USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Lyndeborough > The history of the town of Lyndeborough, New Hampshire, Vol. II > Part 13
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44
" Judge Lynde was noted for his learning, his liberality and public spirit." "On November 1, 1731, Judge Lynde married
583
.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Mary, the daughter of Major John Bowles of Roxbury, a de- scendant of the Rev. John Eliot," the famous missionary among the Indians. They had three daughters. Mary, the eldest, married Hon. Andrew Oliver, Jr., one of the judges of the Common Pleas for Essex.
Hannah died unmarried ; and Lydia married Sept. 30, 1767, Rev. William Walter, rector of Trinity Church, Boston, " who represented the Lynde estate in the meetings of the proprietors for many years."
In the spring of 1781, Benjamin Lynde, Jr., Esq., received a kick from a horse, from the effects of which he did not recover, and he died on the 5th of October following, at the advanced age of 81. He was a diligent student of our Colonial History, and was a contributor to "Prince's Chronological History of New England."
An extract from his last will and testament follows : -
"I give and devise to my said Grandchild, B. Lynde Oliver and his heirs, One third of my Lands and Farm, (not mortgaged Lands) I shall die possessed of in the Township of Lyndeborough in New Hampshire."
"Item. I give, devise and bequeath to my said Grandson, Lynde Walter, two of my Farms at Lyndeborough, N. H., which I had in right of two MASONIAN GRAND PROPRIETORS, viz., No. I, adjoining South on Temple Town, and No. 5, adjoining East on what was originally Salem- Canada, and South on Mr. Moffat No. 2, each of said farms containing 200 acres apiece, to him and his heirs forever; But if he should die be- fore he arrives at the age of eighteen years of marriage, then I give said Farms to any son of my daughter, Walter, called after my name; and if none such, then to my Grandson, Benjamin Lynde Oliver and his heirs forever.
Dated, May 10, 1776.
Diary and Letters of Benj. Lynde, Appendix pp. 236 and 237.
Mr. Lynde evidently possessed great wealth for his day, and bequeathed it in liberal portions among his children and grand- children. The names of Walter and Oliver figure largely in the records of the Lyndeborough proprietors after Mr. Lynde's decease, as his heirs and successors.
The "Diary and Letters" of Benjamin Lynde contains good portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Lynde. (The N. E. Historic Genea- logical Society, Boston.)
WILLIAM WALTER, D.D .- William Walter was the son of Thomas Walter and grandson of Rev. Nathaniel Walter of Roxbury, Massachusetts. His mother was Rebecca, daughter of Rev. Joseph Belcher. Thus, inheriting from both parents
584
HISTORY OF LYNDEBOROUGH
something of clerical culture, it causes little surprise that he should possess literary tastes and tendencies. He was born in 1737, and was graduated from Harvard in 1756. We assume that he received theological training at the feet of some of the pastors in his vicinity. Through the courtesy of the sexton of Trinity Church, Boston, the writer was permitted to copy a brief but luminous sketch of Doctor Walter from the sermon of Rev. Phillips Brooks at the consecration of the new Trinity Church, Boston, February 9, 1877. When speaking of the " Greene Foundation for the support of an assistant minister," Dr. Brooks said :
"The first assistant Minister on the Foundation was Dr. William Walter, and on the death of Mr. Hooper he became Rector of the parislı. He had been bred a Congregationalist, but became a member of our Church and went to London for ordination. For ten years he served Trinity with faitlifulness, and then the beginning of the Revolution came. On the 17th of March, 1776, Boston was evacuated by the British, and the Minister of Trinity went with Gen. Howe and the British troops to Halifax, N. S., where he remained until the Revolution was over. Then he returned to Boston, and became the Rector of Christ Church. He died in 1800, and his funeral sermon was preached by his successor in Trinity, Dr. Parker. That sermon gives us a good idea of the faith- ful and earnest parish minister, and though in those hot days of patriotic zeal there was no chance for one who was not of sympathy with the cause of the Colonies, to be the preacher here, the very fact that when the war was over the royalist could come back to Boston and become again the Rector of a parish in the town, bears witness to the honor in which he must have been held."
Under date of September 30, 1767, Benjamin Lynde, Jr., Esq., wrote in his diary :
"My daughter Lydia married to Rev. Mr. William Walter, minister of Trinity Church in Boston, where she went to live the 7th of October following."
