USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Keene > History of the town of Keene, from 1732, when the township was granted by Massachusetts, to 1874, when it became a city > Part 57
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He remained pastor here for eleven years, and eighty- four members were added to the church during that time. The misconduct of his children, as was said, having caused some dissatisfaction, he was dismissed at his own request in 1772; but he spent his life in Keene, an excellent citizen, and a man of liberal views, for those times. He preached for a time at Thetford, Vt., and occasionally at other places, but was never settled again. In August, 1763, he was chosen proprietors' clerk of Gilsum-put down as "Mr. Sumner of Keen."
He died in Keene in 1795, in the sixty-fourth year of his age, and was buried in the old south yard. His widow died many years later, at West Swanzey. His sons settled in Keene and had children whose births are recorded in the town books.
JOHN SYMONDS.
John Symonds, was born in Hancock, N. H., in 1816; learned the tanner's trade; was engaged in that business at Marlow and East Sullivan; came to Keene in 1872, and established a large tannery one and one-fourth miles west of the Square, built a fine residence and other dwellings near it, and, with A. M. Bigelow & Co. of Boston, carried on an extensive and successful business. He married Caro- line E. Robbins, of Nelson, N. H., but had no children. He died in 1885.
He bequeathed one-half of his estate-after the decease of his widow, who was to have the income of it during her life-to the city of Keene, "To build a public Library building and purchase land therefor, and to provide books and reading matter, and to take care of the same. And this fund may be used in connection with any city appropriations for the same purpose; and to pay for and
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establish on said building, or some other in the city, a set of Chime Bells." When it was turned over to the city the bequest was valued at about $30,000; but a part of it was in property which depreciated; a part was turned into cash and deposited in the Five Cents Savings bank, a por- tion of which was lost; and within a few years there was a serious reduction in the available funds of the bequest.
GEORGE TILDEN.
George Tilden, son of Dea. Joseph Tilden of Marshfield, Mass., was born in Marshfield, April 21, 1802; came to Keene in 1817, and learned the bookbinder's trade of A. & H. Walker; began business for himself in 1825 in the base- ment of a building where the Cheshire National bank now stands, succeeding the Walkers and Thayers; removed to Gerould's block in 1835; published the North American Spelling Book, and other books; was chosen secretary and treasurer of the Cheshire Provident Institution for Savings in 1833, which office he held until 1880; was president of the institution for two years; took his son, G. H. Tilden, into partnership in 1853, who still carries on the business; continued in business until 1867, when he sold his interest, and in 1871 removed with the savings bank to the new bank block, on the corner of Roxbury street; was one of the founders of the Unitarian Society in Keene, and for sixty years was active in the church and Sunday school; took the circulating library of the Walkers and Thayers in 1824 and continued it for a long term; for more than forty years was a member of the school committee and board of education; and was town clerk five years and county treasurer three years.
In' 1825, he married Harriet Wyman, daughter of Dr. Joseph Wheeler of Keene. They had one son and three daughters. He died Nov. 3, 1888.
JOHN TOWNS.
Capt. John Towns, son of Nehemiah-a descendant of William Towne, father of Rebecca (Towne) Nourse, who was hanged as a witch, at Salem, in 1692-was born in 1786; married Nancy, daughter of Samuel and grand- daughter of Seth Heaton, one of the first three settlers of
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Upper Ashuelot; was blacksmith, contractor and builder; had a shop with Aaron Davis just north of the present railroad station, afterwards on Marlboro street; built and lived in the brick house still standing next south of the Eagle Hotel; built a brick store where the Sentinel build- ing now stands, the brick house on Marlboro street since owned by Madison Fairbanks, and later by Charles Wil- son, and many other buildings; did a large business and was at one time one of the largest taxpayers in town. He had eight children, born between 1816 and 1835. His second daughter married Ralph J. Holt, of Keene. He died in 1858, aged seventy-two.
AMOS TWITCHELL.
Dr. Amos Twitchell, eminent surgeon and physician, was born in Dublin, N. H., in 1781, the seventh of nine' children, "puny at his birth and fragile during infancy." His father, Capt. Samuel Twitchell, a farmer and miller, was one of the early settlers of Dublin, prominent in town affairs; a Revolutionary soldier, rising to the command of a company in Col. Enoch Hale's regiment in the Rhode Island campaign of 1778; afterwards a magistrate. His mother was a lineal descendant of the distinguished Rev. John Wilson, whom Cotton Mather described as "the father of the infant colonies of New England." In early youth Amos developed a fondness for books and study, and through his mother's influence was sent to the acad- emy at New Ipswich. He graduated at Dartmouth in 1802, teaching school winters to enable him to pursue his course. He took high rank in college and immediately be- gan the study of medicine and surgery under the eminent Dr. Nathan Smith, the projector and head of the medical school at Dartmouth and afterwards professor of surgery at Yale. Twitchell was an apt pupil, particularly fond of the study of anatomy and surgery, and soon became the assistant of Dr. Smith in his college work, and was the professor's chief dependence in procuring subjects for dissec- tion, in which his energy and courage were brought into full play.
