History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 30

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 30
USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 30

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).

JOHN SNOW appears to have settled in Ches- terfield in 1762, which year he and Moses Smith built the first saw-mill erected in the town. He probably lived on or near what was afterwards the town poor-farm. He un- doubtedly came from some town in Massa- chusetts. He was seleetman in 1767, and died May 12, 1777, in his seventy-second year. One of his sons, Zerubbabel Snow, married Mary Trowbridge, of Worcester, Mass., and settled in Chesterfield before 1770. He was one of the selectmen in 1773-74, and died April 12, 1795, in his fifty-fourth year. Another son of John Snow, Warren Snow, married Amy Harvey, and settled in this town in 1769 or 1770, having come from Princeton, Mass. In 1777 he was a member of the "Com- mittee of Inspection and Correspondence " of Chesterfield, and selectman in 1779. He died in 1824.

ALPHEUS SNOW, a grandson of Zerubbabel Snow, was born in Chesterfield May 10, 1791. He married, in 1815, Salome, daughter of Perley Harris, of this town. In his youth he attended school only a few weeks; nevertheless, by private study, he afterwards succeeded in acquiring an ordinary education. He had a special aptitude for arithmetic, and it is said that even persons who ought to have been his

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superiors in this branch of mathematics some- times sought his aid in the solution of difficult problems. When a young man he learned the blacksmith's trade, which he followed for many years at the West village. He also engaged in farming, living a long time on the farm now owned and occupied by Horace D. Smith. He was selectman in 1837-39, '45, '49, '53, and represented the town in the General Court in 1849. He died May 28, 1869.

EBENEZER STEARNS, born in 1776, son of Ebenezer Stearns, of Milford, Mass., appears to have come to Chesterfield about 1797. About 1800 he opened the first store at Factory village. In 1805 the Chesterfield Manu- facturing Company was incorporated, of which he was agent and treasurer most of the time from 1809 to 1821. He was an active, enterprising man, and did much to promote the welfare and interests of the village in which he lived. In 1823-24 he represented the town in the Legislature. He died October 11, 1825.

DAVID STODDARD may have come from Rut- land, Mass. He appears to have settled in Chesterfield about 1767, on the farm now. owned and occupied by Truman A. Stoddard. Whether he was married more than once is not known ; but the name of the wife who came to Chesterfield with him was Joanna He was selectman in 1771 and 1772, and in the spring of 1775 he enlisted in Captain Hind's company of the Third New Hampshire Regiment. According to tradition, he died while in the army.

One of his sons, David Stoddard, Jr., mar- ried Sarah French, and lived on the paternal farm in this town.

PETER STONE, a descendant of Simon Stone, who came to this country from England in 1635, was born in Groton, Mass., August 25, 1741. In 1773 he married Abigail Fassett, of Westford, Mass. March 27, 1777, he pur- chased, in Chesterfield, of Silas Thompson, the farm on which the latter settled (consisting in part, at least, of lot No 12, in the thirteenth

range). He appears to have come to this town with his family in 1778 or 1779. He built, at an early period, the house owned and occupied by the late Charles N. Clark. In 1790 he helped establish the academy. In his efforts to aid others he became involved in debt, and was obliged to mortgage his farm, which he eventually lost. Though permitted to remain in the house which he formerly owned (being old and infirm), he chose not to do so, and passed his last days in the school-house that stood on the site of the present one in School- District No. 10. He died about 1820 (as nearly as can be ascertained), having survived his wife a number of years.

WARREN STONE, a grandson of Peter Stone, was born at St. Albans, Vt., in 1808, but came, at an early age, to Chesterfield, whence his father and mother had removed but a few years before. His early years were spent in manual labor, and in obtaining such education as the schools of the town afforded. As he approached manhood, however, the desire to pursue the study of medicine became so strong that he resolved to quit the rural scenes of his youth and devote his life to that calling for which he had an especial fitness. Accordingly, he went to Keene and studied a while with the distinguished Dr. Twitchell, afterwards attending the medical school in Pittsfield, Mass., from which he graduated with the degree of M.D. in 1831. The next thing to be done was to find a suitable location for practicing his profession. Endowed by nature with a bold and enterprising spirit, he at last decided to seek his fortune in the far- distant regions of the South. He accordingly went to Boston, where, October 10, 1832, he took passage for New Orleans in the brig " Amelia." The brig was wrecked on Folly Island, near Charleston, S. C., but the passengers were rescued, Dr. Stone especially displaying on this occasion the firmness and presence of mind for which he was noted. Cholera also broke out among the passengers

