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 22
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Massabesic is from massa, or, as it is some- times expressed, msi (large), or mamsi (vast), and nebe (lake or pond), and ik, which gives it its local term.
Unconoonuc is probably from kuncannow- et (breast), the termination uc from the plural ok, the breasts.
Cohas brook, from coa, a pine tree, with the diminutive, coas, or cohas, "little pine tree brook."
Our historians have presumed that Wonalan- cet and his people joined the St. Francis tribe, which were the remnant of the Abenakis tribe that had removed to Canada and settled on the St. Francis river, but this does not seem to have been the fact. The Pennacooks, occupying the Merrimack river valley, and coming from the tribes of Massachusetts, were called by the Abenakis the Patsuikets, the meaning of this being, "those who had established themselves in that locality by fraud." The territory occupied by the Pennacooks was claimed as the hunting and fishing ground of the Indians of Maine, who were a part of the Abenakis family, and they came to the falls to fish in the spring and early summer; they campcd on
the hill cast of the falls. They must have gathered there in great numbers, and were not only pre- pared to fish, but to fight in case of attack by the Mohawks. This tribe suffered morc from the Mo- hawks than any other eastern Indians, and in prep- aration for defence they concealed large quanti- ties of arrow and spear points in the ground, many of which have been found in graves, which served as arsenals. On the occasions of thesc annual fishing excursions they became acquainted with the Penacooks or Patsuikets, and on their removal to Canada continued to treat them as their friends.
When Wonalancet and his tribe went to Can- ada, they doubtless located on the shores of Umbagog lake. Pere Maurault, in his " Histoire des Abenakis," gives the etymology of the word, and says it is from the word Nidobakik,-" the lake of my comrades "-from nidoba, friend. This lake was the division between the Abenakis and the Patsuikets. After remaining some eight years on the shores of Umbagog lake, Wonalancet, in 1685, returned to his old seat at Wamesit, poor, disheart- ened, and old. He received some aid from the colony of Massachusetts, and died about 1700, near the age of eighty years.
Passaconaway's oldest son, Nanamocomuck, who had been at the head of the small tribe of Nip- mucks at Wachusett, was living in 1663 at Groton, which was ncar the seat of Passaconaway. On the 2Ist of October of that year a tract of land one quarter of a mile square was granted to him. Onc hundred acres, including the place where he then lived, called his planting ground, was laid out.
He later removed to the Amariscoggin in Maine, and joined the Abenakis remaining on that river. His son Kancamagus, or Hawkins, joined his father at that placc, and thus virtually ended the history of the tribe of Indians of the Merrimack.
Before the great epidemic in 1613 made such havoc among the Indians of New England, the Pawtucket tribe, including all those under Passa- conaway, numbered about 3000 men. The great sickness destroyed them to such an extent that in 1674 there were only about 250 men beside wo- men and children, and it is said that Wonalancet. when he finally left for Canada, had only eight men that composed his once powerful tribe.
If any of the blood of Passaconaway's tribe
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remains, it is mixed with the white blood of the citizens of the Province of Quebec, and if they come back to us, it is not with the war-whoop and scalping knife of their fathers but in peace, to find honest employment in the mighty industries of civilization that have sprung up all along the banks of the profound Merrimack, where beautiful and happy homes have supplanted the wigwams of this peculiar and unfortunate people.
ST. PAUL'S M. E. CHURCH. - The first Methodist Episcopal Church in Manchester was organized at the Center, East Manchester, in 1829, the second in 1839. In 1840 a chapel was built on the corner of Hanover and Chestnut streets.
ST. PAUL'S M. E. CHURCH, MANCHESTER.
Methodist Episcopal Church, with Rev. J. M. Buckley, now editor of the Christian Advocate, as pastor. In 1875 the Tabernacle M. E. Church was established, having as successive pastors Revs. J. B. Hamilton, L. E. Gordon, and O. S. Baketel. In 1882 these two societies united, and the present structure and parsonage were built. The following clergymen have been pastors successively sinee 1840 : Revs. John Jones, Silas Green, James Mor- row, Samuel Kelly, L. D. Barrows, C. N. Smith, Silas Quimby, Justin Spaulding, Elisha Adams, H. H. Hartwell, Richard Rust, Henry Hill, John Currier, J. M. Buekley, Jonathan Hall, W. H. Thomas, H. L. Kelsey, D. C. Babcock, E. A. Smith, James Pike, C. S. Pitblado, and G. N. Nor- ris. Rev. Mr. Babeoek repaired the Elm-street church and Rev. G. N. Norris paid a final debt thereon. In 1879 Rev. E. A. Drew became pastor and May 1, 1882, St. Paul's church, corner of Union and Amherst streets, was occupied. His sueeessors have been Rev. J. M. Avann, J. A. Wil- liams, J. M. Durrell and C. D. Hills. The church and parsonage are valued at $40,000. Improve- ments to the value of over $2,000 were made in the summer of 1895.
