USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Londonderry > Vital records of Londonderry, New Hampshire; a full and accurate transcript of the births, marriage intentions, marriages and deaths in this town from the earliest date to 1910 > Part 1
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From a Painting by Frank Holland
Copy righted, 1914, by G. W. Browne GEN. GEORGE REID
VITAL RECORDS
OF
LONDONDERRY
NEW HAMPSHIRE
A FULL AND ACCURATE TRANSCRIPT OF THE BIRTHS, MARRIAGE INTENTIONS, MARRIAGES AND DEATHS IN THIS TOWN FROM THE EARLIEST DATE TO 1910
Compiled from the Town Books, Church Records, Family Records, Graveyard Inscriptions and other sources, by
DANIEL GAGE ANNIS
The Subject Matter Edited, with Introduction, Sketches and Annotations by
GEORGE WALDO BROWNE
MANCHESTER, N. H. THE GRANITE STATE PUBLISHING COMPANY.
1914
F44 .4848
MANCHESTER, N. H. PRINTED BY JOHN B. CLARKE COMPANY 1914.
15-2894
LONDONDERRY, N. H., Nov. 5, 1913.
Following is a true copy of Article 4 of the warrant for the March election in the year 1912:
"ARTICLE 4. To see if the town will vote to raise the sum of three hundred dollars ($300.00) to be expended by the Se- lectmen for printing the Vital Statistics (Births, Marriages and Deaths) of Londonderry from the settlement thereof, 1719, to the year 1910."
The following action was taken on the above article :
Upon motion, it was voted that the Selectmen be instructed to have the Vital Statistics printed at a cost of three hundred dollars.
LONDONDERRY, N. H., Nov. 5, 1913.
I certify that the above is a true copy of Article 4 of the Warrant for the annual meeting of 1912, and the action taken thereon.
ATTEST :
WILLIAM H. CROWELL, Town Clerk.
LONDONDERRY, N. H., Dec. 27, 1913.
I have made what I believe to be a true copy of all the names and dates included in the following transcript of the births, marriage intentions, marriages, and deaths of London- derry.
[Signed] DANIEL GAGE ANNIS.
Then personally appeared Mr. Daniel G. Annis and made oath to the statement above. Before me,
JOHN E. RAY, Justice of the Peace.
7
12
CONTENTS.
Gen. George Reid (Portrait)
Page Frontispiece
Certificates of Town Clerk and Compiler
7
Contents .
9
Coat of Arms of Campbell, Duke of Argyle IO
Introduction II
Daniel Gage Annis . I3
Gen. George Reid
15
The Romance of "Ocean Mary"
17
Ancestors of the Colonists of Londonderry
2I
Vital Records :
Births
33
Marriage Intentions
I29
Marriages
177
Deaths
27I
BLIVISCARI'S
1
IN VIX EA
VOCON
Campbel Duke of Aryfel
1
INTRODUCTION.
It is perhaps needless to say that care has been taken in transcribing the records as given in the originals, that their value may be made certain by being accurate. Mistakes no doubt there are in names and dates, but these cannot be fre- quent, and in most cases are not due to the compiler. The spell- ing of names, as a rule, is the same as it was given in the first place. This accounts for the difference in names and the vaga- ries that frequently occur. It was not thought best to follow the literal wording of the original entries in the old town books, but to separate the different classes under their respective head- ings, Births, Marriage Intentions, Marriages and Deaths. The first of these items have been arranged alphabetically under the names of the parents, the children following in chronological order. This seemed to be easier of identification, while saving considerable space, which was a matter calling for attention. Intentions of marriages and marriages have been given under the surnames of both bride and groom. The deaths are in the alphabetical order. Occasionally this rule has been broken, especially among the births, where sometimes a marriage or death is given, as it would make more complete the item, which might not be consistently filled elsewhere.
As indicated by the title-page, the sources of information have been many, for the compiler labored zealously in his work. It was not deemed necessary to designate these sources, as that would tend to confuse the reader and add little, if any, value to the item. The abbreviations are those generally followed in works of this kind, and will be readily understood. For instance, b. stands for birth; m. for mar- ried ; d. for death; dau. for daughter; s. for son; w. for wife; bur. for buried, etc.
