USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Gazetteer of Grafton county, N. H. 1709-1886 > Part 31
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Nathaniel Blaisdell, three children, Chester.
1792. Samuel Johnson.
I792. Joshua Rogers, four children, Connecticut.
1792. Joseph Pulsifer, Jr., son of Joseph, seven children.
1792. Darius Willey, Jr., son of Darius, ten children.
I793.
James Little, son of Moses, nine children.
I793. James Holmes, son of John, five or six children. Jesse Hall.
I793.
1793. Stephen Giddings, eight children, Massachusetts.
Moses Pulsifer, son of Joseph, eight children.
Stephen Giddings, nine children, Massachusetts. Samuel Chandler, three children, Hampstead.
I794. Samuel Merrill, thirteen children, Plymouth.
1794. Enoch Merrill, six children.
1802.
Elijah Hatch, seven children.
1804.
Isaac Willey, son of Darius, eight children.
1805.
Peter Blair, ten children, Holderness.
1807.
William Giddings, eight children, Massachusetts.
1809. Robert Smith, ten children.
1820. Daniel Wyatt, son of Daniel, six children.
The first town meeting recorded was held in 1772, when the following list of officers were chosen : Moses Little, moderator ; Col. Joseph Spencer, town clerk ; Capt. Gershom Burbank, Moses Little, Esq., James Harvel, Ebenezer Taylor and Benjamin Hickox, selectmen ; Jonathan Cole constable ; Samuel Cook and Samuel Fuller, tithingmen ; Nathaniel Tupper and Joseph Pulsifer, fence-viewers, David Perkins and Darius Willey, sealers of leather ; William Hobart and Asa Spencer, surveyors of highways ; Joseph Palmer and Joseph Pulsifer, surveyors of lumber ; Nathaniel Tupper, surveyor of brick ; Darius Willey, Isaac Fox and Benjamin Rug, hog-reeves ; and Ebenezer Fowler, sealer of weights and measures. The first meeting of the inhabitants, however, was held December 16, 1771. The town was annexed to Grafton county Septem- bor 14, 1782.
1802.
Thomas Cook, son of Samuel, eleven children.
1805.
John Pulsifer, son of Joseph, eleven children.
1793. Christopher Noyes, nine children, Massachusetts.
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TOWN OF CAMPTON.
The first wedding in town is said to have been solemnized under a tree in the open field. The first male child born in the town was Benjamin, son of Isaac Fox, 2d, January 20, 1769. A danghter of Hobart Spencer was born the same year. Col. Holmes procured the first chaise, and drove it into town on his return from general court at Concord, in 1811. The first school taught by a man was kept at the house of Colonel Baker, by a Mr. Rawson, a young man from Connecticut, not far from 1780. This was the only school which many of the first generation of the town ever attended. Jeduthan Clough, from Canterbury, who settled at the village in 1802, was the first physician. The preacher of the gospel was Rev. Nathaniel Emmons, who became the celebrated Dr. Emmons, of Massachusetts. He received a call to settle here in 1771, but did not accept it.
In the war of the Revolution the town furnished ten soldiers, aside from those who were called out for a few days at the time of Burgoyne's invasion, in the autumn of 1777. The names of the ten, so far as we have them, were John Cannon, John Mayloy, Jeremiah Archibald, Silas Fox, Uriah Fox, Asa Spencer. Edward Taylor and Oliver Taylor. Five of the ten are said to have lost their lives in the service.
In the late great war, the town had eighty-seven enlistments placed to her credit. Of these, six were taken prisoner ; four were killed ; fourteen were wounded, from the effects of which four died ; while eighteen died o disease. The quota under all calls for the town, was ninety-nine. The citi- zens furnished thirty-seven substitutes, seventy-five enlisted in town, and thirty-seven recruits were furnished, making a total of 112, a surplus of thir- teen.
Ebenezer Taylor came here from Connecticut, in 1765, with a Mr. Fox, they being the first settlers in the town of Campton. Mr. Taylor settled upon the farm where George C. Taylor now resides, on road 16. His son Oliver served three years in the Revolutionary war. Oliver. son of Gilman R. Tay- lor, married Polly Baker, and settled upon the home farm. George C., one of his four children, and the oldest son, married Amanda P., daughter of John B. and Dorcas H. (Smith) Huckins, of Holderness, has had two children, now deceased, and resides upon the old homestead. John B. was the son of Dea. John Huckins, who died at the age of ninety-four years, and the grand- son of Dea. James Huckins, who died, aged ninety six years.
