South Milton Commissioner George Lyman (1827-1900)

By Muriel Bristol | November 6, 2022

George Lyman was born in Milton, December 22, 1827, son of Micah and Mary (Kelly) Lyman. (Micah Lyman was a son of South Milton Miller T.C. Lyman (1770-1863)).

Michael [Micah] Lyman, a farmer, aged fifty-two years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. His household included Mary [(Kelly)] Lyman, aged fifty-four years (b. NH), and George Lyman, a farmer, aged twenty-two years (b. NH). Micah Lyman had real estate valued at $5,000; and George Lyman had real estate valued at $1,000.

Jeremiah Plummer, a farmer, aged fifty-five years (b. NH), headed a Rochester, NH, household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. His household included Tamson Plummer, aged forty-nine years (b. NH), Hannah Plummer, aged twenty-two years (b. NH), Jonas Plummer, a farmer, aged eighteen years (b. NH), and Ruth Plummer, aged thirteen years (b. NH). Jeremiah Plummer had real estate valued at $3,000.

George Lyman married in Rochester, NH, November 27, 1851, Hannah Plummer, he of Milton and she of Rochester, NH. Rev. J.E. Farewell performed the ceremony. She was born in Rochester, NH, in 1826, daughter of Jeremiah and Tamsen D. (Twombly) Plummer.

Son Harry S. Lyman was born in Milton, August 15, 1852.

Son John E. Lyman was born in Milton, March 11, 1854. He died in Milton, September 6, 1854, aged five months, twenty-six days.

Father-in-law Jeremiah Plumer of Rochester, NH, made his last will September 9, 1856. He devised to his beloved wife, Tamson [(Twombly)] Plumer, all his household furniture, excepting that devised to others, one-half of his provisions, one-half of his fatted hog, two cows, and four shares in the N.E.S.W. store, Division #186, for so long as she remained his widow, cut wood for her fire, $50 in money, one-sixth of the produce raised on his homestead farm, excepting hay, and one-half of the new part of the house (Strafford County Probate, 70:46).

Jeremiah Plumer devised $200 to his daughter, Hannah Lyman, wife of George Lyman. He devised $150 to his daughter, Ruth Plumer, as well as one bed and bedding, and one cow, the cow to be supplied at any time she might marry within three years, otherwise at the three-year mark. He devised to his son Jonas Plumer one bed and bedding, all his cider and cider casks, eight dry casks, two meat barrels, one desk, and a trunk, as well as all the rest and residue of the estate. Son Jonas Plumer was also named as executor. Peter M. Horne, Charles Wentworth, and Henry S. Horne signed as witnesses. The will was proved in a Strafford County Probate court held in Dover, NH, January 6, 1857 (Strafford County Probate, 70:46).

In these bequests to his son, Jonas Plumer, one may gain some insight into how a farmer might store his food at this time. Jeremiah Plumer had cider casks for his liquids, “dry” casks for his flour, sugar, dried fruits and vegetables, etc., and “meat” barrels for his preserved meat, such as the other one-half of the fatted hog.

Daughter Elizabeth Cushing Fall was born in Milton, May 10, 1859.

Sister-in-law Ruth C. Plumer married in Portsmouth, NH, January 3, 1860, Isaac S. Twombly, she of Rochester, NH, and he of Dover, NH. He was aged twenty-eight years, and she was aged twenty-five years. Rev. D.P. Leavitt performed the ceremony.

Tamson Plummer, aged fifty-eight years (b. NH), headed a Rochester, NH, household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. Her household included Jonas M. Plummer, aged twenty-seven years (b. NH), and George E. Jones, aged nine years (b. NH). Jonas M. Plummer had real estate valued at $4,000 and personal estate valued at $1,035.

George Lyman, a farmer, aged thirty-two years (b. NH), headed a Milton (“Milton P.O.”) household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. His household included Hannah [(Plummer)] Lyman, aged thirty-three years (b. NH), H.S. Lyman, aged seven years (b. NH), and Elizabeth C. Lyman, aged one year (b. NH). George Lyman had personal estate valued at $500. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of his father, Micah Lyman, a farmer, aged sixty-three years, who had real estate valued at $4,000, and William P. Tuttle, a miller, aged thirty-seven years (b. NH).

Father Micah Lyman died in Milton, September 14, 1860, aged sixty-two years.

The Milton Selectmen of 1862 were Jos. Cook, Geo. Lyman, and J.N. Witham. The Milton Selectmen of 1863 were Geo. Lyman, J.N. Witham, and T.H. Roberts.

George Lyman of Milton, a farmer, aged thirty-five years (b. NH), registered for the Civil War Class II military draft, in June 1863.

The Milton Selectmen of 1867 were Chas. Jones, Geo. Lyman, and E.W. Fox. The Milton Selectmen of 1868 were Geo. Lyman, E.W. Fox, and Chas. Hayes.

George Lyman appeared in the Milton business directories of 1867-68, 1868, and 1869-70, as being a Milton justice-of-the-peace.

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 sent George Lyman and Samuel G. Chamberlain to Concord, NH, as its NH State Representatives for the 1869-70 biennium.

Reps. George Lyman and Samuel G. Chamberlain were among the 187 NH State Representatives (58.8%) – mostly Republicans – who voted in favor of the XVth Amendment to the US Constitution in 1869.

Amendment XV. Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Some 131 NH State Representatives (41.2%) – mostly Democrats – voted against the proposed amendment (Philips & Solomon, 1870). Such an amendment did and does require approval by three-quarters of the US states.

It would seem that Samuel G. Chamberlain did not complete his two-year term and was replaced in 1870 by Samuel W. Wallingford (NH General Court, 1870).

George Lyman was allotted round-trip mileage of 160 miles, while Samuel W. Wallingford was allotted 172 miles. Wallingford presumably lived a further six miles away from their Concord, NH, destination. Rep. Lyman served on the Fisheries Committee, while Rep. Wallingford served on the Education Committee (NH General Court, 1870).

Rep. Lyman had NH House seat 04-53 and Rep. Wallingford had seat 05-21, and both men lodged at J.Y. Boynton’s (NH House of Representatives, 1870). (These would be minority seats as House seating is currently arranged). John Y. Boynton appeared in the Concord, NH, directory of 1870 as a carriage maker at Abbot’s (i.e., Abbot, Downing & Co., coach and carriage manufacturers), with his house at 4 Call’s block, on State Street. John Y. Boynton, who was aged fifty-eight years (b. ME), had a wife, three daughters, and eight lodgers in his household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census.

George Lyman, a farmer, aged forty-two years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Hannah [(Plummer)] Lyman, keeping house, aged thirty-eight years (b. NH), Harry S. Lyman, a farm laborer, aged seventeen years (b. NH), Lizzie C. Lyman, at school, aged eleven years (b. NH), and Mary [(Kelly)] Lyman, aged seventy-four years (b. NH). George Lyman had real estate valued at $2,500 and personal estate valued at $575.

Milton - 1871 (Detail) - G Lyman
Milton, 1871 (Detail) – Home of G. Lyman (indicated with red arrow) in School District #10 (South Milton). The homestead of his grandfather, T. Lyman, may be seen between the Lyman Cemetery (“Cem”) and the Hayes Sta. & Freight Sta. (where the railroad track crosses the road).

The Milton Selectmen of 1871 were Geo. Lyman, John Lucas, and G.H. Plumer. The Milton Selectmen of 1872-73 were Geo. Lyman, Geo. H. Plumer, and T.H. Roberts.

George Lyman was Milton treasurer in 1873, and 1874. He was preceded in that office by Thomas H. Roberts and succeeded by Elbridge W. Fox.

George Lyman appeared in the Milton business directories of 1873, 1874, 1875, and 1876, as being a Milton justice-of-the-peace.

MILTON. Justices. Luther Hayes, C.H. Looney, E.W. Fox, State; Joseph Mathes, Joseph Cook, George Lyman, G.W. Peavey, J.S. Hersey, J.N. Sims, B.B. Plummer, B.P. Roberts (Tower, 1876).

The Milton Selectmen of 1874-77 were Geo. Lyman, Geo. H. Plumer, and J.U. Simes.

Mother-in-law Tamsen D. (Twombly) Plummer died in 1878.

NEW HAMPSHIRE. NOMINATIONS. Dover, N.H., Oct. 3. – The Republican Convention for Strafford county to-day nominated Frank S. Tompkin of Dover for Register of Deeds, John R. Varney of Dover for Register of Probate, Henry H. Hough of Dover for Treasurer, John Greenfield of Rochester for Sheriff, C.R. Shackford of Dover for Solicitor, Cyrus Littlefield of Dover, Samuel A. Seavey of Somersworth and George Lyman of Milton for Commissioners (Boston Post, October 4, 1878).

George Lyman appeared in the Milton business directories of 1880, 1881, and 1882, as being a Milton justice-of-the-peace.

George Lyman, a farmer, aged fifty-two years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Hannah [(Plummer)] Lyman, keeping house, aged fifty-two years (b. NH), his daughter, Lizzie Lyman, teaching school, aged twenty-one years, (b. NH), and his mother, Mary [(Kelly)] Lyman, at home, aged eighty-three years (b. NH). His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Theodore Lyman, a farmer, aged sixty-seven years (b. NH), and Luther Hayes, a farmer, aged sixty years (b. ME).

Stephen Osgood, a policeman, aged forty-eight years (b. ME), headed a Boston, MA, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Fannie B. Osgood, keeping house, aged forty-four years (b. ME), his boarder, Harry S. Lyman, a policeman, aged twenty-seven years (b. NH), and his servant, Mary A. Hunt, a domestic servant, aged eighteen years (n. MA). They resided on Chestnut Hill Avenue.

George Lyman was elected as one of three Strafford County Commissioners in November 1880.

Commissioners. George Lyman, Milton; Cyrus Littlefield, Dover; Sam’l A. Seavey, Great Falls (Tower, 1881).

The Milton Selectmen of 1882-83 were Geo. Lyman, W.H.H. Pinkham, and J.U. Simes.

WEST MILTON. The school in the district known as Varneyville, that closed last week, was taught by Lizzie R. Burrows, who is a teacher of fine ability, thorough being the word with her. Three of her pupils Melissa Moore, Minnie Burrows and Carrie Pulsifer were given 1128 words to write, all of which were spelled correctly. The classes in Algebra, Arithmetic and Grammar excelled any thing of the kind that has come under my notice for many a day. Hoping that we may have more such teachers in the future is the wish of our Superintending Committee, Miss Lizzie Lyman, and all who are interested in the cause of education. C.U. Later (Farmington News, July 13, 1883).

Daughter Lizzie C. Lyman married in Milton, August 39, 1883, George C. Fall, he of Wakefield, NH, and she of Milton. He was a carpenter, aged twenty-seven years, and she was aged twenty-four years. Rev. George Sterling performed the ceremony. Fall was born in Lebanon, ME, August 10, 1856, son of Ebenezer and Dorcas (Horne) Fall.

Miss Lizzie Lyman and W.E. Pillsbury appeared in the Milton business directory of 1884, as the Milton school superintendents.

The Milton Selectmen of 1884 were Geo. Lyman, W.H.H. Pinkham, and C.T. Haines.

Son Harry S. Lyman married in Concord, MA, May 30, 1885, Laura Gertrude. Huckins, he of Boston, MA, and she of Concord, MA. He was a state prison officer, aged thirty-one years, and she was at home, aged twenty-one years. Rev. J.W.F. Barnes, state prison chaplain, performed the ceremony. Huckins was born in Dover, NH, January 12, 1864, daughter of Robert L. and Sarah J. (Tucker) Huckins.

Mother Mary (Kelly) Lyman died of old age in Milton, December 31, 1885, aged ninety years, six months.

LOCALS. Mary, widow of the late Micah Lyman, Esq., of Milton, and mother of Hon. John D. Lyman, and ex-County Commissioner Lyman of South Milton, died at her home in Milton, Thursday, aged 90 years, 6 months. She was the oldest lady in the town (Farmington News, January 8, 1886).

Hannah (Plummer) Lyman died of consumption in Milton, November 16, 1886, aged fifty-nine years, eleven months, and sixteen days. W.F. Wallace, M.D., signed the death certificate.

George Lyman, acting in his capacity of justice-of-the-peace, officiated at a Milton marriage in October 1887.

MARRIAGES. In Milton, Oct. 8, by Geo. Lyman, Esq., Luther H. Wentworth of Milton and Miss Flora J. Nelson of East Hardwick, Vt. (Farmington News, October 14, 1887).

REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS. George Lyman to J.E. Brown, Milton (Farmington News, March 29, 1889).

MILTON. George Lyman has returned from his trip to Boston (Farmington News, November 25, 1892).

The Milton Selectmen of 1893-94 were Geo. Lyman, G.H. Plummer, and C.W. Lowd.

MILTON. At the town meeting Tuesday the following officers were chosen: Selectmen, George Lyman, George H. Plummer, Charles Lowd; moderator, Elbridge Fox; town clerk, Charles D. Jones; road commissioners, Fred Chamberlain, Charles Ellis, W.H.H. Pinkham (Farmington News, March 24, 1893).

Mrs. Martha E. (Ricker) Mathes, widow of Joseph Mathes (1815-1883), died of LaGrippe, i.e., influenza, followed by typhoid pneumonia, in Rochester, NH, March 23, 1893, aged sixty-seven years, two months, and fourteen days.

MILTON. The household furniture of the late Mrs. Martha [(Ricker)] Mathes was sold at auction Saturday. George Lyman was auctioneer (Farmington News, June 30, 1893).

The Milton Selectmen of 1895 were Geo. Lyman, G.H. Plummer, and J.U. Simes.

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. AveryFreeman 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”].

George Lyman, a farmer, aged seventy-two years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his daughter, Lizzie L. [(Lyman)] Fall, aged forty-one years (b. NH), his granddaughter, Ruth L. Fall, aged thirteen years (b. NH), and his servant, Woodbury Johnson, a farm laborer, aged forty years (b. NH). George Lyman owned their farm, free-and-clear. Lizzie L. Fall had been married for fifteen years; she was the mother of one child, of whom one was still living.

Harry S. Lyman, a prison officer, aged forty-six years (b. NH), headed a Boston, MA, household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of fifteen years), Laura G. [(Huckins)] Lyman. aged thirty-six years (b. NH). Harry S. Lyman rented their house at 16 School Street.

George Lyman died of chronic Bright’s Disease in Milton, June 19, 1900, aged seventy-two years, six months. James J. Buckley, M.D., signed the death certificate.

LOCALS. Ex-county commissioner George Lyman of Milton died last Tuesday at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Paul [Mrs. Fall], in that town, after an illness of Bright’s disease. He was about seventy-three years old. Mr. Lyman was a member of the grange and had held many town offices. He is survived by one son and one daughter and by his brother, the Hon. J.D. Lyman of Exeter, formerly of Farmington. Funeral this Thursday (Farmington News, June 22, 1900).

Brother John D. Lyman died of cystitis in Exeter, NH, July 31, 1902, aged seventy-nine years. (See Milton in the News – 1902).

Hon. John D. Lyman Dead. EXETER, N.H., August 1. Hon. John D. Lyman, known throughout the country as a writer upon agricultural subjects, died here today, aged 79 years (North Loup Loyalist (North Loup, NE), August 8, 1902).

Daughter Mrs. Lizzie O. [(Lyman)] Fall gave a report, in her capacity of Ceres, to the Eastern New Hampshire Pomona Grange meeting in Rochester, NH, – the largest ever held there – in December 1902. (See also Milton Delegate Bard B. Plummer (1846-1919) for a description of Grange offices).

Ceres in her report said: “What is harvesting now compared to what it used to be? Think of reaping, cradling, raking, binding and mowing, all by physical exertion, of threshing with the flail and winnowing with the wind; and then think of the reapers and binders, the mowing and threshing machines, the plows and cultivators upon, which the farmer can ride with comfort. Every agricultural implement tends to elevate the farmer, whether he knows it or not, for it gives him more time for thought and pleasure. We have the best country in the world, and farmers ought to be prosperous and happy, for happiness is the object of life” (New England Farmer (Boston, MA), December 27, 1902).

GRANGE NEWS AND NOTES. Items of Interest to Hollis Patrons. Eastern, N. II., pomona grange held a forenoon session with Dover grange, April 22. At the afternoon public meeting a very large audience attentively listened for three and one-fourth hours to a program of great merit arranged and conducted by Lecturer Mrs. Lizzie L. Fall of Milton. Greetings by Master E.M. Felker; invocation by the Rev. W.R. Clark; address of welcome by W.D.F. Hayden, master of Dover grange; response F.P. Wentworth, Rochester. Supper was served to 310 (Hollis Times (Hollis, NH), April 28, 1905).

Harry S. Lyman, a state prison officer, aged fifty-five years (b. NH), headed a Medford, MA, household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of twenty [twenty-five] years), Laura G. [(Huckins)] Lyman, aged forty-six years (b. NH). Harry S. Lyman rented their house at 528 Main Street.

George G. Fall, an expressman, aged fifty-three years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of twenty-six years), Lizzie L. [(Lyman)] Fall, aged fifty years (b. NH). George G. Fall owned their house, free-and-clear. Lizzie L. Fall was the mother of one child, of whom one was still living.

BUNKER HILL DISTRICT. Officers Herbert E. Chellis, Stephen R. Anderson and Fred Pfluger of the State Prison force returned to duty this morning at the prison after their vacation. Guardroom officer Harry S. Lyman, one of the “oldtimers” at the institution, is off duty on account of sickness since he left on his vacation the latter part of July (Boston Globe, August 31, 1916).

Harry S. Lyam [Lyman], aged sixty-seven years (b. NH), headed a Medford, MA, household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Laura G. [(Huckins)] Lyam, aged fifty-six years (b. NH). Harry S. Lyam rented their house at 528 Main Street.

George G. Fall, a Boston & Maine R.R. express messenger, aged sixty-three years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of forty-seven years), Lizzie L. [(Lyman)] Fall, aged sixty years (b. NH). George G. Fall owned their farm on the Wakefield Road [White Mountain Highway] (at its intersection with Charles Street).

Walter N. Burke defaulted on a mortgage that involved several tracts of land, one of which tracts had some of George Lyman’s land as an abutter.

Also another tract of land situate in Milton, in said County of Strafford, and bounded as follows, to wit: beginning at the easterly corner of land formerly of Beard P. Varney, and running westerly by said Varney land to land of George Lyman; thence northerly by said Lyman land to the road leading, from the house of Hiram W. Ricker to South Milton; thence easterly by said road to land formerly owned by Isaac Wentworth; thence southerly by said Wentworth land and the road leading from South Milton by the house of the late Beard P. Varney to the bounds begun at, containing five acres, be the same more or less (Farmington News, February 13, 1925).

Son Harry S. Lyman died in Haverhill, MA, September 23, 1929, aged seventy-six years. (Laura J. (Huckins) Lyman’s sister, Bernice H. (Huckins) Kimball, lived in Haverhill, MA, with her husband, Amos M. Kimball, and their mother, Sarah J. (Tucker) Huckins).

DEATHS. LYMAN – In Haverhill, Mass., Sept. 23, Harry S. Lyman of 528 Main st., Medford, Mass. Funeral services will be held from the chapel at Woodlawn Cemetery, Everett, Mass., Wed., Sept. 25, at 3 o’clock. Relatives and friends invited to attend. Interment at Woodlawn Cemetery (Boston Globe, September 24, 1929).

Laura G. [(Huckins)] Lyman, a widow, aged sixty [sixty-six] years (b. NH), headed a Somerville, MA, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. She rented her apartment at 391 Broadway, for $65 per month. She did not have a radio set.

George G. Fall, a retiree, aged seventy-three years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of forty-seven years), Lizzie L. [(Lyman)] Fall, aged seventy years (b. NH). George G. Fall owned their house, which was valued at $2,000. They did not have a radio set.

Son-in-law George C. Fall died of hypostatic pneumonia in his residence on the State Road, i.e., White Mountain Highway, in Milton, May 27, 1933, aged seventy-six years, nine months, and seventeen days. He was a retired express manager. Thomas K. Chesley, M.D., signed the death certificate.

Daughter Mrs. Lizzie [(Lyman)] Fall was on the Milton School Board in 1934, with Robert Page and Mrs. Grace Willey.

NUTE RIDGE. Nute Ridge school closed Wednesday, June 20, with exercises held at Nute chapel, which consisted of the following program. Song, “Hail, Glad Vacation;” school recitations, “Goin’ Fishing,” William Wilson, “A Boy’s Complaint,” Fred Boorack, “The Foolish Little Maiden,” Doris Goodwin; recitation and song, “The Bunnies Have a Visitor,” Myrtle Durkee; recitation, “Two Questions,” Virginia Peters; play, “Susanna’s Illness,” Norma Nute, Elsie Bigelow, Dorothy Perry, Charles Perry; recitations, “Rover in Church,” Elizabeth Perry, “My Live Dolly,” Emily Casey, “In Strict Confidence,” Paul Boorack, “Words,” Florence Bigelow; song, “School Days,” Myrtle Durkee, Paul Boorack; recitations, “A Mix Up in Days,” Dorothy Perry, “A Boy’s Troubles,” Francis Perry, “Growing,” Myrtle Durkee; “The Critic’s Advice,” Dorothy Goodwin; play, “Vacation Time,” school. One of the highlights of the program was six years old Robert Casey swinging his baton and directing the group singing which was done in a manner that suggested a veteran orchestra director. Robert Page, Mrs. Lizzie Fall and Mrs. Grace Willey of the Milton school board were present and made appropriate remarks. A goodly number of visitors were present, which included the present school nurse, Miss Northway, and past school nurse, Mrs. Stanley Tanner. The following children had perfect attendance for the entire year: John William, Florence, Elsie and Gerald Bigelow, Norma Nute and Myrtle Durkee (Farmington News, June 29, 1934).

WEST MILTON. Robert Page and Mrs. Lizzie Fall of the Milton school board were on the “west side” during the past week attending to transportation details, inspecting school buildings, etc. They were accompanied by E.A. Hodgdon (popularly known as Hoddy) who gave ample evidence that his jovial disposition still remains with him (Farmington News, September 7, 1934).

WEST MILTON. Mrs. Lizzie Fall, member of the Milton school board, was a visitor at the Nute Ridge school in connection with the taking of the school census. Norma Nute was the lone pupil that obtained 100 per cent in spelling for the month of September (Farmington News, September 28, 1934).

WEST MILTON. Ferne McGregor attended a convention of rural teachers held at Chocorua, Tuesday, and found herself booked for a talk on “Public activities in a rural school.” She was accompanied by Mrs. Lizzie Fall of the Milton school board and Miss Alice Dennison of Boston (Farmington News, November 2, 1934).

SANBORNVILLE. Miss Belle Fall, who closed her house some weeks ago and visited her niece in Wakefield, Mass., for a while, is now at the home of her sister-in-law, Mrs. Lizzie Fall, Milton (Farmington News, January 18, 1935).

WEST MILTON. The many friends of Mrs. Lizzie Fall are pleased to learn of the progress made in recovering from her recent illness (Farmington News, June 28, 1935).

