Genealogical and family history of the state of New Hampshire : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Vol. I, Part 109

Author: Stearns, Ezra S; Whitcher, William F. (William Frederick), 1845-1918; Parker, Edward E. (Edward Everett), 1842-1923
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 858

USA > New Hampshire > Genealogical and family history of the state of New Hampshire : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Vol. I > Part 109

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(VI) John (4), second son and fourth child of Rev. Josialı and Sarah (Abbott) Stearns, was born January 13, 1762, in Epping. At sixteen years of age he joined the Revolutionary army. He was a prosperous farmer, and long served as justice of the peace. He resided in Pittsfield, New Hampshire, and in 1802 removed to Deerfield, where he died January 23, 1843. He was married in 1783 to Sarah Lane, of Poplin, New Hampshire, who was born May 16, 1759, and died April 25, 1845. They were the parents of thirteen children.

(VII) Josiah, son of John and Sarah (Lane) Stearns, was born March 10, 1788, in Pittsfield, New Hampshire, and was a farmer in Wilmot, same state, where he died September 15, 1857. He had three wives and was the father of twenty-two chil- dren. He was married August 22, 1811, to Jane Thompson, of Deerfield, who was born July 18, 1791. She was the mother of ten children, and died June II, 1822. He married (second), September 4, 1822, Mrs. Susan (Sawyer) Cross, who was born June 19, 1791. She was the mother of five chil- dren, and died May 14, 1828. He was married (third) July S, 1828, to Nancy Browning, of Andover, New Hampshire, who was born March 23, 1795, and died July 28, 1853. The children who survived the period of infancy were named as fol- lows : Abigail, William, John, Hannah, Samuel, Lydia Jane, James, Susan, Josiah Lane, Nancy, Minot, Sarah E., Tiras, Pluma F.

(VIII) William Thompson, eldest son of Josialı and Jane (Thompson) Stearns, was born January 16, 1816, in Wilmot, and died September 23, 1905, in Manchester, in his ninetieth year. Very early in life he entered the cotton mills, and was identified with the manufacture of cotton, making a specialty of weaving until he retired from active life several years since. He was the patentee of an appliance that made a great improvement in the picker motion on looms, the value of which was at once noted, and it came rapidly into use and is still used in many sections of the country. His education was obtained in the public schools of his native town, and he early evinced a taste for mechanics. He left home at the age of twenty-one years and went to Holliston, Massachusetts, and entered the weaving department of a cotton mill there. Two years later he went to Lowell, Massachusetts, and soon after left there for New Ipswich, and was subsequently at Winchendon, Massachusetts. After some time in these towns he accepted a position in the south, and aided in starting up a cotton mill in Columbia, South Carolina. From 1844 until the time of his death he was a citizen of Manchester, and was one

of the most active and progressive denizens of the town, being identified with the growth of the city in many ways. On coming here, he entered the employ of the Amoskeag Corporation, in the repair shop. He remained there over twenty years, leaving to accept a similar position with the Stark Corporation, where he continued eight years, and then retired in peace and contentment to enjoy the fruits of a long life of active industry. He was a Republican in politics, and within a few years after coming here, represented his ward as a member of the common council. He was an attendant at one time of the Methodist and subsequently of the Baptist Church, but was not an active member of any society what- ever, though he carried out in his well ordered life the principles of fraternity and Christianity laid down in many organizations. He was married, in 1845, to Elizabeth C. Goodhue, of Wilmot, and be- came the father of two sons-William Byron Stearns, of Manchester, and Elmer W. Stearns, of of Connecticut ; and a daughter, Fannie E. Stearns, who died in 1900.

