Milton Militia Division Request – May 1820

By Muriel Bristol | April 10, 2022

Jeremiah “Jeremy” Nute was born in Milton, October 25, 1788, son of Lt. Jotham Jr. and Sarah (Twombly) Nute. (Jotham Nute, Jr., had been a Revolutionary soldier, Milton militia lieutenant, and was at this time a Milton justice-of-the-peace (See Milton Seeks a Magistrate – 1805)).

Jeremy W. Nute married, May 31, 1810, Martha Runnells. She was born in Farmington, NH, February 13, 1785, daughter of Joseph and Abigail (Pinkham) Runnells.

Lt. Jeremy Nute marched to Portsmouth, NH, in the Milton militia detachment commanded by Captain William Courson (1782-1863) in September 1814, during the War of 1812. (See Milton in the War of 1812).

Son Franklin W. Nute was born in Milton, in 1810. Son Henry Smith Nute was born in Milton, February 12, 1815. Son George W. Orange was born in Milton, circa 1816.

(Nephew Lewis W. Nute (1820-1888) was born in Milton, February 17, 1820, son of Ezekiel and Dorcas (Worster) Nute).

Jeremy Nute was captain of Milton’s militia company by 1820. He had been preceded in that position by Theodore C. Lyman (1770-1863) and would be succeeded by Norton Scates (1790-187[?]). Due to a vote taken by his militiamen, he and his officers sent the following letter to the regimental field officers above them seeking a division of their militia company into two parts. (See Milton Militia Dispute – 1820).

To the Field officers of the Second Regt of Militia in New Hampshire ~

Greeting

We the undersigned, belonging to the 7th Company in said Regt, have at finding about 134 enrolled in said company and having on the 30th instant taken a vote in said company upon the expediency of dividing it into two distinct companies, 69 of those present acted in favor of said division and 22 against ~ We therefore think it is expedient to divide the company agreeable to a line which was then agreed on and which you will have explained to you by the bearer and humbly request your honours, to Establish such division immediately ~

Milton, May 31st 1820

Jeremy Nute { Captain
James Hayes Jr { Lieut
Norton Scates { Ensign

Jeremy Nute and his company officers, James Hayes, Jr., and Norton Scates signed next the Milton anti-town division remonstrance petition of June 1820. He, and they, signed also the Milton company division petition of November 1820. (See Milton Militia Dispute – 1820).

While this was being settled Capt. Jeremy Nute petitioned to change his name to Capt. Jeremy W. Orange.

Petition of Jeremy Nute for the Alteration of His Name
To the Hon. the Senate and House of Representatives of New Hampshire now convened at Concord
Humbly Shew
Jeremy Nute of Milton in the County of Strafford begs leave to represent to your Hon. body that an alteration of his name and that of his family would be of benefit to him and his family in Consequence of some property which will fall into his hands provided an alteration should take place. He therefore prays that an Act may be passed authorizing him thereafter to assume and be known by the name of Jeremy W. Orange and that the rest of his family may assume the name of Orange instead of that of Nute ~ And as in duty bound will ever pray ~ Nov. 4th 1820
Jeremy Nute (NH Department of State, n.d.).

State of New Hampshire }
AN ACT EMPOWERING JEREMY NUTE TO HAVE AND ASSUME THE NAME OF JEREMY WASHINGTON ORANGE
[Approved December 21, 1820. Original Acts, vol. 26, p. 54; recorded Acts, vol. 21, p 529]
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened that the name of Jeremy Nute, of Milton in the County of Strafford be altered and changed to Jeremy Washington Orange, and that he be hereafter known and called by the name of Jeremy Washington Orange, and that the family name of the children of the said Jeremy, be in like manner changed and altered from Nute to Orange: any law usage or custom to the contrary notwithstanding (NH Secretary of State, 1920).

Jeremy W. Orange of Milton had risen to become Major of the newly-created 39th Regiment of militia by 1822, and Lt. Colonel by 1824.

39th Regiment { Colonel Joseph Ham, Farmington; Lieutenant Colonel Jeremy W. Orange, Milton; Major Joseph Cross; Adjutant Bedfield Hayes, Milton; Quartermaster William Allen, Rochester (Lyon, 1824).

