USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 31
USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 31
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During an incursion made by Indians upon Haverhill, Mass., on the 15th of March, 1697, a party attacked the house of Thomas Dustin, captured Mrs. Dustin, in bed with an infant seven days old, and her nurse Mary Neff, dashed out the brains of the infant against a tree, and set fire to the house. The captives were marched through the wilderness to the home of the Indians on a small island at the junction of the Contoocook River with the Merrimac, near where the village of Pena- cook now is. In the night, when the Indians were asleep, the two captive women, and a boy who had been captured at Worcester, Mass., some time before, killed ten of the
Indians by striking them upon the head, and the three captives escaped, and returned to Haverhill. On the 21st of the following April the three went to Boston, carrying with them the scalps of the Indians and other evi- dences of the exploit, and received as a reward from the General Court fifty pounds, and from others many valuable presents. Mr. Dustin's heroic defence of his seven older children is equally deserving of mention. A monument has since been erected to the memory of Han- nah Dustin.
Timothy, son of Thomas and Hannah Dus- tin, was born in Haverhill, Mass., September 14, 1694, and died in 1775. He had a son, Eliphalet, and two others, Thomas and Timo- thy, Jr., who were twins, born in 1745. They came to Claremont about 1771, and settled on a tract of land on the south side of Sugar River, where they carried on brick-making for many years, being the first to follow this in- dustry in Claremont. Timothy, Jr., who was an energetic, enterprising, and public-spirited man, was much interested in church matters, and gave to Union Church a silver service for communion. He married August 7, 1773, Eunice Nutting, and by her had nine children. Timothy Dustin, Jr., his wife, Eunice, and one daughter died within twenty days in the spring of 1813 of spotted fever. Their chil- dren were: William, David, Moody, Mighill, Timothy, Abel, Oliver, Polly, and Eunice.
Moody Dustin, the father of Mighill named at the beginning of this sketch, was born in Claremont, November 19, 1780. He bought a farm on Green Mountain, where he lived until 1834, when he removed to the farm afterward owned by his son. He was an ac- tive member of the Congregational church, was a prosperous man for those times, and was public-spirited and prominent. He died Au- gust 29, 1860, his wife, Lucy Cowles, whom
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he married April 8, 1807, surviving him until May 29, 1865. They had nine children,. Mighill being one of the younger. The others may be briefly mentioned as follows: Sarah married William Haven, of Newport. Elvira married Timothy Rossiter. William married Sarah Bentley. Mary married Jonathan Wood. Both of these went to Illinois. Lu- cinda married Charles N. Goss. Timothy never married. Eveline married George Worthen, of Lebanon. Emeline, her twin sister, married Richard Howe, of Lebanon.
Mighill Dustin, when a young man, taught school for a short time in Illinois. After that he returned to his father's farm in Claremont, and became a substantial farmer. He dealt largely in Cotswold sheep, which he was the first in the vicinity to raise. He was a well- informed man, of remarkable balance and ex- cellent judgment, and was very active in the Congregational church. He did not care for society in the general acceptance of that term, but was very social in his nature. He was averse to holding public office, though he was often urged to accept positions in the gift of the town. His wife, Mary, daughter of Jona- than Whitcomb, of Claremont, was born Janu- ary 7, 1831, and died July 25, 1891. They had one child, a daughter named Mary Ella, who married February 5, 1890, Charles Keith, of Palmer, Mass., son of Charles, Sr., and Mary (Olds) Keith. Mr. Keith, the younger, came to Claremont in 1886, and now carries on the old homestead farm of the Dustins. Mr. and Mrs. Keith have three children - Mary Helen, Charles Dustin, and Frank Leonard.
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HARI,ES CHASE LORD, Justice of the Peace, Notary Public, and the local historian of Hopkinton, is the child and first son of Charles and
Sarah (Hubbard) Lord. Born in South Ber- wick, Me., July 7, 1841, he is a lineal de- scendant, in the seventh generation, of Nathan Lord, who emigrated to America from Stack- pole Court, Pembroke, Wales, and settled in ancient Kittery, Me., before 1652. In South Berwick, once a part of ancient Kittery, is a homestead of which Nathan Lord became a proprietor in 1676, and which is now in the possession of his descendants, the estate being situated in a district called "Old Fields."
Sarah Hubbard, who became the mother of Charles Chase Lord, was born in Hopkinton, N. H., daughter of John and Ruth (Chase) Hubbard. On her mother's side she de- scended from the famous Chase family that has figured so prominently in both English and American history.
