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 76
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(IV) Hon. Ichabod Rollins, fourth child and only son of Jeremiah and Elizabeth ( Ham) Raw- lins was born in that part of the town of Dover, New Hampshire. now Somersworth, July 18. 1722. lle resided in that part of Somersworth which was subsequently incorporated and named in honor of him, Rollinsford. Hle was a member of the revolu- tionary conventions at Exeter, April. May and De-
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cember, 1775: one of the committee to prepare and bring into the convention a plan of ways and means for furnishing troops, and was also one of the com- mittee on supplies. On June 20, 1775, he was sent in company with Hon. Timothy Walker, of Con- cord, a member of the committee of supplies, to ascertain the losses sustained at the battle of Bunker Hill by each of the officers and soldiers of New Hampshire forces, and in behalf of the colony to make themi compensation; also to secure to them supplies, and advance a month's pay to such as had enlisted or might enlist in the continental service. The action of the provincial congress upon the re- port subsequently made of their doings affords evi- dence that their duties were performed to their ac- ceptance. Mr. Rollins was a member of the con- vention, January 5, 1776, when it resolved itself into an independent state government; a delegate to the legislature, October, 1776; and the first judge of probate under the new government, which office he held from 1776 to 1784. Ile was also a member of the executive council of New Hampshire, 1789. During his public life he enjoyed the esteem and confidence of his colleagues, and when he finally retired to private life it was with the grateful acknowledgement of his constituents and colleagues alike that his service had been eminently wise and useful, and that he had in all things maintained the standards of an incorruptible public servant. It is a well established fact that more than one hundred and fifty of the descendants of James Rawlins were found in 1861-65 defending the old flag which Judge Rollins aided in throwing to the breeze in 1775, and their lives were freely offered on a vast num- ber of battlefields of the great Rebellion. Judge Rollins married (first) Abigail, daughter of Cap- tain Benjamin and Elizabeth Wentworth, of Dover, New Hampshire. She died October 17, 1790, in the sixty-eighth year of her age. His second marriage occurred in the summer of 1702. to Margaret (Col- ton) Frost, widow of Joseph Frost, of New Castle, New Hampshire. Judge Rollins died January 31, 1800. His widow died at Rollinsford. July 5, 1813. His children, all of whom were by his first wife, were as follows: John Ichabod, James, Daniel, Elizabeth, Abigail, and Mary. (Mention of James and Daniel and descendants appears in this article). (V) John, eldest of the children of Judge Ichabod Rollins for whom the town of Rollinsford. New Hampshire, was named, and his first wife, Abigail Wentworth, of Dover, was born March 22, 1745. He lived at Somersworth, New Hampshire. I-Te represented that town in the state legislature of 1780. He married Mary Carr. daughter of Dr. Moses Carr, of Newbury, Massachusetts. He died at Somersworth, January 23. 1820, aged seventy- five, and his widow died April 16. 1823. aged seventy-eight. They had eleven children: Hiram, born July 6. 1767: Mary, February 21. 1760, married Major Andrew Wentworth, son of Colonel John Wentworth, president of the first Revolutionary state convention of New Hampshire; John, January 26. 1771 ; Elizabeth, died in infancy; George. No- vember 5, 1774: James (mentioned with descendants below) ; Elizabeth, October 20. 1778. married (first) Captain Tilly Wentworth: (second) Benja- min Pike : and (third) Christopher Howe ; Abigail, married John Dearborn: Sarah, married Gilbert Trufant, of Path, Maine; Paul, died in infancy ; and Paul, born February 11, 1787, died April 2, 1707.
( VI) John (2). seand son and third child of John and Mary (Carr) Rollins, was born in
Somersworth. January 20. 1771. In August, 1791, he married Elizabeth Shapleigh, daughter of Elisha and Elizabeth ( Waldron) Shapleigh, and in the following year he settled in Lebanon, Maine. He was the father of cleven children, namely: Mo-es, Elisha, Daniel G .. John, Richard, Paul. David Legro, Caroline, Elizabeth Waldron, Samuel Shap- leigh and Andrew Wentworth.
(VII) David Legro, seventh son and child of John (2) and Elizabeth ( Shapleigh) Rollins, was born in Lebanon, April 22, 1805. He resided in Great Falls, New Hampshire, and died in that town in 1858. On October 25, 1835. he married Martha Jane Shapleigh. daughter of Elisha Shapleigh, of Elliot, Maine. She died May 1, 1869. They were the parents of but one child.
