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 82

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 82


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He married (first ). May 7. 1845. Sarah Payson Jones, daughter of Moses and Sarah (Clark) Jones, of Brookline, Massachusetts, born there February 19, 1823, died in Concord, 1898. Their children were Paul, now a resident of Chicago. Moses Jones, on the old farm in Sandwich. Sarah Clark. married William F. Thayer, of Concord. Lydia Cogswell, married George S. Hoyt, of 1 wich. Susan Jones, married Charles Woodwa recof Concord. Dollie Frances, married Fred W. Story, of Laconia. Ile married (second ), July 18, 1898, Clementina, daughter of Ebenezer and Mehitable ( Clark) Bridges, and widow of Benjamin Warren Couch. She was born in Charlotte, Maine, Novem- ber 11, 1850, and now resides in Concord, New Hampshire.


Ephraim, eighth son and child of Elder William and Elizabeth Wentworth, lived in Dover, on or adjoining the Wentworth grants. Rev. John Pike says in his journal, in 1704: "May 28, Sacrament day. An ambush of 4 Indians lay be- twixt Tristam Heards & Ephraim Wentworths, upon the north side of the Hill (Garrison Hill) but were happily discovered & escaped." He received grants of land in addition to what he inherited from his father. He owned a part of the mill at the head of Fresh Creek ; also a part of the mill at Salmon Falls. He was surveyor of highways in 1702; viewer of fences in 1709. He made his will March 16, 1738; it was proved June, 1748. This indicates that he died in 1748. The will mentions all his children, nine, but not his wife, indicating that she was dead. He married (first), between October 22, 1696, and May, 1699, Mary, daughter of Richard and Grace Miller, of Kittery, Maine. When this first wife died does not appear, but in March, 1735, and November, 1736, he had a wife Elizabeth. She was probably the widow of Joseph Beard. Her maiden name was Walderne, and she was daughter of William, a brother of Major Richard Walderne (now spelled Waldron). His children were :


Ephraim. Spencer. Ezekiel, Samuel, Jonathan, Mary Anna, Martha and Elizabethi. ( Mention of Samuel and descendants appears in this article.)


(XXIII) Ezekiel, third son and child of Ephraim and Mary ( Miller) Wentworth, inherited the homestead of his father in Dover, New Hamp- shire. There was an Ezekiel Wentworth under Colonel William Pepperell in his expedition against Louisburg in 1745; and also an Ezekiel Wentworth in Captain Gerrish's company in 1760, for the Canada expedition. Whether this Ezekiel is identi- fied with either of these two mentioned is not certain. He married (first) his cousin Dorothy, daughter of Benjamin Wentworth; she died about 1750, having three sons. He married ( second), about 1751, Sarah Nock (now Knox), by whom he had six children. He died in the summer of 1762, but she survived him and lived with her son Jona- than, of Rochester, until her death, about 1802. The children of the first wife were: Ephraim and Isaac (twins), and Phineas ; by the second wife : Jonathan. Dorothy, Drisco, Mark. Sylvanus and Elias.


(XXIV) Jonathan, eldest child of Ezekiel and Sarah (Nock) Wentworth, was born May 25. 1752, and died February 9, 1817. He was called "Jona- than, Jr .. " to distinguish him from his Uncle Iona- than. Ile was a blacksmith, and lived in that part of Rochester which was incorporated as Farmington, December 1, 1798. He married, December 5. 1772, Esther Whitehouse. They had nine children: John. Elias. Phineas. William ( died young), William, Sarah, Ezekiel. a child, and Lucy.


(XXV) Elias, second son and child of Jona- than and Esther ( Whitehouse) Wentworth. was born May 22, 1774. and died in Wakefield, Septem- ber 21, 1852. He lived in Wakefield on the same lot of land with his brother John, and was a neighbor to his Uncles' Mark and Sylvanus. For many years he was a member of the board of se- lectmen of Wakefield. He married, November 29. 1797. Lydia Chadwick, who was born September 25, 1778, and died April 16. 1867. aged eighty-nine. She was the daughter of William Chadwick. The children of this union were: Betsey, Jonathan, Ezekiel. Daniel, William, Albra, Eli. Noah Horne, Sarah and Jacob (twins), and David W. C.


