Month: September 2021

By Muriel Bristol | September 29, 2021

Continued from Milton’s N.B. Thayer & Co. Shoe Factory – 1890-09

No indication has come to hand of any activity at the N.B. Thayer factory in Milton after 1909. But the company did persist for twenty years at its East Rochester, NH, and Roxbury, MA, locations under Noah B. Thayer’s son, Frank H. Thayer, and then, after him, for some few years under new management (that included some of N.B. Thayer’s grandchildren).

STATE NEWS. N.B. Thayer Co., of East Rochester, is making preparations for the manufacture of the paper cartons that they use in the sale of their shoes and they have already received the machinery and it is being installed (Farmington News, May 6, 1910).

James B. Edgerly, a bank cashier, aged seventy-six years (b. NH), headed a Farmington, NH, household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included his daughter, Annie Thayer, aged thirty-nine years (b. NH), his son-in-law (of four years), Elmer Thayer, a shoe manufacturer, aged forty-eight years (b. MA), his grandson, James E. Thayer, aged three years (b. NH), his servant, Nellie V. Tufton, a private family housekeeper, aged nineteen years (b. NH), and his lodger, Charles L. Osgood, a hotel hostler, aged fifty-four years (b. NH). James B. Edgerly owned their house on North Main Street, free-and-clear. Annie Thayer was the mother of one child, of whom one was still living.

Frank H. Thayer, a shoe factory manager, aged forty-six years (b. MA), headed a Boston, MA, household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of eight years), Alice W. Thayer, aged thirty-nine years (b. IL), his children, Louise Thayer, aged five years (b. MA), Richard W. Thayer, aged three years (b. MA), and Robert T.B. Thayer, aged one year (b. MA), his brothers-in-law, George A. Waterman, a neurological physician, aged thirty-seven years (b. IL), and William E. Waterman, a cigar manufacturing company president, aged thirty-five years (b. IL), and his servants, Lizzie A. Hennessy, a cook, aged twenty-seven years (b. Ireland (Eng.)), Nora F. Kennelly, a 2nd maid, aged twenty-eight years (b. Ireland (Eng.)), and Sarah M. Keeley, a nursemaid, aged thirty-one years (b. CT). Frank H. Thayer rented their house at 395 Marlborough Street. Alice W. Thayer was the mother of three children, of whom three were still living.

Carrie McBride, own income, aged forty years (b. MA), headed a Weymouth, MA, household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. Her household included her children, Marjorie McBride, aged eighteen years (b. MA), and Edwin McBride, aged sixteen years (b. MA). Carrie McBride owned their house at 11 Central Avenue, free-and-clear; she was the mother of two children, of whom two were still living.

Frank E. Fernald appeared again in the Boston directory of 1911, as a superintendent, with his house at 312 Warren street, in Roxbury. By the 1912 directory, he had again “rem. to E. Rochester, NH.”

LOCAL. James Crotty, foreman of the N.B. Thayer Shoe factory, will take a similar position with the H.B. Reed Company of Manchester, and his place is taken by Berthold Demeritt of Milton. Prior to leaving, Mr. Crotty was presented by his employes with a solid gold pen. Another change in the corps of foremen at the factory is the selection of John Fyfe of St Louis, Mo., foreman of the packing room (Farmington News, October 6, 1911).

(Berthold I. Demerritt appeared in the Milton directory of 1909, as a shoe operative in East Rochester, with house at 34 Silver street, corner of Church street. (See also Mrs. DeMerritt’s Arbutus)).

The N.B. Thayer & Co. lasters in East Rochester, NH, went out on strike briefly in December 1911. Quality control procedures and policies seem to have been at issue.

State News. The strike of the lasters at the N.B. Thayer shoe factory in East Rochester has been settled and the employees have returned to work. The company is to have an inspector examine the shoes before they leave the lasting room and any defect noticed can be remedied there before the shoe is entirely made. The company has also removed the edict of the employees buying the shoes that they damage. The wage system remains as it was before the strike (Farmington News, December 15, 1911).

Frank E. Fernald married (2nd) in Rochester, NH, April 17, 1912, Lula A. Tuttle, he of Milton and she of Farmington, NH. He was a shoe factory superintendent, aged forty-six years, and she was a houseworker, aged thirty-four years. Rev. Frank H. Libby performed the ceremony. She was born in Farmington, NH, circa 1877, daughter of Charles E. and Justina (Ham) Tuttle.

LOCAL. A marriage solemnized April 24 was made public this week, that of Frank E. Fernald of Milton, superintendent of the N.B. Thayer shoe factory at East Rochester, and Lulu A. Tuttle of Farmington. The ceremony was performed in Rochester by the Rev. Frank H. Libby. The newly wedded couple have taken up their residence at Hotel Glendon, East Rochester (Farmington News, May 3, 1912).

Frank E. Fernald appeared in the Rochester, NH, directories of 1912, and 1917, as superintendent at N.B.T. & Co., boarding at Glendon House, in East Rochester. GLENDON HOUSE, John W. Tebbets, proprietor, was at 58 Main street (“Three Minutes’ Walk from Railway Station”), in East Rochester.

NEWS OF THE BOYS. E. ROCHESTER, N.H. Frank W. Walsh has returned to his old post as foreman of the making room of the N.B. Thayer Co. (Shoe and Leather Facts, May 1917).

NEWS OF THE BOYS. E. ROCHESTER, N.H. The room of the N.B. Thayer Company will be in charge of Frank Walsh (Shoe and Leather Facts, June 1917).

(Frank W. Walsh appeared in the Rochester, NH, directory of 1917, as a shoe operative in Farmington, NH, – i.e., prior to his return to N.B. Thayer’s making room – boarding on the Lebanon, ME, side, in East Rochester. By 1920, he resided in Cambridge, MA).

NEWS OF THE BOYS. E. ROCHESTER, N.H. L.J. Stewart, former stitching room machinist, has been promoted to the position of foreman of this department in the factory of N.B. Thayer & Co., East Rochester, N.H. (Shoe and Leather Facts, November 1917).

(Lloyd J. Stuart appeared in the Rochester, NH, directory of 1917, as a machinist for N.B.T & Co., boarding at 10 Summer street, in East Rochester).

PERSONAL. C.C. Butler has entered the employ of the N.B. Thayer Shoe Co., at East Rochester (Farmington News, November 30, 1917).

(CHARLES C. BUTLER appeared in the Farmington, NH, directory of 1917, as a Goodyear welter for the T.&O. [Thayer & Osborne, i.e., Thayer-Osborne] Co., with his house at 12 Glen street).

Frank H. Thayer’s second son, Robert B. Thayer, died in Boston, MA, October 17, 1918, aged ten years.

N.B. Thayer’s granddaughter, Marjorie M. McBride, married in Weymouth, MA, in November 1919, Stanley Heald, both of Weymouth. He was born in Weymouth, MA, June 8, 1891, daughter of Arthur C. and Charlotte B. (Tower) Heald. (Her brother would marry his sister in the following year).

PERSONALS. Miss Priscilla West has returned to her home on Cottage street after spending a few days in South Weymouth, Mass., where she attended the wedding of Miss Marjorie MacBride and Stanley Heald of South Weymouth (Rutland Daily Herald, November 20, 1919).

Elmer F. Thayer, a shoe factory partner, aged fifty-eight years (b. MA), headed a Farmington, NH, household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Annie E. Thayer, aged forty-nine years (b. NH), his child, James E. Thayer, aged twelve years (b. NH), and his father-in-law, James B. Edgely, aged eighty-five years (b. NH). Elmer F. Thayer owned their home at 55 North Main Street, free-and-clear.

Frank H. Thayer, a shoe manufacturer, aged fifty-six years (b. MA), headed a Boston, MA, household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Alice U. Thayer, aged forty-nine years (b. IL), and his children, Louise Thayer, aged fifteen years (b. MA), and Richard W. Thayer, aged thirteen years (b. MA). Frank H. Thayer rented their suite at the Charlesgate Hotel, at 535 Beacon Street in Boston, MA.

Carrie T. Mcbride, a widow, aged fifty years (b. MA), headed a Weymouth, MA, household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. Her household included her son-in-law, Stanley Heal [Heald], a shoe shop assistant superintendent, aged twenty-six years (b. MA), and her daughter, Marjorie Heal [Heald], aged twenty-four years (b. MA). Carrie T. McBride owned their house at 40 Fogg Road, fee-and-clear.

Edith M. Varney, a widow, aged fifty-five years (b. NH), headed a Rochester, NH, household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. Her household included her son, Edgar G. Varney, shoe factory supply man, aged twenty-six years (b. NH), and her boarders, Ellen Bean, a widow, aged seventy-seven years (b. NH), and Edwin T. Mcbride, shoe factory [supply man?], aged twenty-six years (b. MA). Edith M. Varney owned their house, free-and-clear.

The NH Bureau of Labor reported in 1920 that N.B. Thayer & Co. of East Rochester, NH, had 255 employees, 155 of them male and 100 of them female. They manufactured men and boys’ shoes (NH Bureau of Labor, 1920).

N.B. Thayer’s grandson, Edwin T. McBride, married in Weymouth, MA, June 12, 1920, Dorothea Heald, both of Weymouth, MA. Rev J. Weston Atwood performed the ceremony. She was born in Weymouth, MA, February 10, 1898, daughter of Arthur C. and Charlotte B. (Tower) Heald. (His sister had married her brother in the preceding year).

MISS HEALD, WEYMOUTH, BRIDE OF E.T. MACBRIDE. WEYMOUTH, June 13 – In the presence of guests from Orange, N.J.; Nyack-on-Hudson, N.Y.: Boston, Farmington, N.H.; Cohasset, Abington, Hingham, Newton, Rochester, N.H.; Greenville, Me.; the Weymouths and nearby towns, Miss Dorothea Heald, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur C. Heald of Main st., South Weymouth, and Edwin Thayer MacBride, son of Mrs. Edwin P. MacBride of Rochester, N.H., were married last night at the home of the bride’s parents. The ceremony was performed at 7 o’clock by Rev J. Weston Atwood of Abington, the double ring service being used. The bride was given in marriage by her father. Mrs. Albert Vinal of South Weymouth, a sister of the bride, was matron of honor. Miss Louise Sanders of Greenville, Me., the maid of honor and Charlotte T. Heald, a niece of the bride, the flower girl. The ushers were Richard H. Gould of White Plains, N.Y., Charles T. Heald, Stanley Heald and Albert Vinal of South Weymouth. The wedding marches were played by Donald T. Gammons and Burgess C. Tower of Cohasset, cousins of the bride, while an orchestra provided music during the reception. The bride was gowned in white tulle over silver cloth, wore a veil and carried lilies of the valley. The matron of honor wore blue satin, the maid of honor pink satin and they carried pink sweet peas. The flower girl was dressed in pink tulle over pink silk. A reception followed the ceremony from 7:30 to 9 o’clock, with the parents of the bride and mother of the groom assisting. A wedding lunch was served (Boston Globe, June 14, 1920).

Shoe Factory Buyers of the United States. Complete List of Buyers of Upper Leather, Sole Leather, Supplies and Other Materials, in the Shoe Industry, Arranged Alphabetically by States, Cities and Towns. NEW HAMPSHIRE. N.B. Thayer & Co., Inc., East Rochester. S.B. Stearns, supt.; E. Thayer McBride supplies; F.H. Thayer, leather. … Thayer-Osborne Shoe Co., Farmington. D.V. Osborne, pres’t; E.F. Thayer leather; Geo N. Osgood, Fremont. Geo N. Osgood, supt. and buyer (Shoe and Leather Reporter, May 18, 1922).

The NH Bureau of Labor reported in 1924 that N.B. Thayer & Co. of East Rochester, NH, had 236 employees, 168 of them male and 68 of them female. They manufactured men and boys’ shoes (NH Bureau of Labor, 1924).

N.B. Thayer’s second daughter (and youngest child), Carrie M. (Thayer) McBride, died in Weymouth, MA, April 16, 1924, aged fifty-four years.

ROBIN IS SEEN IN EAST ROCHESTER. EAST ROCHESTER, N.H., Dec. 21 – Local weather sharps were somewhat perplexed today by the unusual appearance of a robin at the shoe factory or the N.B. Thayer Company, here, shortly before 3 o’clock. Employees of the packing room were surprised on looking out the window to see the bird standing on the snow on the roof of the office. Shortly after the robin made its appearance a telephone call was received from Concord endeavoring to learn the bird’s whereabouts (Boston Globe, December 22, 1925).

N.B. Thayer’s third son, Elmer F. Thayer, who was a partner in the Thayer-Osborne Co. of Farmington, NH, died in Boston, MA, May 14, 1926, aged sixty-four years, eight months, and thirteen days.

DEATHS. THAYER – In Boston, May 14th, Elmer Francis Thayer, aged 64 years, 8 months, 13 days. Funeral services at his late residence, Main street, Farmington, New Hampshire, on Sunday, May 16th, at 1:30 p.m., Standard time. Relatives and friends invited (Boston Globe, May 14, 1926).

In August 1929, The Boston Globe published what appears to have been N.B. Thayer & Co.’s last advertisement seeking shoe workers for its East Rochester, NH, factory.

MALE HELP WANTED. VAMPERS on men’s and boys’ high-grade shoes – no labor trouble. Apply N.B. THAYER & CO., East Rochester, N.H., dSu3t au2 (Boston Globe, August 3, 1929).

Just over a month later, Frank H. Thayer, retired – he was not a well man – and new management took over.

BOSTON MAN TO QUIT E. ROCHESTER SHOE PLANT. ROCHESTER, N.H., Sept. 25 – A new organization is being formed to take over the firm of N.B. Thayer & Co., shoe manufacturers at East Rochester. The firm name will be continued, but announcement has been made that the new concern will take over the business on Nov 1. Frank H. Thayer of Beacon st., Boston, whose father originally started the company and who has been the active head of the company, will retire, and his place will be taken over by Herbert Posner of the large firm of Dr. A. Posner & Co., of New York and Brooklyn, whose shoes tor several years have been manufactured at East Rochester. Stock to the amount of $150,000 is being issued and will be taken by Roy M. McQuillen of East Rochester, the president of the company, Mr. Posner and the salesforce and employes of the company in equal amounts. No change is to be made in the executive personnel of the company. The capacity of the East Rochester factory will be greatly increased, following the reorganization after Nov 1 (Boston Globe, September 26, 1929).

ROCHESTER SHOE EMPLOYES GIVEN SHARES IN FIRM. Under a cooperative plan of manufacture and distribution of Thayer shoes, announced Tuesday at the offices of the N.B. Thayer Shoe Co., men who have been associated with the firm 30 years are taken into the company. Under the plan Frank Fernald, factory superintendent for many years, becomes vice president (Farmington News, October 4, 1929).

