USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Croydon > Croydon, N.H., 1866. Proceedings at the centennial celebration, June 13, 1866. A brief account of the leading men of the first century Together with historical and statistical sketches of the town > Part 9
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EZEKIEL POWERS, son of Ezekiel and Hannah Hall Powers, was born in 1771, and was the first male child born in town. At the age of nineteen he married Susan Rice, and subsequently Lydia Lane and Lois Barden, and had twenty-one children-four sons and seventeen daughters; fifteen of the latter grew to womanhood, and were charac- terized by those qualities which distinguish the Powers family. Like his father he was remarkable for great phys- ical power. At the age of eighty he weighed 265 pounds. He had a great memory, and was a lover of fun.
MAJ. ABIJAH POWERS, son of Ezekiel Powers, one of the earliest settlers.of the town, was a man instinctively inclin- ed to leisure and social enjoyments. He was a Major in the war of 1812. He was well educated, and had a ready judg- ment, and hence was enabled to fill the offices of Justice, Selectman and Representative with much credit to himself. He was the greatest story-teller the town ever produced, with the exception perhaps of his uncle, Abijah Hall, the father of Capt. Amasa Hall. With him, as with James
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and other members of the family, in his last days his mem- ory was remarkably clear and retentive. He could recall with the utmost vividness all the incidents of his life, and after reading a book could repeat it word for word.
ELIAS POWERS, son of the preceding, one of the Com- mittee of Arrangements, is a man of intelligence, a respect- ed farmer, and has many of the characteristics of his father. 2. Jan 29.1891 age 83-Conny Commissione 1868
JAMES POWERS, son of Ezekiel Powers, senior, was an extensive dealer in stock and other property; was a sheriff, a ready wit, and a natural poet.
OBED POWERS, son of Col. Samuel and Chloe Cooper Powers, was born April 20, 1788. Like most boys in those early days, he received only from three to four weeks schooling each winter. At the age of twenty-two he remov- ed to Cornish. In addition to being an active and thriving farmer, he has been extensively engaged in stone masonry -superintending in New York and Vermont, as well as his own State, some of the largest and most difficult under- takings. February 10, 1814, he was married to Cynthia Cummings; and in 1864 was celebrated their golden wed- ding. They had five children, all thoroughly educated at Meriden, and all successful teachers. The youngest daugh- ter, MARION W., has a decided talent for poetry, was assistant teacher at Meriden, and is now at the head of the female department of an institution at Sydney, Ohio.
SOLOMON L. POWERS, brother of the above, after following the business of stone-mason at Baltimore and elsewhere,
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finally became an extensive farmer at Gettysburg, Pa .; and during the famous battle a portion of the rebel army was stationed in his yard. His brothers, ARA and LARNARD, were successful farmers. The former died at Charlestown in 1865, leaving quite a fortune.
SAMUEL POWERS, son of Col. Samuel Powers, a merchant and practical surveyor, had much native talent. He was one of the most successful teachers; had a clear intellect and a decided military genius, which was much improved by a thorough training at Norwich University. Few are the men who have more of the elements of popularity about them, or who have been more a favorite with their townsmen. Full of promise, he died in 1828, at the early age of thirty- three.
ERASTUS B. POWERS, son of Larnard and Ruby Barton Powers, and grandson of Samuel Powers, fitted for college at Meriden; graduated at Dartmouth College, and at the Law School at Cambridge, Mass., and was admitted to the bar in 1866. As a scholar he ranked high in his classes.
MERRITT, LEMUEL and HENRY POWERS, sons of Zadock, and grandsons of Ezekiel Powers, were clergymen in Ver- mont.
HAVEN POWERS, son of Cyrus and Lydia Stow Powers, and grandson of Rev. Lemuel Powers, was born in 1817. After spending several years with his friends on a farm in Croydon, he studied law and settled at Milwaukie, Wis.
