Month: October 2022

By Muriel Bristol | October 30, 2022

Freeman H. Lowd was born in Acton, ME, September 5, 1853, son of Sylvester and Dorcas (Hanson) Lowd.

Sylvester Lowd, a farmer, aged fifty-one years (b. ME), headed an Acton (“Milton Mills P.O.”), ME, household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Dorcas Lowd, keeping house, aged fifty years (b. ME), Lizzie Lowd, a schoolteacher, aged twenty-one years (b. ME), Clinton Lowd, aged nineteen years (b. ME), Charles E. Lowd, aged seventeen years (b. ME), Freeman H. Lowd, aged sixteen years (b. ME), and Haven Lowd, aged thirteen years (b. ME). Sylvester Lowd had real estate valued at $2,000 and personal estate valued at $175.

Mother Dorcas (Hanson) Lowd died June 11, 1871.

The Milton School Superintendents of 1876 were M.V.B. Cook, J.N. Lowell, Freeman H. Lowd. (Rev. John N. Lowell (1846-1903) was a Congregational minister; and Freeman H. Lowd (1853-1933) was a clerk and bookkeeper).

Milton’s town school committee members of 1877 were identified in the NH Education Report of 1877, as being J.P. Bickford (1844-1910) of Milton, Freeman H. Lowd (1853-1933) of Milton Mills, and Ambrose H. Wentworth (1832-1913) of West Milton.

Milton’s town school committee members of 1878 were identified in the NH Education Report of 1878, 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.

Edward S. Simes, a carpenter, aged thirty-seven years (b. ME), headed a Milton (“Milton Mills Village”) household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included Mary E. Simes, a housekeeper, aged thirty-three years (b. NH), his children, Fred Simes, at school, aged twelve years (b. NH), and Laura E. Simes, at school, aged six years (b. ME), and his boarders, Freeman H. Lowd, a bookkeeper, aged thirty-two [twenty-seven] years (b. ME), and Haven Lowd, works in felt mill, aged twenty-two years (b. NH). Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of John U. Simes, a trader, aged forty-three years (b. NH), and Bray U. Simes, a retired merchant, aged seventy-eight years (b. NH).

F.H. Lowd appeared in the Milton business directories of 1880, 1881, 1882, 1884, and 1887, as a Milton Mills grocer.

Freeman H. Lowd married (1st) in Milton, October 22, 1883, Fannie Miller, both of Milton. He was a clerk, aged twenty-nine years, and she was aged nineteen years. Rev. G.S. Butler performed the ceremony. She was born in Acton, ME, July 25, 1859, daughter of Ira and Frances W. (Merrill) Miller.

Daughter Grace M. Lowd was born in Milton Mills, NH, July 24, 1883 [?].

Father Sylvester Lowd died in Acton, ME, December 6, 1884, aged sixty-five years.

Daughter Alice M. Lowd was born at 168 Boylston Street, in West Roxbury, Boston, MA, July 7, 1886, daughter of Freeman H. and Fannie L. Lowd (both born in Acton, ME). Her father was a broker.

Freeman Loud [Lowd] was secretary of the Milton Mills Electric Company in 1893.

Street Railway Review. New Hampshire. Manchester, N.H. Milton Mills Electric elects Edward P. Parsons, president; John E. Townsend, vice president; C.W. Gross, M.D., treasurer; Freeman Loud, secretary (Windsor & Kenfield, 1893).

S.W. Wallingford, Joseph H. Avery, and F.H. Lowd were the Milton selectmen of 1896-97. 

LOCALS. The retiring board of selectmen have remarkable records in serving that town. Geo. Lyman has served in that capacity for 29 years, John U. Sims for 18 years, and George Plummer for 12 years. They are republicans. There was a cat-a-cornered fight this year against the “old board” – the “Milton Tammany” its opponents called it – and the following board, also republicans, were elected: Samuel H. Wallingford, Joseph H. Avery, Freeman H. Loud. Luther Wentworth was foremost in the battle, and though there were four candidates against him, it required three ballots to defeat him for second place on the ticket. Evidently there were lively times at Milton town meeting (Farmington News, March 18, 1896).

[Ed.: We may note the circumstance that all three selectmen – each a member of long tenure – were replaced by an entirely new board. The Milton town government of that time apparently felt no pressing need for staggered terms in order to ensure “continuity”].

Mother-in-law Frances W. (Merrill) Miller died January 30, 1897.

S.W. Wallingford, G.E. Nute, and F.H. Lowd were the Milton selectmen of 1898.

Frances (Miller) Lowd died of acute enteritis in the Maine General Hospital in Portland, ME, May 25, 1898. C.O. Hunt signed the death certificate.

F.H. Lowd, G.E. Nute, and E.L. Leighton were the Milton selectmen of 1899.

Milton sent Freeman H. Lowd to Concord, NH, as its NH State Representative for the 1899-00 biennium. Freeman H. Lowd, a Republican, who had received 264 votes, defeated Stephen M. Bragdon, a Democrat, who had received 82 votes (NH Secretary of State, 1899). Rep. Lowd, whose lodgings were said to be at 9 Elm street in Concord, NH, was chairman of the Insurance Committee (NH General Court, 1899).

F.H. Lowd, W.F. Mills, and W.T. Wallace were the Milton selectmen of 1900-01.

Ira Miller, a merchant (retired), aged seventy-three years (b. ME), headed a Milton (“Milton Mills Village”) household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his son-in-law, Freeman H. Lowd, a storekeeper (b. ME), aged forty-six years, his grandchildren, Grace M. Lowd, at school, aged sixteen years (b. NH), and Alice M. Lowd, at school, aged thirteen years (b. MA), and his servant, Susie B. Clarks, a housekeeper, aged twenty years (b. NH). Ira Miller owned their farm, free-and-clear. Their household appeared between that of Harriet H. F0x, a homekeeper, aged forty-eight years (b. NH), and Grace Griffin, a homekeeper, aged twenty-one years (b. CT), and that of John Hall, a weaver, aged thirty-eight years (b. Canada).

Milton delegates for the several conventions are as follows, State convention, Elbridge W. Fox, Freeman H. Lowd. Congressional, Charles H. Looney, Joseph H. Avery. Councillor, Wm. F. Wallace, B.B. Plummer. Senatorial, F.L. Marsh, Charles D. Jones. County, Charles D. Fox, Charles A. Jones (Farmington News, September 7, 1900).

F.H. Lowd & Co. appeared in the Milton business directories of 1901, and 1904, as Milton Mills merchants. Among his offerings were fancy goods, toys, etc.

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 had established itself July 19, 1899, with Harry L. Avery as its treasurer (NH Secretary of State, 1901).

Father-in-law Ira Miller died in Milton Mills, December 12, 1902, aged seventy-five years, eleven months, and thirty days.

Daughter Grace May Lowd married (1st) in Somersworth, NH, December 29, 1902, Van Wallace Marston, she of Milton Mills and he of Portsmouth, NH. He was a shoemaker, aged twenty-six years, and she was at home aged nineteen years. Rev. William H. Hutchin performed the ceremony. Marston was born in Greenland, NH, April 2, 1875, son of Frank H. and Lizzie (Johnston) Marston.

F.H. Lowd appeared in the Milton business directory of 1905-06, as a Milton Mills grocer and general storekeeper, at 7 Main street.

Daughter Alice M. Lowd married (1st) in Sanbornville, [Wakefield,] NH, September 15, 1905, Leon H. Goodwin, she of Milton and he of Wakefield, NH. He was a clerk, aged twenty years, and she was aged nineteen years. Rev. R.H. Huse performed the ceremony. Goodwin was born in Union, Wakefield, NH, March 28, 1885, son of Hilton S. and Estella (Campbell) Goodwin.

MILTON MILLS, N.H. Freeman H. Lowd has gone to Maplewood on business (Sanford Tribune (Sanford, ME), September 21, 1906).

MILTON MILLS, N.H. The four-act dramatization of Will Carleton’s poem entitled “Over the Hill to the Poor House” was presented Monday evening by home talent under the direction of J.A. McCarthy. The hall was crowded with an appreciative audience and their expectations were fully realized. The cast included Freeman H. Lowd, Forrest L. Marsh, J.A. McCarty, Dr. Frank Weeks, Chellis Smith, Fred Sturgeon, Hannah Lowe, Mildred T. Marsh, Dorothy Hurley, and little Rita. The new scenery painted by Mr. McCarthy was used for the first time at the presentation of this play; he is a born artist and his work deserves much credit (Biddeford Journal (Biddeford, ME), August 2, 1907).

Freeman H. Lowd appeared in the Milton directory of 1909, as a lumberman, with his house at 5 Highland street, Milton Mills.

MILTON MILLS. Mrs. [Flora B.] Williams, the wife of the pastor of the F.B. church; Miss Ruth Williams, Miss Mamie Wentworth, Miss Roxie Lewis, Alfred Lewis, Blaine Grant, and Freeman Lowd, attended the C.E. convention at Springvale and brought back fine reports of the gathering (Sanford Tribune (Biddeford, ME), July 9, 1909).

MILTON MILLS. Freeman Lowd was in town Sunday and attended the morning service at the M.E. [Milton Mills Methodist Episcopal Church]. He sang his favorite song “While His eye is on the sparrow, I know He watches me,” which was rendered in a pleasing manner (Sanford Tribune (Biddeford, ME), January 28, 1910).

Freeman H. Lowd, own income (lumbering), aged sixty-five [fifty-seven] years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. Freeman H. Lowd rented his house.

Wallace V. Marston, a shoe factory shoe cutter, aged thirty-five years (b. NH), headed a Lynn, MA, household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of seven years), Grace M. [(Lowd)] Marston, aged twenty-six years (b. NH), his daughter, Rita F. Marston, aged six years (b. MA), his brother-in-law, Leon H. Goodwin, a grocery store salesman, aged twenty-five years (b. NH), and his sister-in-law [and Goodwin’s wife of four years], Alice M. [(Lowd)] Goodwin, aged twenty-three years (b. MA). William V. Marston rented their house at 23 Sewall Street. Grace M. Lowd was the mother of one child, of whom one was still living.

Freeman H. Lowd appeared in the Milton directory of 1912, as a lumberman, with his house at 29 Main street, Milton Mills.

Personal. Freeman Lowd and Deputy Sheriff Willis Reynolds, both of Milton Mills, were in town Tuesday (Farmington News, May 30, 1913).

SOUTH ACTON. Freeman H. Lowd was in Effingham Center Monday on business (Biddeford Journal-Tribune (Biddeford, ME), June 5, 1914).

Freeman H. Lowd married (2nd) in Milton, September 19, 1917, Mary A. “Mamie” Wentworth, both of Milton Mills. He was a lumber dealer, aged sixty-four years, and she was a school teacher, aged thirty-eight years. Rev. Edwin P. Moulton performed the ceremony (under a special permit). She was born in Milton, circa 1919, daughter of Hiram and Clara J. (Hart) Wentworth.

Freeman H. Lowd, a lumberman, aged sixty-six years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Mary W. [(Wentworth)] Lowd, aged forty years (b. NH). Freeman H. Lowd owned their house on Western Avenue, free-and-clear.

Charles G. Eastman, a Navy Yard clerk, aged forty-three years (b. NH), headed a Portsmouth, NH, household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Agnes A. [(Marston)] Eastman, a newspaper store clerk, aged thirty-eight years (b. NH), his children, Avery C. Eastman, a Navy Yard messenger, aged seventeen years (b. NH), and Eugene W. Eastman, aged fifteen years (b. NH), and his brother-in-law, Wallace V. Marston, a Navy Yard machinist, aged forty years (b. NH). Charles G. Eastman rented their house at 202 Cabot Street.

Leon H. Goodwin, a Navy Yard machinist, aged thirty-four years (b. NH), headed a Portsmouth, NH, household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Alice M. [(Lowd)] Goodwin, aged thirty-three years (b. MA), and his niece, Rita F. Marston, aged sixteen years (b. MA). Leon H. Goodwin rented their part of a two-family dwelling at 88 Ashe Street.

Daughter Alice M. Goodwin of Wakefield, NH, divorced her husband, Leon H. Goodwin of Wakefield, NH, in Carroll County Superior Court, June 26, 1922. She cited abandonment and refusal to cohabit for three years.

Mrs. Grace M. Marston appeared in the Lynn, MA, directory of 1925, as having her house at 4 Sisson terrace. Her daughter, Rita F. Marston, appeared also, as a phone operator at 173 Oxford street, with her residence at 4 Sisson terrace.

Daughter Grace M. Marston of Wakefield, NH, divorced her husband, Wallace V. Marston of Portsmouth, NH, in Carroll County court, November 29, 1926. She cited abandonment and refusal to cohabit.

Mary A. “Mamie” (Wentworth) Lowd died in Milton, in 1927.

Granddaughter Rita F. Marston, appeared in the Lynn, MA, directory of 1927, as a phone operator at 173 Oxford street, with her residence at 6 Bunker Hill street in Charlestown, MA.

Freeman Loud, aged seventy-six years (b. ME), headed a Milton (“Milton Mills Village”) household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his housekeeper, Nellie Myers, a private family practical nurse, aged fifty years (b. NH), and his lodger, Helen Myers, aged fourteen years (b. MA). Freeman Loud owned their house on Western Avenue (at its intersection with Willey Hill Road), which was valued at $2,000. They did not have a radio set.

Grace M. Marston, a telephone office clerk, aged thirty-three [forty-six] years (b. NH), headed a Somerville, MA, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. Her household included her sister [i.e., her daughter], Rita F. Marston, a telephone operator, aged twenty-five years (b. MA). Grace M. Marston rented their apartment at 10 Union Street, for $35 per month. They had a radio set.

