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. III, Part 105

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: 876

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. III > Part 105

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LAVENE The Lavene family came from Can-

ada and the name is undoubtedly of French origin. Its founder on this side of the boundary line was loyal to the flag of his. adoption, and proved his partriotism by sacri- fieing his life in the defense of the Unon.

(I) Joseph Lavene was a native of Canada, but there is no information available relative to his birth, occupation or marriage.

(II) Edward, son of Joseph Lavene, was born in Sheffield, Province of Quebec, about the year 1845, and in early boyhood went to reside in Bakersfield, Vermont. He learned the trade of a harness maker. At the breaking-out of the Civil war, in 1861, he determined to follow the stars and stripes to the secne of confliet, in order to participate in preserving the Union from disruption, and being a minor of foreign birth he overcame this legal barrier by en- listing under an assumed name as a substitute in the Sixth Regiment, Vermont Volunteers. In the battle of Cedar Creek, October 16. 1864, he was severely wounded. He was honorably discharged with his regiment, June 2, 1865, and returning to Bakersfield physically disabled, he failed to recover, and he died in 1866 from the effects of his injuries. He married Virginia Provo, daughter of Paul Provo. She became the mother of two chldren: Frank W., now of Nashua, and Libbie, who is the wife of Henry Leach, of Lowell, Vermont.

( III) Frank William, a son of Edward and Virginia (Provo) Lavene, was born in Bakersfield. Vermont, April 4. 1863. He pursued the usual branches of study taught in the public schools, and worked upon a farm until he was nineteen years old. He was subsequently for a time employed in a box factory, later worked in a slaughter house and still later in a butter-tub factory. In 1883. he be- came an operative in the Palmer Cotton Mills at Three Rivers, Massachusetts, where he remained for more than twenty years, and during that time he acquired a complete knowledge of the textile in- dustry. In 1904 he accepted the position of over- seer of the finishing department in the Jackson Company's mills at Nashua, and still retains it. Mr. Lavene has occupied all of the important chairs in Palmer Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Palmer, Massachusetts, and he also affiliates with the Sons of Veterans. He is a member of the Un- ion Congregational Church, Three Rivers, Massa- chusetts.

Mr. Lavene married Mary Greene, daughter of

Alpheus Greene of Rhode Island. Their children are : Lena and Edna, now Mrs. O. L. Maxwell, of Indian Orchard. Massachusetts.

It is supposed that the common ances- BLOOD tor of the Bloods of New England was Janes Blood, who settled in Concord, Massachusetts, about 1638, and died there December 17. 1683. The family was wealthy. Tradition has it that James Blood was from Cheshire, England, though two of his sons, in 1649, then residing in Concord, sold an estate in Puddington, Northamp- tonshire, which might have been the place of their nativity. Ellen, the wife of James Blood, died in Concord, Massachusetts, August 1, 1674. Their children are supposed to have been James, Richard, Jolın, Robert, and Mary.

(I) George H. Blood died in Mont Vernon, Sep- tember 16, 1854, aged sixty-two. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and lost an arm in battle. Mary, his widow, died August 5. 1870, aged seventy- seven.

(II) George Henry, son of George and Mary Blood, was born in Bedford, New Hampshire, Au- gust 5. 1845. He was a farmer in Bedford, and re- moved in 1883 from there to Mont Vernon, where he was engaged in farming and lumbering. At the age of eighteen, February 16, 1864. he enlisted from Bed- ford in Company G, Second Regiment United States Volunteers Sharpshooters, as a private; January 30, 1865, he was transferred to the Fifth New Hamp- shire Volunteers, and assigned to Company B. He died September 21, 1898, in Mont Vernon. He was married. November 25. 1866, at Bedford, to Mary West, who born in Amherst, September 9, 1850, daughter of Joseph C. and Rebecca ( Pike) West. of Amherst. Six children were born of this marriage, of whom five are living : Harry George, whose sketch follows; Joseph H., Alice M., Charles E., and Bessie MI.

(III) Harry George Blood was born in Amherst. May 2, 1860. After having school he returned to the occupation of farming. to which he had been brought up, and in 1893 bought a farm of one hun- dred and thirty aeres in the north part of Mont Ver- non, where he now resides. He is prominent in the local councils of the Democratic party, and has filled the offices of road commissioner, member of the board of supervisors and of the board of select- men, filling the last named position six years. He is a member of Prospect Grange No. 22, Patrons of Husbandry, and of the United Order of the Golden Cross. He married, in Mont Vernon, April 27, 1892. Hattie M. Kittredge, who was born in Mont Vernon. July 5. 1871. daughter of Henry J. and Jane (Murray) Kittredge, of Mont Vernon.

