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 49

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 49

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(IV) Abbott, third child of Edward A. and Sally ( Story) Saltmarsh, was born in Goffstown, New Hampshire, November 10, 1795. He lived in Goffstown in his youth, then carried on at the halves the farm of Retire Mitchell, a preacher at Hooksett, New Hampshire. Abbott Saltmarsh later moved to Bow, New Hampshire, where he lived about five years; then lived at West Concord and East Concord, New Hampshire, and came back to West Concord, where he died. When he was liv- ing at Bow, he was one of the first in the town who voted the Free Soil ticket. He married, Marchi 12, 1823. Polly Stevens, daughter of John and Lois (Buzzell) Stevens, of Croydon, New Hampshire, who was born June 5, 1803. They had eleven chil- dren: Mary, married Captain Albert Abbott, and lived in Concord, New Hampshire ; John E., married Abigail D. Abbott, and lived in Concord; Gilman, mentioned below; Hannah, born February 18, 1831, died September 4, 1833; an infant son, born June 23. 1833, died July 24, 1833; Seth, married Sally S. Wales, and lived in Loudon, New Hampshire, and had five children-Alfred, S. Leroy, Minnie, Frank and Albert; Nehemiah, born May 17, 1837, died August, 1897; Alfred and Albert (twins), born February 18, 1840, Alfred died November 23, 1851, Albert is mentioned at length in this article; Amanda, married Luther D. Jones, and lived in Concord; and Emma, born December 1, 1845. Gil- man, the third child, and Harriet (Robertson) Salt- marsh had four children: Martha Alice, George Abbott, Harriet Amanda and Frank Nehemiah. All of them taught school. The two sons graduated from college, both of them being Phi Beta Kappa men. George A., graduated from Dartmouth Col- lege in 1884, and from the Boston Law School in 1887. He was admitted to the bar in Massachusetts, and is a lawyer in Boston. Frank N. graduated from Dartmouth College in 1893, and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1897. He preached at West Hartford, Vermont, for six years, and in 1903 came to Alton, New Hampshire, where he now ministers to the Congregational Church. Amanda Saltmarsh, ninth child of Abbott and Polly (Ste- vens) Saltmarsh, married Luther D. Jones. They had two children: Emma A., and Statie. Emma

A. Jones married Dr. Marshall Bailey, formerly of Concord, New Hampshire, now physician to Har- vard University. Statie married Charles C. Jones, who is employed in the University Press, Cam- bridge, Massachusetts. Abbott Saltmarsh married for his second wife Mrs. Lois ( Stevens) Kempton, widow of Amos Kempton, of Newport, New Hamp- shire, sister to his first wife. He died January 25, 1876.

(V) Gilman Saltmarsh, third child of Abbott and Polly ( Stevens) Saltmarsh, was born in Hook- sett, New Hampshire, December 7, 1828. In early manhood he went to Bow and engaged in farming and lumbering, and has ever since resided there. He was for many years an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he was a local preacher. In politics he is a Republican. He married, in Bow, July 1, 1853, Harrict Emcline Robertson, who was born in Bow, March 26, 1831, daughter of Daniel R. and Harriet (Lawrence) Robertson, of Bow. They have had four children : I. Martha Alice, unmarried, resides in Concord. 2. George Abbott, mentioned below. 3. Harrict

Amanda, unmarried, resides in Bow. 4. Frank Nehemiah, graduated from Dartmouth College in 1893, and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1897. He preached at West Hartford, Vermont, six years, and in 1903 removed to Alton, New Hampshire, where he ministered to the Congrega- tional Church until 1907, and then removed to Gil- manton, New Hampshire. All of the above- mentioned children taught in the New Hampshire schools.

(VI) George Abbott, eldest son and second child of Gilman and Harriet Emeline ( Robertson) Saltmarsh, was born in Bow, October IS, 1858. He attended the public schools of Bow and Concord, the seminary at Tilton, took two years private in- struction in Concord under the late Amos Hadley, Ph. D., and then entered Dartmouth College, from which he graduated with honors, receiving the de- gree of A. B. in 18S. He entered the Boston University Law School in 1885, and obtained the degree of B. L. on graduation in 1887. He was im- mediately afterward admitted to the Suffolk bar and in 1906 to the New Hampshire bar. He was for a time librarian of the Boston Bar Association. He opened an office in Boston soon after his admission to the bar, and ever since then has been engaged in the general practice of his profession, in which he has found success and in which he finds an ever widening field of labor and constantly in- creasing remuneration. He was for ten years as- sociated in practice with Sherman L. Whipple, one of the most eminent attorneys of the New Eng- land bar, and now in connection with his Boston office at No. 18 Tremont street, has an office in Concord, New Hampshire, with John M. Stark. For a number of years he resided in Everett, but since 1900 has made his home in Winchester, with a summer home near Concord, where the family re- side several months in the year. He is an at- tendant of the Congregational Church. He is a member of Palestine Lodge, of Everett, Massachu- setts, Royal Arch Chapter, Commandery. Knights Templar, and of the Massachusetts Consistory, of Boston, where he attained the thirty-second degree.

