USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Peterborough > History of the town of Peterborough, Hillsborough county, New Hampshire > Part 46
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George, b. Feb. 12, 1842 ; d. at Cincinnati, O., May 5, 1867, æ. 25 yrs. He graduated at Dartmouth College, 1866 ; was engaged in teaching.
William, b. April 24, 1844 ; m. Ellen E. Mower, of Jaf- frey, Dec. 31, 1874, and occupies the homestead.
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GEORGE WASHINGTON MOORE. He r. in Medina, Mich. ; m., Aug. 29, 1837, Caroline Morison, dau. of Capt. Nathaniel Morison ; she d. March 17, 1849, æ. 35 yrs., 8 mos. ; m. 2d w., Harriet P. Bigelow ; Ist w., three ch .; 2d w., two ch. He has furnished much in-
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GEORGE WASHINGTON MOORE.
formation in relation to the early history of the town, which has been embodied in this work.
t William C., b. Nov. 1, 1841 ; d. May 7, 1866, æ. 25 yrs. Nathaniel M., b. April 18, 1843 ; d. April 5, 1850, æ. 7 yrs.
Emily C., b. Nov. 20, 1845 ; m. George A. Phelps ; one ch.
George D., b. Feb. 27, 1853.
Harriet S., b. March 10, 1860.
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WILLIAM C. MOORE enlisted in the First Regiment of Michigan Volunteers in May, 1861 ; was wounded and captured at the first battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861 ; was maltreated and starved in the Libby Prison at Rich- mond ; was exchanged in the spring of 1862; immedi- ately enlisted again, was made captain, and served in the West till the close of the war. He was drowned in crossing a stream in the Indian Territory, while taking a drove of cattle from Texas to Kansas.
THE MORISON FAMILY.
The Morisons of Peterborough are all descendants of Samuel Morison, who lived in the North of Ireland, and was driven with his family under the walls of London- derry in that famous siege of 1688, '89, by the infamous order of the French General Rosen, for the purpose of inducing the city to surrender. His son John, if indeed not all the family, were admitted within the walls. He had a family of eight children, as follows : -
I. John, b. 1678, in Ireland ; d. in Peterborough, June 14, 1776, æ. 98 yrs.
II. Martha, b. in Ireland ; d. June, 1738, in Lon- donderry ; m. Thomas Steele, father of Capt. David Steele. Issue, four sons and two daughters.
III. James, b. in Ireland ; d. in Londonderry ; m. Janette Steele. Issue, three sons and two daughters.
IV. Halbert, b. in Ireland; d. in Londonderry ; m. Steele. Had children by 3d wife.
V. Samuel, b. in Ireland ; d. in Londonderry ; m. Catharine Allison. Issue, three sons.
VI. Joseph, b. in Ireland ; d. in Londonderry ; m. Mary Holmes.
VII. Hannah, b. in Ireland; d. in Chester ; m. An- drew Mack.
VIII. Mary, b. in Ireland ; d. in Londonderry ; m. Wm. Clendenin.
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JONATHAN MORISON.
It is supposed that the parents, Samuel Morison and wife, did not leave Ireland, though all their children emigrated to America, and were among the first settlers of Londonderry.
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JOHN MORISON, above, was one of the first settlers of Londonderry, and was the father of Jonathan Morison, the first male child born in that town. After living in Lon- donderry some thirty years, he removed to Peterborough in 1750 or '51, with his family, and was one of the early settlers of this town. He was seventy-one or seventy-two years old when he came to town. It is said of him in the sketch of Peterborough,* "Mr. Morison retained his facul- ties till within a short time of his death. He was remark- ably intelligent, and his memory very retentive. He, with his parents and family, was in the city, and his age ten years, at the famous siege of Londonderry. The trying scenes he witnessed in youth, a peculiar native eloquence, his pleasing urbanity of manners, venerable age, and correctness and respectability of character, rendered his society interesting and instructive."¡ It is not strange that he emigrated to Peterborough so late in life, since he was preceded by nearly all his family. He m. Margaret Wallace. She d. April 18, 1769, æ. 82 yrs. By a plan of the town, it is ascertained that John Morison occupied the place where his grandson, Dea. Robert Morison lived ; and he d. here June 14, 1776, æ. 98 yrs., the oldest man ever known in the town.
i Thomas, b. in Ireland, 1710; m. Mary Smith, b. 1720, dau. Robert and Elizabeth Smith.
