By Muriel Bristol | October 27, 2024
William B. Wiggin was born in Wakefield, NH, October 24, 1800, son of David and Mary “Polly” (Hanscom) Wiggin.
(The children of parents David and Mary “Polly” (Hanscom) Wiggin were: Oliver Dearborn Wiggin (1797–1865), George B. Wiggin (1799–1820), William B. Wiggin (1800-1878), Simeon Wiggin (1802–1857), Temperence Wiggin (1804-1878), Mehitable Hanscom Wiggin (1806-1879), Mary Dearborn Wiggin (1808-188?), David H. Wiggin (1811–1882), Thomas Hanscom Wiggin (1813-1814), Alpheus Wiggin (1816–1876), and Ann T. Wiggin (1819-1894)).
David Wiggin headed a Wakefield, NH, household at the time of the Third (1810) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 26-44 years [himself], one female aged 26-44 years [Polly (Hanscom) Wiggin], one male aged 10-15 years [William B. Wiggin], three females aged 10-15 years, and one male aged under-10 years [Simeon Wiggin].
Brother Thomas Hanscom Wiggin died in Wakefield, NH, in 1814.
Brother Oliver D. Wiggin married, December 5, 1819, Jane B. Hutchins. She was born in Wakefield, NH, July 29, 1797, daughter of Solomon and Hannah (Lewis) Hutchins.
Brother George B. Wiggin died March 5, 1820, aged twenty-one years, two months. Father David Wiggin died in Wakefield, NH, May 5, 1820, aged thirty-nine years, nine months.
Brother Simeon Wiggin married, in 1824, Sarah Wentworth. She was born in 1804, daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Stone) Wentworth.
The Milton Selectmen of 1828 were Stephen Drew, W.B. Wiggin, and I.H. Wentworth. The Milton Selectmen of 1829 were W.B. Wiggin, H. Meserve, and J.M. Twombly.
Simeon Wiggin headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifth (1830) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 20-29 years [himself], one female aged 20-29 years [Sarah (Wentworth) Wiggin], two males aged under-5 years [Alonzo L. Wiggin], and one female aged under-5 years [Lydia Wiggin]. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Joseph Berry and Francis Berry.
Polly [(Hanscom)] Wiggin headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifth (1830) Federal Census. Her household included one female aged 50-59 years [herself], two females aged 20-29 years [Temperence Wiggin and Mary D. Wiggin], and one female aged 10-15 years [Ann T. Wiggin]. Her household appeared in the enumeration between those of John Berry and Joseph Dearborn Jr.
Sister Temperance Wiggin married in Milton, in 1830, Francis Berry. He was born in Milton, February 16, 1792, son of Francis and Sarah (Grant) Berry.
Sister Mehitable H. Wiggin married in Meredith, NH, in 1830, Mark N. Sibley. He was born in Meredith, NH, in 1807, son of Richard and Polly (French) Sibley.
POCKET BOOK FOUND. A POCKET BOOK, containing money and valuable papers, was left in my Bookstore about ten days since – having the name of “WILLIAM B. WIGGIN,” stamped on the inside of it. The owner can have the same by proving property and paying for this advertisement. S.C. STEVENS. Dover, March 5, 1831 (Times & Dover Enquirer, March 15, 1831).
William B. Wiggin married in Dover, NH, August 2, 1831, Philena Graves, he of Milton and she of Dover, NH. Rev. John G. Dow performed the ceremony. She was born in Tuftonborough, NH, in 1799, daughter of Phineas and Sally ((—-) Hodgdon) Graves.
(Phineas Graves had been one of the three original settlers of Tuftonborough, NH, in the 1780s. He had died there in 1816. “Twelfthly. I give, bequeath and devise unto my seventh daughter, Philenia Graves, one dollar, to be paid by my Executors, hereafter named, in six months from my Decease” (Strafford County Probate, 18:523)).
William B. Wiggin appeared in the Dover, NH, directory of 1833, as working at Fenner & W., i.e. Fenner & Wiggin, with his house on Poplar st. Fenner & Wiggin appeared as merchants of E. & W.I. Goods, European & West Indian Goods, at 5 Franklin sq. His partner, Elathan [Elhanan] W. Fenner, appeared also as working at F. & Wiggin, i.e. Fenner & Wiggin, with his house on Franklin st.
