History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Part 103

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1168

USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire > Part 103

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" The writer of this humble tribute to the many virtuesof Parker Jones knew him well for nearly twenty years. During all this time the Astor House had no more faithful servant and the traveling public no kinder, more even-tempered and obliging conservator.

" ' Oh Death ! ere thou shalt claim another, Gentle, kind and good as he, Time shall strike a dart at thee.'

" Mr. Jones died of consumption, after an illness of over three years. lle was taken siek in August, 1565, while on duty in the office, and left it never to return. Change of climate, the best of medical attendance and constant and affectionate care had no other effect than to delay the fell summons, and when he came back to the Astor House from his home in Vermont, last September, it was only too evident to his friends that he had come back to die.

" And so, on a bright November day, at a little after noon, surrounded by those whom he held dear, at peace with all and cheered by the conso- lation of a holy faith, his gentle spirit sought and found its rest.

" ' No farther seek his merits to disclose, Or draw his frailties from their dread abode ; There they alike in trembling hope repose, "The bosom of his Father and his God.' "

Mr. Jones married, June 14, 1859, Miss Julia C. Andrews, of Pawlet, Vt., who survives him. They had no children.

GOODELL-GOODALE-GOODALL.

It is a well-authenticated fact that the families of these names in this country all sprung from a com- mon ancestry. At what time or why the orthog- raphy of the name was changed is not known, but there is a tradition that three brothers, living in the same town, agreed to each adopt a separate spelling for their mutual convenience.

Robert1 Goodell, a great-great-grandson of Robert, was born in 1604, and sailed from Ipswich, England, August 30, 1634, in the ship " Elizabeth," William An- drews, commander, with his wife, Katherine, and three children,-Mary 2, four years old ; Abraham2, two years old; and Isaac2, six months. They settled in Salem, Mass., but afterwards removed to what is now called Danvers.

The son Isaac" married Patience Cook ; they had chil- dren, one of whom, Isaac 3, Jr., was born May 29, 1670. Ile served in the expedition against Canada in 1690, and, after his return, married Mary -- , December 3, 1692. They had twelve children, one of whom was Samuel4, born May 8, 1694.

Samuel+ married Anna Fowler, of Saulsbury, July 4, 1717. Their children were Robert5, Enoch 5, Bar- tholomew 3, Esther 5 (Collins), Hannah 3 (MeIntire), Mary5 (married Jude Hacket), Anna5 (married Enoch Fowler), another daughter, who married Moses Day.

Robert5 married (1st) Lydia Wallace in 1752, and married (2d) Widow Mary Fowler in 1764, and moved from Salem, Mass., to Weare, N. H., where he died December 11, 1804. He had six children, of whom Robert6, Jr., and Samuel6 were by the first wife. His other children were,-

Stephen 6, born September 17, 1766, at Salem, Mass .; married Mary Greenleaf at Weare, N. H., and lived at Deering, N. H., where he died February 18, 1832;

Jonathan6, born August 30, 1769, at Salem, Mass. ; Mehitable, born -; married - Young, and after- wards - Corles, of Weare, N. H. ; Esther -

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Jonathan 6 married Sarah Hadlock at Deering, N. H., in August, 1795, and resided in Deering, where he died January 6, 1858. Their children were,-

Levi7, born in Weare, N. H., March 7, 1797 ; Isaac™, born in Deering March 10, 1799, died May 15, 1858; Lydia7, born in Deering July 7, 1802, married Jabez Morrell, died March 1, 1849; Clara7, born in Deer- ing March 16, 1806, married Robert Carr, of Hillsbor- ough, N. H .; Betsy 7, born in Deering November 15, 1808, married Mark Starrett ; John H 7, born in Deering October 2, 1816, married (1st) Celestia S. Mooney, of Northfield, who died October 1863, and he married (2d) Josephine B. Atkinson, of Tilton, and has one daughter by second wife,-Charlotte A. Goodale, born May 26, 1875, has resided in Nashua since 1871.