Jonathan, b. in Londonderry, Sept. 18, 1719 ; m. Nancy Tufts, a match not particularly favorable to his peace, happiness, or respectability. He was a highly gifted man, with great ingenuity, generous in the extreme, but unfortunately possessed of what is too often the curse of superior endowments, a violent temper and a want of self-control, which sometimes led to intemperance (see Centennial Address). For a considerable time, he was the only mechanic in town. He could turn his hand to any trade or mechanical art. The first saw and grist mill in town was built by Jonathan Morison, in 1751, on the spot where the first Peterborough cotton factory now stands. He is reported to have been one of the best extempore speakers in the town meetings in Londonderry, before he left that town ; and on these occasions he was always sure to be pitted against
* Historical Account of Peterborough, by Rev. Elijah Dunbar, 1822. t For further account of John Morison, see Centennial Address.
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JONATHAN MORISON.
Capt. Samuel Allison, who was an equally good talker and fluent speaker. He was the first male child born in Londonderry, and removed to Peterborough among the first emigrants in 1749 or '50. We are uncertain as to the time and place of his death.
Fane, b. April 6, 1721; m. Dea. Samuel Mitchell ; d. Nov. 11, 1791, æ. 70 yrs.
Elizabeth, b. June 11, 1723 ; m. Wm. Smith, Dec. 31, 175I.
6 Fohn, b. Sept. 20, 1725 ; m. Mary Anderson. He emi- grated to Nova Scotia after beginning the farm after- wards occupied by Dea. Robert Smith.
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Margaret, b. Feb. 13, 1727 ; m. Dea. Samuel Moore. Hannah, b. April 10, 1730 ; m. Samuel Todd.
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Moses, b. June 7, 1732 ; m. Rachel Todd. Tradition has handed down any amount of the sayings, queer exaggerations, and humor of this strange man. It is for this only that his memory has survived him. It grew into a habit with the people to say, when extrava- gant expressions and statements were heard, "Like Uncle Mosey," so peculiar were the witticisms and the strange fun with which he always abounded. He lived near the Half Moon Pond, in Hancock, and died there. The place is now abandoned, and all the build- ings have been demolished. He left a family, but we know of no one who could furnish a record of his descendants.
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THOMAS MORISON (Capt.), the eldest son of John Morison, was b. in Ireland in 1710, and was quite young when his parents emigrated to America. He first settled in Londonderry, and probably was married at that time, as it is said that two of the children, John and Elizabeth, were born there, and that Robert, Mar- garet, and Jonathan were born in Lunenburg, and the rest in Peterborough. He removed to Lunenburg be- tween 1744 and '45. We have no authentic record when he first came to Peterborough, but suppose he came from Lunenburg, and cleared land and returned again. It was not till 1743 or '44 that he came with a Mr. Russell, and they began the farm afterwards occupied by him, and built there a camp, about twenty rods north of where the long barn on Samuel McCoy's farm stood, against a large boulder, having a perpendicular side on the east, of six or seven feet height, against which the camp was constructed and the camp-fire built. They came from Lunenburg, on foot, with axes, packs of pro- visions, and cooking utensils on their backs, threading their way through the unfrequented forests, guided by
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SALLY MORISON.
blazed trees. The large boulder served, with its vertical face, to shelter and support the camp, and furnished it with a fire-place and chimney.
It is related in a manuscript account of this affair, by the late Samuel Smith, Esq., that when they went out one morning they perceived two Indian men, a squaw, and a small Indian. They intended to be friendly, and spoke to them, and invited them to take breakfast with them, which they did. After the departure of the In- dians they went out to their work, but when they returned for dinner they found that the Indians had stolen every mouthful of their eatables and disappeared. They immediately set out for Townsend, not being able to obtain the least sustenance till they reached that place. They came again to work in the fall or winter, at which time all the inhabitants were frightened away, and left the town till 1749. This year, 1749, Morison came back again, and built a house of hard pine logs ten inches square, and moved his family here in the fall of 1750. He resided on his farm till his death, Nov. 23, 1797, æ. 87 yrs.