William B. Wiggin was appointed to a Dover, NH, Whig Committee of Vigilance, February 27, 1836. The Whig Central Committee appointed the Vigilance Committee to oversee the election and notify them of any irregularities. (See Milton’s Ante-Bellum Party Affiliations).
William B. Wiggin appeared in the Dover, NH, directory of 1838, as a constable and lot layer, i.e., surveyor (Norris, 1838).
Sister Mary D. Wiggin married in Wakefield, NH, June 10, 1838, Oliver Lord, she of Dover, NH, and he of Eliot, ME. Rev. Joseph Spinney performed the ceremony.
William B. Wiggin headed a Dover, NH, household at the time of the Sixth (1840) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 30-39 years [himself], and one female aged 40-49 years [Philena (Graves) Wiggin]. One member of his household was engaged in the Learned Professions and Engineering.
Sister Ann T. Wiggin married in Milton, December 25, 1842, Thomas L. Pickering, both of Wakefield, NH. Rev. Joseph Spinney performed the ceremony. He was born in Rochester, NH, in 1819, son of Simeon and Mary Pickering.
William B. Wiggin appeared in the Dover, NH, directory of 1843, as a land surveyor, with his house at 18 Second street. (His former partner, E.W. Fenner, appeared as a machinist for the C.M. [Cocheco Manuf.] co., with his house at the corner of Fifth and Chestnut streets).
The Dover, NH, Selectmen of 1845 were John Tredick, Samuel Dunn, jr., and William B. Wiggin (Scales, 1923).
William B. Wiggin received a five-year appointment as a Dover, NH, justice-of-the-peace, July 1, 1845.
The Dover, NH, Selectmen of 1846 were Samuel Dunn, jr., William B. Wiggin, and Andrew Varney (Scales, 1923).
HERE AND THERE. … About fifty years ago [circa 1848] the Norway Plains company, engaged in manufacturing in Rochester, sent to the town of Middleton a man named Benjamin Barker, who owned and operated lumber mills in the former town, with instructions to obtain certain lands, by bond or purchase outright, from Moses Place, Amos W. York, Ephraim Colbath, J. Smith Colbath, Leighton Colbath, Jr., and others, all of Middleton, in order that a reservoir might be constructed and that the Norway Plains company should be enabled to regulate the supply of water on which the running of the mills depended. Mr. William B. Wiggin, an expert civil engineer from Dover, made a careful survey of the requisite land, and furnished an estimate of the number of gallons which the proposed reservoir should contain. The owners of the land were thrifty men, and were willing to part with the use of it if not with the land itself, but they set a high price upon their properties, as men are apt to do in view of any demand, and it was some time before prices were agreed upon. Finally, with an outlay ranging from eight to twelve dollars an acre, amounting to the sum of nearly three thousand dollars, the arrangement was completed, the right of flowage being ceded in the cases where the land was not bought outright by deed. In this transaction valuable assistance was given by the Cocheco Mills company of Dover, although no special immediate profit could accrue to it, beyond the general advantage of having streams under control, and the latter condition caused mill owners between Middleton and Rochester to acquiesce in the construction of the dam … (Farmington News, January 21, 1898).
Brother David H. Wiggin married (1st) Patience Hodsdon.
Mother Mary “Polly” (Hanscom) Wiggin died in Milton, May 21, 1850, aged seventy-two years, eight months.
William B. Wiggin received a five-year renewal appointment as a Dover, NH, justice-of-the-peace, June 25, 1850.
William B. Wiggin, a civil engineer, aged forty-nine years (b. ME), headed a Dover, NH, household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. His household included Philina [(Graves)] Wiggin, aged fifty years (b. NH). William B. Wiggin had real estate valued at $2,400.
Dover, NH, sent William B. Wiggin to Concord, NH, as one of its six NH State Representatives for the 1851-52 biennium (Wadleigh, 1913).
On Tuesday, June 24, 1851, a vote was taken in “An act to incorporate the Cocheco Bank.” Rep. Wiggin voted with the 125 members [52.1%] that voted in favor of the bill, rather than with the 115 members [47.9%] that voted against it.
