History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Part 177

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

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John Bruce, five years, 1822-26. Aaron F. Sawyer, three years, 1827-29. Nathaniel Bruce four years, 1830-33. Daniel W. Baker, two years, 1834-35. Porter Kimball, one year, 1836. George Raymond, three years, 1837-39. Nathaniel Bruce, two years, 1840-41. George Raymond, one year, 1842. Zephaniah Kittredge, one year, 1843. William Conant, one year, 1844. Leander Smith, three years, 1845-47.

1 Exclusively asurgeon.

John Averill, one year, 1848.

Joseph A. Starrett, one year, 1849.

William Bruce, one year, 1850.

Leander Smith, two years, 1851-52.

Alonzo Travis, three years, 1853-55.

Charles R. Beard, two years, 1856-57.

Ira Kendall, two years, 1858-59.

Charles J. Smith, two years, 1860-61.

Ira Roby, one year, 1862. William G. Bruce, two years, 1863-64.

Henry C. Dodge, one year, 1865.

George A. Bruce, one year, 1866.

Charles F. Kittredge, one year, 1867.

Andrew W. Raymond, two years, 1868-69.

J. H. A. Bruce, two years, 1870-71.

James Upton, two years, 1872-73.

John Trevitt, two years, 1874-75.

Daniel P. Kendall, two years, 1876-77.

Clark Campbell, two years, 1878-79.

Elbridge F. Trow, two years, 1880-82 ; 1884, voted not to send.

Under the law, as it stood before 1877, with the Senate consisting of twelve members, two citizens of Mont Vernon held the office, viz. : 1839 and 1840, Dr. Daniel Adams ; 1863 and 1864, Charles J. Smith.

Population of Mont Vernon .- 1810, 762; 1820, 729; 1830, 763; 1840, 720; 1850, 722; 1860, 725; 1870, 601; 1880, 516.

Noted Citizens .- Among the more conspicuous citizens of Mont Vernon, Dr. Daniel Adams is entitled to remembrance. Daniel Adams was born in Town- send, Mass., Sept. 9, 1773 ; graduated at Dartmouth College in 1797 and at its medical school in 1799; married, August 17, 1800, Nancy Mulliken, of Boston. After residing several years at Leominster he removed to Boston. For a period was engaged in publishing an agricultural journal in Boston ; came to reside in Mont Vernon in 1813, and was employed in preparing his various publications and in his profession here until his removal to Keene, in 1846. His "Scholar's Arithmetic," Adams' "New " and "Revised," all were in very extensive use for many years. He wrote and published several pamphlets. Dr. Adams was very highly esteemed in Mont Vernon, and during his thirty-three years' residence here he wielded a con- trolling influence in behalf of temperance, education and morality. In 1839 and 1840 he was a member of the New Hampshire Senate from the district where he resided. He died June 8, 1864.

A man whose noble character and brilliant, eventful public life should give him a record as one honoring the place of his birth was the late Dr. William Trevitt of Columbus, Ohio. A sketch of his immediate ancestry, as it relates to a family prominent in the town, is of interest. Richard Trevitt came from England and was killed by the Indians at Fort William Henry. He left a little son, Henry Trevitt, born at Marblehead, in 1755, who, at ten years of age, came to Mont Vernon with his step-father, Amos Steel, and here grew to manhood, engaged in active service in the War of the Revolution and fought under Stark at Bennington. He moved to Ohio and died in Licking County August, 1850, aged ninety-six. His children were nine,-seven sons and two daughters.

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HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

One son only remained in New England,-his eldest, Captain J. Thompson Trevitt, who led a company at Portsmouth in 1814. All the others, except Dr. John, the third son, who died in 1821, at Augusta, Ga., either preceded or followed their father West. Captain James Trevitt died in 1858, leaving two sons, the youngest of whom is Dr. Henry Trevitt, of Wilton, N. H., and the eldest, Captain John Trevitt, graduated from West Point, 1844; served several years in Mexico and on the Western frontier; returned to the old home- stead in Mont Vernon after his father's death, where he still resides, devoting himself to farming and civil engineering. Dr. William, the youngest of the seven sons, of Henry Trevitt, was born at Mont Vernon, February 7, 1809. He pursued his preparatory studies at Francestown and Amherst, and his pro- fessional with Dr. Daniel Adams. He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1830, and subsequently at- tended medical lectures at the Pennsylvania Univer- sity.

