By Muriel Bristol | February 6, 2022
Theodore Cushing “T.C.” Lyman was not born under that name. He was born as Theodore Ham in Dover, NH, in 1770.
His grandson, John D. Lyman (1823-1902), would devise in his will a number of mementos to family and friends. Among them was a fire shovel, which he gave to his son, John T. Lyman (b. 1862).
The little old fire shovel (the one used by John Twombley born about 1732 and who lived on my father’s farm and brought up my grandfather Theodore Cushing Lyman, and my first property excepting a dollar given me by Wm. Allen Lord) (Rockingham County Probate, 220:182; Portsmouth Herald, September 25, 1902).
Through which one may learn that John Twombly (1732-1825) had raised Theodore Cushing Lyman – then Theodore Ham, – as a child, and had late in life lived on Micah Lyman’s Milton farm. (And that William Allen Lord had given a dollar to a young John D. Lyman (perhaps as a gift on the occasion of Lord’s marriage to his paternal aunt)).
The Mitchell-Cony account of Milton’s first settlement had John Twombly settling in the “Varney neighborhood” around 1771-72.
About ten or a dozen years later, in 1771 or 1772, John Twombly established himself in the so-called Varney neighborhood. His nearest neighbor was a man named Jenkins upon Goodwin Hill at the time.
As one may see later, Theodore C. Lyman had several South Milton mill associates named Varney. “Goodwinville” was later a neighborhood on the ridgeline in West Milton (along the Governor’s Road).
Milton Town Clerk Ruth L. (Plummer) Fall (1886-1960) claimed Twombly as one of her own.
John Twombly died in Milton in 1825, aged ninety-three years. He is buried on the farm of my great-great-grandfather, who was taken when a young boy by John Twombly. This Twombly was a native of Madbury. When our New Hampshire troops, stationed at Ticonderoga during the Revolution, were reported to be in need of supplies, John Twombly yoked up his oxen, and drove to Portsmouth, where his team was loaded with flour, powder, bacon and rum. Then he journeyed across New Hampshire and Vermont to Fort Ticonderoga where he was gladly welcomed by our needy soldiers (Bartlett, 1952).
John Twombly headed a Rochester, NH, household at the time of the First (1790) Federal Census. His household included two males aged 16-plus years and one female. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Richard Mason and Ebenezer Jones. (See Northeast Parish in the First (1790) Federal Census).
Theodore Ham married (1st) in Rochester, NH, January 3, 1797, Dorothy “Dolly” Allen, both of Rochester (NEHGS, 1908). She was born in Rochester, NH, August 24, 1769, daughter of William and Hannah (Emerson) Allen.
Son Micah Ham was born in Rochester (Milton as would be), NH, November 23, 1797. Daughter Lovey Ham was born in Rochester, NH, in 1800.
Theodore Ham headed a Northeast Parish, Rochester, NH, household at the time of the Second (1800) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 26-44 years [himself], one female aged 26-44 years [Dorothy (Allen) Ham], one male aged 16-25 years, one male aged 10-15 years, one male aged under-10 years [Micah Ham], and one female aged under-10 years [Lovey Ham]. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Clement Hayes and Nicholas Harford. (See Northeast Parish in the Second (1800) Federal Census).
Daughter Clarissa L. Ham was born in Milton, October 9, 1802. Son George D. Ham was born in Milton, August 27, 1804. Son William Blake Ham, was born in Milton, April 23, 1807.
State of New Hampshire }
AN ACT AUTHORIZING THEODORE HAM AND HIS FAMILY TO ASSUME THE NAME OF LYMAN. ~
[Approved December 13, 1808. Original Acts, vol. 20, p. 26; recorded Acts, vol. 18, p. 32]
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court convened, That Theodore Ham of Milton in the County of Strafford, be, and he hereby is authorized and empowered to assume and bear the name of Theodore C Lyman, and the children of the said Theodore are hereby authorized and empowered to assume and bear the name of Lyman, instead of that of Ham and the name of Lyman to annex to each and every of their christian, given or baptismal names instead of the name of Ham as aforesaid, and by those names respectively, in future, shall be called and known, any law, usage or custom to the contrary notwithstanding. ~
Provided, that nothing in this act contained, shall impair any contract or obligation by them or either of them made, or affect any action or suit now pending in any Court of law, within this State wherein the said Theodore or either of his children is a party ~ (NH Secretary of State, 1918).
