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 39
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arrival in Washington, met Mr. Randolph on a narrow sidewalk, and determined to come to an understanding with the arrogant Virginian then and there. Mr. Upham placed himself on the inside of the walk and the two met face to face. Mr. Randolph instantly took the measure of the large and powerfully built New Englander, and seeing something in his eye that boded trouble if he persisted, stepped aside and let Mr. Upham pass, not a word being uttered by either of the gentlemen. Ever after that Mr. Randolph treated Mr. Upham with marked politeness.
Mr. Upham was president during its existence of the first Clare- mont bank. By his legal professional business, good judgment, and economy he accumulated a large fortune for his time. He died at his residence on Broad street, on the spot where the Stevens High School building now stands, of a paralytic affection. His usual good health continued unimpaired until within a few hours of his decease, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. His death was announced at the next session of the court at Newport, and it immediately adjourned. He was buried with the impressive ceremonies of the Episcopal church, of which he had long been a member. A funeral discourse was preached in the old octagon brick church, on the occasion, by the late Rev. Dr. Clapp, of Bellows Falls, Vt. A large concourse of people of his own and surrounding towns, testified by their presence their respect for his character and appreciation of the public services of his early and active life, of the integrity of his principles, and of the kind- ness of his heart.
JABEZ UPHAM
Was a son of Captain Phineas Upham, of Brookfield, Mass., and an older brother of George B. Upham. He graduated at Harvard College in 1785, came to Claremont in 1789, opened a law office in a small building which stood just south of the Breck house, West Claremont, and was representative in the New Hamp- shire legislature in 1792. He remained in town about three years, and then returned to Brookfield. He acquired a large practice and
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a leading position at the Worcester county bar; was elected to con- gress in 1807, from Massachusetts, served two terms, and died in 1811.
DR. J. BAXTER UPHAM,
Third son of George B. Upham, was born May 13, 1820. He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1842, and Harvard Med- ical School in 1847, having in the mean time studied his pro- fession at Dartmouth, Bowdoin, the University of Pennsylvania, and the medical department of Harvard College. He afterwards further pursued his studies in the hospitals of London and Paris. Soon after his graduation he settled. in Boston, in a general prac- tice, being often called in consultation with his medical brethren. He was president of the Handel and Haydn Society, of Boston, from 1860 to 1870; the Boston Music Hall Association from 1854 to 1880; and chairman of the music committee of the Boston public schools from 1857 to 1872.
While president of the Music Hall Association, Dr. Upham went to Europe, where, after spending much time in visiting the most celebrated organs and organ builders in the Old World, he contracted for "The Great Organ" which was placed in the Boston Music Hall in November, 1863, and has since attracted the attention and admiration of music lovers throughout the land. Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, in a description of it in the Atlantic Monthly, at the time, said, "It is the most precious work of art that ever floated from one continent to the other."
In 1862 Dr. Upham offered his services as a physician to the government, in whatever capacity he might be most useful in the War of the Rebellion, which were gladly accepted. He was after- wards given the constructive rank of major and assigned im- portant duties with the Eighteenth Army Corps. He organized the General Army Hospital at Newbern, N. C., and had charge of it during the winter of 1862 and the spring of 1863.
Dr. Upham's life has been largely devoted to science and art. His profound study of the diseases to which humanity is subject,
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his scientific treatment of them, and the results of his experience and observation, as contributed to medical and scientific journals, have made him distinguished in scientific and art circles, as well as in his chosen profession. Since 1887 his home has been in New York city.
JAMES P. UPHAM,
Fourth son of George B. Upham, was born October 17, 1827, and graduated at Dartmouth College in 1850. Soon after his graduation he acquired an interest in the iron foundry and machine shop, which has since grown into the Sullivan Machinery Company, of which he was president twenty-five years, up to 1892. He is an owner in and president of the Brandon, Vt., Italian Marble Company, and has also been extensively engaged in farm- ing. He was a representative in the New Hampshire legislature in 1865 and 1866, and is warden of Union church. He has five children - three sons and two daughters. Of his sons, J. Duncan is treasurer of the Sullivan Machinery Company; George B. is a lawyer in Boston ; and Samuel R. is a practicing physician here.
