USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Charlestown > History of Charlestown, New-Hampshire, the old No. 4 > Part 36
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MICAH FULLER, m. Lois Sartwell (dau. of Obadiah and Rachel (Par- ker) Sartwell) b. in Groton, Mass., July 4th, 1724-no record of chil- dren-Page 197 in the Proprietors' Records is the following " Voted, that the sum of twelve pounds lawful money of the Province of Mas- sachusetts Bay be allowed to Captain John Spafford, Lieut. Moses
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Willard, Lieut. Isaac Parker, Lieut. John Sawyer, Mr. Seth Walker, Lient. James Johnson, Simon Sartwell, Nathaniel Parker, James Farnsworth, Ebenezer Putnam, to enable them to pay Micah Fuller, Blacksmith, the money they became obliged to pay to said Fuller, on be- half of the proprietors, for his coming and setting up the trade of Black- smith in town." He was one of the signers of the petition to Massa- chusetts Sept. 8th, 1755, for aid to assist the inhabitants of Charles- town in defending the place. (See page 70.)
JAMES HARVEY FULLER, (son of Abel and Phebe (Hawkins) Fuller of Putney, Vt., ) b. 1825; m. Jan. 24th, 1858, Augusta Ann Folsom (dau. of Andrew and Nancy (Leavett) Folsom) b. July 12th, 1835; came to C., in May, 1871-One child, Eva Augusta, b. June 5th, 1860.
MICHAEL GALVIN (son of Michael and Mary (Lartin) Galvin) Co. Clare, Ireland, m. Sept. 8th, 1851, Bridget Madigan, (dau. of Dennis and Ann (Mc Carty) Madigan) Co. Clare, Ireland) b. 1816; One child, Kate Galvin, b. Oct. 16th, 1852.
THOMAS GARDNER, (son of Joseph), b. June 26th, 1846; m. Oct. 16th, 1865, Cleminy Ashey, (dau. of Louis and Catharine Ashey,) b. Feb. 25th, 1847 ;- Ch. I. Thomas, b. Aug. 21st, 1867 ;- II. Mary Ann, b. Jan. 2nd, 1869; d. June, 1869; III. Mitchel Omer, b. May 31st, 1870; IV. Cleminy Emma, b. Oct. 24th, 1871; V. Joseph Lewis, b. Aug. 17th, 1875. Came to C., from Canada, 1869.
John Garfield (son of Joseph and Abigail (Persons) Garfield, of Spencer, Mass.) b. July 26th, 1771 ; m. Feb. 16th, 1800, Susan Rogers (dau. of Benjamin and Susan (Battles) Rogers) b. in Charlestown, Oct. 18th, 1773; Ch. I. William, b. March 19th, 1801; m. 1st, Dec. 20th, 1827, Betsey Pollard (dau. of Samuel and Betsey Pollard.) One child Harriet, b. April, 1829, m. Henry How, of Claremont ; had one child, Flora, and d. Jan. 9th, 1855; Mrs. Garfield d. May 12th, 1830-He m. 2nd, Nov. 21st, 1833, Anna Walker and had children ; 1. Betsy, b. April 1835 : d. Jan. 1855; 2. George, b. 1837 ; d. April, 7th, 1863; 3. Sarah, b. May 1840 ; m. Albert Frost and lives in Peterborough, N. H. 4. Marriette, b. Nov. 1841 ; m. Carlton Hurd, and lives in Newport, N. H. 5. Mary Ann, b. 1846; d. June 28th, 1871. II. Su- san b. Oct. 10th, 1803 ; m. April 19th, 1831 ; Burrill Porter (see Por- ter). III. Abigail b. Nov. 3d, 1805; m. Dec. 25th, 1828, Lewis H. Walker-One child, Lizzie, m. Fred Cooley. Mr. Walker d. July 1st, 1843. IV. Elizabeth, b. Sept. 21st, 1808 ; m. April 5th, 1837, War- ren Dodge-had two children, Fred and Ursula-d. 1844; V. John
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Gilbert, b. Dec. 3d, 1817; d. Oct. 17th, 1846; VI. Mary, b. April 9th, 1820; d. Aug. 12th, 1849.