Roxana A. Lyman was born in Milton, in 1809. She would have been the first child born under the name Lyman. (The others had their surnames changed from Ham to Lyman in the prior year).
Theodore C. Lyman and twenty-two other Strafford County inhabitants petitioned the NH Governor and his Executive Council, January 31, 1810, to have Amos Cogswell (1752-1826), Esq., of Dover, NH, appointed as Strafford County Sheriff. Cogswell had been an officer during the Revolutionary War and was a Colonel in the militia. (Beard Plumer, Levi Jones and William Jones signed also this petition).
[T.] C. Lyman headed a Milton household at the time of the Third (1810) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 26-44 years [himself], two females aged 26-44 years [including Dorothy (Allen) Lyman], one male aged 10-15 years [Micah Lyman], one female aged 10-15 years [Lovey Lyman], two females aged under-10 years [Clarissa Lyman and Roxana A. Lyman], two males aged under-10 years [George D. Lyman and William B. Lyman], and one female aged 45-plus years. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Ebenr. Gate and Jno. Twombly.
At the U.S. Congress, in January 1811, Milton’s Theodore C. Lyman and [Rep.] John Fish (c1760-181[9?]) sought salvage rights in any public property that might be lying at the bottom of Lakes George and Champlain in New York state. (U.S. Representative William Hale (1765-1848) of Dover, NH, presented their petition).
Mr. Hale presented a petition of Theodore C. Lyman and John Fish, of the State of New Hampshire, stating that they have invented a machine for exploring the bottoms of Lakes Champlain and George; and praying that they may have the exclusive property in all articles which belonged to the public prior to being lost, and which they may recover. Ordered, That the said petition be referred to the Committee of Commerce and Manufacture (US Congress, 1826).
This begs so many questions. What was the nature of their machine? Perhaps a floating derrick, a diving bell, or something truly innovative, such as a submarine. What public property did they hope or expect to find? Perhaps something lost in those lakes during the Revolutionary War. Did they experiment by exploring the depths of Milton Three Ponds or Lake Winnipesaukee? At any event no further information has come to hand and that distant lakes region would become again a seat of war during the War of 1812.
Milton sent Theodore C. Lyman twice as its representative to the NH legislature, first in the 1811-12 biennium. (He succeeded his salvage associate, John Fish, in that office).
Theodore C. Lyman was one of ten petitioners that recommended Mr. Dominicus Hanson (b. 1760), then Strafford County Registrar of Deeds, for appointment as justice-of-the-peace. Their June 1812 petition was dated Concord, NH. (Hanson did receive his appointment as a justice in Dover, NH, November 8, 1813).
Son Theodore Lyman was born in Milton, August 23, 1812.
The Mitchell-Cony directory relates that there was a “famous” celebration at the T.C. Lyman tavern in [South] Milton, April 15, 1815, “which fitly manifested the joy and satisfaction of the people here over the outcome of the war,” i.e., the War of 1812. (In 1876, Betsy ((Meserve) Pinkham) Lyman would remember that there was also a thanksgiving service on that occasion at the Tuttle school in West Milton).
State of New Hampshire }
AN ACT TO INCORPORATE GRAPE ISLAND MILL COMPANY
[Approved June 20, 1817. Original Acts, vol. 24 p. 73, recorded Acts, vol. 21, p. 32]
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened, that Jacob Varney, Theodore C. Lyman and Job Varney and their associates, successors and assigns be, and they hereby are, incorporated and made a body corporate and politic, by the name and style of Grape Island Mill Company. and by that name may sue and be sued prosecute and defend to final judgment and execution. and they are hereby vested with all the powers and privileges which by law are incident to similar institutions.