DR. SAMUEL R. UPHAM,
Third son of James P. Upham, was born October 9, 1861. He attended Stevens High School three years, and graduated at Gran- ville, N. Y., Military Academy in 1879; studied at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York city, three years, and graduated at the University of Vermont in 1887. He was interne two years, externe in the outpatient surgical department two years, and surgeon three years at the Rhode Island Hospital, Providence ; in general practice in that city from 1887 to 1892, during which period he was attending physician to Providence day nursery, and also four years to Providence dispensary. He has been in general practice of his profession in Claremont since September, 1892.
EDWIN VAUGHAN
Was born at Chelsea, Vt., September 14, 1832, and died at Clare- mont December 18, 1890. His father's family came from Bridge-
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water, Mass., to Chelsea, and in 1834 removed to Taftsville, in the town of Woodstock, Vt. He graduated at Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, in 1855; studied law in the Law University, Albany, N. Y .; was admitted to the bar in 1857, and commenced the practice of his profession in Claremont, in partnership with the late Alexander Gardiner, in an office at the lower village, in 1858. In December, 1861, he enlisted in the New Hampshire Cavalry as a private, passed through the several grades, and was commissioned captain of Troop A in March, 1864. He was assist- tant provost marshal of the Eighth Army Corps, and stationed at Baltimore, Md., the last six months of his service, and was discharged June 7, 1865. He was a member of the New Hamp- shire legislature in 1866 and 1867; United States revenue in- spector in 1867 and 1868; member of the Chicago Republican convention which nominated General Grant for president in 1868 ; was appointed United States consul at Coaticook, Canada, from April, 1869, to 1881, when he returned to Claremont, and was appointed judge of probate for Sullivan county, June 7, 1883, which office he held until his death. June 20, 1860, he married Elizabeth L., daughter of the late Rev. S. G. Tenney, of Spring- field, Vt., by whom he had two sons-the oldest died in Canada, and the other, Frank T., is a lawyer in Claremont.
CARL A. VOLK, M. D.,
Was born in Hamburg, near Frankfort, Germany, June 18, 1812. He came to America in 1834, and settled in Ohio. He came to Claremont in 1844, and had a large practice as long as he lived. Dr. Volk studied in Heidelberg, and took the degree of M. D. from Dartmouth College in 1859. He died in Claremont March 3, 1883.
JOSEPH WAITE.
Among the planters of Watertown, Mass., was Richard Waite, who came from England, and in 1637 became a proprietor by pur- chasing all the lands and rights of one of the original grantees of
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the town. Of his three sons, John, Thomas, and Joseph, the de- scendants of the former removed to Framingham, Mass., Joseph removed to Marlboro', Mass., and Thomas remained in Water- town, where he acquired considerable property. His sons were John, Richard, Thomas, and Joseph. The two first died in the early Indian wars; Thomas removed to Lyme, Conn., and was the ancestor of Henry M. Waite, late chief justice of Connecticut, whose son, Morrison R. Waite, was chief justice of the United States, and Marvin Wait, a distinguished lawyer of the Revolu- tionary period, whose son, John Turner Wait, was late representa- tive in congress from Connecticut. Joseph removed from Water- town to the adjoining town of Sudbury, and had one son, John, who, with his father, removed to Brookfield, Mass., in 1746, and opened an inn on the post-road from Boston to Albany, which was widely known for many years as the " Old Waite Tavern." He had seven sons, John, Joseph, Thomas, Benjamin, Richard, Jedu- than, and William.
