USA > New Hampshire > Strafford County > History of Strafford County, New Hampshire and representative citizens > Part 85
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HON. JOSEPH D. ROBERTS, one of the prominent and representa- tive men of Strafford county, bears an honored name and in his own person has won public esteem and on many occasions has been elected to offices of trust and responsibility by his fellow citizens. From 1895 until 1896 he served as a member of the New Hampshire legislature; for a number of years has been president of the Salmon Falls Bank, of which he is yet a director and is also a trustee of the Rollinsford Savings Bank, while his agricultural interests are extensive. He was born in Rollinsford, N. H., November 12, 1848, and is a son of Hiram R. and Ruth (Ham) Roberts.
Hiramı R. Roberts was born also in Rollinsford, a son of Stephen Rob- erts and a grandson of John Roberts, an early settler in Strafford county. The old Roberts homestead has been continuously in the family since 1737. Hiram R. Roberts was an influential and useful citizen of this county. He served as an associate judge in middle life. In 1874 he was his party's chosen candidate for governor and it was said that he received the largest vote ever cast up to that time for a Democratic candidate. For many years afterward he served in the office of justice of the peace and was one of
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the promoters of the Salmon Falls Bank, of which he was president for a long period, and one of the founders of the Rollinsford Savings Bank. He carried on farming during the larger portion of his life and died on his old homestead in 1876. Of his children the following survive: Walter S., who is a resident of Des Moines, Ia .; Hall, who lives at Postville, Ia .; Susan R., who is the widow of Samuel H. Rollins, is a resident of Rol- linsford; Joseph D. and Francis W., who lives at Seattle, Wash.
Joseph D. Roberts attended the Rollinsford schools in his youth and later passed ten winter terms as a student in an academy at Berwick, Me. From boyhood his interests have been agricultural. He has taken a very active interest in the Patrons of Husbandry, for many years has been a member of the New Hampshire State Grange, and for the last fourteen years has been its treasurer and a trustee. He belongs to the Hiram R. Roberts Grange No. 194 of Rollinsford, of which he has been master. For a quarter of a century Mr. Roberts has been in the pure bred stock business and for the last fifteen years has given much attention to the breeding of Holstein cattle. His beautiful estate containing 256 acres bears the name of Hill Top Farm.
On July 31, 1873, Mr. Roberts was married to Miss Addie E. Littlefield, who was born in York county, Me., a daughter of Thomas B. and Eliza- beth (Jones) Littlefield. Of their family of ten children the following are living: Elizabeth, who is the wife of Charles Coker of Salem, Mass .; Harry, who lives in Montana; Edith A., who is professor of botany and geology at Mount Holyoke College, being a graduate of Smith College, and having also attended Chicago University; Hiram H., who is a select- man of Rollinsford and lives on the old homestead; Ruth, who is the wife of Harold Dodge, and Joseph C., Clara H. and Dorothy D., who are all of Rollinsford. Mr. Roberts and wife are members of the Baptist church of South Berwick, Me. From 1886 until 1890 Mr. Roberts was a com- missioner of Strafford county and for many years was a selectman of Rol- linsford and often president of the board. as he has long been of the board of education. For ten years he has served as a member of the New Hampshire State Board of Agriculture, being its chairman. He has led a busy and useful life.
CHARLES H. ANDREWS, general farmer, residing in the town of Rochester, where he has 150 acres of land situated three miles from Roches- ter Square, city of Rochester, was born at Gonic, N. H., October 14, 1853, and is a son of Benjamin and Louise (George) Andrews, the former of whom died at Lynn, Mass., and the latter at Salem, both aged fifty-seven years.
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Charles H. Andrews has been a resident of Rochester since he was ten years old. He attended school here in boyhood, after which he engaged in farm work, having a preference for it beyond any other kind of employ- ment. When he married he settled on the present farm, forty acres of which is tillable, the rest being given up to pasturage. He keeps high grade cattle and operates a milk route, handling the product of twelve cows. The father- in-law of Mr. Andrews, James T. Hanson, lived on this farm from the age of seven years until his death on April 7, 1889, at the age of seventy- one years. During the lifetime of Mr. Hanson, Mr. Andrews assisted in keeping the buildings in repair and since then has made all needed improve- ment, although originally they were so substantially constructed that com- paratively little change has been needed. The barn was built in 1868, and the dwelling was erected 100 years ago.
