USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Haverhill > The history of Haverhill, Massachusetts, from its first settlement, in 1640, to the year 1860 > Part 63
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CHAPTER XXX.
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BIOGRAPHY AND GENEALOGY.
AYER, JOHN, Salisbury, 1640, had Hannah, born 21st December, 1644, removed to Ipswich 1646, Haverhill 1647, there died 31st March, 1657. (See page 73). John, Haverhill, son of the preceding, born in England, married 5th May, 1646, Sarah, daughter of John Williams of the same, and next, after 1659, Susanna, daughter of Mark Symonds, of Ipswich, and removed to Brookfield as one of its first settlers, there killed by the Indians when they destroyed the town, 3d August, 1675. He kept the inn, and his children were (besides Sarah) Samuel, John, Thomas, Joseph, Mark, Nathaniel, and Edward, of whom some lived at Brookfield after its renovation. Another John, perhaps a son, perhaps a nephew of the pre- ceding, was of Ipswich, lately from Haverhill, in 1679, and had a wife Mary. Peter, of Haverhill, 1646, youngest son probably of the first John, married 8th October, 1659, Hannah, daughter of William Allen, was freeman in 1666, a representative in 1683-5-9, and 90, and died at Boston 3d January, 1699, aged about 66. Robert, of Haverhill, brother of the preceding, freeman 1666, married in 1659, Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Palmer, of the same, and had Samuel. Samuel, of Haverhill, son of Robert, freeman, 1683, married Elizabeth, daughter of Simon Tuttle, had Obadiah, (Harvard College, 1710,) John, and James ; was selectman and killed by the French and Indians when they surprised the town in August, 1708. Thomas, of Haverhill, 1646, was probably son of John the first, and may have removed to Newbury, there had John, born May 12, 1657, and was freeman 1666.9
BADGER, GEN. JOSEPII, was the eldest child of Joseph Badger, a mer- chant of Haverhill, where he was born January 11, 1722. His mother, Hannah, was a daughter of Colonel Nathaniel Peaslee, one of the wealthi- est and most influential men of this town.
The first person of that name in this vicinity, was Giles Badger, who settled in Newbury, Mass., 1643, and died July 17, 1647. His son, John Badger, born June 30, 1643, by his first wife, Elizabeth, had John, died in infancy ; John, born April 26, 1665; Sarah, and James. Mrs. Badger
" The above is from Savage's Ilist. and Gen. Dict.
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died April 8, 1669. He married, for his second wife, Hannah Swett, February 23, 1671, by whom he had Stephen, Hannah, Nathaniel, Mary, Elizabeth, Ruth, Joseph, Daniel, Abigail, and Lydia. John Badger died March 31, 1691, of the small pox, and his wife soon after, of the same disease. John Badger, Jr., a merchant in Newbury, married Rebecca Brown, October 5, 1691, and had John, James, Elizabeth, Stephen, Joseph, (born 1698) Benjamin, Dorothy. Joseph Badger, son of John, Jr., was the above mentioned merchant of Haverhill, and the father of seven chil- dren, Joseph, Judith, Mehetable, Mary, Nathaniel, Mary, and Peaslec. Only two of them lived to settle in life, viz .: Joseph and Judith. Mrs. Badger died January 15, 1734. July 29, 1735, he married for his second wife, Hannah, the widow of Ebenezer Pearson, whose maiden name was Moody. She had by her first husband, six children, Hannah, Moody, Ruth, Ebenezer, Thomas, and Samuel. By her second husband, Mr. Bad- ger, she had three, Enoch, Nathaniel, and Moses. Moses married a daughter of Judge Saltonstall, and settled as an Episcopal minister in Providence, R. I. Enoch moved to Gilmanton, N. H., and died in San- down. Mr. Badger died April 7, 1760, aged 62.
Gen. Joseph Badger, son of Joseph, the merchant, married Hannah Pearson, daughter of his father's second wife, by a former husband, Janu- ary 31, 1740.9 Their children were William, Hannah, Mehetable, Joseph, ¡ Rebecca, Ruth, Peaslec, Ebenezer, Mary and Nathaniel (twins), Sarah, and Judith. Gen. Badger, (then Capt.) went to Gilmanton, N. H., then a new settlement, in the spring of 1763, sowed and planted his land, and removed his family in the July following. His was the eighteenth family in the new settlement, and at the raising of his barn that season, (the first framed building erected in the town,) he had, as he often after- ward related, every man, woman, and child, to take supper with him .¿ Before removing to Gilmanton, he lived in Haverhill and Bradford.