(From this point, Grace M. (Lowd) Marston tended to understate her age, often by quite a lot. She had also a habit of muddling her daughter’s relationship with her. In this instance, the 1930 Census, her daughter was reported as being her sister. The daughter would even be confused finally as being the wife, rather than step-daughter, of Grace’s second husband).

Grace M. (Lowd) Marston married (2nd) in Manhattan, New York, NY, April 26, 1930, William A. Cornetta. He was born in Boston, MA, September 20, 1896.

William A. (Grace M.) Cornetta appeared in the Somerville, MA, directory of 1933, as a manager, with his house at 514 Broadway (and telephone number of 4871W). Her daughter, Rita F. Marstom [Marston], appeared also, as telephone operator, resident at 514 Broadway.

Freeman H. Lowd died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Milton, May 1, 1933, aged seventy-nine years, seven months, and twenty-six days. He was a retired merchant, and lifelong resident of Milton Mills. Frank S. Weeks, M.D., signed the death certificate.

Daughter Alice M. (Lowd) Goodwin married (2nd), in 1940, William Morton Ellis. (His first wife, Annie (O’Donnell) Ellis, had died in Pasadena, CA, April 20, 1934). Ellis was born in Milton, December 6, 1877, son of Charles E. and Lucretia R. (Marsh) Ellis.

William A. Cornetta, a foreman (manufacturing) aged forty-three years (b. MA), headed a Somerville, MA, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Grace C. [((Lowd) Marston)] Cornetta, aged forty-three [fifty-six] years (b. MA), and his daughter-in-law [i.e., his step-daughter], Rita F. Master [Marston], a telephone operator, aged thirty-six years (b. MA). William A. Cornetta rented their apartment at 512 Broadway (at its intersection with Hinckley Street), for $30 per month. They had all resided in the “same house” in 1935.

William M. Ellis, an inside salesman (for the S. California Gas Co.), aged sixty-three years (b. NH), headed a Glendale, CA, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Alice M. [((Lowd) Goodwin)] Ellis, aged fifty-two years (b. MA). William M. Ellis rented their house at 117 N. Chevy Chase Drive, for $35 per month. He had resided in Pasadena, CA, in 1935, and she had resided in Boston, MA, in 1935.

Son-in-law William M. Ellis died in Glendale, CA, January 6, 1942.

Obituaries. ELLIS – William M. Ellis, husband of Mrs. Alice Ellis of 117 North Chevy Chase Drive, Glendale, passed away at his home, Jan. 6, 1942. He was a member of Pasadena Lodge of Elks, No. 672, and with the Southern California Gas Company for the past 20 years. Besides his wife, he is survived by two sons, John and William Ellis of Pasadena. Funeral services will be held Friday at 2 p.m., at Wendell P. Cabot & Sons Chapel, 27 Chestnut Street, conducted by the Pasadena Elks Lodge and Rev. William Hodson, pastor of First Methodist Church, Glendale. Private entombment, Pasadena Mausoleum (Metropolitan Pasadena Star-News (Pasadena, CA), January 8, 1942).

William A. Cornetta, a superintendent (restaurant syrup manufacturing company), aged fifty-three years (b. MA), headed an Arlington, MA, household at the time of the Seventeenth (1950) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Grace M. [((Lowd) Marston)] Cornetta, aged fifty-three [sixty-six] years (b. NH), his sister-in-law [i.e., his step-daughter], Rita F. Marston, aged forty-six years (b. MA), and his mother, Louisa Cornetta, aged seventy-three years (b. MA). They resided at 21 Piedmont Street.

Daughter Grace M. ((Lowd) Marston) Cornetta died in Arlington, MA, August 15, 1958.

MORNING DEATH NOTICES. CORNETTA – In Arlington, August 15, Grace M. Cornetta, wife of William A. Cornetta, of 21 Piedmont st. Services at the Saville Temple Chapel, 418 Mass. av., Arlington, Tuesday, August 19, at 10 a.m. Visiting hours Sunday and Monday (Boston Globe, August 18, 1958).

Daughter Alice M. ((Lowd) Goodwin) Ellis died March 19, 1971.

Son-in-law William A. Cornetta died in Revere, MA, March 20, 1977. (There is no documentary evidence to support the notion that his step-daughter, Rita F. Marston, had become his wife).

DEATHS. CORNETTA – Formerly of Arlington, recently of Revere, March 20, 1977, William A., husband [i.e., step-father,] of Rita F. (Marston). Service at Saville Funeral Home, 418 Mass. ave., ARLINGTON, Tuesday, March 22 at 11 a.m. Calling hours Monday 7-9 p.m. (Boston Globe, March 21, 1977).

Granddaughter Rita F. Marston died in Revere, MA, September 13, 1978. (There is no documentary evidence to support the notion that she had become the wife of her step-father, William A. Cornetta).

DEATH NOTICES. CORNETTA – Of Revere. September 13, Rita Frances (Marston), wife [i.e., step-daughter,] of the late William A. Cornetta. Funeral service at the Smith Funeral Chapel, 482 Main St., STONEHAM, on Friday, September 15 at 3 p.m. Friends may call on Thursday evening from 7-9 p.m. Those desiring may give in her memory to the American Cancer Society (Boston Globe, September 14, 1978).

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References:

Carleton, Will. (1872). Over the Hill to the Poor House. Retrieved from www.bartleby.com/360/3/107.html

Find a Grave. (2013, August 13). Grace M. Lowd Cornetta. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/115375737/grace-m-cornetta

Find a Grave. (2013, August 13). Alice M. Lowd Ellis. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/115381301/alice-m-ellis

Find a Grave. (2013, August 14). Freeman H. Lowd. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/115440298/freeman-h-lowd

Find a Grave. (2013, August 14). Sylvester Lowd. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/115441363/sylvester-lowd

Find a Grave. (2020, September 29). Wallace Van Marston. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/216170801/wallace-van-marston

Library of Congress. (1908). Over the Hills to the Poor House. Retrieved from www.loc.gov/item/2018600178/

NH General Court. (1899). Manual for the Use of the General Court of New Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=vu4RAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA37

NH Secretary of State. (1899). Manual for the General Court. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=-Xo0AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA250

Wikipedia. (2022, October 14). Tammany Hall. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammany_Hall

Youtube. (2021, May 6). His Eye Is on the Sparrow. Retrieved from www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei84uOUI2SY

By Muriel Bristol | October 30, 2022

John Fox Hart was born in Milton, May 1, 1855, son of Edward and Sally (Fox) Hart. (John F. Hart,”2nd” (1855-1916) should not be confused with Milton merchant John Francis Hart (1829-1896)).

Brother George Edward Hart was born in Milton, November 1, 1859.

Edward Hart a farmer, aged sixty-eight years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Sally Hart, aged fifty-nine years (b. ME), and his children, Hattie H. Hart, works in woolen mill, aged twenty-seven years (b. NH), John F. Hart 2d, a school teacher, aged twenty-five years (b. NH), and George E. Hart, a farm laborer, aged twenty years (b. NH). John F. Hart 2d had attended school within the year. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Samuel G. Chamberlain, a farmer, aged fifty-three years (b. NH), and Daniel Philbrick, a farmer, aged thirty-eight years (b. NH).

J.F. and G.E. Hart appeared in the Milton directories of 1880, 1881, 1882, 1884, 1887, as Milton Mills carriage merchants.

UNION. Mr. John Hart of Milton Mills has purchased an interest in the saw mill here, and, it is reported, contemplates going into the excelsior business (Farmington News, December 17, 1880).

UNION. The mills are running on full time. J.F. Hart & Co. have averaged to cut out over fifteen tons of excelsior a week since last February, which has not been enough to fill the orders received (Farmington News, June 27, 1884).

UNION. Seven thousand one hundred and ten pounds of excelsior were cut and put up at the mill of J.F. Hart & Co. on the 13th, in 13 hours, with four men and eight machines. The Messrs. Hart are running their mill day and night (Farmington News, January 23, 1885).

Father Edward F. Hart died in Lebanon, May 12, 1885.

John G. Hart married in Kankakee, IL, October 14, 1885, Susan Gilliatt. Both were aged thirty-one years. She was born in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, Canada, December 1, 1854, daughter of Captain William and Frances S. “Fannie” (Starr) Gilliatt.

Daughter Maude Hart was born January 1, 1887.

Sister Harriet A. Hart married in Milton, August 20, 1887, Asa A. Fox, both of Milton. He was a widowed undertaker, aged forty-nine years, and she was a lady, aged thirty-five years. Rev. C.M. Anderson performed the ceremony. Fox was born in Milton, February 3, 1837, son of Asa and Harriet W. (Wood) Fox.

Brother George E. Hart married (1st) in Milton, September 1, 1887, Ita Belle Carter, he of Wakefield, NH, and she of Milton. He was a manufacturer, aged twenty-seven years, and she was a music teacher, aged twenty-one years. Rev. G.G. Butler performed the ceremony. She was born in Lyman, ME, circa 1865, daughter of Alba B. Carter.

Among the Woodworkers. On the tide flats at Tacoma, W.T. [Washington Territory], will be built at once a large saw-mill, which will run two circulars, one band-saw, and two 48-inch gangs, and will have a capacity greater than any mill on the Sound. The mill will be built by John F. Hart, E.N. Ouimette, S.M. Nolan, John E. Burns, and A.J. Littlejohn, and will be directly connected with the timber lands lying south of Tacoma by railroad – Pacific Lumberman (Wood Worker, May 1889). 

Son John Edward Hart was born in Tacoma, WA, September 9, 1889.

UNION. George E. Hart of Tacoma, Washington, arrived here Tuesday on his way to Milton Mills to see his wife, who has been very sick, but is now improving (Farmington News, February 7, 1890).

REAL ESTATE MARKET. Sales Recorded in the Auditor’s Office Yesterday Amounted to $50160. John F. Hart et ux to the Commencement Bay Land and Improvement company, lots 7 and 8, block 27, lots 3 and 4, block 54, Commencement Bay addition – $4000 (Tacoma Daily Ledger, April 11, 1890).

REAL ESTATE MARKET. Sales Reported Yesterday by the Fidelity Trust Company Amounted to $78462. George W. Byrd et ux to John F. Hart, lots and blocks in Southeast Tacoma – $16,000 (Tacoma Daily Ledger, May 2, 1890).

Mr. John F. Hart emphatically denies that he has entered into any arrangement with the Northern Pacific for a transfer of his right-of-way through the gulch extending from the head of the bay southward (News Tribune (Tacoma, WA), July 9, 1890).

Granite State Land Company. Articles of incorporation were filed today of the Granite State Land Company, capital $250,000, divided into 2500 shares of a par value of $100 each. John F. Hart, George P. Hart and L.W. Walker are the incorporators and Tacoma is named as the place of business (News Tribune (Tacoma, WA), July 12, 1890).

The Tacoma Eastern Railroad Company was recently incorporated by John F. Hart, George E. Hart and L.W. Walker with a capital stock of $250,000, divided into 2,500 shares of $100 each. The trustees are J.F. Hart, Geo. E. Hart, L.W. Walker, Charles Hotchkiss, and A.S. Kerry, residents of Washington, and R.H. Pike, of New Hampshire. It is said the company will build and operate a railroad over the franchise owned by J.F. Hart from the head of Commencement bay southward. This road has been partially graded and the ties for about ten miles are on hand (Western Shore, July 12, 1890).

The Tacoma Eastern Railroad enterprise had been a tempting lure to the voters [of 1890], and while they accused its promoters of deception the charge was not altogether fair. The road had been run up the gulch by John Hart, who owned a sawmill out Bismarck way. At first it was a mere tram, with wooden rails, but it answered Hart’s purpose of getting lumber to tidewater. There became interested with him Isaac W. Anderson, of the Land Company, Edmund Rice and the noted engineer, Virgil W. Bogue. They formulated elaborate plans and attempted to get money to carry them out, but the financial storm of 1893 prevented. Wright could not help them. He was no more able than others to lay hands on cash in that period. And so that upon which the community had set such a store of hope went glimmering and it was not until 1900, when John Bagley and the Ladd interests procured the line, that the earnest development of it began (Hunt, 1916).

UNION. John F. Hart of Tacoma, Washington, is spending a few weeks in this section visiting his sister and attending to business matters (Farmington News, November 14, 1890).

UNION. R.H. Pike, Esq., mine host of the Union House, was the recipient of a valuable gold watch as a New Year’s present from John F. Hart of Tacoma, Wash. Mr. Hart was formerly engaged in the lumber and excelsior business with Mr. Pike (Farmington News, January 16, 1891).

Daughter Elsie Mary Hart was born in Tacoma, WA, July 21, 1891.

John F. Hart appeared in the Tacoma, WA, directory of 1892, as secretary and manager of the Tacoma Eastern Railroad (tel. 607), with his residence at 3109 Pacific Avenue (tel. 369). The Tacoma Eastern railroad appeared as being at 611 Fidelity Building, with Edmund Rice as its president, John F. Hart as its secretary, and W.G. Gaston as its treasurer.

J.H. Hart, real estate, aged thirty-six years (b. NH), headed a Tacoma, WA, household at the time of the Washington State Census of 1892. His household included Susan G. Hart, wife, aged thirty-six years (b. Nova Scotia), Maude Hart, at home, aged five years (b. WA), Jno E. Hart, at home, aged three years (b. WA), and Elsie Hart, at home, aged one year (b. WA).

G.E. Hart, a lumberman, aged thirty-one years (b. NH), headed a Tacoma, WA, household at the time of the Washington State Census of 1892. His household included Ita B. Hart, aged twenty-five years (b. NH).

