Milton Observer

By Muriel Bristol | November 24, 2024

Here may be found extracted the Milton entries from the New England Business Directory and Gazetteer of 1860.

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Bakers. Swasey, Charles, Milton Mills, Milton.

Blacksmiths. Duntley, Hazen, Milton; Osgood, Ebenezer, Milton Mills, Milton; Rines, Nathaniel, Milton Mills, Milton; Rines, Samuel F., Milton Mills, Milton; Goodwin, Joseph, West Milton, Milton.

Boot and Shoe Manufacturers. Berry, Lewis, Milton; Warren & Sayward, Milton; Wentworth, H.V. & E., Milton; Goodwin, John E. & Co., West Milton, Milton.

Box Manufacturers. Dearborn, Stephen W., Milton.

Carpenters. Dixon, Ichabod W., Milton; Hersom, Elihu H., Milton; Lucas, John, Milton; Mathes, Joseph, Milton; Roberts, Ira, Milton.

Clergymen. Doldt, James (C.T.), Milton; Colby, J.T.G. (Ch. B.), West Milton.

Country Stores. Where is kept a general assortment of Dry Goods, Groceries, Agricultural Implements, & c. Those who deal in but one kind of goods, will be found under the appropriate headings. Protective Union, Div. 542, Milton; Twombly, Ezra H., Milton; Warren & Sayward, Milton; Wentworth, H.W. & E., Milton; Fox, Asa & Son, Milton Mills; Jewett, Asa, Milton Mills; Simes, Bray U., Milton Mills; Swinerton, John L., Milton Mills; Goodwin, G.W., West Milton; Twombly, John W., West Milton.

[The New England Protective Union was a regional chain of cooperative stores. Milton’s Protective Union, Div. 542 store, would appear to have been an N.E.P.U. member store. They had their heyday prior to the Civil War].

Grist Mills. Leighton, Thomas, Milton; Varney, William, Milton.

Hotels. Milton Hotel, Joseph Jenness, Milton; Milton Mills Hotel, Dudley Gilman, Milton [Mills].

Physicians. Drew, Stephen, Milton; Palmer, Daniel E., Milton; Swinerton, John L., Milton Mills.

Postmasters. Milton, John R. Palmer; West Milton, John Colbath; Milton Mills, J.L. Swinerton.

Saw Mills. Hanson, John M. (also shingle), Milton; Varney, William, Milton.

Shingle Mills. Leighton, Cyrus, Milton.

Stables. Jenness, Joseph, Milton.

Wheelwrights. Shapleigh, Moses W., Milton.

Woollen Goods Manufs. See also Hosiery. Townsend, John (flannels), Milton Mills, Milton.

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Previous in sequence: Milton Businesses in 1856; next in sequence: Milton Businesses in 1865

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References:

Sampson & Murdoch Co. (1860). New England Business Directory and Gazetteer. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=RztoX7Ex9A4C&pg=PA175#v=onepage&q&f=false

By Muriel Bristol | November 17, 2024

Arthur M. Flye was born in Hiram, ME, April 9, 1871, son of James F. “Freeman” and Ruth E. (Lord) Flye.

Arthur M. Flye married in Hiram, ME, March 31, 1894, Delia M. Douglass, he of Hiram, ME, and she of Sebago, ME. He was a farmer, aged twenty-three years, and she was a seamstress, aged twenty-three years. Rev. A.P. Sanborn performed the ceremony. She was born in Sebago, ME, circa 1871, daughter of Oliver M. and Laura Douglass.

Arthur Flye, a carpenter, aged thirty years (b. ME), headed a Sebago, ME, household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of six years), Delia M. [(Douglass)] Flye, aged thirty-one years (b. ME). Arthur Flye rented their house. Their household appeared in the enumeration just after that of her father, Oscar Douglas, a farmer, aged fifty-eight years (b. ME).

Mother Ruth E. (Lord) Flye died of cirrhosis of the liver in Cornish, ME, February 22, 1904, aged sixty-eight years, five months, and twenty-one days. She was a housewife. George W. Weeks, M.D., signed the death certificate.

Hiram. Mrs. Ruth (Lord) Flye, wife of James F. Flye, died in Cornish, Feb. 23d, aged 68 years. She leaves an aged husband and six children – John Flye of Cornish, Arthur of Sebago, Mrs. Everett Lord of Porter, Mrs. Seth Spring of Hiram, Mr[s]. Frank Emery of Skowhegan and Miss Nettie Flye, who faithfully cared for her mother through a long sickness. She also leaves two brothers, Samuel W. Lord of Hiram and Edwin L. Lord of Porter. The family have lost a faithful wife and mother, and a large circle of friends in Hiram, where she lived for many years, can bear witness to her goodness as a friend and neighbor, and her kind care of the sick. Funeral services were held at Cornish, Rev. William Cotton officiating (Norway Advertiser-Democrat (Norway, ME), April 26, 1904).

Arthur M. Flye appeared in the Milton directory of 1905, as proprietor of a general store at 41 Main street, in Milton Mills, with his residence above the store. Other Milton Mills general stores were those of F.H. Lowd, at 7 Main street, and Asa Fox & Son, in Central square. (J.D. Willey kept a general store on Main Street in Milton).

MILTON MILLS. Past Grands Arthur M. Flye, John E. Horne and F.E. Stevens are in attendance at the session of the grand lodge, I.O.O.F., at Manchester this week. Miss Alice S. Lewis is the delegate of Sunrise lodge to the Rebekah assembly. Mrs. Rosamond Mansor also went to Manchester to witness exemplification of the degree on Tuesday evening by a team from the Lakeport lodge (Sanford Journal-Tribune (Biddeford, ME), October 19, 1906).

Arthur M. Flye was one of only twelve Milton residents to have a private [automobile] operator’s license in 1907 (there were also three chauffeur’s licenses); his automobile was one of the only thirteen to sixteen automobiles (and two motorcycles) registered in town. (See Milton Automobiles in 1906-07).

Arthur M. Flye appeared in the Milton directory of 1909, as proprietor of a general store at 41 Main street, in Milton Mills, with his residence above the store.

MILTON MILLS. The following officers were installed for Miltonia Lodge, I.O.O.F.: N.G., Albert Simes; V.G., Charles Applebee; Secretary, Arthur Flye; Treasurer, F.L. Marsh; Trustee, three years, J.E. Horne (Sanford Journal-Tribune (Biddeford, ME), January 15, 1909).

Arthur M. Flye, a shoemaker (own shop), aged thirty-nine years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of sixteen years), Delia M. [(Douglass)] Flye, aged thirty-nine years (b. ME). Arthur M. Flye rented their house at Milton Mills. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Harry Hamilton, a laborer (woolen mill), aged thirty-four years (b. NH), and Sumner Merrow, own income, aged sixty-three years (b. NH).

A.M. Flye’s 22 hp. Buick was one of only ten automobiles registered in Milton in 1910. (See Milton Automobiles in 1909-10).

Mother-in-law Laura A. (Storer) Douglass died of debilitation of the heart in Sebago, ME, June 8, 1910, aged sixty-six years, six months, and eleven days. She was a housewife. L. Norton, M.D., signed the death certificate.

Arthur M. Flye appeared in the Milton directory of 1912, as a carpenter, with his house at 5 Highland street, in Milton Mills.

Father James F. “Freeman” Flye died of heart failure in Cornish, ME, June 28, 1912, aged seventy-seven years, five months, and twenty-five days. He was a laborer. G.W. Weeks, M.D., signed the death certificate.

Hiram. The sudden death of James F. Flye at Cornish, recently at the age of 77, saddens his many friends here. He was born in Hiram Jan. 3,1835, to John and Susan Stover Flye. We have known him some sixty years as a useful, peaceable and honored citizen. He was a grandson of James Flye, an early settler in Hiram, a Revolutionary soldier, who also served in the French and Indian war. In the family is still preserved and cherished an old powder horn inscribed: “James Five his horn, we march to-day for Ticonderoga July 5, 1756” (Norway Advertiser-Democrat (Norway, ME), July 16, 1912).

Father-in-law Oliver M. Douglass died of debilitation of the heart in Sebago, ME, March 5, 1912, aged seventy years, four months, and twenty-eight days. He was a farmer. L. Norton, M.D., signed the death certificate.

Arthur M. Flye of Milton received a Fraternal Protective insurance appointment in 1913 (Standard Publishing, 1914).

Arthur M. Flye appeared in the Milton directory of 1917, as a carpenter, with his house at 22 Main street, in Milton Mills.

SEBAGO. Mr. B.W. Douglass and wife and Mr. and Mrs. Chester Neal visited Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Flye at Milton Mills, N.H., last week (Sanford Journal-Tribune (Biddeford, ME), September 20, 1918).

SOUTH HIRAM. Mrs. S.T. Spring was much pleased, as well as surprised, to receive on Sunday a short call from her brother and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Flye of Milton Mills, N.H. (Sanford Journal-Tribune (Biddeford, ME), August 1, 1919).

Arthur M. Flye, a foreman (asylum), aged forty-eight years (b. ME), resided as an employee in the Ring Sanitorium and Hospital in Arlington, MA, at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. His wife, Delia M. [(Douglass)] Flye, a diet kitchen cook (hospital), aged forty-nine years (b. ME), resided there also.

FEMALE HELP WANTED. DIETITIAN HOUSEKEEPER to cater to and buy for 50 people. RING SANITORIUM. Arlington Heights (Boston Globe, May 13, 1921).

Milton Mills suffered a serious fire in the early hours of Thursday, November 20, 1924. The Townsend mill firemen and those of Rochester, NH, responded to the fire. A two-story house, owned by Arthur M. Flye of Arlington, MA, but rented to drug store clerk Fred Carswell, was among those buildings that were seriously damaged. (See Milton in the News – 1924).

Arthur M. Flye appeared in the Arlington, MA, directory of 1923, as a foreman carpenter at Ring’s Sanitorium, boarding there too. Delia M. Flye appeared also as a housekeeper at Ring’s Sanitorium, boarding there too. Ring’s Sanatorium and Hospital, Inc., Arthur H. Ring, president, was situated at 163 Hillside avenue, in Arlington Heights.

Arthur M. (Delia M.) Flye appeared in the Medford, MA, directory of 1926, as a foreman, with his house at 130 Monument street.

Arthur M. (Delia M.) Flye appeared in the Medford, MA, directory of 1928, as a salesman, with his house at 130 Monument street.

Arthur M. Flye, a carpenter (contractor), aged fifty-nine years (b. ME), headed a Medford, MA, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of thirty-six years), Delia M. [(Douglass)] Flye, aged sixty years (b. ME). Arthur M. Flye owned their house at 130 Monument Street, which was valued at $7,000. They had a radio set.

SOUTH ACTON. Arthur Flye is doing some carpenter work for Mrs. Richard Jewett (Sanford Journal-Tribune (Biddeford, ME), March 25, 1937).

A fire destroyed the Milton Mills residence and funeral parlor of Frank F. Spencer on Sunday morning, October 9, 1938. (Frank F. Spencer was then a Milton Selectman). Neighbors Arthur M. and Delia M (Douglass) Flye suffered some fire damage, including the loss of his carpenter tools.

… Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Flye who had recently moved into the adjoining tenement, saved most of their furniture but Mr. Flye lost most of his carpenter tools (Sanford Journal-Tribune (Biddeford, ME), October 13, 1938).

Arthur M. Flye, aged seventy years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Delia M. Flye, aged seventy-one years (b. ME). Arthur M. Flye rented their house on Main Street, for $10 per month. They had resided in the same house in 1935. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Jason F. Thurston, aged sixty-eight years (b. MA), and William Bellemere, a cutter (leatherboard mill), aged fifty-three years (b. NH).

Rochester, N.H. ROCHESTER, N.H., Oct. 19 (Special) – District Deputy Grand Master Arthur Flye of Milton Mills and suite, Thursday night, installed the officers of Motolinia and Kennedy Lodges of Odd Fellows at a joint ceremony at Odd Fellows Hall, South Main Street (Portland Evening Express (Portland, ME), October 19, 1940).

MILTON MILLS. Arthur Flye is confined to his home with the grippe (Sanford Journal-Tribune (Biddeford, ME), January 2, 1941).

KEZAR FALLS. Perley Lord and sister Mrs. Emma Wadsworth in company with their sister, Mrs. George Walker and son Lester and Miss Katherine Snow of Fryeburg visited their uncle and aunt Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Flye at Milton Mills Sunday and Mr. and Mrs. Seth Spring at Springvale (Sanford Journal-Tribune (Biddeford, ME), February 6, 1941).

MILTON MILLS. Mrs. Arthur Flye still has a lot of yarn for Red Cross knitting for anyone who will volunteer for work (Sanford Journal-Tribune (Biddeford, ME), March 27, 1941).

