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 86
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Mr. Darrah is a very active, energetic and suc- cessful business man. He is a Republican and has been active in politics, and represented Ward six, of Concord, in the legislature in 1898-99. He is a member of White Mountain Lodge, No. 5. Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows, and of Harmony Col- ony, United Order of Pilgrim Fathers. He married, July 23, 1881, in Manchester, Sarah Augusta Lane, daughter of Oliver and Sarah Ann (Brown) Lane, of Hampton, New Hampshire (see Lane, VII). They have three children : Everett M., Ralph W., and Harold I.
HAPGOOD This ancient New England name is of English origin and is first found in Massachusetts, whence it has spread out over various sections of the United States. It has been identified with social, material and moral progress, and has contributed its share to the growth of the nation.
(I) Shadrach Hapgood was born about 1642 in England and embarked at Gravesend, May 30, 1656, for New England in the ship "Speedwell," Robert Locke, master. The vessel arrived at Boston, in July, and Shadrach Hapgood soon took up his resi- dence on the south side of the Assabet river, about one and one-half miles south of the first meeting house. He had a lot of fifty acres and for two or three years engaged there in farming. He was a soldier in King Philip's war, and was among those killed in that struggle. He was married October 21, 1664, at Sudbury, to Elizabeth Treadway, daugh- ter of Nathaniel and Sufferance Treadway. She was born April 3, 1646. and was the mother of Na- thaniel, Mary, Thomas and Sarah. She was resid- ing at Sudbury when she received the sad news of her husband's murder by the Indians. Her elder daughter married John Whitney, and the younger married Jonathan, his brother.
(II) Thomas. second son of Shadrach and Eliz- abeth (Treadway) Hapgood, was born April 1, 1669, in Sudbury, where he resided. He was mar- ried in 1690-91 to Judith Barker, who was born April 9, 1671. Their children were: Cyrus, Sarah, Judith, Elizabeth, Thomas, Hepzibah, John and Huldah.
(III) Thomas (2), second son and fifth child of Thomas (1) and Judith (Barker) Hapgood, was born April IS, 1702, in Sudbury, and lived in Shrews-
bury. He was married August 12, 1724, to Demaris Hutchins, of Marlboro, Masachusetts. She was born March 12, 1705. Their children were: Eph- raim, Solomon, Asa, Elijah, Seth, Joab, Demaris and John.
(IV) Lieutenant Asa, third son and child of Thomas (2) and Demaris (Hutchins) Hapgood, was born December 6. 1728, in Shrewsbury, Massaachusetts, and settled on his father's homestead town. He .was required to pay to each of his brothers and sisters a consid- erable sum in consideration of retaining the home- stead. About 1754 he sold the estate to his brother Jacob and removed to Rutland District, now the town of Barre, Massachusetts, which was incorpor- ated in 1756. About 1763 he began to be conspicu- outs in the management of affairs in the Rutland District. A meeting was called February 23. 1773, "to consider a circular letter from the town of Bos- ton concerning the State and rights of the Province." The letter was referred to a committee of which Asa Hapgood was a member. A warrant for a town meeting issued March 15. had this article. "To see if the District will petition the Great and Gen- eral Court to be set off as a town." Asa Hapgood was placed upon a committee to present this pe- tition and an act granting the same was passed at Salemi, June 14, 1774, and signed by the governor three days later. Asa Hapgood was chosen chair- man of the committee of safety in 1775, and of the committee of correspondence, and was also chair- man of the board of selectmen of the Rutland Dis- trict. In April, 1779, the legislature voted to call a convention of delegates from the towns to a meet- ing at Cambridge on the first of September follow- . ing for the purpose of framing a form of govern- ment. In this important convention Lieutenant Asa Hapgood was a delegate from Barre. He appears
as a private on the muster and pay rolls of Capt. William Henry's company, Colonel Whiting's regi- mment, for service in Rhode Island. The time of the enlistment was May 3. 1777, and he was discharged July 5 of the same year. He died at Barre, Decem- ber 23, 1791. He married Ann Bowker, who was born September 4, 1728, and their children were: Levinah, Thomas, Betsey, Sophia, David, Asa, John, Anna. Windsor and Artemas.
