USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Claremont > History of the town of Claremont, New Hampshire, for a period of one hundred and thirty years from 1764 to 1894 > Part 32
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In memory of the Hon. Samuel Ashley, Esq. Blessed with good natural talents, and a heart rightly to improve them, he in various departments of civil and military life, exhibited a character honorable to himself and useful to others. Having presided for several years in the lower court of this county, he with probity and fidelity displayed the virtues of the patriot and Christian as well in public as domestic life. The small-pox put an end to his earthly course February 18, 1792, aged 71.
CAPTAIN OLIVER ASHLEY,
One of the grantees of the town, was the oldest son of the Hon. Samuel Ashley, came to Claremont soon after the town was
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HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
granted, and was a prominent citizen for many years. He was a member of the first provincial congress, which assembled at Exeter on May 17, 1775, an ardent Whig, and very active in devising means for the defense of the colony. He was captain, and his brother, Samuel, Jr., lieutenant, of a company that marched to Ticonderoga in May, 1777; was one of the town Committee of Safety, and was conspicuous as a patriot in military and civic positions all through the Revolutionary War. In 1775, 1779, and 1780, he was selectman; moderator in 1782, and rep- resentative in the legislature in 1795. In 1784 he obtained a charter and established the ferry across Connecticut river, since known as Ashley's ferry. He lived on the farm known for many years as the Benajah Rogers farm, now owned by John Bailey. He died April 9, 1818, at the age of seventy-four years, leaving by his will five thousand dollars, the income of which was perpetually to go toward the support of the Episcopal church at West Claremont, known as Union church.
WILLIAM P. AUSTIN
Was the first man in Claremont to offer his services in the War of the Rebellion. On April 18, 1861, he enlisted as a private under the call of President Lincoln for seventy-five thousand volunteers for three months. On the same day he was appointed recruiting officer for Claremont and vicinity, and opened a re- cruiting station. In a few days he had enlisted eighty-five men, the most of whom belonged in Claremont. In August of the same year he was commissioned first lieutenant of the first com- pany of sharpshooters raised in New Hampshire, and promoted to captain on the twentieth of the next December. In the second battle of Bull Run, August 30, 1862, he was severely wounded in the right arm by a rifle ball, in consequence of which he resigned May 16, 1863. On the thirteenth of the following August he was appointed captain in the Veteran Reserve corps. He served in various official positions and at different places until May, 1866, when he was ordered to report to the Commissioner of the bu- 26
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reau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, assigned to duty in Virginia, and stationed at Wytheville. He rendered varied and important services to the country, from April, 1861, until his death. He was selectman of Claremont in 1855, 1856, and 1857, and representative in the New Hampshire legislature in 1863. He died in Virginia in 1891, and was buried here.
DR. CYRUS E. BAKER,
Son of the late Dimick Baker, was born in Plainfield, April 9, 1835. He was educated at Kimball Union Academy; studied medicine with the late Dr. Nathaniel Tolles, of Claremont, and Dr. Edward R. Peaslee, in New York city, and took the degree of M. D. at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York city in June, 1862, standing one of the first six in a class of over two hundred. Immediately after his graduation he was appointed acting house physician in the New York state hospital, located in New York city, which position he resigned in July, 1862, to accept an appointment of acting assistant surgeon in the United States Army, in the War of the Rebellion. He served in the field with different organizations, and in hospitals, as his ser- vices were most needed, in the department of Virginia and North Carolina, at a time when there was an insufficiency of medical officers, and his duties often subjected him to severe exposures, and were many times extremely arduous. He had a sun-stroke, and was severely attacked with malaria, disabling him to such a degree that in October, 1863, he resigned. He then came to Claremont and entered upon the practice of his profession, which was quite extensive for two or three years, or until he had a recurrence of his army troubles, since which his practice has been limited by impaired health, by reason of which he receives a pen- sion from government.
EDWARD DIMICK BAKER,
Son of the late Dimick Baker, of Plainfield, was born April 21, 1827. Joseph Baker came from England and became an early
GeoL. Bal com.