TIMOTHY GILMAN POWERS, son of Timothy, and grand- son of Dea. Stephen Powers, is an intelligent farmer and
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man of influence, residing at the East Village. Married Eliza Winter, daughter of Adolphus Winter. He has been Selectman several times, and held many other offices.
DENNIS POWERS, son of David Powers, was born May 24, 1808; graduated from Amherst College, Mass., in 1835, and from Theological Seminary at Andover, Mass., in 1838. He was ordained and settled over the Congregational church and society of East Randolph, Mass., December 5, 1838. At his own request he was dismissed from this church and people April 15, 1841. On the 29th of September, 1842, he was installed as pastor of the church and society of South Abington, Mass., and remained there until 1850, when he accepted an appointment to an office under Presi- dent Fillmore, and removed to the city of Washington. He was for a time Agent, and an eloquent advocate of the Colonization Society. He is now laboring again with the people of Abington, Mass. du, 1890,
ORLANDO POWERS, son of Capt. Peter Powers, and on the mother's side descended from Dea. John Cooper, was born May 5, 1810. He was educated mainly at the district school. At eighteen he was apprenticed as clerk to Hiram Smart-then only merchant of Croydon-where he remained until April, 1832, when he removed to Cornish Flat-where he now lives-and commenced trade. In 1837 he was married to Cynthia L. Smart, daughter of Joseph Smart of Croydon. He has been Town Clerk of Cornish seven years, was Representative in 1844, and County Treasurer in 1849 and 1850. He was for a long time Postmaster, and has been frequently Administrator of valuable estates. He has an active temperament, and a ready business talent, is
K
J. H. Bufford's Lith. Boston.
Horace Powers.
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social and gentlemanly. On the breaking out of the re- bellion he devoted all his means and energies to the raising of men and furnishing supplies for their families. No other one in town did so much as he for the cause. He. ..
DAVID COOPER POWERS, third son of Peter, and grandson of David Powers, was born June 30, 1822. When eight years of age he removed with his father to Cayuga County, N. Y. He received his academical education at Aurora; studied medicine with his brother-in-law, Nathaniel Leavitt, M. D., and graduated at Berkshire Medical College at Pitts- field, Mass., in 1848. He then went to California, and remained until 1850, when he returned, was married to a daughter of Samuel Ledyard, Esq., of Wayne County, and settled in the practice of his profession, at Auburn, N. Y. In 1853 he again went to California and remained two years, when he returned and removed with his family to Coldwater, Michigan, where he now resides, and is in the practice of his profession. " At the breaking out of the rebellion he was appointed Surgeon of the 9th Michigan Infantry, and acted in that capacity some three years.
J. WOODWORTH POWERS, brother of Orlando, is an exten- sive farmer in western New York.
JACOB HAVEN POWERS, youngest son of Peter, is a thriving merchant in western New York.
Of the sisters, MARY C. married Nathaniel Leavitt, a physician, and CEMANTHA married Daniel Frye, also a physi- cian at Deering, N. H.
DR. HORACE POWERS was the son of Urias and Lucy Powers, and was born Oct. 27, 1807. His early education
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was obtained in the common schools of his native town and the Academy at Newport, after finishing which he studied medicine with Dr. J. B. McGregory, of Newport, and having attended two full courses of Lectures at Dartmouth Col- lege under the noted and lamented Dr. Muzzey, he received his diploma of M. D. at the Medical College at Woodstock, Vt., in the spring of 1832. He was married Oct. 22, 1833, to Miss Love E. Gilman, of Unity, N. H., and settled in Morristown, Vt., where he has since resided. He has one son now living, H. Henry Powers, Esq., a graduate of the University of Vermont, and at present a leading lawyer of his county, residing in his native town. Another son, George R. Powers, died in the army in Feb., 1862.d.180;
The Dr. was a Justice of the Peace in Morristown twenty- five years in succession ; was a Deputy Sheriff many years, and in 1844 and '45 High Sheriff of Lamoille County ; in 1850, represented his town in the Vermont Constitu- tional Convention, and in 1853 and '54, represented Lamoille County in the Vermont State Senate. He has also been a Director in the Lamoille County Bank for many years ; in 1865, being out of health, he retired from the most extensive and lucrative practice in his county.