In 1808 he entered into practice with his brother-in-
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law, Dr. David Carter of Marlboro, taking the surgical part of the practice. Sir Astley Cooper, of London, has ;v the credit of first taking up the carotid artery, but Dr. Twitchell had performed that delicate and dangerous opera- tion in 1807-nearly a year before Sir Astley's case-and saved his patient, performing the act by his own skill and knowledge, with only the help of a woman to tie the thread, without precedent or example from any learned authority. That operation, with other skillful and inven- tive achievements, gave him a wide reputation and placed him in the front rank of surgeons. In 1810, he removed to Keene, where he quickly rose to the head of his profes- sion, and continued his practice for forty years, greatly be- loved and respected. He was offered professorships in sev- eral colleges; was for several years president of the New Hampshire Medical Society; was first president of the New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane; and held many other important positions and received many honorary degrees. In 1815, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. Josiah Goodhue, of Hanover, who became "a model of a physi- cian's wife;" but they had no children. He was genial and cordial, quick at repartee, and was one of the great wits and brilliant social leaders of the town. He died in 1850.1
TIMOTHY TWITCHELL.
Capt. Timothy Twitchell, brother of Dr. Amos, was born in Dublin in 1783; went to sea in early youth; rose to the command of a merchant ship and made a successful voyage around the world; came to Keene; married, 1814, Susan, daughter of Daniel Watson, and joined Aaron Appleton, John Elliot, Daniel Watson and others in the manufacture of glass on Prison street; afterwards, with Watson and Henry R. Schoolcraft, started the manufacture of flint glass bottles and decanters on Marlboro street; removed to Petersburg, Va., where he remained six years, and thence to Pensacola, Fla., where for thirty years he was engaged in the mercantile and lumber business. In 1851 he returned to Keene, and died in 1867, aged
1 His portrait, which hangs in city hall, and which Capt. Elbridge Clarke was foremost in procuring, was painted from an old daguerreotype by Wallace of Boston, and presented to the city by fifty subscribers, headed by J. F. & P. H. Whitcomb.
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eighty-four. His widow died in 1871, aged seventy-eight. Their children were: Henry, born in Keene in 1815; Mary, born in Petersburg, Va., in 1818; George Brooks, born in Petersburg, Va., in 1820.
GEORGE B. TWITCHELL.
Dr. George B. Twitchell, son of Timothy and Susan (Watson) Twitchell, was born in Petersburg, Va., in 1820; studied medicine with Dr. Amos Twitchell of Keene, and at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania; began prac- tice in Keene in 1843 and continued until his death in 1897. He at once took a leading position in his profession and held it during his long career, doing most of the surgery in southwestern New Hampshire.
In 1862, he volunteered for the war and went to the front as surgeon of the Thirteenth New Hampshire Volun- teers; was promoted in the spring of 1863 to surgeon of United States Volunteers, with the rank of major, serving under Gen. Grant at Vicksburg, but resigned after about one year's service on account of ill health.
He was president of the board of trustees of the New Hampshire insane asylum for many years, and a men's building recently added to that institution was named for him; and he was the most active agent in establishing and putting in working order the city hospital in Keene, after the gift of the buildings and grounds had been made by Mr. Elliot. It was he who initiated and carried through the city councils the project of adopting Col. Waring's system of sewerage for the city -doubtless the best known system to meet the conditions existing in Keene-and he was ac- tive in all enterprises for the benefit of the people, and the welfare of the community. The estimation in which he was held was illustrated by the gift, after he was seventy-five years old, of a gold-lined silver loving cup by about three hundred donors, mostly citizens of Keene. Dartmouth con- ferred on him the honorary degree of A. M.
Dr. Twitchell married, 1849, Susan Elizabeth, daughter of Gideon F. and Nancy P. Thayer, of Boston, by whom he had four daughters and two sons. Both the sons are physicians.
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SAMUEL WADSWORTH.
