History of Carroll County, New Hampshire, Part 103

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Boston : W.A. Fergusson & Co.
Number of Pages: 1124

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The progenitor of the Eastmans of Conway and Chatham was Roger Eastman, who emigrated from Wales and settled in Salisbury, Mass., about 1640. Richard, third in descent from Roger, married Molly Lovejoy, and resided in Pembroke. Early in the settlement of Conway, Richard Eastman, accompanied by his sons, Richard, Jr, Noah, Abiathar, and Jonathan, came thither with a view of making a home; but subsequently, with Jonathan, settled in Fryeburg, while Richard, Jr, Noah, and Abiathar located in Conway. Richard Eastman purchased of Thomas Chadbourn, Esq., all of his interest in the mill lot and improvements thereon, but soon transferred the property to his sons Richard, Jr, and Noah. Among the improvements bought was the first frame-house built in North Conway. It was built on the intervale north of Kesaugh brook, in 1766-67. In October, 1769, Richard Eastman, Jr, his wife, Abiah Holt, with their babe Sally, sixteen months old, accompanied by his brother Noah and her sister Hannah, occupied this house. Here was born the first male child of North Conway, Jonathan Eastman, July 18, 1770. He died May 11, 1868. His was a long and useful life. For seventy years he was a worthy member of the Congregational church, and deacon for fifty- seven years. He voted for General Washington for his second term as Presi- dent. Deacon Eastman delighted in public worship, and his mind was well stored with Bible texts. His strict temperance and industrious habits undoubt-

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edly were the causes of his longevity. "His memory is blessed." Richard Eastman and his wife were soon at home in their new place, and contributed much to the little community. In 1778, when Christian worship was estab- lished, their names were among the eight who signed the covenant to " walk with the Lord." Richard Eastman, or, as he was universally called, 'Squire Eastman, and family continued to occupy his house on the intervale until the great freshet of 1785, which caused him and all others, some twelve or fifteen families in number, whose dwellings were on the intervale, to remove to the high lands. Esquire Eastman moved his house to where it now stands. When first this house was built it was one story with gambrel roof, and thus remained for more than thirty years, until his son Amos, in the summer of 1822, removed the half-hip roof and put on a second story, with roof of more modern style. Mr. Eastman's house, after its removal from the intervale to the upland, occupied a very central business position, as in the vicinity were the mills, the tavern, the blacksmith shop, etc. One of the rooms was used as an office and for the public library, of which he was librarian. Seventeen of Mr. Eastman's eighteen children were born in this house, and every one of this family were members of the Christian church. All but one attained maturity and married. Sally married Abiel Lovejoy ; Jonathan married Phebe Lovejoy ; Polly married Amos Barnes; Phebe married Humphrey Cram; Hannah married Isaac Merrill ; Richard married, first, Elmira Morrill, second, Louisa Morrill; Abia married William C. Ford; William married, first, Nancy Lovejoy, second, Ruth Trickey ; Dorcas married Samuel Merrill ; Patty married Jonathan Stickney ; Kezia married Henry Tucker; Betsey married John Hill; Amos married Betsey E. Merrill ; Clarissa married Rev. Stephen Merrill ; Harriot married General George P. Meserve ; John L. married Margaret Douglass; Irena mar- ried Jonathan E. Chase. Mr. Eastman appeared to be the "right man in the right place " to transact business for town, church, military, schools, or roads, and as a justice of the peace he stood at the head for several years. His counsel was sought and universally appreciated. If any papers like deeds, bills of sale, indentures, petitions, plans, etc., were to be drawn he was employed. He was of medium size and grave appearance, but would very readily unbend to a social and even a jolly mood. His capacity for business continued very nearly to the time of his death, December, 1826, at the age of seventy-nine years. Few men sustained a more uniformly upright character, and few leave more tender and affectionate recollections.

Deacon Abiathar Eastman married Phebe, daughter of Thomas Merrill, December 3, 1775, and was a useful and public-spirited man, and often called to fill responsible positions. He was colonel of the militia, and October 27, 1803, he was unanimously chosen deacon of the Congregational church. His death occurred January 10, 1815. His farm was the next south of Colonel McMillan's. His children were: Samuel; Lydia, married Frye Holt ;

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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.