Levi? Goodale, the subject of this sketch, was born in Weare, N. H., March 7, 1797 ; was educated in the common schools in Deering and Salisbury Academy; married, November 6, 1817, Mary, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Newton) Howlett, who was born January 28, 1799; lived with his father-in-law, in Hillsbor- ough, till 1822, when he bought of Thomas Moore the farm in the north part of the town, now owned by his son Thomas. He was a land surveyor, and was better acquainted with the lines of farms in this and adjoining towns than any man living. Mr. Goodale was much in public business, -was a select- man fourteen years, twelve of them consecutively ; was two years chairman of the board as well as town- clerk and overseer of the poor; represented the town in the Legislature in 1844 and 1845 ; was justice of the peace for thirty-five years; he also adminis- tered on one hundred and four estates, by which he acquired a good knowledge of probate law, upon which his advice was often sought and always given without fee. He was a consistent Christian, a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and his house was headquarters for the ministers of that de- nomination, while the poor and distressed never went unaided from his door. It was his boast that he never bought a pound of hay, coffee or flour, or a bushel of any kind of grain or of potatoes. His earliest political affiliations were with the Democratie party, but later he became a Free-Soiler, and upon the formation of the Republican party he joined its fortunes and continued to aet with it during his remaining life. Mr. Goodale was a man of sound judgment, sterling integrity, of quiet unobtrusive manners and a retentive memory, which was replete with knowledge of the early settlement of the town and of its history and traditions. He enjoyed a good joke and always had an anecdote ready to illustrate his opinions. Hillsborough has had few sneh men.

His wife died November 25, 1867 ; he died June 11, 1877. Children, -Thomas N.", born in Hills- borough, N. II., August 24, 1819 (see next sketeh) ; Mary H.8, born in Hillsborough, N. H., May 12, 1824, married (1st) Daniel B. Smith and (2d) George Jones; Sarah A.8, born in Hillsborough, N. H.,

December 21, 1826, married (Ist) John Severence and (2d) Charles P. Pike.

THOMAS NEWTON GOODALE.

Thomas & Newton Goodale, son of Levi and Mary (Howlett) Goodale, was born in Hillsborough, N. II., August 24, 1819. He acquired his education in the common schools of the town and in the academy at Newbury, Vt. He taught fourteen terms in the dis- triet-schools in this and adjoining towns with marked success. Ile was among the first who acquired the art of daguerreotyping, to the practice of which he devoted more than twenty years of his life. Possess- ing an unusual artistic taste, the pictures which came from his camera were among the finest produced. He also, later, gave much attention to civil engineering and land surveying. He succeeded to his father's homestead, upon which he has erected a large and elegant house, and greatly improved the other build- ings, and where he dispenses an abundant hospitality. lle has done a large probate business since his father's death. Mr. Goodale is a man of pronounced and positive opinions ; he was one of the first anti-slavery men in town, and has always worked and voted to promote the success of the Republican party. He has never held public office.

He married, August 12, 1840, Caroline G. Calkins. Their children were,-

(1) Laura9 A., born May 10, 1842, and married Nathaniel L. Chandler, of Sunapee, May, 1860, who died in the War of the Rebellion (September 11, 1864), leaving one daughter, Christabel, who was born March 31, 1861, and married, October 16, 1881, CharlesS. George, of Hopkinton ; twochildren (twins), Charles A. and Allison S., born August 29, 1882. Allison S. died September, 1882. Laura A. married, second, June 5, 1867, Elbert Goodale and died May 24, 1885, leaving children,-Grace L., born May 5, 1868; Carl Z., born November 25, 1870; Myrtle, born September 19, 1876; Alice, born July 19, 1881, died September, 1881; a son, born May 24, 1885.

(2) Mary9 C., born March 17, 1846, married Captain George A. Robbins, who died October 16, 1874; has one son, Thomas G. Robbins, born January 16, 1874. (3) Addieº J., born March 18, 1853, married O. 1I. Warner, resides in Lowell, Mass.

(4) Sarahº C., born August 12, 1855.

Mr. Goodale's wife (Caroline G.) died October 12, 1879, and he married, second, Mrs. Addie L. (Mather) Smith, of Newport, N. H .; they have one danghter, Emilie E., born November 21, 1884.

He retired from active business three years ago (1882) on account of poor health.

JOHN BUTLER SMITH.1

John Butler Smith is by everything but birth a native of New Hampshire. Four generations of his

1 By G. Arthur Dickey.

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HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

ancestors have lived and-all but the last-died in this State. His great-great-grandfather, Lieutenant Thomas Smith, was an original grantee of the town of Chester in 1720, and later on was the first white man to settle in New Boston. He came from Ireland to Chester, and was a distinguished citizen of his adopted town, as its early records, by the frequent mention of his name, attest.

A century and a half ago the Indians prowled through what are now our quiet New Hampshire villages ; and one day Lieutenant Smith and his brother-in-law, while at work in the field, were cap- tured by them and hurried away from home and friends. At night they were securely bound, and neither was allowed to know where the other was secured. The second night Smith made up his mind he would escape. He took careful note of the direc- tion in which his friend was taken; and when the Indians were fast asleep, he tried his extraordinary strength upon the cords that, around his arms and ankles, pinioned his body, face downward, to the earth. He snapped them. Then, releasing his com- panion, they retraced their steps, traveling by night in brooks to elude the scent of the dogs, and hiding by day in the tree-tops to escape their enraged cap- tors. On the night of the third day they reached their homes.

