By Muriel Bristol | January 21, 2024
Asa Jewett was born in Milton, in 1815, son of Gilman and Sally (Mead) Jewett. Mother Sally (Mead) Jewett died circa 1815.
Father Gilman Jewett married (2nd) in Milton, circa 1820, Ann S. Nutter. She was born in Newington, NH, in December 1790, daughter of Hatevil and Susanna (Shackford) Nutter. (Note her father’s male Puritan “virtue” name: “Hate-Evil.” It is of a kind with more familiar female ones, such as Constance, Faith, Hope, Charity, Chastity, Prudence, etc.).
Grandfather Paul Jewett owned a Milton Mills sawmill, operated by sons, Gilman Jewett and Nathaniel Jewett, and grandson, Asa Jewett.
Paul Jewett (1744-1835) owned an early sawmill known as the Jewett Mill, which was operated by Asa, his father, Gilman Jewett, and uncle, Nathaniel Jewett. They incorporated the Milton Mills Manufacturing Company in 1837, transforming the mill into a lathe and turning mill where they produced wood products (NHHS, 2022).
Asa Jewett married in Wakefield, NH, October 31, 1837, Mary Ann Richards, he of Milton and she of Wakefield, NH. Rev. Nathaniel Barker performed the ceremony. She was born in Wakefield, NH, April 20, 1813, daughter of Col. Ichabod and Annie (Hurd) Richards. (Ichabod Richards signed the Wakefield Anti-Division Remonstrance of June 1820).
(The kn0wn children of Asa and Mary A. (Richards) Jewett were: Nancy R. Jewett (1839–1904), and Lydia M. Jewett (1842–1922)).
Asa Jewett succeeded John S. Nutter as parish clerk of the Acton & Milton Mills Baptist Church, in 1837; and he would be succeeded in his turn by David Farnham, in 1850 (Scales, 1914).
Daughter Nancy R. Jewett was born in Milton, January 13, 1839.
Asa Jewett headed a Milton [Milton Mills] household at the time of the Sixth (1840) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 20-29 years [himself], one female aged 20-29 years [Mary A. (Richards) Jewett], and one female aged under-5 years [Nancy R. Jewett]. One member of his household was engaged in agriculture. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Ezekiel Merrow and Thomas Butter. (The household of father Gilman Jewett appeared further up the same page).
Daughter Lydia M. Jewett was born in Milton Mills, September 22, 1842.
Fire at Milton Mills, N.H. About one o’clock on the morning of the 19th ult. the shingle and clapboard mill of Mr. Asa H. Jewett, was discovered to be in flames, and before aid could be had, the fire had progressed so far that all effort was useless, and the mill, with its contents, were burned to ashes. The loss is estimated at about $1200, insurance $550, in the Strafford Mutual Insurance Fire Insurance Co. Credit is due to the fire company who with their engine succeeded in saving other buildings and property. – Dover Gazette (North Star (Danville, VT), August 4, 1845).
FIRES. From the Boston Post. Asa H. Jewett’s shingle mill at Milton, N.H., was burnt 0n the 19th; loss $1200; insured $550 (Greenfield Democrat (Greenfield, MA), August 12, 1845).
Sawmill partner (and uncle) Nathaniel Jewett died June 2, 1847, aged sixty-six years, ten months, and nine days.
Gilman Jewett, Nathaniel Jewett, Asa Jewett and a Mr. Wedgewood transformed the old woolen mill into a lathe and turning mill about sixty-five or seventy years ago [1837-42], after which it was operated more or less irregularly up to the year 1847, when it was purchased by John Townsend, who used the machinery for the manufacture of fine flannels, until 1861, when the mill was burned (Mitchell-Cony, 1907).
The Milton Selectmen of 1848 were Asa Jewett, Jos. Cook and Jos. Mathes.
Son Asa Jewett had his portrait painted by Sturtevant J. Hamblin (1816-1884) in August 1848. Note the “attributes” over Jewett’s left shoulder: woods verging on a body of water, not unlike Milton’s Town Seal. This sitting may have taken place at Hamblin’s studio in East Boston, MA (MutualArt, 2020; National Gallery of Art, 2022; NH Historical Society, 2022).
Asa Jewett appeared in the New England Mercantile Union directory of 1849, as a Milton lumber manufacturer and dealer (Pratt & Co., 1849).
Asa Jewett, a lumber dealer, aged thirty-five years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. His household included Mary A. [(Rogers)] Jewett, aged thirty-five years (b. NH), Nancy R. Jewett, aged eleven years (b. NH), and Lydia M. Jewett, aged nine years (b. NH). He had real estate valued at $11,000. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Josiah N. Witham, a farmer, aged thirty-four years (b. NH), and Charles Swasey, a baker, aged fifty-one years (b. NH).
