USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Goshen > History of Goshen, New Hampshire : settled, 1769, incorporated, 1791 > Part 6
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Logically, Corey's road-makers would have begun at the end nearest their homes. His contract may some day be found in
*The grave of this unknown Revolutionary soldier was marked, about 1924, by the D. A. R., with the assistance of the late Frank Reed of Unity, who was brought up at the old tavern and knew of the facts. So many men were passing and re-passing to Number Four, particularly in the early years of the war, that it is difficult to identify this soldier; equally so, to place the roads by which they traveled. For example, on the 4th of Oct., 1777, Lieut. Fitts records he marched "in Unity, by Judkins .. . to Grouts at No. 4." There were at least two families by the name of Judkins then in the town, viz, John, Jr., and Josiah. Lot numbers place John, Jr. in the east part and "Jo" Judkins at, or near, the later-named Huntoon tavern, yet it is possible that either one or both of their long, narrow farms would have extended through to the "South Road," making hasty premise untrustworthy.
Capt. Peter Kimball of Boscawen (Diary, Coffin's Hist. of Boscawen, p. 253) made a point of stopping over night in Unity, doing so July 6, 1777, and likewise upon his return the 10th. On his second expedition, this time to join Gen. Stark with 22 men - there were fourteen previously - they lodged July 25 at Saville. Returning on Tuesday, Sept. 23rd, he says, "I marcht to Unity (from Col. Hunt's at Number 4) and loged at Capt. Huntoon's." Capt. Nathaniel Huntoon lived on what has been known as the Lees place, just over the Goshen line west of the Winthrop C. Richmond place - definitely on the South road.
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COREY'S-TOWN AND COREY'S ROAD
Proprietor's records of Unity, or Saville. Having established their starting-point, they pressed eastward deviating little from a true course in line with Sunapee North Ball. From each hill- top through the ensuing valleys, the white ribbon of roadway still dips and rises, as in its builders' day, with the looming bulk of Sunapee ever straight ahead.
Holland omitted to chart Corey's Road upon his map, though it was asuredly there at the time of his survey. Granted that as a road it left much to be desired, yet every tree cut from any pathway through the wilderness - Holland termed the Number Four trail, "Road to (the) Woods" - made the lot of the next comer easier and provided, withal, a speedier course for the gathering soldiers of Bennington and Saratoga, thus contribut- ing to the ultimate good of all.
There was ample precedence for Corey's-town to retain its name indefinitely - at least until John Wendell's recognition - had not Governor Wentworth possessed so many titled ac- quaintances in England whom he wished to interest. That the new name, Saville, was in honor of Sir George Saville is now fully accepted, though there is still some question of identity.
Without doubt the most notable of the George Savilles was the Marquis of Halifax, born 1633; died 1695. (see Gran. M'thly, Feb., 1902). However, Gov. John Wentworth's Letterbook, p. 288, clearly implies a living contemporary by that name whom he highly esteemed. Writing to Joseph Harrison, Esqr., Collector of Customs at Boston, Sept. 24th, 1769, he said:
"As you once hinted Sir George Saville's Inclination to be interested on this Continent I shou'd think it a very Singular pleasure to have an Oppor- tunity to promote his views - There are yet some Lands in this province which are very good, and our Government is more efficiently similar to Gr Britain than any other in America - perhaps Lord Rockingham* might join him, and add some other of their friends ... "
This is apparently the man described in Encyl. Brittanica, series 1911, Vol. 24, p. 243 as follows:
"Sir George Savile (1726-1784) English politician, was only son of Sir George Savile, Bart., (d. 1743) of Rufford, Nottinghamshire, and was born in London on the 18th of July, 1726. He entered the House of Commons
*For whom Wentworth named Rockingham County.
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN, N. H.
as member for Yorkshire in 1759. In general he advocated views of a very liberal character, including measures of relief to Roman Catholics and to Protestant dissenters, and he defended the action of the American colonists. He refused to take office and in 1783 he resigned his seat in Parliament. He died unmarried in London on the 19th of Jan., 1784. Horace Walpole says Savile had 'a large fortune and a larger mind,' and Burke had also a very high opinion of him. He bequeathed Rufford and some of his other estates to his nephew, Richard Lumley."
