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 33
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(IX) Samuel, second son and sixth child of Major William and Susanna (Sanborn) Prescott, was born at Hampton Falls, February 18, 1760. He married, in October, 1784, Mehitabel, daughter of David and Betsy (Bickford) Bean, who was born July 9, 1762. He lived in Sanbornton as a farmer and died there October 25, 1826, in his sixty-seventh year. His widow survived him nearly twenty years, and was burned to death in her own house, Jan- uary 20, 1844, in her eighty-second year. They were the parents of seven children: David Bean, killed in his twenty-third year, April 8, 1808, by accidentally falling under the water-wheel of a saw-mill. Jona- than Bean, mentioned below. Mehitabel, married Eliphalet Lloyd, Jr. Rhoda, married William Scott Hannaford, and lived at Sanbornton Bridge, 110W Tilton, New Hampshire. Samuel, married Nancy S. Hannaford, and lived at Peterboro, New Hampshire. Betsey, died on her twelfth birthday, November 13, 1814. Eliza Bean, married Ezra Lawrence Merriam, of Ashburnham, Massachusetts.
(X) Jonathan Bean, second son and child of Samuel and Mehitabel (Bean) Prescott, was born August 31, 1788. He married Phebe, daughter of Bradbury Morrison, who was born in Sanbornton, July 27, 1793, and died December 24, 1853. He was a carpenter and farmer and lived at Sanbornton, Upper Gilmanton, and Franklin, New Hampshire, where he died October 6, 1842. They had eight children : Emeline P .; Sabrina, married Lorenzo D. Colby, and lived at Franklin; Anna; Phebe, married Theophilus Stevens; Polly G., married John L. Colby; David Sanborn, mentioned below; Nathan Morrison, married his cousin, Rosetta Morrill Haley, and went to St. Anthony, Minnesota : and Bradbury Morrison, who married Annette S. Bach- elder and lived at Franklin.
(XI) David Sanborn, eldest son and fifth child of Jonathan and Phebe ( Morrison) Prescott, was born at Franklin, New Hampshire, April 26, 1822. He studied medicine with Dr. D. W. Knight, of Franklin and graduated from the Dartmouth Medi- cal College in 1849. He began the practice of his profession at Temple, New Hampshire, the first of January, 1850. He came to Laconia, New Hamp- shire, upon the death of Dr. Joseph Knowles, whose widow he married October 5, 1853. Her maiden name was Olive Jane Ladd. She was the daughter of Jonathan and Betsey (Lawrence) Ladd, and was born at Laconia, June 7, 1824. Her father was a
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merchant in Laconia. Dr. David S. Prescott was a Democrat, and a member of the Congregational Church. He was a successful and respected physi- cian. He died at Laconia, February 25, 1874, leaving no children. Mrs. Prescott, who is still living at the age of eighty-two, is a member of the Congregational Church. She had a brother, Lucian Augustus Ladd, born at Laconia, August 18, 1821. He married Mary Jane Smith, who was born at Gilmanton, New Hampshire, October 25, 1825. They have four liv- ing children: Charles Smith Ladd lives at Oronogo, Missouri; he married Lilia A. Good, and has six
children. Ann Frances Ladd, married Abbott Law- rence, a lawyer of Chelsea, Massachusetts. Freder- ick Young Ladd, married Phebe Murray, has children, and lives at Beechwood, Massachusetts. Clara Jane Ladd, the youngest, lives at home.
(II) Roger, second son and child of James Pres- cott, resided in Shevington, in the parish of Stand- ish. His will was dated September 26, 1594, and he was buried in the church at Standish. He married (first), 1563, Elizabeth, whose surname is unknown. She soon died and he married (second), August 20, 1568, Ellen (?) Shaw, of Standish. The issue of the first marriage were: Helen and Lawrence; and of the second: Anne, and Ralph, the subject of the next paragraph.
