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 94

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 94

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(I) David Annis was born in New Hampshire. He moved to Maine where he reared his family. In 1877 he moved to Colebrook, New Hampshire, where he died. He married Dolly Butdy.

(II) George Washington, son of David and Dolly (Budy) Annis, was born in Weld, Maine, June 21. 1832, and died in Colebrook. March 17. ISO8. He was a farmer. In 1864 he removed from Weld to Millsfield, and in 1877 moved to Colebrook. He speculated in farms and wild lands, and is said to have owned or held mortgages on all desirable property in Millsfield, New Hampshire. Besides land he also dealt in horses, and had a hay and grain store. He was an enterprising and successful man. He undertook the construction of the Colebrook water works system, an enterprise which was ridiculed and adversely criticized by many of his friends and neighbors and all his enemies, but in spite of the jibes of the unbelievers he completed the work and put the system in operation and today it supplies

the village with water. In political faith he was a Republican, but paid little attention to politics and parties. He married, in Weld. 1853, Melissa Ditson Welch, who was born at Rensiey, Maine, 1835, daughter of Elijah and Martha (Ditson ) Welch, of Rensley. They had five children: Nellie (de- ceased), who married Quincy B. Davis; Julia Emma, wife of Lorenzo A. Perry; John I)., whose sketch follows; two children died in infancy.

(III) John Ditson, son of George W. and Mel- issa D. ( Welch ) Annis, was born in Millsfield, New Hampshire, July 1, 1869, and was educated in the common schools, at Colebrook Academy and at the Portland Business College, graduating from the last named institution jn 1888. In 1889 he began business life as a clerk in the general store of Charles Colby, where he was employed two years. He then became assistant cashier of the Berlin National Bank, where he was employed seven years. In 1899 he removed to Colebrook and became cashier of the Farmers' and Traders' National Bank, and has since held that position. In 1895 the Water Works Company was reorganized and he was made its treasurer. In 1904 he was elected as town treasurer, and has since held the office. In 1901 Mr. Annis and T. F. Johnson organized the Monday Night Club, a successful literary society, of which Mr. Annis has been president since its organization. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of Evening Star Lodge, No. 37, and Evening Star Council, Royal and Select Masters, of Colebrook ; North Star Royal Arch Chapter, No. 16, and North Star Commandery, Knights Templar, of Lancaster ; and Edward A. Raymond Consistory, Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret, of Nashua. He is a trustee of the Methodist Church. He married, Oc- tober 10, 1894, Ellen Violet Watkins, who was born in Bloomfield, Vermont. daughter of George and Sarah (Suller ) Watkins, of Canaan, Vermont. They have one son, Kenneth John.

The Rev. John Joseph Brophy. chap-

BROPHY lain of various Catholic charitable institutions in Manchester, New Hampshire, was born in the city of New York, De- cember 16, 1872, son of John and Ellen (Ryan) Brophy, both of Irish birth, who were the parents of ten children, six of whom are living at the pres- ent time ( 1907). Rev. John Joseph is the fifth in order of birth; one of his brothers is cotton in- spector, on Stark corp. and another brother is a member of the Cotton Exchange of New York City. John Brophy ( father) came from New York to Manchester, New Hampshire, 1886, and is cotton inspector on Amoskeag corp.

Father Brophy purstied his preparatory studies in the parochial and public schools of his native city, and took a commercial course in Bryant & Stratton's Business College. Intending to devote himself to the holy ministry, he entered St. Anselm's College, Manchester, from which he entered the Seminary of Aix-En-Provence, in the ancient city of that name. in the department of Bouches-du- Rhone, France, 1895, and it was there that he was ordained to the priesthood, in 1900, by the Right Rev. Archbishop Gouthe Soulard. Returning to the United States he was given his first charge at Pen- nacook, and later was transferred to Hillsborough. which included many outside missions. In June. IQ01. he was appointed chaplain of what is known as "The Square." including St. Joseph's Boys" Ilome, with its one hundred and forty boys; St.

