USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 46
USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 46
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dent of Cambridge, Mass., moved subsequently to Vermont. He served in Colonel Nixon's regiment from 1777 until the close of the Revolutionary War.
Ezra Scollay Stearns acquired the rudiments of his education in the public schools of Rindge. He then followed an advanced course of study at the Chester Institute at Chester, N.J., where he remained as a teacher for some time after his graduation. He sub- sequently became connected with publishing houses in Boston, New York, and Philadel- phia; and at one time he was manager and editor of a newspaper in Fitchburg, Mass. After his return to his native State he became prominently identified with political affairs, and by his energy and ability advanced mate- rially the interests of the Republican party there, his services doing much to perfect and strengthen the State organization. In 1864 he was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives, and was re-elected in 1865, 1866, 1867, and 1870. In 1887 and 1889 he was a member of the Senate. His work in both houses was characterized by the same energy and ability which had hitherto marked his career, and his committee assign- ments were important and laborious. He was quick to discern the merits or demerits of a measure; and as a debater his ready flow of language could, when necessary, be tinged with such biting satire as to penetrate and re- lentlessly expose every weak point in the most plausible arguments of his opponents. In 1891 Mr. Stearns was again a prominent figure among the members of the Lower House, and was chosen by his colleagues to fill the respon- sible position of Secretary of the State, to which also he was re-elected in 1893 and 1895. Entering upon his duties at a time when the department was unusually crowded with busi- ness, the act establishing the Australian sys-
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tem of voting having recently become a law, the important task of introducing the measure and placing it in working order devolved upon him; and the success attending the first elec- tion under its provisions, which passed off without a single error, was due primarily to his systematic and business-like methods.
For more than twenty years Mr. Stearns has acted as Moderator of Rindge, and it is safe to say that no town in New Hampshire can boast of a more capable presiding officer at public meetings. As a writer he has acquired more than a local celebrity, being the author of a History of Rindge, published in 1876, and a History of Ashburnham, Mass., published in 1877, both of which are valuable for their historical accuracy and literary merit. He has also contributed historical sketches and other interesting matter to current publica- tions. Mr. Stearns is a member of the Fitch- burg Historical Society, the New Hampshire, the Minnesota, and the Wisconsin Historical Societies, the New England Historical Gene- alogical Society, and the American Antiqua- rian Association. He is a close student of literature; and the degree of Master of Arts, which was conferred upon him by Dartmouth College in 1887, is a merited tribute to his scholarly ability.
RVING ALLISON WATSON, M.D., of Concord, born at Salisbury, this State, September 6, 1849, is a son of Porter Baldwin, born at Corinth, Vt., July 13, 1825, and Luvia E. (Ladd) Watson; grandson of Ithamar Watson, born at Weare, N.H., Sep- tember 17, 1784; and great-grandson of Caleb Watson, born at Hampstead, N.H., December 6, 1760, who was a soldier in the Revolution. Having received his preliminary education in the common schools of New Hampshire and at
the Newbury (Vt.) Seminary and Collegiate Institute, he commenced the study of medi- cine in 1868 with Dr. Cochrane, of Newbury, Vt., and continued it successively with his uncle, Dr. H. L. Watson, and Dr. A. B. Crosby, of New York. Then he attended lect- ures at Dartmouth Medical College and at the medical department of the University of Vermont, graduating a Doctor of Medicine from the latter institution in 1871. After- ward, in 1885, Dartmouth College conferred on him the degree of Master of Arts.
Immediately after graduating in medicine, Dr. Watson commenced practice at Groveton (Northumberland), N.H., where he remained ten years. In that period he was Superin- tendent of Schools for some years, in 1879 and 1881 he was in the State legislature, and he was surgeon to the Grand Trunk Railway. In the legislature he was largely instrumental in securing the passage of the act creating the State Board of Health. Of this body he was appointed a member ; and at its organization in September, 1881, he was elected its Secretary and executive officer. In October of that year he removed to Concord, where he has since resided, still holding the office of Secretary and executive officer of the State Board of Health. In 1889, when this Board was also created a Board of Lunacy, the executive work of the latter devolved upon Dr. Watson. He is Registrar of the vital statistics of the State; President of the State Board of the Cattle Commissioners since its organization in 1891 ; has been Secretary of the American Public Health Association since 1883; was Vice- President of the International Conference of the State and Provincial Boards of Health in 1894; is a permanent member of the Ameri- can Medical Association ; honorary member of the Academia Nacional de Medicina de Mex- ico; was Assistant Secretary General of the
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First Pan-American Medical Congress; mem- ber of the Société Française d'Hygiène of Paris; of the Medico-Legal Society of New York; of the New Hampshire Medical So- ciety ; of the Centre District (N.H.) Medical Society; of the New Hampshire Historical Society; and he is a registered pharmacist in the State of New Hampshire. December 12, 1884, he was appointed Surgeon, with rank of Major, of the Third Regiment, New Hamp- shire National Guard; and on May 20, 1889, he was promoted to the post of Medical Direc- tor, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, of the First Brigade, New Hampshire National Guard, which commission he resigned in 1894.
