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. II, Part 109

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: 874

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. II > Part 109

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(VII) Charles G., son of James Barnard, and fourth son and youngest child of his (second) wife Rhoda Grenell, was born April 14, 1844, in New Boston, and was educated in the common schools of that town and Bedford. He followed farming in Bedford and New Boston. For ten years he was employed in a sash and blind shop at Goffstown and in 1879 purchased a livery stable in that place of John D. Pete. He added to this in 1890 the handling of coal, wood and ice. Subsequently he engaged in the lumber business with Jolın Dodge and they operated a number of portable saw mills, doing a large business. Mr. Barnard also buys farms, cutting off the timber, and is reckoned among the substantial citizens of the town. He owns a farm upon which he cuts a large quantity of hay for his horses. He attends and supports the Con- gregational Church and is an ardent Democrat in politics. Held town offices. For forty years he has been a member of the Odd Fellows, Webster Lodge, No. 24, and has filled all the principal chairs in the subordinate lodge. For the past eighteen years he has also affiliated with the Masonic Fraternity, being a member of the Bible Lodge of Goffstownl.

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He was married July 11, 1868, to Mary MI. Jenks, daughter of John and Marinda (Cook) Jenks of Lyme, New Hampshire. Mrs. Barnard was edu- cated at Bradford and Newbury Academys and has been a teacher. She is a member of the Congre- gational Church and of the Order of the Eastern Star and Daughters of Rebecca, in which she has filled the chief official chairs. She is the mother of two children: Myrtle D., born February II, 1875. and Mable C., November 1, 1880.

MUNSELL This name was early found in New England and in old England, and the records give it in many forms, such as: Mansel, Mansell, Monsell, Moneil, Mancil, Maunsell and Munsel. The first record found is of Sir Robert Mansell, who signed a letter of the king's council for Virginia, which provided for sending men and provisions to that colony. A man named Robert Mansell was a passenger on the ship "Richard and Mary," which sailed June 21, 1679. for New England. A John Monsell was at Charles- ton, Massachusetts. in 1675. and left children there. It is quite probable that Robert and Jolin, above mentioned, were related to the ancestor of this line whose history is given below. The family has been distinguished for the Yankee traits of industry, sagacity and shrewdness in financial matters, but has never been very prolific in numbers. How- ever, it is now represented in many states of the Union. The Albany family of this name has been distinguished for its researches in the line of gen- ealogical information.

(I) Thomas Munsell, born about 1650, in Eng- land, is on record at New London. Connecticut, in 1681, and was a resident on the Great Neck there in 1683. He died there in 1712. His wife's name was Lydia, and their children were: Jacob, Elisha, John, Thomas, Mary, Deliverance and Samuel.

(II) Jacob, who was born at New London. Connecticut, about 1690, eldest child of Thomas and Lydia ( Morrill) Munsell, resided in Windsor, Con- necticut. He married (first), about 1713, Sarah, daughter of John and Abigail Caulkins. She died without issue about 1716, and he married (second). February 15, 1718, Phoebe, daughter of Joseph and Lydia ( Drake) Loomis, of East Windsor. She was born in Windsor, 1697, and was living in 1733. About 1723 Jacob Munsell settled on the east side of the Connecticut river, and was a ferry- man at what was known as the Scantic Ferry. near the western portion of the town of Windsor. He died October. 1741. Ilis children were : Caulkins, Thomas, Mercy, died young; Elisha. Jonathan, Mercy, Gurdon, Jacob, Joseph. John and Desire.

(III) Elisha, third son and fourth child of Jacob and Phoebe (Loomis) Munsell, was born September 15, 1723, in Windsor, and resided at Scantic, where he died November 22, 1803, in his eighty-first year. He married, December 27, 1750. Kezia Taylor. She died April 8. 1784. at the age of fifty-eight years. Their children were: Hezekiah, died young; Hezekiah. Joel. Miriam. died young ; Naomi, Bathsheba, Kezia, Miriam and Ruth. An

interesting incident is narrated in the "History of Windsor" in the life of Jacob Munsell, a younger brother of Elisha Munsell, the great-grandfather of Robert Bissell Munsell. On one occasion while transporting provisions to the Continental army at Cambridge. his heavy load with its ox-team ob- structed the way for two carriages, each of which contained an American officer. "Damn you, get out of the road," yelled the officer from the near car- riage. "Damn you; I won't get out; get out your- self," replied Munsell. The second carriage had then drawn near and a courteous request was made, "Will you be so good as to let us pass?" "With all my heart, sir," said Munsell, "but I won't be damned out of the path by any man." This last officer was General Washington.

