USA > New Hampshire > New Hampshire agriculture : personal and farm sketches > Part 14
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On returning at the close of the war, Mr. Waterhouse purchased a farm in Barrington, which he still owns. and on which he resided for twenty-one years, actively engaged in its cultivation and management, and also extensively engaged as a dealer in cattle. It was on this farm in 1876 that he established the first creamery ever put in operation in the state, which he continued with a constantly increasing popularity for the product, until the demand so far exceeded the supply that a change to a better milk-producing locality seemed imperative. In 1885, therefore, he went to Short Falls in the town of Epsom, a favorable location in the Suncook valley, where the farmers had become interested in that direc- tion, and a cooperative creamery was established, under his management. Here he continued for three years. during which time the Short Falls creamery became noted throughout New England. Subsequently he man-
CHARLES H. WATERHOUSE.
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aged a creamery one year at Strafford Centre, and in May, 1889, went to Cornish to take charge of the Hill- side creamery, then building in the Connecticut valley, opposite the thriving village of Windsor, Vt., whose principal stock-holders were Hon. William M. Evarts and C. C. Beaman, the president of the corporation being Hon. Chester Pike.
Here Mr. Waterhouse has remained to the present time, devoting all his skill and energy to the enterprise in charge, with such success that Hillside creamery but- ter holds first rank in America, winning the highest score at the Columbian exposition dairy exhibit in Chicago, as well as in all minor competitions. The average annual product of this creamery, which, by the way, employs the separator system, is about $50,000.
Mr. Waterhouse has been more actively and promi- nently identified with the dairy interest than any other man in New Hampshire, as evidenced not only by pioneer efforts and continued and conspicuous success in creamery work, having won more butter premiums than any other man in America, including $90 at the National exhibition in Madison Square Garden, New York, while in charge of the Short Falls creamery, but also by his intimate connection with organized effort for advancing its prosperity. He was one of the prime movers in the organization of the Granite State Dairymen's association, called the first meeting held in furtherance of that object, and has been first vice-president of the association from the start, contributing to its success in large measure, both in the exhibition department and in its public meet- ings and discussions. He has also been frequently called to active participation in the work of dairy associations in other states. During the past winter Mr. Waterhouse was in charge of the Dairy School of Instruction at the New Hampshire College of Agriculture in Durham.
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Although still retaining his Barrington farm of 135 acres, upon which his oldest son resides, upon taking charge of the creamery at Cornish he purchased there a farm of 235 acres, fifty of which is in tillage, and with a feeding capacity for forty cows, and upon which he has been making extensive improvements, including the erection of one of the best appointed, thoroughly venti- lated, and completely equipped barns to be found in New England. It is 140×35 feet in dimensions, and without cellar, the manure being carefully removed, twice a day, to a shed. The Durham is the favorite dairy cow with Mr. Waterhouse, and his feeding specialty is clover and ensilage. As an incident to the dairy business, he engages quite extensively in pork production, turning off on an average about 80 hogs per year.
Mr. Waterhouse was a charter member of Barrington Grange, organized in 1876, and was its lecturer for several years. Subsequently he transferred his member- ship to Bow Lake Grange, Strafford, where he still con- tinues the same. He is a member of Strafford Lodge, F. & A. M., of Dover, and of the G. A. R. In religion, he is a Free Baptist and politically a Republican. While in Barrington he took a prominent part in public affairs, and was honored by his townsmen with every office in their gift, including that of representative in the general court.
In 1858, he was united in marriage with Nancy I., daughter of Daniel Caverly of Barrington, by whom he has three children now living, two sons and a daughter. The eldest son, C. Frank, remains on the homestead, the second, Daniel C., resides at Epsom, while the daugh- ter is the wife of Newell B. Foss of Strafford. His wife dying in 1887, Mr. Waterhouse married in the year following, Ella, daughter of Demeritt Place, of Strafford.
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MILTON B. WADLEIGH,
SUTTON.
The name of Wadleigh was conspicuous in the early history of the rugged little town of Sutton, among the foot-hills of old Kearsarge, and representatives of the family have been among its most prominent citizens down to the present time.