(V) David, second son and fifth child of Lieu- tenant .Asa and Ann (Bowker) Hapgood. was born May 10. 1757, in Barre, and left home at the age of twenty-two years and purchased a large tract of land, twelve miles west of Windsor, Vermont, near the center of the present town of Reading. He im- mediately commenced improvements and was dis- tinguished for his enterprise, conrage, energy and perseverance. At that time there were but two families in the region and these were distant in op- posite directions for several miles from his location. He labored here alone during the first season, and ere he had completed his harvest news reached him that the settlement at Royalton, twenty-five miles north of Reading, had been destroyed by Indians from Canada and many of the three hundred inhab- itants massacred and others taken captives. Trust- ing in his solitude for defence he did not flee, until returning to his cabin after a temporary absence he found the savages had plundered it. He immediate- ly reurned to Massachusetts and spent the winter of 1778-79. and enlisting young men of Worcester county to accompany him, he returned in the spring to his former home. These included his brother Thomas ; here they endured privations and hardships
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which are not now experienced by the settlers of new countries, and prepared the way for large and prosperous settlements. This was organized in 1780 and David Hapgood was elected a selectman and constable. The subsequent history of Reading rec- ognized him as its most efficient founder. On June 5, 1780, with his brother Thomas, David Hapgood purchased the whole right of land in the township of Reading, Vermont. consideration being £150. Oni June 27. 1781, David purchased from his brother a tract of land probably his right in this township, for 1,185 pounds, lawful money. This was undoubt- edly the highly depreciated colonial currency of the Revolutionary year. David Hapgood erected the first frame building and opened the first tavern in the place, and the earliest town meetings were held in his house. He was early chosen represen- tative and for a series of years served as magistrate. being also known by the title of Esquire Hapgood. As his children attained their majority he divided his estate among them, each of the first two sons receiving one hundred acres of the south part of his farm and the three others receiving the home- stead. He lived to see his family comfortably set- tled in life. He married Sally Myrick, of Prince- ton. Massachusetts, who was born April 6, 1726, and died August 7, 1826. Their children were: John, David, Sally Myrick, Lucinda, Betsey, Artemas, Tidelia. Bridgman, Lucy and Dexter.
( VI) Bridgman, fifth son and eighth child of David and Sally (Myrick) Hapgood, was born Au- gust 13, 1790, in Reading. Vermont, and was duly apprenticed to his brother-in-law, Edmund Durrin, Esquire, a woolen manufacturer at Weathersfield, Vermont. From 1820 to 1824 he was an invalid, and on regaining his health embarked in the mer- . cantile business at Reading, in which he was success- ful. In 1832 he established in the adjoining town of Bridgewater a branch store, erecting a mill in Plymouth nearby for the manufacture of potato starch. In the meantime he had purchased of the heirs of his brother Artemas, the ancient homestead of his father. and he became extensively engaged in farming. In 1830 he was appointed postmaster at Reading, and in 1836 was made justice of the peace, holding this office for a period of seven years. In 1837-38, he was a representative in the legislature and served ten years as town clerk. For nine years in succession he was chairman of the board of select- men, and for five years was trustee of the surplus revenue. He often served as county road commis- sioner and was a director of the County Mutual Fire Insurance Company. He was repeatedly ap- pointed as executor of wills and administrator of estates, which indicates the confidence reposed in him by his fellowmen. In the great financial crisis of 1841-42 he suffered reverses in business and met with heavy losses. In 1844 he disposed of his mer- cantile and farming interests at a sacrifice, and in 1853 removed to Claremont, New Hampshire, where he established a hardware store two years later, He clealt largely in agricultural implements and me- chanical tools and conducted a successful business. 1Te died January 8, 1877, and was buried with the honors of the Masonic fraternity of which he was a member. He was married April 19, 1829, to Eliza- beth Morrison, of Reading, Vermont, who was born June 24, 1807, and died February 9, 1830. He was married (second) June 29, 1835, to Laura M. Wes- ton, who was born April 17, 1808, and died Octo- ber 24, 1860. The only child of the first wife, Har- rict Elizabeth, died in infancy; Sarah, the eldest
child of the second wife, also died young. Mary Ella receives further mention below. Edgar Lyman was appointed postmaster at Claremont and received his appointment in 1874 by President Grant. He died unmarried. Laura Elizabeth died at the age of eighteen years.
(VII) Mary Ella. third child of Bridgman Hap- .
good and second daughter of his second wife, Laura M. (Weston) Hapgood, was born February 5, 1838, in Reading, Vermont, and received her edu- cation in the public schools of that town. She was married October 14, 1863, at Claremont, to Henry A. Dickinson (see Dickinson ).
The Guppeys are said to be of Flem-
GUPPEY ish origin and were weavers. In the latter part of the sixteenth century a number of them went from Flanders to England, · settling in Wilts and Devon, where the majority of them engaged in the manufacture of cloth, and some became mariners. The family are noted for their longevity.