(IV) Hezekiah, second son of Elisha and Kezia (Taylor) Munsell. was born January 17, 1753, in Windsor. He was baptized by the Rev. Timothy Edwards. He served as a soldier in the Continental army during the period of the Revolutionary war, from April, 1775, to November, 1780, and was per- mitted to witness the country, for whose inde- pendence he so valiantly fought, attain a foremost position among the powerful nations of the earth. His death occurred April 14, 1844. On January 24, 1777, he married Irene Bissell, who died March 17, 1847, at the advanced age of ninety-one years. Their children were: Hezekiah, Irene, became the wife of Martin Greene: Joel, died young: Joel, Ezra, Timothy. Luke, Elisha, Kezia and Laura. Hezekiah Munsell at the time of his death was the oldest male inhabitant of East Windsor. There were many things so remarkable in his life and character that several persons visited him to gather the particulars of his personal history, which were subsequently published in the Connecticut Courant. He was tall and erect, and used fre- quently after the age of seventy-five, to compete with young men in the field. He never used rum or tobacco, and cider and vinegar, even, were never placed on his side of the table, such was his known antipathy to any beverage that was tainted with the smallest percentage of alcohol. His memory was very tenacious, and he retained his faculties up to within a week of his death. In the war of the Revolution he was in four companies and his per- sonally narrated experiences are contained in the "History of Windsor."

(V) Elisha, seventh son and eighth child of Hezekiah and Irene (Bissell) Munsell, was born in East Windsor. Connecticut, March 13, 1793. When a young man he settled in West Swanzey, New Hampshire, establishing his residence on what is known as Christian Hill, and for a period of about fifty years he followed the trade of a wheelwright and manufacturer of plows, at Swanzey and Win- chester. As an upright, conscientious man and a useful citizen, he enjoyed the sincere esteem and good will of his fellow-townsmen. He served in the War of 1812-15 and remained a pensioner on account of such service throughout his life. He died June 27, 1869. and is buried at West Swanzey. He married (first), October 30. 1818, Mary or

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Polly Hurd, of Northfield, Massachusetts, and she died about 1830. His second wife, whom he mar- ried September 8, 1834, was Lucy C. Sibley, daugh- ter of Joel and Lydia (Coombs) Sibley. She sur- vived him, her death having occurred December 20. 1889, at the age of eighty-four years. The chil- dren of his first union were: Sarah D., born De- cember 8, 1819; Mary, born March 1, 1821 ; Delia A., born June 13, 1823; Julia E., born April 23. 1825, and Stephen D., born August 5, 1827. Those of his second marriage are: Lucy and Lydia A., botlı of whom died young; Robert B., who will be again referred to; Elisha, born June 14, 1845, is residing in Keene; and Thomas W., born April 18, 1847, is now a resident of Denver, Colorado. Stephen S. Munsell for many years had entire charge of all the freight which passed over the Isthmus and was stationed most of the time at Panama, where he doubtless contracted the disease which caused his decease, consumption. His term of service comprised more years in that section than any other, due to the soil.

(VI) Robert Bissell, third child and eldest son of Elisha and Lucy C. (Sibley) Munsell, was born in West Swanzey, March 15, 1840. He attended the public schools until fourteen years old, when he began to contribute toward his own support by working in the pail factory of Edwin Reed. Some six months later he entered the employ of Messrs. Wilder and Baker, manufacturers of sash, doors and blinds, working summers and continuing his attendance at school during the winter seasons. When that firm transferred their business from West Swanzey to Keene, he accompanied them and continued in their employ for two years, at the ex- piration of which time liis services were procured by Messrs. Buss and Woodward, who were engaged in the same line of work. He was subsequently connected with the Osborne and Hale factory and also with that of their successors. Messrs. Nims and Crossfield, and since the decease of Mr. Nims has been part owner of the Nims, Whitney & Com- pany, and manages the blind department. Mr. Munsell's business experience in Keene has also embraced two years in the ice business and as dealer in furniture and undertaking for eight years. Mr. Munsell is quite active in local civic affairs in Keene, having served one year in the common coun- cil and two years in the board of aldermen; in politics he is a Republican. He is a Master Mason and a member of Eastern Star Lodge. In his religious belief he is a Unitarian.

Mr. Munsell married for his first wife Jennie E. Fisher, and of this union has one daughter, Ellen Fisher, wife of George Hirsch, of Keene. For his second wife he married Mrs. Mary A. Towne, of Keene.

