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 40

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 40

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).

(II1) Lieutenant Ichabod, second son and child of Philip and Ithamar ( Warfield) Amidown, was born in May, 1704. He was a farmer and resided in Mendon. He served as selectman in 1756, was on the grand jury in 1758, and as he is called lieu- tenant in the records of the town, he was prob- ably an officer in the militia. He married, May 7, 1732, Margery Aldrich, born March 14. 1714, and died in 1753, daughter of Jacob and Margery (Hayward) Aldrich, of Mendon. Their children were: Ichabod, Hannah, Margery, died young ; Ebenezer, Margery, Mary, Philip, Hannah and Ja- cob, whose sketch follows.

(IV) Jacob, youngest child of Ichabod and Margery (Aldrich) Amidon, was born at Mendon, Massachusetts, September 15, 1753, and died in Chesterfield, New Hampshire, February 11, 1839, aged eighty-six. His name appears in the catalogue of Harvard among the graduates of the class of 1775. He enlisted in the patriot army and served during a large part of the Revolutionary war. For twenty-eight months he was a prisoner of war on a British prison ship. The Revolutionary war rolls of Massachusetts give his record: "Jacob Ammi- don, Mendon, Private in Captain Andrew Peter's Company, Colonel Joseph Read's Regiment; muster roll dated August 1, 1775; enlisted May 13, 1775; served two months and twenty-four days; also company return dated Roxbury, September 25, 1775-

142

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

In another paragraph Jacob Ammidown's record reads : Captain's clerk; list of prisoners sent from Newport, Rhode Island, in the prison ship, "Lord Sandwich," and landed at Bristol, March 7, 1778." His name was placed on the pension roll in 1833.

December 23, 1782, he purchased in Chesterfield, New Hampshire, a portion of lot No. 5, in the Eighth Range, and probably settled in the town soon afterwards. He resided near the Central Village on the farm after owned and occupied many years by his son Otis, and built the house now owned by the Methodist Society in Chesterfield, and used as a parsonage. He probably engaged in trade for a time after settling in Chesterfield, as he was styled "trader" in the deed of the land he pur- chased in the town. In 1785 he was chosen town clerk, and held the office by successive elections till 1800. He was selectman in 1785 and 1797. He married Esther Ladd, born September 26, 1762, and died March 26, 1852, in the ninetieth year of her age. Slie was the daughter of Timothy and Rachel (Spencer) Ladd, of Chesterfield. Their children were: Lucretia, Harriet, died young; Rachel, died young; Otis, Rachel, Jacob and Harriet.

(V) Otis, fourth child and eldest son of Jacob and Esther (Ladd) Amidon, was born in Chester- field, April 26, 1794, and died there July 22, 1866, aged seventy-two. He lived on the homestead his father bought, and was engaged in agriculture. For many years he was prominent in the affairs of town and church. He served as selectman from 1828 to 1831 inclusive, and represented his town in the general court in 1833-35-38-56. For a long time he held the office of justice of the peace, the duties of which he was well qualified to perform, and he was one of the veteran "squires" of the town, as well as one of the most substantial and influential citizens. He married, March 16, 1825, Nancy Cook, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, February 3, 1795, and died in Hinsdale, New Hampshire, De- cember 5, 1868, aged seventy-four (nearly). Her parents were Benjamin and Ann (McNeil) Cook. The children of this marriage were: Charles Ja- cob and four others who died in infancy.

(VI) Charles Jacob, son of Otis and Nancy (Cook) Amidon, was born in Chesterfield, April 23, 1827, and died in Hinsdale, August 21, 1900, aged seventy-three. He was educated in the pub- lic schools of Chesterfield and at the Chesterfield Academy, where his attendance was protracted. In1 early manhood lie was a successful teacher, but in 1849 he formed a partnership with Henry O. Cool- idge, then one of the most prominent business men in Cheshire county, and the firm engaged in busi- ness at Chesterfield Center. In 1851 this partner- ship was dissolved and Mr. Amidon settled in Hinsdale, where he was engaged in merchandising for ten years. In 1862 Dr. Frederic Boyden, Syl- vester Bishop and Mr. Amidon formed a co-partner- ship under the style of Boyden, Bishop & Amidon, and began the manufacture of woolen goods. In the course of time the senior partners died and Mr. Amidon became the sole owner of the busi- ness, and when his sons, Philip F. and William O., grew up, he associated them in the enterprise with him under the firm name of C. J. Amidon & Sons. After 1894 they operated the mills at Wilton as well as those in Hinsdale. From the start the business had paid, and while other factories have had to shut down or suspend operations, those con- trolled by this company have always kept going. The number of persons now employed at Hinsdale is one hundred, and they produce annually three hundred thousand yards of cashmerettes, which re-

quire in the course of a year for their manufacture three hundred thousand pounds of wool and three hundred and fifty thousand yards of cotton warp. The Wilton woolen mills employ one hundred and twenty persons and manufacture goods for botlı men's and women's wear.