The subject of this sketch, Lieut. Col. Joseph Waite, second son of John, the tavern-keeper, was born at Sudbury, Mass., in 1732. In May, 1754, he entered the provincial army, for the de- fense of the eastern frontiers; the following December he was corporal of a company of rangers in the Crown Point expedition, stationed at Falltown, in the line of forts commanded by Col. Israel Williams; in February, 1756, he was appointed ensign of his company, which was attached to Col. Dwight's regiment, with headquarters at Forts Edward and William Henry. Among his associates were Robert Rogers, the famous ranger, Israel Putnam, and John Stark. In 1757 he was transferred to the corps of rangers commanded by Rogers. The rangers were raised in New England, paid by the Crown, and officered by the most hardy, in- telligent, and enterprising partisans of that day, many of whom were afterwards distinguished in the Revolutionary War. They were picked men, of extraordinary bodily powers, combined with the most acute mental energies, and were trained in a discipline of their own. Their services were attended by difficulties and hard-
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ships, and beset with dangers in which men of ordinary stamina would never think of engaging. In 1759 Mr. Waite was commis- sioned captain of a company of rangers, and served continuously in that capacity until the end of the French and Indian War, in 1761, when that organization was disbanded. Captain Waite re- turned to Brookfield, where he was elected to several important town offices. The history of Brookfield, Mass., says that " in 1762 he married a sister of Colonel Nathan Stone, of Shrewsbury, Mass., who, with his father Zedekiah and brothers David and Samuel, were prominent in the French War. In 1767 they were all living in Windsor, Vt., which had been chartered to them the previous year, and where by their exertions and enterprise, they increased the wealth and prosperity of the place, and rendered it, at an early period, one of the most flourishing and popular villages in the New Hampshire Grants, as Vermont was then called." From what follows in the same history it is inferred that Joseph Waite and his brother Benjamin became inhabitants of Windsor at nearly the same time as did the Stones.
The first settlers of the towns in New Hampshire and Vermont, bordering on Connecticut river, known as the New Hampshire Grants, had derived their titles to the lands from the royal gov- ernor of New Hampshire. In 1768 a claim to this territory on the west side of Connecticut river was set up by the governor of New York, and many attempts were made to dispossess the occu- pants, who resolutely denied the authority of New York over them or their possessions. For their own protection the organiza- tion known by the name of the Green Mountain Boys was called into existence, of which Joseph and Benjamin Waite and Nathan and Samuel Stone were active members, and large rewards were offered by the governor of New York for their delivery, with others, marked for the punishment of death. In 1770 the Waites and Stones had been arrested by High Sheriff Daniel Whipple, acting under a New York commission, for resistance to the assumed authority of that state, and had been rescued by a number of armed men. To retake them Whipple collected a posse of a dozen
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or fifteen persons, and went with them to the house of Joseph Waite, in order to arrest him, but were met by a party led by the latter, overpowered, and kept prisoners for several hours. In June of that year, Colonel Stone, Captain Waite, and others appeared at a court held in Chester and emphatically denied any authority of New York over them or their grants.
In 1771 the Green Mountain Boys were formed into a regiment, of which Ethan Allen was colonel, and Joseph Waite captain of one of the companies. He was with Ethan Allen in the memor- able capture of Ticonderoga, in 1775, and served in Canada during the following campaign.
In 1766 Captain Waite was granted five hundred acres of land in the southwest corner of the town of Claremont, together with three small islands in the Connecticut river opposite thereof, which has for many years been known as the Hubbard farm. Captain Waite came to live in Claremont in 1773, and was a mem- ber of the provincial congress of New Hampshire in 1775-76. In January, 1776, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of Col. Timo- thy Bedel's regiment, raised in New Hampshire for the defense of Canada. In a severe skirmish, a few days before the battle of Val- cour, Lieutenant-Colonel Waite was wounded in the head by a splinter from a gun-carriage and on his way home died at Clar- endon, Vt. He was buried with military honors, at the roadside, about two miles from Clarendon Springs. On the spot a monu- ment was erected which bears upon it the following inscription : " To perpetuate the memory of Lieut. Col. Joseph Waite, an officer in the American Revolutionary War, who died on his re- turn from an expedition into Canada, September 28, 1776; this stone is erected in testimony of respect by his brethren in arms." On the monument is the figure of an officer in full uniform with a raised sword, and beneath it is the inscription : "Our common country claims our aid. Living or dying I will defend her." This monument is surrounded by a strong iron fence.
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OTIS F. R. WAITE.
The family of Waites trace their descent from Richard Waite, who immigrated from England and became a proprietor of Water- town, Mass., in 1637, by purchasing all the lands and rights of one of the original grantees of the town. Among his descendants may be named Lieut. Col. Joseph Waite, of Revolutionary fame; Morri- son R. Waite, late chief justice of the United States; John T. Wait, of Norwich, Conn., an ex-member of congress ; and Albert S. Wait, an able lawyer of Newport, the only brother of the sub- ject of this sketch. His father was Daniel Wait, an ensign in the war of 1812, and major-general of the Vermont state militia.