In 1830 he began the practice of his profession in Fairfield County, Ohio, removing two years later to Perry County, where he continued in his chosen profession until 1840. During his residence here he represented the county in the General Assembly of Ohio for three successive terms, being but twenty- five years of age when first returned. In the spring of 1840 he removed to Columbus, having been ap- pointed Secretary of State, to fill the vacancy occa- sioned by the death of C. B. Harlan. At the expira- tion of his term he was appointed physician to the Ohio Penitentiary, and served in that capacity until 1846.

At the outbreak of the Mexican War Presi- dent Polk appointed him surgeon of the army, and he held that position until the last gun of the conflict was spiked. During the last part of the war he ex- changed services in the field for headquarters, and was attached to the staffs of Generals Taylor and Wool. In 1849 he resumed medical practice at Co- lumbus. In 1851, on the adoption of the new State Constitution, he was elected to the office of Secre- tary of State, and was re-elected in 1853. In 1857, President Buchanan appointed him consul at Valpa- raiso, Chili, the most important mercantile post on the South American Pacific coast, and, subsequently, advanced to the consulship at Callao, Peru, and while there was acting American minister. In 1861, at his own request, he was relieved, and returned again to Columbus. Subsequently, upon the death of ex-Governor Medary, he assumed the management of the Crisis that then had the largest circulation in Ohio. Afterwards, in 1867, he established another paper. Finally, February 8, 1881, he closed, at the age of seventy-two years, an active, eventful and very useful life. Dr. Trevitt was, politically, an unswerving Democrat, though widely esteemed by all parties. He was survived by a wife and three sons.

The late Oliver Carlton, Esq., of Salem, Mass., was another son of Mont Vernon whose life and character shed lustre upon the place of their early training. He was a grandson of Deacon Oliver and the fifth son of Deacon John Carlton, and was born July 20, 1801, in the ancestral house, and on the same farm which has been owned and wrought by five genera- tions of the name. In 1818 he entered Phillips Academy, Andover, and, in 1820, Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in 1824 with the second honors of his class.

Adopting the profession of teacher, he was, in 1825 and 1826, a tutor at Hanover ; afterwards a teacher at Haverhill, Mass., from 1827 to 1830; at Marblehead, from 1830 to 1832; and in 1832 was placed in charge of the Latin Grammar School at Salem, where he remained until 1856,-a period of twenty-four years. Teaching from 1856 to 1860 at Portsmouth, N. H., he returned to Salem, and from 1860 to 1867 conducted a private school. For forty-three years a teacher, he retired to private life, and died June 21, 1882. He was a man of pure and upright character, and, as a scholar and tutor, was equaled by few and excelled by none.

Hon. Aaron Worcester Sawyer died in Nashua, August 23, 1881, aged sixty-three. He was the youngest son of Aaron F. Sawyer, who practiced law in Mont Vernon nearly twenty-five years. Aaron W. was born here in 1818; attended school at Hancock and elsewhere; studied law with his father. He at- tained a high reputation as a lawyer and jurist. He was frequently honored by his fellow-citizens with a seat in the Legislature ; was one year (1860) mayor of Nashna, and for some years a judge of the Su- preme Judicial Court.

George Wilkins Kendall, eldest son of Captain Thaddeus Kendall, a merchant of Mont Vernon, was born at Mont Vernon August 22, 1809, and died in Texas October 22, 1867. " He was a poet, journalist, author and farmer," and eminent in all.

Hon. George Augustus Marden is the son of Ben- jamin F. and Betsey (Buss) Marden, and was born at Mont Vernon Angust 9, 1839; prepared for college at the academy in his native town; graduated at Dartmouth College in 1861. In the following au- tumn he joined the army, serving three years as quartermaster of First Regiment of Berdan's Sharp- shooters. Returning to New Hampshire in the au- tumn of 1864, he engaged in the study of law in the office of Minot & Mugridge, in Concord, until the following summer, when he became owner and editor of the Kanawha Republican, at Charleston, West Virginia. Disposing of this interest in April, 1866, he was employed for the remainder of that year at Concord in editing and preparing for the press the " History of the War Regiments of New Hampshire," published by Adjutant-General Natt Head. In Jan- uary, 1867, he went to Boston as assistant editor of the Daily Advertiser. The property of the Lowell

William

Lecco

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MONT VERNON.