Father Gilman Jewett died in Milton, May 24, 1856, aged seventy-nine years.
Cousin John R. Jewett died in 1858. Clara Alberta Jewett was born in Milton Mills, November 27, 1858, daughter of John R. and Clara H. (Page) Jewett. (Haven R. Jewett was one of her siblings). She was adopted by Asa and Mary A. (Richards) Jewett.
Asa Jewett, a farmer, aged forty-five years (b. NH), headed a Milton (“Milton Mills P.O.”) household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. His household included Mary A. [(Richards)] Jewett, aged forty-five years (b. NH), Nancy R. Jewett, aged twenty years (b. NH), L.M. [Lydia M.] Jewett, aged eighteen years (b. NH), and C.A. [Clara A.] Jewett, aged one year (b. NH). Asa Jewett had real estate valued at $2,500 and personal estate valued at $6,000. His household appeared between those of S.S. Hart, a farmer, aged forty-seven years (b. NH), and Amos Witham, a sawyer, aged fifty-nine years (b. NH).
Asa Jewett received an initial five-year appointment as a Milton justice-of-the-peace, December 8, 1860.
Asa Jewett of Milton paid a $10 tax on his retail dealer’s license, in the U.S. Excise Tax of 1862.
Daughter Lydia M. Jewett married in Milton, September 23, 1863, Thomas Jefferson Cutts. He was a farmer, aged twenty-one years, and she was aged twenty-three years. Rev. James Doldt performed the ceremony. He was born in North Berwick, ME, July 6, 1839, son of Thomas J. and Huldah (Chadbourne) Cutts.
Daughter Nancy R. Jewett married in Dover, NH, October 1, 1863, John U. Simes, both of Milton. He was a trader, aged twenty-seven years, and she was aged twenty-four years. Rev. B.F. Eaton performed the ceremony. Simes was born in Milton, June 7, 1836, son of Bray U. and Martha (Spinney) Simes.
Adopted daughter [Clara] “Alberta” Jewett died of diphtheria in Milton Mills, December 1, 1863, aged five years and three days. (Her death certificate listed her parents as having been John R. and Clara H. [(Page)] Jewett. However, the name and dates on her gravestone are the same as the birth and death certificates, but with identified her as having been the adopted daughter of Asa and Mary A. Jewett).
Asa Jewett was mentioned in the Vulpes Letter of 1864, as having one of the four regular stores at Milton Mills.
Asa Jewett received a five-year renewal appointment as a Milton justice-of-the-peace, October 31, 1865.
MILTON. Justices – Charles Jones, State; Elbridge W. Fox, Joseph Plummer, Luther Hayes, Ebenezer Wentworth, Ezra H. Twombly, Joseph Mathes, Charles A. Cloutman, Asa Jewett, Elias S. Cook, Lewis Berry, Joseph Cook, Robert Mathes (McFarland & Jenks, 1866).
Clara H. (Page) Jewett’s aunt, Mary A. Page (1819-1902), sued Asa Jewett over his lien in his own suit against his late cousin, John R. Jewett, or his estate. The issue had to do with conflicts arising from claims by different plaintiffs against a single defendant. Asa Jewett had filed a lien to satisfy his claim. The case proceeded to the NH Supreme Court, in June 1866, which dismissed her case (NH Supreme Judicial Court, 1867).
Asa Jewett of Milton Mills paid a $10 tax on his retail dealer’s license, and a $10 tax on his stallion (for a total tax of $20), in the U.S. Excise Tax of 1866.
Justices. Milton. Charles Jones, Luther Hayes, Elbridge W. Fox, Joseph Plumer, Ebenezer Wentworth, Ezra H. Twombly, Joseph Mathes, Charles A. Cloutman, Asa Jewett, Elias S. Cook, Joseph Cook, Robert Mathes, Eli Fernald, Asa Jewett, Daniel S. Burley, Ira C. Varney, George Lyman, George W. Peavey (Briggs & Co., 1868).
MILTON. Justices – Charles Jones, Luther Hayes, State; Elbridge W. Fox, Joseph Plumer, Ebenezer Wentworth, Charles A. Cloutman, Asa Jewett, Joseph Cook, Robert Mathes, Ira C. Varney, George Lyman, George W. Peavey, Martin V.B. Cook, John T. Hersey, George W. Tasker, Edward W. Fox, Ezra H. Twombly, Thomas H. Roberts, John U. Şimes, Larkin A. Craig [Lang] (McFarland & Jenks, 1869).
