USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 52
USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 52
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He married Miss Abbie M. Sanford, of Lowell, Mass., on November 19, 1863, and they became the parents of three children, as follows: Annie Sanford, born June 23, 1865; Lewis Fisher, born February 18, 1868, who died March 4, 1872; and Alice Perley, who was born December 28, 1870, and died No- vember 20, 1879. Ex-Governor Head died November 12, 1883.
OHN P. ROUNSEVEL, formerly a well-known wool buyer of Claremont, was born in Unity, N. H., January 2, 1815, son of Royal and Betsey (Sweat) Roun- sevel. Rounseville, the original spelling of the name, was changed to the present form
by Joseph Rounsevel about the year 1768. In 1749 Thomas Rounseville wrote from Ottery St. Mary to Philip Rounseville, of England,
who afterward came to this country. He settled in Freetown, Mass., and was called by the townspeople King Philip. His son Jo- seph, who, born January 3, 1737, died in 1827, went to Washington, N. H., between 1768 and 1772, from Middleboro, Mass., having previously resided in East Freetown. Joseph was a good farmer, a well-read man, and a Justice of the Peace. He executed the legal business of the town, and represented Washington with other towns in the General Court. His children were: Alden, Charity, Phebe, John, Rosamond, and Royal. Alden married Hannah Wells. Charity married Ma- nasseh Farnsworth in 1784. Phebe never married. John married Rebecca Chamberlain in 1768. Rosamond married Thomas Putnam in 1787. Royal's children were: Joseph, Mi- nerva, Elle I., Lyman, and John P. Of them Joseph, who was born in 1796, and died De- cember 24, 1858, married Betsey Laughton, who had by him five children -- Sarah, Har- riet, Holmes, Lyman, and Marinda. Mi- nerva, born in 1799, who married John Stow- ell, had no children, and died in July, 1848. Elle I., born February 15, 1801, who married Orrill Reckard, and had four children - Ellen H., Royal D., Mary, and William - died Sep- tember 19, 1852. Lyman, born November 7, 1805, married Sarah Sparling, by whom he became the father of seven children - Thomas Eaton, Vienna Elizabeth, Lyman Eaton, Homer S., Almira, Diantha S., and William Ashton.
Royal Rounsevel, the father of John P., born in Washington, this county, in 1772, married Betsey Sweat, of Unity, who died January 22, 1837. He was well educated for the times, and taught school in Weare, N. H., for some years. He finally gave up teaching for a farmer's life, and in middle life moved to Unity. A Quaker in religious belief, he
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belonged to the Society of Friends that held regular meetings in Unity. While an earnest member of the sect, he was a man of quiet disposition and a good neighbor. He died September 17, 1829, leaving five children. These, with the exception of John P., were for many years residents and farmers of Sulli- van County, where they were born. Lyman, who was a drover for thirty years, spent the last twenty-five years of his life in the occupa- tion of tanner; and during his stay in Unity he was for two years a member of the legis- lature.
John P. Rounsevel, the youngest son of his parents, was well educated. He attended school at Chester and Cavendish, Vt., and later at Meriden and Unity, N. H. In Unity he was under the instruction of Dr. Miner. It was designed to send him to college, but his impaired health caused the plan to be given up. At the age of seventeen he entered the profession of teacher; and he subsequently taught in both public and private schools in Charlestown, Acworth, Unity, and Claremont. He had spent two years teaching in La Grange, Ga., when his health succumbed to the warm climate, and he returned to school- teaching in the North for another year. He then tried travelling for his health, and sold clothes and other merchandise. In 1850 he went to California, and there was variously occupied in mining, farming, and trading among the miners; but he returned home sick in 1852. In 1854 he became a mer- chant in Littleton. From there he removed to Claremont in 1858, and there carried on a dry-goods business for nine years. He then took up the clothing business, and finally that of wool-buying, which he commenced when the Civil War was in progress, and in which he was very successful. He was with the Keene Company, of Keene, N. H., for
ten years, and in 1890 gave up his business to his son. For thirty years he was a Di- rector of the Sullivan Savings Bank, and its Vice-President for many years. Mr. Rounsevel married Sarah Jane, daughter of Eaton Bailey. Eaton Bailey, son of John Bailey, lived in Unity, and was a farmer and drover. Before her marriage Mrs. Rounsevel was a pupil of Mr. Rounsevel, and she subse- quently taught school for one term. Their only child, Charles W., born June 25, 1856, who is the station agent of Newport, N. H., married Alice Sargent, and has one child, Henry H. Mr. Rounsevel, Sr., was a legis- lative Representative for two years. He died May 1, 1897, regretted as a loss to the com- munity.
