History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 73

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 73
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 73

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The first church edifice was erected in 1815. Pre- vious to this worship was held in private houses. In fire. The present edifice was erected the following year, 1837. It was quite thoroughly remodeled in 1872. The present membership of the church is one hundred and twenty-five.

at Medford, Mass., where Samuel was born May 1, . November, 1836, the church edifice was destroyed by 1732. He graduated at Princeton in 1751. He set- tled in the ministry at Greenland in 1756, where he had supplied the desk for the aged Mr. Allen. He was of warm temperament, and encouraged enlist- ments in the army destined for the overthrow of the Junkins Council, American Legion of Honor, No. 45,2 was organized Oct. 31, 1879, with nineteen charter members, viz. : William O. Junkins, Frank P. Philbrick, Fred. S. Smith, E. Bloomer Jewell, Herbert C. Taft, George L. Wentworth, Daniel Keefe, Nathaniel P. Ordway, George G. White, Joseph S. Holmes, Crosby R. Edmunds, Nathaniel Wiggin, John W. Hobbs, Carmi A. Norton, Nathaniel M. Gookin, Levi Barker. Present membership, forty- two. French power in America. That his practice might tally with his preaching, he volunteered as chaplain for Col. Goffee's regiment. He continued with his regiment until after the fall of Montreal and its re- turn to Crown Point, which place he left September 22d and returned home, accompanied by Moses Ham, Samuel Sleeper, and Henry Hill as a guard. In the war of the Revolution he warmly espoused the patriot cause, went into active service, officiated as chaplain, "in turn with other clergymen in the prov- The council was named in honor of its organizer, Dr. William O. Junkins. Average age of members, thirty-five years. Number of assessments the past year, ten. Amount of one assessment, $44.37. Amount of insurance represented, $75,500. Average of one assessment, $1.05. Amount paid the benefit fund, $606.71. ince," for the New Hampshire troops in the vicinity of Boston in 1775, and was the regularly appointed chaplain of Stark's regiment of 1775, and Cilley's of 1776, the former ever speaking of him with pleasure as "my chaplain." Dr. MacClintock died April 27, 1804, in the seventy-sixth year of his age.

Methodist Church.1-The first Methodist sermon preached in Greenland was in August, 1808, by Rev. George Pickering.

Past Commanders, William O. Junkins, Herbert C. Taft, N. P. Ordway, C. M. de Rochemont.

No deaths have occurred in the council at Green-

1 Contributed by Rev. W. E. Bennett.

2 By William O. Junkins, M.D.

304

HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

land since its organization. Its members are insured from $500 to $5000, and pay according to age and amount insured. The cost for insuring a member during the last year has been $5.20 on $1000 at thirty- four years of age.

The officers for 1882 are as follows : C., William S. Bennett; V. C., Jeremiah C. Shaw ; Orator, Nathan- iel M. Gookin ; Sec., Frank P. Philbrick ; Col., Er- nest Holmes; Treas., Nathaniel P. Ordway; Med. Exam., William O. Junkins; Chap., Fredmah S. Smith ; G., Mary J. de Rochemont ; W., George C. White; S., Arthur H. Durgin.

Winnicut Lodge, No. 92, A. F. and A. M.,1 was instituted May 16, 1877. Charter menibers were Her- bert C. Taft, Edgar S. Taft, William O. Junkins, William H. L. Brackett, John H. Brackett, Nathaniel P. Ordway, Carni A. Norton, Lorenzo D. Duntley, Frank M. Holmes.

The lodge is named after the river Winnicut, which flows through the town. Past Masters, Ilerbert C. Taft, Edgar S. Taft, William O. Junkins. Present membership, twenty-four. The lodge is not only free from debt, but has a fund invested. The lodge- room is small but well furnished. Junkins Coun- cil, A. L. H., hold their meetings in the Masonic Hall.

