USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 35
USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 35
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Before he was of age Mr. Greene married Miss Frances Adeline Willard, of Hopkinton, who was brought up by her grandmother, Mrs. Sophia Tebbets. Mrs. Greene died March 2, 1873, leaving one son, Willard T., now a resi- dent of Hopkinton. On September 18, 1877, Mr. Greene married for his second wife Miss Anstice Irene Clarke, daughter of Daniel W. and Ruhamah (Cochran) Clarke, of Canaan, N.H. Mrs. Clarke, who was left a widow by the death of her first husband, married Judge Horace Chase when Anstice was but nine years old; and they went to Hopkinton to live. Mrs. Greene has no children. She still lives in the old Greene homestead, the place which belonged to the beloved mother of her distin- guished husband. Mr. Greene was an accom- plished public speaker, ready with telling ar-
gument and bright repartee. He was versatile and quick to discern the drift of legislation. The important positions intrusted to him showed that he had the esteem and confidence of all. For years he was President of the State Republican League, and with that body attended the Baltimore Convention. Throughout his own State he was a noted speaker. In making public addresses he used no notes except for headings, and never wrote but one address. In his legislative career he was associated both in an official and warmly personal way with Dr. Gallinger, of Concord, the well-known United States Senator.
Mr. Greene died of apoplexy, March I, 1896, at the age of sixty years. He had felt that death was impending, and had shortly before made the most orderly settlement of all his affairs. He was a tall, well-proportioned man, in manners affable and courteous, and in disposition calm and cheerful. Always a man of correct habits, his life was well-nigh blame- less. A warm affection existed between him and his mother, partly because he was the only son left her. He remained with her for this reason, and these family ties kept him from going elsewhere and opening a law office. While he was not a member of any secret so- ciety, he belonged to St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, of which he was Warden. The latter church contains a beautiful family memorial window designed by his niece, who is a noted artist, Miss Elsie Roberts, of Philadelphia. He was an unusually well-read man; and he had strong tendencies to art, especially to music.
EWELL H. WEBSTER, now a prom- inent and affluent resident of Helena, Mont., was born November 29, 1836, in Henniker, a son of Jesse and Susan C. (Newell) Webster. An account of his
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father's life will be found elsewhere in this volume. In his youth Newell was known as a remarkably bright lad, showing even then the vigor of intellect and strength of character inherited from his mother. After leaving school he learned the tailor's trade from his father, subsequently spending two years as a clerk in Boston. His health failing, a change of climate was advised; and, little thinking what the future years had in store for him, he bade farewell to his friends, and started west- ward, arriving in Minnesota early in 1861. At Hastings he joined a party engaged in sur- veying for a railway, being employed as chain carrier. His investigating turn of mind and natural desire for knowledge caused him to note the transit's record in a book of his own. Soon after he became expert in the use of the instruments, whereupon the engineer in charge placed him in charge of the transit. When the surveying in that State was completed, he received and accepted a flattering offer of an engagement in the same line of business in Colorado, where he went in 1863. He was subsequently selected to lead an exploring party into Idaho and Montana; and he was at East Bannack, Montana Territory, when the settlement of the district was beginning.
Deciding at once to locate in the new and undeveloped region, Mr. Webster identified himself with its interests. Eventually he es- tablished himself in business in the future city of Helena, where he erected the first frame house. He opened a store for general mer- chandise, and was until recent years one of the leading merchants of that and surrounding towns. Making judicious investments of his money, he has accumulated a large property, Teaching close to the million mark, and holds a high position among the most substantial and highly esteemed men of Montana. On May 21. 1876, Mr. Webster married Miss
Ella M. Adams, of Helena. He makes an- nual visits to his old home, coming here nearly every summer, and bringing cheer to his aged father before the latter died, for whom he entertained a loving and loyal affec- tion.
OSWELL HUNTOON, an enterpris- ing farmer residing in Langdon, was born in the town of Unity, this county, October 14, 1820, son of Lemuel and Sybil (Palmer) Huntoon. Phillip Huntoon, born in Wiltshire, England, in 1664, was the immigrant ancestor of this family. The next in line was John. Then came Charles, who was born October 12, 1725, at Kingston, N. H., and died in Unity, May 27, 1819. He was a very prominent man in Unity, and he served in the General Court of the State. He bore arms in both the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. His son, Charles Huntoon, Jr., was born in Unity, De- cember 15, 1755, and died January 2, 1838. Charles married Maria Smith, of Kingston, N.H. ; and their union was blessed by the birth of six children - Robert, Jacob, Pollie, Maria, Lemuel, and Erastus.
