Author: Muriel Bristol

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | April 20, 2019

We encountered previously Miss Sophia Cushing, a Milton Teacher of 1796-05. Here we have a biographical sketch of a Milton teacher of nearly one hundred years later.

Miss Sarah L. Benson taught at Milton’s newly-opened Nute High School, in September 1891. She would have been working with Principal William K. Norton.

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Troy, NY

Sarah Louise Benson was born in Troy, NY, April 25, 1865, daughter of Frederick W. and Frances L. (Seabury) Benson. Her mother died several days later, April 28, 1865.

Asa G. Luce, a store [owner], aged thirty-three years (b. Rensselaer), headed a Troy, NY, household at the time of the Second (1865) New York Census (June 21, 1865). His household included his wife, Sarah E. Luce, aged thirty-one years (b. Herkimer), his son, Edgar P. Luce, aged six years (b. Rensselaer), but also Frederick W. Benson, a store keeper, widower, aged thirty-four years (b. MA), and Sarah L. Benson, aged one month (b. Rensselaer). Asa G. Luce was a druggist and his store would have been a drug store.

Sarah’s widowed father married (2nd) in Troy, NY, December 8, 1865, Ann L. Fields. She was born in Michigan, April 8, 1837, daughter of Reuben Fields.

Frederic Benson, a retail grocer, aged forty-three years (b. MA), headed a Troy, NY, household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Anna Benson, keeps house, aged thirty-five years (b. MI), Sarah Benson, aged five years (b. NY), and Walter Benson, aged six months (b. NY). (We hear no more of baby Walter). Frederic Benson had personal estate valued at $4,000.

Sarah’s father, Frederick W. Benson, died in Troy, NY, February 8, 1872. His widow, Ann L. Benson, and John P. Wight received appointments as joint administrators of his estate, February 19, 1872.

Ann L. Benson moved the family east from Troy, NY, to Brattleboro, VT, a distance of about 75 miles, in 1873.

Brattleboro, VT

Sarah attended Brattleboro’s District No. 4 (Centreville) School, i.e., a one-room schoolhouse. She appears in the following account of the Fall 1875 term as one of those students that had been absent, but never tardy. (Note the number of students taught by Miss Warriner: forty-two).

Local Intelligence. Brattleboro. The fall term of the school in district No. 4, (Centreville) taught by Miss F.M. Warriner, closed Nov. 12th. Whole number of pupils 42. The pupils having neither absent nor tardy marks during the term were Ida Strickland, Florence Tenney, Fannie Timson, Myra Timson, Eva Wheeler, Ida Wheeler, Henry Knight, Ira Knight, Frank Fisher, Charles Newton, Willie Alden, Clarence Shepardson, Charles Abbott and Bertie Knight. Not absent, Charles Brown, Walter Matthews, Willie Matthews, John Gaines and Frank Dunklee. Not tardy, Lizzie Franklin, Nellie Strong, Laura Cook, Grace Fisher, Sarah Benson, George Fisher, Charles Cook, Charles Fisher, Bertie Howard, Osmand Loomis, Vcssie Miner, Bertie Fisher and Roy Cook (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), November 26, 1875).

Ann L. Benson, keeping house, aged forty-three years (b. MI), headed a Brattleboro, VT, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. Her household included her [step-]daughter, Sarah L. Benson, at school, aged fifteen years (b. NY), her son, Oscar Benson, aged eight years (b. NY), and her boarders, Nellie Scott, a teacher, aged twenty-one years (b. NH), Hiland Burdick, works in machine shop, aged forty years (b. VT), John O’Brien, works in machine shop, aged twenty-one years (b. MA), and Fred Fowler, works in machine shop, aged twenty-four years (b. NY).

Sarah Benson graduated from Brattleboro High School with the Class of 1882 (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), June 29, 1907).

Smith College, Northampton, MA

Sarah Louise Benson, of West Brattleboro, VT, attended Smith College, in Northampton, MA. She would have begun her studies there in September 1884. She graduated in June 1888. Smith College was then relatively new: her class was only the tenth one.

SMITII COLLEGE. Colonel T.W. Higginson. the Orator of the Day, with Governor Ames Present. NORTHAMPTON, April 20. The tenth Smith College commencement passed off very successfully. Social Hall was crowded, and Governor Ames and staff, Mayor Hill, George W. Cable and others were on the platform. Governor Ames made a brief, but telling speech, and then Colonel Thomas W. Higginson was introduced as the orator of the day. He spoke about the advantages of the literary profession, and held the close attention of his audience for two hours. His oration was the ablest heard here for many years.

Miss Julia H. Mulliver of the class of ’79, was given the degree of Ph.D., and Miss Elizabeth Blanchard, principal of Mt. Holyoke Seminary. the degree of M.A.

The following are the graduates; Caroline Sprague Austin, Nashua; Kate Clarence Bailey. Claremont. N.H.; Minnie May Bartlett, Attleboro; Sarah Louise Benson, West Brattleboro, Vt.; Daisy Luana Blaisdel. Chicopee Falls: Harriette Holland Boardman, St. Paul, Minn; Adeline Brown, San Francisco; Grace Alice Burrington. Coleraln; Anna Louise Carter. New Hartford, Conn.; Jennie Chamberlain, Ames, Ia.; Mabelle Chase, Hudson; Cornella Chapelle Church. Norwich, Conn.; Mary Frances I)e Voil. Glen’s Falls, N.Y.; Harriet Parkes Doty, Holyoke; Anna Williams Edwards. Northampton; Mary Elizabeth Everett, Dover; Anna Warren Gardiner, Haverhill; Lora E. Guild, Enosburg, Vt.; Fanny Pearson Hardy, Brewer, Me.: Anna Dora Hawker. Northampton; Louise Akerly Husted, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Caroline Cogswell Jameson, Mills; Anna Prindie Kellogg, Northampton; Jane Downes Kelly, Providence, R.I.; Leila Mantha Kennedy, Syracuse, N.Y.; Florence Leonard, Philadelphia, Penn; Helen Stoddard Lincoln, Northampton; Mary Caroline Lord, Hudson, O.; Frances Pease Lyman. Easthampton; May Louise Nicholls, Holliston: Grace Sophronia Packard. Providence, R.I.; Lizzie Southgate Parker, Claremont. N.H.: Martha E. Black, Altoona, Penn.; Mary Palmer Raynor, Springfield; Alice Robinson, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Harriet Chapin See, Northampton; Rachel Sherrison. Syracuse. N.Y.; Alice Thomas Skilton, New Haven, Conn; Alice May Sykes, New Haven. Conn.; Mary Frances Thompson, Northampton; Susie Helen Twitchell, Keene. N.H.; Adelaide Brainerd Ventres, Bloomfield, N.J.; Ellen Long Wentworth, Exeter, N.H.; Grace Churchyard, Buffalo, N.Y.; Lilian Dubois, Hudson, N.Y.; Miriam McGregor Dwight, Hadley; Isabel Eaton, Washington, D.C.; Jennie Sarah Wilcox, Seneca Falls, N.Y.; Jennie Laurie Storrs, Lebanon, N.H.; Mary Esther Cobb, Florence; Mae Appleton Shute, Palmer.

Graduates of the School of Art: Harriet Eliza Duguld, Syracuse, N.Y.; Helena Cherry Evans, Easthampton; Anna Ellen Schreuder, Syracuse, N.Y.; Margaret Olive Whitney, Orleans. N.Y. (Boston Globe, June 21, 1888).

Glenwood Classical Seminary, W. Brattleboro, VT

The Glenwood Classical Seminary was a ladies’ boarding school. It opened in West Brattleboro, VT, in 1860. Professor Henry H. Shaw replaced long-time principal Professor Hiram Orcutt in 1881.

Glenwood Classical Seminary, WEST BRATTLEBORO, VT. HAS three well-prepared courses of study. Pupils completing either will receive diplomas. The best facilities for music on organ or piano, with a daily class in vocal. Drawing and painting by a teacher of large experience. No pains will be spared to make every department thorough and complete. The spring term, of 12 weeks, begins March 22. Terms low; good rooms for self-boarding. For particulars address the principal, H.H. SHAW, West Brattleboro, Feb. 22, 1882 (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), March 22, 1882).

Miss Sarah L. Benson took on the role of preceptress, i.e. assistant principal, at the Glenwood Classical Seminary, in 1889.

West Brattleboro. Miss Sarah L. Benson is preceptress at Glenwood Seminary (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), December 20, 1889).

Glenwood Seminary’s 1891 graduation marked also its tenth year under Professor Henry H. Shaw.

… During this time classes have been graduated each year and the school has been under the personal care of Mr. Shaw. For the past two years he has been ably assisted by Miss Sarah Benson (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), June 12, 1891).

Nute High School, Milton, NH

Milton’s Nute High School opened its doors for the first time in September 1891, with Miss Sarah L. Benson as one of its original teachers.

PERSONAL. Miss Sarah L. Benson returned this week to Milton, N.H., where she is a teacher in the Nute High school (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), January 1, 1892).

PERSONAL. Miss Sarah L. Benson, a teacher in the Nute High school at Milton, N.H., has returned to Brattleboro for the summer vacation (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), July 1, 1892).

NORTH HEATH. Miss Sarah S. Benson from Brattleboro, who is employed at school keeping at Milton N.H., is taking her vacation of a few weeks with her many friends in this vicinity (Deerfield Valley Times (Wilmington, VT), August 19, 1892).

PERSONAL. Among the Christmas visitors in town were Fred Colburn, Nicholas Baker, Joseph Perry and Maurice Austin of Springfield, Mass.; J.C. Bowler and Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Bowler and family of Boston; T.J. Doolin of South Framingham, Mass.; Hattie Jones of Boston; John and Patrick Bowler of New Haven, Conn.; Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Carey and Patrick Ferriter, the telegraph operator, of New York; Alfred Warren of Florence. Mass.; Samuel Kirkland of Boston and Theodore Kirkland; Elmer Munroe of Worcester, Mass.; Will Smith of Colgate university; Miss Sarah Benson of the Nute High school, Milton, N.H.; Ina Freeman of Watertown, N.Y. ; William Cursor of St. Albans; [Miss Sarah L. Benson’s half-brother,] O.F. Benson of New York: Charles Chapin of Boston: Mr. and Mrs. M.F. Sears of Holyoke; Thomas Scars of Coventry, Conn.; Lieut. Col. and Mrs. James Lillis of Rutland; Evelyn Merritt of Bridgewatcr, Mass. (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), December 30, 1892).

Sarah L. Benson left Nute High School at the conclusion of the 1894-95 academic year. (Bertha M. Terrill, who taught there in 1895-96, may have replaced her). Benson left in order to take up a course of studies at the Framingham Normal School.

Framingham Normal School, Framingham, MA

PERSONAL. Miss Sarah Benson, who has been a teacher in the Nute High school at Milton, N.H, for several years, has gone to Framingham, Mass., where she will take a special one year’s course in the normal school (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), September 13, 1895).

PERSONAL. Miss Sarah Benson returned yesterday to Framingham, Mass., normal school, where she Is taking an advanced course in pedagogics (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), January 3, 1896).

She graduated from the special one-year course at the Framingham Normal School, in Framingham, MA, in June 1896. She was one of seven students that earned Advanced and Special honors (Boston Post, June 25, 1896).

PERSONAL. Miss Sarah Benson attended the 28th annual reunion of the Benson family at Conway, Mass., Wednesday (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), July 3, 1896).

PERSONAL. Miss Sarah L, Benson has recently taken a situation as teacher in the Free Academy at Norwich, Conn, (Vermont Phoenix, September 18, 1896).

PERSONAL. Miss Sarah Benson of South Framingham, Mass., is visiting her mother in Centreville (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), April 2, 1897).

