USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Hollis > Hollis [N. H.] seventy years ago > Part 8
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Professor George William Saunderson fills the chair of Rhetoric and Oratory in the Indi- ana State University, at Bloomington. He will be remembered as the son of the late Wil- liam P. and Hannah Marshall Saunderson. Having graduated from Dartmouth College in 1877, he fitted himself by special study for the line of work in which he is now engaged. I learn that he is an accomplished gentleman and a successful teacher.
Miss Laura Saunderson, sister of the profes-
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sor, became the honored wife of the Rev. Frank B. Hines, who is now preaching in Southern Illinois. He is a talented young man, and is accomplishing much good in his ministry. I doubt not he is ably seconded and assisted by the good Hollis lady who is his helpmeet. Two little olive branches gather with them about their table, making the fourth generation from Jonathan Saunderson, the first of the line in my recollection.
Should I pass up Dearborn street, in Chicago, I should call at No. 107, there to find Edwin A. Burge, real estate dealer. His residence is at Evanston, that beautiful Chicago suburb, and his two sisters, Miss Martha and Miss Abbie, have their home with him. A brother, Charles H. Burge, is a dealer in real estate in Topeka, Kansas. All these are children of my old friend, the late Cyrus Burge.
It was in 1868 that George W. Perkins, son of worthy Deacon Perkins, who spent his last years in Hollis, led the way to the new county of Fremont, in south-western Iowa, and settled in Farragut. Land was cheap then, and the seven or eight hundred acres which George
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bought, and which he has diligently improved and developed, have so advanced in value that he has no need to fear the poor-house. Mr. Perkins has been honored by his district, dur- ing the last four years, with a seat in the State Senate, where his voice and vote have been for temperance and the right, and he has now been elected one of the three Railroad Commis- sioners for the state. At home he is a leader in church and society, and everywhere he is a useful and popular man.
"Sam" Perkins, a nephew of Senator George, soon followed his uncle westward and bought a small tract of land near him, which he has converted by his industry into a good farm. He took unto himself a wife, and in less than twenty years he found the land too strait for him, for he was the parent of ten living chil- dren. Having disposed of his Iowa farm for about $10,000, "Sam" started once more toward the setting sun, where land is still cheap and the population not yet too dense.
In our beautiful Hazelwood Cemetery at Grinnell, quietly rests the remains of Mrs. Mary B. Day, the honored wife of the late Rev. Pliny
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B. Day, D. D., a former pastor of the Hollis church. Of her busy, useful life during her husband's pastorate in Hollis, I do not need to speak. Her good works in and for town and church, and especially her abundant labors for the suffering soldiers of our civil war, are surely well remembered there. At the death of Dr. Day, Mrs. Day, after a brief stay at Derry, N. H., removed to Grinnell. Here she naturally and quite as a matter of course, took up her accus- tomed kindly works of beneficence and love. But she was in failing health. "The spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak." A heavy sorrow came upon her. Her eldest son, Charles, had graduated from college and from Law School. A noble and most promising young man, he was suddenly cut down by the hand of death. The stroke was too much for the en- feebled mother. Friends trembled for her lest reason should be dethroned. She was unnat- urally calm; her grief was too deep for tears. Rallying somewhat, she lived for a few years, tenderly cared for by her sister, Mrs. J. B. Grinnell, and a faithful cousin, Miss Mary Lom- bard, whose presence is always as that of an
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angel of mercy. Then the slender tie which bound the beautiful, chastened spirit to the frail body, snapped, and western friends laid the forsaken tenement of clay beside that of her beloved son. Another member of the little family has since entered the spirit land. Albert, or "Bertie" Day came west with his mother, when only two years old, and spent his childhood and early manhood in Grinnell. "He was," said Dr. Sturtevant, his pastor, who knew him well, "one of the purest minded and most noble boys I ever knew." He went back to New England for his college education, and, while a student at Dartmouth, died during a vacation, at the home of his sister, Mrs. Worcester, in Hollis. I am sure that Hollis friends watch tenderly over his early grave.
Two of the sons of Dr. Day reside in Grin- nell. 6 Henry, the elder, is one of those who heard and responded to their country's call, and served through the war of the rebellion. He has four children, now motherless. The two sons are in Grinnell, the two daughters are in Hollis.
Edward occupies the Grinnell homestead.