(VIII) Mary Abbie, only child of David L. and Martha J. (Shapleigh) Rollins, was born in Great Falls, April 9, 1844. March II, 1869, she be- came the wife of Dr. John Alfred Hayes. then of Biddeford, Maine, and now of Somersworth (sce Hayes, VD).
(VI) James, fourth son and sixth child of John (1) and Mary ( Carr) Rollins, was born on the same day as our country, July 4, 1776. He lived at Somersworth, New Hampshire. He was thrice married. On August 7. 1804, he married Dorothy Folsom, who died September 13, 1818; on October 24, 1819. he married Sarah Wingate, who died April 19, 1827 ; and on September 7, 1828, he married her sister. Abigail Wingate. The last two were daugh- ters of Captain Moses and Joanna Gilman Went- worth ) Wingate. of Dover, who was great-grandson of John Winget. of England, one of Dover's carly settlers. James and Dorothy ( Folsom) Rollins had eight children : Harriet, the first born who died young : Lydia A., mentioned below : Mary B., married Hosea Clark, of Cambridge, Massachusetts ; Theodore F .: Charles; Elizabeth, married Richard Drew, of Dover: Olive P .; Dorothy A., born July 9. 1817. married Samuel Gault, of Pembroke. New Hampshire. By his second wife, James Rollins had one child. James W., whose birth caused his mother's death April IQ, 1827.
(VII) Lydia A., second daughter and child of Captain James and Dorothy ( Folsom) Rollins, was born at Somersworth, New Hampshire, September 17. 1806. She married Samuel Woodman, of Dover, September 23, 1835. They had four children: Charles S., who lived several years in Lawrence, Massachusetts, was a dealer in crockery and glass- ware, ,and died unmarried, September 27. 1872. James Rollins lived at Dover, dealt also in crockery. glassware and carpets, and died unmarried in Oc- tober. 1871. Theodore W., whose sketch follows. Lizzie C., who died unmarried. Samuel Woodman died August 1. 1863, and Mrs. Lydia A. (Rollins) Woodman died December 31, 1866.
(V) James, third child and son of Judge Ichabod and Abigail (Wentworth) Rollins, was born in Rollinsford, New Hampshire, between the years 1747 and 1750. and resided in Somersworth. He married ( first) Hannah Carr, daughter of Dr. Moses Carr. of Newbury, Massachusetts. She was born June 26. 1749. After her decease he married Lucy Gerrish. of Dover. Of his two marriages there were in all thirteen children: Nathaniel. born 1780; Abigail, 1782: Mary, May. 1783; Moses, 1786; Samuel, 1790; Hannah: Daniel, May 30, 1707; Lorenzo, 1790: Elizabeth; Angeline, 1803: James; Ellen, died young : and Charles, died young.
(VT) Daniel, son of James and Lucy ( Gerrish)
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Rollins, was born May 30, 1797, in Rollinsford, New Hampshire. He succeeded to the homestead, but later disposed of the same and went to Maine with the view of making his home there. He soon re- turned and repurchased that part of the homestead lying cast of the highway, and crected a dwelling opposite the old family mansion, wherein he lived a life of industry and thrift, and was recognized among his neighbors as a man of integrity and probity. He married. November 20, 1823, Mary Plummer, daughter of Ebenezer Plummer, of Rol- linsford. They were the parents of six children- four sons and two daughters-as follows: Edward Henry. horn October 3. 1824; James G., January 6, 1827: William A., October 4. 1829: Lucy G., Sep- tember 24, 1831: John F., July 4. 1835; and Eliza- beth, May 1. 1837. Daniel Rollins died January 7, 1864. His wife died November 0. 1894.
(VII) Hon. Edward Henry. eldest child of Daniel and Mary ( Plummer) Rollins, was born in Rollinsford, New Hampshire, October 3, 1824. He resided at home. laboring upon the farm in the sum- mer season, attending the district school in the winter, and getting an occasional term's attendance at the South Berwick Academy and Franklin. Acad- emy in Dover, until seventeen years of age, when he went to Concord. New Hampshire, and engaged as a druggist's clerk in the well-known apothecary store of John McDaniel. He retained this position for some three or four years, industriously applying himself to the details of the business. He then lo- cated in Boston, Massachusetts, where he was en- gaged in similar service until 1847 when, having thoroughly mastered the business, he returned to Concord, New Hampshire, and engaged in the same line on his own account, soon building up a large and successful business. He purchased and improved the land on Main street, just north of the Eagle Hotel, but the great fire of 1851 destroyed the building, which he had but recently completed. He rebuilt the stores known as the "Rollins Block," one of which was occupied by his own business for many years. Mr. Rollins was active in the organiza- tion of the First National Bank of Concord, a large stockholder and a member of the first board of di- rectors. For several years he was connected with the Union Pacific railroad. contributing his best ability to its interests. On May 25. 1860, he was chosen secretary and assistant treasurer thereof : in 1871 he was elected secretary and treasurer and officiated as such in the office of the company at Boston, Massachusetts, until March. 1877, although retaining his residence at Concord.