Robert Wadleigh came from England and located in Exeter previous to 1668. He was a prosperous citizen and in 1680 is shown by the record to have been the heaviest tax- payer but one in the town. His son Thomas was a soldier in the French and Indian War and one of the original proprietors of Sutton. He was the father of Capt. Jonathan, whose son, Benjamin Wad- leigh, Sr., was the sev- enth settler of the town. removing there from Hampstead in 1771, MILTON B. WADLEIGH. and settling on what has ever since been known as the Wadleigh homestead, about a mile from Sutton Mills and a mile and a quarter from North Sutton, upon a hillside overlooking what is now known as Key- sar Lake, and commanding an extended mountain view.
This Benjamin Wadleigh, Sr., was chosen clerk and selectman at the first town-meeting in Sutton, held in 1777, and was also the first justice of the peace in town.
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His son, Benjamin Wadleigh, Jr., was also prominent in public affairs, and for many years a judge of the court of common pleas. The latter was the father of Erastus Wadleigh, who was born on the old homestead, and resided there until 1867, when he removed to the Mill village, where he died in 1881. He was prominent in town affairs and in educational work, having been a successful teacher and for many years superintendent of school.
Milton B., son of Erastus and Almina (Challis) Wad- leigh was born December 4, 1839, was educated in the
THE WADLEIGH MANSION.
common schools and at New London academy, and has devoted his life to the pursuit of agriculture upon the ancestral acres, large additions having been made from time to time to the original farm of 150, so that there are now about 300 acres in the home place, with outlying woodland and pasture to the extent of about 2,000 acres in all, including a frontage of half a mile or more on the finest shore of the beautiful Keysar Lake.
Mr. Wadleigh was engaged for many years in the production of beef, wool, and mutton, keeping from 150 to
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175 sheep and raising young cattle also quite extensively. He keeps now from 30 to 40 head of cattle, five horses and about 75 sheep, having reduced the latter in num- bers, but improving the quality by the introduction of the Shropshire blood from the well-known Keyes stock at Haverhill. In his farm operations he has practised rotation of land from pasture to field for many years with very satisfactory results. His annual hay crop is from 80 to 100 tons, while he harvests about 500 bushels of ears of corn, from 300 to 600 bushels of potatoes, and a good amount of fruit, with promise of an increase in the latter, from a large number of young fruit-trees.
Aside from his farm work, Mr. Wadleigh has been for several years past extensively engaged in lumbering. He is also the principal owner and moving spirit in the Sutton creamery, and the leading promoter and treasurer of the Merrimack County Telephone company, which has established a line from Bradford to North Sutton and around the lake.
In politics, Mr. Wadleigh is a Republican, and in religion, a Baptist. He has served two years on the board of selectmen. He is a member of the Sons of Temperance, is unmarried, and at the present time the only representative of the Wadleigh family in town.
SIDNEY B. WHITTEMORE,
COLEBROOK.
One of the most active, energetic, and well-known men in agricultural circles, as well as in public and political life in northern New Hampshire, is Sidney B. Whittemore, of Colebrook, son of Benjamin and Almira (Chandler) Whittemore, born near the farm where he now resides, July 21, 1839. He was educated in the com- mon school and at Colebrook academy, and has devoted
SIDNEY B. WHITTEMORE.
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himself actively to agricultural pursuits upon this farm, to which the family removed when he was fourteen years of age, which was bequeathed him by his father, and which embraces about 250 acres of land, of which 75 acres is wood land and the balance pasture and tillage.
There is no better farming town in New Hampshire than Colebrook, and this farm is in the rich, rolling, upland region some four miles east of Colebrook village, and produces abundant crops, including on an average 75 tons of hay, 300 bushels of oats, 1,200 bushels of potatoes, and 100 bushels of buckwheat per annum. Mr. Whittemore was one of the first to introduce pure bred Short Horn Durham cattle into his section of the state, and was for many years successfully engaged in breeding them. Later he turned his attention to butter making, but for the last few years he has sold milk in the village of Colebrook. He keeps about fifteen horses, brood mares and colts, and has probably raised from calves more fancy matched steers than any other man in Coos county. Aside from his immediate farm work, he has also been largely engaged for many years in the pur- chase and shipment of potatoes and other agricultural products.
