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 59
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Captain Davis was at this time in the vigor of his manhood, being about fifty-three years of age. The legislature was composed of men of rare ability, John Langdon being speaker of the assem- bly, and Meshach Weare president of the council. In 1781 he was chosen delegate to the constitutional convention which formed the constitution that was in force, with slight amendments, until 1878, a period of ninety-four years. He was chosen rep- resentative the last time in 1784, and served in two sessions in that legislature, one at Concord, in June. the other at Portsmouth, the October following, and whilst on his way home from this session he lost his life, November 26, 1784. A heavy, rain had swollen Beaver brook, in Derry, so much that the bridge which was safe at nightfall, had been swept away when he arrived later in the evening. The horse which he rode plunged into the stream, and Mr. Davis was drowned. When the body was found several days later, a mark on the temple showed that the horse had struck him with his foot while struggling in the water; otherwise he would undoubtedly have swam ashore, as he was an ex- pert swimmer. He was buried at Davisville, and just one hundred years after his death. a monu- ment was crected at his grave, bearing this in- scription. "Captain Francis Davis, the Pioneer, and Warner's first representative. Born October 26, 1723: Died November 26, 1784." He married, in Amesbury, September 3. 1745. Elizabeth Farren, and they were the parents of these children: Gartret (Gertrude), Zebulon, Joanna. Wells, Ichahod, Francis, Elizabeth, Aquila, Paine and Nathan. (Aquila and descendants receive notice in this article. ) (VI) Zebulon (r), eldest son and second child
of Francis (4) and Elizabeth (Farren) Davis, was born June 2, 1748, and baptized June 5, of the same ycar. He removed to Warner, where he spent the remainder of his life, and died July 17, 1795. He married Hannah Currier. born August 5, 1750, bap- tized August 12, daughter of Nathan and Mehitable (Silver) Currier, of Amesbury, West Parish, and they had thirteen children : Elizabeth, Sarah, Stephen, Joanna, Anna, Alpheus, Zebulon, Molly, Polly, Abigail. "Mittie," "Rocksene" and Lydia. (Zebulon and descendants from the subject of later paragraphs of this article).
(VII) Alpheus, second son and sixth child of Zebulon and Hannah (Currier) Davis, was born in Warner, September 10, 1782, and died there Novem- ber II, 1847. He owned a large area of land, and raised cattle and sheep in large numbers, and was also the owner of the grist mill at Warner, which he successfully conducted for many years. He mar- ried, August 9, 18og, Abigail Watts Davis. born March 24, 1790, died February 4, 1869, daughter of General Aquila and Abigail Davis, of Warner (q. v.) Their children were : Mary, Henry, Charles ; Stephen Bartlett, Nathaniel, Daniel, Edwin, Mary, Paine, and George H., whose sketch follows:
(VIII) George Hardy, youngest child of Al- pheus and Abigail Watts (Davis) Davis, was born in Warner, September II, 1833. He obtained what education he could in the district schools, and then further prosecuted his studies in the academies of Washington and Sanbornton. At the age of twenty he went to Manchester, where he was employed a year in a foundry. At the end of that time he went to Lowell, Massachusetts, where he learned the art of stone-cutting and remained two years. Subse- quently he spent a few months in Cambridge, and then went to Concord. New Hampshire, where he worked as an artisan from 1856 to 1861. A year later he formed a copartnership in the business of cutting stone with James Dunnigan, and under the firm name of Dunnigan & Davis they were engaged in that industry until 1877. Mr. Davis worked at his trade to some extent until 1905, when he re- linquished it entirely. He is a member of the Democratic party, but not a partisan. He is a member of the Sons of the Revolution, and of the veteran firemen, and attends the Universalist Church. He married (first). November 4, 1858, Caroline M. Collins, born in Enfield, New Hamp- shire, October 29, 1839, died in Concord Novem- ber 15, 1863. Her father, Willard L. Collins, was born June 16, 1803, and died July 18, 1857. His wife, Eleanor (Burnham) Collins, was born March 19, 1808, and died October 27. 1896. Mr. Davis mar- ried (second), November 23, 1864, Martha J. Dun- bar, born in Springfield, New Hampshire, April I, 1838, daughter of Marshall and Ruth (Clough) Dunbar, of Springfield. Two children were born of the first marriage: Cora Frances, born June 19. 1859. married Rodney F. Robinson ; and Ferdinand Gilbert, born in Lowell, Massachusetts, January 31, 1861, married Francis G. Spaulding, born April 7, 1865.
