USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Dublin > The history of Dublin, N.H. : containing the address by Charles Mason, and the proceedings at the centennial celebration, June 17, 1852, with a register of families > Part 19
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At the annual town meeting in 1777, the town appropriated eighteen pounds for the purchase of ammunition. This appears to be the only public action of the town, having relation to the war, which has not been noticed by Mr. Mason in the Centen- nial Address, which forms the first Chapter of this work. To save repetition, we refer readers to that address for the action taken by the town, from time to time, upon specific matters pertaining to the soldiers and to the war.
It has been found very difficult to obtain a correct list of the soldiers of the Revolution furnished by Dublin. An honored native of Dublin, Prof. Samuel Carroll Derby of the Ohio State University at Columbus, has prepared a valuable monograph entitled "A List of the Revolutionary Soldiers of Dublin, N. H.," to which he has added two supplements. With his consent, we have used this work, from which we have derived valuable assistance in our effort to obtain the names of Dublin men in the service. After a careful research in the printed mate- rial which the state has provided in relation to the Revolu- tion, we can find but a single name which might possibly be added to those which he has considered. Without any attempt to make a complete list of soldiers of the Revolution who moved to Dublin after the war, the following is a list as nearly correct as it has been possible to make it, of those who went into the service from Dublin.
1. ELISHA ADAMS, in Capt. Jason Wait's company, Col. Enoch Hale's regiment, in 1778, was then 20 years of age, and accredited to Charlestown. In 1781, he was one of the six months' men raised by New Hampshire, to reinforce the con-
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tinental army at West Point. He was then accredited to Dub- lin. He removed to Maine, and died at Farmington, in that state, in 1837. According to Mr. Derby, Elisha had a brother, Joseph Adams, who served in the army from Holliston, Mass. A fragment of the diary which the latter kept during the siege of Boston was recently found in Dublin, and is in the family of the late A. L. Ball.
2. THOMAS ALDEN appears in the invoice for 1773 for the first time. He had lived in town but two or three years before he was mustered, in 1776, into Capt. Joseph Parker's company, Col. Enoch Hale's regiment, and joined the army at Ticon- deroga. He had six children born in Dublin, the last in 1787. He died, Feb. 22, 1813, at Leicester, Vt., about 70 years of age. 3. HART BALCH gives the compiler of the "Revolutionary Rolls" considerable business. He saw service in several differ- ent organizations, and for several years. For a little more than three months, in 1775, he was in Capt. Wm. Walker's company in Col. James Reed's regiment. In 1777, in the return by Col. Enoch Hale, he is called a nine months' man, and from Jaffrey, 26 years of age. In the same year, he went to Ticonderoga, in Capt. Roger Gilmore's company, under Lieut. Col. Thomas Heald, and served 14 days. In May, 1778, he enlisted for a year in Capt. Caleb Robinson's company, Col. Nathan Hale's regiment. April 24, 1781, he enlisted for three years, accred- ited to Dublin, in the 9th company of Col. Joseph Cilley's regi- ment. On July 17, 1782, we learn from Mr. Derby's work, the selectmen of Dublin made Hart Balch the bearer of a letter to the New Hampshire Committee on Claims, then in session at Exeter. His first appearance in the town is indicated by his being "warned out" in 1779. The births of three of his chil- dren are recorded in the Dublin records, the last in 1786. He seems to have moved from town shortly after this. He was born at Newbury, Mass., Nov. 9, 1751, and died at Andover, Vt., Feb. 15, 1846.
4. NATHANIEL BATES, whose last name appears in ancient records as Bate, was on the tax list of 1771. He was returned by Dublin, April 1777, as in the company of Capt. Jason Wait, in the regiment of Col. Joseph Cilley. He was 39 years of age. From a memorial addressed by his widow to the House of Rep- resentatives at Exeter, dated, Oct. 28, 1778, we learn that he was killed in the first battle of Stillwater, Sept. 19, 1777, and left a widow and two small children. We learn from Mr. Derby that he lived "on the north side of Derby Hill," and that "John
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Stroud appears to have been the next occupant of Nathaniel Bates's little farm, and to have come to Dublin about 1778." Mrs. Bates married her neighbor, John Stroud, and afterwards lived in Stoddard.
