History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 27

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1714


USA > New Hampshire > Strafford County > History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 27
USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 27


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Politically he was originally a Whig, and later a Republican. He was not, however, a partisan, and in his administration of city affairs was guided solely by the principle that the city should be served by the best men.


He was chosen one of the corporators of the old Portsmouth Savings-Bank in 1850, a trustee in 1855, and in 1869 was elected its president. Ile devoted himself with rare diligence to the interests of this in- stitution, and every depositor felt that his money was as carefully used and as safely kept as though he handled it himself. During the savings-bank panic of 1878 many large sums of money were left on de- posit, not because the depositors felt great security in the savings-bank system, but because Mr. Simies assured them personally that the bank was sound. nothing would tempt him to misrepresent the true state of affairs. He was also a director in the Rock- ingham National Bank, and president and treasurer of the Faith Home. Like his father, and in fact nearly all his ancestry for three generations, he was an active member of the Universalist Church, and at the time of his death was warden and treasurer of the parish, and a deacon and treasurer of the church.


It may be truly said that William Simes was loved and honored by his native city. In the various positions which he was called upon to fill, whether of a business, trust, or political character, he was always noted for his unswerving integrity and un- deviating honesty. Firm in his convictions of right and'wrong, he never entertained a thought of com- promising his well-defined principles in any relation whatever. He was one of the most courteous and pleasant of men, and was in all respects an estimable gentleman and good citizen. He was the open hand in every time of calamity and need, the ready giver to those private charities which enlist so deeply the sympathies of true men. He gave cheerfully, as though it was God's treasure which he was permitted to disburse. He belonged to no order or association;


William Tomed


Your very Truly


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his home and his church were his sufficient rest. A in the progress of the arts and the discoveries of sci- ence ; having a great liking for, and unusual skill in, mechanical pursuits. His clearness of mental vision gave strength to all his convictions; his opinions were not hastily formed, but were tenaciously held, and, when occasion required, fearlessly expressed, long life, growing steadily upward from deep roots of religious principle, genial and kind in its outward expression, and without a stain of doubt or dishonor, leaves to the world its precious memory, while it seeks the wider and higher services and fulfillments of the life eternal, which even here was more real to ; whether upon social or political or religious subjects. him than mortal sight.


He died May 15, 1880, from the effects of a fall re- ceived the day previous.


Oct. 2, 1831, Mr. Simes married Olive Bourn Laigh- ton, eldest daughter of Capt. James Laighton, of Portsmouth. She died June 9, 1871. Their family consisted of six children, three daughters and three sons. The daughters and James T. are deceased, the sole survivors of the family being Joseph S. and William, who are merchants and importers of tea in the city of Boston.


JOSHUA WINSLOW PEIRCE.


The late Col. Joshua Winslow Peirce was born in Portsmouth, N. H., on the 14th of May, 1791, and died in the same town on the 10th of April, 1874.


Col. Peirce-would have been a man of mark in any community, from his strong and manly character, his sterling integrity, and his intellectual superiority. Of striking appearance, of polished and dignified manners, he realized one's ideal of the gentleman of the old school, and of a type more frequently found in England than in our own country. He was descended from a family which for more than two hundred years had occupied an eminent position ; whose successive representatives had been men of high intelligence, of unblemished character, and of large possessions. Endowed with a vigorons consti- tution both in mind and body ; encompassed from his childhood with every favoring influence; brought by the position and connections of his family into relations of familiar association with the best people of his day ; trained in the well-known academy of Exeter, and afterward in the counting-house of an eminent and successful merchant; receiving the ad- vantage, then far more rare than now, of an extended sojourn and travel in Europe,-it is but simple truth to say that he made good use of his many opportuni- ties, and from the outset of his career to its close oc- cupied and maintained a position second to none in the community in which he lived. His manhood fulfilled the promise of his youth. He lived and died respected and honored by all, and greatly be- loved by those who knew him best.


If his prejudices were sometimes strong, they were not invincible, for he was open to argument, and can- did in weighing the reasoning of his opponents. His independence of nature made him superior to the love of popularity and to the pursuit of it, and kept him through life from accepting public place or official position. He was impatient of all that was vulgar and pretentious and merely for show; intolerant of shuffling, prevarication, and meanness. His dislike of ostentation led him to veil, beneath a somewhat cold exterior, a generosity of character and a tenderness of feeling which were among his most striking traits, and which will be borne witness to by all who were admitted into the intimacy of his friendship. He was a sincere Christian, one of the firmest of friends, one of the most thoroughly honest and upright of men.


