USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Book of biographies. This volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Grafton County, New Hampshire > Part 39
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Mr. Tilton was joined in marriage June 30, 1891, to Mary Williamine George, a native of Alexandria, N. H., and a daughter of Isaac K. and Belle A. (Simonds) George, Jr .; her father was born in Sutton, N. H., and her mother in Carlyle, Mass. Isaac K. George, Sr., the grand- father of our subject's wife, was the son of Levi and Eunice (Walworth) George. Levi was born in Canaan, and was the son of one of three brothers who came from England and settled in Taunton, Mass. Eunice Walworth was born in Hillsboro, N. H. The mother of Mrs. S. D. Tilton, Belle A. Simonds, was the daughter of William and Mary (Pattee) Simonds. William
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Simonds was born in Alexandria, N. H., May 4, 1794, and died in 1840, near Carlyle, Mass., where he followed farming many years. He was the son of John and Isabel (McMurphy) Simonds; John Simonds was the son of Ebenezer Simonds, a farmer, who, with his three brothers, was one of the early settlers of Alexandria, N. H. He married Mary Greene of Concord, N. H. Isabel McMurphy, mentioned above, was the daughter of John McMurphy, a farmer. Mary Pattee, the wife of William Simonds, was born Jan. 2, 1804, and is a daughter of William and Judith (Worthen) Pattee, Jr. William Pattee, Jr., is a son of William Pattee, Sr., a native of England, dying in Alexandria, N. H .; he mar- ried Nancy Hyde of Londonderry, Mass .; she died in Alexandria. His son, William Pattee, Jr., was born in Alexandria about 1775, and died in 1821. Judith Worthen was born in Bristol, and is a daughter of Samuel Worthen, who mar- ried a Miss Inglis.
Mrs. Simonds, now in her ninety-third year, is hale and hearty, and active in her habits; her mind is clear and sound as one forty years her junior. She is of a cheerful disposition, and thoroughly enjoys life in her old age. Her mem- ory is of the best; she remembers distinctly the War of 1812; recollects very clearly the scenes attending the recruiting of the soldiers. She is one of nine children born to her parents, eight of them living to maturity; at the present time the only survivor is a sister, who is in her eighty- fourth year. Three children have been born to Mrs. Simonds, of whom Mrs. Tilton, our sub- ject's wife, is the second. The record is: Charles E., an attorney; Mary W. (Tilton); Lewis E., who is in business with his father in Woodsville. Mrs. Tilton was reared near Bristol, attending in her youthful days the common schools of Bris- tol. Later on she took a two years' course in the State Normal School at Plymouth, and a three years' course in Newbury Academy. Having finished her education she taught in the schools of Grafton Co. To Mr. and Mrs. Tilton have been born two children: George Dana and Blanche Laura. Mrs. Tilton is an attendant of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Tilton is a member of Moosehillock Lodge, No. 25, I. O. O. F .; and Cheswick Lodge, No. 66, K. of P. In politics Mr. Tilton is a Republican, and never loses an opportunity to endorse any action of the party.
DR. EDWARD M. TUCKER, of Canaan, N. H., well known among the leading physicians and surgeons of the county, was born in Spring- vale, town of Sanford, York Co., Me., April 22, 1840. He is a son of John and Eliza (Hussey) Tucker, grandson of Ezra and Judith (Burbank) Tucker, and great-grandson of Nathan Tucker, who was born in Salisbury, N. H., a farmer by occupation, and the parent of sixteen children.
Our subject's grandfather was born in Salis- bury, N. H., and early in life settled in the town of Grafton, Grafton Co., N. H., taking up a farm near the center of the town, where he followed farming all his days, and died at the age of eighty-eight. He was an inveterate hunter and trapper, and there seemed to him to be no sport like fox hunting; many a fox hunter was wel- comed to his cheer and hospitality. He was a Democrat in politics. His wife, who was a daughter of Jonathan Burbank, a Revolutionary soldier, of Boscawen, lived to be eighty-seven years old. They had twelve children, namely: John, Lydia, George, Daniel, Martha, Oliver, Nathan, Alice, Elsie, Sophronia, Mary, and Judith.
