History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire, Part 109

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia [Pa.] J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1520

USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire > Part 109
USA > New Hampshire > Belknap County > History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire > Part 109

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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HISTORY OF MERRIMACK COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

have spoken of the revival of 1831 and 1832 under his preaching, when nearly a hundred were added to the church.

Many who are here to-day will never forget that first Sunday in January, 1832, and also the first Sun- day in March of the same year, upon each of which occasions about forty, standing on both sides of the broad aisle in the old meeting-house, received the right hand of fellowship from Mr. Tracy, on being re- ceived as members of the church. On these occa- sions Mr. Tracy seemed to be inspired. I was absent at school for the last year or two of his residence here, and entered college in 1836, the year he moved away. I have never found and never expect to find another minister who, in all respects, would quite fill Mr. Tracy's place with me.

From New Loncon he went to Newport, N. H., thence to Townsend, Mass., afterwards to Fitchburg, Athol and Greenfield, in that State. From 1847 to 1849 he was agent of the American Baptist Mission- ary Union in New England, residing at Springfield, Mass., and Hartford, Conn. From 1851 to 1862 he was agent of the American Baptist Home Missionary Society, residing at Concord, N. H. From Concord he went to Greenfield, Mass., where he died Septem- ber 6, 1863, aged sixty-five. Mrs. Tracy still survives him, residing with her daughter, Mrs. Elliott, of Bos- toll.

REUBEN SAWYER was born in Monkton, Vt.,. March 11, 1798 ; was married to Laura Wyman, at West Haven, Vt., in 1819. After this he was con- verted and baptized by his father, Rev. Isaac Saw- yer, of Brandon, Vt. In 1822 he entered the Theo- logical Seminary at Hamilton, N. Y .; but owing to failing health he did not complete his course. He was ordained pastor of the Baptist Church in West Haven, Vt., in 1824. He remained there as pastor until he came to New London, early in 1836, where he became a member of the church, and was received as its pastor July 3d, which place he held until April 8, 1844, when he resigned his pastoral charge, but re- mained with the church in the service of the New Hampshire Baptist Convention until autumn, when he removed to Chester, Vt., where he was pastor of the church for some ten years. From there he re- moved to Leyden, N. Y., where he remained as pastor of the church for some ten years, when he returned to Vermont for a few years, at Hinesburg and in that vicinity, when he returned to Leyden, where, after a protracted illness, he died June 29, 1869, in the seventy-second year of his age.

He gave the prime of his life, the vigor of his man- hood, to the church here. Large additions were made to it during his stay. The demands upon his time and strength were such as in these days would be deemed severe, with three preaching services on the Sabbath most of the time, and two or three other meetings during the week. In speaking of these arduous du- ties, his son, Rev. A. W. Sawyer, D.D., president of

Acadia College, N. S., in a letter to me, says : " But he was strengthened by the sympathy and affection of his people. The memory of the kindness he there experienced and the friendships he there formed were cherished by him to the last, and lightened the bur- dens of his declining years. His last year in New London was less pleasant to him because of his oppo- sition to the anti-slavery agitation; but his views afterwards changed somewhat, so that he firmly held the conviction that the United States should be a land of freedom." He took an interest in whatever bene- fited the people with whom he lived. He was one of the founders of the original New London Academy, and always was deeply interested in the school. But first of all he felt that he was called to preach the gospel. This work he loved. He enjoyed most the presentation of those doctrines termed evangelical. Feeling the strength and comfort of these truths in his own soul, his presentation of them to his people was often with remarkable clearness and power.

The ministers who have followed Mr. Sawyer are as follows :

Mark Carpenter, came in 1844, left in 1849, six years.

Ebenezer Dodge, came in 1849, left in 1853, five years.

Peter M. Hersey (Christian), came in 1849, left in 1853, five years.

H. F. Lane (C. B.), came in 1854, left in 1857, four years.

Lucien Hayden, came in 1857, left in 1869, twelve years.

Asa Randlet (F. W. B.), came in 1859, left in 1861, three years.

F. D. Blake (C. B.), came in 1870, left in 1873, four years.

S. C. Fletcher, came in 1874, and still remains.

The church frequently, and I think generally, de- pends as much upon the character and conduct of its deacons for its standing and reputation with the world as it does upon its ministers ; so I have exam- ined your church records to see who have been the deacons in New London, and, so far as I know, the church has been very fortunate in the selection of its deacons.

Ebenezer Hunting, elected January 8, 1789.

Matthew Harvey, Zebedee Hayes, elected July 5, 1793.

