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 78

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 78

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Mr. Ham married (second), May 14. 1837. Martha (Wentworth) Drew, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Roberts) Wentworth, and widow of John Drew, of Dover. (See Wentworth, V). She was baptized in Dover, April 4, 1795, and died April 5. 1880, aged eighty-five. Martha had children by her first marriage : Sarah, born February 19, 1814, married D. W. Chapin, of Dover. Elizabeth, born September 10, 1816. married Daniel Moulton, of Portsmouth ; Mary Baker, born May. 5, 1819, mar- ried Dr. Caleb S. Blakeslee, of Williamsville, Ver- mont ; and Martha, born September 5, 1822, who never married.

Martha ( Wentworth) Drew by her mar- riage with John (3) Ham, had only one child, John T. W., whose sketch is found below. She was a woman of remarkable loveliness of character and superior mental power, whom it was a pleasure to meet and associate with. A christian woman, ever ready to lend a helping hand in every good work which appealed to her for assistance. She was justly proud of her ancestors. Two of her grand- fathers were officers in the Revolutionary army, and her great-grandfather, Samuel Wentworth, also served in that war. Samuel was the first cousin to Lieutenant John Wentworth, of New Hampshire (1716), hence, Colonel Jonathan, her grandfather, was second cousin to Governor Benning Wentworth,

and her father was third cousin to Jolin Wentworth, the last royal governor of New Hampshire, who was obliged to leave the state when the Revolution be- gan. Martha (Wentworth) (Drew) Ham was a woman of medium height, and slight figure, active in mind and body, and a devout member of St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church. It was hier custom to attend the Friends' services with her hus- band in the forenoon, and the services of the Metho- dist Church in the afternoon, as it was the general custom then for Protestant churches to have a preaching service in the forenoon and another in the afternoon. She was a strict attendant at the class meetings and prayer meetings during the week. She was a good conversationalist, and all who knew her said she was one of the best women who ever lived.

(VI) John Thomas Wentworth Ham, only son of John (3) and Martha (Wentworth) (Drew) Ham, was born in Dover, July 1, 1838. He takes his name "John" from his father, and "Thomas Wentworth" from his mother's father, Thomas Wentworth. He was educated in the public schools of Dover, leaving the high school at the age of fif- teen, to commence his business career which has now passed the half century mark. He became a clerk and salesman in the store of Mr. A. D. Purin- ton. which was located on Central avenue, near the bridge. , Mr. Purinton was a large wholesale and retail dealer in hats, caps and furs, having a large wholesale trade in Northern New Hampshire and Maine. The date was September 4, 1854. Mr. Ham made a careful study of the business; he became an expert in judging goods and values, and so pleasing his customers in courteous ways that Mr. Purinton took him as a partner of the firm, August I, 1859, which partnership continued unbroken until Mr. Purinton's death in 1877, when Mr. Ham took the business single handed, and has continued in it on the same street and in the same spot where he began in September, 1854, to the present time: he is the oldest continuons business man in Dover. He has kept up with the progress of the years. In order the better to accommodate his large business, he built a three story brick block in 1901, which is one of the finest and best furnished establishments of its kind in New Hampshire. The name and fame of "Ham the Hatter" is known and honored all over the state.

After taking Mr. Ham into partnership Mr. Purinton was so well pleased with his conduct that he consented gladly to a further and closer partner- ship by the marriage of his only daughter and only child, Abbie Maria, with Mr. Ham, May 1, 1860, which proved to be a most happy union for twenty- six years, and which was then dissolved by the Angel of Death, who took her lovely spirit across the river to the other shore, September 10, 1886, and the mortal eyes of a most estimable woman were closed to the scenes of earth. They had no children. Mr. Ham inherited the farm from his father in 1860, and some of the land remained in his possession until a few years ago, when it was cut up into house lots and sold. Ham street being run through the middle of the farm from Central avenue to Broadway, and which will perpetuate the name of the original owners forever, after hav- ing remained in possession of the Hlam family nearly two hundred years.

Mr. Ham's attention was first called to Free Masonry in 1862, when he was twenty-four years old. He received the degrees in Strafford Lodge,

752

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Dover, at the following dates : Entered Apprentice, December 3, 1862; Fellow Craft, March 5, 1863; Master Mason, April 29, 1863. December 23 of that year he was elected treasurer of the lodge, and has held that office continuously to the present time by annual re-elections. He received the capitular degrees in Belknap Chapter during 1863, and was elected its treasurer December 25 of that year, which office he has held continuously by re-election to the present time. He received the cryptic degrees of Orphan Council in 1863, and on September 25, 1887, was elected its treasurer and by annual re- - elections has held it to the present time. He entered St. Paul Commandery, Knights Templar, in 1863, and received the Orders of Knighthood in due course. He was elected treasurer of the command- ery June 17, 1867, and has held the office by annual re-elections to the present time. Mr. Ham was treasurer of the Masonic Relief Association from 1876 to 1889, when he declined the re-election.