J.W. Orange headed a Somersworth, NH, household at the time of the Fifth (1830) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 40-49 years [himself], one female aged 40-49 years [Martha (Runnells) Orange], one male aged 20-29 years, two females aged 20-29 years, three males aged 15-19 years, two females aged 15-19 years, and one female aged 10-14 years.

Father Jotham Nute, Jr., died in Milton, February 3, 1836.

Son George W. Orange married in Somersworth, NH, October 24, 1837, Emily H. Badger, both of Somersworth. Rev. Alfred Goldsmith performed the ceremony. She was born in Kittery, ME, March 5, 1820, daughter of William Jr. and Abigail J. “Nabby” (Plaisted) Badger.

Jeremy Orange headed a Somersworth, NH, household at the time of the Sixth (1840) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 50-59 years, one female aged 50-59 years, one female aged 30-39 years, one male aged 20-29 years, one female aged 20-29 years, and one male aged 10-14 years. One member was employed in Manufacture and Trade and two members of his household were employed in Agriculture.

Son Henry S. Orange married (1st) in Lowell, MA, June 10, 1841, Sarah A. Bradley, both of Lowell. She was born in Dracut, MA, circa 1810, daughter of Joshua and Mary (Poor) Bradley.

Father-in-law Joseph Runnells died in Dover, NH, March 20, 1846.

Jeremy W. Orange was in 1848 chaplain of the Libanus Lodge, of Great Falls, Somersworth, NH (Moore, 1848).

Jeremy W. Orange and his son, George W. Orange, were among the political Whigs of Somersworth that subscribed to the following notice in September 1848,  seeking to select Whig convention delegates.

Pursuant to the above call, the Whigs of Somersworth, and all other persons, without any discrimination, who prefer Gen. Zachary Taylor for President, and Millard Filmore for vice President, will assemble at the Town Hall, this (Monday) Evening the 11th inst. at 7½ o’clock, for the purpose of choosing Delegates to attend said Convention. Great Falls, Sept. 4, 1848 (Knapp, 1894).

The Whig party (c1833-1856) was an amalgamation of several prior parties, such as the National Republicans (c1824-34), the Anti-Masons (c1828-40), Democrats who opposed Andrew Jackson, some remaining Federalists, and others. It would be succeeded eventually by the Republican party. Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore were elected as U.S. President and Vice President, respectively. Taylor died in the first year of his term and was succeeded by Fillmore.

Mother Sarah (Twombly) Nute died of dropsy in Milton, November 21, 1849, aged eighty-six years.

Jeremy W. Orange, 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 Martha Orange, aged sixty years (b. NH), and Julia Welch, aged twenty years (b. ME). Jeremy W. Orange had real estate valued at $5,000.

Daughter-in-law Sarah Ann (Bradley) Orange died of dropsy on John Street in Lowell, MA, January 21, 1853, aged forty-three years.

Son Henry S. Orange married (2nd) in Gilmanton, NH, August 2, 1859, Elizabeth A. Kendall, he of Lowell, MA, and she of Gilmanton. He was a merchant, aged forty-one years, and she was aged twenty-four years. Rev. R.M. Sargent performed the ceremony. She was born in Pembroke, NH, December 3, 1832, daughter of Prescott V. and Mary (Dow) Kendall.

Martha (Runnells) Orange died February 3, 1860.

Jery W. Orange, a machinist, aged seventy-one years (b. NH), headed a Somersworth (“Great Falls P.O.”), NH, household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. His household included Martha Orange, aged seventy-five years (b. NH). Jery W. Orange had real estate valued at $3,000 and personal estate valued at $1,500. (The late Martha (Runnells) Orange’s posthumous appearance was an intentional feature of the census enumeration, she having died within the census year).

Jeremy W. Orange married (2nd) in Somersworth, NH, April 27, 1865, Mrs. Lydia R. [(Roberts)] Mendum, both of Somersworth, NH. Rev. E.N. Hidden performed the ceremony. She was born in Great Falls, Somersworth, NH, circa 1805, daughter of George and Polly Roberts.

Daughter-in-Law Mary ([Dorr?]) Orange died in March 25, 1866.

Jeremy Orange, a wood machinist, aged eighty-one years (b. NH), headed a Somersworth (“Great Falls P.O.”), NH, household at the time of the Tenth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Lydia Orange, aged sixty-five years (b. NH). Jeremy Orange had real estate valued at $10,000 and personal estate valued at $2,000.

Son Franklin Orange, aged fifty-nine years (b. NH), resided in the Milton household of his paternal uncle, Jacob Nute, a farmer, aged eighty years (b. NH), at the time of the Tenth (1870) Federal Census. He was characterized as being at that time “insane.”

Franklin W. Orange died of paralysis, August 31, 1872, aged sixty-one years, nine months.

Strafford County. The Nute family in Milton is wonderful for longevity. Jotham, the father, was seven years in the Revolutionary war, beginning with the battle of Bunker Hill. There are six children living, whose united ages aggregate over 473 years. Jeremy Orange is in his 89th year, Jacob in his 86th, Sarah in her 82d, David in his 78th, Ivory in his 74th, and Andrew in his 72d (Vermont Journal, October 23, 1875).

Jeremiah W. Orange appeared in the Great Falls, i.e., Somersworth, NH, directories of 1876 and 1878, as having his house on Orange street.

Jeremy W. Orange of Somersworth, NH, made his last will February 23, 1877. He devised $1,500 to his wife, Lydia Orange, “in lieu and full satisfaction of all rights of dower and homestead.” Should she die within his lifetime, that money would revert instead to the estate, rather than pass to any heir or assign of hers. He devised $1,000 each to Emily Orange, wife of his son, George Orange, and to [his daughter-in-law,] Elizabeth A. Orange. His five shares of Somersworth National Bank stock were not to be liquidated for ten years, and the dividends paid over to the town for maintenance of his burial plot in Forest Glade Cemetery and, should the bank fail, his executor should pay $30 per year for that same ten-year period. After the ten years had elapsed, the executor was to pay to Somersworth $200 in trust. It was to have the annual interest on that trust sum for cemetery plot maintenance. The remainder of the estate was to be divided between his two sons. He named his son, Henry S. Orange of Gilmanton, NH, as his executor. Samuel James, Clarence L. Chapman, and George William Burleigh signed as witnesses (Strafford County Probate, 89:491).

Jeremy W. Orange died of heart disease in Great Falls, Somersworth, NH, June 1, 1879, aged ninety years. He was a mechanic. His last will was proved in Rochester, NH, July 1, 1879 (Strafford County Probate, 89:491).

His widow, Lydia Orange filed for and received a War of 1812 veteran’s widow’s pension (#26430) after his death. It was based upon his service in Captain William Courson’s militia company.

Lydia R. ((Roberts) Mendum) Orange died of dropsy in Great Falls, Somersworth, NH, February 12, 1880, aged seventy-five years.

MARRIAGES. GLIDDEN-ORANGE. At Gilmanton, N.H., in the Congregational Church, 20th inst., by Rev. S.N. Greeley, Mr. Charles H. Glidden of Boston and Miss May G. Orange, daughter of Henry S. Orange of Gilmanton (Boston Evening Transcript, November 23, 1889).

Son Henry S. Orange died in Gilmanton, NH, October 26, 1894.

Death of a Former Lowell Citizen. Henry S. Orange, for many years a dry goods merchant in Lowell, died Friday at his home in Gilmanton, N.H., after a long illness, aged 80 years. He was born In Great Falls, N.H., and when a young man went to Lowell, where he soon after went into business, retiring some 20 years ago. He had served in the Lowell city government, but never took a very active part in politics aside from this. He was an Odd Fellow and belonged to the Lowell lodge. He was a republican from the formation of the party. He is survived by a widow and three children (Boston Globe, October 27, 1894).

Daughter-in-law Elizabeth A. (Kendall) Orange died in Gilmanton, NH, March 10, 1927.

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References:

Find a Grave. (2011, December 21). Jotham Nute. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/82753837/jotham-nute

Find a Grave. 2013, October 3). Franklin Orange. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/118126603/franklin-orange

Find a Grave. (2019, November 4). Henry Smith Orange. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/202730856/henry-smith-orange

Find a Grave. (2013, October 3). Col. Jeremy W. Orange. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/118125086/jeremy-w-orange

Knapp, William D. (1894). Somersworth: An Historical Sketch. Somersworth, NH

Moore, Charles. (1848). Freemasons’ Monthly Magazine, Volumes 7-8. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=mCAsAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA255

NH Department of State. (n.d.). New Hampshire, Government Petitions, 1700-1826: Box 47: 1819-1820. Concord, NH

Wikipedia. (2022, March 24). Whig Party (United States). Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whig_Party_(United_States)