LEWIS GAY, b. in Stoughton, Mass., Apr. 24th, 1785 ; m. Nov. 2nd, 1813, Elizabeth Gay, b. in Canton, Mass., Oct. 11th, 1784. He settled at first, in Canton, from whence after the birth of four children, he removed in Oct., 1828, to Charlestown, N. H. Ch. I. Lavinia, b. Jan. 1st, 1815; d. March 10th, 1869. II. Lewis, jr., b. Feb. 12th, 1820; m. May 4th, 1843, Hannah E. Howard, b. in Marlow, N. H., Jan. 5th, 1822. Ch. 1. Sarah E., b. Apr. 4th, 1844. 2. Martha E., b. Sept. 11th, 1850. 3. Eva L., b. March 22nd, 1852. 4. Sumner F., b. Oct. 14th, 1856. 5. Clara J., b. March 1st, 1861 ; d. Sept. 12th, 1861. III. Isaac N., b. March 11th, 1826. IV. Charles, b. Sept. 7th, 1828 ; m. Jan. 6th, 1853, Elizabeth A. Richardson, b. in Cornish, N. H., Oct. 26th, 1831. Ch. 1. Edwin V., b. Sept, 27th, 1854. 2. Arthur H., b. Oct. 22nd, 1867; d. Dec. 10th, 1870. 3. Carrie H., b. Dec. 7th, 1870. Charles Gay was 2nd Selectman in 1861 and 62; 1st, in 1863, '64 and '65 ; 3d, in 1873; and second Representative in 1866 and '67. Eliza- beth wife of Lewis Gay, Sen., d. Jan. 3d, 1839. He m. 2nd, June 25th, 1839, Lorinda Howard, b. in Alstead, N. H., Nov. 25th, 1802. His 2nd wife d. in May 1858, and Mr. Gay d. July 8th, 1861.
Thomas, Shubael and Seth Geer came from England and settled in New York and Connecticut. Thomas, son of Seth, m. Mary Pease and came to Charlestown from Enfield, Ct., in May, 1780. He came with a yoke of oxen, and a cart in which was stowed his wife and four chil- dren, and household goods. The cart was the first vehicle of the kind, (such is the tradition) ever seen in Charlestown. He was on his way hither on the dark day which occurred on the 19th of May, 1780; and was obliged, on account of the darkness, to stop and put up. On com- ing to C., he first lived in a house near the present residence of J. G. Briggs, Jr. Esq., and had a tannery to the north of it. He also car- ried on the business of shoe making. He afterwards built the house now standing on the north-east corner of East and Sullivan streets ; also a small shoe shop, such as was then common in New England, and devoted himself to shoe making entirely. Mrs. Geer was a mil- liner and dress maker-the only one in town at that time. After moving into their new house, the family were frequently entertained by the howling of wolves which used to come down at night from the deep forests, and prowl around the door. Mr. Geer died at the age of 89; Mrs. Geer at the age of 92.
Ch. I. Horace, b. March 20th, 1773; m. Nancy Owen; II. Wil-
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liam, b. Dec. 3d, 1775; III. Mary, b. March 29th, 1778; IV Philo- thea, b July 19th, 1780; m. Lemuel T. Cheney, of Westmoreland, Jan. 18th, 1802; V. Sybil, b. Apr. 11th, 1783 ; m. Henry Bostwick, -, N. Y .; VI. Thomas, b. Aug. 13th, 1785 ; m. Nancy Wood- bridge ; VII. Seth, b. June 30th, 1788; m. Mary Pier and settled in Vergennes, Vt .; VIII. Noah Phelps, b. May 28th, 1791; IX. Cynthia, b. Sept. 11th, 1793; m. Peter Boynton.