And be it further enacted, that said Jacob Varney and Theodore C. Lyman or either of them may call the first meeting of said Corporation, at any suitable time and place in the town of Milton, in the County of Strafford, by posting up notifications for that purpose in said Milton and in the towns of Farmington and Rochester, at some public place in each of said Towns, fourteen days prior to the time of holding said meeting; at which meeting they may elect a Clerk, who shall be sworn, and all other officers necessary for such an institution; and shall also agree on a method of calling future meetings, and determine on the time of their annual meeting, and make and establish, generally, such rules, by laws and regulations, not inconsistent with the laws of the State, as shall be deemed necessary and proper for the government of said Corporation; and may divide the same into a convenient number of shares ~ and all absent members may be represented at any meeting, by written authority, which shall be filed by the Clerk; and in all cases each share shall be entitled to one vote ~
And be it further enacted, that said Corporation be and they hereby are authorized and empowered to build, support and keep in repair in Milton aforesaid, on Salmon fall river, so called, any buildings or works necessary and convenient for sawing lumber, grinding and bolting grain and meal and carding wool and cotton, and the business necessarily connected therewith, and may purchase and hold in fee simple or otherwise any lands adjoining said buildings and works, necessary and convenient for said Proprietors not exceeding three acres. And the share or shares of any proprietor may be sold by said Corporation for non payment of assessments duly made, agreeably to the by laws of said Corporation ~ and any proprietor may alienate his share or shares in said Corporation by deed duly executed and recorded by the Clerk (NH Secretary of State, 1918).
President Monroe visited New England in the summer following his 1817 inauguration. He traveled from Boston, MA, to Portsmouth, NH, and Portland, ME, returning via Dover, NH.
The President was then escorted by the principal inhabitants of Dover, a part of Capt. [Theodore C.] Lyman’s troop from Rochester & Milton, under the command of Col. Edward Sise, and a great cavalcade of citizens to this town. On his arrival he received a national salute from the artillery. After passing a few moments at Wyatt’s Inn, the President, attended by his suite, proceeded to an eminence arranged for the purpose, near Col. Cogswell’s, decorated with the rural simplicity of evergreens and roses, where he was addressed by the Hon. Wm. King Atkinson … (Wadleigh).
Milton sent Theodore C. Lyman as its representative to the NH legislature for a second – non-contiguous – term in the 1818-19 biennium. (He succeeded William Plumer in that office).
Theodore C. Lyman and thirteen other Strafford County inhabitants petitioned the NH Governor and his Executive Council, June 24, 1818, to have Jonathan Locke of Dover, NH, appointed as Warden of the state prison. Locke was then keeper of the Strafford County jail or prison. (Amos Cogswell signed also this petition).
Theodore C. Lyman and twenty other NH Representatives from Strafford County petitioned the NH Governor and his Executive Council, June 8, 1819, to have John P. Hale (1775-1819), Esq., of Rochester, NH, appointed as Strafford County Registrar of Probate. Hale would die later that same year.
DIED. At Rochester, (N.H.,) in the 45th year of his age, John P. Hale, Esquire, counsellor at law (New York Evening Post, October 19, 1819).
(Hale was father of John P. Hale, Jr. (1806-1873), who would be U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and one of the principal anti-slavery politicians of the ante-bellum period. (There is a statue of him in front of the NH State House and a portrait painting of him hanging in the NH House chamber)).
Theodore C. Lyman and six others petitioned the NH Governor and his Executive Council, June 10, 1819, to have John Hill of Middleton, NH, appointed as a second Middleton justice-of-the-peace.
The NH House passed a housekeeping measure, June 30, 1819, in order to correct an error in the travel allowances of Representatives Theodore C. Lyman of Milton and Joshua Lane of Chichester.
Presented. A resolve that Theodore C. Lyman, esquire, and Joshua Lane, esquire, members of the House of Representatives, have and receive out of the Treasury the following sums, viz. the said Lyman two dollars and the said Lane one dollar and sixty çents, those sums being deficiencies in their travel the present session, as certified by the Clerk. Was brought up read and concurred (NH General Court, 1819).
Captain Theodore C. Lyman was one of fourteen officers of the Second NH Militia Regiment that petitioned the NH legislature, September 23, 1819, for appointment of a regimental surgeon’s mate. The regimental surgeon, who resided in Dover, NH, was too distant from them to fulfill all their needs alone. (Ensign Norton Scates was another of the petitioners).