Norwich Free Academy, Norwich, CT

Norwich Free Academy. The Norwich Free Academy, of which Dr. Hubert P. Keep is principal, has issued its thirty-ninth annual catalogue. The pamphlet contains a history of the growth of the institution, the founding of which was a result of Dr. John P. Gallien’s educational movement in 1846. Grateful acknowledgment is made of the generosity of William A. Slater. The school began as a preparatory institution but has greatly broadened. The book contains a description of the Slater memorial building and the Slater museum and an outline of the work in the normal school, model schools, kindergarten and art school. There are 48 seniors, 58 first middles, 71 second middles, 106 junior, 3 graduates; total 284. In the normal school there are 21 pupils and in the art school 58 (Hartford Courant, April 2, 1895).

PERSONAL. Miss Sarah Benson has returned to her position as teacher in the Normal school at Norwich, Conn. (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), September 17, 1897).

PERSONAL. Miss Sarah Benson, who has been at home a large part of the winter on account of ill health, returned this week to her duties as teacher in the Norwich, Conn., academy (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), April 22, 1898).

PERSONAL. Miss Sarah L. Benson, of the Norwich. Conn., Free academy, after spending 10 days at her home, left yesterday for a stay at Old Orchard, Me., and the White mountains (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), July 14, 1898).

PERSONAL. Miss Sarah L. Benson of Brattleboro and C.O. Stockman of Troy, N.Y., are guests at Geo. W. Mandigo’s (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), September 1, 1899).

PERSONAL. Miss Sarah L. Benson, now a teacher in the Norwich, Conn., free academy, is spending the Christmas vacation with her mother, her brother, Oscar F. Benson, spent Sunday and New Year’s at home (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), January 5, 1900). 

Sarah L. Benson, a boarder, aged thirty-four years (b. NY), resided in the New London, CT, household of Sarah D. Palmer, aged seventy-two years (b. CT), at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. Palmer kept a boarding-house. Her daughter, Elizabeth D. Palmer, aged thirty-seven years, was a teacher of domestic science. Another boarder, Mary A. Emerson, aged thirty-four years (b. VT), was also a school teacher.

Ware High School, Ware, MA

PERSONAL. Miss Sarah L. Benson went Saturday to Ware, Mass., where she is to teach history in the High school (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), September 7, 1900).

BRATTLEBORO PERSONAL. Oscar F. Benson and Miss Sarah Benson are spending the vacation season with their mother on Western avenue (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), August 14, 1903).

European Tour

Sarah Louise Benson applied for a US passport in Brattleboro, Windham, VT, August 9, 1905. At that time, she described herself as a teacher, aged forty years. She was 4′ 8″ tall. She had light brown hair, a round face with a high forehead, a square chin, and a light complexion. She had blue eyes (with a scar near one of them), a short nose (with large nostrils), full lips, and two moles.

PERSONAL. Miss Sarah L. Benson will leave tomorrow for Boston and will sail from that city next Tuesday on the Saxonia of the Cunard line to spend a year in Europe for travel and study. She will probably be in Oxford, England, a considerable portion of this time (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), September 8, 1905).

Among other sights, Sarah witnessed the April 7, 1906 eruption of the Mount Vesuvius volcano.

LOCAL OVERFLOW. Miss Sarah Benson, who is spending several months in travel in Europe, writes her mother of the glimpse which she and a traveling companion obtained of the great eruption of Vesuvius. The reports being favorable, they made the journey from Rome to Naples, but the conditions were such and the alarm was so great in Naples that they returned immediately. At a distance of 20 or 30 miles from Vesuvius everything was covered with fine white ashes, and the depth of the ashes increased to several inches as the train proceeded. All birds and animals had disappeared. When 40 miles from the mountain the horizon was that of an angry, black thunder storm. A few miles nearer the blue sky disappeared and the effect was lurid and terrifying. “It was like our oft quoted ‘yellow day,’ only ten times worse. It was as if a gray pall hung over everything, while the cloud of dust and ashes above us was fringed with reddish yellow.” “Once in a while we saw a farmer with head protected by umbrella or some broad covering looking over his desolate fields. At one shrine three women were praying, two prostrate on their faces” (Vermont Phoenix, May 11, 1906).

The “Yellow Day” to which she referred was September 6, 1881. The noontime twilight and yellow sky experienced in New England on that day resulted from the Michigan Thumb Fire of September 5, 1881.

BRATTLEBORO PERSONAL. Miss Sarah Benson with Miss Cora Green and Miss Sadie Winchester as guests, went Wednesday to Camp Ellis, Maine, where she has a cottage (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), August 3, 1906).

WEST BRATTLEBORO. Miss Sadie E. Winchester, who has been a guest of Miss Sarah Benson at Camp Ellis, Me., returned Tuesday (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), August 17, 1906).

Nichols Academy, Dudley, MA

EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. MASSACHUSETTS. DUDLEY. Nichols Academy opened September 10. Miss Marcia Smith and Miss Sarah Benson have been re-engaged for the coming year. The academy buildings including the inn and library are soon to be equipped with electric lights (Journal of Education, September 19, 1907). 

PERSONALS. Miss Sadie Benson returned to Dudley, Mass., Monday to resume her position as teacher in Nichols academy (Brattleboro Reformer, December 6, 1907).

Brattleboro Local. PERSONALS. Miss Sarah Benson came Saturday to spend several weeks with her mother, Mrs. Ann L. Benson. Miss Benson closed her school at Nichols academy. in Dudley, Mass., last week, and went to Northampton to attend her class reunion at Smith college. On her return home she was accompanied by Miss Jane Hunt, of Granby, Mass, who will spend several days with her (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), June 26, 1908).

PERSONALS. Miss Sarah Benson went Monday to Old Orchard, Me., to open her cottage for the season. She was accompanied by her mother, Mrs. A.L. Benson, and Miss Florence Edwards, who will spend a month there (Brattleboro Reformer, July 10, 1908).

PERSONALS. Miss Sarah Benson has closed her cottage at Old Orchard and is visiting at the home of her mother, Mrs. A.L. Benson (Brattleboro Reformer, September 4, 1908).

HURT BY HIGH SCHOOLS. Academy About to Close After Ninety Years of Existence. Dudley, Mass., June 10. — A career of ninety years seems about to be closed for Nichols academy here. They have announced that because of the dwindling in the number of pupils the academy will not open next year. The use of the buildings has been tendered to the town. The trustees place the cause for the decadence of the once powerful preparatory school to the gradual encroachment of public high schools into its territory. The academy was opened in 1819. It reached the height of its career thirty years ago, when 150 pupils were cared for. Today there are but eight (Portsmouth Herald, June 10, 1909).

Adams High School, Adams, MA

WINDHAM COUNTY. BRATTLEBORO. Miss Sarah L. Benson of Brattleboro has been appointed assistant in the English department of the high school in Adams, Mass. Miss Benson is a graduate of Smith college and is a successful teacher (Vermont Journal (Windsor, VT), May 1, 1909).

Catherine M. Phillips, living on her own income, aged seventy-eight years (b. NY), headed an Adam, MA, household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. Her household included her daughters, Helen Phillips, aged forty-one years (b. MA), and Susan Phillips, a public school teacher, aged thirty-nine years (b. MA); her son-in-law, Peter P. Smith, post-master, aged thirty-seven years (b. MA), her daughter [his wife], Sarah Smith, aged thirty-seven years (b. MA), her grandchildren, Catherine Smith, aged six years (b. MA), and T. Stanley Smith, aged two years; and her boarder, Sarah Benson, a public school teacher, aged forty-three years (b. NY). They resided on Crandall Street.

Miss Sarah L. Brown presented a paper entitled Oxford: Town & Gown before the Brattleboro Woman’s Club, April 13, 1910. Her talk was one of many speeches, talks, concerts, and other events presented over a season that ran from November 1909 through April 1910 (Brattleboro Reformer, September 17, 1909).

LOCAL OVERFLOW. At the next regular meeting of the Brattleboro Woman’s club Wednesday, Miss Sarah L. Benson will speak on personal experiences of Oxford, town and gown. At the close of the program the ways and means committee will conduct a sale of home cookery (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), April 8, 1910).

BRATTLEBORO PERSONAL. Mrs. F.W. Benson and Miss Sarah L. Benson went Saturday to their cottage at Old Orchard, Me., where they will spend the summer. Oscar L. Benson and family went to his cottage there Monday, and Mr. and Mrs. W.C. Mitchell will join them Saturday for a few weeks’ stay (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), July 15, 1910).

BRATTLEBORO PERSONAL. Miss Sarah Benson, who had been at Old Orchard, Maine, for the summer vacation, came Wednesday to the home of her mother, Mrs. Ann Benson, and left Monday to resume her work as teacher In North Adams (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), September 8, 1911).

BRATTLEBORO PERSONAL. Miss Sarah Benson has been at home this week from Adams, Mass., where she is a teacher in the public schools (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), March 1, 1912).

BRATTLEBORO PERSONAL. Sarah Benson, the teacher, has returned from Adams, Mass. (Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro, VT), June 28, 1912).

PERSONAL. Miss Sarah Benson has gone to Ware, Mass., to visit a few days before returning to her duties as teacher in Adams, Mass. (Brattleboro Daily Reformer, May 3, 1913).

Lynn, MA

PERSONAL. Miss Sarah Benson, teacher in the high school in Lynn, Mass., is at her home on Oak street for the week-end (Brattleboro Daily Reformer, March 27, 1915).

Sarah L. Benson served on a Boston Playwriter’s Club arrangements committee for a production of three one-act War Relief plays in April 1917. (Her fellow New London boarder of 1900, now Dr. Mary A. Emerson of Boston University, served as the Director) (Boston Globe, April 18, 1917).

Sarah’s stepmother, Ann L. (Fields) Benson, died in Windham, VT, January 6, 1918.

Mrs. Benson Dies. Mrs. Ann Louise Benson, 80, mother of President Oscar F. Benson, of the Valley Fair association, died Sunday noon at her home in Brattleboro. She had been confined to her room for six weeks because of infirmities incident to her advanced age. Mrs. Benson was one of the principal contributors to the support of the Universalist church and was active along various lines of benevolent endeavor. She was a native of Seneca, Mich. She spent her childhood in Troy, N.Y., where she married Frederick W. Benson, a prosperous grocer, who died in 1872. In 1873 she went to Brattleboro. Besides her son she leaves a daughter, Miss Sarah L. Benson, teacher in the classical school in Lynn, Mass. Burial will be in Troy (Rutland News, January 7, 1918).

NUTE CLUB OF BOSTON HAS THIRD ANNUAL DINNER. The third annual meeting and banquet of the Nute Club of Boston, auxiliary to the Nute High School at Milton, N.H., was held last evening at the Thorndike with 50 guests present. Mrs. H.S. Coles presided. Miss Gertrude M. Getchell sang and Mrs. J.J. Buckley played several piano selections. The speakers were: Prof. Clarence E. Kelley of Harvard University, formerly of the Nute High School; Miss Sarah L. Benson, Arthur Barbour of Camp Devens and W.H. Langley of the Charlestown Navy Yard; Miss Mabel Wilbur, Miss Elinor Osborne and Miss Theodora Geraulds. The following officers were elected: Mrs. H. Wilson Ross of Newton, president; Lawrence C. Hayes of the American Expeditionary Forces, now in France, and Mrs. Arthur Thad Smith, vice presidents; Miss Susan P. Haley, Milton, NH., secretary; Arthur D. Brackett, treasurer, and Mrs. Helen M. Cole, Joseph I,. Keller and Walter E. Looney, executive committee (Boston Globe, February 23, 1918).

Alumnae Notes. Class News. 1887. Sarah Benson is teaching in the Lynn Classical High School. Her address is 60 Baltimore St., Lynn, Mass. (Smith College, 1919).