The first of the ancestors of Col. Peirce, of whom we find mention as settled in this country, is Daniel Peirce, of Watertown, afterward of Newbury, Mass. He had two sons,-Daniel, who died in Newbury in 1704, and Joshua, who died in Woodbridge, N. J., in 1670. From the "Rambles about Portsmouth," by the late Charles W. Brewster, Esq., to whom every citi- zen of that old town is nnder deep obligations for the preservation of interesting facts of its local history, and from an appreciative sketch of Col. Peirce in the Boston Daily Advertiser, we learn that Daniel Peirce, the first of the name, with his son Joshua, purchased in the year 1666 a tract of land in New Jersey, cov- ering a large part of Perth Amboy. Hither he re- moved for a time, but afterward returned to his home in Newbury, where he died in 1677. His son Joshua established himself in Woodbridge, N. J. He married Dorothy, daughter of Major Robert Pike, of Salis- bury, Mass., who, after his death, became the wife of John Knight, of Newbury. Joshua Peirce died, as has been said, in New Jersey in 1670, seven years be- fore his father. He left behind him one child, Sarah, and subsequently to his death, in the year 1670, was born his posthumous son, Joshua. This Joshua, in or about the year 1700, after ineffectual attempts to re- cover the estate of his father in New Jersey, settled in Portsmouth, N. H. He married Elizabeth, daugh- ter of Joseph Hall, of Greenland, N. H. From this family of Halls were descended the Marches, of Greenland, and Governor John Langdon, of Ports- mouth. By inheritance from Joseph Hall came to the Peirce family a considerable part of the noble farm in Greenland, still retained in their possession, and long the home of Col. Peirce. "The original


No one who knew Col. Peirce could fail to be im- pressed by his strong and vigorous character. It showed itself in all he did and said. There was thoroughness and indomitable energy in all his un- dertakings, coupled with habits of strict method and a great love of order. He was well read in the cur- rent literature of the day ; always deeply interested | Hall house," says Mr. Brewster, " was on the prem-


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HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.


ises of Col. Peirce, near the spot where the sharp- roofed cottage now stands."


Joshua Pierce established himself in Portsmouth as a merchant, on the corner of Market Square and High Street. He was largely concerned in navigation, was a ship-owner, and left a good estate. He was a man of untiring industry, and "in the course of his life held the several offices of town clerk, parish clerk, proprietors of the Portsmonth commons' clerk, select- man, representative, and for many years before his death was a member of His Majesty's Council, and also recorder of deeds for the province; all which offices he held with credit to himself and gave general satisfaction." " Most of these records are extant, and, together with many private records, especially those of births, marriages, and deaths in Portsmouth, which he kept for his own use, are valuable memorials of the times. After a life of strict integrity and varied use- fulness, he died in 1743, having been the father of four sons and five daughters."


Daniel, the third son of Joshua Pierce, was born in Portsmouth in May, 1709, and was graduated from Harvard College in 1728. He married, in 1743, Anna, daughter of John Rindge, merchant, of Portsmouth, and a man of large estate, as appears from the list of 1727, where his name stands third in the number of those who paid the highest taxes, that of Joshua' but never entered upon its practice. He succeeded his father as recorder of deeds for the province, holding this office until his death, and was also for several years a member of the king's council for New Hamp- shire. He is described as having been "a man of very great natural parts, as well as acquired abilities ; he had likewise a great mechanical inclination, and worked very ingeniously with his own hands." He was proverbial for his strict integrity, and died Dec. 5, 1773, leaving behind him three children, a fourth having died before him.


spect and confidence of men of all parties." He mar- ried Mary, daughter of Peter Pearse, merchant, a native of Solcombe, near Lydemouth, Devonshire, England, who came to this country at the age of four- teen. The wife of Mr. Pearse was the daughter of the Hon. Jotham Odiorne, who died, a member of . His Majesty's Council, in 1761, and who in 1720 mar- ried a daughter of Robert Cutt, of Kittery. Mr. John Peirce was the father of six children, four sons and two daughters, and died on the 14th of June, 1814.


