Grafton County NH

Coosuc Tribe

Coosuc Indians (from koash ‘pine’, ak ‘at: at the pine’). A small band, probably of the Pennacook, formerly living about the junction of the Upper and Lower Ammonoosuc with the Connecticut, in Coos and Grafton counties, New Hampshire Their village, called Coos or Coosuc, seems to have been near the mouth of the Lower Ammonoosuc. They were driven off by the English in 1704 and joined the St Francis Indians, where they still kept up the name about 1809. See Also: Coosucks and St. Francis Indians of Lamoille County, Vermont

Biography of John Henry Albin

John Henry Albin, one of the best known lawyers of Concord and an ex-member of the New Hampshire legislature, was born in Randolph, Vt., October 17, 1843, son of John and Emily (White) Albin. His ancestors on the father’s side resided in Randolph for one hundred and fifty years, and his mother’s family is one of the oldest in Merrimack County. He came here with his parents when he was twelve years old. Having completed his elementary education in the public schools of this city, he entered Dartmouth College in the fall of 1860, and graduated from that institution in … Read more

Biography of James Hale Newton

When a man’s manifold activities in the field of banking, building, and general business win for him the title of “Grand Old Man,” his place as leader is firmly established. Thus was James Hale Newton regarded in Holyoke, Massachusetts. He was of a long-established New England family, which originated in England. The pioneer ancestor was Richard Newton, who settled in Massachusetts in 1638, and afterward was admitted as freeman of the colony. For many years he lived in Sudbury, then settled in Marlborough, where with eight others he founded the township, and died’ there when nearly a hundred years old, … Read more

Biography of Perley Oscar Folsom

PERLEY OSCAR FOLSOM, active in business and politics at Cushman, Massachusetts, in the town of Amherst, was born in Marshfield, Vermont, March 28, 1882. The name he bears appears first in history in the first half of the fourteenth century. John Foulsham, of Foulsham, was prior of a Carmelite Monastery in Warwick, England. He was a prominent ecclesiastic; and his brother, Richard Foulsham, was even more prominent. The word foule (fowl) signified bird, and the country seat of Foulsham probably took its name from its being the home (ham) of many foules (birds). (I) The first traceable ancestor of the … Read more

Biography of Anson Colby Alexander, M.D.

Anson Colby Alexander, M.D., a prominent homoeopathic physician of Penacook, was born in Littleton, N.H., October 10, 1855, son of Wesley and Sarah B. (Bray) Alexander. Both paternal and maternal ancestors of his served in the War for Independence. Wesley Alexander, a native of Swanzey, N.H., was a prominent resident of Littleton, and took an active part in public affairs. He was one of the original promoters of the Republican movement in this State, having formerly been a supporter of the Whig party. For more than thirty years he used his influence successfully in securing the predominance of these parties … Read more

Biography of Jeremiah Garvin

Jeremiah Garvin, of Chichester, an ex-member of the New Hampshire legislature and a veteran of the Civil War, was born January 3, 1842, at the family homestead on Garvin Hill, where he now resides, son of Jesse and Eunice (Leavitt) Garvin. The father, a native of Pembroke, N.H., was reared upon a farm near Garvin Falls, Pembroke. When a young man he was engaged for several years in rafting logs on the Merrimac River. Subsequently turning his attention to agricultural pursuits, he purchased a large farm in Chichester. This property, situated in the southern part of the town, is known … Read more

Biography of Hon. Gardner Batchelder Emmons

Hon. Gardner Batchelder Emmons, a successful business man of Concord, N.H., who is now serving his first term as a State Senator, was born in Bristol, Grafton County, this State, February 18, 1847, son of Horace M. and Maria (Batchelder) Emmons. The paternal ancestors have been identified with the history of Bristol, N.H., for at least one hundred and fifty years; while the Batchelders have been inhabitants of Reading, Mass., about two hundred and fifty years. Gardner B. Emmons attended the public schools of Bristol in his boyhood, and completed his course of study in New Hampton Institute at the … Read more

First Settlements in Norwich Vermont

Having glanced thus briefly at the action of the Norwich proprietors in opening a way to reach their new township in the wilderness, and in dividing up a portion of its surface into lots suitable to become the homesteads of future settlers, let us pause a moment and see what had meantime been done in the work of actual settlement. I am indebted to Rev. Edmund F. Slafter of Boston for an interesting account of what was unquestionably the first attempt at settlement made within the limits of the town. I quote from the Slafter Memorial: “Samuel Slafter [of Mansfield, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Theodore Elijah Burton

Burton, Theodore Elijah; U. S. senator to March 3, 1915; born, Jefferson, O., Dee. 20, 1851; son of Rev. William and Elizabeth ‘(Grant) Burton; A. B., Oberlin College, 1872, A. M. 1875; (LL. D., Oberlin, 1900, Dartmouth, 1907, Ohio University, 1907); unmarried; admitted to bar, 1875, and since in practice at Cleveland; member 51st (1889-1891), and 54th to 61st (1895-1911) congresses; 21st Ohio Dist.; resigned from 61st Congress, March 4, 1909; U. S. senator, 1909-1915; chairman Inland Waterways Commission, 1906-1908; chairman National Waterways Commission; member National Monetary Commission; Republican nominee for mayor, Cleveland, 1907; delegate Republican National convention, 1904, 1908 … Read more

Biography of John H. Hunt

John H. Hunt, a prominent farmer and a well-known veteran of Hill, was born in Dorchester, N.H., January 8, 1826, son of Jonathan and Eliza (Holmes) Hunt. His grandfather, who was born in Lexington, Mass., kept a tavern at the time Washington took command of the Continental army. Jonathan Hunt was a carriage-builder, and also kept a lumber wharf at East Cambridge, Mass., until the Lowell railroad was built. He died at Hopkinton, N.H., at the age of eighty-four years. He first married Hannah Larkin, of Lexington, Mass. His second wife, in maidenhood Eliza B. Holmes, was the mother of … Read more

Biography of John W. Staples, M.D.

