USA > New Hampshire > Piscataqua pioneers, 1623-1775; register of members and ancestors > Part 10
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James Nute's name appears in the town records, in business affairs, many times, showing that he was a citizen of good standing. The Court records, however, show that he was at one time "presented for abusing the Town Clerk (Pomfrett) in saying he was a deceit- ful man and had a deceitful heart." The Court repri- manded him and warned him not to commit such an offense again, and placed him under bonds to keep the peace with the clerk. He was one of the Selectmen in 1659 and in 1660. He served on the Grand Jury sever- al times. He officiated in other minor offices, like a good citizen.
After he moved across the Back River it was much further to go to attend meetings on the Lord's Day. His home on The Neck was near the meeting house, and he and his family were regular attendants. So it came to pass that he became somewhat negligent in crossing the river on Sunday. The result was that he was "Presented in court (in 1662) for being absent twenty-
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six days from church meetings, and for entertaining the Quaker missionaries four hours." He was admon- ished for absence from meetings, and fined according to law, forty shillings per hour.
Children: (1) James, b. 1643; m. Mary Lived on the home farm; d. ab. 1691 .- (2) Abraham, b. 1647 ; m. -; he was living in 1724 .- (3) Martha, b. 1653; m. ab. 1678, William Dam; they lived in the William Dam garrison.
Descendant: Alvah H. Place.
NUTTER, HATEVIL, 1603-1675. He was one of Captain Thomas Wiggin's company that came over in the fall of 1633, and settled on Dover Neck; he may not have come on the same ship, but soon after. He was among the noted men of the town, both in business and in church affairs. He was one of the first Elders of the First Church, and held the office for life. Though not given to much office holding, he received various valu- able grants for saw mills and trees for supplying his mills for sawing into lumber. He had a ship yard on Fore River, and was largely engaged in ship building; his ships sailed all along the coast and to the West Indies, with which islands Dover had much trade.
Elder Nutter was a staunch supporter of the Church, hence was a strong opponent of the Quaker women missionaries when they came to town in 1662, and later, and created much disturbance in the First Church, of which Rev. John Reyner was then minister. The Quaker historian grossly misrepresents the Elder in regard to his treatment of the women. He believed the Quakers were wrong, and that their teachings were pernicious, as set forth by those women who were whipped. The Quakers had liberty to go elsewhere; as they did not exercise that liberty Elder Nutter be- lieved it was right to make them go. No doubt both parties were wrong, but the worthy Elder should be judged by the standard of that day, and not by that of
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the present day, to get a correct estimate of his charac- ter. He possessed a reasonable share of this world's goods; these considerations procured for him the re- spect which the moral worth of a rich man always excites. The spot where his house stood can be easily pointed out. An aged pear tree now (1918) stands in the hollow where was his cellar; it is on the east side of High street, about fifteen rods northeast from the northeast corner of the second meeting house lot.
Elder Nutter died at a good old age. His will is dated 28 Dec., 1674, he being then about 71 years of age ; it was proved 29 June, 1675. His wife's name was Annie.
Children: (1) Antony, b. 1630; m. Sarah, daugh- ter of Henry Langstaff. He lived in the Little Bay sec- tion of Bloody Point. His house was garrisoned ; he was an officer in command of the militia company in his section of Old Dover. He served as selectman several years, and represented Dover in the General Court six years or more. Thus it is plain that he was one of the influential and highly respected citizens. He died 19 February, 1686. His wife died later .- (2) Mary, b. -; m. John Wingate .- (3) Elizabeth, b. -; m. Thomas Leighton, Jr. - (4) Abigail, b .- -; m. Ser- geant John Roberts, son of Governor Thomas Roberts. Descendants: Edgar A. Leighton, Mrs. Annie Wentworth Baer, Mrs. Sophia Dodge Hall, Mrs. Ellen Tasker Scales, Miss Annie Katharine Seavey, George W. Seavey.
