USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Boscawen > The history of Boscawen and Webster [N.H.] from 1733 to 1878 > Part 36
USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Webster > The history of Boscawen and Webster [N.H.] from 1733 to 1878 > Part 36
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Previous to his removal to Granville, an unhappy quarrel had split the church into factions ; but with the most consummate tact -he was the very prince of Christian tacticians-he brought these factions together, and became the pastor of the now reunited organization. In this, and in other matters connected with his people, Dr. Little showed himself to be by nature a commander, in knowing what ought to be done, and how to do it. "Blessed are the peace-makers," and he and his people were soon blessed with a revival of wonderful power, the first of thirteen great re- vivals during his ministry.
His labors were so eminently successful that the church at Granville soon became the most noted religious organization in central Ohio. The parish was six miles square, but the pastor systematically visited every family belonging to his congregation, organizing conference and prayer meetings as well as Bible- classes in every district, which were conducted with astonishing efficiency. In teaching and explaining the scriptures he took great delight, and spent much time in fitting himself for this im- portant duty.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
Dr. Little had the rare faculty of setting everybody to work. There was hardly a male member in his church that did not pray in public, and a large part of them exhorted publicly in the con- ference meeting. He soon became known as the "plain preacher" -the man who dared to speak boldly in condemnation of vice. His "New Years' Sermons," on the first Sunday in January, were always reviews of the year, and on that day every seat and aisle in the meeting-house was occupied. Several of these sermons were published. A letter in the New York Tribune, 29 July, 1854, gives the following sketch of Dr. L. :
" The most remarkable man in Granville, if not in the whole county, is the Rev. Jacob Little, pastor of the Congregational church. He is a graduate of Dartmouth college, and keeps his polite studies bright by practice. He is extremely plain in his appearance, and in the pulpit has none of the mannerisms of his profession. In style he is perfectly simple, and yet there is such robust good sense in all that he does, and such sagacity of judgment, rarely in error, accompanied by a rare purity and integrity of character, that it may be said he stands among the foremost ranks of his profession in this great state. His goodness is so good as to amount to genius, and his simplicity of manner and style at times produces the effects of the highest eloquence. He has a wonderful passion for statistics connected with his own locality, and can tell you how many get drunk, how many drink intoxicating liquor, how many use tobacco, how many have died since he was in Granville, and at what age and of what disease, how many attend church, and who visit and travel on Sundays," &c., &c.
The following is an extract from Dr. Little's new year's ser- mon of 1849 :
" This township has 411 families and 1,376 adults. It has 37 drinking families, 119 drinking adults, 21 drunkards, and during the past year has consumed 4,153 gallons of intoxicating liquor. The families having no altar are 219; reading no religious papers, 223; children between six and twenty-one attending no Sabbath-school, 179; adults who visit, work, or journey on the Sabbath, 183; neglect public worship, 113; cannot read, 22; use profane language, 189; use tobacco, 364; play cards, 83; attend balls, 40; supposed to be impenitent, 777. The send- ing 150 persons to Botany bay would blot from our history most of the above number."
During Dr. Little's pastorate at Granville, there were added to his church 1,041 members, of whom 664 were received upon
Incol Little
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
profession of their faith. In these years he preached abont 5,000 sermons, and more than 1,000 persons are supposed to have been led to a religious life through his ministry.
His kind and genial nature secured the love and confidence of children and youth, who ever felt free to come to him for needed sympathy and counsel. His varied duties as pastor and preacher led him to be systematic and exact. Says a writer in the New York Evangelist,-" I never saw Jacob Little off duty and at leisure. His industry was restless, and his method unyielding as iron bands." As a writer, he was simple and plain, preferring force to elegance, choosing to have his sentiments rather than his sen- tences remembered.
In 1863, Dr. Little delivered a course of lectures at Lane Theo- logical Seminary, on Pastoral Theology; and from January, 1867, to July, 1869, furnished a column each week for the Christian Herald, published at Cincinnati, entitled "The Pastor." Besides the "New Years' Sermons," he published several other discourses, as well as many delightful and valuable articles in the religious newspapers. Perhaps his most important work is the "History of Granville," published in fifty-nine numbers of the Ohio Ob- server, at Hudson, about the year 1845.
The male academy and the female seminary of Granville (of the latter of which he was trustee) owed their existence and much of their prosperity to his efforts. For a number of years he was trustee of Western Reserve college, and of Central college, Ohio. He also served as trustee of Marietta college from 1845 to 1870.