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resident of the New Haven colony, probably prior to 1670; and from him descended this branch of the Baker family. Among the first settlers of Plainfield was Dr. Oliver Baker, who came from Tolland, Conn., about 1768, and bought a farm. He had received a medical education, and practised his profession and managed his farm until his death, which occurred October 13, 1811. He was the paternal grandfather of Edward D. Baker. His father's farm was within a half mile of Kimball Union Acad- emy, and he attended that school five years, working upon the farm during vacations, and teaching school winters. When
twenty-one years of age he began the study of law in the office of Nathaniel W. Westgate, in Enfield, and subsequently studied with the late chief justice Henry A. Bellows. He was admitted to the bar in Sullivan county in July, 1851, and opened an office at Cornish Flat. In 1855 he removed to Claremont, and formed a law partnership with the late A. F. Snow, which continued until September, 1857. Since then he has been alone in the ac- tive practice of his profession. He is a well-read, painstaking, careful lawyer, industrious in the preparation and trial of the cases intrusted to him, and a discreet counselor. He was repre- sentative in the New Hampshire legislature in 1859, 1860, and 1885; been a member of the Stevens High School committee, and held some other minor offices. He is an extensive owner of real estate, and an excellent financier. November 12, 1851, he married Elizabeth Ticknor, of Plainfield, but has no children.
GEORGE LEWIS BALCOM,
Son of Jonas and Mary (Richardson) Balcom, was born in Sud- bury, Mass., October 9, 1819.
He is a descendant of Henry Balcom, who came to this country in, or previous to, 1665, and settled in Charlestown, Mass., where he was admitted inhabitant September 1, 1665, was made tithing- man in 1679, and died February 29, 1683.
He married, first, Sarah Smith, who died December 8, 1665. Second, Elizabeth Haines, " Deacon Haines of Sudberrie's daugh-
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ter," August 12, 1666, - who was born June 19, 1644, and died November 20, 1715. After his death, the family settled in Sud- bury, Mass., where yet reside very many of their descendants, although the name of Balcom is there extinct.
When four years old, George Lewis, the subject of this sketch, removed with his parents to Lowell, Mass. He fitted for college at the Lowell High School and Westminster, Mass., academy, and entered Harvard College in 1835.
From an affection of the throat he decided to abandon his inten- tion of a professional for a business life, and near the end of the Sophomore year, he left college and entered a hardware store in Boston. He was the lowest boy in the store, and took that position from choice, that he might grow up with the business. In this way he may be said to have served a regular business apprenticeship, same as to a trade.
In January, 1841, at the age of twenty-one, he went to Phil- adelphia, where he again found employment in the hardware business, and remained until 1846, and then returned to his native state.
In 1847 he went to Proctorsville, Vt., and for one year was book-keeper in the woolen mill of Gilson, Smith & Co. In 1848 he was made superintendent, and in 1850 he became one of the owners, and for seven years was the junior partner under the firm of Smith & Balcom. In 1857 he sold his interest to his partner, William Smith, and removed to Claremont, N. H., having purchased of Sanford & Rossiter what was called the Sullivan Mills, which he has operated to the present time, 1894. At the same time, he has at different intervals, about seventeen years in all, had an interest in the mill at Proctorsville, Vt.
He married, October 20, 1845, Anna, daughter of Samuel West, of Philadelphia. She died July 8, 1881. They had three chil- dren, two of whom died in infancy.
William Smith Balcom, the only survivor, was born August 3, 1850, and is connected with his father in the woolen business in Claremont.
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He married, first, Mary Ruffner Bellas, of Philadelphia, Octo- ber 8, 1874. She died July 21, 1879, leaving one child, Bessie Richardson Balcom, born August 31, 1876. Second, Cecilia Challett Sower, of Philadelphia, January 17, 1883, and have had children -1, George Lewis, Jr., born August 20, 1884, died October 6, 1884. 2, Louis West, born June 7, 1888.
Mr. Balcom was a representative from Cavendish in the legis- lature of Vermont, in 1855 and 1856, and the extra session of 1857, and was a member from Claremont in the legislature of New Hamp- shire of 1883-84, and a member of the state senate of 1889-90. He is one of the trustees of the Protestant Episcopal church in New Hampshire, and has been a delegate to the general conven- tion of the Protestant Episcopal church in the United States since 1871. He has been a trustee of the Holderness School for Boys since its incorporation in 1878, and is a member of the New Hampshire Historical Society. He was a delegate to the Re- publican national convention holden in Chicago in 1884.
In 1868 he visited Europe, and traveled extensively through France, Italy, Switzerland, and Great Britain.
He has given much attention to books, of which he has a col- lection of over four thousand volumes, consisting largely of Amer- ican history, especially of New Hampshire, and with perhaps one or two exceptions, it is the most complete in the state.
