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 3

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 3

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25, 1713. Their children were: Francois, Marie Renee, Marie Madeleine. and Louis. From them there are many descendants.

(I) Jean Turcotte was born at St. Pierre, province of Quebec, in 1822, and died in 1862, aged forty years He was always connected with enter- prises of navigation and for years before his death owned and operated a ship, which he used to con- vey passengers across the St. Lawrence river be- tween St. Pierre and Batiscan. He married Olympe Gauvreau, and they were the parents of children : Alfred, Rezaine. Evangeliste, Xerias, Joseph Octave, Eloise and Arthur. Four others died young. In 1867 Mrs, Turcotte moved with her family to Man- chester, New Hampshire, where the children now reside. She died in 1894, aged seventy-three.

(II) Joseph Octave, fifth child and fourth son of Jean and Olympe (Gauvrean) Turcotte, was born at St. Pierre, province of Quebec, February 18, 1858. His father died when Joseph was six years of age, and the mother and a large family of young children were left to make their own way in the world as best they could. Three years later Joseph came with his mother and the other chil- dren to New Hampshire and settled in Manchester. He received his primary education in the schools of that city and at the age of sixteen went to Assomp- tion. province of Quebec, where he attained a higher institution of learning one year. He was ten years old when he began work in the cotton mills, being employed first in the Manchester Mill, then in the stocking mill. At cigliteen he became a clerk for Barton & Company, dry goods merchants. A year later he entered the employ of P. McDonough, grocer, and three or four years later, clerked for Gauvreau & Morency, and finally for McQuade Brothers. Since 1885 he has been engaged in trade for himself. Starting in a small way he has con- stantly increased his stock, and now has a large supply of goods, and does a good business as a house furnisher, carrying all kinds of house furn- ishing goods. He is a Catholic in religion and a Republican in politics. He is a member of various societies, among which are the Maccabees, the So- ciety of St. John the Baptist and the St. Augustine Society. He married (first). June 24, 1883, Mary Louise Monette. born in St. Hyacinthe, province of Quebec. She died in 1900, and he married (sec- ond) Corrine Cabana, of Manchester. The chil- dren of the first wife now living are: Edward L .; Berthilda, married Napoleon J. Pichette, of Man- chester, has one child: Alexie: Corona; Regina. Of the second wife : Leonard and Yvonne.

NEALLEY With the settlers of Nutfield. the founders of Londonderry, came the ancestor of the Nealleys of New Ilampshire and Maine. He was a man of energy and sterling worth, and his descendants, now numerous, partake of the characteristics that made him a worthy man and a respected member of the pioneer settlement.

(I) William Nealley was of a Scotch family,

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born near the city of Londonderry in the north of Ireland, in the latter part of the seventeenth cen- tury. He came to this country with his family in 1718, they being one of the one hundred and twenty families who emigrated from Londonderry and vi- cinity with their religious instructors, and came to New England, landing at Boston, whence they set- tled in several towns, the larger number founding the present towns of Londonderry and Derry. It is not known where William Nealley and his family passed the few years preceding their settling in Nottingham, about 1725, but probably in Boston, and some of his children may have been born there. William Nealley purchased a tract of land from one of the Boston proprietors of that town, just then beginning to be settled. This farm has always been called the "Ledge Farm" from the fact that the house stands on a ledge, about a mile below Nottingham Square. One ledge is on a location which commands a beautiful landscape view, and the farm land is very fertile. The farm has always remained in possession of his descendants since his death, six generations. The

name Nealley is spelled in various ways in ancient documents, as Nealy, Neely, Nealley, but the latter has long been the established orthography. William Nealley was a sturdy Scotch Presbyterian; he was a man of great energy and force of character; he was not given to office seeking or officeholding, but he did his share in subduing the earth and making it yield its bounty as the Good Book directs. He does not appear to have had any trouble with the Indians. as he is not on record as making any complaint; but it is quite probable that while he read his Bible and had his morning prayer with the family he was careful to have his trusty gun handy and kept his powder dry, ready for any emergency. He died in 1760; while sitting in his chair before the broad, open fire he suddenly expired without a struggle or murmur. So far as known he had four sons and one daughter. Three of them were: William, Mat- thew and John, who married and had families.

