USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Some things about Coventry-Benton, New Hampshire (town history) > Part 6
USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Benton > Some things about Coventry-Benton, New Hampshire (town history) > Part 6
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Nathan Coburn was the most important member of the Coburn family, who came to Coventry from Piermont, was
IRA G. HOWE.
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one of the selectmen and town clerk at the time of his re- moval, and had several times represented the town in the Legislature. He was a man of fine presence, of good edu- cation, and his removal was a loss long felt. He married Mary Parker, of Lisbon, a daughter of the late Levi Parker, a leading citizen of that town, and their large family of chil- dren were born in Coventry. They were : Nathan Parker, born Feb. 6, 1817; Levi Parker, born May 12, 1819; Alonzo, born October 16, 1821 : Lydia W., born July 23, 1823 ; James Fisk, born Nov. 26, 1825 ; Benjamin Frank- lin, born Nov. 13, 1827; Mary Jane, born March 24, 1830 ; Sally Ann, born Sept. 20, 1832, and Daniel Jen- ness, born May 15, 1835. His sons all became successful business men in their adopted state. The eldest, Nathan Parker Coburn, amassed a large fortune in the boot and shoe manufacture, being a partner of ex-Governor William Claflin, the Claflin & Coburn factories being situated in Hopkinton. He was numbered among the millionaires of the state, but his native town had a warm spot in his heart, and he never forgot the old school house at the foot of the long hill in district No. 5, with George W. Cogswell as school master. Nathan Coburn lived in a house standing a little to the south of the George W. Mann house, which has long since disappeared, and only faint traces of the cellar can now be seen.
Edward and William Lother came to town from Newbury, Vt., in 1836 and settled on the hill to the west of Enos Wells, their farms subsequently being purchased by John Stow and Alvah C. Wright. They remained in town but a few years, and returned to Newbury, Vt. Edward H. Lo- ther, of Woodsville, is a son of Edward Lother, and a daughter is the wife of Albert H. Leighton, of Woodsville.
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Other new voters in 1837 were Joseph Webber, Elijah S. Gray, Elisha Meader, Henry Thrasher, Jeremiah Merrill, Asa W. Merrill, Jonas G. Brown, Samuel C. Annis, Gil- bert P. Wright and Ira Whitcher. Elisha Meader soon after removed to Haverhill, where he spent his life, and his sons and grandsons were numbered among the influential citizens of the town. Asa W. Merrill married a daughter of Benj. C. Hutchins and lived with his family for the great- er part of his life in the east part of the town, for a number of years on a farm to the eastward of that of Israel Flanders. Such of his family as are now living have become widely scattered. Mention has already been made of Jonas G. Brown, Samuel C. Annis and Gilbert P. Wright.
Ira Whitcher was the seventh child, and the sixth of the ten sons of William and Mary Noyes Whitcher. He was born Dec. 2, 1815, and died Dec 9, 1897. His early life was one of the hardships of poverty, unceasing toil, and of educational advantages the most limited. In a few weeks in a backwoods school for two or three winters, he learned to read, write and cipher, and there his school education end- ed. There were few or no books accessible, and had there been a well stocked library, it would have made little differ- ence, since he had little time for reading. He did how- ever, have access to the Town Officer and a copy of the New Hampshire statutes owned by his father, the Bible, Web- ster's spelling book and one or two of the old time readers, and by the time he reached his majority he knew these few books, and with the aid of these had obtained a more prac- tical, if not more liberal education than some of the young men of his age who had attached to their names the degree ot A. B. On reaching the age of twenty-one he hired out to his brother Moses, for whom he worked six years for the
IRA WHITCHER.