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Patrick's Orphanage, with its one hundred and twenty-five girls; Sacred Heart Hospital, Old Ladies' Home, and the Infant Asylum. He also looks after the spiritual welfare of the Catholic in- mates at the State Industrial School in Manchester, and the County Farm at Grasmere. His mission work also includes all towns on the North Weare branch, this side of Henniker. He is a member of the Conference of Charities and Correction, and of the committee for dependent children. He pos- sesses excellent administrative abilities, and has made a splendid record in promoting the interests of the praiseworthy institutions with which he is connected and in caring for the wards under his charge. for whose welfare he is ever solicitous.

The principal subject of the follow-

LEINSING ing sketch is one of the citizens of Manchester of foreign birth. who has found a home and prosperity in building up the industries of the Granite State.

(I) Wildraka Leinsing, son of Hermsdorf Lein- sing, was born in Befetrere, Germany, August 6, 1812, and died in 1867, aged fifty-five years. He was a brewer by trade. He married Mary Schwartz, and they were the parents of eight children.

(II) Max, son of Wildraka and Mary (Schwartz) Leinsing. was born in Befetrere, Ger- many. October II, 1852. After leaving school he worked in the weaving departments of several mills in Germany. In August, 1882, he left Germany and came to America, landing at New York, from where he went to Lawrence, Massachusetts, and worked in the Washington Mills. He settled in Manchester, New Hampshire, in November, 1884, and since that time has conducted a packing house. where he cures lams and makes various kinds of sausages. He also conducts a boarding house in West Manchester. He is a member of the Turners, the Harugari Club and other societies. He married, September, 1882, at Lawrence, Massachusetts, Katherine Pruette, who was born in Germany, November 21, 1856. They have two children, Michael and Frank.

DOWNES This is one of the names that prob- ably had its origin in a natural ob- ject. "done" or "down" meaning a sandy hill. One of the earliest American ancestors was John Downes, who came from Cornwalll, Eng- land, to New Haven, Connecticut, before 1646. He was one of the judges who signed the death war- rant of Charles I, and was a descendant of Robert de Dunes, born probably about 1220. Others of the name settled near Boston in the seventeenth century. Owing to the absence of records it has been impossible to trace the present line beyond the third generation.

(I) It is thought that Reverend Moses Went- worth Downes came from Lyman, Maine. He was a Baptist clergyman, and is said to have lived in Bath. New Hampshire, though his name is not on record among the active ministers of that place. He was on the tax list of that town in 1801, and died about 1809. He married Abigail Ricker.

(II) Wentworth, son of Rev. Moses W. and Abigail (Ricker ) Downes, married Mary Squires. (III) George Wentworth, son of Wentworth and Mary (Squires) Downes, was born July 14, 1830, and died September 12, 1863, at East Corinth, Vermont. He married Arabella Page, June 21, 1859, and now lives in Manchester, New Hampshire. (See Page, third family, VII).

O'LEARY Rev. Thomas M. O'Leary, born in Dover, New Hampshire, August 16, 1875, son of Michael and Margaret (Howland) O'Leary, is one of seven children, three of whom are sons and he is the third child in order of birth. He was educated in the parochial and public schools of Dover, New Hampshire, and was graduated from the latter in the class of 1887. The following three years he attended Mungret College, a Jesuit college in Limerick, Ireland, after which he returned to the United States and pursued a course in philosophy and theology at the Grand Seminary, Montreal, Canada, graduating in 1897. He was ordained in Montreal, December 18, 1897, and as the See of Montreal was vacant at the time of his ordination. Bishop de Celles, of St. Hya- cinthe, performed the ceremony. His first charge was as assistant pastor of St. Ann's Church, Man- chester, New Hampshire, a six months' term, 1898- gg. From there he went to St. John's Church, Con- cord, New Hampshire, remaining from 1899 to 1904, it being then under the charge of the Rev. Father John E. Barry, V. G. At the death of the Very Rev. Vicar General John E. Barry, Rev. O'Leary was appointed administrator of the parish for four months, and when the Right Rev. Eugene M. O'Cal- laghan was appointed administrator he was under that reverend gentleman for three years. At the time of Rev. J. B. Delaney's consecration Rev. O'Leary was appointed chancellor and secretary to the new bishop of the diocese. In 1904, at the death of Bishop Delaney, Rev. O'Leary succeeded him in all his charges, among which is that of chaplain of the Sisters of the Precious Blood and editor of the Guidon.