Dr. Watson has compiled and edited the New Hampshire Registration Reports since the year 1881; the reports of the State Board of Health of New Hampshire, fourteen vol- umes; and the reports of the Commissioners of Lunacy of New Hampshire, six volumes. He is the author of numerous papers and arti- cles, published in these reports and in various sanitary and medical journals of the country, including: "Danger in the Use of Chloral Hydrate," Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Reporter, 1872; "An Epidemic of Diphthe- ria," Transactions of the New Hampshire Medical Society, 1879; "Sanitary Sugges- tions," Ibid., 1882; "Water Pollution - Wells," Ibid., 1883; "The Extent and Distri- bution of Consumption in New Hampshire," Ibid., 1887; "Medicine in Mexico," Ibid., 1892; "Address to the Graduating Class of Dartmouth Medical College," 1885: "Com- mon Law Citations relating to Nuisances," Report of the State Board of Health of New Hampshire, 1882; "Milk from a Sanitary Standpoint," Ibid., 1887; "Sanitary Survey of School-houses," Ibid., 1887; "Our School- houses," Ibid., 1888; "Historical and Other
Facts regarding Vaccination," Ibid., 1891; "Friere's Inoculations and the Yellow Fever Commission," The Sanitarian, April, 1886; "Tuberculosis: Its Prevalence, Communica- bility, and Prevention," read at the meeting of the State Board of Agriculture, The Weirs, N.H., August 16, 1894, and published in the Transactions of the New Hampshire State Grange, 1894. He edited and published the Sanitary Volunteer, a monthly journal in the interests of healthful homes and communities, one year, 1889, Concord, N.H., Republican Press Association; and he was the editor and compiler of "Physicians and Surgeons of America," eight hundred and fifty pages, illus- trated, 1896.
In 1891-92 Dr. Watson travelled exten- sively in Mexico and Central America. He is a Mason and a Knight Templar. In 1872 he married Miss Lena A., daughter of Gilman Farr, of Littleton, N.H., and has one child, Bertha M. Watson.
RANK T. VAUGHAN, one of the younger lawyers of Newport, was born May 4, 1864, in Woodstock, Vt., son of Edwin and Elizabeth L. (Tenney) Vaughan. The father, who graduated at the Albany Law School, New York, followed the legal profes- sion, and at the time of his death was Judge of Probate. Edwin Vaughan commenced his law practice in New York City; but in 1859 he removed to Claremont, N.H., and entered into partnership with Colonel Alexander Gardner. In 1861 he enlisted in the New Hampshire Battalion of the First Rhode Island Volunteer Cavalry, and was afterward transferred to the First New Hampshire Cavalry, with the rank of Captain. He re- mained in the service throughout the late war, acting at one time as Provost Marshal.
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After he was honorably discharged from the army, he again located in Claremont, and was thereafter engaged in his profession until 1869. In that year he was appointed United States Consul to Canada, a post which he efficiently filled for twelve years. Upon his return to Claremont he was made Judge of Probate, and he afterward served as Repre- sentative to the State legislature. He was largely interested in educational matters, was liberal in religion, and he was a member in good standing of the A. F. & A. M. He died December 18, 1890. He and his wife had three children. One died in infancy ; and Charles Edwin died at the age of twelve years, from the injuries resulting from the kick of a horse. The mother still survives.
Frank T. Vaughan spent twelve years of his early life with his father in Canada, where he received his early education. After graduat- ing from the St. Johnsbury Academy in 1882, he immediately entered Dartmouth College, from which he duly graduated in the class of 1886. The next two years were spent in civil engineering on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad in Nebraska. Returning East in 1888, on account of his father's feeble health, he began to read law in the office of the Hon. Ira Colby. He was subsequently admitted to the New Hampshire bar in March, 1892. In the preceding year he had received the degree of Master of Arts from Dartmouth College. He took a trip to the World's Fair in June, 1893. From Chicago he went to Junction City, Kan., and was there engaged in the practice of law and in a real estate and insurance business for a short time. He came back to New Hampshire in 1894; and in October of the same ycar he removed to Newport, where he has since resided.