Daughter-in-law Mrs. Laura G. Lyman appeared in the Haverhill, MA, directory of 1938, as residing at 70 Hamilton avenue. (Amos M. (Bernice H.) Kimball, com. trav., had their house at 70 Hamilton avenue).

Daughter-in-law Laura G. [(Huckins)] Lyman died in the Phillips House, [Massachusetts General Hospital,] in Boston, MA, August 25, 1939, aged seventy-five years.

Death Notices. LYMAN – At Phillips House, August 25, Laura Gertrude, widow of Harry S. Lyman, formerly of Somerville. Funeral services will be held at the John E. Kauler Funeral Home, 67 Broadway, Somerville, Sunday, at 2 o’clock (Boston Globe, August 26, 1939).

Lizzie L. [(Lyman)] Fall, aged eighty years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. Her household included her grandson, Lyman Plummer, a [Strafford] county deputy sheriff, aged twenty-seven years (b. NH). They had both resided in the “same house” in 1935. Lizzie L. Fall owned their house, which was valued at $2,000.

Daughter Elizabeth C. “Lizzie” (Lyman) Fall died at the Jackson Nursing Home in Rochester, NH, of hypostatic pneumonia (following a fractured hip), June 4, 1943, aged eighty-four years, twenty-five years.

IN MEMORIAM. Lizzie L. Fall. Many Farmington people learned with regret of the death of Mrs. Lizzie L. Fall of South Milton which occurred last Friday at the Jackson Nursing home in Rochester, where she had been cared for during several months’ illness. Mrs. Fall was born in Milton, May 10, 1859, the daughter of George and Hannah (Plummer) Lyman. She was a 60-year member of Lewis Nute Grange, an honorary member of Eastern New Hampshire Pomona Grange, and a member of Fraternal Chapter O.E.S., of Farmington. Delegations from all of these organizations attended the funeral services, which were held at her home Monday afternoon. Surviving relatives include one daughter, Mrs. Bard Plummer of Milton, three granddaughters and two grandsons, Tech 2/c Bard Plummer, serving overseas, and Pfc Lyman Plummer, stationed in Boston (Farmington News, June 11, 1943).


References:

Briggs & Co. (1868). New Hampshire Business Directory. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=IOUCAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA169

Find a Grave. (2014, May 28). Lizzie C. Lyman Fall. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/130508514/lizzie-c-fall

Find a Grave. (2013, August 17). George Lyman. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/115611984/george-lyman

Find a Grave. (2013, August 19). John Dearborn Lyman. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/115724592/john-dearborn-lyman

Find a Grave. (2013, August 17). John E. Lyman. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/115612387/john-e.-lyman

Find a Grave. (2013, August 17). Micah Lyman. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/115612236/micah-lyman

NH General Court. (1869). Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of New-Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=nH8lAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA215

NH General Court. (1870). Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of New-Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=SDstAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA159

NH House of Representatives. (1870). Manual for the Use of the General Court of New Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=eg9LAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA9

NH General Court. (1871). Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of New-Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=UtFHAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA184

NH State Grange. (1903). Proceedings of the New Hampshire State Grange, Patrons of Husbandry. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=cRQ1AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA3-PA119

Philip & Solomons. (1870). Handbook of Politics for 1870. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=17pIAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA495

Tower, F.L., & Co. (1876). New Hampshire Register, Farmer’s Almanac and Business Directory. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=p_NWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA173

Tower, F.L., & Co. (1881). New Hampshire Register, Farmer’s Almanac and Business Directory. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=tfsWAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA196

Milton Mills Merchant Freeman H. Lowd (1853-1933)

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.

Lowd, Grace & Alice - c1890
Grace and Alice Lowd – circa 1890

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. RobertsHarry Avery, George E. Wentworth, Joseph H. AveryIra 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.

Marston, Rita F. - 1923
Rita F. Marston, Salem Normal School, 1923

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).


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

Milton Lumberman John F. Hart, 2nd (1855-1916)

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.
LA080807 - Hart Card GameThe 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).


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

Milton Seeks a Magistrate – 1826

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 HayesJohn RemichJames Roberts, Hanson Hayes, Stephen M. Mathes, John NutterTheodore C. Lyman, Samuel S. Mason, Stephen Drew, Israel NuteJohn 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. MiltonLevi 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.


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

Milton Selectmen, 1802-1907

By Muriel Bristol | October 9, 2022

The Mitchell-Cony directory of 1908 provided a list of Milton Selectmen from its founding until 1907.

Selectman is a term usually reserved for government officers in small New England towns. A group of selectmen make up a selectboard. In contrast to a representative council, the members of a selectboard are usually tasked with administrative duties that in larger towns and cities might be the responsibility of a mayor (Meriam-Webster, 2022).

Many, if not most, towns have three selectmen. Some have five selectmen and even seven are not unknown. Their terms are usually staggered ones, rather than concurrent ones, each selectman serving a staggered term of three years, those with five having staggered terms of five years, etc.


1802 – Will Palmer, John Fish, John Remick, Jr.
1803 – Will Palmer, John Fish, Ezekiel Hayes
1804 – Wm. Palmer, Jotham Nute, John Remick, Jr.
1805 – Wm. Palmer, Eben. Twombly, John Remick, Jr.
1806 – Levi Jones, S.S. Wentworth, Lt. Jotham Nute
1807-08 – Wm. Palmer, John Remick, Jr., Wm. Tuttle
1809-10 – Wm. Palmer, John Remick, Jr., Isaac Worster
1811 – Beard Plumer, Wm. Palmer, John Remick, Jr.
1812-13 – Ichabod Hayes, Jas. Roberts, Josiah Witham
1814 – Isaac Worster, T.C. Lyman, Isaac Scates War of 1812
1815-17 – Jas. Roberts, Josiah Witham, Jos. Walker Road Petition
1818 – Jas. Roberts, W.S. Nutter, Hopley Meserve
1819-20 – Hanson Hayes, H. Meserve, John Remick, Jr. Militia dispute
1821 – Jas. Roberts, H. Hayes, H. Meserve
1822 – H. Hayes, Jas. Roberts, H. Meserve Milton Social Library
1823 – H. Hayes, H. Meserve, Jos. Plumer
1824 – H. Hayes, H. Meserve, I.H. Wentworth
1825 – Jas. Hayes, Jr., I.H. Wentworth, Thos. Chapman
1826 – Jas. Hayes, Jr., Jas. Roberts, Thos. Chapman
1827 – Jas. Hayes, Jr., Thos. Chapman, H. Meserve
1828 – Stephen Drew, W.B. Wiggin, I.H. Wentworth
1829 – W.B. Wiggin, H. Meserve, J.M. Twombly
1830 – John Nutter, T.C. Lyman, Chas. Swasey
1831 – J.M. Twombly, Thos. Chapman, H. Meserve
1832 – J.M. Twombly, Thos. Chapman, J.H. Varney
1833 – J.M. Twombly, W.S. Nutter, H. Meserve
1834-35 – J.H. Varney, Jas. Berry, Israel Nute
1836 – J.M. Twombly, Jas. Berry, Jos. Cook
1837 – Jas. Berry, Jos. Cook, J.H. Varney Milton Mills Mfg.
1838 – Jas. Berry, J.H. Varney, J.Y. Pinkham
1839 – J.H. Varney, J.Y. Pinkham, Chas. Swasey
1840 – J.M. Twombly, Chas. Swasey, Ephm. Hayes
1841 – J.M. Twombly, R.J. Witham, Ephm. Hayes
1842 – J.M. Twombly, R.J. Witham, Enoch Banfield
1843 – Jas. Hayes, Jr., I.H. Wentworth, Asa Fox
1844 – Jas. Hayes, Jr., Asa Fox, I.H. Wentworth
1845 – Asa Fox, I.H. Wentworth, David Wallingford
1846 – Asa Fox, D. Wallingford, J.C. Varney – Mexican War
1847 – D.P. Warren, Chas. Swasey, J.C. Varney
1848 – Asa Jewett, Jos. Cook, Jos. Mathes
1849 – Jos. Mathes, C.C. Hayes, Jos. Cook
1850 – Jos. Mathes, C.C. Hayes, Asa M. Durrell Railroad
1851 – Asa Fox, D.P. Warren, Ichabod Hayes
1852 – Asa Fox, Eli Wentworth, Ichabod Hayes
1853 – Eli Wentworth, J.S. Hersey, J.N. Witham
1854 – J.S. Hersey, J.N. Witham, Lewis Plummer
1855 – Jos. Sayward, Lewis Plummer, J.C. Wentworth Prohibition
1856 – Jos. Sayward, J.C. Wentworth, D. Wallingford, Jr.
1857 – D. Wallingford, Jr., C.C. Hayes, S.S. Wakeham
1858 – Asa Fox, S.S. Wakeham, J.F. Hart
1859 – C.C. Hayes, J.F. Hart, C.H. Goodwin
1860 – C.H. Goodwin, Jos. Plumer, M.W. Shapleigh
1861 – Jos. Plumer, M.W. Shapleigh, Jos. Cook – Civil War began
1862 – Jos. Cook, Geo. Lyman, J.N. Witham
1863 – Geo. Lyman, J.N. Witham, T.H. Roberts
1864 – T.H. Roberts, Jos. Sayward, D.B. Goodwin Brierley Mill
1865 – Jos. Hayward, J.U. Simes, Ebenezer Wentworth – Civil War ended
1866 – J.U. Simes, E. Wentworth, Chas. Jones
1867 – Chas. Jones, Geo. Lyman, E.W. Fox Classical Institute
1868 – Geo. Lyman, E.W. Fox, Chas. Hayes
1869 – E.W. Fox, Chas. Hayes, H.B. Scates
1870 – Chas. Hayes, D. Wallingford, Jr., T.H. Roberts
1871 – Geo. Lyman, John Lucas, G.H. Plumer
1872-73 – Geo. Lyman, Geo. H. Plumer, T.H. Roberts Miltonia Mill
1874-77 – Geo. Lyman, Geo. H. Plumer, J.U. Simes
1878-79 – C.C. Hayes, Asa F. [A.] Fox, M.V.B. Cook Ice Industry
1880 – A.A. Fox, H.B. Scates, D. Wallingford
1881 – H.B. Scates, D. Wallingford, E.W. Fox
1882-83 – Geo. Lyman, W.H.H. Pinkham, J.U. Simes
1884 – Geo. Lyman, W.H.H. Pinkham, C.T. Haines Leatherboard Mill
1885-86 – C.A. Jones, C.T. Haines, Chas. Hayes
1887 – J.H. Avery, C.T. Haines, Chas. Hayes
1888 – J.H. Avery, Chas. Hayes, C.C. Hayes
1889 – C.C. Hayes, Chas. Hayes, C.A. Jones Shoe Strike
1890 – O.F. Marsh, L.F. Corson, C.A. Jones N.B. Thayer Shoe
1891 – O.F. Marsh, L.F. Corson, F.P. Jones Nute High School
1892 – F.P. Jones, C.W. Gross, W.T. Wallace Grammar School
1893-94 – Geo. Lyman, G.H. Plummer, C.W. Lowe Spaulding
1895 – Geo. Lyman, G.H. Plummer, J.U. Simes
1896-97 – S.W. Wallingford, J.H. Avery, F.H. Lowd Poisoning murder
1898 – S.W. Wallingford, G.E. Nute, F.H. Lowd – Spanish War
1899 – F.H. Lowd, G.E. Nute, E.L. Leighton
1900-01 – F.H. Lowd, W.F. Mills, W.T. Wallace Measles
1902-03 – H.R. Jewett, J.H. Avery, F.B. Roberts Centennial
1904-05 – H.R. Jewett, J.H. Avery, C.A. Jones
1906 – J.H. Avery, B.B. Plummer, E.A. Wentworth
1907 – B.B. Plummer, E.A. Wentworth, H. Plummer Murderous Lover


Continued in Milton Selectmen, 1908-1953


References:

Mitchell-Cony. (1908). The Town Register Farmington, Milton, Wakefield, Middleton, Brookfield, 1907-8. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=qXwUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA96

Wikipedia. (2022, May 22). Board of Selectmen. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_of_selectmen

Milton Selectman Hanson Hayes (1792-1851)

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).

Milton Selectmen - 1820
Selectmen Hn Hayes, Hopley Meserve, and John Remick, Jr., recommended the appointment of Gilman Jewett as a Milton justice of the peace in November 1820, while the earlier appointment of James Roberts seemed to be in some doubt. The elaborate calligraphy of Hayes’ signature certainly stands out in a crowd. Hayes and Meserve would be selectmen together with Roberts in the following year.

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. MiltonJotham 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. MiltonLevi 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. MiltonLevi 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

Milton Postmaster James M. Twombly (1798-1885)

By Muriel Bristol | September 25, 2022

James Meserve Twombly was born in Rochester, NH, i.e., in its Northeast Parish that would become Milton, November 3, 1798, son of John Jr. and Abigail (Meserve) Twombly.

James M. Twombly married, circa 1824, Eunice Burrows. She was born in Lebanon, ME, June 4, 1799, daughter of Edward Jr. and Margaret (Chamberlain) Burrows.

(The known children of James M. and Eunice (Burrows) Twombly were: Irene B. Twombly (1826–1894), Ezra H. Twombly (1830–1883), Mary Abigail Twombly (1833–1891), John E. Twombly (1836–1888), and Lilian A. Twombly (1864–1885)).

Daughter Irene B. Twombly was born in Milton, April 26, 1826.

James M. Twombly received his first Federal appointment as Milton postmaster, September 26, 1827. Twombly was appointed during the presidency of Democratic-Republican John Q. Adams and continued in office throughout the presidency of Democrat Andrew Jackson, from which one might infer that he too was a Democrat (at that time). He would be succeeded by [Dr.] Stephen Drew, June 17, 1837, during the presidency of Democrat Martin Van Buren.

James M. Twombly appeared in the U.S. Postal Guide of 1828 as Milton postmaster. Milton was 525 miles from Washington, DC, and 58 miles from the NH State capitol in Concord, NH. John Nutter was postmaster at Milton Mills (US Post Office Dept., 1828).

Son Ezra H. Twombly was born in Milton, January 6, 1830.

Jas. M. Twombly 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 [Eunice (Burrows) Twombly], one female aged under-5 years [Irene B. Twombly], and one male aged under-5 years [Ezra H. Twombly]. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Stephen Maine, and John Willey.

James M. Twombly appeared in the US Register of 1831, as having received $10.14 in compensation for being Milton postmaster (US Dept. of State, 1831).

James M. Twombly appeared in the NH Register of 1833, as being the Milton postmaster. Israel Nute was postmaster at Chestnut Hills and John Nutter was postmaster at Milton Mills (Farmer & Lyon, 1833).

Daughter Mary Abigail Twombly was born in Milton, June 24, 1833.

J.M. Twombly appeared in the US Register of 1835, as having received $10.90 in compensation for being Milton postmaster. John Nutter had received $7.51 for being Milton Mills postmaster in that same period (US Dept. of State, 1835).

Son John E.B. Twombly was born in Milton, January 3, 1836.

J.M. Twombly appeared in the US Register of 1838, as having received $20.90 in compensation for having been Milton postmaster in 1837. John Nutter had received $12.49 for being Milton Mills postmaster in that same period (US Dept. of State, 1838).

Milton sent James M. Twombly to Concord, NH, as its NH State Representative for the 1837-38 biennium. He was preceded in that office by [Dr.] Stephen Drew and succeeded by James Berry (Scales, 1914).

Representative James M. Twombly sat in 1838 on the Committee on Military Accounts, with Representatives Joseph S. Pollard of Plaistow, NH, Trueworthy Hill of Lee, NH, Richard M. Nelson of Lyman, NH, and Jason Saunders of Grafton County, NH (NH General Court, 1838).

Mr. Twombly presented the petition of John French and others, citizens of Milton (NH General Court, 1838).

The Milton petition was one of a number of such petitions: “All praying for the enactment of a law to prevent disturbances at religious meetings.” The meetings for which protection was sought were so-called “Camp” Meetings. The bill was laid upon the table, i.e., set aside.

James M. Twombly headed a Milton household at the time of the Sixth (1840) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 30-39 years [himself], one female aged 30-39 years [Eunice (Burrows) Twombly], one male aged 20-29 years, one female aged 10-14 years [Irene B. Twombly], one male aged 10-14 years [Ezra H. Twombly], one female aged 5-9 years [Mary A. Twombly], and one male aged 5-9 years [John E. Twombly]. Two members of his household were engaged in Commerce. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Benjamin Willey, 2d, and Elizabeth Gerrish.

James M. Twombly was Milton Town Clerk in the years 1841 to 1851. He was preceded in that office by Stephen M. Mathes and succeeded by Robert Mathes (Scales, 1914).

Irene B. Twombly married, probably in Milton, March 3, 1847, Daniel P. Warren. He was born in Rochester, NH, March 26, 1815, son of William and Susan (Roberts) Warren.

Jas. M. Twombly received his second Federal appointment as Milton postmaster, January 18, 1850. Twombly was appointed during the presidency of Whig Zachary Taylor, from which one might infer that he had become a Whig at some time since his prior appointment ended in 1837. Taylor died in office and his vice-president, Millard Fillmore, completed his term. Twombly continued as postmaster throughout the Fillmore’s term. Fillmore would be the last Whig president. The Whigs merged subsequently with anti-slavery Democrats and others to form the Republican party.

James Twombly, a farmer, aged fifty-two years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. His household included Eunice [(Burrows)] Twombly, aged fifty-one years (b. ME), Ezra Twombly, a trader, aged twenty-one years (b. NH), Mary A. Twombly, aged seventeen years (b. NH), and John E.B. Twombly, aged fourteen years (b. NH). James Twombly had real estate valued at $3,000. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of George Worster, a machinist, aged thirty-nine years (b. NH), and Stephen Downs, a farmer, aged forty-one years (b. NH).

Daniel P. Warren, a shoe manufacturer, aged thirty-four years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. His household included Irene B. Warren, aged twenty-four years (b. NH). Daniel P. Warren had real estate valued at $2,500. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Leonard Ricker, a shoemaker, aged thirty-two years (b. NH), and George Carlisle, a blacksmith, aged fifty-four years (b. ME).

James M. Twombly appeared in the NH Register of 1851, as being the Milton postmaster. J. Pearl was postmaster at Chestnut Hills and Gilman Jewett was postmaster at Milton Mills (Claremont Mfg. Co., 1851).

Milton postmaster, James M. Twombly, received $112.81 and his post office had net proceeds of $148.10. Postmaster Gilman Jewett received $56.88 in compensation for his work at the Milton Mills post office in 1851, and his post office had net proceeds of $77.66.  (US Dept. of the Interior, 1851).

J.M. Twombly served as Milton postmaster through April 19, 1853, being replaced then by James Connor. Twombly’s compensation, as well as that of Connor through June 30, amounted to $72.08. (Other sources report Twombly’s last day as having been April 2, 1853). The net proceeds of the post office in that same period ran to $81.54. Connor received his appointment at the beginning of the presidency of Democrat Franklin Pierce. Postmaster Gilman Jewett received $51.62 in compensation for his work at the Milton Mills post office in 1851, and his post office had net proceeds of $55.29 (US Dept. of the Interior, 1853).

Son Ezra H. Twombly married in Dover, NH, March 5, 1855, Lucinda K. Hanson, he of Milton and she of Dover, NH. Rev. Lewis Howard performed the ceremony. She was born in Dover, NH, December 29, 1828, daughter of Israel and Eunice (Twombly) Hanson.

Twombly, JM - 1856Eunice (Burrows) Twombly died of consumption in Milton, March 2, 1859, aged fifty-nine years, nine months, and twenty-four days.

James M. Twombly, a farmer, aged sixty years (b. NH), headed a Milton (“Milton P.O.”) household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. His household included [Mary] Abba Twombly, aged twenty-five years (b. NH), and John E. Twombly, a farmer, aged twenty-three years (b. NH). James M. Twombly had real estate valued at $6,000 and personal estate valued at $2,000. His household appeared between those of Ira S. Knox, a shoemaker, aged thirty years (b. NH), and Lewis N. Berry, a shoe manufacturer, aged thirty-six years (b. NH). (The households of son-in-law D.P. Warren and son E.H. Twombly appeared on the same page).

D.P. Warren, a shoe manufacturer, aged forty-four years (b. NH), headed a Milton (“Milton P.O.”) household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. His household included Irene B. Warren, aged thirty-two years (b. NH), Edgar B. Warren, aged eight years (b. NH), and Eunice E. Warren, aged three years (b. NH). D.P. Warren had real estate valued at $4,000 and personal estate valued at $7,000. His household appeared between those of E.R. Lord, aged thirty-nine years (b. NH), and James W. Nutter, a shoemaker, aged thirty-one years (b. NH). (The households of father-in-law James M. Twombly and brother-in-law E.H. Twombly appeared on the same page).

E.H. Twombly, a merchant, aged thirty-two years (b. NH), headed a Milton (Milton P.O.) household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. His household included Lucinda K. Twombly, aged thirty-one years (b. NH), Isabel Twombly, aged four years (b. NH), and Susan A. Twombly, aged two years (b. NH), and, apparently, George A. Randall, aged ten years (b. NH), Charles E. Randall, aged nine years (b. NH), and E.F. Randall, aged six years (b. NH). E.H. Twombly had real estate valued at $3,500 and personal estate valued at $2,500. Their household appeared in the enumeration between the households of Benjamin Randall, a farm laborer, aged fifty-three years (b. NH), and W. Laskey, a laborer, aged thirty years (b. NH). (The households of father James M. Twombly and brother-in-law D.P. Warren appeared on the same page).

Daughter Mary A. Twombly married, probably in Milton, circa 1860, John F. Hart. (See Milton Merchant John F. Hart (1829-1896)).

Son Ezra H. Twombly replaced James R. Palmer as Milton postmaster, April 12, 1861. (This was the same day that Fort Sumpter was attacked in Charleston harbor, which is generally regarded as the start of the Civil War).

James M. Twombly married (2nd), circa 1862-63, Lydia A. Perkins. She was born in Lancaster, NH, in 1829, daughter of John and Mary (Ela) Perkins.

Daughter Lillian Adelaide Twombly was born in Lebanon, ME, in 1864.

Son John E. Twombly married in Somersworth, NH, July 29, 1868, Lydia Ann “Annie” Waterhouse, he of Milton and she of Dover, NH. He was a merchant, aged thirty-two years, and she was a lady, aged twenty-eight years. Rev. O. Jasper performed the ceremony. She was born in Strafford, NH, January 4, 1843, daughter of Benjamin F. and Lydia M. (Tuttle) Waterhouse.

James Twombly, a farmer, aged seventy-one years (b. NH), headed a Lebanon, ME, household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Lydia [(Perkins)] Twombly, keeping house, aged forty-one years (b. NH), and Lillian A. Twombly, aged six years (b. ME). James Twombly had real estate valued at $300 and personal estate valued at $300. (Their entry had an error, by which James Twombly was enumerated as a member of the preceding household of Samuel Knox, a laborer, aged sixty-six years (b. ME), rather than as the head of his own household).

