{"id":582,"date":"2011-05-17T01:51:51","date_gmt":"2011-05-17T01:51:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vhist.com\/chs\/?page_id=582"},"modified":"2011-07-03T14:58:33","modified_gmt":"2011-07-03T14:58:33","slug":"gazetteer-of-cheshire-co","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vhist.com\/chs\/history\/gazetteer-of-cheshire-co\/","title":{"rendered":"Gazetteer of Cheshire Co"},"content":{"rendered":"<pre>HISTORY OF CHESTERFIELD, CHESHIRE COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE\r\n----------------------------------\r\n----------------------------------\r\nInformation located at http:\/\/www.nh.searchroots.com\r\nOn a web site about GENEALOGY AND HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE and its counties\r\n\r\n\u00a0<strong>TRANSCRIBED BY JANICE BROWN <\/strong>\r\nPlease see the web site for my email contact.\r\n----------------------------------\r\nThe original source of this information is in the public domain,\r\nhowever use of this text file, other than for personal use, is\r\nrestricted without written permission from the transcriber\r\n(who has edited, compiled and added new copyrighted text to same).\r\n========================================================\r\nTAKEN FROM TWO SOURCES:\r\n1. History of Cheshire and Sullivan Counties, New Hampshire\r\nPhiladelphia: J.W. Lewis &amp; Co., 1886, 1073 pgs.\r\n2. Gazetteer of Cheshire County, N.H., 1736-1885 by Hamilton Child,\r\nSyracuse, N.Y.: H. Child, 1885, 882 pgs.\r\n\r\nHISTORY OF CHESTERFIELD NH\r\n\r\nCHESTERFIELD lies in the western part of the county, in lat 42 degrees\r\n54' and long. 4 degrees 40', bounded by Westmoreland and Keene, east\r\nby Keene and Swanzey, south by Winchester and Hinsdale, and west by\r\nthe west bank of COnnecticut river, and has an area, exclusive of\r\nthe Connecticut, of about forty-four square miles, or 28,160 acres.\r\nIn tracing the sketch of the grant of Chesterfield, etc. it is\r\nnecessary to glance at the trouble attending the settlement of the\r\nboundary line between New Hampshire and Massachusetts, which are\r\nwritten up in the sketch on Hinsdale and in the county chapter, on\r\npage 64, and hence omitted here.  In 1773 Massachusetts granted a\r\ntownship to JOSIAH WILLARD and others, lying to the northward and\r\neastward of Northfield, which they named ARLINGTON.  It embraced a\r\nportion of the territory now belonging to Hinsdale and Winchester.\r\nSubsquently, pending the King's decision respecting the dividing line\r\nbetween the two Provinces, the general court of Massachusetts\r\ngranted upwards of thirty townships lying between the Merrimac and\r\nCOnnecticut.  Of these, townships named 1, 2, 3, and 4 lay along\r\nthe Connecticut, just north of Arlington, and were nearly identical\r\nin numerical order, with Chesterfield, Westmoreland, Walpole and\r\nCharlestown.  These four townships were accepted by the general court\r\nNovember 3, 1736.  The following year, December 13, 1737, SAMUEL\r\nCHAMBERLIN of Westford, Mass., was empowered to call the first meeting\r\nof the proprietors of No. 1 for organization.  No settlements were\r\nbegun in Chesterfield under this grant, however, and the settlement\r\nof the boundary line of the provinces being consummated by the King\r\nin 1740, left the territory in New Hampshire, and thus annullled the\r\ngrant.\r\n  We have nothing to do with the territory now until 1752, when a\r\npetition was presented to the council at Portsmouth, praying them to\r\ngrant the said petitioners such tracts of land in the southern part\r\nof the province, in which it was stated \"That the first or most\r\nsoutherly township, called No. 1, in the plan exhibited, may be\r\nalloted to the petition signed Elias Alexander, John Brooks and\r\nothers.\"  This petition was laid out before the council on the 10th\r\nof February 1752, and on the following day, the 11th, a charter was\r\ngranted by Benning Wentworth incorporating \"No. 1\" under the name of\r\nChesterfield, and granting the land to Col. Josiah Willard and 64\r\nothers.  \r\n\r\n[The boundary limits described by the charter are in the original\r\ndocument, but are not included here].\r\n\r\nIn 1793 the line between Chesterfield and Westmoreland were measured\r\nby Jonas Robbins, of the latter town.  The line between Chesterfield\r\nand Swanzey was surveyed by John Braley.\r\n\r\nIt is more than probable that the name Chesterfield was given to the\r\nnew town by Governor Wentworth, in honor of the Earl of Chesterfield.\r\nHe was a man celebrated as an orator and writer, and his name was\r\nbrought particularly into prominence at that time, as he had not only\r\nheld responsible government offices, but had, in that year, brought\r\nabout an important change in the calendar.  Previous to that change,\r\nthe legal year had begun on the 25th of March, and the civil year\r\non the 1st of January.  The change made the year in both cases\r\nbegin in January.\r\n\r\nThe surface of Chesterfield is broken and hilly, presenting some very\r\npleasant scenery.  The highest elevation is Wantastiquet, or West\r\nRiver Mountain, which rises abruptly from the river in the southwestern\r\npart of the town, to an altitude of about 1,200 feet above sea-level.\r\nIts longer axis is about four miles, nearly parallel with the river.\r\nThe mountain is in many parts wild and rugged in contour, while its\r\nsummit commands a beautiful view, the eye sweeping the Connecticut\r\nfor miles north and south, and taking in the beautiful country to the\r\neast, and that of the verdant plains of the valley in Vermont, with\r\nthe Green Mountains beyond.  The Indians, in the days of the Colonial\r\nwars, it is said, took advantage of the prospect thus afforded, to\r\nwatch the settlers in the vicinity of Fort Dummer, and hence the\r\nname \"Indian's Great Chair\" applied to a particular potion of the\r\nsummit.\r\n\r\nMt. Pistareen, the next important elevation, lies east of Spafford\r\nlake, near Factory village.  Its name is said to have been derived\r\nfrom this fact of the mountain, in whole or in part, having been\r\nbought at one time for a pistareen (about eighteen cents).  It has an\r\naltitude of 1,000 feet and also affords a fine prospect, while the\r\nscenery surrounding it is very beautiful.  Of the other elevations,\r\nStreeter, Barrett, Hall and Atherton hills are the most prominent. The\r\nformer lies in the northwestern part of the town, and is named after\r\nseveral families of that name who lived in that vicinity at an early\r\ndate.  Its altitude is a trifle greater than that of Mt. Pistareen.\r\nBarrett hill lies near the southern border of the town.  Hall hill,\r\nwhich has a still greater altitude than Streeter hill, lies in the\r\neastern part of the town, near Factory village.  Atherton hill also\r\nlies in the eastern part of the town, its name being derived from\r\nJoseph Atherton, who settled upon it in 1795.\r\n\r\nThe town has no stream flowing through it, though the majestic\r\nCOnnecticut upon its western border compensates for any lack of\r\nbeauty in this respect.  There are many streams and brooks having\r\ntheir rise here, however, among which are Catsbane brook, with its\r\ntributaries, Lily Pond and Wheeler brooks; Governor's brook, Leavitt's\r\nbrook, Marsh's brook, Patridge brook, Wild brook (upon which is a deep\r\nravine, the most remarkable natural curiousity of the town) and\r\nBroad brook.  Catsbane island, lying in the Connecticut about half a\r\nmile below the mouth of Catsbane brook, contains but a few acres, but\r\nit is noted, as being the place where Indians crossed the river on\r\ntheir way to Canada, after having defeated Sergeant Taylor's party\r\nin July 1848.  There are also several ponds lying partically or\r\nwholly within the limits of the town; but for beauty or interest\r\nnothing in the vicinity equals Spafford's lake.\r\n\r\nThis beautiful sheet of water, which has become so justly celebrated as\r\na resort in the summer season, lies nearly in the center of the\r\nnorthern half of the town.  It has an irregularly ovate form, about a\r\nmile and a half in length and a mile in width, thus covering about\r\n700 acres, and lies at an altitude of 738 feet above the sea, and\r\n500 feet above the Connecticut.  Its shore is, in great part, either\r\nsandy or rock, and its water is remarkably pure, being supplied\r\nmostly by springs, for there are only three or four brooks of any\r\nconsequence that empty into the lake, and it is doubtful whether they\r\ndo more than supply the loss from evaporation in the summer months.\r\nPierce's Island, an emerald gem of about seven acres in extent, lies\r\nin the southwestern part of the lake, and is much resorted to by\r\npicnic and camping parties.  Here many Indian relics have been\r\nfound--principally stone pestles and arrow-heads--and tradition says\r\nthat it once was used by the savages as a stronghold, or place of\r\nrefuge.  As to the origin of the lake's name there are two theories,\r\nthough there are no positive records to substantiate either.  The\r\ngenerally accepted tradition is that it was named from early settlers\r\nby the name of Spafford, upon its shores.  But the town records shown\r\nthe name of no such early settlers.  There are reasons, however, for\r\nsupposing that its name was given before the settlement of the\r\ntown, and this Spafford, who is said to have lived near its shore,\r\nwas a hunter, and only a temporary resident.  ANother theory is that\r\nit was named after one of the original grantees, of which there\r\nwere two, John and Silas Spafford.\r\n\r\nFor the past fifteen years or so the lake has been gradually growing\r\nin popular favor as a summer resort.  Those who seek health and\r\ncomfort here do wisely, for the lake, though not large, is said by\r\ntravelers to be one of the most picturesque in the county.  The first\r\nperson to put a sail boat on the water was Capt ---, who was known\r\nby the sobriquet of Capt. Bulky.  This was many years ago; so many,\r\nindeed, that the captain's real name has been forgotten.  Afterward,\r\nEzekiel P. Pierce had a sail boat built in 1857, and remodeled in\r\n1860, which, sometimes manned by an experienced seaman, was used\r\nmore or less by sailing parties for several years.  Near the original\r\nentrance to the lake, at the southwest part, is the \"Lake House,\"\r\na substantial stone building, erected in 1831 by Ezekiel P. Pierce Sr.,\r\nand for many years kept by him as a temperance hotel.  It is still\r\nthe residence of members of his family.  In 1873 the Prospect House\r\nwas built by John W. Herrick of Keene, designed for the accomodation\r\nof persons who came to the lake seeking health or recreation, and of\r\nwhich A.R. Mason is now proprietor.  Here also are the picnic grounds\r\nof George W. Darling, furnished with cottages, dining-hall, skating\r\nrink, dancing pavilion, etc.  In 1874 John W. White commenced\r\nbuilding his boat-house etc on the southern shore of the lake and\r\nfurnished it the following year.\r\n\r\nPierce's Island in the southwestern part of the lake, contains from\r\nfour to six acres...\r\n\r\nCatsbane Island, which lies about half a mile below the mouth of\r\nCatsbane Brook, in the Connecticut is worthy of mention.  This island\r\nwhich is in view from the lower ferry--contains but a few acres,\r\nand is principally noted as being, in all probability, near the place\r\nwhere the Indians crossed the river on their way to Canada, after\r\nhaving defeated Sergeant Taylor's party in July 1748.  It is possible,\r\nhowever, that the place called \"Cattsbane,\" in Sergeant Taylor's\r\ndiary, was the mouth of Catsbane Brook.\r\n\r\n[Mineral description of the area found in the original document,\r\nnot included here.]\r\n\r\nINCORPORATION &amp; SETTLEMENT--Pending the King's decision respecting\r\nthe dividing line between Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the\r\nGeneral Court of the former province granted upwards of thirty\r\ntownships between the Merrimack and Connecticut rivers.  The township\r\nthat lay just north of Arlington (which embraced a portion of the\r\nterritory now belonging to Hinsdale and Winchester) and east of the\r\nCOnnecticut was called Township No. 1, and was nearly identical with\r\nthe present township of Chesterfield.  Township Nos. 1, 2, 3 and\r\n4 were accepted by the General Court of Massachusetts, November 30,\r\n1736.  Samuel Chamberlain, of Westford, MA was empowered, Dec 13,\r\n1737 to call the first meeting of the proprietors of No. 1 for\r\norganization. It is not known, however, that any settlement was\r\nattempted in this township under the Massachusetts charter.  In fact,\r\nthe incursions of the French and Indians into this part of the\r\nConnecticut Valley rendered any attempt to settle the new township\r\nextremely hazardous for some years subsequent to 1737.\r\n  A treaty of peace between France and England was signed at\r\nAix-la-Chapelle, October 7, 1748; but, in this country, hostilities\r\ndid not wholly ceased for some time; for, June 20, 1749, the Indians\r\nassaulted No. 4 and carried off Enos Stevens, son of Captain Stevens.\r\nIn 1750, 1751 and 1752 there was peace in the Connecticut Valley...