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 80

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 80

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(I) Ebenezer Averill. born in Tops-

AVERILL field, Massachusetts, came to Milford, New Hampshire, in 1752, and settled upon the farm now (1905) owned by Edward B. Hall. near Mount Vernon line. We have no rec- ord of the name of his wife or the date of her birth or death. His children were: Ruth. born in Topsfield : Ebenezer, born in Topsfield. December 25. 1751; David, born in Milford: Elijalı, born in Milford, married May 28. 1782. Mehitabel. daugh- ter of Andrew and Hannah (Goffe) Bradford of Milford, resided in Mount Vernon: Moses, born in Milford. married July 27, 1786, for his second wife, Mary, daughter of John and Mary Bridges of Wil- ton.

(II) Ebenezer (2), son of Ebenezer (1) Aver- ill. was born in Topsfield, Massachusetts. Decem- her 25. 1751, and died in Milford, July 14. 1837. He removed with his father in 1752 to Milford, New Hampshire, where he was a farmer. and re- mained on the homestead during his life. He mar- ried Anna Johnson, horn April. 1755. died Septem- ber 15, 1839. Their children were: James Johnson. born in Milford, August 6. 1778, died July 11. 1867; he was a farmer, and resided in Mount Vernon. and in March, 1807. married Lucy W., daughter of Israel and Mary (Wallace) Burnham, of Lyndes- borough. Elijah, born 1781. died in Milford. Feb- ruary 13, 1854. was a dealer in wood and lumber. and married. January 5, 1800. Lois daughter of Eliphalet and Lois (-) Mace, of Milford. Eben, born August 1. 1783. Luther, born March 14. 1786 Calvin, born September 18, 1788. Aladon, born 1791, died June 20, 1865. was a miller and lived in Mil- ford village: he married Mehitabel, daughter of the Rev. Ezra and Mary Wilmarth, of Milford. Nancy, born March 21. 1703. married. November 19. 1816, John, son of Andrew and Sarah ( Hastings) Leavitt of Amherst: he resided in Amherst, and died there November 22. 185.4. Alma, horn October 17. 1796. married Daniel (2), son of Daniel and Rachel (Hutchinson) Johnson of Milford, resided and died there August 3. 1855.

(III) Eben, third son and third child of Ebe- nezer (2) and Anna ( Johnson) Averill, was born in Milford, August 1, 1783, and died July 12, 1860. He was a lifelong resident of the town, a farmer living on the farm settled upon by his grandfather and afterward owned by his father. Ile married Fanny, daughter of William (2) and Hannah (-) Bradford, of Amherst, born March 20. 1784. died February 12, 1850. Their children were: Granville

Mesemult

MB Jurgin

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Clifford, born in Milford. May 6, ISII: Fanny Bradford, born May 23, 1815, died September 3, 1866, married March 8, 1842, Levi Curtis : Eunice S .. born February 21, IS23, died May 9, 1853; Nancy, born January 4. 1827, died April 10, 18.12.

(IV) Granville Clifford, eldest child of Eben and Fanny (Bradford) Averill, was born in Mil- ford, May 6, ISII. He was a farmer residing on the farm next south of his father's. Politically he was a Democrat, and in religious faith he was a Baptist. After the death of his wife he removed to Hooksett to live with his son Willis, and died there May 28. 1885. He married December, 1837, Caroline W., daughter of Luther and Hannah (Wal- lace) Averill, born October 21, 1812, died March 18, 1864. Their children are: Mary Caroline, born July 5, 1839, married June 18, 1859, Frank WV .. son of Joseph and Harriet (Wheeler) Mace of Amherst. Willis G .. born 18.11. Anna Frances, born Decem- ber 15, 18.43, married, July 19, 1865, Elbridge D., son of Samuel and Abigail (Howe) Clark of Wil- ton; after the death of Mr. Clark she married Eph- raim A. Parkhurst, and resided in Amherst. Wood- bury J., born October 6, 18.47, died August 6, 1859. Clara T., born April 6, 1852, died June 12, 1864. Andrew Wallace, born June 6, 1856, died October 3, 1863.

(V) Willis G., second child and oldest son of Granville C. and Caroline W. (Averill) Averill, was born in Milford. April 15, 1841. He enlisted in Company A. Tenth Regiment New Hampshire Vol- unteers, in 1861, and served with his regiment until it was mustered out in 1865, participating in the battle of Fredericksburg, and other important en- gagements. He settled in Hooksett about 1870, and owns a farm of several hundred acres. and has been engaged in farming and lumbering. He is a mem- ber of the Baptist Church, and votes the Democratic ticket. He married, April 15, 1868. Fannie A. Mc- Pherson. daughter of William D. and Clarisa Mc- Pherson, of Bedford, born February 21, 1837. They have one child, Josephine. born August 10, 1876, wife of Willis Worthley, of Hooksett.

