Hopkinton New Hampshire

Biography of James Madison Connor

James Madison Connor, a successful and enterprising farmer of Hopkinton, was born in Henniker, N.H., August 21, 1828, son of James and Lydia (Kimball) Connor. His great-grandfather, David Connor, or O’Connor, and two brothers, all natives of Ireland, were the first settlers of the name in the district. The brothers settled in Exeter, near Lake Winnepesaukee. David, who took up his residence in Henniker, was a Revolutionary soldier. His son James, grandfather of James M., and who was later in life called Captain James, was born in Henniker. The Christian name of his wife was Dorcas. When the subject of … Read more

Biography of Herman Wells Greene

Herman Wells Greene, formerly a lawyer of considerable note in Hopkinton, was born here, April 11, 1836, son of Herman H. and Ellen Chase (Little) Greene. His only brother died at the age of fourteen years; and his only sister is now the wife of a Mr. Roberts, of Philadelphia, Pa. After receiving his early education in the public schools of Hopkinton and at Pembroke and Gilmanton Academies, he became interested in the legal profession, and read law with George & Foster, of Concord, and later with Beard & Nickerson, of Boston, Mass. On his twenty-first birthday he was admitted … Read more

Biography of Horace LeRoy Choate

Horace LeRoy Choate, a wellknown and respected farmer of Hopkinton, N.H., was born in Henniker, Merrimack County, April 20, 1833, a son of George and Betsey Davis Choate. He is a lineal descendant of one John Choate, who was a son of Robert and Sarah Choate, and was baptized at Groton, Boxford, Colchester, England, June 6, 1624. In 1643 John emigrated to New England, and at the age of nineteen was a resident of Chebacco in Ipswich, Mass. Soon after he bought up shares of common lands allotted to the proprietors on Hog Island (which acquired its name from its … Read more

Biography of Hon. John Whitaker

Hon. John Whitaker, a retired lumber dealer of Penacook and ex-member of the State Senate, was born in Hopkinton, N.H., June 9, 1835, son of John and Hannah (Bickford) Whitaker. He is a descendant of one of three brothers who emigrated from England in the early days. His paternal great-grandfather, serving as a soldier in the Revolutionary War, participated in the battle of Bunker Hill, and was present at the surrender of Burgoyne. Peter Whitaker, the grandfather, a native of Deering, N.H., was a prosperous farmer. John Whitaker, Sr., Mr. Whitaker’s father, first enlisted for three months’ service in the … Read more

Biographical Sketch of James Otis Straw

James Otis Straw, a thriving farmer of Hopkinton, was born in this town July 27, 1853, son of William S. and Mary Ann (Flanders) Straw. An account of his ancestry may be found in the sketch of his father, William S. Straw, contained elsewhere in this volume. James Otis Straw spent his early years on his parents’ farm. He was brought up to agricultural pursuits; and in 1890 he purchased his present home, the old Currier farm, containing sixty-five acres, the buildings on which were erected over a hundred years ago. Mr. Straw makes a specialty of dairying, and also … Read more

Biography of William S. Straw

William S. Straw, a prosperous farmer of Hopkinton and a son of William and Hannah Straw, was born in the house where he now lives, June 1, 1817. He is descended from William and Mehitable Straw of early Colonial times. Their children were born as follows: William, May 22, 1686; John, July 1, 1688; Samuel, August 13, 1692; and Lawrence, May 13, 1699. Lieutenant Jacob Straw, the grandfather of William S., came from Rowley, Mass., to Hopkinton, some time between 1740 and 1755, while still a young man. He secured fifty acres of land, upon which he erected some small … Read more

Biography of Charles Chase Lord

Charles Chase Lord, Justice of the Peace, Notary Public, and the local historian of Hopkinton, is the second child and first son of Charles and Sarah (Hubbard) Lord. Born in South Berwick, Me., July 7, 1841, he is a lineal descendant, in the seventh generation, of Nathan Lord, who emigrated to America from Stackpole Court, Pembroke, Wales, and settled in ancient Kittery, Me., before 1652. In South Berwick, once a part of ancient Kittery, is a homestead of which Nathan Lord became a proprietor in 1676, and which is now in the possession of his descendants, the estate being situated … Read more

Biography of Moses Eaton Dodge

Moses Eaton Dodge, late a prosperous and highly respected farmer of Hopkinton, N.H., was born September 20, 1828, son of Henry and Susan (Eaton) Dodge. His parents, after their marriage, settled on the present Dodge farm, which has been in the possession of the family for seventy-five years. He was educated in the common schools, and early became engaged in farming and lumbering, in both of which occupations he was successful, and in the latter of which he did an extensive business, often employing about forty men. He was a man of quiet habits, a great reader, and an intelligent … Read more

Narrative of the Captivity of Nehemiah How

Fort Dummer

A Narrative of the captivity of Nehemiah How, who was taken by the Indians at the Great Meadow Fort above Fort Dummer, where he was an inhabitant, October 11th, 1745. Giving an account of what he met with in his traveling to Canada, and while he was in prison there. Together with an account of Mr. How’s death at Canada. Exceedingly valuable for the many items of exact intelligence therein recorded, relative to so many of the present inhabitants of New England, through those friends who endured the hardships of captivity in the mountain deserts and the damps of loathsome prisons. Had the author lived to have returned, and published his narrative himself, he doubtless would have made it far more valuable, but he was cut off while a prisoner, by the prison fever, in the fifty-fifth year of his age, after a captivity of one year, seven months, and fifteen days. He died May 25th, 1747, in the hospital at Quebec, after a sickness of about ten days. He was a husband and father, and greatly beloved by all who knew him.

