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 65

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 65

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married her cousin, Betsie H. Morgan. He mar- ried for his third wife, Hannah Morgan, a sister of his second wife. There were four children, all of the second marriage: Mary Frances, the eldest, was educated at New London, New Hampshire, and afterwards was a successful teacher in Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Rhode Island. She married Dr. Samuel J. Hayes, of Pittsburg, Penn- sylvania. The second was Charles Walter, born August 25, 1848, a sketch of whose life follows. Annie, the third child, born May 12, 1851, was edu- cated in the Simonds Free High School of New Lon- don, New Hampshire, died May 3, 1877, unmarried. Sarah, the youngest child, born September 13, 1854, married C. E. Hadley, of Bradford, New Hampshire, former superintendent of the New Hampshire Fruit Company, now proprietor of the Electric Light Work at Bradford, New Hampshire.

(IV) Charles Walter, only son and second child of Oliver P. and Betsey ( Morgan) Redington, was born in Sutton, New Hampshire, Angust 25, 1848. He was educated in the common schools and at Bryant and Stratton's Commercial College, both in Concord and Manchester, New Hampshire. The day that he was twenty-one he was taken into partner- ship by his father in the hub business. He learned every detail of the work, and is now sole proprietor of the plant, whose output has a reputation through- out the world. The factory has been burned out several times, the last time in 1904. In 1905 MIr. Redington put up a fine new building with all the modern equipments. He uses for a store-house an old tavern at which General Stark stopped for refreshments after the battle of Bennington. Mr. Redington also carries on general farming on a large scale. He has twelve cows, and his dairy produces more milk than any other in town. He owns four hundred acres of land in Warner, be- sides wood lots in Newbury. He is also interested in the new Merrimack Glove Company of Warner, and the New Hampshire Fruit Company of Con- cord, New Hampshire, serving as a director in each company. In politics he is an earnest Republican, and usually attends all party conventions in this section of New England. Like his father, he is independent in his church views, perhaps leaning toward the Congregational denomination.

On March 7, 1878, Charles Walter Redington married lda M. Blood, daughter of Albertus and Emeline ( Muzzey) Blood, of Bradford, New Hamp- shire. There are no children. Mrs. Redington was born in Newbury, New Hampshire, and educated in bradford, where her parents lived for some time. She is a woman of culture, and for several years taught school in this region. Her great-grand- father, General Blood, served throughout the revo- lutionary war, and was a friend of Lafayette. After the revolution he moved from Maine to New Hamp- shire, settling on Blood Hill, in Bradford Center. General Blood's son Lemuel moved from Maine at the same time as his father, but located in Goshen, New Hampshire, taking up a tract of three hundred acres of wild land from which he redeemed a farm. He was thrice married, and had twenty-one chil- dren. His first and second wives were sisters by the name of Bates. His third wife was Eliza Dodge. Lemuel Blood died at the age of seventy-three years, and at his funeral fifteen of the sixteen children then living were present, five by each marriage. Albertus Blood, son of Lemuel, and the father of Mrs. Redington, was killed September 4, 1894, in Bradford. New Hampshire, by the falling of a tree.

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HALL Tradition states that Jolin Hall, of Dover, Ralph Hall, of Exeter, and Richard, who settled near Boston, were brothers (men- tion of the last named and descendants appears in this article). The relationship of John and Ralph seems to be established. From them has descended a numerous progeny, the greater number of whom have been like the great majority of the American people, farmers.

(1) John Hall, a native of England, was born, as appears by a deposition made by him, about 1617. John Hall and wife Elizabeth appear first on the church records of Charlestown, Massachusetts, at the baptism of their son John in 1645. In 1648 or 1649 he removed from Charlestown to Dover, New Hampshire, as is shown by the tax list of Dover, dated March IS, 1649. The name continues to ap- pear until 1677. after which the lists were destroyed. His name appears on the records as a frequent grantor and grantee of lands. In 1677 Deacon Hall received a lot of twenty acres on the west side of Back river, the same which was laid out to George Webb in 1642. In 1652 he lived on Dover Neck next to the meeting house lot on the southwesterly side. This Ict probably extended to the river, and included a large and beautiful spring which is still known as "Hall's Spring." On the higher land near this spring were found, in 1852, the relics of an ancient cellar, over which his house once stood. This John Hall may have been called John Hall, Junior, as there were two others of the same name living in the town.

