USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 26
USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 26
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URELIUS DICKENSON, formerly a wealthy hotel-owner of Claremont, was born at Granville, Mass., Feb- ruary 10, 1804. He remained on his father's farm until twenty-one years of age. His first experience in business was in Hartford, Conn., where he was engaged as a clerk for a leather firm. A few years later he started a country store, and conducted it successfully for some time. When on his wedding trip, he took a fancy to the principal hotel at Amherst, Mass., and purchased it. This in- vestment proved a paying one until 1837, when the hotel was burned. He then sold the property, and came to Claremont, where he bought the Tremont House property of Mr. l'aran Stevens. On March 29, 1876, this property was also burned.
At one time Mr. Dickenson had large in- terests in stage lines, which brought him in enormous profits until they were superseded by railroads. While engaged in that business he kept a hundred horses, and owned the right of route. When obliged to abandon it, he turned his attention to railroads, and was in- strumental in having Sullivan Railroad built from Bellows Falls to Windsor, Vt., on the New Hampshire side. He was a Director of the Claremont National Bank for thirty years and a Director of the Sullivan Savings Bank from the time of its organization. He was a thorough business man and an able financier. Ile was County Commissioner in 1868, 1869, and 1870, and a Selectman for about fifteen years. He married Frances M. Galpin in May, 1830, and had two sons, one of whom died in infancy. Mrs. Dickenson was a woman of rare virtues. Charitable, motherly in her ways, and with singular charm of manner, she endeared herself to all. She was devoted to her husband; and his death, November 3, 1880, at the age of seventy-seven years, was
to her a sad affliction. Her death, at the age of seventy-two, occurred just a month after the decease of her husband.
Henry Dickenson, son of Aurelius, after spending some years in a retail shoe store, was engaged with his father in the hotel busi- ness. The valuable estate inherited from his father was most judiciously handled by him, and yielded a good income. He was a member of the Episcopal church, and he was legislative Representative in 1884 and 1885. His death occurred November 13, 1888. He married Mary E., daughter of Bridgeman Hapgood, of Reading, Vt. ; and his children were: Harry Grant, Aurelius, Laura, Frances, and Ruth. All died in infancy with the exception of the first-born. Harry G. is a graduate of the Stevens High School, and now has charge of the estates and interests of his father.
Bridgeman Hapgood, the father of Mrs. Mary E. Dickenson, was born in 1800, son of a well-to-do farmer, who built the first frame house in Reading, Vt. He became a success- ful merchant in Reading, at the same time manufacturing starch in Plymouth and woollen goods at Weathersfield, Vt. At one time he was extensively engaged in farming on the old homestead. He was a Democrat in poli- tics. He has been Postmaster of the town, Justice of the Peace for seventeen years, Town Clerk for ten years, trustee of surplus revenue for five years, and he represented the town in the legislature in 1837-38. For nine years in succession he was Chairman of the Select Council. He has repeatedly been ap- pointed executor of estates. When in the legislature he fought hard to defeat the Bank- ruptcy Law, which in the passing brought heavy loss to him. Knowing that the law had been passed, he could have saved himself from loss, but was too conscientious. Rather than defraud any one, he met all his liabilities.
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He gave up mercantile business and farming, and came to Claremont in 1853. Here he was engaged in the hardware business until he retired in . 1865. He married Laura M. Weston, daughter of Parson Weston. She died in 1860, leaving three children - Edgar L., Elizabeth, and Mary E. Mr. Hapgood died in 1877.
01 ENRY DANIEL DUSTIN, a sub- stantial farmer of Hopkinton, was born here, February 25, 1849, son of Daniel Pierce and Sally (Barnard) Dustin. His grandfather was Ebenezer Dustin, who married Sarah Pierce. The father of Ebene- zer probably came from New York to this State. Daniel Dustin, also born in Hop- kinton, two years after his marriage settled down on the old homestead, now owned by the Hon. Cyrus F. Dustin, who lives in Con- toocook. About sixty years ago he bought the present farm on the Contoocook, contain- ing one hundred and thirty acres, mainly on the bottom lands. Two years before his death he removed to Contoocook with his son Cyrus, where he died April 30, 1880. His widow is still living there, a well-preserved woman, now seventy-seven years old. He introduced Merino sheep from Vermont, and dealt with them in a manner calculated to produce the finest grades of wool. In politics Mr. Dustin was a Republican, while he was indifferent to political distinction. A man of robust and commanding appearance, weighing about two hundred pounds, he was unassuming, honor- able, of the strictest integrity, and was well liked by his townsmen.
