USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 3
USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 3
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John Chesley, Jr., Daniel G. Chesley's father, was born in Epsom, and was a lifelong
resident of this town. In his younger days he was engaged in teaching school; but he later served an apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade, and followed it in connection with farming during his active period. He suc- ceeded to the ownership of the Blake home- stead, and resided here until his death, which occurred when he was eighty-three years and six months old. His wife, Joanna Tibbetts, whom he married August 21, 1834, was born in Madbury, N. H., daughter of Israel and Susan (Emerson) Tibbetts. Her grandfather on her mother's side, Smith Emerson, was an officer in the Revolutionary War. His wife was a Thompson. Her grandmother Tib- betts's maiden name was Joanna Fulchar. Eleven children were born to John and Joanna (Tibbetts) Chesley, and of these three are deceased ; namely, Margaret Ann, Ellen Fran- ces, and Etta Oryntha. The eight living are : Almira Blake; Daniel Gilman, the subject of this sketch; John Augustus; Lizzie Joanna; Lydia Addie; Emma Susan; Edward Monroe; and Ellen Frances. Almira Blake Chesley married Alfred Kimball, of Haverhill, Mass., and her children are: Clara Wood, Susie Clarke, Myrtle Lydia, Everett Alfred, and Arthur Russell. Lizzie J: is the wife of Warren Kimball, of Haverhill, Mass., and the mother of Alice Graham, Victor Orange, and Lizzie Wood. Lydia Addie is now Mrs. Charles W. French, of Warrensburg, Ill., and has five children - Herbert, Clara, Laura, Olive, and another whose name is unknown to the present writer. Emma Susan married Orange E. Sackett, resides in Central City, Neb., and has seven children - Lizzie Kim- ball, Arthur Russell, Dwight, Alton Veasey, Robert Mckinley, Hazel, and Mira. Edward M. Chesley married for his first wife Flora Ayer; and by that union there was one child, Etta, who died at the age of four years. Ilis
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second wife was before marriage Ella Rugg, of Haverhill, Mass. ; and the children by this union are: Charlotte F., Edward G., and Marion. Ellen F. is now the widow of Charles W. Martin, late of Pittsfield, N. H., and has no children. Margaret Ann married Daniel Yeaton, of Epsom. Mrs. Joanna T. Chesley is now residing at the homestead, and has reached the age of nearly eighty-one years. She is a member of the Congregational church.
Daniel Gilman Chesley acquired a good education in schools in his native town, in Pittsfield, and Pembroke. After completing his studies, he engaged in educational work, and taught twenty-nine (mostly winter) terms of school in Illinois and New Hampshire. He eventually settled at the homestead, where he now resides; and he devotes his time and at- tention to the cultivation of his farm with the same energy and perseverance which character- ized his ancestors.
On November 25, 1888, Mr. Chesley mar- ried Olive Elnora Sanborn, a daughter of Nathan B. and Ruth (Cousens) Sanborn. Her father was a native of Gilmanton, N. H., the son of Jonathan T. and Hannah (Page) San- born; and his mother was the daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth Page, the latter being a cousin of Daniel Webster, and also related to the Greeley family of which Horace Greeley was a member. Ruth Ann Cousens, a native of Kennebunk, Me., was a daughter of Jere- miah M. and Eliza (Kimball) Cousens, the former a soldier in the War of 1812. Olive Elmora Sanborn was born in Thornton, N. H., where her parents, who were industrious farm- ing people, resided for a period of twelve years, removing then to Gilmanton, where they passed the remainder of their days. Nathan B. Sanborn was identified with public affairs, and served as a Selectman in Thorn- ton. He lived to be seventy years old, and
his wife to the age of sixty-six. They had a family of seven children, of whom six are now living. Olive E. (Mrs. Chesley) was the third-born. She was educated in the schools of Gilmanton, graduated from Gilmanton Academy, and became a teacher in the public schools, teaching previous to her marriage twenty-eight terms of school in New Hamp- shire and Maine. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. and Mrs. Chesley have three children : Elnora Sanborn, who was born September 1, 1889; Mabel Florence, born September 4, 1893 ; and John Gilman, born March 29, 1895.
In politics Mr. Chesley is a Democrat. He served as Superintendent of Schools for fifteen years, was a member of the School Board six years, was Chairman of the Board of Selectmen for two years, Town Treasurer four years, and Town Clerk two years. He has also held other offices and is now Auditor. He stands high in the estimation of his fellow-townsmen, who regard him as one of the most upright, conscientious, and worthy of citizens.