The bridge across the Contoocook at the South Vil- lage was built in 1765. The house occupied by Simeon Forbush and Betty and Sally Morison was built the same year. It was the second two-story house built in town. He erected his first saw-mill in 1759, which was burnt and not rebuilt till 1767. This was the second saw-mill in town. At the first meeting of the town after incorporation, he was elected one of the selectmen, with Hugh Wilson, Jonathan Morison, Joseph Caldwell, and John Swan, Jr. He was subsequently elected, in the years 1765, '66, and 1773, to the same office. He m. Mary Smith, dau. Robert and Elizabeth Smith, at Lunenburg, Mass., Oct. 2, 1739. She was b. in Ireland, and d. in Peterborough, Dec. 29, 1799, æ. 87 yrs.
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t Fohn, b. Londonderry, July 8, 1740; m. Agnes Hogg ; 2d w., Lydia Mason ; 3d w., Jenny Gray.
II Elizabeth, b. Londonderry, Aug. 8, 1742 ; unm. ; d. Jan. 15, 1831, æ. 88 yrs.
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Robert, b. Lunenburg, Nov. 29, 1744; m. Elizabeth Holmes.
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Margaret, b. Lunenburg, Nov. 10, 1746; m. Matthew Wallace ; r. Vermont.
Jonathan, b. Lunenburg, March 16, 1749 ; unm.
Thomas, b. Peterborough, April 20, 1751 ; m. Jerusha Field ; re. to Buxton, Me.
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Sally, b. Peterborough, Dec. 22, 1756; unm. ; d. Oct. 12, 1840, æ 84 yrs.
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SAMUEL MORISON.
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¡Samuel, b. Peterborough, April 16, 1758 ; m. Elizabeth Smith.
Mary, b. Peterborough, May 14, 1760; unm .; d. Aug. 20, 1819, æ. 59 yrs. "Aunt Polly."
Ezekiel, b. Peterborough, June 27, 1762 ; m. Hannah Ames, sister to Isabel and Sally Ames, wives of Rob- ert and James Smith.
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JOHN MORISON. He lived in the south-west part of the town. He m., Ist w., Agnes Hogg ; d. April 27, 1777, æ. 27 yrs. ; m., 2d w., Lydia Mason ; 3d w., Jenny Gray. He d. May 25, 1818, æ. 78 yrs.
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Joseph, b. April 30, 1773. Thomas, b. April 21, 1775 ; d. Feb. 23, 1801, æ. 26 yrs. Fohn, b. -; drowned in the Nubanusit in the mead- ows above the factories, July 10, 1828, æ. 31 yrs. Jonathan, b. -; d.
Fane, b. -; m., April 20, 1824, Matthew Hale, of Hollis.
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Thomas, b. -; d. at Dea. J. Field's, Oct. 31, 1825, æ. 22 yrs. Matthew, b. : (27) Mary, b. -.
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ROBERT MORISON (Dea.). He lived on the place begun by his grandfather, John Morison, and which is yet in the family. He was a deacon in the Presbyterian Church, but when elected we cannot ascertain, as the church records were burnt in the conflagration of his house, in 1791. At a meeting of the town, Sept. 30, 1793, it was voted to pay Robert Morison seventeen dollars, with interest till paid, that amount of money belonging to the town having been lost in his house when burnt. In 1791, he built on a new site the house now owned by the family of Horace Morison, the old house having stood in the field a few rods east of the road. He m. Elizabeth Holmes, sister of Dea. Nathan- iel Holmes. She was b. June 23, 1754, and d. May 17, 1808, æ. 55 yrs. He d. Feb. 13, 1826, æ. 82 yrs. He was chosen a deacon in Mr. Dunbar's church, Nov. 28, 1799, being associated in this office with William Smith, William McNay, Jonathan Smith, and Nathaniel Holmes.