Abiathar, Jr, married Susan Durgin ; Henry, married Esther Eastman ; Thomas, married Eunice Hill ; Caleb, died young ; Caleb, married Adeline Yolpy. Abiathar Eastman, Jr, was born August 1, 1781, and died in military service October 22, 1813. Rev. Benjamin Durgin Eastman, son of Abiathar, Jr, and Susan (Durgin) Eastman, was born December 21, 1802. In 1831 he joined the Maine Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for over a quarter of a century labored successfully in various ministerial fields in the eastern part of Maine, and served two terms in the house of representa- tives and one in the state senate. He then returned to North Conway and resided here until his death. He was a local preacher, postmaster, and trader. He paid much attention to the Algonquin language and historical researches, and wrote a series of valuable articles on North Conway, etc., for The Idler. He married, first, Lois F. Averill ; second, Nancy Fisher Whitney, of Corinth, Maine. He left two sons, Charles W. and George Vernon, son of his second wife, born at Limestone, Maine.

Noah Eastman, brother of Richard and Abiathar, born March 20, 1753, married Hannah Holt, September 10, 1775. Their children were : Benjamin, Noah, Noah 2d, Esther, Daniel, Hannah H., Polly C., Richard, Job, Susan, Frye H., John, Phebe B. He was the miller of North Conway for fifty years, and when spoken of was called " honest Noah ; " when spoken to, especially in his advanced years, he was called " Uncle Noah." He was a good and indus- trious man all his days, and died August 26, 1823. Major Daniel Eastman, son of Noah, was born September 6, 1792, and died August 22, 1885. He was one of a family of thirteen children, all noted for longevity. At the time of his death Mr Eastman was the oldest Freemason in the state. He was a large operator in real estate, once bought the entire top of Mt Washington for ten cents an acre and sold it for twenty-five. He also owned at one time most of the Conway intervales. He conducted extensive trade for a long time, built the Washington House, and "kept tavern " there many years. He married Martha, daughter of Dr William Chadbourne, who died in 1880, aged eighty-two. Major Eastman was held in high estimation. William C. is the only one living of his five children. Alfred Eastman, the genial host of the Eastman House, is third in descent from Noah; the line being Noah1, Job2, John O.3, Alfred4.

These three brothers, whose posterity is probably more numerous than any other three settlers in the Saco valley, were exceptionally blessed with good wives, who adapted themselves to their varied and humble condition. They lived in the times that " tried men's souls," and women's also. The Revolu- tionary war was in progress; wild savages were skulking about; spies were abroad : crops were uncertain ; but they seconded their husband's efforts, and faithfully attended to the duties incumbent on them as brave wives and brave mothers. May their memory be long cherished !

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TOWN OF CONWAY.

Thomas Merrill, Esq., son of Deacon John Merrill, of Concord, one of the original proprietors, and one of the first to settle here, built his dwelling on the intervale on the south side of the Saco, on what is now the Quint farm, about 1766; three of his sons made permanent settlements in 1771 : Thomas, Amos William, and Enoch. Thomas Merrill was one of the most active and capable of the proprietors, a hard-working and useful pioneer, and received and deserved the confidence of his townsmen. In 1769, when the inhabitants of Conway and adjacent towns were in need of a justice of peace, they petitioned John Wentworth in this manner, after showing their want: "We would humbly beg liberty to let your Excellency know that we should be glad and rejoice if your Excellency Should appoint to that office Lieut. Thomas Merrill, of said Conway." The governor's council also recommended him as a "Suteable person to be in the Commition for ye Peace, &c." He was clerk of the proprietor and town meetings for many years, and continued in public service during his life. The old record says : "Thomas Merrill, esqr, departed this life, July 2d, 1788." He lies in the ancient graveyard near the centre of the town. He was a man of unusual education for those days, and the propri- etors' records, by their grammatical and orthographical accuracy, testify to this. Such a pioneer is of inestimable value, and his descendants are justly proud of such an ancestor. He had large tracts of land on both sides of the Saco, on which he settled those of his children who were inclined to "till the soil "; while he generously aided those who chose a professional life and sought their fortune in other sections. His children attaining maturity were: Thomas (married Hannah Ambrose) ; William ; Enoch ; Amos (married Lois Willey) ; Phebe (married Abiathar Eastman); Stephen (married Elizabeth Bayley) ; Mehetable (married Roland Crocker) ; Jonathan A. (married Lydia Merrill) ; John (married a Miss Boyd, of Portland) ; Benjamin. Many of the town's best citizens claim him as their ancestor.

