History of Carroll County, New Hampshire, Part 87

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

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stopped to consider whether or not his views were popular, but only to decide if they were right. Early in life he was an Episcopalian; in later life he became an Adventist, and those coming to convert him to their views often went away converts to his reasons. He possessed a marvelous memory ; everything committed to its keeping was retained clear, sharp, and well- defined. He was a fine singer, and during his Boston residence led the choir at Trinity (now Phillips Brooks's) Church. In social life, Mr Hoyt was a strong friend, plain in speech, frank and without dissimulation ; retiring and conscientious in all things ; as an educator he stood in the front rank. Judge David H. Hill writes thus of him: "He was a man of vast information, far beyond the average of the college graduate. He was in the habit of engaging his pupils much in conversation, and it is the testimony of many of them that from the lips of Aaron B. Hoyt fell more wisdom that took effeet in after life than from any other man."

Mr Hoyt married, first, Catharine H., daughter of Augustus Blanchard, one of Sandwich's prominent citizens. She died December 15, 1866. Their children were: Moses C., who settled as a physician in Illinois; Augustus B., also a physician in Illinois; Esther A. (Mrs William R. Smith); Catharine, and Elizabeth Grace. Elizabeth G. is the only one now living. He married, second, February 8, 1873, Sarah A., daughter of Augustus and Huldah (Cousins) Doeg, of Alfred, Maine, who survives him. Her care and devotion made his last days comfortable and cheerful. The engraving which accompanies this sketch is her tribute to his honored memory.

MEHITABLE BEEDE WIGGIN.

Mehitable Beede Wiggin was born in Sandwich, March 15, 1800. Her father was Jonathan Beede, a descendant from sturdy ancestors in the island of Jersey. (See sketch of Judge Daniel Beede.) Her mother, Anna Winslow, of Exeter, was a lineal descendant of Governor Edward Wins- low, who came over in the "Mayflower." Both were devout members of the Society of Friends.

In 1784 Jonathan and his wife moved from Poplin, now Fremont, and settled in a log cabin in the forest at the foot of Guinea hill and Israel mountain. Here they reared a large family of children, one of whom was Mehitable. Her parents were possessed of great force of character, mentally and morally, and from them she inherited those sterling traits which were so conspicuous throughout her life. Although her parents did all they could to educate their children, much remained for them to accomplish by individual effort. Mehitable early displayed a remarkable thirst for knowledge and a great desire to obtain a liberal education. Not content to stop with the

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mastery of the common English branches, she pushed her way into the realms of higher mathematics and the classics. After leaving the district school, she pursued her studies at Wolfeborongh Academy, and at the Friends' school, Providence, R. I. At the latter she was the first young lady who pursued the study of algebra. Passing from these schools she engaged in the study of the languages under the direction of Rev. Samuel Hidden and her cousin, Aaron B. Hoyt. While studying with Mr Hidden, she used to ride on horseback from her home to his house in Tamworth, a distance of ten miles, once a week, for the purpose of reciting to him. On these occasions it was no unusual thing for her to learn and recite double the number of lines of Virgil given her for a daily lesson. Indeed, her power of acquisition was remarkable. Before she was fifteen years of age she had learned and could recite the whole of Milton's Paradise Lost. She began teaching when sixteen years old, and continued to teach in public and private schools for half a century. Her success is attested by the many noble men and women who received their inspiration and instruc- tion at her hands. Her power to arouse in others a desire for self-improvement was something wonderful, and that pupil was dull indeed into whose mind she could not instil some measure of her own ambition. Among her pupils were that eminent teacher, Daniel G. Beede, the distinguished artist, Albert Hoyt, and Hon. John Wentworth. From childhood she took a deep interest in the political events of the times, particularly in the great conflict over human slavery. Wherever human freedom was abridged or oppression existed, there her sympathies were enlisted. Toward the poor her charity was boundless. The Christian philanthropy of Elizabeth Frye, the efforts of Channing to liber- alize religious thought, the heroic struggles of Kossuth and Garibaldi, the patri- otic sentiments of Phillips, Sumner, and Lincoln, found responsive echo in her soul and aroused her strongest sympathy and admiration. But the most ear- nest efforts of her life were directed to the education of her children ; for them she toiled unceasingly, sparing no pains to develop a sound moral and intellec- tual character. She married Richard Wiggin, son of Andrew and Judith (Varney) Wiggin, in 1829. Their children were Jonathan B., Andrew B., Anna H., Samuel B., Elizabeth, George W., Richard H., and Eliphaz O. Judith (Varney) Wiggin, whose second husband was Jonathan Beede (father of Mehitable Beede Wiggin), was born at Dover, March 3, 1777, and died at the home of her daughter, Naomi Beede Hoag, in Tamworth, at the age of one hundred and two years, with mental faculties undimmed. Mehitable Beede Wiggin died September 8, 1867, deeply mourned by a large circle of neighbors, pupils, and friends. As a ripe scholar, a successful teacher, and a Christian wife and mother, she had few equals in the community in which she lived.

