USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Canaan > The history of Canaan, New Hampshire > Part 49
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The Martins, Robert.
Robert Martin came to Canaan in 1819 from Pembroke. He was a distinguished soldier of the Revolution, serving faithfully in the campaigns in Rhode Island; in the disastrous attack upon Mount Independence, was present at the surrender of Burgoyne, and for a time was stationed at Newcastle. His son William and grandson Henry, came with him, the latter a boy of ten. They bought the great intervale farm, which had been cleared by Joseph Flint, who sold it to Seth Daniels. Mr. Flint came here from Hopkinton. He had previously been a. merchant in Newburyport, Mass. He died in 1809 and was buried in' the Street cemetery and was the father of nineteen children, all of whom grew up. The last one to die was Mrs. William Atherton, January 23, 1873, aged 79 years. Mr. Daniels gladly availed himself of the offer of the Martins, to purchase the farm and in 1819, being seized with the western fever by having received glowing accounts of the fertility of the soil in western New York, he started out with his family to seek a new home. Rob- ert Martin died in 1839 and was buried on Canaan Street. William Martin was a farmer and blacksmith. In 1845 he sold
Old Wallace House, Town House and Hotel on Broad Street, 1886
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his farm to Harrison Pillsbury and bought the house built by Gordon Burley, in which he died, aged 83 years. He was a good man, greatly respected for the sincerity of his convictions, a life- long Democrat, faithfully supporting all the decrees of his party. A Methodist without stain, undeviating until his preach- ers began to pray for the abolition of slavery. He looked upon this as a crime against his southern brethren and it greatly grieved him. But he was a sincere and worthy man; friendly and generous according to his means. He became a member of Mt. Moriah Lodge in 1824, and was buried by Social Lodge of Enfield. He was a selectman of the town in 1826, 1827, 1831 and 1835. Henry Martin, the grandson, was a life-long Demo- crat like his father, and only once was ever known to fail to re- spond during the Greeley campaign, when he stayed at home. He was a blacksmith and his shop, since taken down, stood north of Mrs. Levi George's. He married first Persis Marston, granddaughter of that Richard Whittier who first cleared the farm on the east side of Hart Pond. He married second Lucy Burleigh. He was a schoolmate of the writer, in the old yellow schoolhouse on the common, under the severe, but chaste dis- cipline of that lovely old maiden, Olive Cross. We traveled through long lives by different routes, but these all finally meet and end at the same place.
Martin, William, son of Robert d. July 20, 1866, aged 82 y. 9 mo .; (a) ; his wife, Mary Stannell, d. January 19, 1869, aged 82 y. 10 m .; (a) ; his son, Henry, d. December 24, 1894, aged 81 y. 1 mo. 10 d .; first wife, Persis W. Marston, b. 1808; d. 1865; m. 2d, February 15, 1866, Lucy J. Burley, dau. of Benjamin of Dorchester; by her he had Helen A., b. July 1, 1867; m. June 28, 1893, William A. King; one son, Ronald; Mary m. Ernest A. Barney, son of Albert E., and George H. m. Clara Jewel, one ch .: Jane. Abigail, dau. of William, b. January 26, 1818; d. March 27, 1901; m. 1st Horace Chase (see him) ; m. 2d, Hiram Barber.
The Wallace Family.
The family of Wallaces in Canaan were descended from the Scotch-Irish Wallaces who emigrated from Argyleshire, Scotland,
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about 1650, to Coleraine in the north of Ireland, where Joseph Wallace lived until he emigrated to America in 1726, with his wife Margaret whom he had married about 1718, and one son William, then about six years old. With Joseph came a sister Jean, and a brother John. Joseph lived in Londonderry, N. H., until his death in 1755; his wife died the next year; his son William moved to Milford, N. H., in 1756 with his wife, Mary Burns, and oldest son, Joseph; there were other children besides William, two or three daughters, but he was the only son.