Micah Balcom, grandfather of George Lewis, was a private in the Revolutionary War, and stationed at Fort Warren. He was also a member and officer in the old time town militia, as the fol- lowing receipt will show :
SUDBURY Sept 9. 1814.
Rec'd of Corporal Micah Balcom by the hand of his son Joseph, one mug of the best flip that we have drank for this several months past, it being in full of our demands of him for his late promotion as an officer onto the Volunteer Company in this town, which Capt Isaac Gibbs has the honor to command. I say Rec'd by us the undersigned being Cartridge Makers for said Town.
REUBEN MAYNARD PETER SMITH WALTER HAYNES ABEL WHEELER SAMUEL KNIGHTS JR
Cartridge Makers for Sudbury
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HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
BILL BARNES
Was a son of Daniel Barnes and of the fourth generation in direct descent from Thomas Barnes, who came from England to this country in the last quarter of the seventeenth century. He was born at Farmington, Conn., in 1753, and came to Claremont in 1772, when nineteen years old, and bought a tract of land on the north side of Sugar river, opposite the present village. A few years later, having made a home, he returned to Farmington, mar- ried a wife and brought her home by an ox team. Soon after his marriage Mr. Barnes built the large two-story house now standing on North street, on a site about midway between Hanover and North streets, and opened it as a tavern. In accordance with the general custom of that time he combined farming with keeping a house of public entertainment. When the second New Hamp- shire turnpike was opened, about 1800, Mr. Barnes's tavern was left some distance from the line of travel, and he had his house moved to its present location. Near the present junction of Spring and North streets was a swinging sign, on which was a lion, painted in colors unknown to natural history, pointing the way to " Bill Barnes's Tavern." In this house was a large hall in which the Masons held their regular meetings for a time, Mr. Barnes being an active member of the order, and it was used for balls and other festivities. By industry and thrift he accumulated a consider- able fortune, and when a special tax was laid for the support of the government during the war of 1812, he was the third largest tax payer in town. He was a prominent member of Union Episco- pal church and one of its first wardens. He was selectman in 1787 and 1790, and held other offices of trust.
After seventeen years of married life, July 22, 1793, his wife died, leaving no issue. Subsequently Mr. Barnes married Esther, daughter of Capt. Dyer Spaulding, of Cornish, by whom he had six children, viz. : Eunice, who married Timothy Eastman ; Wil- liam A., killed by a tree falling upon him; Ira K., scalded to death while boiling sap; Orilla, married a Mr. Brooks; Lyman S., who spent his life on the homestead and died there, November 9, 1888,
GEN. G. W. BALLOCH.
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HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
and Ovid D., who died September 23, 1856, on the farm lately owned by Melvin Proctor. Bill Barnes died February 24, 1842, at the age of ninety-four years, at the old homestead, in which four generations lived and three of them were born. It is now owned and occupied by his grandchildren.
GEORGE WILLIAMSON BALLOCH,
A son of George Williamson and Amanda (West) Balloch, was born on December 3, 1825, in a small house which stood a short distance south of Lottery bridge, West Claremont. His grand- father, James Balloch, came from Sterlingshire, Scotland, and set- tled in Cornish, in 1790. He was a lineal descendant of Daniel Balloch, King of the Western Islands, known in Scottish history as Donald Dhu - Donald the Black. The name, Balloch, is a compound Gaelic word, Bal-loch, and means running lively, or rippling water. The subject of this sketch in his boyhood worked at farming, attended the public schools, and two terms of the New England Academy, at Windsor, Vt. In September, 1844, he en- tered Norwich, Vt., University, then under the presidency of Gen. T. B. Ransom, who was killed at the storming of Chapultepec, Mexico, September 13, 1847. He continued in the university three years. In 1865 this university conferred upon him the honorary degree of A. M. In 1847 he joined the engineer corps of the Sullivan railroad, then being built, and remained on that road until 1850, being stationed at Charlestown. That year he entered the service of the Boston and Maine railroad, and was station agent at South Reading - now Wakefield, Mass.,- and filled different positions on that road until 1856, when he became general ticket and freight agent of the Great Falls and Conway railroad. He was town clerk of Somersworth, in 1856, 1857, 1858, and the latter year was appointed the first police justice of that town. In September, 1861, he enlisted nearly half a company for the Fifth Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers, and on October 11 of that year was commissioned first lieutenant of Company D of that regi- ment, and soon after arrival at the front was detailed by Gen. O. O. Howard as acting commissary of subsistence of his brigade.
