Nathan Wood, son of Joshua, who was one of the early settlers of Keene, was born here May 31, 1800. He was a blacksmith and farmer, married Lorinda Ruggles, of Rutland, Vt.. and bad born to him four children, as follows: Susan E.. widow of Hon. J. J. Allen, Jr., lives in town; Nathan, died December 4, 1861; Julia R. W., widow of Levi Porter; and Sarah L., both in Keene.
Hon. John Prentiss, the founder of the New Hampshire Sentinel, and for forty-eight years its editor, died at his residence in Court street, Friday noon, June 6, 1873, at the age of ninety-five years and three months. He came to Keene in March, 1799, at the age of twenty-one years, and established the Sentinel under many embarrassments, and with a list of subscribers numbering only seventy. His first printing office was in a low building standing where S. W. Hales house now stands, and for some time afterwards in the new building south of Dr. Edwardss tavern. Subsequently (in 182 … Read more
John Banks, progenitor of the Banks family in Alstead, was in the employ of Nathaniel S. Prentiss, and came with him from Grafton, Mass., in 1774 he married Susan Prentiss and reared a large family of children, one of whom was the father of Gen. N. P. Banks, of Waltham, Mass. Two sons of John,-Andrew and Jabez M., spent their lives in Alstead. Andrew married Fannie Livermore, resided on a farm on road 36, reared eight children, and died in 1876, aged 83 years. His son Gardner G. has been engaged in the manufacture of lumber at the outlet of … Read more
Peter Worden was among the early pilgrims of our country. He was from Clayton, Lancashire, Eng., and. lived for a short time in Lynn, Mass., it is certain, though the year of his arrival in America is not known for certain, Eighteen years after the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, however, or on the 19th of February, 1638, he made his last will and testament, which ancient document is now in the possession of his descendants, in Hinsdale. The fact that he died soon after is established, as the will was proved on the 9th of March of the … Read more
Rev. Samuel S. Dudley, a native of Sudbury, Mass., has been a Methodist minister forty-four years, seventeen of which he has preached in this county. He now resides on road 42.
The Congregational church of Chesterfield was organized in 1771, and the Rev. Abraham Wood, a graduate of Harvard, was ordained its first pastor for the following year. The ministry of Mr. Wood continued until his death in 1823. A few months previous to Mr. Wood’s death, Rev. John Walker, a graduate of Dartmouth, was installed as colleague pastor. Mr. Walker remained six years, and was succeeded by Rev. Elisha Smith, who was also a graduate of Dartmouth, and who remained here four years, when he was succeded by Rev. Josiah Ballard, a graduate of Harvard, and who remained for a … Read more
Farnum F. Lane, son of Ezekiel, was born in Swanzey, March 15; 1816, He studied law in Keene, with Thomas M. Edwards, and was admitted to the bar in 1843. He married Harriet E. Butler, of Winchester, and has had born to him three children, two of whom are living, Helen L. and Emily B. The latter resides at home, and Helen L. married Gustavus Luke, and resides in Sherbrook, P. Q. Mr. Lane represented the town of Walpole in the legislature, in 1847-48, and represented Keene in 1861-6z. He located in this town in 1849, and has since resided … Read more
Charles Franklin Kingsbury was born in Gilsum June 11, 1824, being the third child of William and Temperance (Leonard). Kingsbury. Until the age of twenty he lived and worked on the farm, ‘having no opportunity for an education except the public schools of not more than ten or twelve weeks each winter. He was anxious for an education, and that he might have the means to attend an academy, spring and fall, he worked on the farm two or three months in summer, and taught school in the winter. In 1848 he entered Norwich University, Vt., where he remained three … Read more
ALSTEAD CENTER, (p. o.) a hamlet located upon a hill about half a mile east of the geographical center of the town, was formerly the business center of the town, and about 1802, the prospective sight of the county court-house. It long since lost its prestige, however, and now along its single street, a school house, a Congregational house of worship, in perhaps a dozen dwellings remain.