\r\n\r\nSome time in the year 1751, Josiah Willard, John Arms and fifty-six\r\nothers petitioned Governor Benning Wentworth to recharter Township\r\nNo. 1. In accordance with this petition, Governor Wentworth, with the\r\nadvice and consent of the Council, granted a charter, February 11,\r\n1752 to Josiah Willard and others, incorporating Township No. 1 under\r\nthe name of Chesterfield.... It is probably that the name was given\r\nto the town, either in honor of the Earl of Chesterfield, or the town\r\nof the same name in England.  The names of the grantees of\r\nChesterfield, as appended to the charter, were as follows:\r\nJosiah Willard, Nathan Willard, Valentine Butler, John Arms,\r\nJohn Arms Jr. Josiah Willard Jr., Nathan Willard Jr., Wilder Willard,\r\nJohn Moore, William Willard, Caleb Trowbridge, William Lawrence,\r\nJohn Hunt, Simon Hunt, Jonathan Hubbard, Samuel Kennada, Solomon\r\nWillard, Billy Willard, Simon Cooley, Joseph Willard, William Deen,\r\nSimon Stone, Peter Oliver, David Hubbard, Thomas Pain, John\r\nWheelwright, Jeremiah Wheelwright, Simon Willard, Benj'a Lynd,\r\nJohn Spafford, Silas Spafford, Sam'l Davis, Phineas Wait, Joanna\r\nWetherby, Elias Alexander, John Brooks, James Whitney, Abraham\r\nKendel, Benj'a French, Josiah Brown, Ebenez'r Day, John French Jr.,\r\nSam'l Greeley, Will'm Spalding, Moses Gould, Wil'm Down, Robert\r\nFletcher, David Field, Sam'l Field, David Sterns, John Kendel,\r\nDaniel Kendell, James Stootley, His Excellency, Benning Wentworth,\r\nEsq. [Theodore Atkinson was secretary of the province.  Richard\r\nWibird, Samuel Smith, Sampson Sheaffe and John Downing were members\r\nof the Council at the time the township was regranted]. Col. Josiah\r\nWillard, the leading grantee, was, for many years, a resident of\r\nWinchester.\r\n\r\n[Description of town in original charter, found in original, but not\r\nincluded here]. Owing to a loss of the proprietary records, nothing is\r\nknown concerning the meetings of the proprietors of the town, or the\r\nbusiness transacted..\r\n\r\nGovernor Wentworth's share (five hundred acres) lay in the northwest\r\ncorner of the town, and is known at the present day as the Governor's\r\nFarm.  According to the plan, John Wentworth also had a share of three\r\nhundred acres.  These shares are indicated on the plan as \"B. and J.\r\nWentworth's shares,\" and formed a tract bounded on the north by\r\nWestmoreland line and on the west by Connecticut river... Aaron Smith,\r\nson of Moses Smith, the first settlers, settled on Governor B.\r\nWentworth's share about 1767, as did afterwards his brother, Benjamin\r\nSmith.  John Wentworth's share was located just east of the\r\nGovernor's Farm, and was purchased by William Randall in 1780.\r\n\r\nDue most to Indian conflicts, the settlers were unable to meet the\r\nrequirements of the grant, and re-petitioned to extend the grant\r\non June 11, 1760 for one year.  On 20 Feb 1761, Moses Smith, who at\r\nthat time was said to be \"of Hinsdale\" purchased of Oliver Willard,\r\nof Brattleborough, one whole right, or share in the town of\r\nChesterfield... Oliver Willard owned lots #14 and #15 in the 16th\r\nRange, along with house lot #10 in the 12th range.  In November 1761,\r\nas tradition puts it, Moses Smith, and his son-in-law, William Thomas,\r\ncame up the Connecticut in canoes or boats, for the purpose of making\r\nthe first settlement in the town of Chesterfield.  Both men brought\r\ntheir families with them; Smith's consisting (so far as known) of\r\nhis wife Elizabeth, and his sons, Aaron, Moses, Amos, Joseph,\r\nBenjamin, and Reuben.  Of these sons, Aaron, the oldest, was about\r\n21 years old; Reuben the youngest was about 3 years old.  Thomas'\r\nfamily consister, probably, only of himself and wife, Mary, Smith's\r\ndaughter.\r\n\r\nSmith built a log cabin on lot #14, in the 16th range.  The place\r\nwhere this stood is a short distance north of the present residence\r\nof his great-grandson, George Smith, and a few rods east of the\r\nhighway, which, at this point, runs near the bank of the river.  The\r\nsite of the cabin is still indicated by a depression in the plain.\r\n\r\nThomas erected his cabin near the river's bank, at a point about\r\none mile and a half below Smith's \"pitch.\"  It stood a few rods east\r\nof the lower ferry, and a few feet north of the present highway\r\nleading easterly from the same.  Its site is still marked by a\r\ndepression in the earth, and a mound adjoining the depression on its\r\neastern side.  This mound consists, in great part, of ashes and\r\ncharcoal.\r\n\r\nWhen spring came, the work of clearing a patch for cultivation was\r\nprobably begun, although the work of felling trees may have been\r\nprosecuted during the winter, when the weather permitted.\r\n\r\nOn the 25th day of April 1762, Thomas' wife gave birth to the first\r\nwhite child born in the town.  This child was called Mary.  She\r\nmarried Lemuel Stoddard. There are reasons to believe that the first\r\nmale child born of white parents in Chesterfield was Lotan Hildreth,\r\nson of Jonathan Hildreth, born March 29, 1763.\r\n\r\nTown records do not begin until 1767, however it is certain that\r\na large number of families had become established before that date.\r\nIn the spring of 1762 Capt. Simon Davis, of Greenwich, Mass, and\r\nAbel Emmons settled in the western part of the town; and some time\r\nthe same year Peter Wheeler came to settle.  A saw-mill  is also said\r\nto have been constructed this year by John Snow and Moses Smith.\r\nThe proprietors granted two pieces of land to them, on condition\r\nthat they should erect a mill, keep it in good repair for the\r\nfollowing five years, and saw boards at as reasonable a rate as was\r\ndone in other places. There is a tradition, that, after the first\r\nboards were sawed, they were laid down so as to form a kind of rude\r\nfloor, upon which the settlers danced, to celebrate the event. This\r\nmill was built on Catsbane Brook, in the western part of the town,\r\nand stood near the place where Warren W. Farr's house now stands.\r\nA grist-mill was also erected, at an early period, near this saw-mill.\r\nBoth mills were carried away by a freshet in the summer of 1826.\r\n\r\nThe following persons are known to hve settled in Chesterfield before\r\n1767:  Ephraim Baldwin and Jonathan Cobleigh, as early as 1763;\r\nDaniel Farr, Samuel Farr, and Nathan Thomas, as early as 1764;\r\nJonathan Farr Jr. and Timothy Ladd, in 1765; Eleazer Cobleigh and\r\nSilas Thompson in 1766.  Of course, the above-named settlers, with\r\ntheir families, constituted but a small part of the whole number\r\nthat were in the town in the year 1767, which year Chesterfield had\r\nthree hundred and sixty-five inhabitants.  Among those who had become\r\nresidents before the last-mentioned date were Jonas Davis, Ebenezer\r\nDavison, Thomas Emmons, Jonathan and Samuel Hildreth, James Robertson,\r\nJames Wheeler and Nathaniel Bingham.\r\n\r\nThe first records of town meetings is one held June 1767, which\r\nmentions Samuel Hildreth, constable, Jonas Daviss (in whose house\r\nthe meeting would be held) and selectmen, Simon Davis, John Snow,\r\nJonathan Hildreth, Eleazer Cobleigh, and Ebenezer Davison.\r\n\r\nIn 1773 the population of the town...\r\nUnmarried men, sixteen to sixty .... 55\r\nMarried men, sixteen to sixty...... 109\r\nMales under sixteen................ 224\r\nMales sixty and upwards............  12\r\nUnmarried females.................. 220\r\nMarried females.................... 120\r\nWidows.............................   7\r\nSlaves.............................   0\r\n    Total.......................... 747\r\n\r\nIn 1775 the number of inhabitants was 874.\r\n\r\nTOWN SECTIONS:\r\n\"Hardscrabble\": Southeast quarter of the town, rugged and rocky\r\n\"New Boston\" District - upper half of the valley of Leavitt's Brook\r\n\"Dish Land\" northward of Streeter Hill\r\n\r\nCHESTERFIELD DURING THE WAR OF THE REVOLTUION--At a town meeting held\r\nin Chesterfield, January 17, 1775, it was voted to accept the result\r\nof the General Congress held at Philadelphia in the autumn of the\r\npreceding year, and to pay this town's proportion of the expense of\r\nanother Congress to be held in the same city the following May.\r\nLieutenant Brown, Lieutenant Hinds, Nathaniel Bingham, Silas Thompson,\r\nand Ephraim Baldwin were chosen a committee \"to draw up articles,\"\r\nand make return of the proceedings of the meeting to the Provincial\r\nCouncil.  Ensign Moses Smith, Deacon Silas Thompson and Lieutenant\r\nJacob Hinds were chosen a committee for the purpose stated in the\r\nwarrant.  On 14 Dec 1775 a town meeting was held at which Archibald\r\nRobertson was chosen to represent Chesterfield and Hinsdale in the\r\nProvincial Congress, to be held at Exeter on the 21st day of the same\r\nmonth.  Captain Shattuck, Aaron Cooper, Captain Hildreth, Ensign\r\nSmith and Lieut. Fletcher were constituted a committee to give\r\nMr. Robertson his instructions.\r\n\r\nPrevious to September of this year (1775) thirty-six Chesterfield men\r\nwent into the army, the most of them enlisting in Colonel James\r\nReed's regiment. The \"Army Rolls\" in the office of the adjutant-\r\ngeneral of the State show that this town paid bounties to the amount\r\nof 40 pounds 6s 8d to men who enlisted on account of the Lexington\r\nalarm.\r\n\r\nOn April 12, 1776, the Committee of Safety of the State of NH, required\r\nthat all males above 21 years of age to sign a DECLARATION, which\r\nread as follows: \"We, the Subscribers, do hereby Solemnly engage and\r\npromise that we will, to the utmost of our Power, at the Risque of\r\nour Lives and Fortunes, with Arms, oppose the Hostile proceedings\r\nof the British Fleets and Armies against the United American\r\nColonies.\" The Selectmen of Chesterfield in 1776, namely Ephraim\r\nBaldwin, Michael Cresey and Samuel Hildreth went about obtaining\r\nsignatures.  \r\n\r\nOn June 12, 1776 the selectmen made their return,\r\n\"In obedience to the within Declaration that we Rec'd from your\r\nHonors, we proceeded According to your Directions and the persons\r\nNames underwriten are those that Refuse to sign the Declaration on\r\nyour paper:\r\n Capt. Jona. Hildreth.\r\n Eseek Earl.\r\n Lieut. Ephraim Whitney.\r\n Ebenezer Harvey.\r\n Ephraim Whitney.\r\n Joseph Prentice.\r\n Elisha Walton.\r\n Sam'l Davis Converse.\r\n Eleazer Pomeroy.\r\n Silas Bennett.\r\n Ebenezer Cooper\r\n Sal. Keing [Sam'l King].\r\n Ebenezer Fletcher Jr.\r\n----------------------- this was signed by the Selectmen of\r\nChesterfield, Eph. Baldwin, Moses Smith Jr., Michael Cresey,\r\nEphraim Hubbard and Samuel Hildreth.\r\n\r\nNAMES OF THOSE WHO SIGNED THE DECLARATION:\r\nAbraham Wood, John Pratt, Simon Davis, Nathaniel Bingham, Isaac Davis,\r\nAbel Ray, John Snow, Samuel Farr, Oliver Cobleigh, Nehemiah Merrill,\r\nJonathan Farwell, Samuel Farr Jr., Oliver Farwell, John Haskell,\r\nSilas Thompson, Ezekiel Powers, William Farwell, Silas Wood,\r\nJonathan Davis, Obadiah Merrill, Warren Snow, William Henry,\r\nEbenezer Streeter, Daniel Farr, William Thomas, Amasa Colburn,\r\nDaniel Baldwin, Thomas Harris, William Simonds, Douglas Robbins,\r\nAmos Smith, Ullainell Merrill, Josh Smith [prob. Jos. Smith],\r\nSherebiah Fay, Zur Evans, Jonathan Farr (4th), William Farr Jr.,\r\nJonathan Farr (3d), Ithamar Chamberlain, Thomas Farr, Caleb Johnson,\r\nBenjamin Judson, Amos Streeter, Moses Smith, Abner Johnson,\r\nJosiah Streeter, Kimball Carlton, Michael Woodcock, Theodore\r\nBingham, Jonathan Cobleigh, John Pierce, Jonas Stearns, Benjamin\r\nColburn, Samuel Fairbanks, Ephraim Farr, Jonathan Farr (2d),\r\nIsaac Farr, Josiah Lamb, Thomas Darby, Samuel Walker, Joseph Metcalf,\r\nArchibald Robertson, Martin Warner, Andrew Colburn, David Stooder Jr.\r\n[David Stoddard Jr.] Lawrence Walton, Phineas Brown, Samuel Peacock,\r\nJohn Sanderson, John Peacock, William Fisher, Ephraim Baldwin,\r\nJonathan Hildreth Jr., Michael Cressey, James Wheeler Jr., Samuel\r\nHildreth, Josiah Hastings, Moses Smith Jr., Andrew Hastings, William\r\nAires, Noah Emmons, David Stone, Jonathan Cressey, John Grandy,\r\nEphraim Wheeler, John Grandy Jr., John Cobleigh, Increase Lamb,\r\nJoseph Higgins, Abner Albee, James McElroy, Ebenezer Taft, Joseph\r\nWheeler, John Richardson, James Wheeler, David Kinnison, Zenas\r\nFairbanks, Joel Whitney, Nathan Bishop, David Farr, Isaac Hildreth,\r\nJames Mansfield, Israel Johnson, Amos Hubbard, James Robertson,\r\nJonathan Farr (1st), Elisha Rockwood, Patrick McMichael, Dan Cobleigh,\r\nAbijah Kingsbury, Aaron Farr, Ebenezer Gail, Peter Wheeler, Sylvanus\r\nBattey, Moses Ellis, Ebenezer Faver, Ephraim Hubbard, Abijah Stearns,\r\nAmos Davis, Matthew Gray, John White, William Hildreth, Nathan\r\nMetcalf, James Reed, John Bishop, John Ellis, Jonathan Cobleigh,\r\nOliver Hubbard, Nathan Thomas, Michael Metcalf, Abel Emmons,\r\nCharles Johnson, William Robertson, Benjamin Smith, Edward Hildreth,\r\nSamuel Fletcher, James Davis, Abraham Farr, and Enoch Streeter.\r\n(One hundred and thirty-nine persons signed the declaration and\r\nthirteen refused to sign).  The declaration was known as the\r\n\"Association Test,\" and according to the returns that were made,\r\nwas signed by eight thousand one hundred and ninety-nine persons in\r\nthe colony of New Hampshire, while only seven hundred and seventy-\r\nthree persons refused to sign.\r\n\r\nAt a town meeting held December 2, 1776, Michael Cressey was elected\r\nto represent the town in the Assembly that was to meet at Exeter\r\nthe third Wednesay of the same month.  Rev. Mr. Wood, Deacon Thompson,\r\nLieut. Fairbankks, Dr. Harvey and Lieut. Rockwood were chosen a\r\ncommittee to give Mr. Cressey his instructions.