USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Amherst > History of the town of Amherst, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire (first known as Narraganset township number three, and subsequently as Souhegan West) > Part 63
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Ile retained his physical and mental vigor wonderfully. After he had passed his ninety-eighth year he held a breaking-up plow a long distance, his son and grandson walking on either side of him as a sort of body-guard to assist him in case of accident.
In his old age he was a great reader, and kept well posted in the cur- rent events of the day. He was quite a politician, and retained his interest in town and state matters to the last. The spring before his death he attended the annual March meeting, the largest ever held in town, and voted the " Whig " ticket. He was the oldest man who ever deceased in Amherst. (See p. 526 : 7.)
CAPT. DANIEL CAMPBELL, JJR.
Taught school for a succession of winters in Amherst and the adjacent towns. He was a competent land surveyor, coroner for the county of Hillsborough, a director of the Farmers' Bank, served twelve years ou
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the board of selectmen, represented the town two years in the general court, and was moderator of the annual town meetings three years.
HIe passed his entire life on the homestead on which he was born, which he managed to advantage and profit, being one of the most suc- cessful stock-growers and farmers in town.
He was a man of probity and integrity. conservative, but ever loyal to his convictions, of sound judgment in business matters, deliberate in action, and worthy of the confidence reposed in him by his fellow- citizens. (See p. 527 : 11.)
IION. CHARLES II. CAMPBELL
Received his education at the district school, and attended an academy a few terms ; commenced teaching at sixteen years of age, which vo- cation he followed in the winter for several years. He labored on the home farm, succeeding his father in its management ; was engaged quite largely in the cattle trade, and as a public salesman of real estate and other property : served as moderator of the annual town meeting nine years : on the board of selectmen one year; and represented the town in the legislature five years. In 1864 he was chairman of the committee on finance, in the House of Representatives, that originated and reported the bill to " Provide for funding the State debt."
Having disposed of the greater part of his real estate in Amherst, he removed to Nashua in 1866, where he established the first real estate agency in the city, connecting therewith the auction business.
He represented the seventh senatorial district two years in the Sen- ate, and, in 1872, was president of that body.
He now resides in Nashua, and is one of the leading auctioneers in the state. (See p. 527 : 19.)
6. Clay
HON. CLIFTON CLAGGETT
Studied law under the direction of his father and commenced practice in Litchfield in 1787, whence he removed to Amherst in 1811. While residing in Litchfield he represented the town in the general court sev- eral years. In 1802, 1816, and 1818, he was elected a Representative to Congress. In 1810 he was appointed judge of probate for Hillsborough county, and held the office until September, 1812, when, having been appointed one of the judges of the superior court, he resigned. From
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this last office he was removed, upon the reorganization of the court, by the Federal party the following year.
In 1823 he was appointed judge of probate for the county of Hills- borough, and held the office until his death.
Dr. John Farmer wrote of him, " Without any commanding powers, but with the possession of respectable attainments, Judge Claggett gave his constituents, and the public generally, that satisfaction which has not always been imparted by those of higher acquisitions, or by those of the most popular and splendid talents." (See p. 533: 2.)
Josiah Prosty
CAPT. JOSIAH CROSBY
Was a native of Billerica, Mass. Tradition says his father was killed by the Indians. At the age of fourteen or fifteen he was placed under the care of Joseph Fitch, of Bedford, Mass., to learn the mill-wright's trade.
In 1748 he was a soldier on the frontier, near Connecticut river. While there he and fifteen others, under the command of a lieutenant, were ordered to march from Fort Dummer to Fort Hinsdale. When within about a mile of their journey's end, the party fell into an ambush of about one hundred and twenty French and Indians, who arose and fired npon them. The party then separated, each man seek- ing his own safety. Two of the number escaped by seereting them- selves, one reached Fort Hinsdale, and Crosby ran up the river toward Fort Dummer, followed by an Indian, who, coming up within a few rods, discharged his gun, the ball passing near him. Crosby then turned and fired at the Indian, who gave him no further trouble. He then pursued his way up the river, and, on coming opposite Fort Dummer, attempted to swim aeross, but before reaching the opposite shore his strength failed and he sunk. Some of the soldiers in the fort came to his assistance and rescued him. Ile and the three others above- named were all of the party that escaped.
