USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Some things about Coventry-Benton, New Hampshire (town history) > Part 3
USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Benton > Some things about Coventry-Benton, New Hampshire (town history) > Part 3
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Jonathan Marston followed his brother David, about 1807, and settled on the North and South road, clearing the farm which remained his homestead until his death, and which is no v owned by Alfred Morrill. His sons, Orrin, Bartlett and Jonathan Hale, all established themselves in town, but later removed, J. Hale going to the northern part of New York, Orrin to Franconia and Bartlett to Woods-
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ville. Jonathan was married to Phebe, daughter of Peter How, who came to Landaff from Bradford in 1792. Of the children of Peter How, four besides Mrs. Marston came early to Coventry, Daniel How, who settled on the hill to the south of William Coolidge's, first settlement, Peter How Jr., who about 1808 settled a little to the west of William Whitcher, Nathaniel How, who came a little later, and Mary, wife of Major Samuel Mann, who came still later. These were all thrifty, substantial people, who added to the prosperity of the new settlement. Daniel How was twice married and had a large family. His youngest son, Daniel M. Howe, with several of his grandchildren and great- grand children, still reside in town. None of the descend- ants of Peter How, are now in town, and none of his chil- dren are now living. Nathaniel How died comparatively young. One son, Nathaniel Goodall Howe, is now (1904) living in Lafayette, Ind., where he has been a leading citi- zen and prosperous man of business, and is greatly interest- ed in his native town.
The Tyler brothers, Kimball, Elisha and Jesse, came to Coventry from Landaff about the year 1807. Elisha set- tled on lot No. 6, Gerrish survey, next to Landaff line, and the farm became in time a large one, noted for its fine or- chards and fruit trees, but has long since been abandoned, and is now almost entirely covered with forest growth. Jes- se Tyler settled in the same neighborhood, while Kimball settled further toward the west on the farm just off the road leading from the meeting house to Tunnel stream, near its junction with the county road to Easton. He lived there until his death, and to him and his wife, Sally Streeter, were born a family of fourteen children, all of whom grew to manhood and womanhood, and several of whom remained
PETER HOWE.
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in town. Several of his grandchildren are at the present time residents of Benton and are prominently identified with its interests. Kimball Tyler was born Sept 17, 1783. His wife, Sally Streeter, was born Feb. 28, 1784. They were married in Landaff, Apr. 15, 1805, and soon afterwards re- moved to Coventry.
Abraham Norris came to Coventry from Bath in 1809, and settled on the corner lot adjoining Bath and Haverhill. The farm is now owned by Lebina H. Parker. Two of his sons, David Marston Norris and James Norris, and one daughter, Martha Norris, were lifelong residents of the town. Daniel Noyes, a brother of the wife of William Whitcher, came from Landaff to Coventry about the same time, but remained only a few years, when he returned to Landaff.
