USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Lyndeborough > The history of the town of Lyndeborough, New Hampshire,1735-1905 > Part 57
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He spent some time as a teacher in his native town, and com- piled a "First Spelling Book, Designed as an Introduction to Other Spelling Books." It was printed at Concord by Hoag & Atwood, 1831. He stated in the preface that his main object in compiling it was "to assist young children in acquiring a thor- ough knowledge of monosyllables, which would greatly facilitate their progress in the larger Spelling Book."
He also cultivated a taste for music, and taught singing schools. The works of the old composers and masters were among his treasures. A copy of the "Grand Hallelujah Chorus " in Handel's "Messiah," is well preserved, within the covers of his singing book, "The Rural Harmony," which he used in his singing schools. This book was printed by Isaiah Thomas and Ebenezer T. Andrews in Boston, 1793. For other facts see Genealogies.
*Rev. F. G. Clark, letter to D. C. Grant.
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MR. AND MRS. DAVID GAGE .- David Gage, a native of Merrimack, N. H., at one time taught the village school in South Lyndeborough, where he became acquainted with Miss Betsey Putnam, also a teacher, whom he afterwards married. She was the daughter of Squire Daniel Putnam, and became Mrs. Gage, Aug. 12, 1823. After their marriage they set out for their chosen work as teachers among the Cherokee and Chocktaw Indians, under appointment as missionaries of the American Board. They traveled with their own horse and car- riage, going from eighteen to thirty-four miles a day, and had a pleasant and prosperous journey across parts of seven states.
After teaching a short time near Knoxville, Tenn., Mr. Gage went south into Wayne Co., Miss., and took charge of both the literary and industrial departments of the mission school, at the Choctaw Agency. In 1826, he had in his school sixteen boys, two girls, who boarded in the family, and three others, who boarded at their homes. His dwelling was of the primitive kind, sixteen by eighteen feet, built of logs, and the chimney of sticks.
In the summer of 1828 he spent much of his vacation in travel, and at one of the meetings which they rode about sixty miles to attend, there were five or six hundred natives present and sev- enteen or eighteen missionaries. Two hundred and sixty-six natives came forward and expressed a determination to seek the salvation of their souls. The meeting continued from Thursday till Monday. Many natives had not provision for so long a stay, and prompted by hunger, were preparing to start for home on Sunday. The missionaries and professing Christians were anx- ious that they should remain. One Choctaw man arose and said that "he had nothing to eat - he was hungry, and sup- posed the rest were ; but what of that ? We shall not starve to death in three days. We now have the means of grace, and if we can get to Heaven, it would be good for us to stay here till our flesh dried on our bones."
Mr. Gage continued his labors among the Indians until they were removed by the government west of the Mississippi River. He died Oct. 3, 1841, and was buried near Livingston, Sumter County, Alabama. His devoted wife, with her four little chil- dren, returned to Lyndeborough in June, 1842. They em- barked on a sailing vessel from Mobile, Ala., and came to New York, and thence by Sound boat to New London, Conn., thence
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by railroad to Worcester, Mass., and so on to Nashua, and her former home.
CALEB HOUSTON.t-W. H. Grant, Esq., wrote to his brother, David C., in April, 1889, giving interesting items gleaned from Farmer & Moore's Gazeeter of New Hampshire, published in 1823, concerning Caleb Huston, or Houston, as the name is frequently written, a native of Lyndeborough, who was graduated at Williams College in 1812, and was probably the first college graduate of this town.
Later Mr. Grant wrote that Caleb Houston died at Columbus, Ohio, about 1850. He was elected one of the councilmen on the organization of the Borough of Columbus, in 1816. In 1819 he with two others erected a saw-mill upon a new patent plan. " The saw was circular, and was to cut constantly ahead, with no back strokes." The historian (of Columbus) says : "it was an experiment, and cost them a good deal without answering any valuable purpose."
Mr. Grant thought, however, that Caleb Houston's " was the first circular saw ever used for saw-mill purposes."