(VII) Zebulon (2), third so11 and seventh child of Zebulon (1) and Hannah (Currier) Davis, was born in Warner, February II, 1784.
(VI) General Aquila Davis, fifth son and ninth child of Francis (4) and Elizabeth (Farren) Davis, born in West Amesbury, June 27, 1760, migrated with his father to Warner. He enlisted as a soldier of the Revolution at the age of seven- teen years, and saw much hard service, being pres- ent at the surrender of Burgoyne, and was honor- ably discharged May 10, 1780. After the Revolu-
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tion he took an active part in the state militia, com- inanding the Thirtieth Regiment from 1799 to 1807, and was brigadier-general of the Fourth Brigade from 1807 to 1809, and in 1812 raised the first regi- ment of men for one year enlisted in the state, of which regiment he was chosen colonel. He was a man of sound judgment and of marked ability, and was often chosen a representative from his town. He resided in the homestead built by his father, his new brick residence not being completed at the time of his death, which occurred February 27, 1835, while on a journey to Sharon, Maine, where he had large landed interests. He was buried with Ma- sonic honors at Davisville. He was married August IO, 1785, in Warner, to Abigail Stevens, and they had the following children: Paine, Sarah A. (mar- ried - Virgin), Abigail W. (married Alpheus Davis, q. v.), Theodore S., Nathaniel A., Persis H. (married Currier), Nathan, Charles, Aquila and James. (Nathaniel A. and descendants receive extended mention in this article).
(VII) Paine, eldest child of General Aquila and Abigail (Stevens) Davis, was born in Warner, February 2. 1786. He was a farmer in Warner, where his life was passed. He married Mary Dow, and they had five children: Harriett, Albert, Theo- dore S., James Andrew, whose sketch follows, and one that died in infancy.
(VIII) James Andrew, third son and fourth child of Paine and Mary (Dow) Davis, was born in Warner, September 20, 1819, and died there Sep- tember 6. 1900. He was a farmer and lumberman, and well-to-do financially. Though not a chunch member, he attended the Baptist Church. He mar- ried, November 4, 1847, Marcia Ann Davis, born in Warner, September 24, 1820, daughter of Zebulon and Elizabeth Davis (see Davis -), and they had two children: Kate H., and Fred W., the subject of the next paragraph.
(IX) Fred Willis, only son of James A. and Marcia Ann (Davis) Davis, was born in Warner, July 14, 1852. After working several years in a saw mill, he turned his attention to electrical power, and entered the employ of the Contoocook Electric Light Company, and for twelve years has had charge of its dynamo, which is located in Webster. Like his father he is a Republican. He is a member of Harris Lodge, No. 91, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons, of Warner, of which he has been senior warden. He married. November 22, 1876, Lillian Noyes, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, November 15, 1854, daughter of David and Martha Jane ( Fiske) Noyes, of Hopkinton, New Hamp- shire.
(VII) Nathaniel A., third son and fifth child of General Aquila and Abigail (Stevens) Davis, was born June 29, 1794. in Warner. and was some- thing of a rover in his young manhood. After re- ceiving such education as the primitive schools of his native town afforded, he learned the trade of silversmith, and traveled through the south, work- ing at this occupation in various cities, spending considerable time at New Orleans. Returning to his native town he came into possession of the waterpower at Davisville, by purchase from his brother Charles, about 1830. and continued to operate a grist mill there until 1865, when he sold out to a paper manufacturer. He died October 24, 1866. Mr. Davis was a natural mathematician, and became skilled as a land surveyor, in which he was often employed, and also managed and settled many estates. He was looked up to as the qualified and executive man of his neighborhood and was called "'Squire Natt." Of charitable and kind nature, he
was respected and held in high regard by rich and poor. Although his town had a normal Democratic majority of one hundred and fifty votes in political contests, he was repeatedly chosen selectman. He was a Whig in early life, a strong Abolitionist and naturally was among the original supporters of the Republican party. He was a man of temperate habits. Mr. Davis was married June 1I, 1829, to Mary Clough, who was born May 7, 1808, in Web- ster (then part of Boscawen), and died September 29, 1892. Her parents were Stephen Clough, born July II, 1774, and Betsey (Emerson) Clough, born April 20, 1776. The former died March 20, 1825, and the latter June 16, 1861. Mr. and Mrs. Davis had children, accounted for as follows: Stephen C .. and Walter Scott, mentioned below; Gilman, who died in Sacramento, California; Lucretia, residing in Davisville; Mary E., widow of Augustus B. Wadsworth, living in Warner village; Stillman S., of Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Henry C. (The last named receives extended mention in this arti- cle). Lucretia, a twin of Stephen, died at the age of ten years and six months.