The Quarterly Conference, the highest local authority of the church, is composed of the follow- ing: Trustees,- B. F. Piper, president; John Ro- bertson, secretary; O. D. Knox, treasurer ; C. C. Babbitt, Miron B. MeAllister, George Dearborn, C. P. Triekey, Frank T. Diekey, and George C. Kemp. Class Leaders, - Thomas Grundy, Miss A. Bernette Brown, George E. Cheney, F. R. Vose, M. B. MeAllister, A. P. Tasker, J. Edgar Montgomery, Mrs. L. B. Sanborn, F. T. Diekey, George C. Kemp and Mrs. Emma F. Smith. Stewards,- H. M. Woods, Thomas Stafford, O. W. Cushman, C. H. Cushman, G. M. Morey, M. D., F. R. Vose, George A. Young, A. B. Johnson, A. G. Hood, Hugh W. Flaek, C. H. Babbitt and George W. Lewis.
This was removed to the corner of Pine and Merri- maek streets. In 1842 the Elm-street building was erected. In 1855 the North Elm street M. E. Society was formed. In 1862 the two Elm-street societies united under the name of St. Paul's He spent two years at the Providence Conference
R EV. CHARLES DUDLEY HILLS, D. D., was born in East Hartford, Conn. There he attended the common schools and the academy, and worked also on a farm and in the paper mill.
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Academy at East Greenwich, R. I., and graduated from the Classical High School of Hartford, and with honor from Wesleyan University, Middle- town, in 1863. During his student life in these three institutions he received only five dollars be- sides what he earned by teaching and preaching. In his freshman year at college he supplied thc pulpit in his native village. After graduation hc was for two years principal of the high school in Westfield, Mass., where he had preached in his senior year. In 1864 he was with the Army of the Potomac before Petersburg at the time of the Burn-
REV. CHARLES D. HILLS, D. D.
side mine explosion. Mr. Hills joined the New England Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1865 and the same year married Miss Emma J. Martin of Westfield, Mass. Hc has had pastoral charges in Northampton, Springfield, Worcester, Lynn, Lowell and Boston. In North- ampton the church was repaired. During his six years in Springfield, Trinity church was built and $15,000 expended upon Asbury church and the addition of a chapel thereto. In Lynn a church was built, now valued at $100,000, and in Boston an enterprise was planned and executed which
nctted $18,000 to the Saratoga-street church. Thus he has had much to do with the improve- ment of material Methodism, to the amount of over $175,000. Hc was for six years in the Troy Conference at Pittsfield, Mass., and Schenectady, N. Y. From Pittsfield he was transferred to the New Hampshire Conference and ap- pointed to St. Paul's church in Manchester. Dr. Hills has been prominently identified with the New Hampshire State Temperance Union and the State Law and Order League as a member of the executive committee of both, and is now presi- dent of the Manchester Temperance Union, which he was instrumental in founding. He is con- stantly affecting public sentiment by his coura- geous, consistent and judiciously radical demand for the enforcement of law in behalf of temperance.
A NUTFIELD ENOCH ARDEN .- On a homestead near the Hill graveyard in Lon- donderry was enacted, the latter part of the past century, one of those peculiar domestic tragedies which Tennyson has immortalized in his " Enoch Arden." Benjamin Downs, a descendant of one of the early settlers of Nutfield, had grown to manhood on his father's farm and had wedded Mary Downs, who, although she bore the same family name, was not related to him. Their married life was extremely happy, and one son, whom they named Benjamin, came to bless their union. The Indian war broke out with renewed fury the year following the child's birth, and the father enlisted, for the lives and homes of the settlers were in danger. He went away, and no tidings of the ab- sent husband ever reached the desolate family. Vague rumors of his death were brought home by returning soldiers, but there was nothing definite to relieve the suspense of the anxious wife. Eight years went by, the war had ceased, and still there was no word from the missing man. It seemed impossible longer to hope for his return. At last Mrs. Downs, believing herself a widow, accepted the attentions of James Clark, one of her many suitors, and they were married. This union, too, proved to be a happy one. A daughter was born to them, to whom they gave the name of Elice. One day little Benjamin, who was now twelve
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years of age, saw a stranger coming up the road. Ile stopped at the house and inquired if Mrs. Downs lived there. That stranger was the missing husband and father, who had been held in captivity by the Indians. Family tradition says there was a painful scene at first, followed by explanations and by forgiveness on the part of the first husband. Either he had not the heart or the inclination to insist upon his rights, for, taking his little son Benjamin, he went away, no one knows whither, and from that day to this all trace of him has been lost. Mrs. George W. Goodwin, who lives in Manchester, is a daughter of Elice Clark, the second child of Mrs. Downs.
