USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Hollis > History of the town of Hollis, New Hampshire, from its first settlement to the year 1879 > Part 30
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JOHN G. WOOD,
son of Moses and Submit (Hardy) Wood, born December 27. 1830, studied his profession in Philadelphia, and settled as a physician in Salem, Mass., where he died.
JACOB MOOAR,
son of John and Rebecca (Abbot) Mooar, born March 7, 1831, studied his profession at Hanover and Manchester. N. H., and settled as a physician in Manchester.
JOSIAH M. BLOOD,
son of Ebenezer and Elizabeth (Abbot) Blood, born July 3, 1832- studied his profession in Hollis, and also at the University in New York, settled as a physician in Temple, N. H .. and afterwards in Ashby, Mass.
SAMUEL W. FLETCHER,
son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Corey) Fletcher, born September IS. IS31, studied his profession in Cambridge, Mass., New York city- and also in Paris, France. Settled in his profession in Pepperell. Mass., where he now resides.
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
WILLIAM H. CUTTER,
son of John H. and Susan (Pool) Cutter, born July 17, 1847. studied his profession at the medical school in Hanover. N. H .. and settled as a physician in Hollis.
LAWYERS BORN IN HOLLIS NOT GRADUATES OF COLLEGE.
ABEL CONANT,
son of Dea. Abel and Margaret (Jewett) Conant, born June 1, 1784. Read law with Col. W. Hastings, in Townsend, Mass. Admitted to the bar at Concord, Mass., in 1813. He practised his profession in Townsend and New Ipswich, N. H., and in 1834 removed to Lowell, Mass., and his health having partially failed he relinquished his profession, and afterwards turned his attention to the study of Chemistry and Mechanics, and became a useful and successful inventor. At an early day he is said to have invented the seraphine or parlor organ, and not long after the hollow auger, so much used by wheelwrights. While he lived at Lowell, he invented and patented the mortise door lock, now in common use, and the man- ufacture of which gives employment to so many persons. He after- wards discovered and patented the process of raising bread with cream of tartar or other acids, also now in common use, but the dif- ficulty of preventing infringements upon patent rights deprived Mr. Conant, to a great extent, of personal advantage from this inven- tions. He is said to have made many other improvements of the like character, and, to the day of his death, was engaged in per- fecting several new inventions which he expected [soon to make public. His habits were simple, retiring and exemplary, and his mind and memory remarkably clear till his last hours. Died at Lowell, April 12, 1875, æt. 90.
DANIEL MOOAR,
son of Jacob and Dorcas (Hood) Mooar, born May 11, IS15. He received an academical education at Milford, N. H., and Chester. Vt. Afterwards he went to Covington, Ky., and read law at that place and at the law school in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar in IS43. " He settled and practised his profession in Covington for twenty-five years, and established a reputation as a profound lawyer, a safe counsellor-for business integrity,-and a high sense of honor, and several times filled the office of District
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LAWYER NOT GRADUATE.
Judge." Ilis health having become partially impaired by too close application to business, and, having acquired an ample fortune, he afterwards removed to Keokuk, Iowa, where he still resides, and is there engaged in extensive business.
In a biographical sketch of Judge Mooar, published in the His- torical Atlas of Lee county, Iowa, in December, 1873, it is said of him " that he is now among the substantial and solid men of Keokuk, and a man of decided ability and varied information. * + Such men are real ornaments to any community and Keokuk has been fortunate in adding such an one to her citizens."
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
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CHAPTER XXX .
