USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Gazetteer of Cheshire County, N.H., 1736-1885 > Part 59
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Caleb Plaistridge, whose father, Isaac, caine to Connecticut from England, was born February 19, 1751, and was left an orphan at the age of four years. He was brought up by a widow of the town, and at the age of twenty-one went to Cornish, N. H., buying a lot of fifty acres, where he made a small clearing. He then returned to Connecticut, married Hannah Manning, and
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in the spring he and his wife returned to the clearing in the wilderness. He served in the war of the Revolution. His first wife bore him eleven children. He married for his second wife, Susannah, daughter of Samuel Lucy, who bore him four children, three of whom, Marion, Nancy P. and Joseph, are living. He died June 30, 1838, and his wife died March 30, 1867. Marion married Jason Cole and lives in Danville, Vt. Nancy P. married William H. Stone, and also lives in Danville, Vt. Joseph, who came to the village of Walpole in 1869, was born January 7, 1809, and married Harriet Winches- ter, of Ashburnham, Mass.
Aaron Graves and his wife, Phebe, from Saybrook, Conn., were in town before 1750, and it is thought, brought a number of their children with them. It is said a brother by the name of Nathan came with him. Of the latter very little is known, except that he had two sons, Azel and Joel. Joel set- tled just in the border of Westmoreland, on a plot known as the Graves pas- ture, and now owned by Henry Burt. Joel was a clock-maker, and went by the sobriquet of "Jinglefoot" Graves. Where Aaron settled it is difficult to ascertain. He died August 8, 1814, aged ninety-two years, and his wife died March 20, 1813, aged eighty-five. His children were as follows: Tryphena ; Recompense, born January 20, 1756 ; Jesse, born April 11, 1758 ; Aaron, Jr., born February 11, 1760; Hannah, born November 8, 1761 ; Samuel, born February 20, 1763; Abner, born February 5, 1766, and Roxana, born December 4, 1772. John Graves was probably a brother of Aaron, and his name first appears on the town records, as fence viewer, in 1762, and again, in 1764, as one of the selectmen, and also in 1778, when he is styled "Dea- con." He was one of the twenty-five members of the old church under Thomas Fessenden, in 1767. When he came to town he purchased a large tract of land, which is still held by the Graves family, extending east from "Lane's Mills" to and including the place now owned by William Graves. It is said that his sons Eliad and Eliphas came to town before his son John, Jr., who was familiarly known as "Squire" and "Lieutenant" John. He was the Graves who represented the town in the Vermont assembly. The children of John, Jr., who lived on the place now owned by Charles H. Graves, were Samuel, John 3d, Lidia, Nancy, Rebecca, Margaret, Parnell, Darius, Amos, and Allen, the last two being twins. From these ancestors have sprung a long line of descendants now living in this county and other parts of the country. George W. Graves, born April 5, 1812, married Stella, daughter of Ruggles Watkins, and located upon the home farm of his grandfather, Eliphas. He has always been an active farmer in town, and has three chil- dren living at home. They are Francis H., John W., and Russel G. Charles H. Graves, son of Sterling, was born September 13, 1824, married Lucinda M. Thatcher, of Newport, N. H., May 8, 1851, and located upon the home- stead of his father, on road 46. He has been a farmer all his life, and has had three children, Clara J., Fred D., and Joseph H. The last two live at home. Clara J. married Charles W. Bacon, of Buffalo, N. Y., and died Au- gust 22, 1883. ·
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The Wellington family were originally from Massachusetts, where Ebenezer, the father of the present family, was born in the year 1765. He came to Wal- pole while in middle life, where he continued to reside till the date of his death, in 1851. The maiden name of his wife was Rebecca Levens They reared a large family of children, twelve of whom lived to an advanced age, and at the present time only two are living-William, the last son, having died on January Ist, of the present year, 1885. The family history extends back to Roger Wellington, who was born in England about the year 1610, and was an early settler in Watertown, Mass. Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was a great-grandson of Roger Wellington, and received his name from him. Ebenezer Wellington was a soldier in the war of the Revolution. William Wellington will be remembered as a man of great energy and will power, also as one possessing good judgment, with an ambition to excell. The family has been noted for their powers of physical endurance and marked characteristics. So much so, that those qualities which were manifest in the oldest members of the family, of which we have any record, are still the dominant qualities of the present generation.
