Gazetteer of Cheshire County, N.H., 1736-1885, Part 15

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., Printed at the Journal Office
Number of Pages: 1034

USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Gazetteer of Cheshire County, N.H., 1736-1885 > Part 15

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Edward Jarvis, son of Edward, was born at St. John City, N. B. He mar- ried Calista M. Gibson, of that city, September 16, 1856, and came to Ches- terfield, June 29, 1860, and lived near the southern boundary line of West- moreland, in the house where Mr. Strobridge lived and died. After two years he went to Swanzey, and engaged in lumbering in California woods. Three years afterwards he removed to Westmoreland, and lived on the farm last owned by Sanford Guernsey, and the house built by Samuel Burt, Ist.

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They lived there fourteen years, when the buildings were destroyed by fire. He then removed to Chesterfield Factory in September, 1880, where he keeps a boarding house and livery stable. He lives on Main street, in the house long accupied by Jacob White. His children were four sons and four daugh- ters, viz .: Eugene, born October 17, 1859, died at the age of seven ; Peter A., born March 3. 1863, died at the age of four years ; Stanley E., born October 17, 1857 ; Joseph A., July 1, 1861 ; Eliza ]., April 10, 1865 ; Lettica S. V .. December 7, 1868 ; Ada Corinne, March 31, 1872 ; and Edna M., Jan- uary 12, 1875.

Richard Henry Hopkins, son of Richard and Emeline (Lewis) Hopkins, was born in Chesterfield, May 9, 1831, and died February 21, 1877. He received a good business education, and then learned the machinist trade at Hinsdale, N. H., after which he returned to Chesterfield Factory and soon engaged in the manufacture of bits and augers for Benjamin Pierce, and continued in the business till April 1, 1870. From 1868 to 1870 Fred B. Pierce was his partner, under the firm name of Hopkins & Pierce. He also in company with Horace Howe, (who for many years had been over- seer in a cotton mill,) purchased the cotton factory, and converted it into a shop for the manufacture of woodenware, and under the firm name of Howe & Hopkins, made spinning wheels, flax wheels, hatchels, &c., several years. In April, 1870, he removed to Hinsdale, N. H., and went into com- pany with G. S. Wilder, under the firm name of Wilder & Hopkins, edge- tool manufacturers. In 1872, in company with George C. Fisk, president of the Wason Manufacturing Company, car builders, of Springfield, Mass., under the firm name of Fisk & Hopkins Paper Co., he built a paper mill at Hinsdale, of which he was the successful manager until his death. He was a fortunate financier, honest and punctual in his business affairs, cheerful, social, temperate, and with a free hand and open purse to aid every- thing beneficial to society, moral, educational, or religious-he was a deserv- edly trusted and popular man in the communities where he lived. In 1858 and 1859 he was elected selectman by the voters of Chesterfield, and in 1865 and 1866 represented the same constituency in the New Hamp- shire house of representatives. He was also a trustee of the Hinsdale Sav- ings bank, a Master Mason, and a worthy and honored member of the Con- gregational church. January 6, 1853, he was married to Ellen M. New- ton, who was born October 21, 1831, and most highly esteemed for her many virtues, by all who knew her, and who died September 26, 1875. The following were their children : Charles B., born May 16, 1855, resides in Hinsdale, and has been manager of the Brightwood paper mill since his father's death ; Isabel A., born May 28, 1857, died September 6, 1858 ; Herbert H., born July 2, 1861, married and resides in Hinckley, Illinois ; Hattie E., born February 24, 1864, and died August 18, 1865 ; Clara E., born February 3, 1868, graduated from Tilden Seminary, June 17th, 1885 ; and George C., born January 10, 1873, and now lives in Greenfield, Mass.

