History of Coos County, New Hampshire, Part 102

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Syracuse [N.Y.] : W. A. Fergusson
Number of Pages: 1194

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Dr. Richard H. Meserve was born in Limington, Me., December 4. 1819. He read medicine with Dr. E. R. Peaslee, attended one course of medical lectures at Dartmouth Medical school and two courses at Brunswick (Me.) Medical school, from which he graduated in April. 1852. He enlisted in the Thirteenth Maine Infantry (Col. Dow) in the fall of 1861, and served until the spring of 1862, when he resigned and entered the First Louisiana Regt. Vols. as assistant surgeon, remaining until November 7, 1864, when he resigned and settled in Limerick, Me., where he practiced medicine until 1866. He then moved to Milan, bought out Dr. Robinson's practice, and held it about fourteen years. He then sold out to Dr. Holt.

J. D. Holt, M. D., commenced the practice of medicine in Milan in August, 1878, remaining here until November, 1882. He was born in Rum- ford, Me., August 15, 1847, and commenced the study of medicine in 1870, with Dr. J. K. Kimball, of Pembroke, N. H. After three years' study and a course of lectures at Dartmouth Medical college, and teaching several terms of school, he then accepted a position in the High school at Oxford, Me., for three years. In 1877 he entered the "Portland (Me.) School for Medical Instruction." After one year's course in this school he took his degree of M. D. at Bowdoin Medical college in June, 1878.

Dr. Joseph J. Cobb was born in Stoneham, Me., February 2, 1853. His early education was attained in the common schools, supplemented by attendance at Gorham seminary and Fryeburg academy. Having engaged in teaching and become deeply interested in the work, and wishing to take

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HISTORY OF COOS COUNTY.

a course of professional training, he entered the Normal school at Farm- ington, Me., where he graduated in 1877. The two following years he was principal of High schools in Maine. While engaged in teaching he pursued the study of medicine, taking his first course of lectures at the Maine Med- ical school in the spring of 1879. He attended three full courses of lectures and graduated at the above school in 1881. In November, 1882, Dr. Cobb succeeded to the practice of Dr. Holt in Milan, where he now resides. He has always been deeply interested in the cause of education, and has served as superintending school committee for three successive years, holding the position of chairman of the board of education at present. In the practice of his profession Dr. Cobb has had excellent success which he justly merits.

A Novel Marriage Certificate .- In the town records of Berlin we find the following :-

"State of New Hampshire Coos ss

"Be it remembered that at Milan in the State and County aforesaid on the eighteenth day of November in year of our Lord 1838 Job I. Bean and Sally H. Coffin the former of Berlin and latter of Milan State and County aforesaid were given in marriage. "F. I. Bean. Justice Peace

"F. I. Bean, Town Clerk."

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

ADAMS TWITCHEL.

As early as 1765, the Twitchel family settled in Dublin, N. H., and in 1770, when there were only twenty three voters in the town, there were four of the name. A circular. bearing date April 12, 1776, desiring all males above twenty-one years of age, who were in accord with the " hon- orable Continental Congress, to sign a Declaration of the same," was as follows :--

"We, the subscribers, do hereby solemnly engage and promise, that we will, to the utmost of our power, at the risk of our lives and fortunes, with arms, oppose the hostile proceedings of the British fleets and. armies against the United American Colonies."

Of the fifty-three names subscribed, that of Twitchel was prominent- in numbers: Joseph Twitchel, Ebenezer Twitchel, Samuel Twitchel, Ste- phen Twitchel, Abijah Twitchel, Gershom Twitcheland Gershom Twitchel, Jr. Samuel was a Revolutionary soldier. Dr. Amos Twitchell, for so long a time the autocrat of surgery in New England, was of this family. Abel Twitchel, an early inhabitant of Dublin. N. H., was a lineal descend- ant in the sixth degree from Joseph, of Dorchester, Mass., who was ad- mitted freeman in 1634. Joseph? was the owner of 100 acres of the first grants in Sherborn. Abel, born May 28, 1751, in Sherborn, married Sarah Adams, of the noted Adams family of Massachusetts. Their son Cyrus was born in Dublin, N. H., March 13, 1788, and died in Milan, September

adams Twitchel

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TOWN OF MILAN.