On Wednesday, July 2, 1851, a vote was taken in “An act to incorporate the Grafton County Bank.” Rep. Wiggin voted with the 177 members [68.9%] that voted in favor of the bill, rather than with the 80 members [31.1%] that voted against it.
Brother Alpheus Wiggin married (1st), circa 1852, Emeline “Emily” Seavey. She was born in Brownington, VT, in 1818, daughter of Francis and Hadassah (Warren) Seavey.
Thomas Stackpole, Thos E. Sawyer, Oliver Libbey, William B. Wiggin, J.K. Purinton, and D.H. Wendell, were Directors of the Cocheco Bank in Dover, NH, in 1855. Thomas Stackpole was also its President, and Ezekiel Hurd was its Cashier.
This bank was incorporated July 4, 1851. Amount loaned on pledge of its stock $100. Two of the Directors are indebted in small amounts compared with the amount of stock owned by each. The dividends in 1854 were 4 per cent, semi annually. The notes are all considered good (NH Bank Commissioner’s Office, 1854).
The Cocheco Bank had assets (and balanced liabilities) of $248,536.03. (William B. Wiggin had voted in favor of chartering the bank when he had been a State Representative from Dover, NH).
In the July 1856 the NH Supreme Court case of Busby vs. Littlefield, surveyor Willliam B. Wiggin appeared as a witness for the plaintiff.
The evidence in the case consists of the testimony of John H. White, Esq., who made the deed from Busby to Jordan; of James M. Ross and Charles L. Smith, who witnessed the deed; of Parker Clay, the owner of the land in the rear of the whole Busby land; of George W. Hayes, a tenant of Busby, who resided in the house on the southerly end of the lot; and of William B. Wiggin, a surveyor. This evidence has all been taken on the part of the complainant, no evidence having been taken by the defendants (NH Supreme Court, 1857).
Brother Simeon Wiggin died in Milton, February 11, 1857, aged fifty-four years.
William B. Wiggin was a City of Dover, NH, Common Councilor in 1857. William B. Wiggin, Solomon H. Foye, Everett Hall, and Daniel Murray were Dover Measurers of Stone. William B. Wiggin and James M. Haynes were its Ward 2 Assessors. He received $43.55 in salary for that Assessor position, and $11.50 for surveying highways.
William B. Wiggin appeared in the Dover, NH, directory of 1859, as a civil engineer, with his house at 6 Second street. Sister-in-law Louisa Graves appeared also, as residing at William B. Wiggin’s house, at 6 Second street.
Wm. B. Wiggin, a surveyor, aged fifty-nine years (b. ME), headed a Dover, NH, household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. his household included Philenia [(Graves)] Wiggin, aged fifty-nine years (b. NH), Louisa Gray [Graves], aged fifty-seven years (b. NH), and Sarah H. Ross, aged fifteen years (b. NH). Wm. B. Wiggin had real estate valued at $2,500 and personal estate valued at $6,000. Louisa Gray had personal estate valued at $2,000.
William B. Wiggin received a five-year renewal appointment as a Dover, NH, justice-of-the-peace, June 19, 1860.
Brother-in-law Thomas L. Pickering of Wakefield, NH, enlisted in Co. A of the Thirteenth NH Infantry Regiment in Rochester, NH, August 21, 1862. He was aged forty-two years. He was mustered into the service, September 18, 1862. He was mustered out of the service, May 16, 1865.
William B. Wiggin appeared in the Dover, NH, directory of 1865, 1867, and 1869, as a civil engineer, with his house at 22 Second street. That name appeared also as a farmer, with his house near the Barrington road.
William B. Wiggin received a five-year renewal appointment as a Dover, NH, justice-of-the-peace, June 16, 1865.
Brother Oliver D. Wiggin died in Levant, ME, October 15, 1865.
William B. Wiggin appeared in the NH State Political Manuals of 1866 and 1867, as a Dover, NH, justice-of-the-peace (McFarland & Jenks, 1867). He appeared in the NH Business Directory of 1868, as a Dover, NH, justice-of-the-peace (Briggs, 1868).
Brother-in-law Francis Berry died on Wakefield, NH, December 25, 1866.
Sister-in-law Jane B. “Jenny” (Hutchins) Wiggin died in Levant, ME, March 31, 1868.
