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 87

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 87

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(X) James Denison, son of Joseph A. (2) and Eliza (Skinner) Denison, was born in Royalton, January 9, 1837, and was educated in the School for the Deaf at Hartford, Connecticut. He is a fore- most educator of the deaf, and for twenty-five years has been a teacher in Kendall School for the Deaf at Kendall Green, Washington, D. C. His profi- ciency as an educator brought to him the honorary degree of Master of Arts from Columbia College, now George Washington University. In religious faith he is an Episcopalian. He was married, De- cember 26, 1859, to Elizabeth Lindsay, who was born in Salem, Massachusetts, daughter of Richard and Sophronsiby ( Fiske) Lindsay, of Salem. She died October 26, 1902, in Washington. Six children were born to this union as follows : George Stanton, Elizabeth Lindsay. Edward Thayer. Richard Lind- say ( died an infant ). Lindsay and Raymond Chase. Lindsay is one of the five associate editors of the New York Sun, and has been at different times editor of the Cosmopolitan, Everybody's and Ridge- way's magazines.

(XI) Raymond Chase Denison, M. D., youngest child of James and Elizabeth ( Lindsay) Denison, was born in Washington, D. C., October 31, 1876, and was educated at the Friends' Select School. Col- umbia College, and George Washington University, graduating from the latter institution in 1007. He subsequently passed a year at Easton Dispensary, Washington. He suffered from malaria and in 1900 removed to Berlin, New Hampshire, on account of his health. There he has a good practice, and has been county physician seven years. He is a mem-

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ber of the Coos County Medical Association, the New Hampshire Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. He is a member of the Ber- lin Lodge No. - , of tlie Benevolent Protective Or- der of Elks, of which he is ( 1907) exalted ruler. He married, June 1, 1900, in Washington. Marian Elizabeth, daughter of Fred Herring, inventor of the Herring safe, and manager of the Herring Safe Company.

BURNS The Scotch-Irish who settled in south- ern New Hampshire in the early part of the eighteenth century, though a plain people, making no claims to anything but hon- esty, industrious habits, and morality, possessed ster- ling qualities and native ability. The Burns family, in whose veins still course a strong current of Scotch blood, is representative of the race as it ex- ists today.

(I) Thomas Burns, the first known ancestor of the family now in hand, was a native of Scotland. The maiden name of his wife was Margaret Leslie.

(II) John, eldest son and second child of Thom- as and Margaret (Leslie) Burns, was born in Scot- land about 1701, and resided for a time in the north of Ireland. He left Londonderry for America in 1736, accompanied by his wife and three children, and upon his arrival his family had been increased hv the addition of another child, who was born dur- ing the voyage. Locating in Nottingham West, now Hudson, New Hampshire, he remained there ten years, and in 1746 he went to that part of Dunstable afterward Amherst and now Milford, as one of the early settlers, transporting his family and house- hold goods in a birch canoe up the Merrimack and Souhegan rivers and into Nonandum brook to their new home in the wilderness. He located on land lying in the northwestern part of the old Dunstable township, on the east side of the Brookline line, and his first camp fire was kindled beside a large rock, the identity of which has been preserved. The farm which he cleared and improved is now owned by C. R. Cutts. The name of his wife does not appear in the records. His children were: Mary, born in Ireland, May, 1730; bcame the wife of Wil- liam Wallace and died in Milford, May 8, 1815; John, who will be again referred to; George, born in Ireland, 1734: Jane, born at sea, 1736, became the wife of Joseph Gould, whom she survived, and died in Harvard, Massachusetts, June 10. 1834, at the advanced age of ninety-eight years; Betsy, born in Nottingham West, 1738, became the wife of Ebe- nezer Hopkins, of Milford, and died 1792; Sarah, born 1743, married John Patterson, of Amherst, and died October 28, 1795: and Thomas, mentioned hereinafter.

(III) John (2) second child and eldest son of John (1) Burns, was born in Ireland, March 28, 1732. He cleared one hundred acres of the finest land in Milford, and he served with the Twenty- eighth Massachusetts regiment in the Revolutionary war. The History of Milford states that he resided on the farm which is now (or was recently) owned by Michael Holland. He died in Milford, January 16, 1825. About 1761 he married Elizabeth, daugli- ter of Jonathan and Elizabeth Jones of Wellington, Massachusetts. His children were: John, Daniel, Elizabeth, Moses, Joseph, Mary and Joshua.