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Thomas, b. Dec. 25, 1774 ; d March 26, 1775, æ. 3 mos. Mary, b. March 26, 1776; d. April 12, 1776, æ. 17 dys. Stephen, b. Nov. 8, 1777 ; d. Oct. 9, 1778, æ. II mos. Nathaniel, b. Oct. 9, 1779 ; m., Sept. 13, 1804, Mary Ann Hopkins, of Londonderry ; d. Sept. 11, 1819.
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NATHANIEL MORISON.
32 Jonathan,
m. Rebecca Rockwood ; he d. April 11, 1832, æ. b. March 11, 1782 ; 5º yrs. ; r. Greenfield. d. May 6, 1782, æ. 56 dys.
33 David,
¡ Robert, b. May 8, 1784 ; m. Betsey Spring.
Smith, b. Aug. 16, 1786 ; d. Dec. 20, 1786, æ. 4 mos. Betsey, b. Nov. 8, 1787 ; m. William Graham, May 13, 1806. She d. Oct. 30, 1843, æ. 56 yrs.
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Ezekiel, b. Nov. 16, 1792 ; d. Sept. 11, 1823, at Green- ville, Miss., æ. 30 yrs., 10 mos.
SAMUEL MORISON. He occupied a place in the south part of the town, begun by Gustavus Swan, and after- wards owned by Matthew Wallace, and next came into the hands of Samuel Morison. He lived here till his death. He m. Elizabeth Smith, dau. of William Smith, Esq. ; all their ch. but the son, who d. at 7 yrs. of age, were born deaf-mutes. He d. Nov. 24, 1837, æ. 79 yrs. She d. May 21, 1833, æ. 75 yrs. The daughters were educated at the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, at Hartford, Conn.
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Elizabeth, b. 1789 ; d. Sept. 22, 1791, æ 2 yrs. Mary, b. June 28, 1791 ; d. Nov. 15, 1854, æ. 63 yrs. Hannah, b. 1793 ; d. March 16, 1809, æ. 16 yrs. Samuel, b. March 10, 1795 ; d. Oct. 26, 1802, æ. 7 yrs., 7 mos. Sarah, b. Oct. 26, 1799 ; d. Sept. 15, 1868, æ. 69 yrs. Eliza, b. July 1, 1801 ; d. March 13, 1875, æ. 73 yrs., 8 mos.
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NATHANIEL MORISON. He succeeded his father on the . homestead ; m. Mary Ann Hopkins, of London- derry, Sept. 13, 1804. He d. at Natchez, Miss., Sept. II, 1819, @. 39 yrs., II mos. She d. at Medina, Mich., Aug. 27, 1848, æ. 69 yrs.
For the following interesting account of the family of Mr. Morison, I am indebted to Rev. John H. Morison, D.D., one of the sons : -
"Of my ancestors on my father's side beyond John Morison, my grandfather's grandfather, I know nothing. He lived to be ninety-eight years old. For many years he was looked up to with great respect by the younger members of the family. From what I could learn, I have inferred that he was a man of sound judgment, of a mild disposition, and a natural dignity of character,- a man to command the confidence of others. The
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NATHANIEL MORISON.
account which I gave of him in the centennial was taken from the recollections of his two grandchildren, Jeremiah Smith and Sally Morison, both of whom had very distinct and pleasant recollections of him as, more than any one else, the patriarch of the town.
" His son, Capt. Thomas Morison, was a more enter- prising and ambitious man, with greater activity of mind and greater force of character. These more efficient traits were ascribed to his mother, Margaret Wallace, who wished her house, if it must be a log-house, to be a log higher than any other in the place. During the active period of his life he was, I suppose, one of the five or six leading men in Peterborough.
" His sons were none of them remarkable men. Three of his daughters, Polly, Sally, and Mrs. Wallace, were uncommonly intelligent. My grandfather, Robert Mori- son, was a man of good sense, but of moderate ability. He was a very devout man. I have seen many of his letters to my father that were marked by a degree of practical good judgment which I fear he did not know how to apply to his own affairs ; for he was always in debt, and always appealing to my father for pecuniary assistance.
