Gazetteer of Grafton county, N. H. 1709-1886, Part 51

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N. Y., Syracuse Journal Company, Printers
Number of Pages: 1266

USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Gazetteer of Grafton county, N. H. 1709-1886 > Part 51

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Human Pennock moved to Monroe, from Connecticut, in January, 1808, and a few years later came to Haverhill, where he died. His ninth child, Jefferson, was born in Monroe, January 10, 1808, was a raftsman on the Con- necticut, taking sawed lumber down the river for twenty years, and the next five years superintended the Haverhill town farm. He bought his present farm about 1852. He married twice, first Ann Clark, of Bath, who died in 1852, and second, Jane Crouch, of Dalton. He has four children, of whom Mrs. Edwin C. Rowe and Jonathan C. live in Harverhill, Capt. William lives in Auburn, near Lake Massabesic, and Ira W., resides in Goffstown

John R. Reding was born in Portsmouth, N. H., October 18, 1805, learned the printer's trade in the office of Isaac Hill, at Concord, and went to Bos- ton, in November, 1826, where he remained until July, 1828, when he came to Haverhill. He established the Democratic Republican, and continued in- terested in it until 1884. He received the appointment of postmaster in 1831, which position he held until 1841, when he was elected to Congress, and was re-elected in 1843. After two terms he returned to Haverhill, attended to his paper, took contracts, and erected the Grafton county court-house, in 1845. . He also erected the county record building, and in 1848 took the con- tract and erected the Phenix block after the burning of the stores. During the time from 1845 to 1853 he was engaged in various town offices. In 1853 he moved to Portsmouth, having received the appointment of naval store- keeper, which he held five years. In 1860 he was elected mayor of Ports- mouth, and was town representative in 1867, '68 and'69. He became inter- ested in navigation in 1860, and continued a ship owner until 1882. He married twice, first, Rebecca R., sister of Hon. Isaac Hill, of Concord. She died in Washington in 1844. He married for his second wife Jane Martin, of St. Johnsbury, Vt., in 1846, and resides in Portsmouth.

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Benjamin Haywood was seven years of age when he came here from Spring- field, Vt., which was about 1830. His father, Nathaniel, died soon after, and Benjamin, after living several years in town, moved west, but re- turned to Haverhill in 1880, and died here in 1881. His son Alvah E. Hay- wood is a farmer at Center Haverhill. Capt. Alvah E. Haywood, son of Nathaniel and brother of Benjamin, married Lucretia, daughter of James Jeffers, and reared three sons and three daughters. Five of these went west, leaving one, Chastina L. (Mrs. S. H. Baker) in Haverhill. Capt. Haywood died in November, 1859. He was one of the selectmen for several years, was captain of militia in Haverhill, and also served as justice of the peace, for many years.

Benjamin L. Warren came here, from Wethersfield, Vt., about 1830 or 1831, and located with David Cheney, Gad Bisbee. Nathaniel Haywood, Nehemiah Chase, Anson A. Smith, Joel Davis and others from the same vicinity, at what is now Center Haverhill. He took up new land and made a clearing and helped to build the Union meeting house, now standing. He brought up two sons, Asahel L., of Haverhill, and Benjamin F., of Warren. He married Lucy Barton, and died in 1867, aged sixty-four years. His widow, aged ninety-one years, lives with her son Benjamin F., in Warren. Asahel L., a successful farmer, has spent his life in Haverhill, married Lucia Heath, and has one son and one daughter.

Rev. Barzillai Pierce was a Methodist minister, and in his early life was a circuit rider in Cheshire county. In 1826 he came to Haverhill, locating in the eastern part, where he remained about twenty years. His extreme cor- pulency prevented his regular preaching, his weight being about 400 pounds, and after his settlement here he supplied pulpits in this and ajoining towns.

Phineas Spalding, A. M., M. D., son of Reuben and Jerusha (Carpenter) Spalding, was born in Sharon, Vt., January 14, 1799, and is seventh in de- scent from the first American ancestor, the line being Edward1, Benjamin2, Edward3, Ephraim4, Reubens, Reuben6, Phineas7. Reuben6 came from Plain- field, Conn., to Sharon, Vt., a lad of fourteen, with an older brother, prior to the Revolution, and was thus one of the early settlers of that town. He became a farmer, and was a man of strong character and sterling worth, a leader in civil and religious affairs, a deacon for fifty years, and a Revolu- tionary soldier in the Continental army. He died at the advanced age of ninety-three years. His stalwart constitution descended to his posterity, for his twelve children (nine sons and three daughters), all lived to maturity, and had families. His wife was a truly Christian woman, and "made home happy." From such a stock we should expect good scions. Acquiring on the farm, by hard labor, a firmness of muscle, and a capacity of endurance, and with ex- tremely meager advantages of education at the brief terms of common school and nine week's attendance at academies, Phineas had desire for something more than a mere taste of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, and, by praise- worthy application to his studies at night, after the wearisome day's work was

