USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Book of biographies. This volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Grafton County, New Hampshire > Part 75
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Levi F. was born in Warren, in 1816, and was reared and educated in that town. He learned the trade of a millwright and house carpenter. He ran a saw-mill about forty years, and was ex- tensively engaged in lumbering. He now lives on a farm near the village, enjoying a comfort- able old age. His wife was Mariah W., daughter of Elvaro Copp of Warren; she was born in 1834. Their family consisted of: Emma (Vannah); James; Samuel, died at the age of four; Frank; and Mary (Morse).
Hon. James Jewell was born in Warren, March 24, 1855, and has spent all his years in the vil- lage. His father being in the milling business, our subject naturally acquired a thorough knowl- edge of that line of work, and has been engaged in that line of work all his life. He married, in 1880, Laura A., daughter of Francis and Cath- erine (Cunningham) Vannah of Warren. Mr. Jewell was associated with a partner in the hunt- ber business in the few years previous to 1878. That year he built a mill on the bank of Baker's River, at a place known as Gleason's Place. about three miles north of the village. He has
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continued in the business at that place ever since. A curious fact to be noted in connection with the site of this mill, is that there has been a mill there of some kind or description for the past eighty ycars.
Mr. Jewell handles about 1,000,000 feet of lumber annually, realizing very good profits. He is a successful and most thorough business man ; all his undertakings are stamped with the mark of his push and business sagacity. He owns two cottages in the village, 400 acres of good farn- ing land, and about 1,000 acres of timber land. He is a member of the Moosehillock Lodge, No. 25, I. O. O. F .; and Baker's River Lodge, No. 22, of Plymouth. He has a membership in the Order of the Knights of Pythias. He is a Demo- crat, and has served on the board of selectmen four years, and has been chairman of the same for three years. He represented the town in the State Legislature, in 1895 and 1896. He is one of the prominent men of the town, and numbers his friends among all classes by the score.
WILLIAM HARRIMAN, the subject of this biography, is a leading farmer of the town of Plymouth, and one of the representative men of this section. He has made his special field of industry a success, and is highly esteemed and respected by those who know him best.
He is a son of John Harriman, Jr., and grandson of John Harriman, who was born in Hampstead, but spent most of his days in Bridge- water, where he located soon after marriage. His wife was a Miss Heath, and they had the follow- ing children : Samuel; John, Jr .; William; Moses; Daniel; Mary (Mrs. Craig). John Harriman and wife both died about the age of fifty-six. He was a shoemaker by trade, and followed that in con- nection with farming.
John Harriman, Jr., was born in Bridgewater, where he was reared and educated to agricultural pursuits. After his marriage he cleared a farm in his native town, and remained upon the same until he was about forty years of age. He sold his farm in Bridgewater and purchased a farm in Plymouth, on Baker River, located in the west part of town. Here he remained until his death. In every community in which Mr. Harriman re-
sided he was always highly respected for his honesty and integrity ; he held various offices of trust and honor in his native town.
He married Betsy, daughter of John Aiken of Bridgewater. They reared a family of thirteen children : Eliza (Prescott); Mary (Doton); Laura (Webster); Sarah A .; Orpha; Harriet (Drake); Emily; Aaron; Moses; Theodore; . Hiram; George; and William. John Harriman pased away at the age of eighty-seven, and his wife died seven years later at the same age.
William Harriman was born in Bridgewater, Dec. 1, 1823. He was two years old when his parents moved to Plymouth, where he was reared and educated. He remained with his parents and cared for them until their death. He succeeded to the ownership of his father's farm, where he has lived all his life.
Mr. Harriman was married, in 1855, to Caro- line S., daughter of Caleb D. Penniman of Ply- mouth. Five children have been born of their union: Hattie, who is the wife of J. H. Trow; they have one child, Henry; Alma, the wife of H. H. Whittemore, and they have two children, Carl W. and Raymond L .; Emily, the wife of the late O. B. Davis, they had one child, Carrie E .; George D., who married Rena E. Merrill; Lizzie M. Mr. and Mrs. Harriman favor the M. E. Church, and in politics he votes the Republican ticket.
HON. JOHN A. DAVIS, the leading mer- chant of Wentworth, N. II., is the son of James Davis, and grandson of James Davis who was one of the first settlers of the town of Dorchester, N. H. James Davis was a farmer by occupa- tion. He married a Miss Clifford. She was over eighty years old at the time of her death. Mr. Davis also lived to a good old age, dying when eighty-seven years old. They were blessed with a large family of ten children: James D., Con- nor C., Isaac, Benjamin, Mary. Cynthia, Electa, Dolly, Ann, and Elmira.
