USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 48
USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 48
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History of Warner says: "In this first legis- lative body chosen by the people Francis Davis appears as the accredited representative of the town of Warner. It is a distinction and honor to be remembered with pride by his numerous descendants." Captain Davis was then fifty-three years old. The legislature had many able men in it, John Langdon being Speaker, and Meshech Weare, President of the Council. In 1781 he was delegate to the Constitutional Convention which framed the Constitution which, with slight amendments, was in force till 1878. He was chosen Rep- resentative in 1784, serving in two sessions, at Concord and at Portsmouth. His death occurred on his way home from the latter place. His horse plunged into Beaver Brook at Derry, where the bridge had been carried away; and he was drowned. Just one hundred years after his death a monument was erected to his memory at Davisville, bearing this in- scription : "Captain Francis Davis, the pio- neer, and Warner's first representative. Born October 26, 1723, died November 26, 1784." This monument was put up by some of his great-grandchildren, principally by Walter Scott Davis and his uncle, Charles Davis.
Captain Francis had five sons, among whom was Aquila, born in Amesbury, June 27, 1760. He came to Warner with his father, and later on enlisted if the Revolutionary army. He saw much hard service, and was present at the surrender of Burgoyne. From 1799 to 1807 he commanded the Thirtieth Regiment, and he was Brigadier General of the Fourth Brigade from 1807 to 1809. In 1812 he raised the first regiment in New Hampshire, and was chosen its Colonel. After the war he resided at the old homestead, and he served as Representative from Warner. His death occurred at Sharon, Me., February 27, 1835, while he was there on landed inter-
ests. He was buried at Davisville with Ma- sonic honors. His wife was Abigail, daughter of Theodore and Abigail (Watts) Stearns, the latter a cousin of Dr. Isaac Watts. The Gen- eral's children were: Paine, Sarah A., Abigail W., Theodore S., Nathaniel A., Persis H., Nathan, Charles, Aquila, and James.
Nathaniel A. Davis learned the silver- smith's trade, and, being of a roving disposi- tion, journeyed extensively in the United States, working in all the principal cities. In 1824, after much time spent in the South especially, he returned to his native place and engaged in lumbering. At his father's death the mill property was divided among the sons, the saw-mill coming to Nathaniel and James. The water-power at Davisville is a remarkable one, and for one hundred and thirty years has been held by this family. Among the early industries here were the saw-mill built by Captain Francis Davis in 1763, a grist-mill in 1768, a clothing-mill built by Moses Carleton in 1796 and destroyed by the August freshet of 1826. At that time the iron foundry, bridge, blacksmith shop, and lower dam were all carried away. A lead grinding-mill, a plaster-mill, a brickyard, and tannery, were also near by. Nathaniel A. Davis was of a judicial turn of mind, and became great authority on legal questions. He made a practical study of the State laws, and was ad- ministrator of many estates, and also Justice of the Peace. His residence in the South and observance of the evils of slavery led him to become a strong Free Soiler. Lincoln's proclamation of 1863 he felt was the essence of justice. In 1843 he removed to the old home of his ancestors; and he died there, October 24, 1866, from the effects of a fall. His children were: Stephen C., Lucretia A., Walter Scott, Gilman, Lucretia (second), Mary E., Stillman C., and Henry C.
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Walter Scott Davis was as a boy full of life and very ingenious, the latter quality often being a source of annoyance to other people, owing to his boyish love of pulling things to pieces and making something new. This, however, was the power that brought him suc- cess in later life. He was educated at Con- toocook High School and at Gilmanton, Thet- ford, Washington, and New London Acade- mies. While studying he worked summers, and also taught school a short time. He was a great lover of mathematics, but was impa- tient of rules and routine methods. In 1854-
55 he became partner with Samuel H. Dow in the lumber business, continuing thus ten years. He invested in a Lowell tannery, but business depression and a law-suit combined to nearly ruin him in 1860. In 1865 he be- came partner with Paine Davis; and in 1866 they built a large circular saw-mill, which was burned in 1869, but at once rebuilt. In 1872 this firm dissolved; and Walter Scott kept the mill, and Paine the farm which was a part of the firm property. In 1871 a new partner, George W. Dow, of Bristol, joined Mr. Davis; and they bought the ruins of a burned paper- mill, and built a straw board mill of twenty- five hundred pounds' capacity daily. Later it was changed from a sun drying to a steam dry mill. In 1873 Henry C. Davis and Leston Rollins were admitted into the firm, and the mill machinery improved, and its capacity doubled. In 1875 Walter Scott Davis became sole partner, and then took his brother Henry as partner, the firm becoming Davis Brothers. The mill capacity was now six tons daily, and all the rebuilding had not stopped the works at any time. The lumber business increased proportionately, and the result has been suc- cess and wealth for the firm. Mr. Davis is so gifted in inventive powers that all the plans in use in the mills are his; and, as one in-
stance, he has patented a most useful gate arrangement for the turbine water-wheel, and also a machine for making paper boxes.