Asa Jewett, a farmer, aged fifty-five years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Mary A. [(Richards)] Jewett, aged fifty-six years (b. NH). Asa Jewett had real estate valued at $5,000 and personal estate valued at $585. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Ira Miller, a hotel keeper, aged forty-three years (b. ME), and Asenath Marsh, keeping house, aged fifty-seven years (b. ME).
John U. Simes, a retail grocer, aged thirty-four years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Nancy R. [(Jewett)] Simes, keeping house, aged thirty-one years (b. NH), Ida Simes, aged six years (b. NH), and Walter Simes, aged eleven months (b. NH (July)). John U. Simes had personal estate valued at $1,200. They shared a two-family residence with the household of Hiram Wentworth, a carpenter, aged twenty-six years (b. NH). Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of George W. Olney, agent for the woolen mill, aged twenty-nine years (b. KY), and Ann S. Jewett, keeping house, aged seventy-eight years (b. NH).
Thomas J. Cutts, works in woolen mill, aged thirty-one years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Lydia M. [(Jewett)] Cutts, keeping house, aged twenty-eight years (b. NH), and Alberta J. Cutts, at school, aged seven years (b. NH). Thomas J. Cutts and personal estate valued at $200. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Elizabeth Hubbard, keeping house, aged fifty-four years (b. ME), and George W. Merrill, works in shoe factory, aged forty-seven years (b. ME).
Stepmother Ann S. (Nutter) Jewett died in Milton, November 28, 1870, aged seventy-nine years, eleven months.
MILTON. Justices – Charles Jones, Luther Hayes, State; E.W. Fox, Joseph Plumer, Ebenezer Wentworth, E.H. Twombly, Joseph Mathes, C.A. Cloutman, Asa Jewett, Joseph Cook, Robert Mathes, I.C. Varney, George Lyman, G.W. Peavey, J.S. Hersey, G.W. Tasker, E.W. Foss, M.V.B. Cook, T.H. Roberts, H.H. Wentworth, J.N. Simes, L.A. Lang (Claremont Manufacturing Co., 1871).
New Hampshire. The house known as the Nathan Jewett House at Milton Mills was destroyed by fire on the 11th inst. Loss not reported. Insured (Boston Globe, October 23, 1873).
Son-in-law Thomas J. Cutts was Treasurer of the I.O.O.F.’s Miltonia Lodge, No. 52, under Noble Grands Moses Rankin (1874) and John G. Titcomb (1875).
MILTONIA LODGE, No. 52, Milton Mills: (Tuesday). Moses Rankin, N.G.; John E. Leach, V.G.; ; Joseph Sheard, R. Sec.; Thomas J. Cutts, Treas.; O.C. Titcomb, P. Sec. (R.W. Grand Lodge, 1872).
MILTONIA LODGE, No. 52, Milton Mills: (Tuesday). John F. Titcomb, N.G.; William B. Townsend, V.G.; Joseph Sheard, R. Sec.; Thomas J. Cutts, Treas.; J.L. Pike, P. Sec. 71. (R.W. Grand Lodge, 1872).
Asa Jewett, a trader & farmer, aged sixty-five years (b. NH), headed a Milton (“Milton Mills Village”) household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Mary A. [(Richards)] Jewett, keeping house, aged sixty-five years (b. NH). His household was enumerated between those of Jeremiah C. Buck, a physician, aged fifty-eight years (b. ME), and George Hoyt, works in felt mill, aged forty-two years (b. ME).
John U. Simes, a trader, aged forty-three years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included Nancy R. [(Jewett)] Simes, a housekeeper, aged forty-one years (b. NH), Edee Simes, at school, aged eleven years (b. NH), Walter Simes, at school, aged ten years (b. NH), Florence Simes, at school, aged eight years (b. NH), Harvey Simes, at school, aged six months (b. NH), and Raymond U. Simes, at house, aged three months (b. NH (February)). Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of [his brothers,] George E. Simes, a carpenter, aged forty-seven years (b. NH), and Edward S. Simes, a carpenter, aged thirty-seven years (b. NH). (John U. Simes was also the census enumerator).
Thomas J. Cutts, works in felt mill, aged forty years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included Lydia M. [(Jewett)] Cutts, keeping house, aged thirty-eight years (b. NH), and Alberta J. Cutts, at home, aged seventeen years (b. NH). Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Surrell Flint, a woolen mill carder, aged forty-seven years (b. MA), and John E. Marsh, a stone mason, aged forty-one years (b. NH).
