REV. LUTHER J. FLETCHER, born February 25, 1818, a Universalist clergyman, has been located at Buffalo, Lowell and New York; is a man of rare talent, a fine writer and an eloquent talker; was a member of the Massachusetts Legislature, and once a judge.
CAPTAIN WORTHEN HALL was born July 11, 1802. In 1827 he went to sea, and, being well adapted to the business, he followed that vocation for twenty-eight years. In 1855 he retired with a fortune, and settled at the Flat. In 1866-67 he was elected representative, which position he filled with credit to himself and honor to the town.
GEORGE S. BARTON, son of Hon. Cyrus Barton and grandson of Benjamin, graduated at Dartmouth College in 1851; studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1853. He opened an office at Burlington, Iowa, but the next year returned to Newport. He was Clerk of the Senate in 1855 and 1856. He died July 24, 1857, aged 26 years. He was a superior draftsman, a fine writer and a ready poet.
JAMES BRECK, a native of Boston, was for twelve years, from 1804 to 1816, the leading merchant and one of the most influential men in Croydon. While here, he was Selectman five years and Representative four. In 1811, he married Martha Burr, daughter of Capt. Martin Burr, one of the early settlers of the town. They had a large family. Martin B., the oldest son, followed his father’s calling. WILLIAM and JAMES, the second and third sons, graduated at Dartmouth College and turned their attention to law. The former, appointed Consul to China, has been, with his lady, for several … Read more
ELIAS POWERS, son of Major Abijah Powers, is a man of intelligence, a respected farmer, a lover of fun and story-telling, an adept at angling, trapping and bunting. He has served the town twice as selectman and has been county commissioner three years.
MARTIN B. BRECK, eldest son of James Breck, Esq., was born Oct. 15, 1812. He was educated at the district school and Newport Academy, after which he turned his attention to mercantile pursuits. He remained with his father at Newport until he attained to his majority. He followed his vocation at Croydon, at Newport, and at Boston until 1841, when be removed to Rochester, N. Y., where his operations have been “eminently successful,” and where he now lives enjoying all the blessings which affluence can afford. In 1838 he married Mary Faxon, of Newport, who lived but a year and … Read more
EPHRAIM KEMPTON, the father of the Kemptons, came early to Croydon and purchased some four hundred acres of land, covering all the grounds where the Flat is now situated, and built near the residence of Capt. Nathan Hall. He never attained to great wealth, and was unassuming in his manners.
IRA W. BRAGG, son of Ira Bragg, who came from Royalston, Mass., was born July 28, 1833. Fitted for college at Meriden and studied medicine with Dr. Perkins, of Marlow, N. H. He attended lectures at Dartmouth and Harvard Colleges, and graduated at the latter institution in 1859. After spending a year in the Marine Hospital at Chelsea, he went to Europe and passed several months in the hospitals of Liverpool and London, endeavoring to still further qualify himself for his profession. Upon his return, after practicing a year at Chelsea, Mass., he was appointed Assistant Surgeon in the Navy … Read more
PROSPER L. EASTMAN, son of Joseph Eastman, Esq., was born March 1, 1825. Jan. 4, 1846, married Eleanor H. Haven, daughter of Moses, and granddaughter of Rev. Jacob Haven. In 1855 he went West, and engaged as a drover in Ohio and Wisconsin for four years, at the expiration of which time he returned to New York City, and became connected in business with his brother as a cattle broker. He is now located at Albany-the great cattle rendezvous from the West-where he is operating in connection with his brother at New York, Like his brother, in him are combined … Read more
MOSES and JOHN WALKER, the former living in the west part of the town, and the latter on the turnpike, were the progenitors of the Walkers.
DEA. ABEL METCALF, his oldest son, settled in Newport, and was the father of REV. KENDRICK METCALF, Episcopal clergyman at Geneva, N. Y., and Professor in the Geneva College, of SILAs, a successful farmer and man of political note at Newport, and of THERON, a popular -merchant in Boston.
HIRAM SMART, son of the preceding, has been a Representative from Plaistow in the Legislature, a School Commissioner, and Register of Deeds for Rockingham County, and is now in the Boston Custom House.
THOMAS WHIPPLE, son of Moses, married Thankful Powers, and settled at Charlestown, N. H., and raised up a large family. AARON married Matilda Cooper and settled in the south part of the town, near Coit Mountain, on the farm so long and so well occupied by his son MOSES WHIPPLE previous to his retirement to his present life of comparative leisure at the Flat. Aaron, “In fair round belly, with good capon lined,” relished a joke.
Casualties in Croydon New Hampshire In 1770 Caleb, son of Seth Chase, the first settler in town, wandered into the forest, and was lost, and public opinion was divided as to the probable fate of the child; some believed that he was captured and carried away by some straggling band of Indians, while others thought that he met his death at the hands of a villainous white man. Isaac Sanger, another early settler, perished in attempting to cross Croydon Mountain. Alexander Metcalf, Jr., was killed by the falling of a tree. Abijah Hall was drowned at Glidden Bridge in 1812. … Read more
DARIUS BLANCHARD and JOHN BLANCHARD were among the early settlers of the town. The former settled in the valley north of C. K. Fletcher’s, and the latter on Baltimore Hill.
TIMOTHY C. EASTMAN, Esq., born May 30, 1821, was first a farmer at Croydon, then a milkman, with a hundred cows, at Cleveland, O., and is now the cattle-king of New York. He has a beautiful residence on Fifth Avenue, and, as a financier, he has been by far the most successful son of the town. He originated the plan of transporting beef to Europe in refrigerators, by means of which he presented the Queen with the quarter of beef as fresh as when taken from the slaughter-house at New York.
HENRY BRECK, Jr., third son of Henry Breck, has been a practical farmer and gardener in the vicinity of Boston for several years, and is well known for his skill in his business, and his integrity and intelligence. He now lives at Watertown, Mass., where he has a very fine farming establishment.
DAVID WARD, the eldest son of Josiah Ward, a physician, after practicing awhile in New York, and at Adrian, Mich., removed to Illinois, where he died. JOSIAH, Jr., a lawyer, after studying his profession, went first to Adrian, Mich., where he held an honorable position in his calling, but afterwards removed to Nevada, where he died in 1865. He was District Attorney. ALFRED married Randilla, daughter of Col. Samuel Powers, remains on the homestead and is a worthy and successful farmer. He was Representative in 1853 and 1854. DANIEL was born June 10, 1810. He turned his attention to medicine; … Read more
JOSEPH SARGENT, a brother of the above, married Lucinda, daughter of Benj. Skinner, Esq. For a while he was engaged as high-school teacher. He studied theology, and became a Universalist clergyman-was quite talented. He was Chaplain in the army, and died in the service.
SHERMAN COOPER, Son of Hon. Lemuel P. Cooper, was born Aug. 20, 1833. He received his academical education at Meriden, N. H., studied medicine in New York City, and graduated at the New York Medical College in 1856. The following year he was deputy resident physician of Blackwell’s Island Hospital. He settled at Claremont in 1858. He entered the army in 1861, as Assistant Surgeon of the 6th Regt. N. H. Vols:, but was promoted to the rank of Surgeon in March, 1863. At the end of three years, in 1864, he returned to Claremont and resumed the practice of … Read more