John W. Staples, M.D., a prominent physician of Franklin Falls, N.H., and a native of Wells, Me., was born January 25, 1855. His parents, John and Ann (Wells) Staples, also natives of Wells, belonged to families that had lived in that town for a number of generations. John Staples, who was a farmer, spent his life in the place of his birth, and died in 1879. His wife had died in 1877. They had four children, one of whom died in infancy. The others were: Albert, who died when nine years old; Moses, a farmer in Wells; and John W., … 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

Free Masonry in Norwich Vermont

It does not appear that any Masonic Lodge has ever existed in Norwich. Quite a number of our citizens, however, as might be expected, have at different times belonged to lodges in adjacent towns. In the list of members of Franklin Lodge, established at Hanover, N. H., in 1796, we find the names of the following Norwich men, with the year of their admission: Reuben Hatch, Freegrace Leavitt (1798), William Sumner (1799), Thomas Brigham, Erastus Leavitt, and Moses Hayward (1800), Reuben Partridge, Andrew Dewey, William Little, Levi Richards, Aaron West (1801-1807), Lyman Lewis, Elijah Slafter, Simon Baldwin, Enos Lewis, Jasper … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Stephen Gile

Stephen Gile came to Morristown, from Lebanon, N. H., in 1826, and located upon the farm now owned by his son, Eli B. He reared a family of nine children, and died in 1870. His wife died during the same year. Two of their children now reside in the. town, Abigail, wife of James Cross, and S. S., the third selectman of the town. S. S. has also been a justice of the peace several years.

The Founding of Dartmouth College

The founding of Dartmouth College at Hanover in 1769 was an event of great interest and importance to the early settlers of Norwich. Besides the advantages it promised for the convenient higher education of their children, advantages to which they were fully alive, as shown by their liberal subscriptions in land and money to its endowment, the building up of such an institution in the immediate neighborhood created an instant demand for labor and supplies of every kind. The president, Doctor Wheelock, through his Indian pupil, Samson Occum, and other agents, had collected in England and Scotland several thousand pounds … Read more

Biography of Alger, William Rounseville

Alger, William Rounseville, son of Nahum and Catherine Sampson (Rounseville) Alger, was born in Freetown, Bristol County, December 28, 1822. He attended the common schools from the age of four to ten, then began to work for a livelihood; he worked five years in a cotton mill at Hookset, N. H., studied attentively in all available house, educating himself in the various branches of an academic course. He attended an academy in Pembroke, N. H., two years, and one year at Lebanon, N. H. He entered the divinity school of Harvard University in 1844, and was graduated in the class … Read more

Biography of John P. Rounsevel

John P. Rounsevel, formerly a well-known wool buyer of Claremont, was born in Unity, N.H., January 2, 1815, son of Royal and Betsey (Sweat) Rounsevel. Rounseville, the original spelling of the name, was changed to the present form by Joseph Rounsevel about the year 1768. In 1749 Thomas Rounseville wrote from Ottery St. Mary to Philip Rounseville, of England, who afterward came to this country. He settled in Freetown, Mass., and was called by the townspeople King Philip. His son Joseph, who, born January 3, 1737, died in 1827, went to Washington, N.H., between 1768 and 1772, from Middleboro, Mass., … Read more

Biography of Frederick S. Kohler, M. D.

The wise system of industrial economics which has been brought to bear in the development of Nampa has challenged uniform admiration, for while there has been steady advancement in material lines there has been an entire absence of that inflation of values and that erratic “booming” which have in the past proved the eventual death knell to many of the localities in the west, where “mushroom towns” have one day smiled forth with “all modern improvements” and practically on the next have been shorn of their glories and of their possibilities of stable prosperity until the existing order of things … Read more

Biography of Robert M. Funkhouser, M. D.

Dr. Robert M. Funkhouser, a physician and surgeon of St. Louis who has also been connected with the educational activities of the profession and who is now largely concentrating his time and energies upon surgery, was born in St. Louis, December 10, 1850. His father, Robert M. Funkhouser, was a native of Illinois and of Swiss descent, the family being founded in America by John and Christopher Funkhouser, who came to the new world in 1698 and first settled in Fredericktown, Virginia. Among the ancestors of the family were five who participated in the Revolutionary war. The family is also … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Willard Grant Aborn

Aborn, Willard Grant; manufacturer; born Wakefield, Mass., Sept. 23, 1870; son of George W. and Mary Frances Pennel Aborn; educated Wakefield High School; Academy at Monson, Mass.; graduated from Dartmouth College in 1893, degree of A. B., and A. M. in 1896; married, Chicago, Ill., Sept. 23, 1896, Miss Florence Louise Higgins; issue, one daughter Mary Louise and one son John Russell; spent summer vacations during college education working at engineering on water work construction; spent two yrs. in that line of work after graduation; in summer of 1895 worked for Spaulding-Pepper Tire Co., of Chicopee Falls, Mass., 1896, sec’y … Read more