History of Carroll County, New Hampshire, Part 114

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

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Samuel Pendentes

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TOWN OF BARTLETT.

D., b. August 20, 1814, married Solomon D. Pendexter September 4, 1838; George Wash- ington, b. August 23, 1818, d. October 27. 1844; Martha P., b. March 13, 1821, married Merrill Wyman December 12, 1844; David Webster, b. June 27, 1824, married Sarah Frances Hobbs, of Fryeburg, Maine, February 11, 1873, and d. November 2, 1888; John Langdon, b. 1828, and d. July 14, 1832. 8. George, b. April 18, 1790, and d. May 27, 1797. 9. Martha, b. October 28, 1792, married William Stilphen. Their children were : George P., married Nancy Pendexter October 23, 1837; Charles; Cornelius; Betsey A., married Charles Morse ; Martha P .; Mary, married John B. Foote; Lavinia S. 10. Samuel. b. July 18, 1794, married Lydia T. Meserve, daughter of Silas Meserve, and d. March 6, 1883. His wife was born February 27, 1800, and d. July 13, 1868. Their children were : Silas M., b. November 16, 1819, married Lydia D. Hale October, 1850, and d. Jannary 7, 1883; Betsey M., b. July 5, 1822, and d. unmarried March 4, 1864; Charles Carroll, b. June 21, 1828, married Caroline P. Gale, daughter of Rev. Jonathan and Caroline Persis (Staples) Gale, November 22, 1866, and d. September 29, IS81. His wife was born in Guildhall, Vt, July 21, 1847, and is proprietor of Pendexter Mansion."

SAMUEL PENDEXTER.

Samuel Pendexter, son of John and Martha (Jackson) Pendexter, was the youngest of their children, and was born in Bartlett, July 18, 1794. He became an agriculturist, and remained on the homestead until his death, March 6, 1883, at the age of eighty-eight years, seven months, and eighteen days. He married Lydia T., daugliter of Silas Meserve. She was born February 27, 1800, and died July 13, 1868. Their children were : Silas M., who died January 7, 1883 ; Betsey M., unmarried, who died in 1864; and Charles C., who died September 29, 1881. Samuel Pendexter lived to follow to their last resting-places, father, mother, brothers and sisters, wife and children, but his declining years were cheered and comforted by the widow of his son Charles, whom he loved as if she was his own child, and who rever- enced, honored, and cherished him with the tender, watchful care of a daughter.

Mr Pendexter inherited many of his parents' excellences. Like his father, he was an honest and industrious man. He also had his mother's loving and cheerful nature. He was social and kindly, but quiet and rather reserved with strangers ; a Democrat in politics and firm in adherence to principle. By his industry and prudence he accumulated a handsome property ; by his uniform kindness he gained friends ; by faithfulness in the performance of every duty intrusted to him he won honor and respect from all. He filled many positions of trust ; was a steward and trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church. In respect to his manliness, all that was said by the great poet of an honest man may be said of him, " the noblest work of God." To this there could be no dissent. " His religious life was a life of devotion to the cause of God for more than sixty years, always abounding in the work of the Lord." He retained his youthful appearance and physical strength very remarkably, being able to attend church frequently in his eighty-eighth year, and but a few weeks before his death.

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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.

CHARLES CARROLL PENDEXTER.

Charles Carroll Pendexter, youngest child of Samuel and Lydia (Meserve) Pendexter, was born January 21. 1828. His common - school education was supplemented by attendance at an academy at Paris, Maine, and at Tilton (New Hampshire) Conference Seminary, where he was fitted for a teacher. But his constitution was not equal to the close confinement of the schoolroom, and he studied civil engineering and mastered the details of that profession to such proficiency that he was employed on the survey of the European and North American railway. While engaged in this he received the news that his sister was not expected to live, and, as his heart was always loyal to the dear ones at home, he returned to her side at once. His sister continued an invalid for several years, and he remained to care for her. After her death, his aspirations and ambition urged him again to his former field of labor, but he yielded to the earnest entreaties of his parents and made his home ever after with them, and November 22, 1866, married Caroline P., daughter of Rev. Jonathan and Caroline P. (Staples) Gale, a lady of culture, practicality, and efficiency, and it is to her love and reverence for her husband and his father that their memories are preserved by picture and record in this work.

