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. IV, Part 120

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: 878

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. IV > Part 120

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

(II) Benoni, third son and sixth child of Nicho- las Hodsdon, the youngest child of his first wife, Esther Wines, was baptized at Hingham, Massachu- setts, December 5, 1647, after the death of his mother, which occurred November 29, 1647. He moved with his father to Boston, and later to Kittery, Maine. He made his own home first at Quamphegon, 110w Salmon Falls, New Hampshire; the Indians made a raid on the settlement, October 16, 1675. burned his house, and killed several of the family. His father gave him the homestead at Birchan Point, South Berwick, on October 22, 1678. Benoni Hodsdon was a prominent citizen of the part of Kittery which is now Berwick, Maine, and was selectman in 1692 and 1694, and representative in 1718, He was influential and energetic in church work, and was one of the committee to locate the meeting house in 1701. The name of Benoni Hodsdon's wife was Abigail, daughter of Thomas Curtis, of Scituate, Massachusetts, and York, Maine.

CHARLES E. HODGDON, MRS. CHARLES E. HODGDON, MILDRED, CORA E., WINIFRED.

1975

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Their eight children were: Joseph, Samuel, Thomas, whose sketch follows; Hannah, Abigail, John, Esther and Elizabeth. Benoni Hodsdon died in 1718.

(III) Thomas, third son and child of Benoni and Abigail (Curtis) Hodsdon, was born at Kittery, Maine, probably between 1680 and 1690. On De- cember 1, 1709, he married Mary, daughter of Na- than (2) and Martha (Tozier) Lord, and they had four children : Anna and John, twins, Thomas, whose sketch follows, and Mary, born in 1717. Thomas Hodsdon died early in the year 1717, prob- ably not much past thirty years of age, and his widow afterward married Daniel (2) Emery.

(IV) Thomas (2), second son and third child of Thomas and Mary (Lord) Hodsdon, was born at Berwick, Maine, in 1715. He married Mary and they had eight children: Thomas (3), whose sketch follows; Sarah, Eunice, Amy, Mary, Daniel, Jeremiah and Benjamin. Their home was at South Berwick, Maine. The will of Thomas (2) Hodsdon was dated June 3, 1774, and probated January 7, 1794. indicating that he lived to be nearly eighty years of age.

(V) Elder Thomas (3), eldest child of Thomas

(2) and Mary Hodsdon, was baptized at Berwick, Maine, June 10, 1739. He served twice as a captain in the Revolutionary war. October 30, 1763, he married Margaret Goodwin, daughter of James and Margaret ( Wallingford) Goodwin, who was baptized February 17, 1741-42. Elder Thomas Hodsdon's will was dated April 16, 1816, and pro- bated at Berwick, Maine, in June, 1818. He be- queathed to his two sons, Ebenezer and Ichabod, each two hundred acres of land in Ossipec, New Hampshire. His children were: Mary. Thomas, Sarah, Ebenezer, Ichabod, David, Elizabeth, James, Margaret, Olive and Peggy. ( Ebenezer, David and descendants receive further mention in this article).

(VI) Thomas (4) Hodgdon, of Jeremy Island, undoubtedly eldest son of Elder Thomas (3) and Margaret (Goodwin) Hodsdon of Berwick, was one of the appraisers of the estate of Robert Wiley, Boothbay, Maine, on April 18, 1772. He was cap- tain of the Ninth (Second Edgecombe) Company of the Third Lincoln County Regiment of Massachu- setts Militia. It must be remembered that Maine at that time was a part of Massachusetts. Lincoln, Edgecomb, Boothbay and Westport were adjoining towns in Lincoln county. Colonel William Jones was in command of the Lincoln County Regiment. and Captain Hodgdon's name is given among the list of officers commissioned May 8, 1778. On Oc- tober 24, 1777, a council warrant for four pounds sterling was drawn in favor of Colonel William Jones for the use of said Thomas Hodgdon for services rendered in retaking a mast ship. Captain Thomas Hodgdon had four sons: Thomas, Joseph, Benjamin and John. The first three served in the Revolution. Thomas Hodgdon, Jr., was an officer, and his commission precedes that of his father. Thomas, Jr., was a captain in the Tenth (Fifth Ber- wick ) Company, Second York County Regiment of Massachusetts Militia; he was reported commis- sioncd April 29, 1776. His company served at Peeks- kill, New York, for eight months. The home of Captain Thomas Hodgdon, Jr., was the house now occupied as the Berwick (Maine) town farm.

