History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 134

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1200

USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 134
USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 134

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

At this crisis of affairs we find the future poetess, novelist, anthor and compiler of some twenty-two different literary works and com- pilations of great merit engaged in bartering silks, ganzes, bonnets, caps and head-drapes for country " truck and dicker." During the succeeding two or three years she, undoubtedly, found she had mistaken her calling. The busi- ness was not a success. The vista now opening before her was not festooned fancy goods, milli- nery articles, feathers or tow cloth.

Her literary abilities had come to be appre- ciated. In the year 1828 she was called to the editorial charge of the Ladies' Magazine, pub- lished in Boston, and discharged the duties of this responsible position until 1837, when this periodical was united with the Lady's Book of Philadelphia ; she was afterward a resident of Philadelphia.

The working of her long life was crowned with financial success, as well as popular favor, and she was able to educate her sons and daughters in the most prominent educational institutions of this country. She was a person of remarkable vitality, and had lived more than ninety years; and at the time of her decease was the most widely-known and distinguished of the daughters of Newport.

Horatio Hale, son of the foregoing, was born in Newport, May 3, 1817 ; was graduated from Harvard College, educated as a lawyer and admitted to the practice, in Chicago, in 1855. A man of letters, author, scientist ; was philolo- gist to the United States Exploring Expedition commanded by Captain Wilkes (1837), and has contributed largely to philological and ethnologi- cal seience.

The Baldwins were of Connecticut lineage. They were grandsons of Captain Samuel Church, whose ancestor is said to have decap- itated King Philip, of Mount Hope. Captain Church was an early settler of the town, and owned all the land in the village between Main Street and the river, north of the intervale bridge.

Henry E. Baldwin was born December 19, 1815. We find him first as a youthful angler for trout in the Towner Brook ; afterward as a practical printer, engraver on wood, caricatur- ist, artist, humorist, editor of the New Hamp- shire Argus and Spectator, register of deeds and probate for the county of Sullivan, elerk of the State Senate, editor and proprietor of the Lowell Daily Advertiser, inspector in the Bos- ton Custom-House, and, finally, private secre- tary to Franklin Pierce, President of the

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United States. He was a man of fine presence and agreeable personal qualities, and a versa- tile and able writer. He died in Washington, D. C., February 12, 1857.

Samuel Church Baldwin was born Septem- ber 15, 1817. He was associated with his brother, Henry E., in the management of the Argus and Spectator and the Lowell Advertiser. He was afterward (1844) proprietor of the Plymouth (Mass.) Rock, and twice elected to the Massachusetts Legislature. He ultimately returned to his native State and was proprietor of the New Hampshire Democrat, published at Laconia, where he died December 3, 1861. He was an able journalist and littérateur.

Amos B. Little was a native of Newport, born February 16, 1841. He was educated princi- pally at the Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, and at Brown University, Rhode Island. He commenced the study of law, but an infirmity of deafness prevented the carrying out of his purpose in that direction.

In 1845 he was appointed to a position in the Patent Office by Edmund Burke, then commissioner of patents. He was afterward promoted to the position of law clerk, and while in that office codified and published the " Patent Laws of the United States." He was a vigorous political writer, and correspondent of the New Hampshire Patriot and other jour- nals of that time. He died October 1, 1862.

Mrs. Mary Chellis Lund, née Mary Dwinell Chellis, the name by which she is known in her writings, is an author of many books. An in- ferior boundary line only prevents her from being a native of Newport ; but, as her residence is here, and has been for many years, and her husband, S. F. Lund, is a lineal descendant of Stephen Wilcox, of old Killingworth, we may at least contend with our neighboring town for the honor of her intellectual life and growth, if not her birth. Her productions are mostly of a moral and religious character and are greatly prized for their good influence upon the young. They are found in all Sunday-school libraries.

Commodore George E. Belknap, United States Navy, is a native of Newport, born January 22, 1832. In 1847 he entered the Naval Academy, at Annapolis. After gradua- tion from that institution, in 1854, we find him early in command of national vessels, asserting the honor and rights of his country, at different times and places, on all seas. During the Civil War he was conspicuous in many successful naval engagements on the Atlantic seaboard, earning his promotion in rank by sturdy achievement.