(VIII) Stephen Clough, eldest child of Na- thaniel A. and Mary (Clough) Davis, was born March 28, 1830, in Warner, on the old homestead at Davisville, where he passed his boyhood and youth. He attended the public school of his na- tive town and at Contoocook, and Gilmanton Acad- emy, Tilton Seminary, Hancock Seminary and Wash- ington Academy, all in New Hampshire. He was early accustomed to labor in his own behalf, and from fourteen years of age lived on the farm of his uncle, Charles Davis, whose assistant he was. On attaining his majority he abandoned both school and farm and went to Lowell, Massachusetts, to begin life on his own account. He spent one sum- mer in stone cutting, and then entered the service of Otis Allen, who owned and operated a lumber yard on the site now occupied by Mr. Davis, on Middlesex street, Lowell. By the application of his native energy and ability, the young man famil- iarized himself with the details of the business and made himself useful to his employer. He soon came to hold a confidential position. and so was prepared when the owner wished to retire to take the business off his hands. In association with Newman Storer, under the firm name of Davis & Storer, he leased the plant in 1866, and they suc- . cessfully operated it until it was destroyed by fire in 1870. At this time it was largely devoted to the manufacture of boxes and interior and exterior finishings for buildings, and had extended very largely since the first connection of Mr. Davis with it. After the fire Mr. Davis purchased the plant and business, and in 1872 admitted Benjamin F. Sar- gent to partnership in the enterprise. With the growth of Lowell the business expanded, and Mr. Davis has reaped the reward of his enterprise, in-
dustry and good business management. The · firm of Davis & Sargent became widely known among builders and conducted a very successful business until 1903, when the concern was incorporated as the Davis & Sargent Lumber Company, with Mr. Davis as president and general manager. Mr. Sar- gent died in April, 1905, and the entire care of the business has since fallen upon Mr. Davis. His long experience, his upright management and his kindly nature have contributed to the growth and pros- perity of the establishment, and have maintained its prestige to the present time. It gives steady employment to forty people. and is one of the in- stitutions that have contributed to the growth and fame of Lowell. Mr. Davis is a man of quiet tastes
Mattias Davis
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and domestic habits. He has sought no public recognition, but has endeavored to perform his duty as a citizen, and as such served two years as a member of the city council. He is a steadfast Republican in political principle, and always sus- tains his party by voice and vote. He is an at- tendant of the Unitarian Church. He was married January 1, 1855, to M. Alnette Green, who was born November 19, 1834, in Wilton, New Hampshire, a daughter of Francis and Nancy (Steele) Green. They are the parents of two children, Carrie Alnette and Gertrude. The first is the wife of Edward H. Scribner, residing in Lowell, and the other is at home with her parents.
(VII) Walter Scott, second son and child of Nathaniel A. and Mary (Clough) Davis, was born in Warner, July 29, 1834. One of his earliest and most impressive experiences was falling into the Warner river at Davisville, and being rescued by his Uncle Nathan, when about to sink the third time. He attended the summer and winter terms of school from the age of three to thirteen, and supplemented the knowledge and discipline he re- ceived there by several terms in the high school at Contoocook after he was ten years old. The summer he was fourteen years old he worked on a farm for seven dollars a month, and with the money thus earned he paid his expenses for a term at Gilmanton Academy the following fall. Teach- ing school in winter after he was sixteen years of age, working at haying in the summer and tending his father's grist mill the remainder of the year, he was enabled to attend school one term at Washing- ton Academy, in 1850; a term at Thetford, Vermont, in 1852, and three terms at New London in 1853 and 1854. He always had a remarkable aptitude for mathematics, and for many years kept every rule and formula fresh in his mind. In addition to keeping up his mathematics, he also kept in touch with many other practical branches of learning. His success as a teacher was excellent, but at twenty years of age he had an opportunity to start in mer- cantile life for himself, and in the winter of 1854-55 he formed a partnership with Samuel H. Dow under the firm name of Dow & Davis and engaged in the bark. lumber and wood business, on a large scale. which proved profitable until 1860. The general depression preceding the outbreak of the Rebellion, and the loss resulting from investing in a large tannery at Lowell, Massachusetts, together with a law suit which followed, took all Mr. Davis's sav- ings and left him with a wife and young child and no means. But concealing the extent of his loss. he kept at his work and in the following five years the partnership business repaid all his losses. In 1865 WV. S. Davis and Paine Davis formed a part- nership under the firm name of W. S. Davis & Company and engaged in the bark, wood and lum- ber business. with farming added. In 1866 the mills at Davisville were taken down and a large circular saw mill was built, with machines for saw- ing clapboards, shingles, laths, etc. In 1869 this mill was destroyed by fire, and a new one was at once erected. The firm of W. S. Davis & Com- pany was dissolved in 1872, the senior partner re- taining the mills and Paine Davis the farm. In 18 ;! W. S. Davis and George W. Dow, of Bristol, formed a partnership as Dow & Davis, and bought the site of the burned paper mill at Davisville. and built a strawboard mill with a capacity of twenty-five hundred pounds of board per day in the summer time. their product being dried in the fields by the sun. This process was not satisfactory and steam drying was substituted. In 1872 a Four- drinier machine and three large driers were added,