(IV) Joseph, fourth son and fifth child of John (2) and Elizabeth (Jones) Burns, was born in Mil- ford, March 4, 1770. He resided upon a farm lo- cated just south of Milford village, on the westerly side of the Brookline road, recently owned by his grandson, George Dincklee, and he died there De-

cember I, 1852. He married Nancy A. Farrington, born March 24, 1766, died November 22, 1854, and had a family of nine children : Joseph, Rufus, Nancy, William Bela, Sophronia, Ira (died young), Indiana, Ira and Ralph. All were born in Milford. (V) Ralph, youngest son and child of Joseph and Nancy A. (Farrington) Burns, was born in Milford, November 6, 1805. He was a farmer, and resided for intervals in Milford, Hebron, Brookline and Hollis, and his death occurred suddenly in the last-named town, March 5, 1884. He was a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In poli- tics he was a Democrat. During his younger days he was in the state militia. serving as a gunner in an artillery regiment. April 15, 1830, he married Elizabeth Duncklee Pierce, born in Merrimack, Sep- tember 23, 18II, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Duncklee) Pierce, the former of whom was a sea captain, and descended from the same ancestry as that of President Franklin Pierce. Of this union there is but one son.

(VI) Brooks Pierce, only child of Ralph and Elizabeth Duncklee (Pierce) Burns, was born in Brookline, August 12, 1850. He was educated in the public schools of his native town. and when a young man turned his attention to tilling the soil, which he followed in Hollis with good results for many years. A short time since he established himself in the grocery and variety business in Nashua, and his prospects for success in that line of trade are promising. He still retains his residence in Hollis, owning and occupying, with his son, Bear Rock farm, which has been his home ever since 1856. In politics he acts independently, preferring to sup- port candidates for public office who in his esti- mation are the best qualified to serve, irrespective of party.

On May 7. 1879, Mr. Burns was married in Nashua to Harriet Josephine Lund, born in Mil- ford, October 22. 1855, daughter of Joseph and De- borah (Crosby) Lund. Her father was an able me- chanic. Mrs. Burns died in Hollis, April 7, 1886, leaving four children: Bessie Crosby, born March 5, 1880; Lizzie Duncklee, born October 2, 1881 (be- came the wife of Louis Dudley, a prosperous farmer of Hollis) ; Joseph Warren, born September 16, 1883, and Robert Brooks, born May 16. 1885. The latter, who is now residing at Bear Rock Farm, married Addie L. Keith. All were born in Hollis and educated in the public schools.

In 1890 occurred the first annual reunion of the de- scendants of John Burns, the immigrant, which was held in an attractive grove located on his original farm, in the immediate vicinity of the John Burns Rock, previously referred to as the site of his first camp fire. In 1904 Mr. Brooks P. Burns determined to preserve the grove and rock as memorial to his sturdy ancestor, and also as a permanent meeting place for the future annual gatherings of his de- scendants, who are now scattered from Maine to California. He accordingly organized a stock com- pany, which as the John Burns Park Association is legally incorporated under the laws of New Hampshire, and a sufficient sum has been realized from the sale of certificates of stock among the members to purchase the grove. The old Burns Rock now bears upon its side a bronze tablet with an appropriate inscription, which will henceforward serve as a fitting monument to the first white settler in the town of Milford. The president of this as- sociation is Charles H. Burns. of Nashua.

(III) Thomas, third son and seventh child of John (I) Burns, was born in Nottingham West, now Hudson, in 1740. He was a farmer, and resid-

Charles H.VBurns

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ed on property he owned on the Federal Hill road, where he died, March, 1811. He married, August 1763. Elizabeth Harkness, born in Lunenburg, Mas- sachusetts, died in Hollis. Their children were : Thomas, Betsey, James, Jolin. Martha, Molly, Samuel, Hannah and Ruth.

(IV) Samuel, fourth son and seventh child of Thomas and Elizabeth (Harkness) Burns, born in Milford, September 17, 1779, died September 20, 1817, was a farmer and resided on his father's homestead. He was selectman in Milford from 1807 to 1817, dying in office. He was a strong man, and died of brain fever. His funeral was the largest ever held in Milford. He married, February 12, ISO1, Abigail Jones, born in Milford, daughter of Jonathan Jones. She was a woman of great strength of mind, and of most excellent character. She died in Milford. November 19, 1854. Their children were : Abigail, Eliza H., Freeman, Lydia Jones, Charles A., two who died young, names not known, and Emeline.

