USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire > Part 44
USA > New Hampshire > Belknap County > History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire > Part 44
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In Captain Aaron Kinsman's company, John Man- uel, who was killed ; in Captain -'s company, Jos- eph Crouch, who was wounded on the retreat by a spent cannon-ball.
The following receipt is in possession of Luke Cor- ser, Esq. : " BOSCAWEN May 24 1775
" Recieved of David Corser of Boscawen a Gun marked on the Britch W. C. B. which Gun I have Recieved for the usa of tha soliers Now in the County Sarvice who went from Boscawen under the command of Capt Abbott in order to Defend the country against the Troops under General Gaga Now at Boston. Recieved by ma
"SAMUEL ATKINSON."
" W. C. B." undoubtedly means William Corser, Boscawen. He was an uncle of David Corser, who gave him one hundred acres of land, on Pleasant Street, for the gun.
In September volunteers were called for to join Arnold's expedition to Quebec up the Kennebec River-an expedition attended by terrible hardships, resulting in failure, the capture of nearly all of
Arnold's command and the death of General Mont- gomery.
Deacon Jesse Flanders, John Flanders, Jr., and Nicholas Davis enlisted in Captain Henry Dearborn's command, and were captured in the attack upon Quebec. They were kept in irons a short time, liber- ated on parole in Angust, 1776, and reached New York by sea September 25th.
In December, 1775, additional soldiers were called for, and Nicholas Elliot, Moses Burbank, Benjamin Webster and David Carter served during the winter in the siege of Boston.
During the year 1776 soldiers were called for for the defense of Ticonderoga from the threatened attack of Sir Guy Carleton, and twenty-three men enlisted,-
Lieutenant Enoch Gerrish, Thomas Carter, Daniel Carter, John Jackman, Jamea Gerald (died), Joseph Pearson, John Muzzy, Joho Flanders, Friend Little, Thomas Beadle, Joseph Atkinaon, Nathaniel Atkinsoo, Joshna Danford, Isaac Davis, Lieutenant Samuel Fowler, Deacon Joseph Hoit, Colonel Henry Gerrish, Charles Greenfield, Joho ITala, Samuel Jackman, Phincas Stevens (died), Nathaniel Burbank, Joseph Couch.
Upon the evacuation of Long Island by General Washington the militia were called out in the eastern colonies. Boscawen sent eight soldiers,-
Captain Peter Kimball, Lientenant Benjamin Jackman, Enaign Sam- uel Ames, Bitfield Plummer, Moses Morrill, Daniel Richards, Samuel Jackman, Cutting Noyes.
Boscawen furnished three soldiers for the winter campaign on the Hudson,-Lieutenant Winthrop Carter, John Uran and Samnel Burbank.
Colonel Henry Gerrish was in the service of the State obtaining supplies. " BOSCAWEN February 1, 1776.
" Received of Henry Gerrish one Hundred & sixty six Blankets, Fifty seven tin Kittlea & ooe Barrel of spirits which I promise to Deliver Majr Cavis of Rumney for Col Israel Moray.
"ELISHA BEAN."
" Recad of Coll Henry Gerrish one Hundred and eighty one pounds fourteen shillings L m [lawful money] to pay Thirty Three Man which I am ordered to raise out of my Regiment to reinforce the army at New York their advance pay and Billetting, which men are to serve till the first day of March naxt unless sooner discharged.
" Decamber 10th 1776.
"THOMAS STICKNEY."
At a town-meeting held the last Monday in May, 1777, voted "to raise sixty pounds to pay the four men hired by said town to serve in the Continental Army for the term of three years."
A committee was appointed " to join the military officers in making dranghts of men as may be wanted from time to time for the Continental service."
" Voted, That the selectmen raise a tax ao larga that there be sixty pounda left after the proportional part of those who have done service ia abated."
The selectmen addressed a letter to the Committee of Safety,-
" BOSCAWEN May 17, 1777 " Gentlemen :-
"In consequence of Expresa orders, the Town of Boawacen ia thia Day assembled & called on by tha Capt of said town that each man ha imme- diately a Quipt according to law and as there is found wanting a Number of Fire Arms Ammunition &c we have Imployed Capt Samuel Atkinson and Mr. Joseph Gerrish to procura the same. Wa Desira your favor if
175
BOSCAWEN.
thare be any guns in store to be purchased that you would give Capt At- kinson your advice & assistance & also a quantity of lead. Mr. Atkinson will be able to inform you of the Number of arms & Quantity of lead wanted to a Quip said Town & your Favor herein will Greatly oblige your Humble Survonts,
" GEORGE JACKMAN \ Selectmen "CUTTING NOYES
"To the Committee of Safety at Exeter."