John Hall was a man of eminent respectability, good judgment and common sense, else he had never been placed in the positions he filled. He was the first deacon of the First Church of Dover, to which office he was raised as early as 1655. It is not cer- tain that he was deacon in the days of Parson Moud, but it is certain that he served through the ministries of Parsons Reyner and Pike. The num- ber of civil offices which he filled, and the class of public duties he was appointed to discharge are evidence of his practical sense in matters of pub- lic business. He was lot layer as early as 1657 and as late as 1674. In 1658-59 he was one of the three to lay out the town bounds between Lamprey and Newichawannock river, and to run the northern boundary. In 1663 he and Lieutenant Ralph Hall were deputed to lay out a highway from the Lam- prey river to the water side. In 1657 and again in 1666 he was one of a committee of three to call the selectmen to account. He was occasionally "com- missioner to end small causes"; was selectman in 1660; grand juror in 1663-66-68; was for a series of years "clerk of ye writs" for the court; had the town record in custody in 1665-66: was chosen town clerk in 1670. His signatures as clerk of the writs are found in the records of 1663-68-69-71, and also as town clerk in 1675 and 1679. February 1, 1686, he

devised to his son Ralph one-half of Ins home and land, the other half to go to Ralph after the testa tor's death. This instrument was executed May 4, 1692, and probated in February, 1695, between which two dates his death occurred. His children were : John. Elizabeth (died young), Elizabeth (died young), Nathaniel, Ralph and Grace.

(II) Ralph, fifth child and third son of John and Elizabeth Hall, was born in Dover, but the date of his birth is not recorded. He succeeded to his father's estate at Dover, and also had a grant of twenty acres of land on Fresh Creek, July II, 1694, which was lost with other grants there in a suit with Richard Waldron, to whom a grant in- cluding them had been made at an earlier date. The town made good these losses to these sufferers or their heirs. An entry in the records shows a quit claim deed of a lot of three and a half acres of land once the "house lot of our grandfather Thomas Leighton." Ralph Hall received of Richard Pinkham and his wife Elizabeth the sum of fio. He was auditor in 1705. An entry in Pike's Jour- nal. November 13, 1706, reads: "Ralph Hall, sen- ator of Dover, deceased after six days illness with grievous pain in his side with the fever." He seems to have married twice, but the name of the first wife is not known. He married (second), May 26, 1701, Mary, daughter of Philip Chesley. In 1713 she joined in a quit claim deed of her father's home plantation at Oyster river for £45. She married (second) John Foy, and February 26. 1718, quit claimed to John Hall, evidently a son of Ralph Hall by a former wife, all her "rights in lands that my former husband, Ralph Hall, left me." John and James, sons af Ralph Hall, were appointed admin- istrators of their father's estate. March 4, 1707. The estate was divided among the seven sons, a double portion being given to the eldest; and £15 were reserved for Jonathan, who was "a weak and sick child." Ralph Hall had seven sons: John, James, Jonathan, Isaac, Benjamin, Ralph and Jo- seph, the last three being by the second wife. (Jo- seph and descendants receive mention in this article.)

(III) Ralph (2), sixth son and child of Ralph (I) and Mary (Chesley) Hall, was born in Dover, about 1704. and died in Barrington. He was one of the petitioners for the incorporation of Mad- bury in 1743, and from the time of the incorpora- tion of that town until 1753 his residence was within its bounds. In 1753 he removed from the homestead of his father and grandfather and settled in Bar- rington. In the latter part of his life he lived with his son Joseph upon lands now, or recently. occupied by his great-grandson, on the Crown Point road in Strafford, just below the Blue Hill. There he died, and the graves of himself and wife are there in the old orchard. He was the owner of various parcels of land, the titles of which are recorded in Madbury and Barrington. He married

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Elizabeth Willey, of Lee. Their children were : Elizabeth, Frances, Solomon, Ralph, Lois, Joseph.

Deborah, Abigail and Sobriety.

(IV) Solomon, oldest son and third child of Ralph (2) and Elizabeth (Willey) Hall, was like his an- cestors a farmer. He resided in Barrington, where he died in September, 1818. He married (first) Abi- gail Davis, (second ) Widow Tamson Ayres, and (third) Charity Johnson. His children were : Solomon. Asa, Love, Daniel, John. Hatevil, Moses, Charity, Sally, Mary. Tamson and Abigail.

(V) Daniel, fourth child of Solomon Hall, was born July 8, 1769, in Barrington, and was mar- ried there January 19, 1792, to Mary Cato. Their children were: Daniel. Lydia. Hannah, Doris, Moses, Stasa, Gilman, Matilda and Mary.

