USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Northwood > History of Nottingham, Deerfield, and Northwood, comprised within the original limits of Nottingham, Rockingham County, N.H., with records of the centennial proceedings at Northwood, and genealogical sketches > Part 21
USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Nottingham > History of Nottingham, Deerfield, and Northwood, comprised within the original limits of Nottingham, Rockingham County, N.H., with records of the centennial proceedings at Northwood, and genealogical sketches > Part 21
USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Deerfield > History of Nottingham, Deerfield, and Northwood, comprised within the original limits of Nottingham, Rockingham County, N.H., with records of the centennial proceedings at Northwood, and genealogical sketches > Part 21
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" Capt. Jacob Longfellow and Enoch Page enters their Decent against the Proceeding of this meeting."
Nowise disheartened, another meeting is called July 13, 1769, " at the house of Wadleigh Crams," and it is voted, that " twenty-five pounds Lawful money shall be assessed on the freeholders and Inhabitants of Deerfield, to Support the ministry," and " Stephen Batchalar and Thomas Simpson and Simon Marston be a Committee to Look out for preach- ing," and "that Mr. Stephen Batchalar's House be the Place to meet in on the Lord's Day." A very liberal spirit pervaded the action of this meeting. Hence it was voted, that " all those persons in the parish of Deerfield who makes it appear to the Select men of Said Deerfield within one month from this Day, that they Chuse that their proportion
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of moncy that is Raised this Day Shall be ordered by the Selectmen to the Constable to be paid to a Lay teacher in this Parish Shall have that Liberty." November 16, 1769, the town voted, " That a certain place on Suncook road (So calld) and on the Lott Nº 9, in the 4th Range the nearest place that is convenient to Chases Lott Being known by the name of a Beach Knowl is the Place to build a meeting house on." The dimensions of the house were to be " Sixty- five feet in Length, and forty-five feet in width and twenty- six foot Post," and " one hundred and fifty pounds Lawful money were assessed to Carry on Said house." Stephen Gilman, James Page, Samuel Tilton, David Batchalar, and Thomas Simpson were appointed a building-committee. At this meeting the town refused " to purchase the Meeting house frame on the 7th Lott," but authorized the exchang- ing or selling the " Parsonage Lott in Sª Parish for Lands more convenient," the Parsonage lot being number seven- teen in the fourth range. This duty was assigned to " Deacon Abram True, Nathaniel Meloon, and Jeremiah Easman."
The location of the meeting-house has been many times set- tled, and as often unsettled; and the end is not yet, though it is near. July 2, 1770, at a legal meeting, it is voted to " Except of an Acre of Land of Mr. Stephen Bachalar to Sett the Meeting house on that is now framed on the Lott number nine in the 4th Range agreeable to the warrant that notified this meeting." Benjamin Folsom, Capt. Jacob Longfellow, Nathaniel Meloon, Samuel Leavitt, Daniel Cur- rier, and Thomas Brown were chosen to join with Thomas Simpson, Esq., Lieut. Samuel Tilton, Stephen Gilman, James Page, and David Batchalar, " to carry on the building the meeting house on some part of the Acre of Land before mentioned."
March 19, 1771, Jonathan Gliddin was chosen moderator ; Thomas Simpson, clerk ; Jonathan Gliddin, Stephen Gil- man, and James Page, selectmen ; and "twenty-five pounds
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Lawful money to supply the Parrish with preaching " was voted.
Down comes the house once more ! Agreeably to war- rant, May 30, 1771, it was voted, that " The meeting house frame that is Raised on a Peice of Land Given by Stephen Batchalar to the Parrish be taken down and moved to Josiah Chases." Capt Samuel Lcavitt, Capt. John Dudly, Thomas Brown, Patton Simpson, and Josiah Sawyer were appointed to perform this task. Power had before been given to a committee to sell pew privileges ; but this is revoked, and on the 24th of September a new committee is authorized to sell all the lower tier of pews not disposed of by the former committee.
