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 128
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(II) Hon. John (2), youngest child of John (1) and Elizabeth (Todd) Bell, was born in London- derry, August 15, 1730. In early life he had the advantages of education afforded by the common schools in a community where almost every adult person could read and write, and where ignorance was regarded as a disgrace. He was not a scholar. but a thinking man, who was through life a dili- gent reader, especially of the Bible, the familiar
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handbook of that day and age. He lived on his farm in much the same manner as his neighbors did, until the breaking out of the Revolution. When that struggle began he was forty-five years old and had a family of eight children, "circum- stances which must have prevented him taking a very active part, if lic had desired it, in the military movements of the day." But he had arrived at the time of life when he possessed large experience in every day affairs and good judgment, and was still young enough to be active. In the spring of 1775 he was elected town clerk, and a member of the committee of safety of the town. In the fall of the same year he was elected a member of the Provin- cial congress, which met at Exeter, December 21, 1775, and which early in 1776 resolved itself into a house of representatives, and put in operation the independent government of New Hampshire, under the temporary constitution. In the autumn of 1776 he was re-elected and attended the seven sessions of the legislature which were held in 1776 and 1777, and was again a member from December, 1780, to 178I. In 1776 he was appointed a muster master of a part of the New Hampshire troops, and in 1780 was appointed colonel of the Eighth regiment of the militia. From the beginning to the end of the war he was a firm and decided patriot, and en- joyed the confidence of the more prominent men in the state government, who relied on his sound judgment and steady support of the cause. In 1786, under the new constitution, he was elected a sen- ator and held the office by successive elections un- til June, 1790, and in 1791 he was elected to fill a vacancy and served at the winter session. He was one of the committee which effected a com- promise of the Masonian proprietary clause, a sub- ject which in its time was the cause of much strife between the Masonian grantees and settlers who claimed to hold under other grants, and before the adoption of the constitution of 1792 he was a special justice of the court of common pleas. He held during many years the office of moderator, se- lectman, or town clerk, and discharged the duties of those offices with unquestioned integrity and good judgment. He was a magistrate from an early period after the Declaration of Independence until disqualified by age. He was early a member of the church, and sustained the office of elder from 1783 until his infirmities required him to with- draw. He was justly esteemed a pious, devout, and sincere Christian, and a steady and consistent sup- porter through a long life of all the institutions of religion. At the age of seventy he determined to close his connection with the business of others, and ceased to act in the capacity of magistrate, and of administrator and guardian, in which through the esteem and confidence of his townsmen he had been extensively engaged. He found occupation as long as his physical ability continued in the cultivation of his farm, had all that was necessary for the sat- isfaction of his wants and never strove to acquire more. He lived in an age when the man of money was not placed above the man of honor and integ- rity, and he would have frowned on the strenuous struggle for wealth that marks the present day. He was a man of large frame, six feet one inch in height, had a powerful voice, and great personal strength and activity, having been for twenty years the champion in the wrestling ring, a favorite musement at public meetings at that day. He had naturally a good constitution, which with his tem- perate habits secured to him, with the exception of a single attack of rheumatic character in middle life, almost uninterrupted health till the close of his ninety-fifth year. He died November 30, 1825,
aged ninety-five years, three months and fifteen days.
He married, December 21, 1758, Mary Ann Gil- more, a daughter of James and Jean (Baptiste) Gilmore, and a granddaughter of Robert and Mary (Kennedy) Gilmore, who were early settlers of Lon- donderry. She was thought to possess much per- sonal beauty in early life, was a woman of great prudence and good sense, and of a kind and affec- tionate temperament. She died April 21, 1822, aged eighty-five years. He had twelve children, three of whom died early. The other nine were: James (died young), Ebenezer (died young), Jonathan, John, Samuel, Elizabeth, Susannah, Mary and Mary Ann. (Samuel and descendants receive men- tion in this article).