(V) Charles A., second son and fifth child of Samuel and Abigail (Jones) Burns, born in Mil- ford, January 19, 1809, died of fever at Milford, July 25, 1857, was a farmer He was a man who read and thought much, and became so imbued with anti-slavery ideas that he became an active and prominent worker in the little band of anti-slavery agitators which existed in Milford, and entertained at his house such distinguished workers for eman- cipation as Parker Pillsbury, Wendell Phillips, Wil- liam Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass. He married, December 31, 1833, Elizabeth Hutchinson, born in Milford, June 18, 1816, daughter of Abel and Betsey ( Bartlett ) Hutchinson. She died Sep- tember 4, 1885. Both were persons of the highest character, and well known for their intelligence and worth. Their children were: Charles Henry, Edward Alonzo, Annie Elizabeth, Mark Fordyce, George Hutchinson, Samuel Albert, Fred Morton, Robert and Richard.

(VI) Charles Henry, eldest child of Charles A. and Elizabeth (Hutchinson) Burns, born in Mil- ford, January 19, 1835, spent his early life on his father's farm, and after acquiring what learning was to be obtained in the common schools of Mil- ford, entered Appleton Academy, at New Ipswich, at that time under the management of Professor Quimby, from which he graduated in 1854. From the age of seventeen to twenty-one he taught school in winter at Ashby, Massachusetts, and in New Ipswich and Lyndeborough. Deciding to make the law his vocation in life, he pursued his legal studies in the office of Colonel O. W. Lull in Milford, and subsequently attended the Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in the class of 1858. In May of the same year he was admitted to the Suf- folk bar in Massachusetts, and in October following he was admitted to the New Hampshire bar. In January, 1859, he commenced the practice of law at Wilton, where he has since resided, although of late years his extended practice through Hillsbor- ough county. and the state, has necessitated the removal of his office to Nashua. From the begin- ning he showed a marked fitness for his chosen profession, and liis progress was continuous and his success assured. In the process of time he was called into the highest order of cases, and for the past twenty-five years this class of litigation has claimed his entire attention. For a quarter of a century he has been prominently connected with the railroad legislation of the state, making the leading arguments in most of the important hear- ings before legislative committees, which have been

published in pamphlet form, and are now a part of the railroad literature and history of the state.

Mr. Burns' practice has not been confined en- tirely to civil cases, however. He has been engaged in some of the most celebrated murder trials that have ever been brought before the courts of the state. He took a leading part in securing the con- viction of Major for poisoning his wife, and suc- cessfully defended Brown. who was charged with killing his neighbor Wood. The interest in the lat- ter case was widespread, and the trial hotly contest- ed. A peculiar feature of the case was the age of the parties, Brown being eighty-three and Wood seventy-one. He also defended Hodgman, charged with wife-murder, and secured his acquittal.

Mr. Burns is an able lawyer in all branches of the profession, but excels in advocacy. Naturally qualified for public speaking and gifted with ex- traordinary oratorical powers, he has by constant training and practice made himself one of the lead- ing orators and advocates of the state, at the bar, on the stump, and on all those varied occasions when a public speaker is called upon to address the people. His argument is lucid, his style incisive, and his diction polished and elegant. He delivered the oration at the laying of the corner stone of the new town house at Milford; at the dedication of the town house in Greenville; at the dedication of the soliders' and sailors' monument at Nashua; at the dedication of the monument in honor of Matthew Thornton at Thornton's Ferry; on General Miller at the Dedication of Miller Park; at the dedication of the new Masonic hall at Milford; at the dedica- tion of the Masonic Temple at Wilton. and the cen- tennial address on the one hundredth anniversary of the town of Milford, together with many other addresses.

Trained up in the abolition school by a father whose most sincere wishes and most efficient ef- forts were for the elevation of the oppressed, Mr. Burns was naturally a supporter of progress and re- form in all things possible, and a Republican from the founding of the party: and while little more than a boy he took the stump to advocate the prin- ciples and measures of that organization. His work drew attention to his ability and merits, and he was chosen to fill various public positions. In 1864 and 1865 he was chosen county treasurer of Hillsbor- ough county. He was also a member of the New Hampshire state senate in 1873 and again in 1879, and in both years was chairman of the judiciary committee, and took a prominent part in shaping legislation in those years. In 1876 he was appointed by Governor Cheney county solicitor for Hillsbor- ough county, and was subsequently reelected twice to that office by the people, the constitution of the state in the meantime having been changed so as to make the office elective instead of appointive. He held the office in all seven years. In 1881 he was appointed United States district attorney for New Hampshire, and in February. 1885, was re- appointed to that office, holding the same for six years. He was appointed by Governor Head in 1879 on his staff, judge advocate-general with the rank of brigadier general. He was a delegate-at- large to the national Republican convention at Cin- cinnati in 1876, and represented the New Hampshire delegation on the committee on resolutions. He was one of the three New Hampshire delegates who strenuously opposed the nomination of Mr. Blaine for president, at first voting for Mr. Bristow and finally for Mr. Haycs. He was selected to preside at the Republican state convention held in Concord, September 10, 1878, and on assuming the