The A maislow

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IION. MOULTON H. MARSTON.

THE Carroll county Marstons spring from varying lines of the common ancestor, William, the emigrant, who came from England in 1634, and be- longed to a family entitled to bear arms. He was an early settler of Hampton. His son, Thomas, came with his father as a youth of seventeen years, and made his home in Hampton. The line to Moulton H. Marston is William1, Thomas2, John3, Jonathan+, Elisha5, John6. John Marston 6 was a man of decided originality, ability, and force of character. He was a patriot soldier in the war of the Revolution, and, after his long services for his country were ended, became a settler in Moultonborough. He married Nancy, daughter of General Jonathan Moulton, the grantee of Moultonborough, and one of the brightest intellects of his generation. The young couple built up a large establishment at East Moultonborough, dispensed hospitality freely, and de- veloped quite a place in the wild woods. Fortune smiled upon their efforts, and for long years their home was one of the most pretentious of the town. Mr Marston was, however, a liberal in religious thought, and one of the earli- est to embrace the faith of the Universalists. This was in that day very much as if he had announced himself an atheist, and as he had that courage which accompanies deep convictions, he positively and peremptorily refused to pay the taxes levied upon him to aid in paying the salary of the established min- ister of the town. A long litigation followed ; he would not compromise his sense of right, justice, and honor by paying even a portion of the assessment, and finally, after reaching the last court of resort, the ultimate decision was given against him, and the costs and expenses of the protracted legal proceed- ings swallowed up his entire fortune. He was of courtly ways and appearance, and his daguerreotype in possession of his grandson, Dr E. Q. Marston, resembles the English statesman Edmund Burke. He died in 1846, aged nearly ninety. Three of his sons became residents of Sandwich, and are now (1889) vigorous, alert, and well-preserved at advanced ages: namely, Elisha, eighty-eight years ; Caleb M., eighty-six ; Moulton H., eighty-three.

Hon. Moulton Hoyt Marston, son of John and Nancy (Moulton) Marston, was born in Moultonborough, January 8, 1806, but from the age of five years he has been a citizen of Sandwich. Commencing to take care of himself at an age almost incredibly young, Mr Marston developed as a boy rare industry, economy, and financial ability, and acquired a shrewd practicality that has been turned to account in many business operations in maturer life. He was well developed physically, and had a well-balanced mind. He was stirring and active, but cautious and conservative, and counted the costs and looked on all sides of a question before he adopted or opposed it, and generally, whenever he advocated a measure or a principle, he was prepared to do all he could to bring success and rarely failed of his object.

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Mr Marston was for many years a merchant and a prosperous one. He was a firm adherent of the principles of Thomas Jefferson, and there could be no middle ground to his Democracy. He deemed the Constitution the bulwark of our liberties, and would sanction no intrusion upon its sanctity. Honesty, integrity, and economy in the management of public affairs were cardinal principles in his platform. By study of men and things, aided by strong native common-sense, he soon qualified himself for official place, and his opin- ions were of weight among the people. He was town clerk of Sandwich ten years, and his fine penmanship and full records are a pleasure to behold. He was postmaster at Centre Sandwich for many years, representative to the Gen- eral Court, county treasurer in 1849 and 1850, and was twice a member of the governor's council (1875 and 1876): In public and private matters he com- bines precision and grasp, a clear-cut judgment and an instinct that rarely errs. As president of the Carroll County National Bank, and later as president of Sandwich Savings Bank, he has brought into practical operations the principles of finance he had previously adopted. It is just to say of Mr Marston that if his lot had been cast in any of the great centres of the world's commercial activities, he could not have failed to have been one of the marked and suc- cessful operators in its business circles. In private and social life he is noted for his cordiality and geniality, his pleasant conversational powers, and his courtesy of manner toward all, the high and the low, the rich and the poor. He is a Methodist in his religious belief, and gave the lot now occupied by the church. He has been for many years one of the leading men of the county in more than one respect, and he is now passing the closing years of a long life in the consciousness of having done his work well, and that his children and children's children are among the state's best citizens.