CAPT. JONAS KIDDER .- Captain Jonas Kidder, the son of Joseph and Hannah (Proctor) Kidder was born in Hudson, N. H., Nov. 16, 1743. He was a farmer, and came to Lynde- borough in 1766, and settled on Second Division lot 105, east of Esq. Andrew Fuller's place. When the Revolutionary War broke out, Mr. Fuller and he united in hiring Mr. Samuel Butterfield to enlist in Capt. Barron's company, raised for ser- vice in Canada, but performing its chief service at Fort Ticon- deroga in 1776. His military record will be found on page 190
In 1780 it was known that the British forces were unusually active, and the object of their activity was strongly suspected, although the extent and venality of their purposes were for the time unsurmised. The capture of Major André at Tarrytown, with the documents found in his possession betrayed the full scope of their atrocious plot. The treachery and corruption of Arnold were thus revealed, and the whole deeply planned scheme to get possession of West Point, the American strong- hold on the Hudson, burst upon Washington and his associates like the terrifying shock of an earthquake. The patriots had divined the drift of their enemies' activities. They were
tCaleb Houston was town clerk of Lyndeborough in 1807. He was a good penman and evidently a man of more than ordinary ability.
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alert and were making extraordinary efforts to reinforce and strengthen the garrison at West Point. The men who could be spared elsewhere were hastened thither. Bounties were liberally paid to able bodied men who would enlist, and several from Lyndeborough were among the forces which were sent for- ward. These efforts were timely, and proved of great service to the patriot cause.
Captain Kidder was on duty there in those stirring times. It is stated that he was entrusted with the important service of guarding the spy, Major André, the night before his execution. The list of Captain Kidder's company, together with their places of residence is found in the N. H. Revolutionary Rolls, Vol. 3, pp. 161, 162. The Lyndeborough men who were with him were : -
Samuel Houston, sergeant
Edward Bevins
Jacob Dutton, fifer
Willard Lund
John Punchard, drummer
Simeon Fletcher
Daniel Cram
Stephen Richardson
Edward Spaulding
Amos Manuel
His company was stationed at Camp Highlands, Sept. 27, 1780.
In 1781 and 1782 Jonas Kidder was serving his town in a civil capacity as one of her selectmen, associated with his brother-in-law, Ephraim Putnam, in that office. His petition, in company with three other captains, recorded on pages 190 and 191, indicates the deplorable poverty of our state treasury at that time, 1781. It was powerless to relieve the distresses of the men who had rendered heroic service on many hard fought fields, by paying them their overdue wages. Their hardships were not ended when the din of warfare was hushed. They were sufferers, not only on the tented fields, but also after their return home. Honored be their memory forever !
Jonas Kidder was about forty years of age when the Revolu- tionary War closed, and probably did not receive a pension till about eighty years old. There is a story current that while living up on the side of the mountain, and attending to his ordinary farm work, he learned from some younger neighbor, unacquainted with Jonas' history, that the survivors of the Revo- lutionary War were now receiving pensions, and responded, that "perhaps then he should get something." "You," said his informer, "what did you do?" He answered modestly, " I was in that war, and was captain for a while."
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He went to his old papers and after some fumbling of them found his discharge from the service duly filled out. He drew a pension which aided in supporting him in his old age.
Captain Kidder was thrice married, first, to Huldah, daughter of Ephraim and Sarah (Cram) Putnam, Nov. 26, 1768 ; second, to Mrs. Alice, (widow of Nathan) Barron, and daughter of Amos Taylor, May 20, 1779 ; and third, to Mrs. Abigail (Carle- ton) (Johnson) (Putnam), sister of Osgood, Jeremiah etc., and widow of John Johnson, who perished in the Revolutionary War, and afterwards widow of Ensign David Putnam. She survived her third husband, who is said to have been 84 years of age when he married her, July 5, 1827, while she was 74.
Captain Kidder died in his native town of Hudson, at the home of his daughter, Hannah, who became Mrs. Levi Cross of that town. (For further information see Genealogies. )
CAPTAIN WILLIAM LEE .- A somewhat appreciative notice of William Lee, in the History of Francestown, page 795, states that he settled in that town in 1771, and lived in the southeast part of it where he cleared and settled the place after- wards occupied by Daniel Clark, and was a man of some promi- nence, being one of the board of selectmen in 1773. It further credits him with Revolutionary service for both Francestown and Lyndeborough, and appears to cast doubt on his right to the title of captain, on the ground that though he was some- times called so, the pay-roll calls him "Ensign William Lee." Such is the substance of the brief notice of him above re- ferred to.
Our Lyndeborough annals have no record of the time or place of his birth ; and we cannot quite see how he could settle in Francestown in 1771, which was not incorporated till 1772.
Apart from the above-mentioned statement, we have found nothing to show that he served for Francestown in the Revo- lutionary War.
We will, however, state upon credible authority, which we shall give, some facts which we have found on record, in rela- tion to Captain William Lee.
