USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Manchester > Willey's semi-centennial book of Manchester, 1846-1896, comprised within the limits of the old Tyng Township, Nutfield, Harrytown, Derryfield, and Manchester, from the earliest settlements to the present time > Part 20
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H ENRY SPAULDING WHEELER, son of Thaddeus and Caroline (Farrar) Wheeler, was born in Pepperell, Mass., Oet. 9, 1835. He of sehools, and aided by his speech and vote in married, in 1877, Hannah Maria, daughter of seeuring its enaetment. Mr. Wheeler has had a Joseph and Sarah A. (Stiekney) White, and has pronounced talent for music from early boyhood.
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He taught singing school in the West, and has Manehester, N. H. In 1876 she united with the sung tenor in church choirs for nearly forty years, First Baptist Church of the last named place, including the First Methodist, the First Church, and in 1880, having received a letter of reeom- the First Congregational, and the Baptist Church of Derry, and a Methodist church in Nashua, and was connected with the choir of the Calvary Bap- tist Church of Washington, D. C., as tenor singer for ten years, being its chorister a part of the time. Having a sympathetic voice of ample volume, he has made himself useful in the praise service in church and Sunday school wherever . he has been located. Mr. Wheeler joined the Baptist Church in Orange, N. J., in 1863, since which time he has been active in church and Sunday school work while living in Orange, Washington, and Derry.
HENRY SPAULDING WHEELER.
Mrs. Wheeler was born Jan. 9, 1853, in Derry. Her education was received in the common schools and at Pinkerton Academy. She has resided in Methuen and Haverhill, Mass., and in
MRS, HENRY S. WHEELER.
mendation from that church, she and her hus- band united with twelve others to form the Baptist Church at Derry Depot, and they are among its most interested and loyal members.
G RISTMILLS were built in the first months of the Nutfield settlement. The first one was probably that of Captain David Cargill, at the castern extremity of Beaver pond, which must have been built before the colonists had been a year in their new home. There is a referenec to this mill in the town records, dated Feb. 13, 1720, when in speaking of the road on the north of the pond, running from Samuel Marshall's house to George McMurphy's, it says the road erosses the brook "below Captain Cargill's grist mill." In 1722 Captain James Gregg built a gristmill in what is now Derry Village, possibly on the spot where W. W. Poor's mill now stands. In 1 731 a mill privilege in Londonderry was granted to Benjamin Wilson, who built the first mill, since known at various times as Moor's, Goss's, and Kendall's mills.
THE JAMES ROGERS FAMILY.
JAMES ROGERS was born in Gloucester, which included some of the most intrepid men in
Mass., March 31, 1833. He was named for and is the fifth in direct descent from James Rogers, one of the original " Proprietors of Lon- donderry," who settled on the English Range. This first James Rogers was a brave man, fond of adventure, and after getting well established in Londonderry he moved further into the wilderness and became one of the first settlers of the present town of Dunbarton. He was shot at night in the woods by a friend, who mistook him for a bear, and upon his eldest son, Robert, devolved the care of the
MAJOR ROBERT ROGERS.