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Rodney Fletcher, son of Arad H. and Bethana (Darling) Fletcher, was born in Chesterfield, November 18, 1826, and married Olive W. Albee, daughter of Captain Nathaniel Albee, of Chesterfield, November 3, 1847. He has one daughter, Sarah E., who was married in 1873, to B. H. Swan, D. V. S. Since 1843 Mr. Fletcher has resided at Chesterfield Factory, and has worked in the auger factories located there, under various firms at differ- ent periods as finisher, having had charge of the polishing-room, where he has been for more than forty years. Under the old military regime, he was a prominent member of the Chesterfield Light Infantry, in which organiza- tion he held a commission four years, and the last two commanding the com- pany. Early in life he evinced great aptitude as a nurse, and notwithstand- ing his active and laborious business cares, has never been too hurried to devote any necessary amount of time, day or night, to the care of his sick and suffering neighbors. For a score and more of years he has acted as undertaker in and about Chesterfield Factory, and as marshall at nearly 150 funerals. In acknowledgment of these freely rendered services, his friends, in 1880, gave him an ovation, and with brass band, songs, poems and speeches, presented him and his wife with valuable tokens of their apprecia- tion and regard. The following tribute is from a poem delivered on that occasion :-

" We laurel the hero ;- place flowers o'er the dead ;- Give banquets to statesmen. For years of devotion

In homes of our loved ones, shall aught now be said ? You came when the star-lamps hung over the sleeping,- You followed the Reaper,-you shrouded our dead. On whom will your mantle trail o'er in its keeping, Since now on the hill-slope you're journeying down ? This tribute we pay you, and time shall record it, For worth in the future shall bring you renown."

In every laudable enterprise, and in the municipal affairs of the town, he has long been a prominent factor, having been moderator, supervisor, and a selectman three years. In the Masonic order he is a Knight Templar, es- teemed by his fellow craftsmen, a trustworthy knight, and for more than a quarter of a century he has been an unusually successful and prosperous amateur farmer.

Lawrence Walton was in Chesterfield as early as 1770, and died here No- vember 28, 1795, aged seventy-eight years. His children were as follows: Elisha. Nathaniel, Peru, Sarah, Lucretia, Margaret, Deborah, and Elijah. Nathaniel married, first, Mary, daughter of Eli Partridge, and second, Jemima, daughter of John Sanderson. He lived in the "New Boston " district, on the farm now owned by Charles M. Davis, was a blacksmith by trade, and was noted for his great strength. His children were Elijah, Azariah, Nathaniel, Polly, Lovilla and Rachel. Elijah, son of Nathaniel, married Joanna, daughter of Shadrack Herrick, and died September 24, 1861. His children were David Stoddard, Thirza L., Lafrinda, Sophronia, Lovell M., George P., and Caro-

Rodney . Fletcher.

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line M. David S., the first of these, married Elizabeth, daughter of Abel Eaton, April 22, 1830, who died August 22, 1850, and for his second wife, Catharine H. Brandt, of Darby, Pa., November 19, 1853, and reared seven children. He was a stone mason, and built the Episcopal church in Keene, the old jail and other prominent buildings. After the death of his first wife he engaged in building railroad bridges in Pennsylvania, but soon after his second marriage he returned to Chesterfield Factory, where he died, March II, 1882. Mrs. Walton now resides in Philadelphia. The daughters were May E. (Mrs. Jude S. Sargent, of Keene); Ellen O. (Mrs. Lorenzo Steb- bins, of Hinsdale) ; Sebette S., died in 1860 ; Sarah H., died 1838 ; Harriet A., married Proctor Roberts, of Boston ; and Martha Clementine married P. Frank Amidon, of Hinsdale. His only son, David Stoddard Walton, was born at Chesterfield Factory, April 5, 1842, and spent the earlier years of his life in the immediate vicinity of his place of birth. His educational advant- ages were limited to regular attendance at the district school, and to one term in the Chesterfield academy. He made good use of his opportunities, readily acquiring such knowledge as tended to develop his business instincts and to fit him for that active commercial life to which he has since devoted himself. He is remembered by his schoolmates and acquaintances as a boy of a pleas- ant, social nature, generous alike to friend and foe, and possessing those genial qualities that made him a favorite with all who knew him.