The town has very generously made possible this publica- tion by the payment of three hundred dollars towards the cost of production, the balance of the expense, something like two hundred dollars, being borne by the undersigned.
II
12
VITAL RECORDS OF LONDONDERRY.
Above all else the thanks of every person interested in this subject are due to Mr. Annis for his patient, conscientious work in compiling these records, a task of no little magnitude, which he has performed without payment or expectation of reward. He was in every way admirably well fitted for the undertaking, and I believe he has done his work well. It is no more than justice that I should give here a brief sketch of his life.
I3
INTRODUCTION.
DANIEL GAGE ANNIS.
Mr. A. L. Annis, in his compilation of the Genealogy of the Annis family, says that Charles Cumway Annis, born in En- niskillen, Ire., probably of English parentage, in 1638, was the ancestor of most, if not all, of the persons in this country bear- ing that surname. This Charles Annis, at the age of 28, married Sarah Chase and settled in Newbury, Mass. The descendants of this worthy couple are very numerous and are widely scattered over the United States, Canada and Nova Scotia.
Charles and Sarah (Chase) Annis had nine children, the fourth of whom, Abraham, was born April 12, 1672, and resided in Newbury, Mass. He married Hannah, daughter of Christo- pher and Hannah (Belknap) Osgood, born October 19, 1668. They had ten children. The second son and fourth child was named John and was born May 1, 1700. He married, Decem- ber 16, 1724, Abigail Rolfe, daughter of Ezra and Sarah (Jack- son) Rolfe. This couple had nine children, the third of whom was named Rolfe, born December 21, 1734; married Sep- tember I, 1757, to Sarah Rollins, daughter of Benjamin and Hannah (Annis) Rollins. This couple had two children, and probably others. Isaac, the second son, was born in Novem- ber, 1759, and married Hannah Dwinnell in 1785 or 1786. He was a Revolutionary soldier. The children of Isaac and Han- nah (Dwinnell) Annis, all born in Londonderry, were eight, according to the records, and the second of these, John, was born October 13, 1790, and died April 22, 1871.
Daniel G. Annis was the youngest son of a family of five sons and six daughters, the children of John and Delilah (Coburn) Annis, and was born in Londonderry, N. H., January 25, 1839. His father and grandfather both lived in Litchfield, though the former removed to a farm in north Londonderry, which he purchased in 1820. All of his children were born here. He was a member of the old Whig party and of its offshoot, the Republican party. His wife, Delilah, died in 1853, and he in 1871, April 22.
14
VITAL RECORDS OF LONDONDERRY.
The subject of this sketch, Daniel G. Annis, received his education in No. 8 district school of Londonderry and Pinker- ton Academy in Derry. Upon completing his education he taught school for several winters, and soon after reaching his majority was engaged a couple of years in the ice trade for the well-known firm of Smith & Prescott, Jamaica Plain, Mass. In the winter of 1862-63 he returned to the farm to care for his parents and look after the homestead.
During his long and useful life Mr. Annis has filled many offices of public trust to the great satisfaction of his townsmen. He served as selectman in 1867 and 1868, and was chosen again to that office in 1893 and 1894, being chairman of the board for both terms. He was town clerk from 1873 to 1882 in- clusive, and town treasurer from 1874 to 1878 inclusive, and again town treasurer in 1891 and 1892. He was collector of taxes from 1874 to 1884, inclusive, and chosen again to that office from 1895 to 1911, inclusive, making his service in that capacity of twenty-eight years. He was postmaster of North Londonderry for four years, and he has held the commission of justice of the peace for thirty-three years. His long service in the different offices he has held speaks in more eloquent words than tongue of his honesty and efficiency.
Mr. Annis is a member of the Londonderry Presbyterian church, which he joined in 1863. He is a charter member of Londonderry Grange, instituted in 1875.
Mr. Annis was married June 18, 1868, to Miss Mina Al- faretta, eldest daughter of Samuel and Nancy (Proctor) Gil- creast. She died February 19, 1885, aged 37 years, leaving one son, John S., born September 24, 1871. He married, second, Miss Fannie M. Fling, December 1, 1886. She was the oldest daughter of John W. and Mary Ann (Goodwin) Fling, and died January 16, 1901, leaving no children.
