USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Hollis > Hollis [N. H.] seventy years ago > Part 7
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On the side hill toward the south dwelt Amos Hardy, one of the seven sons of Jesse Hardy, who had taken for his wife one of Thomas Cum- mings' comely daughters, and whose seven children were all sons but one. I wish I knew more of the history of these children, having known their parents so well. Mr. Hardy had two especial sources of pride: he was proud of his family, and next to them he was proud of
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his fine oxen. Respecting the last his motto was, "Feed well and work well."
The first house on Willoughby Hill was that of Captain Sawtelle, who had five children in the school.
On this hill lived Oliver Willoughby, who sent three children to school.
Next south we find that Revolutionary hero, Enoch Jewett, who used to tell the boys won- drous tales of the British and Hessians. He entered the army at the age of seventeen or eighteen years, beginning army life at the bat- tle of Bunker Hill, and continued in the service six years and seven months. At Saratoga he said he went into battle with an old shot-gun, but as the enemy retreated, he saw a dead Hessian with a fine gun lying beside him and took the opportunity to trade even with him. Then he would proudly show the very weapon.
East of Willoughby hill was Lewis Wood, who had one daughter, Mercy, and six sons.
Northeast, lived Oliver Willoughby, Jr., with a fine family well cared for. Mr. Wood tells me he had a peculiar fancy for trying to make people think he was poor, and could get more
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fun out of a crowd than any man living, as he looked the picture of dejection. His six chil- dren were all in the school.
Nearly all the persons I have named might have been seen every Sabbath at church, for the forenoon and afternoon service. Where are they now? Most of them have followed their old pastor over the river.
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XVII.
My recollections of the people in the Patch Corner district are quite distinct, but in occa- sional instances my friend, Charles A. Wood, has supplied a missing link. I feel sure that, as we stroll about this portion of the old town, tender recollections will be brought to the minds of some of the descendants of those who lived there seventy years ago. Possibly some- thing in it may be preserved, and become his- tory in the years to come.
Taking the right hand road at the Corner, I soon reach the home of Thaddeus Wheeler. He was then about fifty years old,-a staid, thoughtful, well-to-do farmer. There were six children in this home.
A little farther on lived Winkel Wright, a brother of Captain J. T. Wright. He had a saw and grist mill at the pond, the water of which came from a little brook running from Long Pond. In my boyhood days I often went to this pond in summer, especially on Sat-
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urday afternoons, to gather the beautiful pond lilies that grew so abundantly there, and my hands were filled with these fragrant blossoms when I went to church next day. This pond was a favorite bathing place, and many came there for this purpose on Saturdays after the week's hard work. I remember how the town was shocked when the news came that Uriah Reed had sunk beneath these waters while bathing. When the body was found, the spirit had departed. He was a man past middle age, and left a wife and children.
Winkel Wright was a quiet man, more retir- ing than his brother. He had one daughter. He dressed in the old style, and always wore a cue. Mr. C. A. Wood writes me that his was the only cue he had ever seen, excepting on a Chinaman. Oh! Charles, Charles! you lost much by not being born sooner. You must remember you were but seventy-two years of age last month, while I saw the light seven years earlier, when cues were in the height of fashion, and every old man had one. If I had you at my own fireside, Charlie, I would tell you a story. As I may not see you soon, I will
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write it out for your benefit ( others not inter- ested may pass it by without reading). Our old square pew in the church was in the north end on the center aisle, just back of the old men's long seat. Here, on Sundays, used to sit a row of the old men of the town, perhaps ten or fifteen of them, each having a cue neatly bound with ribbon hanging down his back. As I sat there in meeting (before you were born, Charlie), good Mr. Smith giving us one of his Calvanistic sermons, that I could not understand any better then than I could now, the temptation to play with those cues was a strong one. I was having a fine time jerking them as I would a bridle-rein, when one of the men turned around and looked at me with his awful eyes, and I immediately subsided and did not again play horse in meeting.
Next on the road lived Mr. Minot Wheeler, a millwright by trade, with an interesting fam- ily consisting of his wife and seven sons.
At the next house resided Mr. Daniel Farley, his wife and two daughters.
