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 91

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 91

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(II) Ezekiel, fourth son and fifth child of Ezekiel and Hannah (Martin) Worthen. was born May I8, 1672, and resided in Amesbury. He was married December 26, 1704, in Amesbury, to Abi- gail, daughter of John and Martha Carter, of Salis- bury, and granddaughter of Thomas Carter , a pioneer of that town. (See Carter). She was born March 7, 1686, in Salisbury. Their children were: Mary, Jacob. Ezekiel, Thomas, Abigail, Hannah, Martha, Mehitable, Anne, Samuel and Ephraim. (Mention of Thomas and descendants appears in this article) ).

(III) Ezekiel (3), second son and third child of Ezekiel (2) and Abigail (Carter) Worthen, was born March 18, 1710, in Amesbury, and was lieuten- ant in the expedition against Louisburg in 1745, and a member of Captain Prescott's company. He mar- ried Hannah Currier, daughter of William and Rachel (Sargent) Currier, and granddaughter of Thomas Currier, of Amesbury. (See Currier II). She was born January 26, 1711, in Amesbury.

(IV) Thomas, son of Ezekiel (3) and Hannah (Currier) Worthen, was born August 24, 1765, in Amesbury ,and was an early settler of Corinth, Ver- mont, whence he removed to Bradford, in the same state. He married Susanna Adams, and their chil- dren were: Enoch, Sarah. Mary, Lydia, Thomas, Susannah, Joseph, Hannah, Jesse, John, Amos, George.

(V) Thomas (2), fifth child of Thomas (I) and Susanna (Adams) Worthen, was born March 13, 1794, in Corinth, Vermont, and was reared in Bradford. He made his home in Thetford, and was engaged in agriculture. He was an active member of the Methodist Church, in which he long served as steward. He married Betsey Hewes, and their children were: William, Joseph, Mary, Caroline, Ellis, Harry and Harriet.

(VI) Joseph, son of Thomas (2) and Betsey (Hewes) \Vorthen, was born February 12, 18IS, in Bradford, Vermont. He grew up in Thetford, Ver- mont, and received his education in the common schools. He settled in Thetford, on a farm of one hundred and thirty acres, and was a very industrious man. He gradually added to his holdings until he was one of the largest land owners of the town. He died June 6, 1894. He was an old fashioned Democrat in political principle, and was respected

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for his integrity and blameless life. He served as town lister in Thetford, and was for twenty-five years overseer of the poor. He was married Janu- ary 7. 1845, to Elizabeth Chase, who was born April 27. 1823, in Bradford. Vermont, and died April 23, 1889. in Thetford. Their children were: Thomas, Joseph, Harriet, John, Jennie, and George.

(VII) Thomas Wilson Dorr, eldest child of Joseph and Elizabeth (Chase) Worthen, was born October 3, 1845, in Thetford, Vermont, and attended the local schools, including Thetford Academy, and was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1872. His boyhood was spent upon a Vermont hill farm, and he was carly introduced to the duties which fall to the lot of the farmer's son. Industry was a first principle, and has characterized his entire life. Dur- ing the time that he was pursuing the academy course he was engaged at intervals in teaching coun- try schools, and his way through college was earned by further teaching, a part of which was performed in Lebanon, New Hampshire. For two years suc- ceeding his graduation he was principal of the high school at Woodstock, Vermont. From 1874 to 1876 he was a tutor in mathematics at Dartmouth Col- lege; from 1876 to 1878 tutor in Greek; from 1878 to 1879, tutor in Greek and mathematics; from 1879 to 1883 was instructor in mathematics. and assistant professor of mathematics from 1883 to 1893. Since the last named date he has been at the head of the department of mathematics in his alma mater. He was also instructor in gymnastics from 1875 to 1893. Professor Worthen is not only an able instructor, but an active citizen, and takes a keen interest in promoting the welfare of the community, the state and the nation. He is an ardent believer in the principles expounded by the Democratic party, and is active in its councils. Since 1897 he has been justice of the police court in Hanover, and has served as precinct commissioner. He represented the town in the legislature of 1905-6, and was a member of the committee on education and rules. In the clection of 1906 he was the candidate of his party for senator from the Third district, and re- duced the normal Republican majority in the dis- trict of thirteen hundred to less than five hundred. In 1904, when he was candidate for representative, the entire Republican ticket, both state and national, with the exception of representative, was carried in Hanover by a large majority. The election of Pro- fessor Worthen was a tribute of the community to him as a man, and he was the first Democrat to hold that office from Hanover for twenty-six years. He began his service in the legislature by returning the pass proffered to him by the railroad, and paid his own fare to and from Concord. It did not require any legislation to abolish the pass system as applied to him. As a member of the committee on educa- tion, he rendered valuable service to the schools of the state, and on every question of good government he was found on the right side. He has ever stood as an advocate of the various reforms demanded in the late political platforms, and these could be speedily adopted, were men of his sturdy principles selected to make the laws.