In 1845 Charles Chase Lord, scarcely four years of age, awoke to recollection and found his home in New Market, N. H., where his father, a machinist, was eventually engaged as a contractor and builder of cotton machines for the late Samuel Brooks. This precocious little fellow was then able to read all those forms of composition usually put into the hands of young children, he having no memory of the time when the process of learning to read began. In 1846, in consequence of im- perfect health, his father sought partial occu- pation upon the soil, and moved his family to a farm in Hopkinton, living there the most of the time afterward until his death in 1884. Charles Chase Lord enjoyed the advantages of the common school, and also received instruction for several terms in a private academy. At one time he made up his mind to enter the medical profession; but, like his father, a constant sufferer from physical infirm- ities, such a course for him was simply im- possible. Largely by the advice of personal friends, he was induced to try the Christian
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ministry. The effort was impeded by ill health, and he became convinced that he had mistaken his calling. Having spent a few years in New York, Massachusetts, and Mich- igan, Mr. Lord returned to Hopkinton in 1871. With some journalistic experience acquired as editor of a rural weekly news- paper in the State of New York, he began sup- porting himself in part by furnishing news and articles for various local and other publica-
tions. Subsequently he became a school officer, in which capacity he has served thir- teen years. Being of a judicial turn of mind, and by the advice of friends, he secured com- missions as Justice of the Peace and Notary Public, and has repeatedly in his own town and elsewhere presided at justice trials, besides acting as a general adviser of his neighbors and townsmen on a variety of legal subjects.
Mr. Lord's literary tastes prompted him to compile "Life and Times in Hopkinton, N. H.," a volume containing nearly six hun- dred pages of local history, biography, and statistics, published by the town in 1890. He has also written and published a series of three local sketches, "Mary Woodwell," "The Lookout," and "Abraham Kimball," each containing a chapter of early romantic history told in blank verse, interspersed with original articles in rhyme. At the request of friends in Concord, N. H., Mr. Lord wrote and published "Poems of Penacook," which con- tain many items of the early history and tradi- tions of New Hampshire. Besides many metrical effusions in various periodicals, he is represented in "The Poets of New Hamp- shire" and the "Poets of Maine," volumes recently published. In 1873 and for the two or three ensuing years he was employed in the State teachers' institutes, both as a reporter and as a lecturer, his special themes of in- struction being anatomy, physiology, and hy-
giene, as applicable to the uses of parents and teachers.
In 1880 Mr. Lord was the United States enumerator of the census for the district of Hopkinton. Of late years, being specially interested and practically skilled in the art of research, he has done considerable work in making historical investigations for people and persons from different places. He was the projector of the organization of the Sons and Daughters of Nathan Lord, which has held two reunions in South Berwick, Me., and of which he is the corresponding secretary, as well as the chairman of its historical commit- tee. Mr. Lord has never married.
URTIS FRANKLIN LEWIN, an enterprising provision dealer of Plain- field, was born in this town, April 24, 1850, son of Erastus and Fanny (Nash) Lewin. Among several of the members of the family who have achieved distinction in busi- ness and professional pursuits may be men- tioned Judge Lewin, an eminent jurist and a wealthy resident of Hartford, Conn. The father of Erastus, Cranston Lewin, who was born May 6, 1777, came from Hartford, Conn., to Plainfield when a young man, and was en- gaged in farming and butchering for the rest of his active period. He married Esther Fuller, who was born in Plainfield, June 23, 1787. They had four children - Louisiana, Erastus, Cranston, and Benjamin. Louisiana died when quite young. Cranston became a con- tractor and builder in the West, and died unmarried while still a young man. Benja- min, who was a butcher and provision dealer in Hartford, Conn., for a number of years, spent his last days in Plainfield. His second wife was Lucy Walker, of this town, who bore him six children.
