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 7
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(II) Stephen, son of Philip Call, like his father, did scout duty, serving in Captain Jeremiah Clough's Company one month and three days. In Captain Ladd's Company he did scout duty about Canterbury and Concord, in 1746, receiving for his services one pound and ten shillings. He also served in Captain Goff's Company, scouting on the frontier from May 28 to July 15. 1748, receiving four pounds, fourteen shillings and three pence, and in Captain Ebenezer Webster's Company. Colonel Nichol's Regiment. in the Rhode Island campaign of 1776. He was chosen one of the selectmen at the first town meeting after the incorporation of the town and subsequently held other offices. He was
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Writing R Call
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a man of character and ability. He married a sis- ter of Nathaniel Danforth, who settled at Franklin, formerly Andover, about 1750. She died in 1816, and he a few years later. Their children were : John, Nathaniel, Philip, Sarah and Susannah. This John Call was the first white child born in Salis- bury.
(III) Philip, third son and child of Stephen and (Danforth) Call, was born in Salisbury, New Hampshire. Ile removed to Sanbornton, where he was engaged in milling operations, and finally went to Stanstead, province of Quebec, about 1805. He had a farm of one hundred and fifty acres near Magog, in connection with the cultivation of which he carried on blacksmithing. He married Keziah Morrison, daughter of David Morrison, and they had seven children : James, Richard, Daniel, Phoebe, Polly, Whiting and Amanda.
(IV) Daniel Call, third son of Philip and Keziah (Morrison) Call, was born in Magog, April 14, 1809, and died in Magog, August 14, 1876, aged sixty-six years. He was a farmer and lived in Hat- ley from 1837 to 1850, when he removed to the paternal homestead where he resided until his death. He was a Conservative in politics, and in religion a Calvanist Baptist, as was his wife. He married Almeda Turner. born in Magog, December, 1809, daughter of Daniel and Adaline (Willard) Turner, natives of Vermont. She died at eighty-five years of age. They had six children : Lucretia W., de- ceased ; Augusta V., deceased; Whiting R .: Philip O., deceased ; Emma E., married Henry Gazaille, resides in Manchester; and Mary P., deceased, all of whom removed to New Hampshire.
(V) Whiting Rexford, third child and eldest son of Daniel and Almeda (Turner) Call, was born in Magog, September 30, 1839. He attended the public schools and the Magog Model School, from the latter of which he graduated in 1860. The three years following he taught school. two years of the time in the vicinity of Magog, and one year in his alma mater. In 1863 he removed to Man- chester, New Hampshire. The six succeeding years he was employed as a clerk in the grocery house of Childs & Company. In 1867 he opened a photo- graph studio on his own account, and from that time until now (1907), forty years, he has kept steadily at that employment. He is one of the vet- eran photographers of New Hampshire. The ex- cellence of his work has brought him a large and profitable business, which receives his careful per- sonal attention to the same extent now that it did the day he started out to establish a business for himself. He is a member of the Free Will Baptist Church, was treasurer of the Sunday school from 1889 to 1906, and for more than forty years has been a member of the Independent Order of Good Tem- plars. No man in Manchester is more highly es- teemed for his Christian character and moral worth than Mr. Call. He married, in Manchester, 1868, Ellen Brown. who was born in Bethel, Vermont, September 19, 1845, daughter of Jonathan and Susan Stone (Turner) Brown, the former born in Mere-
dith, New Hampshire, October 20, 1816, died in Manchester, November 16, 1890, aged eighty-three; the latter born in East Randolph, Vermont, Febru- ary 26, 1817, died December 8, 1892, in Manchester, aged seventy-five.
BRADLEY Right Reverend Denis M. Bradley, D. D., the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Manchester, was born in Castle Island, county Kerry, Ireland, February 25, 1846, and was the eldest son of Michael and Mary (Kerins) Bradley, who were the parents of five other children: Patrick, Mary, Margaret, Cornelius and John. Margaret and John died in childhood. Shortly after the death of his father, and when the boy Denis M. was but eight years old, his widowed mother, with her family of five small children, came to the United States, settling in Man- chester, New Hampshire. The future bishop at- tended the Park Street grammar school several years, and under the direction of the veteran master, Thomas Corcoran, was fitted for college. In 1863 he entered Holy Cross College, Worcester, where he continued until he closed his academic course, in June, 1867. His course in ecclesiastical science was made in the seminary at Troy, New York, and here he was prepared, by the reception of the different orders, for the priesthood, and June 3, 1871, was or- dained priest at the seminary chapel by Bishop McQuaid, of Rochester, New York.