Mr. Saltmarsh married, in Everett, Massachu- setts, 1890, N. Gertrude Soulee, who was born in Boston, Massachusetts, February, 1865, daughter of David A. and Lucy M. (Rogers) Soulee, of Everett, Massachusetts. They have four children : Sher- man Whipple, George Abbott, Jr., Lucy Marguerite and Roger Wolcott. Harriet Gertrude died young.

George A . Sattmarch

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(V) Albert, eighth child of Abbott and Polly ( Stevens) Saltmarsh, was born February 18, 1840, in Bow, New Hampshire. At the age of thirteen he went to live with Nathan Kilburn Abbott and his sisters on the pleasant farm west of Long Pond, in West Concord, New Hampshire. Nathan K. Abbott was one of the old-time school teachers, having taught for twenty-five years in succession. Mr. Saltmarsh was educated in the district schools. He has always been a reader of good literature, and having a retentive memory is able to quote ex- tensively. Nathan K. Abbott died June 14, 1878, and after his death and that of his sisters, Miss Sally and Miss Lois, Mr. Saltmarsh inherited the farm and other property. In 1883 some friends from the city, attracted by the beauty of the location, begged to come as boarders, and every season since then the house has been full of summer people. Mr. Saltmarsh has an invaluable assistant in his niece, Miss Alice who has acted as his housekeeper for many years. Although living on a farm, Mr. Saltmarsh's chief occupations have been in other lines. He has a strong artistic bent, and he re- ceives orders for crayon portraits from all parts of the state. He is unusually successful in catch- ing the likeness of the subject. His mechanical skill is in demand as a repairer of clocks and watches. In politics he is a Republican. He is one of the best known men in his district, and has held many offices. He has been one of the select- men, and in 1878-79 he was a member of the com- mon council in Concord, being president of that assembly during the latter year. He was alderman from Ward Three during 1883-84. He was a charter member of Capital Grange, founded in 1886, was the first overseer and second master, and has been chorister for many years. He has taken a promi- nent part in the dramatic entertainments. He has had much to do with educational work, was on the prudential school committee two terms, and since 1888 has served continuously as a member of the town school board, of which he has been chairman since 1894. He has been justice of the peace for the state since 1896. He has been agent for the Grange Mutual Insurance Company for many years. Mr. Saltmarsh has attended the Congregational. Church most of his life. The value of his home has been greatly enhanced of late by the immediate proximity of the summer cottages of the New Hampshire State Hospital. This institution has bought a large estate adjoining Long Pond, and encompassing many of the tributary brooks. The grounds have been laid out with taste and skill and constitute one of the finest examples of landscape gardening in the state.

FLETCHER

This name has been known in the United States since 1630, and has been borne by many prominent citi-

zens. The Fletchers have generally been leading people in the communities where they have dwelt The name was originally written Fledger, and was the name of the trade of a maker of arrows, or as some think, of affixing the . feather to the arrow- fledging it. The French word Flechier has pre- cisely the same meaning, and some have inferred a French extraction. All the traditions concur, how- ever, in making the early ancestors of this family of English or Welsh stock, and Yorkshire, one of the northern countries of England, is named as the spot whence they emigrated to America. The name has been and still is common there. Rev. Elijah Fletcher, of Hopkinton, New Hampshire, born 1747, iv-30

died 1786, the first so far as known who made genealogical collections of the family, believed that the great ancestor, Robert Fletcher. came from Yorkshire, and that account was gathered when Robert's great-grandchildren were living.

(I) Robert Fletcher settled at Concord, Mas- sachusetts, in 1630, in which year seventeen ships arrived in Massachusetts Bay and at Plymouth. He had three sons, Luke, William and Samuel, and was himself thirty-eight years of age. Concord, the twentieth town incorporated in Massachusetts, was organized in 1635, and his name appears in the earliest records of that town. In the court files of Middlesex county his name frequently oc- curs as a petitioner for bridges, as juryman, etc. He became a wealthy and influential man, and died at Concord, April 3, 1077, aged cighty-five. His children were: Luke, William, Samuel, Francis and Cary. (Mention of Francis and William, and de- scendants, appears in this article.)