For many years the tide of summer travel had turned so strongly in this direction that commodious hotels pleasantly situated were in great demand, and in 1874 Mr Pendexter thoroughly repaired, enlarged, and remodeled the comfortable old homestead, and opened it for the accom- modation of summer boarders as the "Pendexter Mansion." In the care and entertainment of the numerous guests he was ably assisted by his wife. In this delightful home, in the companionship of his wife and father, he lived till, September 29, 1881, " he fell on sleep."

Mr Pendexter followed his father's preferences in religion and politics. He was of a very active temperament, took hold of everything he under- took with a will that was almost a success in itself. He was ardent in forwarding all efforts to advocate truth, justice, temperance, and Chris- tianity. and made it a life principle to do unto others as he wished others would do to him in like circumstances. The world is always better for the life of such a man as Charles Carroll Pendexter. His duties, civil and reli- gious, were promptly and gladly performed, and his action in all cases was based upon their relation to the life to come. Loyal to all friendships, tender and devoted to the loved ones, not a shadow rests on the memory of him so cherished by his numerous friends.

Charles Taroll Tendenterd

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TOWN OF BARTLETT.

SOLOMON D. PENDEXTER.

THE Pendexters have always intermarried with the prominent families of the town. Joseph Pendexter, the sixth child and second son of Hon. John and Martha (Jackson) Pendexter, was born in Bartlett, September 25, 1786, and died March 29, 1855. His wife was Lydia Dinsmore, who died November 22, 1856. Their children were : Solomon D., Eliza D., Martha J., Nancy, John, Mary D., Abigail, H. Augusta. (See Pendexter genealogy.) Joseph lived on the pleasant place where the Langdon House is now, and was a farmer by occupation. He was of medium size, of a social and pleasant disposition, and welcomed his friends with genial hospitality. He inherited the prevailing characteristics of his father's family, and was industrious, prudent, and a faithful worker. He was a Methodist in his religious views.

Solomon Dinsmore Pendexter, son of Joseph and Lydia (Dinsmore) Pendex- ter, was born in Bartlett, April 21, 1813. Environed by the narrowing circumstances of that period when that section had been settled but a com- paratively short time, his education was. necessarily limited to the common schools. His childhood and early manhood, until he was twenty-five, were passed at home, and his energy and industry was devoted to agriculture, assist- ing his father in the "tilling of the soil." He married his cousin, Mary Davis Meserve, in the fall of 1838, and settled on the place where he passed the remainder of his life, thirty years. Two sons were born to Solomon and Mary Pendexter : Jolin Langdon, who died in 1866, aged nineteen, and Joseph, who died at the age of twenty-four.

Mr Pendexter was for many long years a worker, a producer, and not a mere consumer. About 1860 he commenced the business of providing accom- modations for some of the numerous visitors to this picturesque resort, and was actively engaged in this and the care of his land until December 21, 1868. when he was killed by the falling of a limb while at work in his wood-lot. He was a man of fine appearance, plain and unpretending in his manners, but, although deprived of a liberal education, a man of more than ordinary ability, who possessed excellent judgment and good practical common-sense, which made him a valuable adviser. He was a Democrat in politics, and a Methodist in his religious views. Mrs Pendexter, who survives her husband, is a quiet, pleasant, intelligent lady, and presides over her summer home with dignity.

HON. JOSEPH PITMAN.

