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 48
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In the year 1793 there was much talk in this vicinity of the fertility of lands in " York State," which, at that time, was "out West;" how people could live there by working three days in a week, and so on; and a com- pany of twenty men was formed to leave Antrim and form a settlement there. But Samuel Downing was the only one that went, and he after-
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wards bitterly regretted the step himself. "But," said he, "I have sold my farm for a trifle and have nothing to buy another with; here I have got to stay." So he bought at a very low rate a tract of land in what is now Edinburg, Saratoga County, N. Y., worked his way through many privations, and lived on that spot for nearly seventy- three years ! There was no settlement, not even as much as a marked tree in the vicinity, when he began in 1794, at the age of thirty-two, with four little children dependent on him, and put up his rude cabin in the forest. It was an incorporated town, rich and full of people, when he died in 1867. The valleys where he had hunted were crowded with villages, and the locomotive whistled on its way where once he had met the savage in deadly conflict. Mr. Downing celebrated his one-hundredth birthday Nov. 30, 1861. As he was known far and wide, being a man greatly loved, and among the last of the pensioners of the Revolution, considerable preparation was made by the people gener- ally for his centennial, and the advertisement of it was in the papers several weeks beforehand. His nephew, Mr. James Downing of Mar -- low, happened to take up a paper containing this notice, and, as his eye fell upon the name, the thought flashed into his mind that this might be his uncle whom he supposed was dead, and whom he remembered well, though he was only four years old when they all moved away from An- trim in the spring of 1794- sixty-seven years before ! At once the nephew started for Edinburg, and found the long-lost uncle was indeed alive. The centennial birthday celebration was very gratifying and note- worthy in every respect; but the most romantic and remarkable thing about it was this meeting of kindred. It was stranger than fiction. On this birthday a thousand persons from the surrounding country visited the venerable man; one hundred guns were fired; and an address was delivered by George S. Batcheller of Saratoga. On this anniversary Mr. Downing was hale and hearty, seeming young as a man of seventy. To show his vigor he cut down in the presence of the company a hemlock- tree five feet in circumference. This tree was sold on the spot, and was cut up into canes and keepsakes, and carried off by the multitude. The ax he used was sold for seven dollars and a half ! Mr. Downing lived years after this in good health and in full use of all his faculties except that of sight, which gradually failed him so that he was nearly blind at the last. He died Feb. 19, 1867, aged 105 years, 2 months, and 21 days ! He had been a professor of religion seventy-nine years ! He was the last survivor of the Revolutionary army ! What emotions he must have had in joining the full ranks on the other side ! I count it an honor to write the biography of this quiet, useful, Christian man, venerable in years, loved by all who knew him, and the last of the noblest army that ever battled for liberty or stood for human rights !
It may interest the reader to know that at the publication of the volume referred to in 1864, there were only seven Revolutionary soldiers living: Samuel Downing, Daniel Waldo, Lemuel Cook, Alexander Mil- lener, William Hutchins, Adam Link, and James Barham. Cook and Millener were older than Mr. Downing, but they dropped away soon after the above date; but he, lingering about two years after all the rest, followed
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on, and millions lamented that the last warrior of 1776 was gone ! This event was conspicuously noted by the press throughout the land, and the pay-roll of Revolutionary pensioners was folded up to be called for no more !
Of Mr. Downing's large family, two children rest in unmarked graves on Meeting-House Hill. Four others were born here, as follows: -
1. SUSANNAH, [b. Dec. 14, 1784; . m. Zephaniah Cornell of Bridgewater, Penn., and d. March 31, 1823.]
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2. ANNA, [b Nov. 12, 1786 ; m. William Cornell of Edinburg, N. Y. ; went to'Michigan in 1822 ; d. there Aug. 7, 1838.]