(XXVI) Albra, fifth son and sixth child of Elias and Lydia (Chadwick) Wentworth, was born March 10, 1807, and died at Union Village. Wake- field, June 3, 1875. He resided in Wakefield, and was a man who took an interest in public affairs and had an influence in shaping their course. He was one of the selectmen in 1854, and afterward a member of the general court. He married (first), in 1828. Rhoda Cook, of Wakefield, who died June 15, 1845; (second), December 25, 18.17, Eliza U. Sanborn. of Wakefield. He had by his first wife: Sally Aroline, Charles Augustus, Albert Freeman. Sylvester Norris and Frances Ellen. By the second wife one child, George Albra. Sally Aroline, born May 27, 1829, married. October 23, 1853. James Hayes Junkins, and lived in Wakefield. (See Jun- kins, Il1.)


Samuel, fourth son and child of Ephraim and Mary ( Miller) Wentworth. The date of his birth is not known. He lived in Somers- worth, and died March 4, 1780. He was a good farmer, a good citizen, and a soldier in the Revolu- tionary army, serving in Captain John Waldron's company in 1775, and Captain Caleb Hodgdon's company in 1776. He married (first) Patience,


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daughter of Thomas and Sarah Downs. She was born April 3, 1721, and died in Somersworth, Sep- tember 10, 1776. She was granddaughter of Thomas Downs, who came in "The Defence" to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1635. He married (second ) Widow Elizabeth Carter, of Portsmouth. She had three husbands previously, viz .: Captain Gowen, Captain Hill, and Captain Carter. He married (third) Widow Margaret (Hains) Horn, who survived him. llis nine children, all by his first wife, were as follows: Jonathan, Saralı, Enoch, Kezia, Mary, Daniel, Amaziah, Samuel and Jacob. (XXII) Colonel Jonathan, eldest child of Samuel and Patience (Downs) Wentworth, was was born in Somersworth, September 8, 1741, and died November 16, 1790. He is known as "Col. Jonathan" from his military career. Ile lived at Dry Hill, in Somersworth (now Rollinsford), sometimes called Sligo, about two miles from Dover Landing, on the right from the road to South Ber- wick, Mainc. He was one of the selectmen of Somersworth in 1774. He was with two brothers in the Revolutionary army. He was captain of a company raised in Somersworth in 1775, and served in Colonel Poor's regiment in the siege of Boston. He made a forced march of sixty-two miles previous to the battle of Bunker Hill, and arrived in Chel- sea, opposite, in the morning, but could not cross the river ( Mystic) on account of the enemy, and went round by way of Medford to join the troops. After the siege of Boston he went with General Sullivan on the expedition to Canada. In 1778 he was with General Sullivan in the campaign in Rhode Island. In 1781 he was major in Colonel Thomas Bartlett's regiment at West Point, and at one time was brigade major under Colonel Stephen Evans. After the war he was colonel of a New Hampshire regiment. His war record is brilliant and most honorable. Colonel Wentworth was a representative from Somersworth from March 10, 1779, to March 13, 1782, His wife was Betsey," daughter of Richard Philpot, of Somersworth. She died September 7, 1829. They had eight children ; Richard Philpot, Thomas, Luke, Sylvanus, Lewis, Patience, Jonathan and David.


(XXX) Thomas, second son and child of Colonel Jonathan and Betsey (Philpot) Wentworth, was born in Somersworth, June 4, 1768, and died in Dover, February 3, 1805. He was a well-to-do farmer, a good citizen, but not an office holder. He married, in Rochester, February 16, 1790, Mary, daughter of Colonel James Roberts, and grand- daughter of Joshua Roberts, of Berwick, Maine. She was born May 12, 1769, and after the death of Thomas married (second), September 7. 1826, Samuel Lord, of Berwick, who died in 1855, and she died May 1, 1858. Her father, Colonel James Roberts, was a captain of a company raised in Ber- wick, Maine, which was at the battle of Bunker Hill, and later served in the siege of Boston. After the war he was colonel of a Maine regiment. Thomas and Mary ( Roberts) Wentworth had seven children: Betsey, James, Martha, Mary, Andrew, Ruth, Lydia.