(II) William, second son of the settler, Robert Fletcher, was born in England, in 1622, and came when eight years of age to Concord, Massachusetts, with his father and his two older brothers. He was admitted freeman, May 10, 1643. In the year 1653 he settled in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, of which he was one of the first inhabitants, and here he was chosen selectman, November 22, 1651. "This first publick meeting was holden at his house." On the court files of Middlesex county his name fre- quently appears; in 1665, as a petitioner for a road ; the same year on a bill of costs for his servant being put in the house of correction, etc. The birth of his daughter Lydia on the Concord records is the first birth of a Fletcher that is recorded in America. His tract of land embraced what is now the city of Lowell. and a part of his land, a farm near the meeting house in Chelmsford, remains as it has been for more than two hundred years in possession of the family, and is now occupied by Gardner Fletcher. He married Lydia Bates, in Concord, October 7, 1645. He died November 6, 1677, and she died October 12, 1704. Their chil- dren were: Lydia, Joshua, Mary, Paul, Sarah, Wil- liam, Esther and Samuel.

(III) Joshua, son of William and Lydia (Bates) Fletcher, was born March 30, 1648, was admitted freeman, March II, 1689, and died November 21, 1713. He married (first) Grissies Jewell, May 4, 1668, who died January 16, 1682; married (second) Sarah Willy, July 18, 1682. His children were : Joshua, Paul, Rachel, Timothy, John, Joseph, Sarah, Jonathan, Elizabeth and Jonas. (Mention of Jo- seph and descendants forms part of this article.)

(IV) Joshua (2), son of Joshua (I) and Gris- sies (Jewell) Fletcher, was born in Chelmsford. He moved to Westford, Massachusetts, and was the head of the Westford branch of the Fletcher family. All of his sons raised their families in that town, but nearly all his grandchildren removed, and he has no representatives there now. He was a deacon in the church. The gravestones of Joshua and his wife may be seen in the east cemetery in Westford, where they lived and reared their numerous family. He married Dorothy Hale, a native of Scotland. He died October 19, 1732, and she died August 20, 1770. Their children were: Joshua, Gershom, Sarah, Elizabeth, Hannah, Esther, Ephraim, Zacha- riah, Dorothy, Sarah and Eunice. (Mention of Ephraim and descendants appears in this article.) (V) Gershom, second son and child of Joshua (2) and Dorothy ( Hale) Fletcher, was born July 27, 1702. and died June 28, 1779. Ile appears to

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have removed from Westford to Groton, Massachu- setts, and then to have returned to Westford. He removed in 1773 to Plymouth, New Hampshire, and thence back to Westford, in 1778, where he died. His gravestone is to be seen in the cemetery in Westford. He married Lydia Townsend, who died June 28, 1779. Their children were: Lydia, Esther, Gershom, Olive, Sarah, Mary, Lucy, Martha and Joshua.

(VI) Joshua (3), ninth and youngest child of Gershom and Lydia (Townsend) Fletcher, was born in Westford, Massachusetts, September 24, 1756, and died at Bridgewater, New Hampshire, August 15, 1829. He was a Congregational minister, and preached more than twenty years. He owned a farm in Plymouth, New Hampshire, where he spent most of his life, and followed farming in connection with his ministry, laboring with his own hands, as it was customary for ministers to do in those times. He was a man greatly beloved by all who knew him. He married, 1775, Sarah Brown, who died in 1854, aged ninety-seven and a half years. Their children were: Joshua, Joseph, Gershom, Nathan, Samuel, William, Asa, Amos, Sarah and Daniel H.

(VII) Joseph, second son and child of Joshua. and Sarah (Brown) Fletcher, was born in Plymouth, New Hampshire, in 1778, and died at Campton, January 5, 1824. He was a joiner by trade. He married, December 29, 1802, Betsey Webster, born April 30, 1782, died at Rumney, March 16, 1863. Their children were: Betsey, Arthur, Hannah, Jo- seph, Moore R., Ruth Webster, Sarah B., William W., Charles and George W.

