History of Carroll County, New Hampshire, Part 67

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

USA > New Hampshire > Carroll County > History of Carroll County, New Hampshire > Part 67

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These items from the town treasurer's accounts show wages and price of board.

1790, Aug. 23. By paying Mr. Nathan Muzzy for four sabbaths preaching and one months schooling in said Effingham £5 14s. Nov. 20. By paying John Hart for one months schooling - 19 bushels corn. £2 17s. 1791. By paying James Hart 24 bushels Indian corn or 3 pounds 12 shilling in part for keeping school.

1795. Paid Isaac Lord, keeping school one month $11.55

1798. Paid Josiah Wedgwood for boarding school master 8 weeks $9.66

Mar 15 1799. Paid Suky Lougee for keeping school two months third and fourth districts . .. $7.00

Paid Jonathan Hobbs Jr, boarding Suky Lougee two months, 3 and 4 Dist. $5.33

Higher Schools. - In 1836 the building erected by Weare Drake for a store at Drake's Corner was fitted up as an academy, and a school organized as the Carroll Literary Institute. The first teacher was Rev. J. Milton Coburn. This school was in successful operation for a number of years under different teachers, among whom were Andrew Walch, E. G. Dalton, John P. Marshall, Enoch P. Fessenden, and James E. Kaime.

In the fall of 1861 the New England Masonic Charitable Institute was opened in the masonic temple. This building had just been completed, and contained besides the masonic hall, fine schoolrooms. The first term com- menced with fifty-five students under these instructors : Rev. Elbridge Pepper, A.M., principal ; Miss Fannie C. Davis, preceptress; Miss Exa L. Drake, instructress upon pianoforte; Joseph P. Emerson, vocal music. In 1862 J. H. Jackson, A.B., was principal and Mrs C. M. Jackson, preceptress. The whole number of students during the year was 146. In the fall of 1862 Aretas G. Barker, A.B., became principal ; Miss M. M. Barker, preceptress ; Frank K. Hobbs and Exa L. Drake, assistants. Joseph P. Emerson taught vocal music ; Miss Huldah L. Drake, drawing; C. C. Dunnels, penmanship. The number of students for the year was one hundred and eighty. The institute was under the instruction of Mr Barker until 1867. In 1868 Rev. Nathaniel Mel-

1.J. Dearborn Leavitt's record.

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cher, A.B., was principal. The orphan children of members of the masonic fraternity were admitted to this school free. For several years there has been no school there.

Effingham Union Academy at Lord's Corner was incorporated June 18, 1819. An academy building was erected and dedicated in September, 1820. The first preceptor was Rev. Thomas Jameson, who received as salary four hundred dollars and his board, for teaching and preaching in the Congrega- tional church, per year. This was a very successful and popular school. There was at that time no academy nearer than Fryeburg, Maine. Mr Jameson con- tinued as preceptor for about ten years. It was in this academy in 1830 that James W. Bradbury,1 of Parsonsfield, Maine, taught what is believed to have been the first normal school taught in New England.

" He would take the school only on condition that it should be for the instruction and training of teachers. The idea was his own, and at the time entirely novel. No such school is known to have antedated it, and few have been more successful." 2

This school was kept up until the year 1845. Among the teachers were : John U. Parsons, Peter Folsom, John Mordough, Joseph Burrows, Joseph Gar- land, and Simeon Pease. The academy building was afterwards remodeled, and is now used as the district schoolhouse. Amount appropriated for public schools : 1800, $124.18; 1810, $300; 1820, $418.60; 1830, $524; 1850, $625.80 ; 1860, $578; 1870, $767.20; 1880, $1,018.69; 1888, $926.64.