M JASON VERENUS BOYCE was born in Londonderry, Nov. 8, 1849. His parents removed, while he was quite young, to Manches-
MASON V. BOYCE.
ter, where he received his cducation. After leav- ing school he was in business for himself most of the time until 1879, when he returned to London- derry, where he has since resided. In 1893 and 1894 he was a member of the board of selectmen.
D ANIEL GAGE ANNIS, the youngest son in a family of five sons and six daughters, the children of John and Delilah (Coburn) Annis,
DANIEL G. ANNIS.
was born Jan. 25, 1839, in Londonderry, and was rearcd on his father's farm. His education was obtaincd in the district school and at Pinkerton Academy. In early life he was engaged in tcach- ing school for a few winters. Mr. Annis has filled many public offices, having bcen selectman of Londonderry in 1867 and 1868; town clerk from 1873 to 1882, inclusive; town treasurer from 1874 to 1878, inclusive; collector from 1874 to 1884, inclusive; again town treasurer in 1891 ; chairman of the board of selectmen in 1893 and 1894, and justice of the pcacc since 1879. In addition to his farm duties, Mr. Annis was a partner in the Annis Grain and Lumber Company at Londonderry Depot from its formation in 1878 until the spring of 1894. Hc is a member of the Londonderry Presbyterian church, which he joined in 1868, and he is also a charter member of the Londonderry Grangc. Mr. Annis was married June 18, 1868, to Miss Mina A. Gilchrist, who dicd Feb. 19, 1885, leaving one son, John S., who was born Sept. 24,
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1871. His second marriage, which was solemnized Dec. 1, 1886, was to Miss Fannie M. Fling.
W ILLIAM G. CROSS was born Dcc. 9, 1851, in Hudson, N. H. He was educated in the district schools and at the Literary Institute in Nashua. After completing his course at the Institute he was engaged in teaching for some years in Greenfield and Merrimack. At the age of twenty-three he was married to Clarissa Colburn of his native town and settled on a farm which he bought from Henry C. March in Londonderry. In 1893 he was elected to the board of selectmen and was re-elected in the following March meet- ing. In religious convictions he is identified with the society of the Baptists, having early united with that body in his native town. He professed the articles of faith and was received into com-
WILLIAM G. CROSS.
munion with the Baptist Society of Hudson, May I, 1870. Instead of lapsing from his duties in the accumulation of cares and civil responsibilities, he has strengthened the tie that binds him to the faith of his youth by being elected to fill the office of deacon in that society June 6, 1892.
M OSES WEBSTER was born in Atkinson, N. H., Oct. 6, 1803. He moved with his father to Derry in 1816, and always lived with him until his death, after- ward with his brother James. Hc never mar- ried. His death occurred Sept. 21, 1872. In his last sickness he was tenderly cared for by members of his brother's fam- ily. He was a man of unbend- ing honesty, of kind heart, right-minded in all things, and respected by all who knew him. Mr. Webster MOSES WEBSTER. was town collector of taxes for twenty years, and his settlements were always made with scrupulous exactness. The numerous nephews and nieces who grew up in the same house were exceed- ingly dear to him, and upon them he lavished the wealth of his affections. The shadow of age gathered quietly above him, and he passed away with an unblemished record of good and kindly deeds.
R EV. AMASA A. HAYES was born in Granby, Conn., in January, 1798. He was graduated from Yale College in 1824 and from the Theological Seminary, Andover, Mass., 1827, and was licensed to preach. Immediately on leav- ing the seminary he was employed as a candidate for settlement in Londonderry and ordained pas- tor June 25, 1828, having received a unanimous call from the church and society. Mr. Hayes died Oct. 23, 1830. Rev. Edward L. Parker, pastor of the First Church in Derry, delivered his funeral sermon Oct. 26, taking for his text :
He weakened my strength in the way ; he shortened my days.
MARY SHEPHERD DANFORTH, M. D.