\r\n\r\nIn June of 1777, Ebenezer Harvey, Eleazer Pomeroy and Samuel King,\r\nall of Chesterfield, were brought before the \"Court of Inquiry\" at\r\nKeene, charged with being hostile to the United States.  They were\r\nput by the Court under bonds in five hundred pounds each to remain\r\nwithin the limits of their respective farms. On April 6, 1778, the\r\nselectmen of Chesterfield and the town Committee of Safety\r\nrecommended the discharge of Harvey, Pomeroy and King without their\r\ntaking the \"oath of fidelity.\" They were discharged the next day.\r\n\r\nDuring the last two or three years of the War of the Revolution,\r\nChesterfield seems to have furnished but a very few men for the\r\nmilitary service of the U.S. and several times refused to bear\r\nits proportion of the burdens of the war.  For this reason fines\r\nwere afterwards imposed upon the town.  The problem appears to be\r\nmore due to a change in the boundary lines between NH and MA, rather\r\nthan that of not wanting to contribute to the cause.\r\n\r\nSoon after the battle of Lexington, three regiments were organized\r\nin New Hampshire, the Third being commanded by Colonel James Reed,\r\nof Fitzwilliam.  One company in this regiment was commanded by\r\nCaptain Jonathan Whitcomb.  In this company were the following\r\nChesterfield men:--Joseph Smith (Fifer), Josiah Hastings, Eleazer\r\nJordan, Elisha Walton, Jonathan Farr, Eleazer Cobleigh (drummer),\r\nJoshua Farr, Ephraim Farr, Eleazer Stoddard, Asa Gale, Joseph\r\nMetcalf, John Merrill, Charles Johnson, Benjamin Wheeler, and Elijah\r\nWalton.  Caleb Whitcomb's company appears to have been at\r\nMedford, MA Oct 13, 1775 as at that date the men signed a receipt for\r\nmoney recieved \"in lieu of coats promised by the Colony of New\r\nHampshire.\"  Another company in Col. Reed's regiment was under the\r\ncommand of Capt. Jacob Hinds, of Chesterfield.  The following men\r\nbesides Capt. Hinds, belonged to this town: Ezekiel Davis (sergeant),\r\nJacob Davis, David Stoddard (sergeant), Jacob Hinds Jr.,\r\nWilliam Farwell (sergeant), and Richard Coughlan.  [on one roll the\r\nlast named is put down as sergeant-major].  This company also appears\r\nto have been at Medford in October.  The men in these two companies\r\nreceived wages ranging from six pounds to 8 pounds, 11s, 5d for\r\nterms of service varying from three months to three months, sixteen\r\ndays.  It is evident, however, that both companies served longer than\r\nthe maximum time given in the payroll.  \r\n\r\nColonel Reed's regiment took part in the battle of Bunker Hill (as it\r\nis commonly called). According to the \"Army Rolls,\" a man named John\r\nDavis (or John Dawes, as given on one roll) of Chesterfield, a member\r\nof Reed's regiment, was killed in this battle, and Josiah Walton,\r\nalso of Chesterfield, wounded.  With regard to the first-named,\r\nthe writer has not been able to determine whether he really belonged\r\nto this town or not; the last-named may have been Elijah Walton or\r\nElisha Walton.\r\n  It is not known how long the Chesterfield men in Reed's regiment\r\nremained in the service after October 1775, but it is evident that\r\nsome of them had returned home before June 12, 1776.\r\n  Early in 1776 a regiment of NH men was raised for the defense of\r\nthe western frontier of the State, and placed under the command of\r\nColonel Timothy Bedel.  This regiment was at the \"Cedars\" in lower\r\nCanada, in May of that year, where it was soon afterwards\r\nsurrended to the enemy by Major Butterfield, who had command at that\r\ntime.  One company of this regiment was commanded by Captain Daniel\r\nCarlisle, of Westmoreland, and contained at least four Chesterfield\r\nmen, viz: --Aaron Smith (ensign), Thomas Gibbs (sergeant),\r\nNathaniel Bacon (fifer) and Eleazer Jordan (corporal).\r\n\r\nIn July and August of 1776, a regiment of New Hampshire men was raised,\r\nof which Joshua Wingate was colonel.  One company in this regiment\r\nwas commanded by Captain William Humphrey.  This company contained\r\nthe following Chesterfield men: Joseph Metcalf (corporal), Gustavus\r\nBingham, John Pratt, Amasa Colburn, James Wheeler, John Peacock,\r\nJoseph Metcalf Jr., Amos Partidge, Thomas Metcalf, Nathaniel Sanger,\r\nElijah Watson [Walton], and William Day.  Perhaps the name of\r\nEbenezer Porter should be added.  This regiment was sent to reinforce\r\nthe northern army in New York State.  Most of the privates in\r\nCapt. Humphrey's company received each, advanced wages and bounties..\r\nThe time of service has not been determined, but it is certain that\r\nsome of the Chesterfield men had returned home before May and June of\r\nthe following year.\r\n\r\nOne of the companies of Colonel Nahum Baldwin's regiment (raised in\r\nSeptember the same year, [1776] and sent to reinforce the Continental\r\narmy in the State of New York) was commanded by Captain John Houghton.\r\nIt contained the following Chesterfield men: John Bishop, Jonathan\r\nCressey, James Robertson, Jonathan Farwell, Josiah Hastings, Isaac\r\nFarr, Jonathan Farr, Nathan Thomas, Ezekiel Powers, and Jonathan\r\nFarr (3d).  Each man was paid in advance. The discharge date has not\r\nbeen ascertained, but most of the men from Chesterfield were at home\r\nearly in the summer of the next year.\r\n\r\nAnother regiment was raised in New Hampshire in December 1776, for the\r\nsame purpose as the last two mentioned.  It was commanded by Colonel\r\nDavid Gilman.  In Captain Francis Towne's company, in this regiment,\r\nwere at least two men from Chesterfield, viz: Zenas Fairbanks\r\n(Jonas Fairbanks on one roll) and Aaron Farr. They each received wages\r\nfrom December 5 to March 12, 1777.\r\n\r\nAmos Colburn, of Chesterfield, was commissioned second lieutenant in\r\nColonel Alexander Scammel's regiment, November 7, 1776, and appears to\r\nhave remained in service until 1779, if not longer.\r\n\r\nEbezer Fletcher, of this town, was also first lieutenant in the same\r\nregiment, having been appointed January 15, 1777.\r\n\r\nNovember 11, 1776, William Lee, of Chesterfield, was appointed\r\nlieutenant in Col. Cilley's regiment, and served until January 8, 1778.\r\n\r\nIn the company commanded by Captain Waitstill Scott, of Westmoreland,\r\n(in Colonel Ashley's regiment), and which marched to Ticonderoga in\r\nMay 1777, were the following men who belonged to Chesterfield:\r\nJames Robertson (first lieutenant), Eli Partridge (or Pattridge),\r\nSamuel Davis (ensign), Samuel Stearns, William Hildreth (sergeant),\r\nEphraim Farr, Thomas Farr, Daniel Colburn (corporal), Jacob Farr,\r\nDaniel Farr (corporal), Charles Farr, Eleazar Jordan, John Sanderson,\r\nJoseph Metcalf, William Thomas, Amos Patridge (or Pattridge),\r\nand Nathaniel Walton.  Most of Capt. Scott's men served about forty\r\ndays and were discharged June 21.  They received pay and allowed 3\r\npence per mile for the return march. The troops that went to\r\nTiconderoga in May had scarcely arrived home when tidings were\r\nbrought of the actual approach of Burgoyne's army toward that\r\nimportant post.  Again the New Hampshire militia were called upon to\r\nmarch to the rescue.  One of the companies in Colonel Ashley's\r\nregiment was commanded by Lieutenant Oliver Cobleigh, of this town,\r\nand nearly, or quite all the men belonged also to Chesterfield. The\r\nroll of Lieutenant Cobleigh's company was as follows: Josiah Hastings\r\n(ensign), Jonas Davis (Sergeant), Samuel Davis (sergeant), James\r\nWheeler (sergeant), Ezekiel Powers (sergeant), Dan Cobleigh (corporal);\r\nprivates: Amos Davis, Ebenezer Fletcher, Jonathan Farr Jr., Joseph\r\nHiggins, Daniel Baldwin, Elisha Walton, Thomas Whitcomb, Henry Cressey,\r\nIsaac Hildreth, Joseph Higgins Jr., Benjamin Smith, Ephraim Amidon,\r\nEbenezer Farr, Amos Smith, Eleazer Stoddard, Aaron Smith, Jonathan\r\nCressy Jr., Martin Warner, Joel Whitney, Jonathan Starr (probably Farr)\r\nWilliam Crafford, Amos Streeter, Jonathan Davis and John Peacock.\r\n\r\nAnother company in Colonel Ashley's regiment was commanded by\r\nLieutenant James Robertson, of Chesterfield.  The following\r\nChesterfield men, under command of Lieutenant Robertson, set out for\r\nTicondergoa, June 29, 1777: Moses Smith (who also ranked as lieut.),\r\nDaniel Colburn, Samuel Davis Converse, Daniel Kennison (ensign),\r\nOliver Hobart (prob Hubbard), John Ellis (sergeant), Silas Richardson\r\n(sergeant), Zenas Fairbanks, John Pratt (sergeant), Thomas Metcalf,\r\nJonathan Farwell, Reuben Hildreth, John Davison, Jesse Hildreth,\r\nWilliam Henry, Joseph Smith, Nathan Metcalf, Silas Thompson,\r\nThomas Daby, Nathaniel Bingham, Joseph Metcalf, Andrew Hastings,\r\nEbenezer Streeter, Elisha Rockwood, Asa Gale, Joseph Metcalf Jr.,\r\nAmos Partridge (or Pattridge), Reuben Graves, Samuel Walker and\r\nAsa Metcalf.  It is possible that a few more of the men who marched\r\nwith Lieut. Robertson also belonged to Chesterfield, but the\r\nabove-named are all that can be identified with certainty. The men of\r\nthis company were absent, at the longest, only thirteen days; some of\r\nthem not more than two or three days.\r\n\r\nOne of the regiments in General Stark's brigade was commanded by\r\nColonel Moses Nichols.  The Eighth COmpany of this regiment was\r\nunder the command of Captain Kimball Carlton of Chesterfield.  The\r\nrecord says that this company \"marched from Chesterfield and\r\ntowns adjacent, July 22, 1777.\" It took part in the battle of\r\nBennington, on the 16th day of August following.  The following are\r\nthe names of men in this company who have been identified with\r\ncertainty as belonging to this town: Josiah Hastings (ensign),\r\nDaniel Farr (sergeant), Noah Emmons (corporal), Amos Partridge\r\n(or Pattridge), Benjamin Streeter, Thomas Metcalf, Daniel Baldwin,\r\nJoseph Metcalf, Jacob Farr Jr., Charles Farr, Jonathan Cobleigh,\r\nWilliam Farr, Samuel Peacock, Lemuel Stoddard, Amos Hobart (probably\r\nHubbard), Jonathan Farr, Jonathan Hildreth Jr., Aaron Fisk,\r\nTheodorus Bingham, and Samuel D. Converse.\r\n\r\nAccording to tradition, John Pierce and others of Chesterfield (whose\r\nnames are not now known) took part in the battle of Bennington as\r\nindependent volunteers.  Oliver Brown and Thomas Farr are said to have\r\ndriven cattle for the use of the American army.  The British captured\r\nthe cattle, whereupon the two young men went into the ranks and\r\nserved as soldiers.  It has always been claimed that the roar of the\r\ncannon on that eventful day, was heard by several different persons\r\nin this town.  It was heard, it is said, by the wife of Aaron Fisk,\r\nwho lived on the hill west of Spafford's Lake.  Greatly agitated\r\nthereby, she walked about the house as long as it continued. No\r\nChesterfield men are known to have been killed at this battle, and\r\nthe names of those who were wounded, if any, have not been ascertained.\r\n\r\nIn June 1777, Gustavus Bingham and John Grandy, both of Chesterfield,\r\nenlisted; but in what regiment has not been determined with certainty.\r\nBoth were discharged January 10, 1778. \r\n\r\nIn 1778 Chesterfield paid bounties to those serving.  The name of\r\nonly one of the men who enlisted this year has been ascertained,\r\nnamely, John Hill, aged 23, who enlisted in Captain Wait's company,\r\nStark's regiment, and received payment in May.\r\n\r\nIn 1779 the bounties and mileages paid by the town to soldiers\r\namounted to upwards of four hundred pounds.  In the spring of this year\r\nthe following Chesterfield men enlisted in Captain Ephraim Stone's\r\ncompany, Colonel Mooney's regiment: Jonathan Cressey, Martin Hildreth,\r\nand John Putnam.  Each received a bounty and money for travel\r\n(to Providence). Colonel Mooney's regiment was raised for the\r\ndefense of Rhode Island.\r\n\r\nIn July the same year, the following men enlisted for the town of\r\nChesterfield: William Nichols, Phineas Hemenway, Thomas Wooley,\r\nDavid Pierce, and Simon Pierce.  They enlisted in the \"Continental\r\nservice,\" for the term of one year and recieved a bounty of sixty\r\npounds each.\r\n\r\nIn the summer of 1780, Francis Crane, William Lee, Reuben Still,\r\nDavid Still, Nathan Dodge all enlisted for the town of Chesterfield,\r\nand served a few months, at the least. Crane, in a petition dated\r\nApril 7, 1783, stated that \"being at Glasgo, in the Bay State, on or\r\nabout the Twentieth of sd July [i.e. July 1780] he the deponent did\r\nby misfortune and axcident cut off two of his Fingers and was\r\nthereby Disabled to go forward to the army, and was under the care\"\r\nof a doctor.\r\n\r\nThe following Chesterfield men also enlisted this year (1780) in\r\nColonel Moses Nichols' regiment, raised for the defense of West\r\nPoint: John Pratt (who appears to have been appointed a lieutenant),\r\nEbenezer Safford, Daniel Baldwin, Noah Emmons and Aaron Cressey.\r\n\r\nIn October the same year, the British and Indians burned Royalton Vt..\r\nIt seems that Captain Josiah Hartwell, perhaps of Chesterfield, with\r\na few men from his town (whose names have not been ascertained) was\r\namong those who went in pursuit of the enemy.  In a petition sent\r\nto the NH Legislature, by the selectmen of Chesterfield, dated\r\nJune 1, 1786, included the names of those serving in Col. Hazell's\r\nRegiment including Merifield Vicary, Nath'l Merrild [Merrill], and\r\nSilas Ray.  Merrill and Ray were members of Captain John Grigg's\r\ncompany, Colonel Scammel's regiment; as were also Levi Farwell and\r\nJohn Daniels, both of Chesterfield.