Jonas Shepard, Peter Sargent, Jr., elected April 3, 1812.

David Everett, Dexter Everett, elected June 16, 1825.

Joseph C. Herrick, Micajah Morgan, elected April 21, 1849.

Hunting was alone for about four and a half years, then Deacons Harvey and Hayes for nineteen years, then Deacons Shepard and Sargent for thirteen years, then the two Deacons Everett for twenty-four years, and last, Deacons Herrick and Morgan for thirty years.

Eng 2 by A D Tu chu

Dr. C. Bickford

441

NEW LONDON.

Ministers who have gone out from New London : Enoch Hunting (C. B.), ordained March 15, 1814. Benjamin Woodbury (Cong.), ordained about 1820. Theophilus B. Adams (C. B.), ordained May 29, 1821.

Joshua Clement (C. B.), ordained about 1834.

Valentine E. Bunker (C. B.), licensed April 8, 1836.

· Francis A. Gates (C. B.), licensed May, 1837. Robert Stinson (Universalist), ordained about 1840. Sylvan Hunting (Unitarian).

James Phillips (Methodist).

Lewis Phillips (Christian).

Dura P. Morgan (C. B.), ordained about 1872.

Lawyers of New London .- STEPHEN C. BADGER, a native of Warner, N. H., graduated at Dartmouth College in 1823; studied law with Henry B. Chase, of Warner; commenced practice in New London in 1826, where he remained until 1833, a period of eight years, when he removed to Concord ; was clerk of the courts for Merrimack County ; police justice for Con- cord ; a civil engineer ; died at Concord October 29, 1872. He married Miss Sophronia Evans, of Warner.

WALTER P. FLANDERS, also a native of Warner, N. H., graduated at Dartmouth, 1831; stndied law with Hon. John D. Willard, of Troy, N. Y., and Hon. George W. Nesmith, of Franklin, N. H. ; commenced practice in New London in 1834; was a member of the New Hampshire Legislature from New London in 1841 and 1842, and in 1849 he removed to Mil- waukee, Wis., where he still resides. He married Miss Susan E. Greeley, of this town, youngest daugh- ter of Jonathan Greeley, Esq.

GEORGE W. EVERETT, a native of New London, born November 19, 1819; was educated at the public school and academy of this town; studied law with Walter P. Flanders, of this place ; was admitted to the bar in 1847, and soon began practice here. He was a member of the Legislature from this town in the years 1852 and 1856, and was solicitor for Merrimack County for five years, from 1856 to 1861. In 1862 he received a commission as major of the Ninth Regiment of Volunteer Militia, which was ordered to the South- west ; remained with the regiment one year, showing himself a brave and faithful officer. In Angust, 1863, as his regiment was coming up the Mississippi River from Vicksburg, Miss., he was taken danger- ously ill, and stopping at Cincinnati, Ohio, he sank rapidly and died on the 27th of August, 1863, just one year and a day from the date of his commis- sion. His remains were brought to his native town and buried with Masonic honors. He married Miss Ellen T. Lane, of Gloucester, Mass.

EDWARD B. KNIGHT, who was a brother of Profes- sor Ephraim Knight, of this town, graduated at Dart- mouth in 1861; studied law with George W. Everett, of this place; was admitted to the bar in 1864, and commenced practice at Dover, N. H., but soon re-

moved to Virginia, where he still resides in the practice of his profession.

HON. J. EVERETT SARGENT. (See chapter on Bench and Bar.)

May peace and prosperity forever dwell in the midst of this people, and may the God of the fathers of this goodly town be the children's God and portion forever.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

HEZEKIAH C. BICKFORD.

Hezekiah Cook Bickford, M.D., was born in New London, N. H., April 27, 1817. He was one of six children, having four sisters and one brother, and later two step-brothers.

His father's name was Daniel Bickford. We have been unable to trace the Bickford family back any farther than to New Durham, N. H., from whence the doctor's grandfather went to Wheelock, Vt., and upon his death his father came to New London, N. H.

From his grandmother he obtained his middle name, Cook, that being the name of her family.

His mother was Martha Adams, who died when he was but five years old, in 1822, being forty-one years of age.

With this Adams family local tradition connects some of those characteristic stories of the hardships endured by our New England aucestors. It is related that when she was but three months old her father took her with her mother, on horse-back, and jour- neyed from their then home in Rowley, Mass., to New London, N. H., and huilt him a log house, thus becoming one of the first settlers of the town. This sturdy perseverance and endurance of hardship flowed undiluted in the blood of their grandson, as he encountered and overcame obstacles both of circun :- stances and of physical suffering and arrived at em- inence in his profession.