Hon. William Haile, son of John and Emma (Henry) Haile. was born in Putney, Vt., in May 1807. At the age of about fourteen years he went with his parents to Chesterfield, and was soon after taken into the family of Ezekiel P. Pierce, Sr., with whom he lived until he was about twenty-one years of age. Having attended school about two years, he entered, in 1823, Mr. Pierce’s store as clerk, and in 1827 or 1828 he borrowed a small amount of money and opened a store on his own account, in the Center Village. With his characteristic sagacity, … Read more
James Bemis, from Weston, Mass., settled in Dublin in 1793, where he died December 15, 1832, aged seventy-five years. He married first Hannah Frost, of Marlboro, by whom he had one son, Jonathan. He next married Lois Walker, of Sudbury. Mass., in 1786. His children were Hannah, James, Lois, Thomas, Josiah, Betsey, Eli and Mercy. James Bemis was a soldier of the Revolution, enlisting when a boy of eighteen, and reached headquarters just before the battle of Bunker Hill. His son Thomas, born in 1793, married first Sally Williams, and second Anna Knight, of Sudbury, Mass. His children were Sally, … Read more
Leonard F. Sawyer, son of Josiah, married Mary B., daughter of Albert and Mary P. (Pollard) Adams, of Rindge, and has two children-Etta ML and Ella M., twins. He is a prosperous farmer and has three Summer cottages on Contoocook lake, which borders on his farm. He has a large collection of natural curiosities, antiquities and geological specimens.
Luther Hemenway was born in Framingham, Mass., in 1787, and came to Marlboro with his parents when but six months old, his mother bearing him with her on horse-back, making their way by the aid of marked trees. He died in Jaffrey in 1872. His son Luther has served the town as selectman six terms and is engaged in a manufacturing business.
WEST CHESTERFIELD is a post village located in the western part of the town near the Connecticut. It has one church (Union), one store, two sawmills, a box-stock factory, two grist-mills, two blacksmith shops, a village-hall, and about twenty dwellings.
Abel Fletcher, one of the pioneer settlers of Chesterfield. N. H., married Phoebe, daughter of Jonathan Hildreth, of Chesterfield, in 1784; for his second wife he married Sally Willard, and for his third Charlotte, daughter of Ephraim Hubbard, who survived him. His will was made in 1816 and proved in 1817. Daniel, son of Abel, born August 8, 1789, married Lucy, daughter of Joseph Converse, and resided many years in Chesterfield, but died in Hills. dale, December 5, 18i5, aged eighty-six years. Joseph C. Fletcher, son of Daniel, born May 27, 1822, died May 31, 1873, aged fifty-seven years. He … Read more
John Wright m. Mary and res. Dunstable. Benjamin2 Wright, son of John1, b. at Dunstable, d. Milford, N. H., res. at Mile Slip (afterwards Milford); m. Betsey Adams of Dunstable (now Nashua). Of their eleven children eight were b. in Mile Slip, and the last three in Milford: Benjamin, b. May 20, 1775; d. Sept. 19, 1777. Benjamin; Betsey; Ira; Joel, 1, b. Jan. 26, 1784; Oliver; Sally; Mary; Lydia; Nehemiah and Gratia. Joel3 Wright, son of Benjamin2, was the fifth minister and third settled pastor of the First Cong. Church of S. See page 409. According to the Milford, … Read more
Joseph W. Pierce, son of George, was born in Smithfield, R. I., and came to this town with his parents when an infant. He married Sarah J., daughter of Davis Arnold, who bore him six children, namely, Ansel J., Harry A., John M., David W., S. Jennie, and Josie M. Mr. Pierce died February 27, 1884.
Joseph Titus came to Chesterfield in 1777, from Douglas, Mass., soon after his marriage there to Mary Bigelow, and cleared and put in thorough cultivation one of its most rocky, hill-side farms. He was fourth in descent from Robert Titus, who came from near Stanstead Abbey, Hartfordshire, England, in 1635, and finally settled on Long Island. The immigrant was of a family of some note; a brother was the Colonel Titus, of Cromwell’s army, who afterwards espoused the cause of King Charles II., and on the occasion of an attempt upon the life of the Lord Protector, wrote anonymously the … Read more
Simeon Cook, of Redlands, is a native of Richmond, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, born April 14, 1821; his parents being Simeon, Sr., and Rachel (Holman) Cook. Both parents came of old New England families, and the father of our subject went with his parents from Billingham, Massachusetts, to New Hampshire, when he was but three years of age. He was born December 8, 1770, and died March 18, 1859. Our subject’s mother was the daughter of Elijah Holman, who lived on the line between Winchester and Richmond, New Hampshire, and before her marriage to Simeon Cook, Sr., was the widow … Read more
Dexter W. Gilbert was born in Walpole, July 19, 1832, attended the common schools and the Saxtons River seminary, Walpole academy and Mount Caesar seminary, was a teacher for several years in the public schools in New England and New York, and a house carpenter by trade. He has resided in Massachusetts, New York, wasconsin, Indiana and Ohio, and came to Keene in 1864, where he has since lived. He was superintendent of the suburban schools of Keene, 1874-78, served two years in each branch of the city government, from 1819 to 1882. In politics he is a Republican, in … Read more