I skipped over the Sun and the Moon when I wrote about the planet Venus. They are the only two natural objects in the sky brighter than Venus. I will deal with the Sun when we are getting close to a solar eclipse, as that is the only time it is safe to look at it (unless you saved eclipse glasses from the last one, and make sure there are no holes in them. Do not try to use any other type of glasses).
The Moon is our nearest neighbor in space (about 238,000 miles from Earth, on average), and it is the only place outside of Earth orbit where humans have visited (only during six U.S. Apollo missions between 1969 and 1972). It is also the only object, other than the Sun, which is close enough to appear as more than a point of light when seen by the unaided or naked eye. This makes it possibly the most interesting object for observation.
The Moon is very bright, with an apparent magnitude of -12.74 (this is all light from the Sun reflecting off its surface – keep that in mind for later). It is also a relatively large satellite compared to its planet, the Earth. It is the fifth largest natural satellite in the Solar System (the other big ones all orbit gas giants). The diameter of the Moon is more than one quarter the size of the Earth’s.
Put this together, and you get that the Moon is easy to see, but that only half of it is lit at a time. One more piece to add in.
The Moon is “tidally locked” with respect to the Earth. This means that we always see the same side of the Moon from the surface of the Earth (technically, it wags from side to side slightly, a process known as “libration”, and so about 59% can be seen at different times in its orbit). The tidal locking is because the Moon’s rotation about its axis and its revolution around the Earth both take about the same amount of time, 29.5 days.
It is accurate to refer to the near side or far side of the Moon – but not astronomically correct to speak of a “light side” or “dark side”, unless you are strictly speaking from the perspective of someone on the Moon. The phases of the Moon occur as the lighted area of the Moon, that which faces the Sun, moves across the near side. We see the entire lighted portion during a Full Moon, and none during the New Moon.
The Moon’s orbit is tilted about 5 degrees from Earth’s orbit around the Sun. It is only when the orbits line up precisely that eclipses occur: a lunar eclipse during a Full Moon, and a solar eclipse during the New Moon. The solar eclipse is possible only because the apparent size of the Sun and Moon are about the same, about one half degree. Space probes have observed eclipses where this was not the case..
During a lunar eclipse, the Moon passes through the shadow of the Earth, and during the period of totality, the only sunlight falling on the Moon is that which is passing through the Earth’s atmosphere. The same bending of light rays that produces the reds of sunrises and sunsets also causes this light to turn red, as we just saw a few days ago on the eclipse on January 20th (if you were lucky enough to be able to see it, as I was not).
The entire phase cycle of the Moon takes 29 1/2 days. About 7 days after each New Moon there will be a First Quarter, followed by a Full Moon a week later. During this period it is said to be “waxing” or the lighted portion as seen from Earth is getting bigger. After the Full Moon it is “waning” or getting smaller until the next New Moon. When the phase is between a Quarter and Full Moon its shape is called “gibbous”. When it is between Quarter and New Moon, we call the shape a crescent.
One more detail about the appearance during phases, and this is dependent on which hemisphere you’re in. Here in Milton, in the Northern Hemisphere, the light moves from right to left. At first, we will see the dark portion of the phase on the left (the East) when the Moon is waxing. Later when it is waning, the right side will be dark. (This direction is opposite south of the equator, where the Moon and stars appear 180 degrees inverted or rotated).
I will cover more detailed observation of the Moon in a subsequent article, with topics such as the craters and seas of the Near side, and the names they are called by.
The Milton Board of Selectmen (BOS) have posted their agenda for a BOS meeting to be held Monday, January 28.
The BOS held an flurry of Non-Public meetings since their last full meeting on January 7. Such meetings took place on Tuesday, January 15, to deal with 91-A:3 II (b) and 91-A:3 II (c) issues, Thursday, January 17 (rescheduled from the previous day), to deal with a 91-A:3 II (b) issue, and Thursday, January 24, , to deal with a 91-A:3 II (c) issue. (Ed. note: Has this been the least transparent administration in Milton history?)
This meeting is scheduled to begin with a Non-Public session beginning at 5:30 PM. That agenda has two Non-Public items classed as 91-A:3 II (a) and 91-A:3 II (b).
91-A:3 II (a) The dismissal, promotion, or compensation of any public employee or the disciplining of such employee, or the investigation of any charges against him or her, unless the employee affected (1) has a right to a meeting and (2) requests that the meeting be open, in which case the request shall be granted.
The whole increased hours issue for the Town Clerk’s office was to be resolved by the department heads, rather than the BOS, “by the end of January.” The solutions posited were increasing the available hours for the Town Clerk’s office or removing the tasks added last summer.
91-A:3 II (b) The hiring of any person as a public employee.
The Town Administrator is leaving after the Deliberative Session. Evidently, the BOS intends to fill the position, as opposed to reducing the budget through attrition.
The BOS intend to adjourn their Non-Public BOS session at approximately (*) 6:00 PM, when they intend to return to Public session.
The Public portion of the agenda has New Business, Old Business, a smörgåsbord of Outstanding Items, and some housekeeping items.
Under New Business are scheduled four agenda items: 1) 1992 Resolution Re.: Code of Ethics for Town of Milton (Larry Brown), 2) Public Involvement in Board of Selectmen Meetings (Humphry Williams), 3) Procedures Re. Committee/Board Postings to Town Website (Heather Thibodeau), and 4) Town Report Discussion (Heather Thibodeau).
1992 Resolution Re: Code of Ethics for the Town of Milton. One imagines Mr. Brown favors ethics. He will apparently refer on this occasion to an ethical code from 1992, which predates the arrival in town of two of the three selectmen.
Mr. Brown has in the past argued publicly that the BOS is entitled to retain and spend taxes collected in error, and that the BOS alone determines what is ethical. One must always be wary of confusing legalities with ethics. Otherwise, slavery and internments, which were all perfectly legal, might be supposed to have been ethical also.
Public Involvement in BOS Meetings. One imagines that Mr. Williams will speak in favor of more public involvement.
Procedures Regarding Committee/Board Postings. One supposes that this BOS will want to restrict public statements to themselves.
A Town Report Discussion will no doubt have to do with the procedural mechanics and timelines of producing Town Reports that include property valuations that duplicate online information. Also Selectman Lucier’s oft-stated intention of “shaming” tax delinquents.
Under Old Business is scheduled a single item: 5) Deliberative Session Speaking Assignments (Heather Thibodeau).
Deliberative Session Speaking Assignments. Planning of this year’s Washington Monument presentation is to be discussed in public.
There is also the boxed item list at the margins entitled Outstanding Items, as held over from prior BOS sessions. It features much from Selectman Lucier’s Bucket List. They include this time: Town-Owned Property, Recreation Revenue and Office Discussion, Website Update, Property Maintenance Code, Town Report (see above), Atlantic Broadband Contract, NH Listens, Junkyard, and Town Deposit Location Policy (see above). In no particular order.
Finally, there will be the approval of prior minutes (from the BOS Workshop Meeting of December 17, BOS Meeting of January 7, and the Non-Public BOS Meetings of January 15 and January 17) (but not those from the Non-Public Meeting of January 24)), the expenditure report, Public Comments “Pertaining to Topics Discussed,” Town Administrator comments, and BOS comments.