WEYMOUTH. Mrs. E. Thayer McBride of Main st., South Weymouth, entertained friends at whist yesterday afternoon (Boston Globe, November 2, 1929).

N.B. Thayer’s fourth (and youngest) son, the recently retired Frank H. Thayer, died in Boston, MA, December 7, 1929, aged sixty-five years.

FRANK H. THAYER. Frank H. Thayer, treasurer and general manager of N.B. Thayer & Co., Inc., shoe manufacturers of East Rochester, N.H., died at his home, 282 Beacon st, Saturday afternoon, after an illness of five weeks. He was born at South Weymouth, Mass., Jan. 4, 1864, the son of Noah Blanchard and Lucy (Newcomb) Thayer. His father was one of the pioneer shoe manufacturers of this country and he himself was very widely known in the shoe and leather trade. Surviving him are his wife, Alice (Waterman) Thayer; a son, Richard W. Thayer, and a daughter, Mrs. Francis Tilden Nichols (Boston Globe, [Monday,] December 9, 1929).

FRANK H. THAYER. Private services for Frank H. Thayer, treasurer and general manager of N.B. Thayer & Co., Inc., shoe manufacturers of East Rochester, N.H., were held yesterday. Burial was in Mt. Auburn cemetery. Mr. Thayer died at his home, 282 Beacon st., Boston, after an illness of five weeks. He was born in South Weymouth, January 4, 1864, the son of Noah Blanchard and Lucy (Newcomb) Thayer. His father was one of the pioneer shoe manufacturers of this country. Surviving Mr. Thayer are his wife, Alice (Waterman) Thayer; a son, Richard W. Thayer, and a daughter, Mrs. Francis Tilden Nichols (Boston Globe, December 10, 1929).

IN MEMOBIAM. Frank Thayer. Frank Thayer, widely known shoe manufacturer, formerly of Milton, whose large industry in more recent years has been prominently identified with East Rochester, died suddenly at his home in Boston last Saturday, December 7. He was 65 years of age and had been in failing health for some time. Complications of the heart hastened the end. He was recognized as one of New England’s foremost manufacturers and had followed the shoe Industry all his life, and with the associations of his father and brother, had wrested success from the many vicissitudes of the business. He is survived by his wife and two children, a daughter, Mrs. Francis Nichols of Great Neck, L.I., and a son, Richard Thayer, a student at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. Funeral was held from the chapel in Mt. Auburn cemetery Monday at noon and was private to the family. Mrs. B.F. [E.F.] Thayer of this town and her son, James E Thayer, attended (Farmington News, December 13, 1929).

N.B. Thayer & Co., Inc., of East Rochester, NH, registered (No. 298,915) their Thayer Shoe Combo-Arch trademark with the U.S. Patent Office, April 15, 1930 (U.S. Patent Office, 1930).

Annie E. Thayer, a widow, aged sixty years (b. NH), headed a Farmington, NH, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. Her household included her son, James E. Thayer, aged twenty-three years (b. NH). Annie E. Thayer owned their house at 65 North Main Street, which was valued at $80,000. They did not have a radio set.

Alice Thayer, a widow, aged fifty-nine years (b. IL), headed a Boston, MA, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. Her household included her son, Richard W. Thayer, aged twenty-three years (b. MA), and her servants, Mary A. Gallagher, a private family waitress, aged twenty-eight years (b. Irish Free State), Annie Murray, a private family cook, aged forty-five years (b. Irish Free State), and Belle Donegan, a private family maid, aged forty-three years (b. Irish Free State). Alice Thayer owned their home at 282 Beacon Street, which was valued at $30,000. They had a radio set.

Edwin T. Macbride, a shoe factory sales manager, aged thirty-six years (b. MA), headed a Weymouth, MA, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of nine years), Darthea H. Macbride, aged thirty-two years (b. MA), his children, Thais Macbride, aged eight years (b. NH), Edwin T. Macbride, aged five years (b. NH), and Jean Macbride, aged two years (b. MA), and his servants, Katherine Flavin, a private family maid, aged twenty-six years (b. Ireland), and Elva Derusha, a private family maid, aged eighteen years (b. MA). Edwin T. McBride rented their house at 816 Main Street, for $125 per month. They had a radio set.

N.B. Thayer’s grandson, Richard W. Thayer, died from a nine-story fall in Albany, NY, November 2, 1932, aged twenty-six years.

BOSTON MAN JUMPS TO DEATH IN ALBANY. R.W. Thayer Prominent at Harvard. ALBANY, N.Y., Nov. 2 (AP) – Richard Waterman Thayer, 26, Harvard graduate and member of a prominent Boston family, jumped to his death from a ninth-floor room of the DeWitt Clinton Hotel today. His leap was witnessed by a man who lives on the opposite side of Eagle st. from the hotel. This witness, Harry Smith, said he saw Thayer climb out of his room and cling to the window casing for a few seconds, looking down. Two men were walking below. After they had passed, Thayer leaped. He died a few minutes later in Memorial Hospital. Shortly before plunging to his death, Thayer telephoned to the manager of the hotel, John J. Hyland, and asked that the house physician be sent to his room. He complained of sickness and dizziness. Thayer was the son of Mrs. Frank H. Thayer of 1282 Beacon st., Boston. His father was a shoe manufacturer. The son was graduated in 1929 from Harvard, where he had attained prominence in athletics. Last June he was graduated from the Harvard School of of Business Administration. He left Boston for Albany a few day ago. In his baggage was found a bill for accommodations at the Capitol Hotel. Albany, dated Oct 31. He left no written message in his room. Bank books and about $80 in cash were found in his effects (Boston Globe, November 2, 1932).

ROCHESTER, N.H., Nov. 2 – Richard W. Thayer was a director of the N.B. Thayer Shoe Company of this city. He was the son of Frank H. Thayer, who for years was owner of the factory here. Young Thayer visited the local factory here about one week ago (Boston Globe, November 3, 1932).

The coroner, after a discussion with the mother, Alice A. (Waterman) Thayer, brought in a verdict of accidental death (Glen Falls Post-Star, November 3, 1932).

FUNERAL SERVICES HELD FOR RICHARD W. THAYER. Funeral services were held in Mt. Auburn Cemetery chapel this noon for Richard Waterman Thayer, Harvard graduate and member of a prominent Boston family, who was killed in Albany, N.Y., after falling from the ninth floor of a hotel. Rev. Robert L. Bull, Jr., assistant rector of Trinity Church, Boston, officiated at the services. Thayer, the son of the late Frank H. Thayer of 282 Beacon st, Boston, was a graduate of Harvard in the class of 1929 (Boston Globe, November 4, 1932).

PERSONALS. Mrs. Elmer F. Thayer and son, James E. Thayer, were called to Boston last week by the funeral of Richard Waterman Thayer, whose tragic death occurred in Albany on November 2. Richard Thayer was the son of the late Frank H. Thayer, who for years was owner of the N.B. Thayer Shoe Company in Rochester, and the young man was a director of the concern (Farmington News, November 11, 1932).

Adopts Shorter Week. East Rochester, Aug. 4–Ten per cent increases in piece work prices, and the same pay for day help for 40 hours as for 48 hours a week previously, were announced last night by the N.B. Thayer Shoe Company, first industry in the city to display the blue eagle of the National Recovery Act (Portsmouth Herald, August 4, 1933).

ROCHESTER SHOE FACTORY HEAD DENIES REPORTS. East Rochester, Aug. 17 – Despite many rumors, announcement has been made by Ross Harrison of the N.B. Thayer shoe factory at East Rochester, that it is not about to shut down. He made the following statement: “The Thayer Shoe Company is busier now than it has been for some time. We are producing more shoes than ever. Because we are producing a cheaper grade of shoes than we have heretofore, the sales force has been found to be unnecessary. We are, though, employing more people than at any time since before 1930. We are here to stay.” The announcement was highly pleasing to local shoemakers, who for many years have held excellent positions at this factory (Portsmouth Herald, August 17, 1934).

N.B. Thayer & Co. closed its doors in East Rochester, NH, and went out of business in September 1934.

SEVERAL SEEK SHOE FACTORY. Rochester, Sept. 21. – Representatives of several shoe firms from Massachusetts and New Hampshire have inspected the shoe factory of the former N.B. Thayer company at East Rochester with the idea in view of moving to East Rochester, and to manufacture shoes. It is understood that the factory will go to the highest bidder when it is disposed of by the court. One of the companies yesterday made an announcement that they wished to interview the Thayer employes at the factory Saturday morning, September 22, at 11 o’clock Eastern Standard Time (Portsmouth Herald, September 21, 1934).

SEE WHAT’S FLYING IN ROCHESTER. East Rochester, Dec. 19. – With winter but four days away, according to the calendar, a butterfly was found yesterday morning near the boiler house of the N.B. Thayer Shoe Co., by workmen (Portsmouth Herald, December 20, 1934).

NEARLY READY TO OPEN FACTORY AT ROCHESTER. East Rochester, Jan. 9 – Manufacture of men’s shoes will commence soon at the factory of the former N.B. Thayer Company here, which has been closed since last September, when the Thayer Company went out of business. The factory was purchased last November by Samuel J. Katz of Rochester, owner of the Hubbard Shoe Company. William S. Fraser of Dover, for many years connected with the Farmington Shoe Company there, has been engaged as superintendent and is now preparing the factory for the resumption of activities by Feb. 1 and possibly sooner (Portsmouth Herald, January 9, 1935).

Former N.B. Thayer & Co. Milton boss laster, Roxbury foreman, and East Rochester superintendent Frank Fernald died of an apparent heart attack in Milton, December 14, 1944, aged seventy-eight years. M.A.H. Hart, M.D., signed the death certificate.

IN MEMORIAM. Frank Fernald. Frank Fernald, aged 78, well known resident of Milton, died suddenly last Thursday morning at his home in that town. Mr. Fernald was born in Melrose, Mass., January 3, 1866, the son of Eli and Eliza A (Felch) Fernald. During his active life he was identified with shoe making. For several years he was employed by the N.B. Thayer Shoe company in Roxbury and for a good many years afterward was employed as superintendent with this company at its East Rochester plant. While thus employed he lived in East Rochester. Following his retirement from this work, he removed to Milton, where he had lived since. He leaves his wife, Mrs. Lucy Fernald. Funeral services were held at the Norman L. Otis funeral parlor last Sunday afternoon, with Rev. Ralph Townsend, pastor of the Milton Community church, officiating, and the remains were taken to Farmington cemetery (Farmington News, December 22, 1944).

Annie M. (Edgerly) Thayer died in Farmington, NH, May 16, 1957, aged eighty-six years.

DEATHS. THAYER – Mrs. Annie Edgerly, widow of Elmer Francis Thayer, died in Farmington, N.H., May 16; mother of James E. Thayer, grandmother of Miss Sylvia Thayer of Wellesley College and James E. Thayer, Jr., of Yale College and Richard Perkins Thayer. Funeral will be Sunday, May 19, at 2 o’clock in the First Congregational Church, Farmington (Boston Globe, May 18, 1957).

Mrs. Annie Thayer Dies in 87th Year. A brief, simple service, marked by the poetry of Robert Brown, which she loved, was conducted by Rev. Linwood Potter for the funeral of Mrs. Annie Edgerly Thayer Sunday in the Congregational Church. Organist Elton Young played musical selections she had liked. The church seemed one mass of flowers, remembrances of hundreds. Burial, arranged by the Otis funeral home, was in the local Pine Grove cemetery. Mrs. Thayer, 86, succumbed last Thursday night at her home on No. Main street. She had suffered a stroke the previous Sunday, but had been in ill health the past two years. Interested in a variety of present-day and historical activities, Mrs. Thayer remained active, and attended out-of-town events only a few days before her death. Her husband, Elmer Francis Thayer, died in 1926. She leaves her son, James Edgerly Thayer, president of the Farmington National Bank, a granddaughter, Sylvia, now a junior at Wellesley college, Wellesley, Mass., and two grandsons, James E. Edgerly, Jr., a freshman at Yale university, New Haven, Conn., and Richard Perkins Thayer, Jr., a pupil in local schools. Mrs. Thayer was born in Farmington, Nov. 14, 1870, the daughter of James Bartlett and Maria (Fernald) Edgerly. She graduated from local schools in 1889. She became associated with the local bank, and has continued as a stockholder. She was in the middle of a 5-generation group connected with the bank. She was wed to Mr. Thayer in 1905. Mrs. Thayer was noted for her many and varied philanthropies, many of which were given in the guise of anonymous donors. During the years she helped organize such groups as the Eastern Star, Woman’s clubs and Garden clubs, and retained active interest to serve repeatedly as an officer. Her far-flung associations and friendships were cemented further during a world cruise some years ago. Her memberships included: Farmington, Alton and Rochester Woman’s clubs; Haven Hill and Farmington Garden clubs; Farmington-New Durham, Wakefield-Brookfield, and New Hampshire Historical societies; Mary Torr Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution; Farmington and Boston Browning societies; Pewter Collectors club of America; Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America; Daughters of Colonial Wars in America; Fraternal Chapter, O.E.S.; Piscataqua Pioneers; the board of Children’s Aid society; First Congregational church and Ladies aid; trustee of the Goodwin Public library; Frisbie Hospital aid association; Society for Preservation of New England Antiquities; the Rushlight club of Boston; Colonial Dames of America in New Hampshire; local and state Republican clubs. Bearers were Carl Thomas, Norman Fall, Everett Emerson, Dr. George Quinn, Eugene Nute, and Norman Hartfield (Farmington News, May 23, 1957).

Alice A. (Waterman) Thayer died in Boston, MA, May 16, 1965, aged ninety-four years.

DEATHS. THAYER – In Boston, May 16, in her 95th year, Alice Waterman Thayer, resident of Brooklin, Me., widow of Frank Herbert Thayer. Survived by her daughter Mrs. Francis T. Nichols. Funeral service at Bigelow Chapel, Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, on Wednesday. May 19 at 11 a.m. (Boston Globe, May 17, 1965).

N.B. Thayer’s grandson, Edward T. McBride, died in Hingham, MA, August 17, 1965, aged seventy-two years.

E. Thayer MacBride, 72, Shoe Industry Leader, Dies. E. Thayer MacBride. 72, shoe industry leader, died today at his home, 13 Clark rd., Hingham. Born in South Weymouth, he attended schools there, the Chauncy School, Boston, and graduated from M.I.T. in 1915. He served as a pilot in World War I. He was former president of the N.B. Thayer Shoe Co., Rochester, N.H., first President of the Kiwanis in Rochester, member of the Masonic Temple in Rochester, and the recently retired president of the Stetson Shoe Co., South Weymouth. He is survived by his wife Darthea (Heald) MacBride, two daughters, Thais, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Mrs. Robert O. Hoss, of Hingham, a son Edwin T., Jr., of Braintree, a sister, Mrs. Marjory Heald of Hingham, and 11 grandchildren (Boston Globe, August 17, 1965).

