History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire, Part 63

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 63
USA > New Hampshire > Belknap County > History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire > Part 63

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).

Charles H. Carpenter, whose engraving appears on another page, received a common-school and academic education. When he was ten years of age his father gave up his store and bought a farm at Chichester Centre, where young Carpenter remained till he was of age, working on the farm summers, attending school at other seasons, and teaching school for sev- eral winters. The homestead where he was born has since been used as a parsonage. Young Carpen- ter possessed the military, patriotic spirit of his an- cestry, and became actively interested in military af- fairs while yet a young man. He received a lieuten- ant's commission at the age of nineteen, and was subsequently commissioned a captain in the Thirty- eighth Regiment. He had his company uniformed, and it became an object of much pride to the young captain as well as to the whole regiment. When he became of age he went to live with his uncle, Jacob Perkins, a brother of his mother, who lived on the large farm that, as it happened, Rev. Josiah Carpen- ter moved to in 1791, and where he lived until the parsonage had been erected. Mr. Carpenter has al- ways continued to reside there.

Mr. Perkins was one of the wealthiest and most influ- ential citizens of the town or county. He was an active, energetic business man, and accumulated considerable property for those times. Although he carried on a large farm, his principal business was in connection with trading and financial matters, and he largely engaged in the cattle business, buying in Northern New Hampshire and Vermont and driving them on foot over the Indian trail by Baker's River and the valley of the Pemigewassett and along the turnpikes

David Morrill Carpenter was born in Chichester November 16, 1793. He received a good academic education and commenced active business in his na- tive town as a country merchant, and followed it, with much success. for a number of years. He then turned his attention to agriculture, purchased an exten- sive farm and cultivated it for several years in a most successful manner. Nothwithstanding the constant de- and highways to a market at Brighton. Behind large

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droves of cattle, young Carpenter would walk from beyond Montpelier to Boston, gaining health and strength with every day's exertion, and strengthening and improving a naturally good constitution.

When the Pittsfield Bank was formed, in 1851, Mr. Carpenter was chosen its cashier and acceptably held the position for about five years, when Mr. Perkins' failing health compelled him to resign his position and devote a larger share of his time to the duties at his home in Chichester. He has always maintained a connection with the Pittsfield Bank, either as cash- ier, director or president, having held the latter office since 1870.

For the last thirty years Mr. Carpenter has been placed in responsible positions in the interests of the town. He was called to represent the town in the State Legislature in the years 1855 and 1856, and ac- quitted himself with honor and credit. He is a life- long Democrat, and has ever taken a deep interest in national affairs, always anxious that true men should triumph and right measures prevail. During the trying days of the War of the Rebellion he stood manfully at the helm in directing the affairs of the town, providing the town's quota of troops and meet- ing the extraordinary burdens which the war pro- duced. During nearly all those years he served as chairman of the Board of Selectmen and town treas- urer, and received all the money paid into the town, and disbursed the same with rigid honesty and correctness. He was one of the projectors of the Suncook Valley Railroad. He contributed of his means to the first survey of its route, was actively interested in locating and building it, and contributed five hundred dollars of his private means towards its completion, and has served on its board of directors since its organization, where his judgment and busi- ness experience have proved of value to the interests of the corporation.

Mr. Carpenter has a model farm in the rich valley of the Suncook,-the homestead farm, consisting of seven hundred broad acres in one body, with over one thousand acres in woodland and pasturage out lying. He cuts one hundred and fifty tons of hay and winters one hundred head of choice cattle. For the past twenty years a cross between the Devon and Durham has been his favorite breed of stock, and his beef animals find a ready market at good prices. Though he has carried on farm operations extensively, he is largely engaged in financial matters and in trading in live stock, besides doing a large lumber business, buying on the stump and manufacturing and handling annually large amounts of lumber. He has large interests in Pittsfield, where he has in- vested considerably in real estate. He was actively interested in starting the Pittsfield Aqueduct Com- pany, and holds much of the stock, and he is part owner of the New Opera-House Block. He was one of the promoters of the Farmers' Savings-Bank of Pittsfield, chartered in 1883, and is one of its trustees.

His farm buildings are models in their way, being among the finest in the State. His residence is newly erected, spacious and elegant, commanding a fine view. With all his business and multitudinous cares he finds time to entertain his friends and give valu- able advice and counsel to many who often seek it from a man of his large business experience and ripened judgment.