Gen. Badger, while a youth, served in the militia in the capacity, suc- cessively, of Ensign, Lieutenant, and Captain. He was frequently a selectman of the town, and moderator of its meetings. He was appointed, at the age of twenty-thrce, a Deputy Sheriff for the County of Essex, which office he held until he removed from Massachusetts to New Hamp-
* Flis only sister, Judith, married at the same time Nathaniel Cogswell, a merchant of Haverhill, by whom she had nineteen children.
* Afterward known as the Hon. Joseph Badger, and the father of Hon. Wm. Badger, late Governor of New Hampshire.
# Mr. Badger became a proprietor in the new town by purchasing shares that were forfeited and sold at auction.
.
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shire, in 1763. He was the first magistrate in the place, and his commis- sion as Justice of the Peace, was renewed in 1768. He also officiated in various offices in the town. In July, 1771, he was appointed Colonel of the Tenth Regiment.
In the time of the Revolution, Col. Badger was an active and efficient officer. He was muster-master of the troops raised in his section of the State, and was employed in furnishing supplies for the army. He was a member of the Provincial Congress, and also of the Convention which adopted the Constitution.
In 1784, he received the commission of Justice of the Peace and Quo- rum throughout the State. The same year, he was commissioned, in company with John Wentworth, John Plumer, and Ebenezer Smith, to administer the oaths of office and allegiance to the civil and military offi- cers of the County. He was appointed Brigadier-General, June 27, 1780, and Judge of Probate for Strafford County, December 6, 1784, which office he held till May 13, 1797, when he resigned. He was also a mem- ber of the State Council in 1784, 1790, and 1791.
As a military man, Gen. Badger was commanding in his person, well skilled in the science of tactics. expert as an officer, and courageous and faithful in the performance of every trust. With him, order was law, rights were sacred, and the discharge of duty was never to be neglected. He was a uniform friend and supporter of the institutions of learning and religion. He not only provided for the education of his own children by procuring private teachers, but he also took a lively interest in the early establishment of common schools for the education of children generally. Not content with such efforts merely, he did much in founding and erecting the Academy in Gilmanton. He was one of the most generous contribu- tors to its funds, and was one of its trustees, and the President of the Board of Trust, until his death. He was also a generous supporter of the gospel, a consistent christian, and to his hospitable mansion the minis- ters of religion always found a most hearty welcome.
Gen. Badger was nearly six feet in stature, somewhat corpulent, light and fair in complexion, and dignified and circumspect in his manners and conversation. His whole life was marked by wisdom, prudence, integrity, firmness, and benevolence. Great consistency was manifested in all his deportment. He died April 4, 1803, in the 82d year of his age, ripe in years, in character, in reputation, and as a christian. The text selected for his funeral sermon was strikingly appropriate : - " And behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor ; and he was a good man and a just."
78
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His widow died February 19, 1817, aged 95. Her children were twelve, grand-children forty-five, great-grand-children ninety-five, and her great- great-grand-children twenty-five.º
BARTLETT, HON. BAILEY. The following sketch of this estimable man is from the Essex Gazette, of September 11, 1830 :-
" Died in this town, on Thursday last, (September 9, 1830,) the Hon. Bailey Bartlett, the venerable Sheriff of Essex County, aged LXXX. Mr. Bartlett was descended from one of the earliest settlers of Newburyport. His paternal ancestor, John Johnson, was settled in Haverhill, by a formal writing with its principal inhabitants in 1657, who conveyed to him a house on the site of the mansion of Sheriff Bartlett, on condition of his doing the Smith's business for the Village for seven years. Mr. Johnson lived to an advanced age, when he and his wife were butchered by the Savages, and his house burnt, when Haverhill was attacked in 1708. His grand-daughter was married to Dr. Joshua Bayley, a distinguished Surgeon . in the British Navy, and afterwards Physician in the village of Haverhill. Sheriff Bartlett was the only son of one of his three daughters, and was named for his grand-father. His father was an importing merchant, and kept an English Goods store, as did the Sheriff, until 1789. Mr. Bartlett received only a common school education, but a taste for reading marked every period of his life from youth to old age; and very few men in the country have read more than Mr. Bartlett. He also had a great taste for agriculture, to which he devoted much time, and in this pursuit he made many useful and successful experiments. He was early a member of the Agricultural Society of the State and of the County. A taste for Mechanics was also a distinguished trait in the character of Mr. Bartlett. In his office he kept a Lathe and the tools of a joiner, and some of the handsomest pieces of furniture were made by him for the various members of his family ; this was indeed his favorite amusement. He particularly directed his attention to the art of constructing bridges and suggested many improve- ments in that art.