Ms. McDougall has called a sixth meeting of her Milton Advocates group. It will take place again in the Nute Library’s Community Room, on Saturday, February 2 (Groundhog Day)), at 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM. All town residents are invited. Bring your best manners. (Not her words).
Scales’ History of Strafford County stated that Milton’s First (Congregational) Church had no settled minister from the death of Rev. James Walker in September 1826 until the Rev. Benjamin G. Willey was appointed in December 1832.
Rev. Clement Parker, E.S. Anderson, and others, whose names do not appear upon church records “supplied the pulpit” during this time.
“This church worshiped in the old meeting-house until 1835” (Scales, 1914).
Rev. Clement Parker
Clement Parker was born in Coventry, CT, January 14, 1782, son of Lemuel and Hannah (Hawkins) Parker. He married in Cabot, VT, in 1808, Rachel Taylor. She was born in Windsor, VT, March 9, 1785, daughter of Jonas and Hannah Taylor.
In the fall of 1816 the Rev. Clement Parker, then of Cabot, Vt., or vicinity, was procured, and was ordained [in Chester, NH], Feb. 19, 1817 (Chase, 1869).
Not long after Rev. Parker’s arrival in Chester, he preached a memorable sermon against drinking after the local militia company became intoxicated at a muster.
At the June session of the Governor and Council in 1817, Samuel D Wason, who had commanded the militia company at the Long Meadows, was promoted to the office of major. He called out the company to fill the vacancy and treated the company and spectators to as much punch as they would drink. Among the spectators were some of the most respectable men of the parish, including church members and deacons. They did not keep the pledge of the Moral Reform Society, but many of them were a good deal intoxicated. The next Sunday the Rev Clement Parker delivered a discourse advocating total abstinence instead of moderate drinking, maintaining that ardent spirit was entirely useless; that a man could do more work without it than with it. This is the first discourse, so far as I know or believe, ever delivered taking so high a ground. It caused a great deal of talk. One old man asked for its publication, saying that he wished the world to know how great a fool Mr. Parker was. Young men said that it was the greatest folly to suppose that a man could work at haying and harvesting without rum and that so long as they were able to purchase a gallon of rum they would have it. It is possible that Mr. Parker’s practice was not always as good as his preaching, but the writer was a convert, and has never tasted ardent spirit since. There were two other young men who soon after abandoned its use, David Currier and Pike Chase, and there is one man in town over seventy years of age (Amherst Coult) who never drank any (Chase, 1869).
He took up a collection for a wood stove to heat Chester’s West Parish meeting-house:
In 1822, the Rev. Clement Parker went round at the Long Meadows and procured a subscription, and when people plead poverty he offered to advance the money and take his pay in wood. The stove was procured and put into the house in the broad aisle in front of the pulpit, the funnel going up nearly to the ceiling, and then out at the front window. The first time a fire was kindled the stove cracked, when the conservatives said, “I told you so” (Chase, 1869).
The American Tract Society listed Rev. Clement Parker of the West Parish of Chester, NH, as a life member in 1824, and 1828, although he took his leave from Chester in 1825. Life membership came “by the contribution of twenty dollars and upwards.”
In this list the Clergymen were made Life Members by the Ladies or other members of their respective parishes, and the Laymen and Ladies by themselves, unless it is otherwise specified (American Tract Society, 1828).
Rev. Parker supplied the pulpit in Farmington, and presumably Milton also, in the years 1827-28 and parts of 1829 (Scales, 1914). The New Hampshire Missionary Society appointed him to a twelve-week mission in Farmington and Milton in 1829, for which they paid him $84. The society carried him on their $2 membership roll as Rev. Clement Parker, of Milton.
Rev. Clement Parker supplied next the pulpit at the First (Congregational) Church of Acton, ME, having been installed there, January 28, 1829. This church began as the First (Congregational) Church of Shapleigh, ME, but had changed its name when Acton split off from Shapleigh. He held the Acton pastorate until November 9, 1831, during which time 13 members were added (Emerson, 1876).
The American Tract Society listed Rev. Clement Parker of Acton, ME, as a life member in 1832.
The Acton pulpit had a gap of several years until another minister, Rev. Martyn Cushman took Rev. Parker’s place. Rev. Cushman remained in Acton until October 9, 1836.
At which point, Rev. Clement Parker returned to Acton, January 22, 1838 and remained there until May 12, 1847. In September 1840, Rev. Parker, acting as “scribe,” reported to the Maine General Conference that “during preceding years the church had been so small and uneventful no records have been kept.” During his second tenure, 48 members joined the church by profession and 5 by letter (Emerson, 1876).
Rev. Parker was absent from Acton for a year prior to his 1847 dismissal, He then acted as an agent for the Bible Society.
In June 1847, however, several members residing in the lower part of the [Sanford, ME] parish, under the leadership of Rev. Clement Parker, then residing at Springvale, assumed to be the “South Church of Sanford,” chose a clerk and a deacon and requested the “North Church” to concur with them in their opinion. As a result, a council was called, at which the aggrieved parties were advised to ask for dismission, and organize a church regularly, and the church was further advised to encourage such organization. Following this advice, fourteen members asked to be dismissed from the church, and on November 9, with others, were organized as the South Congregational Church, Sanford (Emery, 1901).
Rev. Parker’s Acton replacement, Rev. Stephen Merrill, left in a dispute over the parsonage – there was none – in November 1850. In the gap that followed, Rev. Parker was one of several ministers that supplied the Acton pulpit for short periods (Emerson, 1876).
Rev. Clement Parker’s South Sanford ministry “continued until 1859, with an intermission of one year which the pastor spent in Acton, and during which Rev Isaac Weston was stated supply for a limited time. In 1858, feeling the infirmities of age, Rev. Mr. Parker resigned” (Emery, 1901).
Clement Parker, a Cong. clergyman, aged seventy-eight years (b. CT), headed a Sanford, ME household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. His household included Rachel Parker, aged seventy-five years (b. VT). His real estate was valued at $500 and his personal estate was valued at $150.
Rachel (Taylor) Parker died in Farmington, NH, May 5, 1864. Rev. Clement Parker died in Farmington, NH, February 25, 1867.
Rev. E.S. Anderson
Rev. E.S. Anderson, and “others,” remain elusive for the present. (Watch this space).
Rev. Benjamin G. Willey
Benjamin Glazier Willey was born in Conway, NH, February 11, 1796, son of Captain Samuel J. and Elizabeth “Betsy” (Glazier) Willey.
Benjamin G. Willey attended Bowdoin College, where he was a member of the Peucinian Society. He graduated with the class of 1822. He married, June 3, 1825, Sarah M. Mitchell. She was born in North Yarmouth, ME, December 5, 1798, daughter of Jacob and Sarah (Buxton) Mitchell.
His brother Samuel J. Willey Jr.’s family was destroyed at Crawford Notch in the Willey House avalanche of August 28, 1826. He participated in the search for survivors shortly thereafter.