About 1735 Smith, with his family, moved to New Boston, in this county. For a number of years he was the only white man in the town; and he fought his way against the Indians and endured such hardships as the pioneers of our country encount- ered.

There one of his sons, Deacon John Smith, married a daughter of William McNeil, by whom he had five children. After her decease he married Ann Brown, of Francestown, who presented him with fourteen children, making a royal family even for those early days. Deacon Smith was a man of great force of character, and emphatically a pillar of the church and the State. Traditions of his resoluteness are still fresh from repetition in the minds of his kin and family friends.

Among these nineteen children was David, who married Eleanor Giddings, and left thirteen children to perpetuate his name.

Of these Ami, John B.'s father, was born in Ac- worth, in 1800. He married Lydia F., daughter of Dr. Elijah Butler, of Weare. Soon after his marriage he moved to Saxton's River, Vt., and engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods.

The subject of our sketch was born there, April 12, 1838. Nine years after this his father moved to Hillsborough Bridge, where he has since resided. He was in moderate circumstances, but disposed to educate his children as well as these circumstances would permit. This for John consisted of the advan- tages of the public schools of Hillsborough and two years at Francestown Academy, where he fitted for

college. A term before he was to be graduated he left school, and went into a store in New Boston. He had been there only a year, when, at the age of twenty-one, he entered upon business in a small way for himself. He tried his hand at several kinds of business and in different places : at Boston, as a dry- goods jobber; at Saxton's River, as a tinware man ; at Manchester, as a druggist. While in the latter place, he married Jennie M. Knowles. Experimenting a year in each of the abovenamed varieties of business, in 1864 he commenced the manufature of knit-goods, the business in which he has achieved great success and made a fortune. He carried on this business a vear at Washington, and a year at Weare before he moved to Hillsborough. But these places were not fitted for the business he had in mind to develop; and late in 1865, with a capital of ten thousand dol- lars, that he had accumulated up to this time, he moved to Hillsborough and built a small mill. He has always kept his business within the limits of his own capital; but as this has increased, he has devel- oped his operations until, at the present time, he owns four-fifths of the fine-water power on the river here, and his mills employ one hundred and fifty hands.

In 1882 his business was merged in the Contoocook Mills Company, of which Mr. Smith is president, and his nephew, George E. Gould, treasurer and business manager, by whom all the stock, except a nominal sum, is owned.

Mr. Smith's business makes Hillsborough the busy place that it is; and he is considered one of the keenest, as well as one of the fairest, business men of the State. His shrewdness is demonstrated by the fact that, by his own energy, with no wonderful freak of fortune in his favor, he has come from a poor boy. to be reckoned among the wealthy men of the State; and no man with whom he has had the smallest business dealing will accuse him of trickery or impugn his integrity. His record is clean in his own town, where he has done business for twenty years. His employés are his friends ; this is the most significant compliment that can be given a business man.

In politics Mr. Smith has always been a stanch Republican. He is conversant with the political his- tory of the country, and entertains his pronounced views for reasons that he can readily convince one are well grounded in intelligence. He has never sought political office. His party has always been in the minority in the town; yet he has as ardently la- bored to support it as many a one who has been im- pelled by political ambition as well as party fealty. The only political office he has ever held was that of Presidential elector in 1884, at which election the Democratie majority in town was reduced fifty votes; another evidence of Mr. Smith's popularity among his neighbors.

He is a member of the Congregational Church in Hillsborough, and has been since boyhood; is a con-

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stant attendant at the church services and Sunday- school. He has contributed liberally to the support of the religious institutions of the town, especially his own church, and generously aids all charities that come under his observation, but never ostenta- tiously.

Mr. Smith has been interested in various business enterprises outside of Hillsborough. He was half- owner of the Opera-House Block in Manchester when it was built, in 1883, and is at present (1885) engaged in the dry-goods commission business in Boston, to which he gives much of his personal attention.

During all his business career Mr. Smith has been an indefatigable worker, giving the strictest attention to all the details of his business; he has never al- lowed recreation to prejudice his business interests ; he has been prudent and frugal in his method of living ; he is temperate, strong and robust in phys- ique; he is a close calculator, careful investor, and his business judgment seldom errs: these are the secrets of his success.