Living at the most interesting period of our revolution, he early mingled in political life. He was one of the earliest and most constant friends of the venerable John Adams, and the fellow boarder with him and Samuel Adams, in Philadelphia, on the 4th of July 1776. He was present in the yard of Congress Hall, when the Declaration of Independence was first proclaimed, and he has often observed that it was received with great murmuring by the crowd there assembled. In 1783 he represented the
" The above notice of Gen. Badger, and his family, is mostly taken from Lancaster's History of Gilmanton, N. H.
H But ford's Lith . Boston
Bailey Bartlett
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town of Haverhill in the House of Representatives, and in 1789, the County of Essex in the Senate. On the first of July of that year he was appointed Sheriff of Essex. Gov. Hancock presented him the Commission in person, and stated to him that he did it with peculiar pleasure as it was the only nomination during his administration that met the unanimous concurrence of his council. He held the Office until the day of his death, with the exception of about six months, from Dec. 5th, 1811, to June 20th, 1812, when he was made the victim of the unfortunate policy of Gov. Gerry, which resulted in his defeat at the subsequent election. During the time that Mr. Bartlett was thus out of Office, his fellow citizens with great unanimity elected him Treasurer of the County. In his Office of Sheriff he was distinguished by his courtesy-his house was the mansion of elegant hospitality. Kind and indulgent almost to a fault to the unfortu- nate victims of the law, his purse often paid the exactions of the unfeeling creditor rather than imprison the poor debtor. In all cases of difficulty he was firm, fearless and immoveable. Though decided in his politics, he never suffered political feeling to enter into his official duties, and many of his deputies were his warmest political opponents. His kind treatment to the victim of a political libel estranged some of Mr. Bartlett's political friends, but added to his character one of his brightest laurels. The same thing took place, when during the great excitement of the late war, an attempt was made to tax the humane Marshal of Massachusetts with barbarous treatment of the British prisoners, the Sheriff immediately fear- lessly vindicated the character of Marshal Prince and bore testimony to his humanity.
Sheriff Bartlett, was a member of the Convention that adopted the Con- stitution of the United States, and that which was called to amend the Constitution of Massachusetts in 1820. In 1797 he succeeded Judge Bradbury as Representative of Essex North District, in the Congress of the United States, of which he was a member four years ;- he being a member of the last Congress holden at Philadelphia and of the first which met at Washington. He was member of Congress during the contest between Mr. Jefferson and Aaron Burr, and whilst a member, was the chamber companion of the lamented Chief Justice Parker, between whom, until the death of the latter, the warmest and most cordial friendship continued to exist. Speaking of Sheriff Bartlett, just before the commencement of the late trial, to which they both fell victims, Judge Parker says in a letter to a friend, "he is one of the last men whose feelings I would intentionally
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wound, having for more than thirty years known the purity and integrity of his character, both public and private."
These two friends devoted their last moments to duty and society ; and though Sheriff Bartlett, at the advaned age of 80, was afflicted with a malady which would have excused a young man of thirty from attending Court, still he was determined whilst he held his office to discharge its duties. Nineteen days before his death, he attended Court, when the sentence of death was pronounced on the unhappy Knapp. He returned to Haverhill the same day, when he arrived at his house, it took several men to remove him from his chaise. He immediately took to his bed and never left it. It was his last sickness as it was his first. He never having been severely indisposed before. A life of the greatest temperance secured health to a good old age, and in his last sickness he scarcely felt a pain.
Mr. Bartlett was one of the Electoral Candidates on the federal ticket in 1804, and was elected an Elector in 1828. Mr. Bartlett was the oldest public officer living in Massachusetts, except the clerk of the County of Middlesex, and he has probably held the office of Sheriff longer than any other individual ever held it. The best commentary on his public life is, that without a dissipated or extravagant habit, he leaves his family less than half the property he possessed when appointed Sheriff ..
Such was the public life of this amiable, honest, faithful and unostenta- tious public servant. But the brightest trait of his character cannot be known to the world. To see that, they must know the family he has reared, trained and stamped with his own similitude. Fifteen children, thirteen grown to middle age, and eleven who survive him, who never knew an angry passion or a selfish feeling. This is the brightest gem in the diadem. Seven daughters softening the dying bed of virtuous old age, is: a scene which celibacy cannot witness without effect. Blessed was he in life, and thrice blessed in its close."