Mr. Amidon's well known executive ability and good judgment caused him to be called to the set- tlement of many estates, and to give expert advice in intricate cases where estates or personal property was involved. He was honored with a place in the directorate of various banks, and served as president of the Hinsdale Savings Bank for many years. When he resigned that position many places of honor and trust were offered him, but most of them were declined. He was postmaster of Chester- field in 1849-50; postmaster of Hinsdale from 1861 to 1872; state bank commissioner, 1855-56, under Governor Metcalf and the following year under Governor Haile; representative in the state legis- lature from 1861 to 1865 inclusive, and in 1876-77 and 1883; member of the constitutional convention in 1876; elected state senator in March, 1878; re- elected at the following November election, and in 1879 and 1880; and was at different times moder- ator and selectman. He was one of the committee of five appointed in 1889 to draw plans and make estimates for the new State Library at Concord, and he had the satisfaction of having the plans, which he had assisted in formulating, adopted by the legislature and seeing the handsome structure, so creditable to the state, dedicated in 1895.

Mr. Amidon reached his majority in 1848, and cast his lot politically with the Whigs. After the dissolution of the Whig party it was followed by the Republican party, and with the majority of his political faith he joined the new organization. His influence in town affairs was felt at once, and in a short time he wielded influence in state politics. He proposed the name of William Haile as a candi- date for governor, and had no small part in ac- complishing his election. He was also largely in- strumental in bringing out the late United States Senator, J. W. Patterson, then a Dartmouth pro- fessor, as a candidate for congress and securing luis election.

During Mr. Amidon's lifetime the following spontaneous and sincere tribute was paid to him by the editor-in-chief of this work in a letter to a friend : "Among his associates in state service, Mr. Amidon has been quickly recognized as an able, clear-headed man. His services have been valuable. Good judgment directed by an honest pur- pose have given him power that commanded uni- versal esteem and respect. In every public position he has filled he has been foremost in influence, and his good common sense has attracted attention. Among his friends he is loved as a thoroughly honest, upright man, and he is a firm friend to those he deems worthy of such regard, but he will not tolerate anything that approaches treachery or double-dealing. He is a faithful, sincere, truth- ful, honest man, and has a clear head and a vigorous intellect. He might have held many more positions of public trust but he has never sought honor-all he has enjoyed were freely tendered, and many pos- sible honors have been declined. He is an ex- ample of the self-made man of New Hampshire."

Mr. Amidon was a charter member of Golden Rule Lodge, No. 77, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. In his religious views he was conformed to no creed. He tried to do right as his life history shows. He endeared himself to his fellow citizens by giving substantial aid and encouragement to

CHARLES JACOB AMIDON

143

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

many projects for benefiting his town, by generous donations to charities, and by assisting to build up the town schools and the library. Hinsdale had one of the finest town halls in the state, which was destroyed by fire, and to Mr. Amidon was due much of the credit for its erection.

He married, May II, 1851, Mary J. Harvey, born in Chesterfield (see Chesterfield History ), daughter of Loring and Elizabeth Harvey. Four children were born of this union: Philip Francis, Mary Elizabeth, Esther Maria and William Otis. Philip F., mentioned below. Mary Elizabeth, born July 13, 1859, married, October 28, 1886, Dr. R. B. Whitridge, of Boston, Massachusetts, and died Sep- tember, 1888. Esther Maria, born February 4, 1862, died August 7, 1865; William Otis, is subject of a later paragraph.

( VII) Philip Francis, eldest child of Charles J. and Mary J. (Harvey ) Amidon, was born in Hinsdale, June 27, 1852. He attended the public schools until he was eighteen years of age, and then entered his father's factory, and from that time to the present has been intimately associated with the textile industries. From being a partner in business with his father and brother, he became, on the death of his father, the sole proprietor of the mills, both at Hinsdale and Wilton, and con- ducts a large and profitable business. In political sentiment he is a Republican, and as such has been honored with a seat in the state legislature, where he served in 1889-90. As a Mason he has attained the Thirty-second degree. He is a member of Unity Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is an honored member.