Brackett Academy2 was incorporated by act of the Legislature of New Hampshire, A.D. 1824. Its title-name was derived from its principal benefactor, George Brackett, Esq., whose family were among the earliest settlers on that beautiful and fertile tract of land in the town of Greenland bordering the south- eastern shore of the Great Bay, and known in the vicinity as the " Bay-side."

The sum of two thousand dollars was granted by Mr. Brackett to the trustees named in the act of in- corporation, for the purpose of founding a literary in- stitution for the higher education of the youth of the community in which he and his ancestors lived. Ad- ditional funds to the amount of about two thousand dollars appear to have been contributed by others, citizens of the town and friends of popular education.

The first meeting of the board of trustees was holden Aug. 11, 1826. It consisted of Rev. Ephraim Abbot (afterwards principal), Rev. Huntington Por- ter, Nathan Parker, Stephen Pickering, and J. W. March. In the mean time, between the date of the act of incorporation and the first meeting, funds had been procured, material and labor contributed by the citizens, to erect quite an imposing edifice, according to the standard of architecture of those earlier days.

The preamble of the constitution drafted by the Rev. Ephraim Abbot, a learned and progressive Con- gregational minister of the town, is a model of ex- cellent English, as well as a concise and expressive statement of the value and importance of a good education to every community. It reads as follows :

1 By William O. Junkins, M.D.

2 By Charles W. Pickering.

"A serious consideration of the great design of the Parent of the universe in the creation of man, and of the improvements in knowledge and virtue of which the human mind is capable, and a full conviction that youth is the important period, on the improvement or neglect of which depend consequences of the highest moment, both to individuals and to the community, have determined me to appropriate, in the following conveyance, a part of the substance wherewith God has blessed me to the purpose of laying the foundation of an Academy for the in- struction of youth, not only in English and Latin grammar, arithmetic, and the sciences, but more especially to teach them the great end and real business of life."

The first principal was Rev. Ephraim Abbot, a Congregational clergyman, settled over the church at Greenland. It is recorded of him that he worked on the building, then being erected, with fore-plane and hewing-axe.

He was also the first president of the board of trus- tees. He resigned in 1829, both as principal and trustee. Rev. Huntington Porter was the second president of the board, from 1829 to 1840, and Joseph Hale second principal of the academy. The funds contributed being exhausted, as appears by the record in 1830-31, the building was subsequently leased, free of rent, to any competent teacher who applied to the trustees with testimonials as to his fitness. From 1840 to 1876 ex-Governor Ichabod Goodwin was the acting president of the board of trustees. He was succeeded in 1876 by Charles W. Pickering, of Green- land, who is now the acting president. For five years past the academy has been in operation under the in struction of a competent principal, but the old charter has been so far modified by the Legislature that the town has control under lease from the trustees of the academy building for all purposes, public and literary. This change was made in 1876, in order to induce the town to appropriate a liberal sum of money to re- model and refurnish the building, which was accord- ingly done. The building now contains one of the most commodious and richly-furnished school-rooms in the State. It is supplied with a valuable library of books of reference in all departments of science and literature, together with a cabinet of minerals and natural history. The last graduating class num- bered twelve. The course of study embraces Latin and French, sciences, and English literature.

REPRESENTATIVES.

S. Robinson, 1807.

James Whidden, 1810-15. James Hill, 1854-55.

Ebenezer Johnson, 1813-20.

Charles W. Ilatch, 1856-57. George W. Davis, 1858.

Wilham Pickering, 1816-17.

Isniah Bery, 1818-19. John Avery, 1821-22. Joseph Weeks, 1824-26. Stephen Pickering, 1827-28.

J. F. Adams, 1860. R. W. Weeks, 1861. George Weeke, 1862.

W. L. Brackett, 1863.

Alfred Metcalf, 1>29-30.

John K. llatch, 1831-33. T. A. Burley, 1834-36.

J. W. March, 1837-39. Thomas J. Berry, 1840-41. John Foss, 1842-43. Thomas Brackett, 1844-45.

No representative, 1874.