ILLIAM E. WESTGATE, a lead- ing farmer and stock-raiser of Cor- nish, Sullivan County, was born December 9, 1840, at Plainfield, N. H., son of Earl and Sarah Chase (Cole) Westgate. His great-grandfather, John Westgate, married Grace Church, of Tiverton, R.I., who was a descendant of Colonel Benjamin Church, fa- mous in King Philip's War in Colonial times. They had eleven children - Betsy, John, Lydia, Earl, Priscilla, Mary, George, Will- iam, Joseph, Benjamin, and Hannah. Earl Westgate, grandfather of William E., came with his father to Plainfield in 1778, and mar- ried Elizabeth Waite, daughter of Nathaniel and Annie Swetzer, of Hubbardston, Mass.
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Their children were: Elizabeth, John, Na- thaniel, Anna, George, and Earl.
Earl Westgate (second) was born at Plain- field, December 17, 1808, and was educated in the town schools. After completing his education, he lived on the home farm with his father until the latter died, when he took entire charge. A very religious man, he has been a member and a Deacon of the Baptist church for more than fifty years. He has never joined any of the secret fraternities, and has never held public office, preferring rather the quiet of his own fireside to the more active life of a public man. The first of his two marriages was contracted with Sarah Chase Cole, of Plainfield, who, born November 24, 1815, died January 18, 1876. She was the mother of William E., Martha E., Edith S., Julia A., Mary E., and Daniel C. Westgate. Earl Westgate's second wife, in maidenhood Abigail M. Camp, of Hanover, is now de- ceased. Martha, Mr. Westgate's eldest daughter, born in Plainfield, January 9, 1842, married Freeman Holt, of Lyme, N. H., a farmer, and is now living at Plainfield. Edith S., born June 21, 1846, married Carlos D. Colby, a farmer of Plainfield, and had eight children, seven of whom are living. Julia, born August 8, 1848, died soon after leaving school. Mary, born November 1, 1852, died at the age of ten years. Daniel, born June 4, 1857, lives on the farm at Plainfield with his father, and is now Selectman of the town. He married Clara J. Stone, of Plainfield, and has two children - Mary E. and Bessie S.
William E. Westgate received his early education at Plainfield and in Kimball Union Academy. Not long after, he settled on a farm formerly owned by Mr. Bryant. He has since purchased the property, and is living there still. Mr. Westgate has been prominent in the public affairs of the town, and has been
honored by his fellow-townsmen by appoint- ment to various offices of trust and responsi- bility. He has been Collector of Taxes; for three years Selectman; in 1895 he was sent to the State legislature, where he served on the Committee on Labor; and he was elected County Commissioner in 1896. Mr. West- gate's farm is rich and fertile; and his build- ings are commodious, of improved style, and in excellent condition. Besides carrying on general farming, he raises considerable stock.
Mr. Westgate was united in matrimony with Charlotte E. Bryant, of Cornish, daugh- ter of Daniel and Chloe (Hildreth) Bryant. They have two children - Earle and Martha E. Earle, born May 25, 1865, after complet- ing his education, worked on the farm for a time. He is now employed at the creamery, where he oversees the making of butter known all over the country as Hill Side Creamery Butter. He married Angie L. Chadbourne, daughter of William E. Chadbourne, of Cor- nish. Martha Westgate was born in Cornish, March 8, 1869, and was educated in the Cor- nish schools and in the high school at Wind- sor, from which she graduated. Afterward, becoming a very successful and popular teacher, she taught school for fifteen terms. She and her husband, Elwin W. Quimby, of Cornish, now reside with her parents. The circumstances attending the removal of Mr. Westgate and his wife from Plainfield to Cor- nish are vividly impressed on his mind. It was in the spring of 1862, when the snow lay five or six feet deep on the level, and was covered by a crust so solid that teams rode on it over fences and fields, without breaking through, a condition of things which lasted until the middle of April. Mr. Westgate is a Free Mason and formerly belonged to the grange. Both he and his wife are earnest members of the Baptist Church of Plainfield.
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Mrs. Westgate, who has a musical taste, was organist of the church for some years both before and after her marriage.
DWIN A. TYRRELL, a highly es- teemed citizen of Hookset, Merrimack County, prominent in town affairs, has been station agent and Postmaster at Martin Depot since 1887, a continuous ser- vice of ten years in the two positions, an hon- orable record which speaks for itself. He was born May 15, 1851, in Paxton, Mass., a son of Jesse D. Tyrrell. His grandfather, Jesse Tyrrell, was of Massachusetts birth, but · removed from that State to Vermont, settling in the town of Waterville, where he carried on general farming until his death, which oc- curred at a ripe old age.
