USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > New Boston > History of New Boston, New Hampshire > Part 25
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DEACON THOMAS SMITH died May 1, 1854, and his wife died October 8, 1851. He was a man of great decision and energy of character, industrious and thrifty ; he became one of our most independent farmers. He reared a large family, and con- tributed generously to benevolent enterprises, never overlook- ing the claims which God had upon his possessions. As a christian, he was uniform in his feelings, consistent in his daily walk, a strict observer of the Sabbath, and a constant attend- ant on the sanctuary. He was emphatically a pillar in the
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Presbyterian Church, and his end was peace; and his death was seriouly felt by the church and the community.
WILLIAM McNEIL. - He lived about a mile southwest of the first named Smith, where a Mr. Woodbury now lives. Mr. McNeil was a schoolmaster, teaching for many years in differ- ent parts of the town whence he came, and also in this town. His second wife presented him a daughter, who was the first female child born in New Boston. They called her Han- nah; and she married John Jordan, a British soldier, who deserted before the Revolution. They lived where William Beard now resides. He enlisted in the war of the Revolution, and was at Bunker Hill. After the war he moved his family into Vermont, and was buried near Burlington, having died in the camp during the war in 1812.
Mr. McNeil had other daughters, one of whom became the wife of a Mr. Ferson, brother of Deacon James Ferson. He had also two sons, both of whom were in the war of the Rev- olution.
JOHN BLAIR. - He settled where Mr. William Woodbury now lives. He came direct from Ireland, marrying for his wife Miss Jennet McCloud. He had two sons and one daughter. His daughter married James Hunter, and their son John was the first male child born in New Boston, and became a soldier in the war of the Revolution. Mr. Blair's sons were Robert and William : Robert enlisted in the British army long before the war of 1776, and William lived with his father, marrying a Miss Rosinna Gregg Dec. 8, 1768, by whom he had a son named Hugh, born Oct. 2, 1769, who lived with his father on the old homestead ; also a daughter, named Jeane, born Feb. 17, 1771.
DEA. JAMES FERSON. - He settled where Mr. John Dodge now lives, coming from Chester. He had three sons : the third, James, married the daughter of Mr. James McNeil, and moved to Ohio in his 74th year, where he has since died. Dea. Ferson had three daughters: Sarah, Hannah, and Rosamah. Sarah became the wife of Mr. John Eli, and moved to Londonderry, and Rosamah became the wife of the late Abner Hogg. Dea. Ferson's wife was Jennet Lesley, a very excellent woman ; her husband was a worthy, christian man ; was one of the earliest deacons in the Presbyterian Church, and died Nov. 1, 1792, aged 76 ; and his wife died Feb. 26, 1804, aged 86.
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James Ferson, son of Dea. James Ferson, was born in Chester May 29, 1744, O. S., and married Mary McNeill, daughter of James McNeill. She was born in New Boston Sept. 30, 1755, N. S. They were married Dec. 28, 1773. Their children were William, Jennet, James, Paul, Sally, Sam- uel, Daniel, and John. James was Town Clerk for some years, and became a physician. Some of the children went to Ohio, and their father, who was 74 years old, followed them, and died there, being esteemed a highly worthy man.
His son, William, graduated at Dartmouth College in the Class of 1797, studied medicine and practised in Gloucester, Mass., where he died. He is remembered as a school-teacher ; he taught school in the house near Mr. Bently's, one winter ; he was cross-eyed, and was sure to detect the rogues.
HUGH GREGG. - He settled near where Daniel T. Gregg lately lived, and married Sarah Lesley, sister of the wife of Dea. James Ferson. They had sons: James, Alexander, Lesley, Reuben, and Samuel. James settled where his son, the late Daniel T. Gregg, lived until within a few years of his death, the farm now being owned by John H. Gregg. Reuben served in the war of the Revolution.