Wellington Kaler, of Nashua, wert ti KALER that eity from York county, Maine. Many of his ancestors, in common with the majority of the inhabitants of the Maine sea board towns, were seafaring men. The family is of German origin, but neither the name of its im- migrant ancestor nor the date of his arrival in New England can be found in the records consulted

(II) Captain Aaron Kaler was born in Waldo- horo, Maine, December 16, 1815. At an early ag he began to follow the sea, and he became a shipinas- ter in the merchant service. He subsequently en- paged in the building of vessels at Waldoboro, and also hecame an extensive dealer in West India goods. He married Nancy Sproul, born September

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30, 1817, daughter of Caplain Sprwal. and had a fam- .ly of five children, but two of whom are now living, Otis, a resident of Somerville, Massachusetts, and Wellington, of Nashua.

(H) Wellington, son of Captain Aaron and Nancy ( Sproul) Kaler, was born in Waldoboro, Maine, April 9. 1845. His education was acquired in the public schools. At the age of twenty years he went to Lawrence, Massachusetts, and entering & cotton mill as an apprentice he worked his way upward to the position of overseer. In 1875 he went to Lowell, Massachusetts, as overseer in the weaving department of one of the large cotton factories in that city, and from 1883 to the present time has occupied a similar position with the Jackson Manu- facturing Company of Nashua, a period of nearly twenty year -. Mr. Kaler is a member of Tuscan Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Law- rence, and also of Highland Veritas Lodge, Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows, of Lowell, and the Nashua Encampment. His religious affiliations are with the Congregational Church.

Mr. Kaler married Marcia A. Wakefield, daugh- ter of Sylvester E. H. and Louisa (Ryder ) Wake- field, of Newport, New Hampshire. Mr. and Mrs. Kaler have one daughter, Ella Louise, wife of War- ren Prichard, business manager of the Telegraphi Publishing Company of Nashua.

LESSARD The principal subject of the follow- ing sketch is descended on the pa- ternal side from Stephen de Francis Le-sard, who settled at Sainte Anne de Beaupre, Province of Quebec, in 1623, and on the maternal side from an ancestor who settled in Quther. in

(I) Rene Edward Lessard was born at what is now Louisville, Province of Quebec, Canada, Oc- tober 13, 1817. He was fi thirty years a merchant in Montreal, and after retiring from business he removed to Manchester. New Hampshire, where he resided until his death. ISoo. Ile married Marie Marguerite Lambert, a descendant of Gabriel Lam- bert, who settled in Quebec in Its ;. The members of the Lambert family were a sturdy, industrious and respected people, and followed agricultural pursuit -. Marie M. Lessard was born at Loni-ville. in the Province of Quebec, 1826, and died in Manchester, 1897. This couple had twelve children: Edward, Henry A., Mary M., Heloise, Francis J. Stephania, Melina, Eliza. Joseph A., Augustine, Engine and one that died in childhood.

( II) Rev. Henry Athanasius Lessard, son of Rene E. and Marie Marguerite (Lambert) Lessard, was born in St. Johns, Province of Quebec. April 14, 1850. He received his preparatory education in the public schools of St. John, and pursued his classical studies in St Theresa College. In 1865 the college was closed and its founder. Rev. Charles Larocque, having been made bishop of St. Hyacinthe, the young student, Le-sard. entered St. Therese College, in Terrebonne county, Province of Quebec, where his studies were continued. In 1860, on the removal of his parents to Montreal, he accompanied them, and lived in that city about a year and a half. In I871, he went to Manchester, New Hampshire, and there spent five years in mercantile pursuits. Having be- come convinced that he ought to enter the priest- hood, he returned to St. Therese College and took the course of study necessary to fit him for that holy calling, and on June 7, 1879, he was ordained a priest in Montreal. Immediately afterward the

Rt. Rev. Jame- A. Healey, bishop of the Diocese of Portland, appointed him assistant to Father Chey- alier, pastor of St. Augustine's Church, at Man- chester. He performed the duties of this station a year, and was then sent as assistant missionary with Father Sweron, to attend the Mission at Mada- waska, in Aroostook county, Maine. There he stayed only about six month, and then went to Portland, where he spent a month at the Cathedral and in Jan- uary, ISSI, began service under Rev. Father Hevey, then pastor of the church at Lewiston, Maine. In September following he was appointed to All Saints Church at Lancaster, New Hampshire.