William Wellington married Achsah Kidder, of Walpole, by whom he had eight children, six of whom are now living, while only two, Scott and Lucius Wellington, reside in Walpole, the others having moved away. The two named reside on the old homestead. Irena Wellington married Charles H. Camp, and resides in East Saginaw, Mich. Nannie, the youngest of the children, resides with her. Diana married H. N. Fletcher and resides in West- moreland. Leonard resides in Keene.
David Hodskins, son of Aaron, was born here on the place now owned by A. and W. Kingsbury. He married Martha March, and reared a family of ten chil- dren, four of whom are living. His son John N. married Emily Hall, and lives on road 46. Of his five children, three of them, George H., John N., and James O., are living.
Levi Hooper, the progenitor of the Hooper family in Walpole, was born in Bridgewater, Mass., in 1742. When quite young he went on a whaling voyage to Hudson's Bay, and on his return enlisted as a soldier in the last. French war, which ended in 1763. He enlisted for nine months, and when the time of enlistment had expired he was unable to get his pay unless he would stay three months longer. At the expiration of the next three- months, finding himself no better off, he and two other soldiers deserted and made for home, guided by blazed trees, till they arrived at Charlestown, No. 4, where they stopped for the night. The next day they reached Walpole, and stopped in a log-hut that stood on the site of the present cider-mill on the Hooper premises. The soil and the heavy growth of timber pleased him so much that he was induced to return after visiting his friends, and locate in town. He returned to Walpole in 1771, and soon after buried his wife, whose maiden name was Susanna Leach, and the same year married Sarah, daughter of Jonathan Hall, by whom he had six children. He paid £160
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lawful money to Samuel Chase for his farm, in 1775, and located on the southern part. In 1781, he had built and moved into the " mansion," so- called, now the residence of George D. Hooper, where he lived till his death, in 1806. His wife died February 9, 1823, aged eighty-one years. He was second lieutenant in a company of General Bellows's regiment in Revolution- ary times, and afterwards captain. He was a man of resolute character, held many town offices, and accumulated a competency for old age. His children were as follows : Susanna, born in 1772; Salmon, born August 7, 1774; James Winslow, born in 1776; James, born in 1778; Elisha, born in 1781 ; and Sarah, born in 1783. John Hooper, Esq., son of Elisha, was born June 22, 1818, and married twice, first, Abigail Ball, May 26, 1840, who bore him six children, five of whom are living, as follows: Warren E., Estella, Rowe, Marion and Ellen. For his second wife he married Agnes L. Flanders, in 1870. He was well known in the town, was one of the commissioners who located the county-house at Westmoreland, was selectman, and was town rep- resentative in 1866-'67. He was a member of the Christian church many years, and died September 5, 1883, aged sixty-five years. His widow lives in this town. William Hooper, son of James, was born here February 21, 1812, married Elvira Pulsipher, of Rockingham, Vt., January 18, 1843, and located upon the old homestead where his father and grandfather lived before him. He has two children, Frank W., who is a professor of natural history in Adel- phia academy, at Brooklyn, N. Y., and George D., who lives on the home farm with his father. The wife of William Hooper died June 16, 1881.
William Bond, a soldier of the Revolution, moved soon after the close of the war to Charlestown, N. H., where he settled and reared a family of five sons and two daughters. His son William, Jr., came to Walpole about 1816, and settled at Drewsville, where he followed farming and other occupations. His son William A. is now a merchant and manufacturer at Drewsville, and has two sons.