Lemuel Huntoon was born in Unity, No- vember 29, 1793. About the year 1835 he came to Langdon, and lived here until his death, which occurred November 15, 1878, when nearly eighty-five years of age. He was a blacksmith by trade, and his years of active labor were spent at the forge. He was one of the first in this section to espouse the cause of temperance and join the temperance club. Sybil, his wife, was a daughter of Benjamin Palmer. She was born September 20, 1794, and died May 1, 1874, in her eightieth year. They had seven children, all born in Unity ; namely, Sybil Palmer, Lemuel, Jr., Roswell, Joel, Candace A., Andrew J., and Jane.
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Sybil, born February 15, 1817, first married Josiah Prouty, by whom she had one child. She is now the widow of Rufus Guild, and lives in Alstead. Lemuel, Jr., born July 23, 1818, died April 24, 1891, in Lawrence, Mass., where he was engaged in the jewelry business. He married Helen M. Cummings, and had two children. Joel, born October 14, 1823, who is a surveyor and civil engineer in Topeka, Kan., married Ellen Richardson, of Alstead, N.H., and had seven children. Candace A., born July 12, 1826; was the wife of Samuel K. Elwell, of Langdon, and had two children. Andrew J. and Jane, twins, were born February 29, 1832. She died De- cember 17, 1848, in her seventeenth year. Andrew is a physician in Topeka, Kan., where he also conducts a large livery busi- ness. He married Lizzie P. Foster, of Wal- pole, N.H., and had four children.
Roswell Huntoon supplemented a common - school education by a few terms at Dr. Miner's Military Academy of Unity, teaching school during the winters. On completing his studies he learned the blacksmith trade. Subsequently he took up farming, which he has since followed. For eight years he lived in Charlestown, N.H .; but for over forty years Langdon has been his home.
Mr. Huntoon married Electa J. Elwell, who was born January 20, 1823, daughter of Samuel Elwell, of Langdon. They have had three children - Horace R., Marcella B., and Harley J. Horace R., born in Unity, Sep- tember 14, 1843, who was a farmer and tanner, died November 1, 1865. Marcella B., born in Langdon, December 17, 1847, has been an invalid for the past twenty years. Harley J., born in Charlestown, July 7, 1856, is in the gunsmith business at Bellows Falls, Vt., and is a prominent musician there, playing in the · band, and acting as prompter of an orchestra.
He married Addie Parkinson, of Langdon, and has three children: Perley H., born in Bellows Falls, July 17, 1879; Edith E., born December 12, 1885; and Florence J., born May 6, 1889. In politics Mr. Huntoon is a Republican. He represented his town in the New Hampshire legislature in 1875 and 1876, and was a member of the Committee on Fisheries and Game. He is an attendant of the Universalist church; and, like his father, he has been an active temperance worker.
ILLIAM TASKER, one of the prominent residents of Contoocook, was born August 21, 1852, in Pitts- field, this county, son of William and Mary (Lougee) Tasker. The grandfather, Joseph Tasker, and his brothers, John and Paul, re- moving from Newington, near Portsmouth, were the first settlers of Barnstead. Paul
Tasker died leaving no family. Joseph fol- lowed the trade of shoemaker. He married Sally True, of Pittsfield, at which place they both died, he about the year 1878, and she in 1884. His son, the Rev. Joseph O. Tasker, is a Congregational minister at Short Falls, Epsom township, this county. William Tasker, Sr., another son of Joseph, born in Barnstead, Belknap County, was also a shoe- maker. He was a resident of Pittsfield, where he died in 1859, at the age of forty, leaving one son, the subject of this sketch.
William Tasker passed his boyhood in Pitts- field, receiving his education in the academy, and working in a store during his vacations, his father's home being in the village. He yet owns this place, where his mother still lives. Subsequently he worked in the grist- mill of Weeks Brothers, until it was burned in 1880. He then came to Contoocook, and worked for a year and a half as miller in the
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grist-mill of A. B. Wadsworth & Co., after which he returned to Pittsfield, and bought an ice business, and conducted it for five years. In 1883 he was chosen Selectman, and in the following year he was made Chairman of the Board. Among several matters of importance dealt with by the Board in the five years dur- ing which he was a member, the most note- worthy was, perhaps, the opening of a system of sewerage in Pittsfield. In 1887, July 1, he was appointed by the County Commissioners superintendent of the Merrimack County Farm at North Boscawen. At that time the farm, which contains four hundred and eighty-three acres of land, was also the location of the House of Correction. This institution had one hundred and seventy-five inmates, of whom over forty were insane, all being under the charge of the superintendent and his wife. He filled this office efficiently, making such improvements on the farm as to cause it to be regarded as a model for its kind until 1895, when a change in the administration of the county resulted in his removal. On April I of the same year he and Mr. Rand formed the firm of Rand & Tasker, which has since been in business in Contoocook. Keeping a stock valued at fourteen thousand dollars, they have a very satisfactory trade.