Companies Incorporated. Port Gardner, Lake Stevens & Eastern. – Incorporated in Washington to build a railway in Snohomish county Capital stock, $250,000. Incorporators John F. Hart and J.M. Davis of Tacoma. Principal office, Everett, Wash. (Railway Age & Northwestern, July 8, 1892).

Projects and Surveys. Port Gardner, Lake Stevens & Eastern – Projected. Everett to Lake Stevens, 5 miles. John F. Hart, Everett (Engineering News, December 8, 1892).

Tacoma Eastern. Completed from the head of Commencement Bay south, 6 miles. Will be operated as a lumber road for the present. Will be extended southwest of Tacoma to the Nisqually River. John F. Hart, Gen. Man., Tacoma Wash (Poor’s Railroad Manual, 1893).

The financial Panic of 1893 took hold in late February 1893. Brother George E. Hart was accused of burning his Tacoma sawmill for the insurance on November 30, 1893.

A TACOMA SENSATION. Suit to Recover Insurance Leads to Startling Allegations. DEFENSE CHARGES ARSON. Two Prominent Millmen Are Involved in the Case. TACOMA, May 8. – [Special.] – A big sensation promises to be the outcome of a suit instituted today by Snell & Johnson on behalf of George E. Hart, to recover $10,000 for insurance on the Hart sawmill, which was burned a few months ago. The insurance companies have refused to pay the insurance, and when Crowley & Sullivan, representing them, file their answer to Hart, the charge that Hart fired the mill, Mr. Sullivan says, will be one of the citations. But the charge of arson, if made as Mr. Sullivan says it will be, is only the beginning of the sensations which seem bound to develop. Shortly after the mill burned. Mr. Hart was all ready to leave for San Francisco on business of importance, when he was actually arrested and detained for some time, at the point of a revolver, it is said. Those causing the arrest and detention were promoted by the belief that Mr. Hart was about to flee and become an absconder. A member of the police force and a detective acting together caused the arrest, and for their pains they have been threatened with suit charging them with blackmail. They told Mr. Hart of their suspicions. and an order for $3,500 from him on the $10,000 insurance due the mill property was taken before he was released and allowed to proceed to San Francisco. Mr. Hart subsequently asserted that this order was secured forcibly from him, and his friends have assumed that it was nothing short of robbery to have compelled him to sign the order for the $3,500. Of course those securing the order held the same, it is claimed, as a sort of security for Hart’s person. Besides, it is held that Mr. Hart gave the order, or at least wanted to give it, in order to have the officers hush the matter up. At any rate, the order was taken, but the men who took it have not been made defendants in a blackmailing suit, as was promised. This action, however, is one of the several sensational things which are looked lor. The mill was burned early in the evening, almost in the afternoon. If it was set on fire the firebug did not choose a desirable hour for his work. Again, Mr. Hart was in this city at the time, and had to be taken out to the burning mill in the mill locomotive. It is said that only a few months before the mill burned he increased his insurance from $6,000 to $10,000. That is true, but at the time the increase made, a partner, Herman Jewell, was taken into the business, and it is said that he insisted on having the mill insured to its full value before he would become interested and would put $4,000 in the business. Witnesses, if they have not left the country, will be called to testify that overtures had been made to fire the property; also that a man was seen setting fire to the property; that the night watchman quit because he feared that when the property was fired he would be charged with being a firebug; that there are in existence stenographic notes describing an interview between Mr. Hart and another, in which the former made a proposition to burn the mill, etc. Mr. Hart is at Everett, where he has considerable property interests. The companies sued and the amounts sued for are: Hamburg-Bremen, $1,000; Providence, of Washington, $3,000; Niagara, $1,ooo; Phoenix (Brooklyn) $1,500; Connecticut, $1,500; New Hampshire, $1,000; American, $1,000, The Pacific insurance union sent a man here to investigate, and subsequently the attorneys were notified that it would not pay insurance. That decision was reached some two months ago. George E. Hart is a brother of John F. Hart, projector of the Tacoma Eastern railroad, which is known as the Hart road. Both are among the best known business men in the city. It is claimed that the mill foreman, one Carey, of Seattle, was to have burned the mill on Thanksgiving evening for S300, but that the fire was put out by a Mrs. Hurlburt and others witnessing the same. The mill was burned on November 30. On one occasion, it is alleged, cans of coal oil had been placed convenient for use; that the key to the oil safe had been given to the mill foreman by one of the interested parties, and it is assumed that if there had been any incendiary suspicions then the fact that the key was found on the foreman would have lodged the crime on him. Jewell became interested in the mill October 17, and at the same time assumed a third interest in the $1,000 mortgage held by the Pacific National bank on the mill property. This mortgage was to be covered to its face value by $10,000 insurance, and it is said that when the insurance was refused, the bank, in order to protect itself, would have had to take up the case even if Mr. Hart did not. In order to secure release during the night he was detained, it is said Mr. Hart made various overtures to his captors to gives notes for $1,000, and at another time for $2,ooo in addition to the order on insurance for $3,500 in the first instance and $2,000 in the latter instance, and also to secure the notes with stock in the Summer Excelsior Company. The arrest occurred on the night of January 11, when he was about to leave by the Portland train, although it is claimed he had agreed not to leave the city. In an affidavit made by one of the principal witnesses Hart is put in the light of having been anxious to arrange for burning the property, and the man making this affidavit brings Kerry into the case. Kerry now has charge of Hart’s mill at Seattle. Snell & Johnson say it will be shown that an attempt was made [to] blackmail Hart; that he was detained and arrested while en route to San Francisco to arrange for the sale of the Tacoma Eastern railroad to the Southern Pacific. There is evidence that the officer, who is not now a member of the police force, who arrested Hart, did not insist on throwing him into the city jail, but allowed him to remain all night in the office of the McNaughton detective service. At first both McNaughton and the officer opposed this, but after talking with Hart they were satisfied he would not attempt to escape, and took his order for the stock and notes on the theory, it is claimed, that such evidence would make a better and stronger case against Hart. It is claimed they were satisfied that the order on the insurance was no good as the Pacific Insurance Union, it was believed, would not pay the loss. Thomas McCarthy, special representative of the Pacific Insurance Union, investigated the case and with the result that the insurance union refused to settle. Hart never made proof of loss, but Jewell, his partner, did (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 1893).

Handed in a Sealed Verdict. Tacoma (Wash.), Nov. 20. – The jury in the George E. Hart millionaire suit handed in a sealed verdict this morning. The same will be opened to-morrow. It is stated that a verdict will be found for Mr. Hart and against several fire insurance companies, members of the Pacific Insurance Union, which refused to pay $10,000 insurance on the burned property. It was alleged that Hart either burned or caused the mill to be burned (Sacramento Record-Union, November 27, 1893).

The Tacoma Eastern Railroad’s planned expansion was struck down by the financial Panic of 1893. The Commercial Bank of Tacoma called in a promissory note given by John F. Hart of Tacoma, WA, in 1894 (Kreider, 1895). As mentioned above, the Tacoma Eastern Railroad would not proceed until taken over by other interests in 1900.

Nephew Victor K. Hart was born in Fall River, MA, January 9, 1897.

Mother Sally (Fox) Hart died in Milton, May 22, 1897.

John F. Hart, a lumberman, aged forty-five years (b. NH), headed a Tacoma, WA, household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of fourteen years), Susie J.G. Hart, aged forty-five years (b. Canada), and his children, Maud S. Hart, in school, aged thirteen years (b. WA), John E. Hart, in school, aged ten years (b. WA), and Elsie M. Hart, in school, aged eight years (b. WA). John F. Hart rented their house at 3024 Pacific Avenue. Susie J.G. Hart was the mother of three children, of whom three were still living. She had arrived in the United States in 1875.

John F. Hart appeared in the Tacoma, WA, directory of 1901, as a lumberman, resident at 3024 Pacific Avenue.

Brother George E. Hart married (2nd), circa 1903, May E. Guertin. She was born in Liberty City, TX, May 1, 1876, daughter of Louis G. and Cecile C. (Key) Guertin. (She had married (1st) in New Bedford, MA, April 22, 1896, Arthur T. Jalbert, she of New Bedord, MA, and he of Fall River, MA).

Niece Sally J. “Juanita” Hart was born in Los Angeles, CA, March 20, 1904.

Brother George E. Hart and his wife bet and lost $15,000 on a whist game in August 1908.

FRUIT CROP STAKED ON A WHIST GAME. Los Angeles Society Woman, Her Husband, and Two Nevada Mining Men Dispose of Fifteen Thousand Dollars, Former Losing. THE fiercest game of cards since the wild poker days of forty-nine was played Tuesday night in a summer cottage at Corona Del Mar, near Balboa Beach. It was whist. The stake was a fruit crop worth $15,000. The players were Mrs. George E. Hart, a beautiful Los Angeles society woman; her husband, a prominent broker, and two Nevada mining men named Nelson.
The rough-and-ready cow-puncher luck of the Nevada men won the great prize in spite of the brilliant and bewildering game played by the Harts. The Harts had leads and return leads, and American and International whist signals at their fingers’ ends, but the Nevada men had the trumps. It was an exciting, dramatic contest. Although women are always said to be bad losers, Mrs. Hart saw her $15,000 go without a wince. As the winners grabbed the last trick, she gave a little laugh, and said lightly, “Now you are all my guests for a little supper.” And it was a fine supper, too.
OUTCOME OF LAND TRADE. The game was the outcome of a real estate trade. The miners traded a California town for a ranch owned by the Harts. The Harts had ninety-two acres in Simi Valley, thirty-seven miles north of Los Angeles, planted to 12-year-old prunes, peaches, apples, olives and other fruit. It is valued at about $60,000. The Nelsons – Hugh W. and George A. – owned the townsite of Winchester, Riverside county, consisting of 264 town lots, 105 acres of alfalfa land, and a two-story brick building. They agreed to swap, and the Nelsons agreed to assume a certain mortgage. But on one point they stuck: they both Insisted on having this year’s crop of fruit from the ranch. Hart and the two Nelsons met many times in the office of Arthur G. Munn, No. 202 Mason building. They talked trade and argued about the fruit crop, and between whiles they gossiped. The talk frequently turned to whist, all being enthusiasts. Finally, Mr. Munn, the agent, said to Mr. Hart, “Why don’t you play a game of whist with the Nelsons to settle this controversy about the fruit crop?” Hart’s eyes brightened, and he said he would talk it over with his wife. He came back next day and said his wife was willing. The Nelsons decided very briefly. Munn mentioned it to them and one of them sort of glanced out of the corner of his eyes at his brother and said, “It’s a go.”
MEET FAIR PLAYER. It was arranged that the game should be played Tuesday night at the Hotel Corona Del Mer, owned by the Harts, near Newport Beach. The Nevada man did not know exactly whom they were to play against, as Hart was to be allowed to choose his partner. Probably with some trepidation they boarded the trolley car in Los Angeles in the afternoon, arriving about sundown. They were met at the beach by an electric launch, one of whose passengers was a most attractive woman – Mrs. Hart – who, they learned for the first time, was to be her husband’s partner in the big game. They were taken at first to the hotel, but the news of the great game had crept out in some way and the summer people were in a great state of excitement. Consequently, they decided to go to a vacant summer cottage near the hotel. The public was shut out, but the summer people clustered around the front walks and tried to peek, and waylaid the bell hop every time he came to the cottage with ice water.
CUT TO FIFTY POINTS. Promptly at 7 o’clock they sat down, and the game began. “For 1oo points?” asked one of the Nelsons, as Hart brought out the new glistening deck. “Oh, no; that’s too long,” said Hart, putting down the deck in consternation. “I couldn’t stand it playing that long.” Mr. Hart’s health is not of the best. At his objection, the Nelsons good naturedly agreed that the game should be half as long – fifty points. “Our only idea,” they said, “was to make it long enough so neither side could win on a streak of luck.” As Mrs. Hart’s slender fingers reached out to cut the deck. It is probable that each of the four saw, in fancy, a great pile of gold coins the equivalent of $15,000 heaped on that table between them. They each picked up a little section of the deck and turned the bottom card upward. Mrs. Hart had won the deal. She shuffled the deck lightly and sent little flurrying card showers across the polished table as she rapidly dealt the four hands. Hearts were trumps.
PICTURESQUE CONTRASTS. The contrasts of the whist game were picturesque. The Nelsons settled deep down in their chairs and scowled blackly at their cards. Out in Nevada they don’t worry much about what partners are doing. They hang to the trumps to the last and bring them in with a thundering volley. Leads and returns and signals are unexplored mysteries. They played with their heads down never looking up. Mrs. Hart and her husband played with intricate science. Mrs. Hart’s is a game of great brilliancy. Every signal known to European or American whist experts was as plain as a child’s alphabet to the opponents of the Nevada whist players. When Mrs. Hart dropped a deuce to the table, the Nelsons only looked at it with mild indifference and moodily returned to an abstracted consideration of their hands; but Mrs. Hart’s partner, schooled in the Improved American Leads, understood as plainly as though printed on a hand bill that his wife was fortified with four trumps. When a queen came down from Mrs. Hart’s hand, the Nelsons glittered with premature triumph. Out in Nevada, you don’t lead an honor unless it’s the ace. If a Nevada man leads a queen, you suspect him of selling you out. But to Mrs. Hart’s husband it was the whist experts’ signal that the lady held four honor cards.
LUCK VS. SCIENCE. For about thirty-five points, that whist game was like a tiger cat fighting a bear. This fancy whist strategy was too much for Nevada. The Nelsons plugged doggedly along – continually losing. Every time the bell boy came out with an empty ice water pitcher, the summer people fell upon him and learned the same thing. “Yas ‘um,” said the bell hop, excitedly. “Yas ‘um, SHE’S in the lead. Them desert gents is sittin’ on the edge of the chairs and HER score card looks as long as a telephone line.” Every time his report to the besieging summer people was the same. They proudly fancied that She had the sage-brush whist-players blown clear off the roof. But about midnight the bellhop left the ice-water pitcher behind in his excitement “Them Goldfield men is hittin’ an awful pace,” he said, “One of em – that young-looking feller – has a bunch of trumps you couldn’t stuff into a trunk, and SHE haint got nuthin’ but dueces ‘n three spots.”
TENSE SITUATION. No more rings came for ice water, but the situation got so tense that one of the summer girls snatched up a pitcher of ice water; thrust It into the bellhop’s hands, and fairly shoved him into the house again. He came out with eyes starting from his head. “Them fellers ‘ll pass her sure in the stretch; they ain’t got nuthin’ but trumps; they are gaining a lap every minute.” The game had now become tense. They were almost tied at forty points. All four players were outwardly cool and self-contained; between hands, they exchanged a few words of light talk as indifferently toned as though they were playing for toothpicks.
MAKING IT BLACKER. When they were almost neck and neck, Mrs. Hart, who was keeping score, appeared to make an extra mark opposite the Nelsons’ names. “Excuse me, Mrs. Hart” said one of the Nevada men gallantly; “but I think you have given us one point too many.” “Oh, no,” said Mrs. Hart smiling; “I was only making one of your score points blacker.” From the thirty-fifth point at which time the Harts were way ahead, luck turned blindly for the Nevada men. It seemed though they couldn’t hold anything but trumps. Mrs. Hart and her husband struggled splendidly; everything known to whist science was thrown out to block the blind, headlong luck of the desert men. At forty points, they were even. Then the real struggle began. The Nelsons shot ahead; then the Harts slowly fought their score up. A few minutes before 1 o’clock in the morning, an avalanche of trumps seemed to fan into the Nelsons’ hands. They made a brilliant finish, – scoring 61 to the Harts 47. The big game was over. They all sat back and exchanged glances. How would the woman “take” the loss of $15,000 by four points? Without a sigh or an unpleasant word, Mrs. Hart swept the cards from the table; brushed off her dress and slightly yawned. “Aren’t you tired? Now you must all be my guests at a little supper?” she said lightly. “Honest truth,” said one of the Nelsons, yesterday, “we were ashamed to beat, but the cards all seemed to come our way.”(Los Angeles Times, August 7, 1908).