large family. Robert Rogers, or " Rogers, the Ran- ger," as he was commonly called, subsequently be- came one of the most noted and heroic characters in New England. He was born in Londonderry in 1727 and was twenty-two years old at the time of his father's death. The settlers in the Merrimack valley were being constantly harassed by the In- dians. It was a bloody and remorseless warfare, for the savages sought scalps, not captives. Young Rogers was appointed by the colonial government to the command of a corps of rangers then form- ing for active service against the French and Indians. John Stark was a member of this corps,
the colonies. During the seven years' war which followed, Rogers was almost constantly in a posi- tion of great responsibility, difficulty, and danger, but his achievements were such that Lord Am- herst reported to the English government that " Major Rogers of the Colonial service has by his discretion and valor essentially contributed to the success of the royal arms." In marching the rangers preceded the main body of the army and were trained to attack or retreat with remarkable quickness. In fighting the Indian they adopted his mode of warfare and matched him in strategy. Their route was through dense and tangled woods, over hills and mountains and across rivers or swamps. But mountains, rivers, and hidden foes were not the only obstacles with which they had to contend. Loaded with provisions for a wholc month and carrying a musket far heavier than those of modern make, besides their blankets and ammunition, they were compelled to bcar the burden of a pack horse while doing the duty of a soldier. Many are the anecdotes of thrilling ad- venture and hairbreadth escape related of them. On one occasion Major Rogers and a small party of his rangers were surprised and nearly sur- rounded by Indians on the shore of Lake George. Rogers had on snowshoes and succeeded in reach- ing the top of a high rock overhanging the lake. Throwing his haversack and other cumbrous articles over the precipice, he turned around in his snowshoes without moving their position on the ground, and having fastened them on so that the hecl and toe were reversed, he descended to the lake by another path. When the Indians arrived at the top they saw two sets of tracks leading to the rock, but none leading from it, and therefore supposed that two of the fugitives had perished in attempting to descend to the lake at that place. In a few minutes, however, they saw Rogers mak- ing his escape on the ice, and thinking that he must have been under the immediate protection of the Great Spirit, or he could not have descended the precipice in safety, they did not venture to pursue him. From that day the rock has been known as "Rogers' Slide." In 1759, after the
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retreat of the French troops and the savages to Canada, General Amherst determined to destroy in their homes the St. Francis Indians, who had committed unusual atrocities upon the settlements at Walpole, Hinsdale, and elsewhere. He selected Major Rogers for the task, and on Sept. 28 gave him this order: "You are this night, with two hundred picked men, to proceed to attack the enemy's settlement below Missisqui bay, on the south side of the St. Lawrence, so as most effec- tually to disgrace and destroy the enemy, and redound to the honor of his majesty's arms. Re- in slumber. Never was surprise more complete. Most of the Indians were killed before they were aroused to consciousness. There was little use for the musket. The hatchet and knife made sure work. Some few ran to the St. Lawrence, but a majority of these were shot or drowned. The rangers set fire to every wigwam, and from the captive squaws they learned that a large French force and a few Indians were encamped but a few miles away. Only one of their own number had been killed and one wounded. The return to New Hampshire was accomplished only after member the infamous barbarities of the enemy's great privations and the loss of two thirds of the
ROGERS' SLIDE, LAKE GEORGE.
Indian scoundrels. Take your revenge; but though they have killed women and children of all ages, spare theirs. When you have done this service, return and report to me." Major Rogers started immediately on this perilous march of over three hundred miles through an unbroken wilder- ness of the enemy's country, arriving on the twenty-second day at their destination, with a loss of sixty men by sickness and fatigue. At night Rogers crept into the village and found the whole population in a drunken carousal over the return of their warriors. Just at daylight the rangers in three divisions entered the village, now wrapped
surviving rangers. This was their last expedition in the royal service. In 1766 he was commissioned by the crown to explore the Lake Huron region and was appointed governor of Michilimackinac. Accused of treason, he was sent to Montreal for trial, but was honorably acquitted, and in 1767 he went to England, where he published a volume of "Reminiscences of the French War," which was widely circulated. While travelling in an English mail coach it was stopped by a highwayman, who with pistol at the window demanded the passen- gers' money. Rogers opened his cloak, as if to comply, and the robber lowered his pistol. That
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instant the vigorous hand of the wary American the present James Rogers, who was brought to grasped his collar and drew him from his horse Derry by his parents in 1835, when he was two through the coach window. He proved to be a noted offender, and on delivering him to the authorities Rogers received a handsome bounty. years old, and has since resided there. He mar- ried, Feb. 18, 1864, Abbie Hall, daughter of Cap- tain Moses and Mary (Cochrane) Hall of Chester, In the beginning of the Revolution Rogers re- turned to America and espoused the royalist cause. His name was on the list of tories proscribed by the act of New Hampshire of 1778. Leaving his family, never to return, Rogers went back to Lon- don, and thenee to a post in East Indies, where he died some years later. Gencral Stark, who served under him, used to say that for presence of mind amid dangers he never knew the cqual of Robert Rogers; and he always regretted the circumstances which led him to abandon his native country. In 1760 Robert Rogers was married to Anna, daugh- ter of Rev. Arthur Brown, an Episcopal minister of Portsmouth. His son, Arthur Rogers, became a lawyer and lived and died in Coneord. He mar- ricd Margarct Furness of Portsmouth, and his son, Robert, born in Concord, married Sarah Lanc of Gloucester, settled in Derry, and was the father of and granddaughter, on the mother's side, of John and Jemima (Davis) Cochrane of New Boston, and great-granddaughter of Benjamin Davis, a captain in the Revolutionary army. They settled on the Waterman place, a farm once noted for its extent of territory (1,400 aeres) and for the large number of cattle and sheep which were formerly kept on it. The children of James and Abbie (Hall) Rogers arc : Elizabeth Furness, graduated at Pinkerton Academy in 1884, died Sept. 11, 1885; Mary Cochrane, cdueated at Pinkerton Academy and at Salem (Mass.) Normal School, now a teacher in Lawrence, Mass. ; Helen Grace, graduated at Pinkerton Academy in 1891, entered Wellesley College in 1893; Anna Crombic, grad- uated at Pinkerton Academy in 1893; James Arthur, now pursuing a course in the business eollege at Manchester.