Hannah, daughter of James, married Nathan Andrews, of Sutton, where she resides, aged 94, having had eight chil- dren : Sallie, who married a Mr. Woodsworth, and died in New York ; Nathan, who married Dorothy Pilsbury, and has five sons and one daughter ; John, who married Susan Adams, and has sons and daughters, graduated at Dartmouth College, and is now a chaplain in the army ; Samuel G., who inherits the homestead, married Lavinia H. Pilsbury, and has two children ; Jennett, who married John Eaton, of Sutton, and has six sons and three daughters; Hannah died young; James, who was liberally educated, and died a young man ; Mary, who has been a school-teacher. Daniel T., his son, was born Dec. 11, 1775, married Esther, born July 14, 1780, daughter of Thomas Millen. This Thomas Millen was born in Londonderry 1756, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, lived in Newbury, Vt., having married Jane McCollom, sister of Alexander McCollom, of New Bostom, and died in 1852. Daniel T. Gregg inherited the homestead, and had eight children ; Jane E. resides in
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New Boston ; James died young ; John H. lives in New Bos- ton ; Maria L. became the wife of Thomas Delano, resides in Somerville, Mass., and has seven children; Ann B. died in 1844; Charlotte Augusta is a teacher in Chicago, Ill .; Esther died May 24, 1853.
Joseph, son of James Gregg, was born in New Boston Dec. 11, 1777, married Jennett Moor, of Goffstown, and lived where Daniel M. Gregg now resides. He rebuilt the mills at that place, and operated them until his death, doing an extensive business in lumbering. He had several children : Jennett mar- ried Bartlett Richards, and died leaving eight children ; James M. married Sarah Goodwin, of Londonderry, and died in New Boston April, 1862, leaving two children, Letitia, the wife of Alfred E. Hardy and Margaret, having buried three children.
Letitia married William Smith, of Bradford, and died leaving three children.
John married Mary Bachelder, and lives in Goffstown, having three children.
David married Harriet Todd, having had four children.
Margaret married John Richards, of Goffstown.
Daniel M. married Hannah Augusta Young, of Deerfield, and has two children.
Sally, daughter of James Gregg, married John Brown, of Bradford, and had six children : Joel, who is a physician, and resides in Newton, Mass. ; Jeremiah, who is a lawyer in Boston, a graduate of Dartmouth College ; Hannah, who mar- ried Truman Brachaway, and lives in Boston ; Jerusha died young ; Livonia, who married Mr. Simpson, of Manchester, who died in California ; and Nancy, who married a Bracket, and lives in Bradford, having a son, John Q. A., in Cambridge College.
John, the son of Hugh Gregg, married a Waugh, and settled in Deering.
Alexander, who married a Wilson, and Mary, who married a Ferson, settled also in Deering.
Ann married William Patterson, and lived in New Boston, having had cight children.
Rosanna married William Blair, and lived in New Boston, where Mr. William Woodbury now lives. She had three sons and seven daughters.
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Leslie married Lydia Beard, and had one son and six daugh- ters ; his son married Jane Moor, and lived in the State of Maine ; Sallie married James Moor, and died in Cavendish, Vt. ; Lydia married Mr. McDougall, of Goffstown, and had nine children ; Mary married Foster Wyatt, of Amherst; Rebecca married Levi Ordway, and lives in Cavendish, Vt. ; Hannah died in Goffstown ; Rachel married Samuel Campbell, of Bed- ford.
Samuel, subsequently known as Samuel Gregg, Esq., mar- ried Jane Wilson, and died in Deering.
ANDREW WALKER. - He came from Londonderry, and con- tracted with the proprietors to build a grain and saw mill, where Dodge and Bently's mills now stand, for which he was to receive five hundred acres of land, on condition that he should keep them in good running order, and be very accom- modating and reasonable in tolls and charges with the settlers. He built his mills in 1753, but was not guilty of being exces- sively accommodating to the settlers, and many and grievous complaints were made against him to the Proprietors, who, los- ing patience with him, instructed Dea. Thomas Cochran and John McAllister to deal summarily with him, if he did not speedily reform. He did do a little better for a time, but proved a hard subject ; and other mills were soon erected, and the settlers became independent of his.