5. NATHANIEL BELKNAP came to Dublin in 1774. He was a corporal in the company of Capt. Daniel Emerson, in the regi- ment of Col. Hercules Mooney, raised in July, 1778, for service in Rhode Island. He served a little more than six months. He died in Dublin, July 18, 1826. We read on his headstone: "He had been an inhabitant of Dublin 52 years." His second wife, who was Rebecca Clark, b. in Townsend, Mass., July 29, 1764; died in Dublin, Sept. 21, 1866, at the great age of 102 years, one month, and 23 days. She was the oldest person who has died in Dublin so far as we know. Joshua Stanford, who died in 1855, was a few days younger.
6. ASA BULLARD was in the company of Capt. Othniel Thomas, in the regiment of Col. Daniel Reynolds. On May 5, 1786, he gave a receipt to the Dublin authorities for rations and travelling money to Springfield, Mass., in 1781. Mr. Derby informs us that he became a physician and settled in Boston. He died at Mt. Vernon, N. H., May 1, 1826. He came to Dub- lin about 1785, and taught school. He graduated at Dart- mouth, 1793, and received from Harvard the degrees of A.M. (1809), M.D. (1813).
7. SIMEON BULLARD was on the tax list in 1771, in Dublin. He was a sergeant in Capt. Joseph Parker's company and Col. Isaac Wyman's regiment which went to reinforce the northern army at Ticonderoga in the summer of 1776. He lived near the northern end of Bullard (now called Thorndike) Pond, which was named for him. A magnificent elm, which has been admired by hundreds, stands near the site of his abode. He died in Dublin, Jan. 21, 1828. His burial was two days later, on the 23d, according to Rev. L. W. Leonard's church record. 8. JAMES CHAMBERLAIN, whose name was sometimes spelled "James Chamblen" on the old records, was one of many who came from Sherborn, Mass., to Dublin. According to the former History of Dublin, he came in 1772. He settled nearly on the site of Mrs. George Gowing's house in the village. His son lived on the site of the Unitarian church, and kept a tavern, in the house (now moved further east) occupied by Wilfred M. Fiske. James Chamberlain is supposed to be the same as "James Chandler" who was in Capt. Salmon Stone's company, which went in 1777 to the westward, and took part in the
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battles of Bennington and Stillwater. He enlisted, April 24, 1781, for three years, and was a corporal in the 9th company of Col. Cilley's (the 1st) regiment. He was for seven years the captain of the Dublin militia company. He died in Dublin, Jan. 24, 1826.
9. JOSEPH FROST, in the N. H. Revolutionary Rolls, is as- signed to the company of Capt. Othniel Thomas, in the regi- ment of Col. Daniel Reynolds, and accredited to Dublin. In 1781, this company joined the army at West Point. We can find nothing further with respect to him.
