History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 56

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 56
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 56

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Mr. Stearns' genial manner and scholarly attain- ments have given him a conspicuous place in the Congregational ministry, while he is beloved as a pastor, and highly esteemed as a neighbor and citi- zen.

(The photograph from which the accompanying portrait of Mr. Stearns was engraved was taken some years ago.)

GEORGE W. PLUMER.

George Washington Plumer, third son of Governor William Plumer and Sally Fowler, his wife, was born on the old Plumer homestead, Epping, N. H., Feb. 4, 1796. He received a good common-school educa- tion, supplemented by a three years' course at Atkin- son Academy, New Hampshire, from which he was graduated at fifteen. Here he had the association of two sons of John Q. Adams, James Wilson, and she who afterwards was the celebrated Mrs. Harriet Liver- more, with others of some abilities, among whom he was equal in standing, in studies, and in social posi- tion. After his school life he engaged one year as clerk for Gen. Upham, in Portsmouth, from 1811 to 1812 or 1813. Ile then returned to Epping, and went into general merchandising in company with his brother Samuel. In this pursuit they continued until 1837, and were the leading business men of this section,

1 Quarterly Register, vol. xiii. p. 175.

2 Exeter News-Letter, April 21, 1871.

Geo. M. Fumer

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EPPING.

having in connection with their Epping store a store at Gilmanton, another at Brentwood, and a manufac- tory of shoes at Epping. The country stores of those days were the exchange bureaus of the farmers. There the commodities of the farm or the forest were exchanged for the necessary articles of clothing and household supplies, and the enterprise of the mer- chant was the factor tending most to increase the wealth and prosperity of the section, even while seek- ing chiefly personal advantage. The principles of the men of that day were their convictions, the convictions of deliberate judgments and pure and unselfish patri- otism. In these they were persistent and conscien- tious. Their glowing love of country, their lofty in- dependence, their devoted courage, all were the results of close observation and close, connected habits of thought, the New England intellect fol- lowing its habitual "ideas" to completeness in con- crete matters. To deal with such men year after year from an extended section, to keep their patronage and their good will while working for profit, requires not only a high degree of business ability, but a straight- forward honesty of purpose and integrity, and also a facility in reading men and motives, a shrewdness and practical common sense that would insure success in many more aspiring stations in life. These charac- teristics were shown by these our merchants in a marked degree, and the "Plumer Store" was well patronized and enjoyed the reputation of the utmost fair dealing, and the merchants were high in the esteem of their associates.

Mr. Plumer married Betsey, daughter of Samuel and Betsey (Cilley) Plumer, Sept. 19, 1824. The next spring he moved to his farm of sixty acres, which by various purchases and additions at last was enlarged to over two hundred broad acres. In the quiet domes- tic scenes of agricultural life he was engaged until December, 1837, when he removed to Epping, built the house now for so many years his home, on a part of the "old homestead," and retired with an ample com- petency from active business. He has been quite a dealer in real estate, owning lands in Illinois, lowa, etc. Like his father, he has been a close and keen observant of the political horizon, and although keep- ing out of the active current he has been largely in- terested in the many and great reforms he has lived to see accomplished. In early manhood he was a Republican. This finally became the Democratic party. Later on for many years he was a Whig, and since then Republican. His first vote for President was cast for James Monroe, and he has voted at every Presidential election held since then, and at nearly every town-meeting. The only offices he would accept have been accorded him by a very compli- mentary vote of his townsmen. He has represented Epping in the Legislature, has been selectman, and nearly all his life, from an eligible age, a justice of the peace.

Mr. Plumer is a large man physically and mentally.