Courier being for sale, he, in conjunction with Ed- ward T. Rowell, a college classmate, bought it, and has continued to edit it for eighteen years. In 1873 he represented Lowell in the Massachusetts Legisla- ture, and in 1874 was elected clerk of the House of Representatives, a position which he held for nine years, from January, 1874. Being returned to the House the previous autumn, he was, in January, 1883, elected its Speaker, and was re-elected in 1884. In 1885 was a Senator from the Seventh Middlesex Dis- trict. In 1880 Mr. Marden was a delegate to the National Convention which placed General Garfield in nomination for the Presidency. Always a stanch republican, Mr. Marden holds a prominent place in political circles, and has a wide reputation as an able journalist.

Hon. George Anson Bruce, son of Nathaniel and Lucy (Butterfield) Bruce was born in September, 1839, at Mont Vernon ; fitted for college at Mont Vernon; graduated at Dartmouth in 1861; studied law one year with Hon. D. S. Richardson, at Lowell. In August, 1862, he enlisted in the Thirteenth New Hampshire Regiment, and went to the front as first lieutenant of Company B. He served with distin- guished bravery until the close of the war, holding at its close the position of brevet lieutenant-colonel. In 1865 he resumed his legal studies at Lowell. In 1866 he represented Mont Vernon in the Legislature of New Hampshire. In 1866 he was admitted to the bar, and opened an office in Boston, where he still pur- sues his profession with an assured reputation as an able counselor and advocate. Establishing his resi- dence in the city of Somerville, he was, in 1877, elec- ted its mayor, holding the office three consecutive years. In 1883 and again in 1884 he was in the State Senate from his district, and the latter year was its presiding officer.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

WILLIAM STEVENS, ESQ.

William Stevens is of the seventh generation from Colonel Thomas Stevens, of London, who was orig- inally from Devonshire, England. He was a member of the company chartered in London for the settle- ment of Massachusetts Bay, which, in 1628, sent out John Endicott and one hundred others to plant a colony at Salem. He contributed fifty pounds ster- ling to the stock of the company, and was one of the signers of instructions to Endicott before his coming. His business was that of an armorer, and he fur- nished a supply of arms for the colony. He did not emigrate to this country, but "sent three sons and his daughter, Mary, as his adventure to our cause." The youngest of these sons, Cyprian Stevens, came

from London about 1660, being then a lad of fourteen, He settled at Lancaster, Mass., marrying, January 22, 1672, Mary, daughter of Major Simeon Willard, of that town. He was the father of five children, of whom the youngest was Joseph, born about 1682. He married Prudence, daughter of John Rice, of Sud- bury, Mass .; lived in Sudbury, Framingham and Lancaster; removed, in 1720, to Rutland, Mass., and died there in 1745. He was one of the first settlers of Rutland, and a leading man in its early history, holding its various town offices. He was captain of the militia and a deacon in its church. He was the father of five sons and the same number of daughters. On the morning of August 14, 1723, he went from his house to the meeting-house meadows in Rutland to make hay. Four sons followed him, Phineas, the eldest, being sixteen, and Isaac, the youngest, but four years of age. They were surprised by a company of Indians. The father fled to the bushes. Phineas was taken prisoner, and the two next youngest, Samuel and Joseph, were slain. . They were preparing to kill the child of four years, Isaac, when the elder brother, by signs, made them understand, if they would spare him, he would carry him on his back, and he carried him to Canada. They were held in captivity upwards of a year, and were only redeemed at great expense and trouble, the father for this pur- pose making two wearisome journeys to Canada. The elder of these boys became the famous Captain Phineas Stevens, of Charlestown, N. H., an able and brave man, who rendered most important service in protecting the frontier from French and Indian in- cursions. He was born at Sudbury, Mass, in 1707, and died in the service of his country in 1756. He was the father of seven children. His younger brother, Isaac, was born in 1719; married, first, in 1743, Mercy Hubbard, of Rutland, Mass. She dying in 1746, he married, in 1748, Abigail Parling. By the first wife he had a son and a daughter, and by the last three sons and a daughter. He removed in early manhood from Rutland to Carlisle, Mass., and died there. His youngest son, Calvin Stevens, was born at Rutland, January 27, 1753; removed in infancy to Carlisle. In 1773 he married Esther Wilkins, and in 1776 removed from Carlisle to Hillsborough, N. H. Here he had his home forty-five years, and removed thence, in 1821, to Mont Vernon, where four of his children had settled, and died there in 1834. He was a soldier of the Revolution, having been in the battle of Bunker Hill. While at Hillsborough he was for many years a town ofheer and magistrate, and was known for uprightness, intelligence and rectitude in all the relations of life. He was the father of thirteen children, ten of whom survived him. Nu- merous descendants honor his memory, of whom, of the fourth generation, is Hon. George A. Marden, late Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Repre- sentatives and now a member of its Senate.

