USA > New Hampshire > New Hampshire agriculture : personal and farm sketches > Part 9
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JOHN W. FARR,
LITTLETON.
Three miles, northwesterly, from the thriving village of Littleton, in the hill region of the town, is " Maple- wood farm," whose owner, John W. Farr, has long been well known among the farmers of northern New Hamp- shire, and also prominent in grange circles. This is the original homestead, settled in 1802 by Ebenezer Farr, of
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Chesterfield, to whose son Joseph it descended. John Wilder Farr, son of Joseph and Betsey (Danforth) Farr, was born on the farm, May 26, 1826, and has spent his entire life here, with the exception of ten years devoted to railroading in Massachusetts, New York, and Ontario, being engaged the last four years of that time in charge of track laying on the Great Western Railroad. In 1857 he returned to Littleton, took charge of the farm, and has since successfully pursued the agricul- tural calling. There are one hundred and seventy-five acres of land, of which about fifty acres is mowing and tillage. The soil is hard and rugged, but yields to thorough cultivation and pro- duces good crops. The annual hay product is about thirty-five tons. which is supplement- JOHN W. FARR. ed by oats and corn. Mixed farming is fol- lowed, but dairying is a leading feature, the butter from eight or ten cows, mostly grade Jerseys, being generally sold to private customers. Mrs. Farr's reputation as a butter-maker is first-class, her butter having commanded first premiums at state and local fairs, and her exhibit at the World's Fair, Chicago, in 1893, having been award- ed a medal and diploma for excellence, the score being one of the highest attainable. Formerly Mr. Farr made a good deal of maple sugar, of superior quality, and re- ceived premiums upon the same at various exhibitions.
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Mr. Farr first married Eliza D. Phelps, of Merritton, Ont., who died in 1861, leaving two daughters, Etta P. and Nellie E., of whom the latter, now a trained nurse, only survives. His present wife was Miss Alwilda P. Lane, of Lancaster, with whom he was united December 29, 1863, and by whom he has had four children, one dying in infancy. Edward C., the eldest son, is a farmer in the town of Orange ; Mira L. is a teacher in Littleton, and, as well as the youngest son, John W. Farr., Jr., resides at home.
White Mountain Grange, Littleton, was organized in 1875, and Mr. Farr was one of the charter members. He has served seven years as overseer and five years as master, and has been a faithful and devoted member of the subordinate and state granges, having been four years a member of the executive committee in the latter body. He was a charter member of Northern New Hampshire Pomona Grange, and its chaplain in 1896.
Mr. Farr was a member of the advisory council of the World's Congress Auxiliary, on Farm Culture and Cereal Industry, at Chicago in 1893, and has been vice-presi- dent of the New Hampshire Horticultural Society since its organization, being an extensive and successful fruit grower. He has also been a director and one of the executive committee of the Grafton and Coös Grange Fair Association, and a director of the Grange State Fair. He is a Congregationalist in religion and a Republican in politics, and was one of the representa- tives from Littleton in the legislature of 1895-'96, serv- ing on the committee on agricultural college and as chairman of the committee on retrenchment and reform.
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HON. NEHEMIAH G. ORDWAY,
WARNER.
Few names are more generally known in New Hamp- shire than that of Nehemiah G. Ordway, his prominence in public life for many years having brought him con- spicuously before the people. It may not be so generally known, however, that Mr. Ordway was reared as a farmer, and that interest in agricultural matters has never ceased to hold a conspicuous place among the controlling forces of his nature.
Mr. Ordway was born in what is now the north vil- lage at Warner, November 10, 1828, being the son of Nehemiah and Mary (Flanders) Ordway. His father was a farmer, and his mother the daughter of Isaiah Flanders, who was also the owner of a large farm, in which was included a large share of the territory now occupied by Warner village. At the age of eleven years young Ordway went to live with his Grandfather Flan- ders, and, possessed of an active mind and strong and rapidly developed physical powers, he became at once the controlling spirit on the farm, continuing its manage- ment during his grandfather's lifetime, and still owning the major portion thereof, which he received at the lat- ter's decease. October 9, 1848, when scarcely twenty years of age, he married Nancy Ann, daughter of Daniel · Bean, a prominent citizen of Warner, who was the pro- prietor of a large farm and who built and operated the mills near the present " Waterloo" station, otherwise known as " Bean's Mills." This property has since come into his possession, and here has been his summer home for years, the place being known as " Riverside Farm." Altogether Colonel Ordway has about 500 acres of land stretching for some two miles along the course of the Warner river, and including " River Bow park," which
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he originally fitted up for his own private use in training horses, of which he has been an enthusiastic breeder. The "Honest Allen " stock has been his favorite, though he has raised fine horses of various strains. He has at present about fifteen horses and colts, including a num- ber of superior qualities.
