USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 21
USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 21
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They had four children: Edward H., the eldest, is the subject of our sketch; Mary E., born in August, 1847, is the wife of D. G. Thompson, of Montreal, General Manager of the Montreal Transportation Company; Ezra T., born in May, 1849, now a lumber dealer in Chicago, Ill., married Mary Ida Thompson, of Woodstock, Vt. ; Henry H., the youngest child, born in April, 1851, married Ella Hill,
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of Belmont, Mass., and now carries on a large department store in Zanesville, Ohio.
Having received a good education, Edward HI. Sturtevant began at the age of seventeen to teach school in Barton, Vt. After teaching for a while, he entered the employ of William Joslyn & Son, druggists, with a view of learn- ing the business. Two years later he ac- cepted a position in this line in Wellington, Ohio, remaining there for two years. At the expiration of this time he went into the drug business for himself at Lebanon. In a few months he had established a prosperous, paying business; and then at the earnest solicitation of the village physician he sold it out to him at a goodly advance over its cost. His former employers, learning of this, urged him to unite with them in opening a drug store in Cole- brook, which he did; and, after remaining there one year, he sold out to them. His next venture was with his brother in Woodstock, Vt., where they kept boots and shoes as well as drugs, and were in business for five years. When they sold out his brother went West.
Mr. Edward H. Sturtevant came to Frank- lin in 1876, and bought out George Procter's two drug stores, one at Franklin and the other at Franklin Falls. In 1881 he bought one-half interest in the Franklin Needle Com- pany, and undertook the management of the concern, with the additional duties of Treas- urer. The President of the company is Mr. HI. J. Odell, now of Laconia. It is the larg- est factory of the kind in the United States, employing two hundred hands; and its goods are shipped to all parts of the United States and Canada, and some are exported. Mr. Sturtevant is a Director of the Franklin Power and Light Company and Vice-President of the company. He is President and Director of the Franklin Falls Company, Director of the First National Bank of Franklin, and Trustee
of the Franklin Savings Bank. He has been as prominent in political as in business cir- cles, and in 1893 he represented the town in the legislature. In 1896, to the satisfaction of his fellow-citizens, he filled the office of Mayor of Franklin.
In May, 1869, he married Miss Ada E. Martin, of Stratford, N.H., daughter of Jo- seph and Alvira Martin. Her father was a lumberman and farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Sturte- vant have two children: Eva E., born in Oc- tober, 1875, now at Burnham School, North Hampton; and Ruth B., born in October, 1884.
Mr. Sturtevant is a member of Meridian Lodge, F. & A. M .; Franklin Chapter, R. A. M .; Mount Horeb Commandery, K. T., of Concord; and of Merrimac Lodge, I. O. O. F. He is a member of the Unita- rian Society. Capable and diligent in appli- cation, he has been successful in business through life, and is a leading man in his city.
AMES FRAME, a farmer of Canter- bury, N.H., and dealer in registered thoroughbred Jersey cattle, is a native of Lennoxshire, Scotland. He was born Sep- tember 5, 1834, son of Robert and Janet (Pettigrew) Frame. His paternal grand- father, also named James Frame, was a large lumber dealer in Scotland, where he died when still a young man. He married Mar- garet McKay.
Their son Robert, the father of the subject of this sketch, was for a number of years the editor of a newspaper in Glasgow. He intro- duced the omnibus into that city in 1845; and he ran the line for five years, keeping about ten omnibuses and one hundred horses. He sold out in 1850, and was appointed public inspector of carriages in Glasgow, an office
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which he held for twenty years, or until he retired from business. He died in April, 1894. His wife was Janet, the daughter of Alexander and Elizabeth (Riddell) Pettigrew, of Scotland. Alexander Pettigrew was a weaver and farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Frame had five children, namely: James, of whom we shall speak more fully below; Alex- ander, deceased; Elizabeth, a missionary in the city of Glasgow; Mary, now living in Scotland; and Jane, who married Thomas Patterson, and is now dead. All of the chil- dren were educated in private schools.