(III) Governor John (3), thirteenth governor of New Hampshire, fourth son and child of John (2) and Mary Ann (Gilmore) Bell, and younger brother of Samuel Bell, ninth governor of New Hampshire, was born in Londonderry, July 20, 1765, and died in Chester, March 22, 1836, in the seventy- first year of his age. His early scholastic train- ing was received in Londonderry. On attaining his majority, being of an enterprising disposition, he became a merchant dealing in the products of Can- ada. His business required him to make repeated journeys to Montreal over the rough roads and trails of Northern New Hampshire and lower Can- ada, which in those days ran through almost con- tinuous forests, broken occasionally by the farm of a settler or by a small village. These journeys were no holiday excursions, but toilsome and not without danger. About the beginning of the nine- teenth century he established himself at Chester, where he resided during the remainder of his life. He was fortunate in the acquisition of property, retiring from business some years before his de- cease, and left at his death a handsome estate. He inherited those valuable qualities for which the Scotch-Irish settlers of New Hampshire were emi- nently distinguished. He was a born trader, was a close buyer and a swift seller, and could make money and make it honestly. His ability, probity and sound judgment, combined with a pleasing per- sonality, rapidly won the confidence and respect of his fellow citizens and placed him in public office where the able discharge of his duties was rewarded by promotions to higher and more responsible po- sitions until finally he was made chief magistrate of the state. In 1799-1800 he represented the town of Londonderry in the legislature. In 1803 he was elected senator for the Third district and served one term, and at the end of his term retired to private life. In IS17 he was elected a member of the exec- utive council, and was annually re-elected for five successive years. In 1823 he was appointed sheriff of Rockingham county, and held that office until 1828. In the latter year he was elected governor as a supporter of John Quincy Adams and served one term. "In the discharge of these various public duties lie uniformly exhibited the same traits of sa- gacity, diligence, justice and conscientiousness which achieved success for him in his business en- terprises."
He married, December 25, 1803, Persis Thorn, third child and eldest daughter of Isaac and Persis (Sargent) Thorn, of Londonderry. She was de- scended on the paternal side from William Thorn, of Windham, New Hampshire, and on the maternal side from Rev. Nathaniel P. Sargent, of Methuen, Massachusetts. She was a woman of strong mind and character. She survived her husband a quar- ter of a century, dying in November, 1862, at the age of eighty-four years, beloved and deeply la- mented. The ten children of this union were :
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Mary Anne Persis. Eliza Thorne, John, Susan Jane, Harriette Adelia, Jane Gibson, Caroline, Christo- pher Sargent, James Isaac and Charles Henry.
(IV) Mary Anne Persis Bell, eldest child of Governor John (3) and Persis (Thorn) Bell, and sister of Governor Charles Henry Bell. was born September 2, 1804. She married Rev. Nathaniel Bouton, D. D., of Concord, where she died Feb- ruary 15, 1839. ( See Bouton, VI).
(III) Hon. Samuel Bell, LL. D., youngest son of John (2) and Mary Ann (Gilmore) Bell, was born in Londonderry, February 9, 1770. At the age of eighteen he began the study of Latin, was subsequently a pupil at the New Ipswich Academy under the celebrated John Hubbard. and entering Dartmouth College as a sophomore was graduated in 1793. He immediately began the study of law under the preceptorship of Judge Samuel Dana, of Amherst, and after his admission to the bar in 1796 he began the practice of his profession in Frances- town, but in 1806 located in Amherst and some five years later removed to Chester, where lie re- sided for the rest of his life. Although Mr. Bell's legal ability was of a character well calculated to insure the speedy accumulation of wealth had he chosen to apply himself strictly to his profession, it can be truthfully said that he sacrificed his finan- cial prospects to the service of the state and nation, devoting the most vigorous period of his life to public affairs, and receiving the substantial support of a numerous constituency which saw the wisdom of electing him to office as long as his health would permit. Beginning his political career in 1804 as a member of the legislature from Francestown, he was speaker of the house for the years 1805 and 1806, and declined the office of attorney-general in order to enter the state senate, of which he was president in 1807 and 'o8. In 1813 he was a member of the executive council; was in 1816 appointed an associate justice of the New Hampshire superior court, serving in that capacity for three years until elected governor in 1819, and he was three times re- elected to that office. In 1823 he relinquished the gubernatorial chair to enter the United States senate, in which body he served with marked ability for two full terms, or a period of twelve years, and in 1835 he retired permanently from both public and profes- sional life. The succeeding fifteen years were spent in the peaceful seclusion in his home in Chester, and his death occurred December 23, 1850. The fact that Governor Bell was neither a popularity seeker nor a political manager is conclusive evi- dence that his retention in high office for so many years was dite solely to his superior ability and invulnerable integrity. Possessed of an unusually well developed mental capacity which was carefully cultured and perfectly discliplined, he was therefore a profound student of the law, a wise counsellor, an exceptionally able jurist and a thoroughly equipped statesman, entirely void .of intrigue and conscientiously attentive to public business. In refer- ence to his record as a jurist a contemporary states that "his published judicial opinions in the early volumes of the State Reports, bear testimony to his habits of thorough and careful research, his com- plete understanding of the rules and reasons of the law. and his clear, logical habits of investigation and statement." Bowdoin conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws in 1821. Gov- ernor Bell married for his first wife Mehitable Bowen Dana, daughter of Judge Dana of Amherst, previously referred to. The children of this union were: Samuel Dana, LL. D .: John (died 1830) ; Mary Ann; James: Luther V., M. D., LL. D .; and another child whose name is not at hand. July
4, 1828, he married, for his second wife, Lucy Smith, daughter of Jonathan Smith, of Amherst, and she bore him four children : George, John, Charles and Louis. Four of his sons, Samuel D., James, George and Louis, became lawyers of ability.