(IX) William Byron, elder of the two sons of William and Elizabeth C. (Goodhue) Stearnes, was born February 12, 1855, in Manchester, and received his education in the public schools of that city, grad- uating from the Manchester high school. In 1873 he entered the employ of the Manchester Savings Bank, and since that time has been continuously em- ployed either by that institution or the Manchester National Bank. Beginning as a humble clerk he has earned his promotion by careful attention to his duties and the employment of his talent in the inter- est of the institution. Since 1894 he has been cashier of the Manchester National Bank. Mr. Stearns is a man of pleasing presence and of genial nature and courteous manners, and it is no over- statement to say that much credit is due to him for the steady growth of the institution with which he is identified. Since 1887 he has been treasurer of the Concord and Portsmouth Railroad Company. He is a director of the Manchester National Bank, and a trustee of the Manchester Savings Bank. His up- right life and sound business principles have at- tracted to him the friendship of many of Manches- ter's leading men, and he has been called upon to serve the public in various official capacities. He served as a member of the common council in IS87-S. and was a member of the board of aldermen for the four years succeeding the latter date. In politics always a Republican, he has consistently upheld the principles of his party, and has endeavored to con- tribute to the welfare not only of that party but of the entire community and nation. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in good standing. Mr. Stearns was married July 7, 1877. to Florence I. Stevens, who was born December 5, 1856, in Newbury. New Hampshire, a daughter of John and Dolly (Vitty) Stevens. They have one child, Edward Balch Stearns, born in Manchester, June 30, 1878. 11e graduated from the Manchester high school, and in 1898 entered the employ of the Manchester Sav- ings Bank, where he is at the present time. He was

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married June 8, 1904, to Marguerite Drew, daughter of William E. and Annette (Hunt) Drew.

(Second family.) There were two principal families of STEARNS this name in the United States, and both are numerously represented throughout New England and New Hampshire. It is presumed that the founders of these two lines were brothers, but this relationship does not appear to be positively established. The first settlement of Salem, Massachusetts. began in 1628, and the records of Watertown, Massachusetts, begin with 1634. This name is identified with the history of these towns.

(I) Charles Stearns was admitted a freeman May 6, 1646, at Watertown, and on March 15, 1648, he purchased of Edward Lamb of that town a house with eight acres of land and three other lots. He also purchased six acres of upland from John Fiske on the same day. He is mentioned by Isaac Stearns in his will as a kinsman, and received from him a legacy of ten pounds. He was elected con- stable or tax gatherer in 1631, but refused to take the oath, and in the same year he sold his land in Watertown to his son Samuel. It is supposed that he removed to Lynn soon after this, settling in that part called Lynn End, now the town of Lynnfield. His first wife, Hannah, died June 30, 1651, in Watertown and he married (second) June 22, 1654, Rebecca Gibson, daughter of John and Rebecca Gib- son, of Cambridge. The first wife was the mother of his eldest child; the others were born of the second wife. They were: Samuel, Shubael, John, Isaac, Charles, Rebecca and Martha.

(II) Shubael, second son of Charles Stearns, and eldest child of his second wife Rebecca Gibson. was born September 20, 1625, in Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, and settled in Lynn, probably near the border of Reading. He was a soldier of the Narra- gansett expedition. No date of his marriage or death was recorded. His will was dated November 19, 1733, and proved September 2, 1734, from which it is probable that he died in the latter year. He married Mary Upton, of Reading, and their chil- dren were: Shubael, Samuel. Hannah, Mary, John, Ebenezer, Martlia, Eleanor and Rebecca.

(III) Shubael (2), eldest child of Shubael (I) and Mary (Upton) Stearns, was born August 19, 1683, in Lynn, Massachusetts, and settled in Tolland, Connecticut, whither he removed about 1714. He was the first town clerk of that town. About 1750, with his children and their families. he left Tolland on account of ecclesiastical difficulties and settled in Newbury. North Carolina. He and his family were Baptists, and some of them have exercised much in- fluence in the south. Their residence in North Carolina was at a place called Pepper Cotton, and at the time of their migration hither a pamphlet was published giving an account of the troubles in Tolland. Among the southern people his name re- ceived a very broad pronunciation, and has since been written as pronounced Starnes. He was mar- ried December 28, 1704, in Kittery, Maine, to Re- becca Lariby, who was born February 4, 1684, in

Boston, Massachusetts. Their children were: Shu- bael, Rebecca, Peter. Isaac, Elizabeth, Hannah, Sarah, Ebenezer, Mary and Martha.