PHYSICIANS WHO HAVE PRACTISED THEIR PROFESSION IN HOLLIS. AND MISCELLANEOUS BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
DR. JOIIN HALE. (Sce p. 211, ante.) DR. JONATHAN FOX
was from Dracut, Mass. Married Zerviah Jones. Settled in Hollis as a physician in 177S, at the age of 24, and was regarded as a young man of much promise, and soon gained the esteem and con- fidence of the people. In the years 1779 and 1780, he was several times appointed a member of the Hollis committee for raising men for the army, in which service he was very efficient and successful. He died in Hollis, much lamented, October 26, 1782, at the early age of 2S, his death being regarded as a public loss. His only daughter Zerviah, born February 16, 1779, became the wife of Rev. Samuel Worcester, D. D. His youngest son, Ebenezer, a man of great industry and business ability, after being for many years set- tled in his business in Salem, Mass., afterwards removed to Hollis. and became the owner of the farm now known as the "Fox place." where he died December 6, 1857, æt. 74.
DR. JONATHAN POOL. (See p. 214, ante.) DR. WILLIAM HALE. (See p. 211, antc.) DR. BENONI CUTTER
was a son of John and Susannah (Hastings) Cutter, born in New Ipswich, N. H., in 1771. Hle settled as a physician in Hollis in 1799, and married Phebe Tenney. oldest daughter of Capt. William
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HOLLIS PHYSICIANS.
Tenney of Hollis, May 20, 1800. He was greatly respected, both as a citizen and as a physician, and in the year IS14 was appointed to the office of deacon of the Hollis church. Died in Hollis, January 17, 1816, æt. 44.
DR. PETER MANNING
was born in Townsend, Mass. He settled in Hollis as a physician in iS14 or 1815, and in IS17 he was a member of the School Com- mittee. He removed from Hollis to Merrimack in ISIS, and con- tinued in the practice of his profession in Merrimack till IS3S, and afterwards removed to Lunenburg, Mass., where he died.
DR. OLIVER SCRIPTURE,
son of Oliver and Jane Scripture, born in Mason, N. II., June 16, 1783. Married Eliza, the youngest daughter of Hon. Timothy Farrar of New Ipswich. Dr. Scripture settled in his profession in Hollis in the year ISIS, as successor to Dr. Manning, and continued his practice 'as a physician in Hollis till his death, November .7, 1860, æt. 77. The inscription upon his tombstone, in the Hollis central burial ground, "The beloved Physician," is expressive of the affectionate esteem in which he was held by the people of the town. His father-in-law, Judge Farrar. passed the last years of his life in the family of Dr. Scripture, and died in Hollis, February 21, IS49, æt. 101 years, 7 months, 12 days.
DR. ORVILLE M. COOPER
was a native of Croydon, N. Il., and graduated at the medical school at Hanover, in 1845. Dr. Cooper settled in his profession in Hollis, in 1846, and died in Hollis, February, IS47.
DR. JOHN L. COLBY,
settled in Ilollis as a physician in IS47, soon after the decease of Dr. Cooper, and in IS4S he was a member of the School Com- mittee in Hollis. In IS50 he removed from Hollis to Manchester, Mass., and about two years afterwards to Harlem, N. Y., where he is still supposed to reside.
DR. LOCKHART B. FARRAR
was born in Walpole, N. H., and was a graduate of the medical school in Castleton, Vt. Settled in his profession in Hollis, in 1850, upon the removal of Dr. Colby. In IS52 he also removed from Hollis to Manchester, Mass., and afterwards to the State of Illinois.
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
DR. WILLIAM A. TRACY,
son of Elisha L. Tracy, was born in Tunbridge, Vt., May 3, 1826. Attended medical lectures at Boston, Woodstock, Vt., and Hano- ver, N. H. Settled in his profession in Hollis, succeeding Dr. Farrar in September, 1852. Removed from Hollis to Nashua, in August, 1854. Appointed Surgeon of the 6th New Hampshire In- fantry, October 25, 1861. Resigned on account of ill health. March 15, 1863, and returned to Nashua. Died at Nashua, March 15, 1864, æt. 37.
