History of the town of Antrim, New Hampshire, from its earliest settlement to June 27, 1877, with a brief genealogical record of all the Antrim families, Part 47

Author: Cochrane, Warren Robert, 1835-1912
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Manchester, N. H., Mirror Steam Printing Press
Number of Pages: 942


USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Antrim > History of the town of Antrim, New Hampshire, from its earliest settlement to June 27, 1877, with a brief genealogical record of all the Antrim families > Part 47


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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JAMES DINSMORE was the fourth son of John and Martha, that 1 we shall name. He was a carpenter by trade, and came here in 1778. Began soon after the Zadok Dodge place. Married Rachel Dickey. Was one of the committee of three to build the first meeting-house in 1785. He was killed by a fall from the roof of said house, June 3, 1786. He and his brother Samuel were shingling, when the staging broke and they both went to the ground. Samuel was not much hurt, but James fell across a rock and broke his back. He lived to be carried home, but never spoke. His age was thirty-two. Was a smart and good man. His death was a heavy loss to the town, and filled the settlement with universal sadness. James Dinsmore left two children. The older of them died in childhood, and its name cannot be ascertained. The other bore the name " Rachel," like her mother. She was born June 15, 1786, only twelve days after her father's death. In her many changes of fortune she was said to have " been three times without a home, - never without friends." She married James Dunlap, and died in childbirth, Aug. 13, 1811. The 'babe did not survive but was buried with her on the hill. A flattering notice of Mrs. Dunlap may be found in the " Amherst Cabinet " of Aug. · 20, 1811.


SAMUEL DINSMORE was the fifth and last child of John and Mar- tha, falling under our notice. These five sons were cousins of Samuel Dinsmore who was governor of New Hampshire in 1831-1833 ; and of the "Rustic Bard." Samuel Dinsmore of Antrim was born in 1756; was out nearly three years in the Revolutionary war, and came here near the close of 1778. Several times while he was in the service, the town voted to clear and burn pieces of his "chopped land." One such tract was where the Dinsmore house now stands, which would lead us to conclude he had been here and located his tract of land before entering the army. He was a carpenter by trade and at once prepared his cabin. It was then on the extreme west of the town. His nearest neighbor on the east was Robert Burns, near the old High-Range school-house; while on the north and west there were no neighbors for many miles, nothing but an unbroken forest. There was no road near him. For years he had to. watch the bears nights in the fall of the year to prevent their destroying his corn. Built the saw and grist mills where now Loveren's mills stand, in the year 1805. Was one of the committee of three to build the town's meeting-house in 1785. Was often selectman. Though one of the wealthy men in town, he never had a wagon. He married, first, Sarah Dunlap of Antrim; second, Mary Parke of Windham. His first wife died very young and left no children. He died in 1822. Children : -


1. SARAH, [b. May 3, 1795, m. Thomas S. Holmes, March 2, 1820.]


2. JOHN, [b. Feb. 6, 1797, d. in childhood.]


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3. ALEXANDER, [b. Dec. 7, 1798, d. in childhood.]


4. ANNIS, [b. in 1800, m. Jonathan Carr Feb. 27, 1828, d. in 1844.]


5. SILAS, [b. in 1802 ; widely known as " Col. Dinsmore ;" was long prominent as a military man ; rose through all the steps till he commanded the regiment in which Antrim was located ; was one of the marshals at the centennial celebra- tion. His response on the military of Antrim will be found in another place. He m. Clarissa Copeland of Stoddard, lived some years on the homestead of his father, then moved to Stoddard where he now resides. He has been trusted with responsible positions by the people of that town. His children were all born in Antrim, and were as follows : - Jacob C., (b. Nov. 13, 1832, m. Lucinda Hoar, lives in Keene.) Clarissa M., (b. Dec. 26, 1833, m. Virgil A. Wright, lives in Keene.)


Dr. Silas M., (b. June 22, 1836, studied medicine, began prac- tice at North Branch, m. Georgianna Carey of Alstead, soon moved to East Washington, thence in 1874 to Francestown, where he pursues the profession he has chosen with ability and honor. )]


6. MARGARET, [d. unm. in 1857.]


7. BARSABAS, [b. Sept. 17, 1806, m. Ann Bowen of Newbury, Vt., and lives in that place.]


8. SAMUEL, [b. July 7, 1808, followed the sea many years, never married, owns and occupies the Dinsmore homestead ; select- man in 1851. A kind and upright man.] *


9. MARY, [b. Sept. 22, 1810, m. Jonas W. Tuttle Feb. 20, 1834, lives in Newbury Vt.]


10. ALICE, [b. in 1812, became 3d wife of Solomon H. Griffin, Oct. 19, 1856.]


DODGE.