Asa Jewett appeared in the Milton business directory of 1882, as a manufacturer of clothing.
MILTON MILLS. … Manufacturers – carriages and wheelwrights, John Brackett, A.O. Prescott; clothing, Asa Jewett; flannels, Waumbeck Manuf’g Co.; cloth piano and table covers, D.H. Buffum & Co.; picture frames, E.A. Hargraves; plows, W.F. Cutts; saddle housings, L.B. Roberts, S.G. Chamberlain; rubber linings, table and piano covers, Townsend & Co.; washing powder, E.J. Brierley (F.L. Towers Co., 1882).
Asa Jewett died in Dover, NH, April 17, 1883, aged sixty-seven years.
Mary A. [(Richards)] Jewett, a widowed home-keeper, aged eighty-seven years (b. NH), headed a Milton (“Milton Mills Village”) 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 two were still living. Her household appeared in the enumeration between those of Mary A. Merron, a home keeper, aged eight-four years (b. NH), and Arthur Hurd, a woolen mill carder, aged twenty-nine years (b. ME).
John U. Simes, a dealer in wood, aged sixty-three years (b. NH), headed a Milton (“Milton Mills Village”) household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of thirty-seven years), Nancy R. [(Jewett)] Simes, aged sixty-one years (b. NH), and his children, Hervey Simes, runs McKay stitcher, aged thirty-six [twenty-six] years (b. NH), Florence Simes, aged twenty-eight years (b. NH), and Chester Simes, aged seventeen years (b. NH). Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of [his brothers,] Edward S. Simes, a carpenter, aged fifty-seven years (b. NH), and George E. Simes, a carpenter, aged sixty-seven years (b. NH). (John U. Simes was also the census enumerator).
Thomas J Cutts, a woolen mill rigger, aged sixty-years (b. ME), headed a Milton (“Milton Mills Village”) household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of thirty-eight years), Lydia M. [(Jewett)] Cutts, aged fifty-eight years (b. NH). Thomas J. Cutts owned their farm, free-and-clear. Lydia M. Cutts was the mother of one child, of one was still living. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Arthur Hurd, a woolen mill carder, aged twenty-nine years (b. ME), and William S. Curry, a puller-over, aged twenty-three (b. NH).
Thomas J. Cutts appeared in the Milton directories of 1900, 1902, and 1905, as an employee of the W. [Woolen] Mills, with his house at 49 Main Street in Milton Mills.
Daughter Nancy R. (Jewett) Simes died of pulmonary tuberculosis in Milton Mills, April 4, 1904, aged sixty-five years, two months, and four days. She was a housewife and lifelong resident of Milton Mills. Charles W. Gross, M.D., signed the death certificate.
Thomas J. Cutts appeared in the Milton directory of 1909, as a farmer, with his house at 49 Main Street in Milton Mills.
John U. Sims, a farmer (home farm), aged seventy-three years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included his daughter, Florence Sims, aged thirty-eight years (b. NH). John U. Sims owned their farm, with a mortgage. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Charles Langley, a general store clerk, aged thirty-two years (b. ME), and Elizabeth Simes, aged eighty years (b. NH).
Thomas Cutts, a farmer (general farm), aged seventy years (b. ME), headed a Milton (“Milton Mills”) household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of forty-eight years), Lydia [(Jewett)] Cutts, aged sixty-six years (b. NH), his mother-in-law, Mary A. [(Richards)] Jewett, aged ninety-seven years (b. NH), his son-in-law, William L. Hargraves, a retired barber, aged fifty-one years (b. ME), and his daughter, Alberta [(Cutts)] Hargraves, aged forty-seven years (b. NH). Thomas Cutts owned their farm free-and-clear. Lydia Cutts was the mother of one child of whom one was still living. Mary A. Jewett was the mother of two children of whom one was still living. Alberta Hargraves was the mother of one child of whom one was still living.
Mary A. (Richards) Jewett died of nephritis in Milton Mills, August 7, 1910, aged ninety-seven years, three months, and seventeen days. Frank S. Weeks, M.D., signed the death certificate.
Thomas J. Cutts appeared in the Milton directory of 1912, and 1917, as a farmer, with his house at 49 Main Street in Milton Mills.
Elizabeth E. Simes, aged ninety-one years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. Her household included her brother, John U. Simes, aged eighty-three years (b. NH). Elizabeth E. Simes owned their house on Main Street, in Milton Mills Village, free-and-clear. Their household appeared in the enumeration between the two-family residence of Calvin S. Haines, an assistant to undertaker, aged fifty-eight years (b. NH), and Hattie M. [(Fox)] Fox, a widow, aged sixty years (b. NH), and Charles A. Langley, a retail grocery manager, aged forty-three years (b. ME).