November 1, 1883, Mr. Smith married Emma E. Lavander, daughter of Stephen Lavander, of Bos- ton. Mrs. Smith is an accomplished and Christian lady, with agreeable and winning manners. She has many acquaintances in Manchester, and a large circle of friends in Boston, her former home. Though she has lived in Hillsborough only a short time, her in- telligence and affability have won for her the friend- ship and esteem of all. She mingles freely in society, engages in all the social interests of the community, generously aiding, by personal work and material contribution, the religious and village charities. Her benevolence, like that of her husband, is marked by hearty good-will, that makes the recipient feel her personal interest.

JOHN GILBERT.

Among the patriotic hearts stirred by the news of the battle of Lexington was one Joseph Gilbert, of Littleton, Mass., gentleman. Bidding an immediate farewell to his young wife, son of two years and a baby girl, he joined his brother's (Captain Samuel Gil- bert). company, under command of Colonel William Prescott, of the Seventh Regiment of Foot, and marched to the eamp in Cambridge. Here he received his commission as first lieutenant-now in the possession of his descendants-from the Congress of the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay, dated May 19, 1775, and signed by the celebrated General Joseph Warren, scarcely another autograph of his, to a publie docu- ment, being in existence. A second commission was received January 1, 1876, from the United Colonies, signed by Governor John Hancock. In a blank-book kept by him, various items, referring to camp-life, are recorded. Less than a month after his enlistment the Committee of Safety decided to occupy Bunker Hill. The perilons command was given to Colonel

Prescott ; he marched to Charlestown the evening of June 16th, with his brigade of one thousand men, threw up his intrenchments and the following day met the British ; his men were the last to leave the field. On the 3d of July, General Washington, hay- ing been appointed commander-in-chief, reviewed the regiments on Cambridge Common. There was now hard work for the men in digging the intrench- ments, which extended from Winter Hill to Dor- chester, confining the British army in Boston. The regiments were paraded January 1, 1776, to receive the new flag Congress had agreed upon, -- the stars and stripes. In digging trenches and acting as sentinel Lieutenant Gilbert seems to have been employed till March 17th, when his heart was rejoiced at the sight of the evacuation of Boston by the British. General Washington at once ordered a part of the army to New York, and from the item " Cash lent Samuel Gil- bert in New York, May or June," we may conelude he accompanied it. June 13th finds him at Gover- nor's Island, New York Harbor, the garrison stationed there being under command of Colonel Prescott. July 14th, William Williams signs a receipt for ten pounds, ten shillings, received by him, to be delivered to Lieutenant Gilbert's wife.

In August, when the American army was compelled to retire from New York City; Prescott attracted the notice and commendation of Washington by the good order in which he brought off his regiments. Soon after, at Throgg's Neck (on which is Fort Schny- ler), sixteen miles above Hell Gate, his regiment defended a bridge, preventing the landing of General Howe at that point. October 21st the army moved north in four divisions, and on the 28th occurred the battle of White Plains. Early in October, Colonel Prescott made a return to General Parsons, and his regiment in the brigade was stationed, November 13th, at the fourth entrance to the Highlands, beyond Robinson's bridge, at or above Peekskill. November 18th, Prescott reports his list of officers to General Heath ; among them is Captain Samuel and Lientenant Joseph Gilbert, who were sick at that date. At this winter camp on the Hudson, December 23d, he balances accounts with Lieutenant Joseph Baker, and December 27th receipts are signed "for'serving and shouldering, September, October and November, in Captain Gilbert's company of the Seventh Regi- ment," by Jonathan Phelps, Joseph and Peter Baker, Ephraim Proctor, Isaac Durant Downe, William Brooks and others. January 5, 1777, Peter Cooper receives from him eleven dollars, which is the last record in his handwriting. The winter was a trying one; he suffered from exposure, and fell a victim to the fever which attacked him in the spring. The next entry is made by the young widow : "April 20, 1777 .- Credit the estate of Joseph Gilbert by pocket- book, not appraised, 98." "Westford, October 14th .- To cash paid the Judge, 9s. 4d." "To going to Cambridge twice with bondsmen to get letters of ad-

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HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

ministration, £6." "To cash paid the appraizers, £1 16s.," etc. Ilis widow, with baby girl and son John, four years old, found herself the possessor of a few hundred dollars from her husband's estate. The boy was strong and vigorons, took to farming and early learned the blacksmith's trade, almost a neces- sity in those days. He grew to be over six feet in height, and found plenty of work for his willing hands. Having decided to accept the invitation of his Uncle Robbins to come to Hillsborough, he stops at Greenfield, N. H., on the way, and while working for Benjamin Pollard, of that place, asks and receives the assent of his daughter, Susan, to share with him the vicissitudes of life. They were married in 1797 or 1798. Benjamin Pollard was from Billerica, Mass .; he, with two of his brothers, served in the Revolu- tionary War, and he was a nephew of Asa, the first. man killed at Bunker Hill.