ARREN SMITH HILL, a successful contractor and farmer of Northfield, was born in this town, February 9, 1842. His father, Captain Warren Lapham Hill, was a native of the same town; and his mother, Betsey Tucker Hill, was born in Hop- kinton, December 26, 1806, and died Febru- ary 6, 1886. The progenitors of Mr. Hill were the original settlers of Northfield, and came from Salisbury, Mass., about the close of the Revolutionary War. They were two of the four sons of Daniel Hill, and were, to- gether with their father, shoemakers by trade. They supplied the Continental soldiers with shoes, and were paid in the scrip then issued, which later became so depreciated that they were forced into other lines of labor and became coopers. Seeking new fields of ac- tivity, they went to Concord, this State, and, meeting with a certain Captain Blanchard, were directed to the locality now known as Bay Hill, where, they were told, was to be found good land for farming and very cheap (as there was no meeting-house in town to give
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it much worth), besides the finest of scenery. It is related that on this trip they each took with them a bag of one hundred silver dollars (English coined), and that they travelled from Salisbury, Mass., to Northfield, stopping in Concord, made their selection and returned, all within twenty-four hours. Timothy and John were their names ; and the former married Miss Betsey Lapham, of Salisbury, and settled with the rest of his family in the Bay Hill house, which still stands, almost in its origi- nal style. Timothy, it seems, did not use all of the one hundred silver dollars brought by him to buy land, and four of them were dis- tributed to the living children of Captain Warren Hill at a marriage anniversary where the entire families were present. One of the dollars is kept as an heirloom by the subject of this sketch.
Warren Hill, father of Warren Smith Hill (or, as he was familiarly known to his friends and acquaintances, Captain Warren), succeeded to the ownership of the farm purchased and cultivated by Timothy, and during his life- time continued its cultivation, besides run- ning a brickyard near the present site of the Granite Mills, and also an extensive lumber- ing business. He served in the State legis- lature as Representative one session, and was long a prominent factor in town politics. He represented a class of political believers that are fast dying out, a class who, having once fixed their opinions, never waver, and was an uncompromising Democrat to the time of his death. In the early training days, long before the State militia was thought of, Captain Hill was prominent and active, and was given the Captaincy of a company. Hence his title by which he was always thereafter known. He was very prosperous in his business ventures, and was one of the best farmers in the town. He died March 22, 1887. He was the father
of seven children; namely, Alvah Tucker, Mary Tucker, Henry Tucker, Martha, Warren S., Marietta, and Charles Frederick, only two of whom are now living. Marietta is the wife of Cliff Forest Giles, of Newport, N. H.
Warren S. Hill attended school in his native town till he was twenty-one years old. He then began farming for himself, and began also a general contractor's business, besides doing a limited amount of lumbering. Sep- tember 7, 1865, he married Miss Helen Eliza Cofran, of Northfield, daughter of James Hersey and Eliza Brackett (Hall) Cofran, both natives of Northfield. James H. Cofran was born January 3, 1818, and his wife July 12, 1817. They were the parents of four children, namely : Charles Chase, born March 11, 1841 ; Helen Eliza, who is now Mrs. Hill; Mary Frances, born April 9, 1851, and now a resi- dent of Boston; and Frank Adino, born Feb- ruary II, 1853, who died August 15, 1896. The last named was at the time of his death a hotel proprietor in Whitefield, N. H., and had during his lifetime successively run and managed the Twin Mountain House and hotels in Florida and Alabama, and in Chicago during the World's Fair.