He has held many offices of trust in Warner, has been Representative, was in 1884 elected State Senator, and in 1896 was chosen Coun- cillor for the Fourth District. He is an active and influential member of many Masonic bodies. He belongs to the Swedenborgian church, is a practical Christian, a whole- souled, large-hearted man, and an honored cit- izen. In politics he is a stanch Republican.
Mr. Davis was married May 3, 1857, to Dollie Jones, daughter of Daniel Jones. They have had six children, and also the most try- ing sorrow of having lost four of these by scarlet fever. The children were named as follows: W. S. Bertine, Horace J., Chassie H., Nattie A., Mamie A., and Charles. Horace and Mamie are those now living.
ENRY TUBBS, a successful dentist practising in Newport, was born in Peterboro, N.H., February 24, 1831, son of Joseph and Azuba (Monroe) Tubbs. The family is traced back to one William Tubbs, who came to the Plymouth Colony from London, England, in 1635. The paternal grandfather of Dr. Tubbs was Captain Joseph Tubbs, of Marlow, N. H., an carly settler, a successful farmer, a good citizen, and a Captain in the old State militia. He died at the age of eighty years.
Joseph Tubbs, son of Captain Tubbs, in company with Thomas Baker owned the Eagle Mills at Peterboro, N.H., where he manufact- ured cotton goods, ginghams, etc., from the rough cotton. Successful at first, the firm met with disasters from various causes; and the business was wound up after several years of existence. Joseph Tubbs then turned his
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attention to agriculture, in which he continued occupied until he died, May 22, 1859, at the age of seventy years and three months. His wife was a daughter of Dr. Joseph Monroe, of Hillsborough. She died at Hancock, N. H., January 16, 1871, at the age of seventy-five years and eight months. They were both Unitarians. They had six children, of whom three are deceased, namely: Thomas B., who died in 1894, seventy-nine years old; Elijah M. Tubbs, who died in 1881, fifty-eight years old; and Mrs. Sarah W. Merriman, who died at the age of fifty-five years. The others are: Mrs. Maria T. Blood, who resides in Hancock, N.H .; Louisa A., also a resident of Hancock ; and Henry, the subject of this sketch.
Henry Tubbs, the subject of this sketch, the youngest of his parents' children, was a student for a time in the private school of Dr. Sullivan McCollester. His first business venture was as a clerk in a country store. Later he was employed in the dry-goods busi- ness in Boston for a while. In 1859 he entered his brother's office in Peterboro, and began to study dentistry. He located in Newport in 1860, where he was the pioneer in his calling. On December 24, 1865, he married Mary A. Rogers, who was born in Sunapee. They have three children - Annie L., Chandler T., and Gerty M. Annie is the wife of Will Chandler White, of Concord; and Gerty is at school at Bradford, Mass. In politics Dr. Tubbs is Republican. He was a member of the Lower House of the State legislature in 1896. A prominent Mason, he belongs to Mount Vernon Lodge of Newport, the Royal Arch Chapter of New- port, and Sullivan Commandery at Claremont. He has also membership in Mount Coit Lodge, Knights of Honor. The Doctor's success in life is entirely the result of his own efforts.
EORGE T. ABBOTT, a well-known farmer of Concord, was born here, September 16, 1833, on the estate which was bought by his father, Aaron, of the late Daniel Prince. His great-grandfather, Nathaniel A., was the third settler in that part of Concord known as the Iron Works, coming here from Massachusetts in 1735, when the district was almost a wilderness and Indians were numerous. Nathaniel brought his wife with him and built for their home a log house. Before his death he had cleared considerable land and had seen great changes, as he lived to be a very old man. He reared a numerous family, of whom his son, Levi, continued to live on the homestead farm until his death.
