USA > New Hampshire > Coos County > History of Coos County, New Hampshire > Part 73
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After a few years he studied law and was admitted to practice, but never followed the profession. Still later, he became converted and commenced preaching. He remained in Tennessee sixteen years, and returned to Mason, and, as colleague with his father, served the church as minister till April, 1847. October 3, 1847, Mr. Hill commenced his labors in Colebrook. Two years before he had married Miss Harriet Brown, of Antrim. He re- mained in Colebrook ten years, and then removed to West Stewartstown, where he remained five years. During these fifteen years while he re- mained in Coös county he was an earnest, honest christian. strongly iden- tified with temperance, purity and good morals. He was erratic and had many peculiarities in public and private; his style of writing was loose and unmethodical; but he was an honest man, in earnest in every good word and work. He was one of the trustees of Colebrook academy for many years, and was deeply interested in the cause of education, being for two years
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school commissioner for Coös county. In the spring of 1862 he purchased a house and a few acres of land in Temple, and designed making a home for himself and family. Mr. Hill was much interested in the soldiers of the Rebellion in progress when he moved to Temple, and, in March, 1864, he received an appointment on the Christian commission. He did good service on this commission till June 16, 1864, when, at Chattanooga, Tenn., in the night, while attempting to get upon a train after having been to look after some wounded soldiers, he fell beneath the car and received in- juries which caused his death. His epitaph may well sum up his life- " Here lies an honest man."
Another man who, for a long time, was identified with the Congrega- tionalist church, was Hosea Aldrich. He was born August 1, 1804. on the farm so long owned by the Aldrich family. His father, Mark Aldrich, was born in Shutesbury, Mass., April 3, 1769. His mother, becoming a widow, bound him out to a man named Torrey, who removed to Maidstone. Vt., where he lived till Mark Aldrich became of age. Soon after he came to Columbia, became acquainted with Lydia Terry, and was married to her in 1794. They lived at first in a log house at the foot of the Thompson hill for a short time, but, the house having burned, they moved to the farm now occupied by James L. Loomis, where they lived till 1799, when he bought the farm so long known as the Aldrich farm (still owned by the George Aldrich estate) and lived there till his death in 1837. Mark Aldrich, Sr., was a man of medium size, of a muscular and vigorous frame. He cleared the farm where he lived, and much land for other people. His wife, Lydia Terry, was a strong, healthy, vigorous woman, not easily daunted, and, in mind and body, able to cope with all the disagreeable annoyances of a new settlement. They had fourteen children, of whom Hosea Aldrich was seventh. He was born August 1, 1804, at the old home on the hill. and lived there a large part of the time till he became of age. He was educated at the common schools of Colebrook. and, being an apt scholar, acquired a better education than was general at that time. He was quite a grammarian, and took great pleasure in his later years in propounding difficult sentences to the young people for analysis and parsing. He taught several terms of school when a young man, and was always interested in the cause of education. He was for several years a member of the board of trustees of Colebrook academy. Early in life he became interested in religious affairs, and became a member of the Congregationalist church of Colebrook. For many years he was deacon of the church, and took great interest in its welfare. He married Electa Barnes, adopted daughter of Deacon Harvey Barnes, who survives him. He had a strong, retentive memory, and had stored up a great amount of information in regard to the early history of Colebrook and vicinity, part of which he gave to the
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public in some articles published in the Northern Sentinel several years ago. He died March 30, 1886, aged eighty-one years.
Thomas W. Atherton is another, who. for many years, was a promi- nent exponent of the New England church deacons. A bachelor, prim, neat and correct, Deacon Thomas was an institution by himself. His quaint sayings and quiet love of humor will long be remembered by those who knew him. He was born in 1810 and died December 12, 1876.
Joseph Gleason was for a long time a member of this church, and did good service for it in many ways. Sunday after Sunday this honest old blacksmith called the worshipers together by ringing the bell at the academy, and all weathers found him at his post. A man of strong con- victions, he stood firmly for them, and was ever ready to maintain them. A kind neighbor, and an earnest christian, he was much respected, and was greatly missed when he dropped out of the niche he had well filled so long. He was born in 1805 and died in 1877.
There are many, many more whom it would be a pleasure to mention, but lack of data makes it impossible to fitly write of them, and they must live in the hearts of those who know them, unnoted by the pen of the historian.