Betsy M. [(Roberts)] Meserve, keeping house, aged fifty-eight years (b. NH), headed a Charlestown, MA, household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. Her household included Daniel P. Warren, a grocer, aged fifty-three years (b. NH), Irene Warren, keeping house, aged forty-two years (b. NH), Edgar B. Warren, attending school, aged eighteen years (b. NH), and Eunie Warren, attending school, aged thirteen years (b. NH). Betsy M. Meserve had real estate valued at $3,500. She was the widow of Charles Y. Meserve (1815-1869). (See Milton Trader Hopley Meserve (1789-1875)).

Ezra H. Twombly, post-master, aged forty-one years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Lucinda K. Twombly, keeping house, aged forty-two years (b. NH), Isabella Twombly, at home, aged fourteen years (b. NH), and Susan A. Twombly, at school, aged twelve years (b. NH). Ezra H. Twombly had real estate valued at $3,500 and personal estate valued at $385. Their household appeared in the enumeration between the households of Hazen Duntley, a blacksmith, aged sixty-five years (b. NH), and Charles L. Lord, a shoe cutter, aged twenty-seven years (b. ME).

John F. Hart, works in shoe factory, aged forty-one years (b. NH), headed a Milton (“Milton P.O.”) household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Mary A. Hart, keeping house, aged thirty-four years (b. NH), Delta A. Hart, at school, aged eight years (b. NH), Cisco W. Hart, at school, aged six years (b. NH), Paulina Hart, at school, aged four years (b. NH), and Dana B. Hart, aged two years (b. NH). John F. Hart had real estate valued at $750 and personal estate valued at $1,015. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Charles H. Pease, works in shoe factory, aged twenty-six years (b. NH), and Robert Mathes, a farm laborer, aged fifty-eight years (b. NH).

John E. Twombly, 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 Lydia A. [(Waterhouse)] Twombly, keeping house, aged thirty years (b. NH), Clarence E. Twombly, aged eleven months (b. NH), and Ora J. Downs, at school, aged twelve years (b. NH). John E. Twombly had personal estate valued at $2,335. Their household appeared in the enumeration between the households of James W. Nutter, works in shoe factory, aged forty-one years (b. NH), and George W. Peavey, a physician, aged thirty-one years (b. NH).

John E. Twombly’s store (and his brother’s post-office within it) burned to the ground on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1870. Postmaster Ezra H. Twombly would be succeeded in that office by Charles H. Looney, January 17, 1872.

James M. Twombly, a farmer, aged eighty-one years (b. NH), headed a Lebanon, ME, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Lydia M. [(Perkins)] Twombly, keeping house, aged sixty-seven years (b. NH), and his daughter, Lillian A. Twombly, at home, aged fifteen years (b. ME).

Daniel P. Warren, a book agent, aged sixty years (b. NH), headed a Somerville, MA, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Irena B. Warren, keeping house, aged fifty-two years (b. NH), and his children, Edgar B. Warren, shoe business, aged twenty-seven years (b. NH), Eunie E. Warren, a music teacher, aged twenty-two years (b. NH), and his boarder, Dyer Smith, at home, aged seventy-nine years (b. MA).

Ezra H. Twombly, a laborer, aged fifty years (b. NH), headed a Dover, NH, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Lucinda K. Twombly, keeping house, aged fifty-one years (b. NH), and his children, Isabel N. Twombly, works in millinery store, aged twenty-four years (b. NH), and Annette S. Twombly, a schoolteacher, aged twenty-two years (b. NH). They resided on Portland Street.

John F. Hart, a merchant, aged fifty-one years (b. NH), headed a Milton (“Milton P.O.”) household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included Mary A. Hart, keeps house, aged forty-seven years (b. NH), Delta C. Hart, works on shoes, aged eighteen years (b. NH), Cisco W. Hart, works on shoes, aged sixteen years (b. NH), Paulina E. Hart, at school, aged fourteen years (b. NH), Dana B. Hart, at school, aged twelve years (b. NH), and Bridie B. Hart, aged four years (b. NH). His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Hiram V.R. Edgerly, a carpenter, aged fifty-four years (b. NH), and Henry Downs, a farmer, aged sixty years (b. Canada).

John E. Twombly, a clerk in grocer’s store, aged forty-four years (b. NH), headed a Dover, NH, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included Lydia A. [(Waterhouse)] Twombly, keeping house, aged forty years (b. NH), Clarence E. Twombly, at school, aged eleven years (b. NH), James F. Twombly, at school, aged nine years (b. NH), Mary F. Twombly, at school, aged six years (b. NH), Benjamin F. Twombly, aged two years (b. NH), and Edith G. Twombly, aged ten months (b. NH). They resided on Silver Street.

Son-in-law Daniel P. Warren died of heart disease in Winthrop, MA, June 7, 1881, aged sixty-seven years, two months, and twelve days.

Son Ezra H. Twombly died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Dover, N.H., December 13, 1883, aged fifty-four years. (This date, as reported in several newspapers, is at variance with NH vital records, which gave his death as having taken place a week later, December 19, 1883).

BY TELEGRAPH. Ezra H. Twombly, widely known as a prominent citizen, died at Dover, N.H., this morning in an appoplectic fit, aged 50 years (Fall River Daily Evening News (Fall River, MA), December 13, 1883).

Daughter Lillian A. Twombly married in Lebanon, NE, January 20, 1885, James Fred Goodrich, she of Lebanon, ME, and he of Moultonborough, NH. He was a millman, aged twenty-two years, and she was a housewife, aged twenty years. Rev. F.E. Briggs performed the ceremony. Goodrich was born in Somersworth, NH, circa 1863, son of James W. and Mary C. Goodrich.

Daughter Lillian A. (Twombly) Goodrich died in Lebanon, ME, August 20, 1885, aged twenty-one years, one month, and sixteen days.

James M. Twombly died in Lebanon, ME, October 25, 1885.

Son John E. Twombly died of a gastric tumor in Dover, NH, August 24, 1888, aged fifty-two years.

Daughter Mary A. (Twombly) Hart died of gastric fever in Milton, September 3, 1891, aged fifty-eight years.

Irena B. Warren appeared in the Somerville, MA, directory of 1892, as the widow of Daniel P. Warren, with her house at 2 Charles street. Edgar B. Warren appeared as a traveling salesman (134 Summer street, Boston), boarding at 2 Charles street. Eunice E. Warren appeared as a music teacher, boarding at 2 Charles street.

Daughter Irena B. (Twombly) Warren died of consumption of the bowels in Somerville, MA, May 30, 1894, aged sixty-seven years, nine months. She was the widow of Daniel P. Warren.

Son-in-law John F. Hart died in Milton, January 3, 1896, aged sixty-seven years.

Daughter-in-law Lucinda K. (Hanson) Twombly died of cardiac disease in Dover, NH, July 19, 1910, aged eighty-two years, six months, and twenty days.

Lydia A. (Perkins) Twombly died of pneumonia in Lebanon, ME, April 8, 1912, aged eighty-two years, seven months, and sixteen days, M.A.H. Hart signed the death certificate.

Daughter-in-law Lydia A. (Waterhouse) Twombly died in Roslindale, MA, July 16, 1916.

DEATHS. TWOMBLY. In Roslindale, July 16, Lydia A., widow of John E. Twombly. Funeral from her late residence, 205 Belgrade av, Roslindale, Tuesday, July 18, at 3 p.m. Burial at Dover, N.H. Dover, N.H., papers please copy (Boston Globe, July 17, 1916).


References:

Claremont Manufacturing Company. (1851). NH Register and Farmer’s Almanac. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=rgEXAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA159

Farmer, John & Lyon, G. Parker. (1833). NH Annual Register and US Calendar. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=25EBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA36

Find a Grave. (2011, February 26). Lilian A. Twombly Goodrich. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/66178944/lilian-a-goodrich

Find a Grave. (2022, April 5). Lydia M. Twombly. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/238539115/lydia-m-twombly

Find a Grave. (2020, September 6). Mary Abigail Twombly Hart. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/215294814/mary-abigail-hart

Find a Grave. (2022, April 5). James Meserve Twombly. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/238539223/james-meserve-twombly

Find a Grave. (2022, April 6). Daniel P. Warren. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/238563886/daniel-p-warren

Find a Grave. (2022, April 6). Irene Twombly Warren. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/238563840/irene-warren

NH General Court. (1838). Journal of the House. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=vBhNAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA4

US Department of the Interior. (1851). Official Register of the United States: Containing a List of Officers and Employees in the Civil, Military, and Naval Service. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=Vto9AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA26

US Department of the Interior. (1853). Official Register of the United States: Containing a List of Officers and Employees in the Civil, Military, and Naval Service. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=Yu2Qu1QkBSAC&pg=RA1-PA30

US Department of State. (1831). Register of All Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=bedIAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA283

US Department of State. (1835). Register of All Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=rKmtHouyrugC&pg=RA1-PA20

US Department of State. (1838). Register of All Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=cOhIAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA19

US Post Office Department. (1828). United States Official Postal Guide. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=KPsCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA74

Milton’s Blue Bird Tea Room

By Muriel Bristol | September 18, 2022

Nellie B. Tasker was born in Milton, September 15, 1866, daughter of George W. and Lydia (Jones) Tasker.

Nellie B. Tasker married in Farmington, NH, September 24, 1890, Royal K. Webber, both of Milton. She was a shoe stitcher, aged twenty-four years, and he was a carpenter, aged thirty years. He was born in Shapleigh, ME, October 15, 1859, son of Greenleaf and Sarah C. (Grant) Webber.

Royal K. Webber, a house carpenter, aged thirty-seven years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of ten years), Nellie B. Webber, aged thirty-three years (b. NH). Royal K. Webber owned their house, free-and-clear.

MILTON. Mrs. R.K. Webber is suffering from a concussion of the spine, caused by a fall on some steps (Farmington News, April 22, 1904).

Nellie B. Webber was secretary of the Lewis W. Nute grange in Milton in 1906. Bard B. Plummer, Jr., was its grange master, and Ruth L. Fall was its lecturer. It had 54 members.

Royal K. Webber, a leather-board mill carpenter, aged forty-nine years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of twenty years), Nellie B. Webber, aged forty-three years (b. NH). Royal K. Webber owned their house, free-and-clear.

Royal K. Webber, a house carpenter, aged sixty years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Nellie B. Webber, aged fifty-three years (b. NH). Royal K. Webber owned their house on Lower Main Street, free-and-clear. (Milton directories of 1902 through 1917 sited their house on South Main Street, opposite Charles Street).

In 1921 a woman named “Bettina” asked the readers of the Boston Globe’s Household Column for advice on establishing a tearoom in a rural mountain community. She had replies from “Mrs. Restmore,” who had maintained such a shop for fifteen years,” and “1921 Bride,” who gave information on the menu and prices at her favorite tearoom.

How I Conducted a Tea Room For 15 Years. Dear Bettina – Perhaps I can help you in your ideas for a tea room. First thing I want to suggest is an appropriate name. This means much in a business way, as you naturally want it to become “famous,” so give it a name easy to remember and suggestive of its surroundings. If you do not care to spend much for furnishings and as you say it’s in the mountains why not make your tables and chairs of birch wood, of maple or even pine. Any one who is handy with a hammer can gather the younger limbs of trees and with a few boards for the tops of tables and seats for chairs, can do much to furnish a rustic little tea room, naming it after the wood you use in furnishing it, such as “Cedarmere,” “The Birch wood Tea Room,” or “Pine Top Tea Room,” or if you prefer things plainer. I would suggest buying just common kitchen chairs and tables and painting them your favorite colors. Now for what to serve. I find in my experience home-cooked food is always best so try to do your own cooking, rather than buying things, as I know some do. I have run a tea room for last 15 years, off and on, making good in a location and selling when some one wanted to buy, and this has always been my one best drawing card, to serve the best food at popular prices and be cordial as you can to all who honor you with their trade, for it means more customers and money in your pocket. I wish you could see my tea room. I just love it, for I planned, and had it built by my own ideas. Later on I will send you different ways I serve my food, sandwiches, etc., and if I can help you in any other way let me know. – Mrs. Restmore (Boston Globe, March 10, 1921).

Dear Bettina – I saw your request, and just had to tell you about a cute little tea room we were in one day last Summer when on a trip. It was finished in blue, rather a bright shade, and they served sandwiches, such as cheese and nut, olive and cheese, ham, jam, marmalade, and tea, coffee and milk. They also had banana and walnut salad which had the banana sliced lengthwise with walnuts and mayonnaise and lettuce leaves. They charged 15 and 20 cents for the sandwiches and drinks were 10 cents. The salad was 30 cents. They also carried tonic and ice cream, and cigars and tobacco. It was very cute and they had just as simple things as they possibly could. Any further questions regarding this tea room will be gladly answered. A 1921 Bride (Boston Globe, March 10, 1921).

In response to a question regarding licensing such an establishment, “Mrs. Restmore” replied:

Tea Room Lunches. Dear E.E. – It all depends on the locality whether you have to get a license to conduct a tea room. I should not open one if I were you until I went to see the Selectmen of the town. I have a friend who started one, only to be told she could open week-days, but not Sundays. That was her busiest day, so she considered it best not to go further. This is a list of what I serve: Sandwiches – Date butter sandwich, 15 cents; chopped egg sandwich, 25 cents; chopped egg and lettuce, 20 cents; chopped ham and egg, 25 cents; chopped roast beef, 15 cents; hot roast beef sandwich, 25 cents; chopped chicken, 25 cents; hot chicken sandwich, 35 cents. Drinks – Pot tea, 4 people, 25 cents; cocoa, cup, 10 cents; coffee, 10 cents. – Mrs. Restmore (Boston Globe, May 3, 1921).

(A silver dime being worth presently about $2.00 to $2.50, these sandwiches would now be priced at between $3.00 and $8.25, depending on their contents and temperature; cocoa and coffee at $2.00 to $2.50 per cup, and a four-person pot of tea at $5.00 to $6.25).

In 1925, an anonymous “Tea Room Chef” sought recipes – “not too hard to make” – from the subscribers of the Boston Globe’s cookery column. They should be suitable for a tearoom. Here follow some of the dessert recipe suggestions offered by cooks from all over New England.

Rice Pudding. One package dates, washed, stoned and cut fine; 2 tablespoons dry rice, 1 quart milk, salt. Put in double boiler and cook three hours. Stir often at first. Serve with cream or hard sauce if wanted. Extra nice, but it is very good without either. – Last and Least (Boston Globe, November 4, 1925).

Chocolate Rolls. Dear Sisters and Tea Room Chef – Should you care for something different and very delicious just try Chocolate Roll (small amount), 2 egg yolks, 2 heaping teaspoons sugar, 2 heaping teaspoons cocoa, 2 egg whites and vanilla. Beat the egg yokes and sugar together until well creamed. Add the cocoa and vanilla. Lastly add the stiffly beaten egg whites. Spread in a shallow pan and bake about 30 minutes. When cool enough, spread with sweetened whipped cream, roll as you would a jelly roll, cover the whole with remainder of cream and put in ice chest till ready to serve. Won’t last long, too good, but try it and report to Grandma’s Pal. (Boston Globe, January 4, 1926).

Peanut Butter Squares. Tea Room Chef – Would like to have you try these peanut butter squares and report: Two eggs, 1 cup sugar. 1 cup peanut butter, 1 tablespoon butter, pastry. Mix eggs and sugar together, then add peanut butter and butter. Cook mixture over hot water until thick. Then allow to cool. Put teaspoons on squares of pastry, fold corners toward center and bake in a hot oven, temperature 425 degrees. This recipe makes 2½ dozen small squares. – Dippity Fig (Boston Globe, January 8, 1926).

Magic Cream Puffs for Tea Room Chef. One cup boiling water poured over ½ cup of butter or oleo; put on stove and boil, add 1 cup sifted flour, beat it in 5 minutes, keeping kettle on stove. When cool, add 3 eggs, one at a time and beat well after adding each one, then add a little soda size of a pea; beat again for a few seconds and put on greased cookie tin, teaspoonful at a time. This makes 14 and never fails. Bake in rather hot over 30 minutes, filling when cold with whipped cream or cooked filling. – London Girl (Boston Globe, January 21, 1926).

The “Tea Room Chef” reported later that she had achieved success sufficient to make her consider furnishing an upstairs room to accommodate overnight guests.

Nellie B. Webber established her own tearoom before 1927. If situated in her home, it would seem to have been situated on South Main Street, opposite Charles Street. Charles Street forms an arc that touches or meets up with Main Street twice. The likely location would seem to have been on South Main Street (i.e., the southern stretch of Main Street) – now White Mountain Highway – at its intersection with the southern end of Charles Street, i.e., opposite the current Emma Ramsey Center. This would have been a good location to attract automobile tourists passing to and from points north. (See also Milton and Ye Ragged Robin Tea Shop, which was situated on the same throughway, but further north at Plummer’s Ridge).

Nellie B. Webber appeared in the Milton directories of 1927 and 1930, as proprietor of the Blue Bird Tea Room. (Her house was on Main street).

Royal K. Webber died of oedema of the lungs in Milton, July 16, 1928, aged sixty-eight years, nine months, and one day. (He had resided there for forty-four years).

Nellie V. Weber, a tea room hostess, aged forty-six [sixty-three] years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. She owned her house in Milton’s “Rural district,” which was valued at $5,000. She had a radio set.

PERSONALS. Mrs. Royal K. Webber and brother have taken an apartment at the El Cortez apartments for the winter (Orlando Evening Star (Orlando, FL), November 9, 1930).

Nellie B. Webber, a widow, aged seventy-three years (b. NH), headed an Orlando, FL, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. She rented her apartment at 107 East Robinson Avenue, for $30 per month. She had resided in Milton, NH, in 1935.

Nellie B. Webber, a widow, aged eighty-three years (b. NH), headed an Orlando, FL, household at the time of the Seventeenth (1950) Federal Census. She had an apartment at 330 Livingston Avenue.

Nellie B. (Tasker) Webber died in Orlando, FL, May 7, 1955.

Obituaries. MRS. NELLIE B. WEBBER. Mrs. Nellie B. Webber, a native of Milton, N.H., died Saturday in a local hospital. She is survived by a brother, Dana Tasker, Ossipee, N.H. The body will be shipped to Union, N.H., for services and burial by Fairchild Funeral Home (Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, FL), [Monday,] May 9, 1955).


See also Milton and Ye Ragged Robin Tea Shop


References:

Find a Grave. (2020, October 25). Nellie B. Tasker Webber. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/217677162/nellie-b-webber

Acton & Milton Mills Free-Will Baptist Ministers, 1910-1962

By Muriel Bristol | September 1, 2022


Continued from Acton & Milton Mills Free-Will Baptist Ministers, 1855-1909


At this point we have exhausted the Mitchell-Cony minister list and are left now to compile our own list.

The Acton & Milton Mills Free-Will Baptist ministers described from this period were: James W. Williams, George B. Southwick, Edwin P. Moulton, Harvey E. Whitcomb, Carl R. Bartle, Howard M. Starratt, Frank H. Snell, James W. Currie, H. Leroy Patterson, Joseph B. Bubar, Loring P. Wilkins, and Buell W. Maxfield.

James W. Williams – 1909-1913

James W. Williams was born in Providence, RI, August 23, 1859, son of James F. and Phoebe (Wilmarth) Williams.

James F. Williams, a grocer, aged forty-seven years (b. RI), headed a Providence, RI, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of forty-five years), Phebe A. Williams, aged forty-seven years (b. RI), and his children, James W. Williams, a student, aged twenty years (b. RI), and Charles A. Williams, a clerk in store, aged eighteen years. They resided in a two-family residence at 54 Dexter Street; Albert F. Williams, a grocer, aged thirty-seven years (b. RI), headed the other household.

James W. Williams appeared in the Providence, RI, directory of 1882, as a clerk at 16 Canal street, boarding at 54 Dexter street. (His father, James F. Williams, a grocer at 16 Canal street, with his house at 54 Dexter street).

James W. Williams married in Providence, RI, March 5, 1886, Flora B. (Tillinghast) Williams. She was born in Providence, RI, March 25, 1862, daughter of John G. and Mary E. (Barrett) Tillinghast.

James F. Williams, a grocer, aged sixty-five years (b. RI), headed a Providence, RI, household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of forty-five years), Phoebe A. Williams, aged sixty-seven years (b. RI), his son, James W. Williams, a minister, aged thirty-nine years (b. RI), his grandson, Roger Williams, aged seven years (b. RI), his boarder, Cora Fuller, aged twenty-three years (b. CT). James F. Williams owned their house at 98 Dexter Street, with a mortgage. They shared their two-family residence with the household of Charles A. Williams, a grocery clerk, aged thirty-seven years (b. RI). Phoebe A. Williams was the mother of three children, of whom two were still living.

James W. Williams appeared in the Providence, RI, directory of 1901, as a minsiter, boarding at 98 Dexter street. (His father, James F. Williams, a grocer, had his house at 98 Dexter street).

YORK FREE BAPTIST CONFERENCE. The two days’ session of the York county conference of the Free Baptist churches opened in Hollis Wednesday, Rev. John B. Jordan of Saco, president of the conference presiding. The opening sermon was preached by Rev. James W. Williams of Hollis. The devotional service Wednesday afternoon was led by Rev. W.H. Trafton and was followed by an address by B.L. Shah on “A Word from India.” Mrs. S.C.G. Avery made an address and was followed by Miss L.A. DeMerritte of Ocean Park who took for her subject “Our Juniors.” Rev. John B. Jordon of Saco preached Wednesday evening. The closing session of the convention was held Thursday afternoon (Lewiston Sun-Journal (Lewiston, ME), June 2, 1904).

Williams, Rev. James W.J.W. Williams (Milton Mills P.O.) appeared in the Maine Register of 1909, as the Acton F. Bap. minister.

James W. Williams, a clergyman, aged fifty years (b. RI), headed an Acton, ME, household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of nine years), Rachel E. Williams, aged forty years (b. RI), his step-children, Ruth S. Richards, aged seventeen (b. RI), and Mervyn E. Richards, aged fifteen years (b. RI), and his children, Phoebe W. Williams, aged seven years (b. PA), and Paul A. Williams, aged six years (b. PA), and Philip W. Williams, aged five years (b. ME). James W. Williams rented their house. Rachel E. Williams was the mother of six children, of whom six were still living.

Jas. W. Williams appeared in the Milton directory of 1912, as the Milton Mills Baptist minister. J.W. Williams (Milton Mills P.O.) appeared in the Maine Register of 1913, as the Acton F. Bap. minister.

