USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Derry > The history of Londonderry : comprising the towns of Derry and Londonderry, N.H. > Part 26
USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Londonderry > The history of Londonderry : comprising the towns of Derry and Londonderry, N.H. > Part 26
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Janet was born upon the ocean, and became the wife of Henry Campbell, long a resident of Londonderry, but who, after her death, in 1778, removed to Fletcher, Vt., where he died, in 1813. Children : John, James, William, Nancy, Daniel, and Mary. Descendants of the Campbell family reside at Henniker, Walpole, and Keene, N. H., and in Northern Vermont.
John married Margaret Nichols, and lived and died at Newbury, Mass., leaving no children.
Robert and Elizabeth Ewins, his wife, settled in Leicester, Vt. Their children were John, Nancy, James, Susan, Andrew, and Elizabeth, descendants of whom now reside in Western New York. Robert Mack was a soldier in the revolutionary war.
Martha married William Moor, of Londonderry. Her children were James, John, William, Hannah, Henry, Janet, Andrew, and Daniel.
Elizabeth married James Smith, of Bedford, N. H. About the year 1790, Smith removed to Marietta, Ohio, with a family of eight children, as follows: Benjamin, Mary, Betsey, Catherine, Martha, Jane, James, and John. The descendants of this family are numerous in the counties of Washington and Meigs, Ohio, bearing the names of Smith, Russell, Cooke, Stowe, etc.
Andrew, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Clark, resided in Londonderry, where he died in 1820, aged seventy-two years. His wife died in 1830, at the age of eighty-two. Their children were as follows : Jane, who died at Londonderry, in 1850, aged seventy-four; Letitia, who died at Londonderry, in 1849, aged seventy-one; Elizabeth, who married David Stiles, and resided at Lyndeborough, N. H .; John, who married Phebe Goodrich, and subse- quently Hannah Abbott, and resided at Amherst, N. H .;
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Isabella, who died in 1812, aged thirty ; Robert, who mar- ried Anne Clark, and lives at Londonderry ; Andrew, who married Maria Burns, and resides at Gilmanton, N. H., and Daniel, who married Sophia Kendrick, and resides at Bed- ford, N. H.
Daniel married Nancy Holmes, and removed to Tompkins county, N. Y. His children were Elizabeth, Sibella, Janet, Nathaniel, Martha, John, Daniel, and Ann. The descend- ants of Daniel Mack are numerous in Central New York, bearing the names of Mack, Hutchinson, Spalding, etc.
FAMILY OF JAMES MACGREGOR.
REV. JAMES MACGREGOR, the first minister of London- derry, married Marion Cargil, in Londonderry, Ireland, in October, 1706. His children were Robert, Daniel, David, Jane, Alexander, Mary, Elizabeth, Margaret, John, and James, of whom seven survived him. We have no par- ticulars of the history of these children, with the exception of David, who was the first minister in the West Parish of Londonderry.
REV. DAVID MACGREGOR married Mary Boyd, a lady, who, having been left an orphan when in early life, was brought up by his mother. She was possessed of consider- able property, and was distinguished for her personal appear- ance and accomplishments. Mr. MacGregor died May 30, 1777, aged sixty-eight. His wife survived him, and died September 28, 1793, aged seventy. They had nine chil- dren, as follows :-
David, who died in infancy.
Robert, who married Elizabeth, daughter of General George Reid, and settled at first in Goffstown, N. H. He was a man of fine natural endowments, and of great excel- lence of character. He was quite a young man at the com- mencement of the revolutionary struggle, but he volunteered his services, and, in 1777, joined the troops mustered in New
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Hampshire, under the command of General Stark ; and was appointed by that officer to act as his aid-de-camp, which office he filled at the surrender of Burgoyne. He was very energetic as a merchant and man of business. As an instance of the latter trait of character, it may be mentioned, that he was the projector and the principal proprietor of the first bridge which crossed the Merrimack river, on the site now occupied by the old central bridge of the Amoskeag Company, the. abutments and some of the piers of which were used in the erection of the present bridge. Many, in those days, were entirely incredulous as to the practicability of the enterprise. Among these was Mr. MacGregor's neigh- bor, General Stark, who lived on the opposite bank of the river, and who remarked to him, "Well, Robert, you may succeed ; but when the first passenger crosses over, I shall be ready to die." In sixty-five days, however, from the time when the first stick of timber used in its construction was felled in the forest, the bridge was open for passengers, and General Stark lived many years to cross and recross it. It was called MacGregor's bridge, from its projector and builder. Mr. MacGregor was also one of the original pro- prietors and directors of the Amoskeag canal, one of the earliest works of that nature in this country. He resided in Goffstown many years, and his farm, on the Merrimack, embraced a large portion of the lands and water-power now owned by the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company. He subsequently removed to Newburyport, where he en- gaged in commerce, but finally returned to reside in Lon- donderry, his native town, where he died, September 16, 1816, aged sixty-seven. He had nine children; namely, David, George, Maria, Eliza, Robert, James, Mary Anne, John, and Daniel.
