USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Littleton > History of Littleton, New Hampshire, Vol. II > Part 54
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David Goodall, while pursuing his college course, enlisted in Captain Curtis' Independent company of Hanover, and served in the expedition against St. Johns, Montreal, and Quebec, under General Montgomery in 1775. He afterward served at different times until the close of the war as a bearer of despatches. He lived on the farm now owned by Frank C. Albee, and the house he built is still standing. He is buried in the graveyard near his former residence.
Joseph Hatch, the first of the name in this town, was a Revo- lutionary soldier. He enlisted first in Captain Eddy's company, Col. Gamaliel Bradford's regiment, a Massachusetts corps, in which he served three years, 1777, 1778, and 1779; next in Captain Lincoln's company of the same regiment, in which he served through 1780 and part of 1781. Near the close of 1781 he enlisted in Capt. Zebulon King's company, Lieut .- Col. John Brooks' regiment, from which he was discharged in 1782.
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Soldiers of the Revolution and the War of 1812.
He seems to have been venturesome and inclined to disobey the rules of discipline, and was twice court-martialled : first, for steal- . ing a pig, and again for stealing cider, both offences being com- mitted on marauding expeditions in which some of his comrades participated. For the first offence he was sentenced to receive one hundred lashes and fifty for the second. He lived for thirty years at the west part of the town near the Rankin Mills, but in his old age returned to Thornton to live with his son, Ansel, and is there buried.
Jonathan Hopkinson, Sr., and his four sons, Jonathan, Jr., John, Caleb, and David, served in Capt. Luther Richardson's company, Bedel's regiment, from April 7, 1778, to April, 1779, and as scouts at other periods both before and after this time. Their residence was at North Littleton until the close of the war, when they went to the Upper Coos. In 1786 the two Jonathans and .John were living in Lancaster. It is not known, but it is probable, that the elder died and was buried there. The later life of the other two is not known. David was long a prominent citizen of Guildhall, Vt., and his remains rest in the lower cemetery in that town. Caleb moved to Coaticook, Canada, in 1786, and is buried in that town.
Elkanah Hoskins was a soldier in the French and Indian War, and later in the Revolution. He was also prominently connected with Shays' Rebellion, and came to Littleton about the time of the failure of that enterprise in 1796. His Revolutionary record is as follows. He was a member of Captain Crossman's company, Colonel Leonard's regiment, Massachusetts service, which marched from Taunton, Mass., to Roxbury, at the time of the Lexington alarm, April 19, 1775, in which command he held the rank of sergeant. This service covered twelve days. He enlisted June 20, 1775, in Captain King's company, Colonel Brewer's regiment, in which command he also held the rank of sergeant. He was a member of this company as late as November 6 ; it is not known when he was discharged from this service, but his name appeared with the rank of sergeant on the muster and pay roll of Capt. Edward Blake's company, Col. George Williams' regiment, for service on the occasion of the Rhode Island alarm, enlisting December 8, 1776, and was discharged January 2, 1777. He also appears among those who were with General Spencer on an alarm in October, 1777. His home was on the farm now owned by Noah Farr, and his ashes are buried in the Meadows Cemetery.
Caleb Huntoon was the son of Nathaniel Huntoon, a captain in the French and Indian War, and in the Revolution also. The son
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History of Littleton.
enlisted in May, 1775, in Capt. Philip Tilton's company, Poor's regiment, in which he served from May 25 to August 1, 1775, and participated in the battle of Bunker Hill. He afterwards . became a sergeant in Capt. Abel Walker's company, Col. David Hobart's regiment, Stark's brigade, and was at the battle of Ben- nington, having enlisted July 21, and served until September 20, 1777. He settled in Littleton after the war, and is probably buried in the West Littleton Cemetery.
Samuel Hudson lived on the farm on the Connecticut River still known by his name ; it was once the property of Captain Caswell, having been deeded to him by Colonel Little for his son Apthorp, the first child born in town. Mr. Hudson enlisted for one year's service, July 20, 1779, from Walpole, in Captain Ellis' company, of Colonel Seamund's regiment, and served the full time. His remains are buried in the Rankin graveyard.