Orders from Colonel Thomas Stickney, who lived in Concord, reached Captain Kimball July 1st, to be ready with his company to march at a minute's warning to oppose General Burgoyne, who was ad- vancing from Canada to Lake Champlain. Captain Kimball's company marched July 4th.
CAPTAIN KIMBALL'S DIARY.
" July Ist, 1777, orders came from Col. Stickney to me, to muster and Equip one Quarter part of the Company to march at a minits warning, and in consequence of the same, we met to git the men.
"July 4, orders came to march 13 men Immediately to tie [Ticonder- oga].
"saterday we marcht to perrytown [Sutton], and Loged thare.
" Sunday 6, we marcht to U'oity and Loged thare.
" Monday 7, we marcht to No. 4, and Loged thare & drawd 4 Day allowance.
" tuesday 8, we marcht to Cavendysh and Loged thare.
" Wendesy 9, we marcht to No. 4 again.
" thursday 10th, we marcht to Unity and Loged.
"fryday 11, we marcht home."
The men engaged in this service were,-
Colonel Henry Gerrish, Captain Peter Kimball, Captain Peter Coffin, Lieutenant Enoch Gerrish, Lieutenant Moves Call, Nathan Corser. Sam- nel ('lifford, Deacon Jesse Flaoders, Enos Flanders, Nathaniel Atkinson, Simeon Atkinson. George Jackman, Jr., John Morrill, Deacon Isaac Pearson, Daniel Clark, Daniel Shepherd, John Manuel, Michael Sar- gent, James French, Benjamo Sweatt, Moees Jackman.
Men were called for to go to Coös and six men sent as the town's quota,-
Captain Samuel Atkinson, Jeremiah Hidden, Moses Morse, William Danforth, Jedidiah Danforth, George Jackman.
A full company consisted of sixty men. Captain Kimball marched from Boscawen with twenty-two, but four others joined him, making twenty-six from Boscawen. The Concord soldiers, under Lieutenant Richard Herbert, joined him on the march. The company was thus organized,-
Captain Peter Kimball, Boscawen ; Lieutenant Richard Herbert, Con- cord ; Ensign Andrew Pettengill, Salisbury ; Sergeant Jesse Abbot and Sergeant Abner Flanders, Concord; Sergeant William Danforth and Sergeant Nathan Davis, Boscawen; Corporal Richard Flood, Concord ; Corporal Richard Burbank, Buscawen ; Corporal John Abbot, Corporal Theodore Farnum and Fifer Elias Abbot, Concord ; Drummer Asa Cor- ser, Boscawen.
Privates .- Stephen Abbot, Ezra Abbot, Benjamin Ambrose, Jonathan Ambrose and Peter Blanchard, Concord ; Wells Burbank and Thomae Beedle, Boscawen ; Philbrick Bradley, Concord ; Jonathan Corser, David Corser, Daniel Carter, Nathan Carter and Abner Chase, Boscawen ; Simeon Danforth, Concord ; Elknah Danforth and Timothy Danforth, Boscawen ; Reuben Diamond and Benjamin Elliot, Concord ; James French and Jesse Flanders, Busrawen ; Ephraim Fick, Jr., Israel Glines, Solomon Gage and David George, Concord ; Charlee Greenfield and John Hutchins, Boscawen ; Samuel Hickeon and Abial Hall, Concord ; Jedi- diah Hoit, Timothy Jackman, William Jackman and John Jackman, Boscawen ; Timothy Johnson, Concord ; Benjamin Little, Friend Little, Samuel Morse and Isaac Pearson, Boscawen ; John Peters, Anthony Pot- ter, Phineas Stevens, William Symonds and Simon Trumbull, Concord ; Daniel Uran, Boacawen ; Gilman West, Concord,-fifty-seven.
CONTINENTAL SOLDIERS .- Three regiments were
raised by the State at the beginning of the war for the Continental service. The muster-rolls of Stark -the first-give the names of six citizens of Bos- cawen, with the date of enlistment and discharge,-
" Batchelder, William, Enlisted 10 Jan. 1777, Dis 1 Jan. 1780.
" Bishop, Enos, Enlisted 1 Jan. 1777, dicd 8 Aug. 1778. He was cap- tured by the Indians 15 Ang. 1754, & taken to Canada.