Of close, logical powers of thought, he is tenacious of his opinions, but has ever taken care that his opinions have a substratum of reason. He has always enjoyed the esteem of the better element of community, and although stern and unswerving in his opposition to wrong, believes that the reformation of the criminal and not the pain inflicted upon him is the object for which justice seeks. Consequently he would natur- ally be found advanced and liberal in matters of religious thought, and we find him, and his intelli- gent wife as well, in full accord with the doctrines of Universalism, and an able and chivalric supporter of them. His hospitable roof has covered many of its leading speakers, notably the celebrated IIosea Ballou and Abel C. Thomas. His home circle has been cheered by an amiable, loving, and devoted wife and his children,-George W., died July 11, 1881, aged fifty-four years ; Sarah E. (Mrs. F. V. Noyes, of Bil- lerica, Mass.) ; Catherine J. (Mrs. James B. Pierson, of Epping).

With his magnificent proportions, his erect figure, his locks covered with the frosts of age, George W. Plumer, in his eighty-seventh year, looks like a noble specimen of the hale, honest, and npright New Eng- lander of a century ago, and we can but wish that the coming of the night of life may be in his case very far away. Confucius, in his five classes of men, describes one as " philosophers." "They are they who, in their words, their actions, and in the general con- duct of their lives, never depart from the line of strict rectitude; who do right because it is right; whose passions are subdued; who are always the same in adversity and prosperity ; who speak when they ought to speak, and are silent when they ought to be silent, having firmness enough not to conceal their senti- ments when it is proper to utter them, although they should lose thereby their fortunes or their lives; who despise no one, nor prefer themselves to others; who are not content to derive their knowledge from ordi- nary sources, but. push their investigations to the fountain-head, so as to free their knowledge from all mixture of error; not discouraged when they fail, nor proud when they succeed." In placing Mr. Plumer in this class we will receive the approbation of those who have known him long and well.

DANIEL W. LADD.

Daniel Ladd was the first of the name who settled in America, and probably the ancestor of all the families bearing this patronymic in New England, and was descended from an ancient family of the county of Kent, in England, who were landed proprietors as early as the fifteenth century.1

He sailed from London, accompanied by his wife Ann, March 24, 1633, in the ship " Mary and John," Robert Sayers, master. He first settled at Ipswich,

1 Burke's Landed Gentry. Eng. Baronetage, vol. iv. General Armory.

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HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Mass., where he was admitted a townsman, an import- ant privilege in those days, and had an allotment of land. His name is the fifth on the list of sixty-eight who founded the town of Salisbury in 1638.1

In 1640 he, in company with eleven others, removed to Pawtucket, on the Merrimac River, and organized the town of Haverhill, in which he held a prominent position, and lived respected and honored to an ad- vanced age. He died July 27, 1693.2

Nathaniel Ladd, the fourth in lineal descent from Daniel, the English ancestor, and the first native per- manent resident of the name in Epping, was born in the easterly part of the town, near Lamprey River, in 1745. Ile married Mary Ames, of Canterbury, and built on the North River road a handsome house upon an attractive estate, which was occupied by him- self and his descendants for nearly a century. He died July, 1798. His widow died in 1829. Their graves are a short distance westerly from the camp- ground of the Methodist Association. He was a man of cultivated tastes, and published some essays on moral and economical subjects. He had James, Na- thaniel, Daniel, Mary, and John.

James Ladd, of Hereford, Lower Canada, married Elizabeth Gould, of Hamlin, and had Mary A., James G., Betsey G., Nathaniel Gould, Zoroaster, Seneca, Eudocia, Ira W., Sophronia, William, and Susan Lanrett.

Nathaniel Gould Ladd, M.D., of Malden, married Abigail V. Mead, and had William S., Helen, Smith M., Wesley, Mary F., Marshall, and Abie Josephine.

William S. Ladd, banker, of Portland, Oregon, mar- ried Caroline Elliot, and has William M. and Charles E., wbo are graduates of Amherst College.

Nathaniel Ladd, the second son, married Dorothy | Dartmouth College of the class of 1835, and member Smith, of Epping, in 1793. He died in the Island of Trinidad, 1818. He had Nathaniel, Dorothy, and Daniel Watson. Nathaniel, the grandson of the common ancestor, became a clergyman. He married Mary Folsom, née Gordon, and had Louisa, Mary J. A., Daniel W., and Olivia E. V.