Major James Wheeler, with his wife, two sons and three daughters, lived in the last house on
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this road. He was an active, vigorous man. I am told that the youngest son still lives on the place. All these families I have named were regular attendants at church.
I now return to the Corner and take the Am- herst road.
The first house from the corner on the Am- herst road was known as the Kendrick house. Silas French lived there seventy years ago. He became deranged and was sent to the In- sane Asylum at Concord. This house has a sad history. I have no wish to go into particulars, but some of those who resided there were so bereft of reason that they were not responsible for the dreadful acts perpetrated. One com- mitted suicide, another took the life of mother and sister; finally a fire swept the house from the earth, so that it could not longer be even a dumb witness to the deeds done within it.
The next house was William Colburn's. He left six daughters and two sons. I am told that Edward is still the owner of the house which has been in the family since the settlement of Munson. On this farm tar and turpentine were then made, hundreds of pine trees being boxed to catch the pitch exuding from them.
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The excellent Christian family of John Shedd occupied the next homestead. Mr. Shedd left a wife, a daughter and a son. On his farm near his barn stood the old house once inhab- ited by the noted Dr. Jones, "the Major's only son." The story of the eccentric doctor is given by Judge Worcester in his History, just as I had heard it many times from the people of Hollis. Dr. Jones was an educated, bright young man, but badly shattered, he said "for love." Had he lived in these days, he would have attracted much less attention than in the quiet of the last century.
I cannot mention all the familiar names which crowd upon my memory, but certain ones scattered through the town I am unwil- ling to omit.
Ebenezer Baldwin was one of my old acquain- tances in the Bailey school district where he was born. In 1831 he married a daughter of Captain Bailey and moved to the center of town, where he opened a jeweler's shop. He was one of those genial men whom it was ever a pleasure to meet, and a man of noble and worthy character. By nature he was gifted
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with a remarkable mechanical genius. The people of Hollis honored him with various of- fices of trust and responsibility. All his life Ebenezer Baldwin worked at clocks and watches, until the clock of Time struck his last hour.
Prescott Hale, son of Dr. William Hale, and the only one of that large family who spent his life in Hollis, comes before my mind as he was when my teacher in the Beaver Brook school. He was highly esteemed by his fellow citizens as was shown by the town offices com- mitted to his trust. I saw him and his esti- mable wife in their home, in the Deacon Emer- son house, in 1850.
In Worcester's History is found a faithful sketch of the life of James Parker, Jr., but knowing him as I did, J want to add a few words: In years he was younger than myself, but older in his development. When a mere boy, I used to see him assisting his uncle, Sam- uel Parker, in peddling, and at his auctions on training and muster days. I used to think James would be a spoiled boy, but he did not spoil at all. I can hardly tell when he took
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time for his education, for he early engaged in business. I saw him in Nashua connected with a stage line, then in Worcester as stage agent while he was in his teens. I went west and lost sight of him for a time. On my return, in 1849, I found him the gentlemanly conductor running from Springfield to Worcester. From that time I saw James Parker, Jr., nearly every year. He was a remarkable and a marked man, prompt in business, dignified yet affable. I used to have many pleasant talks with him, as I passed over the road. Mr. Parker ran his trains with promptness and caution. Trains were not run by telegraph then, but by a sys- tem of waiting a specified time at given points, after which the train had the right of way. On one occasion, when Mr. Parker had a large dele- gation of ministers on board, he was obliged to wait on a side track so long as to greatly annoy the divines who desired to attend the Association to be held further on. The con- ductor was urged to go forward, but, though some hard words were used, he still waited, standing on the ground, watch in hand, calm, dignified, and as unmoved as Grant before
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Richmond. Suddenly, on came a train at full speed. Then were seen changed faces among the passengers. One said, "Let us kneel and thank God for our preservation." Mr. Parker was made the recipient of a token for his faith- fulness.
Mr. Johnson and his wife, that estimable couple living on Pine Hill, were well toward the "Sunset Land" when I first knew them. I have named two of their daughters, Mrs. Patch and Mrs. Hardy. There were two sons; Noah, the elder, remained at the old home; Edward, went as a missionary to the Sandwich Islands.
Toward the south, lived Jesse Hardy and Miles Wright with their families.
Near by, was good Dea. Thomas Farley, whose son Asa was once my teacher in Beaver Brook school, and who married Sybil Holt and removed to Michigan. Thomas, Jr., had high hopes of doing good in the world, but had just graduated from college when he died.
South of Esquire Pool's were the several fam . ilies of Dows, Moses Boynton, Ezekiel Bradley and Capt. Nathaniel Jewett.
At Fog End, near Capt. Flagg's, lived Mr.
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Daniel Smith and family, Mr. Smith was then up to full middle life.
Bradley Colburn was young and ambitious, having high aims in life, but was cut dawn in early manhood.
The venerable John Colburn and his wife are still living, though past fourscore years.
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XVIII.
It was seventy-two years ago last winter since I first knew William S. Bradbury. Having lost his father while still young, he was bound as an apprentice to Capt. Page Farley, according to the custom of the times. But before he was twenty he bought his time of his master, and by his own perseverance and industry fitted himself for teaching. It was my good fortune to be one of his pupils in the Beaver Brook school, in 1820 and 1821. The young man was not born into the most helpful surroundings, but a laudable ambition to achieve a worthy and noble manhood early inspired his heart. The time came to him as to others, when he wished to take unto himself a wife. All his aspirations were upward, and his affections fol- lowed the same course. He had fixed his eye, with modest diffidence, but with manly courage likewise, upon an estimable young lady belong- ing to one of the best and most aristocratic of Hollis families. The widow of the second
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Daniel Emerson, as mentioned in a former let- ter, found it necessary, after her husband's death, to eke out her slender income by keep- ing a little shop-not lowering thereby her standing and dignity in the eyes of her neigh- bors. Her fair daughter, Eliza, was the magnet toward which the heart of young William turned. We can easily fancy that the youth discovered almost daily needs which could be satisfied only from the widow Emerson's stock of goods. Doubtless Eliza often acted as her mother's clerk, and, by lucky chance, the woo- ing sped apace, as the young people demurely discussed bargains across the little counter. Mothers have sharp eyes, and it could not have been long before Mrs. Emerson's suspicions were aroused. Perhaps she questioned her daughter, hoping to find her fears were ground- less. "Eliza, did William Bradbury buy any- thing when he was in the store so long last evening?" "No, mother, but he looked at goods which he expects to need soon." "And the day before, when he leaned yet longer over the counter, what was he seeking then, my daughter?" "He bought a paper of pins,
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mother, and looked at some buttons, for he had lost one from his coat." But the deepened flush on Eliza's cheeks could only have con- firmed the mother's fears, and we may be sure that the day came when the widow said with emphasis, "This will not do, my daughter; Wil- liam Bradbury is no fit mate for you, the child of the Rev. Daniel Emerson, descendant of a line of eminent ministers and deacons. Your mother, too, has famous blood in her veins. Esther Frothingham was proud of her name, even before it become Emerson. You know child, that your grandfather was Major Froth- ingham, of Charlestown, Mass., who served throughout the Revolutionary War, and then entered the honorable ranks of the Cincinnati, and who was the only man honored by a call from General Washington on his last visit to Charlestown. What has William Bradbury to offer to a maiden of such ancestry?" The spirit of her revolutionary grandfather must have blazed from Eliza's eyes as she answered proudly, "He is an honest and worthy man, mother. He has strong arms and industrious habits. His character is above reproach. His
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heart is generous and noble; his judgment is good, and his mind is fairly well educated. He is quite my equal. What are my dead grand- fathers to me, beside this bright, eager, living man, full of aspirations for what is best and truest in life, and longing to devote all that he has and is to me? I know that he loves me, and when he asks me, I will marry him, though I were forty times an Emerson and a Frothing- ham." All this is supposed to have taken place in the northeast room of the present parsonage. We may well believe that the wise mother said no more in opposition. Perhaps she found consolation as she thought of cases she had known or read, where men of distinction had risen from obscure families. 6 No doubt she knew something of Mr. Lyman Beecher, the greatest preacher in New England at that time, who had just come to Boston with his large family of bright, little Beechers. His ancestors were only plain farmers on one of the poorest, little farms in Connecticut. I hope she recalled the story of young John Adams and Abigail Smith, and the objection of worthy Pastor Smith, of Braintree, Mass., to the marriage of his
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daughter, because her suitor could not boast as eminent an ancestry as could his high-spirited Abigail. If she did remember the tale, she perhaps reflected that to stand at the head of a long line of distinguished men might be as honorable as to stand at the foot; and if John Adams was a "nobody" when he married Abigail Smith, he is known to after generations as President of the United States, and ancestor of a long and illustrious line,
It was on the 18th of October, 1824, that William S. Bradbury married Eliza Emerson, and soon after left Hollis to make a home in Westminster, Mass. They began life in a mod- est, quiet way, but not many years had passed before William Bradbury was known as one of the leading men of the town. In 1844 he was honored with a seat in the State Legislature. He became a recognized authority upon ques- tions of law, was trial justice for his district, and settled many estates. For years he was an honored deacon in the Congregational church.
