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 14

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 14

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Alr. Hale's election was not merely a personal triumph of the man over his opponents. it was a great moral victory marking the beginning of the overthrow of the slave power. The ideas of Mr. Hale were now known to the intellegent people of the nation, and many advanced thinkers embraced the doctrines he advocated, and zealously propa- gated them. The state of New Hampshire was re- moved from the ranks of the supporters of the slave power and forever set in array against it. He took

his seat in the senate, December 6, 1847. and for two years worked and struggled alone as an anti- slavery independent. In 1849 his principles bore fruit in Ohio, and Salmon P. Chase was sent to join him, and in IS51, Charles Sumner, of Massa- chusetts, became the third of the trio of intellectual giants whose voices no power could silence, and whose influence no opposition could control. He entered into the business of the senate as he had that of the house, boldly, as one having a right to be there and a mission to fulfill. He stood alone. "Every means of sileneing him was resorted to, threats, insults, sneers, ridicule, derision. He was treated with studied contempt by the South, and with cold neglect by the North." He was denied, says Colonel Hall, "the common courtesy of a place on senatorial committees, being told publicly by a senator who was afterward expelled from the body for disloyalty, that he was considered outside of any healthy political organization in the country." But in the face of all this he persevered as one conscious of the greatness of the work hie now seems to have been specially appointed to execute. In 1848, when the question of the admission of Oregon was under discussion, he proposed as an amendment the ordinance of 1787 excluding slavery. which brought up a fierce debate. He was accused of provoking a "useless and pestiferous discussion." To this he good naturedly replied that he was "will- ing to stand where the word of God and his con- science placed him, and there bid defiance to conse- quences."

A mob demonstration against the office of the National Era in Washington was the occasion of a debate in the senate, during the progress of which Mr. Hale introduced a resolution copied from the laws of Maryland, providing for the reimburse- ment of persons whose property should be destroyed by mobs. In the controversy which followed Sen- ator John C. Calhoun said he "would as soon argue with a maniac from Bedlam as with the senator from New Hampshire on this subject." Mr. Hale's reply to Mr. Calhoun's attack was spirited, as would be expected. and in closing he said to Calhoun that his was "a novel mode of terminating a controversy by charitably throwing the mantle of a maniac's irresponsibility upon one's antagonist." In this debate Mr. Foote, of Mississippi, after many insulting ex- pressions, and denouncing Mr. Hale's bill as "ob- viously intended to cover and protect negro steal- ing," turned to Mr. Hale and said: "I invite him to visit the good state of Mississippi in which I have the honor to reside, and will tell him beforehand in all honesty, that he could not go ten miles into the interior before he would grace one of the tallest trees of the forest with a rope around his neck, with the approbation of every virtuous and patriotic citizen; and that, if necessary, I should myself as- sist in the operation." To this Mr. Hale replied : "One senator invited me to visit the state of Missis- sippi, and kindly informs me that he would be one of those who would aet the assassin, and put an end to * Well, in return for his hospit-

my career.

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able invitation, I can only express the desire that he should penetrate into one of the 'dark corners' of New Hampshire, and, if he do, I am much mistaken if he would not find that the people in that 'be- nighted region' would be happy to listen to his arguments, and engage in an intellectual conflict with him, in which the truth might be elicited." The nobility of this reply was in great contrast to the ruffianism of the assault, which consigned Sen- ator Foote to the pillory of history with a nickname bestowed upon him by the public which will never be forgotten while he is remembered.

Believing with Daniel Webster that the war with Mexico was "an iniquitous war made in order to obtain, by conquest, slave territory," he opposed all the measures pursued in prosecuting it. In December, 1849, Mr. Foote introduced a resolution declaring it to be the duty of congress to provide territorial government for California, Deseret and New Mexico. Mr. Hale offered an amendment that the ordinance of 1787 should be applied. Dur- ing the debate which followed, Daniel Webster made his 7th of March speech. Mr. Hale occupied two days in an elaborate argument, vindicating the principles, measures and acts of anti-slavery men. This is said to have been the most powerful of his senatorial efforts. In it he analyzed in a masterly manner Mr. Webster's speech, grappling resolutely with its morality, statesmanship and policy. Among other things he said: "The senator declares he would not re-enact the laws of God. Well, Sir, I would, when he tells me the law of God is against slavery. It is a most patent argument why we should incorporate it in a territorial bill." His peroration was a brilliant presentation of the prin- ciples and aims of the Free Soil party.

