USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Candia > History of Candia: once known as Charmingfare; with notices of some of the early families > Part 6
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Mr. Patten was of the race of Scotch covenanters, and strongly attached to his religious ideas. He main- tained family worship by reading the scriptures, singing and prayer, so long as he was able to perform those duties. He would " deacon the hymn " himself, and re- quired the whole family to sing, always using the same' tune which embraced one line only, and which he would so twist that it went well and came out right in all metres !
When a boy, he was one day in pursuit of a deer, then plenty on the shores of the Massabesic, in com- pany with a Mr. McGregor. Espying a fine animal 13
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near the water, he fired, the shot took effect, but the position and peculiar state of the atmosphere, caused the report of the gun so to echo and reëcho, in a: thousand thunders over the lake, so said the old man, " as to make my hair stand on end."
Some years after coming to Candia, there happened. one of those severe snow storms not unfrequent in our elimate, when the house was buried so deep in a liard drift that the good people were obliged to get out at the chamber window, and dig an arch through to the door. The hog having been driven from his quarters, medi- tating, doubtless, on the discovery of an antarctie con- tinent, began a voyage of exploration over the crust to the ridge pole of the house. Savory fumes from the frying pan were wafted to his delighted olfactories from the chimney, as with many an aldermanic grunt he proceeded onwards, but alas for piggy ! as he was ar- riving at the acme of his hopes, like many an other philosopher he stepped on the treacherous areh-way, fell with dismal squeak into the path, and bouneed in upon the astonished kitchen!
On the easterly part of the farm, lies the " dead' pond," so called. The country was in former times much infested with rattle snakes. A dog belonging to the family, was once bitten by one of these creatures, and went off apparently to die, but it was afterwards found that he had buried himself in mud, all save the' end of his nose, which caused a complete cure.
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Mr. Patten survived his wife one year, and died in 1816, aged 91 years, the two having lived together as man and wife more than sixty years.
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ROWE, ISAIAH
Came to Candia about 1762, from Hampton Falls, and bought a farm on what is called the Pine Hill road. He married Sarah Healey in 1764; they had eleven children : Jonathan, Susanna, Elisabeth, Lydia, Na- thaniel, Sarah, Mchitable, Olive, Lucy, Dolly, Abigail. After the two oldest children were born, Mr. Rowe bought a tract of land of David McGregor, of Lon- donderry, in the original right of James Boyd, and moved on to it, the same now occupied by Capt. John Rowe.
Mr. Isaiah Rowe was out in the French War, and there is now in the house an old military chest and a powder horn brought from Cape Breton ; on the lat- ter is marked " Samuel Dalton, his horn, 1756." As to the chest, there are no marks about it to indicate the wars it has passed through, but it serves in the absence of other things as a memento of past times.
Daniel Rowe, and Abigail Stockman, his wife, pa- rents of Isaiah, seem to have come with him into town. They lived in a small house a little west of the farm house of Isaiah, on the north road. He sometimes taught school, and in his own house instructed the neighbors' children to read. It is in the memory of
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some still living, how he used his "fesque " to point out the letters with. He died about 1786, his wife outlived him 25 years. Mr. Isaiah Rowe died in 1810, aged about 67, his wife died in 1824, aged 74. Nathaniel kept the old place ; Jonathan settled in town, near by ; neither of whom are now living.
ROBIE, WALTER
Came to Candia from Chester, about 1762, and settled where his grandson, John Robie, now lives, in the south part of the town. He married Susy Hall, of Chester, in 1763. They had eight children: Walter, Edward, Polly, Jonathan, Sally, Lydia, Susan and Nancy.
Walter married Dorothy Tilton, one of a family of eleven children ; ten of whom are now living ; the two oldest, twins, are now 88 years old, the youngest, 68. There are two other twin sisters aged 81. This is a remarkable instance of longevity in one family, the whole amounting to over 700 years.
Edward and Jonathan went to Corinth, Susan to Bel- fast, Me. Walter and his wife had eleven children : Mary, who died young, Dorothy, Lucy, John, Huldah, Sally, Mary, Walter, Nancy, Eliza and Lydia.
When Mr. Robie came to town, Mr. Anderson was the only settler in his neighborhood, and about the same time came Samuel Buswell, Moses Sargent and Dea. John Hills. Mr. Robie set about making a clearing, and built him a camp, against a large rock in sight from
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the present house, which served as a fire-place. So soon as a suitable dwelling could be erected, he brought his wife to share with him the hardships of the new country. He was, as will be seen from the records, a man much employed and trusted in the business of the town, having filled many of its civil offices with honor to himself and to the satisfaction of his fellow citizens. He died in 1809, at the age of 93, one year after the death of his wife, aged 88.
ROBIE, JOHN
Brother of Walter, came to Candia about 1764, and settled where Dea. Francis Patten now lives ; the house which he built being still standing. He married Mehit- able Hall. They had ten children : Anna, William, Mchitable, Sarah, Priscilla, John, Ichabod, Ebenezer, Naomi. William married Keziah Clark, in 1797, and remaining on the home farm, died in 1850. Ichabod and Jonathan live in Corinth, Ebenezer in Burlington, Vt. Priscilla went to Stanstead, L. C.
There is a large oak just across the road from the old house, which from its size and age is an object wor- thy of attention. It is one of the very few old set- tlers, beneath whose branches the deer may have sported or the Indian loitered away the summer hours. Within it is a hollow of sufficient dimensions to afford a play house for children, and it is not in the memory of man to say when it was not an old tree. It once served as
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a gate post, and the story runs that the Millers, who teamed in those parts and were famous for running against both sides of the gateway, did actually overturn the old tree, which of course they were obliged to make as good as new. This story should be received with caution, however, as the gentleman who related it to the writer, and who is a most worthy and veracious man, said that he did n't much believe it!
SARGENT.
There lived in Chester, prior to 1739, Jacob Sargent and his wife, Judith. They had seven children : Win- throp, Jacob, John, Theophilus, Judith, Sarah, and Tabitha. All the sons, except Winthrop, came to Can- dia. Theophilus and John settled near Candia Corner. Winthrop married Phebe Ely, and two of their sons, Moses and John, came to Candia, one in 1763, the lat- ter in 1769.
Moses married Sarah Varnum, and settled on the place where Mr. Charles Smith now lives. They had six children : Anna, Samuel, Abigail, Sarah, Moses and Mary. Mr. S. was a soldier in the War of the Revo- lution. He died in 1826, his wife in 1843.
John married Molly Turner, oldest daughter of Wil- liam Turner, said to have been the first female child born in town. They lived where Josiah Sargent now resides, and had four children : Sara, Josiah, Moses, and one who died young.
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NOTICES OF EARLY FAMILIES.
SMITH, BENJAMIN
Came to Candia about 1749 or '50, from Exeter ; mar- ried Sarah Hoyt, of Seabrook. They had nine children : Benjamin, Nathaniel, Nicholas, John, Dolly, Betsey, Lydia, Hannah. Benjamin, Jr., married Naney Robie and settled on the home farm. They had seven chil- dren : Jonathan, who died at Seabrook, Mehitable, Sa !- ly, John, True, and Naney and Mary, twins. Nathan- iel and Jonathan went to the State of Maine ; Nich- olas died in town. When Mr. Smith first came he bought the place now occupied by Capt. John Smith; his grandson, who also has grand children living with him, thus making the fifth generation living on the same farm, an incident worthy of notice in these tinies.
He built a log cabin just back of the present house. That same spring an apple tree came up near his door, which, for one hundred years, has continued to bear fruit, and, last season, produced a barrel of very pleas- ant apples, some of which were tasted by the writer while gathering facts for this notice. It is undoubt- edly the oldest tree in town bearing fruit. At the time of Mr. Smith's coming, Mr. Turner and Mr. McClure are supposed to have been the only persons within the limits now comprising the town. The door of his log house, instead of swinging on hinges, was raised against the opening, and barred up at night, to keep out the bears and wolves.
Mrs. Smith, like her forest neighbors, was a woman
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of courage, and, it is said, used to go for the cow in the woods, where she frequently saw bears prowling about. At such times, she held on to the tail of the cow and came home with good speed. This was quite a novel and original method of getting along. There is a bear skin tanned with the hair on, now in the house with a couple of bullet holes through it, which was worn by some surly fellow, probably too fond of nice green corn and vegetables from the garden, to have a pru- dent regard for his own safety. Mr. Smith used to set guns for these intruders, and at one time came near losing his own life, and disabled two of his fingers by accidentally discharging one of them.
There is a story, said to have , been told by Mr. Smith, in regard to the raising of Mr. Turner's barn; where and on which occasion it appears that new rum; afterward so plenty, was very scarce. The builder was able to furnish only about a pint, and the workmen had recourse to the very ingenious expedient of dipping in and then sucking it from their fingers, whereupon, one man having a rag on his finger, and not being used to hard drinking, got quite drunk.
Mr. Benjamin Smith died at the advanced age of 99 years.
SMITH, OLIVER.