Diodate Willey, son of Abel, came here from Connecticut, in 1766, aged seventeen years, and settled upon a farm, on road 15, being the fifth settler in the town of Campton. He married Lydia Church, in 1778. His son Diodate married Mary Butler, and reared a family of eight children. His eldest son, Selden C., married twice, first, Elizabeth Denison, of Gloucester, Mass .. who bore him one daughter, Elizabeth, and second, Melvina, daughter of Daniel and Fanny (Ferry) Harvey, of Colebrook, N. H., who has borne him two children, Milton H. and Esther E., twins. The latter married Frank P. Hart, and resides on the home farm with her mother, and Milton H. is dead.
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CAMPTON.
Hon. Moody Merrill was born at Campton, June 27, 1836, and was educa- ted in the district schools and at the Thetford (Vermont) academy. During the summer season his time was occupied in farming. In the winter of 1856 he taught school at Ellsworth, and in 1857, at Thornton. His ambition at that time was to enter college, put owing to ill health, he was compelled to give up this desire. In 1859 he went to Boston, and in December of that year, he entered the law office of the Hon. William Minot. After a faithful course of study, he was admitted to the Suffolk bar in February, 1863, and at once commenced the practice of his profession.
He served on the school board from 1865 to 1874. During this term he was chairman of the Roxbury High School commitee for seven years. In 1868 he was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives where he served during the three following years. He was a member of the Senate in 1873 and 1874. On entering the Senate his wonderful energy and perseverance showed themselves to the best advantage, and the powerful influence which he always exerted in all his undertakings, placed him at once among the lead- ers. In 1874, as chairman of the committee on State police, he secured the passage of the bill abolishing that body, over the Governor's veto. This was a proceeding which had never before been accomplished in the history of the Massachusetts legislature. One of the notable incidents connected with this measure being the fact that ex-Governor Banks, who was in the Senate at that time, after making a speech in opposition, was so much influenced by Mr. Merrill's vigorous presentation of his side of the case that he voted with Mr. Merrill in favor of the bill. He was also chairman of the committee which had charge of the memorial services on the death of Charles Sumner, and pre- pared and complied the Memorial History commemorative of that occasion. Since that time he has devoted himself to the Highland street railway, of Boston, of which he has been the only president. It is into this enterprise that Mr. Merrill has put his best efforts. The charter was granted April 12, 1872, against the combined opposition of all other roads, and by the 24th of October of the same year, five miles of road and two large stables had been built and the road was opened for travel, and is to-day the most perfect horse railroad in the world. Even his warmest friends predicted failure, but his indomitable courage and inherent power has carried him through every undertaking, the greatest of which was in securing the passage by the legislature of 1886, of the bill allowing this corporation to purchase and consolidate all the other street railways of Boston, representing a combined capital of about $15,000,000.
Mr. Merrill's influence in the municipal affairs of the city of Boston, and in promoting its great interests and prosperity has been more widely felt in the
2022
CAMPTON.
past fifteen years, than that of any other man. Although he has refused to accept any municipal office, he has had great influence in moulding and con- trolling the action of the city government. As was well said by Mayor O'Brien, in his address before the Grafton County Agricultural Association at its fair of 1885, "Your county has produced in my friend the Hon. Moody Merrill, Boston's best and most active citizen. He is a lawyer of great genius and power, owns and runs a hotel, is president of and runs the best horse railroad in the country, and runs the city government, and we purpose to elect him to Congress and let him run the national government at Washing- ton." It was almost entirely through Mr. Merrill's influence and controlling power that the system of public parks for the city of Boston, was established. More especially that part of the system including the new Franklin park, con- taining nearly six hundred acres of the city's most beautiful suburban lands. The city has already appropriated nearly four million dollars for this park, and, when completed, it will be one of the finest in the country.
Mr. Merrill's tact and skill as a lawyer was well demonstrated in the cele- brated Moran murder case. In the trial of this case his associates took a line of defense which was not in accordance with his views ; but as they were older lawyers than he, he was obliged to yield to their judgment. The result of the trial showed that he was right, and they were wrong. After Moran had been sentenced to death and the day of his execution set, Mr. Merrill was still so impressed with the fact that the case had not been properly tried and the true defence made, that ignoring and discarding his associates, he took the case before governor and council. They had once refused to com- mute the sentence on the defense made at the trial, but having heard Mr. Merrill's ideas as to what it should have been, they unanimously commuted the sentence to imprisonment for life. Several years after he brought the matter before a subsequent governor and council and convinced them that Moran should be pardoned, which was done immediately. Moran to day is a highly respected, faithful and trusted book-keeper in one of the largest manufacturing establishments in the State of New York.