DIMON DODGE, son of Nehemiah and Ruth (Woodbury) Dodge of New Boston, was born in that town in 1778; married Ann Wilson of Francestown in 1811, and moved at once to the Cheney farm, next to Cork bridge (house now gone), and lived there until 1838, when he moved to New Boston, and died there in 1840. He was deacon in the East Church, and had a large family, but all died in childhood except the following: -


1. JAMES M., [b. in 1818 ; m. Lucy J. Philbrick of New Boston, and lived in that town. In 1850 he sailed for California,


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via Panama, and d. on the voyage. He left one child, Clar- ence M. Dodge, M. D., of Nashua.]


2. WILLARD, [b. in 1828, and was unm. He started with his brother for California, and both d. the same day, July 28, 1850, and were buried together at sea.]


3. CLARISSA, [b. in 1831 ; m. Benjamin F. Kendrick of. Nashua, who is general ticket-agent of the Boston and Lowell Rail- road, and they reside in Nashua. ]


AMOS DODGE, son of Amos and Lydia (Batchelder) Dodge of Wen- ham, Mass., was born in 1784, and came to Antrim about 1814. He mar- ried Patty White of Wenham, and in 1816 bought the Capt. Morse place in the west part of the town, where they spent the remainder of life, he dying in 1862, she in 1874, leaving two sons: -


1. JOHN, [b. March, 1816 ; m. Sarah J. McVennan of Berkshire, Vt., in 1842, and lived about 20 years in Antrim, then moved to Marlow, where he d. in 1874, much respected and lamented by all. His children are : -


Mary M., (m. F. A. Warner, and lives in the West.)


Sarah J., (m. M. F. Jones, and lives in Marlow.)


George H., (lives in Marlow.)]


2. AMOS, [b. Nov. 6, 1819 ; m. Mehitable B. Weston, April 18, 1844, and lives on the old homestead, having four chil- dren : -


George W., (b. Nov. 17, 1845 ; m. Emelia Bradford, and lives in Antrim, Minn.)


John W., (d. in 1868, at the age of 20.)


Delia J., (b. May 18, 1851; m. C. W. Flanders, April, 1869, and lives in Lawrence, Mass.)


Flora S., (b. Oct. 30, 1863.)]


ZADOK DODGE, brother of Amos, was born in 1780. The two brothers came here together to purchase farms. After some delay, he bought the place next west of South Village, begun by James Dinsmore in 1779. This was in 1814, and he moved there in the spring of 1815. He married Lydia Hadley of Andover, Mass., early in 1806. After her death, Aug. 8, 1820, at the age of fifty-two, he married Sally Lowe of Greenfield, and died June 9, 1860, leaving two children, both by his first wife. His second wife died Nov. 10, 1867, aged seventy-six. His chil- dren were: -


1. HEPSIBAH, [b. Nov. 27, 1806 ; m. George R. Johnson, and lives in Nashua.]


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2. ALVAH, [b. Feb. 8, 1811 ; m. Lydia Elliot of Mason, in 1836, who d. in 1852, aged 35, leaving six children : -


Jennie M., (b. Oct. 5, 1836 ; m. Orville J. Coburn of Lowell, Mass., Dec. 31, 1862. He is now a trader in Nashua.)


Anna S., (b. Sept. 16, 1838 ; m. E. A. Colburn, M. D., of Nashua, June 24, 1861.)


Hattie M., (b. Feb. 13, 1841; m. William H. Flinn of Nashua, Sept. 2, 1866.)


Charles H., (b. March 18, 1844. He was killed in the army Oct. 21, 1862.)


Hiram D., (b. July 14, 1846 ; m. Mary E. Philbrick of Wash- ington, Feb. 3, 1867, and lives at South Village, having one child, Herbert E.)


Fossie M., (b. Nov. 17, 1851 ; m. Henry H. Barker of Nashua, Nov. 5, 1873. He is now a dry-goods merchant in Milford. )


For his second wife, Mr. Dodge m. Alice W. Carr of this town, Sept. 20, 1855. They have one daughter : - Katie A., (b. July 12, 1857.)