It could have been but natural for Wentworth to appreciate in this man the qualities of mind and heart so paramount in him- self. If Sir George "advocated views of a very liberal character," so did he; if generosity toward persecuted religious peoples, t that was displayed in his own official attitude; and sympathy for the struggling colonists of the new world, so close about him, so vitally interesting, was deep within his own bosom.
+Writing in 1935, Arthur G. Saville, then of Goshen, but now residing in Chicago, Ill. stated:
"Saville is of French origin and my grandfather never tired of relating the fact that his ancestors were Hugenots driven out of France for religious principles. Most of them landed in England ... "
CHAPTER VI Early Families
FIRST SECTION
RAND
B ENJAMIN (1) RAND, blacksmith and farmer, was a na- tive of Rye, N. H. Marriage intentions were published Aug. 6, 1749 to Catherine Chandler, youngest daughter of Capt. Wil- liam and Elizabeth (Lucy) Chandler (Old Kittery, p. 316), Their children:
2 I Abigail, bapt. Nov. 11, 1755 (Forward)
3
II Lucy, bapt. July 11, 1757 (Forward)
4 III Benjamin, Jr., bapt. Sept. 22, 1765 (Forward)
(2) ABIGAIL RAND (Benjamin 1) b. March 10, 1755; m. Sept. 30, 1772, William Sischo (or Sisco). In 1775 he entered the army under Capt. Samuel Massey, Col. George Reid's Regt., re- ceiving bounty money at a later period from the town of New- port. In after years a statement was made that he was living in Unity at the time of his enlistment, but this is an evident error, as all his children - and this applies to those born dur- ing the war-years in question - are listed in Sunapee records as "born in Saville." During his long service he participated in the battles of Monmouth and Bunker Hill and was also in Gen. Sullivan's Campaign against the Indians. His experiences, told May 12, 1818, when applying for a pension (granted) merit notice. He stated that he served eight months under Col. Reid and just before that enlistment expired he "was returned by his officers for during the war," and although he did not re-enlist, he entered in the spring of 1776, Capt. Isaac Farwell's Co., Col. Cilley, New Hampshire Line, and served until just before the close of the war, when he received a furlough for four months to return home and visit his family; that after two months he started back to join the army and met his company returning
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN, N. H.
home, having been dismissed. He accordingly returned with them and so never received a discharge.
Feb. 27, 1837, Abigail Sischo, then eighty-three years of age, a widow, was living in Franklin, Vt., which had been her home for nearly twenty years. She recalled that she was seventeen on March 10 before her marriage and that they moved to Weathers- field, Vt., then to Swanton, Vt., and later to Franklin. A neigh- bor, Dorcas Glover, appearing for Mrs. Sischo, stated that, "In 1791 William Sischo and Abigail his wife lived on my father's farm in Weathersfield and I was well acquainted with them. I have often heard her father and mother and other friends say they were at the wedding."* Children:
I Catherine, b. Sept. 29, 1774
II Richard, b. March 22, 1775
III Susannah, b. March 24, 1776
IV Samuel, b. June 5, 1777
V William, Jr., b. July 7, 1780
VI Filonde, b. Sept. 6, 1783
VII Elizabeth, b. Sept. 25, 1785
VIII Rebecca, b. Oct. 18, 1788
(3) LUCY RAND (Benjamin1) m. July 16, 1777, Elder Ne- hemiah Woodward (See Early Religious Influences). Ch:
I Rhoda Woodward, b. in Wendell, June 13, 1778.
II Nehemiah, b. W. Oct. 28, 1782; d. 1801.
III Benjamin, b. W. April 15, 1785
IV Emmy, b. W. June 17, 1788
V Robert
VI Samuel twins, b. W. Aug. 19, 1790
VII John, b. W. Aug. 19, 1794
VIII Lucy, b. W. March 24, 1796
IX Betsey, b. W. July 19, 1799
X Nabby, b. at Bridgewater, Vt., June 24, 1803
(4) BENJAMIN RAND, Jr., (Benjamin1) m. Nov. 27, 1788, Temperance Dickinson, in Westminster, Vt. Seven years later he was described a blacksmith of Weathersfield, Vt. As the towns of Weathersfield and Westminster adjoin, it would have been
*Rev. Pension Papers, typescript, N. H. Hist. Society.