Princas Spalding

A LITTLE PHILA

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ended, he kept up with his classes, as well as lead in the labor of the farm, which, as his father was away much of the time, on public business, devolved on Phineas to plan and execute. This was his life until he was twenty ; then he worked on a farm for a neighbor four months, his father giving him his wages. These were $15.00 per month, $3.00 more than the common price. When eighteen he taught a school of sixty scholars for three months, and proved himself a capital teacher. The next fall he engaged and taught a school of eighty scholars. His ability in teaching caused him to be given a school of 130 scholars, in Montpelier, the next year, and for four years he continued to teach there. Dr. Spalding had great natural talents for an edu- cator. He says that he had a faculty which excited enthusiasm to a wonder- ful degree in his pupils, and it is evident that he would have done much good had he devoted his life to educational work. But hi; mind was attracted to medicine, and, after his first winter in Montpelier, he began the study of medicine with his brother James, a physician of that place. His time was well occupied. In connection with his medical studies, he taught the winter terms of district school, a class in the academy during the spring and fall terms, took private lessons in Latin, and attended two courses of medical lectures at Hanover. He began to practice medicine in April, 1823, before his graduation, which was from Dartmouth, in July, 1823. He located at Lyndon, Vt., and for fifteen years enjoyed a successful and prosperous prac- tice. In 1835 he received the honorary degree of A. M., from the University of Vermont. In 1841 he was appointed professor of surgery at Woodstock, (Vt.) Medical college, the other members of the faculty being Dr. H. H. Childs, Robert Watts, Jacob Collamore, Alonzo W. Clark, B. B. Palmer, and S W. Thayer. In 1838 he attended a course of lectures at Boston Medical college, and located at Brooklyn, N. Y., but, by reason of the illness of his wife, he returned to this section, and finally located in Haverhill, in 1839. From that time he has been connected with the town, and the much prized physician for long years, until admonished by advancing years to relinquish his duties to younger men. He has loved his profession. He was a mem- ber, for many years, of the Washington Co. (Vt.) Medical Society ; of the Caledonia Co. (Vt.) Medical Society, until 1838; was the originator of the Moose Hillock Medical Society, and its second president, which office he held many years, and was twice its delegate to the American Medical Society. The Moose Hillock Medical Society in time lost its indentity in the White Moun- tain Medical Society, of which the doctor is now a member. He has reported many cases for publication in medical journals. and wields a strong pen. In 1824 he treated and cured a case of "inter-capsular fracture of the thigh bone." A fracture of this sort had been pronounced incurable by Sir Astley Cooper, and other standard medical authorities, and the case was reported in the N. E. Medical Journal, of October, 1827. Subsequently an autopsy veri- fied the diagnosis and the cure, and this was reported in the Boston Medical Journal.

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Dr. Spalding married, in 1826, Caroline B. Lathrop. They had two chil- dren, Caroline A. and Mary G. (Mrs. James H. Tolle). In 1843 he mar- ried Charlotte Merrill, of Haverhill. They have had two children, Ada L. (Mrs. Henry D. James), and Frank M., now residing in Morrill, Kansas.

Dr. Spalding organized the first temperance society in Vermont, at Lyn- don, in 1838, and was the president of Caledonia County Young Men's Temperance Society, a large and useful body. He assisted in forming a tem- perance society in Haverhill, which soon numbered 300 members, and has ever been radically opposed to the use of liquor and tobacco. Congrega- tional by education and sympathy, he was deacon of the church at Lyndon for over ten years, and has been one of the most valuable and active mem- bers of the church in Haverhill. In all matters of the town, church, edu- cational and business, the doctor has been an acknowledged leader. The first meeting called to agitate the building of what is now the B., C. & M. R. R., was called by himself and Harry Stevens, of Barnet, Vt, at the Doctor's sug- gestion, and was held at his house, in Haverhill, where an organization was effected. Rev. Mr. Bittinger, his pastor for many years, gives us this estimate of Dr. Spalding's character : "Dr. Spalding would be a remarkable man in any community. His intellectual endowment is large, and his common sense is a conspicuous trait of his make up. His sense of humor is the least prom- inent feature of his mental character. His reasoning is direct and mathe- matical, and he always sees things in the concrete, and not as an abstraction, though he is not wanting in a certain poetical turn of imagination. Morally his ideal is high, and his sense of right and wrong is keen. His religious nature is developed more through his intellect than through the emotions, though his kindness and sympathy are tender and deep. He takes large views of things, though a strong partisan in church and politics, and is never trivial in the treatment of questions of duty and action. What he does, he does intelligently, and from a conviction of what he sees is right. He is social, hospitable, fond of company, loves argument, and is entirely free from dema- gogism. He is a staunch friend of all that is good, and steadfast in purpose -full of hope, courage, energy. As a family man, he is a model."