In the midst of his struggle to abolish slavery, he did not lose an opportunity to ameliorate the condition of the nation's defenders. While in the senate lie introduced a bill for the abolition of flogging in the navy similar to the bill he had pro- posed in the house. After repeated defeats his measure was carried as a part of the appropriation bill in 1852. Twelve years later he secured the abolition of the spirit ration. For each of these measures his name deserves much honor. Senator Hale's position as the sole representative of the Free Soil party in the American senate, where the contest over slavery waged so fiercely for years, has made that part of his life of greatest interest to the student of history. The record of his un- daunted, persistent and ultimately successful on- slaught upon the slave power, possesses an interest to the friends of human freedom second to that in another epoch in the history of the constitutional period of America. His manliness, courage and nobility of character entitled him to respect and compelled attention ; and with logic, wit, ridicule, sarcasm, humor and brilliant repartee he maintained himself against all opponents, and saw his cause daily grow stronger, where a man of ordinary ability and less fertile in expedient would have been over- whelmed. When his term expired the Democratic party had obtained control of New Hampshire, but

in 1855 the death of Charles G. Atherton left a vacancy in the senate, to which Mr. Hale was elec- ted, and he served the remaining four years. In 1858 he was again re-elected for a full term.

He was nominated as a Free Soil candidate for the presidency in 1847, but declined after the nomi- nation of Martin Van Buren by the Democrats in 1848. He was again nominated for president by the Free Soil party with George W. Julian for vice- president, at Pittsburg, in 1852, and received at the election one hundred and fifty-five thousand, eight hundred and fifty votes. He closed his sena- torial career in 1865 and was appointed by Mr. Lincoln minister to Spain, where he served five years, much of the time in ill health. In 1870 hie returned to his home and never afterwards held official position. He had lived to see the efforts suc- cessful which he had made for the emancipation of a race of slaves. With so great a triumph he had reason to be satisfied.

John P. Hale married Lucy H. Lambert, a daughter of William T. and Abigail ( Ricker) Lam- bert, the former of Rowley, Massachusetts, and the latter of Somersworth. They had two daughters, one of whom married Edward V. Kinsley, of West Point, New York, and the youngest, Lucy L. Hale, married William E. Chandler, of Concord, New Hampshire. They have one son who is named John P. Hale Chandler, and is now a senior of Harvard University.

The name of Williams is of ancient

WILLIAMS Welsh origin, and has become one of the most prolific names in Great Britain and America. In Wales it was formerly Ap Williams, and it is worthy of note that Morgan ap Williams, of Glamorganshire, gentleman, married a sister of Lord Thomas Cromwell, afterward Earl of Essex, who was an ancestor of the famous Pur- itan reformer, Oliver Cromwell. The family now in hand is the posterity of the Glamorganhire Wil- liamses just mentioned, and Roger Williams, the founder of Providence, Rhode Island, was also descended from the same source.

(I) Richard Williams, who was born in Gla- morganshire, Wales, about the year 1599. emigrated to New England in 1632, and went to Taunton, Massachusetts, as one of its original settlers in 1637. He became one of the original proprietors of Dighton, and was also among those who made the North Purchase (so called), which included the present towns of Easton, Norton and Mansfield, and a part of Attleboro. Ile was deputy to the general court of the Plymouthi colony in 1646-48-50- 51, and several years subsequent, and he outlived the Plymouth government, his death having oc- curred at Taunton in 1692. lle left a good estate, which is still in the possession of his descendants. In local history he is sometimes referred to as the "Father of Taunton." He married Frances Dighton, a native of Somersetshire, England, and a sister of the first wife of Governor Endicott. She was the titular founder of the town of Dighton. Richard

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Williams was the father of nine children. (N. B. The posterity of this emigrant is numerous and among the more notable of his descendants were Hon. John Mason Williams, an eminent jurist of Massachusetts; General Seth Williams, of Augusta, Maine, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and a distinguished officer in the Mexican war; Hon. Reul Williams, of Au- gusta ; and Hon. Lemuel Williams, member of con- gress from Massachusetts).

(II) Benjamin, son of Richard and Frances (Dighton) Williams, resided in Easton, Massachu- setts.

(III) Jacob, son of Benjamin Williams, settled in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

(IV) Seth, son of Jacob Williams, was born in Bridgewater, May 21, 1722. At the age of eighteen years he went to Easton, where he acquired title to one thousand acres of land from the Colonial government, and he erected a substantial dwelling- house which is, or was recently, still in a good state of preservation. May 21, 1750, he married Susannah Forbes, born in Bridgewater, May 26, 1732.