James, the father of our subject, was born in Dorchester, and passed his life busily engaged in the pursuit of agriculture. He married Eliza, daughter of John B. McGrath of Dorchester. She was taken to her heavenly home when she
ALFRED M. SHACKFORD.
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was fifty-eight years old. Mr. Davis lived to be sixty-four years old, when he was summoned to join those gone before. Their children were: Caroline (Foster), living now at Bath, N. H .; Increase S., residing at Haverhill, Mass .; John A., the subject of this sketch; Isaac, whose home is in Haverhill, Mass .; Benjamin C., also living in Haverhill, Mass .; Mary A., at present living in Haverhill, Mass .; Martha J. (Hall), residing in Exeter, N. H .; Lavina E. (Reed), also residing in Exeter, N. H .; Almira (Reed), and Sarah (Miller), both residents of Haverhill, Mass. In religious beliefs they favored the Universalist Church. Mr. Davis was a Democrat.
John A. Davis was born in Dorchester, Oct. 7, 1832. He received his somewhat limited edu- cation in his native town. His parents not being in easy circumstances, he turned over the fruits of lis labor to them until he became of age. When, at the expiration of his minority, he left home, lie had but a few cents over two dollars to his name. He journeyed to Massachusetts, and upon his arrival took the two-dollar bill and sent it home to his parents.
Soon obtaining a position as a clerk in a store, he followed that line of work for a time, learn- ing the business, and getting familiar with all branches of it. He then began a business career for himself by opening a small store in Groton, N. H. After a short stay there he went to Dor- chester, and remained in business there for twelve years.
He then came to Wentworth, and entered in business in the firm of Eaton, Davis & Co. The partnership lasted for twenty years to the satis- faction of all parties concerned. The past six years Mr. Davis has been engaged in business alone. He has the largest store in Wentworth, and carries a well-selected line of general mer- chandise.
In 1854 he was joined in marriage to Augusta C., daughter of Jonathan Hall of Groton, N. H. She was stricken by the cold hand of Death when thirty-five years old, and left two children: Al- bert L. and James E. In his second marriage, which occurred in 1872, he was joined with Helen A., daughter of John W. Cutting of Hav- erliill, N. 11., and they have two children: John C. and Josie M.
Mr. Davis is a Democrat. He served as a member of the State Legislature for two sessions,
1865-66 from Dorchester, and 1883-84 from Wentworth. He is the efficient town treasurer, and has been the incumbent for eighteen suc- cessive years. He was postmaster in Groton in 1854, during his residence there. He has been postmaster of Wentworth through both of Cleve- land's administrations. He is a careful, saga- cious business man, and is held in high esteem in the community. He is the leading merchant of the village, and all he has accomplished and all lie has obtained has been by his own efforts. He is essentially a self-made man.
ALFRED M. SHACKFORD, a manufac- turer of lumber and probably the most extensive landowner of Canaan, N. H., was born in Pem- brooke, this State, Jan. 23, 1839. He is a son of Edrick and Caroline (Huntoon) Shackford, grandson of John and Susan (Dodge) Shackford, and great-grandson of Theodore Shackford of Allenstown, N. H.
John Shackford, our subject's grandfather, was born in Pembrooke, Aug. 27, 1793, and died March 18, 1859. He was a paper-maker by trade, and later in life engaged in agricultural pursuits. His wife Susan was born June 7, 1790, and died Oct. 28, 1866. They reared the follow- ing children: Edrick, born Jan. 16, 1814; Ann M., Jan. 4, 1817; Adeline, March 26, 1822; Joseph S., March 26, 1824; John W., Feb. 16, 1826; and Catharine, March 4, 1828.
Edrick Shackford settled in Suncook, and in his early years was a boatman, from Boston to Concord before the railroad was built; lie after- wards bought a farm in the town of Orange, this county, where he carried on farming some forty years. He was very successful in his work, and laid up a sufficient competence, so that he retired from active work the last years of his life, and bought a home on School Street, in Canaan, where he died Jan. 10, 1885. His wife, Caroline, daughter of James and Susan (Whitcher) Hun- toon, was born April 20, 1814, and at her ad- vanced age is extremely bright and spry, and does not look a day over sixty-five. The follow- ing children were born to our subject's parents: Alfred M., subject of this sketch; Warren ()., born Sept. 1, 1842, died Oct. 23, 1865; Byron W.,
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, GRAFTON COUNTY.