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In July, 1862, he was appointed captain and commissary of sub- sistence of U. S. Volunteers, assigned to his old brigade, and was with it in all its campaigns until General Howard was assigned to the command of the Eleventh army corps, when Captain Balloch was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and chief commissary of sub- sistence of General Howard's corps. He served in this capacity in the Chancellorsville and Gettysburg campaigns, and on the famous bloody march of General Sherman through Georgia to Atlanta, and from Atlanta to Savannah, in the summer and fall of 1864; and in the march from Savannah to Goldsboro, in the winter of 1865, was chief commissary of subsistence of the Twentieth army corps, Army of the Cumberland.
In June, 1865, General Howard was assigned to the position of Commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Aban. doned Lands, and Colonel Balloch was made chief disbursing officer of that bureau, which position he held until October, 1871, when he was appointed by the board of public works of the Dis- trict of Columbia, superintendent of streets, which position he held until the board was abolished by congress, in July, 1874. Since then he has been engaged as patent attorney, insurance agent, and notary public. In August, 1866, he was promoted to brigadier-general of volunteers, to date from March 13, 1865, for meritorious service in the subsistence department during the war. He is a prominent Freemason, having received all the degrees up to, and including, the thirty-third, and the Royal Order of Scot- land, and has held many important offices in this ancient order.
CHARLES M. BINGHAM,
Son of Nathan Bingham, was born in New London, Conn., in 1804, and died February 5, 1888. He came to Claremont with his parents in 1808. He learned the mercantile business and was in trade in Chester and Reading, Vt., and Claremont, from about 1828 until within a few years of his death, and was for many years a prominent and valued citizen. He was moderator of town meetings many times and representative in the New Hampshire
CHARLES M. BINGHAM.
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HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
legislature in 1873 and 1874. He was an active and influential member and warden of Trinity church for a long period.
JAMES H. BINGHAM
Was born at Lempster, April 11, 1781, and died at Washington, D. C., March 31, 1859. He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1801. He was a classmate and room mate of Daniel Webster, who kept up a correspondence and friendship as long as they lived. Mr. Bingham studied law, was admitted to the bar, and com- menced practice in Alstead. In 1826 he came to Claremont and was cashier of the first Claremont bank from its organization until 1842. He was town clerk from 1828 to 1838, and representative in the New Hampshire legislature in 1840 and 1841. Subsequently he was for many years clerk in the treasury department at Wash- ington, D. C.
THE BONDS .- DANIEL BOND,
Born in Natick, Mass., December 31, 1761, came to Claremont about 1775, and settled on the farm in the north part of the town, which, after his death, April 15, 1845, was divided between his two sons, George and Job. He married Ruth, daughter of Gideon Kirtland, and they had five children, three sons and two daughters. The sons were Daniel, George, and Job.
DANIEL BOND, JR.,
Was born June 1, 1792, and died March 17, 1882. His grandfather, Gideon Kirtland, was one of the seven first settlers of the town. He bought four hundred acres of land, about half a mile northeast of the town house, and settled upon it. It embraced land now owned by the heirs of Leonard P. Fisher, the heirs of William E. Tutherly, the heirs of Melvin Proctor, and the widow of Dr. Har- vey M. Guild .. Mr. Kirtland died April 15, 1805, and his wife about two years afterward. Daniel Bond, being one of the heirs, bought out the others, and his son, Daniel, in 1817, took posses-
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sion and lived on the place until his death. The house, built by Mr. Kirtland, is one of the oldest in town. When built the shingles upon the house and barn were fastened with wooden pins, nails being very expensive. The fifty acres remaining of the home place and the buildings are now owned by the heirs of Daniel Bond, Jr.,- Oliver A. Bond and his sisters, Mrs. Levi D. Hall, and Miss Ellen M. Bond - and the house is occupied by the latter. Daniel Bond, Jr., was a prominent Freemason for many years.
GEORGE BOND,
Son of Daniel Bond, senior, was born May 5, 1794, and died June 27, 1864. He was a good farmer and respected citizen.
JOB BOND,
Youngest son of Daniel Bond, senior, died September 11, 1876, on the farm in the north part of the town, where he was born May 5, 1794. He was a cultivated musician, and organist of the Congre- gational church for many years.