Asa, the seventh child and fifth son of Calvin

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HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Stevens, was born at Hillsborough, February 5, 1787 ; married, in 1811, Mary Ann, youngest daughter of Rev. Joseph Appleton, of Brookfield, Mass., and a sister of the late Hon. William Appleton, of Boston. Soon after his marriage he settled in Mont Vernon, and died there in January, 1863. His wife survived him until November, 1867. They were the parents of seven children, of whom six survived them.

The subject of this sketch (William Stevens), their third son, was born at Mont Vernon, July 28, 1816. He passed the first twenty years of his life under the paternal roof, alternating farm labor with attendance upon the village school. His academical studies were limited to two terms at an institution in Han- cock, N. H., in 1836-37. His father was a thrifty man and possessed of considerable means, but be- lieved his sons more likely to succeed in life without than with parental aid, and the large estates accumu- lated by the three who grew to manhood proved the wisdom of his judgment. In 1838, when twenty-two years old, William travelled West, as far as Illinois. In 1839 he sought and obtained employment at the Stark Mills, in Manchester, N. H., then managed by his cousin, the late John A. Burnham, Esq., of Bos- ton. After a few weeks' service there he went to Boston, securing a position as a salesman in a cloth- ing-store under Faneuil Hall. He continued here until 1841, when his elder brother, Calvin, who was engaged in an extensive business in smoked pro- visions at 13 Front Street, New York City, invited him to a position in his establishment, where he re- mained some eighteen months, when he purchased a stock of ship stores at 116 Wall Street, and conducted business there until the autumn of 1844, when he sold out and located in Ludlow Street as a dealer in smoked provisions. In March, 1846, he removed his business to 76 and 78 Worcester Street, associating with himself his younger brother, Asa, making the firm of W. & A. Stevens, and here they conducted a large and prosperous trade until June, 1865, when William retired and returned to Mont Vernon.

By unremitting devotion to business for more than twenty years he had acquired an ample and well- earned competeney, and to enjoy it wisely turned his

feet to his native hills. He purchased of his father's estate the homestead, enlarged and improved the buildings, added to his domain by the purchase or other lands, and now these twenty years las occupied this elegant home in a manner befitting a gentleman farmer of taste and means. Mr. Stevens is a fine type of that increasing class of New England boys who, obedient to the promptings of a self-reliant am- bition, have gone forth from the country to the great cities, and, by unflagging industry, enterprise and in- tegrity, have won fortunes, and before the forces of life are spent and decay overtakes them, lovingly come back to their early home to beautify it by liberal expenditure, to dwell there and to confer upon the surrounding community the benefits which opu- lence enables the public-spirited and generous-hearted citizen to dispense around him. Mr. Stevens is a man of broad sympathies, always on the side of those who need help and strength, and the voice of cheer is always given where needed.

Politically, he is an earnest but not bigoted Repub- lican. Repeatedly a candidate for the Legislature, his personal pupularity has always given him a full vote, and in the last State election his candidacy pre- vented the choice of a representative in a decidedly Democratic town for the first time in its history. Connected with no church, he is liberal in his religious views, confident of the wisdom and mercy of the All Father, believing that in any case the dead are safe, and cannot go where "the Divine law will not protect them, nor where the Divine law will not en- circle them." He is a member of the Masonic fraternity.

Mr. Stevens has been twice married, first, to Louisa W. Dye, of Newark, N. J., who left him four daughters, -- Mary Ann, now Mrs. Charles F. Wilkins, of Omaha, Neb. ; Ella L., unmarried; Catherine, now Mrs. C. Henry Hobbie, also of Omaha ; and Frances E., unmarried. January 4, 1876, he was again married to Mrs. Helen L. (Ober) Whipple, the widow of John Whipple, of New Boston, N. H., who died in a Confederate prison during the late Civil War.

They have one daughter, Helen Willette Stevens, born September 3, 1880.

APPENDIX.

MANCHESTER.

Freemasonry in Manchester.1-The history of Craft Masonry in this city dates from August, 1845, when Lafayette Lodge, No. 41, was moved from Pis- cataquog village (then a part of Bedford) to this side of the river. A dispensation was granted to the lodge June 9, 1824, with Brother Robert Dunlap as the first Master. It was chartered and duly consecrated Sep- tember 1st following, and commenced work in a lodge- room provided by the late Brother General William P. Riddle, who was the stanch and liberal friend and supporter of the fraternity during his life. Bro. Dun- lap afterwards became the Grand Master of the State, and many others of the twenty-three brothers who assembled at the first meeting to consider the subject of the formation of a lodge became prominent in the order, and did noble work in its interest. They have all been gathered to the Grand Lodge above, and their memories are a valuable legacy to those who now sustain the important duties of their member- ship.