David pursued a collegiate course, and graduated at Dartmouth College, 1774. He entered the army of the
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Revolution, and held the office of captain. He afterwards engaged in the business of teaching.
James settled in Londonderry, and married Margaret Holland, a daughter of Colonel Stephen Holland. He opened a store, which he continued for many years, at the same time improving a valuable farm, which he received from his father. He was, in the earlier part of his life, much engaged in public business, sustaining not only the office of a magistrate, but various offices of the town; and was for some years a representative in the General Court. He possessed superior abilities, and a well-cultivated mind; he died, lamented by a large circle of connections and acquaintances, June 23, 1818, aged seventy. His wife died in December, 1746, aged eighty-eight. He had six children; namely, Daniel, James, Stephen, Jane, Mary, and Nancy.
Elizabeth.
Margaret, who married James Rogers.
Mary Anne, who married James Hopkins.
Jane, who married Robert Hunter.
Mary, who married Robert Means, of Amherst, N. H. She possessed, with many excellent qualities, traits of char- acter similar to those of her father ; and through a long life of active usefulness, was particularly distinguished for her generous benevolence and hospitality. She united to gentle- ness, refinement and kindness of manners, great energy and decision of character. It is related of her, that when a girl- of fifteen, and while visiting her brother Robert, who then resided at Goffstown, she and her brother were walking one day, on the banks of the Merrimack, looking at the falls. Robert, by way of bravado, and to startle and astonish her, stepped upon a stick of timber, polished by the dashing waters, which lay across the falls in such a manner as to allow those who had strong heads and steady nerves to pass over. When he was nearly across, he glanced around, and, to his utter astonishment, beheld her also in the act of cross-
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ing, with her high-heeled shoes .* * He dared not speak to her, but once safely across, he would not permit her to return in that manner, but procured a boat, in which they recrossed the river. She died in Boston, January 14, 1838, at the advanced age of eighty-five. Her husband, Robert Means, was of Scotch descent, and came from the north of Ireland when a youth, in company with his friend and cousin, Jacob McGaw. They at first settled in Merrimack, N. H., and were for a time connected in business. On a separa- tion, Mr. Means removed to Amherst. " They both became wealthy merchants, ranked among the most influential citi- zens in the county, and were the fathers of highly intelli- gent and respectable families."
FAMILY OF ALEXANDER M'COLLOM.
ALEXANDER MCCOLLOM, with his wife, Janet, came from Londonderry in Ireland, and settled in this town, about 1730. His children were Alexander, Thomas, Jean (after- wards Brewster), Robert, Archibald, John, and Janet (after- wards Gordan).
Of these, Robert retained the homestead, and in 1767, married Martha Beattie. By her he had twelve children : Archibald, Alexander (who died at two years of age), William, Jenny, Alexander, Fanny, Robert, John, Lydia, Jonathan, Elizabeth, and Martha. Of these, John, with certain abatements, retained the homestead. After a few years, his right was transferred to Messrs. Robert and Jon- athan McCollom ; the latter of whom survives, and with his three sisters, Lydia, Elizabeth B., and Martha, still retain pos- session. Of the family of Robert the elder, four - Archibald, Alexander, Jenny, and John -removed early from this town. They were all married, and with a single exception, have families, scattered through the New England, Middle,
* It was fashionable, in those days, for ladies to wear shoes with heels from three to four inches in height.
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and Western States. The rest of the family remain on the homestead, except Robert, who lately deceased.
Of the descendants of the first family who left their native place, little is known; and so of the family of Robert McCollom, beyond those still residing in town. Their names, or even their number, is not accurately ascertained. They are or have been engaged in various kinds of business ; some are merchants, some mechanics, and others farmers. Two are clergymen; of whom one is the Rev. James T. . McCollom, of Great Falls, N. H.
Of the founder of the family in this country little is remembered. An interesting document is inserted in the Appendix, being his warrant as collector of parish taxes. Of his father nothing is known, except a tradition that he, among others, was sorely pressed with famine in the well- known siege of Londonderry in Ireland, and that, in the extremity of his hunger, he gave the sum of twenty-five cents for the head of a cat. This was on the day the Mount- joy reached the city with provisions for their relief. Of the family living in town, it is worthy of notice, that it is one of the few that retain the farm first cleared up from the orig- inal forest by their progenitor of the same name.