In politics Mr. Rollins was originally a Webster Whig, but cast his vote for Franklin Pierce in 1852, and for Nathaniel B. Baker, the Democratic candi- date for governor, in the March election in 1853. The aggressions of slavery, however, culminating in the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill and the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. dissolved his brief connection with the Democratic party. Strongly opposed to the extension of slavery or any measures rendering its existence possible. though he had previously taken no active part in politics, he en- listed in the American. or Know-Nothing movement in the winter of 1854-55, with the hope that it might, as it did, prove instrumental in the defeat of the Democracy. From this time Mr. Rollins was active in politics. He labored effectively in perfect- ing the new organization, taking therein the liveliest interest. At the March election. 1855. he was chosen to the legislature from Concord, and served in that
body as a member of the judiciary committee. The next year witnessed the merging of the American party in the new Republican party, which object Mr. Rollins was largely instrumental in securing. How well he acquitted himself in the legislature is clo- quently attested by the fact that he was re-elected in March. 1856. was chosen speaker of the house, ably discharged the duties of the office, and was re- elected the following year. In all legislation af- fecting industrial and commercial affairs, he was a firm advocate of those measures most conducive to their development, and his counsel was frequently sought in the formulation of acts and means. Hle was made chairman of the first state central com- mittee of the Republican party, a position he held continuously until after the election in 1861. He was chairman of the New Hampshire delegation in the Republican national convention at Chicago in 1860, having been chosen a delegate at large by the state convention, with but a single vote in opposi- tion. In the close contest between Lincoln and Seward in that convention, the New Hampshire del- cgation under his lead supported Abraham Lincoln from the first, and was strongly instrumental in se- curing his nomination.
In 1861 Mr. Rollins was elected to congress from the Second District over the Democratic candidate. He was re-elected in 1863 and in 1865. His con- gressional career covered the exciting period of the Civil war and and subsequent reconstruction. He was throughout a zealous supporter of the most ad- vanced Republican measures, such as the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments to the con- stitution. He was an industrious member of the committee to which he was assigned, serving on the committee of the District of Columbia, as chairman of the committee on accounts, and a member of the committee on public expenditures, which performed a vast amount of labor. He was also, on account of his well-known parliamentary knowledge and skill, frequently called to the chair to preside over the house on turbulent occasions. Mr. Rollins was nominated by the Republican caucus and elected for the full term of six years commencing March. 1877, as United States senator from the state of New Hampshire. He took his seat in the senate at the extra session in the spring of 1877, and was as- signed to the committees on the District of Cohim- bia, contingent expenses, and mannfactures, being for a time chairman of the latter. He later served on the committee on navel affairs, on retrenchment, and reform in the civil service. on enrolled bills, and chairman of the committee on public buildings and grounds. As a congressman and senator he ex- hibited constantly his peculiar traits of industry, energy and fidelity to duty. In debate he always adhered to the business in hand, displaying the ut- most characteristic force, point and effectiveness. He was devoted to his state and constituents, and throughout his entire public career gave ample evi- dence of state-manlike ability and the loftiest patriotism. He was a genius in political organiza- tion -- the very incarnation of energy and persistent industry-and his vigor and magnetism surmounted all obstacles and swept away all opposition
Mr. Rollins resided in Concord during the greater portion of the year. spending his summers at the old homestead in Rollinsford, where he was reared. and which came into his possession after the death of his father. Here he made improvements and brought the land into a superior state of culti-
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vation. Mr. Rollins married. February 13. 1849, Ellen Elizabeth West, daughter of John West, and their children were: Edward Warren, born No- vember 25, 1850; Mary Helen, September 4, 1853; Charles Montgomery, February 27, 1856, died June 25. 1861: Frank West. February 24, 1860; and Montgomery. August 25, 1867. The eldest son grad- uated from the Institute of Technology at Boston, and was for a number of years engineer and cashier of the Colorado Central railroad ; he is now engaged in banking at Boston. He married (first) Jessie Witter. of Denver; (second) Clara Sherwood, of Alto mn. Illinois. Mary Helen, the only daughter. became the wife of Hon. Henry Robinson, a promi- neit lawyer of Concord. Montgomery married Grace Webster Seavey. of Dover, New Hampshire.