It is of course out of the question in this connection to give a detailed account of the career of Colonel Ordway, who though reared as a New Hampshire farmer, and continuing his direct personal interest in the agriculture of the state, has been, in the broadest sense of the term, a man of affairs, engaging actively in political and busi- ness life and conducting operations upon the broadest scale. Suffice it to say that before attaining his majority he engaged in mercantile business at Warner, building a store for his own occupancy, while at the same time executing a contract for grading and building the rail- road through that town. He continued in business here for several years, taking an active part in town affairs. He served as sergeant-at-arms of the N. H. house of representatives in 1855, as assistant clerk in 1856, and at the close of that session was appointed sheriff of Mer- rimack county for five years by Gov. Haile, removing for the time to Concord, where he also served as city marshal and collector of taxes for some time. Originally a Douglas Democrat he became a Republican upon the organization of that party, and was for many years intimately associated with the late Edward H. Rollins and William E. Chandler in the management of party affairs. He was chairman of the Republican state com- mittee in the Lincoln campaign of 1860. As chief marshal of the "Wide Awakes" in that campaign he took 10,000 men from this state to the great Wide Awake demonstration in Boston. At the outbreak of the Rebel- lion, while still sheriff of the county, his services were
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HON. NEHEMIAH G. ORDWAY.
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called in requisition by the governor, who commissioned him as colonel, for making arrangements to forward to the front the first regiments raised in the state.
Appointed by President Lincoln general agent of the post-office department, and superintendent of mail trans- portation for the New England states, he fulfilled the arduous duties of his position from the spring of 1861, till December, 1862, when he resigned to accept the office of sergeant-at-arms of the national house of repre- sentatives at Washington, to which he was chosen at the opening of the Thirty-eighth congress, and re-elected for five successive congresses or a term of twelve years in all, becoming personally acquainted with 1,200 repre- sentatives and senators.
Meanwhile he took an active interest in public affairs in the District of Columbia, and also in business opera- tions. He was the organizer and one of the principal stockholders of the Washington Market company which erected and owns the magnificent Center market in that city-the largest and best appointed retail market in the world. He still retains his connection with this company, of which he has long been president, and has his winter residence in Washington though returning to New Hamp- shire at the close of the Forty-ninth congress in the spring of 1875, when he was elected a representative to the state legislature from Warner, being the first Repub- lican sent from that town. He was re-elected in 1876 and 1877, was a delegate in the constitutional convention of 1876, and a state senator from the Warner district in 1879. He was a prominent figure in the legislature dur- ing his service, and was particularly identified with the movement in the interest of tax reform, effecting practi- cal results in that direction.
In May, 1880, Colonel Ordway was appointed by President Hayes, governor of the territory of Dakota,
RESIDENCE OF HON. N. G. ORDWAY, WATERLOO.
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from which two great states were subsequently erected, which office he held upwards of four years, during which time he was actively engaged, aside from the ordinary governmental affairs, in superintending the erection of nearly all the important public buildings, including the state house at Bismarck, and penitentiaries, asylums, universities, and normal schools, at different places. Most of the counties were also organized during his administra- tion. He established the First National bank at Pierre, and subsequently the Capital National bank at Bismarck, and was the first president of each, having previously had experience in the organization and management of the Kearsarge National and Savings banks in Warner. His labors, public and private, while in Dakota, were so arduous, that his health was much impaired, and since his return he has been compelled to curtail his activities to a large extent, and close up important business enter- prises in which he had been engaged, although he retains his deep interest in public affairs and in the cause of agriculture. He spends his summers at his wife's ances- tral home at Waterloo, personally superintending his farm and other interests, and his winters in Washington. He still retains an interest in Dakota, and owns a resi- dence in Bismarck, the capital of North Dakota, as well as in Washington.