For five years there has been unceasing contention about the erection of a meeting-house, and almost no other busi- ness has received attention. New roads had been occa- sionally built, and old ones repaired ; but where and how build a place of worship, have been the all-absorbing ques- tions. The annual meeting, March 17, 1772, when Samuel Leavitt was chosen moderator; Thomas Simpson, clerk ; Jeremiah Easman, Simon Marston, and Richard Jenniss, selectmen, - was almost the first since the incorporation that had not this perplexing subject under consideration. The meeting of September 24, 1771, was the first held at the meeting-house, and so many frames had been erected, and at such different places, that for some time it was necessary in the warrant to notify the people to assemble at the meet- ing-house (" on Chase's Hill So called)." May 19, 1772, it was voted, " to raise thirty pounds L. M. to be Laid out Intirely for preaching," and John Pearson and James Page were to " Look out for some Suitable person to supply the parrish with preaching."
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CHAPTER III.
Mr. Upham's Call to Deerfield. - Proposals. - Clearing of Land. - Apple-trees. - Mr. Upham's Reply. - Preparations for Ordination. - The Council. - Mr. Upham's Parentage. - Marriage. - His Character. - Decease. - Monument. - His Children and Grandchildren. - Rev. Nathaniel Wells. - Ordination. - His Children. - His Successors.
SEPTEMBER 17, 1772, in answer to a legal warrant, the town voted, " That the Parrish Give a Call to Mr. Timothy Upham to Settle in the work of the Ministry in Deerfield ; " " Voted Thomas Simpson, Esq., Deacon Abram True, James Page, Stephen Batchalar, Richard Jenness, Capt. Samuel Leavitt, Capt. Jacob Longfellow, Jeremiah Easman, Benja Sanborn, David Batchalar, and John Bart- let be A Committee to Draw up proposals for Mr. Timothy Upham."
This meeting then adjourned to the first day of October, 1772, when it was voted to make to Mr. Upham proposals agreeably to the report of the committee, as follows : -
The Parrish agrees to allow Mr. Timothy Upham, if he Should Settle in the Ministry in Deerfield for Salary Sixty pounds Lawful money for the 1st year ye Salary to begin the first day of March next and to Add five pounds Lawful money yearly till it amounts to Seventy five pounds and to Continue the Same Salary So long as he Continues a Regular Minister aud Likewise to build A House on the Parsonage Lott where the meeting house was framed forty two by thirty two two Story high with A Commodious Celler and Well the out Side to be Inclosed so as to be Comfortable and two rooms finished according to Country mode withiu one year from Date meaning to Consult with our Elected Pastor the other part of the House to be finished in four years from this Date A Barn to be built thirty-two by thirty within one year from this Date likewise to keep his horse for one year from the said first Day of March, the Second year one Horse and one Cow the third year one horse and two Cows and After that time wee Engage that there Shall be Land Enough Cleared on the Parsonage to Keep two Cows one horse and ten Sheep Summer and Winter in A Middling Season and to be well fenced and wee must Keep Sd fence in Repair
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but the true meaning is that the Sd Mr. Upham Shall have the Whole Proffitts of the Parsonage Except wood and timber so long as he Con- tinues to be A Regular minister of the Gospel according to the Congre- gational Constitution, and also twenty five Cord of Wood att his house yearly and his Salary to begin from the time of his Settlement accord- ing to the proposal for the first year till the Said first Day of March Commences. Voted Lastly that this meeting Stands Adjourned till the Last Thursday of this instant October.
SAMUEL LEAVITT, Moderator.
Pr JACOB LONGFELLOW, Clerk, Protempore.
At the adjourned meeting it was resolved, that the " Par- rish Clear two or three acres of Land on the Parsonage and Sett out one Hundred Apple trees on the Parsonage for the use of Mr. Upham." It was also " Voted the Parrish Ex- cuse Mr. Upham one Sabbath yearly to visit his Relations."
At the same time, " Voted the Parrish Receive Mr. Tim- othy Upham's answer and Excepts in the Affirmative which is as Followeth : " -
TO THE INHABITANTS OF DEERFIELD.