Lafayette Lodge was named in honor of the French nobleman who rendered such great service to the cause of freedom in the struggle of this country for her inde- pendence. He was a Mason, and at the time of the formation of this lodge was making a triumphal tour through the United States.

Lafayette Lodge remained in Bedford about twenty- one years, covering the most eventful period of its existence, years which put to the severest test the fidelity and fortitude of the craft in every part of the country. The history of Lafayette Lodge is a proud record of the brotherhood in this vicinity, and is evi- dence of their devotion to the truth.

Speaking of this subject, a distinguished brother says : "The consecration of the lodge was in ample form, and the exercises of the day were interspersed with appropriate music by the Bedford performers. It was a gala day for Piscataquog village, then the principal place in these parts, for Manchester of the present time was not dreamed of for years after these events occurred."

For the four succeeding years the lodge was greatly prospered-the brethren " did walk together in love,"

and Masonry was very popular. About this time a new lodge was formed in Hooksett, another in Mer- rimack, down the river, and another in Derry. But in 1828 the dark age of Masonry in this country com- menced. A fierce and relentless anti-Masonic war was waged. Their ceremonies were misrepresented, their principles maligned and good Masons them- selves bitterly denounced. It was carried into church and political parties. It found its way into families, causing bitterness and alienation. The shock that thus agitated the country was felt by Lafayette Lodge. For seventeen years no work was done-not a Mason made.

Along the track of these years we find evidences of the pressure brought to bear against them-meetings became less frequent. In 1831 the by-laws were so amended as to require but four meetings a year. From 1833 to 1837 there was but one meeting a year ; then for a time meetings were more frequent; meanwhile, the lodges in the vicinity went down, and, yielding to the pressure, lost their charters. These were signs of distress. But Lafayette Lodge held its meetings and preserved its charter. All honor to those noble craftsmen who, so long subjected to the assaults of persecution, maintained the right and kept the faith.

When the lodge was moved to Manchester, it occu- pied rooms in the so-called Duncklee Block, on Elm Street, but soon became prosperous and able to in- prove its place of meeting and furniture. In 1847, a new hall had been prepared, and in December it was duly dedicated, Brother Sylvanus Cobb, of Boston, delivering the oration.

A few events in this lodge during the succeeding years are worthy of passing notice. In December, 1848, Okah Tubbee, a chief of the Choctaw nation of Indians, residing on the borders of Arkansas, took the three degrees of Masonry in this lodge, under authority of a dispensation for that purpose. In Sep- tember, 1852, the centennial of the making of George Washington a Mason was duly celebrated. In 1854, the anniversary of St. John was celebrated with im- posing ceremonies, under the auspices of Lafayette Lodge, assisted by many lodges from other parts of the State.

Soon the hall in Duncklee Block became incon-

1 By J. W. Fellows.

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HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

venient, and larger rooms were necessary. In 1856 Masonic Temple on Handon Street was erected and the lodge transferred its place of meeting to that building, and occupied it the first time April 25th of that year.

Later in the season the belief that another lodge should be formed began to be entertained. Ac- cordingly, a petition was presented to the Grand Lodge, signed by John S. Kidder, Isaac C. Flanders, E. W. Harrington, Samuel G. Langley, E. H. Davis, James S. Cheney, George W. Morrison, N. W. Cum- ner, George B. Chandler and many others, asking to be authorized to form a new lodge by the name of Washington Lodge, No. 61.

January 1, 1857, the Grand Master granted letters of dispensation, and appointed John S. Kidder the first Master of the lodge.

On the 10th day of January, 1857, Washington Lodge held its first meeting, and its officers were in- stalled by Deputy Grand Master George H. Hubbard.

At the annual communication, in June following, the Grand Lodge granted a charter, and on June 25th the ceremonies of consecration were performed, in ample form, and Washington Lodge, No. 61, took its place among the regular lodges of the State. From that day to the present the two lodges have worked side by side with that harmony and fraternal spirit which should distinguish all good Masons.

As Lafayette Lodge took its name from that high- born patriot and friend of freedom, who was the friend and companion of Washington in the camp and in the field, so it was fitting that the newly-formed lodge should take the name of the father of his country.

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History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Part 177

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