Aaron Abbott, son of Levi and father of George T., was one of the best known carpen- ters and builders of this section. He was also engaged in farming. He learned his trade at Limeboro, and many of the buildings in this vicinity were put up by him and his sons. Aaron Abbott married Nancy Badger, daugh- ter of Jacob Badger, of Concord, and became the father of nine children. These were: Jo- seph C., Ann Mary, Elizabeth H., Sara Jane Hale, George T., Edward M., Susan F., Ellen S., and Alice Aaronette. Joseph C. was Colonel of the Seventh New Hampshire Regiment and afterward United States Sena- tor from North Carolina. Edward M., who was a printer by trade, went to Iowa early in life, where he died in 1890. Jane Abbott, who lives in St. Paul, is the wife of George G. Sanborn, formerly of Henniker. Eliza- beth resides in Malden, Mass., and is the widow of the late A. W. Sanborn, of Man- chester, N. H. Ann married Granville P. Mason, a Captain in the Seventh New Hamp- shire Regiment ; and Ellen S. married Judge William M. Chase. The other two sisters are unmarried and reside in Concord.
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George T. Abbott, the fifth child and the subject of this sketch, has been engaged as a farmer and teamster since he began to be self- supporting. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary P. Sanders, is a daughter of John Sanders, of East Concord. Of the three children she has borne her husband, Emma, the elder daughter, married Frank O. Whit- tier; and Francis U., the only son, married Alice Toof, and has three children. Mr. George Abbott is a prominent Republican. He cast his first vote for State officers in March, 1855; and he has voted at every elec- tion since, except the November election of 1856. He is a member of the grange and an officer in that organization. He attends the Methodist Episcopal church, but is non-sec- tarian in religious matters.
G EORGE HENRY STOWELL, a wholesale and retail dealer in hard- ware and one of the wealthiest citi- zens of Claremont, was born in Cornish, N. H., October 28, 1835. His father, Amasa Stow- ell, came to Cornish from Hartland, Vt. He died when our subject was a young boy. He had ten children, of whom five are living, namely : Evaline, who married G. W. Hewey ; Sylvester, who is engaged in agriculture in East Unity, N.H .; Joseph, who is in the harness and livery and carriage business at Lawrence, owns three livery stables, and raises fast stock; Austin, who is in business with Joseph; and George H., the subject of this sketch. Carrie, who married Calvin Adams, is recently deceased.
George H. Stowell received a common- school education in his native town. In 1854 he embarked in the business of making monu- ments and headstones at Springfield, Vt. He came in 1860 to Claremont, where he pur-
chased the marble business of J. A. & J. F. Davis. This he conducted until February, 1864, when he bought the hardware business of Levi Brown, and began to carry it on in his own name on the site of his present store. Starting with a small capital, he has by energy and ability built up what is claimed to be the largest wholesale and retail business in this part of the State, and amassed one of the largest fortunes in the town. In his store, which is spacious and well-ordered, he carries the largest stock to be found in the county. He has a very large trade with stores in ad- joining counties. Also conducting an exten- sive coal business, he has been agent for the Delaware & Hudson Coal Company in this locality for ten years. He has been instru- mental in giving Claremont some of her best business blocks and buildings. He erected Stowell's Block in the rear of his own estab- lishment; is part owner of the Union Block, one of the imposing business structures of the town, erected in 1889; and he has built six or seven fine residences here. His own private residence is one of the most attractive in the town. Financially interested in the People's National Bank, he has been a Director of it and the Vice-President since it was organized. He has been honored with town and State offices, all of which he has filled with credit to himself and constituents. He was the Claremont legislative Representative in 1872 and 1873; a member of the New Hampshire Senate in 1875 and 1876; a member of the Executive Council from 1881 to 1883; and Aide to Governor Prescott, with the rank of Colonel, from 1887 to 1889. In 1876 and again in 1889 he was a member of the conven- tions for the revision and amendment of the State Constitution, and he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention to nomi- nate candidates for the Presidency and Vice-
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Presidency in 1884. He was Chief Engineer of the Fire Department of Claremont from 1873 to 1894. Mr. Stowell is a Mason, and for fifteen years was Generalissimo of the Sul- livan Commandery.