William was born in Coleraine, Ireland, in 1720 and died in Mil-
ford May 24, 1793. His wife, Mary, was the daughter of John Burns who had emigrated from the north of Ireland in 1736 and was of Scotch-Irish descent. They were mar- ried in 1752. She was born in 1730 and died in Milford, May 24, 1815. They had five children :
Joseph, b. September 9, 1753 ; d. December 29, 1838 ; m. Novem- ber, 1779, Letitia Burns, and had eight children.
John, b. March 20, 1756; d. July 23, 1835; m. September 12, 1780, Mary Bradford, and had ten children.
Mary, b. August 17, 1759 ; d. May 14, 1786 ; m. Israel Burnham, and had one child, William, b. April 5, 1764; d. October 10, 1790, single.
James, b. in Milford, October 17, 1766; d. in Milford July 23, 1828; m. 1st, September 19, 1786, Betsey Holton Kimball of Amherst, daughter of Maj. Eben Kimball, b. December 5, 1766; d. in Milford, October 13, 1807; m. 2d, February 22, 1817, Sophia Tuttle of Littleton, Mass. He was a merchant in Milford and also a manufacturer of pots and pearl ashes. He had nine children by his first wife, the oldest, James, was b. in Milford August 24, 1787, d. in Canaan August 7, 1831, through the fatal carelessness of the physician ; m. June 21, 1811, Mary Flint of Middletown, Mass., daughter of Lieu- tenant John and Betsey (Fuller) Flint; she was b. January 5, 1791, and died in Canaan October 1, 1866. She m. 2d, 1852, Robert Barber Clark, b. August 16, 1787 ; died January 29, 1857.
James Wallace attended Phillips Andover Academy from No- vember 2, 1802, to December, 1803 ; moved to Salem, N. H., after
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his marriage and lived there two years; he then moved to Pem- broke, where he lived four years, engaged in business as a mer- chant. In October, 1817, he moved to Canaan with his wife and three children, having traded with Gen. Asa Robinson of Pembroke for the old house Ezekiel Wells built. He represented Canaan in the Legislature in 1827 and 1828, was a selectman in 1824, 1825, 1826, 1829, 1830, and postmaster from 1822 to 1827. In Canaan he manufactured pots and pearl ashes and was also a merchant. His store was located south of the old house. He had eight children.
John Flint, b. in Greenfield April 7, 1812; d. at sea of yellow fever in August, 1853, and was probably buried at sea, as nothing was ever heard of him after he left San Francisco for New Orleans.
He left home at the age of nineteen to go to sea, and was gone four years; was forty-three months on the water crossing the Pacific four times; visited Canton, Boston, to the Azores, Cape de Verd, St. Helena, Ascension, along the coast of South America to Queen Charlotte Inlet, Sandwich, Society and New Zealand Islands. He remained at home but a short time and never returned here. He then shipped upon a whaler from New Bedford and did not return to the United States, except to start again, until 1841. Nothing was heard of him again until March 16, 1852. His brother's diary of that date, written in a mining camp in California says: "John arrived at the Bar. Stayed until Sunday. Twenty-one years he has been a wan- derer by land and sea. Present address Sandwich Islands." On the 4th of the next month my father went to Barnes & Ray's ranch near Stockton, Cal., and stayed over night
He with him. He was then employed there by the month. stayed again with him on the 21st, and saw him again on the 20th of May, when he had decided to go to San José. On the 8th of July he went to see him again and found he had gone to the Sandwich Islands. There was no trace of him after this for a year, when my father learned of his being in Los Angeles. He tried to find him only to learn that he had gone to San Fran- cisco; he followed there to learn he had shipped for New Or-
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leans and was sick; he followed to New Orleans to await the arrival of the vessel. Upon its arrival the captain upon being questioned, would not give any information. The inference was that he had died and it being known that he had quite a con- siderable sum of money and valuables with him, they were stolen and his death concealed. He never married.