In the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite Masonry, Mr. Ham received all of the degrees in- cluding the fourteenth in the Ineffable Grand Lodge of Perfection of Portsmouth; and the fifteenth and sixteenth degrees in the Grand Council, Princes of Jerusalem of Portsmouth; the seventeenth and eighteenth in New Hampshire Chapter of Rose Croix of Dover; and the thirty-second in the Ed- ward A. Raymond Consistory of Nashua, now New Hampshire Consistory ; he was created a sovereign grand inspector general, thirty-third and last degree, and honorary member of the Supreme Council, Northern Jurisdiction, at Providence, Rhode Island, September 16, 1902. Ile has been treasurer of New Hampshire Chapter, Rose Croix, since September 1902. As Mr. Ham has held the honorable and highly responsible position of treasurer in so many Masonic bodies, he has had no time to officiate in any other Masonic offices. December 14, 1906, he became a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, Bektash Temple, Concord, New Hampshire.

For many years Mr. Ham has been a member of Mount Pleasant Lodge, and Prescott Encampment, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in Dover, but never has held office in either. He is a member of Olive Branch Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and Lodge No. 181, of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, of which he was a charter member and is a trustee. Member of New Hampshire Genealogical Society of Dover, and of the Sons of the American Revolution of Concord, New Hampshire.

Mr. Ham is a member of St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church, and for many years has been one of the trustees and a member of its finance com- mittee. When the Wentworth Home for the Aged was established in 1897, he was elected a member of the building committee, also a trustee, which office he continues to hold.

At the building of the Masonic Temple in 1890 he was chosen one of the five members of the building committee and one of the five trustees, which office he has held to the present time, as also a member of the building committee elected in 1906 to rebuild the Temple after its destruction by burn- ing in March of that year.

Mr. Ham has never sought any public office, and only consented to serve two years in the city council, feeling that he had no taste for such duties, nor time to devote to them, as it is always a conscientious point with him to do well whatever he undertakes. He is always a very busy man, but never lacks time to be courteous to every one and lend a helping

hand as his means may permit. He is one of Dover's best and most highly esteemed citizens, and his judgment in all business affairs with which he has been connected was regarded as judicious and sound by his fellow co-laborers.

This name was very carly im- STOCKBRIDGE planted in eastern Massachu- setts and has been continu- ously represented in that colony and state and has numerous representatives scattered over the country. It was early identified with the state of New Hamp- shire. and its bearers have usually been found as worthy and desirable citizens of the communities in which they live. The name is of English origin, as are most of those first planted in New England

(I) John Stockbridge was among the passen- gers in the ship "Blessing," which came from Eng- land to Massachusetts in 1635. At that time his age was twenty-seven years, and he was accompanied by his wife, Ann, aged twenty-one years, and a son, Charles. The wife became a member of the church at Scituate, Massachusetts, July 16, 1037. John Stockbridge was a wheelwright and settled in Scit- uate very soon after his arrival. His wife, Ann, died before 1643, and in that year he married the Widow Elizabeth Sloan, and his third wife was Mary - She survived him, and was married April 8, 1660, to Daniel Herrick. John Stockbridge's will was dated September 4, 1657, and proven on the thirteenth of the following month, which indicates the time of his demise. At that time he was a resident of Bos- ton. Beside the sons who came with him from Eng- land he had a daughter Hannah, baptized September 24, 1637, and Elizabeth, July 10, 1642, in Boston. She probably did not live long, as Elizabeth, the daughter of the second wife, was born 1644, Sarah, 1645, and Esther, 1647. The third wife bore him one daughter, Mary.

(II) Charles, eldest child of John and Ann Stockbridge, was aged one year when the family came from England to America, in 1635. He was a wheelwright and resided in Boston. His wife's name was Abigail, and they were the parents of Charles (died young), Abigail. Charles, Sarah, Thomas, Elizabeth. Joseph, Benjamin and Samuel, He resided part of the time at Charlestown and at Scituate, and died in 1683. His widow subsequently hecame the wife of Amos Turner.