Former Maine Woman Centenarian. Milton Mill, N.H., May 9. – “I am not a bit tired, but I am afraid some of the rest of you are.” These were the words of Mrs. Augusta H. Dore to her granddaughters after she had received the congratulations of 300 of her friends and neighbors at a reception at her home in Milton Mills Tuesday in honor of her 100th birthday. The children of the neighborhood public school to the number of 80 marched to her home early in the day to greet her bearing 100 pinks. A shower of letters and cards from all parts of the country was received. Mrs. Dore was the recipient also of three birthday cakes, which with other refreshments, she served to her guests. Late in the afternoon she enjoyed an auto ride and at the close of the day’s observance her pastor, Rev. James W. Williams of the Free Baptist church, spoke words of congratulations and offered prayer. Mrs. Dore was born in Acton, Me., about two miles from her present home, being a near neighbor of Ralph Farnum, the last survivor of the Battle of Bunker Hill. Her maiden name was Fix [Fox]. Seventy-five years ago she married Eliphlet Dore and removed to her present home, close to the State line between Maine and New Hampshire. Her husband died 30 years ago, since which time her only child, James F., cared for her until his death five months ago. A granddaughter has since resided at the home place. Mrs. Dore has each summer done work out of doors in her garden and has been active in the work of the home. All her faculties are acute and she gives but little evidence of her advanced years. For more than 80 years she has been a member of the Free Baptist church in Milton Mills (Kennebec Journal (Augusta, ME), May 14, 1913).

Augusta [(Fox)] Dore died of heart failure in Milton Mills, April 2, 1914, aged one hundred years, ten months, and twenty-seven days. She was the daughter of James and Sally (Thompson) Fox, and widow of Eliphalet P. Dore (1808-1868).

In July 1913, Rev. James W. Williams accepted a call to become pastor at Jackson, NH.

Notes from the Field. Rev. J. Williams, pastor for five years of the Baptist Church, Milton Mills, N.H., has resigned to accept the pastorate of the Jackson Baptist Church (Boston Evening Transcript, July 19, 1913).

[Class of] 1882. James W. Williams, Rev., L.L. B., 82; Clergyman; Supt. Schools, Jackson, N.H. (Columbia, 1916).

James W. Williams died in an accidental railway collision in North Conway, NH, January 5, 1917, aged fifty-seven years, four months, and thirteen days. (See also Milton in the News – 1912).

PASTOR KILLED AS SLEIGH IS HIT BY TRAIN. NORTH CONWAY, N.H., Dec. 4 – (Special to the Express-Advertiser) – Rev. J.W. Williams, 55, was killed instantly at 2.45 and his son Carl, aged 12, was terribly injured when the sleigh in which they were riding was demolished and the horse killed, being struck by a Boston & Maine Mountain Division train, which was backing up from Intervale. The boy was taken to the Memorial Hospital and his life is despaired of as he is badly hurt about the head, bones were broken, and it is believed that he is injured internally. Mr. Williams had preached in Jackson several years and is survived his widow and three children (Portland Evening Express (Portland, ME), January 5, 1917).

The Providence Journal says: Mr. Williams’ wife and daughter are in Providence visiting Mr. Williams brother. Rev. Mr. Williams was lineal descendant of Roger Williams and had been pastor of the Free Baptist church in Jackson three years. Rev. James W. Williams was well known in this city because of his visits here in recent years as well as through his residence here about 20 years ago when he practiced law in this city. Mrs. Williams was visiting at the home of her husband’s brother, Charles A. Williams of 98 Dexter street, with her daughter and they left late last night for the scene of the tragedy. Rev. Mr. Williams’ older son Roger attended the local schools and was graduated from Brown University in the class of 1914. He is a chemist and has made his home here with his uncle on Dexter street. Rev. Mr. Williams, after leaving Providence, went to New Hampshire and had several churches, finally locating in Jackson (Fall River Globe (Fall River, MA), January 6, 1917).

Roger Williams suffered the loss of his father, Rev. James W. Williams, and his 11-year-old brother, Philip W., in a grade crossing accident at North Conway, N.H., January 6. The two were in a sleigh and were struck by a train during a blinding snow-storm (Brown Alumni Monthly, February 1917).

George E. Tillinghast, a widower, aged eighty-three years (b. RI), headed a Providence, RI, household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. His household included his daughter, Flora B. William, a widow, aged fifty-six years (b. RI), and his granddaughter, Hope T. William, a real estate stenographer, aged thirty years (b. RI). George E. Tillinghast rented their house at 31 Almy street.

Flora B. Williams, widow of James W. Williams, appeared in the Providence, RI, directory of 1922, as residing at 31 Almy street.

John G. Tillinghast, aged ninety-two years (b. RI), headed a Providence, RI, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his daughter, Flora B. Williams, a widow, aged sixty-four years (b. RI), and his granddaughter, Hope T. Williams, a real estate stenographer, aged forty years (b. RI). John G. Tillinghast rented their house at 329 New York Avenue, for $40 per month. They had a radio set.

Flora Williams, a widow, aged seventy-eight years (b. RI), was one of four patients at a convalescent home at 173 Porter Street in Providence, RI, at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census.

Flora B. (Tillinghast) Williams died in Providence, RI, May 12, 1947.

George B. Southwick – 1914-1917

George Barnet Southwick was born in Humphrey, NY, March 22, 1863, son of Barnet and Clara A. (Chapman) Southwick.

George B. Southwick graduated from the Cobb Divinity School at Bates College with its Class of 1890.

Class of 1890. George Barnett Southwick. b. 22 Mar 1863, Humphrey, N.Y. Son of Barnet and Clara A. (Chapman) Southwick. Pastor, E. Warsaw, N.Y., 1890-92; Cherry Creek, N.Y., 1892-94; Kingfield, Me., 1894-01; Littleton, N.H., 1901-03; Franconia, N.H., 1903-06; Dale, N.Y., 1906-12; Madison, Me., 1912-14; Acton, Me., and Milton Mills, N.H., 1914. Res. Milton Mills, N.H. (Bates College, 1915).

WYOMING. Rev. George Southwick has been tendered and accepted a call as pastor of the Free Will Baptist Church at East Warsaw for the ensuing year (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), March 12, 1890).

George B. Southwick married (1st), circa 1891, Ella Louisa Cook. She was born in Thetford, VT, March 2, 1865, daughter of James A. and Elizabeth H. (Stevens) Cook.

Ella L. (Cook) Southwick died of typhoid fever in Kingfield, ME, October 28, 1898, aged thirty-three years, seven months, and six days.

George B. Southwick, a clergyman, aged thirty-seven years (b. NY), headed a Kingfield, ME, household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his children, Marion Southwick, aged seven years (b. NY), and Louis E. Southwick, aged two years (b. ME), and his mother, Clara A. [(Chapman)] Southwick, a widow, aged fifty-four years (b. NY).

George B. Southwick married (2nd) in Cherry Creek, NY, January 15, 1901, Flora Louise Weaver. She was born in NY, in 1871, daughter of Andrew J. and Cynthia (Akeley) Weaver.

George B. Southwick, a clergyman, aged forty-seven years (b. NY), headed a Middlebury, NY, household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of nine years), Flora L. Southwick, aged thirty-nine years (b. NY), and his children, Marion Southwick, aged seventeen years (b. NY), Lois A.E. Southwick, aged twelve years (b. ME), and Ruth A. Southwick, aged four years (b. NH). George B. Southwick rented their house. Flora L. Southwick was the mother of two children, of whom one was still living.

Skowhegan, Me., Pastor Leaving. SKOWHEGAN, Me. Dec. 23. – Rev. George B. Southwick has resigned his pastorate of the Madison Free Baptist Church, to take effect Jan. 1, having accepted a pastorate in Milton, N.H. He has been pastor of the Madison Church for about three years, and under his leadership the church edifice has been extensively remodeled and cleared from debt. Mr. Southwick came to Madison from Dale, N.Y. He was a member of the class of 1890 of Cobb Divinity School of Bates College (Boston Globe, December 24, 1913).

MADISON. Rev. and Mrs. G.B. Southwick left town Saturday morning for Milton Mills, N.H., where Mr. Southwick has accepted a call to the Free Baptist church in that place. Mr. Southwick has been pastor of the Free Baptist church in this place. Their many friends here deeply regret their departure (Waterville Morning Sentinel (Waterville, ME), January 6, 1914).

G.B. Southwick (Milton Mills P.O.) appeared in the Maine Registers of 1914 and 1916, as the Acton F. Bap. minister.

Geo. B. Southwick appeared in the Milton directory of 1917, as the Milton Mills Baptist minister.

SUTTON. There will be services at the church May 6, when Rev. Mr. Southwick of Milton Mills, N.H., will preach as a candidate (Vermont Union-Journal (Lyndonville, VT), April 25, 1917).

George B. Southwick, a Baptist Church clergyman, aged fifty-six years (b. NY), headed an Epsom, NH, household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Flora W. Southwick, aged forty-eight years (b. NY), and his daughter, Ruth A. Southwick, aged fourteen years (b. NH). George B. Southwick rented their house on the Turnpike.

George B. Southwick died in Lewiston, ME, December 29, 1923, aged sixty years, nine months.

OBITUARY. George B. Southwick. The death of Rev. George B. Southwick at his home, 36 College street, Lewiston, on Saturday evening comes as a great shock to his associates for he died very suddenly. Altho in Lewiston only a few years, coming here from Epsom, N.H., he had many friends. He conducted the services at the Sabatis and South Monmouth churches each Sunday and thru the week worked as a carpenter being considered efficient in his trade. Mr. Southwick was born in Humphrey N.Y., on March 22, 1863. He graduated from the Cobb Divinity School, Bates College in 1890. He first had the pastorate of the church at East Warsaw, N.Y., and has held many other important ones since that time. He leaves other than his wife: three daughters, a brother of Salamanca, Penn., and a sister in New York (Lewiston Sun-Journal (Lewiston, ME), January 2, 1924).

Flora [(Weaver)] Southwick, a homemaker, aged fifty-nine years (b. NY), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. Her household included her daughter, Ruth Southwick, a high school teacher, aged twenty-three years (b. NH), her boarders, Marjorie Goodwin, a high school teacher, aged twenty-six years (b. ME), and Doris Clifford, a high school teacher, aged twenty-one years (b. ME), and her lodgers Frank H. Tuttle, a fibre mill laborer, aged sixty-three years (b. NH), and Frank S. Tuttle, a fibre mill laborer, aged eighteen years (b. NH). Flora Southwick rented their house on South Main Street, for $25 per month. They had a radio set.

Cherry Creek. Mrs. Flora Weaver Southwick of Townsend, Mass., arrived Saturday night to visit relatives in this vicinity. Mrs. Southwick was formerly Flora Weaver, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Weaver of Maple Hill (Dunkirk Daily Observer (Dunkirk, NY), July 20, 1937).

Franklin Morrison, wet machine, leatherboard co., aged thirty years (b. NH), headed a Townsend, MA, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Ruth [(Southwick)] Morrison, aged thirty-four years (b. NH), and his mother-in-law, Flora [(Weaver)] Southwick, aged sixty-nine years (b. NY). Franklin Morrison rented their house, for $16 per month.

Franklin E. Morrison, a school janitor, aged forty years (b. NH), headed a Townsend, MA, household at the time of the Seventeenth (1950) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Ruth S. [(Southwick)] Morrison, a teacher, aged forty-four years (b. NH), and his mother-in-law, Flora W. [(Weaver)] Southwick, aged seventy-nine years (b. NY). They resided at 196 Brookline Street.

Daughter Ruth (Southwick) Morrison died in Franconia, NH, February 1, 1962, aged sixty-six years.

Madison News Brevities. Woman Dies. Mrs. Ruth Southwick Morrison, 66, died February 6 at Franconia, N.H. Her father was the Rev. George B. Southwick, a former pastor of the Madison Baptist Church. She is survived by her husband, Franklin Morrison; her mother, Mrs. Flora Southwick, 90; two sisters, Mrs. Lois Tilton of Deerfield, N.H., and Mrs. Marion Bryant of Farmington [ME] (Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), February 23, 1962). 

Flora L. Southwick died in Cherry Creek, NY, October 18, 1964, aged ninety-three years.

Madison Brevities. Word has been received of the death of Mrs. Flora Southwick. Her husband, the late Rev. George Southwick, was a pastor at one time of the United Baptist Church in Madison [ME] and his daughter is Mrs. Marion Bryant of Farmington [ME] (Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), November 4, 1964).

Edwin P. Moulton – 1917-1921

Edwin P. Moulton was born in Corinth, VT, October 11, 1848, son of Eli and Louisa (Moulton) Moulton.

MOULTON. Edwin P. Moulton, son of Eli, b. in Corinth, Vt., Oct. 11, 1848, m. in 1872, Mary Ella Foss. He was educated in the common schools, Laconia Academy, New Hampton Institution, and Green Mountain (Vt.) Seminary. He pursued a private course of theological study, and was ordained a Free Baptist minister in L. [Laconia], June 7, 1874. He has been located in the ministry as follows L. [Laconia], May 1874, to Feb. 1876; Alton, Feb. 1876, to Dec. 1879; Rochester, Dec. 1879, to May 1885; Pittsfield, May 1885, to Nov. 1888; Somerville Mass., Nov. 1888, to 1898; and now [1905] at Nashua. Delegate to General Conference, Marion, Ohio, 1886, and Lowell, 1892. Supt. of Schools, Alton, two years I.O.O.F. Two ch. d. in infancy (Jackson, 1905). 

Edwin P. Moulton married in Gilford, NH, August 22, 1872, Mary E. Foss, he of Laconia, NH, and she of Tilton, NH. He was a clergyman, aged twenty-three years, and she was aged twenty years. Rev. A.D. Smith performed the ceremony. She was born in Sanbornton, NH, circa 1852, son of Loran and Mary Ann (Mason) Foss.

Rev. Edwin P. Moulton, a clergyman, aged thirty-one years (b. VT), headed a Rochester, NH, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. his household included his wife, Mary E. [(Foss)] Moulton, keeping house, aged twenty-seven years (b. NH), his daughter, Gracie Moulton, aged three months (b. NH (March)), and his mother, Loisa Moulton, a widow, aged seventy years (b. VT). They resided on Myrtle Street.

Rev. Edwin P. Moulton appeared in the Somerville, MA, directories of 1890-91, and 1892, as pastor of the Broadway F.B. church, with his house at 12 Lincoln street.

Edwin P. Moulton, a M. Epis. Church pastor, aged fifty-one years (b. VT), headed a Nashua, NH, household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of twenty-seven years), Mary E. [(Foss)] Moulton, aged forty-seven years (b. NH). Edwin P. Moulton rented their house at 2 Spring Street. Mary E. Moulton was the mother of two children, of whom none were still living.

TIVERTON. Rev. Edwin P. Moulton of the Stone church, Tiverton, has accepted a call to the Welsh Avenue Free Baptist church, Brockton, Mass., and will commence his labors there the first Sunday in April (Fall River Globe (Fall River, MA), January 24, 1903).

Edwin P. Moulton of Brockton, MA, received a NH commission, August 8, 1907, to perform marriages in other states, i.e., to perform them in New Hampshire.

Moulton, Edwin P. - 1905Edward P. Moulton, a Free Baptist Church minister, aged sixty-one years (b. VT), headed a Kittery, ME, household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of thirty-seven years), Mary E. [(Foss)] Moulton, aged fifty-seven years (b. NH). He did not rent their house on Foyes Lane. (Perhaps it was a parsonage). Mary E. Moulton was the mother of two children, of whom none were still living.

Edwin P. Moulton of Acton, ME, received a NH commission, September 17, 1917, to perform marriages in other states, i.e., to perform them in New Hampshire.

Edwin P. Moulton appeared in the Portsmouth, NH, directory of 1912, as pastor of the Free-Will Baptist church, with his house at 163 Melbourne street.

S.P. Moulton (Milton Mills P.O.) appeared in the Maine Register of 1918, 1920. and 1921, as the Acton F. Bap. minister.

Edwin P. Moulton, a church pastor, aged seventy-one years (b. VT), headed an Acton, ME, household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Mary E. [(Foss)] Moulton, aged sixty-seven years (b. VT). Edwin P. Moulton rented their farm on the Lebanon Road.

Mary E. (Foss) Moulton died of chronic parenchymatous nephritis at 112 Central Street in Farmington, NH, July 7, 1929, aged seventy-six years, eleven months, and twenty-seven days. She had resided in Farmington, NH, for seven years, i.e., since circa 1921-22, with her having resided previously in Waterboro, ME.

Fred A. Giles, a lumber & boxes mill man, aged seventy-one years (b. NH), headed a Farmington, NH, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Emma I. Giles, aged sixty-six years (b. NH), and his boarder, Rev. Edward P. Moulton, a widower, aged ninety-one [eighty-one] years (b. VT). Fred A. Giles owned their house at 45 Glen Street, which was valued at $2,500. They did not have a radio set.

LOCAL. Rev. Edwin P. Moulton who has been in very ill health at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Fred A. Giles for several months, sustained a slight shock last Sunday from which he appears to be slowly rallying (Farmington News, March 6, 1931).

Edwin P. Moulton died of cardio-renal vascular disease on Glen Street in Farmington, NH, March 11, 1931, aged eighty-two years, five months. He had resided in Farmington, NH, for eight years, i.e., since circa 1922-23, with his having resided previously in Waterboro, ME.

IN MEMORIAM. Rev. Edwin P. Moulton. Death came to reward the patient and faithful life of Rev. Edwin Preston Moulton, which closed, after a long period of suffering at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Fred A. Giles of Glen street, on Wednesday evening of last week. Many months of steadily falling health shattered the great physique and subdued the reason of one of the most energetic clergymen who has risen in the Baptist denomination of New England in a long time. The deceased attained his 82nd birthday on the eleventh day of last October and until the death of his wife about a year and a half ago he was regarded as one of the most remarkable men and ministers in New Hampshire. He was a native of Vermont, the last survivor in a family of three children who inherited indomitable courage and brilliancy from a line age of pioneer ancestry. At the age of 23 years, he entered the ministry, and it may be truly said of this man that God ordained him for his calling. With wonderful contour He endowed him with a superb voice that inspired choirs and thrilled congregations. He taught the Gospel in small hamlets and in large cities he consecrated his life and his resources to the work of his Master and most richly did he deserve the blessed benediction “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” Among the greatest monuments of his career was a ten years pastorate of the First Baptist church in Somerville, Mass., the founding of the True Memorial church in Rochester, and the enlargement of the church in Pittsfield. While these pillars are among the tangible things that will ever point to achievement in the hearts of men and women, he set up greater altars, for he was an evangel of recognized worth. In the denomination he was a member of the Ocean Park Baptist association for over fifty years and was heard at every summer convention of this body until 1930. For many years he was a member of Suncook Lodge, No. 10, I.O.O.F., of Pittsfield. He was pastor of the Farmington Baptist church for two years and subsequently removed to Milton Mills, and after to Waterboro, Maine, from whence he returned to Farmington and having purchased a home on Central street sought retirement but he was privileged to enjoy only a short time before the death of Mrs. Moulton. Shortly afterward he went to live with Mr. and Mrs. Giles and by these good people he was cared for most tenderly until the end. Funeral services were held at the Baptist church Saturday afternoon at 1.30, with Rev. Albert Kenyon, pastor of the Baptist church at Arlington, R.I., and president of the Ocean Park Baptist association, officiating. In the work of the Baptist denomination in New England for many years Rev. Kenyon was closely associated with the deceased both as a clergyman and a personal friend. Rev. Kenyon was assisted by the present pastor of the church, Rev. Emery L. Wallace, and Rev. Chester Doe of Northwood. Following is a list of the flowers, Spray mixed pinks, Suncook Lodge, No. 10, I.O.O.F.; spray pinks, Farmington Baptist church; spray roses and pinks, True Memorial church of Rochester; spray mixed pinks, Mrs. Foss, Mrs. Davis, Mr. and Mrs. Clark, Mr. and Mrs. Bald, Laconia; spray jonquils and pinks, Miss Alice M. Chase and Miss Alice M. Hoyt, Portsmouth; spray Jonquils and pinks, Alonzo S. Brooks; spray mixed pinks, Mr. and Mrs. Fred A. Giles and Miss Pearl Giles (Farmington News, March 20, 1931).

CARD of THANKS. We wish to acknowledge the many kind attentions that so assisted us during the illness of Rev. E.P. Moulton and to express our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to all neighbors and friends whose comforting expressions of sympathy sustain us in this hour of affliction. Especially do we wish to acknowledge the beautiful floral offerings, including the Farmington Baptist church, the True Memorial church of Rochester and Suncook Lodge, I.O.O.F., of Pittsfield, also those who furnished cars for conveyance, and the members of Woodbine Lodge, I.O.O.F., who served as bearers at the funeral. Mr. and Mrs. Fred A. Giles (Farmington News, March 20, 1931).

H.E. Whitcomb – 1921-1924

Harvey Edwin Whitcomb was born in St. Johnsbury, VT, July 9, 1865, son of Truman and Ella (Kittredge) Whitcomb.

Harvey E. Whitcomb married in Cambridge, VT, October 31, 1891, Alice L. Eaton, he of Cambridge, VT, and she of Hyde Park, VT. He was a carpenter, aged twenty-five years, and she was aged twenty-two years. Rev. Perrin B. Fisk performed the ceremony. She was born in Warren, VT, circa 1871, daughter of Melville and Lucy (Wilson) Eaton.

Morrisville. Harvey E. Whitcomb of Cambridge and Miss Alice Eton of Hyde Park were married by Rev. P.B. Fisk at his residence last Saturday evening (St. Johnsbury Republican (St. Johnsbury, VT), November 5, 1891).

Morrisville Liquor Agency Again. Two more prosecutions have followed false representations in buying liquor at the town agency. In both these cases the agent used all due caution, but was lied to. Harvey E. Whitcomb, a young man who never drinks himself, bought liquor there, claiming it for sickness in his family, but in reality bought it to furnish another party who wanted it and used it for other than medicinal purposes. Whitcomb was prosecuted and his fine and cost amounted to $24.98, on two counts for misrepresentation at the agency and furnishing which was paid. The second case was a more dramatic one in its results. One Edward Shiner, said to be a resident of Jericho, put up a bluff of being sick, bought some liquor and proceeded to get outside with it. When an attempt was made to take him he fought the crowd, and made a desperate stand for some time before he submitted, was handcuffed, tied with ropes and laid on his back in an express wagon to be taken to the county jail in Hyde Park. It took six or eight good men to do the job. He was fined $31.22 on two accounts; procuring liquor at the agency on false representation and a plain drunk. He was not taken for resisting an officer, as it had been expected be might be (St. Johnsbury Republican (St. Johnsbury, VT), March 30, 1898).

Whitcom & Eaton Patent - 1898Harvey E. Whitcomb and Melville B. Eaton, of Morrisville, VT, filed for a U.S. patent on their acetylene gas generator, December 9, 1898. (Patent No. 649,560, Serial No. 698,793) (U.S. Patent Office, 1900).

Harvey E. Whitcomb, a carpenter, aged thirty-four years (b. VT), headed a Morristown (“Morrisville P.O.”), VT, household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of eight years), Alice E. Whitcomb, aged thirty years (b. VT), and his children, Lucy E. Whitcomb, at school, aged seven years (b. VT), and Grace H. Whitcomb, at school, aged five years (b. VT). Harvey E. Whitcomb owned their house on Cherry Street, with a mortgage. Alice E. Whitcomb was the mother of two children, of whom two were still living.