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and crew, from which he, too, suffered with the rest. He finally arrived, however, in New Orleans, late in November or early in Decem- ber, in poor health and with insufficient clothing. After a while he succeeded in getting employment, in a subordinate capacity, in Charity Hospital, of which he afterwards became assistant surgeon. In January, 1837, he was appointed professor of anatomy in the Medical Department of the University of Louisiana, and soon afterwards professor of surgery-a position that he held till he resigned it, in the spring of 1872. In 1839 he established, in connection with Dr. William E. Kennedy, a private hospital. In 1841 he was unfortunate enough to lose one of his eyes from "a specific inflammation contracted from a child." When the war broke out in 1861, Dr. Stone was appointed, by the Confederate authorities, surgeon-general of Louisiana, in which capacity he rendered very efficient service. After the occupation of New Orleans by the Federal forces he was imprisoned for a while by General Benjamin F. Butler.

As a surgeon, Dr. Stone possessed remarkable skill, and successfully performed the most diffi- cult operations. He was, in fact, " the admit- ted head of the profession in the Southwest." He died in New Orleans December 6, 1872.

STEPHEN STREETER, JR., son of Stephen and Sarah (Chamberlain) Streeter, was born December 7, 1782, about which time his father and mother'came from Oxford, Mass., to Ches- terfield. He was locally celebrated as a poet, being noted also for his retentive memory. Some of his songs, epigrams and longer poems were very popular with his contemporaries, and he well merited the appellation of the " Bard of Streeter Hill." He died May 22, 1864, having never married.

1777 to Peter Stone, Sr. After selling this farm he lived on the one now owned by Henry J. Dunham. He took a prominent part in the affairs of the town and the church, being one of the deacons of the latter. Together with Colonel Samuel King, he represented the town, after its union with Vermont, in the Assembly of that State. In 1770 he was selectman, and in 1776 coroner for Cheshire County. His wife was Abigail Bancroft. He died April 25, 1806, in his seventy-second year.

EZRA Trres, son of Joseph and Mary (Bige- low) Titus, was born in Chesterfield Jannary 15, 1789.

Being of a studious turn of mind and fond of mathematical studies, he is said to have ap- plied himself so assiduously to these in his early years as to have seriously overtasked his brain-a circumstance which caused him to change his course of life. He, nevertheless, fol- lowed school-teaching to a considerable extent, and acquired the reputation of being one of the best teachers of his time. After his marriage he also engaged in farming in this town, and for a while held a colonel's commission in the New Hampshire militia. He also held the office of selectman in 1836 and '47. His wife was Electa, daughter of John Kneeland, Esq. He died March 25, 1869. One of his sons, Herbert B. Titus, was an officer in the Federal army during the Civil War.

DR. JOSHUA TYLER came from Brookfield, Mass., and settled in Chesterfield, probably be- tween 1776 and '81. He located at the Centre village, where he built the large house in which his son, Rolston G. Tyler, lived many years, and which is now occupied by Sewall F. Rugg. He practiced his profession in this town many years, and died June 11, 1807, aged forty-nine years. His wife, Judith Ayres, died AAugust 11, 1854, aged ninety-one years.

SILAS THOMPSON, of Dunstable, Mass., pur- chased in Chesterfield, March 12, 1766, lot NATHANIEL WALTON, a son of Lawrence Walton, one of the early settlers of Chester- field, married Mary, daughter of Eli Pattridge, No. 12, in the thirteenth range, and probably settled on the same soon after. This lot formed part, at least, of the farm which he sold in of this town, and settled here. He was a black-

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smith by trade and noted for his extraordinary physical strength. It is said of him that he could pick up his anvil by the horn and carry it some distance. He was also a celebrated wrest- ler, and is said to have rarely found his match. He died April 25, 1817, in his sixty-first year. One of his sons, Nathaniel Walton, Jr., was a farmer in Chesterfield, and served the town as a selectman twelve years, viz. : 1822-25, 1827- 29, 1834, 1842 -- 44, 1846. He was also a rep- resentative in the General Court in 1844 and '46. He died April 12, 1872. One of the sons of Nathaniel, Jr., Milo Walton, became a prominent citizen of Amity, Me., where he en- gaged extensively in fruit-culture.