(I) Joshua Guppey emigrated to New England in the year 1700, and settled in Beverly, Massachu- setts. He did not cross the ocean for the purpose of escaping religious persecution, but was attracted by the civil liberty enjoyed under a simple form of government, and having brought with him the neces- sary appliances for weaving cloth, he engaged in that occupation. While on his way to the country a warin personal friendship sprung up between him and Dr. Devereaux, a fellow-passenger. and after the death of the physician, which occurred some years later, Mr. Guppey married his friend's widow. The children of this union were James and Joshua, twins.
(II) Captain James, son of Joshua Guppey, the immigrant, was born at Beverly, in September, 1732. From Captain Gage, a close personal friend of the family, he acquired a knowledge of navigation and the working of a ship, and at an unusually early age he became an able master-mariner. Ile com- manded merchant vessels hailing from Salem and Portsmouth, in which he made numerous voyages to the West Indies and South America with varying fortune, and during the American Revolution he was captured by the British. For a period of twen- ty-seven months he was confined on the old Jersey prison-ship, where he was forced each day to wit- ness the removal of the bodies of fellow-prisoners who had died from the effects of ill treatment, and his only prosepct was that he too would soon follow, but he was one of the few fortunate ones who were able to withstand the hardships until the close of hostilities, when he was released. About the year 1767 he purchased a farm in Dover, New Hampshire, and upon his return from captivity he settled there. He lived to be over ninety-three years old, and his death occurred in Dover, March 7, 1826. He married Jane Ladd, of Portsmouth, and his children were twelve in number.
(III) John, son of Captain James and Jane (Ladd) Guppey, was born in Portsmouth, July 3, 1768. He resided at the homestead in Dover, and in addition to farming was a successful lum- berman. He died April 3, 1856, at the age of eighty- seven years. In February, ISII, he married Hannah Dame, of Kittery, Mainc. John and Hannah (Dane) Guppey were Quakers and worshipped at the Friend's Meeting. They were the parents of eight children, namely: Sarah Ann, born April 5, 1812, married Captain Samuel Henderson and died December 26, 1900. George Fox, born June
J. J. Euppup
Fos p. D. Cuppy
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3, 1814, died December 26, 1838. Abigail Dame, born April 19, 1817, married Dr. Charles Trafton, of South Berwick, Maine, February 19, 1845. Joshua James, born August 27, 1820, died December 8, 1893. Joseph Dame, born February 11, 1823, again referred to. John D., born September 3. 1823, died November 1, 1844. Hannah Esther, born July 31, 1828. Jeremy Balknap, who with Abigail D. and Hannah E. are the only survivors.
Judge and General Joshua James Guppey, late of Portage, Wisconsin, was graduated from Dart- mouth College in 1843; after completing his law studies he went west, settling at Portage City, Wisconsin. He was four times elected judge of the county court of Columbia county, Wisconsin, in 1850-54-66-70. From 1858 to 1861 he was super- intendent of schools for Portage City, Wisconsin, and was again elected in 1866 and 1869. He entered the army, and September 13, 1861. was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the Tenth Regiment Wisconsin Volunteers, serving under General O. M. Mitchell in 1861-62 in Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama. July 17, 1862, he was promoted colonel of the Twenty-third Wisconsin Regiment and rendered distinguished services, commanding the regiment in the assault on Vicksburg, in December. 1862, and in the final assault and capture, July 4, 1863, succeed- ing the battles of Post Arkansas, Grand Gulf, Port Gipson, Champion Hill, Black River Bridge and others, in all of which he bore a part. After the capture of Vicksburg his regiment was transferred to the Department of the Gulf. He and his regi- ment won special commendation at the battle of Grand Cotean, Louisiana, for the gallant and reso- lute manner in which they held the enemy in check, and history writes that the right of General Bur- bridge's army was saved from utter destruction by the devoted bravery of this regiment. In this
action Colonel Guppey, after . being severely
wounded, was taken prisoner. He was kindly treated by his captors, and was exchanged in January, 1864. At the close of the war he was post commander at Paducah, Kentucky. June 15, 1865, he was brev- etted brigadier-general, "for gallant and meritori- vus service" in the field. As a soldier General Gup- pey was noted for his fine physique and soldierly bearing, strong character, inflexible purpose and rugged honesty, and he was universally beloved. He died in Portage, Wisconsin, in December, 1893, and his remains were brought to Dover, New Hamp- shire, and interred beside those of his parents and grandparents.