Fergus, from which the name Fer- FERGUSON guson is derived, is an ancient and favorite name among the Scotch, many of whose chiefs proudly bore the appelation.

James Ferguson was born in Scotland, in 1800, and died in 1845. He came to America in 1822, and settled in Boston, where he followed the occupation of engineer and machinist. He was an engineer on the Boston & Lowell railroad, and was killed in the round house at East Cambridge, in 1845. In politics he was a Whig, and in religion an Episco- palian. He married, in Scotland, in 1820, Charlotte McIntosh, a native of Scotland. Two children were born of them: David, born May II, 1827, and James W., the subject of the next paragraph.

James William, the younger of the two sons of James (I) and Charlotte ( McIntosh) Ferguson, was born in Boston, July 4, 1829. He attended the Franklin school in Boston, and at fifteen years of age went to Dorchester, where he was employed one year on a farm. He learned the cabinet maker's at Dorchester Lower Mills, where he was employed twenty-five years. In 1872 he removed to Merri- mack, Hillsborough county, New Hampshire, where he followed his vocation five years. After working a year at Fitchburg, Massachusetts, he returned to Merrimack, where he had previously bought a farm upon which he settled. Since that time he has been engaged in farming and poultry raising. Ile en- listed as a musician in the Fourteenth Massachu- setts Volunteer Infantry, where he served fourteen months; and was afterwards in the Forty-seventh Infantry ten months, and second corporal, first divi- sion, eighteen months. He married, at Old Con- cord. Massachusetts, Emily Shaw, who was born in Nottingham, New Hampshire, 1831, daughter of Joseph and Susan Shaw (Leathers), of Nottingham.

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They had three children: William G., born Septem- ber 24. 1853, who married and lives in New York; Ella F., born September 3, 1855, married Samuel King, of Brookline, Massachusetts; and Granville W., born March 10, 1851, married Mary O'Conner, and died in 1904.

This is an old Massachusetts name,

AUSTIN springing from Essex county, and is found under many spellings in the records of that county. among which are: Asten, Astin, Astine, Asting, Aston, Austen, Auston, Aus- tone and Oston. The name is well known in liter- ature and in the various intellectual classes of life, as well as among the pioneers, who paved the way for American civilization.

(1) Thomas Austin lived in Andover. Massachu- setts, until I;II, when he removed across the Mer- rimack river to that part of Haverhill which became the town of Methuen in 1725. He was a yeoman, of farmer. and was drowned in the Merrimack river while returning from meeting, March 22, 1712. He was married, September 15, 1690, in Andover, to Hannah Foster, who survived him, and was mar- ried (second ). October 2, 1722 to Jonathan Hen- dricks, of Haverhill. Thomas Austin's children were : Thomas, Benjamin, Daniel, Zebidiah, Abigail and Hannah.

(1I) Thomas (2), eldest child of Thomas (1) and Hannah (Foster) Austin, was born January 23, 1692, in Andover, and lived in what is now Me- thuen, where he was a husbandman. He was mar- ried. October 26, 1714. to Sarah Lovejoy, of Andover, and their children. born in Methuen, were: Thomas, Saralı, Hezikiah, Hannah, Isaac and Nathan (twins). Elizabeth (died young), John, Peter and Elizabeth.