Rev. Benjamin G. Willey
BENJAMIN GLAZIER WILLEY was born in 1796 in Conway, NH. His father, Samuel Willey, a man of great strength and endurance, was among the first who penetrated and laid open those wild glens and passes of the mountains which are now the favorite haunts of so many summer visitors. Samuel Willey, who perished with all his family beneath the great avalanche of August 1826, was his brother. Benjamin G. Willey was one of those who came from Hanover to Brunswick at the downfall of the university. Rev. Asa Cummings was his theological instructor. He preached for eight years in his native town. Then followed a successful ministry of fourteen years at Milton, N.H. Farmington, an adjoining town, had his services for three years. Then he lived in Gilmanton and in Pembroke, and sent his children to school. For eight years past East Sumner in Maine has been his home, and there too his efforts have been crowned with success. In 1824 he was married to Rachel, daughter of Deacon Jacob Mitchell of North Yarmouth. They have had two sons and a daughter. The youngest son alone survives. The eldest S. Ten Broeck Willey had entered on medical studies when he died at the age of twenty-five. Mr. Willey’s book, “Incidents in White Mountain History,” was prepared at the suggestion and with the assistance of this son. To this book, well known to the summer residents of Conway and to White Mountain tourists, I refer those who would know more of Mr. Willey and his family (Cleaveland, 1882).
Reverend Benjamin G. Willey headed a Conway household at the time of the Fifth (1830) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 50-59 years, two males aged 40-49 years, one female aged 30-39 years, one female aged 20-29 years, one male aged under-5 years, and one female aged under-five years.
The New Hampshire Missionary Society took note of Rev. Benjamin G. Willey’s 1832 arrival in Milton in their 1833 Annual Report.
Milton. Rev. Benjamin G. Willey commenced his mission in this place in October [1832], and has witnessed more or less of the reviving influence of the Holy Spirit ever since. It is thought as many as twenty have embraced the truth in the love of it. Five Sabbath Schools are in successful operation, and all furnished with libraries most of them purchased the present year. The benevolence of one or more individuals in a neighboring town has greatly assisted this cause. The state of the church and people is now promising; they are ready to exert themselves in favor of truth and righteousness. We trust the Lord has put forth his hand to restore this branch of Zion, and the angels of heaven have tuned their harps anew. Aid $50.
“This church worshiped in the old meeting-house until 1835, when the house was built at Three Ponds, which has since been transformed into the “Classical Institute.” After this time for several years the meetings were held alternately at the Three Ponds and Milton Mills” (Scales, 1914).
The 1838 Treasurer’s Account of the New Hampshire Missionary Society reported a $100 disbursement for The Support of the Ministry in Milton in 1837, as well as the receipt of $40 from Milton. Of that $40, $35 originated with the Congregational society, and $5 from Rev. Benjamin G. Willey, “for his son,” Jacob M. Willey (1833-1898).
Elsewhere a table of 1837 data included in the same 1838 report, Milton, under missionary Rev. Benjamin G. Willey, had received $100 in aid. It had 75 Club members, i.e., congregants, including 11 additions, no conversions, and 300 Sunday School students. Under remarks was stated: “Some revival. Church rising.”
Benjamin G. Willey headed a Milton household at the time of the Sixth (1840) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 40-49 years, one female aged 30-39 years, and one male aged 5-9 years. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Robert Mathes and James M. Twombly. One member of his household was employed in the Learned Professions or Engineering.
Rev. Benjamin G. Willey gave up his Milton pulpit in 1846. He went next to Gilmanton and Pembroke, NH.
Benjamin G. Willey, a clergyman, aged fifty-four years (b. NH), headed a Pembroke, NH, household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. His household included Rachel Willey, aged fifty-two years (b. ME), Stuyvesant T.B. Willey, a student, aged twenty years (b. NH), Jacob M. Willey, a student, aged seventeen years (b. NH), Mary F. Underhill, aged seventeen years (b. NH), Lewis Bell, aged fourteen years (b. NH), and A.K.H. French, aged sixteen years (b. NH). Benjamin G. Willey had real estate valued at $2,000.
Rev. Benjamin G. Willey penned the Forward to his book in East Sumner, ME, in 1855. He died in Sumner, ME, April 17, 1867. Rachel M. (Mitchell) Willey died in Dover, NH, February 17, 1890.
New Hampshire Missionary Society. (1829). Twenty-Eighth Annual Report of the Trustees of the New Hampshire Missionary Society. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=6rAOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA5
By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | January 25, 2019
Milton appeared several times in the newspapers of the first post-Civil War year. The first item concerned the sad suicide of a visiting teenager. After this there appeared accounts of Milton’s boy veteran pensioner, a mill pond drowning death, advice on fruit tree varieties, and a religious revival at Milton Mills.
SUICIDE BY A BOY. Monday morning last, Frank Bachelor, in his sixteenth year, hung himself in a barn at Acton. He lived with Mr. Wm. F. Cutts at Milton Mills, N.H., and was a son of the Rev. O.R. Bachelor, a Freewill Baptist Foreign Missionary in India. There is no apparent reason for his committing such a deed (Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, [Friday,] March 19, 1866).
Frank Bachelor was born in Orisa, India, circa 1849-59, son of Rev. Otis R. and Sarah P. (Merrill) Bachelor. His parents were there as Freewill Baptist missionaries. The family returned to the US in 1852. They resided in New Hampton, NH, in 1860, but it would seem that Frank was left with Mr. Cutts in Milton Mills when his parents returned once more to India.
William F. Cutts, a farmer, aged thirty-nine years, headed a Milton Mills household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Mary A. [(Sanborn)] Cutts, keeping house, aged thirty-five years, Ora E. Cutts, at school, aged ten years, Charles W. Cutts, at school, aged seven years, Fred H. Cutts, at school, aged five years, and Julia A. Cutts, aged forty years. William F. Cutts had real estate valued at $5,500 and personal estate valued at $435, and his sister, Julia Cutts, had personal estate valued at $3,300.
William F. Cutts‘ farm was said to be “2 miles south of Milton Mills.” W.F. Cutts and Luther Hayes were elected as Milton’s two NH State Representatives in March 1877. They were both Republicans (Boston Globe, March 14, 1877).
The following story of Milton’s fourteen-year-old Civil War veteran pensioner was very widely copied across the United States. (This was the nineteenth century equivalent of a story going “viral”).
NEWS SUMMARY. Chas. A. Cook, of Milton, N.H., entered the army as a volunteer, and of course passed muster, before he was twelve years of age. He served about one year, was wounded four times, and now at fourteen years he draws a pension of ninety-six dollars a year. So says the Rochester Courier (Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), May 22, 1866).
It is difficult to expand upon this without more details. He may have enlisted and served under an alias. Such a young soldier was not impossible, or even unlikely, as one in five Civil War soldiers were under eighteen years of age. The youngest soldiers were generally auxiliaries of some sort, such as musicians, messengers, etc. One famous instance is that of Drummer John Clem. He shot a Confederate officer at the Battle of Chickamauga and was promoted to Sergeant. He was then eleven years old.
Local and General News. At Milton, N.H., on the 25th ult., Mr. James Barry was drowned while bathing in a mill-pond. His body was recovered after considerable exertion (Orleans Independent Standard (Irasburgh, VT), July 6, 1866).
This was carried twice on the same page as having happened on both the 25th inst., i.e., July 25, and the 25th ult., i.e., June 25. Further details do not seem to be available.
John Copp, of Wakefield, NH (Milton Mills P.O.), contributed occasionally to the New England Farmer newspaper. Here he identifies fruit tree varieties he thought suitable for our climate and offers some for sale.