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Erastus Lewin was born in Plainfield, June 17, 1817. In early life he engaged in farm- ing, and also operated a saw-mill for some time. He disposed of the mill to enter the butchering business, which he carried on with success for thirty years ; and his last days were passed in retirement upon his farm. He served in some of the town offices, but re- frained from accepting important positions in public affairs, as the demands of his business would not permit it. He was a general favor- ite in the community on account of his genial disposition, and he was widely known through- out this section. Erastus Lewin died May 12, 1893. He was three times married. His children by his first wife, Fanny Nash. Lewin, were: Charles H., born January 31, 1844; Laura, born September 21, 1845; Curtis F., the subject of this sketch; Emily, born May 9, 1851; Hattie, born December 8, 1853; and Byron, born March 24, 1856. Charles H. en- listed in the Nineteenth Regiment, Massachu- setts Volunteers, and died in Andersonville Prison. Laura, who did not marry, remained at home until her death, which occurred De- cember 19, 1892. Emily married Edwin Hall, a carriage painter of Cornish, N. H., and died March 13, 1893. Hattie became the wife of Aden Bartholomew, a shoe-cutter of Plainfield, and died March 10, 1893, leaving three children. Byron, who is now in the butchering business in Hanover, N. H., mar- ried Katie Reed, and has three children. The second wife of Erastus Lewin, Susan Walker Lewin, bore him five children, as follows: Anna, who died at the age of thirteen years ; Benjamin, a meat dealer in Manchester, who married Hattie Blood, and has two children ; Katie and Norman, both of whom died in in- fancy; and Elmer, who married Nellie West- gate, of Plainfield, has six children, and is in the meat business in Manchester. The father's
third marriage was contracted with Olive P. Clark. The only child of this union, Frank C., now a travelling salesman, is married, and lives in Davenport, Ia.
Curtis Franklin Lewin acquired a practical education in the schools of Plainfield. Hav- ing learned the meat and provision business with his father, he has since followed it with success. Besides carrying on his meat busi- ness, he owns and cultivates a good farm situ- ated within the limits of the village. His enterprise and close attention to business have won for him considerable wealth. In 1875, October 6, he married Lucy M. Clough, who was born March 30, 1856, daughter of Charles S. Clough, of Grantham, N. H. Mr. and Mrs. Lewin have had nine children, born as fol- lows : Charles, June 17, 1876; Fanny, March 29, 1878; Robert E., August 11, 1881 ; Mary E., February 17, 1883; Carl, August 4, 1884; Leroy, June 2, 1887; Ruth H., July 5, 1890; Catharine E., in October, 1891 ; and Margue- rite E., March 1, 1896. Of these Robert E., Ruth H., and Marguerite E. are living. In politics Mr. Lewin is a Democrat, but he takes no active interest in public affairs. Devoting his whole time to his business and the care of his farm, he is one of the busiest men in Plainfield. Sharing the musical talent of the Lewins, he often uses it for his own amusement and that of his family.
NDREW JACKSON KELLEY, Postmaster of Dimond Hill, Hopkin- ton, a successful agriculturist of this town, and one of the brave men who fought in the late war, was born January 22, 1835, in Webster, Merrimack County, son of Timothy and Jane (Burbank) Kelley. Timo- thy Kelley was born December 25, 1778, in Kilcoloman, County Waterford, Ireland. He
NAPOLEON B. HALE.
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was an officer in the Irish rebellion, and on its suppression escaped by being smuggled on board a ship bound for New York. Making his way from that city to Massachusetts, he lived for a time in Newbury, Mass., where he wooed and won his wife. Subsequently, re- moving to Webster, N. H., he was engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, July 15, 1854, aged seventy-five years and six months. His wife survived him many years, dying in May, 1873, at the venerable age of eighty-six years.
Andrew J. Kelley spent the days of his boy- hood and early manhood in Webster. Soon after the commencement of the late war he enlisted in Company E, Burdan's sharp- shooters, under Captain Amos B. Jones, being mustered into service September 9, 1861. He spent the ensuing winter in Washington on guard duty. In the spring he went to Fort Smith, Virginia, and afterward took an active party in thirty of the more important engage- ments, including those of Falls Church, York- town, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Peters- burg, Manassas, and Mine Run.
He remained with his company to the end of the contest, serving forty-seven months, and, though he was continually on the skirmish line, was neither wounded nor captured. After the capitulation of the Confederates he saw Lee's men stack their guns, and he was present at the Grand Review in Washington with his comrades. At Kelly's Ford the sharpshooters captured the Tenth South Caro- lina Regiment, losing but few of their men in the engagement. For gallant and meritorious conduct Mr. Kelley was successively pro- moted to the ranks of Corporal and Orderly Sergeant. He was recommended for a Lieu- tenancy, which was given to another, owing, he believes, to a favoritism shown Republi- cans. On returning to Webster, he worked
there for a short time, and then in the saw- mills at Concord or Goshen for some years. In 1878 he moved to his present farm of thirty acres on Dimond Hill, which is in the vicin- ity of the original Dimond settlement made in 1754. In August, 1893, the present post- office was established; and, on the recommen- dation of those who were instrumental in hav- ing it located here, Mr. Kelley was appointed the Postmaster. In politics he has always been a straightforward Democrat, fearless in the expression of his opinions. At his dining- table, with his old companions-in-arms, he often lives over his army experiences in thought and story. He is an active worker in his party, and generally attends its conven- tions.
