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 93

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 93

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With him began the first published reports of judicial decisions, and his opinions extend through the first nine volumes of the New Hampshire reports. A part of the time while he was on the bench his associates were obviously his inferiors in judicial qualifications, and the gravamen of the work fell on him. But he sustained it cheerfully, and the repu- tation of the tribunal in which he presided never suffered. In holding jury terms of the court he appeared to no less advantage. His quickness to see and appreciate the points made by counsel, his readiness to apply his wide knowledge of legal principles to the shifting vistas of a trial, his entire freedom from bias, combined to make him an ad- mirable nisi prius judge. He had little pride of opinion, and was always ready to yield his first im- pressions to the force of argument or authority. In the earlier years of his judicial experience, par- ticularly, the leaders of the bar were men of logic and research, and their forensic contests sometimes occasioned displays of legal argumentation that might well cause the judgment of the strongest mind to halt between two opinions. Judge Richardson was thought by some almost too ready to abandon a ruling he had once made, as soon as he began to doubt if it were tenable. On one occasion Jeremiah Mason was pressing a point to him with unusual force, and the judge, to save him the trouble of further argument, remarked, "Brother Mason, the impression of the court is in your favor." "Yes," replied the great lawyer, "but 1 want your honor to stick." Judge Richardson possessed an eminently judicial mind. He was able to look down on a case, as it were, from a serene height of impartiality, and to see all its sides with noonday clearness. What- ever might have been his first inclination, his de- liberate judgment was formed on full consideration of the whole case from every point of view. He had not access to large libraries, but added to a strong common sense he had a fine general culture and a profound knowledge of the English common law. His numerous opinions are generally short, and are based on acknowledged principles rather than on authority. His perfect integrity and singleness of purpose were never brought in question. The ju- dicial ermine received no stain from his wearing it. He knew no friends and no enemies while in the seat of judgment, nor any of the ordinary lines of di- visions among men. His ideal was the very highest. Judge Richardson was a man of untiring energy and unflagging industry, and like all giants of the law he was a gigantic worker. He burned the mid-

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night oil, and his best judgments smelled of the lamp. His native capacity was excelled by that of few men, but he supplemented it by the utmost industry over the works of the sages of the law. He was always prompt in his affairs, so that his opinions delivered at the last term before his death were found ready for the printer. In addition to his strictly official labors he found time to take part as chairman of a commission to revise the laws of the state, in 1826; to superintend the publication of judicial reports; and to prepare three manuals for the guidance respectively of justices of the peace, sheriffs, and town officers, and containing the neces- sary statutes, forms and directions for each. He kept up his taste for literature, and especially languages, both ancient and modern, through life. He was a good Latin and Greek scholar, and after he moved to New Hampshire acquired the Spanish and Italian languages so as to make their literature his common reading for evening amusement. He had a fine taste for poetry, and in early life indulged in writing poems on various occasions. His metrical compositions were characterized by much delicacy of feeling and expression, and breathed the spirit of true poesy. Dartmouth College, in token of appreciation of his learning and literary accomplish- ments, bestowed upon him the degree of LL. D. in 1827. He possessed a fine taste for music, and played the bass viol and sang with his family and the neighbors who happened to be present. His dockets, in which he took notes of trials in court, are interspersed with musical notes of favorite tunes, with or without the words, sometimes several lines. He took very few notes of evidence, trusting mostly to memory, and occupied the time when trials were tedious, in writing music. He was more 01 less familiar with every branch of natural science, had a thorough knowledge of botany, and left a quite extensive lierbarium, arranged and classified by his own hand. He took much interest in his garden and especially in flowers, of which he had a good col- lection.