Susie G. Hart, aged fifty-five years (b. Canada), headed a Boston, MA, household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included her children, Maude S. Hart, an electric stenographer, aged twenty-three years (b. WA), John E. Hart, a claims bureau stenographer, aged twenty years (b. WA), and Elsie M. Hart, a photograph studio retoucher, aged eighteen years (b. WA). They resided at Suite C of “The Peabody” on Ashmont Street. Susie G. Hart was the mother of three children, of whom three were still living.

George E. Hart, a real estate investor, aged fifty years (b. NH), headed a Los Angeles, CA, household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of seven years), May E. Hart, aged thirty-six years (b. Canada), his children, Victor Hart, aged thirteen years (b. MA), and Juanita Hart, aged five years (b. CA), and his servant, Marie Carlson, a private family servant, aged twenty-five years (b. Sweden). George E. Hart owned their house t 619 West Lake Avenue, free-and-clear. May R. Hart was the mother of two children, of whom two were still living.

Niece Sally J. “Juanita” Hart died in Los Angeles, CA, March 21, 1912.

VITAL RECORD. DEATHS. HART. At Alhambra, March 21, 1912, S. Juanita, daughter of George E. and May E. Hart, aged 7 years, 9 months. Funeral private, at the residence, No. 201 Bouth Bonnie Brae, Saturday at 2 o’clock (LOs Angeles Times, March 23, 1912).

John F. Hart died in 1916.

Sister Harriet A. (Hart) Fox died in Wells, ME, December 13, 1918.

Susan G. Hart, a widow, aged sixty-five years (b. Canada), headed a Los Angeles, CA, household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. Her household included her children, Maude S. Hart, an oil company secretary, aged thirty-two years (b. WA), John E. Hart, an office auditor, aged thirty years (b. WA), and Elsie M. Hart, aged twenty-seven years (b. WA). Susie G. Hart owned their house at 2634 17th Street, with a mortgage. She had arrived in the United States in 1875 and had been naturalized in 1885.

Daughter Elsie M. Hart died of illuminating gas asphyxiation in Los Angeles, CA, February 17, 1920, aged twenty-eight years.

YOUNG WOMAN, ILL, INHALES GAS, DIES. FOUND LOCKED IN BATHROOM WITH REVOLVER BY HER SIDE. Apparently despondent over ill health, Miss Elsa M. Hart, 24 years old, ended her life by inhaling illuminating gas in the bathroom of her home at 2634 West Seventeenth street, last night, according to the report of detectives from University Police Station. The body was taken to the Ivy Overholtzer undertaking parlors. Miss Hart had been ill with influenza for some time, but appeared in good spirits yesterday afternoon, according to her mother. Mrs. Hart left her late in the afternoon to go the grocery store and upon her return, about an hour later, found all doors to the house locked. Thinking that her daughter had gone out for a few minutes, Mrs. Hart waited on the doorstep for her return, according to the police report. At 6 p.m. her son, John Hart, arrived home, and when told by his mother that all the doors were locked, he broke open the bathroom window and climbed through. He found his sister lying in the bathtub, with an automatic revolver in the bathtub beside her and the room full of illuminating gas from a tube attached to the gas heater. The revolver had not been discharged. Dr. A W. Hitt was summoned from his office in the Story Building. He used a lung-motor but the victim died within a few minutes. She is survived by her mother, her brother and a sister (Los Angeles Times, February 18, 1920).

Brother George E. Hart died in Los Angeles, CA, June 24, 1920. Sister-in-law May E. ((((Guertin) Jalbert) Hart married (3rd) in Long Beach, CA, September 30, 1920, Henry F. Burmester.

MRS. HART AND H.F. BURMESTER MARRIED. Cards received in this city today announce the marriage of Mrs. May Evelyn Hart and Henry Finch Burmester solemnized in Riverside last Thursday. Both have a wide circle of friends in this city. Burmester has resided at 1908 East Ocean boulevard since coming to this city a little less than two years ago. She has spent much of her time in Los Angeles of recent years and has been active in the Ebell and Friday Morning clubs of that city, and is a golf enthusiast and player of exceptional ability. Mrs. Burmester is a descendant of Francis Scott Key, author of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and a member of the Key family of Maryland. Mr. Burmester is a graduate of the University of Utah and is one of the best-known newspaper men on the Pacific coast. He joined the staff of The Press two years ago and some months later became city editor, which position he held up to few weeks ago. He will rejoin The Press staff within a few months. Mr. and Mrs. Burmester are spending their honeymoon at Big Bear lake but expect to return to Long Beach to make their home by November 1 (Long Beach Press-Telegram (Long Beach, CA), [Thursday,] October 7, 1920).

Long Beach Man Sues for Divorce and Settlement. By a “Times” Staff Correspondent. LONG BEACH, Jan. 27. H.F. Burmester, former president of the local Chamber of Commerce yesterday filed two actions against his wife, May Evelyn Burmester. One asks a divorce, charging cruelty. The other asks $200,000, asserted to be half the rentals of her property since September, 1920, when they were married. An accounting and temporary restraining order are asked. Burmester asserts that at the time of their marriage, his wife induced him to leave his position as city editor of a local newspaper to manage and direct her property, then valued at $200,000. He says that largely through his efforts the property, which consists of a large beach cottage resort, is now worth $400,000. In his divorce action he says his wife nagged him, complained when he attended official dinners instead of coming home to eat, and on one occasion called her adult son to eject him from his home (Los Angeles Times, January 28, 1927).

Susan (Gilliatt) Hart died in Los Angeles, CA, March 4, 1929.

DEATHS. HART. At 2634 West Seventeenth street, March 4, Susan O. Hart, loving mother of Maude S. and John E. Hart of this city. Funeral services Wednesday, March 6. at 10:30 a.m., from the chapel of R.C. Dellenbaugh & Co., 630 Venice Boulevard (Los Angeles Times, March 5, 1929).

Daughter Maude S. Hart died in Los Angeles, CA, May 11, 1929.

DEATHS. HART. Funeral services for Maude Susan Hart will be held today at 1:30 p.m. from the chapel of R.C. Dellenbaugh & Co., 630 Venice Boulevard (Los Angeles Times, May 15, 1929).

Sister-in-law May E. ((((Guertin) Jalbert) Hart) Burmester) Pharr, aged fifty-nine years (b. TX), headed a Los Angeles, CA, household at the time of the (1940) Federal Census. She owned her house at 17 West Seaside Street. (Her son, Victor K. Hart, an apartment and hotel manager, aged forty-three years (b. MA), rented his family’s residence at 9 West Seaside Street).

Sister-in-law May E. ((((Guertin) Jalbert) Hart) Burmester) Pharr died in San Bernadino, CA, May 17, 1940.

Mrs. May Pharr Taken by Death. Mrs. May Evelyn Pharr, prominent for many years in women’s organizations of the city and who owned extensive real estate properties here, died this noon at her Lake Arrowhead home. Her son, Victor K. Hart and wife, were with Mrs. Pharr when the end came. The body is being returned to the J.J. Mottell Mortuary, which will announce funeral arrangements. The well-known club figure was a native of Texas and came to Long Beach in 1916. She also had resided in Los Angeles. The Venetian Square Apartments were among the many properties owned by Mrs. Pharr. Survivors include a brother, M.K. Guertin, Long Beach, and an aunt and uncle here, Mr. and Mrs. Samuiel D. Miller (Long Beach Press-Telegram (Long Beach, CA), May 17, 1940).

Son John E. Hart died in Los Angeles, CA, October 15, 1944, aged fifty-five years.

U.S. Employee Found Dead in Parked Auto. John Hart, 55, of 1909 W. Adams Blvd., yesterday was found dead in his car parked at an isolated part of Mulholland Cove in the Hollywood Hills in what police said apparently was suicide by carbon monoxide gas piped by a hose from his automobile’s exhaust. He had been employed as an accountant In the U.S. Bureau of Internal Revenue, officers said. He left no notes (Los Angeles Times, October 18, 1944).

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References:

Find a Grave. (2012, October 13). George Edward Hart. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/98826261/george-edward-hart

Find a Grave. (2005, June 26). John Fox Hart. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/11237361/john-fox-hart

Find a Grave. (2021, October 8). Robert H. Pike. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/232830852/robert-h-pike

Hunt, Herbert. (1916). Tacoma: Its History and Its Builders; a Half Century of Activity. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=MYEUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA135

Krieder, Eugene G. (1895). Washington Reports: Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of Washington. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=VnwtAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA303

Wikipedia. (2022, June 20). Panic of 1893. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1893

By Muriel Bristol | October 16, 2022

Stephen Meserve Mathes was born in Milton, April 13, 1797, son of Robert and Polly (Meserve) Mathes.

Stephen M. Mathes was Milton town clerk in 1823-39. He was preceded in that office by Levi Jones, and he was succeeded by James M. Twombly.

Stephen M. Mathes married (1st) in Milton, August 24, 1823, Clarissa Watson, both of Milton. Rev. James Walker performed the ceremony. She was born in Rochester, NH, in 1802, daughter of Stephen and Mary “Polly” (Fogg) Watson. Clarissa (Watson) Mathes died in Milton, January 16, 1824.

Stephen M. Mathes married (2nd) in Milton, February 5, 1826, Theodosia Grant, he of Milton and she of Lebanon, ME. Rev. James Weston performed the ceremony. She was born in Lebanon, ME, August 5, 1797.

(The known children of Stephen M. and Theodosia (Grant) Mathes were: Mary E. Mathes (1826-1862), Sarah C.M. Mathes (1829-1829), Mandana T. Mathes (1833-1918), Stephen M. Mathes, Jr. (1836-1858)).

Hanson Hayes, John Kimball, and Ezekiel Wentworth recommended Milton Three Ponds trader Stephen M. Mathes for appointment as a Milton justice-of-the-peace in June 1826.

To His Excellency the Governor and Honorable Council of the State of New Hampshire convened at Concord, June A.D. 1826 ~

Humbly shews the subscribers, that at the Three Ponds, on the Salmon fall river in Milton in the County of Strafford, is situated a Village where a considerable business is done by water power, Merchandize, & c., that there is no acting Justice of the Peace near said place, that an appointment of some suitable person would be a great convenience to the inhabitants and public, we would Therefore recommend Stephen M. Mathes, (Trader,) of said Milton of known good talents, education and character to your Honor’s consideration.

H. Hayes, John Kimball, Ezekiel Wentworth

Stephen M. Mathes received his initial appointment as a Milton justice-of-the-peace, July 1, 1826.

Justices of the Peace. Milton. Jotham Nute, D. Hayes, John Remich, jr., J. Roberts, Hanson Hayes, Stephen M. Mathes (Farmer & Lyon, 1826). 

Daughter Mary Elizabeth Mathes was born in Milton, December 1, 1826.

Stephen M. Mathes and other Milton Masons were remembered in an article on the lengthy lodge membership of Josiah B. Edgerly (1801-1888) of Farmington, NH.

Fraternal Lodge, A.F. & A.M., at Farmington. There is probably no other Masonic lodge in New Hampshire that has grown up with the rapidity of Fraternal, No. 71, and perhaps but few, if any, of its members are aware that one of their number has been a Mason longer and attended more lodge meetings than any other Mason now living in the county of Strafford, if not in the State. That member is Josiah B. Edgerly, who was made a Mason in Humane Lodge, No. 21 at Rochester, in the year 1826, and though the distance was eight miles his interest in the order became such that he was a frequent attendant at the monthly meeting. There he would meet his brother Masons from Milton –  Brothers Levi and Joshua Jones and the other Joneses, Dr. Stephen Drew, Theodore C. Lyman, Stephen M. Mathes, and many other brothers from that town, whose travel was about the same distance, and whose presence added very much to the interest of the meeting. … (Farmington News, March 26, 1886).