Colebrook Methodist Episcopal Church .- Although Methodism was preached in Colebrook and vicinity as early as 1816, there was no Meth- odist church till the year 1870. In 1869 Rev. Moses Potter preached occa- sionally at the school house, and in the following year a society was organ- ized and the present church edifice built. The enterprise was largely due to the perseverance of the late Russell Darling, though many others were interested in the work. The church was dedicated in September, 1870, by the late Rev. Elisha Adams, D. D. The first trustees were Russell Darling, Orman P. Ray, Elmon H. Williams, Almon M. Grout, John Gilman, George Marshall, Caleb Fuller, and Hazen Bedel who is one of the pres- ent trustees. There was no pastor till April, 1871, when Rev. J. H. Knott was appointed to the position. During his pastorate the parsonage was built, and some new members were added to the church. In 1873 Rev. Truman Carter became pastor and remained three years. He was a forci- ble and popular preacher, and the number of church members increased largely during his ministration. At the close of his labor he said: "The past three years have been the most pleasant of my ministry."
In 1876 Rev. D. J. Smith entered the field, and his memory will linger long in the hearts of his people. Affable and cheerful in manner, by his devoted life and untiring efforts he accomplished much good during his three years' stay. The next pastor was Rev. N. C. Alger, who began his work in 1879 and remained two years. In 1881 came Rev. A. F. Baxter, who stayed one year and a half. While at Colebrook the hand of affliction was laid heavily upon him by the death of his wife, and Rev. L. W. Pres-
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cott finished the year. Rev. O. P. Wright commenced serving this church in 1883. Frank and open, jovial, and a strong preacher, he made many warm friends, and his wife was truly a helpmeet for him. They lost their only child while in Colebrook. The present pastor, Rev. Claudius Byrne, entered upon his labors here in 1885. The church has been thoroughly repaired, and other improvements made on the church property, and now, in the midst of his third year, he says, "surely his lines have fallen in pleasant places."
East Colebrook Meeting House .- In 1834 there was a move made by various persons of various denominations in the east part of Colebrook, looking towards building a meeting-house in that part of the town. There were not enough of any one belief to accomplish such an object, and so they joined together and built the East Colebrook meeting-house. The constitution provided that it should be a " Union meeting-house, " and that any preacher, in good standing in his own denomination, should have the right to preach in the house, and any transient preacher of like standing might preach there at any time to the exclusion of any regular preacher. It consequently sometimes happened that when the regular preacher was all ready to deliver his sermon that he was set aside for some visiting clergyman. The house was built and dedicated December, 1854, and, in 1855. a Free-will Baptist church was organized there, with Benaiah Bean as first pastor. He preached there every other Sabbath for a little more than a year, when he died, and was succeeded by I. M. Russell, who remained there preaching alternate Sundays till 1860. The other Sabbaths the house was occupied by, first, W. H. Nason, and, afterward, Seth Ross, ministers of the Christian denomination, till about the same time.
W. S. Merrill, Free-will Baptist, preached here from 1860 to 1862, John Pettingill from 1862 to 1864. and Calvin S. Shattuck to 1866. After this there was preaching only at irregular intervals, and the house went rapidly to ruin; but, in 1875, a majority of the pew-owners voted to repair the house, and an assessment was made on the pews for that purpose. Daniel Fletcher, Henry W. Woodrow, and Asa Noyes were the building committee, and they carried out their purpose well. After the repairs the house was re-dedicated and Rev. E. K. Amazeen, of the Christian denomination, preached three years. After him Rev. W. H. H. Collins, a Methodist, preached till the spring of 1881, after whom Rev. L. R. Danforth, a Meth- odist, came and remained three years. During his stay, September 25, 1883, a Methodist church was organized with the following members: Samuel T. Noyes, Anna Noyes, Asa Noyes, Fred Forbes, Saphenia Willis, Saphenia Hardy, Maggie Forgrave, Marietta Banister, Fanny Hanson, Mary A. Cree.
Some thirty members have since been added to the society. After the ministry of Mr. Danforth, Rev. G. A. Luce was the pastor, and remained
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till the spring of 1887, and the church has since been supplied by Mr. C. A. Anderson. The church is now in a prosperous and flourishing condition. The present clerk of the society is Fred E. Forbes.
CHAPTER LXVII.
Early Settlers-Old Documents.