Hon. Joseph Dame Guppey completed a special course in mathematics, and became a successful school-teacher. He subsequently acquired political prominence, serving with ability as county con- missioner, delegate to the constitutional conven- tion, and as mayor of Dover for the years 1879 and 1880. He was a man of strong upright charac- ter and possessed of rare executive ability. His record as a public official was without blemish.
(IV) Jeremy Belknap Guppey, youngest son of John and Hannah (Dame) Guppey, was born in Dover April 6, IS31. He pursued the usual branches of study taught in the public schools. From his youth to the present time he has devoted his ener- gies to agriculture, and at his father's death he succeeded jointly with his brother Joseph D. to the possession of the homestead. He is unmarried, and he and his two sisters-Mrs. Trafton and Miss Hannah Esther Guppey-constitute the oldest liv- ing family in Dover. The Guppey house on Port-
land street was erected in 1690 by one Captain Heard, a descendant of whom sold it to Captain James Guppey, in 1767, as previously stated, and it is in an excellent state of preservation. Its mas- sive timbers are finished with a beaded edge, the hallway is panelled from the floor to the ceiling, and from it leads a winding staircase to the floor above. The living room has a large fireplace which occupies nearly two-thirds of the side of the room. Much of the rare old furniture was either bought by the captain at the time of his marriage, or was heirlooms from his parents, and the paintings, curios and bric-a-brac were collected during his many voyages to Europe and other parts of the world. Among the most prized of this valuable collection are six heavy mahogany chairs with leather seats fastened with brass nails, which were a wedding gift from Captain Gage. In addition there are massive mahogany tables, and a secretary with its lines of artistically inlaid work. In the quaint old parlor hang paintings of King George III, and Queen Charlotte, which were brought from England by Captain Guppey in 1760, the year the King and Queen were crowned. In the center of the parlor is a small curly maple table which Captain Guppey always carried in the cabin of his ship. The ship made many trips to the West Indias while in charge of Captain Guppey. On the little table stand a handsome punch bowl and salver which Dr. Jeremy Belknap presented to the captain upon re- turning from one of his long cruises. It was in returns for the many presents of choice liquors that the captain brought him on his return from each voyage that the famous minister presented him with the bowl and salver.
After the Declaration of Independence, Captain Guppey gave up the sea and devoted his time to farming. In August. 1782, the government sent him to the friendly French fleet on the coast as a competent and trustworthy pilot, and he brought the five vessels of the fleet into Portsmouth harbor, and remained there three months as the confidential adviser of the Marquis de Vaudreuil.
After leaving the sea, as well as for years before, Captain Guppey literally filled his mansion with articles of great value. Among his collection are many silver candlesticks and snuffers, silver tea sets. a green Delft dinner set, china, terra cotta and pewter. One piece which is among the most conspicuous is a tall china coffee pot with a white ground, covered with bright decorations in terra cotta, blue and yellow. It has a picture on its sides of three young women representing war, peace and industry.' This was brought across the Atlantic in 1684. In the living room is a tall eighteenth century clock, brought from England by John Guppey shortly after his marriage. In the chambers are quaint stands, bureaus, chairs, tables, a canopy bed, fire buckets, and a water set of Napoleon pink ware. Almost without exception these remarkable furnishings are in the same po- sitions they were placed in a century or more ago, and as long as the old occupants of the home- stead live, they will never be disturbed. With each and every piece of the old furnishings there is a history of some sort. and Mr. Guppey and his two sisters are familiar with all the details. The his- tory of each was passed down during the two gen- erations by Captain Guppey himself. and as he was very particular to have a certain place for each and every bit of movable property he owned, the present generation have been equally as exacting.
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The American Fifields are of Scottish FIFIELD descent and the surname they bear is understood to have been originally a union of the name of the county of Fife in Soct- land with the name of Field. The accepted com- mon ancestor of the family in this country was William Fifield, who came over in the ship "Her- cules" in 1634, and probably was at Ipswich first, next at Newbury and removed thence to Hampton in New Hampshire in 1639. In 1041 he was admitted freeman. The record of his death, December 18, 1700, mentions him as "ould William Fifield-above So." His wife's given name was Mary, and she died November 9, 1683. Their children were: Benja- min, William, Lydia, Elizabeth, Hannah and Deb- orah.
Giles Fifield is supposed to have been a brother of William the ancestor, but did not appear in New Hampshire until some years after the latter. His wife was Mary Perkins, daughter of Abraham Per- kins, and lived in Charlestown, Massachusetts, as Jate as 1657. Their daughter Mary was born in Hampton. New Hampshire, in 1695, and besides her they had a son Richard, who was born in Charlestown.