(IV) Hon. James Bell, third son and fourth child of Hon. Samuel and Mehitable B. (Dana) Bell, was born in Francestown. November 13, 1804. He pursued his preparatory course at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, and was grad- uated from Bowdoin College in 1822. His legal studies, began in the office of his brother, Samuel Dana Bell, were completed at the Litchfield, Con- necticut Law School in 1825, and he was admitted to the bar the same year. From the latter year until 1831 he practiced in Gilmanton. this state, from whence he removed to Exeter and became as- sociated in practice with his former student, Hon. Amos Tuck, afterward a member of congress from New Hampshire. For many years this firm con- ducted a large and exceedingly profitable law bus- iness, being detained in most of the important lit- igations in Rockingham and Stafford counties dur- ing its existence, and Mr. Bell was almost con- stantly occupied in arguing before the court and jury. Severing his association with Mr. Tuck in 1847 he became counsel and legal agent of the Winnepe- saukee Land and Water Power Company, and re- moving to Gilford, now Laconia, he entered with spirit upon the preliminary and most difficult part of the undertaking, that of securing the land and rights of flowage around Winnepesaukee Lake for a reservoir to supply the necessary water-power for the great manufacturing establishments on the Mer- rimac river. The remainder of his life was devoted exclusively to this work, and he died in Gilford. May 26, 1857. Mr. Bell was never an aspirant for political honors, but like his father was forced into civic affairs simply because he was superabundantly qualified to hold public office, and he performed his official duties with the same degree of ability and earnestness as that which characterized his dis- tinguished predecessor. In 1846 he represented Exeter in the lower house of the state legislature, was a delegate from Gilford to the state constitu- tional convention in 1850, was twice a candidate for governor, and in 1855 was chosen United States senator, serving through the thirty-fourth congress and in the extra session of 1857. It has been said of him that no lawyer in the state was capable of rendering a wiser or more weighty opinion on a naked question of law than was he, and his under standing of the principles, intent and purposes of laws was both varied and profound. In his manner he was modest and unobtrusive, his professional de- portment was a model for excellence and his life was stainless. In 1831 Mr. Bell married Judith A. Upham, daughter of Nathaniel and Judith (Cogs- well) Upham, of Rochester. New Hampshire, a sis- ter of Hon. Nathaniel Gookin, LL. D., once a jus- tice of the New Hampshire superior court, and a grand-daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Cogswell of Haverhill, Massachusetts, who served as an officer in the battle of Bunker Hill. She be- came the mother of five children: Mary A. Bell. wife of Nathaniel G. White, who was president of the Boston & Maine railroad, Eliza U. Bell, Lucy Bell. James Dana Bell, Charles Upham Bell.
(V) Hon. Charles Upham Bell, A. M., LL. D. son of Hon. James and Judith A. (Upham) Bell, was born in Exeter, February 26, 1843. He com- pleted the regular preparatory course at Phillips Exeter Academy, and after studying an extra year at that institution he entered Bowdoin College, tak- ing his bachelor's degree in 1863 and receiving that
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of Master of Arts in course (1866). At commence- ment he pronounced the English oration and was chosen a member in the Psi Upsilon and the Phi Beta Kappa societies. He was a law student in the office of his cousin, the late Charles H. Bell, LL D., of Exeter, author of "Bench and Bar of New Hampshire." and having completed his legal prepar- ations at the Harvard Law School was admitted to the Rockingham county bar at Exeter in Feb- ruary, 1866. Inaugurating his practice in Exeter he was associated at intervals with his cousins, Charles H. and John J. Bell. but in 1871 he removed from his native state and located in Lawrence, Mas- sachusetts. Forming a law partnership with his brother-in-law, Nathaniel Gilman White, the firm of White and Bell conducted a successful general law business until 1878, when Mr. Bell withdrew and entered into partnership with Edgar J. Sher- man, under the firm name of Sherman and Bell. In 1887 Mr. Sherman was appointed a justice of the Massachusetts superior court, and Mr. Bell contin- ued in practice alone for the succeeding ten years or until 1897, in which year the firm of Bell and Eaton was established. The latter partnership was, however, of short duration, as on September 16, 1898, he was selected by Governor Wolcott to suc- ceed as associate justice of the superior court the Hon. John W. Hammond, who had been recently elevated to the supreme bench. Although his prac- tice was not confined exclusively to any one branch of the law, he nevertheless specialized to a consid- erable extent in real estate and probate matters, in which he became exceedingly well versed, and for many years he was universally recognized as one of the foremost members of the Essex county bar.