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possible for him to have been in business, or working as a jour- neyman-blacksmith, in the former place at the time of his mar- riage. The confusion of given names is further complicated by a third Benjamin Rand, son of Robert of Westminster .* But it was definitely his son to whom Benjamin the pioneer deeded the blacksmith-shop and the 481/2 acre farm in Goshen on July 30, 1785, consideration £30. This transaction may well mark the closing period of the old settler's life.
With the farm supplementing the income from the blacksmith- shop, Benjamin, Jr., carried on in the time-honored custom, teaching to his son Benjamin, who in one local record was termed "the 4th." the homely arts he had received. The first cabin of logs reportedly stood a few rods southwest of the sturdy frame-house, still standing, that was later built somewhat higher on the hillside. The family-ties with Weathersfield, Vt., were responsible for bringing Asahel Dickinson, probably a brother of Temperance, at an early date to the present Lillian Robillard farm in Goshen. He m. Aug. 20, 1795, Lucy, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Rand) Lear. A descendant, Martin ("Old Mart") Dickinson, was living there in 1890. Children of Benjamin, Jr., and Temperance (Dickinson) Rand, the first three probably born in Vermont:
I Azariah, b. Dec. 23, 1789; d. inf.
II Temperance, b. Dec. 14, 1791; m. Jonathan Lang
III Hannah, b. Oct. 10, 1793
IV Azariah ('Riah), b. Dec. 15, 1795
*ROBERT RAND, b. 1750, a tailor by trade, came to Westminster, Vt., and located on a grant of fifty acres, being one of the first settlers in that section; had wife Emma; was unquestionably related to Benjamin1 of Saville. Their 12 children were born in West- minster :
I BENJAMIN, b. Jan. 16, 1775; he m. (1) Cynthia Robinson, b. Oct. 30, 1780, and died Aug. 25, 1807. (2) Sarah Robinson, b. Sept. 3, 1780. She was a very beautiful wom- an and was beloved by all who knew her. She died at Bridgewater, Vt., Sept. 8, 1875, at the age of 95, having had 10 children. (Gen. and Fam. Hist. of Vt.)
II Mary, b. July 10, 1779
III Lucy, b. July 19, 1781 IV Robert, b. July 26, 1783
V Emma, b. Sept. 25, 1785
VI Catherine, b. Aug. 13, 1787; d. Oct. 3, 1813
VII Nehemiah Į twins, b. Feb. 14, 1790
VIII Betsey
IX Orpha, b. May 12, 1792; m. Oct. 26, 1806, Ayres Woodward, at Bridgewater, Vt .; by Nehemiah Woodward, minister. (Sunapee Records) .
X John, b. Nov. 7, 1794
XI Olive, b. May 15, 1797
XII Hiram, b. Nov. 10, 1799
(The Rand Fam. in the U. S., 1898, Florence O. Rand)
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN, N. H.
V Benjamin, "the 4th.," b. Nov. 28, 1797 (Forward)
VI Asahel ("Asel"), b. July 10, 1800
VII Elizabeth Chandler Rand, b. July 11, 1803
On Jan. 28, 1819, Benjamin the 4th., who had then become of age, took over management of shop and farm by purchase from his father of the homestead, "Lot No. 6 in the 2nd. range," (excepting the 11/2 acres deeded to Joseph Lear almost fifty years before) "together with the buildings on said land and blacksmith shop and tools." The purchase price was $1,000. and it is evi- dent that the young owner resorted to a mortgage upon his newly-acquired property, reference being had to a deed from young Benjamin to John Cutts of Goshen in like amount, dated Aug. 7, 1819. (Cheshire Co. Registry, Vol. 83, p. 38). He mar- ried, Nov. 21, 1821, Margaret Chandler, eldest daughter of Benjamin (Dea. Joseph1) and Mary (Cross) Chandler, b. in Fishersfield, Jan. 21, 1799. Old residents told that intemperate habits brought disaster to young Benjamin. He died April 7, 1825, aged 27, and his estate was represented insolvent.