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DR. HENRY BOYNTON,
son of Isaac Boyuton, born in Pepperell, Mass. Studied medicine at the medical school in Woodstock, Vt. Settled in his profession in Hollis in September, 1854, as successor to Dr. Tracy. Prac- tised his profession in Hollis till IS5S, when he removed to Wood- stock, Vt., and was succeeded by Dr. George P. Greeley. Ap- pointed Assistant Surgeon of the 7th New Hampshire Infantry. October 15, 1861. Resigned January 24, 1864, and returned again to Woodstock.
DR. HENRY W. WILLOUGHBY. (Sec page 321, ante.) DR. GEORGE P. GREELEY,
son of Ezekiel Greeley, was born in Nashua, N. H. Attended medical lectures at Woodstock, Vt., Hanover, N. H., and at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York city, where he graduated in 1857. Settled as a physician in Hollis in 185S. Appointed Assistant Surgeon of the Second New Hampshire regi- ment, May, 1861 ; Surgeon of the Fourth New Hampshire regi- ment, October 8, 1862 ; honorably discharged, October 23, 1864. After leaving the army, he settled in his profession, first in Boston. and afterwards, in 1872, removed to Nashua, where he still practises his profession (1879).
DR. ELLERY CHANNING CLARKE.
was a son of Rev. Stillman Clarke, and was born in Winchester, N. H., March 21, 1836; entered Harvard college in 1855, and left in 1857. Studied medicine with Professor Albert Smith of Peter- borough, N. H., and graduated at the medical college at Bur- Jington, Vt., in 1860. Settled in Hollis in the spring of 1861.
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NATHAN THAYER.
succeeding Dr. Greeley. Appointed Assistant Surgeon of the Eighth New Hampshire United States Infantry, January 18, 1862 ; promoted to Surgeon, June 5, 1863 ; discharged for disability, August, 1864 ; afterwards settled in Westfield, Mass.
DR. SYLVANUS BUNTON
was born in Allenstown, N. H. Graduated at Dartmouth college in IS40. Studied medicine in Baltimore. Settled in his profes- sion/in Manchester, N. H., where he continued till June, 1864, and was then appointed Assistant Surgeon of the 7th New Hamp- shire U. S. regiment, and in August, 1864; was promoted to Sur- geon. Mustered out July 20, 1865, and after leaving the army, settled in his profession in Hollis, where he remained about three years, and then removed to Mont Vernon, N. H.
DR. ADONIJAH W. HOWE,
son of Dr. Luke Howe, was born in Jaffrey, N. H., September, 25, 1825. Graduated at the medical college in Hanover in IS50. Settled as a physician in Dunstable, Mass., in IS51. Came to Hollis in March, 1861. Removed from Hollis in 1865, and now in 1879, resides in Greenville, N. H.
DR. CHARLES G. COREY
was born in Jaffrey, N. H. Graduated at the medical college in Hanover, N. H., in 1857. Settled in his profession in Hollis in 1867, where he remained from three to four years, and then removed to Greenville, N. H., and died at Greenville, October 19, IS78, æt. 54.
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NATHAN THAYER,
(Contributed by Miss G. A. BOUTWELL, a granddaughter.)
son of Elijah and Sarah (Robinson) Thayer, was born in Milford, Mass., July 6, 1781. He was a descendant of Thomas Thayer, who came to this country from England about 1630. and settled in Brain- tree, which town is supposed to have been named by the Thayer family in honor of their English birth-place. A son of Thomas Thayer settled in that part of Mendon, Mass., which is now known as Milford, about 1665, and for successive generations, and for a period of over one hundred and fifty years, the ancestors of Mr. Thayer were citizens of that ancient town. At the early age of
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
seventeen, Mr. Thayer came to Hollis " to seek his fortune." Ile had for his capital, a common school education, and a good knowl- edge of the trade of house painting. His name appears first on the Hollis tax lists in 1803. Mr. Thayer was so good a workman that he was called frequently to Pepperell, Groton, and even as far away as Andover to pursue his trade. He took especial pleasure in the society of those places, and on his return would tell his chil- dren pleasant anecdotes of the Prescotts, Lawrences, and the learned professors of Andover. He was a welcome guest in many 'homes in those towns, and one of his daughters, who went to school in Andover, recalls with pleasure the consideration which she re- ceived on her father's account.