The origin of this name is not at PROUTY this time certain. It is not numbered among any of the ships' lists of the Puritans leaving England, early in the seventeenth century, and is quite probably of Scotch origin.

No doubt, however, it came from England to the Colonies.

(I) The first of this name found in New Eng- land was Richard Prouty, who was in Scituate, Massachusetts, as early as 1667. Nothing further is known of hin1.

(II) Isaac, son of Richard Prouty, was mar- ried in 1710 to Elizabeth Merritt, and had a large family, including sons : Jacob, David, John, Adam, James and Isaac, and a daughter Elizabeth, all of whom settled in Spencer, Massachusetts.

(III) Jacob, son of Isaac and Elizabeth (Mer- ritt) Prouty, was born May 14, 1715, in Scituate, Massachusetts, and married. December 8, 1741, Ann, daughter of Samuel Capen. He had already pro- vided at this time a home for his bride, having purchased, in 1740, the northwest part of lot 23, in Spencer, and built a house thereon. Here he passed his life, engaging in agriculture, and the location of his home was still marked at a recent date, the cellar not being wholly filled up. His children were: Deborah. Phoebe, Lydia, Anna, Samuel, Jacob, Hannah, Caleb, Joshua, Nathan and Mercy.

(IV) Samuel. eldest son and fifth child of Jacob and Ann (Capen) Prouty, was born January 30, 1750, in Spencer, and lived in Langdon. New Hampshire, where he died June 9, 1814. He mar- ried. March 14, 1776, Miriam Stevens, who was born August 26. 1753, surviving him eight years, dying October 27, 1822.

(V) Williard, son of Samuel and Miriam (Stevens) Prouty, was born June 17, 1788, in Lang- don, New Hampshire, and resided in that town. where he died May 30, 1868, at the age of nearly eighty years. He married, November 12, 1809. Sally French, daughter of John and Hannah French. She was born November 30, 1789, and died May 17, 1861.

(VI) Ira French, son of William and Sally (French) Prouty. was born November 9, 1812, in Langdon, New Hampshire. He received a liberal education, graduating from Dartmouth College in the class of 1837. He pursued the study of medi- cine and was engaged as a practicing physician in Ogdensburg, New York. until 1862, when he re- moved to Keene, New Hampshire, and continued in the practice there for twenty years. He was a suc- cessful physician. He was active in promoting the interests of all in the community where he lived, and exercised considerable influence in the manage- ment of public affairs. He was for fifteen years a member of the board of education of Keene, was a representative in the legislature in 1872-73. and alderman in 1878-79. He was an active member of the New Hampshire Medical Association.

He was twice married: first. February, 1839, to Emily T. Babcock, by whom he had a daughter, Emily G. Prouty, now a resident of Keene: she died October, 1849, and he married, January. 1853, Elsie Joslin, a daughter of Deacon Luke Joslin, who was born December 22, 1797, in Stoddard, New Hampshire, where he was a farmer during his ac- tive life. On his retirement he removed to Keene,

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where he died in 1875. He was a son of David Joslin, a native of Leominster, Massachusetts. The latter was a farmer in that town and later in Stod- clard. He attempted to enlist in the Revolutionary army at the age of sixteen years, but was rejected because of his short stature. Later, with the aid of thick soled shoes, he managed to pass muster and did gallant service. The records of Leominster show a contract made with the town by David Joslin, which is here reproduced as indicating the conditions of the times, when the English colonies in America were struggling to obtain their inde- pendence: "Leominster, April 10, 1781. I. the sub- scriber, do engage to serve in the Continental Army for three years unless sooner discharged, for the class of which Capt. Joshua Wood is the head, pro- vided the class pays me two thousand dollars in paper money, or silver at the exchange, before I go, and eighteen three-year-old middling cattle, pro- vided I stay two years and six months; and if I stay one year and six months. said cattle are to be two years old; and if I stay not one week, said cattle are to be one year old. David Joslin." David Joslin was a son of John Joslin (2), who was a captain in the Continental army. He was a son of John and Lucy (Wilson) Joslin, and was born 1735, in Lancaster, Massachusetts, and died Sep- tember 6, 1810, in Leominster. He was made deacon of the church March 30, 1769. and so con- tinted until his death. He resided in the north- eastern part of Leominster on Joslin Hill, and mar- ried Susanna Carter, daughter of Nathaniel Carter (see Carter IV). Their children were: John, Susanna, Nathaniel, Dorothy, David, Elias. Luke, Lucy and Sally, David was born April 25. 1765, in Leominster.