In the following year, 1826, Margaret married (2nd.) Tobias Lear, son of Joseph and Mercy (Woodward) Lear, b. in Goshen April 8, 1794. Meanwhile young Benjamin's parents had re- mained at the old homestead and at this time were being assisted by the town, an outcome wholly unforeseen when bargaining away their property. In 1828 a lawsuit developed between the elder Rand and Margaret, in which the town naturally had a financial interest. However, by vote at a meeting held Nov. 3, of that year, the town declined to carry on the case further, after settling bills already incurred to the extent of $116.68, including redemption of the old man's cow, which had been effected by "Esquare Newton" of Newport.
Benjamin2 Jr. died Feb. ? , 1833, and was laid to rest in the unwalled family burial-plot on the south slope facing the pond, supposed to contain between twenty and thirty graves. In 1919 a suitable tablet, affixed to a natural boulder, was dedicated at the spot with appropriate exercises. Mrs. Temperance Rand died 1839; was not buried in the Rand plot, but a road had to be shoveled out through heavy snow northerly to the Province Road
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EARLY FAMILIES
for the passage of the funeral procession, presumably to the burying-ground on the old Morey place.
Tobias Lear died on the home-place June 8, 1872. His wife, Margaret Chandler Rand, d. Nov. 25, 1882, nearly 84 years of age. By both Rand and Lear marriages there were six children, all born in Goshen:
I Alice Rand, born June 23, 1823; m. Sept. 14, 1840, John F. Jones, son of Zachariah and Sally (Humphrey) Jones, who was born Sept. 16, 1817, and died Oct. 24, 1896. She died Nov. 22, 1858, aged 35 yrs. They had four children:
(1) Belinda A. Jones, b. Jan. 17, 1841; married May 26, 1858, Ransom R. Emery and subsequently lived in Antrim, N. H .; (2) Henry W. Jones, b. June 28, 1842; enlisted in Co. K, Ninth Regiment, N. H. Vol. Infantry August 4; was mustered in as private, Aug. 15, 1862, and died at Nicholas- ville, Kentucky, Sept. 19, 1863; (3) Frances M. Jones, b. Feb. 11, 1844; married March 25, 1862, James W. Rogers of Goshen and died Oct. 6, 1896; (4) Alice J., b. July 13, 1858; d. inf.
II Electa Rand, b. Sept. 11, 1824; m. Eseck Sischo, son of Samuel Sischo, who died Feb. 9, 1902, aged 77 yrs. She died Sept. 3, 1853. One child: Margaret J. Sischo, b. June 8, 1850; died July 19, 1857.
III Mary C. Rand, b. Oct. 1825; died May 2, 1836, aged 16 yrs.
IV Arvilla M. Lear, b. July 21, 1827; d. Jan. 21, 1835.
V Margaret Jane Lear, b. March 5, 1832; married May 15, 1856, Delos G. Jones, son of Zachariah and Sally (Humphrey) Jones, who was b. Oct. 25, 1828, and died July 12, 1908. She died Feb. 17, 1905. They lived on the Benjamin Rand farm. One child: Isabel E. Jones, b. April 14, 1857; m. (1) in New York, Robert Lee of Virginia, from whom she was divorced; (2) Wil- liam Burt of New Jersey.
VI Olive M. Lear, b. Feb., 1838; d., aged 2 yrs.
Delos G. Jones, whom the writer found at the old farm in 1903, stressed the fact that the farm had been retained by the family, although the Rand blood-line had admittedly disap- peared. Mr. Jones then proved his knowledge of the farm-yard
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN, N. H.
by expertly digging out of the grass with his shoe-toe a saucer- shaped "core" of slag, perhaps extracted in the long-ago from the Captain's forge.
DANIEL SHERBURNE CLAIMED FIRST SETTLER
It is an old, slate gravestone in the little cemetery at North Goshen and it says simply:
"Here lies Mr. Daniel Sharburn, the First Settler in this Town, Who died March 16th, 1814, aged 74 years."
The grave is well over to the far side of the burying-ground. The area is clearly ordained for the purpose, being too small for any other use. It is hemmed in on the north by the dirt-road which deploys from the original course of the Province Road, while on its easterly side the range-road to Gunnison's, now black-topped, was carried by a stone-bridge over the mountain- stream that swings around the other side of the knoll and fills the overhanging trees with splashing murmurs.