Biography of Samuel Smith Page

Samuel Smith Page, who for more than forty years was one of the most esteemed residents of Hopkinton, was born September 30, 1822, in Dunbarton, N.H. He is a descendant of Benjamin Page, who was born in 1640, in Dedbam, fifty-seven miles north-east of London, England. In 1660, on account of religious differences, Benjamin came to America, locating in Haverhill, Mass., where on September 21, 1666, he married Mary Whittier, who belonged to the family from which the poet, John G. Whittier, sprung. Their son, Jeremiah, the eldest of a family of sixteen, born September 14, 1667, was the next … Read more

Biography of Walter Scott Davis

Walter Scott Davis, a millowner, manufacturer, and inventor, a successful business man of Hopkinton, Merrimack County, N.H., was born in the adjacent town of Warner, July 29, 1834, a son of Nathaniel A. and Mary (Clough) Davis. His paternal ancestry he traces as follows: Captain Francis Davis, called “the pioneer,” was born in Amesbury, Mass., October 26, 1723. He was the son of Francis, second, and Joanna Davis, the former the son of Francis, first, who, it is said, was the son of Philip, the immigrant progenitor. Philip Davis, when twelve years old, left Southampton, England, April 24, 1638, in … Read more

Biography of Andrew Jackson Kelley

Andrew Jackson Kelley, Postmaster of Dimond Hill, Hopkinton, a successful agriculturist of this town, and one of the brave men who fought in the late war, was born January 22, 1835, in Webster, Merrimack County, son of Timothy and Jane (Burbank) Kelley. Timothy Kelley was born December 25, 1778, in Kilcoloman, County Waterford, Ireland. He New York. Making his way from that city to Massachusetts, he lived for a time in Newbury, Mass., where he wooed and won his wife. Subsequently, removing to Webster, N.H., he was engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, July 15, 1854, aged seventy-five years … Read more

Biography of Ebenezer Loveren

Ebenezer Loveren, a practical farmer of Hopkinton, was born here, February 27, 1827, son of Captain Benjamin and Esther (Bartlett) Loveren, his parents being originally from Deering, Hillsborough County. His paternal grandparents were Ebenezer and Eunice (Hadlock) Loveren, who removed from Kensington, N.H., to Deering, where they settled. A separate sketch of Captain Benjamin Loveren appears on another page of this volume. Ebenezer Loveren was the only child of his parents, and was born on the farm where he now lives and where he has spent his life up 1844. It is the place in which Captain Benjamin Loveren passed … Read more

Biography of Hon. Isaac Darwin Merrill

Hon. Isaac Darwin Merrill, a well-known public man of Contoocook, is a son of Isaac and Mary (Wyman) Merrill, born October 1, 1814, in Hopkinton village, N.H. The father, a native of Hollis, Hillsborough County, born June 15, 1784, was a cooper by trade, and worked in Boston, Portland, and Troy, N.Y. When Isaac D. was about a year old, the family moved from Hopkinton to Hillsborough Bridge, where his father was employed at his trade. Later, more than sixty years ago, he settled in Contoocook, built the house where the subject of this sketch now resides, worked at his … Read more

Biography of Augustus Barnard

Augustus Barnard, formerly of Hopkinton, was one of the brave men who fought for the Union in the Civil War. Born in Haverhill, Mass., he was reared and educated in New York State. After spending a part of his early life in Boston, he came to Hopkinton, where he learned the currier’s trade of Jonathan Osgood. He followed this trade in connection with tanning until the late war was well in progress. Then he enlisted as a private in the Sixteenth New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry for nine months. With his regiment he served his full time, the most of which … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Cyrus F. Dustin

Cyrus F. Dustin, a respected farmer and lumberman of Hopkinton, was born in this town, January 25, 1853, son of Daniel P. and Sarah A. (Barnard) Dustin. He has resided here since his birth. In 1891 he married Miss Nellie S. Spalding, daughter of Dustin A. and Samantha S. (Putney) Spalding. Mr. Dustin is prominent in town affairs, and in 1896 was elected Representative to the legislature. He has the best interests of the town at heart, and can always be depended upon to perform his full duty as a citizen and as a representative of the people.

Biography of Henry H. Crowell

Henry H. Crowell, a prosperous lumber merchant of Hopkinton, was born in that town, July 9, 1834, son of Albert A. and Lydia (Kimball) Crowell. Joseph Crowell, came from Bradford, Mass., and settled on Beach Hill about one hundred years ago. Albert Crowell, who was born on the aforesaid hill, about fifty years ago settled at Ferrington’s Corner, on the farm where Eli Boutwell now lives. He ran the old saw-mill of the primitive up and down style, doing a custom business; and the mill industry has been in the hands of the Crowell family there ever since. He died … Read more

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

Biography of Henry M. Baker

Henry M. Baker, of Bow, Merrimack County, lawyer and Congressman, and son of Aaron Whittemore and Nancy (Dustin) Baker, was born in Bow, January 11, 1841. He comes of patriotic and heroic ancestry. His great-great-grandfather, Captain Joseph Baker, a Colonial surveyor, married Hannah, only daughter of Captain John Lovewell, the famous Indian fighter, who was killed in the battle of Pigwacket, May 8, 1725. A few years later the township of Suncook, or Lovewell’s town, which included much of the present town of Pembroke, was granted by Massachusetts to the surviving participants and the heirs of those killed in that … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John Arthur Jones

John Arthur Jones, a farmer of Hopkinton, was born in Contoocook, N.H., April 3, 1864, son of John F. and Maria (Barnard) Jones. His grandfather was a resident of Hopkinton for the greater part of his life. John F. Jones, who was born in Hopkinton, is now a resident of Concord, John Arthur Jones, the subject of this sketch, received his early education in the public schools of his native town and in the academy. Later he was a student at Colby Academy, New London, for a time. From New London he returned to Hopkinton, and went to his grandfather’s … Read more