Walker's sons were Andrew, Alexander, James, and Robert ; his daughters were Peggy, Martha, and Jennet. Andrew lived in the north part of the town, marrying Ruth Woodbury, and subsequently moved to Unity, and died there ; Alexander died in the year 1776, at Mount Independence, in the camp; James . went into the war of the Revolution, and afterwards lived in Antrim, and fell dead in the road ; Robert married a Miss Woodbury, and moved to Acworth, and died there ; Peggy married Jonathan Major ; he was a baker in the army ; after the war they separated, he going into the State of Maine; both are dead.
DEA. JESSE CRISTY. - He came from Londonderry, where he married Miss Mary Gregg, daughter of Samuel Gregg. He settled on what is called the Whipple farm on Clark's Hill, now owned by Mr. Edward Dodge. Mr. Cristy sold his farm to Mr.
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John Whipple, and built mills where King's Mills now stand. He was chosen Deacon during the ministry of Rev. Mr. Moor. He was a very honest, friendly man, but often indulged his appetite for intoxicating drinks, to an extent wholly inexcus- able. His wife was an estimable Christian woman ; she was also a very large woman, weighing between three and four hundred pounds, as many who remember her affirm. Their children were : Jeane, Peter, Samuel, John, Mary, Elizabeth, James, Mary Ann, Jesse, Robert, Anna, and William .. Jeane became the wife of James Willson, Esq., and lived where Mr. Peter Jones now resides. Several of Dea. Cristy's sons, after the Revolution, moved into New Brunswick, where many of their descendants may now be found. Robert went into Ohio after the death of his mother, and his father accompanied him, and with him died.
DEA. THOMAS COCHRAN. - He was born in Londonderry, Ireland, about 1703. His father's name was James, and his mother's Letitia Patten. They were doubtless prisoners within the walls of that city, and took active part in its defence during the famous " Papal Siege." They immigrated to this country with their four children, two sons, Thomas and Peter, and two daughters, Molly and , about 1720, and, landing at Halifax, N. S., settled at Topsham, Maine, where he soon died, and the family moved to Londonderry, N. H.
Peter went to New Jersey, and Molly married James Wilson, of Topsham, Maine, where it is said some of her descendants still reside. Thomas (afterwards Deacon) married Jennett Adams, of Londonderry, and came here about 1748.
He was elected Deacon in the Presbyterian Church as early as 1768. He was a proprietor, and owned large tracts of land .. He settled where Thomas R. Cochran, his lineal descendant, now lives. He was early intrusted with important business by the Proprietors, and was for many years the most prominent man in the town. His piety was sincere and consistent, and his character was always above reproach ; he was a safe coun- sellor and faithful friend. He was very useful as a carpenter, aiding gratuitously new settlers in framing and rendering com- fortable their dwellings. For many years there was no physi- cian in the town, but Deacon Cochran having some knowledge
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of diseases and their proper treatment, was accustomed to care for the sick, and to exercise his surgical skill in setting many a bone. His house was the resting-place of weary travellers, and his table was ever free to the hungry. His children were, James, John, Robert, Peter, and Thomas, and two daughters, Letitia and Elizabeth. Robert went to Charleston, S. C., and become a large and wealthy planter, and died there leaving children. James married Miss Christina Aiken, of London- derry, and lived where Mr. Ephraim Dodge now lives, on Coch- ran Hill ; he died in 1772, aged about 40 years, receiving a fatal injury by being thrown from a vicious horse ; his children were : Thomas (the late Deacon Thomas), Margaret, who mar- ried Jesse Christy, and lived in Grafton, Vt .; Jennett, never mar- ried ; Robert, who lived on a part of his father's farm, marrying for his wife Miss Sally McMillen ; Nathaniel ; John, known as the late Esquire John ; Peter, who graduated at Dartmouth College 1798, and became a Presbyterian minister, and going South, perished on the ocean ; John, another son of the first Deacon Thomas, lived on Cochran Hill ; Peter, another son, lived where the late Mr. Peter Cochran died, and where his son Alfred E. now lives.