(III) Joseph, fourth son and seventh child of Charles and Abigail Stockbridge, was born June 28, 1672, in Scituate, Massachusetts. He was a select- man many years, and resided at Hanover. Massa- chusetts, where he was for a long time a selectman and still longer a deacon. He died March II, 1773, aged over one hundred years, at Pembroke, Massa- chusetts. He married Mary Turner, daughter of Joseph Turner (see Turner, [HI). She died March 27, 1747. Their children were: Joseph, Grace, John, Barusha, Margaret. Susannah and David.

(IV) David, youngest child of Joseph and Mary (Turner) Stockbridge, was born 1713, in Hanover, Alassachuseetts, and died in that town December 13, 1788. He was married, in January, 1736, to Deborah Cushing. a native of Scituate, who died in Hanover. (V) William, son of David and Deborah (Cush- ing) Stockbridge, was born December 20, 1752, in Ilanover, Massachusetts, and died in that town February 20, 1831, in his seventy-ninth year. He married in Hanover, October 9, 1774, Ruth Bailey, a native of that town, born November 8, 1754. and died there December 10, 1839.

753

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

(VI) Calvin, son of William and Ruth ( Bailey) Stockbridge, was born September 19, 1784, in Han- over, Massachusetts, and settled in Yarmouth, Maine, where he died in May, 1833. He was mar- ried October 31, 1815. to Rachel W. Rogers, a lineal descendant of the martyr, John Rogers. She was born February 6, 1793, and died November 21, 1875, in Concord, New Hampshire.

(VII) Edward Alonzo, son of Calvin and Rachel W. (Rogers) Stockbridge, was born September 5, 1821, in Yarmouth, Maine, and died in Concord, New Hampshire. July 28, 1892, aged seventy years. After leaving school at the age of fourteen he learned the bookbinder's trade in Portland, where he remained until he was thirty years of age. After working six years at his trade in Boston and Cam- bridge he settled in Concord, New Hampshire, and was for some time in the employ of the well known firm of Morrill & Silsby. For a number of years he was in business for himself with a good trade. In the early eighties he accepted Fred. S. Crawford as a partner, and they formed the firm of Crawford & Stockbridge, which continued for eight or nine years when Mr. Crawford died. His interest in the business was bought by Frank Saunders, and the firm of Stockbridge & Saunders continued the business about two years longer. In 1887 Mr. Stock- bridge sold his interest to his partner and retired, and died five years later. Mr. Stockbridge started in life with a capital which consisted of a healthy body, a good character, and plenty of pluck and perseverance. He was industrious, persevering and economical, and by his own efforts became a good business man and prosperous. He was a man of mild manners, domestic in his habits, and an in- dulgent husband and father. He was fraternal in his . relations with men and a member of various social organizations. He was a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of Eureka Lodge, No. 70, Free and Accepted Masons. Trinity Royal Arch Chapter, No. 2, Horace Chase Council, No. 4, Mount Horeb Commandery, Knights Templar, of Concord, and Edward A. Raymond Consistory of Nashua. He was also a member of the Webster and Wonolancet Clubs. During the greater part of his life he was a Democrat, but in his later days embraced the tariff ideas of the Republicans. He married (first), in Milford, Massachusetts, Charlotte Loraine Hilliard, born about 1836. They had one child, Caroline Wales, born in Portland, Maine, August 13, 1860. She married, February 7, 1894, Thomas Oscar Tay- lor, a Pullman car conductor, running on the Penn- sylvania Railroad between Washington, District of Columbia, and Boston, Massachusetts. This po- sition he has filled for twenty-seven years, and re- sides in Washington. They have one child, Francis Stockbridge Taylor, born in Washington, December 31, 1895. Charlotte L. Stockbridge died in 1864. MIr. Stockbridge married (second), in Concord, Feb- ruary 7, 1872, Frances Ellen Marshall, born in Na- shua, October 15. 1842, daughter of Gustine and Emily (Heald) Marshall, of Concord. (See Mar- shall, VI). She was educated in Nashua high school, from which she graduated in 1860, and at a boarding school in Derry and at the Lasell Female Seminary. She resides in the former home of lier- self and husband in Concord.

The name of Lewis, sometimes spelled LEWIS Lewes, has had many distinguished rep- resentatives in this country. The fanuly is numerous and ancient, both north and south. 11 -- 24

Robert Lewis, of Bradmockshire, Wales, emigrated to Gloucester county, Virginia, in 1640. He had a large grant of land from the crown, and from him have sprung different families of Lewises all over the country. Samuel Gilford Lewis was a major on General Washington's staff, and distinguished himself at the battle of Germantown, Pennsylvania. His descendants lived at Washington, D. C., and at St. Louis, where they were known as editors, judges and surgeons. George Lewis, of Plymouth, after- wards at Scituate, Massachusetts, where he joined the church September 20, 1635, came from East Greenwich in Kent before 1633. Edmund Lewis, of Lynn, Massachusetts, was first at Watertown, and came over from England in 1634. John Lewis set- tled at Westerly, Rhode Island, as early as 1660. Dr. William Jerauld Lewis, president of the Amer- ican Society of Microscopists, is descended from the Connecticut and Rhode Island families. In 1834 thirteen of the Lewis name had been graduated from Harvard, and thirty-four from other New England colleges.