Noah Phelps Geer m , Feb. 8th, 1814, Sally Buckman, b. July 25th, 1791, with whom he lived on the old Geer homestead, pursuing the trade of his father for 57 years. Mrs. Geer spun and wove all the cloth for her children's clothes, also the shoe thread for her husband- turning the wheel with one foot, while she rocked the cradle with the other. Mr. Geer d. May 22nd, 1871; Mrs. Geer, June 10th, 1873. Ch. 1. John, b. May 4th, 1815; m. Lucia Carpenter, of Montpelier, Vt .; 2. Anna, b. Nov. 4th, 1817 ; m. E. H. Russell, of Nantucket; 3. Seth, b. Sept. 24th, 1819; m. Angie De Groff, of Poughkeepsie, N. Y .; 4. Mary, to whom the writer is indebted for these facts, relating to the Geer family, resides at present (1875) in Walpole, N. H., b. Dec. 20th, 1821 ; 5. Maria, b. May 5th, 1823 ; m. A. K. Maynard, of Walpole, N. H .; 6. William, b. Feb. 23d, 1826; m. A. Emergene Crosby, dau. of John Crosby ; 7. Sybil, b. Sept. 9th, 1827 ; m. Henry Turner, of Turner, Me .; 8. Lizzie or Elizabeth, b. June 10th, 1829; m. E. H. Wentworth, of Lowell, Mass .; 9. Sarah, b. Feb. 7th, 1831; m. Dana Slade, of Alstead, N. H .; 10. James, b. June 12th, 1836; d. Jan. 20th, 1866. Two children named Rebecca, died in infancy-the 1st, b. May 26th, 1833; the 2nd, Jan. 6th, 1840.
The following are from the town Records.
SHUBAEL AND SARAH GEER. Ch. I. William, b. Sept. 25th, 1769. II. Cynthia, b. March 19th, 1771; At and over in the County of Cumberland in the Province of New York. Wmn. was the first child born in said town, Andover, Vt .; III. Ralph, b. Oct. 24th, 1777.
EBENEZER AND SARAH GEER. Ch. I. Abigail, b. Apr. 6th, 1775; II. Martin, b. Dec. 20th, 1776; d. Sept. 11th, 1777. Mrs. Sarah Geer d. Feb. 23d, 1777.
GEORGE AND ANNA GEER. Ch. Royal, b. March 5th, 1789.
WALTER GEER m. Lucy Allen, (dau. of Benjamin and Peggy (Spaf- ford) Allen) b. March 28th, 1758. Ch. I. Harmony, b. in Lebanon, N. H., June 27th, 1784; II. Dan, b. in Windsor, Vt, Nov. 7th, 1786; III. Lucy, b. Jan. 29th, 1789.
JESSE S. GIBBS, (son of Silas S. and Hannah (Wrightington) Gibbs)
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b., in Agawam. Mass., July 17th, 1837 ; m., Nov. 24th, 1863, Sarah H. Knights, (dau. of William, jr. and Miriam S. (Thomson) Knights) b. in Marblehead, Mass., Aug. 28th, 1843. Ch. I. Frank K., b., in Lynn, Mass., Apr. 5th, 1865 ; II. William K .. b., in Lynn. Mass., Nov. 18th, 1867; III. Jesse, b., in. Marblehead, Mass., July 28th, 1869. Mr. Gibbs came to C. in 1868.
ISRAEL GIBSON, b. Apr. 24th, 1811, in Fitchburg, Mass .; m., Oct. 18th, 1836, Sarah A. Gibson, b. Apr. 11th, 1816, at Royalston, Mass. Ch. I. Israel G., b., at Gilsum, N. H., Nov. 26th, 1838 ; m. Mrs. El- len P. Stearns, (dau. of Lewis and Elvira (Bundy) Adams) b. Feb. 27th, 1834. One child, Laura B., b. Apr. 23d, 1869. (see Adams); II. George W., b., in Petersham, Mass., June 20th, 1840; III. William S., b., in Petersham, Mass., Feb. 22nd, 1841 ; m., Dec. 24th, 1807, Caro- line E. Walker, b., in Springfild, Vt., Jan. 11th. 1840. Ch. 1. son, b. Oct. 10th, 1868; d. same month; 2. Sarah F., b. Oct. 24th, 1869; 3. William G., b. July 27th, 1872, and d. Oct. following : 4. Charles S .; b. Mar. 23d, 1874; IV. James W., b. Sept, 27th 1844; d. Oct. 25th, 1844; V. Lucy J., b. Oet. 2nd, 1845, Templeton, Mass .; m. - Col- burn; VI. Henry, b., in Gardner, Mass., Dec. 22nd, 1850; m., Sept. 18th, 1872, Mary V. Roundy, (dau. of Samuel and Vioma (Adams) Roundy) ; VII. James M., b., in Gardner, Oct. 27th -; VIII. Thomas Edward, b., in Charlestown, Dec. 11th, 1858.