On November 30, 1882, Mr. Tasker married Bertha L. Osgood, daughter of Abram B. and Lucy (Sargent) Osgood, who .was born at Loudon, N. H. Mrs. Tasker was in charge of the house while on the County Farm, and to her efficient management is largely due the success of Mr. Tasker's administration of that institution. She had been to some extent fitted for her arduous task, as from the age of sixteen, when her mother died, until her mar- riage, she was her father's housekeeper. Mr. and Mrs. Tasker have three children, namely : Ethel Frances, born May 15, 1884; William
Martin, born September 12, 1887; and Lucy Bertha, born August 1, 1892. Mrs. Tasker is a member of the Free Will Baptist Church of Pittsfield. Both Mr. and Mrs. Tasker are members of Contoocook Grange, P. of H.
ON. ISAAC DARWIN MERRILL, a well-known public man of Contoo- cook, is a son of Isaac and Mary (Wyman) Merrill, born October 1, 1814, in Hopkinton village, N. H. The father, a na- tive of Hollis, Hillsborough County, born June 15, 1784, was a cooper by trade, and worked in Boston, Portland, and Troy, N.Y. When Isaac D. was about a year old, the fam- ily moved from Hopkinton to Hillsborough Bridge, where his father was employed at his trade. Later, more than sixty years ago, he settled in Contoocook, built the house where the subject of this sketch now resides, worked at his trade for some time longer, and died there, September 8, 1883, aged ninety- nine years, two months, and twenty-four days. He is well remembered in the community, among whom he is still spoken of as "Boss Merrill." He was a man of strong frame and good health, industrious and apt to outdo his coworkers. Shortly before his death he be- came blind; and his last years were spent quietly at the homestead with his son, Isaac Darwin Merrill. He had three wives, whom he outlived. His first marriage was made with Mary Wyman, of Deering, who died May 31, 1843. She had eight children, six of whom, three sons and three daughters, reached maturity. The eldest, Clarinda, married Jo- seph L. Upton, of Contoocook, where she died after passing her eightieth year. Her hus- band, who was a wheelwright, built their house in Contoocook. The second child, the subject of this sketch, is the only one of this
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family now living. The rest of the six re- ferred to were: Milton Wyman, who did not marry, resided with his father, and died in 1856, at the age of forty years; James Madi- son, who was also a bachelor, and lived chiefly in New York and Boston; Emily, who married Alonzo Currier, of Contoocook, and died in February, 1896; and Annette, who married Levi F. Mason, of Marlboro, N.H., and died in 1892.
When ten years old, Isaac Darwin Merrill went to live with an uncle, John Smith, on a farm at Newport. Here he remained until he was fourteen, doing much hard work, and often walking back the twenty-five miles from Hillsborough after visiting his family. After leaving Newport, he worked on a farm in Hillsborough, attending school in the winter and boarding at home. Having learned the cooper's trade, he worked at it - somewhat with his father and others in Con- toocook. When about eighteen years of age his father placed him with a store-keeper, who was also, at that time, the postmaster of East Weare. At the age of twenty-one years or thereabout he went to Boston, and afterward worked as a hotel clerk there and in Malden for about five years. In 1842, having saved about eight hundred dollars, he returned to Contoocook, and in company with his brother, Milton W., started a store, to which he de- voted his attention for several years, although it did not prove a very profitable venture. From 1853 to 1861 he served for much of the time as Postmaster, and in 1843 he was made Justice of the Peace. In the latter capacity he has served continuously for over half a century, doing the greater part of the conveyancing of Contoocook, officiating at many marriages, and settling many estates. Although not a member of the bar, he has an extensive knowledge of law, and re-
ceives the full confidence of those whose busi- ness he has conducted. As its Treasurer he handled the funds of the town for more than thirty years. In 1854 and again in 1856 he served in the State legislature, securing the incorporation of the local academy, which has been of much benefit to the village. His money is largely invested in his own town, where he owns much real estate. He has never married. Now, at the age of eighty-two years, Mr. Isaac Darwin Merrill, is a whole- souled, genial man, attending personally to his numerous affairs, in connection with which he visits, with something of his old energy, the business centres to which those duties draw him. Even at his advanced age he is still keen, shrewd, and active.