In person, Dr. Little was a large man, and possessed great phys- ical activity and endurance. For thirty years his average weight in the winter was 200 pounds. For thirty-five years he never lost a Sabbath from ill health. This he attributed largely to his regular and temperate habits, using neither tea, coffee, nor tobacco.
At the close of 1864, Dr. Little resigned his pastorate over the church at Granville, and removed to his farm near Warsaw, Ind., where he resided until 1874, preaching to unsupplied churches about one third of the time. His strength beginning to fail, he then removed to the home of his son, Rev. Charles Little, at Wabash, Ind., where he passed to his rest, 17 Dec., 1876, aged 81 years, 7 months, and 16 days.
In 1855, the degree of D. D. was conferred on him by Marietta
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college. He married, 1st, Lucy, daughter of Capt. Joseph Ger- rish, of Canterbury, N. H., 1 June, 1826, who died 5 Oct., 1834; 2d, Ann Dorothy, daughter of Hon. T. M. Thompson, of Gran- ville, Ohio, 23 March, 1836. Four children,-one son by his first and two sons and a daughter by his second marriage,-are now liv- ing, the three sons being ministers of the Presbyterian church. (See Gen.)
MACURDY, DAVID A., CAPT.,
Enlisted as a private, with his brother Matthew, 11 Aug., 1862, in the 14th Regiment [for movements of which see Adjutant-Gen- eral's Report, state of New Hampshire]. During the fall and winter the regiment was on duty at Washington and along the Potomac, picketing the river for a distance of forty miles, endur- ing great hardships. The summer of 1863 was passed in doing guard duty from Harper's Ferry to Fortress Monroe. In the spring of 1864, the regiment was ordered to the Department of the Gulf, and came near being shipwrecked on the voyage to New Orleans. After a short service on the Mississippi, the regiment returned to the Potomac, and was ordered to the Shenandoah, joining Sheridan's corps, Aug. 18.
On the 19th of Sept. occurred the battle of Perryville. The reg- iment was on the march at 2 A. M. The artillery fire began be- fore daylight, but the battle did not become general till 11 o'clock in the forenoon. The 14th N. H. was on the extreme right of Sheridan's infantry line. The advance of the Union troops was so impetuous that the enemy were driven at every point, but in the ardor of pursuit the line became confused. The artillery of the enemy opened with deadly effect. The order was given to fall back. While the movement was being executed, Capt. Ma- curdy's younger brother, Matthew, was instantly killed, and the captain himself (then lieutenant) wounded. The loss to the regiment was thirteen officers and one hundred and thirty privates killed and wounded. After his wound had healed, Capt. Macurdy rejoined his regiment, which was ordered to Savannah 1 Jan., 1865, where it remained till the close of the war. Capt. Macurdy was commissioned first lieutenant 27 May, 1864; pro- moted to captaincy 22 Nov., 1864; and mustered out 8 July, 1865.
He has been honored by his fellow-citizens with the offices of
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selectman and representative [see Town Officers]. He has fol- lowed the occupation of trader in Webster, Concord, and again in Webster.
MORRILL, ROBIE, REV.
The second minister of Boscawen was Rev. Robie Morrill, son of Abraham Morrill, of Salisbury, Mass. [see Gen. ], where he was born 28 Aug., 1734, the year in which the first band of settlers reared their log cabins in Contoocook. He graduated at Harvard, 1755, studied theology, and was ordained minister 29 Dec., 1761. He preached about five years, and then, owing to some disaffec- tion [see Civil Hist. ], resigned his ministerial office. He never again engaged in preaching, but became a teacher, and taught many years during the closing decades of the last century. He was a useful citizen, a gentleman of the old school, punctilious in dress, yielding never to the changes of fashion, but wearing to the close of life his wig, his black silk stockings, silver shoe and knee buckles. He was small of stature, and was bald-headed, but the loss of hair was supplied by a wig and cue, which the roguish- ly inclined, roystering school-boys had the temerity to dandle at times, not unfrequently paying for it with aching palms.
Rev. Mr. Morrill was erratic in his ways. Tradition reports that he once selected for his text the pronoun "it;" that once he astonished his congregation by exclaiming,-"There goes a mouse !" But if erratic, he was possessed of a rich vein of humor. Some of the members of his congregation not unfrequently fell asleep during his long-drawn sermon, and disturbed the preacher by their snoring. On a Sunday Mrs. Morrill dropped asleep, whereupon her husband paused in his preaching and thus ad- dressed one of his wakeful hearers : " My friend, won't you please punch that man who snores so loud, for if he goes on at that rate he will wake up my wife."