"My father, Nathaniel Morison, was the only one of his children who had more than ordinary ability. Eze- kiel, his youngest son, was a man of correct and indus- trious habits. He died young in Mississippi. Nathaniel was born Oct. II, 1779. In 1802, he went with an invoice of chairs to some place in the West Indies ; but finding no market for them there, he took them to Wil- mington, N. C. After disposing of them, he went to Fayetteville, in the same State, and entered into the business of making carriages. In 1804, he came to New England, and married Mary Ann Hopkins, who was born in that part of Londonderry which is now Windham, and returned to his business in Fayetteville, with his wife, where he remained till 1807. Then, at the urgent solicitation of his father, he came back to Peterborough, and settled down with his wife and daugh- ter, having bought his father's farm. He brought with him five thousand dollars in specie, and there were still considerable sums of money due to him at the South. In five years he had laid up between six and seven thou- sand dollars. He was not fitted to be a farmer. The success of a more extended enterprise, and the habits formed in a different sphere, made him restless under its slow and limited operations. In 1811, I believe, hè returned to Fayetteville, to settle up his affairs there, and when he returned he brought with him John H.
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NATHANIEL MORISON.
Steele, a young man whom he had found there, and con- sidered a very ingenious and capable mechanic, and who afterwards filled so important a place in Peterborough. Three or four years more passed by, when he purchased for $10,000 what was then called the South Factory, and devoted all his energies to that and kindred enterprises. He put up a building for the manufacture of fine linen, particularly table-cloths. The women in Peterborough and the neighboring towns were famous for their labors at the distaff. The object of this new undertaking was to weave, by improved processes, the linen yarn that was spun in the vicinity. The looms were worked by hand, but with what was called a spring shuttle, then a new invention. In connection with these factories, my father, now a militia captain, opened a small store, and he had upon his hands all that he could attend to.
"But he had chosen an unfortunate time for these investments. The war with England was soon over. The country was flooded with foreign goods. There was no sale for our domestic products. The factories were closed. His little competence melted away. He was embarrassed with debts. His farm and factory property were heavily mortgaged. For all industrial enterprises, the term from 1815 to 1820 was a period of greater depression than any other period of five years during the present century. After struggling in vain with adverse events, and with embarrassments which were constantly increasing, he went to Mississippi, in the fall of 1817, to collect a considerable debt that was due him there. He carried out with him a few cases of axes and shoes, which he disposed of at a good profit. He collected his debt so as to reach home in the spring of 1818.
" While he was in Natchez, he became acquainted with several gentlemen of large fortunes, and made a contract with them to supply the city with water by means of lead pipes, for $30,000. On reaching home, he engaged a competent man in New Hampshire to lay the pipes, and in the autumn of 1818, he went out with a larger supply of axes, ploughs, and shoes. But the boat which carried a part of his merchandise struck a snag and sunk in the Mississippi. And when he reached Natchez, and had made all his arrangements and got his men and materials there to supply the city with water, the Southern gentle- men repudiated the contract which he supposed they had made, and the whole enterprise, with consequences ruin- ous to all his hopes, was thrown back upon him. He had recourse again to his old occupation, and endeav- ored to gain a little money by working as a wheelwright
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NATHANIEL MORISON.
and carriage-maker. But disappointment, anxiety, and the hot, malarious, summer climate there were too much for him. He was taken down by the yellow fever, and after a few days of severe suffering, in which he was carefully attended by his brother Ezekiel, and his towns- man, John Scott, Jr., he died on the 11th day of Septem- ber, 1819, just before he had completed his fortieth year. Rumors of his death had already reached us, when, on a cold, cloudy, November Saturday afternoon, I, then a boy of eleven, walked to the village to see if any letter had come by the mail. On entering your father's store just before dark, I heard the people talking of the report, and, as they did not know me, they kept on with their conversation till I had received the letter. I had a sad journey home in the dark night, and the burst of grief with which the first line of the letter was greeted was more than I could bear. The next morning, my grand- father called us all together to prayers, as the custom was of a Sunday morning, and I shall never forget the solemnity and pathos with which the old man, with trembling hands and a voice broken with emotion, read the third chapter of Lamentations. 'I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.'
