USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Cornish > History of the town of Cornish, New Hampshire, with genealogical record, 1763-1910, Vol. I > Part 23
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During the Revolution, he received appointments from head- quarters and was made surgeon-general in the Continental Army for several years. Sometimes he had the charge of the sick and wounded of three regiments (another account says two brigades), which duties he faithfully rendered, reporting satisfactorily to his commanders. These commissions are matters of national history.
On his return home he resumed his practice and so continued until extreme age. His descendants refer to him with pride and pleasure. He was, without doubt, a physician and surgeon that met every need the community required. He died November 1, 1828. (See Chase Gen.)
STEPHEN COLE.
Dr. Stephen Cole studied medicine with Drs. Roswell Leavitt of Cornish and E. E. Phelps of Windsor, Vermont, they granting him a license to practice. Afterwards he received an honorary
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degree from Dartmouth College. After his preparation was complete he made his first trial settlement at Huntsburg, Ver- mont. This place he soon left, returning to Cornish in 1813, where he remained seventeen years, or until 1830. After leaving Cornish he continued practice, and finally settled in Peru, New York, where he died in 1876, at the advanced age of 89 years. While a resident of Cornish, he acquired a host of friends. He was accounted a physician of skill and judgment, and enjoyed a good patronage. (For family record, see Cole Gen.)
ISAAC DOTON.
Dr. Isaac Doton was born August 18, 1790. He studied medicine first with Dr. Asa Crosby of Sandwich; attended lectures at Hanover in 1814 and began practice in 1815. He set- tled in several places; came to Cornish in 1839 and remained here four years. Leaving town in 1843, he settled in Bradford, New Hampshire, and Lowell, Massachusetts, and Manchester, New Hampshire, where he died August 18, 1865. He was a physician commanding the respect and confidence of the people of Cornish, and had a good practice while here. (See Doton Gen.)
NAHUM PARKER FOSTER.
The introduction of this noble man into Cornish was brought about by his accepting a call to preach in the Baptist Church in 1843. He came as a candidate for the ministry and was ordained on the Flat, May 29, 1844. His medical training had been previously obtained, and also consid- erable practice. He had attended lectures at Dartmouth College, and from it received his diploma in 1834. During the entire time of his pastorate in town he was also actively engaged in medical practice,-"healing the bodies as well as the souls of his fellowmen." This, of course, gave rise to some criticism resulting in diverse opinions, but Doctor Foster was a man of uncommon gifts, and seemed able to be a master in both branches of his calling. As a preacher he was eloquent and entertaining. As a doctor of medicine he seemed not a whit behind his fellows. He had many warm friends and admirers in both professions, and among the general public. His pastorate in town as also his medical practice ended in 1855, when he left for other fields of labor, chiefly in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
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Near the close of his life he made an extensive tour of Egypt and Palestine. On his return he gave many addresses relating to those countries. He was born February 10, 1814, and died in New London, Connecticut, May 6, 1876.
LYMAN HALL.
Dr. Lyman Hall was born in Croydon, December 9, 1805, and died in Cornish, May 24, 1862. He studied medicine and
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DR. LYMAN HALL.
graduated from the medical department of Dartmouth College in 1832. After two brief settlements, first at Mt. Desert, Maine, and also at Blue Hill, Maine, he came to Cornish in November, 1844, and spent the rest of his life here. As a physician, he had a good practice, was always genial and mirthful and therefore beloved and highly respected. As a citizen he was well informed, reliable and ranked well among his townsmen. He took much interest in the schools of the town and was repeatedly chosen as school superintendent. At his decease a far-reaching community mourned his loss. (See Hall Gen.)
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GEORGE W. HUNT.
Dr. George W. Hunt had the honor of rendering the longest term of service in town of any of his profession. For nearly forty-five years he was the "beloved physician" of Cornish and adjacent towns. He came to town in August, 1862, and his public services ended with his death, March 3, 1907. Doctor Hunt was born in Georgia, Vermont, May 20, 1828. He was
DR. GEORGE W. HUNT.
a graduate of Castleton Medical College. Afterwards, in 1868, he received the honorary degree of M. D. from Dartmouth Col- lege. He enjoyed a fine standing, not only among his fellow physicians, but among all classes of society to whom he ren- dered professional services. His skill was acknowledged by all and, to a large extent, he enjoyed the confidence and re- spect of the community. He had been in town but a few months when he decided to make it his life-home, and built for himself a fine residence on the Flat.