(XXTD) Martha, third child and second daugh- ter of Thomas and Mary ( Roberts) Wentworth, was born April 4, 1795, married John Ham, her second husband, May 14, 1837 (see Ham, V), and died April 5, 1880.


(XXII) Benjamin, son of Elder William Went- worth, was probably the youngest child, and ac- iv-5


cording to tradition was the son of a second wife. lle inherited a part of the large tract of land owned by his father and upon that he resided. This land is about two miles northeast of Cocheco Falls, Do- ver, was devised to Benjamin, May 9, 1093, and has never since been out of the possession of the family. Benjamin was constable in Dover in 1711 and 1713, and surveyor of highways in 1703 and 1717. The only account of his death is contained in the New England Journal of August 5, 1728, which states: "We are informed that some days ago, Mr. Benjamin Wentworth, riding over a bridge (otherwise called the boom) in the river Cocheco, New Hampshire, fell into the said river, where both he and his horse were drowned." The place where the accident occurred is a few rods above the lower falls, in Dover. Henry Wentworth's de- scendants say that his wife's name was Sarah Allen, and tradition says she came from Salisbury, Massa- chusetts. She died at the house of her grandson, Bartholomew, July 12, 1770, aged ninety-one. The children of Benjamin and Sarah were: William. Sarah, Tamsen, Benjamin, Ebenezer, Susannah, Jo- seph, Elizabeth, Dorothy, Martha, Abra and Mark. (Mention of Joseph and descendants forms part of this article.)


( XXIII) Ebenezer, third son and fifth child of Benjamin and Sarah ( Allen) Wentworth, was born September 9, 1705, and lived about one mile east of Great Falls; later he lived about a mile south, where he died. He is called "cordwainer" in a deed dated 1737. He married (first ) Sarah, daughter of John and Deborah ( Church ) Roberts, born February 18, 1709. She died February 10, 1770, and he married ( second) before 1773, Widow Elizabeth ( Monroe) Young, whose first husband lived and died in Rochester. She died about 1790. Ifis children, all by the first wife, were ; Sarah, Benjamin, Ebenezer, Deborah, Stephen, Mary.


Aaron, Nicholas and Elihu,


(XXIV) Ebenezer (2), third child and second son of Ebenezer (1) and Sarah (Roberts ) Went- worth, was born August 14, 1735, and died April 24, 1797. He was a resident of Rochester in 1774. He married, in 1758, his cousin, Dorothy Hartford, of Parker's Island, at the mouth of the Kennebec river, who was born about 1736, and died about 1822, aged eighty-six. Her parents were Joseph and Dorothy ( Furbish) Hartford. The children of this union are : Dorothy, Joanna, Ebenezer, Nancy (died young), David and Nancy.


(XXV) Deacon David, fifth child and second son of Ebenezer (2) and Dorothy ( Hartford ) Wentworth, was born September 7, 1774. He re- sided in . Dover, where he was a deacon in the Free Will Baptist Church. He died there October 8. 1852, Ile married ( first), January 30, 1799, Mercy Smith, of Wolfborough, who was born June 16, 1776, and died January 10. 1837; (second) Mary Nutter, who was born in Portsmouth, and died March 20, 1856. The children of David and Mercy were: Jacob Smith, Susan Mary, James Jewett. Elizabeth Ann, Nancy, Mary Smith, Hiram and John Morrison.


(XXVI) Jacob Smith, eldest child of David and Mercy (Smith) Wentworth, was born in Wolf- borough, January 14, 1800. He married, in March, 1820, Jane, daughter of Moses Farren, of Alton. He died January II, 1842, and his widow married ( second) Oliver Berry, by whom she had our son Jacob S. and Jane had seven children: Alonzo


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Perry, George Newland, Moses Hiram Shepard, Edgar Newland, John Downing and Ja- cob Smith.