AMONG the families of Bartlett that have shown energy, force of character, business acumen, and persistent industry, and one that has impressed itself upon the community in various ways, is the Pitman family. By their pleasant

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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.

and courteous manners, their kindheartedness and neighborliness, its members have made themselves universally popular. Joseph Pitman, the first American ancestor, was an Englishman by birth, of good parentage, born in London about 1759. He emigrated to this country just prior to the Revolution. In that struggle. although quite young, he warmly espoused the cause of his adopted country, and served as a privateersman during the war, doing good service. Soon after the close of the bloody contest, Mr Pitman and his wife, Alice (Pendexter) Pitman (a sister of John Pendexter), moved to what is now Bartlett (the town had not then been organized), and settled on Stark's Location. He was one of the first settlers of the town, and prominent in the organization and its management during his life. He was moderator of the first town-meeting and one of the early selectmen, and from that time until the present there has scarcely been a list of the town's officers not bearing the name of Pitman.

Joseph and Alice P. Pitman were blessed with eleven children : William : Samuel; John; Joseph; Walter A .; Sally (married Joseph Philbrick); Rebecca (married A. D. Gardner) ; Alice (married Woodman Carlton) ; Dorcas A. (died quite young) ; Susan (married J. T. Wentworth) ; Polly (died young). None of this family is living.

Hon. Joseph Pitman was- born in Bartlett, July 25, 1788, and died October 23, 1875. His wife, Joanna (Meserve) Pitman, was born August 15, 1786, and died May 12, 1862. Their children were : Ezra M., born December 12, 1812 ; Jonathan M.1, born August 19, 1814; Dorcas A., born September 10, 1816 : George W. M.2, born May 8, 1819; Joseph3, born October 24, 1823 ; Frances E., born February 6, 1826. Dorcas A. married Joseph K. Garland ; Frances E. married Edward C. Sinclair. All are living.

Mr Pitman was a farmer by occupation, and resided on the homestead of his father for many years. He then purchased a farm in the eastern part of the town, and made his residence there until his death. This farm is now owned and occupied by his sons, Ezra M. and Jonathan M. Mr Pitman's education was limited to the common schools, but it was fairly competent for the business affairs of life to a man who was keen, bright, and observant, and possessed of an inquiring mind. He was a great reader, investigated matters for himself and formed his own opinions, but, nevertheless, had due respect for the opinions of others. In his business affairs he was not hasty in

1 .Jonathan M. has served in town offices, and as representative two terms. He married Mary Hodge, and has children : Georgiana (Mrs Charles Chandler), Mary A. (Mrs S. D. Meserve), Lucretia (Mrs W. Chandler), and William II.

2 See page 270.

" Joseph Pitman has always resided here. He was educated at Conway Academy, and commenced teaching school at the age of seventeen, and taught fifty-four terms, the last two at North Conway Academy in the winter and spring of 1874. Ile has served as justice of the peace for nearly forty years; held all town offices and was commissioner for Carroll county from 1868 to 1871. Politically he is a Democrat, and has represented Bartlett in the legislature several terms. Ile is a civil engineer, land surveyor, and farmer. He married Sarah Charles, and their children are : Eugene, Frances (Mrs W. C. McGill), and Walter.

WAFer. w. son *"

Joseph Pitman chuan

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TOWN OF BARTLETT.

coming to conclusions, but when reached they seemed to bear the impress of right, which gave him the confidence and esteem of all. Politically Mr Pitman was a Democrat, earnest, faithful, and unswerving to the Jeffersonian princi- ples. He served in all the various town offices, represented Bartlett in the legislature, and in 1851 was state senator; this honor has also been conferred upon his son, George W. M., and his grandson, Lycurgus. In his home life he was social and genial ; he was a lover of music and somewhat of a musician. Religiously, he was a Universalist, and in the closing scenes of a long and useful life, in his eighty-eighth year, in full possession of his reasoning powers, he passed over the river in full accord with the belief he entertained through life.