(I) John Lewis was an inhabitant of Charles- town, Massachusetts, in 1634, when he is first found of record. He was admitted to the church there July 10, 1644, and soon after removed to Malden where he was one of the first settlers, in 1635-36. He had four acres of planting land and a ten acre lot on the Mystic side in 1637. In all he was the owner of six parcels of land. He must have been a man of some means. The name of his first wife was Margerite, who was admitted to the church in Charlestown, July 7, 1638. She died April 10. 1049, and he was married (second), April 10, 1650, at Malden to Mary Brown. He died September 16. 1657, at Malden. His children included : John, Joseph and Mary (twins), Samuel, Elizabeth, Sarah, Abraham, Jonathan, Mary, Hannah, Isaac and Trial.

(11) Joseph, second son of John and Margerite Lewis, was baptized with his twin sister January 29, 1640. The latter died soon after. There is no further record apparent about Joseph.

(II]) Joseph (2), who was undoubtedly a son of one of the sons of John Lewis, resided in Malden and was married there to Hannalı Jones. He lived several years, at least, in Woburn, for the births of his children are all recorded there. They were : Hannah, Mary, Benjamin, Joseph, Abigail and John.

(IV) Benjamin, eldest son and third child of Joseph and Hannah (Jones) Lewis, was born June 5, 1705, in Woburn, and early in life lived in the part of that town which is now Wilmington. The births of eight of his children are recorded in that town, together with his own birth. Subsequent to 1744 he removed to Billerica, Massachusetts, where the births of his last three children are recorded. the first of these being in June, 1746. He married Elizabeth Jaquith, daughter of Abraham (2) and granddaughter of Abraham (1) Jaquith, of Charles- town. Benjamin Lewis died in Woburn, September 23, 1777, and his wife died eight days later, Oc- tober I, aged seventy years. Their children were: Benjamin, Jonathan, Elizabeth, James, John, Reu- ben, Mary, Esther, Samuel, Sarah and Ebenezer. ( The last named and descendants are noticed far- ther in this article).

( V) Benjamin (2). eldest child of Benjamin (1) and Elizabeth ( Jaquith ) Lewis, was born Sep- tember 28, 1729, in Wilmington, and resided in B.1- lerica. 1Te was married April 0, 1752, to Mary Brown, daughter of Samuel and Mary Brown. She

754

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

was born December 9, 1731. Their children were: Benjamin, Mary, Asa, Sarah, Hannah, Patty, Keziah and Moses.

(VI) Moses, youngest child of Benjamin (2) and Mary ( Brown) Lewis, was born April 17, 1770, in Billerica, Massachusetts, and early in life traveled up the Merrimack river and ultimately settled in Bridgewater, New Hampshire. He was married in Hill, December 10, 1795, by Rev. Enoch Whipple, of Alexandria, to Sally Martin. Their children, born in Bridgewater, were: Polly (Mary ), William, Rufus G., Hiram, Eliza and Sarah.

(VII) Rufus Graves, second son and third child of Moses and Sally ( Martin) Lewis, was born Sep- tember 14, ISoo, in Bridgewater, New Hampshire. He began his business career as a clerk in the store of Captain Daniel Smith, of New Hampton, New Hampshire, whose daughter he subsequently mar- ried. Afterwards he had stores of his own in the neighboring towns of Sanbornton and Meredith, New Hampshire. Later he became interested in land speculation in Alabama and Mississippi, which occupied his attention till the outbreak of the Civil war. He was once representative to the state legis- lature when the town was politically opposed to him, but he did not care to hold office. He had a great influence in all that pertained to the best in- terests of New Hampton. He spent some of his winters in the south where his business interests were located. He was a Whig previous to 1852, and afterwards acted with the Democrats. He be- longed to the militia, and rose to the rank of col- onel. In religion he was an Orthodox Congrega- tionalist, and attended the church at Bristol. He was a devoted christian man, and for years was the wealthiest and most influential citizen in town. In 1852, when part of the famous New Hampton Academy was removed to Fairfax, Vermont, and the remodelled New Hampton Literary and Bib- lical Institution passed under the control of the Free Will Baptists, Colonel Lewis was the largest financial contributor to the new school. He was de- termined that the academic history of New Hamp- ton should not end with the departure of the old Baptists, and he became one of the most influential members of the new corporation whose charter was approved January 5, 1853. Rufus G. Lewis married, October 9, 1828, Sally Smith, daughter of Captain Daniel and Mary ( Pickering) Smith; she was born in New Hampton, April 4, 1806. Captain Smith was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, January II, 1767, and died in New Hampton, January I, 1828. lle was proprietor of the principal store in New llampton, owned the toll bridge across the Pemigewasset, and was for years the leading busi- ness man in the town. Colonel Lewis died Sep- tember 27, 1869, and Mrs. Lewis died October 15, 1878. They were survived by three sons and one daughter: Rufus S., Edwin Creswell, James Pick- ering and Sarah E .. Two sons are mentioned in the succeeding paragraphis.