CLAPP’S FAVORITE PEAR. I HAVE young trees of this celebrated variety, which will be sold at reasonable rates – a few fine ones, two years old from the scion, grafted on strong stocks. Also, Dana’s Hovey, Flemish Beauty, Urbaniste – the hardiest pear in this climate I have ever found – Howell, Buffum, and several other varieties. have also a good stock of Apple trees, fine, thrifty, and healthy, selected with special reference for Northern culture, and grown without extra manuring. J. COPP, Wakefield, N.H. P.O. address, Milton Mills, N.H. (New England Farmer (Boston, MA), October 6, 1866).
John Copp was born in Wakefield, NH, February 4, 1809, son of George W. and Sarah (Palmer) Copp. He died in Rowley, MA, September 4, 1898, aged eighty-seven years and seven months (Rowley VRs). He is buried in the Lovell Lake Cemetery, Sanbornville, Wakefield, NH.
In the Fall, the Rev. Caleb F. Page took up the position of minister of the Milton Mills Congregational church.
VARIOUS ITEMS. The Christian Mirror reports an interesting revival at Milton Mills, a village on the line between Maine and New Hampshire. The church edifice is in Milton, N.H., and the parsonage across the river, in Acton. Rev. Mr. Parsons has supplied the pulpit for a few Sabbaths and preached every evening for two weeks, but with the aid of the New Hampshire Missionary Society, Rev. C.F. Page has now been scoured as a stated supply. The congregation is composed of open communion Baptists, Congregationalists, and a few Methodists and Presbyterians. Dr. Buck has given a parsonage worth $1,000 (Vermont Chronicle (Bellows Falls, VT), October 20, 1866).
NEW HAMPSHIRE. Rev. Caleb F. Page has removed from Colebrook, to Milton Mills (Vermont Chronicle (Bellows Falls, VT), December 22, 1866).
Caleb F. Page graduated from Bowdoin College in 1820. He supplied the pulpit at the Limington, ME, Congregational Church between 1823 and 1833. He was at Bridgton, ME, between 1833 and 1850.
Rev. Caleb F. Page, of Bridgton, ME, married in Wakefield, NH, August 13, 1844, Mrs. Mary R. (Dow) Coddington, of Wakefield, NH.
Rev. Caleb F. Page, “formerly of Bridgton,” ME, was “installed over” the First Congregational Church in Granby, CT, October 16, 1850 (Hartford Courant, October 26, 1850). He resigned from Granby in April 1854. There seems to have been some sort of dispute.
Rev. Caleb F. Page was the “stated supply” at Granville, MA, 1855-57, and served at Tolland, MA, 1858-62.
Caleb F. Page, Con. clergyman, aged sixty-two years, headed a Tolland, MA, household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. His household included Mary B. Page, aged fifty-one years, Sarah L. Page, aged twenty-two years, and Albert F. Page, aged ten years. Caleb F. Page had personal estate valued at $300.
Rev. Caleb F. Page supplied the pulpit in Colebrook, NH, in 1863-66, from whence he transferred to Milton Mills. He appeared in Milton business directories of 1867-68, 1869-70, 1871, and 1873, and 1874 (and, somewhat inaccurately, in 1876).
Caleb F. Page, a clergyman, aged seventy years (born ME), headed an Acton, ME, household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Mary R. Page, keeping house, aged sixty-two years (born MA), and Sarah L. Page, at home, aged thirty-two years (born ME). Caleb F. Page had personal estate valued at $350.
Rev. Caleb F. Page died in Milton Mills, NH, December 6, 1873.
Scales’ History of Strafford County stated that Milton’s First (Congregational) Church was organized on September 8, 1815, by nine original members. They were Barnabas Palmer (1720-1816), Hatevil Nutter (1748-1831), Benjamin Scates (1747-1833), Abigail [(Folsom)] Scates, Deborah Wentworth, Mary Chamberlain, Achsah Palmer, Mrs. [Susanna (Shackford)] Nutter (1756-1848), and Elizabeth Roberts. (Rev. Curtis Coe signed also).
(Major Barnabas Palmer emigrated from Ireland, at the age of 16 years, i.e., circa 1736-37. He lost his right arm at the Siege of Louisburg in 1745. Note Mr. Nutter’s traditional Puritan name Hatevil: Hate-evil).
Scales goes on to say that Benjamin Scates was its first deacon and clerk, while Rev. Curtis Coe was its first pastor. The church remained under Rev. Coe’s care, and that of Rev. Dyer Burge, until Rev. James Walker took charge in 1819.
“This church worshiped in the old meeting-house until 1835” (Scales, 1914).
Rev. Curtis Coe
Rev. Curtis Coe (1750-1829) had been the long-settled minister at Durham, NH, from 1780 until 1806. His departure from there was a notable occurrence.
The first amendment to the US Constitution barred Congress from making any law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. However, the states were not so enjoined, except perhaps in their own state constitutions.
In New England, the Congregational church had been the established church since its very beginning, and was funded by tax money. Other denominations, such as Baptists, Methodists, Quakers, etc., were paying twice: compulsory taxes for an established Congregational church and then voluntary contributions for their own church.
In the early Federal period, New England dissenters, as the British would have termed them, began to object to this coercive arrangement. Some towns continued to collect the church tax, but attempted to distribute it in the proportions of the various denominations. But, for that, the town government needed to compile lists of who believed what, which was disturbing in itself. (Errors causing interventions, which cause further errors).
Rev. Coe took a dim view of disestablishment. He favored continuing a single tax-funded established church. His final “valedictory” sermon in Durham was a real pot-boiler. He blamed the “unfriendly conduct of some,” i.e., dissenters, for having disturbed the general harmony, having encouraged dissipation, and having made it impossible for him to continue. He resigned his Durham ministry over this issue, effective May 1, 1806.
Rev. Coe next purchased a farm in South Newmarket (now Newfields, NH) and declined offers from other parishes.
He entered the missionary field in the employ of the New Hampshire and Massachusetts Missionary Societies, laboring in the remote parts of New Hampshire and Maine from 1807 as long as he was able to preach (Fitts, 1912).
He is known to have preached occasionally at Stratham, South Newmarket, and various other places, including his fostering of a new Congregational church in Milton, in and after 1815. Given that he resided in South Newmarket, and kept a farm there, his preaching in Milton can have been only occasional and within season. He died in South Newmarket, NH, June 7, 1829.
Rev. Dyer Burge [later Burgess]
From the following, it would seem that Rev. Coe’s associate, or successor, Rev. Dyer Burge (1784-1872), was in Colebrook, NH, as late as May 1815, and had gone off to Ohio sometime in 1817. If so, then the “year or more” that he spent in Milton must have been 1816, bracketed perhaps by the end of 1815 and beginning of 1817. He had been gone for over a year, when the Rev. James Walker arrived as a Congregational missionary in early 1819.
