Hookset New Hampshire

Biography of Eli A. Boutwell

Eli A. Boutwell, a farmer and lumberman of Hopkinton, N.H., son of Samuel P. and Lydia A. (Allen) Boutwell, was born in Barre, Vt., February 25, 1833. His lineage has not been traced; but a little research would probably show that he belongs to the old New England family of Boutwells, of which the Hon. George S. Boutwell, ex-Secretary of the Treasury, is a representative. Its founder, James Boutwell, said to have been made a freeman in Lynn, Mass., in 1638 or 1639, died in 1651, leaving a wife Alice, sons James and John, and a daughter Sarah. The sons … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Thomas J. Otterson

Thomas J. Otterson, formerly a well-known business man of Allenstown, was born in Hookset, N.H., February 8, 1818, son of William and Betsey (Cofran) Otterson. On the paternal side he descended from William Otterson, a native of Ireland, who was drowned in Lake Champlain during the French and Indian War. William’s son, James Otterson, grandfather of Thomas J., was born in Londonderry, N.H., August 19, 1757. He was the father of twelve children, of whom William (second), father of Thomas J., was the third child. The father, who was born in Hookset, October 30, 1789, reared a family of five … Read more

Biography of John F. Bartlett

John F. Bartlett, Postmaster of Suncook and an ex-member of the New Hampshire legislature, was born in Newton Upper Falls, Mass., November 15, 1836, son of George W. and Jane (Nickelson) Bartlett. His grandfather, Abijah Bartlett, who served as a sailor in the War of 1812, was a rope-maker in Salem, Mass. Abijah married Elizabeth Bartlett, of Marblehead, and reared a family of six children. George W. Bartlett, born in Marblehead, resided in Newton Upper Falls and later in Nashua, N.H., where he followed the business of store-keeper. He died at the age of forty-five years. In politics he was … Read more

Biography of Andrew J. Silver

Andrew J. Silver, senior partner in the firm of Silver & Hall, Gossville, and an ex-member of the New Hampshire legislature, was born in Deerfield, N.H., May 9, 1835, son of Joseph M. and Sarah S. (Chase) Silver. The latter, natives respectively of Haverhill, Mass., and Deerfield, were both born in the year 1800. Joseph M. Silver moved to Deerfield when quite young and learned the carpenter’s trade. The active portion of his life was devoted to that calling. He owned a good farm, which he also cultivated with success, and lived to the age of eighty-eight years. In politics … 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 James Dodge

James Dodge, who cultivated a good farm in Pembroke, and owned considerable real estate in this and other towns, was born in Goffstown, N.H., November 14, 1829, son of John G. and Polly (Tallant) Dodge. His great-grandfather, Antipas Dodge, who lived to be one hundred and one years old, and died on Independence Day, was a native of Haverhill, Mass., and an early settler in Goffstown. The first wife of Antipas, Margaret Boise Dodge, was the mother of James Dodge, grandfather of the subject of this sketch. The names of his second wife and her children are unknown. James Dodge, … Read more

Biography of Charles A. Bailey

Charles A. Bailey, an able business man of Merrimack County, New Hampshire, and an esteemed resident of Hookset, was born in Pembroke, November 11, 1847, son of Charles and Sarah A. (Edmunds) Bailey. His paternal grandfather, Josiah Bailey, was born in Chester, Rockingham County, this State, on February 11, 1766. When a young man he removed with his family to Pembroke, Merrimack County, and was there engaged as a miller until his death, February 19, 1854. His wife, whose maiden name was Ruth Frost, was born March 8, 1769, in Tewksbury, Mass., and died in Pembroke, N.H., November 28, 1835. … Read more

Biography of William F. Head

William F. Head, an extensive manufacturer, lumber dealer, and agriculturist of Hookset, N.H., is well known as one of the most enterprising and successful business men of Merrimack County. He was born in Hookset, September 25, 1832, son of John and Annie (Brown) Head, and is a younger brother of the late ex-Governor Natt Head, with whom for thirty years, 1852 to 1883, he was associated in business. The Head family, although not one of the oldest in New England, has a history in this country of more than two hundred years. The emigrant ancestor was Arthur Head, a native, … Read more