History of Coos County, New Hampshire, Part 44

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

USA > New Hampshire > Coos County > History of Coos County, New Hampshire > Part 44

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Henry Oakes Kent was born in Lancaster, N. H., February 7, 1834. The genealogy of his family is given elsewhere in this volume, in the sketch of the life of his father, Richard Peabody Kent. It may be added that on the maternal side his ancestry is traced to Richard Mann, "a planter in the family of Elder Brewster." who was one of the colony of the Mayflower, and from whom descended that John Mann who was the first permanent settler of the town of Orford, N. H., in October, 1765.

Young Kent attended the district school and Lancaster Academy and graduated from Norwich (Vt.) University in the class of 1854. He then entered the office of Hon. Jacob Benton, and pursued his studies for four years, and was admitted to the bar in 1858. Shortly afterward he became the editor and proprietor of the Coos Republican, published at Lancaster, which he conducted with rare skill and ability for the period of twelve years. During this time the paper enjoyed the distinction of being one of the ablest conducted and most successfully managed newspapers in the state. It was counted as a power in the party, and performed valuable service in advancing the material prosperity of the county and section where it was located. Its leading articles from the pen of Colonel Kent were always strong, vigorous and earnest, and secured a reputation for the paper widely beyond the limits of the state.

After disposing of the paper, and retiring from its management, Colonel Kent continued to give his attention to a large general office business, which had grown up during his journalistic career, and also to the Lan- caster Savings Bank as its treasurer, for which institution he obtained a charter in 1868, and to other manufacturing and business enterprises, in

*By L. B. Brown.

Henry O. Kent

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which he became actively engaged. The encouragement of local enter- prise and industry has always been one of his characteristics, and he has promptly and freely given of his means, talents and influence to promote all such.

Colonel Kent began public life as a Republican, his newspaper being one of the leading party journals in the state. Believing the issues in- volved in the war to have been finally settled, both by the decree of arms and the constitutional amendments, he came to differ with his former party relative to its policy, and was one of the promoters of the Liberal Repub- lican movement of 1872, which resulted in the nomination of Horace Gree- ley at Cincinnati and Baltimore, Colonel Kent being a member of the Na- tional, and chairman of the State Liberal Republican committees of that year, acting in unison with the Democrats in the fall campaign. In 1573 the Liberals ran a state ticket, but in 1874 united with the Democrats on a common platform and candidate, James A. Weston. Democrat, being elected governor. From this time he has taken an active and influential part in directing the councils and shaping the policy of the Democratic party in state and nation. But, though active in political affairs for years. he has always subordinated politics to the desire to promote the welfare of the community. Throughout all his active business life he has been most thoroughly identified with the enterests of Coös county, and closely con- nected with its development. Its political, social, military, business. edu- cational and Masonic history would not be complete without prominent mention of his name. He has represented Lancaster frequently in the House of Representatives since 1862, and the district comprising his county in the Senate, serving with distinction upon the active committees, and largely aiding in shaping important legislation. He has also served as state bank commissioner, presidential elector, commissioner to adjust the state bound- ary line, and been three times the candidate of his party for representa- tive in Congress, each time running largely ahead of his ticket. He has served the greater part of twenty-five consecutive years as moderator of Lancaster, and, on many memorable occasions, to the universal satisfac- tion, alike of political opponents and political friends.

Of Colonel Kent's military history, much of credit and repute might be truthfully written. He was a cadet of a military school and colonel of the Governor's Horse Guard. At the opening of the Rebellion, he was early called in consultation by the state authorities to arrange recruiting stations, and opened one of the first in the state. He was then commis- sioned assistant adjutant-general of the state by Governor Goodwin, and sent to Portsmouth to aid in the formation of the Second New Hampshire Regiment of Volunteers, and continued active in organizing the earlier New Hampshire regiments and was subsequently commissioned colonel of the Seventeenth New Hampshire Infantry, performing his entire duty, as

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ordered by the then authorities, efficiently and creditably. He is past com- mander of his post of the G. A. R., and past judge advocate of the state department.

In the legislature he was House chairman of the railroad committee in 1868, and took an active part in securing the extension of the railroad into Coos county. In 1883 he zealously labored for the passage of the general railroad act of that year, securing the development of the railroad system of the state. He also actively supported the bill to relieve church property from taxation; and in 1885 was largely instrumental in defeating, by veto, the bill preventing hunting and trapping, and favored legislation making the forests and waters of the state free to its people. He warmly favored the insurance measure known as the valued policy bill, and the bill provid- ing for the careful investment and control of the funds of savings banks; and strongly opposed the bill abolishing the school district system. He took an active and leading part in securing existing legislation in behalf of the soldiers, and won their warmest gratitude by his patriotic efforts.