(VII) Ira Joslin. son of Doctor Ira F. and Elsie (Joslin) Prouty, was born August 15, 1857. in Ogdensburg, New York. He received most of his education in the public schools of Keene, and pursued a special course in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and graduated from the medical department of the University of New York with the class of 1882. In that year he entered upon the practice of his profession at Keene, where he has continued up to the present time, and has gained the esteem and confidence of his fellow prac- titioners and of the general public. He has served upon the board of education, the board of health, as city physician. and is a visiting surgeon of the Elliott City Hospital. He is ex-president of the Connecticut Valley Medical Association, ex-presi- dent of the Cheshire County Medical Society, ex- president of the New Hampshire Surgical Society, and ex-president of the New Hampshire State Medical Association. The medical education of Dr. Prouty has embraced post-graduate in various hospitals including the medical department

of Johns Hopkins University, and was supplemented further- more by nearly a year spent in surgical centres of Great Britain and on the Continent. He has been the author of numerous papers, on surgical topics prin- cipally, read before the medical societies. In 1906

he delivered the doctorate address before the gradu- ates of Dartmouth Medical School. He was a mem- ber of the house of delegates of the American Medi- cal Association for 1902-03-04-05. He is an attendant of the First Congregational Church. Member of the Sons of the American Revolution, and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a Re- publican of the stalwart type, but has held aloof from office and office-seeking.

Dr. Prouty married (first). in July, 1882, Etta M., eldest daughter of John Humphrey, president of the Humphrey Machine Company, of Keene. By this marriage was a son, Ira Humphrey Prouty, of Dartmouth, class of 1907, now a student at Johns Hopkins Medical School. Dr. Prouty married (second), February, 1905, Bertha I. Jones, daughter of Young Jones, of Keene.

A John Robinson, aged twenty-

ROBINSON one, came from England in the "Margaret and John" for Virginia in 1622. John Robinson, age nineteen, embarked from England, June 6. 1635, in the ship "Thomas and John," bound for the colony in Virginia.

John Robinson, age thirty-two, sailed from Eng- land, June 23, 1635, in the ship "America."

John Robinson, age nineteen, sailed from Eng- land, April 3, 1635, in the ship "Bonaventure," bound for the Barbadoes.

John Robinson, age nineteen, embarked from England, November 20, 1635, in the ship "Expedi- tion." bound for the Barbadoes.

The will of John Robinson, a wheelwright of Ipswich, Massachusetts, was proved March 30, 1658. He left no children.

Jolın Robinson, of Ipswich, died March I, 1657. He may have been and probably was the father of John Robinson, who with eleven others from Ipswich and Newbury were the first settlers of Haverhill, Massachusetts, in 1640.

The first company of settlers in the wild woods of Pentucket, says the "History of Haverhill," was from Ipswich and Newbury, twelve in number, and among them was John Robinson. The settlement was founded in 1640. John Robinson was a black- smith and lived at Haverhill until 1657, when he removed to Exeter, New Hampshire, and was one of the first settlers in that town.

John Robinson, of Ipswich, then of Newbury, then of Haverhill, and later of Exeter, New Hampshire, is first mentioned in the records of that town of date April 20, 1652, al- though Ilaverhill history gives the year of his emigration as 1657, It is possible that he owned land there as early as the year first mentioned, and may have visited the town at that time for the purpose of making improvements in contemplation of removal at a date earlier than 1657. In October, 1652, John Robinson was appointed one of the overseers of work on the meeting house, and in 1664 was chosen one of three townsmen to lay out highways in Exeter. He next appears in the rec- ords in connection with the Indian troubles in the province during King William's war, when Exeter

Yours Truly

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was a frontier town and necessarily exposed to the ravages of hostile bands of savages who plundered and burned habitations and murdered the settlers who were unable to escape to places of safety. In one of these depredatory incursions in the fall of 1675 John Robinson was shot and killed, the event being thus described by the historian of Exeter :

"The other three Indians, whose names were John Sampson, Cromwell and John Linde, placed themselves in ambush in the woods near the road leading to Hampton. Soon afterward John Robin- son, a blacksmith who had removed from Haverhill, Massachusetts, to Exeter in 1657, made his appear- ance with his son, on their way to Hampton. The father, according to tradition, was carrying a warming-pan. The Indians fired from their lurking place upon them and shot the elder Robinson dead. The bullet passed through his body from back to

front and lodged just under the skin. The son upon hearing the report of the guns ran into a swamp, where the Indians pursued but could not overtake him. He reached Hampton about mid- night and gave information of what had occurred."