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chair delivered a speech in favor of honest money and national faith, and again at the convention of the Greenback party, which had but recently won a victory in Maine. The public mind was full of false theories on financial questions, and this speech cre- ated a deep impression throughout the state. Al- though he did not enter the field as a candidate he had strong support in the legislature of 1883 for U. S. senator, receiving over forty votes. In all the public positions he has been called to fill, Mr. Burns has discharged the duties incident to them in a man- ner to bring him the approval of the public and of his own conscience.

Mr. Burns is interested in literature and his- torical research and is a member of the New Hamp- shire Historical Society and the New England His- torical Genealogical Society. He was among the founders of the Wilton Library, and has served as chairman of the board of trustees of the institution for a quarter of a century. In 1874 Dartmouth Col- lege conferred the honorary degree of M. A. upon him. He is an active member of the Masonic fra- ternity, in which he has risen to the thirty-second degree, and is a past master of Clinton Lodge, F. and A. M., at Wilton, and a past high priest of King Solomon Chapter, R. A. M., of Milford. He has also served as district grand master of the grand lodge. His part in the business world is known by the fact that he is president of the First National Bank of Nashua, and of the Guaranty Savings Bank of the same city, and also of the Petersboro railroad.

He was married January 19, 1856, to Sarah N. Mills, of Milford, daughter of the late John Mills, a prominent citizen of that town. Her mother was Sarah (Putnam) Mills, a daughter of the late Aaron K. Putnam, of Wilton. Four of the eight children of Mr. and Mrs. Burns are living. Charles A., the eldest, is a merchant in Boston. (See notice in later paragraph). Ben Emery, the second, is a law part- ner of his father, and resides in Nashua : he married Nina Isabel Herrick, of New York, and they have two children: Arthur and Ruth. Sarah E., the third, is the wife of W. A. Gregg. of Nashua, and the mother of two children: Donald Burns Gregg, a teacher in the military academy at Manley's, New York: and James Donald Gregg. Blanche, the fourth, resides at home with her parents.

Mr. Burns is the owner of a fine estate at Wil- ton, on which is located a handsome modern resi- dence. The entire home is finely furnished, and herein he finds relaxation and repose from the cares of his large and active law practice. In this home is one of the finest libraries in this section of New England. In this haven of rest was celebrated, Jan- mary 19, 1906, the golden wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Burns, and, incidentally, the seventy- first birthday of the groom. This was one of the most notable events of the kind in the state. It was attended by more than six hundred guests, and extended through the afternoon and evening. Those present included statesmen, jurists and lead- ing professional men of all classes, of the state, as well as some of the poorest of his neighbors. All alike received the hearty welcome that flows so readily from the big, warm hearts of this worthy couple. They were assisted in receiving by Gov- ernor McLane, one of their neighbors. On a pre- vious occasion when their silver wedding anniver- sary was observed, they were assisted in receiving by Governor Head. On the occasion of the golden wedding anniversary, Mr. Burns had called together to dinner all the living descendants of his father. Thirty gathered around the board. and seventeen

of these were males bearing the name of Burns, a pretty sure indication that the name will long live, and 'tis hoped that those bearing it will emulate the example so worthily placed before them by their forebears.

Mr. and Mrs. Burns have been through life ac- tive members of the Congregational Church, but they have not confined their support to this alone, for impartially they extend the helping hand to all causes of Christianity.