James, their eldest son, learned the currier's trade when a young man, and served seven years in the city of Glasgow. He was ap- pointed foreman of the business in 1855, and he held the position three years. Coming to this country in 1868, he settled first in Suna- pee, N.H., where he worked as currier for a man named John Young. In the fall of 1869 he went to Chicago with the intention of mak- ing his home there; but, deciding that he liked the East better, he came back and set- tled in Franklin, N. H., where he worked with A. M. Stewart until 1880, when he removed to Manchester. After ten years' service there with Kimball & Gerrish he removed to New- port, R.I., where he set up in the currier business. He was very successful, and trav- elled a good deal on the road. He stayed but two years, however, and then came to Canter- bury, N. H., where he bought of Frank Mer- rill his present property, containing about one hundred and thirty acres of well-improved land. His place is called Strathsee Farm, and is a beautiful homestead. Mr. Frame does general farming; but his main interest is in cattle, of which he has made a careful study. He keeps about twenty head of reg- istered thoroughbred Jerseys, and makes an- nually a large amount of fine butter. He has
taken nine prizes at the New Hampshire State Fair with his fine cattle.
In politics Mr. Frame is a Republican, and he is an active worker in his party. He be- longs to Granite Lodge, K. of P., of Man- chester, N. H .; and to the Merrimack River Grange, Canterbury. In religion he is of the liberal Christian type, and is a member of the Universalist church. He married Jane Pat- terson, a daughter of William and Susan (Hamilton) Patterson, born December 22, 1838. Mr. and Mrs. Frame have had four children. A brief record may here be given, as follows: Robert Frame, the only son, a graduate of Dartmouth, married Minnie Gail, of Canterbury, and is now Treasurer of the Dececo Company at Newport, R. I .; Susan Hamilton Frame married George W. Hardy, a machinist of Manchester, N.H., and died at the age of twenty-nine; Janet Pettigrew Frame is a trained nurse at Newport, R.I .; and Jeanie Frame, born in December, 1867, died July 25, 1887.
OHN A. FULLER, a well-known and influential citizen of Contoocook, Mer- rimack County, N.H., son of Abram G. and Adeline C. (Fellows) Fuller, was born in Bridgewater, Grafton County, this State, August 8, 1848. His paternal grandfather, John A. Fuller, first, a farmer, removed from Vermont to Hopkinton, N. H., and resided there till his death, which occurred in his eighty-second year. He married Mary Davis.
Abram G. Fuller, son of John A. Fuller and Mary (Davis) Fuller, born in Hopkinton, was a farmer and wheelwright, having a shop on his farm. He lived to the age of seventy- one years. His wife, Adeline C. Fellows, also of Hopkinton, died in January, 1895. Of their children only two, John A., of Con-
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toocook, and Orrin F., a farmer of Hopkin- ton, are in New Hampshire.
John A. Fuller, the subject of this sketch, was a boy of eight or nine years when he went to Hopkinton. He was educated in the public schools and in the academy at Contoocook. Living on his father's farm in Hopkinton until he was sixteen years of age, he then went to Goffstown, where he learned the trade of sash and blind making. From that time he became his own supporter, and, coming to Contoocook, worked as foreman in the factory of McClure & Taggart, where he remained until the factory was burned three years later. After this he worked as clerk in a village store. He was appointed Postmaster under the Cleveland administration of 1885, served as Assistant .Postmaster for four years under Harrison, and was then reappointed Post- master upon the re-election of Mr. Cleveland. He now holds the position. He has also the fire insurance agency for the village, his books showing a good business. Mr. Fuller has served for fifteen years as a Justice of the Peace and for ten years as a Notary Public, doing conveyancing and attending to the other official duties. He has also served for four- teen years as Township Clerk, and is thus connected with almost every public enterprise in the township.
April 30, 1872, John A. Fuller married Julia F., daughter of Jacob M. and Sarah C. (Abbott) Morrill, of Contoocook. Their one child, William F. Fuller, is proprietor of a job printing establishment in Contoocook. Mrs. Fuller's father, Jacob Matthew Morrill, was born in Hopkinton, July 11, 1819, son of Joseph and Pamelia Martin Morrill, and died October 19, 1896, aged seventy-seven years. He spent a few years in Dixon, Ill., but lived mainly in Contoocook village, where he worked as a carpenter and joiner. From Oc-
tober, 1862, to August, 1863, he served in Company D, Sixteenth Regiment, New Hamp- shire Volunteers; and in 1871 he was made a Selectman of the town. He married April 30, 1845, Sarah Call Abbott, daughter of J. Herman and Sally Currier Abbott. Mrs.
Morrill is still living.
Mr. John A. Fuller is by political senti- ment a Democrat. He is a member of Hills- borough Lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 2, in Man- chester; and has passed the chairs in Eagle Encampment, No. 8, of Contoocook. Mrs. Fuller is a member of the Rebecca Lodge, I. O. O. F.
