USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Derry > Willey's book of Nutfield; a history of that part of New Hampshire comprised within the limits of the old township of Londonberry, from its settlement in 1719 to the present time > Part 12
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In August, 1776, a company, commanded by Captain. John Nesmith, was raised in which were thirty-nine men from Londonderry. Of these the new enlistments were : Samuel Cherry, ensign ; Solomon Todd, sergeant ; Michael George, drum- mer ; Timothy Dustin, fifer, and John McClurg, William Rogers, Robert McClucr, James Ewins, Robert Boyes, Jr., John Orr, Samuel Rowell, John Humphrey, John Cox, Edward Cox, John Ander- son, Jr., Thomas White, Ephraim White, James Moor, Samuel Eayers, John Ramsey, David George, Jonathan Gregg, Abner Andrews, Alexander Craige, William Colby, Patrick Fling, William Adams, James Boyes, Jr., Jonathan George, Charity Killicut, and John Lancaster, privates ; with these additional enlistments in December. 1776 : Jonathan Wallace, William Lyon. Moses Watts, Thomas McClary, Jesse Jones, Arthur Nesmith, John Todd, Benjamin Nesmith, James Hobbs, Nathan Whiting, Benjamin Robinson. David Marshall, William Burroughs.
In 1777 and 1778 about fifty men enlisted, many of whom had previously seen service ; in 1779 there were seventeen enlistments ; in 1780, thir- tecn ; in 1781, thirty. The town voted, in March, 1777, to " raise a bounty of eighteen pounds ster- ling for each man that is now wanting to make up
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our complement of men," and in April the bounty tually furnished a greater number of soldiers than was increased to thirty pounds sterling. In Jan- any other town. Her list of distinguished officers, headed by Generals Stark and Reid, includes Colonel William Gregg, Captain Daniel Reynolds, and Lieutenants McClary and Adam Taylor. Lieutenant McClary, who was killed at Benning- ton, was the only man from Londonderry who lost his life in battle during the war. uary, 1778, the selectmen were authorized to pro- vide for the families of soldiers belonging to the town. During the entire struggle of eight years, Londonderry not only furnished her full propor- tion of regular troops, but the repeated emergen- cies which ealled for special aid were met with readiness. According to the census taken in 1778, there were in the town of Londonderry four hun- dred and four males between the ages of sixteen and fifty, and sixty-six of these were in the army, - a larger number than from any other town in the county. Portsmouth sent only fifty men, and there was but one town in the state which eontrib- uted more soldiers than Londonderry; that town was Amherst, which sent eighty-one. London- derry paid for bounties a larger sum than any other town, and it is believed that, ineluding volun- teers and reeruits for the continental line, she ae-
THE FIRST ROAD in Nutfield, joining the two villages, is thus referred to in the records of Feb. 13, 1720: "A by-way laid out from the bridge below the sawmill, from thenee running sou-easterly by Mr. Gregg's hous, from thenee turning more easterly, along by James Clark's new hous, & so up by James Neasmath's & so along as the old way as far as the east corner of Robert Wear's fenee." Dee. 16, 1725, the seleetmen in- dorsed the road as laid out, and voted that it be " two rods wide & to be open & common without
SOME CATHOLIC INSTITUTIONS IN MANCHESTER.
RESIDENCE OF BISHOP BRADLEY.
MOUNT ST. MARY'S ACADEMY.
ST. PATRICK'S ORPHANAGE FOR GIRLS.
ST. JOSEPH'S ORPHANAGE FOR BOYS.
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gates & bars." About the same time the English Range road was laid out, and in 1724 the road to " Ammasceegg Falls" was laid out by Captain James Gregg and William Aiken. The roads from the East Church in Derry to the pond, and that running south by the cemetery, and also the high- way across the Double Range south of Westrun- ning brook were all laid out by the selectmen June 1, 1723. The Aikens Range road, four rods wide across the Aiken lots and two rods wide through the village to the mill, was laid out Nov. 6, 1723; the Chester road, Nov. 17, 1723 ; the highway between Derry village and the Depot, in 1737; the Londonderry turnpike, in 1806; the road in Londonderry running east to meet the Aikens Range road, June 19, 1730 ; and the main road across Londonderry, east and west to Litch- field, in 1744 ; and from Dissmore's Corner north to the Baptist Church, in 1745. Some of the highways that were laid out were never built, and for years they were nothing more than bridle-paths.