On April 23, 1873, Mr. Andrews was married to Miss Clara Ida Hanson, who was born on this farm, the eldest of the three children born to her parents, who were James T. and Lois A. (Wentworth) Hanson. James T. Hanson was born in Rochester, N. H., and spent his life as a farmer. He was a Democrat in his political opinions but never accepted political office. He married Lois H. Wentworth, who was born in 1825 and died May 17, 1900, and both were buried in the Somersworth cemetery. They were members of the Congregational church and were worthy, respected people in every relation of life. Mr. and Mrs. Andrews have two sons : Everett J., who is a resident of Haverhill, Mass., and Raymond B., who assists his father on the homestead. Mr. Andrews is a Democrat in politics ; he has served in local offices and at present is a member of the city council of the city of Rochester, having been elected in 1911 for three years. Ray- mond B. Andrews belongs to the fraternal order of Red Men.
CHARLES A. GOODWIN, who for the past four years has lived somewhat retired at Rollinsford Junction, after thirty years of agricultural activity on his farm in Rollinsford, is a veteran of the Civil war and a highly respected citizen of Strafford county. He was born at Sanford, Me., December 8, 1843, a son of Rev. Charles E. and Dorcas P. (Libbey) Goodwin.
Rev. Charles E. Goodwin was born at Lebanon, Me., and died in Straf- ford county, N. H. (where he had lived for a few years previously) in 1899, at the age of eighty-three years. He was a son of Charles Goodwin, born also at Lebanon, who was a descendant of Daniel Goodwin, who came from England to America in 1652, founding a family in York county, Maine, which has spread to other sections, ever preserving the old, sturdy
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traits of character that from the first distinguished it. Rev. Charles E. Goodwin was the representative of the seventh generation in America. He was widely known as a minister in the Christian church and for many years preached at different places in York county, Maine. He married Dorcas P'. Libbey, born also at Lebanon, and of their children the follow- ing survive: Ivory L., who lives at West Medford, Mass .; Charles A., residing in Rollinsford; Edward J., president of Packer Collegiate Insti- tute, Brooklyn, N. Y., a noted educator and graduate of Bates College and formerly assistant commissioner under the late Dr. Draper, who was com- missioner of education for the state of New York; and Mary, who is the widow of John L. Bennett, and resides at No. 31 Belknap street, Dover.
Charles A. Goodwin attended the public schools in York county, Maine, and later an academy at Andover, N. H., afterward for seven consecutive years teaching winter terms of school in his native county. In 1877 he came to Rollinsford, where, as stated above, he was a farmer and stock raiser for thirty years. He has an honorable Civil war record. On Sep- tember 10, 1862, he enlisted in Company B, 27th Me. Vol. Inf., which was called out to defend the city of Washington, the enlistment covering ten months. His term expired on June 30, 1863, but he was one of the 300 members of his regiment who voluntarily remained as pickets around Washington for four more days of danger. They were released on the evening of July 4, 1863, after the battle of Gettysburg, but their service was not forgotten, in proof of which Mr. Goodwin can display a gold medal voted by Congress to the 300 men who showed real patriotism in defense of their capital city. This medal is a valuable and cherished keepsake, bearing, in Mr. Goodwin's case, the following inscription: "The Congress to Corporal Charles A. Goodwin, Co. B, 27th Me. Infantry." On July 22, 1864, he re-enlisted, entering Company A, 5th Mass. Vol. Inf., and again was assigned to duty at Washington, where he was honorably discharged November 17, 1864, when he returned to Strafford county, his home ever since.
Mr. Goodwin was first married to Miss Charlotte Wilson, a native of Kittery, Me., and they had two children, Jennie M. and William, both of whom are deceased. On August 12, 1877, he was married secondly to Miss Amanda A. Bennett, who was born March 26, 1847, at Freedom, N. H., a daughter of Sylvester and Olive (Lang) Bennett, the father a native of Freedom and the mother of Wakefield, N. H. Mrs. Goodwin's grandfather, Joseph Bennett, was said to have been a native of England and a resident for many years of Freedom, N. H., where Mrs. Goodwin was reared and attended school and also, for a short time, taught school.
STEPHEN C. MEADER
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Both she and Mr. Goodwin are members of the Hiram B. Roberts Grange at Rollinsford, of which Mr. Goodwin was master for two years. They attend the South Berwick Free Baptist Church. Mr. Goodwin belongs to the Salmon Falls lodge of Odd Fellows and to the Encampment at South Berwick, Me. In politics he is a Republican; for two years he served as a selectman of Rollinsford and for one year was chairman of the board.