Dr. Abraham Holland, born in Barre, Mass., in 1751, graduated at Dart- mouth, studied medicine, located in Walpole, and commenced practice here about 1780, being the third physician, it is said, who settled in town. His wife was Abigail Baldwin, of Shrewsbury, Mass. For his second wife he mar- ried a widow Fisher. He died in 1847 at the great age of ninety-six years. His children were Polly, Nathaniel, who was born in 1788, and married Keziah Richardson, of Alstead, in 1819. He was a hotel keeper by profes- sion, he died at forty-seven years of age. Ephraim, born in 1790, married Nancy, daughter of Rev. Samuel Mead. He, too, was for many years a hotel keeper in Keene, and in Boston, Mass. He returned to Walpole and built the house where his widow still resides. He died April 30, 1859. His children were Henry E., a physician and surgeon in the Union army, where he died ; Harriet, who married Thomas N. Hastings, of Boston; Edward Morse, who died December 27, 1878, aged fifty-one ; Daniel Denny, who mar- ried Eliza Hardy, and went early to California ; Orlando Sartwell, who mar-
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ried Bertha Held, and died in 1878, leaving one child ; Frederick Hender- son, who went to St. Louis; George B. born March 17, 1838; and William Ward, who went out as a sutler in the late civil war, and died there Novem- ber 12, 1863, aged twenty-three years.
Dr. George Sparhawk, born in 1757, graduated at Harvard in 1777, studied medicine, and came to Walpole between 1780 and 1790. He built the house latterly occupied by A. H. Bellows. He married Polly Allen, and died in 1847, aged ninety. He became one of the largest land-owners in the town and was a man of superior natural and acquired abilities.
Thomas Sparhawk, born in Cambridge, Mass., March 24, 1737, graduated at Harvard in 1755, and came to Walpole in 1769. The present Sparhawk homestead is a portion of his early purchase. He was probably the first mer- chant in town. He was the first to represent the town in the New Hamp- shire assembly, at Exeter, in 1775, was also judge of probate and clerk of the courts. He was always a leading man. He died October 31, 1803, and his widow died in May, 1807. His son, Thomas, J .. , born in June, 1761, was a prominent man, holding many offices, and represented the town during five terms, the last in 1803. He died in 1843. Thomas, Sr., had six other children, viz .: Rebecca, Oliver, Stearns, Mary, John Stearns, Jonathan Hub- bard, and Samuel.
Roger Vose, born at Milton, Mass., in 1763, graduated at Harvard in 1790, and located in Walpole soon after completing his law studies, about 1793-'94. He practiced law here, was judge of the state court, and also judge of probate, for many years, and the only member of congress who hailed from this town. He married Rebecca, daughter of Colonel John Bellows, and had five children. Frederick, the eldest, a graduate of Harvard in 1822, was a lawyer, judge and senator, a prominent man of the county. He died suddenly of apoplexy, while in New York city, in November, 1871.
Nathan Watkins, of Ashford, Conn., became an early settler of the town. He was a blacksmith by trade, and built his shop on the south side of Kings- bury hill. He brought the apple-trees now standing on the Kingsbury place, south of the residence, from Connecticut, a century ago. His family were of Welch and Scotch descent. Nathan was born in 1732 and died October 6, 1805. His wife was Ester Lyons, who bore him eight children.
Gen. Amasa Allen, from Pomfret, Conn., came here in 1776. He first opened a store a little west of E. K. Seabury's, but afterwards built the " Britton " store. He was a merchant during his active life, and though poor when he came here, left, at his death, in 1821, an estate of about $75,000, He was twice married, but had no children. He was State senator in 1802 -'03, and had been representative several terms. He was a popular man, a Republican of the old school.