Colonel David Page moved from Dunbarton (where his ancestors were among the grantees and efficient men in its affairs) to Concord about 1761, was interested by Colonel Frye in his settlement at Pigwacket, and became an early and valuable settler. His fourth child, Robert, was born in Fryeburg, February 28, 1765 ; Edmond was born in Fryeburg, March 28, 1768; Jeremiah, born August 12, 1770, " was Born at Conway "; and from that time, for many years, scarcely a public petition or document was sent to the General Court but shows Colonel Page's prominence in Conway. He was selectman, justice of the peace, and representative. He was colonel in the Revolutionary army, and one of the first trustees of Fryeburg Academy, associated with Henry Young Brown, and James Osgood, " of Conway." Jeremiah Page married Phebe Russell. Their children were: Benjamin R., Harriet, Maria, and Amanda. Mrs Page subsequently became the wife of Rev. Dr Porter. They lived on the Jeremiah Page home farm, which was situated on Conway street at the head of

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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.

the road leading at right angles from the street to Fryeburg Village. The building has been removed, and a large elm-tree now marks the site. Benjamin R. Page married Achsah Pollard; Harriet married Isaac Osgood, of Conway ; Maria married Nathaniel Potter, of Bridgton, Maine.

Mark and William Broughton were here early and assessed on inventory of 1794. Mark settled on the place now occupied by Charles A. Broughton, his grandson. He married a Knox, and had several children. Hannah married Jedediah Stone and lived on the west side. John married Sally, daughter of Amos Merrill, and succeeded to the home farm. He had four children, of whom Charles A. is the only one living in town. Julia (Mrs John Twombly) lived at Conway Centre ; Octavus, a millwright, lives in Minneapolis; Harriet married Mark Merrill (Ormond W. Merrill is their son) ; Mary married Elijah Stuart, and lived on the west side of Saco. Charles A. Broughton was for ten years agent for the Swift River Lumber Company, with office at the mills in Albany for six years, then at Allen's siding. He married Hannah Quint and has four children, of whom his oldest, Clara M., married Ora S. Hiscock. Mr Broughton is a good representative of the active pioneers from whom he is descended, and keeps up the reputation of the family as being skilful bear-hunters. His latest exploit was killing a monstrous one not far from his residence, in June, 1888.

Samuel Dinsmore, of Lee, was a soldier in the French and Indian War. His son Elijah raised a company and marched to Cambridge in 1775, served through the Revolution, and later moved to Conway, performing with his wife a most perilous journey in the dead of winter on snowshoes, the captain carrying a huge pack containing their store of goods the eighty miles of distance. He built a camp near the cabin of John Pendexter, and afterwards built and occupied a frame-house on or near the site of the Intervale House. He was a worthy citizen, one of the first Baptists, and deacon for many years. He kept a road-tavern, and by industry and economy accumulated a handsome property. He has numerous descendants. His children were : Elijah, Stephen, Solomon, John, Thomas, and Lydia, who married Ebenezer Hall, of Bartlett. Elijah, Jr, succeeded to the homestead, was a captain of a troop of cavalry, and, like all of the family, a Democrat and a Baptist. He had four sons, Samuel, Elijah, Daniel, and Foxwell, and lived to be eighty. Stephen was a farmer, and lived on the Solomon Pendexter place, married Mehitable Fry ; had Joseph, John, William, Stephen, Sarah (married a Gilman), Polly, Nancy (married Jacob Webster). Solomon lived on the west side of the Saco, as did John, who had three sons, Dean, John, and Solomon, and two daughters, Harriet (married JJefferson Tufts) and Almira (married Rev. James McMillan, of Bartlett). Thomas went to Maine. Joseph, son of Stephen, lived above the Hart place, married Lydia Hart, and had these children : Martha (Mrs Charles Whitaker); Andrew; Eveline; Aurilla (Mrs

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TOWN OF CONWAY.

