pioneer."

Dr. Bouton married (first ) at Lebanon, Con- necticut, September II, 1827, Harriet, daugh- ter of John Sherman, of Trenton, New Jersey, whose great-grandfather was Roger Sherman. of Connecticut. She died at Concord, May 21, 1828, and he married (second) in Chester, New Hampshire, June 8, 1829, Mary Anne Persis Bell, eldest daughter of Governor John Bell, of Chester (see Bell). She died at Con- cord, February 15, 1839, and he married (third) February 18, 1840, Elizabeth Ann Cilley, eldest daughter of Horatio G. Cilley, of Deerfield, New Hampshire. She died Febru- ary 6, 1887, having survived her husband nearly nine years. Dr. Bouton had two children by his first wife: Elizabeth Ripley, who became wife of Rev. John C. Webster, of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and afterward of Wheaton, Illinois; and Nathaniel Sherman, for many years a prominent manufacturer and business man of Chicago. Five children were born of his second marriage: I. John Bell, mentioned in succeeding paragraph. 2. Harriette Sher- man, who became wife of John W. Noyes, of Chester, New Hampshire. 3. Mary Ann, who married Colonel Louis Bell. 4. Samuel Fletcher, born June 23, 1837, for many years a business man of Chicago. 5. Christopher Bell, a leading business man of Chicago. Six chil- dren were born of Dr. Bouton's third marriage : I. William Horatio, who died at the age of two years. 2. Sarah, wife of General J. N. Patterson, of Concord, New Hampshire. 3. Martha Cilley, who married (first) Jacob G. Cilley, of Manchester, New Hampshire, and (second) Arthur E. Clarke, of the Manchester "Minor." 4. Jane Louise, widow of John Smythe Fogg, of South Weymouth. 5. George

Bradbury, who died at six years. 6. Ann Cilley, who died at the age of three years.

(VII) John Bell, son of Rev. Dr. Nathaniel and Mary Anne Persis ( Bell) Bouton, was born in Concord, New Hampshire, March 15, 1830, and died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, November 18, 1902, after an illness of several months, dating in fact from July of that year, when at the Mount Pleasant house in the White mountains he was prostrated with an attack from which it was felt that he could not recover. At the time of his death he was a little more than seventy-two years old, and his whole life from early young manhood had been one of constant activity in journalism, book writing, study, and travel, and his fame as an editor and author was more than national, for he was one of the eminent litterateurs of his time. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1849, receiving the bachelor degree, and two years later became a member of the editorial staff of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, which position he held from 1851 to 1855. In 1857 he became proprietor, director and editor of the New York Journal of Commerce, and was associated with the conduct of that publi- cation in one capacity and another, except dur- ing about two years, until 1889, when he dis- posed of his interest and retired from journal- ism. From 1865 to 1870 he edited the scientific department of Appleton's Annual Encyclopedia. Although he was counted among the strongest men in American journalism, Mr. Bouton was equally celebrated as an author of remarkable versatility. "There was nothing about him," says one of his biographers, "of the antiquary, of the curious, of the finicky, or of the mere ennui of age or competence. His interests had for many years been with the modern, active, productive, scientific world, and when the opportunity came he improved it with a highly appreciative eye." Among the works of which he was author there may be mentioned his "Round the Block," D. Appleton & Co., 1864, fifth edition, 1868; "A Memoir, Etc .. of George Lippard," "Loved and Lost" (essays), "Memory of . General Louis Bell," "Treasury of Travel and Adventure," "Round About Moscow ; An Epicurean Journey." For twelve years previous to his death Mr. Bouton made his home in Cambridge, although during that time he travelled very extensively. Previous to settling in Cambridge he lived for a short time in East Orange, New Jersey. His last published work was the sketch of the character and life work of his father, to which reference