In the year 1812 the different sections of the town had been settled, and there were 33 ratable polls, twelve of whom were in the north part of the town, while the other twenty-one had their homes on "the Meadows," at "High Street" and in the "Page District." But the settlement of the town had been begun. The town was yet a wilderness, with clearings here and there, which were the beginnings of the farms of the next generation. The Jonathan Hale farm comprised more than a thousand acres, and the inven- tory of 1812 showed that in this tract there were 20 acres of arable land, 20 acres of mowing land, and 30 acres of pas- turage. Robert Elliott had five acres of arable land, four acres of mowing, and ten acres of pasturage. The Obadiah Eastman farm had four acres of arable land, 24 acres of mowing, and 32 acres of pasturage. On the north side of the town William Coolidge had ten acres each of mowing and pasture. David Marston six acres each, Jonathan Mar- ston ten acres each, Elijah Wilson five acres each, Jesse
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Tyler ten acres each, Daniel How two acres each, William Whitcher five acres each, and Peter How, Jr., five acres of mowing and three acres of pasturage. At "High Street" Samuel and Robert Jackson had three acres of arable land, 11 of mowing, and 15 of pasture, and on "the Meadows" James and Elisha Ford had one acre of arable, 11 of mow- ing and eight of pasture. The other settlements were only small clearings. In the entire township there were barely three hundred acres redeemed from the wilderness. The roads from the north of the town were little more than bri- dle paths, and except that through "the Meadows," were hardly worthy of the name of roads. That through the "North and South Woods" had been bushed out and ox- carts could possibly be driven over it during the summer, and horses hitched to sleds could make their way during the winter, but these answered the purpose, since there were no chaises or carriages in town. The settlers had little to sell. They made maple sugar, and potash from the abundant wood ashes resulting from the land clearings. They raised some herds grass and clover, from which they threshed and winnowed out seed for sale, but exports to the towns of Ha- verhill and Bath were few, and imports were less, since a little money must be obtained in some way with which to pay taxes. The dwellings were, for the most part, especial- ly in North Coventry, built of logs and were small and prim- itive structures ; the furniture was of the simplest, and the problem was to secure enough from the soil in the way of food upon which to obtain a bare subsistence. Clothing was home made from flax or wool, and each of the primitive homes of the town obtained by dint of ingenuity and pains- taking effort the manufactured article from the raw material, The flax was raised, rotted, broken, hackeled, spun and
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woven ; the wool was sheared, washed, carded, rolled, spun and woven, and the resultant cloth was by home hands made to do for the ever increasing families, for children were the most prolific crop. In the inventory for 1812 there are no sheep enumerated, and there doubtless but few in town, cos- sets kept near the door, for many years were yet to pass be- fore sheep and lambs would be safe from bears, wolves and the Siberian lynxes, with which the forests abounded. Some of the housewives obtained now and then a fleece of wool from a Landaff or a Warren neighbor in exchange for knots of "tow and linen" yarn, but wool and cloth were precious commodities, The buildings in the town, housing forty families, were valued this same year at $2415. They were hardly dwellings with all modern improvements. As for other property there were 39 horses, 32 oxen and 139 cows and other neat stock from one year old and upwards. There seems to have been one capitalist in town, for Obadiah Whitcher, who lived near the Warren line, was assessed for $200 money at interest. The hardships borne by these ear- ly settlers, and their contentment and cheerfullness under these hardships seem at the present time almost incredible. Some of them gave up the contest and migrated to other towns where they deemed conditions more favorable, but those who remained illustrated the theory of the scientists as to the "survival of the fittest."
The beginning had been made. A town government had been made. The first town meeting was warned by Obadi- ah Eastman, Esq., to be held December 30, 1801, at the dwelling house of Major Jonathan Hale, on request of the following freeholders of the town :
Robert Elliott, James Ford,
Samuel Jackson,
Samuel Jackson, Jr.,
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Salmon Niles, Elisha Ford,
Obadiah Eastman, Jr.,
James Eastman,
Samuel Marston, Barnabas Niles.
The officers chosen were : moderator, Obadiah Eastman ; town clerk, Salmon Niles ; selectmen, Samuel Jackson, Oba- diah Eastman, Barnabas Niles ; constable, Elisha Ford. This meeting was simply for organization. The first regu- lar March town meeting was held March 9, 1802. At this meeting the officers elected were : moderator, Barnabas Niles ; town clerk, Salmon Niles ; selectmen, Samuel Jack- son, Obadiah Eastman, William Coolidge; constable, Elisha Ford ; surveyors of highways, James Eastman, Bar- nabas Niles. It was voted to raise the sum of thirty-eight dollars for the support of schools, eighteen dollars to defray town charges and forty dollars for the purpose of repairing roads. It was also voted that "each man working on the road be allowed seven cents an hour, a yoke of oxen the same, each man to find his own diet and tools." At this meeting no votes appear to have been cast tor Governor, Councillor, Senator and County officers. Perhaps the town authorities did not understand that they had suffrage rights in this matter. March 24, 1802 the freeholders and other voters of Coventry and Haverhill met at the dwelling house of Major Jona. Hale, innholder, for the choice of a represent- ative to the General Court. Dr. Ross Coon, of Haverhill, was chosen moderator and Col. Moody Bedell, of Haverhill, representative. The meetings for the choice of representa- tive appear to have been held subsequently in Haverhill until Coventry, in 1807, was classed with Warren for the choice of representative, and the meeting was again held in Coven- try. A meeting was held August 30, 1802 for the purpose of voting for members of Congress at which eight votes
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were cast, all for the regular candidates of the Federalist party, Samuel Tenney, Silas Betton, Clifton Claggett, Sam- uel Hunt and David Hough.
