USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Book of biographies. This volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Grafton County, New Hampshire > Part 10
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WILLIAM M. KELSEA, the subject of this personal history, is one of Lisbon's most re- spected citizens, and is at present officiating as its town clerk. Born in the town of Landaff, he was educated in Lisbon, and taught several terms of school, at the same time following the pursuit of agriculture; up to the age of forty he was engaged in the latter calling, and proved himself perfectly familiar with all the minutiae and detail, the knowledge of which goes so far in making the successful farmer. His next pursuit was the manufacture of piano sounding boards, bridges, bars, etc., for the Parker-Young Company, of Lisbon, N. H., continuing in that line of work until 1895, since which time he has withdrawn himself somewhat from the busy world of labor.
Mr. Kelsea was born March 3, 1826, and is a son of William and Betsey (Kimball) Kelsea, and a grandson of William Kelsea, Sr. The
first William Kelsea, whom we shall mention, the grandfather of our subject, was a native of Lon- donderry, N. H., thence moved to Center Har. bor, later moving to Haverhill, N. H., where he carried on a flourishing business as a manufac- turer of spinning wheels. He then moved to Landaff, about 1800, continuing his business, and also owned and operated a large farm, and in the latter part of his life relinquished his manufacturing business to his sons, and devoted his entire attention to the farm and agricultural pursuits. His father was Hugh Kelsea, who was of Scotch and Irish extraction, and came to this country from the north of Scotland, settling in Londonderry, N. H. William Kelsea mar- ried Phebe Ladd of Piermont, N. H., and to them were born ten children, who grew to ma- turity, of whom but three now survive: John H .: Benjamin F .; and Emily (Mrs. Jehiel Knapp). Religiously, he favored the doctrines of the Methodist Church. He was a Whig in politics, and a very prominent man of his day; he served his town as selectman, and as representative. He was commonly known as Capt. William Kel- sea, by reason of the commission he held in the State militia.
William Kelsea, the father of the subject of this sketch, was educated in the schools of Lis- bon, and followed the pursuits of agriculture all his life in Landaff; by his careful habits of in- dustry, and by his superior management, he be- came prosperous, and a leader in his circle of acquaintances. He was a Republican, and held the office of selectman two years in the town of Landaff; in the old State militia, before its re- organization, he was a drum-major. His wife, who was a daughter of Jonathan Kimball of Landaff, N. H., bore him six children, namely: William M., the subject of this notice; Amanda M., deceased; Jane E .; Jonathan K., deceased; Martha P., deceased; Sarah M., deceased. He was an attendant of the M. E. Church of Lisbon, N. H., and gave liberally of his means to its sup- port.
Our subject was married, in 1851, Nov. 25, to Martha Clough, daughter of Abner Clough of Bath, N. H. Eight children have been born to them, as follows: Lucia F .; Fred H .; Martha J .; Ellen M .; Nettie L .; Willie A .; Frank S .; and George M. Mr. Kelsea is an attendant of the M. E. Church of Lisbon, N. H.
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, GRAFTON COUNTY.
Mrs. Kelsea died the 23d of Feb., 1891.
Mr. Kelsea is firm in his allegiance to the Republican party; he was elected in the spring of 1889 to the office of town clerk; he has also served as collector of taxes since 1890, and has held a commission as justice of the peace for the same length of time; for several years he was district clerk. Socially, he is a member of the Golden Grange, No. 73, of Lisbon, N. H., in which organization he holds the office of sec- retary.
VAN B. GLAZIER, a veteran of the late war and farmer of Landaff, Grafton Co., N. H., was born in Haverhill, N. H., Feb. 9, 1842, and is a son of Aaron P. and Hannah (Royce) Glazier, the former of Troy, Vt., and the latter of Lan- daff, N. H.
The history of our subject begins properly with that of his great-grandfather. Aaron P. Glazier, who came to this country with two of his brothers from England a short time previous to the War of the Revolution. He became a soldier in the American army, serving in the ca- pacity of a blacksmith, which was his trade. An interesting relic still in the possession of the Glazier family is the anvil on which he worked. After the war he settled in Weathersfield, Vt. He married Orphia Belknap, and to them were born the following children: James, Ephraim, Sophia, and Betsey. Aaron P. Glazier rounded out his career with seventy-six years, dying May 5, 1833; his wife passed away six days later, May II, 1833, aged seventy-seven.
