USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 23
USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 23
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In 1878, December 3, Mr. Kimball married Clara French, a daughter of Reuben E. and Sarah (Chase) French, of Hopkinton. She died November 19, 1879. Her sister, Mar- garet A. French, became his second wife No- vember 7, 1888. There was one son by the first marriage, John Prescott Kimball, now a young man of seventeen and a student at Holderness. Harold Chase Kimball was born of the second marriage. The present Mrs. Kimball is a member of the Congregational church. Mr. Kimball, though a member of Mount Lebanon Lodge of Masons in Boston, is not especially devoted to lodge affairs. He is deeply interested in local institutions, such as the Free Library, the New Hampshire and the Antiquarian Society. He has served for several years as Trial Justice of the Peace, and in very many ways has been a public bene- factor to this town. His residence in Hop- kinton is one of the most beautiful in that section.
AVID F. DUDLEY, a prominent ยท lawyer of Concord, was born in China, Me., October 17, 1857, son of Matthew F. and Patience A. (Hutchins) Dudley. John Dudley, his grandfather, was a native of Kennebec County, where he passed the greater part of his life in farming. The maiden name of John's wife was Eunice Winslow.
Matthew F. Dudley, also a native of China, Me., was a farmer in that town, and died there when he was forty-eight years old. He mar- ried Patience A. Hutchins, daughter of James Hutchins, and had a family of three children.
These were: Charles E., who died when six- teen years of age; Cynthia J., now deceased, who married John R. Meader, and had three children; and David F., the subject of this sketch.
When a boy David F. Dudley attended the schools of Saco and Biddeford for a time. After his father's death his mother married again ; and he removed to New Market, N. H. After graduating from Pembroke Academy in the class of 1879, he spent some time in the occupation of school teacher. Having chosen the law for his profession in life, he subse- quently entered the office of Leach & Stevens, where he remained three years. In August, 1883, he was admitted to the Merrimack County bar, and began the practice of law in Concord, where he has since been actively engaged in his profession. Having won the confidence and good will of his fellow-towns- men, he was elected to the City Council in 1884 and 1889, and to the Board of Aldermen in 1894. In politics he is a Republican, and he cast his first Presidential vote for General Garfield in 1880. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and to the Order of Odd Fellows of Concord. He married Blanche L. Fowler, daughter of Trueworthy L. and Catherine L. Sargent; and he has four children - Gale, Trueworthy F., Roy, and Ethel May. They have a charming residence at Penacook.
R UFUS HALL, a representative resi- dent of Grantham, was born in this town, March 18, 1844, son of Adol- phus and Sally (Leavitt) Hall. The family is descended from Edward Hall, who came from England in 1636, and settled in Duxbury, Mass., then under the control of the Plymouth Company. Edward lived in different places in Massachusetts, and was one of the sturdy
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pioneers of "ye olden tyme" who laid the foundations of the nation. Abijah Hall, great- grandfather of Rufus Hall, who was born in June, 1754, lost his life by drowning in 1812. He lived in Croydon, his father being the first of the name in that town. Abijah's son, Amasa, born in Croydon, February 17, 1789, died August 23, 1869. Amasa, a prosperous farmer, was extensively engaged in sheep rais- ing. He fought in the War of 1812, and rep- resented Croydon in the legislature in 1824 and 1825. In 1829 he moved to Grantham, where he was the first of the name to settle. He served the town in the office of Selectman for eight. years, represented it in General Court in 1832, 1834, 1835, and 1836, and was Commissioner for Sullivan County in 1841. As a business man he was noted for energy and enterprise. He married Rebecca Lamson Melendy, and had a family of three children - Rufus, Sally, and Adolphus. Rufus, born in Croydon, October 3, 1813, died January 13, 1821. Sally R., born January I, 1816, married Converse Smith, of Plainfield.
Adolphus Hall, father of Rufus, was born at Croydon, December 7, 1811, and died October 12, 1876. He worked with his father on the home farm as long as the latter lived, and upon his death took the farm under his own manage- ment. He became one of the most influential men of the town, and occupied almost every position in its public service. From 1859 to 1862 he was Selectman; in 1860 and 1861, legislative Representative; in 1865 and 1866, Treasurer of Sullivan County. During three years he was County Commissioner, and he was serving in that office and in the capacity of Selectman at the time of his death. In religion he favored Methodism. His wife, Sally, who was born in 1810, died in 1875. Their two children were: Rufus and Eloisa. The latter, born in Grantham, July 7, 1848,
was twice married. Her first husband was Jesse Morse, of this town, a lumber dealer. By this marriage she had two children - Blanche and Zella. Her second hubsand was William H. Howard, a farmer and one of the Selectmen. She has borne him one child.