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is made in a preceding paragraph. This sketch was read at the evening service of the church, on April 27, 1902, by his sister, Mrs. Arthur E. Clarke, of Manchester, New Hampshire; and subsequently it was printed in pamphlet and circulated by the First church. "Mr. Bouton was a man of fine attainments ; his mind was richly stored. He was an omniverous reader, a keen observer, a great traveller, an original and deep thinker, a devoted student and lover of nature in all of her forms and moods. His long newspaper career in New York in the days when his associates in the profession included such giants and pioneers as the elder Bennett, Greeley, Bryant and Dana gave him a rare equipment. Many of his newspaper editorials, reviews, essays, sketches, etc., have been saved in scrapbooks, and an examination of them reveals the wide scope, grace, vigor and thoughtfulness of his writings in the days when New York journalism was stamped with a mighty individuality. He was an officer of the Lotos Club of New York and at one time was in touch with all the political, literary and social activities of the times. He was specially learned in botany, astronomy and music, having given deep study to those subjects ; remarkably gifted was he as a conversationalist ; his nature was gentle and affectionate; and family ties with him were unusually strong and sweet. He was devoted to his native state and was ever alive to what took place within her borders. He was enthusiastically patriotic, and this feel- ing was publicly exemplified in a book that he issued and which was entitled 'Uncle Sam's Church.' He was a member of the New Hamp- shire Historical Society and of the New Hamp- shire Audubon Society." Mr. Bouton made ten visits to Europe in twelve years, being absent sometimes for a year and more. One of the most interesting departments of his rare library is a large number of albums, contain- ing photographic views of the things he had seen in his trips around the world. The collec- tion includes great diversity as to object, but always of things in which a healthy, well trained and highly educated man of business would be interested; and he always secured the best views obtainable. About the only "fad" that may be detected in his entire collec- tion is that of English cathedrals, a good picture of one of them having been apparently an irresistible attraction to this globe-trotter. The series includes objects to be found in England and on the continent, as far east as Moscow, and his published account of a trip to the ancient Russian capital, "Round About to

Moscow," is still a useful book to those who are interested in things likely to attract the notice of a busy editor off on a vacation. His library generally is intensely modern in the choice of books, the only tinge of antiquity on the shelves being afforded by books purchased during the early life of a man who died at the beginning of the twentieth century at the age of three score and ten years. The nearest approach to a systematic collection was in some works contributing to the material of a book which occupied his attention during several of the later years of his life. He published it privately in 1895, and later it was taken up by caterers to the public taste. Mr. Bouton called the book "Uncle Sam's Church," and in it he developed a suggestion that patriotism was a legitimate foundation for a religion, and that there was an opportunity that should not be neglected of inculcating its precepts in the young, through the help of government agencies. He suggested a Bible made up of the declaration, the constitution, Washington's farewell address, and a few other documents of early American history ; a hymn-book con- taining the "Star Spangled Banner," "Hail Columbia," "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean," "Flag of the Union," and the like, to be pub- lished in some collected form, possibly by the government, or at any rate by patriotic societies. He saw no reason why the Declaration of Independence should not be placarded in every American postoffice. It looked somewhat fanciful, but the active editor, then retired, never got far away from the practical, and as presented in "Uncle Sam's Church," this was by no means a sentimental dream. On Decem- ber 4. 1873, John Bell Bouton married Eliza Jane Bell Nesmith, of Lowell, Massachusetts, sister of the wife of the late Governor Green- halge, and sister of the late James E. Nesmith, the young poet ( see Nesmith).

BELL So long as time shall endure the old town of Londonderry in New Hampshire will be regarded as the one place in the wilderness of the colonial period in which immigrants of Irish birth (but as Scotch in all their sentiments and feelings, likes and dislikes, as if they had been reared in Argyleshire, where their forefathers for centuries had lived their lives ) settled and laid the foundations of a community whose mem- bers have sustained characters of the highest type. From those immigrants whom toil had made strong and persecution and privation had made virtuous and brave has sprung a progeny

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who in all the walks of life have sustained characters of distinguished excellence and many of whom have been elevated to high stations in our state and national life. Of the descendants of those settlers some have held seats in the federal congress, others have filled places in the state council and senate, some have sustained the chief magistracy of the commonwealth, and others have been distin- guished as ministers of the gospel ; and among the families of this remarkable colony none has been more distinguished than that of John Bell, which gave to New Hampshire her ninth, thirteenth and forty-first governors.

(I) John Bell, immigrant, was born near Coleraine, probably in the parish of Bally- mony, county Antrim, Ireland, in 1678, and died in Londonderry, New Hampshire, July 8, 1743. He was not of the first colony of immigrants who settled Londonderry in 1719, but doubtless arrived there in 1720, when his name appears as the grantee of his homestead lands, comprising sixty acres in Aiken's range, on which he settled and spent the remaining years of his life, and where his son John was born and lived and died. The elder John Bell had other lands granted him in 1722 and after- ward he added to his possessions until he became proprietor of about three hundred acres of land in the town. He made a clearing, built a log cabin, and in 1722 returned to Ireland for his wife and surviving children, two hav- ing died in infancy. He was a man of respect- ability in the colony and according to the records he discharged the duties of various offices. His wife, whom he married in Ireland, was Elizabeth Todd, daughter of John and Rachel (Nelson) Todd, and sister of Colonel Andrew Todd. She was a woman of energy and strong character, qualities which were transmitted to her children and by them were enlarged and strengthened. She survived her husband many years and died August 30, 1771. Their children, four of whom were born in Londonderry, were Samuel, Letitia, Naomi, Elizabeth, Mary and John. The daughters all married men bearing the surname Duncan.