He bought, first, a half-acre of land in the centre of the town, of Peter and Samuel Robbins, for fifty dollars, on which he built a house and shop, next the Boardman lot, having his deed from the original proprietor, Captain Hill (for whom the town was named). By degrees he added a piece of land as he had money to pay for it,-a meadow from the Barnes estate, an upper pasture lot from Squire Johnson,-till he secured a comfortable farm in the Centre of about one hundred and seventy-five acres. It was his custom for sixty years, on his birth-day, to make an inventory of his possessions, the first modest record reading,-" August 21, 1795, 22 years old, worth in notes seventy-five dollars ; clothes, fifty-five dollars ; total, one hundred and thirty dollars." The next year a gun is added to his possessions ; and in 1800 his house. At the end of the first thirty years we find, " August 21, 1825, 52 years old, notes, eash, house, farm and buildings, four thousand two hundred and twenty-four dollars." The totals for the next thirty years vary slightly from this amount. John Gilbert was noted in town for his firm adherence to what he believed to be right, and for his strong good sense and even temperament ; for a long time he was the only Whig in the village. He early abolished the rum-jug from the field; joined and was an active member of the Congregational Church (remembering it in his will). He was often chosen umpire and referce, being a man of reliable judgment. He foretold our Civil War, for he was a close observer of men and events. "Scott's Bible" was the book he loved best to read, and the coming of his weekly paper, the Farmers' Cabinet, for more than a score of years was anticipated with pleasure. Born a subject of Great Britain, he lived to see the colonies a free and independent nation, and the Presidential chair occupied by one of his own townsmen (Franklin Pierce), railways and tele- graph introduced, the two days' journey to Boston shortened to five hours, the postage of twenty-four cents reduced to three, and the shoe-nails, so labori- ously produced from his forge in his younger days,

turned out by the hundredweight. He died in 1857, highly respected, surviving all but one of his five children.

His youngest son, John, born in 1804, with his two older brothers, Joseph and Benjamin, worked on the farm, and by turns in the shop winter eve- nings, while the two sisters assisted the mother in household duties. Every one had their allotted task, after the performance of which it was their great delight to meet the young people of the neigh- borhood.

When the Barnes family, the Duttons, the Lawtons, the Simons and Julia Parker got together, bright and happy hours were passed. The barn-raisings and huskings, training and muster-days are still fresh in the memory, softening the asperities of the school- hours; the ruler and winter teacher were inseparable, both persuasion and force being considered necessary to instil into his sixty or seventy pupils a knowledge of the three " R's." In time Joseph goes to Boston ; then his best friend, Gilman Barnes, follows, return- ing on a vacation with blue coat trimmed with brass buttons, and the happy possessor of a watch and pencil-case. This decided John ; he is twenty-one, over six feet in height, active and ambitious ; Benja- min will stay on the farm, so he turns his face towards Boston, his whole capital being thirty dollars. For the first three or four years he has a hard experience, collecting bills, distributing papers, working evenings for his board, after running all day, acting for a time as sexton of Park Street Church. His church duties, however, bring him to the knowledge of Jeremiah Evarts, Judge Hubbard, George Denney and Daniel Safford, who interest themselves in the hard- working young man. In June, 1830, he unites with the church, finding ever after a Divine helper in every time of need. He still remains a member of this church, and has ever responded with willing heart and open hand to its needs and charities. By careful saving, through many discouragements, he accumulated one thousand dollars, which gave him an opportunity to start in the grocery business with Hayden & Upham, How- ard Street, but dissolved in a year or two (1832) to buy out the stand corner of Tremont and Bromfield Streets, hiring the store of Mr. John Bunstead ; here, as in all the grocery-stores, was a bar where liquor was sold, and from the nearness of the Tremont The- atre it was considered a desirable location. This bar Mr. Gilbert at once abolished, though told he could have no trade without it, and opened a temperance grocery-store. The sign he put up, John Gilbert, Jr., & Co., has been familiar to Bostonians for fifty years, and with but one remove is still used by his nephew and successor in business, John C. Gilbert, eklest son of his brother Joseph, who at seventeen entered his store, and when twenty one was given an interest in the business. This same year (October 4, 1833) he married Mrs. Ann B. Attwill, an English lady and mother of three attractive children, the youngest of

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History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Part 103

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis Number of Pages: 1168

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1168