(VIII) George Washington, sixth son and youngest child of Joseph and Betsey (Webster) Fletcher, was born February 2, 1821, at Campton. He lived from the age of five to nineteen with his brother-in-law, David Cheney, on a farm in Gro- ton, New Hampshire. He was educated in the com- mon schools of Groton and at Hebron Academy. When nineteen years old he went to Lowell, Massa- chusetts, and worked in the cotton mills a short time. From there he went to Natick and worked in a shoe factory. He was a fellow workman with and later on an employee of Henry Wilson, who later was vice-president of the United States. Mr. Wilson failed in the shoe business and at that time was indebted to Mr. Fletcher in a small sum. About fifteen years later the two met on the street in Boston, when Mr. Wilson reminded Mr. Fletcher of his indebtedness and expressed his pleasure to liquidate it, and handed over the amount due to his creditor. Bad health compelled Mr. Fletcher to seek different employment, and he went to Rumney, New Hampshire, and entered into partnership with his brother-in-law, John L.' Dearborn. Here he remained six years. About 1855 he began the manufacture of what were called Plymouth buck gloves. This business he carried on until about 1885. Much of the work was done outside of the factory by women who took the materials to their homes and there made up the gloves. Mr. Fletcher retired from business in 1885, and lived at Rumney till his death, March 1I, 1890. He was a man who possessed the confidence of his townsmen, and was sent to the legislature in 1862, 1875 and 1876. He cast his first vote for Democratic candidates, but ever afterward was a staunch Republican. He was a Baptist from 1865, and from 1868 to 1883 was a deacon in the Baker's River Baptist Church at Rumney.

He married, April 20, 1845, Hannah R. Avery, daughter of Nathaniel Avery, of Stratham, born

November 2, 1820, and died May 5, 1882. There were two children of this marriage-Ellen Webster, born May 20, 1851, married George P. French, of Rumney, and (second) Rev. George W. Clough, a Baptist clergyman, now located at Windsor, Ver- mont. The second child is mentioned below.

(IX) George Moore, only son of George W. and Hannah R. (Avery) Fletcher, was born at Rumney, December 19, 1852. He received his liter- ary education in the common school and the New London Literary and Scientific Institution, spend- ing one year at the latter school. At the age of twenty-one he formed a partnership with his father in the manufacture of gloves, which continued five years. August 26, 1878, he began the study of law in the office of Hon. Evarts W. Farr, of Littleton, who that year was elected to congress. Here he spent a year, and then entered the law department of the University of Michigan, where he spent two years, graduating in March, 1881, with the de- gree of LL. B. The following six months he spent in the office of Frederick Hooker, of Min- neapolis, Minnesota. After making a visit of some weeks to North Dakota, he returned to Concord and spent six months in the law office of Bing- ham & Mitchell. In March, 1883, he was admitted to the bar and has since been in the practice of law in Concord. Mr. Fletcher has been a Republican all his life. He was a member of the New Hamp- shire house of representatives from ward No. 4 from June, 1889, to January, 1891, being elected while the terms were biennial, and having his term shortened by the operation of the law making terms for one year only. He was a member of the com- mittee on revision of statutes and chairman of the committee on engrossing bills. From April 1, 1897, to April 1, 1901, he was solicitor for Merrimack county. January 1, 1902, he was appointed judge of the police court of Concord and still holds that position (1905). He is a member of the Unitarian Church. A member of Blazing Star Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Judge Fletcher is a man of pleasant manners, makes friends and keeps them, and is therefore popular.

Judge Fletcher married, January 19, 1875, Addie .C. Spaulding, daughter of George C. and Annette J. Spaulding. They have three sons: Walter H., born August 8, 1877, a graduate of Dartmouth Col- lege, class of 1900, principal of Sanderson Academy, Ashfield, Massachusetts ; Robert D. and Richard S., twins, born July 31, 1889, now in school.

(V) Ephraim, third son and seventh child of Deacon Joshua (2) and Dorothy (Hale) Fletcher, was born in Westford, March 12, 1710. He en- listed for service in the French and Indian war, departed for the scene of hostilities and was never heard from. In a list of persons in captivity con- tained in the Massachusetts Archives (Vol. 74) is the name of Ephraim Fletcher, reported as having been captured by the enemy at Oswego in August, 1756, and as there is no official mention of his re- turn his ultimate fate must forever remain a mys- tery. The christian name of his wife was Hannah, and his first five children were: Joshua, Peter, Lois, Sarah and Ephraim.

(VI) Peter, second son and child of Ephraim and Hannah Fletcher, was born in Westford, Janu- ary 22, 1736. About the year 1762 he settled in New Ipswich, New Hampshire, and resided there until his death, which took place April 11, 1812. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Sep- tember 8, 1761, he married Ruth Adams, who was born January 3, 1739, died April 28, 1816, and she bore him nine children, namely : Dorothy, Ruth,

Sincerely. Everell fletcher

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Peter, Ebenezer, David, Submit, James, who died young, another James and Lydia.