Mary K. Tripp, a widow, aged forty-eight years (b. NY), headed a Lynn, MA, household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. Her household included her mother, Anne M. Kunhardt, a widow, aged seventy-eight years (b. Germany), her housekeeper, Sophie L. Sanford, a private family housekeeper, aged fifty-seven years (b. Canada), and her lodger, Sarah L. Benson, a high school teacher, aged fifty-four years (b. NY). They resided at 11 Baltimore Street.

NUTE HIGH SCHOOL CLUB OF BOSTON MEETS AND DINES. The annual reunion and banquet of the Nute High School Club of Boston, composed of graduates and pupils of the Nute High School at Milton, N.H., took place last night at the Thorndike. Among the 40 guests was Miss Sarah L. Benson of the faculty. Arthur T. Smith was toastmaster. The officers elected are: Mrs. Ora L. Smith of Winchester, president; Lawrence Hayes, Milton. N.H., vice president; Arthur D. Brackett, treasurer, and Miss Susan P. Haley of Rochester, N.H., secretary (Boston Globe, February 21, 1920).

Study Club Hears Miss Sarah Benson An unusually enjoyable meeting was held Saturday afternoon of the Adams Study club at the home of Mrs. Alma Deming of Columbia street. A large number were present and Miss Sarah L. Benson delighted her audience with several stories and verses of her own writing. Miss Benson who was formerly a teacher in Adams High school is now teaching in one of the Lynn schools (North Adams Transcript, October 29, 1923).

[Smith College Class of] 1888. Sarah Benson’s new address is the Chesterfield, 12-1 W. Baltimore St., Lynn, Mass. (Smith Alumnae Quarterly, 1929).

Sarah L. Benson, a high school teacher, aged sixty years, headed a Lynn, MA, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. She resided in a rented apartment at 12 West Baltimore Street.

Sarah taught at the Lynn Classical High School (rather than Lynn English High School). She was a Lynn librarian in 1935. Both the high school and the city library were close to her residences in Baltimore Street and West Baltimore Street.

Sarah removed to Biddeford, ME, circa 1936-37.

Biddeford, ME

Josephine M. Andrews, aged eighty-seven years (b. ME), headed a Biddeford, ME, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. Her household included her daughter, Hazel M. Andrews, aged forty-eight years (b. ME), and her lodger, Sarah L. Benson, aged seventy-four years (b. NY). In answer to a question, Sarah L. Benson had resided in Lynn, MA, on April 1, 1935. She had attended college, through a fifth or subsequent year.

Miss Sarah L. Benson died in the Biddeford, ME, home of Miss Hazel M. Andrews (see 1940 census above) on Sunday morning, October 11, 1953, aged eighty-eight years, five months, and sixteen days.

Obituary. Miss Sarah Benson. Miss Sarah Louise Benson died yesterday in Biddeford, Me., at the age of 92. A native of Troy, Miss Benson at one time taught in the schools of this city. Miss Benson was the daughter of the late Frederick W. Benson and Sarah F. Seabury. Funeral services will be held tomorrow at 2 from the Gardiner Earl Memorial Chapel, Oakwood Cemetery. Interment will be in Oakwood Cemetery (Troy Record, October 12, 1953).

Plan Funeral of Miss Benson. Funeral services for Miss Sarah Benson, 87, a member of former well known Troy family who died Sunday, will be held today, at 2 p.m. at the Earl Chapel in Oakwood Cemetery with Rev. Frederick E. Thalman, rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, officiating. Interment will be in Oakwood. Miss Benson died at Biddeford, Maine, where she has resided for last 16 years. She was born in Troy, April 25, 1865, daughter of the late Frederick Warren and Sarah [SIC] Seabury Benson. She was a direct descendent of Bishop Samuel Seabury, first Episcopal bishop in the United States. She left Troy as a girl and was graduated from Brattleboro, Vt., High School in 1884, and from Smith College in 1888. She received her graduate degree from Oxford University in 1906. Miss Benson taught school at Milton, N.H., Norwich, Conn., and Adams and Lynn, Mass. She is survived by a half-brother, Oscar Frederick Benson, and a niece, Mrs. Edmund T. Manley, both of Longmeadow, Mass (Troy Record, October 13, 1953).

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See also Nute High School Principals, 1891-21 and Miss Benson’s Successors, 1895-14

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References:

Lost New England. (2018, June 27). Lawrence House, Smith College, Northampton, Mass. Retrieved from lostnewengland.com/2018/06/lawrence-house-smith-college-northampton-mass/

Wikipedia. (2019). Normal School. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_school

Wikipedia. (2019, January 31). Norwich Free Academy. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwich_Free_Academy

Wikipedia. (2019, April 2). Smith College. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_College

Wikipedia. (2018, October 17). Thumb Fire. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thumb_Fire

By Muriel Bristol | April 19, 2019

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote the Concord Hymn for the July 4, 1837 dedication of an 1836 monument at the Concord Old North Bridge battle site.

In the early hours of Wednesday, April 19, 1775, British soldiers came across the water from Boston to Charlestown (“two if by sea”) and then on towards Concord, where they intended to seize the colonists’ guns. They first encountered opposition on Lexington Green, which they brushed aside. From there, they marched on towards neighboring Concord.

The Concord militia there opposed the British crossing at Concord’s Old North Bridge, firing the “shot heard round the world.”

Concord Hymn, by Ralph Waldo Emerson

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare,
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.

The British did cross over, but did not get that for which they came. During their retreat from Concord back to Charlestown, ever-increasing swarms of militiamen attacked them.

Two British soldiers of the Fourth Regiment of Foot are buried near the bridge (another in downtown Concord). James Russell Lowell wrote their epitaph:

They came three thousand miles and died,
To keep the past upon its throne.
Unheard beyond the ocean tide,
Their English mother made her moan.

New Hampshire militiamen marched too on news of this British incursion. (The Old North Bridge is 87.5 miles (one hour and twenty minutes by car) from Milton’s Emma Ramsey Center).

Due to the distances involved, most New Hampshire militiamen would have arrived after the pursuit engagement that so damaged the retreating British column. Many of them stayed on for the Siege of Boston that ensued.

References:

National Park Service. (2019). Minute Man National Historical Park. Retrieved from www.nps.gov/mima/index.htm

Wikipedia. (2018, October 20). Concord Hymn. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concord_Hymn

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | April 16, 2019

In this year, we encounter several Milton residents advertising for used furniture and equipment, ice being very much a question, Charles Griffin having a close call, N.B. Thayer & Co. advertising for shoe workers, and the destruction of the Milton Baptist Church building.

(See also Milton in the Veterans Schedule of 1890).

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Elijah T. Libbey, a jeweler, aged thirty-three years (b. ME), headed a Milton Mills household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Ida A. Libbey, keeping house, aged twenty-six years (b. ME), and his son, Aubrey D. Libbey, at school, aged eight years (b. ME).

FURNITURE, ETC. WANTED – A good second-hand roll-top desk (cabinet); parties having same can find purchaser by enclosing cut and stating price. Address E.T. LIBBEY, Milton Mills, N.H. (Boston Globe, January 7, 1890).

E.T. Libbey appeared as a Milton Mills jewelry merchant in the Milton business directories of 1880, 1881, 1882, 1884, 1887, 1889, 1892, 1894, 1898, and 1901. He was also sold confections in and after 1894. He received $604.87 in compensation for being Milton Mills postmaster in 1901.

Elijah T. Libby, a jeweler, died in Milton Mills, NH, in which he had been resident for forty-four years, November 19, 1918. aged seventy-two years and one day. Ida R. (Eastman) Libby died in Milton Mills, April 5, 1930.

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Frank James Bartlett was born in Charlestown, MA, April 16, 1853, son of Nelson and Maria M. (Morrill) Bartlett.

Nelson Bartlett, ice business, aged fifty-four years (b. Canada), headed a Boston, MA, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Maria M. [(Morrill)] Bartlett, keeping house, aged fifty-one years (b. Canada), his son, Frank J. Bartlett, ice business, aged twenty-seven years (b. MA), his daughter-in-law, Lillie M. [(Kendall)] Bartlett, at home, aged nineteen years (b. LA), and his servants, Katie Dunn, aged twenty-two years (b. MA), and Sarah Parsons, aged twenty-four years (b. England).

Gathering in the Harvest. MALDEN. Feb. 9. – Frank J. Bartlett of the Boston Ice Company, who is superintending the cutting of the annual supply for the Boston market at Milton. N.H., states that they have already cut about 20,000 tons, the ice being about 14 inches thick and of excellent quality. About 200 men are employed in harvesting the crop, which will be shipped to Boston by rail. The Boston Ice Company is building several new houses, which they will fill with ice if the weather keeps cool. They have sent a number of men to Alton Bay, N.H. on Lake Winnepesaukee, where they expect to cut about 10,000 tons. Supt. Bartlett states that last year they used about 175,000 tons In Boston alone, and he thinks that it will be impossible to obtain more than 60,000 or 75,000 tons this season unless the weather should suddenly grow cold and continue so for six or seven weeks (Boston Globe, February 10, 1890).

Frank J. Bartlett, an ice dealer, aged forty-seven years (b. MA), headed a Malden, MA, household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Lillie Bartlett, aged thirty-nine years (b. LA); his children, Helen M. Bartlett, at school, aged nineteen years (b. MA), Nelson Bartlett, at school, aged seventeen years (b. MA), Howard Bartlett, at school, aged sixteen years (b. MA), Margarita Bartlett, at school, aged thirteen years (b. MA), and Randolph Bartlett, at school, aged seven years (b. MA); and his servants, Augusta Ackeburg, a servant, aged thirty-three years (b. Sweden), and Susanna Johnson, a servant, aged thirty-one years (b. Sweden).

Frank J. Bartlett died in Malden, MA, July 1, 1936. Lillie M. (Kendall) Bartlett died in Westwood, MA, October 4, 1937.

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Someone in Milton Mills wanted to buy a “detective” camera. Such a camera would have been hand-held, smaller and less conspicuous than a professional box camera and tripod.

WANTED. WANTED – To buy a second-hand detective camera; must be in a good condition and at a low price. X.G.W., Milton Mills, N.H. (Boston Globe, February 20, 1890).

Hmm. G.W.

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The following article speaks to regional ice prospects,  but mentions Milton’s ice harvest near the end of the first paragraph.

THE ICE QUESTION is just now of intense interest to all of this part of the world. In southern New England none has been cut as yet. In central New England none of any amount has been cut, although we have heard of some farmers and dairymen who have stored a summer’s supply of ice from four to six inches in thickness. Northern New England has an abundance and in available locations in Maine and New Hampshire thousands of tons are being cut and stored in houses or stacked till such time as cars can be obtained to transport it, for at present the railroads are inadequate to the demands upon them. A syndicate of New York capitalists is negotiating for the erection of ice houses and storing large quantities of ice in Nova Scotia to ship for consumption during the summer. In the cities and large towns, there will probably be enough ice next summer – but at a high price. The situation, however, is one of much concern to dairymen and creameries. The lakes and ponds where there is ice present very busy sights; men and teams are in demand at large wages, and excited speculators are gambling on the future. Nearly 100 carloads of ice are shipped from Laconia, N.H., daily to Boston over the Concord and Montreal road, besides what is being put into houses and stacked for further delivery. 175,000 tons had been cut in Milton N.H. One Boston company had cut 6500 tons on Lake Winnipesaukee and another has 3000 tons at Waterloo, Me. Spruce lumber has advanced 2000 per thousand feet on the Kennebec. [N.E. Farmer of March 18]

Perhaps never before has there been such a winter, take it altogether, throughout much of the country. It seems almost strange that with the little very cold weather here the ice should be so good. But this is only where there are still bodies of water. If the ice from some of our lakes and ponds could be made available where there is none, it would at such a time be of the greatest importance to such places. Of course it can be and is transported long distances, but it must cost a good sum wherever delivered.