Mr. Merrill is president of the Oakland Garden Association, and of the Mag- neso-Calcite Fire Proof Company, of Boston, and has recently been elected president of the Grafton County Agricultural Association. In 1880 he was a member of the Massachusetts Electoral college, but has taken no active part in politics for several years and has no further desire for public office. He is probably to-day, the best known, as well as the most popular and influential public man in Boston.
Ving July Jums Woodyallenice.
.
203
TOWN OF CAMPTON.
Hon. Moses Baker, son of Benjamin and Ruth (True) Baker, of Epping, born April 8, 1738, married, December, 1758, Deborah, eldest daughter of Ephraim Davis, one of the original settlers of Concord, and died April 6, 1802. Moses Baker settled early in that part of Chester now Candia. He was one of the petitioners for the incorporation of that parish (1763) and from that time until his removal to Campton he was one of its most active and influential citizens both in military and civil affairs. In January, 1775, he represented the parish in the convention called at Exeter to "consider the state of affairs" in the aroused and troubled colonies. Having some years before received from Governor Wentworth a royal commission as lieutenant of militia in the Province, in 1775, his experience was valuable in preparing the troops for service; and when, in December, Washington called for aid, Captain Baker (commissioned by Com. of Safety) raised a company of volun- teers and joined the New Hampshire troops at Winter Hill, where fortifica- tions were being erected "to continue the siege of Boston." In 1776, he, with other loyal citizens of the Province, signed the following declaration know as the "Association Test:" " We, the subscribers, do hereby solemnly engage and promise that we will, to the utmost in our Power, at the Risque of our Lives and Fortunes with Arms, oppose the Hostile Proceed- ings of the British Fleets and Armies against the United American Colo- nies."
His course was in harmony with his word, for from the hour the struggle for independence began, he held his talents, his ample means, and his life in readiness for instant action in any emergency. He was a man fitted for emergencies, and the occasions were seldom wanting. During the summer and fall of 1776 (as major in Col. Wingate's regiment) he was encamped on Mt. Independence (at the head of Lake Champlain), where batteries and troops were stationed to resist Burgoyne's invasion. During this campaign, Arnold performed the daring exploit upon the lake known as the Battle of Valcour Island. In October, 1777, he, with his company, joined Stark's brigade which, marching rapidly to reëforce the army at Saratoga, arrived just in season to prevent the escape of Burgoyne and witness his surrender.
In 1779, he removed to Campton where he had purchased a large tract of land lying near the center of the town and including rich Pemigewasset inter- vales. Almost from the time of his arrival he took a vigorous leadership in the affairs of the new settlement. His wisdom and experience, his habit of prompt action, and his dignity of character made him a man of mark in the community, and until nearly the close of his life he continued to fill positions of honor in the town and in the State, being for several years a member of the legislature. His children were Mary, born August, 1760, married first Rev. Selden Church, and second Moody Cook; Moses; Benjamin, born at Candia, October 12, 1776, died April 23, 181.4, was a major of militia, mar- ried a daughter of Deacon Daniel Wyatt, of Campton-children, Mary, married John Keniston, and Eliza, who married Samuel Keniston.
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TOWN OF CAMPTON.
William Baker, son of Benjamin Baker, of Epping, was early engaged in the war. In the winter of 1775-76. he was at Winter Hill with Sullivan's brigade, being a member of the company of volunteers raised in Candia by his brother. He was the first of the family to emigrate to Campton, and immediately on arrival took part in the affairs of the town. He is said to have been a delegate from the town to the first convention for the formation of a State government in 1777. He was early appointed deacon in the church, a post which he worthily occupied during the remainder of his life. He died in 1814, leaving a large family.
Benjamin Baker, son of Benjamin, of Epping, was among the first to rally to the relief of his country. He is believed to have been at Bunker Hill with Stark's men who fought so gallantly at "the rail fence filled with hay," and who were among the last to leave the field. During the ensuing winter he was with Washington's forces at Cambridge. He came with his family to Campton about 1780. He had suffered much while in the army from sick- ness and exposure, in consequence of which he became permanently disabled and met with an early death.