3. MARGARET, [b. Aug. 5, 1788; m. James Barker of Edin- burg, N. Y., and d. in that place March 27, 1851.]
4. HANNAH, [b. Jan. 20, 1794; m. Perris Fuller; settled in Greenfield, N. Y., and d. Aug. 18, 1865. . This child was carried at the age of four months in a cart and on horseback the whole distance from Antrim to the forests of Saratoga.] '
After arriving in New York seven children were born to them, two of whom died in infancy. The others were as follows: ---
5. THOMAS J., [b. Edinburg, Sept. 1, 1800 ; d. unm. Jan. 1863.]
6. MARY, [b. Nov. 3, 1802 ; m. a Cornell and d. July 2, 1830.]
7. ELISABETH, [b. July 25, 1805 ; m. a Mr. Hunt and d. Feb. 20, 1827.]
8. GEORGE W., [b. Dec. 9, 1807.]
9. JAMES M., [b. Aug. 15, 1811.]
DRAKE.
REUBEN DRAKE, son of Reuben and Olive (Chessman) Drake of Brockton, Mass., was born in 1826; married Ann E. Thayer of Brain- tree, Mass., and came here on to the Ambrose Story place in 1864, but returned to Brockton in 1868, having three children, none of whom were born here: -
1. CHARLES R.
2. FRANCIS E.
3. SARAH A.
DRAPER.
TIMOTHY W. DRAPER was son of William and Sarah (Merriam) Draper of Lexington, Mass. His mother watched the red-coats when they first fired upon the American farmers, and saw their disastrous retreat later in the day. At their marriage, or soon after, William Draper and wife moved to Francestown, and there Timothy W. and other chil- dren were born. He married Mary Flanders of Lancaster, Mass., April 6, 1824. Came here from Charlestown in 1849. He lived a year on the Reuben Boutwell farm (east), and a year on the William N. Tuttle farm,
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but in 1851 bought of George F. Parmenter the place opposite the Center Church, where he lived till death. This last event occurred on the morning of April 10, 1874. He was a very lame man and a great suf- ferer, but he had no sickness, so called, and died in his chair while the family were about their preparations for breakfast. He remained in posi- tion in the chair as though there had not been the least motion or even a shock of pain. They had seven children: -
1. GEORGE A., [d. 1847, aged 22.]
2. CHARLES G., [see Gibson. ]
3. MARIA M., [d. 1856, aged 28.]
4. AUSTIN R., [d. in Francestown, 1837, aged 7.]
5. LUCY A., [b. June 8, 1833 ; m. Alvin D. Charters of Lowell, Mass., Dec. 14, 1852. He was killed by a fall in that city, May 11, 1859. Only one of their children survives, Alvia A., who was born in Antrim, May 4, 1859.]
6. RICHARDS, [b. July 24, 1837; left Antrim in the spring of 1857 ; when last heard from, years ago, was in Kansas.]
7. WILLIAM H., [d. March 20, 1860, aged nearly 20 years.]
DUNCAN.
GEORGE DUNCAN, the first Duncan in New Hampshire, was the son of George Duncan who was born, lived, and died in Ireland. His father, George, was born in Scotland. He brought over his second wife, Margaret Cross, and seven children: John, George, William, Robert, Abraham, Esther, and James. Of these, as only the first two are con- nected with our history, we will only say in regard to the others, that. William married Naomi Bell, lived in Londonderry, had a large family several of whom settled in Acworth, and died in 1798 aged eighty-two; that Robert married Isabella Caldwell, moved to Boston, and prominent residents of that city descended from him; that Abraham went in early life to North Carolina, married, and raised a family there, of which almost nothing is known; that Esther married John Cassan and went to Con- necticut; and that James, the youngest, married Elisabeth Bell, settled as a merchant in Haverhill, Mass., acquired large property, raised an excel- lent family, and died in 1818, aged ninety-two. Of the other two, first named above, Johu, the oldest of the family, only child of the first wife, and therefore half-brother of the rest, married Rachel Todd in Ireland. He brought with him five children, and had five in this country, thus: John, George, Abraham, Margaret, William (born on passage over), James, Naomi, Polly, Rachel, and Rosanna. He lived all his days in London- derry, was an elder in the church, enjoyed the confidence of all, and died in good old age. John, the first child of John Duncan and Rachel Todd, married Hannah Henry. Though hardly more than a boy, he was . engaged to marry her before the voyage to this country. He came over, prepared a place to live, and then sent for her. Her brother there paid her passage, and agreed with the captain to land her in Boston. But he
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took her to Nova Scotia and sold her to pay her passage, and left her among strangers. But after a time John heard of her sad fate, hunted her up, and married her. The false captain was eventually punished for his crime. All the circumstances of this case, - her courage, her forlorn - condition in slavery for debt among strangers, hier rescue by her lover, their beginning in the wilderness, and their long and happy life, their early betrothal, and their old age together, - would form a story more marvelous than many a fiction. They had a large family, one of whom, John, remained on the homestead in Londonderry; another was a mer- chant in Candia, and became father of Hon. William H. Duncan of Hanover; and a third, Robert, came to this town. John Duncan and his wife, Hannah Henry, were both noted for personal beauty. This John kept the first store in the present town of Londonderry. Many of the race were merchants.