Sister-in-law Emeline (Seavey) Wiggin died in Wakefield, NH, December 17, 1868, aged fifty-one years, one month.
Brother Alpheus Wiggin married (2nd) in Wakefield, NH, August 21, 1869, Caroline Sanborn. He was a farmer, aged fifty-three years, and she was aged fifty-four years. Rev. Nathaniel Barker performed the ceremony. She was born in Acton, ME, circa 1815, daughter of Joseph and Sarah “Sally” (Farnham) Wiggin.
William B. Wiggin, a surveyor, aged sixty-nine years (b. ME), headed a Dover, NH, household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Philena [(Graves)] Wiggin, aged seventy-one years (b. NH), and Louisa Graves, aged sixty-six years (b. NH). William B. Wiggin had real estate valued at $3,000 and personal estate valued at $1,200. Louisa Graves had personal estate valued at $3,000.
William B. Wiggin received a five-year renewal appointment as a Dover, NH, justice-of-the-peace, June 16, 1870.
Sister Ann T. [(Wiggin)] Pickering of Somersworth, NH, divorced her husband, Thomas L. Pickering of Wakefield, NH, in Strafford County Superior Court, June 23, 1870. She sought return of property given to libellant.
William B. Wiggin appeared in the Dover, NH, directory of 1871, as a civil engineer and surveyor, with his house at 22 Second street.
Brother-in-law Thomas L. Pickering died in Rochester, NH, October 3, 1872.
Philena (Graves) Wiggin died in Dover, NH, in 1874, aged seventy-five years.
William B. Wiggin appeared in the Dover, NH, directories of 1874, 1876, and 1878, as a civil engineer, with his house at 22 Second street.
Brother Alpheus Wiggin died February 15, 1876, aged fifty-nine years, eleven months.
William B. Wiggin received a five-year renewal appointment as a Dover, NH, justice-of-the-peace, March 24, 1876.
William B. Wiggin was both President and a Trustee of the Cocheco Savings Bank in Dover, NH, January 23, 1878. The bank had been incorporated in 1872, and its charter would expire in 1892 (NH Bank Commissioners, 1878).
William B. Wiggin of Dover, NH, made his last will, June 27, 1878. According to the wishes of his deceased wife, Philinia Wiggin, he had set apart $2,500. In her name he devised $500 to Sarah H. Berry, wife of Frank J. Berry; $500 to Caroline M. Baley, wife of Rev. N.M. Baley; and $100 each to Mary Jane Lord and her sister, Martha [Lord], now Mrs. Jewell, Ann Hersom, Mariah Campbell, and Sarah, wife of Thomas L. Berry. He devised $1,000 to the New Hampshire Orphans home.
On his own account, he devised $1000 to William W. Berry, for the benefit and support of his mother. He devised $1,000 to his sister, Mary [(Wiggin)] Lord; $500 each to Thomas L. Berry, William W. Berry, and Albert Lord; $100 each to Mark N. Libby, Richard F. Libbey, Mark N. Libbey, and Abial Libbey. He devised to his brother, David H. Wiggin, his land and house in Shapleigh, in which the brother then lived and $1,000, all to be held in trust by the executor for the support of the brother. After the brother’s decease, the southern part of the property should pass to the widow of another brother, Alpheus Wiggin, and thereafter to their nephew, Luther P. Wiggin, while the northern part would pass to William W. Berry. He devised $1,000 to the executor, who was to use it to pay support for his sister, Ann T. [(Wiggin)] Pickering, out of interest and, if necessary the principal.
Wiggin devised on his own behalf another $1,000 to the New Hampshire Orphan’s house, which together with the first $1,000 devised in his late wife’s name, would make $2,000 in all.
He devised to his nephew, Luther P. Wiggin, the land and buildings then occupied by Simeon Wiggin, and that adjoining, after the death of Alpheus Wiggins’ widow. He devised his books to Frank J. Berry, William W. Berry, and Albert Lord. He devised to Louisa Graves a life estate in the west tenement of his dwelling house in Dover, NH, in connection with Mrs. Frank J. Berry.
Wiggin named Frank J. Berry as executor and residuary legatee. Charles S. Buck, Henry H. Hough, and Jacob M. Willey witnessed his signature (Strafford County Probate, 89:341).