John Tucker was born in the town of Salis- bury, and married Eliza Hussey in Dover, N. H., daughter of John Hussey, a sea captain. Early in life Mr. Tucker entered the employ of the Cocheco Manufacturing Co .; beginning at the very bottom, he worked up to the top by patient endeavor and faithful service, becoming super- intendent of the finishing room; he was still in the employ of this firm when his days were abruptly cut short at the age of forty-two, by a fatal stroke of apoplexy. His wife lived to be seventy-five years and one day old; she was a woman of many noble qualities, with a word of good cheer, and with a smile of a heart tender toward suffering and wrong, she accomplished well the work given her to do, and reared her children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord to live useful, honorable lives. The chil- dren were named as follows: Mary E., George H., Edward M., Sarah J., John, and Mary E.
Edward M., the subject of this sketch, after attending the district schools, became a student under Dr. L. G. Hill of Dover until the outbreak of the war. In 1861 he enlisted in Battery C., Massachusetts Light Artillery, and was wounded Sept. 20, 1862, in the engagement at Shepards-
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town1, Va., after escaping all injury in several other severe battles. He was taken to the hos- pital at Philadelphia, Penn., where after a partial recovery, sufficient for him to be able to get around, he was discharged from the service for disability. When fully recovered so as to be able to pass the examination of the surgeons, he re- enlisted in 1864, and was assigned to the 24th Veteran Reserve Corps, being appointed hospital steward, and serving in that capacity until 1865. In December of that year he was appointed by Gen. U. S. Grant hospital steward in the regular army, and served until December, 1871, during which time he had taken two courses of lectures at the Medical University of Georgetown, D. C. In 1872 he entered the Medical Department of Bowdoin College, from which he graduated in July, 1872, and decided upon Canaan as a fit place to open up a practice. This decision was taken, because he wished to locate in as healthy a climate as possible ; and as nothing pleased him more than to be able to see each day the beauti- ful scenery of mountains, valleys, lakes, and streams, that make the mountainous portions of Grafton Co. so entrancing, he came to Canaan and opened an office and waited for the patients to come. Because of his long, varied, and valu- able experience in army life, he was better quali- fied for his chosen profession than the average physician and surgeon, and in a very short time built up a very extensive practice, and responded to calls from the country for miles in every direction. Much of his professional success and health in life is due to the fact that he is a very temperate man, and has never used liquor or tobacco. He is an influential and leading mem- ber of the Sons of Temperance, and does all he can to advance the cause. Both he and his wife are Congregationalists, and are members of the Congregational Society of Canaan.
Dr. Tucker is living in the third home which he has built in Canaan, a fine residence, fitted with modern improvements and surrounded by beautiful lawns, through which winds the drive. It is a choice location on the corner of High and Turnpike Streets, and is the site of the old Worth Tavern, which flourished in stage times.
He married Mary Albina Kimball, daughter of Peter and Nancy A. (Adams) Kimball of Grafton, N. H., who is the great-granddaughter of Capt. Peter Kimball, a Revolutionary soldier
of Boscawen, N. HI .; she was born in Salisbury, N. H., June 6, 1852. Their only ' child, Luie Albina, was born April 28, 1884. Dr. Tucker is a Republican, and has been a member of the school board, board of health, and a justice of the peace for many years. He is a member of Social Lodge, No. 50, F. & A. M., of Enfield, having first joined Strafford Lodge of that Order in Dover, N. H., in 1865; he has also been a member of Belknap Chapter, No. 8, since 1870. He has been a member of the Knights of Pythias more than thirty years; and is at present connected with Mt. Cardigan Lodge, No. 31, K. of P. He is also a member of Helping Hand Lodge, No. 95, I. O. O. F .; Admiral Farragut Post, No. 52, G. A. R., of Enfield; and also past medical director of the Department of New Hampshire; also a member of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution. He is a member of both the New Hampshire and White River Med- ical Societies.