July 15, 1844, died Sept. 19, 1865; Ann A., April 10, 1846, died Sept. 12, 1865. The three younger children all died with typhoid fever.
Our subject, the only surviving child, assisted his father on the farm, and in 1856 entered the employ of the Boston & Maine R. R., known then as the Northern R. R., and for two years was engaged in sawing wood for that company. In March, 1858, his employment was changed to that of laying tracks, continuing for three years. He then took charge of the section through Grafton town as section boss, remaining there three years, and was then station agent at Grafton three more years, and from then until 1888 was station agent at Canaan, making twenty-eight years service altogether in the em- ployment of the railroad. During the time he was station agent he was not provided with much assistance, which caused him to put in many extra days and nights, and so he tired of the con- finement and resigned to engage in out-door work. He owned a. large interest in the saw- mill run by Stephen Peasely, at Canaan Center, and at his partner's death, in 1892, he assumed full control of the same and has put in modern and improved machinery for sawing boards, also bench saws, planes, leg and round lathes, shingle and lath machines, and a cider press. He owns several farms in Canaan and the adjoining towns; he has done a large amount of business in loaning money, and is one of the leading men of the town, both commercially and socially.
He married Martha J. Barber, daughter of March and Mehitabel Barber of Canaan, and has two children: Addie M. married A. P. Follans- bee, of the firm of A. P. Follansbee & Co., lead- ing grocers of Canaan; Susie A., the younger child, married W. H. Tucker, station agent of West Lebanon, N. H., and has four children: Howard M., Erick S., Joseph, and Lawrence. Mr. Shackford has also extensive property in tenements, and a home in Canaan. He bought out the corner store of O. L. Rand, and has since been a silent partner of the firm of A. P. Follansbee & Co. He is a Republican, and when a resident of Grafton served on the school board, and as a tax collector, and has been town clerk in Canaan for nine years. He is a member of Social Lodge, F. & A. M., and is a Past Master of the same. Also belongs to St. Andrews Chapter, R. A. M .; and of Sullivan Commandery of Clare-
mont. He has been secretary of the Indian River Grange of Canaan ever since its organization.
The portrait of Mr. Shackford, which appears in proximity to this sketch, is a signal addition to our large gallery of portraits, and derives value from his character as a man and citizen, and from his position in the community of which he is a member.
ARTHUR KNAPP, a large lumber specu- lator and dealer of the town of Warren, N. H., is the son of James Knapp, and grandson of Jacob Knapp, who resided in the lower part of the State.
James Knapp came to Haverhill, N. H., when a young man, and there learned the trade of a blacksmith, which he followed thereafter all his life. He married Esther Tibbitts of Sandwich, N. H. She rounded her life at the age of eighty- four; her husband was called to his rest at the age of sixty-five. He owned and operated a farm in addition to his work as blacksmith. They reared a family of nine children: Albert, who was lost in the Mexican War; George; Henry; Arthur; Ezra B .; James; Susan A. (Woodbury); Fannie M .; and Martha. James Knapp was an old line Whig and took an active part in the local political affairs.
Arthur Knapp, the subject of this sketch, was born in Haverhill, N. H., March 26, 1824. He was reared and educated. in his native town. Until he came to Warren Summit in 1854, he was engaged mainly in the pursuit of agriculture. At Warren Summit he began handling wood for the Concord & Montreal R. R. He was asso- ciated with the railroad in that line of business for thirty-one years. The average estimate of the annual output was $40,000.00. Mr. Knapp has been extensively engaged in lumber specula- tion and the handling of the same. He has been associated in business with such men as the late Joseph A. Dodge of Plymouth, and is now inter- ested in timber land with Hon. C. H. Bowles. The excellent system of Water Works in Warren was put in by Mr. Knapp and J. A. Dodge. Hc is now the owner of much valuable farm land and
JOSEPH WOOD GERRISH.
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about 4,500 acres of timber land. He retained a residence at the Summit five years, and then moved to the village of Warren, where he oper- ated a hotel for eight years, and has since lived in the village.
He married, in 1847, Mercy J., daughter of Newell Caswell of Haverhill. Mr. Knapp is a Republican, and has served as selectman for two years. He has been remarkably successful in business, and owes this success to his shrewd, cool disposition that never drew him on to false hopes. He is conservative, yet when he is sure that a thing is practical and profitable, he is as enthusiastic as the most sanguine person. His excellencies of character are such as challenge the admiration and respect of all. He is well- liked by all his acquaintances.