Physicians. - In the town's early days it was necessary to send a long distance for the doctor (sometimes to Hampton). The first settled physician was William Taylor, M.D., who was born in North Hampton in 1761, and married Mehitable Low, of Stratham. He studied medieine with Dr Levi Dearborn, of North Hampton, and moved to Effingham in 1785; he practised here successfully until 1800, when he moved to Parsonsfield, Maine. From 1800 to 1817 several physicians were here for a short time. The inventory records from 1802 to 1809 show the name of Dr Benjamin Taylor, a brother of William Taylor.

Erastus Freeman, M.D., practised in 1805-07. He received his education in Scotland, and is said to have been a fine scholar and a skilful surgeon. He married Mary Palmer, of Effingham. When he left Effingham, the manner of his going was characteristic of the man. He left home on horseback to attend town-meeting, but was never seen again. A Dr Tibbetts from Brookfield prac- tised two years about the same time, and also a Dr Chellis from Newfield, Maine. Dr Theophilus Doe commenced practice here about 1818, remaining but a short time.

David Libby, M.D., a physician of good repute, came from Wolfeborough in 1817, remained three years, and returned to Wolfeborough.

1 Afterward United States senator from Maine.

2 History of Parsonsfield, Maine, by J. W. Dearborn, M.D.

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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.

Dr David Weld Clark was born in Sturbridge, Mass., May 20, 1779, and was schooled at his native place. He married Mary Snow, of Greenwich, Mass., February 11, 1802. They journeyed to Effingham on horseback, where he remained one year, boarding with the elder Colonel Carr Leavitt. He lived in Parsonsfield, Maine, from 1803 till 1819, when he returned to Effingham and practised until his death in 1846. Although he never graduated, yet he was a skilful physician, especially in fevers. He was hired to attend spotted fever in Gilmanton by the month.

Ebenezer Wilkinson, M.D., came in 1828, practised for eight years and moved to Tamworth.

David W. Stickney, M.D., born in Sandwich, practised in Effingham in 1838.

A Dr Smith from Vermont was in practice a short time in 1842. He later went to Manchester.

Dr Orren S. Sanders, a native of Epsom, after a very thorough medical education, was graduated in 1843 from Vermont Medical College. The same year he married Drusilla, daughter of Silas M. and Huldah Morse, of Effing- ham, and at once located and practised his profession here until June, 1847. In November, 1848, he went to Boston, where he has since had a large and successful practice, and is a prominent homeopathic physician.

Seth S. Jones, M.D., came from Bradford in 1849, practised three years, and returned.

John Blackmer, M.D., a native of Plymouth, Mass., after a collegiate course at Brown University, R. I., was graduated from the medical department of Harvard University in 1854, and soon after commenced practice at Effing- ham, and remained five years. Since that time he has been assistant physician in the hospital for the insane at Augusta, Maine ; McLean Asylum, Somerville, Mass. ; during the war he held high rank as surgeon in the navy. He practised in Centre Sandwich eight years. In 1872, 1873, and 1874, he was Prohibition candidate for governor. He is now located in Springfield, Mass., and besides his professional duties has been editor of The Domestic Journal for eight years, and is now the Prohibition candidate for governor of Massachu- setts. He married Ellen S., only daughter of John S. Dearborn, of Effingham.

Jeremiah W. Dearborn, son of John and Sally (Wadleigh) Dearborn, was born in Parsonsfield, Maine, May 2, 1832; studied medicine with Doctors Moses and John B. Sweat, and graduated March 26, 1857, at Michigan Univer- sity. He commenced practice at East Parsonsfield, where he remained two years, then moved to Effingham, where he practised for sixteen years : then in Freedom for one year, and returned then back to Parsonsfield. He married Mary G. Smart in 1853. He was a member of the Maine senate in 1880, a trustee of Maine General Hospital, and for three years a trustee of Maine Insane Hospital. He has a very extended practice, and is much employed as a

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consulting physician. As a surgeon he stands without an equal in a large area. He has recently published an elaborate history of Parsonsfield.