(III) John, fifth son and eighth child of Thomas (2) and Sarah (Lovejoy) Austin, was born August 23, 1728, in Methuen, and was a farmer residing in that town. and he sold his house, barn and lands there in 1774, and probably removed from the town. He was married September 5. 1754, to Hannah Nevins. Their children were: John, Robert, Judith, David, Sarah, Hannah, Molly and Thomas.

(IV) Thomas (3), youngest child of John and Hannah (Nevins) Austin, was born January 26. 1774. in Methuen, Massachusetts, and was about ten years old when his father's family removed from that town. A diligent search of the records fails to show their location for the next few years. Thomas Austin was one of the earliest settlers of Northfield, New Hampshire. He located on the banks of the Merrimack river, on what is known as Gospel Lots, number one and two, owning a part of each. He was a farmer, and was engaged in hop culture. In his old age he lived with his daughter Sally, on the north end of the homestead. where he died. May 11, 1867. He is said, by the "History of Northfield," to have been one hundred years and six months old. but there is some error in the records somewhere. Ilis children were: Sally, Samuel, Susan, Jeremiah, Jerucia and Daniel.

(V) Samuel, eldest son and second child of Thomas (3) Austin, was born, November 2, 1798, and died April 4. 1860, in Manchester. He lived in Northfield, where deeds made by him are on record. He was a blacksmith by trade, and worked at that business in Weare, and later removed to Manchester. where he was employed by the Amos- keag Manufacturing Company. He was a promi- nent citizen of that town in his day, and was a

member of the Amoskeag Veterans. He was also a member of the Universalist Church. He married Sally Bailey, of Weare, who was a member of the Baptist Church. Their children were: Jeremiah, Daniel, Eliza A., George W. and Amanda. Mrs. Austin survived her husband about six years, dying about 1866.

(VI) Jeremiah, eldest child of Samuel and Sally (Bailey) Austin, was born October 29, 1820, in Weare, and died February 20, 1892. He was edti- cated in the common schools of Weare and Goffs- town, and learned the trade of wheelwright, which he followed five years. He then engaged in the manufacture of sash and blinds at Goffstown, and removed thence in 1850 to Manchester, where he died. For many years while residing in Manchester he dealt in lumber. He was a deacon of the Con- gregational Church, and a Republican in politics, and was active in the management of town affairs. He was married October 28. 1843, to MIary L. Bell, daughter of Jonathan and Lydia (Dow) Bell, of Goffstown, where she was born August 4, 1821. She was also a member of the Congregational Church. They were the parents of two children: Eldora D., married Alonzo Day, who died May 7, 1900. Mardie H., married Charles A. Flint, of Manchester, and they have one child, Austin W .. who is engaged in the coal business with his father in Manches- ter, the firmi name being C. A. & A. W. Flint. Austin W. Flint married Minnie Hutchinson, three children : Harold, Mildred I. and Clarence E. Flint.

LONGA To the victory won by General Stark at Bennington in 1777, is due the presence of some families in southern New Hampshire. Among the Hessian prisoners captured at Bennington were men named Longa, Rittenbusch, Schillenger and Archelaus. They were brought by General Stark and his victorious troops to his home, and after the war formed a settlement nearby. Several of them formed a prosperous farming colony in Merrimack township. From one of these have descended the Longas.

Charles Hartman Longa was educated in the district school, and was a life long farmer. He married Rebecca Thompson, and five children were born of this union: Susan, Mary, James, Charles and William.