STEPHEN CHASE MEADER, agent for the Gonic Manufacturing Company, of Gonic, N. H., was born in Rochester, N. H., December 14, 1840, a son of Levi and Amanda (Eastman) Meader. He comes of an old New England family, established by John Meader, who came from England in 1650 and settled at Oyster River, between Portsmouth and Dover, where he had a land grant in 1656. He had a son Daniel, among others, and seven at least of Daniel's sons settled at Rochester about 1750 to 1760, who took up land in that part of the town known as Meadeboro. Benjamin, the son of Daniel mentioned above, had a son Stephen, who was the grand- father of Stephen C. and Walter S. Meader of the Gonic Manufacturing Company.
This Stephen Meader was born in Rochester in 1782 and resided on a farm near Meadeboro Corner, which is now in the possession of one of his descendants.
Levi, the fourth son of Stephen, was born in Rochester, February 4, 1813. In 1837 he married Amanda Eastman, of Peacham, Vt. His son, Stephen Chase Meader, whose nativity is given above, during boyhood lived on the farm with his parents, attending the district school and laying the foundation of a strong, healthy physique. When he was about 14 years old his father moved to Gonic village, in part to get better educational advantages for his large family. Here young Stephen, in the intervals of the village school sessions, worked in the mill. In 1856 he entered the Friends' school in Providence. R. I., where he remained nearly four years. He was a diligent student, excelling in mathematics and chemistry. In 1860 he completed his school life at Providence, returned to Gonic and entered the mill in the employ of the late N. V. Whitehouse, working in various parts of the mill. From this time forward his mastery of the details of manu- facturing was rapid. His methodical habits and quick insight into the var- ious processes united to good judgment and faithfulness hastened his promo- tion to the position of dyer, then finisher, superintendent, and finally to that of agent, to which last place he was formally appointed in June, 1881. He is a director of the Rochester Loan and Banking Company, also a Trustee of the Rochester Library and a director of the Rochester Loan and
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Building Company. Since he took charge of the Gonic Manufacturing Company in 1881, the company has been remarkably successful.
Like his father and his brother John he has been twice elected to repre- sent the town in the State legislature. The prominent points of his character are quiet, unobtrusive ways, decision, firmness and a conscientious regard to duty, always seeking for the best results and shaping the means at his command with excellent judgment to obtain them. Constantly alive to the requirements of the position he holds and of undefatigable industry and perseverance, while holding to the ancient faith of a long line of ancestors as a member of the Quaker fraternity, he is liberal to all religious denom- inations and a generous contributor to the support of the village church. He is a judicious helper in educational and moral purposes for the good of the community in which he lives, and his future usefulness to the town, his associates and his family can only be measured by the years he may live. He married Effie Seavey, of Rochester, September 20, 1870, and has one child, Gertrude Meader Andrews.
THE GONIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY, of Gonic, N. H., was the second industry in the town to develop into a woolen factory, as a producer of woolen goods for the general market, which dates back to 1838. Prior to that time and, in fact, up to 1848, the water power was used largely for sawmill, gristmill and some other industries required by the wants of the immediate neighborhood. From 1840 to 1848 two sets of machinery were run, making satinets and bockings, but mainly woolen flan- nels. In 1848 the whole concern was swept away by fire and in the following year the building was replaced by the present No. I mill, built with four sets of machinery, to make woolen flannels exclusively. From this date up to 1859 it was owned and managed by N. V. Whitehouse, since deceased. In the year last mentioned the concern was incorporated with a capital stock of $50,000, the Whitehouse family and the firm of Parker, Wilder & Co., being its stockholders. N. V. Whitehouse was the first president. Samuel B. Rindge and Marshall P. Wilder, with himself, were the directors. The factory employed at this time about fifty people. Mr. Whitehouse was its agent and so continued until 1877, when the whole interest of the concern merged into possession of Parker, Wilder & Co. For about three years- from 1877 to 1880-the plant was closed down, it being started again in the year last mentioned, under the direction of the present Agent, S. C. Meader.
In 1865 the large No. 2 mill was built. Within the past 30 years under the present management many important alterations, improvements and additions have been made, resulting in increasing the production more than
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fourfold, and in a higher standard of excellence in the goods. Everything in and about the mill is of the best; every appliance to increase the produc- tion or perfect the quality of the goods has been adopted, and everything for the comfort, safety and convenience of the operatives is provided for. The goods are designed largely for women's ware.