Mr. Carpenter is an active member of the Congre- gational Society, though he has never connected himself with the church. He takes a deep interest in its affairs, and contributes liberally for preaching the gospel and forwarding its philanthropic works.

Mr. Carpenter married Joanna Maxfield, the adopted daughter of his uncle, on October 28, 1841. She died July 5, 1882. She was noted for her gener- osity and hospitality. She was an exemplary wife, an efficient help and adviser to her husband and a tender and loving mother to her children, of whom there were five, viz. : John T., Mary J., Electa A., Sally P. and Clara A.

The Carpenter family has been prominent in the political, social and business circles of Chichester and the county of Merrimack for three generations. They have been the leading citizens of the town, strong, energetic and successful.

Charles H. has done his full share towards helping achieve this reputation for the family name.

.... .. DEN A .

EDWARD I

CHARLES C. SHAW.

The first of the Shaw family in Chichester was Benjamin Shaw, who was born in Hampton, N. H., December 25, 1766, and came to Chichester when a young man. He was twice married-first to Abigail Paige, who was born 1773 and died January 17, 1831. She had two children-John and David P. John died March 6, 1819. Benjamin married as his second wife Ruth Sherburne. She died May 4, 1849, leaving no issue. In politics Mr. Shaw was a Democrat. He was a member of the Congregational Church of Chichester.

David P. Shaw was born May 27, 1797; was edu- cated at the common schools of Chichester and at Pembroke Academy. He married Clarissa, daughter of Rev. Josiah and Hannah (Morrill) Carpenter, of Chichester.

Rev. Josiah Carpenter was a native of Connecticut; born October 6, 1762. He came to New Hampshire and was installed first pastor of the First Congrega- tional Church of Chichester, and retained that pas- torate for a period of nearly forty years. He married Hannah Morrill, of Canterbury, April 13, 1790.

David P. Shaw was much interested in militia mat- ters, and was appointed, April 17, 1826, captain of mi- litia in the Thirty-eighth New Hampshire Regiment. He also served in the War of 1812, and was stationed at Portsmouth. * He was like his father, a member of the Congregational Church and a Democrat.

16.6 Shaw

N. C. Hucoulton

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CHICHESTER.

He married Clarissa Carpenter, October 16, 1823. Their children were: John, Josiah C., David C., Charles C. and Benjamin. Josiah C. and David C. live in Concord, while John, Charles C. and Benja- min own large farms in Chichester, on which they reside.

Charles C, the fourth son of David P. and Clarissa, was born at the old Shaw homestead in Chichester May 4, 1830. He received his education at common school and at New Hampshire Seminary, at Sanborn- ton Bridge (now Tilton), N. H.

He learned the trade of machinist and was em- ployed in that capacity in the Concord Railroad shops nine years. Previons to this-in the years 1851 to 1853, inclusive-he was employed as a machinist in Sandusky, Ohio. Returning to Concord, he remained there until 1862, when the declining health of his aged parents induced him to return to the ancestral home and assume their care-a duty which he faith- fully performed to the close of their lives. Mrs. Shaw died November 9, 1881, and Mr. Shaw, April 2, 1884.

Charles C. married Sophia F., daughter of Hon. Aaron and Arieannah S. (Barstow) Whittemore, of Pembroke, N. H., June 2, 1861. They have one (adopted) son, John Langdon.

Mr. Shaw is one of the most prosperous farmers and most highly respected citizens of Chichester. He is a large owner of real estate, and, in addition to his farming operations, has been engaged several years in lumbering. He has served as justice of the peace several years ; was selectman of his town in 1869 and 1870, and November 4, 1884, he was elected from Chichester to represent the town in the State Legis- lature. In politics he has not departed from the faith of his fathers, but is an earnest Democrat. He attends the Congregational Church. He is of an earnest, sanguine temperament, active, pushing and enterprising, and is one of the solid, successful men of his town.

HOSEA CHASE KNOWLTON.