MRS. JOSEPH WOOD GERRISH, widow of the late Joseph Wood Gerrish, lives in the house in Lebanon which was built by her late husband; it is one of the largest houses in the village, two stories high, with a French roof. It possesses all the modern improvements, hot and cold water, in all parts of the house, being the first house in the village to be fitted in that man- ner. Its location is on the Truman place, facing the park. The wife and daughter of her de- ceased son, Charles W. Gerrish, live with her. Although left with a beautiful home and a goodly amount of property, and blessed with the highest respect and sympathy of a large circle of friends, they do not console her for the loss of a husband who was all in all to her, who devoted himself to gratifying her every wish. Mr. Ger- rish's domestic virtues were known and appre- ciated by all who had a close acquaintance with him, and they need no elaboration in this work. Suffice it to say that one has gone from the home fireside and from among the best men of his town, who will remain in the minds of those left behind as a faithful and loving husband, and as a loyal and good citizen.
Josephi Wood Gerrish was born March 5. 1825, at Boscawen, N. H .; he was a son of Samuel B. and Sarah (Wood) Gerrish, grandson of Col. Joseph and Mary (Bartlett) Gerrish,
great-grandson of Stephen Gerrish, and great- great-grandson of William Gerrish, who was born in Bristol, Somersetshire, England, Aug. 20, 1617. In 1639 William Gerrish came to America and settled at Newburyport, Mass. Stephen Gerrish was born in 1711, and died in 1788; he settled in Boscawen, N. H., where his son, Col. Joseph Gerrish, was born in 1753.
Col. Joseph served as colonel in the War of the Revolution, and died in 1817. He was a much- beloved man, and a most fitting epitaph adorned his headstone, which was:
" As a citizen he was beloved; As a magistrate revered; A pillar in the church ; And an ornament to society."
He held many of the town offices and was a delegate to the convention which met for the adoption of a Federal Constitution. His chil- dren were: Judith, Samuel B., Mary, Sally, and Betsey.
Samuel B. Gerrish, the only son, was born Dec. 12, 1782, and died Dec. 7, 1866. He was an inn-keeper at Boscawen, N. H., for about sixteen years, and then moved to Hartland, Vt., and in 1829 to Lebanon, where he carried on farming the remainder of his natural life. His wife Mary is a daughter of Capt. Joseph Wood, whose biography may be found on another page. The following children composed his family: Sarah W., Joanna H., Susan, Mary P., Joseph W., Samuel B., George L., and Charles.
Joseph Wood Gerrish was educated in the High School, and assisted his father on the farm until he was twenty-one, when he launched out upon the tide, which bore him to success. He spent a few of his early years as clerk in the City Hotel of Boston, Mass., and then came to New Hampshire and began dealing in land. Many years of hard work were spent in Canada and New York buying hemlock bark, which he was accustomed to ship to the markets of New York City and elsewhere.
In 1855 Mr. Gerrish located at Lebanon and opened up his business, dealing in farmi produce, lumber and land; he had a large store-house, and made it a business to buy what things the far- mier had to sell and to send them to market. He
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would also buy land and real estate, and after making valuable improvements sell it at an ad- vance in value. He owned the large brick house on Mascoma Street, where he lived many years. He was always trying to enlarge the village and to advance its interests in every legitimate direc- tion. He bought a tract of land, laid out Me- chanic Street, and sold the desirable building lots, thus set off. In 1868 he purchased the Tru- man place, facing the park, and built the hand- some home noted in the beginning of this sketch, and now the residence of his wife and children. He was one of the largest real estate owners of his day, and a leading business man in every par- ticular; he left at is death several farms to his leirs.
Mr. Gerrish died in 1880, aged fifty-five, of Bright's disease. In politics he was a stanch Republican, but never aspired to office. He was a liberal supporter of church work, irrespective of denomination. On Feb. 6, 1855, he married the subject of this sketch, Miss Eunice M. Hewes, daughter of Sylvanus and . Miriani (Wright) Hewes. There were born to Mr. and Mrs. Gerrish two children : Charles W., deceased; and Emily J. Charles W., born Nov. 25, 1855, married Ella M. Sweatt, and died at the age of thirty-two, leaving two children: Helen M. and Joseph W., who died at the age of nine. Charles W., when living, had charge and oversight of his father's estate. Emily J., born Sept. 8, 1861, mar- ried Chester J. Pike of Medford, Mass., and has two children: Louise G. and Chester J., Jr.
