Biographical review; this volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Rockingham County, New Hampshire, Part 58

Author:
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Boston [Mass.] Biographical review pub. co.
Number of Pages: 658

USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Biographical review; this volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Rockingham County, New Hampshire > Part 58

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AMES NOWELL, a retired farmer and a venerable and esteemed citizen of East Derry, Rockingham County, N.H., was born in the town of Derry, May 8, 1822, being a son of Nathaniel and Mary (Kenniston) Nowell. He is a repre- sentative of a much respected family in this part of New England.

His great-grandfather Nowell was a French- man, and was distantly related to General La- fayette, of honored Revolutionary fame. He was the father of Nathaniel Nowell, a sea cap- tain, who emigrated from his native land, and, traversing the Atlantic, settled in York County, Maine. In that locality, where they resided for a period of years, the history of the family in this country was initiated. They subsequently removed to Newburyport, Mass., whence they later changed their residence to Derry, N. H. This last removal was made in 1791, when Philip Nowell, a brother of the father of the subject of this sketch, was about four years of age.

Philip Nowell here attained to man's estate, and was engaged in general agricultural pur- suits until he became fifty years old, when he returned to Newburyport. After remaining in that city only a few years he came back to East Derry, where his decease occurred in 1872, at the venerable age of eighty-six years. He was an adherent of the Republican party in politics. In Mr. Philip Nowell's death the town of Derry lost one of its most worthy citizens, and a notice of his life is therefore justly and gratefully inserted in this sketch.

Nathaniel Nowell, second of the name, son of Nathaniel, first, and father of James Now-

ell, was born in Newburyport, and for many years in the earlier portion of his life followed the sea, being a captain of a vessel. Discon- tinuing that career, he retired to a farm in Derry, on which he passed the declining days of his life. He wedded Miss Mary Kennis- ton, a native of Stratham, N. H. Of their children only two, James and Samuel, now survive. In politics Mr. James Nowell's father was a member of the Whig party. He died April 15, 1843, and his wife in 1856. James Kenniston, Mrs. Mary K. Nowell's father, was a soldier in the Revolution for seven years.

James Nowell in his youth had the advan- tage only of the educational privileges fur- nished by the district schools of his native town. Though limited, these privileges were utilized, and, coupled with the instruction acquired through his practical experience, one of the most efficient of pedagogues, and united with the spirit of enterprise and pro- gressiveness, render him well informed and disciplined. He grew to manhood on the pa- ternal estate, and became thoroughly ac- quainted with the various lines of agricultural pursuits. He resided on his estate, success- fully engaged in its management until 1872, when he removed to East Derry, where he has since lived in retirement from the active duties and responsibilities of life and in the enjoy- ment of the fruit of his industry and thrift. In politics he is identified with the Republi- can party. Almost the entire length of Mr. Nowell's long life of over seventy-four years has been passed in the vicinity of the town- ship of Derry, and he has thus formed a very broad circle of intimate acquaintances. The manifold expressions of his character in word and deed have won for him the most cordial confidence and the warmest esteem of all his fellows, and it is earnestly hoped that many years more of life are yet in store for him.

J AMES D. P. WINGATE, editor and proprietor of the Exeter Gasette, was born in Exeter, April 2, 1855, son of Samuel Dana and Oriana (Mitchell) Wingate. The "History of the Wingate Family," edited by C. E. L. Wingate, man-

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aging editor of the Boston Journal, and pub- lished by his brother, James D. P., traces the family back to 1154, when Lord Hemyng de Wingate, one of the nobles of King Henry II., and who lived until 1189, was its repre- sentative. One of Lord Wingate's descend- ants, John Wingate, who was born in England about 1636, was a planter at Hilton's Point, now Dover, N. H., in 1658. The old home- stead on Dover Neck, still in the possession of the family, is occupied at present by Joseph William Wingate, of the sixth generation, who was born in 1827. James D. P. is the eighth in line from the English John Win- gate, being a descendant of the sixth son, Joshua. His great-grandfather, Paine Win- gate, of Stratham, N.H., was a clergyman of the Congregational church, a member of the New Hampshire legislature that met in the old house now known as the Perry house, United States Senator, and Judge of the Su- perior Court. The grandfather, John Win- gate, known as Deacon John Wingatc, was a well-to-do farmer, and died in 1831, in his fifty-first year. He was married in 1808 to Sally Piper, of Stratham, who, having lived eighty-four years, died in 1872. They had five daughters and five sons, of whom the fol- lowing are living: Sarah, now cighty-six years old, but still active and in possession of her faculties, the widow of Asa Pratt Park- man, of Palmyra, Me. ;. Anna H., seventy- nine years of age, the wife of John H. Gil- bert, of Ipswich, Mass .; George, seventy-five years of age, a resident of Stratham; Joseph C. A., sixty-five years of age, who was United States Consul at Swatow and Foo-Chow, China, for over a quarter of a century, now residing on the Wingate homestead at Strat- ham ; and Henry P., seventy-three years of age, a farmer of Stratham.