William Buffum, fourth son of Joseph, who came to Westmoreland from Rhode Island in 1784, was born July 25, 1793, and came to Walpole in 1816. He spent his life as a merchant, and died in October, 1841. He married,
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March 1, 1820, Mary Ann D. daughter of Thomas Gordon, of Sterling Conn., and step-daughter of Gen. Amasa Allen. His venerable widow is still a resident of the town. His children were William, born in 1822 ; Rufus E., born in 1824, graduated at Dartmouth, in 1844, and became a lawyer of Massachusetts ; Joseph H., born in 1826, married Laura S., daughter of Ashbel Wheeler, of Chesterfield; George Dixon, born in 1828; Edward Wheaton, born in 1830, and Sarah Ann H., born in 1832.
Matthew Dickey, the twelfth child of Adam Dickey, son of John and Mar- garet Reed Dickey, who emigrated from county Antrim, Ireland, and settled in Londonderry, N. H., in 1733, was born April 29, 1772. He came to Walpole, in 1794, and married Betsey March, in 1795, and took up land on Derry Hiil where he spent a long life of industry, economy and thrift. He had a family of eleven children, eight of whom survived to adult age, and of whom Lewis, born November 1, 1820, occupies the old homestead,
Dr. Moses Emerson settled here on the Dea. Moses Fisher place between 1775 and 1780. He married Comfort Eastman and had born to him one son, Jonathan, when he suddenly disappeared from town, and nothing more is known of him. Jonathan, born in 1781, married Lydia Crosby, of Dum- merston, Vt., and died March 26, 1861. She died June 5, 1875. His chil- dren were Caroline F., who married Silas Angier ; Mary Jane, who married William B. Mason ; John Crosby, who married Urana C. Mason ; George Eastman, who died September 3, 1853, aged twenty-eight years ; Sarah Abi- gail, who married William B. Mason ; and Harriet M., who married Charles Wyman.
William Guild, from Franklin, Mass., came to Walpole in 1808, and bought the Col. Webber farm, since owned by George Jennings. In 1838 he moved into the village, where he lived until his death, October 16, 1858, aged eighty-three. He was twice married, first to Waitstill Ware, in 1798, who died July 1, 1812, by whom he had two children, Julia and Increase Sumner, and the following December he married Lydia Field, by whom he had three children, William, Jr., born August 16. 1813 ; Mary Jane, born January 17, 1815, and Ebenezer, born December 22, 1816 Increase Sum- ner, son of William, married Esther Wolcott, February 8, 1824, and moved to Bethel, Vt. By her he had seven children,-Esther Aurora; William Wolcott, now of this town, born August 23, 1827, who married Eliza Jane Alexander, of Fitzwilliam, and has had seven children ; Edwin Jennison, born October 24, 1829, has been twice married and reared five children ; Julietta, born February 8, 1840, married Frederick J. Hubbard, of this town.
John Howland, who came over in the Mayflower, to Plymouth, in 1620, was Lieutenant in Miles Standish's troops, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Governor John Carver, and died February 23, 1672. James and Charles Howland, descendants of John, came to Walpole between 1790 and 1800, and James settled on a farm since owned by William W. Guild. Charles was a cabinet maker, and settled in the valley, where he died November 28,.
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1826, aged sixty-two. Aaron Prentis, son of Charles, was born in 1801. He acquired a limited education at the common schools of the period, and learned the carpenters trade, and soon became a contractor, and by his rare good judgment he acquired a competency. He represented the town in the legislature, and was United States district assistant assessor at the time of his death, July 9, 1867. He married Huldah Burke, of Westmin- ster, Vt. His children were Elizabeth, Charles P., Fred I., Henry E., Alfred C., and Katherine H. W. The first three died young. Henry E. became a lawyer, and located in New York. Alfred C. became an artist,-a landscape painter, with headquarters in New York city.
Robert Jennison came to this country at an early day and settled at Water- town, Mass., and from him have descended the numerous Jennison families of this county. John, fourth son of Samuel, was born in Watertown, Mass., February 19, 1710. He married Mary Hubbard, who, after his death, brought six children with her to Walpole. She became the wife of Col. Benjamin Bellows. John, her second child, known as Capt. John, had a numerous family.