the machine being run through the day and the driers during the twenty-four hours, but this pro- cess produced only a ton of board a day, and did not give satisfaction. Henry C. Davis and Leston Rollins were admitted to the firm in 1873. and by means of improvements in the machinery the capacity of the mill was nearly doubled. In 1876 W. S. Davis became sole owner of the mill, and then he and his brother, Henry C. Davis, formed a partnership under the name of Davis Brothers. In 1879 they began to reconstruct the mill, and con- tinued the process until 1883, when it was com- pleted, though the machinery was kept running the greater part of the time. The change was 50 thorough that scarcely a vestige of the old mill ex- cept the foundation remained, and the new structure had a capacity of six tons of lined strawboard per diem. The power of the mill was then doubled by using the water at a distance of three hundred and fifty feet below the mill and transmitting the power by a line of shafting. The gate of the water-wheel was operated in the mill by wires as easily as if it were situated there. Fifteen persons were em- ployed, and ten tons of straw consumed daily. The firm also carried on a large lumber business. saw- ing five hundred thousand feet annually for their own use for boxes.
During his many years of active life Mr. Davis gave many proofs of his ingenuity, mechanical skill, and ability as an engineer. He it was who made all the plans and laid out all the work for all the mills at Davisville and for all those which were re- built there during a period of fifty years. Many valuable inventions and improvements in machinery were made by him, among which are an ingenious and valuable gate arrangement for turbine water- wheels and a complicated machine for making paper boxes, both of which are patented. In many ways the life of Mr. Davis brought comfort and advan- tages to his fellowmen. A Christian of the Sweden- borgian denomination, his whole life was consistent with the teachings of the great Master. He was strictly abstemious in the use of intoxicating liquors and tobacco; he was proverbially patient and self- controlled, his kindness of heart, geniality and gen- erosity having never been questioned, and in business circles his character and integrity were of the high- est type. His politics were Republican, and while he resided in Warner his party was in the minority. yet such was his popularity that when nominated for office, as he often was, he always received many votes from the other party as well as the full strength of his own. He held many minor of- fices : was one of the committee to locate and build the Kearsarge Mountain road; was one of the com- mittee which selected the site for the high school building, and was one of the first prudential com- mittees in the high school district, and organized and started the Symonds High School. He took up his residence in Contoocook in 1874, and subse- quent to that date he was many years president of Contoocook Academy and one of the property trustees : was curator of the New Hampshire Anti- quarian Society, and was its president many years. He was the moderator in the Hopkinton town meet- ing for many years, always being elected without opposition, and was an admirable presiding officer. prompt and just in his decisions, and rapid in the transaction of business. He was chosen a repre- sentative from Hopkinton in 1878 and took an active part in the revision and preparation of the general laws. Ife was chosen county auditor and was one of the committee to reconstruct the buildings at the county farm. In 1884 he was nominated as a can- didate for state senator in the Merrimack district,
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and was elected by a handsome majority, making a net Republican gain of almost a thousand over the vote of 1882. As a senator he was active, and took a prominent part, serving upon several important committees, and was instrumental in procuring the passage of several important measures, and in de- feating others, and was the only senator who re- fused to vote for the bill entitled "Purity of Elec- tions Bill." He presided over the senate on several occasions, discharging the functions of the office with marked ability, and winning the esteem and approval of his associates to a degree that has ever since been to him a pleasant memory. Mr. Davis became a member of Harris Lodge, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, of Warner, of which he afterward served as worshipful master; he was also a mem- ber of Woods Royal Arch Chapter, of Henniker; and Horace Chase Council, No. 4, Royal and Se- lect Masters, of Concord.