Father Lessard, being in full charge of a parish, realizing its needs and his duties, at once began his work in earnest and spent the next four years in con- tinuous and arduous labor, which finally began to undermine his health. It was then that he re- quested a change, which was granted, and in 1885 he was sent to Nashua. There the French Canadian population had become too great for the capacity of the Church of St. Louis de Gonzague on Hollis street, and he was sent to share Father Miletto's labors, and was assigned to a point on the north side of the city where, through his earnest, arduous and successful labor, the parish of St. Francis Xavier was formed. In July, 1896, so well rewarded had been his efforts, that the corner stone of a church building was laid on Chandler street. This, built of beautiful marble and costing one hundred thousand dollars, with school and other buildings and ceme- tery, is a very handsome structure, and the pride of the parish. Father Le-sard is a zealous worker, a successful and honored pastor, and an affable gentle- man, who is respected and honored by both the Catholic and Protestant elements of the community.

LEITH This family is of great antiquity in Scot-

land, and probably took its name from the town whence the ancestors of the American branch came. A distinguished member of this family was Sir James Leith, a British gen- eral, born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in 1763. who served with General Sir John Moore in the Penin- sula campaign, 1800, and afterward commanded the British forces in the West Indies.

(I) - Leith, was a shipbuilder at Leith, Scot- land and suburb of Edinburgh, and removed to the Canadian provinces soon after 1800.

(HT) George W. Leith, son of Leith, was born in the city of Quebec, May 20, 1820, and died mn Woodsville, New Hampshire, October, 1905, aged seventy-five years. He served an apprenticeship of seven years at the trade of tailor in Quebec, and in 1850 located in Adams, Massachusetts, and in No- vember, 1852, removed to Haverhill, New Hamp- shire. There he conducted a merchant tailoring business until 1893, when the debility of age ne- cessitated his retirement. He enlisted in Company B. Fifteenth New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry, September 10, 1862. was mustered in October 8, 1802, and mustered out August 13, 1803. He was wounded in the storming of Port Hudson, Louisiana, just be- fore his discharge. He re-enlisted in Company L, First Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteer Heavy Artillery, September 27, 1864, for one year; was mustered in September 29, and served until June 15, 1865, when he was mustered out.

He married, in 1855, Evaline E. Frary, of Haver- hill, who was born in Haverhill and they had five sons: George E., superintendent of the Pinkerton detective agency, in Boston. William II., mentioned

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below. Harry W., physician, who re-ides in Penn- sylvania. Walter Il., who lives in Bangor, Mame. - - , deceased.

(III) William II. Leith, M. D., son of George W. and Eveline E. ( Frary) Leith, was born in Haver- hill, May 10. 1859, and was educated in the public schools and Haverhill Academy and Braintree, Massachusetts, high school. He then entered the Vermont Medical College at Burlington, Vermont, from which he was graduated in the class of 1883. with the degree of M. D. He then became an in- terne in Mary Fletcher Hospital of the same place, remaining until the fall of 1884, when he settled in Guildhall, Essex county, Vermont, and entered upon the practice of medicine. Two years later he removed to Lancaster, New Hampshire, where he has since acquired a wide practice. He is a mem- ber of the Coos Medical Society, the New Hampshire Medical Society, the American Medical Association; is a member of the United States Board of Pension Examiners, and of the Association of United States Pension Examiners, and the New Hampshire So- ciety of the Prevention of Tuberculosis. He is a trustee of the Eaton estate.

He married, in Lancaster. October 4, 1888, Min- nie P. Eaton, who was born in Lancaster, dangh- ter of George Roscoe and Sarah J. ( Parker ) Eaton. (See Eaton. Xl.) Mrs. Leith is of quiet dispo- sition, domestic in her habits and a lady whose works of philanthropy and charity are well known to the sick and distressed of Lancaster. They have one child, Eaton Leith.

LABONTY The LaBonty family was founded in America by a French immigrant who settled in Canada. Persever- ance and self-reliance are among its most prominent characteristics, and David P. LaBonty, a brief out- line of whose career is herewith presented, is no exception to this rule.

(I) The first LaBonty (who was a native of France) crossed the ocean to British North Amer- ica with a view of improving his prospects in life, and locating among his compatriots in Canada he engaged in tilling the soil.

(II) Michael, son of the preceding, was born in Canada. His principal occupation was that of a farmer. He settled in Burlington, Vermont, where he now resides. He married Frances Cham- berlain, and was the father of fourteen children, of whom three are still living, namely: Francis. Lois and David. The mother died at the age of seventy- five.