For thirty years, Mr. Thayer employed his leisure of the winter months in teaching school. In the early part of this century. schools of the higher grades were almost unknown, and all those inclined to study were dependent upon the district schools, and many young men, as well as the children, availed themselves of his instruction. He was an especially good grammarian, and by com- mon consent all knotty questions in grammar were referred to him by the other teachers.
He was a member of the Hollis examining School Committee in 1817, ISIS, IS21, 1822. 1825, and IS27 ; and of the Superintending School Committee, in IS28, 1829, and 1830. He was also a Justice of the Peace from IS22 to 1830, and a Representative to the New Hampshire General Court in 1812,, IS19, 1820, and IS21. April 2. I So7, he married Hannah Jewett, daughter of Dea. Stephen Jewett. Jun. She died March 17, 1824. She was the mother of six daugh- ters and one son, all but one (the fourth daughter ) survived her. Mr. Thayer married March 27, IS25, Mary Jewett, a sister of his first wife. She was the mother of two children, both of whom died in infancy. She died October 16, 1833. Mr. Thayer died October 21, 1830, æt. 49.
JAMES BLOOD,
son of Solomon and Priscilla (French) Blood, was born in Hollis, May 20, 1793, and died in Newburyport, Mass., June 27, 1876, æt. 83 years. For the following obituary tribute to the memory of Mr. Blood, I am indebted to the Merrimack Family Visitor, published at Newburyport, of the date of July 1, 1876. "Mr. Blood came to this city in the year 1825, poor, respectable, industrious and
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JAMES PARKER, JUN.
intelligent. His life was a success, and in all controllable events just what he would have it. We doubt if he would materially change it if he had to live it over again. He enjoyed the most perfect health till old age. He was one of the most industrious persons that ever lived, and his happiness was in his business. He loved to work for the sake of it, and would have continued to do so. though no gains should have come from it. But his business yielded its profits till his estate grew to exceed all his early expectations. His fellow citizens did not fail to appreciate his virtues, his integrity. his independent thought and straightforward action : and they hon- ored him with a seat in the legislature, and many local offices, while, without his own solicitation, he was made Collector of Cus- toms under two national administrations.
"Mr. Blood enjoyed life -- in his nature he was happy. Under the gravity of his demeanor there was a quiet humor, and in the busiest moments of his most busy days. he was lively and witty-to old age ever seeing the bright side of events and the sunny spots of life.
" He was a man of firm convictions and religious faith which never deserted him. Life and death to him were equally natural and desirable, and he had no wish to stay here when his mission on earth was accomplished, nor any fear that he should not awake from his last sleep to renewed activities and joys. Death was not therefore shaded with fears, nor the grave with gloom. He went not like a cringing slave to punishment, but lay down quietly and hopefully as to pleasant dreams His funeral was from his residence on Friday morning, appropriate in time, for he was one of those to say, ' bury me in the morning, when the sun will be upon my grave.'"
JAMES PARKER, JUN.,
son of James and Betsey (Wright) Parker, was born in Hollis. April 1, 1815, and died in Springfield, Mass .. Jan. 2, 1874, æt. 58. The following appreciative biographical sketch of Mr. Parker is in substance to be found in the October number of the New England Historical and Genealogical Register for IS74, p. 475.