Otis F. R. Waite, the writer of this History of Claremont, was born in Chester, Vt., March 3, 1818. He learned the trade of printer in New York city, was foreman of the Cheshire Republi- can at Keene from 1838 to 1847; editor and publisher of the Spirit of the Times, which was merged in the American News; was associate editor of the Springfield, Mass., Republican; editor and publisher of the Berkshire County Eagle, Pittsfield, Mass., during various terms prior to his purchase of the National Eagle, Claremont, which he edited and published from April, 1854, to April, 1859. He was engrossing clerk of the New Hampshire legislature in 1856 and 1857; state insurance commissioner three years following 1859; and associate editor of the American Stock Journal, published in New York city, four years. He also compiled the New Hampshire Register, published by the Clare- mont Manufacturing Company, three years.
Upon the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion, in April, 1861, Governor Goodwin appointed Mr. Waite general recruiting officer for Sullivan county, and soon after military secretary of the war committee of the governor's council, and he was re-appointed by Governor Berry upon his succession to office in June, 1861, in which position he rendered efficient service in the organization, equipment, and transportation of the early regiments sent to the front by New Hampshire. After the close of the war he prepared " Claremont War History," "New Hampshire in the Great Rebel-
JOHN S. WALKER.
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lion," and " Vermont in the Great Rebellion," books of permanent value locally and in the general history of the civil war. He was also author of "Eastman's Eastern Coast Guide Book." On the occa- sion of the meeting of the New Hampshire Historical Society in Claremont for its annual field-day, September 29, 1891, Mr. Waite, by special request, prepared a paper giving sketches of the " Early History of Claremont," which he read to the large company of members and guests, and which has since been published by the society in its " Transactions " and in pamphlet form.
It may be mentioned that while living in Keene Mr. Waite was promoted from the ranks of the famous Keene Light Infantry com- pany to quartermaster, adjutant, and major of the 20th Regiment of New Hampshire militia, and was appointed brigade inspector in 1845.
Major Waite bears his seventy-six years of active life with uncom- mon bodily and mental vigor, giving promise of yet many years of usefulness in his chosen pursuits. He and his estimable wife cele- brated their golden wedding on September 10, 1893. J. S. W.
JOHN S. WALKER
Is the oldest son of the late Rev. John Walker, a native of Bedford, whose father, Robert Walker, and uncle, James Walker, were the earliest settlers of that town, going from Londonderry, the famous New Hampshire Scotch-Irish settlement, and of Arethusa (Hum- phrey) Walker, daughter of Dr. Royal Humphrey, of Athol, Mass. The Rev. John Walker was a graduate of Dartmouth College in the class of 1808, and the second settled minister of Greenfield, where John S. Walker was born June 19, 1820. He acquired his education mainly under the instruction of his father. When nine- teen years old he became sole proprietor and editor of a daily paper in Buffalo, N. Y., which he continued two years. In 1841 and 1842 he reported the proceedings of the New York legislature for the Albany Free Press. He then became proprietor of a bookstore and was editor of the Cortland County Whig, which he contin- ued for about three years.
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In the spring of 1846 Mr. Walker returned to New Hampshire and was editor of the Daily Statesman - the first daily paper published in the state - during the memorable session of the New Hampshire legislature which elected Anthony Colby governor and John P. Hale speaker of the house, and also United States senator for six years. In October of the same year, in company with Charles Young, he came to Claremont, and they bought the Na- tional Eagle newspaper establishment, Mr. Walker taking the edi- torial charge of the paper. On May 18, 1848, he was married to Harriet Harris, youngest daughter of the late George B. Upham, in the old round brick church, by the late Bishop Carlton Chase, and the same day they started on a bridal tour on horseback through Vermont, New York state, and Canada, including Montreal and Quebec, returning to Claremont the first of July, having made a journey of one thousand miles.
In 1850 Mr. Walker was instrumental in organizing the New Hampshire State Agricultural Society, and the three first years was its secretary. In 1852 he was a delegate to the Whig national con- vention at Baltimore, and with the New Hampshire delegation, on fifty-two successive ballots, voted for Daniel Webster for candidate for president. On the fifty-third ballot they voted for Winfield Scott, and he was nominated. In 1863 Mr. Walker was appointed assistant deputy surveyor of customs for the port of Bostou, which position he held until after the death of President Lincoln, when, under Andrew Johnson, a change was made in all departments. On retiring from that position he was for a time on the editorial staff of the Boston Journal.