Joshua Winslow, the third son of John Peirce, was born on the 14th of May, 1791. He passed his child- hood under the paternal roof until 1803, when he was entered at the Phillips Academy, in Exeter, where he remained until December, 1807, taking a deep interest and bearing an active part during his pupilage in a military company made up of the stu- dents of the academy. On his removal from Exeter he was placed in the counting-house of the Hon. James Sheafe, representative and senator in the Fed- eral Congress from New Hampshire. Here he was soon promoted to the charge of the books, and to the oversight of the shipping, in which Mr. Sheafe was an owner, thus acquiring a thorough familiarity with the details of maritime and mercantile pursuits.


While yet with Mr. Sheafe he became a member of " the Gilman Blues," a military company, at that Peirce being the second. Daniel Peirce studied law, ' time of considerable distinction, under the command of Joshua Haven. He received his commission as captain from Governor John Taylor Gilman in 1813; was promoted to be major of the First Regiment of State militia in 1816; lieutenant-colonel in 1819, and colonel in 1820. He resigned his commission in 1823. In 1818 he was elected into "the Federal Fire So- ciety" of Portsmouth, and at the time of his death was its senior member. In 1816 he made a voyage to the Mediterranean as supercargo for Mr. Sheafe, and was absent from home a year. Having disposed of the cargo he parted from the ship at Leghorn, and John, the second son of Daniel Peirce, received his mercantile education in the counting-house of Daniel Rindge, then one of the prominent merchants of Ports- mouth, where he was a fellow-clerk with John Lang- don, afterward Governor of New Hampshire. At an early age he was intrusted with the charge of the business affairs of his uncle, Mark Hunking Went- worth, Esq., son of Lieutenant-Governor John W., and brother of Governor Benning W. This he retained until the war of the Revolution. He was also charged with the important interests of the Masonian proprie- tors. He was the principal agent in constructing the Piscataqua bridge in 1794; was one of the origina- tors of the Portsmouth aqueduct in 1797, and was loan officer under the Presidency of the elder Adams. He established an insurance office in Portsmouth, and conducted its affairs for many years preceding his death. visited the principal countries and cities of Europe. Upon his return he continued his business and resi- dence in Portsmouth to January, 1825, when he ac- cepted an appointment as agent of the Salmon Falls Manufacturing Company, removing thither the next month and remaining till the destruction of the mill by fire in 1834. He devoted himself with his wonted energy and enthusiasm to his new pursuit, making many journeys of observation to distant places in order to study improvements in machinery and man- ufacture. After the burning of the mill, and while it was not yet decided whether it should be rebuilt, Col. Peirce returned to Portsmouth, and employed himself in improving the estate in Greenland. In December, 1836, he yielded to the solicitations of the company and returned to Salmon Falls, where he re- mained for nearly two years longer, during which time he superintended the erection of a new mill and the purchase of a large portion of its machinery. " Always open, honorable, and correct in his con- duct, and liberal in his charities, he enjoyed the re- In August, 1838, he removed to the farm in Greenland,


David Kim ball


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a considerable portion of which, as has been before men- were those of failing strength and increasing feeble- tioned, had come by inheritance from the Hall family ness. During the more than two years of his close confinement he was attended with the most unremit- ting affection, both by night and by day, by his de- voted sons and daughters. No strange hands were allowed to minister to his necessities. Filial love watched over him to the last. His end was peace. He died firm in the faith of the church, with an humble trust in the mercy of his God through Jesus Christ our Lord. His remains were taken to St. John's Church, where he had so long worshiped, fol- lowed by his daughters, his surviving sister and brother, and a multitude of friends. They were borne thither by his sons, and after the performance of the solemn rites of the church were carried thence and laid in the family tomb in the churchyard by the same filial hands. There may they rest in peace until the day of the resurrection ! nearly a century and a half before. This estate had been largely added to by the purchase of the Packer farm,1 next adjoining it, by his father in 1809. Here Col. Peirce passed the next twenty-eight years of his life, and " here he was able to gratify his taste and in- dulge his passion for independent country life. Here he brought up his family, and dispensed those liberal and elegant hospitalities which made his house the cherished resort for a large circle of devoted friends. To see him at the head of his table, or in his draw- ing-room, always the chief object of interest and at- traction, was to realize what is seldom witnessed in this country now, and rarely in former times except in Virginia in her colonial days. Those who have seen his large estate in Greenland and Newington, lying along the southerly shore of the Great Bay, with its broad acres of inexhaustible soil, in meadow, upland, and orchard, its quaint houses and spacious barns, its fruit and shade trees, its strong fences of wood and faced stone, its herds of pure blood stock,2 its constant aspect of skillful husbandry, need not to be told that Col. Peirce was a model farmer." $ In November, 1866, he removed to his town house in Portsmouth, and resided there until his death, April 10, 1874.