Mr Marston married, March 30, 1830, Anne M., daughter of Colonel Jona- than Ambrose, of Moultonborough. She died January 21, 1857. They had five children : Anne Elizabeth (married Hon. William A. Heard), died Janu- ary 4, 1854 ; Emily Maria (Mrs William A. Heard) ; Elvira B. (Mrs Samuel G. Lane, of Concord) : Carrie B. (Mrs Samuel C. Tozzer, of Lynn, Mass.) ; Alfred A., a highly successful business man of Springfield, Mass.

IION. WILLIAM ANDREW HEARD.

IN August, 1623, the ship "Ann" arrived at Plymouth, bringing large additions to the settlement. These were, as Governor Bradford said, " very useful persons, and became good members to the body." Among these early emigrants was William Heard of the Devonshire family of England. He was probably the American ancestor of the Heard family of Massachusetts. In 1624 he was granted an acre of land in the north part of Plymouth. The

William A. MEand

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next record we have of the family is that of Zachariah Heard, who, "in August, 1707, was the owner of a homestead and clothier shop in Cambridge, on the Watertown road." About 1709 he moved to Wayland, Mass., where he was conspicuous in its affairs as highway surveyor in 1714, constable in 1716, selectman in 1723, and also in many other town offices. Zachariah was born in 1675, married Silence Brown, of Wayland, in 1707, and died Decem- ber 27, 1761. Richard, his fifth child, was born April 2, 1720, married Sarah Fiske, of Wayland, died May 16, 1792. Their son David, born June 2, 1758, died January 22, 1813. He was a very kind and genial man, and for many years he and his brother Richard resided together and worked in company, and he never said an unpleasant word to him. During the Revolution he belonged to the militia. He married, first, Eunice Baldwin, of Wayland, May 24, 1784, who died September 5, 1785. He married, second, Sibyl Sherman, also of Wayland, March 31, 1789. She died September 2, 1845.

William, son of David and Sibyl (Sherman) Heard, was born in Wayland, September 19, 1795, and died there March 30, 1869. "He was very promi- nent in the history of the town, and held every office in its government. He was coroner of Middlesex county for many years. He was a man of very strong will, unswerving honesty, and untiring zeal in carrying out whatever he undertook. During the war he traveled a short time in the Soutlı, visited the soldiers in camp, with whom he had much sympathy, and for whose interests he spent much time and labor." He was a Whig and Republican in politics, and religiously a Unitarian. Mr Heard married Susan Mann, of Orford, N. H., March 14, 1825. Their children were Samuel H. M., William A., Jared M., and Susan E. Mrs Heard died July 14, 1870. The ancestral history of Mrs. Susan Mann Heard is interesting and worthy of record here. According to the Heraldic Register of ancient and noble families in England, a coat-of-arms was granted to Edward Mann, of Ipswich, in Suffolk, England, March 2, 1692. Lord Cornwallis, whose family name was Mann, had the same coat-of-arms ; it was "Sable on a fess counter-embattled between three goats passant argent ; as many aigrettes." This was borne by Sir Horatio Mann, Linton, Kent, who was knighted March 3, 1755. His motto was “ Per ardua stabilis." The king's private secretary was for many years selected from this family. William Mann, a native of Kent county, emigrated to Massachusetts early in its settlement and located in Cambridge, where he married Mary Jarrod. His son Samuel, born July 6, 1647, was graduated from Harvard in 1665. He became a noted clergyman ; he preached in Wrentham, Mass., to a few settlers until the place was abandoned on account of Philip's War. On their return Mr Mann accompanied them and preached his own ordination sermon. He died in 1719, in the forty-ninth year of his ministry. His wife was Esther Ware, of Dedham, Mass. Their son Nathaniel married Elizabeth George, of Dorchester, December 19, 1704. He settled in Mansfield, Conn.,