In private life Judge Richardson was exemplary. He removed in 1819 from Portsmouth to Chester, where he passed the remained of his life. Chester was the residence of a good number of families of education and refinement, and there he found congenial society, and there his public spirit and social graces were exhibited to appreciative friends. Every movement for the benefit of the inhabitants of the town found him a ready supporter. He promoted the causes of education and religion, and exerted himself to support the other voluntary aids to instruction and rational amusement. He lectured before the Lyceum, and was the chief founder of the Athenaeum of the town. He was fond of society, though the time he gave to study did not allow him much leisure for formal company. But all classes of his townsmen were welcome to his house. His chief sports were trips to Massabesic pond, where he drove with his children to fish, and bee-hunting in the woods. His notions of personal comfort were peculiar. He would not have a stove in his house, and the open fireplaces were the only means of warming a large cold dwelling. His office was nearly as cold as out of doors, and the ink often froze on the table where he wrote. He drove long circuits in cold weather without gloves or mittens. In religion he perferred the Episcopal forms, but as there was no church of that denomination in Chester he attended the Congregational Church. He hated all shams and pretences, and having no mean traits himself he maintained in all about him a high tone of honor.

He married, October 7, 1799, Betsey Smith, born November 5, 1773, daughter of Jesse (or Peter) Smith, of Pelham, and had seven children: Sarah, Merchant, William, Betsey Smith, Mary Woodbury, Anne, Louisa and Samuel Alather.

(VII) Anne, fifth child and fourthi daughter of Judge William Merchant and Betsey (Smith) Richardson, was born in Chester, September 26, ISII, and died in Exeter, August 29, 1856. She mar- ried October 9, 1838, Judge Henry Flagg French, son of Hon. Daniel and Betsey Van Mater (Flagg) French (see French, VIII).

(Second Family.)

The great part of the members RICHARDSON of this family in New England are descended from three Richardson brothers who were among the original settlers of Woburn, Massachusetts. They were men of substance and influence, and their descendants are very numerous, many of whom have taken lead- ing places in the direction of business and public events in their different days and generations.

(1) Samuel Richardson, the sccond of the three brothers of that name who united in the settlement of Woburn, was born in England, not far from the year 1610. We do not know in what year he came to this country. Possibly he came with his elder brother Ezekiel, in 1630, though this is not at all probable. The first notice we find of Samuel is dated July 1, 1636, when he and his brother Thomas Richardson, with others, were on a committee to lay out lots of land for hay. In 1637 the names of Samuel and Thomas Richardson first appear in a list of the inhabitants of Charlestown. The sanie year the town of Charlestown granted to each of them a house lot clearly understanding that they had recently become residents of the place. These two brothers were admitted members of the church there February 18, 1638, in consequence of which they were made freemen of the colony May 2, 1638. Sanmiel was chosen surveyor of the highways March 17, 1637. The three brothers had lots assigned them April 20, 1638, on "Misticke side and above the Ponds," that is in Malden. When the church was constituted in Woburn, August 14, 1642, old style, Samuel Richardson and his two brothers, with four others, solemnly stood forth as the nucleus around which the church was to be gathered. The three brothers lived near each other, on the same street, which has ever since been known as "Richardson's Row," in what is now 'Winchester, near the present line of Woburn. Samuel Richardson was selectman of Woburn in 1644, 1645. 1646, 1649, 1650 and 1651. In 1645 he paid the highest tax of any man in Wo- burn. He died March 23, 1658.

Samuel Richardson married Joanna who probably died soon after her husband. They had eight children : Mary and John, born in Charlestown, Hannah, Joseph, Samuel, Stephen and Thomas, and Elizabeth born in Woburn. (Samuel and Stephen and descendants receive mention in this article.)

(II) Joseph (I) fourth child and second son of Samuel and Joanna Richardson, was born in Wo- burn, July 27, 1643, and died March 5, 1718. His whole life was spent in his native town. He was admitted freeman of the colony May 15, 1672, and was therefore a member of the church. He was one of Major Samuel Appleton's soldiers, and was engaged in the fierce assault on the Narragansett fort, December 19, 1675. He was a selectman of Woburn, 1693, 1694 and 1702. He married, No- vember 5, 1666, Hannah Green, born about 1647. died May 20, 1721. She was a daughter of Thomas

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and Elizabeth Green of Malden. They had five chil- dren : Hannah, Mary, Elizabeth, Joseph and Stephen.