THE WATERMAN PLACE, EAST DERRY.
HON. FREDERICK SMYTH.
LJON. FREDERICK SMYTH was born in streets with gas, and the cstablishment of a free Candia March 9, 1819, and his early years library. His recommendation of a public library were spent on his father's farm. His education was somewhat in advance of popular senti- ment, the city government being composed of men who had little faith in the value or necessity of literary culturc, but the plan was finally carried out, and the library is an enduring monu- ment to the name of Mayor Smyth. After the close of his term of office he was ap- pointed chairman of the commission to locate and build the Industrial School. This institution was very unpopular at the time, but he was its staunch advocate, and has lived to see his views vindicated. He was early a Whig, and always since a Republican in poli- tics. In 1857-58 Mr. Smyth was a mem- bcr of the legislature from Ward 3. About the same time he was elected treasurer of the New Hampshire Agricultural Society. holding the position for ten years. He HON. FREDERICK SMYTH. was also a director in the United States Agricultural Society, and was manager of the three great fairs held at Richmond, Chicago, and St. Louis. He was also vice-presi- dent of the American Pomological Society. These varied activitics brought him favorably to the attention of the people throughout the State, and he received some votes in the convention which nominated Ichabod Goodwin for governor. In 1861 he was appointed one of the agents on the was received in the common schools of his native town, supplemented by a short course at Phillips Andover Academy, and with a view to pursuing a college course he taught school several winters. Circum- stances, however, in- duced him to relin- quish this plan, and after working for a while in a store at Candia he went to Manchester and en- tered the employ of George Porter, who carried on a general merchandise business on Elm street, sub- sequently becoming a partner. This con- nection lasted until 1849, when his long official career began. In that year he was elected city clerk, and so popular was he in this capacity that he was re-elected the following year, although two-thirds of the members of the city government were opposed to him politically. In 1851 he was again chosen to the same office. His service as city clerk was followed by three terms as mayor of Manchester, being elected in 1852 and re-elected in '53 and '54. He urged various reforms and was instrumental in their execution. Among measures advocated by him were the construction of sidewalks, the intro- duction of a system of water-works, the planting of shade trees in the streets and parks, the strict en- forcement of school attendance, the lighting of the part of the United States to attend the inter-
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national exhibition at London, where he was member of the state constitutional convention. President Hayes appointed Mr. Smyth honorary commissioner to the international exposition at Paris in 1878, and while abroad he visited many European countries. He subsequently went to Europe a number of times, and also travelled extensively in this country and in Mexico and Cuba. He is trustee of the New England Con- servatory of Music in Boston, in which he founded a scholarship. Dartmouth College conferred upon him the degree of A. M. in 1866. chosen a juror. It was mainly through his efforts that the exhibits there of the Langdon mills and the Manchester Print Works were recognized and received medals. After returning home he devoted his time to the banks with which he was connected and taking active part in measures calculated to strengthen faith in the national administration. He went to the front after the battles of Gettys- burg and the Wilderness and gave efficient aid in caring for the sick and wounded. In the same year he was for the fourth time elected mayor of Besides his numerous other financial interests, Governor Smyth was president and one of the heavy stockholders of the Concord and Montreal railroad. When the question arose of leasing the road to the Boston and Maine, he was strongly opposed to the plan, and while it is not improbable events in voting for the lease as at present con- summated, his illness has prevented his taking any part in the transaction. Generous and benevolent in a high degree, he gave cheerfully of his abun- dance, and his public charities have been large. He