USA > New Hampshire > Belknap County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Stafford and Belknap countries, New Hampshire > Part 68
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special mission has been to awaken new life and enthusiasm in the work of the church and to carry on revival work. His first charge was a church that had been unable to fittingly sus- tain itself for twenty years, and his successful work in the various places in which he has been called to minister testifies to his capabil- ity for the work he has chosen and to which he is now looking forward. When actively iden- tiffed with the ministry, he was prominent in the Free Baptist Ministers' Society, and served on the Committee on Quarterly Meet -. ings, also on the Committee on Ordinations.
On October 22, 1866, the Rev. Ajalon D. Jones and Miss Emma H. Smith were united in marriage. She is a daughter of Barnard Smith. of Sanbornton, N. H. Three children have blessed their union, two sons and a daughter, namely : Walter S., at home; Alice C. ; and Harry B. Walter S. married Ellen Avery, of Vermont. He is a graduate of New Hampton Institution, has been a member of the Belmont School Board three years, and in 1895 was its Chairman. Alice C. is a com- positor in a newspaper office in Laconia.
OHN SEGERHOMMAR HAMMOND, D. D.S., who has a large dental practice in Somersworth, was born in Hogby. Sweden, November 15, 1862. In his native country he attended Calmor College, a prepar- atory institution. Upon completing his course there in 1886, he came to America, and set - tled in Elgin, Ill., where he studied dentistry with C. N. Storer for three years, going to Philadelphia in 1889, and entering the Penn- sylvania College, from which he was gradu- ated in 1891. Soon after this he opened an office in Springvale, Me., where he practised until December, 1893, when he came to Somersworth, and fitted up the rooms he still 1
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occupies. He has been very prosperous, and has made many friends in this town.
On December 25, 1893, Dr. Hammond married Miss Mary M. Jordan, of Cumberland Centre, Me. They have one daughter, Mil- dred.
Politically, Dr. Hammond is a stanch Re- publican. Fraternally, he is a member of Morrison River Lodge, No. 75, K. of P., of Springvale, Me .; the Modern Woodmen of America; and the Order of Golden Cross. He is a communicant of the Congregational church.
RTHUR C. FERGUSON, M.D.,* a rising young physician, who practises his profession in Somersworth, and resides in Berwick, Me., was born in Spring- vale, York County, Me., May 2, 1869, son of Charles T. and Martha O. (Hersom) Fergu- son.
His paternal grandparents were Nahum and Mary (Chadbourn) Ferguson; and his great- grandfather, Joshua Ferguson, was among the early settlers and pioneer farmers of Shapleigh, Me., where he died at an advanced age. He was the father of a large family, of whom three sons and three daughters attained maturity. Nahum Ferguson, also a native of Shapleigh, followed the ship-carpenter's trade for some years. Subsequently succeeding to the possession of his father's farm, he resided thereon until his death, at the age of fifty- eight years. His wife, Mary, who was a na- tive of South Berwick, Me., born in 1818, became the mother of four children - Emily, Susan, Charles T., and Sarah I ..
Charles T. Ferguson, father of Dr. Fergu- son, was born in Shapleigh, York County, Me., May 20, 1843. When ten years old he accompanied his mother to Springvale. He was educated in the public schools; and at the
age of eighteen he went to Worcester, Mass., where he learned shoemaking with D. Cum- mings & Co., later becoming a member of the firm. He was connected with it all together for a period of twenty-five years, retiring in 1887 to a farm near Berwick, York County, Me., which he had purchased five years pre- viously. He is one of the leading citizens of Berwick, and was elected Selectman in. 1895. His marriage with Martha O. Hersom took place May 16, 1868. They have three chil- dren - Arthur C., Mattie G., and George M.
Having acquired his elementary education in the public schools, Arthur C. Ferguson entered the Berwick Academy, where he com- pleted his course of study, and was graduated in 1888. Entering the medical department of the University of New York City, he was then graduated in March, 1892, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Soon afterward he lo- cated for practice in Somersworth, where he has since responded to calls for medical advice and treatment, and is steadily advancing in his profession. In politics he supports the Republican party, and has served upon the Board of Health in Berwick.
Socially, Dr. Ferguson. is a general favorite both in Somersworth and Berwick; and, as he is well equipped for a successful professional career, his future prospects are bright and promising.