(III) Joseph (2), eldest son and fourth child of Joseph and Hannah ( Green) Richardson, was born in Woburn, May 19, 1672, and died December 5, 1754, aged eighty-two years. He was selectman of Woburn 1714 and 1716. His will was made June 17, 1754, and in it he styles himself "gentleman." He married, October 24, 1693, Mary Blodget, born September 15, 1673, died March II, 1752, aged seventy-eight, daughter of Samuel and Ruth Blodget, of Woburn. They had ten children : Mary, Hannah, Joseph, Josiah, Reuben, Oliver, David, Samuel, Charles and Ruth.

(IV) Major Josiah (1), fourth child and second son of Joseph (2) and Mary ( Blodget) Richard- so11, was born January 12, 1702, in Woburn. He lived nearly forty years in Sudbury, and was a man of much note there. He was a major in the militia, and possessed of considerable property for those times. He was one of the proprietors of a town- ship six and three-fourths miles square, on the Androscroggin river, in Cumberland county, long known as Sudbury, Canada, now the town of Bethel, Maine. His will was proved November 20, 1770. It shows him to have been an owner of slaves, as among other things he gave his wife Experience "my negro girl, named Dinah," and his son Josiah "my negro man, Francis Benson," and apparently the day before his death, in the presence of John Jones and Mary Jones, he gave to his wife his negro boy Caesar, who was born after he had made his will. He married, October 23, 1728, Experience Wright, daughter and heir of Benjamin Wright, then of Sudbury, but previously of Woburn. Their children were: Gideon, Josiah, Experience and Luther.

(V) Josiah (2), second child and son of Major Josiah (1) and Experience Richardson, was born in Sudbury, May 29, 1733. He passed his life in Sud- bury. At the time of the making of his father's will Josiah was the only son then living. In 1798 only twelve men in Sudbury were rated higher on the tax list than Josiah Richardson. He married January 31, 1760, Elizabeth Eveleth, of Stow. Their children were: Gideon, Sarah Eveleth, Luther, Renel and Loammi.

(VI) Luther (I), third child and second son of Josiah (2) and Elizabeth ( Eveleth) Richardson, was born in Sudbury, November 24, 1764, and died October 5, 1814. He married, June, 1719, Persis Hemenway, born April 12, 1768, third daughter and child of Benjamin and Lucy (Stone) Hemenway, of Framingham, died March 11, 1812. Their children were : Charles, Lucy, Luther and Prentiss.

(VII) Luther (2), third child and second son of Luther (I) and Persis (Hemenway) Richardson, was born in Sudbury, March 14, 1799; and died in Waltham, March 13, 1837. He lived in Waltham and Lowell, where he was engaged in the grocery trade. He was a good business man and a useful and exemplary citizen. He married Nancy Stetson, born in Boston, December 31, 1799, daughter of Benjamin and Mary Stetson, of Boston. Benjamin Stetson, her father, was a man of note during the war of 1812; he was commissary for supplying the United States military and naval forces. The children of Luther and Nancy ( Stetson) Richard- son, were five in number: Elizabeth Ann, born June 7, 1824; Lucy Amanda, February 14. IS25; Charles Lowell, 1827; Edwin Prentiss, April 22, 1829; Mary Adelaide, January 9, 1834. The first four were born in Lowell.