Ezekiel Kellogg was of Salem in this State, but served in Massa- chusetts in the War of the Revolution. His first enlistment was in Capt. Samuel Taylor's company, Col. Nicholas Dyke's regi- ment, in 1776, where his service covered twenty-four days. In 1777 he was enlisted for brief terms ; it was a year of alarms, and he enlisted in four different regiments and six separate companies during this year. They were the companies of Captain Goodale, of Colonel Wells' regiment, Captain Fitch, of Colonel Ashley's regiment, Captain Goodrich's company and that of Captain Ingalls in the same regiment, Captain Spoors' company, Colonel Symonds' regiment, and the company of Captain Noble, of Colonel Brown's regiment ; some if not all of these regiments were of Berkshire County, and were called into active service at the time Burgoyne was marching to his doom at Saratoga. Captain Kellogg was subsequently commander of one of the companies of militia in this town connected with the Thirty-Second Regiment. He resided at the west end, and was buried in the burial-place at Rankin's Mill.
Wadleigh Leavitt, who a hundred years ago was an influential citizen of the town, residing on the Connecticut River below the bridge, was a soldier of the Revolution from Northfield. He enlisted April 17, 1781, as a private under Captain Whipple, in a company of a Massachusetts regiment commanded by Colonels Rufus Putnam and Vose, successively, and served until May 24, 1783 ; he made application for a pension August 14, 1832, stating therein his age to be sixty-seven years, and his residence Mel- bourne, Lower Canada. The pension was granted. From this record it appears that he was born in 1765, and at the time of
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Soldiers of the Revolution and the War of 1812.
enlistment was but sixteen years of age. He came to this town before 1792, and resided here until 1809, when he followed the Caswells and one of the sons of Elder Rankin to Canada. While living here he held several public positions, among them collector of school tax, committee to repair school-house, and Selectman.
Three men bearing the surname of Lewis were Revolutionary soldiers ; they were Asa, Jonas, and Naboth. We have met the first of these more than once in these pages. He was of Francis- town, and served in Colonel Nicholl's regiment. He did not become a citizen of Littleton until sixteen years after the close of the war. He lived in the " old Bowman house," which he built. His ashes repose in the cemetery on the Meadows.
Naboth Lewis came to this town from Connecticut, and bought the Samuel Learned farm, long subsequently owned by James W. Merrill. He served in regiments raised in his native State, first in 1776, in Captain Hart's company, of Col. Erastus Walcott's regiment, and secondly in Captain Stanley's company, of Col. Fisher Gray's regiment, raised in June, 1776. His time expired on Christmas day of that year, and on the same day he re-enlisted under Capt. Benjamin Tallmadge, in Col. Elisha Sheldon's regi- ment of light dragoons, and was discharged in June, 1783, with the rank of corporal. He received a sword wound. Corporal Lewis was a noted teacher at Middletown, Conn., after the war, and had among his pupils Eleanor Savage, afterward wife of Peter Bonney, her brother Sylvester Savage, and Phebe Roberts, whom he married in 1786. He was buried at North Littleton.
Jonas Lewis became acquainted with Col. Moses Little while both were in the service of their country in the Revolutionary War, and were from that time more or less intimately associated in business. When the war began he was living at Needham, Mass., and enlisted in Captain Kilton's company, Col. John Patter- son's regiment, 1775, again the same year in Captain Bachellor's company, Colonel Bridge's regiment, and in Lieutenant Richard- son's company, regiment not named. At the time of this last enlistment he was of Royalston, Mass. Each of the foregoing enlistments was for three months. In 1778 he again entered the service for three years, in Captain Battle's company, Col. William McIntosh's regiment. Soon after the close of the war he came to this town, and as miller was in charge of the Rankin grist-mill for some years. He is buried in the graveyard at that place.
Thomas Miner, the pioneer, was at Haverhill during most of the period covered by the war. His journal states that he was a scout with Ezekiel Wheeler in July and August, 1776, by direc-
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History of Littleton.
tion of Col. John Hurd, the Grafton County member of the Coun- cil and Committee of Safety ; his name also appears on the roll of Capt. Josiah Russell's . company of rangers in 1776, from October 12, one month and twenty days. This company served in the regiments of Colonels Chase and Morey. Thomas Miner is named as a sergeant in one of these rolls. In his old age he made his home with his son William at Lyman, where he died and was buried in 1810.
Isaac Miner, son of Thomas, was living in Hopkinton, R. I., in 1776, and between October of that year and May, 1777, he served six tours of from one to two months each for himself, or as substi- tute for others, under Captain Wells, whose company was attached to Colonel Maxim's Rhode Island regiment acting as coast guard at Point Judith. After his discharge in 1777 he rejoined his parents at Haverhill. He lived in this town more than forty years. He was buried at Whitefield.