Samuel Wadsworth came from Middletown, Ct., about 1760; married, 1762, Huldah, daughter of Seth Heaton, one of the first settlers of Upper Ashuelot. In 1770 he bought the original house lot No. 12-the old fort prop- erty-where Mr. Lemuel Hayward now lives, and two years later bought lots 10 and 11, north of it. He was a blacksmith and lived in one of the houses that were built inside the fort in connection with its walls, and had his shop within or near the fort. The stone foundations of his forge may still be found, just north of Mr. Hayward's house. He rose to the rank of major in the militia, but was one of the few tories in Keene at the time of the Revolution, though not one of the more obnoxious ones. After residing in the fort for some years he removed to Beech hill, where he died in 1782, aged forty-two.
He had nine children, four sons and five daughters, but only one son, the youngest, lived to manhood. His name was Samuel, born after his father's death, in 1783; mar- ried Betsey Lawrence, sister of Asa, of Roxbury, and John, of Keene; removed to Roxbury, near the outlet of Wood- ward's pond; was thrown from his horse and killed in February, 1835.
ABRAHAM WHEELER.
Col. Abraham Wheeler, son of Abraham and Hannah Wheeler of Keene, was born in 1743; married Mary; had seven children, born in Keene between 1769 and 1779; member of the militia company here in 1773, and his father was at the same time on the alarm list; was a private in Col. Ashley's regiment that marched to the relief of Ticonderoga in 1776; a private in the company of
Capt. Davis Howlett of Keene, Ashley's regiment, that marched from Keene to oppose Burgoyne in June, 1777; afterwards a colonel in the militia. He owned the farm on Beech hill known as the Luther Nourse place and built that house (see sketch of Phineas Nourse) in 1773, and the barn in 1775-raised on the 17th of June. He removed from there to Ash Swamp and kept the tavern, and prob- ably built the house, now known as the old Sawyer
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tavern, two miles from the Square, where he was succeeded by his son-in-law, Josiah Sawyer. He died in 1814, aged seventy-one. His mother, Mrs. Hannah Wheeler, lived to the age of one hundred and three, and died Dec. 3, 1824.
WILLIAM P. WHEELER.
William P. Wheeler, LL. D., son of Col. Nathaniel and Huldah (Whipple) Wheeler, was born in Croydon, N. H., in 1812; learned the harness making trade, but had a taste for the law and gained an education by his own efforts; attended the academies at Plainfield and Newport; read law with Phineas Handerson at Keene, and attended lect- ures at Harvard Law school; began practice in Keene in 1842; was county solicitor in 1845 and held that office ten years; took Francis A. Faulkner as junior partner, and the distinguished law firm of Wheeler & Faulkner was formed in the spring of 1850 and continued through Mr. Wheeler's lifetime. The two men were admirably adapted to each other as partners in the firm. Mr. Wheeler was one of the ablest advocates in the state, while Mr. Faulk- ner was one of the most skillful and efficient of attorneys in the preparation of cases and legal papers; and they were engaged in nearly every case of importance in the county, and in many outside of the county .. Mr. Wheeler was also remarkably skillful and adroit in the examination of witnesses.
"If you should ask me who was the best jury advocate of all the lawyers I have ever heard at the New Hamp- shire bar, I should want time to consider. *
* But if you ask me who was the best cross-examiner I have ever heard, I can answer that question at once. It was a man who was never unfair, never rough-a man who treated the witness with the same courtesy that he would exhibit towards a guest in his own house, and who nevertheless sifted the testimony thoroughly, and in such a way that the jury did not sympathize with the witness. That model cross-examiner was the former leader of the Cheshire bar, the late William P. Wheeler." (Judge Jeremiah Smith.)
Mr. Wheeler was a man of sound judgment, excellent business capacity, genial in disposition and unassuming in manners-a man in whom every one felt that he had a
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SUMNER WHEELER.
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friend-and though not in public office filled many posi- tions of trust and responsibility. In 1851 he was offered a position on the bench of the court of common pleas, and later on that of the supreme court of New Hampshire, but he declined in both cases. He was nominated for congress in 1855 and 1857, but his party was in the minority and he could not be elected. He was one of the trustees of the New Hampshire Agricultural college, and valuable dona- tions were made to it through his influence. He was a leader in the organization of St. James' (Episcopal) church, contributed largely for its support and was one of its wardens at the time of his decease. He was also president of the Cheshire Provident Institution for Savings. Dart- mouth college conferred upon him the degree of A. M. in 1852, and that of LL. D. in 1872. In 1849 he married Sarah D. Moulton, of Randolph, Vt., and they had one daughter and one son.
He died in 1876.
SUMNER WHEELER.