After leaving school, Rufus Hall worked on his father's farm and assisted also in the large general store his father at that time owned. At the end of three years he bought the store from his father, and afterward man- aged it successfully for six years. He then engaged in farming for a number of years. Also, in company with his father, he bought a lumber and grist mill, which was operated until the death of the elder Mr. Hall. From that time until 1882 Mr. Rufus Hall con- ducted a farm. He was engaged in general trade at Croydon from 1882 to 1891, since which time he has farmed. Also, after that time, he was employed in the capacity of sales- man for four years. For a number of years he was a Director of the First National Bank at Newport. Mr. Hall has worthily sustained the family traditions by filling most creditably the various public offices intrusted to him by his townsmen. He was elected Town Clerk in 1869, this being his first town office, and held the position until 1883. In 1882 he was sent to the legislature, serving two years, and being appointed on the Committee on Elec- tions. He has been Selectman a number of times, and Town Moderator for several years, holding the last-named position at the present time. Much interested in the Patrons of Hus- bandry, he is an esteemed member of the local grange.
Mr. Hall married Francina D. Smith, who was born December 13, 1844, daughter of William P. Smith, of Springfield. She is a lady of culture and of fine musical taste. After receiving her education in Colby Acad-
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emy of New London, she followed the profes- sion of teacher very successfully for some time. Mr. and Mrs. Hall have four children: Leon 1 . Villa E., Earl R., and Ralph A. Leon, Born June 4, 1869, at Grantham, was educated ust Colby Academy. He was for a time em- ployed in the manufacture of Barton's Sarsa- parilla and Blood Purifier. At present he has a position in F. O. White's grocery store in Boston. He married Jessie M. Blossom, and has one child - Charlotte May, born February 5, 1897. Villa E., born August 17, 1874, graduated at Colby Academy, and is now studying medicine at Herkimer, N. Y. Earl R., born May 10, 1876, was educated in the town schools of Tilton, and then studied den- tistry with Silver Brothers, of Boscawen, N. H. Ralph A., born August 22, 1879, is a pupil in the town schools.
ILES WHEELER, who has superin- tended the construction of several public buildings in Concord, was born in this city, August 7, 1834, son of Cap- tuin Benjamin and Eliza (Ordway) Wheeler. His grandfather, Benjamin Wheeler, son of Daniel Wheeler and a native of Hollis, N. H., in his earlier years was a miller in Bedford, Mass. Benjamin settled in Concord in 1802, on the farm formerly known as the Towle place, which he bought of Ebenezer Dustin. He followed agriculture for the rest of his active period, and died in December, 1848. He assisted in hauling the stone for the erec- tion of the State House and the old prison buildings. His first wife, in maidenhood Mary Fitch, a native of Bedford, Mass., and a relative of John Fitch, the founder of the city of Fitchburg, Mass., reared two children -- Benjamin Wheeler, Jr., and Mary.
Captain Benjamin Wheeler, who was born
in Woburn, Mass., and accompanied his par- ents to Concord, succeeded to the homestead, and was an energetic and prosperous farmer. He was drafted during the War of 1812, and afterward became a Captain in the State militia. His death occurred June 4, 1870. His wife, Eliza, who was a daughter of Giles and Elizabeth (Webster) Ordway, became the mother of four children, namely : John C., who died in 1895; Giles, the subject of this sketch; Isaac F., who married Harriet E. Ordway; and Albert F., who died in child- hood.
Giles Wheeler was educated in the public and private schools of Concord. When a young man he learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed for sixteen years. From 1860 to 1864 he was engaged in the manufact- ure of soldier's writing cases in Plymouth, Mass. During the Civil War he was drafted in Massachusetts and New Hampshire at the same time, and furnished a substitute for New Hampshire in the person of William Gilson, a native of Pelham, N. H., who was captured by the Confederates, June 3, 1864, at Cold Harbor, paroled March 10, 1865, and died at Annapolis, Md., March 22, 1865. After , relinquishing his trade, Mr. Wheeler entered the business of architect in partner- ship with Edward Dow, a connection that lasted until 1885. He was appointed by Dan- iel R. Manning, Secretary of the Treasury, to superintend the erection of the Concord post- office. He acted in a similar capacity in the erection of the State library. He was build- ing agent in connection with the High and Kimball Schools, the Statesman Building, and the Pillsbury Hospital and Library ; and he was a member of the committee selected to superintend the erection of the Soldiers' Arch. He has been a member of the Police Commis- sion and its clerk since the establishment of
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the board. In the capacity of Justice of the Peace for the past twenty years he has been engaged in the settlement of many estates.
