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 90

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 90

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The Lovells in America are of Eng- LOVELL lish origin, and there was a long line of this name in England, but the Peer- age is now extinct. Lord Francis Lovell was Lord Chamberlin to Richard III and took part in the battle of Bosworth when King Richard was killed. The first Lord mentioned was Lord John who was Knight of the Garter during the reign of Henry IV. The family of Lovell has a large representation

throughout this country. and inany of its members have occupied important positions of trust and honor.

(I) Alexander Lovell was the first of the line concerning whom there is authentic information in America. He was in Medfield, Massachusetts, as early as 1645, and was one of its citizens when the town was burned by the Indians. The date of his death does not appear, but his will was dated An- gust 15, 1707. He married, October 30, 1658, Lydia, daughter of Benjamin and Hannah Albie, probably of Medfield.

(II) Nathaniel, son of Alexander and Hannah (Albie) Lovell, was born in Medfield, and died March 16, 1731, probably in Medway, Massachusetts, as he finally became a resident of that town. He married (first) Abigail Davis, and (second) Eliza- beth

(III) Michael, spelled by himself Mical, was the son of Nathaniel and Abigail (Davis) Lovell, and was born March 13, 1705, in Medway. He married Mary The family resided for several years in Medway and later removed to Worcester, Massachusetts. There were nine chil- dren by this marriage, the first three were born in Medway and the others in Worcester. About 1754 six brothers of this family-Michael, Ebenezer, Oliver, Timothy, John and Elijah-came from Worcester to Rockingham, Vermont. being

among its earliest settlers. That they were

possessing considerable property and busi- men

ness

ability is evident from the fact that in

a few years they owned practically all of

the town of Rockingham.

When the war of the Revolution broke out, three of the brothers remained adherents to the British Crown. and hence were termed Tories, while the others took the part of the Colonists.

(IV) Michael (2), eldest son of Mical and Mary Lovell, was born July 5, 1728, in Medway, Massachusetts, and died in Rockingham, Vermont, in 1786. He was a zealous patriot and was captain of a company in the war of the Revolution. He mar- ried Hannah, but no record of her surname appcars. From all accounts she was a very efficient and brave woman. During the absence of her husband she managed the two or three farms they owned and it is said she often mounted her horse and carried im- portant messages to commanding officers, and the hospitality of their home was always offered to both officers and privates during the progress of the war. After the death of her husband Mrs. Lovell re- moved with her children from Rockingham to Cavendish, Vermont, where her remains lie buried in a small cemetery in which there are only thirteen graves, the stone bearing only the inscription, now legible. of "Hannah. relict of Captain Michael Lovell." Their five children were-Enos, who was the second child born in Rockingham, date about 1760. Michael. Randall, born in 1766, and there were two daughters-Elizabeth and Mary. Oscar Lovell Shafter, who was for many years chief jus- tice of the state of California, and James McMillen Shafter, who was also a judge on the bench in Cali- fornia, and General William Rufus Shafter were direct descendants of Enos Lovell.

(V) Michael (3). son of Captain Michael and Hannah Lovell, was born December 29. 1764, in Rockingham, Vermont. He removed to Claremont, New Hampshire, in 1820, and purchased a valuable farm on which he passed the remainder of his life and where he died April 29, 1860. He married Sally Kimball, about the year 1791 : she died January II, 1838. Their nine children were: Darexa, Elvira,

JOHN W. DICKEY.

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Sally, Polly. Sophie, Seymour, Martha. Porter Kim- ball, and Maria Retsey. This family of children fully sustained the reputation of their ancestors for superior intelligence and executive ability. The son who had the most public career was Porter Kimball Lovell. Ile was a graduate of Bowdoin College and also studied in Paris and became a physician. He went to Hayti with Dr. James Hall, who was once a resident of Claremont and later made gov- ernor of Liberia. On their arrival there the yellow fever was raging and Dr. Lovell soon became fa- mous by reason of his successful treatment of this disease. He was surgeon general in the army of the Revolution of Hayti in 1842-44, and died there November 19, 1846, at the age of thirty-seven years. The eldest son, Seymour Lovell, also studied medi- cine and died January 2, 1844. while attending medi- cal lectures at the College of Physicians and Sur- geons in New York City. Maria Retsey, youngest child of Michael (3) and Polly ( Kimball) Lovell. was born April 8. 1813, and married Herman Allen Wightman in 1834. She died in Claremont, May I, 1894. Their five children were-Frances MI., Nellie S., Martha L., Mary J. and Caroline E.