JOIN GIFFIN (son of Reuben and Elizabeth (Sawyer) Giffiin, of Gilsum, N. H.) b. Oct. 5th, 1829 ; m., July 22nd, 1854, Eliza Hannah Mack, (dau. of Solomon and Adeline (Knights) Mack, of the same place) b. Feb. 6th, 1832. One child : Abbie Estella, b. Feb. 4th, 1859. They settled in Charlestown, in 1866.
JAMES GILCHRIST was b., in Boston, Mass .. and d., in Charlestown, N. H., June 12th, 1827, at the age of 52 years. Previous to his remov- al to Charlestown, in 1822, his family had resided in Medford, Mass, but as he was commander of a vessel (whence his title of captain) his du- ties called him, almost continually to the ocean, so that it was only oc- casionally that he could enjoy the pleasure of their society. But, at length, having accumulated an amount of property sufficient to enable him to give up his life upon the sea, he purchased a residence and farm in South Charlestown, to which he came, and where the few brief years which remained to him were spent in a retirement more agreeable to him, doubtless, from its contrast with his previous life. Captain Gilchrist married Susanna Wyman, of whom I will only say here, as I shall speak
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of her more particularly hereafter, that she was born in Woburn, Mass., and died, at Charlestown., at the age of 74, March 20th, 1858.
The following is the register of their family : I. Emily, b. Jan. 1st, 1805; m., June 20th, 1832, Samuel Crosby, (son of Dr. Samuel and Ruth (Terry) Crosby) b. Sept. 12th, 1791-no children, (see Crosby). Mrs. Crosby d. Jan. 2nd, 1873; an excellent woman ; II. Margaret A., b. March 13th. 1807; m. Captain Mathews W. Green, of Charles- town, Nov. 5th, 1832, and d. Nov., 1865, aged 58, (see Green).
CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN JAMES GILCHRIST.
The following obituary notice of this distinguished man, who was the third child of Captain Gilchrist, was written a few days subsequent to his decease, by his intimate friend and classmate, Hon. George S. Hil- lard, of Boston, who has given so full and just a view of his character, and of what he accomplished in his profession, that it can be improved by no additions :
" The death of Chief Justice Gilchrist, of the Court of Claims, was announced in our paper some days ago ; and we spoke of it as a great public loss. What we then said under the pressure of a fresh be- reavement we now repeat, and the loss which the country has sustain- ed is none the less, from the fact that, owing to the nature of his func- tions, and the sphere of his duty, the general public can hardly esti- mate the value of what has been taken from them, but must rely upon the report of those who stood in such relations to the living man as en- abled them to take the measure of his power and his worth. Judicial services make men less conspicuous than political; but they are not less important or less useful; and the faculties and accomplishments they demand are not less high or less rare. But from the limited sphere in which the life of a Judge moves, it is the more imperative duty of those who know his value to set forth, distinctly and carefully, his claims to the gratitude and reverence of the community which he has served. This sad office of love and honor we now propose to dis- charge.