CAPT. THOMAS J. CARLTON, of the town of Enfield, N. H., was born in the town of Ca- naan, this county, Nov. 9, 1837, and is a son of Jonathan and Eliza (Shattuck) Carlton, and a grandson of Jonathan and Polly (Chase) Carl- ton.
Jonathan Carlton served in the Revolutionary War at Bunker Hill, and about the year 1777 came from Amesbury, Mass., to Canaan, and took up an extensive tract of land and built a saw-mill at factory village, and ran it a number of years. He raised a large family, who were content at first to dwell in a log-house, but in- creasing prosperity brought them new wants, so he built a frame house, into which the family moved, relinquishing the old home where they were born. He bought and sold land to a great extent, and did all in his power to induce new families to come to Canaan, and settle in the town. Both he and his wife lived to a good old age and were able to see the country grow up, become populated, and prosperous. Their chil- dren were as follows: Daniel, born April 21, 1783; Moses, Sept. 8, 1785; Francis, Aug. 15. 1787; Hannah, Nov. 4, 1789; Sally, May 6, 1792; Betsey, Jan. 29, 1794: Polly, Feb. 12, 1798; Jona- than, Oct. 23, 1800; and Thomas, Aug. 5, 1803.
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Our subject's father learned the stone-cutting and masonry trade, but remained at home most of the time during his father's life, assisting his parents; he inherited the homestead, which he sold, after a few years of occupancy; and built a house on Canaan Street, where he followed his trade, dying Dec. 6, 1878. He was a Democrat until the formation of the Republican party, when he changed his politics, like so many other Northern Democrats. His wife, Eliza, was born Nov. 25, 1798, and died March 26, 1852.
There were born to them the following chil- dren: Samuel, born Sept. 4, 1826; Henry, Oct. 6, 1828; Abel S., Sept. 15, 1830; Abigail, April 19, 1832; an infant son, deceased; Daniel, April II, 1835; Thomas J., our subject; Sarah E., Sept. 14, 1839; and Mary J., April 10, 1842.
Capt. Thomas J. Carlton attended the Canaan Academy, finishing his studies under Prof. C. C. Webster, and at the age of twenty went to En- field and worked in the saw-mills a short time, and then entered the bedstead factory, where he was employed until 1861. At the breaking out of the war he enlisted as a private in Co. B., 6th Reg. N. H. Vol. Inf., but as he was a man of iron nerve and good judgment, he was promoted to the position of corporal, and then became a commissioned officer as second lieutenant, then first lieutenant, finally assuming the insignia of captain. In 1865 he was commissioned captain of Co. F .: in 1864 he had been in command of four companies-B., F., G., and H .- and had charge of the last detachment of men to leave Cold Harbor, said detachment consisting of some 300 men : these he led safely to join the 9th Army Corps. He took part in twenty-seven gen- eral engagements, not to speak of numerous skirmishes, and was never wounded in the ser- vice; after his discharge, when returning home, he received a slight injury.
Capt. Carlton, after the close of the war, re- sumed his work in the factory, remaining there until 1875. Since that time he has devoted his time to good advantage in trucking, teaming. and in contracting for such kind of work. He is a man of the most spotless integrity, and has fairly won his reputation of being one of the most honorable men of the town. He bought the mill house, and small farm, on which he has spent no little labor and money to bring it into its present excellent condition; he has rebuilt
both house and barns, and has shown himself to be a model farmer in more ways than one. In 1893 he was appointed road agent, and has not only built new roads, where required, but has also put the old ones into such fine condition that they are able to afford much pleasure as beautiful drives .. He is a stanch Republican, but has never sought office.