The Revolutionary Rolls credit his service constantly to Lyndeborough. From here, four days after the Lexington and Concord fight, he enlisted in the company of Capt. Levi Spauld- ing. His name was number 4 on the pay-roll, with the rank of sergeant. He was, therefore, with Capt. Spaulding and his
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company, at Bunker Hill. His term of service then was three months and sixteen days. The Lyndeborough record gives him as one of the men who went from Winter Hill to Canada in 1776, and returned to Trenton. He seems to have spent Christmas of that year somewhere near the camp of the Hes- sians. On the 7th of November just before, he was commis- sioned 2nd lieutenant in the First Battalion of New Hampshire troops in the Continental Service.
In the town records he is called Ensign William Lee. He re- signed his commission as 2nd Lieutenant or Ensign on January 10, 1778, and on the 7th of the following August, had the rank of captain, and commanded a company in Col. Moses Nichols' regiment, in the Expedition to Rhode Island. That expedi- tion was in service only 24 days. But the Lyndeborough men who were in his company were among those of highest stand- ing in the town, indicating that William Lee was no ordinary man.
The late Mr. David C. Crant gave correctly the portion of the town in which Captain Lee lived. This portion was at a later day taken from Lyndeborough to constitute the town of Greenfield. In that part of the town, one of the small streams which flows into Rocky River, still bears the name of "The Lee Brook."
Captain Lee seems to have left our town soon after the close of the Revolutionary War ; and is reported to have settled in Weston, Vermont. Some of his descendants returned to New Hampshire, and lived in Hancock. According to the Hancock History, Vol. II, p. 738, note, three of his grandsons were Union soldiers in our Civil War. One of these, Charles Henry Lee, married Eliza Josephine Newell, who was born in Lynde- borough, November 24, 1850, daughter of John Newell, form- erly a miller in Lyndeborough.
LYNDEBOROUGH MEN IN CAPTAIN WILLIAM LEE'S COMPANY IN THE EXPEDITION TO RHODE ISLAND.
Capt. William Lee
Andrew Fuller
Qr. Mr. Sergt. Adam Johnson
Edward Bevins
Sergt. Samuel Hutchinson
Francis Epps
Corp. Robert Badger
Daniel Gould
Jonas Kidder
Jesse Lund Aaron Putnam
John Kidder
Aaron Lewis
· Nicholas Beasom
Daniel Cram
Timothy Pearson
Reuben Spaulding
Nathan Pearson
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PUTNAM .- The earliest ancestor of the Putnam family in America was John Putnam of Aston Abbotts, Co. Bucks, England, and of Salem, Mass., in New England, 1634. The stock from which he sprang is said to have entered Britain at the time of the Norman Conquest, about 1066 .* Mr. Eben Putnam of Salem, the author of an extended history of the distinguished family, thinks that it contained a mixture of Danish, Saxon and Celtic blood, with a predominance of the Danish. At the time of John Putnam's arrival in the Bay State, 1635, Mrs. Hutchinson, John Wheelwright, and their sympathizers, as well as Roger Williams and certain others, were making matters quite lively for the Boston hierarchy. His arrival was probably too recent to admit of very active participation on either side. But he is reputed to have been "a man of energy and great natural powers." He was "a farmer and exeedingly well off for the times. He wrote a fair hand, as deeds on record show." He died in that part of Salem, Mass., which is now Danvers, December 30, 1662. He had three sons, who came with him to America : I. THOMAS, grandsire of General Israel, famous in the Revolution, 2. NATHANIEL, baptized at Aston Abbott's, 11 Oct., 1619, died at Salem Village, 23 July, 1700. 3. JOHN, baptized at Aston Abbott's, Eng., 27 May, 1727; died at Salem Village, 7 April, 1710. The Putnam family besides its antiquity was among the titled and landed gentry of the English realm, and had its recognized coat of arms and crest. John is believed to have been the progenitor of all the Putnams of America.
" In a manuscript dated 1733, Edward Putnam," one of his grandsons, "then 79 years of age, wrote the following con- cerning the family : "
" From the three brothers proceeded twelve males; from those twelve, forty males; from those forty, eight-two males. In respect to their situation in life. I can say with the Psalmist, 'I have been young and now am old ; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor their seed begging bread,' except of God who provides for all ; for God hath given to the generation of my fathers Agur's portion, neither poverty nor riches, but fed them with food convenient for them, and their children have been able to help others in their need."
The Hon. Perley Putnam of Salem, Mass., having for many years collected material for a history of the Putnam family, is said to have stated, " that he had discovered no Putnam in this
* History of Putnam Family.
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country that was not descended from (John I) and one of his three sons.