John James Gilchrist was born in Medford, in this State, February 16th, 1809. His father, James Gilchrist, was a master of a vessel ; and is yet well remembered by many as a man of powerful frame, vig- orous understanding, and great energy of character. He early ac- quired a competence, and removed, while his son was yet a child of tender years, to the beautiful village of Charlestown, in New-Hamp- shire, where he bought a farm, and occupied himself in rural pursuits
1
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for the remainder of his life, which was brought to a close in the prime of his manhood from the effects of an accident. Here the boyhood of Judge Gilchrist was mainly passed ; and here he pursued, under the guidance of the Rev. Dr. Crosby, a portion of the studies preparatory to a collegiate course. He entered Harvard College in the autumn of 1824. He was at that time more mature in person and character than most youths of his age, and his college course was marked by the same manly attributes. He looked, moved, and spoke more like a man than a boy : he took but little part in the ahtletic sports and exercises natural to his period of life, and the ample stock of native and in- herited health he brought with him enabled him to live easily with- out them. He was not a very hard student ; and his college rank, though respectable, was lower than might have been, had he devoted himself more exclusively to the acquisition of it. He was then, and indeed always, of a tranquil spirit, little moved by the stings of a rest. less and uneasy ambition ; a temperament which, if it lost him some distinctions which he might easily have won, saved him from many heart burnings and much corroding discontent. But his class-mates entirely appreciated his intellectual promise, and predicted for him a higher future than his position in his class would have justified them in doing. In the studies which were congenial to him he showed his excellent native capacity : in Latin. for instance, he had no superior ; and the style of his English compositions was uncommonly smooth, graceful and mature; but in those departments for which he felt no natural aptitude he never sought to acquire distinction by compulsory efforts. But he was a universal reader-devouring every book he could lay his hands upon-not guided by the wisest discrimination, or exercising the best choice; but constantly adding to the stores of a most attentive memory, and securing to himself the grace of a wide cultivation, while the energy of a healthy mind enabled him to derive the most of good, and to suffer the least of evil, from his miscellane- ous range. Respected by his class-mates for his abilities and cultiva- tion, he was not less endeared to them by his social sympathies, his genial temper, and his kindness of heart. He had a keen sense of humor, a love of society, and a healthy enjoyment of life in all its forms ; and by these his love of books was modified and tempered, so as not to become an absorbing and exclusive passion.
After leaving college, he commenced the study of law at Charles- town, under the guidance of the late William Briggs, an eccentric but very well read lawyer, who possessed a much larger and better collec-
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tion of law books than country practitioners usually accumulate. Of these books-in that quiet village, in which there was so little to dis- turb or distract the mind of the student-Judge Gilchrist made most excellent use ; and by a wide range of elemenatry reading laid the foun- dations of his ample stores of legal learning. From the office of Mr. Briggs he went to the law school in Cambridge, where he was known as a most diligent student, ranging over the whole domain of the com- mon law, and letting none of his opportunities pass by unimproved. Upon his admission to the bar, he formed a connection in business with the late Governor Hubbard, whose daughter he afterwards mar- ried ; thus finding himself at once in good employment, and escaping the discipline of that dreary period between the expecting of clients and the coming of them. The next few years were passed in the dili- gent and successful practice of the law ; but in such a way that he was every day adding something to his stock of practical and availa- ble legal learning. As was naturally to be expected of a rising young lawyer, he took some part in the politics of his State, and was for more than one year a member of the Legislature; (1836-37) but he always made the politician subservient to the lawyer, and his aspira- tions were professional and not political. When, therefore, in 1840, at the early age of thirty-one, he was appointed one of the associate justices of the Supreme Court of New-Hampshire, it was with the general and hearty approval of the bar, and the public. He was a very young man for such a post ; a year younger than Judge Story was when he was made a Judge, and also a year younger than Mr. Justice Buller, when he was elevated to the King's bench, at an age which startled all the venerable proprietie of Westminster Hall.
But where there is substantial ability and a sufficient stock or learning to begin with, there is some advantage in commencing a ju- dicial career in youth, before the mind has been long subjected to the warping and hardening influences of the bar. Judges who are ad- vanced to the bench in declining life, after a long period of successful practice, are apt to show a disposition to overrule or question the cases which have been decided against them at the bar ; for it is asking too much of human infirmity to expect that they should assent to a principle or construction by which they or their clients have been sufferers. From this peculiarity or temptation, Judge Gilchrist was happily exempt. He had been long enough at the bar to have become familiar with the rules of evidence and practice, and to have made practical trial of his book learning, but not long enough to have ac-
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quired a quantity of mental biases and inclinations, consciously or unconsciously, carrying him away from the truth.
When in 1848 the place of Chief Justice was made vacant, by the resignation of Judge Parker, Judge Gilchrist had proved himself to be a man of such high judicial excellence, and to be possessed of such a principle of intellectual growth and progress, that the eyes of all were at once turned towards him as to one in natural succession to the dignity ; and his appointment gave general satisfaction and equal as- surance. In this high place he remained until the Court of Claims was created by Congress, when he was placed at the head of this tri- bunal by President Pierce, who was his warm personal friend, who had often appeared before him at the bar, and thus knew at first hand, and of his own knowledge, how eminently qualified he was for the respon- sible and laborious duties which were to be devolved upon him.