(VII) John Hodgdon, son of Captain Thomas Hodgdon, married Debra Dunton, and they had Timothy and other children.

(VIII) Timothy Hodgdon. son of John and Debra (Dunton) Hodgdon, was born at Westport,

Maine. Ile married Frances Tibbetts, and they had Zina H. and seven other children.

(IX) Zina H. Hodgdon, son of Timothy and Frances (Tibbetts) Hodgdon, was born at North Boothbay, Maine. He married Rinda Reed, and they had Laura B. and five other children. They lived at Westport, Maine. He was a farmer and merchant, representative, selectman, and member of North Boothbay Free Baptist Church.

(X) Lanra B., daughter of Zina H. and Rinda (Reed) Hodgdon, was born at Westport, Maine, June 11, 1850. She married Dr. Roscoe G. Blanch- ard, of Dover New Hampshire. (See Blanchard). (VI) Ebenezer, second son and fourth child of Elder Thomas (3) and Margaret (Goodwin) Hods- don, was baptized at Berwick, Maine, August 10, 1771, and was an early settler at Ossipee, New Hampshire. On January 16, 1797. Ebenezer Hods- don married his cousin, Sally Wentworth, daughter of Lieutenant Timothy and Amy (Hodsdon) Went- worth of Berwick, Maine. She was born March 20, 1778, and died May 28, 1847. Her father, lieutenant Timothy Wentworth, served in the Revolution, and lived on the old homestead in Berwick, which had belonged to his grandfather, Timothy. He died there November 29, 1842, at the age of ninety-five. Ebenezer and Sally (Wentworth) Hodsdon had ten children : Belinda, married (first), Rev. Henry Smith, of Ossipee, New Hampshire, (second), Rev. Sydney Turner, of Bingham, Maine, both Congre- gational clergymen. Wentworth, died unmarried at the age of twenty-three. Olive, married Deacon Jonathan Ambrose, of Ossipee. Thomas, married twice and died in Sebec. Maine. Sally, married (first) Andrew Folsom, of Ossipee, and (second ), John Burley, of Sandwich. Belinda, married Hollis Burleigh, of Ossipee. Amy Wentworth, married Calvin Sanborn, of Wakefield, New Hampshire. Ebenezer, whose sketch follows. Lucinda, married Nahum Perkins, of Great Falls, New Hampshire. Harriet Newell, married Hiram O. Tuttle, and lived in Sturgis, Michigan. Ebenezer (I) Hodsdon died at Ossipee, New Hampshire, July 12, 1840.

(VII) Ebenezer (2), third son and eighth child of Ebenezer (1) and Sally (Wentworth) Hodsdon, was born at Ossipee, New Hampshire, March 8, ISII. On March 16, 1834, he married Catherine. daughter of Lieutenant George and Sarah (Gile) Tuttle, who was born at Effiingham, New Hamp- shire, January 6, 1813. Ebenezer (2) and Cather- ine (Tuttle) Hodsdon had three children, all born in Ossipee: John W., January 4. 1835, enlisted in the Thirteenth New Hampshire Volunteers, in Au- gust, 1862. and served until June, 1865. He now lives in Ossipee. Edward P., whose sketch follows. Sarah E., December 7. 1843, married, January 13, 1867. Alphonzo Augustus Spear, of Buxton, Maine. Ebenezer (2) Hodsdon died at Ossipee, February 19, 1895.