19, 1873. He married Eunice, daughter of Nathaniel Belknap. She was a native of Dublin, born March 8, 1788, died April 4, 1856. Cyrus was a farmer, and, when a young man, he went to the then new town of Bethel, Me., and located on a piece of wild land. After residing there for several years he came to Milan, and settled on Milan hill in 1824, and, about 1828, he removed to the place which his grandson. Cassius M. C. Twitchel, now occupies, and developed a fine farm. Few of those who live in cities, villages, or other places than those where agricultural pursuits prevail. have any adequate conception of the immense amount of hard labor required to clear off the primitive forest and prepare the land for the first crop; nor have they any just appreciation of the degree of resolution, en- ergy and endurance necessary to insure continued perseverance in subdu- ing one piece of wild land after another. Cyrus Twitchel was one of three authorized to call the first town meeting, and was the first justice of the peace appointed in Milan: he held the commission for many years, and was generally known as "Squire " Twitchel. His politics were of the old Whig party and Free-Soil. A strong Abolitionist, he was one of the pioneers of that movement, and bold in avowing his opinions. He was a deeply devoted Christian, adhering strictly to the tenets of the Calvinistic Baptist church. He thought it wrong to speculate in land, believing that only by labor of the hands wealth should be acquired, and that the fore- sight, judgment and keenness of one man should not be turned to advan- tage against another. "Squire " Twitchel was a short, " thick set " man, kind hearted, a great reader, and retained his faculties to a remarkable age. About 1838 Mr. Twitchel and his wife made their home with their son Adams, and here, in his kindly household, old age came upon them, and after long, useful lives they passed on to the "home not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." Their children were Ransom (dec.), Gil- man (dec.), Sullivan, Cyrus (dec.), Hannah B. (Mrs. Nathan Bickford), Adams, Clayton (dec.), Harvey (dec.) Ransom Twitchel possessed great- ability; was a skillful penman, and could draft a legal document with all the force and accuracy of a learned lawyer; excelled in surveying, and, in many ways, was a valuable member of the community.

Adams Twitchel was born in Bethel, Me., January 27, 1812. He began his active, laborious life by working at lumbering when only fifteen years of age, having previously learned how to work and the value of good honest labor by assisting his father. At the age of twenty he pur- chased his time for $100 and went to the upper Penobscot valley, and hired out for two or three years. Returning to Milan, with his small sav- ings he purchased the piece of land on which the church now stands, but soon sold it and bought the lot where he now resides which became the nucleus of his present farm. On this was a small clearing and a primitive log-house. This place he has added to and developed until about 300 fer-

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HISTORY OF COOS COUNTY.

tile acres in a fine state of cultivation, a pleasant house, with an intelligent family, form one of those beautiful homes which are the substratum of New England's prosperity.

Mr. Twitchel is especially favored in his family relations. He married, October 31, 1843, Lusylvia, daughter of Ebenezer and Lois (Powers) Bart- lett. of Bethel, Me., a descendant of two New England families of consid- eration from early colonial days. She is a lady of refinement and ability, who looketh well to the ways of her household. Their children were Claudius A. (a soldier of the Union in the late civil war, whose life was given to his country.): Virtue F .; Lois A .; Helen Mar (Mrs. P. G. Evans) (dec), who left one child, Helen C .; Cassius M. C. (who has three children, Mark A., Sydney and Eva.)