Colonel Kent is prominent in the Masonic order, and was made master of ancient North Star Lodge of Lancaster at the age of twenty-five. He also served as grand lecturer, deputy grand master and commander, and grand commander of Knights Templar, and is also a Mason of the thirty- second degree. In the advancement of educational interests he has always been earnestly engaged. He is B. S. and A. M. of his college, and for twenty years was president of its associated alumni; he is also trustee of Norwich University and of Lancaster Academy.

In business connections he has been manager of a paper-mill, director of insurance companies, and trustee and treasurer of a most successful savings bank. In all his business and financial dealings he has never at- tempted sharp practice or exacted exorbitant fees, but been fair, honora- ble and just. He has thus properly enjoyed the fullest confidence of the community, regarding their interests as his interests and fully believing in the people as they in him, and his business integrity and sagacity have become well known and thoroughly understood.

A glance at Colonel Kent's career shows that he has filled eminent and responsible public and business stations; and that while intimately known in his own county of Coos, he is one of the best known men of New Hampshire and New England. As a public speaker, he has long been actively engaged. Before an audience he is spirited, earnest and convinc- ing. He has a pleasing, well-cultivated voice, and speaks with fluency and rapidity. He combines his statements and arguments in such a manner that he invariably arrests the attention of his hearers and steadily holds it to the close. Some of his more important special public speeches and addresses are the address before the New Hampshire Fish and Game League in 1885; before Norwich University: Memorial Day addresses at Lancaster,

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Portsmouth and Laconia: Masonic address at Whitefield: the speech sec- onding the nomination, on behalf of the New Hampshire delegation. of President Cleveland in the Chicago convention of 1884, which gave him a national reputation as an orator; at the Boston banquet to Governor Hill of New York, in June, 1886, where he responded to the toast, " The Presi- dent of the United States; " and in Faneuil Hall at the reception of Robert E. Lee Camp of Virginia, by John A. Andrew Post of Massachusetts, on Bunker Hill Day, 1887. In 1878 he closed his Congressional canvass in his own town of Lancaster, holding an immense mass meeting, after an ex- tended speaking tour, and meeting his old friends and neighbors, includ- ing many political opponents, face to face, and held them for two hours in a speech of masterly power and eloquence, and was rewarded for his effort by receiving at the polls the largest and heartiest endorsement ever given to him by his townsmen.

Colonel -Kent was also president of the New Hampshire Democratic State conventions in 1877 and 1884, and delivered speeches on both occa- sions, which struck the key-note of the campaigns of those years. In the latter year he also drafted the resolutions adopted, which constituted a terse and comprehensive statement of party doctrine, and were widely copied by the press throughout the country. They are worthy a place in this volume, as they are such a true index of the character and sentiments of their author :-

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED AT CONCORD, MAY 21, 1884.

"The Democrats of New Hampshire, in State convention assembled-deeming it fitting to de- clare the principles that govern their political action, assert their adherence to the following principles and beliefs :-

"1. Government exists by right through the consent of the people and for their benefit-to the en 1 that they may be protected in the exercise of natural rights -and enabled to accumulate, to build and to enjoy.

"2. Simple and exact laws expressing or directing fundamental facts, are alone necessary to the attainment of these ends, and all complex systems reaching beyond this are unnecessary and produetive of evil.

"3. All citizens are equal under the laws and all are entitled to equal rights and privileges. Our republican structure can only exist intact, based upon an independent and untrammelled peo- ple, and hence all laws tending toward the centralization of power, wealth or political influence are undemocratic and subversive of the best interests of the State.

"4. Taxation is an incident-not an object of government. It should be levied in such simple and efficacious manner, as to provide the means for the economical maintenance of the government machinery and the timely discharge of the national obligations, through a system of imposts bear- ing as lightly as is consistent, upon those articles in common use. All surplus derived from taxa- tion, above such amount, is unnecessary, a burden upon the people, and provocative of legislative steals, waste and corruption in official and legislative quarters.

"5. We demand a reduction of the war tariff in accordance with these principles, to a sum required for the honest, frugal and unostentatious administration of affairs, fully believing that the proper distribution of such levy, will encourage business, relieve the people of onerous burdens and afford all proper encouragement to deserving American industry."

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HISTORY OF COOS COUNTY.