HARLES A. FISHER, a prominent resident of Claremont, Sullivan County, and an ex-member of the New Hampshire legislature, was born in this town, November 10, 1837, son of Leonard P. and Nancy T. (Lincoln) Fisher. The orig- inal ancestor of the family in America was Anthony Fisher, who emigrated with his wife and five children from Syleham, Suffolk County, England, in 1637, and settled in Dedham, Mass. Jeremiah Fisher, a descend- ant of Anthony, resided for many years in Massachusetts, and enlisted four times to serve in the Revolutionary War. On the Lexington alarm roll, April 19, 1775, he ap- pears as a private in Joseph Moses's company, Colonel Samuel Bullard's regiment. His last days were spent in Claremont, his death oc- curring at the age of eighty-nine years. His children were: Josiah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (twins) Elizabeth, Hannah, Phæbe, and Prudence.
Abraham Fisher, son of Jeremiah and great - grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Massachusetts in 1764. When his father joined the Continental army, he went to live with a Mr. Fasset, whom he ac-
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companied to the front as an attendant ; and he was present at the battle of Bunker Hill. In 1785 he and his wife came on horseback from Natick, Mass., to Claremont ; and in 1796 he settled upon the farm which is now occupied by his great-grandson, Charles A. Abraham Fisher was a cabinet-maker; and he followed his trade in connection with farming, employ- ing several apprentices. He possessed a great deal of mechanical ingenuity, being' among the first inventors of a cooking-stove; and aside from his regular calling he operated a cider-mill, which was run by water-power. He was a Universalist in his religious views, and is said to have contributed one-sixth of the entire cost of the first church in Clare- mont of that denomination. He died on Feb- ruary 3, 1851, aged eighty-seven years; and he left a fair estate.
Josiah Fisher, only son of Abraham and grandfather of Charles A., was born in Natick, Mass., in 1784. He learned the cabinet-maker's trade, and went to Rochester, N. Y., where he bought a piece of land, but later sold it, as he was forced to leave that lo- cality on account of fever and ague. He set- tled permanently in York, N. Y., and engaged in the lumber business and farming. He died in September, 1856. He married Orena, daughter of Nathaniel and Rachel Goss, and had a family of ten children; namely, Leon- ard P., Clinton, Mary, Harriet, Caroline, Curtis, George, Fanny, Lucy, and Josiah.
Leonard P. Fisher, son of Josiah, was born in Claremont, October 6, 1807. When ten years old he accompanied his parents to New York State, where he assisted his father in business until he was twenty-two years old. He then returned to Claremont for the purpose of helping his grandfather, and eventually he inherited the homestead. He cultivated the farm successfully ; and during the winter sea-
son he cut and hauled timber, which he manu- factured at his own saw-mill into building ma- terial. He erected a number of houses, all of which are now Standing. He was naturally cheerful, and was highly esteemed for his genial disposition and kind-heartedness. Leonard P. Fisher died December 6, 1893. He was an active member of the Universalist church and a liberal contributor toward its support. Nancy T. Lincoln, whom he mar- ried, was born in Pittsfield, Vt., May 17, 1815, daughter of Tisdale and Elizabeth Lincoln. Tisdale Lincoln passed his earlier years in Westmoreland, N. H., but later was a well-known citizen of Mendon and Pittsfield, Vt., and the father of nine children. To Leonard P. and Nancy T. (Lincoln) Fisher were born six children, as follows: Nancy Jane, Charles A., George L., Arba C., Al- bert F., and Edwin C. Nancy Jane is now the widow of Marvin Blood, and lives in Reading, Mass .; George L. was for several years a commission merchant in Boston and in New York City, where he died in June, 1890; Arba C. has been in a successful commission business in Boston for the past twenty-five years; Albert F. is a photographer in Hins- dale, N.H .; and Edwin C. is in the bicycle business in Everett, Mass. Mrs. Leonard P. Fisher is living at the age of eighty-two years, and occupies the old family residence in Claremont.
Charles A. Fisher attended the public schools in his boyhood, and when a young man he engaged in farming upon his own account in the eastern part of this town. He re- mained there until the death of his father, when he returned to the homestead in order to take charge of the property, and now resides in the house where his great-grandfather lived and died. As a practical farmer he ranks among the foremost in this section. In poli-
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tics he is a Republican. He is a member of the Board of Selectmen, serving in 1894, 1896, and 1897; and while representing this town in the legislature in 1889 and 1890 he served upon the Committee on Education.
Mr. Fisher married Elizabeth Dean, daugh- ter of Horace Dean. They have one child, a daughter, Frances Emeline, who is a graduate of the Stevens High School of Claremont, was a teacher for several years, and is now the wife of Will J. Powers, of Brandon, Vt.