\r\n\r\nAt a town meeting held January 11, 1781, a settlement was made with\r\nNathan Thomas and others for lead furnished for the use of the town\r\non the occasion of a certain \"alarm,\" in October 1776. The names\r\nincluded Nathan Thomas, Noah Emmons, Abel Emmons, Jonathan Farr, and\r\nCaptain Simon Davis.\r\n\r\nAccording to the town records, Nathan Bishop died in the army in\r\n1777; David Stoddard Sr went into the army, it is said, and never\r\nreturned; Elisha Bingham was discharged from the service and died while\r\non his way home; Gustavus Bingham was also wounded in the head some\r\ntime during the war, but recovered.  As already stated John Davis (or\r\nDawes) was officially reported killed, and Josiah Walton as wounded\r\nat Bunker Hill; but these two cases are somewhat in doubt.\r\n\r\n[Detailed information about Chesterfield's role regarding the boundary\r\nchanges in this area are included in the original document, but not\r\nshown here].\r\n\r\nSOLDIERS FURNISHED BY CHESTERFIELD IN THE SECOND WAR WITH GREAT\r\nBRITAIN... [excerpts only] 1812-1813\r\n\r\nSeptember 13, 1812\r\nAmos Stone, Sergeant\r\nEli Darling, Corporal\r\nPrivates: Joshua Wiggins, Isaac Wetherby, Francis Winch, Stephen\r\nStreeter Jr., Ezra Putney, Roswell Metcalf, Montgomery Darling.\r\nThese men were to serve three months, unless sooner discharged.\r\nThey formed part of Captain Nathan GLidden's company, in the First\r\nRegiment of detached militia, commanded by Nat. Fisk, of\r\nWestmoreland. Captain Glidden was of Unity.  Eli Darling was\r\ndischarged Nov. 3; Joshua Wiggins and Isaac Wetherby, Nov 10.\r\nMontgomery Darling was accidentally hit by a bayonet on the gun of\r\na fellow soldier, and lost the sight in one eye from the effects of\r\nthe wound and was discharged Nov. 6.\r\n\r\nThe next draft was made Sept 26, 1812 and the following men were\r\nobtained: Samuel L. Draper, John Bass, Daniel Stearns, Philip Bacon,\r\nElijah Lyons and Lyman Toms (Tombs).  The men of this draft formed\r\na part of the company commanded by Captain Reuben Marsh of this town,\r\nin the Second Regiment of detached militia.  Ara Hamilton and Bradley\r\nMead, also both of Chesterfield, were lieutenants in the same company.\r\nCaptain Marsh and Lieutenants Hamilton and Mead went to Portsmouth\r\nwith the detachment, which was five days in marching to that place.\r\nSamuel L. Draper went as a substitute, but, on his arrival at\r\nPortsmouth, Captain Marsh procured for him the position of fifer for\r\nthe company.  John H. Fuller, then of Chesterfield, afterwards of\r\nKeene, was adjutant of the regiment to which Captain Marsh's comopany\r\nbelonged.  The men were to serve sixty days but they were discharge\r\na few days before the expiration of their term of service.  Elijah\r\nLyons was discharged Nov 3.  The British did not attack Portsmouth,\r\nas was anticipated, and the greater part of the troops that had\r\nassembled there were discharged before their term of service expired.\r\n\r\nRECORD OF THE CITIZENS OF CHESTERFIELD WHO ENLiSTED IN THE MILITARY\r\nSERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES DURING THE WAR OF THE REBELLION\r\n(1861-65).\r\n[NOTE: ONly names of those serving, not regiments, etc that can be\r\nfound in the original, are included here]\r\nNorris E. Bancroft, Clinton A. Bancroft, Bradford Britton, George B.\r\nBritton, Roswell Butler, John H. Butler, Richard T. Cobb, Warren\r\nColburn, Julius C. Converse, Nelson S. Crouch, Calvin G. Darling,\r\nMurray Davis, Noyes J. Davis, George P. Eddy, John M. Farnum,\r\nCharles M. Farr, Ransom C. Farr, Bradford C. Farr, Wesley O. Farr,\r\nLarkin D. Farr, Chancey S. Farr, Stephen P. Faulkner, James C. Field,\r\nFrancis A. Field, Harrison F. Fisk, Oscar T. Frink, Calvin P. Gilson,\r\nWalter W. Glazier, James F. Goodrich, John H. Goodwin, Charles L.\r\nHarvey, Foster W. Hastings, Eugene F. Hastings, Hubbard W. Henry,\r\nDwight L. Herrick, Sidney B. Higgins, John W. Hildreth, George L.\r\nHildreth, Taylor E. Hill, Frank J. Holt, Joseph Holt, George Hopkins,\r\nWayland N. Hosley, Henry H. Howe, Barton Howe Jr., Robert Jackson,\r\nCharles B. Lewis, Reuben A. Lewis, Lucian O. Lincoln, Horace S.\r\nLincoln, James M. Martin, Henry L. McClenning, J. Milo Richardson,\r\nDaniel E. Robbins, Otis Safford, Norman D. Safford, Leavitt W. Safford,\r\nOtis H. Scott, George D. Scott, Henry Herbert Snow, James S. Stoddard,\r\nEdwin H. Streeter, Albert W. Streeter, Herbert N. Streeter, Marshall\r\nS. Streeter, Herbert B. Titus, David B. Tyrrel, Everett C. Tyrrel,\r\nDavid S. Walton Jr., Lyman H. Warren, Alonzo W. Wheeler.  Of the\r\nseventy-four men whose names have been given above, none were killed\r\nin battle; one died from the effects of a wound received in battle;\r\neleven were wounded and survived; six died of disease.\r\n\r\nPOPULATION:\r\nA census taken by order of the provincial government in the year 1767\r\nshows that Chesterfield then had 365 inhabitants.  In 1773 the number\r\nof inhabitants was 747, of whom 400 were males.  In September 1775,\r\nthe selectmen made an enumeration of the inhabitants of the town and\r\nfound the number to be, including 36 men absent in the army, 874.\r\nOf this number, 462 were males. No slaves were returned during the\r\nearly censuses.\r\n\r\nDuring the War of the Revolution many families came into the town\r\nfrom Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.  By the year 1786\r\nthe number of inhabitants had reached 1535, notwithstanding the\r\nunsettled state of affairs the existed in the town during the\r\nRevolutionary period.\r\n\r\nThe number of inhabitants of the town in every tenth year since 1790\r\n(inclusive) have been as follows:\r\n1790, 1905; 1800, 2161; 1810, 1839; 1820, 2110; 1830, 2046; 1840, 1765;\r\n1850, 1680; 1860, 1434; 1870, 1289; 1880, 1173.\r\n\r\nTHE DISTRICT SCHOOLS--[excerpts only] The schools are mentioned for\r\nthe first time, in the records of the town, in the warrant for a\r\ntown-meeting held the second Tuesday in June, 1767.  At that time the\r\ntown had not been divided into school-wards, or districts, and what\r\nfew schools there were, were taught in private houses.  The sum of\r\nmoney raised for school purposes in 1767 (if any) was not recorded;\r\nbut at the annual town meeting in 1771 it was voted to raise fifteen\r\npounds for the support of schools.  From 1771 to 1779 the amount\r\nraised annually seems at no time to have exceeded fifty pounds....\r\nWhen or where the first school-house was built in Chesterfield has\r\nnot been ascertained.  It is doubtful if one was built before 1785.\r\nThe oldest school-house now standing appear to have been erected\r\nbetween 1800 and 1812.  The one in District No. 7 is known to have\r\nbeen built about 1810.... At one time, near the beginning of the\r\npresent century [1800's] the school in District No. 7 (the\r\nHardscrabble District) was kept in Gibson Willard's barn....\r\n\r\nCHESTERFIELD ACADEMY--On the 12th day of January 1790 the NH\r\nLegislature passed an act entitled, \"An Act to incorporate an\r\nAcademy in the Town of Chesterfield, by the name of the\r\nChesterfield Academy.\" This document noted that \"Peter Stone, of\r\nChesterfield, gentleman, and sundry other persons, have voluntarily\r\ncontributed certain sums of money for the purpose of establishing\r\nand supporting a public school, or academy, in said Chesterfield.\"\r\nThe first section of the act sets forth the object of the academy,\r\nnamely, \"the promoting piety and virtue, and the instruction of\r\nyouth in such branches of useful Literature as the trustees hereby\r\nappointed shall think proper to direct.\" The trustees named included\r\nRev. Abraham Wood, Solomon Harvey, physician, Moses Smith, Esq.,\r\nSilas Richardson, Zur Evans, Simon Willard and Abner Johnson,\r\ngentlemen, all of Chesterfield. The academy was not opened until\r\nAugust 14, 1794 [reportedly] but the trustees voted August 31, 1791\r\nto hire Sheldon Logan as instructor\/preceptor.  Other following\r\npreceptors included John Noyes (1795), Broughton Wright (?) 1797,\r\nLevi Jackson 1799-1805, Daniel Hardy 1805, Isaac Fletcher 1808,\r\nJonathan Hartwell 1809, Asa Keys 1810 (for 2 years), -- McConihe\r\ntaught six months in 1812; Otis Hutchins 1812 (for 2 years) and\r\nspring of 1820 for 3 years [he died in Westmoreland Oct 6, 1866],\r\nElisha S. Plumb 1815-16, Thomas Hardy 1817-19 [died Feb 6, 1838],\r\nGeorge Freeman 1822 (3 months), Rev. John Walker 1823 (6 months or\r\nmore), John Chamberlain 1824, Josiah W. Fairfield 1824-26. [more\r\npreceptors in original document, not included here, unless there\r\nis genealogical information of interest, then posted below]. Since\r\n1850 the academy had not been in a flourishing condition and closed.\r\nThe original academy building stood on the southereastern part of\r\nthe common, at the Centre village, a few rods from the old\r\nmeeting-house.  It was a two-story structure surmounted by a belfry,\r\nin which, however, there was no bell.  April 9, 1859 it was burned\r\nto the ground.  A new building was erected the same year, having\r\nnearly the same location, by School District No. 5.\r\n\r\nISAAC FLETCHER, a student of Dartmouth College was preceptor of the\r\nChesterfield Academy in 1808. He married, in 1812, Abigail, daughter\r\nof Peter Stone Sr. of this town, and afterwards practiced law at\r\nLyndon Vt.\r\n\r\nASA KEYES was preceptor of Chesterfield Academy for two years from\r\nApril 16, 1810. He was a graduate of Dartmouth College and became\r\na distinguished lawyer.  He died at Brattleborough VT June 4, 1880\r\nat the great age of 93 years.  His wife was Sarah, daughter of\r\nAsa Britton, Esq. of Chesterfield.\r\n\r\nJOSIAH W. FAIRFIELD, preceptor of Chesterfield Academy 1824-26.\r\nHe was a native of New Boston NH, and graduated at Dartmouth College\r\nin 1827. He married Laura, Daughter of Asa Britton Esq. of this\r\ntown in 1829 and settled in Hudson NY where he died Dec. 3, 1878.\r\n\r\nCHARLES L. STRONG, preceptor of Chesterfield Academy 1832-33,\r\nand again in 1841-44.  Mr. Strong was a graduate of Amherst College,\r\nand was a teacher by profession. He married in 1843, Prusha,\r\ndaughter of Ashbel Wheeler Sr. of Chesterfield and died in this\r\ntown August 2, 1847.\r\n\r\nJOHN E. BUTLER, of Jamaica Vt., was an assistant teacher at\r\nChesterfield Academy in 1833.  He afterwards became a distinguished\r\nlawyer in the State of Vermont.\r\n\r\npage 153\r\nTHE CHURCHES\r\n\r\nTHE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF CHESTERFIELD--was probably\r\norganized in 1771, but it is evident that a site had been selected\r\nfor a meeting-house, on the common, as early as 1767. April 24, 1770\r\nthe town voted to raise one hundred pounds, to cover the meeting-house\r\nframe, that had already been erected.  June 8 1772 voted money to use\r\nto finish the outside of the meeting-house.  This building stood on\r\nthe common, at the Centre village, about 35 feet south of the site of\r\nthe present town-house, and was about 65 feet long and 45 feet wide.\r\nIt was two stories high, with 2 rows of windows, and originally had a\r\nporch on each end. [more not included here].  The first settled\r\nminister in Chesterfield was Abraham Wood. [more not included here].\r\n\r\nTHE UNIVERSAL RESTORATION SOCIETY--organized as early as 1798 and\r\nperhaps earlier. ANnual meetings for the election of officers were\r\nheld.  In June 1818, 55 members petitioned the legislature for an\r\nact of incorporation. The petition was granted, and an act passed\r\nincorporating Oliver Baker, Stephen Streeter and Jonathan Cochran,\r\nwith their associates and successors, into the society. Prior to\r\n1830 they held their meetings in school-houses or private dwellings.\r\nIn 1816 they were allowed to use the meeting-house at the Centre\r\nvillage for a convention. In 1830 the town granted them the use of\r\nthe meeting-house every alternate Sunday, for one year.  The same\r\nyear, however, the house now occupied by them, at the West village,\r\nwas built.  The Universalist preachers before 1830 are not known.\r\nJanuary 2, 1882 it was voted to hire Robert Bartlett, of Langdon,\r\nto preach on 5 Sundays during the year [more in original document\r\nnot included here]. \r\n\r\nBAPTIST CHURCH--No records of the Baptist Church of Chesterfield\r\nhave been found, but it is known that Nathan Worden, a preacher of\r\nthis denomination, settled in the town as early as 1787, and in 1819\r\na society was incorporated under the name of the \"First Baptist\r\nChurch.\"... this society has been extinct for many years.\r\n\r\nMETHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH--The organization of the present Methodist\r\nEpiscopal Society of Chesterfield dates from June 18, 1842.  It is said\r\nthat Jesse Lee visited the town as early as 1793, and from that time\r\nto the present it has been a \"preaching-place.\" In 1796 the first\r\ncircuit of New Hampshire was formed, called the \"Chesterfield Circuit,\"\r\nand which had only 68 members.  The names of but few of the early\r\nMethodist preachers in this town are now know.  Rev. Jonathan Nichols,\r\nof Thompson, Conn, preached here at an early period, and Rev. Martin\r\nRutter is said to have preached his first sermon in James Robertson's\r\nhouse (now owned and occupied by his grandson, Timothy N. Robertson).\r\nOne of the earliest Methodist preachers at Factory Village is said to\r\nhave been a Rev. Mr. House.  