Daughter Sarah Cummings Merrill Mathes was born in Milton, August 25, 1829. She died the same day.

Justices of the Peace. Milton. Jotham Nute, D. Hayes, John Remich, J. Roberts, Hanson Hayes, Stephen M. Mathes, John Nutter, Thomas Chapman (Lyon, 1829).

Steph. M. Mathes headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifth (1830) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 30-39 years [himself], one female aged 30-39 years [Theodosia (Grant) Mathes], one female aged 20-29 years, and two females aged under-5 years. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Richd Gerrish and W.H. Brewster.

Milton sent Stephen M. Mathes to Concord, NH, as its NH state representative for the 1830-32 biennium. He served on the Public Lands Committee. As was then usual, the representatives lodged in Concord during the Spring and Fall sessions. Rep. Mathes lodged at J. George’s, as did other Strafford County representatives Jeremy B. Wingate of Alton, Luther Richardson of Burton, Stephen Danforth of Eaton, John Colley of Effingham, John Page of Gilmanton, J.R. Pilsbury of Middleton, John Perkins of Strafford, Jacob Burleigh of Tuftonborough, and Thos. J. Tibbetts of Wolfeborough, NH (NH General Court, 1829).

Stephen M. Mathes received a renewal of his appointment as a Milton justice-of-the-peace, June 21, 1831.

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).

Daughter Mandana T. Mathes was born in Milton, October 29, 1833. (Queen Mandana was the mother of King Cyrus the Great of Persia). Son Stephen Meserve Mathes, Jr., was born in Milton, February 21, 1836.

Stephen M. Mathes received a renewal of his appointment as a Milton justice-of-the-peace, June 11, 1836.

Justices of the Peace. Milton – 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).

Stephen M. Mathes received a renewal of his appointment as a Milton justice-of-the-peace, June 12, 1841. This appointment had an annotation that he was “gone,” i.e., he had left the district at some time prior to his next expected renewal in June 1846.

Stephen M. Mathes was among twenty-seven parishioners that purchased pews in the Rochester Congregational Church in August 1841.

Ezra Hayes, Jonathan T. Seavey, Widow Sarah McDuffee, Aaron Flagg, George W. Flagg, Benjamin Hayes, Widow Mehitable Young, one half share each; James Tebbitts, Benjamin Barker, Charles Henderson, Jonathan T. Dodge, John McDuffee, Jr., Lydia March, Stephen M. Mathes, John F. Folsom, Jacob Smart, N.V. Whitehouse, James Y. Hayes, Calvin Hale, Elizabeth Hale, Luther Hale, Alfred Hale, one share each; Samuel Stackpole, John Roberts, Jr., Francis V. Pike, Mrs. E. Hale, two shares each; and J.H. Woodman, three shares (McDuffee, 1892). 

Theodosia (Grant) Mathes died in Lebanon, ME, September 9, 1842, aged forty-five years.

Stephen M. Mathes, locating in Rochester, engaged in a general mercantile business, and became one of the most prominent men of the place before his death, which occurred at the age of three-score years. He was a leading member of the lodge of Odd Fellows organized in that town (Biographical Review, 1897). 

Rochester, NH, sent Stephen M. Mathes and Jacob Smart to Concord, NH, as its NH state representatives for the 1843-44 biennium (NH General Court, 1843).

Stephen M. Mathes married (3rd) in Milton, May 10, 1843, Lydia L. Watson. She was born in Milton, in 1812, daughter of Stephen and Mary “Polly” (Fogg) Watson (and sister of his deceased first wife Clara (Watson) Mathes). (The known child of Stephen M. and Lydia L. (Watson) Mathes was Clara L.W. Mathes (1848-1892)).

Stephen M. Mathes was moderator of the Rochester, NH, town meeting in 1844.

Stephen M. Mathes was a charter member of the Motolinia Lodge, No. 18, of the Odd Fellows, in Rochester, NH, when it was founded in March 1846.

Among benevolent organizations of modern origin, Odd fellowship is deservedly pre-eminent. March 16, 1846, Motolinia Lodge, No. 18, was instituted by Grand Master S.H. Parker, with Charles Dennett, Stephen M. Mathes, Jacob McDuffee, M.T. Curtis, and Edwin Bradbury as charter members. Asa P. Hanson, George B. Roberts, I.W. Springfield, and John Stott were initiated the same day, and Asa P. Hanson was the first Noble Grand. At the end of the first year there were 48 members, 39 residing in Rochester and 9 in Farmington. Woodbine Lodge of Farmington, and Miltonia Lodge of Milton both sprang from this Lodge, besides the other two Lodges in Rochester. The character of the membership and the management of this Lodge have secured to Oddfellowship a high standing in this vicinity (McDuffee, 1892).

Stephen M. Mathes received an appointment as a Rochester, NH, justice-of-the-peace, June 17, 1846.

Justices of the Peace. ROCHESTER – JAMES FARRINGTON – RICHARD RUSSELL, Noah Tebbets, Hatevil Knight, Jeremiah H. Woodman, Samuel Pray, Richard Kimball, Charles Dennett, Benjamin Hayes, John Hanson, Louis Mc Duffie, John Meder, George Hayes, Watson Hayes, Jonathan Hussey, William S. Ricker, Moses Roberts, jr., James Tebbets, jr., Stephen M. Mathes, Jacob Smart, Samuel Rogers, Joseph J. Leighton (Farmer & Lyon, 1844).

Daughter Clara L.W. Mathes was born in Rochester, NH, March 16, 1848.

Lydia L. (Watson) Mathes died circa 1848.

Stephen M. Mathes married (4th) in Rochester, NH, April 29, 1849, Louisa F. (Meserve) Davis. She was born in Milton, February 14, 1818, daughter of Hopley and Joanna (Twombly) Meserve. (Husband and wife were cousins, both being grandchildren of Stephen and Abigail (Yeaton) Meserve. She had been married before to David Davis, who died 1845-46.

(The known child of Stephen M. and Louisa F. ((Meserve) Davis) Mathes was: George F. Mathes (1856-1934)).

Daughter Mary E. Mathes married in Rochester, NH, December 23, 1849, Dr. John W. Pray, both of Rochester, NH. Rev. Silas Green performed the ceremony. Pray was born in Rochester, NH, in August 1814, son of Dr. Samuel and Frances B. (Farnham) Pray.

JOHN W. PRAY, son of Dr. Samuel Pray (p. 440), was born in Rochester, August 1814; studied medicine with his father; attended lectures at Dartmouth, and began practice at Barrington in 1840. In 1843 he returned to Rochester, where he was in partnership with his father for eleven years. He removed to Alexandria in 1861, but afterwards returned to East Rochester, where he died April, 1871. He married [Mary] Lizzie, daughter of Stephen Mathes, and had four children (McDuffee, 1892).

Stephen M. Mathes, a merchant, aged fifty-three years (b. NH), headed a Rochester, NH, household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. His household included Louisa [((Meserve) Davis)] Mathes, aged thirty-two years (b. NH), Mandana Mathes, aged sixteen years (b. NH), Stephen Mathes, aged fourteen years (b. NH), Clara W. Mathes, aged two years (b. NH), Caroline Davis, aged fifteen years (b. NH), Cynthia Davis, aged eleven years (b. NH), and John Davis, aged seven years (b. NH). Stephen M. Mathes had real estate valued at $3,000. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Eben J. Mathes, a merchant, aged forty years (b. NH), and Herbert Stevens, a marble cutter, aged twenty-six years (b. NH).

John W. Pray, a physician, aged thirty-six years (b. NH), headed a Rochester, NH, household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. His household included [Mary] Elisabeth [(Mathes)] Pray, aged twenty-three years (b. NH). Their household was enumerated on the same page as John McDuffee, a banker, aged forty-six years (b. NH).

Stephen M. Mathes received a renewal of his appointment as a Rochester, NH, justice-of-the-peace, June 27, 1851. (This had an undated notation to the effect that he was “dead”).

Stephen M. Mathes’ shop goods sustained considerable damage in a large fire at Rochester. NH, in August 1851.

LARGE FIRE AT ROCHESTER, N.H. We learn by an extra from the office of the Great Falls Sketcher that a fire occurred in Rochester, N.H., on the 20th inst., which destroyed property to the amount of $15,000. It commenced in the stable of Jonathan T. Dodge, adjoining the Rochester Hotel, and destroyed the hotel, stable, and out-buildings, with their contents; the house occupied by Lorenzo D. Day, and some of his furniture; a shop occupied by Mr. Day as a marble manufactory; a blacksmith’s shop owned by Joseph Richardson, and occupied by Mr. Dicy; the barn and out-buildings, also a portion of the house of Benjamin Barker, Esq., and a horse and two carriages belonging to D.J. Parsons. The estimated losses are as follows; Mr. Dodge, $10,000, insured $3,000; Mr. Day, $700, no insurance; Mr. Barker, $2500, insured $1,800. Considerable damage was sustained by Messrs. Jones & Co., and S.M. Mathes & Co., in the removal of their stock of goods, but they were well insured. The fire was set by one Ezekiel Tebbets, about 19 years of age, who admitted his guilt, and has been lodged in Dover jail for trial (Boston Evening Transcript, August 22, 1851).

The original Rochester Bank of 1834 was sold when its twenty-year charter expired in 1854. A new Rochester Bank was chartered to replace it.

The new Rochester Bank was incorporated by an act approved June 30, 1853, and began business April 1, 1854, with a capital of $80,000. The directors were John McDuffee, Jr., Charles Dennett, James C. Cole, Dominicus Hanson, Stephen M. Mathes, Enoch Whitehouse, and Watson Hayes John McDuffee, Jr., was chosen president, and Franklin McDuffee, cashier; both of whom retained their offices through the existence of the bank (McDuffee, 1892).

Justices of the Peace. ROCHESTER – JAMES FARRINGTON – JEREMIAH H. WOODMAN, Stephen M. Mathes, Charles Dennett, Louis McDuffie, John Meader, Watson Hayes, Jonathan Hussey, Moses Roberts, James Tebbets, jr., Samuel Rogers, Daniel J. Parsons, James H. Edgerly, Sam’l Demeritt, Nicholas V. Whitehouse, Jeremiah M. Hackett, Daniel Lothrop, Wm. A. Kimball, Reuben Tilton, Jabez Dame, jr., John Nutter, Joseph Bunton, James Bodge, Samuel Meserve, Aaron P. Wingate (Claremont Manufacturing, 1854).

Stephen M. Mathes was moderator of the Rochester, NH, town meeting in 1855.

Son George F. Mathes was born in Rochester, NH, March 24, 1856.

George F. Mathes was but a year old when his father died. He received a practical education in the common schools. When about seventeen years old he began his term of service in the work with which he has since been identified (Biographical Review, 1897).

In the NH Executive Councilor’s race of November 1856, between Thomas Coggswell, Nicholas Whitehouse, and Eliphalet Locke, Stephen M. Mathes received a single vote, presumably a write-in one. Whitehouse won the District 2 seat with 7,016 votes.

Stephen M. Mathes was one of seven directors of the Rochester Bank, of Rochester, NH, in 1857.

ROCHESTER BANK. – Rochester. President, John McDuffie; Cashier, Franklin McDuffie; Directors, John McDuffie, Charles Dennett, James C. Cole, Stephen M. Mathes, Dominicus Hanson, Watson Hayes, Enoch Whitehouse (NH General Court, 1857).

Stephen M. Mathes died in Rochester, NH, May 13, 1857, aged sixty years.

In his will dated 21 May 1856 and proved in June 1857, Stephen M. Mathes named his wife Louisa F., to whom he left $1,000 and an undivided third of his homestead farm in Rochester, and four children: daughter Mandana T.C. (all the furniture of her mother Theodosia, deceased, half of the piano, and one-third of the farm), daughter Clara L.W. (all the furniture of her mother Lydia L., deceased, $1,000, half of the piano, and one third of the farm), son Stephen M. ($5), and son George Frederick ($1,000). Another daughter, Mary E. (Mathes) Pray joined the petition for administration of the estate, but was not named in the will. Also in June 1857, Mandana Mathes was appointed guardian of Clara L.W. Mathes, minor child under 14 of the late Stephen M. Mathes (Kruger, 1898).

Son Stephen M. Mathes, Jr., died in Milton, May 19, 1858, aged twenty-two years.

Louisia F. [((Meserve) Davis)] Mathes, aged forty-two years (b. NH), headed a Rochester (“Farmington P.O.”), NH, household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. Her household included George F. Mathes, aged four years (b. NH). Louisia F. Mathes had real estate valued at $666 and personal estate valued at $500.

John W. Pray, a physician, aged forty-five years (b. NH), headed a Rochester (“Farmington P.O.”), NH, household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. His household included Mary E. [(Mathes)] Pray, aged thirty-one years (b. NH), Fanny I. Pray, aged nine years (b. NH), Helen L. Pray, aged four years (b. NH), and John W. Pray, aged two years (b. NH). John W. Pray had real estate valued at $1,000 and personal estate valued at $150. They were enumerated on the same page as her paternal uncle, Ebenezer J. Mathes, aged fifty years (b. NH), and her stepmother, Louisia F. [((Meserve) Davis)] Mathes, aged forty-two years (b. NH)

Mary Knight, aged sixty-five years (b. NH), headed a Rochester (“Farmington P.O.”), NH, household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. Her household included Caroline Knight, aged fifty-six years (b. NH), Mary Knight, aged eighteen years (b. NH), Henry Wardwell, aged sixteen years (b. NH), Mandana Mathes, aged twenty-five years (b. NH), Clara Mathes, aged twelve years (b. NH), and Stephen D. Wentworth, a trader, aged twenty-four years (b. NH).