He is a carpenter by trade, and lived on the old home- stead until 1850, when he moved to South Village, where he now resides.]


ROBERT S. DODGE, son of Robert and Phebe (Ditson) Dodge of New Boston, was born in 1807; married Mary A. Kimball of Fisherville, Nov. 15, 1835, and came here in 1857, engaging in the manufacture of wash-boards in the old peg-shop at North Branch, where he remained until 1875; then moved to South Village, where he now resides. His children are: -


1. WILLIAM S., [went to California when young; m. Lizzie A. Messer of Dixon, Ill., in May, 1864; now lives in Sitka, Alaska. ]


2. LYDIA A., [m. Charles N. Foster Dec. 11, 1865, and lives in Williamsport, Penn.]


3. GEORGE F., [m. Emma J. Hall of Ellenburg, N. Y., June, 1873 ; lived in Wheelock, Vt., now lives in Antrim.]


4. LOUISE M., [m. Harrison C. Ferry May 1, 1876, and lives in Deering. ]


5. FRANCES J., [m. Edward L. Eaton Oct. 28, 1875, and lives in this town.]


"GILMAN " DODGE, or Samuel G. Dodge, was born in Bennington, Nov. 27, 1821, and was killed at the battle of Fredericksburg, Dec. 13,


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1862. His grandfather, Capt. Gideon Dodge, married Charity Cole of Beverly, Mass., March 10, 1785, and brought her to his home in Society Land, which he had settled two years before. Capt. Gideon was son of James Dodge of New Boston, and his mother was an Ober from Beverly. He died April 16, 1822. The children of Capt. Gideon and Charity Cole were four sons and four daughters. The sons were Gideon, Jr., John, Samuel, and Solomon. Gideon, Jr., married Mary Bowers of Hancock, and was killed in Antrim by the fall of a tree, June 12, 1815, aged twenty-six. His young wife survived him less than six months, but left one child, who married Phillips T. Gile and was mother of Rev. Orrison Gile. Young Dodge was killed west of the pond on a tract of land known as the Woodbury pasture. It was the plan some- times to have what was called a "jam; " that is, they would cut all the trees on a tract about three-fourths off, or a little more, and then, when all was ready, start the whole by falling a big tree against one side, and then the whole piece of forest would go down at once, with a terrible crash, filling the air with broken limbs and shaking the ground by the shock. This was supposed to save labor and make cleaner work, besides affording the grand and startling scene of a falling forest. With those giants of the first growth it was a great sight. On this occasion the wind started the " jam " a little too soon, and all ran for life, and Gideon, Jr., almost escaped with the rest, but was struck dead by a limb of the last tree that fell. John, the next son of Gideon, settled on the homestead, and died there Sept. 23, 1865, aged seventy-two. Was known as "Squire Dodge; " was much in public business, and was called a " live man." He married Betsey Dinsmore, and among their children were John C. Dodge, Esq., of Bennington, and Mrs. N. W. C. Jameson and Mrs. R. P. Whitte- more of Antrim. Samuel, third son of Gideon, married Jane Dodge, and was father of Samuel Gilman. Solomon, the other son of Gideon, married Susan Felch; lived in Franklin; was father of John F. Dodge, Esq., of Bennington.


" Gilman " Dodge, as he was called, lived three or four years in An- trim, in all. He married Lucinda S. Carr, sister of Reed Carr. Their children were all born in Bennington except two: -


1. CHARLES A., [b. in Antrim, Oct. 19, 1843 ; agent for the Reaper and Mower Co. of Chicago.]


2. FRANCIS G., [b. Sept. 1, 1846.]


3. SAMUEL ARTHUR, [b. in Antrim, Oct. 4, 1848 ; m. Fannie A. Lane of Manchester, July 4, 1878 ; is overseer of a hosiery mill at Hillsborough Bridge.]