In 1844 the Methodists built a\r\nmeeting-house at the Centre village (before that worshipping in private\r\nhomes, school-houses and sometimes in the Old Congregational\r\nmeeting-house).  From 1839-49 the pastor was Rev. C.L. McCurdy [more\r\nin original document not included here].\r\n\r\nUNITARIAN CHURCH--organized in Chesterfield about 1834, and existed a\r\nfew years.  Composed in part, of person who had withdrawn from the\r\nCongregational Society.  Rev. Stephan A. Barnard was pastor of this\r\nchurch in 1835, 1836 and 1837, preaching every alternate Sunday in\r\nthe old meeting-house at Centre village.  The meeting-house at\r\nFactory village was erected in 1853 (as a \"union\" house).\r\n\r\nMANUFACTURES--The manufacture of any kind of goods or ware has never\r\nbeen carried on very extensively in Chesterfield... In December 1805,\r\nEbenezer Stearns, Moses Smith, Ebenezer Cheney and seventeen others\r\nwere incorporated into a company called the CHESTERFIELD MANUFACTORY,\r\nfor the purpose of manufacturing \"cotton yarn, cloth and woolens.\"\r\nIn 1810 the company erected a facatory at the village, which has ever\r\nsince been called \"Factory Village,\" or \"Chesterfield Factory,\" the\r\nlatter being the correct post-office name.  This building, which is\r\none hundred feet long, by thirty feet wide, and two stories high\r\n(exclusive of the basement) was built by Presson Farwell for $700.\r\nFor a few years after the factory was built, cotton yard is said to\r\nhave been made in it; then it was closed for a while.  In 1821,\r\nCapt. William Brooks, who settled in Chesterfield that year, was\r\nchosen agent of the corporation and began the manufacture of cotton\r\nshirting. Capt. Brooks continued to manage as agent until 1839\r\nwhen he removed to Brattleborough; but he retained his connection with\r\nthe factory until 1850.  The manufacture of shrting was afterwards\r\ncontinued in this factory for some time by Olney Goff and by\r\nBarton Skinner.  The building was next converted into a manufactory\r\nof doors, window-sashes and blinds by R. Henry Hopkins and Horace\r\nHowe.  It is used for this purpose at the present by George L.\r\nHamilton, who employs ten men.\r\n\r\nAbout 1820 the manufacture of \"patent accelerating spinning-wheel\r\nheads\" was begun at Factory Village by Ezekiel P. Pierce, with whom\r\nwere associated Asahel Porter and George Metcalf.  The manufacture of\r\nthese articles has since been conducted at that village by Jonathan S.\r\nHopkins, Elliot P. and Samuel F. Hopkins, [more names mentioned not\r\nincluded here].\r\n\r\nIn 1834 or 1835 the manufacture of augurs, bits and gimlets was\r\ncommenced, near the West village, by Joshua Richardson and Oliver B.\r\nHuggins, with associate E.P. Pierce Sr.  They were succeeded by\r\nE.P. Pierce Jr and Charles Cross, and later by Pierce, Cross, and\r\nAlonzo Farr.\r\n\r\nIn 1836 or 1837 the making of bits, augurs, etc. was begun at Factory\r\nVillage by Richardson &amp; Huggins, later by George Goodrich alone,\r\nthen he with George Atherton.\r\n\r\n[several manufactures in original document, not included here]\r\n\r\nAbout 1815 (probably) David and William Arnold engaged in tanning\r\nhides at the Centre Village.  About 1817 their tannery was bought by\r\nMoses Dudley, who continued the business until about 1851.\r\n\r\nAbout 1832 Lloyd Stearns and David Arnold began the same business\r\nin the present tannery building at Factory village. Stearns removed\r\nto Illinois about 1835, and the business was continued by Arnold,\r\nthen associated with Nathaniel Walton for a few years.From 1844 to\r\n1865 this tannery was owned by Sumner Warren, later of Keene, then\r\nby Earl Warren of Westmoreland.\r\n\r\nThe largest saw-mill in Chesterfield was built by the Steam Mill\r\nCompany, at the former village, in 1872.  In 1878 this mill was\r\nburned and rebuilt the same year by James H. &amp; George Goodrich...\r\n\r\nOTHER MANUFACTURES MENTIONED:\r\n\r\nCURRIER BROTHERS BIT AND AUGUR FACTORY--Started in 1836 or 1837 by\r\nRichardson &amp; Huggins at Factory Village, purchased by Benjamin and\r\nGilman Farwell. In 1851 Barton SKinner bought it, with Benjamin\r\nPierce furnishing the stock.  Currier Brothers came from\r\nNewburyport, Mass in 1882.\r\n\r\nFRED B. PIERCE'S BRUSH HANDLE FACTORY at Factory Village, established\r\nin 1875.\r\n\r\nJ.H. GOODRICH'S STEAM SAW MILL-formed in 1872 by the Steam Power\r\nCompany. in 1878 this mill burned.  Bought and rebuilt by\r\nJ.H. Goodrich and his brother George. \r\n\r\nGEORGE L. HAMILTON SASH DOOR AND BLIND FACTORY, established in 1868\r\nat Factory Village.\r\n\r\nOLIVER J. BUTTERFIELD'S SAW MILL, located on road 6, was built in\r\n1882. Manufactures lumber, shingles, pail-stock, box-boards etc.\r\n\r\nWILLIAM W. FORD'S GRIST AND CIDER MILL located at West Chesterfield.\r\n\r\nW.W. FARR'S GRIST AND SAW MILL, O.R. FARR'S BOX-STOC FACTORY (built\r\nin 1875 by Ransom Farr, and bought by O.R. Farr in 1877),\r\nBRADFORD C. FARR'S GRIST MILL, FOWLER &amp; BUXTON'S CIDER MILL,\r\nARTHUR M. DAVIS'S CIDER MILL, BUTLER BROTHER'S SAW MILL.\r\n\r\nTAVERNS AND HOTELS--The earliest taverns were merely private houses\r\nsituated near the principal highways, and those owners availed\r\nthemselves of the opportunity to add the income derived from their\r\nfarms by providing food and lodging for hungry and weary travelers,\r\nand an abundance of spiritous and fermented drinks for the thirsty.\r\n  After a while a law was passed compelling tavern-keepers and\r\nretailers of spiritous liquors to obtain a license from the selectmen.\r\nThe first recorded licenses for this purpose, were granted in 1792,\r\nin which year four persons were licensed as taverners and one to sell\r\nspiritous liquors.  In 1793 there were only two licensed taverners\r\nwhile five persons were licensed to retail spirits; and in 1794 the\r\nnumber of tavern-keepers was three, the number of retailers of\r\nspirits retaining the same.  Among the earliest tavern-keepers were\r\nOliver Cobleigh, Nathaniel Stone, Andrew Hastings, Abraham Stearns,\r\nNathaniel Bingham and Ebenezer Harvey Sr.\r\n  Ebenezer Harvey's tavern stood on the site of the late Parker D.\r\nCressey's residence at the Centre village, and was probably one of\r\nthe oldest taverns in town.\r\n  In 1801 Levi Mead came to Chesterfield, from Lexington, Mass, and\r\nlived in the house now occupied by Roswell Butler, at the Centre\r\nvillage, which he kept as a tavern.  In 1816 he built at the same\r\nvillage what was known for many years as the Mead tavern, and\r\nwhich is now called the Chesterfield Hotel.  Since his death in 1828,\r\nthis tavern has had several different owners, amont them his sons,\r\nBradley and Elias.  From 1860 to 1868 it was owned and kept by\r\nParker D. Cressey, and since 1876 it has been owned by Lucius\r\nThatcher.\r\n  The present hotel at Factory village, known as the Spafford House,\r\nwas built in 1807, by Elnathan Forham for a dwelling-house.  It was\r\nfirst used as a tavern by Presson Farwell.  Afterwards it was owned\r\nand kept many years by Samuel Burt, who in 1867 sold it to Sanford\r\nGuernsey.  In 1880 it was purchased of Mr. Guernsey by Walter J.\r\nWheeler.  Its present proprietor is Alfred L. Proctor.\r\n  In 1831, Ezekiel P. Pierce Sr. built a large stone house on the\r\nold Pierce homestead, near the lake, which he kept as a tavern\r\nseveral years.\r\n  The tavern which Amos Smith kept near the river, in the northwestern\r\nquarter of the town, and which was afterward kept by his son, George\r\nSmith, was frequented by boatsmen and raftsmen in the days where\r\nmerchandise was transported up and down the river by means of boats,\r\nand logs were conducted down in rafts.  The same is true of the old\r\nSnow tavern, afterwards the town poor-house.\r\n  The Prospect House, situated on an eminencne near the southern\r\nshore of Spafford's Lake, of which it commands a fine view was built in\r\n1873 by the late John W. Herrick, of Keene.  Since its erection it\r\nhas been enlarged and otherwise improved.  This hotel is kept open\r\nonly during the summer and is now owned by Hon. Charles A. Rapallo,\r\nof New York City, one of the judges of the Court of Appeals for the\r\nState of New York.  It has been managed, since 1879, by A.R. Mason,\r\nof Keene.\r\n\r\nPOST-OFFICES:  The post-office at the Centre village (Chesterfield)\r\nwas established August 12, 1802.  The following persons have been\r\npostmasters at the village: Ebenezer Harvey (1802), Asa Britton (1810),\r\nDaniel Waldo (1830), Warham R. Platts (1833), Nelson W. Herrick\r\n(1841), Warham R. Platts (1843), Charles J. Amidon (1849),\r\nHenry O. Coolidge (1851); Warham R. Platts (1853), Henry O. Coolidge\r\n(1861), James M. Herrick (1867), Romanzo C. Cressey (1868),\r\nMurray Davis (1873), James H. Goodrich 2d (1875), and Sewall F.\r\nRugg (1881).\r\n  The post office at Factory Village (Chesterfield Factory) was\r\nestablished January 12, 1828.  The postmasters at this village have\r\nbeen as follows: George S. Root (1828), Horatio N. Chandler (1835),\r\nSamuel Burt Jr (1838), Bela Chase (1841), Samuel Burt (1844),\r\nDavid W. Beckley (1850), Samuel Burt (1854), David W. Beckley (1861),\r\nand James C. Farwell (1866).\r\n  The post office at the West village (West Chesterfield) was\r\nestablished April 17, 1866 at which time James H. Ford was\r\ncommissioned postmaster.  He held the office til Nov 1870.  Since\r\nDecember 19, 1870, Emory H Colburn has been postmaster at this\r\nvillage.\r\n\r\nPHYSICIANS--The following are the names of some of the physicians\r\nwho have practiced their profession in Chesterfield for longer or\r\nshorter periods: Dr. Elkanah Day, 1767 (or earlier) til --;\r\nDr. Moses Ellis, before 1787; Dr. Samuel King, 1785 (or earlier)\r\ntill --; Dr. Solomon Harvey about 1775-1821 (or later); Dr. --\r\nBarnard, about 1779; Dr. Joshua Tyler, from between 1776 and 1781\r\ntill 1807; Dr. Oliver Atherton, from about 1787 till 1812; Dr.\r\nPrescott Hall, about 1806; Dr. James R. Grow, about 1812; Dr. Oliver\r\nBaker, 1809-40; Dr. George Farrington, 1814-16; Dr. Joshua Converse,\r\n-- to 1833; Dr. Jason Farr, several years previous to 1825; Dr.\r\nJerry Lyons 1814-25; Dr. Philip Hall, a number of years previous to\r\n1828; Dr. Harvey Carpenter 1827 or 1828 till 1852; Dr. John P. Warren,\r\n1842-44; Dr. Algernon Sidney Carpenter 1841; Dr. John O. French,\r\nabout ten years from 1844 or 1845; Dr. John F. Butler, 1854 to the\r\npresent time; Dr. Daniel F. Randall, 1855 to the present time; Dr.\r\nWillie G. Cain, August 1884 to the present time.\r\n  Dr. George Farrington died in Chesterfield July 29, 1816, aged\r\n47 years.  His epitaph is found on his gravestone in the old town\r\nburying ground at the Centre village [epitaph not included here, but\r\nfound in original document].\r\n  DR. JOHN F. BUTLER is the son of Jonathan and Martha (Russell) Butler\r\nof Marlow, and was born June 14, 1831; graduated at the Harvard Medical\r\nSchool March 1854, and came to Chesterfield the next April.  In the\r\nSpring of 1864 he joined the Thirty-ninth Regiment Massachusetts\r\nVolunteers as assistant surgeon, and served till the war closed,\r\nwhen he returned to Chesterfield.  He married, in 1857, Julia, daughter\r\nof Rev. Silas Quimby of Lebanon, and who died AUgust 19, 1861. In\r\n1863 he married Celia A., daughter of John L. Brewster, of Lowell MA.\r\n  DR. DANIEL F. RANDALL has resided in Chesterfield since 1855,\r\nengaged in the practice of his profession.  He was born May 24, 1829,\r\nand is the son of Menzias R. Randall MD, a veteran physician of\r\nRehoboth, Mass. He graduated at the medical school in Woodstock, Vt.\r\nin 1852, and settled in this town in 1855, where he has ever since\r\nresided.  He married Miss Amelia C. French of Berkley, Mass.\r\n\r\nLAWYERS--\r\nHON. PHINEAS HANDERSON was probably the first lawyer who practiced\r\nhis profession in Chesterfield.  His office was at the Centre village,\r\nwhere he resided from 1805 or 1806 until 1833, when he removed to\r\nKeene.\r\n  HON. LARKIN G. MEAD, who read law with Mr. Handerson, also practiced\r\nin this town till 1839, when he removed to Brattleborough Vt.\r\n  CHARLES C. WEBSTER, Esq., late of keene, practiced law in\r\nChesterfield from July 1839 to January 1846.\r\n  HON. HARVEY CARLTON, now of Winchester, engaged in the practice of\r\nlaw in this town from 1841 to 1854.\r\n  ALLEN P. DUDLEY, Esq. now of San Francisco, CA, practiced law in\r\nChesterfield a while previous to 1855, about which time he removed\r\nto California.\r\n  WILLIAM L. DUDLEY, Esq., commenced the practice of law in this\r\ntown in 1846, but removed to California in 1849, and resides at\r\npresent in Stockton, engaged in the practice of his profession.\r\n\r\nSPAFFORD'S LAKE AS A SUMMER RESORT--A brief description of Spafford's\r\nLake has been given in another place.  Thought it had been for many\r\nyears a favorite resort for local fisherman and the students of the\r\nacademy, and had occasionally been visited by pleasure-seekers from\r\nabroad, it was not till within the past twelve years that any\r\nmeasures were taken to establish a hotel, boat-house, cottages, etc.,\r\nfor the accomodation of persons who desire to withdraw from the\r\nnoise and tumult of the \"madding crowd,\" and spend a few weeks in the\r\nquietness of the country.... \"Captain Bulky\" was the nickname of\r\nthe captain who is said to have put the first sail-boat on this\r\nlake.