USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Canaan > The history of Canaan, New Hampshire > Part 45
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 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69
The records of the revided lodge are at Concord. Before the revival of Mount Moriah, many of its possible candidates had gravitated to Social Lodge and as the trouble increased, still more found favor where more harmony and Masonic spirit pre- vailed. For more than thirty years Social Lodge had jurisdic- tion over Canaan, several efforts were made to gain the consent of Social Lodge of Enfield, to establish a lodge here unsuccess- fully until in 1901, the consent of King Solomon's, Kearsarge, and Social Lodge was obtained, and a petition was sent to the
488
HISTORY OF CANAAN.
Grand Lodge for a dispensation and the establishing of a new lodge. The dispensation was granted December 30, 1901. On January 15, 1902, Summit Lodge was opened under the dispensa- tion by the district deputy grand master for work. At the meet- ing of the Grand Lodge in May, a charter was granted and on October 8, 1902, Summit Lodge, No. 98, was constituted by the officers of the Grand Lodge.
The charter members were: E. M. Tucker, A. M. Shackford, C. F. Everett, E. M. Adams. G. W. Chase, E. S. Hadley, H. B. Wooster, C. A. Kimball, R. A. Burgess, G. H. Gordon, C. P. King, S. R. Swett, W. B. Martin, Carey Smith, G. E. Muzzey, O. B. Sargent, J. A. Greene, O. L. Rand, F. D. Currier, T. M. Hoyt, A. H. George, G. O. Hadlock.
Its meetings have been held in the Knights of Pythias Hall. The first master was Charles F. Everett. The subsequent mas- ters have been George H. Gordon, Charles P. King, Edwin S. Hadley, Will A. Dean and James F. King. The roster of the lodge contains the name of sixty-eight who have been members, but death has claimed seven of them.
PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY.
Mascoma Grange, No. 68.
This Grange was organized in Enfield, October 26, 1875, and was afterward transferred to West Canaan, where its meetings are now held. Levi F. Webster was the prime mover in its or- ganization, and was its master for ten years. There were forty- three charter members: Levi F. and Ann C. Webster, Mr. and Mrs. Leonard B. Warren, Harvey B. Jones, Ruth K. Jones, John C. Currier, Rufus Webster, Nathan C. and Carrie L. Morgan, Mr. and Mrs. Nathan S. Holt, Henry H. and Betsey L. Wilson, Mr. and Mrs. E. L. Hadley, Charles Dwinells, Webster and Ann Currier, Moses E. and Julianna Withington, Eben R. & Emily J. Dustin, Mr. and Mrs. David N. Ladd, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Carlton, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Huse, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew J. Hadley, Ira G. and Emma Webster, Horace M. and Julia Jones, Mr. and Mrs. L. W. Rogers, Mr. and Mrs. John J. Walbridge,
489
SECRET ORGANIZATIONS.
Hannah Currier, John Hosmer, David Noyes, Moses A. Brockle- bank.
There have been initiated in all 272; and the present member- ship is 133.
Indian River Grange.
The first meeting was held at the house of Alvin Davis, De- cember 10, 1875, when the thirty-five charter members were instructed by Deputy D. E. Boyden. These members were: Mr. and Mrs. J. H. French, Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Davis, Mr. and Mrs. Reuben Bachelder, Mr. and Mrs. F. G. Dimond, Mr. and Mrs. Enoch Eastman, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Cogswell, Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Davis, Mrs. William Aldrich, Hubbard Aldrich, J. H. Blake, Fred B. Clark, John Pressy, Mr. and Mrs. N. G. Cilley, Mr. and Mrs. John Fernald, Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Ford, Mr. and Mrs. H. J. Goss, Mr. and Mrs. William Hall, Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Whittier, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Hoit, Alton Nourse, James Mor- rill
The inducements held out to join were that by banding them- selves together in a body, they would be able to buy necessaries at a price much lower than was asked of a single individual. The high prices following the Civil War being particularly hard upon the farmers. The meetings during the first year were held at the houses of Alvin Davis, J. H. French, William Aldrich and John Fernald. These were rather social gatherings than any- thing else. The need of a hall where the members could assemble was apparent, and in the summer of 1876, a committee was ap- pointed to construct a hall and in the early part of 1877 Grange Hall was completed and occupied.
In 1875 two members were initiated, in 1876 seven, in 1877 four, in 1878 three. In 1879 one, and six members were sus- pended for non-payment of dues. The next four years was a period of depression. Meetings were held infrequently and very little interest was manifested. To such a low ebb had their affairs reached that during the years 1884, 1885 and 1886, less and less and finally no meetings were held, the charter was finally surrendered and Indian River Grange ceased to exist.