In religious faith Mr. Rollins was reared a Con- gregationalist, and when in Rollinsford attended worship at the old First Parish Church in Dover. Mrs. Rollins was an Episcopalian, and in Concord the family attended services at St Paul's Episcopal Church. Mr. Rollins was a member and master of Blazing Star Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Trinity Chapter, and commander of Mount Horeb Commandery, Knights Templar, at Concord. Mr. Rollins, after a long and useful life, died July 31, 1889. at the Isle of Shoals. His wife passed away October 8. 1893, at York Harbor, Maine.
Mrs. Edward Henry Rollins was born in Con- cord. New Hampshire, September 8, 1827. She was descendant of Edward West. who came from England about 1650 and settled at Newbury, Mass- achusetts. He married Ellis Leavitt, and they were the parents of Nathaniel West, born in I717, died at Concord, New Hampshire, in 1775. Nathaniel West married Sarah Burbank. of Hopkinton, New Hampshire, and they were the parents of John West. born in Concord. New Hampshire, in April, 1760. died September 1. 1825 He married Susannah Eastman, who was born in Concord, October. 1750. died November 8, 1831, and they were the parents of John West, born in Concord September 7. 1788. died October 18, 1836. He married Ann Montgom- ery, daughter of General John Montgomery, a prominent citizen of Haverhill. She was born at Haverhill. April 8, 1792. died January 27, 1876, and they were the parents of Ellen Elizabeth West, who became the wife of Hon. Edward Henry Rollins.
(V) Daniel. fourth son and child of Hon. Ichabod and Abigail (Wentworth) Rollins, was born in 1750. in Somersworth. and died June 4. 1795. aged thirty-six years. He married. February 5. 1,8Q, Martha Weeks, of Greenland. Their children born in Somersworth were: Ichabod, William W .. and Anna W.
(VI) Ichabod, eldest son of Daniel and Martha ( Week-) Rollins, was born January 12. 1790, in Somer-worth. He removed to Portsmonth, where he was a merchant for many years, and for a long time was connected with the Portsmouth Savings Bank as one of its trustees, and was employed in other corporate and municipal trusts. Near the close of a long and useful life, on retiring from the board of trustees of the Savings Bank, very complimentary resolutions were adopted by the board thanking him for his long and faithful services, and after his death, which occurred a few months later. May 9. 1873. at the age of eighty-three the following obituary notice appeared in the Portsmouth Journal : "Mr. Rollins descended from the ancient and highly respectable family of his name in Rollinsford. He cank to this city carly in life, and was for many
years a prominent and successful merchant. Having acquired an estate commensurate with his wants and wishes, he many years ago retired from busi- ness and spent his declining years in retirement, and in that ease and well-deserved honor which crown a well-spent life. Mr. Rollins preferred re- tirement, but he was sought by the public for sey- eral trusts. He was called to fill several positions- municipal, corporate-in the town. banks, insurance companies, factories and other organizations. At the time of his death he was the only surviving di- rector of the Old Piscataqua Bank, to which trust lie was elected in 1825. He was for several years the president of the Portsmouth Mutual Insurance Company. He was the oldest trustee of the Ports- mouth Savings Bank, and for many years a member of the investment committee of the bank. It will be remembered that less than a year ago he retired from this position, and that the trustees upon that occasion paid an appropriate tribute to his long and valuable service. No considerable portion of the great success and blessings of that institution, was due to the ability, great sagacity and diligence of Mr. Rollins' life. In all positions and relations of life he was more anxious to be right than to be thought so. In the benevolent organizations of the South Parish, of which he was a member from his youth, he was an efficient and liberal member, and at the time of his death he was a director of the Sunday school. His funeral was largely attended. and among those present we noticed several of his associates in early life and the various trusts in which he had served. The services conducted by the pastor were especially appropriate, in harmony with the occasion. the character of the deceased, his life of purity, and his quiet and peaceful death, and the affectionate regard and reverence of those gathered to pay the last token of respect."
Mr. Rollins was married November 2, 1818, to Martha A. Hooker, of Portsmouth. Their children were : Ann M .. died in infancy ; William H .. Charles H., Mary B .. died young, and Daniel M.