He married Nancy Bithrow, a daughter of Lewis Bithrow of Lebanon, N. H .; she died at the age of twenty-one, leaving no issue. He married as his second wife Ella Chapman, daughter of John B. and Lavina (Pierce) Chap- man of Haverhill, N. H. Mr. Chapman, who died at the age of seventy-five, was a very suc- cessful tanner of his day; his wife lived to be eighty years old. Their children were: Henry, who died in the late war; Amelia J .; Hannah L .; Ella; Amos; John; and Julia. This second union of our subject was blessed with the following children: Frank, who died at the age of seven ; Lena May, who lives at home with her parents; Eugene L., a clerk in a store, and a member of the Knights of Pythias; and Harry W., a finisher at the Baltic Mills. Capt. Carlton is a member of the Farragut Post, G. A. R .; and he and his wife are members of the Women's Relief Corps.
OLIVER B. CHILDS, a business man of the town of Canaan, at present engaged in attending to a small farm, and plying his trade of shoe- maker, was born in Thetford, \'t., May 26, 1836, and is a son of Abraham and Tryphena (Burr) Childs, and a grandson of Samuel and Susan (Aldrich) Childs.
Samuel Childs was born in Salem, Mass., and when a young man went to Vershire, Vt., where he settled as one of its pioneers; the locality. however, was never pleasing to him, so he finally returned to his native town, and died there at the age of fifty-three. His wife Susan lived to be about eighty years old. The home circle was composed of the following children: Joel Lorenzo, Lewis, Abraham A., Relief, Lavina, Emma, and Susan.
Abraham A. Childs, the only one of his parents' family still living, was born in Vershire, \'t., April 22, 1813, and when ten years of age
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was put out to live with T. Haskell, a farmer of Greenwich, Mass. At the age of fourteen he went to Ware, Mass., and followed farming until his removal to Thetford, except for five years, when he worked at ship carpentering. After his marriage in Thetford, Vt., with Tryphena Burr, daughter of Oliver Burr, a farmer of that town, he followed coopering until 1848, when he bought a farm in the town of Dorchester, this county, where he followed farming and cooper- ing until about 1875, when he practically retired. He has since that time lived on his farm in Dor- chester, except a part of each year, which he spends with his son, the subject of this sketch. Even at his advanced age he thinks nothing of walking ten miles at a time; both his eyesight and hearing are as yet very little impaired by the effects of age. His wife died in 1881, at the age of seventy-three. Their children were: Oliver Burr; Samuel A., born Dec. 10, 1838; Truman, Oct. 12, 1839: Amanda M., June 5, 1842; Almina T., Dec. 9. 1844; and Samuel, Oct. 12, 1847.
Our subject worked with his father until he was sixteen, and then went to Natick, Mass., where he spent seven years at shoe-making; in 1859 he came to Canaan, N. H., and worked at his trade until 1862, Sept. 9, when he enlisted in Co. H., IIth Reg. N. H. Vol. Inf., and was dis- charged June 4, 1865. During this time he served on detached service as hospital nurse one year, and then as steward for the Colored Hos- pital at City Point, Va .; while stationed at Knoxville, Tenn., before he became steward, he was injured by a tree falling on the tent, break- ing his shoulders and ribs, from which injuries he has never fully recovered. At the close of the war he came home, and lived in the town of En- field, N. H., one year making shoes, and then in Canaan for five years, when his health failed and forced him to seek employment where he could be more in the open air. So he traded his prop- erty for a farm in the town of Grafton, where he followed farming twelve years, and then sold and bought his present home on Mechanic Street, Canaan, where he has since lived and followed his trade, besides caring for a small farm attached to his residence. He delights in being out of doors and working his farm; he has a great love of order, and desiring to have his property to put on its best possible appearance,
he has made not a few valuable improvements, both to the structures on the land and to the farm itself. He is a Republican, and is serving his second term as overseer of the poor, and has served in several other town offices. In religious matters he is inclined to be liberal. In the Phil Kearney Post, G. A. R., which is now extinct, he was commander.