JAMES WEBSTER was born in Atkinson, N. H., Sept. 22, 1799. He was descended from sturdy New England stock that had inhabited that part of the country for many years. His father with his family, including the subject of this sketch, moved to Derry in 1816, and purchased the farm in the southeastern part of the town known as the " Wood place," which still remains in the possession of a grandson. James Webster was married Jan. 22, 1829, to Maria Eayrs of Dun- stable (now Nashua) at Newburyport, Mass., where the bride then lived. The newly married couple returned to the paternal home in Derry and con- tinued to reside there ever afterward. One half the property was deeded to James, who carried on the farm, sharing the house with his parents and onc brother until their death. Nine children were born to him : James Henry, H. Maria, Charles P., Sarah A., George A., Ellen A., Mary F., Julia S., and John E. Two have died ; the others are mar- ried. The mother was born April 4, 1808, and died May 14, 1875. The father died Aug. 19, 1881. Such is the record of a most worthy and happy family life, uneventful though it was in great or strik- ing deeds. He was captain of a military company,
and the title always clung to him. He never sought for office. He was a man of sturdy integ- rity, of genial manner, of dignified bearing, and sympathetic heart. He and his wife were mem- bers of the Congregational church for many years. Both were best known and appreciated in their happy home, but when they passed away there was a great void in neighborhood and town, recognized by a host of loving friends. His home was one of generous hospitality, from which no stranger was
JAMES WEBSTER.
ever turned away hungry, and where the call of suffering was never unheeded. The loss of his wife, a devoted companion for more than forty-six years, was a blow from which Mr. Webster never rccovered ; but with a fortitude born of true Chris- tian faith his native sunny temperament still lighted up his household. At a ripe old age hc passed away, with loving hands to minister to his wants, yielding up a life rich in the fruitage of the good and true.
THE LEACH LIBRARY in Londonderry owes its origin to a fund of three thousand dollars bequeathed by David Rollins Leach, who was born in Londonderry, Aug. 8, 1806, and died at Manchester, April 1, 1878. At its next annual
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meeting the town voted to accept the bequest, chose a board of nine trustees and authorized the selectmen to build an addition to the town hall for a library room. About one thousand books were on the shelves when the library was thrown open for use, Feb. 25, 1880, and since then about one thousand more have been added, making a very creditable and useful collection. There was a
DAVID ROLLINS LEACH.
social library of several hundred volumes, kept first at the store of William Anderson, in 1830, and transferred in 1834 to the house of Robert Maek. A few years later the books were sold at auetion and the proceeds divided among the stoekbolders. In 1858, forty residents of the town purehased a small library of about two hundred volumes, which were later donated to the Leaeh library.
UR HOME JUBILEE .- A poem written by Lueinda J. Gregg and read by Rev. J. T. MeCollom at the Londonderry celebration, 1869 :
From the East, from the North, from the prairies afar, From the Pine Tree domains to the southern Lone Star, We wanderers come to the cherished home-fold, To unite in one song for the bright days of old.
A song for the true, and a song for the brave, Who came from afar o'er the easterly wave ; One song for the lake on whose beautiful shore, Their wanderings ended, they worshipped of yore.
Today we will sing of the brown homes they made, Where earnest hands toiled, and where loving hearts prayed ; And the home for the Sabbath, just over the way, The sacred old church, that's one hundred today.
In our jubilant song comes a sadder refrain ; -- For the forms of the fathers we see not again. In their green-covered houses on yonder white hill, With the marble doors locked, they are sleeping so still !
In that glorious day when the sleepers arise, When together we go to our home in the skies, It is then we shall know - but, oh ! never till then - How much we all owe to these brave, faithful men.
Adown the long years comes a noble array : Ah ! many are found on Fame's roll-call today. From these valleys and hills has an army of worth, Of talent and trust, gone to bless the wide earth.
Of those left at home, there is many a name, All heroic, all noble, unspoken by Fame : - One sigh for the dead,-for the living, one song ! God bless the loved home-land that claims all the throng !
Then hail to old Derry ! its lake and its lea, Its beautiful stream winding down to the sea, Its wondrous old trees with the evergreen crest, Its fine, fertile fields, sloping green to the west !
All hail to old Nutfield ! whose broader expanse Our forefathers claimed as the years did advance ; We always shall love thee, wherever we roam, And breathe out a prayer for our earliest home.
But Time's speeding onward ; how soon in its flight Will it bear us afar and away out of sight ! How few, on another centennial day, Will return and talk over the years sped away !
But we hope, oh ! we hope, when our earth-day is done, When our tent 's taken down at life's last setting sun, On the Plains all immortal, with glory untold, We shall sing of the days that can never grow old.
Let Nutfield today sound its merriest notes !