Dr Albert N. Gould, born at Berwick, Maine, June 21, 1847, fitted for college at Great Falls and South Berwick, graduated from the medical depart- ment of Dartmouth in 1872, and located at Centre Effingham in 1875, where he has since resided. He was one of the censors of Carroll County Medical Society at its reorganization. His great-grandfather, Edward Nason, was a soldier in the Revolution, under Arnold in the invasion of Canada, and Wash- ington at the siege of Yorktown and surrender of Cornwallis.

Physicians born in town. - For Daniel Hobbs, see Madison. Asahel Dear- born, M.D., son of Asahel and Elizabeth (Drake) Dearborn, was born May 6, 1798; died October, 1848. He married Louisa Dalton, of Parsonsfield, and graduated in medicine in Philadelphia. He first located at Lord's Hill, but afterward moved to Drake's Corner, and from there to Hampton in 1839; then to Portsmouth, where he remained a few years and returned to Effingham, where he practised till his death in 1848.

Carr L. Drake, M.D., son of John and Mary (Leavitt) Drake, was born July 19, 1798. He was educated at the academies in Effingham, Fryeburg, and Limerick, Maine ; read medicine with doctors Libbey and Clark, of Effingham, and Dr Bradbury, of Parsonsfield, Maine; married, July 5, 1821, Margaret Titcomb, of Effingham. He practised here three years, then moved to Tamworth, where he practised for seventeen years ; then to Ossipee for four years ; then to Effingham, where he remained until his death, October 24, 1869. His wife is living, aged eighty-eight years.

Joseph Huntress, M.D., son of Samuel and Huldah (Leavitt) Huntress, received his education at Effingham academy (Lord's Hill) ; read medicine with Dr Calvin Topliff, of Freedom, and graduated from the medical depart- ment of Dartmouth. He commenced practice in Tamworth; was assistant surgeon in hospitals near Washington during the war; practised medicine in Washington after the war, then returned to Tamworth, then moved to Sandwich.

Joseph H. Warren, M.D., son of Joseph Warren and Caroline (Huckins) Warren, is a resident of Boston, where he has attained to eminence in his profession. Samuel Otis Clark, son of Robert and Mary (Dearborn) Clark, . was born June 23, 1828 ; educated at the Carroll Literary Institute ; entered Dartmouth in 1846; studied with Dr S. S. Jones, and was graduated from Vermont State Medical School in 1853. He married Eliza Ann Moore in 1857; commenced practice in Newfield, Maine ; remained there twelve years, and since has been in successful practice in Limerick, Maine.

James M. Leavitt, M.D., son of James B. and Mary (Lamper) Leavitt, was born July 2, 1852. Receiving his education at Centre Effingham and North Parsonsfield, Maine, seminary, he read medicine with Dr J. W. Dearborn, and

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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.

was graduated from Bowdoin Medical School in June, 1878. He married E. E. Leavitt, of South Boston, Mass., June 1, 1881, and has been in practice from the first at Lord's Hill (the place of his birth), where he has a successful practice. He is a member of Carroll County Medical Society, and United States medical examiner for invalid pensions for Carroll county.

George W. Lougee, M.D., son of Sylvester T. and Ruhamah (Burleigh) Lougee, was born June 3, 1859. He attended town schools, high school at Chelsea, Mass., and Parsonsfield seminary ; graduated from Bowdoin Medical School in 1883; and married, in 1886, Edith, daughter of Dr A. D. Merrow. He resides and practises in Freedom. He is a member of the New Hampshire Medical Society and coroner for Carroll county.

Frank T. Lougee, M.D., a brother of George, was born September, 1862. He attended the town schools, and was three years at Parsonsfield seminary, graduating from the medical department of Dartmouth in 1886. He lives in Lynn, Mass. He married, May, 1889, Elva N. Staples, daughter of Rev. L. T. Staples, of Parsonsfield.

