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 25

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 25

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).

(VI) Captain Samuel, only child of John and Mary (Orr) Pray, was born in Kittery, December 3. 1789. From his native town, he removed to Portsmouth. New Hampshire, and was a sea captain and ship builder. During the second war with Great Britain (1812-15) he was engaged in pri- vateering. December 14, 1814, he was made prize master of a British ship with orders to take her to Portsmouth, but was shortly afterwards over- hauled by a British seventy-four gun frigate, which recaptured his prize, and with the American prize crew he was sent to Dartmoor prison in England. and was in that prison when the prisoners were fired upon. He was subsequently released and returned to America. He married (first), April 23, 1800. Lucy Fernald, who was a daughter of Daniel and Hannah ( Manson) Fernald, and who died Octo- ber 27, 1826. She bore him six children : Adeline, born September 16. 1812, married James Neal, and died October 8, 18.45. Sarah Ann, born. July 29. 1814, married Nathaniel K. Walker, and died April 6. 1875. John Samuel, born August 3, 1816, men- tioned below. Lucy Maria Fernald, born June 28, 1821, married Charles Gerrish, and died September 5. 1864. Margaret Wooster, born July 15, 1825, married James M. Salter, and died July 5, 18SI. William Fernald, born May 13, 1823, died Dayton, Ohio. Samuel Pray married (second), Ellen

Brown, September 6, 1827, and their children were: Julia Ann, born November 12, 1829, died April 12. I903. Charles Henry, born January 10, 1832, drowned off Cape Horn, September 30, 1860. La- vina Ellen, born June II, 1835, married Edwin A. Gerrish, and died December 17, 1891.

(VII) Captain John Samuel, eldest son of Cap- tain Samuel and Lucy (Fernald) Pray, was born in Kittery, August 3, 1816. Like his father he became an efficient master-mariner, and for a num- ber of years was engaged in the West India and cotton trade. In 1849 lie made a voyage around Cape Horn to San Francisco, and during the Civil war was a ship owner in Portsmouth and New York. He was a trustee of the Portsmouth Sav- ings Bank, director of the Portsmouth National Mechanics' & Traders' Bank, served as president of the Portsmouth Atheneum, and was a prominent member of the Unitarian parish. His death oc- curred August 21, 1889. He married Rosalina A. Tisdale. November 17, 1849, who died December 4, 1877, and their children were: Elizabeth Shattuck, born November 23, 1851, married Charles K. Wad- ham, and died April 9, 1906. Samuel, born July 9, 1854. Frank Wendell, born April 20, 1857, mar- ried Elizabeth M. Calder. John Wesley, born July II, 1858, married Elizabeth. Seeley. Maurice, born November 15. 1861, died January 8, 1878. Lucy, born February 5, 1863, died May 31, 1863. Mary Cambridge, born February 26. 1867. Henry Thorn- ton, born January 6, 1870, died August 14, 1870.

(VIII) Captain Samuel, eldest son of Captain John S. and Rosalina A. (Tisdale) Pray, was born in Portsmouth, July 9, 1854. After attending the Portsmouth high school three and one-half years, he adopted a seafaring life, and shipping before the mast in New York on the ship "Yosemite" he sailed to San Francisco, thence to the far east, be- ing two years and a half on the voyage. His sec- ond voyage, a Mediterranean voyage, was in the Portsmouth ship "Semiramis," commanded by the late Captain Edwin A. Gerrish, of Portsmouth. In 1878, when twenty-four years old, he superin- tended the building of and later took command of a clipper bark, the "Harvard," and later commanded the ship "Gov. Goodwin," and was a successful ship master, making long and exceedingly prosperous voyages. Retiring from the sea, he became quite extensively interested in shipping. and at the pres- ent time is the Boston representative of the Ameri- can Hawaiian Steamship Company. Captain Pray is an advanced Mason, a member of Dalliousie Lodge, West Newton, and a Knight Templar. He is a trustee of the Boston Marine Society and a member of Massachusetts Society Sons of Ameri- can Revolution. He married, February 1, 1881, Emma S. Barnard, of Franklin, New Hampshire, daughter of Daniel Barnard, who was at one time attorney-general of that state. Captain and Mrs. Pray reside in West Newton, Massachusetts. and have one daughter, Dorothy, born December II, I893.