The growth of the town during the next ten years is indi- cated to some extent by the appropriations made at the an- nual town meeting of 1812. It was voted to raise seventy dollars for schools ; thirty dollars to defray town charges, and two hundred dollars for making and repairing highways. These were certainly liberal appropriations in view of the in- ventory of taxable property in the town to which reference has already been made. The names of the voters in the town as appearing on the check list in this latter year were :
Jonathan Hale,
Benjamin Woodbury,
Philip Knowton,
William Mead,
Salmon Niles,
Hugh Matthews,
Stephen Jeffers,
Daniel Davis,
Levi Doty,
Robert Elliott,
William Whitcher,
Peter Howe,
Daniel Howe,
Jesse Tyler,
Daniel Noyes,
Kimball Tyler,
William Coolidge,
David Marston,
Jonathan Marston,
Abraham Norris,
Joseph E. Marston,
Obadiah Eastman,
James Eastman,
Moses Eastman,
Peter Eastman,
Samuel Jackson,
Samuel Jackson, Jr.,
Robert Jackson,
James Ford,
Elisha Ford,
Abner Willoughby,
Samuel Aspinwall,
Obadiah Whitcher,
Elkanah Danforth.
Here were 34 legal voters, but the highest vote cast for state officers was but 24.
For Governor, William Plummer received 12.
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John Taylor Gilman, 8.
For Councillor, Abel Merrill, 19.
Jonathan Franklin, 5.
The independent voter was abroad, but the Jeffersonian Democracy was in the majority, which was all the more ap- parent at the November election, when the eight Madison electors received ten votes each, to one each for the Clinton electors.
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COVENTRY-BENTON, N. H.
1180995
CHAPTER III. LATER COMERS AND GROWTH.
The growth of Coventry was not rapid during the next generation, counting a generation's life at thirty-three years, but it had been healthy and sure. It was still in 1835 a backwoods town, with poor roads, inadequate schools, with- out a church edifice, post-office or store, but the population had nearly trebled, being about 400, and the legal voters at the annual March meeting of 1835 numbered a little up- wards of ninety, though for state and county officers but seventy-four votes were polled. The check list for that year contained the following names :
Abel Batchelder,
Nathan B Davis,
Israel H. Davis,
Jonathan Davis,
Jeremiah B. Davis,
Jonathan Noyes,
Kimball Tyler,
Edwin Tyler,
Samuel Howe,
David Whitcher,
Jacob Whitcher,
Chellis Goodwin,
James Hinkley,
Jesse Hinkley,
Kinsley H. Batchelder,
Daniel Howe,
Samuel Mann,
Abraham Norris,
William Howe,
George W. Cogswell,
Nathan Coburn,
Ara Smith,
William Whitcher,
Moses Whitcher,
William Whitcher, Jr.,
Amos Whitcher,
William Hand,
Amos Kimball,
Samuel Kimball,
Richard Brown,
John S. Batchelder,
Joseph S. Lock, John K. Davis,
Enos Wells,
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Orrin Marston,
Jonathan Marston,
Thomas French,
James H. Cox,
Winthrop G. Torsey,
Moses Torsey,
1
Charles K. Merrill,
Israel Flanders,
James Flanders,
John Brown,
William Mann,
John Stowe,
John Stowe, Jr.,
Francis Oakes,
William Keyser,
Elisha Tyler,
Humphrey P. Tyler,
Benjamin C. Hutchins,
Timothy Ayer,
Alvah Ayer, Milton Southard,
J. P. Ayer,
Joseph Rollins,
Elijah S. Gray.