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compensation of twelve and a half dollars a month and board. He picked up enough by extra jobs to purchase his clothes, and saved his entire wages, purchasing the farm on which he lived until the spring of 1870, and building the house on which he established his home on his marriage in the autumn of 1843. He became administrator of the estate of his brother Moses at his death in 1846, engaged in the business of lumbering, farming becoming a secondary con- sideration, and followed this successfully to the time of his death. He was elected one of the selectmen in 1842, and for the next twenty-nine years, until his removal from town was constantly in its service, holding at various times every possible town office, except those of grave digger and super- intending school committee. It is not too much to say that for a period of a quarter of a century no citizen was so thoroughly identified with the interests of the town as was he, and no one individual did as much for its prosperity. He was thrifty, and practiced rigid economy, and was at the same time generous and open handed. He believed in liberal appropriations for roads, schools and other matters of interest to the town, and was a liberal supporter of religious meetings. He identified himself with the Methodist Epis- copal church, and was a life long supporter of its institu- tions. At the same time he was no sectarian, and all re- ligious denominations had his hearty support. He repre- sented Benton six times in the Legislature, served for six years as one of the commissioners of Grafton county, was a member of Constitutional convention of 1850, was the agent for the town for a series of years in the management of its law suits and was frequently appointed referee in cases to be settled out of court. There was no member of the bar residing in Benton, so for a period of twenty-five years he
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did much of the work for his townsmen for which in the large towns legal talent was employed. He was a conveyancer, writer of wills, admistrator and executor of estates, guardian of minors and of insane, and legal advisor in small and in large cases as well, and for the most part without money and without price. The late Attorney General, Daniel Barnard, once remarked that he regarded Ira Whitcher to be one of best lawyers in the state, and that he knew of few men in the profession whose opinion in an important case he would value more highly. In 1870 Mr. Whitcher removed to Woodsville in order to be close to railroad communication, but retained and added to his landed interests in Benton, until a few years before his death he sold several thousand acres to the Winnipesaukee and the Fall Mountain Paper companies. Woodsville in 1870 was little more than a struggling collection of a dozen houses, a store and a rail- road station. To him, more than to any other individual, was due its growth and prosperity during the next twenty-five years. He was himself successful in business, accumulating a handsome property, but he possessed also a broad public spirit. He was largely instrumental in securing for the vil- lage the water works and electric light service, the removal of the county seat from Haverhill Corner to Woodsville, and the erection of the substantial new court house, which was built under his personal supervision, the establishment of the Savings and National banks, while the Woodsville Free Public Library building, a Methodist church property freed from debt, the gift of a fine pipe organ and a fund for the support of the church are among the monuments left by him. After removing to Woodsville he made himself an ac- tive factor in Haverhill town life, serving for several years on the board of selectmen, and representing the town in
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1891, when in his 76th year, in the Legislature. In poli- tics Mr. Whitcher was a Democrat, of the Andrew Jackson school. During the Civil war he was an ardent supporter of the war measures of the Administration, and gave of his time and energy to keep tull the quota of soldiers from his town where opposition to the war was rife. His integrity was never questioned, and his tenacity of purpose was such that he knew no such word as failure in the accomplishment of his plans.
He married, Nov. 27, 1843, Lucy, daughter of Samuel and Dorcas (Foster) Royce, of Haverhill, and their four children were born in Benton ; William Frederick, August 10, 1845 ; Mary Elizabeth, July 16, 1847 ; Frank, June 21, 1849, and Scott, Nov. 2, 1852. The daughter became the wife of Chester Abbott, and remained with her father, giving him in his old age devoted care and attention until her death in April, 1897. The two younger sons died in early manhood, Scott, Jan. 22, 1875, and Frank, who had asso- ciated himself in business with his father, Nov. 7, in the same year. William F. prepared for college at Tilton sem- inary, graduated from Wesleyan University in 1871, entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church, filling im- portant pastorates in Newport and Providence, R. I., and New Bedford, Mass., until 1881, when he joined the editori- al staff of the Boston Traveller, becoming editor-in-chief four years later. In 1892 he became literary editor of the Bos- ton Daily Advertiser, and three years later assumed the charge of the Court reports, which have for many years been a special feature of that paper. On the death of his father in 1897 he resigned his newspaper position and in the spring of 1898 removed his family to Woodsville, where he has since resided. Besides devoting himself to the affairs of the
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estate of his father, he is the editor and proprietor of the Woodsville News, and has taken an active part in the affairs of the village and town, representing Haverhill in the Leg- islature in 1901, and 1903, serving each session on the com- mittee on the judiciary. He is interested in historical and genealogical studies, and his collection of books bearing upon American political history and biography is one of the largest and valuable in this state.
Several new names appeared on the list of voters in 1838. Among those who moved into town, but whose stay was brief, so that they could hardly be regarded as factors in the life of the town were ; Lorenzo D. Cummings, John Cum- mings and Benj. Little, who lived for a time on the Mead- ows and at High Street. The Rev. Geo. Davis lived for a short time near his brothers, Nathan B. and Jonathan in the east part of the town. William Gannett acquired the Jonathan Hale farm and lived there several years, a bust- ling, enterprising man of affairs. About 1855 he sold this large tract of more than a thousand acres to the Boston, Concord & Montreal railroad, and removed to East Haver- hill, owning until his death the large farm now owned by Alonzo Smith. Levi Whitcher, David M. Howe, Bartlett. Marston and David M. Norris were voters for the first time this year. Both Davids were of course namesakes of David Marston. Levi Whitcher was the eldest son of Jacob and Sarah (Richardson) Whitcher. He was a deaf mute, but obtained a fair education, learned the sign language, mar- ried and removed to Quincy, Mass., where he resided until his death. He had several children, and his descendants still live in Quincy and adjoining towns and cities in Mass- achusetts. Some of them have reverted to the original way of spelling the family name, Whittier. Caleb Knight was
WILLIAM F. WHITCHER.