(VI) Mary J. Wightman, born January 19, 1843. married. February 22, 1882. Osmon B. Way, M. D., of Claremont. (See Way).

Several families of this name settled in DICKEY New Hampshire. all Scotch, and no doubt all of one stock. There were three James Dickeys in the Revolutionary army from this state: one from Londonderry, one from Raby (Brookline). and one from Antrim. In those sev- eral branches we find the names of William, John, Adam and Samuel, and soon, over and over, so as to render it difficult to keep them distinct.

(I) William Dickey and his wife Elizabethi were the immigrant ancestors of many of those who settled in Londonderry. The exact date of their landing on these shores cannot be ascertained. It must have been prior to 1730, and may have been as early as 1725. They came from the north of Ire- land, bringing with them their three children- Samuel, Elias and Elizabeth-and located on one of the best and most attractive farms in the westerly part of Londonderry, near a small stream known as "Todds Brook." William Dickey died October 9. 1743, aged sixty, and Elizabeth, his wife, died Oc- tober 21, 1748. aged seventy. Each of their graves is marked by a respectable slab in the old "hill graveyard" in Londonderry.

(II) Jonathan Dickey was born in Manchester, New Hampshire, and died about 1833. He is be- lieved to be descended from ancestors who lived in Londonderry. He was a farmer, and resided about three-fourths of a mile south of Massabesic Lake. He married Sarah Webster, who died at the age of eighty-seven years. They were the parents of five children: John Webster, see forward: Rebecca Perliam, deceased : Lydia. deceased ; Mary Stark, deceased : Joshua. deceased.

(III) John Webster. eldest son of Jonathan and Sarah (Webster) Dickey, was born in Man- chester. January 16, 1823, died June 22, 1901, aged seventy-eight. He was reared on a farm, educated in the public schools, and worked on his grand- fatlrer's farm from the age of ten years, when he lost his father by death, until he was twenty-one years old. He then went to California and there re- mained for one year. After his return he was em- ployed by the railroad company for a short period of time, and in 1852 entered the employ of the Amos- keag Manufacturing Company of Manchester, where

he served forty-five years about its yards. fifteen years of which time he was yardmaster. He was very attentive to the duties of his position, and was promoted to the place he last occupied as a reward for his efficiency and long service. At the time of the Civil war he was a patriotic citizen, and fought . for the preservation of the Union. He enlisted as a private in the First New Hampshire Volunteer Light Battery, August 20, 1861. and was mustered into the service of the United States on September 26, 1861. He was later mustered out, and February 22, 1863, he re-enlisted and was mustered in Decem- ber 26, 1863; he was later appointed company quar- termaster-sergeant, and served till the close of the war : he was finally mustered out June 9, 1865. He participated in the battles of Rappahannock Station, Gainsville, Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericks- burg, Chancellorsville. Gettysburg, Wilderness, Cold River, Pennsylvania. Spottsylvania. North Anna, Sheldon's Cross Roads, Cold Harbor, Petersburg and Deep Bottom. He was inclined toward the Con- gregational religion, and attended the Hanover Street Congregational Church, of which Mrs. Dickey and his daughter are members. His services as a citizen merited the confidence of the public, and he was elected councilman and alderman of the city of Manchester, and filled those offices with credit. He was a member of Washington Lodge, No. 61, Free and Accepted Masons, in which he took the entered apprentice degree, March 13, 1873. He joined Mt. Horeb Royal Arch Chapter, No. 11, in June, 1877, and later Adoniram Council, No. 3. Royal and Select Masons. Trinity Commandery, Knights Templar, all of Manchester, also the Consistory of Nashua. He was a member of Mechanics Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of the Sons of Tem- perance. In political sentiment he was a Republican. Mr. Dickey married. in Manchester, March 22. 1855, Mary M. Clark, born August 27, 1828, at Landaff, New Hampshire, daughter of Simeon and Mehitable (Clement) Clark. Simeon Clark was born at Landaff, October 21, 1803. died December 31, 1879, aged seventy-six. He married (first) Mehit- able Clement, born at Landaff, 1803, died January 2. 1810. She was the mother of five children, two of whom are now ( 1907) living, namely: Mrs. Dickey, and Mrs. Joseph Abbott, of Rumney. Simeon Clark married (second), in 1859, Mary Ann Brown, of Rumney, who died in 1900. Two children were born to John W. and Mary M. (Clark) Dickey: Jessie F., wife of Robert R. Chase, who is an insurance agent, and who served as state senator in 1907: and Mary B., widow of Arthur H. Cate, late of Man- chester, who died in 1898.