R UEL WHITCOMB, a resident of New London, Merrimack County, for nearly fifty years, was born Decem- ber 20, 1822, in Newport, N. H., which was also the birthplace of his parents, Parmenas and Rua (Hurd) Whitcomb. His mother was a daughter of Samuel Hurd, a pioneer settler of Newport. His father's father, Benjamin Whitcomb, removed from Henniker, this county, to Newport at an early period of its settlement.
Parmenas Whitcomb was a farmer and lum- berman, and helped build a saw mill in his native town, living in Newport until his death, at the age of eighty-five years. His first wife died at the age of sixty-seven years, leaving four children, namely : Ruel; Sarah Ann, who was the wife of the late James Emerson ; Lydia, who married Willard Morse, of Minneapolis, Minn. ; and Parmenas, of Hanover, N.H., a printer at Dartmouth College. The father subsequently married Mrs. Orpha Metcalf, who died a few years later, leaving no children.
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Ruel Whitcomb remained with his parents until seventeen years old, when he went to Croydon to learn the blacksmith's trade. He served an apprenticeship of three years with Dennison Humphrey, his father taking his wages. Having mastered the trade, he fol- lowed it for two years as a journeyman, and then entered a scythe shop in Newport, work- ing there for Larned & Sibley two years. In 1849 Mr. Whitcomb came to New London, obtaining a situation in the scythe factory at Scytheville. The plant had then been estab- lished but a few years, and was controlled by Phillips, Messer & Colby. He took a posi- tion as temperer, and remained there in that capacity forty years, during which period the business increased so that the force of men employed was enlarged from twenty-four to fifty. In the meantime there were various changes in the firm; and at the disbandment of the organization in 1889, all of the original members of the company having died, his employers were N. T. Greenwood & Sons. The village, which was once quite thriving, is now almost deserted; and the post-office, in which he served during President Cleveland's first administration as Postmaster, had its name changed in January, 1896, to Elkins. Mr. Whitcomb has always been a stanch Dem- ocrat, much interested in his party; and he has attended the various local conventions since a young man.
Mr. Whitcomb was married October 31, 1841, to Miss Samantha R. Crosby, of Croy- don. She died some eighteen years later, leaving one son, Edwin Ruel, of Elkins. He married Nellie Dill, of Gardiner, Me. ; and they have one child, Brainard Edwin Whit- comb. On January 7, 1869, Mr. Whitcomb was married to Miss Lucy A. Woodbury, daughter of Judge John and Nancy (Wells) Woodbury, of Wilmot Flat.
Judge Wood-
bury was a carpenter by occupation, and was one of the leading Democrats of his town. He served in the State legislature four years. Mr. and Mrs. Whitcomb have one child, a daughter - Bernette S., who is an accom- plished musician, having taken a thorough course of study in music, which she now teaches with much success. Mr. Whitcomb and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Wilmot.
HARLES O. EASTMAN, formerly the Postmaster of Claremont, was born October 25, 1824, in Lisbon, N. H., one of the seven children of Nicholas and Hannah (Baker) Eastman. Until he reached the age of twenty-one years he re- mained with his parents, receiving his educa- tion in the district schools and the Methodist Seminary at Newbury, from which he duly graduated. After leaving the seminary, he taught school for several winters. In 1845 he left home to go to Windsor, Vt., where he remained for five years. Coming to Claremont in 1850, he was first employed in the book- bindery of the Claremont Manufacturing Com- pany. While in their employ he was at- tacked by a serious illness, from which he never fully recovered during the ensuing thirty-five years of his life. This long period was one of patient suffering and of noble struggle with disease. He was a member of the Republican party. In 1861 President Lincoln appointed him Postmaster of Clare- mont. Having entered upon the duties of the office on June 17 of the same year, he contin- ued to serve until July 11, 1870, a term of service distinguished by marked ability and faithfulness. He is spoken of as having been most accommodating and exceptionally fitted for the office. Beginning in 1872, he by care-
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ful and honorable methods built up the large and profitable business of the Eastman Insur- ance Agency, which is so widely known. While his integrity was above suspicion, his agreeable manners made many friends for him. Then his judgment was greatly trusted by the companies he represented, and he became one of the most prominent and successful insurance agents of Western New Hampshire. He was a director of no less than four insurance com- panies of the State, and he was regarded as a safe and wise counsellor.
