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 31

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 31

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(VII) Samuel Leland Powers, youngest child of Larned and Ruby (Barton) Powers, was born October 26, 1848, in Cornish, where his boyhood days were passed. He was fitted for college at Kimball Union Academy and Phillips Exeter Academy, and graduated at Dartmouth in the class of 1874. Among his classmates who have acquired distinction are Frank N. Parsons, chief jus- tice of the supreme court of New Hampshire; Gen- eral Frank S. Streeter, one of the leaders of the bar in that state; Edwin G. Eastman, for the last twelve years attorney general of New Hampshire ; John A. Aiken, present chief justice of the superior court of Massachusetts; Honorable Samuel W. Mc- Call, who for many years has represented the Har- vard College district of Massachusetts in congress ; the late William H. Davis, an eminent clergyman in the Congressional Church; and many others who have achieved prominence outside of New England. Mr. Powers studied law first with Wil- liam W. Bailey, Esq., at Nashua, New Hampshire, later at the law school of the University of the City of New York, and with Very & Gaskill, of Worcester, Massachusetts, in which office he was at the time of his admission to the bar in Novem- ber, 1875. He formed a partnership in January of the following year, with his classmate, Congress- man McCall, opening an office in Boston, which partnership continued for one year. Later he be- came associated with Colonel J. H. Benton, of Boston, with whom he remained for four years; he then formed a partnership with his brother, under the name of Powers & Powers, which continued

until 1889, at which time he became general coun- sel for the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company. Later on he went into partnership with Edward K. Hall and Matt B. Jones, which partner- ship continued until 1903, at which time Mr. Jones left the firm to become the general counsel for the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company. The present law firm is known as Powers & Hall, and is one of the large and successful law firms in Boston.

Mr. Powers was married, in 1878, to Evelyn Crowell, of Dennis, Massachusetts. They have one son, Leland, who was born July 1, 1890, and at the present time is a member of the sophomore class at Dartmouth. Mr. Powers removed to Newton in 1882, where he has since resided. He has been a member of both branches of the city government and of the school board of that city. In 1890, in re- sponse to a public demand, he became a candidate on the Republican ticket for congress from the Eleventh Massachusetts District, receiving a unani- mous nomination and being elected by a majority of some 13,000. He accepted a re-election, serving in the fifty-seventh and fifty-eighth congress, but declined another re-election, although he was strongly urged to accept it, and returned to the practice of his profession in 1905. In the fifty-sev- enth congress he was a member of the committees on judiciary and the District of Columbia, and was selected as one of five members to draft the trust legislation of the second session of the fifty-seventh congress. He was selected as one of the house managers to prosecute the impeachment of Judge Swayne before the United States senate in 1904. While in congress he took an active and prominent part in the debates of the time. He was instrumen- tal in forming what is known as the Tantlus Club, that being an organization of the new Republican members of the fifty-seventh congress, and con- tinued as president of that organization during his two terms in congress.

He is president of the Middlesex Republican Club, the largest political organization in Massa- chusetts, and vice-president of the Massachusetts Republican Club, a member of the University Club of Boston, of the Newton Club and the Hunnewell Club, of Newton, and is connected with various military organizations, he having formerly been an active member in the militia of the state. He is a Unitarian in religion, attending the Channing Church at Newton. He spends his summers at Meredith, New Hampshire, on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee, where he has a camp, and has at all times shown great interest in the affairs of his native state. He is a member of the board of trus- tees of Dartmouth College, in which he takes the greatest interest. He is an owner in the large farm which was tilled for so many years by his father in Cornish, New Hampshire, and intends to retain it for the family for many years to come.

(II) Daniel, son of Walter and Trial (Shep- ard) Powers, was born in Concord, May 10, 1669. He owned a tract of land one mile wide and ex- tending the whole length of the township of Lit- tleton. He married (first), April 8, 1702, Elizabeth Whitcomb, who was a daughter of Jonathan and Hannah Whitcomb, of Lancaster. Jonathan Whit- comb died in 1700, and his widow, Hannah, was killed by the Indians at Lancaster in 1702. Eliza- beth Powers died about 1711, and Daniel married (second) Martha Bates. There were five children by the first marriage, and eight by the second mar- riage : Daniel, Jonathan, Oliver, Peter, (known

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as Captain Peter, of Hollis) Hannah, William, Sepheran, Timothy, Jarahmael, Martha, Abijah, Tryphena and Increase.

