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 83

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 83

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(II) Robert, eldest son of Archibald Macurdy, was a native of Ireland and died in Jamaica, while serving in the British navy.

(III) Matthew Scobey, son of Robert Macurdy, was born in Ireland, and died in America. He mar- ried a Miss Fulton, and they were the parents of seven children : Daniel. Robert, John, Matthew, Margaret, Elizabeth and Mary.

(IV) Daniel, eldest child of Matthew S. Macurdy, was born in Dunbarton, New Hampshire. 1798, and died in Boscawen in November, 1860, aged sixty- two years. He lived on his father's farm, and at- tended school until he was about twenty-one years of age. He then hired out on farms for several years and with his earnings bought a farm. This he sold in 1849, and in February, 1850, he bought another farm of about one hundred and fifty acres in Bos- cawen, now Webster, where he resided as long as he lived. He was an industrious worker, and pre- ferred to attend to his own farm rather than engage in public business. He became a member of the Re- publican party at its formation. He married Betsy Cunningham Alexander, who was born in Dunbar- ton, daughter of David and Martha Alexander. of Dunbarton. Their eight children were: John, Da- vid A., Daniel L., Matthew, Oscar D., Martha Jane, Elizabeth, and Mary Ann.

(V) David A., second son and child of Daniel and Betsy C. (Alexander) Macurdy, was born in Dun- barton, June 23, 1832. He attended the district schools and the high school at Dunbarton Center until he was seventeen years old. In 1850 he moved with his parents to Boscawen, and the two years next following worked on his father's farm. In 1852 he married and went to live with his father-in- law, and assist him in his store at Courser Hill. Three years later the father-in-law, Mr. Fellows, died, and Mr. Macurdy took charge of the store and carried on the business until 1862. August II of that year Mr. Macurdy, with his brother Matthew, enlisted as a private in Company H, Fourteenth New Hampshire Volunteers, and in October was made orderly. During the following fall and winter the regiment was on duty in Washington and along the Potomac, picketing the river for forty miles and enduring great hardships. The summer of 1863 was passed doing guard duty from Harper's Ferry to Fortress Monroe, and in November of that year was

A. Macura

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commissioned second lieutenant. In the spring of 1864 the regiment was ordered to the Department of the Gulf, and came near being shipwrecked on the voyage to New Orleans. After a short service on the Mississippi the regiment returned to the Potomac and joined Sheridan's corps on the Shenandoah on August 18, 1864. Lieutenant Macurdy was pro- moted to first lieutenant May 27. 1864, and trans- ferred to Company B. He was present with his regi- ment at the battle of Berryville, September 19, This was a very hotly contested battle, and the loss to the Fourteenth was thirteen officers and one hundred and thirty privates, killed and wounded. Matthew Macurdy was instantly killed. Lieutenant Macurdy was wounded, and after the action was furloughed. After his wound had healed he re- joined his regiment, having been promoted to a captaincy November 22, 1864. January 1, 1865, he accompanied his regiment to Savannah, Georgia, where it remained until the close of the war, and was mustered out July 8, 1865. (In June, 1864, Cap- tain Macurdy served on a board of survey at Car- rollton, Louisiana, and in August of the same year was appointed quartermaster for a battalion of re- cruits for General Sherman's army in the Shenan- doah valley. In March, 1865, he served on a court martial at Savannah, Georgia. In May, 1865. he was in command of Company B, Fourteenth New Hampshire Volunteers, and had in charge Jefferson Davis, Alexander Stevens, Captain Wirz, and others of the Confederate officers in Augusta, Georgia, af- ter their capture.)

Returning to Boscawen, Captain Macurdy re- opened his store, and was engaged in the trade until August, 1870, when he sold out all his property and removed to Concord, where he opened a grocery, flour and grain store. This he carried on until 1877, when he removed to Webster, built and stocked a store and started in business. The following March, store and stock were destroyed by fire, and Mr. Ma- curdy went to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he filled a position in the freight department of the Chi- cago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad, until 1901. Returning to New England, he lived in Boston part of one year, and in 1903, removed to Webster, where he now lives retired. Captain Macurdy's conduct and capabilities have been such as to entitle him to the friendship of all those who know him, and his fellow citizens have honored him with the offices of selectman one term; town clerk, one term; repre- sentative, two terms, and moderator, four times. He is a Republican, and still maintains the principles for which he fought in the civil war. He is a member of Colonel Putnam Post No 5, Grand Army of the Republic; Minnehaha Lodge No. 165, Free and Accepted Masons, and White Mountain Lodge No. 3, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Con- cord. He married first, January. 1852, Salome Fel- lows, who was born August 25, 1827, and died Jan- uary 2, 1901, aged seventy-four years, daughter of Hezekiah and Pamelia F. (Senter) Fellows, . of Boscawen. Three children were born of this mar- riage : Hill B., Lucy E., and Senter G. He mar- ried second. September 17, 1902, Nancy Eastman Couch, who was born in Boscawen, February 12, 1835, daughter of Enoch and Nancy (Eastman) Couch. (See Couch IV.)