" Mr. Parker was a native of Hollis. In 1833 he 'mounted the stage box' as a stage driver. In 1836 he became agent for Burt and . Billings' stage line, between Worcester and Springfield, and con- tinued in that capacity till the Western railroad was opened, when like Ginery Twitchell and others who had shown eminent ability in managing the ' whip and ribbons,' he was taken into the new service
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
of transporting passengers and freight. Mr. Parker had charge of the first train of cars from Boston to Springfield, and his atten- tion to passengers and gentlemanly bearing soon proved that he was ' the right man in the right place.' His pleasant countenance and never-failing urbanity will long be remembered by the thousand- who had occasion to pass over that road during many of the earlier years of its existence.
" The first train from Boston to Springfield made the trip in exactly six hours, and Mr. Parker received many compliments, not only for what was regarded as remarkable speed, but also for his accurate observance of that 'old time table.' The train bearing among, others, the directors of the road, left Boston at seven o'clock, A. M., and arrived at Springfield at I o'clock, P. M., September 27, 1839. The opening of the road was an event of such general rejoicing that it was publicly celebrated in Springfield upon the arrival of the first train under the command of Mr. Parker. So closely did Mr. Parker attend to his new duties, that for nineteen years after he entered upon them, he had been west of the Cor- necticut river but once, and it was jocosely said of him, that he did not know how the Springfield Armory looked, as he had seen only its back side for fifteen years. When Mr. Parker resigned his posi- tion as conductor, he was appointed superintendent of the sleep- ing cars, between Boston and New York, and in April. 1872, he was made superintendent of all the sleeping, parlor, passenger and baggage cars of all the trains between the two cities. During the twenty-nine years of his service as conductor, he is said to have travelled in that capacity, without serious accident to life or limb of his passengers, more than 1,500,000 miles, a distance equal to sixty times around the globe, and a greater distance, as is believed. than that of any other known railroad conductor.
" Upon Mr. Parker's retirement from office, an elegant gold watch was presented to him by his friends who had often travelled under his assiduous care, and the employees of the road gave him a val- uable horse and carriage in token of their high appreciation of his services. In 1871 and 1873, he was elected a member of the Mas- sachusetts House of Representatives. His house was filled with curiosities, old books, rare drawings, and other specimens of hand- icraft, which show that if he had devoted his life to art or to Archa- logical pursuits, he would probably have had but few superiors in these departments of knowledge. By reason of his interest in
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BUFFORD, BOSTON.
HengelLittle
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HENRY GILMAN LITTLE.
these pursuits, he was admitted to a resident membership in the New England Historical and Genealogical Society, November 24, 1862, and he was also an honorary member of the New Hampshire Historical Society."
HENRY GILMAN LITTLE
was the sixth of the thirteen children of Abner B. and Nancy (Tenney) Little, and was born in Goffstown, N. H., March 31, 1813. During his infancy, his parents removed to Hollis, where he lived till his eighteenth year, enjoying such advantages for educa- tion as were then afforded in the Beaver Brook district, viz., two months of school in winter, and three in summer. In 1830, he left his paternal home in Hollis, and spent the next six years in Wethersfield, Ct., partly in study and teaching, and in part in labor. In March, 1836, ne married Fidelia M. Stoddard, of Newington, Ct., and removed to the then new State of Illinois, and the next year settled in Henry county, where he passed thirty years of an active and busy life, engaged in agriculture, and filling various important offices of public trust. During the first year of his resi- dence there he took part in organizing the county, and was elected Justice of the Peace, an office he held for twelve years and more. In 1850 he was High Sheriff. and Collector of the whole revenue of the county -- at that time a position of great responsibility, there then being neither a safe, bank nor jail in the county. In 1856 he was elected to the Illinois legislature, of which he was for two years a member. He was for five years President of the Henry County Agricultural Society, which he had helped to organize, He was probably at no time free from public trust and duty, either as an officer of State, the county, town, church or school board.
In 1867 he removed to Grinnell, Iowa, on account of the educa- tional advantages afforded by the college at that place. Here for four successive terms he has been elected Mayor of that city, and for most of the time has served as school director, and trustee of the church and society, and at Grinnell, (as in his former home). many substantial and tasteful improvements will long bear witness to his skill and public spirit.