Sumner Wheeler, son of Capt. David and Martha Frost (Perry) Wheeler, was born in Marlboro, N. H., in 1807; came to Keene at the age of fourteen; received a business training under his elder half brother, Justus Perry, became his partner and finally succeeded him in business. He bought the house on Main street previously used by Miss Fiske for her school (now Mrs. E. C. Thayer's); married, 1832, Catherine Vose of Boston; had three daughters and one son.
Mr. Wheeler was a man of the highest character and the strictest integrity, with a genial and kindly disposition. "His face was a benediction on the street." One of Keene's most brilliant daughters wrote of him: "If I were asked who had the largest and most all-sympathizing heart in all our Keene world I should say, Sumner Wheeler."
One day some gentlemen who had met in one of the banks were discussing affairs about town, and one of them made the trite remark that there was not a thoroughly honest man in Keene. Another offered to bet ten dollars that he could show them an honest man. "Leave out
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Sumner Wheeler and I will take your bet," said the first speaker. "But Sumner Wheeler is the man I was betting on," was the reply.
He died in 1861, aged fifty-four.
ABIJAH WILDER.
Dea. Abijah Wilder, son of Andrew, a farmer of Lan- caster, Mass., was born in 1752; came to Keene about 1774; "a mechanic of great celebrity in his day;" had a cabinet shop on the Walpole road, probably the present "old Sun tavern," and his dwelling, towards the last of his life was nearly opposite, a little below. In 1799 he secured a patent for the invention of bending sleigh run- ners by steaming the wood; and carried on a large busi- · ness in the manufacture of sleighs and carriages.
He married, in 1774, Sarah, daughter of Gideon Ellis, of Keene. The children by that marriage were: Abigail, born in 1775, married Abijah Kingsbury; Sarah, born in 1780, married James Wells of Keene, lieutenant in the Eleventh United States Infantry in the war of 1812.
He married, second, in November, 1780, Martha Blake, of Wrentham, Mass. The children by that marriage were: Patty (Martha), born in 1781, never married, was super- intendent of the Sabbath school for forty-three years; Abijah, born 1784.
He married, third, in 1785, Beulah Johnson. His chil- dren by that marriage were: Hepzibah, born in 1787, married Joseph Wheeler; Azel, born in 1788.
He married, fourth, in 1789, Tamar Wilder.
He was a deacon of the church for forty-eight years, leader of the choir for fifty years, and was an active, energetic citizen, prominent in town affairs and in all good enterprises. Dr. Barstow used to speak of him as "good Deacon Wilder."
He died in 1835, aged 83.
ABIJAH WILDER, JR.
Abijah Wilder, Jr., son of Dea. Abijah and Martha (Blake) Wilder, was born in 1784; married Rhoda San- ger, of Keene; had nine children born between 1816 and
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1836. His daughter, Rhoda Jane, married Dr. Edward Pettengill, of Saxton's River, Vt .; his youngest daughter, Harriet P., married Elisha F. Lane, of Keene.
Like his father, he was an excellent mechanic and con- tinued the business in his father's shop for several years, then built a large shop where the "Museum " building now stands, and carried on the cabinet and chair making busi- ness for many years. He also built the brick house, cor- ner of Summer and Court streets, and the wooden one next north of the Baptist church-where he lived during the last years of his life and died in 1864, aged eighty.
" When he was fifteen years old the news came of the death of Washington. He climbed to the belfry and tolled the bell all through that cold winter night. A small brass lamp was bought by the family and kept burning all that night, then laid aside as a sacred relic and never used after- wards." (Family tradition.)
He was sexton of the town for many years and rang the bell at noon and at nine o'clock in the evening. He was one of the principal owners of the Phoenix Hotel, and being strong temperance men they attempted to run it as a temperance house, but it failed. (See sketch of A. & A. Wilder.)
AZEL WILDER.
Azel Wilder, son of Dea. Abijah and Beulah (Johnson) Wilder, was born in 1788; married Elvira, daughter of Capt. John Warner, of Keene; had ten children born be- tween 1814 and 1832. His eldest daughter, Elvira, mar- ried Edward Poole, of Keene, jeweller; his second daughter, Hepsey, married Geo. H. Richards, of Keene; his third daughter, Maria, married William Wyman of Keene. Charles J. married Elmira Nims, of Keene, a lieutenant in the Civil war, killed before Richmond in 1864.
He also excelled as a mechanic, and invented and obtained a patent for a double geared wheelhead for spinning wool. For some years he was with his half brother, Abijah, in the shop of their father, but, later, Azel established himself in a turning shop a little west of Faulkner & Colony's sawmill, and made wheelheads and spinning wheels for both flax and wool for a long term of
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years. He built the brick house on West street now the residence of Mr. George H. Richards, and died in 1860, aged seventy-two.
