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 37
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preme court. Thus it will be seen that Alexander Ralston was the maternal grandfather of Salmon P. Chase. Ithamer Chase removed from Cornish to Keene, where he died August 8, 1817.
SAMUEL S. RAND,
Son of Samuel Rand, was born in Portsmouth, June 1, 1819. He learned the trade of a tinsmith at Portsmouth, worked as a jour- neyman a few years, then commenced business on his own account at Lowell, Mass .; from there he removed to Holderness, N. H., and came to Claremont in 1851, opened a shop in the Fiske building, north side of the upper bridge, and in 1854 moved into O. J. Brown's building on Pleasant street, and connected the stove with his tin business. In 1871 he erected on the east side of Pleasant street the three-story building known as Rand's block. The lower story is occupied with five stores; the second with rooms connected with the Belmont House, and the third with the Odd Fellows' hall. The building of this and the Heywood block, connected with it, at the same time, started business on Pleasant street. Mr. Rand sold his tin and stove business to his son, Fred deF. Rand, in 1885. He has been twice married -first, to Miss Lucinda W. Brown, by whom he had four children -three sons and one daughter, all grown to maturity, and living. This wife died April 13, 1865, and May 25, 1866, he married her sister, Miss Mary W. Brown, who died April 14, 1892.
DR. JOSIAH RICHARDS,
Son of Josiah Richards, was born at Washington, N. H., May 30, 1784, and died in Claremont, January 29, 1871. He attended Atkinson academy, and studied medicine with Dr. Cogswell, of that town. During the war of 1812 he obtained a situation under the United States government in the land and naval hospital at Portsmouth, and after a few months was appointed assistant sur- geon in the naval service, and assigned to duty at Newburyport, Mass. . After a time he secured his discharge and entered the
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DR. JOSIAH RICHARDS.
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privateer service, in which he continued about two years, and then returned to New Hampshire, and entered the medical department of Dartmouth College, where he graduated in 1815. The next year he came to Claremont, where the remainder of his life was spent -the most of it in an extensive practice of his profession, his specialty being obstetrics, in which he is said to have been very successful. He represented the town in the New Hampshire legislature in 1827 and 1828, and was several years superintending school committee. He was a man of great physical and mental strength and activity, and responded to calls until quite advanced in years. In 1816 Doctor Richards married Emily Haskell, of Weathersfield, Vt., who died November 17, 1882, leaving two daughters - Miss Marion, who has since died, and Helen, the widow of Sullivan W. Healey.
SHERMAN ROSSITER
Was a son of Captain William Rossiter, and a direct descendant of Edward Rossiter, who was one of the assistants to Governor John Winthrop, chosen in London in 1629, and came to the colonies in the spring of 1630. Sherman Rossiter was born in Guilford, Conn., April 20, 1775. About 1802 he came to Clare- mont and soon after purchased and settled on a farm on the old road to Newport, the eastern boundary of which is the line be- tween these towns, where he passed the remainder of his life. By industry and frugality he accumulated a handsome property, and died October 2, 1838. He married Olive Baldwin, of his native town, November 5, 1804, and they had nine children - seven sons and two daughters. The sons were William, Timothy Baldwin, Pomeroy Morse, Luzern Sherman, Chittenden, Stephen Farley, and Rounseville Van Ness ; the daughters, Submit Chit- tenden and Loret Collins. William died in Claremont, February 29, 1860; Chittenden, a successful farmer in Windsor, Vt., died May 8, 1892, and Rounseville Van Ness in infancy. Timothy Baldwin, Pomeroy Morse, and Stephen Farley are living in Clare- mont, and Luzern Sherman is living in Kasson, Minn., engaged
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in staging and keeping a hotel. Submit Chittenden married Edmund Wheeler, of Newport, and died March 2, 1856; Loret Collins married the late William E. Tutherly, of this town, and died January 8, 1888.
WILLIAM ROSSITER,
The oldest child of Sherman and Olive (Baldwin) Rossiter, was born September 24, 1805, and died February 29, 1860. He lived in Claremont during his whole life, was an active business man, and prominent citizen. For several years he, in company with the late Thomas Sanford, operated the Sullivan woolen mill, since 1857 owned by George L. Balcom, and was engaged in general mercantile business for quite a number of years, in the store now occupied by Israel D. Hall, having for partners for different pe- riods, Cyrus Clement, Tyler Tupper, Sumner Putnam, and perhaps others. He was selectman in 1839, 1845, 1850, and 1852, and representative in the New Hampshire legislature in 1847 and 1848. He married Lucy Barrett, of Claremont, who survives him.