In 1892, June 1, Mr. Vaughan married Lottie B. Williamson, of Hartford, Vt.,
daughter of B. Williamson. She was edu- cated at Randolph Normal School, and after- ward taught school very successfully in South Berwick, Me., and in Claremont. She is now the mother of two children, namely: Mabel E., born November 27, 1893; and Edwin C., born March 16, 1896. Mr. Vaughan is a Congregationalist and a chorister of the local society. In politics he is a Republican. Be- sides attending to his legal practice, he serves in the capacity of Justice of the Peace, Notary Public, and Coroner. He is a member of K. of P., No. 43, of Newport, No. 10, Currier Company, Uniform Rank, K. of P.
EORGE E. DAVIS, a prominent farmer of Northfield and a native of Acworth, N. H., was born April 30, 1839, son of Oliver and Harriett Elizabeth (Moore) Davis. The father, a native of Ac- worth, removed to Surry, and later to Lemp- ster, which was the home of his wife. In Lempster he was engaged in farming until his death in 1881. His wife, Elizabeth, died at Manchester in 1885. Henry J. Davis, the first-born of their nine children, was a surgeon in the army, and died- at Baltimore. George E., the subject of this sketch, was their second His brother, Jefferson, was a clergyman son. of the Methodist Episcopal church, and preached in Franklin, where he died in July of 1896. Charles B., the fourth son, who served in the Civil War, and received injuries while so doing, now resides in Franklin, and is married to Katie Blackburne. Lucy, the first daughter, died when young. William is now deceased. Frank Barnard, who is a farmer and lives in Lempster, successively married Rose Libby and her sister, Mrs. Hattie (Libby) Page. Abbie also died when young. Lizzie Davis, the youngest child, was
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first married to Charles Tandy, and had one child, Guy. After Mr. Tandy's death she married Benjamin Kimball, and now lives near Franklin.
At the age of nine years George E. Davis went to the home of an uncle in Acworth, N. H., where he subsequently spent two years working for his board. At the end of that time he went to Lempster, worked in a store for two years and on different farms for seven months, attending the district schools in the winter. Going to Unity then, he en- gaged in farm work there for some time. At the age of twenty-one years he went to live with Ezra J. Glidden, of Unity, where he re- mained ten years. He then came to North- field. On March 5, 1868, Mr. Davis was married to Miss Hester Simons, a seminary graduate, and a daughter of Joseph Simons, of Northfield, who is now deceased. She died in June, 1884; and in the year 1886 Mr. Davis married Mrs. Etta Mary Davis, the widow of his brother William, and a daughter of Sum- ner and Emily (Booth) Eaton, both of Lemp- ster. Mrs. Eaton is deceased. Mr. Eaton resides in Lempster with his son-in-law. By her marriage with William Davis, Mrs. Etta Davis had four children, of whom the only survivor is Lillian Ethel, born October II, 1877, who lives with her mother, and is a teacher. By George Davis she has a daugh- ter, Nina G., who lives with her parents.
After his first marriage Mr. Davis settled on the farm where he now lives, and which was known as the Joseph Kimball place. He has greatly improved the estate, and it is now named very appropriately Mountain View Farm. For five years Mr. Davis managed a milk route to Tilton, and he has also sent milk to Boston. On his farm of eighty acres he keeps about ten cows, and does considerable dairy business, besides carrying on general
farming. He has always been a hard worker and a conscientious citizen. Originally, he was a Democrat; but he would not vote for Horace Greeley, and thereafter he voted the Republican ticket. Mr. Davis is a Mason in Doric Lodge, No. 78, at Tilton, and is a member of the society of Pilgrim Fathers. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Tilton, and are actively interested in church work.
UTHER L. MASON, a prominent farmer and dairyman of Hill, Merri- mack County, N.H., was born in this town, on the place where he now resides, July 28, 1850, son of Milton and Judith J. (Young) Mason. His great-grandfather, Jo- siah, who was born in Rowley, Mass., came to Hill from Salisbury at an early date, when this section was still a wilderness. He, Jo- siah, was accompanied by his two sons: Eben- ezer, grandfather of Luther L .; and Josiah, second. Selecting this location, together they built a log cabin on a part of the farm now used as a pasture. Later, after some land had been cleared, and when crops were grow- ing plentifully, they built a board house on the site of the residence now occupied by George H. Cilley and Ebenezer Mason, who is the brother of Milton and the oldest surviv- ing descendant of the original Josiah. Eben- ezer Mason, son of Josiah, first, died in the house he had built in 1847. His wife, Sarah (Fifield) Mason, was a daughter of Obadiah Fifield, who, with the first Josiah Mason, was a Revolutionary soldier. They were the par- ents of six children - Lucia, Milton, Laura, Ebenezer, Luther, and Shure. The only sur- viving member of that generation is Ebenezer, who lives on the old homestead, as mentioned above.