Col. Moses Baker, son of Moses and Deborah (Davis) Baker, was born January 1, 1769, married, in 1789, Molly Wyatt, and died May 31, 1829. Like his father, Col. Baker early evinced a talent for service and a generous public spirit. For thirty years he held continuously some official position, notably those of town clerk, selectman for twenty-five years, and representa- tive in the legislature for fourteen years. Col. Baker was a justice of the peace as well as officer of militia'; he was also a land surveyor, and in this capacity was member of the committee for a survey of the township (Camp- ton) in 1804. He was one of the joint owners of the town library established by the Rev. Selden Church (about 1790), and he contributed liberally towards its support. The confidence of the community in his ability and steadfast integrity was repeatedly shown in affairs of private as of public trust. His children were Levi; Davis; Hannah, married Samuel Marsh ; Moses, mar- ried Polly Dearborn ; Polly, married Gilman R. Taylor; Rebecca, married. Coffin Cook; Lois, married William H. Blair; Clarissa, married Zebedee Cook ; Caroline, married John Buckman.
Col. Davis Baker, son of Moses, 2d, and Molly (Wyatt) Baker, born at Campton, June 24, 1791, married Hannah Church, October 27, 1814, and died June 13, 1842. Col. Baker inherited the abilities and emulated the virtues of his immediate ancestors, continuing to till the family acres and succeeding to the official responsibilities which for three generations were upheld by a member of the family. He never courted public favor, yet his eminent fitness for public service was repeatedly recognized, and he held a guid- ing hand in the counsels of the town for more than twenty years, repre- senting it also in the legislature. In land surveying his skill and accuracy were noted, and his services held in frequent requisition. In 1829 Col. Baker was associated with Mr. Cummings, of Plymouth, as a commission
(Birthplace of Hon, Moody Merrill-Campton.)
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TOWN OF CAMPTON.
authorized by legislature to survey a large tract of "ungranted lands" in- cluding a portion of the White Mountain region, and to report on the char- acter and prospective value of the same. In 1841, under another appoint- ment by the State, he settled the boundary of territory north of Waterville. These surveys of a rough wilderness necessitating the passage of unknown and untracked mountains, proved arduous tasks and involved no slight hard- ships. As a magistrate his business was extensive, and his knowledge of law was so correct and his sense of justice so keen that his judgments were sel- dom questioned. It is said that an appeal once being made from his decision to the court of common pleas, and the case being called, the presiding judge asked from whose decision the appeal was taken. On being informed that it was Col. Baker's, the judge pleasantly remarked to the prosecuting attorney that it was scarcely worth while to prosecute the appeal, since the Colonel's de- cisions were always found to be correct. His private trusts were always ful- filled with an eye single to the interests of those who reposed confidence in him, and all his dealings were characterized by the same rare judgment, dis- cretion and fidelity. In great reforms of the day (notably those of the tem- perance and anti-slavery movements, in which he was a leader,) his vision was clear and prophetic. In the church, when his interest was deep and ac- tive, his influence was powerful and his counsels always made for peace and righteousness. A man of great personal dignity, grave, reserved, retiring yet always ready at the call of duty ; whose words, never superfluous, were in- violable ; of profound convictions and great courage in maintaining them ; of unswerving adherence to principle and of spotless integrity-it was the aim and the joy of his life "to do justly and to show mercy, and to walk humbly before his God." His children were Deborah Davis, married George W. Keniston ; Walter Wyatt, married Elizabeth L. Noyes, and resides at Lex- ington, Mass .; Davis, married Statira Spencer, resides in Washington, D. C .; Hannah married Gardner Spencer; Freeman, married first, Sarah L. Noyes, second, Ellen M. Case, resides at Malden, Mass .; Elihu Church married Ade- line A. Parker was member of the Massachusetts Senate in 1855; president of Senate in 1856, and at present judge of probate for the county of Darling- ton, S. C., resides at Darlington ; Henry Woodward, resides in California ; Henrietta, married Jeremiah Leavitt ; Edward Payson, married Leora A. Parker, (upon breaking out of the war of the Rebellion enlisted in the Twen- ty-seventh Iowa regiment, later promoted to a captaincy. His health be- came impaired through his services in the army, and his death in 1880 was virtually a sacrifice for his country), and Moses Rogers.