DURGIN The name of Durgin is not a common one, though it is fairly numerous in certain parts of New Hampshire, notably Sanbornton and the Franconia valley. The first American ancestor appears to have been Wil- liam Durgin, who is said to have come from Eng- land in 1690 and settled in Massachusetts. He had five children : Francis. William, Daniel, Sarah and Hannah. The identity of the christian names, Fran- cis and William. with those of the following line leaves room for little doubt that this line is of the' same stock. As in the case of most patronymics. there have been considerable variations in the spell- ing. Durgen, Durgan, Durgain and Dirgin, being found in some of the older records. In Colonial times Benjamin Durgan, of Rowley, Massachusetts, appears on the muster roll of Captain Joseph Smith's company, and in 1776 James Durgen was in the company of Captain Moses MacFarland, Colonel Nixon's regiment. In later times Dr. Samuel Holmes Durgin, horn at Parsonsfield, Maine, 1839. has been a conspicuous figure in the medical pro- fession, having been a lecturer at the Harvard Medi- cal School since 1884. and president of the Ameri- can Health Association. Miss Lyle Durgin, a grad- nate of New Hampton Institute, New Hampshire, in 1865, was a portrait painter of considerable note. She studied art in Paris where she exhibited in the Salon, but her studio in later years was in Boston, where she died in 1904.

(I) Francis Durgin, youngest of nine children of Francis and Rebecca (Durrell) Durgin, was born at Thornton, New Hampshire, March 24. 1795. It is probable that his father was one of the pioneers of that town, which was settled in 1770, and it is likely that he came from some place near the sea- coast, either in New Hampshire or Massachusetts. Although the same christian names are constantly recurring in the different generations, he was not one of the Sanbornton Durgins, whose parents, Wil- liam and Hannah (Elliott) Durgin, were married in Epping in 1747, and afterwards moved with their children to Sanbornton. Francis Durgin's father died when Francis was an infant, and the latter be- came a farmer and settled in the northern part of Campton near the Pemigewasset river where he reared his family. Francis Durgin's first wife was Susan Foss, who died young leaving one son, Var- nam Gale Durgin, who became a farmer in Thorn- ton, where he married and had three children. For his second wife Francis Durgin married Ruth But- ler. one of the younger children of John and Sarah (Poor) Butler, of Campton, this state, who was born September 22, 1796. Her parents both came from Newburyport, Massachusetts, where John But- ler was born in 1758 and his wife in 1761. He was originally a sailor, and had probably seen a good deal of the world when he moved with his family to Campton in 1795. Ruth Butler was a woman of untiring industry and superior character and ability, and she trained her children to good habits, active labor and high moral standards. Francis Durgin and Ruth Butler were married on December 13, 1825, and they had four children: Susan Foss, born September 16, 1826. Harrison, born January 26. 1828. William Butler, whose sketch follows. Lu- cinda, born January 1, 1835, who died at the age of ten days. Susan F. Durgin married, June 3, 18.47, Dr. William Augustus Smith, of Campton, New Hampshire. Deacon Harrison Durgin was a glove manufacturer, and lived in Vineland, New Jersey. He was twice married, (first), to Emeline Thornton, January 26, 1851, and (second), to Floretta Maria Taylor, of Rumney, New Hampshire. on January 17, 1877. Francis Durgin died April 28, 1861, and his widow died December 5, 1870.

(II) William Butler, second son and third child of Francis Durgin and his second wife, Ruth Butler, was born at Campton, New Hampshire, July 29, 1833. He had the advantages afforded by the country schools at that time, but he early showed himself a lad of more than ordinary ability and ambition, and at the age of sixteen went to Boston accompanied by his father, who secured for him a position as apprentice in the factory of Newall, Harding & Company, silversmiths, 12 Court Square. Here he remained five years, becoming a master in that craft with which his name was afterwards to remain as- sociated. The temptations of the great city had no charm for him, and his life as an apprentice was as quiet, exemplary and industrious as when in later years he became the head of a great factory. In 1854, when he reached his majority, William B. Durgin thought he could see in the capital of his native state a promising field for his business. Ac- cordingly he moved to Concord at that time, and hegan, on a small scale, the manufacture of silver- ware, laying the foundation of what was to become one of the great factories of the country. At first the business was confined to spoon making, and he (lid the work himself with only one assistant; but at the end of a year he began to take apprentices and teach them the art. He remained in his original shop for four years, paying a rent of seventy-five