Mr. Hill is the father of seven children : Kate Florence, born June 16, 1867; Arthur Herman, who was born November 12, 1868, married Florence Goss, of Andover, N. H., October 15, 1896, and is in the grain business in Manchester, N.H. ; Helen Josephine, born March 2, 1872, wife of Ned Deaborn, of North- field; Evelyn Belle, born November 4, 1876; William Henry Clough Hill, born July 25, 1878; Walter Burnham, born December 5, 1879; and Loring Cleveland, born March 3, 1885. The four last named live at home.
Mr. Hill follows the paternal example in politics, and is a stanch Democrat. He re- tains the ownership of the old homestead, and
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it is the only farm remaining intact of those owned by the original settlers of the town.
ARVEY GRAVES McINTIRE, M. D., formerly one of the leading physicians of Concord, was born in Lyndeboro, N. H., July 2, 1824, son of Elias and Elizabeth (Buxton) McIntire. Elias McIntire, son of Elias, Sr., and Bethiah (Hayward) McIntire, was a native of Reading, Mass., and belonged to one of the oldest fami - lies of that town. Removing to New Hamp- shire after marriage, he lived for a time in Amherst, and then settled in Lyndeboro. He followed the occupation of farmer through- out his active period, and was ninety-six years old when he died in Lyndeboro. His wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Stephen and Phebe (Stearns) Buxton, of Reading, Mass., bore him six children. The only one now living is Deacon Nathaniel McIntire, of Lyndeboro.
Harvey G. McIntire, the youngest of the family, received his education in the district schools and at the academy of Francestown. After graduating from the latter institution, he decided to enter upon the medical profes- sion. In accordance with this design he be- came a pupil, first, of Dr. Campbell, of Francestown and subsequently of Dr. Elliot, of Manchester, N.H. Later he attended lect- ures at Harvard University Medical School in Boston, where he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1848. He began the active practice of his profession in Goshen, N.H., where he remained some seventeen years. Feeling the need of a larger sphere, he then removed to Concord. Here he con- tinued in practice until his death, which was occasioned by an accident, complicated with pneumonia. He married Margaret, daughter
of John and Hannah (Dowst) McCrillis; and his children were: H. E., Harvey, and Na- thaniel. Harvey married C. J. Briggs; and Nathaniel, who is engaged in the telegraph business at St. Paul, Minn., married Alice Millard.
Dr. McIntire died at Concord, N.H., May 2, 1892. He was regarded by the medical fraternity and the community at large as a man of progressive ideas in his profession. He kept abreast of all the medical reforms and discoveries of his time, and, upon being con- vinced of their superior merit, was prompt in adopting them. Dr. McIntire was the first physician in New Hampshire to use chloro- form as an anæsthetic in surgical operations. He was a member of the Congregational church.
AVID E. FARWELL, one of the most extensive farmers of Charles- town, N.H., his native place, was born March 20, 1845, the youngest son of George and Aurilla (Brownell) Farwell. He is of the seventh generation in descent from John and Priscilla (Mullens) Alden, of the "Mayflower " company, who were married in Plymouth probably in 1621. [ For further notes of ancestry see sketch of Jesse H. Farwell. ] Mr. Farwell's great-grandfather, William Farwell, who was born in 1712, was one of the first settlers in Charlestown, com- ing from Mansfield, Conn. He died here, December 11, 1801. His children by his wife, Bethiah Eldridge, were: William, born in Mansfield in 1749; Phoebe; Gladian; Edwin; and Jesse. William Farwell, Jr., was one of the first in New Hampshire to accept the doctrine of Universalism. Though his opportunities for an education were meagre, he was gifted with a quick intellect and a re- tentive memory, and was one of the best qual-
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ified preachers of his day. He was reared a Congregationalist, but between 1790 and 1795 was converted to Universalism, and was prob- ably the first to preach it in Vermont, there being only two other preachers in the State at that time. The Rev. William Farwell lived for some time in Barre, Vt. He married Miss Phœbe Crosby.