The great number of persons in the WHITE New England and western states whose surname is White de - scended in most instances from John White, of Salem, Massachusetts, 1638, or from William White, of Ipswich, Massachusetts, 1635. Both were pro- genitors of a multitude of descendants, and num- ber among them many of the most active and prom- inent participants in the social, religious and civil affairs of the communities and commonwealths in which they have lived.

North Chile

1627

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

(I) The present article deals with the descend- ants of William White, who came from Norfolk county, England, landing in Ipswich, Massachu- setts, 1635. Shortly afterward he settled in New- bury, where he became an influential citizen, and later was a pioneer in Haverhill, being one of the first company of twelve settlers. His name is men- tioned as one of the six grantees of land at Paw- tucket by the two Indians, "Passaquo and Sagga- hew," November 15, 1642, and he was one of the thirty-two landholders in Haverhill in that year. He was one of the selectmen chosen in the town at a meeting held October 29, 1646, and is listed as one of those who shared in the second division of ploughland laid out June 7, 1652, his portion being seven acres. He died September 28, 1690, aged eighty years. His widow soon afterward moved to Ipswich, where she died in 1693. Mr. White settled on the farm owned in 1861 by James D. White, and we find that he owned a farm in New- bury in 1650. Soon after the church was gathered he became a member, and was one of its firmest pillars. He had the honor of the town very much at heart, and was esteemed by its citizens and was frequently intrusted with its most important busi- ness. He left one son. John.

(II) John, only child of William White, mar- ried. at Salem, August 25. 1662, Hannah French. He died January I. 1668-69, aged twenty-nine years, leaving one son, John.

(III) John (2), only son of John (1) and Han- nah (French) White, was born March 8, 1664. He married, October 24, 1687, Lydia Gilman, daughter of Hon. John Gilman, of Exeter, and had many sons and daughters, "whose descendants," says an old record, "are exceedingly numerous." Another account says "Said John and Lydia had sons : William, Samuel, Nicholas, Timothy (graduate of Harvard College, 1720), James and John: and daughters : Mary, Hannah, Elizabeth, Abigail, Ly- dia, and Joanna." John White died November 20, 1727.

(IV) Nicholas, third son of John and Lydia (Gilman) White, was born in Haverhill, December 4. 1698, and died at Plaistow, New Hampshire, Oc- tober 7, 1782. By his first wife, Hannah Ayer. whom he married in 1722, he had five children, and by his second wife, Mary Culf, he had ten chil- dren.

(V) Noah, third child of Nicholas and Hannah (Aver) White, was born February 15. 1728, and settled at Coos, New Hampshire. He married Sarah Sweet, by whom he had nine children

(VI) Nathaniel, the eldest child of Noah and Sarah (Sweet) White, was born April 10, 1752. His first wife was Betty -, who bore him three children. After her death he married Re- bekah Foord, by whom he also had three children, the youngest of whom was Samuel. In 1700 he removed with his family to Lancaster, New Hamp- shire, where he spent the remainder of his life. He served in the revolutionary war, and his wife Re- hekah received a pension. He died April 28, 1809. He was public-spirited and benevolent, and was held in high esteem as a man and a citizen.

(VII) Samuel, youngest child of Nathaniel and Rebekah (Foord) White, was born September 1.4, 1787, at Bradford, Vermont, and died June 4, 1854, at Concord, New Hampshire. When three years old he accompanied his parents in their removal to Lancaster, where he grew to manhood. April 2, 1810, he married Sarah Freeman, by whom he had nine children. In February, 1848, he moved to Con-

cord, where he spent the remainder of his life. His wife died December 30, 1857.