(V) Edward, eldest child of Seth and Susannalı (Forbes) Williams, was born in Easton, January 28, 1751. He inherited the homestead and occupied it for the remainder of his life. His wife, whom he married December 3, 1772, was Sarah Lothrop, born at Bridgewater, in November, 1755.

(VI) Lieutenant Seth Williams, son of Edward and Sarah (Lothrop) Williams, was born at the homestead in Easton, January 29, 1776. He suc- ceeded to the possession of the homestead in turn, and in connection with farming carried on a tannery. He served in the War of 1812-15. His death oc- curred at Easton, in November, 1851. In the year 1800 he married Sarah Mitchell, daughter of Col- onel Abial Mitchell, a native of Bridgewater, who participated in the Revolutionary war and for several years represented Easton in the Massachu- setts legislature. She became the mother of eight children.

(VII) llon. Charles Williams, third son of Lieutenant Seth and Sarah (Mitchell) Williams, was born in Easton, August 1, 1816. His educa- tional opportunities were confined to the district school system then in vogue, but his subsequent business career discloses the fact that he made good use of his limited advantages for study. When eighteen years old he began an apprenticeship at the iron-moulder's trade in the foundry of the Easton Iron Works, then owned and operated by General Shepherd Leach, and was to receive as compensation twenty-five dollars the first year, fifty for the second, and seventy-five for the third, and one hundred and twenty-five dollars for the fourth year. This contract was subsequently annulled by the death of General Leach, but young Williams continued with the succeeding proprietor. Lincoln Drake, until the financial panic of 1837 caused a general suspension of industrial activities through- out New England. Attracted by the inducements

offered by the middle west, he went to Illinois and purchased several hundred acres of land in the im- mediate vicinity of Springfield with the intention of engaging in farming, but owing to the long distance to market, together with the inadequate means of transportation existing prior to the advent of railroads, he at length becaine convinced that the outlook for agricultural prosperity in that section was discouraging and accordingly returned to Mass- achusetts. Resuming his trade in North Chelms- ford he remained there some years, and for the en- suing three years was employed at the Amoskeag foundry in Manchester, New Hampshire. His am- bition for advancement was, however, unchecked by his western experience, and with full confidence in his ability to attain success in the iron industry, he diligently sought for the most desirable location, which he ultimately found in Nashua. In 1845 Mr. Williams and his elder brother, Seth, became asso- ciated under the firm name of S. & C. Williams, and erecting a building in Nashua one hundred feet long by eighty feet wide, they engaged in the foundry business, commencing with a force of twenty-five workmen and making an excellent start. Four years later, July 2; 1849, the foundry was de- stroyed by fire, causing a total loss of forty thou- sand dollars, which was not covered by insurance, and although the blow was a severe one, the young men displayed their courage and energy to a re- markable degree by taking steps on the very day of the fire to replace the demolished wooden building with a substantial brick structure. In 1859 Mr. Williams became sole proprietor of the estab- lishment through the withdrawal of his brother from the firm, and he conducted the business alone for the remainder of his active life. In addition to the iron works, which continued to expand un- der his energetic management until an average force of one hundred and twenty-five men was necessary in order to adequately keep pace with constantly increasing demands, he was quite extensively in- terested in financial affairs, having been instru- mental in organizing the Second National Bank, of which he served as vice-president for many years.

Shortly after the incorporation of Nashua as a city (1853), Mr. Williams was chosen a member of the common council. In 1876 he was elected mayor, and his administration of the city's public business was of such a character as to cause his re-election by a much larger majority than that which had been accorded him the previous year. During his term of office he was called upon to receive and entertain, in behalf of the city, President Hayes and the members of his cabinet, which he did in a most cordial and hospitable manner, and the public reception heid by Mrs. llayes at the mayor's residence was an elaborate and exceedingly interesting function. As a progressive business man and public-spirited citizen, he participated ac- tively in developing the natural resources of Nashua, and he lived to see the city attain the impor- tance as an industrial center which it now enjoys. His death occurred May 9, 1894. Mr. Williams

GW Brilliant

Felh Weston Willians

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was a Master Mason and a member of Rising Sun Lodge. In his religious belief he was a Con- gregationalist.