James Glazier, the eldest son of Aaron, and grandfather of our subject, was born June 27, 1784, in Weathersfield, Vt., and was educated in the schools of his native town. He served in the war of 1812, working like his father at the trade of a blacksmith, using the very same anvil that had seen service in the Revolution. He was present at the engagement between the Ameri- cans and the English at Plattsburgh, on Lake Champlain, lying between the States of New York and Vermont. He married Sally Parker, a native of Irasburgh, Vt .; their union was blessed with eight children, who were as follows: Zenas, born April 16, 1806; Orphia, Sept. 22, 1807; Aaron P., July 12, 1810; Nathaniel P.,
Sept. 29, 1812; Sarah B., Nov. 22, 1815; Luke C., Dec. 19, 1818; Janes, July 13, 1823; Mary C., Aug. 19, 1827. The death of Mr. Glazier took place June 16, 1860; his wife died Dec. 5, 1856, aged seventy-one years.
Aaron P. Glazier, our subject's father, was born in Troy, Vt., July 12, 1810, and attended school in that town in his boyhood days. About the year 1833 he purchased a lumber mill in North Haverhill, and in 1835 he went to Mobile, Ala., where he was offered the position of super- intendent of a saw-mill. He remained there only about two years, and then, preferring New Hampshire hills with bracing air and lovely scenery to the cotton fields and bayous of the South, he returned to the Granite State, where he purchased a farm in Center Haverhill and followed farming as long as his strength would permit. Politically he was a Democrat, and held the offices of tax collector and justice of the peace. He was of a critical and judicial temper- ament, and his decision not only in matters of law, but also in regard to things that were not brought into court, was much sought after. He married Aug. 19, 1832, Hannah Royce, and to him and his good wife were born seven children: Parker, Henry A., Sarah B., Van B., Ruth F., Mary A., Lizzie S. The mother belonged to the Baptist Church; the father died Oct. 6, 1878, and the mother passed away to the lands of peace and rest Nov. 1, 1873.
Our subject had just finished his education in the district schools of Haverhill, when the war broke out. He at once, animated by the ex- ample of grandfather and great-grandfather, en- listed for the preservation of the Union. He be- came a member of Co. G., 2nd Reg. N. H. Vol. Inf., Ist Brigade of the 2nd Division of the 3rd Army Corps. He served from April 24, 1861, until he was discharged Feb. 9, 1863, for dis- abilities. He was engaged in all of the battles, in which his company participated during that time. Mr. Glazier has lived in Landaff ever since 1870, when he bought a farmi and settled down to an agricultural life. Politically, he is a Republican, and has served as selectman.
He married Lavinia Young, daughter of Archimedes Young, Aug. 27, 1865, and to them have been born three children. Julia E. is a teacher of drawing in the school of Lisbon. Hattie E. is assistant teacher of mathematics in
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, GRAFTON COUNTY.
Mt. Holyoke . College, South Hadley, Mass. Murray R. graduated from the High School of Lisbon in 1892 and is engaged in teaching. Mr. Glazier and wife are Methodists, and also Hattie E. Murray R. is a member of the Congrega- tional Church.
He is also a prominent Mason, belonging to Kane Lodge, No. 64, of Lisbon, N. H .; Franklin Chapter, No. 5 of Lisbon; he has held all the im- portant chairs with the exception of master of the lodge. He is also a member of St. Girard Commandery of Littleton, N. H. In G. A. R. circles Mr. Glazier is well and favorably known as a hard worker in the interests of that order. He is a member of Col. Emery Post, No. 23 of Lisbon, and has held all the important offices. He was a delegate to the National Encampment of 1896, which was held in St. Paul, Minn., and was honored with the position of aide-de-camp on the staff of the National Commander. He is also a justice of the peace, his commission dat- ing from the year 1895.
NATHAN S. KNIGHT, a popular passenger conductor in the employ of the B. & M. R. R., with headquarters at Woodsville, N. H., was born in Jefferson, N. H., April 20, 1849. He is a son of Isaac and Hannah (Holmes) Knight of Jefferson.
The great-grandfather of the subject of this brief memoir was an Englishman; he came to this country in that period of life when all things wear the roseate hue of promise. He settled in the State of New Hampshire, where he followed agricultural pursuits throughout the active part of his life, dying at an advanced age.
His son was born in Plainfield, N. H., and was a farmer, as was his father; he was very promi- nent among the men of his neighborhood. In politics he was a Whig. He reared a family of eight children, namely: Abraham, Cheever, John, Lysander, Isaac, Abner, David, and a daughter, who died in infancy. In his religious affiliations the grandfather of our subject was a Congregationalist.