Daniel W., son of Rev. Nathaniel, married Lucy Ann Dustin, and had Eliza Ann, who has received the degree of M.D. from Boston University; Na- thaniel W., Joseph F. G., and John S., all of whom are graduates of Dartmouth College.

Dorothy Ladd married Winthrop Hilton, of New Market.

Daniel Ladd, of Stewartstown, the third son of the first Nathaniel, married Elizabeth Goodwin, and had two children.

Mary Ladd, daughter of the said Nathaniel, mar- ried Elisha Sanborn, of London, and died at the age of forty-five.

John Ladd, M. D., of Epping, the youngest son of Na- thaniel, the common ancestor, was born Jan. 28, 1782.

He was a student of Phillips' Exeter Academy, when the death of his father occurred and interrupted the course of classical studies which he had intended to pursue in preparation for entering the medical pro- fession. By teaching school he obtained the means of accomplishing his purpose, and commenced the study of medicine with the eminent Dr. Lyman Spaulding, president of the College of Surgeons, New York University, Western District, from which school he received his degree.

He was commissioned upon the nredical staff of the Eleventh Regiment United States Infantry in the war of 1812. From 1806 to 1829 he was a resi- dent of Lee, in the county of Stratford, where he was elected to various responsible offices. He was an ac- tive member of the Jeffersonian Republican party, and was invited to deliver occasional public addresses. He wrote with facility in prose and verse, and was a frequent contributor to the newspapers of the day.

His range of information was extensive, especially in history, philosophy, and theology. His opinions were broad, liberal, and hospitable to all forms of faith. At his house clergymen of all classes always found a cordial welcome, and it is worthy of note that there for nearly thirty years, with only incidental interruptions, a religious Conference meeting was held every week, which friends of various denominations in the neighborhood were accustomed to attend.

Ile married Profinda Robinson, of New Market, in 1806. Both died in August, 1845. Their children were Caroline P., who died in 1843, at the age of thirty-six years; John S., born July 2, 1809; and Mary A., born in 1816.

John S. Ladd, of Cambridge, Mass., a graduate of

of the Massachusetts bar, was president of the Com- mon Council of the city of Cambridge in 1851, and member of the General Court in 1845, '46, '47, and in 1852, and of the Constitutional Convention of 1853. Ile was appointed judge of the Police Court for the District of Cambridge in 1854. His first wife, Adelia Babson, of Rockport, died June 6, 1842. He married Mary A. Butler, of Bedford, Sept. 5, 1847. Their chil- dren were Babson S., born Sept. 6, 1848; Mary Adelia, who died in infancy ; Mary Butler, born Dec. 27, 1851; Allston Channing, born June 20, 1854; and John Franklin, Nov. 30, 1856. Babson S. Ladd, of Boston, a graduate of Harvard University of the class of 1870, and member of the Suffolk bar, married Ella Cora Brooks, daughter of Hon. John W. Brooks, of Milton, Mass., and has Paul Dean, born Feb. 16, 1880.

Story Butler Ladd, a graduate of Harvard Univer- sity Science Department, 1873, and member of the bar of the District of Columbia, married Eliza Brig- ham Paine, daughter of Maj .- Gen. Holbert E. Paine, of Washington, D. C.

Daniel Watson Ladd, son of Nathaniel and Dor- othy (Smith) Ladd, was born at Concord, N. H., May 21, 1798. His immediate ancestors were natives of

3 N. E. Hist. and Gen. Reg., vols. iii. vin. Rec. Ips., Feb. 5, 1637. ! Hist. Haverhill .- Chase.

Daniel Fr Ladel

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EPPING.

