USA > New Hampshire > Strafford County > History of Strafford County, New Hampshire and representative citizens > Part 86
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JOHN THOMAS WENTWORTH HAM, of the firm of John T. W. Ham & Co., dealers in hats, caps, furs and furnishing goods in general, has been actively engaged in this business since August 1, 1859, when he entered into partnership with the late Amos D. Purinton, who had been engaged in the business many years. Mr. Ham had been a clerk with Mr. Purinton five years preceding that date, and had learned all the details of the business before he became a partner of the firm, so in fact, he has been active in the business nearly sixty years, and has not yet retired, being the ranking merchant in term of service in Dover. The dates are these: He was born
JOHN T. W. HAM
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July 1, 1838; he became clerk in Mr. Purinton's store September 4, 1854; he became partner of Mr. Purinton August 1, 1859; the firm of Purinton & Ham was dissolved by the death of the senior member in 1877; this firm conducted a large wholesale as well as retail business, their wholsale trade extending into northern New Hampshire and Maine; following the death of Mr. Purinton, Mr. Ham conducted the business alone at the same place on Central avenue, up to 1890, when Mr. Alden Hatch entered into partnership with him and has so continued to date, under the firm name of J. T. W. Ham & Co. Up to 1900 the business of the firm had been located on the north side of the river near the Central avenue bridge; that year he purchased the J. K. Purinton store on the south side of the river, adjacent to the bridge, and erected on the spot the present elegant and finely equipped brick building in which his business has been conducted since that year. On this spot the hat, cap, fur and fur- nishing business has been conducted continuously since 1833, a period of 80 years. Mr. Jacob K. Purinton was the elder brother of Amos D. Purinton, Mr. Ham's partner.
Mr. Ham entered into a business partnership with Mr. Purinton, as before stated, when he was twenty-one years old; Mr. Purinton was so well pleased with this arrangement that he very cordially consented to a further and closer partnership by the marriage of his only daughter, and only child, Abbie Maria, with Mr. Ham, May 1, 1860, which proved to be a most happy union for 26 years, which was only dissolved by the Angel of Death, who took her lovely spirit across to the other shore September 10, 1886, and the mortal eyes of a most estimable woman were closed to the scenes of earth. They had no chil- dren. Mrs. Ham was one of Dover's most highly esteemed women, being highly educated, brilliant and the best of wives. Her sudden death caused great grief in the family connection.
Mr. Ham was the only son of John and Martha (Wentworth) (Drew) Ham, born July 1, 1838; he was named "John," for his father, and "Thomas Wentworth" for his mother's father, Thomas Wentworth, who was fifth in descent from Elder William Wentworth. Thomas was son of Col. Jonathan Wentworth, and grandson of Samuel, both of whom served in the Revolu- tionary war; Samuel had another son, Daniel, who served in that war for liberty and independence. Jonathan was Captain of a company at the battle of Bunker Hill; later he was Major in Col. Thomas Bartlett's regiment at West Point; after the close of the war he was Colonel of the 2d New Hampshire regiment in 1789. His residence was Dover.
Mr. Ham's grandmother, Mary Roberts, wife of Thomas Wentworth, was daughter of Col. James Roberts, who served in the Revolutionary army. He was Ensign in a company of Berwick (Me.) men in Col. Scammon's regiment
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at the battle of Bunker Hill. Later he was Captain in Col. Robinson's ( Maine) regiment ; still later he was Major in Col. John Whither's regiment, in the expedition against Quebec in 1776. After that he was Lt. Colonel in Col. Wigglesworth's regiment and served in the campaign that ended in the sur- render of General Burgoyne at Saratoga in October, 1777. After the close of the war he was Colonel of a militia regiment in Maine. His residence was Berwick.