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He has married one of the bright, interesting daughters of the land-a New England girl, by the way,-and one little son, nine months old, makes music in their home. This latest scion of a worthy house, I regard as one of my par- ticular friends. He passes my house almost daily in his little cab, generally attended by one or both of his proud and happy parents. He tips the scales already at thirty-five pounds, and is a fine specimen of healthy and contented babyhood. On "Children's Day" of 1892, I saw the baptismal hand placed upon the baby's brow as he was named Eugene Erastus. May the mantle of good Dr. Day fall upon the child!
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HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO.
XXI.
Modesty must not forbid some mention of the several generations of my own family.
The religious and political disturbances in England during the seventeenth century sent multitudes of the better class of English sub- jects to seek refuge in the new world. George Little of London, who came in 1640, was of the number. The original home of the family in America was Newbury, Mass., where many of its representatives are still to be found, and where much of the property purchased by the first George Little still remains in the posses- sion of his descendants. The family is now widely distributed through the country. My own grand-father came from Newbury to New Salem, N. H., and afterwards settled in Goffs- town. From that town my father, Abner B. Little, came to Hollis, in 1813.
In 1836, Abner B. and Nancy Tenney Little, his wife, left Hollis for Illinois, accompanied by all their children who had not preceded
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them westward. There were eleven, all told, who had enjoyed the advantages of Beaver Brook school, and sat in the old Hollis church under the ministrations of the Rev. Eli Smith and the Rev. David Perry.
They settled near Kewanee, in Henry County, and the patriarchal father of the tribe cast the first vote in the township, and turned the first sod for the first garden. Mrs. Little's name is among those of the charter members of the first church organized in the town, Both have long since gone to their reward, having well fulfilled the part of New England pioneers in subduing the wilderness and extending the borders of a Christian civilization.
Of their children, Mary, the eldest, having been twice married, died childless in 1883, at the age of 80 years. Catharine, the widow of William Wheeler, is still active at eighty-seven years of age. She gave her only son to aid in putting down the Rebellion. Elizabeth, the wife of Capt. Sullivan Howard, left us only last March (1892), to join the husband with whom more than fifty happy years had been passed, and who had preceded her to the spirit land by
Elizabeth Little Howard
i
Mary Howard Gridley
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but a few short years. Their six surviving children are widely scattered, the eldest son being a prominent and well-to-do citizen of the state of Oregon; another son engaged in busi- ness in Aurora, Ill., and their third son a law- yer, in Denver, Colorado. The eldest daughter, Mrs. Gridley, resides in Victor, Ia., but is a frequent visitor in Chicago, where her only child, Mrs. Charles W. Kirk, has found a home. Mrs. Squires, the second daughter, is also a resident of the city of the Columbian Fair. She has one married daughter, and a son still at home. Mrs. C. W. Wells, of Minneapolis, is the youngest of the surviving children of Mrs. Howard. She is a graduate of Rockford Col- lege and a lady of many accomplishments. She has one young daughter. William, the next in order of age of the children of Abner B. Little, died in 1845, leaving four daughters.
Caleb Jewett Tenney Little, the second son, still lives in Kewanee at the age of eighty-one. He has four living sons and three daughters. The eldest son, Charles, a physician, has long resided at Manhattan, Kas., in successful prac- tice. William, a prosperous lawyer, may be
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found in the rising young city of Wichita, in the same state, while George and John, the one a physician, the other a dentist, have each a fine practice in the city of Burlington, Ia. The eldest daughter dwells on the broad acres of her hus- band, the Hon. Geo. W. Perkins, at Farragut, lowa. Another daughter is the wife of Dr. J. F. Todd, of Chicago; while the youngest, Mrs. Frank Reed, is the only child who remains near her parents. One daughter, the wife of the Rev. Mr. Giffin, was called from earth early in her happy married life, leaving one child, Lida, who is now the stay and comfort of her aged grand-parents, with whom she has long made her home.