He contributed much to the social and intellectual status of
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the town. Deeply interested in all educational subjects, he has been superintendent of schools and a zealous promoter of all up-to-date methods. ยท He was a man of broad. views, large under- standing and intensely optimistic in all his beliefs. As a politi- cian, he was a Republican, and as such represented the town in the Legislature of 1880. (See Hunt Gen.)
HENRY KETCHUM.
Dr. Henry Ketchum came to Cornish Flat in 1899 and stayed about two years, and then settled elsewhere. He appeared to be well skilled in his profession, but lack of patronage, and the loss of his only child, apparently discouraged his remaining longer in town.
ROSWELL LEAVITT.
Just previous to the opening of the nineteenth century, in 1799, Doctor Leavitt with his young and accomplished bride came from
RESIDENCE OF D. J. SPAULDING. Built by Dr. Roswell Leavitt, 1804-05.
Charlemont, Massachusetts, to Cornish. They both came on horseback. Here they had purposed to establish their home, but the reason of their choice is not now known. The prepara- tion for his life-work, too, is not found on record, but he came to
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Cornish thoroughly equipped to take high rank among those of his profession. He soon found himself in the midst of a lucrative practice, and enjoying the society of many friends. Prosperity seemed to attend him and his good wife who contributed not a little to his good fortune. He built the capacious and imposing brick house near the Flat, now (1908) owned and occupied by Darwin J. Spaulding-but earthly good fortunes are liable to reverses and so with Doctor Leavitt. A severe fit of sickness nearly wrecked him. Occasional fits of insanity seized him, and in one of these he terminated his heretofore useful life by hanging himself while yet in the prime of life, at the age of forty-two years and ten months. He left an enviable name, a host of friends and a posterity who have taken high rank. (See family record.)
C. W. MANCHESTER.
Dr. Constant Wood Manchester was the son of Dr. John and Susan (Wood) Manchester. He was born in Plainfield, New Hampshire, April 20, 1831. When a small boy, his father moved to Morristown, Vermont. He lived there a few years, then moved to Royalton, Vermont, where he grew to manhood. Choosing the medical profession, he studied medicine with his father, also with Dr. H. H. Whitcomb of the same town. He attended lectures at Dartmouth Medical College, also at Bur- lington, Vermont, where in June, 1858, he graduated. In August of the same year he commenced the practice of medicine at Cornish Flat. He lived there until August, 1860, then moved to Meriden, where he successfully practiced his profession until February, 1874. He then moved to Lebanon, where he resided and practiced until he died August 4, 1892. While residing in Cornish in May, 1859, he married Miss Amelia Chamberlain of Royalton, Vermont. In March, 1861, a son was born to them, an only child, Dr. Frank Constant Manchester, now a prac- ticing physician in Grafton, New Hampshire.
AARON PIERCE.
Dr. Aaron Pierce was born in Barnard, Vermont, November 23, 1787. Choosing the medical profession attended lectures at Dartmouth College, where he obtained his diploma. After com- pleting his course he married Sarah Hough of Lebanon. He
19
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chose Cornish as his first field of labor. So with his new bride he settled on Cornish Flat in 1819. He remained here ten years or until 1829, when he left town, and was succeeded by Dr. John S. Blanchard. While here Doctor Pierce was adjudged a good family physician, and won the confidence and good will of the people in a large degree. For reasons unknown to the writer, Doctor Pierce saw fit to close his services here and go to other fields of labor. He established himself first at Weathersfield, then at Irasburg, and finally at Barton, Vermont. In this latter place he lost his wife, Sarah, in 1842, and in 1844 he married Mary Billings of Lebanon who survived him nearly twenty years.
Doctor Pierce was tall and of commanding presence, with strong convictions and forceful manners. It is said that after leaving Cornish he was licensed to preach, which he did with great success in connection with his medical practice. He died in Barton, Vermont, June 1, 1860. (See Pierce Gen.)
S. T. SHAW.
Dr. S. T. Shaw came to town from Claremont and settled on a farm for a few years, dividing his attention between his pro- fession and his farm. He was accounted a fair practitioner and had a measure of success.
NATHAN SMITH.
The record of Doctor Smith sounds like a romance. Fortune, coupled with his own exertions, seemed to open to him paths that led to distinction and renown. How well he walked them, the results of his life-work show. While Rehoboth, Massachusetts, may claim the honor of his birth, Cornish claims the honor of discovering his worth.