(III) Jonathan, second son and child of Daniel and Elizabeth ( Whitcomb) Powers, was born in Littleton, October 13, 1704. He lived in that part of Lancaster which is now Sterling. He served six weeks in scouting service in July and August, 1748, following the attack by the Indians upon Lunenburg, and the capture of John Fitch and his family, and in 1755 was a volunteer in Cap- tain Peter Powers' company of Colonel Josiah Brown's regiment, at Crown Point. In a petition in 1756 for compensation he records his experi- ence in the service: "Jonathan Powers enlisted himself a private under the command of Captain Jeduthan Ballding in Colonel Brown's Regiment to go in the expedition against Crown Point the Last year. * *

* I was taken sick at Lake George and so continued for thre wekes and after recovering some small strength I was embarked in a wagon and got Down to Albany with much Deficulty and thare Taricd thre Days and then I being Verry desirous of Giting hom, atempted a tryel and Traveled as my strength would bare untill I got to Kingston, and sent Home for Horse and man to come to my assistance being unable to proceed any further I had got so weke." Ap- pended to this statement are the items of expense attending a sickness at home of three weeks. He also served in the war of the Revolution in Captain Dow's company at Bunker Hill. In "The History of Hollis," pg. 206, is a copy of the "Great Re- turn." It contains the names of all the soldiers from Hollis. In this list is the name of Jonathan Powers as serving in the Continental army in 1775 at the battle of Bunker Hill and Cambridge eight months. He received twenty-four cents per day. He was the oldest soldier of his company, recorded in several places. He was over seventy years of age at the time, but gave his age as "sixty." He died before the close of the year 1775. He was married (first) November I, 1750, to Lois Blood, and they settled at Pine Hill, a section of Old Dunstable, a few rods east of the Hollis line, where he cleared off the forest and built their home. His first wife died in 1763, and he was married (second) November 28, 1764, to Susannalı Willoughby. There were nine children of the first marriage (four died in infancy), and eight of the second, namely : Lois, Bridget, Betsey, Jerusha, Jonathan, John, Susannah, David, Anna, Lucy, Jonas, Joseph and Rebecca. (Mention of John and David and descendants forms a part of this arti- cle).

(IV) John, eldest of the eight children of Jon- athan Powers and his second wife, Susanna Wil- loughby, was born March 9, 1766. He married Hannah Brooks, of Hollis, New Hampshire, No- vember 28, 1793. They had six children: John, born August 25, 1796; Nathan, mentioned below ; Noah, born November 13, 1802; Isaac, born Octo- ber 4, 1804; Ira, born September 22, 1807; William P., born April 24, 1813. John Powers died at Hol- lis, New Hampshire, November 6, 1815, at the age of forty-nine.

(V) Nathan, second son and child of John and Hannah (Brooks) Powers, was born December 8, 1798. He was a man upright in character, honest in all his dealings, progressive and decided in his opinions. He was engaged in the stove business in Peterboro, New Hampshire, and later, with his son, John A. Powers, came to Milford, New Hamp-

shire, where the two conducted a successful busi- ness for many years. Nathan Powers married Rhoda C. Butterfield on December 16, 1820. They liad four children : John Alvin, mentioned below ; Lydia Ann, born December 31, 1823; Charles Brooks, born February 27, 1826; Albert Smith, born March 2, 1834. Nathan Powers died in January, 17, 1851, at the age of fifty-three years.

(VI) John Alvin, eldest son and child of Na- than and Rhoda (Butterfield) Powers, was born March 9, 1822, at Townsend, Massachusetts. When a young man he lived in Peterboro, New Hamp- shire, where he learned his trade. In 1844 he came to Milford, New Hampshire, with his father. The two were engaged in business together till 1851, when the death of his father compelled a change. In 1856 John A. Powers was associated with John Dickey in the manufacture of tinware and baskets. After the death of Mr. Dickey, Mr. Powers car- ried on the business alone. He enlarged it each year until 1870, when he built what was at that time the largest business block in Milford. He was a man who had the confidence and esteem of all. His purse-strings were always open to all de- serving and worthy poor and to all charitable ob- jects. The poor heaped blessings upon his head which others knew little about. He commanded the love and respect of all who knew him. He was a successful and reliable business man, and one who took an active part in all matters pertaining to the general welfare of the town and its inhabitants. He was among the first to adopt improvements, and he always advocated advancement. He served the town in several responsible positions, and always dis- charged his duties thoroughly, faithfully and hon- estly. For thirty-seven years he was engaged in business at Milford, New Hampshire, and upon his death the town lost one of its most respected citi- zens. John A. Powers was twice married. He married, September 24, 1846, Lucy J. Conant, of Lyme, New Hampshire. They had one child- George A., born June 28, 1848. Mrs. Lucy (Con- ant) Powers died September 20, 1851. He married (second) February 1, 1862, Sarah L. Spalding, daughter of Asaph S. and Hannah ( Colburn) Spald- ing, of Hollis, New Hampshire. To this union three children were born: Ella M., born August 19, 1865, Frank W., born April 3, 1868, and Fred C., born February 20, 1871. John A. Powers died October 30, 1881, at the age of fifty-nine years.