Christian Friends, - Having taken your Invitation you have given me to Settle with you in the Sacred office of the Gospel Ministry into the most Serious Consideration and Seeing that you are United in it and have made Such provision for my temporal Support as may be Sufficient relying uppon the Grace and Goodness of God for that As- sistance I Stand in need of in So Great and Important a Work I Com- ply with your Request and that with a Greatful Sense of the Respect you have Shown me and Intreating your prayers att the throne of Grace for me I subscribe my Self yours to serve in the Important work of the Gospel ministry.
DEERFIELD Octobr ye 29th 1772. TIMOTHY UPHAM.
Voted the Day for ordination the first Wednesday in Decr next Ex- cept it Should be thanksgiving Day which it was, and it was performed the Second wednesday in Decr 1772.
Voted Deacon Abram True Capt. Samuel Leavitt and Mr. James Page are A Committe to Send Letters to the Counsil whose names are these ministers Mr Robie Mr Fogg Mr Odlin Mr Trask Mr Stearns Mr Cotton Mr Tuck Mr Noyce Mr Thair Mr Jewitt Mr Hastins Mr Thatcher.
18
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Voted the Select men Provide for the Counsil. And Capt. John Dudlys house for Entertainment for the above ministers and Deligates.
REV. TIMOTHY UPHAM.
Mr. Upham was of the fifth generation of the descendants of Mr. John Upham, who was born in England in 1597, and settled in Weymouth, Mass., 1635. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1768, when twenty years old, having sustained a creditable rank in scholarship. He studied theology with the Rev. Mr Trask of Brentwood, and re- ceived calls from the church in Portsmouth and other towns, but was touched by the liberality and tender regards of the people of Deerfield, resolved to be their pastor, and so was ordained as such at the age of twenty-four years, in 1772. May 18, 1773, he married Miss Hannah Gookin, whose twin sister, Elizabeth, became the wife of Dr. Edmund Chadwick, the first physician of Deerfield. These were the descend- ants of Maj .- Gen. Daniel Gookin, and daughters of the Rev. Nathaniel Gookin of North Hampton, and of Love Wingate, his wife. They were born at North Hampton, April 22, 1754. Their father died when they were twelve years of age ; but they were greatly aided in subsequent education by their uncle, Mr. John Wingate of Stratham, and by their aunt, Mrs. Col. Pickering of Salem.
Mrs. Upham was an estimable lady. Her personal appearance was indicative of great physical and mental activity. Her tastes were refined, and her disposition gen- tle and lovely. Her piety was a pure, fervent, and self-con- suming flame. A simple stone marks the place of her rest, bearing this inscription, written by Miss Elizabeth Champ- ney Williams : -
Hannah, Consort of the Rev. Timothy Upham, Who departed this life Aug. 4, 1797, in the 44th year of her age.
If truth, love, virtue, each attractive grace, That warms the heart or animates the face ; If tears, or sighs, or ardent prayers could save The kind, the generous, from the silent grave, -
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Then death, relentless, must have lost his prey ; And with it lost his cruel power to slay One who shall rise and shine in realms above, Forever happy in her Savior's love.
In October, 1799, Mr. Upham married for his second wife Miss Heplızibah Neal of Stratham, whose tombstone bears the following inscription : -
Sacred to the memory of Mrs. Hephzibah Upham, relict of the Rev. Timothy Upham, who, after a long and painful sickness, which she bore with Christian fortitude and resignation, departed this life May 15, 1811, aged 57.
Mr. Upham was six feet tall, rather spare, but perfectly erect. His voice was melodious and powerful ; his enun- ciation was clear and distinct. He possessed a well-bal- anced mind and excellent judgment. Distinguished for the rectitude of his character, for quiet dignity, and constant self-possession, he won the admiration of his people ; while his hospitality and benevolence, extending to the verge of his means, awakened their love and esteem.