(III) Ralph, - only son of Roger and Ellen (Shaw) Prescott, was baptized 1571-2. He resided at Shevington, in the parish of Standish, and was co-executor of his father's will. His own will, dated November 7, 1608, was proved January 24, 1609. He married Ellen, who was co-executor of her husband's will. The children of Ralph and Ellen were : Helen, Roger, Alice, Cecilia and John, whose sketcli follows.
(IV) John, youngest child of Ralph and Ellen Prescott, was baptized at Standish, 1604-5, and died in Lancaster, in 1683. The "Prescott Memorial" says : "He sold his lands in Shevington, parish of Standish, in Lancashire, to Richard Prescott, of Wigan, and removed to Yorkshire, residing for a time at Sowerby, in the parish of Halifax, where several of his children were born. From conscien- tious motives, and to avoid persecution he left his native land, his cherished home in Yorkshire, to seek an asylum in the wilderness of America. He first landed at Barbadoes, in 1638, and became an owner of lands. In 1640 he came to New England, landed at Boston, and immediately settled in Watertown, where he had large grants of lands allotted to him, but in 1643, he associated himself with Thomas King and others for the purpose of purchasing of Sholan, the Indian sachem of the Nashaway tribe of Indians, a tract of land for a township, which tract was to be ten miles in length and eight in breadth. The pur- chasers entered into an agreement to appear and begin the plantation at a special time. The deed of Sholan was sanctioned by the general court, but there were many circumstances which combined to retard the growth of the plantation, all the associates but Mr. Prescott refusing or neglecting to fulfill their contracts, though choosing to retain their interest in the property purchased. It is stated by Mr. Willard that one only of the associates, John Prescott, the stalwart blacksmith was 'faithful among the faith- less.' He turned not back, but vigorously pursued the interests of the plantation till his exertions were crowned with success." The name of the settle- ment at Nashaway was settled May 28, 1653, N. S., and the territory incorporated as Lancaster in honor of Mr. Prescott, that being the name of his native county in England. Mr. Prescott is said to have been the first settler of the new town, though three
others, perhaps persons he had sent ahead, were there tilling the soil when he made his settlement. In answer to a petition of the inhabitants of the plantation, six prudential managers of the town were appointed by the general court, of whom, John Pres- cott is named first. Mr. Prescott was a genuine and influential member of the original Puritan stock of New England and like many of his contempor- aries, he was a man of marked character, devoting his time to mechanical and agricultural pursuits, which were well calculated to fit and prepare him for the trials and hardships incident to and insepar- able from the early settlers and pioneers of the wilderness of America. He was a man of strict integrity and of great energy and perseverance, and at an early period became a leading spirit, and a prominent and influential man among the · pioneers. He took the oath of fidelity in 1652, and was made a freeman in 1669. By occupation he was not only a farmer, but both a blacksmith and a millwright. In November, 1653, he received a grant of land of the inhabitants, on condition that he would build a "Corn Mill," that is, a mill to grind "grain." He built the mill in season to commence grinding May 23, 1654. The erection of a saw mill soon followed. "The town voted that if he would erect one he should have the grant of certain privileges and a large tract of land lying near his mill, for him and his posterity for ever, and to be more exactly recorded when exactly known. In consideration of these provisions 'Goodman Prescott' forthwith erected his mill." "Its location was on the spot where the Lancaster Manufacturing Company has extensive works. The people from all the neighbor- ing towns came to Prescott's grist mill. The stone of this mill was brought from England and now lies in fragments in the vicinity of the factory." Lancaster, in common with other frontier towns, suffered greatly from Indian depredations when- ever there was a war between the mother country and France. In 1675 eight persons were killed in Lancaster; and in 1676 fifteen hundred Indians killed or took prisoners more than fifty persons. Among the killed were two sons-in-law and two grandsons of Mr. Prescott. The white settlers then left the town, and did not return until 1679, when the Prescotts were among those who came back to the ruins of their former homes. John Prescott was a strong, athletic man of stern countenance, and wherever he had any difficulty with the Indians he clothed himself in a coat of mail, helmet, cuirass and gorget, which he had brought from England, and thus arrayed never failed to prevail over the savages. Various stories are told of his encounters with his red foes. John Prescott married, January 21, 1629, Mary Platts, at Wygan, in Lancashire. Her family appears to have been subsequently of the parish of Halifax, in Yorkshire. The children of John and Mary (Platts) Prescott were: Mary, Martha, John, Sarah, Hannah, Lydia, Jonathan, and Jonas, whose sketch follows.