Col. Peirce through life was a devoted churchman. Early in the episcopate of Bishop Griswold he re- ceived confirmation from the hands of that vener- able prelate, and for nearly fifty years was a devout and constant communicant at the altar. Previous to his residence in Salmon Falls the services of the Episcopal Church had been unknown in that village. He was largely instrumental in the erection of Christ Church, and when a clergyman could not be obtained regularly officiated himself as lay-reader. While living in Greenland, though at a distance of more than four miles from his parish church of St. John's, Portsmouth, his place in the house of God was rarely vacant. He was always ready to serve the church which he so ardently loved, at whatever sacrifice of personal convenience or expenditure of labor or money. He succeeded his brother, the late Mark W. Peirce, Esq., as treasurer of the trust funds of St. John's Church, and retained the office until the in- firmities of age compelled him to relinquish it. He was many years a church warden, and a delegate to the diocesan conventions.


Thanks to his strong constitution and the perfect regularity and temperance of his life, Col. Peirce preserved until fourscore the vigor and almost the activity of youth. The last three years, however,


Col. Peirce was married on the 4th of May, 1823, to Emily, daughter of William Sheafe, Esq., of Ports- mouth, and Anna Wentworth, his wife. Mrs. Peirce died March 9, 1871. They had twelve children, of whom six are now living, viz. : Sarah Coffin, married William M. Kennard, Sept. 14, 1877; Ann Went- worth; Joseph Wentworth, married Annie L. Sise, Oct. 28, 1879; Joseph Rindge, married Marcia Rob- inson, Oct. 26, 1859, and has children, Mark Went- worth, Emily Milnor, Anne Burroughs, Joseph Par- ish, and Elizabeth Wentworth ; William Augustus, married Mrs. Susan M. Smith, July 16, 1878, and has child, Joshua Winslow ; Robert Cutts, married Mari- anna Hackett, Nov. 14, 1877.


The following are deceased : John, Peter, Emily Sheafe, May Pearse, James Sheafe, Mark Wentworth, and Daniel Rindge.


DAVID KIMBALL.


The venerable and honored subject of this sketch was born in Topsfield, Mass., Feb. 26, 1799. His childhood was passed in his native town, where he attended a common school. Subsequently he was a pupil at Dummer Academy, Byfield, where he en- deavored to qualify himself for teaching school, in which honorable vocation he afterward engaged at Newbury, Mass. In 1822 he went to Portsmouth, N. H., entering the drug-store of William Norwood as a clerk. At the outset of his career, wishing earn- estly to qualify himself for what he considered a very responsible business, he went to Boston to attend a course of lectures of the medical college in chemistry and materia medica. About two years later he par- chased Mr. Norwood's interest in the apothecary business, and from that time until 1880 devoted him- self assiduously to its duties, spending probably more hours in his store than any man living in the com- munity has devoted to any one calling.


This is a rare instance of a successful business career of over half a century, and during this long period


1 This farm was a part of the estate of Capt. Francis Champernowne as early as 1640, on which he lived, it is supposed, prior to his removal to Kittery.


2 In 1823 the short-horned Durham cattle was introduced upon this farm by direct importation, and the breed continues there to this day.


