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 29
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126
(VII) George Alvin, son of David and Betsey (Allen) Sawyer, was born April 1, 1823, at Cape Elizabeth, Maine. He was one of the "forty- niners" and went to California for a year or two. He then returned east, and was in the cooperage business in Boston for a few years. He then formed a partnership with an uncle, W. H. Kinsman. To- gether they owned several vessels engaged in the sugar trade with Cuba. These interests Mr. Sawyer retained till the close of his life. He was a Re- publican in politics, and he attended the old Harvard Church in Charlestown, Massachusetts, the city that was so long his home. George Alvin Sawyer married Elizabeth Varney, daughter of Ezekiel Var- ney, of Windham, Maine. They had four children : George, who died young; Eca A., now living in California; Henry Holmes, whose sketch follows ; and Harriet, who married G. L. Goulding, of Lex- ington, Massachusetts. George A. Varney died in 1890, at Charlestown, Massachusetts.
(VIII) Henry Holmes, second son and third child of George A. and Elizabeth ( Varney ) Sawyer. was born June 24, 1854, at Charlestown, Massachu- setts. He attended the common and high schools of Charlestown, and Eaton's Business College, in Boston. He was first employed by the Continental Sugar Refinery of East Boston. He then went into the employ of his uncle, G. L. Goulding, in the cotton waste business at Malden, Massachusetts. Later he went to Somerville, Massachusetts, and was employed by J. P. Squire and Company, till he removed to Walpole, New Hampshire. in 1901. Since then he has carried on general farming on the estate of one hundred and fifty acres, left by his wife's father, Major Lucius Slade. Ilenry H. Sawyer married, May 12, 1883. Leila L., daughter of Major Lucius and Lucy (Rust ) Slade, of Boston. They have three children: Robert S., attended the high school in Somerville, Massachusetts, and was graduated from the New Hampshire State College at Durham, in 1906. Franklin L., employed at the Algonquin Machine Works at Westminster, Ver- mont. Arthur H. attends the high school at Wal- pole. (See Slade Family, VI, for Mrs. Sawyer's ancestry.)
(11) William (2), son of William (1) and Ruth Sawyer, was born February 1, 1655, in New-
bury, Massachusetts, and lived in that town. He was married March 10, 1670, to Mary Emery, who was born June 24, 1652, daughter of John and Mary Emery, of Newbury (see Emery ). All of their six children were born in Newbury, including sons, Samuel, John and Josiah.
(III) Josiah, youngest son and child of Wil- liam (2) and Mary (Emery ) Sawyer, was born January 20, 1681, and is believed to have been in some prominent manner connected with the military organizations of the province as he always was known as Captain Sawyer. He married and had five children, but the family name of his wife is unknown. Their children were: Josiah, born 1708, died June 10, 1792. Moses, born 1711, died August 25, 1778. Terzah, born 1715, died 1782; married twice. Gideon, born 1719, died December 26, 1806. Hannah, born 1735, died September 24, 1759.
(IV) Josiah (2), eldest son of Josiah (I) Sawyer, was born in 1708, and married, about 1735, Mary Ordway of Newbury, daughter of Deacon John Ordway. Josiah was a farmer, and lived in Newbury until 1746, when he purchased and re- moved to a farm in South Hampton, and died there June 10, 1792. His children were: Josiah, Israel, Miriam, John, Hannah, Richard, Matthias, Moses, Terzah and Molly.
(V) Josiah (3), eldest son and child of Jo- siah (2) and Mary (Ordway) Sawyer, was born in Newbury, New Hampshire, in 1737, and died in Deerfield, New Hampshire, June 19, 1812. He was one of the original proprietors of Nottingham, New Hampshire, where he lived near the line between that town and Deerfield. His wife, Miriam, born February 28, 1740, was a sister of Jeremiah East- man, who made the survey of the town of Deer- field, and daughter of Jeremiah and Lydia (Brown) Eastman (see Eastman, IV). Josiah Sawyer's chil- dren were: Josiah, who removed to Gilford, New . Hampshire. Jeremiah, who removed to Gilmanton and died there. David, who settled in Deerfield and removed thence to Lee, New Hampshire. John, who lived and died in Andover, New Hampshire. Israel, who spent his life on the old homestead.