Samuel Dana Wingate, who was born in Stratham, December 23, 1826, spent the greater part of his life in Exeter, where he conducted a carriage manufactory. He was Registrar of Probate for a number of years, and was Pension Agent after the war. His death occurred in 1867, when he was forty-one years of age. On February 8, 1854, he was married to Oriana, daughter of Lewis and Fanny (Dearborn) Mitchell, of Exeter. They

reared five daughters and two sons. Both sons and three of the daughters are living in Exe- ter and Haverhill, Mass. On October 21, 1873, she was again married to James Monroe Lovering, a prominent politician, who was Collector of Internal Revenue for a while, and at the time of his death, in 1885, Ap- praiser in the United States custom-house at Boston. She lived to be sixty-onc, passing away October 1, 1895.

James D. P. Wingate received his cducation in the Exeter public schools, graduating with honors at the age of eighteen. He was but seventeen years of age when he published his first newspaper, the New Market Advertiser. This journal, a respectable weckly, is still published at New Market. In 1876 Mr. Win- gate established the Exeter Gasette, and for three years he managed both that and the Ad- vertiser. He then disposed of the latter paper, and has since confined his attention to the Gasctte. This journal, which started as a four-page shcet, has now eight pages and a circulation of three thousand copies, the ma- jority of the subscribers being residents of Rockingham County. Mr. Wingate is an able journalist, and keeps in step with the progress of the times. Besides conducting his own paper he is local reporter for the As- sociated Press and the Boston Journal. For some time he has been manager of the Exeter Opera House. In politics Mr. Wingate is a Republican. He has been a Justice of the Peace since he attained his majority.

On June 7, 1883, he was married to Helen Woodbury Locke, daughter of Woodbury and Jane (Smith) Locke, of Portsmouth. Mrs. Wingate, who is a very bright business woman, is also gifted with literary talent. She is the local correspondent for the Boston Daily Globe. The couple have two children - Helen, who was born May 25, 1885; and Dorothy, born April 12, 1896. They have a handsome residence on Maple Street, erected at the time of their marriage.

REDERICK J. SHEPARD, one of the leading financiers of Derry, N. H., the present cashier of the Derry National Bank, was born in Framingham, Mass., Au-

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gust 16, 1851, son of William H. and Rosina J. (Johnson) Shepard. The Shepard family is of Scotch-Irish origin. William H. Shepard, who was a New Hampshire man by birth, was engaged in the manufacture of woollens for a number of years. About 1857 he moved to a farm in East Derry, and there spent the rest of his life. He was an ambitious and ener- getic man, endowed with much nervous force, and sure to distinguish himself wherever he went. A member of the Republican party, he served as Selectman of Derry, represented the town in the State legislature, and was State Senator from the Londonderry district. He died in 1893. His wife, who was a native of New Hampshire, died in Derry in 1887.

Frederick J. Shepard, the only surviving child of his parents, was about six years of age when they removed to Derry. He re- ceived his education in the public schools of that town and at Pinkerton Academy. Reared on a farm, he devoted the greater part of his time to agricultural pursuits until 1882, when he was appointed Cashier of the Derry Na- tional Bank. In this position his natural aptitude for finance quickly developed, and in time he became connected with the most im- portant business enterprises of the town. He is now Treasurer of Pinkerton Academy, of the Derry Water-works Company, of the Derry Electric Light Company, of the Chester & Derry Railroad, running between Chester and Derry, of the Lafayette Mineral Spring Com - pany at Derry Depot, and of the Citizens' Building Association. While attending to all these offices, he has efficiently performed his duties at the National Bank for fourteen years. This institution, which is liberally patronized by the business public of Derry and the sur- rounding towns, has recently moved into a new building at Derry Depot, which is ad- mirably located, and fitted with all conven- iences for business.