Harvey E. Whitcomb, a house and barn contractor, aged forty-four years (b. VT), headed a Somerville, MA, household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of eighteen years), Alice E. Whitcomb, aged forty years (b. VT), and his children, Lucy E. Whitcomb, aged seventeen years (b. VT), and Grace H. Whitcomb, aged fifteen years (b. VT). Harvey E. Whitcomb rented their house at 62 Highland Avenue. Alice E. Whitcomb was the mother of two children, of whom two were still living.

Harvey E. Whitcomb, an Ordnance Dept. auditor, aged fifty-four years (b. Canada (American citizen)), headed a Laurel, MD, household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Alice E. Whitcomb, aged fifty years (b. VT), and his daughter, Lucy E. Whitcomb, a field director for Services, aged twenty-six years (b. MA). Harvey E. Whitcomb rented their house on Washington Avenue.

NEW HAMPSHIRE. THE NEW PASTOR AT MILTON MILLS, Rev. H.E. Whitcomb, recently baptized seven. This event has given a new impetus to the church life here (The Baptist, August 13, 1921).

H.E. Whitcomb appeared in the Milton directory of 1922, as the Milton Mills Baptist minister.

REV. MR. WHITCOMB GOES TO HYDE PARK CHURCH. STOUGHTON, June 14. Rev. Harvey E. Whitcomb of 1335 Central st. has received a unanimous call to the First Baptist Church of Hyde Park to become associate pastor of that church. The call was the result of a meeting of the church last Friday Evening and was accepted by Rev. Mr. Whitcomb on receiving the news of the action of the meeting. He entered upon his duties Sunday morning. The pastor is Rev. Chellia Velle Smith, of whom Mr. Whitcomb is a great admirer. Rev. Mr. Whitcomb for the most part will work with the young people of the parish and with the brotherhood, which has a membership. Rev. Mr. Whitcomb has lived in Stoughton the past three years, has supplied the pulpit in Hyde Park, has talked to the brotherhood on several occasions, and has preached in the various Protestant churches of Stoughton and other places in this section. He will continue to live in Stoughton (Boston Globe, June 14, 1926).

Harvey Whitcomb, a Baptist clergyman, aged sixty-four years (b. VT), headed a Stoughton, MA, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of thirty-eight years), Alice E. Whitcomb, aged sixty years (b. VT), his daughter, Lucy Macdonald, a tea room proprietor, aged thirty-seven years (b. VT), and his lodger, John T. Macdonald, a gas station proprietor, aged thirty-five years (b. MA). Harvey Whitcomb owned their household on Central Street, which was valued at $8,500. They owned a radio set.

JEFFERSONVILLE. Mrs. M.S. Hawley left Sunday for a three weeks’ visit with her brother, the Rev. H.E. Whitcomb at Stoughton, Mass., and with her sisters at Manchester and Haverhill, N.H. (Burlington Free Press (Burlington, VT), August 7, 1939).

FORMER MORRISVILLE RESIDENTS CELEBRATE 58th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY. The Rev. and Mrs. Harvey E. Whitcomb, former residents of Morrisville for many years, celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary on Monday, Oct. 31. Mr. and Mrs. Whitcomb were married by the Rev. Perrin B. Fisk on Oct. 31, 1891. Mrs. Whitcomb was Alice L. Eaton, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. M.B. Eaton. They have two daughters, Mrs. Lucy E. Macdonald and Mrs. Grace H. Bacon; four granddaughters and one grandson; also seven great-grandchildren. While living in Morrisville, Mr. Whitcomb followed the contracting and building trade, building two houses on Cherry avenue and many other buildings in the village and town, also in Johnson and Cambridge. In 1895 he designed and built the Wheelock house, which is now the Copley Hospital. He received part of his high schooling at Peoples Academy and the Morrisville graded school, and his training for the ministry in Maryland. In World War I he was a government auditor of building construction. While in this work he served as supply pastor of a Baptist Church in Savage, Md., and later of one in Washington Heights, D.C. He received his training for the ministry in Maryland, and was ordained in 1921. He then went to Milton Mills, N.H., where he resigned after four years to go to Stoughton, Mass., where he served the church in North Stoughton for eight years, resigning because of ill health and failing eyesight. He was 84 years old last July (Morrisville News & Citizen (Morrisville, VT), November 3, 1949).

Harvey E. Whitcomb died in Stoughton, MA, October 30, 1950.

HARVEY E. WHITCOMB DIES IN STOUGHTON, MASS. A message was received by Ben E. Eaton of Morrisville Monday night announcing the death of his brother-in-law, Harvey E. Whitcomb, of Stoughton, Mass. Mr. Whitcomb was born in Cambridge, July 9, 1864. He married Alice Eaton of Hyde Park Oct. 31, 1891. He is survived in his immediate family by two daughters, Mrs. Lucy McDonald and Mrs. Grace Bacon, and also by several grandchildren. The deceased was an architect and builder and built several houses in Morrisville, one being the summer home of Mr. Wheelock of Dorchester, Mass., which building is the Copley Hospital, and several houses on Cherry street. Mr. Whitcomb died in Stoughton on Oct. 30 at 5:30 p.m., and the funeral was held at Lowes Funeral Home Thursday at 2 :00 p.m. (Morrisville News & Citizen (Morrisville, VT), November 2, 1950).

Carl R. Bartle – 1925-1928

Carle Raymond Bartle was born in Preston, NY, June 23, 1902, son of Chester U. and Julia E. (Eelles) Bartle.

BAPTIST CHURCH NOTES. This Friday C.R. Bartle will be ordained to the gospel ministry in the Baptist church at Milton Mills. Our pastor and Deacons Carter and Giles will represent this church at the ordaining council, and other members are expected to attend the public meeting in the evening (Farmington News, November 26, 1925).

Harry E. Wentworth ran the Acton & Milton Mills Freewill Baptist Church Sunday School in 1925.

MIDDLETON. Memorial exercises were held Sunday afternoon, May 30, in Grange hall at Union, in charge of the Union Woman’s club and Reunion Grange. A very fine program was given by the school children of Middleton and Union, under the direction of their teachers. An interesting address was given by Rev. Carl Bartle of Milton Mills, also very pleasing remarks were given by the president of the Woman’s club, Mrs. Arthur Moulton, and the master of Reunion Grange, Winburn Dudley. We were honored and proud to have with us one of our Grand Army men, George Bickford, and one of our American Legion boys, Winburn Dudley. After the exercises, the children were carried in autos to the two cemeteries, where the graves were decorated. Nearer My God to Thee and Taps were played by B.W. Mooney, past master of Reunion Grange. We missed the faces of those who have passed to the Great Beyond and were sorry Edward Hamlin was not with us – another of our Grand Army men who was not able to come to the hall. Let us not forget this day and each year let us set aside a time to follow out these exercises (Farmington News, June 4, 1926).

PASTOR IN MILTON MILLS ACCEPTS WHITMAN CALL. WHITMAN, Sept. 2 – Rev. Carl R. Bartle of Milton Mills, N.H., today accepted the call recently extended him by the First Baptist Church here and will assume his pastoral duties the last of the month. Rev. Mr. Bartle is a graduate of the Gordon Bible School of the class of 1924 and received the degree of bachelor of theology. He returned the next year for graduate work. He was for a time pastor of the Woodville Chapel of Wakefield and the Hill Memorial Church of Allston. He has been pastor for the past three years at the Milton Mills Free Baptist Church at Milton Mills, N.H. (Boston Globe, September 3, 1928).

Carl R. Bartle married in Farmington, NH, September 25, 1928, Dora E. Austin, he of Milton Mills and she of Farmington, NH. He was a clergyman, aged twenty-six years, and she was at home, aged thirty-two years. Rev. Arthur Jefferies performed the ceremony. She was born in Somerset, MA, January 1, 1896, daughter of Ulysses E. and Mary L. (Fogg) Austin.

Carl R. Bartle, a Baptist minister, aged twenty-seven years (b. NY), headed a Whitman, MA, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of one year), Dora E. Bartle, aged thirty-three years (b. MA). Carl R. Bartle rented their house at 670 Washington Street, for $30 per month. They had a radio set.

WEST MILTON. Rev. and Mrs. Carl Bartle spent the past week with the latter’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. James Austin (Farmington News, May 2, 1930).

Carl R. Bartle, a religious clergyman, aged thirty-seven years (b. NY), headed a Whitman, MA, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Dora E. Bartle, aged forty-three years (b. MA). Carl R. Bartle owned their house at 670 Washington Street, which was valued at $5,000.

Carl R. Bartle, aged forty-seven years (b. NY), a church clergyman, aged forty-seven years (b. NY), headed a Winthrop, MA, household at the time of the Seventeenth (1950) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Dora Bartle, aged fifty-three years (b. MA). They resided at 68 Hermon Street.

MILTON. The 125th anniversary of the dedication of the church building of the Acton-Milton Mills Baptist Church, Milton Mills, N.H., will be observed with special recognition services on Sunday, November 14th. Rev. Carl Bartle, of Bradford, New Hampshire, will be the guest speaker at the 11 a.m. morning worship service. The Reverend Mr. Bartle, a former pastor, was ordained by the Church 40 years ago. He pastored in Milton Mills from 1925 through 1928. A public reception will follow the morning service. Interesting historical items will be on display at this time, including early pictures of the church and an old “paid-pew-holder” arrangement. At the 7 p.m. evening service a tape recording given by Pastor Emeritus Buell Maxfield will describe the early history of the Church. The church as a body was founded in 1781, and it is the second free will Baptist church to be established in America. The present church building was dedicated in 1840 (Farmington News, May 10, 1965).

Carl R. Bartle died in Bradford, NH, January 1, 1974. Dora E. (Austin) Bartle died in Concord, NH, April 29, 1979.

Rev. Howard M. Starratt – 1928-30

Howard Manuel Starratt was born in Everett, MA, March 22, 1900, son of Charles and Elizabeth (Case) Starratt.

Howard M. Starratt married in Couer d’Alene, ID, December 22, 1923, Mabel A. Bishop, both of Spokane, WA. Mrs. George Marvin and Eliza Thompson witnessed the ceremony, which was performed by Baptist minister Rev. Fred H. Thompson of Coeur d’Alene. She was born in Clarksburg, MA, February 25, 1901, daughter of Frank E. and Minnie D. (Sanford) Bishop.

POWNAL. Howard M. Starratt, pastor of the Baptist church for a little more than a year, has left for Boston where he will resume his theological studies at Gordon college and serve as pastor of the church at Milton Mills, N.H. Mrs. Starratt will remain about ten days at the home of her parents in Clarksburg before going to the new home which is on the border line between New Hampshire and Maine. Last Friday evening the Christian Endeavor Society tendered them a reception at Rightholme and presented a Sterling silver cream ladle. Saturday afternoon the Pownal center people entertained them at the town hall and presented a gift of money. The Ladies’ Auxiliary of the church in this village gave a check as a parting gift, following the morning worship yesterday, Dr. W.A. Davison of Burlington, Vt., is taking steps toward securing a new pastor for the local church (North Adams Transcript, November 20, 1928).

Pownal. H.M. Starratt, late of this place, now pastor at Milton Mills, N.H., and a student at Gordon college of Theology and Missions writes of attending the recent Gypsy Smith gospel meetings. These were held in Boston Garden, an auditorium seating 20,000 people and hundreds were turned away for lack of room. The evangelist’s spiritual message has moved Boston he writes. Mrs. Starratt writes of a recent visit to a lung specialist in Boston, who after an X-ray examination pronounced her well on the road recovery but cautioned against overexertion for some time to come. course of treatment she has for the past year and a half bids fair to make her entirely well in time. Work in the church at Milton is very encouraging. About 185 persons attended the Easter morning service and about the same number witnessed a pageant in the evening. An illustrated lecture on the Holy Land was given on Monday by Dr. A.D. Kempton of Baptist church, Cambridge, under whom Mr. Starratt worked before coming to Pownal. Both wish to be remembered to all local friends and offer a hearty welcome to any that will visit them at Milton Mills (North Adams, April 12, 1929).

Howard M. Starratt, a Baptist clergyman, aged thirty years (b. MA), headed an Acton, ME, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of seven years), Mabel A. Starratt, aged twenty-nine years (b. MA). Howard M. Starratt rented their house. They had a radio set.

POWNAL Has New Pastorate. Rev. Howard M. Starratt who has been at Milton Mills, N.H., since leaving here two years ago has resigned there to accept the pastorate of the First Baptist church at LaFayette, Indiana, and will begin his duties at once. The church has a membership of three hundred. Mr. Starratt was accompanied on the trip by his brother, Charles, formerly of North Adams. Mrs. Starratt is staying a few weeks at the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. F.E. Bishop of Clarksburg before going to her new home (North Adams Transcript, October 31, 1930).

Montpelier Pastor Called To Sanford. SANFORD, Dec. 19 (Special) – The Rev. Howard M. Starrett, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Montpelier, Vt., was extended a call to succeed the Rev. Ellory G. Dakin of the Sanford Baptist Church at a church meeting Wednesday evening. The Rev. Mr. Starrett is a native ot Everett, Mass., and has served in churches in Milton Mills, N.H., and Lafayette Ind. The Rev. Mr. Daktn resigned to accept a call to a church pn New Britain, Conn. (PortlandEvening Express (Portland, ME), December 19, 1935).

Rev. Howard M. Starratt, a church minister, aged forty years (b. MA), headed a Sanford, ME, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Mabel A. Starratt, a church worker, aged thirty-nine years (b. MA), his daughter, Nancy E. Starratt, aged five years (b. IN), and his lodger, Ethel Walker, aged fifty-five years (b. NH). They resided at 1 Kimball Street. They had resided in Montpelier, VT, in 1935, except their lodger, who had resided then in the “same place,” i.e., Sanford, ME.

Rev. Howard M. Starratt died in Clarksburg, MA, November 10, 1965, aged sixty-five years.

Rev. H.M. Starratt Stricken at Drury. The Rev. Howard M. Starratt of River Rd., Clarksburg, was stricken ill this morning at Drury High School where he is member of the English department faculty. Mr. Starratt, who serves as pastor of the Blackinton Union Church, went to the high school office shortly before 10 a.m., saying he was ill and was leaving for home. He then became very ill and Dr. Maurice G. Spitzer answered an emergency call to the school and ordered Mr. Starratt taken to the hospital in the Mohawk ambulance (North Adams Transcript, November 10, 1965).

Area Obituaries. Rev. HOWARD M. STARRATT. CLARKSBURG, Mass. The Rev. Howard Manuel Starratt, 65, of River Road, pastor of the Blackinton Union Church of North Adams and Hancock Baptist Church, who served his first pastorate at the Pownal Baptist Church, died Wednesday at North Adams Hospital. Mr. Starratt had been stricken Wednesday morning at Drury High School in North Adams, where he was a member of the English department faculty. Death was attributed to a stroke. Mr. Starratt, whose wife, the former Mabel, Bishop of Clarksburg, is an ordained minister and teacher, was born in Everett, son of the late Charles and Elizabeth (Case) Starratt. He was graduated from Mt. Hermon School and received the bachelor of theology degree from Gordon College. He held his M.A. degree from the University of New Hampshire and did graduate study toward his doctorate at Columbia, Boston University and the University of Vermont. His pastorates besides Vermont had included Maine, New Hampshire and Indiana. He was Protestant chaplain at the Monroe Forestry Camp, and had served as chaplain to the Vermont Senate. He was named a teacher at the Berlin, N.Y. Central School in 1955, and in 1956, was appointed to the Lanesboro School. He became a member of Drury faculty in 1957 and had served as pastor of the Blackinton church since 1959. Survivors besides his wife are two daughters, Mrs. Angelo E. Lorenzo of Buffalo, N.Y., and Miss Ruth Starratt of Amherst; three brothers, John H. of Cambridge, Charles F. of Mattapan and George H. Starratt of New York City; four sisters, Mrs. Ethel Smedberg of Spokane, Wash.; Mrs. Marion Browne of Cambridge, Miss Helen Starratt of Swampscott and Mrs. Florence Stone of Lynn; three grandchildren. The funeral will be held at the Blackinton Union Church Saturday at 2 p.m. Calling hours at the Simmons Funeral Home in North Adams are from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today (North Adams Transcript, November 12, 1965). 

Mabel A. (Bishop) Starratt died in Pownal, VT, September 7, 1995.

Frank H. Snell – 1931-1937

Frank H. Snell was born in Fall River, MA, April 3, 1910, son of Lysander F. and Maude B. (Rodda) Snell.

Lysander Snell, a house carpenter, aged forty-four years (b. RI), headed a Tiverton, RI, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Maude B. Snell, aged thirty-nine years (b. England), and his children, Frank H. Snell, aged twenty years (b. RI), Arthur C. Snell, aged eighteen years (b. RI), Dorothy Snell, aged fourteen years (b. RI), Ruth E. Snell, aged twelve years (b. RI), and Marion L. Snell, aged three years (b. RI).

Snell, Rev Frank HFRANK H. SNELL ORDAINED AT MILTON MILLS CHURCH. MILTON MILLS, N.H., June 16 – The ordination of Frank Herbert Snell, pastor of the Baptist Church, to the Christian ministry took place this evening at the local Baptist Church. The ordination sermon was given by Rev. Dr. Nathan R. Wood, president of Gordon College. Rev. Dr. Edwin H. Byington of Needham, Mass., gave the charge to the candidate. The invocation was by Rev. H. Franklin Parker of Chichester, N.H., and the Scripture lesson by Rev. Clarence Sanger of Strafford, N.H. The ordination prayer was offered by Rev. George Kneeland, Lebanon, Me. The welcome to the Christian ministry was tendered by Rev. Dennis S. Jenks of Manchester, secretary of the State Convention. Rev G.S. Cambell of Rochester gave the charge to the church. Organ music was furnished by Mr. Fred E. Gale and vocal selections were by Miss Hazel Grant. Rev. Mr. Snell, who has been a student of Gordon College, has been acting as preacher since last Fall at the local church. He will continue in service as settled minister (Boston Globe, June 17, 1931).

Frank H. Snell married September 12, 1931, Doris M. Hapgood, he of Acton, ME, and she of Whitefield, NH. She was born in Lynn, MA, June 23, 1906, daughter of Roy G. and Florence B. (Kelley) Hapgood.

N.H. PASTOR LENDS HAND TO CUPID IN MAINE MAN’S WEDDING. Rochester, N.H., Feb 25 – (AP) – The part Rev. Vernon Byron played to assist Cupid became known tonight. Gerald White of South Lebanon, Me., and Miss Harriett Frost of East Rochester wanted Mr. Byron, pastor of the local Baptist church, to marry them several nights ago. Miss Frost attends his church. When the bridal party arrived at the parsonage, Mr. Byron said he couldn’t marry them because White’s license was issued in Maine. So the party drove to Milton Mills, N.H., ten miles away, where Mr. Byron’s friend, Rev. Frank Snell, is pastor of the Baptist church. The church is in Strafford county, N.H., but the parsonage is in Acton, York County, Me., and there Mr. Byron performed the ceremony (Lewiston Daily Sun (Lewiston, ME), February 26, 1936).

(The reverse must have been the case. The marriage must have taken place at the Acton & Milton Mills Free-Will Baptist church, which was in Acton, ME, while its parsonage was in Milton Mills, NH, which would have had the same legal difficulty with the Maine marriage license).

WHITEFIELD. Mrs. Frank Snell and daughter Joan of Milton Mills were here last week to visit her relatives (Kennebec Journal (Augusta, ME), October 19, 1937).

Frank H. Snell was pastor of the Green Street Baptist church in Melrose, MA, between December 1, 1937, and February 20, 1949.

Frank H. Snell, a church minister, aged thirty years (b. MA), headed a Melrose, MA, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Doris H. Snell, aged thirty-three years (b. MA), his daughter, Joan M. Snell, aged six years (b. NH), his mother-in-law, Florence Hapgood, retired, aged fifty-one years (b. NH), and his grandfather-in-law, Coleman Kelley, retired, aged sixty-nine years (b. NH). They resided at 14 Farwell Avenue. All had resided in Acton, ME, in 1935, excepting Florence Hapgood, who had resided then in Whitefield, NH.

Frank H. Snell, a Baptist Church minister, aged forty years (b. MA), headed a Cranston, RI, household at the time of the Seventeenth (1950) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Doris H. Snell, aged forty-three years (b. MA), his children, Joan M. Snell, aged sixteen years (b. NH), and Carolyn M. Snell, aged six years (b. MA), and his mother-in-law, Florence B. Reynalds, a private family practical nurse, aged sixty-one years (b. NH). They resided at 44 Philmont Avenue. (Florence B. Reynalds had a marital status of “Separated”).

Frank H. Snell died in Coventry, RI, June 22, 1978. Doris M. (Hapgood) Snell died in Cranston, RI, November 14, 1998.

James W. Currie – 1938-1941

James Whitfield Currier was born in St. Johnsbury, New Brunswick, Canada, June 15, 1906, son of Charles and Ida M. (Camp) Currie.

Charles Currie, a hospital painter, aged fifty-seven years (b. Canada (Eng.)), headed a Malden, MA, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of twenty-nine years), Ida M. Currie, aged fifty-nine years (b. Canada (Eng.)), and his children, Nanna Currie, aged twenty-six years (b. Canada (Eng.)), and James W. Currie, a bank clerk, aged twenty-three years (b. Canada (Eng.)). Charles Currie owned their house at 51 Cherry Street, which was valued at $6,000. They did not have a radio set. They had all immigrated into the U.S. in 1921 (Charles Currie was a “permanent alien”).

BRIGHTON. The Summer schedule at Hill Memorial Baptist Church, North Harvard st., will begin Sunday. During the season the evening service at the church will be omitted. James W. Currie, a senior at Gordon College, will conduct the services (Boston Globe, June 26, 1935).

Rev. James Currie, pastor of the Baptist Church at Milton Mills, NH, was an usher at the wedding of Rev. Leland Maxfield, July 21, 1938 (Boston Globe, July 21, 1938).

J. Whitfield Currie, a Protestant minister, aged thirty-three years (b. Canada (Eng.)), headed an Acton, ME, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his father, Charles W. Currie, a house painter, aged seventy-seven years (b. Canada (Eng.)), and [his father’s] wife, i.e., his mother, Ida M. Currie, aged sixty-nine years (b. Canada (Eng.)). J. Whitfield Currie rented their house “near Milton Mills, New Hampshire,” for $10 per month. They had all resided in Malden, MA, in 1935; and they were all aliens, i.e., immigrants.

ROCHESTER, N.H. James W. Currie, who has been pastor of the Baptist Church at Milton Mills, was ordained to the ministry Friday night at the church (Potland Evening Express (Portland, ME), June 14, 1941).

James W. Currie married in Quincy, MA, in 1942, Edith Charlotta Victoria Serberg, both of Quincy, MA. She was born in Quincy, MA, July 16, 1912, daughter of Victor E. and Edith E.L. (Svenson) Serberg. (Edith C.V. Serberg was a niece of Milton’s Ruth H. (((Svenson) Anderson) Iovine) Dawson and Ingeborg V. “Ivy” (Svenson) Townsend).