\" Ezekiel P. Pierce Sr., had a sail boat\r\non this lake, sometimes manned by an experience seaman, used more or\r\nless by sailing-parties for several years.  Pierce's Island, too,\r\nhas been for a long time a resort for students and others who\r\ndesire to enjoy camp-life for a few days at a time...\r\n  In 1873 the PROSPECT HOUSE, as mentioned in another place, was\r\nbuilt by John W. Herrick, of Keene, and was designed for the\r\naccomodation of persons who might come to the lake seeking health\r\nor pleasure.\r\n  The boat-house on the southern shore of the lake, was finished in\r\n1875.  Near it are a skating-rink, dining hall, lodging-house, etc.,\r\nnow managed by Frank H. Farr, as is also the boat-house.\r\n  On the southern and western shores are pretty extensive picnic-\r\ngrounds.  On the west of the lake Lucius Thatcher has a large\r\nstable for horses, a lodging-house, restaurant and skating-rink.\r\n  A number of individuals have also erected private cottages near\r\nthe lake, which are occupied most of the time during the hot season.\r\n  The little steamer, \"Enterprise,\" the construction of which was\r\nmainly due to the efforts of John W. White, was finished in 1876.\r\n\"Her model was drafted by D.J. Lawlor, of East Boston, Mass. Her\r\nlength is 40 feet, breadth of beam 15 feet, depth of hold 4 feet,\r\ndraft 28 inches, diameter of propellor-wheeler 32 inches. Her\r\nengine is of 8 horse-power, boiler of 12 horse-power.  Her carrying\r\ncapacity is about 125 persons, though upon occasion as many as 150\r\nhave been on board at a single trip.\"\r\n  No serious accident has occurred on or about the lake since it\r\nhas become popular as a resort, except the drowning of the musicians\r\nConly and Reitzel.\r\n  In the afternoon of Friday, the 26th day of May 1882, George A.\r\nConly, basso, and Herman Reitzel, pianist, of Clara Louise Kellogg's\r\nconcert company, were drowned in the lake while rowing for pleasure.\r\nThese gentlemen, with others, came over from Brattleborough, where the\r\ncompany had an engagement to give a concert in the evening of the\r\nnext day.  Having procured a boat at F.H. Farr's boat-house, Conly\r\nand Reitzel started out, leaving the rest of the party on land, and\r\nwere last seen by the latter off the northern point of the island.\r\nNot having returned at the proper time, fears were entertained for\r\ntheir safety, as a strong southerly wind was blowing, and the waves\r\nwere running pretty high.  Search was consequently made for them,\r\nand their boat found bottom upwards; but not till the next day was\r\nunmistakeable evidence obtained that they had been drowned. Vigorous\r\nefforts were then made to recover the bodies of the unfortunate men,\r\nby dredging, by firing a cannon, by exploding dynamite cartridges\r\nin the lake, and by the employment of various other devices.\r\n  The bodies were not found, however, till they rose, Reitzel's\r\nbeing discovered floating Wednesday forenoon, the 7th day of the\r\nfollowing June, and Conly's Wednesday morning, the 14th day of the\r\nsame month.  The latter was without coat or shoes, and had evidently\r\nmade a desperate effort to save his own, and perhaps his companion's\r\nlife.  The place of the disaster seems to have been about sixty rods\r\nnortheast of the northern point of the island.  Mr. Conly was a native\r\nof Southwark, now part of Philadelphia, and was 37 years old;\r\nMr. Reitzel was a native of New York, and was only nineteen years old.\r\n\r\nAGED PERSONS--The following is probably an incomplete list of the\r\npersons who have died in Chesterfield at an age of ninety years or\r\nmore.\r\nMrs. Mary Hamilton, December 16, 1842, aged ninety.\r\nMrs. Lydia Cheney, April 4, 1849, aged ninety.\r\nMrs. Orpha Presho, April 17, 1856, aged ninety.\r\nThomas Dunham, March 20, 1870, aged ninety.\r\nMrs. Sarah Johnson, December 31, 1837, aged ninety.\r\nMrs. Sally Hinds, August 24, 1864, aged ninety.\r\nAsa Fullam, December 14, 1870, aged ninety.\r\nMrs. Persis Dudley, January 13, 1885, aged ninety.\r\nMrs. Judith Tyler, August 11, 1854, aged ninety-one.\r\nElisha Rockwood, February 13, 1832, aged ninety-one.\r\nMrs. Betsey Smith, January 26, 1863, aged ninety-one.\r\nMrs. Sophia Day, November 11, 1883, aged ninety-one.\r\nMrs. Grata Thomas, August 4, 1884, aged ninety-one\r\nSamuel Hamilton, October 19, 1878, aged ninety-one.\r\nJonathan Cressy, April 26, 1824, aged ninety-one.\r\nMrs. Polly Spaulding, February 22, 1885, aged ninety-one (very nearly)\r\nMrs. Mary Putnam, January 30, 1830, aged ninety-two.\r\nStephen Streeter Sr., March 11, 1845, aged ninety-two\r\nWilliam Clark Sr., February 19, 1849, aged ninety-two\r\nAmos Crouch, August 18, 1861, aged ninety-two.\r\nMrs. Submit Sanderson, June 27, 1822, aged ninety-three\r\nEbenezer Robertson, April 22, 1882, aged ninety-four\r\nNathaniel Bacon, September 10, 1823, aged ninety-five\r\nMrs. Mary Titus, May 7, 1845, aged ninety-five\r\nMrs. Clarissa Norcross, March 30, 1877, aged ninety-five.\r\nMrs. Rachel Jackson, March 12, 1836, aged ninety-six.\r\nTimothy Ladd, August 30, 1834, aged ninety-six\r\nJohn Butler, September 10, 1883, aged ninety-seven\r\nMrs. Esther Faulkner, November 29, 1876, aged one hundred and one\r\nyears, one month, seven days.\r\nMrs. Sarah Draper, December 19, 1863, aged one hundred and one\r\nyears, five months, sixteen days.\r\nMrs. Hannah Bailey, November 1822, aged one hundred and four years,\r\nthree months.\r\n-The oldest person now living in the town is Mrs. Sophronia (Mann)\r\nPierce, born in Smithfield, R.I. June 14, 1785.\r\n\r\nCIVIL LIST\r\nTOWN CLERKS OF CHESTERFIELD (1770-1885)\r\n[not all in original document included here]\r\nEphraim Baldwin 1770-1784\r\nJacob Amidon 1785-1799\r\nSolomon Harvey 1800-1817\r\nAbraham Wood Jr 1818-1833\r\nGeorge H. Fitch 1834-1835\r\nOscar Coolidge 1836-1838\r\nNelson W. Herrick 1839-1842\r\nWarham R. Platts 1843-1844\r\nSumner Warren 1845\r\nHarvey Carpenter 1846-1848\r\nJohn O. French 1849-1852\r\n\r\nSELECTMEN OF CHESTERFIELD (1767-1885)\r\n[not all in original document included here]\r\n1767-Simon Davis, John Snow, Jonathan Hildreth, Eleazer Cobleigh,\r\nEbenezer Davison\r\n1768-69 no record\r\n1770-Jonathan Hildreth, Silas Thompson, Elkanah Day, Thomas Emmons,\r\nNathaniel Bingham\r\n1771-Moses Smith, David Stoddard, Timothy Ladd\r\n1772-same as in 1771\r\n1773-Zerubbabel Snow, Ephraim Baldwin, Martin Warner\r\n1774-same as in 1773\r\n1775-Nathaniel Bingham, Ephraim Hubbard, Stephen Carter, Moses Smith\r\nJr., John Davison\r\n1776-Ephraim Baldwin, Michael Cressey, Samuel Hildreth, Moses Smith\r\nJr., Ephraim Hubbard\r\n1777-Samuel Fairbanks, Elisha Rockwood, James Robertson, Nathaniel\r\nBingham, Jonathan Farr 2d\r\n1778-Samuel Hildreth, Moses Smith, Abner Johnson, Kimball Carlton,\r\nJacob Hinds\r\n1779-Jonathan Hildreth, Oliver Cobleigh, Warren Snow\r\n1780-Michael Cressey, Elisha Rockwood, Andrew Hastings\r\n1781-Moses Smith Jr., Abner Johnson, Samuel King [Jr.]\r\n1872-Samuel King [Jr.], Jonas Fairbanks, Abner Johnson, Moses Smith,\r\nEleazer Jackson\r\n1783-Ebenezer Harvey, Eleazer Pomeroy, Eleazer Jackson, Captain --\r\nDavis, Lieut. -- Fletcher\r\n1784-Benjamin Haskell, Peter Stone, Amos Hubbard\r\n1785-Paul Eager, Jacob Amidon, Reuben Graves\r\n1786-Martin Warner, William Hildreth, Ezra Day\r\n1787-Eleazer Jackson, Michael Cressey, Benjamin Haskell\r\n1788-Eleazer Jackson, Benjamin Haskell, Silas Richardson\r\n1789-Moses Smith, Abner Johnson, Solomon Harvey\r\n1790-1791 same as in 1789\r\n1792-Solomon Harvey, John Braley, James Wheeler\r\n1793&amp;1794-Eleazer Jackson, Peter Stone, Silas Richardson\r\n1795-Eleazer Jackson, Silas Richardson, Asahel Shurtleff\r\n1796-Eleazer Jackson, Silas Richardson, David Stoddard\r\n1797-Michael Cressey, Jacob Amidon, Abraham Stearns\r\n1798&amp;1799-Joseph Atherton, Benjamin Haskell, Oliver Brown\r\n1800-Eleazer Jackson, James Wheeler, Asahel Shurtleff\r\n1801-James Wheeler, Asahel Shurtleff, Joseph Pattridge\r\n1802-Martin Pomeroy, Joseph Pattridge, John Day\r\n1803-Joseph Pattridge, John Day, Ebenezer Harvey\r\n\r\nREPRESENTATIVES OF CHESTERFIELD IN THE GENERAL COURT (1775-1885)\r\n[Only a partial listing shown here]\r\n1775. Archb. Robertson.\r\n1776, 1777, 1778. Michael Cressey.\r\n1779. Nath. Bingham.\r\n1780. None chosen\r\n1781. No rep in the NH legislature, but Saml King Jr. and Silas\r\nThompson represented the town in the Vermont assembly.\r\n1782, 1783, 1784. Samuel King [Jr.]\r\n1785. Ebenezer Harvey.\r\n1786, 1787, 1788. Moses Smith\r\n1789. Benjamin Haskell.\r\n1790, 1791. Moses Smith\r\n1792, 1793. Eleazer Jackson\r\n1794, 1795, 1796. Simon Willard\r\n1797. Eleazer Jackson\r\n1798. Simon Willard\r\n1799, 1800. Benjamin Haskell.\r\n1801, 1802, 1803, 1804, 1805, 1806, 1807. Simon Willard\r\n1808, 1809. 1810 1811. Levi Jackson\r\n1812, 1813. Phin. Handerson.\r\n1814. Benjamin Cook\r\n1815, Benjamin Cook, Phin. Handerson\r\n1816. Benjamin Cook, John Putnam\r\n1817. John Putnam, Joseph Atherton.\r\n1818. John Putnam, John Kneeland\r\n1819. John Kneeland, Benjamin Cook.\r\n1820. John Kneeland\r\n1821. Levi Jackson\r\n1822. John Kneeland\r\n1823 &amp; 1824. Ebenezer Stearns\r\n1825. John Kneeland\r\n1826. John Putnam\r\n1827. Ezekiel P. Pierce\r\n1828 &amp; 1829. Orlo Richardson\r\n1830. None chosen\r\n1833, 1834, 1835 Otis Amidon\r\n1836, 1837. Charles Converse\r\n1838. Otis Amidon\r\n1840, 1841. Oscar Coolidge, Ara Hamilton\r\n1842 Jay Jackson, Edwin Sargent\r\n1843. Ara Hamilton\r\n1844. Jay Jackson, Nathaniel Walton\r\n1845. Ara Hamilton, John Pierce\r\n1846. Nathaniel Walton, Saml. J. Pattridge\r\n1847. None chosen\r\n1848 Harvey Carpenter\r\n1849. Alpheus Snow, John Harris\r\n1850. John Harris, David Day\r\n\r\nDELEGATES FROM CHESTERFIELD TO THE CONVENTIONS FOR REVISING THE\r\nCONSTITUTION OF THE STATE (NH)\r\nIn 1791, Eleazer Jackson; in 1850 Ara Hamilton and Moses Dudley,\r\nin 1876, Jay Jackson.  Dr. Solomon Harvey was the delegate from\r\nChesterfield to the convention that adopted the Federal Constitution\r\nin 1788.\r\n\r\nSUPERVISORS OF THE CHECKLIST (not included here)\r\n\r\nMEMBERS OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE SENATE FROM CHESTERFIELD:\r\nLevi Jackson 1812, 1813, 1814, 1815\r\nPhineas Handerson, 1816, 1817, 1825, 1831, 1832\r\nNathan Wild, 1833, 1834\r\nMurray Davis, 1885\r\nLevi Jackson was also a member of the Council in 1816 and 1817\r\n\r\n**************\r\nBIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES\r\n**************\r\n\r\nJACOB AMIDON, born in Mendon, Mass, in 1753 or 1754, was in college\r\nat the time of the commencement of the Revolution, but soon enlisted\r\nin the patriot army and served during the most of the war, with the\r\nexception of twenty-eight months, during which time he was detained\r\na prisoner on a British prison-ship.\r\n  December 23, 1782, he purchased in Chesterfield a portion of lot\r\nNo. 5, in the eighth range, and probably settled in the town soon\r\nafterwards.  He resided near the Centre village, on the farm afterwards\r\nowned and occupied many years by his son Otis, and built the house\r\nnow owned by the Methodist Society of Chesterfield, and used as a\r\nparsonage.  He probably engaged in trade for a while after coming to\r\nChesterfield, as he was styled, in the deed of the land he had\r\npurchased in this town, a \"trader.\"  In 1785 he was chosen clerk of the\r\ntown, and held the office, by successive elections until 1800.  He\r\nwas also selectman in 1785 and 1797.\r\n  His wife was Esther, daughter of Timothy Ladd.  She died March 26,\r\n1852, in her ninetieth year.  He died February 11, 1839, aged\r\neighty-five years.\r\n  OTIS AMIDON, son of Jacob Amidon, born April 26, 1794, [note one\r\ngenealogy states he was born March 6, 1825] settled in\r\nChesterfield, after his marriage, on the old homestead, and continued\r\nto reside here as long as he lived, engaging in some extent in\r\nagriculture, and, for a while, in trade at the Centre village. For\r\nmany years he took a prominent part in the affairs of the town and\r\nchurch, serving the former in the capacity of selectman in 1828, 1829,\r\n1830 and 1831, and representing it in the General COurt in 1833,\r\n1834, 1835, 1838 and 1856.  For a long time also, he held the office\r\nof justice of the peace, the duties of which he was well qualified to\r\nperform, and was one of the veteran \"Squires\" of the town.\r\n  He married, in 1825, Nancy, daughter of Benjamin Cook, and had only\r\none son that lived to adult age--Hon. Charles J. Amidon, now of\r\nHinsdale. He died July 22, 1866.\r\n\r\nEPHRAIM AMIDON, from Oxford, Mass, came to Westmoreland previous to\r\n1777, and located on a farm now owned by his grandson, Ephraim. He\r\nmarried Jane Robbins, reared ten children--Hephzibah, Matilda, Abigail,\r\nEbenezer, Noah, Polly, Salome, Nathaniel, Jane and Ephraim--and died\r\nMarch 21, 1822, aged seventy-three years.  Squire, son of Nathaniel,\r\nnow resides in this town, off road 2.  Elijah, son of Ephraim, 3d,\r\nresides on road 40.  Charles L., son of Squire, resides on road 21.\r\nOther descendants reside in different parts of town.\r\n\r\nJOSEPH ATHERTON, son of Oliver Atherton, of Harvard [or Howard], Mass.,\r\nand a descendant of James Atherton, of Milton, Mass., was born August\r\n15, 1750.  He married in 1771, Hannah Farnsworth of Groton, Mass.\r\nJune 28, 1794 he purchased, in Chesterfield, lots Nos. 11 and 12, in\r\nthe fourth range, and soon after settled on one of them.  