To quote the words of one who knew him well, Mr. Eastman was "a pronounced and consistent Methodist. Quiet in his demon- strations, the spiritual and temporal welfare of his church held a sacred place in the deeper recesses of his heart." In his seventeenth year he had joined the Free Baptist church at Lisbon; but, on locating at Claremont, he united with the Methodist church there. He was for thirty-six years the secretary of the Methodist Society, and for twenty-one years its treasurer. Also, for a time he was the Secre- tary of Claremont Junction Camp Meeting Association. His accounts bespoke faithful- ness and accuracy. From the year 1864 he was a prominent member of the Masonic order. October 4, 1893, succumbing at length to the disease which had so long made his life one of patient suffering, he died of cancer at his home in Claremont. He left to the town a perpetual fund, amounting to three hundred dollars, one-half of the annual inter- est to be used in the purchase of books for the town library, and the balance for the purpose of caring for the family monument and lot. He also willed the same amount to Lisbon, N. H., his native town, to be used in the keep- ing of his father's monument and lot in good condition, and for the purchase of books for the town library.
On February 25, 1849, Mr. Eastman mar- ried Eleanor Jane Carroll, daughter of John Prince and Rachel (Powers) Carroll, then liv- ing at Cornish, N.H. Her father was a grandson of the niece of Aquilla Chase. Aquilla Chase, who was noted for his wealth in England, fled to this country to escape per- secution. Mrs. Eastman's maternal grand- father was Ezekiel Powers, of Croydon, N. H. ; and her great-grandfather, also named Ezekiel, was one of the original settlers of Croydon. Her parents had eight other children; namely, Susan, Saphronia, Eliza, Salena, Alonzo, Amanda, Lysander, and Rachel. Susan married J. Wakefield; Saphronia mar- ried George Stockwell, of Croydon; Eliza married Moody Hook, of Cornish; and Salena married Carnovas Gage, of Enfield. Alonzo, who was well known throughout the State, spent an active life. In 1868 he entered into business at Warner, taking his son Edward into a partnership that continued for twenty years. Then the business was sold, and he afterward had charge of the Winslow House „on Mount Kearsarge and of the Kearsarge House at Warner. An outspoken Republican, he never sought political honors; and he was much interested in the welfare of his town. His reputation was that of a man of high integrity and generous impulses. He died April 21, 1894, leaving a widow and two sons. The former before marriage was a Miss Mar- garet Adams of Warner. The sons are : Edward H. Carroll and Professor Clarence F. Carroll. Professor Carroll, who is a graduate of Yale College, and was formerly a teacher of the Normal School at New Britain, Conn., is now the Superintendent of Schools at Worces- ter, Mass. Alonzo Carroll's first marriage was contracted with Mercy Hale. Amanda married John G. Brockway, whose son, Dr. Fred Brockway, is Professor of Anatomy in the Col-
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lege of Physicians and Surgeons in New York and a writer of some distinction on anatomy. He was the first House Surgeon of the Johns Hopkins Hospital at Baltimore, Md., having been selected for that position on account of his ability and scholarship. He is thoroughly versed in his profession. To increase his knowledge of medicine he travelled abroad and studied with an eminent physician in Scotland. Colonel Lysander Carroll, of Con- cord, N. H., is a strong and influential Repub- lican and well known in politics. He held the position of Postmaster of Concord for a number of years. Rachel, the youngest child, died young.
OHN H. HUNT, a. prominent farmer and a well-known veteran of Hill, was born in Dorchester, N. H., January 8, 1826, son of Jonathan and Eliza (Holmes) Hunt. His grandfather, who was born in Lexington, Mass., kept a tavern at the time Washington tock command of the Continental army. Jonathan Hunt was a carriage-builder, and also kept a lumber wharf at East Cam- bridge, Mass., until the Lowell railroad was built. He died at Hopkinton, N. H., at the age of eighty-four years. He first married Hannah Larkin, of Lexington, Mass. His second wife, in maidenhood Eliza B. Holmes, was the mother of John H. Hunt, who is the only child.
As his father was living in East Cambridge during his son's boyhood, John Hunt obtained his education in the schools of that town. After leaving school he went to sea, and when only twenty-three years old he was master of a vessel. Subsequently for five years he traded on the east and west coasts of Africa. During Mr. Hunt's sea life he had some thrilling experiences. While sailing in the ship "United States," Captain Calvin G. 1
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