(VI) Josiah (4), eldest of the children last above mentioned, settled in Gilford and was the founder of one of the prominent families in that town. Sawyer genealogy gives no account of the life of Josiah after his removal to Gilford, and family history only records that he was born about the year 1760, married an Eastman, and had eight children, among whom were: Dr. Josiah, John, Sarah, Patty, Miriam and Israel.
(VII) Israel, son of Josiah and (Gil-
man) Sawyer, was born in Gilford, New Hamp- shire, March 3, 1803, and married Miriam Davis, daughter of Melcher and Anna ( Jewell) Davis. Their children: Levi, born June 26, 1828. Salina, born October 26. 1833. Pamelia, born July 7, 1835. John, born December 13, 1837. Albert, born Janu- ary 7, 1843-
(VIII) Levi Sawyer was born in Gilford, New Hampshire, June 26, 1828, and died there July 7. 1903. His entire life was spent in the town, and he is remembered as a substantial farmer, a man of excellent character, and 'one who believed in and advocated temperance in all things. His wife was Mary Ann Dame, who was born October 29, 1830. Their children: Luther C., born August 12, 1852, deceased in 1875. Ora Anna, born May 21. 1859, wife of Charles H. Gove, resides in Gilford. Ansel B., born August 11, 1863, married Alice Adams, resides in Gilford. Ernest P., born No- vember 6, 1870.
(IX) Ernest P., youngest child of Levi and
102
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Mary Ann (Dame) Sawyer, was born in the town in which he now lives, and like his ancestors for several generations before him has engaged in farming pursuits. He also is engaged in poultry raising, and markets the product of his yards chiefly in Boston. On September 1, 1897, Mr. Sawyer married Miss Sadie E. Adams, by whom he has had two children: George Levi Sawyer, who died in extreme infaney, and Ruth E., born April 21, 1907.
(II) Stephen A., fourth son and tenth child of William and Ruth Sayer, was born April 25, 1663, in Newbury, and resided there where he died June 8, 1753, being then the oldest man in New- bury, over ninety years of age. His will was dated February 20 of the same year and allowed July 23 following his death. He was a member of the Society of Friends. He inserted a "w" in spelling his name. He married, March 10, 1687, Ann, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Bitfield) Tit- comb. She was born July 7, 1666, in Newbury, and died September 7, 1750, in her eighty-fifth year. Their children were: Ann, Daniel, Stephen, Enoch, Sarah and Elizabeth. (Stephen and descendants are mentioned in this article.)
(III) Daniel, second child and eldest son of Stephen and Ann (Titcomb) Sawyer, was born in Newbury, Massachusetts, January 28, 1689, died October 22, 1781. He married Sarah Moody, and they had children, among them a daughter Anne and a son Humphrey.
(IV) Humphrey, son of Daniel and Sarah (Moody) Sawyer, was one of the first of his name to settle in New Hampshire, having come from Massachusetts to the town of Weare in Hills- borough county in 1788. He married Mary Phillips, of Lynn, Massachusetts, and they had three chil- dren, two of whom, Phillips and Humphrey, settled in Weare.
(V) Humphrey (2), son of Humphrey (1) and Mary ( Phillips) Sawyer, was born in Massachu- setts, and was a young man when his parents settled in the town of Weare, New Hampshire. He is said to have been a man of great activity, and for a time held the office of deputy sheriff. He was a sieve maker by occupation, and during the em- bargo, when the importation of foreign-made goods was entirely prohibited, he invented and operated a machine for making wire, an article which had almost gone out of the market. His wife was Mary Hoag, who bore him three children: James, born June 7, 1793, married (first) Nancy Tewksbury, (second) Polly George, and had four children, two by his first and two by his second wife. Peace, born November 15, 1797, died unmarried. Allen, born June 27, 1803.