(IV) Sarah, fourth daughter and seventh child of Shubael (2) and Rebecca (Lariby) Stearns, was born February 29, 1720, in Tolland, Connecticut, and became the wife of Joseph (3) Hatch. (See Hatch IV).

The record of a busy life, a suc- DEMAREST cessful life, must ever prove fe- cund in interest and profit as scanned by the student who would learn of the in- trinsic essence of individuality; and who would attempt an analysis of character and trace back to the fountain head the widely diverging channels which mark the onward flow, the constantly aug- mentative progress, if we may be permitted to use the phrase, of such a personality. All human ad- vancement, all human weal or woe. in short, all things within the mental ken are but mirrored back from the composite individuality of those who have lived. It is given to few men, as it has to Rev. Gerherdus Langdon Demarest, of Manchester, New Hampshire, to live to the advanced age of ninety years, and to witness and take part in so much that has contributed to the advancement of the human race.

The family of Des Marets, of which Rev. Ger- herdus L. Demarest is a representative, was of the old Picard gentry, and was also prominent in the church at Oisemont, of which David des Marets, the Sieur du Ferets, was an elder.

Samuel des Marets, son of David des Marets, was born at Oisemont, 1599, taught at the great schools of Paris, Sawmur and Geneva, became pastor of the church of Laon, 1619, but was forced to leave, in 1623, by an attempt on his life which nearly proved fatal. He accepted a new charge at Falaise, Normandy, but after a year went to Sa- den and thence, in 1642, to Groningen, Holland, as professor of theology.

David des Marest, who wrote his name thus, was born in Picardy, and as is strongly indicated was of the same lineage. For dignity of character and fidelity to his religion he is worthy so excellent a kinship, and the clerical tendency among his de- scendants is also very significant. He went to Hol- land and joined the French colony in the Island of Walcheren, at which place his eldest son, Jean De- marest, was born 1645. Here David probably mar- ried his wife, Marie (Sohier) des Marest, as a family of the name of Sohier from Hainault had taken refuge at Middleburg in the first Walloon emigrations. In 1651 Demarest is found at Mann- heim, on the Rhine, within the German Palatinate, to which were going many French and Walloon refugees from England and also from the Dutch seaboard, partly in view of an expected war between the English and the Hollanders, but especially drawn thither hy the assurance of freedom and protection under the government of the Protestant Elector. Charles Lewis, who, invested by the Treaty of West- phalia (1648) with the Lower Palatinate, from

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which his father, Frederick V, had been driven in 1621 by the Catholic power after the battle at Prague, held out strong inducements to the refugees, es- pecially Calvinists, to settle at Mannheim, and which found a ready response through the lively interest always cherished by the refugees, in com- mon with the English Puritans, in the strange vicis- situdes of his late father, and his excellent and yet surviving mother, named in a former note as the "Queen of Bohemia." In 1652 Demarest and others among the number gathered there joined in forming a French church, the elector himself building them an edifice, which he called the Temple of Concord, because the Lutherans were also allowed to wor- ship there.

(I) David Demarest.

(II) Jean Demarest.

(III) Peter Demarest.

(IV) James Demarest, born 1766, married Maria Westervelt.

(V) James (2), son of James (1) and Maria (Westervelt) Demarest, born 1791, married Sophia Green, daughter of Isaac Green, of Fishkill, New York. Their children: Gerherdus Langdon, born 1816, see forward. William Howard, born 1818, died 1902. John Henry, born 1820, died 1864. M. Adeline. born 1834, widow of George Alfred Miller, resides in Montclair, New Jersey.