"Evans, Edward, Enlisted 7 Feb. 1777, Discharged 1 Dec. 1781.
" Flanders, Philip, Enlisted 1 Jan. 1777, Discharged 1 Jan. 1782.
" Halcomb, Matthew, enlisted 1 Jan. 1777, Deserted 9 July, 1777.
"Stevene, Peter Roswell, enlisted | Jan. 1777, Discharged 1781."
These, with the exception of Halcomb, took part in the battle of Stillwater, September 19th, and of Sara- toga, October 7th. In the first battle three New Hampshire regiments and Dearborn's battalion of two hundred and fifty New Hampshire troops were attached to Morgan's riflemen, and with them did all the fighting from one o'clock till nearly four in the afternoon, sustaining the brunt of the battle. The Sixty-second British Regiment of six hundred men was nearly annihilated by their withering fire.
The call for troops during the year was for the de- fense of Rhode Island. Below are the names of the soldiers who served in that campaign :
FROM THE SELECTMEN'S BOOKS.
"The Men flereafter Named have Received the Savrill aume set against each of thare Names in Consequence of thare going to Rhode Island at the request of the Committee of Safety,-
£. s. d.
" Enoch Gerrish 10 0 0
Joseph Gerrish 10 0 0
Daniel Shepard . 10 0 0
Joseph Flanders
10 0 0
Moses Burbank
Thomas Gordon 10 0 0
Nathan Davis . 10 0 0
John Flanders 10 0 0
Isaac Peareon . 10 0 0
Welle Burbank 10 0 0
Humphrey Jackman 10 0 0
Samuel Morrill 10 0 0
Jedidiah Hoit . 10 0 0
£130 0 0
" To the Treasurer of the State of New Hampshire :
"Sir, please to alow Winthrop Carter, Constable for Boscaweu, the above sum of one hundred & thirty pound out of the State Tax for Bos- cawen, assessed to order of the committee of safety.
"GEORGE JACKMAN, ) Selectmen
"CUTTING NOYES, S for Boscawen.
" Bosca wen, Sept. 3, 1778."
The war having been transferred to the Southern States, there was no further call for the militia. Sev- eral citizens enlisted in the Continental service, but their names are not known, except those serving in the First Regiment.
In 1798, in consequence of the interference of French war-ships with American merchantmen, seri- ous trouble was apprehended between the United States and France. Congress established a provisional army of eighty thousand men, and appointed Wash- ington lieutenant-general.
Nathaniel Green, Esq., was commissioned a cap- tain, with Moses Sweat, of Concord, first lieutenant, and Israel W. Kelley, of Coneord, second lieutenant. Eight citizens of Boscawen eulisted,-
176
HISTORY OF MERRIMACK COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Sergeant Joseph Flanders, Moses Jackman, Daniel Colby, Benjamin Fisk, Moses Corser, Nathan Danforth, Bernard Young, Joshna Sawyer.
The company assembled at Concord, having their quarters for a few days at Osgood's tavern, and from thence marched to Oxford, Mass., the rendezvous for the New England troops. Negotiations were entered into and a war averted, and the soldiers discharged.
War of 1812 .- Colonel Timothy Dix commanded a United States regiment on the frontier, and died in the service.
Several British ships of war made their appearance on the coast, and it was supposed that Portsmouth would be attacked. The militia was called out to defend it. There were two drafts,-one for three and the second for two months.
Those serving under the first draft were,-
Ensign Richard Little, John Stone, Moses Call, Enoch Burhank, Samuel Burbank, Moses Cross, Stephen Danforth, John Eastman, Jacob Flanders, Josiah Gale, Nicholas Gookin, Simeon Jackman, Joseph Moser, Daniel Shepard, -fourteen.
Under the second draft for two months, --
Captain Silas Call (who died in service), Eleazer Burbank, Jesse Sweat. Benjamin Severance, Amos Rolf, Willians Haines, Gny C. Flanders, Aber Eastman, Samuel Watson, Ephraim Noyes, James Noyes, Theodore George, Ebenezer Moody, Amos Sawyer, Samuel Jackman,-fifteen.
Of those enlisting in the regular service, the names of a few only are known, --
Benjamin Jackman, Moses Jackman, Edmund Day, killed ; Benjamin Fisk, died ; --- Fisk, died ; Chellis Eastman, died ; George Littleheld, died ; Eliphalet Burpee, died.