Isaac Knight, the fifth child and the father of Nathan S. Knight, was born in Plainfield, N. H., and was educated in the common schools of his
native town, learning the carpenter's trade when a young man; he followed this trade for a living for a number of years, then turning his attention to agriculture, he became one of the leading farmers of his vicinity. He was a Republican in politics, and although taking a keen, intelligent interest of the political issues of the day, he never sought public office. He married Hannah Holmes, and to them were born eight children, viz .: Isaac E., Hannah C., Nathan S., the sub- ject of this notice, Charles W., William H., Azero; and Nellie, and Mannassah, who are no longer hving. The father of this fine family of children died about the year 1870; his wife passed away in 1868. They were Congregation- alists in religious belief.
Nathan S. Knight, upon completing his edu- cation at the age of eighteen, began work in a mill, then operated by E. C. Garland of Lan- caster, N. H., where he remained one year, leaving to work in the same capacity for J. B. Brown of Maidstone, Vt., the work being a manufacture of lumber and laths. Later he re- moved to Whitefield, N. H., there entering the employ of Brown's Lumber Co., continuing in their service for eight years, and was known as one of the most faithful and efficient of em- ployees. He then entered the service of the Boston, Concord & Montreal R. R. as brake- man; the road is now generally known as the Boston & Maine. After "braking" for two years he was advanced to the position of baggage master, working in that capacity for about three years. He was then promoted to a position as conductor on a way freight, and soon after was made a conductor on a passenger run, a position he still retains. In all he has put in about six- teen years of faithful service for the railroad company. He received a painful accident when on duty Nov. 20, 1890, from which he has never fully recovered. He was passing from the con- ductor's salon to the main train while the train was in motion, and was caught and thrown to the ground by a cattle-guard, injuring his spine. In politics he is a stanch Republican.
He was married March 6, 1871, to Vina R., daughter of Silas and Hannah (Ware) Hubbard, natives of Whitefield, N. H. Their union has been blessed by the birth of two children: Fred M., born Nov. 20, 1878; and a child, that died in infancy. Fred M. Knight is now in the em-
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, GRAFTON COUNTY.
ploy of Barton & Co. of Manchester, N. H. Our subject belongs to the I. O. O. F., Moosehillock Lodge, No. 25 of Woodsville, and Littleton En- campment, No. 26, of Littleton, N. H., and to Grand Canton Albion, No. 4, of Woodsville, N. H. He is also a member of the Order of Railway Conductors of Lyndonville, Vt. Re- ligiously, both he and his wife are attendants of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Woodsville. Mr. Knight is a man of standing in his com- munity, whose opinions are regarded with re- spect, and whose position in society is commen- surate with his many acknowledged qualities. His views are always decided and expressed with the fearlessness of one who feels he is right and is not afraid to maintain his position.
FRANK W. DAVISON, senior member of the firm of Davison & Ward, leading clothiers of the town of Hanover, N. H., is the son of William H. Davison, and a grandson of William Davison, who was born in the adjoining town of Lyme, N. H., where he grew up and spent his life at the vocation of farming. He married Cynthia Bixby; they both died about the age of seventy. Five children, as follows, composed their family: William H., Lydia (Dimmick), Eliza, Cynthia (Dimmick), and Chester.
William H. Davison was born on the old homestead in Lyme, and succeeded to the own- ership of it after his father's death, and farmed it until two years before his death, which he spent in Hanover, dying at the age of fifty-six. He married Almira Hurlbutt, daughter of Al- pheus Hurlbutt of Hanover; she was born in 1819, and is still living in the town of Hanover. But three children were born to them: Henry, who died at the age of eighteen, and Frank W., the subject of this personal history; and George R., who died in infancy. William H. Davison was a strong Republican, and a hard worker for its interests; he served as selectman for Lyme several years, and represented the town in the State Legislature.
Frank W. Davison was born in the town of Lyme, Sept. 25, 1850; his education he obtained in the district schools of Lyme and Hanover, and in Meriden Academy. At the age of sixteen he began to support himself, and in 1872
opened up in business at Lebanon, N. H., where lie was associated in business with a part- ner for a year in mercantile lines. After that he embarked in the shoe business a short time, and then ran a grocery store for three years. In 1877 Mr. Davison came to Hanover, and with Mr. J. E. Lincoln opened a general store; this arrangement continued undisturbed for four years to the mutual benefit of both parties. When they dissolved partnership Mr. Davison conducted his business alone until 1896, when he took in Mr. Ward as a partner. In addition to his business interests in the store, our sub- ject handles coal, and has been in that line of trade since 1890; he also owns and oversees a farm. He is a first-class, wide-awake business man, and thoroughly conversant with the re- quirements of his line of business; his store is at all times well-stocked with a carefully se- lected line of goods, that meet the approval of the most fastidious.