He married, May 3. 1857, Dollie Jones, who was born in Warner, daughter of Daniel, Sr., and Judith (Trussell) Jones, of Webster. Six children were born to them: W. S. Bertine, March 3, 1860, died May 19, 1860; Horace J., December II, 1862; Chassie H., July 25. 1865, died April 25, 1869; Nattie A., April 23, 1868, died May 5, 1869; Mamie A., August 26, 1870; Charles, October 14, died Oc- tober 17, 1874.
(VIII) Henry Chase, youngest child of Na- thaniel A. and Mary ( Clough) Davis, was born Oc- tober 31, IS50, in Davisville, and now resides in the house built there in 1775 by his great-grandfather, Captain Francis Davis. He attended the common schools and spent two terms at an academy at Con- toocook. At the age of sixteen years he evinced the ambition and executive ability which have char- acterized his life by taking charge of his late fa- ther's farm at Davisville, and this arrangement con- tinued four years. When twenty years old he en- tered the paper mill of Dow, Davis & Comapny, in which his elder brother was a partner, then oc- cupying the waterpower at Davisville, having bought it from his father five years previously. In 1872 Henry C. Davis acquired a one-eighth interest in the mill, and four years later bought the interest of George W. Dow in the business, and in 1878 be- came owner of one-half the establishment and its style then became Davis Brothers. This power was extensively used in the manufacture of paper until 1903, since which time it has laih dormant. In 1885 a nephew of Henry C. Davis, Mr. Horace J. Davis, of Contoocook, bought the interest of the former in the business, and in 1897 the former again became joint owner with the latter, the plant then being operated by the Davis Strawboard Com- pany until 1902, when it was sold to the United Box & Paper Company and was shut down a year later. Mr. Davis has long been engaged in the purchase and sale of lands and lumber, and in 1906 he helped organize the Davis Paper Company, of which he is president. Cost of plant, one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. It is located at West Hopkin- ton. He follows the political precepts of his father, and sustains Republican principles in matters of public policy. He supports and attends the Con- gregational Church of Warner, and is a Thirty-sec- ond degree Mason, affiliating with Harris Lodge, of Warner, Mt. Horeb Commandery of Concord, and the Nashua Consistory. He served two years as master of Harris Lodge. He has acted as select- man of Warner, for twenty years as moderator, was three times elected representative of Warner, and is now serving as senator from district No. 9.
Mr. Davis was married May 22, 1877, to Alice Whittier, of Webster, daughter of Captain Moses
and Olive (Eager) Whittier, of that town, where she was born, 1857, and died November 26, 1895, at her home in Warner. Mr. Davis married (sec- ond), January 24, 1898, Saralı Bartlett Davis, daugh- ter ot Paine and Esther (Babcock) Davis, of Warner. Of the first marriage the following chil- dren were born: Marion Sargent, died at the age of twenty-four years; Shirley, died at seventeen years; Cassie F., died at sixteen; Olive Winifred, residing with her maternal grandparents in Web- ster: Henry Russell, residing in Contoocook; and Nathaniel Francis, a Dartmouth student, in the class of 1907.
(Second Family.)
There were several of this name very DAVIS early in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and the descendants of all are very numer- ous now throughout New Hampshire. The line herein traced was long identified with Haverhill and has furnished many good citizens to the state.
(I) James Davis, of Haverhill, was born about 1583-88, and died January 28, 1679, in Haverhill. He was one of the first settlers of that town, having removed from Newbury in 1640. He was one of the first selectmen of Newbury, and was perhaps a brother of Thomas Davis, who was. also very early in Haverhill. The names of James Davis, Senior, and his son Ephraim appear on a paper in the court of Ipswich, February, 1659, accusing John Godfrey of witchcraft. His will was made March 17, 1676, and a codicil added July 17, 1678. By this it would appear that he was a careful business man and did not wait for his final illness before disposing of his estate. His wife's name appears variously on the records as Cicely and Sissilla. She died May 28, 1673, in Haverhill. Their children were: James, John, Judith, Ephraim, Samuel and Sarah. (Men- tion of Samuel and descendants forms part of this article).
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