Mr. Morrill erected the house now standing near the site of the ancient fort, the oldest framed house in the town. He was a man of sterling character, and in the formative period, during the Rev- olutionary war and the first years of the republic, when society and political institutions were undergoing a change, his influence was ever on the right side. He died in 1813, greatly respected by his fellow-citizens.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
MOODY, PHEBE K., MRS.
Phebe Knight, daughter of Caleb Knight, came to Boscawen with her father in 1792, from Newbury, Mass. She was employed as a school-teacher,-one of the few female teachers of the last century. She was united in marriage to Nicholas Moody, who resided in a secluded locality west of Little hill. Mrs. Moody, though bound down by the prosaic occupations of a farmer's household, and cut off from associations generally deemed neces- sary to literary culture, found time to throw off, now and then, a poetical effusion for her friends. At the close of the last century there were few newspapers, and fewer magazines; nevertheless some of her poetical scraps found their way into print, and were greatly admired. She was endowed with native poetic talent of a high order, a delicate appreciation of the beautiful, and rare fa- cility of expression, as will be seen by the few fragments that have been preserved :
POETICAL EPISTLE TO A YOUNG FRIEND.
Dear Miss :
Your friend has requested a letter for you, But at present I know not what theme to pursue, Unless of my dwelling I give you a view. I'm of the earth, earthly; and therefore my mind To things of small moment is mostly inclined. My time and my thoughts are employ'd in my dairy, Though sometimes I scribble when of that I'm weary. My writing, you'll notice, is none of the best, Though perhaps not so coarse as my genius and taste.
But enough of this preface : I now will procecd To draw you a landscape if you it can read. In this lonely vale, half a mile from the road, Shut out from the world, is my rural abode. A mile to the west you may houses discern ; But here quite alone stand my cottage and barn ; And around it are sporting the flocks and the herds, The turkeys and chickens, the squirrels and birds. And here is my garden, but we'll pass and not heed it ; Like my heart, 'tis uncultured-I've neglected to weed it. But the fields and the orchards, that ask not my care, Are teeming with good fruit, and look very fair. See yonder the ridge and the wood-cover'd hill, And down in the hollow there ripples a rill ; In pleasing meanders it plays through the wood, Till it meets and unites in a neighboring flood. The wide-spreading meadow, the sweet-flowing fonntain, The tall dusky forest, the high lofty monntain, The steep craggy rock, and the grove and the brook,- The prospect is pleasant wherever you look.
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On all sides are blooming the beanties of spring ; Clad with corn and with clover, the vales shout and sing; The sweet-scented briers that deck this green bed, The soft fragrant zephyrs that play round my head, The sweet little songsters that carol above, All, all I have nam'd are the offspring of love !
Our God's name is Love, and love is his nature, He rules us, he governs all worlds and each creature. Whatever he formed his goodness protects, And his tender mercies are o'er all his works. But man is his best lov'd, man's nature he took ; That wonderful story we read in his Book, -- How for us he suffer'd, obey'd, liv'd, and died, To make of us, rebels, his children and bride.
And now to this Jesus, whose name we adore, Be blessing, and honor, and glory, and power : To Jesus-Jehovah, the Ancient of Days- Be blessing, and honor, and glory, and praise. Two natures united in our dearest Lord, For the Word was made flesh, and the Word it was God. He's God in the Father and God in the Son, And God in the Spirit, and these three are one ! Oh, wonders on wonders! what myst'ry is here! What heights and what depths in our Jesus appear ! The Creator and creature in unison join : How blest are the branches of Jesus the vine ! What though modern Pharisees say he's not God, And treat with indignity our dearest Lord,- Yet, yet it is written, that Jesus the Lamb, Is God over all, the eternal I Am. Seducers are saying, lo! here, and lo ! there Is Jesus the Saviour, but let us beware; For, though these false teachers will many deceive, Our Jesus forbids us their lies to believe.
The things are fulfilling that Jesus foretold, The signs of his coming we clearly behold; False Christs aud false prophets now swarm all around, And faith uncorrupted is scarce to be found; Of blasphemous errors, behold what a flood ! Denying the Saviour, who bought them with blood ! But Jesus will come in his glory ere long, And by his own power will silence each tongue That now speaks against him, perverting his word: On such daring sinner have mercy, dear Lord!
MY COTTAGE.
In this retreat, remote and still, My fav'rite solitude I find; This little cot beneath the hill Has charms congenial to my mind.
How gracious, Heaven, art thou to me, In answ'ring thus my early prayers; From youth I ever wished to be Far from the world and all its cares.
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Far from the world of noise and strife, With quiet here I'll pass my days; In this sequester'd vale of life, I've found that peace which ne'er decays.