Epping, as given above. When only six weeks old he was adopted by his aunt Lydia Watson and uncle Daniel Watson (his parents having passed away at that time), by whom he was treated with the utmost tenderness. His advantages for education were lim- ited to the public schools and private instruction by Rev. Mr. Holt, pastor Congregational Church at Ep- ping. He was a fine scholar, and diligently improved his opportunities. His rapid progress, literary tastes, considerate and affable deportment made him a favor- ite with his fellow-students and teachers. During all his active life, amid the many duties arising from various departments of business, he ever found time to gratify his taste for reading. He never made any pretensions to scholarship, nor boasted his intellectual acquisitions, yet he was, in the true sense of the term, an educated man and of rare culture. He loved the old English anthors, and was conversant with ancient and modern writers, and held daily converse with the rich treasures of the Bible, which he studied for light and knowledge, and that book was emphatically a lamp to his feet. He commenced business with Dan- iel Watson, then a merchant at Epping Corners, and assisted him in keeping public hotel at the Watson mansion, supervising his large lauded estate in Epping and el-ewhere, and at his death succeeded to his property.

He was particularly fortunate in his domestic rela- tions. He married Rebecca, daughter of Samuel Plumer and Betsy Cilley, his wife, in 1820. She was horn Feb. 16, 1799; was granddaughter of Gen. Jo- seph Cilley, of Revolutionary fame, and is now living, her mental faculties unimpaired, at the advanced age of eighty-three years. Their children were Daniel W., born Aug. 29, 1821 ; Sarah P., born Dec. 27, 1822, died Feb. 24, 1854. She was a person of rare excellence of character, and her memory is precious indeed. Samuel P., died in infancy ; Lydia Watson, born Jan. 28, 1827; and S. Plumer, born Feb. 19, 1829. Mr. Ladd was pre-eminently a business man ; in connection with the management of his large landed estate he was for many years director of Rockingham Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company. In legal matters many preferred his counsel to that of professional lawyers, and such was the confidence reposed in the soundness of his judgment and his ability that his services were always in demand, and much of his time given to probate business,-referee trials, justice cases, and as pension ageut, in which latter business he was very successful, seldom losing a case.

He was an able and effective defender of any cause he espoused. He never under any circumstances yielded his convictions of right to the dictates of ex- pediency, nor trimmed his sails for the uncertain breeze of popular favor. In sympathy, however, with every good enterprise, he was willing to go with the tide of apparent progress when its movenients were to him in the right direction. In all public matters in which he was interested, his judicious counsel, en-

ergy, and perseverance assigned him a foremost posi- - tion, while his keen logic made him a formidable op- ponent. His resolute courage, quiet nervous force, and indomitable will surmounted all obstacles with- out seeming effort. He was punctual to every duty presenting itself in all the varied departments of ac- tivity of his useful, instructive, and exemplary life. | The crowning glory of his noble character was that deep, earnest reverence for and submission to the will and guidance of his Heavenly Father. No man was ever more truly a Christian. He looked through every act and circumstance back to the guiding hand of a Heavenly Father, and reverently said, " It is well." In all those intimate and tender relations of the fam- ily,-son, husband, father,-he was all that each of those names implies in its most noble sense. He ever gratefully referred to the providential hand which led him into the pure and healthful home atmosphere of his foster-parents, to the tender care of the beloved sister of his amiable and accomplished mother, who was every way fitted for the charge. These parents lived to see their fondest hopes and brightest antici- pations realized, while he grew up to reciprocate, as only noble natures can, the wealth of affection be- stowed on him by loving deeds and an unwearied care ; and tender devotion to their happiness and comfort in all the years of their lives. As a husband and father, he was kind, loving, indulgent, and the warm affection of his wife and children demonstrates its power and intensity.