PETER WHEELER, born probably about 1733, served seven years with Captain Patch, of Lit- tleton, Mass., as an apprentice to the trade of carpenter and joiner. He married Olive Davis, and lived a while in Littleton. July 23, 1762, he purchased in Chesterfield lot No. 9, in the fifteenth range ; and January 22, 1766, house- lots Nos. 1 and 2, in the twelfth range. He settled where Russell H. Davis now lives, not far from the brook that bears his name. It is said that he helped build the " old meeting- house," and that he took an active part in pro- moting the welfare of the new town. He ap- pears to have died about 1814.

His great-grandson, Hon. Hoyt H. Wheeler, is judge of the United States District Court for the district of Vermont.

ASHIBEL WHEELER, son of Benjamin and Sarah (Harris) Wheeler, born in this town November 26, 1785, married Diana, daughter of Eleazer Randall (1st), and settled here.

For many years he was a well-known mer- chant and distiller at the West village, being also engaged, a part of the time, in farming. Commencing business with little or no capital, save his own native tact and shrewdness, he suc- ceeded in acquiring a considerable fortune. He was also a violin-player, and in his early and middle manhood was extensively employed to play at balls and " kitchen-dances." The store

which he established at the West village was extensively patronized, and was long one of the principal stores in the town. He died June 20, 1866.

NATHAN WILD, son of Benjamin Wild, born in Norton, Mass., June 14, 1787, came to Ches- terfield with his father in 1801.

In his youth he had a fondness for mathe- matical studies, which he pursued at home, with the assistance of his brother David. Nathan applied himself assiduously to the study of sur- veying and astronomy, and soon became one of the most skillful surveyors in the State, and an astronomer of considerable proficiency. After his marriage he settled on a farm situated near the present stage-road leading from Factory vil- lage to Keene, about one mile from the former place.

This farm is at present owned by Rev. T. I. Fowler. He now engaged not only in practical farming and surveying, but in the publication of an almanae, known for a while as " The Improved New England Almanack and Ephemeris," and afterwards as " The Far- mer's, Mechanic's and Gentleman's Almanack." He appears to have begun the publication of his almanacs about 1819, and they were gener- ally, though not always, printed by John Prentiss, at Keene.

Not only was Mr. Wild a practical farmer, surveyor, astronomer and almanac-maker, but he also held several important civil offices. He was selectman from 1820 to 1825, and repre- sentative in the General Court in 1831 and 1832. In 1833 and 1834 he was a member of the New Hampshire Senate.

His wife, whom he married in 1814, was Rachel Newcombe. She died in Greene County, Ind., in 1840. He died in Chesterfield March 5, 1838, and his body was interred in the vil- lage cemetery at Factory village. His son, Nathan R. Wild, was also a surveyor and civil engineer. He married, in 1838, Maria E. Wood, a granddaughter of Rev. Abraham Wood, and removed to Greene County, Ind.,

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in 1840, where he died April 7, 1851, in his thirty-sixth year.

CAPTAIN SIMON WILLARD, probably from Winchester, appears to have settled in Chester- field about 1788. He married, about the same time, Molly King, the widow of Colonel Samuel King. He lived in this town till about 1813, when he removed to Winchester, where he died at a great age. He represented Chesterfield in the General Court in 1794-96, 1801-7, or ten years in all.

REV. ABRAHAM WOOD, a descendant of Wil- liam Wood, who came to this country from England in 1638 was the first settled minister of the Congregational Church in Chesterfield. His ancestor, William Wood, was the author of a book entitled "New England's Prospects." The following extraets are from a sketch of the life of Rev. Abraham Wood, written by his grandson, Professor Alphonso Wood, the bot- anist.

" Rev. Abraham Wood was born in Sudbury, Mass., A.D. 1748 (Sept. 26); was educated in Harvard Uni- versity and graduated with the class of 1767. June 4, 1771, he was married to Sarah Loring, of Hingham, Mass., granddaughter of the Rev. Israel Loring, and both were soon on their way, by a perilous journey, into the then all-pervading wilderness of New Hamp- shire. Here, in the township of Chesterfield, A.D. 1772, he began a ministry which was to continue without interruption unto the end of his days. His annual salary was fixed at £80,1 and assumed as a town charge, and paid, like other municipal expenses, from the publie treasury. His parish was co-exten- sive with the township, and throughout he was rev- erenced and beloved almost without exception. His advice or approbation was sought in all public affairs, alike in civil, military, educational and religious. He not only ministered in the church, but solemnized their marriages, baptized their children, buried their dead, inspected their schools, addressed their martial parades, and in their family gatherings was a welcome, nay, an indispensable guest.

"His sermons were generally written out, and ever true to the orthodoxy of the Pilgrim Fathers, not- withstanding the tide of Arianism which began to

sweep the churches of New England in the latter part of his ministry.