James William Longa was born in Merrimack, February 17, 1838. He was educated in the dis- trict school, which he attended until he was eigh- teen years old. After leaving school he drove a team. worked on a farm, and on the railroad at track work until he had saved some money, eight years in all. He then bought a farm of eighty acres on which he lived until 1888, when he sold it and bought a farm of sixty acres, to which he has since added another sixty-acre farm. He is an indus- trious and successful farmer. In politics he is a Republican, and he has filled the office of constable. He has been a member of Thornton Grange, Pat- rons of Husbandry for thirty years. He is also a member of the Congregational Church, and of Souhegan Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows. He enlisted in Company F, First New Hampshire Volunteer Heavy Artillery, August 29, 1864, for one year; was mustered in Sep- tember 6, 1864, as a private, and mustered out June 15. 1865, having served nine months. He married, May 2, 1867, Eugenia McMillen, who was born in New Boston, 1843, daughter of Asa and Hannah (Roby) McMillen. She was educated in Magaw

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Institute, a member of the Congregational Church, and for twenty years has been a member of the Grange. They have had six children: Clara M., born January 28, 1868, married Orrin Sander- son ; Jacob H., born October 24, 1871; Willis A .. March 7, 1879; Edwin K., April 8, 1883; Judson J., November 30, 1887; an mfant, born July 3, 1875, died in youth.

AUSTIN When the Romans wished to desig- nate their supreme ruler by a name which would not offend the common people they bestowed upon his the title "Augustus," meaning "Reverend." This name had a diminutive, Augustinis, which was anglicized Augustine, Au- gustin, and finally Austin, whence the present sur- name.

(1) Eldad Austin was born in Boscawen, April 17, 1802, and died there April 15, 1885. He married Naomi Eastman, born in Boscawen, November 19, 1802, and died August 24, 1891, daughter of Moses Eastman, of Boscawen. Two children were born of this union: William Wallace, whose sketch fol- lows, and Mary, born December 12, 1836, who mar- ried Sherman Little.

(II) William Wallace, only son of Eldad and Naomi (Eastman) Austin, was born July 1, 1829, in Boscawen, now Webster. He was educated in Meriden and Kimball Union Academy. After leav- ing school he engaged in the lumber and cattle business, and continued in the former until he re- tired from active business in the carly nineties, He was successful in his business ventures. In politics he was a Republican, and is a member of the Con- gregational Church at Webster. He represented Webster in the legislature, and has filled the office of selectman, and other offices. He married (first). January 1, 1857, Aby Morse, of Craftsbury, Vermont. She died October 21, 1880. He married ( second). April 25. 1882, Alma E. Blanchard, of Glover, Ver- mont. His children, all by his first wife, are : George, deceased; Henry, married Hattie A. Stott, of North Billerica, Massachusetts; Mary, married A. L. Melcher, of Quincy, Massachusetts; and Louise.

TURNER Benjamin Frank Turner was born in Kingsborough, Massachusetts. An- gust 7, 1850. He was educated in the common schools of Sutton, New Hampshire, and farmed all his early life. He came to Warner in 1876, and has built up a reputation in the blacksmith line, and employs one man. Ilis success has been due entirely to his own efforts. He is a Republican in politics and attends the Baptist Church. He mar- ried Ismenia S. Bean, daughter of Ephraim and Mchitable Bean of Sutton. New Hampshire.

Ephraun Bean was born March 6, 1825, and his wife was born July 22. 1823. Benjamin F. and Ismenia ( Bean) Turner have two children: Walter F., born October 24, 1873, and Ralph M., September 21, 1875. Walter is employed in the American Lo- comotive Works at Manchester, New Hampshire, and Ralph is a traveling salesman for a Boston firm. Mrs. Turner is active in Church societies.