Shortly after his ordination to the priesthood, Father Bradley was assigned duties at Portland, Maine, under Bishop Bacon, and subsequently under Bishop Healey, by whom he was named rector of the cathedral, chancellor of the diocese, and bishop's councilor. For some years he discharged the many responsibilities of his several important charges at Portland in a manner that justified the confidence reposed in him by his ecclesiastical superiors, and merited for him the appointment to the pastorate of St. Joseph's Church, Manchester, which had recently become vacant.
The ceremony of the consecration of Bishop Bradley took place at St. Joseph's Church, 110w raised to the rank of cathedral, on June II, 1884. The concourse of the people who came from all parts of the city and state to witness this unique and imposing function was immense, only a fraction being able to enter the church. The consecrating prelate was Most Reverend John J. Williams, archi- bishop of Boston, assisted by Right Reverend Louis de Goesbriand, of Burlington, Vermont, and Right Reverend Jolin Moore, of St. Augustine, Florida. Right Reverend James A. Healy preached an elo- quent sermon, in which he paid a well merited and glowing eulogy to the first bishop of Manchester. Other prelates and nearly two hundred of the repre- sentative clergy of New England occupied places within the sanctuary. The Very Reverend John E. Barry, V. G., was assistant priest, while Right Rev- erend Henry Gabriels read the papal bulls. The esteem and affection of his colleagues in the priest- hood was strikingly shown by the presentation to the
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bishop of the generous sum of $4.000. Many other ap- propriate gifts, elegant and costly, were given him by admiring friends; but the one that was particularly pleasing to him was a beautiful gold church service, valued at $1,000, which had been bequeathed by the late Rev. John J. O'Donnell, of Nashua, to the first bishop of New Hampshire.
The diocese was officially organized, and the bishop entered actively and energetically into the work of spreading religion and upbuilding the faith in every part of the state, So zealously did he apply himself to this subject, that four years after his consecration twenty-seven active and zealous young priests had been added to the clergy of the state. In the large towns and cities new parishes were formed, and handsome churches began to mul- tiply. Parochial schools were built that in material equipment and in educational proficiency are not surpassed by any under the public management. Religious societies and confraternities for the faith- ful were established, whose members and devotional enthusiasm continue to be the cheering evidence of a living and ardent faith. In the semi-annual con- ference in May, 1890, Bishop Bradley expressed a sincere wish to make still further efforts to bring the blessings of religion to those Catholics located in manufacturing villages and in rural communities. His desire was heartily responded to by both clergy and laity, and churches at twenty-nine villages attest the success of the efforts to this end, and masses are now said at stated periods in every town of the state where there are Catholics to be found, and wherever it is possible a church edifice can be built. Within the ten years preceding the death of Bishop Bradley, much missionary work was done. In that time and since priests, encouraged by their bishop. toiled and suffered, walked and drove over long rough roads, in the blazing heat of summer, and the depths of winter, slept in lumber camps, partook of coarse fare, bore with ignorance, sustained con- tempt, and spent years of their lives in the solitude of New Hampshire hill towns. Alone and unseen they progressed, and Catholic faith and Catholic feeling penetrated much deeper into Puritan society than one would suspect. Whole townships and counties received the leaven, and it is fermenting ; and communities where prejudice and ill-disguised hostility for anything Catholic once strongly pre- vailed, now fraternize with Catholics, many of them regularly attend Catholic churches, and are received into the fold.
The tenth anniversary of the creation of the diocese of Manchester was marked by the solemn consecration of Saint Joseph's Cathedral. Two years previous the original church had been en- larged, the capacity of the sanctuary increased, and the whole interior richly ornamented in a manner which reveals the highest artistic taste. Costly altars of marble and Mexican onyx, stained glass widows, enriched with beautiful paintings, stations and statues, masterpieces in design and coloring, have contributed to effect such a transformation that it is almost impossible to recognize the lines of the
original structure. Beautiful, chaste and dignified, it has become a noble sanctuary, and worthy of the title of a cathedral church.