The hill\r\non which he lived, and on which he built a large dwelling house,\r\nis now called \"Atherton Hill.\" He was selectman in 1798, 1799, 1809,\r\n1811 and representative in 1817.  He died April 4, 1839, \"honored\r\nand respected by his neighbors and townsmen.\" His eight children were\r\nNathaniel, Oliver, Arathusa, Sally, Humphrey, Fanny, Rachel and Lucy.\r\nWilliam, son of Nathaniel, born December 18, 1826, married Hannah M.\r\nPierce, and resided on road 13.  Maria, daughter of Oliver, resided\r\non road 28.\r\n\r\nDR. OLIVER BAKER, son of Dr. Oliver Baker, born in Plainfield\r\nAugust 16, 1788, studied medicine in the Medical Department of\r\nDartmouth College, under Dr. Nathan Smith.  In 1809 he settled in\r\nChesterfield, where he practiced his profession till 1840. He then\r\nremoved to West Harford, Vt., where he remained about two years.\r\nHe afterwards practiced in Plainfield, and in Windsor, Vt. He died\r\nat his daughter's home in Plainfield, July 4, 1865.\r\n\r\nEPHRAIM BALDWIN was in Chesterfield in 1763, in which year he bought\r\nland in this town.  He was town clerk from 1770 to 1785, and\r\nselectman in 1773, 1774, 1776.  He was also, for some time, justice\r\nof the peace.  His name appears for the last time on the tax-lists\r\nfor 1790. (for an account of his citation before the New Hampshire\r\nAssembly, for alleged Toryism, see under \"War of the Rebellion.\")\r\n\r\nJOHN H. BARRETT was born November 8, 1789, and came to Chesterfield\r\nin 1851.  He married Charlotte Thomas of Hinsdale, who bore him\r\nfour children--Shubael, Miranda, Julia and George W., The latter came\r\nhere in 1851 and now resides on road 37.\r\n\r\nWILLIAM BENNETT  married Sally Pierce and came from Harvard, Mass\r\nabout 1788, settling near Chesterfield line in the southern part of\r\nWestmoreland, near the farm which George Bennett owned.  He was a\r\nRevolutionary soldier and was at the battle of Lexington. His grandson,\r\nGeorge Bennett had in his possession a bullet which his grandfather\r\nmade. Tradition says he run the bullet and passed it to the soldier\r\nwho stood beside him, which killed the first British officer in the\r\nRevolutionary war.\r\n  WILLIAM BENNETT 2d, born in Westmoreland, married for his first\r\nwife in 1807, Catharine Smith, born July 9, 1782, and who bore him\r\nthree children, Edon, Eliza and Caroline. He married for his second\r\nwife, Rhoda, daughter of Caleb Howe, who bore him eight children,\r\nnamely--Catharine S., William, Shubael, Holland, Cordelia, Sally,\r\nJotham, and Lucy.\r\n  WILLIAM BENNETT 3d, born in Westmoreland, September 1, 1817, married\r\nAugust 18, 1841, Caroline W. Fisk, who was born December 10, 1820. She\r\nwas the daughter of Aaron Fisk.  The latter settled in Chesterfield at\r\nan early age, on the hill west of the lake. William Bennett 3d has\r\none child, Angeline M., born March 15, 1846 and who married David H.\r\nPierce, a merchant of Chesterfield, and who lived in Fitchburg, Mass.\r\nMr. Bennett attended common schools and Chesterfield Academy. He\r\ntaught school winters and worked on his father's farm. He held a\r\ncommission in the militia, attaining a rank of colonel under\r\nMajor-Gen. E.P. Pierce Jr. He held the office of justice of the peace.\r\nHe was a farmer and owned a large tract of land, including three\r\nnice farms.\r\n\r\nNATHANIEL BINGHAM appears to have settled in Chesterfield as early as\r\n1767.  In the deed of the land purchased by him in this town he\r\nwas styled a \"cooper.\"  He lived on Wetherbee Hill, a short distance\r\nnorth of the Centre village.  He was selectman in 1770, 1775, and\r\n1777; representative in 1779 (For an account of his arrest and\r\nimprisonment by Vermont officers, etc., see under \"Controversy about\r\nthe New Hampshire Grants in the original document).  He died April 26,\r\n1802, in his seventy-seventh year.\r\n\r\nASA BRITTON, born in Raynham, Mass, April 30, 1763, son of Ebenezer\r\nand Sarah (Bullock) Britton.  In 1771 with his father's family he\r\nmoved to Westmoreland NH where his early youth was passed, and here in 1788 he married Sally, eldest daughter of Major Leonard Keep, a son\r\nof Experience (Lawrence) and Capt. Jabez Keep. Early in their married\r\nlife the young couple removed to Lansingburg NY where they buried\r\ntheir eldest son, soon after returning and settling on a farm in\r\nChesterfield, about 1790 or 1791, near Spafford's Lake. From this farm\r\nMr. Britton removed to Chesterfield village about the year 1805,\r\nwhere for many years he was an active, energetic business man,\r\nmerchant, sheriff, farmer, postmaster and justice of the peace. His\r\nbusiness career was a successful one, and he acquired what in the\r\ncountry, in those early days, was considered a large proprty, which\r\nhe enjoyed, and bestowed freely upon others, until past middle age.\r\nSoon after the year 1815 he met with business reverses, caused by the\r\nabsconding of two successive partners.  Old Mrs. Britton, in after-days\r\nused to tell with much gusto a story connected with this fact. Mr.\r\nBritton, or \"Esquire Britton,\" as he was called, was a tall, large\r\nman, weighing perhaps two hundred pounds, and his success, of course,\r\nmade him enemies as well as friends.  On the occasion of the\r\ndecamping of the second of his partners, while the village was\r\nringing with the news of the gutten store and money-box, a party of\r\ngamins, instigated by the enemy, set the church-bell also ringing,\r\nand above the noise and confusion of the crowd, which the sound of the\r\nbell at that unusual hour had collected, was heard the cry, even\r\nlouder and louder, \"Great Britton has fallen! Great Britton has\r\nfallen!\"  Mr. Britton died in Chesterfield, June 30, 1849.\r\n  Of Mr. Britton's four children, three grew to maturity--Sarah, Laura, George and Asa. Sarah born June 28, 1791 married January 1815, ASA\r\nKEYS, then of Putney, Vt., later of Brattleboro, who graduated at\r\nDartmouth in 1810, taught Chesterfield academy two years, studied law\r\nin Boston and became a prominent lawyer and citizen of Brattleboro. One\r\ndaughter married Judge Royal Tyler of Brattleboro. Another married Dr.\r\nF.N. Palmer of Boston, Mass.  A son, Judge George N. Keyes died in\r\nCalifornia in 1878. Laura, born 1796 married April 1827 Josiah W.\r\nFairfield of Hudson NY a graduate of Dartmouth, a preceptor of\r\nChesterfield Academy, a lawyer, a wealthy and influential man.  Their\r\nonly daughter, SARAH died at 21. George B., the oldest of their two sons, was a prominent business man of Hudson, N.Y. The second son,\r\nWilliam, became a judge of the circuit court in Iowa, and both brothers\r\ndied within a few years.  Mrs. Fairfield died in 1864. George, who\r\nstudied law went West and settled in Galena, IL where he died about\r\n1830. Asa Britton died in Chesterfield, June 30, 1849.  Mrs. Britton\r\ndied at the house of her daughter in Brattleboro October 19, 1859\r\nand both were buried in Westmoreland NH.\r\n\r\nCAPT. WILLIAM S. BROOKS, born in Medford, Mass, March 5, 1781, went\r\non a voyage at sea with his uncle at the age of nine years.  He was\r\nin France during the French Revolution, and also at the time Napoleon\r\nthe First was at the height of his power.  Once, when in the Cove of\r\nCork, he was pressed into the English navy, and served six months\r\nin the royal frigate, \"Diamond.\" At another time, while cruising in\r\nthe England Channel, he was captured twice in one day--first by\r\nthe English and then by the French.  By the latter he was retained in\r\nprison six months, a part of which time was occupied in making sails\r\nfor French ships.  On his return from France, President John Adams\r\nappointed him lieutenant in the navy, which office he declined.  He\r\nwas engaged for some time in commerce, as commander of a merchant-\r\nvessle, at a period when the American flag did not always command of\r\nforeign nations the respect that it now does, and many were the\r\nadventures and \"hair-breadth 'scapes\" that he used to relate in the\r\nlatter years of his life.\r\n  On retiring from the sea, he settled at Cambridge, Mass, where he\r\nwas postmaster four years.  In August, 1821, he came to Chesterfield,\r\nand engaged in the manufacture of cotton goods at Factory village,\r\nin which business he continued till 1850. In 1839, however, he\r\nremoved to Brattleborough, but still retained his connection with the\r\nfactory.  He married, 20 June 1807, Eleanor Forman, of Middletown, N.J.\r\nHe died in Brattleborough Vt April 1865. He died in Brattleboro in\r\nApril 1865. His seven children were--William, Horace, Ellen M.,\r\nGeorge J., Francis W., Mary E., and Lucy T.  George J. built and still\r\nowns, the well known Brooks House of Brattleboro.\r\n  FRANCIS W. BROOKS, who died at Brattleboro Vt Feb 5, 1885, was born\r\nin Boston May 14, 1821 during the residence of his parents in that\r\ncity.  The following August the family removed to Chesterfield.  About\r\n1839 \"Frank\" went to Putney where he was a clerk of Mr. P.R. Chandler,\r\nnow of Chicago.  After a few years spent here he went to New York city\r\nas a clerk in the large mercantile house of Pierce &amp; Brooks. Due to\r\nhis health, he was send on a voyage to Europe where he spent some\r\ntime.  In the fall of 1844 he went to Alabama to settle a bankrupt\r\nestate.  There he met Mr. N.F. Cabot, who he entered into business\r\nwith in the firm of Cabot, Tullis &amp; Co. in the city of Wetumpka.\r\nAfter the firm dissolved a few years later, he came north, and then\r\nwent to San Francisco to become a member of the firm George J. Brooks\r\n&amp; Co. (a large paper business established by George J. Brooks).\r\nOn June 20, 1855 he married Miss Matilda C. Smith of New York, and\r\nthey had 4 surviving daughters: Catharine Ritter, born in NYC\r\n8 June 1859 and married in Brattleboro 25 Sep 1883 to Oscar Azor\r\nMarshall; Matilda, born in San Francisco CA 29 Aug 1860; Alice Medora\r\nborn in San Francisco 26 Nov 1863; and Mabel b in Brattleboro Vt\r\n12 May 1869. Eight children in all were born to them, two of whom were\r\nsons.  One son died on a steamer voyage from Panama in 1865.\r\n\r\nJOHN F. BUTLER is the youngest of the children of Jonathan and Martha\r\n(Russell) Butler, and was born in Marlow, June 14, 1831. His father,\r\nwho was a farmer, died when John was 12 yrs of age, leaving him\r\nchiefly to his own efforts to provide the means of his support and\r\neducation, which he accomplished by jobbing, teaching district and\r\nwriting schools during his vacations, recieiving also substantial aid\r\nfrom the best of mothers. He received his preliminary training in the\r\ndistrict school and at Marlow academy, \"Tubb's Union,\" at Washington,\r\nand under the private instruction of Prof. Wood of Marlow, and was\r\nfitted to enter college when about 19 years of age. He then\r\nreluctantly decided not to pursue a collegiate course, and commenced\r\nthe study of medicine with Dr. Marshall Perkins, of Marlow, attending\r\na course of medical lectures at Dartmouth college in 1852, and in 1853\r\nentered Fremont medical school in Boston, Mass., visiting the hospitals\r\nin and around the city daily. In the ensuing winter he attended a\r\ncourse of lectures, and graduated in the spring of 1854, from the\r\nmedical department of Harvard university. He commenced the practice of\r\nmedicine and surgery at Chesterfield Factory where he was actively\r\nengaged in his profession. December 17, 1857 he married Julia Quimby,\r\ndaughter of Rev. Silas Quimby, of Lebanon NH. She died August 19,\r\n1861, followed in a few weeks by her infant son, Arthur.  January 17,\r\n1863 he married Celia A. Brewster, of Lowell, Mass. Both ladies were\r\neducated at Tilton seminary, and were persons of refinement and worth.\r\nDuring the Crimean war, soon after he commenced the practice of his\r\nprofession, he was offered the appointment of surgeon in the medical\r\nstaff of the Russian army, by the Russian ambassador to the United\r\nStates, but declined the service. In the spring of 1864 he was\r\ncommissioned by Gov. Andrews Asst. Surgeon of the 39th Regt., Mass.\r\nVols., of the 5th Army Corps, then moving on Richmond through the\r\nWildnerness, and joined his regiment before Petersburg, Va, serving in\r\nthe field till the war closed, being present at the surrender of\r\nGeneral Lee and his army at Appomattox.  He was also for a time acting\r\nsurgeon of the 16th Regt. Me. Vols., and surgeon in charge of the\r\n88th Regt., Penn Vols. In politics he is a decided Democrat. At the\r\nannual election in 1874, his fellow-townsmen elected him representative\r\nto the general court, and re-elected him in 1875. During his 34 years\r\nof medical practice in Chesterfield Factory and vicinity...\r\n\r\nJAMES BURT, the paternal grandfather of Samuel Burt, sailed from\r\nLondon, England, April 1635 for the Barbadoes, in the \"Falcon de\r\nLondon,\" Thomas Irish, master.  He was in Newport in 1639; surveyor\r\nin Taunton in 1645; and one of a company making the \"Dighton purchase\"\r\nthat year.  He took the oath of fidelity in 1657, and was entitled to\r\ndivisions of land.  His will was proved March 2, 1681.  His wife,\r\nAnnie, died August 17, 1668.  Richard, his brother, was one of the\r\nforty-six persons who made the \"Taunton Purchase,\" in 1637 to be\r\n\"eight miles square, liberal measure.