Daughter Mary E. (Mathes) Pray died in Rochester, NH, March 3, 1862, aged thirty-four years.

Son-in-law Dr. John W. Pray married (2nd), in 1866, Esther Ann Ladd. She was born in Bristol, NH, November 30, 1834, daughter of John and Fannie G. (Collins) Ladd.

Daughter Clara L.W. Mathes married in Rochester, NH, October, 7, 1867, John Irving LeGro [LeGros]. He was born in Rochester, NH, in December 1842, son of John and Lucy (Jones) LeGro.

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. [((Meserve) Davis)] Mathes [(1818-1901)], widow of Stephen Mathes [(1797-1857)], 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).

Louisa F. [((Meserve) Davis)] Mathes, keeping house, aged fifty-two years (b. NH), headed a Rochester (“Gonic P.O.”) household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. Her household included George F. Mathes, at home, aged fourteen years (b. NH), Ezecial Wentworth, a carpenter, aged forty-eight years (b. NH), and James Jenness, [a carpenter,] aged forty years (b. NH). Louisa F. Mathes had real estate valued at $400 and personal estate valued at $1,000. Her household appeared in the enumeration on the same page as that of her son-in-law, James Pirie, a tailor, aged thirty-eight years (b. Scotland).

James Pirie, a tailor, aged thirty-eight years (b. Scotland), headed a Rochester (“Gonic P.O.), NH, household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Manda E. [(Mathes)] Pirie, keeping house, aged thirty-six years (b. NH), George Pirie, aged ten months (b. NH), and Hellen Pray, aged fourteen years (b. NH). His household appeared in the enumeration on the same page as that of his mother-in-law, Louisa F. [((Meserve) Davis)] Mathes, keeping house, aged fifty-two years (b. NH).

John W. Pray, a physician, aged fifty-seven years (b. NH), headed a Rochester (“Gonic P.O.”), NH, household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Etta A. [(Ladd)] Pray, keeping house, aged thirty-five years (b. NH), and Hellen E. Pray, at home, aged fourteen years (b. NH). John W. Pray had personal estate valued at $6,000.

Irvin J. Legro, aged twenty-seven years (b. NH), headed a Rochester (“Gonic P.O.”), NH, household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Clara W. [(Mathes)] LeGro, aged twenty-two years (b. NH). They resided in a two-family residence with the household of his father, John Legro, an internal revenue agt., aged fifty-four years (b. NH).

Son-in-law Dr. John W. Pray died in Rochester, NH, in April 1871.

The first two months were spent as baggage-master in the station at Rochester. Then he [George F. Mathes] began braking on a freight train, subsequently becoming brakeman and baggage master on a passenger train of the Great Falls & Conway road, which is now a part of the Boston & Maine system. He was afterward to the position of conductor (Biographical Review, 1897).

Son George F. Mathes married in Rochester, NH, August 30, 1875, Fannie A. Parker, he of Rochester, NH, and she of Wolfeboro, NH. He was a baggage master, aged nineteen years, and she was aged twenty-one years. George S. Lindsay, justice of the peace, performed the ceremony. She was born in Wolfeboro, NH, circa 1854, daughter of Charles H. and Sophia Parker.

Mr. [George F.] Mathes was married to Miss Fannie A. Parker, daughter of C.H. Parker of Wolfboro. They have one child, Charles A., who is now brakeman on the Boston & Maine Railroad. Mr. and Mrs. Mathes are not publicly identified with any religious organization; but liberal in their beliefs, and attend the Unitarian church (Biographical Review, 1897).

Loisa F. [((Meserve) Davis)] Mathes, at home, aged sixty-four years (b. NH), headed a Rochester, NH, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. She shared a two-family residence on Wakefield Street with the household of Caroline E. Barker, keeping house, aged forty-seven years (b. NH). She appeared in the enumeration next to her stepdaughter, Mandana T. (Mathes) Pirie.

His wife, who was also born in Milton, is now spending her declining years in Rochester. She is a sincere Christian woman and a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church (Biographical Review, 1897).

James Pirie, at home, aged forty-eight years (b. Scotland), headed a Rochester, NH, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Mandana T. [(Mathes)] Pirie, keeping house, aged forty-six years (b. NH), and his niece, Helen E. Pray, at home, aged twenty-eight years (b. NH). They resided on Wakefield Street. Mandana T. Pirie was ill with a “lung trouble.” They appeared in the enumeration next to her stepmother, Loisa F. Mathes.

John I. Legro, a screw factory superintendent, aged thirty-seven years (b. NH), headed a Franklin (“Village of Franklin Falls”), NH, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included Clara W. [(Mathes)] Legro, aged thirty-two years (b. NH), and John Legro, aged seven years (b. CT).

Geo. F. Mathes, a R.R. conductor, aged twenty-five years (b. NH), headed a Wolfeboro, NH, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Fannie A. [(Parker)] Mathes, keeping house, aged twenty-seven years (b. NH), and his son, Charlie A. Mathes, at home, aged three years (b. NH).

Son-in-law James Pirie died in Rochester, NH, March 23, 1881, aged forty-nine years.

Daughter Clara L.W. (Mathes) LeGro died of malnutrition in Rochester, NH, March 29, 1892, aged forty-seven years, and thirteen days. R.O. Sweet, M.D., signed the death certificate.

In 1893 Mr. [George F.] Mathes accepted his present position in Dover, where he has established for himself a firm place among the most respected businessmen and citizens. He is a self-made man in every sense implied by the term, having by his own efforts steadily climbed the ladder of prosperity. Politically, Mr. Mathes is a sturdy Republican, and for many years was quite an active member of his party. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1889, and in 1893 represented the town of Wolfboro in the State legislature. Socially, he is a member of Syracuse Lodge, No. 27, K. of P., of Salmonville; and of the Wolfboro Tribe of the Improved Order of Red Men (Biographical Review, 1897).

Son-in-law John Irving LeGros married (2nd) in Sanbornville, Wakefield, NH, November 20, 1897, Hattie R. Johnson, he of Rochester, NH, and she of Wakefield, NH. He was a manufacturer, aged fifty-four years, and she was at home, aged nineteen years. Rev. Charles Bancroft performed the ceremony. She was born in Wakefield, NH, circa 1877, daughter of Thomas H. and Mary E. (Webster) Johnson.

Mandy [(Mathes)] Pirie, aged sixty-six years (b. NH), headed a Rochester, NH, household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. Her household included her niece, Helen E. Dray, a tailoress, aged forty-four years (b. NH). Mandy Pirie owned their two-family residence at 32 Wakefield Street, free-and-clear. She was the mother of four children, of whom none were living. She rented the other part of the residence to Julia Wilkinson, a tailoress, aged forty-seven years (b. NH).

John Legro, hardware manufacturing, aged fifty-seven years (b. NH), headed a Rochester, NH, household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of three years), Hallie [Hattie] Legro, aged twenty-one years (b. NH), his daughter, Dorothy J. Legro aged one year (b. NH), his mother, Lucy J. [(Jones)] Legro, aged seventy-nine years (b. NH), his servant, Jane Kennedy, a housekeeper, aged twenty-eight years (b. Ireland), and his boarder, John Legro, a bookkeeper, aged twenty-six years (b. NH). Hallie LeGro was the mother of one child, of whom one was still living. Lucy J. LeGro was the mother of two children, of whom one was still living. Jane Kennedy had immigrated into the U.S. in 1887.

George F. Mathes, local agent of the B&M R.R., aged forty-four years (b. NH), headed a Dover, NH, household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of twenty-three years), Fannie A. [(Parker)] Mathes, aged forty-five years (b. NH), his son, Charles A. Mathes, aged twenty-three years (b. NH), and his mother, Louise F. [((Meserve) Davis)] Mathes, a widow, aged eighty-two years (b. NH). George F. Mathes rented their house at 24 Sixth Street. Fannie A. Mathes was the mother of one child, of whom one was still living; Louise F. Mathes was the mother of four children, of whom two were still living.

Louisa F. [((Meserve) Davis)] Mathes died of senility at 24 Sixth Street in Dover, NH, December 7, 1901, aged eighty-three years, ten months, and twenty-three days. She had resided in Dover, NH, for four years, i.e., since circa 1896-97. Her previous residence had been Rochester, NH.

Mandana T. [(Mathes)] Pirie, own income, aged seventy-six years (b. NH), headed a Rochester, NH, household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. Her household included her companion, Helen Prey, a coatmaker and tailor shop, aged fifty-four years (b. NH). Mandana T. Pirie rented their house at 24 Wakefield Street. She was the mother of four children, of whom none were living.

John I. Legrow, retired (own income), aged sixty-seven years (b. NH), headed an East Bridgewater, MA, household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of twelve years), Hattie R. [(Johnson)] Legrow, aged thirty-one years (b. NH), and his children, Dorothy J. Legrow, aged eleven years (b. NH), Irving E. Legrow, aged nine years (b. NH), Terese Legrow, aged seven years (b. NH), and Elizabeth Legrow (b. NH), aged six years. John I. Legrow owned their house on West Street, free-and-clear. Hattie R. Legrow was the mother of four children, of whom four were still living.

George F. Mathes, a railroad yard clerk, aged fifty-four years (b. NH), headed a Dover, NH, household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of thirty years), Fannie [(Parker)] Mathes, a housewife, aged fifty-four years (b. NH), and his roomer, Julia Smith, own income, aged seventy-three years (b. NH). George F. Mathes rented their house at 62 Sixth Street. Fannie Mathes was the mother of one child, who was still living.

Daughter Mandana T. (Mathes) Pirie died of hepatic cirrhosis at 24 Wakefield Street in Rochester, NH, December 3, 1918, aged eighty-five years, one month, and four days. She had lived in Rochester, NH, for seventy-four years, i.e., since circa 1843-44. A.S. Annis, M.D., signed the death certificate.

John I. LeGros, a cotton gin machinist, aged seventy-seven years (b. NH), headed an East Bridgewater, MA, household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Hattie R. LeGros, a dressmaker, aged forty-one years (b. NH), his children, Dorothy J. LeGros, aged twenty-one years (b. NH), P. Edward LeGros, aged nineteen years (b. NH), Trese LeGros, aged seventeen years (b. NH), and Elizabeth LeGros, aged fifteen years (b. NH), and his boarder, Edward Sullivan, aged twenty-nine years (b. NH). John I. LeGros owned their house at 24 East Steet, with a mortgage.

George F. Mathes, a railroad yard clerk, aged sixty-three years (b. NH), headed a Wolfeboro, NH, household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Frances A. [(Parker)] Mathes, aged sixty-five years (b. NH), his son, Charles A. Mathes, aged forty-three years (b. NH), his daughter-in-law, Katherine T. Mathes, a trained nurse (private cases), aged thirty-eight years (b. NH), and his granddaughter, Dorothy P. Mathes, aged twelve years (b. NH). George F. Mathes owned their house on North Main Street, free-and-clear.

Son-in-law John I. LeGros died of arterio-sclerosis in East Bridgewater, MA, December 24, 1923, aged eighty years, eleven months, and twenty-four days.

George F. Mathes, aged seventy-four years (b. NH), headed a Wolfeboro, NH, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of fifty-five years), Fannie A. [(Parker)] Mathes, aged seventy-five years (b. NH), and his son, Charles A. Mathes, aged fifty-three years (b. NH). George F. Mathes owned their house at 35 North Main Street, which was valued at $4,500. They did not have a radio set.

Son George F. Mathes died of angina pectoris in Wolfeboro, NH, February 3, 1934, aged seventy-seven years, eight months, and seven days. C.B. Cotton [M.D.] signed the death certificate.

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References:

Claremont Manufacturing Co. (1854). New Hampshire Register and Farmer’s Almanac. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=l-cWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA60

Farmer, John & Lyon, G. Parker. (1826). Curtis’s Pocket Almanack and Register of New Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=L8EwAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA44

Farmer, John & Lyon, G. Parker. (1844). New-Hampshire Annual Register, and United States Calendar. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=BJIBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA51

Find a Grave. (2021, August 1). George F. Mathes. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/230169864/george-f-mathes

Find a Grave. (2022, April 26). Robert Mathes. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/239234385/robert-mathes

Find a Grave. (2020, September 7). Sarah Cummings Merrill Mathes. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/215332686/sarah-cummings_merrill-mathes

Find a Grave. (2020, September 7). Stephen Meserve Mathes. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/215330464/stephen-meserve-mathes

Find a Grave. (2020, September 7). Stephen Meserve Mathes, Jr. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/215332905/stephen-meserve-mathes

Find a Grave. (2017, February 16). Mandana T. Mathes Pirie. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/176398397/mandana-t-pirie

Find a Grave. (2022, August 18). Mary E. [(Mathes)] Pray. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/242772587/mary-e-pray

Kruger, David. (1998). Jonathan Watson (1650?-1714) of Dover, New Hampshire: Who Settled There by 1672. Newbury Street Press.

Lyon, G. Parker. (1829). New Hampshire Annual Register and United States Calendar. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=Okg9AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA52

McDuffee, Franklin. (1892). History of the Town of Rochester, New Hampshire, from 1722 to 1890. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=rL0yAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA558

NH General Court. (1829). Manual for the Use of the General Court of New Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=Ee8RAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA11

NH General Court. (1843). Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of New-Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=pvtBAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA4

NH General Court. (1857). Journal of the Senate of New Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=yldNAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA536

By Muriel Bristol | October 2, 2022

Hanson Hayes was born in Milton, January 13, 1792, son of James C. and Elizabeth (Twombly) Hayes.