In 1753 he settled on a tract of land purchased of his wife's father, . in that part of Monson which was afterward annexed to Amherst. In 1774, and some subsequent years, he was one of the selectmen of Amherst, and during some of the years of the Revolution he was one of its representatives in the general court and a member of the eom- mittee of safety.
Prior to the battle of Lexington a company of minute men was or- ganized in town, of which he was chosen captain. After the com-
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meneement of hostilities the company repaired to Cambridge, and, on the organization of the New Hampshire regiments, in May following, it became a part of the third regiment, and was placed under the com- mand of Col. James Reed, of Fitzwilliam. It participated in the battle of Bunker Hill, and many of its members remained in the service un- til the evacuation of Boston by the British, the March following.
Capt. Crosby also commanded a company sent to reinforce General Sullivan in Rhode Island, in 1778. (See p. 548: 1.)
DR. SAMUEL CURTIS,
Son of Rev. Philip Curtis, of Sharon, Mass., graduated at Harvard Col- lege in 1766, being the eighteenth in a class of forty. He was a sur- geon in the army of the Revolution, and received a pension the latter part of his life. He commenced practice in Amherst in 1789, but in a few years gave up his professional business for that of an innkeeper. Ile also kept an apothecaries' shop in his tavern. He was the compiler of " Curtis' Pocket Almanac and New Hampshire Register," which was published annually from 1800 to 1809 inclusive, and several other works. (See p. 552: 1.)
JOSEPH CUSHING
Commenced the publication of the Farmers' Cabinet 11 November, 1802, and continued it until the close of volume VII, 3 October, 1809, when he sold the establishment to Richard Boylston. He afterward estab- lished himself in Baltimore. His successor in the Cabinet office said of him, " Ile began business in this place with small means, and pursued it here and elsewhere energetically until he became a rich and honored man. Before leaving Amherst he had purposed to increase his busi- ness by entering more largely into the printing, publishing, and selling of books. With this in view he had erected the large brick building on the Plain which was to be occupied for the purpose. After settling in Baltimore he entered largely into book-selling, and supplied the western trade in large quantities. Ile was a man of good natural and acquired ability, and possessed talents which fitted him for public po- sitions. These, however, he generally declined, believing a well-con- ducted private station to be the highest post of honor."
For some years, near the close of his life, he was president of a sav- ings bank, which office he filled with credit to himself and to the satis- faction of those whose savings were entrusted to his care.
Being of a social, generous, and very hospitable disposition, he was much respected while residing in Amherst. (See p. 553.)
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HON. SAMUEL DANA
Entered the freshman class of Harvard College at the age of twelve years, and graduated four years later. having for classmates President John Adams, Governor John Wentworth, and other noted men.
After fitting for the ministry he received and accepted a call to set- tle in Groton, Mass., where he was ordained and installed 3 June, 1761. There he remained in office until 15 May, 1775, when the affections of many of his parishioners having become alienated from him on ac- count of the course he saw fit to pursue in regard to the controversy between Great Britain and her American colonies, he voluntarily re- linquished his pastoral charge. He however remained in Groton en- gaged in the cultivation of a small farm. and, for some months, in 1780 and 1781, acted as the minister of a portion of the people, who, not pleased with his removal, had formed a new society.
About this time a law library came into his possession, and from a perusal of the volumes he formed a taste for the investigation of legal matters. An attorney who boarded with him furnished him with some information in his investigations. In 1780 he spent some months in Amherst in the office of Joshua Atherton, Esq., from whom he received further instruction. In the fall of that year he purchased a small ten- ement of Mir. Atherton, into which he moved with his family in the spring of 1781. In the autumn following he was, on motion of Mr. Atherton, admitted to practice as an attorney in the court of common pleas, and soon came into full practice.
In 1782 he purchased the farm and buildings of Samuel Stewart's . heirs, at the west end of the Plain. which he occupied throughout the remainder of his life.
In November, 1782, he was chosen a delegate to the convention which framed the constitution of the state. Shortly after the adoption of the constitution he was appointed a justice of the inferior court of common pleas, but declined to accept the office. In 1785 he was ap- pointed register of probate for Hillsborough county, and held the office until 9 January, 1789, when he was appointed judge of probate. This office he resigned 21 December, 1792, saying, in the letter conveying his resignation, that "for the support of my family I am obliged to practice as an attorney, and there is danger that I may not always be able to distinguish between a fee to the attorney and a bribe to the judge."