8 A. H. Hoyt, in the Boston Duily Advertiser of April 17, 1874.


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HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.


his life has been one of unblemished integrity and conscientious uprightness. He was ever honest in all transactions,-not because honesty was the best. policy, but because of his sound principles, which he never for one moment compromised. He sought no means of obtaining wealth by any speculative or hasty methods, choosing rather to labor in his voca- tion with an untiring zeal and cheerful industry, hoping to deserve and maintain the confidence of the community in which he lived. His knowledge of his business, his rare and watchful interest in the young men who one after another began, grew up, and grad- uated from his store to situations in other cities, his public spirit, and his kindly traits need no mention among those who have long known him as a neigh- bor and friend. It may may be stated that there may now be seen in one of the best pharmaceutical estab- lishments in Boston four individuals who took their first lessons in the drug business in his store. A]- though now having practically retired from active business life, he still retains his office as treasurer of the gas company, which position he has held since the incorporation of the company, in 1851.


In politics Mr. Kimball is a conscientious Repub- lican, always endeavoring to vote for those who will best promote the public good.


He was one of the first in Portsmouth to esponse the Anti-Slavery cause when such an avowal involved the possibility of loss of friends, and an almost certain loss of patronage in business. He has been a con- stant attendant on the services of the Congregational Church, and has been ever ready to promote its interests.


Mr. Kimball's family on the maternal side have been distinguished for longevity. Mr. Kimball re- members seeing his great-grandmother in the year 1805, then one hundred years old. The centennial birthday of his own mother was celebrated Oct. 2, 1879. On that occasion her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren were present. About this time a photographic group of herself and three sons was taken, they having passed their threescore years and ten. She died December, 1879, retaining her facul- ties in a remarkable degree. She was a woman' of rare good sense and sound judgment, ever forgetful of self in her earnestness to do for others. Her hus- band died in early life, leaving one only of a family of twelve brothers and sisters, the most of whom died of consumption.


David Kimball was married to Caroline R. Swett, of Newburyport, Nov. 4, 1828. Their family consisted of three daughters and one son. The daughters sur- . vive. Although now at the advanced age of over fourscore years, he retains in a remarkable degree the vigor and elasticity of youth.


FRANK JONES.


Frank Jones was born in Barrington, Strafford Co., N. II., on the 15th of September, 1832. IIe was the son of Thomas Jones, who had inherited from his father one of the best farms in that township. The family consisted of seven children,-six sons and one daughter. Frank was the fifth son. As the family grew up, with the characteristic independence of New Englanders, they went out into the world to earn their own living, and by integrity, industry, and frugality to amass that competence due to every honest man which enables him to live above the whips and scorn of time and circumstances. Among the pursuits of a New Hampshire farmer in those days was that of lumbering, and from his earliest recollection young Frank, when not engaged on the farm, was employed in the woods, where he grew up hale and hearty, sound in mind and body. In the fall of the year it was customary for lumbermen to make charcoal of all the superfluous timber lying around on the farm, as in that condition it found a much readier sale in the neighboring cities. This is doubtless the origin of a story concerning the New Hampshire charcoal burner and the poor boy who sold his first load in Ports- mouth. The facts are these: Young Jones, in the absence of his father and elder brothers, always, even from a very early age, assumed control of affairs on the farm. The foreman, Caswell, had loaded up a four-tier wagon with charcoal to take to Portsmouth. Frank, who was then about fourteen years old, thought he would like to go there too. Accordingly, he took considerable interest in this particular load until it came to yoking up the three pair of steers which were to draw the load to Portsmouth. One pair of steers, being young, were very lively. These were Frank's favorites, and he would have them placed first in the team. To this the foreman objected, thinking they wanted the benefit of age and experience, and so pro- posed to put them behind. But no; Master Frank would have them in front or nowhere. It was no wheelbarrow load that had to go over those New Hampshire roads to the city, and he believed thie young steers would have the best heart and get there soonest. He therefore insisted upon having the young steers placed first. Caswell, the foreman, rebelled, threw down the goad, and told young Frank to take the load himself, which he did, starting off on a moonlight night, traveling along as best he coukl, until at three o'clock in the morning he arrived at Wiggins', a wayside inn about a mile from Ports- mouth, where he saw written up " accommodation for men, horses, and oxen." Here he halted, but could find no living soul around, so he tied up the team and composedly lay down to rest in a crib in the shed by the stable. At six o'clock Wiggins, the pro- prietor, rudely awoke the young adventurer, who, rubbing his eyes, perceived for the first time the sun rising like a golden globe out of the waters of Ports- mouth harbor. The memory of that morning will




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