DMUND Chamberlain was born in Rockingham, Vt., in 1776. He came to Lancaster about 1804, and remained about three years, when he came to Colebrook and moved on to the farm now occupied by John C. Tibbetts. His wife, before their marriage, was Polly Simonds. Mr. Chamberlain was an active, stirring man, and besides clearing the farm, built the mill already alluded to on Beaver brook, and did quite a large business in sawing lumber for his rapidly increasing neighbors. He lived on the farm till 1816. when he purchased the Ethan Colby farm of Timothy Farrar, and moved to the village (if it could be called such). He removed the old Farrar house, and built the one now occupied by Mr. Colby, and kept a tavern for the accommodation of travellers. At the annual "trainings," and the less frequent " musters " of the old militia, Chamber- lain's tavern was the institution of Colebrook. He held important posi- tions in the town, and was universally respected. He died November 2, 1855, aged seventy-nine years. He had two children, Susan, wife of Fred- erick G. Messer, and Mary, wife of Ethan Colby.
Among the early settlers of Colebrook was Capt. Benjamin Buel, with his wife Violetta (Sessions), and their eldest daughter, Minerva, who came from Connecticut to this town in 1803. They were all natives of that state. Benjamin, born in 1767; Violetta, in 1778, and Minerva in 1801. Capt. Buel was an excellent scholar for those days, an elegant penman, and a gentleman on all occasions. He was a man of refined tastes and sensibili- ties. For many winters after he came he taught school, and Edmund Chamberlain, the elder Baldwins, of Stratford, and others of his pupils, pioneers of Coös, now dead and gone, bore willing testimony to his high character as a man, and to his efficiency as a teacher. Evidently he left his impress on many minds. He was of a nervous, sensitive temperament, and died of a nervous difficulty, March 24, 1829, and now sleeps his last sleep in the old cemetery above our village. One of his sisters married " Esquire " (Oliver) Ingham, of Canaan, Vt., one of the noted men of his
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section, -father of ex-Congressman Samuel Ingham, of Connecticut, and grandfather of ex-Sheriff Bailey, of Columbia. After settling in Cole- brook (on the Hosea Aldrich place), Benjamin and Violetta had two more children, both daughters, added to their family, viz .: Sharlie Maria and Abigail. Minerva married Johnson Jordan, in 1822, with whom she lived in this town until her death, March 13, 1853. Maria married Sidney Allen, and lived in Chelsea, Vt. Abigail married Daniel Egery, and went to Beloit, Wis., to live when that town contained less than a dozen families. All three were noble women, inheriting largely of their father's refine- ment of manners, temperament, disposition and tastes. All died of the same trouble that carried him to the other shore before his days of use- fulness were nearly spent here below. The mother, after her husband's decease, resided with her daughter Minerva, until the latter's death, and then returned to her native state, where she died in 1855. She is still re- membered by older citizens as a lady of culture, aristocratic tendencies and bearing.
The earliest settler on Titus hill was David Titus. He came to Cole- brook about 1796, and made the first start on the Moses Titus farm, after- wards the C. E. Moses farm. He was a hard-working, industrious man, and a successful farmer. As has been said by one of Colebrook's oldest living citizens, "David Titus was a father to everybody." He had wheat, potatoes, butter, cheese, and everything that could be raised or made on the farm, and no one who was in need ever went from him empty-handed. At the time of his settlement on Titus hill, and for several years afterward, there was no road from that part of the town to the village; Columbia Valley was their trading point, and their means of reaching it was by a road leading past the "Lime Pond" to the mill and store there situated. David Titus was successful as a farmer and owned quite a large tract of land. He had four children, one son, Moses, to whom he gave the home farm, and three daughters. The oldest married Gilman Corser, and she was given the Alvin Arlin farm; the second married David Young, and to her he gave the Harvey McAllaster farm; while to the third daughter, who married David Hodge, he gave the farm belonging now to the Noah Cum- mings estate. He saw his children all settled around him, and in prosper- ons circumstances before he died. Eleazer Titus, brother of David, cleared part of the farm now occupied by the Merrill brothers, and his son, Samuel, the John Libbey farm, they coming to Colebrook soon after David.