Nathan Berry, 1875.

Nathan Berry, 1876.

Edwin A. Peterson, 1877.

Edwin A. Peterson, 1878.

T. A. Burleigh, 1852.

Edward Holmes, 1853.

J. G. C. Weeks, 1864-65.

E. P. Packer, 1867-68. Albert Blaisdell, 1869. C. W. Pickering, 1870-72. J. P. Tilton, 1873.

J. P. Packer, 1846-47. Ralph Hall, 1848-49.

J. G. Pickering, 1850-51.

John Hatch, 1879-82.

Charles W glitch

305

GREENLAND.

Military Record .- Greenland during the late Re- bellion furnished thirty-eight men for the service, and the bounties paid amounted to $24,184. The follow - ing is a list of their names, as far as we have been able to secure them :

Jeremiah Mahoney, Peter Barry, James Berry, Pierpont Hammond, John Herrington, Isaiah Bagley, John W. Pickering, John P. Weeks, John A. Tucker, Rufus Simpson, Augustns L. Clark, Ebenezer W. Smith, Joseph Sanborn, Joseph A. Young. James Welch, Ephraim Pickering, Thomas H. Brown, Jacob Davis, Charles T. Farrell, Ed- ward Burleigh, William H. Mix, Solomon Gray. Albert Durgin, Ar- thur T. Ball, J. O. Keefe, John Gofy, Robert C. Pierce, Epbraim Packer, Lincol Roak, Charles Burleigh, George Ham, John Sher- buro, Horatio Littlefield.

The following died in the service :

John W. Pickering, Joseph Sanborn, Jacob Davis, Jeremiah Mahoney, Peter Browman, John Freeland. There may have been others, but the records show no additional names.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

CHARLES W. HATCH.

Charles W. Hatch was born in the town of Green- land, Oct. 24, 1820. At twenty-seven years of age he married, Feb. 6, 1848, Mary Christiner Hall, daughter of Rev. Ralph Hall, of Strafford. They had two daughters, -Marianna and Ruth Allen, who died in early life, greatly beloved by all. Mr. Hatch's life was passed in the town of Greenland, and by its up- rightness and usefulness proved him to be a worthy and exemplary citizen. While it is not denied that, in common with all, he had his faults and failures, yet it is claimed that in him they were fewer in num- ber and less glaring in character than in most men of his station in life. As a man, he was considerate and kind, truthful and honest. He acknowledged both in his acts and in his heart the great brotherhood of man, and whenever he found the impress of humanity he recognized the full, inalienable rights bestowed by God on all the race. The genuine essence of hu- manity was in his soul, and he was possessed of feel- ings that could be touched by others' woes, and would respond to their claims for sympathy and aid. Im- placability and revenge had no home in his heart. With charity towards all and enmity towards none, he had no foe to whom he would intentionally do harm ; but such were his generous impulses, such the moderation of his wrath, that if one must needs fall into the power of his enemy, he might well wish that enemy were he. Nothing of hauteur or self-impor- tance tainted his life or marred his intercourse with his fellows, and he claimed only to be a man with men, yet in that consciousness of true manhood that scorned to be an underling. He claimed to be a man in that higher sense which spurned the duplicity and chicanery of the unprincipled, and sordidness and su- pineness of the pretentious and the selfish. He was a simple, honest brother in the great family circle of man. As a citizen his ideas were progressive and lib-

eral rather than radical or prodigal. In both his judgment and action he was found on the right side, with opinions of his own, but ready to give place to the opinions of others if they gave promise of sub- serving the interests of a greater number. In mat- ters of public improvement he occupied the golden mean, not bound by the chains of self-interest on the one hand, nor dazzled with visious of local superiority on the other. By his townsmen he was honored with all the preferment within the range of their suffrages, and acquitted himself honorably in them all ; and the citizens of his district showed their appreciation of his merit by placing him in the Senate of the State.