Benjamin Fifield, son of William and Mary Fifield, married Mary Colcord, and had cight chil- dren, among them a son Benjamin, who died un- married. William Fifield, son of William and Mary, and brother of Benjamin just mentioned, married Hannah Cram, and had seven children, but none named Benjamin. Several grandsons of William the ancestor married and had children, but the name of Benjamin does not appear among them.
There is a tradition in some branches of the Fi- field family that John and Moses Fifield came from England sometime during the first half of the eight- eenth century and settled in Concord, New Hamp- shire. It is said too that Moses afterward lived and died in that town. while his brother John went to Vermont and founded a branch of the family in that region. This tradition is true, as the Concord rec- ords show the birth of both Moses and John in that town and the fact that they were sons of Benja- min Fifield ; but who this particular Benjamin was and whence he came is not easily determined, al- though he undoubtedly was a descendant in the third or fourth generation of William, who came over in 1634 and settled in Hampton in 1639.
(1) Benjamin Fifield was at Rumford (Con- cord), New Hampshire, January 2, 1747-48, and joined with others in the petition to Governor Went- worth to furnish a guard for the grist mill at that place ; he also signed the association test. He died at Concord, March 8, 1794. lle married Hannah Peters, who died March 8, 1794. Their children : Mary, born AApril 1, 1748, married Ezra Carter. Obadiah P .. born August 31, 1749. William, born Alay 6, 1751. Hannah, born December 21, 1752. Benjamin, born October 4, 1754, settled in Salis- bury, New Hampshire; married (first) Mchitable Bean, and (second) Susanna Choate, of Chelsea, Vermont. Jonathan, born August 9, 1756. Sarah, born July 13. 1758. Paul, born August 5, 1760. mar- ried Temperance Thurber, and settled in Mainc. John, born May 20, 1762, married Phebe Fry. Moses, born Angust 11. 1764, afterward lived in Plainfield. David, born January 16, 1767, settled in Plainfield. Shuah, born January 27, 1760, married Zeneth Wheeler, of Concord, and removed to New York. (11) John Fifield may be regarded as the foun- der of the Vermont branch of the family, although
others of the same name may have gone there to live; but little is known of this John other than 1> mentioned here. The first name of his wife was Hepzibah. The children of John and Hepzibah Fifield were as follows: Patty, born November 30. 1788, died May 4, 1846. Silas, born February 20, 1790; died December 14, 1876. James, born June IS, 1793, died March 14, 1874. Robert, born February 23. 1790, died in 1859. Ira, born September 24, 1798, died June 9, 1859. Sophia, born September 12, 1801, died April 25, 1868. Adams, born May 22, 1804. died in 1883.
(III) Adams Fifield was born in the town of Vershire, Orange county, Vermont. His wife, Mary ( Wilson) Fifield. daughter of John and Anna Wilson, was born in Bradford, Vermont, May 15. 1799, died December 27, 1880. Adams and Mary had four children, all of whom were born at what is known as east hill in the town of Chelsea, Ver- mont. Children: Elizabeth, born July 1, 1831, de- ceased. John S., born October 3. 1834, removed te Chicago, Illinois. Dana, born September 23, 1836. now living in Laconia, New Hampshire. Edward R., born June 21, 1841. deceased.
(IV) Dana Fifield, third child and second son of Adams and Mary ( Wilson) Fifield, was born at Chelsea, Vermont, and was given a good education in the common schools of Orange county. On Sep- tember 3, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company 1. Fourth New Hampshire Infantry, for three years' service and on the organization of the company was appointed corporal. He proved a good soldier both in camp and in action, and served with credit until an unfortunate sunstroke unfitted him for further duty and in consequence he was discharged and sent home. During the latter part of the war he again entered the service in the First Vermont Frontier Cavalry, and took part in the defensive operations along the Canadian border about the time of the raid on St. Albans and the threatened invasion of that state by a confederate force sent into Canada for that purpose. He remained in service six months on his second enlistment and then was mustered out and went back to his home. In the spring of 1861, previous to his first enlistment. MIr. Fifield had come to the vicinity of Haverhill, New Hampshire, which fact accounts for his entering the army from this state. Before the war and after- ward he engaged in farming pursuits, and in 1867 he came to Plymouth. New Hampshire, and settled on a farm. In 1880 he returned with his family te Chelsea, remained there about five years and in 1885 came back to this state and located perman- ently in Laconia. Ile always has been an indus- trions man, and now (1907) at the age of seventy years he still works at whatever he can find to do For eleven years he worked as a machinist in the car shops. Mr. Fifield is a member of John L. Perley Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and in politics is a Republican.
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