POMEROY MORSE ROSSITER,
Third son of Sherman and Olive (Baldwin) Rossiter, was born December 4, 1810, and has always been engaged in farming. He worked for Joel Goss, on his farm, from 1829 to 1832. On July 1, 1831, Mr. Goss's two large barns and sheds adjoining were destroyed by a tornado, Mr. Rossiter being in one of the sheds at the time, and escaped injury. Mr. Goss was an extensive farmer, keeping from twenty-five to thirty cows, and his rule was to fatten as many hogs as he kept cows. Each winter, like other farmers in those days, he carried his pork, butter, cheese, poultry, and other produce to Boston market. In the winter of 1831-32, he sent Mr. Rossiter, with a team of six oxen and sled, to Boston with produce weighing six thousand pounds, which he disposed of, and brought back about an equal amount of merchandise. He was twelve days on the trip, and the entire expense in money
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paid out, for himself and team, as he reports it, was $24.94. In 1832 Mr. Rossiter went to Milford, and in 1836 bought a large farm there and carried it on successfully, making hop raising a specialty, until 1865. In 1879 he bought the well known Cupola farm in Claremont, which, if not the best, is one of the two best, farms in New Hampshire. He was selectman of Milford in 1856, 1858, and 1859, and representative from Claremont in the New Hampshire legislature in 1885 and 1887. He married Eliza Tucker, of Milford, November 15, 1836, who died several years ago.
STEPHEN FARLEY ROSSITER,
Sixth son of Sherman and Olive (Baldwin) Rossiter, was born October 7, 1820, and he has always lived in Claremont and been engaged in farming and dealing in farm stock. He was selectman eight years, from 1863 to 1877, both years inclusive ; representative in the New Hampshire legislature in 1878 and 1879; county commissioner from 1886 to 1892; and collector of taxes in 1891 and 1894. He married Maria A. Marshall, of New Ipswich, March 20, 1850.
TIMOTHY BALDWIN ROSSITER,
Second son of Sherman and Olive (Baldwin) Rossiter, was born September 18, 1807. He has been engaged in farming all his life. He owned and carried on a farm in Newport several years. In 1859 he bought what was known as the Joel Goss farm, about two miles south of Claremont village, where he has since lived. He married Elvira, daughter of the late Moody Dustin, of Clare- mont, May 30, 1836.
DR. SILAS H. SABINE
Was born at Pomfret, Conn., July 3, 1777. At an early age he went with his parents to Windsor, Vt., and worked on his father's farm until twenty years of age, after which he fitted for college at Haverhill, and graduated at Dartmouth
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College in 1803. He studied medicine with Dr. Trask, at Windsor, and commenced practice at Strafford, Vt., in 1807, which he continued at Windsor until 1819, and in Claremont until 1834, when he retired from active business in his profes- sion. When in Vermont he was examining surgeon in the war of 1812. In Claremont he was superintendent of schools several years. He was a man of fine literary attainments and wrote and published many essays on various medical topics. He died in Claremont, July 29, 1850.
SIMEON SANKEE,
A colored citizen, was a conspicuous character in town for many years succeeding 1832. He was a barber and kept a small shop where he dispensed cakes, custards, candy, nuts, and ice cream in the warm seasons. He had a poetic turn, and displayed his talent in this direction in advertising his business. In the National Eagle of January, 1835, he introduced himself in this wise :
Look, gentiles! I'm Simeon Sankee ! I shave in shine or rain ; Scissors ! if I suit not each Yankee, I'll shave him o'er again.
After a long catalogue of his accomplishments as a " tonsorial artist," he closes-"Mr. Sankee may be found during shaving hours, at his office, opposite Stevens's Hotel, where he will attend to the calls of his customers." He died at Morristown, Vt., in 1861.
THE REV. HENRY SUMNER SMITH
Was born in Nashua, March 15, 1801. He entered Kenyon College, at Gambier, O., but on account of the disorganized state of that institution, he did not graduate. He studied the- ology at Gambier; was made deacon by Bishop McIlvaine at Gambier, September 7, 1833; ordained priest at Cleveland, O., September 11, 1836, by Bishop McIlvaine. Following his ordi- nation, Mr. Smith officiated in several parishes in the diocese
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of Ohio. At Easter, 1838, he became the assistant of the Rev. James B. Howe, in Union church, Claremont, one half of the time; the other half he officiated in Trinity church, Cornish. In 1842 Mr. Smith officiated in Cornish and Plainfield. He be- came rector of Union church -Trinity church having been or- ganized at the village -in 1843, and continued in this office until Easter, 1871. He died February 16, 1872.