BARTLETT, HON. ISAAC. The Bartlett families are said to have come into England with William the Conquerer in 1066; and one of them - Adam De Barrtlot -settled in Stapham, Sussex. However this may be, it is certain that the Bartletts who settled at Bartlett's Cove, in Newbury, Massachusetts, came into this country from 1634 to 1637. John Bartlett came in 1634, from the County of Kent, England. He died in 1678. Richard Bartlett, a shoemaker, supposed brother of the first John, came in 1637, and died in 1647. His son, Samuel, married Eliza Titcomb, and died in 1732. His youngest daughter married the Rev. Matthias Plant, who has left MSS relating to his own time. Thomas Bartlett, son of the above Samuel, married Sarah Webster, and died in 1744. His wife died
HON. ISRAEL BARTLETT.
K-M
HON. SAMUEL BLODGET.
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in 1728. Their children were Israel, Tabitha, Enoch, (who was the father of Hon. Bailey Bartlett, of Haverhill,) Dorithy, Nehemiah, James, Thomas, and Sarah.
Israel Bartlett, son of the above Thomas, married Love Hall in 1738, and died in 1754. His wife died in 1806. Their children were Joseph Hall, Sarah, Thomas, Israel, Mary, and Josiah.
Israel Bartlett, son of the above Israel, was born in Nottingham, N. H., May 8, 1748, and died in Haverhill, April 21, 1838. He married Tabitha, Walker, June 8, 1775. She died December 18, 1824. Their children were Samuel, Enoch, Mary, Henry, James, John, Sarah, George, and Charles. Only one of these (John) are now living. After the death of his father, which occurred when Israel was but six years of age, the latter went to reside with his uncle, at Bartlett's Cove, where he remained until he went as an apprentice to the Goldsmith's trade, to a Mr. Moulton, in Newburyport. When his term of apprenticeship was completed, he came to Haverhill, and established himself in the same business.
Though his early education was limited, Mr. Bartlett made such good use of his odd hours, that he became well versed in ancient and modern history, and familiar with the standard literature of his day. He enjoyed, deservedly, the respect and attachment of all who knew him. In his earlier years, he was active in the service of his country ; he was present at the surrender of Burgoyne, and has left a brief account of that expedi- tion. In 1810 and 11, also from 1816 to 21, he served the Commonwealth as a member of the State Senate. He sustained various offices in the town, and always discharged his duties with great fidelity. Shortly before his death, at the advanced age of 90, he received a renewal of his appointment, as a justice of the Peace.
.For very many years he was an honored and consistent member of the First Church in this town, and, at the ripe age of 90 years, he went down to his grave strong in the hope of a glorious immortality.
BLODGET, SAMUEL, better known to our elderly citizens as Judge Blodget, was a native of Woburn, Mass., and a man of superior ingenuity, intelli- gence, and enterprise. He was at the taking of Louisburg, in 1745, and came to Haverhill some time previous to 1748, in which year he married. Hannah White, of " Haverhill District." In 1759, he established pot and pearl ash works in this town, which were among the first in the country, and kept them in successful operation for many years. Removing to New Hampshire, some time previous to the Revolution, he was appointed Judge of the Inferior Court, in the County of Hillsborough, which office he held for some years. Judge Blodget was possessed of great
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mechanical ingenuity, and was the originator of several valuable inven- tions. In 1783, he bought a ship which was stranded near Plymouth, and with a machine of his own invention raised the vessel, and recovered the whole cargo. The latter was mostly tea, which the Judge carefully dried, and sold, making quite a fortune by the operation. Encouraged by this success, he went to Europe, for the purpose of raising money from a rich Spanish ship, but was not permitted to make the attempt. He then went to England, and sought permission to attempt the raising of the Royal George, one of the largest ships in the British Navy, but with no better success. He was looked upon as a Yankee enthusiast. Returning to the United States, he soon after established in this town a factory for the manufacture of linen duck. A part of the machinery was of his own invention, and his factory, which was one of the very first in the country, was one of the principal objects of attention in the town at the time of President Washington's visit. The enterprise proving unprofitable, it was finally abandoned.
Judge Blodget was one of the first to advance the idea that it was the duty of the government to encourage and protect home manufactures, and in the hope that his influence might make a greater impression upon the public mind, he was, in 1791, chosen to represent the town in the General Court.
In 1793, he began a canal at Amoskeag Falls-known as Blodget's Canal. Upon this, and in attempting to lock the falls he labored several years, and expended all his property - but without accomplishing his object.