Military Record, 1861-65 .- The following is a list of the soldiers from Boscawen who served in the War of the Rebellion :
Fisher Ames, enlisted in Company E, Seventh Regiment.
Henry H. Ayer, enlisted in Company B, Third Regiment.
Daniel C. Abbot, enlisted in Company E, Seventh Regiment. Edmund W. Atkinson, eulisted in Company E, Sixteenth Regiment. James W. Bent, enlisted in Company F, Sharpshooters. William H. Brannan, enlisted in Company H, Fourth Regiment. Jonas T. Boynton, enlisted in the Sharpshooters.
John H. Brown, enlisted in Company F, Ninth Regiment. Cyrus B. Bidwell, enlisted in Company E, Seventh Regiment. George F. Bidwell, enlisted in Company E, Seventh Regiment. Lieutenant Henry W. Baker, enlisted in Company E, Seventh Regiment. Lieutenant William W. Ballard, enlisted in Company B, Second Regi- ment.
Themas Brannan, enlisted in the navy. Samuel Chandler, enlisted in Company E, Seventh Regiment. John Clancy, enlisted in Company E, Seventh Regiment. Patrick Clancy, enlisted in Company K, Ninth Regiment. Alonzo Chase, enlisted in Company I, Fourth Regiment. Edwin H. Chadwick, enlisted in the Sharpshooters. George Coffin, enlisted in Company E, Sixteenth Regiment. George Call, enlisted in Company HI, Fourteenth Regiment. Hale Chadwick, enlisted in Company C, Seventeenth Regiment. Albert J. Crane, enlisted in Twenty-Second Massachusetts Regiment. John F. Colby, enlisted in the cavalry.
Nicholas Duffy, enlisted in Company G, Second Regiment. Nathan C. Danforth, enlisted in Company A, Fifth Regiment. William Duckworth, enlisted in Company E, Seventh Regiment. Horace II. Danforth, enlisted in the cavalry. Sylvanus E. Danforth, enlisted in Company A, Fifth Regiment. George Damon, enlisted in Company B, Secend Regiment. George Day, enlisted in Second Heavy Artillery. Wilson Day, enlisted in Second Heavy Artillery. Isaac C. Evane, enlisted in Company E, Seventh Regiment. Curtis Flanders, enlisted in Company 1, Tenth Regiment.
David A. Flanders, enlisted in Company E, Tenth Regiment.
Frederick H. Favor, enlisted in Third Regiment.
Josiah H. Flanders, enlisted in the cavalry.
David J. Flanders, enlisted in the navy.
Hiramı Gage, enlisted in Company B, Third Regiment.
John Mayher, enlisted in Company C, Seventh Regiment.
John Mitchell, enlisted in Third Regiment.
.John Muzzey, enlisted in Company E, Second Regiment. Charles Morse.
Hiram J. Morrill, enlisted in the Heavy Artillery.
Charles Moulton, enlisted in the navy.
Daniel Morse, enlisted in the Sharpshooters.
Herbert McEvely, enlisted in Company H, Tenth Regiment. Benjamin Morrison, enlisted in the Sharpshooters.
Alonzo Paige, enlisted in Company D, Eleventh Regiment. Henry Pearson, enlisted in the Sharpshooters.
William M. Pierce, enlisted in Company K, Ninth Regiment.
William 11. Perry, enlisted in Eighth Regiment.
Dexter Pritchard, enlisted in Company E, Seventh Regiment. John Pierce, enlisted in Company E, Seventh Regiment. John H. Pettengill, enlisted in the Heavy Artillery.
Charles Riley, enlisted in Company A, Fifth Regiment.
Liberty G. Raymond, enlisted in Company E, Seventh Regiment. Michael Reardon, enlisted in Company G, Fourth Regiment. Martin Reynolds, enlisted in the navy.
Walter S. Raley, enlisted in Company E, Third Regiment. Jeremiah Shechan, enlisted in Company C, Third Regiment. Charles P. Shepard, enlisted in the Sharpshooters.
Peter R. Shepard, enlisted in Company E, Sixteenth Regiment. Ilorace Smart, enlisted in Company E, Sixteenth Regiment.
Alexander S. Stevens, enlisted in Company E, Seventh Regiment.
William It Story, enlisted in Company E, Second Regiment.
Joseph S. Sweatt, enlisted iu Company E, Second Regiment. Calvin W. Simonds, enlisted in the Sharpshooters. Curtis Smith, enlisted in the Seventh Regiment.