Mr. Ham's father, John Ham, was fourth in descent from William Ham, who came to New England in 1640 and settled at Portsmouth on the point of land in the Pascataqua River, where the buildings are now (1914) located that were constructed for an immense paper mill. From him it was called Ham's Point for nearly a century and a half. By a later owner it was changed to the name Freeman's Point. William's son, Lieutenant John, who was born in 1649 and died in Dover in 1727, was the first of the name who settled in Dover, on a grant of land at Tolend, near the second falls in the Cochecho River. Later his residence was on what is now Central avenue, and his house stood on the east side of it, next to the south of the house on the corner of Ham street, and opposite Milk street. The original deed of this land from Peter Coffin to Lieut. John Ham is now in possession of his great great grandson, John Thomas Wentworth Ham. The house and the large farm around it remained in possession of the Ham family 200 years, the successive owners after Lieutenant John being: Benjamin, born in 1693, died in 1781; John, born in 1737, died in 1824; John, born in 1779, died in 1860; John Thomas Wentworth, born in 1838. Thus it is seen that the lives of the five owners cover the remarkable period (to 1914) of 265 years. Four generations preceding Mr. J. T. W. Ham were all good farmers, good citizens and well to do business men. Their wives were from good fam- ilies, so Mr. Ham, the subject of our sketch, is the product of some of the best New England and New Hampshire stock, and in his career has shown himself worthy of it.
Mr. Ham has never sought to hold public office, and only consented to serve two years as member of the Common Council, for Ward Three; he had no taste for that sort of business, and it is a matter of conscience to do well whatever he undertakes, so he declined further preferments. But for many years he has served the public in other capacities. He is trustee in the man- agement of Pine Hill Cemetery ; trustee of the Wentworth Home for the Aged, since 1897, having served as one of the Building Committee when the institu- tion was organized. At the building of the Masonic Temple in 1890, he was chosen one of the five members of the Building Committee and he has con-
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tinued to be one of the directors and business managers of the concern ever since then.
No man ever revered and loved his mother more dearly than Mr. Ham has and does his mother, Martha Wentworth. She was of medium height, slight figure, pleasing in her address, a good conversationalist, but not over talkative, and possessed superior intelligence and a first class housekeeper. She was one of the early members of St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church in Dover, which was organized in 1824, and she remained one of its most faithful members to the end of life. Her husband was a staunch member of the Society of Friends, and was popularly known as Friend Ham, an excellent man and a prosperous citizen. It was their custom to both attend the Friends' Meeting in the forenoon and the Methodist Church in the afternoon. In addition to this she rarely failed to attend the weekly prayer meeting and class meetings at St. John's vestry. She was always ready to lend a hand in any work the Church had to do. Under such parents Mr. Ham was trained and educated in the ways of doing what was right. Need any one wonder, then, that for thirty years he has been a working member of St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church in Dover ? Such is the fact and for many years he has been one of the trustees and a member of its finance committee. When at home, and in health, he has rarely failed to attend the morning service of the Church, and to extend a welcome hand to all strangers who might visit there for worship.
In the Fraternity organizations of the city Mr. Ham has for many years been a member of Mt. Pleasant Lodge of Odd Fellows, and Prescott Encamp- ment. Also he is a member of Olive Branch Lodge, Knights of Pythias and is trustee of Lodge No. 84, Benevolent, Protective Order of Elks. He is a member of the New Hampshire Genealogical Society, and of the New Hamp- shire Society Sons of the American Revolution.
Mr. Ham's attention was first called to Free Masonry in 1862, when he was 24 years old, and he received degrees in Strafford Lodge, Dover, on the following dates: Entered apprentice, December 3, 1862; fellow craftsman, March 5, 1863; master mason, April 29, 1863; so he has now been a full fledged niember of the order for more than half a century. On December 23, 1863, he was elected treasurer of the lodge and has held that office continuously to the present time, having received his fiftieth annual election at a recent meeting of the lodge. That he has been a faithful and efficient officer is fully evidenced by this fact. He has not aspired to or accepted any other office in the lodge, yet no man stands higher in the confi- dence, good will and esteem of the lodge than he. As treasurer he has never failed to attend and render his reports on all occasions when called for by the rules and they have always been found correct. Since November
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27, 1863, he has been a member of Belknap chapter; he was elected treas- urer of the same and has served as such ever since.
Mr. Ham has received the Cryptic degrees of Orphan Council in 1863, and on September 25, 1867, he was elected its treasurer, having served in that capacity by annual elections to the present time. In that same year, half a century ago, he was admitted to membership in St. Paul's Com- mandery, K. T., of Dover, and received the orders in due course. His membership in the four branches-lodge, chapter, council and commandery- is now well advanced in its fiftieth year. He has been treasurer of the commandery since June 17, 1867, by annual re-election, and is now com- pleting his forty-seventh year in that office. In more recent years Mr. Ham has been initiated into the various degrees of Ancient and Accepted Scot- tish Rite Masonry, completing the journey upward September 10, 1902, when at Providence, R. I., he was created sovereign grand inspector general, thirty-third and highest degree of the order, being made also an honorary member of the Supreme Council, Northern Jurisdiction. He has served as treasurer of New Hampshire Chapter, Rose Croix, since May 8, 1902. On December 14, 1906, he was promoted to noble of the Mystic Shrine, Bek- tash Temple, at Concord, N. H. It may be added that he is a director of the Masonic Building Association, having served in that capacity since its organization in 1890. It will thus be seen that Strafford Lodge, A. F. & A. M. of Dover, has a member whose Masonic record cannot be equaled probably by any member of the fraternity in New England.