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dollars annually ; but at the end of that time he built a small wooden structure on School street, and em- ployed five or six apprentices with a few workmen. In 1867, nine years later, he built the large hrick factory on School street, considered a fine structure in its day, where for thirty-seven years the business was conducted. At first Mr. Durgin occupied only a small portion of this building, and the front was used for office purposes ; but his business constantly increased, and the accommodations of the School strect plant had been long outgrown before it was finally abandoned in 1904. Mr. Durgin lived to see the completion and occupation of his spacious and artistic new factory, fronting White Park in Con- cord. This structure, one of the notable ones of the kind in the country, marked the anniversary of a half century of honorable and successful business life. Many years ago the annual product of the factory amounted to more than half a million dol- lars. and the wares bearing the Durgin stamp, a modest "D" in Old English, has become known not only throughout this country, but is sold in London and other foreign markets. It would have been im- possible for a man of Mr. Durgin's integrity to make anything but the very best, for his name stood as a synonym for everything that was honorable. Ilis silver became noted for artistic and original designs as well as for the highest grade of metal, and most exclusive firms in the large cities were glad to handle it.

When Mr. Durgin was a young man he united with the Baptist Church in Boston, afterwards transferred his membership to the First Baptist Church of Concord, where for years he was one of the most prominent members, serving for a long time as trustee. He was exceedingly benevolent. and contributed liberally to the founding and main- tenance of all philanthropies in town like the Cen- tennial Ilome for the Aged, the Margaret Pillsbury General Hospital and the New Hampshire Memorial Hospital for Women and Children. He was a Re- publican in politics, and in 1894 served as representa- tive to the New Hampshire legislature. The fol- lowing extract from the Concord Patriot, written at the time of his death, sums up his life and character : "No one could meet William B. Durgin or look in his face without feeling, Here is a good man. In him the sterner and the gentler virtues were well mingled. Integrity, industry, indomitable persc- verance, modesty and kindliness were parts of his character. Blessed at the start with an iron consti- tution, his constant application taxed it to the nt- most. and though he had scarcely completed his seventy-first year, he had lived the lives and donc the work of several men. A man of pure and simple tastes, his three great interests were his business. his home and his church. He had a keen appreci- ation of the beautiful, whether in art or nature. Ile h: d traveled considerably in this country, and his experience was enriched by several European trips. Sharing with all the members of his family an ardent love for the out-door life. he was a keen sportsman, and many of his friends will remember the noble specimens of lake trout and other fish that he drew from the waters of Winnepesaukee every spring. Only last fall he hunted partridges with the enthusiasm of a boy. Mr. Durgin was enabled to celebrate his golden wedding anniversary Sep- tember 21. 1904. in company with her who had blessed his life for half a century ; and he was per- mitted to see the completion of the great factory which symbolized his fifty years of successful busi- ness life. and in which he took such an honest pride. Then a-weary with weight of cares, he dropped the

burden of life, and was gently laid to rest beside the beloved daughter, whose untimely death, in the prime of young motherhood, was a never-ending grief."

On September 21, 1854. at Boston, William But- ler Durgin was united in marriage to Martha Eliza- beth Travers, eldest daughter of George Martin and Martha ( Lerned) Travers, who was born at Gardner. Massachusetts, January 15, 1833. Mrs. Durgin's younger sister. Mary Frances Travers. born February 26, 1842. married Horace F. Parker, son of Dr. David Parker. of Gardner, Massachu- setts. They had one child, Mary Eliza Parker, born April 24. 1867, who was graduated from Wellesley College, in 1888, received her second degree from Radcliffe College, studied at Pennsylvania Univer- sity. and is now (1907) professor of the art of teaching at Simmons College in Boston. Upon their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Durgin came at once to Concord to live, and soon after built the house on Rumford street, which became their permanent home. Mrs. Durgin has been a devoted wife and mother, and her. kindness of heart and quiet chari- ties have made life pleasanter for many who had no immediate claim upon her. Like her husband, she became a member of the Baptist Church carly in life. With him she shared the pleasures of ex- tensive journeys, both at home and abroad, includ- ing three European trips. Mrs. Durgin is a great admirer of the beautiful in Nature and in art, and of late years one of her pleasures has been the col- lecting of old china. Her cabinets hold a large and varied assortment, and her collection is without doubt the most valuable in the city, and is probably not surpassed in' the state. Her benevolences, both public and private, are very large; she is a liberal supporter of all the philanthropies in the city like the hospitals, the District Nursing Association, and the Home for the Aged to which she has recently given a thousand dollars in memory of her husband. a former trustee. Whoever wishes a friend in need can find one in Mrs. Durgin.

