Boscawen New Hampshire

Biography of Walter Sargent

Walter Sargent, of Elm Farm, in the town of Warner, N.H., is well known as one of the most skilful, progressive, and successful agriculturists of Merrimack County. He was born December 25, 1837, in Warner Lower Village, a son of Abner and Martha J. (Morrill) Sargent. He is of English antecedents, tracing his lineage back to Richard Sargent, an English naval officer, whose son William, born in England in 1602, was the emigrant ancestor. He came to New England at an early period, taking with him a family of daughters, who had been left motherless by the death of his … Read more

Biography of Major Hiram Fifield Gerrish

Major Hiram Fifield Gerrish, of Concord, N.H., the present Deputy State Treasurer, was born in Boscawen, N.H., September 27, 1839. His parents, Calvin and Ann S. (Fifield) Gerrish, were both lifelong residents of Merrimack County. Major Gerrish is a descendant of Colonel Henry Gerrish, one of the early residents of Boscawen, who was an officer during the war of the Revolution, serving as Lieutenant-Colonel in Colonel Stickny’s regiment, and was present at the battles of Bennington and Saratoga. Colonel Gerrish was one of the leading citizens of his town and State, holding many positions of trust and responsibility, being conspicuously … Read more

Biography of Edmund Silver

Edmund Silver, a thriving farmer of Boscawen, N.H., was born in Bow, this State, September 10, 1834. His parents, Edmund and Sallie (Dow) Silver, who resided in Bow for the greater part of their lives, died when their son Edmund was quite young. They had nine children-Lewis, Laura, Cyrene, Leonard, Gideon, Sullivan, Daniel, Edmund, and George. Lewis died in March, 1897. Daniel is engaged in farming in Salisbury, N.H. George is in Penacook; and the others, except Edmund, the subject of our sketch, are deceased. Edmund Silver received his education in the district schools, remaining at home with his parents … Read more

Biography of Jonathan Arey

Jonathan Arey, a well-known resident and a retired blacksmith of Salisbury, was born January 28, 1816, on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in the town of Wellfleet, son of Solomon and Patty (Hopkins) Arey. The father, also a native of Wellfleet, born March 12, 1787, lived there until 1830, working at his trade, that of carpenter and joiner. In 1830 he moved to Boscawen, N.H., and there settled on a farm, which he conducted until his death in 1846. His wife, who was born in Eastham, Mass., February 20, 1789, died April 14, 1863. They had twelve children, of whom the subject … Read more

Biography of William H. Carter

William H. Carter, a thrifty farmer of Canterbury and a son of John and Lydia (Gill) Carter, was born December 20, 1842. His grandfather, Nathan Carter, who was born in Boscawen, N.H., April 6, 1762, lived in this town all his life. Nathan carried on farming, and conducted a tavern, and died September 21, 1841. His wife, Sarah, died May 8, 1845. They had five children, namely: Judith, born December 5, 1787, who married John French, and died December 13, 1871; Moses, born August 6, 1790, who died May 30, 1851; John, born December 10, 1797, the father of the … 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 William W. Austin

William W. Austin, a farmer and drover of Webster, N.H., the son of Eldad and Naomi Austin, was born in Webster, then a part of Boscawen, July 1, 1829. His grandfather, Paul Austin, of Georgetown, Mass., was one of the first settlers of the town. Taking up land when the country around it was a wilderness, he cleared and brought under cultivation the large farm where the subject of this sketch now lives. He died in 1852; and his wife, Mehitable Lowell, of Georgetown, died in 1829. They had eight children-John, Sallie, Dorothy, Eldad, Eunice, Mary Ann, William, and Samuel. … Read more

Biography of J. Albert Peaslee

J. Albert Peaslee, an important factor of the agricultural and business community of Bradford, Merrimack County, was born in this town, on the farm that he still owns, December 14, 1845. His father, John Peaslee, a son of Samuel Peaslee, was a lifelong resident of Bradford. He was the Representative of an early settled family in New Hampshire, and one whose descendants are numerous in Hillsborough County, where, in the town of Pelham, they have an annual gathering. John Peaslee settled on the homestead farm now owned by his son, J. Albert, soon after attaining his majority, purchasing at first … Read more

Biography of Samuel Choate

Samuel Choate, a prominent farmer of Boscawen, was born here, February 24, 1830, son of Royal and Hannah (Sawyer) Choate, who were natives respectively of Boscawen and Salisbury, N.H. His great-grandfather, Thomas Choate, who came from Ipswich, Mass., to Boscawen about 1788, settled on the same farm and occupied the same house where the present Mr. Choate now resides. Samuel, a son of Thomas and grandfather of the present Samuel, born March 18, 1769, in Ipswich, came with his father to this farm; and the two lived King George, dated October 29, 1761, and another signed by John Langdon, bearing … Read more

Biography of Sylvester Prentiss Danforth

Sylvester Prentiss Danforth, an enterprising member of the well-known firm of Danforth, Forest & Morgan, contractors, builders, and lumber dealers of Concord, N.H., was born in Boscawen, N.H., August 14, 1838. His parents were Nathan C. and Sophia C. (Brown) Danforth, both residents of Merrimack County for many years. His father and grandfather were engaged in the lumber business for years, while his maternal ancestors were farmers in this county. Sylvester P. Danforth attended the public schools and Boscawen Academy, completing his school education at the age of eighteen years. He then learned the cabinet-maker’s trade with Caldwell & Amsden, … Read more

Narrative of the Captivity of Mrs. Isabella M’coy – Indian Captivities

Narrative of the Captivity of Mrs. Isabella M’coy, who was taken Captive at Epsom, N. H., in the Year 1747. Collected From the Recollections of Aged People who knew her, by the Rev. Jonathan Curtis, a Minister of that Town, about Seventeen Years ago, and by Him Communicated to the Publishers of the New Hampshire Historical Collections. The Indians were first attracted to the new settlements in the town of Epsom, N. H., by discovering M’Coy at Suncook, now Pembroke. This, as nearly as can be ascertained, was in the year 1747. Reports were spread of the depredations of the … Read more