In 1873 he was assigned to special duty by the Secretary of the Navy on the steam cor- vette "Tuscarora " in making deep-sea soundings across the Pacific from California to Japan, to determine the practicability of laying a cable between America and Asia. The published account 1 of this cruise has attracted the pro- found attention of scientists in Europe and America.

He was afterward in command of the navy- yard at Pensacola until 1881, when he was or- dered to the Pacific Station, on the coast of South America, in command of the United States Steamer " Alaska," to protect the interests and, if necessary, vindicate the honor of the United States on that coast during the late hos- tilities between Chili and Peru. This cruise was continued (1882) to the Hawaiian kingdom and from thence to San Francisco, where the " Alaska " went out of commission.

In 1883 he was detached from command of the "Alaska " and ordered to the Norfolk navy- yard as captain of the yard. He has also been assigned to special duty as president of the Torpedo Board, and also president of the Naval Commission, to examine the circum- stances connected with the construction of the "Dolphin " and determine its acceptance by the government. On June 1, 1885, Captain Belknap attained the rank of commodore and was ordered by the Secretary of the Navy to

1 See United Service Quarterly for April and July, 1879.

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the Naval Observatory at Washington as super- intendent. Commodore Belknap's reputation as an officer and a scientist is of the highest character. He is a fellow of the American Geographical Society; fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science ; member of the New England Historie and Genealogical Society, Boston; member of the New Hampshire Historical Society, Concord ; companion First Class Military Order Loyal Legion, United States ; Knight Commander of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I., of the Hawaiian kingdom. (For further account, see Hamersly's " Naval Encyclopedia.")

Edward A. Jenks, whose progenitors are said to have arrived in the town of Newport on the 4th of July, 1776, was born October 3, 1830, and while a printer, editor, incumbent of pub- lie office and at the head of the Republican Press Association of Concord has found oppor- tunity in the course of a busy life to scatter here and there leaves that have found places in the choice collections of verse that adorn our libraries. In the "New Hampshire Poets," compiled by Bela Chapin, there are over twenty names of poets, natives or residents of Newport.

THE PRESS .- In connection with other in- stitutions, the town of Newport has had the advantage of an ably-conducted newspaper press for a period of more than sixty years. In the year 1825 Cyrus Barton moved the New Hampshire Spectator, which he had estab- lished at Claremont, to this town. He was here severally associated with Dunbar Aldrich, B. B. French and Cyrus Metcalf, and finally removed to Concord, leaving the paper in the hands of French & Metcalf. Mr. French was also an attorney-at-law and the first clerk of the courts for the new county of Sullivan. He was afterward clerk of the House of Repre- sentatives and commissioner of public buildings at Washington, where he died in 1870. Mr. Metcalf soon after withdrew from the paper and Simon Brown took his place.

In 1833 Edmund Burke had located at

Claremont and had established the New Hamp- shire Argus. In 1834 Mr. Burke removed his press to Newport. In 1835 the Spectator and Aryus were united under the editorial manage- ment of Mr. Burke and became the New Hampshire Argus and Spectator.

From 1838 to 1840 the paper was controlled by the Baldwins and William English. In 1840 the Argus and Spectator passed into the hands of Henry G. Carleton and Matthew Harvey, and so continued until April 1, 1879, a period of about forty years, when Hubbard A. Barton and W. W. Prescott became the proprietors of the paper and printing-office. About September 1, 1880, W. W. Prescott withdrew from the concern and his interest was assumed by George B. Wheeler. Barton && Wheeler continue the publication of the Argus, which has always been Democratic in its political character.

The Northern Farmer and Political Adven- turer and the Northern Farmer and Horticul- turist, were published by Hubbard, Newton & Son during the years 1830 to 1833, and were discontinued.

The first number of the Republican Cham- pion, Fred. W. Cheney, editor and proprietor, was issued in this town January 6, 1881. The Champion is ably conducted and, as its name implies, is devoted to the interests and prin- ciples of the Republican party.

There have been other publications started in the town, which were of short continuance and no lasting benefit, of which it is not neces- sary to speak.

Matthew Harvey came from Sutton to New- port in the year 1831, and from that time until his death, on January 31, 1885, at the age of seventy years, was connected either as appren- tice, journeyman or proprietor with the New Hampshire Argus and Spectator. He was a son of Colonel John Harvey and a nephew of Jonathan and Matthew, both members of Con- gress and the latter a Governor of the State and United States district judge.