Rev. Dyer Burge
DYER BURGE – Son of Nathaniel and Lucretia (Scott) Burgess, was born in Springfield, Vt., December 27, 1784. He had no collegiate training, but studied theology with Rev. Abijah Wines, of Newport, N.H.; was ordained and installed first pastor of the church in Colebrooke, N.H., in 1810, and dismissed May, 1815. He then preached in Milton, N.H., a year or more, and probably spent some time in medical study, as he took the degree of M.D. from Dartmouth College in 1818. He went to Ohio in 1817, joined the Miami Presbytery, and labored for a time at Troy and Piqua, at the latter of which places he organized a church, and fifty years later participated in its semi-centennial. In 1820 he was installed at West Union, Ohio, where he remained till 1841, then removed to Warren, in the same state, and resided till his death, which took place August 31, 1872, in his eighty-eighth year. He took an honored position among the churches and ministry of Ohio; was a bold anti-slavery and temperance reformer, and a strong patriot. About the time of his leaving Colebrooke, he resumed the original name, Burgess, as did all the family, except Caleb, and his name with portrait, is included in the published Burgess genealogy (Vermont Chronicle (Bellows Falls, VT), June 9, 1877).
Rev. James Walker
Rev. James Walker, Jr. (1778-1826), was born in Concord, NH, July 26, 1778, son of James and Ruth (Abbott) Walker. He married in Bethel, ME, September 4, 1810, Martha Heath “Patty” Ingalls. She was born in Shelburne, NH, August 8, 1786. daughter of Moses and Susan (Heath) Ingalls.
James Walker headed a Bethel, ME household at the time of the Third (1810) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 26-44 years, one female aged 16-25 years, and one male aged under-10 years. The census taker enumerated his household between those of John Walker and Daniel Wight.
He is said to have been a merchant, who then studied for the ministry. He preached in Gilead, ME, as a Congregational missionary, between 1817 and 1818, before coming to Milton.
Rev. Walker preached alternatively at Farmington and Milton for a period of nineteen weeks. He interrupted his mission in March 1819, after an initial period of eight weeks, which suggests that he arrived first in or around January 1819.
The labours of Rev. James Walker, your Missionary at Farmington and Milton appear to have been in some measure successful. He found in Milton a little church, consisting of seven members, two males about seventy years age, and five females, nearly sixty. What a prospect is here! The church about to expire! But, says your Missionary, “The first lecture I preached, two were awakened, who now give evidence of piety. There are others, also, rejoicing in hope, who date their awakening at subsequent meetings. There was an unusual turning out to meeting; a solemn attention; and the minds of many were deeply impressed. Four obtained hopes before I left the place last winter.”
After a Mission of eight weeks, Mr. Walker left the place in March; but returned the first of June; and found that a few in both places had obtained hopes in his absence.
According to his journal, which is brought down to the 18th of August, there is a very general attention in Milton, throughout the town: the house of God, on the Sabbath, is unusually thronged; the people coming in from four or five neighbouring towns. The attentive eye suffused in tears, and the solemn countenance, indicate the presence of God, the Holy Ghost – especially has the administration of the Lord’s Supper been attended with a striking effect on the assembly. There have been seven or eight instances of hopeful conversion; several, of persons quickened, who had entertained hopes, but had not made a public profession; and some instances of special awakening. Six were added to the church, three propounded, and several others expected soon to be.
In Farmington, there was good attention to the word; four instances of hopeful conversion; five of special awakening; professors seemed engaged; and the prospect was, that a church would be organized before the close of his Mission. The people are exceedingly desirous to have a Missionary continued among them. This desire is manifested by the subscription of 100 dollars, in each of these towns, for your treasury (Whiting, 1819).
Rev. Walker remained in Milton for the rest of his life. He died here, September 4, 1826. Boston’s Columbian Centinel newspaper of September 16, 1826 (and September 20, 1826) noted his passing:
Rev. James Walker, Pastor of Congregational Church, died in Milton, N.H.
His widow, Martha H. Walker, died in Great Falls, NH, November 29, 1865, aged eighty-nine years (General Conference, 1867).
Hershock, Martin J. (2012). A New England Prison Diary: Slander, Religion, and Markets in Early America. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=fDpFfKfQbkUC
By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | January 24, 2019
The Sixth NH Regiment was raised in the Fall of 1861. Its men received a $10 enlistment bounty, and $13 per month pay, with rations. They were to be armed with Springfield rifled muskets with sabre bayonets. They left for Washington, DC, by train on Christmas day and passed through New York City on December 26, 1861. There they were issued Austrian rifles, rather than Springfield rifles.
The Sixth NH Regiment went with General Burnside on his Cape Hatteras expedition in early 1862. They fought at the Battle of South Mills (aka Camden), April 19, 1862. It spent some time at New Berne, N.C., prior to transferring to the Army of Virginia. There it fought in the second Battle of Bull Run, August 29, 1862. Alonzo Downing and Moses Cook were wounded there.
After the battle the army withdrew to the Washington defenses. From there they fought at South Mountain, September 14, the Battle of Sharpsburg (or Antietam), September 17, 1862, and the Battle of Fredericksburg, December 11-15, 1862.
In 1863, the Sixth NH Regiment was sent with General Burnside to Kentucky. From there, it participated in the siege of Vicksburg and the Mississippi campaign. Vicksburg fell on July 4, 1863. Eli Wentworth, for whom Milton’s GAR Post would be named, died at Snyder’s Bluff, MS, July 18, 1863. Timothy Emery died at Milldale, MS, July 20, 1863. The regiment then returned to Knoxville, KY.
Many men re-enlisted in the Fall and received furloughs to New Hampshire. New NH replacements joined also in November and December 1863, and January 1864. Dudley F. Brown, Samuel Chipman, and William Nettles, all of Milton, and Moses W. Cook of Dover, joined in December 1863, and Charles H. French of Rochester joined in January 1864.
In 1864, the Sixth NH Regiment came east again. They participated in General Grant’s overland campaign of 1864, which included the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor.
Then followed the siege warfare at Petersburg, VA. Moses W. Cook was wounded at Petersburg, July 4, 1864. Samuel Chipman was captured at Peebles’ Farm, Poplar Spring Church, on September 30, 1864, when General Grant launched flank attacks. (Chipman died in a Confederate prison camp at Salisbury, NC, the following January).
In 1865, the Sixth NH Regiment fought in the defense of Fort Stedman in March 1865. The Confederate assault on that emplacement was their last attempt to break the siege of Petersburg. General Lee withdrew after towards Appomattox Courthouse. The Sixth NH Regiment formed part of the ring that encircled the Confederate forces and forced their surrender, April 9, 1865.
It marched in the final Grand Review in Washington, DC, May 23, 1865. The men mustered out July 17, 1865, and took a train for home, July 19, 1865. They stopped over in New York City, July 20-21, and arrived back in Concord, NH, July 23, 1865. (Back pay was delayed for the better part of a week. Half the regiment expressed their impatience on July 26).
Milton Men Who Enlisted in the 6th NH Regiment:
BROWN, DUDLEY F.; Co. A; b. Seabrook; 18; res. Milton, Dec. 29, ’63, for 3 yrs.; must. in, Dec. 29, ’63; volunteer; App. Corp; Sergt., July 1, ’65; Must. out, July 17, ’65. P.O. address, Kensington, N.H.
CHIPMAN, SAMUEL; Co. A; b. Boston, Mass.; 18; res. Milton, Dec. 29, ’63, for 3 yrs.; must. in, Dec. 29, ’63; volunteer; Capd., Sept. 30, ’64, Poplar Springs Church, Va. Died dis. and starvation, Jan. 25, ’65, Salisbury, N.C.
EMERY, TIMOTHY; Co. G; b. Milton; 35; res. Milton, June 13, 1862, for 3 yrs.; must. in, August 19, 1862; volunteer; died disease, July 20, ’63, Milldale, Miss.