Joseph Simonds, enlisted in Company E, Seventh Reginient. William Sewell, enlisted in the navy.
Franklin Spearman, enlisted in the navy.
John Spellman, enlisted in the navy.
Nathaniel Thurston, enlisted in the Sharpshooters. James S. Tyler, enlisted in the Sharpshooters.
Barnard Thornton, enlisted in Company A, Fifth Regiment. Sumner P. Tewksbury, enlisted in Company K, Third Regiment. Samuel F. Tewksbury, enlisted in Company G, Eighth Regiment. John C. Thornton, enlisted in Company G, Eighth Regiment. John P. Thurston, enlisted in Company F, Fourth Regiment. Matthew Wooley, enlisted in Company E, Seventh Regiment. Samuel Wooley, enlisted in Company A, Fifth Regiment. Albert B. Woodward, enlisted in Company K, Fourth Regiment. Charles S. Whitney, enlisted in the navy.
Citizens liable to do military duty April 30, 1865 140
Total quota under all calls. . 71
Soldiers in service, volunteers and substitutes . 85
Surplus 14
CHAPTER III.
BOSCAWEN-(Continued).
Biographical-The Boscawen Academy-Congregational Church-Pepu- lation-L'ivil History.
Biographical .- CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN.1- Among the emigrants from England to the western world in the great Puritan exodus was Joanna Thember Coffin, widow, and her son Tristram and her two daughters, Mary and Eunice. Their home was in Brixton, two miles from Plymouth, in Devon-
1 Condensed from Granite Monthly.
177
BOSCAWEN.
shire. Tristram was entering manhood's prime- thirty-three years of age. He had a family of five children. Quite likely the political troubles between the King and Parliament, the rising war-cloud, was the impelling motive that induced the family to leave country, home, friends and all dear old things, and become emigrants to the New World. Quite likely Tristram, when a youth, in 1620, may have seen the "Mayflower" spread her white sails to the breeze and fade away in the western horizon, for the departure of that company of pilgrims must have been the theme of conversation in and around Plymouth. Without doubt it set the young man to thinking of the unexplored continent beyond the stormy Atlantic. In 1632 his neighbors and friends began to leave, and in 1642 he, too, bade farewell to dear old England, to become a citizen of Massachu- setts Bay.
He landed at Newbury, settled first in Salisbury and ferried people across the Merrimack between Salisbury and Newbury. His wife, Dionis, brewed beer for thirsty travelers. The sheriff had her up be fore the courts for charging more per mug than the price fixed by law, but she went scot free on proving that she put in an extra amount of malt. We may think of the grave and reverend justices ordering the beer into court and settling the question by personal examination of the foaming mugs,-smacking their lips satisfactorily, quite likely testing it a second time.
Tristram Coffin became a citizen of Newbury and built a house, which is still standing. In 1660 he re- moved with a portion of his family to Nantucket, dying there in 1681, leaving two sons, from whom have descended all the Coffins of the country-a numerous and widespread family.
One of Tristram's descendants, Peter, moved from Newbury to Boscawen, N. H., in 1766, building a large two-storied house. He became a prominent citizen of the town, a captain of the militia com- pany, was quick and prompt in all his actions. The news of the affair at Lexington and Concord April 19, 1775, reached Boscawen on the afternoon of the next day. On the 21st, Peter Coffin was in Exeter answering the roll-call in the Provincial Assembly, to take measures for the public safety.
Charles Carleton Coffin, was born on the old homestead in Boscawen, July 26, 1823, the youngest of nine children, three of whom died in infancy.
The boyhood of the future journalist, correspondent and author was one of toil rather than recreation. The maxims of Benjamin Franklin in regard to idle- ness, thrift and prosperity were household words. Aside from the district school, he attended Boscawen Academy a few terms. The teaching could not be called first-class instruction. The instructors were students just out of college, who taught for the stipend received rather than with any high ideal of teaching as a profession. A term at Pembroke 12
Academy in 1843 completed his acquisition of knowl- edge so far as obtained in the schools.
The future journalist was an omnivorous reader. Everything was fish that came to the drag-net of this New Hampshire boy-from "Sinbad " to " Milton's Paradise Lost," which was read before he was eleven years old.
The household to which he belonged had ever a goodly supply of weekly papers,-the New Hampshire Statesman, the Herald of Freedom, the New Hampshire Observer, all published at Concord.
Without doubt, the love for historical literature was quickened by the kind patronage of John Far- mer, the genial historian, who was a visitor at the Boscawen farm-house, and who had delightful stories to tell of the exploits of Robert Rogers and John Stark during the French and Indian Wars.