ROBERT DUNCAN, son of John and Hannah (Henry) Duncan, and nephew of James of Antrim, was born in 1763, and came here in 1787, and located where his son John has always lived. When he came, Dea. Daniel Nichols was on the Turner place; Adam Nichols on the McCoy place; John Nichols on the Ferry place, and Thomas Nichols on the Shattuck place. Mr. Duncan bought in the valley between them. There was a cleared spot, and a small log house a few rods north of the present dwelling, though it seems it had never been occupied. He bought of Daniel McFarland, but was sued by parties from Weare who claimed the land, and he had to pay for it a second time. After all was settled, he married Grizzy Wilson of Londonderry; lived a quiet and industrious life, and died on the spot he had settled, Sept. 26, 1837, at the age of sev- enty-three. His children were:
1. THOMAS W., [b. in 1791 ; was graduated at Dartmouth Col- lege in the class of 1817 ; studied divinity, after the method of those days, with Dr. Whiton and Rev. E. P. Bradford of New Boston ; was settled in various places, and was a sound and faithful minister till disabled by old age. Though shaken by infirmities he continued to preach occasionally till near his end ; he died in Nelson, in 1877 ; his wife was Lucy North ; they left no children.]
2. HANNAH, [d. unm. in 1859, aged 66.]
3. SARAH, [d. in childhood.]
4. JOHN, [b. Sept. 7, 1796 ; inherited the homestead ; built the present house in 1811 ; m. 1st, Jenny Carter of Hillsbor- ough, in 1823, who d. in 1829 ; m. 2d, Mary Farrington of Greenfield, in 1831. Has children : -
Mary C., (child of 1st wife, b. Oct. 14, 1825 ; m. George G. Hutchinson, May 12, 1853.)
Lucy J., (b. Oct. 2, 1833 ; m. N. C. Ferry, Dec. 29, 1853.) Lynda F., (b. April 27, 1836.)]
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5. GRIZZY, [m. Willard Rice of Henniker, Nov. 9, 1826.]
6. SARAH, [m. Jonathan Paige, Oct. 18, 1821; lived and d. in Bradford.]
7. JANE, [m. Daniel Rice of Henniker, Feb. 3, 1831.]
8. WILLIAM, [b. Oct. 30, 1806 ; built in 1830 on the east part of his father's farm ; cleared most of the land, and has resided there till the present time ; m. Betsey W. Rice of Henniker, Feb. 3, 1831. She was an excellent woman, and died in a Christian hope Aug. 26, 1870, aged 61. They had chil- dren as follows: -
George, (d. in infancy, December, 1831.)
William H., (b. Dec. 10, 1834 ; d. unm. March 20, 1861.)
John E., (b. March 25, 1836 ; m. Sarah J. Blanchard of Wash- ington ; she d. in 1870, aged 31, leaving one child, Emma J., b. in 1863.)
Caroline E., (b. Nov. 7, 1838; m. George Turner, Jan. 1, 1863.)
Moses G., (known as " Granville," b. July 20, 1841; lives on the old homestead ; m. Augusta C. Spalding of Frances- town, Oct. 3, 1872, and has children : Edith A., b. 1873 ; Anna E., b. Dec. 13, 1875; and Harry S., b. June 22, 1878.)]