The English family of Pitmans is of noble ancestry, and has been domiciled for many generations in the counties of Devon, Suffolk, and Nor- folk. According to " Burke's General Armory " the arms and crest of the Pitmans of Dunchideock, Devon, and those of Oulton Hall, Norfolk, are the same. " Arms: Quarterly argent and or, an eagle displayed gules. Crest : A martlet upon a shell." The arms of those of Suffolk are : " Gules, two poleaxes in saltire or, headed argent, between four mullets of the last. Crest : A Moor's arms ppr escarroned (cheguy) gules and or, advancing a pole axe, handle or, headed argent."

HART'S LOCATION.

CHAPTER LXXIX.

H ART'S LOCATION, including the long valley of Saco river from Bartlett to the White Mountain Notch, was granted before the Revolutionary war by Governor Wentworth to Thomas Chadbourne for military ser- vices in the French and Indian wars. Richard Hart became the owner on payment of $1,500, and from him it takes its name. Civilization has followed the Indians in making a highway of travel through it, but few families have ever resided here. In 1792 the Willey House, three miles from the gate of the Notch, was built as a road-tavern. and Abel Crawford made his home on the fertile intervales below Bemis station. Later Dr Samuel Bemis came here early in the forties in pursuit of health, and was so enamored of the wild sublimity and gorgeous scenery of the valley that he purchased the location, built a mansion of granite, and made it his home until his death in 1881, at the age of eighty-seven. George H. Morey inherited the property, and is the present occupant. Bemis station perpetuates the name of the doctor, and Frankenstein gulf and trestle that of a young German artist who was his companion for some time. From the opening of the Tenth New Hampshire Turnpike, in 1804, for many years the produce of Northern Vermont and the Coos country passed through the Notch and Hart's Location. Now it is the route for summer travel by rail to the White Mountains.

A writer thus describes the trip by rail : -

In all castern America there is no other episode of railroad traveling comparable for grandeur with the ride through the Notch. The conception of this road was a most daring one. As the train rushes along past Glen Station, on the one side we have a glimpse of the vast steps of Giant's Stairs and of Iron Mountain on the right, while on the left are ponderous mountain ranges, traversed only by lumbermen and bears. Bartlett is the next station. Beyond Bartlett the train climbs Duek Pond mountain. After Sawyer's river is erossed. the next stream on our left is Nancy's brook, with pretty cascades and flume. The train next enters Crawford Glen, by the mansion of Dr Bemis, then passes the old Mount Crawford House. From Bemis the train climbs upward on a grade of one foot in forty-six, rushing through the forest vastnesses on the sides of these great cliff's. The Frankenstein gulf is crossed on a wonderful trestle 500 feet long and 80 feet high. Just before we reach it, by looking forward on the right, one gets the grandest view of Mount Washington. While on

943

TOWN OF HART'S LOCATION.

the trestle look up at the high cliffs and down into the Saco valley. Now we go higher above the tops of the trees. Many a picturesque mountain height can be seen. We cross Brook Kedron, and soon, far below, we perceive the Willey House, and the true Notch is entered, with Mount Willard's purple cliff's in front and Mount Webster on the right. Below, the dark waters of Dismal pool are seen. The valley grows narrower and narrower until at last the Gate of the Notch is reached and the " Great Cut," where the railroad splits the mountains, and we are at the Crawford House.