Joseph Nute); Honoria (Mrs Lemuel Potter) ; he died at the age of fifty-four. John Dinsmore, son of John and grandson of John, was born on the west side of the Saco in 1803; here he is at the present residing, aged eighty-six. He married, first, a MeMillan ; second, a Knox. He has Henry K., Abby (Mrs Moses Davis), Almira (Mrs Joseph A. Cloutman).

Captain John Hart came from Portsmouth shortly after the Revolution, and settled on the west side of the Saco near Cathedral ledge, which for years was called Hart's ledge from him. He was an early innkeeper. The main and stage road from Conway through the Notch passed his door. Besides his productive farm in this town, he had an interest in Hart's Location, and died an old man. His wife, Polly Willey, survived him, and attained ninety-two years. Captain Hart was a man of much consideration in the generation of his activity. His daughter Lydia married Joseph Dinsmore, and another daughter, Honor, married James, son of Samuel Willey, Esq.

Lieutenant Amos Barnes was born in Groton, Mass., January 9, 1757. His father was killed in the French war. At the age of eighteen, Amos enlisted in the Revolutionary army. He was in the battle of Bunker Hill ; in the retreat from Canada ; with Washington at the battle at Trenton. In January, 1778, he enlisted for the third time; joined General Washington's army at Valley Forge and was appointed orderly sergeant, and served for two years. In 1779 he was with General Sullivan in the Indian country, and for two months was on half-allowance of rations. In 1780 he returned to Concord, and subse- quently came to Conway, and June 18, 1789, married Polly, second daughter of Richard Eastman. Lieutenant Barnes was also an officer in the militia, and lieutenant of a volunteer company at the commencement of the War of 1812. He was a patriotic, earnest, honest, and industrious man, and served his day and generation well. He died in Conway, December 6, 1840. His children were : John; Polly (married Jonathan Seavey) ; Richard E .; Sally (Mrs Nathan Chandler) ; Abiah; Alonzo W., and Albert.

Deacon Abiel Lovejoy came from Concord between March 10, 1771, and 1774. His father, Henry, was one of the grantees, and it is probable that Abiel was here in the interest of his father. He married Anna Stickney, and settled on the west side of the Saco, near Hart's ledges, on the place now occupied by Mrs Ann Brewster. Deacon Abiel and wife were of the six who organized the first church in 1778, and he was the first, and for forty years the "good deacon." He died May 27, 1817. They had six children, who all attained great ages. Abiel settled in Lancaster. William settled in Lancaster about 1795, was judge of circuit court in 1816, and appointed register of probate in 1829, dying soon after. Jeremiah succeeded to the home place, and had Henry ; Jedediah ; Abiel C .; Polly (married Samuel Willey and was lost with her family in the disaster at the Willey House in 1826) ; Phoebe (married a Fair- field, of Saco, Maine); Betsey (married Thomas Abbott); Nancy (married

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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.

Nathaniel S. Abbott). Phoebe married Deacon Jonathan Eastman and lived on the site of the Artists' Falls House. Betsey married William Randall and lived in the farmhouse now forming part of the Sunset Pavilion. Two of her children attained mature years : Mary 1 and Eliza (twins) ; Eliza is the wife of Samuel W. Thompson. Nancy married William Eastman and moved to Jackson.