Jesse D. Tyrrell was born June 2, 1825, in Bakersfield, Vt., and spent a large part of his life in that State. He learned the shoe- maker's trade when young, and followed it in connection with his agricultural labors until the fall of 1863, when he enlisted in the Seventh Vermont Regiment. He died Feb- ruary 6, 1864, soon after being mustered into service in Brattleboro, Vt .. He was a hard- working man, industrious and thrifty, as well as a patriotic citizen, and was greatly re- spected by all with whom he had dealings. His wife, formerly Mary Ann Tyler, survived him but three years, passing to the life eter- nal January 6, 1867. Both were deeply re- ligious, and were active members of the Meth- wlist church. Of the five children born of their union but two are now living, as fol- lows: Alfred H., born in Princeton, Mass., December 5, 1849, who married Ellen Prouty, of Paxton, Mass., and has two children - Mabel and Ella; and Edwin A., the special subject of this personal sketch.
Edwin A. Tyrrell was but two years of age when his parents removed to Cambridge, Vt., where he first attended school. After com- pleting his education at Troy, Vt., he, by the death of his parents having been left depend- ent in a large measure on his own resources, went to Manchester, N. H., where he ob- tained a situation in the Manchester mill. Proving himself able and faithful in every po- sition in which he was placed, he retained his connection with the mill for eighteen years, being second hand in the harness shop when he left. On September 1, 1887, Mr. Tyrrell located in Hookset, having accepted the posi- tion of station agent at Martin Depot; and during the same year, under President Cleve- land's administration, he received the appoint- ment of Postmaster. During his residence in Hookset he has been prominently identified with the best interests of the place, and has served in important offices, having been Super- visor in 1890 and 1891, and ever since that time a member of the Board of Selectmen. He is also a member of the Board of Trade of Hookset ; and he was appointed Justice of the Peace for this county by Governor Ramsdell in February, 1897. Fraternally, he is an ac- tive member of Wildy Lodge, No. 45, I. O. O. F., of Manchester, N.H., in which he served one term as Outside Guardian.
On May 2, 1871, Mr. Tyrrell was united in marriage with Miss Junia A. Ela, of Hook- set, who was a woman of fine character, much beloved by all who knew her, and a faithful member of the Methodist church. She died May 16, 1885, leaving three children, the fol- lowing being their record: Leona O., born February 19, 1875, resides in Hookset, N. H. ; Arthur J., who was born September 21, 1876, is connected with the passenger de- partment of the Boston & Maine Railroad, and resides in Concord, N.H. ; and Wesley E.,
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born August 31, 1879, is a resident of Hook- set. On December 24, 1885, Mr. Tyrrell was married to Miss Augusta R. Hatch, a daughter of Deacon Samuel Hatch, of Malden, Mass. She was born in Derry, N.H., De- cember 25, 1852. At one time she was a member of the Second Advent church in Manchester; but she withdrew from that, and at present is not connected with any church. A devoted wife, Mrs. Tyrrell has been a kind and loving mother to the children left to her care, and is loved and respected by them all.
YLVANUS W. BRYANT, of Cor- nish Flat, was born in the town of Cornish, October 23, 1839, son of Sylvanus W. and Sophia (Woodward) Bryant. He comes of a robust, tenacious, and progres- sive family, representatives of which fought in the French and Indian War, were officers in the Continental army under Washington, and have attained distinction in politics, the army and navy, the learned professions, and the arts and sciences. Among these none have been more widely known and beloved than New England's poet of nature, the late William Cullen Bryant.
Sylvanus W. Bryant traces his genealogy to Stephen Bryant, who came from the west of England in 1643, and settled in the Plymouth Colony at Duxbury, Mass. He married Abi- gail Shaw, who was born in England, and came to this country with her father, John Shaw, in 1632. William Cullen Bryant be- longed to the sixth generation descended from Stephen. Lieutenant John Bryant married the daughter of Stephen Bryant at Plymouth on November 23, 1665. Nothing is known of him prior to that date. His children num- bered seven. Samuel, the fourth son, married Joanna Cole, and had seven children, four of
whom were born in Plymouth and three in the adjoining town of Plympton. Samuel, Jr., the eldest child, married Tabitha, daughter of Deacon Joseph Ford, of Pembroke, Mass. ; and eleven children were born to them. Syl- vanus, the fourth child of Samuel, Jr., mar- ried Sarah Sears, daughter of Edward Sears, of Halifax, and had a family of six children.