AMUEL M. TRUE, a farmer of Loudon, was born here, February 7, 1845, son of Captain Daniel and Abigail D. (Jones) True, his mother coming from Chichester, N.H., and his father being a native of Loudon. His grandfather was Daniel True, who came to Loudon and settled on Oak Hill in the town, and carried on farm- ing there for the remainder of his life.
Captain Daniel True, who lived on the farm, and there carried on farming for the greater part of his life, commanded a company in the State militia for a number of years, and died in March, 1861. His wife, who survived him until July, 1878, had six children - Sam- uel M., John H., Charles H., James L., Abbie M., and Julia M. John, Charles H., and James L. reside in Concord, N.H. Charles is engaged in the teaming business; James L., who is a carpenter, married Clara Patrick; Abbie M. died at the age of eigh- teen; Julia M., who resides in Rye, N. H., married Edward Downs, of that town, who carries on a fish business.
Samuel M. True received a common-school education, remaining at home on the farm until he was about twenty-five years of age. Then he went to Concord, where he was em- ployed at the depot as baggage-master for one
year. Since then he has made his home on his present farm. The estate, known as the old Batchelder farm, contains about two hun- dred and fifty acres Besides effecting sundry improvements, he has carried on general farm- ing, raised some stock, and kept a dairy.
On May 9, 1872, Mr. True married Grace A. Batchelder, of Loudon, who was born May 9, 1850, daughter of Harmon E. and Clara M. (Sanborn) Batchelder, both of Loudon. Mr. Batchelder, now eighty-one years old, was a farmer, and is now living with his daughter, Mrs. True. Mrs. Batchelder died in Novem- ber, 1895. Mr. and Mrs. True have three children, born as follows: Nellie A., April 4, 1874; Blanche M., May 27, 1878; and Mary E., December 7, 1884. Nellie A. is now the wife of Dr. William A. McGrath, of Loudon, N.H. Blanche and Mary are at home with their parents. Mr. True has al- ways been in sympathy and voted with the Re- publican party. He is a Mason of Blazing Star Lodge, No. 1I, of Concord. He also be- longs to the White Mountain Lodge, No. 5, I. O. O. F., of the same town, and to the Loudon Grange. He still carries on farming, in which he is very successful.
EORGE BANCROFT GRIFFITH, a well-known littérateur residing in 2 Lempster, N.H., was born February 28, 1841, in Newburyport, Mass. His par- ents, Robert and Charlotte (Merrill) Griffith, were both natives of that town, with whose mercantile interests his paternal grandfather, who also bore the name Robert, was for many years identified. The elder Robert Griffith married Nancy Bartlett, a native of West Newbury; and their family of seven children were as follows: Rufus, Robert, Augustus, Isaac, Angeline, Henrietta, and Elizabeth.
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Robert Griffith, Jr., George B. Griffith's father, was reared and educated in Newbury- port ; and when a young man he entered the clothing business. He displayed a natural capacity for business pursuits, which gave unusually bright prospects for his future suc- cess ; but he was not permitted to realize these anticipations, as his death occurred in August, 1849, when he was but thirty years old. His wife, Charlotte Merrill, who was a daughter of Samuel Merrill, died January 31, 1897. She was the mother of four children, namely : George B., the subject of this sketch; Robert ; Willie; and Nancy, who died at the age of seventeen years.
George Bancroft Griffith resided in New- buryport until after his father's death, when he accompanied his mother to the neighboring town of Rowley, Mass. After graduating from Dummer Academy, South Byfield, Mass., he entered mercantile pursuits as a clerk in Newburyport. A short time later he went to Haverhill, where he was employed for some two years in a grocery store kept by David Emery; and he subsequently engaged in that business upon his own account. On May 25, 1863, he enlisted as a private in Company A, First Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteer Artillery, and was eventually appointed by General Grant to serve in the medical depart- ment as hospital steward. He was discharged at Concord, N. H., in September, 1865. After his return from the army he resided in Charlestown, Mass., for some years; and in 1875 he removed to Lempster, Sullivan County, N. H., where for two years he was en- gaged in the lumber business. In 1879 he purchased the Timothy Bruce place, which he now occupies, and since taking possession has made various improvements in the property.