NATHANIEL PUTNAM .- Nathaniel, the second son of John, was the ancestor of the Putnams of Salem-Canada. These were also descended from his youngest son, Benjamin, and his grandson, Nathaniel. The line of descent, therefore, of our townsmen is, first, John; then, Nathaniel, Benjamin, Nathaniel. The last named is the first to be noted in the Pro- prietors' Records of Salem-Canada.
Nathaniel Putnam of the fourth generation, great grandson of John, was one of the early proprietors of Salem-Canada. At the drawing of Second Division Lots, of 130 acres each, on the 21 of June, 1737, Deacon Nathaniel Putnam drew on the right of Capt. Samuel King, being home lot No. 5, the two second division lots numbered 5 and 80. He seems to have purchased the full right of Capt. King, and was afterwards an active participant in the interests of the town for more than twelve years. By the formation of township No. 2, he, with his sons, were made citizens of that town. "Only a few of the proprietors, or stockholders, settled in Salem-Canada," wrote Rev. F. G. Clark, " but they were interested in the pros- perity of the town, and voted money freely for a meeting-house, support of preaching, and building of roads." " Deacon Nathaniel Putnam, Joseph Richardson, Edward Hardy, and Timothy Cummings were the only original proprietors, so far as can be found, who made homes for themselves in the town." He built the first saw-mill in the old town of Salem-Canada, in 1739. This was a great convenience at the time, and he re- ceived a consideration of ten pounds in view of it, for which an order was given him, September 15, 1741. One of the earliest roads in the town was, also, laid out from the saw-mill of Dea. Nathaniel Putnam to the meeting-house. Traces of this old road are still discoverable in the southern part of Lyndeborough and across the line into Wilton. The mill stood on the stream which forms Barnes', or later Gaerwen's Falls, and was situated a little above the falls. The Putnams, Dales and others, who, at a later day, were set off into township No. 2, were promi- nent helpers in building the first meeting-house in the old town. Indications are not wanting to show that these interested and worthy citizens of the old town were coerced into signing the the petition for the formation of the new township No. 2. They
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were highly prized neighbors always, and had many interests in common with their former townsmen. Nathaniel Putnam was advanced in years when the new town was constituted, in 1749. He was born in Salem, August 25, 1685. He married Hannah Roberts, June 4, 1709, and died October 21, 1754. He was buried in Danvers, Mass. His posterity in the male line consisted of four sons, viz. : Jacob, Archelaus, Ephraim, and Nathaniel.
EPHRAIM PUTNAM .- Ephraim Putnam was the third son of the above-named Nathaniel, and came to Salem-Canada with his father and brothers. He was of the fifth generation from the immigrant John, and was born in Salem Village, February 10, 1719. He died in Lyndeborough, November 13, 1777, at the age of 58 years, after an active and useful life.
He married Sarah, a twin daughter of John Cram, the first settler in Salem-Canada. She was born in Woburn, Mass., June 27, 1719, and came with her father into the new settlement. She died October 14, 1777, aged 58 years.
Ephraim Putnam and wife settled on second division lot No. 5, near his brother, Jacob, not far from the intersection of the roads near the north cemetery in Wilton. He remained with his father some time; but took a deed of the home farm of John Cram, his father-in-law, February 23, 1753. According to Rev. Frank G. Clark, the first meeting in the interests of a settled ministry "was held at the house of Ephraim Putnam, September 3, 1756 .* " "The home of Deacon Ephraim was destroyed by fire a short time after his death, and at that time the family records were destroyed. One of his sons then oc- cupied the house. The children (born in town) were all bap- tized by Rev. Mr. Wilkins, of Amherst, and births recorded by Jacob Wellman, society clerk."t
The traditions of Indian incursions in this town seems to be treated by Rev. Mr. Clark with too little credit. True, none of our inhabitants, so far as known, perished by the hands of the red men. But it is a matter of history and of fact, that a gar- rison was built in the town by order of Major Lovewell, a brother of John of the "Pigwacket fight." This fort was standing at the time of the French and Indian war, in 1744. Not only was there a fort here, but John Cram, who in 1708,
* See pp. 278-279. ¡ Hy. of Put. Fam. Pt. IV, p. 203.
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did fort duty at Fort William and Mary, for a time, had com- mand of it. (See p. 521.)