John Maynard was born in Chesterfield, N. H., March 28, 1785, and being an orphan at three years of age, he was brought up by one of the Blake families in Keene. He learned the saddlers trade and came to Wal- pole early in this century and worked for Maj. Grant until he began business for himself. He subsequently owned a line of stages from this town to Chester, Vt. He married Lydia Graves, April 28, 1811, by whom he had ten children. His son A. K., of this town, born December 19, 1814, was a manufacturer of boots and shoes here many years until 1870. He was also postmaster from 1853 to 1861. He married Maria Geer, of Charlestown, N. H., June 13, 1844, and his children were William A., Charles G., the present proprietor of the Dinsmore House, who was born September 28, 1846, and married Mary G., daughter of Thomas Dinsmore, of Alstead, Lizzie M. and Mary E.
· Vim Porter, the progenitor of the Porter families of this town, was born at Crown Point, N. Y., September 22, 1801. He married Hannah Pike of Morristown, Vt. He came to this town and settled on what has since been known as the Corey farm in 1834, until his death, September 24, 1843, leav- ing a widow and five boys. The boys all acquired a good English education and have become highly respectable citizens, two of them, Winslow B. and William H., became physicians.
James Russell and his wife Lucy came here from Wellington, Conn., at an early date, and were among the early members of Rev. Thomas Fessenden's church, which they joined in 1770. Mr. Russell was born in 1710, and died October 8, 1784, his widow surviving him until April 24, 1791. He settled upon what is now known as the Ezra Hall place, and which has been for so many years in the hands of his descendants. They were the parents of six children, three sons and three daughters. Thomas, the eldest of the sons,
Hiram Nothing M 2
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was born October 22, 1751, and died November 27, 1845. He married Eunice Alexander, and reared a family of children. The other children of James were as follows : Hannah, who married Luke Fletcher, July 23, 1784 ; Priscilla, who married David Pulsipher ; Lucy, who married John Fletcher ; Aquilla, who married Abigail Glazier ; and Jeduthan, who married Hannah Glazier. These children were the parents of large families, whose descend- ants now reside in this county and different parts of the country.
Nehemiah Kidder came to the town from Tewksbury, Mass., in 1788. He married Abigail, daughter of Dr. Frances Kittredge, who died at the time of the birth of her tenth child, Amy, born December 18, 1789, and was cared for by her uncle Dr. Jesseniah Kittredge. The other children of Nehemiah were Hepsibeth, Abigail, Ducy, Polly, Joseph, Nehemiah, Susanna, Zepha- niah, and Abiah. The latter, born September 14, 1786, came to this town with his parents when an infant. His mother died when he was about three years of age, and he was brought up by Dr. Kittredge, of this town. He married Achsah Winchester, of Westmoreland, June 10, 1808. Of his eight children, five. three boys and two girls, are now living. Of these Abiah lives in Bel- mont, N. H .; Moses lives in Woodstock, Vt .; Mary, who married A. Ross, lives in Colesville, N. Y .; Julia married George Sabin and lives in town ; Joseph married Susan Tuttle, has two children, Edward H. and Benjamin F .. and lives on road 20.