succeeded the late Hon. George W. Nesmith as president of the New Hampshire Orphans' Home on the Webster place at Franklin. He was president of the Franklin-Street Congrega- tional Society in Manchester for nineteen years, resigning that position in 1894, and is a member of that church, taking deep interest in its work. Manchester, and practically without opposition. The following year ( 1865) he was chosen governor of the state by a majority of more than 6,000, the highest given to any candidate for nearly a quarter of a century. His administration was eminently successful. The state debt, which here- that he would have yielded to the pressure of tofore had seldom exceeded a few thousand dollars, had risen to millions, and loans had to be made in competition with other states and with the na- tional government. State bonds were hard to sell at any price ; but notwithstanding these difficulties within three months after his inauguration, Gov- ernor Smyth had raised over a million dollars, largely through personal solicitation and mostly from the Manchester banks, and the result was that the credit of the state was firmly re-established. In 1866 he was unanimously renominated in the Republican convention for governor and was again elccted by a handsome majority. During Governor Smyth was twice married, in 1844 to Miss Emily Lane, daughter of John Lane of Candia. Mrs. Smyth died in 1884, and the follow- ing year, while in Scotland, he married Miss Marion Hamilton Cossar, a Manchester lady visiting there. As this book goes to press he is at his beautiful Manchester home, The Willows, suf- fering from the first serious and continued illness of his long and exceedingly busy life. his first term as governor he was made one of the corporate trustees of the national homes for invalid soldiers and served with General Grant, Jay Cooke, General Butler, and others on the commit- tee whose duty it was to arrange the details. During his second term the first steps were taken toward the foundation of a state agricultural college, a measure which he warmly advocated. He has been treasurer of the college for twenty-five years. He also urged the restocking of the streams of the state with fish, a purpose which W TILLIAM D. BUCK, M. D., was born in Williamstown, Vt., March 25, 1812. In 1818 his parents moved to Lebanon, N. H. Here he attended the common schools of the time, and by the exercise of will power and aided by his vigorous intellect he made rapid progress in his studies. Not being able to take a collegiate more recent legislative action has carried into effect. In 1866 he was chosen by congress one of the managers of the military homes and was later made vice-president of the board. In 1872 he was a delegate at large to the Repub- lican national convention, and was also a
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course, he went, at an early period, to Concord and engaged in the occupation of carriage painter with Downing & Sons. While at work here he became interested in the science of music and was for many years instructor, conductor and organist in the South Congregational Church at Concord, and afterward at the Hanover-Street Church, Manchester. He familiarized himself with stan- dard writers and retained through life his love for Handel, Beethoven, and Mozart. His attention being drawn to the medical profession, he deter- mined to fit himself for its practice, and by teach- ing music was enabled to defray the greater part of the expense of the study of medicine. Hc went into it with great enthusiasm, and his subse- quent career showed his natural fitness for this profession.
He began the study of medicine with Tim- othy Haines, M. D., of Concord; attended a course of lectures at Woodstock, Vt., and also took the course at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, where he graduated in 1842. He began the practice of his profession with Dr. Chadbourne, in Concord, in. 1842, and there remaincd for four years, when, desiring to perfect his medi- cal knowledge, he visited London and Paris, where he became acquainted with many distinguished men in the profession and spent much time in the hospitals of those cities. He also visitcd Italy, gaining much information and making a favorable impression upon those with whom he came in contact. After an absence of one year he returned and made Manchester his home, and here, with the exception of one year spent in California, he lived until his death.