As probably you will be informed by your local correspondent, a considerable amount Is being cut, stored and shipped south from Enosburgh Falls. For a quiet place considerable excitement prevails over this newly developed industry, and as much as possible is being made out of this exigency.

If this feature of the ice business could be depended upon from year to year, then it would be of sufficient importance to develop It, but perhaps another winter there will be plenty further south and no demand for the northern article.

So in this case it will be well to “make hay when the sun shines,” but perhaps in the meantime something of a more permanent character may be evolved, and a new industry developed up here, where ice is nearly always plenty and cheap in winter. (St. Albans Daily Messenger, March 14, 1890).

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Clutched the Pulley and Saved Himself. Mr. Charles Griffin, while engaged in adjusting one of the large pulleys at the leather board mill, Milton, N.H., came near losing his life. He was inside the pulley, and, the gate not shutting tight,, his weight on the front side caused the shaft to start, and his only chance for safety was to clutch the arms of the pulley and revolve with it. It was a desperate move, but he did so, and for two or three minutes rode as fast as a man often has an opportunity of doing. Oscar Hueston discovered the situation and stopped the machinery. Griffin was released from his danger unharmed. – Cor. Boston Herald (Sterling Daily Gazette (Sterling, IL), June 26, 1890)

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The N.B. Thayer & Co. shoe manufacturers mentioned in 1885 set up a shoe manufactory in Milton in the aftermath of the Milton Mills Shoe Strike of 1889

MALE HELP WANTED. WANTED, McKay channeler; also competent man to take charge of small stock room, on misses’ and children’s work; must understand fitting from the side. N.B. THAYER, & CO., Milton, N.H. (Boston Globe, September 17, 1890).

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The exceedingly unfortunate Elgin J. Burns died in a horrible elevator accident in Boston, MA, on Thursday, October 30, 1890, aged twenty-seven years and two days. (Yes, two days after his birthday).

Summary of News. Elgin Burns, 26 years old, went from Milton. N.H., to be the janitor of an apartment house on Marlboro street, Boston. Last Thursday morning, while looking down into the elevator well through a window, he had his head cut off (Argus & Patriot (Montpelier, VT), November 5, 1890).

He was born in Milford, NH, in October 1863, son of Jason T. and Eliza (Hutchinson) Burns. He was single. (It may just be that the newspaper reporter or typesetter mistook or confused Milford and Milton).

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The Milton Baptist Church building was totally consumed by fire in December 1890. The parsonage remained standing,

MILTON. The fire fiend made its appearance in our village, last Friday night, and totally destroyed the Freewill Baptist church. Flames were discovered issuing from the front windows about 11:30. A large crowd collected but the fire had secured so strong a hold that it was impossible to save anything from the building.  The attention of the engine company was directed to the parsonage, and aide by the coating of snow and ice on the roof, that escaped destruction. Rev. Mr. Manter and family occupied the house and the larger portion of their furniture was removed until the immediate danger was over, when willing hands speedily returned them. The cause of the fire is unknown. There had been no fire in the furnace since the previous Sunday, and for the meeting that evening there was but a light wood fire, which was practically out when the house was left. The loss will not be far from $4,000, and there was no insurance on the building or contents. Much credit is due the members of the fire department for their labors, and the thanks of Mr. Manter and his family are exten[d]ed to all who assisted them on the occasion. The Baptist society have accepted the offer of Burley & Usher and will hold their regular Sunday services in the packing room of the shoe factory, commencing next Sunday (Farmington News, [Friday,] December 12, 1890).

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Previous in sequence: Milton in the News – 1889; next in sequence: Milton in the News – 1891

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References:

Camera Wiki. (2018, November 25). Detective Camera. Retrieved from camera-wiki.org/wiki/Detective_camera

Find a Grave. (2013, August 14). Elijah L. Libby. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/115423048

Find a Grave. (2016, February 27). Frank James Bartlett. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/158669628

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | April 14, 2019

The Eleventh (1890) Federal Census was largely destroyed in two fires. Many “Special” detail schedules burned at the Department of the Interior in March 1896. Much of the general population portion of the census burned in a fire at the Department of Commerce building on January 10, 1921. Surviving records were destroyed by the Federal government in 1934 [!]. Very little remains of the 1890 census.

One of the very few portions to survive these fires and intentional destruction was the 1890 Civil War Veterans’ Special detail schedules. (The Home number, Family number, and Post Office information refer to the corresponding, but now missing, general population schedules).

Extracted here are the six pages (75 entries) of Civil War veterans residing in Milton. Milton’s Civil War participation would not be limited to these names. One would have to survive the war, as well as the intervening 25 years, and be still resident in Milton, in order to have been enumerated in this list.

Men who served from other places and moved to Milton during the post-war years would appear also in this list. Milton men who had moved to other places would not appear in this list.

The local Grand Army of the Republic [G.A.R.] veterans’ post 89 was named after Eli Wentworth of Milton, who died in Millville, MS, while serving in the Sixth NH Regiment.

Eli Wentworth, son of Ichabod H. Wentworth, was born in Milton, February 19, 1821, and died July 18, 1863, at Millville, Mississippi. He was quartermaster of the Sixth New Hampshire Regiment of Volunteers in the civil war, and died in the service, and his body was brought to Milton for interment. He lived at Milton, New Hampshire, and was a prominent citizen. He was a manufacturer of boots and shoes. He represented his district in the state legislature four years and the state senate. He was an active and influential Republican. He was a prominent member of the Baptist church and superintendent of its Sunday school. He married July 23, 1843, Mehitable Jane Howe, daughter of Jonathan Howe. After his death she lived at South Milton. Children: Clara Anna, born November 26, 1844; married May 26, 1865, Daniel S. Burley (see Burley); Charles Walker, born April 21, 1853; resides with his sister (Cutter, 1908).

These are the men and women who would have belonged to the Eli Wentworth Post, G.A.R. [Grand Army of the Republic] and the Woman’s Relief Corps [G.A.R. Auxiliary], in the Societies section of the business directories of 1898, 1901, and 1904.

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Eleventh Census of the United States

SPECIAL SCHEDULE

SURVIVING SOLDIERS, SAILORS, AND MARINES, AND WIDOWS, ETC.

Persons who served in the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps of the United States during the war of the rebellion (who are survivors), and widows of such persons, in Milton, County of Strafford, State of NH., enumerated in June, 1890. Bard B. Plummer, Enumerator.

[Column Headings:] From Schedule No. 1, Home No., Family No.; Names of Surviving Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Widows; Rank; Company; Name of Regiment or Vessel; Date of Enlistment; Date of Discharge; Length of Service; Post Office Address; Disability Incurred; Remarks

[Page 1]

1. 4,4; Downs, John H.; private; D; 5th N.H. Inf.; 14 Aug. 1863; 5 June 1865; 1, 10, 11; Milton, N.H.
2. 7,7; Langdon, Harry; pri.; E; 30 Mass. Inf.; Apr. 1861; 1865;; Farmington, N.H.
3. 14,14; Mott, Pirkins W.; pri.; H; 5 N.H. Inf.; 23 Aug. 1864; 8 June 1865;; Farmington, N.H.
4. 24,24; Mills, Nancy M., formerly widow Hawkin, John;;;;;; Union, N.H.
5. 27,27; Downs, Henry; Private; A; 5th N.H. Inf.; 3 Sepm. 1861; 10 Oct. 1862;; Milton, N.H.
6. 29,29; Duntley, Ira W.; Sol. U.S.; K; 1 N.H. Cav.; 7 Oct. 1861; 4 Dec. 1864;; Milton, N.H.
7. 30,31; Kimball, Daniel; Pri.;; 27 Me. Inf.; 1 Apr. 1865; 19 May 1865;; Milton, [N.H.]
8. 33,35; Staples, George H.; Sol. U.S.;;;;; Milton, N.H.
9. 34,36; Cutter, Lewis; Priv.; A; 17 N.H. Inf.; 15 Sept. 1863; Apr. 1854;; [Milton, N.H.]
10. 35,37; Corson, John S.; Priv.; D; 1 N.H. Art.; 28 Aug. 1864; 15 June 1865;; [Milton, N.H.]
11. 35,37; Mary E., widow Nutter, Thomas; wid. Sol. U.S.;;;;; [Milton, N.H.]
12. 36,38; Downs, Hanson; Sol. U.S.;;;;; [Milton, N.H.]

[Page 2]

1. 37,39; Hannah M., widow Drew, Asa B.; Priv,; M; 1 N.H. Art; 28 Dec. 1863; 8 June 1865;; Milton, N.H.
2. 38,40; Brown, Robert; Sol. U.S.;; 2 N.H. Inf.;;;; [Milton, N.H.]
3. 40,42; Wentworth, George C.S.; Priv,; B; 12 Mass.;;;; [Milton, N.H.]
4. 42,44; Downs, Albert F.; Priv,; D; 1 N.H. Art.; 28 Aug, 1864; 15 June 1865;; [Milton, N.H.]
5. 44,45; Jordan, George I.; Sol. U.S.;;;;;; [Milton, N.H.]
6. 52,55; Nutter, Lyman S.; Priv.; A; 5 N.H. Inf.; 21 Sep. 1861; 23 Sep. 1863;; [Milton, N.H.]
7. 58,64; Thompson, Otis S.; Sol. U.S.;;;;; [Milton, N.H.]
8. 61,57; Bragdon, Stephen M.; Private; E; 5 Mass. Inf.; Apr. 1861; Aug. 1861;; [Milton, N.H.]
9. 64; 61; Mary A., widow Gerrish, Henry P.; Private; E; 5 Mass. Inf.; 12 Aug. 1861;;;[Milton, N.H.]
10. 65; 72; Dyson, Leitha M., for wid. Batter, Eugene; Corp.; A; N.H. Inf.; 4 Nov. 1861; 15 June 1862; [Milton, N.H.]
11. 66; 74; Duntley, John H.; Priv.; A; 5 N.H. Inf.;;; [Milton, N.H.]
12. 72; 80; Moon, William E.; Priv.; D; 5 N.H. Inf.; 14 Aug. 63; 25 May 1865; [Milton, N.H.]
13. 67; 75; Jones, Christopher L.; Sol. U.S.;;;;; [Milton, N.H.]
14. 73; 81; Tebbets, Abbie, for w. Colby, Seth M.; Priv; K; 8 Me. Inf.; 14 Aug. 1862; 20 May 1865; [Milton, N.H.]

[Page 3]

1. 75; 83; Green, Sarah J., for w. Libbey, Alva M.; Sol. U.S.;;;;; Milton, N.H.
2. 80; 89; Pinkham, John P.; Priv.; A; 5 N.H. Inf.; 25 Oct. 1861; 13 Oct, 1864; [Milton, N.H.]
3. 98; 110; Sarah M., wid. Miller, Robert; Lieut.; A; 2 N.H. Inf.; 10 May 1861; 1864; [Milton, N.H.]
4. 99; 111; Avery, Bracket F.; Priv.; D; 1 N.H. Art.; 2 Sep. 1864; 15 June 1865; [Milton, N.H.]
5. 100; 112; Hodgdon, George F.; Sol. U.S.;;;;; [Milton, N.H.]
6. 103; 116; French, Charles H.; Sol. U.S.;;;;; [Milton, N.H.]
7. 106; 119; Wentworth, Daniel; Priv.; A; 12 N.H. Inf.; 5 Aug. 1861; Sep. 1863; [Milton, N.H.]
8. 109; 122; Knox, Hosea B.; Priv.;; 3 N.H.;;; [Milton, N.H.]
9. 110; 123; Jones, George R.; Priv.; A; 5 N.H. Inf.; 9 Sep. 1861; 9 Apr. 1863; [Milton, N.H.]
10. 111; 124; Annie M., wid. Kimball; Sol. U.S.;;;;; [Milton, N.H.]
11. 115; 129; Philbrook, Henry; Priv.; A; 1 N.H. Art.; 17 July 1863; 11 Sep. 1865; Milton Mills, N.H.
12. 116; 130; Philbrook, Daniel; Sol. U.S.;;;;; Milton Mills, N.H.
13. 118; 132; Wentworth, Orange; Priv.; F; 8 Me. Inf.; Sep. 1862; June 1865; Milton Mills, N.H.
14. 121; 135; Varney, John B.; Priv.; M; 1 N.H. Art.; 4 Jan. 1864; 10 June 1865; Union, N.H.