(VII) Charles Alonzo, eldest son of General Charles H. and Sarah N. (Mills) Burns, was born in Wilton, January 3, 1863. He acquired his educa- tion in the common schools of Wilton, at St. Paul's School, Concord. and the Chauncy Hall School, Boston, graduating from the latter with the class of 1881. He first entered into the business of man- ufacturing cotton yarn at the mills in Wilton, and later connected himself with the Union Soapstone Company of Boston, becoming proprietor of the com- pany in 1900. He conducts a soapstone, marble and slate business operating quarries in Vermont. In religious faith he is a Congregationalist, and is chairman of the executive committee of the Con- gregational church at Somerville, Massachusetts, where he resides. He is a Republican and now ( 1907) represents ward five in the Somerville board of aldermen. He is a Mason and past master of Clinton Lodge, No. 52, of Wilton. New Hampshire, also a member of King Solomon Royal Arch Chapter, Milford, New Hampshire, and Demolay Commandery, Knight Templars, Boston. He mar- ried, October 21, 1885, Lulie C. Jones. who was born in Lyndeboro, New Hampshire, daughter of Dr. William C. and Harriet Jones, of Lyndeboro. She died August 25, 1896. Three children were born to them: Robert A., Charles Henry, 2nd, and Elizabeth.

(VII) Ben Emery, youngest son and eighth child of Charles H. and Sarah N. (Mills) Burns, was born in Wilton, July 21, 1872. He attended the common schools of Wilton, New Hampshire, and a private school in Billerica, Massachusetts. In 1891 he was graduated from Phillips Exeter Acad- emy, then took a special course at Harvard Univer- sity, and in 1894 entered the Boston University Law School,from which he was graduated in 1897, and admitted to the bar the same year in Suffolk county. At once entering upon the practice of his profes- sion. he spent two years in the office of General E. R. Champlin, of Boston. He then went to Nashua and became a partner in the law with his father, the firm taking the name of Burns & Burns, and doing a very large business. He is at present one of the United States commissioners of New Hamp- shire. Mr. Burns, like his father, is a loyal Repub- lican, and interested in political affairs. He is a communicant of the Episcopal Church. He is a member of the University Club of Boston, the New Hampshire Club of Boston, and of Rising Sun Lodge. No. 39, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. He married, in New Rochelle, New York, Novem- ber 3. 1903, Nina Isabel Herrick, daughter of Wil- liam H. and Harriet ( Mollison) Herrick, of New Rochelle. formerly of Oswego, New York. They have two children : Arthur and Ruth Herrick.

This name does not seem to be very STORY numerously represented in the United States, but it has always had valuable representatives down through the generations from the early settlement of the Massachusetts Bay Col- ony. It has been known in the professions and in various occupations, and is still creditably repre-

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sented in New England. One of its leading repre- sentatives was reckoned among the most successful newspaper men of the country, namely, Wilbur F. Story, founder of the Chicago Times. A leading representative in New England today, Fred M. Story, whose sketch is found in this article, is very actively identified with the great telephone interests of New England.

(I) William Story, carpenter, came from Nor- wich, Norfolk county. England, in 1637, as a ser- vant of Samuel Dix, being then twenty-three years old. He embarked April 8, 1637, and settled at Ips- wich, Massachusetts. A deed on record shows that he sold a lot of land in Ipswich previous to Febru- ary 12, 1643, to William Knowlton. He purchased two lots of land adjoining other land of which he was then possessed, January 1, 1655. He was a subscriber to Major Denison in 1648, and owned a share and a half in Plum Island in 1664. In 1679 he was a voter in town affairs, and at that time was called William, Sr. He was a surveyor of high- ways in 1662, and was also called carpenter. The records show that he was possessed of land in Che- bacco, November 10, 1652, this land adjoining John Webster on the northwest. On May 8, 1649, he pur- chased a farm of ninety acres from Henry Archer, which land had been granted to Archer by the town of Ipswich, and lying beyond Chebacco Falls. In 1671 he had permission to operate a mill on the Chebacco river, and in February, 1672. Abraham Perkins complained against him for taking a lot of green "oke timber"which he drew from the farm of said Perkins on the south side of Chebacco river "either off the commons or my farm." His chil- dren were: William, Mary, Hannah and Seth.

(II) Deacon Seth, second son of William Story, was born in 1646, in Ipswich, and died there Oc- tober 9, 1732, aged eighty-six years. His wife's name was Elizabeth, and their children were : Zachariah, Sarah, Elizabeth, Martha, Seth and Da- maris.

(III) Deacon Zachariah, eldest child of Deacon Seth and Elizabeth Story, was born March 14. 1684. in Ipswich, and settled in that part of the town which became the town of Chebacco, where he died February 16, 1774, near the close of his ninetieth year. He married (intention published July 14, 1714) Rachel Andrews, and they were the parents of Jeremy, Lucy, Rachel, Nehemiah, Deborah. Isaac, Nathan, Jessie and Jerusha.

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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 87

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