Elijah Gray,
Barzilla Pierce,
Jonathan Welch,
Chase Whitcher, Jr.,
Hugh Matthews,
Jesse Eastman,
Jesse Eastman, Jr.,
Benjamin M. Eastman,
John Jeffers,
Josiah F. Jeffers,
John Lathrop,
Calvin Bailey,
Jacob Currier,
Elisha Ford,
James Ford,
Daniel Batchelder,
Deliverance Woodward,
Weare Leavitt,
David Chase,
Arthur L. Pike,
Levi Bradish,
Phineas Gould,
Rexford Peirce,
Aaron Knight,
Moses Mead,
Jonathan Hale,
James Kent,
James J. Page,
Stephen Jeffers,
David Page,
Samuel Page,
Edward P. Coolidge,
Niles Doty,
William Doty,
Peter Howe,
Robert Coburn.
With the exception of two farms subsequently cleared at the base of Moosilauke up the Tunnel stream, and in two or
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three other localities, where farms were afterwards cleared adjoining those already settled, the settlement of the town was in 1835 complete. Its subsequent growth was largely from the inside rather than from the outside. The land ca- pable of cultivation had been taken up and the period of set- tlement was being followed by a period of development. The early poverty had been to some extent overcome as is evidenced by the fact that in the inventory for the year three taxpayers were assessed for property valued at upwards of $2000, viz. ; Moses and William Whitcher, Jr., $2138, Deliverance Woodward $2361, and Moses Mead $2231, while several, Kinsley H. Batchelder, Daniel Howe, Nathan Coburn, Enos Wells, Daniel Batchelder, David Chase, Aaron Knight, and Peter Howe were each assessed upon property valued at $1000 and upwards. Two taxpayers had money at interest, Elder George W. Cogswell, a minister of the Free Will Baptist denomination, and Moses Mead, be- ing assessed for $300 each.
Of those coming into town and becoming with their fami- lies permanent residents between the years 1812 and 1835, some merit more than passing notice. John Buswell came from Hill in the year 1812 and entered the employment of Dr. Thatcher Goddard. His wife was Lucinda Pike, a sis- ter of Isaac Pike, of Haverhill, Mrs. James Harriman, of Warren, and of Arthur L. Pike, who for several years was a resident of Coventry, though he afterwards removed to Ha- verhill. Mr. Buswell subsequently removed to Warren, then to Haverhill, but later returned to Coventry purchasing the farm at the west end of "the Meadows" where he lived until his death in 1858. He was a man of much force of character, an old time Federalist, a devoted Whig, a wor- shiper of Henry Clay, and in 1855 cast one of the two last
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Whig ballots ever polled in town. His family of thirteen children, with one exception, lived to the estate of manhood and womanhood. One son, Moses P. Buswell, lived for many years in town, afterwards removing to Haverhill, where he still resides.
Stephen Jeffers and Levi Doty settled in what afterwards became the "Page District" in 1812. The Dotys were for several years residents of the town, but later removed to Haverhill. In 1813 James and Elisha Ford were occupy- ing the meadow farm afterwards known as the A. L. Warren farm while Daniel Davis, Esq., and William Mead had also established themselves on the Meadows. On the north side of the town Samuel Morrill and James Rogers were among the new comers. James Rogers came from Greenfield, Mass., and married Hepzibah Tyler, a sister of Kimball Tyler, May 9, 1813. Samuel Morrill married Rhoda Howe, a sister of Peter Howe. Chase Whitcher, Jr.,had begun a settlement on the North and South road about a mile distant from Jonathan Marston's to the South, and was married March 21, 1813 to Mary Green, of New Holderness. They had no issue, and his farm is now a part of the forest lands of the International Paper Co. Asa Hinkley also settled the same year next to Landaff line a little to the east of the Abraham Norris farm, but a few years later removed with his sons, James and Jesse, just over the line in Haverhill.
