Webster New Hampshire

Biography of Charles H. Courser

Charles H. Courser, a retired business man of Henniker, was born in Boscawen, now Webster, N.H., May 19, 1827, son of John and Keziah (Shepard) Courser. The first ancestors of the family were English. His grandfather, John Courser, was a resident of Merrimack County. The father passed the greater part of his life in Boscawen, and died there at the age of ninety-two years. The mother, who was a daughter of John Shepard, a native of Derry, N.H., lived to be eighty-two. Of her children the only survivor is Charles H. Charles H. Courser passed his boyhood in attending school … Read more

Biography of Edmund Silver

Edmund Silver, a thriving farmer of Boscawen, N.H., was born in Bow, this State, September 10, 1834. His parents, Edmund and Sallie (Dow) Silver, who resided in Bow for the greater part of their lives, died when their son Edmund was quite young. They had nine children-Lewis, Laura, Cyrene, Leonard, Gideon, Sullivan, Daniel, Edmund, and George. Lewis died in March, 1897. Daniel is engaged in farming in Salisbury, N.H. George is in Penacook; and the others, except Edmund, the subject of our sketch, are deceased. Edmund Silver received his education in the district schools, remaining at home with his parents … Read more

Biography of George Whitefield Abbott

George Whitefield Abbott, of Penacook, President of the J. E. Symonds Table Company, cabinetmakers, was born in West Boscawen, now Webster, N.H., on March 13, 1837. His parents were Nathaniel and Mary (Fitts) Abbott, the former a resident of West Boscawen and the latter of Sandown, N.H. George W. Abbott in his youth, after attending the public schools of Warner, completed his education at a private academy in West Salisbury, N.H. He went immediately to Boston, Mass., where he was employed as a clerk until 1861, when he came to Penacook, N.H., to engage in the grocery business with his … Read more

Biography of William F. Wadleigh

William F. Wadleigh, a farmer of Webster, is a native of Laconia, born January 24, 1837, son of Nathaniel R. and Polly H. (Ray) Wadleigh. The father, who was a prominent farmer of Laconia, and was born in 1802, died in 1854. The mother, born March 4, 1806, died in 1870. They had eight children, namely: Mary, now deceased, who was the wife of William Barrett, of Nashua, N.H.; Eliza, deceased, who was the wife of William Thompson, of Barrington, N.H.; Isaac, who married Abbie Davis, now deceased, and lives in Ludlow, Vt.; Almira, deceased, who married James Filgate, of … 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 Charles E. Putney

Charles E. Putney, a farmer of high standing in Webster, N.H., is a native of that place. He was born June 10, 1827, the son of Stephen and Sallie (Eastman) Putney. His father, who was born February 12, 1765, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, serving in 1780 and 1781. He afterward purchased the farm where Charles E. now lives, and settled down there. He was married three times, first to Sallie E. Eastman, of Hopkinton, who died in 1809; second to Susan Eastman, who died in September, 1820; and then to Sallie Eastman, who died April 6, 1867, … Read more

Biography of Daniel B. Sanborn

Daniel B. Sanborn, a successful farmer of East Concord, Merrimack County, was born in Webster, N.H., April 12, 1840, son of Daniel and Sally (Batchelder) Sanborn. Mr. Sanborn’s grandfather, Tristam Sanborn, came to Webster with his wife and her parents, and took up land on what is now known as Sanborn and Clough’s Hill. He lived to be quite an old man, and remained in this place until his death. He had a large family of children, of whom Daniel, father of the subject of this sketch, was the youngest but one. Daniel Sanborn moved to Canterbury when his son … Read more

Biography of William W. Austin

William W. Austin, a farmer and drover of Webster, N.H., the son of Eldad and Naomi Austin, was born in Webster, then a part of Boscawen, July 1, 1829. His grandfather, Paul Austin, of Georgetown, Mass., was one of the first settlers of the town. Taking up land when the country around it was a wilderness, he cleared and brought under cultivation the large farm where the subject of this sketch now lives. He died in 1852; and his wife, Mehitable Lowell, of Georgetown, died in 1829. They had eight children-John, Sallie, Dorothy, Eldad, Eunice, Mary Ann, William, and Samuel. … Read more

Biography of Enoch Couch

Enoch Couch was a prominent farmer of Webster in his time. He was born in Webster, April 12, 1793, son of Joseph and Sarah (Pillsbury) Couch. His grandfather, Joseph Couch (first), who emigrated from Wales in 1748, settled in Newburyport, Mass. In 1768 the grandfather moved to Webster, and there improved the farm now owned and occupied by his great-grand-daughter. He resided here for the rest of his life, and died in 1784. The first of his three marriages was made with Elsie Rowell, the second with Mary Webster, and the third with Mrs. Muzzey. Born of the first were … Read more