Very early indeed did this stern battle of life begin with him, for, on account of the family's straitened circumstances, he was able to go to school but very little during all his childhood. The little work his hands could do was sorely needed at home.

About a year after his mother's death the family moved to Springfield, N. H. As he became okler he " worked out," as the old phrase has it, and gave his earnings to his father.

When fifteen or sixteen years of age he took his little bundle of worldly goods and walked to Stoneham, Mass., where he found work for the summer with a family by the name of Richardson. When fall came he went into the Suffolk Mills, at Lowell, Mass , where he remained for about seven years.

During his last year in the mill he obtained work for his evenings as a clerk in a store, receiving there

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HISTORY OF MERRIMACK COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

for a shilling a night-about one dollar a week. But after the toil of the day and the work of the evening he would go home, not to idle fun, nor in- dulgence, uor even to sleep, but to some hour or two of hard study into midnight,-not reading, but study, -beginning thus early that life in earnest which characterized his later years.

When hardly twenty-one, and before he had finally done with work in the mill, he taught school on " Burpee Hill," in New London, N. H. It must have been about this time that he taught one winter in Dracut, Mass., a town on the opposite bank of the river from Lowell ; and of whatever means he could avail himself for self-improvement, whether by the hard work of teaching, or by the lyceum, or in any other way, he was quick to seize the opportunity and persist in making it as profitable as possible for self- culture.

After leaving the mill he went to Boston, into bus- iness with a man whose name we do not give. Though he had put in his little savings, the profits which the business was evidently rendering to somebody did not come at all to him. So he withdrew and went to work for a business man named H. Parmenter, ou Washington Street, of the same city.

In course of time this man established a store in Newport, R. I., and so great was his confidence in this young clerk of his that he entrusted him with the management of this new enterprise.

It was during his residence at Newport that he he- came acquainted with Dr. Butler and began the study of medicine. He left the store and devoted a year to study with Dr. Butler, He then pursued his course with Dr. Ayer, of New Hampton, N. H., taking also one term of lectures at Dartmouth Medical School. From Dr. Ayer he went to Philadelphia, Pa., for six mouths, and was graduated from Jefferson Col- lege, taking his degree March 20, 1845. In April, 1845, he began the practice of medicine in New Lon- don, N. H. After a year he was married to Paulina A. Coburn, of Dracut, Mass., June 17, 1846. For six years they lived in New London and had born to them two sons,-George Coburn, born March 25, 1847, and John Truman, born in 1849. The former son, now living in New London, married Florence Stet- son, of Charlestown, Mass., February 28, 1877, and to them have been born four children,-Alice Florence, born October 30, 1878; Horace Stetson, born March 3, 1880; George Owen, born July 26, 1881, died Au- gust 25, 1881; Walter Howard, born August 4, 1884, died October 9, 1884.

The latter son, John Truman, died in Billerica, Mass., when hardly four years old.

Ou June 15, 1851, he moved to Billerica, Mass., where he remained ten years and established his rep- utatiou as a successful practitioner, which he had already acquired.

May 10, 1883, Rev. Frank Houghton Allen, pastor of the Congregational Church, Shrewsbury, Mass., where was born to them a son, Harold Bickford, May 29, 1884. He began practice in Charlestown, Mass., September 16, 1861, where he remained for nearly fifteen years and attained high eminence and success.

Here died, after a lingering illness, the wife who had shared the struggles of his youth, just as they were beginning to realize their fondest hopes; and in the family Bible he pays her this tender tribute : "Died November 29, 1867, aged 49 years. Gone to her rest. A kind and devoted wife, an affectionate and tender mother, a faithful and consistent Christian."

The years at Charlestown were filled with inces- sant activity, for which all his previous persevering and energetic life had prepared him. His well-bal- anced judgment made him widely sought by his medical associates in consultation on difficult cases. His warm sympathies and wise words fitly spoken endeared him to the hearts and homes of a large cir- cle of friends.

On April 22, 1869, he married Maria Richardson, daughter of the late Wm. Gray, of Billerica, where she was born June 25, 1847. To them were born two children,-Gertrude Maria, June 9, 1870, and Lucy Gray, July 15, 1873. The latter died in Woburn, Mass., October 3, 1881.

But disease compelled him to relinquish practice, and he was succeeded by his nephew, Dr. Robert A. Blood, who had also been his medical student.