Let the hills and the vales catch the strain as it floats ! Ring out the loud echoes from mountain to sea, And rejoice in the day of our glad Jubilee !
HON. CYRUS A. SULLOWAY.
H ON. CYRUS A. SULLOWAY, son of man of the committee on elections during his first Greeley and Betsey L. Sulloway, was born term and twice subsequently as chairman of the judiciary committee. Upon his first entry into legislative life he at once took commanding posi- tion as leader, which position he maintained with consummate ability during his entire career of legis- lative experience. His conspicuous service in this capacity gave him wide fame and great popularity throughout the state. Always an active partisan in whatever he espoused, he entered into the heated controversies that agitated the legis- lature during his mem- bership, with zeal and enthusiasm and al- ways as the central figure of the most ex- cited controversy. In the fall of 1894 Mr. Sulloway received the unanimous Republi- can nomination for congress in the first distriet, and at once entered upon the can- vass with his charac- teristic ardor and im- petuosity, and the re- sult was his trium- phant election by more than 6000 plurality. This was the first test of his personal and political popularity be- in Grafton, June 8, 1839. His youth was spent upon his father's farm, and his opportunities for acquiring a liberal education were of that restricted character common to New Hampshire farmer boys of that period. By his enterprise and zeal, how- ever, he succeeded in supplementing his dis- trict school education by an academic course at Colby Academy in New London. In 1861 he began the study of law with Pike & Barnard of Frank- lin, the senior mem- ber of which firm died while holding the of- fice of United States senator, and the junior that of attorney-gen- eral of the state. Mr. Sulloway was admit- ted to the bar at Ply- mouth in November, 1863, and soon there- after removed to Man- chester and entered into copartnership with Samuel D. Lord, under the firm name of Lord & Sulloway. This business copart- nership continued for ten years and was eminently successful, securing a wide client- HON. CYRUS A. SULLOWAY. age and a lucrative practice. Upon its dissolution fore so large a constituency, embracing one half Mr. Sulloway associated with himself Mr. E. M. of the state, and the outcome justified the high expectations which his friends have long enter- tained as to his strong hold upon the favor and good will of the people of the state. As a lawyer, and especially as a jury advocate, Mr. Sulloway has achieved a most pronounced success, and his Topliff, under the firm name of Sulloway & Topliff. The practice of this firm has been very extensive, and among the largest in the state. From 1873 to 1878 Mr. Sulloway was deputy collector of in- ternal revenue. He was a member of the legisla- ture in 1872, '73, '79, '91, and '93, serving as chair- future prospects, both political and professional,
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ought to satisfy the most exacting ambition. Mr. initials of the churches, were distributed to prevent Sulloway was married May 31, 1864, to Helen M., intruders. Long, narrow tables were spread in the aisles, and sometimes three or four sittings, ar- ranged according to age, would be necessary, pro- tracting the services until sunset. These seasons were often attended with many conversions. daughter of Jonathan W. and Theodorah D. Fifield of Franklin. One daughter, Belle IL., was born July 31, 1868. Mrs. Sulloway having deceased July 20, 1892, Mr. Sulloway, on May 31, 1894, married Miss Martha J. Webster of Haverhill, Mass.
WORLDLY WISDOM and practical sagacity were prominent traits in the character of the Scotch Irishmen who settled Nutfield. Dealers in mythical corner lots and nebulous west- ern real estate and confidence men of every speeies would have earned but a precarious livelihood among those alert, long-headed men. The advice of one of the elders to a young man who was about journeying into a new country is worthy to go with the celebrated counsels of Polonius to Laertes. The young man was to carry considerable silver money, and the elder said to him : " When ye come into a strange hoose, don't set doun your saddle-bags as if there was eggs in 'em, nor yet fling them doun so as to chink the coin ; but put them doun indifferently, in a corner where you can see 'em, but never look at 'em."