(VII) Ebenezer, second son and fourth child of Peter and Ruth (Adams) Fletcher, was born (probably) in New Ipswich, May 17, 1770. He was a carpenter by trade but did not confine him- self exclusively to that calling, and settling in Charlestown, New Hampshire, in 1808, he engaged in the manufacture of lumber, operating a saw- mill there for a number of years. In 1824 he re- moved to Pittsburg, Vermont, but subsequently re- turned to the Granite State, and spent the remainder of his life in Colebrook. The maiden name of his wife was Peday Smith. She became the mother of five children: Lucretia Eliza, Hiram Adams, Kimball Batchelder, Mary Hasham and Lucy Ann. (Kimball B. and descendants receive further men- tion in this article.)

(VIII) Hiram Adams Fletcher, second child and eldest son of Ebenezer and Peday (Smith) Fletcher, was born in Springfield, Vermont, De- cember 14, 1806. His early education was acquired in the public schools and at the Kimball Union Academy, Plainfield, New Hampshire. At the age of nineteen years he began his legal preparations, and during the successive five years his studies were directed at intervals by Ex-Governors Hub- bard and Williams, General Cushman and John L. Sheaf. After his admission to the bar in 1832 he spent a year in the office of Thomas Gilman Fletcher in New York City, at the expiration of which time he returned to New England and began the practice of law in his native town. A year later he moved to Colebrook, this state, where he created an extensive general law business, and in 1849 he found it advisable to remove to Lancaster, where a broader field of usefulness was open to him. There he continued to practice with pronounced success for the remainder of his life, and for a period of thirty years was regarded as one of the leading members of the Coos county bar. During his latter years he suffered from a serious pulmo- nary affection, and his death occurred January 30, 1879. A brief biographical article written by one who was familiar with his character and professional attainments states that he commanded the respect of both the bench and the bar, and that his knowl- edge of law, augmented by varied and extensive reading, was frequently manifested in court. In May, 1834, Mr. Fletcher married Persis Everett Hunking, daughter of Dr. Benjamin Hunking, of Lancaster, and her death occurred in July, 1878. She was the mother of six children, namely: Al- mira Barnes, born February 29, 1836, became the wife of Judge William S. Ladd, of the New Hamp- shire supreme court; Emily Eliza, born December 27, 1838, died January 1, 1857; Richard, born in May, 1840, died young; Richard, born May 16, 1844, served in the Fifth Regiment, New Hamp- shire Volunteers, during the Civil war; Everett, who will be again referred to; and Lucy Ellen, born January 28, 1855, married William A. Holman, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.

(IX) Hon. Everett, third son and fifth child of Hiram A. and Persis E. (Hunking) Fletcher, was born in Colebrook, December 23, 18.48. He was educated at the Lancaster Academy and the Uni- versity of Michigan, and his legal studies were pursued in the office of Fletcher & Heywood at Lancaster. Admitted to the Coos county bar in 1870 he inaugurated his professional career in Lan- caster, and in 1873 became associated in practice with his father under the name of Fletcher & Fletcher. The firm continued in business for four

years, at the conclusion of which time the junior member entered into partnership with Judge Wil- liam S. Ladd, previously referred to, who had just retired from the supreme bench, and the law firm of Ladd & Fletcher existed until the death of the senior partner in 1891. The firm name, however, was continued unchanged by the succession to partnership of Fletcher Ladd, a son of the Judge. As a lawyer Mr. Fletcher was a worthy successor to his eminent progenitor and it has been said of him that "as one of the best read lawyers in New Hampshire he could quote from memory more genuine law from the statutes than some practition- ers could find in a half-day's search. Moreover he was a man of sound judgment, untiring industry and unquestionable integrity." With these quali- fications his practice was necessarily extensive. From 1883 to 1886 he served as judge advocate general upon the staff of Governor Hale, and from the latter year until 1892 served as judge of pro- bate for Coos county. It is worthy of note that only one of his decisions was carried to the su- preme court on appeal, and his ruling was sus- tained by that tribunal. At one time when a vacancy existed on the supreme bench his name was brought forward as a candidate, and had the selection been made from the northern part of the state it is quite probable that he would have received the appointment. In politics he was a Republican, and as a member of the state committee he rendered efficient service to his party. He resigned his office of judge of probate in order to devote his time exclusively to his law business, and his practice was brought to an end by his untimely death, which occurred August 18, 1900. Judge Fletcher was a member of all the Masonic bodies, and a thirty- second degree Mason.

On June 9, 1894, Judge Fletcher was united in marriage with Rose Wentworth Davis, born De- cember 6, 1868, daughter of Osborn Davis, of Biddeford, Maine. She was reared in Jefferson. Mrs. Fletcher married for her second husband William H. Chamberlain and resides in Jefferson.

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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 49

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