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Mr. Harvey was devoted to his profession and in many respects had few equals as a journalist. He was a versatile and easy writer and a forci- ble speaker,-full of ready wit and fond of repartce. He had poetic ability of a high order and many efforts of his pen are extant. The files of the Argus for more than forty years will bear testimony to his genial character and ability as a humorist, a poet, a writer of entertaining locals and more dignified political articles. He was an esteemed and valuable citizen of the town during his fifty-four years of life in Newport.

In the files of the New Hampshire Spectator, printed by Cyrus Barton in this town from fifty to sixty years ago, we find piquant essays and disquisitions on various subjects whichi illustrate in some degree the advanced liter- ary culture that existed among the people of Newport during that period. It is matter of regret that the names of the authors of these papers are concealed under signatures, classical, Scriptural and sometimes common-place, in such a manner as to destroy their identity.

A pleasing social feature of that time was. a " Coterie " made up of these literary young people, at the head of which was Mrs. Sarah J. Hale.

The trysting-place of this society was a gigan- tic elm, or, more particularly, a pair of elms, as the main body of the tree not far from the ground forked into divergent trunks, which rose high in air, interlocking their lofty branches in a widely spreading and reciprocal embrace.

This tree, illustrating as it did the idea of dual- ity in unity, was considered emblematical of the married state and came to be known as the " Matrimonial Tree."

It stood on a natural terrace, or elevation of land overlooking a delightful sweep of meadow, diversified with other elms and clumps of trees, and outlined by the "Sugar " in one of its graceful detours known as "the bend," its course bordered with alder and witch hazel, festooned with climbing vines.

Upon the closely-mown sward, within the well-defined and ample shade of this druidical tree, at appointed times on golden summer afternoons, came the members of this æsthetic cirele-the married with a well-sustained com- placence at their advanced social position ; and the single in all the incipient stages of the tender passion leading up to the connubial state.

Without a great stretch of imagination, we might here group the pseudonyms from the Spectator as follows : Philo, Apollonius and Cornelia ; Gamaliel, Mentor and Minerva ; Mercurius, Theophilus and Thyrza ; Crito, Unus and Ariadne ; Jotham, Uncle Toby and Rebecca, and others whose exponents had been a letter of the alphabet, or an asterisk under which to conceal their real names.

The tout ensemble of the individuals of the party, on such occasions, and their various pos- turings and movements in the refreshing shade of the twin elms, are pleasantly suggestive of character and scenes in " As You Like It," where we find the Dukes and their retainers, Rosalind and Orlando, Celia and Oliver, Okd Adams and the melancholy Jaques, love-making and philosophizing in the forest glades of Ardennes.

Seats and tables were placed all about upon the smooth ground in picturesque disorder for the comfort and convenience of the members of the Coterie as they gave andience to dramatic performances, recitations and readings from books and magazines, or the productions of some of their leading spirits. In addition to the more dignified exercises, free scope was given to conversation, songs, merriment, wit and repartee.

A most interesting episode in the routine of the afternoon was the withdrawal and investi- gation of the contents of a sly pocket, or covert place in or about the venerable tree which had become the receptacle of all manner of anony- mous contributions, personal, humorous and tender,-in prose and verse, the reading of

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which added greatly to the interest of the occa- sion.

The delectation of the physical as well as the intellectual nature was not disregarded at these assemblies. As the day declined, a fire was kindled under a significant-looking kettle, sus- pended from a tripod at convenient distance, and anon the smell of Bohea or Young Hyson, or both-fragrant and lively-filled the air. A symposium of tea-drinking, and a discussion of sandwiches, cakes and confections concluded the afternoon's entertainment.

There are gray-haired men and women walk- ing about town in this year of grace, 1885, who, as small boys and girls with curious interest, hovered on the outer margin of the charmed circle we have affected to describe, as spectators ; and the gay appearance of these rural gather- ings on Captain Church's meadow, as seen from the Aiken hills, on the opposite side of the river, is still fresh in the memory of those who inhabited the old " Wines Manse " as children.

How much the " Matrimonial Tree " did for the cause of social advancement can never be properly estimated. The woodman's axe and the scythe of Time closed the record from mor- tal ken long ago.

With all our schools and superior advan- tages, we doubt if any society for social and mental culture, equal in scope and merit, has had any foothokl or existence in this town since this Coterie disappeared; and are prone to be- lieve that the standard of literary attainment at this time must suffer in contrast with that of two generations ago.