(XXVII) Alonzo Perry, eldest child of Jacob S. and Jane (Farren) Wentworth, was born June 4, 1830, and died December 12, 1901. He enlisted June 9, 1863, in Company B, Twelfth Massachu- setts Volunteers. He was a farmer and resided at Strafford, New Hampshire. He married, August 12, 1857, Lydia Abigail Sanders, who was born in Strafford, New Hampshire, March 25, 1834, and died October 29, 1903, daughter of Jolin and Maria ( Gray) Sanders. of Strafford, New Hampshire. The children born to them were: Ella Jane, Del- mer David, Lillian Maria and John Frank. Lil- lian M. married, June 28, 1893, Frank H. Babb. (See Babb, V.)


(XXIII) Joseph, seventh child and fourth son of Benjamin and Sarah (Allen) Wentworth, was born December 22, 1709, and was called in deeds, sometimes "yeoman," sometimes "husbandinan." He was the owner of the highlands now known as "Prospect Hill," at Great Falls, New Hampshire, and old records indicate that he owned land on which is now part of the village of Great Falls. He died January 26, 1765. His wife's name was Rachel. May 18, 1769, she had set off as dower land on the southerly side of the road "leading to the Great Falls, by Benjamin Wentworth's land," and one-third of the mill privilege. She died in Somersworth, May 1, 1774. Her maiden name can- not now be discovered. The children of Joseph and Rachel were: Joseph, Rachel and Charity.


(XXIV) Joseph (2), only son of Joseph (1) and Rachel Wentworth, was born in Somersworth. He had land laid out to him in Berwick, Maine. He married, January 19, 1756, at Blackberry Hill, Berwick, Maine, Eunice Shorey. While his young- est child was an infant he mysteriously disappeared and what became of him was never known. His widow married (second), in Berwick, November 19, 1779, Jolin Brown. She lived in Limerick, Maine, but died in Berwick. The children of Joseph and Eunice were : Rachel, Daniel, Samuel, William, Joseph and Ichabod.


(XXT) Samuel, second of the five sons of Joseph (2) and Eunice (Shorey) Wentworth, was horn July 1. 1760, and died about 1831. He was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, and to dis- tinguishi him from numerous other Samuels he was called "Gunner Sam." He married. as "of Roches- ter, New Hampshire," May 2, 1782, Sarah Stone, of Berwick, Maine. They had: Daniel, John, Mary, Aaron, Moses, Betsey, Mehitable, Levi, Phineas and Sarah.


( XXVI) Phineas, ninth child and sixth son of Samuel and Sarah ( Stone) Wentworth, was a soldier in the War of 1812. He lived at Milton Mills on the Salmon Falls river, and was a farmer. He married, March 22, 1827, Nancy Witham, of Milton Mills, a cousin to Mary ( Witham), wife of his brother Levi. She died August, 1870. They had : Lucy Ann, Richard, a child (died young), Jolin Quincy Adams, Lewis Hanson, Charles Howard and Caroline Melissa.


(XXVII) Charles Howard, seventh child of Phineas and Nancy (Witham) Wentworth, was born in Milton, December 30, 1830, and died July 2, 1894. He was a farmer, and in political senti- ment was a Republican. He married Arvilla Farn- ham, who was born May 16, 1835, daughter of Dum- mer and Annie ( Miller) Farnham, of Acton, Maine.


Three children were born of this union: John Howard, born September 14, 1863, died July 29, 1869. Charles Elmer, mentioned below. Delbert Roscoe, born December 12, 1869.


(XXVIII) Charles Elmer, second child of Charles H. and Arvilla ( Farnham) Wentworth, was born in Milton, October 21, 1865. Ile attended the public schools until sixteen years of age and then became an employe in the woolen mill at Union, where he remained six years. He then worked a while in a meat market, and then learned shoemaking and was in the employ of the Thomas G. Plant Company of Boston five years. Return- ing to Union at the end of that time he bought out a livery stable which he restocked and has since conducted with success. He is independent in poli- tics, and a member of the Knights of Pythias, of Milton Mills. He married, in 1890, Clara Place, who was born at Middleton, May 4, 1871, daugliter of William and Lydia ( Whitehouse) Place, of Middleton, New Hampshire. To them liave been born: Roscoe C., born September 26, Robert John, January 24, 1896; Homer Roger, March 28. 1897; Gladys Marilla, April 7, 1898; Ruthi, September 17, 1899; and Lucille, February 12, 1907.