Olin M. Drake, M.D., son of Cyrus K. and Lucinda (Morse) Drake, was born April 26, 1847. He studied medicine with Dr O. S. Sanders in Boston ; graduated at a homeopathie college in Philadelphia in 1879; and married Mary Whiting, of Ellsworth, Maine, where he located and is in successful practice.

Thomas N. Drake, M.D., brother of Olin M., was born May 14, 1858; studied medicine with Dr Olin M. Drake ; graduated from Hahneman college, Philadelphia, in 1884; married Florence E. Thomson, of Pittsfield, Maine, March 3, 1887 ; and is now in practice in Pittsfield.

J. Starr Barker, M.D., son of Aretus G. and Exa L. (Drake) Barker, was born February 26, 1866; studied with Dr S. S. Stearns, of Washington, D. C., and graduated from Howard University, Washington, D. C., March, 1889.

Sheriff. - Andrew J. Milliken, sheriff of Carroll county, is son of Thomas and Mary A. (Wedgwood) Milliken, of Effingham, where he was born August 8, 1833. He received the school advantages of Effingham and Parsonsfield seminary, and was a farmer until 1865, when he moved to Newfield, Maine, and was a merchant. In 1867 he moved to Wakefield, where he has been in trade until recently. He was selectman of Effingham in 1857-59 and 1863-64; representative in 1861-62, and deputy sheriff from 1874 to 1883, when he was elected sheriff, and has held the office since by successive reëlections.

Francisco Weston Barker was born April 17, 1846, in Lovell, Oxford County, Maine, son of John and Selina (Little) Barker. He enlisted before he was eighteen years old, March 10, 1864, in Company B, Thirty-second Maine Volunteers, and took part in the battles at North Anna river, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, June 15 and 16; July 30 (explosion of mine) ; Pegram farm. September 30, 1864; and the capture of Petersburg, April 2, 1865. He

Dement

John

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came to Effingham in the fall of 1865, attended school at the N. E. M. C. Institute ; and became a farmer. He married, November 17, 1872, Lucretia M. Marston, of Effingham. They have one child, Kate E., born November 6, 1873.

Mr Barker is Republican in politics, and served as selectman in 1876, 1881, and 1882; on school committee for several years, and is a member of the pres- ent board of education. He was appointed town treasurer in June, 1889, and was a member of the constitutional convention in 1889. In all his official relations he has been a careful and diligent custodian of the interests entrusted to him, and intelligently discharged his duties. He is a natural historian ; and, although the town records were but recently burned, "from people, monuments, stones, books, and memoranda, he has gathered and preserved much from the deluge of time " in the history of Effingham in this volume, and deserves the thanks of his townsmen for his work so meritoriously done. - [EDITOR.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

JOHN DEMERITT.1

THE Demeritts belong to the old families in the state. They are of English descent and emigrated to this country prior to the Revolution, in which struggle they took part. Some of the name settled at Dover, in that part now Madbury. In 1733 John Demeritt was a large landholder in Dover, and "John Demeritt was chosen the first representative to the general assembly held at Exeter in December, 1776," from Madbury. He was probably the ancestor of the family in Effingham.

John Demeritt was born in Ossipee, July 21, 1813 ; died at Effingham Falls, June 7, 1883, and was the son of John and Betsey (Leavitt) Demeritt, and the eldest of eight children. While he was quite small his father moved into Effingham, and settled in the vicinity of Effingham Falls.

The only educational advantages which he enjoyed were a few short terms of the district school, which he attended before he was sixteen years old, when his father was drowned while driving logs . on Pine river, only a short distance from the place where his brother Daniel was drowned four years previous. This brought the care and support of his mother, brothers, and sister in a great measure upon him. In this school of adversity and necessity he received lessons of great value to him in after life. He went to his task with that determination which meant success and was a leading characteristic of his life.

1 By F. W. Barker.

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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.