Edmund Wheeler, a long time citizen of this town, is a native of Croydon, where he was born August 25, 1814. He was educated at Kimball Union Academy, came to Newport in 1833 and engaged with his brother, William P. Wheeler, in the harness-making trade. In 1839, on the retirement of William P. to en- gage in the study and practice of law, he as- sumed, by purchase, the control of the business, which he successfully continued until 1866,

when he sold out to Granville Pollard. Dur- ing a residence of more than fifty years Mr. Wheeler has ably sustained himself as an en- terprising and substantial citizen of the town. He was adjutant in the State militia, and for two years on the staff of Governor Williams. He has been twice a member of the Legislature, 1851-52, the latter year chairman of the com- mittee on incorporations, and taking an active part in all the leading measures before the House. He was director in the Sugar River Bank, and since in the First National Bank of Newport, and also in the Newport Savings- Bank.

He was active in the organization of Union School District in 1874, and eight years on its Board of Education as chairman and other- wise.

In his time he has published a book entitled the "Croydon Centennial," and in 1879, com- piled, edited and issued from the press an elab- orate " History of Newport," to which we are indebted for much statistical matter used in the composition of this sketch.

Edmund Wheeler married, September 21, 1851, a daughter of Sherman Rossiter, of Clare- mont, and, second, Augusta I .. Sawyer, of this town. His only son, George B., the issue of the first marriage, born February 4, 1854, is at present one of the proprietors of the New Hampshire Argus and Spectator.

Joseph W. Parmelee, the writer of this sketch, is a native of Newport, born February 2, 1818. His ancestors were among the earliest English emigrants to this country. His paternal grandparents, Ezra and Sibyl (Ilill), were of the first settlers of Newport. His parents, John and Phebe (Chase) Parmelee, were resi- dent at a locality on the South Branch of Sugar River known as Southville. He was a scholar in old School District No. 1, under several in- struetors, and in 1833-34 at the Newport Acad- emy, under the tuition of the late David Crosby, of Nashua. After about a year at Kimball Union Academy his school-days terminated and

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he turned his attention to mercantile pursuits. In the year 1847 he removed to Charleston, S. C., and engaged with a substantial concern in the dry-goods trade-Wiley, Banks & Co .- into which he was afterward admitted as a suc- ceeding co-partner, and in which, up to the time of the Civil War, he had accumulated a fair estate that met with confiscation and ruin in that vortex of national and human affairs.

From 1863 to 1879 he was identified with the Southern trade in connection with the house of H. B.Claflin & Co., in New York City. During a varied business career he has found much time for reading and self-culture, has been a frequent contributor to the press, and has writ- ten occasional poems, which have attracted some attention. Mr. Parmelee, since 1879, has resided in his native town, where his family for many years have had a homestead. He is much interested in the cause of education, has been for four or five years chairman of the Board of Education for Union District, and some time superintending school committee for the town. · Mr. Parmelee married, August 13, 1851, Fran- ces Anu, only daughter of Amos Little, Esq., of Newport. Their children are Edward Little, born May 16, 1852, now a resident of Kansas City, Mo .; Francis Joseph, born June 27, 1857, a resident in New York City ; and Anne, born June 1, 1860, resides with the family in New- port.

CHAPTER V.

NEWPORT-(Continued).

MEDICAL AND LEGAL PROFESSIONS.

MEDICAL PROFESSION .- The professions fol- low in the wake of civilization. The conditions in a new country subject the settlers to much of exposure and accident, the evils of which are sometimes greatly enhanced without the imme- diate aid of medicine or surgery, as prescribed and directed by skillful hands; hence the in- portance of a doctor in a new settlement.

There was no permanently settled physician in Newport until the year 1790. Previous to that time it was customary in critical cases to send to Charlestown for medical aid.

We know traditionally that Captain Ezra Parmelee was dispatched to that place for a doctor to attend Mrs. Josiah Stevens, his neigh- bor, and that she died before he could come to her relief.

There were women in the settlement who ministered to the wants of the afflicted with much of ability. They also possessed the neces- sary skill as midwives. Mrs. Jeremiah Nettle- ton is said to have been one of these, and to have traveled long distances on foot, sometimes using snow-shoes, to visit the sick. It is also said that she once traveled to New London on a hand-sled hauled by four men for the purpose of visiting a patient. Her daughter, Mabel, born November 15, 1762, in Killingworth, and who came to Newport with her parents in 1779, and became the wife of Aaron Buel, Jr., suc- ceeded her mother, and was the only physician in Newport for several years, and particularly successful in her practice. She was known in the later years of her life as Aunt Mabel, and is still remembered as a most estimable woman.

About the year 1790 Dr. James Corbin, born in Dudley, Mass., 1762, established himself in Newport as a physician, and so continued until his death, January 16, 1826. In connection with his medical practice he improved a tract of land and erected substantial buildings on what continues to be known as Corbin Hill, between Newport village and Northville. A large part of this estate-that north of the river-con- tinnes in possession of his grandson, Austin Corbin, of New York.

Dr. William Joslyn, a pupil of Dr. Corbin's, commenced practice in Newport in 1804, and after a residence of six years removed to Ver- mont.

Dr. Arnold Ellis, born in Meriden, Conn., October 29, 1776, was in Newport early in the century, and engaged in the practice. His

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preparation of bitters, for bilious disorders, was much esteemed. He was the first post- master (1810), and filled the office of town clerk in 1811. He was also by trade a tailor and a jeweler, and cleaned and repaired watches, a lover of music and a skillful performer on the violin.

At a celebration of the Fourth of July, in 1827, Dr. Ellis had charge of the music. The band consisted of Arnold Ellis, violin ; John B. McGregor, bass viol; Abijah Dudley, clarionet ; Bela W. Jenks, bassoon ; Jere- miah W. Walcott, bugle; Major David Harris, fife ; Major Willard Harris, drummer. He re- moved to Sutton about this time, and from thence to Newbury, where he died at an ad- vanced age.

Dr. John B. McGregor, a son of Lieutenant John McGregor, was born in this town Novem- ber 27, 1787; was a student in Dr. Corbin's of- fice ; a graduate of the Medical Department of Dartmouth College in 1809 ; commenced prac- tice here in 1810, and was the leading physi- cian of the town and a valuable citizen until his removal to Rochester, N. Y., in 1838, where he died September 14, 1865.

Dr. Alexander Boyd, of Scotch-Irish de- scent, a native of Londonderry, born February 8, 1784, was in successful practice here for about a quarter of a century. He died Septem- ber 28, 1851.

Dr. W. P. Gibson, a native of Croydon, was in the profession from 1830 to 1837, when he removed to Windsor, Vt., and took orders as a clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church. He died in 1837, aged about forty years.

Dr. William F. Cooper, also a native of Croydon, was settled here for about one year (1827), and removed to Kellogsville, N. Y., where he was engaged in a successful practice for more than fifty years.

Dr. John L. Swett. (See biography.)

Dr. Reuben Hatch, of Alstead, was in the practice 1808-09.

Dr. Isaac Hatch succeeded to the office and

practice of Dr. Gibson in 1837. His continu- ance here was short. He siekened and died in 1838, at the age of forty-three years.

Dr. Mason Hatch. (See biography.)

Dr. W. C. Chandler was in practice here from 1838 to 1841, when he removed to South Na- tick, Mass., and died in 1848, in the forty-see- ond year of his age.

Dr. Thomas Sanborn. (See biography.)

Dr. James A. Greggs was in practice in New- port from 1855 up to the time of his death, in 1866.

Dr. Wm. H. Hosmer was here for about a year, 1847-48, and removed to Concord.

Dr. W. W. Darling, of the homoeopathic school of practice, was born in Croydon Novem- ber 20, 1834. Received his medical degree from Dartmouth in 1859, and has been in practice in Newport since 1869.

Dr. David M. Currier, a native of Grafton, born September 15, 1840, received his medical degree from Dartmouth in 1867; came to this town in 1871, where he is engaged in a snecess- ful practice.

Drs. Thomas B. and Christopher A. Sanborn, sons of Dr. Thomas Sanborn, were educated to the medical profession, and graduated from the Bellevue Medical College, New York City. They succeeded to the office and business of their father, and are engaged in a snecessful practice.

Several other names might be mentioned in connection with the medical profession, but the continuance of the parties was of a temporary character and made little or no impression upon the community.

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History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 134

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis Number of Pages: 1200

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1200