After his marriage Mr. Twitchel carried on lumbering in connection with farming, and became a large operator, also conducted merchandising some years, and gradually came to have extensive dealings in buying and selling timber-lands. In 1867 he bought the " Colebrook Academy grant " of 10,000 acres, soon sold it, then bought with George R. Eaton 18,000 acres in Clarksville, and other large tracts in Upper Coös and in Canada. Beside his real estate operations on the Connecticut he was engaged four years in lumbering there, and for ten years, until he closed out his inter- ests, was one of the leading business men of that section. Two years of this time Mrs. Twitchel was in Lancaster for the purpose of giving their children the educational advantages of the academy of that place. Since then Mr. Twitchel has devoted himself to his affairs in the Androscoggin valley, and has been connected with many important matters of business, public policy, and social development.

Originally a Free-Soil Democrat, he became a Republican when that party came into being. Never a seeker of office he has been called to local and responsible positions. He was chosen captain of the first militia com- pany formed in Milan in 1835. When the Atlantic & St. Lawrence rail- road was " dumping " about fourteen feet in depth of dirt into one of the public highways of the town thus blockading it, Mr. Twitchel was elected selectman to fight for the rights of the town, and succeeded in getting an under-pass established. much to the gratification of his townsmen. He has been elected railroad commissioner, but declined to serve as his private affairs demanded his time; represented Milan in 1876, has often been referee in important and complex cases, and always has demonstrated his fairness and integrity, and shows, to quote the words of a prominent official, "the most accurate judgment of any man I know." He is liberal to all deserving objects, and the poor and friendless remember him with thankfulness. Although not a member of any religious denomination, he gives generally to the churches, is a thoroughly good man, and practices more than he preaches. Some years since a clergyman was asked what

TOWN OF MILAN.

he thought of Mr. Twitchel, and replied: "Mr. Twitchel swears sometimes. and that is wrong; he gets in hay on Sunday sometimes, and that is very bad; but I would gladly exchange half-a-dozen of my church members for one or two men just like him."

Mr. Twitchel is entitled to much credit for the energy he has displayed and the obstacles he has overcome. The story of his business has been briefly told, but he has not given his time solely to business matters. When a boy he studied at night and during leisure moments, and acquired a fair education; when a young man he was advised by his father to read Ameri- can history, that he might become an intelligent voter, and from that time he has been a great reader of historical works and other solid literature, and thus has kept himself abreast of the times, and thoroughly informed on the topics of the day. His business life has been crowned with success; he has been untiring in his energy, careful and systematic in his methods, and honorable in his dealings, and while he has gained wealth, he has also won that greater boon, the sincere respect and esteem of those among whom his life has been passed. Courteous and hospitable to strangers, generous and kind in all his family relations, modest and unobtrusive in his manners, possessing infinite humor, and a strong, vigorous intellect, Mr. Twitchel ranks among the representative self-made men of Coös county, and the history of Milan would be incomplete without a record of his life.

JAMES M. PHIPPS.

James M. Phipps, son of Elisha and Dorcas (Harriman) Phipps, was born in Chatham, September 3, 1816, and moved to Milan in March, 1831. He worked at home on the farm nearly all the time until he was twenty- one years old. He then learned the trade of custom boot and shoe-making, which he followed for fifteen years, employing from one to five men. In 1852 he went into trade with Adams Twitchel, doing quite an extensive business for those days in lumbering in connection with their store. They sold out in the spring of 1856 to Bickford, Wheeler & Davis. He then gave his attention to farming until 1868, meantime building the stand occupied by him at the time of his death. In 1868 he formed a partner- ship with his brother Peter, and again went into the mercantile business, which he followed until May, 1878. After that time he attended to the improvement of his farm. He married, October 13, 1839, Lydia G., daugh- ter of Amos Wheeler, of Milan, by whom he had seven children, only one of whom survives him, James S. Phipps, who occupies the home farm, and is a useful, intelligent and valuable citizen. He has rendered us much service in preparing this history. J. M. Phipps held the office of justice of the peace for forty-five years; his last commission expiring June, 1885.

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HISTORY OF COOS COUNTY.