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Milton Mason, now deceased, studied in the district schools, and soon after went to Waltham, Mass., where he lived about fifteen years. Returning at the end of that time to his native town, he married Judith J. Young, and bought a farm adjoining the Mason farm. Here he built a fine collection of farm build- ings, and spent his last days. He died at the age of seventy-seven years, respected by all who knew him. He had held all the town offices. His wife died in her sixty-second year. Of their seven children two are de- ceased. Eliza, the wife of the Rev. W. S. Morrill, lives in Wilmot; Frank, who mar- ried Victoria Tyrrell, lives in Franklin; Sarah, now Mrs. Horace J. Campbell, resides at Hill; and Emma J. is unmarried, and lives with her brother.
Luther L. Mason, the fourth surviving child of Milton, was educated in the public schools. He has followed the occupation of a farmer. After attaining his majority he went to Iowa, where he remained for about a year. Coming East again, he worked for a short time in Manchester. Then he settled on the farm where he now resides. While carrying on general farming, he makes a specialty of dairying, keeping a large number of cows, and producing on the average about one hundred and forty pounds of butter per week.
On March 15, 1877, Mr. Mason married Mrs. Martha S. Mason, of this town, a daugh- ter of Stephen Nelson, and the widow of George C. Mason. By her first husband she is the mother of Harry R. Mason, now living in Dorchester, Mass. ; and by her present hus- band, of Lillian B. and Belle. Luther L. Mason served on the School Board and the Board of Selectmen of Hill for four years each. He is Master of the grange, while his whole family are active and interested mem-
bers. All are likewise members of the Chris- tian Church of Hill Centre. In politics Mr. Mason was formerly a Republican, and he cast his first Presidential vote for General Grant in 1872. Of late years, however, he has felt it his duty to vote the Prohibition ticket.
OHN W. JEFTS, a machinist by trade, but who for the past nine years has been successfully engaged in farming in the town of Langdon, was born here, De- cember 4, 1859, son of Alphonso M. and Al- mira (Clough) Jefts. The genealogy of the Jefts family is traced to England, from which country, on some date between 1620 and 1638, the American progenitor emigrated to Massa- chusetts, and settled in Billerica. His imme- diate descendants continued to reside in that State for some years. Jonathan, the great- grandfather of John W. Jefts, was the first of the name to come to New Hampshire. He settled in the town of Mason, where he after- ward died. Hosley Jefts, the grandfather, was born in Mason. In early manhood he settled in Langdon, and afterward became a prosper- ous farmer and an influential citizen. He married Abigail Green, and they became the parents of seven children; namely, Harriet, Indiana, Caroline, Rockazna, Albert, Alphonso. M., and Eli.
Alphonso M. Jefts, born in Antrim, N.H., in March, 1815, was over seventy-six years of age when he died, June 18, 1891. He fol- lowed the occupation of a farmer, first in Put- ney, Vt., which was his home for a number of years. Later he moved to Langdon, where he resided for forty years, and acquired a goodly property. He served his town as Road Sur- . veyor for a score of years. Almira, his wife, who was born in Westmoreland, N.H., De-
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cember 25, 1815, was a daughter of John Clough, of Stamford, Vt. She bore him nine children, namely: Mason, now deceased, who was a successful farmer of Alstead, N. H., and married Clarista Clark; Maria, who is the wife of Benjamin Wales, a broker in Taunton, Mass., and has two children; Abigail and Harriet, who died young; May P., a graduate of Mount Holyoke College, who is now prin- cipal of the Worcester High School, in which city she has taught for fifteen years, making a specialty of languages; Mara A., who is the widow of Lester Sprague, formerly a hardware merchant of Hartford, has one child, May A., now the wife of Chauncey Brainard, of Putney, Vt .; Fred F., now a paper manufacturer in Carthage, N. Y., who married Carrie Adams, of Rockingham, Vt., and has one child, Clyde A .; Charles A., born January 27, 1853, in Putney, who graduated from Fort Edward Col- lege, New York, in the class of 1874, and now carries on the old homestead, besides doing a brokerage business; and John W., the subject of this sketch. Mrs. Sprague lives with Charles in Langdon.