Mr. Griffith's poetic genius began to de- velop when he was ten years old, at which
time his first poem was printed. He has written frequently both in prose and verse, and many of his pieces have been illustrated, and some set to music. Many of his produc- tions have been given to the world through the columns of the Youth's Companion, St. Nicholas, Christian Work, New York Indepen- dent, New York Observer, and other well- known periodicals; and several may be found in "Poems of Places, " edited by Longfellow, in Drake's "Legends of New England," in "The Scholar's Speaker," "Poets of Amer- ica," "Wayside Flowers," and other stand- ard collections of verse. His reputation thus extends far beyond the limits of the New England States. An extended biographical sketch of Mr. Griffith, with a portrait, ap- peared a few years since in the Boston Home Guest, and more recently in the Magasine of Poetry, Buffalo, N. Y., and in two anthologies published in Chicago. The leading elocution- ists of America are using Mr. Griffith's poems in their readings; and his "Swiss Good Night," which is extremely popular, has been translated into several languages. Mr. Griffith has been engaged for years in editing a large work on the poets of Massachusetts, and contemplates publishing a volume of his own miscellaneous poems at an early day, to be followed by a collection of his local poems in New Hampshire. In 1888 he finished the compilation of "The Poets of Maine," which was issued in Portland; and the work has se- cured for its compiler the unanimous praise of its readers as a most excellent judge of the best efforts of Maine's poetical writers.
On September 1, 1861, Mr. Griffith was united in marriage with Anna S. Howe. She was born in Bradford, N.H., January 3, 1842, daughter of Lyman C. and Sophronia (Bart- lett) Howe, the former of whom was a native of Henniker, N.H., and the latter was born in
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HENRY McCOY.
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Newburyport, Mass. Mrs. Griffith's parents resided for many years in Bradford, N. H., where her father was engaged in agricultural pursuits. Lyman C. Howe died in April, 1868; and his wife died in December, 1881. They reared five children, as follows: Moses B., who died at the age of forty-four years; Micah C., who married Hattie Smith, of Hen- niker, N.H., and is now a retired farmer of that town; George L., proprietor of a restau- rant in Saco, Me., who married for his first wife Ellen Bagley and for his second wife Martha Fletcher, of Gardner, Mass .; Anna S., who is now Mrs. Griffith; and Jason C., who is residing in Contoocook, N.H.
Mr. and Mrs. Griffith have five children, namely: Agnes Irving, born January 16, 1863; Emma Mortimer, born September 4, 1865; Annie V., born August 11, 1868; Charles Warren, born September 4, 1869; and Pearlette, born September 20, 1872. Agnes Irving married C. C. Richardson, a native of Lempster and a travelling salesman for a Lowell house. They reside in Melrose High- lands, and have had four children: Margaret C .; Edmund B., who is no longer living; Lil- lian V .; and Elizabeth. Emma M. married for her first husband the Rev. Charles Henry I.eet, of Claremont, N. H., a Methodist minis- ter. He died May 27, 1890; and she is now the wife of Willard Whitehouse, an engineer of Manchester, N. H. Annie V. married Charles Cragin, a prosperous farmer of Lempster. Charles Warren is a caterer in Fitchburg, Mass. He married Martha Simmons, of Ashby, Mass., and has one daughter, Violet, born in May, 1892. Pearlette married L. Dexter Isham, of the Vermont Central Rail- road, May 13, 1897, and resides at Bellows Falls.
Mr. Griffith is connected with St. John Lodge, F. & A. M., of Portsmouth, and is also
a member of the Grand Army of the Repub- lic and an official of the Methodist Episcopal church. Politically, he is a Republican ; and he was Postmaster at East Lempster in the years 1883 and 1884.
ENRY McCOY, proprietor of the Bradford Mineral Springs and the Bradford Springs Hotel at Brad- ford, N. H., entertains each season large num- bers of guests from New England and various other sections of the country. Bradford Spring Park is located in the town of Brad- ford, about a mile from the village of East Washington, and comprises upward of forty acres of land, including Lovewell Lake, which in the summer is alive with gay parties of hotel visitors using the pleasure boats pro- vided for them. The spring was first heard of by the white inhabitants in 1770, when some of them passing that way saw a group of . Indians encamped with their sick around the "big medicine water," as they termed it. The water has since been thoroughly analyzed by Dr. Jackson, the eminent Boston chemist, who found in it carbonate of soda, magnesia, lime, chloride of sodium, potassium, sulphate of lime, oxide of iron, and alumina, sulphur, organic matter, and carbonic acid, an analysis that was sustained in every particular by Dr. Richards, of Poughkeepsie, N. Y. The owners of the spring, having found that the waters issue through a seam in the solid ledge at the rate of thirty-five gallons per minute, have so enclosed the fissure that no outside water can possibly mix with and contaminate the spring water, which is especially useful in the cure of all skin diseases, very efficacious in the cure of catarrh in any form, has been success- fully used in very bad cases of rheumatism and malaria, has wonderful effects in cases
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