He never left the plow until twenty-eight years of age. He then began laying the foundation for his future usefulness. After four years of initiatory practice in Cornish as one of the best of physicians, his record, as copied from Dartmouth College records, is as follows:
"Nathan Smith, M. B. Harvard, 1790; A. M. 1798; M. D. 1801; also Harvard, 1811. B. 13 Sept., 1762, Rehoboth, Mass. Prof. Theos. and Pract. Med., 1798-1813; also Anat. and Surg. 1798-1810; Prof. Theos. and Pract. Med., Surg. and Obst., Yale, 1813-29. Prof.
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Theos. and Pract. Med., Bowdoin, 1820-25. Lecturer, Med. and Surg., Univ. of Vt., 1822-25. D. 26 July, 1828, New Haven, Conn."
The savor and influence of Doctor Smith's career were entailed upon his descendants and inspired them for like exalted positions in life. (See his genealogy; also the records of his two eldest sons and their children.)
DR. NATHAN SMITH.
ROBERT THORNBURGH.
Dr. Robert Thornburgh was born in New York City and studied medicine there. This was supplemented by attending several courses of lectures at Dartmouth Medical College, so that he acquired a thorough fitting for his work. He opened an office on the Flat where he practiced about two years with
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excellent success. Receiving an appointment from the govern- ment as a surgeon in the United States' employ, he left Cornish and has been stationed in the Marine Hospital at Manila, P. I.
EBENEZER WRIGHT.
But little is now known of Dr. Ebenezer Wright. He married a daughter of the Rev. James Wellman in 1781. He lived near the Cornish line in Plainfield and practiced in both towns. Tradition speaks of him as a well-qualified and successful physi- cian. He died October 28, 1798. (See Wellman Gen.)
M.D . C.CCLXXXXIV
CHARLES COFESWORTH BEAN .. MI BYHIS FRIEND AVGUST IS FAINER CIALTHING
CHAPTER XXI.
SKETCHES OF CORNISH MEN.
"Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time."
CHARLES C. BEAMAN, ESQ.
FEW men, not natives of Cornish, have seemed more interested in its affairs, and have won the love and respect of their townsmen more than did Charles C. Beaman, Esq.
He was a lawyer by profession and practice, and as such first settled in New York City. He had become associated with the eminent Wm. M. Evarts of the same city, whose summer home was at Windsor, Vt.
In his association with this family, Mr. Beaman had become enamored, not only with the cultured and winsome daughter of Mr. Evarts, but also with the beautiful lands lying over the river in Cornish nearly opposite the village of Windsor. Here he deter- mined to locate a summer home, and to this end he purchased extensively. He revived and adopted "Blow-me-down" as the name of his new estate. Here he built in 1883 the present delight- ful residence, since occupied in summer by himself and family.
During his residence in Cornish he ever had a keen eye to sub- stantial material improvements. It was through his efforts that "Hillside Creamery," since such a boon to many farmers, was started and carried to complete success. The arched stone bridge over Blow-me-down Brook on his estate, one of the finest stone structures in town, stands as a monument to the enterprise and benevolence of Messrs. Beaman and Evarts, the town, however, paying the cost of a wooden bridge. Near the bridge he erected a dam and grist-mill for the use of the general public.
His benevolence embraced liberal sums for the improvement of highways in town,-for the erection of the schoolhouse in Division 10, for the beautiful Soldiers' Monument at the Flat,
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beside numerous other gifts, as no worthy cause ever appealed to him in vain. As a final gift, he bequeathed a thousand dollars, the interest of which is to be expended for the erection and main- tenance of guide-boards in town.
The love and interest Mr. Beaman had for his adopted town was contagious among his numerous friends of the city. As they visited him and his family in their Cornish home, they saw the charms of the locality-the beautiful river, the mountain view, the verdant meadows, the wood-crowned heights, the pure air and gushing springs of water.
Several of these friends were induced to follow Mr. Beaman's example, and came and purchased, not primitive land, but estates that had been occupied and improved since the first settle- ment of the town. (A more extended account of these modern settlers in town is given elsewhere. See, also, Beaman Gen.) To Mr. Beaman, therefore, belongs the honor of being the pioneer and promoter in this movement which has effected so great a change in the social status of the town.