He married, 'June 24, 1891, Mrs. Annie Estey Fulton, born at Philadelphia, August 6, 1854, daugh- ter of James F. and Emily H. Estey, of Brattleboro, Vermont. Since 1894 Mr. Amidon has resided at Wilton.

(VII) William Otis, younger son and fourth child of Charles J. and Mary J. ( Harvey) Amidon, of Hinsdale, was born in that town, November 24, 1864. After finishing his attendance at the common and high schools in Hinsdale, he went to Boston where he attended the Bryant & Stratton Com- mercial School from which he graduated in 1887. He then was admitted as a partner with his father and brother, Philip F., in the manufacture of

woolen goods at Hinsdale and Wilton. He re- mained a member of the firm of C. J. Amidon & Sons until 1899, when he retired from it to en- gage in the insurance business. He had the agency for several large companies, and did a large and prosperous business for three years, at the same time conducting a retail clothing and furnishing goods store. He sold out the insurance business in 1902, and the following year engaged in banking to accom- modate the citizens of the town, who had no bank- ing facilities in the village before that time. His correspondent bank is the Keene National Bank. He sold out his store in 1905, and since that time has devoted himself to banking and loaning entirely. He does a good business and has the confidence, respect and patronage of the community. He is a man of pleasing personality, open-hearted, generous and public-spirited, and a favorite in business, so- cial and fraternal circles. He is a member of Golden Rule Lodge, No. 77, Free and Accepted Masons, of Hinsdale; Royal Arch Chapter, of Keene; Royal and Select Masters of Keene; Hugh de Payens Commandery, of Keene; and Aleppo Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Mystic Shrine. of Boston. He attends the Universalist Church. He married Minnie Johindrou, who was

born in North Adams, Massachusetts, March 22, 1879, and they have one child, Isadore.

This family is of Scotch origin, and MARTIN its ancestor, like inany other Scots of his time, migrated to London- derry, Ireland, wlience a descendant came to America with the Scotch-Irish who settled New Hampshire.

(I) William Martin came with his family to America in 1724 and settled in Londonderry.

(II) William (2) Martin, the son of William (1) Martin, was born in Ireland in 1712. and died in Pembroke, January 21, 1800, aged eighty-eight years. He came from Londonderry to Suncook before the incorporation of Pembroke. He took a deed of fifty-nine and one-half acres of land of the Masonian proprietors dated June 9, 1763. He married Hannah Cochran, who was born in 1723, on the passage to America, and died April 13, 1788, aged sixty-five. Their children were: Mary, James, Nathaniel, William, Robert, Samuel and Hannah.

(III) Samuel Martin, sixth child and fifth son of William and Hannah ( Cochran) Martin, was born May 24, 1762, and died July 6, 1828, aged sixty-six. He was a shoemaker and lived in Ep- som. He married, June 6, 1790, Sarah, daughter of Major James and Mary (McDaniell) Cochran, of Pembroke. She was born in 1770, and died April 3, 1849, aged seventy-nine. Their children were: Mary, Thomas, James, Noah ( who was a doctor and governor of New Hampshire, 1852-54), Elizabeth, Caroline and Nancy.

(IV) Thomas Martin, second child and eldest son of Samuel and Sarah (Cochran) Martin, was born in Pembroke in 1798, and died in Allenstown, in 1875, aged seventy-seven. He was a brickmaker and lived twenty years in Boston, Massachusetts. He served two terms in the war of 1812. In politics he was a Democrat, who was a very popular man in his party, and served as tax collector and repre- sented Allenstown two years in the legislature. He married Sarah Brown Pillsbury, daughter of Dr. John Pillsbury, who was born in Candia and died in Allenstown at eighty years of age. They had two children: Annie S., and Carrie M., who is mentioned in the next paragraph: Annie was born in Allenstown in 1832 and died in Pembroke in 1887, aged fifty-five years.

(V) Carrie M. Martin, younger of the two daughters of Thomas and Sarah (Brown) Martin, and niece of Governor Noah Martin, was born in Allenstown, December 31, 1835, and married Jer- ome B. Harvey, He was born in North London- derry in 1834 and died there August 12, ISSI. He was brought up a farmer. and was engaged in farming for many years. For fifteen years he lived in California and worked in the mines. He resided in Manchester for a considerable time and while there was a dealer in wood. In religion he was a Baptist : in politics a Democrat. Mrs. Harvey has resided in Allenstown for years.