(VIII) Charles Lowell, third child and eldest son of Luther (2) and Nancy ( Stetson) Richardson, was born in Lowell, May 14, 1827, and educated in the public schools of Waltham. After leaving school he was in the employ of the Boston Manu- facturing Company, the oldest cotton manufacturing company in the United States. In 1845 he removed to Manchester, New Hampshire, and took a place in the counting room of the Amoskeag Company, now having the largest cotton factory in the world. He was then seventeen years old, and starting at the foundation, thoroughly learned the business. Gradually rising, he became paymaster and chief clerk at the retirement of his uncle, Charles Richard- son, from that place in 1856. He remained with this corporation from 1845 till 1899, a period of fifty- four years, and during forty-three years he held the position of paymaster. He handled millions of dol- lars of money, but so great was his care and so exact were his accounts that there was never in them a discrepancy. His long tenure of this place brought him the acquaintance of nearly all the leading manu- facturers in this and allied lines in New England, and made him a legion of friends. He celebrated the semi-centennial anniversary of his incumbency of his office with a banquet at which a large number of representative men were present, and many things complimentary to Mr. Richardson were said, but they were but a repetition of expressions commenda- tory on the ability and integrity of Mr. Richardson that liad been voiced otherwheres daily for years before. Since his retirement from the Amoskeag Company, Mr. Richardson has not been active. At the anniversary of his twenty-five years of service in the mill the corporation presented him a hand- some building lot on which he afterward erected the fine residence he now occupies. On his with- drawal from the company they presented him with a beautiful gold watch of the Jorgenson manufacture, suitably engraved and a gold chain; also, a set of resolutions passed by the directors commending in the highest manner his long term of faithful ser- vice.

He is a member of the Unitarian Church, of which he served for years as director and treasurer. He is also a member of the Amoskeag Veterans. He has voted the Republican ticket all his life. Mr. Richardson married (first) June 3, 1835, Mary B. Winch, daughter of Francis and Almira ( Stetson) Winch, of Nashua, New Hampshire. She died February 21, 1871. There were two children of this marriage: Margaret Lowell, born September 30, 1857, died July 28, 1890; Charles Lowell, born July 3, 1865, died August 27, 1866. He married (sec- ond) October 21, 1874, Harriet B. Gillis, daughter of David and Abigail (Hedley Bonner) Hancock, and widow of Horace M. Gillis.

(II) Samuel (2), third son and fifth child of Samuel (I) and Joanna Richardson, was born in Woburn, May 22, 1646, and died April 29,

1712, aged sixty-six years. He lived on

what has recently been called the Miller farm, on Richardson's Row, less than a mile north of the present village of Winchester. He was a soldier in King Philip's war, 1675. In the afternoon of April 10, 1676, he was employed in carting manure into his field, accompanied by his son Samuel, a boy between five and six years old. Looking toward his house he was surprised to see feathers flying about it and other tokens of mischief within. He also heard the screams of his wife. Apprehending that Indians might be there, he hastened home with his gun, and there found two of his family murdered, consisting of his wife

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Hannah, who had lately been confined, and his son Thomas, twin brother to him who had been with him in the field. On further search it was found that the infant, only a week old, had been slain by the same ruthless hands. The nurse, it appeared, had snatched it up in her arms upon the alarm of danger, and was making her escape to a garrison house in the vicinity; but so closely was she pur- sued by the savages, that finding she could not save herself and the babe too, she let the babe drop and the Indians dispatched it at once. Mr. Richard- son now rallied some of his neighbors, who went with him in pursuit of the enemy. Following them some time, they espied three Indians sitting on a rock, fired at them, killed one, and drove the others away.

He married ( first) Martha (surname unknown ), who died December 20, 1673, the day of the birth of her daughter, Martha. He married (second), September 20, 1674, Hannah Kingsley, perhaps daughter of Samuel Kingsley, of Billerica. She was slain with her only child, scare a week old, by the Indians, April 10, 1676. He married (third), No- vember 7, 1676, Phebe Baldwin, who was born Sep- tember 7, 1654, daughter of Deacon Henry Bald- win, of Woburn, by his wife, Phebe Richardson, daughter of Ezekiel and Susanna Richardson. She died October 20, 1679, aged twenty-five years. Sep- tember 8, 1680, he married ( fourth ) Sarah Hayward, who was born 1655, daughter of Nathaniel Hay- ward, of Malden. She survived her husband and

died October 14, 1717, aged sixty-two years. Thomas Richardson had fifteen children. Those by the first wife were: Samuel and Thomas (twins ), Elizabeth and Martha; by the second wife, one child, Hannah; by the third wife, Zachariah ; by the fourth wife: Thomas (died young), Sarah, Thomas, Ebenezer, infant son (died aged one day), Hannah, Eleazar, Jonathan and David. (Mention of Ebenezer and descendants appears in this article. )