(II) Colonel John (2), youngest child of John ( I) and Elizabeth (Todd) Bell, was born in Londonderry, New Hampshire, August 15, 1730, died there November 30, 1825. In youth he had the advantages of education afforded by the common schools of the town, a com- munity in which almost every person could read and write and where ignorance was regarded as a disgrace. He was not a scholar, but a thinking man, and always a diligent

reader, especially of the Bible, the familiar handbook of that day and age. His home life on his farm was much the same as that of his neighbors, until the beginning of the revolu- tion, at which time he was forty-five years old and had a family of eight children, "circum- stances which much have prevented him taking a very active part, if he had desired it, in the military movements of the day." But he had arrived at a time in life when he possessed a large experience in every day affairs and good judgment, and was still young enough to be active. In the spring of 1775 he was elected town clerk and member of the committee of safety of the town. In the fall of the same year he was chosen member of the provincial congress which met at Exeter, December 21, 1775, and which in the early part of 1776 resolved itself into a house of representatives and put in operation the independent govern- ment of New Hampshire, under a temporary constitution. In 1776 he was re-elected and attended the seven sessions which were held in that and the following year, and was again a member in 1780-81. In 1776 he was appointed muster master of a part of the New Hampshire troops, and in 1780 was commissioned colonel of the Eighth Regiment of militia. From the begin- ning to the end of the war he was a firm and decided patriot and enjoyed the confidence of the more prominent men in the state govern- ment, who relied on his sound judgment and steady support of the cause. In 1786, under the constitution, he was elected senator and was a member of that body of the state legisla- ture by successive re-elections until June, 1790; and in 1791 he was elected to fill a vacancy and served during the winter session. He was a member of the committee which effected a compromise of the Masonian proprietary clause, a subject which at that time was the cause of much strife between the Masonian grantees and settlers holding lands under other grants. Previous to the adoption of the con- stitution of 1792 he was a special justice of the court of common pleas, also during many years filled the office of moderator, and was select- man and town clerk, discharging the duties of each with unquestioned integrity and good judgment. Soon after the declaration of inde- pendence he was appointed magistrate and served in that capacity until disqualified by age. He was an early member of the church and sustained the office of elder until the infirmities of advanced years impelled him to withdraw. He was justly esteemed as a pious, devout and sincere Christian, through-

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out his long life a steady and consistent sup- porter of all of the institutions of religion. At the age of seventy he determined to end his connection with the business of others, and ceased to act in the capacity of magistrate and of administrator and guardian, in which through the esteem and confidence of his towns- men he had been quite extensively engaged ; but so long as he lived he found occupation in the cultivation of his lands, had all that was necessary for the satisfaction of his own wants and the wants of his family, and he never strove to acquire large wealth. He lived in an age when the man of means was not placed above the man of honor and integrity. Colonel Bell was a man of large stature, six feet one inch tall, had a powerful voice and great physical strength and activity. For twenty years he outstripped all his fellow townsmen in the sports of the wrestling ring, a favorite amuse- ment at the public meetings in his time. He had naturally a good constitution, which with his temperate habits secured to him, with the exception of a single attack of rheumatic char- acter in middle life, almost uninterrupted health until the close of his ninety-fifth year. Colonel Bell married, December 21, 1758, Mary Ann, daughter of James and Jean ( Baptiste) Gil- more, and granddaughter of Robert and Mary (Kennedy) Gilmore, who were among the early settlers of Londonderry. In. her early life she was thought to possess much personal beauty, and was a woman of great prudence and good sense. She died April 21, 1822, aged eighty-five years. Of their twelve children three died in infancy. The other children were James (died young ), Ebenezer (died young), Jonathan, John, Samuel, Elizabeth, Susannah, Mary and Mary Ann.