The "Old Homestead Farm" was disposed of several years ago, and since then Mr. Annis has made his home in a com- modious cottage near Londonderry depot. While acting as town clerk he thoroughly examined the records of the town from its settlement in 1719 and arranged in alphabetical order the vital statistics and many other important items of town record. Since then he has brought this list down to 1910, adding very much to it from other sources, until the work has grown to the size and importance of this volume of over 300 pages.
15
INTRODUCTION.
GEN. GEORGE REID.
Londonderry has furnished many men and women of promi- nence in the world's work outside of the town, and it would be eminently proper that sketches of these should be given here, but space forbids even the mention of anything like a full list. I cannot refrain from referring to that pioneer of Presbyterianism in this country, Rev. James McGregor ; Rev. Matthew Clark, the fighting parson, who was his successor; Matthew Thornton, M. D., one of the signers of the Declara- tion of American Independence; Joseph McKeen, the noted Doctor of Divinity ; James Wilson, the inventor of the school globe; and last, but not least, Gen. George Reid, the Revolu- tionary patriot.
Of General Reid by far too little has been said, and knowing of no portrait that could better grace this volume, I have been to the expense of having one painted expressly for this work. He was born in Londonderry in 1733, the son of James and Mary Reid. He seems to have been educated mostly under private tutelage, and early was imbued with a military spirit, and had a local company under organization before the news of the battle of Lexington reached his home. Immediately he called his men together and marched them to Cambridge. His company did good service under the left wing of Stark's men at Bunker Hill. The Continental Congress rewarded him for his meritorious work with the commission of captain of a company in the Fifth Regiment of infantry.
Rising rapidly in his ranking capacity as an officer, his record during the Revolution was an admirable one, noted for courage and keen foresight as a military leader. He partici- pated with distinction in the battles of Long Island, White Plains, Trenton, Brandywine, Germantown, Saratoga, Still- water, and experienced the hardships of the winter at Valley Forge. He, with General Cilley, served in Sullivan's famous expedition against the Six Nations. In 1785 he was made brigadier-general of the New Hampshire troops.
16
VITAL RECORDS OF LONDONDERRY.
At the time of the threatened armed disturbance in 1786, arising from the demand of certain persons in New Hampshire asking for the issuance of paper money which could be used as legal tender in the payment of taxes and debts, General Reid was placed in command to quell the uprising. His own town had voted for this measure, so that he was in a trying situ- ation. But he proved equal to the occasion, and owing to his prompt and decisive action the whole affair was suppressed and a settlement effected without the loss of life or prolonged disturbance of the peace. A local writer in speaking of this affair says: "So intense was the feeling against him in his own county for the part he had taken in suppressing the insur- rection that his life and property were threatened. On one occasion, when an angry crowd surrounded his house at night, he appeared at the window fully armed and addressed the rioters who had come to take his life. His coolness and the force of his words alone induced them to disperse without doing lıim harm."
General Reid is one of the forceful characters of his day of whom too little is known. He married, in 1757, Mary Wood- burn, daughter of John Woodburn and Mary Boyd. She was a most estimable woman, who possessed a vigorous intellect combined with a cheerful and happily modulated disposition, which served as a happy medium to control his more excitable nature. Her half-brother, David Woodburn, was the maternal grandfather of Horace Greeley. General Reid died in 1815, at the age of 82 years, while Mrs. Reid followed him April 7, 1823, in her eighty-eighth year. Londonderry has had no more worthy couple, and they deserve greater recognition than they have received.
I could not resist the temptation of including in these pages the romantic story of "Ocean Mary," one of the fair daughters of Londonderry, as the facts have been gathered by Mr. J. Warren Thyng and told in his inimitable way.
1
THE ROMANCE OF "OCEAN MARY."
Previous to 1720, the year in which the principal events of this narrative occurred, many families of Scotch peasantry crossed the North Channel and found, for a time, homes in the larger towns on or near the coast of Ireland. Thus London- derry became the residence of a large number of Scotch yeomanry.
In those old times of slow ships and many perils of the sea, it was a far cry from Londonderry in Ireland to London- derry in the Granite State. Still, Scotland and the Emerald Isle had already sent sturdy pioneers to the new world on the Merrimack.