He was postmaster from 1861 to '64, and member of the board of select- men of Milan for 1858-59, 1862, 1865-67, and was a member elect of the legislature of 1885. His death, causing the first vacancy in that body, resulted from paralysis, and occurred May 3, 1885.

Mr. Phipps was a self-made, upright, honorable man, highly esteemed by all: his death was a sad loss to the family and the community in which he lived. He was made a member of Gorham Lodge, A. F. & A. M., in May, 1863, and of North Star Chapter, Lancaster, in April, 1874. The funeral services were conducted under the auspices of Gorham Lodge, and the long procession of brethren, relatives and friends which followed his remains to their last resting place, gave better evidence of his character and worth than words can express.

PETER A. G. W. PHIPPS.

Peter A. G. W. Phipps, born in Chatham, Carroll county, April 21, 1824, was the son of Elijah and Dorcas Phipps, who moved to Milan about the year 1831, to the farm where Leonard K. Phipps now lives. He married, November 27, 1845, Abby W., daughter of Rev. Leonard Kings- bury, of Milan, by whom he had five children, two sons and three daugh- ters. When about twenty-one he had a very severe attack of "lung fever" from which he never fully recovered. He died November 27, 1880.

Mr. Phipps held all the offices in town and represented it in the legisla- ture of 1877. He was very genial in his manners and had many warm friends. A distinguished citizen of this state wrote on hearing of his death: "For many years I have enjoyed the acquaintance and friendship of Mr. Phipps. I have had continued business relations with him, and have been frequently associated with him in public, political and social affairs, and it is a pleasure to me to reflect on the unvarying courtesy, patience and fidelity always displayed by him in all these relations. As the column moves on its members decrease with accelerating rapidity. Each year chronicles to me the loss of good men and kind friends with whom it has been my fortune to march, and I can truly say that no nobler or kinder heart has ceased its action-among my associates-than that of our good friend, who has gone to his rest crowned with the memories of an honor- able and useful life." Mr. Phipps was made a Mason in Gorham Lodge in May, 1863, received the second degree of Royal Arch Masonry in April, 1874: was a member of North Star Chapter at Lancaster, N. H. His funeral services were conducted by Gorham Lodge, F. A. & A. M., and were largely attended.

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TOWN OF MILAN.

HON. LIBERTY H. HUTCHINSON.

Hon. Liberty Haven Hutchinson, son of Edwin F. and Elizabeth (Flint) Hutchinson, was born in Milan, March 1, 1844. He passed his early life upon his father's farm, and had plenty of hard work. He laid the foun- dation of his intellectual career in the little district school of his native town, entered Lancaster academy in 1864, graduated in 1867, then was a student for three years at Bates college, Lewiston, Me. To meet the necessary . expenses for his academic and collegiate education he taught school winters and labored summers. In March, 1870, he commenced the study of law, and such was his application and special aptitude for legal lore, that at the September term of court he was admitted to the bar, and the firm of which he was afterward a prominent member was said to be the strongest before the bar of Androscoggin county. He served in both branches of the city council of Lewiston: was three times called to represent that city in the Maine legislature, and on his third election was unanimously chosen speaker of the House of Representatives, and held that position at the time of his death, September 8, 1882.

DUMMER

BY JOHN B. LOVEJOY.

CHAPTER CIV.

Boundaries-Origin of Name-Products-Granted-Surveyed-Early and Later Settlers- Inventory of Polls and Personal Property, 1849.

D UMMER lies in the easterly part of Coos county. is bounded on the north by Millsfield and Errol, east by Cambridge, south by Milan, west by Stark and Odell, and has an area of 23, 040 acres. This town was granted March >, 1773, to Mark H. Wentworth, Nathaniel A. Haven and others, but was unoccupied for many years. The principal rivers are the Androscoggin and the little Ammonoosuc; in the latter are the Dummer or Pontook Falls.