(III) Governor John (3), thirteenth gov- ernor of New Hampshire, fourth son and child of John and Mary Ann (Gilmore) Bell, and younger brother of Samuel Bell, the ninth governor of New Hampshire, was born in Londonderry, July 20, 1765, and died in Chester, New Hampshire, March 22, 1836. His carly education was acquired in his native town. and on attaining his majority, being of an enterprising disposition, he became a mer- chant, dealing in Canadian products. His busi- ness required him to make frequent journeys to Montreal over the rough roads and trails of northern New Hampshire and Lower Canada, which in those days ran through almost unbroken forests, except by an occasional settler's habitation or some small hamlet ; and

these journeys were toilsome and not without danger. About 1800 he established himself in Chester and afterward lived in that town. He was fortunate in the acquisition of property and retired early from active pursuits, and at his death left a large estate. He appears to have inherited those valuable qualities for which the Scotch-Irish settlers in New Hamp- shire were eminently distinguished. He was a born trader, a close buyer and swift seller, and could make money, and make it honestly. His ability, probity and sound judgment, combined with a pleasing personality, rapidly wont he con- fidence and respect of his fellow citizens and placed him in public office where the able dis- charge of his duties was rewarded with pro- motion to higher and still more responsible positions until finally he was made chief execu- tive of the state. In 1799 and 1800 he repre- sented the town of Londonderry in the legis- lature, in 1803 was elected senator for the third district, served one term and then retired to private life. In 1817 he was elected a member of the executive council, and was annually re-elected for five successive terms. In 1823 he was appointed sheriff of Rockingham county and held that office until 1828. In the latter year he was elected governor of the state and served one term. "In the discharge of these various public duties he uniformly exhibited the same traits of sagacity, diligence, justice and conscientiousness which achieved success for him in his business enterprises." Governor Bell married, December 25, 1803, Persis Thom, eldest daughter of Isaac and Persis (Sargent) Thom, on her father's side a descendant of William Thom, of Windham, New Hampshire, and on her mother's side a descendant of Rev. Nathaniel P. Sargent, of Methuen, Massachu- setts. She was a woman of strong mind and character, and survived her husband about twenty-five years, dying in November, 1862, aged eighty-four years. Governor John and Persis (Thom) Bell had ten children: Mary Anne Persis, Eliza Thom, John, Susan Jane, Harriette Adelia, Jane Gibson, Caroline, Christopher Sargent, James Isaac and Charles Henry.

(IV) Mary Anne Persis, eldest child of Gov- ernor John and Persis (Thom) Bell, and sister of Governor Charles Henry Bell, was born September 2, 1804, and died in Concord, New Hampshire, February 15, 1839. She married, June 8, 1829, Rev. Nathaniel Bouton, D. D., of Concord (see Bouton).

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There are three branches of NESMITH the Nesmith family in this country. Thomas Nesmith, a rigid adherent to the doctrines of the Presby- terian church, was living near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1730, and giving full credence to the opinion of his grandson, James H. Nesmith, who in 1867 was living in Green- briar county, West Virginia. This Thomas Nesmith was a brother of James Nesmith, pro- genitor of the family of that surname in Lon- donderry, New Hampshire. Another branch of the family is that descended from John Nesmith, who was contemporary with Thomas and James. There was much communication between the Pennsylvania and New Hamp- shire settlements of Scotch-Irish in early days, and it is not improbable that the three immi- grants were brothers. The Nesmiths are a Scotch family of great antiquity and were seated in Berwickshire and Peeblesshire previ- ous to A. D. 1300, at which time and afterward their ancient patronymic was written Nasmyth. They were firm in allegiance to the Presby- terian church, and the tradition is that their ancestors went from Scotland in 1690 and settled in the valley of the river Bann, in the province of Ulster, Ireland.

(I) Deacon James Nesmith, immigrant ancestor of the family of that surname in New England, was born in 1692, prob- ably in Ireland, and was one of the first settlers of Londonderry, New Hampshire, in April, 1719. He also was one of the petitioners in the memorial sent from Ireland to Governor Shute, March 26, 1718, praying for a suitable grant of land in Massachusetts, and which was answered by the grant of what now is the town of Londonderry. Deacon Nesmith mar- ried, in Ireland, in 1714, Elizabeth McKeen, daughter of Justice James and Janet (Coch- ran) McKeen, and sister of Janet Cochran, wife of the immigrant, John Cochran, of Windham, New Hampshire. She was born in 1696 and died April 29, 1763. Two of their children died in Ireland and the others in Lon- donderry. Deacon Nesmith was one of the progenitors of the town, a man of considerable importance and seems to have taken an interest in public affairs. On the organization of the west parish church he was chosen one of its elders. His children: 1. Arthur, born in Ire- land, died young. 2. James, born in Ireland, August 4, 1718, married Mary Dinsmoor ; he was at the battle of Bunker Hill, and died July 19, 1793. 3. Arthur, April 3. 1721, married Margaret Hopkins. 4. Jean, April 12, 172-,

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume II, Part 132

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed; Adams, William Frederick, 1848- Publication date: 1910 Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company Number of Pages: 1008

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed; Adams, William Frederick, 1848-
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 1008