James Burns, b. in Salem, October 25, 1813; d. in Canaan, October 4, 1853 ; m. January 10, 1851, Susan Owen Chandler of West Randolph, Vt., b. October 15, 1822; d. in Thomas- ville, Ga., in 1904. She m. June 20, 1860, Dr. Thomas R. Reid of Thomasville, Ga. He was a persistent letter-writer and correspondent ; nearly all his life he kept a diary.
His early years cannot better be described than in his own words, at the time he was twenty-one. "Oct. 25, 1834. I am no longer a minor. I have attained the age of 21, and no bones broken. Was it fashionable now as formerly, or rather was this cold water reform, anything like 'Jackson and Reform' or Past office reform, I should not hesitate to crack a bottle of old cognac. But I prefer to be a reformist, an abolitionist, a pure Radical. During the long period of my minority, there are but few incidents within my recollection of any importance before 1826. I was like all other boys full of mischief, and perhaps that disposition is still a trait in my character. I was sent to an Academy in Thetford, Vt., in the spring of 1826. The time passed away as it usually does at such places, cheerfully. At the expiration of the term, I of course went home, from thence I was sent to Plainfield Academy, where I spent another three months. In the Fall of 1826, my uncle, who then resided in Mil- ford, N. H., requested of my father that I should live with him. I forthwith 'packed up.' For three long years, I remained with him acting in the complicated capacity of foot-boy, valet de chambre, ostler, informer, cow-boy. In fact I was both Squire and Knight, visiting home but once during my sojourn with my uncle. In 1829, in the Fall, I think in the month of September, my uncle deceased, consequently my official capacity was at an end. And bidding farewell to a land that had become endeared to me by many recollections, I again set sail for the land of Canaan.
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1, 2, 3, Mary (Currier) Wallace. 4. Louisa (Wier) Currier. 5. Mary (Flint) Wallace. 6. James Burns Wallace.
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1830 again found me rambling over the fields of Canaan. During this year I was alternately in my father's store, and at school. Three years absence had made many alterations in the town. Some of the old inhabitants had moved away and others had appeared to fill their places. So I was obliged to regret their loss and form new acquaintances. 1831, Aug. I buried my father, from that period to the present a new era has been opened to my views. My younger brother had previously engaged as a printer in the office of the Post at Haverhill, N. H. Im- mediately after my father's decease I went to Concord, and engaged as a clerk in a store of Asaph Evans, in which capacity I acted for the space of three months. It was in Hills building I was situated. I paid a visit to the printing office. The employ- ment I thought would suit me. I had previously heard the rumbling of the presses and conversed with several of the print- ers. I became afflicted with the printing mania, and thenceforth resolved to be a printer, made application to Mr. Hill, who without much 'talk' agreed to employ me, provided. According- ly in November, 1831, I entered the office of Hill & Barton, the publishers of the N. H. P. & S. G., as a - not a devil, but a printer, which employment perfectly coincided with my dis- position and feelings. From my youth I had been very fond of reading. In my situation I could gratify that propensity. And it was not the least of my enjoyment, after the round of labor had passed off, to sit me down, one, two, three, sometimes a dozen hours, to spend in perusing such books as I could obtain from the extensive collection of Mr. Hill. Adapting the manner of David Hume, 'that as a man can not write long of himself without egotism,' I will hasten this sketch to a close. I was never destined to the command of a regiment of Hussars, or to pick type forever. In the Fall of 1832, whether it proceeded from my sedentary ambition, or from my sedentary habits, or from some other cause more immediate, or remote, I am unable to determine, I sickened of fever and fled the office, attribu- ting meanwhile my sickness to the confined life I led. From the kind attention of my physician, and the kinder attention of my mother, I in a short time recovered, returned to the office, and after bidding farewell to the knights of the stick and type, took
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a retrograde movement again to the land of Canaan. Immedi- ately after my return I contracted a bargain with Gordon Bur- ley, to enter as clerk in his store, a man who has subsequently rendered himself so infamous in the annals of Canaan. Three months I tarried with him and left him in perfect disgust. This was in the winter of 1832 & 3. April 1, 1833, entered the store of Nathl Currier, where I remained eleven months. During this year 1833, the attention of the north was roused to the investiga- tion of the system of slavery as carried on within the limits of U. S. A. Not since my recollection has a national subject re- ceived the attention which this has. In March, 1834, I left Canaan for Middlebury, Vt. I entered a store in that place acting as clerk. From some cause which is not immediately con- nected with my tale, after remaining there two months I de- parted for the land of Canaan. One would think from the many times that I had landed at C., I was so intensely attached to it, as to leave all else to a general wreck before I would abandon it. But it is far otherwise. On the other hand, I find it to be a convenient starting point. It is as of as much importance in my terrestrial voyages as the Pole star."