The town takes its name from William Dummer, lieut. - governor, and acting governor of the province of Massachusetts . Bay from 1716 to 1730. He was the founder of the oldest academy in Massachusetts, and many edu- cated there were prominent actors in the War of the Revolution.

Lumber has been extensively produced from the heavily-wooded lands, and down to this day lumbering is the chief avocation. In 1886 there was manufactured and shipped 3,653,000 feet of dimension lumber, 306,000 clap-boards. 544,000 shingles, 1,690.000 laths, 105,000 feet of hard-wood. During the same year there was landed on the different streams 1, 771,000 feet of spruce, which was not manufactured here.

The town of Dummer, surveyed by A. Baker in 1806, is laid out in square form, each outline measuring 2, 100 rods, running nearly north and south, east and west. After the survey, three lots were marked on the plan as "glebe lots," three lots for the "first settlers," three for the "first ministers," and three for the benefit of schools. Having finished the survey the proprietors decided to open a settlement, and for this purpose

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TOWN OF DUMMER.

employed Beltare Daniels, who commenced operations shortly after, by building a log-house on the height of land between the Ammonoosuc and Androscoggin rivers two miles from each stream: clearing twenty acres of land, and building a barn forty by sixty feet which still stands, and although the pine boards which cover the walls are worn quite thin, the wrought-iron door hinges made in Portsmouth, each weighing three and one-half pounds, remain in good order. Later a saw and grist-mill was built on the Androscoggin. This was built on the bank of the stream, had a canal cut more than 100 rods up the river to supply water; yet, after $6,000 had been spent, owing to an undiscovered ledge below the mill which prevented the water from running away from the wheel, the whole was abandoned. and Daniels and his laborers returned to Portsmouth.

The census of 1510 shows only seven inhabitants. In the spring of 1812, William Leighton, a workman of Daniels, a native of Farmington. decided to settle in Dummer. Leaving two daughters, Sarah and Phebe, with relatives. he, with Mary his wife, two daughters. Mercy and Betsey, three sons, Joseph. Thomas, and William a babe six months old, started for Dummer in the winter of 1811-12. and arrived early in March, 1812. Much might be said of the hardships that followed; how, during the next long year. they slept with doors securely barred, and guns within easy reach. fearful of the roving bands of Indians, and howling wolves, and how they sheltered and fed a lone squaw one dark night. to learn afterwards that they had entertained a disguised English spy.

During the next three years several other families moved in. Capt. Charles Bickford, from Barnstead, his wife Betsey Durgin: two boys, John and Nathan, and four daughters, Rebecca, Betsey, Polly. and Sophia, arriv- ing March 1, 1814. Two other daughters, Esther and " Tempie," came a year later. James H. Horn, his wife and two boys, William and Ezra, came from Farmington. Dr. Cummins, George Cook. Curtis Cove, Parker, and others from different places. Hezekiah Cloutman, of Rochester. was the first man that bought land on which to settle. He bought one of the glebe lots, which was conveyed by James Sheafe. John Pierce. and Jeremiah Mason, Esquires, agents for St. John's church, of Portsmouth, by deed dated December 10, 1810. Cloutman's wife refusing to leave Rochester, he built a camp on his land, and lived alone several years, spending most of his time in hunting and fishing. In 1833 he conveyed his land to William Lovejoy, with whom he lived when not in the woods. On the Sth day of July, 1837, while returning from a hunting-tour to the head-waters of the Androscoggin, and when but a short distance below the settlements in Errol, he was drowned.

In 1820 the number of inhabitants was twenty-seven. Peter Leavitt and Daniel Forbush settled on the Ammonoosuc, reared large families. and died of old age. Francis Lang erected a grist-mill on Phillip's river,

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HISTORY OF COOS COUNTY.

which he owned and run several years. Joseph Leighton built a saw-mill on the same stream. In 1826 Charles Newell settled on the Androscoggin three miles above the old Daniels' mill, conveying his wife and children up the river in a boat (made by hollowing out a pine log) when the ice was so strong that his boy was obliged to sit in the bow and break the ice. After suffering for food and clothing nearly two years, they removed to Piercy. In the meantime emigration had advanced up the Androscoggin into Dum- mer. Jotham S. Lary was one of the first to locate. Aaron Wight settled near the east side of the town. William Sessions took Newell's place; and by 1840 settlements had been made in each section of the town.