The new settlers in 1814 were William Rogers, Moses Torsey, Robert Rollins, Joseph Rollins, Michael Moulton and Jacob Moulton on the north side of the town. Moses Torsey settled to the east of the North and South road on the farm afterwards owned by his son Winthrop G. Torsey. During his occupancy of the farm he trapped and killed forty-nine bears and just missed his fiftieth through the
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COVENTRY-BENTON, N. H.
theft of his trap. His son, Winthop G. Torsey, lived in town until his death at an advanced age, serving on the board of selectmen, and filling various town offices. One of his sons, Moses Torsey, Jr., moved to Haverhill. One daughter, Sally, married Elisha Kimball of Methuen, Mass., another, Betsey, married Robert Coburn, and an- other, Mary, married Orrin Marston, both of Coventry. William T. Torsey, son of Winthrop G., was also promi- nent in town affairs. His only daughter, Emeline, is the wife of Milo H. Annis, of Woodsville. The family was noted for thrift, economy and the virtues of a strict Puritan- ism. On the south and west the new comers were Nathan Fifield, William Fifield, Isaac Fifield, William Bickford, Elkanah Danforth and Sylvanus Emery, but none of them remained long in town.
The check list for 1815 shows but forty names. The hard times following the second war with England had produced their due effect and at the March meeting held at the house of James Eastman at "High Street" only 20 of the 40 voters made their appearance. The north side of the town was represented only by Peter Howe and William Whitcher. William Coolidge, Daniel Howe, David and Jonathan Marston, Samuel Morrill, Abraham Norris, Kim- ball, Elisha and Jesse Tyler and Moses Torsey were not present. With the two exceptions named the voters were all from the south and west part of the town, and but two new names appeared on the list of voters, Samuel Fairbanks and Nathan Barber. It is perhaps unnecessary to state that the north part of the town was not recognized in the choice of town officers.
In 1816 three new names appeared on the check list, Eli- jah Gray, Nathan Willey and Moses L. Hobart. Elijah
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Gray settled on what is now a part of the Dickey farm, so called, near High Street, and his buildings were a little to the east of the buildings on that farm. His farm has for the most part grown up to forest, and the site of the farm house is marked by an old cellar near the Moosilauke path. Moses L. Hobart kept the tavern on the Meadows, and dur- ing his stay in town was active in town affairs. There were but thirty-seven names on the list.
In 1817 several new names appeared on the check list, among them : Moses Knight, Ira Martin, Enos Wells, Samuel Page and James B. Davis. Moses Knight came from Landaff and purchased the William Coolidge farm, which later passed into the possession of Joseph Annis. Moses Knight with his sons were hard working men, but re- mained in town but a few years when they removed to East Haverhill. Ira Martin came from Bradford and settled on the road leading from North Benton to Haverhill. His wife was Sally Flanders, of Haverhill, whom he married March 7,1802.
Perhaps the most notable new voter was Capt. Enos Wells who came from Canaan in 1816 and established him- self on the South road, his farm afterwards becoming the property of his son George. For a period of more than thirty years Capt. Enos Wells was a personality to be reck- oned with in all affairs of the town, social, religious, po- litical. Social affairs in those early days clustered around the military order. Training days and muster days were great days, and Captain Enos Wells was a marked figure on these occasion. He was a man of religious fervor, and long before a church edifice had been erected in town he was one of the first to welcome the itinerant Methodist preachers and early identified himself with that denomination. Cap-
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COVENTRY-BENTON, N. H.