In 1793 he was chosen to the state senate to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Hon. Joshua Atherton. In this position he took an active part in procuring the passage of a law abolishing the courts of general sessions of the peace.
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A few years before his death he procured the establishment of a lodge of Free Masons in Amherst, of which he was the first worshipful master. This lodge held their meetings for some time in his house, where a hall was fitted up for their accommodation. His death, caused by typhus fever, violent in its attack and rapid in its progress, occurred 2 April, 1798, and his remains were entombed with Masonic honors on the fourth, when Timothy Biglow, of Groton, delivered a funeral ora- tion.
In his person Judge Dana was tall, spare, and very erect, except an inclination of the knees, which never deserted him when he was in a standing position. He had a blemish, occasioned by the small-pox, which had destroyed the sight of one of his eyes.
His religious views were of the most liberal kind, and he was a kind friend and supporter of Rev. Mr. Barnard, the minister of the town.
His talents as a lawyer were above mediocrity, but many of the hab- its acquired in the ministry remained through life. A contemporary says, "Could a person have been placed so as to hear Judge Dana while he was addressing a jury, without distinguishing his words, not a shadow of doubt would remain in his mind that the speaker was en- gaged in devout and earnest prayer."
In his will, written in 1795, the usual invocation to the Deity is omitted. No bequest of his soul and body or mention of his reli- gious belief is made, the first instance it is believed in the county, says Hon. C. H. Atherton, of the omission of these supposed essentials to a will. (See p. 554 : I.)
CAPT. WILLIAM DANA,
A younger brother of Hon. Samuel Dana, was born in Brighton, Mass., in 1745; married Mary Bancroft, of Pepperell, Mass .; resided in Charlestown and Worcester, Mass. ; removed to Amherst in 1779, thence, in 1788, to Marietta, Ohio. He died in Ohio in 1809.
He enlisted in the American army at the commencement of hostili- ties in 1775, and served some two or three years as a captain in the artillery under the command of Gen. Henry Knox. In 1778 he sold his property in the vicinity of Worcester, receiving his pay in conti- mental bills which became worthless on his hands, and he was reduced to poverty. His pay in the army being inadequate for the support of his family, he reluctantly resigned his commission and left the service. Ile soon after removed to Amherst where he engaged in farming. He also worked at his trade as a carpenter. A portion of the time he acted as a deputy sheriff.
In the spring of 1788 he, and his two eldest sons, started for the new settlement at Marietta, Ohio, where they arrived near the last of June,
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after a toilsome journey. After building a log cabin they engaged in the manufacture of bricks,-the first that were made in Ohio.
The spring following he returned to Amherst for the remainder of his family, who accompanied him on his return to Ohio. He then located himself on a tract of bottom land, near the Ohio river, just above the head of Blennerhassett's island, where, after a few years of toil and danger, he secured a comfortable home.
In his person Capt. Dana was tall and had the bearing of a soldier. In his disposition he was cheerful and social. He had eleven chil- dren, eight sons and three daughters, and his descendants rank among the first families in Ohio.
PROF. JAMES FREEMAN DANA
Fitted for college at Exeter Academy, and graduated at Harvard Uni- versity in 1813. He was early interested in chemical studies, and in 1818 was sent to England, by the overseers of the university, to procure a suitable chemical apparatus for the use of the college. While in England he applied himself assiduously to the study of his favorite science, and after his return he was appointed assistant professor of chemistry at Cambridge.
He commenced the study of medicine soon after his graduation, under the direction of Dr. Gorham, of Cambridge, and received the de- gree of M. D. in 1817. The next year he married and commenced the practice of medicine in Cambridge.
As but little opportunity was afforded him for a display of his pro- fessional skill, he, in connection with his brother, Samuel L. Dana, pub- lished, in 1818, a small octavo volume on the geology and mineralogy of Boston.
In 1820 he took the name of James Freeman Dana, by authority of the legislature of Massachusetts, and in the latter part of that year he received the appointment of professor of chemistry at Dartmouth Col- lege, which he accepted, and removed to Hanover, giving up the prac- tice of medicine and devoting himself to the duties of his professional chair.