Hosea Chase Knowlton, whose portrait, which accompanies this sketch of his life, was taken when he was in the eighty-seventh year of his age, was born in Northwood, county of Rockingham, State of New Hampshire, March 31, 1799. He comes of a hardy, long-lived family ; was one of nine children, himself being the seventh, and on the paternal side is of English descent. His grandfather, Thomas Knowlton, came from England to Portsmouth and settled in Hampton, afterwards in Kensington, and in 1769 moved with his family to Northwood, where he was one of the first pioneers and settlers ; that region, until his day, being a wild, unbroken forest.

Ebenezer, the father of the subject of this sketch, at the time of this removal to Northwood, was about ten years of age, and fifteen years later, in 1784, then

at the age of twenty-five, he married Elizabeth Raw- lins, of Vermont, built a log cabin on his fifty-acre lot of wild land in Northwood, a short distance from his father's, commenced clearing, and in time had it converted into a productive farm, with improved and substantial buildings. Upon this farm Hosea C. was born, and here he worked as a farm-boy until the age of sixteen, receiving in the meantime the facilities and privileges of the district school, which, at this early period, was limited to yearly terms of but three months. He then desired of his father aid in ac- quiring an academical education. But his father refused all help, though he gave him liberty to go and try his fortunes at any institution he pleased on his own responsibility. Hosea readily accepted this condition, and on the morning of April 10, 1816, with his little pack of clothes and not a dollar in cash nor promise of help from any one, he started afoot and alone to Hampton, a distance of thirty miles, and there procured a boarding-place with Mr. Simeon Shaw, and entered the academy. Being penniless, he borrowed money of his new-found friend, Mr. Shaw, with which to purchase books and pay his tuition, and this money, together with his board-bill, was due Mr. Shaw when Hosea was through at the institution. Soon after this academical term at Hampton he com- menced teaching school in the town of Brentwood, where he taught four months at twelve dollars per month, eagerly pursued his private studies in his spare time, received his forty-eight dollars, returned to Hampton and applied it in payment of his obliga- tions to his kind benefactor, Mr. Shaw.

In the month of April, 1817, he commenced teach- ing in the town of Kensington a term of ten months, and at the close of his school entered the Academical Institution at Newmarket, under the care and tuition of Martin Reuter as principal and Moses White as- sistant, and there completed his English studies, attending especially to trigonometry and the art of surveying.

In the following April, 1818, he returned to Kens- ington, where he resumed and followed teaching for two years, a calling for which, by natural gifts and acquirements, he was eminently adapted and fitted. He then engaged himself for one year as clerk in the store of Ebenezer Coe, of Northwood; but he loved the school-room, and in the next two years was en- gaged in teaching in his native town of Northwood.

For one year, about 1823-24, he was employed as book-keeper and clerk with Captain Obadiah Wright, a retired sea-captain, in a wholesale store of general merchandise, on Long Wharf, Boston, where he gave the highest satisfaction to his employer, and could have remained at increased wages ; but he returned to Northwood, where for some years he followed school-teaching and farming.

For two years-1832-33-he was employed as head clerk in the counting-room of Hon. Isaac and Horatio Hill, editors and publishers at Concord. Here, aside

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from his official hours in the counting-room, he edited and compiled " Welch's Revised Arithmetic," which, in the vastly improved edition, found great accept- ance with the best teachers of New England.

May 26, 1825, he married Betsey Seavey, daughter of Moses Seavey, Esq., of Chichester, and resided at Northwood (except his two years' counting-room ser- vice at Concord) till the autumn of 1834, when he purchased the right and interest of the heirs to the estate of his father-in-law, in Chichester, and moved upon this farm with his family that same fall of 1834. Here he not only actively and successfully worked his farm and improved his home, but for a number of years taught school winters, and in all public and educational matters ever took a prominent, active in- terest.

In 1832, while in the employ of the Hill Brothers, at Concord, he was duly appointed justice of the peace, and by regular renewals of his commission has held this office continuously to the present writing,-a period of fifty-three years. His services as a most reliable and accurate surveyor of land were largely sought, not only in Chichester, but also in all the adjacent towns. He served twelve years on the Board of Selectmen and as town treasurer, five years as town clerk, two years as representative in the State Legislature and two years as county commissioner. Besides these positions of public trust and confidence, ever most faithfully and ably filled, he executed a great many deeds, wills and other public and private documents, was executor and administrator of nu- merous estates, aud all to the entire satisfaction of all his patrons. He had born to him four children, -Eben, Melissa, Alonzo and Sallie S., only the latter of whom survives.