(The known children of James C. and Elizabeth (Twombly) Hayes were: James Hayes (1790–1845), Hanson Hayes (1792–1851), Abra Hayes Fish (1795–1879), Chesley Hayes (1798–1835), and Sally Hayes Junkins (1803–1828)).

3rd Lt. Hanson Hayes was promoted to 2nd Lt. in NH’s Thirty-Third Regiment of militia, February 10, 1814. He replaced 2nd Lt. T. Buckminster, who had been promoted to 1st Lt., and he was himself replaced by Ensign Joshua B. Hartford (US Senate, 1828). (3rd Lt. Joshua B. Hartford (1795-1826) would be wounded in an action at La Cole Mill, Lower Canada, March 30, 1814).

Lt. Hanson Hayes marched to Portsmouth, NH, with Capt. William Courson’s Milton militia company in September 1814. (See Milton in the War of 1812).

2nd Lt. Hanson Hayes was promoted to 1st Lt. in NH’s Thirty-Third Regiment of militia, October 2, 1814. He replaced 1st Lt. Scammon, who had resigned, and he was himself replaced by 3rd Lt. Samuel Powell (US Senate, 1828).

Hanson Hayes married in Dover, NH, July 3, 1817, [Mrs.] Sophia (Swasey) Hanson, both of Milton. Rev. Joseph W. Clary performed the ceremony. She was born in Dover, NH, January 5, 1796, daughter of Nathaniel and Sarah (Somersby) Swasey (Dover Historical Society, 1894). (Her first husband had been John Hanson, who died April 30, 1814).

(The known children of Hanson and Sophia (Swasey) Hanson were: Susan Augusta Hayes (1818–1853), Mary Dearborn Hayes (1821–1904), Sarah Elizabeth Hayes (1824–1874), Clara Jane Hayes (1827–1897), John Hanson Hayes (1830–1912), Andrew Jackson Hayes (1832–1905)).

Daughter Susan Augusta Hayes was born in Milton, June 2, 1818.

Hanson Hayes, H. Meserve, and John Remick, Jr., were the Milton selectmen of 1819-20. One of the issues with which their board had to deal was the Milton militia dispute of 1820. (Hanson Hayes had been a Milton militia officer in 1814).

Jas. Roberts, H. Hayes, and H. Meserve were the Milton selectmen of 1821 and 1822.

Hanson Hayes was one of twelve incorporators of the Humane Lodge of Masons of Rochester, NH, in June 1821. Incorporators Levi Jones (1771-1847), Dr. Stephen Drew (1791-1872), Ira Fish (1790-1872), and Jones’ older brother William Jones (1769-1845) were also Milton men; Giles W. Burrows (1821-1900) and Nathaniel Lord (1790-1870) were from Lebanon, ME; and John Chapman, Joseph Cross, Charles Dennett (1788-1867), Rev. Harvey Morey (1789-1830), and John Roberts, Jr. (1789-1861) were from Rochester, NH.

Daughter Mary Dearborn Hayes was born in Milton, September 12, 1821.

H. Hayes, Hopley Meserve, Jotham Nute, and James Roberts of Milton were among the many inhabitants of Alton, Brookfield, Farmington, Milton, Middleton, Rochester, Wakefield, and Wolfeborough, NH, that recommended Dr. Joseph Hammons for appointment as a Farmington justice of the peace, in 1822. (Dr. Hammons (1787-1836), a Jacksonian Democrat, would be elected later to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1828. He was appointed Farmington postmaster in 1833).

The NH legislature authorized incorporation of the Milton Social Library by nine Milton men, including Hanson Hayes, June 14, 1822. Gilman Jewett was empowered to call its first meeting and preside over it as its moderator pro tem.

H. Hayes, H. Meserve, Jos. Plumer were the Milton selectmen of 1823. H. Hayes, H. Meserve, I.H. Wentworth were the Milton selectmen of 1824

Daughter Sarah Elizabeth Hayes was born in Milton, September 12, 1824. (1824–1874).

Milton sent Hanson Hayes to Concord, NH, as its NH State Representative in 1825-27. (He seems to have been a Democratic-Republican, i.e., a Democrat). He received 240 votes in the election.

Hanson Hayes received his initial appointment as a Milton justice-of-the-peace, June 21, 1825.

Justices of the Peace. Milton – Jotham Nute, D. Hayes, John Remich, jr., J. Roberts, Hanson Hayes (Farmer, 1824). 

H. Hayes, John Kimball, and Ezekiel Kimball recommended Stephen M. Mathes for appointment as a Milton justice of the peace at the Three Ponds, on the Salmon fall river, in June 1826. John Chadwick, David Davis, Joseph Hammons, H. Hayes, and Thomas Tash, Jr., recommended Jacob R. Pilsbury for appointment as a Middleton, NH, justice of the peace, in June 1826. Pilsbury was then the Middleton coroner.

In June 1826, Rep. H. Hayes acknowledged receipt of “the first & second parts of the third Vol. of New Hampshire Reports, respectively, for the towns we severally represent in the Legislature of N.H. the current year, and against which towns our names are placed.” (He did not sign this time with his former flourish).

On Saturday, June 10, 1826, Rep. Knowlton moved for reconsideration of the previous day’s vote “for supplying the members with certain newspapers during the present session,” at State expense. Rep. Hayes of Milton voted with the 158 representatives that opposed reconsideration, as opposed to the 20 representatives in favor. That is to say, he voted in favor of supplying the newspapers at State expense (NH General Court, 1826).

On Wednesday, June 28, 1826, Rep. Hayes voted with the 88 representatives in favor of “an act to establish the rate at which sheep shall be valued in making and assessing taxes,” as opposed to the 97 representatives that opposed the measure (NH General Court, 1826).

On Thursday, June 29, 1826, Rep. Hayes voted with the 87 representatives that voted in favor of incorporating the Somersworth Bank, as opposed to the 121 representatives that voted against the measure (NH General Court, 1826).

On Tuesday, July 4, 1826, Rep. Hayes voted with the 118 representatives that voted in favor of appropriating $2,500 for improving “the road through the town of Lincoln in the direction from the Franconia notch to the town of Peeling,” as opposed to the 66 representatives that voted against the measure (NH General Court, 1826). (Peeling is known now as Woodstock, NH).

Daughter Clara Jane Hayes was born in Milton, September 13, 1827.

Son John Hanson Hayes was born in Milton, April 26, 1830.

Hanson Hayes received a renewal of his appointment as a Milton justice-of-the-peace on June 28, 1830.

Hanson Hayes headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifth (1830) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 30-39 years [himself], one female aged 30-39 years [Sophia ((Swasey) Hanson) Hayes], one male aged 10-14 years, one female aged 10-14 years [Susan A. Hayes], two females aged 5-9 years [Mary D. Hayes and Sarah E. Hayes], one female aged under-5 years [Clara J. Hayes], one male aged under-5 years [John H. Hayes]. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of James Moulton and Moses Chamberlain.

Son Andrew Jackson Hayes was born in Milton, August 17, 1832. His name suggests that his father was an admirer of Democrat President Andrew Jackson, who was president between 1829 and 1837.

Hanson Hayes received a renewal of his appointment as a Milton justice-of-the-peace on June 15, 1835.

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).

Daughter Susan A. Hayes married in Milton, September 15, 1839, Cyrus Ferguson. He was born in South Berwick, ME, September 10, 1808.

Hanson Hayes headed a Milton household at the time of the Sixth (1840) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 40-49 years [himself], one female aged 40-49 years [Sophia ((Swasey) Hanson) Hayes], one female aged 15-19 years [Sarah E. Hayes], one female aged 10-14 years [Clara J. Hayes], one male aged 10-14 years [John H. Hayes], and one male aged 5-9 years [Andrew J. Hayes]. Two members of his household were engaged in Agriculture. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Sarah Chamberlain and Asa Brackett.

Cyrus Ferguson headed a South Berwick, ME, household at the time of the Sixth (1840) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 30-39 years [himself], and one female aged 30-39 years [Susan A. (Hayes) Ferguson]. One member of his household was engaged in Manufacture and the Trades. (Son Alfred H. Ferguson (1840-1861) would be born in South Berwick, ME, August 15, 1840).

Daughter Mary D. Hayes married (1st), February 5, 1843, Brackett Merrill. He was born in Acton, ME, March 15, 1815, son of Nathan and Sarah “Sally” (Brackett) Merrill.

Son-in-law Brackett Merrill succeeded John L. Swinerton as Milton Mills postmaster, April 10, 1843.

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-in-law Cyrus Ferguson died of consumption in South Berwick, ME, December 31, 1848, aged forty years.

Hanson Hayes, a farmer, aged fifty-seven years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. His household included Sophia [((Swasey) Hanson)] Hayes, aged fifty-four years (b. NH), and Andrew J. Hayes, a farmer, aged seventeen years (b. NH). Hanson Hayes had real estate valued at $2,000. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of David M. Corson, a farmer, aged sixty-two years (b. NH), and James A. Ricker, a farmer, aged forty-six years (b. NH).

Susan A.H. [(Hayes)] Furguson, aged thirty-two years (b. NH), headed a South Berwick, ME, household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. Her household included Alfred H. Furguson, aged ten years (b. ME), and John H. Hayes, a laborer, aged nineteen years (b. NH). Susan A.H. Furguson had personal estate valued at $900.

Brackett Merrill, a lumber dealer, aged thirty-four years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. His household included Mary [(Hayes)] Merrill, aged twenty-nine years (b. NH), Charles Javett Merrill, aged six years (b. NH), Sarah Hayes, aged twenty-six years (b. NH), and Frank Hayes, aged three years (b. NH). Brackett Merrill had real estate valued at $1,500. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Joseph Rines, a farmer, aged sixty-six years (b. ME), and Josiah N. Witham, a farmer, aged forty-six years (b. NH). (Asa Jewett, a lumber dealer, aged thirty-five years (b. NH), and Bray U. Simes, a trader, aged forty-nine years (b. NH), appeared further down the same page, i.e., the Merrill house was in Milton Mills).

Hanson Hayes died in Milton, December 1, 1851.

Daughter Clara J. Hayes married in South Berwick, ME, June 13, 1852, Joseph A. Hanson, she of Milton, and he of South Berwick, ME. Rev. John Richardson performed the ceremony. Hanson was born in North Berwick, ME, December 16, 1828, son of Stephen and Mindwell (Boston) Hanson.

Daughter Susan A. (Hayes) Ferguson died in South Berwick, ME, October 3, 1853, aged thirty-five years.

Son John H. Hayes married in South Berwick, ME, November 1, 1853, Henrietta Dwight Stone. She was born in Union, ME, May 27, 1833, daughter of Henry and Jane M. (Richardson) Stone.

He [John H. Hayes] was a carriage maker and they resided in Newmarket and Suncook, N.H. (Bartlett, 1918).

Sophia ((Swasey) Hanson) Hayes married (3rd) in Milton, January 29, 1854, Ebenezer Adams, both of Milton. (Her pension claim gave the marriage date as February 15, 1854). He was aged sixty-one years and she was aged fifty-eight years. Rev. Loren E. Gordon performed the ceremony. He died in Milton, April 4, 1855.

Daughter Sarah E. Hayes married in Milton, January 6, 1855, Jacob S. Adams, both of Milton. He was aged twenty-six years and she was aged thirty years. Rev. James Doldt performed the ceremony. Adams was born in Milton, September 1, 1828, son of Ebenezer and Betsy (Sanborn) Adams. (He was the son-in-law of Sophia (((Swasey) Hanson) Hayes) Adams twice over, first as the son of her third husband, Ebenezer Adams, and then again as the husband of her daughter, Sarah E. (Hayes) Hanson).

Sophia [(((Swasey) Hanson) Hayes)] Adams of Milton filed for a War of 1812 widow’s pension (and bounty land warrant #21332-160-55), based upon her late third husband Ebenezer Adams’ service in Captain William Courson’s Milton militia company in September 1814. (See Milton in the War of 1812). File remarks indicated that “Sophia Adams previously married John Hamon [Hanson], who died April 30, 1814, and Hamon [Hanson] Hayes, who died Dec. 1851. Soldier first married Betsy Sanborn, who died April 30, 1852.”

Catherine [(Schoenborn)] Pelky, aged thirty-one years (b. France), headed a Racine, WI, household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. Her household included Joseph Pelky, aged twelve years (b. WI), William Pelky, aged ten years (b. WI), Elizabeth Pelky, aged five years (b. WI), Cornelia Pelky, aged two years (b. WI), and Bracket Merrill, a saloon keeper, aged forty-four years (b. ME).

Jacob S. Adams, a shoemaker, aged thirty-one years (b. NH), headed a Wakefield, NH, household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. His household included Sarah E. [(Hayes)] Adams, aged twenty-six years (b. NH), and Sophia [(((Swasey) Hanson) Hayes)] Adams, a domestic, aged sixty-four years (b. NH). Jacob S. Adams had real estate valued at $2,000 and personal estate valued at $125. Sophia Adams had personal estate valued at $200.

Joseph A. Hanson, a manufacturer, aged thirty-one years (b. ME), headed a South Berwick, ME, household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. his household included Clara J. [(Hayes)] Hanson, aged thirty-two years (b. NH), Frank E. Hanson, aged five years (b. ME), Susan A. Hanson, aged three years (b. ME), Alphida Hanson, aged two years (b. ME), and Alfred H. Ferguson, a student, aged twenty years (b. ME). Joseph A. Hanson had real estate valued at $1,000 and personal estate valued at $300.