Tradition, often the truer part of history, has failed to save from oblivion the name of the ship which sailed from Lon- donderry for Boston in July, 1720, but she is said to have been in many respects vastly superior to others of her class in those times. At any rate, long before she dropped anchor off the picturesque coast many well-to-do families had prepared for the long voyage. Of those who from the deck of the departing ship watched the green shores of Ireland fade from view, a large proportion were not only strong of limb, but thrifty and provident.
Out through Lough Foye, past Inishowen Head and far beyond Giant's Causeway, with favoring winds, sailed the fated ship.
Among the passengers were James Wilson and his young wife. A year before, Wilson married Elizabeth Fulton, and they were now on their way to Londonderry, N. H., where land had been laid out to James Wilson as one of the grantees of that town.
In the small valley settlement to which Wilson and his wife were traveling were friends under whose hands profitable harvests were sure, and a generation was springing up whose influence was to be felt long years after.
:7
18
VITAL RECORDS OF LONDONDERRY.
Concerning the earlier part of the voyage of the emigrant ship, tradition is nearly silent, although certain fragmentary accounts hint of a protracted calm and following storm of such violence that the vessel was driven from her course. However that may be, it is reasonably certain that the passage was about one third accomplished when events transpired that made the voyage memorable in the lives of all on board.
One sultry evening the lookout saw on the horizon a sail standing like a gray silhouette against the early rising moon. All through the hot summer night the strange craft wore nearer and nearer, and when morning came her low hull could be seen like a black shadow under her full set of canvas.
The pirate was within gunshot of the emigrant ship. To fight or run away was not to be thought of. The slow ship had not a dozen muskets. They simply waited. They had not long to wait, for boats were soon alongside and, swarm- ing upon the deck, the robbers fell to work as men who knew how to plunder and kill. Crew and passengers were bound, and some were left lying where they were captured, and some were rolled into corners, just as suited a momentary freak of the invaders.
None were killed. Valuables were gathered into parcels convenient to be transferred to the pirate ship. The robber captain, going below to search the officers' quarters, threw open the after-cabin door with a rough hand, but seeing a woman lying in the berth, stopped.
"Why are you there?" demanded the ruffian.
"See." The terrified woman uncovered a baby's face. Then the pirate drew near. "Is it a boy or a girl?"
"A girl."
"Have you named her?"
"No."
The pirate went to the cabin door and commanded that no man stir until further orders. Then, returning, he went close to the berth where the woman lay, and said gently, "If I may name that baby, that little girl, I will unbind your men and leave your ship unharmed. May I name the girl?" "Yes."
Then the rough old robber came nearer still and took up the tiny, unresisting hand of the baby. "Mary," was the name
19
INTRODUCTION.
the woman heard him speak. There were other words, but spoken so low she could not hear. Only his Maker and his own heart knew, but when the child drew its hand away the mother saw a tear on the pink fingers.
There have been other knights than Bayard.
As good as his word, the pirate captain ordered all captives unbound and goods and valuables restored to the places from which they had been taken. Then with his crew he left the ship and pulled to his own vessel. But the emigrant ship had scarcely got under way when a new alarm came to them. The pirate was returning.
If they were dismayed at his reappearance, they were sur- prised to see him come on board alone and go directly below to the cabin. There he took from a parcel a piece of brocaded silk of marvelous fineness of texture and beauty of design. Seen at a little distance, the effect of the pattern is as of a plaid, combining in wonderfully harmonized tones nameless hues of red and green, softened with lines of what evidently was once white.
Time has, perhaps, somewhat mellowed its color tone, but the richness of its quality is as the richness of pearls.
"Let Mary wear this on her wedding day," the pirate said as he laid the silk on the berth.
The pirate left the ship and was seen no more. In the fulness of time the emigrant ship reached Boston without further incident. There James Wilson died soon after landing. Elizabeth Wilson, with Mary, soon after went to live in Lon- donderry, where friends were waiting for them. Here the widow married James Clark, great-great-grandparent of Horace Greeley.
For years the people of the little hamlet religiously kept July 28, in thanksgiving for the deliverance of their friends from the hands of pirates.
Some time early in the year 1738 Thomas Wallace emigrated to America and settled in Londonderry, where, on December 18 of the same year, he was married to Ocean Mary by Rev. Mr. Davidson of that town. Her wedding gown was the pirate's silk.