FAMILY OF JAMES M'KEEN.
The ancestor of the McKeens, was James McKeen, who lived in the north of Ireland. He was a staunch Protestant, and took an active part in the defence of the city of London- derry. He had three sons ; James, John, and William. James, the son, was twice married, and had in all twenty-one children, not one half of whom are known to have arrived at the age of maturity. By his first wife, Janet Cochran, he had two daughters ; Elizabeth, who married in Ireland James Nesmith, whose descendants are mentioned in the notice of the family of James Nesmith, and Janet, who married John Cochran, of Windham, N. H., and had a daughter Elizabeth,
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who became the wife of William Dinsmoor, and the mother of Robert Dinsmoor, the " Rustic Bard," and of the late Gover- nor Samuel Dinsmoor, of Keene, N. H. John, the son of James McKeen the elder, married Janet -, and had four children ; James, Robert, Samuel, and Mary. William, the son of James McKeen, the elder, was a respectable farmer. James and John were partners, resided at Ballymony, and being successful in business, were, for those times, compara- tively.wealthy. James McKeen the younger, with his second wife, Annis Cargil, and his children, came to this country in the emigration of 1718, of which enterprise he was one of the principal originators. He was accompanied by his son-in- law, James Nesmith, and by Rev. James MacGregor, who had married Marion Cargil, a sister of his wife, Annis Car- gil. His brother John intended to emigrate with him, but died a short time previous to the embarkation. John's widow, Janet, and her four children, however, came with the other emigrants.
JAMES M'KEEN, or Justice McKeen, as he was usually called, he being the first magistrate commissioned in the town after his settlement,* was a man of probity, ability, and intel- ligence, and was active and influential in the settlement of Londonderry. He was born in the year 1665, and was of course fifty-three years of age at the time of the emigration. He died at Londonderry, November 9, 1756, in the ninetieth year of his age; and being more than any other man the patriarch of the colony, he was as such universally honored and lamented. His widow, Annis Cargil, a lady of excellent character, survived him many years, and died Aug. 8, 1782, in the ninety-fourth year of her age. He had by his second wife nine children; namely, John, Mary, David, James, Janet, Martha, Margaret, Annis, and Samuel.
John was born at Ballymony in the county of Antrim, in Ireland, April 13, 1714. He was an elder of the Presby-
* A copy of Justice McKeen's commission is inserted in the Ap- pendix.
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terian church in Londonderry, was a representative in the legislature, and held various other civil offices in the town. He married Mary McKeen, daughter of his uncle John, and had a large family of children as follows : 1. James, who married a Miss Cunningham, soon after removed to Peter- borough, and died in 1789. He was the father of Judge Levi McKeen, who now lives at Fishkill Landing, Dutchess Co. N. Y., at the age of eighty-three years. Judge McKeen removed from New Hampshire to the State of New York, about the year 1790, and for twenty-five years, pursued a mercantile business in Poughkeepsie. He was for many years Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and has held various other offices of trust. 2. John, who married Janet Taylor, daughter of John Taylor of Londonderry. He was sergeant in Captain Daniel Reynolds's company, at the battle of Bennington, and was afterwards promoted to the rank of captain. He died in 1807. He had four sons and three daughters, none of whom survive except James McKeen, Esq., counsellor at law in the city of New York. 3. Robert, who married Mary McPherson, and settled in Antrim, N. H. He subsequently removed to Corinth, Vt., and died in 1809, leaving one son, Joseph McKeen, who is superintendent of the public schools in the city of New York. 4. William, who married Nancy Taylor, another daughter of John Taylor, and settled in Windham, N. H. He was a volunteer in the army of the Revolution. He had six children, and died in 1824. 5. Annis, who was unmarried. 6. Joseph, some- time pastor . of a church in Beverly, Mass., and afterwards the first president of Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, Me., and of whom an extended notice has been given. He had three sons; Joseph, long treasurer of Bowdoin College ; James, a medical professor in that institution, and John, who is a graduate of that college, and resides in Brunswick. 7. 8. Janet and Daniel, who were twins. Janet married John Taylor, Jr., and had five children. Daniel married Janet
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Wilson, and afterwards Lucy Martin, widow of John Nes- mith of Windham, and had four or five children, and lived in Londonderry, upon the homestead. 9. Samuel, who mar- ried Betsey Taylor, and afterwards Mary Clark, and had several children.