Mr. Davison was joined in wedlock, in 1872. to Emily Foster, daughter of Caleb Foster of Hanover; they have one son, Frank F. Mr. Davison is a Republican, and votes the straight ticket. He is a member of the Good Samaritan Lodge, No. 75, I. O. O. F. He is a director of the Dartmouth National Bank, and a trustee of the Dartmouth Savings Bank.
KIMBALL F. WOODMAN, a respected farmer and citizen of Bath, N. H., was born in West Thornton, N. H., July 8, 1833, and is a son of Nathaniel and Betsey (Kimball) Woodman, grandson of Jacob Woodman. The grandfather of our subject was an Englishman and came to this country in search of his fortune in the broad and inviting prospect of a virgin and unde- veloped soil. He made the journey in the first bloom of young manhood, and selected a resi- dence in Durham, Mass., where he bought a farm and busied himself in the cultivation of its broad acres. He served as a soldier in the War of 1812 and received the title of colonel in recog- nition of his valuable military services. In poli- tics, by his sympathies he was originally a Tory : when the great American parties had been formed he became a Democrat, continuing till the day of his death in the party, whose leaders
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, GRAFTON COUNTY.
were Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Andrew Jackson; he would never accept any office of any nature, no matter how great a pressure was brought to bear and how many inducements, were offered. His wife bore him the following children: Alexander, Ira, Joseph, Charles, Bet- sey, Caroline, Mary Ann, and Nathaniel, the father of our subject. In religious belief the family were honored members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Nathaniel Woodman was born on the home- stead in Durham, Mass., in 1807, and was en- abled to secure a quite liberal education for those times in the common schools and the Academy of Durham. He learned the trade of a currier and shoemaker, and when about twenty years of age moved with his parents to West Thornton, N. H. He remained in that place but a short time, removing from there to Bath, where he purchased a farm, which he operated in connection with his trade. He died in 1882. He was actively connected with the State of New Hampshire Militia and held a commission as captain. He joined his fortunes with those of Betsey, daughter of Isaac and Bet- sey Jane Kimball, both natives of West Rumney. As a result of this union there were born to them the following children: Betsey J., Emily E., Lyman W., Martha, an infant who died while a babe, and Kimball F., the subject of this short memoir. In his political views Nathaniel Wood- man was a Democrat. The family attended the M. E. Church. He died in 1880. Mrs. Kimball died in 1876, aged sixty-five years.
.
Kimball F. Woodman, after the period of his youth had passed, in which he obtained a good education in the schools of Bath, hired out at the age of nineteen as a farm hand. At a later period he went into business in company with his father, being engaged in the manufacture of spokes, hubs, and felloes, and other wagon and sleigh stock. He continued in this industry until 1880, when he found that indoor work was making serious inroads on his constitution, and accordingly purchased a farm, and has ever since devoted his time to agricultural pursuits. He is also a Democrat, like his father and grand- father . before him. In 1857 he married Susan H., daughter of Benjamin and Ellen B. (Goey) Hutchins, natives of Plattsburgh, N. Y. Three children have blessed their union: Sarah L.,
Frank K., and Charles B. Sarah L. married Charles Kimball of Bath, and has four children : Emma, Willis, Warren, and Lewis. Frank K. Woodman's sketch appears on another page of this volume. Charles B. is the proprietor of the Parker House in the village of Woodsville, N. H. The family are attendants of the M. E. Church.
JOHN KING, an agriculturist, who is en- gaged at his vocation on his farm at the base of Bear Hill, in the south part of the town of Lyme, was born in the town of Euphratah, Ful- lerton Co., N. Y., Nov. 12, 1849.
His father, John King, Sr., was born in Ire- land, County Tyrone, of Scotch-Irish parentage; he was married in his native place, a few years before he emigrated to the United States, to Mary Starr, who died in this country at their home in Fullerton County, N. Y., Jan. 12, 1864, aged forty-four years. Seven children were born to them, as follows: Peter, living in Fullerton County, N. Y .; Sarah (Caffrey), who lives in the State of Iowa; John, Jr., the subject of this per- sonal history; Susan, the wife of Mr. Ryan, a wheelwright of Syracuse, N. Y .; Mary, de- ceased; Charles, who lives in his native county in New York; and James, who also lives in Ful- lerton County, N. Y. The two eldest children were born in Ireland; John was born a short time after the arrival of his parents in this coun- try.