In old days, in Scotland, this name OTTERSON was spelled "Oughterson." and gradual changes have brought it to its present form, though it still has some varia- tions in use among the American bearers. Soon after the beginning of the seventeenth century many thrifty and industrious people of Scotland were in- duced to settle in northern Ireland, where lands were cheap. About a century later their descendants made an extensive emigration to America, and New Hampshire is now indebted to these immigrants for many of her best citizens. While the hardy Scotch in Ireland refused to mix with their neighbors, they kept up communication with their relatives and compatriots at home, and thus preserved in remark- able degrec the traditions, customs and habits of thought of their ancestry, and they have often been characterized as "More Scotch than the Scotch." Certain it is that they and their posterity have been

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noted for their industry. intelligence and independ- ence, their thrift and piety, and have always been well settled in their principles, opinions and habits. The bitter struggles for supremacy between the Catholic and Protestant factions in England, which culminated in the siege of Londonderry, Ireland, in 1688-89. gave them untold hardships and much loss of life, and settled still more firmly their tenacity of religious faith. Naturally their attention was turned to this country, where religious freedom was guar- anteed to all. and a large immigration followed. In 1718 a considerable company came from the vicinity of Londonderry, Ireland, and wintered in Massachu- setts and Maine, settling in the following spring in Londonderry, New Hampshire, where a strong col- ony was built up, whose influence is still strongly felt by the state in many ways.

(I) Among those who founded the town of Londonderry was James Otterson, of whom little can now be learned. His will, made in 1760, is on record in that town, and names his wife, Agnes, and sons-James, George and John, and the two chil- dren of his son, William, who was then deceased. This is probably the James Otterson whose age is given among centenarians of Chester as one hun- dred and three years at death.

(II) William, son of James and Agnes Otterson, was born in Ireland, and married Jean Sample. He is found of record in that part of ancient Chester which is now Hooksett, May 25, 1757, when he pur- chased lot No. 128, fifth division, of Robert Boyes. though he is known to have previously lived in what was then Chester. His brother, Andrew Ot- terson, was also an early resident of this region, and like him, enlisted in the French and Indian war. after which he disappeared from this vicinity. At the close of that struggle William Otterson was in northern New York, and set out with his compan- ions to cross Lake Champlain, on the way home. A number were embarked in an unseaworthy canoe. and all save one of its occupants were drowned, in- - cluding Mr. Otterson. This occurred early in 1760, so that he enjoyed little of the benefit of his Hook- sett land. However, his widow and two children continued to reside upon it, and all reached great age. The daughter. Mary, died November 22. 1845. aged eighty-six years. She never married, and was noted as a nurse, and familiarly and gratefully known as "Old Aunt Molly" throughout a wide dis- trict.

(III) James, only son of William and Jean (Sample) Otterson, was born August 19, 1757, somewhere in Chester, probably on the Hooksett estate of his father. As a boy he lived in Pem- broke. where he learned the trade of cooper, which occupied him until his marriage, when he settled on the paternal homestead and continued farming dur- ing the remainder of his life. He died December 22. 1846, in his ninetieth year. Though not a mem- ber of any religious body he was a strict and moral man, respected by all. It is related that he would not permit any of his boys to take fish from the pond adjoining his farm after they had secured all that could be advantageously used by the family. In politics he was a Whig. and always took a keen and intelligent interest in the progress of his coun- try, as well as of the community in which he lived. In his day his home was still in Chester, remote from the center of the town, and he mingled little in public affairs. A good citizen, he lived a long and useful life, and enjoyed in old age the fruits of his industry and thrift. His wife, Martha (Chase) Ot- terson, of Sutton. New Hampshire, died in 1845, aged eighty years. She was a daughter of Abner

Chase, of Concord. The fate of their children is in- dicated as follows: William was a farmer and mill operator in Hooksett, where he died at the age of eighty-two. James died in Hooksett. Elizabeth married Nicholas Dolloff, of Epsom, and resided in Hooksett. Isaac and John A. were twins: the latter died in Clinton. Massachusetts, at the age of sixty- five years. Mary became the wife of John Young, of Deerfield, and died in Methuen, Massachusetts. Jotham Dutton was several times mayor of Nashua, and died in that city. Martin Luther died at the age of twenty-one. Three others died in in- fancy.