James W. Currie was not the head of a Milton household at the time of the Seventeenth (1950) Federal Census. His name was scratched out in favor of his wife, with the notation “Should not be listed – Chaplain in U.S. Army.” His wife, Edith C. Currie, aged thirty-six years (b. MA), headed instead their Milton household, which included his children, Charlotte V. Currie, aged seven years (b. MA), and Elizabeth V. Currie, aged one year (b. NH). They resided in the fifth house on the left on Main Street. (Whether that was Milton Main Street or Milton Mills Main Street was not clear).

ACTON. Next Sunday the Rev. James W. Currie of Swampscott, Mass., will be the guest speaker (Biddeford Journal Tribune, Biddeford, ME), August 17, 1967).

ACTON. The Rev. James W. Currie of Swampscott, Mass., former pastor of the Acton-Milton Mills Baptist Church, was the guest speaker at the church Sunday (Biddeford Journal Tribune, Biddeford, ME), August 24, 1967).

Edith C.V. (Serberg) Currie died in Volusia, FL, December 17, 1981, aged sixty-eight years. James W. Currie died in Boston, MA, April 14, 1984.

DEATHS. CURRIE – In Boston, formerly of Fla., April 14, James W. Currie, husband of the late Edith C.V. (Serverg) Currie, father of Charlotte V. Hartwell of Glendora, Cal. and Elisabeth V. Borgioli of Melrose, also survived by 4 grandchildren. Memorial Service at the Robinson Funeral Home, 809 Main St., MELROSE, Tuesday. April 17 at 10 o’clock. Relatives and friends invited. Gifts in his memory may be made to the American Lung Assn., 263 Summer St., Boston (Boston Globe, April 17, 1984).

H. Leroy Patterson – 1941-1943

Harold Leroy “Leroy” Patterson was born in Altoona, PA, April 2, 1918, son of George W. and Virginia (Frontz) Patterson.

Patterson, H. Leroy - 1940Harold Leroy Patterson of 30 Evans Way, Boston, MA, registered for the WW II military draft in Boston, MA, October 16, 1940. He was a student at Gordon College of Theology (30 Evans Way, Boston, MA), aged twenty-two years. His next of kin was his father, George W. Patterson of Juniata, PA. He was described as being 5′ 10″ tall, 190 pounds, with blue eyes, blond hair, and a light complexion.

H. Leroy Patterson married in Detroit, MI, September 13, 1941, Inez Genevieve Peterson, he of Juniata, PA, and she of Detroit, MI. Rev. Warner E. Cole performed the ceremony. She was born in MI, circa 1919. daughter of Otto and Teckla (Engmar) Peterson.

Maids Wear Fall Shades for Wedding. Inez Peterson Speaks vows at Church Service. DEXTER BOULEVARD BAPTIST CHURCH was the setting for the marriage on Saturday, Sept 13, of Inez Peterson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Otto Peterson, of Rosedale Park, to Leroy Patterson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Patterson, of Altoona, Pa. The bride wore a high-necked, white silk Jersey gown with long bishop sleeves. Tiny covered buttons marked the back of the gown from the neckline to below the fitted waist. An extremely full skirt flowed into a fan-shaped train, and she wore a floor-length veil held in place by a Juliet cap. The bride’s bouquet was of white roses and stephanotis centered by an orchid. Her attendants were her sister, Ella Peterson, maid of honor, and two bridesmaids, Astrid Drage and Marguerite Vine. THE MAID OF HONOR wore a quaint gown of bronze taffeta fashioned with a velvet midrift. Her flowers were roses, baby mums and dahlias in yellow and bronze. The bridesmaid’s gowns were replicas in green, and they carried yellow and bronze baby mums and asters. The three wore sweetheart bonnets of velvet to match the midrift trim on their dresses. Don Patterson, of Wheaton College, brother of the bridegroom, was the best man. The ushers were Jim MacDonald, of Chicago, and Ralph Patterson, also a brother of the bridegroom. Immediately following the ceremony, a reception was held at the home of the bride’s parents. After a brief honeymoon In the East, the couple will live in Boston, Mass. (Detroit Free Press, September 21, 1941).

Rev. Leroy Patterson was pastor of the [Acton &] Milton Mills church as early as December  1941.

To Hold Roll Call at New Monmouth. … The [New Monmouth, NJ, Baptist] church now has four men who have gone out from the church to become ministers. They are Rev. John Wubbenhorst, who is pastor of Seneca Falls Baptist church, Seneca Falls, New York; Rev. Samuel Haddon Johnston, pastor of North Haven Baptist church, North Haven, Maine; Rev. Carey Johnston, pastor of Glendale Baptist church, Everett, Massachusetts, and Rev. Leroy Patterson, pastor of Milton Mills Baptist church, Milton Mills, New Hampshire (Daily Register (Red Bank, NJ), January 8, 1942).

Baptist Group Meets This Week. SANFORD, May 2 (Special) – The 26th annual meeting of the North York United Baptist Association will be held at the First Baptist Church at Springvale Tuesday. Taking part in the morning service, opening at 9:30, will be Thurber R. Weller of West Lebanon, the Rev. Lawrence N. Selfridge, the Rev. John S. Pendleton of Waterville, the Rev. Thomas Brindley and Leroy Patterson of Milton Mills. The Rev. Lester R. Norton of Waterboro will lead the afternoon praise service and there will be election of officers and a women’s hour in charge of Mrs. Mary Moody. The evening service at 7 o’clock will be in charge of young people. Taking part will be Miss Norma Hanscom, Miss Caroline Greenwood, Horace Emmons, the Rev. James B. Ranger, and the Rev. Mr. Selfridge (Portland Evening Express, May 3, 1943).

Rev. Leroy (Inez) Patterson appeared in the Attleboro, MA, directory of 1944, as pastor of the Grace Baptist church, with his house at 33 Benefit street.

CHURCH BRIEFS. Three chaplains from Fort Oglethorpe’s chaplain’s school, Lt. Joseph Hodges of Massachusetts, Christian and Missionary Alliance; Lt. H. LeRoy Patterson of Michigan, Northern Baptist; and Lt. George E. Lang, Christian and Missionary Alliance, will speak at the 7 p.m. service tomorrow evening at the Grace Methodist Church in Avondale (Dodson at Wilson). This special service will honor the men on the honor roll of the church and those from the church who gave their lives for their country. Relatives of the men are asked by the pastor, the Rev. A.G. McCoig, to be present (Chattanooga Daily News (Chattanooga, TN), October 6, 1945).

Rev. H. LeRoy (Inez G.) Patterson appeared in the Saginaw, MI, directory of 1948, as pastor of the Congress Avenue Baptist Church, with his house at 1752 W. Michigan Avenue.

Harold L. Patterson, a minister, aged thirty-two years (b. PA), headed a Saginaw, MI, household at the time of the Seventeenth (1950) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Inez G. Patterson, aged thirty years (b. MI), his children, Patricia L. Patterson, aged seven years (b. NH), and Linda R. Patterson, aged four years (b. MI), and Dale Patterson, aged three months (b. MI). They resided at 1752 Michigan Avenue.

Patterson, Rev. H.L. - 1950Flying Ex-Chaplain Speaking as Pietsch’s Ministry Ends. A former outstanding athlete who entered the chaplaincy upon completion of his seminary training and who frequently flies an airplane to distant Youth-for-Christ speaking engagements will speak here Sunday at the Grace church, as a candidate for the pastorate. He is Rev. H. Leroy (Roy) Patterson of the Congress Avenue Bible church of Saginaw, Mich., and president of the Saginaw Valley Youth-for-Christ organization. At the 11 a.m. service here, he will speak on the theme: The Foundation of the Church.” At the 7:30 p.m. service, his topic will be “The Cross and the World.” The services will also conclude the year’s ministry of Rev. Paul J. Pietsch, Jr., who, with his family, plans to sail toward the end of March for Evangelical Alliance mission work in Portugal. He plans to spend the months of January and February on a speaking tour. Mr. Patterson, the pulpit candidate, is a native of Altoona, Pa., and a graduate of Wheaton (Ill.) college. He won all-state and all-wrestling honors during his student days and received his theological degree at Gordon Divinity school, Boston. Upon graduation, he served as a wartime Army chaplain in the European theater, and while in Germany helped organize the first Youth-for-Christ rallies among service men in Nurmberg and other cities (Pomona Progress Bulletin (Pomona, CA), December 30, 1950).

Rev. H. LeRoy (Inez G.) Patterson appeared in the Lansing, MI, directory of 1951, as pastor of the Inter-City Tabernacle church, with his house at 807 Jerome street.

Joseph B. Bubar – 1944-1946

Joseph Bedell Bubar was born Weston, ME, August 27, 1919, son of Benjamin C. and Mary L. (Heal) Bubar.

Benjamin C. Bubar, a church clergyman, aged sixty-two years (b. ME), headed a Weston, ME, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Mary L. Bubar, aged forty-nine years (b. ME), his children, Benjamin C. Bubar, Jr., a printer (own business), aged twenty-two years (b. ME), Joseph B. Bubar, a clergyman, aged twenty years (b. ME), Rachel C. Bubar, aged seventeen years (b. ME), John H. Bubar, aged fourteen years (b. ME), David N. Bubar, aged twelve years (b. ME), Paul L. Bubar, aged seven years (b. ME), and his mother-in-law, Anna C. Heal, aged seventy-two years (b. ME). Benjamin C. Bubar owned their farm, which was valued at $4,000. They had all resided in the “Same House” in 1935.

New York Girl Engaged To Wed Linneus Man. Miss Ruth Hughey To Be Bride of Joseph B. Bubar. NEW YORK, Feb. 8. – Rev. and Mrs. Philip C. Hughey of New York City have announced the engagement of their daughter, Miss Ruth Ella Hughey, to Joseph Bedell Bubar, son of Rev. and Mrs. Benjamin C. Bubar of Linneus, Maine. Miss Hughey is a graduate of Teaneck High school in New Jersey and is a student at Wheaton college in Illinois, where she is majoring in music. Her father, the Rev. Phillip C. Hughey, a native of Portland, is pastor of the Wadsworth Avenue Baptist church. He is president of the Evangelical Ministers Association of Greater New York. Mr. Bubar, after graduating from Danforth High school, was assistant pastor of the Aroostook Larger Parish for two years. He is a sophomore at Colby college, Waterville and is student pastor of the Baptist churches in North Vassalboro, Winslow, and Smithfield. His father, Rev. B.C. Bubar is pastor of the Baptist church in Linnaeus and a well-known evangelist. Mr. Bubar’s brother, Benjamin C. Bubar, Jr., is a member of the Maine State Legislature and is pastor of the Hainsville Baptist church (Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), February 9, 1942).

Joseph B. Bubar married in New York, NY, September 5, 1942, Ruth Hughey, he of North Vassalboro, ME. She was born in Waterboro, ME, in February 1923, daughter of Phillip C. and Grace D. (Walsh) Hughey.

Bubar, Joseph B. - 1944Joseph B. Bubar To Be Ordained Tuesday Night. With his father, his father-in-law, his wife, brother and wife’s mother having parts in the services Rev. Joseph B. Bubar, pastor of the Baptist church in North Vassalboro, will be ordained to the Baptist ministry at the Church in North Vassalboro Tuesday night at 7.30. The public has been invited to attend the ceremony. Taking part will be the candidate’s brother, Rev. Benjamin C. Bubar, Jr., of Hodgdon, who will offer the invocation. Mrs. Bubar’s father, Rev. Philip C. Hughey, pastor of the Wadsworth Avenue Baptist church New York City, will preach the ordination sermon. Rev. Benjamin C. Bubar of the Allagash larger parish will deliver the charge to the candidate, while Mrs. Bubar and her mother, Mrs. Hughey, will assist in the music. Others who will assist in the ordination are Rev. A.W. Brown of Norridgewock; Rev. Paul Scruton, Hartland; Rev. Sterling Heliner, Pittsfield; Rev. George Hammond, Fairfield; Rev. Howard A. Welch, Madison; and Rev. Waldo Putnam and Rev. Herbert L. Newman of Waterville. Rev. Joseph B. Bubar is a native of Danforth, where he graduated from the high school. He was graduated from Colby college in the class of 1944 last month. He has served as assistant pastor of the Danforth larger parish, which comprises 11 towns, for two years. For the past four years he has been pastor of the church in North Vassalboro, also serving in the churches in East Winslow and Smithfield. He will leave his work in Maine next month to enter Gordon seminary in Boston for further study, meanwhile serving as pastor of the church in Milton Mills, N.H., where he will make his home. His wife was the former Miss Ruth Hughey of New York City (Morning Sentinel (Waterville, ME), June 19, 1944).

Joseph B. Bubar died in Chicago, IL, June 27, 1976.

Obituaries. BUBAR. Rev. Joseph B. Bubar of Muskego, Wisc., formerly of Addison, beloved husband of Ruth, nee Hughey; loving father of Joseph (Charlotte), Philip (Lisa) and Mary (David) Davis; dear brother of Rev. Benjamin C., Rev. John, Rev. David N. and Rev. Paul and Mrs. Henry Kelly; three grandsons. Funeral services Thursday July 1 at 2 p.m. at the Addison Bible Church, 325 S. Addison Rd, Addison, Ill. Visitation on Wednesday from 4 to 10 p.m. at The Villa Park Funeral Home, 305 S. Princeton Ave. (a block west of Ardmore Ave.), Villa Park. Lying in state at the Church Thursday from 1 p.m. till time of service. He was pastor of the Calvary Evangelical Free Church of Muskego, Wisc., and the former General Director of Christian Service Brigade. In lieu of flowers memorials appreciated to the Calvary E.F.C. of the Christian Service Brigade. Interment Elm Lawn. 834-6656 (Chicago Tribune, June 30, 1976).

Ruth (Hughey) Bubar died April 8, 2015, aged ninety-two years.

Loring P. Wilkins – 1946-48

Loring Peabody Wilkins was born in Beverly, MA, October 18, 1923, son of Melville O. and Beatrice T. (Dodge) Wilkins.

GORHAM NEWS. The Rev. Loring Wilkins, Milton Mills, N.H., will preach at the Eight Corners and South Gorham Baptist Churches Sunday morning, as a candidate for the pastorates (Portland Evening Express (Portland, ME), October 14, 1948).

Loring P. Wilkins married, September 2, 1945, Thelma Arlene Bentley. She was born in Manchester, ME, July 13, 1919, daughter of Ellsworth B. and Alice G. (Flewelling) Bentley.

Ellsworth B. Bentley, a chicken farmer, aged fifty-three years (b. MA), headed a Plymouth, MA, household at the time of the Seventeenth (1950) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Alice S. Bentley, aged fifty years (b. ME), his daughter, Thelma B. Wilkins, aged thirty years (b. ME), his son-in-law, Loring P. Wilkins, a student minister, aged twenty-six years (b. MA), his grandchild, Tyler B. Wilkins, aged two years (b. NH), and his hired hand, Francis B. Marsh, a farm laborer, aged nineteen years (b. MA). Ellsworth B. Bentley owned their farm on Bartlett Road.

Wilkins, Loring P - 1954Rev. Loring Wilkins Begins Pastorate In Middlebury Sunday. MIDDLEBURY, June 2. The Rev. Loring P. Wilkins begins his pastorate at the Middlebury Memorial Baptist Church Sunday, June 6. Mr. Wilkins attended Moody Bible Institute of Chicago for a year, and then transferred to Gordon College of Theology and Missions in Boston. After graduation there in 1946 he served as pastor for two and a half years in Acton, Maine, before returning to Gordon Divinity School, from which he was graduated in 1952. He has since been pastor of the First United Church of Swampscott, Massachusetts. Mrs. Wilkins is also a graduate of Gordon College, Boston. They have three children: Tyler, age 7, Arthur, 3, and Sharon, 2 (Burlington Free Press (Burlington, VT), June 3, 1954).

New St. Albans Baptist Church Pastor Named. ST. ALBANS – A native of Beverly. Mass., will become the new pastor of the First Baptist Church here Sept. 1. He is the Rev. Loring P. Wilkins, who will succeed the Rev. Alfred Scott. Mr. Wilkins has served as pastor of the Acton and Milton Mills Baptist Churches in Acton, Maine, the First United Church, Baptist Disciples, of Swampscott, Mass., the Memorial Baptist Church of Middlebury and the Community Baptist Church of Panton. He is a trustee of the Vermont Baptist State Convention and president of the Vermont Baptist Historical Society. Mr. Wilkins is married to the former Thelma Bentley of Manomet, Mass., and they have three children – two sons, Tyler and Arthur, and one daughter, Sharon. He was commissioned a chaplain in the Navy Reserve with the rank of Lieutenant, junior grade, in 1936, and is on duty status with the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Reserve training program at Burlington (Burlington Free Press (Burlington, VT), June 21, 1958).

Thelma (Bentley) Wilkins died in Hatfield, PA, January 9, 2008. Loring P. Wilkins died in Lansdale, PA, May 16, 2008.

Rev. Loring P. Wilkins Navy chaplain, 84. The Rev. Loring P. Wilkins, 84, a retired Navy chaplain and Baptist minister, died of complications of diabetes May 16 at Elm Terrace Gardens, a retirement community in Lansdale, where he had lived for more than 20 years. Mr. Wilkins grew up in Worcester, Mass. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Gordon College in Wenham, Mass., where he met Rev. Loring his future wife, Thelma Bentley. After graduating from Gordon Theological Seminary, he was a minister in Baptist churches in Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts. In 1956, he began an 8½-year stint in the Navy, serving as a chaplain on bases in California, Hawaii, Thailand, Guam and South Carolina. He was the first chaplain to be assigned to a submarine, said his daughter, Sharon Barone, and in 1967 he served aboard the USS Benjamin Franklin on a two-month tour in the Pacific. He continued to remain in the Naval Reserve until retiring as a lieutenant commander in 1974. Following his active military duty, Mr. Wilkins was chaplain at Christ’s Home for Children and Christ’s Home Retirement Community in Warminster for 12 years. He then served as the first chaplain at Elm Terrace Gardens for several years. A talented photographer, he chronicled his travels with the Navy and his vacations, his daughter said. He loved dogs, she said, especially Boston terriers. Mr. Wilkins’ wife of 63 years died in January. In addition to his daughter, he is survived by sons Tyler and Art; nine grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. A funeral will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Elm Terrace Gardens, 660 N. Broad St., Lansdale. Friends may call at 9:30 a.m. Burial will be in Christ’s Home Cemetery, Warminster (Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA), May 23, 2008).

Buell W. Maxfield – 1949-62

Buell Wade Maxfield was born in Monkton, VT, March 30, 1897, son of Newton J. and Flora I. (Tomlinson) Maxfield.

Buell W. Maxfield married (1st) in Starksboro, VT, June 26, 1917, Beulah Sherman, he of Starksboro, VT. He was a student, aged twenty years, and she was aged twenty years. Rev. J.S. Braker performed the ceremony. She was born in Burlington, VT, June 26 [or 29] 1896, daughter of Herbert and Hattie H. (Greeve) Sherman.

Beulah (Sherman) Maxfield died of scarlet fever in Boston, MA, February 22, 1920.

OBITUARY. Mrs. Buell W. Maxfield. Mrs. Beulah (Sherman) Maxfield, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert B. Sherman, died in Boston yesterday morning of scarlet fever. Besides her husband, she is survived by one son, Keigwin, an infant daughter and her parents. Mrs. Maxfield was born in this city June 29, 1896 and attended the graded and Burlington high schools. In June, 1917, she married Buell Wade Maxfield, of Starksboro, and has since made her home in Boston. The sudden death of Mrs. Maxfield comes as a shock to her wide circle of friends and acquaintances here (Burlington Free Press (Burlington, VT), February 24, 1920).

Buell W. Maxfield married (2nd) at the Hill Grove Baptist Church in Salisbury, New Brunswick, Canada, September 1, 1920, Bertha Margaret Holmes, he of Winchendon, MA, and she of Hill Grove, New Brunswick, Canada. He was a widower, aged twenty-three years, and she was a spinster, aged thirty-three years. Both were Baptists and both could read and write. Rev. Milton Addison performed the ceremony. She was born in Hill Grove, New Brunswick, Canada, daughter of Charles R. and Phoebe (MacMonagle) Holmes.

Rev. Buell W. Maxfield (Bertha H.) appeared in the Worcester, MA, directory of 1927, as pastor of the Dewey St. Baptist Church, with his house at 162 May street.

Rev. Buell W. Maxfield appeared in the Boston, MA, directory of 1928, as pastor of the Bethany Baptist Church in Roxbury, with his house at 57 Melville avenue in Dorchester. (Roxbury and Dorchester being parts or wards of Boston, MA).

Buell W. Maxfield, a church minister, aged thirty-three years (b. VT), headed a Boston, MA, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of ten years), Bertha H. Maxfield, aged forty-three [thirty-three] years (b. Canada), and his children, Keigwin B. Maxfield, aged eleven years (b. VT), and Atta B. Maxfield, aged ten years (b. MA). Buell W. Maxfield rented their house at 25 Woodville Street, for $50 per month. They had a radio set.

Rev. Buell W. Maxfield (Bertha H.) appeared in the Dover, NH, directories of 1933, 1935, 1936, and 1938, as pastor of the Dover Baptist Church, with his house at 14 Richmond street.

Buell Maxfield, a Baptist minister, aged forty-three years (b. VT), headed a Dover, NH, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Bertha H. Maxfield, aged fifty-one years (b. Canada), and his children, Keigwin Maxfield, aged twenty-one years (b. VT), and Alta B. Maxfield, aged twenty years (b. MA).

Rev. Buell W. Maxfield (Bertha H.) appeared in the Dover, NH, directories of 1941, and 1943, as pastor of the Dover Baptist Church, with his house at 14 Richmond street.

Rev. Buell W. Maxfield (Bertha H.), Th. B.B.D., appeared in the Manchester, NH, directory of 1947, as pastor of the First Baptist Church, with his house at 39 Auburn street (Tel. 1876).

Buell W. Maxfield, pastor of the Acton & Milton Mills Baptist church, aged fifty-three years (b. VT), headed an Acton, ME, household at the time of the Seventeenth (1950) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Bertha H. Maxfield, aged sixty-three years (b. New Brunswick, Canada), and his lodger, Alice A. King, a telephone operator for NET&T, aged thirty-six years (b. NH). His enumeration line had the additional information that he had lived in Concord, NH, ten years earlier, and that he had worked fifty-two hours in the previous week.

Rev. Buell W. Maxfield was a guest at the ordination of Charles Shelley at the Nute Chapel on Monday, August 1, 1950. (See Milton’s Nute Chapel Ministers of 1922-53).

Rev. Buell W. Maxfield gave the benediction at Milton’s sesquicentennial celebration on Sunday, August 10, 1952. (See Milton in the News – 1952).

In the following Summer 1953 schedule one may note with interest that those substituting for Rev. Maxfield were a sequence of his predecessor ministers, Rev. Wilkins, Rev. Bubar, and Rev. Snell.