FOSS, BENJAMIN; Co. G; b. Strafford; 44; res. Milton, Aug. 16, 1862, for 3 yrs.; must. in, August 19, 1862; volunteer; disch. disab., Aug. 3, ’63, Camp Dennison, O. [Ohio]
NETTLES, WILLIAM; Co. F; b. Clark’s Ferry, Pa.; 19; res. Milton, Dec. 19, ’63, for 3 yrs.; must. in, Dec. 19, ’63; volunteer; Tr. from Co. F, 11th N.H.V., June 1, ’65; Must. out, July 17, ’65.
RICKER, HIRAM W.; Co. H; b. Wilton [SIC]; 42; res. Milton, Oct. 31, 1861, for 3 yrs.; must. in, Nov. 28, 1861; volunteer; disch. disab., Feb. 6, ’63, Concord, N.H.
WENTWORTH, ELI; [Company G, Second Lieutenants;] Co. H.; b. Milton; 40; res. Milton, Oct. 18, 1861, for 3 yrs.; must. in, To Date Nov. 28, 1861; volunteer; Appt. 1st Lt., July 4, ’62; Q.M., March 19, ’63. Died dis., July 18, ’63, Snyder’s Bluff, Miss. See Company B.
WENTWORTH, JOHN C.; Co. G; b. Lebanon, Me.; 40; res. Milton, Aug. 17, 1862, for 3 yrs.; must. in, Aug. 19, 1862; volunteer; Disch. disab., Jan. 23, ’63, Falmouth, Va.
Non-Milton Men Who Were Credited to Milton:
DOWNING, ALONZO; Co. G; b. Holderness; 21; res. Farmington, Oct. 3, 1861, for 3 yrs; must. in, Nov. 28, 1861; volunteer; Tr. to Co. D, Dec. 1, ’61; Wd. Aug. 29, ’62, Bull Run, Va.; Re-enl. and must. in from Milton, Jan. 2, ’64; Des. Feb. 29, ’64; Reported May 9, ’65, under President’s Proclamation. Disch. May 9, ’65, Concord, N.H.
DOWNING, STEPHEN; Co. G; b. Holderness; 23; res. Farmington, Oct. 3, 1861, for 3 yrs; must. in, Nov. 28, 1861; volunteer; Tr. to Co. D, Dec. 1, ’61; Re-enl. and must. in from Milton, Jan. 2, ’64; Des. Feb. 29, ’64; Reported May 9, ’65, under President’s Proclamation. Disch. May 9, ’65, Concord, N.H.
Milton Natives, Who Resided and Enlisted Elsewhere:
COOK, MOSES; Co. H; b. Milton; 25; res. Centre Harbor, Dec. 7, 1861, for 3 yrs.; must. in, Dec. 7, 1861; volunteer; Wd. Aug. 29, ’62, Bull Run, Va. Disch. disab., May 15, ’63, Concord, N.H.
COOK, MOSES W.; Co. C; b. Milton; 27; res. Dover, Dec. 10, 1863, for 3 yrs; must. in, Dec. 10, 1863; volunteer; Wd. July 4, ’64, Petersburg, Va.; Must. out, July 17, ’65.
FRENCH, CHARLES H.; Co. B; b. Milton; 15; res. Rochester, Jan. 5, 1864, for 3 yrs.; must. in, Jan. 5, 1864; volunteer; Tr. to Co. E, July 6, ’64; must out, July 17, ’65. P.O. ad. Milton, N.H.
Skinner auctioneers sold two paintings by Frank Henry Shapleigh (1842-1906) on August 13, 2017.
Shapleigh was an artist of the White Mountain School. The White Mountain School pioneered landscape painting in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. They initially traveled there by stagecoach, but did benefit from the extension of the Portsmouth, Great Falls & Conway Railroad into Conway and beyond.
The paintings on the auction block depicted the West Milton farm of Milton native Lewis W. Nute (1820-1888). The first, a view of the Lewis W. Nute farm, is dated 1880. It sold for $15,900.
Lewis W. Nute Farm, Milton, New Hampshire
A similar stretch of Nute road, although likely not the same houses and barns, may be seen today. (This view is from Google Maps).
The other Shapleigh painting, a view from the Lewis W. Nute farm looking towards Farmington and the New Durham ridge beyond, is undated, but one might suppose it dates from the same time. One might even suppose that the artist was a guest of Lewis W. Nute.
View from Lewis Nute Farm, Milton, New Hampshire
A similar view may be had from Nute Road today. (This vantage is from Google Maps). The artist would have been closer to the further edge of the field and there were fewer trees between him and Farmington.
Skinner. (2017). Lot 94: Frank Henry Shapleigh (1842-1906) View from Lewis Nute Farm, Milton, New Hampshire. Retrieved from www.skinnerinc.com/auctions/3022M/lots/94
By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | January 23, 2019
The Second Regiment, NH Volunteer Infantry, organized itself at Fort Constitution, in Newcastle, NH, as a three-month regiment in April 1861. They re-enlisted in May 1861 and reorganized there as a three-year regiment in June 1861.
Company D, to which the Milton men principally belonged, had originated as the Dover Volunteers. Captain Hiram Rollins of Dover was its commander. The Second NH Regiment’s “uniforms were gray, the jaunty forage caps and ‘spiketail’ dress coats banded with red cord.” They were armed with cal. 69 smoothbore muskets, except one company equipped with rifles (Haynes, 1896).
The Second NH Regiment left Portsmouth, June 20, 1861, and arrived in Boston, MA, that same day. The Second NH Regiment participated in the first Battle of Bull Run (or Manassas), July 21, 1861. Colonel Gilman Marston and Company D’s Captain Hiram Rollins were both wounded.
In 1862, the Second NH Regiment formed a part of General George B. McClellan’s peninsular campaign. They glimpsed separately both the ironclads CSS Merrimac and USS Monitor en route, although not their famous battle. They participated in the siege of Yorktown, VA, the battles of Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Oak Grove, Peach Orchard, Glendale, and Malvern Hill, VA, after which the peninsula was evacuated. They fought also at the second Battle of Bull Run (Manassas), August 29, 1862, during which the Confederates captured John O. Hayes of Milton. Their year concluded at the Battle of Fredericksburg, VA, in December 1862.
In 1863, the Second NH Regiment returned for a time to New Hampshire, where the Seventeenth NH Regiment was incorporated into their ranks. They then returned to the army in time to participate in the Battle of Gettysburg, where they defended the “Peach Orchard.” Corporal John S. Varney of Milton was severely wounded there, July 2, 1863. They fought after at Wapping Heights, in late July, before being sent to Point Lookout, MD.
In 1864, the Second NH Regiment began the year guarding prisoners at Point Lookout, MD. They left there in April to join General Butler’s Army of the James for its advance into the Bermuda Hundred district of Virginia. They fought at Swift Creek and Drewry’s Bluff. After which Butler withdrew to his original position and the Second NH Regiment transferred to General Grant’s Army of the Potomac. They then participated in the siege at Cold Harbor, VA. Acting Sergeant Moses L.F. Smith of Milton was mortally wounded there, June 3, 1864. Christie L. Jones was also wounded there.