ODIORNE, JOHN, 1627-1705. The ancient spell- ing of the name was "Hoderne, Odiurne and Odurne." John Odiorne was an inhabitant of Portsmouth as early as 1667. A grant of forty-two acres on Great Island, lying at the entrance to the harbor, was made to him 16 Jan., 1660. In 1686, he was member of the grand jury. When he was about forty-five years old he married Mary Johnson; his children were all born on Great
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Island. His son Jotham was born about 1675 ; he mar- ried Sarah Bassum. The younger son, known as Dea- con John Odiorne, was the first to live on what is called Odiorne's Point, and from him the place took its name. It was on this Point that David Thompson built his house in the Spring of 1623, at the same time that Ed- ward Hilton built his house on Dover Point. The locality was known as "Little Harbor" until a century later when it came to be called Odiorne's Point.
Children: (1) Jotham, b. ab. 1675; m. Sarah Bassum; he died 16 Aug., 1748 .- (2) John, b. ---; m. Catharine --; he was known as Deacon John. He inherited his father's estate at Odiorne's Point and re- sided there. From these men the point received its name a century after. David Thompson built a house somewhere near where the Odiorne house now is. John Odiorne was the first permanent settler on that much disputed point of land.
Descendant: Miss Susan Woodman.
OLIVER, WILLIAM. Captain Marvin, of Guern- sey Island, one of the Channel Islands, was shipwrecked on the coast of Labrador; he was rescued by Capt. Thomas Ellison Oliver, of Portsmouth, who was in command of the brig "Dove," who was there on a fish- ing trip; so Captain Oliver brought Captain Marvin to Newcastle with him, having completed his catch of a boat load of cod fish. Captain Marvin liked the place so well that he concluded to make his home there, and in 1810 he was married to his rescuer's sister, Miss Deborah Oliver; they made their home at Newcastle, and Capt. Marvin continued in the fishing business, encountering no more shipwrecks. His wife, Deborah, was daughter of Rev. William Oliver, of Newcastle, whose wife was Hannah Skinner. William Oliver was not only a "soldier of the cross," but also was a valiant soldier of the Revolutionary Army. He commenced service early in the war and continued nearly to the
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end; at the battle of Stillwater in 1777, he was member of Capt. F. M. Bell's company, in which battle Capt. Bell was killed. William Oliver was son of John Oliver who settled at Newcastle some years before the Revo- lution. Capt. Marvin was a soldier in the War of 1812, and was stationed at Fort McClary, where his son, Captain William Marvin was born, and 18 December, 1837, his son, Thomas Ellison Oliver Marvin was born, who became a member of the Pascataqua Pioneers in August, 1910.
Descendant: Thomas Ellison Oliver Marvin.
OTIS, RICHARD, 1611-1689. He was born at Glastonbury, Somerset County, England ; he was son of Stephen and grandson of Richard Otis, Esq., of that town. Richard Otis first appears in New England at Boston, in 1655; of course he had been there sometime before that, as in May of that year he was admitted as an inhabitant. He came to Dover the same year and was admitted as an inhabitant here, and they at once gave him a grant of land, date 9-26-1655; it was "tenn accers at Cochecae, forty Rods, by the Cartway (Central Avenue), on the west sied of the land from his house, and forty Rods norethest from his house, and forty Rods a piece on the other two sieds." In 1656 he had a grant of one hundred acres, which was laid out by Elder William Wentworth, Lieut. Ralph Hall and Dea. John Hall. This lot was on the west side of the "cart way", and on the southern end of it he built his garrison, which was burned by the Indians in 1689 About the same time he had a hundred acres granted him on the south side of the "Great Hill" (Garrison Hill), on which his granddaughter, Mary Otis, daugh- ter of Stephen, with the assistance of her husband, Ebenezer Varney (a good Quaker) built the house at the foot of the hill, known as the "Ham house," about 1694. Later, Mr. Otis had other grants of land, which showed he stood in good favor with the townspeople.