(II) Matthew, son of .William Nealley, was born at Ballygarry in the county of Derry, Ireland. He came with his parents to America, and grew up in Nottingham. There is no mention of him except his birth record earlier than the time of his mar- riage. He was an industrious, prosperous and worthy citizen, but does not appear to have held any public offices. He brought up his children, as he had been trained by his father, in the good old Scotch Presbyterian ways of living and thinking and walking in the ways of rectitude. The Bible was their text book of schooling, and in its teach- ings they were thoroughly trained by that mother of whom so little is known. He married Margaret Beverland. a native of Ireland, November 27, 1739. The marriage ceremony took place in Portsmouth and the marriage certificate was signed by Governor Wentworth, so probably he performed the nuptial ceremony as he was accustomed to do on many oc- casions. It appears that they resided on the home- stead farm at "The Ledge." They had two sons

and four daughters: Joseph, Andrew, Sarah, Jenny, Peggy and Molly.

(III) Joseph, son of Matthew and Margaret (Beverland) Nealley, was born in Nottingham about 1746. He resided on the northwest side of Nottingham Square, a most beautiful spot which commands a grand panoramic view from the White Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. He was a prominent citizen of Nottingham. He held various offices, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary army. At the be- ginning of the war for independence, in August, 1776, he refused to sign the "Association Test" when the selectmen canvassed the town, by order of the committee of safety, to find out who were willing to take up arms against King George III if it became necessary to fight for their legal rights under the British constitution. The Association Test was a pledge indorsing the rebellion. Joseph Nealley was a man who did his own thinking, in- dependent of what others might say. Like many others he did not then think that all hope of paci- fication had expired ; hence he manifested his sturdy independence of opinion by refusing to sign the test. Six months later, however, January 24, 1777, the events that had happened had convinced him that all hope of peace was lost without fighting for it. He decided to fight, hence on that date he en- listed in Captain Weare's company, Colonel Scam- mell's regiment, for three years. During that term he was engaged in some of the hardest service of the war. In 1777 he was in the battle of Ticon- deroga, froni which he retreated with the New Hampshire troops before the advance of the British forces. On the retreat he participated in an en- counter at Fort Ann, where the captain of his com- pany, Richard Weare, was killed. Soon after this he was engaged in the battle of Stillwater, follow- ing which he was in the fiercest of the fight at Bemis's Heights. and last of the series at Saratoga, where Burgoyne surrendered the whole British army of the north. Previons to this he had been promoted from the ranks to sergeant of his com- pany. Sergeant Nealley had the proud satisfaction of seeing the haughty Burgoyne and his army march past the American troops after the surrender. Scarcely was the scene over when word was re- ceived from Albany that General Clinton was ad- vancing up the Hudson with a strong force. with the design to capture that town. Sergeant Nealley was one of the command which made a forced march at and from Saratoga to Albany, and arrived in season to prevent Clinton's proposed attack. From Albany Sergeant Nealley went with his regi- ment into the campaign under General Washington in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. One of the great battles in which he was engaged was at Monmouth, where the New Hampshire men fought so bravely and skillfully that they received the special praise of General Washington. In 1779 he was with General John Sullivan in the great and hazardons campaign against the Seneca Indians in New York. In 1780 he was with the army at West Point when Arnold attempted to betray the post into the hands of the

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British. In 1781 he was in the southern campaign with Colonel Scammell, and participated in the siege of Yorktown, where he finally witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis and the British army which practically ended the war. Thus it appears that Sergeant Nealley was present at the greatest crises of the war, the surrender of Burgoyne and the sur- render of Cornwallis. Sergeant Nealley's record is without a flaw.

Sergeant Nealley married, in 1771, Susannah Bowdoin, who was born about 1752, daughter of John and Huldah Bowdoin, of Exeter. John Bow- doin, a descendant of Pierre Baudoin, a settler at Casco Bay, Maine, in 1687, was a wealthy man. He died in 1765, and the inventory of his estate shows property valued at £7.717. He was of the same family as was James Bowdoin, the distinguished merchant of Boston and governor of Massachusetts, who founded Bowdoin College. Joseph and Susan- nalı (Bowdoin) Nealley had six children, all of whom married and left descendants. They were : Jane, Matthew, John, Joseph, Benjamin and Ed- ward. Jane married Greenleaf Cilley, son of Gen- eral Joseph Cilley, of Revolutionary fame, and was the mother of children, two of whom-Colonel Joseph Cilley. of the War of 1812, and Hon. Jon- athan Cilley, Congressman from Maine, had distin- guished careers. The sons also had distinguished descendants.