C OMMUNION SEASONS in the early days of the Nutfield settlement were held only twice a year and were occasions of great impor- tance to the church. In 1734 Mr. Thompson had seven hundred communieants present at one sea- son, the number including members of the church residing in other settlements and members of other churches. Communion seasons were pre- ceded by preaching on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Thursday was observed with great strictness as a sacramental fast-day, and any viola- tion of it was a serious matter. One church mem- ber was disciplined for spreading out hay to dry on a Thursday. The Monday following communion was a day of thanksgiving. These extra services gave rise to much preaching, requiring the aid of other ministers. Communicants from several churches, with their ministers and elders, often united in the sacrament on the Sabbath. Small pieces of metal called tokens, stamped with the
W ILLIAM PARKER CLARK, son of Dea- eon William Danforth and Almira Eliza- beth (Dodge) Clark, was born in Derry, April 30, 1845. He was educated in the public and in select schools in the adjoining town of Auburn, after- ward taking a commercial course at Comers' Col- lege in Boston. In the spring of 1863 Mr. Clark went to Nashua, and worked on a farm the three following summers for Mr. George McQuesten, who took a kindly and salutary interest in his welfare, and whose influence upon him was as good as that of a parent. In October, 1865, he entered the ser- vice of Holt & McQuesten, flour and grain dealers, in the Laton build- ing, Railroad square, and by con- stant attention to business he gained the confidence of his employers and became a member of the firm. In later years the busi- ness was trans- ferred to the store WILLIAM PARKER CLARK. under the First Baptist Church, Main street, where it is still carried on under the firm name of McQuesten & Co., the firm consisting of Ezra P. Howard, William P. Clark, and Joshua W. Hunt. In 1868 Mr. Clark married Miss Elizabeth S. Davis of Dover, N. H. Three daughters have been added to the family : Lillian, Vennie Ethel, and Evangelyn May Clark. Mr. Clark has always taken a deep interest in political affairs, being a Republican. He is also an active member of the First Congregational Church.
DIOCESE OF MANCHESTER.
R T. REV. DENIS M. BRADLEY, first Catho- ship with great cxccutive ability and personal traits lic bishop of Manchester, was born in Ire- that have endcarcd him to hosts of non-Catholics, and he has thus been able to allay much of the prejudice that has always existed in New Hamp- shirc against his religion. The first Catholic church in the state was built in 1823 by Rev. Virgil H. Barber, a convert. Ten years later another church was erccted at Dover, and for twenty ycars these were the only Catholic churches in New Hampshire. In 1847 Rev. John B. Daly, a Franciscan father, began a church in Manchester. The Sisters of Mercy, the first religious commu- nity established in New Hampshire, came to Manchester under Mother Francis Warde, at the request of Rev. Wm. Mc Donald, in 1860. At the time of Bishop Bradley's con- secration in St. Joseph's Church, which is now his cathedral, there were thirty-seven churches and chapels in the state, and thirty-eight priests. The Catholic popula- tion of New Hamp- shire was about 50,000, and there were 3,500 RT. REV. DENIS M. BRADLEY. pupils in the Catholic schools. In the eleven land Feb 25, 1846. When he was cight ycars of age his mother came to America and with her five children settled in Manchester. After attending the Catholic schools of the town, the boy was sent to the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, and upon graduating from that institution he entered upon the study of thcology in St. Joseph's Pro- vincial Seminary at Troy, N. Y., and was there ordained to the priesthood June 3, 1871, by Rt. Rev. Bishop McQuaid of Rochester. Manchester at that time belonged to the diocese of Portland, and Bishop Bacon ap- pointed the young priest to the cathedral in the latter city, where he remained during the lifetime of that prelatc, serving during the last two years as rector of the cathedral and chan- cellor of the diocese. Hc continued to dis- charge the same duties under Bishop Healey until June 16, 1880, when he was appointed pastor of St. Joseph's Church, Manchester. Upon the erection of the state of New Hampshire into a separate dio- ycars of Bishop Bradley's administration the num- cese in 1884, Father Bradley was recommended ber of Catholics in the state has increased to nearly 90,000, and there are about 10,000 pupils in the Catholic schools. The diocese contains thirty- two parochial schools for boys and the same num- ber for girls ; there are five high schools for boys, six academics for young ladics, one college and five orphan asylums. The other Catholic institutions in the state include six convents of brothers. for the new see by the bishops of New England on account of his zeal and services in parochial duties and his experience in diocesan affairs, gained in Portland. He was accordingly appointed by Pope Leo XIII and consecrated Junc 11, 1884. Under his wise administration the cause of Catho- licity has prospered wonderfully in New Hamp- shire. He combines the rare qualities of Icader- twenty convents of sisters, three hospitals, four
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homes for aged women and three homes for work- In the spring of 1852 he moved with his parents ing girls. There are eighty Catholic priests in the to Windham and operated a sawmill and cider state, fifty churches with resident priests, seven- press for thirteen years. The mill was on the teen missions connected with the church, two new turnpike near a place of historic interest known as the Bessells Camp. In the winter of 1865 Mr. Seavey, in partnership with John S. Brown and Nathaniel H. Clark, erected a steam sawmill at Windham Junction, the first sawmill operated by steam in the town. The addition of cider presses and tanks completed the foundation of an industry for Windham that has brought prosperity to the partners and materially enhanced the value of real estate in the vicinity and continues to encourage in- creasc of population. Ordinarily from six to eight
ST. JOSEPH'S CATHEDRAL, MANCHESTER.
churches building, seventeen chapels and twenty- seven stations. It is doubtful if any other religious denomination can show such a rapid growth within so short a time.