As was his usual custom he retired in the fall of 1900 to his city home for the winter, where he was taken sick with pneumonia and on the fifteenth day of December following he passed away from earth.
Judge Henry E. Howland of New York, a dear friend of Mr. Beaman, bestowed upon him the following tribute:
"Nature casts men in various forms, but rarely does she give to the world a more thoroughly finished product than Charles C. Beaman, for there were combined in him all those qualities that command the respect and win the love of men-strength and gentleness, marked ability, a high sense of duty, kindly thoughtfulness for others, geniality of temper, brilliant wit, and unfailing generosity. With these, he won his way to distinction in a community where there is no royal road to success, and where rivalry is fierce and unceasing."
The incidents in his career are like a finished romance. It is a story which every father can place before his boys and ask no better of them than to copy it.
It is said that genius consists in seizing upon opportunity, and his career justifies the assertion.
After graduating at Harvard in 1861, where he made a marked impression, he entered the Harvard Law School and in 1865 was awarded the first prize for his essay on the "Rights and Duties
WACH NEWHAMP_MINCO
HETTIE
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of Belligerent War Vessels." It was well written, displaying discriminating judgment and an admirable knowledge of inter- national law, and when published in the North American Review, attracted the attention of Senator Sumner, who thereupon ap- pointed him his secretary and clerk of the Committee on Foreign Relations in the Senate. In 1868 he began to practice in New York, and in 1871 he published his book on the "Alabama Claims and their Settlement." He was then appointed examiner of claims in the Department of State, an office which he filled with signal ability. He was appointed by the President solicitor of the United States before the Tribunal of Arbitration at Geneva, a selection due to his knowledge of the subject, and to the influen- tial gentlemen connected with the commission who realized his ability. At Paris he soon showed that he knew more about the details of claims than any one else, and was in constant consul- tation with Messrs. Cushing, Evarts and Waite, the counsel for the United States. Mr. Evarts was accompanied by his fam- ily, and Mr. Beaman there made the acquaintance of his daughter, Miss Hettie Sherman Evarts, whom he subsequently married.
After the conclusion of the arbitration he represented many of the claimants in establishing their claims, and of course re- ceived substantial regard for his services.
Thus Mr. Beaman's opportunity came by the chance choice of a subject for a prize thesis, and he so well availed himself of it that it brought him position, his wife, and a fortune.
He practiced his profession in partnership with Edward N. Dickerson, a distinguished patent lawyer, until 1879, when he be- came a member of that firm of notable lawyers composed of Wm. M. Evarts, Charles F. Southmayd and Joseph H. Choate. By the retirement of its senior members, he was at the time of his death practically at its head, and as such, entrusted with the largest and most important business interests as counsel for great railway lines, for important corporations and leading capitalists whose operations were world wide. How well he administered these weighty trusts, all who were brought in contact with him will freely admit.
His trained legal mind, sound judgment, far-reaching sagac- ity, fair conclusions, conciliatory spirit were effective and con- vincing and brought him high reputation and successful issues to his clients.
With all this engrossing professional work pressing upon him,
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he was always a leader in any movement for the publie good, social, charitable or political, unsparing in his efforts and regard- less of himself.
But it is for his personal qualities that he will be best remem- bered. He was one of the cheeriest men that ever drew the breath of life, bubbling over with boyish enthusiasm, gifted with an irrepressible humor.
"Whose wit in the combat as gentle as bright, Ne'er carried a heart-stain away on its blade."
Buoyant, fascinating, pervading the very air with his conta- gious sympathy, he was the center of every social gathering, and the best man at a dinner table for raillery, repartee and brilliant passage at arms in conversation.
"He made a July day short as December, And with his varying childness cured in us Thoughts that would thick our blood."
He was responsive in his sympathy with suffering and sorrow, quick in his emotions, gracious in his universal benevolence, gentle and tender with every young thing, and the very soul of hospitality, which, as hundreds of his friends will long remember, he dispensed with a lavish hand at his estate of Blow-me-down, which he loved so well. He was a grateful, affectionate son, a loving husband, a devoted, thoughtful father, a kind and helpful neighbor and a noble man. It seems impossible to think of him as dead. No man could have left a larger gap, for he brightened his world while in it and it is poorer for his going. He died as he had lived, like a Christian gentleman, knowing that his end was near, in the full possession of his faculties, with a message on his lips, he said: "Give my love to all my friends. I don't think I have many enemies," in which every one who knew him will concur.