Daniel Sherburne (modern spelling) was born in Portsmouth, in 1739-40, son of Nathaniel4 and Sarah (Sherburne) Sherburne. A son, Daniel, Jr., married Mehitable Gitchell, of Wendell, Dec. 15, 1791. A daughter, Ruth, shared honors with Hannah Bartlett in being one of Goshen's first "schoolmarms," teaching school in her father's barn until a log schoolhouse could be built nearby. She married James Philbrook (ick) in Goshen, Nov. 19, 1796.
The site of the Sherburne homestead was east of the present O. H. Michaelson place, in woodland now belonging to William H. Stevens. Fifty years ago the area was pasture, with one or two open mowing-fields, but no satisfactory trace of habitation, or cellar depression, was even then evident. Somewhere in the vicinity a Sherburne child's grave is hidden.
Because of the many transfers during succeeding generations the original bounds of Sherburne's farm are hard to define, though a copy of his homestead deed is on file at the Cheshire County Registry, Keene, wherein Thomas Martin, Merchant, of Portsmouth, for and in consideration of Five Shillings Lawful Money, conveys to Daniel Sherburne, "late of said Portsmouth,
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EARLY FAMILIES
but now of Saville, County of Cheshire, Husbandman," fifty acres of the 75-acre David Young lot .* This was Lot No. 2, second range, south division, that is, south of the Province Road, or Great Road. The date of transfer is Jan. 8, 1773.
The fact of Sherburne's location in the second range, when Rand, Lang and Grindle had all secured land abutting on the Great Road, though damaging, is not too important. Personal preference for lay of land, standing growth - hardwood being preferred - available water-supply and other details, were prime determining factors in settlement of a new land. His de- cision had caused him to cross the Gunnison brook and ascend the ridge that rises from it toward the Center district, to an elevation where a splendid view opens out west and north, with Mt. Ascutney, across the Connecticut river in Vermont, in cen- tral domination. What may not have been evident, but must have become discouragingly conclusive, was that the ground was very stony.
On Wadleigh's Map of Goshen (1837) the Sherburne farm, perhaps then tilled by Daniel, Jr., was flanked on the west, against the old Newport town line, by Nathaniel Sherburne (relationship undetermined), and on the other side, across the old "Farr Road," a cross-road now largely abandoned, by the George Walker Lear farm. In this same Second range, too, Samuel Gunnison, Sr., had early made his clearing at the foot of Sunapee Mountain and John Wendell held title to one of his many Saville lots; all good neighbors from the Portsmouth area, in a broad sense.
There are good grounds for believing Daniel's wife to have been Mary -, and that in July, 1771, he was a merchant, in a partnership, in Portsmouth,t but, in the first case, identity is not fully established.
Taking all in consideration, there must have been some foundation for the cemetery-epitaph, even though, unfortunate- ly, its details have been lost. Yet it will be equally fair to qualify
*David Young sold this to Matthew Haslett of Portsmouth, 1769, and Haslett deeded the same to Martin, May 3, 1770.
An action against John Sherburne, Esq., Daniel Sherburne and Samuel Sherburne, all of Portsmouth. Merchants, brought by Widow Elizabeth Wallingford, late of Somersworth, for correction of interest on a promissory note of £2,212. (Laws of N. H., Vol. 5, p. 235.)
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN, N. H.
the inscription by the addition of One - "One of the First Settlers."
The reason for the family's subsequent removal from town is likewise obscured by time. It was a large and important family. In 1790 (first U. S. Census), Daniel Sherburne listed twelve, seven males and five females, ages not given. He was elected moderator of the Wendell town-meeting, March, 1783, and filled other offices of trust over the years. Active in various real- estate transactions, he was associated with Samuel Sherburne and others in 1770, in the sale of group holdings in Protect- worth (Springfield) and again with Samuel, in 1773, in purchase of the John Underwood lot in Saville. Samuel was not a resi- dent, so far as can be learned.