(VII) Ella M., only daughter and eldest child of John A. and Sarah C. (Spalding) Powers, was born at Milford, New Hampshire, Agust 19, 1865. After attending the public schools in that town she went to Colby Academy, New London, New Hamp- sire, where she completed the four years' course in two years' time. When nineteen years of age she went to New York, where she successfully con- ducted a private school of which she was principal for five years. At the same time she pursued an advanced course in music at the Metropolitan Col- lege of Music in New York City. During her years of teaching, Miss Powers became a regular contributor to eight educational and teachers' jour- nals. Over five hundred articles written by her have been published. The subjects which claim her attention are literature, science and history. Miss Powers has done much to foster a love for our song birds among the children of the public schools. She was the first to advocate and pub- lish exercises for the observance of Bird Day in the schools. For many years her books of exer-

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cises relating to the school observance of Thanks- giving, Christmas, Washington's Birthday, Arbor Day and Memorial Day have been published.

Miss Powers has composed nearly one hundred children's songs, which have been published. In many instances she has not only composed the words and the music, but with pen and ink sketches illustrated the words of the songs. She has writ- ten and also assisted many writers in the prepara- tion of books on art, biography and literature. These have been adapted for school use as supple- mentary reading for the grades. She is widely known in educational circles of this country, and her remarkable versatile talents have been fittingly recognized by her publishers and by honorary mem- berships to various literary and educational organi- zations in the country. Besides writing her own manuscripts, doing the work of editing, proof- reading and revising, she is often engaged upon works of review or in preparing manuscripts of others for the press.

In 1899 Miss Powers became principal of the Sanborn School of New York City. In 1900 she began a series of school-readers, seven in num- ber, covering the entire course of reading in the nine grades of our public schools. Few women, alone, have attempted such an exhaustive work. These readers are called the Silver-Burdett Read- ers, from the name of the publishers, Silver, Bur- dett & Company of New York City.

When not engaged in the pleasures of travel, music and art, Miss Powers may be found living quietly in the little New England town of Milford among her rare books and her music. Her motto has always been "Accomplish something," and she has lived up to this teaching. She is at present engaged upon a series of histories to be used in the public schools.

(IV) David, son Jonathan Powers, and eighth child of his second wife, Susan Willoughby, was born June 4, 1770, in Dunstable, New Hamp- shire, and died April 7, 1849, in Hollis, this state. His birthplace was just outside the present town of Hollis, where his father was then living. About 1814 he removed to Barnard, Vermont, where he resided until shortly before the birth of his last child, when he returned to Hollis, New Hamp- shire, and died in that town, as above noted. He was among those who went to the defense of Ports- month in 1814. He married (first) Mary Messer, and after her decease, married (second) Lydia Adams, of Dunstable, New Hampshire. The chil- dren of the first marriage were: David, Charlotte, Mary, Rebecca; and those of the second were: Lydia Spaulding, Myles, Hannah, Susan Wood, Harvey A., Luther Adams, Salome, William Wil- loughby, Calvin Page, Sarah Jane and Silas Curtis.

(V) Harvey A., son of David Powers, and fifth child of his second wife, Lydia Adams, was born February 17, 1817, in Barnard, Vermont, and died in Hollis, New Hampshire, June 10, 1882. He was educated in the district schools. He went to Abing- ton, Massachusetts, where he manufactured shoes six years. From there he removed to Hollis, New Hampshire, where he was engaged for a number of years in the business of contractor and builder, and bought a farm upon which he passed his last years. He was a member of the Baptist Church and of the Grange, and voted the Democratic ticket. He married March 7, 1839, in Hollis, Sarah Adeline Colburn, who was born in Hollis July 31, 1820, and died in Hollis in 1896. She was the daughter of Robert and Kasiah (Wright) Colburn,

of Hollis, and was a member of the Baptist Church and the Grange. Their ten children were: Fran- cena, a daughter unnamed, Alphonso H., Erwin, Ozro E., Luray C., Marcellus J., Perley A., Llew- ellyn S., and Jesse B.