A BRAM M. DRAKE,* who died at his home in Dover, Strafford County, N. H., October 1, 1895, bad been a resident of the city for upward of twoscore years, and in that time had won for himself an honored position in the business commu- nity and in the social, political, and religious circles. He was born in 1823, in Effingham, Carroll County, this State, and there grew to maturity. When still quite young, he learned
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the carpenter's trade, which he continued to follow as a permanent occupation, being for some time employed at carpentering in Dover and vicinity, finally locating here. Having been obliged to depend upon himself almost entirely from early boyhood, he had well learned the lessons of industry and economy ; and he practised them so efficiently that before he had reached manhood's prime he found himself in comfortable financial circumstances. In 1875 on account of ill health he was forced to retire from active pursuits, and for the last twenty years of his life he was an invalid. Although a sufferer from physical ailments, Mr. Drake was ever cheerful and brave, and took an active interest in the lead- ing events of the times.
Mr. Drake was united in marriage April 30, 1848, with Miss Mary Bennett, who was born in Farmington, N. H., October 22, 1819. Mr Drake was a strong adherent of the Repub- lican party, and was for some years identified with the political affairs of the city, serving both as a Councilman and as an Alderman. He was a prominent Mason, being a member of Strafford Lodge, F. & A. M., and a Knight Templar. Both Mr. and Mrs. Drake united with the Methodist Episcopal church many years ago, and when that denomination built its present place of worship Mr. Drake was "one of the leading members of the Building Committee.
JDWIN ALONZO STEVENS, superin- tendent of the Somersworth Machine Company at Salmon Falls, is a na- tive of Effingham, N. H., where he was born December 27, 1843. His parents were Silas M. and Nancy J. (Stevens) Stevens. The Stevens family was a well-known one in Effingham, having been there for many years. The paternal grandfather of Mr. Edwin
Stevens was a farmer in the town and a highly esteemed citizen. His four sous were : Samuel, Saul, Emery, and Silas. Silas Stevens grew up on his father's homestead, acquiring his education in the district school and the Effingham Academy. After leaving school he learned the cabinet-maker's trade, and worked at that together with carpenter- ing. He died at the early age of twenty-six, when his son Edwin was only two and one-half years old. His wife, though a Stevens before her marriage, was of a different family or branch. She was a native of Shapleigh, Me. Their three children were: Mary E., who married Lysander Mayo, of Rollinsford; Edwin and Silas M. Stevens, of Salmon Falls.
Mr. Stevens's maternal grandfather was Whiting Stevens, M. D., born in Winthrop, Me., whose father was James, one of three brothers, John, James, and Joseph, who came to this country, it is said, from England in the seventeenth century. James and Joseph set- tled in Maine. John settled in Massachusetts, and died there unmarried. Dr. Whiting Stevens acquired a large practice at Shapleigh, where he had studied medicine, and was emi- nently successful. He was a leading member of the Baptist Church of Shapleigh, was not- ably generous and benevolent, had an exten- sive acquaintance, and was beloved throughout the county. Dr. Stevens married Abigail Walker, and they had the following named children : Alonzo J. W., Luther C., Whiting, Mary W., Elizabeth W., Nancy J., Rufus W., William C., and Philene A.
Edwin A. Stevens, the subject of this sketch, was sent to the public schools of his native town until his fourteenth year, when he came to Somersworth to live with an uncle and attend the high school. In his later youth he was clerk in a store for two years. In August, 1862, he enlisted as a landsman
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in the United States Navy, and was on the " Macedonian." He was raised to be sca- man, and served until his discharge in March, 1863. After this he came to Berwick, and attended the academy for a time. He then entered the employ of the Somersworth Ma- chine Company as a machinist, having worked in the foundry during his vacation. His pro- motion since his connection with the firm has been rapid. He was made shipping clerk in the office after being there a little while, and in less than a year from the time he entered the business he was made superintendent of the works. At that time only twenty-five men were employed. Under Mr. Stevens's skilful management the business has prospered, and has been enlarged so that there are from four to five times that number of employees at present. Stoves and iron hollow ware are manufactured; and in one year as many as two million; one hundred and fifty-six thou- sand, four hundred and twenty-eight pounds of manufactured goods have been shipped. In politics Mr. Stevens is a Republican. In 1876 and 1877 he served on the Board of Se- lectmen; and he was nominated for a third term, but would not accept the nomination. He has served for eight years consecutively as one of the Board of Supervisors. In 1896 Mr. Stevens was sent to the State legislature to represent the fown ; and while there he was appointed a member of the Committee on Re- vision of Statutes, one of the most important committees in the House. Aside from manu- facturing. Mr. Stevens has been largely inter- ested in banking. He has been Trustee of the Rollinsford Savings Bank for twenty years, Director in the South Berwick National Bank, Trustee in the South Berwick Savings Bank for many years, and for ten years connected with the Salmon Falls State Bank. He is a member of Granite Lodge, No. 65, F. &
A. M. : Edwards Chapter of Somersworth; St. Paul's Commandery of Dover; Orphan Coun- cil of Dover ; and of the Dover Consistory.