Mr. Stowell married Sarah E. Field, of Vermont. They have a daughter, Cora E., who, after graduating from Stevens High School, went to Boston to take the elocutionary course of two years at the New England Con- servatory of Music. She married George I. Putnam, a graduate of West Point and now the editor of the Advocate, a leading Claremont newspaper. In 1880, overtaxed by his multi- farious duties, Mr. Stowell spent some time in European travel for the benefit of his health. Whether considered in the light of a citizen or a business man, he is recognized as an indispensable factor in the progress of the town; and for thirty-five years he has been one of the leading spirits in its history.
ANIEL G. PEASLEE, a farmer and lumberman of Bradford, resid- ing about three miles west of the village, was born April 4, 1841, in Newbury, Merrimack County. His father, Jonathan Peaslee, a native of Newbury, was a son of Samuel Peaslee, one of the pioneers of the town. Further mention of the Peaslee family may be found in the biography of J. Albert Peaslee.
Jonathan Peaslee, who was reared to farm- ing, became a tiller of the soil from choice. When ready to settle in life, he bought a tract of land lying on the Bradford and Newbury line, and built his house near the present resi- dence of Hollis L. Blood. He also built an upright saw-mill, in which he manufactured a large part of the timber cut from his land into lumber. Lumbering and farming formed his
chief occupation until his demise at the age of seventy-six years. His first wife, Mary Gil- lingham Peaslee, a daughter of James and Bet- sey (Lane) Gillingham, and a sister of both Mrs. Jack Packard, of Concord, and Moody Gillingham, died at the age of forty-nine years. Of her children two died in infancy. The others were: Laurel G., of Newbury; Jefferson G., of Bradford; Joel, who died in infancy; Ellis A., now the wife of Isaac San- born, of Dunbarton; Marion, who died in childhood; Daniel G., the subject of this sketch; Alburton, who remained on the home farm, never married, and died in 1893; Fanny, the wife of Charles A. Bailey, of Bel- voir, Kan. ; and Webster, now deceased, who was a farmer in Newbury. Jonathan Peaslee married for his second wife Abigail Putney, of Bradford, and had three children, namely : Frank, now residing in Bradford village ; Fred, also of Bradford village; and George H., a conductor on the northern line of the Boston & Maine Railroad.
Daniel G. Peaslee remained with his father until about sixteen. Then he went to his brother Laurel in Newbury, and was in his employment for two years. From Newbury he returned to the old homestead, and remained there until his marriage. Next year he rented a farm. During the ensuing three years he carried on the farm of his father-in- law, Mr. Ayer. In 1867 he and his brother Alburton purchased his present homestead. At that time less than an acre of the land was cleared; and on it was an old, . worn-out up- right saw-mill. He repaired the mill and en- gaged in lumbering. In the course of time a large business in custom sawing compelled him to run the mill night and day. The part- nership with his brother continued for ten or twelve years. Since that time Mr. Peaslee has conducted the business alone. His farm,
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which is now well-improved, contains seventy- five acres, and has excellent buildings. The mill has a new wheel and shingle machine. His other property includes a valuable tract of wood and pasture land, measuring two hun- dred and thirty acres. He has put up some buildings by contract. In his mill he makes a specialty of ash lumber, which he markets in Manchester, Boston, and other cities, mak- ing yearly sales often amounting to fifteen hundred dollars. He also cuts a good deal of wood, some years from four hundred to five hundred cords. From three to six men are employed by him.
In 1863, March 13, Mr. Peaslee married Zeroida Ayer, a daughter of Benjamin Ayer, of Newbury. Mr. and Mrs. Peaslee have two children, namely : Minnie B., who has taught school at Melvin's Mills for the past nine terms; and Emily A., a dressmaker, living at home.
In politics Mr. Peaslee is a straightforward Democrat, and he has served with credit to himself and his constituents in many of the town offices. In 1876 and 1877 he was Select- man; and in 1881 and 1882 he represented Bradford in the State legislature, serving on the Agricultural Committee. In 1882 he was elected Selectman for two years. He declined nomination for the next and succeeding terms until 1888, when he was elected for three years. In this term the town's bonded debt of nine thousand two hundred dollars was cleared, and a surplus of eight hundred and fifty dollars was left in its treasury. Though repeatedly urged to accept the same office since, Mr. Peaslee has persistently declined. On the adoption of the new school laws he was chosen to fill a vacancy for an unexpired term, and at the end of two years he was re- elected for three years. Mr. Peaslee has been Justice of the Peace for about seven years.
