History of Bedford, New Hampshire, from 1737 : being statistics compiled on the occasion of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town, May 15, 1900, Part 107

Author: Bedford (N.H. : Town)
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Concord, N. H. : The Rumford Printing Co.
Number of Pages: 1202

USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Bedford > History of Bedford, New Hampshire, from 1737 : being statistics compiled on the occasion of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town, May 15, 1900 > Part 107

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

III. Rev. Isaac, son of Hon. John2, b. 1792, June 26; graduated at Yale col- lege (see Biography); he m., 1st, Mary Morris, by whom he had three sons, one of whom, Edward, settled in Detroit, Mich., and had several ch., the other two d. previous to 1850; Mary, his wife, having d., Rev. Isaac m. 2d, Matilda, dau. of Dr. Samuel Kidder of Medford, Mass. He d. 1844, April 28. They had one son, Samuel Kidder4.

IV. Samuel Kidder, son of Rev. Isaac3, was b. in Medford, Mass., 1836, May 24; he nı. in Lowell, 1858, Dec. 31, Joan Stevens, b. in Dra- cut, Mass., 1838, May 8; she is still living. He d. at Amherst, Mass., 1897, May 17. They had three ch .: Edward Stevens5, b. in Amherst, Mass., 1859, Oct. 5; Henry Page5, b. 1864, Feb. 4, d. 1870, Nov. 24; Matilda Kidder5, b. 1868, May 18 (is still living).

V. Edward Stevens, b. in Amherst, Mass., 1859, Oct. 5; has been genl- eral agent of Baltimore & Ohio S. W. railroad. He m. 1889, June 4, Mary Agnes Orr, b. in St. Louis, Mo., 1865, Oct. 16, dau. of Willian Campbell and Mary (Anderson) Orr. They res. in St. Louis, Mo., where their three ch. were born: Edward Burr6, b. 1896, Nov. 9; Katherine6, b. 1900, Aug. 19; Mary6, b. 1902, July 5. III. Sarah, dau. of Hon. John2, b. 1794, April 5; m. Rev. William Chapin, as his second wife, and res. in Greensboro, Vt. Mr. Chapin d. 1850. They had two ch., a son and dau.

III. Robert, son of Hon. John2, b. 1797, Dec. 23; graduated at Yale col- lege 1820; studied law with his brother, Benjamin, in Bruns- wick, Me., and settled in Topsham, where he d. in 1829.

III. Ann, dau. of Hon. John2, b. 1799, Sept. 21; m. 1825, July, Rev. Samuel A. Worcester; went with him to the Cherokee Mission, Georgia, and with part of the tribe removed west to Arkansas. They settled at Park Hill, New Echota, where she d., leaving a number of ch. At the time of the trouble with the Indians in Georgia, her husband was unjustly imprisoned, on which occasion she manifested great fortitude and resolution.

I. Daniel, who came over with his brother, John, 1726, had m., in Ire- land, Eleanor Orr; they res. in Londonderry, N. H., where he d. in middle life. Had four ch .: John2; Jennet2; Margaret2; George2. II. George, son of Daniel1, was but an infant when his parents d., and his life proved a very eventful one (see War Record, p. 493). Having completed his term of service for his country he returned home and steadily but slowly pursued the cultivation of his farm, which yielded an ample supply for the real wants of himself and his family. Possessing in the highest degree the confidence and good will of his neighbors and the respect and affection of his family, seeking nothing for them or himself but a compe- tence, he through life enjoyed a high degree of domestic happi- ness. Being blessed with a retentive memory, though destitute in his youth of the advantages of a school education, he had, by

1019

GENEALOGIES .- ORR.

travel, by observation and reading, laid up a fund of entertaining and useful knowledge which it was his delight to communicate to others. His health was so firm through life that he never needed the aid of a physician until within one week of his death, which took place 1807, Oct. 17, having nearly completed his seventy- fifth year. He m. Margaret, dau. of Thomas Wallace, and settled in Bedford, where he d. 1807, Oct. 17. They had four ch. b. here: Jane3; Eleanor3, m. 1816, May 22, Samuel Sawyer, d. 1841, Feb. 21, aged 62, buried in Bedford; Ann3, b. 1782, Sept. 21, d. 1849, Nov. 9, was a noted teacher (see biography); Margaret3, b. - , d. here 1819, June 3, aged 34.