Oct. 2, 1860, he married Mary S. Stone, daugh- ter of Elbridge G. and Harriet N. (Bradbury) Stone. Elbridge G. Stone, born Dec. 19, 1810, died Sept. 15, 1847, was a prominent farmer of the town of Hanover, this county. His wife Harriet was born Sept. 5, 1823, and departed this life March 16, 1896. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Stone, as follows: Mary S., our subject's wife, born Feb. 5, 1844; Lucy A., born Feb. 21, 1845; and Cynthia, who was born July 9, 1847, and died when young in years. The union of our subject and his estimable wife has been blessed with two children: M. Ella, born Oct. 21, 1861, who married F. B. Wilson of Canaan, and has one child, Alzina M .; and Al- zina J., who was born April 27, 1866, and died aged twenty years and nine months.
HON. JOHN W. DODGE, deceased. There are a number of Grafton Co.'s most substantial business men, who have risen from humble posi- tions in the lower walks of life to eminent posi- tions in the commercial world; it is this kind of man whom the world calls self-made. We place our subject, the gentleman whose name heads this sketch and whose excellent portrait adorns the preceding page, among this number, confi- dent that few have merited their success and the estimation shown them, as he. He was a leading business man of the town of Enfield, and presi- cent of the Dodge, Davis & Co. woolen manu- facturers. Mr. Dodge was born in the town of Hanover, N. H., Sept. 4, 1815, and died Feb. 13. 1897; he was a son of Daniel and Sally (Wright) Dodge.
Mr. Dodge's father was born in Windham, Conn., and came to the town of Hanover, Graf- ton Co., where he bought a small tract of wood- land, from which he cut the first stick, following it up by clearing the farm, building a small house
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, GRAFTON COUNTY.
for the shelter of his family and the cultivation of his fields. In this little house on Moose Mt. he reared ten children, and later on built a larger house and barns, which are standing to-day. Those of his children who grew up became very successful in life, remarkably so in fact, and all were well known for their brightness of intel- lects. Mr. Dodge was a very hard worker and expended his energies in proper channels be- cause of his good judgment. He was a member of the Baptist Church for forty years, and was then excommunicated for his belief in the Uni- versalist doctrine of the unity of God, instead of the Baptist creed of the Trinity of God; there- after Mr. Dodge was a Universalist in belief. He was very well posted in the Scriptures and delighted in arguments concerning the interpre- tation of such and such a paragraph or verse. He died at the age of seventy, and his wife at the age of eighty-six. She was a daughter of Deacon John Wright, who came from Lebanon, Conn., to Hanover to assist in the location of Dartmouth College. The children born to our subject's parents were as follows: Ormie, a doc- tor by profession; Daniel, also a practicing physician; Nabby ; Harvey, a minister of the Gos- pel; Orford, who died at the age of about seventy-one years; Sally; Cyrus; Minus; Isaac, who died when a student at college; and John W., the subject of this sketch.