Mr. Whittemore became a member of Mohawk Grange, No. 28, when it was organized by C. C. Shaw and Col. D. M. Clough, March 30, 1874. He was chosen secretary and continued to hold the office until the grange surrendered its charter. Upon its reorgan- ization at East Colebrook, Dec. 7, 1894, he was elected master, and his wife lecturer, in which offices they are now serving their third terms, decidedly against their own wishes, but at the urgent solicitation of their fellow Patrons. He was also chosen master of Upper Coös Pomona Grange upon its organization, and has since continued in the office, serving also as a district
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deputy of the State Grange. In 1881 he was appointed member of the state board of agriculture for Coos county and served efficiently for three terms in that capacity. He was also for three terms, from 1885, a member of the board of trustees of the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts, and was actively interested in the removal of that institution from Hanover to Durham, devoting much time to the work of establishing the college in its new home.
In politics, Mr. Whittemore is an earnest and consis- tent Democrat, and has served his party and the public faithfully six years as selectman, five years as a member of the school-board under the town system, collector of taxes five years, as moderator for many years, and as representative in the legislature in 1885-'86. He was also for two years a deputy sheriff, and two years treasurer of Coos county,-1875 and 1876. He has been an active member of the Democratic state committee for a long series of years, and at the last national election was one of the regular Democratic candidates for Presi- dential elector.
May 1, 1861, Mr. Whittemore was united in marriage with Emeline Corbett, daughter of Jesse and Hannah G. Corbett, of Stewartstown. They have two sons, Albert Frank, clerk in Colby's store at Colebrook village, and Everett Sidney, a member of the class of 1897 in the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Me- chanic Arts, at Durham.
In early life Mr. Whittemore became a member of the Masonic fraternity, and has since been active in the organization. He is also a member of the Knights of Honor, Knights of Pythias, Red Men, and the Order of the Eastern Star, with which latter organization his wife has been prominently connected.
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PERSONAL AND FARM SKETCHES.
EDWIN I. WELLINGTON,
RINDGE.
Edwin I. Wellington, the subject of this sketch, is of the eighth generation in direct descent from Roger Wellington, the emigrant, who settled in Watertown, Mass., previous to 1690, being the second son of Ivers and Mary (Townsend) Wellington of Rindge, born in that town, January 29, 1860. He was educated in the common school and engaged in business with his father, in farming and lum- bering. With a view to the improvement of his health, he spent the winter of 1882-'83 in Florida, where he also engaged in lumbering operations, at Cedar Keyes, Palma Sola.
In October, 1888, he made an engagement with the Cheshire Im- provement company to act as overseer, contin- uing in that capacity EDWIN I. WELLINGTON. two years, and so thor- oughly to the accept- ance of the company that his compensation was in- creased five times during the continuance of the engage- ment. During this term of service he worked for some time with one of the best gardeners in the country, gain- ing from that association and experience much valuable practical knowledge in that line.
Resigning his position with the Improvement com- pany, he commenced farming for himself, in connec-
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tion with lumbering, purchasing land from time to time until he had about 400 acres. His father having died, the care of the home estate, of 215 acres more, also fell to his hands. In his agricultural operations he has devoted himself largely and successfully to market gardening, with potatoes as a leading crop, of which he raised 900 bushels last year.
With a large amount of timber on his land, in order to be able to dispose of the same most advantageously he purchased the extensive mill property of Deacon O. D. Converse, and has fitted the mills with the best new and improved machinery, where he is preparing his lumber for market in all desirable forms and also cutting large quantities of wood. He has also a grist-mill and shingle- mill attached, making the business a varied and exten- sive one.
Mr. Wellington married, Decmber 23, 1885, Emma A., daughter of Cecil and Eunice (Shepard) Wellington of Ashby, Mass., an intelligent and accomplished young woman, who has been a faithful and sympathizing com- panion. They have had five children-Lilla S., Mary E., Mark E., Thurza who died in infancy, and E. Olive.
In politics, Mr. Wellington is a Republican, but through often urged to be a candidate for public office he has invariably refused. Some years ago, when importuned to accept a nomination for member of the school-board, he suggested that his wife, having been an experienced and successful teacher and being greatly in- terested in education, was better fitted for the place, and at his request she consented to be a candidate, was elected, and has now served five years.