(V) Captain Jonas, ninth child and fourth son of John and Mary ( Platts) Prescott, was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts, in June 1648, and died December 31, 1723, aged seventy-five. He settled in Groton, where he or his father for him, built the mill in the south part of the town, now within the limits of Harvard, which is still called "the old mill." At a town meeting held in Groton, Novem- ber 19. 1673, it was voted that "By agreement of the town Jonas Prescott is to grind the town's corn for the town every second and every sixth day in every week." At a town meeting in Groton. June 13, 1681, liberty was granted to Jonas Prescott to
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set up his corn mill at Stony Brook, "an agreement between Jonas Prescott and the town of Groton, that lie, the said Prescott, have liberty to set up a sawmill at Stony Brook on conditions that he fur- nish the town at six pence a hundred ( feet) cheaper than they are sold at any other sawmill, and for town pay, and that the town be supplied before any other person." This privilege was to continue or ccase at the pleasure of the town. He bought land in Groton until he became one of the largest land holders in the town. In addition to being a farmer, miller and sawyer, he was a blacksmith, and upon the re-settlement of the town after its de- struction by the Indians in 1676, he built mills and a forge for the manufacture of iron from the ore at Forge Valley, so called. which was then in Gro- ton, but is now in Westford. He was a man of elevated rank and much influence in the com- munity. He was town clerk in 1691 ; a member of the board of selectmen for several years; and rep- resentative to the general court in 1699 and 1705. He was also a captain in the militia and a justice of the peace. He married, December 14, 1672, Mary, daughter of John and Mary (Draper) Loker, of Sudbury. She was born September 28, 1653, and died October 28, 1735, aged eighty-two years. Their children were: Mary. Elizabeth, Jonas, Na- thaniel, Dorothy, James, Sarah, Abigail, Martha, Susannah, Deborah and Benjamin.
(VI) Captain Jonas (2), third child and eldest son of Jonas (1) and Mary (Loker) Prescott, was born October 26, 1678, and died September 12, 1750, aged seventy-two. He resided at Forge Vil- lage, which has been included in Westford since 1730. He enlarged and improved the works on Stony Brook, which his father established, by erect- ing additional forges for reducing the iron ore, as well as for other purposes. Upon the petition of himself and others a part of Groton, including "Forge Village," was in 1730 set off from Groton to Westford. The water privilege and works on Stony Brook at Forge Village have been owned, held and occupied by the Prescott family since their purchase of the land from Andrew, the Indian. Jonas (2) was a captain in the militia, a justice of the peace, and in 1720 a representative in the legis- lature. He married (first), October 15, 1699, Thankful Wheeler, of Concord, who died November I, 1716. He married (second), April 30. 1718, Mary Page, who was born in 1687. and died July 19, 1781, aged ninety-four. The children, all by the first wife, were: Ebenezer, Jonas, Thankful, Mary, Sarah and Dorcas.
(VII) Ebenezer, eldest child of Jonas (2) and Thankful (Wheeler) Prescott, was born July 19. 1700, and died December 1, 1771, aged seventy-one years. In 1730 he and his brother Jonas, Ebenezer Townsend and others petitioned the general court to be set off from Groton to Westford, which peti- tion was granted that year. He married, May 24, 1721, Hannah Farnsworth. Their children were : Ebenezer, Oliver, Sarah, Joseph, David, Hannah, Rebecca and Eunice.