OSEA BALLOU CARTER, son of Susan Shannon (Merrick) Carter and Tappan Sargent Carter, was born at East Hampstead, Rockingham County, N.H., on September 5, 1834. He was edu- cated in the public schools of Hampstead and at Atkinson Academy, where he was a class- mate of General William Cogswell, of Brad- ford, Mass., and later of Salem, Mass.
The intrinsic inwardness of modern politi- cal and legislative contests has drawn to the service of political managers and corporate magnates the sagacity, shrewdness, and fidel- ity of a peculiar class of men, not infrequently found in New England, especially in New Hampshire, who, being of humble or obscure origin, finding themselves unable to demon- strate or promulgate their ideas, inventions, and schemes (not possessing the capital re- quired therefor), enter the line of service in- dicated for the twofold purpose of compensa- tion and education.
The subject of this sketch, born and reared among the granite hills of New Hampshire, is an exponent of what an uncultured bucolic lad from the backwoods may accomplish when sustained by an equitable supply of sand tempered with ironic silence and common- place courtesy. At the age of ten years he had learned the trade of shoemaking to aid his father in furnishing the meagre comforts of the humble home of that industrious New England mechanic, who has for more than threescore years daily continued to toil at the work-bench, and who now, at the ripened age of eighty-three years, may be found at the shoe bench for eight hours each day, which he recognizes as the proper hours for work-day for willing labor.
" Hozee," as he is familiarly known through- out New Hampshire, leaving the family fire- side in 1849, began the battle of life first as
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a tin peddler, next as a speculator in patent rights and patented novelties, and later on as an encyclopædia canvasser. The milestones marking his course and route from the shoe bench at Hampstead to the State House at Concord are many and interesting. In fact, his career marks an epoch in the political his- tory of the State.
He was located in Boston in 1858-59 and 1860, engaged in the sale of an extensive line of popular patented novelties, through a band of travelling salesmen (then known as "street fakirs "), shrewd youngsters, to whom he had taught the practical science of street-corner demonstration of "chin-and-hand " commerce, whereby credulous spectators were induced to insist upon the immediate exchange of the novelties exhibited for the current "coin of the realm." When the war of the Rebellion came, in 1861, these young salesmen were among the first men in Boston to volunteer their service in defence of the national honor.
Mr. Carter then became a private detective, which calling he followed until 1866, receiv- ing from the start eminent patronage, and en- rolling among his somewhat remarkable clien- tage many officials of high rank in the service of the Federal government, among which we find the name of Abraham Lincoln. He was at the (so-called) Peace Conference of Colo- rado Jewett and Horace Greeley at the Clifton House, Niagara Falls, in 1864, and continued shadowing Confederate leaders at Hamilton, Toronto, St. Johns, Quebec, and Montreal, during that historic fall and winter of 1864-65, covering that period when the famous "Rebel raid " upon the banks at St. Albans, Vt., was perpetrated; and he was on duty constantly during that peculiar trial (by a Canadian court at Montreal) of the Confederate Colonel Ben- nette H. Young and his infamous band of Confederate highwaymen. He also witnessed
the discharge of the entire band by that same Canadian court, which also returned to Colo- nel Young and his band the funds taken from the banks at St. Albans.
Returning to Washington in June, 1865, Mr. Carter testified as witness for the United States in the trial of Mrs. Surratt and the assassination conspirators, after which he re- turned to his New Hampshire home, where he received an appointment as Postmaster of his native village. But the next year, becoming restless through the Puritanic restraint of that quiet borough, he accepted a position as com- mercial traveller at a liberal salary; and for a quarter-century he followed the fortunes of a > commercial tourist, covering New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont. He rep- resented New Hampshire from 1876 to 1880 as Commissioner of the Boston & Maine Rail- road upon the Interstate Board with the Hon. James G. Blaine, of Augusta, Me.
Visiting every town in New Hampshire at all seasons of the year, and having personal, political, and commercial association with prominent men of each county, it was possible for him to perform valuable service for his patrons in legislative proceedings and other matters. The varied experience he acquired by constant attendance upon more than twenty consecutive sessions of the legislature of the State made him an available expert where- with in 1890 His Excellency Governor Goodell and the Honorable Council could fill a vacancy caused by the decease of the Secretary of . State, to which position they by unanimous vote elected Mr. Carter - namely, official editor of the State Manual for the General Court, a duty previously performed by the late Secretary of State.
The works of his head and hand abound. A complete "blue book," covering the official succession of New Hampshire for more than
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