10. RICHARD GILCHREST, a native of Lunenburg, Mass., was the son of a Scotchman, who went to Ireland, and thence, eventually, to America. According to the former History of Dublin, page 340, Richard Gilchrest lived in Littleton, Mass., for a time, as a teamster; then went to Swanzey, N. H., and lived with an uncle. On the 20th of April, 1775, he was at work, with several others, preparing timber for a barn. Early in the day, the party heard that the British troops had left Boston, and had killed a large number of the Provincials. The question was asked, "Will you go?" and every one an- swered, "Yes." Thirteen persons were soon collected and went to Cambridge. Gilchrest was in the battle of Bunker Hill. He was afterwards in an excursion on Noddle Island and Hog Island, under Gen. Putnam, in which a number of the British were killed, a schooner burned, and a sloop of war sunk. In 1775, his name appears on the tax list in Dublin. He had prob- ably come to town in 1774. The name of his friend Thomas Green appears at the same time. The preceding statement that he was working in Swanzey in 1775 is doubtless correct, but he had previously become a resident of Dublin, in 1774, and was probably only working temporarily in Swanzey. The History of Swanzey is silent about Richard Gilehrest, but fur- nishes ample evidence that Thomas Green marched to Cam- bridge from Swanzey and was wounded at Bunker Hill. They probably went together. In the former History of Dublin, page 151, we find that Richard Gilchrest, like most old soldiers, was fond of "fighting his battles o'er again"; and some of his nar- ratives, if they could be obtained, would be worthy of preser- vation. He was a tall, robust, athletic man, of great resolution and undoubted courage. His attachment to his friends was strong, and, for their relief, he was ever ready to sacrifice per- sonal considerations. His strength and power of endurance were thoroughly tested in his exploit of removing from the battle-
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ground of Bunker Hill his wounded friend Thomas Green. It was a hot day; and, with such a burden, he became, before he reached Medford, exceedingly thirsty. He saw persons stand- ing round a barrel, the head of which was taken out, and drinking from a pint tin cup what he supposed to be water. He eagerly laid hold of the cup, filled it from the barrel, and did not discover, he said, that it was rum till after the contents of the cup were exhausted. "But," he always added, "I was not intoxicated by it, no! no more than if it had really been so much water. The New Hampshire Revolutionary Rolls do not mention any service of his, but they are somewhat defective, and their indexes are not complete. He is supposed to have seen service in Massachusetts organizations. At all events, the traditions recorded in the former History of Dublin cannot be doubted, and he must be included as a soldier of the Revo- lution. He died in Dublin, June 19, 1833.
11. BARTHOLOMEW GOYER (or in French Barthelemi Goyer), according to Mr. Derby's monograph, bought land in Dublin, in 1766. The N. H. Revolutionary Rolls mention him several times. In 1777, he was a private in the company of Capt. John Mellen, which went to reinforce Ticonderoga. In 1779, he enlisted again and received £6 billeting money to Springfield, Mass. In 1781, he enlisted in the company of Capt. Dustin, in the regiment of Col. George Reid. He served with his company until June, 1782, when he was captured by the Indians in the Mohawk valley, and carried to Canada, where he remained until September, 1783. He was supposed to have been killed by the Indians, and was returned as "dead." His name did not appear subsequently upon the rolls, and he drew no pay. In 1792, he petitioned the General Court for compensation, stat- ing the fact of his capture and his supposed death. Col. Reid certified to the facts. His request was granted, and he received £30, and interest from Sept. 30, 1783. He lived on the Derby Hill, in the south part of Dublin. He sold his farm to Samuel Derby, in 1796, and removed to North Adams, Mass. Mr. Derby informs us that "certain bills in the records of Dublin show that the town built a house for Goyer during his service in the army."
12. THOMAS GREEN appeared in Dublin at the same time as Richard Gilchrest. According to tradition, they were firm friends. They are on the tax list of 1775, probably coming to town in 1774. They both appear in Swanzey early in 1775. We learn from Swanzey records that Green, and, from tradition,
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that Gilchrest, went from Swanzey, after the Lexington "alarm," and that both were in the battle of Bunker Hill. In the notice of Gilchrest, we have already mentioned the cir- cumstance of his bearing Green from the battle-field, after the latter was wounded. The History of Swanzey and the N. H. Revolutionary Rolls fully relate the facts. He was accredited to Swanzey. He drew half pay, as an invalid, for three years, from Jan. 1, 1776, and New Hampshire granted him a pension of eighteen shillings a month after 1785. He was married, in Swanzey, March 2, 1780, to Lydia Foster and the births of two of their children, both sons, are recorded in that town, the last in 1784; after which, we learn no more of the family.
