Merrimack and Sullivan Counties New Hampshire Biographies Collections – Page 19 of 23

Biography of Charles N. Clough

Charles N. Clough, Selectman of Canterbury and a well-known farmer, was born here, January 15, 1849, son of Colonel David M. and Almira (Batchelder) Clough. He belongs to an old and prominent family. His great-grandfather, Leavitt Clough, Sr., was likewise born in Canterbury, where he also lived and died. Leavitt Clough, Jr., was a farmer and a Justice of the Peace in his native town. Colonel David M. Clough, popularly known as “Corn King,” who belongs to the third generation of Cloughs in Canterbury, was born June 9, 1805. He was educated in the district schools of his native place … Read more

Biography of Charles Mortimer Bingham

Charles Mortimer Bingham, a former well-known merchant of Claremont, Sullivan County, N.H., was born in New London, Conn., February 22, 1804, son of Nathan Bingham. His father settled in Claremont in 1809. He was a hatter by trade, and carried on a large and successful business here. He was a musician, and played the bass-viol in the Episcopal church for years. He died at the age of seventy-eight. He had six children. His daughter Lucretia married Ralph Metcalf, who became the governor of New Hampshire. Her sister Elizabeth married Luther S. Porter, and Maria became the wife of Henry W. … Read more

Biography of Charles M. Rolfe

Charles M. Rolfe, a well-known manufacturer of Concord, is a native of this city, born August 18, 1841, son of Nathaniel and Mary J. (Moody) Rolfe. His paternal grandfather, also named Nathaniel, was one of the pioneer settlers of Concord, and came here from Haverhill, Mass. He secured the first water-power operated on the Merrimack River, and carried on a considerable lumbering business besides being engaged in farming. This water-power is still in possession of the family, and has been for the past seventy-five years. Grandfather Rolfe died in 1829, full of years and honor, and left to his sons … Read more

Biography of Charles M. Babbitt

Charles M. Babbitt, the well-known contractor and builder of Franklin Falls, was born in Hanover, N.H., son of Isaac and Wealthy (Lovejoy) Babbitt. His grandfather, Asa Babbitt, who came from England, served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and spent the greater part of his life upon a farm in Hanover, dying in 1837. Isaac Babbitt and his wife, both natives of Hanover, were prosperous farming people. Isaac died in 1878, and Wealthy in 1894. They were the parents of twelve children, namely: Marinda, now deceased, who married William Ward, a merchant of Lebanon, N.H.; Isaac Sylvester, who married … Read more

Biography of Charles Lewis Perry

Charles Lewis Perry, for twenty-five years a successful tailor of Claremont, Sullivan County, N.H., was born in Charlestown, N.H., March 4, 1823, son of Charles and Mary (Putnam) Perry. At the age of seventeen Mr. Perry came to Claremont, where he learned the tailor’s trade, and then began business for himself. Devoting his entire attention to custom work, he became prosperous, and in 1857 built the handsome business block known as Perry’s Block, where he located until obliged to retire on account of failing health. He was succeeded in business by his son, Charles Eugene. Mr. Perry was a business … Read more

Biography of Charles L. Kenney

Charles L. Kenney, a prosperous farmer of Loudon and son of Bradley H. and Rebecca (Pease) Kenney, was born in this town, July 9, 1844. His grandfather, Joseph Kenney, was one of the early settlers of the town, where he was engaged in farming. Joseph went West in his later years, and died in Minnesota, at the home of his daughter. His son, Bradley, a cooper by trade, who was also engaged in farming, died in May, 1882. Bradley’s wife, Rebecca, who came from Barnstead, N.H., died in 1844. They had four children: Mary Ann, who is the wife of … Read more

Biography of Charles Horace Fletcher

Charles Horace Fletcher, one of the prominent farmers of his native town, Canterbury, Merrimack County, was born August 3, 1837, son of John and Nancy (St. Clair) Fletcher. John Fletcher was born in Loudon, N.H., March 16, 1795. He married Miss St. Clair, of Canterbury, born October 2, 1799, and settled on St. Clair Hill in Canterbury township, where he became a prominent farmer. His wife’s father, Noah St. Clair, was, it is said, a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He had ten children. Some of them spelled the name St. Clair, and some spelled it Sinclair. If the same … Read more

Biography of Charles H. Morrill

Charles H. Morrill, a prosperous farmer and lumber manufacturer of Pittsfield, was born in this town, January 14, 1829, son of Jacob and Mary (Hoyt) Morrill. His paternal great-grandfather, who was a native of Salisbury, Mass., settled in Brentwood, N.H., and resided upon a farm in that town for the rest of his life. His grandparents, Jonathan and Betsey (Gordon) Morrill, were natives of Brentwood. Jonathan Morrill was for many years engaged in agricultural pursuits in his native town, and his last days were spent in Pittsfield. He lived to be sixty-nine years old, and his wife died at sixty-seven. … Read more

Biography of Charles H. Farnum

Charles H. Farnum, the owner of a fine farm in Concord, comes of ancestors who were among the earliest settlers of the town. He was born upon the patrimonial estate, December 30, 1838, son of Benjamin and Emily (Farnum) Farnum. According to New England records the first bearer of the name in this country was Ralph Farnum, who came from Wales; while the first representative of the family in Concord was Benjamin, the great-grandfather of Charles H. Ephraim Farnum, the grandfather, who was born in West Concord on the estates of his ancestors, reclaimed from the wilderness a large tract … Read more

Biography of Charles H. Courser

Charles H. Courser, a retired business man of Henniker, was born in Boscawen, now Webster, N.H., May 19, 1827, son of John and Keziah (Shepard) Courser. The first ancestors of the family were English. His grandfather, John Courser, was a resident of Merrimack County. The father passed the greater part of his life in Boscawen, and died there at the age of ninety-two years. The mother, who was a daughter of John Shepard, a native of Derry, N.H., lived to be eighty-two. Of her children the only survivor is Charles H. Charles H. Courser passed his boyhood in attending school … Read more

Biography of Charles Gould

Charles Gould, an extensive and prosperous agriculturist of Hopkinton, was born March 8, 1823, on the farm where he now resides, son of Captain Moses and Hannah (Currier) Gould. He represents one of the oldest families of this section of the county. His ancestor, Joseph Gould, was one of the original proprietors of Hopkinton, where he bought land while yet a resident of South Hampton, N.H. Joseph died shortly after his purchase; and his widow with her family of five sons, all young men, came here in 1754, each son making a separate settlement. Joseph Gould was born in South … Read more

Biography of Charles Gilman Sanders

Charles Gilman Sanders, an enterprising lumber manufacturer of Chichester, was born in this town, April 30, 1824, son of Elijah and Olive (Philbrick) Sanders. His grandfather, Robert Sanders, followed the sea from the age of seventeen until he was sixty years old. Robert was engaged in both the foreign and coast trade; and during the War of 1812 he served upon a privateering vessel, which was fitted out at Portsmouth, N.H., by Captain Chase. His last days were passed in Epsom, N.H.; and he died at the age of sixty-four years. He voted with the Whig party in politics, and … Read more

Biography of Charles Gilkey

Charles Gilkey, a prominent resident of Cornish, who was formerly engaged in the gunsmith business, is a native of Plainfield, N.H., born September 29, 1826. Charles Gilkey, his grandfather, born in Connecticut, was the first of the family to come to Plainfield. He came originally as agent of a wealthy Connecticut family, and remained in their employ for some time. After failing in an attempt to buy a farm with the Continental money in which his salary was paid, owing to the depreciated value of that currency then, he succeeded in leasing one from the State for nine hundred and … Read more