His estimable wife, Betsey, died December 1, 1861, and on January 1, 1863, he married Adaline B. Sher- burne, relict of Uriah Sherburne, late of Chichester.

By energy, economy, fidelity and perseverance he has acquired a very respectable competence, the com- forts and benefits of which he lives to enjoy in a good degree of health, at the advanced age of nearly eighty- seven years.

Religiously, he is of the Congregational faith, and a professor ; a Democrat politically. His first Presi- dential vote was cast for James Monroe, and every Democratic candidate for the Presidency since, to the election of Grover Cleveland, has unwaveringly re- ceived the aid of his vote. Yet,-

" I am not old, though my friends and my foes Alike have gone to their graves ;

And left me behind to my joys and my woes, Like a ship in the midst of the waves.

For youthful memories round me throug, Old times, and manners, and meu,

As I look away on my journey so long Of near four-score years and ten.

I look back o'er the past and my life seems a dream ; A strange, sweet dream forsooth,

For old as I am and old as I seem, My hent is full of youth,"

OLIVER DRAKE.

The family of Drake is of Saxon origin and one of great antiquity, extending back previous to the time of the Norman conquest of England.

Adown the centuries some references to the name have survived the general wreck of time.

As early as the year 1272 one John Drake is re- corded as holding lands by grant from Edward I. of England. In 1313, Edward II. gave permission to John Drake "to go beyond sea." Other ancient mem- bers of the family by the name of John are men- tioned in history.

The name of Robert was also a very prominent one among the Drakes. On April 23, 1556, one Robert, minister of Thundersby, in Essex, England, with five others, suffered martyrdom by burning at the stake in Smithfield, in the reign of Mary. His memorable reply to the bishop, when exhorted to renounce his heresy, was in these decisive words,-" As for your church of Rome, I utterly deny and defy it, with all the works thereof; even as I deny the Devil and all his works."

He then had laid nearly a year in prison, and im- mediately thereafter was ordered to execution.

English records also contain various titled names of Drake, as Sir John Drake, of Ashe, in 1360; and, in later years, Admiral Sir Francis Drake, who cir- cumnavigated the globe when English navigation was comparatively in its infancy. His father's name was Robert, Sir Francis being one of twelve brothers, most of whom followed the sea and died in foreign parts. Several other Drakes have also been named Robert.

Among the illustrious Drakes of England may be mentioned Samuel Drake, D.D., of eminent literary attainments, who died in 1673, and whose equally eminent son edited Archbishop Parker's works ; also Roger Drake, D.D., of St. Peter's, London, an author and most excellent man, who suffered much for his non-conformity ; Francis Drake, M.D., surgeon of York, F.R.S., and who was a great antiquary ; Nathan Drake, M.D., of Hadleigh, in Suffolk, the well-known essayist and most skillful and successful annotator and biographer of Shakspeare ; and before him in point of time was Dr. James Drake, F.R.S., whose discoveries in anatomy are not surpassed in importance to those of Hervey.

From this old English stock, notably a branch of the family of Ashe, came John Drake, a member of the Council of Plymouth, England, who was one of the original company established by King James, in 1606, for settling New England, and from whom sprang most, if not all, the earlier families of Drake in America. Several of his sons came to this coun- try. It is known that one of them, John, reached Boston in 1630, with two or more sons, who fin- ally settled in Windsor, Conn.

Also, Robert, brother of John, with two or more sons and one daughter, who was settled in Exeter some time

Oliver Drake

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CHICHESTER.

prior to 1643; for that year the name of Abraham Drake, son of Robert, with twenty others, was signed to a petition to the General Court of Massachusetts against the encroachments of settlers, and it is therein set forth that those people " knew we long since pur- chased these lands and quietly possessed them."