In the early part of 1887, at the solicitation of the state mas- ter and secretary, the revival of Indian River Grange was sug-
490
HISTORY OF CANAAN.
gested and effected. At an informal meeting, March 25, 1887, these two officers being present, a petition was signed by thirteen old members and sixteen new ones.
The grange was still in a very low condition during the year 1887, only six meetings were held and only one member initiated. In 1888 fourteen meetings were held and ten new members joined. The next two years was a period of inactivity, with no additions to membership. In 1891 six new members were re- ceived by petition. In 1892 and 1893, more members were sus- pended for non-payment of dues and the grange could hardly keep its head up. But the period of depression was nearly ended and in the early part of 1895 prosperity began to show itself. During this year all the regular meetings were held as well as several special for the conferring of degrees. In 1896 twenty- eight new members joined and the total membership was sixty- one, twenty-seven males and thirty-four females. The member- ship has constantly increased every year. In June, 1899, it reached the century mark. The membership has steadily in- creased. In 1901 eleven new members were initiated. During the last ten years 183 members have been initiated; death and withdrawals have left the number of members at the present time at 184. The town has never had any "Old Home Week" celebration. Several times articles have been in the warrant and each time passed. The grange in 1904, held an entertainment as an observance of that event. William Hall, Hubbard Ford, Alvin Davis, and Mr. and Mrs. George W. Davis are the only remaining charter members.
Knights of Pythias.
A petition to establish a lodge of this order was started in the summer of 1893, with twenty-eight names, who were to be the charter members. Few of these knew anything about the prin- ciples of the order and those who did not, were induced to sign by the representations of those who did, that it was an order that would be of benefit to them. The names of the twenty-eight signers were as follows: A. L. Young, G. H. Kinne, F. W. Bar- ney, J. F. Wentworth, E. M. Allen, G. H. Gordon, B. E. Goss, H.
491
SECRET ORGANIZATIONS.
A. Gilman, Cary Smith, H. H. Woodward, W. C. Story, James Dubia, A. J. Barney, M. T. Furber, C. O. Ingalls, A. H. Barney, E. Fitzgerald, M. M. Wiggin, A. P. Follensbee, C. O. Barney, H. J. Goss, R. E. Allen, F. A. Trumbull, G. E. Cobb, C. P. King, F. E. Howe, J. E. Martin, B. F. Davis.
On the evening of the 11th of August, 1893, a lodge of emergency was opened in Grange Hall, at which the officers of the Grand Lodge were present, with the result that Mt. Cardi- gan Lodge, No. 31, was duly instituted. Meetings were regularly held in Grange Hall for a time, when it became apparent that it was not a satisfactory meeting place and a committee was ap- pointed to make arrangements for Barnard Hall. Accordingly a five-year lease was secured and extensive changes made. The first meeting held in the new hall was on December 30, 1893. The lodge continued to hold its meetings there for seven years. During these years the lodge prospered beyond expectation. In December, 1894, when the lodge was sixteen months old it had a membership of forty-eight knights, one esquire and two pages. The debt incurred in fitting up Barnard hall had been paid off in October. In 1895 the membership increased to fifty-eight. At the close of 1897 the membership was seventy-four, and at the last meeting in 1898, the membership was ninety. In Decem- ber, 1899, the membership was 101, and the lodge had nearly $1,000 in its treasury. The increase in membership and funds led to talk of a new hall, and an offer was made in March, 1900, for the Grange building. This offer was accepted and a com- mittee, consisting of H. A. Gilman, G. H. Gordon and E. M. Allen, was appointed to make the necessary repairs and changes. Another story was added to the building, which is occupied as the lodge room and ante-rooms. Mrs. Lura G. Milton, whose son, Frank E. Milton, had been a member and who had died in 1894, donated $500 towards the improvement of the building in mem- ory of her son, and the hall has since been called Milton Hall. The first meeting held in the new hall was on September 7, 1900. The membership at the end of this year was 109. Since that time forty-nine members have been initiated, making a total of 168 members admitted by initiation and four by card. Suspension, death and withdrawals have decreased the number, so that now the total membership is 123.
492
HISTORY OF CANAAN.
Pythian Sisterhood.