Abel Crawford, " the Patriarch of the Hills," was born about 1765. When a young man he made his home among the mountains. He was six feet, four or five inches in height, thin, straight, of dark complexion, pleasant and genial in disposition. He married Hannah, daughter of Eleazer Rosebrook. She died October 28, 1848, aged 76 years. He was rightly named the "veteran pilot " of the mountains, for he was the first guide to the grand scenery now so easily reached. When he was about twenty-five years old, he wandered through the region alone, dressed in tanned mooscskin. He assisted in cutting the first footpath to the ridge in 1819, and in 1840, at the age of seventy-five, rode the first horse that climbed the eone of Mount Washington. The last ten years of his life he was an object of interest to the thousands of visitors to the mountains. His greatest pleasure during this time was to sit and watch the crowds of people come and go. He died July 15, 1851, aged 85 years, and, with his wife, is buried near Bemis station. For many years Abel Crawford kept the Mount Crawford House, and was known to every one visiting the mountains. Between 1841 and 1850 the old Crawford House was under the charge of N. T. P. Davis, a son-in-law of Abel Crawford, Mr Crawford still, by his stories and cheerful presence, making himself one of the especial attractions of the place. He was a fine specimen of physical and mental vigor. Under date of September 13, 1842, George W. Putnam, " for Mount Washington from Boston," writes in the register of the Mount Crawford House, that he " tarried but a few moments, but found the old gentleman's heart in the right place - Heart's Location." For several years he was repre- sentative in the legislature of Hart's Location, Nash and Sawyer's Location, and Carroll.

Ripley Falls are on Avalanche brook on Mount Willey, and are reached by a most romantic footpath from the station. They were discovered in September, 1858, by H. W. Ripley 1 and a companion. The principal falls are one hundred and fifty feet high, fifty feet wide at the summit and seventy feet at the bottom. The celebrated artist Champney ascribed to them a higher beauty than any other then known among the mountains. Below this, on

1 Mr Ripley, born in Fryeburg, Maine, June 30, 1828, is the veteran explorer of the White Mountains. The summer of 1889 was the fifty-third consecutive season he has visited the mountains, and he has ascended Mount Washington, in winter and summer, eighty-five times. He is beyond doubt the best informed person in relation to everything of interest in the mountain region, is a fluent conversationalist, a graphie writer, and the publisher of the enlarged "Crawford's History of the White Mountains," and, at the suggestion of Starr King, his name is perpetuated in these falls.

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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.

Bemis brook, are Arethusa Falls, whose beautiful descent of one hundred and seventy-six feet is not often seen by tourists by reason of the arduous climb necessary to reach them.

The historic "Willey slide " occurred August 28, 1826. In the terrible cyclonic tempest that then raged an avalanche commenced a thousand feet up Mount Willey, in the rear of the Willey House, and thundered down upon the family, who flew from the house and safety to destruction. The family of seven, with David Allen and David Nickerson, were buried under the whirling stream of mud, rocks, trees, and logs. The bodies of three of the children, Jeremiah, Martha, and Elbridge, were never found. An immense bowlder back of the house preserved the building from harm. This house was built by Leavitt Hill, of Conway, in 1792, and occupied for some years by his brother Henry. It had been vacant for some time when Mr Willey became proprietor.

Although the population in 1870 was but twenty-six, and in 1880 but fifty- eight, a town organization has been kept up for years, but the records were recently burned. A gore of land between Bartlett and Hart's Location was annexed to Hart's Location June 27, 1861. This wild section has a heavy growth of valuable timber, pine, spruce, and hard wood of various species. At Avalanche station is the mill of J. F. Smith & Co.1 A newspaper correspond- ent writes of this in February, 1889: "The mill of J. F. Smith & Co. is running day and night. Logs are being brought in at the rate of fifty thousand per day, by fifty horses and twelve oxen. They are now having electric light put into the mill. G. O. Sanders is doing quite a business in box shooks. The upper part of the mill is devoted to the manufacture of spruce, hemlock, and pine dimension-lumber, etc. They sawed one day last week 47,500 feet of timber. Mr Sanders has recently built a large mill below Mr Smith's and has moved his extensive business from Albany." An elegant flesh-colored granite, very valuable as a building-stone, is found here. It is easily quarried. Its cleavage is perfect, and it comes out in large blocks of perfect regularity, and will be a source of wealth in coming time. Sawyer River railroad makes a junction with the Maine Central in the lower part of the location.

1 Burned in November, 1889.

JACKSON.