Deacon Cochran had two daughters: Letitia who married Dea. Robert Moor, of Londonderry, father of the present Miss Jane Moor ; and Elizabeth, who married Robert Hopkins, of Windham ; Thomas settled at home with his father, to aid him in his old age, but died October 6, 1770, aged 28. After a few years Dea. Cochran becoming infirm, abandoned his home- stead, and lived alternately with his sons, John and Peter, and died, with his son John, November 20, 1791, aged 89, a good man, whose memory deserves to be cherished by the whole town as well as by a grateful posterity. The late Mr. Abner Hogg said of him : " He was the best man I ever knew. There was no way in which you could view him, and not pronounce him good." Deacon Cochran's wife, his " blessed Jenney," as he was wont to call her, was a queenly woman, equal to her hus- band in all virtues. She was a crown of glory to him, and a blessing to the whole town. She carried relief to the sick and joy to the needy, and was a ministering angel in every sorrow- ing household. She died June 7, 1784, aged 76. The late
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Mr. Luther Richards said of her : "I can remember her well, and a dear good woman she was too. Everybody loved her." " I can testify to all that," added the late Mr. Hogg. The first meeting of the town was called at Deacon Cochran's house March 10, 1763, and that of the present year (1863) was held March 10, one hundred years after the first, the same day and hour, at the Town House ; a coincidence of dates which was appro- priately noticed by the town amid its deliberations.
JOHN COCHRAN. - He was son of the foregoing Dea. Thomas Cochran. He settled on the Cochran Hill, where his daughter Peggy, at the venerable age of 87, now lives, occupying the same house which her father built nearly a hundred years ago, being the first framed house erected in that part of the town. Mr. Cochran married Miss Elizabeth Boyce, daughter of Joseph Boyce, a descendant of a celebrated divine of Dublin, Ireland. Their children were: Mary Ann, born October 16, 1764, who died August 9, 1838, in her seventy-third year ; she married Jesse Cristy, son of Captain George Cristy, who died April 26, 1841, aged 83 ; Letitia, born May 1, 1766, died unmarried February 15, 1857, aged 91; Joseph, who was born October 11, 1767, and died October 30, 1841, aged 84 ; he was a Deacon in the Presbyterian Church ; James, born May 5, 1769, who lived where Mr. Cudworth now lives, and died April 8, 1845, aged 76 ; Thomas, who was born April 14, 1771; Jennett, born March 20, 1773, who became the wife of Peter Cochran, and died May 15, 1863, aged 90; John and Elizabeth, twins, died young ; Margaret (Peggy), born July 25, 1776, and is yet liv- ing; Betsey, born August 16, 1778, who died insane, March 31, 1838, in her 59th year ; John Davidson, born October 26, 1780, and died June 14, 1850, aged 69; Mary and Robert, twins, born January 30, 1783; Mary married, in 1812, William Brown, Esq., and Robert became a Presbyterian minister, and died August 1, 1818, aged 35, leaving one son and one daughter; the daughter becoming the wife of the late Abraham Cochran, and the son, General William S. Cochran, lives in Rockland, Me. Mr. Cochran was an excellent man ; having ample means, he maintained a most hospitable table. New settlers made his house their home as long as it was necessary, and travellers were never turned away unfed, his " latch-string being never
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pulled in " by day nor by night. He was skilled in hunting game, in which he took great pleasure. Mr. Daniel Dodge carries a cane, the head of which is the antler of a deer shot by Mr. Cochran in his own field near his house. He was a man of giant frame, and great personal courage and prowess. Tra- dition says that having followed a bear to her den, from which she could not be driven, he, with a torch in one hand, and his never-erring musket in the other, entered the den and shot her in her dark recess, and putting a rope around her neck, with the assistance of his neighbors drew her forth as a trophy. Mr. Cochran was very useful as a house carpenter, in which trade he was much employed. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and lived a consistent christian life, and died March 29, 1825, aged 88 ; his wife died October 23, 1821, aged 83. At his funeral Rev. E. P. Bradford preached from the text Gen. 1. 1: " And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed him." At her funeral Rev. Mr. Bradford preached from the text Gen. xxiii. 2: " And Sarah died in Kir- jath-arba ; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan : and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her."