DR. NATHAN SMITH
Was born at Rehoboth, Mass., September 30, 1762, and died at New Haven, Conn., July 26, 1828. His father removed with his family to Chester, Vt., in 1770. When about twenty-one years old, the subject of this sketch was incited to become a physician and surgeon, through having witnessed an amputation of the thigh by Dr. Josiah Goodhue, of Putney, Vt., when he held the limb and tied the arteries as the doctor took them up. He then requested Dr. Goodhue to take him as a pupil, but was advised to first further perfect his education, and he ac- cordingly put himself under the tuition of the Rev. Mr. Whit- ing, of Rockingham, Vt., which he continued several months, and then commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Goodhue, and remained with him three years, paying his way by doing work about the doctor's place. He began practice at Cornish in 1787, without any degree, and subsequently married a daughter of Gen. Jonathan Chase, of that town. He was in practice in Claremont for a time succeeding 1788. To further perfect him- self in his profession he entered the medical department of Harvard College, and received the degree of M. B. in 1790, be- ing the only graduate of that year in a class of four.
In 1798 Dr. Smith was appointed professor of the theory and practice of medicine, and also of anatomy and surgery, at Dart- mouth College. He held both chairs until 1810, and the former until 1813, when he was called to take the foremost place in the medical department of Yale College, and resigned, but lec- tured at Dartmouth several years afterward. In 1821 he organ-
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ized the medical school of Bowdoin College and lectured there and at the University of Vermont several years.
Dr. Smith was famous for his success in surgery, and origi- nated new methods and operations. In a biographical sketch, read before the New Hampshire Medical Society at its centennial anniversary in June, 1891, by Dr. John W. Parsons, of Ports- mouth, he said of Dr. Smith -"To him more than to any other man, it is believed, may be ascribed the rapid increase in the advantages for medical education in America at this date."
ALPHEUS F. SNOW,
Son of Alpheus Snow, was born in Chesterfield, May 29, 1818. He studied law in the office of Hubbard & Gilchrist, Charles- town, and graduated at the Harvard Law School. He was ad- mitted to the Sullivan county bar in 1841, and soon opened an office in Claremont and practiced his profession here until 1864, which, by reason of impaired health, he discontinued at that time. In 1866 he removed to Hartford, Conn., where he died November 25, 1886. His remains were buried in the Pleasant Street Ceme- tery, in this town. He was justice of the police court between 1850 and 1854.
THE STEVENS FAMILY.
The first of this family in Claremont, which became conspicuous and made a considerable figure in the early and later history of the town, was Elihu Stevens. He was born in Guilford, Conn., in 1731, came here about 1768, and died in 1814. He was an ar- dent Whig, and very active on the side of liberty during the Revo- lutionary War. He was a justice of the peace, selectman in 1776 and 1784, moderator in 1780 and 1788, and representative in 1777.
JOSIAH STEVENS,
The oldest son of Elihu, was born in Guilford, Conn., August 12, 1752, came to Claremont with his father, and died April 10, 1827. If not the first, he was one of the first, merchants in town, and
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for several years was the leading one in this section of the state, HIe engaged in manufacturing of different kinds and built the Tremont House in 1800, which he kept as a hotel, and was suc- ceeded in it by his four sons, Josiah, Jr., Godfrey, Alvah, and Paran. He was prominent in business in many other ways from the time when he first came to town until his death. He was the first postmaster, from 1802 to 1813, selectman in 1788 and 1792, moderator in 1811 and for the six succeeding years, and representa- tive in 1798. His first wife was Abigail Dudley, of Guilford, by whom he had several children, all of whom, except Josiah, Jr., died young. This wife died in April, 1790, and the following September he married Mrs. Matilda Brewer, oldest daughter of Godfrey Cooke, by whom he had five sons and two daughters. The sons were Alfred, Godfrey, Alvah, Edwin, and Paran. Alfred and Edwin died young. Of the daughters, Matilda became the wife of Samuel Fiske, Miranda the wife of Samuel P. Fiske. She died May 26, 1882.
DEACON JOSIAH STEVENS,
Son of Colonel Josiah and Abigail Dudley Stevens, born Septem- ber 9, 1784, was for many years succeeding 1832 deacon of the Congregational church, and town clerk from 1844 to 1854. In consequence of senile dementia, in the night of February 3, 1857, he climbed out of his bedroom window in the house of the late Hiram Putnam on Washington street, now owned by the heirs of the late William E. Tutherly, where he was living, his feet bare, with nothing on but his night clothes, and wandered off. He was missed, the people rallied, followed his tracks in the snow, and found him in a neighboring field frozen to death.