Mr. Shepard was married in 1887 to Miss Annie E. Bartlett, a grand-daughter of Gen- cral Joseph Cilley, of Nottingham, N.H. He now has four sons - Frederick J., Allen B., Henry, and one not yet named. He is prominently interested in local politics, has been Secretary and President of the Republi- can Club of Derry, and he served for many

years as Town Treasurer. He is a thirty- second degree Mason, and belongs to the branch of the order at Nashua, N. H., and to Trinity Commandery of Knights Templars at Manchester, N. H. He is also a member of Echo Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, at Derry Depot, and of the Knights of Pythias at the same place. His remarkable skill in financial affairs has made him a most important factor in the business life of the town.

OSEPH CILLEY BURLEY, of Ep- ping, Rockingham County, who is prominently identified with all the leading enterprises and industries of this section of New Hampshire, was born in Epping on January 13, 1830. His parents were Captain Benjamin and Elizabeth Ann (Cilley) Burley. Giles Burley, the first American ancestor of this family, was living in Ipswich, Mass., as early as 1648. He be- longed to an English family of Saxon descent, which held high rank in the mother country for many generations. He was a commoner in 1664, and died before 1669.

James Burley, son of Giles and Elizabeth Burley, was born on February 10, 1659. His first wife, whom he married on May 25, 1685, was Rebecca, daughter of Thomas and Susan- nah (Worcester) Stacy, and grand-daughter of the Rev. Witham Worcester, of Salisbury. She died on October 21, 1686. Within seven years thereafter he married his second wife, Elizabeth ; and he shortly removed to Exeter, where he died about 1721. His son Thomas, born on April 5, 1697, was the father of Thomas, second, who was born on July 2, 1723, and married Sarah, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Gordon) Haley. She was a grand- daughter of Sergeant Haley, who was killed by the Indians near Fort Saco in 1695. Thomas Burley, second, died in Epping on June 1, 1805. His wife was born on August 10, 1725, and died December 2, 1809. Their son, Thomas Burley, third, was born on Au- gust 14, 1766, was a wealthy and influential farmer of Epping. He married first on July 21, 1798, Nancy, daughter of Captain Ben- jamin Hoit. She died in November, 1814;

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and he married on May 18, 1818, Mary, daugh- ter of Gordon and Mary (Prescott) Lawrence, and widow of Ezekiel Brown. Thomas Burley, third, died on May 15, 1847.

Captain Benjamin Burley, son of Thomas and Nancy (Hoit) Burley, and the father of the subject of this biographical sketch, was born on April 10, 1803. The Captain was a farmer, and also served efficiently in town and State offices. He was a noble-hearted, philan- thropic gentleman of the old school, who dealt kindly with the erring, and sought to ameliorate the condition of such as were unfort- unate from any causc. Being a great worker, with a high moral standard, he left an impress for good on the community. On November 7, 1826, he was united in marriage to Elizabeth Ann, daughter of Greenleaf and Jane (Neally) Cilley, of Nottingham, N.H. She was born on July 11, 1804. The Hon. Joseph Cilley, United States Senator from New Hampshire, and the Hon. Jonathan Cillcy, member of Congress from Maine, were her brothers. Mrs. Burley died on October 3, 1876, outliv- ing her husband fifteen years.

Joseph C. Burley, the only son of his par- ents, received the best education afforded by the schools of his native town, and gained in carly life the discipline which comes from hard labor. He began his business carcer in 1854 as station agent of the Boston & Mainc Railroad at New Market; but, owing to the death of his father, he subsequently returned home to look after the farm, and cheer his mother's declining years. When he was but twenty-one, he officiated as Superintending School Committee, having thus early mani- fested the character and abilities which won the esteem and confidence of his fellow-citi- zens. Mr. Burley was an ardent advocate and promoter of the Nashua & Rochester Railroad, being one of its organizers, and serving as a Director. He became interested in the New Market Bank in 1855, and in 1857 was chosen a Director. In 1865 the bank was organized as a national bank, Mr. Burley still serving as Director till 1878, when he was elected President, continuing in office till 1893, when he retired. He has also been President of the Epping Savings Bank since its organi- zation. In 1871 Mr. Burley entered into

partnership with the Hlon. Samuel Plummer Dow, and carried on extensive lumber deal- ings. Samuel P. Dow died in 1874, the pres- ent associate being Colonel Winthrop N. Dow, of Exeter. During a single winter the firm operated five steam mills, contracting to deliver five million feet of lumber within the year. Mr. Burley is a man of much business sagacity and insight, and of inflexible honor. His advice is much sought after to settle the thousand and one questions which arise in the perplexities of every-day life. He is a safe counsellor because he never acts without ma- ture deliberation. In all the various depart- ments of his extensive business he has shown that he is a man of rare executive genius. Prior to 1856 Mr. Burley was a Democrat ; but since that time he has acted with the Repub- licans, and has had great local influence within the ranks, having frequently bcen standard bearer in the town elections. He · has served as County Commissioner, being Chairman of the board three terms, also as Selectman, and as Representative to the legis- lature.