Mrs. Wilder was remarkable for her capability as a housekeeper and hostess, her genial hospitality, and her graceful efficiency in the management of public functions. One of her friends said of her after her decease that she would never be happy in Heaven unless she could get up an entertainment to buy David a new harp, or Elijah a new mantle. She was affectionately called "Aunt Azel Wilder."
A. & A. WILDER.
A. & A. Wilder-Abijah and Azel, half brothers - after dissolving their first connection, in their father's shop, in 1814, united under the above firm name, carried on a large business in real estate, and did much for the benefit of the town. In 1821 they bought of Capt. Joseph Dorr and his wife, heirs of the estate of Capt. Josiah Richardson, the tract of land lying north of the common, extending from the third New Hampshire turnpike (Court street) to Prison street, except a few lots near the corner of the common and as far north as the north side of Mechanic street. In 1828, to enlarge and improve the common and form our present Central square, they bought and removed the old horsesheds, gave the land (deeded for a nominal sum) for a new site for the meetinghouse, which stood on the common, and moved the edifice to its present position at their own expense. The same year they built "Wilders' building," now Ball's block. Many years afterwards, by a division of property, that building came into the hands of Azel alone. He sold it to Henry Pond, who added four- teen feet to the west end. The same firm also owned the tract of land-bought of the same Richardson estate- where Winter, Summer and Middle streets now are, through which those streets were laid out in 1832, and Centre street later. Out of that tract they gave the land for the Keene academy 1 in 1836, now occupied by the
1 The deed was made by Abijah, and stands in his name, but by an exchange of property, and a conveyance to Abijah, Azel shared equally in the gift. (Mrs. Pettingill and other descendants of both families.)
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Keene High school. Few have been so public spirited and done so much for the benefit of Keene as these three Wil- ders, Dea. Abijah and his two sons, Abijah and Azel.
PETER WILDER.
Peter Wilder, younger brother of Dea. Abijah, came to Keene in 1781; married Tamar Rice; had eleven children, born between 1781 and 1799. Like his elder brother he excelled as a mechanic, was a cabinet and chair maker and a wheelwright, and many of the fine old pieces of cabinet work and chairs now preserved as relics of the olden time were made by him at his shop in Federal Row. He died in 1814, aged eighty.
ABEL WILDER.
Abel Wilder, son of Samuel and Betsey (Joslin) Wilder, of Berlin, Mass., came to Keene towards the last of the eighteenth century; married Polly Mead; owned and oc- cupied the fine house at the northeast corner of the com- mon, already described, which he sold to Albe Cady in 1808; made spinning wheels and had cabinet and wheel- wright shop in the rear of the stores on the east side of the common-for a time with Luther Holbrook -after- wards on what is now the north corner of Mechanic and Washington streets, and for many years kept the old wooden jail, which stood next on the south. In 1827, he built the house since known as the Handerson house (now F. K. Burnham's on Washington street), and later the brick one north of it, recently known as the Woodward house, and the brick one on the corner of Taylor street. His genial, optimistic nature gave him the distinction of being the "happiest man in town." He died in 1862, aged ninety-one. His son, Augustus T. Wilder, was for many years selectman and keeper of the old stone jail on Wash- ington street.
JOSIAH WILLARD.
Col. Josiah Willard, son of Col. Josiah, the principal grantee of the township of Earlington or Arlington (Win- chester) in 1733, surveyor of land in Upper Ashuelot in 1736 and later, and commissary and commander at Fort
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Dummer in the old French and Indian war, 1744-1750, was born in Lunenburg, Mass., 1716; married Hannah Hubbard of Groton; major of militia in 1746, in command of a small body of troops at No. 4 (Charlestown) ; accepted a captain's commission in the forces raised for defence and commanded a company at Upper and Lower Ashuelot in 1747-9; was promoted to lieutenant colonel and succeeded his father in command of Fort Dummer in 1750; was the active agent in procuring from the legislature of New Hampshire a charter for the town of Winchester in 1753; was lieutenant colonel of the regiment of Col. Joseph Blanchard of Dunstable, N. H., in active service in the Crown Point expedition under Gen. Johnson in 1755; took up his residence in Winchester and represented that town in the legislature in 1768 to 1773; colonel commanding the Sixth regiment of New Hampshire militia in 1775, but, showing tory proclivities, his regiment was divided and he was left without a command. He had twelve children, two of whom graduated from Harvard college.
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