John H. Hayes, an overseer in mill, aged thirty years (b. NH), headed a Newmarket, NH, household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. His household included Henrietta [(Stone)] Hayes, aged twenty-seven years (b. ME), Mabel F. Hayes, aged seven months (b. ME), Thomas H. Cord, aged thirty-eight years (b. NH), and Louisa J. Hanscom, aged twenty-two years (b. MA). John H. Hayes had personal estate valued at $200. Thomas H. Cord had personal estate valued at $350.

Son-in-law Brackett Merrill died in Racine, WI, in November 1862. His widow, daughter Mary D. (Hayes) Merrill married (2nd) in Seneca, OH, March 8, 1864, Michael R. Moltz, he of Tiflin, OH. He was born in PA, October 11, 1814.

Son Andrew J. Hayes married in Wakefield, NH, February 11, 1865, Susan M. Stevens. Nathaniel Barker performed the ceremony. She was born in Middleton, NH, April 8, 1839, daughter of John D. and Martha (Buzzell) Stevens.

Edwd. W. Junkins, a marble-cutter, aged twenty-seven years (b. NH), headed a Boston, MA, household at the time of the MA State Census of 1865. His household included Helen P. Junkins, aged twenty-five years (b. NH), Alice H. Junkins, aged five months (b. MA), Andrew J. Hayes, a clerk, aged thirty-one years (b. NH), and Susan [(Stevens)] Hayes, aged twenty-six years (b. NH).

Jacob S. Adams, a road master, aged forty-two years (b. NH), headed a Wakefield (“Union”), NH, household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Sarah E. [(Hayes)] Adams, keeping house, aged forty-six years (b. NH), Sophia [(((Swasey) Hanson) Hayes)] Adams, at home, aged seventy-four years (b. NH). Jacob S. Adams had real estate valued at $1,800 and personal estate valued at $300.

Joseph A. Hanson, works in cotton mill, aged forty-four years (b. ME), headed a South Berwick, ME, household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Clara J. [(Hayes)] Hanson, keeping house, aged forty-two years (b. NH), Frank E. Hanson, at home, aged fifteen years (b. ME), Susan A. Hanson, attending school, aged thirteen years (b. ME), Etta H. Hanson, aged twelve years (b. ME), Lutie M. Hanson, aged four years (b. ME), and Sophia [(((Swasey) Hanson) Hayes)] Adams, aged seventy-four years (b. NH). Joseph A. Hanson had real estate valued at $2,000 and personal estate valued at $1,000.

John H. Hayes, works in cotton mill, aged forty years (b. NH), headed a Pembroke (“Suncook P.O.”), NH, household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Henrietta D. [(Stone)] Hayes, keeping house, aged thirty-seven years (b. ME), Mabel F. Hayes, attending school, aged ten years (b. ME), and Henry S. Hayes, attending school, aged seven years (b. NH). John H. Hayes had personal estate valued at $1,000.

Andrew J. Hayes, a farm laborer, aged thirty-seven years (b. NH), headed a Peabody, MA, household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Susan A. [Stevens] Hayes, keeping house, aged thirty-one years (b. NH), Horace Magoon, a farm laborer, aged twenty-three years (b. VT), Humphrey Haley, a farm laborer, aged thirty-three years (b. Ireland), Amasa Smith, a farm laborer, aged twenty-four years (b. ME), Albert A. Paul, a farm laborer, aged twenty-seven years (b. NH), Stephen Paul, a farm laborer, aged twenty-four years (b. NH), Oscar Fellows, a farm laborer, aged twenty years (b. NH), and William Churchill, a farm laborer, aged thirty years (b. Nova Scotia). They shared a two-family residence with the household of Stephen Kelley, a gardener, aged fifty-four years (b. Ireland).

Daughter-in-law Henrietta D. (Stone) Hayes died in Pembroke, NH, November 15, 1870.

… after the death of his wife, he [John H. Hayes] lived in Amesbury, Mass., and Attica, O., and finally in Whitehouse, O., where he d., 11 Jan. 1912 (Bartlett, 1918). 

LOCAL CORRESPONDENCE. ATTICA NEWS. An itinerant dry goods auctioneer is holding forth in the store room of M.R. Moltz (Tiflin Tribune (Tiflin, OH), January 9, 1873).

Daughter Sarah E. (Hayes) Adams died of typhoid fever in Woburn, MA, September 29, 1874, aged fifty years, five months.

Widowed son-in-law Jacob S. Adams married (2nd) in Stoneham, MA, May 2, 1876, Elmira E. “Myra” Clement, he of Union, [Wakefield,] NH, and she of Stoneham, MA. He was a roadmaster, aged forty-seven years, and she was aged thirty-six years. Rev. J.O. Knowles performed the ceremony. She was born in Brookfield, NH, circa 1840, daughter of John and Mehitable (Sanborn) Clement.

Sophia [(((Swasey) Hanson) Hayes)] Adams’ War of 1812 widow’s pension file bears a clerical notation that her residence had become North Berwick, ME, by 1878.

Michael R. Moltz, a retired merchant, aged sixty-five years (b. PA), headed an Attica, OH, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Mary D. [((Hayes) Merrill)] Moltz, keeping house, aged fifty-eight years (b. NH), and his [her] niece, Mable F. Hays, aged twenty years (b. ME).

Jacob S. Adams, a carpenter, aged fifty-one years (b. NH), headed a Wakefield, NH, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Myra E. [(Clement)] Adams, keeping house, aged forty years (b. NH), and his son-in-law, Herbert E. Clement, clerk in store, aged twenty-four years (b. NH). (They appeared on the same enumeration page as John Meikle).

Joseph A. Hanson, keeps hardware store, aged fifty-two years (b. ME), headed a North Berwick, ME, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Clara J. [(Hayes)] Hanson, keeping house, aged fifty-two years (b. NH), his children, Susie A. Hanson, at home, aged twenty-three years (b. ME), Etta H. Hanson, at home, aged twenty-one years (b. ME), Lutia M. Hanson, at school, aged fourteen years (b. ME), and his mother-in-law, Sophia [(((Swasey) Hanson) Hayes)] Adams, aged eighty-four years (b. NH). Sophia Adams was said to have a “heart complaint.”

Harriet [(Gale)] Osgood, keeping house, aged fifty-four years (b. MA), headed a Salisbury, MA, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. Her household included her children, George G. Osgood, carriage trimming, aged twenty-nine years (b. MA), Ella B. [(Osgood)] Maytham, helping keep house, aged twenty-three years (b. MA), her son-in-law, George A. Maytham, a carriage trimmer, aged twenty-four years (b. OH), and her boarder, John Hayes, a carriage wood worker, aged fifty years (b. NH).

Andrew J. Hayes, a farmer, aged forty-seven years (b. NH), headed a Peabody, MA, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Susan M. [(Stevens)] Hayes, keeping house, aged forty-one years (b. NH), and his laborers, John E. Higgins, a farm laborer, twenty-five years (b. ME), Charles E. Hinckley, a farm laborer, aged twenty-two years (b. ME), Charles Jordan, a farm laborer, aged twenty-three years (b. ME), Andrew C. Perkins, a farm laborer, aged twenty-one years (b. ME), Alexander Frazier, a farm laborer, aged twenty-seven years (b. Nova Scotia), Nelson Truel, a farm laborer, aged twenty-seven years (b. Nova Scotia), and Ezra Roberts, a farm laborer, aged twenty years (b. Nova Scotia),. They resided at 3 Gardner Street.

Sophia (((Swasey) Hanson) Hayes) Adams died in North Berwick, ME, November 25, 1881, aged eighty-four years, ten months.

Bankruptcy Matters. … A voluntary petition of insolvency was filed by Joseph A. Hanson & Son, grocers, 43 Kneeland street. No schedules were filed with the petition (Boston Globe, December 27, 1881).

REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS. NORTH BERWICK – Nov. 25. Joseph A. Hanson of Malden, Mass., to George M. Hanson of Somersworth, N.H., land and buildings in No. Berwick for $3,600 (Biddeford-Saco Journal (Biddeford, ME), December 16, 1885).

Son-in-law Joseph A. Hanson died of phthisis in Malden, MA, January 20, 1886, aged fifty-seven years, one month, and four days. He was a grocer.

UNION. Andrew J. Hayes and wife returned home to Peabody, Mass., Tuesday (Farmington News, November 14, 1890).

Daughter-in-law Susan M. (Stevens) Hayes died in Union, Wakefield, MA, July 6, 1896.

Daughter Clara J. (Hayes) Hanson died of chronic heart disease in Malden, MA, April 15, 1897, aged sixty-nine years, seven months, and two days.

Son-in-law Michael R. Moltz died October 8, 1898, aged eighty-three years.

Mary D. [((Hayes) Merrill)] Moltz, a widow, aged seventy-eight years (b. NH), headed a Venice, OH, household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. She owned her house, free-and-clear. She was the mother of two children, of whom one was still living.

Jacob S. Adams, aged seventy-one years, headed a Wakefield (“Union Village”), NH, household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of twenty-four years), Elmira E. [(Clement)] Adams, aged sixty years. He owned her house, free-and-clear. She was the mother of one child, who was no longer living.

H.S. Hayes, a physician, aged thirty-seven years (b. NH), headed a Whitehouse, OH, household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of seventeen years), Etta [(Carson)] Hayes, aged thirty-eight years (b. OH), his children, Frank C. Hayes, a student, aged sixteen years (b. OH), Earnest E. Hayes, aged fifteen years (b. OH), Alus M. Hayes, aged twelve years (b. OH), Berne Hayes, aged ten years (b. OH), and his father, John H. Hayes, a retired merchant, aged seventy years (b. NH). Etta Hayes was the mother of four children, of whom four were still living.

Lydia F. [(Stevens)] Mitchell, a widow, aged sixty-six years, headed a Wakefield (“Union Village”), NH, household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. Her household included her boarder, Andrew J. Hayes, a widower, aged sixty-seven years. Lydia F. Mitchell owned her house, free-and-clear. She was the mother of on child, who was still living.

Son-in-law Jacob S. Adams died of senility in Union, Wakefield, NH, July 14, 1901, aged seventy-two years, ten months, and fourteen days. He had resided in Wakefield, NH, for forty years, i.e., since circa 1860-61, and a former railroader. C.E. Rogers, M.D., signed the death certificate.

UNION, N.H. Andrew Hayes, who has been confined to the house by sickness for several weeks, is improving in health (Lewiston Sun-Journal (Lewiston, ME), November 9, 1904).

Daughter Mary D. ((Hayes) Merrill) Moltz died in Attica, OH, December 31, 1904.

Son Andrew J. Hayes died of acute enteritis (and valvular disease) in Union, Wakefield, NH, June 20, 1905, aged seventy-two years, ten months, and three days. H.A. Moody, M.D. signed the death certificate.

Harry S. Hayes, a steam shovel crane-man [SIC], aged forty-eight years (b. ME), headed a Waterville, OH, household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. [“The records in our [medical licensing] office show that the certificate of Harry S. Hayes was revoked Oct 3, 1905, and was restored to him on Oct 22, 1914”]. His household included his wife (of twenty-seven years), Luetta [(Carson)] Hayes, aged forty-eight years (b. OH), his children, Frank C. Hayes, a steam plumber, aged twenty-six years (b. OH), Ernest E. Hayes, a government clerk, aged twenty-four years (b. OH), Olus M. Hayes (b. OH), aged twenty-two years, Berne Hayes, aged twenty years (b. OH), and his father, John H. Hayes, own income, aged seventy-nine years (b. NH). Harry S. Hayes owned their house on Waterville Street, with a mortgage. Luetta Hayes was the mother of four children, of whom four were still living.

Son John H. Hayes died in Whitehouse, OH, January 11, 1912, aged eighty-one years.

---

References:

Bartlett, Joseph G. (1918). Gregory Stone Genealogy: Ancestry and Descendants of Dea. Gregory Stone of Cambridge, Mass., 1320-1917. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=ZxsVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA727

Dover Historical Society. (1894). Collections of the Dover, N.H., Historical Society. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=QhpU3FwGl6gC&pg=PA179

Farmer, John. (1824). New Hampshire Annual Register and United States Calendar. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=O0g9AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA45

Farmer, John, & Lyon, G. Parker. (1844). New-Hampshire Annual Register, and United States Calendar. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=BJIBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA50

Find a Grave. (2018, April 15). Ebenezer Adams. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/188842465/ebenezer-adams

Find a Grave. (2021, October 10). Sarah E. Hayes Adams. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/232907594/sarah-e-adams

Find a Grave. (2013, August 14). Susana E. Hayes Ferguson. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/115495247/susana-e-ferguson

Find a Grave. (2007, March 6). Joseph Hammons. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/18267613/joseph-hammons

Find a Grave. (2016, October 5). Clara J. Hayes Hanson. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/170888507/clara-j-hanson

Find a Grave. (2021, October 10). Andrew J. Hayes. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/232908978/andrew-j-hayes

Find a Grave. (2021, October 10). Hanson Hayes. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/232909065/hanson-hayes

Find a Grave. (2013, December 20). Henrietta Dwight Stone Hayes. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/121955023/henrietta-dwight-hayes

Find a Grave. (2014, May 26). James Chesley Hayes. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/130395278/james-chesley-hayes

Find a Grave. (2014, April 17). John Hanson Hayes. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/128100644/john-hanson-hayes

Find a Grave. (2011, April 14). Mary D. Merrill Moltz. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/68349146/mary-d.-moltz

Hayward, John. (1834). New-England and New-York Law-Register, for the Year 1835. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=RXc8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA86

NH General Court. (1921). Laws of New Hampshire: Second Constitutional Period, 1821-1828. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=pr9GAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA383

NH General Court. (1826). Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of New-Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=FQBGAQAAMAAJ

US Senate. (1828). Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=IblDAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA553