USA > Vermont > Windham County > Londonderry > The history with genealogical sketches of Londonderry > Part 17
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Patterson
The Pattersons of Kent and Londonderry were, undoubtedly, descendants of one John Patterson to whom reference is made in the GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Therein it is stated that "The Pattersons of Manchester, Derry and other towns in New Hampshire are the descendants of John Patterson, a native of Argyleshire, Scotland, who migrated to Ireland and settled there in the first half of the seventeenth century. There his children, grand-children and great-grand children lived."
One of his great-grand sons, Peter, is said to have come to America and here became the progenitor of those of the name who later lived in the southern New Hampshire towns.
James Patterson came to Kent from Londonderry, N. H. He was one of Colonel Rogers' original band of settlers, and the oldest member of the party. His sons, or some of them, as is said, were young men at the time the family came here. He "pitched" his farm at the foot of the westerly slope of Glebe Mountain and there began his clearing on land now owned by Chas. E. Cromack. This was in part prepared for occupancy a year or two in advance of the coming of his family, other than those sons who aided him in such preparations; and this remained his home until his death, in 1787, when he was found dead in the field where he had gone alone to work. Definite knowledge of his family is lacking. The name of his wife and all the names, or even the number, of his children is not now to be ascertained. As in the case of too many of those families connected with the earliest settle- ment of the town, the later generations sought and made their homes in other, and often distant, localities where they practically lost touch com- pletely with the old town and its residents. He was a prominent man in laying the civil and religious foundations of the new community, and at his home many of the early Town Meetings were held. From the data now to be found in the Grand Lists, real estate and other available records and the
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The History of Londonderry
little that can be learned from some of his descendants in the present gener- ation, it seems certain that he had sons, John, Andrew and James, and a daughter, Rachel; and others of whom not even the names can be learned. The order of birth of those mentioned is uncertain.
John married Betheridge Morrison and occupied the old homestead from his father's death until the end of his own life, Apr. 11, 1831, when he was 75 years old. His wife and three children, Samuel, Mary and John, are said to have survived him. Two daughters died in early childhood; Betsey in 1798 at age of three years, and Betheridge in 1802, aged two years.
Andrew was a resident of town as late as 1783 in which year he was chosen one of the town officers; but of his descendants, if any there were, nothing can be found that appears reliable.
James (2nd) had a son, James, who died in 1798, aged 9 years, also sons
Ebenezer and Nathan, and a daughter Polly. Probably there were other children in his family. Ebenezer removed to Westford, N. Y. and thence, in 1844, to Wisconsin, and died in Kansas in 1884. Our only knowledge of his descendants is that a grandson, E. H. Cameron, was living in Fondu- lac, Wis. as late as 1907. Nathan "went west" about the same time as Ebenezer and located in Michigan City, Ind. Polly married Luther Martin, who died in Londonderry in 1869 leaving her surviving. She had a son, who died in 1828 at the age of but few days, and a daughter who married Albert Chase, one time merchant in So. Londonderry, with whom she lived during her last years.
Rachel married James Magarr and, for a time resided on the farm adjoining her father's homestead on the west, later moving to Jamaica on a farm near the Winhall line. She and her husband are buried in the cemetery at Jamaica village.
She was born in 1748 and is said to have been married at Londonderry, N. H., her father's home before his coming to Kent.
She had a son, Andrew, who left home at the age of twenty years, and no more is to be learned of him; also a daughter, Susanna, two of whose great-grandchildren have been located: Mrs. Mary (Estabrook) Byers of Hoosick Falls, N. Y. and John McClellan of Jamaica, Vt.
The name of Moses Patterson appears in a list of the tax-payers of Londonderry, Vt. in 1799, but this is the limit of our positive information regarding him, though it seems practically certain that he was a son of James, the first settler.
Samuel, son of John and Betheridge (Morrison), married Charity Howard by whom he had fifteen children: Betridge, James, Betsey, Samuel, Almon, Horace, Bethiah, Hiram, Emily, John, Abigail, Daniel, Stephen, Arvilla, and a son and daughter who died in early infancy.