Doctor Walter was a prominent figure among the Lynde- borough proprietors, especially after the death of his father-in- law, Benjamin Lynde. When present in their meetings he was usually chosen moderator. He was active in the work of com- pleting the disposal of Benjamin Lynde's estate in Lynde- borough. His letter to the Masonian proprietors, as Rev. Frank G. Clark has appreciatively said, "is well worthy of preservation for its vigorous English and as showing the diffi- culties in those early days of securing accurate surveys of lots." He was earnest in his efforts to secure fair dealings for his
585
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
associates, and ready to make reasonable concessions to those whose claims infringed upon the Lyndeborough grant.
In order to close up the business of the original proprietors of the town, the common, unoccupied and undivided lands were surveyed and a map was made of the ten different pieces of unequal value to be disposed of. A valuation was made of the several pieces by judicious and reliable men, (Dea. Ephraim Putnam and Capt. Peter Clark, p. 92) and the various share- holders were to receive a piece out of these common lands, pro- portioned to his property in the town. As the representative of Benjamin Lynde, Dr. Walter was the largest shareholder. For this reason, he requested that he might have the privilege of first choice out of the common lands. To this request his asso- ciates readily acceded, as expressed in the following terms :
" Whereas the Rev. Dr. Walter has requested that he may be allowed the first choice in said commons; and as we consider he has taken the lead in all matters that have been transacted in the meetings of the propriety since 1792, and been eminently serviceable to the propriety,- Voted, that he be allowed his choice in the division of said commons, provided he make his choice known at the next meeting."
This vote was attested by Sewall Goodridge, Proprietors' Clerk.
In war time he remained in Nova Scotia. " He returned to Boston in 1791, became rector of Christ Church, and remained in that relation till his death .* He died in Boston, December 5, 1800. He had two sons, William and Benjamin Lynde Walter, who were merchants in Boston, and the elder of whom became the founder of the "Boston Transcript."
COL. ISRAEL HUTCHINSON .- Colonel Hutchinson was an early proprietor of Lyndeborough lands, which lay upon the northern tier of lots. Encroachments were made upon his right by Wallingford's survey and purchasers, so that his estate was eighty acres short of the quantity for which he had paid. He at- tempted to have the matter adjusted, and petitioned the Mason- ian Proprietors to indemnify him "by allowing other lands or monies that shall be a reasonable compensation."
Col. Hutchinson's connection with the Putnam family may account for his investment in Lyndeborough lands. He married Mehitabel, the widow of Archelaus Putnam of Danvers, Mass., and was himself a Danvers man. The Putnams of Salem- Canada, Jacob and Ephraim, were brothers of Archelaus, and
* Memorial Hist. of Boston, Vol. III, pp. 128, 129.
586
HISTORY OF LYNDEBOROUGH
possibly, through the marriage of his widow, were brought into closer relationship in business with Col. Hutchinson. An ap- preciative notice of the latter is found in the New England Magazine for October, 1902, p. 230.
Col. Israel Hutchinson was the son of Elisha Hutchinson, and was born in Danvers, Mass., Nov. 27, 1727. " He was one of a scouting party in the Maine wilds in Indian warfare. He was at Ticonderoga and Lake George, and with Wolfe when he scaled the heights of Abraham .. He led a company of minute men on the morning of the 19th of April, 1775, and was promi- nent at the siege of Boston, commanding at Fort Hill on evacua- tion. For twenty-one years he was elected to Senate, House or Council. He died in 1811."
The same publication, page 229, presents a picture of his monument, with the inscription : -
Israel Hutchinson 1727-18II Served his Country as Sergt. Co. of Rangers 1757 At Lake George and Ticonderoga 1758 Capt. Quebec 1759
Capt. Battle of Lexington 1775 Col. Siege of Boston -New York-New Jersey- -Crossing of the Delaware- Trenton
His men manned boats in Retreat from Long Island
Representative and Councillor 21 yrs.
An Honored Citizen and Loyal Soldier
Col. Hutchinson's marriage with Madam Mehitabel Putnam, brought him also into the relationship of step-father to Miss Phebe Putnam, who became a permanent resident of Lyndebor- ough, as the wife of Rev. Sewall Goodridge, pastor of Lynde- borough for more than forty years. The relationship also has her kindly acknowledgment in the fact that she named one of her favored sons, Israel Hutchinson Goodridge. Mr. Hutchin- son was also sufficiently in touch with Lyndeborough to become at another time an investor in 'Scataquog mine, little to his pe- cuniary profit. He appears to have been in his day one of the prominent men in the Bay State.
587
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin."