South Acton, By Mrs. Irl R. Hurd. Acton-Milton Mills Baptist Church. Rev. Buell W. Maxfield, Pastor. Milton Mills, New Hampshire. Welcome To All Faiths. 11 a.m., Sunday. Aug 2, Evangelist Roy Egar will conduct the worship service. He currently is holding tent meetings in Center Ossipee, Route 16. Other guest speakers for next month will be: Aug. 9, the Rev. Loring Wilkins; Aug. 10 Rev. Joseph Bubar; Aug. 23, Rev. Frank Snell; Aug. 30, Rev. Roy Bohanan. Friday, July 31, at 10 a.m., there will be an all-day sewing meeting at the home of Abbie Anderson. Each member is asked to bring a favorite dish for lunch, either salad or dessert. Coffee will be furnished by the hostess. The Rev. Buell W. Maxfield, pastor, will spend his vacation next month at his old home in Pittsfield, N.H. (Journal Tribune (Biddeford, ME), July 30, 1953).

Rev. Buell W. Maxfield officiated at the funeral of Nute High School Principal Walter J. Foster, on Sunday, June 23, 1957. (See Nute High School Principals, 1923-57).

Acton. BY MRS IRL HURD. Baptist Church. The Rev Buell Maxfield spoke on “Religious Gate Crashers” at the Sunday morning worship service in the Acton-Milton Mills Baptist Church. His resignation as pastor of the church was accepted at a special business meeting of the church at noon. A meeting of the Dorcas Society is planned today at 1:30 pm at the home of Mrs. Helen Wentworth. A blind auction is planned. The weekly church prayer meeting will be held with Mrs. Alice Reynolds tonight at 7:30 o’clock (Sanford Tribune (Sanford, ME), March 15, 1962).

Buell W. Maxfield died of an acute coronary occlusion in his home on South Road in Pittsfield, NH, March 30, 1969, aged seventy-two years.

Deaths and Funerals. REV. BUELL W. MAXFIELD. PITTSFIELD, N.H. – The Rev. Buell Wade Maxfield, 72, of Pittsfield, N.H., died unexpectedly at his home Sunday morning. He was born March 30, 1897, in Starksboro, Vt., the son of Newton John and Flora (Tomlinson) Maxfield. The Rev. Mr. Maxfield was a retired Baptist minister after serving pastorates in Worcester, Winchendon, and Roxbury, Mass.; Dover, and Milton Mills, N.H. He was first married to Beulah Sherman, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Sherman of Burlington, Vt. Later he married Bertha Holmes who survives him. He is also survived by a son, Keigwin of Knoxville. Tenn., a daughter. Mrs. Alta Gibbs of South Schroon, NY.; three grandsons, Kenneth Maxfield, Robert and Russell Gibbs; and three nieces, Mrs. Beatrice Marshall and Mrs. Marjorie Bennett of New Haven and Mrs. Alice Lewis of Davenport, Iowa. Burial will be in Starksboro at a later date (Burlington Free Press (Burlington, VT), April 3, 1969).

Bertha (Holmes) Maxfield died at Concord Hospital, in Concord, NH, October 17, 1969, aged eighty-two years.

Deaths and Funerals. BERTHA H. MAXFIELD. PITTSFIELD – Mrs. Bertha H. Maxfield, 82, of South Road died at Concord Hospital Friday after a long illness. A native of Petitcodiac, N.B., she had lived here seven years. She was the widow of the Rev. Buell W. Maxfield. She was a member of the Acton-Milton Mills Baptist Church. She had attended Gordon College. She leaves a son, Keigwin B. Maxfield of Ooltemwail, Tenn.; a daughter, Mrs. Alta B. Gibbs of St. Petersburg, Fla. and Schroon Lakes, N.Y.; three grandsons, Robert Gibbs, USN, Russell Gibbs of St. Petersburg and Kenneth Maxfield of Ooltemwail; two brothers, Cecil and Floyd Holmes of Petitcodiac; a sister, Mrs. Robert Colpitts of Petitcodiac; nieces and nephews. Services will be conducted at the Acton-Milton Mills Baptist Church Tuesday at 10 a.m. by Rev. Galen Robertson. Burial will be in Green Mountain Cemetery, Starksboro, VT, at 4 p.m. Rev. William Bosch will officiate. There will be no calling hours. It has been requested flowers be omitted and suggested contributions be made to the Buell W. Maxfield Memorial Fund, Alumni Office, Gordon College, Wenham, Mass. Hussey and Wiren Funeral Chapel, Concord, is in charge of arrangements (Concord Monitor (Concord, NH), October 20, 1969).


References:

Amherst College. (1883). Obituary Record of Graduates. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=adqNz395hywC&pg=RA2-PA199

Bates College. (1915). General Catalogue of Bates College and Cobb Divinity School, 1863-1915. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=VsBBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA222

Burgess, Gideon A., & Ward, John T. (1889). Free Baptist CyclopaediaHistorical and Biographical: The Rise of the Freewill Baptist Connection and of Those General and Open Communion Baptists Which, Merging Together, Form One People, Their Doctrines, Polity, Publications, Schools and Missions, with Brief Biographies of Ministers and Others Identified with the Growth and Strength of the Denomination. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=3GXiAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA617

Carter, Nathan F. (1906). Native Ministry of New Hampshire. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=3KUeAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA714

Clark, W.R.C. & Meeker. (1860). American Christian Record. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=1oQPAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA412

Clayton, W. Woodford. (1880). History of York County, Maine: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=-e8gAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA362-IA7

Cochrane, W.R. (2001). Families of Antrim, New Hampshire. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=mYIJRrJZDDUC&pg=PA550

Columbia University. (1916). Officers and Graduates of Columbia University. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=j1NCAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA588

Find a Grave. (2012, January 13). Carl Raymond Bartle. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/83377452/carl-raymond-bartle

Find a Grave. (2015, April 15). Ruth Hughey Bubar. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/145206856/ruth-bubar

Find a Grave. (2014, October 13). Rev. Buell Wade Maxfield. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/137210759/buell-wade-maxfield

Find a Grave. (2018, March 9). Rev. Edwin P. Moulton. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/187894714/edwin-p-moulton

Find a Grave. (2020, April 8). Rev. Frank H. Snell. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/208834428/frank-h-snell

Find a Grave. (2006, September 3). Rev. George B. Southwick. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/15595953/george-b-southwick

Find a Grave. (2015, September 5). Rev. Howard Manuel Starratt. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/151883874/howard-manuel-starratt

Find a Grave. (2016, September 12). Rev. Loring Peabody Wilkins. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/169375776/loring-peabody-wilkins

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Stewart, I.D. (1862). The History of the Freewill Baptists: For Half a Century, with an Introductory Chapter. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=Z3biAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA161

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Waterman, E.F. (1939). Waterman Family. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=VLhYAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA373

Wikipedia. (2022, May 15). Hosea Quinby. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosea_Quimby

Williams, Alvin D. (1852). Rhode Island Freewill Baptist Pulpit. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=OX5HAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA99

Milton Trader Hopley Meserve (1789-1875)

By Muriel Bristol | September 4, 2022

Hopley Meserve was born in Milton, March 31, 1789, son of Stephen and Abigail (Yeaton) Meserve.

(The known children of Stephen and Abigail (Yeaton) Meserve were: Comfort Meserve (1772–1802), Polly Meserve (1778–1801), Abigail Meserve (1780–1860), Betsey Meserve (c1782–), John Meserve (1785–1871), Stephen Meserve (1787–1850), Hopley T. Meserve (1789–1875), and Samuel Meserve (1791–)).

Father Stephen Meserve died in Rochester, NH, circa 1794. Mother Abigail (Yeaton) Meserve died in Rochester, NH, circa 1801.

Hopley Meserve married (1st) in Milton, March 4, 1810, Joanna Twombly. She was born in Milton, June 13, 1789, daughter of Samuel and Mary (Burrows) Twombly.

(The known children of Hopley and Joanna (Twombly) Meserve were: Stephen M.Y. Meserve (1811–1876), Hopley T. Meserve (1813–1889), Charles Y. Meserve (1815–1869), Louisa F. Meserve (1818–1901), Henry H. Meserve (1820–1827), Mary I. Meserve (1824-1849), and John S. Meserve (1827–1897)).

Hopley Meservy headed a Milton household at the time of the Third (1810) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 16-25 years [himself], one female aged 16-25 years [Joanna (Twombly) Meserve], one female aged 10-15 years, and one female aged 45-plus years. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Ephraim Prummer [Plummer] and Daniel Hayes.

Son Stephen M.Y. Meserve was born in Milton, February 26, 1811. Son Hopley T. Meserve was born in Milton, May 11, 1813. Son Charles Y. Meserve was born in Milton, February 2, 1815.

Daughter Louisa F. Meserve was born in Milton, February 14, 1818.

The Milton Selectmen of 1818 were Jas. Roberts, W.S. Nutter, and Hopley Meserve.

The Milton Selectmen of 1819-20 were Hanson Hayes, H. Meserve, and John Remick, Jr.

Son Henry H. Meserve was born in Milton in 1820.

Hopley Meserve was among the seventy-nine Milton inhabitants that petitioned NH Governor Samuel Bell (1770-1850) and his Executive Council, April 3, 1820, seeking appointment of James Roberts as a Milton justice-of-the-peace.

Hopley Meserve was among some eighty-eight Milton men that filed a militia company division petition intended for the November 1820 session of the NH legislature. Captain Jeremy Nute signed this proposal, as did former company officers Elijah Horn, Levi Jones and Jotham Nute, future company officers Theodore C. Lyman and Bidfield Hayes. A division of the company would have obviated the need or desire to divide the town in order to divide the company. (See Milton Militia Division Petitions – November 1820).

The Milton Selectmen of 1821 and 1822 were Jas. Roberts, H. Hayes, and H. Meserve. The Milton Selectmen of 1823 were H. Hayes, H. Meserve, and Jos. Plumer.

Hopley Meserve was among the twenty-three Milton inhabitants that requested appointment of Gilman Jewett of Milton Mills as Milton coroner, June 12, 1823. (See Milton Seeks a Coroner – June 1823).

The Milton Selectmen of 1824 were H. Hayes, H. Meserve, and I.H. Wentworth.

Daughter Mary I. Meserve was born in Milton, June 21, 1824.

Hopley Meserve Signature - 1816Hopley Meserve was one of five inhabitants residing “in the neighborhood of Farmington & Rochester or Chestnut hills so-called” that petitioned in 1825, seeking appointment of Job Varney of Farmington, NH, as a Farmington justice-of-the-peace, in lieu of James Davis, Esq., who had removed from town. Fellow Milton Selectman Hanson Hayes was one of an additional five petitioners that subscribed on the reverse side.

The Milton Selectmen of 1827 were Jas. Hayes, Jr., Thos. Chapman, and H. Meserve.

Son John S. Meserve was born in Milton, May 25, 1827. Son Henry H. Meserve died in Milton, November 13, 1827.

The Milton Selectmen of 1829 were W.B. Wiggin, H. Meserve, and J.M. Twombly.

Hopley Meservy headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifth (1830) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 40-49 years [himself], one female aged 40-49 years [Joanna (Twombly) Meserve], three males aged 15-19 years [Stephen M.Y. Meserve, Hopley T. Meserve, and Charles Y. Meserve], one female aged 10-14 years [Louisa Meserve], one female aged 5-9 years [Mary I. Meserve], and one female aged under-5 years. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Moses Nute and Mary Wingate.

The Milton Selectmen of 1831 were J.M. Twombly, Thos. Chapman, and H. Meserve.

The Milton Selectmen of 1833 were J.M. Twombly, W.S. Nutter, and H. Meserve.

Rep. Nathaniel Rogers of Wolfeborough, NH, presented a petition for Hopley Meserve and others to the NH House in June 1834. The petitioners sought to incorporate a stagecoach company.

TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 1834. Mr. Rogers of Wolfeborough, presented the petition of Hopley Meserve and others, for the incorporation of a stage company. Ordered, That it be referred to the committee on incorporations.

On Tuesday, July 1, 1834, Rep. John H. Smith of Rochester, NH, submitted the committee’s report. It was voted that the stagecoach petition be held over for the next legislative session.

Mr. Smith from the same committee, to whom was referred the petition of Hopley Meserve and others, made a report. Whereupon, Resolved, That the further consideration of this petition be postponed to the next session of the Legislature. 

Daughter Louisa F. Meserve married (1st) in Milton, October 27, 1834, David M. Davis, both of Milton. Rev. Jacob Davis of Barnstead, NH, performed the ceremony.

Son Hopley T. Meserve married (1st), circa 1835, Almira Lydston. She was born in Litchfield, ME, circa 1814, daughter of John and Abigail (Cole) Lydston.

Son Charles Y. Meserve married in Wolfeboro, NH, July 10, 1836, Elizabeth March “Betsy” Roberts. She was born in Middleton, NH, December 3, 1813, daughter of John and Polly (Davis) Roberts.

Son Stephen M.Y. Meserve married in Rochester, NH, December 31, 1837, Mary Jane Stackpole, he of Rochester, NH, and she of Dover, NH. She was born in Portsmouth, NH, in 1820, daughter of Otis and Dorcas (Lord) Stackpole.

Son Charles Y. Meserve acquired a Rochester, NH, hotel in 1838 and he and his brother, Stephen M.Y. Meserve, ran it until it was sold to another party in 1843.

Lowell Kenney came from Salem, Mass., and opened “Kenney’s Tavern” in 1824. Charles Y. Meserve bought it in 1838, and at a supper which he gave to his friends on the occasion the Hon. J.H. Woodman proposed the name “Langdon House,” by which it was afterwards known. His brother Stephen Meserve followed him, and in 1843 Capt. Ephraim Richardson bought it, and conducted the business on strictly temperance principles for seventeen years. He leased the place for three years, and then in 1863 sold it to Mr. Dodge. The Wallaces soon after bought it, and the place is occupied by their business. The “Langdon House” did a large business before the time of railroads, frequently putting up from seventy-five to one hundred yoke of cattle, besides twenty to thirty horses in a single night. It was for some years “the head-quarters during the sessions of court, of the judges, lawyers, and leading men.” The regimental muster was held for many years on the parade back of this hotel (McDuffee, 1892).

Son Hopley T. Meserve removed to Charlestown, MA, at some time before 1840. Over time his parents and most of his siblings would follow him there.

Hoply Meserve headed a Milton household at the time of the Sixth (1840) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 50-59 years [himself], one female aged 50-59 years [Joanna (Twombly) Meserve], one female 15-19 years [Mary I. Meserve], one male 10-14 years [John S. Meserve], one female 80-89 years. Two members of his household were engaged in Agriculture. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Joseph Goodwin and Sarah Matthews [or Mathes].

Stephen M.Y. Meserve headed a Milton household at the time of the Sixth (1840) Federal Census. His household included two males aged 20-29 years, one male aged 15-19 years, one female aged 15-19 years, and one female aged under-5 years. Two members of his household were engaged in Agriculture.

H.T. Meserve headed a Charlestown, MA, household at the time of the Sixth (1840) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 20-29 years, one female aged 20-29 years, one male aged under-5 years, and one female aged under-5 years. One member of his household was engaged in Commerce.

David M. Davis headed a Rochester, NH, 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 [Louisa F. (Meserve) Davis], one female aged 5-9 years [Caroline Davis], and one male aged under-5 years. One member of his household was engaged in Commerce.

Charles Y. Meserve of Rochester, NH, was Lt. Colonel of the 39th Regiment of NH Militia in 1842.

39th Regiment – Colonel Jeremiah Roberts Farmington; Lt. Colonel Charles Y. Meserve, Rochester; Major Enoch W. Chase, Rochester; Adjutant James H. Edgerly, Rochester; Quartermaster George N. Eastman, Farmington (Farmer & Lyon, 1842). 

Son Hopley T. Meserve appeared in the Charlestown, MA, directory of 1842, as a trader in West India goods at 5 Elm Street, with his house at the same address.

Hopley Messerve appeared in the Charlestown, MA, directory of 1845, as a trader on Bartlett street, at its corner with School street. His son, Hopley T. Messerve, appeared also as a trader on Bartlett street, at its corner with Green street.

Son-in-law David M. Davis of Rochester, NH, made his last will, November 27, 1845. He bequeathed all his household furniture of every description to his wife, Loiza Davis. She was to receive also all the rest and residue of his estate, while she remained his widow, for the purpose of bringing up his children, Caroline M. Davis, Cynthia J. Davis, and John H. Davis. Should she still be a widow when they reached their majority, she would share out the estate with them, i.e., she would receive a share, but should she remarry, she would share out the estate among the children only. David M. Davis signed his will with an “X.” James C. Cole, Henry Walker, Jr., and Stephen M. Mathes signed as witnesses. His will was proved at a Strafford County Probate court held in Rochester, NH, February 3, 1846 (Strafford County Probate, 60:222).

Hopley Meserve appeared in the Charlestown, MA, directory of 1848, as a trader on Bartlett street, at its corner with Green street, with his house at the same address. His son, Hopley T. Meserve, appeared also as a stabler on B. Hill, i.e., Bunker Hill, opposite Green street, with his house at the corner of Green and B. Hill streets. Another son, Charles Y. Meserve, appeared as having his house at the corner of Green and Bartlett streets.

Daughter Louisa F. (Meserve) Davis married (2nd), April 29, 1849, Stephen M. Mathes. He was born in Milton, April 3, 1797, son of Robert and Polly (Meserve) Mathes. (He had been married three times before. They were cousins, both being grandchildren of Stephen and Abigail (Yeaton) Meserve).

Daughter Mary I. Meserve died of consumption in Charlestown, MA, May 11, 1849, aged twenty-four years, ten months, and twenty days.

Hopley Meserve received payment of $75.70 from the Charlestown, MA, almshouse for delivery of milk in 1849. H.T. Meserve received $44.70 and John S. Meserve received $2.32, both also for milk delivered to the almshouse (Charlestown, MA, 1846).

Son John S. Meserve married (1st) in Charlestown, MA, May 9, 1850, Ruth M. Brooks, both of Charlestown, MA. He was a trader, aged twenty-two years, and she was aged twenty-two years. Rev. Joseph Banfield performed the ceremony. She was born in Thetford, VT, in 1828, daughter of Charles and Mary (Bruce) Brooks.

Hopley Meserve, W.I. [West India] goods, aged sixty-one years (b. NH), headed a Charlestown, MA, household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. His household included Joanna Meserve, aged sixty-one years (b. NH), John S. Meserve, aged twenty-three years (b. NH), Ruth M. [(Brooks)] Meserve, aged twenty-two years (b. VT), Amanda C. Brooks, aged eighteen years (b. VT), and Joseph H. Brooks, a clerk, aged nineteen years (b. VT).

Stephen M.Y. Meserve, a manufacturer, aged thirty-eight years (b. NH), headed a Rochester, NH, household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. His household included Mary J. [(Stackpole)] Meserve, aged thirty-two years (b. NH), Sarah J. Meserve, aged ten years (b. NH), Walter S. Meserve, aged five years (b. NH), and Mary J. Meserve, aged four months (b. NH).

Hoply T. Meserve, none [no occupation], aged thirty-seven years (b. NH), headed a Charlestown, MA, household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. His household included Almira [(Lydston)] Meserve, aged thirty-six years (b. ME), John L. Meserve, aged fourteen years (b. NH), Almira Meserve, aged eleven years (b. MA), Georgeanna Meserve, aged seven years (b. MA), Charles H. Meserve, aged four years (b. MA), and Mary Butler, aged twenty years (b. NH). Hoply T. Meserve had real estate valued at $7,000.

Charles Y. Meserve, a baker, aged thirty-six years (b. NH), headed a Charlestown, MA, household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. His household included Betsey M. [(Roberts)] Meserve, aged thirty-six years (b. NH), and Ellen J. Meserve, aged seven years (b. NH). They shared a two-family residence with the household of Lyman Brown, a teamster, aged thirty-seven years (b. NH).

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.

Son-in-law 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).

Hopley Meserve appeared in the Charlestown, MA, directory of 1852, as proprietor of H. Meserve & Son (John S.), purveyor of W.I. [West India] goods, at Barlett street, at its corner with Green street, and his house at Bunkerhill street, at is corner with Elm street. Hopley T. Meserve had his house at Elm street court. Charles Y. Meserve was a dry goods merchant, with his house at 7 Elm street. John S. Meserve (H. Meserve & Son) had his house on Bunkerhill street, at its corner with Elm street.

Joanna (Twombly) Meserve died of consumption on Bunker Hill Street in Charlestown, MA, February 22, 1852, aged sixty-two years, eight (and one-third) months.

Hopley Meserve married (2nd) in Charlestown, MA, December 19, 1852, Sally P. (Mooney) Smith, both of Charlestown, MA. He was a trader, aged sixty-three years, and she was aged fifty-three years. (She was the widow of James Smith). Rev. H.E. Hempstead performed the ceremony. She was born in Sandwich, NH, circa 1799, daughter of Benjamin and Polly P. (Graves) Mooney.

H. Meserve and John S. Meserve were among the one hundred seventy-three citizens and non-resident taxpayers of Charlestown, MA, that petitioned, April 13, 1853, for an altering, widening and extension of Monument Avenue to Main Street. The street in question bounded the recently completed Bunker Hill Monument, which had been under construction between 1823 and 1843 (Charlestown, MA, 1854).

Hapeley Meserve, a grocer, aged sixty-seven years (b. NH), headed a Charlestown, MA, household at the time of the First (1855) MA State Census. His household included Sarah P. [((Mooney) Smith)] Meserve, aged fifty-six years (b. NH), Charles W. Smith, a clerk, aged seventeen years (b. NH), Nelson Jaquith, a carpenter, aged twenty-four years (b. ME), William Freece, a trader, aged twenty-two years (b. NH), William H. Brown, and apprentice, aged twenty years (b. NH), and Amelia Boynton, aged nineteen years (b. NH).

Haply T. Meserve, a baker, aged forty-two years (b. NH), headed a Charlestown, MA, household at the time of the First (1855) MA State Census. His household included Almira [(Lydston)] Meserve, aged forty-one years (b. ME), John L. Meserve, aged nineteen years (b. NH), Almira Meserve, aged sixteen years (b. MA), Georgeanna Meserve, aged twelve years (b. MA), Charles H. Meserve, aged nine years (b. MA), and Julia Kelly, aged twenty-three years (b. Ireland).

Charles Y. Meserve, a trader, aged forty years (b. NH), headed a Charlestown, MA, household at the time of the First (1855) MA State Census. His household included Betsey M. [(Roberts)] Meserve, aged forty-one years (b. NH), and Amanda Dodge, aged twenty-eight years (b. VT).

John S. Meserve, a trader, aged twelve [twenty-eight] years (b. NH), headed a Charlestown, MA, household at the time of the First (1855) MA State Census. His household included Ruth M. [(Brooks)] Meserve, aged twenty-seven years (b. VT), Adda M. Meserve, aged four years (b. MA), and Mary Meserve, aged two months (b. MA).

Hopley Meserve appeared in the Charlestown, MA, directory of 1856, as proprietor of H. Meserve & Son (John S.), grocers at 167 Bunkerhill street, with his house at 165 Bunkerhill street. Hopley T. Meserve appeared as a broker (in Boston), with his house at Lincoln place. Charles Y. Meserve was a dry goods merchant, with his house at 72 School street. John S. Meserve (H. Meserve & Son) had his house on 61 Pearl street.