(VIII) Nathaniel, oldest son of Samuel and Sarah (Freeman) White, was born at Lancaster, New Hampshire, February 7, 18II. He received the kind and amount of education incident to most boys at the time and in the locality where he grew up, with the exception that his religious education and training, owing to his mothers' tender care, were far above those of the average boy. At four- teen years of age he went to Lunenburg, Vermont, where he entered the employ of a general merchant, and spent about a year. General John Wilson, of Lancaster, about that time assumed the manage- ment of the Columbian Hotel at Concord, and young Nathaniel White took a position in the em- ploy of the General, whose wife was a woman of many noble qualities. Knowing that their son was going to a place where he would be under good influences made the young man's parents the more readily consent to this arrangement. On his ar- rival at Concord, April 26, 1826, Nathaniel White had a solitary shilling in his pocket, but by saving" the perquisites that came to him about the hotel he accumulated in the five years he was there the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars. He kept a strict account of the salary he earned and turned it over to his father. In 1832 hie borrowed money to start in business. This was the only loan he ever received or asked for business purposes. With his savings and this loan he purchased for one thousand dollars an interest in the stage line be- tween Concord and Hanover, driving the stage himself. In one year he was free from debt, and a short time later he purchased the stage route between Concord and Lowell. In 1838 he became a partner with Captain William Walker Jr. in es- tablishing the express business, making the weekly trips to Boston, where he personally attended to the delivery of all packages, goods or money in- trusted in his care. He was eminently adapted to this business, paying great attention to details, even the smallest thing. and thus he was an ideal ex- pressman. Upon the opening of the Concord rail- road in 1842 he became one of the original mem- bers of the express company then organized to de- liver goods throughout New Hampshire and Can. ada. Soon after, Mr. White bought Captain Walker's interest, and was the principal owner with B. P. Cheney. They sold to the American Express Company in the spring of 1880. The business was long conducted under the name of the United States & Canada Express Company, and has con- tinued in successful operation to the present day, .and to Nathaniel White's business capacity it has been greatly indebted for its remarkable financial success.

Mr. White was strongly attracted to Concord from the time he became a resident of the city until his death. To him it is indebted for many of the beautiful structures which make it an attractive city. In the founding of benevolent and charitable institutions he was one of the foremost, taking a deep interest in the establishment of the New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane, the State Re- form School, the Orphans' Home at Franklin, to which he gave a generous endowment, and of the Home for the Aged at Concord.

In 1852 Mr. White was chosen by the Whig and Free-Soil parties to represent Concord in the state legislature. He was an Abolitionist from the start and a member of the Anti-Slavery Society from its inception. He extended his aid to negroes

1628

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

escaping from slavery in the south, and the attic of his house and the hay mows of his barn har- bored many a negro on his way to Canada and freedom. In 1875 Mr. White was a candidate for governor on the Prohibition ticket. In 1876 he was sent as a delegate to the Cincinnati Republi- can convention which nominated Rutherford B. Hayes for the presidency. In 1880 he was placed by his party at the head of the list of candidates for presidential electors. As far back as 1846 Mr. White purchased four hundred acres of land lying about two miles from the state house, in the south- western part of the city, and gave much of his at- tention to farming, making his estate one of the most highly cultivated in the state. He also had a beautiful summer retreat at Sunapee Lake. In addition to his large interest in the express com- pany and his farm, he was interested in real estate in Concord and Chicago, in hotel property in the mountain districts, in railway corporations, in banks, in manufacturing establishments, and in ship- ping. He was a director in the Manchester & Law- rence, the Franconia & Profile House, and Mount Washington railroads, and in the National State Capital Bank. He was a trustee of the Loan and Trust Savings Bank of Concord, of the Reform School, Home for the Aged, the Orphans' Home,

and other private and public trusts. Mr. White

was a man of noble character. As a child he grew up under christian influences; as a young man he was honest, honorable, free from vices, prudent, economical, temperate, diligent in business, ener- getic and well-liked; as a man he was strong, firm, reliable in every way, tactful, successful, and one who was sought out to care for the interests of others because he had succeeded so well in the management of his own affairs. Mr. and Mrs. White were among the foremost members of the Universalist Church of Concord, and he was ever striving to spread the faith that was in him. Among the liberal contributors to Tufts College, he was the friend of education and every liberal move- ment, and ever cherished a keen interest in the welfare of mankind. He did more than any other one man to retain the capital at Concord, both giv- ing land and contributing in cash to buy land of others.

Mr. White was married November 1, 1836, to Armenia S. Aldrich, who was born November I, 1817, in Mendon, Massachusetts, a daughter of John and Harriet (Smith) Aldrich (see Aldrich, VI). Mrs. White has always been interested in the movement for woman suffrage and every effort for the improvement of the condition of her sex. She was a warm friend of Frances E. Willard and other workers in the field of human advancement. whose warm regards have ever been hers. On the maternal side Mrs. White's ancestry includes the Pilgrims the "Mayflower"-Edward Doty, Francis Cooke, and Stephen Hopkins, also Mr. Hopkin's second wife, Elizabeth, and their daughter, Damaris, who both came with him to Plymouth. Mrs. White's mother, whose maiden name was Har- riet Smith, was a daughter of Samuel Smith and his wife Hope Doten, who married at Plymouth, Mas- sachusetts, May 3, 1791. The "Doty-Doten Gene- alogy" shows that Hope Doten. born in 1765, was a daughter of James and Elizabeth (Kempton) Doten, and was descended from Edward Doty and his wife, Faith Clark, through John and Elizabeth (Cooke) Doty, Isaac and Martha (Faunce) Do- ten, and Isaac and Mary (Lanham) Doten, Isaac being father of James and grandfather of Hope Do- ten. Mrs. White's maternal grandmother, Eliza-

beth, wife of John Doty or Doten, was the daugh- ter of Jacob Cooke (son of Francis) and his wife, Damaris, daughter of Stephen Hopkins and his wife Elizabeth.

Nathaniel and Armenia S. (Aldrich) White were the parents of seven children: John A., Ar- menia E., Lizzie H., Annie Frances, born May 22, 1852, died November 9, 1865; Nathaniel, Seldon F., born July 13, 1857, died April 24, 1858; and Ben- jamin C. They also adopted and reared a daugh- ter Hattie S., who is now the widow of D. P. Dear- born, M. D., late of Brattleboro, Vermont.

(IX) Colonel John A. White, eldest son of Na- thaniel and Armenia S. (Aldrich) White, was born March 31, 1838, died November 26, 1899. He mar- ried, October 5, 1869, Elizabeth Mary Corning. She died in May, 1873, leaving no children. He married (second), August 31, 1881, Ella H. Corning, a cousin of his first wife. Arnold White, of Con- cord. New Hampshire, born October 20, 1883, is the only child of this union.

(IX) Armenia E. White, born March 22, 1847, married Horatio Hobbs, who died April 24. 1889. He left two children : Nathaniel White Hobbs, born November 1, 1873; and Annie White Hobbs, born July 28, 1875.

(IX) Lizzie H. White married, October 12, 1881, C. H. Newhall, of Lynn, Massachusetts. She died December 12, 1887.

(IX) Nathaniel White, Jr., born June 8, 1855, and died October 4, 1904, was a citizen of Con- cord. He was general manager of the farm and other properties left by his father, and was a di- rector of the Mt. Washington Railway Company. He married, November 17, 1881, Helen Eastman, daughter of Charles S. and Charlotte (Bedlow) Eastman. They had two children: Nathaniel Al- drich, born November 19, 1883; and Charlotte, July 21, 1889.