In all these positions he never betrayed the trust reposed in him, nor performed an act which might cause a flush of shame upon the cheek of purest truth and honesty. In his departure the community lost a candid, upright citizen, and his native town a well-wisher to all its vital interests. As a friend, he was true, constant, and affectionate He was not a demonstrative man, whose friendship is like the shal- low noisy stream, but his friends always found the fountains of his love copiously but quietly flowing. His friendship was calm and deliberate, rather than spontaneous and gushing; so, while it burned not with so fierce a flame it excelled in continuance and equability. The siren song of fortune, which allures so many to wander from the scenes of childhood and the family haunts, had no power to fascinate him or canse him to break from the ties of kinship and friend- ship. He wished not that strangers should perform the last deeds of kindness for him or for his most cherished ones. He was not of that cast of mind that gained outside of his family circle very ardent attachments, but very general esteem and respect. His friendship was of that quiet, unobtrusive kind that must be sought after, rather than offer itself to every passer-by. Consequently it was in his own immediate circle of home influences and affections that he was to be seen to best advantage. As a son, he was respectful and dutiful ; as a husband, forbear- ing, affectionate, and thoughtful; as a father, indul- gent and mild, but faithful ; as a brother, cordial, ap- preciative and kind ; so that the loss sustained by his decease, while it is felt deeply in the town, and more deeply in the church of which he was a worthy mem- ber, falls most afflictively upon the dear ones who best know his worth. He joined the church iu 1840, when about twenty years of age, and for thirty years cheerfully bore his share of the labors and anxieties of the church as well as of its financial burdens. In the connsels of the church he stood deservedly high for his good sense and sound judgment. He held and properly performed the duties of every office of the church below the ministry. He served, many years as superintendent of the Sunday-school and steward, both of which offices he held at the time of his decease. He had also served as class-leader and trustee.

306

HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

SAMUEL A. HATCH.

Samuel A. Hatch, son of Samuel and Nancy ( Wig- gin) Ilatch, was born in the town of Greenland, N. H., Sept. 1, 1826. The ancestors of the subject of our sketch came from England and settled somewhere in New England. One of his descendants was Samuel Hatch (grandfather of the above Samuel), who was a poor boy, and spent his youth with an uncle Knight, in Newington, N. H .; removed to Greenland in an early day, and kept what was familiarly known as "Hatch's llotel." He died June 7, 1843. aged eighty-four years. His wife died Sept. 16, 1843, aged eighty-two. They had children, one of whom was Samuel, born about 1790, married Nancy Wiggin, and to them were born five children, viz. : Elizabeth, deceased; Charles W., deceased, whose portrait and biography may be seen in another part of this work ; Sarah A., Samuel A., and Harriet J., all of whom were born in the town of Greenland. Mr. Hatch was a Democrat and Free-Soiler in politics. He held the office of selectman for several years, and was a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He died Dec. 1, 1851, aged sixty-one, and his wife died Jan. 17, 1867.

Samuel A. Hatch was educated in the common schools of his town. As his father was a farmer, he was reared in all the practical details of farm life, which he has successfully followed. In politics he is a Republican. He has held the more important offi- ces of his town, in all of which he has proved himself both competent and worthy. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He has been twice married,-first to Lucy H., youngest daughter of Rev. John F. Adams, whose steel portrait and biography are in this work. They were married June 26, 1856, and to them were born four children, viz. : Ida M., John William, Charlotte A., and George A. Mrs. Hatch died June 6, 1875. She was an earnest worker and member of the Methodist Church, and a lady universally respected wherever known. Mr. Hatch married for his second wife, March 7, 1877, Mrs. Har- riet B. Little, widow of Silas Little, of Newbury, Mass. She was a daughter of Nathan Molton, of Hampton Falls, N. H. She died Aug. 21, 1877.

JOHN L. BRACKETT.