The first officials of the company were N. V. Whitehouse, Marshall P. Wilder and Samuel B. Rindge, directors; Ezra Farnsworth, treasurer, and Charles S. Whitehouse, clerk. N. V. Whitehouse, as already noted, was also agent until 1877. Benjamin Phipps was made treasurer November, 1868. and held that position until his death. Ezra Farnsworth succeeded N. V. Whitehouse as a director, and in 1881 the venerable Marshall P. Wilder retired and was succeeded by William H. Sherman. On May 3, 1883, Samuel B. Rindge died and Col. Francis J. Parker of Boston succeeded him. The present officers are Parker Bremer, president; Stephen C. Meader, director and agent, and Samuel Rindge, director and treasurer, the last mentioned having been appointed treasurer at the death of Benjamin Phipps. John Meader, formerly superintendent, was succeeded at his death by John L. Meader, who now fills that position, with Harry H. Meader as assistant superintendent. Julia E. Meader is bookkeeper, W. S. Meader paymaster. George B. McElwain was dye-master for many years, his present successor being William L. McElwain. L. M. Richardson is boss weaver, James Lucey boss carder, Theo. Wilmont boss spinner, George Marsh boss finisher, James Teague boss wool sorter. About two hundred people are now employed. The company owns fifty tenements, which are rented to the employes.
During the last year the power at the sawmill privilege has been largely increased by the construction of a canal, 1,000 feet long, and the erection of a power house, water wheels, dynamos, etc., to transmit about 550 horse- power back to the mill. The mill at present has 14 sets of Davis & Furber cards, 116 Knowles' Broad looms and produces about 1,000,000 yards of cloth valued at about $700,000.
EDWARD A. WILLAND, superintendent of the Strafford County Farm, in Dover, was born in Berwick, Me., May II, 1846. His father, Nathaniel H. Willand, followed the combined occupations of farmer and tanner for many years successively in Berwick, Me., and Rochester, N. H., to which place he removed in 1846. On the breaking out of the Civil War, he responded to the call for volunteers by enlisting in Company I, Fourth New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry, being mustered into service at Con- cord. At the close of his term of enlistment, which was for one year, he re-enlisted, this time for three years, and served subsequently until the end
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of the war, taking part in many important battles. After receiving an hon- orable discharge he found employment as cook on a merchant vessel running between London and the West Indies, and was thus occupied until 1871. He then gave up the sea and took his residence in Rochester, N. H., where he died May 28, 1876. He married Hannah F. Hubbard of Berwick, Me., by whom he had four children, namely: James H., who died in infancy ; James H. (second), who died at the age of eight years; Edward A. and Emma, wife of John H. Blaisdell.
Edward A. Willand was but a babe in arms when his parents took up their residence in Rochester, this state. He attended the public schools of that town until he was thirteen years old and afterwards spent two years at the Biddeford High School. He then learned the carpenter's trade, serv- ing an apprenticeship of three years and becoming an expert workman in the manufacture of sashes, doors and blinds. During the next two years he worked at his trade in Boston and Dover. He then entered the employ of E. G. and E. Wallace, tanners and shoe manufacturers, of Rochester with whom he remained fifteen years. For a time he served as chief of police in Rochester before it became a city. Subsequently locating in Dover, Mr. Willand was elected the first regular police officer at Sawyer's Mills. Three years later he was elected assistant marshal of Dover, which office he resigned in 1893. He was appointed to his present position as superintend- ent of the Strafford County Farm in April 1, 1893.
Politically Mr. Willand has been identified with the Republican party since coming of age, and has always remained true to the party. He stands high in the Masonic order belonging to Humane Lodge, No. 21, of Roches- ter; Temple Chapter, No. 20, of Rochester; and to Dover Lodge of Per- fection, having also taken the Scottish Rite, and also to the Dover Senate, K. A. E. O.
Mr. Willand was married in Dover, December 25, 1871, to Calista A. Chesley, daughter of Samuel and Maria (Hanson) Chesley, of Barrington. They are the parents of two children-Ella M., a graduate of the Dover High School, having been the valedictorian of her class, who is the wife of Col. E. B. Folsom, and Blanche E., the wife of Frank E. Varney. Mr. Willand is a man well known throughout the county and his record in the administration of his present office has justified the confidence of his fellow citizens in his ability and integrity.