(IX) Benjamin Cheney White was born June 16, 1861. He is a resident of Concord, and is a di- rector of the State Capital Bank, the Concord & Montreal railroad, and manager of the White Op- era House, Concord. He married, January 12, 1887, Mabel M. Chase, of Concord, daughter of James H. and Augusta S. (Lamprey) Chase. They had two children: James Chase, born August, 1890. died October 5, 1895; and Rose Aldrich, born June 5, 1895.

(Second Family.)

The branch of the White family with

WHITE which this narrative is concerned traces its descent from Robert White, a native and resident of Scotland, and a Presbyterian in religion. His two sons, Robert and James, came to America from northern Ireland about 1729, first locating in Lancaster, Massachusetts. Prior to 1740 they located in the town of Pembroke. New Hampshire, where they resided the remainder of their lives, and were farmers by occupation. Rob- ert White took a deed of his right in Suncook of Benjamin Prescott, of Groton, Massachusetts, March 10, 1732, and deeded one-half of the same to James White, April 10, 1733. Both probably lo- cated soon afterward on lot number 54, first di- vision, Robert on the southerly and James on the northerly half.

(I) James White, above mentioned. married in Scotland a Miss McAllister, and their children were: Isaac, Mary Moore and Jane.

(II) Isaac, eldest child and only son of James and (McAllister) White, was born in Pembroke in 1736. He resided on the homestead upon which his father located, and followed farm-

ARMENIA S. WHITE.

一

1629

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

ing. He sold this farm to Samuel Kimball, and bought another on the street, February 10, 1773, and subsequently sold it to John Head, of Brad- ford, Massachusetts. About 1778 he settled in Bow, on land now occupied by his descendants. His first house stood on the site now occupied by the school house in district No. 3, known as the White district. December 15: 1765, he married Mary Moore, of Pembroke. She was born in March, 1739, and died March 29, 1838; he died in August, 1806. Their children were : I. Margaret, born October 1, 1766; married Moody Dow, of Concord, New Hampshire. 2. Mary, born July 11, 1768; married Jonathan Cavis, of Bow. 3. James, born April 21, 1770; married Polly Alexander, Novem- ber 28, 1779. 4. Robert, born May 7, 1772; mar- rier Sarah Frye. 5. Mary Ann, born May 21, 1774; married Jonathan Farmer, June 15, 1797. 6. John, born May 9, 1776; died unmarried. 7. Isaac, born November 6, 1778; married Elizabeth Ryder. 8. David, born March 22, 1781; married Betsey Carter. 9. Nancy, born September 21, 1783; mar- ried Chauncey Newell. 10. Daniel, (mentioned at length in this article). II. Susan, born July 12, 1789; married Wells Carter. 12. Betsey, born June 2, 1792; married a Mr. Cavis, and resided in Bow.

(III) David, eighth child and fifth son of Isaac and Mary (Moore) White, was born March 22, 1781. He resided in the town of Bow, and was a farmer by occupation. He married, July 16, 1807, Betsey Carter, daughter of Colonel John Carter (see Carter, VI), of Concord, and died June 29, 1833. His children Lucy Carter, born May 1, 1808, died November 14, 1835. 2. Rev. John Brown, born March 10, 1810: married (first), Mary P. Merriman, and (second), Elizabeth R. Wright, and died in Greenville, Illinois. 3. Rob- ert Davis, born March 5, 1812: married Mary Shute, of Bow, and lived and died in that town. 4. Uella, born July 7. 1814, died August 1, 1814. 5. Emily, born July 13, 1816: married John Albin. (See Albin, II). 6. Judith Coffin, born October 16, 1819; married, February 10, 1842, William Albin (see Albin, II). 7. David, mentioned below. 8. Henry Kirk, born September 3, 1830, died Decem- ber 2. 1899, in Bow.