Professor Worthen has been an active worker in teachers' institutes, in which he has become thor- oughly familiar with the educational needs of the country towns. Ile has served as clerk on the col- lege faculty, inspector of buildings, director of the gymnasium, and director of the summer school for teachers. He is a trustce of the Mary Hitchcock hospital, and the Howe Library of Hanover, and of

Thetford Academy. He has been eleven years dea- con in the college church. It has well been said of him: "He is distinctly a man of affairs, energetic, practical, reliable; and he has always given freely of his abundant energy to the community. He has never been an office seeker, but wherever hard work was to be done without pay he has been ready."

Professor Worthen has been much employed in the settling of estates and other probate work, and his administration as justice of the peace has been characterized by the promotion of peace rather than litigation. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Kappa Kappa Kappa societies of Dartmouth, of the American Mathematical Society, of the Dart- mouth Scientific Association (in which he has filled all the offices), and of the New England Association of Mathematical Teachers (in which he is one of the council ).

Professor Worthen was married (first), August 20. 1874, to Louise Maria Wilcox, daughter of B. D. Wilcox and Adeline (Dodge) Wilcox. She was born July 24, 1850, in Thetford, Vermont, and died March 1, 1878, in Thetford. He was married (sec- ond), July 22, 1885, to Elizabeth Almira Washburn, who was born May 26, 1852, in Woodstock, Ver- mont, daughter of Governor Peter T. and Almira (Hopkins) Washburn. The first wife was the mother of one child. Louise Wilcox, born February 24, 1878. The second wife was the mother of three children, Thacher Washburn, born September 19, 1886, in Woodstock, Vermont; Joseph Washburn, January 21, 1888, and Mary, May 17, 1892, in Han- over.

(III) Thomas, third son and fourth child of Ezekiel and Abigail (Carter) Worthen, was born February 3, 1712, in Amesbury, and resided in Haverhill. He was among the first settlers in Ches- ter, New Hampshire, and was an active citizen of that town and a prosperous farmer. He died in 1775. That he was a prudent and careful man is shown by the fact that his will was made in 1769. It was proved September 1, 1773. His widow Dorothy survived him about thirty years, and died in 1803, aged ninety-nine years. He must have been twice married previous to that, as the records of Amesbury show the following children born of his wife Lydia : David. Thomas and Ezekiel. The same records show that his wife Abigail bore him Abigail in May, 1741. The son Thomas and daughter Abi- gail were probably dcad in 1769. as they are not men- tioned in his will. This document mentions grand- sons Michacl and Thomas Worthen, sons Ezekiel and Samuel, and several granddaughters.

(IV) David, son of Thomas and Dorothy Wor- then, resided through life in Chester, on additional lot 3, where his sons succeeded him. His wife Dorothy was a daughter of Enoch and Abial ( San- born) Colby, of Chester. She was born January 5, 1730, and died August 15, 1816. David Worthen died November 19, 1766, and his widow subsequently married Jacob Chase. Esq., of Chester. David's children were: Michael, Dorothy and David.