(III) Thomas, third child and second son of Samuel and Sarah (Hayward) Richardson, was born in Woburn, September 25, 1684. He passed a long life in Woburn, where he died January 12, 1774, aged ninety-three. He was a corporal in Captain Lovewell's command, which had the remarkable combat with the Indians at Pigwacket, May 8, 1725, O. S., and was one of the nine who escaped unhurt. He married, in Watertown, September 29, 1713, Rebecca Wyman, who was born in Woburn, November II, 1693, eldest daughter of Samuel and Rebecca (Johnson ) Wyman, of Woburn, and grand- daughter of Francis and Abigail (Reed) Wyman, also of Woburn. Rebecca Wyman was also a great- granddaughter of Captain Edward Johnson, another of the "Wonder-Working Providence." The thirteen children of Thomas and Rebecca (Wyman) Richard- son were: Thomas, Eleazer, Rebecca (died young), Sarah, Ralph, Matthew, Ebenezer, Rebecca, David, Zebedialı, Israel, Lemuel and Sarah.

(IV) Lemuel, tenth son and twelfth child of Thomas and Rebecca ( Wyman) Richardson, was born in Woburn, July 31, 1734, and died in Mar- low, New Hampshire, April 14, 1818, aged eighty- four. He was of Sutton when he received his portion of his father's estate in 1774, and afterward moved to Marlow in Cheshire county, New Hamp- shire. He is said to have been by trade a carpenter. He married Anna Preston, of Hardwick, Massa- chusetts, who died July 31, 1820, aged eighty-seven. Their children, all born in Sutton, Massachusetts, were: William, Thomas, Polly, David, Nancy, Samuel, Nathaniel and Ebenezer.

(V) David, fourth child and third son of Lemuel and Anna ( Preston) Richardson, was born in Sutton, Massachusetts, July 23, 1766, and died in Barre, Vermont, April 26, 1845, aged seventy- nine. He was a farmer, and lived in Alstead, New Hampshire, until 1796, when he removed to Wil- liamstown, Vermont. He resided in that town a year and a half, and then bought a farm in Barre, Vermont, and adjoining towns, where he remained · until his death. He married (first), 1788, Rhoda Gale, of East Alstead, New Hampshire. She died February, 1814, and he married (second), No- vember 1814, Lucy Blanchard Sargent, a widow, born in Leicester, Massachusetts, February 26, 1779. She died September 26, 1864. He had thirteen children, nine by the first wife and four by the second. Those by the first wife were: A son died young; Rhoda, died young; David, Rhoda, Roxana (all born in Alstead), Mary, Lemuel, Susan and Polly (all born in Barre). The children of the second wife were: Thomas Preston, Nancy Melissa, Adeline Amanda and Caroline Malvina (twins).

(VI) Adeline Amanda, third child and second daughter of David and Lucy Blanchard (Sargent) Richardson, was born in Barre, Vermont, February 2, 1819, and married, October 2, 1837, Israel Wood- bury Sulloway. (See Sulloway, V.)

(II) Stephen, sixth child and fourth son of Samuel and Joanna Richardson, was born in Wo- burn, August 15, 1649, and died March 22, 1718, aged sixty-nine. He married Abigail Read Wyman, who was born in 1649, daughter of Francis Wyman, of Woburn. She died September 17, 1720, aged seventy-two. To them were born thirteen children : Stephen, Francis (died young), William, Francis, Timothy (died young), Abigail, Timothy, Prudence, Seth, Daniel, Mary, Rebecca and Solomon.

(III) Stephen (2), eldest child of Stephen (I) and Abigail R. (Wyman) Richardson, was born in Woburn, April 20, 1675. He lived and died in Billerica. He married, about 1700, Susanna Wil- son, who was born in Woburn, March 11, 1679, daughter of Lieutenant Jolin Wilson. They had six children : Susanna, Stephen, Henry, Ebenezer, Amos and Jonas.