Michael Scott. of Laconia, Belknap SCOTT county, New Hampshire, was the first of his own family to come to America, and was a boy of sixteen years when he crossed the Atlantic and settled in Portsmouth in this state. He was born at Strattanstown, Ballinea, Mullingar,

county Westmeath. Ircland. in the year 1831, hence came to this country in 1837. After living for a time in Portsmouth he went to Dover, and from that city to Somersworth, and was a laborer, work- ing at whatever employment he could find, living frugally and laying by a part of his earnings for future use. Mr. Scott married in Dover, and re- moved from there to Laconia soon after 1850; and he has witnessed the growth of the latter place from a small village to a flourishing city. For about thirty years he was a truckman, and at the end of that period bought a pleasant tract of land in the north part of the city proper, where he has since made his home and where he is surrounded with all which contributes to the comforts of life. For several years he has been retired from active pur- suits. Ilis wife before marriage was Bridget Kelly, who died in April, 1895, having borne her husband four children: 1. Maria, born in 1855; married Philip Holahan, a granite and marble cutter living in Laconia. Philip and Maria have two children, Nellie Holahan, born in July, 1885, a teacher in the Laconia public schools, and Philip llolahan, a stil- dent in the Laconia high school. 2. James, an em- ployee of the Boston & Maine Railroad Company, and now living in Lakeport: married Annie Allen and has one child. Aubrey Holahan. 3. Annie, who mamrried James M. Harrington and lives in Concord, New Hampshire. 4. William, of Bridge- port. Connecticut, where he has charge of the Swift beef house; married Margaret McLoughlin of Orange, New Jersey, and has three children: Mar- garet, William and Stephen.

LACASSE As the natives of New England, fol- lowing the advice of the great editor of the New York Tribune, go west to seek a fairer field or more profitable employment, their places are filled by the industrious French Canadians. Among those who have settled in New Hampshire is a branch of the ancient family of La Crosse.

(1) Jean Charles Lacasse was born in or near Montreal, Canada, in 1808, and died about 1878, at Suncork, New Hampshire. He married Isabel Bis- son, who died at Suncook in 1882. They had four- teen children. among whom were: John, Charles J., Joseph and Alfred.

(II) Joseph, son of Jean C. and I-abel ( Bisson) Lacasse, was born in Montreal, June 19, 1840, and died at Suncook, October 7, 1903. He left Canada when a young man and lived in Vermont for a time, and then removed to Concord, New Hampshire. where he resided until 1869, when he moved to Suncook and engaged in the retail boot and shoe business, which he carried on till the close of his life. lle was a man of good judgment and good habits, and was honored by the citizens of his town with the office of selectman which he held three years. In politics, like the majority of Canadians, he was a Democrat. He married, in Concord, New Hampshire, in 1866, Louisa Boufard, who was born in Leeds, province of Quebec, in 1842, and came to Concord New Hampshire, with her sister in 1865. Four children were born of this marriage: Eliza- beth L., Concord, May 20, 1868: Joseph Charles, who is mentioned below : Mary Delphine, Allenstown, December 8, 1870, and Alphonse N., December 25, 1873. who died January 14. 1904, in Allenstown. He left a widow, Emma ( Wykes ) Lacasse, a native of England, and two children: Joseph Merrille and Hazel Elizabeth.

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(III) Joseph Charles, second child and elder of the two sons of Joseph and Louisa (Boufard) La- casse, was born in Concord, August 23, 1869, and was removed to Allenstown when he was an infant. He attended the common schools of Suncook, and then went to Sherbrooke, province of Quebec. where he took a course in the business college, covering the years 1883-4-5, graduating in the last named year. He then returned to Suncook and clerked in his father's store one year, and then went to Los Angeles, California, where he engaged in the produce commission business on his own account for a year and a half. Returning to New Hamp- shire, the four years following he conducted a shoe store in Rochester. From there he went to Laconia, where he was employed in the hotel business for the next six years. The death of his father and brother left the store at Sunccok with no one there to look after it, and Mr. Lacasse at once assumed charge of it, and has since conducted the business thus left to him. He is a good citizen and a suc- cessful merchant. In politics he is a Democrat of liberal tendencies. He is a charter member of La- conia Lodge. No. 876, of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks of Laconia, and of Oriental Lodge, No. 12. Knights of Pythias, of Pembroke. He married. in Nashua, in 1896, Elizabeth Newton, born in England in 1869.

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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 94

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