13. ELI GREENWOOD was known to the oldest inhabitants as a soldier of the Revolution. His name is not found in the N. H. Revolutionary Rolls, so far as we can discover from the indexes. He may have served in some Massachusetts company. It is very likely, however, that the rolls containing his service are not preserved. He died in Dublin, Oct. 8, 1827. He lived at Pottersville, on the site of the first house east of the road lead- ing to Chesham station.
14. JOSHUA GREENWOOD, a brother of Eli, came to Dublin, in his youth, with his father, William Greenwood, who settled on or near the site of the house now owned by Dr. Childs. He was, at three different times, in the regiment of Col. Enoch Hale; in the company of Capt. Josiah Brown, May 6, 1777; in the company of Capt. John Mellen, June 28, 1777; and in Capt. Samuel Twitchell's company, in 1778, which took part in the Rhode Island campaign. He settled on the paternal homestead, mentioned above, and died in Dublin, Dec. 1, 1827, ae. 72.
15. MOSES GREENWOOD came from Newton, Mass., to Dub- lin, in 1771, and settled on or near the site of Miss Thayer's summer residence, on lot 6 of the fifth range. He was in the company of Capt. John Mellen, which went to Ticonderoga in 1777. He died in Dublin, July 2, 1827, in the 79th year of his age.
16. WILLIAM GREENWOOD was a brother of Eli and Joshua Greenwood. He was in the company of Capt. Joseph Parker, which marched to the relief of Ticonderoga in 1776. He was in the company of Capt. Salmon Stone, which participated in the battles of Bennington and Stillwater, in 1777. He lived on lot 22 of the eighth range, just north of the present line between Dublin and Harrisville, where his son, Arba Greenwood, after-
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wards lived, on the old road to Marlborough, a short distance west of the site of Russell's mill. He died there, Aug. 30, 1830.
17. THOMAS HARDY, a native of Hollis, purchased land in Dublin in 1777. He was in the army of the Revolution three years, and was in the battles of Bunker Hill, Bennington, and Trenton. He was at West Point at the time of Arnold's treach- ery. In 1777, he is described, in the returns, as follows, "age 22, well set, and five feet eight inches high." He was a sergeant in the company of Capt. Benjamin Spaulding at West Point, in 1781. He was the first settler of the farm on Hardy Hill, on the spot where the Spauldings last lived. Thomas Hardy died there, July 25, 1816.
18. EBENEZER HILL, a native of Sherborn, Mass., settled in Dublin in 1773. In a roll of men engaged in the continental service, for three years, or during the war, under Capt. William Scott of Peterborough, according to a return made by Abiel Abbot, Muster-Master, Dec. 17, 1777, we find the name of Ebenezer Hill, his place of residence not given. The company was composed of men from Peterborough, Temple, Lynde- borough, New Boston, Amherst, and other towns not designated. Ebenezer Hill lived near the present station called Eastview, on the place where Daniel Townsend and Charles P. Hayward have more recently lived. Mr. Derby has not included Eben- ezer Hill in his list of soldiers from Dublin, but we feel that there can be no reasonable doubt that the man of that name in Capt. Scott's company was the same who lived upon the place mentioned. He died there, Oct. 1, 1834, at the age of 91.
19. JAMES HOUGHTON came to Dublin in 1781, and settled on a spot very near the power station of the Dublin Electric Company. He appears to have brought one son and five daugh- ters, some (perhaps the most) of whom had reached maturity. Another son, James, Jr., moved to Dublin five years after his father. James Houghton, Sr., enlisted, June 4, 1782, for the war. Mr. Derby suggests that he may have been the James Houghton who was a sergeant in Col. Timothy Bedel's regi- ment, 1777-8. The family did not remain long in Dublin, and we have not been able to trace their movements after leaving Dublin.