"H. G. L." dwells in Grinnell, Iowa. His wife and only son no longer walk this vale of tears, but five daughters remain, all but one resi- dents of Iowa. One is the wife of a farmner, whose large fields lie in two states; another is the wife of a college professor, and the next, the wife of a leading lawyer. The two younger daughters married physicians, one of whom resides in Battle Creek, Mich. The grand- children are Harry L. Viets, now in business in
Fannie Lice alvord
Damietta Silman Milyone
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Ashland, Wis., and his sister Sara, who is still in school, Katharine Haworth Macy, Henry G. Lyman, Louise and Max Barrows Alvord, and Thomas Stoddard Holyoke,
Ruth Channing Little, the widow of the Rev- erend Edwin H. Nevin, D. D., remains in Phila- delphia, where her husband died a few years ago. Of her large family, all have found east ern homes. One son is an editor, one a law- yer, and one a minister. The eldest of the four daughters, the wife of a Chaplain in the U. S. Navy, died many years ago in California; two of the others are married, and one still re- mains with her mother.
Laura Anne Little, wife of Daniel McClure, died in 1852, leaving three sons, one of whom died in the army. The others are still living.
Caroline Little, Mrs. Dr. Hurd, resides in Kewanee, Ill, Like Mrs. Wheeler, she gave her last surviving child at her country's call. "They gave their lives that the nation might live."
Augustus, youngest of the sons of Abner B. Little, may be found upon the fine farm where his parents spent their western life. He, too,
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is blest with a large family. Several of the children are still at home. One son is a den- tist in Kewanee; another, Walter A. Little, is a successful merchant in Grinnell, Iowa, and an active and efficient member of the City Council. One daughter is a teacher in the public school of the same place.
Sarah Frances Little, the youngest member of the Hollis family and the widow of the Rev. Mr. Alvord and of Mr. Stewart, makes her home in Duluth, Minn., with her only living child, Mrs. Wallace Warner.
-
W. a Little.
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HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO.
XXII.
Industry and enterprise were characteristics of the men living seventy years ago in the Spaulding, or North School District. Only by the practice of those virtues could they thrive on that poor pine plain land, and many were obliged to eke out the meagre returns from the soil by turning their hands to coopering, mill- ing or trunk-making.
I personally knew something of almost all the residents at that time, but, at my request, Mr. C. S. Spaulding has kindly given me addi- tional items and dates which I had not at hand.
At the southwest corner of the district, on the main Milford and Amherst road, lived Ebene- zer Shedd and his wife, Elizabeth Duncklee, who were married August 5, 1817. They made a happy Christian home for their four children. Mr. Shedd was a man held in high esteem. He was a faithful Sunday school teacher and a good, reliable man. Sixty-five years ago, he was captain of a state infantry company. He
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died in March, 1832, aged only thirty-six years.
His neighbor, Isaac Cobbett, owned and managed a carding and fulling mill for the sup- port of his large family. He was extremely strict in his business matters, and was wont to start out on the first of every January, with his account book under his arm, to collect his bills. In The Farmer's Cabinet of Dec. 20, 1819, may be found the following: "Notice .- The sub- scriber desires to give notice that if those who are indebted to him (or me) do not on or before the first day of January, 1820, call and settle their bills, their accounts will be left in the hands of an attorney for collection.
ISAAC COBBETT."
The next family north, in Witch Brook, was that of Benjamin Farley, Jr. He had married Anna Merrill, and eight children were given them, the two youngest of whom died, about 1818, of the spotted fever which raged along the Witch Brook valley. Mr. Farley's reputa- tion for industry, and especially for early rising. was such that his neighbors used to accuse him of sitting up all night at his work.
The six surviving children of Benjamin Far-
SARAH FARLEY RUNNELLS.
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ley all married and lived in or near Hollis, sev- eral being prominent in town and church affairs.
This was also the home of the son, Enoch Farley, who married Abigail Hardy and settled here about 1822. Of the eight children born to them only four survived their infancy.
Mr. Farley was a genial man and noted for his fondness for a joke. He had an excellent memory, was a great reader, especially of the Bible, with which he was quite familiar, and was fond of discussing theology with his friends and particularly with the Rev. Humphrey Moore, who was his pastor for many years, and who often confessed himself puzzled for a reply to Mr. Farley's arguments.
One of Enoch Farley's daughters, Mrs. Sarah Farley Runnells, of Nashua, has long been known among the leading women of New Hampshire. She has been identified with vari- ous public and private charities, and has kept abreast with the times in all matters of social, literary and educational interest. At the pres- ent time she holds the state office of the Wom - an's Relief Corps, and has recently organized a Corps at Hollis. She has two daughters, edu-
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cated at Wellesley, and one son, a graduate of Dartmouth.