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He built his garrison about 1675, and had it strongly fortified, having a large yard on the south side; not- withstanding this, the Indians captured it 28 June, 1689, by strategy, and murdered him, one son and a child two years old; they took several members of the family prisoners, and burned the house. Mr. Otis was a taxpayer at "Cochecho-in-Dover" from 1656 till his death, 1689. The Otis garrison stood on the east side of what is Mt. Vernon street, where a dwelling house now (1918) stands, next south of the Christian Science Church. In April, 1911, the cellar of the old garrison was disclosed when the workmen dug the cellar of the house that now stands on the spot. Quite a number of relics were found in the debris, which are now on ex- hibition in a hall of the Woodman Institute.
OTIS, RICHARD, was thrice married. (1) Rose, daughter of Anthony Stoughton, brother of Sir Nicho- las Stoughton, Bart. This marriage was before 1650; she died ab. 1675; m. (2) ab. 1677, Shua Heard, widow of James Heard of Old Kittery (Eliot), who was son of John Heard of that town. She died ab. 1682 or '83; m. (3) in 1684 Grezet Warren; he was 60 years old and she was 24. These ages are based on the authority of his granddaughter, Mrs. Bean, of Conway, daughter of Capt. Thomas and Christine Baker. Mrs. Bean died 6 Feb., 1826, aged 100 years. She always said that her grandmother was named Grezet (Grace) Warren, of Massachusetts. She had always heard it said that her grandfather was then 60 and her grandmother 24 years old. There does not appear to be any reason to doubt the correctness of the tradition.
Children of the first wife: (1) Richard, b. ab. 1650; m. Susannah -. (2) Stephen, b. 1652; m. 16 April, 1674, Mary Pitman. They had two sons and one daughter .- Stephen, b. in 1675; Nathaniel, b. in 1677; Mary, b. in 1679; Mary m. Ebenezer Varney (Quaker) ; they built the so-called Ham house at Garrison Hill, in
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1694 or '95. They have many descendants. Mary's father and grandfather were killed by the Indians when the garrison was captured; her mother and brothers, Stephen and Nathaniel, were carried captives to Cana- da; they never returned; the mother was baptized 8 Dec., 1693, as daughter of William and Barbara Pit- man .- (3) Solomon, b. 1663; d. 1664 .- (4) Nicholas, b. -. He was killed by the Indians 26 July, 1690 .- (5) Experience, b. in 1666; m. Samuel Heard, son of Capt. John Heard of Dover .- (6) Judith, b. -; m. Ens. John Tuttle, son of Capt. John Tuttle of Dover .- (7) Rose, b. -; m. John Pinkham of Dover Neck; many descendants. These three daughters were taken prisoners by the Indians and carried as far as Conway, where the soldiers pursuing rescued them from the Indians.
Children of third wife: (1) Hannah, b. 1687; d. 28 June, 1689. She was killed by an Indian who is said to have smashed the child's head against a stone step. A bone from this child can be seen at the Woodman Institute, where other relics taken from the cellar of the garrison are on exhibition .- (2) Christine, b. March 1688-89. She and her mother were carried to Canada and the mother never returned; the daughter grew up and married a Frenchman; had two children, and then he died ; soon after that she returned to New England and became the wife of Capt. Thomas Baker, of Massachusetts. Her later years were spent in Do- ver, keeping a tavern at The Corner, (Silver street and Central avenue) beginning about 1735. Her son, Col. Otis Baker, was then 8 years old, and became a very distinguished man ; their graves are in Pine Hill Ceme- tery. (For further particulars see New England His- toric and Genealogical Register, Vol. 5, pages 181-187.)
Descendants: Col. Daniel Hall, Alvah H. Place, Mrs. Ellen Tasker Scales.