Mr. Upham died February 21, 1811, in the sixty-fourth year of his age, after a faithful ministry in Deerfield of nearly forty years. The people to whom Mr. Upham so long and so faithfully ministered had become an intelligent and spirited community, capable of appreciating the worth of their pastor, and hastened to manifest an appropriate regard for him and sense of their own loss in his death, by rearing a monument at his grave bearing this inscription : --
Sacred to the Memory of the Rev. Timothy Upham, first pastor of the Congregational Church in this town, over which he was ordained November, 1772, and was continued to them, to mutual satisfaction, for 39 years ; then this mortal put on immortality. In a joyful hope of a glorious resurrection, he departed this life Feb. 21st, 1811, aged 63. As a testimony of their grateful remembrance of his long and affec- tionate services, the Congregational Society to whom he ministered have erected this monument.
Mr. Upham had two sons and one daughter ; Timothy the younger settled in Portsmouth as a merchant ; and was
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a brave and efficient officer in the war of 1812 with Eng- land. Nathaniel the elder lived and died in Rochester. He was a man of marked ability and success in business. He represented the town of Rochester in the state legisla- ture three years ; was a member of the governor's council two years, and a representative of the state in the National Congress from 1817 to 1823. He married, in 1798, Judith Cogswell, daughter of Hon. Thomas Cogswell of Gilmanton, an officer in the Revolutionary war, and for many years a judge of the court of common pleas.
By this marriage were eleven children : -
Thomas Cogswell, born in Deerfield, January 30, 1799, graduated with distinguished honors at Dartmouth Col- lege in 1818; studied theology at Andover Seminary when Leonard Woods and Prof. Stuart were in their high- est repute for scholarship. Completing his course here, he was settled as pastor of the Congregational Church in Rochester, having already become favorably known as a scholar, by having assisted Prof. Stuart in Greek and He- brew instruction in the seminary, and for having trans- lated from the Latin, Jahn's Archaeology with additions and corrections, published in 1823. His settlement in Rochester was in July, 1823, to which place his father had removed his family when Thomas was a child. In 1824, he was elected professor of Moral Philosophy and Meta- physics in Bowdoin College, and was inducted into that office February, 1825. This was to be his life work ; here he was to spend the years of his manhood, and chiefly to bless the world through minds molded by his influence. Mr. Upham has long been known for his " Elements of Mental and Moral Philosophy," a work that has passed through many editions and been translated into other lan- guages as a text-book for schools ; also for his " Treatise on the Will," "Ratio Disciplina," " Manuel of Peace," " The Life of Faith," " The Interior or Hidden Life," " Di- vine Union," " Lives and Opinions of Mad. Guyon and
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Fénelon." Prof. Upham in 1852 visited England and Scotland ; France, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy ; Egypt and the Holy Land, -in company with Rev. Joseph P. Thompson, D. D., then of the Broadway Tabernacle, New York City. A result of his travels was a volume of letters, written with great care, the fruit of a mind highly poetic and trained to nice discrimination. Several other works have been written by him, of much merit, while his contributions to periodicals and journals are quite numerous. To a ripe scholarship Mr. Upham added a fervent piety that shone conspicuously in all his life, and in the peace he enjoyed at death, when, though he could say nothing more, he could articulate, " My soul is with God." He died in New York City April 2, 1872, aged seventy-three years. He resigned his professorship in Bowdoin five years before his decease, having filled that office for the period of forty-three years. Prof. Upham married, about the time of his appointment to his professorship, Miss Phebe Lord of Kennebunkport, Me.