Thomas J. Cutts, aged eighty-one years (b. ME), headed a Milton (“Milton Mills”) household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Lydia M. [(Jewett)] Cutts, aged seventy-seven years (b. NH), and his son-in-law, William F. Hargraves, a barber, aged sixty-one years (b. ME). Thomas J. Cutts owned their farm on Main Street, Milton Mills, free-and-clear. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Everett J. Witham, a teamster laborer, aged sixty-seven years (b. ME), and Charles H. Rines, a home shoemaker, aged fifty-nine years (b. NH).
Daughter Lydia M. (Jewett) Cutts died of chronic interstitial nephritis on Main Street in Milton Mills, May 19, 1922, aged seventy-nine years, seven months, and twenty-seven days. She was a lifelong resident. Frank S. Weeks, M.D., signed the death certificate.
Son-in-law John U. Simes died in Milton, September 28, 1927.
Albert Hale, a box shop machinist, aged fifty-five years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of five years), Mamie Hale, aged forty years (b. ME), his daughter, Margaret R. Hale, aged three years, eight months (b. NH), and his boarder, Thomas Cutts, aged ninety years (b. ME). Albert Hale owned their house on Main Street, which was valued at $2,000. They did not have a radio set. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Sumner Merrill, aged eighty-three years (b. NH), and George Buzzell, aged fifty-three years (b. ME).
Son-in-law Thomas J. Cutts died of senile pneumonia on Main Street in Milton Mills, March 15, 1933, aged ninety-three years, eight months, and nine days. He was a retired mill operative, resident in Milton for seventy years, i.e., since circa 1863 (the time of his marriage), with his prior residence in Berwick, ME. Walter J. Roberts, M.D., signed the death certificate.
MILTON MILLS. Odd Fellows services were held for Thomas J. Cutts here Saturday with Rev. E.H. Young of Rochester officiating. Mr. Cutts was born in North Berwick, Me., July 6, 1839, the son of Thomas J. and Hulda (Chadman) Cutts. He was a twin and the next youngest of twelve children. In 1862 he married Minnie M. Jewett, and there was one child Alberta who died about 15 years ago. He had lived in this town 7[5?] years. When he first came to Milton Mills from Berwick, Me., he began work in the woolen mills as a blanket napper. He owned a large farm and when out of work at the mill worked on his farm which afterwards was the home of the late Henry Townsend. He will be greatly missed, not only in the I.O.O.F. lodge of which he was the only remaining charter member, but in the town where many enjoyed dropping in to visit with him or when the weather was good to sit with him on the piazza at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Hale, his home of late years. He was of a cheerful disposition and his motto was “Don’t Worry.” He is survived by great great grandchildren, a [great] granddaughter, Miss Juanita Hargreaves of Boston, who took the best care of him in his last illness, and a niece, Mrs. J. Frank Farnham of Milton. He was laid to rest in Milton Mills (Farmington News, March 24, 1933).
References:
Find a Grave. (2013, July 31). Lydia M. Jewett Cutts. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/114673349/lydia-m-cutts
Find a Grave. (2013, July 29). Thomas Jefferson Cutts. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/114553563/thomas-jefferson-cutts
Find a Grave. (2013, August 14). Asa Jewett. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/115418840/asa-jewett
Find a Grave. (2013, August 14). Clara Alberta Jewett. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/115418898/clara-alberta-jewett
Find a Grave. (2013, August 14). Nathaniel Jewett. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/115419072/nathaniel-jewett
Find a Grave. (2013, August 17). Nancy R. Jewett Simes. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/115612594/nancy-r-simes
Mitchell-Cony. (1908). Town Register Farmington, Milton, Wakefield, Middleton, Brookfield, 1907-8. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=qXwUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA108
MutualArt. (2020). Portrait of Asa Jewett. Retrieved from www.mutualart.com/Artwork/Portrait-of-Asa-Jewett/CA91E0388921E0A7
National Gallery of Art. (2022). Sturtevant J. Hamblin. Retrieved from www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.5518.html
NH Historical Society. (2022). Portrait of Asa Jewett. Retrieved from www.nhhistory.org/object/1295227/painting
NH Supreme Judicial Court. (1867). Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Judicial Court of New Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=TdYaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA448
Pratt & Co. (1849). New England Mercantile Union Directory. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=H2woAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA87
R.W. Grand Lodge. (1872). Journal of Proceedings of the R.W. Grand Lodge of the State of New Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=GcuVn6tKSTAC&pg=PA581
Milton Observer 