In his early manhood Henry Daniel Dustin followed the calling of teacher, mainly in Hopkinton. After leaving that profession at the age of thirty-four, he served ably for nine years on the School Board. He was one of
the first school officers, and still retains his interest in educational matters. From 1881 to 1886. he served as Selectman. In 1886 he was elected to the legislature, where he was a member of the Committee on Finance. Dairying forms the main feature of his farm - ing. He also pays some attention to stock- breeding, having some Jersey cattle, and other pure-bred stock, as well as some fine samples of the Jersey and Guernsey cross. Mr. Dustin has added to the farm lands until at present they cover two hundred and thirty acres. Other improvements made by him were the erection of new barns and the re- building of a part of the residence. He also does some lumbering. In 1871, November 30, Mr. Dustin married Helen M. Tucker, daughter of Deacon David and Mary E. (Straw) Tucker.
For the past seven years a boy. Amos F. Frye, now fifteen years of age, has been a member of the family. Mrs. Dustin's parents also reside with them. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dustin are members of the Baptist church in Contoocook. They are also connected with . Contoocook Grange, Patrons of Husbandry. He is an Odd Fellow of Kearsarge Lodge and Eagle Encampment, in both of which he has taken the highest degrees.
P ON. DEXTER RICHARDS, of New- port, who was born here, September 5, 1818, son of the late Seth Rich- ards, comes of distinguished English ances- try. Sylvanus Richards, who came here from Dedham, Mass., in the first of the century, and took an honorable position among the early settlers of the town, was his grandfather. His father, a gentleman of the old school, was a lifelong resident of Newport. The other children of Seth Richards were: Emily, born
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January 2, 1820, who married Perley S. Coffin, now deceased; Elizabeth, born November 19, 1821, who married the late John S. Parmelee, and now resides in Newport; Fanny, born July 23, 1823, who married J. Addison Gleason, and died in 1857; Abiathar, born October 8, 1825, now residing in Newport; Helen, born December 14, 1828, who married Moses R. Emerson, now deceased; Ann, born Decem- ber 30, 1832, who married Arthur B. Chase, and resides in Newport; Catherine, born Jan- uary 13, 1834, who married the late Ira Mitchell, and now resides in Des Moines, Ia.
Mr. Richards was educated in the common schools and at Ludlow, Vt. Early in life he was employed as a clerk. Later he became associated in business with his father and his brother Abiathar. In 1853, with his father he became a part owner of the Sugar River Mills, the other proprietor being Perley S. Coffin. In 1867 he purchased Mr. Coffin's interest, and became the sole owner. He took his son, Colonel Seth M. Richards, into partnership in 1872, under the firm name of Dexter Richards & Son. Some time after, his youngest son was given an interest; and the firm name of Dexter Richards & Sons was then adopted. The Sugar River Mills, since Mr. Richards became interested in them, have been operated with marked success; and it was in the business connected with them that he laid the foundation for his success in after years.
Since 1875 Mr. Richards has been a Trus- tee and the President of the First National Bank of Newport. He has also been promi- nently connected with the Newport Savings Bank, which was incorporated in 1868. It was mainly through the agency of Mr. Rich- ards, who was a member of the legislature at the time, that the Sugar River Railroad, now known as the Concord & Claremont Branch of
the Boston & Maine Railroad, was chartered in 1866. When the road, which first connected Concord and Bradford, was extended through to Claremont Junction, and towns and indi- viduals along the line were called upon to aid in its construction, Mr. Richards contributed heavily toward the enterprise. He has built extensively in Newport. Some years ago he erected the fine brick structure known as Richards Block; reconstructed and enlarged the Dr. Thomas Sanborn dwelling-house, thus changing it into a substantial block; and erected the fine house which he now occupies as his residence. At various times he en- larged his mills, and he erected many other buildings in different parts of the village. An esteemed member of the Congregational Church of Newport, he has served it in the ca- pacity of Deacon for upward of thirty years. He has also been called upon to fill various official positions of trust and responsibility. In his younger days he was Town Clerk and Selectman. He was elected to the General Court in 1865, 1866, 1870, and 1895. In 1872 he was a delegate to the National Repub- lican Convention, and in 1871 and 1872 he was a member of the Executive Council of the State. He was twice a delegate to the con- ventions for revising the State Constitution, and he was State Senator in 1887. He has also been and is now a trustee of various in- stitutions, among which may be mentioned Kimball Union Academy, the Orphans' Home, and the New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane.