(II) John, youngest SO11 of Archibald McCurdy by his first union, was born in Bally- mony in 1718. He resided in Dunbarton and died there August 6, 1813. In 1765 he was chosen first constable and also tax collector, and for the years 1766 and 1770 he served as a selectman. In the

French and Indian War he served as a lieutenant. He married Mary Scoby, who died September 20, 1809, and their children were: Martha, Archibald. James, Robert, Elizabeth, Matthew Scoby, Daniel, Mary and Peggy.

(III) Mattlicw Scoby,

third

SO11 and fifth child of John and Mary ( Scoby ) McCurdy, was born in Dunbarton, November 23, 1766, and died March 23, 1850. In 1790 he was chosen deacon of the church in Dunbarton and was noted for his piety. No food was allowed to be cooked in his house on Sunday, and it is related that on one oc- casion, having lost his reckoning. he hauled a load of grist to the mill, but upon learning his mistake he returned home with his load, preferring to make an extra trip to the mill rather than leave it there on the Lord's day. He was quite prominent in pub- lic affairs and between the years 1791 and 1808 he served six terms as a selectman. He was the father of ten children, namely: Peggy, Daniel, Martha, John, James, Mary, Robert, Elizabeth, Mary Ann and Matthew.

(IV) Daniel, second child and eldest son of Matthew McCurdy, was born in Dunbarton, Sep- tember 16, 1798, and died in what is now Web- ster, November 9, 1859. He married Betsey Alex- ander, who was born in Dunbarton, February 28, 1805, daughter of David and Martha (Cunningham) Alexander, the former of whom was born July II, 1781. and died June 23, 1852, and the latter born March 15, 1779, died March 30. 1854. David and Martha (Cunningham) Alexander, who were mar- ried March 8, 1804, became the parents of seven children, two of whom died in infancy. Those who lived to maturity are: Betsey (previously mention- ed) ; Nancy, born June 6, 1807. (became the wife of John Healy and died November 30, 1895) ; Mary, born October 24, 1808 (became the wife of Orren Morse) ; Harriet. born November 22, 1812,

married Hugh Jameson and died February 17. 1901); and Maria .born December 25.

1815 (married Joshua Vose ). Daniel and Betsey (Alexander) McCurdy had a family of eight children, namely: John, born April 27, 1831, died January 8. F871) ; Capt. David A., born June 23, 1832, (married Salome Fellows, who was born August 25, 1827, died January 2, 1891, and he is now residing in Webster, this state) : Martha Jane, born February 2, 1834; Daniel L., born December 27, 1835, (died July 24, 1897) : Elizabeth, born June 29. 1837, married Thomas Kilbourne, born February 26, 1835; Mary Ann, born December 24, 1838, who is again referred to in the succeeding paragraph : Matthew, born November 5, 1840, (died in Virginia September 19, 1864) ; and Oscar D., born in 1842, died January 31, 1843). The mother of these children died May 13, 188S. Capt. David A. MIc- Curdy, previously referred to, is a veteran of the Civil war, was wounded and won promotion for his gallantry. His younger brother, Matthew, was killed in battle during that struggle. Both enlisted August II, 1862. in the Fourteenth Regiment, New Hamp- shire Volunteers.

(V) Mary Ann, sixth child and youngest daughter of Daniel and Betsey (Alexander) MIc- Curdy, was educated in the select and high schools of Boscawen and Contoocook, New Hamp- shire. In 1859 she became the wife of Prescott C. Hall of Salem Depot, and went to reside in that town. (See Hall.) She is the mother of four sons, all of whom are living. namely: Clarence P .. Arthur C., Clifton S. and Lester W. Mr. Hall died suddenly in June, 1906, having retired from active

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business pursuits some years previous, and he left a good estate, including valuable residential prop- erty in Boston.