We give the following additional facts respecting his chil- dren : -
Mary Ann, his daughter, became the second wife of Jesse Cristy, son of Capt. George Cristy, the first male child born in New Boston ; being a blacksmith by trade, he lived many years on Cochran Hill, but at length moved to Grafton, Vt. His first wife was the daughter of James Cochran. His chil- dren by his last wife were : Margaret C., born Aug. 27, 1801, and died June 4, 1859, being the wife of Jonathan Sherwin, of Grafton, Vt., and Achsah, born Feb. 18, 1804, and died Sept. 25, 1858 ; Letitia lived and died in the house in which she was born, unmarried ; Joseph married Margaret Hogg ; James married Jane Crombie ; Thomas married Mary Barstow, of Hanover, Mass. ; graduating at Brown University, he studied theology, and was settled as a Congregational minister in Camden, Me., his children being Elizabeth B., Jolin Boyce, Nathaniel Barstow, Deborah Barstow, and Sydney C. T. This John B. married Elizabeth Fletcher, of Lowell, Mass., and is an enterprising farmer in Linden, Genesee Co., Mich. ; and
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Nathaniel B. married Jane Lees, of New Ipswich, N. H., May 4, 1841, and was for many years a popular steamboat captain on the Hudson River, but has lately retired to a farm near his brother in Michigan, a gentleman of fine literary taste and an antiquarian of rare attainments ; Jennet married Peter Coch- ran ; John Davidson married Letitia, daughter of Ninian Clark, Esq., and built the large house at the corner of the four roads on Cochran Hill. He possessed an ardent, genial, tem- perament, and was greatly given to hospitality. He, in com- mon with the Beards and Fersons, was a popular school- teacher during the first quarter of the present century. His children were : Thomas Hamilton, born June 15, 1812 ; Robert Clark, born Nov. 4, 1813; Jonathan Ramsey, born Nov. 12, 1815, and deceased Nov. 28, 1855 ; John Boyce, born May 27, 1817 ; and Mary Letitia, born July 3, 1820. Robert C. studied law and settled in Gallatin, Miss., marrying, Oct. 17, 1844, Mary, daughter of Rev. E. P. Bradford, their children being Henry Bradford and Letitia Clark. Jonathan R. was an enterprising, public-spirited man, and died in California Nov. 30, 1855, where he had resided for some years ; John B. mar- ried Elizabeth Adams, of New York, and now resides in Lan- sing, Michigan ; Mary L. became the wife of Benjamin Russell, of Milford, in 1848, who, in 1850, with his wife's brother, Jonathan Cochran, went to California, and was accidentally drowned in the bay of San Francisco. Being an upright and energetic man, he was highly esteemed, and his death greatly deplored. His widow, in 1853, became the wife of James Pat- ten, Esq., of Berne, New York. They have one daughter, Mary Letitia. Robert, the youngest son of John Cochran, married Abigail Stacy, of Wiscassett, Me., and died August 1, 1818, aged 35. Mary, the youngest daughter of John Coch- ran, married William Brown, of Union, Me., and has two children, a son and a daughter; the son resides in Nashua, and the daughter resides in New Boston, the wife of Charles Goodrich.
PETER COCHRAN. - He was the son of Deacon Thomas Coch- ran, married Mary M'Curdy, and lived on the South Hill, where Mr. Alfred E. Cochran now lives. He died March 4, 1828, aged 89, and his wife died April 2, 1841, aged 92.