Mr. Walton early evinced a marked taste for mechanics, and being extremely ambitious, he entered the employment at Hinsdale, of Newhall & Stebbins, machinists, in 1859, when only seventeen years of age. He brought to the business a natural aptitude. an excellent degree of intelligence, and a con- scientious determination to master every detail of his new occupation. With such qualifications he could not fail of success or of giving satisfaction to his employers. It was while working at his trade that the war of the Rebellion broke out, and Mr. Walton, like so many thousands of patriotic young men, felt it to be his duty to offer his services to his country. A company of sharp-shooters was being organized at West Randolph, Vermont, intended to form a part of the First Regiment U. S. Sharpshooters. Full of enthusiasm and anxious to be at "the fore front of battle," Mr. Walton hastened to West Randolph, and enrolled himself as a private in Company F of this regiment, which was so well known during the war as Berdan's Sharpshooters. Mr. Wal- ton served with his regiment until after the capture of Yorktown, when his not over-strong constitution yielded to the exposure and hardships to which he had been subjected during the campaign, and he was left behind in the hospital at Yorktown. As Mr. Walton was being conveyed to the hospital, his regiment marched past, and as he saw them going to the front without him, he was overcome, and has often spoken of that moment as being the most sorrowful in his life. He soon became convalescent, and was sent home on furlough, that he might entirely recover his health. He shortly rejoined

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his regiment in Virginia, but his health again failing, he was sent home and soon given his final discharge.

After regaining his health a second time, in the fall of 1864, Mr. Walton determined to seek his fortunes in the west. Arriving in Chicago he found employment at his trade in the shops of the Illinois Central railroad, giving such good satisfaction that he was advanced speedily from one position of responsibility to another, and given assurances of still further recognition of his merits. But a subordinate position in a large corporation was not to his taste, and finally when he was tendered the position of superintendent of a large paper manufacturing establishment in Beloit, Wisconsin, he accepted it. Here he found himself charged with grave responsibilities for one so young, having frequently as many as seventy-five workmen under his supervision, and the press of business requiring the factory to be operated night and day. During these years his business talent had been developing as well as his mechanical ability, and he was on the lookout for an opportunity to become identified with some enterprise wherein his marked individuality would have full play. At this time Mr. B. E. Hale, (formerly a Congregational minister at Chesterfield), was developing a new industry in the printing of wrapping paper, and had been so successful that he determined to remove his business to New York city, where the opportunities were greater. Mr. Walton offered his services as superintendent of the new establishment. His offer was ac- cepted, and Mr. Walton came to New York and aided in establishing the first printing establishment in that city devoted exclusively to printing wrap- ping paper. Since then this industry, which was an entirely new one in 1868, has grown to magnificent proportions, giving employment to millions of dol- lars of capital, and thousands of men and women. Mr. Walton's services were so valuable to Mr. Hale that he was soon admitted to partnership in the firm, and when Mr. Hale died, in 1877, Mr. Walton owned a half interest in the busir.ess, the firm being known as B. E. Hale & Co. After Mr. Hale's death, Mr. Walton continued the partnership with his widow, being the sole manager of the business. After a few years he purchased the widow's in- terest, and the firm became D. S. Walton & Co. Mr. Walton has exclusive control of this immense establishment, which employs about thirty printing presses constantly, and does over a million dollars worth of business annually. The wrapping paper printed by this house is found in every city and village in the country, almost, and has become an article of necessity to merchants. There are several competitors in the business now, but none of them have been able to rival the parent house in the volume of business transacted, or in the degree of success that has been achieved. Mr. Walton, more than any one else, is entitled to the honor of being the parent of this great indus- try, for, while Mr. Hale was the first to conceive the idea, his eyesight was so impaired as to almost unfit him for business, and it required the youthful energy and rare executive ability possessed by Mr. Walton to secure for it general recognition and successful development. It is pleasant to record the