(VIII) Deacon Oliver, second son and child of Ebenezer and Hannah (Farnsworth) Prescott, was born May 5, 1725, and died January 1, 1803. in the seventy-eighth year of his age. He settled as a farmer at Westford, Massachusetts, where for many years he was deacon of the church. He mar- ried, June 8, 1749, Bethia Underwood, who was born September 27. 1729, and died in Harvard. October 1, 1813, aged eighty-four. They had twelve children : Susanna, Hannah, Benjamin, Betsey,
Bethia, Oliver, Polly, Phebe, Lucy, Mary, Abraham and Isaac.
(IX) Colonel Benjamin, third child and eldest son of Deacon Oliver and Bethia (Underwood) Prescott, was born March 15, 1754, and died in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, in 1839, aged eighty-five. In 1774 he removed to Jaffrey, New Hampshire, which was then almost in a state of nature, with improvements few and far between. Being in a new country and far from the towns and larger settlements, with roads mere bridle paths, and some- times without roads. spotted trees alone indicating the way, he and his family for years suffered many hardships incidental to pioneer settlement in the remote wilderness. While acting as a spy the day previous to the battle of Bunker Hill, he was cap- tured by the British, but made his escape the same day. He was a farmer, and for forty years an inn- keep. In religious belief he was a Baptist, and was one of the constituent members of the Baptist Church in Jaffrey, of which he was a lifelong pillar. He was a man of much energy and activity, and being highly esteemed for his integrity, upright- ness and sound judgment, was a man of much in- fluence. He represented the town of Jaffrey in the New Hampshire legislature, to which he was elected in 1790, 1796 and from 1809 to 1817, inclusive, in all eleven years. He married, December 5, 1775, Ra- chel Adams, of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, who was born August 9, 1757. Their nine children, all born in Jaffrey, were: Benjamin (died young), Benjamin. Oliver, Rachel, Eldad, Nabby, John Adams, Susannah and Bethiah.
(X) Eldad, fifth child and fourth son of Colonel Benjamin and Rachel (Adams) Prescott, was born in Jaffrey. November 18, 1786. He lived in the vil- lage of Squantum in Jaffrey, and was a farmer, having a farm of two hundred acres of the best land in the town. He was a member of the Bap- tist Church, and a prosperous and highly respected citizen. He married, March 27, 1816, Clarissa Hunt, who was born in Acton, Massachustts. Octo- ber 4, 1791, and died in Jaffrey, September 20, 1826, daughter of Paul and Betsy Hunt, of Jaffrey. He married, (second), June 10, 1829, Betsey Hunt, sister of his first wife, who was born July 5. 1793. and died October 1, 1752. The children of the first wife were: Eldad Austin, Benjamin, Oliver Park- hurst and Oren; by the second wife: John, Henry and Addison.
(XI) Deacon Oren, fourth and youngest child of Eldad and Clarissa (Hunt) Prescott, was born in Jaffrey, March 24, 1823, and died November 25, 1884, aged sixty-one years. He attended the pub- lic schools of Jaffrey and Hancock high school, and afterward taught some years in Rindge. After his first marriage he bought a farm of one hundred acres near the village of East Jaffrey, and there resided till his death. He was a member of the Baptist Church from childhood, and his interest in religious affairs was almost the greatest interest he had in life. He was a member of many church committees, and was a deacon of the church and superintendent of the Sunday school for years. Hc married (first), June 16, 1846, Martha L. . Adams, of Rindge, who was born April 10, 1827, daughter of Jacob and Martha Adams, and died June 25, 1850: (second), June 8, 1852. Caroline AAlmeda Nutting, who was born January 12, 1834. daughter of William T. and Grata (Chadwick) Nutting, of Jaffrey. She died April 30, 1861, and he married (third), February II, 1862. Louisa J. Plumer. daughter of Jesse T. Plumer, of Goffstown. One
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child, Martha E .. was born of the first wife. She dicd March 1. 1863, aged thirteen. By the second wife there were three children: Oren Elliott, Ju- lius Elwood and Caroline Maria. Oren Elliott re- sides on the old homestead; Julius E. is the sub- ject of the next paragraph. Caroline M. married Wayland H. Goodnow, of Jaffrey, and died October 6, 1890.