[Page 4]

1. 126; 141; Mahitabale, widow Wentworth, Eli; 1 Lieut.; 6 N.H. Inf.;;; Milton, N.H.
2. 132; 148; Abbie, widow, Ellis, Eperam; Priv.; 4; 1 N.H. Inf.;;; Milton, N.H.
3. 134; 150; Cook, Ira H.; Priv.; L; 4 Mass. Art.; 17 Aug. 1864; 1 July 1865; Farmington, N.H.
4. 135; 151; Emery, Daniel E.; Priv.; A; 4 N.H. Inf.; 12 Sep. 1861; 5 Oct. 1862; Farmington, N.H.
5. 138; 153; Johnson, James W.; Sol. U.S.;;;;; [Farmington, N.H.]
6. 152; 167; Doughty, Julius H.; Priv.; E; 30 Me. Inf.; 8 Oct. 1864; 20 July 1865; [Farmington, N.H.]
7. 153; 168; Curtis, Rufus; Priv.; 4; 4 N.H. Inf.;;; [Farmington, N.H.]
8. 154; 169; Amasine, Henery C.; Sol. U.S.; I; 8 N.H. Inf.;; July 186_; [Farmington, N.H.]
9. 155; 170; Miller, Joseph; Priv.; I; 8 N.H. Inf.;;; [Farmington, N.H.]
10. 157; 172; Garland, Dudley; Priv.; I; 10 N.H. Inf.; 28 Sep. 1862;; [Farmington, N.H.]

[Page 5]

1. 157; 172; Frost, Horace; Priv.; G; 4 N.H. Inf.; 13 Sep. 1861; 27 Sep. 1864; Farmington, N.H.
2. 158; 173; Staples, Jacob F.; Priv.; D; 1 N.H. Art.; 2 Sep. 1864; June 1865; Milton, N.H.
3. 167; 182; Hurd, William H.; Sailor;;;;; Farmington, N.H.
4. 170; 185; Cook, John I.; Priv,; I; 13 N.H. Inf.; Aug. 1862; July 1865; Farmington, N.H.
5. 177; 192; Ricker, Huntress; Priv.;;;;; Milton, N.H.
6. 177; 192; Burrows, Alvah G.; Sol. U.S.;;;;; Milton, N.H.
7. 189; 204; Pillsbury, William E.; Priv.; H; 3 Me. Inf.; 6 June 1862; 4 June 1863; Milton Mills, N.H.
8. 190; 205; Cloutman, James A.; Priv.; K; 85 Ohio Inf.; 4 Mch. 186_; 21 Sep. 1865; Milton Mills, N.H.
9. 191; 206; Berry, Charles J.; Sol. U.S.;;;;; Milton Mills, N.H.
10. 200; 211; Randal, Aaron W.; Priv.; B; 1 U.S. Art.; 21 Dec. 1863; 28 Jan. 1865; Milton Mills, N.H.
11. 214; 229; Marsh, John E.; Priv.; F; 5 N.H. Inf.; 21 Dec. 1863; 28 Jan. 1865; Milton Mills, N.H.
12. 243; 258; Twombly, Stephen E.; Lieut.; A; 5 N.H. Inf.;;; Milton, N.H.

[Page 6]

1. 244; 259; Nancy J., widow, Dixon, Ichabod; Priv.; K; 1 N.H. Cav.; Oct. 1861;; Milton, N.H.
2. 253; 269; Elisa, widow, Fernald, Eli; Sol. U.S.;; 1 N.H. Art.;;; Milton, N.H.
3. 284; 300; Merrill, Alby; Priv.; H; 5 Me. Inf.; Feby. 1864; 27 July 1865; Milton Mills, N.H.
4. 286; 303; Wentworth, Reuben J.; Priv.; K; 9 N.H. Inf.; June 1862; June 1865; Milton Mills, N.H.
5. 288; 305; Page, Josiah E.; Priv.; C; 9 N.H. Inf.; June 1862; June 1865; Milton Mills, N.H.
6. 297; 314; Sibley, Mark N.; Sol. U.S.;; Mass.;;; Milton Mills, N.H.
7. 303; 320; Page, John W.; Sol. U.S.;; Mass.;;; Milton Mills, N.H.
8. 304; 321; Hooper, Samuel; Priv.; B; 5 Me. Inf; 27 June 1861; 28 Mch. 1863; Milton Mills, N.H.
9. 318; 335; Hillingsworth, James; Priv.; A; 12 Me. Inf.; Mch. 1864; Apr. 1866; Milton Mills, N.H.
10. 321; 338; Johnson, Joseph W.; Priv.;; 1 N.H. Art.;;; Milton, N.H.
11. 323; 340; Ann, widow, Hersom, George L.; Lieut.; A; 5 Me. Inf.; 2 Nov. 1861; 22 Nov. 1863; Milton, N.H.
12. 340; 357; Twombly, James L.; K; 3 N.H. Inf.; 20 Aug. 1861; 20 Aug. 1864; Milton, N.H.
13. 341; 358; Kenney, Herman E.; Sol. U.S.;;;;; Milton, N.H.

[Errors excepted]

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References:

Cutter, William R.. (1908). Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=H89DXKVm4qcC&pg=PA1897

US Archives. (1996). First in the Path of the Firemen. Retrieved from www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1996/spring/1890-census-1.html

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | April 11, 2019

In this year, we encounter two Vermont ladies seeking work, a dreadful child, some horse trading, a grocery bankruptcy, the Carricabe paper mill restarting, and a Gloucester ice shortage being supplied at Milton.

(This was also the year of the Milton Mills Shoe Strike of 1889).

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Here we find two Vermont ladies seeking work as “factory girls” in Milton. It might be that they were drawn by the Varney & Lane factory opening in Milton Mills at this time.

TUNBRIDGE. Miss Carrie Drew and Della Corliss have gone to Milton, N.H. to work in a shop ((Randolph, VT) Herald and News, January 2, 1889).

Della Corliss, at least, did not remain here. (Perhaps because of the strike). She went on to Massachusetts. She returned to her North Tunbridge, VT, home “for a while,” in August 1893, due to the financial Panic of 1893.

Several are coming here [North Tunbridge] from Massachusetts, on account of the shutting down of the factories (Randolph Herald & News, August 10, 1893).

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Curious Condensations was this Pennsylvania paper’s standard heading for out-of-the-ordinary stories, of which this nationally-copied article was just one.

CURIOUS CONDENSATIONS. A mischievous youngster in Milton, N.H., saturated the tail of the family dog with kerosene and then applied a match. The dog ran off frantically, and, rubbing against a haystack, $150 worth of property was burned (Pittsburgh Dispatch, February 21, 1889).

Curious indeed, but “mischievous” hardly tells the tale. Horrible or monstrous would be more like it.

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Milton farmers had always an eye for a good horse. Hiram V. Wentworth was taxed as a retail horse dealer and Enoch W. Plummer was taxed for his somehow-special stallion in Milton’s US Excise Tax of May 1864.

HORSE GOSSIP. Points from Track and Stable About Noted Flyers and Drivers. H.H. Berry, Milton Mills, N.H., has sold to F.H. Smith, Cambridge, Mass., the horse Forestwood, by Redwood, dam by Coupon (Burlington Free Press, May 3, 1889).

Hiram Hussey Berry was born in Milton, NH, in October 1853, son of Jonathan and Eliza W. (Hussey) Berry.

Hiram H. Berry, a farmer, aged twenty-six years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Mary J. [(Hanson)] Berry, keeping house, aged twenty-nine years (b. NH).

Milton horses are mentioned occasionally in accounts of agricultural fairs and stake races.

They Are Trotting at Saco. Saco. Me., June 19. The June races of the Saco Driving Association began this afternoon. Out of the 13 entries in the 2.50 class there were five starters. The bay gelding Barney L., owned by P.H. Lennon of Portland, won; bay mare Misfortune, owned by M. Leonard of Providence, was second; Kate R. of Biddeford was third; Blacksmith of Rochester was fourth; Iron Age of Milton Mills was distanced. Best time 2.40. There were five starters in the 2.35 class. Harry D. of Dover. N.H., won in three straight heats; Frank A. of Cornish second; Kite of Portland third; Gray Bunker of Portland fourth; Fannie W. of Falmouth fifth. Time 2.39. 2.36¾, 2.40. Tomorrow afternoon the 2.40 and 2.26 classes will be trotted (Boston Globe, June 20, 1889).

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The following troubled Milton Mills grocery business (Pettingell & Brown) was not listed in any of the Milton business directories. There may have been a good reason for that. One of its partners at least, Henry A. Pettingell, seems to have been a peddler.

Henry Augustus Pettingell was born in Dedham, MA, January 13, 1854. son of Augustus T. and Sarah D. (Snell) Pettingell. He married in West Roxbury, MA, September 15, 1875, Phebe Bartlett Bailey Vinal.

Henry Pettingill, a dry goods peddler, aged twenty-six years (b. MA), headed a Dedham, MA, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Phoebe Pettingill, keeps house, aged twenty-eight years (b. MA), and his daughter, Mary D. Pettingill, aged three years (b. MA). Phoebe Pettingill was suffering from the “disability” of being “pregnant.” (Their second child, Theodore T. Pettingill, would be born in August).

A peddler (or pedler or pedlar), as opposed to a storekeeper, would travel about the countryside in his wagon. (The guests at the Milton Mills Hotel in 1860 were nearly all pedlers). Here follow several contemporary advertisements for such rigs as they would have used.

PEDLAR’S TEAM – Bay French horse, good pattern, excellent worker, 8 years old, weighs about 1000 pounds, stands without tying, and is free from tricks, with light Concord express wagon, made for a pedler, without boxes, and harness (Boston Post, 1880).

FOR SALE. Light express wagon, suitable for grocery or pedler. 818 Shawmut av. (Boston Globe, November 18, 1889).

Daughter Mary D. Pettingell died in Weymouth, MA, October 6, 1886, which suggests that the family still lived in Norfolk County as late as that. However, the fourth child, Ralph D. Pettingell, was born in Acton, ME, August 8, 1889.

Pettingell’s partner, Mr. Brown, has not been identified. Their business was probably active in Milton Mills and vicinity between about 1887 and 1889. Mr. Pettingell resided in Acton, ME.

Business Troubles. Firms Forced to Assign Under Stress of Financial Storms. Pettingill & Brown, grocers, Milton Mills, N.H., have failed. They owe $4500; assets $2100 (Boston Globe, May 7, 1889).

PRESSED FOR TIME AND MONEY. Financial Embarrassments of Firms and Individuals. Pettengill & Brown of Milton Mills write THE GLOBE that the report of their failure is false (Boston Globe, May 9, 1889).

Nevertheless,

BUSINESS TROUBLES. Financial Difficulties Reported in Various Trades. The Boston creditors of H.A. Pettingell of the firm of Pettingell & Brown, grocers, Milton Mills, N.H., held a meeting in this city yesterday at the New England Furniture Exchange. The committee reported the liabilities as $4180. Assets, varied and uncertain. Mr. Pettingell made an offer of 25 cents on a dollar, and the committee recommended its acceptance. All present signed the composition paper (Boston Globe, June 6, 1889).