4. GEORGE W., [b. Aug. 20, 1853.]


5. MARIA A., [b. March 12, 1858.]


6. NELLIE H., [b. Jan. 7, 1861.]


7. JENNIE G., [b. Nov. 13, 1862.]


WILLIAM B. DODGE was born in New Boston, Dec. 24, 1800, and came here from New Boston in 1865. His father, having the same name,


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and known in New Boston as Lieut. William B. Dodge, was a prominent man in that town in his day ; was quite a musician, and was chairman of the committee on music at the installation of Mr. Bradford, Feb. 26, 1806. Lieut. Dodge married Margaret Willson, daughter of James of New Bos- ton, and granddaughter of Robert Willson of Londonderry. He (Lieut. Dodge) was born May 6, 1777, and died Sept. 20, 1807, in the prime of his days. Of his ancestry but little is known. The first Dodge of whom we have any knowledge came into England with William the Con- queror, in 1066, and subsequently settled in Cheshire, where the descend- ants became quite numerous. Two of them emigrated to this country, and settled in Beverly, Mass. ; and it is believed that all the Dodges in the United States sprung from these two. They came in 1629. Their names were Richard and William. Jacob Dodge, of the third genera- tion from this William, was born in Beverly, in 1717, and married Abi- gail Edwards of Ipswich, Mass. One of the children of Jacob and Abigail Dodge was Jacob, Jr., who was born in 1752, and in 1772 married Anna Batchelder of Wenham, Mass. This last couple moved to New Boston three or four years after marriage, taking his father with them. Jacob, Sen., died in New Boston, 1801. Jacob, Jr., was in the Revolutionary army, and fought at Bennington under Stark. In later life he went back to Beverly, Mass., and died there Oct. 25, 1810, leaving eight chil- dren, of whom the oldest son was Lieut. William B. Dodge, named above. The others were Polly, Ezra, Abner, Reuben, Betsey E., Han- nah B., and Nancy.


William B. Dodge of Antrim married Sophia Friend of Beverly, in 1823. He died Nov. 26, 1867. Was found dead in the stream close to his mill in Clinton, having fallen in and been drowned. His children are: -


1. WILLIAM B., [b. March 31, 1825, and m. Mary A. Mor- gan of Peabody, Mass., Jan. 20, 1847. Their only child, Freddie W., d. Sept. 4, 1849.]


2. CHARLES B., [b. April 10, 1829 ; m. Grace Hall of New Bos- ton, July 29, 1857 ; has been town clerk of Antrim several years ; has children : -


L. Fannie, (b. Oct. 19, 1858 ; m. Frank L. Eastman of Weare, Feb. 27, 1879.)


Sophia F., (b. May 30, 1868.)]


3. ELISABETH F., [m. David T. Burley, and lives in Manchester. ]


4. AUGUSTA P., [m. William Hood, and lives in Danvers, Mass. ]


5. FRANCES, [d. in New Boston, April 7, 1856.]


6. CALEB F., [was a Union soldier, and d. of starvation in An- dersonville prison, aged 23, July 20, 1864.]


7. SOPHIA, [b. in 1844 ; m. Capt. Horace S. Taylor, Oct. 11, 1866. He died Dec. 10, 1869.]


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DOW.


PERCY DOW came here from Methuen, Mass., about 1780, and lived on Meeting-House Hill. Dr. Whiton says that he "became an inhab- itant in 1785," which probably means that he purchased land and be- came a " freeholder," as they called it at that time. He seems at that time to have succeeded John McAllister, and the house stood on the west side of the old road, about one-fourth of a mile north of the old cemetery. There he lived about fifteen years, and most of his children were born in this town. His wife was Zeborah Barker, sister of Capt. Peter Barker. Percy Dow died in 1824. His wife died February, 1844, aged ninety- three. They moved from Antrim to Newport about 1795. Their chil- dren were: -


1. REBEKAH, [b. Sept. 26, 1776 ; d. Jan. 24, 1805.]


2. HANNAH PEASLEE, [b. Feb. 7, 1778; probably d. in infancy.]


3. DANIEL, [b. June 11, 1779 ; d. in 1812.]


4. ZEBEDIAH B., [b. in Antrim, March 10, 1781; m. Asenath Smart of Croydon; had children : Hiram, Rebecca, Addina, Hial, Asenath, Edward, Caleb, Adalia, Lucy, Caroline, Lu- cinda, and Alphonso. These are all very respectable peo- ple. Hial Dow and Son are among the heaviest manufac- turers of woodenware in the State. Are extensive builders and dealers in lumber. Zebediah B. Dow d. in 1863, aged 82.]