In 1858, at Webster, Mr. Kelley married Miss Almira F. Ripley, of Hopkinton. She died in May, 1872, leaving three sons and a daughter. These are: Willie, who is in a laundry in Concord, N.H .; George, who is a trainman on the Old Colony Railway; James, a slate roofer, who died at the age of twenty- three years; and Clara, the wife of James C. Colburn, of Nashua, N. H. Mr. Kelley con- tracted a second marriage on May 21, 1874, with Miss Roxanna W. Jones, of this town, daughter of Peter and Ann Eliza (Locke) Jones, both of Cambridge, Mass. Mrs. Kelley was born and reared in Charlestown, Mass., near Bunker Hill. Of this union two children have been born, namely : Arthur J., of Concord, N. H. ; and a daughter who died in early childhood.
- APOLEON B. HALE, a rising young lawyer of Concord, was born in San- bornton, N. H., April 4, 1863, son of Herman T. and Hannah G. (Sanborn) Hale. His father also was a native of Sanbornton,
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and originally bore the name of Jacob T. Dolloff, but changed it to Herman T. Hale. His paternal grandfather, John Dolloff, grand- son of Samuel Dolloff, is said to have been of Russian descent. He was one of the first settlers of Sanbornton, where he passed the greater part of his life in farming. Mr. N. B. Hale's grandmother, the wife of John Dol- loff, was Nancy Thomas, whose father, Jacob Thomas, was at fifteen years of age a fifer in the Revolutionary War. He was a son of Jonathan, a noted hunter in the olden time, last heard from as a scout in Maine. He is reputed to have married an Indian squaw.
Through his mother the subject of this sketch is a descendant, in the tenth generation, of John Sanborn, who was born about 1600, in Derbyshire, England, and died there in young manhood. His widow, a daughter of the Rev. Stephen Bachiler, came to this country with her father and her sons in 1632, and in 1638 settled at Hampton, N. H. The eldest son, Lieutenant John, born about 1620, was for many years a Selectman of Hampton and a Representative to the General Court. His son Richard, the third in line, was the father of Ensign John, whose son Ebenezer, born in 1712, was a prominent citizen of Hampton, serving as Town Clerk and Selectman, also as Sheriff of the county, and was a commis- sioned officer in the old French war. Ser- geant John, son of Ebenezer, born in 1736 at Hampton, served in the old French war and also . in the Revolution. He was the first permanent settler of Sanbornton, N. H., where he built a house in 1765. Jeremiah, seventh in the ancestral line, born in November, 1764, at the age of fifteen enlisted as a nine months' man in the Continental army, and was at West Point at the time of Arnold's treason. Later in life he was for two terms a Representative from Hampton to the General Court; and in
1812 he was chosen messenger to carry the votes of this State for President to Washing- ton, D.C. His son, Jesse Sanborn, born in 1794, a highly intelligent, capable man, an ex- cellent school teacher, also a farmer and a Captain in the militia, was the father of Han- nah G. Sanborn, who became Mrs. Hale.
Herman T. Hale, son of John and Nancy (Thomas) Dolloff, born July 15, 1820, spent the greater part of his life as a farmer in San- bornton ; but for some ten years he conducted a grist-mill at Hillsborough Bridge. He was a man prominent in local affairs, and was elected to the office of Selectman, though a Republi- can in the midst of a strong Democratic com- munity. He died August 3, 1886, aged sixty-six years. He was twice married; and by his first wife, Elvira M., daughter of Jesse and Martha (March) Sanborn, of Sanbornton, he had four children, two of whom died young. The two still living are: Sarah Augusta, who married Aaron Eastman, and resides in San- bornton; and Martha G., who married Frank J. Thomas, and is also a resident of Sanborn- ton. For his second wife Mr. Herman T. Hale married Hannah G. Sanborn, a sister of his first wife, and by her became the father of three children, namely: E. Lettie, who mar- ried Oscar P. Lane, and resides in Laconia ; Napoleon B., whose name appears at the head of this sketch; and Charles F., who is un- married and resides at home.