Rochester Housewives May Register For 9 Lbs. Preserving Sugar. (Correspondent: Basil Blake; 806-J.) Sugar for canning is now available to housewives of Strafford county who have been worrying as to whether or not canning sugar must be eked from their ration supply, according to an announcement Saturday by of Rationing Board No. 17 at city hall. The office of the rationing board in charge of the program was open Saturday and will be for few Saturdays in order to issue rationing cards for canning sugar and for the return of excess sugar stamps from dealers. Institutions applying for canning rations should register between now and July 5. The board will allow a maximum of nine pounds of sugar per family member for the season’s canning, regardless of the number of quarts to be canned. Applicants should approach their own sugar rationing boards for canning certificates and present their sugar books to the rationing staff for number checking. Only those having 7-1 books should apply at the Rochester office. To assist in rationing the following county agents have been appointed: Milton Mills, Arthur Flye; Milton, Frank Nutter; New Durham, Hayes Grocery store; Farmington, People’s Market; and Somersworth, George E. Varney (Portsmouth Herald, June 22, 1942).

The Milton Selectmen of 1943 were George E. Jordan, Leroy J. Ford, and Arthur M. Flye. The Milton Selectmen of 1944 – Leroy J. Ford, Arthur M. Flye, and John G. Gilman.

MILTON MILLS. By Alfred W. Lewis. Golden Wedding. On Wednesday evening, March 29, Miltonia Lodge, I.O.O.F., and Sunrise Rebekah Lodge united to honor the Golden Wedding anniversary of two of their members, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur M. Flye. The party, which was a complete surprise to the couple, began with a supper at 6 o’clock in the banquet hall. Gold and white decorations were used on the tables (Sanford Journal-Tribune (Biddeford, ME), April 6, 1944).

PRE-CAMPAIGN MEETING OF THE FIELD ARMY. Several ladies met at the home of Mrs. Wilbur Jones Monday, March 25, to plan and prepare for the coming drive for funds for cancer control. Mrs. H.W. Smith, state commander, and Mrs. Evelyn Cortez, state director of public relations, presented valuable Information and instructions to the captains and public relations chairman of this area. April has been proclaimed by Congress as Cancer Control month and the society has set its goal at $1200000 this year, the tenth in carrying on campaigns by the Field Army. New Hampshire is asked to raise 54500000. Of the amount raised 60% remains in the state and 40% goes to the national society of which 10% will be used for research. Mrs. Jones heads this area and has chosen Mrs. Grace Willey as captain in Milton, Mrs. Arthur Flye in Milton Mills, Mrs. Benjamin Perkins in Alton, Mrs. Charles Chamberlain in New Durham, Mrs. Bertha Liberi in Farmington and Mrs. Helen Mclaughlin as public relational chairman for the area. Mrs. Jones served a delicious luncheon at noon which was greatly enjoyed, and the ladies departed much the wiser concerning the work of the Field Army (Farmington News, March 29, 1946).

Arthur M. Flye, aged seventy-nine years (b. ME), headed an Acton, ME, household at the time of the Seventeenth (1950) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Delia M. [(Douglass) Flye, aged eighty years (b. ME). Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Damon Currier, aged thirty years (b. ME), and Charlotte G. Willey, aged sixty-one years (b. NH). They resided on “Milton Mills Rd. at the Junction of Windhill Farm.”

FARMINGTON DISTRICT ORGANIZED FOR CANCER CRUSADE. April is the month the American Cancer society raises funds to carry on its program for education, service and research. Solicitors in each town will soon be asking for a donation. Will you help? The response for volunteer workers gives a complete organization in our district. For the first time serving as town captains: Alton, Mrs. Ethelyn Tucker; Middleton, Mrs. Pearl Gates; Milton, Mrs. Marion Stanley and Mrs. Ruth Plummer; Milton Mills, Mrs. Delya Flye; New Durham, Mrs. Irene Wentworth; Farmington, Mrs. Lillian Emerson; sponsor, The Farmington Woman’s club. District officers: Commander, Mrs. L. Violet Jones; service chairman, Mrs. Augusta Harrison; publicity and public relations, Mrs. Norma Davis (Farmington News, April 4, 1952).

Kezar Falls. Perley Lord and his sister, Mrs. Emma Wadsworth, accompanied by their sister, Mrs. Nettle Walker, and their aunt, Mrs. Elizabeth Emery of Fryeburg, recently visited Mrs. Emery’s brother, Arthur Flye at Milton Mills, N.H. (Portland Press-Herald (Portland, ME), April 15, 1959).

Delia M. (Douglass) Flye died in Acton, ME, May 9, 1959, aged ninety years.

Acton. BY MRS. IRL R. HURD. Mrs. Delia M. Flye. Mrs. Delia M. Flye, 90, wife of Arthur M. Flye of Acton, died Saturday at her home. She was born at Sebago on Dec. 25, 1868, daughter of Oliver M. and Laura A. Storer Douglass. Mrs. Flye was a past noble grand and 57-year member of Sunrise Rebekah Lodge of Milton Mills, N.H., and a member of the Dorcas Society. Mr. and Mrs. Flye, who had been married 68 years, resided in Acton and Milton Mills for the past 50 years. She is survived by her husband and a sister, Mrs. Eva Hansen of Convene. Private funeral services were held Wednesday afternoon at the Peaslee Funeral Home, Union, N.H., with the Rev. Ernest Calvert of the Union Congregational Church officiating. Burial was in Haley Cemetery, Sebago (Sanford Journal Tribune (Biddeford, ME), May 14, 1959).

Arthur M. Flye of Acton, ME, died of acute coronary occlusion at Frisbie Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NH, February 6, 1960, aged eighty-eight years. He was a carpenter. Robert E. Lord, M.D., signed the death certificate.

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References:

Find a Grave. (2015, October 10). Oliver Morrill Douglass. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/153515423/oliver_morrill_douglass

Find a Grave. (2016, July 25). Arthur M. Flye. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/167398957/arthur-m-flye

Find a Grave. (2015, February 9). James Freeman Flye. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/142386730/james_freeman_flye

Standard Publishing. (1914). The Standard. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=TkvnAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA323

By Muriel Bristol | November 10, 2024

James Fred Reynolds was born in Dover, NH, October 12, 1869, son of James O. and Almira J. “Myra” (Hill) Reynolds.

Father James O. Reynolds died in Milton, March 9, 1900, aged seventy-three years.

LOCALS. The funeral of James O. Reynolds, a respected citizen living between Milton and Farmington, was held Monday and interment will be in the family lot in this cemetery. Mr. Reynolds is survived by his wife, four daughters, and two sons. He had been for many years a deacon in the Baptist church at Milton (Farmington News, March 16, 1900).

Myra J. [(Hill)] Reynolds, a farmer, aged sixty-five years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. Her household included her children, Della M. Reynolds, aged thirty-seven years (b. NH), James F. Reynolds, a farm laborer, aged thirty years (b. NH), and Lena B. Reynolds, a schoolteacher, aged twenty-five years (b. NH), and her servant, Clarence H. Taylor, at school, aged eleven years (b. unknown). Myra J. Reynolds owned their farm, fee-and-clear. She was the mother of six children, of whom six were still living. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Al E. Nute, a farmer, aged forty-seven years (b. NH), and William S. Burrows, a farmer, aged thirty years (b. NH).

James F. Reynolds appeared in the Milton directories of 1900, and 1902, as a farmer on Nute Ridge. His father, James O. Reynolds, appeared also in 1900, as a farmer on Nute Ridge). (James O. Reynolds appeared in 1902, as having died on March 9, 1900, aged seventy-three years).

James F. Reynolds appeared in the Milton directories of 1905, and 1909, as a farmer on Nute Ridge, with his house at Greenwood, MA.

James F. Reynolds, a painter (house), aged forty years (b. NH), headed a Wakefield, MA, household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included his mother, Myra J. [(Hill)] Reynolds, aged seventy-five years (b. NH), his sisters, Della M. Reynolds, aged forty-six years (b. NH), and Lena B. Reynolds, a teacher (public school), aged thirty-four years (b. NH), and his boarder, Gladys Mosher, a state ward, aged eleven years (b. MA). James F. Reynolds owned their house at 6 Francis Avenue. Myra J. Reynolds was the mother of six children, of whom six were still living.

James F. Reynolds appeared in the Milton directories of 1912, and 1917, as a farmer on Nute Ridge, with his house at Greenwood, MA.

WEST MILTON. Fred Reynolds and family of Wakefield, Mass, are at their farm haying. All are glad to see these closed houses open again (Farmington News, July 25, 1913).

WEST MILTON. Fred Reynolds has finished painting the farm buildings owned by Edward Nute at Nute Ridge (Farmington News, October 3, 1913).

West Milton. Fred Reynolds of Wakefield, Mass., accompanied by his mother and sister, is moving back to the old home place at Nute Ridge (Farmington News, May 29, 1914).

WEST MILTON. Fred Reynolds came home from Greenwood, Mass., Saturday (Farmington New, May 14, 1915).

WEST MILTON. Fred Reynolds has several lambs in his flock, some of them a number of weeks old (Farmington News, February 18, 1916).

WEST MILTON. Fred Reynolds is doing inside painting at Rochester (Farmington News, March 3, 1916).

WEST MILTON. Fred Reynolds has been putting in a cellar wall on the west side of his house (Farmington News, December 22, 1916).

WEST MILTON. Fred Reynolds is going to Massachusetts the last of this week and plans to attend the Billy Sunday meetings next Sunday (Farmington News, January 12, 1917).

The Milton Selectmen of 1917 were Forrest L. Marsh, Bard B. Plummer, and James F. Reynolds.

West Milton. The town went substantially republican in spite of a small vote. Selectmen elected were: Forest T. Marsh, Milton Mills, Bard B. Plummer, Milton, Fred Reynolds, West Milton; Everett F. Fox, town treasurer; Harry L. Avery, town clerk; Robert Page, member of school board for three years (Farmington News, March 16, 1917).

Mother Almira J. “Myra” Reynolds took up residence in Barrington, NH, with her third daughter, Bertha M. (Reynolds) Wiggin, circa October 1917. One might suppose she attended on the final illness of her eldest daughter, Idella M. Reynolds, a schoolteacher, who died there of liver cancer, October 13, 1917, aged fifty-five years, four months, and six days.

West Milton. Fred Reynolds and Russell Wentworth furnished two fine raccoons for the coon supper at the home of Henry Hayes last Friday evening. Several neighbors were invited but only a few were able to be present, owing to the drifted condition of the roads. The guests enjoyed a regular feast, at the conclusion of which a toast and a vote of thanks were proposed and heartily given to Messrs. Reynolds, Wentworth, Hayes, and Mrs. Hyland, who prepared the feast (Farmington News, December 21, 1917).

The Milton Selectmen of 1918 were Forrest L. Marsh, Bard B. Plummer, and James F. Reynolds.

West Milton. The town meeting at Milton drew out a big vote as the result of the sharp contest for the selection of the third selectman. The old board was re-elected, as follows: Selectmen, Forrest L. Marsh, Bard B. Plummer, James F. Reynolds; town clerk, Harry L. Avery; treasurer, Everett F. Fox. School meeting was held at the close of town meeting and Dr. M.A.H. Hart and Everett F. Fox were unanimously re-elected as member of the board of education and school treasurer, respectively (Farmington News, March 15, 1918).

West Milton. Fred Reynolds is very poorly, and is having medical treatment for a severe form of rheumatic lameness (Farmington News, October 11, 1918).

West Milton. J. Fred Reynolds had the misfortune to lose a valuable work horse, recently (Farmington News, December 20, 1918).

WEST MILTON. Fred Reynolds is assisting I.W. Hayes with his haying (Farmington News, August 1, 1919).

WEST MILTON. Mrs. Myra Reynolds, accompanied by her daughter, Mrs. E.E. Wiggin and family of Barrington, visited her son, Fred Reynolds, Sunday afternoon (Farmington News, August 15, 1919).

WEST MILTON. Fred Reynolds has purchased a new horse (Farmington News, October 31, 1919).

WEST MILTON. Charles Copp is at the home of Fred Reynolds. The latter has employment in the Spaulding leather board factory (Farmington News, January 30, 1920).

James F. Reynolds, a painter, aged forty-nine years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. His household included his boarders, Cyrice Cormier, a laborer (Milton Ice Co.), aged nineteen years (b. MA), Albert V. Kent, a laborer (woolen mill), aged forty-two years (b. ME), James Dady, a laborer (Milton Ice Co.), aged forty-seven years (b. MA), Edgar S. Roberts, a laborer (Milton Ice Co.), aged thirty-two years (b. NH), Joseph F. Parks, a teamster, aged thirty-nine years (b. NH), James Corigan, a laborer (Milton Ice Co.), aged forty-six years (b. Ireland), and Malcolm Mccleod, a brass molder (brass foundry), aged thirty-two years (b. Canada). James F. Reynolds owned their house, free-and-clear. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Leroy J. Ford, a farmer, aged twenty-eight years (b. NH), and Davis Tucker, a grocery clerk (retail grocery), aged fifty-one years (b. MA).