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and being the first settler, the town was named for him. John, son of Nathaniel, married Margaret Peters, of Hebron, Conn. [She was a lineal descendant of Sir John Peters. of Exeter, England, whose ancestor was a Norman officer in 1066 at the battle of Hastings, and was granted a coat-of- arms by William the First. His motto was: " Sans Dieu rien." Rev. Hugh Peters, A.M., chaplain to the Lords and House of Commons for twenty years, was one of the seven judges who condemned Charles the First; he, with his brothers William and Thomas, came to New England in 1634. They were grandsons of Sir John. Thomas was a prominent clergyman ; he founded an academy which bore his name until it became Yale College. William had a son William, whose son John, in 1717, moved from Boston to Hebron, Conn., where his daughter Margaret was born.] John Mann, son of John and Mar- garet (Peters) Mann, married Lydia Porter, of Hebron, and moved with her to Orford in October, 1765. They were the first abiding settlers. Mr Mann died May 9, 1828, aged eighty-four. Of his children was Jared, born Novem- ber 6, 1770, died May 30, 1837, in Lowell, Mass. He held some public offices in Orford, and was an exemplary and useful citizen. His wife was Mindwell, daughter of Dr Samuel Hale, of Pepperell, Mass. Of their children was Mrs Susan Mann Heard.

Hon. William Andrew Heard, son of William and Susan (Mann) Heard, was born at Wayland, Mass., August 25, 1827, and had the educational advan- tages of Wayland academy until he was fifteen. His inheritance was the mental and physical characteristics of ancestors noted for fidelity, bravery, and firmness. Commencing the battle of life for himself at the age of fifteen as a clerk in the store of Timothy Varney, Centre Sandwich, by his diligence, cour- tesy, and faithfulness he soon acquired the fast friendship of his employer, proved himself possessed of the necessary qualities for success in merchan- dising, and in 1849 engaged in business for himself as a merchant where Charles Blanchard now trades. At the end of two years he sold to Messrs Gould & Varney, and purchased the Hoit store, traded there five years, then disposed of the business to Dr Tristram Sanborn. A year later he became the owner of the stock of Gould & Varney, and after one year admitted Charles Blanchard as a partner, the firm becoming Heard & Blanchard, and continuing so for fourteen years, when Mr Blanchard purchased Mr Heard's interest. Later, Mr Heard was one year in trade in the Bank building, and then pur- chased the stock of goods owned by Frank Burleigh in the Hoit store, where he traded until he retired in 1878, after nearly twenty-eight years of active and successful merchandising. To deal with men year after year, to keep their custom and goodwill, requires not only a high degree of business ability, but honesty of purpose and integrity, and also a facility in reading character, com- bined with a genial courtesy, that would insure success in any field.

In August, 1862, Mr Heard enlisted as a soldier in the Fourteenth Regi-

Enoch 2 Fellows

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ment, New Hampshire Volunteers, was commissioned quartermaster of the regiment on its organization, and accompanied it to its scene of operations in Virginia, then the nucleus of the active operations of war on the Atlantic coast. He became brigade quartermaster in November, 1862. But the climatic influences and press of labor incumbent on his position cansed his health to fail to such an extent as to compel his resignation in September, 1863.

Many public trusts and offices have been committed to Mr Heard. He was town clerk of Sandwich in 1859-61 ; representative to the legislature in 1873- 74; treasurer of Sandwich Savings Bank from September, 1872, until January, 1887 ; appointed clerk of the courts of Carroll county in August, 1874, and reappointed in August, 1876. This office he held until 1887. His high repu- tation as an able financier caused him to be appointed to the responsible position of national bank examiner for Maine and New Hampshire in January, 1887, and he tendered his resignation of all other official trusts. August 16, 1889, Mr Heard was appointed bank commissioner of the state of New Hampshire. He was educated a Whig; voted for General Taylor, and also for Abraham Lincoln ; was a Liberal Republican in the Greeley campaign, and has since been a Democrat; is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church ; became a Freemason at the organization of Red Mountain Lodge of Sandwich, and has held its principal offices ; and is a prominent member of the Moulton S. Webster Post of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Mr Heard married, June 6, 1850, Anne Elizabeth, daughter of Hon. Moul- ton H. Marston. They had one child, Edwin M. (now a merchant and banker in Sandwich). Mrs Heard died January 4, 1854. Mr Heard married Emily Maria Marston, sister of his first wife, April 25, 1855. They have two chil- dren, William and Arthur M.

Mr Heard is a kind and courteous gentleman, a wise and unostentatious man, to whom, in recognition of his abilities, honors have come, and his influ- ence has been beneficially exerted in the affairs of town, county, and state. He has been a resident of Sandwich for nearly half a century, and prominently connected with its business, social, and political interests, and an energetic and generous contributor to its development and progress, and is one of Carroll's most widely known and popular citizens.