He kept the family united until all were grown to manhood. They lived and worked together, and had all matters of business in common. They cut oak timber, made it into shook, and drew them to Portland, where they were exchanged for dry goods, groceries, etc., which they brought to their store at the Falls. In 1861, all the brothers except the. youngest having died, they made a division of the property and thereafter lived separately.

From 1838 until his death Mr Demeritt was engaged in trading and lumbering. For seventeen years he was associated with Josiah Thurston, of Freedom, in operating timber lots, and from 1863 to 1868 he was engaged with his son John L. in the manufacture of heading-shooks.

In polities Mr Demeritt was born and bred a Democrat, but followed the lead of John P. Hale into the Freesoil, or Abolition, party. He became a Republican upon the organization of that party and was an earnest supporter of its principles. He was a firm friend of the colored man, and many a one has been assisted by him on his way to Canada, through the medium of the great underground railroad. He took an active part in local political affairs, and was several times elected one of the selectmen. He was also town agent for the prosecution of frauds in the management of town affairs during the war. In this investigation he displayed his usual firmness and perseverance, carrying these suits to a successful termination, and bringing back into the town treasury a considerable sum which had been unlawfully taken from it.

He represented Effingham in the legislature of 1868, and was the prime mover in establishing the Ossipee Valley Ten-eent Savings Bank at Freedom and procured its charter from the legislature. He also obtained the passage of the law placing the support of insane criminals upon the state, thus relieving Effingham of the support of Samuel Frost, who had been sentenced to the insane asylum for life for the murder of William H. Day. He held the office of deputy sheriff under appointments from Enoch Remick, Charles H. Parker, and Leavitt H. Eastman, and was appointed sheriff by Governor Person C. Cheney, and held the office until the elections were changed from annual to biennial.

In religion he was a Freewill Baptist, and one of the original members of the church at Effingham Falls, and contributed liberally towards the building of its house of worship. He was a member of Carroll lodge, A. F. and A. M., Freedom.

In 1878 and 1879 Mr Demeritt, while acting as agent of the Saco Water Power Company, built the canal at Effingham Falls. In this he was under the supervision of Hon. William P. Haines, agent of the Pepperell and Laconia corporations, Biddeford, Maine, and Thomas Quinby, Esq. (father of Hon. Henry B. Quinby, of Lake Village), agent of the Saco Water Power Com- pany. This canal is built through the site of the old ironworks on the upper falls, and is about fifty rods in length, and from fifteen to twenty-five feet in

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depth. By it the fall in the river is overcome, and the water can be drawn to a level of the water in the eddy below the falls, which will lower the water in Ossipee lake and its tributaries about six feet. A dam is built at the head of the canal in which are six gates, each six by twenty-four feet.

Mr Demeritt married Huldah L., daughter of Dearborn and Sarah (Leavitt) Davis, born September 30, 1811, and died January 22, 1875. They had five children : Albronia L., born April 18, 1837; John L., born October 5, 1840 ; Sarah A., born June 26, 1842; Mary E., born November 24, 1847; Lucy C., born June 24, 1851. Of these John L. is the only survivor.

Mr Demeritt was a kind and obliging neighbor, equally firm in his friend- ships and enmities, and although quick to resent infringement on his rights, he was always ready to overlook grievances and rectify errors. Impetuous and generous to a fault, he could acquire better than save. He never resorted to questionable methods, nor took advantage of any one in matters of business. He did not value money except for its use, and any worthy person or object found him ready to lend a helping hand. For his qualities of heart and mind he owed much to the training of a Christian mother, and his care for her was the just pride of his later years. He was fond of argument, and generally carried his point by logical presentation of facts. In all the positions he was called to fill, he performed his duties not only faithfully, but ereditably both to himself and those who appointed him. He was a shrewd business man and could carry out successfully a line of action, opposition only serving to stimu- late him to greater exertion. He always had the welfare of his town and neighbors at heart and could work as hard for them as for himself.

FREEDOM.

CHAPTER XLIX.