In February, 1900, Mrs. Adelaide H. Currier and Mrs. Mary A. K. Tucker circulated a petition for the formation of a Sister- hood. There was a Lodge of Knights, and why not have the auxiliary branch for the ladies ? Twenty-seven ladies signed the petition and on the institution of the assembly, became the char- ter members. Their names were: Adelaide H. Currier, Mary A. K. Tucker, Lillian A. Barney, Mrs. I. B. Stevens, L. Idella Smith, Dell J. Goss, Blanche M. Coburn, Mrs. F. A. Doten, Emma F. Gordon, Ella M. Richardson, Romie E. Jones, Emma L. Sher- burne, Roxie L. Allen, Bertha D. Hadley, Frances R. Kimball, Mrs. A. E. Smith, Georgie A. Sanborn, Minnie M. Folsom, Lucy R. Clarkson, Elvira Woodward, Kate R. Davis, Addie M. Follans- bee, Mary E. Howe, Emma J. Dubia, Lora M. King, Helen M. Merrill, Blanche E. Bogardus.
An informal meeting was held on March 7, 1900, which was adjourned until the following March 13, when the officers of the Grand Lodge were present and Mascoma Valley Assembly, No. 22, was instituted. At the next meeting the name of the lodge was changed to Prosperity Assembly. They first held their meetings in the Grange building where the Knights were, and afterwards moved with them into Barnard Hall and then back again into Milton Hall. At the end of the first year they had thirty-six members, the next year eighteen more joined, in 1902 three, 1903, three, in 1904 two and in 1905 two, making a total membership of sixty-four. The next year there were none initiated because of the agitation at that time as to whether they were to be recognized by the Grand Lodge of Knights as the auxiliary body. The Grand Lodge refused to recognize them and it became necessary to reorganize, which was done February 14, 1907. Under the old system the Knights could not become mem- bers of the Assembly; under the new they could. Since the be- ginning, 107 have become members, death and withdrawals at the present time have left sixty-three ladies and twenty-four knights.
CHAPTER XXIX.
OLD FAMILIES.
The Scofields.
John Scofield was in his lifetime a prominent man in the affairs of this town. A well-poised, sincere man, and the people had great trust in his integrity and good common sense and con- ferred upon him all the offices and honors in their power to bestow. These offices he held almost continuously during the eighteen years he remained here and he had the pleasure of see- ing his sons, Eleazer and John, Jr., as they grew up to be men, honored for the same sterling qualities that distinguished him- self. Mr. Scofield lived to see the patriots successful in all their plans and the country freed from the rule of George the Third, of whom Thackeray says: " 'George, be a king,' were the words which the king's mother was forever croaking in the ears of her son. And a king the simple, stubborn, affectionate, bigoted man tried to be." Mr. Scofield wore knee buckles and breeches. Tall and of most enduring constitution. No respect for the weather; all kinds were alike to him; summer's heat and winter's cold. He was an Englishman and a Baptist. Mr. Scofield was not a soldier in the Revolution. "On the nine- teenth of April in seventy-five," he was sixty years old, and beyond the age limit for service in the field. He was buried on the spot chosen by himself for that purpose, upon his own lands and a headstone of clay slate, which he wrought out with his own hands, excepting the date of his death, was placed over his grave, where it remained, exposed to the storms of more than ninety years, quietly marking the resting place of the brave dust that was gathered beneath, and might have continued to remain for ninety years longer a silent sentinel there, but for the foolish vanity of a man who thought to win renown for anti- quarian research by lugging that stone off, and placing it in the dusty and damp cellar of the New Hampshire Historical Society at Concord, where the dust accumulated upon it so as to obscure
494
HISTORY OF CANAAN.
the inscription. And that man signalized his ignoble feat by attaching to the stone a sketch of Mr. Scofield, which was only remarkable for its blunders and mistakes in dates. £ Disce omnes cui bono. This stone remained in the box it was received in in the cellar of the society until 1905, when the town at its annual meeting, saw fit to recognize the services and trials of this man by requesting that it be returned to Canaan.
The town also voted to place a fence around the spot where Mr. Scofield's dust lay, the better to preserve his grave and those buried beside him. The stone was placed in the Town Library on account of its condition, it not being deemed advisable to place it at the head of his grave. On the stone is carved this. inscription :
IN MEMORY OF JOHN SCOFIELD Who died July 5th. 1784 In his 69th. year Blessed are ye dead who die in the Lord.
On the footstone, now standing at the foot of his grave, was carved "Mr. John Scofield." The grave is located in the south part of the pasture of the old James Pattee farm on South Road, which Daniel Pattee bought in 1799. This farm was cleared by Samuel Jones, Mr. Scofield's son-in-law.
At some unknown date a burial place was laid out in that lone pasture. Years ago there were eleven mounds, arranged due east and west. At only one of them, Mr. Scofield's, was there a gravestone. Field stones are placed at the head and foot of some of the others. Five of them were short, indicating children. Mrs. Scofield was buried beside her husband and a Mrs. Floyd is said to have been buried in another. And this is all that is known of those buried there.