(VIII) Edward Payson. second son and child of Ebenezer (2) and Catherine (Tuttle) Hodsdon, was born at Ossipee, New Hampshire, September 24, 1837. He was a man highly cducated for those days and possessed unusual ability. In early life he taught for several years, in the public schools, and la- ter was the successful principal of the acadamy at Wakefield, New Hampshire. He is a Republican in politics, and was elected railroad commissioner in 1873, serving for three years. He went to Dover, New Hampshire, to live, and in 1874 and 1875 was elected mayor of that city. He is now living in St. Louis, where he is engaged in the manufacture of rubber goods and belting. On January 28. 1862, Ed-

1976

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

ward Payson Hodsdon married Emma B. Demer- itt, youngest child of Mark and Abagail ( Leighton) Demeritt, of Farmington, New Hampshire, who was born September 27, 1840. ( See Demeritt III). They have one child. Ervin Wilbur, whose sketch fol- lows.

(IX) Ervin Wilbur, only child of Edward Pay- son and Emma B. (Demeritt) Hodsdon, was born April 8, 1863, at Ossipee. New Hampshire. He was educated in the public schools of Ossipee and Do- ver and at Phillips Academy, Exeter, New Hamp- shire. In 1879, at the age of sixteen years, lie went to St. Louis, Missouri, and attended Washington University, being graduated from the Missouri Medical College, in the class of 1884. He at once began practice in the City Hospital of St. Louis, where he remained two years. and then returned to Dover, New Hampshire, where he engaged in his profession. Removing to Sandwich, this state, he established himself as a physician, and also opened a drug store, which successful combination he con- tinued till 1896, when he removed to Ossipee, where he now lives. Dr. Hodsdon conducts a drug store there, and also holds the office of postmaster, to which he was appointed in 1897. His large practice and other duties leave him little time for recrea- tion or social affairs, but he is prominent in many secret societies. He belongs to Ossipee Valley Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. of which he is past master; also to Ossipee Tribe, Improved Order of Red Men, and is past great sachem of that order for New Hampshire. He is a member and past master of the local Grange, and of the Ancient Or- der of United Workmen. Dr. Hodsdon is a Re- publican in politics, and attends the Methodist Church.

(VI) David, fourth son and sixth child of Elder Thomas (3) and Margaret (Goodwin) Hodsdon, was baptized in 1774. in Berwick, and some of his children settled near his brothers in Ossipee, New Hampshire. He was married, February 16, 1804, to Jane Fogg. daughter of Joseph and Mercy (Lit- tlefield) Fogg, of Kittery (see Fogg, IV). She was born May 10, 1776, in Kittery, and died April 10, 1847.

(VII) Joseph, son of David and Jane (Fogg) Hodsdon, was born at Berwick, Maine, July 14, 1816, where after attending the common schools he served an apprenticeship at the tanner's trade. He subsequently conducted a large business in tanning and currying for several years. In 1839 he removed to Ossipee. New Hampshire, where he bought what is now known as the Hodsdon homestead. Tearing down the cottage that was on the property, he built the large house which the family still occupies. Jo- seph Hodsdon was a Republican in politics, and rep- resented his town for two terms in the legislature, 1855 to 1857. He was colonel of the state militia and a Master Mason. He was an active member of the Congregational Church, and held the office of deacon for thirty-three years and superintendent of the Sunday school for forty years. On September 23, 1839, Deacon Joseph Hodsdon married Dorcas, daughter of John and Esther Gowell, of Berwick, Maine. There were seven children: Arthuria Isa- bella, born December 17, 1841 ; Arthur Lycurgus, whose sketch follows: Orlando Carlos, twin of Ar- thur Lycurgus, October 13, 1844: Abbic Etta, July 25. 1847; Lydia Ann, June 15, 1849: Sarah Climena, April 7. 1854: and Ida May, November 4, 1856. Or- lando C. Hodsdon, the second twin, died January 18, 1863. Deacon Joseph Hodsdon died at Ossipee, April 15, 1897, in his eighty-first year.