He was highly esteemed at Hanover, both in the college and by the citizens of the town.
In 1824 he was appointed an aid to Governor Morril, with the rank of colonel, and in that capacity assisted in the reception of General Lafayette at Concord, in June, 1825. He was also chosen a represent- ative to the general court in 1825.
He was a Mason in high standing, and, at the age of 31 years, was chosen Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the state.
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In 1826 he was appointed one of the visitors to the military academy at West Point, by the Secretary of War, and, near the close of the year, received the appointment of professor of chemistry in the col- lege of physicians and surgeons of the University of New York. On his removal to New York, in November, 1826, he applied himself to the duties of his office, but in the month of April following he was attacked by erysipelas, which soon extended to his brain and in a few days ter- minated his life. (See p. 555: 11)
DR. SAMUEL LUTHER DANA
Fitted for college at Exeter, and graduated at Harvard University in 1813.
lle commenced the study of law with his uncle, Hon. Samuel Dana, of Charlestown, Mass., but soon abandoned it. Shortly after he joined the army, where he served as lieutenant in the first artillery regiment in New York and Virginia until the close of the war in 1815. In June, of that year, he resigned his commission and commenced the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. Bancroft, of Groton. He received the degree of M. D. from Harvard, and commenced practice in Gloucester, Mass., in 1818. In 1819 he removed to Waltham where he continued in practice until 1826. During this time he was much in- terested in chemical investigations, and assisted in establishing a lab- oratory for the manufacture of oil of vitriol and bleaching salts. He also founded the Newton Chemical Company.
From 1830 to 1833 he was often called to Lowell as a consulting chemist. In the spring of 1834 he delivered a course of lectures before the Mechanics' Association of that place, and in the autumn of that year received the appointment of chemist of the Merrimack Manu- facturing Company and removed to Lowell. Here his services to the company, in the discovery of new methods of printing calicoes, and the economical use of coal in the steam engines, used by the company, were invaluable.
While employed by the company he was engaged in the application of his favorite science to agricultural pursuits, and published the " Far- mers' Muck Manual." His essay on manures received the prize offer- ed by the Massachusetts Agricultural Society in 1843. He also pub- lished several pamphlets on the action of lead pipe upon the water conveyed in them, and a treatise on the amount of nutriment contained in the common articles of food.
In November, 1851, he removed to Tyngsborough, where he had pur- chased a farm, on which he resided until 1860, when he returned to Lowell, retaining the farm as a summer resort until 1866, when it was sold.
O
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Hle died in Lowell 11 March, 1868, in consequence of injuries received by a fall upon the ice on his doorstep several weeks before. Said Dr. Hayes, " In the death of Dr. Dana we must conclude that a great and good man has left us, whose highly scientific labors were constant for the benefit of others, but whose modesty and sphere of action precluded public acknowledgment and praise." (See p. 555 : 12.)
TIMOTHY DANFORTHI, ESQ.,
Engaged in quite a number of business enterprises in the course of his life. being a merchant, taverner, farmer, brick-maker, and whip manu- facturer by turns. He was also a well-known auctioneer, deputy sheriff, and crier of the courts many years. Toward the close of his life he was appointed post-master, which office he held a short time. Gentle- manly in his manners and peaceable in his demeanor, he maintained a respectable standing in society in all the various occupations in which he engaged. (See p. 557 : 3.)
JAMES B. DAVID
Was one of the first citizens of the town to tender his services to the country in the civil war of 1861-5. Enlisting as a private, he was, upon the organization of his company, appointed first lieutenant, and was stationed at Fort Constitution, near Portsmouth, during the term of his enlistment. He again enlisted and was appointed first lienten- ant in the 5th regiment N. HI. Vols. After serving a year he was honorably discharged. Afterward he assisted in raising a cavalry reg- iment at Dubuque, Iowa, and was commissioned as a captain of one of its companies. His regiment was employed in service among the In- dians on the frontiers. After four years of service in this capacity he was honorably discharged, having received brevet commissions as lieutenant-colonel and colonel, for meritorious conduct on the Plains. He now resides in Somerville, Mass. (See p. 560 : 4.)