III. Jane, dau. of George2; m. 1816, Feb. 27, Ebenezer Fisher, a son of Dea. Samuel Fisher of Londonderry, one of the patriarchs of that famous Scotch-Irish colony. She d. 1839, June 8, aged 62, and is buried in Bedford. They had a dau., Mary J.4

IV. Mary J. (Fisher), dau. of Jane3, was b. in Londonderry 1820, she was the granddaughter of Samuel Fisher, one of the emigrant settlers of that town, and probably his only surviving grandchild at the time of her death. Most of her early life was spent in Bedford, school teaching being her occupation. She m. E. Tolman Conant of Greensboro, Vt., who d. 1861, leaving her with eight ch. to care for. She d. in Hardwick, Vt., 1903, May 20, aged 83 years. Four ch. are still living: Prof. C. S. Conant5 of Concord; Mrs. J. H. McLowds of Hardwick, Vt .; Mrs. F. B. Wright5 of Minneapolis, Minn .; Mrs. George W. Simpson5 of East Craftsbury, Vt.

I. Jennet, who came over with her brothers, John and Daniel, m. Dinsmoor, and settled in Windham, where some of her descendants were living in 1850.

HON. JOHN ORR.

At the age of five years he lost both his parents within a week of each other. The family were kept together one year under the care of Annis, then nineteen. They were then put out to different families, under the direction of their guardian, Dea. Robert Walker. John he took into his own family until he was fourteen. The deacon adhered to the good old system of family discipline, and from him, John (as he used to say him- self in advanced age) received just the training he needed. "There was in me," said he, "by nature, a recklessness, an obstinacy and self-will which would not have borne the least indulgence." Several anecdotes, related by the companions of his childhood, show the seeds of that integ- rity, reflection, and sound judgment, which in after life distinguished him in the halls of legislation, mingled with that firmness, perseverance, and dauntless bravery which placed him in the front rank of volunteers on the field of Bennington.

After leaving the service of Deacon Walker he spent a few years as a hired laborer with friends in Londonderry and Bedford. About the age of nineteen he went with some other young men into the state of Maine, and engaged in the business of a carpenter. There he considered himself in after life to have been in imminent danger. "The workmen in this business," said he, "were accustomed to receive from their employers a portion of ardent spirits at certain hours of the day. At first I took it only to avoid singularity; but soon I found my appetite increased and would catch myself looking up at the sun to see if eleven o'clock was drawing near. I was convinced that I was in danger of becoming a drunkard. I had not the wisdom or courage to break off altogether, but I determined I would have no set time for my drams. If I had not taken this resolution no doubt I should have filled a drunkard's grave before this time."'

1020

HISTORY OF BEDFORD.

About the age of twenty-one he returned to Bedford, and, in company with his brother, Hugh, commenced the cultivation of the farm left them by their father, being the same now owned and occupied by Samuel Patten. At the age of twenty-three he bought out his brother's share of the farm, married Jane, daughter of Benjamin and Catherine Smith, built a saw and grist mill, and engaged with great ardor in the business of improving his farm. But his business was soon interrupted by the com- mencement of the Revolutionary struggles. He took a very warm and de- cided stand in support of the liberties of his country.

He joined the company of volunteers, who in the year 1777, under the command of General Stark, marched to oppose the further progress of Burgoyne's army then stationed at Stillwater. He received a lieutenant's commission under Captain McConnell, in Colonel Stickney's regiment, and left with his company for Bennington. The following sketch was drawn up by himself, at the request of his son, Isaac, giving a descrip- tion of the commencement of the battle at Bennington and his suffering, after being wounded in the knee, which made him a cripple and left a running sore for life:

"On the 16th of August, 1777, I was called to engage a detachment of the British, which had been sent out from Stillwater for the purpose of securing the military stores deposited at Bennington. They had been checked in their march on the 14th about six miles from Bennington by the appearance of Stark's brigade, where they cast up two breastworks nearly half a mile apart. On the morning of the 16th Colonel Nichols, with a detachment of the volunteers, was ordered by a circuitous route to attack the main breastworks as soon as another detachment should attack it in the rear. I was in a detachment of two hundred to attack the minor breastworks as soon as we could hear Nichols' gun. We marched from the main body about half a mile, and then arranged our- selves in front of the breastworks about fifty or sixty rods distant, with trees and corn intervening, which prevented our seeing each other.