(VIII) Arthur Lycurgus. eldest son and second

child of Deacon Joseph and Dorcas (Gowell) Hods- don, was born at Ossipee, New Hampshire. October 13, 1844. After attending the common schools of his native town and the academies at Effingham, New Hampshire, and Fryeburg, Maine, at the age of twenty-one he entered into business with his fa- ther and also became interested in lumbering. In 1881 he gave up the tannery and devoted his entire attention to the lumbering business. In 1887 he- was elected president of the Pine River Lumber Company, and two years later bought out this company and organized it as the A. L. Hodsdon Lumber Company, with himself as president and. agent. In politics a Republican, he served for twelve years as member of the state committee, and for many years as chairman of the town committee, and as a member of the New Hampshire senate for the term 1890-91. He is a member of Ossipee Val- ley Lodge. Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, also of the Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias, and at- tends the Congregational Church. On September 4, 1870, Arthur Lycurgus Hodsdon married Charlotte M. Grant, daughter of Nathaniel and Charlotte S. Grant. They have three children: Walter Grant, born August 9, 1871 : Herbert Arthur, November 18, 1873, and Mary Ellen, November 2, 1878. Walter G. was educated at the academy in Fryeburg, Maine, and the medical school of Boston University, where he was graduated in 1900. He is now a successful practitioner in Rutland, Vermont. Dr. Hodsdon married Anna Harris, of Honeoye Falls, New York, and they have two children: Reginald Grant and Madeline Harris. Herbert Arthur was educated in the academy in Fryeburg, Maine, and went to Ro- chester, this state. as proprietor of a general mer- chandise store. He married Lucy W. Charles, and became interested in the store owned by her father. They have four children: Helen Charles, Charlotte Whitman, Arthur Norman and Grant William. Mary Ellen attended the Nute high school at Mil- ton, New Hampshire, and Lasell Seminary, at Au- burndale, Massachusetts. She was graduated from the Emerson School of Oratory in Boston. in 1902, being president of her class. In 1907 she married Dr. Charles E. Rich, and they now live in Lynn, Massachusetts.

TURNER The Turner family is an ancient one of Norman-French origin, and ap- pears in England at the time of the Conquest, when "Le sire de Tourneur" accompanied King William on his expedition. There are various coats-of-arms, belonging to the thirty-five different branches of the family in England. In most of these the mill rind or iron in which the center of the mill-stone is set appears as a distinguishing fea- ture. This would seem to suggest that the name is derived from the turning of a revolving wheel, in- dicating that the early Turners might have been millwrights or millers. Several families of the name are among the early immigrants to New England. The first and perhaps the most important American ancestor of the name was Humphrey Turner, who arrived with his family at Plymouth, Massachusetts. in 1628. He had a house lot assigned him the next year, and built a cabin in which he probably lived till 1633. Soon after he moved to Scituate, Massa- chusetts, where he lived till his death, nearly forty years later. He had a tannery at Scituate as early as 1636, and seems to have been a man of promi- nence in that town. His wife was Lydia Gamer. and there were eight children living at the time of their father's death in 1673. It is quite probable- that the following line is descended from Humph-

1977

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

rey, of Scituate : bitt the Turner genealogies are not owned by any of the libraries of Concord ; hence the writer is unable to trace the early antecedents of this branch.