Colonel Kent's writing is characterized by elegance of style and terseness of expression, and several bits of poetry from his pen give evidence that he might easily have won a place in literature had he chosen to apply his talents in that direction. The following was read at the Lancaster centen- nial celebration, July 14. 1864 :-

WELCOME HOME.

The mountains look down, in their grandeur and pride, On the home of our childhood to-day; On the wandering children who strayed from their side To gather rare flowers by the way. Ye are united again in the dear old town, 'Mong the streams and the hills of yore; Ye have fought well the fight for gold and renown, And ye turn to your childhood's door.

There are those who have lingered around the old home, While their brethren were far in the strife, Who have tilled the old fields in the years that have flown, In the quiet and comfort of life. These welcome ye back, with hearts full of joy, A joy that commingles with pride, As they greet, with warm fervor, each wandering boy To the town where his forefathers died.

We gather, to-day, amid scenes so endeared, To crown with the fame of her sons The time-silvered locks of the mother revered, While an hundred long winters have flown; To wreathe a full chaplet of daughters' warm love 'Mid the silvery sheen of her hair, - As enduringly pure as the azure above That smiles on an homage so fair.

Welcome home from the cast, and the west, and the south, Welcome home on this dear natal day; The kiss of some loved one is warm on each mouth; Ye have tarried a long time away, - Welcome home, and forgetting the wearying care That compassed the pathway ye trod, Throw off the chill years and be young again here, In the smile of a love born of God.

Welcome home to each spot so remembered of yore, Welcome home to each love that endures; Gather strength for the journey that stretches before, Ere our sails leave life's vanishing shores; Go forth from among us with tokens of love, Glad burdens each pilgrim to crown;

So shall memory's banquet be spread as ye rove From the home ye have cherished -our dear old town.

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TOWN OF LANCASTER.

The following lines were read by him at the observance of the Festival of St. John, June 24, 1880, at which time he was presented a past master's jewel by North Star Lodge-on his retiring as master :-

There's mony a badge, that's unco braw, Wi' ribbon, lace and tape on, Let kings and princes wear them a'; Gie me the master's apron,- The honest craftsman's apron,-

The jolly Free Mason's apron.

Bide he at hame or roam afar,

Before his touch fa's bolt and bar,

The gates of fortune fly ajar,

'Gin he but wears the apron !

For w'alth and honors, pride and power,

Are crumbling stanes to base on;

Fraternity suld rule the hour, And ilka worthy Mason, - Each Free Accepted Mason,-

Each ancient crafted Mason.

Then brithers let a halesame sang

Arise your friendly ranks alang: Gude wives and hairnies blithely sing

To the ancient badge, wi' the apron string, That is worn by the Master Mason.

At the dinner of the New Hampshire Club in Boston, in February, 1886, of which Colonel Kent was the principal guest, he included in his response the following original lines "To the Old Granite State," written in 1856 :--

Old Granite State! Thy name recalls Tales of privation, many dark and drear, Since first was set in thy primeval forests, vast, The footprints of the daring pioneer.

Years in their onward course have rolled away,

And left behind their trace, deep graved in living characters, unaltered, uneffaced,

Upon the page of history, and upon the hearts of all thy stalwart sons, Reared 'mid thy rocky fastness, or where Connecticut, New England's pride, to ocean runs. Our fathers' hero deeds are known and loved,

As the recurring years their measure fill, Their names are graven on Fame's sounding shield, From Yorktown's triumph back to Bunker Hill.

New Hampshire's glorious dead! Oh, where Are names more dear to us in song or story Than those that frame a halo round her brow of never-fading glory? The Delaware's bright waters flow lightly past her dead; Virginia's lovely daughters know their lowly, quiet bed; St. Lawrence guards their slumbers and the wilderness of Maine; For them poetic numbers wake Bennington again.

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HISTORY OF COOS COUNTY.

Round thy rock height Carilon," New Hampshire's sons repose;

Near Mexican pavilions and 'neath chill Canadian snows;

Then shout for the Old Granite State, each rock and stream and sod; We keep the faith they pledged for us; we bow to none but God.

In personal appearance, Col. Kent is above the medium height and build. of erect carriage and elastic step. He wears a heavy dark mous- tache, which sets off a face full of pleasant expression, lighted up by bright, dark eyes. He was married Jannary 11, 1859, to Berenice A. Rowell, daughter of Samuel Rowell, of Lancaster. They have two child- ren, a daughter, Berenice Emily, and a son, Henry Percy. Their home is one of domestic happiness, comfort and content. Colonel Kent's relig- ious associations are with the Episcopal worship, and he and his family are regular attendants upon that service.