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Their children were : Robert, who married and lived in Ver- mont ; Jennet, who married Capt. Wmn. Stinson, of Dunbarton, father of the present Col. Charles Stinson, who married Susan, daughter of Robert Cochran, brother to Jennet; Nancy, who married Ninian Clark, of Hancock, brother of Dea. Robert C., and son of William ; Letitia, who married Abraham Story, Esq., and lived in Washington ; Peter, who married Louis Story, of Dunbarton, and lived on the homestead, having one son, Alfred E., who married Clarinda Parker, and their chil- dren are Wallace, Warren S., Saralı, and George E. Mr. Peter Cochran died Feb. 15, 1862, his second wife being Mary Fairfield, of Saco, Me. James, another son of Peter Clark the elder, died unmarried, and Mary, another daughter, mar- ried Peter Jones. Jesse died young.
CAPT. GEORGE CRISTY. - He came from Londonderry about 1750, having married Margaret Kelso, daughter of Alexander Kelso, of Londonderry. Her brother John subsequently set- tled where his grandson, Mr. Robert Kelso, now resides. Capt. Cristy settled where Dea. Sumner L. Cristy lives. His chil- dren are Anna, Jesse, Thomas, John, George, Mary, Nancy, Margaret, and some others. Margaret became insane, and Anna married William Campbell, who lived where Mr. Lemuel Marden now resides. Capt. Cristy became quite affluent for his times, and had a very respectable family. His wife was a highly esteemed lady. He died April 22, 1790, aged 58, and his wife died March 13, 1799.
Before Mr. Cristy had cleared land enough to afford forage for his cow, he was accustomed to drive her to the meadow, near what were the Dea. Jesse Cristy's Mills. One evening, when he was unable to go for his cow himself, Mrs. Cristy, with her dog and pail, went for the milk, with the intent of leaving the cow at the meadow. Obtaining the milk, she started for home ; but when darkness came she found herself just where she had started. With a heavy heart she saw the necessity of passing the night by the side of the cow with her dog, though an infant child at home demanded her presence. She passed a sleepless night, rendered hideous by the howling of wolves and a consciousness of danger. With the dawn of light she started for home, guided by spotted trees, and soon
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met her husband in search of her, who had in like manner, with his little ones, passed a night of terrible suspense.
JOHN MCMILLEN. - He came to New Boston in 1755, and settled the tract of land owned by the late Dea. Elzaphan Dodge and by Jonathan Marden. After a few years he sold to his cousin Daniel McMillen, and settled the tract of land now owned by Ezra Morgan, and subsequently moved to Littleton, and died in the town of Lyman, at the age of 95 ; and his wife died at the age of 90.
Mr. McMillen was in the Revolutionary war, serving in Rhode Island in the militia, being called out to defend certain places, while the veterans advanced against the British. His sons were Alexander, Samuel, Daniel, Joseph, Henry ; and his daughters were Mary, Sally, Nancy, Hannah, Rachel, Catherine. Most of his sons settled in Western New York. Mary became the wife of James McMillen, who settled in New Boston. Sally became the wife of Robert Cochran, and lived in New Boston. Rachel married a Mr. Haskins. Catherine became the wife of a Mr. Pike, and lived in Western New York.
. Mr. McMillen was a worthy citizen, and a consistent mem- ber of the Presbyterian Church, and was often entrusted with important business by the town.
DANIEL McMILLEN. - He bought, as above stated, the farm of John McMillen, where he lived and died. When about eighteen, he enlisted in the Revolutionary war, in the militia, and was at West Point when Benedict Arnold went over to the British ; and was guarding Arnold's house when he rode away, observing strange movements and personages about the premises before daybreak, not mistrusting what was transpir- ing. Just before this event he and others, under an appro- priate officer, were sent out to bring in wood; and while engaged in this, a fine looking officer approached, and they were ordered to open right and left and salute him, which sal- utation was gracefully returned by the unknown rider. Soon after Major André, the spy, was taken, and was identified as . the same officer whom they had saluted, then on his way to Arnold to consummate the arrangements for his defection.
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