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PARKER, CAPTAIN ROBERT, 1735-1819. He was born in Portsmouth, 15 August, 1735; died in Lee, . N. H., 14 December, 1819. His manly vigor was un -! abated, and his mental powers were at their best; he contracted pneumonia by a ride, on an extremely cold day, from Portsmouth to Lee, by way of Newmarket. He was confined to his bed only four days ; double pneu- monia closed his vigorous life of 84 years, 4 months. His daughter, Adaline Rice Parker, was then four weeks old; as the babe was brought to him shortly before he expired, he looked upon her with a father's affection, and said : "God bless her, may she live to be comfort to her mother !" Her mother always said that the prayer had been fully answered.
Captain Parker was son of Naham and Mary (Moore) Parker; he was born in England and was a master of sailing ships which came to Portsmouth in the early part of the eighteenth century ; in this town he was married to Mary Moore, daughter of John Moore; she was related to the families of the Cutts, Moffatt and Whipples. They had five children :- Mary, who married a Munson or (Munroe) and lived to be over a hundred years old; Robert; William and John, both of whom died without issue; Samuel Parker, whose son married Ruth Brewster, and had issue sur- viving.
Naham Parker died when his son Robert was seven years old (1742) ; when he was fourteen he was ap- prenticed to Mark Newmarch to learn the shipbuilding trade; the ship yard was in Kittery. When he had finished his term of service, seven years, he went to sea as ship-carpenter, and not long after became mas- ter of a vessel of his own, and for nearly forty years was engaged in the shipping business. During the Revolutionary War, he was engaged in the privateering business, and won big fortunes. Personally, he made three successful voyages in command of a privateer. At one time he was employed to bring a cargo of pow-
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der from France, and landed it safely at Portsmouth at a critical period when the supply of powder for the army was very low. In his later years he was engaged . in ship-building and farming.
At the beginning of the Revolution, he purchased a farm of three hundred acres, on the "Mast Road" in Lee, on which was excellent ship-building timber, and he engaged in ship-building business on his farm. In a letter dated at "Lee, July 13th, 1776" he offered his services to the Committee of Safety, at Exeter, to make the trip to Martinico and get a ship load of powder and woolen goods for the army, as he had information that a cargo had arrived there; the Committee accepted the offer and the goods were delivered in course of the year. His family then lived at Portsmouth. In 1777, he built, at the ship yard on his farm in Lee, the "Priva- teer" ship "General Sullivan;" then took it apart and hauled the frame and other material to Newmarket, where it was put together again and launched there, and sailed from Portsmouth, on its first cruise in 1778; on its return it was taken back to Newmarket and en- larged, and then was used in several other voyages successfully before the privateering season was closed. There were ten proprietors, Capt. Parker owned one- tenth.
Captain Parker's family lived at Lee from about 1780 till his death in December, 1819. He was the wealthiest man in town, by far, and built the beautiful mansion that now stands on the west side of the Mast Road, overlooking a magnificent field of many acres. For thirty years Capt. Parker devoted much time and money to improving the farm; he had workmen build the miles of grand stone walls that surround the fertile fields ; it was said by the neighboring farmers the stones were laid so close a squirrel could not make a nest in it to deposit his winter provisions. He possessed remark- able independence, enterprise, and force of character. He was of an affectionate disposition, generous, hos-
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pitable and kind to the poor, with manly sensibility and sensitiveness of heart.
Captain Parker was married three times :- (1) Sarah Sherburne, of Portsmouth, daughter of Ephraim Sherburne, born 3 January, 1742; died 2 August, 1804.