(VI) Rev. Gerherdus Langdon, eldest son of James (2) and Sophia (Green) Demarest, was born in New York City, December 13, 1816. Those were the days of the bow and arrow, tomahawk, flint, lock musket, ox team, spinning wheel, and where the now richly productive farms of a score of states were nothing but trackless wastes of swamp, forest or waving grass. He attended the public and high schools of his native city, and in 1824. when lack- ing three months of his eighth birthday, was at- tending a school located at Burroughs and Hudson streets, the former now being called Grove street, conducted by Shepherd Johnston, schoolmaster, when General Marquis de Lafayette was making his tour through this country. The teacher prepared an ad- dress of welcome and Gerherdus L. Demarest was the selected pupil to present the general with the address; this was one of the events of his life. After his course in the high school in New York City, he acquired considerable literary knowledge from books, being always a great reader, and al- though now (1907) past his ninetieth milestone he keeps abreast with the times, and many of the younger men in his profession seek his counsel and advice. His first employment was in the book store of Harper & Brothers. New York, where he began work as an apprentice, was promoted to clerk, hold- ing the position for many years, and finally to con- fidential clerk. He was engaged in this service for twenty-two years; this was a school in itself, and his knowledge of books is necessarily above the average.

In 1854 he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and en- gaged in the book business, temporarily, and while residing there edited the Universalist paper. In 1865 he returned to his native city, New York, to

take charge of the Second Universalist Church. succeeding Dr. Sawyer who was then pastor, and remained until 1867. He served the Universalist Church in Milford, Massachusetts, from 1867 to 1872. In the latter year he came to Manchester, New Hampshire, and succeeded Rev. Thomas Bor- den as pastor of the Universalist Church, from which he resigned in January, 1875. He has a remarkable record, having served as secretary of the general convention of the Universalist Church from 1877 to 1905 and having never missed a convention or a meeting of the board of trustees up to the time of his retirement, 1905. He has travelled extensively, covering over two hundred and fifty thousand miles through the United States and Canada in the inter- ests of the church. He has contributed many articles of note to the Sunday School Helper, of which he was an editor for ten years during his incumbency as general secretary. Upon his resignation as gen- eral secretary the convention to a man voted that the venerable pastor be elected secretary emeritus (which was carried). The Universalists general convention was incorporated in 1866 and met annually, but since 1889 bi-ennial reports contain the proceedings. In early youth he became a member of the Second Universalist Church of New York City. His strict adherence to duty, his genial and sunny disposition, together with his knowledge of rhetoric and his keen perception of church government, has endeared him to the fraternity as a whole and it is the consensus of opinion that he possesses the keenest and brightest mind for remembering dates and events of pro- ceedings from one convention to another, he having a ready reply for any question that comes up. He is a man of methodical habits, a good counselor and by his keen foresight into church matters is considered an authority on Universalism. .As a historian he ranks well, and as a writer, for accuracy combined with literary skill, his fame will stand as a memorial to his honored name, which will appear in the annals of the state and nation. Since 1872 Rev. Mr. Demarest has made his home in Manches- ter, New Hampshire.

In March, 1875. after his resignation in Man- chester, having a Sunday free. he accepted an in- vitation to occupy the pulpit of the Universalist parish in Nottingham, New Hampshire. for that day. This was the beginning of a series of services, on Sundays free from any convention work. for fifteen and one-half years, and numbering two hundred and forty-eight, more or less irregularly, the remaining Sundays being supplied by others. Afterward a series of pastors, Rev. Anthony Bilkovsky, Rev. Allen Brown and Rey. Ira D. Morrison, regularly served the people, thic last still continuing. In 1881. during his service, a new church was erected, cost- ing $2,300.

Rev. Mr. Demarest married, in New York City. February 1I, 1839, Eliza C. Wittenberg, who died in 1002. Their children: Pauline, married Malcolm Bradley and resides with her venerable father. Emma, wife of George C. James, resides in Cincin- nati, Ohio. Viola, deceased. Clarence, unmarried, a man of wide knowledge and extensive reading, ably

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assisted his father in all his labors as general secre- tary, and takes a deep interest in the work of the Universalist Church. Mortimer, deceased.