Daughter Lovey Lyman married in Rochester, NH, January 27, 1820, Benjamin Scates, Jr., both of Milton. Rev. Haven performed the ceremony. He was born in Milton, April 10, 1794, son of Benjamin and Lydia (Jenness) Scates.
A dispute regarding the Milton militia company – and especially the great distances some militiamen had to travel to attend its training days – arose in 1820. The regimental field officers refused a request to divide the company into two parts. Those seeking two companies petitioned the NH legislature to simply divide the town instead, which would achieve the same object of having two companies.
Some 127 Milton men filed a remonstrance petition intended for the June 1820 session of the NH legislature. It opposed dividing the town to solve the militia problem. Company officers Jeremy Nute, James Hayes, Jr., and Norton Scates all signed this remonstrance, as did former company officers Levi Jones, Jotham Nute, and Theodore C. Lyman, and future officer Bidfield Hayes.
Some 88 Milton men filed a company division petition intended for the November 1820 session of the NH legislature. Company Captain Jeremy Nute signed this proposal, as did former company officers Levi Jones, Jotham Nute, and Theodore C. Lyman, future company officer Bidfield Hayes, and Milton selectman Hopley Meserve.
Son Micah Lyman married in Milton, December 27, 1820, Mary Kelly, both of Milton. Rev. James Walker performed the ceremony. She was born in Rochester, NH, circa 1795. (Foster grandfather John Twombly would live with them).
Theodore C. Lyman and thirteen other NH citizens petitioned the NH General Court, December 6, 1824, seeking a law to prevent rocks, stones and other debris being thrown in the Piscataqua River.
Son George D. Lyman died in Milton, August 31, 1825.
John Downs sued Theodore C. Lyman over a mill privilege – the “privilege of the floom,” i.e., the flume, in July 1825. Downs asserted a one-sixteenth share in the land of which Lyman’s mill stood. The original privilege had been granted to Samuel Ham by the city of Rochester, NH, in 1763. Ham had sold a one-eighth share to Joseph Roberts in 1769. One might suppose that this was how capital was raised. Ham’s grantees built a mill in 1770. Roberts sold his share to to D. Garland and Joseph Tibbetts in 1776. The mill had burnt in 1785, at which point some of the interested parties declined to rebuild. They seem to have developed some reason to doubt their right to do so. D. Garland sold his one-sixteenth interest (half of a one-eighth interest) to John Downs in 1797.
Lyman maintained that the actual “privilege of the floom” was a riverine feature that lay 200 rods [3,300 feet (or 5/8 of a mile)] above the mill site. The ruling had gone to the demandant, i.e., John Downs. The higher court appeal focused on this issue of whether the flume and the mill site that it fed were the same thing, and whether the unspecified verbal refusal by long-dead people to rebuild on the land might be taken as an acknowledgement by them that they did not have title to the land. The higher court sustained the verdict of the lower one, i.e., they ruled against Lyman (NH Supreme Court, 1827).
Theodore C. Lyman received his initial appointment as a Milton justice-of-the-peace on May 16, 1829.
Theoph C. Lyman headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifth (1830) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 50-59 years [himself], one female aged 60-69 years [Dorothy (Allen) Lyman], one male aged 20-29 years [William B. Lyman], two females aged 20-29 years [Clarissa Lyman and Roxana A. Lyman], and one male aged 15-19 years [Theodore Lyman]. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Isaac Wentworth and Joseph Walker on one side and Micha~ Lyman on the other side.
Daughter Clarissa Lyman married, circa 1831, William Allen Lord. He was born in Berwick, ME, March 20, 1801, son of Samuel and Abigail (Allen) Lord. (They were cousins, being as their respective mothers, Dorothy (Allen) Lyman and Abigail (Allen) Lord, were sisters).
Theodore C. Lyman received a renewal of his appointment as a Milton justice-of-the-peace on May 20, 1834.
Justices of the Peace. Milton – Levi Jones, Daniel Hayes, John Remich, James Roberts, Hanson Hayes, Stephen M. Mathes, John Nutter, Theodore C. Lyman, Samuel S. Mason, Stephen Drew, Israel Nute, John L. Swinerton, Thomas Chapman (Hayward, 1834).