"In speech he was animated and inspiring, with a elear and ringing voice, and a style that appealed to the reason and conscience, rather than to the imagi- nation of his hearers.

" The last five years of his life were subject to much infirmity, so that, at his own request, the Rev. John Walker was called and installed by the church as colleague pastor. To facilitate this measure, he gen- erously declined his salary in favor of his colleagne, accepting for himself thereafter only the voluntary offerings of his people.

" During this period he continued to preach only occasionally. On the great occasion of the fifty-first anniversary of his ministry in Chesterfield he was once more in his pulpit, and preached to a crowded assembly, reviewing the events of his long and happy connection with that people as their spiritual guide. This was his last public effort.

" In person Mr. Wood was of medium height, with a full habit, smooth face, florid complexion and an attractive face, as shown in a life-size portrait painted by Belknap."

He died October 18, 1823. His widow sur- vived him twenty years, and died in Indiana at the age of ninety-three years.

One of his sons, Abraham Wood, Jr., lived many years in Chesterfield, on the paternal farm, and was town clerk from 1818 to 1833. In 1839 he removed to Greene County, Ind., where he died September 24, 1846. His wife was Patty, daughter of Asa Dutton, of Dum- merston, Vt.

PROFESSOR ALPHONSO WOOD, son of Abra- ham Wood, Jr., was born September 17, 1810. His first fifteen years were spent at home in the old manse, dividing his time between rural occupations and study in the village school and the academy. After this his winters were employed in teaching village schools in other towns,-notably in Kcene, Walpole, Clare- mont, Fitzwilliam, Vernon, Newburyport,- until the date of his graduation at Dartmouth College, A.D. 1834. Immediately after this event he was called to Kimball Union Acad- emy, at Meriden, as teacher of natural science and Latin, where, with an interruption of one

1 His salary was first fixed at £65, but was raised in 1792 to £80.

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year only, he remained during the next fifteen years. This one year he spent at Andover, Mass., in the study of theology, endeavoring to fulfill the long-cherished purpose of his parents. But his theological training was cut short by a peremptory summons to return to Meriden. Soon after this, Mr. Wood was licensed, after examination, by the Sullivan County Association as a preacher of the gospel, but his ministry was confined to the army of students that filled the academy (from two hun- dred to three hundred) and occasional services in the neighboring churches.

It was during his residence in Meriden that he first conceived the purpose of preparing a class-book of botany. The purpose arose very naturally,-first, from his excessive fondness for the science, and secondly, from his felt necessities as a teacher of natural history.

Devoting his leisure hours and vacations largely to botanical excursions and studies, seven years passed, till 1845, when the "Class- Book " was first issued. The work was not stereotyped, being with the publishers a mere experiment, and only fifteen hundred copies. were printed.

A demand unexpectedly great soon ex- hausted this edition.

In preparing for a new issue, Mr. Wood passed the spring and summer of 1846 in the Western States, whither his parents had then removed, botanizing in the prairies and barrens, in order to extend the limits of his flora as far west as the Mississippi River. He was ac- companied by his wife, Lucy, and son, Frank Alphonso, then two years old.

In the spring of 1849, on account of im- paired health, he resigned his connection with the Kimball Union Academy, and entered the more active service of civil engineer in the construction of a railway from Rutland, Vt., to Albany, N. Y.

From 1852 to 1858 he was engaged in teaching in Cleveland, Ohio, and at College

Hill, near Cincinnati. In 1858 he established, in connection with Mr. Covert, the Terre Haute (Ind.) Female College; but in 1860 removed to Brooklyn, N. Y. The " Class Book" was now an important interest. To extend the area of its flora, Professor Wood had made an exploration of the Southern States, lasting six months of the year 1857. In 1861 he opened the Brooklyn Female Academy, but was again induced by love of his favorite science to resume his investigations. Accordingly, he embarked for California in October, 1865.

In the Pacific States he sojourned one year in constant travel, surveying the mountains, the mines, the rocks, the peoples, and especially the plants of that glorious land, from San Diego to Puget's Sound, and returning, by the way of the Isthmus, in November, 1866.

In the spring of 1867, having transferred his interests in Brooklyn, he once more col- lected his family into a new home in the village of West Farms, a suburb of the city of New York (and how annexed to it), on the north. Here he suffered affliction in the death of his wife, Lucy.

While he resided at West Farms, Professor Wood was employed in revising and republish- ing his botanical works, and in performing the duties connected with the chair of botany in the New York College of Pharmacy. He sometimes also preached, as openings in the churches occurred.