5. DEBORAH, [b. here Jan. 2, 1783 ; m. John Webster of New- port ; had eleven children ; d. February, 1833.]


6. ZILLAH, [b. here March 12, 1785.]


7. HANNAH PEASLEE, [b. here Feb. 8, 1787.]


8. POLLY BOYD, [b. May 26, 1789, in Antrim; m. Thomas Whit- tier of Newport ; had eight children, most of whom d. young. ]


9. ELISABETH, [b. in Antrim, April 27, 1791.]


10. ANNA B., [b. in Antrim, April 30, 1793; m. Abram Hen- derson, and moved to Salisbury, Vt.]


11. CAROLINE M., [b. in Newport, Feb. 10, 1796.]


LYMAN DOW, son of Joseph and Mary (Wells) Dow of Deering, was born in 1809; married Elisa Wood of Antrim, Feb. 11, 1836. In 1840 he came here and bought the Esquire James Hopkins farm, now A. A. Miller's. His wife died July 16, 1843, aged thirty-eight. He mar- ried, second, Esther Hadley of Hancock. He moved to Hillsborough Bridge in 1861. Children were: -


1. MARY JEANETTE, [b. Feb. 8, 1837 ; m. George Eaton, Nov. 4, 1860 ; resides in Woonsocket, R. I.]


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2. SYLVANUS, [b. April 7, 1844 ; unm.]


3. CHARLES L., [b. April 21, 1846 ; m. Lizzie Sawyer of Pem- broke, where they now reside.]


4. ESTHER A., [b. March 21, 1849; married Arthur A. Miller, Nov. 2, 1868.]


DOWNING.


The history of the Downing family, as narrated below, was collected by the writer at great pains, and after long correspondence. Much help was given by descendants in Marlow, and Edinburg, N. Y .; tombstones and records were consulted; and after all had been thus put together, I heard of a very rare book, entitled "The Last Men of the Revolution," and through the kindness of Hon. Charles Adams, Jr., this book was hunted up and put into my hands. I found it contained a history of Samuel Downing, and confirmed in every particular, so far as it went, my own laborious conclusions. It was published by Rev. E. B. Hillard, Hartford, 1864.


Daniel and Samuel Downing were sons of David and Susannah (Beechem) Downing of Newburyport, Mass.


DAVID DOWNING, the father, was a ship-carpenter; was born in Portsmouth in 1738; was in the British service; was sent out by them in the last French war; went into the ranks as a soldier, and was wounded; afterwards went into the Revolutionary army; and came here in 1781. He settled what is known as the William Wilkins place, at the foot of the sand-hill, and lived there thirteen years, moving with his son to Marlow in 1794, and dying in that town in 1798. His widow survived till 1831, and reached the age of nearly one hundred and one years. Of the two sons, Daniel came here to live with his father in 1783, having entered the army of the Revolution at an early stage of the war, and serv- ing till its close. He married Betsey Blanchard; lived here till 1794, when, taking his parents with him, and his only surviving child, he moved to Marlow, and began a farm in the wilderness; but had barely got it into comfortable condition when he died, the same year with his father, in 1798, aged thirty-five. James, the only child that survived him, was born in Antrim in 1790, being four years old when he moved away; yet on return remembering after many years every mark of the place of his birth. On growing up, he received the farm his father had cleared, and on which he had died in his prime. He married Lydia, daughter of Christopher and Lois (Huntley) Ayers of Acworth, and died in 1868. He left a numerous family, of whom James, the second son, married Electa F. Foster of Stod- dard, and now lives in Marlow, near the place where he was born. James Downing, now living, is a man of wealth ; holds with special care, for the sake of the past, the homestead where his grandfather Daniel, and father James settled, and is among the most respectable men of his town.


SAMUEL DOWNING, the other son of David, was born in New- buryport, Mass., Nov. 30, 1761. When a small boy, about nine years old,


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he was playing with other children in the streets, when a passing stranger asked if there was any boy there who would like to go home with him and learn to make spinning-wheels. Sam volunteered to go. His parents were gone for the day, but he told the man " that wouldn't make no odds." So they met at Greenleaf's tavern, a little past noon, and started on the journey. They came to Haverhill, Mass., that day, and the next day to Londonderry. There they stayed over Sabbath. It was in October, and young Downing went out and picked the fruit on the ground, and was as happy as a boy need be. On Monday they came to Antrim. The man who thus brought the boy here was Thomas Aiken, cousin of James of Antrim. He was a manufacturer of spinning- wheels, then used in every house, and supplied the wbole vicinity with them. The shop was in the south part of Deering, near Francestown, but the whole section was then called " Antrim" by many settlers. As the country then was for the most part covered with woods, and neigh- bors and playmates scarce, the boy soon became homesick, and went off in the woods many a time to cry. But there was no help for him. Sam was put at the work of making spokes for spinning-wheels. He split out spokes in the evening, and shaved them the following day. This did very well for a few days, but grew exceedingly monotonous and hateful by and by, especially in contrast with the fact that in Portsmouth he had had all the time to play and a plenty of associates. Yet it could not be helped, for there was no public conveyance whatever, and there was no road, and return was out of the question. Sam used to threaten to run away, but he remained nearly seven years. He liked the Aikens, yet thought Mr. Aiken's good wife (Mary Anderson, daughter of James An- derson of Londonderry) was superior to her husband as a disciplinarian, and he said she never failed in her noble solicitude to keep him always at his work !