Son Theodore Lyman married, probably in Milton, circa 1837-38, Betsy Bragdon. She was born in Milton, in 1818, daughter of Samuel and Lydia (Walker) Bragdon. (Her younger sister, Louisa A. Bragdon, would marry in Milton, February 4, 1841, Luther Hayes, he of Rochester, NH, and she of Milton).
Theodore C. Lyman received a renewal of his appointment as a Milton justice-of-the-peace on May 21, 1839.
The NH Political Manual and Annual Register of 1840 identified Milton’s Justices of the Peace as being Levi Jones, Daniel Hayes, John Remick, JAMES ROBERTS, Hanson Hayes, Stephen M. Mathes, John Nutter, Theodore C. Lyman, Samuel S. Mason, Stephen Drew, John L. Swinerton, Thomas Chapman, Joseph Cook, John J. Plumer, Daniel Hayes, Jr. (McFarland & Jenks, 1840).
Theodore C. Lyman headed a Milton household at the time of the Sixth (1840) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 60-69 years [himself], and one female aged 20-29 years [Roxana A. Lyman]. (His wife, Dorothy (Allen) Lyman, does not seem to have been counted with his household). One member of his household was engaged in Agriculture. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Isaac Wentworth on one side and his sons, Theodore Lyman, William B. Lyman, and “Michael” [Micah] Lyman on the other side.
Theodore C. Lyman appeared in the Dover, NH, directory of 1843, as a h. [house] carpenter, upper end of Waldron street. (Some much later death records of several children recorded him as having been at sometime a “contractor”).
According to Scale’s History of Strafford County, Milton’s Free-Will Baptist church organized itself at Theodore Lyman’s house in May 1843.
A Free-Will Baptist Church was organized at the house of Theodore Lyman, on the 11th day of May, 1843, with seventeen members, viz.: Hazen Duntley, Daniel M. Quimby, Luther Hayes, William Fernald, James O. Reynolds, Drusilla Jewett, Betsey Lyman, Mary H. Downs, Mrs. D.W. Wedgwood, William B. Lyman, Theodore Lyman, E.S. Edgerly, Dearborn Wedgwood, Phoebe Duntley, Sophia Quimby, Sally F. Downs, Mrs. A. Hubbard.
This church organizer would seem to have been Theodore C. Lyman’s son, Theodore (without the “C”) Lyman, based at least partly on the presence and membership of that son’s wife, Betsy [(Bragdon)] Lyman). (See also Milton’s Free-Will Baptist Ministers of 1843-50).
Son William B. Lyman had received his first appointment as a Milton justice, June 29, 1843, but there was an additional notation of “gone,” i.e., he left town before the expiration of his five-year term. Theodore C. Lyman received a renewal of his appointment as a Milton justice-of-the-peace, on May 20, 1844, there is next to his entry also a notation of “gone.” So, it would seem that for a time they found it more convenient to live where they were contracting, i.e., Waldron street in Dover, NH. (The railroad not having reached Milton at that time).
Justices of the Peace. Milton – Levi Jones, Stephen Drew, Daniel Hayes, Hanson Hayes, John Nutter, Theodore C. Lyman, John L. Swinerton, Joseph Cook, John J. Plumer, Daniel Hayes, jr., Enoch Banfield, Daniel P. Warren, Joseph Cook, James Berry, Wm. B. Lyman (Farmer & Lyon, 1844).
Son William B. Lyman appeared in the Dover, NH, directory of 1848, as a pump-maker, with his house at 8 Lyman’s court.
Dorothy (Allen) Lyman died in Milton, November 25, 1848.
Theodore C. Lyman, a carpenter, aged seventy-nine years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. His household included Roxann A. Lyman, aged forty years (b. NH). Theodore C. Lyman had real estate valued at $5,000. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Giles Burrows, a farmer, aged twenty-six years (b. NH), and Abigail Tuttle, aged seventy-two years (b. NH). (And Luther Hayes, a lumber dealer, aged thirty years (b. NH), just beyond Tuttle).
Theodore C. Lyman married (2nd) in Rochester, NH, in 1850-51, Betsy [(Meserve)] Pinkham, he of Milton and she of Rochester, NH. He was aged eighty-one years, and she was aged sixty-eight years. She was born in Dover, NH, in 1782, daughter of Stephen and Abigail (Yeaton) Meserve.