WEST MILTON. Fred Reynolds, who has had employment on the ice at Milton, sustained an injury to his foot, which has incapacitated him for work just at present (Farmington News, February 13, 1920).

Mother Almira J. “Myra” (Hill) Reynolds died of pneumonia and old age in East Barrington, NH, May 11, 1920, aged eighty-five years, six months, and eighteen days. She was a widow. She was a resident for two years, seven months, i.e., since circa November 1917. A.E. Grant, M.D., signed the death certificate.

IN MEMORIAM. Mrs. Myra J. Reynolds. Mrs. Myra J. Reynolds died at the home of her daughter at East Barrington on Tuesday, aged 85 years. She was born at Strafford, the daughter of Nicholas and Eliza Johnson Hill. In 1858 she married James O. Reynolds, then a prominent shoe manufacturer at Dover. Later they moved to West Milton where they cared for Mr. Reynolds’ aged parents. Following the death of Mr. Reynolds, the family moved to Wakefield Mass., and a few years later returned to Milton. Mrs. Reynolds accepted the Christian faith early in life and united with the Baptist church in Dover. She was a woman of strong Christian character and a host of friends wherever she moved. She leaves four children, Arthur of Brockton, J. Fred of Milton, Mrs. Fred P. Meader of Rochester and Mrs. E.E. Wiggin of East Barrington, and seven grandchildren. Funeral was held from the home of the last named this Thursday afternoon and was conducted by Rev. F.O. Taylor. Mrs. L.D. Haley sang and the bearers were the two sons and son-in-law. Burial was made in the family lot at Farmington Cemetery (Farmington News, May 14, 1920).

LOCAL. Fred Reynolds of West Milton buried his faithful old horse “Glenwood” last week. This animal was one of the few thoroughbred Kentucky saddlers in this section and was prized highly by the owner. He had reached the venerable age of thirty years (Farmington News, October 10, 1924).

LOCAL. J. Fred Reynolds of the Nute Ridge section contemplates taking a position in Wakefield, Mass., for the winter months (Farmington News, December 19, 1924).

PERSONAL. Friends of Fred Reynolds of West Milton regret to learn that he is restricted to his home by illness (Farmington News, January 9, 1925).

WEST MILTON. Henry Swinerton is engaged in painting at Rochester with Fred Reynolds (Farmington News, June 26, 1925).

PERSONAL. Fred Reynolds of West Milton is restricted to the use of crutches by reason of a case of blood poison in his foot (Farmington News, September 18, 1925).

J. Fred Reynolds appeared in the Rochester, NH, directory of 1926, as a painter, boarding at 22 Knight street.

PERSONAL. Fred Reynolds of the West Milton section, who has been spending the past few months with Mr. and Mrs. Fred P. Meader in Rochester, has gone to Greenwood, Mass., for the remainder of the winter (Farmington News, December 10, 1926).

James F. Reynolds died in Greenwood, [Wakefield,] MA, April 23, 1928, aged fifty-eight years.

IN MEMORIAM. J. Fred Reynolds. J. Fred Reynolds, one of the best-known residents of West Milton, died very suddenly of heart failure just as he was finishing his day’s work in Greenwood, Mass., on April 23. Mr. Reynolds, who had passed the winter in Massachusetts, where he owned property, had been employed for several days previous to his death in painting and papering one of his tenements. He had just completed the task and was loading his truck when occupants of the bouse saw him lying in the street. Assistance came too late, as he had expired. He was 66 years old and a native of Dover, the second son in a family of six children born to James O. and Myra (Hill) Reynolds. The family moved to West Milton in 1876 and, aside from temporary absences, the deceased had resided on the Reynolds farm, where he succeeded his father as proprietor. He was a man of honor and great industry, much liked by all who knew him. As a friend and citizen who stood for honest principles and fair practice, Mr. Reynolds could not be discounted. His word was as good as his bond, and in church and lodge his influence always was helpful. He was a member of Fraternal Lodge, A.F. and A.M., Fraternal Chapter, O.E.S., Woodbine Lodge, I.O.O.F., and Minnehaha Rebekah Lodge, all of this town. Also he was a member of Rochester Grange and Eastern New Hampshire Pomona, to all of which he was a faithful and dutiful member. Besides a host of friends, Mr. Reynolds leaves to mourn his death two sisters, Mrs. Fred P. Meader of Rochester and Mrs. Elmer Wiggin of Barrington Depot, and one brother, Arthur Reynolds of Florida. Funeral services were held from the home of Mrs. Meader in Rochester last Thursday and interment was in the family lot at Farmington cemetery (Farmington News, May 4, 1928).

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References: Find a Grave. (2023, September 18). James Fred Reynolds. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/259847468/james-fred-reynolds Find a Grave. (2023, September 18). James O. Reynolds. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/259846408/james_o_reynolds Wikipedia. (2024, April 29). Billy Sunday. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Sunday

By Muriel Bristol | November 3, 2024

Milton had its own Postmaster as early as 1818. This particular Dover-to-Conway mail stage line commenced operation in 1825. It advertised its passenger service as early as 1829, although Milton was not mentioned explicitly as a regular stop until this advertisement of 1830.

Dover, Rochester, Wakefield, Ossipee, Tamworth, and Conway, N.H.

MAIL STAGE LINE.

THE Stage on this line starts from Dover every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, at 6 o’clock, A.M. and after the arrival of the Boston mail, and arrives at Conway the same day. It starts from Conway every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at 4 o’clock, A.M. from Ossipee Corner at 8 o’clock, A.M. from Wakefield Corner at 10 o’clock, A.M. and arrives in Dover same day.
At Dover it meets the Boston, Portland, Portsmouth, Concord, Newburyport and Haverhill Stage Lines, and at Conway it intersects the Portland, White Mountain, and Concord Stage Lines.
Provided with good Coaches and Horses, and having obtained the services of careful, attentive and accommodating Drivers, with a moderate Stage Fare, the Proprietors can confidently assure the public, that those persons who, during the ensuing season, may wish to visit the White Mountains and have a view of the most sublime and interesting scenery in New England, will find it for their profit as well as pleasure to travel on this line – No Stage in the country affords greater facilities for travelling; and it passes in the immediate vicinity of the Eaton Lead Mine. This Stage passes through Great Falls village, Somersworth, N.H., Rochester, Milton, Wakefield, Ossipee, Tamworth and Eaton.
The Fare from Dover to Conway is $3.00; intermediate places in proportion.
JONA. T. DODGE, Rochester,
SAMUEL KIMBALL, Ossipee, AGENTS.
Rochester, N.H., June 1830 (Times & Dover Enquirer, July 6, 1830).

The West Milton tavern or inn of Daniel Hayes (1759-1846) was said to have been “a stopping place for the stage that made regular trips between Dover and Ossipee.”

Samuel Kimball, one of the agents for the above advertised stage line, advertised his similar tavern or inn at the Ossipee stop of that same route.

Ossipee Stage House. THE subscriber respectfully informs the public that he has thoroughly repaired and fully furnished, for the accommodation of company, the large and commodious HOUSE, formerly owned by Mr. JOHN BROWN, at Ossipee Corner, N.H. This House is situated in one of the most pleasant Villages in the county of Strafford, on the stage road from Boston through Dover to the White Mountains. It is about one day’s ride from Dover. Persons wishing to retire to the country during the warm season, will find it a very healthy place; and excellent for fishing, fowling, and other amusements. And the subscriber flatters himself, if the best accommodations, unremitted attention, and moderate charges, can ensure success, he shall receive a liberal share of the public patronage. SAMUEL KIMBALL. Ossipee, N.H., July 19, 1830. 4tf (Times & Dover Enquirer, July 20, 1830).

Milton would appear on a similar train route of the Portsmouth, Great Falls & Conway railroad in and after 1850.

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References:

Find a Grave. (2015, September 30). Jonathan Thorne Dodge. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/153080076/jonathan-thorne-dodge

Find a Grave. (2016, August 1). Samuel Kimball. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/167665682/samuel-kimball

Mindat.org (2024). Madison Lead Mine. Retrieved from www.mindat.org/loc-6126.html

Wikipedia. (2024, August 22). Stagecoach. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stagecoach

By Muriel Bristol | October 27, 2024

William B. Wiggin was born in Wakefield, NH, October 24, 1800, son of David and Mary “Polly” (Hanscom) Wiggin.

(The children of parents David and Mary “Polly” (Hanscom) Wiggin were: Oliver Dearborn Wiggin (1797–1865), George B. Wiggin (1799–1820), William B. Wiggin (1800-1878), Simeon Wiggin (1802–1857), Temperence Wiggin (1804-1878), Mehitable Hanscom Wiggin (1806-1879), Mary Dearborn Wiggin (1808-188?), David H. Wiggin (1811–1882), Thomas Hanscom Wiggin (1813-1814), Alpheus Wiggin (1816–1876), and Ann T. Wiggin (1819-1894)).

David Wiggin headed a Wakefield, NH, household at the time of the Third (1810) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 26-44 years [himself], one female aged 26-44 years [Polly (Hanscom) Wiggin], one male aged 10-15 years [William B. Wiggin], three females aged 10-15 years, and one male aged under-10 years [Simeon Wiggin].

Brother Thomas Hanscom Wiggin died in Wakefield, NH, in 1814.

Brother Oliver D. Wiggin married, December 5, 1819, Jane B. Hutchins. She was born in Wakefield, NH, July 29, 1797, daughter of Solomon and Hannah (Lewis) Hutchins.

Brother George B. Wiggin died March 5, 1820, aged twenty-one years, two months. Father David Wiggin died in Wakefield, NH, May 5, 1820, aged thirty-nine years, nine months.

Brother Simeon Wiggin married, in 1824, Sarah Wentworth. She was born in 1804, daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Stone) Wentworth.

The Milton Selectmen of 1828 were Stephen Drew, W.B. Wiggin, and I.H. Wentworth. The Milton Selectmen of 1829 were W.B. Wiggin, H. Meserve, and J.M. Twombly.

Simeon Wiggin headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifth (1830) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 20-29 years [himself], one female aged 20-29 years [Sarah (Wentworth) Wiggin], two males aged under-5 years [Alonzo L. Wiggin], and one female aged under-5 years [Lydia Wiggin]. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Joseph Berry and Francis Berry.

Polly [(Hanscom)] Wiggin headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifth (1830) Federal Census. Her household included one female aged 50-59 years [herself], two females aged 20-29 years [Temperence Wiggin and Mary D. Wiggin], and one female aged 10-15 years [Ann T. Wiggin]. Her household appeared in the enumeration between those of John Berry and Joseph Dearborn Jr.

Sister Temperance Wiggin married in Milton, in 1830, Francis Berry. He was born in Milton, February 16, 1792, son of Francis and Sarah (Grant) Berry.

Sister Mehitable H. Wiggin married in Meredith, NH, in 1830, Mark N. Sibley. He was born in Meredith, NH, in 1807, son of Richard and Polly (French) Sibley.

POCKET BOOK FOUND. A POCKET BOOK, containing money and valuable papers, was left in my Bookstore about ten days since – having the name of “WILLIAM B. WIGGIN,” stamped on the inside of it. The owner can have the same by proving property and paying for this advertisement. S.C. STEVENS. Dover, March 5, 1831 (Times & Dover Enquirer, March 15, 1831).

William B. Wiggin married in Dover, NH, August 2, 1831, Philena Graves, he of Milton and she of Dover, NH. Rev. John G. Dow performed the ceremony. She was born in Tuftonborough, NH, in 1799, daughter of Phineas and Sally ((—-) Hodgdon) Graves.

(Phineas Graves had been one of the three original settlers of Tuftonborough, NH, in the 1780s. He had died there in 1816. “Twelfthly. I give, bequeath and devise unto my seventh daughter, Philenia Graves, one dollar, to be paid by my Executors, hereafter named, in six months from my Decease” (Strafford County Probate, 18:523)).

William B. Wiggin appeared in the Dover, NH, directory of 1833, as working at Fenner & W., i.e. Fenner & Wiggin, with his house on Poplar st. Fenner & Wiggin appeared as merchants of E. & W.I. Goods, European & West Indian Goods, at 5 Franklin sq. His partner, Elathan [Elhanan] W. Fenner, appeared also as working at F. & Wiggin, i.e. Fenner & Wiggin, with his house on Franklin st.

William B. Wiggin was appointed to a Dover, NH, Whig Committee of Vigilance, February 27, 1836. The Whig Central Committee appointed the Vigilance Committee to oversee the election and notify them of any irregularities. (See Milton’s Ante-Bellum Party Affiliations).

William B. Wiggin appeared in the Dover, NH, directory of 1838, as a constable and lot layer, i.e., surveyor (Norris, 1838).