(VI) Alphonso Harvey, third child and eldest son of Harvey A. and Sarah Adeline ( Colburn) Powers, was born in Abington, Massachusetts, April 27, 1843. He was educated in the public schools, the Nashua High School and the State Normal School Bridgewater, Massachusetts, graduating from the last named institution with the class of 1870. He taught school the following nine years, filling positions in Crosby's Institute at Nashua, N. H., in the Boston Asylum and Farm Schools for Boys, on Thompson's Island, Boston Harbor, and at Dedham and Bridgewater, Massa- chusetts. From Bridgewater he removed to Hollis, New Hampshire, and subsequently to Litchfield, where he bought a farm of one hundred and eighty-three acres in March, 1879, and engaged in agricultural pursuits. He has put numerous im- provements upon the place, among which is a barn forty by seventy-two feet in dimensions, built in 1876. Mr. Powers' natural integrity and ability, and his education and experience have qualified him to serve his fellow citizens acceptably, and he has been placed in various offices of honor and trust, the duties of which he has faithfully dis- charged. He has been chairman of the board of selectmen three years; town clerk eleven years; town treasurer two years; superintendent of the public schools seven years; member of the school board three years; trustee of the public library three years; representative in 1887, and was ap- pointed a justice of the peace for Hillsborough county in 1897 by Governor Ramsdell, and a jus- tice of the peace and quorum for the state by Gov- ernor John McLane in 1906, which commission he now holds. He has been town correspondent for the Nashua Daily and Weekly Telegraph since 1887. He married, September 22, 1883, at Litchfield, Fran- ces L. Tufts, who was born in Litchfield, Febri- ary 15, 1849. She is the daughter of Thomas and Martha (Worthley) Tufts, of Litchfield. She was educated in the public schools and at Adams' Fe- male Academy, East Derry, and at the Convent in Manchester. While at school in Litchfield she was one of her husband's pupils. The farm upon which Mr. and Mrs. Powers reside was her father's home- stead.

The family of Gage, which is of Nor-

GAGE man extraction, derived its descent from De Gaga, Gauga, or Gage, who accom- panied William the Conqueror into England in 1066, and after the conquest was rewarded with large grants of land in the forest of Dean, and the county of Gloucester, adjacent to which forest he fixed his abode and erected a seat at Clerenwell, otherwise Clarewell. He also built a large man- sion house in the town of Chichester, where he died, and was buried in the abbey there; and his posterity remained in that country for many gen -. erations, in credit and esteem, of whom there were barons in parliament in the reign of Henry II. An epitome of the line of descent of Gage is as fol- lows :

(I) John Gage, the first of the name from whom descent is traceable, was born about 1408. (II) John (2) Gage, the son of John (I), mar- ried Joan Sudgrove.

(III) Sir John (3), son of John (2) and Joan

Powert.

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(Sudgrove) Gage, married Eleanor St. Clere. He was knighted in 1454, and died September 30, 1486. (IV) William, son of Sir John (3) and Eleanor (St. Clere) Gage, was born in 1456. He married Agnes Bolney.

(V) Sir John (4), son of William and Agnes (Bolney) Gage, was born in 1480. He was made a knight May 22, 1541, and died April 28, 1557, aged seventy-seven. He married Philippa Guilder- ford, and left four sons and four daughters.

(VI) Sir Edward, eldest son of Sir John (4) and Philippa (Guilderford) Gage, was created a knight by Queen Mary. He married Elizabeth Parker, and had nine sons and six daughters.

(VII) John (5) Gage, Esq., eldest son of Sir Edward and Elizabeth (Parker) Gage, was thirty years old at the time of his father's death, and heir to fifteen manors, with many other lands in Sussex and otherwheres, but having survived all his brothers, and dying without issue, the estate descended to his nephew.

(VIII) John (6), nephew of John (5) Gage, succeeded to his uncle's estates, was made a baro- net March 26, 1622, and died October 3, 1633. He married Penelope, widow of Sir George Trenchard, by whom he had nine children, four sons and five daughters.

(IX) John (7), second son of John (6) and Penelope Gage, was of Stoneham, in Suffolk, and died in Bradford, Massachusetts, November 8, 1705. He came to America with John, the son of .Gov- ernor Winthrop, and landed in Salem, June 12, 1630. In 1633 John Winthrop, Jr., John Gage and ten others were the first proprietors of Ipswich. In 1664 he removed to Rowley, where he died in 1673. Throughout his life, both in Ipswich and in Rowley, he was a prominent and highly esteemed citizen "and held responsible offices of trust and fidelity." His first wife's name was Anna. She died in Ipswich in June, 1658, and in November of the same year he married Sarah, widow of Robert Keyes, who, by one account, survived him, thoughi by another he married (third), February, 1663, Mary Keyes, who died December 20, 1668. He left seven sons and one daughter.