CHAPTER LXXX.

Introduction - Scenery - Situation - Mountains - Incorporation - Grants - First Set- tlers - Petitions -First Town-meeting -First Road - Inventory of 1801 -Some Early Settlers and their Descendants - Personal Sketches.

Full many a spot

Of hidden beauty have I chanced to espy

Among the mountains; never one like this; So lonesome, and so perfectly secure; Not melancholy -no, for it is green, And bright, and fertile, furnished in itself With the few needful things that life requires.

In rugged arms, how softly does it lie!

How tenderly protected ! - Wordsworth.

ACKSON is the Mecca of the tourist. To the cultured traveler who has ranged through the historic and romantic countries of the Old World, and visited the lonely isolation of the stupendous mountain scenery of the far West, the White Mountain section, with its combination of wondrous sublimity and reverence-inspiring grandeur, and scenes of restful quiet and gentle repose, appeals in a most effective manner and has a powerful attraction. One of the loveliest of these scenes of sylvan beauty and dreamy repose- one that tarries ever in the memory with tender and fascinating recollections and bewitching unobtrusiveness -is the ideal mountain town of Jackson. The noble Frenchmen of the empire believed that the culmination of earthly happi- ness lay in Parisian life, hence the expression, "See Paris and die." In the minds of the highest order of cultured American people a fundamental law seems to be now written, "See Jackson and live." Up in this high altitude the air has a fragrance and a tonic-power like wine. It is delightful to come into a region from which there is no need of "looking backward," where there is no poverty visible, and the harsh sounds of conflict between capital and labor are never heard. The little valley is like a beautiful child protected

1 The publishers would acknowledge valuable assistance in this history of Jackson from Clara E. Meserve, (laughter of General George P. Meserve, a lady who has done much good in preserving many things concerning the early families and in awakeuing interest in the attractions of the town.

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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.

and cherished by grim titanic beings. They bring to it rain and dews and dashing brooks tumbling over stony beds, and by the unknown laws of the alchemy of nature extract the deepest emerald to dye its verdure. The Wild- cat is a swift, untamable spirit whose white garments and musical laughter are never silent. Its feet run day and night toward the sea, and clatter around the detaining rocks in the agony of haste. It spreads over the dark rocks in Jack- son Falls a snowy fleece of misty water, and laughs at the expressions of delight of the spectators. The narrow valleys of the Ellis and Wildcat lead away up to the majestic mountain regions, and open bits of exquisite scenery over which artists have reveled for more than a generation of years. In the evenings and later afternoons of clear days the mighty Presidential range, tow- ering in the north, exhibits the gorgeous brilliancy of coloring so characteristic of the mountains of the Rocky and Sierra ranges. "The glory of the sunset flames upon their angles with strong color, hiding all the gashes in the slopes under heavy shadow." The little village is an exquisite gem, cut by the same artistic touch that has given the softness to the loveliest of English land- scapes. These, with many other beauties unknown elsewhere, combine to make this little rural town one of unparalleled loveliness, and a summer resort which those " to the manner born " and the traveler alike pronounce one of the most enjoyable and attractive in long leagues of journeying, and a realization of the fabled " Valley of Rasselas." The winding Ellis, its banks strewn with magnificent maples and elms towering in columns of strength and beauty ; the ever-inspiring mountain prospects; the level bits of intervale lying softly like soothing memories in the mind of man ; the quietude and delicious peace so grateful to the tired and weary wanderer; the perfect healthfulness of the climate ; the invigorating air ; the pleasant homes scattered along the valleys and hillsides ; the courteousness of the citizens, -- all join in painting on the mental canvas a picture of content and happiness that will not soon be oblit- erated. It is decidedly to be hoped that the jar and strife and confused noises of the outside world may never penetrate to this idyllic spot, but that it may be kept for ages as a reminder of that early period when the whole earth was an Eden.

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History of Carroll County, New Hampshire, Part 114

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