But Mr. Richards is, perhaps, best known in the role of a public benefactor. Among his gifts to the public may be mentioned that of the Richards Free Library to the town of Newport. Including the fine brick buildings, a museum in one part of the building, and a collection of three thousand volumes, its cost
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was fifty-five thousand dollars. Another was the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, con- tributed to the erection of a high-school build- ing. This is to be a large brick edifice, modern and convenient in every respect. This gift was at first twenty-two thousand, but he has since informed the building com- mittee that he desired to make it twenty-five thousand, in order to have the structure com- pleted to his satisfaction. His contributions to the Congregational church for various im- provements amount to ten thousand dollars, and his contribution toward the completion of the Concord & Claremont Railroad, eleven thousand. His out of town donations raise the total of his public gifts to upward of one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. The private gifts which Mr. Richards has made from time to time, and which have been large and numerous, are withheld from the public knowledge.
On January 27, 1847, Mr. Richards was united in matrimony with Louisa Frances Hatch, who was born in Hillsborough, April 10, 1827, daughter of the late Dr. Mason and Apphia (Andrews) Hatch. Dr. Hatch, who with his family became a resident of Newport, was for years one of the best known physicians of the town. Mrs. Richards has had six chil- dren, of whom three are deceased. The others are: Colonel Seth M. Richards, now the State Senator from this district; Mrs. Josephine E. Gile, the wife of Professor M. C. Gile, of Colorado College, and the mother of five children; and William F. Richards, a graduate of Harvard College, and, as before mentioned, now actively connected with the Sugar River Mills. Colonel Richards, born June 6, 1850, in Newport, was educated in Kimball Union Academy, and later was en- gaged in business in Newport and in Boston. Taken into partnership by his father in 1872,
he assisted him in carrying on the great busi- ness. Since the retirement of his father the business has been continued under the old firm name of Dexter Richards & Sons. In politics Colonel Richards is a Republican. He was Town Treasurer early in life, a legis- lative Representative in 1885, a member of the staff of Governor Sawyer in 1887, and Town Treasurer again for two terms. He is now the Senator from District No. 7. He is Vice-President and Director of the First Na- tional Bank, Trustee of the Newport Savings Bank, President of the Newport Improvement Company, Trustee of the Electric Light Com- pany, and President of the Board of Trade. He is also President of the Sullivan Musical Association, and a member of the I. O. O. F., Sugar River Lodge. On October 9, 1878, he married Lizzie M. Farnsworth, who was born in Newport, daughter of Oliver T. and Caro- line (Hunt) Farnsworth. They have three children - Edith J., Louisa F., and Mar- garet E.
Mrs. Louisa Frances Richards is a lady of superior endowments, and her genial presence and graceful and courteous bearing make her everywhere welcomed. She is a Trustee of the Mercy Home at Manchester, a Trustee of the Women's Hospital Aid Association in Concord, and also a member of the Reprisal Chapter of the Daughters of the Revolution of Newport. A writer in the work entitled "New Hampshire Women " justly remarks, "In church and society Mrs. Richards is an acknowledged power, while her delightful hos- pitality is a thing long to be remembered by those who have enjoyed it." Like her hus- band, she has been a liberal giver. She has bestowed munificent gifts on the Orphans' Home at Franklin, the Mercy Home at Man- chester, the Women's Hospital Aid Associa- tion at Concord, and the Congregational
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church of this town. Mr. and Mrs. Richards recently celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their wedding. On the occasion a brilliant reception was given by them to the townspeo- ple and to near and remote relatives and friends, that will long be remembered as a notable social event in the history of the town.
EREMIAH W. WILSON, M.D., who was for fifty years a prominent physi- cian of Contoocook, Merrimack County, was born January 11, 1816, in Salisbury, N. H. He was a descendant of Thomas Wil- son, who came with his wife from Exeter, England, in 1633, and located in Roxbury, Mass. The line of descent was continued by Humphrey Wilson, born in 1628, who mar- ried Judith Hersey, and settled in Exeter, N. H .; Thomas Wilson, born May 20, 1672, who married Mary Light, and continued his residence in Exeter; Humphrey Wilson (sec- ond), born December 9, 1699, who married Mary Leavitt, and located in Brentwood, N.H .; Nathaniel Wilson, born June 24, 1739, who married Elizabeth Barker, and settled in Gilmanton, N.H .; and Job Wilson, M.D., born in Gilmanton, who was the father of Dr. Jeremiah W. Wilson.