In the winter of 1834 to 35 he taught school in Canaan "in old Hadley's Sleepy Hollow," and attended dancing school. Abraham Pushee, who was a renowned dancing master and fiddler, opened a dancing school with an attendance of eighty. On January 27, 1835, he went to work as a clerk for Whittier & Balch in their store. On the 27th of March, Whittier sold out to Balch and he remained with the "Jr Partner." He re- mained with Balch until October. Nathaniel Currier had pro- posed to him to go to Louisiana with Hubbard Harris on a trad- ing trip, with ready-made clothing, socks, etc. He was to carry $8,000 to $10,000 worth of goods. He left Boston on October 30 and reached New Orleans on November 19. He was sick thirteen days on the voyage. On the 6th of December he reached Natchitoches by boat up the Mississippi. He made a trip of fourteen days to Washington, Ark., on horseback, and after his return went to David Pratt's store in the Parish of Claiborne, traveling sixty-five miles through the wilderness to find only two buildings, - Pratt's store and a house of enter-
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tainment kept by one Drew, a superannuated planter. The first man whom he met was Doctor Nelson, who had left Canaan the March before. David Pratt was Mrs. Nathaniel Currier's oldest brother. His daughter, Elizabeth Pratt, was with him. From Pratt's store he set out for Spring Hill, Ark., and traveled three days to find three buildings in the pine woods. "We crossed creeks and bayous, plunged through cane brakes and mud so deep that we could not travel faster than a walk. The inhabi- tants are scattered here and there, so remote from each other and society, that their mode of life is little calculated to please a Yankee. The food is principally corn bread (chicken dough) and fried pork fried in soap grease. I was fourteen days on the road, traveled about 400 miles. Five merchants shipped their goods back north. There was an influx of merchandise. Harris is with me." This was Hubbard Harris, brother of George. He returned to New Orleans and on January 9 started by boat up the Mississippi to Columbus, Ohio; from there he staged across to Philadelphia, arriving on the 31st of January, 1836. "Feb. 2. I made arrangements today to leave for New York on the Camden & Amboy R. R., but owing to the extreme cold the cars did not arrive from N. Y. I am obliged to go in an open sleigh, 4 P. M. and will arrive in N. Y. tomorrow morn." On February 12 he reached Canaan. In March he went back into Balch's store. This store stood just above Mrs. Caleb Blodgett's house and is the shed of Mr. Shrigley's building. It was built by James Wallace and during his lifetime was used by him as a store at the lower end of the Street. After his death it was sold to Whittier & Balch. In the latter part of March Balch sold to Hiram Smart. In July, 1837, Smart sold out to him and he began business for himself, but it was not profitable and being unable to obtain a lease of the building, he traded back to Smart in October and the store was closed. On January 1, 1838, he formed a partnership with Nathaniel Currier, under the name of Currier & Wallace. Later he formed a partnership with Horace S. Currier at the Street and at the time of his death, they were in business at the depot.
He represented the town in 1852 and was town clerk from 1846-51. No children.