Sister Mary D. Wiggin married in Wakefield, NH, June 10, 1838, Oliver Lord, she of Dover, NH, and he of Eliot, ME. Rev. Joseph Spinney performed the ceremony.

William B. Wiggin headed a Dover, NH, household at the time of the Sixth (1840) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 30-39 years [himself], and one female aged 40-49 years [Philena (Graves) Wiggin]. One member of his household was engaged in the Learned Professions and Engineering.

Sister Ann T. Wiggin married in Milton, December 25, 1842, Thomas L. Pickering, both of Wakefield, NH. Rev. Joseph Spinney performed the ceremony. He was born in Rochester, NH, in 1819, son of Simeon and Mary Pickering.

William B. Wiggin appeared in the Dover, NH, directory of 1843, as a land surveyor, with his house at 18 Second street. (His former partner, E.W. Fenner, appeared as a machinist for the C.M. [Cocheco Manuf.] co., with his house at the corner of Fifth and Chestnut streets).

The Dover, NH, Selectmen of 1845 were John Tredick, Samuel Dunn, jr., and William B. Wiggin (Scales, 1923).

William B. Wiggin received a five-year appointment as a Dover, NH, justice-of-the-peace, July 1, 1845.

The Dover, NH, Selectmen of 1846 were Samuel Dunn, jr., William B. Wiggin, and Andrew Varney (Scales, 1923).

HERE AND THERE. … About fifty years ago [circa 1848] the Norway Plains company, engaged in manufacturing in Rochester, sent to the town of Middleton a man named Benjamin Barker, who owned and operated lumber mills in the former town, with instructions to obtain certain lands, by bond or purchase outright, from Moses Place, Amos W. York, Ephraim Colbath, J. Smith Colbath, Leighton Colbath, Jr., and others, all of Middleton, in order that a reservoir might be constructed and that the Norway Plains company should be enabled to regulate the supply of water on which the running of the mills depended. Mr. William B. Wiggin, an expert civil engineer from Dover, made a careful survey of the requisite land, and furnished an estimate of the number of gallons which the proposed reservoir should contain. The owners of the land were thrifty men, and were willing to part with the use of it if not with the land itself, but they set a high price upon their properties, as men are apt to do in view of any demand, and it was some time before prices were agreed upon. Finally, with an outlay ranging from eight to twelve dollars an acre, amounting to the sum of nearly three thousand dollars, the arrangement was completed, the right of flowage being ceded in the cases where the land was not bought outright by deed. In this transaction valuable assistance was given by the Cocheco Mills company of Dover, although no special immediate profit could accrue to it, beyond the general advantage of having streams under control, and the latter condition caused mill owners between Middleton and Rochester to acquiesce in the construction of the dam … (Farmington News, January 21, 1898).

Brother David H. Wiggin married (1st) Patience Hodsdon.

Mother Mary “Polly” (Hanscom) Wiggin died in Milton, May 21, 1850, aged seventy-two years, eight months.

William B. Wiggin received a five-year renewal appointment as a Dover, NH, justice-of-the-peace, June 25, 1850.

William B. Wiggin, a civil engineer, aged forty-nine years (b. ME), headed a Dover, NH, household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. His household included Philina [(Graves)] Wiggin, aged fifty years (b. NH). William B. Wiggin had real estate valued at $2,400.

Dover, NH, sent William B. Wiggin to Concord, NH, as one of its six NH State Representatives for the 1851-52 biennium (Wadleigh, 1913).

On Tuesday, June 24, 1851, a vote was taken in “An act to incorporate the Cocheco Bank.” Rep. Wiggin voted with the 125 members [52.1%] that voted in favor of the bill, rather than with the 115 members [47.9%] that voted against it.

On Wednesday, July 2, 1851, a vote was taken in “An act to incorporate the Grafton County Bank.” Rep. Wiggin voted with the 177 members [68.9%] that voted in favor of the bill, rather than with the 80 members [31.1%] that voted against it.

Brother Alpheus Wiggin married (1st), circa 1852, Emeline “Emily” Seavey. She was born in Brownington, VT, in 1818, daughter of Francis and Hadassah (Warren) Seavey.

Thomas Stackpole, Thos E. Sawyer, Oliver Libbey, William B. Wiggin, J.K. Purinton, and D.H. Wendell, were Directors of the Cocheco Bank in Dover, NH, in 1855. Thomas Stackpole was also its President, and Ezekiel Hurd was its Cashier.

This bank was incorporated July 4, 1851. Amount loaned on pledge of its stock $100. Two of the Directors are indebted in small amounts compared with the amount of stock owned by each. The dividends in 1854 were 4 per cent, semi annually. The notes are all considered good (NH Bank Commissioner’s Office, 1854).

The Cocheco Bank had assets (and balanced liabilities) of $248,536.03. (William B. Wiggin had voted in favor of chartering the bank when he had been a State Representative from Dover, NH).

In the July 1856 the NH Supreme Court case of Busby vs. Littlefield, surveyor Willliam B. Wiggin appeared as a witness for the plaintiff.

The evidence in the case consists of the testimony of John H. White, Esq., who made the deed from Busby to Jordan; of James M. Ross and Charles L. Smith, who witnessed the deed; of Parker Clay, the owner of the land in the rear of the whole Busby land; of George W. Hayes, a tenant of Busby, who resided in the house on the southerly end of the lot; and of William B. Wiggin, a surveyor. This evidence has all been taken on the part of the complainant, no evidence having been taken by the defendants (NH Supreme Court, 1857). 

Brother Simeon Wiggin died in Milton, February 11, 1857, aged fifty-four years.

William B. Wiggin was a City of Dover, NH, Common Councilor in 1857. William B. Wiggin, Solomon H. Foye, Everett Hall, and Daniel Murray were Dover Measurers of Stone. William B. Wiggin and James M. Haynes were its Ward 2 Assessors. He received $43.55 in salary for that Assessor position, and $11.50 for surveying highways.

William B. Wiggin appeared in the Dover, NH, directory of 1859, as a civil engineer, with his house at 6 Second street. Sister-in-law Louisa Graves appeared also, as residing at William B. Wiggin’s house, at 6 Second street.

Wm. B. Wiggin, a surveyor, aged fifty-nine years (b. ME), headed a Dover, NH, household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. his household included Philenia [(Graves)] Wiggin, aged fifty-nine years (b. NH), Louisa Gray [Graves], aged fifty-seven years (b. NH), and Sarah H. Ross, aged fifteen years (b. NH). Wm. B. Wiggin had real estate valued at $2,500 and personal estate valued at $6,000. Louisa Gray had personal estate valued at $2,000.

William B. Wiggin received a five-year renewal appointment as a Dover, NH, justice-of-the-peace, June 19, 1860.

Brother-in-law Thomas L. Pickering of Wakefield, NH, enlisted in Co. A of the Thirteenth NH Infantry Regiment in Rochester, NH, August 21, 1862. He was aged forty-two years. He was mustered into the service, September 18, 1862. He was mustered out of the service, May 16, 1865.

William B. Wiggin appeared in the Dover, NH, directory of 1865, 1867, and 1869, as a civil engineer, with his house at 22 Second street. That name appeared also as a farmer, with his house near the Barrington road.

William B. Wiggin received a five-year renewal appointment as a Dover, NH, justice-of-the-peace, June 16, 1865.

Brother Oliver D. Wiggin died in Levant, ME, October 15, 1865.

William B. Wiggin appeared in the NH State Political Manuals of 1866 and 1867, as a Dover, NH, justice-of-the-peace (McFarland & Jenks, 1867). He appeared in the NH Business Directory of 1868, as a Dover, NH, justice-of-the-peace (Briggs, 1868).

Brother-in-law Francis Berry died on Wakefield, NH, December 25, 1866.

Sister-in-law Jane B. “Jenny” (Hutchins) Wiggin died in Levant, ME, March 31, 1868.

Sister-in-law Emeline (Seavey) Wiggin died in Wakefield, NH, December 17, 1868, aged fifty-one years, one month.

Brother Alpheus Wiggin married (2nd) in Wakefield, NH, August 21, 1869, Caroline Sanborn. He was a farmer, aged fifty-three years, and she was aged fifty-four years. Rev. Nathaniel Barker performed the ceremony. She was born in Acton, ME, circa 1815, daughter of Joseph and Sarah “Sally” (Farnham) Wiggin.

William B. Wiggin, a surveyor, aged sixty-nine years (b. ME), headed a Dover, NH, household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Philena [(Graves)] Wiggin, aged seventy-one years (b. NH), and Louisa Graves, aged sixty-six years (b. NH). William B. Wiggin had real estate valued at $3,000 and personal estate valued at $1,200. Louisa Graves had personal estate valued at $3,000.

William B. Wiggin received a five-year renewal appointment as a Dover, NH, justice-of-the-peace, June 16, 1870.

Sister Ann T. [(Wiggin)] Pickering of Somersworth, NH, divorced her husband, Thomas L. Pickering of Wakefield, NH, in Strafford County Superior Court, June 23, 1870. She sought return of property given to libellant.

William B. Wiggin appeared in the Dover, NH, directory of 1871, as a civil engineer and surveyor, with his house at 22 Second street.

Brother-in-law Thomas L. Pickering died in Rochester, NH, October 3, 1872.

Philena (Graves) Wiggin died in Dover, NH, in 1874, aged seventy-five years.

William B. Wiggin appeared in the Dover, NH, directories of 1874, 1876, and 1878, as a civil engineer, with his house at 22 Second street.

Brother Alpheus Wiggin died February 15, 1876, aged fifty-nine years, eleven months.

William B. Wiggin received a five-year renewal appointment as a Dover, NH, justice-of-the-peace, March 24, 1876.

William B. Wiggin was both President and a Trustee of the Cocheco Savings Bank in Dover, NH, January 23, 1878. The bank had been incorporated in 1872, and its charter would expire in 1892 (NH Bank Commissioners, 1878).

William B. Wiggin of Dover, NH, made his last will, June 27, 1878. According to the wishes of his deceased wife, Philinia Wiggin, he had set apart $2,500. In her name he devised $500 to Sarah H. Berry, wife of Frank J. Berry; $500 to Caroline M. Baley, wife of Rev. N.M. Baley; and $100 each to Mary Jane Lord and her sister, Martha [Lord], now Mrs. Jewell, Ann Hersom, Mariah Campbell, and Sarah, wife of Thomas L. Berry. He devised $1,000 to the New Hampshire Orphans home.

On his own account, he devised $1000 to William W. Berry, for the benefit and support of his mother. He devised $1,000 to his sister, Mary [(Wiggin)] Lord; $500 each to Thomas L. Berry, William W. Berry, and Albert Lord; $100 each to Mark N. Libby, Richard F. Libbey, Mark N. Libbey, and Abial Libbey. He devised to his brother, David H. Wiggin, his land and house in Shapleigh, in which the brother then lived and $1,000, all to be held in trust by the executor for the support of the brother. After the brother’s decease, the southern part of the property should pass to the widow of another brother, Alpheus Wiggin, and thereafter to their nephew, Luther P. Wiggin, while the northern part would pass to William W. Berry. He devised $1,000 to the executor, who was to use it to pay support for his sister, Ann T. [(Wiggin)] Pickering, out of interest and, if necessary the principal.

Wiggin devised on his own behalf another $1,000 to the New Hampshire Orphan’s house, which together with the first $1,000 devised in his late wife’s name, would make $2,000 in all.

He devised to his nephew, Luther P. Wiggin, the land and buildings then occupied by Simeon Wiggin, and that adjoining, after the death of Alpheus Wiggins’ widow. He devised his books to Frank J. Berry, William W. Berry, and Albert Lord. He devised to Louisa Graves a life estate in the west tenement of his dwelling house in Dover, NH, in connection with Mrs. Frank J. Berry.

Wiggin named Frank J. Berry as executor and residuary legatee. Charles S. Buck, Henry H. Hough, and Jacob M. Willey witnessed his signature (Strafford County Probate, 89:341).

William B. Wiggin died in Dover, NH, in June 1878, aged seventy-seven years. His last will was proved in a Strafford County Probate court held in Dover, NH, August 6, 1878 (Strafford County Probate, 89:341).

NEW HAMPSHIRE. The Orphans Home at Franklin receives a bequest of $2000 by the will of the late William B. Wiggin of Dover. Within the past year this institution has received $7400 (Boston Post, August 2, 1878).

Sister Temperence (Wiggin) Berry died September 20, 1878.

Sister Mehitable H. (Wiggin) Sibley died in 1879.

Charles H. Butterfield, a house carpenter, aged thirty-eight years (b. VT), headed a Dover, NH, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Mary E. [(Clancy)] Butterfield, keeping house, aged thirty-eight years (b. NH), his son, Edward E. Butterfield, aged five years (b. NH), and his boarders, Eliza Butterfield, works in printing, aged twenty-six years (b. NH), and Louisa Graves, at home, aged seventy-five years (b. NH). They resided in Second Street.