tain Wells had a gift for politics, as is evidenced by the fact that two years after his advent in town, in 1818, he was elected selectman and from that time on, until he retir- ed from the active affairs of life, he was almost constantly in the service of the town as selectman or representative in the General Court. In 1827 he was chosen representative from the classed towns of Warren and Coventry, and at the an- nual town meeting in 1828 he was chosen agent to secure from the legislature an act permitting Coventry to send a representative by itself. He was successful in securing the desired legislation, and in 1829 was awarded the honor of being Coventry's first representative in the Great and Gener- al Court. Capt. Wells was a man of fair education, of great shrewdness and tact, and on a larger field of action would have won great fame as a politician. His children by his first marriage all died in infancy. He married for his second wife Sally Clark, of Landaff, who bore him three sons, Caleb, George and Enos C., all of whom are still living, the two first named in Haverhill, and the youngest in Lynn, Mass. Capt. Wells in later years built himself a house on Whitcher brook, near his sawmill, where he resid- ed until his death, while for several years previous to their removal from town, his sons occupied farms on the South road, so called, in near proximity to that of their father. At present all of these are numbered among the abandon- ed farms of the town, and only the remnants of a dam mark the site where the sawmill once stood.
Samuel Page also came to Coventry, from Haverhill, Mass., in 1816, and purchased one of the farms in the Wil- lard survey. He was known as "Bear" Page, just why does not appear. It may have been to distinguish him from another Samuel Page, or the nickname may have been given
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him from some personal peculiarity, or still again, and what is more probable, it may have been given from the number of bears, with which the mountain forests abounded, he had been successful in killing. He was never himself prominent in town affairs, but of his five sons, three, James J., David and Daniel D., became influential citizens. David remained in town but a few years, married Margaret Taylor, of Derry, and removed to Haverhill Corner, where he was engaged in various speculative enterprises, and was from 1844 until his death, a member of the Grafton County bar. His son, Samuel T. Page, graduated from Dartmouth in 1871, was admitted to the bar, resided in Haverhill, repre- sented that town in the state legislature, was Register of Probate for several years, removed to Manchester, and in 1903 returned to Haverhill, where he is still practicing his profession. A daughter, Elvira, married Hon. Alvin Bur- leigh, of Plymouth. Another daughter, Martha, died soon after her marriage to a Mr. Whitney, of Keene.
James J. Page, son of Samuel, received a good educa- tion, and for years followed the occupation of schoolmaster during the winter season, caring for his farm in the summer. Many elderly people have vivid recollections of him as school master, a man well versed in the "three R's", and strong on discipline, even though maintained by "birch and rule." Several of his daughters were teachers, notably, Eliza, Laura, Elizabeth and Mary, while his son, James, was one of the famous district schoolmasters of the day. Norman, the son of James, is following the profession of teacher, and is at present principal of a high school in the southern part of the state. There was a sort of teach- ing instinct in the family. James J. Page entered actively into town affairs almost on attaining his majority, served as
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COVENTRY-BENTON, N. H.
superintending school committee, selectman, representative to the General Court, and, in the days when the voters of the town had become, almost without exception, Democrats, and the unanimous Democracy had become divided into fac- tions, was the acknowledged leader of the Page faction or party. His brother, Daniel D. Page, was only less promi- nent in the affairs of the town. He served as selectman, as member of the legislature, and held various town offices, at times and seasons when it was thought safer for him to be a candidate than for his brother James. While James J., late in life removed to Haverhill, buying a small farm on the river road a little south of the Newbury bridge, Daniel D. remained in town until his death, but each of his four sons left town soon after reaching their majority. James Page married Olive A., daughter of Jonathan Hunkins, who had settled at the end of the road on the Tunnel Strean, and set- tled on the farm of his father, living there until his death, the farm since being in the possession of his widow and children. It is the only farm in the south or west section of the town which has remained in the same family through three gen- erations. James served as town clerk, selectman and rep- resentative, and was for years the efficient superintendent of schools. Another son of Samuel, Caleb, remained in town but a little time, when he removed to Haverhill. He mar- ried a sister of Isaac Pike. Another son, Joshua, was drowned before reaching manhood.
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