Children: (1) Robert, b. July 11, 1761; lost at sea in 1778 .- (2) Sarah, b. December 9, 1763; m. Samuel Briard, a sea Captain ; she died Jan. 9, 1825 .- (3) William, b. January 2, 1765; d. Nov. 4, 1802 .- (4) Elizabeth, b. Feb. 28, 1767; m. John Flagg, a sea cap- tain .- (5) John, b. July 26, 1769; died in infancy .- (6) Hannah, b. May 29, 1771 ; m. Captain John Fabyan Parrott, a member of the merchant marine at Ports- mouth, Representative in the New Hampshire Legisla- ture in 1811, for Portsmouth; Representative in Con- gress from New Hampshire 1817-1819; a Senator of the United States from 1819 to 1825; in 1826 was ap- pointed Postmaster of Portsmouth; d. in Greenland July 9, 1836, aged 68. She died August 26, 1812 .- (7) Abigail, twin of Hannah, died in infancy .- (8) Abigail the second by that name, b. October 17, 1773 ; m. Cap- tain William Rice of Portsmouth; she died in 1812 .- (9) John, b. Feb. 15, 1775; died in Cambridge in De- cember, 1809 .- (10) Susannah, b. March 2, 1777; died in infancy .- (11) Susannah, the second of that name, b. January 11, 1780 ; m. Enoch Greenleaf Parrott, sea captain, of Portsmouth; Navy Agent at Portsmouth ; d. April 21, 1852 .- (12) Samuel, b. Feb. 21, 1782; d. in infancy.
Children of third wife, Ann Pendergast: (1) Robert Whipple, b. Jan. 17, 1815; d. Jan. 30, 1891 .- (2) John Flagg, b. Nov. 17, 1816; d. Sept. 13, 1867 .- (3) Adaline Rice, b. Nov. 12, 1819; d. Nov. 14, 1860. Noted school teacher.
Those who are interested in senility and psychology will note the very curious and extraordinary fact, that there was a span of fifty-eight years between the dates of the birth of Captain Parker's first and last child, who was born when he was in his 85th year.
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Captain Parker's second wife was Hannah Ches- ley, daughter of Lemuel Chesley of Durham, to whom he was married in 1805; she brought him no children, she died in 1813. He married (3) Ann Pendergast, daughter of John and Deborah (Durrell) Pendergast, of Durham, born June 7, 1791; she married (2) John Langmaid, and they lived in Nottingham, one mile from Lee Hill. They had children-George and Charles, twins, and Margaret.
Descendant : Dr. James A. Spalding of Portland.
PARROTT, JOHN, 1742-1790. He was son of Abraham and Elizabeth (French) Perrott, and was christened in the parish church Broadhempston, Devon- shire, England, Oct. 3 (14), 1742. The old spelling of the name was changed to its present spelling by their son John, after he settled in Portsmouth. He came to this town with Thomas Thompson, but when is not known; it was before the opening of the Revolution. There is a family tradition that he was a midshipman on Admiral Saunders' fleet, which came over with Wolfe to capture Quebec in 1659. This is shown to be correct, as Dr. Spalding of Portland ascertained by consulting records in London, that a certain John Par- rott was discharged, in 1759, from the "Prince Freder- ick;" and of an age that corresponds exactly with the age of his ancestor, John Parrott.
In 1773 John Parrott bought a house in Ports- mouth of Samuel Treadwell, a boat builder of Brent- wood, for £180, presumably on the corner of Chestnut and Congress streets. When the Revolution came on he was found guarding ships in Portsmouth harbor and patrolling at the forts later. His name is attached to documents of the Committee of Safety, and as pro- testing against Tories.
Although a seaman and captain in the merchant marine there are but few records extant referring to
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him. One of these is that he sold his vessel at Antigua in 1783, and came home in the schooner "Speedwell", Captain McClellan. In 1786 he was in command of the ship "Amherst", bound for Antigua; in 1789 he was in command of the brig "Rokeby", just built at Newmarket, from where it was towed through Little Bay and the Pascataqua River to Portsmouth.
In 1782 he bought 60 acres of land in Greenland of Ebenezer Cate, for £225 ; in 1787 he bought 35 acres and a house on it for £300, including right in a grist mill and water power. On December 29, 1789, he ar- rived in Portsmouth from a voyage on his ship "Rokeby"; soon after landing he was taken suddenly ill with pneumonia, and died on the 4th of January, 1790 ; he was buried in the North Cemetery by the side of his first wife. His will was probated on Feb. 4, 1790, and letters of administration granted to his ' widow, Martha (Brackett) Parrott of Greenland.