One of his sons, William F. Bradbury, found employment in Edward Emerson's store and
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post-office in Hollis, from 1844 to 1849. He afterwards was fitted for college, and, with his brother, Edward E. Bradbury, entered Amherst in 1852. Having worked their way through college, the brothers graduated in 1856, carry- ing with them the highest honors of the class, William being valedictorian and Edward the salutatorian. Can you find me another like instance? Do you remember the ready and witty toast-master at the Hollis celebration in 1880? William F. Bradbury is the man. Go to Cambridge, and you will find the same tal- ented gentleman as Head Master of the pros- perous Cambridge Latin School, under the very shadow of Harvard University. Many who have no personal acquaintance with the teacher and the scholar, know him as the successful author of a long series of mathematical text- books, and of various published articles of edu- cational value. An ingenious piece of appa- ratus for illustrating the simplicity of the met- ric system, which is extensively used by teach- ers, is the fruit of his inventive genius. Mr. Bradbury has held many offices of honor and distinction in the educational world, and that
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he is a man of public spirit, with interests broader than his own profession, is shown by his having served as a member of the Common Council in his city.
One daughter of William Bradbury and Eliza Emerson, Esther Caroline Bradbury, occupies a prominent position as the honored wife of the Rev. T. K. Noble, pastor of the Congrega- tional church in Norwalk, Conn.
Her brother, Edward E. Bradbury, has spent most of his life since his graduation from col- lege, in teaching, first at Greenfield, then at Ware, Mass. Alterwards he bought a part of the Greenleaf Female Institute in Brooklyn, N. Y. Being now in declining health, he has abandoned teaching, and is engaged in mer- chandise in Providence, R. I.
I have learned something of the next genera- tion. William F. Bradbury has three children. The eldest, a son, has been graduated from Harvard College, is married, and is settled in business in Cambridge. The eldest of the two daughters is a graduate of Smith College, and had taught for several years in the Cambridge Latin School before her marriage last autumn.
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The youngest daughter is still a pupil in the Latin School.
Edward E. Bradbury has also three children. The eldest, a daughter, is an artist, skilled in drawing and painting. The second is a gradu- ate of Smith College, and a successful teacher in the High School of Washington, D. C. The youngest is a son, now in the office of the City Engineer in Providence, R. I.
I have even heard of one representative of a later generation still. It is a bright little boy, now four years old, a grandson of William. F. Bradbury. He has not yet distinguished him- self before the world, but we have every reason to expect that he will do so in good time.
From this brief presentation of four genera- tions of this interesting family, I leave it to my readers to judge whether or no the blood of the Emersons and the Frothinghams has deterior- ated by its mixture with that of Bradbury.
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XIX.