Mr. and Mrs. Wellington are active working members of Marshall P. Wilder Grange, No. 134, of Rindge. He has served two years as overseer and is the present master of the Grange.
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Their residence is on the old homestead of William Kimball, Mr. Wellington's maternal great-grandfather, in the little village of Converseville. He is now building a summer residence on the eastern shore of beautiful Lake Monomonock in Rindge.
COL. WILLIAM H. STINSON,
DUNBARTON.
From his active interest and conspicuous position in the Grange, and his prominent connection with the Grange State Fair Association, the name of Col. William H. Stinson, of Dunbarton, is among the most familiar in the state, in agricultural and Grange circles. Colonel Stinson is of Scotch-Irish ancestry, a great-grandson of Capt. William Stinson, who came to this country from the north of Ireland, with his father, John Stinson, when seven years of age, and who settled in what is now Dun- barton, in 1747, establishing his home on land now in- cluded in the Stinson farm. Captain Stinson prospered in his labors, acquired an extensive estate, and became a prominent figure in the early history of the town. His son William inherited a part of the farm, and in turn transmitted it to his son, William C., the father of Col. William H., who was an enterprising and progressive farmer, and a prominent and influential citizen of Dun- barton.
William H. Stinson, son of William C. and Sarah E. (Poor) Stinson, was born on the family homestead, July 21, 1851. He enjoyed the usual common school advan- tages, and subsequently attended Appleton academy at Mont Vernon, and Pembroke academy. Ill health pre- vented his pursuing a collegiate course, and he returned to the parental home, and the pursuits of the farm. 1S
COL. WILLIAM H. STINSON.
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PERSONAL AND FARM SKETCHES.
When the Grange movement was inaugurated in the state, he became interested in the same, and early became an active member of Stark Grange, No. 42, in which organization he filled the positions of lecturer and master, several terms each. In 1879, he was chosen secretary of the State Grange, and appointed general deputy, hold- ing these offices four years, when he became master of the State Grange ; and was subsequently chosen assistant steward of the National Grange. After three years of faithful service as state master, the same being signal- ized by the marked prosperity of the order throughout the state, he resigned, his entire attention then being demanded by his increasing duties as a special agent of the United States Bureau of Labor, under Col. Carroll D. Wright. by whom he had been appointed upon the organization of the bureau, and by whom he was continued, and placed in the ranking division upon the reorganization of the same into the present Department of Labor. This posi- tion he held for seven years, when he resigned, and in April, 1895, he returned to the old family homestead in Dunbarton, and resumed the life of an active, practi- cal farmer, in which he has since been engaged, his leading specialty being the raising of milk for the Bos- ton market. This farm, which, aside from outlands, embraces about 400 acres, is located about a mile and a half from Dunbarton village, and three miles from " Par- ker's," the nearest railway station, the situation being most delightful from a scenic point of view. The soil is strong, and yields generous returns to intelligent cul- tivation. The buildings are ample, including a barn 140 feet long, provided with every convenience, while the best of improved machinery is used in all farm opera- tions. Colonel Stinson believes in the silo, and carries his belief into practical effect.
He was one of the pioneers in the movement for the
FARM BUILDINGS OF COL. WILLIAM H. STINSON, DUNBARTON.
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organization of the New Hampshire Grange State Fair, was the first president of the association, subsequently served as vice-president, and at the annual meeting in January, 1897, was again chosen president. He was also a member of the executive committee of the State Grange in 1894 and 1895, and has ever retained and manifested a strong interest in the welfare of the order, and the cause which it represents.
Colonel Stinson was united in marriage, in 1885, with Ellen F., eldest daughter of Dea. W. H. Conant, of Mont Vernon, by whom he has five children-three sons and two daughters. While engaged in departmental work he made his home in Mont Vernon, and was a member of the School Board three years. In religion, he is a Congregationalist, and in politics, Republican. He was chosen town clerk of Dunbarton at the age of twenty- one years, and subsequently served as chairman of the board of selectmen, treasurer, collector, and member of the School Board, holding this latter position at the present time. He was engrossing clerk for the legisla- ture of 1881-'82, and gained his rank as colonel from service as an aide on the staff of Gov. Charles H. Bell.
JACOB SANBORN,
LACONIA.