That the family has been a numerous and power- ful one in New England is shown by the fact that two villages, one in Massachusetts and the other in Maine, have been named for them. Turner's Falls, in the Connecticut valley, near Greenfield and Deer- field, Massachusetts, was named for Captain Wil- liam Turner, who gained a victory there during King Philip's war, and was killed the next day, March 19, 1676. Previous to his death the region had been known as Great Falls. The town of Tur- ner, north of Auburn and Lewiston, Maine, was names for Rev. Charles Turner, a descendant of Humphrey, who was born at Scituate, Massachu- setts, in 1732, graduated from Harvard in 1752. and for several years was a preacher at Duxborough. Massachusetts. He afterwards moved to Maine. where he became influential in affairs. both of church and state, and left descendants who have at- tained distinction. The Turners of Newport, Rhode Island, who for so many generations have furnished officers to the army and navy of the United States, as well as consuls to foreign ports, are descended from Captain William Turner, who gave the name to Turner's Falls in Massachusetts. The line whose history follows has lived for five generations in Bethlehem, New Hampshire, and in view of the standing which it has in that town and . the number of successful men which it has sent out into the world. may justly be considered the fore- most family of that region.

(I) Samuel Turner and his wife Mary lived in Bernardston, Massachusetts, and little has come down to us of his carly life. He was a soldier in the French and English war in Canada, in His Majesty's service (George II), and was discharged from the army at Fort Halifax, April 28, 1761, in the early reign of George III. By trade he was a brick maker. Samuel Turner and his wife Mary had eight children, among them James Turner, who commenced a settlement in Bethlehem in 1789. Samuel and his wife came to Bethlehem and spent their last days with their son James.

(II) James, son of Samuel Turner, was born in 1762. He lived at Bernardston, Massachusetts, (not Barnardston, Maine,) as Simeon Bolles's "History of Bethlehem" incorrectly states, and at the age of twenty-eight walked up the Connecticut river with a pack on his back. When near the present town of Hanover he met at the cross roads a young woman on horseback. They must have been at- tracted to each other at first sight, for she offered to carry his pack on her horse. They journeyed together till they reached her home, a modest cot- tage, where she offered him lodging for the night. The fair rider proved to be a young widow named Parker, with two children, and from this chance meeting developed a romance which culminated in marriage two or three years later. The guest de- parted the next morning and wended his toilsome way to what is now the town of Bethlehem, where he was the third settler. He worked on his land during the summers, returning to Massachusetts to spend the winters. After he had partially subdued the wilderness he went to Hanover to claim his bride. According to tradition she was a woman of more than ordinary ability and attractiveness. She was a skillful horsewoman, and possessed such medical judgment and knowledge of herbs that she became noted as a doctor and nurse for miles around. There was no physician in the region for

many years, and Mrs. Turner's services were in de- mand. She would respond to calls at any hour of the night. without charges, and putting medicine into hier saddle-bags would fearlessly ride long dis- tances to minister to the ailing. The roads in those days were hardly more than trails, and journeys were frequently made by ox-team. It is said that Mrs. Turner and her husband went three times by this transportation to visit her friends in Hanover, which would be something like sixty miles from Bethlehem, and on one of these journeys she car- ried her six-weeks' old baby in her arms. The early settlers had to work hard for everything that they had. In those days there was no place nearer than Bath, twenty-five miles distant, where one could get corn ground. One day in early spring James Tur- ner started on this errand, but as he was coming back the ice thawed suddenly and he encountered a freshet on the roaring Ammonoosuc. The usual place of crossing was near what is now Littleton, but the flood rendered this impassible, and Turner stayed two or three nights at a cabin, accompanied by a settler named Mann, the only habitation any where about. He worked three days before he could find a tree long enough to reach across the river. He succeeded in getting home by this rude bridge, but he had to leave his team till the waters subsided. In those days there was no regular pas- turage, and cows were turned loose in the woods. Mr. Turner and a man named Oakes one day lost their two cows and were obliged to hunt for a week and a half before they found them, which was in a place called McGregory Hollow. near the Am- monoosuc. Mrs. Turner's skill was needed upon their return, and she succeeded in restoring the ne- glected animals to their former milk-giving con- ditions. Bears were plentiful in the neighborhood, and were caught in figure-4 traps. At one time the bear had remained too long in the trap, and Mr. Turner thought he would throw some of the meat to the hogs. This caused a riot in the pen, and the frightened animals fled in all directions, escaping through the logs to the woods. It was some time before they were recaptured, and Mr. Turner never again offended the sensibilities of his porcine charges in this manner. James Turner was a man of ability and accumulated considerable prop- erty, although he met with some pecuniary dis- couragement. After he had cleared his land and started a good farm, it was found that he did not possess a clear title : and not liking to leave a place on which he had spent so much labor, he paid for it a second time. Another way in which he lost money was by building a portion of the turnpike road between Portland, Maine, and the White Moun- tains. A company was formed to promote this scheme, which would afford the dwellers of the up- per part of New Hampshire and Vermont a means of getting to market. Beside his own labor Mr. Turner paid two hundred dollars for help, no small sum in those days, and he never received a cent in return. as the company failed completely. James Turner and his wife had three children, among them: Timothy Parker, whose sketch follows. James Turner died in Bethlehem in 1835, aged sev- enty-three years.