URIAS POWERS, son of Urias Powers, was born May 12, 1791; graduated at Dartmouth College in 1818; pursued a theological course at Andover, Mass .; ordained in 1823; and after preaching in South Carolina and Virginia, he became connected by marriage with the family of a wealthy planter and settled at Big Lick, Va. He voluntarily emancipated his slaves. The rebellion dealt harshly with his once large fortune. He was the first native of Croydon who received a collegiate education.
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JOSIAH W. POWERS, son of the late Urias Powers, was born June 19, 1799. He entered Dartmouth College, but before completing the full course, he left and entered the Theological Institution at Andover, Mass., where he grad- uated. After being ordained, he preached at Kingston, · Mass. and at Kennebunk, Me. In 1839 he accepted an agency of the American Bible Society, and soon after reach- ing Ohio, the field of his labor, was called to his rest.
GERSHOM POWERS, son of the late John Powers, was born June 11, 1789. His early advantages were quite limited -denied even the advantages of a common school. His parents being too poor to furnish other means, his books were read and pondered by the uncertain light of the "fore-stick." A lameness iu his right arm induced him to leave the farm and turn his attention to law, the study of which he com- menced at Sempronius in 1810. After completing his course, he opened an office at Auburn, and was popular and successful in his practice. He was appointed Assistant Jus- tice of the Cayuga County Court, and after three years ser- vice in that capacity was elevated to the position of County Judge. Jan. 30, 1826, he was appointed to the control of the Prison at Auburn, and under his management the " Auburn System of Prison Discipline" became famous throughout the United States and Europe, as second to none on the globe. In 1829, he was chosen Representative to Congress, and declined a re-election on account of feeble health. He died Jan. 25, 1831. He was kind to his indi- gent relatives, beloved by all, and died a Christian.
WILLIAM POWERS, an elder brother of the preceding, was born in 1786, and his means of education were similar to
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those of his brother. He was assistant keeper of the prison at Auburn, N. Y. Having drawn a superior plan of a pris- on, he was employed by the government of Canada West to superintend the erection of a penitentiary at Kingston, and in May, 1835, was appointed Deputy Warden of said prison. He is now an extensive farmer in western New York.
RAWSON.
JOHN RAWSON, from whom have descended the Rawsons, settled under the mountain, near the P. Barton place.
REED.
MOSES REED, the father of the Reeds, was among the early settlers, and was a cloth dresser at the Flat.
ROWELL.
HON. CHARLES ROWELL, son of Lemuel Rowell, remov- ed from "Ryder Corner " to Allenstown, N. H., where he died Jan. 11, 1867, aged 82 years. He was intrusted with many civil offices. He was Selectman of his town twenty- four years, Justice of the Peace about the same number of years, a Representative to the State Legislature four years, County Treasurer two years, and State Senator two years. He had been an earnest and consistent member of the Meth- odist E. Church for fifty-eight years.
EDMUND ROWELL, a brother of the preceding, studied medicine and settled in Merrimac County, where he died young.
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FRANKLIN ROWELL, and CHRISTOPHER ROWELL, sons of David Rowell-both men of decided genius-are among the most successful artists in Boston.
EDMUND ROWELL, son of Sherburn Rowell, is a success- ful trader at New London, Conn.
RUMBLE.
ELISABETH RUMBLE, a spinster, was noted for her great age-a hundred years-and her many eccentricities. At the trout-brook she was the rival of the famous Isaak Walton.
RYDER.
JOTHAM RYDER came early to Croydon, and settled in the south-east corner of the town, and from him and his con- nections the place has always since been known as " Ryder Corner."