Mr. Stevens married Miss Adelaide C .. daughter of Charles Speed, of Rollinsford. Their children are: Charles Edwin, Mabel G., Florence E., and Caroline. Both Mr. and Mrs. Stevens are members of the South Berwick Baptist Church, and Mr. Stevens has been for twenty-eight years treasurer and sec- retary of the Sunday school connected with the church society.
ALDRON FAMILY. - Among the original proprietors of lands in Strafford County were the Waldrons or Waldernes. The first of the name who came to America arrived early in the seven- teenth century, and returned not long after- ward to England; but he came again to this country, accompanied by other members of his family, and they took up lands all the way from Portsmouth up through the Cocheco valley. No name is more prominent in Co- lonial history than is that of Richard Waldron, borne for generation after generation follow . ing that of the Major Waldron who was killed by Indians in Dover in 1689, whose son and grandson served as President and Secretary of the Council by which the Royal Province of New Hampshire was controlled in years suc- ceeding 1680. When New Hampshire was governed in conjunction with Massachusetts, Richard Waldron, first elected in 1654 as a member of the General Court from Dover, was re-elected twenty-three consecutive times, and twenty-five times in all. In 1679 he was elected from Kittery. He served as Speaker during eight sessions. He was also a Magis- trate, and was in command of a force during the King Philip War in 1676. William Waldron was a Magistrate on the Piscataqua
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in 1641, and was Recorder of Deeds in Dover in 1646.
The Rev. William Waldron, a graduate of Harvard, was pastor of the Second Church in Boston in 1722. In the Roman Catholic church have been in the present century Ed- mund Quincy Sheaf Waldron, President of the Borromeo College in Baltimore, Md., and John Waldron, whose thirty years of devotion given to good works in the Huron district, won for him honorable distinction. In the Free Baptist denomination has been, besides other men of the family name, the Rev. W. H. Waldron, who was born and who died in Farmington. Among native townsmen in the legal profession have been the late Hon. G. P. Waldron, of South Dakota, an alumnus of Bowdoin College, and Mr. H. C. Waldron, graduated from Amherst College, who is mas- ter of the high school and superintendent of schools in the Massachusetts town of Westboro.
The Farmington Waldrons are descended from "Richard Walderne, gentleman," and from Colonel John Waldron of the Revolu- tion, who lived in Dover. Colonel John gave lands in the "North-west Parish of Rochester " to his son Jeremiah, who in 1812 builded for his family a new dwelling-house at the upper end of the main village of Farm- ington, which has sheltered beneath its great roof five generations of the name of Waldron, and is now occupied by one of the builder's grandsons. Squire Jeremiah Waldron had four sons who lived to mature age, two already named, and the late J. W. and J. H. Waldron. The second son of the latter was named for his great-grandfather, and is the only descend- ant of this branch of the family who holds any sort of public office at the present day in his native town.
Mr. John Waldron was born in the house mentioned, December 27, 1849. He attended
local schools and neighboring academies until, at about the time when he should have entered college, he was called home to superintend the lumber business on the estate of his invalid father. After putting the business into suc- cessful working order, Mr. Waldron left it to the hands of an elder brother, and entered the shoe factory of A. Nute & Sons. He. has re- mained with the firm to the present time, working in the factory or acting as its travel- ling salesman, as occasion required. never has wished to be considered as a candi- date for any office in the gift of fellow-towns- men, but was commissioned by Governor Bu- siel as a Special Justice of the Police Court. He enjoys the duties of the position, as he has the judicial turn of mind, and would have studied law with a view to practice had he. been at liberty to leave home in the years which he had hoped to spend in university work. As are many of his kinsmen, Mr. Waldron is of noticeable stature and personal appearance. He is of absolute integrity in daily life, kindly in manner, quick in humor, and of a temper not easily ruffled, yet not lightly appeased when once excited to indig- nation. Hle is a stanch Republican in poli- tics, and he attends the Congregational church. He is a charter member of Harmony Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and belongs to the Society of Sons of the American Revolu- tion by right of descent from not only the Waldrons, but also through his mother, who was formerly Miss Abby Jones, of New Dur- ham. Mr. Waldron is married; and of his two daughters the elder, Adelaide Cecil, sur- vives.