(VI) Allen, youngest son and child of Hum- phrey and Mary (Hoag) Sawyer, was born in Weare, New Hampshire, June 27, 1803, and died April 15, 1866. In 1828 he opened a custom shoe shop, for he was a practical workman in that line. He soon took in several apprentices and began making ladies' shoes to sell in the neighboring towns, and made the first shoes ever sold in any store in the town of Pittsfield. He continued gradu- ally to increase the business until his shop gave employment to forty workmen and produced an- nually from eighteen to twenty thousand pairs of shoes, worth in the aggregate about thirty thousand dollars. For the time this was considered an im- mense business and yielded a good income to the proprietor. At one time Mr. Sawyer was in partner- ship with Ira Gove at the crossroads at the place called Slab City, and still later was a partner with
his son, Lindley M. Sawyer, at North Weare. Mr. Sawyer was a man of sterling integrity, universally respected and contributed much to the prosperity of his native town. He was a member of the So- ciety of Friends, and originally a Whig and after- ward a Republican. He married (first), in 1828, Annie Osborne, of London, New Hampshire, and (second), in 1845, Mary B. Peaslee, of Henniker, New Hampshire, and had in all eight children, viz .: John O., born September 12, 1829, died in 1856. Eliza L., born October 10, 1830, married D. Warren Cogswell, of Henniker, New Hampshire, died July, 1905. Mary Jane, born May 13, 1832, married John Winslow Hanson (see Hanson, VII). Lindley M., born September 25, 1833, died Novem- ber 12, 1872; he married Ellen R. Dickey, of Man- chester, New Hampshire. Anna M., the eldest child of second wife, born May 3, 1847, married Charles A. Jones, in Hillisborough, New Hamp- shire. Hannah E., born May 12, 1850, died young. Abbie E., born September 8, 1854, died young. Addie E., born August 27, 1858, married Lindley M. Farr, in Weare.
(III) Stephen (2), second son and third child of Stephen (1) and Ann (Titcomb) Sawyer, was born about 1692, in Newbury, and continued to re- side in that town where he died October 22, 1781. He married, April 2, 1714, Sarah, daughter of Thomas and Judith (Hale) Moody. She was born February 11, 1695, and died August 21, 1790. Their children were: Humphrey, Anne, Elijah and Ju- ditlı.
(IV) Humphrey, eldest child of Stephen (2) and Sarah (Moody) Sawyer, was born February 12, 1716, and resided on High street in Newbury. He married Hannah Phillips, of Lynn, Massachu- setts, and they had ten children, born between 1744 and 1708.
(V) Phillips, son of Humphrey and Hannalı (Phillips) Sawyer, was born April 23, 1746, in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and settled in Weare, New Hampshire, in 1788. He married Mary Breed, of Lynn, daughter of Nathan Breed, of that town. Their children were: Jolin, Judith, Ezra, Abigail, Ruth and Nathan. He died in Weare, August 31, 1821.
(VI) John, eldest son of . Phillips and Mary (Breed) Sawyer, was born June 25, 1774, in New- buryport, and was but a lad when he came with his parents to Weare, New Hampshire. On at- taining manhood he purchased a lot of land in Henniker, on which he settled and became a promi- nent citizen of that town. He was a member of the Society of Friends, and represented the town in the legislature in 1812. He was selectman in 1808-09-10-11-12, and in 1818 and 1824. He mar- ried, August 19, 1799, Eunice Gove, of Weare, who died April 22, 1876. Their children were: Mary, Moses, Nathan, Daniel and Albert.
(VII) Moses, eldest son and second child of John and Eunice (Gove) Sawyer, was born October 26, 1803, in Henniker, and became one of the lead- ing citizens of the town of Weare, New Hampshire. He very early in life set out to earn his own living, therefore had little time to give to study in the ordinary way. He was, however, a student all his life and by reading and observation became pos- sessed of a fund of useful information, and was respected and esteemed as a citizen wherever he lived. He was brought up under the tutelage of the Society of Friends, and was thoroughly estab- lished in correet principles of life at the outset. When he was but fourteen years old he left home to serve an apprenticeship to the trade of dressing
103
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
cloth, and afterwards went to Amesbury, Massachu- setts, where he became conversant with every de- tail in the manufacture of woolen cloth. While there he made the acquaintance of John G. Whittier and William Lloyd Garrison and was ever a supporter of the latter in his efforts for the promotion of human liberty. At the age of twenty-eight years Mr. Sawyer went into business for himself, pur- chasing a water privilege in North Weare and here he erected a mill. A company was formed for the manufacture of woolen goods and in this Mr. Saw- yer was the moving spirit. His capital did not extend far beyond his own knowledge and industry and a thoroughly established character. This enter- prise was one of the first woolen mills in New Hampshire, if not the first. At the time it was established there was only one house in the present city of Manchester. Mr. Sawyer continued for some years in the successful operation of the mill, and then became the agent of a new company which enlarged the facilities of the plant and conducted an extensive business. He continued as agent of the company for some years, when they sold out in the eighties. He then lived retired till his death, which occurred January 27, 1892.