Job Wilson, M.D., removed from his native town to Salisbury, this county, where he prac- tised his profession for many years, finally re- moving from there to the town of Franklin, locating near the Daniel Webster place, where his son, George W., now lives. He was a very skilful physician, and considered an authority by his professional brethren on small-pox. When that disease was epidemic in New Hampshire, he was employed by the State to take the medical charge of the patients. His death occurred in Franklin. He inherited the ancestral homestead at Gilmanton, which
was entailed to the children of his son, Dr. Jeremiah W. Wilson. His wife, whose maiden name was Nancy Farnham, bore him seven children.
Jeremiah W. Wilson attended the public schools and the academy at Franklin. At the age of twenty he began the study of medi- cine under the instruction of his father. Sub- sequently he attended a course of lectures at Hanover, N.H .; and prior to receiving his de- gree of Doctor of Medicine at the University in Castleton, Vt., he practised with his father and Dr. Ephraim Wilson, his brother. After his graduation he came to Contoocook, buying out the practice of Dr. Sargent, an old and well-known practitioner; and for the remain- ing fifty years of his life he was actively en- gaged in his professional labors, residing for the entire time in the house he at first occu - pied. His practice extended over a large ter- ritory, embracing every town and village in this vicinity, and was eminently successful. In the diagnosis of the diseases brought to his notice he was particularly fortunate, being rarely mistaken; while as surgeon his skill was unquestioned. He had a rare delicacy of perception, and a refinement of thought and feeling very gratifying to the sick. Com- bined with these qualities were a decision and firmness of character that inspired confidence, and caused him to be regarded by his patients as a friend and counsellor as well as a physi- cian. A close student, he kept up with the progress of his profession, and as a rule ad- hered to the regular practice, although his brother Ephraim, a physician in Rockville, Conn., was a warm advocate of homeopathy.
Ever heedful of the call of distress, Dr. Wilson gave his time and skill without mak- ing question of compensation; and, being a poor collector, fees amounting to hundreds of dollars, that the debtors could well afford to
... .
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pay, have long since been outlawed. In his visits to the poor he often contributed neces- sary articles of clothing or food to needy fam- ilies, besides gratuitously giving his services to the sick. Frank and outspoken, he never hesitated to express his honest opinion, and defend it when necessary. He bought a tract of land in Contoocook, and for some years did a little farming, intrusting the manual labor oftentimes to those owing him for professional work and unable to find ready money with which to pay their bills. Although other physicians located in the town, he maintained the even tenor of his way, never forgetting the ethics and courtesy of his profession. He never aspired to political honors, but was al- ways an earnest supporter of the principles of the Republican party. He was held in high respect by his medical brethren, and was a valued member of the County Medical So- ciety. For a time he served as Surgeon of the Twenty-first Regiment of the State militia, to which he was appointed in 1845.
On March 31, 1847, Dr. Wilson married Miss Elizabeth Gerrish, who was born Sep- tember 5, 1820, daughter of Thomas and Betsey Gerrish, of Boscawen. She died No- vember 8, 1882, having borne him three chil- dren. These were: Edwin G., Harlan Page, and George H. Edwin G. Wilson, M.D., a graduate of the medical department of the col- lege at Ann Arbor, Mich., practised his pro- fession at Griggsville, Il1., Leominster, Mass., and Laconia, N.H., and died in the last- named town, February 8, 1883, at the age of thirty-five years. Harlan Page Wilson, a car- penter by trade, who spent some ten years in the West, now resides on the homestead in Con- toocook, and carries on the farm. The Doctor and Mrs. Wilson took Miss Martha J. Chase into their family when she was a girl of twelve years. She subsequently repaid the loving
care they bestowed upon her by tenderly watching over the Doctor in his declining years. Both the Doctor and his estimable wife were earnest and sincere Christians in the true sense of the term. Though they were connected with the Congregational church of Hopkinton for a period of fifty years, they worked harmoniously with the Baptist and Methodist Episcopal Churches of Contoocook. While a friend to all in the community, he had a few with whom he was especially inti- mate, among them being Joseph Barnard, of Hopkinton, and Walter S. Davis. In 1890 he had a cataract, which threatened his sight, successfully removed from his eye. In the last years of his life his chief enjoyment was the reading of the leading newspapers and medical journals of the day as well as the choice works of the library. He died in Con- toocook, April 30, 1896, having outlived by a full decade the Scriptural limit of human life.