(IV) David (2), seventh child and third son of David (1) and Betsey (Carter) White, was born in the town of Bow, New Hampshire, April 11, 1826, and his education was received in the public schools of his native town. While he was a resident of Bow he followed farming, and was also interested in the lumber business. Later he located in Con- cord, where he continued in the latter occupation. He was a member of the Universalist Church in Concord. In politics he supported the principles and policies of the Democratic party. He married, December 29, 1853, Charlotte Page, daughter of Jeremiah and Mehitable (Shute) Page. She was born January 29, 1832, and died August 4. 1876, surviving her husband, who died August 17, 1875. They were the parents of two children: I. David Waldo, born June 30, 1864. 2. Una Gertrude, born in Concord, October 2, 1869; married Richard C. Goodell ; she died April, 1895, in Antrim, New Hampshire.

(V) David Waldo, eldest child and only son of David (2) and Charlotte (Page) White, was born in the city of Concord. New Hampshire, June 30, 1864. He received his education in the public schools of his native city, in Tilton Seminary, and in Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in the class of 1887. After his graduation he entered

the employ of the Lake Shore railway, in the engi- neering department, and subsequently was appointed to the position of engineer of the Concord street railway. In 1899 he purchased the flour, feed, hay and lime business of F. Coffin, in Concord, which he has successfully conducted to the present time. He is owner of the family homestead in Bow, where he with his family passes the summer months, their residence being in the city of Con- cord during the remainder of the year. He takes an active part in community affairs. He is a Re- publican in politics, and in 1902 was elected as a representative in the legislature from the town of Bow. He is a member of various fraternal and social bodies-Blazing Star Lodge, No. 1I, An- cient Free and Accepted Masons; White Mountain Lodge. No. 5, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and Bow Grange, No. 189, of which he has been master. He married, June 28, 1893, Miss Eva May Colby, daughter of Anthon W. and Jessie Louise (Brown) Colby (see Colby, VII). She was born June 10, 1874. Their children are: I. Lloyd David, born in Concord, May 29, 1894, died May 10, 1897. 2. Una Goodell, born in Concord. Au- gust 21, 1895. 3. Irene Bernice, born in Concord, September 14, 1898.

(III) Daniel, tenth child and sixth son of Isaac and Mary (Moore) White, born in Bow, March 22, 1786, died March 16, 1826, was a blacksmith and stoneworker, and lived in Bow. He married, July 13, 1815, Mary Carter, of Bow, born May 3, 1793, died January II, 1847, daughter of Moses and Molly (Robinson) Carter (see Carter, VI), who lived near the old "Iron Works" southwest of the present city of Concord. Their children were: William, born in 1816. died October 13, 1826: Curtis, Mary Ann, born June 20, 1821, died March 9, 1852, tin- married ; and Daniel C., born October 6, 1822, died about 1903 in Alton, Illinois.

(IV) Curtis, second son and child of Daniel and Mary (Carter) White, was born in Bow, April 4. 1819, was educated in the common schools, and for a time worked on a farm. In 1851 he settled in Concord and learned the carpenter's trade, and worked at that in Concord and vicinity for twenty years. He subsequently became a wheelwright, and followed that occupation for ten years in Concord. In the days of the Whigs he was a member of that party, and soon after it gave place to the Republican party he became a member of the latter organiza- tion. Mr. White's thoroughly upright character and pleasant personality made him many friends, and put him in many offices of responsibility and trust. When a young man he was a lieutenant in the militia. In 1846 he was paymaster of the Eleventh Regiment, New Hampshire Militia (some- times called the "Bloody Eleventh," filling that office one year. He served one year as a member of the common council, and two years as alderman of Concord. In 1861 he was elected to the board of selectmen, and is now (1906) on the board, hav- ing filled the place twenty-two years in the time since his first election, and is still performing the functions of that office. He has been twenty-six years an assessor of Concord, and for four terms of five years each he was justice of the peace, and quorum for the state.

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 25

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