USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Some things about Coventry-Benton, New Hampshire (town history) > Part 18
USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Benton > Some things about Coventry-Benton, New Hampshire (town history) > Part 18
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20
265
COVENTRY-BENTON, N. H.
John Brown, b. November 22, 1784, son of Caleb Brown of Bristol. Olive Colby, b. January 16, 1793, daughter of John Colby, m. January 7, 1813.
CHILDREN.
Jonas G., b. December 17, 1814, m. Angeline Whiteman.
Sally, b. October 13, 1815, m. Benjamin Cilley, of Andover.
John C., b. September 21, 1817, m. Louisa Carter, of Portland, Me.
Mary, b. February 8, 1820, m. Benjamin Cilley, of Andover.
Susan, b. March 17, 1822, m. Joseph Hutchins.
Jesse M., b. March 4, 1824, m. Emma Van Ant- werp, Michigan.
Abigail S., b. February 28, 1827.
Eliza J., b. April 15, 1830, m. John Flanders.
Daniel W., b. April 18, 1833, d. June 28, 1859.
Julia Ann, b. April 18, 1835, m. Elisha Hibbard.
Jonas G. Brown, b. December 17, 1814, m. January 1838, Angeline Whiteman, b. October 5, 1814.
CHILDREN.
Marium M., b. December 23, 1838, m. Chester C. Clough, deceased.
George E., b. May 31, 1841, m. Eveline Hutchins.
Olive, b. September 1842, d. August 1843.
Clara A., b. July 8, 1847, m. November 1865, W. W. Coburn, deceased.
Cyrenia M., b. May 1, 1850, m. 1869 Ransom Coburn.
266
SOME THINGS ABOUT
Imogene, b. September 2, 1853, m. March 17, 1880, C. W. Cummings.
CHILDREN OF GEORGE E. AND EVELINE HUTCHINS BROWN.
Jonas N., b. September 25, 1864, m. Emma Ban- croft, January 8, 1888.
Allen M., b. April 13, 1867, m. Elizabeth Titus, April 10, 1889.
Abbie F., b. June 29, 1869, d. July 28, 1879.
Marium M., b. October 9, 1871.
C. Ida, b. March 10, 1874.
Josie L., b. September 27, 1876.
Grace Edith, b. March 31, 1881.
Joseph Hutchins, m. November 17, 1839, Susan Brown Emerson, daughter of John and Olive Brown.
CHILDREN.
Marietta, b. October 22, 1840, m. L. W. Flanders. Ella A., b. February 24, 1843, m. Frank Wilmot. Jane B., b. November 18, 1846, m. Moses Clough. Sally Ann, b. October 22, 1848, m. Moses P. Bemis. Charles A., b. September 4, 1853, m, Emma Hardin.
Jeremiah B. Davis, b. May 7, 1803, d. June 28, 1884 ; Susan Tyler, b. September 14, 1811, d. January 29, 1891 ; married June 1831.
CHILDREN.
Wesley B., b. August 27, 1832.
Mary A., b. March 17, 1834, m. Chas. B. Kezer. Eliza C., March 4, 1836, m. Burton French, deceased. Laban T., b. August 22, 1838.
Kimball T., b. September 5, 1841. Jeremiah B., Jr., b. May 30, 1844.
267
COVENTRY-BENTON, N. H.
Sarah W., b. October 26, 1846, deceased. Dennis D., b. March 8, 1849. George C., b. July 4, 1850, deceased.
Jonathan Hunkins m. Betsey Smith October 17, 1826. CHILDREN.
Joseph Smith, b. April 21, 1828.
Harvey Augustus, b. April 29, 1830.
Thomas Hewes, b. August 17, 1832, d. June 1, 1834.
Thomas Hewes, b. August 3, 1834.
Olive Ann, b. May 30, 1837, m. James Page. Clarissa Jane, b. July 7, 1840.
William Keyser, b. Cabot, Vt., January 5, 1797 ; Abi- gail Eastman, b. Concord, N. H., July 27, 1795 ; m. 1819. CHILDREN.
Mary J., b. August 1, 1820, Northfield, N. H.
John E., b. August 17, 1822, Northfield.
Henry Eastman, b. July 3, 1824, Northfield.