Mr. Ham holds membership in Mt. Pleasant Lodge, I. O. O. F., of Dover, and since July 31, 1872, he has been a member of Olive Branch, K. of P. He is a trustee of Pine Hill Cemetery, Dover. As a man and citizen he is highly esteemed for his agreeable manners, public spirit and high sense of personal honor and integrity. Since early manhood he has taken a keen and active interest in the growth of the commercial and manufactur- ing interests of Dover and of the county generally, and also in its social and moral development. Mr. Ham married Abbie M. Purinton, who died in 1886.
JOHN A. ALLEN, proprietor of Egwanulti Farm, a tract of land con- taining some 500 acres, situated in Rochester, is interested in general farm- ing, lumbering and the breeding of fine stock and pure bred poultry. He was born on this farm November 5, 1865, and is son of Amasa and Eliza- beth ( Blaisdell) Allen.
Amasa Allen was the son of William and Sarah (Nute) Allen and was born November 15, 1820. William (2d) was born 1794, the son of Sam- uel, born 1761 ; Samuel was son of William ( Ist), who was born 1717.
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William ( Ist) was one of Rochester's earliest settlers, coming to Roclı- ester in 1746, having received a grant of land from the king. A portion of this land is now a part of the farm now owned by John A. William ( Ist) was the son of John ( Ist) (1685), who was the son of Charles, who came to "Old Strawberry Bank," as Portsmouth was then known, in 1635.
In his early manhood Amasa Allen was a shoe manufacturer, but loving the soil and "to see things a growing," he became a farmer at about the time of his marriage to Elizabeth A. Blaisdell. The children of this union were Charles W., deceased March, 1911; Clara A., wife of the late Senator Charles H. Seavey, deceased, April, 1895; Martha E., wife of James A. Jackson of the Rochester Hills road, and John A.
John A. Allen was educated in the district school at the Academy at West Lebanon and at the Academy at South Berwick. He married January 18, 1888, Miss Bertha L., daughter of Simon L. and Lydia ( Parsons) Horne. Mr. and Mrs. Allen have three daughters-Bessie L., Mattie B. and Bertha E. All are graduates of Rochester High School. The eldest is a successful teacher in one of the city schools. The two younger have entire charge of the poultry department of the farm and the results prove their good management. They make a specialty of White Plymouth Rocks and of White Leghorns.
Mr. Allen has recently set out a fine orchard of peach, pear, cherry, plum and apple trees. Mr. Allen has given much attention to the raising of Hol- stein Friesian stock and has a fine herd of thoroughbreds, and also some fine grades-thirty-two head at present. He does an extensive dairy busi- ness, selling milk and cream in the local markets. He raises much hay and grain, using modern machinery in the raising and harvesting crops. A 7 1-2 horse power gasolene engine furnishes power for filling the silo, sawing wood and grinding grain for home use. A smaller engine pumps water for the stock and for the pressure tank which supplies the building with water. To carry on the work of the farm five men are employed the year round and more in busy seasons.
Mr. Allen is affiliated with the Republican party but is not a partisan, and always works for what he believes to be the highest good of the com- munity. He has never sought for office but has served on the School Board. He has always worked for temperance, good roads and good government. He is a member of Rochester Grange, a member of the Holstein Friesian Association and of the Strafford County Sheep Breeders' Association. He and his family are members of the Walnut Grove F. B. Church, of which Amasa Allen was for many years senior deacon.
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HON. CHARLES H. MORANG*, who has been interested in the manufacture of brick at Dover Point, N. H., since 1875, is not only a pros- perous business man of Strafford county but also one of political impor- tance. He was born at Lubec, Washington county. Me., July 31, 1846, and is a son of James and Caroline (Kelley) Morang.