Mr. Wheeler married Sarah W. Abbott, a daughter of Charles Abbott and a descendant of one of the first families to settle in this section. He is connected with the Order of the Golden Cross, and is a member of the Unitarian society. In politics he is a Demo- crat, and he cast his first Presidential vote for James Buchanan in 1856, and voted for Stephen A. Douglas in 1860.
OHN V. GUNNISON, the popular High Sheriff of Sullivan County, son of Vinal and Eliza (Baker) Gunnison, was born in Goshen, N. H., on February 27, 1837. Ephraim Gunnison, father of Vinal, was a pioneer settler of Goshen, where he cleared the wild land by the labor of his hands. A hard worker and a man of great vitality, he lived to be eighty-five years old. His wife, Deborah, died at eighty-seven years of age. He was a Methodist Episcopal in religion, a Democrat in politics.
Their son Vinal was the fifth son in a fam- ily of seven children. He followed farming all his life on the old farm on which he was born. It was a large farm of about six hun- dred acres, and came to be one of the best in Goshen. He died at the age of sixty in the year 1858. His wife died in 1873, at the age of seventy-two years. They were attendants of the Congregational church. Vinal Gunni- son was always a Whig. He held several town offices, among them that of Selectman and Overseer of the Poor. Of his seven chil- dren three are now deceased - Marian, Arvin Nye, and Amos B. The survivors are: Mrs. Sarah Ann Brickett, who lives in Mendota, Ill .; Eliza Chandler, who lives in Salem,
Ore. ; John V. ; and Horace B., who lives in Phillipsville, Cal.
John V., the third son, lived at home with his parents in Goshen until he went away to school, his educational course being completed in the academies at Meriden and New London, N. H. He subsequently engaged in farming and lumbering on the old homestead, dealing largely in stock and running a steam saw-mill. In 1888 he removed to Newport, though he still owns the old place and keeps there about twenty cows for milk. In Newport he deals in horses, carriages, and sleighs. He was elected to his present office of High Sheriff in 1894, and was re-elected in 1896.
He married January 16, 1867, Angie Carr, who was born in Hillsborough, N. H., Sep- tember 12, 1846, daughter of Robert and Claora (Goodale) Carr. Her grandfather, the first Robert Carr, was one of the early settlers of the place; and her father followed agriculture on the old farm, where he spent his whole life. She has two brothers and four sisters, all liv- ing. Her brother, Elisha Hatch Carr, is a prominent business man of Newport, N. H.
Mr. and Mrs. Gunnison have had four chil- dren, three of whom are living - Belle, Sadie H., Claora A., and Alice M. Belle Gunnison, born in Goshen, N. H., December 30, 1868, was educated at the town schools of Goshen and Newport, N. H. After completing her course of study, she taught school for a while, and was considered a successful instructor and good disciplinarian. Since then she has been a valuable assistant in the post-office at New- port, N. H., having now held the position for eight years. Sadie H. was born in Goshen, June 9, 1870. After graduating from the high school of Newport, N. H., she taught school three years, for which work she seemed well fitted, and, like her sister, was considered a successful teacher. She then entered upon
AMASA EDES.
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the duties of her present position of Manager of the Telephone Exchange, Newport, N. H. Claora A., born in Goshen, December 27, IS73, attended the schools of Goshen and New- port, also the Bradford Female Seminary, Bradford, Mass. ; and, having finished her preparatory studies, she entered the school- room as an instructor, and is now an assistant teacher in the Newport High School. Alice M., born in Goshen, April 11, 1877, died May 30, 1895. She was a very bright and promising young lady, and was an attendant of the high school at Newport, when that dreaded disease, typhoid fever, took her away in the bud of womanhood.
Mrs. Gunnison and her daughters are mem- bers of the Congregational church, where Mr. Gunnison also attends divine service. A Re- publican in politics, he held the office of County Commissioner in 1872, 1873, and 1874; and in 1885 he was Representative to the General Court. He is a member of Mount Vernon Lodge, A. F. & A. M., at Newport ; a Royal Arch Mason; a Knight Templar; and also a member of Sugar River Grange, P. of H., at Newport. Mr. Gunnison is a successful farmer and trader, well versed in horse flesh. He has been a very active man, and has made his own way in the world.