He was married on December 17, 1855, to Sarah Elizabeth Halcy, daughter of Samuel Haley, of Epping. Five children are the fruit of this union: Nannie, Harry Benjamin, Alice, Jennie, and Benjamin Thomas. Nan- nie, born October 5, 1857, married Harry Walter, son of Wallace and Kate B. (George) Burleigh, of Franklin, and resides with her husband near the Webster farm in that town. Harry Benjamin, born May 26, 1867, was ad- mitted in 1882 to the Chandler Scientific School of Dartmouth College, and after one year entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, graduating in the class of 1889. The three daughters - Nannic; Alice, who was born September 23, 1870; and Jennie, born September 10, 1872 - arc graduates of Dean Academy, Franklin, Mass. Alice is also a graduate of the Emerson School of Oratory, Boston. Benjamin Thomas Burley, who was born November 26, 1874, is now a Senior at Harvard, class of 1897.

Mr. Burley owns the fine farm of two hun- dred and sixty-five acres in Epping formerly occupied by his great-grandfather, Thomas Burley. The old dwelling-house still stands

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a few rods north of the present residence, which is an attractive building of modern architecture and appointments. Mr. Burley has a keen sense of humor, is good-natured and magnetic, and has won many friends, who de- light in his companionship. He is a member of the Nottingham Universalist church, and consistently shows his faith by his works. He has a congenial helpmate in his good wife, who is a woman of ready sympathy and wise counsel.

RANK LEWIS KEYES, of Ports- mouth, N. H., a hero of the late war, whose bravery in action cost him the use of his limbs, and whose endurance through long years of suffering is almost without par- allel, was born in Lee, Mass., August 31, 1832. His parents were Veranus and Mary Grant (Lewis) Keyes. His great-grandfather, Abner Keyes, first, was the youngest son of Ezekiel Keyes, of Chelmsford, Mass., and a great-grandson of Solomon Keyes, an early settler of Newbury, Mass.

Abner Keyes, first, was in Captain Fletcher's company in an expedition to Can- ada in 1758 during the French and Indian War; and he also fought in the Revolutionary War. He and his wife, whose maiden name was Mary Shedd, reared nine daughters and two sons. He died at the home of his son Abner in 1819. The second Abner was born in Hollis, N. H., in 1781. The greater part of his active life was devoted to the pursuit of agriculture in Hancock, N. H., where he died February 12, 1837. He married Susanna Barton, who bore him twelve children. His only daughter, Ruth, married State Senator Hiram Monroe, of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. Corydon D., the seventh son, studied and practised medicine. served as a soldier in the Civil War, in the Sixteenth New Hampshire Regiment, and died at Baton Rouge, La., in June, 1863.

Veranus Keyes, another son of Abner, sec- ond, was born in Hancock, N. H., September 22, 1813, and in his boyhood attended the common schools and the high school of his native town. Ile carly learned the paper- maker's trade, which at that time required

more art and skill in the individual workmen than now, the paper being made one sheet at a time; and, when improved machinery was introduced, he was one of the first men sent out to set up the new machines in different factories. He worked for many years in the Newton (Mass.) paper-mills, which were owned by the late ex-Governor Rice, of Mas- sachusetts. Mr. Veranus Keyes died April I, 1896. He found more than a livelihood in the paper-mills; for the sweet face of Mary Lewis won his heart, and he took her from the noisy factory to preside over his quiet home. She was a daughter of Ephraim Lewis, of Pittsfield, Mass., and was of English descent, her great-grandfather Lewis being a British officer, whose ship was sunk in Boston Harbor at the time of the Revolutionary troubles. Mr. and Mrs. Veranus Keyes reared three children - Frank Lewis, the subject of this sketch; Susan Ellen; and Mary Flora O. Susan E. Keyes married Andrew J. Varnum, of Antrim, N. H., by whom she had three chil- dren. Of these one, John L., is living. The two eldest, Charles and Mary F., were drowned. Mrs. Varnum also lost her first husband; and she is now the wife of G. W. Wesson, of Ashland, N.H., by whom she has one daughter, Flora M. Mary F. O. Keyes, who was born September 21, 1846, died in February, 1893. She was the wife of Arthur Porter, of North Adams, Mass., and the mother of three children, two of whom, Willie and Frank, are living.