Colonel Ordway has always been deeply interested in agricultural fairs, and was associated with Governor Smyth in the financial management of the first State fair held at Manchester. He was instrumental in establish- ing the old Kearsarge Agricultural society for whose annual fairs he furnished accommodations at his finely equipped "River Bow park," and initiated the move- ment for the organization of the Merrimack County Grange fair held on the same grounds the past two years, in the success of which exhibition he has taken a
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deep interest, and for which he expended much time and money.
In religion, Colonel Ordway formerly affiliated with the Universalists, but in war-time in Washington became a strong admirer and adherent of Rev. Dr. Byron Sunder- land of the First Presbyterian church, where he has since retained his connection. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and Knight Templar, a member of the Warner and Merrimack County Pomona granges, and associated with various important business organizations in different places.
Colonel Ordway has three children,-Mabel, wife of Colonel E. L. Whitford, former U. S. pension agent for this district ; Colonel George L. Ordway, who married a niece of the late Vice-President Colfax, and who now is an attorney at Warner ; and Florence, wife of Frank G. Wilkins, attorney-at-law and auditor of the Washing- ton Market company,-all of whom with their families spend the summer in their separate homes in Warner.
EZRA B. ROGERS,
JEFFERSON.
Ezra B. Rogers was born in Jackson, N. H., December 22, 1832. He received a common school education, and went to Gorham in 1852, where he remained seven years. He then married Miss Lucy Tucker, of Clinton county, New York, and removed to Whitefield, where he lived nine years, engaged in agriculture. Here, as in Gor- ham, he won many friends. In 1868 he bought a good farm near the "old Whipple stand," at Jefferson Mead- ows, where he died April 13, 1892. A widow and two sons survive him.
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Mr. Rogers, politically, was a Democrat. In princi- ple he was as unflinching as his illustrious ancestors. Quiet and unassuming as he was, his friends soon learned his worth, and in a public capacity he served them many years. He was elected one of the selectmen several times in Whitefield, and served Jefferson as such twelve years. He was town treasurer seven years, and repre- sented his town in the legislature in 1874-'75. He was a charter member of Starr King Grange, of which he was an honored member at the time of his death, and was an active working member of the Methodist Episco- pal church for twen- ty-three years. He
was a loving hus- band, a kind father, a good citizen, and an honorable man. Lov- ing God and loving his fellow-man, the world is better because he lived in it.
EZRA B. ROGERS.
" Life is ever Lord of death, And Love can never lose its own."
Of the two sons of Mr. Rogers, Woodbury O. is a resident of Norwich, Conn., where he is in the service of the Norwich Dyeing and Printing Company.
The younger son, John A. Rogers, now thirty years of age, remains on the homestead in Jefferson, and is a prosperous and enterprising farmer. The farm is of
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about two hundred acres in extent. The hay crop amounts to about sixty tons annually, and in 1896 some five hundred bushels of oats were harvested. Dairying is pursued quite extensively, about twenty-five cows and heifers being kept. Mr. Rogers is a member of the board of selectmen in Jefferson, a Patron of Husbandry, and was chosen master of Starr King Grange in Decem- ber, 1895.
HON. JONATHAN M. TAYLOR,
SANBORNTON.
The old town of Sanbornton was not only among the largest in the state territorially, but, in former years. among the wealthiest and most populous. It was also then, as now, a superior agricultural town. Among its early settlers was Jonathan Taylor, who moved with his father from the town of Stratham, and settled upon Lot No. 9, in the Second Division, in 1773. This has been the Taylor homestead, descending to Thomas, the son of this Jonathan Taylor, who married Sarah E. Jewett, by whom he had a large family, the sixth son, Jonathan M. Taylor, the subject of this sketch, having been born September 21, 1822.
Aware that he had his own way to make in the world. and not being endowed with vigorous health and strength, Mr. Taylor left home at an early age, after some attend- ance at the district schools and the Sanbornton Wood- man academy, to learn the trade of a blacksmith, and, having acquired the same, he set up a stand for that business at Sanbornton Square, where he established his home, and has since remained, diligently pursuing his vocation for more than fifty years, and at the same time taking an active part in all the business affairs of the
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town, and winning and retaining the fullest confidence and highest regard of his fellow-citizens.