Jesse Farwell, David E. Farwell's grand- father, was born August 15, 1768. He was a brickmaker by trade, but devoted a great part of his life to farming, the Charlestown home- stead coming into his possession. He was foremost in every movement for advancing the interests of the town ; and as a liberal-minded, public-spirited citizen his memory is cher- ished by the old residents of the town. He died October 28, 1844. Jesse Farwell mar- ried Abigail Allen, and they reared the fol- lowing children: Bethiah, born December 3, 1793, who died June 12, 1874; Peggy, born October 17, 1795, who became the wife of Asa Meacham; William, born August II, 1797, who married Sophia Putnam, and died in Buffalo, N.Y., June 21, 1862; George, the father of David E. Farwell; Melinda, born 1797, who died May 11, 1803; Lewis, born September 16, 1806, who married Sylvia Sturtevant; Melinda, born September, 1809, who married Joseph Denison, and died in July, 1848; Eldridge, born March 13, 1812, who died in Buffalo, N. Y., January 27, 1864; and Matilda, born August 30, 1814, who mar- ried Seth Meacham October 22, 1836.
George Farwell was born in Charlestown, June 27, 1804. He always resided on the homestead, which he eventually inherited. One of the stirring farmers and prominent cit- izens of the town, a thoroughly upright man, he was honorable in his business transac- tions, and was highly esteemed. He was do- mestic in his habits, and had no desire for
public office. In religion Mr. George Farwell . was a Universalist. He died November 15, 1875. His wife, Aurilla Brownell Farwell, was born March 25, 1804, and died February 20, 1888. They were the parents of the fol- lowing children: John H., born February 3, 1830, now in Chicago, Ill .; James H., born February 2, 1832, a resident of Stockton, Cal .; Jesse H., born January 2, 1834; Sarah, born October 30, 1836, who died February 12, 1838; Martha, born July 14, 1841, who died September 12, 1843; and David E., the sub- ject of this sketch.
David E. Farwell was educated in the pub- lic schools of Charlestown, beginning at an early age to assist his father on the farm. He succeeded to its ownership after his father's death, and has since managed the property with ability and success. He owns one hundred and seventy-five acres of land, which is de- voted to general farming, dairying, and stock- raising; and for the past twenty years he has been engaged extensively in lumbering. Mr. Farwell owns the Horace Metcalf mills in Charlestown and a tract of timber land in Unity, N.H. He was married March 20, 1869, to Etta M., daughter of Charles Barker, of Charlestown. In politics a Democrat, like the rest of his family, he takes an active part in town matters. He was on the School Board two terms, and served as Selectman one year. In religion Mr. Farwell is of the Universalist faith.
IDWARD PAYSON SKINNER, JR., a well-known business man of Windsor, Vt., a dealer in fish and groceries, was born in that town, February 8, 1856, son of Edward P., Sr., and Rebecca (Moody) Skinner. His paternal grandfather, John P., was a son of Captain Benjamin and Sarah
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C. (Manning) Skinner. Captain Benjamin Skinner was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and while he was in the army his wife was left at home to take care of the farm and cattle. He died of spotted fever at fifty years of age; and she, long surviving him, died about fifty years ago, at the age of ninety- two years. They had a family of six children. Parry C. Skinner, a brother of John P., was Deacon of the Baptist church for nearly fifty years, and was a very active and prominent business man; Elizabeth P. Skinner, a sister, married the Rev. Baron Stow, for many years a preacher of the Baptist faith in Boston; Mary Skinner married William Beal, of Bos- ton; Sarah C. married a man by the name of Harris; and Lora, the other sister, mar- ried the Rev. Mr. Ely, a Baptist minister who preached in Vermont and New Hamp- shire.