Mary married Robert Boyd. They lived in Londonderry, but had no children.
James, born April, 1719, married Elizabeth Dinsmoor, settled in Londonderry, and had two children ; a son David, and a daughter, who died in childhood. His wife died at the age of twenty-seven, and he did not marry again. About the close of the revolutionary war, he removed to Corinth, Vt., where he died in 1794, aged seventy-five. His son David married Margaret McPherson for his first wife, and settled in Corinth, Vt. By her he had twelve children, namely ; James, Elizabeth, Daniel, Polly, David, John, An- nis, Jenny, Margaret, Silas, Robert, and another daughter. These children, or their descendants of the next gene- ration, have settled in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, New York, Canada West, Michigan, and Ohio. One of the sons, Rev. Silas McKeen, has been for many years pastor of a church in Bradford, Vt. After the death of his wife, Margaret, David McKeen married Lydia Ingalls, of Methuen, Mass., by whom he had two children, Lydia and David, making fourteen in all.
Janet, born December 28, 1721, married William Orr, and had three children, James, Anna, and a daughter who married Timothy Carr, one of the first settlers of the town of Danville, Vt.
Martha married John Dinsmoor, and had several children, among whom was Silas, who was for a long time employed by the United States Government, as Indian agent.
But little is known respecting David, Margaret, Annis, and Samuel, children of Justice McKeen, and they probably died in early life.
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HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 3
Another principal branch of the McKeens, were the family and posterity of JOHN McKEEN, a brother of James McKeen, who was intending to emigrate with him, but died before the embarkation. His widow came, as has already been stated, bringing with her three sons, James, Robert, and Samuel, and her infant daughter Mary, and had a lot of land assigned her. She subsequently married Captain John Barnett, who was among the early settlers of the town.
James settled in Hillsborough, N. H. He had children, and among them a daughter Isabel. Some of his posterity were residing in Deering, N. H., not many years ago.
Robert is said to have settled in Pennsylvania. He was engaged in the French and Indian wars, and was promoted to the rank of major, but having been taken prisoner, he was put to death in a most cruel manner.
Samuel settled in Amherst, N. H. He had by his wife Agnes, a numerous family, as follows : 1. Hugh, who was killed by the Indians in the old French war. 2. John, who was massacred by the Indians, at the taking of Fort William Henry, in the same war. They stuck his flesh full of pitch- pine skewers, and burned him to death. 3. Robert, who settled at Cherry Valley, N. Y., and became a " captain of renown." He was killed by the Indians in the battle of Wyoming, Penn. He had a son Robert, the father of Sam- uel McKeen, United States senator from Pennsylvania. 4. James, who married and settled in Amherst, N. H. 5. Samuel, who married a daughter of Hugh Graham, of . Windham, N. H. He lived for a time at Amherst, after- wards at Windham, and subsequently removed to Belfast, Me., and was a deacon of the church there. He had several children. 6. William married Ann Graham, settled in Deering, N. H., and had eleven children, among whom was William McKeen, Jr., a member of the New Hampshire senate in the years 1844 and 1845. Some of his sons set- tled in Nashua, N. H.
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Samuel McKeen had also four daughters, Mary, Martha, Agnes, and Jane ; making in all a family of ten children.
WILLIAM McKEEN, brother of Justice McKeen, born in Ireland in 1704, came to America eight or ten years after the emigration of 1718, and settled in Pennsylvania. Among his grandsons was Thomas Mckean, signer of the Declara- tion of Independence, and for nine years governor of Penn- sylvania.
FAMILY OF JOHN MORRISON.
There were two individuals of the name of JOHN MORRI- SON among the early settlers of Londonderry. The first was one of the original sixteen settlers, and was father of Jonathan Morrison, the first male child born in the town. He emigrated from the north of Ireland, and was nine years of age at the time of the siege of the city of Londonderry. His father's family, including himself, were of the number who were driven, in pursuance of the barbarous order of Rosen, under the walls of the city. He was admitted within the walls, where he remained until the city was relieved. About the year 1759, he removed to Peterborough, N. H., and was one of the early settlers of that town. He died in 1776, at the age of ninety-seven. No information respecting his descendants, sufficient for a connected sketch, has been received. Among them, however, are the names of Hon. Jeremiah Smith, of Exeter, N. H., Rev. John H. Morrison, of Milton, Mass., and Hon. George W. Morrison, of Man- chester, N. H.