Captain Samuel Willey came from Lee about 1777, commenced a settlement on Stark's Location, now Bartlett, and later moved to North Conway, and remained on what is now the Bigelow farm until his death, June 14, 1844, aged over ninety years. His wife, Betsey Glazier (of Scotch descent), died aged eighty-three. Their children were: Polly (Mrs Jonathan Thompson) ; James (a lieutenant in 1812 ; he built the house now occupied by Dr Pitman. His son, James C., is the only one bearing the name in Conway.) ; Samuel ; Hannah (Mrs John M. Barnes) ; Betsey (Mrs Jacob Bray) ; Rev. Benjamin G. ; Stephen (succeeded to the home farm, and late in life went West) ; Sally. This family was much respected. The members were good Christian people and useful in all departments of society. Samuel Willey, Jr, born March 31, 1788, married Polly Lovejoy, September 17, 1812, and resided in Bartlett. They had children : Eliza Ann, born July, 1813; Jeremiah, July, 1815 ; Martha G., September, 1817; Elbridge G., September, 1819, and Sally in 1822. Mr Willey moved from Humphrey's Ledge farm (the oldest farm in Bart- lett) to the house built by Leavitt Hill in the Notch, October, 1825. Mr Willey was one of those inestimable men whom we often find among our farmers; kind and gentle in his feelings, of cautious and sound judgment, sincere in his professions, and industrious in his habits. " Mrs Willey possessed a good form and an amiable disposition, vivacious in youth and sprightly in mature life. Both husband and wife were deeply impressed with religious sentiments. Cheerful, pious, serious, and laborious, with enough to supply their wants and those of their children, they formed a household on which the blessing of God seemed greatly to rest." But this household was entirely destroyed by the slide from Mt Willey, August 28, 1826. (See Hart's Location.) In a little enclosure on the Bigelow place lie the remains of the father, mother, and two children ; (Jeremiah, Martha, and Elbridge still lie buried under the débris from the slide). On the base of the headstone erected to their memory are these lines :-

We gaze around, we read their monument; We sigh and when we sigh we sink.

Moses Randall came from Sanbornton, one of the very early settlers, and located on the intervale below Sunset Hill on the place where his grandson,

1 A member of the family of S. W. Thompson, and for years the housekeeper of the Kearsarge House. She was a most amiable lady, and known to every one as " Aunt Mary." She died September 8, 1889.

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William Randall, is residing. He was accompanied by his sons William and John and daughters Hannah and Polly. The journey was made with oxen along spotted roads. The next year his son Nathaniel came the same route on foot. Mr Randall was an active worker, developed a fine farm, and passed his life on the same place where he first located. His son William located where the Sunset Pavilion stands. John succeeded to the home farm. Nathaniel lived north of the Sunset Pavilion, on the other side of the river road. Nathaniel's children were : George K. ; Agnes (Mrs Samuel Forrest), now living at Northfield, aged ninety years ; Susan (Mrs Charles S. Whitaker) ; Hannah (Mrs Abiel C. Lovejoy) ; Betsey (Mrs Luther Whitaker).

Hezekiah Randall came from Greenland in company with John Pendexter, and located on the land where stands the Boston and Maine railroad station. He had no sons.

Joseph Thompson, a clothier, came from Lee very early, and became the owner of a large tract of land, some of it still occupied by his descendants. He built his house on the intervale like the other settlers. After the "great flood " of 1785 he took down his dwelling and reerected it on the upland, and it has since been known as the Three Elms. By his first wife, a Randall, he had two sons, Joseph and Miles, who settled in Bartlett ; and a daughter, who married Solomon Densmore. By his second wife, Sally Chesley, he had John, Jonathan, Jeremiah, Ebenezer, Hannah (Mrs Theophilus Hall), Sally (Mrs Daniel Cheney). Mr Thompson divided his home farm of 500 acres into three parts for his three sons, Jonathan, Jeremiah, and Ebenezer. John pur- chased a place about a mile below ; afterwards sold it, and enlisted as a soldier in the War of 1812, after which he returned to North Conway, where he lived until his death. Jonathan was a farmer and blacksmith. His house and black- smith shop occupied the site of the Kearsarge House. He married Polly, daughter of Samuel Willey, and had children : James W .; Samuel W .; Zebulon M. P .; Elizabeth G. (Mrs. Jonathan Dow). He died at eighty years. Jeremiah settled on the middle division of the homestead, and lived to be an octogena- rian. Ebenezer, a physically large and strong man, occupied the southern division, was a farmer and died comparatively young. James W. Thompson, son of Jonathan, settled at Bangor, Maine; went to Mexico as captain of a company in the war of 1846, and died of disease after entering the City of Mexico. Samuel W. Thompson, son of Jonathan, married, April 12, 1830, Eliza Randall. Their children are: William F .; Samuel D., now at Woburn ; James W., manager of the Continental Hotel, New York city; Frederick, an Episcopal clergyman at South Bend, Indiana ; Anna (Mrs L. J. Ricker) ; Carrie C. (Mrs Frank Grover). Mr Thompson has been one of the best known men of the state and an influential man. (See Kearsarge House.)