Betsy ((Meserve) Pinkham) Lyman’s new home in Milton would have been for a time adjoining a PGF&C railroad construction site. A legislative report of 1848 described the intended route from Great Falls, i.e., Somersworth, NH, to Conway, NH.
Commencing near the covered bridge at Great Falls and running northwesterly, on the west side of Salmon Falls river, to the Parade at Rochester Village; thence from Rochester Village, running a northerly course across the plain, to near where the road that is travelled leaves the Pine Woods; thence running in the vicinity of George Hays’s house and Theodore Lyman’s house to near where the new factory frame of A.S. Howard & Co. is erected, in Milton; thence up by the Milton Ponds and west of the Plummer bridge, so called to Union Village, in Wakefield; thence by Lovell’s Pond, in said Wakefield to the head of Pine River; thence down said river to the east side of the Ossipee Lake; thence across the Ossipee river, to near where Thomas Andrews lives, in Freedom; thence up the valley of what is called the Burke Pond, in Eaton; thence by Daniel Lacy, 2d, and Wm. Stacy’s to Eaton Corner; thence through the valley of the Pequacket, to Conway (NH Senate, 1849).
Daniel G. Rollins, treasurer of the Great Falls & Conway Railroad, sent a letter to his stockholders, June 1, 1850. The railroad intended to issue preferred stock to complete the railroad track between Rochester, NH, to Lyman’s Crossing in South Milton, and, if any funds remained, from there to Milton Three Ponds.
7th. The funds realized by the issue of this preferred stock shall first be appropriated to the completion of the road from Rochester to the road crossing in Milton, near the house of Theodore C. Lyman, and fitting the same for the transportation of passengers and freight, in providing furniture to run and operate the same, and in paying all the debts of the corporation. Any balance remaining shall be appropriated to the completing of the road from Lyman’s crossing to Milton Three Ponds (NH General Court, 1850).
Lyman’s Crossing in South Milton would in future years be known as Hayes Crossing or Hayes Station. (See South Milton’s High Sheriff Luther Hayes (1820-1895)).
Sophia ((Cushing) Hayes) Wyatt stopped to view the Lyman family tomb at South Milton in January 1854. (See Milton Teacher of 1796-1805). (Despite the coincidence of their Cushing names, they do not seem to have been related).
Daughter Lovey (Lyman) Scates died in Milton, in 1855.
Son William B. Lyman appeared in the Dover, NH, directory of 1859, as a builder, with his house at 12 Charles street.
Son Micah Lyman died in Milton, September 14, 1860. Son-in-law Benjamin Scates, Jr., died of consumption in Milton, November 10, 1862, aged sixty-seven years, ten months.
Son Theodore Lyman and Charles Jones were Milton’s NH State Representatives in the 1863-64 biennium.
Theodore C. Lyman died of old age in Milton, July 30, 1863, aged ninety-two years.
Daughter-in-law Betsy (Bragdon) Lyman died in Milton, September 22, 1864. Daughter Roxana A. Lyman died in Milton, January 19, 1865.
Betsy [((Meserve) Pinkham) Lyman of Rochester, NH, made out her last will in Rochester, NH, July 21, 1868. In it she bequeathed a life estate in her Rochester house and furniture to Louisa F. [(Davis)] Mathes [(1818-1901)], widow of Stephen Mathes [(1797-1867)], which was to go next to the son, George Frederick Mathes [(1856-1934)]. She bequeathed her wearing apparel, beds and bedding to her nieces, May Pinkham, Abigail Twombly [(1809-1893)], and Betsy M. [(Twombly)] Minot [(1820-1904)]. She bequeathed the rest and residue to her nephews, Bidfield Meserve [(1807-1891)] and Samuel Meserve [(1808-1900)], who were sons of John Meserve [(1785-1871)]; Stephen M.Y. Meserve [(1811-1876)], who was a son of Hopley Meserve [(1789-1875)]; and the Methodist Church of Rochester, NH, in equal parts. She nominated John McDuffee [(1803-1890)] of Rochester, NH, as her executor. Dominicus Hanson [(1813-1907)], Ezekiel Wentworth [(1823-1905)], and Frankin McDuffee [(1832-1880)] signed as witnesses (Strafford County Probate, 89:413).