S. S.Hallow

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fact that in this instance at least, the deserving person has met with a satis- factory reward, for Mr. Walton is not only a successful, but also a prosperous manufacturer and merchant in the great commercial metropolis of the country. With the growth of his business Mr. Walton has found it necessary to iden- tify himself with kindred manufacturing enterprises, and he has accordingly an interest in an establishment at Petersburgh, Va., devoted to the manu- facture of wood veneers, butter boxes, etc., also in a paper bag factory and a paper-mill. In connection with the latter, he has recently opened another extensive sales department in New York, where he comes in immediate com- petition with the most extensive manufacturers of wrapping paper in the coun- try. Mr. Walton married Mary A. Shove, of Boloit, Wis., May 17, 1871. Their four children are David S., born July 10, 1872 ; Edith S., born Novem- ber 2, 1876 ; Harold L., born November 9, 1879; and Rudolph L., born March 19, 1883. They are bright, intelligent children, and at home or else- where show the results of the refining influence of a Christain home. Mr. Walton is a deacon of the Munn Avenue Presbyterian church at East Orange, and is also classed among the most public spirited and enterprising residents of that place. His beautiful home, "The Beeches," is one of the finest in that part of New Jersey. Mr. Walton's portrait accompanying this sketch shows him to be a fine looking gentleman, with a frank, open countenance, and one in whom even a stranger would have confidence at first sight. Still in the prime of life, enjoying good health and the promise of many years of activity before him, he may honestly be said to have carved out for himself a career that illustrates what individual energy, application, and the ready tact to adapt one's self to circumstances may do for the young men of this country.

James Burt, the paternal grandfather of Samuel Burt, sailed from London, England, April, 1635, for the Barbadoes, in the "Falcon de London," Thomas Irish, master. He was in Newport in 1639 ; surveyor in Taunton, in 1645 ; and one of a company making the "Dighton purchase" that year. He took the oath of fidelity in 1657, and was entitled to divisions of land. His will was proved March 2, 1681. His wife, Annie, died August 17, 1668. Richard, his brother, was one of the forty-six persons who made the "Taunton Pur- chase," in 1637, to be "eight miles square, liberal measure." He died pre- vious to October 26, 1647 ; on that day his minor son, Richard, chose his uncle, James Burt, for his guardian, and the court at Plymouth confirmed his choice. The mother of these brothers was said to have danced for expression of joy, on setting foot upon American soil. The ancestral Burts were men of clear, strong minds, determination and physical courage. Many of them were pillars in the different churches to which they belonged, and were honored and wealthy men. Henry4 is still held in rememberance as a man of superior judgment, whose voice, when any local question agitated every voter, was said to carry the town. Three or four generations of them are buried in Oakland cemetery, Taunton, Mass. Samuel Burt5 (Henry4, Thomas3, James2, James1,) was born in Taunton, Mass., November 20, 1760. He married Olive, daugh- 9*

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ter of George and Alvia Lincoln, born December 19, 1761, and in 1787 settled in Westmoreland, New Hampshire, near the southeastern line. His brother, Henry®, married Sally Short, from the same place, and his sister Elizabeth married - Strobridge, settling upon either side of him, Mr. Stro- bridge's farm being in Chesterfield, near the Westmoreland line. The de- scendants of Henry still live upon the same farm. Mrs. Strobridge left no. children. She cherished her family name, and was a Christian woman. She died February, 1852. Samuel Burt first lived in a small log house. He car- ried his grain to mill on his back, on foot-paths, over the hills. As a substan- tial man he kept pace with growth and improvement. He possessed a keen sense of justice, was faithful in his obligations, thinking more of the inner sense of right than "praise of man." His pure and unselfish life led him to a tranquil old age, made more pleasurable to his friends by reason of his in- dustry, good eyesight, and ardent love of reading and recounting the scenes of his youth. To his descendants the memory of him is a "benediction." He died November 3, 1850. Mrs. Burt, from families of worth, was an energetic, practical woman, and very anxious for the welfare of her descendants. She died July 26, 1843. Their children were Naomi, Samuel, Willard and Betsey.

Samuel Burt® (Samuel5) whose portrait appears in this book, was born in Westmoreland, November 5, 1790. He married Betsey, daughter of Josia, Jr., and Lena (Holbrook) Penniman, born in Mendon, Mass., April 2, 1798. He settled on the road where William Atherton now lives. In the spring of 1837 he bought the farm where Rodney Fletcher now lives, west of the vil- lage, where he lived until the spring of 1845, when he purchased of D. S Walton, what is now Walter Wheeler's hotel, residing there twenty-two years. In the spring of 1867 he sold the same to Sanford Guernsey, removing to the north side of the village and occupying part of his son Daniel's house ; and there, on the evening of March 21, 1868, while (save the three who died previously,) blessed with a reunion of his children, he passed away. They had two sons and seven daughters. Mrs. Burt was an intelligent, labor-loving, self-denying woman, and to make others happy was the counterpart of her life. She died the day the Union meeting-house was raised, July 30, 1853, followed August 10, by Augusta M., born July 30, 1830, and September 14, by Jane A., born April 2, 1831. Mr. Burt was a man who sought substantial comforts rather than pomp or show ; was characterized for integrity, a staunch friend, making others welcome to his home, where beneath its rafters the needy were sheltered, and the poor fed. He was a squire for a long term of years, postmaster about fifteen years, holding other offices of trust. Eliza L., the oldest daughter, born May 7, 1819, married, June 1, 1842, Milo, son of Nathaniel Walton, of Chesterfield. They lived one year in Boston, Mass., two in Houlton, Me., where he engaged in mercantile business. His health failing, in 1845, he removed to Amity, engaging in agriculture and horticul- ture, The people bestowed upon him their various offices, and he united a large number in marriage. He died May 22, 1854. Mrs. Walton died De-

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cember 2, 1871. We quote from her obituary: "All the knowledge that could be found in books was brought to bear upon the soil. It is to her en- terprise and industry, that nearly all the farms in this section are to-day in- debted for their orchards. Her life, though filled with accomplishments, was a short one. For the art her husband loved so well, for the sake of her chil- dren, she spent the remainder of her life in ministering to others. We feel that we, as a town, are mourners, and the county whose true benefactress she was." They left two sons and one daughter. Christiana A. Burt, born Oc- tober 5, 1820, married, April 12, 1847, William F. Barnes, of Swanzey, for several years a resident of Chesterfield Factory, where he manufactured cot- ton goods. His mills were burned, and after a few months in Springfield, Mass., they removed to Newton township, in the northeastern part of Wiscon- sin, in 1851, when that county was sparcely settled, making the last hundred miles with a "sober ox team." They opened their house for a school, and their influence was potent in adjusting the standard of moral and intellectual improvement. Mr. Barnes died May 31, 1859. Mrs. Barnes married second, Frank Weeks, whom she survived, and in Portage City, Wis., where she re- sided, April 30, 1884, while pleasantly conversing in a neighbor's house, she said: "I must go home," and her consistent, Christian life was ended. Ellen S. Burt, born March 16, 1834, married, July 10, 1854, George Corbet, born at Gays Run, Nova Scotia, September 15, 1828, and settled in Chesterfield Fac- tory, living from 1855, thirteen years, near the southeastern portion of Mt. Pistareen, where Nathan Puffer now lives. Mr. Corbet, for nearly twenty years, was engaged in finishing leather, the larger portion of the time for Sum- ner Warren, and employed from four to.nine hands. He died May 3, 1872. Their son, Clarence E., born July 30, 1859, is now manager in Mulford & Mckenzie's railroad ticket brokers' office, Saint Paul, Minn. George Burt, born December 20, 1860, is now in Chicago, Ill., engaged in selling chairs, etc., on commission, for a Milwaukee chair company. Mrs. Corbet resides on Main street, Chesterfield Factory, in the house built by Samuel Gilson pre- vious to 1815, and for many years occupied by the venerable Captain Na- thaniel Albee, whose first wife was Mrs. Penniman, the mother of Mrs. Samuel Burt2. Martha A. Burt, born November 17, 1837, married, April 2, 1860, Henry, son of Arba and Maria (Albee) Barker, of Westmoreland, and with their six sons, reside in Keene. Melissa J. Burt, born February 28, 1844, is now in Fitchburg, Mass Samuel George Burt7, son of Samuel Ce., was born September 15, 1822. He married, December 6, 1852, Sarah Haskell, of Houlton, Me., and settled in Amity, engaging in mercantile pursuits ; he run a merchandise team between Amity and Calais, a distance of seventy miles, where he purchased goods, taking from Amity the commodities of the surrounding country. He was retiring, and shunned office ; was appointed postmaster, but declined to serve, although he held at times town offices. Kate, their daughter, two years of age, after one day's sickness, died June 19, followed by her father July 2, 1858. Mrs. Burt, with her son George H. Burt®,