Brother David H. Wiggin married (2nd) in Shapleigh, ME, April 30, 1880, Julia Whitehouse. Rev. D. Perry performed the ceremony. She was born circa 1825.

Brother-in-law Mark N. Sibley died in 1881. Brother David H. Wiggin died August 19, 1882, aged seventy-one years, two months. Sister-in-law Sarah (Wentworth) Wiggin died in Milton, April 2, 1885.

Sister-in-law Louisa Graves died of softening of the brain in Watertown, MA, December 14, 1886, aged eighty-two years. She had been born in Tuftonborough, NH, daughter of Phineas and Sally Graves. She was buried [in the Wiggin plot] in Dover, NH.

Ann T. [(Wiggin)] Pickering, widow of Thomas Pickering, was enumerated in Wakefield, NH, in the surviving Veterans Schedule of the Eleventh (1890) Federal Census. Her late husband had been a Private in Co. A, of the Thirteenth NH Infantry Regiment, from 1862. He had received a bayonet wound during the war. She received her mail in South Wakefield, NH.

Sister-in-law Caroline W. (Sanborn) Wiggin died in Wakefield, NH, in 1890.

Sister Ann T. (Wiggin) Pickering died of cerebrospinal multiple sclerosis in Wakefield, NH, July 24, 1894, aged seventy-six years, six months. She was a widowed houseworker. George A. Allen, M.D. signed the death certificate.

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References:

Briggs & Co. (1868). NH Business Directory, 1868. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=IOUCAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA168

Find a Grave. (2011, June 17). Elhanan W. Fenner. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/71534909/elhanan-w-fenner

Find a Grave. (2015, June 25). Louisa Graves. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/148283745/louisa-graves

Find a Grave. (2021, August 19). Alpheus Wiggin. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/230984673/alpheus_wiggin

Find a Grave. (2021, August 19). David Wiggin. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/230984521/david-wiggin

Find a Grave. (2021, August 19). David H. Wiggin. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/230984783/david_h_wiggin

Find a Grave. (2021, August 19). George B. Wiggin. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/230984806/george_b_wiggin

Find a Grave. (2018, August 3). Oliver Dearborn Wiggin. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/191933917/oliver_dearborn_wiggin

Find a Grave. (2018, October 2). Simeon Wiggin. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/193680672/simeon_wiggin

Find a Grave. (2015, June 23). William B. Wiggin. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/148277964/william-b-wiggin

McFarland & Jenks. (1867). Political Manual for the State of New Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=g4ABAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA97

NH Bank Commissioner’s Office. (1854). Report of the NH Bank Commissioners’ Office. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=wqkyAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA52

NH Bank Commissioner’s Office. (1878). Report of the NH Bank Commissioners’ Office. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=NH4pAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA23

NH Supreme Court. (1857). Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Superior Court of Judicature for the State of New-Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=IZs0AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA81

Norris, Daniel L. (1838). Norris’ Dover Directory. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=XmNZAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA33

Scales, John. (1923). History of Dover, New Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=g4w-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA261

Wadleigh, George. (1913). Notable Events in the History of Dover, New Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=A3ywiDfSrY8C&pg=PA296

By Muriel Bristol | October 20, 2024

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Continued from Milton’s Initial Party Affiliations.

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The ante-bellum period (Latin for “pre-war,” i.e., pre-Civil War) between 1828 and 1854 is sometimes characterized by historians as the Second Party System period, with the principal parties being the Democratic-Republicans or Democrats, initially led by Gen. Andrew Jackson of Tennessee and Martin Van Buren of New York, and the National-Republicans or Whigs, initially led by John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts and Henry Clay of Kentucky. (These new parties or configurations replaced the original First Party System of Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans and Madison’s Federalist-Republicans).

Milton gave 173 votes (93.5%) to National-Republican Sheriff John Bell of Chester, NH, and 12 votes (6.5%) to Democratic-Republican Gov. Benjamin Pierce of Hillsborough, NH, in the NH Gubernatorial election of March 1828. Bell won the election. In the following year, Milton gave 138 votes (77.1%) to incumbent Gov. Bell and 41 votes (22.9%) to Pierce. This time Pierce won the statewide election.

Levi Jones of Milton was chosen for a five-man National-Republican District committee, September 30, 1828, which would prepare and report resolutions on potential candidates for President and Vice President of the U.S. They recommended the incumbent President John Q. Adams as their preferred candidate for President and Richard Rush for Vice President. Stephen Drew of Milton was appointed to a six-man committee tasked with sounding out the sentiments of “the People” on those choices.

John Nutter, John H. Varney, and Lewis Hayes were Milton Delegates to the National [-Republican] Young Men’s Convention, which was held at Wolfeborough, NH, October 1, 1828 (Times & Dover Enquirer, October 27, 1828).

Milton gave 160 votes (78.0%) to incumbent National-Republican President John Quincy Adams and 45 votes (22.0%) to Democratic-Republican Gen. Andrew Jackson in the Presidential election of November 1828. Jackson won the election (Times & Dover Enquirer, November 11, 1828).

Stephen Drew of Milton was Secretary of the NH Senatorial District No. 5 Republican Convention held in Dover, NH, January 21, 1830 (Times & Dover Enquirer, January 26, 1830). The term “Republican” in this context may be understood to be mean National-Republican, or what would come to be known as “Whig.”

Levi Jones of Milton was one of two Secretaries for a Republican, i.e., National-Republican, Strafford County Convention, which was held at the Court House in Dover, NH, January 21, 1830. The Convention chose Timothy Upham as their candidate for NH Governor (Times & Dover Enquirer, January 26, 1830). He would lose to the Democratic-Republican candidate, Matthew Harvey. (Harvey had been originally a National-Republican, who had switched to Democratic-Republican).

Milton gave 161 votes (77.8%) to National-Republican NH State Senator Ichabod Bartlett and 46 votes (22.2%) to Democratic-Republican Judge Samuel Dinsmoor in the NH Gubernatorial election of 1831. Judge Dinsmoor won the statewide election. In the following year, Milton gave 128 votes (71.9%) to NH State Sen. Ichabod Bartlett and 50 votes (28.1%) to incumbent Gov. Samuel Dinsmoor. Dinsmoor won reelection in the statewide election.

Stephen M. Mathes was the Milton Delegate to the Republican State Convention held in Concord, NH, June 19, 1832. In this context, Republican meant National-Republican. Henry Clay was their Presidential nominee (Times & Dover Enquirer, June 26, 1832). The National-Republicans would come to be known as the “Whig” party.

The “Whig” name became attached to the National-Republican party due in part to its adherents’ vociferous opposition to President Andrew Jackson, whom they regarded as having monarchial tendencies – as in “King” Jackson – and for which reason they regarded his fellow Democratic-Republicans as having become “Tories.” That characterization left themselves occupying the other pole, that of “Whigs.” (It is perhaps ironic that both terms had originated in English politics as insults meaning “bandits” and “robbers”).

Milton was considered in this period to be a Whig “stronghold,” along with Dover, Rochester, Somersworth, and Rollinsford. This was not always the case for the State as a whole, which tended to have more of a Democrat or “Tory” majority overall. This strength of feeling no doubt arose partly due to slavery being so thoroughly opposed by Milton inhabitants, which was a position where the Democratic-Republican “Tories” neither felt nor acted as forthrightly as Milton inhabitants felt they should have (See Milton and Abolitionism).

Milton gave 153 votes (75.0%) to National-Republican Henry Clay, and 51 votes (25.0%) to incumbent Democratic-Republican President Andrew Jackson, in the US Presidential election of November 1832. President Andrew Jackson won reelection.

Milton gave 92 votes (64.3%) to National-Republican Hon. Joseph Healey and 51 votes (35.7%) to Democratic-Republican Gov. William Badger in the NH Gubernatorial election of 1835. Gov. Badger won reelection in the statewide election.

William B. Wiggin was appointed to a Dover, NH, Whig Committee of Vigilance, February 27, 1836. The Whig Central Committee appointed the Vigilance Committee to oversee the election and notify them of any irregularities. (Wiggin was a former Milton Selectman that had moved to Dover, NH, circa 1832).

Milton gave 40 votes to incumbent Democrat NH Governor Isaac Hill in his March 1836 reelection bid. Gov. Hill was running unopposed. The “scattering” write-in votes went to a number of others. 

ELECTION ITEMS. Isaac Hill is elected Governor, – because there was no candidate against him. In some towns the whigs threw a few votes for Healey; in others for Sullivan; in others for Davy Crockett or Jack Downing, anybody or nobody, whom they thought better qualified for the office than the tory candidate (Dover Enquirer, March 15, 1836).

The Hon. Joseph Healey and the Hon. George Sullivan being written-in were NH Whig politicians. Col. Davy Crockett was a folk hero. (News of the fall of the Alamo, March 6, 1836, and Col. Crocketts’ death there, would not reach New Hampshire until mid-April). Maj. Jack Downing was a fictional character featured in an ongoing series of humorous political satires by author Seba Smith.

The Presidential election of November 1836 brought Democrat President Andrew Jackson’s intended successor, Vice President Martin Van Buren, to the fore. Joseph and Rebecca (Ricker) Cook of Milton would name their son Martin Van Buren Cook after him (in 1838). One might assume that they were likely Democratic-Republicans.

President Jackson is famous, or infamous, for having eliminated the inflationary U.S. central bank. In so doing, he effectively favored the inflationary state-level banks. The Whigs abhorred his closing of the central bank. As Abraham Lincoln would say later regarding another issue rather than the central bank:

In great contests, each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong.

Newly-elected President Van Buren inherited the resulting economic “Panic of 1837,” which caused bank failures (40% of them), unemployment, foreclosures, economic depression, and a specie (hard money) shortage, all of which lasted well into the next decade. (See below a picture of a 1838 substitute private specie “penny,” with Liberty depicted ironically as wearing a “Loco Foco” crown).

Thomas Chapman and Enoch W. Plummer were the Milton Delegates to the NH State Whig Convention, which was held in Concord, NH, Tuesday, November 21, 1837 (Times & Dover Enquirer, November 28, 1837).

Asa Fox and Reuben J. Witham were the Milton Delegates to the NH Fifth Senatorial District Whig Convention, which was held in Rochester, NH, January 16, 1838. The Convention selected the Hon. Andrew Pierce of Dover, NH, as their preferred candidate (Times & Dover Enquirer, January 23, 1838).

Stephen M. Mathes and Edward Hart were the Milton Delegates to the Strafford County Whig Convention, which was held in Rochester, NH, Tuesday, January 16, 1838 (Times & Dover Enquirer, January 23, 1838).

Theodore C. Lyman and Benjamin Roberts were the Milton Delegates to the Strafford County Whig Convention, which was held in Farmington, NH, Monday, January 14, 1839 (Times & Dover Enquirer, January 22, 1839).

Ichabod H. Wentworth and Thomas Y. Wentworth were the Milton Delegates to the Strafford County Whig Convention, which was held in Farmington, NH, Monday, January 20, 1840 (Times & Dover Enquirer, January 28, 1840).

James Berry and James M. Twombly were the Milton Delegates to a Strafford County Whig Convention, which was held in Ossipee, NH, on Thursday, April 24, 1840 (Times & Dover Enquirer, April 28, 1840).

Milton gave 182 votes (72.5%) to Whig Gen. William Henry Harrison (“Tippecanoe & Tyler Too”) of Ohio, and 69 votes (27.5%) to incumbent Democrat President Martin Van Buren, in the US Presidential election of November 1840. Whig William Henry Harrison won the election but died a month into his term, after which he was succeeded by his Vice-President, John Tyler.

John H. Varney and S. Watson Drew were the Milton Delegates to a Strafford County Whig Counsellor Convention, which was held at the Dodge Hotel in Rochester, NH, January 18, 1841 (Times & Dover Enquirer, January 26, 1841). The Dodge Hotel was a popular lodging at the center of the regional stagecoach hub.

Joseph Pearl and E.W. Plummer were the Milton Delegates to the NH Fifth Senatorial District Whig Convention, which was held at the Jonathan T. Dodge Hotel in Rochester, NH, January 18, 1841. The Convention selected Daniel Winkley, Esq., of Strafford, NH, as their preferred candidate (Times & Dover Enquirer, January 26, 1841).

John H. Varney and Micah Hanson were the Milton Delegates at a Strafford County Whig Convention held at the Jonathan Dodge Inn in Rochester, NH, January 31, 1843. Joseph Pearl of Milton was nominated as Whig candidate for Strafford County Road Commissioner.

A Dover Enquirer editorial mocked the Belknap Gazette for having incorrectly classified four Strafford County NH State Representatives, including Charles Swasey of Milton, as being “… locofocos, when they are as staunch whigs as any in the State” (Times & Dover Enquirer, March 26, 1844).