(IV) Isaac Chase, third son and fourth child of James and Martha (Chase) Otterson, was born September II, 1797, on the old Hooksett homestead, where he grew up. receiving his education in the local district school. When a young man he was joint owner with Hiram Brown of a quarry below Hooksett, from which was taken stone now in Fanneil Hall, Boston. He also engaged in lumber- ing on the Merrimack river, and tilled the old farm. He passed away February 15. 1874. in his seventy- seventh year. With his wife he attended the Con- gregational Church, and he was universally respected as an upright man and good citizen. He was sev- eral years a member of the board of selectmen, be- ing chairman part of the time, and served as tax collector over twenty years. Although the town had a Democratic strength of two to one in political contests, he was an outspoken Whig and later a Republican, but was held in such high regard as a inan and citizen that his election was ever sure when a candidate for town office. He was married Febru- ary 25, 1824. to Margaret Head, of Hooksett, young- est child of Nathaniel and Annie (Knox) Head, of that town (see Head. IV). She was born Decem- ber 10, 1796. and died December 30, 1866. The lo- cation of her children is noted as follows: Martha Ann is now the widow of Jesse Gault, of Hooksett, and resides in Manchester. (See Gault, V). Na- thaniel H. lived and died in Hooksett. Nancy H. married Hiram N. Ash, and lived and died in Ly- man, New Hampshire. Martin L. and Mary were twins: the former is a farmer, residing on the ori- ginal homestead, and the latter died at the age of nineteen years. Sarah Fernald was many years a teacher and died unmarried in Hooksett. John died in infancy, and a second John died when eleven years old. William and Henry reside in Hooksett.

MOSES The name of John Moses appears in the records of three New England com- munities prior to 1640-in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in Windsor-Simsbury, Connecticut, and in Portsmouth. New Hampshire. The southern members of this group were doubtless father and son, the progenitor, John Moses, of Plymouth. ship- wright, having emigrated in 1632, with the tools of his trade, which yet remain in the family. This John was a good workman, no doubt. At any rate, he deemed the laborer worthy of his hire, and in 1641 is found "in the quarter court held at Boston," suing Thomas Keyser and John Guy, "of Lynne," for some twenty pounds alleged to be due on a piazza which he had built for them.

John Moses, of Plymouth, was of Welsh stock. and of no traceable connection with John Moses. of Portsmouth. The latter was of Scotch extraction, and came to New England in 1639, indentured to seven years' apprenticeship. At the expiration of his service, in 1646, he received from George Cleeves and Richard Tucker, proprietors, a deed of release from apprenticeship and conveying, under the

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feudal plan by which all of the Gorges lands were to be granted, a tract of one hundred acres of land on Sagamore creek. In 1660 these acres were in- creased to one hundred and eighty-three by a dis- tribution of lands to "all such as were reported in- habitants and free comyuers unto the year 1657."

In 1679 one-half of the "plantation farm or tene- ment," as the instrument runs, was set off to Aaron, John Moses' son, and it is noteworthy that the original farm has for more than two hundred and sixty-one years remained in the possession of the first grantee's direct descendants and until recent years has been held as well in the Moses name. The farm lies on the south bank of Sagamore creek, in Portsmouth, within sight of Sagamore bridge, yet entirely secluded. On the crest of its slope stands the homestead, the third structure erected on the original foundation, and built about the middle of the eighteenth century by one Nadab Moses, a great-great-grandson of the first of his name in New Hampshire. Near the house stands an old well, dug no 'doubt by the first settler, and shading the low roof is a quaint oak which as a sapling was probably a companion of the pioneer's days. Within the house are treasured the documentary links which bind the present occupants to the soil chosen by their ancestor, all the wills and deeds and the origi- ual certificate of the first survey of the farm being personal.

John Moses was not a great figure in his time, but he bore a respectable part in the affairs of the infant colony. From some source he secured the title of sergeant ; presumably he was sent over as a soldier by Sir Ferdinand Gorges, and in the church records he is set down as having been allotted a prominent seat in the first meeting house, under the veritable drippings of the sanctuary, indeed. having the first of the three seats "under the pulpit." To his son "Aron Moses," was assigned a seat "in the mens gallery fronting the pulpit." In 1658 the name of John Moses is found leading a subscription for the support of the minister, his contribution being one pound.