AMUEL H. EDES, a retired law- yer of the village of Newport, was born here, March 31, 1825, son of Amasa and Sarah (Hart) Edes. Samuel Edes, his grandfather, was an early settler of An- trim, N. H., an active farmer and a Revolu- tionary soldier. Samuel's life was mainly spent in Peterboro, N. H., where he died at the remarkable age of one hundred years. He had nine children. Amasa Edes was born about the year 1792. Having graduated from
Dartmouth in 1817, he came in 1823 to New- port, where he subsequently practised law for a period extending over sixty years. He was successful in his profession, and he represented his town for a time in the legislature. In re- ligous belief he was a Unitarian; in politics, a Democrat. He died in October of the year 1883, his wife having died October 8, 1869, at the age of seventy-four years and three months. They had two children - Joseph W. and Samuel H. Joseph died at the age of five.
Samuel H. Edes was educated in the Meri- den Academy and at Dartmouth, his father's Alma Mater, graduating in 1844. He at once began to read law with his father, and was ad- mitted to the Sullivan County bar in 1852. He practised until the year 1875 in the town of Newport. At different times he was en- gaged in farming, dealt in real estate, and was interested in woollen mills. In 1869 he started the mercantile business to-day carried on by his son. In 1856 Mr. Edes was instru- mental in bringing the aqueduct water here. At first it was conveyed by a wooden aque- duct, but this in 1862 was changed for one of cement and iron. He owns the building known as Eagle Block, which was remodelled in 1856. He has owned land in Newport on which seventy buildings now stand.
On December 30, 1847, Mr. Edes married Julia A. Nourse, who was born in Acworth, N. H., October 18, 1827, daughter of Daniel Nourse and Margaret (Wilson) Nourse. Of their four children one died in infancy. The others were: Willie A., George C., and Mar- cia J. Willie, born in 1854, died at the age of eighteen years. George C. Edes, born April 23, 1849, lives in Newport, where he is a dealer in dry goods. He married Novem- ber 10, 1873, Elizabeth M. Dennahan, who, born February 28, 1854, died September
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12, 1896. They had four children, of whom Elizabeth J., born April 3, 1876, died Sep- tember 16, 1893. The others are : Frank W., born in 1874, who is a clerk in his father's store; Samuel W., born November 9, 1881 ; and George L., born November 11, 1889. George C. Edes is a Democrat, has been Town Clerk and Supervisor, and is a member of the Mount Vernon Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and of Sullivan Commandery, K. T. Marcia J. Edes, the youngest child of Samuel H. Edes, was born in 1859, and resides in Newport.
Mr. and Mrs. Edes attend the Congrega- tional church, of which the wife is a member. He is a Democrat, and has held office as legis- lative Representative and County Solicitor. He served in the latter capacity for two terms. He has been Justice of the Peace since 1852. Always interested in educational matters, he was influential in making the important change from district to high schools in the village. Mr. Edes and his wife, who have been mar- ried nearly fifty years, are one of the oldest couples in the village. Mr. Edes is active and vigorous, and, with his wealth and influence, is regarded as one of the important members of the community.
RS. MIRIAM STRAW EMER- SON FOGG, widow of the late Sherburne Fogg, of West Hop- kinton, and daughter of John Jones and Eliz- abeth (Straw) Emerson, was born on the farm where she now lives, November 20, 1821. She is a descendant of a prominent pioneer family of Hopkinton, her great-grandfather, Timothy Emerson, having been the original settler on Clement's Hill. Timothy Emerson was very active in local affairs, doing much to advance the interests of the little town, among
other things donating the land for the ceme- tery in which his body was laid to rest after his death, March 22, 1826, at the venerable age of eighty-six years. He was twice mar- ried. His first wife, who was without doubt an Ober, bore him two daughters and one son. The latter was John Ober Emerson, Mrs. Fogg's grandfather. His children by his second wife, Mary, were: Collins, Day, Ben- jamin, and Rachel. Day died November I, 184I, at the age of fifty-two years, and was buried in the family lot. The mother, who survived the father, died October 29, 1833, aged eighty-one years.
John Ober Emerson was born on Clement's Hill in Hopkinton, June 6, 1770. After his marriage with Mary Jones he settled on the present homestead, which extends along the Contoocook River, the house being beautifully located on the banks of the stream. Mary Jones was born August 14, 1769, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Gordon) Jones. Her father died July 10, 1815, aged sixty-seven years; and her mother April 15, 1838, at the age of eighty-eight. John Ober Emerson and his wife became the parents of six children, namely : Philip, born in 1792, who lived but four years; Moses, born January 20, 1794, who died at the age of two years; John Jones, born December 25, 1795, who died February 1, 1841 ; Sarah Kast, born March 25, 1798, who died in 1823, aged twenty-five years; Micah George J., born July 21, 1801, who has not been heard from since he started for Troy, N. Y., in 1832; and Jane Greeley, born July 13, 1807, who married Daniel Hardy, of War- ner, N. H., and died in August, 1882. After long and useful lives the father died in 1842, aged seventy-two years, and the mother, De- cember 6, 1856, in her eighty-eighth year. Of the latter an interesting anecdote is nar- rated in the History of Hopkinton by C. C.