Of fine presence, with genial and courteous manners, and strong per- sonal magnetism, public spirited, generous and obliging, in the prime of life, and endowed with strong mental and physical powers, he is well fitted for the performance of important business, and public labors.

THE WEEKS FAMILY.

The Weeks Family in England was entitled to armorial bearings. Leonard Weeks, the emigrant. was born in Wells, Somersetshire. Eng- land, in 1635. In January, 1656, he had a grant of eight acres of land in Portsmouth, and four years later he settled at Winicut (a part of Ports- mouth now in Greenland). Mr. Weeks was an influential man, and held positions of responsibility. He is spoken of as "one of the men who stood rather for Massachusetts than the crown." In 1661 he was select- man of Portsmouth. In 1669 he was one of a committee with men of Dover and Hampton to lay a road between Greenland and Bloody Point. He was several years constable and some time sheriff. In 1667 he mar- ried Mary, daughter of Deacon Samuel Haines, of Portsmouth. Leonard Weeks was a man of property. In 1706 he deeded farms to three of his sons, and made further provision for his oldest son, John. He died in 1707. His children were John, Samuel, Joseph, Joshua, Mary, Jonathan, Mar- garet, and Sarah. One of the daughters married the grandfather of Gov. John Langdon.

Capt. Joshua Weeks, son of Leonard, was born in Greenland, 1674. He became a farmer, and married, November 1, 1699, Comfort Hubbard, a sister of Thomas Hubbard, a Boston merchant. They had nine children, Martha, Comfort, Mary, Ichabod, John, Thankful, William, Richard. and Margaret. (A daughter of Margaret Weeks married Hon. William Plumer.)

*The Indian name for Ticonderoga.

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TOWN OF LANCASTER.

Martha married Capt. Benjamin Randall; Comfort married Dr Coffin Moore. The house of Capt. Weeks was at the Bay-side, and afterwards occupied by Deacon William Weeks. Capt. Weeks died June 13, 1755, aged eighty-four years.

Dr. John Weeks, son of Captain Joshua, was born in Greenland in 1716, and died in 1763. He was colonel of a regiment, a justice of the peace, and an eminent and successful physician. His estate was valned at £22,000. He married Martha Wingate, sister of Hon. Paine Wingate. They had ten children. Of these Joshua Wingate Weeks, born 1738, was graduated at Harvard college in 1758, and became rector of St. Michael's church at Marblehead, Mass. At the breaking out of the Revolution, he left the country, and was afterward Bishop of Halifax, N. S. His wife was Sarah Treadwell. They had five sons and three daughters. Four of the sons held commissions in the British army, and the other was an Epis- copal minister. Sarah (Sally) Weeks, daughter of Dr. John Weeks, at the age of fifteen married Rev. Jacob Bailey, a classmate at Harvard of President John Adams and Gov. Wentworth. He was ordained an Epis- copal clergyman in England. espoused the cause of the mother country in the Revolution, and served fifteen years at Pownalborough (now Dresden), Maine. He then went to Annapolis, N. S., and was rector of St. Luke's church. He resided there twenty-six years, until his death in 1808. His children were Charles Percy, Rebecca L., Charlotte M., Thomas H., Will- iam G., and Elizabeth A. Charles Percy Bailey held a captain's commis- sion in the Regiment of the Duke of Kent, "First Royals." In 1813 he was ordered to Canada, and was killed July 5, 1813. while leading a charge at the Battle of Chippewa, where Capt. John W. Weeks was fighting on the American side. Thomas H. held an army commission; William G. was a lawyer.

Capt. John Weeks was born at Hampton, N. H., February 17. 1749. He was the sixth child of Dr. John Weeks. Tradition says it was designed he should follow the profession of his father. who died when John was fourteen years old. Inheriting what seemed to him a fortune, instead of pursuing his studies and fitting for college, he devoted himself to long ex- peditions for game up the Kennebec and in the " Upper Coos." visiting this country when but sixteen. In 1770 he married Deborah, daughter of James and Martha ( Wingate) Brackett. She was an educated lady, fitted to adorn any position in life. His time and money were freely spent in the service of his country. He had a captain's command in the Revolu- tion: first, under the Committee of Safety. and then under the provisional government, by whom he was called to the defense of Portsmouth harbor. In 1786 he came to Lancaster and purchased lands, and returned in 1787 with his daughter Patty to keep his house, and his son, John W .. then six years old. They came by the way of Baker's river and the Connecti-

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HISTORY OF COOS COUNTY.

cut. In the fall Mrs. Weeks and the remainder of the family, accompanied by relatives and friends, came to their new home through the White Mount- ain Notch. This journey Mrs. Weeks made on horseback, bringing her youngest child, seven months old, in her lap, and James B., three years old, riding behind her.