He was twice married, but of his first wife no trace is found.' His second spouse was Ann Jones, widow, who appears in the early records (1661) as executrix of her first husband's estate. To John Moses his first wife bore one child, Aaron, who suc- ceeded to his father's lands and made written agree- ment with his father to pay five pounds to his sister Sarah upon her marriage, doubtless as her portion. She was the child of the second marriage.

(II) The date of Aaron Moses' birth is not to be found. He married, in 1677. Ruth or Mary, daughter of Henry Sherburne, and he died in June, 1713. He was a man of some note, holding several offices of importance in the community. He was a lieutenant in Captain Tobias Langdon's company, and as such was summoned by Governor Usher to sit on a court martial which convened at New Cas- tlc. September 29, 1696. His was a family suited to a growing colony. numbering four sons and an equal number of daughters: James. Joseph, Josiah, Mark. Martha. Hannah, Abigail and Sarah. ( Mention of Mark and descendants forms part of this article).

(III) Of the four sons of Aaron Moses, the eldest. James, clung closest to the old home. There he was born, lived and died, purchasing from his brothers and sisters all their interest in the property. He worked as a farmer and a cordwainer, married. joined the church, and begat seven children. His brother, Joseph, became a house-carpenter and was a quaint character in early Portsmouth, one of the 'first of the "odd sticks" which have adorned so

many family stories there and won undying literary fame from the loving fun of Thomas Bailey Aldrich. The third son, Josiah, followed a tanner's trade, and was in 1736 a constable. November 12, 1719. he married a wife of whom no more is known than that her name was Abigail Nelson and that she bore him two sons, George and Daniel. The youngest son of Aaron was Mark, farmer and cordwainer, who married Martha Williams, October 29, 1794, and had seven children. He moved from Ports- mouth to Epsom and from there sent forth de- scendants who now make up the chief portion of the Moses family in central New Hampshire, and of whom more hereafter.

(IV) The eldest son of Josiah Moses was George, who was baptized at Portsmouth, July 5, 1722, when as was the custom then he was probably but a few days old. He, too, was a cordwainer, and is so set down in a deed which shows him to have been joint owner with his father and mother of two small lots of land on Islington street, in Portsmouth, which were mortgaged and redeemed, one of them finally falling to the sole and unencumbered owner- ship of George. He married and in October, 1754, with his wife, Frances, is found conveying the title to the Islington street property. In the deed he is described as of Scarborough. York county, Massa- chusetts, whither he had removed earlier in the same ycar, and this deed was the severance of all his ma- terial ties with New Hampshire. In Scarborough he settled upon a farm in Scotlow's Hill, a promi- nent headland used as a landmark in early surveys and by mariners, and became the progenitor of the sturdy branch of the Moses family in Maine, whose members have had no inconspicuous share in the work of carrying forward the name and fame of the Pine Tree State. His children were numerous, eight living to marry and rear families for them- selves.

(V) Of these the eldest was George, who was born in Portsmouth, and baptized there March 221 1747. As a lad he went with his father to Scar- borough and there. August 27, 1772, he married Anna Harmon. He served as a private in the Revolutionary war, having two enlistments and tours of service. July 18. 1775. he enlisted in Cap- tain Knight's company and served in the defence of Falmouth. He enlisted again in 1779, in Captain Benjamin Larrabee's company. in Colonel Mitchell's regiment, marching in July of that year on the Pe- nobscot expedition, which returned two months later, and he was discharged September 12, 1779. To him were born seven children, of whom two sons. Will- iam and John, came to manhood.

(VI) William Moses was the eldest of the sec- ond George's family. He was born December 29, 1772, and died September 29, 1829. He lived as a young man at Scarborough and at Buxton. in Maine, and in 1822 removed to Eaton. in Carroll county, New Hampshire. January 31. 1796, at Scarborough, he had married Anne Milliken, who gave him nine children, all of whom were born in Maine and with one exception lived to an extreme age, most of them evidently deeming it to die disgraced at less than cighty.

(VII) William's oldest child was Cyrus, who was born at Scarborough. September 2. 1796. He was a farmer and also followed his father in the trades of tanner and shoemaker. As such he labored at Eaton, where his father died, and where he is recorded as administrator of the estate. He mar- ried. March 20, 1819. Eunice Underwood, from a family founded, according to tradition, by English refugees from a family of consequence in the mother

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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 90

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