(III) Timothy, son of James and Mercy (Par- ker) Turner, was born at Bethlehem, New Hamp- shire, in 1795. He became a man of prominence, served as town clerk for many years. was captain of the militia, justice of the peace and representative to the legislature. He was a man of dignified ap- pearance, and of the old Puritan type. On February 3, 1818, Timothy Parker Turner married Priscilla

1978

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Bullock. and they had nine children, three of whom died young. The five sons had remarkable records. Janies N., the eldest, is mentioned in the next para- graph. Charles S. left home at the age of twenty- one and began railroad life at Norwich, Connecti- cut. He first served as station agent, and then be- came general agent of a railroad and steamboat company at Worcester. After fifteen years in this position he became superintendent of the Worcester & Nashua railroad, where he remained sixteen years. He was then made president of the consoli- dated Worcester, Nashua & Rochester railroads, and after four years of service retired from active business. The three younger Turners became ap- prentices in their elder brother's office. Timothy N. became a conductor on the Norwich line, and had charge of the steamboat train, which he man- aged for more than thirty years. William H. died Jannary 31, 1890, but his railroad advancement had been rapid, including among other positions that of superintendent of the Portland & Rochester railroad at the time of his death. that of superintendent of the New York end of the New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad. His grave at Worcester, Mas- sachusetts, is marked by an imposing monument of New Hampshire granite to which all the employes of the road, from the president to the water boys, claimed the privilege of contributing. Hiram N .. the youngest of the Turner boys, began as general passenger and freight agent of the Worcester & Nashua railroad, and while in this office he pub- lished the first maps of the White Mountains, show- ing the different routes to the various summer re- sorts. He was subsequently made general traffic manager of the Boston & Lowell railroad. going with that road to the Boston & Maine, and from there to St. Johnsbury, Vermont, to become general manager and director of the Fairbanks Scale fac- tories. He is a director in the Concord and Mon- treal railroad. Timothy P. Turner died February 16, 1872, and his wife died April 29, 1862.

(IV) James Nathaniel, eldest son of Timothy P. and Priscilla Turner, was born at Bethlehem, New Hampshire, April 18, 1824. He lives on the farm. halfway between the village and the maplewood. which has been occupied by five generations of Tur- ners. It was originally deeded to Mr. Turner's grandfather James by the state committee in 1789. It descended to the father, Timothy P., and is now occupied by James N., his son, George Huffman. and his son's children. There are two hundred and fifty acres in all, and the farm proper is a beautiful one, containing seventy-five acres, entirely cleared of stone and under a high state of cultivation. In connection with this farm James N. Turner and his son George conduct a summer hotel, the Turner House, which accommodates about seventy- five guests, and has an enviable reputation among the best family resorts of this region. The same guests come there year after year. Among the many attractions is an unfailing supply of the purest and coldest water which supplies a wavside trough where all travelers stop. James N. Turner is a Republican in politics, and attends the Congrega- tional Church. On December 20. 1857. James N. Turner married Mary Ann Hall, and they have three children.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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. IV, Part 120

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: 878

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: 878