John W. Dodge remained on the homestead assisting his father until he was thirty-one years old, securing his education in the district schools when a boy. Upon leaving the farm he went to the village of Hanover to act as clerk.for Conant, becoming one of the firm after two years and a half, and carrying on the business under the firm name of Morgan & Dodge. In one year's time Mr. Conant withdrew, and Morgan & Dodge ran the business until 1857, when it be- came Dodge & Huntington. The firm through its different formations built up a large trade, which increased steadily from year to year. In 1862 Mr. Dodge bought out his partner and managed it until about 1865. In 1863, while still managing the store in Hanover, he came to En- field to superintend the manufacture of Shaker flannels for Alpheus Conant. After the death of Caleb Dyer, Mr. Dodge became one of the firm of Dodge, Davis & Williams, the latter a successor of Mr. Conant. In 1873 Mr. Williams
retired, and the firm became what it is known at present, Dodge, Davis & Co. As the mills, which they were using, were out of repair and needed rebuilding to suit their increased needs and could not be purchased at a reasonable figure, they bought the Holden Mills of Bristol; in 1885 they removed their machinery from En- field to Bristol and set it up in their present quar- ters. In 1887 the company was incorporated with a capital stock of $150,000.00, with the fol- lowing officers: John W. Dodge, president; C. W. Fling, secretary; and H. C. Whipple, treas- urer. They have built an entire new mill, 72 feet by 52, three stories in height, thus giving them a store-house, dye-house, and picking-house. Only the best and most modern machinery has been introduced, and the finest grades of flan- nels are manufactured. The mills have eleven sets of cards, and sixty-two broad and four nar- row looms, employing 100 hands, and not stop- ping, except for repair when any of the machin- ery gets out of order. While many factories over the land have put out the fires under the boilers and are no longer running because of the tariff, this factory has always had a large call for their goods and has always been able to run at a profit; it is self-sustaining, as Mr. Dodge claimed every factory should be, and asks only to be let alone in order to prosper.
On July 1, 1855, Mr. Dodge was married to Mrs. Clementine Whipple, daughter of Harry H. Chandler; she died March 6, 1893, at the age of seventy-four, leaving two children by her first marriage with Mr. Whipple: Henry C. and Mar- garet P., and one child by her marriage with our subject: Fanny Louise. The latter was born April 30, 1859, and married Rev. Walter Dole, a minister of the Universalist Church, bearing him two children: John Walter and Mary Clemen- tine. Mr. Dodge was married the second time, April 3, 1895, to Mrs. Helen A. Morgan, daugh- ter of John Bridgeman of Hanover. Mr. Dodge owned a beautiful residence on the corner of North and East Streets, which he had built and furnished with all the modern conveniences and appliances.
Mr. Dodge was always a thorough-going Democrat and represented the town of Enfield in the New Hampshire Legislature in 1878-79-80. He was fearless and outspoken in his advocacy of free trade principles, and a moment's conver-
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sation with him on this subject showed to a candid and impartial listener that his convictions were based on very substantial reasons. He claimed that protection was not needed to give American factories a chance to compete with foreign products, that with the superior skill of American workmen and greater improvements in our machinery, our factories could be self- sustaining, and did not need any sops thrown to them in the way of a restrictive tariff. Protec- tion enthusiasts shout for protection to American industries and to American workmen. How well our infant industries have been protected under Republican rule with its false ideas of political economy is shown by the many gigantic trusts and combines that have sprung up, grown and thrived under the fostering care of protection, which even now threaten the good of the body politic. One of the greatest curses to our coun- try is this hydra-headed monster, monopoly, which drives out of business all who do not unite under its standard, and fixes exorbitant prices for its products and allowing competition no chance to secure for the consumer reasonable prices for the articles he needs. Remove all tariff from wool and our manufacturers will be able to compete with foreigners, with no chance for monopoly to stifle production and secure for itself the benefits of such a course. Protection- ists would have us believe that foreign labor could compete with that of our own workmen. Supposing the American workman is paid more, is it not a well-established fact that well-paid, and consequently well-nourished, men will be able to perform more and do better work than those who starve on a mere pittance? The be- lievers in protection seem averse to allowing any but Americans have the benefits of American markets, but how can they reconcile this with their desire to increase our foreign markets? Is not international commerce-or all commerce for that matter-an exchange of commodities, benefiting both parties? While we knock for ad- mission to the markets of other nations, we close our own markets by a high-board tariff, which excludes all chance for cheap living and cheap production in this country. How has England secured so prominent a place in the markets of the world? It is without much doubt caused by her system of free trade and by her splendid feets of merchantmen that carry on her foreign
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