(III) David. son of Michael and Frances ( Cham- berlain) LaBonty, was born in Burlington, Vermont, January 2. 1842. Bereft of his parents at an early age he was compelled to depend upon his own in- herent resources for support, at a time when the majority of youth are reaping the benefits of pa- rental solicitude, and he is therefore a self-made man in the true meaning of that term. After concluding his attendance at the public schools he accepted willingly any available employment, working in hotels and for private families, and he also served an apprenticeship at the harness-maker's trade. But his powers of perceptibility, which developed early, led him to relinquish that calling, and profiting by the practical experience already obtained in catering to the wants of the traveling public. he turned his attention to the hotel business. In 1866 he estab- lished himself as a restaurant keeper in Manchester, where he has ever since resided, and he served the

traveling public both satisfactorily and continue . . for a period of thirty years up to 1896, during w .... time he was proprietor of the Fletch and LaBion restaurant. His ability and thrift enabled hin retire with a competency in 1896, and the past ten years have been spent in rest and recreation. Polit- ically he acts with the Democratic party, and in his religious feith he is a Roman Catholic. Ile is a member of the Derryfield Club.

Mr. LaBonty married Jane Dorrin, daughter of John Dorrin, an Englishman. Ile has one daughter, Jennie, who is the wife of Arthur A. Lamory, and the mother of two children: David A. and Miria L. Lamory.

DICKINSON This name presents an excellent example of the manner in which names became gradually moduic 1 in transition from one language to another, and in the lapses of time. The family herein mentioned has been traced from Walter de Caen, whose Norman cognomen, meant Walter of Caen. He was a kins- man and companion of William the Conqueror in the conquest of England, and married a daughter of the last Saxon Lord of Kenson, subsequently becoming known as Walter De Kenson. The de cent of this Walter is from Rollow, the first Duke of Normandy. The first emigrant to America in this line was of the fifteenth generation from Walter De Kenson, and long before his arrival, namely in the fourteenth century, the name had become anglicized to Dickenson. For a long time it was known in England in the form of Dicconson.

(I) William and Sarah ( Stacey) Dickinson were residents of Ely, in Cambridge, England.

(II) Nathaniel, son of William and Sarah ( Stacey) Dickinson, was born at Ely, 1600, and mar- ried, in January, 1630, Anna, widow of William Gull. With his wife and three children he im- migrated to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1034. Within three years thereafter he had removed to Wethersfield, Connecticut, where he very quickly took a prominent place. Ilis life forms an admir- able example of Puritan character. He was among the inost upright and estevmed citizens, not only of Wethersfield, but of Hadley, Massachusetts, whither he migrated later in life. His was a life of stern activity in conquering the wilderness, re- sisting the foes, and establishing a civilization on the Western continent. We find him on record as a juryman at Wethersfield, October 14, 1642, and one or before December 1. 1645, he was appointed town clerk or "recorder." The first existing record of a vote in Wethersfield is in his hand writing. He was townsman in 1647-48, and deputy to the general assembly court from 1646 to 1656. llis homestead is recorded to him in 1649. In 1654 he was one of a committee of three to advise with Constable about "Pressing men for the Expedition into the Ninigret country" in the Narragansett war. With his two sons, Nathaniel and John, he was ac- tive in the movement among dissatisfied members of the churches in Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield, which led to the establishment of a plantation at Hadley, Massachusetts, and the father was a member of the committee appointed to lay out the new plantation. They were among the twenty- nine present at the town meeting in October, 1650, for the adoption and signing of rules and regulations governing the new colonies. Nathaniel Dickinson was the first town clerk of lladley, and also served as assessor and magistrate. He was one of the

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original members of the Hampshire troop on its organization, in 1663, and was one of the first trustees of Hopkin's Academy. In the aggressions of the Indians in 1675-76, three of his sons were slain, and this was a severe blow to the father. Worn out with his struggles and the toils incident to establishing a new colony, he died, June 16, 1676. His children were: John, Joseph, Thomas, Anna (or Hannah), Samuel, Obadiah, Nathaniel, Nehemiah, Hezekiah, Azariah and Frances.

(III) Nathaniel (2), sixth son and seventh child of Nathaniel (1) and Anna Dickinson, was born about 1644, in Wethersfield, and settled in Hat- field, Massachusetts, where he died October II, 1710. His first wife, Hannah, died February 23, 1679. He married (second), December 16, 1680, Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Gillett. She died before April, 1682. He married (third ), September 26, 1684, Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Burt, and widow of Samuel Wright. The latter was killed at Northfield, September 3, 1675. His children, all of the first wife, were: Nathaniel and Hannah, died young : Nathaniel, Hannah, John, Mary, Daniel and Rebecca.