Mr. Walker was aid to Governor Berry and also to Governor Gilmore, with the rank of colonel, during the War of the Rebellion, and with the late Mason W. Tappan represented the latter gov- ernor at a meeting of governors of the loyal states at the consecra- tion, in November, 1863, of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg. He was active in procuring the extension of the line of railroad from Bradford to Claremont, and was the first president of the Sugar River railroad, as the extension was then called.
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Mr. Walker has made several trips abroad, spending considerable time in England, France, Italy, and Switzerland, visiting South America and making a stay of several weeks in Rio Janeiro. Dur- ing these journeys he was a constant correspondent of the Boston Journal. He was representative in the New Hampshire legislature in 1850 and 1851, and delegate in the conventions to revise the state constitution in 1850 and 1870. He was three years a member of the State Board of Agriculture, and with the board visited numerous towns in the state, holding farmers' conventions and making occasional addresses. In local affairs Mr. Walker delivered a memorial address in the town hall on the occasion of the death of Paran Stevens; also one upon the rededication of the town hall, in January, 1868.
HORACE EATON WALKER
Was born at North Charlestown, August 9, 1852. His father was the late Simeon W .. Walker, whose father came from Lunenburg, N. Y., to North Charlestown. The subject of this sketch was edu- cated in the public schools and by private tutors. He spent his childhood at the place of his birth, and his later years have been passed in Claremont, where he has been an operative in the Monad- nock mills, occupying his leisure hours with literary work, writing prose and verse, of which he has produced a large amount. In 1885 he gathered and published a volume of over six hundred pages of his own writings. In it is a poem of nearly three hundred lines, " The Lady of Dardale," which is the title of the book. His pro- ductions have been published in the collection of New Hampshire Poets, Ballou's and Waverly magazines, the Boston Journal, and many other papers. The Woman's Illustrated World has pub- lished his two serials entitled " All About a Woman," and " Lady Geraldine," and stories and verses.
JOHN H. WARLAND
Was a native of Cambridge, Mass., and a graduate of Harvard College. In 1834 he came to Claremont, was the first editor of the
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National Eagle, and continued in that capacity until 1842. He was representative in the New Hampshire legislature in 1839 and 1840. After leaving Claremont he was editor of the Lowell Jour- nal and different newspapers in Boston. He was a ready and brilliant writer, and published a book entitled " The Plume," con- taining selections of prose and poetry from his writings. He was insane for several of the last years of his life, and died in an asy- lum at Taunton, Mass., about 1875.
THOMAS WARNER
Was born in Connecticut in 1748, and died in Claremont in 1818. He came from that state to Newport about 1789, and soon after removed to this town. During the Revolutionary War he served with different Connecticut regiments in New York and Long Island, from 1775 to 1781, as private and sergeant. He was en- gaged in a severe skirmish at Harlem Plains, September 16, and in the battle of White Plains, October 28, 1776. He was selectman five years, first in 1795, and last in 1809, and was prominent in church matters. He was twice married. His oldest daughter, Lucy, married Col. Joseph Alden, of Claremont. His second wife was Huldah, daughter of John Blodgett, of Strafford, Conn. The oldest daughter by this marriage became the wife of Levi Alden, and the second of Lieut. Chester Alden, both of this town, and from their unions have descended a majority of the Claremont Alden families.
DR. OSMON B. WAY,
Son of Gordon Way, was born in Lempster, March 22, 1840; came to Claremont with his parents when four years old, and has since been a resident here, except two or three short inter- vals. He was educated at Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, studied medicine with the late Prof. A. B. Crosby, M. D., of Hanover, and the late Dr. Nathaniel Tolles, of Claremont ; and graduated at Dartmouth Medical College, in 1865, receiving the first prize for scholarship. He was in practice about eighteen
DR. OSMON B. WAY.
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months at South Acworth, and returned to Claremont in 1867, where he has since continued in the practice of his profession. In December, 1873, he was appointed U. S. examining pension surgeon, and resigned in May, 1882. He was a representative in the New Hampshire legislature in 1871 and 1872, and has served more than twenty-five years as superintendent of schools and high school committee.
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