William Kittredge, better known as "Uncle Bill," occupied the next homestead. His wife was Mary Spaulding, whom he married in 1796. It is said that he went bare-footed to his court- ing, and wearing his leather apron. Of his seven children, only two lived to grow up.
Near by, lived Hezekiah Kendall, of Kendall mills celebrity. He was three times married, and had six children. One of his sons served in the war of 1812. Mr. Kendall was a man of weight in more senses than one. It was a ques- tion between him and our shoemaker, Mr. Avery, as to which could tip the scales to the highest notch. The weight of his influence was especially felt in town meeting. Being a man of positive character and good judgment, his fellow-citizens always listened with defer- ence to the expression of his opinion. Bring- ing down his right hand with a sharp snap of the thumb, which could be heard all over the old meeting house (where town meeting was always held), he would commence his speech with the characteristic expletive, "I vum!" An
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extract from his speech made on a certain oc- casion, when the matter under consideration was the repair of Runnells bridge, has been sent me. "I vum," he began, "you are forever- lastingly quarreling over that Runnells bridge. You say the present is stronger than the old one, and you had to take powder to blow the old one out of the way. I wish the whole thing was sunk in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean!" Mr. Kendall came to a tragic end; he was killed in 1833, by Rufus Orcutt whom he had "dunned" for rent due, Orcutt being, accord- ing to the old-fashioned phrase, "in liquor" at the time.
Asaph Spaulding was born August 2, 1782, on the place next northeast of Kendall's and where he spent his life. He was the grand- father of my correspondent, Mr. Charles S. Spaulding. Eight children were born to him and his wife, Abiah Bowers. Mr. Spaulding was a shrewd and a successful farmer, but his income was increased by the manufacture of rum barrels aud hogsheads, for, like most Hol- lis farmers, he had learned a trade at which he worked in the intervals of farm labor, He was
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also noted for his success in catching wild pigeons, and he had the first artificial fish pond in the region. On that poor pine plain he sometimes raised as many as one hundred bushels of rye.
Next on the road was Leonard Combs, a trunk-maker. He married Lucinda Duncklee, but they had no children.
Further on, stood the home of Mr. Benjamin Rogers and his wife, Lydia Sargent, with their four children. Mr. Rogers also manufactured trunks, which he covered with horse-hides with the hair on.
Amos Fletcher occupied the next house. He married Abigail Towns. There were several of their children in school. Mr. Fletcher's . farm has been in his family from the first set- tlement of the town.
Captain Isaac Parker was Mr. Fletcher's near neighbor. He was an extensive farmer, and succeeded in getting large returns for his labor even from that poor soil. At one time during the War of 1812 he sold two hundred bushels of rye for two dollars and a quarter a bushel. The fine shining carriage in which he drove to meet-
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ing quite eclipsed all the other vehicles in town. He was a prosperous and influential man throughout his life. He had three chil- dren in school. His son John came to the cen- ter of town and captured Mary Ann Gould, one of the fairest of the daughters of Hollis.
We come next to the home of Jeremiah K. Needham, a busy, hard-working man, who liked to see those around him busy also, He made more than the usual number of matrimonial ventures, marrying Olive Parks for his first wife, a Miss Whitney for his second, Mary Swallow for the third, and Widow Carlton, of Amherst, for the fourth. I have a list of the names of his ten children, but will not ask for space to insert it.
South of the school-house, on the road over what is now known as Modar's Hill, is the Dr. Jones or Zachariah Ober place, occupied for many years by Mr. John Sargent, who had two children in school.
Gardner Mooar lived next beyond, at the Jonathan Foster place. His wife was a daugh- ter of Solomon Hardy. They had one son.
Near Gardner Mooar's place and in the same
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district lived his brother John, who married Rebecca Abbott. They had four sons and one daughter.
Nearly all these families named were regular attendants at the Hollis Church until the little church was organized at Hardscrabble, about 1828. This unmusical name was given the new church by Mr. J. B. Holt, landlord at the lower tavern, who offered to make a contribution to the building on condition that he give a name to the place also. Hardscrabble it remained until the opening of the Wilton railroad, when the name was changed to South Merrimac.
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HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO.
XXIII.