With an inherent love of agriculture, Mr. Taylor began early to acquire and cultivate land as an incidental pursuit, as a matter of health, recreation, and profit, till he now owns about one hundred acres altogether, covered by thirteen deeds, of which about sixteen acres in the vicinity of his residence are devoted to mowing and till- age. This land is in a high state of culti- vation, producing two tons of hay, or more, per acre as a first crop, while a large second crop is usually secured. He has taken special pride in rais- ing and training fine steers, his cattle being generally high-grade Herefords, and he has been a most success- ful exhibitor at state and local fairs both in this line and in dairy HON. JONATHAN M. TAYLOR. cows, as well as vegetables, in the production of which he has had remarkable success. In illustration, it may be said that on a plat of less than twenty square rods, in 1895, he raised two hundred and twenty-five bushels of beets, and, on a still smaller plat, one hundred and twelve bushels of carrots. His corn also has been widely noted for years for its excellence, it being a beautiful eight-rowed variety, improved from the original " Brown" corn of Lake Winnipiseogee. He has won many premi- ums on this, and received a medal and diploma for an
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exhibit of the same at the Chicago World's fair, in con- nection with which exhibition he had an appointment as a representative from Belknap county in the World's congress of agriculture. His home is a commodious farmhouse, and in 1879 he erected a fine modern barn.
Mr. Taylor was a charter member and first master of Harmony grange, Sanbornton, which at the end of two years had one hundred and seventy-one members. As a deputy of the State grange he was instrumental in organizing most of the subordinate granges of Belknap county, and also effecting in 1887, the organization of the Belknap Pomona grange, of which he was master in 1894 and 1895, it having then attained a membership of over nine hundred-the largest in the state. In 1885, he was elected treasurer of the State grange, efficiently discharging the duties of the office to the present time. For several years he was treasurer of the Grange State Fair association, which he was active in organizing as he had also been in organizing the Belknap County Agri- cultural society, of which he was for two years president. He was a director and vice-president of the Grange Mutual Fire Insurance company, and also a director and president of the Sanbornton Fire Insurance company, organized in 1871, largely by his influence, as was also the Sanbornton Town Fair association.
In politics Mr. Taylor is a Democrat, and was for more than forty years chairman of the Democratic town com- mittee. He has served his town repeatedly as modera- tor, was for seventeen years town clerk, and has been postmaster, representative, and county commissioner, serving also in 1869, by special appointment, as chair- man of the joint board of commissioners of Belknap and Grafton counties, in the trial of the noted bridge case of Daniel Smith v. towns of New Hampton and Bristol. When the movement for the division of Sanbornton and
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RESIDENCE OF HON. JONATHAN M. TAYLOR, SANBORNTON.
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the erection of the town of Tilton was inaugurated in 1869, Mr. Taylor was instrumental in causing a remonstrance to be entered against the division on the petition presented, defeating the petition and subse- quently settling the matter by a compromise, much more advantageous in its terms to the old town than the origi- nal proposition. He was town clerk at this time, and upon the division was chosen chairman of the Sanborn- ton board of selectmen and town treasurer, $109,000 passing through his hands in three months during the settlement of affairs between the old and new towns. He was senator from the Fifth district in 1883-'84, and Democratic candidate for councilor in the Third district against Colonels E. C. Shirley and John C. Linehan, defeating an election in each case and his opponents being chosen by the legislature. On the occasion of the Sanbornton centennial celebration in 1876, Mr. Taylor acted as president and chief marshal.
November 19, 1846, he was united in marriage with Miss Huldah Lane, daughter of Joseph H. Lane of San- bornton, who was his true and faithful helpmeet until her decease, April 22, 1890. Their three children, all daughters, became thorough and successful teachers. Sarah, the eldest, is the wife of Rev. G. W. Patten of Dublin ; the second, Carrie P., is now at home with her father ; and Mary H., the youngest, is the wife of H. J. L. Bodwell of Sanbornton.
Mr. Taylor is a member of the Congregational church, was eleven years superintendent of the Sunday-school. and has been treasurer of the Congregational Fund asso- ciation since 1878.