Mr. Sawyer was prominent in the church work of the Friends, and was active in every philan- thropic and benevolent movement. He was an abolitionist from the first and prized and cherished the first number of the Liberator, published by William Lloyd Garrison, to which he was a sub- scriber. No one ever felt more keenly the injustice of human slavery than he, and he let no opportunity pass to do all in his power toward securing the liberty of the southern. slaves. His house was one of the stations of the "underground railway" and it was in that house that Frederick Douglass commencer writing his autobiography. Mr. Sawyer was a strong friend of the temperance movement and gave freely of his means for the support of temperance work. It was his nature to champion the cause of the unfortunate and their relief was never to him a burden. He was a man of quiet domestic nature and did not seek part in the conduct of public affairs, but he felt it his duty to perform such labors as naturally fell to his lot, and in 1866 was the repre- sentative of Weare in the state legislature. He was the first president of the Hillsboro Bridge County Bible Society, and was one of the trustees of the State Orphan's Home. He married (first), in 1833, Rebecca B. Morrill, of Seabrook, New Hampshire, who died in 1848. In 1852 he married ( second), Hannah B., daughter of Daniel Bassett, of Wolfboro, this state. The first wife was the mother of a son, John Edward; the second wife was the mother of Henry A., Rebecca E. and Mary E.
(VIII) Henry Abbott, second son of Moses Sawyer and eldest child of his second wife, Hannah B. (Bassett) Sawyer, was born August 1, 1853, in Weare. He married, May 29, 1878, Elizabeth A. Matthews, daughter of Joseph H. and Adeline M. (Adams) Matthews. She was born April 27, 1858. He graduated from the State College at Hanover, New Hampshire, 1874, and was in the woolen mill for a time, later farming, later owned and managed a steam laundry at Far Rockaway, Long Island. He returned to Weare and died there December 24, IS92.
(IX) Moses H., only child of Henry A. and Elizabeth A. (Matthews) Sawyer, was born Febru- ary 14, 1881, in Weare. He graduated from the New Hampton Literary Institute of New Hampton, and was president of his class, in 1901, and is now engaged in the poultry business in Weare, residing
with his mother. He is a member of the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows, of Weare; also William Lodge, No. 37; also the Grange of Weare. He is a Republican in politics.
(Second Family). This is one of the surnames which SAWYER probably arose from an occupation, and has been honored in America since its transportation by many leading citizens of various states. It has figured conspicuously in the United States senate, in the ministry, in law and in the various callings pursued by the American people. It is ably and numerously represented in, New Hampshire, and has contributed its proportion to the progress and development of the state. It is shown that eighteen members of the Sawyer family from Lancaster, Massachusetts, alone were in mili- tary service at the same time during the Revolution ; and one company, recruited in that town, was offi- cered from captain down by Sawyers.