ASA RYDER, son of Jotham Ryder, studied medicine with Alexander Boyd, of Newport, graduated at the medical department at Hanover, and settled at Alstead, N. H., where, after two years of practice, he died.
DANIEL RYDER, son of Jotham Ryder, was born Dec. 29, 1803. He married Sarah George, and remains under the paternal roof, at Ryder Corner. He has long been noted for the excellence of his stock and produce. He is one of the most prosperous and worthy farmers in town, and is esteemed a man of superior judgment. He was one of the Committee of Arrangements, and is the father of WILLIAM W. and DAVID E. RYDER.
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ELIJAH RYDER, one of the Vice-Presidents of the Cele- bration, son of Jotham Ryder, Jr., is a worthy farmer, and has attained quite a celebrity as a teacher, both of schools and penmanship.
SANGER.
ISAAC, JOHN, PHINEAS, LYDIA, ELIZABETH and PHEBE SANGER came to Croydon in 1770, and were regarded as an important accession to the town. The brothers had families, the sisters were unmarried. Their descendants are charac- terized by a great fondness for books and the remarkable facility with which they acquire literary and scientific knowl- edge. Very many of the distinguished sons of Croydon are proud to trace their lineage from the Sangers. John and Phineas left town. Isaac died of the heart disease, while crossing Croydon Mountain in 1780, leaving three daughters -one of whom married Barnabas Cooper, and another William Gibson.
Lydia married John Powers, and Phebe married a Mr. Noyes. Elizabeth, or, as everybody called her, “Aunt Lizzy," remained single, and was really one of the best speci- mens of an old maid the world has ever produced. Turning instinctively away from all allurements to matrimony, she preferred to remain,
"In maiden fancy free."
She was "an angel of mercy," and "went about doing good." She seemed to be everywhere present when needed -chiding the erring, comforting the sick, helping the needy, and cheering the desponding. The memory of " that good woman" is cherished with lively interest by all the early set-
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tlers of Croydon. But tradition says she had her one fault -she was a firm believer in witches. Many an urchin has feared going to bed alone, after listening to her wonderful tales of ghosts and hobgoblins. She lived to a good old age, and went to her rest with many benedictions. God bless her.
SARGENT.
ALVIN SARGENT, son of Capt. John Sargent, is a clergy- man of the Baptist order, now living at Holderness, N. H. He has been several times a member of the Legislature.
JOSEPH SARGENT, a brother of the above, married Lucin- da, daughter of Benj. Skinner, Esq. For a while he was engaged as high-school teacher. He studied theology, and became a Universalist clergyman-was quite talented. He was Chaplain in the army, and died in the service.
SHERMAN.
WILLIAM SHERMAN came to Croydon from Barre, Mass., in 1797, and died Feb. 19, 1855, aged 79 years, leaving a large family. He is remembered as an upright farmer. Of him it might be said, as of one of old: " Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile."
SMART.
HIRAM SMART, son of Caleb Smart, for a long time a lead- ing man and popular merchant in town, married Harriet, daughter of Capt. William Whipple, and he subsequently removed to Nashua, N. H., where he died.
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HIRAM SMART, son of the preceding, has been a Repre- sentative from Plaistow in the Legislature, a School Commis- sioner, and Register of Deeds for Rockingham County, and is now in the Boston Custom House.
STEWART.
GARDNER STEWART, son of John Stewart-an early set- tler on Winter Hill-married Sarah, daughter of James Powers. He has been a successful financier. He now resides at Plainview, Min.
STINSON.
REV. ROBERT STINSON, a Universalist clergyman of most blameless life, was connected with the society in Croydon at the time of his appointment as Chaplain of the Sixth Reg. N. H. Vols., and died much lamented, soon after his return from the army.
STOCKWELL.
DAVID STOCKWELL was born in 1748. He came from Sutton, Mass., to Croydon, in 1772. He was a farmer, served honorably in the Revolutionary war, and died July 16, 1824. All by the name of Stockwell, who have origin- ated in Croydon, have descended from him.