In politics Judge Bell is a Republican, and in matters relative to civic affairs he has emulated the sound political doctrine advocated and scrupulously followed by his father and grandfather, namely, that it is the duty of every intelligent citizen to render his share of public service solely for the benefit of the community, and not for pecuniary reward. He was a member of the Lawrence com- mon council for two years and president of that body for one year served as city solicitor for six years, and was one of the presidential electors in 1888, casting his official ballot for Benjamin Har- rison. In 1896 he was appointed one of the com- missioners to revise and codify the laws of Massa- chusetts, serving in that capacity until called to the judiciary of that commonwealth. For three years he rendered valuable service to the Republican party organization as a member of the state central committee, and was twice the party's candidate for mayor of Lawrence. He has also accepted and con- scientiously fulfilled various duties of a semi-public natttre. In 1888 he was summoned to the board of overseers of Bowdoin College, is a trustee of the Brewster Free Academy at Wolfboro, New Hamp- shire. and of the Essex Savings Bank, Lawrence, has long performed similar duties for the White Fund and by virtue of the latter is a life trustee of the Lawrence Public Library. Judge Bell is a veteran of the Civil war, having served one hun- dred days in Company C, Forty-second Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and is a past commander of Needham Post, No. 139, Grand Army of the Republic. He is also a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, Society of Colonial Wars, and the Society of the Cincinnati, having served upon the standing committee. His religious affiliations are with the Trinity Congregational Church, Lawrence, and for many years he has served as one of its deacons. He has contributed some valuable additions to the literature of his pro-
fession, the most notable of which is a "Digest of Massachusetts Reports." His alma mater made him a Doctor of Laws in 1901.
On November 21, 1872, Judge Bell married for his first wife Helen Maria Pitman, daughter of Jo- seph P. and Charlotte A. (Parker) Pitman, of La- conia, New Hampshire. She died March 26, 1882, leaving four children: Alice Lyon, Mary White, Joseph Pitman, and Helen Pitman Bell. He was again married April 10, 1883, to Elizabeth Wood- bury Pitman, a sister of his first wife. Judge Bell resides in Andover, Massachusetts.
CROSS There can be little doubt that this line of the name is an offshoot of the large family founded in Essex county, Massa- chusetts, which has furnished many of the leading citizens of New Hampshire. (See page 1197). It is probable that the first named below was from Meth- tien, Massachusetts, though no record can be found to establish the fact. The first found in the vital records of this state is Simeon Cross.
(I) Simeon Cross was a resident of Bridgewater, New Hampshire, with his wife Abigail. No record of their marriage appears in New Hampshire, but their children are recorded in Bridgewater, namely : George, Abigail, Simeon, Lydia, Abijah and Judith.
(II) Simeon (2), second son and third child of Simeon (I) and Abigail Cross, was born August 7, 1784, in Bridgewater, and was a pioneer settler of Stewartstown, this state. He cleared up lands and engaged in agriculture until his death.
(III) Simeon (3), son of Simeon (2) and Cross, was born at Stewartstown, New Hampshire, in 1827. In early life he went to Lowell, Massachu- setts, and worked in the mills for a few years, and then came back to his native town and settled upon the farm where his son now lives. He was a Re- publican in politics, and served as selectman of the town. He was a constant attendant at the Methodist Episcopal Church, and though not a member, con- tributed liberally to its support. He married Susan, daughter of French and Polly (Piper) Hall. There were nine children: Ella, married George Hicks, and is now deceased; Loren, died in 1892; Mary, married A. L. Davis, and lives in Errol, New Hampshire; Frank H., of Berlin, New Hampshire; John, whose sketch follows: Stephen, of Berlin, New Hampshire; an infant; Hattie, married A. M. Newell, of West Milan, New Hampshire ; and Annie, lives in Ohio. Simeon (3) Cross died in 1884.