Dr. Buck sustained an enviable reputation as a physician and surgeon, possessing the confidence of the community in which he lived, and was early regarded as one of the leading medical men of the state. He reached this high position in his pro- fession without the aid of wealth or social position. His success was due to hard study and close appli- cation to his business, accompanied by a zeal and devotion rarely surpassed. He was unmindful of riches, public honor, or anything which he thought might interfere with the one great pursuit of his life. Dr. Buck possessed an active mind and a retentive memory, and was a thorough scholar. Hc
scemed to know his own powers, and this gave him grcat influence over students in medicine. In his intercourse with his professional brethren Dr. Buck was always courtcous and obliging, religiously regarding the rules of medical eti- quette, and in his consultations he always gave the patient the benefit of his best skill and extensive practice. He made it a point of honor to bc prompt to his engagements. In his cxample and practice he honorcd the profession to which hc had devoted the best ycars of his life, and did much to dignify and clevate the standard of medi- cal education. Dr. Buck was a prominent mem- bcr of the New Hampshire Mcdical Society, and was clected its president in 1866. His papers read before this society were always listened to with marked attention. For twenty years he had a large experience in teaching medicine, proving himself devoted and faithful as an instructor. His office or dissecting room were uncomfortable places for lazy students, and he had little patience with a young man who would not use his brains. Dr. Buck was frequently called as a medical ex- pert in many of the most important civil and criminal cases in the state. A distinguished ad- vocate at the bar in New Hampshire said of Dr. Buck : " By his clcarness of description of all im- portant facts to which he was called in legal inves- tigations, he had the confidence of courts, the jury, and the legal profession to an extent equal to, if not above, that of any physician and surgeon in New England. He made no display of learning, but used plain English, so that a jury might com- prehend."
Bleeding, calomel, and antimony, the three most potent remedies of the fathers, he rarely used. An experience of thirty years only strength- ened his convictions against their use, and he had independence of mind enough to resist a mode of treatment which the medical world had made fashionable, if not imperative. In the surgical department of his profession Dr. Buck excelled in his treatment of fractures, and in it his mechanical ingenuity was of great service. He took pride in putting up a fractured limb. The gluc bandage, which he described in an address before the society in 1866, was original with him, and a favorite remark of his was that " a man should carry his
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splints in his head rather than under his arm." In politics he was a Republican. Dr. Buck lived a consistent Christian life. He died Jan. 9, 1872, suddenly, and in the midst of an active practice.
Dr. Buck was twice married, his first wife being Grace Low of Concord, who died in 1856. In 1859 he married Mary W. Nichols of Manches- ter, who is now living. He left no children.
H ON. JOHN HOSLEY was born in Han- cock May 12, 1826, one of the nine children of Samuel and Sophia (Wilson) Hosley. His an- cestors came from England and on his mother's side are traced baek to 1640, when Rev. John Wilson settled at the head of Wilson's lane in Boston. He was a lineal descendant of Gov. John Winthrop. His great grandfather, James Hosley, was a prominent official of Townsend, Mass., in 1775, and was captain of the "alarm list " who marehed to the defence of Cambridge. Later he was captain of a company which marched to the assistance of Gen. Gates at Saratoga. After the Revolution James Hosley moved to Hancock, N. H., and the same farm he occupied was handed down to John Hosley.
He worked on the farm and obtained what little education he could until he was twenty years of age, when he came to Manchester and went to work as a shoe cutter for Moses Fellows, the fourth mayor of the eity. In 1849 he began work as a weaver in the Amoskeag mills, but two years later the gold excitement carried him to California, where he remained two years. On returning he went into the grocery business. Next he became an overseer in the Amoskeag mills and remained in that position till 1865.
He was a member of the common council in 1856-57, member of the sehool board in 1861-62, and an alderman in 1863, '64, '71, '81, and '82. Upon the death of Mayor Daniels in 1865, Alder- man Hosley was chosen to fill the mayoralty ehair. The next year he was elected as the citizens' ean- didate for mayor over Joseph B. Clark, Republi- ean. He was also eity tax collector in 1875 and 1876. In 1886 he was again elected mayor. In 1865 he was a delegate to the national union con- vention, which met in Philadelphia.
Mr. Hosley was a gentleman of the old school, strictly honest and conscientious in all his public and private dealings. That he was so often called to fill important public offices emphasizes the fact that he was a true descendant of the hardy race of pioneers, inheriting the cool judgment and ability of his ancestors. To this class of men Manches- ter owes a heavy debt that can be paid only by continuous efforts for legitimate progress and growth on the lines laid down by John Hosley and his compatriots. He stepped from the ranks of workers to the helm at the instance of those who knew his worth, and filled each position to the city's honor. Relianec upon the men whose in- dustry had made her great is one of the city's strongest points.
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