(V) Michacl, eldest child of David and Dorothy (Colby) Worthen, was born January 6, 1758, in Chester, and resided in that town upon the paternal homestead. He died in 1840, at the age of eighty- two years. He was married in 1778 to Dorothy Brown, and their children were: Lydia, Isaac, Dorothy, Betsy, David and Lucretia.

(VI) Isaac. eldest son and second child of Michael and Dorothy (Brown) Worthen, was born February 4, 1781, in Chester, and settled in Candia.

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He followed teaming for some years in Massachu- setts, from Lynn to Salem, later driving a convey- ance of his own and conveying people from Stan- stcad county, Canada, to Lowell, Massachusetts, a distance of two hundred miles. Later he followed farming, and then retired, spending his last years at the home of his grandson, George B. Worthen, in Hatley, province of Quebec, where he died, aged ninety-three years. He married Hannah, daughter of Captain Benjamin and Mary (Locke) True. Their children were: True, Matthew, John, Sarah. Betsy, Sanhorn, Bela and Gilman. (Mention of Sanborn appears in this article).

(VII) True, eldest child of Isaac and Hannah (True) Worthen, was born in Salem. New Hamp- shire, April 1, 1804, and died in Hatley, province of Quebec, June 4, 1900, aged ninety-six years. At the age of fifteen he removed with his father and the other members of the family to Stanstead county, province of Quebec, Canada, then but little better than an unbroken wilderness, filled with wild ani- mals. and located on the north side of Massawippi Lake. His schooling was the little he got in the states before going to Canada, but throughout his life he was an untiring reader, and acquired in that way a great deal of useful information, and becanie thoroughly conversant with the Bible. Before he was twenty-one years old he had cleared a farm and set out an orchard, which he afterward sold. Later in life he cleared another farm and set out another orchard. Horticulture was his pride, and his were two of the best orchards in that region. He was a successful farmer, and was particularly prosperous during the years of the Civil war in the United States, when farm produce of all kinds brought high prices. His methodical way of conducting business and his natural financial shrewdness made him one of the most successful farmers in his region. He retired from active work many years before he died, and spent his time in pleasant ways. In religion he was first a Baptist, but late in life became a believer in the Adventist faith.

He married Minerva McConnell, of Hatley, Stanstead county, who died February 10. 1888, aged seventy-nine. She was the daughter of Thomas and Roxanna (Hovey) McConnell, her father being a native of the north of Ireland, and her mother of Windsor county, Vermont; her brother, John Mc- Connell, was a prominent citizen of the province, a member of the Canadian parliament two terms (four years cach), and colonel of the Stanstead militia. She had a good education, of which she made good use in instructing her younger brothers and sisters. Seven children were born of this marriage: I. Mathew, died young. 2. Cyrus, died 1869. 3. Mary, died young. 4. Hannah, died young. 5. George, see forward. 6. Wright. resided in Manchester. died 1903. 7. Frank, resides in . Airs Cliff. 8. Sanborn T., see forward.

(VIII) George, third son and fifth child of True and Minerva (McConnell) Worthen, was born in Hatley, province of Quebec, February 23, 1842. He followed farming. He went to Windsor, Vermont, and was with his uncle Sanborn in the gun works for one year. During the Civil war he served for twenty months as a private in Company D. First Regiment Vermont Cavalry. He returned to Man- chester, and later spent a year in Contoocook, with his uncle, engaged on looms. He then bought the farm where his uncle formerly lived, which he culti- vated for a time, then returned to the parental home and cared for his parents until their death, when he 11-27

removed to Airs Cliff, his present residence. He married Henrietta Hurd, who was born in Newport, Canada, and they have one son, Scott Sanborn.