Frank Lewis Keyes received his early edu- cation in the schools of Nashua, N.H., and attended evening school for some time after going to work. He learned the carriage maker's trade, at which he was working when the panic of 1857 caused a depression in the business; and he then entered the employ of Prescott Brothers, piano manufacturers, of Concord, N.II., He remained with this firm until the breaking out of the war, when he enlisted, responding to President Lincoln's first call for troops, and being one of the men mustered in during the first week. He was enrolled as a private in the First New Hamp- shire Regiment for three months; and, when the first call for three years' men was made, he re-enlisted as a member of Company B,

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Sharp's Rifle Corps, Second New Hampshire Volunteers, being one of the first men to re- enlist on the first evening after the call. The Second New Hampshire was one of the first three-year regiments. Mr. Keyes enlisted the first week of June, and was commissioned by the governor to take out the men of the First Regiment who were on furlough and sick leave, being commissioned First Lieu- tenant and ranking as Captain. He was in the first battle of Bull Run, and was afterward on special duty for some time, being finally assigned to the secret service and signal corps under Major Myer. He was one of the three messengers specially chosen by General Mc- Clellan to convey important despatches to Washington during the Peninsular Campaign ; and at three different times he ran the gaunt- let of the enemy's fire, carrying despatches to the gunboats in the James River. During the terrific slaughter of Malvern Hill, July 1, 1862, a bursting shell struck his horsc. The animal in his death agony reared and fell over on his rider, crushing him to the ground, where he was pinned for five hours, from four until nine p.M., the battle in the mean time raging about him. The firing ceascd some time after dark; but Mr. Keyes was left for two days in the wheat-field where he fell, with a steady rain beating upon him. The shock of his fall deprived him of consciousness, delirium followed, and he has no recollection of ensning events until he found himself in a hospital in Philadelphia. He was taken from the field of Malvern Hill to Harrison's Land- ing in a hospital ship, and thence to the Quaker City. After being received at the hospital, his muscles contracted until his knees were drawn up to within a foot of his chin, and his feet and hands were drawn out of shape. He was in the hospital over four months; and, though he received the best of care and medi- cal treatment, General McClellan himself vis- iting him, and seeing that all that was possible should be done, and Dr. Hammond, the head surgeon, paying him a personal visit, he im- proved but little. As a last resort, he was taken to the Hon. Henry C. Carey's private residence, where physicians not connected with the hospital were called to see him; but the unanimous verdict was that he was past

help, and had better be taken home. Accord- ingly, he was conveyed by steamship to Bos- ton, from there by easy stages to his father's home in Antrim, N.H., and thence to Con- cord Mr. Keyes was in bed in a sitting posi- tion for ten years, and now moves about in a wheel-chair. He is confined to the house in winter, but in summer enjoys a ride, having made a carriage for himself.

He was married, November 1, 1854, to Miss Eliza Hay, who died April 9, 1860. She was the mother of two children: Willie P. ; and Harry, who died in early childhood. Mr. Keyes was again married August 1, 1866, Miss Almena P. Quimby becoming his wife. She is the daughter of Nicholas Quimby, of Danville, N.H., and the sister of Professor E. T. Quimby, of Dartmouth College.

Mr. Keycs voted in 1860 for President Lin- coln, his last vote; for he has not visited the polls since. As a Mason, he is an honorary member of Blazing Star Lodge, No. 1I, of Concord, the only honorary member of that order; and he and his wife belong to Eastern Star Chapter, No. 5. He was made a member of E. E. Sturdevant Post, Union Veterans' Union, Grand Army of the Republic, of Con- cord, N. H., while bedridden, the comrades gathering at his home for the mustering in ceremonies, and was commissioned aide-de- camp to John H. Roberts, with the rank of Colonel.

OHN DURELL MEADER, a respected resident of New Market, was born in Durham, N. H., July 16, 1824. He is a lineal descendant of John Mcader, born in 1630 in Yorkshire, England, who emigrated to this country in 1650. He had a grant of land in 1656, lived at Oyster River, was taxed 1661-67. The garrison at that place was destroyed in 1694. He was alive about 1711-12. Ile married Abigail Follet, and their children were: first, an infant, name unknown; Elizabeth, born March 26, 1665 ; John, Jr., born 1667; Sarah, born January II, 1669; Nathaniel, born January 14, 1671; Nicholas, the date of whose birth is unknown ; and Joseph: (This last on the authority of tradition. )

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Biographical review; this volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Rockingham County, New Hampshire, Part 58

Author: Publication date: 1896 Publisher: Boston [Mass.] Biographical review pub. co. Number of Pages: 658

Author:
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Boston [Mass.] Biographical review pub. co.
Number of Pages: 658