He was a Democrat. This, in a man like him, means a close and logical analysis of the systems un- derlying political creeds, and acceptance of that tend- ing most to benefit the world, and his warmest sym- pathies and earnest labors were for the perpetuity of the Constitution, which, like Thomas Jefferson and

other exponents of Democracy, he deemed the bul- wark of our liberties, and every departure from its teachings a wandering from the truth and a peril to national existence. Amid all the political storms of his period he kept the Constitution as his chart, and was firm and unshaken by the blasts of passion and prejudice. Never ambitious for official preferment, he declined inflexibly highest honors. At the Demo- cratic Congressional Convention at Epping, where he was chairman, he was unanimously selected by the leaders of the party and urged to take the nomination for member of Congress, but he could not be persuaded, and giving his influence to his esteemed friend Tris- tram Shaw, he was nominated and elected. He once reluctantly consented to represent his town iu the Legislature, serving them with ability and fidelity, but never again would allow his name to be used for any office. For his friends he would labor with un- tiring zeal, and here a prominent and marked feature of his character was shown. He was never envious, rejoicing always in the success and welfare of all.

From early years he was a prayerful student of the Bible. He read it as if God through it was holding

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HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

personal converse with him. With all the strength and firmness of the early martyrs he believed in " the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost," and lived a life of faith on the Son of God. His religion was in the heart, elevating and ennobling his entire nature. For years he belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Society, and was in full sympathy with it ; but when political strife disturbed the holy air, and in place of the harmony and peace resulting from the faithful preaching of "Jesus Christ and him crucified" po- litical faction and hatred took its place in the pulpits, he could no longer feel it his home. The policy of false expediency never held empire in his mind. He deeply deplored the severance of his church relations, but, strong in his conscious sense of right, he gave his example as an argument and a protest against such profanation. He ever sought the health and prosperity of his soul from him alone " who hath the words of eternal life;" and always from a child at- tributed his success in material things to his Heavenly Father's blessing, and was always submissive to his will. His Christian benevolence was as quiet and unobtrusive as the giver. None knew of his charity save the recipient. His love for education caused this benevolence to be manifest in a munificent manner, as will be seen by this extract from his will :

" I give and bequeath unto Josiah H. Stearns, James L. Rundlett, and John L. Folsom, all of Epping, George W. Kitteridge, of New Market, and Perley Robinson, of Fremont, three thousand dollars, in trust, to establish and maintain an Academy for the instruction of Youth in Ep- ping, to be located North Westerly of the public Cemetery, and to be called the Watson Academy, and desire them to manage and direct said school as a board of Trustees, and in case of a vacancy in their number the same is to be filled by the remaining Trustees."

Two prominent traits of Mr. Ladd are here brought ont,-filial affection and gratitude to his dear foster- parents and a high appreciation of education. This last trait often caused him to give advice to young men, which brought rich fruit and was gratefully cherished. His only other public bequest was to the Epping Central Cemetery, for improving and beauti- fying the grounds, which was the last resting-place of the kind benefactors of his youth.

A single glance at the lifelike likeness accompany- ing this memoir will show the honest and earnest purpose actuating its possessor, and a strength of will and decision making a positive and rare individu- ality. Ile was a man of no weak convictions, but of high sense of honor, uncompromising integrity, love of right and hatred of wrong, tempered by the ut- most affability, and a uniform courtesy and kindness to all, and a sincere desire to see others happy. His habits of life were simple and abstemious, free from ostentation. In personal appearance he was digni- fied, somewhat clerical, slightly above medium height, of fine elastic step, clear and full voice, and an enter- taining and instructive fund of conversation. His health was always delicate, yet he accomplished more than many robust men.

During the last year of his life Mr. Ladd seemed

reaching after every possible excellence, confidently leaning on his Father's arm, trusting implicitly in His mercy as a staff and a stay in his old age, as if conscious of his rapid approach to the regions of blessedness. Through the gathering twilight and along the shadowy way his faith and trust grew stronger ; his spiritualized vision seemed to discern the mansion prepared for him in his Father's house in His kingdom above. Thus he fell asleep in Jesus, Easter Sunday, April 5, 1874.