(I) Thomas Sawyer, the American ancestor, son of John Sawyer, of Lincolnshire, England, was born about 1626, in Lincolnshire, and came to Mass- achusetts in 1636, with two elder brothers, and they settled in Rowley in 1639. As early as 1647, when he was twenty-four years of age, he became one of the first six settlers of Lancaster, along with the Prescotts, Wilders, Houghtons and two other families. In May 1653, the general court, in answer to a petition of the inhabitants of Lancaster, ap- pointed Edward Breck, Nathaniel Haddock, William Kerley, Thomas Sawyer, John Prescott and Ralph Houghton, "prudential managers," "both to see all. alotments to be laid out for the planters in duc: proportion to their estates, and also to order their prudential affairs." During this same year these managers allotted a part of the lands of the town. All divisions of land subsequent to the first, whether upland, intervale, meadow or swamp, were to be "accorded to men's estates," on the valuation of the taxable property which they brought into the settle- ment. Thomas Sawyer's property was valued at filo, which was about one forty-second part of the property held by the thirty adult male inhabit- ants of the town. Thomas Sawyer was made a freeman in 1654. He settled near the south branch of the Nashua river, and not far from the junction of that stream with the North branch. Here he built a house which was a garrison, and the scene of the most conspicuous events in the town's history. In 1704 this garrison with nine men was commanded by Thomas (2) Sawyer, and was the place of de- fense of the families in the vicinity, in case of an attack by Indians. Thomas Sawyer and his family passed through some of the most horrible experi- ences of Indian warfare in this home of theirs. King Philip's war, which began in 1675, raised a storm which broke in great fury on Lancaster, August 22, 1675 (o. s.), and eight persons were killed in the town that day. February 9. 1076, King Philip, with fifteen hundred warriors attacked Lancaster, and fifty persons, one-sixth of the inhabitants of the town, were captured or killed. Among the latter was Ephraim, the son of Thomas Sawyer, who was killed at Prescott's Garrison, in what is now the town of Clinton. The town in- cluded fifty families, and they made a heroic resist- ance, but overpowered by numbers they could not prevent the enemy from destroying a large number of their cattle and all but two of the houses in the settlement. After having been abandoned four years, the resettlement of the town was undertaken by the survivors of the massacre, one of whom was Thomas Sawyer. He was a blacksmith, and after participat-
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
ing in the struggles and trials of fifty-three years he died in Lancaster, at the age of eighty years. He was buried in the old burying ground on the bank of the Nashua river, and his headstone still stands inscribed : "Thomas Sawyer, Dec'd. September 12, 1706." Thomas Sawyer married, in 1647, Mary, daughter of John and Mary ( Platts ) Prescott. John Prescott, blacksmith, was a native of Laneaster, England, and the first permanent inhabitant of Lan- caster. He was the progenitor of Colonel William Prescott, of Bunker Hill fame, and William H. Preseott, the historian. The children of Thomas and Mary Sawyer were: Thomas, Ephraim, Mary, Eliza- beth, Joshua, James, Caleb, John and Nathaniel.
(II) Caleb, seventh child and fifth son of Thomas and Mary (Prescott) Sawyer, was born in Lancaster, April 20, 1659. He outlived all the Harvard pioneers, dying February 13, 1755, aged ninety-six years. He received a special grant of thirty acres from the Lancaster proprietors, as well as lands from his father, laid out upon the east side of Beare Hill, afterwards included in the town of Harvard, and probably built upon his lot shortly after the massacre of 1697. Near his home was the famous "Rendezvous Tree." often mentioned in old records of land and highways, tantalizing us with suggestions of romance, no detail of which has been preserved by history or tradition. His dwelling is still standing, and is occupied as a residence. This house was one of the garrisons of the town during the Indian wars, and here he lived for more than fifty years, and here he died. In the town and church affairs of his time he was an active and useful man. He divided the home acres several years before his death between his sons Jonathan and Seth, the lat- ter living with his father in the old house, and Jonathan building a short distance to the north. Caleb Sawyer married, December 28, 1687, Sarah Houghton, born February 16, 1661, the daughter of Ralph and Jane Houghton, granddaughter of James Houghton, thus effecting an alliance between two of the most prominent families which organized the town of Lancaster. She died November 15, 1757, in the ninetieth year of her age. The children of this union were : Hepsibah. Abigail, Jonathan, John, and Seth, whose sketch follows.
(III) Seth, (probably) the youngest of the chil- dren of Caleb and Sarah (Houghton) Sawyer, was born December 31, 1704, baptized at Lancaster in 1708, and died March 29, 1768, aged sixty-three. He was one of the leading citizens in the town of Har- vard, and served as seleetman in 1755. He is re- ferred to in the church records as MIr., a title be- stowed only on men of influence in these days. In the assignment of seats in the church, in 1766, he was given a place in the "Fore Seat Below." The committee which assigned the seats was instructed "that the foremost Seats Be seated by aged and pay * * * * that the Rest of the Seats be seated by pay only." He married, in Lancaster, October 12, 1732, Hepsibah Whitney, the ceremony being performed by Rev. John Trentice. She was born 1710, daughter of Richard and Elizabethi ( Sawtelle) Whitney, of Stowe, and she died of debility in May, 1797, at the age of eighty-seven. Their children were: John, Caleb, Dinah. Betty and Phineas.