Charles B., b. January 12, 1826, Northfield.
Laura, b. April 9, 1828, Coventry.
James H., b. September 25, 1830, Coventry.
CHILDREN OF GEORGE W. AND SUSAN WHITCHER MANN. Ezra B., b. November 2, 1843.
Edward F., b. September 7, 1845.
George Henry, b. Feb. 19, 1848. Orman L. 2 b. December 18, 1852.
Osman C. S
George W. Mann m. 2d, Sarah, daughter of Gad Bisbee, February 1855.
CHILDREN .. Melvin J., b. March 8, 1856.
268
SOME THINGS ABOUT
Hosea B., b. May 27, 1858.
Susan M., b. January 3, 1860.
Minnie S., b. December 4, 1862. Moses B., b. January 20, 1865.
CHILDREN OF CHARLES C. AND DIANA BISHOP TYLER.
Lucetta S., b. April 15, 1848, m. Anos M. Pike.
Charles W., b. October 28, 1849.
Frederick M., b. July 17. 1851.
Alfred Elmore, b. April 7, 1853.
Hannah W., b. June 26, 1855.
Byron M., b. August 12, 1858.
Susan M., b. February 22, 1860, deceased.
Dexter E., b. November 12, 1862, deceased.
Leslie G., b. November 30, 1864.
May, b. May 30, 1867.
Carrol B., b. June 3, 1869.
CHILDREN OF DANIEL AND NANCY KNIGHT WHITCHER.
Kate K., b. May 16, 1853, [deceased.]
Moses K., b. November 28, 1855, d. April 9, 1862.
Nellie G., b. October 22, 1857, m. John Gauss, of Salem, Mass.
Lizzie R., b. July 16, 1859.
Carrie Ardelle, b. July 6, 1861.
Josie L., b. April 8, 1863.
Ira D., b. October 4, 1865, d. February 14, 1867. Mary B. B., b. February 10, 1869, [m. William V. Ashley. ]
Dan Scott, b. November 22, 1873, d. May 17, 1878.
William Sidney, son of John E. and Mahala Flan- ders Keyser, b. October 5, 1850.
269
COVENTRY-BENTON, N. H.
CHILDREN OF SAMUEL AND MERAB ROYCE HOWE.
Sarah R., b. October 20, 1837 ; m. 1st Parker Swa- sey, Cabot, Vt., killed in Battle of Wilderness ; 2d Truman W. Gray, Cambridge, Mass.
Julia, b. February, 1839, d. 1898 ; m. 1st Rev. H. S. Norris ; 2d Rev. Fred D. Chandler.
Luthera L., b. 1840, d. 1877; m. 1st Henry C. Wilmot ; 2d Paul N. Meader.
Phebe A., b. 1843, d. 1903, m. Paul N. Meader ..
Dorcas, b. January 31, 1845, m. Pardon W. Allen.
Fred S., b. December 1847, m. Mary Atkinson.
Royal R., b. 1849, d. 1851.
Halsey R., b. 1851, d. April 1904; m. 1st Martha Foster, of Bath, 2d Lilla Bisbee.
CHILDREN OF PARDON W. AND DORCAS HOWE ALLEN. Guy L., b. 1866, d. 1868.
Linwood H., b. 1871, d. 1894.
Effie E., b. 1874.
Ward W., b. June 23, 1877.
Frank W., b. July 9, 1879, d. 1881.
CHILDREN OF FRED M. AND LAURA KEYSER TYLER.
Edna W., b. September 13 1876.
Stella C., b. February 22, 1878.
Charlena C., b. September 20, 1879. Louis F.,
Leon E., S b. February 11, 1881.
Prescott Parker, Jr., b. November 30, 1821; Maria Fitzpatrick, b., November 9, 1832 ; married November 17, 1854.
270
SOME THINGS ABOUT
CHILDREN. Lebina H., b. November 18, 1855.
Frank B. b. August 29, 1857.
Dora A., b. August 19, 1859.
CHILDREN OF DANIEL M. AND SUSAN CLOUGH HOWE.
Kendrick L., b. March 12, 1856.
Paul M., b. July 1, 1860.
Sam, b. July 20, 1866. Kate S., b. November 20, 1870.