(IV) Dr. Amos, fifth child and fourth son of Stephen and Susanna ( Wilson) Richardson, was born in Billerica, March 25, 1710, and died in Pel- ham, January 20, 1765. He was a very learned and distinguished physician. He married Sarah Frost, of Billerica, who died December 19, 1754. Their children were: Eri, Sarah, Joseph and Isaac.

(V) Eri, eldest child of Dr. Amos and Sarah (Frost) Richardson, was born in Billerica in 1741. The date of his death is not now known. He moved to Keene in 1780, and lived on the last farm in Keene on the old road over West Mountain, to- wards Swanzey, where he and his wife lived and died. He married, September 26, 1762, Sarah Du- rant, who was born in Billerica, November 1, 1743, daughter of John Durant, third, who was born May 2, 1712, and died in 1763. They had twelve children: Amos, Reuben, Phebe, Eldad, Lemuel, Sarah, Rhoda, Benjamin, Eri, Mary, Huldah and Asa.

(VI) Amos (2), the giant, eldest child of Eri and Sarah ( Durant) Richardson, was born Febru- ary 27, 1764, and died November 6, 1831, aged sixty-seven. He settled on the first farm in Swan- zey next south of his father. It has been written of him: "Amos was probably the strongest, and the giant. of the families. His weight was more than two hundred and fifty pounds; he was nearly or quite six feet in height; measured nearly two

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feet across the shoulders; had a very large and muscular arm; a hand five inches wide, very thick, although not much longer than the hand of an ordinary man. In the year 1804 a meeting house was erected in Swanzey sixty feet in length and thirty- six feet in width. On the second day in raising, on the second story, in laying the beams (of green timber, thirty-six feet long, eight by eight inches at each end and eleven by eight inches in the center), the master workman found it necessary to turn one beam and called upon Amos (the giant) stand- ing on the ground to come up and assist in the work. He very quickly was upon the frame, and said : 'Stand aside, and I will turn the beam;' whereupon he bowed himself to the beam (Sampson-like), placed it upon his knees and turned it to its proper place amid the shouts and cheers of the gazing and astonished crowd. This act was performed in the presence of three men well known to the writer of this record, who has often heard them state the fact." Amos Richardson married, November 26, 1786, Phebe Hill, who died August 11, 1830. Their ten children, all born in Swanzey, were: Josialı, Abel, Barzilla, Aaron, Levi, Ruel, Amos, David, Charlotte and Betsey.

(VII) Barzilla, third son and child of Amos (2) and Phebe (Hill) Richardson, was born in Keene, June 21, 1792, and died April 19, 1850, aged fifty-eight. He settled on the Dickinson farm on West Mountain (now Scripture's) and lived there thirty years. He married, in 1813, Lydia Foster, who was born in Swanzey in 1796, daughter of Joel Foster. She died in Keene, June 22, 1880, aged eighty-four years. They had ten children, all born in Keene, between 1815 and 1836. They were: Amos, Phebe, Martha, Joel Foster, Aaron, Eri, David, Sarah, Barzilla and Lydia. This family in some respects is unique. The aggregate weight of the six sons, all of whom reached manhood, was over twelve hundred pounds. All the sons and all the husbands of the daughters became railroad men. in early life and served an average of thirty years each, or an aggregate of three hundred years for the family. They were engaged in building the Worcester Railroad in 1833, the Boston and Albany in 1835, the Cheshire and many others. Amos, the eldest, had charge of laying all the first track of the Cheshire Railroad and was afterward road- master. Joel F. was twelve years on the Boston and Albany, went to Indiana and originated and built the Indianapolis Belt Line, and was nine years superintendent of the Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Lafayette Railroad. He was thirty-nine years in railroad service. Eri was in the railroad service twenty-six years, and was afterward a wealthy banker in Sioux City, Iowa. George Perry, one of the sons-in-law. ran the first passenger train into Keene, in 1848. Another son-in-law, Niles Ald- rich, was engineer and conductor on the Cheshire road thirty-five years.

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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 93

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