George, the second child of John Duncan and Rachel Todd, married Mary Bell, and settled in Peterborough. Of their third child, Abraham, nothing is ascertained. The fourth child was Margaret, not mentioned by Parker. She married William Smith of Antrim, and died in 1790, aged sixty-seven. William, the fifth child (born on the voyage over), married Jane Alexander, and lived in Londonderry. His family were all daughters.
JAMES DUNCAN, the sixth child of John Duncan and Rachel Todd, the first born to them in this country, came to Antrim and began the Saltmarsh place in 1774. He was the first constable of the town, and long held that office, which was of much more importance then than now. His name appears very often in the early records. He married Jane Adams of Londonderry (sister of Mrs. Alexander Gregg and Mrs. Adam Dunlap), and died in 1825, aged seventy-nine. Children were: -
1. JOHN, [disappeared from town when a young man, and was never heard of more ; was mourned as dead.]
2. MOSES, [built first on the spot now occupied by Elijah Kim- ball ; m. Kate Dwinnells, and had two daughters, Kate and Betsey ; Kate died in childhood, and Betsey m. a Mr. Felt and lived in Manchester, but all this family of Duncans and
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descendants are believed to be dead. Moses Duncan d. on the Daniel Farrington place.]
3. ROBERT, [m. Katherine Fairbanks ; lived some years on his father's farm, but d. in the prime of life ; left two sons: - John G., (b. July 22, 1811 ; long an overseer in Lowell mills ; m. 1st, Grace Sanborn ; m. 2d, Phebe Morrison.)
Samuel, (b. July 23, 1813, left town young and nothing is known of his fate.)]
4. MARY, [d. unm!]
5. PEGGY, [d. of spotted fever in 1812.]
6. JANE, [m. Stevens Paige Feb. 8, 1838, had no children, lived many years a widow and alone in the house where her husband died, and passed away after great suffering in the summer of 1869, aged 73.]
Naomi, the seventh child of John Duncan and Rachel Todd, left no record of which we know. Polly, their eighth child, married her cousin, Hon. John Duncan of Antrim. Rachel, their ninth child, married Samuel Archibald of Nova Scotia, and was mother of Hon. Samuel W. Archibald, long attorney-general of that province. Of Rosanna, their tenth child, the writer has no information.
Having now followed out the family of John, the oldest son of George the first settler, and having briefly noticed the other children of said settler, save one, we now return to him, viz., George, oldest child of George and Margaret (Cross) Duncan. He was the second son of his father, but the first by the second wife. This George was the third George Duncan in succession; was an elder in the Londonderry church; was highly esteemed by all; married Letitia Bell; settled in Londonderry at the same time with his father, having grown to manhood in Ireland; and is believed to have died in 1780, aged seventy. He left seven children: John, Robert, George, James, Josiah, Elisabeth, and Letitia. Of these seven, John will be noticed below. Robert married a daughter of Col. Andrew Todd of Londonderry, as is claimed by descendants, though it may have been a granddaughter. Robert Duncan settled in Hancock, was deacon of the church there, and died Jan. 25, 1793, aged forty-three. He was father of Dea. Josiah and Dea. Robert of Antrim, and of Margaret who married Andrew Todd. George, third child of Dea. George and Letitia (Bell) Duncan, settled in the West. James, the next child, born Nov. 11, 1749, known as Dea. James, settled in Hancock; was deacon there till death ; married Jane Christie; was a man of unusual local influ- ence and note; and was father of George Duncan of Antrim. He died May 3, 1805. Josiah, the fifth child, we have no information of. Perhaps this may be the Josiah Duncan whom the old people used to call " Jabbering Si," and who died in this town Jan. 23, 1811, unmarried, aged sixty-nine. If so, he must have been the second or third instead of
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fifth in the family. Elisabeth, the sixth child, married James Cunning- ham of Pembroke. And Letitia, the youngest, married Capt. Alexander Todd and lived in Hooksett.