William T. Torsey and Irene W., daughter of Jonathan Batchelder Davis, m. April 21, 1852. CHILDREN. Emerline S., b. November 12, 1854. Amos G., b. April 21, 1861, deceased.
CHILDREN OF SAMUEL C. AND MARY SMITH ANNIS. George W., b. June 23, 1847.
Mary Jane, b. September 22, 1849, deceased.
John S., b. August 12, 1851, deceased.
Milo H., b. May 16, 1853.
Anna, b. May 10, 1856.
Alonzo, b. July 5, 1858, deceased.
Carrie, b. November 16, 1861, m. Martin L. Mitch- ell, of Belfast, Me.
Milo H. Annis and Emerline S., daughter of William T. and Irene W. Davis Torsey, m. December 26, 1874. CHILDREN. Ella Carrie, b. October 28, 1890, d. August 24, 1891. Emma, b. October 10, 1896.
Darius K. Davis, m. Susan E., daughter of Daniel and
271
COVENTRY-BENTON, N. H.
Phebe Eaton Howe, - 1853.
CHILDREN.
Addie, Dariah, b. November 12, 1854, m. O. D. Eastman, M. D.
James Page m. Olive Ann Hunkins June 4, 1863.
CHILDREN.
Ella Misselle, b. September 12, 1864, m. Frank H. Pope.
Norman J., b. November 13, 1866.
Ernest Tilden, b. May 18, 1876.
CHILDREN OF NOAH C. AND HANNAH JESSEMAN HUTCHINS.
Eveline, b. June 4, 1847, m. George E. Brown, Sep- tember 9, 1863.
Salmon J., b. October 13, 1849, m. Jennie, daugh- ter of William Hardin.
Caleb Wells, b. October 29, 1826; m. 1st, November 11, 1849, Martha H., daughter of Sylvester Gordon, b. September 11, 1828, d. February 21, 1871; m. 2d Lucy Ann, daughter of Slysvester Gordon, b. January 22, 1827, d. December 20, 1899.
CHILDREN.
Helen A., b. June 10, 1849, m., September 7, 1871, George C. Clifford, d. November 8, 1897.
Ella G., b. November 11, 1857, m., November 11, 1877, Edwin U. Hamlett.
Herbert E., b. November 10, 1861, m., November 19, 1882, Ida A. McGinnen ; d. May 8, 1899.
Scott, b. October 29, 1865; m., January 6, 1898, Belle M. Hadlock.
Addie Bell, b. September 11, 1867, d. January 5, 1869.
-
272
SOME THINGS ABOUT
George Wells, b. Benton, March 18, 1828, d. July 29, 1905. Caroline Morse, b. Haverhill, May 24, 1830, d. May 8, 1905, m. October 14, 1849.
CHILDREN.
Albinus, M., b. July 17, 1850.
Stella E., b. July 6, 1854.
Flavius M., b. November 20, 1860.
Frank E., b. February 16, 1863.
Arthur G., b. September 29, 1867.
Fred P., b. August 31, 1870.
Fred P., son of Edward L. and Emma L. Cox, b. No- vember 9, 1880.
Charles, son of Jeremiah B., Jr., and Melissa Davis, b. September 12, 1881.
Scott, son of Dennis and Myra Cooley Davis, b. March 24, 1881.
Ernest P., son of Edward E. and Emma C. Humphrey, b. July 12, 1881.
Nettie J., daughter of Edward M. and Josephine True, b. August 17, 1881.
Georgie E., daughter of Sylvester and Emma Wheeler, b. September 30, 1881.
William H., son of Edward and Victoria Gilman, b. Sep- tember 14, 1881.
Fennette, daughter of Charles and Anna Shaw, b. June 13, 1866.
Lillian B., daughter of Benjamin and Mary Gilchrist, b. June 1, 1886.
273
COVENTRY-BENTON, N. H.
Alexander, son of George and Rebecca Wilson, b. No- vember 13, 1886.
Carrie M., daughter of J. F. and Luvia. B. Foss, b. Au- gust 2, 1887.
Frank P., son of Gardner and Annie Hurlburt, b. Au- gust 3, 1887.
Horace F., son of David F. and Lillian Richardson, b. October 7, 1887.