Obediah Morse had a long service covering many enlistments in the war. He was born in Methuen, and was a resident of that town at the time of the Lexington alarm, to which he responded and served four and one-half days in Capt. James Mallone's com- pany. He soon enlisted in Capt. Seth Ballard's company, Col. John Smith's regiment, and a little later served in Capt. Ezra Badlam's company, Col. L. Baldwin's regiment, in 1775 and 1776. He served afterwards in different companies as follows : In Capt. Aaron Guild's company, Col. Lem. Robinson's regiment, in 1776, and under the same captain in Col. Josiah Whitney's regiment in the same year ; in Capt. Sam Johnson's company, Colonel John- son's regiment, in 1777, and in 1780 in Capt. Nathan Thayer's company, Col. Ebenezer Thayer's regiment; from 1781 to 1783 in Capt. John Lincoln's company, Col. Joseph Webb's regiment ; and in the latter year in Captain Knapp's company, Colonel Tyler's regiment, thus showing a continuous service during the seven years of the war. After coming to New Hampshire he resided in Haverhill, Lyman, where most of his children were born, and for a time in Lisbon. He came to Littleton about 1840, and from that time lived with his children who were residents here. He died August 11, 1850, and is buried beside his wife in the Meadows burial-ground.1
Ebenezer Pingree, the pioneer magistrate of the north part of
1 The record as given in the genealogy (pp. 250, 251) concerning this family is singularly inaccurate. It states that "it is not certain that he [Obediah] ever res. in L," when it is clear that he both lived and died here, and his tombstone in the Meadows Cemetery is proof that he was buried there.
527
Soldiers of the Revolution and the War of 1812.
the town, was of Methuen, Mass., at the time of the beginning of the war. but at one time before its close was living at Charlestown, or No. 4. He first enlisted in the company commanded by Capt. John Davis, February 14, 1775, and as appears on the Revolutionary War rolls in archives of Massachusetts, served eight months ; the entries are in Vols. XII. p. 39; LVI. p. 5, and LVII. File 1. This company was in the regiment of Col. James Fry. He was at Lexing- ton and Bunker Hill, and was frequently enrolled for service at other times during the war, but no detailed account of such service can be found. He is buried in the graveyard at North Littleton.
There is no doubt of the fact that Jonathan Parker was a soldier in the war. He died in 1802, and left little traditional information concerning his services beyond the general statement that he was a minute-man in the Revolution. He is believed to be identical with Jonathan Parker whose name appears in the Massachu- setts rolls first as of Ipswich and then of Newton, but who in four after enlistments gave no place of residence. This record is : (1) Joshua Parker's company, Col. William Prescott's regiment, 1775 ; (2) Capt. Zaccheus Wright's company, Colonel Brooks' regi- ment, 1776 ; (3) Capt. Joseph Fuller's company, Colonel Thatcher's regiment, 1778 ; (4) Capt. John Walton's company (no regiment named), 1778 ; (5) Continental Army, 1780; (6) Capt. Ames Foster's company, Col. Cyprian Howe's regiment, 1788. Mr. Parker lived on the Meadows, and is buried in graveyard there.
In the burial-place at the Rankin Mill rest the ashes of Lieut. Richard Peabody, who was born in Woodstock, Conn. He was all ensign in Capt. Nathaniel Morey's company, and served in the Lexington Alarm, 1775. He was also ensign in Capt. Stephen Lyon's company, (the 5thi) 6th Battalion, Wadsworth's brigade, 1776. This battalion was raised to reinforce Washington in New York, was stationed at Flatbush Pass, L. I., August 26, was en- gaged in the battle of the following day, and narrowly escaped cap- ture ; engaged at White Plains, October 28; was in New Jersey at the time of the battle of Trenton ; his time expired December 25, 1776. Lieutenant Peabody resided in Lyman after the war.
Nathaniel Rix, Sr., was a private in Capt. Joseph Hutchins' company from August 18 to Sept. 10, 1777 ; sergeant in Capt. Samuel Young's company, Colonel Bedel's regiment, from Decem- ber 15, 1777, to March, 1778; and drummer in Capt. Luther Richardson's company, Colonel Bedel's regiment, eleven months, twenty-five days, from April 6, 1778. The last years of his life were passed in this town. His remains are in the graveyard at North Littleton.
528
History of Littleton.
Lieut. Daniel Rowell was in the service early in 1775 as a pri- vate in Capt. Samuel Hayes' company, Colonel Wingate's regiment. He was also in Colonel Frye's regiment at Bunker Hill, partici- pated in the battle of Saratoga, and rose to the rank of lieutenant. His farther service cannot be stated in detail. He is buried in the Meadows Cemetery.