LEAR
George Walker Lear, the Sherburne's nearest neighbor, has the distinction of being the only original grantee of Saville who is known to have taken up actual settling-duties and residence in the new town. The full name possessed a significance which its owner was ever careful to preserve, the memory of a highly- respected and wealthy great-uncle, Captain George Walker of Portsmouth, a prominent citizen, an influential member of the Assembly for many years, owner of many properties and wharves "at the Bank so-called," and, though hard to believe, negro slaves! In a dated period of eight years an even dozen slaves are mentioned by name: Jupiter, Nancy, Benfidy, Caesar, Diana, Nimshy, Primus, Cato, etc. This was the period between Captain Walker's will of 1740 and the codicil, Nov. 15, 1748.
The will is fully itemized. After listing various bequests the following dictation is made: "Item; as to the rest of my Estate, both real and personal, not heretofore disposed of be the same where it will, I Give and bequeath the same unto my Nephew, Walker Lear, (the son of my sister, Elizabeth Lear), and unto his heirs forever. He, the said Walker Lear, paying unto my sister, Elizabeth, the sum of Two hundred pounds in two years after he shall arrive at the age of twenty-one years, and unto my cousins, Ichabod Cheney and Hannah Spafford, the sum of fifty Pounds each " (N. H. Probate Records, Vol. 2.) By
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EARLY FAMILIES
the codicil, made apparently shortly before the Captain's death, there was added to his half-sister Elizabeth Lear's share five hundred pounds, old tenor.
She had married, April 14, 1714, Tobias* Lear, Jr., son of Tobias, Sr., and Elizabeth (Sherburne) Lear. She was his second wife, and the mother of Walker Lear, who was born in New- castle, N. H., Aug. 25, 1719. Walker Lear married, about 1743, Mary Nelson, eldest daughter of Joseph and Ann (White) Nel- son, bapt. North Church, Portsmouth, Feb. 18, 1721/2. Records accepted for many years give their children as follows: Mary, bapt. Portsmouth, Jan. 1, 1745/6; George Walker, b. 1747, pos- sibly in Barrington; Joseph, bapt. So. Church, Aug. 20, 1749; Elizabeth, bapt. Sept. 8, 1751 (m. - Cutts?); Margaret, b. Oct. 13, 1753; m. Feb. 12, 1778, Robert Neal, Jr .; William, bapt. 1756. Mary (Nelson) Lear died before 1757 and Walker Lear married (2nd) Jan. 12, 1758, Mary Cowell, her first cousin. Children by second marriage; John, bapt. 1759, and Ann, bapt. 1762, long a school-teacher in Portsmouth.
Returning to the affairs of George Walker Lear, it is a matter of some surprise to find that upon his removal to Saville, he did not locate upon his proprietary lot alongside Daniel Sher- burne. Instead, in partnership with his younger brother Joseph, a seventy-five acre lot adjoining Benjamin Rand's farm on the east, was purchased from Zachariah Foss, Nov. 19, 1770, when Joseph had just turned twenty-one.
Presumably they had not viewed the terrain before buying; upon arrival they found a swampy area occupying the fore- ground next the Great Road, where a house by rights should be placed, yet a very pleasant, warm location was available just over their line on neighbor Rand's ridge. This explanation is in part assumed, but we know Joseph bought of Rand one-and- a-half acres and built his dwelling upon it. The plot was men-
*Lieut. Com. M. T. Betton, Ret., Portsmouth, whose kind helpfulness has greatly aug- mented the Lear records, commented in correspondence: "There has been much con- fusion between the four Tobias Lears (father, son, grandson and great-grandson) of Portsmouth. The 5th in descent was Washington's secretary. Their wills make it all quite plain. It is not known who the first Tobias Lear's parents were, but he came from Devonshire, England."
The question has been seriously asked if General Washington's private and military secretary was not the Goshen Tobias Lear. Of course we know this could not be true, yet the two men were cousins, somewhat removed. Indeed, Albee, the historian of New- castle remarked that it seemed there could hardly be Lears without a Tobias.
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN, N. H.
tioned in subsequent transfer from Benjamin Rand, Sr., to his son, Benjamin, Jr., 1819. It was "the land Joseph Lear bought," yet there is confirmation that George W. contributed to the establishment of a home that both shared, while advancing his own clearing, two miles away, at a slower pace. No other con- clusion makes sense of the town-meeting warrant of 1782, speci- fying that the meeting would be held "at the house of George and Joseph Lear's."
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