(VI) Gilman, seventh child and youngest son of Daniel Hall, was born in Barrington, February 17, ISIO, and died March 18, 1870, aged sixty years, one month and one day. In early life he was a merchant in Dover, whence he removed to Bar- rington, where he was a farmer and trader on the stage road known as the "Waldron Hill" road. He represented his town in the legislature, and for many years was a member of the board of select- men. He married Eliza Tuttle, who was born in Dover, May S. 1803, daughter of David and Esther (Bunker) Tuttle, and a descendant of John Tuttle, who was judge of the superior court for many years prior to the year 1700, residing in Dover. She died November 16, 1888, aged eighty-five years. The nine children of this union were: Daniel, Lydia, Mary Esther, Clara, Eliza, Gilman, Esther, David and Adeline.

(VII) Colonel Daniel, eldest child of Gilman and Eliza (Tuttle) Hall, was born in Barrington, February 28, 1832. From his earliest acquaintance with books he loved them and longed for an edu- cation which, when he arrived at more mature .years, he took measures to secure. His father was a man in moderate circumstances and required the son's help, which was cheerfully rendered. Young Hall learned all he could in the district school by the time he was fourteen years old. At that time he was proficient in his work, and drove to Dover with a team drawing wood or lumber which he sold to customers in Central square. When about sixteen years old he got two terms of schooling at Strafford Academy, which amounted to six months time. In 1849 he went to Northfield, where he attended the New Hampshire Conference Seminary one term. By this time he believed in his own ability sufficiently to return home and pur- sue alone the study of those branches necessary to fit himself for college. In the fall of 1850 he entered Dartmouth College. He was perhaps the most poorly prepared student in his class but he was not disconcerted or discouraged by a knowledge of that fact. lle had health, strength and a de- termined will to succeed-and he did succeed. He worked diligently, early and late, and graduated in 1854, at the head of his class, and was its valedictorian. Returning home, he gave his atten- tion to paying up the debts he had been obliged to make in getting through college-some small ad- vances made by his father. He taught school in liis native town five winters, and with his first

earnings discharged his financial obligations to the last dollar. In 1854 he received the appointment of clerk in the New York custom house. He had from his youth taken an interest in politics. and supported the men and measures of the Democratic party. But he had never endorsed slavery, and alone, of all the clerks in the custom house, he denounced President Buchanan's policy in regard to the Lecompton Constitution of Kansas, and supported Douglas. His course in this matter re- sulted in his removal in March, 185S. He returned to Dover and continued in the offices of the emin- ent Daniel M. Christie the study of law, which he had begun in New York. In 1860, on motion of his preceptor he was admitted to the bar, opened an office in Andover and commenced practice. Mr. Hall's interest in matters relating to education did not abate after his departure from the schoolroom, and in view of his well known qualifications for the office he was appointed by the governor and council school commissioner of Strafford county in 1859, and reappointed in 1860. In the spring of the latter year he felt that he could not entertain the political sentiments he did and remain in the Democratic party, so at the great meeting in Dover, held in view of the great political crisis then im- pending, just before the state election which was then held in May, Mr. Hall and Judge Charles Doe withdrew from the Democratic party and joined the Republican party, where his conscience and political principles alike placed him, and to which party he has ever since adhered and, says a well known writer, "it is not improbable that one addition in later and `critical years turned the scale in New Hampshire political destinies."

A committee consisting of Senators John P. Hale, Andrew Johnson, and James W. Grines, was appointed in the fall of 1861 to investigate the surrender of Norfolk navy yard. Mr. Ilall was made secretary of this committee, and soon after- ward was appointed clerk of the senate committee on naval affairs at Washington, of which Mr. Hale was chairman. In March, 1862, he left this position to offer his services as a defender of his country, and was commissioned aide-de-camp and captain in the regular army of the United States. He was first assigned to duty with General Fremont, but was prevented from joining his command by the retirement of that officer, and was then assigned to the staff of General Whipple, who then had com- mand at Arlington

Heights of the troops and works in front of Washington on the south side of the Potomac. A few days after the battle of Antietam General Whipple joined the Army of the Potomac, which he soon after accompanied to its position in front of Fredericksburg, and on Decem- ber 13. 1862, crossed the river with the Third Corps, and took part in the bloody assault on Marye's Heights. At the battle cf Chancellorsville Captain Hall was in the column dispatched to cut Stone- wall Jackson's line as he moved in front of the army. He was also serving as a member of Gen- eral Whipple's staff in the gallant action of the Third Division of the Third Corps, and was with that officer when he fell mortally wounded. He was next assigned to the staff of General Howard, who commanded the Eleventh Corps, and accom- panied him to Gettysburg, where he performed im- portant service. He was sent by General Howard to General Reynolds, commanding the First Corps, to ascertain the condition of affairs and obtain

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orders, which he did. General Reynolds had met the enemy in force, and ordered General Howard to advance as fast as possible. He returned with this order which he delivered to General Howard. In passing Cemetery Ridge General Howard recog- nized the strength of the place and the necessity for its immediate occupation, and ordered Captain Hall to take a battery from the leading division and place it in position on the crest of the hill. This was done, and that battery, the first planted on Cemetery Hill, remained on that spot through the three days of the battle, thus proving the mili- tary capacity of General Howard which somme cities have presumed to impugn. Captain Hall ac- companied liis chief through the battle, and on the second day was wounded, but not seriously, by a fragment of a shell. I11 health compelled him to leave the service in December, 1863, but in June following he was appointed provost marshal of the First New Hampshire District, and stationed at Portsmouth. During his term of service, which closed in October. 1865, he enlisted or drafted, and forwarded over four thousand men to the army. His services in the field gained him the reputation of a brave and efficient officer, and his conduct of the provost marshal's office stamped him as a methodical and incorruptible official.

He returned to the practice of his profession, but in 1866 received the appointment of clerk of the supreme court for Strafford county, and in 1868 became judge of the police court of Dover. In 1874, however, he was removed from these po- sitions by a Democratic legislature. Governor Cheney appointed him reporter of the decisions of the supreme court of New Hampshire, and in that position he produced Vols. LVI and LVII of the New Hampshire reports, in 1876 and 1877. In the latter year he was appointed naval officer of the port of Boston. His conduct of this office was such that when his term expired in 1881, he was reappointed without serious opposition for another four years. During the eight years of his adminis- tration of this office it was a model of good manage- ment and efficient service. In 1866 Governor Smyth appointed Captain Hall judge advocate in the New Hampshire National Guard with the rank of major, and in 1867 Governor Harriman appointed him to the position of colonel on his staff.

The activity in politics of which Mr. Hall's course before the outbreak of the war gave promise, has manifested itself through life. He has always taken a deep interest in party affairs, and has never been indifferent to principles, which he regards as above inen. For some years he was a member of the Republican state committee, and in 1873 was chosen president of the Republican state convention at Concord. In December of the same year his abilities as a party leader were recognized in his election as chairman of the state committee, a place to which he was annually elected until 1877, and in which he conducted the campaigns, state and national. of 1874-75-76. These were years in which the strength of the two great parties was almost evenly matched in New Hampshire, but under Colonel Hall's skillful and spirited leadership the opposition went down to defeat, and the Republican party was firmly placed in power, which it has since held. In 1876 Colonel Hall was chairman of the New Hampshire delegation to the Republican national convention at Cincinnati. He voted six times for Secretary Benjamin H. Bristow, and on

the decisive ballot for Rutherford B. Hayes, who was nominated for the presidency.

Colonel Hall is distinguished as a man of rare ability, as a public speaker, a ripe scholar, and a rapid and correct reasoner. He has often responded to calls to deliver public addresses on subjects political, military, literary and miscellaneous, one of the most notable of which addresses was his oration at the dedication of the statue of John P. Hale at Concord, in August, 1892, which has been characterized as "a most finished logical, and elo- quent review of the great statesman's life and work." A volume entitled "Occasional Addresses" was pub- lished by him in 1892.

Colonel Hall has prospered in a financial way, and has been a trustee of the Strafford Savings Bank since 1883, and a director of the Strafford National Bank 'since 1897. He is also a trustee of the Dover Public Library and of the Berwick Academy, and trustee of Wentworth Home for the Aged and Wentworth Hospital. He is a member of the Bar Association of Southern New Hamp- shire, of the New Hampshire Historical Society, and of the Loyal Legion of the United States. He has always been prominent in Grand Army circles, is a member of Sawyer Post, No. 17, of Dover, and was department commander of the Grand Army of the Republic . in 1892-93, and has been trustee and secretary of the Soldiers' Home from ISS9 to the present time (1907).

He attends the First Church of Dover (Congre- gational), is a total abstainer, and an outspoken advocate of the temperance cause. In his boy- hood his environment imbued him with a love of nature and of animals, especially of the horse, and the gratification of this affection affords him no less pleasure than he experiences in the company of the books in the large and well selected library which is a notable feature of his handsome and beautifully furnished house which he built and now occupies in Dover. He married, January 5, 1877, Sophia Dodge, who was born in Rochester, Au- gust 16, 1845, daughter of Jonathan T. and Sarah ( Hanson) Dodge. They have one son, Arthur Wellesley Hall, born August 30, 1878, graduate of Harvard, 1902, admitted to the New Hampshire Bar December, 1906, and now practicing law with his father in Dover. He was married at Dover, October 23, 1907, to Inez N. Bunker, daughter of Frederick H. Bunker, of that city.