Thomas Cummings, who dwelt a little north of the center of town, was in many respects a typical New England man. Though thoroughly "matter-of-fact" in disposition, he had also a strong religious bent. There was no mirthful- ness in his composition, but there was nothing austere or repelling. To his earnest goodness, life seemed too serious and sacred for anything but active duty. Few men have ever made a stronger impression upon my mind, of genuine goodness and integrity. His stout, rather large, though not tall figure always seemed to me good all over. He followed the trade of shoe- making, but was also a small farmer, and for some years acted as sexton. He might usually be found at his shop, which stood east of his residence on the main road. The name I have given above was, no doubt, that by which the shoemaker was designated in the family Bible, and upon the church roll and in the town rec- ords; but throughout the town he was familiarly
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known as "Uncle Tom Thumper." I don't think there was anything of derision in the title; it was, in fact, a tribute to the faithful, honest work turned out from his little shop. The boots and shoes which he made were of the most substantial kind, not at all like the delicate, fancy article with paper soles and fragile uppers, fit only for ball room use; and if "Uncle Tom Thumper" told you the leather was oak tanned, you might be sure it was oak tanned. The wife and mother who presided over his home, was among the best in Hollis. The children were numerous, well trained, and an honor to their parents. John Bunyan gives his pilgrims, travelling from the City of De- struction to the Celestial City, names indicative of their characters, as Mr. Greatheart, Valiant for Truth, Timid, Mercy, Much Afraid, etc. I think if Thomas Cummings had been in the company, he would have called him "Thomas the Faithful and True."
Mr. Cummings' near neighbor on the north, was Mr. Benjanıin Messer, a good man, active and diligent in business, which was that of a carpenter. His wife was a sister of Nathan
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Holt. Their son, B. Edmund Messer, was but little older than myself, and my intimacy with him made me a familiar visitor at his father's house. He was a bright boy, with qualities of leadership among the other boys and his popu- "larity did not depart as he grew to manhood. Early in the history of that city, he lived in Minneapolis where he held the office of sheriff . He may now be found in the District of Co- lumbia, well endowed with this world's goods, but still teaching singing, although nearly eighty years old.
I have spoken of Deacon Hardy, who lived near Mr. Messer. His wife was a sister of Mr. Lund. Their children, I think, left Hollis in their early maturity.
Ethan Willoughby was a carpenter and cab- inet maker. I well remember his four boys. Noah died about 1830.
Coolidge Wheat was a marble-cutter living in the next house on the north, who made grave- stones for his fellow citizens. In spite of his rather melancholy occupation he had a taste for lighter things, as was shown by the dash of horse-jockey in his composition.
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Next beyond, in the days of my early recol- lection, was the home of John Boynton, whose wife was my aunt, a sister of R. E. Tenney. After his removal to Westford, Mass., I think the house was occupied by Luther Hardy, who married Hannah Sawtell.
At the head of Long Pond lived Phineas Hardy, honored as one of the soldiers of '76. He had many children; among them Dr. Noah Hardy was well known. Louis, another son, an active man and the owner of the old home, died very suddenly there about 1830. After- ward Moses Wood, who had married Phineas Hardy's daughter, Submit, resided there.
James Farley dwelt at the foot of Long Pond Hill. I am told by Mr. C. A. Wood, of Piqua, Ohio, that he was an inventive genius and made valuable machines, which are still in use, for the finishing of staves and barrels.
Passing the home of Thomas Patch, Jr., we come next to that of Captain Jonathan Taylor Wright. To him I should be inclined to de- vote an entire letter, were he not well remem- bered by many yet in Hollis. But even if I were to do so, I could not mention all his vir-
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tues. What was it that made him a man trusted and honored by all? He was not brilliant nor learned, for his education was only that of the common school. He lacked both culture and polish, and there was nothing unusually attract- ive in his personal appearance. He was some- thing of a musician, and very fond of singing, but he had not a full, mellow, highly cultivated voice; in fact, there was in it something of the proverbial Yankee nasal twang. But none of these defects could disguise the true simplicity, honesty, and sincerity of character, which made the man what he was, commanded the con- fidence and respect of all who knew him, and brought him forward often to fill places of re- sponsibility and honor in the town and in the State Legislature. I remember that at one time he owned a fine bay horse worth, at least, a hundred and twenty-five dollars. A man was talking of buying the horse, and I heard Mr. Wright say, "I have some reason to fear that my horse is diseased, and with that fully under- stood I would take twenty - five dollars for him." The purchaser took the horse at that price, and, having cured him of a little cold, found he had
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