In 1799 Sylvanus Noyes came to Titus hill from Maidstone, Vt. He was born in Plaistow, N. H., in December, 1769, and his wife, Betsey Jewitt, was born in Landaff, in 1770. Mr. Noyes purchased the lot of land where George Martin lives, and the house was near the present one. The land was a wilderness when the sturdy farmer made his "pitch," but hard labor and honest industry soon made the land productive. He had
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seven children who reached adult age: John, who lived in Bath and vicinity; Mary, who married Jeremy George, and lived in Pittsburg and Bath; Michael, who lived on the old farm on Titus hill till he went with the colony to Beloit, Wis .; and Mehitable, who married Reuben Ash, and removed to Grafton county. The fifth child was Asa. He was born in Colebrook, on the home farm, May 3, 1804. There was a large family, and his father sometimes had hard times to make both ends meet. Asa worked on the farm till he was eighteen years old. Their "milling" was done at the Valley, and Asa, when a boy, used to take a bag of wheat on horseback, and carry it to the mill to be ground. The road was through the woods all the way, and he, like the other boys, was much afraid of the Indians. At one time, near the mill. there was a camp of Indians, all moderately drunk. Young Asa saw a big "buck" Indian take a squaw by the hair and drag her across the road, which so wrought upon his fears that he got the miller to see him safely past them. When Asa was eight- een years old he went down to Landaff, Lisbon, and Bath, where he re- mained several years, and married Lydia Eaton, from Landaff. He then returned to Upper Coös, and cleared the farm where Enoch Kelsea lives in Columbia, and, in 1856, removed to the farm on Harvey Swell, in Cole- brook, where he yet lives at the advanced age of eighty-three years. He has had ten children: Mrs. Hiram Howe, Eben, Chester, Violetta (who married Daniel Young), Gilman, Eleazer (who was in the service and was killed in the late Rebellion), and Samuel P. lived to become men and women. Samuel P. lives with his father, and Asa Noyes & Son are always well represented in the fairs and shows of stock in Colebrook. Hobart Noyes, sixth child of Sylvanus. lived in Colebrook many years, run- ning the woolen factory. He was collector of taxes in 1844. 1845 and 1846. His wife was Sarah Beecher. Several years ago they moved to Stewarts- town where they still reside.
Frederick Gould Messer was born in Jericho. Vt., December 22, 1799. He, in early life, seemed to have an aptitude for mercantile life. He was for six years clerk in a store at Lancaster, and was one year in trade there, and one year in trade at Columbia Valley. In 1822 he came to Colebrook and went into business and remained in trade in this town till 1-60. when he removed to Portland, Me .. where he still resides at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. While he lived in Colebrook he was postmaster ten years, selectmen, town clerk for several years and town treasurer. Since he moved to Maine he has been bank director twenty-six years, bank president many years, alderman two years, state representative, and two years in the state Senate. He married Susan Chamberlain, daughter of Edmund Chamberlain, December 21, 1828. Mrs. Messer was born Septem- ber 15, 1804. and is still living.
Ethan Colby was born at Sanbornton, August 29. 1810. In 1829 he
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went to St. Johnsbury, Vt., as clerk for Moses Kittredge, and afterwards was in company with Mr. Kittredge till 1836, when he went to Littleton and into trade with Cyrus Eastman, as Colby & Eastman. In 1838 Mr. Colby sold out and came to Colebrook and commenced the mercantile business in company with his old partner, Moses Kittredge, but, at the end of five years, purchased the entire business and remained in trade at the same place till 1856, when he sold out to George W. Brackett and retired. Mr. Colby was postmaster for several years, representative in 1861, and councillor in 1862. He was an old line Whig, and afterwards, and still, a Republican with very positive ideas. He married Mary, daughter of Edmund Chamberlain, March 29, 1843. They had three children, Edward (deceased), Charles (now in trade in Colebrook), and Sarah, wife of Melrose V. Knight, for several years in the hardware business in Colebrook.
One of the early settlers was Caleb Little, Sr., and not long afterwards. his brother, Ebenezer, followed him to Colebrook. They came from the vicinity of Goffstown, N. H. The Littles were naturally mechanics, and were interested in building the mills in town. The sons of Caleb were Moody, Caleb, Jr., and Benjamin, the last two still living in Colebrook. Ebenezer is also living at a very advanced age. (His children were Joseph D., John R., Eben, who died from disease contracted in the army, and James C.); Dolly, who married Seth W. Tirrell; Susan, who married Freeman Stevens. from Milton, Me. ; Ann, who married William T. Keyes; and Marietta, who married William Lindsay.
Alfred Loverin was born in Loudon, December 11. 1813, and came to Colebrook with his parents in 1819. His father lived on the Harvey Brooks farm. In 1838 he married Lucy Drew, sister of Hon. Amos W. and Edwin W. Drew, and settled on the John Gould farm. His wife died in 1842, and he afterward married Susan Fletcher. He lived on the farm till 1873, when he removed to Colebrook village, where he died April 7. 1884. He was a farmer, and during the last twenty years of his life largely interested in starch business, both in Colebrook and in Aroostook county, Me. His wife, Susan. still lives in the old home.