Our subject made his home in Fullerton County till about 1878, attending the district schools off and on until he was twenty years old. From the time when he was sixteen he received all the money he earned, and supported himself. The first work he did on his own account away from home was in the northern woods, peeling hemlock bark at seventy-five cents a day; he was gone but a week, and thought he had been away from his mother and home for a month, so slow did the time pass. He worked near home a few years, and then returned to the northern regions, where he peeled bark in the summer, and worked in lumbering camps in the winter. He raised a yoke of steers, and employed every winter from September till the snow melted in the spring in hauling logs. In the fall of 1878
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, GRAFTON COUNTY.
he came to New Hampshire, to work in the tim- ber near Mt. Washington; he was in that locality for a year and a half, the last year of which period he was working in a pulp mill of a paper manufacturing company. He then went over to the copper mines at V'ershire, \'t., and worked four years and a half; while living at Ely he was married. In 1883 he came to the town of Lyme, and purchased his present farm of 300 acres, where he makes dairying his principal occupation and source of income. He is also interested in poultry raising, and keeps a large flock of well-selected strains.
Mr. King was married Nov. 13, 1880, at Ely, \'t .. to Matilda Suitor of Broughton, Province of Quebec, a daughter of David and Mary (Mc- Keage) Suitor; Mrs. King was the eldest of thir- teen children born to her parents. Three chil- dren, of whom only the youngest is living, have been born to our subject and his wife; the record is: John Allen, deceased; Matilda, deceased; and Lucy Mabel, who was born Aug. 24, 1896. Mr. and Mrs. King are both members of the Baptist Church of Lyme Center. Mr. King is a Mason, and holds a membership in Jackson Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 6, of Ely, Vt. He is a Republican, and has been road surveyor one vear. His older brother, Peter, was in the 153rd Reg. N. Y. Vol. Inf. in the late war, and lost a leg at the Battle of Winchester. An uncle, now a pensioner of the English Crown, was twenty- one years in the English army as sergeant, and saw much service in the East Indies.
HON. TYLER WESTGATE, Judge of Pro- bate, living in Haverhill, N. H., was born the eldest son of his parents at Enfield, N. H., Dec. 2, 1843. He was educated at Haverhill Academy and at Kimball Union Academy at Meriden, N. HI., graduating from the latter institution in the Class of 1864. He filled the office of assistant clerk of the Supreme Court of Grafton Co. from April 11, 1865, to April 1, 1871, and was Regis- trar of the Court of Probate for Grafton Co. from April 7. 1871, to July, 1874, and from Aug. 1. 1876, to June 30, 1879. He was also clerk of the sessions of the New Hampshire Senate of 1876 and '77. He was appointed Postmaster at Haverhill, April 1, 1881, and performed the
duties of that office until Oct. 1. 1885. He was again made Registrar of the Court of Probate of Grafton Co. in July, 1889, and held it until Feb. 20, 1890, when he was appointed Judge of the Court of Probate, a position he now holds. He is eminently fitted for his present position, for his whole life has been a training for it, as he was register in the Court, in which he now officiates as the leading functionary, for about seven years, besides holding many other official positions.
Mr. Westgate married, Aug. 30, 1881, Lucretia M. Sawyer of Malone, N. Y .; she departed this life Jan. 16, 1884, leaving no issue. Judge West- gate married as his second wife Phoebe J. Bean of Limington, Me., who passed away Jan. 28, 1894, leaving two daughters as a precious legacy to her husband: Louise Bean, the elder, was born July 17, 1890; Elsie May was born April 18, 1892.
Judge Westgate is a son of Nathaniel W. Westgate and Louisa Tyler. Nathaniel W. West- gate was a grandson of John Westgate, who came from Tiverton, Rhode Island, to Plainfield, N. H., about the year 1778, and lived there, en- gaged in agricultural pursuits till his death, which occurred in his ninetieth year. He married Grace Church, who was a lineal descendant of Capt. Benjamin Church, distinguished in King Philip's War; she died at Plainfield, N. H., at the age of ninety-six. To them were born eleven children, of whom our subject's grandfather. Earl Westgate, was onc.
Earl Westgate married Elizabeth Waite, of Hubbardstown, Mass., a daughter of Nathaniel and Anna (Suitzer) Waite; they gathered about them a family of three children, of whom Nath- aniel W. Westgate was the youngest.
The father of our subject received his educa- tion at Kimball Union Academy at Meriden, N. H., and studied law under Charles Flanders, Esq., at Plainfield, N. H. He was admitted to the practice of the legal profession in Newport, in the autumn of 1827, and immediately located in Enfield, N. H., and for nearly thirty years continued to reside there, enjoying a lucrative practice before the courts of Grafton and Sulli- van counties. He was appointed to the office of Registrar of Probate for Grafton Co., in July, 1856, and thereupon took up his residence in Haverhill in September of that year. From Reg- istrar he advanced to Judge of the Probate
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