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a son of Moses Knight, but he removed soon after attaining his majority to East Haverhill, living there until his death about 1870. His descendants are now widely scattered.
David Marston Howe was the son of Peter and Mary (Powers) Howe, born March 9, 1817. Peter Howe was married to Mary Powers Nov. 22, 1812, and of the four children the two eldest were daughters. Sally, born July 22, 1813, married a Streeter and lived in Lisbon. Phebe, born Feb. 24, 1815, married first Edwin, son of Kimball and Sally (Streeter) Tyler, by whom she had one son, Isaac H., and second, Moses N. Howland, of Landaff. The youngest son, Moses Whitcher Howe, married Lau- ra C. White, daughter of Jacob M. White, of Landaff. He resided with his parents for some years after his mar- riage, but later purchased the farm now owned by Orman L. Mann, residing there till about 1866, when he removed to Stoneham, Mass., where he was killed a year or two later by a runaway team. He left two sons, Herbert P. and Harry, both born in Benton, and both now residing in Stoneham. David M. Howe married first Betsey, daughter of Kimball and Sally (Streeter) Tyler, born Aug. 20, 1818. Two years previous to his removal to Stoneham, Mass., about 1821, he resided on the farm subsequently owned by his brother Moses. He married second Mrs. Ann Parker, of Stoneham, who survives him. He was a thrifty, quiet, in- dustrious citizen, and his removal from town was deeply re- gretted by his fellow townsmen.
Granville E, Flanders, whose name first appeared on the check list in 1839, lived for some twenty years on what is now known as the David Dickey farm at High Street and which was then one of the finest farms in town. James Blake, Joseph Blake, Maturin B. Hall, Rufus Hall, Chase
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Cawley and Alexander Pollard were also new comers in this and in the previous year, living in the Page district and on the Meadows. The name of Samuel Coburn also appears on the check list this year, but none of these appear to have remained long in town.
Peter Howe 2nd came on the active stage of affairs in 1839, and remained in a state of activity until his death at the age of 66, in 1880. The word "active" is perhaps a misnomer, since such activity as it was, never resulted in any valuable accomplishment. He married in 1839 Har- riette W., daughter of Elisha Tyler, and settled on a farm to the south of that of his father and to the east of that of his brother Samuel. Peter was a character. As a boy he was troublesome to his father, and "Uncle Daniel" was ac- customed to call him a "pesky rogue." The name stuck, and he was known during his entire life as "Pesky Peter" or "Pesky Pete." His farm was naturally one of the most productive on Howe hill, but Peter never assisted nature. He was never guilty of work except on rare occasions when he was forced to it by stern necessity. His farm conse- quently went to ruin, his stock was only half housed and half fed, and Peter was usually on the road behind a half starved horse endeavoring to trade in something with some- body, it made little difference to him what or with whom. He was fertile in schemes of speculation, all of which were of an inconsequential character, and it is to be doubted if he ever at any one time in his life possessed the sum of five dollars in cash. He was always willing to ob- tain credit, and was profuse in promises to pay, and store- keepers for miles about his native town were familiar with "Pesky Peter." He would journey ten miles to East Lan- daff to secure a cat of a certain color and transport it twenty
.
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miles to Wells River, Vt., with the understanding that he would receive a dollar for it, should it prove satisfactory. He attended auctions and funerals and other festivities wherever a free dinner was to be had. He was the victim of all kinds of practical jokes, some of which were heartless- ly cruel, just because he was "Pesky Peter." His first wife was an inoffensive woman, but was not what her neighbors regarded as "capable." She bore him three children, suffered from hardship and poverty and gave up the contest in 1856, at the age of 37. Peter found a second helpmeet in the per- son of Emily Merrill, of Woodstock, who managed somehow to survive him. Emily was not brilliant, but she had spirit, and there were times and occasions when Peter was forced to bestir himself and actually work. His eldest son, Rufus W., died in 1864 at the age of 25. His two daughters, Ellen and Lucina, married and are living in California. A son by the second wife, Harry L., a young man of much promise, was killed while in the employ of the Boston & Maine railroad, at the age of 22. Peter was also something of a matrimonial agent. One of his efforts in this direction was when he secured a wife for "Nat" Mulliken, the consid- eration being an ox yoke and one dollar cash.