Captain Parrott, in 1766, married Deborah Walker, daughter of William and Mehitable Walker of Portsmouth. She refused to have the marriage cere- mony performed until he had secured a certificate of baptism in the Parish Church in England. He did that and they were married. It was fortunate for his descendants as that is the only evidence they have of when he was born.
Children: (1) Elizabeth French; m. John Tos- can, Vice Consul for France at Portsmouth .- (2) John Fabyan, named for a celebrated lawyer of Portsmouth; sea captain, member of Congress, United States Sen- ator, and Postmaster of Portsmouth .- (3) William Walker, who early moved to Gloucester, Mass .; sea captain and merchant.
Deborah Walker died Feb. 21, 1779. Captain Parrott married (2) Martha Brackett, daughter of James and Mary (Cate) Brackett of Greenland. She was born December, 1745; died December 7, 1825.
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They had one son, Enoch Greenleaf Parrott, grand- father of Dr. Spalding of Portland.
Descendant: Dr. James A. Spalding of Portland.
PALMER, BARNABAS, 1725-1816. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, 29 May, 1725. He died in Milton, N. H., 27 November, 1816. Although born in Ireland, he was of English descent, both paternal and maternal. He was graduated from Dublin University in 1743. Soon after graduation he came to America, landing in New York. Later he came to Boston and engaged in business as a merchant. In 1745 he en- listed in the 8th company of the Massachusetts Regi- ment that was being raised to go with Sir William Pepperrell to Cape Breton Island to engage in the siege 'of Louisburg. In that siege his company was part of that detachment of troops which destroyed the ware- house containing naval stores, and he helped capture the Royal battery. On June 16 of that campaign he lost his right arm by wounds received in battle; for his bravery he was breveted, or promoted to the rank of Major, by which title he was known during the rest of his long life; he lived to be ninety-one years old, vigorous to the end.
In 1747 he married Elizabeth Robinson, daughter of Christopher and Elizabeth (Hilton) Robinson. She was a descendant of the Colonial Governors Winthrop and Dudley. She was born 16 August, 1729. Her father was a soldier in the Louisburg expedition, and died there while engaged in the siege. Their first home was at Londonderry, where he engaged in busi- ness a few years. Their first child was born in that town; they gave her the name Mary Palmer. Soon after that he removed to Rochester, N. H., where he resided many years and was one of the prominent busi- ness men of the town. He built a large house on Rochester Hill, which was elegantly furnished for those
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times. That was his home for many years ; in it were born 11 of his 12 children, a remarkable family of sons and daughters.
Mr. Palmer was largely engaged in the lumber business. He owned timber lots in Rochester, Wake- field, Moultonborough, and Milton. He had several sawmills and gristmills at the falls in those towns in which he sawed the lumber and ground the corn and wheat for the farmers' families in the neighborhood of the mills. He was a very busy, honorable, and up- right man ; though he had but one arm, having lost his right arm at Louisburg, Major Palmer made his brains do what the lack of that arm prevented him from do- ing. For sixty years he was an active member of the Church on the Hill there, he and his wife having joined the Church, by confession of faith and baptism, 26 May, 1748.
Major Palmer was one of the few college educated men of the town at that time, and being such he was much called on to attend to public business, and act as scrivener for his less educated fellow citizens. As he was a good soldier in the Colonial wars, he was equally a good patriot in the Revolutionary war; though he was past the age to do military service in the field, he nevertheless did equally valuable work for the cause in his town at home. He signed the Association Test Oct. 15, 1775, and was one of the Selectmen much of the time during the war ; his last year of service in that office was in the year 1780. He was chairman of the board nearly every year. He was Representative for Rochester in the General Court for the years 1788, 1789, 1790, 1791. He was delegate in the Convention that ratified the Constitution of the United States that made the Union complete in 1788. He was one of the influential members of the convention and had much to do in getting the members to vote to adopt the Con- stitution. He was delegate in the convention that was held in 1791-92 that revised the Constitution of New Hampshire, which had been adopted in 1784.
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