Leavitt Hill located early on the west side of the Saco on the place where his son Sumner C. now resides. (His brother, Dr Thomas P. Hill, who owned

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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.

lands in Albany, also resided here for a time. He was a man of great medical skill and scientific attainments.) Leavitt developed a good farm, married Sarah Russell, and kept a tavern many years. The massive elm, measuring twenty-six feet in circumference one foot from the ground, was brought from the intervale about 1780 and set out at the corner of his house. It was then about an inch in diameter. He had several children : John ; Sally (married Colonel Asa Adams, of Sandwich) ; Eunice (Mrs Thomas Eastman) ; Thomas (moved to Minnesota in 1850) ; Abigail (married Ambrose Merrill) ; Charles ; Mary (married Dr Jonathan R. Thompson and lived where L. C. Quint now lives) ; Leavitt, and Amos. Colonel John Hill was early in business of various kinds. He was a tall, slender man of great activity and unbounded energy. He built grist and saw mills on Pequawket outlet in Conway village and in Albany, owned much land in Albany and other places, bought the Pequawket House of Asa Adams, and manufactured shoes in the upper part of the build- ing in the rear of the hotel, keeping store in one end of the lower part. He was the first to engage in the manufacture of sale clothing, built many houses, employed many people, and was in numerous ways a leading man. He was extremely popular, held some offices, and was postmaster forty years " less one." He was very wealthy, but business reverses swept away all his prop- erty. It is said of him: "Colonel John Hill was emphatically an honest man." He died April 24, 1870, aged seventy-nine. By his first wife, Sally Freeman, he had three children : Otis F. (a physician of Knoxville, Tenn.) ; Amos A. (long in business with his father) ; John. By his second wife, Elizabeth Eastman, he had: Mary F. (Mrs David Richardson) ; Elizabeth (married, first, Rev. Lyman Cutler, of Pepperell, Mass. ; second, Rev. A. C. Thompson, of Roxbury) ; George F .; Thomas; Summer C. (a farmer on the home place) ; Susan A. (married Dr S. A. Evans). Mrs Hill is living at Conway aged ninety-four.

Joseph Odell was an original proprietor, whose family and descendants exercised for years a potent influence in affairs of the town. He was born in Salem, Mass .; married Sarah, daughter of Daniel Ingalls, and settled in Andover, from whence he removed to Conway in 1772, with his children Joseph, Pamela (married a Dresser), Richard, and Sarah F. (Mrs Richard Buswell). He had several children born in Conway : Thomas F., Daniel I. Thomas F. was a farmer in Conway, married Elizabeth, daughter of Jeremiah Abbott, and had ten children, of whom John, Elizabeth (Mrs Arnold Floyd), and Sarah F. (Mrs Charles Sparhawk), were residents of Conway. Joseph was a farmer and preacher; had Richard K., Sarah (Mrs Ithamar Seavey), Rhoda (Mrs Stephen Shackford), Polly (now eighty-three years old), Nancy, and Betsey. Richard Odell was for years a merchant at Centre Conway. He had children : Lory, Fletcher, Arthur, Ruth (Mrs Joel Eastman), Almira (Mrs Alvah Conant), Hannah (married Rev. Daniel B. Randall). He acquired

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History of Carroll County, New Hampshire, Part 103

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Boston : W.A. Fergusson & Co. Number of Pages: 1124

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Boston : W.A. Fergusson & Co.
Number of Pages: 1124