(III) Joseph, youngest son of Ralphı

and Mary (Chesley) Hall, was born March 26, 1706, and died in Dover, November 14, 1782. He mar- ried, December 19, 1734, Peniel Bean. Their chil- dren were: 1. Anna, who married (first) Reuben Daniels; and (second) Philip Kelley, of Wake- field. 2. Mary, who married Paul Halsey, of Dover. 3. Joseph, who married Mary Cox. 4. Daniel, who married Patience Taylor. 5. Abi- gail, who married a Mr. Hawkins. Samuel, whose sketch follows.

(IV) 'Samuel, youngest son of Joseph and Peniel (Bean) Hall, was baptized March 19, 1747. He moved in 1768 to Wakefield, whence in 1800 he moved to Athens. Maine, where he died April 10, 1831. aged about eighty-four. He married (first), August 26, 1773, Bridget Gilman, who was born November 4, 1848. daughter of Captain Jeremy and Sarah (Kimball) Gilman, of Wake- field (see Gilman, VIII). Married (second) Han- nah, daughter of Isaac Leighton, of Barrington.

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The children by his first wife were: John. Anna, who married William Hight. Joshua G., of whom further mention is made. The children of the second wife were: Andrew, Bridget, Jeremy, James and Ira.

(V) Joshua Gilman, second son and third child of Samuel and Bridget (Gilman) Hall. was born in Wakefield, July 19, 1779. He married, September, 1807, Betsey, daughter of Beard Plummer, of Mil- ton, and they had children: Sarah, born December 22, 1809. 2. Jay Hamilton, July 7, 1812, who mar- ried Emily Wiggin, daughter of David Wiggin, of Brookfield. 3. Susan Plummer, March 16, 1815. who married Peter W. Robertson, of Troy, where she died April 30, 1846. 4. Andrew Gilman, Febru- ary 28, 1817, who married Harriet A., daughter of Charles Moulton, of 'Wakefield. 5. Joshua Gilman, who is mentioned below.

(VI) Joshua Gilman (2), third son and young- est child of Joshua G. ( I) and Betsey ( Plummer ) Hall, was born in Wakefield, November 5, 1828, and died in Dover, October 31, 1898. He attended school in his native town, fitted for college at Gil- manton Academy, and completed his education at Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in 1851. Soon after graduating he began the study of law in Dover in the office of Samuel Wheeler, then the foremost lawyer of the Strafford county bar, where he read till 1853, when he was admitted to the bar and began practice. He opened an office in Wakefield, where he remained a short time: then went to Union Village, and finally, in 1858, to Dover. There he became a leading lawyer in the county, and one of the ablest and most sticcess- ful attorneys practicing in the New Hampshire courts. He was a Republican in politics, and was elected to many positions of honor and trust. He was solicitor of Strafford county from 1862 to 1874, state senator 1871-72, representative from Dover in 1874, and in huis service in the general court was one of the most influential members in shaping the course of legislation. He was United States dis- trict attorney for New Hampshire from 1874 to 1879, inclusive. In November, 1878, he was elected to congress, and served in the forty-sixth and forty- seventh congresses with honor to himself and to his state. He was mayor of Dover in 1866-67. While holding these positions of public trust he kept up his large legal practice, which, added to his public responsibilities, involved an immense amount of hard work. He was a deacon of the Dover First Church, and lived a manly christian life in close accord with his faith. On November 16, 1861, Joshua Gilman Hall married Susan Elizabeth Bige- low, who was born in Boston, April 26, 1837, daughter of Isaac and Harriet ( Warren) Bigelow. ( See Bigelow, V1). Mrs. Hall died at Dover Sep- tember 6, 1894. She was possessed of rare strength and force of character. A member of the First Church, she was an earnest worker for those objects that call for the highest and best christian endeavor. Three children born of this union were: I. Grace Bigelow, born September 9, 1862, married, Sep- tember 9, 1801, William H. Cook, of Pomona, Florida. 2. Susan Gertrude, October 28, 1866, mar- ried, November 12, 1890, William Davis Sawyer, eldest son of former Governor Charles H. Saw- ver. (See Sawyer, VIII). They had two children : Jonathan and Elizabeth Bigelow. 3. Dwight, whose sketch follows.

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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 65

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