Biography of Charles F. M. Stark

Charles F. M. Stark, a wellknown resident of Dunbarton, Merrimack County, was born in this town, February 18, 1848, son of John and Caroline J. (Morris) Stark. He is a great-great-grandson of General John Stark, the famous victor of Bennington. John Stark, the father, was a lawyer, who practised his profession in Galena, Ill., and in New York City. He died in Washington, D.C., at the age of forty-two years. His wife, Caroline, was the youngest daughter of Thomas Morris, and a grand-daughter of Robert Morris, signer of the Declaration of Independence and first Secretary of State of the United … Read more

Biography of Charles Eastman Staniels

Charles Eastman Staniels, a prominent life insurance agent of Concord, N.H., was born in Lowell, Mass., December 27, 1844, son of Edward L. and Ruth Bradley (Eastman) Staniels. The father, born in Chichester, N.H., for many years was interested in the drug business, successively in Lowell and Boston, Mass. Toward the latter part of his life he removed to Roxbury, Mass., then a suburb of Boston, and died there at the age of sixty-five years. He was twice married. By his first wife there were three children, all of whom are now dead. His second marriage was made with Ruth … Read more

Biography of Charles E. Putney

Charles E. Putney, a farmer of high standing in Webster, N.H., is a native of that place. He was born June 10, 1827, the son of Stephen and Sallie (Eastman) Putney. His father, who was born February 12, 1765, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, serving in 1780 and 1781. He afterward purchased the farm where Charles E. now lives, and settled down there. He was married three times, first to Sallie E. Eastman, of Hopkinton, who died in 1809; second to Susan Eastman, who died in September, 1820; and then to Sallie Eastman, who died April 6, 1867, … Read more

Biography of Charles Chase Lord

Charles Chase Lord, Justice of the Peace, Notary Public, and the local historian of Hopkinton, is the second child and first son of Charles and Sarah (Hubbard) Lord. Born in South Berwick, Me., July 7, 1841, he is a lineal descendant, in the seventh generation, of Nathan Lord, who emigrated to America from Stackpole Court, Pembroke, Wales, and settled in ancient Kittery, Me., before 1652. In South Berwick, once a part of ancient Kittery, is a homestead of which Nathan Lord became a proprietor in 1676, and which is now in the possession of his descendants, the estate being situated … Read more

Biography of Charles Asa Holden

Charles Asa Holden, a well-to-do farmer of Langdon, was born in this town, August 4, 1833, son of Asa and Mary Ann (Evans) Holden. Edmund Holden, the father of Asa, was a native of Shirley, Mass., and the first of the family to settle in Langdon. He was a prosperous farmer and stock-raiser. In 1796 he married Susan Rockwood, of Groton, Mass., and became the father of six children, born as follows: Amanda, in 1797; Suka, in 1799; Edmund, in 1802; Asa, May 30, 1804; Rockwood, in 1809; and Sophronia, in 1813. Asa Holden taught school for a number of … Read more

Biography of Charles A. Newton

Charles A. Newton, a well-to do farmer of Unity and an exmember of the State legislature, was born in Plainfield, July 2, 1854, son of General Charles L. and Mary M. (Gilman) Newton. His grandfather, Rufus Newton, was a native of Grafton, Mass., who settled upon a farm in Plainfield, and there resided for the rest of his life. Rufus married Polly Ryder, and reared a family of five children, who are all living. They are: Charles L., Rufus G., Francis J., Adeline, and Ann. Charles L. Newton was born in Plainfield. When a young man he engaged in farming. … Read more

Biography of Charles A. Langmaid

Charles A. Langmaid, a prominent dairy farmer of Chichester and a member of the Board of Selectmen, was born upon the farm he now owns and occupies, December 13, 1851, son of Edward and Mary J. (Blake) Langmaid. His grandfather, Edward Langmaid, who for a number of years kept a tavern at Hampton Falls, N.H., moved to a farm of fifty acres situated in Chichester, and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits for about two years. He died at the age of forty-two. The grandfather’s wife, whose maiden name was Mehitable Dodge, reared six children. Of these Samuel, the only … Read more