JENNINGS When our heathen ancestors

adopted the Christian faith they

assumed Christian names as evi- dences of their conversion. On account of the prominence in the carly Church of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, the name Iohanan, or Ioannes. afterward shortened to lan. John, or John, became a favorite. When the Saxon suffix ing, signifying son, was added. it gave the patronymic Ianing or Janing, that is John's son,

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

which finally became Jennings, which form has pre- vailed for many centuries, though the name is spelled in more than thirty ways in the early records of Massachusetts. Men of this race have engaged in every war and in most of the pursuits of peace in this country, and have done their duty in a manly way. Fifty-five were patriot soldiers in the revolutionary war from Massachusetts. One of the first two Englishmen who ever descended Lake Champlain was a Jennings. A colonial gov- ernor of New Jersey, the first governor of Indiana, a governor of Florida, and other men of promi- nence have borne this patronymic. Several of the name settled in Massachusetts in very early times. Richard Jennings put himself apprentice to Robert Bartlett, of Plymouth, in 1635, for nine years. He is said to have lived at Sandwich, whence he re- moved to Bridgewater, where he had a family of children. He may have been the ancestor of the Jennings family of Sandwich, but the records of Duxbury, which was the parent town of Bridge- water, having been destroyed by fire prior to 1654, it is impossible to determine the matter with cer- tainty at this time. Freeman, the historian of Cape Cod, says: "The Jennings family, long time promi- nent and highly respectable in this town ( Sandwich ), have become extinct here; but lands are still called . after their name." Tradition has it that the family came from Bennister, in Devonshire, England.

(I) John Jennings, the first of the family of whom there is authentic information, was living at Sandwich in 1667, and died there June 18, 1722, at an advanced age. February 23, 1675, John Jen- nings was among the sixty-nine residents of Sand- wich "who were able to make it appear that they had just rights and title to the privileges of the town." July 4, 1678, the name of John Jennings was not on "the list of those who have taken the oath of fidelity." "Peter Gaunt, William Newland and John Jenkins in the name of all the rest of the townsmen of Sandwich that are of their religion do declare their dissent against the town's disposing of any privileges that belong to them as townsnien of lands." The absence of the name of John Jen- nings from the list of those who took the oath of fidelity, the fact that he was a witness to the will of two Quakers-Lydia Gaunt, 1691, and Isaac Gaunt, 1698-and the further fact that the inventory of his estate shows that he had at the time of his death "Quakers' books as we suppose may be valued by that people two pounds," it seems that he was a friend to the Quakers, and perhaps a member of that sect. August 18, 1681, the town voted John Jennings and two others "all the bog meadow, leaving out the springs for the neighbor- hood," near Dexter's Island. June 25, 1702, the name of John Jennings appears on the "record of inhabitants of the town of Sandwich entitled to their share in the division of lands as per vote of March 24, 1702." July 16, 1708 (O. S.) John Jennings, cordwainer, was appointed administrator of the estate of his son John, late of Sandwich, mariner, who had lately died intestate in England. John (1) Jennings died intestate and his estate was ad- ministered by his son Isaac. The inventory amounted to forty-five pounds, fifteen shillings, six pence. May 15, 1690, he was elected constable, then an important office. He seems to have been an honest and honorable man who minded his own busi- ness and was sometimes called in to help other people with theirs. John Jennings married, June 29, 1667, Susanna; and after her death, Ruhamah. The surnames of his wives are unknown. His children by the first were : Remember (or Re-

membrance), and Ann; and by the second: John. Isaac, Elizabeth (died young), Elizabeth, and Samuel. These children, as shown by the Sand- wich records, were born between September 17, 1668, and February 28, 1085 (N. S.) (A sketch of Isaac is found in the next paragraph, and that of Samuel farther down.)

(II) Isaac, second son and child of John and Ruhamah Jennings, was born in Sandwich, July 3. 1677. He married, first, July 10, 1700, Rose Goodspeed, who died December 21, 1721; and sec- ond, Hannah The children by the first wife were : Elizabeth, Experience, John, Rose, Isaac, Mary, Benjamin; and by the second wife : Hannah, Lois, and Eunice, born between 1701, and 1729.

(III) Isaac (2), second son and fifth child of Isaac (I) and Rose (Goodspeed) Jennings, was born in Sandwich, April 24, 1714, and died October 2, 1796, aged cighty-two.

(IV) Samuel, son of Isaac (2) Jennings, was born November 16, 1743, and died December 10, 1797.

(V) Joel S., son of Samuel Jennings, was born in Pembroke, Massachusetts, May 4, 1771, and died in Georgia, February 20, 1841. He married Lucy Barnes, born February 22, 1769, daughter of Abraham Barnes, who, on account of his upright character and moral rectitude, was called pious Barnes.