G EORGE EDWARD SEAVEY, the son of Benjamin and Sarah (Coburn) Scavey, was born in Pelham June 20, 1839, and from his ear- liest years has been engaged in the operation of sawmills and eider presses. He parents had not the means of giving him any cducational ad- vantages, but he early learned by experience the principles of business and the value of money, pur- chasing his first jackknife with money carncd in saving the wages of an assistant about the mills.
GEORGE EDWARD SEAVEY.
men are employed in the mill yard, but at times the number is greatly inercased. In the winter of 1893-94 fifty horses were required for the trans- portation of lumber ; at present twenty-four are in constant use. The chief articles of manufacture
WILLEY'S BOOK OF NUTFIELD.
are unplaned box boards, the amount of lumber converted into boards averaging one million fcet annually for the last ten years. In the cider mak- ing season two hydraulic presses with a capacity of three hundred barrels in ten hours are uscd, and one of the tanks contains one hundred and fifty and the other seventy-five barrels. About 95 per cent of the cider is sold to be manufactured into vinegar. Over four thousand barrels of cider are annually made at this mill in Windham, and a single vinegar firm has received $100,000 worth of cider from this mill in the past twenty years.
Mr. Seavey was married Nov. 10, 1868, to Mary Ballou, daughter of Edward and Isabella (McGregor) Ballou of Derry, who was born Feb. 7, 1842. Her ancestry is traced back through suc- cessive generations of the MacGregors to the first settlers of Londonderry, and the traditions of the family extend to the old country, from which in 1719 these pioncers received letters of intelligence from their relatives in Armagh and Antrim, Ireland. Mr. Seavey was selectman of Windham from 1879 to 1881 inclusive. In 1882 he represented his town in the State Legislature, and he has also
served as supervisor for six years, having been re- clected for the fourth term.
S SINCERITY was a striking characteristic of the men who settled Nutfield. They were called obstinate sometimes, and it was a Scotchman him- sclf who said : " It behooves a Scotchman to be right ; for if he be wrong, he be forever and eter- nally wrong." An anecdote is related of one of the descendants of the Nutfield Scotchmen which breathes the spirit of the first generation. He had been elected to the General Court from London- derry, and at the close of the session the friends of the presiding officer had prepared the usual com- plimentary resolution for him. The Londonderry member, it was well known, differcd from that offi- cial in politics and religion, and even had doubts of his honesty. His friends, therefore, dreading to encounter the public opposition of the outspoken " gentleman from Londonderry," thought it pru- dent to show him the resolution in private, before it was offered. It was in the ordinary form, to present "the thanks of the assembly to the presid- ing officer for the dignity, ability, and integrity
GEORGE E. SEAVEY'S RESIDENCE.
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with which he had discharged his duties." The member from Londonderry perused the paper deliberately, and then remarked : "There is but one word in the resolution that I object to ; just strike out the little word intergrity, and I will vote for the rest cheerfully." It was thought best to expunge the obnoxious word, and so the resolution stands recorded to this day.
W ILLIAM G. BAKER, son of John and Lucy (Gay) Baker, was born on the En- glish Range, Derry, June 9, 1845. He is a descend- ant of Robert Baker, who came from England carly in the settlement of this country and settled in Beverly, Mass. He received a common school
WILLIAM G. BAKER.
education and after a few terms at Pinkerton Academy completed his education by a coursc in a commercial college. When a young man he went to Boston, where he engaged in active business, and for over twenty years carried on a successful business in upholstery and interior decorations on
Bromfield street. For the past few years he has been in the real estate business. He represented Ward 23, Boston (West Roxbury District), in the Legislature for two years, serving with much ability, and acting as clerk of the insurance com- mittee, clerk of the committee on public service, and as chairman of the committee on federal relations. His name has been often mentioned as candidate for state senator and also for alderman of the city, but on account of business interests he has refused to continue in political life. He is prominently identified with fraternal beneficiary societies, and is a member of the Royal Arcanum, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and others. For about twenty years he has lived in that part of Ward 23, Boston, known as Egleston Squarc. He has three children : William W., Alice M., and Florence H. The son, William W., is now in Harvard College.
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