Moses Burt, one of the old Revolutionary patriots, was a son of Aaron Burt, of Northfield, Mass., a wholesale merchant there, of whom the first settlers of Walpole used to purchase goods before a store was opened here. Moses was born in Northfield, February 14, 1756, and came to Walpole in 1775, with Samuel Wiers, and purchased what was then known as the Chandler mead. ows. He married Submit Ross, in 1783, and reared a family of ten children, as follows: Roxana, born April 8, 1784 ; Abiathar, born September 10, 1786, Ross, born 1788; Moses, Jr., born 1790 ; Luther, born August 8, 1792; Submit, born March 14, 1794 ; Hannah, born June 24, 1797; Sophronia, born August 8, 1799; Charlotte, born October 11, 1801 ; and Sophia, born 1804. Luther was a farmer by occupation and resided upon the home farm. He married Irene, daughter of Hugh Dunshee, and reared a family of eight children, as follows: Levi, Mary J., Curtis D., Laura M., Amasa, George, Henry and Andrew J. Five of these are living, four of them residing in this county. Luther Burt died November 1, 1866, and his wife died March 2, 1877. Levi, born May 12, 1812, married Mary, daughter of Benjamin Floyd, September 25, 1833, and lives on road 43. He was a traveling salesman for twelve years, and then became interested in the nursery business. He has an orchard of 1,000 trees and is now in the fruit business. He has had three children, two of whom are living, Alonzo, who lives at home, and Mary J., who married George Clark and lives in South Framingham, Mass. Theron, son of Levi, died November 6, 1863.
Frederick A. Weir was a grandson of John Weir, Sr., who came to this 32*
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town from Hampstead, Mass., and settled upon the place now owned by John L. Houghton. Frederick was born April 12, 1812, married Almira R., daughter of Asa and Rebecca (Graves) Titus, and has had eight children, five of whom are living. They are Frederick A., Jr., who lives in Drewsville ; Rowe and Mary K., both of whom live in town ; Frances R., who married P. D. Brown, and lives in Peterboro, N. H. ; and Alma, who married William Craig, and lives in New Haven, Conn. Mr. Weir, the man who introduced the Morgan breed of horses here, published the origin of the first Morgan horse in the Albany Cultivator, in 1846, and it was re-published in the Maine Horse Breeders' Monthly, in July, 1883.
Moses Fisher was born in Franklin, Mass., October 13, 1763, and married Mary Hixon, who was born in the same town, January 31, 1770. He came to. this town about 1800, and located upon the place now owned by his son Moses. He was for several years deacon of Rev. Pliny Dickinson's church, and at one time had a mill on the brook that ran past his house, where cotton yarn was manufactured, and his son Daniel peddled it about the county. The mill was washed away by a freshet in 1826. His children were as follows: David, born August 11, 1789 ; Julia, born July 1, 1791 ; Nancy, born March II,. 1793 ; Isaac, born May 22, 1796 ; Eunice, born June 18, 1799; Mary, born July 6, 1807 ; and Moses, born May 16, 1815. Moses Fisher, Sr., died Octo- ber 23, 1854, and his widow died May 7, 1861, aged ninety-one years. His son Moses married Adeline, daughter of Richard Starkweather, December 22, 1842, and has had three children, two of whom, Emily C. and Francis A., are living and at home. Mr. Fisher has been a farmer all his life, and has. always resided on the old homestead on road 21.
David Arnold moved to Westmoreland from Massachusetts at an early day, and carried on the tanner and currier business. His son William, born in Westmoreland, March 29, 1796, learned the machinist trade and worked at that business in his younger days. He married Naomi Moore, of Walpole, October 3, 1822. In 1837 he purchased the Robinson tavern and kept a. public house in which business he continued until the building of the Chesh- ire railroad, when his tavern keeping was relinquished. He died August 27, 1876. He reared a family of six children, as follows : Elizabeth, born May 22, 1823, married twice, first, Levi Winchester, and second, Gilbert T. Stevens, and resides in town ; Mary P., born September 17, 1824, married O. H. P. Watkins, of this town; Sarah J., born August 29, 1829, married Henry Bacon, and lives in Beebe Plain, Vt. ; Sophia, born July 19, 1834,- married Nelson Johnson, and lives in Westminster, Vt .; Frances N., born March 2, 1836, married George A. Sherman, of Keene ; and William, born December 26, 1826, married Mary S. Stevens, of Warwick, Mass., in 1853, and has had three children, Major W., Cora J., and Fred W., none now liv- ing. The latter has been engaged in breeding Spanish Merino sheep for several years, and resides on the home farm on road 57.
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