William B. and Martha (Travers) Durgin were the parents of two children: George Francis, whose sketch follows; and Mary Susan, born August I, 1864. The daughter was educated in the schools of Concord, including the private school of the Misses Bridge, and then spent three years at the boarding school of Mrs. Hayes in Boston. On April 6, 1887, Mary Susan Durgin was married to Richard Henry Rice, son of Albert S. and Frances ( Baker) Rice, of Rockland. Maine. Mr. and Mrs. Rice lived at Cambridge, Massachusetts, and afterwards at Provi- dence, Rhode Island where Mr. Rice was the senior partner in the firm of Rice & Sargent, manufacturers of stationary engines. Richard H. and Mary Susan (Durgin ) Rice had three children : Phyllis, a student at Bryn Mawr College: Richard Drury and Susan Durgin. Mrs Mary Susan (Durgin) Rice died Jan- nary 24, 1895, in her thirty-first year, and is buried in the family lot at Concord.

William Butler Durgin died after a long illness at the home in Concord, May 6, 1905, and his death was followed four weeks later by that of his only son. Mrs. Durgin still lives at the home in Concord. having lost her husband and both children, but she finds the solace of her life in doing good to others.

(III) George Francis, only son and elder child of William B. and Martha ( Travers) Durgin, was born in Concord. New Hampshire. April 25. 1858. IFe was edneated in the schools of his native city. including the high school, also studied under two noted private teachers. Moses Woolson and Amos Hadley, and afterwards attended Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts. He possessed a fine

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mind with a strong literary bent, and while in school distinguished himself in writing and speaking, and at one time published an amateur newspaper in con- nection with his friend, Charles D. Warde. At the age of twenty he was taken into business with his father. and in time became superintendent and equal partner. To Mr. George F. Durgin's fine taste is due in great measure the artistic beauty of the hol- low-ware and other expensive pieces, bearing the Durgin stamp, which became famous throughout the country. It was his ambition, like that of his father, to produce nothing but the very best, and even when this was attained, he was always striving after fur- ther excellence. But George F. Durgin's activities were not confined to silverware manufacturing alone. Endowed with fine sensibilities and an ar- dent love for nature, and possessed of ample means, he early became an extensive traveler, and he gener- ously allowed his friends to share the pleasures of these trips by sending home delightful letters, show- ing keen powers of observation and unusual grace of style and dictation. These articles were printed in the local papers, chiefly the Concord Monitor, and at first related to Moosehead Lake. the Adirondacks, and other resorts more or less familiar to the travel- ing public. But as time went by, and Mr. Durgin had visited all the more famous places in this coun- try and Europe. the Call of the Wild appealed to him more and more, and during the last few years of his life most of his summers were spent in New- foundland and Labrador. On these journeys he was accompanied by his wife and daughter; in fact, the travels were originally taken for the benefit of the health of the latter. Going with guides and para- phernalia into the unexplored recesses of the woods or chartering a yacht and sailing at will along the coast of the Hudson Bay region. Mr. Durgin not only saw places and people quite inaccessible to the ordinary tourist, but he described them in a way possible only to a bright and highly cultivated mind. "His Letters from Labrador," published in the Con- cord Monitor, attracted instant attention, not only from the freshness and keenness of the author's observations, but from their mature literary style, which gave them a charm seldom found in produc- tions of this sort. Mr. Durgin's inherent modesty led him to think lightly of these efforts. as of his other literary publications; but the interest of strangers as well as friends was so insistent, that in 1907 his mother was prevailed upon to collect the articles and issue them in a volume for private distribution. In this form they will remain, not only as a memorial to an idolized son, cut off in his prime, but as a contribution of permanent worth to the honorable collection of literary matter pro- duced by natives of the city and state.

As might be supposed from his travels, Mr. Durgin was a fine sportsman, and excelled in hunt- ing and fishing. He held a prominent place in Con- cord society; though, as he grew older, the ordi- nary conventional entertainments of fashionable life possessed less charm for him, and he devoted him- self more to his home, his books and the out-door life. He was a member of the Wonolancet Club in Concord and of the Algonquin and New Hampshire clubs. Boston. A Republican in politics, he served as representative from ward four, Concord, but party strife had little interest for him. A man of kindly impulses and great generosity and high busi- ness honor, he bore many burdens uncomplainingly. If Mr. Durgin had been blessed with a sounder con- stitution and more robust health and been given

a longer lease of life, he undoubtedly would have accomplished much more for his native town. As it is, his name is one of those that will be remen- bered.