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3. William Allen, b. in Pembroke, September 28, 1815; d. in Canaan February 15, 1893; m. January 8, 1865, by Rev. Reuben Dearborn in Canaan, Mary Duncan Currier, dau. of James and Louisa (Wier) Currier, of Canaan; b. Novem- ber 20, 1838; d. in Canaan December 25, 1898; one child : James Burns, b. in Canaan August 14, 1866; m. December 21, 1889, Alice Hutchinson, dau. of Lucius B. and Alice M. (Rollins) Hutchinson ; b. June 22, 1867 ; no. ch.
4. Oscar Flint, b. in Canaan March 14, 1818; d. there May 27, 1842 ; single.
5. Amelia Melvina, b. in Canaan December 14, 1820; d. in San Francisco, Cal., March 20, 1868; m. Daniel G. Cummings; b. March 5, 1812. She was his second wife; one ch. He went to California in the latter part of 1854, and she followed in April, 1855, with her daughter.
Clara Amelia, b. May 14, 1846; d. Yokohama, Japan, Novem- ber 19, 1900; m. April, 1868, in San Francisco, Cal., George E. Rice, who died in Nagasaki, Japan, December 17, 1901. She was employed in the English School of the Japanese government until it was abolished. He was eleven years in the employ of the United States gov- ernment at Yokohama, Japan ; three years as marshal and eight years as vice-consul general. They resided in Yokohama, Japan. Three children :
Mabel Amelia, b. at Hakadate, Japan, December 23, 1868; m. Henry W. Fraser; d. July 27, 1909, in New York City. Was with the Hong Kong, Shanghai Bank in Hong Kong and in New York City. No. eh.
Lillian Amelia, b. Hakadate, Japan, December 23, 1868; m. December 12, 1888, Frank Gillett of Walthamstow, England; b. January 14, 1854; d. December 9, 1900. During his life they resided in Yokohama, and upon his death she went to his home in England and has re- sided there since; one ch.
Evelyn Frances, b. October 12, 1889.
Clara Edwina, b. September 21, 1871; m. November 30, 1892, William Wallace Campbell of Quebec; b. in Quebec, August 22, 1860; reside in Kobe, Japan; he is agent
James BWallace
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of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, White Star and Oriental Steamship Companies. Two ch .:
Dorothy, b. May 18, 1895.
Archibald Kenneth, b. October 2, 1896.
6. Sophia Jane, b. May 13, 1823; d. in Canaan, July 5, 1842; single.
7. Rodney Holton, b. February 22, 1826; d. April 6, 1826.
8. Harriet Olivia, b. January 22, 1830; d. in Canaan June 4, 1904; bur. in Oakland, Cal .; m. 1st, February 18, 1850, Al- bert Martin, son of Eleazer, of Canaan; b. in Grafton Feb- ruary 2, 1821; d. in San Francisco, Cal., November 28, 1883. They resided in San Francisco for many years until his death. He was in the banking house of Tallant & Co. After his death she came back to Canaan and married May 20, 1889, Matthew H. Milton, b. October 28, 1819 ; d. in Canaan in 1905. She was his second wife. She went to California with her daughter and brother in 1859; her husband had preceded her the year before; one ch. by her first husband. Lillie Wallace, b. in Canaan, May 9, 1851; d. in East Oak- land in 1905 ; m. August 27, 1868, Charles H. Daly ; b. in Australia December 13, 1841; two ch .:
Gertrude Elizabeth, b. August 8, 1869 ; d. August 13, 1872. Mabel Harriet, b. October 18, 1873 ; d. June 12, 1902.
William Allen Wallace.
William Allen Wallace was the son of James and Mary (Flint) Wallace. He was a descendant on his father's side of the Scotch covenanters who came from Scotland to the north of Ire- land, and with the other emigrants from Londonderry, came to America and settled Londonderry, N. H. His mother came from Middleton, Mass .; her father was Lieut. John Flint a Revolu- tionary soldier and her grandfather, John Flint, was in the same army. Her grandmother was Huldah Putnam, a sister of Gen. Israel Putnam.