Henry Pettingell and family were back in Dedham by the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census, in which his occupation was given as grocery clerk. He died in Dedham, MA, in 1927.

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John M. Carricabe’s Milton paper mill was running night and day in November 1888. After which it appears to have shut down for several months.

NEW ENGLAND NEWS. The paper mill at Carricabe’s works, Milton, N.H, will start again soon, after having been shut down several months (Londonderry Sifter (South Londonderry, VT), June 27, 1889).

A thumbnail sketch of Mr. Carricabe appeared in our last – Milton in the News – 1888 – to which one might refer for further details. He would be “remembered as the pioneer of the leather-board industry” (Nickelson, 1921).

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Here we learn of yet another ice company, the Fernwood Lake Ice Company of West Gloucester, MA, obtaining a supply of ice at Milton.

ICE SCARCE IN GLOUCESTER. Dealers Obliged to Get Their Supply In New Hampshire. Gloucester, Nov. 15. There is a scarcity of ice in Gloucester. It is estimated that over 25,000 tons are taken from here each year by the fishing fleet and fresh fish houses, and at least 10,000 tons more are purchased in various parts of the maritime provinces. The demand is increasing and the sales this year have been greater than ever before. The Fernwood Lake Ice Company, with a house at West Gloucester having a capacity of 40,000 tons, has about 100 tons of ice in stock and are supplying their trade with ice from Milton, N.H. Inquiry at the office of Nathaniel Webster, who, with the Fernwood company, furnish the entire supply of the town, shows that Mr. Webster’s stock on hand is about 1000 tons, 300 of which is thick ice. This is the first time since the Fernwood company has been in business that the stocks have been so low. Within a few weeks it is probable that there will not be a pound of Cape Ann ice remaining unsold (Boston Globe, November 16, 1889).

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The Kimball Brothers did not take up the proffered free Milton Mills factory in November 1888. The Varney & Lane company set up there instead.

MALE HELP WANTED. CUTTERS wanted on grain and gl. grain piece work, at VARNEY & LANE’S, Milton Mills, N.H.; also 3 good closers-on; come ready for work (Boston Globe, May 30, 1889).

Charles Wesley Varney was born in North Berwick, ME, July 30, 1838, son of Calvin and Eliza (Nowell) Varney.

He married Ellen N. Lane. She was born in Exeter, NH, November 17, 1840, daughter of Elbridge G. and Elizabeth M. (Moses) Lane.

Charles W. Varney, a shoe manufacturer, aged forty-one years (b. MA [SIC]), headed a Lynn, MA, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Ellen N. Varney, at home, aged thirty-eight years (b. NH); his children, Louise N. Varney, at school, aged sixteen years (b. NH), Lucia D. Varney, at school, aged thirteen years (b. NH), Fred L. Varney, at school, aged nine years (b. MA), Ada M. Varney, at school, aged six years (b. MA), and Ralph W. Varney, at home, aged ten months (b. A); his brother-in-law, Elbridge G. Lane, a clerk in store, aged thirty years (b. NH); his boarder, Ida Lane, at home, aged twenty-eight years (b. ME); and his servants, Sarah Willey, a servant, aged sixty-five years (b. NH), and Maggie Healey, a servant, aged twenty years (b. Ireland). They resided at 7 Commercial Street in Lynn, MA.

The Milton Mills Shoe Strike of 1889 commenced against Varney & Lane in November 1889.

Charles W. Varney died in Westborough, MA, March 30, 1915. Ellen N. (Lane) Varney died in Winnetka, IL, February 17, 1928.

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Previous in sequence: Milton in the News – 1888; next in sequence: Milton in the News – 1890

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References:

Find a Grave. (2010, February 21). Charles Wesley Varney. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/48416695

Find a Grave. (2014, August 1). Henry A. Pettingell. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/133645604

Find a Grave. (2006, March 8). John M. Carrecabe. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/13564761

Nickelson & Collins. (1921). Leather & Shoes. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=E5o7AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA33

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | April 7, 2019

In this year, we encounter the sale of a Milton Mills fish market, Rev. C.E. Hurd’s call to the Milton Mills Free-Will Baptist Church, the death of Lewis W. Nute, the Carracabe paper mills running full steam, an unfortunate drowning death, and the first “encouraging” offer of a free mill building.

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Milton Mills had two fish markets. After all, it was a lively place. The one offered for sale here had the option also of team of horses, which would presumably be used to pick up the fish and oysters at the Union railroad station.

FISH AND OYSTER MARKET for sale, in a lively town in N.H.; doing good business; will sell with or without team; good reasons for selling; will sell cheap. “F.J.W.,” box 232, Milton Mills, N.H. (Boston Globe, March 9, 1888).

The advertiser used pseudonymous initials, but this was likely E. Trefethen.

E. Trefethen appeared as a Milton Mills fish merchant in the Milton business directories of 1880, 1881, 1882, 1884, and 1887, but not thereafter. The competing fish store, run by John F. “Frank” Archibald, continued.

(See also the Milton Mills Oyster Fritters Recipe of 1895).

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Rev. Charles E. Hurd took up the pulpit of the Milton Mills Baptist Church in this year.

He was born in Gilmanton, NH, May 1, 1838, son of Caleb and Judith C. (Allen) Hurd. He married in Gilmanton, NH, February 25, 1859, Anna A. Drake. She was born in Chichester, NH, December 28, 1843, daughter of Josiah W. and Eunice D. (Lake) Drake.

He enlisted in Company D of the 4th NH Regiment, September 13, 1861, and remained with them until mustered out, August 23, 1865.

Religious Intelligence. Rev. C.E. Hurd of North Tunbridge has accepted a call to the Free Baptist church at Milton Mills, N.H. (Burlington Free Press, April 9, 1888).

He would go next to Limerick, ME, in 1890. Anna A. (Drake) Hurd died in Windsor, VT, May 21, 1908. He died in Windsor, VT, January 26, 1911.

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Milton’s famous benefactor, Lewis W. Nute, was born in West Milton, NH, February 17, 1820, son of Ezekiel and Dorcas (Worster) Nute.

Lewis Worster Nute was a namesake for his maternal uncle, Lewis Worster, who was born in Milton, NH, April 4, 1815, and died there as an infant, December 18, 1815. Another maternal uncle, Isaac Worster, Jr., was an early and ardent Milton abolitionist. His maternal grandfather, Isaac Worster, was a proprietor of the Milton Social Library.

It was said of him that he was “… not highly favored as regards educational privileges, being permitted to attend school only about six weeks each winter. He was so studious, however, and made such use of the limited opportunities offered that at the age of nineteen he engaged in teaching, continuing that occupation during two terms” (Hurd, 1882).

He died on what is now the Nute Ridge Road, in West Milton, NH, October 20, 1888, aged sixty-eight years, nine months, and three days.

LEWIS W. NUTE DEAD. Boston’s Big Leather Dealer Expires at His Home. Dover, N.H., Sept. 5. Lewis W. Nute died this morning at the homestead at Milton. When a young man Mr. Nute went to Boston to work for the leather firm of Potter & Co. He worked there several years, when be was taken sick and nearly died. When he recovered he found all his bills paid and he was a silent partner in the firm. He was considered the best judge of leather in Boston. Shortly afterwards the name of the firm was changed to Nute, Potter, White, & Bailey. He stayed with them some years then sold out and went into business for himself with an office in Boston and manufactory in Natick, and five years ago he started the shop in Dover (Boston Globe, September 5, 1888).

TELEGRAPHIC SUMMARY, ETC. The late Lewis Nute, of Milton, N.H., left $25,000 for building a schoolhouse at that place, and $100,000 as a permanent fund for maintaining the school, in addition to numerous other public bequests (Baltimore Sun, November 6, 1888).

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John M. Carrecabe was born in France, in October 1838, son of John M. and Rose Carrecabe.

John M. Carracabe, a morocco dresser, aged twenty-seven years, married in Lynn, MA, June 29, 1872, Louisa Potter, aged eighteen years, both of Lynn. She was born in Nova Scotia, in 1854, daughter of Polonius and Ellen M. Potter.

John M. Carracabe, a junk dealer, aged thirty-six years (b. France), headed a Lynn, MA, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Annie L. Carracabe, keeping house, aged twenty-five years (b. Nova Scotia), his children, John A. Carracabe, aged five years (b. MA), Mary E. Carracabe, aged three years (b. MA), Arthur M. Carracabe, aged two years, and <blank> Carracabe, aged one month, and his servant, Hannah Cahill, a domestic servant, aged fifteen years (b. Ireland). They resided on High Rock Avenue.

NEW ENGLAND NEWS. The Carricabe paper works in Milton, N.H., are being run day and night (Essex County Herald, November 2, 1888).

The Carricabe paper mill would suspend production for some months in early 1889.

John M. Carracabe, a leather dealer, aged sixty-one years (b. France), headed a Lynn, MA, household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Annie L. Carracabe, aged forty-five years (b. Canada (Fr.)), his children, Mary E. Carracabe, aged twenty-three years, Espert W. Carracabe, a clerk, aged twenty years, Sabrina J. Carracabe, at school, aged eighteen years, and Annie L. Carracabe, at school, aged sixteen years, and his brother-in-law, Frederick Potter, a shoe stock fitter, aged nineteen years (b. MA). They resided at 324 Western Avenue.

John M. Carrecabe died in Lynn, MA, in 1918. In 1921, he was “remembered as the pioneer of the leather-board industry” (Nickelson, 1921). Annie L. (Potter) Carrecabe died in 1934.

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Robert L. Knight was born in Milton, NH, in 1848, son of Stephen H. and Louisa (Clarey) Knight. He married in Rochester, NH, December 28, 1867, Marilla M. Leighton. She was born in Lebanon, ME, July 18, 1849, daughter of Lewis L. and Lucinda J. (Jones) Leighton.

Robert Knight, works on shoes, aged thirty-two years (b. NH), headed a Milton (“Milton 3-Ponds Village”) household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Marilla Knight, keeping house, aged thirty-one years (b. ME), and his children, Wilbur C. Knight, at school, aged nine years (b. NH), and Addie F. Knight, at school, aged five years (b. NH). They shared a two-family dwelling with the household of Adelbert Leighton, works on shoes, aged twenty-eight years (b. NH). His household included his wife, Mary P. Leighton, keeping house, aged twenty-eight years (b. MA), and his parents, Lewis L. Leighton, runs pegging machine, aged fifty-four years (b. NH), and Lucinda J. Leighton, keeping house, aged fifty-eight years (b. ME). The census taker enumerated their dwelling between those of Daniel Jenness, a farmer, aged seventy-four years (b. NH), and Stephen Twombly, works on shoes, aged forty years (b. NH).

NEW ENGLAND NEWS. Robert L. Knight of Milton, N.H.. a shoemaker, left his home recently to visit Great Falls. His body was found in the river about 200 feet north of the bridge. There were no marks of violence on the body, and nothing in its appearance to indicate foul play. It is quite evident that he accidentally fell into the river and was drowned (Londonderry Sifter (South Londonderry, VT), November 22, 1888).

Marilla M. (Leighton) Knight married (2nd) in Dover, NH, September 28, 1898, Jeremiah Mahoney, she of Milton and he of Dover. They were living in Salem, MA, in 1900.

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The Kimball Brothers company had factories in Lynn and Haverhill, MA, as well as Gardiner, ME. (They were one of the Lynn factories against whom the Lynn Knights of Labor initiated a shoe strike in 1885).

NEW ENGLAND NEWS. Kimball Bros., among the oldest and best known of Haverhill, Mass., shoe manufacturers, contemplate moving a portion of their business, at least, to Milton, N.H., and have under consideration the offer of a three-story factory building there. If they make the change it will effect a great saving in the amount of wages, rent, taxes, power, etc., and would probably ultimate in the removal of their entire business from Haverhill (Londonderry Sifter (South Londonderry, VT), November 22, 1888).