JOHN DUNCAN, son of George and Letitia (Bell) Duncan, named above, called in Antrim "Capt. John," "Dea. John," and specially known as "Hon. John," was born in Londonderry March 3, 1734. He was cousin of Gov. John Bell and Senator Samuel Bell of Ches- ter. He was a captain in Col. Moore's regiment in the Revolution, and was considered the leading man in this section for many years. He seems to have come here a part of the seasons in 1770-71-72, clearing the land and preparing for his future home. He moved his family here Sept. 20, 1773. They came in an ox-cart, with five little children, the first cart ever in Antrim. Hon. John Bell, his uncle, drove the team. There was nothing that could be called a road. But they picked their way along, and forded the river at a shallow place near the mouth of the Clinton Brook (for many years called Great Brook), and arrived safely at the log cabin ! What a long, hard, painful journey it must have been ! The spot where he settled is still in the possession of the family, the house of his great-grandson, John M. Duncan, Esq., standing almost on the site of the log cabin of 1773. It is one of the most desirable locations in town. Here the "Hon. John " lived and died. He was not an edu- cated man, but one of good judgment and strong common sense. He was at the head of the militia; was the leading man in getting the town incorporated; was almost constantly in town office for many years; represented this town, with Deering, Hancock, and Windsor, in the state legislature; was the first representative "Antrim district " had ; was some time state senator; was one of the committee to ask the pres- bytery to organize a church here; was an elder in that church; and was a stirring, earnest, wide-awake man, honest, and eminently a peace- maker. He was of great service to the early settlers as a justice of the peace, doing their writing, settling their disputes, and giving them advice. In his long service in the House of Representatives, he was occa- sionally speaker pro tem. Was very Scotchy in his brogue, and quick at repartee and full of fun. It is related that on one occasion, when some- thing was said about lawyers in the House, and a Mr. Pickering, a lawyer of eminence, declared that lawyers were the pillars of the State, Mr. Duncan interrupted him with an. " explanation." In his broad Scottish accent he said: "There are different kinds of pallyars; there is a kind of pallyars that support buildings; and there is a kind of pallyars called caterpallyars that eat all before them and poison all behind them, and it is this latter kind to which the gentleman refers ! "
Hon. John Duncan closed his useful and eventful life Friday, Feb. 14, 1823, aged eighty-nine. He married first his cousin, Mary Duncan, Dec. 10, 1762, who died of dysentery Sept. 20, 1800. A very happy notice of her may be found in the " Amherst Cabinet " of the week following. She was a Christian woman, full of good works, especially by the sick-bed and in the house of trouble. She went everywhere to succor the dis- tressed, and it is probable that her continual watching over sick children
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in that awful summer was the cause of her own death. The second wife of Mr. Duncan was Ann Seaton of Amherst. She died Oct. 4, 1834, aged seventy-five. Was daughter of Dea. John Seaton and also had a brother Dea. John. The first Dea. John was a man of remarkable musical capacity, and was also endowed with a nose of tremendous dimensions. On one occasion, he was seated at a hotel table when a stranger sitting opposite sharply suggested that the application of a handkerchief to the conspicuous member would improve its appearance. Always very pleasant and obliging, the deacon, with his usual politeness, handed him the handkerchief across the table, and requested him to use it, as he was nearer the offending member than he was himself !
The house of Hon. John Duncan was burned in open day, Jan. 31, 1812, and, as he was aged and alone, it was with difficulty that he escaped the flames by means of a window. His children, all by his first wife, were as follows: -
1. ABIGAIL, [m. John Moor ; was forty years a widow ; had no children ; d. 1848, aged over 80. She was the last sur- vivor of the original members of the Presbyterian Church, having been a member a little more than sixty years.]
2. LETTIE, [m. James Cochran of Pembroke, and lived and d. in that town.]
3. WILLIAM, [m. Esther, daughter of Capt. Josiah Warren of New Boston ; inherited the homestead ; had four children ; . and d. June 16, 1847, aged 82.
John, (b. Feb. 21, 1795; a distinguished school-teacher ; dis- appeared from Boston 1834, and never after heard from.)