(IV) Benjamin Nealley, fourth son and fifth child of Sergeant Joseph and Susannah ( Bowdoin) Nealley, was born in Nottingham, April 4, 1782. He resided in Nottingham, engaged in farming until all his children had grown up and settled else- where, when he finally removed to South Berwick, Maine, where several of his sons resided, being well established in business. He did not hold public office of any kind, but was an industrious and suc- cessful farmer, a good citizen in every way. and he and his wife trained up a family of boys who were successful in their various walks of life and were good citizens. Benjamin Nealley married, in 1806, Sally Ford, daughter of Captain Eben Ford, of Nottingham. She was born October 22, 1784, at the old Ford farm on the north side of Nottingham Square, where her ancestors settled early in the history of the town, coming there from Newbury, Massachusetts. The children of this union were eleven: Eben Ford, John Bowdoin, Benjamin Mason, Andrew Jackson, Charles M. T., George Kittredge, Sarah J., Susan P. and Sylvester, who grew up, and Joseph and Margaret, the fourth and ninth, who died young.

(V) Benjamin Mason, third son of Benjamin and Sally (Ford) Nealley, was born October 3, ISII, and died July 29, 1888. He learned all about farming, and when a young man went to Dover and entered the employ of the Cocheco Manufactur- ing Company. at the upper factory where the com- pany first operated a mill. A few years later he went to South Berwick, and engaged as overseer of the card room in the cotton mills there, which position he held until 1858, when he accepted an

offer to become overseer of the card room in the mill of the Laconia Manufacturing Company, Bidde- ford, Maine, in which position he worked ten years. In 1868 he became agent of the jute mill in Salem, Massachusetts, which position he held several years, when his health failed and he retired from active labors and went to live in Dover, where his sons were already located in business. He continued to reside in Dover until his death. In all of the posi- tions which he occupied Mr. Nealley was an indus- trious, efficient and faithful man. He was a mem- ber of the Congregational Church in Biddeford. When he went to Dover to reside, in his last years, he became a member of the Washington Street Free Baptist Church, and kept his connection there until his death. He was a sincere Christian worker to the end, ever ready to help in any good cause. In his early years he was a Whig and remained such until that party was dissolved and the Republican party was formed, when he identified himself with it and ever after voted that ticket. He married, August 8, 1836, Abby Pray, born May 1, 1817, and died January 29, 1895, aged seventy-seven. She was the daughter of James and Annie (Fogg) Pray, whose ancestors were among the very earliest settlers of Old Kittery, Maine. Nine children were born of this union, five of whom died young, and two sons and two daughters grew to maturity and were married. They were: Benjamin Frank, A. Josephine, Mary Emma and John Haven. Benja- min F. is mentioned later. A. Josephine, born Feb- ruary 25. 1844, married, May 12, 1863, Joseph G. Deering, of Saco, Maine, one of the leading busi- ness men and lumber dealers in that city. Mary Emma, born December 28, 1849, married, January 1, 1889, Robert H. Foss, of Chicago, Illinois, who was for many years one of the prominent business men of the city, but a native of New Hampshire. Mr. Foss died in July, 1893, and his widow resides in Dover with her brother, B. Frank. John H., born August 4, 1853, is a dry goods merchant, and resides in Dover. He married, September 12, 1879, Emma Caroline Cushing, daughter of Thomas Har- rison and Caroline (Torr) Cushing, of Dover. He has been mayor of Dover. representative and state senator.

(VI) Benjamin Frank, eldest son of Benjamin M. and Abby (Pray) Nealley, was born in South Berwick, Maine, October 24, 1839. He was edu- cated in the common schools of his native town and in South Berwick Academy. At the age of eighteen he went to Dover, New Hampshire, and engaged in the dry goods business, in which he con- tinued thirty-six years with marked success. In 1893 he retired from that business, but has kept him- self busy in various useful ways, as the public has made liberal calls for him to serve it. In city affairs he has been identified with many of its most important enterprises. He was one of the directors of the Dover National Bank for nine years, re- signing in 1885. For several years he has been vice- president of the Strafford Savings Bank, and has been one of the trustees of that institution for more