(X) Daniel (1), second son of John (7) Gage, is the first of the Gages mentioned in the records of that part of "Old Rowley" which is now Brad- ford. He married May 3, 1675, Sarah Kimball, by whom he had eight children, three sons and five daughters.

(XI) Daniel (2), eldest son of Daniel (1) and Sarah (Kimball) Gage, was born March 12, 1676, and died in Bradford, March 14, 1747. About 1697 he settled in the extreme northwest corner of Brad- ford, on the banks of the Merrimack, and estab- lished Gage's Ferry, or "the Upper Ferry," on the main road to Methuen. He married, March 9, 1697, Martha Burbank, who died in Bradford, September 8, 1741. They had thirteen children: Mehitabel, Josiah, Martha, Lydia, Moses, Daniel, Sarah, Jem- ima, Naomi, Esther, Amos, Abigail, died young, and Mary.

(XII) Moses, second son and fifth child of Daniel (2) and Martha (Burbank) Gage, was born in Bradford, May 1, 1706. He succeeded to the farm at the Ferry, and lived and died there. He married Mary Haseltine, April 12, 1733. Their children were: Moses, Sarah, James, William, died young, Richard, died young, Abigail, Mary, William, Richard and Thaddeus, who is the subject of the following sketch.

(XIII) Thaddeus, tenth and youngest child of iv-26

Moses and Mary (Ilaseltine) Gage, was born in Bradford, April 17, 1754, and died in Sanbornton, New Hampshire, May 11, 1845, aged ninety-one. He moved to Sanbornton, New Hampshire, probably soon after his marriage, and settled in what is now the town of Franklin, on the west slope of the hill between New Boston and the present river road, where he passed the following seventy years of his life. He married ( first), November 30, 1775, Abi- gail Merrill, of Bradford, who was born in 1756. She died in Sanbornton in December, 1789, aged thirty-three; and he married (second), July 29, 1790, Molly Bean, born April 17, 1761, who died May 13, 1831, aged seventy. The children of the first wife were: Richard, Mary, Daniel, Moses, Lydia and John, twins, died young, and Mehitabel ; and those of the second wife were: William, Hasel- tine, Rhoda, David B., Betsey B., James, John and Polly.

(XIV) William Haseltine, eldest child of Thad- deus and Molly ( Bean) Gage, was born in San- bornton, March 21, 1791, and died in Boscawen, September 26, 1872, aged eighty-one. In 1804 he moved to Boscawen, where he remained until his death, sixty-eight years later. He married, Janu- ary 25, 1814, Molly B., daughter of Bradbury Mor- rison, of Sanbornton. She died February 15, 1833, and he married ( second) Sarah, daughter of Sam- uel 'Sargent, of Canterbury. The children of the first wife were: Sophronia, Eloander Wood, Isaac Kimball, Asa Morrison, Phebe Prescott and Ro- silla Morrison. By the second wife there was one child, Polly Rosilla.

(XV) Isaac Kimball, third child and eldest son of William (2) H. and Molly B. ( Morrison) Gage. was born in Boscawen, October 27, 1818, and died September 10, 1894. He married, October 27, 1842, Susan G., daughter of Reuben Johnson, and they had : Frederick Johnson, Mary Morrison, Char- lotte Hubbard, Lucy Kimball, and Isaac William.

(XVI) Georgiana Judith, second child and eld- est daughter of Isaac K. and Susan G. (Johnson) Gage, was born in Boscawen, January 16, 1848, and married Abiel W. Rolfe. (See Rolfe VIII.)

(XV) Polly Rosilla, only child of William H. and Sarah (Sargent) Gage, was born in Boscawen, August 1, 1838, and married Samuel R. Mann. (See Mann V.)

PRESCOTT The name of Prescott is of Saxon origin, meaning priest's house. There are two American ances- tors, both among the earliest settlers of this coun- try. John Prescott came to Boston and Water- town, Massachusetts, in 1640. He was a great- grandson of James of Standish in England. Jones, the ninth and youngest child of John, the original immigrant, lived in Groton, Massachusetts, and was the grandfather of Colonel William Prescott, born in that town, the hero of Bunker Hill. William B. Prescott, the historian, was a grandson of Colonel William Prescott. The arms of this branch of the family are three owls, argent, on a sable shield. The crest is an arm, erect, gules, with an ermine cuff, holding a pitch pot or hand beacon. These em- blems seem singularly appropriate for a family whose descendants number a Revolutionary hero and a scholar ..

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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. IV, Part 31

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