He was the author of the following works, which are all published at present by A. S. Barnes & Co .:

The " Class-Book of Botany," "Object- Lessons in Botany," " The Botanist and Flor- ist," "Monograph of the Liliaceae of the United States," "The Plant Record," " Flora Atlantica," " How to Study Plants" (written conjointly with Professor Steele).

Professor Wood died at his home at West Farms, after a short illness, January 4, 1881.

HISTORY OF DUBLIN.

CHAPTER I.

Geographical-Original Grant-Names of Grantees-Divi- sion of Grant-Provisions of Grant-The First Settlements -Names of Pioneers-Incorporation of Town-First Town-Meeting-Second Town-Meeting-Voters in 1770 -Tax-List of 1771-Prices of Commodities in 1777.

THE town of Dublin lies in the Eastern part of the county, and is bounded as follows:

North, by Harrisville; East, by Hillsbor- ough County ; South, by Jaffrey ; West, by Marlborough.

This town, originally known as Monadnock, No. 3, was granted November 3, 1749, by the Masonian proprietors, to "Matthew Thornton, Sampson Stoddard, William Spaulding, Joseph French, Zachariah Stearnes, Peter Powers, Rob- ert Fletcher, Junier, Eleaz" Blanchard, Foster Wentworth, Josiah Swan, Isaac Rindge, John Rindge, Ezekiel Carpenter, Benjam" Bellows, John Combs, Stephen Powers, Henry Wallis, Samuel Kenny, Ebenezer Gillson, Jeremiah Nor- cross, Isaiah Lewis, Ezra Carpenter, Enos Law- renee, William Cummings, Mark Hunkin, Joseph Jackson, Thomas Wibird, Jeremiah Lawrence, John Usher, Nathan1 Page David Page, Samuel Farley, Daniel Emerson, Joseph Blanchard Jun", Thomas Parker Jun", Anthony Wibird, Francis Worster, Jonathan Cummings, David Wilson and Clement March Esq"."

The deed of grant (says Mr. Charles Mason, in his address) was given by Colonel Joseph Blanchard, of Dunstable, pursuant, as the reci- tal states, to the power vested in him by the proprietors, by a vote passed at a meeting held

at Portsmouth, in June preceding. This grant, embracing a territory of thirty-five square miles, -being seven miles in length and five in breadth, -- was made upon certain conditions, of which the most important were that-

The whole traet of land was to be divided into seventy-one equal shares, each share to con- tain three lots, equitably coupled together, and to be drawn for, at Dunstable, on or before the 1st day of July, 1750.

Three shares were to be appropriated, free of all charge, "one for the first settled minister in the town, one for the support of the ministry, and one for the school there, forever ;" and one lot of each of these three shares was to be first laid out near the middle of the town, in the most convenient place, and lots coupled to them, so as not to be drawn for.

The lots were to be laid out at the expense of the grantees, and within four years from the date of the grant forty of the shares, or rights, as they were called, were to be entered upon, and three aeres of land, at the least, cleared, in- closed and fitted up for mowing or tillage ; and, within six months then next, there was to be, on each of these forty settling shares, a house built, the room sixteen feet square, at the least, fitted and furnished for comfortable dwelling, and some person resident in it, and to continue inhabitaney there for three years, with the ad- ditional improvement of two aeres a year for each settler.

A good, convenient meeting-house was to be built, as near the centre of the town as might be

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with convenience, within six years from the date of the grant, and ten acres reserved there for public use.

All white-pine trees, fit for masting His Maj- esty's Royal navy, were granted to him and his heirs and successors forever.

There was a proviso that, in case of any In- dian war happening within any of the terms and limitations for doing the duty conditioned in the grant, the same time should be allowed for the respective matters after such impedi- ment should be removed.

The township was accordingly divided into lots, making ten ranges running through it from east to west, with twenty-two lots in each range, or two hundred and twenty lots in all. The lots varied considerably, especially in length. They were drawn for on the first Tuesday of June, 1750. The seventy-one shares, of three lots each, would, of course, leave seven lots un- drawn. Some of these, though not all, were upon the Monadnock.

The terms of settlement and the like, imposed by the grant, cannot have been complied with, to the extent specified, till certainly more than ten years later than the times prescribed. Whether the grantors dispensed with the condi- tions as to time, on the score of Indian wars ap- prehended, or for any other cause tacitly waived those conditions, or whether they granted an ex- tension of the times, does not appear.

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History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 30

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