Charles Thompson was born at East Windsor, Conn., September 16, 1776. He came to Colebrook about 1800. perhaps a little earlier. He acted as packman for Jeremiah Eames in making the survey of Colebrook. Colum- bia and Stewartstown. He bought a large tract of land near where the village now is built. Soon after he sold out and went to Columbia Valley where he and his brother bought and rebuilt the saw-mill. He was a very kind-hearted. generous man, and became bondsman for several people who had been arrested for debt. The result was that he lost all his property, and was himself arrested for these debts, and taken to Lancaster jail. Being well known, he was not confined, but given "the liberty of the yard" as it was called: the yard being all "out of doors " provided he did
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not stray far enough so as to be unable to come to the jail at night. At length his wife's father, Timothy Holton, paid the indebtedness and Thompson came home. A strange method to collect a debt! Thompson in jail, and Holton paying a debt for which neither had received a penny.
Mr. Holton purchase l the farm below the village known as the Thomp- son farm, and, about 1820, Charles Thompson went there to live, and remained till his death, October 4, 1855. His wife, Sally Holton, was born October 13, 1777, and died February 28, 1862. Their children were Mary H., who was born March 1, 1503. She married Grant Fuller, of Stratford, became a widow, and spent the latter part of her life at the old homestead, dying September 27, 1876. Harriet was born March 12, 1805. November 9, 1826, she married William Loomis, with whom she still lives at the ad- vanced age of eighty-two. Kind hearted like her father, she has been a most generous neighbor, and, when illness visited the homes of those about her, none have been more prompt to extend a helping hand than "Aunt Harriet." The third child, Charles H. Thompson, was born June 24, 1807. With his father, in 1820, he went on to the farm still occupied by him, and his home has been there for sixty-seven years. He has never married, but retains his youthful heart to the present day. He has been selectman of the town, and was representative in 1849 and 1850. He has been a hunter and trapper, and many a bear has yielded to his snares. Elizabeth M. Thompson was born May 16, 1809. She never married, and lived with her brother Charles. She was a woman of literary tastes and habits, a great reader and quite a writer. She died September 16, 1861. The elder Thompson was colonel of the 24th Regiment of militia.
Another family has for nearly a hundred years helped along the pros- perity of Colebrook.
Joseph Loomis was born at Hebron, Conn., July 7, 1766. His wife, Anna Bissell, to whom he was married November 26, 1789, was born Octo- ber 20, 1763. They removed to Colebrook in 1800, having purchased the farm known as the Heath farm, on the river. There was no house on this place at this time, and he moved into a house on the next farm, while he built the house lately occupied by David Heath. He then moved into the new house and lived there during the remainder of his life. He was a strong man in every respect, and one of the leading spirits of the com- munity. On the 13th of June, 1801, he was appointed a justice of the peace for the county of Grafton, and January 30, 1805, was appointed "Justice of the Court of Common Pleas for one County of Coos." Both these commissions are signel by John Taylor Gilman, governor, and Joseph Pearson, secretary. Joseph Loomis had six children: Abial Anson, born May 6, 1791, who died February 17, 1836; Lewis Loomis, born May 10, 1793, who died October 18, 1869. Lewis was a tall, strongly built, and muscular man, a great wrestler, and for many years at the trainings,
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musters, and raisings, held the championship against all comers. He was sheriff and deputy sheriff, and, in company with Hezekiah Par- sons, Jr., arrested the celebrated David Robbins for the murder of Abner Hinds and his son. Robbins and Hinds trapped in company, and Rob- bins burned the camp, having stolen the furs. Robbins was arrested and settled with Hinds, giving him $350. The next year Robbins induced Hinds and his son to go into the woods trapping with him again, professing great penitence for what had happened. On this trip Robbins killed both father and son. Warrants were issued for his arrest, and Lewis Loomis was entrusted with its service. Robbins then lived out on the Magalloway river, and Mr. Loomis, accompanied by Mr. Parsons, and one Ellingwood. from Milan, started to find him. On reaching his house they learned that he had gone up the river. They followed cautiously till they found where he had reached a point where it was necessary for him to carry his traps by a fall, and he had gone with one load. leaving another for which he had to return. Concealing themselves by the path, they awaited his coming, and when he was about to pass them, Mr. Loomis leaped upon his back and held him while he was bound. He was taken to Lancaster jail. but escaped, and was said afterwards to have been hanged in Canada for a murder committed there.
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