"A month or two before, when news of the falling through of the Natchez enterprise had reached this part of the country, the sheriff had come to our house and taken possession of everything that the law allowed him to take. The sharpest pang that I felt at that time was in witnessing my mother's anguish, and, next to that, was when I saw the officers of the law drive away a pair of young steers that I had watched over and tended and fondled ever since they were born. I did not see them again for three years, and it was very painful to me then to find that I could not get from them any sign of affection or recognition. They had entirely for- gotten me. After my father's death, we remained in the old homestead through the winter, till March or April, 1820. My mother had for her portion a shell of a house near the South Factory, and eight hundred dollars. It required half the money to convert the old 'weaving-shop' into a tolerable residence. I remember well the earnest gaze and the deep sigh with which, on leaving our early home, where all her children but one had been born, she looked back upon it, with a baby on each arm, and then turned slowly away towards her new home. She had been left alone in the fall of 1818 with seven children, the oldest thirteen years, and
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NATHANIEL MORISON.
the two youngest four months, old. All her means of support consisted in a half-finished house, two cows, and four or five hundred dollars. She had a most delicate, sensitive nature, but a force of will and an amount of executive energy such as I have never seen surpassed. In my remembrance of her, as she was during the early period of her widowhood, I always think of her sitting at her loom, working and weeping. She did not stop to indulge in discouraging apprehensions, but emphasized her grief by driving her shuttle with increased prompt- ness and vehemence. With a resolution that almost broke her heart, she put her two oldest boys, one eleven and the other nine years old, into farmers' families to work for their living. Lessons of honest industry and helpfulness and self-dependence were thus learned. If there was a great deal of suffering on their part and on hers, caused by severe labor and a divided household, habits were formed which contributed largely to what- ever measure of usefulness or success they may have attained. The heaviest burden rested upon our oldest sister, whose ability and willingness to help all the rest shut her out from the advantages of education which the others enjoyed.
"My father was endowed with abilities ill-adapted to his calling, and very much beyond what was required by the sphere in which he lived. He read the best books with a keen delight. The few letters of his which I have seen showed marks of a mental strength and culture superior to what we usually find in the correspondence even of the city merchants who lived at that time. Your uncle John, who was his teacher one winter, spoke to his brother Jeremiah of his mind and his ingenuous, truth- ful qualities with a sort of enthusiastic admiration. If he could have had the educational advantages which his sons enjoyed, I have no doubt that he would have been one of the most distinguished among all the natives of Peterborough. As it was, his lot was a very hard one, and his life very sad. He was a man of delicate sensi- bilities and generous impulses. He was fitted for intel- lectual pursuits, and would have made an admirable lawyer. But he had no special aptness for mechanical employments, or for trade. His thoughts moved in a different sphere. I have heard his social and conversa- tional qualities very highly spoken of. But he had no special aptitude. or taste for the sort of life that was put upon him. After the success of his early days, which certainly indicated no common ability even in uncon- genial pursuits, he failed in almost everything that he undertook. His plan for introducing improved methods
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NATHANIEL MORISON.
of manufacturing linen cloth showed originality of mind and no lack of judgment. Nor could any one, situated as he was, be likely to anticipate the disastrous effects of peace on our domestic industries. And no honorable man would suspect the arbitrary repudiation of a con- tract like that which he had made in Natchez. But the disappointment was not, on that account, any the less severe to him. He became disheartened and unhappy. He was never, I think, according to the ideas then pre- vailing, an intemperate man, but amid his disappoint- ments and trials he probably fell in too much with the habits of those around him. Indeed, when I look at his ledger, and see what quantities of rum and toddy almost everybody drank in those days, I wonder how it was that any one could have been saved from being a drunkard. My mother was so impressed with a sense of the evils and perils in this direction, and warned her children against them with such intensity of feeling, that I have no doubt she had seen in her home influences and dangers which we were not old enough to understand. In common with almost every woman around her, she used snuff, but, from her own experience and what she saw in others of the misery of such a bondage, she had a violent antipathy to it, and brought up her children with such a feeling against it, that not one of her five sons has ever, I believe, used an ounce of tobacco.
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