The Judge was a generation ahead of his time, which will account for nearly all his failures. He was possessed of a genius which would, under proper cultivation, and favorable circumstances, have immortalized his name. He intended to have lived to the age of 100 years, at least. Rigid temperance, activity, and sleeping with open doors and windows, were, in his opinion, the true elixer vitæ. He therefore slept with the windows of his chamber open, in all weathers and at all seasons, and never allowed himself to wear either " great coat" or mittens. He enjoyed uninter- rupted vigor, cheerfulness and health, until his 85th year, when his scheme like so many of his others, failed. Early in 1807, in travelling from Boston to Haverhill on a cold and stormy night, in an open sleigh, he was so thoroughly chilled, that on arriving home he was unable to speak, and was with great difficulty rescued from immediate death. From this shock he never recovered, In the following August he died, of consumption.
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BRADLEY, ISAAC. " Died .- In this town, on the 15th inst., Mr. Isaac Bradley, aged 83. It is remarkable that his grandfather assisted to build the first meeting house in this town ; his father the second; and he the third in the same parish. His grandfather was killed by the Indians ; and his father, a captive among them, made his escape at 15 yrs old thro the trackless wood from Winnepiseogee Pond to Saco fort without any guide but sun and stars, or rather a kind and wonderful Providence. The subject of this obituary sustained a state of almost helpless infirmity for 30 years with patience and unrepining submission. Near his death he ealled around him his children and grandchildren, and like a good old patriarek, gave them his affectionate blessing and pious counsels. He died full of the hopes of that religion of which he had been a professor thro a long life."-Observer, (Haverhill) Jan. 22. 1802.
BRICKETT, GEN. JAMES, was a native of Haverhill. He practiced physic successfully for many years, in this town, both before and after the war of the Revolution. He was Surgeon's mate in Col. Frye's Regiment, at Fort Frederick, from March 30, 1759, to July 30, 1760, and perhaps longer. On the breaking out of the dispute between the Colonies and Great Britain, he ranked himself with the Whigs, and became a firm and devoted patriot. He was one of the principal movers in the organization of the Haverhill Artillery Company, in 1774, and was its first Captain. He was a member of the first "Committee of Inspection" in the town, (1775.) On the breaking out of hostilities, in April 1775. he hastened to Cambridge, where he was commissioned (May 20) as Lieutenant Colonel in Col. Frye's Essex Regiment. Owing to the illness of the latter, Lieut. Col. Brickett commanded the regiment at the occupation of Bunker Hill, on the night of June 16, 1775, and until wounded on the day following." He was subse- quently (July 5, 1776,) appointed by the Governor and Council of Massa- chusetts, Colonel of a Battalion to be raised in the Counties of Essex, &e. A few days later, (July 11.) he was appointed Brigadier-General of the forces to be sent to Canada, and commanded the Massachusetts Levies for the Northern Army, arriving at Ticonderoga, August 12th, 1776. He was President of a Court Martial held at Albany, December 2, 1776, for the trial of Arnold, on complaint of Col. Hazen, (5 Am. Arch. iii, 1012). In September, 1777, he went as a volunteer with the company which marched from Haverhill to the Plains of Stillwater, under the command of Capt. Nathaniel Marsh, and arrived just after the cessation of arms had been declared. He was appointed (October, 1777,) one of Gen. Gate's Briga- diers, and commanded an escort of about five hundred militia, detached to
G See page 392.
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guard a division of Gen. Burgoyne's troops from Saratoga to Boston.º In this expedition he incurred considerable expense, and when he laid his account before Congress, that body refused to remunerate him, because he was not then an officer of the army.
He was chairman of the committee of the town of Haverhill in 1786, and drafted the reply to the town of Boston, addressed to all the towns in the State concerning the common interests of the country, which was char- acterized by the most ardent patriotism, and signal ability. }
He was a member of the Constitutional Convention at Boston, in June, 1780 ; was chairman of several important committees in the town during the great struggle for Independence, and an active and influential member of most of them ; was moderator of the town meetings from 1780 to 1784, inclusive ; and was chairman of the board of selectmen from 1779 to 1782, inclusive, during which time the board were also, ex-officio, assessors and overseers of the poor. Gen. Brickett, or, as he was usually called by his townsmen, " Dr. Brickett," was highly respected by all who knew him, as a kind and skilful physician, an obliging neighbor, a genial compan- ion. a liberal and enterprising citizen, and a man of undoubted honor, patriotism, and integrity. He died December 9, 1818, aged 81 years.
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