Incorporation - Description - Boundaries - Population - Freedom Grange - Manufac- turing - Mercantile Houses - Physicians - Hon. Zebulon Pease - Savings Bank - Baptist Church - Christian Church.

F REEDOM was originally incorporated June 16, 1831, as North Effingham. It embraced that portion of Effingham lying north of the Great Ossipee river. This name was retained only until December 16, 1832, when it was changed to Freedom. The town is bounded on the north by Eaton and Madison, on the east by Porter, south by Effingham, and west by Ossipee. There is said to be a small island in the Ossipee river on which is the corner of the towns of Effingham and Freedom, Porter, in Oxford county, Maine, and Parsonsfield, in York county, Maine. Ossipee lake occupies the west side of the town, and a lovely small sheet of water, Loon lake, is in the south- eastern part. Ossipee river is the only stream of importance. This furnishes a moderate amount of water-power. The soil is mostly good; valuable for tillage and grazing. The population was 910 in 1850, 917 in 1860, 737 in 1870, and 750 in 1880. Freedom is devoid of railroads, as the much talked-of road up the Ossipee valley has never been built. Its nearest station is Centre Ossipee, on the Boston & Maine railroad, eight miles away. Baldwin depot on the Portland & Ogdensburgh railroad is thirteen miles distant.

The town having such a late date of organization, its early settlement and pioneer history is necessarily included in Effingham, which see.

Freedom is a fine agricultural town, and intelligence is manifested in improving the condition of land, cattle, and all branches of husbandry. Per- haps no town in the county is doing more in this direction. There were produced in 1889, 18,850 pounds of butter, 200 pounds of cheese, 615 gallons of milk sold, 1,312 pounds of wool grown, 45 tons of ensilage fed, 14 tons of fertilizers bought and used, and $366 received from summer boarders.

Freedom Grange, No. 139, Patrons of Husbandry, was organized March 8, 1889, with fifty-four members. This was one of the largest granges ever formed in the state. The first officers were : master, Alonzo Towle ; overseer,

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S. W. Fowler; lecturer, S. A. McDaniel ; steward, Alonzo G. Fowler; assist- ant steward, William Moulton; chaplain, William Furbush ; treasurer, George I. Philbrick ; secretary, Charles H. Andrews; gate-keeper, Alonzo Pease ; Ceres, Mrs Alonzo Towle ; Pomona, Mrs Charles Danforth ; Flora, Mrs Edwin Perkins ; lady steward, Miss Isa M. Harmon. John W. Smith was elected director of the Grange Fair Association, and Stephen Danforth was recommended for agent of the Grange Mutual Fire Insurance Company.

Under the superintendence of the agricultural experiment station of the state, cach county in the state has an acre of ground planted according to the plan of the state director. The acre in Carroll county is located in Freedom, and is in charge of Dr Alonzo Towle, of the state board of agriculture.

MANUFACTURING. - The water-power at the village and elsewhere was formerly used to carry quite extensive manufacturing. According to Fogg's Gazetteer, 1858, there were in Freedom four tanneries, one sawmill, one machine-shop, and manufactories of bedsteads, carriages, chairs, cabinet ware, edge tools, and harnesses. Since then Churchill & Bros. have manufactured leather, C. & O. Parsons, bobbins, while lumbering has been conducted extensively by the Thurston, Towle, and Keneson families. In 1879 three firms were making sale clothing, S. Danforth & Son and George F. Lord, at the village, and Clark Brothers at Huntress Bridge.

Stephen Danforth was the pioneer in what has since become an important industry. In 1873, in connection with his son, Pitt F., he began the manufac- ture of sale clothing. The firm has ever been S. Danforth & Son, Charles P. Danforth becoming a member on the death of his brother Pitt in 1886. He was later succeeded by another brother, John A., who is now in business with his father. They make an average of 30,000 pairs of pantaloons a year.

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History of Carroll County, New Hampshire, Part 67

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