Although the summons came to him in his prime, the measure of his life was as full as if it had rounded out the psalmist's term of human existence up to the limit beyond which all is vanity, and he came to his eternal rest as one who
"Bends to the grave with unperceived decay, While resignation gently slopes the way; And, all his prospects brightening to the last, His Heaven commences ere the world be past."
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COL. LYSANDER HERBERT CARROLL.
Born in Croydon, October 8, 1835. Received his education in the schools of Cornish. At the age of seventeen engaged with Francis Robbins of Sutton, selling stoves in Sutton and sur-
LYSANDER H. CARROLL.
rounding towns. At the age of twenty-two purchased the business of Mr. Robbins and continued the same until 1865, when he removed to Concord, where he engaged in the stove and hardware business under the firm name of Carroll & Stone, a very lucrative business which he followed for six years.
During the next twelve years he conducted the popular dining rooms of Piper & Haskins in Concord. In 1875 he was appointed colonel on Governor Cheney's staff, and with them represented New Hampshire in the United States Centennial Celebration at Philadelphia in 1876.
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In 1876 he was chosen to bear the votes of the New Hamp- shire presidential electors to Washington on the election of President Hayes.
For two years he acted as transfer agent of the mails at the Concord depot. In 1879 was appointed by President Hayes postmaster at Concord, which position he occupied under two administrations. During his second term he inaugurated Con- cord's present free delivery system. After this, until 1895, he was associated with and a director in the banking house of E. H. Rollins & Sons. In 1895 and 1896 he was a member of the Leg- islature from Ward 6, Concord, and in May, 1899, was appointed labor commissioner, which position he still holds (1910).
Colonel Carroll is an active member of the South Congrega- tional Church, Concord.
As a Republican he has been active in political campaigns since 1856; a member of the Republican state committee for over thirty years and a Knights Templar Mason.
He has two daughters: Jennie B., the wife of Horace J. Davis, member of the Davis Paper Manufacturers at Contoocook; Ella B., the wife of Edward M. Nason, keeper of the state house at Concord; and one son, Charles Herbert, a popular conductor on the Boston & Maine Railroad, married Annie Wilkins of Man- chester.
CHAMPION S. CHASE.
Champion Spaulding Chase was born in Cornish, March 20, 1820. He was the son of Deacon Clement and Olive (Spauld- ing) Chase.
His education consisted of the primary education afforded by the district schools of Cornish, supplemented by several terms at Kimball Union Academy.
He was a teacher for several terms in the common schools and also an assistant teacher in the academies of Amsterdam and West Hartwick, N. Y.
He then studied law in Buffalo, N. Y .; was admitted to the bar in 1847, at Canandaigua, N. Y., and opened his first law office at Racine, Wis., on May 1, 1848, the same day of his marriage to Sophronia Butterfield of Homer, N. Y.
He remained at Racine until the opening of the Civil War. Previous to that event, in 1851, he was admitted to practice in the
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United States Supreme Court at Washington, D. C. In 1856, he was a delegate to the National Republican Convention at Philadelphia, which nominated John C. Fremont as a candidate for the presidency, and the same year he was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate for two years, during which time he, as chairman of the judiciary committee, supervised the revision of the statutes of the state.
For several years he was a member of the board of education of Racine and two years was chairman of the board.
During the Civil War he rendered a variety of valuable serv- ices during a period of four years. He was commissioned pay- master in the Union Army for a while; was on special duty in the West and Southwest; was at the sieges of Knoxville, Mobile and Vicksburg and afterwards had headquarters at New Orleans for nearly two years. He, at this time, was brevetted lieutenant colonel for meritorious services in the Gulf Campaign. He was honorably discharged in January, 1866. The same year he went to Omaha, Neb., the year before Nebraska was admitted to the Union as a state, and upon its admission, he was the first attorney- general of the state, and in 1869, was appointed a regent of the State University of Nebraska for six years.
In 1874 he was elected mayor of Omaha, and also in 1875, 1879 and 1883, for two years each, in all seven years, ending in 1885. While mayor, Colonel Chase received, and officially and socially entertained, a large number of distinguished people. Among them was the king of the Hawaiian Islands, the emperor of Brazil, the governor-general of Canada, also President Hayes and Mrs. Hayes, General and Mrs. U. S. Grant, besides Generals Sherman, Sheridan, Custer and others.
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