John P. Skinner, who was born in Con- necticut, March 10, 1788, was for thirty years proprietor of a stage line along the Connecti- cut River from Haverhill, N. H., to Hartford, Conn. He made his headquarters at Wind- sor, where he owned quite a number of farms besides village property ; and while engaged in running the stages he kept from eighty to one hundred horses. In his young days, previous to the advent of railroads, it was his custom to .cart his farm products to Boston for a market; and these trips usually required two weeks in which to go and return. He started in life as a poor boy, and his accumulation of property was the result of that patient indus- try and firm determination to succeed which characterized the progressive farmer and busi- ness man of his generation. He was widely known and sincerely respected as an honor- able, upright man, one who could always be depended upon to meet his obligations punctu- ally; and his record is looked upon with pride
by his descendants. He was a member of the Baptist church nearly sixty years. He died August 29, 1867. He married for his first wife, April 16, 1810, Dulcenath Hoisington, who was born April 7, 1794; and for his sec- ond wife, July 3, 1856, Miss Sarah C. Hall, of Boston. He was the father of ten chil- dren, one of whom died in infancy. The others were as follows: Wealtha M., born Au- gust 25, 1811; Laura M., born August 25, 1813; Clara E., born August 1, 1815, who died August 9, 1835; Parker G., born June 25, 1817; William H., born April 30, 1819; Harriet N., born May 24, 1821; John P., born in March, 1823, who died in February, 1824; Edward P., born February 26, 1829; and Elizabeth S., born March 19, 1842.
Wealtha M. married November 25, 1835, the Rev. Lemuel Porter, of Boston, and died July 1, 1880. She had two children, one of whom, a daughter, Helen, is living in San Francisco. Mr. Porter was for many years pastor of the Worthen Street Baptist Church in Lowell, Mass .; and at one time he preached in Pittsfield, Mass. Laura M. became the wife of the Rev. Elijah Hutchinson, a Baptist clergyman of Newport, N. H., and died March 1, 1869. Two of her four children survive, namely: Henry E., President of a Brooklyn bank, N.Y .; and John S., book-keeper for a large firm in Brooklyn. Their father, the Rev. Elijah Hutchinson, preached in the Windsor Baptist Church twenty-seven years, and officiated at six hundred weddings and at eight hundred funerals. He died August 5, 1872, aged fifty-five years. Parker G. Skinner was for several years connected with the stage business in Windsor, Vt., and is now a tea merchant in the city of Worcester, Mass. He married June 29, 1848, Patty W. Foster, of Knowlton, P. Q., and has had four children, two of whom are living. William H., who is
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living in Windsor, was in the express busi- ness, and a United States mail agent for nearly forty years. He married Emeline Ap- pleton, of Lowell, Mass .; and of his four chil - dren the only survivor is a daughter, who is the wife of Frank Peabody, and resides in Fitchburg, Mass. Harriet N. married May 5, 1847, Jehiel H. Simonds, who was for more than forty years proprietor of a hotel in Wind- sor, Vt., and was also connected with the stage lines. She died March 21, 1885. Elizabeth S. married February 12, 1863, Thomas E. Foster, a prominent insurance man of Montreal, Canada, and at one time Mayor of that city .. She has had eight children, three of whom are living, namely: Marion E., who married the Rev. W. C. Carr, of Weeds- port, N.Y .; Thomas E., now residing in Claremont, N.H .; and Sallie B., who is a trained nurse in a woman's hospital in San Francisco, Cal.