John C. Brown, John Stow, Jr., and Laban Tyler were voters for the first time this year. The latter remained but a short time in town, removing to Stoneham, Mass., where he remained until about 1855, when he went to Michigan. One Waite Brown, a halfwitted ne'er-do-well, was also a resident in town for two or three years, but soon removed to Haverhill, just a little west of the Amos M. Pike farm on the road to North Haverhill, where he managed to eke out an existence for himself and family, and had time to dwell on love and manufacture poetry, such as it was.
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William K. Bruce came to town when a boy with Wil- liam Keyser. He lived after reaching manhood on the farm now occupied by the widow of Charles B. Keyser, and died May 7, 1858, at the age of 37. He became a voter in 1830, as did William Howe 2nd. The latter was a son of Daniel and Phebe (Eaton) Howe. He was subject to at- tacks of insanity, and was three or four times an inmate of an insane asylum. He emigrated with his family to Michi- gan sometime in the fifties. Hazen Whitcher was a son of Jacob and Sarah (Richardson ) Whitcher. He married Sally, daughter of Kimball and Sally (Streeter) Tyler, and settled on a farm to the south of that of Samuel Howe, and which is still known as the Hazen Whitcher place. After some years he removed to Stoneham, Mass., and established him- self in the hardware business, subsequently adding to this that of. undertaking. Both he and his wife lived to an ad- vanced age, the latter being about 90 at the time of her death in 1899. They left one daughter, Sarah Richardson, the wife of Col. Oliver H. Marston, of Stoneham. Hazen Whitcher served his adopted town in various official posi- tions, was a successful business man, and left at his death a handsome estate.
James Harriman and wife came from Warren to the farm in the High Street district since known as the Harriman farm, where he resided several years, returning finally to Warren Summit where they resided until their death. Mr. Harriman was a quiet, easy going sort of a man, but what he lacked in push, energy and bustling activity was more than made up by Mrs. Harriman. She was a member of the famous Pike family, a sister of Isaac, Samuel and Ar- thur L. Pike, and was a woman of marked personality and character. She combined all the tenderness and sympathy
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of womanhood with the physical strength and hard headed business ability of manhood, and had the thorough respect of the business men of the surrounding towns with whom she was associated in many important transactions.
New names appearing on the check list in 1841 were those of Moulton B. Richardson, Stephen Bailey, Edward Martin, David Young, Jr., Stephen Jeffers, Jr., David Bailey, Eb- eneezer Glover and Hosea Litchfield. The latter lived on the farm which had been owned by Jacob Whitcher, and which later came into the possession of Charles M. Howe. In 1842 the new names were those of Benjamin Elliott, Kimball Corliss, Ephriam Cross, George Morton, Bailey Martin, Seldon Willey, George W. Mann, Hiram Elliott, Joshua Page and Reuben Richardson. Benjamin Elliott spent most of his life in Landaff, but at two or three differ- ent times resided in Benton. He had a large family, but only one of his sons, Hiram, was ever a resident of the town. A daughter was the wife of Daniel Burnham, who resided . in town for several years, as did one of his sons, William H. Burnham. Benjamin Elliott was not always strictly tem- perate in his habits, and he had the reputation of drawing the long bow, or in other words, of being prone to exaggera- tion. In the old days when minor cases were tried before jus- tices of the peace, it was remarked that Ira Goodall, of Bath, made frequent use of Thomas Elliott and Benjamin Elliott as witnesses. Benjamin one day, when feeling in a commu- nicative mood, made this boast : "Give us Squire Swan for justice, Squire Goodall for lawyer, and me and my brother Tom for evidence, and we'll beat all h-11."