In view of the fact that John Robinson was closely identified with the history of three towns in the colony of Massachusetts-Ipswich, Newbury and Haverhill-and also was one of the first set- tlers in Exeter in the province of New Hampshire, and finally fell a victim of Indian barbarity, it is particularly unfortunate that the various compilers of Exeter genealogies have been unable to furnish an authentic record of John Robinson's immediate family and the names and dates of birth and death of all his children. Indeed, further than is men- tioned in preceding paragraphs. little is known of the domestic life of this worthy pioneer family in New Hampshire, and the lack of records has been the occasion of considerable embarrassment and confusion on the part of recent investigators. On this point one of the most recently published (1902) Robinson family histories says :

"We find a David and Jonathan Robinson as residents of Exeter, New Hampshire, from 1657 to 1683. They. with Stephen and John Robinson, were probably the sons of John Robinson of Ipswich, who was one of the first settlers of Haver- hill, Massachusetts, and who removed to Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1657 and was killed by the In- dians in 1675. He was also the ancestor of William Robinson, who founded the Robinson Female semi- nary at Exeter and the Summerville Academy at Summerville, Georgia, as also of the Robinsons of Exeter, Brentwood, Epping. Raymond, Newmarket, Hampton, Sanbornton and other adjoining towns."

"There seems to be some confusion as to dates respecting Jonathan Robinson of Exeter, who un- doubtedly was a son of John Robinson who was the first to settle in Haverhill and removed to Exeter in 1657. One statement is that he was born about 1648, married Elizabeth and died Sep- tember 10. 1675; that an inventory of his estate is on record at Salem; that his wife Elizabeth and son David administered upon the estate, which was

submitted to the court held at Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, in 1676. Another statement is that Jonathan Robinson, born about 1648, was a resident of Exeter, 1657-1716; that his will was dated in 1710 and proved in 1716; that he took the oath of allegiance November 30, 1677, at Exeter; that he was tythingmaster in 1678, one of the selectmen in 1695 and joined the church in 1698; that he married Sarah , about 1670, and had eight chil- dren, all born in Exeter":

John, born September 7, 1671, will proved July 7, 1749. Sarah, born October 29, 1673. Hester, born August 12, 1677. Elizabeth, born September 6, 1679. Jonathan, born July 9, 1681, died about 1758. David, born July 28, 1684, removed to Stratham and died after 1767. Captain James, born December 7. 1686, removed to Stratham. Joseph, born May 1, 1691, removed to Haverhill, October 1, 1698; living in Exeter in 1710; died after 1767.

From what has been said it appears that John Robinson had at least four sons, David, Jonathan, Stephen and John. and that they all were identified with the history of Exeter. The history of San- bornton mentions Exeter as the hive of two or three distinct families of the Robinson surname. who afterward were equally prominent in Sanbornton history, and mentions three of the name, Jonathan senior and junior and Josiah, as being among the grantees of the town last mentioned.

A John Robinson married Elizabeth Folsom, February 1, 1725-26, and had nine children. If this John Robinson is identical with John who was the eldest son of Jonathan Robinson, his age at the time of marriage would have been about fifty-four years, a fact while possible is hardly probable. Among the children of John and Elizabeth (Fol- som) Robinson was a son of John, born August 6, 1736, and the question arises whether this John is identical with the John Robinson who removed from Exeter to Sanbornton in 1793 and is referred to in the history of that town as the founder of one of the three distinet branches of the Robinson family of Exeter, whose common ancestor was John Robin- son, of Ipswich, Newbury, Haverhill, and finally of Exeter. Earlier chroniclers have not felt secure in assuming the relationship of the first and second Johns as that of father and son, but there is no doubt that the elder John was the son of Jonathan and grandson of John Robinson, the ancestor and pioneer of the family in Exeter; and it is equally sure that John Robinson, of Sanbornton. 1793, was a descendant of John, the ancestor, although the connection of families in each succeeding genera- tion cannot be clearly traced.

(I) John Robinson removed from Exeter to Sanbornton about 1793, and settled on the hill south of what in later years was known as the Hunt place. He died in Sanbornton, January 4, 1799. His children: John, born in Exeter and known in Sanbornton as John 3d and also as Jack, met ac- cidental death, Novemher 8, 1834. Daniel born in Exeter. December 26, 1781, died in Laconia, in Sep- tember, 1869. Trueworthy, born in Exeter, died in

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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. II, Part 109

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: 874

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: 874