George Washington Keniston, son of William and Sally (Morrison) Kenis- ton, was born in Sanbornton, N. H., December 22, 1810. When a boy of eleven years, he walked to Campton, a distance of thirty miles, to take up his residence with his brother Samuel. He subsequently learned the stone- cutter's trade and, for a number of years was foreman in Cady's stone-works, at Medford, Mass. On September 14, 1837, he married Deborah Davis,
206
TOWN OF CAMPTON.
oldest daughter of Col. Davis and Hannah (Church) Baker, of Campton, and settled upon a farm in Thornton. Five years after, he moved to the "Baker farm," a large interval farm in Campton, where he resided until his death, September 29, 1884. He was selectman while living in Thornton, and deputy sheriff for Grafton county in 1849 and'50 ; in 1859-60, he represented Camp- ton in the State legislature, and in 1865 he was elected treasurer of the com- mittee for funding the town debt of Campton, an office he held until the bonds were paid, in 1878. He was, also, from time to time, chosen for many other offices of trust and responsibility. His life was marked for its energy, perseverance, and strict honesty. His children were as follows: Emma Elizabeth, born February 11, 1839, married William Thornton, September 27, 1859, and died December 23, 1866, his children being William Elmer, born September 23, 1863, died at the age of three years ; George (Keniston) Thorn- ton, born January 22, 1865, now (1886) in the employ of Parker, Holmes & Co., of Boston, Mass .; George Hancock, born September 29, 1840, a shoe- maker, and settled in Stoneham, Mass .; Ann, born October 1, 1847, died while attending school at New Hampton, November 7, 1866 ; Davis Baker, born July 1, 1850, married Ada Elizabeth, daughter of Lucius M. and Eliza- beth (Cutter) Howe, of Plymouth, January 4, 1876, resided with his father, upon the old homestead, which he still owns, until 1884, when he moved to Plymouth, to become a partner in the mercantile house of Blodgett & Kenis- ton, his children being Elizabeth Howe, born October 5, 1876, Davis Baker, Jr., born September 14, 1880, and Sarah Thorndike, born October 23, 1881.
Joseph Pulsifer, born in 1705, was a native of Ipswich, Mass., married Sarah Lovell, and was a soldier in the French and Indian war. His son Jo- seph, born in Ipswich, Mass., in 1745, married Mary Brown in 1769, and came to Campton in the same year. He was the first settler upon the farm where T. S. Pulsifer now resides, on road 382, upon which place he located in 1781. He reared a family of ten children. Of these, Major John, his second son, was born February 13, 1781, married twice, first, in 1806, Mary, daughter of Joseph and Martha (Taylor) Palmer, who bore him eleven chil- dren, four of whom are now living, and second, Martha L., daughter of Steph- en and Keziah (Stearns) Foss. He died in August, 1874. His son Thomas S. married Hannah P., daughter of Col. Moody and Lucy (Eaton) Cook, has one son, John M., and resides on road 38}. He is trustee in the Ashland Savings bank, and director in the Pemigewasset bank, of Plymouth, N. H. Moses, brother of John, married Mary, daughter of Dea. David and Joanna (Hazeltine) Bartlett, and reared nine children, four of whom are now living. Of these David B. married Isabella W., daughter of Reuben and Sally (John- son) Draper, has three children, Flora L., Joseph W. and George E., and re- sides upon a farm on road 382. Charles W., son of Major John, married Melvina, daughter of Thomas and Martha (Bartlett) Cook, has two children, Willard C. and Lizzie G., and resides upon the place known as the Bartlett farm, on road 20. Phebe, daughter of Major John, married Benjamin F.
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TOWN OF CAMPTON.
Stickney, of Newbury, Mass., who came to Campton in 1837, locating upon the Palmer farm, and remained here until his death, April 13, 1876, aged sev- enty years. Of his family of nine children, five are now living. His son Ben- jamin F. married Laura A., daughter of Alvin and Roxanna (Chamberlain) Eaton, has two children, Annie E. and Henry E., and lives upon the home farm with his mother.
Darius Willey came here from East Hadden. Conn., on horseback, in 1770. and was the first settler upon a farm on road 15. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He married Mary Willey, and reared six ch Idren. His son Isaac married Susan Ryan, of Plymouth, and settled upon the home farm. Isaac's son Allen married Mehitable W., daughter of William Foss, of Thornton, and resides on the homestead.
Ephrain Cook, one of nine children of Samuel Cook, located here about 1770. Coffin, one of his thirteen children, married Rebecca, daughter of Col. Moses and Molly (Wyatt) Baker, who bore him three children. The wife of Coffin Cook died March 25, 1838, and his death occurred May 4, 1865. Corydon W., the only child now living, married Sarah J., daughter of James and Deborah (Wadley) Garman, of Laconia, and resides at Campton Center, is a general merchant, and has been postmaster for the last twenty- four years. James Garman served seven years and seven months in the Revolutionary war, and James Garman, Jr., was a soldier in the war of 1812.
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