John W. Jefts attended the schools of Lang- don, Marlow Academy of Marlow, N. H., Cushing Academy, Ashburnham, Mass., and Amherst College, intending to fit himself for the ministry. Finding that his views were not in accord with the profession he had chosen, and that he could not conscientiously carry out its requirements, he went to Gard- ner, Mass., and learned the trade of machinist, in which he became an expert workman. This failing health subsequently compelled him to abandon; and nine years ago he pur- chased his present farm in Langdon, and he has since devoted his attention to agriculture. He is a member of the United Order of Work - men. In religion he is an Episcopalian. Mr. Jefts married Miss Harriet E. Simpson, of
Langdon who on her father's side is a cousin of the late General U. S. Grant.
URTIS WHITE, a retired carpenter of Concord, was born at Bow, N. H.,
April 4, 1861, son of Daniel White, of that place. The grandfather, Isaac White, who was an early settler of Bow, went there from Pembroke, and converted a grant of land into a good farm home for himself and his family. Daniel, the youngest son, was a blacksmith and stone worker. He purchased a farm opposite his father's, and there carried on stone work as well as some farming. His death occurred March 16, 1825, after a linger- ing and painful illness, in the course of which he was obliged to undergo several and painful surgical operations. He married Mary Carter, daughter of Moses Carter, of the old Concord family of that name. They had three children besides Curtis. William, the eldest, died in October, 1826. Their daughter, Mary Ann, is also deceased; and the second son, Daniel C., is a practising dentist in Alton, Ill.
Curtis White, who was the second-born of his parents' children, followed various lines of business throughout his active period. After leaving the district school, he worked at farming for a time. He also did some black- smithing and carpentry, and for a while he was employed in a saw and grist mill. For many years Mr. White was a carpenter in Con- cord, and for about ten years he was engaged in carriage-building in this city. In the spring of 1891 he retired from business, and took a trip to California, where he remained until March of the following year. Mr. White has always been considered a good financier.
Mr. White was united in matrimony with Hannah Buntin, a daughter of Benjamin
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Buntin, of Bow. She died June 16, 1888. His only child, Anna, now the wife of Josiah E. Fernald, the Cashier of the National State Capital Bank, has four children - Edith, Mary, Ruth, and Josiah. Mr. White served on the Concord Board of Assessors for twenty- six years in succession. He was Selectman of his ward for twelve years, Common Councillor for one year, and Alderman for two years. A prominent member of the Knights of Pythias, he is Past Grand Chancellor; and he has been Grand Master of Exchequer of that organiza- tion for the last fourteen years. He is also Past Grand of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Chief Patriarch of the encamp- ment, and is a member of both grand bodies. Mr. White is a member of the First Baptist Church of Concord and a well-known Repub- lican voter.
HARLES H. COURSER, a retired business man of Henniker, was born in Boscawen, now Webster, N.H., May 19, 1827, son of John and Keziah (Shep- ard) Courser. The first ancestors of the family were English. His grandfather, John Courser, was a resident of Merrimack County. The father passed the greater part of his life in Boscawen, and died there at the age of ninety-two years. The mother, who was a daughter of John Shepard, a native of Derry, N. H., lived to be eighty-two. Of her chil- dren the only survivor is Charles H.
Charles H. Courser passed his boyhood in attending school and assisting upon the farm. When about seventeen years old he was appren- ticed to the trade of carpenter and millwright. After serving for three years he was employed as a journeyman carpenter and millwright in Boscawen. In 1853 he came to Henniker, and, securing the site of an old privilege,
erected a saw and grist mill, and con- ducted them for fourteen years. He then sold them, and erected in Newport, N.H., another mill, which he sold before it was completed. Soon after, in Pittsfield, N. H., he bought a mill which he rebuilt and operated for nine years, but still resided in Henniker. When his former mill in this town was subsequently offered for sale, he and his son, Fitz H. Courser, bought the property, built a saw-mill upon the opposite side of the river, on the site of the present shoe factory, and were thereafter engaged in custom grinding and the manufact- ure of short lumber until the retirement of the father some six years ago. His original mill was destroyed by fire about a year ago, and a flouring-mill has since been erected there. He invested in timber lands quite extensively, and has some valuable tracts at the present time. He was also engaged in building. He owns and occupies the Robert M. Wallace estate of thirty acres, located at the west end of the village. . Since he acquired the property he has rebuilt the residence.
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