Mrs. Scofield, whose maiden name was Sarah Crocker, she who so bravely walked with her children, while her husband hauled his handsled from Lebanon, in that dreary December day in '66, survived her husband in her old homestead for twelve years. She died September 4, 1796, and her grave was never marked. The reason for this apparent neglect to mark the old graves was cogent with the people. There were no skilful work-
495
OLD FAMILIES.
ers in stone among them. and they could hardly afford the ex- pense of sending abroad for monuments of marble or granite. Nearly all the old stones set up in our cemeteries are the handi- work of some member of the family of the deceased, wrought from stones which still have their counterparts in this town. The last will and testament of Mrs. Scofield, witnessed several years before her death, is copied below. It is written in the handwriting of Thomas Baldwin and is witnessed by him. The spelling and capitalization of the original are retained.
In The Name of God, Amen, The Last Will & Testament of Sarah Scofield of Canaan in the County of Grafton and State of New Hamp- shire.
Im primis, my Soul I Commend to God that Gave it. Trusting and Beleiving thro the Merits of His Dear Son to be accepted of Him in Peace. My body I resign to the Earth, to be Decently Interred Trust- ing and Believing I Shall receive it again in the Morning of the Resur- rection Refined for Immortality.
My funeral charges together with all my Just Debts to be Paid out of my Estate. Item, I Give and Bequeath all my wearing apparel to my Children and Grandchildren, to be Equally Divided into Four Parts (viz) To my Beloved Daughter Merriam Jones one Quarter (and She to have the first choice). To Temperance Scofield my Beloved. Daughter in law one Quarter, to my Beloved Daughter in law Lydia Scofield one Quarter, and to my Beloved Grand-daughters, Sarah Crock- er and Esther Jones, one quarter to be equally Divided between them.
Item I give and bequeath to my beloved daughter Meriam Jones my bed underbed two coverlids one pair of Sheets one pair of Pillow cases.
Item I give and Bequeath al the remaining part of my Estate of Whatsoever Nature or kind to my beloved Sons Eleazer and John Scofield to be Equally Divided between them. With this Proviso that they pay To my two Grandaughters above named two pounds Ten Shillings Each to be paid out of my Household stuff or other ways to their Satisfaction Immediately after my Discease .- all and every of the Bequested Premises I Will and injoin that they be Divided and injoyed as above expressed.
In Testimony Whereof I have hereunto Set my hand and Seal this 23rd day of Jany A D 1786, Signed Sealed And Confirmed in Presents of her
THOMAS BALDWIN
EZEKIEL LUNT
SARAH + SCOFIELD. mark
Ezekiel Lunt was a resident of Enfield. This will was never probated. Its terms were carried out without legal formality.
The sons of Mr. Scofield were Eleazer, born in 1754, and John,
496
HISTORY OF CANAAN.
born June 12, 1756. There were two daughters, Delight, who died in 1777, the wife of Gideon Rudd of Hanover, and Miriam, two years younger than John, all born in Connecticut. Before the death of their father, these young men exhibited traits of character which won the respect and confidence of their towns- men. Their opportunities for education were very limited, there being no public schools. But few of the people became distin- guished for their learning, because the necessities of life com- pelled them to labor. They learned to read and write painfully, and if not disturbed could slowly reckon figures. The new set- tlements did not afford even so good advantages as the older set- tlements in Connecticut from whence they came and the young people had to depend chiefly upon their own efforts and the in- struction of parents at home and the parents of these young peo- ple were but indifferent scholars. Mr. Scofield passed through a routine business education, while his wife was ignorant, both of letters and penmanship. But what the boys lacked in mental training was made up to them in good advice, which they stored up and followed all the days of their lives.
Eleazer married Temperance Calkins, whose father, John P., lived in a log house on the South Road, about ninety rods west of his father-in-law, Mr. George Harris. They had a family of three sons, Eleazer, Nathan, Benjamin, and two daughters, all born in Canaan. He built and lived in the house John Moore now owns. John married Lydia Clark, a sister of Dea. Josiah Clark. They had four sons and five daughters, all born in Canaan. John Scofield, Jr., was an earnest patriot of the Revo- lution. He was made captain of a militia company and marched on foot from Canaan to Saratoga, and had the gratification of being present at the surrender of Burgoyne. He always after- ward was known as Captain Scofield, and as he grew in years, he got to be "old Captain Scofield."