On February 6, 1883, George Francis Durgin married in Boston, Blanche Harriet Bellows, only daughter and eldest child of Abel Herbert and Julia Antionette (Warren) Bellows, of Walpole, New Hampshire. ( See Bellows, V). They had one child, Gladys Bellows, born June 3, 1884, a girl of gentle and lovable disposition, who is a communicant of Saint Paul's (Episcopal) Church Concord. George F. Durgin died May 26, 1905, at his home in Concord, being released after a long illness and intense suffering, at the early age of forty-seven.

The family' named Whittle is found

WHITTLE in New Hampshire history in, 1793, when William Whittle came up from Litchfield, Massachusetts, and settled in the town of Weare. There is nothing to show that he had either brothers or sisters, although undoubtedly he had, and it is more than probable that one brother at least came with him or afterward, and was progenitor of the Goffstown branch of the family of that name. It is not understood that William or any of his sons ever settled in Goffstown, but in 1825 Whittle and Parker were licensed to "mix and sell liquors" in the town during that year. and it is well known that William Whittle, of Weare, was one of the most famous tavern keepers of Hills- boro county for many years. as well as one of the most prominent Masons of his day.

William Whittle was born in Litchfield, Massa- chusetts. July 22, 1764, and was a soldier of the Revolution. He was in trade in his native town a few years, and about 1793 moved with his family to Weare Centre. There he engaged in many occupa- tions, being a man of uncommon business talents and perhaps, with the exception of John Hodgdon, the greatest landowner in the town. Ile had a large and flourishing store, conducted the tavern which had an immense patronage, it being in the time of great six and eight horse teams, numerous stages, and the great winter caravan of two-horse pungs and one-horse pods which journeyed from the north towns to the markets down country. He also man- ufactured potash, and was the prime mover in build- ing the cotton factory where is now Rockland. ( Weare History).

William Whittle married Rachel Parker and had five sons and three daughters, the youngest son be- ing John Whittle, who married Susan Chase and had three children, the youngest of whom was ramed lohn. William Whittle's son John spent his life in Weare, hence could not have been the father of John Whittle, of Goffstown, the head of the branch of the Whittle family under consideration here. John of the Goffstown Whittles is said to have had three brothers, George, Thomas and Will- iam. all older than himself, while the brothers of John, the son of William, were William, Thomas, Jonathan and James. It is not impossible, however, that the sire of George. Thomas, William and John of the Goffstown family was not one of the older sons of William of Weare, although such a con- clusion cannot be drawn from any now existing record, and it is more probable that the four Whit- tle brothers of Goffstown were sons of a brother of William of Weare; but whatever the fact may have been, the Weare and Goffstown Whittles always have been regarded as of the same general family.

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(I) William Whittle, Goffstown, New Hampshire, had four sons, George, Thomas, Will- iam and John. The date and place of his birth, the period of his life and the name of his wife are un- known.

(II) John, third son of William Whittle, was born in Goffstown. He married Betsey Thurston, of Wolfboro, New Hampshire, and had eleven chil- dren, two of whom died in extreme infancy. Those who grew to maturity were: Harrison Gray, Eliza- beth, William Thurston, John Henry, Maria. Mary Jane and Nancy. Of these children only William Thurston, and his sister Elizabeth, who now is an inmate of the Gale Home for Aged Women in Manchester, now survive.

(III) William Thurston. son of John and Bet- sey (Thurston) Whittle, . was born in the town of New Boston, New Hampshire, September 9, 1832. When'a boy he attended school at the little hamlet known as Oil Mill village (so named in allusion to the extensive linseed oil factory operated there more than three score years ago). In 1850. at the age of eighteen years, he found employment as brake- man on the New Hampshire Central Railroad, be- tween Weare and Manchester, New Hampshire, (one of the first railroads operated in the state) and later worked in various capacities from brakeman to conductor on the old Manchester & Lawrence Rail- road, between Manchester in this state, and Law- rence. Massachusetts. Still later he "run" on the old Concord Railroad, and after that on the Con- toocook Valley Railroad. hetween Contoocook and Hillsborough, New Hampshire. He "railroaded" in one capacity or another for full fifty-six years. He is one of the oldest railroad men in the country in point of years of active continued service, and was regarded as one of the most faithful and competent employes of the Boston & Maine system.

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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 80

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