" About four o'clock p. m. Nichols began, and the cracking of muskets were such the imagination could see men falling by dozens. We arose and with shouts marched rapidly to the attack. In the meantime I remembered the fate of Col. Hale, who about two months' before was overtaken in his retreat from Ticonderoga by the enemy, skulked in the beginning of the action, lost his standard, and was degraded. Resolving that no one should have cause to impeach me with cowardice, I marched on with the appearance of a brave soldier. When we had passed through the wood and cornfields we came in sight of the enemy at about fifteen rods distance. They commenced firing of muskets at an alarming rate, so that it seemed wonderful that any of the attacking party should escape. At that time an expression of the Prince of Orange came into my mind 'every bullet has its billet,' and I soon found one commissioned to lay me low. After having lain fifteen or twenty minutes, one of our sergeants came and offered to take me off the ground. I told him he was unable, for I could not help myself. He said he would not leave me there, for the enemy might come and kill me. He therefore called a soldier to his assistance. They took hold of me by my arms and attempted to carry me off, but the balls flew directly at us, so that I charged them to lay me down instantly, each take a hand and stoop so low that the flax would conceal them, and drag me on my back to the cornfield, where I should be out of sight of the enemy. This order they obeyed, and took me to the road where many of the wounded were collected. I was then carried to the general's quarters where I lodged that night without rest.

"In the morning Robert Smith came and asked the German surgeon to examine and dress my wound. He complied and put a bandage on it, but took no pains to reduce the fractured bone. Smith took him aside and asked him what he thought of my case. He said it would have been as well if my head had been cut, for I must die. This opinion was

1021

GENEALOGIES .-- ORR.

not told me until I recovered. For more than a month I lay under the care of our regimental doctor, suffering pain which I need not attempt to describe, continually losing health and strength. It was the opinion of some that I could not recover, but I had a considerable flow of spirits, and was sometimes merry, so that some of my attendants thought I was deranged.

" After the departure of the brigade I employed a private surgeon, who had more skill, to attend me, and sometime in November I began to feel better, and my stomach regained its proper tone for food, but the doctor appointed my diet of light food; this became disagreeable, for I hankered especially for hearty meat. One day I longed for pork and beans, and the desire increased and continued until evening. I did what I could by reasoning to suppress this appetite, but in vain, and I considered myself in a situation similar to that of the Israelites in the wilderness, when their soul loathed the light food. And I feared that God had given me up to my heart's lust to wander in councils of my own; but in the even- ing I found relief without any visible cause, which made me inexpressa- bly happy. 1778, Feb. 4, I set out on a bed in a sleigh and arrived on the 14th at my house in health. I was unable to step without crutches until October following. During all this time of pain and weakness I felt no great anxiety about the things of time, but as soon as I was able to walk without crutches I returned to my habits of industry, and by the blessing of God on my endeavors I have obtained a competence of the good things of time, and enjoyed as much happiness as generally falls to the heart of humanity in this world of changes. May the giver of all good inspire me with gratitude and prepare me for a better world; for the time of my departure is at hand.

" JOHN ORR."

Mr. Orr was an honor to his native town. After having filled various important offices in the town and state, he departed this life in January, 1823, aged 75, full of years and honor. His memory is held in great ven- eration. The following inscription appears on his gravestone in the old graveyard. "As an officer of the church, distinguished for a discriminat- ing judgment, uncommon decision, candor, and meekness. He lived and died in an unshaken, practical adherence to the faith once delivered to the Saints." His influence was always on the side of virtue and religion; he was active in every good enterprise; his voice was often heard in the religious conference, and many now living remember well the interest he gave to these occasions. In the language of one who knew him well, " He was one of Nature's nobility," and to him may be applied the follow- ing from the great poet:

" He was a noble gentleman; The general voice Sounds him for courtesy, behaviour, truth, And every fair demeanour, an example. Titles of honor add not to his fame, Who was himself an honor to the title."

HON. BENJAMIN ORR,

son of Hon. John Orr. The following is from the sketch of Mr. Jacob McGaw, Esq., Bangor:

Mr. Orr was born at Bedford, Dec. 1, 1772, and in his boyhood expressed a desire for public education. To have gratified this wish would have been very pleasing to his father, but as he had seven other sons, and as his property was not large enough to do equally well for all of them, he deemed it unjust to allow Benjamin the boon he had requested. Instead of pursuing the course to which his inclination and judgment both pointed, he was apprenticed to a housewright. He served his master with fidelity some two or three years, but circumstances occurred at that time which

1022

HISTORY OF BEDFORD.

induced Mr. Orr to endeavor to be released from his apprenticeship. A bargain was concluded by which Mr. Orr stipulated to pay his master a sum of money, so soon as he could earn it, instead of his unfinished term. The payment was honorably made, from the proceeds of his labors in the art to which he had been apprenticed.