Joseph Morang, the grandfather, came of French parents but was born in the province of Quebec, Canada, and afterward moved to Lubec, Me., where his son, James Morang, was subsequently born and grew to manhood, when he married Caroline Kelley, who was born at Trescott, Me.
Charles H. Morang grew up in the fishing village of Lubec and for a few years engaged in the fishing industry, mainly on the Atlantic coast off Lubec. For three years he followed farming on land bordering the Kennebec river, Me. In 1873 he came to Dover, N. H., and two years later went into brick manufacturing at Dover Point, at present being the senior member of the firm of C. H. Morang & Son, brick manufacturers, their business being an extensive one.
Mr. Morang married Miss Sarah Littlefield, who was born in Maine, and they have the following children : Mabel H., wife of Richard G. Pray, of Portsmouth, N. H .; Florence, wife of Charles Rines, of Portsmouth ; Fred L., who is associated with his father at Dover Point; Alice, wife of Robert Goodwin, of Portsmouth, and Ralph E., who resides at Dover Point. Mr. Morang has been a very active and public spirited man and has so secured the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens that they have many times elected him to honorable and responsible offices. For three years lie served as selectman representing the Fourth Ward of Dover city, and for two terms was a member of the Dover city council, and for two additional terms was a member of the board of aldermen of Dover. He served two terms also from the Fourth ward in the New Hampshire legislature and in 1912 was brought forward by his party and friends for election to the state senate. Since manhood he has been loyal in his support of the Republican party. He belongs to Mount Pleasant Lodge, Odd Fellows, at Dover.
CHARLES H. LEAVITT*, a well known and respected citizen of Dover, who is engaged in general agriculture on his farm of thirty acres, situated in the town of Dover, was born November 5, 1853, in Effingham, N. H., and is a son of John C. and Hannah M. (Clark) Leavitt.
John C. Leavitt was born at Effingham, N. H., and with the exception of a few years, during which he was a resident of Dover, spent all his life in his native place, dying there some years ago. For a number of years he was engaged in a general mercantile business and for a time also in
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manufacturing. He married Hannah M. Clark, a native also of Effingham and a daughter of Dr. David W. C. Clark, formerly a well known physician of that place. Mr. Leavitt was twice married and his surviving children are: Mary E., who is the wife of Charles Jellison, of Concord, N. H .; Charles H., of Dover, and John E., of Boston, Mass. John C. Leavitt at one time was a member of the New Hampshire legislature, representing Effingham and was elected on the Republican ticket. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity. His father, James Leavitt, who was of English extraction, was also a resident of Effingham.
Charles H. Leavitt attended the Effingham schools and remained there until he was seventeen years of age. He then came to Dover and was given a position in the Dover post office, in which he continued, despite changing administrations, for thirteen years, and for three years was assist- ant postmaster. Subsequently, for thirteen years more he was a bookkeeper at the Cocheco Mills, in the print works department, retiring in 1908 to his farm in Dover, since which time his interests have been more or less cen- tered on its improvement and development. On January 13, 1875, Mr. Leavitt was married to Miss Gara A. Ward, of Rumney, N. H., a daughter of the late Daniel S. Ward, at one time judge of the police court of Dover. Mr. and Mrs. Leavitt have one son, Lester W. In politics Mr. Leavitt is a Republican and fraternally an Odd Fellow.
DAVID W. WATSON, proprietor of Little Bay Farm, containing 100 acres, situated near Little Bay, the town of Durham, carries on general farming and gardening, making a specialty of growing onions. He was born at Malden, Mass., October 27, 1854, and is a son of David and Elizabeth ( Odiorne) Watson. David Watson was born at Woodstock, Vt., but spent many years of his life at Malden, Mass., and was one of the owners of the Boston Type Foundry. He was a son of David Watson, who was a man of scholarly acquirements, one who understood five different languages. The Watson ancestry is Scotch.
David W. Watson was given excellent school advantages and attended the public schools of Malden and a noted private institution-the Chauncy Hall school at Boston-later taking a business course in the Bryant and Stratton Commercial College, Boston. For a time he was connected in a business way with an amateur printing press concern at Boston, but since early in the eighties he has devoted himself to his agricultural activities, his fore- sight and good judgment being shown in his specializing on a vegetable for which his soil is particularly adapted and one that is in demand the world over.