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Lord. On a Sunday morning in the early spring a party of about a dozen persons, in- cluding Mrs. John O. Emerson, crossed the frozen Contoocook River from the north side, to attend meeting at the old West Meeting- house. While at service a sudden and rapid thaw reduced the ice on the river to a number of floating fragments, which presented a for- midable barrier to the party returning from church. The nearest bridge was three miles . down the river, and to reach home by that way would have required at least six miles of travel, which, as the party was on foot, caused them to halt in dubious reflection. Mrs. Emerson, however, with ready courage, settled the question by prompt action. In spite of the remonstrances of her companions, she sprang upon the nearest cake of ice, and, dexterously leaping from one to another, crossed the river in safety. Her friends, who watched her progress, were not inspired to make the attempt by her example. They fol- lowed the advice conveyed by the old proverb, "The longest way round is the shortest way home," by walking to the bridge.
John Jones Emerson lived and died on the farm where his birth occurred, spending his years as a tiller of the soil. His name is among the list of Hopkinton soldiers who served in the War of 1812. He enlisted in Colonel Nathaniel Fisk's first regiment in 1814. In the old militia days he was a Cap- tain of riflemen. He married Miss Elizabeth Straw, who, born in Hopkinton, November 23, 1793, daughter of Levi and Miriam (Jones) Straw, died January 17, 1859. His children were : Seth George, Miriam Straw, Mary Jane, Sarah Elizabeth, Andrew Jackson, and Will- iam Seneca. Seth George, born April 24, 1820, who married Sarah Goss, of Henniker, and was at one time the owner of the home- stead, removed to Fort Gratiot, Mich., where he
died August 1, 1864. Mary Jane, born March 22, 1823, who died February 13, 1886, was the wife of Martin E. Philips, of Henni- ker, N. H. Sarah Elizabeth, born September 2, 1824, married Samuel D. Clark, of Ches- terfield, N. H., and died in Port Huron, Mich., November 19, 1893. Andrew Jack- son, born in February, 1828, died in January, 1831. William Seneca, born May 4, 1831, who married Mary A. Andrews, of the Isle of Sheppey, England, died August 17, 1890, in Hillsborough, N. H.
Miriam Straw Emerson was married to Sherburne Fogg. He was born July 9, 1819, in Meredith (now Laconia), N. H., son of Seth and Betsey Boudon (Gile) Fogg, and grew to man's estate in Gilmanton, whither his parents removed when he was young. He was a carpenter, and from the time of his mar- riage until 1857 he worked at his trade in Manchester, this State. After residing for a time in Belmont, he came in 1859 to Hop- kinton, purchased from his brother-in-law, Seth George Emerson, the Emerson home- stead, and was subsequently engaged in agri- culture until his death, which occurred June 4, 1873. Mrs. Fogg has since resided on the farm. She has had three children, namely : George Henry, who died at the age of nine- teen years; Lizzie Adella; and Frank Emer- son Fogg. Lizzie Adella was educated at Tilton Seminary, from which she graduated with the class of 1878. Since that time she has been engaged as a teacher in Hopkinton, making her home with her widowed mother. Frank Emerson Fogg, now an attorney-at-law in Grangeville, Idaho, completed his education at Ann Arbor, Mich., having graduated from the law department of the State University, class of 1880. He was Circuit Court Com- missioner of Charlevoix County, Michigan, from 1884 to 1888, and Prosecuting Attorney
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of Charlevoix County from 1888 to 1890. Removing to Idaho, he practised at Rathdrum from 1891 to 1893. Then he went to Grange- ville, where he has followed his profession since. He married February 28, 1886, Eliza Ann Scroggie, of Charlevoix, Mich. ; and they have four bright and interesting. children- Essie V., James Sherburne, Miriam S., and William Frank.
ALTER B. MAYNARD, a farmer of Loudon, was born here, April 26, 1840, son of Asa and Lucy (Talbot) Maynard, natives respectively of Acton, Mass., and Brookline, N. H. The grand- father, Asa Maynard, who was a cooper by trade and resided in East Concord during the greater part of his life, died there at the resi- dence of his daughter, August 1, 1866, aged ninety-four years. The maternal grandfather, Ezra Talbot, of Stoughton, Mass., born Janu- ary 20, 1773, resided successively in Brook- line and Loudon, and married Abigail Belcher. He died in Loudon in November, 1853; and his wife died in Brookline, June 21, 1832.
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