GODFREY STEVENS,
Son of Colonel Josiah and Matilda Brewer Stevens, was born Sep- tember 10, 1796. He was in trade with his father, and also with Charles M. Bingham, under the firm name of Stevens & Bingham, in the brick store where the Claremont National Bank building
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now stands, for several years; was many times chosen moderator of town meetings; representative in 1829, 1830, and 1833, and held other town offices. He is said to have been a man of great energy and business ability. He died September 14, 1842.
ALVAH STEVENS,
Son of Colonel Josiah and Matilda Brewer Stevens, was born De- cember 12, 1798. He was a farmer and widely-known cattle dealer. He was several years collector of taxes, and held other town offices. He built the large brick house on Pleasant street now owned and occupied by E. D. Baker, where he died.
PARAN STEVENS,
Son of Colonel Josiah and Matilda Brewer Stevens, was born Sep- tember 11, 1802. He and his three brothers succeeded the father in the management of the Tremont House, of which he subsequently became sole proprietor, which he continued until 1838, when he sold out to Aurelius Dickinson. While keeping the hotel he had an interest in different stage lines, which were quite profitable in those days. During what was known as speculation times in Clare- mont, from about 1830 to 1838, Mr. Stevens engaged in several dif- ferent enterprises, some of which were not fortunate, owing more to the financial condition of the country than to any want of care or good judgment on his part. Under his management the excel- lence of the Tremont House became very widely known and he famous as an accomplished landlord. About 1843 he had a call to go to Boston and keep the New England Coffee House, which he accepted. For capital he took with him little more than energy, industry, ability, and integrity. His success in that house was such that in 1846, when the Massachusetts Mechanics' Charitable Asso- ciation built the Revere House, the most extensive and elegantly finished, furnished, and equipped hotel in the country, they invited Mr. Stevens to take the management of it. This establishment was thought by many to be in advance of the requirements of the time,
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and that it could not be made to pay; but Mr. Stevens conducted it so well that it became known far and near in a very short time, was a success in every way from the start, and made a reputation for him as the most accomplished hotel manager in the country. He soon became general manager of the Fifth Avenue, New York; the Continental, Philadelphia; the Battle House, Mobile; and the Tremont House, Boston. All these houses were extremely popular and prosperous, and from his share of the profits of them he accu- mulated a large fortune in a few years.
In 1866 Mr. Stevens proposed to donate to the town of Claremont ten thousand dollars towards establishing a high school, on condi- tion that the town would raise and appropriate a like sum for that purpose. The town called a meeting of its citizens, who without hesitation voted fifteen thousand dollars. Not to be outdone by the town, Mr. Stevens made his donation about equal by iron fence for the school ground and in furnishings for the school building; and the town voted to name the school the Stevens High School. About the time of the completion of the school building Mr. Stevens gave another ten thousand dollars, to be kept as a fund the interest of which should be used toward defraying the expense of the school, and bequeathed in his will forty thousand dollars more to be added to that fund, made payable within two years after his death. He died in New York city, April 25, 1872.
On receiving intelligence of the death of Mr. Stevens the citizens of the town took steps for a suitable memorial service. Ira Colby, Dudley T. Chase, William E. Tutherly, S. G. Jarvis, George N. Farwell, Edward L. Goddard, and Charles M. Bingham were chosen a committee of arrangements, and the day fixed was the 21st of June, at the close of the school year. At 2.30 o'clock, P. M., on that day a procession consisting of the pupils of the town schools was formed at the high school building, under the marshalship of Henry E. Barrett, and escorted by the Claremont Cornet Band, marched to the town hall, which was literally packed by the people. Dr. Nathaniel Tolles was president. Rev. Dr. Isaac G. Hubbard, the chaplain, offered prayer. The pupils of the high school, under the
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leadership of F. F. Haskell, sang the hymn "My Heavenly Home." John S. Walker delivered a carefully prepared and appropriate ora- tion. Another hymn was sung, and the Rev. H. L. Kelsey pro- nounced the benediction.