Nathan Gookin, son of Nathaniel, son of Rev. Timothy Upham, born in Deerfield, January 8, 1801, fitted for col- lege at Exeter Academy, then under the charge of Dr. Abbott, graduated from Dartmouth College with honor in 1820, read law in the office of Hon. David Barker, jr., of Rochester, practiced law in Bristol, removed to Concord in 1829, was appointed one of the associate justices of the superior court of New Hampshire at the age of thirty-two, the youngest man that had been placed on the bench in the state, with the exception of the Hon. Levi Woodbury. At the time of Judge Upham's appointment, Hon. William M. Richardson was chief-justice ; and Hon. Joel Parker, afterwards chief-justice, the man in whom New Hampshire has always felt great pride, came to the bench at the same time with Mr. Upham. In 1843, Mr. Upham resigned his position upon the bench and became connected with the interests of the railroad, which, in 1843, was opened from
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Lowell to Concord, being an extension of the one from Boston to Lowell which was opened in 1833. He at first was superintendent, afterward president, and retained that position until 1866. In 1853, Judge Upham was appointed commissioner to settle claims of the United States against England, and claims of England against the United States. The commissioner on the part of England was Edmund Hornby, Esq. Their decision was to be regarded as final, and in accordance with it all the claims between the two countries were to be adjusted.
Judge Upham was also appointed to a similar duty in 1862, on a commission between the United States and New Granada for the settlement of claims between the two coun- tries.
Judge Upham married, October 28, 1829, Betsey Watts, daughter of Nathaniel Lord of Kennebunkport, Me. She was born March 23, 1810, and died August 17, 1833, aged twenty-three, leaving two children, Elizabeth Lord and Nathaniel Lord ; the former became the wife of Joseph B. Walker, Esq., of Concord; the latter is a Congregational clergyman in New Jersey.
Judge Upham's second wife was the daughter of Rev. Abraham Burnham, for more than forty years pastor of the Congregational Church in Pembroke. By this mar- riage there were two children; the first a daughter, died in infancy ; the second a son, Francis A., died in Altoona, Penn., April 3, 1867, aged twenty-nine.
Judge Upham died December 11, 1869, aged sixty-eight years, universally loved and respected by those who knew him. The influence of a life like his can never cease to be felt for good. His was a life of uncompromising integ- rity, purity, and usefulness.
Two sons of Hon. Nathaniel Upham, Alfred, M. D., and Francis W., LL. D., resided in New York ; and Joseph B., for many years a merchant and subsequently collector of the port, resided in Portsmouth. His wife was Sarah C.
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Currier of Dover, granddaughter of Col. Amos Cogswell of that city. Their son, Joseph B. Upham, jr., is a grad- uate of Brunswick College, studied law for a while in Ports- mouth, then entered the navy as third engineer, rose to be first. During the Rebellion he was for some time on our iron-clad steamers, subsequently sent to Mediterranean on the flag-ship, visited Russia and the neighboring countries with Admiral Farragut, passing through the Suez Canal, and visiting the Pyramids. Subsequently he was sent to China, spending two years in Yokahama, again passing through the canal in going, and returning by San Fran- cisco across the continent to Portsmouth, his home.
Timothy Upham, M. D., of Waterford, N. Y., and Prof. Albert G. Upham, M. D., of Boston, who died some years since, were sons of Hon. Nathaniel Upham. The daugh- ters of Nathaniel Upham were : Hannah Elizabeth, who died in infancy ; Mary, who married Hon. David Barker, jr., of Rochester, member of Congress, and is now the widow of Eben Coe, Esq., of Bangor, Me .; Judith, who married Hon. James Bell of Exeter, senator of the United States, whose children are : Mary Anne, now the wife of Nathaniel G. White, Esq., of Lawrence, Mass. ; Eliza Up- ham, Lucy, James Dana, and Charles Upham.
Ruth C., the youngest daughter of Nathaniel Upham, married Dr. J. Berry, and died May, 1869, at the residence of her only daughter, Julia, who married Rev. J. C. Thomp- son of Pottstown, Penn.