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than a score of years. He has been a director in the Strafford National Bank many years. When the Masonic Building Association was organized he was made one of the trustees. which position he has held continuously to the present time, and when it was voted to rebuild the Masonic Temple, after its destruction by fire in March, 1896, he was placed at the head of the building committee and superin- tended the construction. In 1878 he assisted in organizing the Dover Navigation Company, and has been its secretary and treasurer since its in- corporation. In 1883 he was representative from his ward in the general court, and served efficiently on important committees. In 1887 he was state sen- ator from the twenty-third district, and was one of its influential members. In 1889 he was elected mayor of Dover and was re-elected in 1890, and his term of office was one of the most important in the history of the city, as measures were devised and steps taken which have had a far-reaching influence for the benefit of the municipality. The old City Hall was destroyed by fire in the spring of 1889, which necessitated erecting a new one, resulting in the fine structure which will be a credit to the com- mittee as long as the building stands. Mayor Nealley served on the committee until the edifice was completed. in 1801, being the chairman from the beginning to the end. He has been prominent in Masonic circles since 1880. He is a member of Strafford Lodge, No. 29. Free and Accepted Ma- sons : Belknap Royal Arch Chapter. Orphan Coun- cil, Royal and Select Masters, and St. Paul Com- mandery, Knights Templar, all of Dover. He was worshipful master of Strafford Lodge, 1886-87; and eminent commander of St. Paul Commandery, 1900- OI. In Scottish Rite Masonry Mr. Nealley has re- ceived thirty-two degrees, and is a member of the Ineffable Grand Lodge of Perfection, and Grand Council Princes of Jerusalem, both of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Chapter of Rose Croix, Dover. and of the New Hampshire Consistory at Nashua. He is a member of the First Church ( Congrega- tional), also a member of the. New Hampshire So- ciety of Sons of the American Revolution. He served several years as member of the school com- mittee, in which he rendered efficient service in managing the financial affairs of the board as well as in other ways. He was also city treasurer sev- eral years. In all the years of his residence in Dover, Mr. Nealley has been followed by the con- stant favor of his fellow-citizens, who have repeat- edly placed him in positions of trust, honor and responsibility, and in no instance has he betrayed the confidence placed in him.

Benjamin Frank Nealley married, August I, 1866. Harriet Ruth Colby, of Dover, daughter of the Rev. John Taylor Gilman Colby, whose wife was Cornelia Horne, of Rochester. Mrs. Nealley was born May 14, 1846, and died October 12, 1903. Both of her parents were descended from the first settlers of New England. She was a woman of re- markable gifts as a singer, and beautiful in personal appearance, and was ever ready to lend a helping

hand to any good work. She was a member of the First Church, member of Margery Sullivan Chap- ter, Daughters of the American Revolution, and of the Northern Colonist Society, a local historical society. She took a keen interest in historical re- search. as regards local history, and read several valuable papers before both the chapter and society.

This is one of the oldest French LECLAIR names that has been brought to America, and is traceable to a very early period in the history of Canada and from that region back to France. Its representatives in New Hampshire, are men of worth, including the pastor of the Holy Rosary Church, at Hooksett.

(I) The first of whom we have record is Jean Leclair, "dit, La Frenaye," whose wife was Perrine Marceau. They resided in the parish of Saint Nich- olas, in the city of Nantes, France.

(II) Jean (2), son of Jean (I) and Perrine ( Marceau) Leclair, "dit Francœur," was the founder of the family in Canada in 1691. He set- tled at L'Islet, near Quebec, Canada, and thence re- moved to Saint Ours, where the family has since been continually represented. His wife was Made- line Langlois.

(III) Alexis Leclair, son of Jean and Madeline (Langlois) Leclair, was born at Saint Ours, 1749. He married Maria Josette Ville, daugliter of J. Baptiste Ville.

(IV) Joseph Leclair, son of Alexis and Marie Josette (Ville) Leclair, was born January 7, 1782, at Saint Ours, province of Quebec, Canada. He was married to Josette Gatineau, daughter of Jean and Marie L. ( Menard) Gatineau.

(V) Francois J., son of Joseph and Josette ( Gatineau) Leclair, was born October 10, 1821, at Saint Ours, and married Marie Ann Thibault, daughter of Toussaint and Marie (Carpentier) Thibault.