LINUS STEVENS
Was a son of Meigs Stevens and grandson of Elihu. He was born August 9, 1792, and died March 14, 1873. He was a carpenter by trade; a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, having held the highest offices in the different lodges in town, and a respected citizen. By his first wife he had three children, none of whom sur- vive. His second wife was Jerusha Hurlburt, of Lebanon. By this marriage he had two daughters - Emma Jane, the wife of Law- rence A. Tolles, of this town, who is still living; and Sarah Eva, who married Frank P. Thrasher, and died April 13, 1882, at the age of twenty-nine years. Mr. Stevens was painstaking and curious in many ways. He kept a diary, the last entry in which was: "I have kept a daily record of the weather and where I was every day for thirty-nine years, to the last day of 1871. I now leave it."
MATTHIAS STONE
Came to Claremont to live in 1770, and was for more than twenty years one of its most prominent and valued citizens. His farm was on what is now the road to Claremont Junction. He was born at Watertown, Mass., on October 23, 1723. His father, Samuel Stone, died there in 1726. At the age of about five years Matthias went to live with his great-uncle, Dea. David Stone, a blind man, and remained with him until about twenty-three years old, when he went to Worcester, Mass., where he was married to Susan Chad- wick. From Worcester he removed to Barre, Mass., and was dea- con of the Congregational church there. They had fifteen children - ten sons and five daughters. The two youngest sons, John and Joseph, were born here. His wife died and he afterward married Huldah Fletcher. Four of his sons removed to Cabot, Vt., when
GEORGE H. STOWELL.
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that town began to be settled, and about 1790 he joined them, where he died in 1814 at the age of ninety-one years. While he lived in Claremont Mr. Stone was many times moderator of town meetings and selectman and representative in the legislature. He was a delegate to the convention that adopted the federal constitu- tion, in 1788; was also a justice of the peace, and as such officiated at many marriage ceremonies.
GEORGE H. STOWELL,
Son of Amasa Stowell, was born in Cornish, October 28, 1835. His boyhood was spent on a farm and attending the public schools in that town. He came to Claremont in March, 1860, and engaged in the gravestone and marble manufacturing busi- ness, carrying it on until 1864, when he bought the hardware stock of Levi B. Brown, in the northwest corner store in O. J. Brown's brick block, where he has been engaged in a whole- sale and retail trade in hardware, iron, and coal ever since. He has also been quite extensively engaged in real estate, hav- ing built several first-class tenement houses, all of which he still owns, and is a third part owner of Union block.
Mr. Stowell has been prominent in town affairs for thirty years. He was a representative in the New Hampshire legisla- ture in 1871 and 1874; state senator in 1875 and 1876; member of the executive council 'from 1881 to 1883; aid to Governor Prescott, with the rank of colonel, from 1887 to 1889; member of the conventions to revise and amend the state constitution in 1876 and 1889; delegate to the Republican national convention to nominate candidates for president and vice-president in 1884; and has been chief engineer of the fire department, with the exception of the year 1878, from 1873 to 1894. He has been a director and vice-president of the People's National Bank from its organization. In 1888 he made a trip to Europe for health and pleasure.
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JOSIAH SWETT
Was born in Essex county, Mass., December 20, 1741, and died December 25, 1808. He descended from immigrants from the south of England early in the colonial period, and settled in Essex county. He came to Claremont in 1783, and bought a farm on Maple avenue, afterward for many years owned and known as the Eli Draper farm, latterly divided up among dif- ferent owners, where he lived until his decease. He had six children - four sons and two daughters.
JOSIAH SWETT, JR.,
Son of Josiah Swett, was born in Wenham, Mass., October 2, 1768, and died December 19, 1843. He came to Claremont in 1793, and bought a farm on Maple avenue, adjoining that of his father, directly west of the Wilson place, afterward owned and occupied by the late Ira Colby. He raised up a family of ten children- three sons and seven daughters-among whom were Dr. John L. Swett, an eminent physician, of Newport, and the late Rev. Josiah Swett, an Episcopal clergyman, of Highgate, Vt.
DR. JOHN L. SWETT,
Second son of Josiah Swett, Jr., was born on Maple avenue, Claremont, February 7, 1810. He studied medicine with Dr. Nathaniel Tolles, then in practice in Reading, Vt., and with Dr. Thomas B. Kittredge, in Claremont; received the degree of M. D. at Jefferson College, Philadelphia, in 1836, and soon after commenced practice at Newport, which was quite extensive for more than fifty years, and held a prominent place in his profession, being a member of the National Medical Association, an honorary member of the California State Medical Society, and a member since 1841 of the New Hampshire Medical So- ciety, of which latter he was president in 1874. Dr. Swett was twice married, but is now a widower. By the first marriage he had four children -two sons and two daughters-only one of
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