But the zeal and activities of the bishop were not confined to the episcopal city, and churches and chapels sprung up to meet the pressing demands. The entire ecclesiastical body had become imbued with the earnest progressive spirit of its worthy head. The system of parochial schools was ex- tended and improved, new charitable institutions were added to those already existing, and the finely equipped hospital of the Sacred Heart under the management of the Sisters of Mercy was opened to supply a need long felt, not only in Manchester but throughout the state. Fifteen years form but a brief period of the life of an organization, never- the less, within that very limited space of time the Catholic growth in New Hampshire was phenomi- nally rapid, and its results effected in no emall degree the religious thought and life of the people of the state. The forty-five thousand Catholics who in 1884 were transferred to the jurisdiction of Bishop Bradley increased to one hundred thousand ; eighty-one diocesan and ten regular priests labored in a territory where thirty-seven had been em- ployed. In the same period the number of churches doubled, fifty-two having resident pastors and nine- teen being used as missions. There were in addi- tion twenty-one chapels, and thirty-three stations. Charitable and eleemosynary institutions multiplied, and their flourishing condition is the best guarantee of their utility and efficiency. There were five orphan asylums, in which four hundred and thirty- two orphan children were cared for by the Sisters of Mercy, four houses for aged women, four homes for working girls, one night refuge for girls, and four hospitals, that of the Sacred Heart, Man- chester, being in every respect equal in efficiency and equipment to any under public management.
Bishop Bradley was ever a popular man. He made a visit to Rome in 1887, and again in 1897, On his return from each of these visits the love and regard of the Catholics of Manchester gave evidence of their attachment for their chief pastor by a great popular demonstration, a grand outpouring of gen- uine affection and esteem, that was not confined to Catholic circles, but was heartily participated in by representative men of all creeds, and of no creed at all. Not only were addresses of welcome read, but generous purses were presented as tokens of sincere gratitude and affection on the part of the people for one whose life and labors were conse- crated to their best interests.
The twenty-fifth anniversary of Bishop Bradley's ordination was celebrated June 3, 1896. It had been his intention to have a private observance of the event, but so great was the love and reverence of his clergy for him, and so important did they deem the event, that they strenuously urged that it should have a public recognition. For once he yielded and the celebration of his silver sacerdotal jubilee was one of the most brilliant and successful ceremonies ever witnessed in St. Joseph's Cathedral.
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In the autumn of 1903 Bishop Bradley's health became infirm, but he discharged the duties of his office until a very few days before his decease ; he departed this life December 13, 1903, at 2:35 o'clock A. M., at the cathedral residence. The body lay in state, watched by the Sheridan Guards until the fol- lowing Thursday. Long before the hour appointed for the burial rites, thousands of people filled the square about the cathedral to wait the opening of the church doors. Business throughout the city was suspended, the busy looms of the great mills were stopped, the hum of industry was hushed, all the stores without exception closed their doors dur- ing the hours of the service, and many of them ex- hibited in their windows portraits of the bishop draped in morning. Even the post office was closed for some hours, a thing almost unheard of : but one of the most touching marks of respect was that given by the management of the street car service. Just at the moment of twelve, all the street cars in Manchester stopped and remained standing two minutes. Within ten minutes after the church doors were opened the entire edifice was filled as it never was before. No church in America could have held all who desired to be admitted. Thousands were disappointed, but even these tarried about the church in the cold, blustering winter morning, hop- ing against hope by some means to gain entrance. Never did Manchester see such an illustrious assem- blage as was gathered within the walls of the cathedral. An arch-bishop, seven bishops, five monsignori, vicars-general, and heads of religious orders, directors of seminaries and colleges, and dis- tinguished churchmen from all over New England, together with two hundred and fifty priests, testified by their presence their veneration for the illustrions dead prelate. The bishops present were the Most Reverend Archbishop Williams, D. D., of Boston, who consecrated Bishop Bradley, on June 11, 1884; the Right Reverend Bishop Harkins, D. D., of Pro- vidence, who delivered the eulogy ; the Right Rev- erend Bishop Beaven, D. D., of Springfield, cele- brant of the pontifical requiem mass; the Right Reverend M. Tierney, D. D., bishop of Hartford ; the Right Reverend John