Meanwhile, Sam's parents mourned for him as dead. They supposed he must have fallen off the dock and been drowned, and never expected to see him again. But after a year or more, Mr. Aiken wrote to them, telling them Sam was alive and well, and promising to send him to school if he might remain. Whether this was prompted by the kind heart of Mr. Aiken, or the solicitude of the boy, does not appear. The parents, however, as they had a large family and were very poor, as Sam was well situated and learning a trade, and as the journey was at that time so long and difficult, consented to let him stay. But the promise of schooling in this vicinity at that day was easier made than kept. No doubt Mr. Aiken intended to give him all the chance there was. But Sam didn't get a day of schooling. He was getting tired and restive when the war broke out. Mr. Aiken was an officer of the militia, and they met in little squads in his shop to talk things over. Sam's heart was fired with enthusiasm, and he made up his mind to run away and enlist. So, one day in June, 1777, when the family was away to take dinner, he slipped off and walked down the river eighteen miles to Hop- kinton where there was a recruiting station. Sam was only fifteen years old and small at that, and was refused at Hopkinton. But he got a kind letter of introduction to Col. Fifield of Charlestown, and walked the


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whole distance to that place alone. There, as men were scarce, and Sam was terribly in earnest, he was accepted, and he served till the close of the war. He was a stirring, agile, fearless soldier, ready for any ad- venture; was in many of the hardest battles of the war, was firm in its darkest hour; was an exceedingly useful man, always on " peril's brink," yet never received a scratch ! His memory of Arnold, Gates, Burgoyne, Washington, Lafayette, of men on both sides, and Revolutionary battles and scenes, was clear and full. Mr. Downing was intensely wrought up against the rebels in the last war, stirred up all he could to go to the front, and declared, though nearly blind and past his hundred years, if the rebels came North he should himself " sartingly take his gun and meet them !" He said he "longed to live to see Jeff Davis hung." Mr. Downing's veneration for Washington was very great to the last, and he declared that if the "Old General " were living he would " hang every rebel to the nearest tree."


Sometime in the course of a year the father, David Downing, met his son in the army - their first meeting since the boy ran off from New- buryport. The father was now forty, the son sixteen, shoulder to shoulder against the oppressor. No report of that first meeting is given, but it must have been impressive. The boy mourned as dead was a noble soldier in a noble cause.


At the close of the war Mr. Downing returned to Antrim and visited his old friends, the Aikens, " too big to be punished for running away." He had been acquainted in the army with the Georges of Antrim, six of whom, the father and five sons, were in the service. Perhaps they were relatives, as the mother of these five sons was Susan Downing, and the Georges, like the Downings, came from Newburyport. At any rate he married Eunice George very soon after his return from the war, and at once began the Stephen Butterfield farm, adjoining his brother's on the north, now occupied by Grosvenor Wilkins. She was eighteen years old at marriage, had thirteen children, and died in 1846, aged eighty-one. Mr. Whiton speaks of Samuel as living subsequently in a log house on the Bond place, but the history of the family makes it certain that it was David, father of Samuel, that occupied the log house a few years. After Mr. Downing's settlement on the farm as above, he learned to read, being twenty-two years old, and became an energetic and good citizen. Here he had six children and resided eleven years. He and his wife were very pious people, were members of the Center Church, had their six children baptized in the old edifice on the hill, and were heartily recommended on departure "to any church where Providence is pleased to fix them." Their letter of dismission bears date Feb. 25, 1794, and has the signature of "Isaac Cochran, Session clerk." In their New York home they united with the Methodist Church, the only one near them, and lived in that faith very happily till death.




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