VICTOR E. PAGE, a representative citizen of the city of Rochester, is a general farmer and stock raiser and resides two and one-half miles from Rochester on the Farmington road, where he owns one of the most attractive
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residences in this part of the county. The home place contains 300 acres, and together with this he possesses other farms and city property. He was born at Boston, Mass., March 9, 1868, and was the youngest in his parents' family of five children, the parents being Dr. William H. and Nancy (Jen- kins) Page, both now deceased. The grandparents of Mr. Page were Capt. Benjamin and Huldah (Hussey) Page. Daniel Page, the great-grandfather of Victor E. Page, came from England and was an early and prominent settler of Rochester, N. H., where he reared a family, one of his sons, Benja- min Page, becoming a captain in the War of 1812.
Dr. William H. Page, son of Capt. Benjamin Page and father of Victor E., was a graduate of the Medical College of Harvard University, Class of 1853. While in the college he was the assistant of the Professor of Anatomy (Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes), the highest position then obtain- able. Upon leaving the college he was unanimously elected House Surgeon to the Massachusetts General Hospital. Upon leaving the hospital he was unanimously elected dispensary physician, a position he held for several years. He then spent two years in various hospitals of Europe, where he received the highest compliments as a medical expert; but, as soon as the first report of the first gun at Fort Sumpter was heard across the water, he returned, and in answer to a letter from Governor Andrews of Massachu- setts, offered to go to the front without pay. He served all through the Peninsular campaign in 1862, where he rendered invaluable services, and remained with the army till the disastrous retreat to James River, when he was the only surgeon to volunteer to stay with the 3,000 wounded that General McClellan was obliged to abandon to the enemy. On his return to Boston Dr. Page served as examining Surgeon of Recruits in that city and was appointed one of the examining surgeons for the United States Pen- sion Office, and was employed by various railroad corporations in important surgical cases and as a medical expert by the Attorney General of Massa- chusetts. Owing to ill-health Dr. Page moved to New Mexico and later died in California. He married Nancy Jenkins and they had five children : William H., who is a prominent lawyer of New York City, and president of the New York Athletic Club: Nina, who is traveling in Europe; Harriet P. Junkins of New York City; George H., who is deceased, and Victor E.
Victor E. Page was left motherless at the age of two weeks and fourteen years afterward took up his residence with his uncle, Richard T. Rogers. Mr. Rogers was born in the town of Rochester, Strafford county, N. H .. July 3, 1818, a son of Samuel and Nancy (Tripe) Rogers. The earliest ancestor of Mr. Rogers in America came from Dublin, Ireland, bringing with him an infant son, John Rogers. The latter grew to manhood and
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married Mary McDuffie, who had been born on the sea. John Rogers was the father of Samuel Rogers and the grandfather of Richard T. Rogers. The father of Nancy (Tripe) Rogers is said to have invented the diving bell in use at Portsmouth, N. H. Samuel Rogers had two children, Eliza- beth and Richard T. The latter received his early schooling in the town of Rochester and was diligent as a student. At the age of twenty-one years he went into the lumber business and also acquired such an excellent knowl- edge of law that he was able to transact a large amount of probate business. He was a Republican in politics and served Rochester many years as select- man; he was also county commissioner and served several terms in the state legislature. His death occurred October 28, 1890. On December 25, 1877, he married Olive M. Page, a daughter of Benjamin and Huldah (Hussey) Page, and who was a graduate of Mt. Holyoke College, and a teacher for many years in the public schools at Boston until her marriage to Mr. Rogers.
Victor E. Page attended school at Boston until fourteen years of age. He then accompanied his aunt, Mrs. Rogers, to Rochester, and for two more years attended school in Rochester, after which he spent two years at Phillips Exeter Academy, Class of 1888. Since then he has been engaged in his farm activities. For twelve years he operated a morning milk route to Rochester. He has about fifty acres of his land cleared, the rest being in pasturage and lumber land, and annually he winters about thirty head of cattle and other meat stock.
Mr. Page married Miss Frances S. Gerrish, daughter of Ebenezer Ger- rish, of this city, and they have seven children : Olive F., Nina E., Beatrice, Gladys, Roger E., Florence E. and Dorothy E. Mr. Page is a Republican and was the youngest man ever elected to the Rochester city council at the time of his term of office, and just missed election to the legislature by a few votes. He is a member of the Rochester Fair Association and belongs to the local grange. His acquaintance is wide and his friends are many.
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