M ARY SHEPHERD DANFORTH, M. D., been in her studying medicine, she resolved to daughter of Charles and Rebecca Farnum compensate them in a measure by settling nearer (Batchelder) Danforth, was born in Derry May 18, 1850. Iler parents removed to Manchester when she was four years of age, and there she attended the public schools, leaving them in 1866, when she entered Pinkerton Academy, from which she was grad- uated in 1869. A scion of old Puritan stock, her parents' wish was law to her, and she never diso- beyed them in the slightest particular until she decided to study medicine. Knowing that neither of them would ap- prove of such a life work, it required far more courage on her part to set aside their wishes than to face the opposition which was said at that time to be so formid- ably arraycd against the woman physi- cian. With her frail physique and her natural diffidence she seemed poorly fitted MARY SHEPHERD DANFORTH, M. D. to meet the hard- ships and struggles of a practitioner's life. Her parents had hoped to see her become a successful teacher, but just as they began to realizc these hopes she left everything and, in 1871, entered the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania. Grad- uating in 1875, two fields of labor were opened to her, the one as resident physician of a hospital in a Western capital and the other as missionary in Siam. The latter would have been her choice, but realizing how disappointed her parents had home, and at their wish she began the practice of her profession in Manchester. So averse, however, was she to their choice of her home city that at first she actually did not wish to succeed. Time soon made a differ- ence, however, and if there is anything today of which she is proud, next to her being the first wo- man member of the New Hampshire Medical Society, it is that she is a prac- tioncr in Manches- ter. Herc her carly schoolmatcs made her welcome. Here her neighbors placed their lives and health in her hands. Here, during the first year, she earned in cash four times the in- come she could have received in the same city as a teacher. Here, in 1878, with- out so much as ask- ing for the honor, other women having sought it in vain, she was elected to the Manchester Medical Society and became its sec- retary, and here also it was announced to her that she had been unanimously elected to membership in the time-honored and conservative old Ncw Hampshire Medical Society, and that too without any petition on her part other than patient, modest, daily toil. From here too she went as a delegate in 1884 to the American Medical Congress. Here she has not only practised, but has built a home and proved that a woman is no less a home-maker
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and a housekeeper for being an active daily practi- tioner of medicine. Of these two lines of activity she holds to the one as steadily as to the other, demonstrating the fact that they do not conflict but are really co-ordinate in a woman's greatest success. Here, again, she has not only worked for the health of others but she has established her own and acquired therewith unusual powers of endurance, without which wealth and success arc but ciphers on the wrong side of the numcral. And last, but by no means least, it was here that her parents gave her their dying blessing, assuring her she had been a hundredfold nearer them be- cause of her devotion to her high calling.
JACOB SAWYER COUCH, the son of John S. and Mary (Brown) Couch, was born in Chester, N. H., July 28, 1828. The lineage of the surname is traced back through grandfather and great-grandfather, Jacob Couch of Newburyport, to a generation of sea captains, one of whom was drowned just off the coast there on returning from his sixteenth voyage. When his vessel was wrecked all the crew perished, except one sailor who was washed ashore on a piece of the deck furniture. Captain Couch had a large sum in gold on his person secured by a belt around his waist, and the weight of the coin dragged him down almost in sight of home. When a young man, Jacob S. Couch worked with his father and brother in the Couch mills in Chester. He had some musical ability, and was a member of the choir in the Methodist church at Derry after removing from Chester in 1856. For about a ycar he was in partnership with his cousin, Nathaniel Brown, in a store in Derry Lower Village which Charles S. Pettee now occupies. Jan. 18, 1860, he married Catherine Boyer Coolidge, daughter of Charles and Louisa Coolidge of Concord, Mass., and great-granddaughter of Joseph Coolidge of Boston, an ardent Son of Liberty and one of the Boston "Tea Party." She was born April 20, 1830, the second of ten children, in the house in which Ralph Waldo Emerson afterward lived many years. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Couch :
Mary Louisa, who married Frank J. Corwin and resides in Haverhill and has one child, a son, born Oct. 21, 1894; Charles C., who died young, and Sarah Howc, who is assistant in the postoffice at the Lower Village. For some ycars Mr. Couch was engaged in the Hornc sawmill, and later he opcrated the sawmill at the Lower Village now in the possession of W. W. Poor. Toward the close of his life hc occupied a store in the village that had been opened by the Howes just opposite C. S. Pcttce's. This building was once the vestry-room and school of the Congregational society and
JACOB S. COUCH.
stood by the church, having been moved into the village by A. McMurphy. Mr. Couch was a mem- ber of Nutfield Grange for many years and also of St. Mark's Lodge. He was very tender and affec- tionate in his domestic relations and always con- siderate of the feelings of others. His death occurred Sept. 18, 1892. Mrs. Couch, who had been an invalid for many years, lingered on, en- during her misfortune and infirmity with much fortitude until April, 1894, when death released her.