The sister Miriam, married Maj. Samuel Jones. After living together several years, two children being born to them, they separated by mutual consent, a lack of harmony being the chief reason, and the major carried her back to her mother's house. It is reported that it gave him greater pleasure to restore her to her mother's house than he manifested when he took her away. She was a confirmed invalid and continued with her own kindred
497
OLD FAMILIES.
until her death, and was always known as "Aunt Miriam." Major Jones sold out; emigrated to New York and married again. One son, many years afterward, revisited the scenes of his father's early labors. Soon after the old settler's death, Mr. Eleazer and Captain John, who had assisted in cutting the first trees for actual settlement in Canaan, began to talk to each other of emigrating, selling out their lands and making a home in Canada. Strong as were their attachments, they seemed willing to yield them all and push on and begin as settlers anew farther off.
The industry and perseverance of the people had made this a flourishing community. Every season was adding to its num- bers and respectability. Schools were organized in the new districts and a common education was possible under difficulties. Religion had many sincere votaries and the Baptist Church in- creased in numbers, although many of the good men were not within its fold.
The lands were being sub-divided, and distributed freely at low prices to induce settlements. It would not be long before every man would be reduced to a hundred acres or even less.
They felt crowded, and sterling men as they were and hon- ored and respected as such, were sired of the same disease which attacked "the old man" thirty-five years before when he exiled himself from the pleasant town in Connecticut and by devious wanderings at length found a home upon the banks of the Mas- coma at Canaan. They had heard that the soil of Canada was rich and easily worked, but few stones, and extended in long level stretches of forest. It was not until after the death of their mother, some years, that their desires began to assume definite shape. About the year 1800 Captain John and his son John Bunyan, traveled up to Canada for exploration, and de- cided upon the spot that should be their future home. They found it a great unbroken forest, with natural features far su- perior to these. They returned well pleased, and two or three years afterward, packed up their household goods, their lares and penates, their wives and children, cattle, sheep and hogs, a bag of apple seeds, for it was a rule with all our ancestors, to plant an orchard as soon as the first acres were felled and started
32
498
HISTORY OF CANAAN.
out for their new home about a mile within the Canada line in the town of Dunspatten, now St. Armands.
They took up a large tract of land and in one year cleared thirty acres with their own hands. They built houses and barns, planted orchards and crops of all kinds, and increased and mul- tiplied, as perservering industry always does. The entire race disappeared from among us, and their names never again ap- pear in our records. Eleazer, his wife, three sons and two daughters, Captain John, his wife, four sons and five daughters, and Aunt Miriam, all departed together, leaving us only the graves of our first settler and his wife.
Captain John's children were: Sarah, born January 21, 1779, she married David Tallman and had eight children; Miriam, born May 4, 1780, married Robert Barber and had two children ; John Bunyan, born March 31, 1781, died September 24, 1814, married Wealthy Basford and had seven children; Lucinda, born June 28, 1784, died December 2, 1857, married Benedict Tyler and had seven children; James, born August 10, 1786, died March 8, 1849, married Olive Basford and had eleven children; Jesse, born March 31, 1789, died October 23, 1828, married Eliza Martin and had one son; Lydia, born No- vember 23, 1791, died July 2, 1860, she married Salmon Baker and had eight children and afterwards married David F. Car- penter; Lewis, born September 13, 1794, married Eliza Bowen and had one son; Betsey, born October 4, 1797, married John Ingalls and had four children.
Capt. John Scofield owned and lived upon the farm which he sold to Levi George of Salisbury in 1803, on the north side of South Road, opposite where George Ginn now lives. He owned the land on both sides of the old road leading to the mill. He deeded the land on both sides "to the road." That road was thrown up by the town, consequently the land reverts to the heirs of Captain Scofield. Every subsequent deed has fol- lowed the same description and no owner has recognized or as- sumed to give a description to a subsequent purchaser that in- cluded the road.
There were others who emigrated and went to make up the Canaan colony in Canada, either with the Scofields or soon af-
499
OLD FAMILIES.
ter. Robert Barber, Jr., who had married Miriam Scofield; Allen Miner and his wife, Sally Flint, daughter of Joseph Flint, and three children; David Clark, son of Captain Caleb, married to Sarah Basford; Prescott Clark, his brother, married to Mary Basford. Two other Basford girls had married into the Sco- field family; they were the daughters of Joseph Basford, a Revolutionary soldier, who had settled in Orange. He was not long a resident of Orange. Like many other settlers in that town, he left to get rid of the exactions of Nathan Waldo, and settled at East Lebanon, where he was employed by Elisha Paine in his mill at the outlet of Mascoma Lake. William Gates, son of Reynold, a young man about eighteen years old, joined the colonists, and after the death of David Clark in 1810, mar- ried the widow. Prescott Clark had eight children.
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.