In 1843 the names of Milton Southard, John Nason, Samuel Pike, Asa F. Copp, Jeremiah Farnum, Perley M. Annis, Isaac Wyman and Chase Whitcher 2nd appear for the
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first time on the voting list. Chase Whitcher 2nd was the son of William and Mary (Noyes) Whitcher, born Jan. 20, 1822. On attaining his majority he was employed by his brother Moses, and after the death of the latter had the man- agement of the large farm belonging to the estate. He mar- ried Sarah Royce Whitcher, the widow of his brother Moses, and they were the parents of three children. One, Hannah, died in infancy ; Frances C. born Aug. 22, 1849, died in Woodsville Oct. 4, 1889 ; Elvah G., born Nov. 19, 1850, married Hon. Edward F. Mann, and has resided, since the death of her husband, Aug. 19, 1892, in Concord. Chase Whitcher was one of the most active citizens of the town until his removal to Concord in 1875. He was en- gaged in the lumber business in partnership with his brother Ira until about 1857, and subsequently conducted success- fully a large lumber business on his own account. He owned in whole or in part several sawmills in East Landaff, now Easton, as well as in Benton, and was also a large owner of real estate. Of a generous, impulsive disposition, with warm sympathy for those in distress, or in need of financial assistance, he was the constant helper of many who in their shiftlessness and improvidence abused his friendship and generosity. He became involved in later years in ex- pensive litigations which seriously affected the value of his otherwise large property. He represented Benton six times in the State Legislature, in 1852, 1853, 1865, 1866, 1869, and 1870, and was during a period of twenty-five years al- most continuously in the service of the town in various ca- pacities, such as town clerk, postmaster and selectman. He was always ready to promote any project for the interest of the town. He had a deep interest in politics, was active in the councils of his party, the Democratic, and enjoyed a
CHASE WHITCHER.
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large acquaintance with politicians and public men. While never charged with disloyalty, he was one of the large num- ber of Democrats, who during the war of the Rebellion, was not in hearty sympathy of the war measures of the Adminis- tration. He removed to Concord in 1875, erecting a house on Court street, now owned by his daughter, Mrs. Edward F. Mann. His last illness occurred in Benton, where he had retained large property interests, and he died there in his old home May 4, 1883 at the age of 61.
In 1844 the voting list contained a large number of new names. These were : Samuel Royce, Geo. T. Banfield, Moses W. Tyler, Elisha Tyler, Jr., John E. Keyser, Caleb Brown, William F. Morse, Jona Clement, James P. Flan- ders, Jonathan Merrill and William Eastman. Moses W. Tyler was the son of Kimball and Sally (Streeter ) Tyler. He went to Stoneham, Mass., for several years, but returned to Benton about 1865, remaining for three or four years, when he returned to Stoneham, and a little later removed with his family to the west. His wife was a daughter of Prescott Parker. William F. Morse married Betsey Annis, and was for several years the town blacksmith, his shop be- ing located on the Annis farm near the meeting house. He removed about 1852 to Thornton. Samuel Royce was the son of Stephen Royce, of Landaff, born in 1782. He mar- ried Dorcas Foster, of that town, and lived in Landaft and Haverhill until after the death of his wife in 1842, when he came to Benton and resided for a few years with some one of his daughters. Of his six daughters five married. Merab was the wife of Samuel Howe; Sarah, the wife of Moses, afterwards of Chase Whitcher ; Lucy, the wife of Ira Whitcher ; Hannah, the wife of Aaron P. Glazier, and Lydia, the wife of Moses Noyes of Haverhill. Mr. Royce
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subsequently removed to Nashua, married Elizabeth Searle, but on her death returned to Benton about 1870, living with his daughter until his death, Sept. 5, 1873, at the age of 91. He was a man of wide and varied reading, of good educa- tion, but impractical and visionary in business matters. He bore a life of poverty cheerfully, was an ardent Methodist, with a gift for exhortation, and was one of the early pioneer abolitionists. He never fretted, never permitted debts or poverty to give him anxious thought, and during his long life was a, happy optomist. Perhaps this accounted for his ninety-one years of life, free until the last from pain and sickness.
John E. Keyser was the eldest son of William Keyser. He married Mahala, daughter of William and Polly (Wells) Flanders, and with the exception of absences on two or three occasions, when he spent two or three years in Stoneham and Lynn, Mass., he resided in Benton until his death, Jan. 7, 1896, at the age of 73. He was a carpenter and joiner by trade, but in his later years he followed farming, owning the Israel Flanders farm. For years he was chorister and leader of the Benton choir, a position in which he took great pride, and in which, while he occupied it, he never permitted his authority to be questioned without a ruction, and there were sometimes ructions. From 1843 till his death, thirty- five years and more later, William Eastman was one of the best known citizens of the town. He had been unsuc- cessful in business in Lisbon, and unfortunate in a love affair, and he came to Benton and built a clapboard mill near the dwelling house of Amos Whitcher on Whitcher brook in "the Hollow," and here for a period of nearly thirty years he manufactured spruce clapboards. He never married, though until late in life he talked much of taking
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