(VIII) Sanborn True, youngest child of True and Minerva (McConnell) Worthen, was born in Stanstead county, province of Quebec, September 5, 1850. At the age of eighteen he left home and came to Manchester, New Hampshire, where he became a machinist apprentice in the Manchester Locomotive Works, where his brother Cyrus was employed. Cyrus died a year later, and Sanborn continued at the trade until 1870, when he engaged in carpenter- ing, which he followed until 1885. In 1883 he began contracting, and became one of the leading builders of the city. Among the edifices he erected were the Swedishı Lutheran Church, the Hazelton Block, and the Emergency Hospital, and others-in all about one hundred of the best of the present buildings in Manchester. In 1896 he built the handsome four- story family hotel, "The Worthen," which he has since conducted. It is of brick, contains sixty-four rooms, and has all modern conveniences, including electric light generated by a dynamo on the premises. He owns three farins in Mont Vernon, comprising two hundred and six acres, with large orchards pro- ducing a thousand barrels of apples a year, besides peaches and various kinds of small fruits. He also keeps fifteen Jersey cows and hundreds of chickens. which contributed to supply the hotel. Mr. Worthen is a director in the Manchester Building and Loan Association, and a member of the Manchester Board of Trade. He is affiliated with Wildcy Lodge. No. 45, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he is a past grand; Mt. Washington Encampment. No. 16. of the same order, in which he has passed all the chairs, and is past chief patriarch; Agawam Tribe. No. S, Improved Order of Red Men; and Amoskeag Grange. He married, in Hatley, province of Quebec. September 12, 1876, Mary Parnell, born there July 24. 1855, third child of Thomas and Nancy (Turner) Parnell. (See Parnell). She is a inember of Social Degree Rebekah Lodge, No. Io, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. and Mrs. Worthen have no children, but they had in their home from her ninth to her eighteenth year Mrs. Worthen's youngest sister. Cora, to whom they af- forded an excellent business education.

(VII) Sanborn, sixth child and fourth son of Isaac and Hannah (True) Worthen, was born in Stanstead county, province of Quebec, in 1813, and dicd at the home of his son, Dr. B. S. Worthen. in Spencer. North Carolina, February, 1905. aged eighty-two years. He learned the machinist's trade at Clinton, Massachusetts, and worked in the loco- motive shops in Lowell, Massachusetts, and Man- chester, New Hampshire. He afterward engaged in sewing machine and gun work at Windsor, Vermont, where for six years he had a contract for building the Clark & Kelsey machine, one of the many chain- stitch machines of that time. From 1861 to 1865 he made Enfield rifles, one of the best infantry arms of the Civil war period, and when this market was closed by the return of peace he built hand looms for four years, from 1865 to 1869, at Coaticook. province of Quebec, and from 1869 to 1871 he was one of the firm and superintendent of the Keebles. Osborn & Co's manufactory in Guelph, Ontario. In 1872 he removed from Guelph to North Carolina, on account of impaired health. In 1874 he organized a company for the manufacture of sewing machines- the Carolina-this being the first machine manufac- tured in a southern state. In the eighties he lo-

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cated at Bakersville, North Carolina, where he as- sisted his son, Dr. B. S. Worthen, in the drug busi- ness, also publishing a newspaper and still selling a few machines. For some years before his death he lived retired, at Estatoe, surrounded by the Great Smoky and Blue Ridge mountains. He occasionally wrote articles for the Sewing Machine Times, Man- ufacturers' Record, and other papers, and at the time of his death had partially prepared a history of his sewing machine work in North Carolina. He pro- moted the Carolina Machine Company, a corpora- tion capitalized by four business men of Shelby. North Carolina. He purchased and installed the machinery. brought two sons who had learned the trade with him, and an expert tool maker from Canada. and began work on machine manufacture with unskilled help from the neighborhood. The first machine was produced in June, 1874, all the work on it except drop forging the shuttles being done on the place. The average number of men em- ployed was fifteen. In 1879 the most prominent stockholder in the company withdrew, and the busi- ness was closed out. The "Carolina" was very pop- ular in the state, and took first prize over the leading machines of that day at the North Carolina Agricul- tural and Mechanical Fair. Mr. Worthen was a Ma- son, an Odd Fellow, and a Son of Temperance, and was much interested in the affairs of those orders. He left a wife and four children and many grand- children in North Carolina and the northern states.