20
VITAL RECORDS OF LONDONDERRY.
A granddaughter and a great-granddaughter have also worn the same dress on like occasions.
Four sons were born to Mary Wallace, three of whom removed to Henniker. There, on a sightly hill, Robert built the house which in his day was far and away the grandest mansion in all the country around. He was a man of large hospitality and intelligent strength of character.
Here Ocean Mary lived many years, and died in 1814 at the age of ninety-four years. Her grave is in the Center burying- ground, about half way down the middle walk, a bowshot distant from the railroad station. The curious visitor may, if he choose, read the inscription on the slate: "In Memory of Widow Mary Wallace, who died Feb'y 13, A. D., 1814, in the 94th year of her age."
The likeness tradition has left of Ocean Mary is that of a woman symetrically tall, with light hair, blue eyes and a florid complexion, together with a touch of the aristocracy of nature and a fine repose of manner in her energetic, determined and kindly ways.
-J. W. Thyng.
ANCESTORS OF THE COLONISTS OF LONDONDERRY.
The historians of the austere Pilgrims of Plymouth and the stern Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay colony have been numerous, so that the story of the political, and more especially the religious, persecution which sent them from their native land has become a familiar subject to him who reads history. It is a story of deep wrongs and unswerving fidelity to the principles upon which they builded their code of moral philosophy.
Coming to New England almost, if not quite, contempo- raneously with the two named was another class of colonists of whom far less has been written. These brave men and fear- less women were from the sturdy yeomanry of northern and western England, and the founders of most of the towns in the Merrimack valley. Unlike the two mentioned first, though a God-fearing people, they did not nurture in their hearts a religious grievance, but came here with a desire to improve their condition in life. They were the progressive pioneers of New England. Scarcely a town granted in those days in New Hampshire failed to have one or more of these families. Ay, there is probably not a state in the union today whose census roll does not contain the names of some of their de- scendants. Many of them appear in the following pages. In the cosmopolitan make-up of the English-speaking people these colonists could claim a remote kinship with the Pilgrims and the Puritans, but far enough removed to have moulded a new type of citizenship.
While possessing as rugged virtues as either of the others, and bearing a yoke of religious persecution that made the loads of the others seem light in comparison, the colonists of Lon- donderry belonged to a different ancestry. In a past so remote that no historian has dared to fix the date, certain wild tribes
21
22
VITAL RECORDS OF LONDONDERRY.
of western Asia, belonging probably to the Scythian race, swept over Europe, scattered clans stopping by the way until the continent was dotted here and there with their camps. Some even pushed out from the mainland to the island since named Ireland. More addicted to warfare than to peaceful pursuits, they failed to formulate a form of government, and existed as hostile tribes side by side.
Possibly five hundred years since the invasion of the Scyth- ians, or Celtics, and about eight hundred years before the reputed founding of Rome, an adventurous people belonging to the Gaelic, Milesian or Scotic race followed in the footsteps of the first, conquering the rude inhabitants of Europe, as in more recent years the Roman legions followed in their foot- steps. A certain number of the Scotic race crossed over the channel from the mainland into Ireland, and, for weal or woe, pitched their tents in the midst of the race already occupying the island.
The newcomers had a decided advantage over the original colonists of Ireland inasmuch as they brought with them a good measure of the enlightenment that had established laws, morals and intelligent government in Assyria, Egypt, Babylon and other eastern countries. It was an easy matter for them to conquer or drive into the interior of the island the earlier claimants for the territory. For hundreds of years, however, these Milesian rulers of Ireland were divided among them- selves, different lords, descendants of the original stock, hold- ing petty sovereignty by might over as many followers as they could bring under their subjection. During this long interval, in which there must have been more or less mingling with the earlier race, a part of the great Scythian or Celtic family, the Romans, had invaded Great Britain and left upon its people the seal of the Church of Rome.
The uncompromising division of the inhabitants of Ireland caused certain of the nobles to push farther and farther north, until some of the most venturesome had crossed the North Channel and entered ancient Caledonia, a corruption of the Celtic term Celyddon, "dweller in the forest," as Scotland was then called. This country was peopled largely by a stalwart race known as the Picts, dwelling in the highlands, and another
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