And from this humble shade ere long, To heaven, my home, I hope to rise, Borne on the baliny wings of love, To fairer mansions in the skies.
There Jesus sits, that God of love! His glorious throne 's exalted high ; Though once he groan'd and bled and died To save such guilty worms as I.
And is it not worth dying for, To see my Heavenly Father's face, Who sav'd me from destruction's jaws, And bid me seek superior bliss ?
A FRAGMENT. THE PEN.
" How great is my use !"' cries the quill of a goose; " Who duly my merits appraise ? My praises resound the world all around, I make even fools to be wise."
THE NEEDLE.
" Hold! hold ! prating goose, for I'm of most use, Although I am shorter and slimmer ;
By my little head many thousands are fed, Whilst your scribble won't purchase a dinner." THE WHEEL.
" And what were your head were it not for my thread ? So, then, independent Miss Steel, Just acknowledge thy due to the wheel." THE LOOM.
"And what were your worth were it not for my cloth ?" The loom, looking largely, replied.
" Both needle and thread might beg for their bread, If I did not keep them employed."
THE AXE.
Mr. Axe raised his head, and to them he said,- "Come, yield the precedence to me ;
For to me you must know your being you owe, For I hewed you out of the tree."
In this dispute among the tools, We see how much we look like fools When pride begins to swell and rise, And makes us great in our own eyes. Shall human tools contend with God, And boast as if they were no wood ? We are his clay, formed by his hand, For his own use, at his command. Let not curst pride our hearts deceive, For what have we we've not received ?
-
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-
PEARSON, NATHAN,
Son of Nathan Pearson, was born in Boscawen, 22 Sept., 1802. He had no special advantages for obtaining an education, being limited to the meagre instruction furnished by the district school. He married Eliza Couch, daughter of John Couch, of Salisbury, and settled on the homestead now owned by Ephraim Little. Mr. Pearson was a man of few words, who did his own thinking, and was independent in his opinions. He was a good friend and citizen, a constant attendant upon public worship, and en- deavored to supply, by reading and observation, the lack of oppor- tunities for education in his early years. He was elected select- man in 1841 and 1842, and representative in 1843 and 1844. Upon the division of the town, he was elected chairman of the board of selectmen for Webster. He died S Oct., 1868.
PECKER, J. E., COL.,
For several years a citizen of Boscawen, is a son of the late Jere- miah Pecker, Jr., and great grandson of Capt. John Chandler, and was born in East Concord, 28 May, 1838. He attended the Franklin Hall school in Concord, and graduated from the Chand- dler Scientific Department of Dartmouth college in 1858. Sub- sequently he engaged in teaching, and for a number of years was principal of the Fisherville high school. He then read law, but abandoned the idea of that profession to become a correspondent and reporter of the Boston Journal, upon which paper he has been regularly employed since 1862.
In 1865 he was historian in the military department of the state government, and aided largely in the preparation of the extended reports issued that year by the adjutant-general.
He is now manager of the New Hampshire News Bureau of the Boston Journal, having charge of its interests in this state. As a newspaper correspondent, he has travelled extensively in Canada and the provinces, and in the Western and Southern states.
In 1877 he was commissioned aide-de-camp on the military staff of Gov. Prescott, with the rank of colonel. He is biographical secretary of the Chandler Alumni Association of Dartmouth college.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
PETERSON, DANIEL, M. D.
The first physician in Boscawen was Dr. Daniel Peterson, who built the house afterwards occupied by Benjamin Oak and by James West as a hotel, and now occupied by Mr. Dow. He moved into town about 1770, and was a surgeon in the Bennington and other campaigns. He was a physician of the old school ;- indeed, there was no other school. Bleeding, blistering, cup- pings, calomel, and jalop were its characteristics. The " school " believed in an active treatment.
Dr. Peterson had an extensive practice in Boscawen, Salisbury, Sanbornton, Canterbury, Warner, Wilmot, and other towns, rid- ing as far north as Haverhill, always on horseback, with his sad- dle-bags stuffed with medicines.
He married a sister of Nathaniel Greene, Esq., and was uncle to the late Senator Fessenden.
One of his fellow-physicians was Dr. Long, of Hopkinton. Together Drs. Peterson and Long rode to Haverhill, N. H., and were present at the execution of a negro who had committed a heinous crime, and who had sold his body to the two physicians for dissection. Dr. Long skinned the body after the execution, had the skin tanned, and a pair of boots made from it. Dr. Peterson, from his service in the army, became widely known, and was regarded as one of the best surgeons of his time.