Harold, son of David F. and Lillian Richardson, b. March 28, 1889.
Herbert C., son of Lewis E. and Gertrude French, b. January 9, 1890.
Ray M., son of William Sims and Minnie Sarah Nutter, b. August 31, 1890.
George, son of Murdock and Mary McLeod, b. March 20, 1891.
Edith C., daughter of Sam and Cora White Howe, b. June 20, 1891.
Lester, son of Fred E. and Delia E. Whiteman, b. July 23,1891.
Karl Gile, son of Horace R. and Blanche Spooner, b. August 31, 1891.
Robert F., son of Harry H. and Nora B. Elliott, b. April 25, 1892.
DEATHS.
Obadiah Eastman, Esquire, January 10, 1812.
Samuel Jackson, January 29, 1813.
274
SOME THINGS ABOUT
Elizabeth Eastman, January 30, 1813.
Moses Eastman, March 6, 1813.
Jesse Tyler, April 5, 1813.
Lucy, daughter of Kimball Tyler, May 4, 1813. Asa, son of Peter Eastman, August 14, 1814.
Abigail, daughter of Peter Eastman, May 20, 1813.
Ruth, wife of Obadiah Eastman, October 12, 1814.
Ebenezer Eastman, March 3, 1813. Jeremiah Jackson, June 12, 1817.
The town records down to the year 1881 are barren of necrology, except the few foregoing records which appear in the earliest book. Those recorded since and including 1881 are as follows :
Mrs. Philena Hutchins, June 18, 1881, ae. 93.
George Henry Stowe, son of William C. and Eunice Brooks Stowe, December 29, 1881, ae. 31.
Mary L., wife of Jeremiah B. Davis, Jr., August 12, 1881, ae. 26.
Allie A., wife of Kendrick L. Howe, February 28, 1882, ae. 17.
George E. Shaw, April 16, 1885, ae. 44.
Nelson B. Lindsay, December 13, 1886, ae. 62.
Lyman Bemis, Jr., January 1887, ae. 47.
Matilda K. Lindsay, April 4, 1887, ae. 61.
Lucius Hutchins, September 18, 1887, ae. 77.
Israel Flanders, December 10, 1887, ae. 87.
275
COVENTRY-BENTON, N. H.
Martha Norris, October 6, 1888, ae. 82.
Merab, wife of Samuel Howe, November 24, 1888, ae. 76. Jane King, May 12, 1889, ae. 63.
David M. Norris, May 24, 1889, ae. 74.
Herbert, son of Halsey R. Howe, December 17, 1889, ae. 11.
Mary J., wite of Alonzo Spooner, December 29, 1889, ae. 49.
James Norris, December 27, 1890, ae. 77.
Susan K., wife of Jeremiah B. Davis, January 29, 1891, ae. 79.
John O. Keyser, February 14, 1891, ae. 69.
John Wilson, May 4, 1891, ae. 79.
Georgie A., wife of William W. Eastman, April 19, 1892, ae. 31.
Phebe M. Gilman, June 2, 1892, ae. 51.
Mary F., wife of Samuel C. Annis, August 27, 1892, ae. 67.
Alantha, wife of Spafford W. Cowan, November 24, 1892, ae. 73.
Eliza L. Keyser, June 22, 1893, ae. 78.
Laura E., wife of F. M. Tyler, October 16, 1893, ae. 36. William T. Torsey, March 6, 1894, ae. 65.
Polly, wife of Israel Flanders, July 27, 1894, ae. 96.
Sally Bailey, wife of Samuel A. Mann, April 20, 1895, ae. 85.
276
SOME THINGS ABOUT
Alden Cooley, March 26, 1896, ae. 75.
John E. Keyser, January 7, 1896, ae. 73.
William Hardin, December 10, 1896, ae. 85.
Hannah Torsey, wife of William T. Torsey, July 30, 1897, ae. 73.
Carrie S., wife of Byron M. Tyler, August 20, 1897, ae. 37. :
William H. Annis, December 30, 1897, ae. 65.
Prescott Parker, June 13, 1898, ae. 76.
Samuel C. Annis, March 15, 1899, ae. 83.
Samuel Howe, February 13, 1899, ae. 86.
Charles T. Collins, May 10, 1899, ae. 68.