He married, September 21, 1846, Eliza A. Wes- ton, born May 15, 1824, who survives him. She is a daughter of Captain Southwick and Sarah (Mc- Cauley) Weston, of Antrim, this state, and is widely known as a lady of culture who has devoted much of her life to charitable work and to the interests of the First Congregational Church. Mr. and Mrs. Williams reared three children, namely : Seth Wes- ton, M. D., deceased, see succeeding article ; Charles Alden, born August IS, 1851, died March II, 1887; and Marion Eliza, born March 4, 1854. Charles Alden Williams, who was a graduate of Phillips (Andover) Academy and of the Massachusetts In- stitute of Technology, succeeded to his father's business. He married, October 26, 1881, Kate N. Piper, who died January 4, 1885, leaving one son, Charles, born December 13, 1884, a graduate of Princeton. Marion E. Williams, who was gradu- ated from the Nashua high school and from Madam Porter's school for young ladies in Farmington, Connecticut, was married, November 8, 1878, to Herbert Allen Viets, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; they have one daughter, Edith Marion, born No- vember 8, 1883. She married, June 10, 1907, Harold Bowen, of Newton, Massachusetts. John Weston, an ancestor of Eliza A. (Weston) Williams, born 1630, came from Wing, England, where he mar- ried Marie Sanders. Mrs. Williams is a descendant of Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick (on the grandmother's side), who were among the first per- secuted Quakers.

(VIII) Seth Weston Williams, A. B., M. D., eldest son and child of Hon. Charles and Eliza A. ( Weston) Williams, was born in Nashua, April 15, 1849. His early education was acquired in the public schools of Nashua, including the high school. He was prepared for college at Phillips (Andover) Academy, took his bachelor's degree at Yale Uni- versity, with the class of 1873, and received that of Doctor of Medicine from the Bellevue Hospital Medical School, New York City, in 1876. These professional preparations were supplemented by post-graduate studies abroad, including courses in the German classics and microscopy at the Uni- versity of Heidelberg, the latter in the laboratory of Professor Arnold, and he studied with Virchow in Berlin, and was for a time a student in the gen- eral hospital at Vienna. At Bellevue he won the Flint prize in physiology and successfully competed for the Sayre prize, presenting an unusually bril- liant and scholarly thesis on "The Etiology and Pathology of Potts Disease." At the conclusion of his senior services at Bellevue Hospital, in 1879, he was assigned to the third medical division and was to have begun his duties as regular house physician on October I, of that year, but while visiting friends in Portland, Maine, he was stricken with a severe attack of congestion of the brain, which resulted fatally on September 20, 1879, at Portland, Maine. The untimely end of a professional career so full of

promise for immediate success was the cause of gen- uine regret among his instructors and classmates, and his bereaved parents received many touching mes- sages deploring the sad event. That from Phillips Academy, Andover, states that "Seth's fine mental and moral culture, his lofty character and splendid attainments led us to expect great things of him." Professor Louis Sayre's feelings were expressed thus : "1 was grieved beyond the power of language to express, to learn of the death of your brilliant son. I had formed a most profound professional regard for him, and looked forward with pleasure to his distinguished promotion. Life and health were all that he required to reach the highest dis- tinction in his profession." The record of the class of 1873 at Yale contained the following: "To his preparation of his life work Mr. Williams brought a capacity and zeal which gave ample promise of success. Purity of thought and action were the silent forces that drew about him a large number of friends."

(Second Family.)

(1) William Williams, the immigrant ancestor, came from Wales as early as 1637, when, according to Felt. he was a grantee of land at Salen. In 1641 lie was in the employ of John Humphrey, at Lynn. Soon afterward he removed to Oyster Bay River, or Dover, New Hampshire. He had a grant of land in Dover in 1653 and bought land there of John Goddard in 1659. He was a taxpayer of Dover from 1657 to 1668. He had one son, Will- iam, mentioned below.

(II) William (2), son of William (I) Will- iams, was born about 1640. He married Margaret Stevenson, daughter of Thomas Stevenson. Chil- dren, born at Dover: William, born December 22, 1662: Jolin. March 30, 1664; Elizabeth. October 25, 1665: Samuel, mentioned below; perhaps others.

(III) Samuel, son of William (2) Williams, was born in Dover, New Ilampshire, about 1670. He married Elizabeth Stevenson, daughter of Bartholomew Stevenson. Children : Samuel, Jr., born about 1700, mentioned below. Probably others.

(IV) Samuel (2), son of Samtiel (1) Williams, was born about 1700. in Dover or vicinity. He re- sided in Barrington, New Hampshire, and late in life probably at Enfield. He married Anne Bum- ford: children: William, taxed at Enfield in 1790; Robert, mentioned below; Asa, was taxpayer in Enfield in 1790.