( VI) Aime Leclair, son of Francois J. and Marie Ann ( Thibault) Leclair, was born in August, 1832, at Saint Ours, and was reared on his father's farm. After attaining his majority, in 1853, he came to New Hampshire and located at Nashua. He was one of the first to protect the integrity of his adop- ted country, and enlisted July 23, 1861, in Company E, Third Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry. He was known in the army, by the name Emery LaClair, which arose no doubt, from the difficulty of pronouncing French names, among his American comrades. He was mustered into ser- vice, August 23, 1861, as a private, and re-enlisted and was mustered in, February 15, 1864, serving during the war of the Rebellion. On August 16, 1864, he was wounded at the battle of Deep Bottom, Virginia, and was discharged on account of his in- juries, December 31, 1864. This regiment endured great hardships and very severe service, and Private Leclair was never known to falter in his duty. The following extract from the history of Nashua de- seribes some of the experiences of that regiment. "Drewry's Bluff leads the entire line for fatalities.

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In this regiment were many Nashua men. No less than fifteen were wounded and three killed. The engagement following at Bermuda Hundred, in front of Petersburg and Ware Bottom, were mul- tiplied and resulted in severe losses, while at Deep Bottom, Virginia, on August 16, the regiment was nearly annihilated in repeated charges and counter charges. Entering the fight with less than two hundred men, it captured some three hundred pris- oners with many of its men having but seven days to serve, before being entitled to return to their homes. Its killed, wounded and missing numbered ten officers and eighty-three men." Mr. Leclair passed away at his home at Nashua, March 7, 1889. After the war he was employed, for many years, by the Nashua Manufacturing Company as plumber. This was his occupation until his last illness. He married, March 17, 1864, Marie Lambert, daughter of Edward and Marie (Lusignan) Lambert. Ed- ward Lambert was a member of the Third New Hampshire Regiment, under General Burdette, in the service about New Orleans, and rose to the rank of sergeant. He died in Nashua, in the fall of 1879. Aime Leclair and wife were the parents of nine childen, four of whom are now living: Aime, the eldest, resides at Hooksett; extended men- tion of the second, Francis X., see forward; Albina, the third, is the second wife of Ernest F. Tessier of Nashua, in which city the youngest, Mary, also re- sides.

(VII) Reverend Francis Xavier Leclair, son of Aime and Marie (Lambert) Leclair, was born Sep- tember 19, 1871, in Nashua, New Hampshire, where he grew up, receiving his primary education in the public and parochial schools of that city, subse- quently attending college at Saint Hyacinth, in Canada, and finishing his theological course at Saint John's Seminary, Brighton, a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. He was ordained to the priesthood, December 19, 1896, and his first labor in this calling was in the capacity of assistant priest of Saint Francis parish, Nashua. He was subsequently, for two years, stationed at Lebanon, New Hampshire, and went to Saint Aloysius, Nashua, in 1903. In October, 1904. he was appointed in charge of the Holy Rosary parish at Hooksett, where he has since remained and is also in charge of the mission at Pittsfield, New Hampshire. In each of these charges, about seventy-five families are included and a paro- chial school is maintained at Hooksett, in which two teachers are employed. Father Leclair is an earnest worker in his field of labor and is highly respected by the citizens of Hooksett, and loved and venerated by his parishioners. He is a culti- vated gentleman, a genial companion and a most excellent citizen of the commonwealth, cherishing the warmest setiments of American patriotism in common with those whose ancestors were "to the manner born."

PATTEN

This is among the best names of early New Hampshire, and is intimately as- sociated with the history of ancient

Chester, in connection with several of the present day towns that originally formed it. It is of Scotch origin, and has been borne by men noted for the strong virtues and characteristics of the race. Among the most notable was the Rev. Moses Pat- ten, whose death at Hooksett was widely lamented and which took from earth one of its best and ablest men. A theologian and student, he left an impress upon the life of his time, and his treatise on infant baptism is destined to be an authority among theologians for many generations to come.

(I) The first of the name in this country was Deacon Robert Patten, who came from the vicinity of Edinburgh, Scotland, and settled in Boston about 1725. He was a stone mason and was employed by the colonial government upon the fortifications of Boston Harbor. He had several children born in Boston. In 1739-40 he moved to Exeter, New Hampshire, and soon after to "Long Meadows," in that part of Chester which is now Auburn. July 7, 1741, he purchased from Samuel Emerson, Lot No. 79, of the second part of the second division of land in Chester, and lived upon it until his death in 1754. He had three sons, Thomas, John and Robert, the last named being the son of the second wife.

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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 3

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