McGREGOR The Scotch Highlanders of this name, who were the forefathers of all of the McGregors in America, have for centuries inhabited the wild, mountainous region bordering upon Loch Lomen, and their most famous chieftain, Rob Roy, or Red Rob, is the hero of one of Sir Walter Scott's most facinating tales. They were a haughty people, who, clinging tena- ciously to the ancient traditions of their race, stoutly refused to abandon their independent life, and were among the last of the Gaelic tribes to cease their opposition to the sway of English, or as they termed it, Saxon civilization. Warlike and ready to avenge a wrong they followed to many a victory the standard of their chief, when summoned to the fray.

"The moon's on the lake and the mist's on the brae ;

And the clan has an aim that is nameless by day ; Then gather, gather, gather Gregarlach."

The great religious upheaval which swept over Scotland during the seventeenth century seems to have had little effect upon the highland clans. A few of them, however, joined the Covenanters, and among the latter were some of the McGregors, who, as might have been expected, were as firm and un- bending in their christian zeal as the rugged crags which formed the battlements of their picturesque retreat. Such were the ancestors of the venerable centenarian of North Newport, whose long and in- teresting life forms the chief inspiration for this narrative.

(I) John McGregor came from Scotland prior to the beginning of the eighteenth century or shortly afterward, and settled in Enfield, Connecticut.

(Il) Ebenezer, son of John McGregor resided in Enfield and reared a family.

(III) John, son of Ebenezer McGregor, was born in Enfield, June 29, 1736. He was a Revolutionary soldier, In 1787 he went to Newport, New Hamp- shire, locating on the Wylie farm (so called), and he resided in that town for the remainder of his life. He married Lucy Chapin, who died May 29, 1836. His children were: Joel, Asa B., John B., Elias, Lucy, Norman and Lois.

(IV) Joel, eldest child of John McGregor, was born in Enfield, November 22, 1760. April 17, 1777, he enli-ted in a Connecticut regiment for service in the war for national independence, and was in the Continental army five years, during which time he spent eight months in the famous old sugar-house in New York city as a prisoner of war. In 1789 he settled upon the William Tilton farm in North Newport. The McGregors are noted for their longevity, as will be seen later, and Joel was 10 ex- ception to the rule as he died in Newport in 1861, at the ripe old age of one hundred and one years. He married Martha Bellows, and reared seven chil- dren, namely : Gaius, born August 27, 1786, married Betsey Hoyt, and settled in Bethlehem, New Hamp- shire. Polly, July 15, 1788, married Silas Wakefield. Cyrus R., September 27, 1791. Laomy, in February, 1794, married Fanny White, and settled in White- field, New Hampshire. Martha, July 16, 1799, mar- ried for her first husband Willard Wakefield, and for her second husband Captain Nathaniel King. of Claremont. New Hampshire. James B., who will be again referred to. Ruby, in July, 1806, married John Barnard. All lived to an advanced age, one, Gains, becoming a nonogenarian and dying at ninety-

four years, while James B., who is still living, is now far beyond the century mark.

(V) James Bellows, fourth son and sixth child of Joel and Martha (Bellows) McGregor, was.born on the William Tilton farm in North Newport, Sep- tember 6, 1801. His education, which was begun in the district schools, was completed at the Newport Acad- emy, and for a number of years afterward he was a successful school teacher both in his native town and in other places. One of his pupils was Mrs. Electa Kelley, of Newport, who recently died at the age of ninety-two years. She was the seventh child of Ephraim Fletcher. On attaining his majority he visited his brother in Lyman, New Hampshire, and being solicited to take charge of the school there he accepted and at times had one hundred and six pupils. In 1829 he purchased a general country store in Lunenburg, Vermont, where he remained until 1831, and he was subsequently for some years engaged in the manufacture of barrels at Waterville, Maine. While there he acquired a wide reputation as a singing master and afterward taught singing schools in New Hampshire and Vermont. In the early forties hic owned and operated a sawmill, and while running a circular saw had the misfortune to lose some of his fingers. He next turned his at- tention to carpentering and contracting, and erected several buildings in Newport. He was at one time employed by Aaron Nettleton, Jr., as clerk at the old Nettleton store in Newport, which stood on the site of the present Lewis block, and he also held a similar position in Salisbury, Massachusetts, for some time. Early in the seventies he resided for a time in Albany, New York, but a fondness for the surroundings amid which the happiest years of his life have been spent eventually caused his return to North Newport, and he has ever since remained there. He acquired possession of the house he now occupies in May, 1842, and he not only set out all of the shade trees which adorn the property, but the fences too are the work of his hands.