(V) Robert, son of Samuel (2) Williams, was born about 1740-50. He lived at Barrington, New Ilampshire, at the time of his marriage. Before 1700 he removed to Enfield, New Hampshire, and when the national census was taken Robert. Asa and William Williams had families in Enfield. Robert had three sons under sixteen and one daughter in 1790. Ile married, January 13. 1777, Sarah Pink- ham, also of Barrington. Among their children was Stephen, mentioned below.

(VI) Stephen, son of Robert Williams, was born in Canaan or Enfield, New Hampshire. in 1789. and died November 6, 1853. He married Elizabeth Longfellow, born June 10. 1785, at Byfield,

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Massachusetts, and died March 12, 1843, at Canaan, where he was a farmer. She was a direct de- scendant of William Longfellow, of Byfield, a dis- tinguished soldier of the Revolution. Children, born in Canaan: Lorenzo, William, Abraham, Sam- uel, mentioned below ; Stephen, Susan, Mary.

(VII) Samuel, son of Stephen Williams, was born in Canaan, May 18. 1820, and died at Enfield, February 4. 1878. He married. in 1848, Ursula Day, born in Enfield, November 6. 1829, died Feb- ruary 9. 1904. He was brought up on his father's farm, and his early education received in a small district school supplemented by a few terms at Canaan Union Academy. He taught in the district schools of Canaan and adjoining towns for several terms. When he was twenty-five years old he went to Utica, Mississippi, to teach in the public schools and remained two years. He returned to Canaan and settled down on the homestead after his mar- riage in 1848. In 1857 he sold the farm and re- moved to Enfield. again following the profession of teaching. also conducting a farm. In March, 1861, he was elected chairman of the board of selectmen of Enfield and filled the position with credit and efficiency until he resigned in the fall of that ycar to enlist as a private in Company C of the Seventh New Hampshire Regiment. His company was mus- tered into the service of the United States and lie was commissioned second lieutenant, dating from November 15. 1861 ; was promoted to first lieuten- ant April 20, 1862. The severe service and debilitat- ing climate of Florida and South Carolina, where the regiment had been stationed, caused a heart trouble to develop which finally resulted in his death. He had to resign his commission July 23, 1862, and return home. He partly recovered in 1865 and was able to engage in business in the firm of Dodge. Davis & Williams, in Enfield, in the manufacture of flannels and hosiery. The firm occupied the old Shaker Mills at Enfield. In 1875 he retired from active business. He was a Republican in politic+ and prominent in public life. In 1870 he repre- sented the town in the state legislature, and in 1871 and 1872 was chairman of the board of selectmen. He died February 4, 1878. Children of Samuel and Ursula (Day) Williams; Abbie Jeanette. Lewis Melville, Miriam Elizabeth, Susan Augusta, Henry Herbert. and Frank Burton, mentioned below.

( VIII ) Frank Burton, son of Samuel Williams, was born in Enfield, New Hampshire, November 20, 1864. He was educated in the district schools of Enfield, at the agricultural college at Hanover, New Hampshire, and at the New Hampton Acad- emy. New Hampton, New Hampshire. He was a clerk in a store in Enfield for a time, and later bought out the business, which he has conducted under his own name sine, with uninterrupted snc- cess. He has a stock of general merchandise in connection with a drug store. He is a Republican in politics; is serving his second term as postmaster and is town treasurer. Hle is a prominent Free Mason. He married, June 23, 1897. Grace Elwin Parker, daughter of Captain John Parker, of

Gloucester, Massachusetts. Children, born in En- field: John Parker, born June 2, 1898; Samuel Longfellow. April 24. 1902.

This family is descended from Philip STORRS di1 Storrs, who accompanied William the Conqueror into England in 1066, as the records in the College of Archives in London show. A village near Sheffield, England, is said to be named from the family, as is also the celebrated Storrs Hall, in Lancashire, near Lake Windermere, this being an ancient stone castle held by the repre- sentative of the Storrs family since the fifteenth century. The family has produced several distin- gui-hed members. Admiral John Storrs, com- mander of the red squadron of the British navy, in the Mediterranean sea, was buried in Westminster Abbey in 1733. Emory A. Storrs, of Chicago, was one of the most distinguished lawyers at the Amer- ican bar. Nearly all of the name in America have descended from the immigrant Samuel. From him have descended a line of clergymen to this day. Twelve members of the Storrs family were in the Revolution, which was a large number then, as the family was small in America. Members of this family gave six hundred acres of land to Dartmonth College.

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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 14

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