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References:

Find a Grave. (2016, May 8). Carrie M. Thayer McBride. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/162351856/carrie-m-macbride

Find a Grave. (2015, August 7). Frank Herbert Thayer. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/150294761/frank-herbert-thayer

Find a Grave. (2008, October 5). Frederick Nicholas Thayer. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/30325265/frederick-nicholas-thayer

Find a Grave. (2008, October 5). Noah Blanchard Thayer. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/30324570/noah-blanchard-thayer

Find a Grave. (2015, August 7). Richard Waterman Thayer. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/150294778/richard-waterman-thayer

McDuffee, Franklin. (1892). History of the Town of Rochester, New Hampshire, from 1722 to 1890. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=rL0yAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA500

MA District Police. (1901). Report of the Chief of the Massachusetts District Police. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=ACcrAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA101

NH Bureau of Labor. (1920). Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor of the State of New Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=J8JMAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA161

NH Bureau of Labor. (1924). Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor of the State of New Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=B8cFoLudq0IC&pg=PA54

NH Supreme Court. (1911). The New Hampshire Reports, June 1908-December 1910. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=TtRIAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA592

Scales, John. (1914). History of Strafford County, New Hampshire and Representative Citizens. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=nGsjAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA734

U.S. Patent Office. (1911). Annual Report of the Commissioner of Patents. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=x4enZnlxHJ0C&pg=PA687

U.S. Patent Office. (1930). Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=DdVF8AmFQOIC&pg=PA739

Wikipedia. (2021, September 24). Kidskin. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidskin

Wikipedia. (2021, May 4). National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Industrial_Recovery_Act_of_1933

Wikipedia. (2021, August 2). Panic of 1893. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1893

By Muriel Bristol | September 26, 2021

Noah Blanchard Thayer was born in Weymouth, MA, January 26, 1830, son of Nicholas and Thais (Shaw) Thayer.

(An Athenian woman named Thaïs accompanied Alexander the Great’s army in Persia. She married one of Alexander’s generals, Ptolemy Soter, and was mother to a line of Egyptian Pharaohs).

Nicolas Thayer, a boot & shoe manufacturer, aged forty-nine years (b. MA), headed a Weymouth, MA, household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. His household included Thais Thayer, aged forty-nine years (b. MA), Noah B. Thayer, a trader, aged twenty years (b. MA), George R. Thayer, aged ten years (b. MA), Augustine Loud, boot business, aged twenty-seven years (b. MA), Samuel C. Wade, shoe business, aged twenty-one years (b. VT), Lorenzo Lewis, a bookkeeper, aged twenty years (b. ME), John Mehan, boot business, aged twenty-four years (b. Ireland), and Margaret Slaherty, aged nineteen years (b. Ireland). Nicolas Thayer had real estate valued at $3,250; Augustine Loud had real estate valued at $60.

Noah B. Thayer married in Hingham, MA, September 19, 1852, Lucy M. “Marilla” Newcomb, both of Weymouth, MA. He was a clerk, aged twenty-two years, and she was aged twenty years. Rev. Joseph Richardson performed the ceremony. She was born in Randolph, MA, August 8, 1832, daughter of Samuel and Lucy (Blanchard) Newcomb.

Son Charles Everett Thayer was born in Randolph, MA, January 5, 1853. Son Frederick Nicholas Thayer was born in Weymouth, MA, December 14, 1854.

Noah Thayer, aged twenty-five years (b. MA), headed a Randolph, MA, household at the time of the MA State Census of 1855. His household included Marilla Thayer (b. MA), aged twenty-three years, Chas E. Thayer, aged three years (b. MA), and Frederick Thayer, aged eight months (b. MA). They shared a two-family residence with the household of Charles H. Farmer, a bootmaker, aged thirty-one years (b. NH).

Thayer’s eldest son, Charles F. Thayer, died on Warren street in Randolph, MA, May 11, 1856, aged three years, eleven months. He was buried in Weymouth, MA.

N.B. Thayer, a boot manufacturer, aged thirty years (b. MA), headed a Weymouth (“Quincy P.O.”), MA, household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. His household included Lucy M. Thayer, aged twenty-eight years (b. MA), and Frederick Thayer, aged five years (b. MA). N.B. Thayer had real estate valued at $1,000 and personal estate valued at $100.

Son Elmer Frances Thayer was born in Weymouth, MA, September 1, 1861. Daughter Chloe Thayer was born in Weymouth, September 13, 1862. Son Frank H. Thayer was born in Weymouth, MA, January 4, 1864.

Noah B. Thayer, a clerk, aged thirty-six years (b. MA), headed a Weymouth, MA, household at the time of the MA State Census of 1865. His household included Lucy M. Thayer, aged thirty-two years (b. MA), Frederic N. Thayer, aged ten years (b. MA), Elmer F. Thayer, aged three years (b. MA), Frank H. Thayer, aged one year (b. MA), I.D. Howe Pettes, a pedlar, aged twenty-six years (b. VT), and Mary E. [(Howe)] Pettes, aged twenty-four years (b. MA).

Noah Blanchard Thayer was initiated into the Orphan’s Hope Lodge, A.F. & A.M., in Weymouth, MA, May 2, 1867. He was passed there, May 29, 1867, and raised there, July 10, 1867.

Daughter Carrie Marilla Thayer was born in Weymouth, MA, June 7, 1869.

Noah B. Thayer appeared in the Weymouth, MA, directory of 1870-71, as a bootmaker on Main street, with his house on Pleasant street, near Main street, in South Weymouth. Nicholas Thayer appeared as a farmer, with his house on Main street, near Pleasant street, in South Weymouth.

Noah B. Thayer, works in boot factory, aged forty years (b. MA), headed a Weymouth, MA, household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Lucy M. Thayer, keeping house, aged thirty-eight years (b. MA), Frederic N. Thayer, attending school, aged fifteen years (b. MA), Elmer F. Thayer, attending school, aged nine years (b. MA), Frank W. Thayer, attending school, aged six years (b. MA), and Carrie M. Thayer, at home, aged eleven months (b. MA), and Cornelia Howe, a domestic servant, aged twenty years (b. MA). Noah B. Thayer had real estate valued at $1,900 and personal estate valued at $1,000.

Noah B. Thayer (N.B. Thayer & Co.) appeared in the Weymouth, MA, directory of 1873, as a boot manufacturer in Columbian square, with his house on Pleasant street, near Main street, in South Weymouth. N.B. Thayer & Co. (N.B. Thayer & John S. Fogg) appeared as boot manufacturers in Columbian square in South Weymouth, with their offices at 66 Hanover street in Boston, MA. Nicholas Thayer appeared as a farmer, with his house on Main street, near Pleasant street, in South Weymouth.

Upon the dissolution of the firm of Fogg, Houghton & Coolidge, in 1878, Mr. Fogg formed a copartnership with N.B. Thayer, which was continued until March, 1882, when the firm of Fogg, Shaw, Thayer & Co. was formed. At the death of Mr. Shaw the firm of J.S. Fogg & Co., was formed March, 1888, with factories at South Weymouth and Concord, Mass., and Farmington, N.H. About eight hundred man are employed by the concern (Boston Evening Transcript, May 17, 1892).

Noah B. Thayer, a boot and shoe manufacturer, aged fifty years (b. MA), headed a Weymouth, MA, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Lucy M. Thayer, keeping house, aged forty-eight years (b. MA), his children, Fred N. Thayer, works in boot shop, aged twenty-five years (b. MA), Elmer T. Thayer, works in boot shop, aged eighteen years (b. MA), Frank N. Thayer, works in boot shop, aged sixteen years (b. MA), and Carrie M. Thayer, at school, aged eleven years (b. MA), and his wife’s cousin, L. Maria Howe, a servant, aged thirty years (b. MA).

N.B. Thayer (of Fogg, Shaw, Thayer & Co.) appeared in the Boston, MA, directory of 1883, as having an office at 27 Lincoln street, with his house at South Weymouth. Fogg, Shaw, Thayer & Co. appeared as dealers in boots and shoes at 25-29 Lincoln street. (The partners were John S. Fogg (1817-1892), and his son, John A. Fogg (1850-1914), Josephus Shaw (1832-1888), Noah B. Thayer (1830-1909), and with Irville Waterman (1849-1924), and Charles S. Bates (1856-1938) being the “company”).

News Notes. Charles Rawson, foreman in the sole-leather room at Fogg, Shaw & Thayer’s boot factory in Westborough, Mass., dropped dead this noon at his work (Boston Evening Transcript, June 23, 1884).

(Charles H. Rawson died of heart disease in Westborough [registered in Upton], MA, June 21, 1884, aged forty-five years, four months, and three days. He was a foreman).

BRIEF LOCALS. A contract for labor at the Reformatory Prison at Concord has been awarded to Fogg, Shaw, Thayer & Co., boot and shoe manufacturers, of Boston (Boston Evening Transcript, April 13, 1885).

Here we find Noah B. Thayer, of Fogg, Shaw, Thayer & Co., of Boston, MA, receiving an “assignment” from a bankrupt wholesale shoe dealer.

A Heavy Shoe Failure. Fellows, Shaw & Raymond, wholesale dealers in boots, shoes and rubbers, 159 and 161 Pearl street, have made an assignment to N.B. Thayer, of the firm of Fogg, Shaw, Thayer & Co. of this city. The liabilities amount to about $100,000, and the assets are nominally in excess of that amount. There are contingent liabilities of $15,000 or $20,000. A meeting of the creditors has been called for Saturday, April 18 (Boston Globe, April 15, 1885).

The shoe factories of South Weymouth, MA, including that of Fogg, Shaw, Thayer & Co., experienced labor difficulties, including both strikes and lockouts, in 1886 and 1887.

LATEST! THEY STEP OUT. Trouble Among the Lasters at South Weymouth. Employes of Fogg, Thayer & Co. Strike Because of a Cut and Alleged Unfair Treatment. South Weymouth, January 15. The lasters in the employ of Fogg, Shaw, Thayer & Co., have struck on account of wages paid for lasting, and on account of the treatment of one of their number by one of the firm. According to the statement of the lasters, the difficulty began by the firm reducing what was known as fourth quality of work to the fifth, the price of lasting being reduced from sixty-five cents to fifty-five cents a case of twelve pairs. A short time ago a committee of the lasters waited upon Irving Waterman, a member of the firm, and asked him for an advance in the price paid for that quality of work. Mr. Waterman agreed to call the matter to the attention of the other members of the firm. A few days ago he gave his answer to the lasters’ committee, and stated that the firm had decided to advance the price for this quality of work from 55 cents to 62½ cents a case, the same price as is being paid by other shoe firms in the neighboring towns. The committee informed Mr. Waterman that his answer would be laid before the Masters’ Protective Union for its consideration. This was done, and it was voted to accept the firm’s offer at a meeting held Wednesday evening. Yesterday morning, Arthur Cushing, a member of the Lasters’ Union, went to Frank Tower, foreman of the bottomers’ department, and informed him that the Masters’ Union had decided to accept the firm’s offer. This came to the ears of Mr. Thayer, who, it is alleged, informed Cushing that the firm had no boots for him to last at the price named by the Lasters’ Union, and discharged him from the employment of the firm and at once employed a non-union man to fill his place. In consequence of this action on the part of Mr. Thayer all the lasters, with two exceptions, left the factory. The matter was laid before the executive committee of the Lasters’ Protective Union in Rockland last evening, and it voted to sustain the action of the men leaving the firm. The trouble also was brought to the attention of the local assembly of the Knights of Labor last evening, and they voted to uphold them in the cause. All the men employed in the bottomers’, stitching, cutting and sole-leather departments are out, but a few remain in the edging department to finish up some boots on hand, but they probably will leave tomorrow (Boston Globe, January 15, 1886).

Both Lasters and Firm Satisfied. SOUTH WEYMOUTH, January 27. – The difficulty has been adjusted at the shoe factory of Fogg, Shaw, Thayer & Co. of this place. The men will return to work in the morning, and seem to be satisfied as the matter now stands. Mutual concessions were made by both parties, and a basis arrived at which is as near the Brockton standard of prices as possible for the grade of work which the firm in question manufactures. The firm speak in the highest terms of their treatment at the hands of the conference committee sent by the union (Boston Globe, January 28, 1886).

Noah B. Thayer appeared in the Weymouth, MA, directory of 1888, as a boot and shoe manufacturer, with his house at 5 Central street, in South Weymouth. His son, Frank H. Thayer, appeared as a book agent, with his house also at 5 Central street, in South Weymouth. Another son, Frederick N. Thayer, appeared as laborer, with his house on Union street, in South Weymouth. Noah B. Thayer’s widowed mother, Mrs. Thais (Nicholas) Thayer, appeared as having her house at 5 Middle street, in South Weymouth.

Josephus Shaw, one of the Fogg, Shaw, Thayer & Co. partners, died in a railroad accident in Bradford, MA, January 10, 1888, aged fifty-five years, three months, and twelve days. (He was one of nine that were killed in the accident).

A Prominent Citizen of Braintree. Josephus Shaw, one of the victims of the railroad accident, is one of the most prominent citizens of Braintree. He was a member of the firm of Fogg, Shaw, Thayer & Co., doing a thriving boot and shoe business at South Weymouth. He was a representative to the Legislature seven or eight years ago. He was an active member of the First Congregational Society and superintendent of the Sunday school of the above society. He was 58 years old and leaves a widow and five children, three sons and two daughters (Boston Globe, January 11, 1888).

N.B. Thayer & Co. acquired and opened for a time a shoe factory (apparently a branch or secondary one) in Gonic, Rochester, NH, in 1888. This would have been an entirely separate and distinct enterprise from his partnership with Fogg, Shaw, Thayer & Co.

M.A. Hanson, à native of Madbury, after having been in business for a time in Maine, came to Gonic in 1881, and started a shoe manufactory on the Barrington road. He employed about fifty hands with a pay roll of about $1,000 per month, and an annual production of twelve hundred cases, valued at $50,000. In October 1888, he sold to N.B. Thayer & Co., and removed to Charlottesville, Va., the following April. Thayer remained only a short time and went to Milton (McDuffee, 1892). 

REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS. J.A. Hanson to N.B. Thayer, Rochester, $1 (Farmington News, October 12, 1888).

N.B. Thayer & Co. opened also another branch shoe factory in Milton in or around 1890. In September 1890, the Boston Globe published what was apparently its first advertisement seeking N.B. Thayer & Co. shoe workers at Milton.

MALE HELP WANTED. WANTED, McKay channeler; also competent man to take charge of small stock room, on misses’ and children’s work; must understand fitting from the side. N.B. THAYER & CO., Milton, N.H. 2t* s17 (Boston Globe, September 17, 1890).

N.B. Thayer & Co. appeared in the Milton business directories of 1892, 1894, 1898, as a Milton shoe manufacturing firm.

Daughter Carrie M. Thayer married in Weymouth, MA, March 4, 1891, Edwin P. McBride, both of Weymouth. He was a salesman, aged twenty-two years, and she was at home, aged twenty-one years. Rev. W.H. Bolster performed the ceremony. McBride was born in Brooklyn, NY, circa 1869, son of Henry and Jane (Cassidy) McBride.

MILTON. Business is improving at the shoe factories. The daily output at N.B. Thayer Co.’s is larger than ever before. Burley & Usher are receiving large orders every day and the outlook for the summer is good (Farmington News, May 6, 1892).

Former partner John S. Fogg died of Bright’s Disease in Weymouth, MA. May 16, 1892, aged seventy-five years, one month.

RECENT DEATHS. John S. Fogg. Mr. John S. Fogg, one of the oldest and wealthiest citizens of South Weymouth, died last night, aged seventy-five years. Mr. Fogg, well known as a local banker and a boot and shoe manufacturer, was horn in Meredith, N.H., April 16, 1817. He came to Boston in 1836, and in 1840 began business for himself as a boot and shoe “crimper” in South Weymouth. About the first of the year 1841 he bought stock and made a few cases of best quality boots, brought them to Boston and sold them to retailers, and in 1842 he built his first factory – a large one in those days – at Columbia square. In July, 1851, he associated himself with W.S. Houghton, under the firm name of Fogg & Houghton. They did a large and rapidly increasing business. About 1861 A.L. Coolidge was admitted as a partner, and the firm became Fogg, Houghton & Coolidge. They began to manufacture goods for the California trade, and in 1866 they did a business of more than $1,000,000, and were at that time quoted as the largest boot and shoe manufacturers in the United States. Upon the dissolution of the firm of Fogg, Houghton & Coolidge, in 1878, Mr. Fogg formed a copartnership with N.B. Thayer, which was continued until March, 1882, when the firm of Fogg, Shaw, Thayer & Co. was formed. At the death of Mr. Shaw the firm of J.S. Fogg & Co., was formed March, 1888, with factories at South Weymouth and Concord, Mass., and Farmington, N.H. About eight hundred man are employed by the concern (Boston Evening Transcript, May 17, 1892).

MALE HELP WANTED. GOOD LASTERS wanted on misses’ and children’s Fargo tipped shoes. N.B. THAYER & CO., Milton, N.H.*3t my19 (Boston Globe, May 19, 1892).

MALE HELP WANTED. LASTERS – Wanted, 3 lasters on misses’ and children’s Fargo tipped shoes. N.B. THAYER & CO., Milton, N.H. 2t Je2 (Boston Globe, June 2, 1892).

N.B. Thayer & Co.’s shoe business expanded and it began even to outgrow its physical plant in Milton. The firm began to consider alternate locations for either expansion or relocation.

MILTON. Rumored that N.B. Thayer is to move his shoe business away (Farmington News, December 23, 1892).

MILTON. N.B. Thayer is to remove his shoe business from Milton next spring (Farmington News, February 17, 1893).

Joseph H. “Howard” Avery apparently forestalled the proposed removal by an expansion of his factory building, which he was renting to N.B. Thayer & Co.

MILTON. Howard Avery is to build an addition of seventy feet to his shoe shop for N.B. Thayer’s use. The stones for the foundation are being hauled (Farmington News, March 24, 1893).

MILTON. Mr. Hayes, foreman of the stitching room at N.B. Thayer’s, has resigned his position on account of ill health (Farmington News, August 24, 1894).

MILTON. Benjamin Edgerly finished work for N.B. Thayer Co. Monday (Farmington News, October 12, 1894).

(Benjamin W. Edgerly died of pulmonary tuberculosis in Rochester, NH, August 26, 1899, aged thirty-six years, four months, and eighteen days. He was a shoemaker).

MILTON. There is some talk of N.B. Thayer & Co. using the Burley shop Farmington News, October 19, 1894).

In 1884, an organization composed of citizens of the town erected a shoe factory 160 x 40 and four stories high, with other accessories, at Milton, at a cost of $12,000, which was leased to Burley & Usher in 1885, who were afterwards succeeded by N.B. Thayer & Co., the present occupants. Misses’ and children’s kid and Dongola spring heel slippers are manufactured, and employment is given to 100 or more hands. Steam and water are used for power, and the firm is not exempt from taxation (NH Bureau of Labor, 1897).

MILTON. N.B. Thayer & Co. purchased the Burley & Usher shop, Saturday, and will have a part of their work done there, connecting the two shops by a covered bridge. The cutters and stitchers will stay in the Avery shop, and the other work done in the other shop (Farmington News, October 26, 1894).

MILTON. N.B. Thayer & Co. were shut down for repairs the latter part of last week (Farmington News, December 7, 1894).

Lucy M. (Newcomb) Thayer died of diabetes in Holbrook, MA, February 28, 1895, aged sixty-two years, six months, and twenty-six years.

MILTON. Rena Wentworth  of Farmington is working at N.B. Thayer & Co.’s (Farmington News, March 8, 1895).

(Miss Rena Wentworth appeared in the Milton directory of 1900, as a vamper, boarding with Mrs. W.C. [William C.] Hall, on Charles street).

N.B. Thayer & Co.’s lasters went out on strike briefly in September 1896. A shoe laster stretches leather shoe uppers around a “last” with a lasting machine – a last being a foot-shaped form.

N.B. Thayer & Co. placed the following advertisement seeking replacements for some sixteen striking shoe lasters.

Male Help Wanted. LASTERS wanted, 6 non-union lasters on boys’ shoes, 10 on misses and childrens, must be good workmen and responsible men. Apply to 103 Bedford st., Boston, or Milton, N.H. N.B. THAYER & Co. 2t s2 (Boston Globe, September 2, 1896).

The Milton lasters’ strike committee bought their own competing advertisement, which was placed immediately below that of N.B. Thayer & Co.’s advertisement.

LASTERS are requested to keep away from Milton, N.H., as there is a strike on. Per order committee. 3t* s2 (Boston Globe, September 2, 1896).

The trouble between the lasters and N.B. Thayer & Co., Milton, was settled last week and work in all departments was resumed Monday (Farmington News, September 18, 1896).

(See also Milton Mills Shoe Strike of 1889).

Son-in-law Edwin P. McBride died of typhoid fever in Weymouth, MA, December 10, 1896, aged twenty-eight years, and thirteen days.

DIED. McBRIDE – On Thursday, December 10, at South Weymouth, Mass., EDWIN P., husband of Carrie Thayer McBrlde and youngest son of the late Hugh and Jane McBrlde, of Brooklyn N.Y. (Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, NY), December 12, 1896).

N.B. Thayer & Co. appeared in the Boston, MA, directory of 1897, as shoe manufacturers at 103 Bedford street, with N.B. Thayer having his house at South Weymouth, MA.

MILTON. Town Visited by a Small Cyclone Last Friday Afternoon. A small cyclone visited this place last Friday, [June 18, 1897,] and although very little damage was done it gave people quite a scare while it lasted. It came from the northwest and was in the form of a tunnel. Those that saw it sweeping across the pond say it looked like a large white cloud of dust, and that much damage would have resulted had any boats been in its path. Following down the river the cyclone struck the tin roof of N.B. Thayer’s shoe shop, tearing it very badly. Besides the damage done to the roof, the cupola was somewhat injured (Farmington News, [Friday,] June 25, 1897).

The “dull times” mentioned below, as having been avoided generally by N.B. Thayer & Co., is an allusion to the extended economic depression that followed the financial Panic of 1893.

MILTON. Business is very good at the present time. The daily output at N.B. Thayer’s shoe shop averages 35 cases. Business has been good at this shop all through the dull times and now is steadily increasing (Farmington News, July 2, 1897).

MILTON. W.R. Stacey, bookkeeper at N.B. Thayer’s shoe shop, is enjoying a two weeks’ vacation in Boston accompanied by his family (Farmington News, October 1, 1897).

(William R. Stacey had married in Milton, September 23, 1893, Georgiella R. Marston, he of Milton and she of Deerfield, NH. He was a bookkeeper, aged twenty-three years, and she was a shoe stitcher, aged nineteen years. Rev. Myron P. Dickey performed the ceremony).

MILTON. The flag raising at Thayer’s shoe factory, was deferred for unavoidable reasons. Suitable exercises which have been prepared will be given on the occasion some time the present week (Farmington News, May 13, 1898).

PERSONAL. Charles M. Crosby has taken a position at the Thayer shoe shop in Milton (Farmington News, February 3, 1899).

LOCALS. John J. Earle, formerly at the Edgerly factory and later at Thayer’s in Milton, has taken the position of foreman at the Exeter Boot & Shoe company’s factory at Exeter (Farmington News, April 14, 1899).

(JOHN EARL appeared belatedly in the Milton directory of 1900, as a shoe vamper, with his house on Maple street, near So. Main street).

LOCALS. Henry I. Edgerly of Dover, formerly of Farmington, is connected with the Thayer shoe manufacturing business in Milton (Farmington News, May 26, 1899).

(Henry I. Edgerly appeared in the Dover, NH, directory of 1900, as a shoe cutter, with his house at 8 Maple street).

STRAFFORD CORNER. William H. Cater has secured a position in N.B. Thayer & Co.’s shoe shop in Milton (Farmington News, October 6, 1899).

(Willis H. Cater appeared in the Strafford, NH, directory of 1900, as boarding with A.H. Cater. Alonzo H. Cater appeared as a farmer, at Strafford Corner).

LOCALS. Charles Crosby, who has been employed with the N.B. Thayer shoe firm in Milton, is at his home in Farmington, the Thayers being about to move their business to their Roxbury, Mass., buildings (Farmington News, December 29, 1899).

N.B. THAYER & CO., Inc., appeared in the Milton directory of 1900, as shoe manufacturers, with their factory near Milton depot, and their Boston, MA, offices at 103 Bedford street. N.B. Thayer was its president, and his son, F.H. Thayer, was its treasurer.

Elmer F. Thayer appeared in 1900 as a clerk for N.B.T. & Co., boarding at the Milton Hotel, and his brother, Frank H. Thayer, appeared as treasurer for N.B.T. & Co., with his house at L.S., i.e., on the Lebanon Side of the river.

Many people appeared in the Milton directory of 1900 as shoe-workers of one kind or another. But apart from those already mentioned, those specifically identified as employees of N.B.T. & Co. were Robert Brown, a fireman; Downing V. Osborne, overseer of cutting room; William R. Stacey, a bookkeeper; and George H. Staples, a night watchman. (Overseer Osborne would become in 1904 the partner of Elmer F. Thayer in the entirely separate Thayer-Osborne Shoe Company).

Noah B Thayer, a shoe manufacturer, aged seventy years (b. MA), headed a Weymouth, MA, household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his daughter, Carrie Mcbride, a widow, aged thirty years (b. MA), his grandchildren, Edwin T. Mcbride, at school, aged six years (b. MA), and Margorie Mcbride, aged four years (b. MA), and his servant, Julia Keefe, a servant, aged twenty-four years (b. MA). Noah B. Thayer owned their house, free-and-clear. Carrie McBride was the mother of two children, of whom two were still living.

Elmer F. Thayer, a shoemaker, aged thirty-eight years (b. MA), lodged in the Boston, MA, household of Samuel W. Rorke, superintendent of a piano factory, aged sixty-two years (b. NY), at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census.

MILTON. J.M. Gage has gone to Roxbury to work for N.B. Thayer (Farmington News, July 27, 1900).

(JAMES M. GAGE appeared in the Milton directory of 1900, as an insurance agent and shoe cutter, with his house on Main street, opposite Silver street).

PERSONALS. One of the sons of the senior member of the N.B. Thayer firm of shoe manufacturers, formerly of Milton and now of Roxbury, Mass., was in town over Sunday (Farmington News, July 27, 1900).

MILTON. Fred Sleeper has secured a position in the shoe shop of N.B. Thayer Co., Roxbury, Mass., and commenced work Tuesday of last week (Farmington News, October 26, 1900).

(Fred B. Sleeper had married in Milton, August 29, 1896, Stella Dicey, both of Milton. He was a shoemaker, aged twenty-one years, and she was a shoe stitcher, aged nineteen years. Rev. R.M. Peacock performed the ceremony. Fred B. Sleeper appeared in the Milton directory of 1900, as a shoe finisher, with his house at 42 South Main street).

Frank E. Fernald appeared in the Milton directory of 1900, as boss laster, with his house on Main street, at its corner with Silver street. (He had formerly kept a drug store at Milton Three Ponds. (See also The Preacher and the Druggist – 1897)).

PERSONAL. Walter L. Randall has gone to Roxbury, Mass., to work for the N.B. Thayer Co. (Farmington News, February 1, 1901).

(Walter E. Randall had married (2nd) in Acton, ME, 1898, Maud W. Gray, he of Milton and she of Wells, ME. He was a shoemaker, aged twenty-seven years, and she was a shoe stitcher, aged twenty years. Rev. E.M. Churchill performed the ceremony. Walter E. Randall appeared in the Milton directory of 1900, as a shoemaker, resident at Milton Mills).

Downing V. Osborne [(1864-1941)] appeared in the Milton directory of 1900 as overseer of the cutting room at N.B.T. & Co., with his house on Charles street, on the hill. He evidently went on to perform for a time the same function at N.B. Thayer & Co.’s factory in Roxbury, MA,

MILTON. Downing Osborne spent last week at Fred Hartford’s. Mr. Osborne, formerly a resident of Milton, is superintendent of one of the rooms at Thayer’s factory in Roxbury (Farmington News, September 26, 1901).

Boss laster Frank E. Fernald transferred to the Roxbury plant; and appeared in the Boston, MA, directories of 1901, and 1903, as a foreman, with his house at 119 Dale street, in Roxbury.

The Boston, MA, police sent an inspector to N.B. Thayer & Co.’s Roxbury shoe factory. The plant has 95 male employees and 70 female employees; none of them were aged 14-16 years, and none of them were aged under-14 years. He rated their sanitary conditions as being “good.”  He recommended a guard or rail be installed by the wheel, i.e., a driving wheel, and that a time notice be posted (MA District Police, 1901).

N.B. Thayer & Co. paid Massachusetts a $15 foreign corporation fee in 1901. They were “foreign” in the sense that they were an out-of-state corporation (MA Department of State, 1901).

Thayer’s second son, Frederick N. Thayer, died of acute tuberculosis in Boston, MA, October 26, 1901, aged forty-eight years.

Thayer’s fourth (and youngest) son, Frank H. Thayer, married in Malden, MA, December 5, 1901, Alice A. Waterman, he of Boston, MA, and she of Malden, MA. He was a manufacturer, aged thirty-eight years, and she was at home, aged thirty-one years. Rev. Henry A. French performed the ceremony. She was born in Viola, IL, December 11, 1870, daughter of Arthur O. and Sarah L. (Morrison) Waterman.

PERSONAL. Frank H. Thayer, treasurer of the N.B. Thayer Shoe Co. of Roxbury, Mass., formerly of Milton and well known in Farmington, was married on Dec. 5 to Miss Alice A. Waterman of Malden (December 13, 1901).

NEWS OF THE STATE. The Rochester Foundry & Machine Co. are doing a big heating and piping job for N.B. Thayer Co., at Milton (Farmington News, January 23, 1903).

N.B. Thayer & Co. appeared in the Milton business directories of 1904, 1905-06, and 1909, as a Milton shoe manufacturing firm. (Their address was listed as being on Charles street in 1905-06 and 1909).

MILTON. Business is rushing at the N.B. Thayer shoe factory, a large portion of the help working by night (Farmington News, January 22, 1904).

Here we learn that N.B. Thayer & Co. generated their own electricity for lighting at this time.

MILTON. The shaft which runs the dynamo at N.B. Thayer’s shoe factory broke Thursday, so they had to use kerosene for lighting purposes for a few nights (Farmington News, January 29, 1904).

PERSONALS. Elmer Thayer of Milton was present at the entertainment on Monday night (Farmington News, January 29, 1904).

MILTON. Michael Mack has returned to his work in the N.B. Thayer shoe factory (Farmington News, March 4, 1904).

(Michael Mack appeared in the Milton directory of 1900, as a shoe laster, with rooms at 6 Silver street).

Son Elmer F. Thayer and former N.B. Thayer & Co. cutting room foreman, Downing V. Osborne, formed their own shoe manufacturing partnership in Alton, NH, in March 1904. It was called the Thayer-Osborne Co. (Scales, 1914).

MILTON. Elmer Thayer and Downing Osborne have started in shoe business at Alton (Farmington News, March 12, 1904).

MILTON. Workmen have been engaged at Thayer shoe factory, for a few days, connecting the main shaft with the engine, so that in case of low water, and of too high water, the machinery can be operated with steam power (Farmington News, April 1, 1904).

MILTON. N.B. Thayer employes are to have a half holiday Saturdays, commencing this week (Farmington News, June 3, 1904).

Frank E. Fernald appeared in the Milton directory of 1905-06, as superintendent of N.B. Thayer & Co., with his house at 22 So. Main street.

Son Elmer F. Thayer married in Farmington, NH, June 28, 1905, Annie M. Edgerly, he of Alton, NH, and she of Farmington. He was a shoe manufacturer, aged forty-three years, and she was a bank clerk, aged thirty-four years. Rev. Edward D. Disbrow performed the ceremony. She was born in Farmington, NH, circa 1870, daughter of James B. and Maria J. (Fernald) Edgerly.

LOCAL. The N.B. Thayer Co. of Milton has engaged room in the G.A. Jones factory in this [Farmington] village, for the cutting of upper leather, which is found impracticable to do in necessary quantity in Milton, it being next to impossible to get cutters enough who are ready to live in that neighborhood, while they are available in Farmington. It needs hardly be said that we are very glad both to accommodate the firm named and to have an increase of work in our village (Farmington News, August 11, 1905).

Son Elmer F. Thayer’s Thayer-Osborne Co. purchased the disused Nute factory building in Farmington, NH, in late 1905, and removed their shoe machinery from Alton, NH, to Farmington, NH, in early 1906 (Farmington News, December 21, 1905).

LOCAL. Edwin E. Hill has a position as foreman of the heel room at the Farmington Shoe Mfg. Co., and E.A. Gross, formerly employed here, has accepted a position with N.B. Thayer & Co. of Milton (Farmington News, May 18, 1906).

N.B. Thayer & Co. took a lease on the former Fogg & Vinal shoe factory in East Rochester in May 1906. (Fogg & Vinal were principally based in Springvale, ME). Within a few years this East Rochester location would eclipse their Milton operation.

LOCAL. N.B. Thayer & Co. of Milton have taken a five years’ lease of the Fogg & Vinal shoe factory at East Rochester. The business will not be removed from Milton, hut it seems that the demand for this firm’s shoes is so great that it is obliged to increase the output. The factory at East Rochester is to be wired for electric lights, new floors laid, and the office enlarged. This work is to be done by the citizens. It is understood that this factory will be headquarters for the firm. They expect to begin manufacturing about September 1 (Farmington News, May 18, 1906).

In September 1906, the Boston Globe published what was apparently its first advertisement seeking N.B. Thayer & Co. shoe workers at East Rochester, NH.

MALE HELP WANTED. CUTTERS WANTED – Two outside cutters on vici and box calf. N.B. THAYER & Co., East Rochester, N.H. 2t s20 (Boston Globe, September 20, 1906).

Vici was “a trademark for high quality chrome-tanned kidskin with a soap and oil finish” (Wikipedia, 2021). Box calf was a process by which the leather was pre-dyed prior to working.

Some Short News Notes of Doings in the Trade. The large shoe factory at East Rochester, N.H., recently purchased by citizens, who have as a tenant, N.B. Thayer & Co., started up for business for the first time last week after years of idleness. It is the intention of the company to add inexperienced hands daily, until the full quota for stitching department is filled. The Thayer Company also has a large factory at Milton, N.H., and a large amount of stock that has been cut at this factory has arrived at East Rochester (Boot and Shoe Recorder, September 26, 1906).

Frank E. Fernald appeared again in the Boston Directory of 1907, as a superintendent, with his house at 23 Greenville street, in Roxbury. (He was superintendent at N.B. Thayer’s Roxbury plant). By the 1909 directory, he had “rem. to E. Rochester, NH.”

N.B. Thayer & Co., Inc., of Milton, NH, manufacturers of leather boots and shoes, registered (No. 59,842) their trademark with the U.S. Patent Office, January 22, 1907 (U.S. Patent Office, 1911).

TWO MODERN NEW HAMPSHIRE FACTORIES. The factories of N.B. Thayer & Co., Inc., illustrated herewith, are at East Rochester and Milton, respectively. Both of these commodious structures are devoted to the exclusive manufacture of the Thayer shoe for boys. The makers of this shoe have recently issued a remarkable illustrated catalogue showing latest styles in Thayer shoes, and reproductions of some of their interesting advertising helps furnished to dealers who sell these shoes. The line includes both McKays and welts in high cuts and oxfords. The following is an extract from their catalogue: “Specialization must be the rule of every manufacturer who attempts to produce the best in any article, and in nothing is it more true than in the manufacture of shoes. We are manufacturers of shoes for boys exclusively and during twenty years of continuous specialization we have acquired an experience in the manufacture of boys’ footwear which is evidenced in our product” (Shoe Retailer, February 16, 1907).

In August 1908, the Boston Globe published what appears to have been N.B. Thayer & Co.’s very last advertisement seeking shoe workers for its Milton factory.

FEMALE HELP WANTED. WANTED – Cylinder vamper on boys’ and youths’ fine shoes. Apply to N.B. THAYER & Co., Milton, N.H. SuM (Boston Globe, August 10, 1908).

N.B. Thayer & Co. lost their April 1909 appeal of the September 1908 negligence verdict against them in the case of Eva Warburton versus N.B. Thayer & Co.

Strafford, April 6, 1909} WARBURTON v. N.B. THAYER Co. CASE, for negligence. Trial by jury before Wallace, C.J., at the September term, 1908, of the superior court, and verdict for the plaintiff. The defendants manufactured shoes at East Rochester. The plaintiff was employed by them as a stitcher and was injured in consequence of her dress being caught upon a shaft revolving under the bench at which she worked. One ground of negligence was the absence of a skirt-guard or board. Subject to exception the plaintiff was permitted to offer evidence that skirt-boards were generally provided in the factory. The order was, Exception overruled. Felker & Gunnison, for the plaintiff. Kivel & Hughes, for the defendants (NH Supreme Court, 1911).

The plaintiff, Eva M. Warburton (1882-1959), was a daughter of Edward H. and Mary E. (Shorey) Warburton. She was a shoe factory vamper, aged twenty-seven years (b. NH), residing in the Rochester (“East Rochester Village”), NH, of her widowed mother at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census.

Nothing further has come to hand regarding N.B. Thayer & Co.’s Milton plant. Their factories at Roxbury, MA, and Rochester, NH, continued for another twenty years or so.

WILL GIVE AWAY SHOE SHOP. Rochester, March 17. – The East Rochester Improvement association, consisting of about forty residents of the village and the owners of the large shoe shop at that place, occupied by N.B. Thayer and company has voted to present the shop to the Thayer company, under the conditions they will pay the debt of $5,000, [which] is on the shop against the association. This move was brought about at a meeting, at which the association was asked to place a new boiler and engine in the factory. As yet, no action has been taken by the Thayers on account of the head officials being out of the city. An answer, however, is expected by the middle of the week. At the present time over 250 are employed there. The shop is said to be worth $30,000, but it has a long record and has cost the association more than that amount (Portsmouth Herald, March 18, 1909).

COMES TO PORTSMOUTH. Man From Rochester Takes Charge of Packing Room at Gale Shoe Company. Benjamin Garrett, for several years connected with the N.B. Thayer Shoe Co., at East Rochester, has taken the place as foreman of the packing room of the Gale Shoe Company (Portsmouth Herald, June 19, 1909).

(Benjamin F. Garrett appeared in the Rochester, NH, directory of 1909, as a shoe operative, boarding at 11 Highland street, in East Rochester).

Noah B. Thayer died of paralysis agitans, i.e., Parkinson’s Disease, in his residence at Central Street in Weymouth, MA, June 29, 1909, aged seventy-nine years, five months, and three days.

LOCAL. Mr. N.B. Thayer, father of Elmer F. Thayer of this town, died at his home in East Weymouth, Mass., last Tuesday, June 29 (Farmington News, July 2, 1909).

WILL OF NOAH B. THAYER. Weymouth Man Leaves Bequests of $3000 for Son and Daughter. DEDHAM, July 10 – The will of the late Noah B. Thayer of Weymouth has been filed with the Norfolk registry of probate. The will was drawn April 27, 1906, and an accompanying codicil was drawn Sept 6, 1906. By the will $3000 is left to one son, Frank H. Thayer. To one daughter, Carrie M. McBrlde, is left $3000, and all the household goods and furniture. The remainder of the property is left to the children, Frank H. and Elmer F. Thayer and Carrie M. McBride. Frank H. Thayer is suggested for executor (Boston Globe, July 10, 1909).

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Continued in Milton’s N.B. Thayer & Co. Shoe Factory – 1910-34

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References:

Find a Grave. (2016, May 8). Carrie M. Thayer McBride. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/162351856/carrie-m-macbride

Find a Grave. (2015, August 7). Frank Herbert Thayer. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/150294761/frank-herbert-thayer

Find a Grave. (2008, October 5). Frederick Nicholas Thayer. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/30325265/frederick-nicholas-thayer

Find a Grave. (2008, October 5). Noah Blanchard Thayer. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/30324570/noah-blanchard-thayer

Find a Grave. (2015, August 7). Richard Waterman Thayer. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/150294778/richard-waterman-thayer

McDuffee, Franklin. (1892). History of the Town of Rochester, New Hampshire, from 1722 to 1890. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=rL0yAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA500

MA District Police. (1901). Report of the Chief of the Massachusetts District Police. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=ACcrAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA101

NH Bureau of Labor. (1920). Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor of the State of New Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=J8JMAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA161

NH Bureau of Labor. (1924). Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor of the State of New Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=B8cFoLudq0IC&pg=PA54

NH Supreme Court. (1911). The New Hampshire Reports, June 1908-December 1910. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=TtRIAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA592

Scales, John. (1914). History of Strafford County, New Hampshire and Representative Citizens. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=nGsjAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA734

U.S. Patent Office. (1911). Annual Report of the Commissioner of Patents. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=x4enZnlxHJ0C&pg=PA687

U.S. Patent Office. (1930). Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=DdVF8AmFQOIC&pg=PA739

Wikipedia. (2021, September 24). Kidskin. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidskin

Wikipedia. (2021, May 4). National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Industrial_Recovery_Act_of_1933

Wikipedia. (2021, August 2). Panic of 1893. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1893

By Muriel Bristol | September 19, 2021

In his June 1878 report, the NH Superintendent of Instruction provided some statistics regarding Milton.

Milton’s town school committee members were identified as being J.P. Bickford (1844-1910) of Milton, Freeman H. Lowd (1853-1933) of Milton Mills, and Martin V.B. Cook (1839-1891) of Milton.

Milton had 10 school districts and 12 schools in town, 2 of which were graded schools. There were 10 schoolhouses, and 2 others that were unfit for use. Maps and globes were available in 2 schoolhouses. The value of schoolhouses, furnishings and sites was estimated at $10,000, and the value of apparatus was estimated at $100. Only 1 of the district schools had an average of 12 scholars of less; and none had an average of 6 scholars or less. The average run of district school classes was 15.7 weeks. (The Strafford County average was 23.45 weeks).

Milton had 1 fractional school district. It paid $43.00 in superintendence. Some 60 students had no absences during the year. It had 5 students attending private schools.

The school district with the largest sum on hand had $392.00, and that with the smallest had $30.00; the school district with the longest term had run 30 weeks students, and that with the shortest term had run for 12 weeks; the school district with the largest number of students had 49 students, and that with the smallest number had 7 students. The school assessment rate was $0.003 [per thousand].

Milton had 154 male and 161 female students enrolled. Of these, 20 were aged under six years, 272 were aged between 6 and 16 years, and 23 were aged over 16 years. There were 30 students pursuing higher branches, and there were 12 students aged between 5 and 15 years that were not attending any school. Average daily attendance was 262 students.

There were 3 male teachers, making an average of $60 per month, and 12 female teachers, making an average of $28.50 per month. Of these, 1 was teaching for the first time, and 5 had been teachers for more than one term. (One might infer that the remaining 9 had been teachers already for a single prior term). None of them had been to Normal school. Of 249 Strafford County teachers, only 16 (6.4%) had been to Normal school).

Under the heading Private Schools of a Higher Grade, Milton had its Classical Institute, which was situated at Milton Three Ponds. It had been chartered and organized in 1866. The value of its building, apparatus and grounds was $2,800. It had a 44-week school year, which began in September. It had no male teachers and 2 female teachers; and it had 17 male and 31 female students. Of these, 37 of them were NH residents, 18 of them were pursuing higher branches. Its principal was Miss Augusta Clement.

The school committee had available to it $3,594.61; of which $1,220.44 came from the town tax for support of schools, $1,942.61 came from district school taxes, $143.10 came from the literary fund, $30.00 came from local funds and the dog tax, $58.46 came from the railroad tax, and $200.00 came from contributions.

Milton expended $1,588.57 for new buildings, $130.00 in permanent repairs, $150.oo in miscellaneous expenses; and $1,343.00 in teacher salaries, for a grand total of $3,254.54. The average cost of salaries and miscellaneous expenses per scholar was $4.77. (The county average cost per scholar was $7.85).

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Previous in sequence: Milton in NH Education Report, 1877; next in sequence: Milton in NH Education Report, 1879

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References:

NH Superintendent of Public Instruction. (1878). Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=myMlAQAAIAAJ

By Muriel Bristol | September 15, 2021

Crosby Hanson Prescott was born in Acton, ME, October 7, 1850, son of Sewall W. and Marilla M. (Hersom) Prescott.

Sewell W. Prescott, a farmer, aged fifty-two years (b. ME), headed an Acton, ME, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Marilla M. Prescott, keeping house, aged forty-six years (b. ME), and his son, Crosby H. Prescott, a farmer, aged twenty-nine years (b. ME).

Crosby H. Prescott married in Rochester, NH, October 15, 1885, Annie F. Hurd, both of Acton, ME. He was a waiter, aged thirty-five years, and she was aged thirty-five years. Rev. Edward C. Bass performed the ceremony. She was born in Acton, ME, September 26, 1854, daughter of Mark C. and Rhoby P. (Ricker) Hurd. (Mark C. Hurd was a farmer and postmaster of Acton, ME).

Crosby H. Prescott worked at some point at the Crawford House hotel, likely as a waiter. The Crawford House was one of New Hampshire’s “Grand Summer Resorts.” It had been founded in Crawford Notch in Carroll, NH, in 1851. After a disastrous fire, it had been rebuilt in 1859 as the then largest hotel in the state, and run successfully until closed in 1975.

This [Crawford House] is a good hotel of the first class, 1,900 feet above the sea, with broad and almost interminable piazzas, cool and airy halls, post-office, telegraph-office, livery-stable, bowling-alley, gaslights; environs which the landscape-gardener has justly approved; and a dining-room where even Epicurus or Uncle Sam Ward need not famish …. Near the front of the house is the pretty little Saco Lake, the cradle of the Saco River, and so far widened and deepened by art as to give a reason for being for the boats which float on its crystal tide. The rugged forest between the lake and the overhanging mountain has been combed and brushed and perfumed, and otherwise adorned for a summer pleasaunce, so that it has won the happily suggestive name of Idlewild (Chisholm’s White-Mountain Guide-Book, 1887).

Crosby H. Prescott and his wife established together a series of smaller hotels and summer boarding houses in Milton Mills and Milton. They catered largely to a relatively new clientele: rusticators.

Hotel Prescott

SUMMER RESORTS. HOTEL PRESCOTT – Pleasantly situated; a desirable home for those seeking health, comfort and pleasure; good fishing and gunning; nice drives; good livery connected with the house; terms, $5 to $9 per week; transient $2 per day. C.H. PRESCOTT, Proprietor, Milton Mills, N.H.; formerly of the Crawford House, White Mountains. SSuTTh6t* jy16 (Boston Globe, July 17, 1887).

C.H. Prescott appeared in the Milton business directory of 1889, as proprietor of the eponymous Prescott House hotel (and livery stable) in Milton Mills.

SUMMER RESORTS. SUMMER BOARD for ladies or gentlemen can be obtained in a beautiful village in New Hampshire; home comforts; close to 3 churches and post office, organ, Boston papers, good livery, etc.; board $4 to $7 per week. Address C.H. PRESCOTT, Milton Mills, N.H. SuWF15t* jy13 (Boston Globe, July 16, 1890).

SUMMER RESORTS. HOTEL PRESCOTT – Pleasantly situated; a desirable home for those seeking health, comfort and pleasure; nice drives, good livery connected with the house ; terms $5 to $6 per week; transient $2 per day. C.H. PRESCOTT, Proprietor, Milton Mills, N.H. ThSu4t* au20 (Boston Globe, August 20, 1891).

C.H. Prescott appeared in the Milton business directory of 1892, as proprietor of the Hotel Prescott in Milton Mills. He appeared in the Milton business directories of  1894, and 1898, as proprietor of a summer boarding house at Milton Mills.

Crosby H. Prescott, a hotel headwaiter, aged forty-nine years (b. ME), headed a Milton (“Milton Mills Village”) household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of fifteen years), Annie F. Prescott, aged forty-five years (b. ME), his children, Lillian A. Prescott, at school, aged fourteen years (b. ME), Marion M. Prescott, at school, aged twelve years (b. NH), and Ruth H. Prescott, at school, aged eight years (b. NH), and his boarders, Clara A. Perkins, closing on shoes, aged twenty-six years, and Nellie B. Pike, a shoe lining maker, aged twenty years (b. ME). Crosby H. Prescott rented their house. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Sarah A. Witham, a home-keeper, aged eighty-six years (b. NH), and Frank J. Hurd, a factory fireman, aged forty-eight years (b. ME).

Western Avenue Cottage

C.H. Prescott appeared in the Milton business directories of 1901, as proprietor of a summer boarding house at Milton Mills.

Milton. WESTERN AVE. COTTAGE. Mrs. C.H. Prescott, owner. P.O. address, Milton Mills; railroad station, Union. Price $6 per week; accommodates 12 guests. Open all the year (Rollins, 1902).

Miltonia House

The Prescotts transferred their summer boarding house operation from Milton Mills to Milton Three Ponds, at sometime between 1902 and 1903. (Their boarding house did not appear in the directory of 1904).

SUMMER RESORTS. NEW HAMPSHIRE. MILTONIA HOUSE, Milton, N.H. -located on Miltonia lake, which for bass, white perch, pickerel and other varieties of fish, cannot be surpassed in the state; parties desirous of passing their vacation in the country should avail themselves of the excellent privilege this house affords; fine country scenery, pleasant drives, boats, telephone, postoffice, drug store, RR station close to house; terms $7 per week. C.H. PRESCOTT, Miltonia House, Milton, N.H.  (Boston Globe, August 7, 1904).

C.H. Prescott appeared in the Milton business directories of 1905-06, as proprietor of Miltonia House, at 50-52 Main Street in Milton, i.e., at Milton Three Ponds rather than, as formerly, at Milton Mills. He resided at the same address.

C.H. Prescott appeared in the NH Register, State Year-book and Legislative Manual directories of 1906, and 1907, as proprietor of the Miltonia House hotel.

C.H. Prescott appeared in the Milton directory of 1909, as having removed to Rochester, NH. (It would seem that he had actually gone to Farmington, NH).

Farmington, NH

Chester A. Bodwell, a shoe factory stitcher, aged twenty-two years (b. ME), headed a Farmington, NH, household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of three years), Ruth H. Bodwell, aged eighteen years (b. NH), his daughter, Frances L. Bodwell, aged three months (b. NH), his father-in-law, Crosby H. Prescott, a shoe factory treer, aged fifty-nine years (b. ME), and his mother-in-law, Annie F. Prescott, aged fifty-five years (b. ME). (They had been married for twenty-five years). Chester A. Bodwell rented their house on North Main Street. Ruth H. Bodwell was the mother of one child, of whom one was still living. Annie F. Prescott was the mother of four children, of whom three were still living.

Crosby H. Prescott, a janitor, aged sixty-nine years (b. ME), headed a Farmington, NH, household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Annie F. Prescott, aged sixty-five years (b. ME), and his grandchildren, Frances L. Bodwell, aged ten years (b. NH), and Donald C. Bodwell, aged six years (b. NH). Crosby H. Prescott owned their house at 24 Elm Street, with a mortgage.

(The grandchildren’s father, Chester A. Bodwell, a shoe shop foreman, aged thirty-one years (b. ME), was one of five boarders in the Farmington, NH, household of Henrietta Noyes, a laundress, aged forty-seven years (b. NH). He divorced Ruth H. (Prescott) Bodwell in Strafford County, February 27, 1923).

PERSONAL. C.H. Prescott who has been ill for several months, was up town on Tuesday, the first time since February (Farmington News, May 21, 1920).

TO LET. Convenient tenement at 24 Elm St. Apply to C.H. Prescott (Farmington News, May 21, 1920).

Bertrand E. Twombly, his wife Bessie P. (Plummer) Twombly, and their two sons, took up residence in the Farmington, NH, household of C.H. Prescott over the winter of 1920-21.

LOCAL. B.E. Twombly and family are moving from their farm at West Milton to the C.H. Prescott house on Elm street for the winter (Farmington News, November 12, 1920).

WEST MILTON. Mrs. Annie Cook spent part of last Friday with Mrs. C.H. Prescott in Farmington. Mr. Prescott is still in poor health (Farmington News, June 17, 1921).

Crosby H. Prescott died of angina pectoris in Farmington, NH, December 8, 1921, aged seventy-two years, two months, and one day. He had been a resident of Farmington for twelve years, i.e., since circa 1908-09, having formerly resided in Milton. E.S. Huntress, M.D., signed the death certificate.

Annie Prescott, a widow, aged seventy-five years (b. ME), headed a Rochester, NH, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. She owned her house at 36 Winter Street, which was valued at $1,600. She did not have a radio set.

Annie F. Prescott appeared in the Rochester, NH, directory of 1933, as the widow of Crosby H. Prescott, with her house at 36 Winter Street.

Annie F. (Hurd) Prescott died of lobar pneumonia at 36 Winter Street in Rochester, NH, August 10, 1933, aged seventy-eight years, ten months, and fifteen days. She had been a resident of Rochester, NH, for ten years, i.e., since circa 1922-23, having formerly resided in Farmington, NH. Edson M. Abbott, M.D., signed the death certificate.

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References:

Rollins, Frank W. (1902). Tourists’ Guide-book to the State of New Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=olz9I0XJhncC&pg=PA72

By Muriel Bristol | September 12, 2021

Continued from Milton’s Milton House Hotel, c1842-70

Milton’s Franklin House or Ben Franklin House appeared in the Milton business directories just as the Milton House left their pages. One might suppose that this represents merely a change of name and management rather than an entirely different hotel edifice. The Franklin House’s Joseph Jenness was the sometime manager or proprietor of both hotels.

Joseph Jenness – 1870-73, 1875

Joseph Jenness [Jr.] was born in Rochester, NH, in 1824, son of Joseph and Hannah (Potter) Jenness.

Joseph Jenness married, November 16, 1845, Reliance C. Witherell. She was born in Monmouth, ME, January 30, 1829, daughter of Rufus and Sarah T. (White) Witherell.

Joseph Jenness, a machinist, aged fifty-nine years (b. NH), headed a Somersworth, NH, household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. His household included Hannah [(Potter)] Jenness, aged fifty-seven years (b. NH), Mary Jenness, aged thirty-four years (b. NH), Peace Jenness, aged twenty-eight years (b. NH), Joseph Jenness, Jr., a manufacturer, aged twenty-seven years (b. NH), Isaac Jenness, a manufacturer, aged twenty-four years (b. NH), Alice Jenness, aged twenty years (b. NH), Benjamin Jenness, a manufacturer, aged eighteen years (b. NH), Sarah Jenness, aged fourteen years (b. ME), and Reliance [(Witherell)] Jenness, aged twenty-one years (b. ME). Joseph Jenness had real estate valued at $800.

Joseph Jenness, a landlord, aged thirty-six years (b. NH), headed a Milton (“Milton P.O.”) household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. His household included Reliance C. [(Witherell)] Jenness, aged thirty-one years (b. NH), C. Crosby, a hired man, aged twenty-four years (b. NH), Emiline Crosby, aged twenty-two years (b. NH), Lydia M. Crosby, aged thirty-one years (b. NH), Charles G. Crosby, aged seven years (b. NH). His household appeared in the enumeration between those of James Pinkham, a shoemaker, aged seventy years (b. NH), and Stephen Drew, a practicing physician in Milton 40 years, aged sixty-six years (b. NH). A marginal note indicated that this was the Milton Hotel. Joseph Jenness had no real estate valuation, which suggests he was not its owner.

His Milton House boarders in 1860 included John R. Palmer, postmaster, aged twenty-four years (b. NH), B.F. Rankins, a boarder, aged twenty-five years (b. NH), Chas. Neal, a boarder, aged twenty-two years (b. NH), David Wentworth, a boarder, aged twenty-three years (b. NH), Charles Peckham, a boarder, aged twenty-seven years (b. NH), Charles Nudd, Jr., a boarder, aged twenty-seven years (b. NH), D. Palmer, a boarder, aged twenty-five years (b. NH), J.C. Robinson, a boarder, aged thirty-two years (b. NH), C.C. Smith, a boarder, aged forty years (b. NH), James Miller, a boarder, aged twenty-six years (b. NH), Mrs. C. Lane a teacher of music, aged thirty-one years (b. NH), Pamelia C. Wetherell, aged twenty-nine years, S.C. Goodrich a dressmaker, aged twenty-two years (b. NH), Dr. Jackson, a physician, aged forty-two years (b. NH), and George Hattan, an Indian doctor, aged fifty-five years (b. NH).

Joseph Jenness, a stabler, aged thirty-nine years, registered for the Civil War military draft in Milton, in June 1863.

Rufus Witherell, farmer, aged sixty-nine years (b. ME), headed a Monmouth, ME, household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Sarah Witherell, keeping house, aged seventy-one years (b. ME), Joel W. Witherell, a farmer, aged thirty-four years (b. ME), Abbie G. [(Getchell)] Witherell, keeping house, aged thirty-one years (b. ME), Elsie A. Witherell, at home, aged eight years (b. ME), Mabel Witherell, at home, aged five years (b. ME), Ilda M. Witherell, at home, aged two years (b. ME), Mary E. Witherell, at home sick, aged thirty-one years (b. ME), Reliance [(Witherell)] Jenness, at home sick, aged forty-one years (b. ME), and Ambrose Crommett, works on farm, aged seventeen years (b. ME). Rufus Witherell had real estate valued at $5,000 and personal estate valued at $1,250.

Joseph Jenness appeared in the Milton business directories of 1873, and 1875, as proprietor or manager of the Ben Franklin House hotel.