The log house Capt. Weeks first constructed stood directly back of the foundation of an old barn on land now owned by Jason H. Woodward, and about fifty rods towards the village from the house of the late Will- iam D. Weeks, now owned by Ephraim Smith. The farm he then occu- pied has remained in the Weeks family (except for a brief period) for about a hundred years. Here in his new home, as in Greenland, Capt. Weeks kept open house, and entertained with great hospitality the new comers to the settlement. He was a man of strong common sense, genial presence, and good cheer; and at once took an active part in the affairs of this section. In 1788 he was elected delegate from Upper Cohos to the convention for the ratification of the federal constitution, and was one of the fifty-seven who voted in the affirmative against forty-six in the nega- tive. In 1792 he represented this whole northern country in the General Court. He also represented the district several times, held the office of selectman, and was a popular moderator of the town meetings. He was a good man in the community, there was no envy or jealousy in his disposi- tion, and he was always ready to give his aid to any enterprise for the welfare and development of the town. He was a kind friend and neighbor and widely known and appreciated. He died suddenly at Wakefield, N. H., September, 1818, when on a journey from Lancaster to Greenland. His wife, one of the noble women of that day, lived to the advanced age of eighty-two years, dying July 5, 1831. They had seven children attain- ing maturity, Martha, Deborah, Elizabeth, John Wingate, James Brackett, Polly Wiggin, Sally Brackett. Deborah, born February 29, 1776, married first William Ayers; second, Jacob Emerson. She died at the age of eighty-four years. Elizabeth, born March 10, 1778, married Azariah Webb, of Lunenburg, Vt .: Mary (Polly), born March 4, 1787, married Adino N. Brackett: Sally B., born August 13, 1789, married Edwards Bucknam. Martha, oldest child of Capt. John Weeks, was born in Greenland, Decen- ber 20, 1771. She married Edward Spaulding. They lived on the northern slope of Mt. Pleasant, the central hill of the three Martin Meadow hills. They had four sons and two daughters. Mrs. Spaulding was a woman of great industry, and, after her household affairs were put in order, had time for reading. When eighty-five years old she read " Mill's Crusades, " and could discuss the merits of the work, the causes of the movement, the style of the author, etc .; showing an unusual memory of what she had read, and a knowledge of general history which would be remarkable in a much younger woman of the present day. Her sight failed soon after,

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but her granddaughters read to her. She died January 10, 171, in the one hundredth year of her age, filling out the measure of a long life of usefulness, kindness and Christian charity.

John Wingate Weeks, oldest son of Capt. John Weeks, born in Green- land, March 31. 1781, came to Lancaster in 1787. He was a bright boy, fond of study. and although his educational opportunities were meager, yet he became one of the most intelligent men in the northern part of the state. In 1805 he married Martha Brackett, who died about two years after. In 1824 he married Persis F., daughter of Hon. Richard C. Everett. They had no children. In June, 1812, he was commissioned captain. His influence is shown by the fact, that, when he received his commission, he almost immediately "rendezvoused " fifty men at the house of A. N. Brackett. With these he started for the Niagara frontier, where he served during the war. He was attached to the Eleventh U. S. Infantry, and his company formed the right of the regiment at the battle of Chippewa, and he had the honor of first repeating the command of its major in that noted flank movement that so quickly broke the British column. Capt. Weeks was brevetted for gallant services in this battle, and commissioned major. We find copies of returns in 1814, vouched by him where he signs himself "Major, commanding the first brigade, U. S. A., consisting of the 11th, 13th & 23d Regiments." He participated in many of the most severe en- gagements of the war. After peace was restored Major Weeks returned to his farm in Lancaster, resumed his active interest in local affairs, and held many offices. His name appears often as selectman; he was county treasurer from 1818 to 1822; sheriff from 1819 till 1824; one of the commis- sioners to run the boundary line between Maine and New Hampshire: mem- ber of Congress for the two terms ending 1833, and was said to be the finest looking man in the House. For a long period he was in constant communication with many of the leading men of the nation. He died April 3, 1853.

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History of Coos County, New Hampshire, Part 44

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