(IV) John, third son and fifth child of Simeon (3) and Susan (Hall) Cross, was born on the farm where he now lives, at Colebrook, New Hampshire, on December 19, 1866. He was educated in the district schools of his native town, and began to farm early in life. He has about one hundred and fifty acres under cultivation. He is a Republican in politics, and represented his town in the legislature of 1904. He served as selectman of Colebrook in 1902 and 1903. He belongs to the Grange and to the Knights of Pythias, and was formerly captain in the Uniform Rank of the latter organization. He is not married, and he and his mother constitute the family on the old homestead.
HUNT This old New England family is not so numerously represented in New Hamp- shire as many others, but its representa- tives are usually men of highest character, and re- flect credit upon the family as well as upon this and the communities in which they reside.
(I) Edward Hunt, of Amesbury, Massachu- setts, must have been born as early as 1655 or sooner. and was the ancestor of the Amesbury
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branch of the family. He may have been a son of Edward Hunt, who was at Cambridge in 1635, and is possibly identified with the Edward Hunt who sold land in Duxbury in 1665. He subscribed to the oath of allegiance in Amesbury, 1667, and was a member of the Train Band in 1680. He dicd De- cember 23, 1727, in Amesbury, and the administra- tion of his estate was granted to his son Nathaniel, in 1729. His widow, Ann Hunt, was then living. He married, February 19, 1675, Ann Weed, born July 26. 1657, daughter of John and Deborah (Winsley) Weed, of Amesbury. John Weed was born about 1627, and was among the early planters of Amesbury. He was a lieutenant of the militia, and a leading citizen of the town. His wife, Deb- orah (Winsley) Weed, was a daughter of Sam- uel and Elizabeth Winsley. Samuel Winsley was a planter of Salisbury, and was one of the twelve who obtained a grant to begin a plantation at what is now Amesbury, in 1638. The children of Edward and Ann (Weed) Hitnt included two daughters who died in infancy, besides Mary, John, Ephraim, Hannah, Samuel, Nathaniel and Thomas.
(II) Nathaniel, fourth son and eighth child of Edward and Ann (Weed) Hunt, was born Septem- ber 27, 1693, in Amesbury. He died between 1724 and 1728, the dates, respectively, of the making and proving of his will. His estate included seventeen acres of land and was valued at fifty-seven pounds, three shillings and eight pence. He married, May 17, 1721, Hannah Tubury, daughter of Henry (2) and Hannah Tubury, and granddaughter of Henry Tu- bury, a weaver of Newbury and Amesbury. She was born August 26, 1697. Their children were : Philip, Moses. Nathaniel, Zacheus, Henry, Eliakim, Ann, Hannah, Judith, Mary, David and Sylvanus.
(III) Henry, fifth son and child of Nathaniel and Hannah (Tubury) Hunt, resided in Kings- ton, New Hampshire, where he died in 1794. The records of Kingston show that on February 24. 1730, he was paid the sum of sixteen pounds and five shillings for "Keping scool." He married Hannah Eastman, daughter of Roger and Rachel Eastman (see Eastman, IV), and they were the par- ents of children: Eliakim, Henry, Abner, Moses, Rachel, Hannah, Elizabeth, Judith, Miriam, Ann, Stephen and Eliphalet.
(IV) Henry (2), second son and child of Henry and Hannah (Eastman) Hunt, was born Au- gust 29, 1749, in Kingston, and resided in Gilman- ton, New Hampshire, where he operated iron works. He married, December 27. 1777. Rhoda French, and their children were: John, Oliver, Henry, Rhoda, Nancy and Lois.
(V) Oliver, second son and child of Henry and Rhoda (French) Hunt, was born June 8, 1782, at Gilmanton Iron Works, and died in Manchester, November 24, 1857. He took up his residence in Alton, where he had a farm and blacksmith shop, and later removed to a farm in Manchester Cen- ter. Like his father he was a blacksmith and worker in iron, and was a most industrious man. He mar- ried, in 1803, Anna Gilman, born July 3, 1780, at Gilmanton Iron Works, a daughter of Dudley Gil- man, and granddaughter of Stephen and Rebecca (Coffin) Gilman, and thus the Hunt family became allied with two of the principal families of Gilman- ton. The children of this marriage were: Gilman, Dudley, died in Manchester, at the age of forty-two years. Jonathan Titcomb Parker, see forward. Olive A., M. D., an early woman physician of New Hampshire: she graduated in 1866-67. engaged in active practice in Manchester many years, and still actively engaged in the practice of her profession. Oliver Coffin, died in Manchester at the age of
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