(The Locofocos were a hardline economic populist faction of the Democrat party. Their name originated as the brand name of a type of stick matches and their use of such matches in order to see when the gaslights were intentionally turned off to disrupt a New York Tammany Hall political meeting in October 1835. (Tammany Hall would become a watchword for corrupt “machine” politics). Over time, the Whigs took to calling Democrats of all stripes Locofocos).

Milton gave 94 votes (56.6%) to Whig Henry Clay, 45 votes (27.1%) to Democrat James K. Polk of Tennessee, and 27 votes (16.3%) to abolitionist Liberty candidate James G. Birney of Kentucky, in the US Presidential election of November 1844. Democrat James K. Polk won the election.

Stephen Shores of Milton was nominated as the Liberty party candidate for Strafford County Road Commissioner at their Dover, NH, convention, January 24, 1845 (Times & Dover Enquirer, January 28, 1845). The Liberty party was an abolitionist party, which was most active in the 1840s. Many of its members went on to join later the Free Soil party and the Republican party.

J.D. Lyman and H.V. Wentworth were the Milton Delegates to the NH State Whig Convention, which was held in Concord, NH, October 20, 1847 (Times & Enquirer, November 2, 1847).

Milton gave 100 votes (50.5%) to Whig Gen. Zachary Taylor of Kentucky, 79 votes (39.9%) to Democrat Lewis Cass of Michigan, and 19 votes (9.6%) to Whig Millard Fillmore of New York, in the US Presidential election of November 1848. Whig Zachary Taylor won the election. (Fillmore was Taylor’s Vice President and would complete Taylor’s term, when he died in office in 1850).

Eli Wentworth and Harrison “Harris” Kimball were the Milton Delegates to the Strafford County Whig Convention, which was held in Farmington, NH, Monday, January 14, 1850 (Dover Enquirer, January 22, 1850).

By the late 1840s the Whig coalition was beginning to unravel as factions of “Conscience” (antislavery) Whigs and “Cotton” (proslavery) Whigs emerged. In 1848 the party returned to its winning formula by running a military hero – this time Zachary Taylor – for president. But the Compromise of [September] 1850, fashioned by Henry Clay and signed into law by Millard Fillmore (who succeeded to the presidency on Taylor’s death in 1850), fatally estranged the Conscience Whigs from their party (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2024).

Robert Mathes [Jr.] was sent as the Milton Delegate to the NH State Constitutional Convention of 1850. His name was italicized in the newspaper listing, i.e., by which the accompanying key tells us he was a Whig (Dover Enquirer, October 15, 1850).

Ebenezer Osgood and James Doldt of Milton were listed among the Whigs in a roster of NH State Representatives, in March 1852 (Dover Enquirer, March 16, 1852). The other listed party affiliations were “Dem.,” “F.S.,” [“Free Soil], and one “F.S. Whig.”

Eben’r Osgood, Josiah N. Witham, Eli Wentworth, and Harris Kimball were the Milton Delegates to the NH Whig State Convention held in Concord, NH, in September 1852 (Dover Enquirer, September 7, 1852).

Milton gave 102 votes (45.9%) to Whig Gen. Winfield Scott of New York, 93 votes (41.9%) to Democrat Franklin Pierce, and 27 votes (12.2%) to Free Soiler John P. Hale, in the US Presidential election of November 1852. Democrat Franklin Pierce won the election. (Both Pierce and Hale were New Hampshire men, Hale “hailing” originally from Rochester, NH, although he then lived in Dover, NH). The Whig party declined and began to dissolve after its Presidential defeat in 1852.

Josiah N. Witham, Francis D. Horne, and Edward Hart were Milton Delegates to a Strafford County Whig Convention, which was held in Dover, NH, January 18, 1854 (Dover Enquirer, January 24, 1854).

Milton NH State Representative Elect Samuel Washburn maintained that he was a “true” Democrat in 1854, and not a so-called “Hunker” or “Nebraska” [Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854] Democrat, as has been said of him.

A few weeks since we stated, on what we deemed good authority, that Samuel Washburn, one of the representatives elect from Milton, who had been claimed as a Hunker Democrat, did not rank himself with that party. Mr. Washburn, in a note to the last Gazette, declares himself ‘a true democrat,’ – meaning, we suppose, that he is of the hunker and Nebraska stripe – and we are bound to believe him. The gentleman who gave us the information, and who told us that he had Mr. Washburn’s word as a voucher for his statement, must have misunderstood him, or Mr. W., talks one way and writes another. That’s all (Dover Enquirer, April 11, 1854).

A “Hunker” Democrat would have been one that favored state banks and internal improvements, while minimizing the slavery issue, and they were out of alignment with the minority “Barnburner” Democrats, who openly opposed slavery.

Whig U.S. Senator William P. Fessenden of Maine presented to the U.S. Senate a petition from the voters of Milton, in June 1854, seeking repeal of the Fugitive Slave Law.

In the Senate yesterday Mr. Fessenden presented a petition for a repeal of the Fugitive Slave Law [of 1850], signed, as he stated, by all the voters of the town of Milton, New Hampshire, the birthplace of Gen. Pierce. Mr. Sumner presented a similar petition. Both were referred (NY Post, June 30, 1854).

CONGRESS. … On Thursday, Mr. Fessenden presented a petition from New Hampshire, praying for the repeal of the Fugitive Slave Law. He said “the petition was not open to the objections of locality which had been urged against the memorial of the men of Boston. – It came from a town whose population was about 2000, and was signed by over 300 voters, which, he supposed comprised all its voters. Moreover, the town was Milton, which was the birthplace of the President. (Either the telegraph, or Mr. F., is mistaken. Milton claims no such honor [as being the birthplace of Franklin Pierce]).  (Dover Enquirer, July 4, 1854).

(Sen. William P. Fessenden would be reelected to the U.S. Senate as a Republican, and President Lincoln would appoint him as Secretary of the Treasury in 1864).

The Third Party System of Democrats versus Republicans is said to have emerged, or begun to emerge, in 1854 with the decline of the Whigs and the birth of the anti-slavery Republican party.

The anti-slavery Republican Party emerged in 1854. It adopted many of the economic policies of the Whigs, such as national banks, railroads, high tariffs, homesteads, and aid to land grant colleges (Wikipedia, 2024).

In the collapse of the Whig party, southern “Cotton” Whigs tended to merge into the Democrat Party, while northern “Conscience” Whigs tended to join the newly founded Republican party.

SHIPWRECK IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. Our despatches from New Hampshire proclaim the triumphant success of the combined forces of the Whigs, Free-Soilers, Know-Nothings, and Anti-Nebraska Democrats, over the Pierce-Nebraska party of the state. … (Dover Enquirer, March 22, 1855).

Eli Wentworth and David Wallingford made another stop along the way. They were characterized as being (or being also) American party (“Know Nothing”) adherents when elected as NH State Representatives in March 1856 (Dover Enquirer, March 20, 1856). The short-lived nativist and anti-slavery “Know Nothing” party gained a majority in the NH legislature in this biennium, but it proved to be a short-lived movement. Its anti-slavery elements would soon transfer their affiliation to the recently-founded anti-slavery Republican party.

John D. Lyman, Eli Wentworth, James H. Nutter, and G.W. Scates were the Milton Delegates to the NH Whig State Convention, in June 1856. John D. Lyman was selected for the Whig NH State Committee (Dover Enquirer, June 27, 1856).

Milton gave 281 votes (75.3%) to Republican John C. Fremont of California, 92 votes (24.7%) to Democrat James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, and 0 votes (0.0%) to Know-Nothing/Whig Millard Fillmore, in the US Presidential election of November 1856. Fremont was the first Republican Presidential candidate. Democrat James Buchanan won the election.

The Republicans of Wakefield, Brookfield, and Milton threw a post-election Jubilee at the Masonic Hall in Union, Wakefield, NH, March 18, 1858,

… to congratulate each other on the triumph of Republican principles in these several towns, and notwithstanding the unfavorable conditions of the roads and weather a pretty large assembly collected.

A dinner for seventy-five guests was served at the Hotel, with many toasts and speeches. There were songs by the Whitehouse Bards, followed by a dance, with music by the Milton Mills Quadrille Band. At the close, “all seemed highly gratified by the success of the entertainment” (Dover Enquirer, April 1, 1858).

Milton gave 252 votes (71.0%) to Republican Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, 129 votes (26.0%) to Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, also of Illinois, 6 votes (1.7%) to Southern Democrat Vice President John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky, and 5 votes (1.4%) to Constitutional Unionist John Bell of Tennessee, in the US Presidential election of November 1860. Republican Abraham Lincoln won the election.

Eli Wentworth of Milton was a Republican State Committee member in January 1861 (Dover Enquirer, January 17, 1861). (He would die of a fever at Snyder’s Bluff, Milldale, MS, two and one-half years later, while serving as an officer in the Union army).

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See also Milton’s NH State Representatives – 1803-1902 and Milton and Abolitionism

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References:

Wikipedia. (2024, September 5). Barnburners and Hunkers. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnburners_and_Hunkers

Wikipedia. (2024, October 10). Democratic Party (United States). Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_(United_States)

Wikipedia. (2024, September 21). Free Soil Party. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Soil_Party

Wikipedia. (2024, September 7). Kansas Nebraska Act. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas%E2%80%93Nebraska_Act

Wikipedia. (2024, September 27). Know Nothing. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_Nothing

Wikipedia. (2024, October 11). Locofoco. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locofocos

Wikipedia. (2024, September 8). Panic of 1837. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1837

Wikipedia. (2024, October 14). Republican Party (United States). Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States)

Wikipedia. (2024, October 6). Whig Party (United States). Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whig_Party_(United_States)

By Muriel Bristol | October 13, 2024

John Lucas was born in St. Albans, ME, circa 1824, son of Daniel and Hannah (Lyford) Lucas. (The birth of a John Lucas, possibly the same one, was recorded in Dexter, ME, February 23, 1825, son of George Lucas. He was a second child).

Daniel Lucas headed a St. Albans, ME, household at the time of the Sixth (1840) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 50-59 years [himself], one female aged 50-59 years [Hannah (Lyford) Lucas], one male aged 20-29 years [Henry Lucas], three females aged 20-29 years [Sarah L. Lucas, Mary J. Lucas, and Hannah Lucas], two males aged 20-29 years [Lewis L. Lucas and John Lucas], and one male aged 10-14 years [Stephen Lucas].

James B. Lewis, a farmer, aged thirty years (b. ME), headed a St. Albans, ME, household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. His household included Mary J. [(Lucas)] Lewis, aged thirty-two years (b. ME), John Lewis, aged one year (b. ME), and John Lucas, a farmer, aged twenty-six years (b. NH). James B. Lewis had real estate valued at $900.

Mother Hannah (Lyford) Lucas died June 30, 1851, aged sixty-six years.

Thomas M. Wentworth of Lebanon, ME, foreclosed on a mortgage given by Charles H. Ricker on a West Lebanon, ME, lot, January 26, 1860. The land description mentioned John Lucas as an abutter.

Notice of Foreclosure. THE undersigned hereby gives public notice that Elisabeth J. Wentworth, of Lebanon, in the county of York and State of Maine, married woman, by her deed of Mortgage dated Feb. 14th, 1859, recorded Feb. 14th, 1859, in Book 260, pages 341-2 of York County Records, conveyed to Caroline E. Wentworth, of the same Lebanon, married woman, a certain tract or parcel of land situate in said Lebanon, and bounded and described as follows, to wit:- North-Easterly by the road leading from West Lebanon to Three Ponds Village, in Milton, North-westerly by land of Daniel P. Warren, South-Westerly by land of John Lucas, and land of Orrin Merrow, and South-Easterly by land formerly owned by the Congregational Parish In Lebanon. The aforesaid Caroline E. Wentworth, sold and assigned and made over the aforesaid mortgage on the 5th of September, A.D. 1859,. to one Charles H. Ricker, duly recorded, as will appear by the York County Records, Book 262, pages 391-3, and the aforesaid Charles H. Ricker sold, assigned and made over the aforesaid Mortgage to Thomas M. Wentworth, of Lebanon aforesaid, the undersigned, who is now the holder and owner thereof, on the 19th of September, A.D. 1859, as will appear by York County Records, Book 262, pages 391-3. The condition in said deed has been broken, and by reason whereof the undersigned claims to foreclose the right of redemption of said mortgaged tract of land. THOMAS M. WENTWORTH. Dated at Lebanon the twenty-sixth day of January. A.D. 1860. 3w9 (Union & Journal (Biddeford, ME), March 9, 1860).

John Lucas, aged thirty-six years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. His household included Sarah A. Lucas, aged thirty-one years (b. NH). John Lucas had real estate valued at $1,500 and personal estate valued at $500. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Aaron Palmer, a farmer, aged sixty-seven years (b. NH), and D.E. Palmer, a physician, aged thirty-nine years (b. NH).

Father Daniel Lucas died in St. Albans, ME, December 4, 1861, aged seventy-six years, eight months.