STILLMAN STOCKWELL, son of Giles, and grandson of David Stookwell, removed to the West, where he has become a wealthy farmer.
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STOW.
JONAH STOW, from whom have descended the Stows, married Lydia Powers, and came early to this town from Stockbridge, Mass., with his four sons, Peter, Asaph, Solo- mon and Jonah, and long occupied "Stow Hill," now Brighton. His eldest daughter, JUDITH, married Whipple Haven, a brother of Rev. Jacob Haven; his second, LYDIA, married Hon. Cyrus Powers, a brother of Mrs. President Fillmore, and his third daughter, PRUDENCE, married Paul Jacobs, Esq., of Croydon.
PETER Srow, a sterling farmer, married Deborah Nettle- ton, of Newport, and was the father of the Rev. Dr. Stow, of Boston, and Royal P. Stow, former Clerk of the U. S. House of Representatives. While in town he held many important civil and military offices.
BARON STOW, D. D., eldest son of Peter and Deborah Stow, and grandson, by his father's side, of Jonah and Lydia Stow, and by his mother's, of Jeremiah and Love Nettleton, was born in the westerly part of Croydon, June 16, 1801. In September, 1809, his parents removed to Newport, where for a few years he had the advantages of a good common school, under the tuition of such excellent teachers as Benjamin Cummings and William R. Kimball, of Cornish; Austin Corbin, William A. Chapin, Moses Chapin and Carlton Hurd, of Newport, and Samuel Blanchard, of Croydon. In December, 1818, he became a member of the Baptist Church in Newport, and soon com- menced preparation for the work of the Christian min- istry, pursuing classical studies, at first with the Rev.
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Leland Howard, of Windsor, Vt., but mainly at the Newport Academy, defraying his expenses by teaching winter schools. The state of his health requiring a milder climate, he went, in 1822, to Washington, D. C., and joined the Columbian College, entering the Freshman Class eight months in advance. The funds for the expenses of his collegiate course were supplied in part by the generosity of others, and the remainder by giving private instruction. Among his pupils were two sons of Commodore Porter, one of whom is now Admiral David D. Porter, of the U. S. Navy. After graduating with the first honor of his class, in December, 1825, he edited for a year and a half a religious newspaper in Washington, called " The Columbian Star." In September, 1826, he married Miss Elizabeth L. Skinner, of Windsor, Vt. In the summer of 1827, he returned to New England, and on the 24th of October of the same year was ordained as pastor of the Middle St. Baptist Church, Portsmouth, N. H. After five years of service in that place, he accepted an invitation to the pastoral care of the Bald- win Place Church, Boston, and was there installed, Novem- ber 15, 1832. In the spring of 1848, compelled by impaired health, he resigned that position, and, in the autumn, accepted the less onerous charge of the Rowe St. Church, in the same city, of which he is still the pastor.
In 1846, Brown University conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity, and, in 1854, Harvard Uni- versity repeated the honor.
At three different times in twenty-three years, he was elected Corresponding Secretary of the national organization, now styled the American Baptist Missionary Union; but, from a clear conviction that he had a vocation from God to
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be a preacher and pastor, he in every instance declined the appointment. The same conviction has restrained him from listening to urgent propositions to accept positions in Colleges, either as President or Professor.
Notwithstanding imperfect health, he has performed, in thirty-nine years of ministerial life, a large amount of service, not only in his ecclesiastical relations, but in various Boards of Colleges and Benevolent Institutions. He is the author of several books and pamphlets, and has written much for the periodical press.
In 1840, and again in 1859, his people, at their own expense sent him to Europe for the benefit of his health, and for mental improvement.
During his ministry, he has preached nearly 4,500 ser- mons, baptized nearly 1,000 persons, married nearly 1,200 couples, officiated at more than 1,300 funerals, and made more than 21,600 parochial visits. His correspondence, for many years, has averaged 1,000 letters per annum. In forty-five years, his travels at home and abroad have exceed- ed more than 100,000 miles. His private journal extends through nineteen volumes of manuscript, making more than 4,000 pages. Such an amount of labor would have been impossible but for a rigid economy of time and a tenacious adherence to system.