PILLSBURY, JOSEPH L., COL.,
Son of Dea. Joseph and Martha (Little) Pillsbury, was born in Boscawen, N. H., 10 Feb., 1829. At the age of twelve years he accompanied his father to Pennsylvania, where he spent one sum- mer with a surveying party, acting as chain-bearer. He was not a robust youth, but life in the woods improved his health, and he early matured to a vigorous manhood.
At the age of sixteen he displayed a military spirit, making himself familiar with tactics and drill exercises. At eighteen he was captain, and at twenty-one was colonel of the 21st N. H. Regi- ment. He commenced the study of medicine, which he soon af- ter abandoned, and in 1851 went to Pittsburgh, where for about three years he acted as paymaster of the Ohio & Pennsylvania Railroad. Possessing a mathematical and scientific mind, he
J. J. Pillsbury
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
qualified himself for the duties of civil engineer, which calling he followed for about twenty years.
In 1854 Col. Pillsbury commenced as contractor and builder of railroads in the South and West, doing an extensive business on the Mobile & Girard, Fort Wayne & Chicago, and also on a road running west from Dubuque, Iowa. Associated with him in part of these contracts was his brother, Henry W. Pillsbury.
Subsequently Col. Pillsbury was engaged in the oil business in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania, where a number of oil wells were bored by him. He was also superintendent of the Deep Oil Mining Company, in northern Ohio.
Col. Pillsbury excelled as a hydraulic engineer. His first im- portant work in this direction was the building of the Canton (Ohio) water-works, in 1869, '70. He was also advising hydraulic engineer for various cities in the West.
The last great labor of his life was at Columbus, Ohio, where in 1870 he was employed as chief engineer to supply that cap- ital with water from the Scioto river. During the progress of this enterprise his health was seriously impaired, and soon after its successful completion he returned with his son and daughter to Boscawen, where he died, 10 Jan., 1874.
Col. Pillsbury was a man of positive character, indomitable en- ergy, and of great nobility and kindness of heart. In writing, he had the happy faculty of expressing himself with fluency, and to the point. From his youth he was an extensive reader of books that required thought, whether in poetry or prose ; was a diligent student, and greatly interested in mechanical and scien- tific pursuits. In the study of geology he took great delight, and in this, as well as in other departments of science, his mind was a rich storehouse of useful and interesting facts. He invented several valuable improvements pertaining to his various fields of labor, and secured a patent on a hydrant for city water-works.
Col. Pillsbury was an active and esteemed member of the Epis- copal church, at Canton, Ohio, and was always ready to do his part in every good word and work. He married, 18 May, 1854, Mary Anna Ely, of Wooster, Ohio, daughter of Col. Daniel Ely, of Owego, N. Y. She died at Delaware, Ohio, 18 Aug., 1867. [See Gen.]
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
PILLSBURY, MOODY A., GEN.
Gen. Moody Adams Pillsbury, son of Daniel and Eunice (Thorla) Pillsbury, was born in Boscawen, 4 May, 1794. His educational advantages, like those of most boys of his time, were those of the district school. Upon arriving at his majority he settled in Bashan, upon the farm where he lived through life, giving more attention to his saw-mill than to his farm. Bashan was a new section, densely timbered, and his mills became a source of profit.
He became an officer in the militia, was colonel of the 21st Regiment for several years, and rose to the rank of brigadier- general.
Gen. Pillsbury took an active interest in the events of his time. He was a constant attendant upon the public religious ser- vices of the Sabbath, gave liberally to the support of benevolent objects, and was long a member of the church. He was one of the first to espouse anti-slavery principles, and gave to the cause of freedom his whole heart. He was a kind neighbor, a friend to the poor, and a genial companion. He married, first, Miss Rachel Dix, sister of Gen. John A. Dix; second, Miss Louisa Frances Dix, her sister. He died S Jan., 1863.
PILLSBURY, GEORGE T.,
Son of Daniel Pillsbury, was born in the house now occupied by Miss Sarah Pillsbury, on Water street. He learned his father's trade-that of carpenter-and built the house near the school- house, on Little hill, where he resided a few years. He erected many buildings in Concord, and began the erection of the South Congre- gational meeting-house in that town in 1835, in partnership with Capt. Wm. Abbott. He received an injury in one of his legs, which was followed by mortification and death in 1836. He was a man of decided convictions, and active in all matters relat- ing to religion and temperance. He was elected deacon of the church in Webster, to succeed Dea. Enoch Little, 2d. His death cast a gloom upon the community, and his funeral was notably one of the largest ever attended in Webster. He died as he had lived, in the full triumph of Christian faith.
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