In 1771, three brothers, Oliver, Biley and Jonathan, moved into the neighborhood of Mr. Obed Hall. Oli-
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ver brought the first framed house into town. It was set up on the farm now owned by Mr. Alfred French, Mrs. Judith Smith, daughter-in-law of Oliver, now lives at the old place, retaining most of her faculties to a remarkable degree, for so old a lady. There is pre- served the powder horn carried at Bunker Hill, hold- ing more than a pound, which, says Mrs. Judith, " Į heard him say he fired all away in one battle."
Biley Smith was also out in the war. He had a good deal of military spirit, and is said to have been quite anxious to enlist in 1812, although more than the allotted period of life had passed over his whitening locks.
The anecdotes related in connection with these no- tices, are preserved on account of no intrinsic worth, and it is not imagined that they will possess any very great interest, unless it be to those immediately concerned. Each family has its own store, however meagre, of " household words," and the most trivial incident derives its value, to them, from the fact that its simple story came from loved and honored lips of sire or mother, long since sleeping in the dust.
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It is a matter of regret that the information in regard to many of the early settlers is not more full and satisfactory in its nature, The time in which this information was obtained, the impossibility of submit- ting it in form of manuscript, or proof, to those from whom it came, must be a sufficient excuse for any errors which may be detected.
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GENERAL NOTICES.
MINISTERS:
DAVID JEWETT graduated at Harvard in 1769. He tras settled in 1771, and dismissed in 1780, after which he removed to Winthrop, Me., where he died in 1788, aged 34.
JOSEPH PRINCE was a native of Boston, Mass., born in 1723. He was not settled, being prevented from discharging many of the more active duties of a pas- tor by blindness, but was [hired for a term of seven years. He died January 15, 1791, and his mortal remains are entombed in the same vault with those of Whitfield, in Newburyport. His immediate descendants were for some time inhabitants of this town, but are now in Boston and other places, with the exception of Sarah, a grand-daughter. who married Capt. Jesse Ea- ton.
JESSE REMINGTON graduated at Harvard, in 1784,
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respecting whom we can do no better than to give the following extract from a sermon preached on the occa- sion of his funcral by the Rev. Mr. Prentice, of North- wood, March 6th, 1815:
"The Rev. Jesse Remington was born in Abington, Mass., in 1760. In early life he had serious impressions. A little before he entered College, I think he once told me, he became a hopeful subject of renewing grace, which gave a new turn to all his views of divine things, and en- gaged his heart to the work of the christian ministry. In 1790 he was ordained to the great work of the gospel min- istry in this place, where he has continued little more than twenty-four years. He was indeed an evangelical preach- er, sound in the faith, remarkably clear in the doctrines of grace, a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, holding forth the faithful word.
He was solemn and impressive in his manner, evidently realizing the weight of his own responsibility to his Lord and Master. He felt those truths himself which he ex- hibited to others. He declared the whole counsel of God, was by no means a man-pleaser. * *
In his death, his bereaved family, the church and reli- gious society in this place, and at large, have sustained a great loss indeed. A loss of his pious instructions, his ardent and fervent prayers, should be received as an awful frown of heaven."
He was in the 55th year of his age at the time of his death, and now sleeps in the church yard surround- ed by many members of his floek. Near him are the
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remains of a son, who was cut off by the untimely hand of death, in the first flush of manhood.
It is to be hoped that the people, who owe so much of their character to the influence of his instructions, will erect some more suitable monument over his final resting place, to tell those who shall come after, of his virtues, although it should by no means be said that the tomb stones procured by the people of his charge were not, at the time, ample testimonials of their re- gard for him. The old stone and inscription should be preserved, whatever else be donc.
ABRAHAM WHEELER was born in Holden, Mass., in 1779, graduated at Williams College in 1810, was set- tled January 13th, 1819, and dismissed in 1832. He has since taken orders and become a preacher of the Episcopalian denomination in Grafton, Ohio.
CHARLES P. RUSSELL, a native of Greenfield, Mass., settled Dcc. 25, 1833. He combined in an unusual degree the qualities of the scholar and the gentleman, and has a lasting place in the affection of many of the christian people of Candia. His health interfering with the discharge of his pastoral labors, he asked and re- ceived a dismission in 1841, and has since resided in Washington, D. C.
WILLIAM MURDOCK is a native of West Boylston, Mass., born in 1813. Hc graduated at Amherst Col- lege, in 1837, and at the Andover Theological Semi-
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nary, in 1841, in the December of which year he was settled. On the closing Sabbath of the past year, he preached his first decennial sermon, and continues to discharge his duties as a christian minister to the ac- ceptance of his people.
PHYSICIANS.
COFFIN MOORE practiced in Candia, from 1760 until his death, in 1768.
DR. KELLEY came about 1770, built a house where Dea. Josiah Shannon now lives, practiced eight or ten years.
SAMUEL FOSTER studied at Woodstock, Conn., prac- ticed in Candia from 1789 to 1812.
NATHANIEL WHEET practiced in town from 1809, twenty-four years. More than a passing notice is here due to Dr. Wheet, who has now retired from the prac- tice of his profession, and is living at Manchester.
He was a successful and esteemed practitioner, always ready to go at the call of suffering and distress, espe- cially when there was no prospect of pay. Not only for so many years were his services thus valuable as a physician, but he was influential in other respects. The first great temperance movement, which was the means of making Candia one of the most temperate towns in
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the state, owed much to his untiring efforts. He had an uncommonly fine voice, and a good taste for vocal music, and was first induced to come to Candia as a teacher of singing, Much of the musical taste for which Candia has been famous, was, doubtless, owing to the Doctor's influence aud example, He was, at one time, President of the New Hampshire State Musical Society, which then embraced among its members some fine musicians.
Dr. Wheet is a native of Canaan, N. H., and af- ter coming to Candia, married Sally, daughter of Moses Fitts, Esq. He studied his profession with Dr. J. B. Moore, of Andover, N. H.
DR. SHAW practiced from 1807, two years.
JOHN BROWN practiced one year and died in 1808. DR. SPEAR practiced from 1808, one year. DR. KITTREDGE practiced from 1811, one year.
DR. BAGLEY practiced from 1817, seven years, and died in 1823.
DR. PILLSBURY practiced from 1823, three years.
ISAIAH LANE has practiced from 1824 to the pres- ent time.
SAMUEL SARGENT practiced from 1833, seven years.
JOSEPH EASTMAN practiced from 1840, six years.
RICHARD H. PAGE has practiced from 1846 to the present time.
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FRANKLIN FITTS, son of Moses Fitts, Esq., attended Medical Lectures at Hanover, having previously read with Dr. Isaiah Lane, and Dr. Carter, of Concord. He commenced practice in Buffalo, N. Y., in 1835, and bade fair to have become eminent in his profession. He married Emily, daughter of Jesse Eaton. Scarce a twelvemonth passed, when contracting a fever from over-exertion in rescuing some sufferers from the effects of an inundation, he died. His wife returned to Can- dia, and did not long survive his loss.
THOMAS WHEET, a graduate of Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, commenced practice in Manches- ter, in 1847, where he holds a worthy rank in his profession.
GRADUATES OF DARTMOUTH COLLEGE.
We do not know that any one ever received a col- legiate education from Candia, prior to 1827.
DAVID PILLSBURY, 1827. Attorney at law, Chester, N. H .; has been a member of the State Legislature.
WILLIAM HENRY DUNCAN, 1830. Attorney at law, Hanover, N. H .; member of the State Legislature.
MOSES HALL FITTS, 1831. For some years a very successful Teacher, and School Commissioner, in the State of New York. Now Postmaster at Lewiston Falls, N. Y.
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EPHRAIM EATON, 1833. Attorney at law, Concord; N. H.
JESSE EATON PILLSBURY, 1833. Teacher in Buffalo, N. Y:
RICHARD EMERSON LANE, 1841. Died suddenly at Lewiston, N. Y., in 1842, where he had taken charge of an Academy. He was much lamented, and at the re- cent decennial meeting of the members of his class, it came to be known, that his influence while in College had been the means of the conversion of more than one of his associates, some of whom are now eminent in the ministry.
LORENZO CLAY, 1843. Attorney at law, Augusta; Maine.
MOSES PATTEN, 1850. Teacher in Gloucester, Mass;
IN COLLEGE.
JOHN DOLBER EMERSON, Senior Class.
JONATHAN C. BROWN, Senior Class.
DANIEL DANA PATTEN, Sophomore Class.
There will, perhaps, be no impropriety in saying that the citizens of Candia, who have left to seek their fortunes in other places, have generally been success. ful in their undertakings, and are characterized by a 15
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spirit of intelligent activity and enterprise, alike hon- able to themselves and the home of their childhood.
To Candia is the neighboring city of Manchester in- debted for two of her Mayors: Hon. Jacob F. James and Hon. Frederick Smyth.
Hon. Jacob B. Moore, whose talents as a writer are' well known, spent most of his childhood in Candia.
William H. Duncan, Esq., of Hanover, holds an hon: orable place, as a scholar and attorney; and, were he' thus inclined, might well look for political preferment.
Moses H. Fitts, Esq., worthily distinguished for his zeal in the cause of education, has not wanted, in the state of New York, flattering testimonials of his mer- its, at the hands of the people and government.
Henry Eaton Moore had achieved, at his early death, a reputation as a musician and composer.
E. K. Eaton, of Boston, holds a high station among American composers of military music, and as such has received the approval of the first musicians in the country.
Hundreds there are, no doubt, steadily pursuing their avocations, good citizens wherever they are, sons and daughters, of whose prosperity and happiness Candia will always rejoice to hear.
A WALK ABOUT TOWN,
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Many a day and many a year, perhaps, has passed since you, who in some distant region turn the leaves of this book, by chance brought to your door, like
"The adventurous boy that asks his little share,
And hies from home with many a gossip's prayer,"
left the rugged boundaries of your native town to re- turn no more.
A score of winters' snows and summers' suns have frozen and warmed the hills and valleys of the old-time Charmingfare since you were there.
Time does not always efface the memory of one's native soil, and I make no doubt that some of all the thousand pleasant fancies of your childhood still linger among the unforgotten things of yore. At all events, if you are blessed with patient disposition, and can get on with me in a somewhat tedious, it may be, but well intentioned chapter, why, then, townsman of mine,
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lend me your ears, or walk with me, I care not which, so we but get well on together.
You may somewhat marvel at my taste, but let me take you to the low and almost buried pond, called Kinicum. It is the only thing, so far as I know, this and the surrounding swamp, which has an original In- dian name. And this sad type of the ancient owners of the soil is fast disappearing. 'T is a slow and toil- some process, this penetrating the swamp, but brushing aside the rough spruce twigs, and crowding through the brakes, over whose tops one can hardly see, ever and anon falling into a hole in this place, productive of staging poles from time immemorial, - at length ap- pears the pond, its black waters now reduced to the circumference of a few rods, while on the tough and elastic lichen slowly overgrowing it, you can approach nearly to the water's edge. As one steps here and there among the fox-gloves, sinking and rising with the fibrous soil, if soil it may be called, a pool, dark and deep enough to have engulfed a rebellious tribe, seems below. The dense and sombre vegetation of the swamp meets above your head ; bright red and poisonous ber- ries cluster around. The tall huckleberry peers up among the brakes, and perchance an owl sits wink- ing and blinking at you, from some day retreat. Here are always solitude, shade and silence at noon- day, unless broken by some adventurous rambler like ourselves. There are no merry birds to enliven us with
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songs. They are mostly of the solitary kind, who take refuge here. "Yon moping owl" has surely no music in his composition.
The pond appears once to have been of large cir- cumference, but when, or how long it has been in growing over, no one can tell. As we tug and push, on our way out, we may startle from his cover an awkward hopping rabbit, or a partridge suddenly flies in air, and the startled jay calls and screams from the tree tops.
Having got out and walked through several pastures and fields, we hit on an unfinished road, or rangeway. It is overgrown with grass and encumbered with stones so as not to be passable for pleasure carriages, but is nevertheless a good place to walk. To our right, as we go on, is the railroad track, through Brown's cran- berry meadow, connecting the seaport of New Hamp- shire with its Capital. A railroad, you ask, in Can- dia, which enjoyed a stage coach and mail once a week ? so respectable, quiet and dozy a place, be visited by railroads ? Most certainly ; what else can one expect when a city has come and settled down not a dozen miles from us. While you are growing old, and, it may be, rheumatic, Charmingfare grows young and lends a hand to the progress of the age.
True, there were some who were loth to see the beauty of their ancient possessions spoiled, and their fine farms cut into unseemly triangles. by this utilitarian
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monster. But the public weal cannot always stop to, consult private notions, and the owners of the soil may. one day be agreeably surprised to find its value in- crease with the spoiling of its beauty.
We go on by an old cellar, where once lived Na- thaniel Wormwood, an early inhabitant of the town, and the first settler on this road. We are now in a witching locality where an old lady lived, who enjoy- ed the reputation of dealing in the black art, and to whose magic spells many a mischance among the neigh- bors was attributed. Loads of hay were marvellously upset on level ground, churns and cheeses innumerable are said to have borne witness to her power. Some honest farmer, who had incurred her dipleasure, beheld, to his dismay, his revolving wheels part company with his wagon, or saw the sufferings of a favorite cow, all no doubt owing to the subtle influence of magic. Eve- ry town has had its witch, and Charmingfare can, by no means, be supposed to have escaped these ancient favors.
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