John Lucas of Milton registered for the Class II military draft in Milton, in June 1863. He was a carpenter, aged thirty-eight years (b. ME).

John Lucas married in Wakefield, NH, June 11, 1865, Sarah E. Trask, he of Milton and she of Brookfield, NH. He was aged forty-six years and she was aged twenty-eight years. Nathaniel Barker performed the ceremony. She was born in Brookfield, NH, November 7, 1836, daughter of Edward and Eliza (Cottle) Trask.

(The children of John and Sarah E. (Trask) Lucas were: Ellen M. Lucas (1866–1955), Edward Daniel Lucas (1869–1890), Edith Augusta Lucas (1871–1954), Nettie Eliza Lucas (1874–1964), and Sarah A. Lucas (1878–1953)).

Daughter Ellen M. Lucas was born in Milton, July 21, 1866. Her father was a carpenter. She was the first child.

The NH General Court authorized incorporation of the Milton Classical Institute in July 1867. John Lucus was one of the original incorporators.

Section 1. That Luther Hayes, Charles Jones, George W. Peavy, Joseph Sayward, William P. Tuttle, George W. Tasker, John S. Hersey, Hiram V. Wentworth, George Lyman, and John Lucus, all of Milton, and their successors, be, and they hereby are, created and made a body politic by the name of the Milton Classical Institute, and by that name may sue and be sued, prosecute and defend to final judgment and execution, and shall have and enjoy all the privileges, and be subject to all the liabilities incident to corporations of a similar nature.

Son Edward D. Lucas was born in Milton, circa May 1869.

John Lucas, a carpenter, aged forty-six years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Sarah E. Lucas, keeping house, aged thirty-three years (b. NH), Ellen M. Lucas, aged three years (b. NH), and Daniel E. Lucas, aged one year (b. NH). John Lucas had real estate valued at $1,000 and personal estate valued at $250. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of George L. Hersom, works for shoe factory, aged thirty-our years (b. NH), and George W. Tasker, a shoe cutter, aged forty years (b. NH).

The Milton Selectmen of 1871 were Geo. Lyman, John Lucas, and G.H. Plumer.

Daughter Edith Augusta Lucas was born in Milton, April 28, 1871.

John Lucas and family moved from Milton to Limington, ME, sometime between 1874 and 1878.

Daughter Nettie Eliza Lucas was born in Limington, ME, March 22, 1874. Daughter Sarah A. Lucas was born in Limington, ME, May 24, 1878.

John Lucas, a farmer, aged fifty-six years (b. ME), headed a Limington, ME, household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Sarah E. Lucas, keeping house, aged forty-four years (b. NH), and his children, Ellen M. Lucas, at school, at school, aged thirteen years (b. NH), Edward Lucas, at school, aged ten years (b. NH), Edith A. Lucas, at school, aged nine years (b. NH), Nettie E. Lucas, at school, aged six years (b. ME), and Sarah A. Lucas, aged two years (b. ME).

John Lucas and family moved from Limington, ME, to Wakefield, NH, sometime between 1880 and 1890.

Son Edward D. Lucas died of paralysis of the brain in Wakefield, NH, April 21, 1890, aged twenty years, eleven months, and twenty-nine years. He was a telegraph operator. Samuel W. Roberts, M.D., signed the death certificate.

ST. ALBANS. John Lucas of New Hampshire is visiting his brothers, Levi L. and Henry Lucas (Lewiston Evening Journal (Lewiston, ME), April 1, 1892).

Daughter Edith A. Lucas was baptized at Wakefield Corner, in Wakefield, NH, August 6, 1892.

John Lucas died in an accident in Wakefield, NH, November 23, 1893, aged sixty-nine years, nine months and four days. W.D. Davis, M.D., signed the death certificate.

New England Briefs. John Lucas, a well-known citizen of Wakefield, N.H., lost his life as the result of a fall from his house while making some repairs. He was 69 years old (Fall River Daily Evening News (Fall River, MA), November 27, 1893).

Sarah E. (Trask) Lucas and family moved from Wakefield, NH, to Wolfeboro, NH, sometime between 1893 and 1899.

PIPE FOR A GRADUATE. The Sishya Club of Somerville, composed of college graduates and undergraduates, on Thursday evening assembled at the home of Sanford S. Lewis on Beacon terrace and presented Herschel Wilder Lewis with a meerschaum pipe. (Mr. Lewis was graduated from Harvard this week, and the presentation was made in honor of this event (Boston Post, June 27, 1896).

Daughter Nettie E. Lucas married in Wolfeboro, NH, January 3, 1899, Herschel W. Lewis, she of Wolfeboro, NH, and he of Worcester, MA. He was a teacher, aged twenty-five years, and she was a teacher, aged twenty-four years. Rev. Andrew Hahn performed the ceremony. Lewis was born in Somerville, MA, November 4, 1873, son of James C. and Vandelia (Drisco) Lewis.

Son-in-law Herschel W. Lewis appeared in the Somerville, MA, directory of 1900, as a teacher, boarding at 78 Cameron Avenue, in West Somerville.

Sarah E. [(Trask)] Lucas, a widow, aged sixty-three years (b. NH), headed a Wolfeboro, NH, household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. Her household included her children, Ellen M. Lucas, a teacher, aged thirty-three years (b. NH), Edith A. Lucas, a teacher, aged twenty-nine years (b. NH), and Sarah A. Lucas, a teacher, aged twenty-two years (b. ME). Sarah E. Lucas rented their house.

Hannah M. [(Andrews)] Burnham, aged fifty-five years (b. MA), headed an Essex, MA, household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. Her household included her daughter, Josephine L. Burnham, a school teacher, aged twenty-six years (b. MA), and her boarders, H.W. Lewis, a school teacher, aged twenty-six years (b. MA), Nettie E. [(Lucas)] Lewis, aged twenty-six years (b. ME), and Ralph Whitehorn, a station agent, aged twenty-two years (b. ME). Hannah M. Burnham owned their house, free-and-clear. She was the mother of two children. of whom one was still living.

NEW IPSWICH, N.H. The 118th year of New Ipswich Appleton academy opened Sept. 10, with an unusual attendance. Principal Hershel W. Lewis is a Harvard man, and is striving to increase the number of students. Miss Mary Frances Wilber, the new assistant, comes well recommended and prepared for her duties (Fitchburg Sentinel (Fitchburg, MA), September 13, 1906).

Edith A. Lucas, a school teacher (public school), aged thirty-six years (b. NH), was a lodger in the Everett, MA, household of Joseph W. Armington, a lawyer (office), aged seventy-five years (b. VT) at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. Susan E. Drury, school principal (high school), aged fifty-six years (b. MA), lodged also in the same household. Joseph W. Armington owned their house at 15 Hampshire Street.

Daughter Edith Augusta Lucas married in Lynn. MA, July 2, 1910, John Pemberton, she of 15 Hampshire Court, Everett, MA, and he of 54 Park Street. Lynn, MA. He was a foreman, aged forty-eight years, and she was a teacher, aged thirty-nine years. Assistant Rector James S. Neill performed the ceremony. Pemberton was born in Bury, Lancashire, England, July 7, 1861, son of Joseph and Ellen (Terry) Pemberton.

Pemberton-Lucas. John Pemberton and Miss Edith Augusta Lucus, daughter of Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth Lucas, of Wolfboro, N.H., were united in marriage this morning at the residence of Mrs. George H. Lewis, 54 Park street. The ceremony took place at 10 o’clock, and was performed by Rev. James Stewart Neill, curate of St. Stephen’s church, and was the first marriage ceremony performed by the new curate. The bride’s gown was white silk, trimmed with lace, and she carried a shower bouquet of bride roses: She was attended her sister, Miss Sarah Lucus, of Wareham. The best man was William G. Abbott of Philadelphia, Pa., and Witton, N.H. Miss Elizabeth Lewis, daughter of Mrs. George H. Lewis, was flower girl. Miss Helen Lewis played Mendelsshon’s wedding march. as the bridal party -entered the room, and at the close of the ceremony rendered the bridal chorus from Lohengrin. Immediately after the ceremony a lunch was served and the couple left for a wedding trip. The honeymoon will be spent In Buffalo, Niagara Falls, the Thousand. islands and Montreal. There were many valuable presents. Mr. and Mrs. Pemberton will reside at 54 Park street (Lynn Item (Lynn, MA), July 2, 1910).

Sarah E. [(Trask)] Lucas, a widow, aged seventy-three years (b. NH), headed a Wolfeboro, NH, household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. Her household included her daughters, Ellen M. Lucas, aged forty-three years (b. NH), and Sarah A. Lucas, a teacher (day school), aged thirty-one years (b. ME). Sarah E. Lucas rented their portion of a two-family house on South Main Street in Wolfeboro Village.

Herschel W. Lewis, a teacher (prin. academy). aged thirty-six years (b. MA), headed a New Ipswich, NH, household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of eleven years), Nettie E. [(Lucas)] Lewis, aged thirty-six years (b. ME), and his children, Richard J. Lewis, aged seven years (b. MA), and Howard A. Lewis, aged four years (b. MA). Herschel W. Lewis rented their house in New Ipswich Village. Nettie E. Lewis was the mother of two children, of whom two were still living.

Son-in-law Herschel Wilder Lewis of New Ipswich, NH, registered for the WW I military draft in Milford, NH, September 12, 1918. He was forty-four years of age (b. November 4, 1873) and was employed at the New Ipswich Appleton Academy. He was described as being short and stout, with brown eyes and gray-brown hair. His next of kin was Nettie E. Lewis of New Ipswich, NH.

John Pemberton, a general foreman (electrical mfg. co.), aged fifty-eight years (b. England), headed a Lynn, MA, household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Edith A. [(Lucas)] Pemberton, aged forty-eight years (b. ME). John Pemberton rented their house on Ocean Street.

Sarah E. [(Trask)] Lucas, a widow, aged eighty-three years (b. NH), headed a Wolfeboro, NH, household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. Her household included her daughters, Ellen M. Lucas, a nurse (practical), aged fifty-three years (b. NH), and Sara A. Lucas, a teacher (graded school), aged forty-one years (b. ME), and her boarder, Lorette M. Abbott, a widow, aged seventy-nine years (b. NH). Sarah E. Lucas rented their portion of a three-family house.

Herschel W. Lewis, a teacher (high school), aged forty-six years (b. MA), headed a New Ipswich, NH, household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of eleven years), Nettie E. [(Lucas)] Lewis, aged forty-five years (b. ME), and his children, Richard J. Lewis, aged seventeen years (b. MA), and Howard A. Lewis, aged fourteen years (b. MA). Herschel W. Lewis rented their house.

Sarah E. (Trask) Lucas died of arterio-sclerosis in Wolfeboro, NH, September 15, 1920, aged eighty-three years, ten months, and eight days. She was a widowed retiree. She had resided in Wolfeboro, NH, for twenty-six years, i.e., since just after the death of her husband in 1893, with her previous residence in Wakefield, NH. F.E. Clow reported her death.

Son-in-law John Pemberton and daughter Nettie E. (Lucas) Pemberton, of 135 Ocean Street, Lynn, MA, obtained a joint passport in order to sail from Boston, MA, to Europe on the S.S. Pittsburgh, July 29, 1922. They intended to visit the British Isles, France, Belgium, and Switzerland. John Pemberton was described as being sixty years of age, 5′ 6″ tall, with an oval face, high forehead, average nose, medium mouth, and a pointed chin. He had a fair complexion, hazel eyes, and brown hair.

Ellen M. Lucas, a librarian (town library), aged sixty-three years (b. NH), headed a Wolfeboro, NH, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. Her household included her sister, Sara A. Lucas, a teacher (grade school), aged sixty-one years (b. NH). Ellen M. Lucas owned her house on Lake Street, which was valued at $2,000. They had a radio set.

John Pemberton, aged sixty-eight years (B. England), headed a Margate, NJ, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of twenty-one years), Edith A. [(Lucas)] Pemberton, aged fifty-eight years (b. NH). John Pemberton rented their house at 10 S. Franklin Avenue, for $65 per month. They had a radio set. John Pemberton was a naturalized citizen, having immigrated in 1889.

Hershall W. Lewis, school headmaster, aged fifty-six years (b. MA), was a resident officer at the Florida Military Academy in Duval, FL, at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. Nettie [(Lucas)] Lewis, aged fifty-six years (b. ME) was enumerated also as a roomer at the same institution. Homer E. Moyer, president, aged thirty-four years (b. SC), headed both the page and the institution.

Daughter Edith Augusta (Lucas) Pemberton was confirmed in the Church of the Epiphany, in Ventnor, NJ, March 26, 1933.

Son-in-law Herschel W. Lewis of Jacksonville, FL, died of arterio-sclerotic heart disease on Lake Street in Wolfeboro, NH, October 5, 1938, aged sixty-four years, eleven months, and one day. He was a married educator. James E. Bovaird, M.D., signed the death certificate.