The three-year enlistments of the original men expired on June 21, 1864. John O. Hayes, 2nd Lt Robert Miller, Corporal James H. Tibbetts, and Corporal John S. Varney were all mustered out, although several re-enlisted in other units. The Second NH Regiment was reorganized after the departures of the original men. Charles E. Jones and Christie L. Jones remained and were promoted. The Second NH Regiment was attached again to the Army of the James.
In 1865, the Second NH Regiment went on a raid along the Rappahannock River and then established a Cavalry supply depot at White House, VA. Then they rejoined General Grant’s siege lines at Petersburg, VA. They moved in to occupy Richmond, VA, when General Lee withdrew towards Appomattox Courthouse and the war ended. They were stationed as military provosts in several different places before being sent home in December 1865.
1st Lt. Charles E. Jones seems to have been the last of the original enlistees still in the ranks when the regiment mustered out at City Point, VA, December 19, 1865, along with several non-Milton men whose service had been credited to Milton. The ex-soldiers of the Second NH Regiment arrived by train in Concord, NH, December 23, 1865.
Milton Men Who Enlisted in the 2nd NH Regiment:
CORSON, MONROE J., Co. D; b. Milton; age 22; res. Milton; enl. April 30, ’61, for 3 mos.; not must in; re-enl. May 10, ’61, for 3 yrs.; must in. June 1, 61; disch. disab. April 22, ’62. Died Jan. 27, ’64, Milton.
HAYES, JOHN O., Co. D; b. Lebanon, Me.; age 21; res. Milton; enl. April 30, ’61, for 3 mos.; not must. in; re-enl. May 10, ’61, for 3 yrs; must. in June 1, ’61; captured Aug. 29, ’62, Bull Run, Va.; released; must. out June 21, ’64. Subsequent service, Corp., Co. D, 1 N.H.H. Art. P.O. ad. West Lebanon, Me.
JONES, CHARLES E., Co. D; b. Milton; age 18; res. Milton; enl. April 30, ’61, for 3 mos.; not must. in; re enl. May 10, ’61, for 3 yrs.; must. in June 1, ’61; app. Corp. Feb 1, ’63; Sergt. Nov. 27, ’63; re -enl. Jan 1, ’64; app. 1 Sergt. July 1, ’64; 1 Lt. May 20, ’65; must. out Dec. 19, ’65. P.O. ad. Nat. Military Home, Wis.
JONES, CHRISTIE L., Co. D; b. Milton; age 19; res. Milton; enl. April 30, ’61, for 3 mos.; not must in; re-enl. May 10, ’61 for 3 yrs.; must. in June 1, ’61; missing July 21, ’61, Bull Run, Va.; gained from missing; disch. July 30, 62; re-enl. Aug. 11, ’62; must. in Aug. 19, ’62; wd. June ’64, Cold Harbor, Va.; app. Corp. July 1, ’64; Sergt. Sept. 18, ’64; disch. June 9, ’65 Manchester, Va. P.O. ad. Milton.
MILLER, ROBERT, Co. D; b. St. John, N.B.; age 28; res. Milton; enl. April 30, ’61, [for] 3 mos; not must. in; re-enl. May 10, ’61, for 3 yrs.; must. in June 1, ’61; app. Corp. Aug 1, ’61; Sergt. Aug. 11, ’62; 1 Sergt. May 7, ’63; 2 Lt. ,Co. A, July 10, ’63; [must.] out June 21, ’64. Died Feb. 12, ’83 Milton.
SMITH, MOSES L.F., Co. D; b. Brookfield; age 22; res. Milton; enl. April 30, ’61, for 3 mos.; not must. in; re-enl May 10, ’61, for 3 yrs.; must. in June 1, ’61; app. Corp. Aug 1, ’61; Sergt. Oct 1, ’62; 1 Sergt. Dec. 20, ’63; re-enl. Jan 1, ’64; killed June 3, ’64, Cold Harbor, Va.
TIBBETTS, JAMES H., Co. D; b. South Gardiner, Me.; age 18; res. Milton; enl. April 22, ’61, for 3 mos.; not must. in; re-enl. May 10, ’61, for 3 yrs.; must. in June 1, ’61; app. Corp. June 1, ’63; must. out June 21, ’64. Subsequent service Co. D, 1 N.H.H. Art. P.O. ad. Dover.
VARNEY, JOHN S., Co. D; b. Tuftonborough; age 22; res. Milton; enl. May 13, ’61; must. in June 1, ’61; app. Corp. June 1, ’63; wd. severely, July 2, ’63, Gettysburg, Pa.; must. out June 21, ’64. P.O. ad. Wolfeborough.
VARNEY, THERON F., Co. D; b. Milton; age 19; res Milton; enl. April 30, ’61, for 3 mos.; not must. in; re-enl. May 10, ’61, for 3 yrs.; must. in June 1, ’61, as Corp.; app. Sergt Aug 11, ’62; des. May 25, ’63, Concord; reported under President’s Proclamation, ’65; disch. May 15, ’65, Galloup’s Island, Boston Harbor, Mass.
VENNER, JAMES M., Co. D; b. Milton; age 22; res. Milton; enl. April 30, ’61, for 3 mos.; not must. in; re-enl. May 10, ’61 for 3 yrs; must. in June 1, ’61, as Corp.; des. July 18, ’62 Harrison’s Landing, Va.; apprehended July 5, ’64, Lebanon, Me.; dishonorably discharged. No further record.
Non-Milton Men Who Were Credited to Milton:
BROWN, JOHN, Co. C; substitute; b. Queenstown, Ir.; age 37; cred. Milton; enl Oct. 12, ’64; must. out Dec. 19, ’65.
COOK, HERBERT E., Co. D; b. Winchester; age 19; res. Winchester; enl. Sept. 11, ’61; must. in Sept. 17, ’61; re-enl. Jan. 1, ’64; cred. Milton; must. out Dec. 19, ’65.
GODFREY, JOHN, Co. C; substitute; b. Montreal, Can.; age 23; cred. Milton; enl. Oct. 12, ’64; des. to the enemy, Nov. 7, ’64, Chaffin’s Farm, Va.
Milton Natives, Who Resided and Enlisted Elsewhere:
COOK, MARK F., Co. F; b. Milton; age 21; res. Farmington; enl. May 16, ’61; must. in June 4, ’61; missing Aug. 29, ’62, Bull Run, Va.; gained from missing; transf. to Co. K, 4 Art. USA, Nov. 1, ’62; des. July 12, ’63. Died March 20, ’76, Wolfeborough.
LORD, JOHN H., Co. D; substitute; b. Milton; age 25. Transf from 10 NH June 21, ’65. Died disease Aug. 18, ’65, Warsaw, Va.
RAMSEY, NEWTON A., Co. D; b. Milton; age 18; res. Somersworth; enl. May 27, ’61; must. in June 1, ’61; app. Corp. Sept. 1, ’62; Sergt. Sept. ’62; 1 Sergt. date unknown; must. out June 21, ’64. P.O. ad. Somersworth.
RINES, EBENEZER, Co. A; b. Milton; age 43; res. Jefferson; enl. for 9 mos. Transf. from 17 NH, April 16, ’63. Died disease Sept. 4, ’63, Point Lookout, Md.