Mrs. John Waldron is the daughter of the late Rev. and Mrs. Daniel Plumer Cilley, and is a native of Manchester. Early removal to Boston, Mass., caused her studies to be pui- sued almost wholly in that city, in schools,
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with tutors, and in the paternal study, full of books. The recent publication, "New Hamp- shire Women," says: "To descent from the well-known Plumers and Cilleys she adds that from Frosts, Sherburnes, and Pepperrells, of Colonial fame, through her mother, who was formerly Miss A. A. Haines, of Canterbury. Mrs. Waldron has been a State officer of the WV. C. T. U., belongs to the New England Women's Press Association, the Piscataqua Congregational Club, and the club of New Hampshire's Daughters, and is a charter mem- ber of the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion. She is also a Daughter of the Cincin- nati, her great-grandfather, General Joseph Cilley, having been one of the founders of the Society of the Cincinnati in 1783. Since her first poem appeared in Lippincott's Magasine, while she lived in North Carolina, the work of 'Adelaide Cilley Waldron ' has been printed in many periodicals, from Harper's Magasine to first-class newspapers, and by publishers of holiday books. She is a woman of unusual abilities and most versatile talent, writing well always, whether in verse for special occasions, a hymn, a strong sonnet, a story for children, letters for newspapers, or articles carefully compiled for educational and historical journals. She craves the best in everything -- music, art, literature, life -- yet never refuses tasks incident to a country home. With a splendid ancestry of gallant soldiers, her record is not less brave than any of theirs ; for, with the exquisitely sensitive tempera- ment of a true poet and accomplished musi- cian, yet handicapped in many ways, she battles patiently where others might lose courage. Full of kindly thoughts and gentle humor, sincere to the core, as a writer never lowering her standard for popularity or pay, true always to her highest ideals, she is an honor to New Hampshire."
The father of Mrs. Waldron served as an army chaplain during the period of the Civil War, accompanying his regiment in all its campaigns in the Gulf Department, save dur- ing several months of duty at the Marine Hospital in New Orleans. His eldest son, the IIon. Clinton A. Cilley, a graduate from Harvard University, was an officer of the staff corps in the Army of the Cumberland, with rank of Colonel when mustered out in 1866 in North Carolina, where he has since practised law, in spite of invalidism caused by injuries at Chickamauga. He has received the medal of honor for distinguished gallantry in action. The younger two of the brothers of Mrs. Waldron were born in Boston. One is Dr. D. P. Cilley, of Westboro, in his na- tive State; and the youngest, the late Joseph B. Cilley, a young man of unusual promise, died in Farmington in 1886, from illness in- duced by exposure in encampment while in the performance of his duties as Captain of the Wilson Guards, the latter forming Company F, Second Regiment, New Hampshire Na- tional Guard. The Adjutant-general said of Captain Cilley that no more accomplished officer had been commissioned in the service of the State in the National Guard. It had been expected that he would be ordered to duty as inspector of rifle practice, with rank of Major, when his fatal illness caused him to relinquish all thought of further service in the profession of arms, for which he had an inherent gift.
ON. CHARLES H. SAWYER, of Dover, N. H., the President of the Sawyer Woollen Mills Corporation, was born March 30, 1840, in Watertown, N. Y., son of Jonathan and Martha (Perkins) Sawyer. He is a descendant of John Sawyer,
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CHARLES H. SAWYER.