Betridge married Joshua Parker and had a son and a daughter.
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James died unmarried and is buried at Lowell Lake.
Of Betsey, Bethiah and Emily nothing is learned except that one or more of them died unmarried.
Samuel Almon married Garfield who bore him Haynes, Betsey, Etta, Selah, Ida and Ella; and for his second wife had Mrs. Amy (Bolster) Strong.
Horace married Deborah A. Tenney.
Hiram married Lucy A. Tenney and their children were: James A., John G., Charles N., Abbie E., Elwin E., Emma A., Ella C., Nellie M. and Lillian F.
John married Lydia A. Norcross.
Abigail married Sumner Rounds.
Daniel married Lucy A. Fenno.
Stephen married Corinda
Arvilla married Joseph Watson.
(Children of SAMUEL ALMON PATTERSON)
Haynes married Mary Carrington.
Betsey died unmarried.
Etta married Owen R. Vesper and had three sons, one of whom died in infancy and the others in U. S. service in the Spanish-American War. Selah married Jennie Ferry and had a son, Charles, indefinitely located "in the West."
Ida married William G. Hall and had sons Ernest, Don, and Arnold, and a daughter, Esther.
Ella married Byron R. Barnes and had a son, Howard A., and adopted daughter, Rose (Jackson).
(Children of HIRAM PATTERSON)
James A. married Nellie M. Petts and had four sons.
John G. married Lizzie R. Campbell and had four sons.
Charles N. married Abbie E. Pierce and had a son.
Abbie E. married Dennis J. Moran.
Elwin E. married Kate Mooney and had five children.
Emma A. married Eugene H. Whitman and had one daughter, now the wife of W. W. Van Ness, of West Townshend, Vt.
Ella C. married Frank L. Dunbar.
Nellie M. married Caleb Blakeslee, M.D. and, for second husband, H. O. Coolidge.
Lillian F. was twice married: Her first husband was Fred E. Burnham, and her second, W. A. Blythe, of Springfield, Mass.
John, son of John and Betheridge (Morrison) Patterson, is said to have married Sarah Caleff, of this town, but nothing more is known of them.
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Pierce
Representatives of this family name in Londonderry had not all a com- mon origin in this country. Two distinct family lines appear, though they each began with an emigrant to Massachusetts prior to 1650.
If any relationship existed between the respective founders of these lines or stocks the connection ante-dated their emigration to America and must be sought overseas.
THOMAS PIERCE was born in England and came to New England about 1635, settling in Charlestown, Mass. where he died in 1666.
Benjamin Pierce, one of his descendants, tracing descent back through William, Sommers, William and Thomas, was born, May 18, 1762, at Wilton, N. H. He served in the Revolutionary Army, having enlisted at Wilton, Feb. 27, 1781, as private in Capt. Isaac Frye's Company of the first N. H. Regt. June 16, 1783 he was transferred to the Commander-in- Chief's Guard and was one of the twelve mounted infantry-men selected from the Guard to assist in moving the military effects and private papers of Gen. Washington to Mount Vernon. Having completed that service, he returned to West Point where he was mustered out December 20, 1783.
After his marriage he remained for some years in Wilton, N. H. and moved to Andover, Vt. about 1794-5. He purchased land in Londonderry in the fall of 1826 and moved into town some time later. His home was on the main road from Londonderry to Peru, at the extreme west side of the town, and was later known as the Henry A. Davis farm.
He was twice married. His first wife, Dorcas (Lovejoy) bore him nine children, the first five born in Wilton and the others in Andover, Vt., viz: Dorcas, Jan. 22, 1786, married Thomas Hall, died Sept. 7, 1853; Polly, Apr. 29, 1787, married Daniel Dodge, died Dec. 20, 1851; James, Aug. 17, 1789, married Mary Walker, died Apr. 12, 1813; Abiel, Mar. 21, 1791, married (1) Nancy Holt, (2) Hannah K. Manning, died Nov. 30, 1871; Asa, Mar. 17, 1793, married Betsey Dodge, died Dec. 7, 1858; Alvah, Oct. 6, 1796, married Dolly Baker, died Sept. 22, 1818; Nancy, Dec. 2, 1798, mar- ried (1) Israel Jewett, (2) David Putnam, died Aug. 4, 1862; Alanson, Aug. 27, 1801, married Hannah Burton, died Apr. 20, 1851; Abel, Apr. 1, 1803, married Harriet Dodge, died June 25, 1832.
Dorcas, the mother, died Aug. 15, 1817 and he later married Mrs. Nabby F. Dodge by whom he had four children, all born in Andover. These were: Abigail, Nov. 25, 1820, married George C. Mason; James, Dec. 22, 1822, died Oct. 21, 1842; Lucy, June 17, 1825, married Daniel P. Chittenden, died Feb. 7, 1896; Benj. Franklin, Feb. 7, 1828, married July Ely.
Benjamin, the father, died May 9, 1847 and was buried in Londonderry. His oldest daughters, Dorcas and Polly, had homes in this town for some
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years and both died here. His son James (the second of that name) died in this town before reaching manhood. All the others of this family found homes in other localities. The fourth son, Alvah, lived and died in Andover, Vt., leaving an infant son, Alvah Warren, born June 26, 1818.
Some two years later, upon the re-marriage of his mother, this boy found a home in Londonderry in the family of his aunt Polly and her husband, Daniel Dodge, by whom he was brought up. He married Lydia W. Atwood, daughter of Deacon Peter C. Atwood, of this town, and removed to Illi- nois, where he resided until his return to Londonderry in 1846. He lived here until his death, May 30, 1898. His wife Lydia W. bore him four children: Leroy M., Jan. 14, 1842; Lydia Atwood, Dec. 6, 1844; Mary, Sept. 7, 1848; Frank, Aug. 26, 1853.
She died May 7, 1854, and he married Lucy C. Allen, daughter of Joseph Allen, of this town, and eight children were the fruit of this union: Clara, Mar. 16, 1856; Frank, Apr. 3, 1857; Ned, Feb. 10, 1859; Jessie, July 29, 1861; Ethan A., Sept. 24, 1865; Carson, Apr. I, 1868; Florence, Jan. 29, 1874; Fanny, Feb. 18, 1877.
Leroy M. graduated from Middlebury College in the Class of 1866; from Andover Theological Seminary in 1869, and entered the ministry. His college course was interrupted by his entering the Christian Commission in 1864, with which organization he served with the Union Army in front of Petersburg and Richmond, as well as in military hospitals. But for such interruption he would have graduated in 1865. He married Catherine Billings at Arlington, Vt., in 1876.
Lydia A. married Rev. Robert Bayard Snowden to whom she bore eight children: Mary M., Willard, Laura H., Lillian P., Edith A., Evelyn S., Cora B. and Bayard B.
Mary married Moses M. Martin, who was ordained in the ministry at Middletown, Vt. in 1865, having graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary the preceding year. She had four children: Parlise, Persis L., Mellen C. and Blanche E. She was a graduate of Monticello Seminary, Godfrey, Ill. At one time she was preceptress in Black River Academy, Ludlow, Vt. and for a time just preceding her marriage was Head of the Latin Dept. in Monticello Seminary.
Frank died in infancy and was buried in this town.
Clara was for several years a teacher in the public schools, being so em- ployed in Londonderry, Andover and Ludlow, Vt. and also in Illinois, leaving that work in the fall of 1879, when she entered the educational missionary work of the Presbyterian Church, under the Board of Home Missions of that denomination. Her field of labor was in Utah and she continued in that work until 1892, when, because of failing health, she left the mission field and went to California, where she graduated from the Normal School at San Jose in 1902.