Mr. Worthen married Lucinda S. Taylor, born in "Vermont, a daughter of David and Nancy (Sias) Taylor. her mother being a descendant from a Mar- quis of France. Mr. Worthen was the father of six children, of whom four are living: 1. Sias, who in the Civil war served in the First Regiment, Vermont Cavalry, was captured, and died in Andersonville prison. 2. Edgar Clinton, who was the first male born in Clinton, Massachusetts, after the village wa- given that name. He was foreman of the Ly- dell shops in Charlotte, North Carolina. He later received a patent on a cotton press which he manu- factured. He died suddenly of pneumonia. He was a Royal Arch Mason. He married Alice Mecreelan, of North Carolina, and had three children: Herbert Sias, married and residing in Buffalo, New York ; Laura, deceased; and True, residing in Charlotte, North Carolina. 3. Dr. B. S., of Spencer, North Carolina, druggist, and secretary, treasurer and manager of the Spencer Drug Company. He mar- ried Lizzie Leacy, of Tennessee, and has three chil- .dren-Flora, Marie and Alice Ruth. all living in Spencer, North Carolina. 4. Mary Alice, a woman of literary attainments; having written a volume and a number of poems which have been published and have had wide circulation. She is the wife of George Walton, a merchant of North Carolina. and has five children : Stella, who married John Miller and has three children: Mahel, Paul and John. re- side in San Francisco, California. George Sanborn Walton, married Alberta Latchford; is engaged in the men's furnishing goods business in Norfolk, Vir- ginia. Ethel. Jessie. Katherine, who married Wil- bur Blakelee, from Connecticut. now living in Balti- more, and has one child, Kenneth Worthen. 5. Harry Bela, a contractor and farmer at Estatoe, North Carolina: has held all the county offices, including that of sheriff; he married Patice Cox, of North Carolina, and had five children: Fred, deceased ; Flossie. Truc, Lionel and Benjamin. 6. Charles Stewart. a printer and reporter : is now at Brockton, Massachusetts ; he married Lilly Green, of Portland,

Maine, and they have children: Edgar Sias, Albert and Hazel.

GORDON

The Gordon name is one of the most ancient in England, and is now repre- sented in the peerage by the Earl of

Aberdeen. The family is of Norman origin and dates bact to very early times. In 1150 Richard de Gordon, knight banneret, granted to the monks at Kelso lands at Gordon near Huntley Strather. There were several early American immigrants of the name, and their descendants can be found in all parts of the country, especially in the South. The Gordons in America are for the most part of Scotch origin, some of them being the progeny of an im- imigrant who came from Scotland by the way of England, while others are of Scotch-Irish descent. The first of the name in New England was Edmund Gordon, who came in the ship "Susan and Ellen," in 1635. A Jolin Gordon was residing in Bridge- water, Massachusetts, in 1682, and a Nicholas Gor- don was in New Hampshire in 1689. Nathaniel Gordon, born in Tyrone, Ireland, in the year 1700, emigrated in 1749 to join his eldest son Samuel who had preceded him. Nathaniel was accompanied by his other children, whose names were John, Jane and Hannah. Ile and his son Samuel went to Dun- stable, Massachusetts, where they entered the em- ploy of one William Gordon, a merchant of that town, and presumably a relative. John, son of Nathaniel Gordon, was a brewer, and between the years 1750 and 1760 became associated in business with the famous patriot, Samuel Adams, in Boston. Five of this name were graduated from Harvard University down to 1834; three were graduated from Yale and Dartmouth, and five from other col- leges.