William B. Wiggin died in Dover, NH, in June 1878, aged seventy-seven years. His last will was proved in a Strafford County Probate court held in Dover, NH, August 6, 1878 (Strafford County Probate, 89:341).
NEW HAMPSHIRE. The Orphans Home at Franklin receives a bequest of $2000 by the will of the late William B. Wiggin of Dover. Within the past year this institution has received $7400 (Boston Post, August 2, 1878).
Sister Temperence (Wiggin) Berry died September 20, 1878.
Sister Mehitable H. (Wiggin) Sibley died in 1879.
Charles H. Butterfield, a house carpenter, aged thirty-eight years (b. VT), headed a Dover, NH, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Mary E. [(Clancy)] Butterfield, keeping house, aged thirty-eight years (b. NH), his son, Edward E. Butterfield, aged five years (b. NH), and his boarders, Eliza Butterfield, works in printing, aged twenty-six years (b. NH), and Louisa Graves, at home, aged seventy-five years (b. NH). They resided in Second Street.
Brother David H. Wiggin married (2nd) in Shapleigh, ME, April 30, 1880, Julia Whitehouse. Rev. D. Perry performed the ceremony. She was born circa 1825.
Brother-in-law Mark N. Sibley died in 1881. Brother David H. Wiggin died August 19, 1882, aged seventy-one years, two months. Sister-in-law Sarah (Wentworth) Wiggin died in Milton, April 2, 1885.
Sister-in-law Louisa Graves died of softening of the brain in Watertown, MA, December 14, 1886, aged eighty-two years. She had been born in Tuftonborough, NH, daughter of Phineas and Sally Graves. She was buried [in the Wiggin plot] in Dover, NH.
Ann T. [(Wiggin)] Pickering, widow of Thomas Pickering, was enumerated in Wakefield, NH, in the surviving Veterans Schedule of the Eleventh (1890) Federal Census. Her late husband had been a Private in Co. A, of the Thirteenth NH Infantry Regiment, from 1862. He had received a bayonet wound during the war. She received her mail in South Wakefield, NH.
Sister-in-law Caroline W. (Sanborn) Wiggin died in Wakefield, NH, in 1890.
Sister Ann T. (Wiggin) Pickering died of cerebrospinal multiple sclerosis in Wakefield, NH, July 24, 1894, aged seventy-six years, six months. She was a widowed houseworker. George A. Allen, M.D. signed the death certificate.
References:
Briggs & Co. (1868). NH Business Directory, 1868. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=IOUCAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA168
Find a Grave. (2011, June 17). Elhanan W. Fenner. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/71534909/elhanan-w-fenner
Find a Grave. (2015, June 25). Louisa Graves. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/148283745/louisa-graves
Find a Grave. (2021, August 19). Alpheus Wiggin. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/230984673/alpheus_wiggin
Find a Grave. (2021, August 19). David Wiggin. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/230984521/david-wiggin
Find a Grave. (2021, August 19). David H. Wiggin. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/230984783/david_h_wiggin
Find a Grave. (2021, August 19). George B. Wiggin. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/230984806/george_b_wiggin
Find a Grave. (2018, August 3). Oliver Dearborn Wiggin. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/191933917/oliver_dearborn_wiggin
Find a Grave. (2018, October 2). Simeon Wiggin. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/193680672/simeon_wiggin
Find a Grave. (2015, June 23). William B. Wiggin. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/148277964/william-b-wiggin
McFarland & Jenks. (1867). Political Manual for the State of New Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=g4ABAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA97
NH Bank Commissioner’s Office. (1854). Report of the NH Bank Commissioners’ Office. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=wqkyAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA52
NH Bank Commissioner’s Office. (1878). Report of the NH Bank Commissioners’ Office. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=NH4pAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA23
NH Supreme Court. (1857). Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Superior Court of Judicature for the State of New-Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=IZs0AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA81
Norris, Daniel L. (1838). Norris’ Dover Directory. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=XmNZAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA33
Scales, John. (1923). History of Dover, New Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=g4w-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA261
Wadleigh, George. (1913). Notable Events in the History of Dover, New Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=A3ywiDfSrY8C&pg=PA296
Milton Observer 