JOHN BADGER .- Among the early pioneers in Salem-Can- ada came John Badger, who settled near the southern line of the town in 1739. He with his two brothers, Joseph and Eliphalet, came to New England about 1728 or 1729. Tradition has it that the father was a wealthy Englishman who had done business in Scotland, whither he had sent John, his youngest son, to collect some of his accounts. While thus engaged he had formned the acquaintance of a winsome Scottish lassie named Mary McFarland. The acquaintance ripened into an intimacy. The attractions were mutual. But, it is said, "the course of true love never did run smooth." The truth of this sentiment the lovers were destined to test. For the young man's father became aware of his son's attachment; and with a Johnsonian dislike for the young lady's nationality, attempted to break up a union between them. He accordingly sent John with his older brothers across the seas, to seek his fortune in the new world. But
" The best laid schemes o' mice and men, Gang aft a-gley."
The heart of the young lady was too deeply enlisted to endure such hindrance and submit to defeat. Full of the energy, hardihood, and fire of her nationality she formed the purpose to seek her lover, to brave the dangers and inconveniences of the sea, and share his fortunes on these perilous and sparsely peopled shores.
" Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it."
She landed on the shores of the majestic Sagadahoc, where she and her lover were soon reunited and became husband and wife. They remained no long time in Maine, but came into this province, and found a home for a few years in what was then known as Nottingham West, now Hudson. About the year 1738, Mr. Badger doubtless visited this town. He erected his cabin and entered it in April, 1739. A melancholy interest attaches to the career of this devoted family by reason of the faithful love which they cherished for one another, and the genuine heroism displayed by the Scottish maiden and the pioneer matron. John and Mary Badger were the parents of three children before they came into this town. His sojourn here was brief, for he was the first settler to answer the unwel- come summons of death. In February, 1740, amid the deep
588
HISTORY OF LYNDEBOROUGH
snows of well nigh a trackless wilderness, he yielded his life a victim to consumption. He died in the night. The nearest neighbors were three miles away. In the words of Dr. Eph- raim Peabody :
"His wife composed him on the bed for rest, left her children, of whom she had three, the oldest but eight years of age, with their breakfast, and with strict injunctions not to wake their father, as he was asleep, and putting on her snowshoes proceeded to seek assistance. That indeed was a dreary morning as she went forth through the solitary woods of winter. Death is in her home aud her children wait her return. Uphold her trembling heart, Thou Father of the fatherless and the widow's God! Neighbors returned with her. A tree was hollowed out for a coffin, and so in the solitude was he committed to the earth. ... What, then, must have been her loneliness - a solitary widow in the wilderness! She must watch by the bedside of her children alone; her tears shall be shed alone ; she shall no more kneel by her husband's side to pray ; his voice shall no more waken her at morning, and when the night approaches she shall unconsciously look forth to the forest, watching for his return, who shall never return again."*
In the sketch of the history of Lyndeborough, in the History of Hillsborough County, Mr. David C. Grant gave John Badger the credit of being the first settler of Salem-Canada. The Gene- alogy of the Chamberlain Family, compiled by Mr. Willis B. Chamberlain, page 12, accords this honor to Mr. John Cram. Rev. F. G. Clark also says that "John Cram stands at the head of the pioneers of the settlement," and the Proprietors' Records call him " one of the first settlers."
Manuscripts of more recent date and of undoubted authority make it clear that Mr. John Cram was the first settler in our town. He came here in 1737, and both children and grand- children formed a part of his household. It was to this family that Mrs. Badger went for assistance at the time of her hus- band's death.
The descendants of both men have held and still hold a large and honored share in the affairs and population of Lynde- borough.
CAPTAIN WILLIAM BARRON .- William Barron was a citizen of Lyndeborough as early as 1768. He married Olive Johnson.
One article of the warrant for town meeting, Mar. 8, 1768, was, " To see if town will except of a road laid out from Josiah Dutton's to where it strikes the other road near William Bar-
*Wilton History, pp. 42, 43.
589
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
ron's house." Nov. 28, 1769, he was one of a committee chosen to examine what land was allowed for the meeting-house, and to see that the land was bounded and put on record. In 1771 he was overseer of the poor and a member of the school commit- tee. In 1772 he was a selectman, and the next year tithing man. In March, 1775, he was chosen highway surveyor, and called Lieut. Barron ; and in 1776 the town allowed his account for horse-hire to go to the army at Winter Hill. He seems to have been commissioned as captain to raise a company to defend Fort Ticonderoga, and to go to Canada in 1776, and led thither sixty men. The muster roll of his company is in the Revolu- tionary Rolls of N. H., Vol. I., pp. 358-360. It is also in N. H. Town Papers, Vol. XI., p. 720. The men who went from this town were as follows : -
Capt. Wm. Barron
Nathan Batchelder
Isaac Dey (Day)
Peter Russell
Samuel Stevens
Asahel Stiles
James Barnum
Hezekiah Hamblet
John Savage
Joseph Ellinwood
John Rowe
John Carkin
Philip Fletcher
John Bofee
Reuben Batchelder
Samuel Butterfield
From 1777 to 1779, Wm. Barron was constable in Lyndebor- ough, and in 1778 he signed a protest against paying Lyndebor- ough men for military services which were performed for other towns, and for which those towns had already paid.