Myrtie E., wife of John Wallace, February 26, 1900, ae. 26.
Charles B. Keyser, March 24, 1900, ae. 74.
Susan E., wife of George H. Clark, April 26, 1900, ae. 41.
George W. Mann, January 6, 1901, ae. 79. Ann R. Hutchins, February 9, 1901, ae. 84. Lydia A. Merrill, February 11, 1901, ae. 64. John C. Speed, March 13, 1901, ae. 64.
John S. Annis, May 16, 1903, ae. 50.
277
COVENTRY-BENTON, N. H.
CHAPTER XII.
A FUTURE SUMMER RESORT.
It is a little difficult to explain why Benton has never be- come a summer resort town. It certainly has every natural advantage. It is a mountain town, Moosilauke, Black, Sugar Loaf and Owls Head, or Blueberry mountains cover- ing nearly its entire territory. The view from Moosilauke is one in which the combination of beauty and grandeur is unrivaled in the entire mountain region of New Hampshire. A small hotel was erected on its summit in 1860, which has since been enlarged, and in most seasons is well patronized, but the great mass of tourists pass it by, continuing their journey to the White and Franconia moun- tain region. The summit is a little difficult of access, there being but one carriage road, that leading from Warren, with foot paths and bridle paths from North Woodstock and North Benton. Moosilauke, gem of the mountain region, will sometime, however, come into its own and its glories will have the wide recognition they so richly merit. Within the last three years Mr. L. H. Parker has erected a commo- dious hotel near the base of the mountain on the North Ben- ton side which is already attracting deserved attention and patronage, aud which can hardly fail to become a popular resort. But the charm of Benton scenery lies along the road which skirts the northern edge of the town. This road over- looks the picturesque valley of the Wild Ammonoosuc and for a distance of five miles gives views of Moosilauke, the Kinsman range in Easton, with Lafayette rising in the dis-
278
SOME THINGS ABOUT
tance beyond, views that for rare beauty rival any to be found in the state. Bethlehem, Whitefield, Jefferson, Jack- son, Sugar Hill and Franconia have been discovered and their discovery utilized. Benton awaits its discoverer. He is coming, and the farms of North Benton which have not as yet grown up to forest will in the not distant future become the summer homes of statesmen, diplomats, financiers, au- thors, artists, poets and divines. Why not? The town has every natural advantage of elevation, scenic grandeur and beauty, and location. It has a magnificent destiny.
The view from the summit of Moosilauke must be seen to be appreciated. It surpasses that obtained from any other New England peak, since its 5000 feet of elevation is to a large extent isolated, with no nearby neighbors of like ele- vation to make the prospect a great billowy sea of mountains like that seen from the summit of Mount Washington. There is a beauty in the broad flat area of the summit at first sight seeming so desolate and barren, which attracts when one comes to give it a little attention. In the summer sunlight it is green with mosses and lichens, thirty kinds of mosses, while harebells and mountain cranberries with their million of flowers make it seem like a garden with a green border of firs and spruces and birches below. And then, except for the sing- ing of the purple finches, snow birds and the mountain whistler, which are now and then heard on a summer day- the splendid silence. During a period of a quarter of a century there were few more frequent visitors to the summit of Moosilauke than William Little, the historion of Warren. None have ever studied with more painstaking care the pano- rama of scenic beauty spread out on every hand, and none ever more thoroughly appreciated it. Take this, his descrip- tion of a sunset view :
CARRIAGE ROAD AND HOTEL, SUMMIT OF MOOSILAUKE, 5,006 FEET ABOVE THE SEA.
279
COVENTRY-BENTON, N. H.
The sun is going down, and it is cold you say. Let us travel with our eyes around the whole horizon ..
Look over to the south first. How the ruby light is gleaming on Lake Winnepisseogee, "The Smile of the Great Spirit;" see that tall shaft just on the horizon beyond. It is Bunker Hill monument standing "down by the sea." Carry your eye round to the west: Mt. Belknap is first, then Wachusett in Massachusetts, the Unca- noonucks, and to the right of them, Jo English, Kearsage, Mt. Cardigan, Monadnock, and Croydon mountains. Close by is Water_ nomee, Cushman, Kineo, Mount Carr, Stinson mountain in Rum- ney, Smart's mountain in Dorchester, Mt. Cube in Orford, Sentinel mountain in Warren, and Piermont mountain.