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a farmer of Lincolnshire, England, who is be- lieved to have been either a Non-conformist or a Separatist. John's three sons - Will- iam, Edward, and Thomas - came to this country in 1636. Thomas, who was the founder of this branch of the family, settled in Lancaster, Mass., in 1047, and died there September 12, 1706. He married in 1648 Mary, daughter of John Prescott, the founder of Lancaster. Caleb Sawyer, son of Thomas and Mary (Prescott) Sawyer, married Sarah Houghton, and had Seth, who married Hepzi- bah Whitney, and was the father of Caleb, second, the next in this line. Caleb Sawyer, second, married Sarah Patch; and their son Phinchas, who married Hannah Whitney, was the father of Jonathan Sawyer and grand- father of Charles Henry, the subject of this sketch. The birthplace of Phinchas Sawyer was the part of Lancaster which was included by the act of incorporation in 1732 in the town of Harvard. He owned and conducted a mill in Marlboro, Mass., until foreign compe- tition obliged him to give it up shortly after the termination of the War of 1812. In Har- vard he married Hannah Whitney, and he died in 1820. His children were: Hannah, Euzebia, Sarah, Sophia, Alfred Ira, Eliza, Mary, Arethusa, Zenas, Wesley, Francis As- bury, Edmund, and Jonathan. Twelve of the number survived the father. Jonathan, of whose life a sketch will be found elsewhere in this work, was a native of Marlboro, born June 7, 1817. He resided at different times in Harvard and Lowell, Mass., Watertown, N. Y., and Dover, N. H. He died in Dover, June 20, 1891. His wife, Martha, whom he married in 1839, came from Barnard, Vt.
Charles H. Sawyer was ten years old when he came with his parents to Dover. His edu- cation, which had been begun in the schools of Watertown, N. Y., was completed in this
town. When seventeen years of age he was employed as a common workman in the flannel-mills of Dover, owned by his father and uncle, Jonathan and Francis A. Sawyer. Quick of observation and athirst for practical knowledge, he was thoroughly versed in the work of the place by the time he was twenty- six, at which age he was appointed the super- intendent. Some time after he became a part owner of the mill. In 1873, when the firm was incorporated under the style of the Sawyer Woollen Mills, he was made its agent. In 1881 he succeeded to the presi- dency, then left vacant by the death of his uncle. Since that time he has had the chief management of the mills, acquiring for them a high reputation for faultless work, and dis- playing a peculiar fitness for the business by the inherited traits which have made him per - sistent, apt in mechanics, an expert in the work of every department, and a superior business man, while leaving him incapable of practising any other than honorable dealing.
Early in his career Mr. Sawyer obtained the esteem and confidence of the community. He was elected in turn to the City Council and the Board of Aldermen. In 1869-70 and 1876-77 he represented the city in the State legislature. Governor Charles H. Bell ap- pointed him to a position on his staff in ISS1, and he was a delegate to the National Repub- lican Convention held in Chicago in 1884. Two years after he was elected Governor of New Hampshire on the Republican ticket. The success of his party in the following elec- tion was largely due to his personal popular- ity. While Governor he represented the State in several of the centennial celebrations, including that of the promulgation of the na- tional Constitution at Philadelphia, of the in- auguration of President Washington in New York, and the laying of the corner-stone of
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the monument commemorating the battle of Bennington. His most remarkable act as Governor was the veto of the Hazen Bill, de- signed to facilitate the leasing of certain rail- roads, upon the ground that its promoters, the agents of a powerful railroad corporation, had attempted to buy votes in support of it.
Mr. Sawyer married, February 8, 1865, Susan Ellen, daughter of Dr. James W. and Elizabeth Cowan, of Dover. Their children are: William Davis, who married Susan Ger- trude, daughter of Hon. Joshua G. Hall, of Dover; Charles Francis, who married Gertrude Child, daughter of Hon. Henry W. Severance, of San Francisco; James Cowan, who married Mary Pepperill, daughter of Judge George S. Frost, of Dover; Edward; and Elizabeth Coffin.
JOSEPH W. HAM, * for many years one of the most respected citizens of Straf- ford County, was born June 25, 1825, in Rochester, on the old homestead, where his death occurred. His father, James Ham, was also born in Rochester, a son of Stephen Ham, who was among the early settlers of this place, having come here from Littleworth. James Ham was a farmer by occupation. He served for a time in the War of 1812, sta- tioned in the garrison at Portsmouth.
Joseph W. Ham was carly trained to agri- cultural pursuits, and devoted his life to gen- eral farming and poultry-raising, carrying on an extensive business in the latter, shipping eggs and chickens to the Boston markets. In his younger days he was for some time en- gaged in mercantile pursuits as a grocery clerk in Gonic, but preferred the vocation to which he was reared as his life work. He was a strong Democrat in his political prin- ciples, and, being ever mindful of his duties
as a citizen, served his fellow-townsmen in various official capacities. For several years he was Chairman of the School Committee, and he was Surveyor in the town of Rochester a number of terms. A man of domestic tastes, devoted to his family, he was also much interested in the work of the church. and officiated as Deacon of the Free Will Bap- tist Church of Gonic.
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