ALBIN The persons of this name (which is somewhat varied in its orthography) are believed to be descended from one an- cestor who resided in the north of England at the time of the American Revolution and after. The family of Albin is not numerous as compared with some which were settled in America in early colonial times, but it includes a large proportion of promi- nent men, especially lawyers, several of whom bear the christian name John. The family tradition which there is good reason to believe is true, is that John, William, and James Albin, brothers, came from Eng- land to America in the latter part of the eighteenth century. Their descendants are numerous in Vir- ginia, Kansas, Washington, New York, and in parts of New England.

(I) William Albin settled in Randolph, Ver- mont, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits, dying there in 1850 or soon after, at the age of eighty years. In politics he was a Whig, and in religion an Episcopalian, very strictly conforming to the tenets and customs of that denomination. Many of his descendants are of the same religious faith. He married Jane Whateley, and they were the par- ents of five children: Sally, the eldest, married William Washburn ; Mary, who lived to an advanced age, died unmarried on the old homestead; John, mentioned below ; William, married Judith White; Susan, died unmarried at the old home.

(II) John, son of William and Jane (Whateley) Albin, born at Randolph October 3, 1806, received a better education that was usual there at that time. For several years after attaining his majority he resided in Randolph, and was engaged in farming. In the later thirties he came to New Hampshire and established a freight line between Laconia. New Hampshire, and Boston, Massachusetts, employing several teams of six or. eight horses, and doing a large business in transporting to Boston such ar- ticles as were manufactured in New Hampshire, and returning with loads of dry goods, groceries, and such other articles as were required to be brought from the metropolis. This was before the days of steam traction in this state, and the advent of the railroad in 1842 was the end of this business. About 1844 he settled in Bow, where he remained until about 1857, when he removed to Concord. and re- mained until 1868 or thereabouts. In 1869 hie was living in Henniker, where he died as the result of an accident in October of that year. Mr. Albin was an active and energetic business man, a firm and true friend, and a generous, public-spirited citi- zen. He and his family were members of the Prot- estant Episcopal Church. In his early years he was a Whig in politics, and on the dissolution of the Whig party he became a member of the Know- nothing party, which was, in a measure, the suc- cessor of the Whig party. In him Americanism was a fundamental principle, and a progress in poli- tics a necessity. He was a pioneer Republican and

voted for John C. Fremont, the first Republican candidate for president. When the anti-slavery agi- tation developed into a political creed he became an ardent abolitionist, and was always ready to work or to contribute money for the success of the party of freedom. He was married, July 15, 1839, to Emily White, born in Bow, July 18, 1816, died Jan- uary 30, 1881, daughter of David and Betsy (Carter) White. the father being a prominent citizen of Bow, a justice of the peace, and who often sat as a magis- trate. (See David White III). The children by this marriage were: John H., mentioned below ; Lizzie W., married R. A. Northcutt, a union soldier in the war of the rebellion, who rose to the rank of brigadier-general, and was father of Lieutenant- Governor Northcott, of Illinois, and Charles Fre- mont, who died at the age of eighteen months.

(III) John Henry, eldest child of John and Emily (White) Albin, was born at West Randolph, Ver- mont, October 17, 1843. He obtained his primary education in the public schools of Concord, New Hampshire, preparing for college in the high school. In 1864 he matriculated at Dartmouth College, from which he was graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1864 in a class of sixty-four students. Three years later his alma mater conferred on him the degree of Master of Arts. Immediately after graduation he began the study of law in the office of the late Hon. Ira A. Eastman, of Concord, who was a prominent lawyer and at one time one of the judges of the su- preme court. In October, 1867, Mr. Albin was ad- mitted to the bar, and in April, 1868, became a partner of Judge Eastman. In December of the same year Samuel B. Page, Esq., removed from Warren, and hecame a member of the firm. These gentlemen constituted one of the leading law firms of the state,