REV. JOSIAH GARDNER DAVIS
Graduated at Yale College in 1836; studied theology at Andover Theological Seminary, and at Union Theological Seminary, New York, from whence he graduated in 1841. He was ordained and install- ed pastor of the Congregational church and society 22 May, 1844, and, after an able and successful ministry was dismissed, at his own re- quest, 22 January, 1880.
Ile was elected a trustee of Dartmouth College in 1871, and was a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1876. He has served as statistical secretary of the general association of New Hampshire sev- eral years, and is a corporate member of the A. B. C. F. M .; has been
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a member of the superintending school committee of the town twenty- one years, and has performed his full share of work in councils, associa- tions, and other ecclesiastical bodies.
He received the honorary degree of S. T. D. from Dartmouth College in 1866. (See pp. 391. 562 : 12.)
DAVID DODGE,
Son of Samuel Dodge, was placed under the guardianship of Daniel Campbell, Esq .. 10 March, 1757.
He became a noted teacher. and was town-clerk of Charlestown, Mass., from 1814 to 1817, and from 1825 to 1847. He was also city- clerk of Charlestown in 1847 and 1848.
His portrait hangs in the reading room of the public library of that city.
In his old age he removed to Billerica, where he died 6 February, 1853, aged 83 years. (See p. 568: 46.)
PERLEY DODGE, ESQ.,
Worked on his father's farm in New Boston until he was sixteen years of age. then fitted for college ; graduated from Union College, Sche- nectady, N. Y., with the class of 1824; read law in the offices of Nehe- miah Eastman, of Farmington, and Titus Brown, of Francestown, and was admitted to practice in the courts of New Hampshire in 1827. He commenced business in connection with Hon. Titus Brown, in Frances- town and New Boston; removed to Amherst 7 March, 1832, where he continued in practice in the county of Hillsborough for fifty-one years, at- tending every term of the court sitting in the county. From 1839 to to 1857 he was clerk of the courts in Hillsborough county, and during that time he received and recorded every verdict, except one, rendered by the juries.
He represented the town in the general court of New Hampshire in the years 1837, '53, and '54.
As he is now unable to attend the courts he has retired from prac- tice, and has returned to his first employment -- the cultivation of the soil. (See p. 569 : 62.)
DEA. CYRUS EASTMAN
Served a seven years' apprenticeship at the clock and watch-making business with Major Timothy Chandler, of Concord. About 1814 he removed to Amherst and commenced business.
Having an inventive genius he was constantly making experiments, and in 1815, or thereabout, devised a plan for making lead pipe, for which he obtained a patent, and engaged in its manufacture.
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In 1819 he went to New Orleans in the employ of a company who had a contraet to furnish the city with water. But the undertaking proved an unfortunate one, as most of the company sickened. and some died there. The survivors returned home poorer but, perhaps, wiser men.
When Manchester began to be built up Mr. Eastman was one of a company to furnish the inhabitants with water by means of aqueducts. He also furnished the pumps and pipes for the use of the railroad com- panies between Lowell and Franklin.
He was an excellent mechanic, an active business man, and a public- spirited citizen.
For many years he was a member of the Congregational church, and one of its officers from 30 December, 1836, until his death. (See p. 574 : 1.)
DAVID EVERETT, ESQ.,
Born in Princeton, Mass., in 1769, died in Marietta, Ohio, 21 December, 1813; married Dolly, danghter of Deacon Isaac Appleton, of New Ips- wich, 29 December, 1799. She was born 6 September, 1770; died in New Ipswich 15 Jannary, 1859. They resided in Amherst from 1802 until 1807.
His father fell in the war for independence, and he was left to the care of relatives at Wrentham, Mass., whence, at the age of 21. he went to New Ipswich, where he attended the academy, teaching school in winter to give him the means of support. It was while thus engaged that he wrote the oft repeated piece commencing-
" You'd scarce expect one of my age To speak in public on the stage,"-
which was spoken for the first time at a school exhibition in the acad- emy by Ephraim H. Farrar, afterward a well-known and worthy citizen of the town.
He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1795; read law with John M. Forbes ; was admitted to the Suffolk bar, and had an office on Court street, Boston, with Thomas O. Selfridge, who afterward shot Charles Austin in a street affray.
In 1802 he removed to Amherst, where he remained five years, when he returned to Boston and soon afterward formed a business con- nection with Lemuel Shaw, Esq., afterward Chief Justice of Massachu- setts.
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