In 1779 Wm. Barron was one of the committee of nineteen men, chosen to set a value on the necessaries of life in the town, and to guard against any breaches of the agreement thereon.
In 1781 he was on a committee chosen to enlist the quota of the town for the army. His associates were Amos Pearson, Eleazar Woodward, together with the commissioned officers ; and in the same year he was appointed one of the committee to examine the plan of government for the state of New Hamp- shire. He was licensed as a tavern keeper year after year, for a long period ; and in one official capacity or another, as highway surveyor, constable, overseer of the poor, sealer of weights and measures, school committee, keeper of the town stock of powder, kept in the church loft, and deacon of the church, he rendered service almost every year from 1770 to 1800, and later.
Rev. F. G. Clark says : -
"During the Revolution a hotel was kept by Capt. Barron, north of the Badger pond, where F. B. Tay lives. When Burgoyne was captured, a
590
HISTORY OF LYNDEBOROUGH
large number of people gathered there to celebrate the event. A cask of tar was raised to the top of a pine tree, over which was placed an image of the British commander, and after dark the enemy was burnt in effigy .*
CAPT. WILLIAM BLANEY .- He is said to have been a sea captain, and was probably a relative of Major Joseph Blaney, one of the original proprietors of Salem-Canada.
On a commanding elevation, a little west of south from South Lyndeborough village, and about three-fourths of a mile distatt, is the ruin of a cellar, over which once stood the residence of Capt. Wmn. Blaney. South of the cellar may be seen aged apple trees, the remnants of what was early in the last century a flour- ishing orchard. Captain Blaney owned extensive pastures in this part of the town, a portion of which, now the property of W. N. Cheever, still bears the name of "the Blaney pasture." A short distance to the north of the old cellar are traces of the tan-pit where he evidently conducted a tannery. He is on rec- ord as having bought what was known as the " Stockwell yard" in Wilton, the deed of which was dated Nov. 13, 1799 .*
Oct. 3, 1794, Rev. Sewall Goodridge gave him a deed of a tract of land adjoining Wilton. (See p. 485 ; also p. 326. ) His pew in the old meeting-house was No. 6 on the ground floor.
He was a revolutionary soldier, and not only did active service himself, but also, with many others, hired substitutes.
On a gravestone near the residence of Samuel Dolliver is the inscription : -
" In memory of Christopher S. Blaney, son of Capt. and Mrs. Ruth S. Blaney, who died July 22, 1789, aged 13 years, 5 months, and 25 days.
Affliction sore long time I bore,
Physicians strove in vain, Till God was pleased to give me ease And took away my pain."
Capt. Blaney died in 1802, leaving wife and five minor chil- dren. After his decease the family left town, removing to Marblehead, Mass. On the Probate Docket of Essex County, 2,637, Mrs. Ruth Blaney, widow, of Marblehead, was appointed guardian of the minor children, Oct. 15, 1806.
OSGOOD CARLETON .- According to " Memorials of the Carletons," Osgood's brothers were Jeremiah, Timothy, David and Ebenezer ; and his sisters were Mary, who married Reuben Batchelder, and Abigail, who married first, John Johnson ; and second, Ensign David Putnam ; and third, Capt. Jonas Kidder.
*Salem-Canada, p. 37. tWilton History, p. 172.
591
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
The state papers, edited by Hon. A. S. Batchellor, Vol. XXVII, pages 414 to 418, give samples of his engineering work or draughtsmanship .* " Carleton's Compendium of Practical Arith- metic ; Applied to the Federal and Other Currencies," was compiled at the request of the "Associated Instructors of Youth," in Boston, and published in 1810.
A well preserved copy of this work, kindly lent by descend- ants of one of the Carleton family, furnished the facts above cited. The work was creditable, and esteemed as one of the worthy successors of the great arithmetic of Nicholas Pike, teacher in Newburyport, Mass., though it is less than half the size of that famous and formidable volume.
Mr. Carleton was married and settled in this town. His wife was Lydia, one of the Johnson family, of the east part of the town. His farm, according to a letter of John Carleton, was about a half mile south of the meeting-house. This tallies with an old deed, from " Benjamin Lynde to Osgood Carleton, of Second Division Lot No. 56, containing 130 acres." This deed was dated Dec. 21, 1768. He built a house on this lot, and seems to have lived there several years. The place is now known as the Lucas place ; and was formerly the Manuel place.