Edward Payson Skinner, father of the sub- ject of this sketch, after completing his edu- cation in Lowell, Mass., turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. He has cultivated farms in Windsor, Vt., and in Plainfield, N.H., where he is now residing. He is a practical and energetic farmer, who has acquired a com- fortable competency, and whose disposition to be honorable and upright in his dealings has gained for him the esteem and confidence of his fellow-townsmen. He is a member of the Baptist church. His wife, Rebecca M. Moody, of Lancaster, N.H., born August 14, 1825, be- came the mother of four children, namely : Edward P., the subject of this sketch; Will- iam H., born March 6, 1866; Hattie, who died at the age of two years; and Johnnie, who died in his eighth year. William H. is employed by his brother, Edward P., and is also a United States mail carrier. He mar- ried Julia Ward, of Plainfield, N. H.
Edward Payson Skinner, Jr., was educated in the schools of his native town; and for a number of years after completing his studies he remained upon the home farm, engaged in its cultivation. About 1893 he engaged in his present mercantile business. Besides carrying a good stock of groceries, he runs the only fish market in Windsor.
Mr. Skinner married Ella Hill, who was born in Bellows Falls, Vt., January 11, 1861. They have had one son, Curtis R., born in August, 1881, who died in 1887. Mr. Skin- ner has inaugurated his business career upon progressive lines; and, as he has secured the confidence of the public, his success is already assured.
my RS. MARY ELIZABETH COOKE PARTRIDGE, a well-known mu- sician of Claremont and a zealous worker in the cause of temperance, was born in Claremont, daughter of God- frey and Abigail (Hubbard) Cooke. Her paternal grandfather, Captain John Cooke, of Norton, Mass., was among the first of the minute-men to report at Lexington in re- sponse to the alarm of April 19, 1775, for six days' service. He again enlisted with the rank of Ensign, and was mustered out August 1, 1775. For the third time he enlisted De- cember 8, 1776, in a Rhode Island regiment, under Colonel John Daggett. About the year 1779 he came to Claremont, and bought a large and valuable tract of meadow land and the tavern thereon. This tavern he conducted for years with much success. A family tradi- tion has it that "a bushel of Continental money changed hands when the old tavern was bought." His daughter, Matilda, married Colonel Josiah Stevens, who was the father of Faran Stevens, a famous hotel man. Paran Stevens received his first lessons in the hotel
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business from Godfrey Cooke. The Stevens High School was his gift to the village of Claremont. His daughter married Arthur Henry Fitzroy Paget, a son of General Paget of Waterloo fame. His sister married Sam- uel Fiske, the donor of the Fiske Free Li- brary in Claremont.
Godfrey Cooke and his brother George suc- ceeded their father in the proprietorship of the tavern, which under their able management became famous from Boston to Northern Ver- mont. Not long after the death of his father Godfrey Cooke bought the interest of his brother George. Under him the surroundings were much beautified. He built a large and elegant family residence in 1825; and he im- proved the farm of four hundred acres con- nected with the tavern, so that it was consid- ered the finest in the town. He married Abigail, daughter of Jonathan Hubbard, of Charlestown, N.H., and became the father of five children - Catherine M., Henry Hub- bard, Helen Maria, George F., and Mary Elizabeth. Catherine married Charles R. Bingham, and had four children, of whom Helen C. and Catherine E. attained maturity. Henry Hubbard, who graduated from Dart- mouth College, died at the Theological Semi- nary in New York, where he was preparing for the Episcopal ministry, one year before his ordination. In the habit of visiting the sick and dying, to minister to their spiritual needs, he caught the contagion of small-pox, which was the cause of his death. His heart and soul were in his work, and he was greatly mourned by his class mates and friends. Helen Maria, now deceased, who married Frederick Smith, of Cornish, N.H., is sur- vived by her daughter, Elizabeth A. Smith. George F. Cooke was killed by accident on the homestead at the age of twenty-six.
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