Sarah, the wife of Ephraim Putnam, is reported on one occa- sion to have shown remarkable courage and strategy in holding the fort when her husband was absent. The enemy were stealthily approaching but were betrayed by the dogs, which always barked more furiously on scenting the Indians. The single guard in charge was too timorous to be of much service. But Sarah was cool, and ordered the men (as though present) to their posts, at different stations. The man and her own boy, also, answered in changed tones from different points, and then all was quiet. This gave the enemy the impression that the fort had more defenders than they knew, and prevented an attack. After peace came about, the Indians said that at that time they thought they were able to capture the fort, but were surprised that so many men could have gotten there without their knowledge, and gave up their design, for fear of being defeated. They said, also, that at other times they could have captured the commander, but they refrained, thinking they would capture the whole force together.
An Indian told that once when the commander turned his horse into the pasture, he lay so near the bars that the horse could have stepped on him. But he did not want to kill the white man then, because they had planned to take the garrison and kill them all at one time.
Ephraim Putnam was one of the original signers of the peti- tion for the incorporation of the town under the royal charter, which was granted April 23, 1764. At the first legal town meeting, he and Jacob Wellman, one of the proprietors of the town, were elected tything men. The following year he was chosen town treasurer, an office to which he was elected nine years in succession. The stormy times of the Revolution were then coming on, and at the town meeting, October 31, 1774, it was voted, " To purchase a town stock of powder, balls, and flints," which was to consist of "One barrel of powder, one- hundred weight of lead, and five dozen flints;" and Deacon Ephraim Putnam was chosen "a committee to provide the above said stock."
He bore a very active part in the Revolution. In the Revo- lutionary records of the town it is stated that in 1776, " Deacon Ephraim Putnam and son Ephraim did a whole turn; they hired Nathaniel Bachelor."
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The farm on which he lived was a part of second division lot No. 41. But he had also a deed from Benjamin Lynde, Jr., Esq., of second division lot No. 44, which was burned with his dwelling. These were the lots from which the original owners, Lynde and Cram, gave the spacious grounds for the first meeting-house, which at that time was built near the middle of the township of Salem-Canada.
When the first meeting-house grounds were given up, they reverted to the possession of the original owner, then Deacon Ephraim Putnam. His son Ephraim seems to have succeeded him in occupying that part of the farm including lot No. 44 ; he was known while his father lived as Ephraim Putnam, Jr., and afterwards as Ephraim Putnam.
EPHRAIM PUTNAM, JR .- Ephraim Putnam, Jr., was the son of Deacon Ephraim, and was himself a deacon. He was born in Danvers, Mass., June 15, 1744. He married Lucy Spaulding, who was probably a sister of Capt. Levi Spaulding, and nearly the same age. He seems to have been a man of unusual influence in his day. (For his public services see pp. 196, 257, 258, 260.) He had three sons who lived in what is now South Lyndeborough village. The places where these sons lived are well known. But where he fixed his own dwell- ing seems now to be a matter of conjecture. The likeliest place is that, at present, the old dwelling which was afterwards remodeled by another Ephraim Putnam into the tavern, now the commodious residence of Capt. Andy Holt. He was sealer of lumber for many years, an office which implied that he was either a manufacturer of it or had some practical knowledge of the quality and worth of it. The lumber and shingle mill, now the property of Mr. E. H. Putnam must have served to make lumber in his day, and may have been built by either him or his father. It was owned a few years after his death by his brother, Ensign David. His death occurred March 2, 1799. For his children see Genealogies.
EPHRAIM PUTNAM, THIRD .- Ephraim Putnam, Third, had his home on the grounds now occupied by Mr. W. P. Steele. (See p. 503.) He was the father of the better-known Capt. Eleazer. He received the rather ironical title of General Putnam when a boy, as is narrated on this wise. Having seen some tracks in the snow which he thought were bear tracks, he
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hastened home and informed his father. The neighbors were roused, and all prepared for a bear hunt. They found the tracks to be only crow tracks. Whether piqued or amused at the false alarm, his father said when he met him, " Why, General Put- nam, not to know crow tracks from a bear's! " From that day on, he was called " General Putnam."
None of his children lived to mature age, save Capt. Eleazar. For his record see sketch of the Lafayette Artillery Company.
DANIEL PUTNAN, ESQ .- Daniel Putnam was the son of Ephraim Putnam and Lucy Spaulding, and was born September 3, 1770. He married Hannah Johnson, one of the family which gave name to Johnson Corner. In the record of the town meeting for March, 1798, we find Daniel Putnam chosen sealer of lumber, an office held by his father for many years previous, and one to which he himself was chosen, till he com- pleted a service of thirty years. In 1804, he is styled Lt. Daniel Putnam, and from 1806 on is frequently called Capt. Daniel Putnam, (see History pages 219 and 220). Later in life he was designated as Squire Daniel, or Daniel Putnam, Esq.
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