WILDER The Wilders constitute a lineage well endowed with the qualities and facul- ties that are always essential to moral and intellectual achievement. İt i not quite four


centuries since a king of England conferred on their ancestral representative the distinction which has entitled his descendants to be enrolled among the landed gentry of Great Britain. Their career, at once modest and honorable, has shown that it was guerdon not ill bestowed. Those of the name . and race who live in this country have abundant reason to boast of their kindred and ancestry be- yond the Atlantic .. Nor here in America, under Republican institutions, has there been any essential change of character.


There is no doubt that the inciting cause was religion which led Martha Wilder and her children to emigrate to the colony of Massachusetts Bay. They firmly and inflexibly maintained that iron- side orthodoxy peculiar to the seventeenth century, and their descendants have a full measure of their peculiar characteristics. The great body of them have been influential members of society, not often aspiring to lead, but not willing to follow a leader blindly. They have displayed from the first all the nobler characteristics of their progenitors- earnestness of purpose, fidelity in pecuniary affairs, punctuality in the fulfilling of engagements, strict veneration for truth, patient industry, inflexible tenacity, and other kindred qualities.


(1) The first Wilder known in history is Nicholas, a military chieftain in the army of the Earl of Richmond, at the battle of Bosworth, in 1485. The name is German and would indicate that Nicholas was one of those who came with the Earl of France, and landed at Milford Haven, April 15, I497. Henry VII gave Nicholas Wilder, as a token of favor, a landed estate and a coat-of-arms, and that estate is still held by his heirs. From the son of Nicholas until 1777 they were born at Ship- lake, which seems to have been the family residence. Of Nicholas Wilder we do not know the time of his birth or death. He had one son.


(II) John, son of Nicholas Wilder, was in possession of the ancestral estate by entail in 1525.


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His wife's name was Agnes, and they had a son, John Wilder, Esq., and a daughter, Agnes, who died 111 1580.


(III) John (2), son of John (I) and Agnes Wilder, married Alice Keats, daughter and heiress of Thomas Keats, Esq., of the Sulham House, by whom he had four sons: John, Nicholas, William and Thomas, and three daughters: Eleanor, Joan and Alice. Thus far we have no dates of births and deaths. In 1582 John gave by deed of entail the Sulham House, of which his wife was heir, to William, their third son, probably as a part of an arrangement by which Thomas, the fourth son, was to become the proprietor of the entailed estate. By the will of John, made in October, 15SS, and proved by his widow Alice, his executors, the fol- lowing November, John and Thomas were both provided for, and a deed of conveyance was also made to Thomas. We do not know by what power the third son came to be made leir instead of the eldest, yet it was done in this case, and the family residence, Shiplake, which was not a part of the entailed estate, was probably conveyed by deed to Thomas, and thus made to continue as the family residence.


(IV) Thomas, son of Jolin (2) and Alice (Keats) Wilder, was born and died at Shiplake, on the property which came from his father. Berry, in his "Pedigrees," says that Thomas succeeded John at his father's death, and that his heir ap- parent was his son John of Nunhide, who was living in 1681, and probably died in 1688. Martha Wilder left Shiplake in May, 1638, for the colonies. One strong presumption is that Martha was the widow of Thomas, who died in 1634, and that Thomas, of Charlestown, was the son of Martha and the brother of Edward; it follows that they had an older brother, John, who was the heir of Thomas, and that all the five who had emigrated were his children; and until this is shown by proper evidence to be incorrect, we shall assume that they were all of one family. Thus the chil- dren of Thomas and Martha Wilder seem to be: John, Thomas, Elizabeth, Edward and Mary. ( Men- tion of Thomas and descendants forms part of this article.)