Joseph Jenness appeared in the Dover, NH, directory of 1878, as night clerk at Granite State House, boarding there too.

Joel W. Witherell, a farmer, aged forty-three years (b. ME), headed a Monmouth, ME, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Abby D. [(Getchell)] Witherell, keeping house, aged forty-one years (b. ME), his children, Elsie A. Witherell, a school teacher, aged seventeen years (b. ME), Mabel Witherell, at school, aged fourteen years (b. ME), Illde A. Witherell, at school, aged twelve years (b. ME), Edith M. Witherell, at school, aged nine years (b. ME), Harvey H. Witherell, at school, aged seven years (b. ME), and Sarah E. Witherell, at school, aged five years (b. ME), his father, Rufus Witherell, a farmer, aged seventy-nine years (b. ME), his sister, Reliance C. [(Witherell)] Jenness, sewing, aged fifty-one years (b. ME), and his cousin, Elmer E. Gatchell, a farm laborer, aged seventeen years (b. ME).

Joseph Jenness died of consumption in Dover, NH, January 5, 1892, aged sixty-eight years.

Reliance C. (Witherell) Jenness died of diabetes mellitus in Revere, MA, September 2, 1901, aged seventy-two years, seven months, and two days.

DEATHS. In Revere, Mass. – Mrs. Reliance C. Jenness, 72 yrs. 7 mos. 2 ds. Prayers at 14 Centennial av., Revere, Tuesday, 4 p.m. Services and interment at Monmouth, Me, Sept. 4 at 4 p.m. (Boston Globe, September 3, 1901).

Alden T. Kidder – 1874

Alden Thayer Kidder was born in Dresden, ME, January 26, 1844, son of John and Thankful (Pushard) Kidder.

A member of the Second New Hampshire Regiment, who is himself a prisoner at Richmond, communicates to the Manchester Mirror a list of the names of forty-two members of the regiment who are now prisoners here. The list differs quite essentially from that previously published, which contained but twenty-eight names, and we therefore publish it although we have no means of determining which the more accurate. It is as follows: Herman Allen, John A. Barker, A.B. Bailey, John H. Barry, Joseph Burleigh, John Davis, Thurlow A. Emerson, Geo. C. Emerson, Moses Eastman, John L. Fitts, Galen A. Grout, A.L. Hall, Albert B. Robinson, Frank F. Weatherby, Frank K. Tucker, Samuel M. Joy, William H. Walker, W. Lord, Alden T. Kidder, Reuben F. Stevens, Charles H. Perry, Christy Jones, George E. Dow, Thomas E. Barker, Henry West, Henry Emerson, W.C. Haynes, Clark Stevens, Alonzo D. Leathers, Jacob Hall, Charles Rich, Daniel Martin, George H. Clay, Andrew L. Allen, Wyman W. Holden, Henry Moore, Levi W. Colbath, Joseph R. Morse, John F. Wheeler, Charles Chase, Henry Tibbetts, and John Rice (Portsmouth Herald, September 5, 1861).

John Kidder, a farm laborer, aged fifty-six years (b. ME), headed a Somersworth, NH, household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Thankfull Kidder, keeping house, aged fifty-three years (b. ME), Octavia Kidder, no occupation, aged thirty-two years (b. ME), Alden Kidder, a painter, aged twenty-five years (b. ME), Margaret J. [(Kidder)] Cole, a dressmaker, aged twenty-four years (b. ME), Henry Kidder, a farm laborer, aged twenty years (b. NH), Mabel Kidder, attending school, aged twelve years (b. NH), Susan Kidder (b. ME), works in cotton mill, aged fifty-three years (b. NH), William H. Cole, works in iron foundry, aged twenty years (b. NH), Warren Kidder, a shoe maker, aged twenty-nine years (b. ME), Margaret Shorey, works in cotton mill, aged thirty-five years (b. NH).

Alden T. Kidder married in Somersworth, NH, December 9, 1872, Emma A. Galaghner, he of Great Falls, [Somersworth,] NH, and she of Milton. He was a painter, aged twenty-eight years, and she was aged twenty-one years. Rev. True W. Woodman performed the ceremony. She was born in Milton [Farmington, NH], October 10, 1852, daughter of James and Eliza (Trask) Galnagh. (It was her younger sister whose pet dog had killed her pet chicken in 1869).

A. Kidder appeared in the Milton business directory of 1874, as proprietor or manager of the Franklin House hotel. (In 1900, he would be said to have lived in Somersworth, NH, for twenty-five years, i.e., he moved from Milton to there in or around 1875).

Alden Kidder appeared in the Great Falls, [Somersworth,] NH directory of 1876-77, as  a painter, boarding at John Kidder’s, on Main street. John Kidder had his house on Main street, near “Rollingsford,” i.e., Rollinsford, NH. Henry Kidder, a painter, boarded there also.

Alden T. Kidder, a hotel keeper, aged thirty-five years (b. ME), headed a Somersworth, NH, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Emma Kidder, aged twenty-six years (b. NH), his servant, Dennis Crowley, a servant, aged twenty-six years (b. NH), and his boarder, Annie Brown, no occupation, aged twenty-three years (b. MA).

Alden T. Kidder appeared in the surviving veterans’ schedule of the Eleventh (1890) Federal Census in Somersworth, NH, . He was said to have served two years, six months, and twenty-five days, having enlisted as a private in Co. D, of the 2nd NH Volunteer Infantry Regiment, May 27, 1861, and having mustered out, January 22, 1864. He had been imprisoned for ten months, and ten days, of that time in Richmond, VA, New Orleans, LA, and Salisbury, NC, from which he suffered still from malarial poison and scurvy.

Alden T. Kidder died of phthisis pulmonary (pulmonary tuberculosis) in Somersworth, NH, April 22, 1900, aged fifty-six years, two months, and twenty-four days.

Emma A. (Galnagh) Kidder died of liver cancer in Somersworth, NH, September 29, 1915.

R. West – 1876

R. West appeared in the Milton business directory of 1876, as proprietor or manager of the Ben Franklin House hotel.

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References:

Find a Grave. (2016, October 28). Alden Thayer Kidder. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/171912731/alden-thayer-kidder

By Muriel Bristol | September 5, 2021

Joseph Howard Avery was born in Acton, ME, June 29, 1844, son of John and Mary (Nealey) Avery.

JOSEPH H. AVERY, an enterprising business man of Milton, and an ex-member of the New Hampshire legislature, was born in Acton, Me., June 29, 1844, son of John and Mary (Nealey) Avery. The Avery family were early settlers in Parsonsfield, Me., and Joseph H. Avery’s great-grandfather was the first to break a road through the woods to that town from Rochester, N.H. John Avery has spent the greater part of his life in Acton, and has followed the carpenter’s trade in connection with farming. He is now [1897] eighty-six years old, and is still active both mentally and physically. He wedded Mary Nealey, a native of Sandwich, N.H., who has borne him eight children. Of these five are living: namely, Charles, George, Lorenzo, Jeremiah and Joseph H. (Biographical Review, 1897).

Joseph H. Avery appeared twice in the 1860 Census, first with his parents in Acton, ME, and then again residing in the household of a Milton shoemaker, John H. Crane, presumably as Crane’s apprentice.

John Avery, a farmer, aged forty-nine years (b. ME), headed an Acton, ME, household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. His household included Mary Avery, a seamstress, aged fifty years (b. NH), Charles Avery, a farm laborer, aged twenty-four years (b. ME), Thomas Avery, a farm laborer, aged twenty-two years (b. ME), George Avery, a farm laborer, aged twenty years (b. ME), Lorenzo Avery, a farm laborer, aged eighteen years (b. ME), Joseph H. Avery, a farm laborer, aged sixteen years (b. ME), Jeremiah Avery, aged fourteen years (b. ME), Mark Avery, aged eleven years (b. ME), and John J. Avery, aged nine years (b. ME). John Avery had real estate valued at $100 and personal estate valued at $50.

After receiving his education in the schools of Acton, Wakefield and Milton, Joseph H. Avery learned the shoemaker’s trade in this town and followed it for four years (Biographical Review, 1897).

John H. Crane, a shoemaker, aged forty-seven years (b. NH), headed a Milton (“Milton P.O.”) household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. His household included E.M. Crane, aged thirty years (b. NH), Frank P. Crane, aged seven years (b. NH), Harriet A. Crane, aged eight months (b. NH), and Joseph H. Avery, aged fifteen years (b. NH [SIC]). John H. Crane had real estate valued at $200 and personal estate valued at $150. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Nathan Jones, a shoemaker, aged thirty-five years (b. NH), and Jacob Staples, a shoemaker, aged fifty-four years (b. NH).

He next went to Boston, where he worked in a restaurant for three years. In 1866 he returned to Milton, and since that time has had a varied as well as a successful business career (Biographical Review, 1897).

Joseph H. Avery married (1st) in Milton, May 26, 1866, Thestah D. Hanscom, he [and she] of Milton. He was twenty-one years of age and she was twenty-four years of age. Rev. James Doldt performed the ceremony. She was born in Milton, January 13, 1846, daughter of Adaline Hanscom.

(In Classical antiquity, Thesta had been sister of the Syracusan tyrant Dionysus the Elder. Her noble reply to her tyrant brother in support of her husband, Polyxenus, who had escaped into exile, appeared in Plutarch’s Lives. She was regarded as a model of feminine strength and rectitude).

By his first wife, Thestah (Hanscom) Avery, there were two children: Herman, who died at the age of nine years; and Addie, who is the wife of O.W. Brown of Sanford, an enterprising business man (Biographical Review, 1897). 

Son Herman A. Avery was born in Milton, circa 1867. Daughter Addie M. Avery was born in Milton, May 7, 1868.

Joseph H. Avery, works for shoe factory, aged twenty-five years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Thesta Avery, keeping house, aged twenty-four years (b. NH), Hermon A. Avery, aged three years (b. NH), Addie Avery, aged two years (b. NH), Betsey [(Tibbetts)] Hanscom, aged ninety years (b. ME), and Susan M. Hanscom, aged sixty years (b. NH). Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Stephen Drew, a physician, aged seventy-nine years (b. NH), and Moses Downs, works for shoe factory, aged fifty-three years (b. VT).

Thestah D. (Hanscom) Avery died of consumption in Milton, March 16, 1875, aged twenty-nine years, two months, and three days.

Son Herman A. Avery died of a fever in Milton, in September 1875, aged nine years.

[J.]H. Avery & Co. appeared in the Milton business directory of 1880 as a Milton excelsior manufacturer.

Joseph H. Avery, an excelsior manufacturer, aged thirty-seven years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his daughter, Addie M. Avery, aged twelve years (b. NH), his help, Agnes Moore, a domestic servant, aged thirty-three years (b. Nova Scotia), and his boarders, Luman Drake, an excelsior mill worker, aged twenty-nine years (b. MA), and Frank Dillingham, an excelsior mill worker, aged twenty-six years (b. ME). Their household appeared in the enumeration between the households of William H. Gerrish, works on shoes, aged twenty-seven years (b. NH), and Elizabeth Rouch, does serving, aged seventy-eight years (b. ME).

J.H. Avery & Co. appeared in the Milton business directories of 1881, and 1882, as a Milton excelsior manufacturer. (S.M. Bragdon, i.e., Stephen M. Bragdon (1836-1909), took over as the excelsior manufacturer in 1884, 1887, and for some years thereafter).

J.H. Avery, of Milton, NH, registered as a guest at the American House hotel in Boston, MA, in early November 1881 (Boston Globe, November 7, 1881). (Lewis W. Nute and his wife had checked in there, again, just a few days earlier; they were more or less regular residents).

Joseph H. Avery married (2nd) in Milton, November 24, 1881, Emma C. Hanscom, both of Milton. He was an excelsior manufacturer, and she was a lady. Rev. George Sterling performed the ceremony. She was born in Milton, December 8, 1851, daughter of James C. and Sarah (Jones) Hanscom. (She was a cousin of Avery’s deceased first wife).

His present wife, who was before marriage Emma Hanscom, is the mother of one daughter, Elsie (Biographical Review, 1897).

Daughter Elsie G. Avery was born in Milton, April 28, 1882.

One source had a Milton citizens’ group erecting a mill in 1884, with other sources claiming that J.H. “Howard” Avery built both the mill and its associated dam. Possibly Avery headed the citizens’ group. The mill was said to be “his” in 1885 and 1893. (He would in 1904 be a “promoter” of a similar group: the Milton & Lebanon Building Association (with, among others, Frank H. Thayer))

In 1884 an organization composed of citizens of the town erected a shoe factory 160 x 40 and four stories high, with other accessories, at Milton, at a cost of $12,000 which was leased to Burley & Usher in 1885, who were afterwards succeeded by N.B. Thayer & Co., the present occupants. Misses’ and children’s kid and Dongola spring heel slippers are manufactured, and employment is given to 100 or more hands. Steam and water are used for power and the firm is not exempt from taxation (NH Bureau of Labor, 1897).

LEBANON, ME. Howard Avery has let one room in his new mill for parties to manufacture boat oars. Now is a good chance for farmers to sell a little good timber (Farmington News, December 18, 1885).

Politically he acts with the Republican party. He was Chairman of the Board of Selectmen during the years 1886, 1887, and 1888, was Representative to the legislature in 1889 and 1890, and was again elected a Selectman in 1896. … His official duties have always been discharged with a zeal and efficiency that have earned the hearty commendation of his fellow townsmen (Biographical Review, 1897).

J.H. Avery appeared in the Milton business directories of 1887, and 1889, as a Milton flour and meal manufacturer.

REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS. J.Q.A. Toppan to J.H. Avery, land in Milton, $20; J.Q.A. Toppan to J.H. Avery, land in Milton, $100; S.E. Dixon to J.H. Avery, land in Milton, $50 (Farmington News, July 8, 1887).

Daughter Addie M. Avery married in Milton, July 26, 1887, Orlando W. Brown, both of Milton. She was a lady, aged nineteen years, and he was a clerk, aged twenty-four years. Rev. Frank Haley performed the ceremony. Brown was born in Wolfeboro, NH, in 1859, son of Bradley M. and Lucilla J. “Lizzie” (Mason) Brown.

One of his [John Avery’s] sons, Joseph Howard Avery, an active, energetic business man, is located at Milton. He has a family of wife and two daughters, the eldest the wife of a Mr. Brown of Tuftonboro. The youngest is but six years of age (Dearborn, 1888). 

PERSONAL. J.H. Avery will start a toothpick factory in Milton, which will give employment to fifty persons (Farmington News, May 18, 1888).

The Milton Selectmen of 1888 were J.H. Avery, Charles C. Hayes, and Chas. Hayes. (Charles C. Hayes (1822-1893) was a farmer and setter of water wheels; Charles Hayes (1844-1892) was a farmer).