Josiah, (b. March 17, 1797 ; m. Lucinda Fairbanks Dec. 28, 1826 ; inherited the homestead of his father, and d. 1867. His widow yet survives. They buried six little ones side by side within a few years, and only two children are now living. The first is John Moor, who was b. Oct. 18, 1827 ; inherits the homestead occupied by the family for a hundred years ; was representative in 1874 ; a carpenter doing a large business in building for a country town ; m. Eliza A. Par- menter Dec. 16, 1851. They have two children : Fannie E., who m. Edward P. Campbell Dec. 26, 1877, and John W., who was b. Oct. 13, 1861, and is now in trade in Fitchburg, Mass. The second is William W., who was b. Nov. 12, 1831 ; m. 1864 Mary Hart, cousin of the then pastor, Rev. J. H. Bates ; is a druggist in Lowell ; was one of the donors of the organ to the Center Church, 1864, and of the vestry, 1875. Has children : Winthrop H .; William W .; and Hart.)
.
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Abigail M., (twin-sister to Josiah; d. unm. Jan. 15, 1860, aged nearly 63.)
Mary, (b. April 13, 1801 ; for years her services were sought as a school-teacher in this and neighboring towns ; m. Eben Towne of Hillsborough in 1857, and resides at the Bridge ; one of the amiable and blessed of the earth. )]
4. NAOMI, [b. Dec. 9, 1769 ; m. 1st, John Boyd of Londonderry ; m. 2d, Giles Newton of Francestown, and was mother of Giles Newton of Antrim ; m. 3d, Dea. Robert Duncan, and d. Sept. 25, 1858, aged 88.]
5. MARY, [m. Dea. Arthur Nesmith May 30, 1793; d. in Wads- worth, Ohio, Nov. 23, 1841.]
6. RACHEL, [b. in Antrim Jan. 7, 1776 ; m. James Taylor ; d. in Herkimer, N. Y., 1852.]
7. MARGARET, [m. William Stow of Hillsborough Dec. 13, 1808 ; lived in that town, and d. 1856, aged 74.]
DEA. JOSIAH DUNCAN, born Feb. 29, 1772, son of Dea. Robert and - (Todd) Duncan, and therefore nephew of " Hon. John," came here from Hancock about 1792, and married Mary, daughter of Samuel Gregg, in 1792. On his first coming here he bought and cleared the farm now Mr. Greeley's (next east of the Bootman place), which he occupied till his death. The first wife died in 1809, and he married, second, Sally Morri- son of Peterborough. He died Nov. 3, 1833. Was a thoroughly true and good man ; was an elder in the Center Church; and it used to be said of him that " he served two worlds well," true to earth and heaven. An old associate spoke of him as a living example of Rom. xii. 11: "Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord." His children were six daughters and one son, thus: -
1. MARGARET G., [d. Jan. 27, 1815, aged 18.]
2. SARAH, [m. Daniel Waldron ; parents and children all now dead. Mr. Waldron lived some years in town, chiefly west of the pond. ]
3. ELISABETH P., [b. Feb. 9, 1801 ; m. John Muzzey Nov. 27, 1821; d. Manchester, January, 1852.]
4. MARY, [m. John Town Dec. 28, 1824; lived some years on her father's place ; went to Western New York about 1835, where they prospered, and had a large family.]
5. ROBERT, [d. Feb. 10, 1820, aged 16.]
6. ADELINE, [b. Nov. 26, 1806 ; m. Robert L. Livingston May 24, 1827 ; d. Dec. 27, 1866.]
7. SOPHRONIA, [m. Tristram B. Paige Sept. 21, 1826. She d. June, 1848, aged 40.]
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DEA. ROBERT DUNCAN, brother of Dea. Josiah, born Sept. 11, 1783, came here in the fall of 1806 and bought the Zaccheus Perkins place, now the home of J. W. Perkins; married his cousin, Mrs. Naomi (Duncan) Newton, daughter of " Hon. John;" was chosen elder in the Center Church 1825, and old people say he was one of the most efficient ever appointed to that office. Was captain in the first artillery company in the Twenty-sixth Regiment. Was a man of great natural ability and strong will; unlearned; was left an orphan when quite young; had the credit of doing much good, and died Dec. 2, 1859. Left no children. He left a small legacy to the church in which he was so long an officer.
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