The subject of this sketch was born in Greenland, N. II., April 19, 1811, and was the third and youngest son of Thomas Brackett, who was the son of George Brackett, the founder of Brackett Academy of Green- land.

Tilling the soil has been the occupation of the Bracketts for several generations, and by their indus- try and frugality have been always rated among the most important farmers of their native town, and bave ever been ready to contribute to any worthy object that would promote the growth or prosperity of Green-

land. John L. is the fourth John Brackett, and now owns the estate granted by the king to his forefathers, who have handed it down from generation to genera- tion. He married Ellen A. Smith, daughter of S. P. Smith, of Portsmouth, N. H., Dec. 13, 1836. Of this union there were born two children, a son and a daughter,-Anna D., who married Rev. J. W. Gar- land, of Canada, and Simeon S., who married Abby, daughter of Charles C. Barrell, of York, Me. He is an honored member of the Congregational Church, to which he is much attached. In politics he is Re- publican, but being of a retiring disposition has never sought or accepted office. Quiet and unassuming, he has always held the friendship and esteem of his neighbors, who love to speak of him, as well as his ancestors, in terms of praise. His grandfather died 1825, at the ripe age of eighty-eight years. His father died 1851, aged seventy-eight years.

REV. JOHN F. ADAMS.

Rev. John F. Adams, a son of John Adams, an officer in the Revolution, was born in Stratham, N. H., May 23, 1790. He joined the New England Con- ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1812, which Conference at that time embraced all the Meth- odist Episcopal Churches of New England. His ap- pointments for the first three years of his ministry were circuits in the back settlements of Maine, and were full of the peculiar hardships incident to the war with Great Britain then being waged.

His earliest preaching-places were chiefly in poor, dark houses and in barns. His salary for the first year was only thirty-two dollars, mostly in articles of cloth- ing. Like the majority of the Methodist preachers of those days, he was furnished with saddle-bags, rode over his large circuits on horseback, and studied principally the Bible, Methodist hymn-book, and dis- cipline. His saddle-bags were filled with books, which he would read when he could and then sell to the people.

His appointments were as follows: 1812, Durham Circuit, Maine; 1813, Livermore Circuit, Maine ; 1814, Bethel Circuit, Maine ; 1815, asked and obtained a location for two years; 1817, he again joined the traveling connection, and for two successive years was stationed at Salisbury, Mass. ; 1819-20, Rochester, N. H. ; 1821-22, Barre Circuit, Vermont ; 1823-24, Lyn- don Cirenit, Vermont : 1825-26, Lynn Common, Mass .; 1827-30, presiding elder of the New 1lamp- shire District ; 1831, appointed to Great Falls; 1832, Lyndon, Vt .; 1833-34, St. Johnsbury Circuit, Ver- mont ; 1835-38, solicitor of funds for Newbury, Vt., Conference Seminary ; 1839, stationed at Bromfield Street, Boston ; 1840-43, presiding elder of Dover District, New Hampshire Conference ; 1844, stationed at Hampton, N. H .; 1845, Durham, N. H .; 1846, Auburn, N. H.

At the Conference of 1847 he asked for and was

Samuel A Hatehp

I. F. Adams

D. G. M. Chapman

John L. Brackett

307

GREENLAND.

granted a superannuated relation, in which relation he continued until, at the ripe age of ninety-one years, he died at his home in Greenland, N. H., Jnne 11,188I.

He was twice married,-first to Mary Lane, Feb. 24, 1815, with whom he lived happily for fifty-one years, or until her death, March 1, 1866. Six children were born to them, of whom only two survived the father.

His second marriage, July 25, 1867, was to Sarah W., daughter of Capt. Charles and Elizabeth Tread- well, formerly of Portsmouth, a lady in every way worthy of the man, who made his home happy, and won the highest esteem of all his friends.