(V) John, son of Thomas Wilder, married in 1673: his wife's name was Hannah. At the Indian war he fled from the place on the . Nashawena river, within the present town of Lancaster. Massachu- setts. where he had gone with his father, and went to Charlestown, where two of his children were baptized. One child, Hannah, was born in Marl- boro. It is not known that he returned to Lan- caster, but he is supposed to have resided there. The time of his death is unknown. He was one of the original proprietors of the town of Worcester, but it is not known that he ever resided there. In 1673 he married Hannah, whose surname is un- known. lle had six children, four sons and two daughters: John, Thomas, Hannah, James, Ebe- nezer and Anna, most of whom lived in South Lancaster, then known as Six Nations. now as the town of Clinton, from which it is supposed that their father's home was there.


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( VI) Thomas, son of John and Hannah Wilder, was a farmer of Six Nations. He married Susan- nalı Hunt, and left two sons and two daughters; John, Jotham, Anna and Prudence.


(VII) Jotham, son of Thomas and Susannah (Hunt) Wilder, was born in Six Nations. in 1710. He married, March 3, 1746, Phebe Wheeler, and had


four sons and two daughters : Stephen, Titus, Susannah, Jotham, Reuben and Polly.


(VIII) Titus, second child of Jotham and Phebe (Wheeler) Wilder, was born in Lancaster, December 15, 1749, and devoted himself to agricul- ture as his father before himn had done. He mar- ried, April 21, 1773, Mary Allen, daughter of Eben- ezer and Tabitha ( Fullum) Allen, and a granddaugh- ter on the maternal side of Francis Fullum, who was killed in the celebrated Lovewell's fight at Pigwacket (now Fryeburg), Maine, in 1725. Eight children were born of this marriage, Thomas (died young ), Polly, Titus, Ebenezer, Tabitha, Thomas, Betsey, and Elisha, whose sketch follows.


(IX) Elisha, youngest child of Titus and Mary (Allen ) Wilder, was born in Lancaster, Massa- chusetts, September 22, 1793, and died there in 1836. He was a carpenter by trade. In early life he was an officer in the state militia. His commission as lieutenant was dated May 3, 1820, and signed by Governor Brooks and by Alden Bradford, secre- tary of state. He married, August 11, 1818, Emily Pollard, who was born in Lancaster, July 7, 1793, and died November 5, 1830. She was one of the twelve children of Abner Pollard and his first wife, Achsah ( Phelps) Pollard, her father being one of the twelve children of John and Elizabeth Pollard. To Elisha and Emily ( Pollard) Wilder were born five children: Edwin Elisha, Emily, Caroline M., Frederick and Christopher W. Edwin Elisha, born June 30, 1821, was in business a carriage trimmer for many years in Bridgeton, Maine; he died in October, 1904. Emily died young. Caroline M., born 1823, died at twenty years of age. Frederick died young. Christopher W. is the subject of the next paragraph.


(X) Christopher Walker, fifth and youngest child of Elisha and Emily (Pollard) Wilder, was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts, January 7, 1829. When he was less than a year old his mother died and he was placed in the care of his aunt, Mrs. Benjamin R. Page, of Conway, New Hampshire. He was educated in the public schools of Conway, and at Fryeburg Academy. He went to Haverhill, Massachusetts, at seventeen years of age, and worked with his brother Edwin E. at carriage making until he was twenty. At twenty-one ( 1850) he returned to Conway and engaged in the manufacture of har- ness and carriage manufacturing, in which line he built up a large trade, continuing until 1870. In the year 1861, at the comparatively youthful age of thirty-two, Mr. Wilder was elected to the re- sponsible office of county commissioner of Carroll county, and served three years. He performed the functions of this office with so much satisfaction to his townsmen that at the expiration of his term of office as commissioner. 1864, he was elected se- lectman and kept in that position until 1868, and again elected 1877-78. In 1868 and 1869 he repre- sented the town in the legislature, and served on the committee on education. In 1869 he obtained a charter for the Conway Savings Bank, which he assisted in organizing in May, 1870, when he be- came auditor, and has been continuously connected with the bank ever since. For eleven years he was assistant treasurer, was made treasurer in 1885, and has since held that place, a term of twenty- two years. In 1871 Mr. Wilder was appointed by Governor Weston, registrar of probate of Carroll county, and that position he filled the five years following, and has since practiced continuously in the probate court of said county. In 1861 he was




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