Peter Leavitt and his wife, Mehitable Marden, were among the first settlers. locating on the Ammonoosuc, near the southwest corner of the town, about 1816. His family of four boys and seven girls (except two who died young) remained in Coös county and became useful members of society. In the winter of 1822, Edmund, then in his seventeenth year, was found frozen to death on the Androscoggin, opposite the mouth of the stream which bears his name. He and William Horn started one cold win- ter day, quite thinly clad, to visit a lumber camp on Mollocket brook. After reaching the Androscoggin they wandered down to the Thompson "rips" on the ice, without seeing any road which would lead to the camp. They had already suffered much from cold. Their wet feet had begun to freeze, and they turned to retrace their steps. Leavitt became exhausted and could go no further. Horn pressed on, reached a house on Milan hill with feet frozen badly, and just able to give the information which started a relief party for his comrade, who was found dead as above stated.

William Lovejoy was born in Conway October 13, 1796. When a young man he located in Dummer; cleared a small farm adjoining Capt. Charles Bickford's, one mile from the Androscoggin river. He married, January 29, 1822, Rebeckah, widow of Russel Hodgdon, and third daughter of Capt. Bickford. In 1833 Hezekiah Cloutman conveyed his place to Mr. Lovejoy, and he lived there until his death, June 22, 1875. Mr. and Mrs. Lovejoy were the first persons married in Dummer, and the next four couples were married by him. Although a man who labored hard, he found time to read, keeping well posted in the affairs of the country and tate; and he was deeply interested in education and general improve- ment. He held many town offices, was selectman and justice of the peace. Mrs. Rebeckah Lovejoy, the oldest person now living in Dummer, was born in Barnstead, January 17, 1798. When she was fourteen, her father moved to Dummer, where she became used to hardships and privations; but there were many things connected with her new home calculated to make it romantic and pleasant. She took delight in watching the Indians who often came down the river in birch canoes on their way to market to dis-

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TOWN OF DUMMER.

pose of their furs; to catch the speckled trout; and to ride her father's horse to the store at Northumberland, sixteen miles distant, through an almost unsettled country; although these might not have been enjoyed by others less fearless and strong.

Possessed of strong constitutions, these pioneers endured privations and performed feats. the recital of which would sound like fiction. While the men made salts and maple-sugar, the women and children caught fish and gathered bark from the slippery-elm trees. On one occasion Mrs. Horn and Mrs. Leighton drove a team loaded with this bark to Portsmouth, where they exchanged it for goods. For several years the nearest store was at Northumberland, and it was common for women to ride there on horseback and bring large loads back. Of all the early settlers none, prob- ably, fared worse than Charles Newell. At one time he lived five miles from neighbors. One day his son, aged five years, was taken suddenly ill. After giving such remedies as they had, Mr. Newell started for help. On reaching the Ammonoosuc he found the bridge had been carried away, and the darkness was so intense he could not see across the stream. After calling repeatedly, he succeeded in making his neighbor hear, who, after the storm had abated sufficiently to make it possible to follow the path, sent his boy a distance of four miles after Mrs. Horn. On learning the situation, Mr. Horn and his wife started on snow-shoes. Crossing the river on a raft, they reached Mr. Newell's the following day to find the boy dead, and that the mother with her own hands had prepared him for burial.

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History of Coos County, New Hampshire, Part 102

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Syracuse [N.Y.] : W. A. Fergusson Number of Pages: 1194

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Syracuse [N.Y.] : W. A. Fergusson
Number of Pages: 1194