OLLIS LEMUEL BLOOD, a well- to-do farmer and dairyman of Brad- ford, Merrimack County, N. H., was born July 16, 1845, in Goshen, Sullivan County, this State, a son of Lemuel and Eliza (Dodge) Blood. On the paternal side he is of Scotch ancestry and on the maternal of English. His paternal grandfather served throughout the Revolutionary War, and in later life was always called General Blood. After the war he removed from Maine to New Hampshire, locating on Blood Hill in Bradford Centre, his son Moody, who later settled in the South, coming here with him. The Gen- eral subsequently made his home with his son Lemuel in Goshen, living there until his death.
Lemuel came from Maine to New Hamp- shire at the time his father did, but located
HOLLIS L. BLOOD.
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in Goshen, taking up a tract of three hundred acres of wild land, from which he redeemed a farm. He was three times married, his first and second wives, named Bates, having been sisters. He had by his three unions twenty- one children, his last wife, formerly Miss Eliza Dodge, being the mother of five, namely : George F., who served in the war of the Re- bellion, taking part in three of the hardest- fought battles - Antietam, South Mountain, and another - and died a few years later from the effects of wounds received at the battle of South Mountain; Hollis L., the subject of this sketch; Jeannette, wife of Harland Wil- cox, of Newport, N. H .; Mark A., of Mel- rose, Mass .; and Frank J., who is employed in a shoe factory at Nashua, N. H., and is also one of the special police of that city. One of the older children, Albertus Blood, was killed September 4, 1894, by the falling of a tree. His widow still lives in Bradford village; and his daughter Ida is the wife of C. W. Red- ington, of whom a short sketch appears else- where in this volume. Another son, Moody E., resides in Newport; Harvey is in Cali- fornia; Joel is in the State of Washington; Rocira is the wife of Wellman George, of Manchester; and another sister, Luretta, the widow of Hosea Brockaway, lives in Man- chester. The father, Lemuel Blood, died at the age of seventy-three years; and at his funeral fifteen of the sixteen children then living were present, five of each marriage.
Hollis L. Blood was a boy of thirteen when his father died. He remained with his mother some four years, and then began work - ing on a neighboring farm, receiving fifty dol- lars a year, board, clothes, and schooling. When his brother George enlisted, he went back to the home farm, continuing there until twenty years old. After that he again worked out as a farm laborer, his wages being twenty-
five dollars a month; and he soon came to Bradford Centre, where he was employed for two seasons by E. W. Dodge. He then bought a half-interest in the saw-mill of Wadleigh & Seavey in the village of Bradford, and for eight years, in company with Ben- jamin E. Wadleigh, carried on an extensive business in custom trade. He made money, starting in with a capital of one hundred dol- lars, and clearing one thousand dollars above all expenses. . Selling his interest in that mill, he purchased another one, and eventu- ally he repurchased his former mill, running both for a year or two with John E. French as partner. Later Mr. Blood carried on the entire business himself for a time, owning both of the mills, one of which he dismantled, and the other he sold. He then bought the steam mill; and three years afterward he sold that, and purchased a grist-mill in the vil- lage, which he operated four and one-half years, at the same time having a large trade in grain and feed. In March, 1890, giving up milling, in which he had been engaged for twenty-four years, he bought a new store in the village, on the site of an old business house, and for three and one-half years he was engaged in the sale of general merchandise. In the fall of 1893 he disposed of his store, and bought the Jonathan Peaslee farm, an old landmark of the town, one mile west of the village. He has since added to his acreage, his estate being nearly two miles in length. He carries on general farming, including dairying, for which he keeps ten or more coWS.
On November 24, 1867, Mr. Blood married Miss Frances L. Seavey, who was born in Newbury, a daughter of Andrew Seavey, now residing in the village of Bradford. Mr. and Mrs. Blood have three children, namely : Mabel F., wife of Frank P. Craig, of Bradford
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village; L. Estella, who was educated at the New London Academy, and teaches at Brad- ford in School No. 6; and Nettie E., who is yet a school-girl.
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