Sylvanus Hewes, Mrs. Gerrish's father, was a merchant of Lyme, N. H., in its early days, but was later on a farmer. He owned potash mills and carding mills, and was interested in the busi- ness of cloth dressing. He died at the age of ninety-one; his wife fell into that last sleep at the age of sixty-nine. Mr. Hewes was a Demo- crat, and held many of the town offices, such as selectman and overseer of the poor, filling the latter position thirty years. He also served as county treasurer, and State Senator from District No. II.
A portrait of Mr. Gerrish is shown on a pre- ceding page in connection with this sketch. It will be appreciated by many of his life-time friends in the county, as they will cherish with pleasant recollections the features of this good man.
JOHN B. FOSTER, a leading farmer of Wentworth, N. H., is the son of John Foster, Jr., and grandson of John Foster, whose birth- place was Rumney, but who lived in Wentworth the most of his life. His occupation was that of a farmer. He married Hannah Piper. John Foster died when eighty-five years of age.
John Foster, Jr., was born in Rumney, and came to Wentworth at an early age with his father. He was a mason by trade, and worked at it in connection with his farming duties. He married Louise M., daughter of Joseph Burleigh of Dorchester, N. H. She died at the age of fifty-five; he survived her a few years, reaching the age of seventy-three at his death. They reared three children. Noah B. married Ellen A. Colburn of Wentworth. He died at the age of thirty-nine, and left two children: Ben and Wal- ter. Anna M. married George E. Patterson of Merrimack, N. H. She left five children to the care of her husband at her death. The third child was John B., the subject of this sketch. John Foster, Jr., was a Democrat, and served as selectman of the town a number of times. They favored the Universalist Church.
John B. Foster was born July 24, 1859, in Wentworth. He received his rudimentary edu- cation in the district schools of his native town; after completing them he took an advanced course in the New Hampton Academy. He taught school during eleven winter sessions.
In 1887 he was joined in the holy bond of mat- rimony with Emma J., daughter of Joshua Fos- ter of Wentworth. They have one child, Louis M. Mr. Foster is a Democrat, and is serving as chairman of the board of selectmen. He had served as selectman six terms previous to his last election. He has also held an office on the school board for six terms. He is a member of the Wentworth Grange, No. 199, and also the Grafton County Grange Pomona, Chapter No. 13, of which he is now Master. Mr. Foster's farm comprises 100 acres of well-cultivated land, located about one and three-quarters miles from West Rumney Village. He gives especial atten- tion to that profitable branch of agriculture, dairying. He is well spoken of as enterprising in his farming methods, and straightforward in all his dealings. He stands high in the com- munity as a man of more than ordinary intelli- gence and education.
C
ALBERT J. GILMORE.
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES, GRAFTON COUNTY.
ALBERT J. GILMORE, bookkeeper for J. K. Atwood, bobbin manufacturer of Lisbon, Grafton Co., N. H., was born in Calais, Me., Dec. 13, 1858. He is a son of John and Ellen (Robinson) Gilmore, and grandson of Robert Gilmore, who was a native of the Emerald Isle, coming to America when a young man and set- tling in New Brunswick. He was a farmer by occupation, and never deviated from that voca- tion throughout his entire life. To him were born five children: John, William, Samuel, Mar- garet, and Robert. They were Presbyterians in their religious preferences and attachments.
John Gilmore, after a youth spent in Calais, Me., learned the trade of rope-making, which he followed several years, finally owning and con- ducting his own establishment in Calais. He at length sold out this enterprise and moved to Nova Scotia, where he purchased large tracts of timbered land, and lands rich in gold; he remained there about three years, and then, selling out, he moved back to Maine, making his home at Castine, where he turned his attention for a while to the industry of rope-making, which he had learned in his youth. He successfully carried this business on for about three years, but at the formation of the great rope trusts of 1867-68, he was compelled to retire, for competition against such an opponent would be ruinous in the ex- treme. He then went to Orono, Me., and there engaged in lumbering until 1873, when he moved to Bath, Me., and built ships the remainder of his life. He died in 1881 ; his wife still survives him, and lives in Lewiston, Me. In politics he was a Republican, but would never accept any office, no matter how great the pressure brought to bear against him. He married Ellen Robin- son, daughter of James Robinson of New Bruns- wick, and to them were born six children, as fol- lows: Albert J., the subject of this personal nar- ration; Joseph; Mary; William E., deceased; William K .; and George, deceased. Both Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore were devout members and most loyal supporters of the M. E. Church.
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