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The History of Londonderry
Frank married Mary H. Ayer at Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1888, and made his home in that city. He graduated from Williams College in 1881, and chose the law as his profession. He began his professional study in the office of Hon. Ranney Howard in Manchester, Vt., later going to Utah as Agent's clerk in an Indian Agency there, and then continuing his legal studies in a law office in Salt Lake City where he was admitted to the bar and opened his office, still later taking partners into the office and form- ing a firm which took a leading position in the profession in that section. He has served as a member of the legislature of Utah and on the Board of Regents of the University of Utah.
Ned was twice married; first to Martha Gould, at Blackstone, Mass., and second, to Alice M. Morse, at Westminster, Vt. He has no children. He is located at Bellows Falls, Vt. and carries on the trade of slater and metal roofing.
Jessie married Albert M. Aldrich, of Londonderry, and they have son, Leon A., who married --- , and has one child, and resides with them of the farm long the homestead of Alvah Warren.
Ethan A. married Lillian Hatch and the fruit of their union was three sons, Warren H., Chester A., and Edward, and a daughter, Gertrude L.
Carson married Emma A. Turner, of Weston, Vt. and has one child, Florence E.
Florence died in infancy, at Londonderry.
Fanny married William W. Lilley and had one child, Lucy Annie, who died on the day of her birth.
Another descendant of Sergant Thomas Pierce was Ezekiel P. Pierce who traced his lineage back to this original immigrant through John, William, Stephen, Stephen and Thomas. Ezekiel P. was at one time, but not for a long period, a merchant at the South village, though the records do not disclose any title to real estate held by him. His store was in the northerly end of the old hotel building which stood on the site of the present Riverside Inn. Just when he came here cannot be determined, but he went away about 1830, probably in that year. His nephew, Alfred, who succeeded him in the store business, took deed of the store premises, with other real estate, Sept. 6, 1830. Ezekiel P. returned to his former home, Chesterfield, N. H., where he lived on his father's old homestead for the rest of his life.
Alfred and John Langdon Pierce were brothers, being respectively the second and the ninth of the ten children of John and Judith (Thompson) Pierce, and the only sons of these parents. Their father was a brother of Ezekiel P. and thus they traced descent from Sergeant Thomas through the same channel. Prior to 1776 their father moved from Groton, Mass. to Chesterfield, N. H., whence they each moved to this town. It is said that he
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Genealogical Sketches
took part in the Battle of Bennington, with other volunteers from Chester- field.
Alfred was born in Chesterfield, N. H., Dec. 22, 1802 and was residing in that town in the fall of 1830, at which time he purchased the village farm and the old store in the upper end of the tavern building, and then moved to South Londonderry. He conducted a general store there, in the "tavern building," until 1839, when he purchased the store building at the head of the street, or square, and continued the same business in this latter location until he sold out to his brother, John L., in 1851. In 1839 he built the brick dwelling on the village square and occupied the same until his removal from town soon after his sale to John L., when he went to Hartland, Vt. where he spent the rest of his life and died in 1880. He married Abigail Rockwood and they had four children: Mary H., June 30, 1831, who died Feb. 24, 1833.
Francis M., Jan. 7, 1834, who married Helen M. Bishop and had two daughters. He moved to Hartland with his father and died in that town, Nov. 19, 1883.
Mury Helen, Oct. 24, 1836, who married Gen. Lewis A. Grant who won distinction in the Civil War and at one time commaned the old Ver- mont Brigade.
Abbie Seanna, Feb. 17, 1842, who married Charles H. Smith.
John Langdon was born Nov. 16, 1819. He came to Londonderry in 1844 and assisted his brother in his store. Two years later he married Ellen E. Marsh and continued in Alfred's employ until 1851 when he succeeded to the mercantile business and the village farm, by purchase. For a time was in partnership in this store with Frederick W. Marsh, brother of his wife, but this partnership was dissolved and, about 1863, he sold his stock of merchandise to one James L. Locke who conducted the business, rent- ing the store from him, for about two years and then, being involved in financial difficulties, was sold out under execution, and the store was rented to various other parties by Pierce until he sold it, in -, to
He remained in town until 1874, then moved to Chester where he lived until the late summer of 1881 and then went to Fitchburg, Mass. and lived until his death, April 8, 1897. While conducting his store here he was for a time Postmaster and when he gave up the store business he kept the postoffice in his dwelling house.