(IV) Caleb (2), second son and child of Seth and Hepsibah (Whitney) Sawyer, was born in 1737, in Harvard, a part of Lancaster, which in 1732 had been incorporated as a town by itself. Here on what was an outlying piece of land belonging to his grand- father he built, in 1761, a house, no trace of which except the cellar, now remains. He married, De-
cember 9, 1760, Relief Fairbank, born December I, 1739, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Brown) Fair- bank, of Harvard. She died December 2, 1704, leaving sons, Seth and Caleb. He married, in 1760, Sarah Patch, by whom he had two sons, Phineas and Jonathan. Jonathan remained on the home farm at Harvard, which is still occupied by his descendants. Betsey Townsend, perhaps his third wife was the mother of William Sawyer, who is mentioned at length, with descendants in this article.
(V) Phineas, oldest son and child of Caleb and Sarah (Patch) Sawyer, was born in Harvard, May 23, 1768, and died in Marlborough, in 1826. In 1800, when thirty-two years of age, he moved to Marl- borough, Massachusetts, and in that part which is now Hudson he erected, in 1806, a cotton mill in which he carried on the manufacture of cotton yarn and cloth until the close of the war of 1812, when foreign competition compelled him to quit the busi- ness. He married, in Harvard, May 17, 1791, Han- nah Whitney, born April 23. 1773, in Bolton, daugh- ter of Deacon Israel and Hannah (Mead) Whitney, by whom he had fourteen children, the first of whom were born in Harvard. Their names are : Hannah, Eusebia, Sarah, Sophia, Alfred I., Ira, Arethusa, Eliza, Mary, Zenas, Edmund, Francis A., Wesley and Jonathan. Mrs. Sawyer lived in Marl- borough nine years after the death of her husband. In 1829 she went to Lowell, where she lived twenty years, dying there in 1849, greatly respeeted by all who knew her, and held in honor and affection by her many children.
(\]) Jonathan, the fourteenth child of Phincas and Hannah (Whitney) Sawyer, was born in Marl- borough, June 17, 1817, died in Dovet, June 20, 1891, aged seventy-four. He was educated in the public schools of his native town until he was twelve years old. His father died when he was two years old, and the lad's mother moved, in 1829, with her family to Lowell. There he continued his studies, and was a member of the first class which entered the high school of that town. T. M. Clark, afterward bishop of Rhode Island, was at that time principal of the high school. Among his classmates were General Benjamin F. Butler, Gustavus V. Fox, assistant secretary of the navy during the Civil war, and Ezekial A. Straw, governor of New Hampshire in 1873. He next went to live in the family of his brother, Alfred I., who at that time operated a plant at Dover, New Hampshire. Here he remained two years, attending sehool part of each year and work- ing in the mill the remainder of the time. In 1835 he returned to Lowell, and then went to the Wes- leyan Academy at Wilbraham. After leaving the academy he learned the art of dyeing in a woolen mill in Lowell, and then began dyeing on his own ac- count, carrying on the business until 1839. In that year he went to Watertown, New York, where for two and one half years he was employed as super- intendent of the Hamilton Woolen Company. After the conclusion of his service with that company. he manufactured satinets on his own account in Water- town until 1849. In that year Alfred I. Sawyer died and left a family of young children, and Jonathan Sawyer removed to Dover, where he and his brother Zenas associated themselves together under the firmn name of Z. & J. Sawyer. They continued the opera- tion of the mills conducted by Alfred I. Sawyer, which have undergone various changes since they came into the hands of this family. Alfred I. Saw- yer operated a grist mill and a custom carding and clothdressing mill. In 1832 the old woolen mill was enlarged and adapted to the manufacture of flannels, which manufacture was continued by Z. &
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.