Thus of the twenty-seven years which elapsed between his admission to the bar and his lamented death, eighteen were passed in the dis- charge of judicial duties. It is as a judge, then, that we are to con- sider him; and by the manner in which he bore himself in this high office are we to try his claims to be held in gratitude and honor by those who come after him. He put his whole mind-all that he had and all that he was-into his judicial life ; before the public he stood in no other aspect, and was known by them in no other character. When he first went upon the bench, we have little doubt that he con- templated it as, in all human probability, a life long service; and we know that he determined to devote himself to it with entire singleness of purpose, and to leave nothing undone which could help to make him as good a judge as his gifts and powers would permit him to be. To this determination he adhered ; never yielding to the seductions of indolence, and never turned aside by the temptations of political am- bition. He had the advantage of an excellent preparation, both in book knowledge and in practice; and he had the further advantage of having an admirable judicial understanding, and a perfect judicial temperament. Thus upon the bench he was ever a growing man ; and at the time of his death he would assuredly have been pronounced a magistrate of the first class, tried by any standard known to the bar in England or America.
His learning was ample, various, and serviceable. In depth and extent of legal lore, many of his judicial contemporaries may have equalled him, and a few may have excelled him. He had no profes- sional pedantry, no vanity of legal antiquarianism, no taste for the
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obsolete curiosities of black letter learning. But he had a sufficient knowledge of the history, principles and spirit of the common law, to view every subject that arose from its proper point of view, and in its just relations to kindred and collateral branches ; and his patience of labor enabled him to investigate every question that required research, thoroughly and completely. He had in a high degree that fine legal perception which distinguishes the living principle from the accidental and temporary forms through which it has been manifested. Having early taken a wide survey of the whole field of legal learning, and made an outline map of the region, it was a matter of course that his after- acquired knowledge should naturally and easily have fallen into place, been duly classified and arranged, and kept within easy reach and ready for use.
The digest of New-Hampshire Reports, published by him in 1846, well illustrates his power of thorough and scientific classification. On examination, it will be found no servile copy of preceding compila- tions, but a work of independent investigation and original construc- tion. The only criticism which it ever called forth, was on the part of those who complained that it was a departure from the stereotyped forms in which digests are usually cast, and thus to them less conven- ient for immediate reference-an objection to which no one could have assented, who had used the book enough to comprehend its luminous method.
Judge Gilchrist was also a good and clear reasoner. The logical faculty in him was not predominent ; it had not the force of a prim- itive instinct ; and he knew little of the rules and definitions of formal logic ; but he saw distinctly the point to be maintained, or the propo- sition to be proved, and his arguments were accurate, cogent, and con- secutive.
His learning and method would not have made him the excellent magistrate that he was, had they not been accompanied by a large share of practical administrative ability. This was perhaps his strong point ; and that in which his superiority over others was most obvious. He lived in a period of change in the business and social relations of men-when new interests were perpetually springing up and develop- ing themselves -- when innovations in legislation, not always the growth of wisdom or knowledge, were constantly devolving upon courts the solution of questions in which little aid can be derived from adjudged cases. Judge Gilchrist was in unison with his time, alike from the progressive character of his understanding, and his social and sympa-
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thetic temperament. He had the tact to see what must be done in order to make the judiciary keep pace with the progress of the age, and he had the courage to do it. Herein he was aided by his intui- tive sagacity, his quickness in discerning the wants of the public mind, and the sound practical character of his understanding, which found the reasons of the law in the needs and uses of the law.
In presiding over the full bench, he was quick, attentive, and court- eous. He rarely interrupted counsel in their aguments, unless he had reason to apprehend that he had failed to take the point intended to be conveyed ; and when the necessary explanation had been given, he ap- plied himself, anew to his task of patient hearing. He knew that nothing is gained in point of time by interrupting counsel for the sake of answering them, and that such a course often leads to unprofitable and unseemly discussions. His judgments were rendered with per- fect clearness, and are written with scholarlike accuracy and taste. His statement of facts was often made with such lucid and consecutive method, as to leave little to be done in the way of legal reasoning and the application of legal principles.
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