Across the Connecticut river to the southwest is Ascutney, and beyond it, further down, is Saddle mountain, Graylock, and Berk- shire hills, in Massachusetts. Then wheeling round towards the north are Killington peaks, sharp and needle like, shooting up above the neighboring hills; farther north and directly west, is Camel's Hump, unmistakable in its appearance; then Mt. Mans- field, towering above the thousand other summits of the Green mountains.
Above and beyond them, in the farthest distance, are counted nine sharp peaks of the Adirondacks in New York, Mt. Marcy higher than all the rest. To-morrow morning at sunrise you will see the fog floating up from Lake Champlain this side of them.
In the northwest is Jay peak on Canada line, and to the right of it you see a hundred summits rising from the table lands of Canada. Then there is the notch at Memphremagog lake, Owl's head by Willoughby lake, and Monadnock in northern Vermont.
Close down is Black mountain, Owl's head of New Hampshire, and Blueberry, Hogback and Sugarloaf mountains in Benton. Then north is Cobble hill in Landaff; Gardner mountain in Bath and Lyman, and Stark Peaks away up in northern Coos.
To the right, and stretching away in the northeast in Maine, you see a long rolling range of hills, the water-shed between the At- lantic ocean and the St. Lawrence river, said by Agassiz to be the oldest land in the world. East of these is the white summit of the Aziscoos, by Umbagog lake.
Nearest and to the north-east is Mt. Kinsman, the Profile moun- tain; and above and over them Mt. Lafayette, its sides scarred and jagged where a hundred torrents pour down in spring, its peaks splintered by lightning. South of this and near by, are the Hay-
-
280
SOME THINGS ABOUT
stacks. Over and beyond the latter are the Twins, more than five thousand feet high ; and just to the right of them Mt. Washington, dome shaped and higher than all fhe rest. Around this monarch of mountains, as if attendant upon him, are Mts. Adams and Jef- ferson, sharp peaks on the left, and Mt. Moriah, the Imp, Mt. Mad- ison and Monroe, Mt. Webster, the Willey Notch precipice, Double head, and a hundred other great mountains standing to the right and front.
A little to the south is Carrigan, 4,800 feet high, black and sombre, most attractive and most dreaded, not a white spot nor a scar upon it; covered with dark woods like a black pall, symetrical and beautiful, the eye turns away to return to it again and again. Mt. Pigwacket in Conway, its neighbor, always seem gray in the hazy distance, Chocorua rises farther south, and Welch mountain, Osceola, Whiteface, Ossipee, Agmenticus, on the sea coast; Mt. Prospect and Red hill fill up the circle.
This view to the north and east is the most magnificent mountain view to be had on this side of the continent. The most indifferent observer cannot look upon it without feeling its grandeur and sublimity.
Forty ponds and lakes are sparkling under the setting sun. Two in Woodstock, the little tarn in the meadow where the Asquam- chumake rises; Stinson pond in Rumney, Lake Winnepisseogee, Winnesquam, Long bay, Smith's pond, Squam lake, Mascoma lake, two ponds in Dorchester, Baker ponds in Orford, Indian pond, Fairlee Pond, and numerous others in Vermont; Tarleton lakes, Wachipauka pond, by which Rogers and his rangers camped, Kel- ley, and Horse-shoe ponds; two others in Haverhill, Beaver mead- ow ponds in Benton, and many more with names unknown; how they all gleam and glisten, and look like silvery sheens.
The Pemigewassett, the Asquamchumake, the Ammonoosuc, and the Connecticut, from their wooded valleys are flashing in the setting sun.
The villages with their church spires are gleaming. See Brad- ford, Haverhill Corner, East and North Haverhill, Newbury, Woods- ville and Wells River, down there in the Connecticut valley. A hundred spires are shining on the hills of Vermont .. Landaff and Bath are lighted up, and Warren, Wentworth, Campton, Franco- nia, Lake Village, and Laconia all come distinctly out as the sun goes down.
Now see the sun just touching the Adirondacks beyond Lake
TIP TOP HOUSE, MOUNT MOOSILAUKE.
PARKER HOUSE, BASE OF MOOSILAUKE ON TUNNEL STREAM.
281
.
COVENTRY-BENTON, N. H.
Champlain in the west. There is a rosy blush on the White moun- tains, the Green mountains are golden, while all the peaks behind which the sun is going down are bathed in a sea of glorious light. How it changes! Darkness creeps over the eastern peaks, the Green mountains are going into shadows, the vermillion, pink, ruby, and gold of the Adirondacks, is fading away, and the stars are coming out.
But look ! there is a silver line on the eastern horizon. 'Tis the moon rising. But Luna don't come from behind the hills. Her upper limb as she creeps up is distant twice her diameter from the land horizon. That bright band twixt moon and earth is the ocean. It is a sight seldom seen from New Hampshire's moun- tains.
The view is the grand thing of Moosehillock. But if it should happen to be cloudy, as is frequently the case, there is much of interest about the top of the mountain. Garnets an inch in diam- eter, with perfect faces are found by the carriage road, forty rods from the house. The best tourmalines in New Hampshire are also obtained in the same locality. Down in the Tunnel are magnifi- cent quartz crystals. On the south peak is a curious furrow. Mr. James Clement says it was undoubtedly plowed by an iceberg drift- ing from the north-east to the south-west, when New Hampshire mountains were under the ocean. No person can fail to notice it. "Jobildunc" ravine where the Asquamauke leaps down a thousand feet at an angle of 80 degrees, is much visited. The Seven Cas- cades between the two peaks of the mountain on Gorge brook, are also well worth a visit. The stream descends at a sharp angle eight hundred feet over a series of steps, and after a great rain is a most magnificent sight.
One of these days the Moosilauke Railroad Co. will utilize its charter and build its road from Glencliffe Station on the Boston & Maine to the summit of Moosilauke and a new chapter in the history of this mountain town will then begin.
282
SOME THINGS ABOUT
CHAPTER XIII.
SOME MORE THINGS.
From data which have been furnished the author by Hon. Ezra S. Stearns, of Fitchburg, Mass., it is evident that the grantees of the town of Coventry were residents of the ancient towns of Stamford and Norwalk, Connecticut, the most of them living in Stamford and many in that parish of the town which is now New Canaan. Mr. Stearns in the course of his historical research and work on the histories of Fitch- burg, Mass., and Rindge, N. H., became familiar with the early records of these early Connecticut towns, and a com- parison of the names of the grantees, as given in the charter of Coventry, with names he has found in the Stamford and Norwalk records settles the question of the residence and identity of grantees beyond all reasonable doubt.
Theophilus Fitch, son of John Fitch, and second cousin of Governor Thomas Fitch, lived during his lifetime in Nor- walk, which adjoined Stamford until new towns were created by division of older towns. He was a magistrate from 1754 to 1776. In 1754 he was chosen a deputy to the General Assembly from the town of Norwalk, and was apparently a prominent man of his time. He had ten children born in Norwalk, 1737-1758.
John Fansher (more commonly called Fancher) lived in Stamford, m., November 17, 1736, Eunice Bouton.
John Fancher, Jr., son of John and Eunice, b. July 15, 1737, lived in Stamford.
William Fancher, son of John and Eunice Fancher, b.
-
283
COVENTRY-BENTON, N. H.
November 13, 1739 ; m. in New Canaan Parish, January 2, 1776, Sarah Smith.
Eliphalet Sealey lived in Stamford, m., December 10, 1724, Sarah Holley. He had eight children, and among them Eliphalet, Jr., Wix and Sylvanus.
Wix Sealey, son of Eliphalet and Sarah, m., November 4, 1756, Mary St. John, and probably settled in New Canaan.
Eliphalet Sealey, Jr., b. in Stamford April 10, 1730, m., May 10, 1750, Sarah Scrivner.
Sylvanus Sealey, son of Eliphalet and Sarah, b. Novem- ber 17, 1738, m., April 7, 1758, Rebecca Tuttle.
Obadiah Sealey, son of Obadiah, b. May 8, 1728, m., May 10, 1750, Abigail Crissey, a sister of Samuel Crissey, grantee, and lived in Stamford.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.