David Noyes moved to Landaff from Pembroke, in 1813, served in the war of 1812, and was a member of the regiment of Col. Mark Fisk, whose sister he married. His son Benjamin was born in Landaff in 1813, came with his father's family to Haverhill about 1828, located on road 38, where he has since lived. He devoted his life to farming, stock raising and lumbering. He married Mary C. Wheeler, of this town. Five of his six children are living. His eldest son, George H., was a member of the 14th Wis. Vols., and was killed at the battle of Gettysburg.

Abel Wheeler came to Haverhill from Newport, N. H., about 1831, and located south of Center Haverhill. In his early life he was colonel of mili- tia, was a farmer, and was also an ordained Free Will Baptist minister. He died on his seventy-seventh birthday. Two of his daughters, Mrs. Benjamin Noyes and Mrs. J. G. Marcy, live in Haverhill.

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TOWN OF HAVERHILL.

Rev. Moses Elkins, son of Jonathan and Sally (Philbrick) Elkins, and a descendant of Henry Elkins, who was a resident of Boston in 1635, moved to Exeter prior to 1640, and settled permanently in Hampton, N. H., in 1647, was born in Haverhill, June 20, 1801, and died at Hixton, Wis., in 1866. He was educated at Hampton academy (then a celebrated educational insti- tution) and for many years was a successful teacher in Western New York and Northwestern Wisconsin. He was a man of deeply religious principles, was ordained deacon of the Methodist Episcopal church at Fredonia, N. Y., in 1843, by Bishop Soule, and for years was a faithful and useful laborer in the vineyard of the Lord. Unassuming, kind-hearted and generous to a fault, his was not a nature to accumulate worldly wealth, but the remem- brance of his fame as a teacher, his many unobtrusive kindly deeds, and his earnest discharge of his clerical duties, make him one of the sons of Hav- erhill whose memory should be pleasantly commemorated in this volume.

Hon. Joseph Powers, son of William and Mary (Thompson) Powers, was born in Groton, N. H., May 19. 1802. He acquired a common school education and was a successful teacher. He subsequently resided in Plym- outh several years, where he was made sheriff of Grafton county, and, from 1845 to 1855, was a member of the governor's council. In 1853 he came to Haverhill and purchased the farm where his niece, Mrs. M. A. P. Filley, now lives, and died here March 19, 1879, aged seventy-seven years. He mar- ried Betsey Blood, March 17, 1825.

James P. Webster, born in Landaff, was a son of Moses Webster. He was for several years in company with his brother Moses K., in business at Lyme, where he married Rebekah M. English in 1838, and soon after returned to Lan- daff. He came to Haverhill in 1853, and was for many years engaged with J. N. Morse in buying cattle. He represented Haverhill in the legislature of 1859-60, was selectman and moderator many years, and died February 16, 1879, leaving a widow and one daughter, Mrs. Eliza W. Kellam.

Capt. Joseph Manson, of English descent, was married in Maine where he had born to him eight children. He followed the sea most of his life, and died upon the ocean. His son Alexander was born in Kittery, Me., learned the blacksmith trade in Exeter, and came to Haverhill when about twenty- two years of age. He married twice, first, Mary N. Martin, who bore him six children, as follows : Mary (Mrs. Moses P. Boswell), of East Haverhill, Alexander, of Exeter, N. H., Elizabeth T., widow of George Kimball, of Black River Falls, Wis., Phebe (W. F. Carmon), now deceased, Lucy F. (Mrs. James Boswell), of Dakota, and Charles, of Exeter, N. H. Mr. Man- son married for his second wife Mrs. H. A. Bigelow, and had born to him one daughter, Adella (Mrs. E. E. Shepherdson). He died February 4, 1878, aged seventy-one years.

James Blake and his five sons, Nathan, Paine, Chase, Joseph and W. Henry, came to Haverhill, from Sanbornton, N. H., in 1832, locating in the eastern part of the town, where several of his descendants now live. Nathan mar-

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ried Mary Tirell, of Bridgewater, and reared nine children. He died in 1872, aged sixty-nine years.