(VI) Samuel, son of Joel S. and Lucy (Barnes ) Jennings, was born in Pembroke, May 19, 180.4, died September 23, 1877. He was a farmer, and lived on the old homestead of his ancestors. He married Sarah Atwood Morse, born September 24. 1809, died in 1898. The children of this marriage were: Samuel D., Charles H., Lucy I., and Willard H., whose sketch follows.

(VII) Willard Harvey, youngest child of Samuel and Sarah A. (Morse) Jennings, was born in Warwick, Massachusetts, September 3, 1846. His educational advantages were limited to at- tendance at the district school of a small country town. He came to Winchester, New Hampshire, as a companion and assistant to an aged aunt who had by inheritance, for those days, a modest fortune. In a short time he became her trusted agent for the care and management of her estate, demon- strating his business ability, though still a mere youth, and at her death the property liad increased in a very notable manner. In connection with this work Mr. Jennings began to transact business on his own account, and advanced step by step until he acquired a general competency and a reputation for business sagacity that placed him among the leading business men of Southwestern New Hamp- shire and Southeastern Vermont. While to some extent he devoted himself to matters purely financial, yet in a broader way his prosperity was the result of his various lumbering enterprises, he bought a large amount of land in New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts, from which he constantly cut the timber and manufactured it into lumber, thus placing him among the lumber kings of that section of New England. He was a director in the Win- chester National Bank, and a member of the Board of Trade. From 1862 until his death Mr. Jen- nings resided in Winchester. While he was a stalwart Republican, he had neither time nor in- clination for office holding, although his name was frequently mentioned for the highest positions in the gift of his fellow citizens. He was an at- tendant of the First Congregational Church of Winchester, and one of the most generous of its

WILLARD H. JENNINGS

145

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

supporters. As a giver of good gifts he was peculiar to the extent of desiring always to conceal his personal identity, and many a worthy cause that was aided by his generous benefactions never knew of the source.

Mr. Jennings married, December 23, 1875, Jen- nie G. Buffum, born in 1854, daughter of Sampson Wilder and Mary (Tower) Buffum, the former of Richmond, New Hampshire, and the latter of Lan- caster, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Jennings had one child. Lucy, a graduate of Mount Holyoke College, class of 1905. At the same educational institution both Mrs. Jennings and her mother, Mary (Tower) Buffum, attended, the last named having been a pupil of that remarkable educator of the early nineteenth century, Mary Lyon.

Mr. Jennings died March 4, 1907. The funeral services were conducted at his late home by Rev. W. S. Ewell, pastor of the Congregational Church. The interment was in Evergreen cemetery. The following resolutions were adopted at a meeting of the directors of the Winchester National Bank held March 4, 1907.

Whereas, It has pleased God in His infinite wisdom to remove by death our associate, Willard H. Jennings, who was a director of this bank, and ever watchful and faithful in the discharge of his official duties-whose integrity and honesty were ever beyond suspicion ; therefore be it

Resolved, That we, the members of the Board of Directors, express our deep sorrow at the loss of our associate, to the Bank, to ourselves, to the community in which he lived, and to the public generally; and be it

Resolved, That we extend to the bereaved family our sincere and heartfelt sympathy; and direct the clerk to send copies of these resolutions to the afflicted family, and cause them to be published, and spread upon the records of this bank.

(II) Samuel, second son and fourth and young- est child of John and Ruhamah Jennings, was born in Sandwich, February 28, (19 O. S.) 1685, and died there May 13, 1764, in the eightieth year of his age. He was impressed into the British navy, and in escaping from it had the terrible adventure which he narrates in the following letter to his pastor, Reverend Doctor Stillman :

"Honored Sir: According to your request, when I was at your house above a year ago, I have now taken in hand to give you an account of that disaster which befel me in the West Indies, which was after the following manner. It was in the year 1703, I think in the month of October, that I as impressed on board a frigate, in Carlisle Bay, called the Milford, which was a station ship for the Island of Barbados; and after four or five months continuance on board said ship, I became exceeding restless about my way of living; and I shall give you some of the reasons that made me so. And first. 1 observed that many times when men were sick of fevers and other distempers, they were beaten to work, when men that were drunk were casily excused, though they were commonly a third of our number when there was work to do. And one time, being sick myself of a fever, so that my legs would scarce carry me without help of my hands, I was commanded up to work; I told the officer I was sick and could not work; he said I lied, and thereupon drove me, with several others in the same condition, upon deck (some of whom died the next day), then I went to the captain and told him that I, with some others were beaten to work, though we were sick and not able to work : He said we were rascals, and the doctor said we 1-10

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.

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 40

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