CAPTAIN DAVID WADSWORTH.
worthy comrade to identify himself with the ser-
C APT. DAVID WADSWORTH was born in Worcester, Mass., Feb. 4, 1838, his parents vice and obtain justice by this same record. being David Wadsworth, a native of Worcester, Captain Wadsworth is a locksmith by trade and previous to 1877 was employed by the Nashua Lock Company. That year he was appointed and Caroline E. (Metcalf) Wadsworth. He was educated in the common schools of Cambridge- boro and Richford, Vt., in which places he resided jailor for Hillsborough county and removed to during his boyhood. Manchester to take charge of the new jail built by the coun- ty. This position hc has held ever since and he has had rc- markable success in managing the pris- oners in his custody. Hc conducts a model pcnal institution which is a credit to the county. He is a man of widc acquaint- ance and lasting pop- ularity, strengthened by a social dispo- sition and strict in- tegrity. He was a member of the state legislature from Nashua in 1875-76, serving as chairman of the committee on military accounts. Representing Ward 6, Manchester, in the same body during 1893-94, he was chair- CAPT. DAVID WADSWORTH. man of the committee on county affairs. He has always acted with the Republican party. His re- ligious affiliations are with the Baptist church, and he is a member of Louis Bell Post, G. A. R. He also attended the high school at Rich- ford and Dr. Cros- by's private school at Nashua. On the breaking out of the Civil War hc enlisted with the third New Hampshire volun- tecrs from Nashua, cntcring the service as a private and be- ing at onee promoted to scrgcant. Nov. 16, 1862, he was made sccond lieutenant ; May 16, 1863, first lieutenant ; April 16, 1864, captain; and was honorably dis- charged Sept. 28, 1864. Hc served in Sherman's expedi- tion through the South and in the Ar- my of the Jamcs, taking part in the battles of Ellis Island, Port Royal, Bluffton, Jehassc, James Island, Seccs- sionville, Pocatsligo, Stoncy Inlet, Morris Island, Fort Wagner, Drury's Bluff, Wiers Bottom, Pe- tersburg, Hatch's Run, and Deep Bottom. Hc was wounded slightly at Drury's Bluff.
The captain has a wonderful memory cover- ing the important cvents of the war, and this is augmented by a coneise record book of his com- pany, kept by the clerk of the organization and now held by the captain. He has assisted many a is Mrs. Carl W. Anderson of Manchester.
Jan. 5, 1860, he married Sarah A., daughter of Laban Moore of Nashua; she died June 10, 1866. Jan. 18, 1873, he married Mrs. Mary E. Buel, daughter of Benjamin and Elvira (Duntley) Lund of Milford. They have onc daughter, who
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WILLEY'S BOOK OF NUTFIELD.
THE JOHN McMURPHY GENEALOGY. (b) William, born in 1818, married Sophia Walker of Langdon ; moved to Boston ; was an accountant. (c) David, died young. (d) Caroline, born 1824, was drowned in 1841. (e) Gardner, born 1826, married Hannah B. Flagg of Hollis, N. H. : settled in Boston ; a merchant. (f) George S., born 1829, married Sophia Richards of Ellsworth, Me., died 1879. (g) Harriett Maria, born 1832, died 1848, unmarried.
-Alexander McMurphy, according to the History of Acworth, N. H., and the traditions of Gardner Murphy of Boston, was the son of Squire John MacMurphy, the first justice of Londonderry, and was born July 16, 1717. His father gave him in the Half Mile Range two hundred acres of land, southeast of the East Village in Derry. This land was deeded gratis, or valuable considerations not mentioned, back to the father Aug. 25, 1742. The deed shows Alexander MacMurphy to have been a cabinet maker at that time, and probably unmar- ried. About this time Squire John MacMurphy was buying land at Massabesic pond and had built a sawmill and gristmill there, and on Feb. 15, 1750 (acknowledged before Robert Boyes March 30, 1751), he deeded the mill property, including three islands in Massabesic pond, to his son, Alex- ander MacMurphy, in consideration of love, good will, and affection. Alexander MacMurphy mar- ried Isabel Craig, and had the following children :
(1) James, who married Margaret Graham of Chester, Jan. I. 1789, with issue as follows : Betsy 1789, Peggy 1791, William 1793, James Jr. 1797, Alexander 1796, John 1801, Mary C. 1803.
(2) Jane, married James Graham of Chester, with issue as follows: Elizabeth 1784, Alexander, John, Mary 1780 and Sarah ; her second husband was Samuel Crombie, by whom she had one child, Samuel Crombie Jr.
(2) John, born in 1756, whose descendants are herewith given. He was the grandfather of Gardner Murphy.
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