20. CALEB HUNT enlisted from Dublin, at sixteen years of age, in the company of Capt. Samuel Blodgett, in the regiment of Col. Nathan Hale, May 9, 1777. In the returns of this company, he is described as being five feet eight inches in height, of dark complexion and black eyes. He was reported
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to have been severely wounded in the retreat from Ticonderoga, and to have been left at Hubbardston, Vt., where his wounds were dressed by Dr. Abraham Downer of Charlestown, who was allowed forty-two shillings for his attentions to Hunt. In 1779, he was returned as in Col. George Reid's regiment, and is here described as five feet ten inches in height, of light hair and a light complexion. He was but a youth, and two additional years in his age may account for the increase in height. The discrepancies respecting his complexion were due to carelessness. In 1781, he enlisted in the town of Amherst, but gave his residence as Dublin. In one of the returns, he is said to have been born in Dublin, but that is an error. He was born about 1761, probably in Holliston, Mass., where his father had resided, and from which town the family came to Dublin in 1773. Caleb was the son of Willard Hunt, another soldier of whom we shall speak later. In 1794, in common with other soldiers who enlisted for Amherst, he petitioned for a grant of state land, because of the depreciation of the currency in which the soldiers were paid. For the residence of his father's family in Dublin, see the following notice of WILLARD HUNT. Caleb Hunt lived in various places. In the early part of the nine- teenth century, he was a prominent citizen of Stoddard. In 1807, he purchased a place in Sullivan, and obtained a license as an inn-keeper. He was unable to pay for his place and soon left it. He went to Marlborough, where he died, a year later, May 26, 1811, at the comparatively early age of fifty years. On his gravestone, he is called Capt. Caleb Hunt.
21. HENRY HUNT was a private soldier, in the company of Capt. Benjamin Spaulding, in the regiment of Col. Moses Nichols, which marched to West Point in 1780. In 1781, he enlisted for Amherst for six months, but claiming Dublin as a residence. In the Revolution, as in the Civil War, boys often enlisted from the towns in which they were temporarily work- ing. Sometimes also they enlisted for towns in which they did not live because of the tempting bounties offered. Henry Hunt was the next younger brother of Caleb Hunt, the subject of the preceding notice, and a son of Willard Hunt, the subject of the following notice. Henry Hunt was born August 12, 1762, prob- ably in Holliston, Mass., whence his father's family came to Dublin about 1773, the name of Willard Hunt being first seen on the tax-list in 1774. His father's residence in Dublin will be mentioned in the next paragraph. After the war, in 1783, Henry Hunt went from Dublin to Marlborough, and settled
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upon a farm, always called the Hunt place, in the east part of that town, a quarter of a mile or more south of Stone Pond. In 1783, he married Sarah, daughter of Dea. James Flood. They had no child, and an adopted son died at the close of his twenty-first year. Henry Hunt died on this farm, Nov. 17, 1828, and his nephew, Moses Hunt, succeeded him on the place.
22. WILLARD HUNT, the father of Caleb and Henry Hunt, of whom we have already spoken, first appears on the tax-list in Dublin in 1774, and probably came to town the previous year. He was from Holliston, Mass. His wife was Martha Wadkins (or Watkins). They had seven children, of whom the first six were born before they came to Dublin. In 1779, Mr. Hunt bought of Thomas Morse the second lot of the eighth range, and settled on or near the spot where Parker Fiske and Levi W. Fiske lived. According to the former History of Dublin, Mr. Hunt also lived on the fourteenth lot of the eighth range, south of the road leading past the Solon Willard place. Both of these lots are in the present town of Harrisville. According to the Revolutionary Rolls, Mr. Hunt served in the company of Capt. Abijah Smith, which was used to reinforce Washington's army near New York in September, 1776. He also enlisted for a year in April, 1778. About 1800, Mr. Hunt moved from Dub- lin to Hancock, and settled near the shore of the pond which, from him, was called Hunt Pond. He lived on the farm where his grandson, David Hunt, lived many years. He died in Han- cock, but we have not ascertained the date of his death.