The entire life of Mr. Adams was quite eventful, and he has left on record many narrow escapes from death and severe injuries. He was an intimate friend of Bishop Hedding, and was four times elected a del- egate of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

He was several times elected representative, first by his native town, and later from the town of Green- land, where he resided from 1852 until his death. After his retirement from the active work of the min- istry he devoted much time to horticulture and agri- culture, in which he took great delight, and from which he realized a reasonable pecuniary profit. As a preacher, Mr. Adams was pleasing and instructive, and although his educational advantages were meagre, he attained to high rank among his brethren in the ministry. One who knew him well says of him,-

" A strong vein of good sense was wont to pervade his pulpit ministrations. His voice, never boisterous or strained, was, however, invariably grateful and pleasant to the ear. His preaching was not the storm-wind, sweeping resistlessly athwart the land- scape, nor was it the rushing of swollen floods, bear- ing everything away on their rapid tide; it was rather the gentle breeze, coming with its balmy influence to gladden and refresh us, or the calm waters flowing with gentle current through pleasant fields and sunny pasture-lands."

REV. JOHN A. M. CHAPMAN, D.D.

Rev. John Alfred Metcalf Chapman, D.D., now (1882) pastor of St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church, New York, was born in Greenland, N. H., Aug. 21, 1829. His parents were Nathaniel and Martha Meserve Chapman. His brothers and sisters are Sarah J., wife of Nathan Berry ; Joseph W .; Nathaniel; Martha J., wife of Eli Waterhouse ; and Lucy R. Dr. Chapman is a lineal descendant of Edward Chapman, who came from England in 1642, and settled in Ipswich, Mass., the line of descent being through Samuel, Samuel, Pennel, Samuel, and Nathaniel.

He inherited a good constitution, which was de- veloped and hardened by the stern duties and plain living of a farmer's boy. He planted the first seeds

of a liberal education in the common school, and at the academy at Hampton, N. H., and being an apt, as well as a diligent, scholar, he was always ranked among the foremost in his class. In these early days he acquired a taste for reading by appropriating the contents of every readable book in the neighborhood, thus laying the foundation for the broad culture of his ripened manhood.

Ambitions to acquire an education, with the spirit of a true New England boy, he determined to help himself by helping others, and in the autumn of his sixteenth year tramped over into the State of Maine and secured a school, which he taught successfully, returning home in the spring with his winter's wages, and the more valuable acquisition, increased self- reliance. From this time to the close of his college course he supported himself by working on the farm and teaching school, thus securing his education by his unaided exertions.

In August, 1844, at the age of fifteen, he made a public profession of religion, and joined the Metho- dist Episcopal Church the same month in his native town. Impressed from the first with the conviction that he was called to the gospel ministry, he still shrunk from the vast responsibility which it involved, and songht for some legitimate avenue of escape. In the spring of 1848 he went to Ohio for the purpose of teaching and studying, with the intention of making the law his life profession. He looked for employ- ment as a teacher in the vicinity of Cleveland, Akron, and Worcester, but not succeeding he journeyed to- wards Cincinnati. To add to his discouragement he found much sickness in the State, and that dreaded scourge, the Asiatic cholera, had made its appear- ance. Change of climate, diet, anxiety and' disap- pointment, with loss of sleep, resulted in serious illness, and as he left the cars at Cincinnati and stepped upon the platform, valise in hand, the shadow of death secmed settling upon him. Alone in a strange city, almost penniless, too sick to think or act intelli- gently, he was thus accosted by a gentleman in friendly tones: "Young man, you seem to be a stranger here, and you are sick. Come with me, or you will be in the Potter's Field in twenty-four hours, and your mother will never know what has become of you." He complied instinctively, and, stepping into a carriage, was driven to the Galt House, amid the rumbling of the death-carts as they bore their dead burdens away to burial. His benefactor was Dr. Shepherd, a bachelor physician of considerable wealth and distinction, who took him to his own room, tended him through a severe attack of cholera with a phy- sician's skill and the tenderness of a father, and kept him for three weeks without charge, and then as- sisted him in securing a school near Xenia.

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History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 73

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