Michaud, D. D., bishop of Burlington; the Right Reverend William H. O'Connell, D. D., bishop of Portland; the Right Reverend Bishop Gabriels, D. D., of Ogdensburg, who was in charge of St. Joseph's Seminary, Troy, New York, when Bishop Bradley was a student there. The prothonotaries and monsignori were : the Right Reverend John Michaud, D. D., bishop Manchester ; the Right Reverend William Byrne, P. A. V. G., of Boston; Monsignor Dionysius O'Callaghan, D. D., of Boston; the Right Reverend Monsignor Thomas Griffin, D. D., of Worcester ; the Right Reverend Monsignor Arthur J. Teeling, D. D., of Lynn. The priests filled the sanctuary with its enteral chapels, and occupied a row of seats placed in front of the pews, and another ex- tending down the main aisle. In the front pews sat His Excellency Governor Nahum J. Bachelder, with a number of his staff in full uniform. There
were also present the mayor and members of the city government, post office officials, the officers of the board of trade, the agents of the mills, the board of license commissioners, nearly every min- ister of the Protestant denomination, the vestrymen of Grace Church, and distinguished laymen from every walk of life, and from every part of the state. In the front pews, on either side of the middle aisle, sat the members of the religious orders of women teaching in the church schools. There were Sisters of Mercy from the various houses, Ladies of the Sacred Heart, Sisters of Providence, and Grey Nuns; all the sisterhoods were represented, two coming from each house. There were brothers of the Christian schools, Marist Brothers, and Brothers of the Sacred Heart. In the same section of the church sat the Bishop's two nieces, and his cousin, a Sister of Mercy, and more Sisters of Mercy looked down from the windows of the girls' school adjoin- ing. The number and character of individuals con- stituting this great concourse assembled to pay the last tribute of respect to the Bishop of Manchester, shows what sort of a man Bishop Bradley must have been, and how highly he was appreciated in life to merit and receive such distinguished honors in death. After the very solemn and deeply impressive funeral ceremonies were concluded, the mortal re- mains of the dead prelate were borne on the shoulders of the body guard of soldiers to the crypt of the church, where the benediction was sung, the last prayer said, and the stone slab shut out forever from view the form and face of the beloved Bishop Bradley.
At his death he left nothing. lle kept only one bank account, and that was in the name of the "Roman Catholic Bishop of Manchester," the legal title of his office, so that his successor has but to sign his name and he inherits all that the bishop possessed. During all the years he acted as pastor of the cathedral parish, he drew no salary, and all he asked was that the parish pay his funeral expen- ses. The collection of Christmas day was taken up for that purpose. A small amount of insurance was divided between two orphan nieces of the bishop, and the charitable institutions of the city.
The story of the life of Bishop Bradley is the record of a life devoted to what he believed to be the greatest and highest interests of man. In all
things he was intensely in earnest. At all, the schools he attended he was easily noticeable for close ap- plication to study, for docility of conduct, for re- tentive memory, and a firm grasp of the knowledge imparted to him. From the day in early manhood, when he heard the call to God's service, to the day of his death, he knew no other object in life, and followed no other than his divine Master. For more than thirty-two years he labored in the min- istry, and many a time in the two years preceding his death, when his labors made grave inroads on his health, he was expostulated with by well mean- ing friends, and urged to take a well earned rest. In answer to one of these, he once said, "When f was ordained 1 promised God to do all that in me
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lay for His service, and I must go on to the end." The twenty years of his episcopate were full of arduous labors. Long journeys had to be under- taken, and conveniences of travel were not then what they are now. All over New Hampshire went the bishop. Every city, town and hamlet knew his care. During these journeys he bore all kinds of hardships and discomforts. He preached many times in the same day, often driving twenty and thirty miles over mountain roads between mission stations. On these visitations no fatigue ever caused him to omit long hours in the confessional. He was always accessible to the humblest in the parish. No man in the state had so extended and varied acquain- tance, and no one followed with such interest all that concerned the individual members of the flock, whatever they might be. He lived to see the popu- lation of his diocese increase almost three fold, and the number of priests to multiply in the same ratio. New churches sprang up everywhere, and to-day every part of the state is provided for spiritually. He built the beautiful cathedral, the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, St. Patrick's Church, the Rosary Chapel, and various schools, orphanages, hospitals, and an asylum.