In May, 1876, he moved to his new home in Wo- burn, Mass. The change of scene, the quiet life with his family, the beautiful surroundings of his home, all had an influence temporarily to recuperate the ex- hausted energies. Here came rest and the looking back over a fruitful life and the realization of well- earned happiness. But the weakness returned, and after a long and distressing illness, serenely borne, he passed away March 26, 1878. The disease which terminated his life was a chronic ulcer of the duode- num, from which, for twenty years, he had suffered occasional, often severe, attacks, followed by extreme prostration ; but as often would he rise, with almost incredible energy, by what seemed sheer force of will, and plunge into his work. It was this trait of his character whieb gave him success. It was his stanch Christian manhood that won him so large a circle of friends, who spoke the sincere tributes paid to his memory as the "beloved physician."

He joined the Winthrop (Congregational) Church, of Charlestown, May 4, 1862, and was known as a consistent Christian in his conduct, always in his place in church on the Sabbath, even in his busiest years.

He became a member of the Joseph Warren Lodge of Masous, of Boston, Mass., January, 1872, and was also a member of the Waverly Royal Arch Chapter, and of the Hugh De Payens Commandery of Knights Templar, of Melrose, Mass. His remains were in-

It was during this period that his daughter, Har- riet Augusta, was born, June 20, 1853. She married, ! terred in Woodlawn Cemetery, Mass.

HISTORY OF EPSOM.

BY JOHN H. DOLBEER.

CHAPTER I.

THIS town derives its name from a market-town in the county of Surry, England, about sixteen miles from London. It is bounded north by Pittsfield, south by Allenstown, east by Deerfield and North- wood, and west by Chichester and Pembroke, and is twelve miles easterly from Concord.

There are no records to be found which show the precise time when the first settlement was commenced, but it appears from various facts that there was a number of families in town a considerable time be- fore its incorporation.

Among the first who began settlements in the town were Charles McCoy, from Londonderry; William Blazo, a Frenchman; Andrew McClary, from Lon- donderry, in Ireland; and a family by the name of Blake.

McCoy built a house on the north side of what is now called Sanborn's Hill, and thence extended his farm by spotting the trees round upon the mountain, which will probably always bear his name. A

daughter of his was the first white child born in the town, and she was presented by the proprietors with a tract of land, a portion of which is now owned by her grandson, Lemuel B. Towle. She married a Mr. Wood and lived to an extreme old age.

Samuel Blake, commonly known as Sergeant Blake, was one of the pioneer settlers, coming into town when but fifteen years of age, and began a settlement near where Mr. John Chesley now lives. He purchased his land, more than one hundred acres, near the centre of the town, for ten shillings, and turned in his jack-knife for one shilling of that snm. · Mr. Blake had a large family of children, who grew up and married ; but at the present writing none of the name remain in town, and but few of his descendants.

As will be seen by the following document, the town was granted to the tax-payers of Rye, New Castle and Greenland, in 1727, according to the amount of their respective taxes :

"George, By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith.

" To all People to whom these presents shall come : Greeting :

" Know ye, we, of our especial knowledge and meer motion, for the due

encouragement of settling a new plantation, by and with the advice and consent of our council, have given & Granted, and by these l'resents, : s far as in us lies, do give and grant unto all such of our loving subjects as were inhabitants and free holders in the year one thousand seven hun- dred and twenty-three, in our town of New Castle and in the Parish of Greenland, both within our Province of Newhampshire, in New Eng- land, to be divided among them in proportion to their Respective Rater, which they paid in the year 1723 aforesaid, one tract of Land to be laid out at the head of Nottingham and North ward of land formerly granted to the children of Saml. Allen, decs1., the same to be six miles in Breadth and four miles in Depth, or in such other form as the land ungranted in that place will admit, so as it contains the same Quantity of Land, and the same to be a town corporate by the name of Epsom to the Pursons aforesaid forever. To Have and to Hold the said Tract of Land to said Grantees and their heirs and assigns forever upon the following con- ditions :

"Ist. That they build twenty Dwelling Houses and settle a Family in each within the term of four years, and break up three acres of Ground for each Settlement, and plant or sow the same within four years.

"2d. That a house be built for the Publick worship of God within the term of six years.

"3d. That One Hundred acres of Land be Reserved for & parsonage, one hundred acres for the first minister of the Gospell and one hundred acres for the Benefit of a School. Provided, Nevertheless, that the Peace with the Indians continue during the aforesd term of four years.

"But if it should happen that a war with the Indisus should com- mence before the aforesd term of four years be expired, there shall be al- lowed to the aforesd Proprietors the term of four years after the expira- tion of the War to perform the aforesd conditions.