His father, born in Grafton, Mass., June 21, 1771, died in Newport, N. H., in 1816 ; his mother, born in Killing- worth, Conn., February 11, 1775, died in Potsdam, N. Y., in 1846.
. ASAPH STOW removed to Sempronius, N. Y., where he enjoyed in a good degree the confidence of the community
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and was intrusted with much public business. He was one of the messengers to carry the Presidential Vote to Wash- ington.
SWINNERTON.
BENJAMIN SWINNERTON, one of the early settlers, once quite a favorite in town, was drowned at an early age while attempting to swim across the Connecticut River in com- pany with an Indian.
TOWN.
JOHN TOWN, son of John Town, was born Aug. 17, 1805. He was educated at Newport Academy. In June, 1840, he was appointed Deputy Secretary of State, which office he held for four successive years, often doing the duties of the Secretary. He was elected Register of Deeds for Sullivan County, in 1851, and was re-elected in 1852, 1858 and 1854. He was often elected to minor offices. He was a teacher by profession, and in it was quite successful.
6. may 8, 1 813. 0 1859
VASHTI TOWN, sister of the above, was educated at the Kimball Union Academy, and commenced teaching in her native town. She was soon called to take charge of the female department of the Norwich Institute, at Norwich, Vt., where she remained three years. She was then invited to Portsmouth, Va., and after nine years of successful labor in that place, removed to the city of Washington, where she has been mainly occupied in teaching for the last fifteen years. Her occasional contributions to the press indicate a. ready pen, and a high degree of literary merit.
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WAKEFIELD. .
POLLY WAKEFIELD, now 95 years of age, the oldest person now living in town, is the widow of Maj. Josiah Wakefield, of Newport, and daughter of Phineas Newton, who came to Croydon in 1772, from Worcester, Mass.
AMOS WAKEFIELD, son of Amos and Chloe Cooper Wake- field, and grandson of Dea. Sherman Cooper, is a Methodist clergyman at the West.
WALKER.
MOSES and JOHN WALKER, the former living in the west part of the town, and the latter on the turnpike, were the progenitors of the Walkers.
WARD.
JOSIAH WARD came to this town from Henniker, N. H., and settled in the south-west corner of the town. He had a large family.
DAVID WARD, the eldest son of Josiah Ward, a physician, after practicing awhile in New York, and at Adrian, Mich., removed to Illinois, where he died. JOSIAH, Jr., a lawyer, after studying his profession, went first to Adrian, Mich., where he held an honorable position in his calling, but after- wards removed to Nevada, where he died in 1865. He was District Attorney. ALFRED married Randilla, daughter of Col. Samuel Powers, remains on the homestead and is a worthy and successful farmer. He was Representative in 1853 and 1854. DANIEL was born June 10, 1810. He
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turned his attention to medicine; graduated at Castleton, Vt., in 1834. He married Mary Ann, daughter of Capt. Zina Goldthwait, and settled at Marseilles, Ill., where he has been highly successful in his professional and pecuniary endeavors.
WARREN.
DAVID WARREN, the head of one of the three families that came to town in 1766, was born in Grafton, Mass., in 1742. He married Prudence Whipple, sister of Capt. Moses Whipple, and also to the mother of Rev. Jacob Haven. Not long after their arrival, a most trying incident occurred: Mr. W. went away to work, the wife leaving her infant on the bed and two little ones running about the house, took her pail and went out a little way to the spring for water; in attempting to return, she lost her way, and the more she sought to regain it the more she became bewildered. Fear- ing she might wander away and be lost, she sat down upon a log and there remained until her husband's return at night- fall, when his loud outcry soon restored the lost, anxious, aching-hearted mother to her sacred little charge.
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