(VII) William Henry, eldest son and second child of Ichabod and Martha A. (Hooker) Rollins. was born in Portsmouth. September 7, 1822, and re- ceived a thorough preparatory course of education in the private school of Master William C. Harris. In 1837 he entered Harvard College, from which he graduated with the class of 1841. Following his graduation from the literary department he entered the Harvard Law School, which he attended one year, and then returned to Portsmouth and con- tinued the study of law in the office of Ichabod Bartlett for two years more, and was admitted to the bar of New Hampshire at Portsmouth in 1844. Immediately opening an office in Portsmouth. he has been a practitioner of the law from 1844 to the present time (1907), a period of sixty-three years, and is now one of the oldest lawyers, beth in years and length of professional service in the state. Ac- tive, energetic, courageous, cautions, a deep thinker and a logical reasoner. Mr. Rollins entered upon life with ample means and a host of friends, in every way qualified to make life professionally, financially and socially a success, and he has done so. In- heriting the characteristics that made his father a successful merchant and financier and a trusted citizen, the son was placed in positions of honor and trust which he has worthily filled. He became president of the Portsmouth Savings Bank and filled that position many years, resigning in 1804. For thirty years he was a director of the National Me-
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chanics' and Traders' Bank of Portsmouth. From 1850 to 1869 he was secretary and treasurer of the Portsmouth Atheneum, and again filled those posi- tions from 1894 to 1903. Ile was also president of the same institution. For fifty years he has had charge of the large property known as the Barnes estate. In politics he is a staunch Republican. For nine years he was a member of the school com- mittee. and two years served in the legislature. Though eighty-five years of age, Mr. Rollins, until very recently, attended to the duties which devolved on him with the promptitude and energy of a well preserved man twenty years younger, and his buoyant spirit and apparent good health reveal a clear in- tellect and suggest habits of right living throughout his life.
He married, in Portsmouth, Elizabeth B. Ball, who was born in Portsmouth, daughter of John B. and Elizabeth Ball. Mrs. William H. Rollins died in Portsmouth, leaving no issue.
(II) Thomas, second son and child of James and Hannah Rollins, was born ( perhaps) in 1643, and resided at Bloody Point until after 1668, when he removed to Exeter, New Hampshire, and there passed the balance of his life. His farm was lo- cated on the old road leading from Exeter to Hampton. lle was one of the company of Edward Gove who were found in arms and endeavoring to overthrow the government of Governor Edward Cranfield, known as Gove's Rebellion. It is a matter of history that all except the leader in this rebellion were pardoned. On one of these petitions for the removal of Cranfield appears the name of Thomas Rollins, and his rebellious blood seems to have been bequeathed to his descendants, for in the revolution twenty or more of them formed against the arbitrary government of George III. Rollins was a justice of the peace in 1682. lle was mar- ried, about 1670, to Rachael, daughter of Moses and Alice Cox, of Hampton. It is probable that. his death occurred about 1706. as the inventory of his property was returned to the probate office Novem- ber 3 of that year. His children were: Thomas. Moses, Joseph, Mary, Benjamin. Aaron, Samuel, John, Alice and Rachael.
(III) Samuel, sixth son and seventh child of Thomas and Rachael (Cox) Rollins, was born probably about 1682, in Exeter, and resided in New- market, New Hampshire. He was a soldier of the French war, serving in Captain Knap Fellows' com- pany of Colonel Moore's regiment at the siege and capture of Louisburg. He was married May 21, 1714. to Elizabeth Palmer, of Bradford. He was probably engaged in farming, and no doubt cleared up lands in Newmarket. His children were: Aaron. Thomas. Benjamin, Samuel. John, James, Elizabeth and Anna.
(IV) Aaron, eldest child of Samuel and Eliza- beth ( Palmer) Rollins, was born in 1727. in New- market, and remained in that town until 1763, when he removed to Brentwood, and seven years later he settled in Deerfield, New Hampshire. He was one of the Indian fighters of his time, being a member of a scouting party of one hundred men raised in the city of Newmarket, and was stationed forty-one days at the garrison in Canterbury from April 9. 1746, under Captain Clough. It is probable that his service in this way gave him a very good idea of the nature of the country, and led to his removal and final settlement in Deerfield. IIe was one of the signers of the Association Test in that town in 1776. Two years later he was a member of Captain
Jonathan Parson's company of the revolutionary service in Rhode Island. He died about 1700, and was survived by his wife, who jointly administered the estate with his son Elijah, their appointment be- ing dated October 28, 1790. He was married, 1738- 39. to Elizabeth Ingals, of Ipswich, Massachusetts, and their children were: Nathaniel. Elijah, Francis, Aaron. . Elizabeth, Jeremy and Susan.
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