S. Plumer Ladd, son of Daniel Watson Ladd, named in honor of his grandfather, Samuel Plumer, a brother of Governor Plumer, a man of wealth and influence, and of great intellectual powers, was born on the 19th of February, 1829. He was educated at Phillips' Exeter and Hampton Falls Academies. He sustained the character of a good scholar ; gifted with rare endow- ments of mind, he was generous, sympathetic, and persevering ; true to his convictions, an able defender of those principles he deemed to be right; a Demo- crat, and an earnest worker in the political field. He is a farmer, and resides at " Red Oak Hill;" married Sarah P. Dodge in 1853; has children, -Sarah P., Peter, Paul, Rebecca, Silas B. (died young), Lydia W., Evelyn L. (died in infancy), Ellen L., Clara MI., Louis P., Laura J., Dexter, Harry, Samuel Y., and Cora B. Peter and Paul early evinced a creditable ambition to rely upon their own resources. Self- reliant, faithful to every trust, kind and courteous to all, they have secured an honorable record for integ- rity and truth in all their business relations.

Daniel Watson Ladd (2) was born at the Watson mansion in Epping, N. H., Aug. 29, 1821. He was educated at South New Market, Hampton Falls, and Hampton Academies, where he is said to have main- tained the character of a fine scholar and a lover of books. He married Dorothy E., daughter of Jona- than Thyng, Esq., of Epping. She was born March 1, 1828, and died June 9, 1881. Their children were Silvina W. (died young), Bina W., Charles W. (died young), Lizzie W. (died in infancy), Jenny W., Sylvia W. (Mrs. F. R. Hazelton, of Concord, N. H.), Daniel W. (3), and Alva W. Mr. Ladd is an earnest advo- cate of the education of the masses and elevation of the grade of instruction by the town, State, and na- tion. A total abstainer himself from spiritnons liq- nors, he endeavors to raise all others to the safety plane of total abstinence. He was always a prohi- bitionist, ever a "woman's rights" man, and a friend to the progress, advancement, and improvements of the nineteenth century.

ALVA W. LADD.

Alva W. Ladd was born in Epping, March 27, 1862. He was son of Daniel W. Ladd (2d) and his wife Dorothy. He became a member of the Congrega- tional Church when but eleven years old, and until his premature death maintained the high character

Alva H! Lash .

Thomas Folsom

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EPPING.

of that sacred relation. At the age of thirteen he, with his brother, Daniel Ladd (3d), entered Phillips' Exeter Academy. At his entrance he was the youngest student of the school, but he soon dis- played evidence of an unusual degree of talent and intellect, and in spite of his youth rose rapidly above his matured companions. He stood at the head of his class in moral, religious, and intellectual charac- ter, and was gradnated in the class of 1880. He then entered Harvard University, and proved himself as capable there as at Exeter, entering with no condi- tions and three honors, a remarkable accomplishment. With the brilliant promise of a magnificent future his friends were forced to be content, for his devotion to study with a rapid succession of diseases sapped his constitution, and May 8, 1881, he died of hemor- rhage of the lungs at nineteen years of age. He was active and enterprising, never being willing to sub- mit to anything but the Divine Will, but always rec- onciled to that, even saying as his last hours passed away, " I am willing to go." The following extract from a letter written by Professor Perkins to Rev. J. H. Stearns tells more fully the esteem in which he was held by the faculty of Phillips' Exeter Academy : '"MY DEAR SIR,-I am surprised and deeply pained to hear of the death of A. W. Ladd. I did not know that he had been ill, and your note was the first intimation I had of this sad event. He went through our entire course of study, and was gradu- ated from our school, ranking in scholarship among the first in his class. He was a faithful, industrious, conscientious scholar, and made a diligent use of his opportunities. I believe he was a true Christian. He early identified himself with the work in the academy for cultivating and strengthening the in- fluence of Christian character, and in all his course here was consistent with his profession in his daily walk and conversation. I can recall no word or act of lis which was likely to exert an influence hostile to the purest and best Christian sentiment."

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History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 56

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

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