Mr. Orr's thirst for a thorough literary education was so intense as to produce the resolution that nothing short of providential interposition should prevent him from obtaining it. Animated by the hope of final success, he labored with such diligence and skill that he was not only able to pay the money due to his former master, but also to commence a course of study preparatory to a collegiate course. His studies, his mechanical labors, and school teaching were made subservient to this ultimate object, and allowed him no time for recreation. His pleasures consisted in antici- pation of the future. After Mr. Orr became his own master, he first labored in the upper part of New Hampshire. There he became an occa- sional scholar, under Mr. Paul Langdon, an eminent teacher, who was preceptor of an academy at Fryeburg, Me. It was poverty alone that made him an occasional scholar. ,But even the suspension of his studies did not cause him to swerve from the one grand object that was always in his view, viz., eminence. It is said that some of the grandest specimens of architectural beauty existing in Maine were produced, in part at least, by his labor at that time.

Thus he labored and studied, enjoying the respect of all who knew him, and the admiring friendship of the few with whom at that early period of his life he was intimate. The strength of attachment and respect of a few, who, like him were poor and struggling for knowledge, was surpris- ingly great, and never ceased or abated but with their earthly existence.

In August, 1796, he had fitted himself, with such aid as his other avoca- tions permitted him to receive from his able preceptor, Mr. Langdon, to be admitted to two years' advanced standing in Dartmouth college. He struggled through his first year in college, depending on his own resources entirely. Near the close of this year, disease, induced, perhaps, from too severe application of all his powers to study, seized upon him with such intensity as to give, for a time, but little hope of his recovery. In this extremity, when death was expected to do its work upon the sick man, the Hon. John Orr, father of Benjamin, was notified of his son's condition. All the tender feelings of a fond father were instantly aroused, and with his utmost speed the father hastened once more to see, if possible, his first-born child, and to give his parting blessing. But Infinite Wisdom and Benevolence had important labor for the suffering scholar yet to per- form, and therefore he lived. So soon as the feeble, but returning, health of the son would permit, he returned, after an absence of nearly ten years, to his father's house, there to enjoy the fulness of his father's love, and all the fondness and kind attentions of his brothers and sisters. Here the affectionate care of darling sisters ministered to his convalescence, and his health was restored, after months of confinement, so as to enable him to return to college.

At this time a new era commenced with fewer obstacles to be overcome than had heretofore obstructed the attainment of his darling object. His father saw with what indomitable eagerness he had pressed onward in pursuit of education, and that providential interpositions had at length arrested his progress when he had arrived in full view of the goal. Paren- tal feelings could not permit the cup of happiness and of honor to be dashed from the lips of his son at the moment when its attainment seemed to be certain, after such long and painful struggles had been exerted and endured. The means of making such loans as would enable Mr. Orr to complete his collegiate course as were in his father's power, were offered, and gratefully accepted. In August, 1798, he received the degree of A B., and quitted college with honorable standing as a scholar, notwithstanding the very numerous and great hindrances that were constantly occurring.

1023

GENEALOGIES .- ORR.

Mr. Orr, immediately after commencement, entered the office of the late Gov. Samuel Dinsmore as a student at law, and pursued his studies under the direction of Governor Dinsmore from one to two years. He then entertained the belief that Maine, at that time a province of Massa- chusetts, presented higher attractions to the ambition of a young lawyer than New Hampshire did. He proceeded to Hallowell, in Maine, and there placed himself under the tuition of the Hon. Samuel S. Wilde, then an eminent counselor-at-law, but now a venerable and learned judge of the supreme judicial court in Massachusetts. In the summer or autumn of 1801, Mr. Orr was admitted to practice law in the court of common pleas, and in 1804 or 1805 was admitted to practice in the supreme judicial court. His residence was principally in Brunswick, but during a few years in Topsham. These towns are only separated by the Androscoggin river, but lie in different counties, Cumberland and Lincoln.

Mr. Orr's location presented to him the opportunity of practising his profession in both the counties before mentioned. In each of these counties, at that time, were lawyers holding very eminent standing in their profession. Among them were the late Chief Justice Parker of Massachusetts, and the late Chief Justice Mellen of Maine. Such a man as Mr. Orr soon proved himself to be, could not long be in practice at the same courts with these gentlemen, without opportunity of hazarding a trial of his inexperienced strength, with them or some of them. His clients never repined that their counselor and advocate was of fewer years at the bar than the counselors of their adversaries. Within a short period after Mr. Orr's admission to practice in the supreme judicial court, he stood in the first class of lawyers in both counties.