Stephen Savage was of Connecticut, and served in the organ- izations from that State in the war. His first enlistment was in Colonel Belden's regiment stationed at Peekskill, N. Y., from April 12 to May 19, 1777. September 5, 1777, he enlisted for the war in Captain Wilcox's company, Baldwin's regiment, as an artificer. The artificers in Baldwin's regiment were a battalion drawn from the ranks of the several companies, and were skilled men who followed with the baggage train. This regiment was at German- town, Monmouth, and other fields in the Jerseys. He lived on the Meadows, and is buried in its cemetery.
Silas Symonds, who lived on the Adams place on the Connecticut River, served three years in the war and was credited to Swanzey.
John Wallace, the ancestor of the family of that name, prom- inent not only in this town but also in Bethlehem, Dalton, and Franconia, was of Colerain, Mass. He enlisted September 22, 1777, in Capt. Hugh McClallen's company, Col. David Wells' regi- ment ; the descriptive list states his " age as 41 years ; stature 5 ft, 6 in., hair gray ; term of enlistment 9 mos." He also appears on the muster and pay rolls of Capt. Joshua Woodbridge's company, Col. Nathan Tyler's regiment, and served in the Rhode Island campaign.1 He participated in Shays' Rebellion. He lived at North Littleton, but died and is buried in Franconia.
Lieut. Peleg Williams was lieutenant in Capt. Jason Wait's com- pany, Colonel Cilley's or Scammel's New Hampshire regiment of Continental line. His commission bears date November 8, 1776. He was quartermaster in the Bennington campaign, and partici- pated in the battle of Bemis Heights, and was wounded in the shoulder. He resigned May 10, 1778. He came to this town in 1781, died at Salem, March 20, 1821, while journeying to Provi- dence to draw his pension. He was buried in the cemetery at Salem.
Among the residents of the town Samuel Douglass, Archippus Wheelock, Michael Fitzgerald, and James Williams, tradition affirms, were soldiers in the war, and in each instance the suppo- sition is probably correct. It has been impossible to identify
1 See Revol. Rolls of Mass., vol. xxi. p. 35; vol. xxiii. p. 194; vol. xxiv. p. 141, and vol. xlii. p. 127.
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Soldiers of the Revolution and the War of 1812.
these men with the record of soldiers bearing the name farther than that the Massachusetts rolls have many of the name of James Williams, and one of them is undoubtedly that of our townsman. Archippus Wheelock also appears there on a receipt for a bounty. The Michael Fitzgerald on those rolls is identical with the Michael of Littleton. That record is that he served in the regiment under the command of Colonel Brooks, successively in the companies of Captains Allen, Gleason, and Maynard. He moved to Maine, where he died in the thirties. Samuel Doug- lass, of Townsend, Mass., in 1775 commanded a company in Col. James Prescott's regiment, and he is supposed to be the same person who lived on the Meadows. Our Capt. Samuel Douglass was a captain of a company in the war, according to the state- ments of old residents who knew him, but had no recorded evi- dence to support their statements.
Such too is the only authority for the belief that Penuel Leavens was in the Revolutionary service. He stated, and all who knew him believed, that such was the fact.
The list of soldiers in the War of 1812-1815 who were at the time or afterwards residents of Littleton is not complete either in numbers or in respect to the service rendered. Such as it is, it is given here. Ezra Abbott, Stillman Batchelder, William Copp, James Dow, Jonathan Dyke, William Fisk, Ezra Foster, Obed S. Hatch, James Lewis, Solomon Lewis, Charles Lougee, John W. Millen, Obediah Morse, Ebenezer Webster Morse, Oliver Nurse, Ezra Parker, Stephen Peck, and Joseph Shute.
Stillman Batchelder resided at the time in Bethlehem, and his service was rendered in the New Hampshire detached militia in guarding the northern frontier.
James Dow enlisted in the Twenty-Fifth United States Infantry April 12, 1814, participated in the battles of Chippewa, Bridge- water, and Fort Erie; in the last-named engagement he was wounded, and discharged for disability, March 24, 1815.
We have no particulars as to the service of Jonathan Dyke. He was in the service, however, for more than a year.
William Fisk enlisted in the Twenty-Fifth United States In- fantry, and served the full term of his enlistment. He lived to the great age of a hundred years.
Ezra Foster, a soldier of the Revolution, was also in the service in the War of 1812-1815.
Obed S. Hatch was a resident of Littleton at the time of his enlistment in Crawford's regiment, Sixth United States Infantry.
VOL. II .- 34
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History of Littleton.
James Lewis, son of Jonas, enlisted in this war and served for two years.
Solomon Lewis, a brother of James, enlisted and served for the same length of time.
Charles Lougee, then of Sanbornton, served one term of three years as a member of Capt. Ware Dearborn's company, Colonel Sise's regiment.