23. ITHAMAR JOHNSON (first name often spelled Ithamer) was in Capt. Jacob Miller's company, in Col. Ephraim Doolit- tle's regiment, at Winter Hill, Oct. 6, 1775, according to the Revolutionary Rolls, where he is accredited to Dublin. He first appears on the Dublin tax-list in 1773, which was perhaps on his coming of age. He was, very likely, a son of Moses John- son, of whom we shall speak in the next paragraph. He was not a land-owner in Dublin, so far as any record shows, and we do not know what became of him.
24. MOSES JOHNSON is found in Dublin as early as 1764, in the list of those who worked upon the roads in 1764-65. In 1766, he purchased the seventh lot in the eighth range, and settled on or near the spot known as the Charles Corey place, where the Tarboxes recently lived. He was a private in the company of Capt. Abbott, in Col. Stark's regiment, at Medford, Oct. 4, 1775. The Rolls also mention his being in Capt. John
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Mellen's company, and in that of Capt. Samuel Twitchell, in the Rhode Island expedition, in August, 1778. June 29, 1776, he sold his farm, lot seven in the eighth range, to Sibylla (called "Sibbelah") Johnson, a spinster, probably his sister, who sold it, a year later, to Simeon Johnson, probably a brother of both. Moses Johnson continued trading in land in Dublin as late as 1782, his residence being given as Dublin. After that year, we cannot positively identify him with any Moses Johnson of whom we find a record. He was probably the father of Ithamar Johnson, and the brother of Simeon Johnson, who is mentioned in the next paragraph. We have not learned what became of him.
25. SIMEON JOHNSON, a brother of the preceding soldier, on Oct. 9, 1777, bought of Miss Sibylla Johnson the larger part of the seventh lot of the eighth range, which, shortly before, she had purchased of Moses Johnson. As we observed in the preceding paragraph, it is the lot upon which Charles Corey and the Tarboxes lived in later years. According to the former History of Dublin, Simeon Johnson moved, with his family, in 1819, to Keene, Ohio. Some or all of the other Johnsons may have gone with this family, but their name disappears from the Dublin records. Simeon Johnson's name first appears upon the Dublin tax-list in 1771.
26. ELIAS KNOWLTON enlisted from Dublin, according to Mr. Derby, May 5, 1775, as a private in Capt. Jacob Miller's company, Col. Ephraim Doolittle's regt. He was at Winter Hill, Oct. 6, 1775.
27. JOHN KNOWLTON was a Holliston man. According to the former History of Dublin, he came to this town in June, 1770. He was soon followed by the family of Willard Hunt, whose son, Isaac Hunt, married his daughter, Martha Knowlton. Mr. Knowlton settled on the fifteenth lot of the sixth range, where his son, Luke Knowlton, afterwards lived. According to the Revolutionary Rolls, he was a private in Capt. Abijah Smith's company, in the regiment of Col. Nahum Baldwin, which was raised to reinforce the army of Washington at New York. It served through the autumn of 1776, and was at White Plains, Oct. 28, 1776. He was also a corporal in Capt. Salmon Stone's company, which went from Rindge, in July, 1777, to join the army at Stillwater, and served about three months. He was also a sergeant in Capt. Samuel Twitchell's company, in the Rhode Island campaign. He died in Dublin, Oct. 6? (funeral, Oct. 8), 1827, at the age of 82. His widow died in
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April, 1835, at the age of 89. He was a deacon of the Baptist church (in Pottersville).
28. BENJAMIN MASON, Jr., was brought to Dublin as an infant, when his father, Benjamin, Sr., moved from Sherborn, Mass., about 1765. The latter settled on the Solon Willard place, in what is now Harrisville. Benjamin, Jr., was a fifer in the company of Capt. Salmon Stone, in the regiment of Col. Moses Nichols, from July 21 to Sept. 25, 1777. This regiment participated in the battles of Bennington and Still- water. Benjamin Mason, Jr. lived upon the farm where Cyrus Mason and John H. Mason have since lived, now the Catlin estate. He died in Dublin, May 16, 1840, ae. 79.
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