On November 9, 1832, Mr. McGregor was united in marriage with Elizabeth J. Townsend, who was born February 6, 1806, and died August 25, 1869. She was a sister of Mrs. Amos Tuck. The only child of this union was James H. McGregor, who was born April 12, 1820, and for nearly fifty years was a well-known commercial traveler. He suffered severely from asthma, which eventually caused his death, January 10, 1906, at the home of his father. February 15, 1872, he married Emily Melendy, of Pom- fret, Vermont, who was born in Hartland, Vermont, September 26, 1856. She died leaving one daughter, Alice, who is now residing with her grandfather in Newport. She was married November 21, 1906, to Orren J. Clement, a Carpenter of Newport.

A centenarian and an optimist may appear to the majority of readers as somewhat paradoxical, but in the case of James B. McGregor this assertion is absolutely true. To all appearances he seems to possess the strength and agility of a man of fifty years. He is still able to prepare fire wood, works in his garden, thereby obtaining a sufficient amount of physical exercise to preserve a normal circulation of his blood, and his mental faculties are equally active. He converses intelligently upon a varied line of subjects, including the many notable improve- ments in mechanic arts during the last century, and his memory is unusually accurate. He has a vivid recollection of the days when corn pone, baked on a smooth board in front of the fire, was the addition to fried salt pork, considered both healthy and suf- ficient food by the average New Hampshire farmer ;

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of the flint lock musket and the manner of kindling a fire prior to the introduction of Lucifer matches ; and recently in speaking of the time when farmers found it necessary to raise flax for the purpose of clothing the family, he humorously remarked that these home-made garments fitted like a shirt on a bean-pole. When interviewed by the representative of the publishers of this work he cheerfully and without the slightest effort gave the desired infor- mation relative to his ancestors and the principal incidents of his own unusally long life, and at an opportune moment he tenderly embraced his grand- laughter, at the same time paying her a truly beauti- ful tribute of love and devotion, concluding with the pathetic words: "This is all I have left to coll- fort me in my old age."

The fact that Mr. McGregor has now reached the age of one hundred and six years is not the only unique feature of his life, as he is considered the oldest living Free Mason in the country, having joined that . order at Salisbury, Massachusetts, in 1825, and has therefore affiliated with it for eighty- one years. At the observation of the one hundredth anniversary of his birthday, which took place at his home in 1901, the ceremony was of a semi-Masonic character, the house being decorated with emblems symbolical of the order, and many of the participants being fellow-craftsmen. Provided for the occasion were two handsome birthday cakes, one by his neighbors and friends, and the other by his rela- tives, and each was inscribed: 1801-1901. One was surrounded by one hundred wax tapers which, when dinner was announced, were lighted and they burned out one by one during the progress of the repast, emblematical of each successive year in the life of the honored centenarian who. at the proper time, cut and distributed the cake among the guests. Past Worshipful Master Albert S. Wait, of Mount Ver- non Lodge, No. 15, presented him with an easy chair in behalf of that body. Though the Rev. C. H. Fletcher his neighbors and friends presented him with a handsome house-coat, a pair of slippers, a silver match-box and a well-filled purse, while ap- propriating speeches were made and aptly responded to. During the past summer (1906) Mr. McGregor and his friend. Ezra T. Sibley, who is a nonegen- arian, were tendered by Colonel Seth M. Richards an automobile ride in the latter's handsome touring car. They were carried through Northville, thence by a circuitous route back to the point of departure, and both enjoyed the trip immensely, Mr. McGregor remarking that he could stand the trip to Boston. This incident certainly served to link the far away past with its proverbial slow coach, and the present day with its speedy and luxuriant means of public ind private conveyances.

For more than one hundred years a PUTNEY certain locality in the town of Dun- barton, New Hampshire, has been described as "the old Putney farm"; for more than a century and a half the children in the public schools have been taught how James Rogers and Joseph Putney made the first civilized white settle- mient within the limits of the town and the de- struction of their buildings and property by the In- dians, but a search of the various town records and an examination of the productions of earlier chron- iclers of contemporary history fails to reveal more than meagre mention of the adventures of Joseph Putney and furnishes no account whatever of his family life and connections other than the fact that he had a son.