COLONEL ENOCH Q. FELLOWS.

THE CIVIL WAR of 1861 to 1865 was a most critical epoch in our nation's life, and it is most fitting that, in connection with the history of events, we should preserve somewhat of the individuality of those citizens of Carroll county who were especially active in defence of the Union during that great

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era, before the shadows of the thickening past shall weave an impenetrable veil over the actors in that most sublime tragedy. Their ancestry, their education, their training, and their personality, shining out from the historic page, will teach most valuable lessons to generation after generation.

Colonel Enoch Quimby Fellows, of the Third and Ninth New Hampshire Regiments in the Great Rebellion, was born in Sandwich, June 20, 1825. His grandfather, Stephen Fellows, was born in Poplin, now Fremont, January 11, 1749. He was a farmer and butcher, a constable and collector. He was a stalwart man and a patriot. In the Revolution a false rumor once came that the British were landing at Hampton beach, and he "run forty bullets as quick as ever forty bullets were run," and, taking his gun, galloped away toward the scene of supposed action. His son, John, was born in Poplin, November 11, 1791, and in 1806 came with his father to Sandwich, where the family has since been resident.

John Fellows passed his life in Sandwich, a man of industry and worth ; "a farmer, carpenter, storekeeper; and, for amusement, a captain in the militia. He was a kind man, but austere and determined in his own belief. His Bible offered to an upright life a reward in heaven, but no particular pleasure on earth ; hence he did not think of pleasure here. His sons inherited his strict honesty and firmness, but drew their geniality from their mother's family." He married Mary J., daughter of Enoch Quimby, a farmer, and a lieutenant in the War of 1812. The father of Lieutenant Enoch Quimby was Aaron Quimby, a native of Weare. He was a captain in the Revolution, and after his removal to Sandwich "held the first commission in the militia in Sandwich and Moultonborough as ensign of an alarm company, in 1787, with rank of major."

So it is to the maternal side that we must chiefly look for the inherited military tastes of Colonel Fellows. He early availed himself of the educa- tional advantages of the town schools and academy, and, thirsting for more knowledge, unaided, determined to obtain it. He attended a high school in Wayland, Mass., in the fall of his eighteenth year, and taught the winter's school in Framingham. A lawyer who had passed a year at West Point military school was in practice in Framingham, and the advantages of that institution became known to the young teacher. The next year, 1843, Mr Fellows completed his preparation for college at Newbury, Vermont, seminary. During the summer vacation he made a personal application to Congressman John P. Hale for an appointment as a cadet at West Point, and interesting him and Congressman Moses Norris, in whose congressional district he was a resident, in his behalf, he received the appointment in the spring of 1844. Immediately going to West Point he entered the academy on his nineteenth birthday, and took and maintained a good standing in his class, among such companions as George B. McClellan, Ambrose E. Burnside, D. N. Couch, Jesse L. Reno, and " Stonewall " Jackson.

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His going to West Point had the opposition of his father, who desired his services at home, and, on account of his solicitations, he resigned his cadetship in November, 1846, and returned to Sandwich. His military education and tastes caused him to take interest in the militia, and he was soon (1847) appointed one of the drill-officers of the New Hampshire militia. This he resigned in 1851, when the militia law was revised. He was adjutant of the Nineteenth Regiment in 1847-49, and in 1858 brigadier-general of the brigade composed of Carroll, Belknap, and Strafford counties. In 1851-54 he was door- keeper of the New Hampshire senate. From 1854 to 1857 he held the position of inspector in the Boston custom house. From 1857 to 1861 he was in Sand- wich ; but in April, 1861, the moment he saw President Lincoln's proclamation calling for seventy-five thousand troops, he offered his services to the adjutant- general, and was immediately ordered to report at Concord. He was employed in drilling recruits and in the organization of the First Regiment, and was offered a captaincy in it, but declined, immediately enlisting as private; then was commissioned as first lieutenant of Company K, and detailed as adjutant of the regiment, the duties of which office he performed during the three months the regiment was in service. The regiment received many compliments on its efficiency and military appearance. This in an eminent degree arose from the prompt and untiring energy of Colonel Fellows, and his skill as an instructor.

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History of Carroll County, New Hampshire, Part 87

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