Stephen Jeffers moved to Benton, from Hampstead, about 1810, locating in the western part. His brothers James and Josiah located in Haverhill, and another, John, after living several years in Haverhill, located in the south- ern part of Benton. Stephen married Phebe, daughter of Ebenezer Whita- ker who served in the Revolution, had settled in East Haverhill some years before, and had born to him three sons and two daughters, only one of whom, Stephen, is now living. Mr. Jeffers died in 1870, aged eighty-three years. His son Stephen married Louisa K., daughter of Allen Knight, of Benton, and has two sons, Ernest W. and Milan E. He is a farmer, and resides on road 39, where he has lived since 1849 Josiah Jeffers, who came here in 1814 or 1815, married Lydia Goodwin, of Hampstead, and reared eight children, five of whom reside in the same school district, and one, James M.,. lives in the house his father built. Josiah was one of the selectmen in 1846, and died in 1862, aged seventy-one years. His son Silvester was born in 1817, married Roxana Elliot, and has one daughter, Mrs. G. K. Blake. He served as selectman in 1872, '73 and '74, is a farmer, and has been a lumber manufacturer for thirty years.

James and Abijah Cutting, sons of Zebulon, were born in Hanover, came to Haverhill in February, 1834, and James bought a 260 acre farm, of the Roswell Hunt estate, located on the hill south of Pike Station. Of his chil- dren, three sons, Joseph B., John W. and James L., reside in Haverhill, Je- rusha (Mrs. Benjamin Hatch) lives in Hanover, Julia (Mrs. Charles Bridg- man) lives in New York city, and Laura (Mrs. Joseph McGreggor) is a resident of Northfield, Vt. John W., born October 10, 1818, has been chosen to many town offices, serving as selectman two years, was town representa- tive in 1870-'71, and is a successful farmer. He married Eliza S., daughter of Enoch P. Woodbury, of Haverhill, December 31, 1844, and has three children, namely, F. P., a farmer in Haverhill, Helen A. (Mrs. J. A. Davis), of Wentworth, and John H., of Detroit, Mich. Abijah Cutting's family moved to Iowa, and one of the sons, James, became prominent as an inventor.

John H. Large, born in England, in 1818, emigrated to America when eighteen years of age, coming to Haverhill in the autumn of 1836. He was a mason by trade, which business he followed until 1852, when he and Luther H. Keyes bought the farm on which he now lives. A clearing had been begun by Isaac Pearsons, but the land was mostly forest, and Mr. Keyes and Mr. Large cleared the farm and erected the buildings. Mr. Large married Emma, daughter of Luther H. Keyes, in June, 1856, and has had born to him three sons and four daughters.

Samuel St. Clair came to Haverhill, from Sandwich, N. H., about 1810. He , was a blacksmith by trade, and worked the first season for a man in Piermont. His son John W., who came with him, worked on a farm. In the autumn of the same year the others of his family came here, and he-

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engaged in business at Haverhill Corner. Stephen B., son of John W., was born in the eastern part of Haverhill, April 20, 1835.

Charles Goudey Smith, son of Eleazer and Anne (Peters) Smith, was born in Washington, Vt., June 6, 1822. His maternal grandfather, Andrew B. Peters, was a prominent farmer and man of affairs in Bradford, Vt., for over half a century, and town clerk for over forty consecutive years. Shubael Smith, paternal grandfather of Charles, was an early settler of Washington, Vt., a quiet farmer, who attained the age of ninety-three. Eleazer, his son, was, in early life, a farmer, then a hotel-keeper for fifty years ; twenty years at Haverhill, and twenty-eight in Wentworth. He was born December 27, 1797, and died October 9, 1885. He had two children, Charles G., and William Peters who was killed in 1847, by the overturning of a stage coach. Charles lived from the age of seven to fourteen at Lyndon, Vt., and went to Charlestown, Mass., in 1836, and, as clerk there for three years, acquired. a good practical knowledge of business, that was subsequently of much value. In April, 1839, he came to Haverhill to assist his father in his hotel, and has since been a resident of the town. In 1850 he engaged in farming, which he carried on for three years, when, receiving the oppointment of clerk at the Portsmouth navy yard, he removed thither temporarily, and held that position three years. Returning to Haverhill he purchased the hotel of his father, and from January, 1857, to April, 1881, he was the genial host of "Smith's hotel," which had a well-deserved reputation as a home-like inn and pleasant stop- ping place. In politics Mr. Smith has ever been a strong Democrat. He has often been called to public trusts and offices, and these have uniformly come to him unsolicited, and when elective, have often been given by more than the votes of his party. There is nothing of the demagogue in his char- acter, and the duties devolving on him have invariably been discharged in