" Rendering and paying therefor to us, our heirs aud successors, or such other officer or officers as shall be appointed to Receive the same, the annual quit rent or acknowledgement of one pound of good merch- antable Hemp in sd town, on the first day Decembr yearly, for ever, if tle- manded.

"Reserving also unto us, our heirs and successors, all mast trees grow- ing on said Land, according to an act of Parliment made and provided in that case.

"'And for the better order, Rule and Government of the said Town, we, by these Presents, Grant for us, our heirs & successors, unto the aforesd Proprietors, and those that shall inhabit the said Town, that yesrly and every year, upon the first Wednesday in May, they may meet at any place within our Province of Newhampshire aforesd until the settlement of the aforesd Town is perfected, and afterward in the suid town, to elect and chuse by the Major part of them constables, Select men and all other Town officers, according to the Laws and usage of our aforesd Province, with such power, priviledges and authority as other towns and town officers within our nforesd Province hava & enjoy, and we appoint our Loving Subjects, Theodore Atkinson, Joshua Foss & Capt. Samuel Weeks to be the selectmen to manage the affairs of the said town for the Present year and untill others are chosen in their Room by the aforesd Propri™.

"In Testimony whereof we have caused the seal of our said Province to be herewith annexed.

" Witness, John Wentworth, Esq., our Lt. Governor and Commander in Chief in and over our said Province, at our town of Portsmouth, the eighteenth day of May, in the Thirteenth year of our Reign, anno Domini 1727.

"J. WENTWORTH.

443

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HISTORY OF MERRIMACK COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

" By order of his Hon. the Lt. Gov., with advice of the counsel. "RICHD. WALDRON, Clerk.

"Province of N hampshire : Recorded in ye 18th Book, pages 479 & 480, this 29th of June, 1732.

" Pd. 28. 6d."

"Josph PIERCE, Recorder.

By an act of the Provincial Legislature, passed February 21, 1778, the time for holding the annual meeting was changed from the first Wednesday of May to the third Weduesday of March.

First Meeting of the Proprietors .- At a meet- ing held by the proprietors of the town of Epsom, at the ferry-house in New Castle, on Monday, Decem- ber 4th, according to notification in 1727,-

"Notification being read, it was put to vote whether the Moderator should be chosen by holding of the hands.

" J'oted in the affirmative, the place not being convenient to write votes in accordingly.

"Voted, Colo. Shad. Walton be moderator for this meeting.

"Toted, Theodore Atkinson be a clerk of the ad Proprietors until another be Chosen and Sworn in his Room to the faithful discharge of which office he was sword by Justice Foss.

"3d. That there be Raised thirty pounds in an equal proportion upon the Proprietors according to their Several Rates in 1723.

"4ly. Voted, that Wilm. Haines be the Parson appointed to collect the money that shall be Raised in Greenland Parish for the sd service.

" Voted that Willm. Berry be appointed for sd service at Rye.

" Voted that Joshua Simpson be appointed collet. for New Castle,

" Voted that Mr. John Sbarborn be Treasurer to the ad Proprat., and have Power to Receive the money that shall be collected, and to Dis- charge the several charges, Rendering an act to the proprit. when Re- quired, and that the selectmen's order be sufficient to call for any sum, and to discharge him therefrom.

" Toted, that Mr. Richd. Goss, George Welch, James Philpot, John Blake be a committee to Run the Line of the sd town, and to have five shillings per day while in the service.

"The Proprat. of Epsom Notified by the Selectmed to meet to Chose town officers, and to do any other business for settlement of ad town &c. Dated May ye Ith, 1728.

"The Propriat. mett according to Notification at the ferry-house io New Castle the 15th day of May, 1728.

" T'oted Capt. Jotham Odiorne Modratr.

" Voted Theod. Atkinson continue Clerk for this year.

" Toted Joseph Simpson Clerk for this meeting.

" Toted Theod. Atkinson Selectman for the Parish of New Castle.

" Voted Sam1. Weeks for Greenland, Joshua Foss for Rye.

" Toted Joseph Simpson collector of Rates for New Castle, Willm. Harria for Greenland, Sam1. Rand for Rye.

" Voted James Randall, Danel Lunt and James Seavey be a committee to Run out the Bounds of the town of Epsom.

"If one or more of them fayl, the Selectmen Hire io their Rooms, and the Charge to be paid by the town, and that the Selectmen are to Raise thirty pounds on the Propriat, of the town of Epsom, to Defray the charges.

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History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire, Part 109

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Philadelphia [Pa.] J. W. Lewis & co. Number of Pages: 1520

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia [Pa.] J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1520