Obediah Morse, a soldier of the Revolution, also enlisted in the War of 1812.
Joseph Shute was an enlisted man in this war in Capt. Ware Dearborn's company, but for how long a time we have not been able to ascertain.
William Copp. John W. Millen, Oliver Nurse, and Stephen Peck served in Capt. John Bassett, Jr.'s, company of Colonel Sise's regiment.
In what service Webster Morse and Ezra Parker were enlisted we do not know. The fact, however, that they were enrolled is well authenticated.
No resident of Littleton enlisted for service in the war with Mexico. John Ramsdell, Guy Carleton, and perhaps others, who subsequently lived here, were enlisted men in that war.
531
The Militia in Northern New Hampshire.
LII.
· THE MILITIA IN NORTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE.1
By ALBERT STILLMAN BATCHELLOR.
A T the close of the French and Indian War the military sys- tem of the province of New Hampshire was in a state of marked efficiency. It was definitely established by law. The several organizations were well equipped and well officered. Nearly all of them were numerically strong, and geographically distributed with judicious reference to considerations of organiza- tion, instruction, and mobilization. The personnel of the militia of that day had the benefit of a traditional spirit, which was developed, stimulated, and intensified by the dangers attendant upon actual frontier service through generation after generation, for a period of more than a hundred years. The hereditary apti- tude of the people in military enterprise had been well proven by the requirements of many arduous campaigns in the long war which was terminated by the peace of 1760, and by which all the French possessions to the northward were acquired. Immediately after this event an overflowing population, seeking new fields for settlement, poured into the unoccupied lands in the northern and western parts of the province, and over the Connecticut River upon the New Hampshire grants.
By an act of the Assembly five counties were erected in 1771, but Grafton and Cheshire were not organized till 1773.2 Contem- poraneously with the establishment of a county administration of civil affairs, it seems that the militia system was extended over the same territory.3 Two additional province regiments were ac- cordingly created, with headquarters for the first at Plymouth and for the second at Haverhill. The field officers of the Second Grafton Regiment were Hon. John Hurd, of Haverhill, Colonel ;
1 The reader is referred to the address of Mr. Batchellor, published in volume ii. of the Proceedings of the New Hampshire Society of the Sons of the American Revolution for an account of the ranger service and other active military operations in the northern valley of the Connecticut River in the period of the Revolution.
2 " History of Administration of the Law in Grafton County," Child's Gaz., p. 32.
3 Mills and Hicks' British and Am. Reg., 1774.
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History of Littleton.
Asa Porter, Esq., of Haverhill, Lieutenant-Colonel ; and William Simpson, Esq., of Orford, Major. For the first regiment Hon. John Fenton was Colonel, David Hobart Lieutenant-Colonel, and Jonathan M. Sewall Major. Colonel Hurd, then holding the offices of chief justice of the court of common pleas, receiver of quitrents, county treasurer, and register of deeds, was the most prominent citizen of the Coos country.1 At this time regiments for military purposes were territorial designations. Fenton's regi- ment embraced approximately that part of the county which is now known as the eastern judicial district, and was numbered eleven ; and Hurd's occupied the remainder. Hurd's regiment at this time was numbered twelve, and was so designated on the official records afterwards, while it was under the command of Morey and Johnston.2
In 1774 another regiment was constituted of the towns of Hanover, Lebanon, Lyme, Orford, Cornish, and Plainfield, with Samuel Gilbert, of Lyme, as Colonel.3 Probably Lyme was not retained in this regiment, as at later dates it appears as a town in Morey's regiment.4 Colonel Gilbert having died, Lieut .- Col. Jon- athan Chase was made Colonel by act of the Assembly August 30, 1775.5 The north regiment is sometimes mentioned by Colonel Potter as the Sixteenth, but this is not in accord with the refer- ences to the regiment made in the acts and votes in the Assembly and Council in the war period and down to the last of the year 1784.6
There is evidence that a company was organized in the Coos country before the county of Grafton was created or a regiment established, and that the settlers thus became an organic part of the province militia as early as 1768.7
With the development of the revolutionary movement the status and disposition of the militia became an important con- sideration. The royal governor, in the disposal of the civic offices of the county, may not have entertained the idea of placing the officers of the two regiments under a sense of obligation to him-
1 Biography, by William F. Whitcher, Proceedings Grafton and Coös Counties Bar Association, 1888, vol. i. p. 467 ; Proceedings N. H. Society of Colonial Wars, 1902.
2 Province and State Papers, vol. viii. pp. 834, 972 ; State Papers, vol. xv. p. 924.
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