a plain, earnest, and direct business manner. When but twenty-two he was chosen town clerk of Haverhill, but declined to serve more than one year. He was representative from Haverhill in the State legislature of 1866-67, and in 1868 was appointed by the legislature one of a committee of five to act in conjunction with the county commissioners in purchasing a county farm for Grafton county. In 1870 the finances of Haverhill were in an unsatisfactory condition. A large indebtedness had accrued ; no one seemed to know defi- nitely the amount. A high rate of interest was being paid, and a meeting was called to consider the best course of procedure. Mr. Smith suggested and advocated the funding of the debt, and was elected selectman to carry this into execution. He served five years, and during his administration $65,- ooo was funded, and a sinking fund established which has practically extin- guished the debt. In 1873 Mr. Smith was elected county commissioner, and served six years. The county buildings were burned while he was in office, and the principal part of the labor of planning and constructing the new ones devolved on him and his associate, George T. Crawford, It is merely justice to state, that in all these official duties Mr. Smith showed a rare execu-

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tive and financial ability, fully met the expectations of his friends, and re- ceived great credit from his constituents. He married, June 3, 1847, Ruth W. Morse, whose father, Caleb, was a son of the pioneer Stephen Morse, of Morse Hill. (Caleb Morse was born November 25, 1784; he married, May 20, 1807, Polly Fairbanks, born May 16, 1787, died December 30, 1862. Caleb Morse died December 6, 1841.) She was a woman of strong Christian char- acter, who made many and warm friends, and after a useful life of sixty-four years, died January 16, 1886, leaving two children, William Peters Smith and Anna M. Smith. Mr. Smith is held in high esteem for his broad and accu- rate judgment, his unostentatious worth, and his honesty of purpose. He is careful, conservative, and prudent in his own business transactions, deals with everything entrusted to him as if it were his personal affairs, and his advice and counsel are often sought and followed in many and widely varying di- rections. He was a trustee of Bradford (Vt.) Savings Bank & Trust Com- pany for twelve years, and its president for three years. He has been a trus- tee of Haverhill academy for many years, and is now president of the board. Every effort for the improvement and betterment of society meets his hearty support. He is an active member of the Masonic order, and in every depart- ment of society enjoys the confidence and friendship of the best people. He attends the Congregational church, of which Mrs. Smith was a valued mem- ber.

Jonathan S. Nichols was born in Kingston, N. H., in December, 1809, and came to Haverhill when nineteen years of age to make chaise bodies for Samuel Smith. He soon began business for himself, and for over thirty years has carried on the manufacture of carriages in Haverhill. For several years subsequent to 1860 he was a salesman for the St. Johnsbury Scale Co., traveling in the West and South. He married twice, first, Myra M., daughter of Gen. John Montgomery, who bore him six children, two of whom are liv- ing, George E. and Nellie P., both teachers at Somerville, Mass. Mr. Nichols married for his second wife Elizabeth S., daughter, of Samuel Page, and has one daughter, Clara I., a teacher in Melrose, Mass.

Ira Whitcher, son of William, was born in Benton, N. H., in 1815, and has been engaged more or less in the manufacture of lumber in his native town for over fifty years. In 1870 he moved to Woodsville, where he now resides, and since that time has erected twelve or more houses, over half of which he owns. He took a prominent part in all the political affairs of the town of Benton, which he represented in the State legislature in 1845-46, 1850-51 and 1863-64, and in the constitutional convention in 1851. In 1867 he was chosen one of the county commissioners, holding the office six years, and has also held various town trusts in Haverhill. He married Lucy Royce in 1843, and has two children, William, a member of the editoral corps of the Boston Trav- eler, and Mary (Mrs. Chester Abbott), of Woodsville. David, youngest of the ten sons of William Whitcher, was born in Coventry, June 17, 1828. He purchased his present farm in February, 1853, and during the same month,

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married Sally A. Noyes, of Landaff. He is a successful farmer, and has one child, Hattie Blanche.

John L. Davis, was born in Guilford, N. H., January 31, 1834, began work on the B., C. & M. R. R., when sixteen years of age, and has been in its employ ever since. He was connected with J. J. Sanborn in completing the railroad to the summit of Mt. Washington, and run the first engine ever taken to its summit. In 1876 he erected the Mt. Gardner House, which he conducted for six years.

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Gazetteer of Grafton county, N. H. 1709-1886, Part 51

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Syracuse, N. Y., Syracuse Journal Company, Printers Number of Pages: 1266

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N. Y., Syracuse Journal Company, Printers
Number of Pages: 1266