(XII) Julius Elwood, second son and child of Oren and Caroline A. (Nutting) Prescott, was born in Jaffrey, March 7, 1856. He attended the com- mon. schools and the Conant high school of Jaffrey until he was eighteen years of age; he then became a clerk in the store of W. L. Goodnow & Company, of Jaffrey, and filled that position twenty-one years. He then bought an interest in the firm, which be- came Goodnow Brothers & Company, which style it still retains. By a wise and economical use of his means Mr. Prescott, who is a man of sterling char- acter and fine executive ability, has become one of the leading citizens of his town. Besides his duties in the mercantile establishment he has many others to discharge. He owns considerable real estate; is second vice president and a trustee of the Monad- nock Savings Bank of Jaffrey, and is a director of the Monadnock National Bank. He is treasurer of the Cemetery Association, and a trustee of the funds of the Baptist Church. He married, in East Jaffrey, New Hampshire, October 24, 1882, Ada L. Pierce, who was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts. June 1, 1857, daughter of Benjamin and Lucinda (Stratton) Pierce (see Pierce, IX). Two children, Beulah and Olive, were born to them both of whom died young.
FOSTER The first that is known of the name of Foster was about the year 1065, A. D., when Sir Richard Forrester went from Normandy over to England, accompanied by his brother-in-law. William the Conqueror, and par- ticipated in the victorious battle of Hastings.
The name was first Forrester. then Forester, then Foster. It signified one who had care of wild lands ; one who loved the forest, a characteristic trait which has marked the bearers of the name through all the centuries that have followed. The Fosters seem to have located in the northern coun- ties of England, and in the early centuries of Eng- lish history participated in many a sturdy en- counter with their Scottish foes. The name is mentioned in "Marmion' and the "Lay of the Last Minstrel." From one of these families in the serv- enteenth century appears the name of Reginald Foster. Tiring of the tyrannic rule of Charles I, he came to America and settled in Ipswich, Massa- chusetts, in about the year 1638. He was a prom- inent figure in the early days, as the colonial records show.
During its existence the Foster family has been a hardy, persevering and progressive race, almost universally endowed with an intense nervous en- ergy : there have been many instances of high attain- ments ; a bearer of the name has been, ex-officio, vice-president of the Republic (Hon. Lafayette G. Foster, president, pro tem., of the senate during Andrew Johnson's administration) ; another. Hon. John W. Foster, of Indiana. was premier of Pres- ident Harrison's cabinet; another, Hon. Charles Foster, of Ohio, was the secretary of the treasury. Many have attained high positions in financial life, and many have gained prominence in military af- fairs. The record of Major-General John G. Fos- ter through the Mexican war and the war of the Rebellion, stamped him as a soldier without fear
and without reproach. Professor Bell is the re- puted and accredited inventor of the telephone, but before that distinguished man had ever conceived the plan of electric transmission of the human voice, Joseph Foster, of Keene, New Hampshire, a mechanical genius, had constructed and put into actual use a telephone embodying practically the same working plan as the Bell machine. Query : Could it be possible that Joseph Foster's telephone afforded the suggestion to Professor Bell? The Foster family has an authentic record covering a period of nearly one thousand years. It has fur- nished to the world its share of the fruits of toil; it has contributed its share to enterprise and pro- gress. Wherever it appears in the affairs of men it bears its crest ; the iron arm holding the golden javelin poised towards the future.