On the occasion of my visit to Hollis in the summer of 1890, I was obliged to spend an hour or more at the modest little depot, waiting for the conveyance in which my journey to the home of my ancestors was to be completed. A few others were already in the waiting room, and when at last our vehicle was ready, I found myself seated beside one of these-a fine look- ing lady of elegant bearing and much intelli- gence, as I had already learned from the con- versation which I had overheard between her- self and another of the waiting travelers. She requested our driver to leave her at the home of Mr. George H. Blood, on the south side of the town. Then, turning to me with the thoughtfulness of a true lady, she gracefully expressed her regret that I should be forced to take a longer ride on her account. This opened the way for what was, to me, a most pleasant and interesting conversation. I learned that my companion was Miss Mary A. Blood, a
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member of one of the old Hollis families, and now a teacher of elocution and oratory. The gentleman with whom she had been convers- ing in the depot, was Professor George Saun- derson, of the State University of Indiana, an- other of the children of Hollis of whom she has reason to feel proud.
The farm whither Miss Blood was bound is now occupied by her brother, but seventy years ago it was the home of Ebenezer Blood, a kind- hearted man, a good neighbor, and possessed of much energy of character. He was noted for his blunt and original manner of speaking, a trait noticeable in his descendants to this
day. In the latter part of his life he was afflicted with blindness, a trial which he endured with exemplary patience. He was the father of ten children, only two of whom are now living. They are Dr. Josiah Blood, of Ashby, Mass., and Miss Elizabeth A. Blood, of Hollis. This farm of Ebenezer Blood is in the extreme southern part of Hollis, on a cross road which connects the two main roads running from Hollis to Pepperell. The house which was to be seen on the farm in the days of Ebenezer
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Blood, has been repaired and is still in use. A son, Luke, remained at home with his parents and built the new barn after the old one was burned. Isaac, another son, bought the William Reed farm, near his father's, and married a daughter of Walter Fisk, of Pepperell. It is forty-nine years since they settled on ihat little farm where they reared their five children, all willing and fitted to lend a helping hand on the journey of life. The father died suddenly from an accident, about twelve years ago. Only one of the children remains in Hollis, the Geo. H. Blood mentioned above. He is a prosperous farmer, and now owns the farms of both his father and his grandfather. His brother, Chas. W., has a large farm in Lunenburg, Mass. Miss Mary A., the second daughter, studied elocution at the Emerson College of Oratory, in Boston, where she remained, as first assist- ant teacher, for several years. She was then called to the Iowa Agricultural College, where she spent two successful years as teacher of elocution. When I met her in Hollis she had much that was interesting to tell me of her ex- periences there, for I had recently closed a
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pleasant term of several years' service as a trustee of the College. Miss Blood told me at that time, something of her plans for opening a school of oratory in Chicago, and it has been *a pleasure to me to know of the distinguished success which has been hers in that venture. The "Columbia School of Oratory," of which Miss Blood is Principal, and Mrs. Ida M. Riley the Associate Principal, with three assistant teachers, is now to be found at 24, East Adams St., Chicago. It is thoroughly established and in a most prosperous and promising condition. The accomplished lady at the head is winning unstinted praise from all quarters, not only for her own gifts and attainments in elocution and oratory, but also, and especially, for her remark- able skill as a teacher. Several of the larger institutions and important gatherings in the different western states have called upon her for addresses and entertainments, and she is rapidly becoming known as one of the most talented women of the West. I have called her a lady; she is also a woman of dignity and power. To me, it is more to be a true woman, than to be merely a lady. The word has found more
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and more favor in these later years, as women have taken more prominent positions before the world and have acquitted themselves with honor. During all my life in Hollis I never once heard a woman speak or pray in public. Now she may occupy pulpit and rostrum and take her full share in the public work of the world-save in politics.
Not all the good Blood in the family is to be found in these already mentioned. Miss Mary has a sister, Hattie M. Blood, who is at present a teacher of elocution in the Wesleyan Univer- sity at Lincoln, Nebraska. She has proved herself a most successful teacher, and likewise a woman of whom her native town may well be proud.
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XX.
There come to my mind the names of oth- ers, children and grand-children of the Hollis residents of seventy years ago, who are now settled in Chicago, or within a radius of two or three hundred miles from that center. Of
some of these I wish to speak. In all of them I take a deep and almost fatherly interest. I love to know the history of their successes, and in all that is elevating and good in their careers, I rejoice.
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