In 1878 he was elected by the Iowa legislature one of the five trustees of the State Agricultural college, a post of high trust and great responsibility, involving the care of the endowment fund of a half million of dollars, together with the direction and management
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
of the flourishing college of two hundred and fifty students wen its large faculty, and the college farm of eight hundred acres.
At the age of sixty-five Mr. Little remains with unbroken health, unabated vigor, energy and usefulness. Though afflicted by the loss of an only son at the age of sixteen, he has reared to woman- hood a family of five daughters, of whom three have graduated from college, and all are now married. He has still, as always in the past, a cheerful, attractive and hospitable home, and as yet has no thought of retiring from active life.
LUTHIER PRESCOTT HUBBARD,
was born in Hollis, June 30, 18OS, and was the oldest child of Luther and Hannah (Russell) Hubbard. Mr. Hubbard, in his childhood and youth, attended the public schools in the Middle dis- trict in Hollis, and was for a short time a pupil in the Pinkerton academy at Derry. He helped to build the first cotton mill in Nashua in IS24 ; afterwards the Bunker hill monument, and also superintended the fitting of the granite for the Tremont hotel in Boston.
His views in respect to and against the use of tobacco have been widely published by the American Tract Society, by the religious and secular press, and also in the Sailor's Magazine.
Mr. Hubbard has been for twenty years a corresponding mem- ber of the Iowa State Historical Society, and is an honorary men- ber of the New Hampshire Antiquarian Society, and is the author of a Genealogy, entitled "Descendants of George Hubbard from 1600 to 1S72," published in the year last named, and tracing his family line ten generations. The last forty-five years of his life have been zealously, and usefully devoted, mostly to the interests of seamen. For many years he has been the financial agent of the American Seamen's Friend Society, and also Secretary of the New England Society of the city of New York, both of which offices he still holds and fills acceptably.
He now resides in Greenwich, Connecticut, the State of his hon- ored progenitor. George Ilubbard, one of the first settlers of Wet !!- ersfield, Ct., in 1634, but has his office in New York city.
JOSEPH WHEAT, AN OLD-TIME STAGE-DRIVER.
Joseph Wheat. famous eighty years ago as a stage-driver, came to Hollis in his youth, with his father, soon after the Revolution.
BUFFORD, BOSTON.
L. Hublang
JOSEPH WHEAT. 333
He was by trade a cooper, and built and owned the house on the main road leading from Hollis to Amherst, which, in 1796, he sold to Dea. Enos Hardy, and which was for many years afterwards the well-known homestead of Deacon Hardy. Soon after this sale, Wheat removed to Amherst and became interested in a line of stages, both as owner and driver ;- the line running from Concord and beyond to Boston. I am indebted mainly to Rev. Dr. Bouton's History of Concord for the following humorous anecdotes of this primitive stage driver .*
" Of Joseph Wheat, who will be recollected as almost if not quite the first driver of a stage into Concord, and whose nose will be remembered long, I have two or three anecdotes. At one time being complained of by the people of Amherst, (one of the towns on his stage route,) that he did not give the customary notice of his approach by blowing a tin horn, he replied to this complaint through the Amherst Cabinet. ' that he was too poor to buy a tin horn, but that, in the future, when they should see his nose they might expect the stage in ten minutes.'
"Upon another occasion, stopping for his breakfast one frosty morning, a somewhat dainty passenger, sitting at the table opposite to him, and observing the effects of the cold coming from his nose, rudely requested Wheat to wipe it. . Wipe it yourself,' coolly answered the driver, ' my nose is nearer to you than to me.'
" Again, when driving his stage from Concord to Hanover, he met Rev. Dr. Wheelock. president of the college, riding in his car- riage. As he was about to pass the president, Wheat took hold of his nose and, turning it one side, said, 'I think, Mr. President, you can pass now.'"
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