and had a large and lucrative practice. In 1874 this partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Albin became the associate of Hon. Mason W. Tappan. This relation was broken by the appointment of Mr. Tappan to the position of attorney general of the state ; but upon the repeal of the statute which prevented the attorney general from practice in cases in which the state was not a party, it was renewed. Mr. Albin subse- quently formed a partnership with Nathaniel E. Martin. which existed under the firm name of Albin & Martin until it was dissolved, January 1, 1899; and since that time Mr. Albin has continued alone and enjoyed a very large practice.

A stalwart Republican from boyhood, Mr. Albin has been three times elected to the legisla- ture, where he was an efficient public servant and an acknowledged leader of his party He was a member from Concord in 1872-1873, and during the first term served upon the judiciary committee, and in the latter year was chairman of the committee on railroads. In 1875 he took up his residence in Hen- niker, but continued his law business in Concord. He was elected to represent the town in the legislature of 1876, and served during that session as a member of the judiciary committee and of several important special committees he was made chairman.

Mr. Albin has been extensively engaged in the development and management of steam and electric

If. altri

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roads in New England. He is president and a direc- tor of the Sullivan County Railroad of New Hamp- shire; director of the Connecticut River Railroad, a Massachusetts and New Hampshire corporation ; and a director of the Vermont Valley Railroad in Vermont. He was president and principal owner of the Concord Street Railway, now the property of the Boston and Maine Railroad. This property he largely extended and improved. Soon after pass- ing his thirtieth year Mr. Albin became a member of Rumford Lodge, No. 46. Independent Order of Odd Fellows, but subsequently transferred his mem- bership to White Mountain Lodge, No. 5, of Con- cord. He was one of the founders of Crescent Lodge No. 60, of Henniker, during his residence there. From his initiation to the present time he has taken a deep interest in the order to whose develop- ment and progress he has greatly contributed. After filling the chairs in the subordinate lodge he was made representative to the grand lodge, and after- ward filled successively the official positions in the grand lodge of this jurisdiction, and at its annual session in 1879 was elected grandmaster. In Sep- tember, 1881, he represented the grand lodge in the sovereign grand lodge at its session in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was a member of that body for several subsequent sessions, being a part of the time repre- sentative of the grand encampment. During a por- tion of this time he was grand warden of the soy- ereign grand lodge. At the session held in Cincinnati in September, 18SI, a committee consisting of five members was appointed to prepare a degree for uni- formed patriarchs. The onerous duty of preparing the work fell upon Mr. Albin, and was performed conscientiously and well. He reported a degree which the committee accepted, and which was unan- imously adopted by the sovereign grand lodge at its session in Baltimore in the following year. This committee was continued until the next session of the grand body, held at Providence, Rhode Island, in September, 1883. when it was discharged. At the September session of 1884, at Minneapolis, Min- nesota, Mr. Albin was made chairman of the com- mittee of the patriarchal branch of the order, and at the same session a special committee was appointed for the purpose of making any revision that might be deemed necessary, so far as that degree was con- cerned ; and also to report such legislation as might be necessary to carry it into full effect. Mr. Albin and two other were appointed on this committee, of which Mr. Albin was chairman, with instructions to report at the session of the sovereign grand lodge at Baltimore, Maryland, in September, ISS5. Mr. Albin was one of the founders of the Odd Fellows' Home of New Hampshire, and served as one of its trustees until 1904, when he resigned.

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Genealogical and family history of the state of New Hampshire : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Vol. I, Part 109

Author: Stearns, Ezra S; Whitcher, William F. (William Frederick), 1845-1918; Parker, Edward E. (Edward Everett), 1842-1923 Publication date: 1908 Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 858

Author: Stearns, Ezra S; Whitcher, William F. (William Frederick), 1845-1918; Parker, Edward E. (Edward Everett), 1842-1923
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 858