The Kimball Brothers firm did not end up moving their entire business to Milton, nor even a portion of it. It would be the Varney & Lane company that moved a portion of their business to Milton Mills in the following year. (They were offered the additional inducement of ten years without taxation). (See also the Milton Mills Shoe Strike of 1889).

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Previous in sequence: Milton in the News – 1887; next in sequence: Milton in the News – 1889

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References:

Find a Grave. (2006, March 8). John M. Carrecabe. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/13564761

Find a Grave. (2010, May 3). Rev. Charles Edwin Hurd. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/51940485

Find a Grave. (2011, February 28). Robert L. Knight. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/66261217

Hurd, D. Hamilton. (1882). History of Strafford County, New Hampshire. J.W. Lewis & Co.: Philadelphia, PA

Luce & Bridge. Twenty Thousand Rich New Englanders: A List of Taxpayers who Were Assessed in 1888 to Pay a Tax of One Hundred Dollars or More. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=aAkPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA10

Nickelson & Collins. (1921). Leather & Shoes. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=E5o7AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA33

 

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | April 4, 2019

In this year, we encounter NH’s House Judiciary Committee investigating the alleged “corrupt methods and attempted bribery” associated with the so-called Hazen Bill (HB 28) of the prior year. That bill permitted consolidation of State-granted NH railroad leases.

NH Governor Charles H. Sawyer had vetoed the Hazen Bill (HB 28) in October of the prior year. His veto message remarked that

To my mind it has been conclusively shown that there have been deliberate and systematic attempts at wholesale bribery of the servants of the people in the legislature. It matters not that both of the parties are probably equally guilty.

Here we find John W. Sanborn, superintendent of the Northern Division of the B&M Railroad, testifying before the House Judiciary Committee. He explains that about forty members of the legislature had been “under pay” of the railroad. He began by identifying several committee members, including Hon. Luther Hayes of Milton, as not having been one of those “under pay.”

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HUNTING FOR BRIBES. Testimony Showing How Various People Profited by the Fight. Concord, N.H., Oct. 18. – The judiciary committee of the house appointed to investigate the charge of bribery of members of the legislature met this afternoon. John W. Sanborn was sworn: I am superintendent of the Northern division, Boston & Maine railroad; can’t give names of all parties that have been in the employ of the Boston & Maine during the session of the Legislature to secure the passage of the Hazen bill; there have been several here who have not been under pay; among these are John W. Wheeler of Salem, A.A. Woolson of Lisbon, Luther Hayes of Milton and others whose names I do not recall; I told Mr. Sulloway that if he knew anybody that would help us, to ask them to come: I think we have had some 40 under pay, perhaps more; not many more, however; we have not had a quarter as many as the Concord road; I told Newton Johnson of Portsmouth he might employ one or two men; Mr. Johnson has reported to me the names of those he has employed; Mr. Sulloway has not; I employed Edgar Aldrich and his partner, Mr. Drew and his partner, Mr. Briggs, John P. Bartlett, and Charles H. Bartlett of Manchester; George A. Ramsdell of Nashua; John Kivel and J.C. Caverly of Dover; Aaron Young and Newton Johnson of Portsmouth; James R. Jackson of Littleton; Paul Lang of Oxford; James A. Wood of Acworth; George B. French of Nashua; Frank G. Clarke of Peterboro; Charles B. Gaffney of Rochester; these men were employed to advocate the Hazen bill in every way; there were others engaged, whose names I cannot give now: they were expected to discuss railroad questions with members; Manahan of Hillsboro was one of those employed; Kirk D. Pierce was never employed; am not aware Colonel Cochrane of Nashua has assisted any; don’t know that Frank H. Pierce has been employed; don’t know that General White has rendered any services; don’t know either Postmaster Flinn or Mr. Cadwell, agent of the Jackson Manufacturing Company of Nashua; the expenses of this contest, on the side of the Boston & Maine is paid by that corporation as I understand it; I am employed by the Boston & Maine, and have charge of the legislation: am not aware that any newspapers have been returned by the Boston & Maine; have told the proprietors of certain papers that we should want them to publish certain articles for which we expected to pay: among these papers are the Manchester Union and Manchester Mirror; don’t know that any other papers have been employed to publish articles in our interest; we have engaged the Mirror and the Union to publish speeches and reports of committees; I know that articles have been published by other papers, but don’t know who secured their publication; have employed the Boston Journal to publish some articles, and have paid the regular advertising rates, have retained no paper in or out of the State; have employed no correspondents during the fight, shall pay the papers whatever is right, can’t say what our expense has been so far; don’t think it would be $250,000; should not pay any such amount; have had 16 rooms at the Phoenix Hotel; have been in Mr. Jones’ room considerable; representatives have visited my, room during the session, but can’t give names of all of them, the canvass was looked after generally by Mr. Gaffney and Mr. Wood; we had a pretty full canvass before the first vote was taken; I saw Colonel Thomas P. Cheney before the Legislature met; we had a general talk with H.M. Putney about the railroad legislation we proposed to ask for, we didn’t go into any particulars; I saw him in company with Mr. Sulloway didn’t see any other members of the railroad committee before the assembling of the Legislature; the composition of the railroad committee was not discussed; have met Colonel Cheney since the report of the committee; bad no talk with him while the matter was before the committee; have had a general conversation with H.M. Putney regarding railroad legislation: never submitted the Hazen bill to Mr. Putney; be told me that he should take no active part in the matter during the session on account of his official position: cannot tell how many passes we have issued during the session, but don’t believe we have given near as many as the Concord road; complaint has been made that we did not give passes enough; it was said that the Concord lobbyists carried blank passes and filled them in with pencil; I said that I would give passes to members and families, but I did object to giving them to their constituents; can’t say that I refused anybody, but have objected; we give none over the Boston & Maine across the State line; have given none to Canada; the Boston & Maine never gives passes over any other line, nor does it allow other roads to issue passes over its line; ever since we have been here asking for legislation in years past we have always given members and their families trip passes; we started in that way this year; by the indiscriminate and lavish use of passes by the Concord road we were compelled to issue them in greater number; we gave to friend and foe alike; don’t think that anyone was influenced by it; know there is a statute against giving passes. but it is a dead letter; have heard a great deal of loose talk about buying and selling votes on the railroad question this season; I know of no money being offered to anybody to influence his vote; I came here to get this legislation in a proper way; I have done nothing improper, and have never countenanced anything of the kind; no man has reported to me that he could get a vote by improper means; it has never been suggested in my presence that any member of the Legislature could be bought. (Boston Globe, October, 19, 1887).

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Previous in sequence: Milton in the News – 1886; next in sequence: Milton in the News – 1888

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References:

Chandler, William E. (1908). Railroad Reform in Mew Hampshire, Ancient, Modern and Future. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=RODgyfxOzt8C&pg=PA20

NH Railroad Commissioners. (1888). Annual Report of the Railroad Commissioners of the State of New Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=t2IqAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA8

NH Senate. (1888). Journal of the Senate of New Hampshire, 1888. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=xWNMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA483

Wikipedia. (2019, January 24). Charles H. Sawyer. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_H._Sawyer

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | April 1, 2019

In this year, we encounter a West Milton farmer nearly freezing to death, Milton’s notably fine butter, the destruction by fire of Milton’s oldest building, a bi-coastal bigamy scandal, a purported centenarian, an orphan heading west, news of Rev. Doldt’s passing, and an employment opportunity.

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“March comes in like a lion, but goes out like a lamb.”

There was no Henry Thurston, as such, but there was a Hananiah C. Thurston, who may well have preferred to go by “Henry.” (Can you blame him?) As his mother, Apphia (Sleeper) Thurston, preferred to go by “Effie.”

SUNBEAMS. Henry Thurston, a West Milton, N.H. farmer, was caught out in the fierce storm of last Friday, and got his horse fast in a snow drift. Before they were released the horse’s ear and side were frozen so that the skin came off, and the man’s face, hands, and legs were frozen so badly that he nearly died ((NY) Sun, [Wednesday,] March 10, 1886).

Benjamin Thurston, a farmer, aged seventy-seven years, headed a Milton household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Effie Thurston, keeping house, aged seventy years. He shared a three-family dwelling with the households of [his son,] Hananiah Thurston, a farmer & works on shoes, aged forty-four years (and his wife, Caroline Thurston, aged forty years); and [Hananiah’s son,] Charles H. Thurston, works on shoes, aged nineteen years (and his wife, Cora Thurston, keeps house, aged eighteen years, and his child, Herbert Thurston, aged one month (born May).

Hananiah Thurston survived his encounter with the fierce storm of March 1886, and died many years later in Milton, NH, October 27, 1922.

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In this Vermont piece on the butter industry, a Milton creamery belonging to E. Whiting & Company is mentioned for its notably fine butter.

No Market for Bad Butter. St. Albans, April 5, 1886. Editor Message: Having spent few days in Boston last week looking up the market in the interest of our creamery here. I thought perhaps a few words in regard to the conditions of the market, etc., might be of interest to some of your readers. Found the market very bare of fine butter. Dealers say that for many years they have not seen the market so well cleaned up and so bare of fine butter as at present. But still there is no activity in the market, for it is heavily supplied with oleomargarine which takes the place of all butter except the best grade. For instance, a customer came in and asked a dealer for a tub of good fine butter for cooking; he showed him a tub of dairy butter that was a little off in flavor, but cost 26 cents in the country; the customer thought the price too high for the quality, and asked the dealer if he would not go out and get him a tub of butterine: so he stepped into the next door and bought a tub of butterine for 11½ cents, and brought it in and compared it with the butter, and it appeared better in every respect; and he took it at 12½ cents and was satisfied. It is a plain case that dairymen have got to take more pains than ever to make a good article, and the buyer has got to discriminate closer in buying than ever before. The demand for creamery butter is steadily increasing and the best marks are sought after at good prices. I had no trouble in placing our make of butter with well-known dealers in northern creamery and dairy butter who are anxious to secure our goods, provided we succeed in making a flue thing – which we are bound to do. We are sparing no pains or expense in fitting up, and shall begin operations the first of May. While gone I visited several creameries, among them one at Milton, N.H., noted in Boston for its fine butter, run by Mr. E. Whiting & Sons, who have been in the business for several years. At present they are making about 800 lbs per day, which sells in Boston at 35 to 38 cts per lb. Winter dairying is the rule in that section of the state, and they think it strange that Franklin county should be so far behind the times. They think it much more profitable to make butter during that part of the season when it is comparatively high. Think the dairymen of this section would find it greatly to their advantage to turn their attention more to the production of milk in winter. Dealers in Boston report the outlook for the season not very encouraging, but think perhaps that butter will do a little better than last year. And the only alternative for the butter maker is to make the best article possible, and get all he can for it (St. Alban’s Messenger, April 7, 1886).

Whiting’s Milk became ubiquitous all over New England. Their business model favored dairy locations close to railroad lines. Their business “collapsed” finally in 1961 and was taken over by H.P. Hood in the 1970’s.

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The Runnell (or Runnells) House burned down on Monday, May 3, 1886. It was said to be Milton’s oldest building.

New England Notes. The oldest building in Milton, N.H., the RunneIl House, was burned Monday; loss. $500 (Boston Globe, [Wednesday,] May 5, 1886).

No Runnells heads of household have been identified at Milton’s “oldest” period, such as in the 1790, 1800, or 1810 Federal census records. Several Runnells families did reside in neighboring Farmington at early dates, but none are known to been in Milton until at least the 1830s, or thereafter, at which time the Runnells name may have become associated with an already extant “oldest building.”

Paul Runnels headed a Milton household in 1840. Alvah Runnells, a blacksmith, headed a Milton Mills household in 1860.