He had two children: Frederick W. and Cora E.
Frederick W. married Alla Albee and remained in town until 1873 when he moved to Chester and there conducted a drug store for some years. Later he became Asst. Cashier of the National Bank of Chester, and was also president of Chester Savings Bank. He represented Chester in the Legislature of 1896 and resided there until 1906, then moving to
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Fitchburgh and lived until his death, May 4, 1923. He had one son, John F. who was born in Londonderry, moved with his parents to Chester and was at one time proprietor of "Pierce's Pharmacy" at Bellows Falls. In 1898 he sold this business and two years later took up the study of law in the University of Virginia and later in a law office in Concord, N. H. He established himself in practice of his profession at Keene, N. H. in the fall of 1903 but was stricken with illness in April of the following year which proved fatal May 29, 1904. He was un- married.
Cora E. never married but remained with her parents through their lives and still has her home in Fitchburg, Mass.
Pierce
EZRA PIERCE was a son of Benjamin Pierce, who lived in Scituate and Attleboro, Mass. previous to his removal, about 1764, to Westmoreland, N. H.
He was a direct descendant, in the fifth generation, of MICHAEL PIERCE, who was born in England; emigrated to America about 1645; settled in Scituate, Mass. in 1647; was commissioned Captain in the Colony militia in 1669, and was killed, March 26, 1676, in a battle with the Indians against whom he led the Colony forces.
His home was in Westmoreland during his whole life, and he was a man of weight and influence in public affairs in his town and vicinity.
He married Rebecca - and the fruit of their union was a family of five children. Their fourth child, and older son, was Artemas, born July 10, 1779, who, while living in Westmoreland, married Hannah Goodridge, Feb. 28, 1804. He removed his family, then consisting of his wife and two daughters, from Westmoreland to Londonderry, Vt. about 1808.
He had previously purchased land on the westerly slope of Glebe Moun- tain, later known as the Collins Griswold farm, and had worked here for about two years. At that time he had cleared a tract of the land and erected a frame house on the premises, on the old road which then passed along and down the mountain side some distance east of the present "under-mountain- road." This house stood in the pasture almost due east from the upper end of the present "cross-road" leading up from the brook. Later, he moved this house down to the present highway, on the site of the house later built by Griswold and now standing.
Some years later he built an addition to it which exceeded the original structure in size. This dwelling was destroyed by fire some years since, while owned by Griswold. His children, all save the two first named, were born on this farm he had hewed out of the wilderness. They were: Eveline, Sept. 15, 1805; Mary R., Sept. 20, 1807; Rebecca L., July 9, 1810; Hannah, July 14,
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Genealogical Sketches
1812; Jerusha H., Dec. 20, 1814; Gilman G., May 4, 1817; William, Nov. 26, 1819; Amarilla R., May 13, 1822, and Ezra, Oct. 22, 1824.
Eveline married Jason Buxton. (See BUXTON FAMILY SKETCH).
Mary R. married Joshua D. Parker, of Londonderry, and had two daugh- ters; Eva Eveline, who married John A. Thomson and died childless, and Isabella, who died unmarried.
Rebecca L. married Oliver Clapp and had three daughters, none of whom married. Her second husband was Libbeus Gaskill by whom she had no child.
Hannah married William Barrows and they had twin sons, Gilbert and Gilman, and also a son William.
Ferusha H. married Emery Melendy, as his second wife, and lived in South Londonderry where she died, Sept. 23, 1888. She had two sons, Emery Webster and Jonathan Washburn, both of whom, with their families after marriage, resided with her on the old homestead through her life, and so continued until the death of the younger, June 12, 1915, and the older son and her two grandsons still occupy the place.
Gilman G. married Elizabeth Woodworth and had one daughter, Isabella P., who married Frank Clapp. He removed to Melbourne, Australia, where he died and where his daughter still resides.
William was twice married; first to Malinda Abbott, who bore him two daughters; Sarah Malinda, who married William P. Dodge and lived in Chester, Vt., and Rebecca Ellen, who married Paul H. Pitkin. William's second wife was Mary V. Heselton by whom he had a son, Gilbert L., who died unmarried, and a daughter, Alice E. He died Sept. 27, 1905.
Amarilla R. married George M. Pratt and had two sons, George A. and Frank P.
Ezra married Ellen Abbott, but had no child. He lived for many years in this town, then moved to Chester, Vt. and there had his home until he died. In his later years he became insane and suffered that affliction until his death.
NEHEMIAH, a younger son of Benjamin, was born Dec. 2, 1759, and mar- ried Phebe Lawrence, a sister of Rebecca who married his brother Ezra. He served as a soldier in the Revolution and moved from Westmoreland to Windham, Vt. about 1813. He died Aug. 22, 1818.
His children were: Roland, July 8, 1782, died August 4, 1783; Nathan, Feb. 8, 1784, died Sept. 22, 1798; Lucy, Nov. 17, 1785; Ezra, Dec. 6, 1788; Phebe, Feb. 10, 1792, died May 27, 1815; Sem, July 8, 1794; Nehemiah, Dec. 2, 1797, died Sept. 30, 1798.
Lucy married Joseph Covey, had ten children, and died Dec. 26, 1882.
Ezra married Polly Farr, and for second wife had a widow Hastings. He
lived in Windham until his death, June 23, 1869.
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Sem was married three times and had children by the first and second wives. His first wife was Lydia Moses, by whom he had nine children: Nehe- miah, May 3, 1816; Josiah, Feb. 6, 1818; Phyletta, Feb. 16, 1820; Lydia, Mar. 20, 1824; Sem, Jr., Dec. 21, 1825; a son, Apr. 23, 1828, who died the same day; Aurilla, Oct. 10, 1829; Leland H., Nov. 28, 1831, and William Ward, Mar. 14, 1836. His second wife was Joanna Brown, who bore Nehemiah, Nov. 5, 1837; Marion Ida, July 9, 1840; Edward W., Feb. 25, 1844; Edward Orion, Aug. 15, 1846, and Lydia Maria, Oct. 27, 1849.
His third wife was Myra E. French, by whom he had no child.
He remained with his father on the farm in Windham until after he attained his majority, but later became a Baptist clergyman and was called to the pastorate of the Baptist Church at South Londonderry, which relation continued for more than twenty years. He was then called to the church at Plymouth, Vt., later to Cavendish and some other charges, in this state and in New Hampshire. His education was that of the common schools and he studied theology with Reverend A. Graves, of West Townshend, Vt. He was ordained, at South Londonderry, in 1828.
About the time he first came to Londonderry he occupied the Joseph Stowell farm, so-called, "under-the-mountain," and later owned the farm about a mile above the South village, long the home of his son Josiah.
The old house stood on the northerly side of the old road which led from the Middle-of-the-town down to the river road at the Aldrich place. Subsequently the "Elder" built a house on the river road, which was des- troyed by fire and replaced by the present buildings erected on the same site. He was active in secular as well as religious affairs throughout his mature life and of influence in every community of which he was a part. He died Oct. 15, 1865.
Nehemiah died, July 8, 1834, unmarried.
Josiah married Adeline Whitman and had five daughters and one son; only one of whom survived early childhood. Hattie A., May 2, 1857, married Albert P. Cutting and resided on the old homestead, which had been her father's and her grandfather's, for several years following her father's death, Sept. 5, 1897, moving thence to the South village. She has no child. Phyletta married Merrick Woods and died Nov. 6, 1852.
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