Sylvanus Bryant, Jr., the third child of his parents, and the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, enlisted as a private in the Con- tinental army, rose to the rank of Captain, and did good service in the Revolutionary War. After the war he settled in Cornish, being the first of the name in this town. He married Judith, daughter of Moses Chase, and had a family of eight children. Sylvanus W. Bryant, Sr., son of Captain Bryant, and the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Cornish, June 14, 1790, and died August 17, 1864. He was a man of unusual mental range, sound judgment, and of much business capacity. His wife, Sophia, was born in Plainfield, N. H., June 3, 1800, and died Sep- tember 3, 1890. Their six children were: John, Sophia, Judith, George, Sarah Anne, and Sylvanus W.
Sylvanus W. Bryant, the subject of this sketch, married Sarah G. Smith, of West- minster, Vt. They have had three children, namely: Mary H., now deceased, born Sep- tember 6, 1876; Jennie S., born June 28, 1879; and George H., born November 22, 1880.
ON. HOSEA W. PARKER, of Claremont, N. H., attorney and coun - sellor at law, was born in Lempster, Sullivan County, May 30, 1833, son of Ben- jamin and Olive (Nichols) Parker. His father was an esteemed citizen of Lempster, where he held many positions of trust and
HOSEA W. PARKER.
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responsibility. He died in 1845, leaving three children - Emilie, Hiram, and Hosea W. Emilie L. married Ransom Beckwith (deceased), by whom she had two sons - Wal- ter P. and Hira R., the former a graduate of Tufts College and the present superintend- ent of the Salem Normal School, the latter a well-known architect, residing in Claremont, N.H. Hiram Parker is a merchant of Lemp- ster, has held different offices in the town, and has been a Representative to the legislature. He ranks among the most prosperous and en- terprising farmers in the county, and has for many years been a prominent member of the State Board of Agriculture.
Hosea W. Parker acquired his early educa- tion in the district school, and at home as- sisted his brother on the farm until he was eighteen years old. He later attended Tubbs Union Academy, Washington, and the Green Mountain Liberal Institute, South Wood- stock, Vt. Entering Tufts College in 1855, he there remained two years, and then began the study of law in the office of Burke & Waite, of Newport. While thus engaged, he taught school in Newport and elsewhere. In 1859 he was admitted to the Sullivan County bar, and began to practise in his native town; but in the fall of 1860 he removed to Clare- mont, where he has resided ever since. He has built up an extensive and most excellent practice, and is considered a very competent counsellor. He is strong and influential in the Supreme Court, and as a draughtsman of legal documents it is said he is not excelled in the State. His services are in constant demand wherever sound counsel and legal ability are appreciated. He was admitted to practice in the United States Circuit and Dis- trict Courts in New Hampshire, and in 1873 was admitted to the Supreme Court at Wash- ington, D.C. He has been engaged on one
side or the other of almost every important case tried in the county, and as a lawyer ranks with the foremost of New Hampshire.
Mr. Parker is a Democrat in politics, and has been a prominent leader and worker in the cause of Democracy ever since he became a voter, attending county, State, and national conventions. In 1859 and 1860 he repre- sented the town of Lempster in the New Hampshire legislature. In 1869 he was the Democratic candidate for member of Congress from the Third New Hampshire District, which had almost always been Republican; and he was defeated by Jacob Benton. In 1871 he was again a candidate, and was elected; and in 1873 he was re-elected by an increased majority. "Corruption was rife at Washington during the time of his service, but jobbery and extravagance in every form found in Mr. Parker a persistent opponent. The Congressional Record will show his vote recorded against every jobbery, subsidy, and plunder scheme, of whatever description, brought before Congress during his term of service, and in support of every measure cal- culated to promote the interests of the masses of the people, and especially in the direction of revenue reform. There and everywhere he has been earnest and outspoken in opposi- tion to those features of the tariff laws calculated to enrich the few at the ex- pense of the many. He was a member of the Committee on Education and Labor, and also of the Committee on Patents, rendering valuable service in both committees. It was in the Forty-third Congress, as a member of the last-named committee, that Mr. Parker rendered his constituents and the people of the entire country a service of inestimable value. It was at this time that the patents held by the great sewing-machine monoply, a combination of the leading companies entered
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into for the purpose of keeping up the enor- mous prices of the machines, were about ex- piring; and a determined effort was made to secure an extension. A powerful lobby was employed, and money without stint was at its command. Every possible argument and ap- pliance was brought to bear upon the commit- tee to secure a report in favor of extension. Mr. Parker, with his unyielding hostility to monopoly and especial privilege in every form, was unalterably opposed to such action from the start; and it was largely through his per- sistent efforts that the committee finally re- ported against the extension by a majority of one vote, and the committee's report was sus- tained by the House. A reduction of nearly fifty per cent. in the price of sewing machines soon followed, a result hailed with joy in al- most every family in the land."