When Maine became one of the United States in 1820, Mr. Orr's emi- nent standing had become so generally known that he was called to go into every county in the state to advocate one side of the most important cases to be heard in the supreme judicial court. From this period until the time of his death, in 1828, he followed the circuit of the supreme judi- cial court through the state as regularly as did the judges themselves. No man in the state pretended to hold rank above Mr. Orr; few, if any, thought themselves his equal.

Chancery powers were very late in being introduced into the state courts, although United States courts were early clothed with equity powers. When a circuit of the United States court was first held in this young state, a bill in equity of great importance was filed in that court, and Mr. Orr was called to oppose the Hon. Jeremiah Mason, who was brought from his native state, New Hampshire, and who had long stood, "higher than any of the people, from his shoulders and upward." His success was complete and triumphant. In this department of law he was without a rival in the state. On this occasion he was highly compli- mented by Mr. Mason, in the presence of a number of persons at his own house, in Portsmouth. Mr. Orr's powers were principally devoted to the profession which he so much adorned. But when he could render good service in promoting the cause of science or virtue, he readily yielded him- self to the advancement of those objects. Therefore, when called to serve, first as an overseer, next as a trustee, and finally, as treasurer, of Bowdoin college, he cheerfully devoted himself to the performance of very impor- tant duties and services connected with the several offices thus devolved upon him during twenty of the last years of his life. His good name and valuable services are still cherished and kindly remembered by the old and tried friends of that institution.

About the year 1813 conflicts existed relative to lands in Maine, of immense interest and value, between proprietors whose patents over- lapped each other, and including many hundred settlers and their farms. Men who had settled and paid for their lands, to one set of proprietors, were in many instances driven from their farms and homes, and all that they held dear, without having any means of adequate redress. Tumultu-

1024

HISTORY OF BEDFORD.

ous and riotous proceedings ensued. Legislative aid was invoked, and, finally, by general consent, Mr. Orr and Hon. Judge Bailey were selected to adjust the adverse claims, and, by general rules, to settle troubles that nearly reproduced an intestine insurrection. The whole matters were hap- pily and satisfactorily closed.

Mr. Orr's political opinions were in harmony with those of Washington, and the men who formed and administered for the first twelve years the institutions of the United States. In other words, he was a Federalist of the old school. In 1816 he yielded to the importunity of his friends and suffered himself to be a candidate for representative to congress, to whichi office he was elected, and served through one congress with ability. But political life interfered with his professional pursuits, and after the brief period of two years was wholly abandoned.

A single remark may be made in regard to Mr. Orr's domestic life. His wife was a lady of fine manners and well fitted to preside in a family where hospitality and generous friendship were extended, to the utmost limit, towards every individual who became a guest in their house.

REV. ISAAC ORR.

This gentleman, distinguished for his literary and scientific attainments, and for his numerous philosophical letters and essays, was half-brother of Hon. Benjamin Orr, by a second marriage, and grandson of Rev. John Houston. He became early impressed with the importance of religion, and united with the church, in this town, in his seventeenth year. He had been learning a trade, but soon turned his attention to study, with the view of preparing for the ministry. His college life gave promises of future usefulness. Rev. R. R. Gurley of Washington city, one of his classmates, says: " He was my earliest, most respected, and most faithful collegiate friend. We occupied tlie same room for a long time, ånd a gen- tleman of higher and more original talent, more sterling integrity, more truthfulness and disinterestedness of character, is seldom seen. In all branches he was a good, and in mathematical and philosophical learning, a profound, scholar. He had in these latter branches no superior, and few equals in college." We copy this from a sermon on his death by Rev. A. R. Baker, Medford, Mass., from which we take the following extract: "His instructor, Professor Emerson, of Andover Theological seminary, says, ' I always felt sure that a difficult problem, which had passed un- solved from one to another of his fellow-students in the recitation-room, would be stopped by him, for he was always prepared.'"'

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Bedford, New Hampshire, from 1737 : being statistics compiled on the occasion of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town, May 15, 1900, Part 107

Author: Bedford (N.H. : Town) Publication date: 1903 Publisher: Concord, N. H. : The Rumford Printing Co. Number of Pages: 1202

Author: Bedford (N.H. : Town)
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Concord, N. H. : The Rumford Printing Co.
Number of Pages: 1202