His son, Samuel Runnells, also a blacksmith, headed a “Milton Mills Village” household in 1880. And Israel Runnells, a felt mill worker, also headed a “Milton Mills Village” household in 1880.

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Orin Varney triggered a widely-reported bi-coastal bigamy scandal, which must surely have raised quite a few eyebrows in Milton (and Oakland, CA).

Orin Varney was born in Lebanon, ME, August 15, 1849, son of John B. and Almira S. (Clark) Varney. He married (1st) Annie Leighton. Their daughter, Hattie M. Varney, was born in Milton in 1867. They were divorced in Strafford County Court, December 22, 1870.

He married (2nd) in Milton, August 7, 1871, Annie M. (Hayes) Kimball. (Rev. Ezra Tuttle of Milton’s Free-Will Baptist Church performed the ceremony). She was born in Farmington, NH, June 30, 1836. daughter of Richard R. Hayes. She had married (1st) in Farmington, NH, July 15, 1855, Alvah M. Kimball, who died in Rochester, NH, July 2, 1869. (Alvah M. and Annie M. (Hayes) Kimball had three children).

Orin Varney, works on shoes, aged thirty years (b. NH), headed a Milton (“Milton 3-Ponds Village”) household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Annie M. Varney, keeping house, aged forty-three years (b. NH); his children, Hattie M. Varney, at school, aged thirteen years (b. NH), and Charles E. Varney, at school, aged nine years (b. NH); his step-son, George A. Kimball, at school, aged fifteen years (b. NH); and his brother, Albion F. Palmer, works on shoes, aged twenty-six years (b. ME).

Annie M. Varney reported that her husband left Milton, in 1882, and went to Boston seeking work. He took up residence there and they gradually became estranged. We next find him in Oakland, CA.

MARRIAGE RECORD. List of Marriage Licenses Recorded During the Week Ending May 21, 1886. March 18. Orin Varney, a native of New Hampshire, aged 35, resident of Oakland, and Pollie Elizabeth Boardman, a native of England, aged 26, resident of Oakland; by Rev. John Eliot Benton (Oakland Tribune (Oakland, CA), May 22, 1886).

NAUGHTY VARNEY. A Too-Much Married Railroad Engineer. He is Arrested for Bigamy – Tries to Break Away, but is Successfully Lodged in Jail. Qrin Varney, a railroad locomotive engineer, was arrested at Sixteenth street station, this morning by Constable Teague, on the arrival of the Southern overland train, and now languishes in the County jail, charged with bigamy. A complaint, charging Varney with the crime of bigamy, was issued out of Justice Nusbaumer’s Court yesterday afternoon, at the instance of a young woman signing herself Mary Elizabeth Boardman Varney. The complaint recited in substance that Orin Varney did on the 18th day of March, of the present year, commit bigamy willfully, maliciously and feloniously, by marrying the complainant; that he was at that time a married man, and the husband of one Annie M. Varney to whom he was married August 7, 1871, at Milton, in the State of New Hampshire. The complaining Mrs. Varney was formerly Miss Mary Elizabeth Boardman, of this city; her father residing at 1687 Twelfth street, corner of Willow, is an employe in a powder factory near Oakland. VARNEY’S ARREST. The warrant for Engineer Varney’s arrest was placed in Constable Teague’s hands, and that officer was promptly on hand at the arrival of the Southern overland train this morning. When the train drew up at. the Sixteenth street station, Mr. Varney stepped off of the platform of one of the passenger coaches and began to fish in his pockets for the checks for his baggage. Constable Teague somewhat surprised Mr. Varney, by inviting him to take a ride in the officer’s buggy. Varney declined with thanks, but the constable would not be denied the honor, and insisted that the much-married engineer should accompany him. The latter was shown the official authority for his arrest, and he acquiesced at once. On the way to the County jail Varney grew loquacious, and exhibited papers and documents showing that he had been divorced from a prior wife. He affected to make light of the incident of his arrest. Arrived at the jail, Mr. Varney quite suddenly and unexpectedly broke away from the constable, passed through the small gate leading from the jail steps into the Court House yard and ran toward the other gate near the steps on the north side of the Court House. Varney evidently labored under the impression that he was in charge of a reformed policeman, but he reckoned unwisely, for Constable Teague took after him – with the fleetness of a greyhound. Before fifty yards had been traversed by the fleeing bigamist he felt the cold muzzle of a pistol crammed up against his neck, and a command thundered out: “STOP! OR I’LL KILL YOU!” Mr. Varney put on his air-brakes with considerable force at that moment and brought himself to a sudden halt. “Throw up your hands!” was the next command. Varney raised his hands as if he wanted to touch the sunlit sky. “Now you show any more foolishness like that and you will get cold lead in you!” observed Teague, who conducted Varney, now very meek, into the jail. “What did you want to run away for?” asked the Constable. “I – I – that is, I wanted to go show my wife my divorce papers.” The prisoner was searched, and then locked up: It appeared from the divorce papers found in his possession, that he was divorced in 1883 from a wife, but the second figure “8” seemed to have been changed from a “6.” A small sum of money, a memorandum-book and his trunk-checks were taken from him. THE INJURED WIFE’S STORY. From attorney Brown the story of his client, the alleged victim of Varney’s bigamous act, was obtained. It appears that after her marriage to Varney they went to live in Arizona, where he was employed as an engineer on the Southern Pacific, running from Tucson. Some person connected with Wentworth’s shoe factory at Sixteenth street station learned that Varney had a wife living in New Hampshire. Communication was had with her, and she forwarded official documents showing that she was married to Orin Varney in 1871 and had never been divorced. Also, that Varney had been previously married and divorced, and, that wife No. 1 had, after the divorce, died. Wife No. 2, Mrs. Annie M. Varney, is a talented and a highly respected school-marm in Milton, New Hampshire. She was a widow with four children when she married with Varney, who then had two children, one of whom, a daughter, is now married. These facts were communicated to Mrs. Varney No. 3, nee Miss Boardman, and a bogus telegram was also sent, informing her that her mother was dying, and to return home at once. She arrived here two or three weeks since, and then the problem was to get the bigamist here. He was written to relative to accepting the position of engineer in Wentworth’s shoe factory, and it is presumed that he came up intending to accept such position. He is tall, dark complexioned, wears a light mustache, and is 37 years old. An application will be made on behalf of Mrs. Varney No. 3 to annul her marriage with Varney, and he will be prosecuted criminally on the charge of bigamy. Varney was called upon this afternoon by a TRIBUNE reporter, but declined to say anything relative to the cause of his arrest (Oakland Tribune, June 2, 1886).

PACIFIC COAST NOTES. CULLED FROM WESTERN EXCHANGES. Orin Varney, a locomotive engineer at Oakland, Cal., was arrested June 3d, on a charge of bigamy. The complaint is made by his second wife, who, since their marriage, has discovered that Varney had another wife and several children living at Milton, N.H. (Deseret Evening News, June 8, 1886).

Varney was released on $1,000 bail, but did not show up for trial. The sheriff was seeking “strenuously” for him in September 1886. At the time of his son’s 1898 marriage, Orin Varney was said to be an engineer, residing in “Mexico.”

Annie M. (Hayes) Kimball divorced Varney in 1888 and reverted to her first married name. Annie M. Kimball of Milton, NH, appeared as the widow of a veteran in the surviving veterans’ schedule of the Eleventh (1890) Federal Census. (Her first husband, Alvah M. Kimball, had been a 1st Lieutenant in the 15th NH Regiment in 1862-63).

Annie M. Kimball died in Milton, NH (forty-eight years residence), December 10, 1917.

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Abigail “Abby” Bean was born in Shapleigh, ME, November 14, 1789, daughter of William and Susan (Gilbert) Bean.

She married in Shapleigh, ME, October 1814, Joseph Remick. He was born in Acton, ME, June 22, 1791, son of Timothy and Ann (Bean) Remick.

Joseph and Abigail “Abby” (Bean) Remick resided in Acton, ME, in 1850 (she was 61); Somersworth, NH, in 1860 (she was 70); and Milton, NH, in 1870 (she was 81). He died in Milton, NH, August 29, 1870, aged seventy-nine years.

Despite the following newspaper items, she would have been ninety-five years of age had she lived to November 14, 1886.

GENERAL AND PERSONAL. Mrs. Abigail Remick, of West Milton, N.H., will be 105 years old if she lives until December 21. She lives with her son, Timothy Remick, aged 84 (Nebraska State Journal, August 8, 1886).

Yankee Notions. Mrs. Abigail Remick of West Milton, N.H., will be 105 years old if she lives until December 21. Her hearing is very good and her sight fair. She can tell interesting stories of the stirring scenes of 1812, when she accompanied her husband to the defence of Fort Constitution in Portsmouth harbor (Boston Globe, August 21, 1886).

Timothy Remick, a painter, aged fifty-one years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his mother, Abby Remick, keeping house, aged ninety-two years (b. ME).

Dies at the Age of 102 Years. Milton, N.H., August 23. Mrs. Ruth [SIC] Remick, aged 102 years, died Saturday evening. She was in remarkably good health up to a few days of her death. She leaves a son and daughter, aged 81 and 79 respectively (Boston Globe, August 24, 1886).

Abigail (Bean) Remick died in Milton, NH, August 19, 1886, aged one hundred and one years (per her Milton death certificate), but actually aged ninety-four years.

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It proved difficult to expand much upon the following story. There is nothing to indicate the age or birthplace of the absent John Wendell. The unnamed Wendell son would have been born about 1870-71, but not in Milton, although he had unnamed relatives here, at least at first.

William Jenness, a farmer, aged sixty-five years (b. NH), headed a Rochester household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Joanna Jenness, keeping house, aged sixty-seven years (b. NH), and his servant, Clarence Wendell, at school, aged nine years (b. Unknown).

PERSONAL AND GENERAL. TWELVE years ago John Wendell went West, leaving his three-year old boy with relatives in Milton, N.H. Nothing being heard of Wendell, the boy was finally sent to the almshouse until he was twelve years old, when he was bound out to a farmer. A few weeks ago a letter was sent from Lincoln, Ill., to Milton, saying that Wendell had died there, leaving $25,000 to be divided between a daughter; by a second marriage and his son in New Hampshire. On Monday the boy started West to look after his legacy (Pittsburgh Daily Post, [Saturday,] September 11, 1886).

There are (or were) two places called Lincoln, Ill., and the Eleventh (1890) Federal Census has not survived.

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Rev. James Doldt had been minister of the Milton Congregational Church between 1848 and 1870. He left Milton for Canterbury, NH, where he was minister until 1886. He retired from the Canterbury pulpit due to illness and went to live with his daughter in Orange, NJ.

NEW HAMPSHIRE NEWS. Rev. James Doldt of Canterbury died on Sunday at Orange, N.J., whither he went a few days ago for the benefit of his health. He was born in Groton, Mass., Sept. 30, 1809, was graduated from Gilmanton theological seminary in 1841, and was ordained to the Congregational ministry, Sept. 21, 1843. His first settlement was in Wolfboro, N.H., and afterwards he was in Effingham, Milton and Canterbury, where he was pastor of the Congregational church until his resignation a few weeks ago (Vermont Journal (Windsor, VT), [Saturday,] November 6, 1886).

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Advertisements of this period often sought employees that “understood” processes, rather than ones that had “experience” of them.

FEMALE HELP WANTED. WANTED – Immediately, a woman that understands both rough and finish hosiery mending. Address, stating terms, Riverside Mfg. Co., Milton Mills, N.H. (Boston Globe, November 11, 1886).

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Previous in sequence: Milton in the News – 1885; next in sequence: Milton in the News – 1887

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References:

Find a Grave. (2016, August 23). Alvah Mansur Kimball. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/168840407

US Congress. (1891). United States Congressional Serial Set, Volume 2885. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=fktHAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA15-PP8