The lower portion of the old town of Meredith, lying between Long and Great Bays (the latter now known as Lake Winnesquam), which was severed to constitute the town of Laconia in 1855, is in the main admirably adapted for agricultural purposes, especially in the lines of dairy- ing and stock raising, abundant hay production, under proper treatment, being a leading characteristic of the soil. It contains many excellent farms, among the best
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of which is that of Jacob Sanborn, formerly a part of the " 'Squire" John Smith place, situated about three miles up from the Laconia railway station.
The home place embraces about sixty acres of land, of which the greater portion is in mowing and tillage, the buildings consisting of a substantial two-story farm man- sion, a fine barn, 90 x 42 feet, with cellar under the whole, with the necessary outbuildings. Mr. Sanborn also owns other land, some in the immediate vicinity and some at a distance-the latter in- cluding a farm in Gil- ford-to the amount of about 500 acres alto- gether.
Mr. Sanborn is a na- tive of Moultonborough -a son of William H. and Sally Dame San- born, born January 13, 1843. He removed with his parents to Gilford in childhood, and was early inured to farm labor in its most exact- JACOB SANBORN. ing forms. He came to the Smith place at the age of about eighteen years, and took charge of the farm work for Miss Polly Smith, continuing in her ser- vice until her death some fifteen years later, and so faith- fully and satisfactorily performing his duty that the farm itself was left him by Miss Smith at her decease.
From boyhood, Mr. Sanborn has been an ardent lover of good cattle, especially delighting in the rearing and training of steers, and he has made the same a specialty the greater portion of his life. His ox teams have been
FARM BUILDINGS OF JACOB SANBORN, LACONIA.
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NEW HAMPSHIRE AGRICULTURE.
among the finest in the county, both in appearance and efficiency, and under his direction have accomplished a vast amount of work, the same being extensively sought for wherever powerful service in that line was required. He has raised cattle to sell, both for beef and working oxen, in great numbers, breeding many himself and buy- ing others when young. Probably no man in the state is a better judge of the good points of young stock than Mr. Sanborn, and he has seldom made a mistake in the selection of an animal. He has raised different breeds, at one time being largely devoted to the Durham, but of late his cattle have largely been Hereford grades. He has now (1897) twenty-six oxen and steers, and also keeps five horses and a few cows, but has never engaged to any extent in dairying. He mows some forty acres of land, and has about ten acres under the plow. As showing the strength of the soil and the measure of fertilization employed, it may be noted that from a field of seven acres, in one season with two crops, he took upwards of twenty- eight tons of hay.
Mr. Sanborn is a thorough-going, matter-of-fact sort of man, who always pushes his business instead of allow- ing it to push him. He is a Democrat in politics, but has no desire for public life, and it was only through being actually pressed into the service that he now finds him- self representing Ward one in the Laconia city council. He is a member of Winnipiseogee lodge, I. O. O. F., of Laconia, and a charter member of Laconia Grange, of which he has been treasurer and steward. He is also an interested member of Belknap County Pomona Grange.
October 3, 1877, he was united in marriage with Augusta D., daughter of the late Dr. John L. Perley, a well-known physician of Laconia. They have one daughter, Pearl S., a graduate of the Laconia High school, of the class of 1897.
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PERSONAL AND FARM SKETCHES.
HORACE A. HILL,
DERRY.
Agriculture in New Hampshire may have retrograded, on the whole, during the last fifty years, as some main- tain, though it is doubtful if such is the case, notwith- standing the depreciation of farm property in various sections. If some farms have grown less productive, and others even returned to the forest state, there are some that have been greatly improved, meanwhile, and are now in better condition than ever be- fore. A fine example of the latter class is found in the farm of Horace A. Hill, of Derry, situated two and a half miles from the railway station, on the main road to Ches- ter.
Mr. Hill, a son of Charles and Hannah T. (Hanson) Hill, was HORACE A. HILL. born on the farm, No- vember 14, 1839, his father, a native of Chester, having purchased the same and established his home thereon. Here he grew to manhood, enjoying the advantages of the district school, and of Pinkerton academy at Derry Village. Here he has ever resided, and to the cultiva- tion of this farm, from which his father had succeeded, in some seasons, in securing scarcely enough hay to winter a horse and cow, the labor of his life has been mainly devoted, though he was for some time interested
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