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Mr. Watson was married at Malden, Mass., to Miss Hattie Soule, who was born at Boston, a daughter of John P. Soule, for many years having an art studio on Washington street, Boston, in which city he was a well- known Freemason. Mrs. Watson died in October, 1911. She was the mother of eight children, namely: Ethel C., who is the wife of A. W. Simpson of Madbury, N. H .; David A., a resident of Durham; Gertrude E., a trained nurse, at Portland, Me .; Lucia S., wife of Dean Smalley, of Lynn, Mass., Leon P., a resident of Barrington, R. I .; Miles S., who is of Ipswich, Mass. and Earl E. and Philip W., both of whom are students in the agricultural department of the New Hampshire State College. Mr. Wat- son has been careful in the educational training of his children and three of them-Miles S., David A. and Lucia S. are graduates of the New Hamp- shire State College. Three also are graduates of Robinson Seminary at Exeter, N. H .; Ethel C., Gertrude E. and Lucia S. Mr. Watson and family attend the Congregational church at Durham. In politics he is affiliated with the Republican party, and he belongs to the Royal Arcanum, at Dover. He is a man of public usefulness, responsible and reliable in the small things as well as the big events of life and stands among the representative citizens of Straf- ford county.
MRS. ARABELLA MASON, who is a well known and highly esteemed resident of Dover, N. H., is a representative of one of the oldest families of Dover Point, N. H. She was born at Dover and is a daughter of Andrew T. and Ann E. ( Roberts) Roberts.
Andrew T. Roberts was born also in Dover, a son of Alonzo Roberts, and a grandson of Daniel Roberts, all of Dover. It was Thomas Roberts, who came from Great Britain to America between 1624 and 1643, was the founder of the family at Dover Point, and ever since it has been a leading one in the county, prominent in local and state affairs. Andrew T. Roberts spent his entire life at Dover Point, and was interested there in brick manufacturing, as was his father, Alonzo Roberts and as also was Aaron Roberts, the mater- nal grandfather of Mrs. Mason. Andrew T. Roberts served in local offices and when Dover was incorporated was the first street commissioner. He was a man of industry and enterprise, one who recognized, however, that public improvements that would benefit the whole community must be the result of concerted effort; he must be credited with arousing public atten- tion to various matters that resulted in permanent advantages to the com- munity. His family consisted of two daughters and one son, the latter, Clarence H., being now deceased. Mrs. Mason had a sister, Emma Z., who
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died Dec. 9, 1913, and who was the wife of Edwin A. Reed, of Worcester, Mass.
Arabella Roberts was reared at Dover Point and enjoyed pleasant social surroundings and educational advantages in her youth. After graduation from the Dover High school and from the New Hampshire State Normal school at Plymouth, N. H., she taught school for a number of years in Dover, taking a great interest in educational work and proving a capable and popular teacher. In 1889 Miss Roberts was married to Harry Mason, of Plymouth, N. H., where they resided for some time. Harry Mason was a descendant of one John Mason, who received a royal grant of land from the King of Eng- land, in colonial days, which covered a part of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, Thomas Roberts at that time being the governor of the colony. The death of Harry Mason occurred November 30, 1908. He is survived by an only son, John R. Mason, a manly, promising youth, who is a member of the class of 1915, at Dartmouth College.
Mrs. Mason owns an excellent farm of eighty acres, which she devotes to general farming and dairying. She belongs to the First Congregational church of Dover, as did her mother. She is interested in many of the leading questions of the day and belongs to the Woman's Club of Dover and is active in the city's pleasant social life to some extent.
HOWARD M. ROBERTS, who is an extensive brick manufacturer at Dover Point, N. H., is a member of one of the families that may have come from Wales and settled here as early as 1633. He can trace his ancestry back through Hanson, Joseph, Stephen and John Roberts, his great-great-grand- father, all of whom were born at Dover Point. The earliest known ancestors of the family was Joseph, son of Joseph and Elizabeth, born October 27. 1692. Howard M. Roberts was born in the town of Dover, on August 15. 1832. His parents were Hanson and Lydia ( Henderson ) Roberts, the mother, like the father, belonging to a pioneer family of Dover Point, her father. Thomas Henderson, being the pioneer in the brick manufacturing industry here.
Hanson Roberts engaged in brickmaking and became a man of ample fortune through this industry. Throughout life he maintained his home at Dover Point although, at times, his political duties called him for a time to other places. He was widely known and served two years in the New Hampshire legislature. He married Lydia Henderson and they became parents of nine children, the only survivor of this family being Howard M. Roberts of this record.
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