MARRIED. In Charlestown, 2d inst., by Rev. Mr. Miner, Mr. John H. Blodgett to Miss Almira Meserve (New England Farmer (Boston, MA), March 8, 1856).

Daughter-in-law Ruth M. (Brooks) Meserve died of consumption at 58 Elm Street in Charlestown, MA, January 2, 1857, aged twenty-eight years, seven months, and nineteen days.

Son-in-law Stephen M. Mathes died in Rochester, NH, May 13, 1857, aged sixty years, one month.

Son John S. Meserve married (2nd) in Boston, MA, April 7, 1858, Pamelia E. Boynton, both of Charlestown, MA. He was a trader, aged thirty-one years, and she was aged twenty-three years. Rev. S. Streeter performed the ceremony. She was born in Meredith, NH, circa 1834, daughter of David and Mary C. Boynton. (She had resided – as Amelia Boynton – in the household of Hopley Meserve in 1855).

Hopley Meserve, a grocer, aged seventy-one years (b. NH), headed a Charlestown, MA, household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census, His household included Sarah P. Meserve, aged sixty-one years (b. NH). Hopley Meserve had real estate valued at $3,000.

Stephen M.Y. Meserve, an overseer in factory, aged forty-seven years (b. NH), headed a Rochester “Farmington P.O.”), NH, household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. His household included Mary J. [(Stackpole)] Meserve, aged forty-three years (b. ME), Sarah J. Meserve, aged twenty years (b. NH), Walter L. Meserve, aged fourteen years (b. NH), Mary F. Meserve, aged ten years (b. NH), Ida V. Meserve, aged eight years (b. NH), Augustus Tucker, aged twenty-six years (b. NH), Cora Tucker, aged one year (b. NH). Stephen M.Y. Meserve had real estate valued at $1,000 and person estate valued at $200.

Hoply T. Meserve, a money broker, aged forty-seven years (b. NH), headed a Charlestown, MA, household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. His household included Almira [(Lydston)] Meserve, aged forty-six years (b. ME), Chas. H. Meserve, aged fourteen years (b. MA), and Sarah A. Smith, aged twenty-three years (b. MA). Hoply T. Meserve had real estate valued at $6,000.

Chas Y. Meserve, a clerk, aged forty-five years (b. NH), headed a Charlestown, MA, household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. His household included Betsey M. [(Roberts)] Meserve, aged forty-six years (b. NH). They shared a two-family residence with the household of Bernard Grogan, a blacksmith, aged thirty-eight years (b. NY).

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 S. Meserve, a trader, aged thirty-two years (b. NH), headed a Charlestown, MA, household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. His household included Pamelia [(Boynton)] Meserve, aged twenty-eight years (b. NH), Addie M. Meserve, aged eight years (b. MA), Frank W. Meserve, aged one year (b. MA), and Clementina A. Boynton, aged twenty-nine years (b. NH). John S. Meserve had personal estate valued at $1,000.

Hopley Meserve likely knew the last veteran of the 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill, Ralph Farnham of Acton, ME, and Milton Mills, NH, who was fêted at Charlestown, MA, in October 1860.

Hopley Meserve, a grocer, aged seventy-six years (b. Milton, NH), headed a Charlestown, MA, household at the time of the Second (1865) MA State Census. His household included Sarah P. [((Mooney) Smith)] Meserve, aged sixty-six years (b. Sandwich, NH).

Hapely T. Messerve, aged fifty-two years (b. Milton, NH), headed a Charlestown, MA, household at the time of the Second (1865) MA State Census. His household included Almira [(Lydston)] Messerve, aged fifty-one years (b. Litchfield, ME), Charles H. Messerve, a milkman, aged nineteen years (b. Charlestown, MA), and Sophia Leeder, a servant, aged nineteen years (b. England).

C.Y. Messerve, a broker, aged fifty-one years (b. NH), headed a Charlestown, MA, household at the time of the Second (1865) MA State Census. His household included Betsey [(Roberts)] Messerve, aged fifty years (b. NH), C.H. Pierce, a merchant, aged thirty-four years (b. Otisfield, ME), and Josephine Pierce, a teacher, aged thirty years (b. Livermore, ME).

John S. Messerve, a grocer, aged thirty-seven years (b. Milton, NH), headed a Charlestown, MA, household at the time of the Second (1865) MA State Census. His household included Amelia [(Boynton)] Messerve, aged thirty-two years (b. Holderness, NH), Addie M. Messerve, aged fourteen years (b. Charlestown, MA), and Frank W. Messerve, aged six years (b. Charlestown, MA).

Charles Y. Meserve sued John S. Andrews in a store rental contract dispute in or after May 1865.

Contract. The declaration alleged that the parties agreed that the plaintiffs should permit the defendant to use and occupy their shop in Boston, and should render certain services to him in his business, and in consideration thereof he should pay them rent, and for repairs and furniture, and also a quarter of the net profits of the business’ that the plaintiffs faithfully performed their part of the agreement, and there were net profits resulting from the business; but that the defendant refused to pay the plaintiffs anything (MA Supreme Judicial Court, 1872).

Charles Y. Meserve of Charlestown, MA, made his last will, April 27, 1869. He bequeathed Maine land to his beloved wife, Betsy M. Meserve. This included a one hundred eighty-acre township lot (#138) in Wellington, Piscataquis County, ME; and two lots in Philips, Franklin County, ME. He bequeathed to her also his interest in the Col. Marston red store in Philips, ME. Finally, he bequeathed to her all the rest and residue of his estate, including his horse, carriage, household furniture, carpets, bedding, books, pictures, wearing apparel, etc. N.D. Wetmore, Charles P. Brooks, and Amanda Dodge signed as witnesses (Franklin County Probate, 31:326).

Son Charles Y. Meserve died of consumption at 35 Russell Street in Charlestown, MA, May 8, 1869, aged fifty-four years, three months, and six days. He was a merchant.

Hopley Messerve of Charlestown, MA, made his last will, April 9, 1870. He bequeathed his bible and walking cane to his son, Stephen M.Y. Messerve. He bequeathed $1 to his son, Hopley T. Messerve. He bequeathed a silver spoon marked “Y” to Betsy M. Messerve, widow of his son, Charles Y. Messerve. He bequeathed a silver spoon marked “J.M.” to Louisa F. Matthews [Mathes]. He bequeathed a French Crown [coin] to John S. Messerve. He bequeathed the rest and residue of his estate to his executor, after the decease of his beloved wife, Sarah P. Messerve, who was to have the interest on it during her life. He appointed Oliver H.P. Smith of Charlestown, MA, as his executor. Leonard Spinney, Merrill A. Green, and William C. Smith signed as witnesses (Suffolk County Probate, 483:65).

Theophilus F. Bennett, a teamster, aged forty-nine years (b. NH), headed a Charlestown, MA, household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Susan M. [(Smith)] Bennett, keeping house, aged forty-nine years (b. NH), James S. Bennett, a bookkeeper, aged twenty-two years (b. MA), Theste S. [(Carey)] Bennett, at home, aged twenty-two years (b. MA), Sarah M. Bennett, at home, aged nineteen years (b. MA), Hopley T. Meserve, retired, aged eighty-five years (b. NH), and Sarah [((Mooney) Smith)] Meserve, aged seventy years (b. NH). Theophilia F. Bennett had real estate valued at $9,000 and personal estate valued at $4,000.

Stephen Messerve, work for shoe mfty., aged fifty-nine years (b. NH), headed a Rochester (“Gonic P.O.”), NH, household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Mary J. [(Stackpole)] Messerve, keeping house, aged fifty-three years (b. ME), Sarah J. [(Messerve)] Parcker, aged thirty years (b. NH), Walter S. Messerve, aged twenty-four years (b. NH), M. Isable Messerve, aged nineteen years (b. NH), Ida V. Messerve, aged seventeen years (b. NH), and Estta Parcker, aged eight years (b. NH). Stephen Messerve had real estate valued at $1,500 and personal estate valued at $300.

Betsy M. [(Roberts)] Meserve, keeping house, aged fifty-eight years (b. NH), headed a Charlestown, MA, household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. Her household included Daniel P. Warren, aged fifty-three years (b. NH), Irene [(Twombly)] Warren, keeping house, aged forty-two years (b. NH), Edgar B. Warren, attending school, aged eighteen years (b. NH), and Eunie Warren, attending school, aged thirteen years (b. NH). Betsy M. Meserve had real estate valued at $3,000.

John S. Meserve, a grocer, aged forty-four years (b. NH), headed a Charlestown, MA, household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Permelia E. [(Boynton)] Meserve, keeping house, aged forty-one years (b. NH), Addie M. Meserve, a dressmaker, aged nineteen years (b. MA), Frank W. Meserve, at school, aged eleven years (b. MA), and Grace E. Meserve, aged two years (b. MA). John S. Meserve had real estate valued at $8,000 and personal estate valued at $2,500.

Daughter-in-law Almira (Lydston) Meserve died of cancer at 1 Lincoln Place in Charlestown, MA, September 18, 1871, aged fifty-seven years, six months, and fourteen days.

DIED. 18th inst., Almira, wife of H.T. Meserve, 57 yrs. 6 mos. (New England Farmer (Boston, MA), September 30, 1871).

Hopley Meserve appeared in the Charlestown, MA, directory of 1872, as a grocer at 62 Elm street, with his house at 63 Elm street. His son, Hopley T. Meserve was employed at 83 Sudbury street, Boston, MA, with his house at 1 Lincoln place. Mrs. Charles Y. Meserve ahd her house at 35 Russell street. John S. Meserve was a grocer at 211 Bunker Hill street, with his house at 209 Bunker Hill street.

SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT. FOR SUFFOLK COUNTY BEFORE JUDGE ENDICOTT. New juries were empanelled, Charles H. Doten being chosen foreman of the first jury, and Hopley T. Meserve of the second. No cases were ready for trial and the court adjourned until 9 o’clock, this morning (Boston Globe, May 21, 1874).

TO BE LET. TO LET – In Charlestown, 2, 4, 5 or 6 rooms, convenient for housekeeping. Apply to H.T. MESERVE, 27 Elm St., upstairs, room 5 (Boston Globe, May 30, 1874).

Voters in Charlestown, in Middlesex County, MA, chose to accept annexation by the neighboring city of Boston, in Suffolk County, MA, in October 1873. The independent city government of Charlestown shut down in 1874.

Hopley T. Meserve died of pneumonia at his home at 63 Elm Street, Boston, MA, December 21, 1875, aged eighty-six years, nine months, and twenty-one years.

DEATHS. At Charlestown, Dec 21, Hapley Meserve, 86 (Boston Post, December 24, 1875; New England Farmer (Boston, MA), January 1, 1876).

COMMONWEALTH of MASSACHUSETTS, SUFFOLK, SS. PROBATE COURT. To the Heirs-at-Law, Next of Kin, and all other persons interested in the Estate of HOPLEY MESERVE, late of Boston, in said County, deceased. Greeting: Whereas, a certain Instrument purporting to be the last will and testament of said deceased has been presented to said Court, for probate, by OLIVER H.P. SMITH, of said Boston, who prays that letters testamentary may be issued to him, the executor therein named; you are hereby cited to appear at a Probate Court to be held at Boston, in said County of Suffolk, on MONDAY, the seventeenth day of January, A.D. 1876, at ten o’clock in the forenoon, to show cause, if any you have, against the same. And said petitioner is hereby directed to give public notice thereof, by publishing this citation once a week, for three successive weeks, in the newspaper called the Boston Post, printed at said Boston, the last publication to be two days, at least, before said Court. Witness, ISAAC AMES, Esquire, Judge of said Court, this twenty-seventh day of December, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five. P.R. GUINEY, Register. d28 lt&M2w (Boston Globe, January 3, 1876).

Son Stephen M.Y. Meserve died in Rochester, NH, in 1876, aged sixty-four years.

Son Hopley T. Meserve headed a petition to the Boston Board of Aldermen, in May 1876, seeking crosswalks from Elm Street to Lincoln Place in Charlestown.

Proceedings of the Board of Aldermen. May 22, 1876. Hopley T. Meserve, et al., for crosswalks from Elm street to Lincoln place, Charlestown.

Son Hopley T. Meserve married (2nd) in Boston, MA, September 16, 1877, Lydia (Thomas) Ellis, both of Boston, MA. He was a gentleman, aged sixty-four years, and she was aged sixty-four years. (She was the widow of Freeman Ellis (1801-1872)). W.T. Stowe performed the ceremony. She was born in [Hanson] Pembroke, MA, February 17, 1813, daughter of Shadrach and Lydia (Keene) Thomas.

MARRIAGES. MESERVE-ELLIS. – In Charlestown District, 16th inst., by the Rev. William T. Stowe, Mr. Hopley T. Meserve to Mrs. Lydia Ellis (Boston Globe, September 20, 1877).

Delinquent taxpayers in Boston, MA, were noticed to bring their accounts up to date in 1878. Separate properties of John S. Meserve and Betsy M. (Roberts) Meserve were mentioned as being abutters.

SUPPLEMENT. CITY COLLECTOR’S NOTICE. The list of estates in Wards 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22, to be sold for taxes August 30, 1878, will be found in the Boston Daily Advertiser and Daily Evening Traveller of this date; those of Wards 23, 24 and 25 to be sold August 31, 1878 in the Boston Morning Globe and Boston Evening Transcript.
The owners and occupants of the following described parcels of real estate, situated in the City of Boston, in the County of Suffolk and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the public, are hereby notified that the Taxes thereon severally assessed for the years hereinafter specified, according to the list committed to me as Collector of Taxes for said city by the Assessors of Taxes, remain unpaid, and that said parcels of real estate will be offered at public auction for sale at the office of McCLELLAN & KNIGHTS, Room No. 10, Old State House, in said city of Boston, on THURSDAY, August 29, 1878, at 9 o’clock A.M., for the payment of said taxes, together with the costs and charges thereon, unless the same shall be previously discharged. …
WARD THREE. Samuel L. Fillebrown—House and about 1300 feet of land, numbered 79 Elm street, formerly Charlestown, between estates of John S. Meserve and George P. Sanborn, tax for 1877, $34.06
WARD FOUR. Sewell D. Tibbetts— House and about 1069 feet of laud, numbered 37 Russell street, formerly Charlestown, between an estate of Betsey M. Meserve and another estate of said Tibbetts, tax for 1877. $45.85 (Boston Post, August 5, 1878).

Mary J. [(Stackpole)] Meserve, keeping house, aged sixty years (b. ME), headed a Rochester, NH, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. Her household included her son, Walter S. Meserve, at home, aged thirty-five years (b. NH), her daughters, Ida V. Meserve, at home, aged twenty-eight years (b. NH), Sarah J. Tucker, works in woolen mill, aged forty years (b. NH), and her granddaughter, Etta Tucker (b. NH), at home, aged seventeen years, her son-in-law, Asa G. Rosenburg, a music teacher, aged forty-two years (b. NY), and her daughter, Bell M. Rosenburg, at home, aged thirty-two years (b. NH). She shared a two-family dwelling with the household of Martha F. Stevens, keeping house, aged fifty-seven years (b. NH). Both Mary J. Meserve and Sarah J. Tucker were widows.

Hoply T. Meserve, a retired broker, aged sixty-seven years (b. NH), headed a Charlestown, MA, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Lydia [((Thomas) Ellis)] Meserve, keeping house, aged sixty-seven years (b. MA). They resided at 27 School Street.

Betsey M. [(Roberts)] Meserve, aged sixty-six years (b. NH), headed a Charlestown, MA, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Fedeal Census. Her household included Amanda Dodge, a seamstress, aged fifty years (b. VT).

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).

John S. Messerve, hardware store, aged fifty-one years (b. NH), headed a Charlestown, MA, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Fedeal Census. His household included his wife, Amelia [(Boynton)] Messerve, keeping house, aged forty-six years (b. NH), and his children, Addie M. Messerve, a telephone agent, aged twenty-seven years (b. MA), Frank W. Messerve, an overseer in workshop, aged twenty-one years (b. MA), and Grace E. Messerve, at home, aged twelve years (b. MA). They resided at 209 Bunker Hill Street.

Probate Court for Suffolk County. In the Probate Court today, before Judge McKim, the wills of Lewis Stockbridge, Ann Davis, Emily Hall, Sarah Dreyer, William H. Gorman, Maria T. Sullivan, Mellish I. Motte and Mary Minot were probated. Letters of administration were taken out on the estates of John O’Brien, Samuel Pratt, Hogan Basford, Hopley Meserve, John Cassidy, Abraham Belcker, Patrick Gaffey, Ellen Kelley. Ruth C. Lyman and John Preston (Boston Globe, March 13, 1882).

… When Company C Cavalry, the old Prescott Light Guard of Charlestown, was disbanded, they had a lot of property which was sold, and each retiring officer received a present, Mr. J.S. Meserve of the company received an elegant clock. Today at the dinner of Company F Cavalry he was present, and presented the clock to the company in a neat speech, to which Captain Fletcher responded in an appropriate manner. The clock is circular in form, surmounted by a gilt eagle, with a row of stars around it and two crossed sabres beneath with the inscription bearing the words, “Presented by J.S. Meserve of Company C to Company F, Massachusetts Cavalry.” It will be placed in the armory of the company at Westford (September 16, 1882).

MARRIAGES. MESERVE-WADSWORTH – At Saxonville, 2d inst., by Rev. F.P. Sutherland of Natick, Frank W. Meserve of Charlestown to Alice B. Wadsworth of Saxonville (Boston Evening Transcript, September 5, 1885).

Carpentry and machine tools were advertised for sale from the address of Betsy M. (Roberts) Meserve, widow of son John S. Meserve.

FOR SALE. 2 second-hand foot-power lathes. With chucks and tools; 4-set die plates, and taps, 5 guns, 1 spyglass, chest carpenter’s tools. Apply to MESERVE, 77 Elm st., Charlestown, 3t* d28 (Boston Globe, December 28, 1886).

Daughter-in-law Lydia (Thomas) Meserve died of acute lung congestion at 27 Elm Street in Boston, MA, September 6, 1887, aged seventy-four years, six months, and twenty-three days.

DEATHS. MESERVE – At Charlestown, 6th inst., Lydia, wife of H.T. Meserve, 74 yrs., 6 mos. (Boston Evening Transcript, September 7, 1887).

Son Hopley T. Meserve died of paralysis in his home at 27 Elm Street in Boston, MA, August 19, 1889, aged seventy-six years, three months.

DEATHS. MESERVE – At Charlestown, 16th [19th] inst., Hopley T. Meserve, 77th year (Boston Evening Transcript, August 20, 1889).

COMMONWAELTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. – SUFFOLK, ss. -PROBATE COURT. To the heirs-at-law, next of kin and all other persons interested in the estate of HOPLEY T. MESERVE, late of Boston, in said county, deceased. Greeting: Whereas, a certain instrument purporting to be the last will and testament of said deceased has been presented to said court for probate by GEORGE H. PENDERGAST of said Boston, who prays that letters testamentary may be issued to him, the executor therein named, without giving a surety or sureties on his official bond; You are hereby cited to appear at a Probate Court to be held at Boston, in said county of Suffolk, on Monday, the twenty-third day of September, A.D. 1881, at ten o’clock in the forenoon, to show cause, if any you have, against the same. And said petitioner is hereby directed to give public notice thereof by publishing this citation once a week for three successive weeks, in the newspaper called the Boston Post, printed at at said Boston, the last publication to be two days, at least, before said court. Witness, John W. McKim, Esquire, Judge of said court, this fourth day of September, in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine. ELIJAH GEORGE, Register (Boston Post, September 6, 1889).

CHARLESTOWN HOME FOR AGED MEN AND COUPLES. Incorporated 1889 to receive a bequest of real estate valued at $10,000 from Hopley T. Meserve (died 1889), to maintain a Home for aged Protestant couples of American birth and a Home for aged Protestant men of American birth, to be located in Charlestown. The Home cannot be opened until it has received considerable gifts. Treasurer, Nelson Bartlett, 54 Monument ave. (Old Corner Bookstore, 1891).

Machine and other tools were advertised for sale again from the address of Betsy M. (Roberts) Meserve, widow of son John S. Meserve.

MACHINERY. FOR SALE. Foot lathe, 42-in. bed, 2-in. swing, universal chuck and small tools; also 2 small universal chucks, lot taps and dyes, milling tools, hand planer, etc. Apply MESERVE, 77½ Elm st., Charlestown. 2t* f26 (Boston Globe, February 27, 1890).

Sarah P. ((Mooney) Smith) Meserve died of peritonitis at 63 Elm Street in Charlestown, MA, January 29, 1897, aged ninety-seven years, seven months, and thirteen days.

CHARLESTOWN. Last Monday Mrs. Sarah P. Meserve, 97, widow of Hoply Meserve, fell down in her home on Green st. and injured her hip. Although the physicians did all possible toward her recovery she died last night (Boston Globe, January 30, 1897).

The Winchester Home for Aged Women, in Charlestown, has just added to its holdings on Elm st. there, by the purchase from the owner of the valuable parcel adjoining the home, numbered 25 to 27 Elm st. The grantor was the estate of Hopley T. Meserve. There is a large brick house on the corner of Lincoln pl., standing on about 2940 square feet of land, the whole taxed for $9o00. Of this amount the land is taxed for $3700. The price paid is private, but was away above the total taxed value (Boston Globe, December 17, 1899).

Daughter-in-law Pamelia E. (Boynton) Meserve died in Boston, MA, February 8, 1900.

DEATHS. MESERVE – At Charlestown, Feb. 8, Pannella E. Meserve (Boston Evening Transcript, February 9, 1900).

Probate Notices. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the subscribers have been duly appointed administrator of the estate of PAMELIA ESTHER MESERVE, late of Boston, in the County of Suffolk, deceased, intestate, and have taken upon themselves that trust by giving bonds, as the law directs. All persons having demands upon the estate of said deceased are required to exhibit the same, and all persons indebted to said estate are called upon to make payment to F.W. MESERVE, GRACE MESERVE, administrators, 209 Bunker Hill street, Boston. March 8, 1900. mh 6.18.20: (Boston Evening Transcript, March 6, 1900).

Daughter-in-law Betsy M. (Roberts) Meserve died of an enlarged heart in Boston, MA, April 11, 1900, aged eighty-six years, four months, and two days.

Daughter-in-law Mary J. [(Stackpole)] Meserve, a widow, aged eighty-two years (b. ME), headed a Rochester, NH, household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. Her household included her daughter, Ida Meserve, aged forty-four years (b. NH). Mary J. Meserve owned their house, free-and-clear. She was the mother of four children, of whom two were still living.

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. 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. 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.

Daughter-in-law Mary J. (Stackpole) Meserve died of gastritis on R.R. Avenue in Rochester, NH, April 7, 1903, aged eighty-three years. She had resided in Rochester, NH, for fifty-six years, i.e., since 1846-47, with her previous residence having been Portsmouth, NH. D.L. Stokes, M.D., signed the death certificate.


References:

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