(Witness Franklin McDuffee, A.M., wrote historical articles for the Rochester Courier, which would later be assembled, edited and printed in 1892 as The History of the Town of Rochester, New Hampshire, from 1722 to 1890).
Betsy Lyman, aged eighty-seven years (b. NH), headed a Rochester (“Gonic P.O.”), NH, household at the time of the Tenth (1870) Federal Census. She had real estate valued at $1,000.
NEW ENGLAND NEWS. NEW HAMPSHIRE. Mrs. Betsy Lyman, now living in Rochester Village, at the age of ninety-four years, took part in a thanksgiving service at the Tuttle schoolhouse in West Milton, on the occasion of the arrival of the news of peace with England in 1815, by reciting an original poem (Boston Evening Transcript, September 19, 1876).
The last will of Betsy [((Merserve) Pinkham)] Lyman, late of Rochester, deceased, was proved in Strafford County Probate Court held in Somersworth, NH, in February 1878 (Strafford County Probate, 89:413).
Things in General. Fifty years ago a Dover (N. H.) who was on the Island of St. Helena, cut some sprigs from a willow tree grew over the grave of the great Napoleon. He afterward gave them to William B. Lyman, of Dover, who planted them at his residence, and willow tree was the result. This tree was destroyed during the high wind Friday (Standard (Albert Lea, MN, October 12, 1882).
(Napoleon died in exile on the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena, May 5, 1821. His remains were disinterred and returned to France in 1840. The sprig would have to have been cut between 1821 and 1840. “Fifty years ago” would have been about 1832.
Daughter-in-law Mary (Kelly) Lyman died of old age in Milton, December 31, 1885, aged ninety years.
LOCALS. Mary, widow of the late Micah Lyman, Esq., of Milton, and mother of Hon. John D. Lyman, and ex County Commissioner Lyman of South Milton, died at her home in Milton, Thursday, aged 90 years 6 months She was the oldest lady in the town (Farmington News, January 8, 1886).
Son William Blake Lyman, died in Dover, NH, November 13, 1889.
Son Theodore Lyman died of heart disease and dropsy in Milton, August 1, 1891, aged seventy-eight years, eleven months, and nine days. He was a widowed farmer. J.W. Lougee, M.D., of Rochester, NH, signed the death certificate.
Daughter Clarissa L. (Lyman) Lord died of old age in Berwick, ME, March 18, 1893, aged eighty-nine years, five months, and eighteen days. O.M. Boynton, M.D., of Somersworth, NH, signed the death certificate.
References:
Bartlett, Genevieve W. (1952). Forefathers and Descendants of Willard & Genevieve Wilson Bartlett. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=88AwAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA95
Black, Mary. (1978). Isle of St. Helena. Retrieved from www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEVYB10bsjo
Find a Grave. (2013, July 6). Clarissa Lyman Lord. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/113415255/clarissa-lord
Find a Grave. (2013, August 17). George Lyman. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/115612555/george-lyman
Find a Grave. (2013, August 17). Micah Lyman. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/115612236/micah-lyman
Find a Grave. (2013, August 17). Roxana A. Lyman. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/115612786/roxana-a-lyman
Find a Grave. (2013, August 15). Theodore Lyman. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/115539802/theodore-lyman
Find a Grave. (2013, August 17). Theodore Cushing “TC” Lyman. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/115612665/theodore-cushing-lyman
Find a Grave. (2013, August 17). William Blake Lyman. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/115612931/william-blake-lyman
Farmer, John & Lyon, G. Parker. (1844). New-Hampshire Annual Register, and United States Calendar. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=BJIBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA50
McDuffee, Franklin. (1892). History of the Town of Rochester, New Hampshire, from 1722 to 1890. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=RY0-AAAAYAAJ
Mitchell-Cony. (1908). The Town Register Farmington, Milton, Wakefield, Middleton, Brookfield, 1907-8. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=qXwUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA91
NEHGS. (1908). First Congregational Church Records, Rochester, NH. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=1K9bAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA52
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