In 1845, Mr. Coffin accepted a position in the en- gineering corps of the Northern Railroad, and was sub- sequently employed on the Concord and Portsmouth and Concord and Claremont Railroad.
In 1846 he was married to Sallie R. Farmer, of Boscawen. Not wishing to make civil engineering a profession for life, he purchased a farm in his native town; but health gave way and he was forced to seek other pursuits.
He early began to write articles for the Concord newspapers, and some of his fugitive political contri- butions were republished in Littell's Living Age.
Mr. Coffin's studies in engineering led him towards scientific culture. In 1849 he constructed the tele- graph line between Harvard Observatory and Boston, by which uniform time was first given to the railroads leading from Boston. He had charge of the con- struction of the telegraphic fire alarm in Boston, un- der the direction of Professor Moses G. Farmer, his brother-in-law, and gave the first alarm ever given by that system April 29, 1852.
Mr. Coffin's tastes led him toward journalism. From 1850 to 1854 he was a constant contributor to the press, sending articles to the Transcript, the Bos- ton Journal, Congregationalist and New York Tribune. He was also a contributor to the Student and School- mate, a small magazine then conducted by Mr. Adams (Oliver Optic).
It is impossible in this brief article to sketch in de- tail the career of Mr. Coffin from that time to the present. During the Rebellion he was the war corres- pondent of the Boston Journal, and in 1866 visited Europe as the correspondent of the same paper.
After spending a year and a half in Europe, Mr. Coffin visited Greece, Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, sailing thence down the Red Sea to Bombay; trav- eled across India to the valley of the Ganges, before the completion of the railroad, visiting Allahabad, Benares, Calcutta, sailing thence to Singapore, Hong Kong, Canton, Shanghai. Ascending the Yang-tse six hundred miles, to Wuchang, the Governor of the province invited him to a dinner. From Shanghai he
178
HISTORY OF MERRIMACK COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
sailed to Japan, experiencing a fearful typhoon upon the passage. Civil war in Japan prevented his trav- eling in that country, and he sailed for San Francisco, visiting points of interest in California, and in No- vember made his way across the country seven hundred miles-riding five consecutive days and nights be- tween the terminus of the Central Pacific road, at Wadsworth, and Salt Lake, arriving in Boston, Jan- uary, 1869, after an absence of two and a half years. During that period the Boston Journal contained every week a letter from his pen.
In the lecture field, and for several years, he was one of the popular lecturers before lyceums. In 1869 he published "Our New Way Round the World," fol- lowed by the "Seat of Empire," "Caleb Crinkle " (a story), "Boys of '76," "Story of Liberty," "Old Times in the Colonies," " Building the Nation," "Life of Garfield," besides a history of his native town. His volumes have been received with marked favor. No less than fifty copies of the "Boys of '76" are in the Boston Public Library and all in constant use.
The degree of A.M. was conferred upon him by Dartmouth College in 1870. He is a resident of Bos- ton and was a member of the Legislature in 1884.
HON. DANIEL WEBSTER, America's greatest states- man, prepared for college and began his public life in Boscawen. He was a citizen of the town for about three years, identified himself with its interests, voted at town-meeting, paid taxes, enrolled himself as a member of the religious society and took part in the district school meetings. It was ever a pleasure to him to return to the place, not alone to visit his brother Ezekiel, but to renew his acquaintance with the people.1
GOVERNOR JOHN ADAMS DIX was born in Bos- cawen, N. H., on the 24th day of July, A.D. 1798. His father, Colonel Timothy Dix, Jr., was one of the most enterprising citizens of the town. His grand- father, Timothy Dix, was an upright and intelligent man, and was postmaster for many years. His great- grandfather, Jonathan Dix, died in the village at the age of ninety-four.
CAPTAIN PETER KIMBALL moved from Bradford, Mass., about 1765, and settled on Queen Street. He was a man of strong character. Rev. Mr. Price says of him: "Possessing great self-command, a sound judgment and unwavering integrity, he soon came into public notice, and was elected selectman in 1768, in which office he served nine years. In our Revo- lutionary struggle he manifested a truly patriotic spirit, readily accepted those appointments with others which involved the dearest interests of indiv- iduals and of the public. He contributed to the security of our independence, not merely by his as- siduous services at home, but endured the privations of four campaigns in defense of his country. In one of them he volunteered as a private soldier; but in
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