Rufus S., eldest son of Rufus Graves and Sally (Smith) Lewis, was born at New llampton, June 14, 1833, and died at Laconia, New Hampshire, May 22, 1887. He was a sufferer from asthma from childhood; he possessed an energetic and culti- vated mind, and a warm, religious nature. He went into business in Lowell in 1856, and later in Boston. Ile returned to New Ilampton in 1867, broken in health. In 1879 he went to Laconia where he was register of deeds for several years. He was prominent in Masonic matters, and was an eager

and profound student of the Bible. A feeble body, weakened by disease, was but a poor home for a nature so large and a mind so active as his, and the ill-starred union could only result in one long intellectual and spiritual struggle. He was a man of quick sympathies and possessed endearing social traits. He was buried in the family lot in New Hampton where kind friends brought touching trib- utes of respect. Rufus S. Lewis married Eliza Bean, July 14, 1856. They had one daughter born to them, Winnifrida Wallace, now wife of C. H. Turner, assistant district attorney at Washington.

Edwin Creswell, second son and only surviving child of Rufus Graves and Sally ( Smith) Lewis, was born November 28, 1836, at New Ilampton, New Hampshire. He was educated at the New Hampton Institute, and at Harvard University, re- ceiving the degree of A. B. in 1859, and subse- quently the degree of A. M. His early life was spent at home. In 1878 he became owner of the Laconia Democrat, which paper he edited and pub- lished for twenty years. For many years he has been a trustee of the New Hampton Institution, and a member of the executive committee. He held minor town offices in New Hampton, and for two years was treasurer of Belknap county. He has served on the school board of Laconia, was a delegate to the Constitutional convention in 1902, and was a member of Governor Tuttle's council for two years. He has always acted with the Democratic party. He is a member of no church, but is connected with the Congregational society in Laconia. He is a Mason, and is a member of Union Lodge, of Bristol, chapter and commandery. He married, July 24, 1890, Eliza Dean, daughter of David and Sally F. ( Wallace) Hilton, of Sand- wich, New Hampshire. She was born December 5, 1829, and died at North Adams, Massachusetts, April 15, 1899. There are no children to this union.

James Pickering, youngest son of Rufus Graves and Sally (Smith) Lewis, was born February 10, 1842, in New Hampton, New Hampshire, educated in New Hampton Institute and was for many years clerk in postoffice department at Washington, D. C. He married Mollie Winn, of Saratoga, New York, and they had born to them one son, James P., Jr., born April 14, 1883. James Pickering Lewis died December 22, 1901.

(V) Ebenezer, youngest child of Benjamin (1) and Elizabeth (Jaquith) Lewis, was born December 4, 1750, in Billerica, Massachusetts, and died in a hospital at Cambridge, January 10, 1776. He was probably there in the military service, though he docs not appear in the list of Revolutionary soldiers from Billerica. His nephew Benjamin served through three enlistments, and nearly every able- bodied man in the town was a soldier. Ebenezer Lewis was married September 29, 1772, to Ruth, daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Corey) Par- ker, of Billerica. She was born July 3, 1752, and survived her marriage but a few days. He was married (second) at Groton, August 21, 1773, to Sarah Bennett, and they were the parents of two children, William and Sarah.

(VI) William, only son of Ebenezer and Sarah (Bennett) Lewis, was born March 25, 1774, in Billerica, and settled in Marlow, New Hampshire. No record of his marriage appears in the latter state, but his wife's Christian name appears as Anna in the record of their children's births, in Marlow. They were : William, John, George,

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Genealogical and family history of the state of New Hampshire : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Vol. II, Part 78

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