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born June 10, 1857, (now) the only living male descendant of Samuel Burt5, bearing the family name, removed to Hartford, Conn., watching with tender solicitude, the progress of her boy, until her death, October 3, 1858. At the age of seventeen he associated himself in a wholesale produce business, under the firm name of C. B. Haskell & Co. Two years later he withdrew from the firm, and employed with G. P. Bizzell & Co., the largest private banking house in the United States, where he is senior clerk and teller. He married in Middleton, Conn., October 14, 1880, Mary Murdock. Their daughter, Bessie M9., was born December 4; 1883. They own a residence on Florence street, Hartford, where they reside. Daniel E. Burt, son of Samuel® was born June 5, 1825. He married Thirza, daughter of Noyes and Thirza (Walton) Scott. Mrs. Scott was afterwards the wife of Dr. Harvey Carpenter. Mr. Burt settled in Chesterfield Factory, working as a mechanic. Afterwards he was teamster for twenty years between Chesterfield Factory and Keene. He was obliging in business, and honest in purpose; unobtrusive in address, but courteous and genial, with strong convictions of right and wrong. He died May 27, 1882. Their daughter, Cora A., died at the age of nine months. Ida West Burt, born April 19, 1858, married, January 13, 1877, Charles But- terfield, of Westmoreland. They live in Chesterfield Factory. Their son, Arthur Burt Butterfield, died in infancy. Eva W. Butterfield was born Au- gust 26, 1878. Mrs. Daniel Burt resides in her former home.

Dr. Henry Carpenter was born in Alstead, N. H., December 24, 1803. His father, Eber Carpenter, was a practicing physician in Alstead from 1802 until his death, May 23, 1841. Henry, the eldest of his eight sons, distin- guished himself in the profession of medicine and surgery. He graduated in medicine at Castleton, Vt., in 1825, and soon after settled in Chesterfield, where he soon gave evidence of superior skill, and with a growing reputation as such, continued the practice of his profession until his death, August 14, 1852. Decisive in all things, ignoring creeds, he spent his life in ministering to the wants of his fellow men, believing that acts, and not creeds or beliefs, constituted true religion. He was a man of large sympathies. He married Lydia H. Chandler, of Colerain, Mass., in 1829, and had born to him two daughters, Helen and Lucretia. His wife died in 1837. Only one of his daughters, Lucretia A., is living, and resides in Montrose, Pa., highly esteemed and noted for her Christian virtues. Dr. Carpenter served as representative in the legislature of the state with commendable ability, and in all things in- trusted to his care was a man of accredited worth. A son by a later mar- riage, Charles Henry, served in the late Rebellion, and distinguished himself by meritorious acts and duties during the war, dying in Mississippi soon after the close of the same, while yet in the service of the United States. Dr. Car- penter was a man of commanding appearance, a true representative of liberal republican principles, and a strict adherent of justice and right.

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Gazetteer of Cheshire County, N.H., 1736-1885, Part 15

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., Printed at the Journal Office Number of Pages: 1034

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., Printed at the Journal Office
Number of Pages: 1034