We can learn but little of Robert Drake's personal history, except that he was born in Devon, England, in 1580 ; came to this country before 1643 (possibly, we think, with his brother John in 1630, or with Rev. John Wheelwright's company in 1638) ; that March 15, 1650, he bought of " Francis Peaboddie house and lands lying and being within the bounds of Hamp- ton," and removed thereto from Exeter early in 1651, and acquired in Hampton a considerable estate ; that he was then called "auld Mr. Drake ;" that he left a will-a full copy of which is extant-dated May 5, 1663 ; that he was a man of eminent piety and highly respected, and "departed this life " January 14, 1668, at the great age of eighty-eight years. His son, Abraham, already mentioned, was also a very prominent man of his time, capable of any business, a good penman and forward in all public service. In 1663 he was chosen to lay out four thousand acres of land " west of Hamp- ton bounds and away to the great pond;" and in 1668-69 was chosen to ruu the town lines ; also in 1673 was appointed marshal of the county of Nor- folk, in which office he probably continued till the separation of New Hampshire from Massachusetts, in 1679. He lived to a very advanced age, being alive in 1712 and at that time eighty-four years old. But the year of his death is not definitely known.

Dim and distant as this early period of New Eng- land may seem, it is known that most, and probably all, the Drakes of New Hampshire are the direct de- scendants of Robert Drake (1), of Hampton, N. H., through his son, Abraham (2), already named, and so on in the generations that have followed to the pres- ent time. Many members of the family name have been very prominent and leading citizens of their times, in the varied affairs of church, military and civil life.

The generations of one branch of the Drake family in New England have descended, as shown by the in- dices, in the following order : Robert (1), Abraham (2), Abraham (3), Abraham (4), Thomas (5), Josiah (6), Thomas (7), Oliver (8).

Passing over the third and fourth generations, of whom much could be laudably written, we have to say of Thomas (5) that at some period of his life he was settled in Epping, N. H., where he owned lands ad- joining the farm of his brother Simon ; but finally re- moved to Chichester,-though in what year the writer has been unable to determine,-where he owned a farm and lived some years, and where he died Angust 16, 1816, aged eighty-three years.

Josiah (6), grandfather of Oliver, was a life-long resident of Chichester, and succeeded to the farm of his father in the southeasterly quarter of the town,

where he led an exemplary life and died August 8, 1832, aged seventy.

Thomas, Jr. (7), Oliver's father, was born in Chi- chester October 12, 1796, and reared to farm-life, which in his day, even more than now, implied hard, persevering labor and the closest economy. A few years, however, in his early manhood he worked at last-making and nail-cutting in Malden, Mass. He fixed the " Jr." to his name, and was so known by his townsmen, because of another Thomas Drake (a senior cousin of his), who also lived in Chichester. He was a careful, painstaking man in all he did, and withal of a mechanical, ingenious turn of mind ; was a great lover of music, an excellent player on the violoncello and had a rare musical voice, with which he ever loved to aid in the services of the sanctuary. He was an upright, public-spirited citizen, ever ready with his share of effort in the furtherance of any good object or purpose. About the year 1829 he bought the farm next south of his father's in Chichester (now owned by Mr. Wilder Hall, in School District No. +), and soon had his future home improved by the erec- tion of the good buildings which have since been further improved and are still thoroughly preserved. He married Mehitable Seavey, youngest daughter of Daniel Seavey, of Chichester, of Welsh extraction-a man of less than medium stature, but possessing a genial, happy spirit, and of a tough, hardy constitu- tion, which prolonged his years in general soundness of health to the end of his life, which occurred December 27, 1853, at the great age of ninety-two years and eight months. They soon moved to their new home referred to, where they spent the re- mainder of their lives, devoted to their young and growing family, which, in 1839, when all were living, consisted of three sons and three daughters, and in whose young minds they songht, by precept and ex- ample, to inculcate truthfulness and rectitude of con- duct and character. The parents lived and died con- sistent members of the Congregational Church. In the midst of his days the father came to his death by quick consumption, April 11, 1844, aged forty-seven years and six months ; and on November 5, 1847, the devoted mother died of pleurisy fever, also at the age of forty-seven and one-half years.

Oliver Drake was born in Chichester, Merrimack County, N. H., August 18, 1830, and, as already shown, is of the eighth generation of the family name in this country. His brothers were Simon S. and Francis, though the latter in his adult years is called Frank ; his sisters were Samantha T., Sallie and Joanna M. Two of the family are no longer of earth,-Sallie, who died in 1839, aged two years, and Simon S., a most estimable man, who died February 22, 1885, at his home in Vallejo, Cal., in the fifty-fourth year of his age, lamented by all who knew him.

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History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire, Part 63

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