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WARREN J. FISHER,
HAVERHILL.
Among the numerous farms bordering on the Connect- icut river in the town of Haverhill there are few, if any, that bear evidence of better cultivation or surpass in gen- eral appearance the Fisher homestead, located two miles north of the village of North Haverhill on the highway leading to Woodsville, the county seat of Grafton county.
Warren J. Fisher, the proprietor, comes of a family well known in the an- nals of New England He was born at Spring- field, N. H., in 1830 ; a son of Deacon Seth and Polly (Stone) Fish- er. He received an education in the com- mon schools of Spring- field, and removed to Haverhill in the fall of 1851, where he was engaged in railroad- ing and bridge build- ing for the Boston, Concord & Montreal Railroad until 1858, WARREN J. FISHER. when he purchased the farm upon which he now resides. It contains one hundred and fifty acres, fifty being under cultivation, and the remainder for the most part heavily timbered. From 1860 to 1875 Mr. Fisher was an extensive feeder of cattle and sheep for market, but of late has been engaged in mixed farming.
He is a charter member of Pink Granite Grange, and
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has always taken an active part in that organization. As one of the successful and thrifty farmers of the town, Mr. Fisher attends the prominent agricultural meetings of this and other states, at the present writing having just returned from the New York state fair, where he has been refreshing his ideas of husbandry. Politically he is a Republican, and representing the best element of his party, was justice of the peace for many years.
In 1858 Mr. Fisher was united in marriage to Harriet N. Morse of Haverhill, who died in 1872. Five years later he married Louisa H. Bedell of Bath, N. H., his present wife, and sister of the late Gen. John Bedell.
WILLIAM H. RYDER,
BEDFORD.
Among the most thoughtful, practical, and progressive young farmers in Hillsborough county, may very prop- erly be classed William H. Ryder of Bedford, already well known as a successful milk producer and market gardener.
Mr. Ryder is a native of the town of Dunbarton, born March 5, 1869, being the third son of Harris E. and Elizabeth L. (Kimball) Ryder, both parents tracing their ancestry back through three centuries. His father was the owner of a superior farm in Dunbarton, and was prominent in public affairs in that town, serving in vari- ous offices, and for four years as chairman of the board of selectmen ; but on account of the destruction of his buildings by fire, in 1875, he removed to Manchester, where he remained five years, the son in the meantime enjoying the benefit of the excellent public schools of the city. In 1880, the family removed to the town of Bed- ford, and again engaged in agriculture ; but William H.,
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having acquired a taste for city life, sought and obtained a position in the Mirror office at Manchester in 1885, with a view to the printer's trade, and in a short time had charge of the engine and boilers and the running of the daily press. In October, 1888, he became foreman of the press room in the Manchester Telegram establish- ment, and continued a year and a half, when he left the business and entered the employ of the Nashua Provi- sion company in Nashua, in the beef trade. Here he re- mained until August, 1890, when he went to Boston and was en- gaged with John P. Squire & Co., but was called home by the ill- ness of his father in October following. He had now, in fact, all he cared for of the city, and concluded to settle down at home and commence farm life in earnest, which he did with a deter- mination to thorough- ly master the business WILLIAM H. RYDER. along the lines of operation selected-milk production and gardening. He has now a dairy of twenty-two choice cows, every one carefully selected with reference to her milk-producing qualities, and the product goes to the Boston market, while his garden produce is mainly disposed of in Manchester. He has recently increased his acreage by leasing an adjoining farm for a term of years, and proposes a corresponding increase in his dairy. His cows receive the best of care-are fed on
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scientific principles, and have a supply of pure water constantly before them, furnished by windmill power.
Mr. Ryder is an enthusiastic Patron of Husbandry. having joined Narragansett grange, Bedford, in 1884. He was elected overseer for 1894, and 1895, and master for 1896. He was also steward of Hillsborough County Pomona grange in 1895, and overseer in 1896, and has taken a strong interest in the success of this organization, taking an active part in discussions. He was appointed a district deputy by State Master Bachelder in 1896, and organized two new granges during the year-Naum- keag, No. 241, of Litchfield, and Pelham, No. 244, both under most favorable auspices.
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