In carly New Hampshire history Joseph Putney played an important part as a pioneer of Dunbarton, and proved himself worthy of a conspicuous place in the archives of the state as the founder of one of its best towns, a daring pioneer, fearless Indian fighter, and as the progenitor of a family whose de- scendants in all generations from his time have been men of action and solid worth. It is within reason to state that all persons in New Hampshire of the surname Putney and who have lived within that jurisdiction during the last century and a half are descendants of Joseph Putney, first of Londonderry and afterward of Dunbarton, and have reason to feel just pride in the deeds of their common an- cestor.

Joseph Putney was of Scotch birth and ancestry. and is believed to have come to the colony of people of his own nationality at Londonderry, New Hamp- shire, within ten years after the settlement of that town was effected. He was not among thie signers of the memorial addressed to Governor Shute, nor one of the proprietors to whom the grant was made, nor does his name appear at all in connection with the settlement and organization or subsequent his- tory of that town : but there is abundant evidence of his having been there within a very short time after the town was settled, and that he joined with James Rogers, who was one of the proprietors of Lon- donderry, in venturing out into the then uninhabited regions of Dunbarton and making a settlement there somewhere about the year 1740.

The story of the adventures of James Rogers and Joseph Putney has been told by various writers of New Hampshire and Dunbarton history, and while in the main their accounts agree there are a few differences in respect to dates ; but from inform- ation drawn from all reliable sources it appears most probable that Rogers and Putney left old Londonderry and went out to the region now known as Dunbarton sometime between the years 1735 and 1740, and that then their first object was to hunt for wild game. While on an expedition of this kind they discovered the "great meadow," which even then was covered with a heavy growth of natural grass, and naturally the thought was suggested that the locality was a most desirable one for a new set- tlement. They accordingly erected log houses, says the "History of Dunbarton," and removed their families from their former abodes in Londonderry to their new homes, at a time when Bow probably was without an inhabitant and Rumford (Concord) was the nearest settlement. In their isolated posi- tion they struggled on. clearing land. planting or- chards and raising stock until 1746, when a body of hostile Indians appeared in the Merrimack valley to destroy unprotected settlements, plunder houses and carry away captives ; but before an attack was made on the homes of these pioneers a messenger from the garrison at Rumford had warned them of their peril, and on that very night Rogers and Putney abandoned their property and with their families sought safety at the garrison. The next day Rogers and Putney went back after the cattle and found that they had been killed and all the buildings de- stroyed by fire. After that they remained with their families at the garrison until the Indians left the vicinity, and in 1749 returned to the place, re- built their houses and settled permanently near the great meadows. On one occasion, however, while Joseph Putney was at work on the intervale he was surprised by a party of Indians, but managed to es- cape capture, although one of his arms was broken by a musket ball fired by one of his pursuers.

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(I) Joseph Putney, the Scotch immigrant, the pioneer of Dunbarton, was a man of courage and a man of peace, and after the troublous period was passed he resided for the remainder of his life at the place where his first settlement had been made, and died there at an advanced age. It is known that he had a family, but the number 'and names of his children are not now known. The house of his son Henry was the accustomed meeting place for the selection of a representative to the general as- sembly.

(II) Henry, son of Joseph Putney, the pioneer of Dunbarton, is believed to have come with his father and mother to Londonderry and afterward shared with them the vicissitudes of pioneer life. He became a man of consequence in the town and filled some town offices. Other than this little in- deed is known of him, except that he married three times, namely: Mary Wells. Dolly Jewett and Deborah Austin. He died April 13, 1807, leaving children, and "his descendants have gone out into all the land." Two of Henry's sons were David and Daniel, and there is reason to believe that John was another of them, but this is not certain. (He receives mention in this article).

(III) David, son of Henry Putney, and grand- son of Joseph Putney, was born in Dunbarton and spent his life in that town, on the farm where his grandfather settled and where his father also lived. David married and his wife's name was Rebecca. Their children were: Molly, born March 23, 1791 ; Rebecca Sawyer. July 10, 1793; Adna, July 10, 1796; Fanny, February 27, 1799; David, September 4, 1801 ; Fanny, September 22, 1805; Henry, June II, 1807: Louisa, December 5. 1810.

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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 83

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