(IV) Nathaniel (3), second son and third child of Nathaniel (2) and Hannah Dickinson, was born May 7, 1663, probably in Hatfield, and resided in that town, where he died before 1757. He was among the severe sufferers by the Indians in the Connecticut Valley. He married ( first ) Hepzibah, daughter of Samuel Gibbs, of Windham. She died at the age of fifty-eight years, in 1713. He married (second) Lydia, daughter of Samuel Marshal, and widow of Samuel Wright, of Northampton. Hi

children, all born of the first wife, were: Na- thaniel, killed by Indians, 1698; Samuel, Ebenezer, Daniel, Hepzibahı, Nathaniel, Benjamin, Thankful and Katherine.

(V) Nathaniel (4), fifth son and sixth child of Nathaniel (3) and Hepzibah ( Gibbs) Dickinson, was born November 27, 1698, in Hatfield. He was residing in Northfield, Massachusett-, as early as 1727, and was killed by the Indians, April 15, 1747. In 1873 his granddaughter, Mrs. Polly Holton, who was then ninety-three years old, gave the following account of her grandfather's tragic death. Late in the afternoon Mr. Dickinson, accompanied by Mr. Asahel Burt, started on hore-back to fetch the cows from the meadow. When going up Pauchang Hill they were fired upon by the savages, and Mr. Dickinson's horse fell to the ground carring his rider down with him. Instantly the Indians sprang forward, tomahawked and scalped both of their victims and disappeared in the adjacent woods. The discl- irge of firearms soon brought several settlers to the scene of the ambuscade, and the first to reach the prostrate form of Mr. Dickinson was his eldest son, Ebenezer, who, finding that his father was still alive, asked : "Father, who shot you?" The dying man answered faintly: "Indians," and shortly afterward expired. The first intimation of the tragedy received by the remainder of his family was when his bleeding body was brought to the door of his dwelling, and the gruesome sight caused a severe shock to the nervous system of his wife, which, owing to her delicate condition, was doubly severe. A durable monument was erected upon the spot where the ambuscade occurred, and unveiled with appropriate ceremonies, September 12, 1782. Nathaniel Dickinson married Martha Wright, daughter of Eleazer Wright, and she died a widow March 28, 1793, aged eighty-nine years.

In addition to Ebenezer, previously mentioned, she had Miriam, born July 17, 1727, died October 2.4, 1736; Moses, November 20, 1728; Titus, July 18, 1730, died young; Martha, February 6, 1733, also died young; Nathaniel, April 24, 1735; Miriam, December 25, 1737; Martha, April 26, 1740, died young; Mercy, December 22, 1742; Titus, February 15, 1745; and Benoni, December 12, 1747, the post- humous child. Benoni was a striking example of the singular influences of ante-natal impressions. Throughout his life he displayed an aversion to firearms, which he regarded with absolute fear, and even the distant report of a gun caused him to shudder. He could never be induced to use to dangerous weapons, neither could he listen anecdotes of Indian warfare, and .when drafted into service during the Revolutionary war, the offi- cers, on being made acquainted with the cause of huis inability to bear arins, assigned him to duty in the commissary department. He was also averse to the takng of the life of any creature whatever, and from youth to old age was never known to voluntarily speak of his father's death.

(VI) Nathaniel (5), son of Nathaniel (4) Dickinson, was born in 1735. in Northfield, Massa- chusetts, and with his brother Joseph, settled in Swanzey, New Hampshire. On May 15, 1770, he married Caroline Cummings. He died March 25, 1814. His children were : William, Azariah, Na- thaniel, Asa, Aaron, died young; another Aaron, Abel and Israel. He adopted Rachel Hale.

. (VII) William, eldest child of Nathaniel (5) and Caroline (Cummings) Dickinson, was born July 16, 1771. He married, April 24, 1800, Lucinda Gardner, of Sunderland, Massachusetts, and had a family of seven children : Erastus, Caroline, Na- thaniel, Arvilla, David L., Ansel and Rollins.

(VIII) Ansel, fifth son and sixth child of Wil- liam and Lucinda (Gardner) Dickinson, was born in Swanzey, February 22, 1822. At the age of eighteen years he went to Winchester, where he was employed a short time by his brother, General Erastus Dickinson, in a lumber manufacturing busi- ness, and was then admitted to partnership. He was afterwards associated in business with his nephews, whom he succeeded. He died in Ashue- lot, July 31, 1889. He married Jane L. Boleyn, who died shortly afterwards, and he subsequently married Mary Theresa Felch, of Winchester. Of this union there are four children: La Fell, Milan .A., John H., resides at Ashuelot; and William Eugene, married Flossie Drew, of Greenfield, Mas- sachusetts, where they reside.

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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. III, Part 105

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: 876

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: 876