The other JOHN MORRISON emigrated from the north of Ireland to Londonderry, seven or eight years after the first settlement. He had two sons and one daughter, as follows :
Samuel, whose children were William, Samuel, Joseph, John, Thomas, Katherine, Jane, and Mary.
Joseph, whose children were Abraham, John, Joseph, Sam- uel, Jonathan, Jane, Hannah, Mary, and Ann.
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HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY.
Hannah, who married Robert Clendenin, and had seven children ; namely, John, William, Robert, Andrew, Betsey, Mary, and Nancy.
FAMILY OF JAMES NESMITH.
JAMES NESMITH emigrated from the valley of the river Bann, in the north of Ireland, to America, in 1718, and was one of the first sixteen settlers of the town of Londonderry. He was one of the original proprietors of the township, and was a very respectable member of the little colony there planted. At the organization of the church in the West Parish, he was chosen one of its elders. He married in Ire- land, about the year 1714, Elizabeth, daughter of James McKeen, and had four sons and one daughter ; namely, Ar- thur, James, John, Thomas, and Elizabeth.
Arthur, who was born in Ireland, married, and settled in the southerly part of the town, and afterwards removed to the State of Maine. He had four children ; James, Jolın, Benjamin, and Mary. James served in the army of the Revolution, and afterwards settled in the State of Maine. John married Jane Reid. Early in the revolutionary strug- gle he enlisted as a volunteer in the company commanded by George Reid, and was at the battle of Bunker Hill. He afterwards commanded a company in the Canada service, and was subsequently at Rhode Island, under the command of General Sullivan. At the close of this campaign, he was compelled by ill health to retire from the service. He grad- ually sunk under a lingering sickness until after the close of the war, when he died. Captain Nesmith was frank and generous in his disposition, dignified in his manners, and was distinguished for intrepidity, activity, and muscular strength. He left but one child, who did not long survive him.
James, the second son, was born in Ireland in 1718, just before the embarkation, or, as some have said, during the voyage. He served in the revolutionary war, and was in
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Reid's company at Bunker Hill. He settled in the northern part of Londonderry, and had six children, as follows : 1. James, who married Martha McCluer,.and was an elder in the church in the West Parish. 2. Jonathan, who married Eleanor Dickey, and removed in 1778 to Antrim. He was one of the first elders in the church in that town, and was the father of George W. Nesmith, Esq., of Franklin, N. H. 3. Robert, who married Jane Anderson. 4. Elizabeth, who married James Cochran, of Windham. 5. Mary, who mar- ried James McCluer, of Acworth. 6. Sarah, who married Daniel Anderson, of Londonderry.
John, the third son, married Elizabeth Reid, sister of Gen. George Reid. He settled on the homestead, in the southerly part of the town, and died in 1815, aged eighty-seven. He had eight children, as follows : 1. James, who married Eliz- abeth Brewster, and settled in Antrim, where he died about 1840, at an advanced age. 2. Arthur, who married Mary Duncan, and settled in Antrim, but afterwards removed to the State of Ohio, where he died. 3. John, who was born in 1766, on the homestead, where he resided until his death, which occurred in 1844. He married for his first wife, Susan Hildreth, by whom he had eight children ; namely, John P., Isabella A., Susan H., Samuel H., James P., Mary, Thomas, and Elizabeth. For his second wife, he married Lydia Sargeant, by whom he had two sons, Albert S., and Charles E. 4. Ebenezer, who married Jane Trotter. 5. Thomas. 6. Elizabeth, who married Dea. James Pinkerton. 7. Mary, who married John Miltimore, and now resides at Reading, Pa. 8. Jane, who married Hugh Anderson.
Thomas, the fourth son, was born in 1731. He married Annis Wilson, and settled in Windham, near the south line of Londonderry. He had three children, as follows : 1. John, who married Lucy Martin, and had nine children ; namely, Jacob M., Thomas, Elizabeth, John, James W., Lucy, Annis, George R., and Jonathan W. 2. Elizabeth,
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who married Jonathan Wallace, and removed to the State of New York, where she died. 3. Thomas, who died in infancy.
The descendants of Elder James Nesmith are very pu- merous, and are, with few exceptions, valuable members of society.
THE PATTERSON FAMILIES.
PETER PATTERSON came from the parish of Priestland, town of Glenlace, county of Antrim, Ireland, about the year 1730, and purchased the farm now owned and occupied by Captain Thomas Patterson, of Londonderry. He married in 1742, Grisey Wilson, daughter of Thomas Wilson, of the Double Range. They had three sons ; Robert, Thomas, and John ; and five daughters ; Rachel, Margaret, Sarah, Grisey, and Elizabeth, who are all dead.
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