Hannah, daughter of Rev. Timothy Upham, was born in Deerfield, July, 1789, and was left motherless when at a very early age, and was mostly indebted to her father's instruction and influence in the development of those intel- lectual traits, which, in later years, made her so successful as a teacher. She attended school for a while at Bradford, Mass., taught at Belleville, now a part of Newburyport, Mass. Not satisfied with being an ordinary teacher she passed a year in a French family in New York, studying
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the French, Italian, and German languages. The Ontario Female Seminary at Canandaigua, N. Y., had for some time been declining, so that, in 1830, few sought instruction there. It was at this time. and while Miss Upham was in New York, that the late Hon. Francis Granger whose death followed that of Miss Upham by a single week, visited New York to secure a teacher, to whom Miss Upham was recom- mended, and to whom the situation was offered. At her boarding-house, in the morning before entering the semi- nary, one of the trustees called upon her, whom she re- quested to invite some one of the clergymen to open the school that day with prayer. The trustee replied that they thought it better not to allow the ministers to have any thing to do with the school, and it would not be wise to attempt to make the school subject to any special religious influence. To whom Miss Upham replied, " Well, if the school is to have nothing to do with the Christian religion, nor the teachers of it, then I am to have nothing to do with the school." It is needless to say that a clergyman was invited; and she whose intellectual attainments and moral qualities fitted her to adorn the highest position, and whose loving piety diffused the sweet incense of sanctity wherever she was, in a short time, by her judicious management and skillful instruction, raised the institution to its highest position of character, usefulness, and prosperity. Miss Upham resigned her charge in 1848, and died at Canan- daigna, August 20, 1868, leaving the luster of her character as a legacy to the country, while her private virtues are embalmed in the hearts of those that best knew her.
Of these children and grandchildren, as the descendants of the beloved pastor of their fathers, the present genera- tion of Deerfield are justly proud. They cheerfully admit the extent and permanency of the influence of a learned and Christian minister, and that to-day they are feeling the influence of their first pastor and the noble mother of his children.
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REV. NATHANIEL WELLS.
Mr. Wells was born in Wells, Me., July 13, 1774. He was the son of Hon. Nathaniel Wells, a distinguished jurist, whose father was Deacon Nathaniel, who removed to Wells, Me., from Ipswich, and there died, October 26, 1666. Mr. Nathaniel Wells graduated from Dartmouth College in the class of 1795, and taught for a while in his native town, and subsequently engaged in mercantile business, in which he continued for a number of years ; and abandoning that, he commenced the study of theology with the Rev. Moses Hemmenway, D. D., of Wells, under whose instruction he had fitted for college, and whose daughter Eunice he had married in 1797. He was employed to preach in Deerfield as a candidate, in 1812. After the death of Rev. Mr. Up- ham, February 21, 1811, a call was given to Rev. Ebenezer S. Sperry, with the offer of three hundred dollars and in- come of parsonage, and twenty-five cords of wood, and the keeping the fence in repair. This call was declined. A call was extended to Mr. Wells, with the offer. of a salary of four hundred dollars, with income of the parsonage, and buildings to be kept in repair. This being accepted, Mr. Wells was ordained July 1, 1812. Before the ordination took place, the people of Deerfield made arrangements to move his family from Wells to the parsonage. The car- riages that were sent for this purpose were met, at Notting- ham Square on their return with the pastor and his family, by a procession of about forty carriages, and escorted to the parsonage. And when arrived at the parsonage, the company formed themselves into lines, extending from the street several rods to the entrance of the house, between which the pastor and his family passed to his future home, to meet with such an entertainment as his parishioners knew so well how to provide. In the midst of a united and happy people, Mr. Wells passed twenty-nine years. in stimulating his hearers to strive for a higher life, in win- ning them into paths of godliness by a faithful holding up
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of Christ crucified, and by his own example, even to the end of life. He consulted for all the interests of the peo- ple, looking well to the education of the young, being him- self an excellent scholar ; and had the satisfaction of seeing grow up around him a generation of intelligent men and women, who, in the various departments of literature and business, have reflected honor upon the pastor and the town. The Congregational Church was greatly blessed by his ministry, enjoying precious revivals in 1831, 1835, and 1838. Mr. Wells was dismissed in 1841, retaining the affection and confidence of his people to the last, and con- tinued a blessing to them as a citizen until his death, which occurred December 31, 1858, at the advanced age of nearly eighty-five.
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