My father came to Canaan from Pembroke in 1817, with his father and mother and two older brothers, when he was two years old. His father was a stern man whom he feared rather than loved, who was too much engaged in his business to pay
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much attention to his children. This left their care to the mother, who was a sincere Christian woman whose first duty was to her children, then to her church. His education up to the time he was fifteen years old, was obtained at the schools in town, and he was prepared to enter Dartmouth College. Mr. J. L. Bunce of the New Hampshire Post, a paper printed at Haverhill, N. H., adverstised for a boy. He begged his parents to let him learn to set type and in May, 1831, his mother car- ried him to Haverhill and he was duly installed in that office as the youngest apprentice. He was the first of the family to leave home and the last to return. In August of that year, his father died and his mother being occupied in caring for the estate, closing up the store and cooperage business, his college life was overlooked. He remained at Haverhill two years, when the office was sold out and hauled off to Concord. He says, "about all I learned in the Post office was to set type, to work the rollers, and to sweep the office. This last operation I re- duced to a science, and have often since been complimented for the skill with which I manipulated a broom over a dusty floor without raising a cloud." He went to Concord as a part of the office and remained about a year, not liking the owner, he left. He fell into the hands of a man who cared nothing for him, and when at the end of his service the only advice he received was to "Go and be hanged." He went; but was not hanged. In April, 1834, he engaged to work with Alfred Beard of the Nashua Telegraph, a genial, pleasant gentleman, whom every- body loved, but none more so than those who labored for him. He remained there two years and then took to wandering. He says: "I was often disgusted with myself for the instability of my resolutions. I was possessed with the idea that I was not ap- preciated at my full value; but with empty pockets, I got over that. There is nothing like a flat purse to take the conceit out of a boy."
In 1836 he had grown uneasy and wanted to be doing something else. His oldest brother had gone to sea and he thought to do the same. His brother Burns wrote him: "The idea of being a sailor is not ennobling, means can be furnished you to go to school six months, be contented until your time has expired."
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In May he went to Plymouth to school where he remained until December. He was obliged to rise at 5 o'clock in the morning, study an hour before breakfast, and whenever he wished to smoke to go out of town. The first of December found him in the office of the Bunker Hill Aurora, Charlestown, Mass .; the last of December he was back again in Nashua, and on the first of January, 1837, in Charlestown again, when he was almost induced to enlist in the United States navy, and but for his brother Burns, would have been a sailor. However, he went back into the printing office and remained in Charlestown for about a year. He then went to East Bridgewater, Mass., and remained about six months in the employ of George H. Brown. He returned home through the summer and in October went to Boston, where he remained the rest of the year. In Decem- ber he wrote: "A printer cannot, like almost any other me- chanic, take his tools and set himself down by the roadside wherever he pleases and establish himself. He must wait, long years of anxious toil, frequently thrown out of work, and when at length grown grey in the service, his best life's blood ex- hausted and his eye growing dim, he thinks of passing his days in quiet, he examines his funds and finds, not full coffers, but as when he first set out, nothing but emptiness. I am a printer. I have been a journeyman over two years, and if not where I first began, I am so near it that you can scarcely perceive the difference, except that I have grown somewhat older. I have come to the conclusion I will stay in Boston as long as I can get work." One day in January, 1839, he found himself in Wor- cester, Mass., with $2.11 in his pocket. He went into the old Spy office and became its foreman. On the publication of the Daily Spy in 1846, he became one of the editors. In 1848 he went with the great host up to Buffalo and joined in the nomina- tion of Martin Van Buren for the purpose of defeating Lewis Cass for president. He says: "I was always proud of that pilgrimage, for it broke up the seemingly interminable Demo- cratic succession in office, and was one of the moving events which led to the abolition of slavery." In July, 1848, he became associated with Mr. Earle in the management of the Spy.
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