He always rose at six, no matter what the fatigues of the day before. Ilis morning medita- tion and prayer over, he celebrated the Holy Sacri- fice of the Mass at seven o'clock, and even on week day mornings he addressed the people a short in- struction appropriate to the feast or the season. All day long he was ready to receive any callers, and his threshold was worn by the footsteps of the poor and the unfortunate. Patient, indulgent, sympa- thetic, he listened to their tales and relieved their wants. As the beginning of the day was spent in meditation, so was the end of it. He passed many hours in the little chapel of the household, seeking light and refreshment.
The relations between the bishop and his priests were most intimate and cordial. Bishop Bradley never had a case of contention in any ecclesiastical court. When correction or reproof was to be ad- ministered it was always done in the kindest, gent- lest manner, and the one admonished never bore resentment. He was more like a father than a superior, and no bishop was ever more beloved by his priests. No guest was more welcome than he to their homes. His intercourse was always affable, and his conversation casy and entertaining. No man ever heard him say an unkind or uncharitable word of another, and he was always ready to take up the defense of the simid, the weak or the unfor- tunate. He in turn held in high esteem the priests of his diocese. To him they were the best priests in the world; they were to him a source of pride and joy, and he loved every one of them, to the least and last, with the tenderness of a fond father.
In his dealings with people in general Bishop Bradley was "All things to all men," that he might win all to God. He remembered names and faces, and never forgot family concerns. Though always dignified and reserved, he always made one feel at
ease in his presence and inspired confidence without fear, and the greatest sinner, as well as the timidest child, felt no hesitation in approaching him in the sacred tribunal of penance.
In the passing away of Bishop Bradley the dio- cese of Manchester mourns the loss of a good shep- herd; the people of the city a devoted pastor; the state an eminent citizen; the poor a friend; the suffering a comforter; the bereaved a consoler ; the doubtful a counselor; and all a benefactor.
This name was transported from England RIX to America before the middle of the seven-
teenth century, and has since been identi- fied with the progress of New England and other sections of the country. It was very early planted in New Hampshire and is still numerously repre- sented in this state.
(I) Robert Rix was a resident of Canninghall, England, and probably died there.
(II) Thomas, son of Robert Rix, was born 1622, at Canninghall, and was in Salem, Massachusetts, as early as 1649. He was a barber surgeon, and spent his last days with his son James in Old Pres- ton, Connecticut, where he died October 30, 1718. He was buried in the "Rixtown Cemetery" in Old Preston. He was married (first) to Margaret, widow of Miles Ward, who died May 24, 1660. He was married (second) September 3, 1661, to Bridget (Musket). a native of Pelham, England, then the widow of William Fiske. She was the mother of his youngest child. His children in- cluded : Remember, Sarah, Esther, Thomas, James and Theophelus.
(III) James, second son and fifth child of Thomas and Margaret Rix, was baptized in the First Church of Salem, October 18, 1657. He lived in Salem and Wenham, Massachusetts, and in 1703 removed to Old Preston, Connecticut. He was a shipwright and farmer, and had a farm in the last named town, on which he died. He was buried September 29, 1729, in the "Rixtown Cemetery." His wife's Christian name was Margaret, but no record of her beyond that appears. Their children were: Abigail, James, Sarah, Margaret, Thomas, Lydia, Mary and Elizabeth.
(IV) James (2), eldest son and second child of James (1) and Margaret Rix, was baptized in the First Church of Salem in April, 1685. He was not of age when the family removed to Old Preston, Connecticut, where he resided and where his children were born. Before 1752 he removed to Mendon, Massachusetts, and the date of his death does not appear of record. He was married, September 7, 1711, to Anna Ilerrick, who was born February 5, 1696, daughter of Ephraim and Mary ( Cross) Her- rick. The date of her death does not appear, but it occurred before his removal from Preston to Nendon. He was married in the latter town in 1752 to Mehitable Palmer, of Rowley, Massachusetts, daughter of Samuel and Mary (Felt ) Palmer. Jiis children, born of the first marriage, were: Abigail, Nathaniel and Anna.
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