Milton elected Joseph H. Avery to the NH House of Representatives for the 1889-90 biennium. (The biennium ran from June 6, 1889 to December 31, 1890). He was credited for 170 miles of [roundtrip] mileage reimbursement, which suggests a much more circuitous route than those presently available. (The representatives from neighboring Farmington, NH, were credited with 156 miles). He filed a bill in June 1889: “By Mr. Joseph H. Avery of Milton, ‘An act to incorporate the Nute High School and Library in the town of Milton'” (NH General Court, 1889; NH Secretary of State, 1889).

MILTON. Mr. James Hanscomb, for many years a resident of Milton, died Wednesday morning about 9 o’clock of pneumonia, following la grippe. Mr. Hanscomb was a man highly esteemed in the community and his loss will be felt. His wife was taken away but a few months ago, since which time he has lived with his daughter at the old home. Mr. Hanscomb was about 70 years of age and the last surviving member of a large family of brothers and sisters. He leaves two children who have the sympathy of many friends in their bereavement, the unmarried daughter mentioned above and Mrs. J. Howard Avery of this village (Farmington News, [Friday,] January 31, 1890).

MILTON. J. Howard Avery went to Concord, Tuesday, he being a member of the legislature (Farmington News, December 5, 1890).

MILTON. J.H. Avery has sold his flour and grain business (Farmington News, January 30, 1891).

MILTON. At the republican caucus Saturday afternoon, the following delegates were chosen to the different conventions. State – E.W. Fox and Frank Horner; Congressional – R.M. Kimball and C.D. Fox; Senatorial – Luther Hayes and B.B. Plummer; Councillor – Chas. A. Jones and S.W. Wallingford; County – Fred B. Roberts and C.W. Gross; Town Committee – Chas. H. Looney, president, B.B. Plummer, secretary, Luther Hayes, C.A. Jones, J.H. Avery, W.H.H. Pinkham, Fred B. Roberts, S.W. Wallingford, Charles D. Fox and Charles W. Gross. The democratic flag raising took place last Thursday evening. Hon. S.D. Felker of Rochester and Isaac Pearl of Farmington addressed a large audience at A.O.U.W. hall (Farmington News, September 9, 1892). 

The shoe factory operated by N.B. Thayer & Co. was erected by him [J.H. Avery] and he constructed the dam on the Salmon River which supplies it with power. His building enterprises have contributed much to the town’s improvement. He now ranks as one of Milton’s most enterprising and progressive business men (Biographical Review, 1897). 

MILTON. Howard Avery is to build an addition of seventy feet to his shoe shop for N.B. Thayer‘s use. The stones for the foundation are being hauled (Farmington News, March 24, 1893).

MILTON. J.H. Avery has received a part of the lumber for the building of the extension upon the shoe shop occupied by N.B. Thayer (Farmington News, April 13, 1893).

The Milton Selectmen of 1896-97 were S.W. Wallingford, Joseph H. Avery, and Freeman H. Lowd. (Hon. Samuel W. Wallingford (1837-1899) was a Plummer’s Ridge farmer and former NH State Representative; Freeman H. Lowd (1853-1933) was a Milton Mills storekeeper (his wife was a daughter of Ira Miller)).

Joseph H. Avery received appointment as Milton postmaster, June 14, 1897. Such appointments were political sinecures. As this one was granted during the term of Republican President William McKinley (1897-1901), one might infer that Avery was a Republican also.

He has recently received the appointment as Postmaster of Milton (Biographical Review, 1897).

MILTON NEWS LETTER. POST OFFICE REMOVED TO ITS NEW QUARTERS. The postoffice, which was to have changed hands July 1, was delayed, and did not come under new management till July 15. Postmaster Avery will have as his assistants his daughter, Miss Elsie Avery, and Harry O. Coles. The new rooms which have been designed for the use of the postoffice are finished and equipped in model style throughout (Farmington News, July 16, 1897).

Henrietta (Jones) Dorsey cast Howard Avery in a negative light in her testimony regarding the Jones Poisoning Murder of 1897.

Mrs. Dorsey spoke very bitterly against Howard Avery, chairman of the Milton board of selectmen. She says that when her mother died Avery desired to administer the estate, but his offer, which included the care of Mr. Jones, was refused by the children. She says that Avery has long desired to get hold of a certain piece of property in Milton that was owned by her mother, and she knows that the relations of her brother with Mr. Avery have been unpleasant (Boston Globe, December 18, 1897).

Of course, Mrs. Dorsey might not have been the best judge of character. At the instigation of the actual murderer, she and her sister had accused falsely their father. Avery having had unpleasant relations with the murderer might have been taken as more of a recommendation rather than otherwise.

Nute High School graduations formerly featured an annual undergraduate prize speaking contest, with judging by invited dignitaries. Miss Elsie G. Avery was said to have been the only member of her Nute High School graduating Class of 1899. She went on to attend Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY.

LOCALS. The judges of the prize speaking at the Nute high school on Wednesday evening were the Hon. Henry E. Cobb of Newton, Mass., the Hon. J.W. Sanborn of Sanbornville, and Willis McDuffee of the FARMINGTON NEWS and Rochester Courier. The sole graduate of 1899 was Miss Elsie G. Avery of Milton (Farmington News, June 16, 1899).

Joseph H. Avery, postmaster, aged fifty-five years (b. ME), headed a Milton (“Milton Village”) household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of nineteen years), Emma C. Avery, aged forty-eight years (b. NH), and his daughter, Elsie G. Avery, assistant postmaster, aged eighteen years (b. NH). Joseph H. Avery owned their house free-and-clear. Emma C. Avery was the mother of one child, of whom one was still living. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of George W. Rand, in leatherboard mill, aged thirty years (b. MA), and George E. Jones, a day laborer, aged fifty-one years (b. NH).

J.H. Avery appeared in the Milton business directories of 1901, 1904, 1905-06, and 1909, as Milton postmaster.

The NH General Court authorized incorporation of the Milton Water Works Company, March 21, 1901, with initial board members Malcom A.H. Hart, Charles H. Looney, S. Lyman Hayes, Charles D. Jones, Fred B. Roberts, Harry Avery, George E. Wentworth, Joseph H. Avery, Ira W. Jones, Arthur W. Dudley, Everett F. Fox, Henry F. Townsend, Freeman H. Lowd, William T. Wallace, Frank G. Horne, Charles A. Jones, and Nathaniel G. Pinkham. It established itself July 19, 1899, with Harry L. Avery as its treasurer (NH Secretary of State, 1901).

U.S. President McKinley was fatally wounded by an assassin at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY, in the first year of his second term, September 6, 1901, and died eight days later, September 14, 1901. He was succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt. (There was not at this time any mechanism for the successor President to appoint a replacement Vice President). Postmaster Avery’s appointment was confirmed or continued under President Roosevelt, October 22, 1901.

MILTON. Miss Elsie Avery is visiting friends in Farmington (Farmington News, August 23, 1901).

MILTON. Miss Elsie Avery returned to Vassar college Tuesday morning (Farmington News, September 13, 1901).

MILTON. Miss Elsie Avery came home from Vassar College Monday in charge of a trained nurse (Farmington News, January 24, 1902).

Avery’s daughter (of his second marriage), Elsie G. Avery, died of typhoid fever (four weeks duration) in Milton, February 6, 1902, aged nineteen years, nine months, and nine days. She was a student [presumably a Junior]. M.A.H. Hart, M.D., signed the death certificate.

The Milton Selectmen of 1902-03 were H.R. Jewett, J.H. Avery, and F.B. Roberts. (Haven R. Jewett (1856-1924) was a Milton farmer; Frederick B. Roberts (1863-1943) was a Milton lumberman).

Postmaster J.H. Avery served as a pallbearer at the funeral of the Hon. Charles H. Looney on Saturday, April 26, 1902 (Farmington News, May 2, 1902).

Avery’s father, John Avery, died of paralysis in Acton, ME, May 22, 1903, aged ninety-two years. W.E. Pillsbury, M.D., signed the death certificate.

Joseph H. Avery was one of the “promoters” of the Milton & Lebanon Building Association, when it was incorporated in February 1904.

Maine Corporations. Milton & Lebanon Building Association, Lebanon – Capital, $10,000. Promoters, F.H. Thayer, Boston; Joseph H. Avery, B.B. Plummer, J. Gardner Alden, Milton; Ira W. Jones, Lebanon (Boston Globe, February 29, 1904).

The Milton Selectmen of 1904-05 were H.R. Jewett, J.H. Avery, and C.A. Jones. (Haven R. Jewett (1856-1924) was a Milton farmer; Charles A. Jones (1851-1934) was a Milton farmer (Hydraulic engineer Ira W. Jones was his younger brother)).

Grandson Orlando W. Brown, Jr., then about seven years of age, accompanied his mother, Addie M. (Avery) Brown on a visit to his Milton grandparents.

MILTON. Mrs. Orlando Brown and son of Sanford, Me., are the guests of Mrs. Brown’s father, J.N. Avery (Farmington News, June 3, 1904).

Joseph H. Avery received reappointment as Milton postmaster, December 14, 1904.

The Milton Selectmen of 1906 were J.H Avery, B.B. Plummer, and E.A. Wentworth. (Hon. Bard B. Plummer (1846-1919) was a Plummer’s Ridge farmer and former NH State Representative; Edgar A. Wentworth (1856-1932) was a Milton teamster). By the terms of recently passed forestry legislation, one of the selectman had to be designated annually as the town forest fire warden; and J.H. Avery was so designated for this term (NH Forestry Commission, 1906).

Joseph H. Avery received reappointment as Milton postmaster, December 14, 1908. (He was succeeded by James H. Willey, July 26, 1913).

Joseph Avery, postmaster, aged sixty-five years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included his wife of (thirty-five years), Emma C. Avery, aged fifty-eight years (b. NH). Joseph Avery owned their house, free-and-clear. Emma C. Avery was the mother of one child, of whom one was still living. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of John Varney, an odd jobs laborer, aged thirty-eight years (b. NH), and Hugh Beaton, a B&M Railroad station agent, aged thirty-six years (b. OH).

Local. Asa Dearborn Perkins, a resident of Milton Three Ponds, formerly of Farmington, was drowned in the pond at Milton last Sunday evening. He, in company with Jewel Smith, went out quite late to take a pleasure ride and fishing trip. When about one-fourth of a mile from shore, and about one-half mile above the depot, one of the men attempted to change seats and the boat was tipped over. Their cries were heard by Howard Avery who lives near the pond and he at once went to the aid of the men and succeeded in saving Mr. Smith but was unable to save Mr. Perkins. The unfortunate man was a native of Milton, aged 67 years (Farmington News, September 9, 1910).

In March 1911, the NH General Court approved the incorporation of the Nute Charitable Association (as set forth in the last will of Lewis W. Nute.

Section 1. That Everett F. Fox, Charles A. Jones, M.A.H. Hart, Harry L. Avery, Walter E. Looney, Charles D. Fox, Moses G. Chamberlain, and their successors are hereby made a body corporate by the name of the Nute Charitable Association, and shall have and enjoy all the powers and privileges and be subject to all the liabilities incident to corporations of a similar nature, and by that name may sue and be sued. Harry L. Avery or Charles A. Jones may call the first meeting of said association by letter mailed to each member of said association at least seven days prior to the date set for said first meeting (NH General Court, 1911a).

Section 1 was amended by the NH Senate to add the names Bard B. Plummer, and Joseph H. Avery after the name Harry L. Avery (NH General Court, 1911b).

J.H. Avery appeared in the Milton business directory of 1912, as Milton postmaster.

Avery’s surviving child (of his first marriage), Addie M. (Avery) Brown of Sanford, ME, died of cirrhosis of the liver in Milton, September 22, 1913, aged forty-five years, four months, and fifteen days. M.A.H. Hart, M.D., signed the death certificate.

Joseph H. Avery, aged seventy-five years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Emma C. Avery, aged sixty-seven years (b. NH), and his boarders, Walter R. Atwater, a Milton Ice Co. laborer, aged forty-seven years (b. ME), Peter W. Dwyer, a Milton Ice Co. laborer, aged sixty-eight years (b. MA), and Burley E. Sawyer, a leatherboard laborer, aged forty-two years (b. ME). Joseph Avery owned their house on Upper Main Street in Milton Village, free-and-clear. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Walter I. Burrows, a civil engineer for I.W. Jones Co., aged thirty-two years (b. MA), and Martha E. Clements, a leatherboard box finisher, aged fifty-nine years (b. NH).

Joseph H. Avery, retired, aged eighty-five years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Emma C. Avery, aged seventy-eight years (b. NH). Joseph H. Avery owned their two-family residence on North Main Street, which was valued at $3,000. They did not have a radio set. They shared their two-family residence with the household of Lewis Dwyer, a fibre mill laborer, aged thirty-nine years (b. VT). Dwyer rented their portion of the residence for $10 per month; and he did have a radio set.

Emma C. (Hanscom) Avery died of arterio-sclerosis on Main Street in Milton, November 14, 1933, aged eighty-one years, eleven months, and six days. M.A.H. Hart, M.D., signed the death certificate.

J. Howard Avery died of pneumonia on Main Street in Milton, September 27, 1937, aged ninety-three years, two months, and twenty-eight days. He was was retired merchant, who had resided in Milton for seventy years. M.A.H. Hart, M.D., signed the death certificate.

LOCAL. Several members of Fraternal Lodge, A.F. & A.M., of this [Farmington] town, and other local friends attended the funeral of Howard H. [J.] Avery in Milton, Wednesday afternoon. Mr. Avery was one of the oldest residents and one of the town fathers, having served as postmaster, legislator, selectman and in other public offices over many years (Farmington News, October 1, 1937).

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References:

Biographical Review. (1897). Biographical Review: Containing Life Sketches of Leading Citizens of Strafford and Belknap Counties, New Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=C2sjAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA110

Dearborn, Jeremiah W. (1888). A History of the First Century of the Town of Parsonsfield, Maine. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=lgk1AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA350

Find a Grave. (2015, September 16). John Avery. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/152381849/john-avery

Find a Grave. (2015, September 16). Joseph Howard Avery. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/152380929/joseph-howard-avery

Find a Grave. (2011, August 9). Adeline May “Addie” Avery Brown. Retrieved from https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/74662187/adeline-may-brown

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NH General Court. (1911b). Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of New-Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=iT8tAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA317

NH Secretary of State. (1889). New Hampshire Manual of Useful Information. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=W0ZGAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA408

North, Sir Thomas. (1579). Plutarch’s Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=p7bTAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA146

Wikipedia. (2021, August 12). Wood Wool [Excelsior]. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_wool