(I) Reginald Foster came from England at the time that so many emigrated to Massachusetts, in 1638, and with his family was on board one of the vessels embargoed by King Charles I. He settled in Ipswich, in the county of Essex, with his wife, five sons and two daughters; where he lived to ex- treme old age, with as much peace and happiness as was compatible with his circumstances in the set- tlement of a new country. The names of his five sons who came with him from England, were : Abraham, Reginald, William, Isaac and Jacob. (Mention of William and descendants appears in this article). One of the daughters who came with him from England married (first), a Wood. and after his death she married a Peabody. His other daughter married a Story, ancestor of Dr. Story, formerly of Boston, and of the late Judge Story. It is remarkable of this family that they all lived to extreme old age, all married, and all had large families from whom are descended a very numerous progeny settled in various parts of the United States.
(II) Abraham, oldest son of Reginald Foster. was born at Exeter, England, in 1622; came with his father in 1638 and settled in Ipswich, where he married Lydia Burbank and had children: Ephraim. Abraham, Benjamin, Ebenezer, Mehitabel and Caleb. (Caleb and descendants are noticed at length in this article).
(III) Abraham (2), second son of Abraham (I) Foster, was born October 16, 1659. Few facts relative to him are known.
(IV) Samuel, son of Abraham (2) Foster, was horn or subsequently settled in Reading, and lived in the westerly part of that town, where he "owned much land." The town records of Ipswich have the following entry: "December 17, 1699. Abra- ham Foster, a soldier. wounded in the public serv- ice is to receive £8 out of the public treasury for smart money." He died in 1762 "at an advanced age." says his will, which was written in the month before his death. Samuel's sons Jonathan, Benjamin and Samuel, were soldiers in the French and Indian wars, 1745-1759. He married, 1701, Sarah Roberts, daughter of Abraham and Sarah Roberts, and they had children: Abraham, Sam- tel. Ebenezer, Jonathan, Benjamin, Sarah and Elizabeth.
(V) Abraham (3), eldest child of Samuel (I) and Sarah (Roberts) Foster, was born at Reading in 1703, and died in 1753. He married, in 1733, Susannah Hartshorn, and had children: Susan- nah. Abraham, Daniel, Sarah, David, Elizabeth and Edmund.
(VI) Edmund, youngest child of Abraham (3) and Susannah (Hartshorn) Foster. was born at Reading, April 18, 1752; and died March 28, 1826.
WILLIAM L. FOSTER.
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He graduated at Yale in 1779, and was ordained pastor of the church at Littleton in 1781. He was a freshman at Yale when the battle of Lexington was fought, April 19, 1775, and afterward wrote an account of the engagement. He was a minute- man and accompanied Major Brooks, subsequently governor, and took a very active part in the excit- ing events of that day, being close in at some of the hottest fighting, and seeing Major Pitcairn fall wounded from his horse. Resuming his studies, he completed his college course. and after his ordina- tion was pastor of the church at Littleton from 1781 until his death in 1826, a period of forty-five years. In Drake's "History of Middlesex County," it is said of Edmund Foster: "Left an orphan when seven years old, he worked his way through Yale college. Harvard and Yale conferred honorary degrees on him." Bancroft's "History of the United States" mentions his presence at the battle of Lex- ington. He was a member of the Massachusetts house of representatives, 1813-14, and of the senate 1815, and of the constitutional convention of 1820. He was a conspicuous member of the last named body, of which ex-President John Adams was president, and made the closing prayer at the invi- tation of the presiding officer. The history of the convention contains many of his speeches. Mem- bers of the same body were Daniel Webster and Joseph Story.
Abraham and Daniel, brothers of Rev. Edmund Foster, were also soldiers of the revolution. Three of Rev. Edmund Foster's sons (Edmund, William Lawrence and Charles) were commissioned officers in the army during the war of 1812, Edmund being captain : William first lieutenant, and Charles sec- ond lieutenant in the same company, in the Ninth Regiment Infantry, under command of Colonel Winfield Scott. In the battle of Lundy's Lane. Ed- mund and William were wounded. It was related (by the father) that after the battle was over some one asked Charles what he thought when he saw his brothers fall. Charles' reply was: "It looked like an opening for a promotion."
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