After the close of his second Congressional term Mr. Parker was out of politics, giving his time and attention wholly to the practice of his profession until 1892, when he was nominated unanimously in convention of the Second District for member of Congress, but was defeated by a small plurality. He has been on the State Central Committee of the Democratic party for thirty years. At the session of the New Hampshire legislature in 1897 Mr. Parker was the Democratic nominee for United States Senator, and received the votes of the Democratic members. The party, however, being in the minority, he was not elected.
For five years he has been one of the Commissioners to establish free public libra- ries in New Hampshire, and the work has been carried on to such an extent that at the present writing nearly every town in the · State has a free public library. In 1883 the degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him by Tufts College, and he was elected a
Trustee of the college, which position he still holds. He was for ten years Trustee of the State Normal School at Plymouth, N. H. He is a member of the Southern New Hampshire Bar Association, is a prominent Free Mason, and was for over twenty years Eminent Com- mander of Sullivan Commandery, Knights Templar, of Claremont. In religious faith and fellowship a Universalist, for the past thirty-six years he has been superintendent of the Universalist Sunday-school; and he has been President of the United States and Can - ada Universalist General Convention.
He married Louvisa C. Southgate, daughter of Mark Southgate, of Bridgewater, Vt., and has one child, Lizzie S., who is one of the prominent alumnæ of Smith College, where she was graduated in 1888. She married the Rev. Lee S. McCollester, a graduate of Tufts Col- lege and Tufts Divinity School, who has also studied and travelled extensively abroad. He is now pastor of the Church of Our Father, a large and flourishing society in Detroit, Mich. His father, the Rev. S. H. McCol- lester, D.D., of Marlboro, N.H., is the author of valuable works of European travel.
Mr. Parker, it may be added, is a descend- ant of Captain Joseph Parker, and a relative of the late Rev. Dr. A. A. Miner, a distin- guished divine of the Universalist faith, who was born in Lempster, and long a favorite among the church-goers of Boston, Mass. Mr. Parker, it has been well said, is "a citizen eminently public-spirited, heartily supporting all schemes of local improvement. He is lib- eral to a fault, and never hesitates to contrib- ute to any object for which his aid is sought, unless convinced that there is sham and hy- pocrisy. For hypocrites and pretenders, whether in politics or religion, in public or in private, in business or in social life, he has a thorough and ardent contempt. In his in-
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tercourse with men he bestows the same con- sideration upon the poorest and humblest as upon the rich and exalted."
ILLIAM SHAW, a farmer of Pitts- field, was born here, December 25, 1833, son of Smith and Mary Jane (Garland) Shaw. The family is of Scotch origin, and descends from Joseph Shaw, its earliest known ancestor in America. The great-grandfather of William was Caleb Shaw, who was born May 9, 1718. On January 21, 1742, he married Abigail Batchelder, daugh- ter of Deacon John Batchelder. Of their seven children John, the sixth child and sec- ond son, and grandfather of William Shaw, was born in Exeter, N. H., July 30, 1751. He learned the machinist's trade, and fol- lowed it in connection with farming. He set- tled in Pittsfield one hundred years ago, and a portion of his farm of two hundred acres is now owned by William Shaw. He married for his first wife Molly Folsom, daughter of John Folsom, of Exeter; and she died leaving no children. On June 19, 1785, he wedded his first wife's sister, Betty Folsom, who bore him thirteen children, all now deceased.
Smith Shaw, the seventh of his parents' children, was born in Pittsfield, August 6, 1795. His entire life was passed in his na- tive town; and his active period was spent in the cultivation of a portion of his father's farm, which he inherited. He was widely known as an industrious and useful citizen. In politics he was a Democrat. He died at the age of seventy-six years, eight months, ind eighteen days. His wife, Mary Jane, whom he married June 26, 1817, was a daugh- to: of Amos Garland, of Ossipee, N.H. She became the mother of six children, of whom three are living - Abigail, John E., and
William. Abigail was born April 22, 1820, and is the wife of Plummer Garland, of Pitts- field. John E., born February 13, 1828, mar- ried Sarah Brown, of Hampton Falls, N.H., and has two children - Ella and Josie. Will- iam Shaw's mother lived to reach the ad- vanced age of ninety-five years, nine months, and sixteen days. Both parents were mem- bers of the Free Will Baptist church.
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