New Ipswich. Herschel W. Lewis, who died in Wolfeboro, Oct. 5, was principal of Appleton academy for 23 years. In recent years he has been head of mathematics department at Bolles school, Jacksonville, Fla (Fitchburg Sentinel (Fitchburg, MA), October 12, 1938).

Emma M. Lucas appeared in the Wolfeboro, NH, directory of 1940, as assistant librarian at the Brewster Library, with her house (owner) at 7 Lake street ([Tel.] 412), Wolfeboro P.O. Sara A. Lucas appeared also, as a teacher at the Carpenter School, with her house at 7 Lake street ([Tel.] 412), Wolfeboro P.O.

Ellen M. Lucas, an assistant librarian, aged seventy-three years (b. NH), headed a Wolfeboro, NH, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. Her household included her sister, Sara A. Lucas, a teacher (public school), aged sixty-seven years (b. ME). Ellen M. Lucas owned her house on Lake Street, which was valued at $3,000. They had resided in the same house in 1935.

John Pemberton, retired, aged seventy-eight years (b. England), headed a Ventnor, NJ, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Edith A. [(Lucas)] Pemberton, aged sixty-eight years (b. NH). John Pemberton owned their house at 7225 N. Washington Street, which was valued at $6,000. They had resided in the same house in 1935.

Richard Lewis, a traveling salesman (insulation firm), aged thirty-seven years (b. MA), headed a Rutland, VT, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his mother, Nettie [(Lucas)] Lewis, aged sixty-five years (b. ME). Richard Lewis rented their house, for $40 per month. He had resided in Boston, MA, in 1935, while his mother had resided in Jacksonville, FL, in 1935.

Ellen M. Lucas, aged eighty-three years (b. NH), headed a Wolfeboro, NH, household at the time of the Seventeenth (1950) Federal Census. His household included her sister, Sara A. Lucas, aged seventy-one years (b. ME). They resided on Lake Street.

John Pemberton, aged eighty-eight years (b. England), headed a Ventnor, NJ, household at the time of the Seventeenth (1950) Federal Census. his household included his wife, Edith A. [(Lucas)] Pemberton, aged seventy-eight years (b. NH). They resided on [N.] Washington Street.

Richard J. Lewis, a salesman (private home insulation), aged forty-seven years (b. MA), headed a Melrose, MA, household at the time of the Seventeenth (1950) Federal Census. His household included his mother, Nettie E. [(Lucas)] Lewis, a widow, aged seventy-six years (b. ME). They resided at 33 Beach Street.

Daughter Sarah A. Lucas died of bronchial pneumonia at the NH State Hospital in Concord, NH, November 23, 1953, aged seventy-five years. S. George Brown, M.D., signed the death certificate.

Daughter Edith A. (Lucas) Pemberton died in Ventnor, NJ, August 8, 1954, aged eight-four years.

OBITUARIES. Mrs. Edith Pemberton, Ventnor Resident. Mrs. Edith A. Pemberton of 9 N. Washington Ave., Ventnor, died Sunday in the Mayfair Nursing Home, Somers Point. She was 84. A resident of the resort for a number of years, Mrs. Pemberton came here from Milton. Mass., where she had been a school teacher. Surviving are her husband, John; a son, John, Jr., of Chestnut Hill, Pa.; and four grandchildren. The Rev. Kenneth A. Hafer, pastor of the Church of the Epiphany, will officiate at services tomorrow morning. Burial will be in Laurel Memorial Park, Pomona (Press of Atlantic City (Atlantic City, NJ), August 10, 1954).

Son-in-law John Pemberton died in Ventnor, NJ, July 28, 1955, aged ninety-four years.

OBITUARIES. John Pemberton, 94, Retired Executive. John Pemberton, of 9 N. Washinton Ave., Ventnor, died yesterday afternoon at the Mayfair Nursing Home, Somers Point, after a lengthy illness. He was 94. Born in Lancashire, England, he was a resident of Ventnor 22 years. Mr. Pemberton was general manager of the Pennsylvania Iron Works in Philadelphia until 1905. He then became associated with the General Electric Co., in Lynn, Mass., of which firm he later was appointed superintendent. He retired in 1928. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge of Lynn, and the Ancient Order of Foresters of America, of Montreal, Canada. Surviving are his son, John, of Philadelphia; four grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Services will be private (Press of Atlantic City (Atlantic City, NJ), July 29, 1955).

Daughter Ellen M. Lucas died of generalized arteriosclerosis at Huggins hospital in Wolfeboro, NH, December 25, 1955, aged eighty-nine years. She was a retired librarian. James E. Bovaird, M.D., signed the death certificate.

Sloan Estate Accounting Is Approved. … The Court likewise approved the first and final accounting of the Estate of John Pemberton which listed a balance of $46,198.58 on hand for distribution. Commissions of $2,814.41 were allowed John Pemberton, Jr., of Philadelphia, a son of the deceased, as executor, while a counsel fee of $2,000 went to the law firm of Glenn and Glenn (Press of Atlantic City (Atlantic City, NJ), May 11, 1956).

Daughter Nettie E. (Lucas) Lewis died in Melrose, MA, January 21, 1964.

DEATHS. LEWIS. In Melrose, Jan. 21, Nettie E. (Lucas) of 33 Aaron St., widow of Herschel W. Lewis and mother of Richard J. Lewis. Private service Robinson Chapel, 809 Main St., Friday at 11 a. Interment at Wakefield, N.H. (Boston Globe, January 22, 1964).

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References:

Find a Grave. (2015, May 8). Nettie Eliza Lucas Lewis. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/146232338/nettie-eliza-lewis

Find a Grave. (2011). Daniel Lucas. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/67787100/daniel-lucas

Find a Grave. 20215, May 8). Edward Lucas. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/146231736/edward_lucas

Find a Grave. (2015, May 8). Ellen M. Lucas. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/146232121/ellen_m_lucas

Find a Grave. (2015, May 8). John Lucas. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/146231260/john-lucas

Find a Grave. (2015, May 8). Sarah A. Lucas. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/146232029/sarah_a_lucas

Find a Grave. (2014, October 26). Edith A. Pemberton. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/137811693/edith-a-pemberton

By Muriel Bristol | October 10, 2024

Here is transcribed the last will of William Palmer, Esq., of Milton. Palmer had been during his life a Revolutionary soldier, post-war militia officer, state representative, justice-of-the-peace, and town selectman. (The appellation “Esqr,” i.e., Esquire, was due to his being or having been a justice-of-the-peace).

Will of Wm Palmer

In the name of GOD ~ Amen ~ I, William Palmer of Milton in the County of Strafford and State of New Hampshire ~ Esquire ~ Being very sick and weak in body, but of sound and disposing mind and memory, and calling to mind that its [it’s] appointed of GOD for all men once to die, do hereby make my last Will and Testament, and dispose of the goods and estate, wherewith it has pleased GOD to bless me in the manner following ~ to wit ~

1st I give and bequeath unto my daughter Betsy Wingate one good Cow, to be paid in one year from my decease by my executor hereinafter mentioned which in addition to what I have before given her is all I expect to give her of my estate ~

2d I give and bequeath to my son Daniel Palmer all the debts of every kind now due from him to me, which in addition to a lot of land which I have heretofore given him in Middleton, being numbered twelve, is all which I give him of my estate ~

3d I give and bequeath to my daughter Nancy Hayes one good bed with suitable beding [bedding] for the same, two tables, six dining chairs and six kitchen chairs, one bedstead and bed cord, one cow, and three sheep, to be paid by my executor hereinafter mentioned when the said Nancy moves away from my house which with one hundred and fifty dollars which I have heretofore given her I mean and will to be in full for her share in my estate ~

The first three bequests were made for the children of his first marriage to Susanna Twombly (1764-1790), while those that followed were made for the children of his second marriage to Deborah Ham (1766-1813).

4thly I give and bequeath unto my daughters Susannah and Rebecca Palmer all the property which fell to Rebecca Scates, out of her father Dodavah Ham’s estate, which she the said Rebecca Scates gave to my family by her last will to be equally divided between them the said Susannah and Rebecca ~ I also give and bequeath unto each of the said Susannah and Rebecca thirty dollars’ worth of bedding and household furniture to be paid by my executor herein after named as follows to wit Susannah to be paid in one year and Rebecca in two years from the time of my decease – which sums I mean and will to be paid in full for their shares in my estate ~

5thly I give and bequeath unto my son Nathaniel H. Palmer fifty acres of land in a third division lot number fifty eight in Milton, drawn to the original right of Capt John Downing. Also I give and bequeath unto the said Nathl two steers one year old and one heifer one year old which I now own and three sheep to be paid by my executors here after mentioned in one month from the time of my decease – which I mean and will to be in full for his share in my estate ~

6thly I give and bequeath unto my daughters Lydia Palmer and Deborah Palmer five dollars each to be paid by my executor herein after named on demand after my decease which sums I mean and will to be in full for their shares of my estate ~

7thly I give and bequeath unto my daughter[s] Achsah Palmer and Hannah Palmer thirty dollars each to be paid by my executor herein after named when they the said Achsah and Hannah arrive at the age of fourteen years each together with as much more as my executors think that they at that time may in Justice give them which sums I mean and will to be in full for theirs the said Achsah and Hannah’s shares of my estate ~

8thly I appoint John Ham of Gilmanton in the County of Strafford and State of Newhampshire, Esqr, to be guardian of the persons and property of my son Nathl H. Palmer and Achsah Palmer and Hannah Palmer my daughters all under fourteen years of age ~

And lastly as to all the residue and remainder of my goods, chattles and estate of every kind, name or nature whatsoever not before bequeathed in this will, I give and bequeath to my two sons Dodavah Palmer and William Palmer to be divided equally between them the said Dodavah and William whom I hereby appoint sole Executors of this my last will and testament, empowering them to collect all debts due to me and ordering to settle and pay all my Just debts and the legacies above mentioned hereby declaring this to be my last will and testament and revoking all former wills and testaments by me made ~

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this nineteenth day of April in the year of our LORD one thousand eight hundred and fifteen ~

Wm Palmer (L.S.)

Signed, sealed, published & declared by the said William Palmer to be his last Will and testament, in the presence of us who have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses in the presence of the testator ~

Benjamin Scates, Isaac Hayes, Levi Jones

Recorded agreeably to the original ~ Examined by W.K. Atkinson, Regr

I, William Palmer of Milton in the County of Strafford and State of Newhampshire, Esqr, do this twenty first day of April in the year of our LORD one thousand eight hundred and fifteen make and publish this Codicil to my last Will and testament in manner following, that is to say ~ I hereby appoint Caleb Wingate of Milton in the County of Strafford and State of Newhampshire an Executor to this my last Will and testament with the said Dodavah and William Palmer before named as sole Executors of my will ~

And lastly it is my desire that this my present Codicil be annexed to and made a part of my last Will and testament, to all intents and purposes ~

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this twenty first day of April, in the year of LORD one thousand eight hundred and fifteen ~

Wm Palmer (L.S.)

Signed, sealed, published & declared by the before named William Palmer as a Codicil to be annexed to his last Will and testament, in the presence of ~

Benjamin Scates, Isaac Hayes, Levi Jones

Recorded agreeably to the original ~ Examined by W.K. Atkinson, Regr

Strafford Ss ~ At a Court of probate holden at Dover in and for said County on the 26th day of April A.D. 1815 the foregoing instruments purporting to be the last Will and testament of William Palmer and a Codicil thereto annexed were presented for probate by the Executors therein named and all the subscribing witnesses personally appeared and made Oath that they saw the said William Palmer sign and seal and saw him publish, pronounce and declare the said instruments purporting to be his will to be his last will & testament [interlineation: to be his last will and testament] ~ that at the time of his so doing he was to the best of their discernment of sound and disposing mind & memory and that they at the same time subscribed their names as witnesses to the execution in the presence and at the request of said William Palmer and in the presence of each other. And at the same the same time the same witnesses appeared and made solemn Oath that they saw the said Instrument purporting to be the Codicil of the last Will and testament of the said William Palmer and saw the same subscribed by his express direction, that at the time of his so doing he was to the best of their discernment of sound mind and memory and that they at the same time subscribed their names as witnesses to the execution thereof in the presence and at the request of the said William Palmer and in the presence of each other ~ therefore I do allow and prove and approve the said instrument so purporting to be the last will and testament of said William Palmer to be his last will and testament, and so decree the same to be his last Will and testament ~ And I do also approve the said instrument purporting to be a Codicil thereto as the Codicil to the last will and testament of the said Palmer, and do decree the same a Codicil thereof ~

John Mooney ~ Judge of Probate

Recorded agreeably to the original ~ Examined by W.K. Atkinson, Regr (Strafford County Probate, 14:127).

References:

Wikipedia. (2021, September 8). Codicil (Will). Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codicil_(will)

Wikipedia. (2022, January 25). Seal (Contract Law). Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_(contract_law)