He must have left Lyndeborough a short time before the commencement of the Revolutionary War, for he enlisted in his native state, Massachusetts, May 1, 1775, and was soon pro- moted. (For his promotion, see Rev. Rolls.)
W. H. Grant, Esq., found a record stating that Osgood Carleton " delivered to M. Hillegas, Continental Treasurer in 1781, six boxes containing thirteen million one thousand six hundred thirty-seven Dollars, Continental money."
Mr. John Carleton, a grandson of Jeremiah, affirmed that he, himself, had seen among Osgood Carleton's papers, receipts from General Washington acknowledging several million Pounds Sterling which had been paid to him.
From another source comes the account of Osgood Carleton as transportation agent of the government money, as well as army paymaster, stating " that he traveled with two horses and an old cart, escorted by six men who pretended not to know him, or have anything to do with him. His clothing was old
* The writer found in the Old State House, in Boston, a " map of the city from actual surveys made by Osgood Carleton." It is described as, "A copy of a rare map of Boston, presumed to be the only one extant, published by George B. Foster, Boston. Copyright Secured 1878."
592
HISTORY OF LYNDEBOROUGH
and everything was done to avert suspicion of his having any money, and he was never molested."
Authorities differ as to the date of his death. The work en- titled, " Memorials of the Carletons," gives the date as 1814; " Drake's Dictionary of American Biography" describes him as "a teacher of mathematics and navigation ; d. Litchfield, N. H., June, 1816. A resident of Massachusetts, he published valuable maps of that State and of the district of Maine." Other publications were "The American Navigator," in 1801 ; "The South American Pilot," 1804; "A map of the United States," 1806. The memorials of the Carletons report his hav- ing three sons : Osgood, b. 1783 ; John and David. He is said to have died at the home of his son, in Litchfield, N. H. (See Genealogies. )
CAPTAIN PETER CLARK of Lyndeborough was a descen- dant of Hugh Clark, who settled first in Watertown, Mass .; and afterwards removed to Roxbury, Mass., where he died July 20, 1693. The direct line of descent is Hugh,' Uriah,2 Rev. Peter,3 a graduate of Harvard in 1712, Peter,4 a graduate of Harvard in 1739, Capt. Peter,5 of Lyndeborough. .
The parents of the latter were both natives of Danvers, Mass. His father preferred farming to professional life; and Deacon Hobart of Braintree, his grandfather, gave him a farm in that town, on which he settled, and October 22, 1741, married Anna Porter of Danvers. There, in Braintree, February 4, 1743, Capt. Peter was born.
In the 21st year of his age, October 20, 1763, he married Hannah Epps of Braintree, the daughter of Daniel Epps, Esq. and Hannah (Prescott) his wife. Daniel Eppes was one of the old Salem-Canada proprietors ; was for several years proprie- tors' clerk, and one of the heaviest shareholders in the town- ship. It was doubtless through the influence of his father-in- law, that in the troubled times of 1775, Peter Clark removed to the well-wooded and quiet town of Lyndeborough, N. H. Here he made for himself a home and reared a noble family, and left a worthy record, not only of heroism, but of civic virtue as well. He lived on what has been known in later years as the Holden place.
Soon after coming into the town in 1775, he was commis- sioned as a captain of the 9th Regiment of New Hampshire Militia. On the alarm connected with Burgoyne's invasion, he
593
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
led 60 men, proposed destination Ticonderoga, to join Stark's command. This was on July 1, 1777. The fort had been evacu- ated, and his company, not being needed in camp, returned to their farms. Twenty of these with their captain belonged in this town, and their names are to be remembered. They are given on pages 162 and 163.
Capt. Clark set out on a second expedition, July 21, 1777. He then went to Bennington, joined Stark's army, and with his men rendered excellent service in that noted battle. Capt. Clark was said to be one of the first men to mount the British defenses. Twenty of our townsmen, including the captain, were in that noted fight. Their names are on page 163. The time of service of these men was 68 days.
Captain Clark marched a third time on the 29th of September, 1777, and bore a part in the battle of Saratoga, and assisted in the capture of General Burgoyne. On this last 'expedition, there were, including him, 16 of our citizens, whose names we give, page 163.
Before the close of the Revolutionary War, Capt. Clark was commissioned major in the military service. His commission is one of the cherished heirlooms of the family, issued November 16, 1779, and signed by Meshech Weare, President of the Council at Exeter, then the seat of our State Government.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.