Napoleon B. Hale was educated in the dis- trict schools of Sanbornton and at the New Hampton Literary Institution. Poor health handicapped him for a time, but, gaining in strength, he devoted himself to farming; and after the death of his father he had charge of the home farm for about three years. In May, 1889, he engaged in the study of law with Daniel Barnard, then Attorney General of the State, at his office in Franklin, where he re-
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mained three years. Soon after Mr. Barnard's decease Mr. Hale came to Concord and com- pleted his preparatory course of study with Leach & Stevens. He was admitted to the Merrimack County bar, March 17, 1893, and soon after opened an office in Concord. He has since been successfully engaged in the practice of his profession. Politically, he affiliates with the Republicans; and he cast his first Presidential vote for James G. Blaine in 1884. He is a member of the First Baptist Church of Concord. He is also a member of Kearsarge Lodge, No. 48, K. of P., and Capi- tal Grange, No. 113, P. of H., of Concord.
OHN B. SANBORN, a well-known citizen of. Concord and a prominent New England stock-raiser, was born in the eastern part of Concord, April 1, 1831, son of Himan and Mary A. (Bean) Sanborn. His paternal grandfather, Tristram Sanborn, a native of the old Bay State and a farmer, moved to Boscawen, near Warner, bringing his wife and a few household goods on a sled drawn by a yoke of steers. There he settled on wild land, which he converted into a good farm and made his home for many years. Prior to the erection of the modern house the family dwelt in a log cabin, in the primitive fireplace of which it is told that one of the children received severe burns on his feet from the hot ashes. Tristram's youngest son now owns the old homestead. There were five boys and five girls in the family.
Himan Sanborn received his education in the schools of his native town and at Boscawen. Upon reaching his majority, he walked to Bos- ton, a long journey in those days, when the roads were poor and much of the country was unbroken. Upon arriving there, he secured work in a stable, and was employed there for
a season. He then returned to Boscawen, married, and went to work on a farm. Fi- nally, he bought a farm in East Concord, there spent the remainder of his life engaged in agriculture, and died at the age of eighty- three years. He did not aspire to civil pre- ferment, but his ability and many virtues as a citizen could not pass unnoticed; and he was prevailed upon to serve the public in various capacities. He was Selectman, Councilman, and Alderman, as well as Justice of the Peace. His first wife, Mary A. (Bean) Sanborn, was a daughter of Abraham Bean, who was High Sheriff for many years. She bore him four children - Abram, Charles, John B., and Sarah A. A second marriage united him to Clarissa Batchelder, of Loudon, who bore him one son -- Charles H., now living in Concord. His third marriage was contracted with Laura Jones, of Warner.
John B. Sanborn was sent to the district schools and later to Pembroke Academy. From early boyhood he worked on his father's farm until he was twenty-one years old. Then he bought a farm, on which he has since resided. Besides erecting on it a fine brick residence, he has rebuilt the barns. He makes a specialty of raising thoroughbred Devon cattle and Shropshire and Southdown sheep. He now owns a thousand acres of land, all within six miles of the city. His first marriage was contracted with Miss Nancy Powers, of Alexandria, N. H., whose daughter by him, Sarah J., married William Sargent, and lives at Gilmanton. A second marriage united him to Hannah A. Stone, daughter of Amos Stone, of Boscawen. She bore him five children - John W., George, Frank P., Charles H., and Harley H. John married Clara Ames, and has one daughter, Mabel. George married Abbie Smith; and his chil- dren are - Clarence, Genella, and Percy H.
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Frank P. died some time ago. Charles mar ried Hattie Housel, of Springfield, N. H.
Like his father, Mr. Sanborn has been prominent in town affairs. He has served in the City Council, and he was Assessor for two terms. In politics he is a Democrat, and he has been chairman of his ward committee for years. His first Presidential vote was cast in 1852 for Franklin Pierce. He and his sons are known all over New England, as they have exhibited their cattle at all the leading fairs for the last thirty-five years, and won a large number of premiums.
ENJAMIN F. HEATH, a well- known resident of Warner and its present Representative in the State legislature, was born August 2, 1835, in that town, at the Lower Village, son of Matthias Heath. The father, a native of Henniker, this county, born in 1790, came to Warner in early manhood. He married Mary Rand, who was born in Warner in 1797, in the log house in which her parents, Ephraim and Lucy (Noyes) Rand, began housekeeping. Matthias Heath was a teacher for some years. Subse- quently he engaged in trade in Bradford, N. H., and then in Hillsborough, finally set- tling in Warner, where he resided until his death in 1846. His wife, who survived him many years, passed away in 1887, in her ninetieth year. They were the parents of three children, namely: Benjamin F., the subject of this sketch; Anna W., who is liv- ing in Warner; and Lydia M., who was an invalid from her early girlhood, and died at the age of forty-three years.
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