(I) Alexander Gordon, the first of the name in New Hampshire, was a member of a Highland Scot- tish family which was loyal to the cause of the Stuarts. While a soldier in the royalist army of King Charles the Second, he fell into the hands of Cromwell as a prisoner. After being confined in .Tuthill Fields, London, he was sent to America in 1651, and held a prisoner of war at Watertown. Massachusetts. In 1654 he was released and went to Exeter, New Hampshire, where the town gave him a grant of twenty acres of land ten years later. and he became a permanent resident. He engaged in Jumbering upon the Exeter river, and was a success- ful and exemplary citizen. In 1663 he was mar- ried to Mary, daughter of Nicholas Lysson, and they had six sons and two daughters.

(HI) Daniel, youngest son of Alexander and Mary (Lysson) Gordon, was a native of Exeter, and resided in Kingston, where he was a blacksmith. He was married in 1708 to Margaret, daughter of Matthew Harriman, of Haverhill, and granddaugh- ter of Leonard llarriman. who came from York- shire, England, in 1640, and settled at Rowley, Mas- sachusetts. Daniel Gordon's children, born in Kings- ton, were : Mary, Margaret and Alexander.

(I]]) Alexander (2). only son and youngest child of Daniel and Margaret (Harriman) Gordon, was born January 26, 1716, in Kingston, and settled in Salem. New Hampshire, where he was a farmer. Hle was married (first). June 22, 1742, to Susanna Pattec of Haverhill. Massachusetts, and she bore him seven children, namely: Daniel, Jonathan, Phin- eas, Susanna, Alexander. Benjamin and Phebe. His second wife. Hannah Stanley of Beverly, Massachu- setts was the mother of nine children, as follows :

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Hannah, Lydia, Sarah, Benjamin, Willard, Betsey, Henry, John H. and Wells.

(IV) Jonathan, second son and child of Alex- ander (2) and Susanna (Pattee) Gordon, was born December 5, 1744, in Salem, where he resideed. Ilc was married there September 3, 1767, to Esther Saunders. Their children were: David, Phineas, Peaslee, Jonathan, Alexander, Jeremiah, Isaac, Abi- gail. Betty, Esther, John and Molly.

(V) Phineas, second son and child of Jonathan and Esther ( Sanders) Gordon, was born April 18, 1770, in Salem, and was a pioneer settler in Bath, this state. For a time he lived in the adjoining town of Landaff, and returned to the vicinity of his birth about 1828. He was a successful farmer, and died September 7, 1863, over ninety-three years of age. He was married November 17, 1791, to Joanna Pattee, who was the mother of his twelve children. She died January 2, 1827, and he was married before the close of the same year to Polly Balch, of Wind- ham. She was born January 16, 1783, in Beverly, Massachusetts, daughter of Major Caleb Balch, and was many years a teacher in Windham. His three youngest children were born in Landaff and the others in Bath, namely: Savory, Hannah, Nancy, Phineas, Sylvester, Esther, Mary, Abigail, Sybil, Rosanna and John.

(VI) Savory, eldest child of Phineas and Joanna (Pattee) Gordon, was born July 22, 1792, in Batlı, and died January 20, 1881, in Landaff. He was mar- ried in Bath, January 2, 1815, to Sally Powers, and they were the parents of nine children, namely : Savory, Joanne, Sullivan, Francis, Russell T., Daniel Pattee, Patience, Sarah E. and Jane.

(I) Daniel P., fifth son of Savory and Sally ( Powers) Gordon, was born in Landaff, New Hampshire, March 17, 1827, and died September 19, 1905. He was a man of intellect, and his educational acquirements were much beyond the average for his day. He was a school teacher all his life, and was general superintendent of schools for several years. He was active in politics, and held all the town offi- ces, and was representative of the New Hampshire legislature for three terms. He was a Master Mason, and a leader in the Methodist Church. Daniel P. Gordon married Maria H., daughter of Sylvanus Blandin, of Bath, New Hampshire. There were two children: Rufus Noyes, whose sketch follows ; and H. B., who is now a druggist at St. Johinsbury, Vermont.

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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 91

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