DANIEL S. BOWKER,
Son of Elijah Bowker, was born in Springfield, Vt., and died in Claremont, March 11, 1872, at an advanced age. He was an expert miller. He came to town in 1837, carried on the Gilmore grist- mill, at West Claremont, several years, and afterward the Dexter mill, in the village. In 1860 he bought of the Adam Dickey estate the farm on Red Water brook, which was first settled on by John Hitchcock, there lived the remainder of his life, and was succeeded by his son, Daniel N. Bowker, who has since lived there. This farm is the birthplace of a large family of Hitchcocks, who were prominent business men in this and other places for many years. Mr. Bowker was active in town affairs for many years ; selectman five years - 1849, 1850, 1851, 1853, and 1854- and chairman of the board three years.
WILLIAM BRECK,
Son of Henry Breck, was born in Croydon, December 17, 1826, and died in Claremont, December 10, 1889. He was assistant post-
WILLIAM BRECK.
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HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
master in this town, under Alonzo B. Williamson, from 1844 to 1846 ; partner of his brother, John T. Breck, in trade at Cornish Flat, from 1848 to 1852, at the end of which time, by reason of asthmatic affection, he went to California, where he was in active mercantile business eight years, when, having recovered his health and acquired a considerable fortune, he returned to Claremont, which was ever afterward his home. For several years he was a director in the Claremont National Bank, the Sullivan Savings In- stitution, and the Sugar River Paper Mill Company. He was a representative in the New Hampshire legislature from 1883 to 1885. On October 7, 1868, he married Susan L., daughter of the late George N. Farwell, by whom he had one daughter, Sarah McDonald Breck.
OSCAR J. BROWN
Was born at Hartford, Vt., October 22, 1808, and died in Clare- mont, March 27, 1892. His ancestors came from the state of Connecticut to Westmoreland, and from there removed to Hart- ford, Vt. His father, Amos Brown, died, leaving a widow and five young children - three sons and two daughters-of whom Oscar J. was the oldest, and became and continued during the life of each the adviser and helper of such of them as needed help, as long as he lived. In 1832 he commenced driving stage from Hanover to Royalton, Vt., twenty-five miles, and soon be- came proprietor of the line. In 1835 he came to Claremont and was part owner of the line of stages from Walpole to Chelsea, Vt., a distance of eighty-three miles, being himself one of the drivers. From time to time he was connected as owner and driver with different stage lines, having for partners Benj. P. Cheney, now of Boston, Nathaniel White, late of Concord, and Paran Stevens. From 1832 to 1885, with many changes of lines and routes, he was almost constantly connected with the staging and livery business-his last being as owner of the staging from Claremont village to the Junction and village rail- road stations. In all this period of fifty-three years he never met with a serious accident, injured a passenger, or killed a horse. He was known as a careful and expert driver.
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In 1850 Mr. Brown erected a one-story wooden block of stores, on the corner of Pleasant and Sullivan streets, where Union block now is, and added two stories to it in 1854. This build- ing was destroyed by fire March 26, 1887. In 1860 he built the brick block on the opposite corner of Pleasant street, and other buildings and dwellings during his residence in the town. He was a strong, energetic man, and his life an active and always busy one.
In 1849, when the Sullivan railroad was opened for business, Mr. Brown was the first passenger conductor on it, which po- sition he resigned after a few months' service. In 1857 and 1858, and in 1874 and 1875 he was a representative in the New Hampshire legislature. To celebrate his eightieth birth- day, October 22, 1888, seventeen gentlemen among his older neighbors, in compliment to him, his age and reputation as a stage man, having provided a Concord stage-coach, with eight spirited gray horses attached to it, invited Mr. Brown to drive them to Windsor, Vt., for a dinner.
In February, 1836, Mr. Brown married Miss Lavinia Porter, of Thetford, Vt., who died March 20, 1883, leaving to mourn her decease a husband and two children -Frank H. Brown, a member of the Sullivan county bar, and Susan Amanda, the wife of Henry Judkins.
ABEL BUNNELL
Came from Guilford, Conn., in 1775, and located on the west side of Green mountain, on what was afterward for many years the David Dodge farm, where he found a spring of good water. He brought his wife, one child, and everything else he pos- sessed on horseback. He brought some apple seeds in his pocket, planted them, and some of the trees are now living and bear fruit. He was twice married, and had eighteen chil- dren. His second wife was Mrs. Dodge, mother of the late David Dodge. He died September 27, 1847, at the age of eighty- nine years.
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