Non-Milton Men Who Resided and Enlisted from Elsewhere, But Resided in Milton in Later Years:
BROWN, ROBERT, Co. F; b. Wolfeborough; age 29; res. Ossipee; enl. April 29, ’61, for 3 mos.; not must. in re-enl. May 22, ’61, for 3 yrs.; must. in June 4, ’61; disch. disab. Feb. 9, ’63. Subsequent service, V.R.C. P.O. ad. Milton.
Haynes, Martin Alonzo. (1896). A History of the Second Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry, in the War of the Rebellion. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=hmIUAAAAYAAJ
By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | January 22, 2019
Milton men serving in the Sixth NH Regiment returned home in July 1865. Here, a Connecticut newspaper includes them in a list of units passing through New York City.
Returning Soldiers. New York, July 21. The 61st Massachusetts regiment, 420 men, Col. Stone, arrived here this noon, and left at 5 o’clock for Readville. The 6th New Hampshire, Col. Bixby, 408 men, arrived here last night, and left this afternoon for Concord. The 13th Massachusetts battery, Lieut. Nichols, 100 men, arrived from New Orleans last evening, and left at 5 p. m. to-day, for Boston. The above were attended to by Col. Howe, and received the usual hearty salute from the New England rooms, as they marched homeward. The 5th Connecticut regiment, 390 men, left Washington this morning, for Hartford, Conn., and are expected by Col. Almy in this city, Saturday p.m. (Hartford Courant, July 22, 1865).
Of the nine Milton men that had enlisted in this regiment in 1861, only Dudley F. Brown and William Nettles would have been present on this train. (Milton natives Moses W. Cook of Dover and Charles H. French of Rochester too).
Riot at Concord, N.H. Concord, Thursday, July 27. Demonstrations of a serious riot were made here during last night by some two hundred returned soldiers, which commenced by their threat to “clean out” the clothing store under the Eagle Hotel, the proprietor of which charged a soldier with attempting to steal a suit of clothes. After breaking some windows the soldiers proceeded to the jail, and demanded the release of two of their number who had been arrested, and threatening to demolish the jail. At this time two companies of veteran reserves were ordered out, and the riotous soldiery scattered in different directions. There is much sympathy felt for the soldiers, who, it is alleged, are unnecessarily kept out of their pay and discharge papers (New York Times, July 28, 1865).
A regimental history explained this last as episode thus: “Payment being delayed for a week, the men became somewhat impatient and many left temporarily, but all were present on the 29th of July, when they were paid off and each man went his way to his home.”
Some of Milton’s soldiers served in the Second NH Regiment. It was part of the occupation force that moved into the Confederate capital of Richmond, VA, on April 3, 1865, after Confederate forces withdrew. President Lincoln and his son visited the city on the following day. The Second NH Regiment remained in Richmond until July 10, 1865.
RETURN OF THE SECOND NEW HAMPSHIRE REGIMENT. This veteran regiment returned to Concord on the evening of [December] the 23d, 450 strong, under command of Brevet Brig. Gen. Patterson. A public reception was given the regiment on Christmas day. A large number of people witnessed the ceremonies. This is the last of the New Hampshire regiments to return and it was the first to leave home on the outbreak of the rebellion. Its record has been a proud one (New England Farmer (Boston, MA), December 30, 1865).
Ten Milton men had marched away with the Second NH Regiment in May 1861. Six of them had already been discharged at the expiration of their three-year enlistments in June 1864. (Two of those re-enlisted in other units and had mustered out with them). While several of the ten had been wounded, some quite seriously, only one had been killed in action, while another one had already received a disability discharge. (And one had deserted).
Only 1st Lt. Charles E. Jones might have stepped off the train in Concord in December 1865. Perhaps some of the others were there to meet him.
In a prior episode of Let’s Make a Deal, Selectman Lucier objected categorically to this CIP Warrant Article obfuscation:
This sum to come from the fund balance and no amount to be raised from taxation.
His objection arose out of an apparently sudden realization that the fund balance is also taxation. It is just last year’s taxation! The standard phrase endeavored to obscure that reality. It might not be an outright lie, but it is certainly a very close cousin to one.
Selectman Lucier refused to approve any one of the CIP warrant articles that had concluded with the offending phrase, that close cousin to a lie.
Chairman Thibeault: So, the concern when we talked about these last was the way it was worded, and that’s been changed.
Selectman Lucier: That helps.
Thibeault: Are you satisfied with that? [general laughter].
Selectman Lucier: It’s better.
Town Administrator Thibodeau: We had a long talk with [Town attorney] Walter about that and he was just like … I don’t know … he never got what I said … one of our selectmen was very concerned about the wording and he said, ‘Well, can I change it to this?’ and I said, ‘Well, I’m going to give you Andy’s phone number.”
Thibeault: So the new wording is:
‘This appropriation will be funded by the transfer from the fund balance and no additional amount will be raised by taxation.’
Last time, Selectman Lucier sent this order back to the kitchen. He wanted just a soupçon of truth in his word salad. The Town lawyer did insert the synonym “additional,” instead of “new,” as well as introducing some passive-form verbs. But he left out Selectman Lucier’s particular preference: the fig-leafy word “new” in front of the “taxation.”
Thibeault: That’s the new wording, versus I don’t have the old wording …
(Nor does he care, either way. He’s a “process” man). All the kids then looked to Selectman Mikey (who hates everything). Will he tuck into this new word salad?
Lucier: Raised by new taxation?
Well, yes that was the word you had requested last time, but, no, that was not what the Town lawyer has given you.
Thibodeau: He said, “by taxation.” I tried. We kept going back and forth.
Lucier: I was in agreement that it would be no new taxation.
Thibeault: So, if we add the word “new” in there, are we still …
Lucier: Yeah, put it in there.
Thibodeau: If he [the Town lawyer,] tells us, “no,” can I …?
Lucier: Yeah, I’d love to talk to him.
Thibodeau: We’ll add the word “new” in all this.
So, in the end, the BOS agreed to add Selectman Lucier’s “new” verbiage, which proved sufficient to allay his concerns – sufficient to cover his embarrassment, so to speak.
And the BOS went merrily on to approve the pile of CIP warrant articles, with the new “new” wording. Let us see: $197,395.85 in budget increases, $435,500.00 in CIP warrant articles, plus the $500,000.00 needed to paper over the budget increases. That comes to $1,132,895.85. That must be a fairly hefty fund balance. Wherever did the BOS get so much money?
Selectman Lucier once said that he considered himself to be “The Taxpayers’ Friend.” He may have even believed it.
Might a taxpayer ask, as a friend, why there even was a fund balance of over $1 million with which to begin? That would be easily 25% over what was needed to cover last year’s budget. That is a lot of leftovers.
The amounts being bandied about certainly suggest that the Town over-taxed the average property by at least $420 in order to create its “fund balance.” ($1,132,895.85 / 2700 = $419.59). All of us might wish we had that money back in our pockets instead of in the Town’s “fund balance.”
We might then “encourage” local businesses with our custom, or otherwise invest or participate more fully in the free market, rather than in this coercive “command” economy. (Or we might just use it to keep body and soul together).
And it would be a pretty safe bet that the Town government has still more taxpayer money “squirreled away” in its fund balance, amounts above and beyond the $1,132,895.85 currently on the table.
All of that is just money taken out of pocket. There is also the inevitable reduction in everyone’s capital value to consider.
These fund tricks are certainly not “new” and there really are no words to make them less reprehensible, or even to make them less … embarrassing.
Milton Observer 