\" He died previous to October\r\n26, 1747; on that day his minor son, Richard chose his uncle,\r\nJames Burt, for his guardian, and the court at Plymouth confirmed his\r\nchoice.  The mother of these brothers was said to have dance for\r\nexpression of joy, on setting foot upon American soil.\r\n  HENRY-4 BURT is still held in remembrance as a man of superior\r\njudgement, whose voice, when any local question agitated every voter,\r\nwas said to carry the town.  Three of four generations of them are\r\nburied in Oakland Cemetery, Taunton Mass.\r\n SAMUEL BURT (Henry-4, Thomas-3, James-2, James-1) was born in\r\nTaunton, Mass, November 20, 1760.  He married Olive, daughter of George\r\nand Alvia Lincoln, born December 19, 1761, and in 1787 settled in\r\nWestmoreland NH near the southern line. His brother, Henry-5, married\r\n-- Strobridge settling upon either side of him, Mr. Strobridge's farm\r\nbeing in Chesterfield, near the Westmoreland line.  The descendants\r\nof Henry still live upon the same farm.  Mrs. Strobridge left no\r\nchildren.  She cherished her family name, and was a Christian woman.\r\nShe died February 1852.  Samuel Burt first lived in a small log house.\r\nHe carried his grain to mill on his back, on foot-paths, over the\r\nhills.  As a substantial man he kept pace with growth and improvement..\r\nhe possessed a keen sense of justice, was faithful to his obligations,\r\nthinking more of the inner sense of right than \"praise of man.\" His\r\npure and unselfish life led him to a tranquil old age, made more\r\npleasurable to his friends by reason of his industry, good eyesight,\r\nand ardent love of reading and recounting the scenes of his youth...\r\nHe died November 3, 1850. Mrs. Burt died July 26, 1843.  Their\r\nchildren were--Naomi, Samuel, Willard and Betsey.\r\n  SAMUEL-6 (Samuel-5) BURT whose portrait appears in this book, was\r\nborn in Westmoreland November 5, 1790. He married Betsey, daughter of\r\nJosiah Jr. and Lena (Holbrook) PENNIMAN, born in Mendon, Mass,\r\nApril 2, 1798.  He settled on the road where William Atherton now\r\nlives. In the spring of 1837 he bought the farm where Rodney Fletcher\r\nnow lives, west of the village, where he lived until the spring of\r\n1845, when he purchased of D.S. Walton, what is now Walter Wheeler's\r\nhotel, residing there 22 years.  In the spring of 1867 he sold the\r\nsame to Sanford Guernsey, removing to the north side of the village and\r\noccupying part of his son Daniel's house, and there on the evening of\r\nMarch 21, 1868, he passed away.  They had two sons and seven daughters.\r\nMrs. Burt was an intelligent, self-denying woman, and to make others\r\nhappy was the counterpart of her life.  She died the day the Union\r\nmeeting-house was raised, July 30, 1853, followed August 10, by\r\nAugust M., born July 30, 1830 and September 14 by Jane A., born\r\nAugust 2, 1831.  Mr. Burt was a man who sought substantial comforts\r\nrather than pomp or show; was characterized for integrity, a staunch\r\nfriend, making others welcome to his home, where beneath its rafters\r\nthe needy were sheltered and the poor fed.  He was a squire for a long\r\nterm of years, postmaster about 15 years, holding other offices of\r\ntrust. Eliza L., the oldest daughter, born May 7, 1819 married\r\nJune 1, 1842, Milo, son of Nathaniel Walton of Chesterfield. They lived\r\none year in Boston MA, two in Houghton Me, where he engaged in\r\nmercantile business.  His health failing in 1845, he removed to\r\nAmity, engaged in agricultural and horticulture. The people bestowed\r\nupon him their various offices, and he united a number in marriage.\r\nHe died May 22, 1854.  Mrs. Walton died December 2, 1871. We quote\r\nfrom her obituary: \"All the knowledge that could be found in books was\r\nbrought to bear upon the soil. It is to her enterprise and industry,\r\nthat nearly all the farms in this section are to-day indebted for\r\ntheir orchards. Her life, though filled with accomplishments, was\r\na short one. For the art her husband loved so well, for the sake of\r\nher children, she spent the remainder of her life in ministering to\r\nothers. We feel that we, as a town, are mourners, and the county whose\r\ntrue benefactress she was.\" They left two sons and one daughter.\r\nChristiana A. Burt, born October 5, 1820 married April 12, 1847,\r\nWilliam A. Barnes of Swanzey, for several years a resident of\r\nChesterfield Factory, where he manufactured cotton goods.  His mills\r\nwere burned, and after a few months in Springfield, Mass, they\r\nmoved to Newton Township, in the northeastern part of Wisconsin in\r\n1851, when that country was sparsely settled, making the last hundred\r\nmiles with a \"sober ox team.\" They opened their house for a school,\r\nand their influence was potent in adjusting the standard of moral and\r\nintellectual improvement. Mr. Barnes died May 31, 1859. Mrs. Barnes\r\nmarried second, Frank Weeks, whom she survived and in Portage City,\r\nWis., where she resided, April 30, 1884, while pleasantly conversing\r\nin a nieghbor's house, she said, \"I must go home,\" and her consistent\r\nChristian life was ended.  Ellen S. Burt, born March 16, 1834,\r\nmarried July 10, 1854 George Corbet, born at Gays Run, Nova Scotia,\r\nSeptember 14, 1828 and settled in Chesterfield Factory, living from\r\n1855, thirteen years, near the southeastern portion of Mt. Pistareen,\r\nwhere Nathan Puffer now lives. Mr. Corbet, for nearly twenty years,\r\nwas engaged in finishing leather, the larger portion of the time for\r\nSumner Warren, and employed from four to nine hands. He died May 3,\r\n1872.  Their son, Clarence E., born July 30, 1859, is now manager in\r\nMulford &amp; McKenzie's railroad ticket broker's fofice, St. Paul, MN.\r\nGeorge Burt, born December 20, 1860 is now in Chicago IL engaged in\r\nselling chairs, etc. on commission, for a Milwaukee chair company.\r\nMrs Corbet resides on Main Street, Chesterfield Factory, in the house\r\nbuilt by Samuel Gilson previous to 1815, and for many years occupied\r\nby the venerable Captain Nathaniel Albee, whose first wife was\r\nMrs. Penniman, the mother of Mrs. Samuel-2 Burt.  Martha A. Burt\r\nborn November 17, 1837, married April 2, 1860, Henry, son of Arba and\r\nMaria (Albee) Barker, of Westmoreland, and with their six sons,\r\nreside in Keene.  Melissa J. Burt, born February 28, 1844 is now in\r\nFitchburg, Mass.  Samuel George-7 Burt, son of Samuel C-6, was born\r\nSeptember 15, 1822.  He married December 6, 1852, Sarah Haskell of\r\nHoulton, Me. and settled in Amity, engaging in mercantile pursuits;\r\nhe run a merchandise team between Amity and Calais, a distance of\r\nseventy miles, where he purchased good, taking from Amity the\r\ncommodities of the surrounding county. He was retiring, and shunned\r\noffice; was appointed postmaster, but declined to serve, although he\r\nheld at times town offices.  Kate, their daughter, two years of age,\r\nafter one day's sickness, died June 19, followed by her father,\r\nJuly 2, 1858.  Mrs. Burt, with her son George H-8 Burt, born June 10,\r\n1857 (now) the only living male descendant of Samuel-5 Burt, bearing\r\nthe familiy name, removed to Hartford, Conn, watching with\r\ntender solicitude, the progress of her boy, until her death,\r\nOctober 3, 1858.  At the age of 17 he associated himself in a wholesale\r\nproduce business, under the firm name C.B. Haskell &amp; Co. Two years\r\nlater he withdrew from the firm and employed with G.P. Bizzell &amp; Co.,\r\nthe largest private banking house in the United States where he was\r\nsenior clerk and teller.  He married in Middleton, Conn. October 14,\r\n1880, Mary Murdock. Their daughter, Bessie M-9, was born December 4,\r\n1883.  They own a residence on Florence Street, Hartford, where they\r\nreside.  Daniel E. Burt, son of Samuel-5 (?6) was born\r\nJune 5, 1825.  He married Thirza, daughter of Noyes and Thirza (Walton)\r\nScott.  Mrs. Scott was afterwards the wife of Dr. Harvey Carpenter.\r\nMr. Burt settled in Chesterfield Factory, working as a mechanic.\r\nAfterwards he was teamster for 20 years between Chesterfield Factory\r\nand Keene. He died May 27, 1882.  Their daughter, Cora, died at the\r\nage of nine months.  Ida West Burt, born April 19, 1858 married\r\nJanuary 13, 1877, Charles Butterfield of Westmoreland. THey live in\r\nChesterfield Factory. Their son, Arthur Burt Butterfield, died in\r\ninfancy. Eva W. Butterfield was born August 26, 1878. Mrs. Daniel\r\nBurt resides in her former home.\r\n\r\nJOHN BUTLER, whose father, Josiah, was a nephew of Col. Josiah\r\nWillard, the principal grantee of Chesterfield, was born in Hinsdale\r\nFebruary 5, 1786 and settled in Chesterfield in 1824.  His widow,\r\nLydia (Crowinshield) Butler, survived him, residing on road 27. Mr.\r\nButler reared eight children--Marshall, Warren, Josiah, Ephraim,\r\nErastus, Maria, Roswell, and Otis.  Thomas F., son of Otis resided on\r\nroad 53.  Mervin H., son of Otis, resided on road 53.  Warren H.,\r\nson of Marshall resided on road 50.\r\n\r\nSIDNEY S. CAMPELL, a retired manufacturer residing at Factory Village,\r\nwas born in Westminster Vt and came to town in 1830. He married\r\nClarissa Daggett of Westmoreland, who bore him three children--\r\nMary E., Charles S. and Clara Anna.\r\n\r\nDR. HENRY CARPENTER was born in Alstead NH December 14, 1803. His\r\nfather, Eber Carpenter was a practicing physician in Alstead from\r\n1802 until his death May 23, 1841.  HENRY, the eldest of his eight\r\nsons, distinguished himself in the profession of medicine and\r\nsurgery.  He graduated in medicine at Castleton, Vt. in 1825, and\r\nsoon after settled in Chesterfield where he soon gave evidence of\r\nsuperior skill, and with a growing reputation as such, continued the\r\npractice of his profession until his death, August 14, 1852....\r\nHe married Lydia H. Chandler of Colerain, Mass, in 1829 and had born\r\nto him two daughters, Helen and Lucretia. His wife died in 1837. Only\r\none of his daughter, Lucretia is living, and resides in Montrose, PA,\r\nhighly esteemed and noted for her Christian values. Dr. Carpenter\r\nserved as representative in the legislature of the state with\r\ncommendable ability... A son by a later marriage, Charles Henry,\r\nserved in the late Rebellion and distinguished himself by meritorious\r\nacts and duties during the war, dying in Mississipi soon after the\r\nclose of the same, while yet in the service of the United States.\r\n\r\nALEXANDER CHANDLER, son of Clark Chandler, married Lydia J. Herrick\r\nApril 29, 1839 and died June 29, 1881. His widow resided on 14-1\/2.\r\nTheir children were Maria F., Francis Mason, Harriet Barber and\r\nClark Nelson.\r\n\r\nITHAMER CHAMBERLIN was born at Oxford, Mass in 1745, married\r\nHephzibah Farr in 1770, and settled in Chesterfield during that year.\r\nHe built the grist-mill on the place where the upper one now stand,\r\nat the West Village about 1810. He was killed by a runaway horse,\r\nSeptember 19, 1825, at the age of eighty years.  His children were\r\nRebecca, Samuel, Anna, Benjamin, Polly, Ithamer, and Hepzibah.\r\nJoshua Wilder Jr., grandson of Samuel, now resides at Factory Village.\r\nHis son David W. is in the employ of Currier Brothers.\r\n\r\nELEAZER COBLEIGH was an early settlers in Chesterfield, being here as\r\nearly as 1776. The first grist-mill as previously mentioned, was\r\nprobably built by him.  DAN COBLEIGH was also an early settlers, being\r\nhere as early as 1770, JONATHAN COBLEIGH also an early settlers,\r\npurchased property here April 13, 1763.  JONATHAN COBLEIGH JR. is also\r\nmentioned here in the tax list of 1770, and his children were Lemuel,\r\nLydda, Jonathan, James and Sally and Lydia, twins.  OLIVER COBLEIGH\r\nwas here in 1770 and reared a family.  JOHN COBLEIGH's name appears\r\nhere in 1776.  His son JOHN, born April 10, 1776 married Polly\r\nStanford in 1795 and reared ten children, one of whom, Jonathan,\r\nwas the father of ERASTUS H, who resided on road 19, corner 21.\r\n\r\nCHARLES CONVERSE, son of Joseph Converse, and a descendant of Deacon\r\nEdward Converse, of Charlestown, Mass, was born December 30, 1788.\r\nHe spent most of his life in Chesterfield, engaged in farming. For\r\nmany years he was a justice of the peace, and held the office of\r\nselectman in 1833-1835. He was also a representative in the General\r\nCourt in 1836-37.  He died September 18, 1858.\r\n\r\nOSCAR COOLIDGE, son of Abraham Coolidge, of Marlborough, born July 22,\r\n1798, settled in Chesterfield in 1824.  He married, in 1824,\r\nLovina Rockwood of Fitzwilliam.  For a period of about eleven years\r\n(till 1835) he was engaged in trade at the West village.  He then\r\nremoved to Centre village, where he continued in the same business\r\ntill his death, with the exception of one year, when he was in trade\r\nat Factory village.  he also took an active part in the affairs of\r\nthe town, and was a selectman in 1840, 1841, and 1850; town clerk\r\n1836-38; representative 1840 and 1841. He died March 4, 1862,\r\nhaving survived his wife but a few hours.\r\n  His son, Henry O. Coolidge, was born January 5, 1830. In 1849 and\r\n1850 he engaged in trade at the town Center village in partnership\r\nwith Hon. C.J. Amidon; He was also postmaster about 8 years, town\r\nclerk from 1852 to 1869 (with exception of years 1854 and 1868);\r\nselectman 1860 and 1861, 1865 and 1867; representative 1867.\r\nHe removed to Keene in 1869.  He is cashier of the Ashuelot National\r\nBank, of that city, and register of Probate for Cheshire County.\r\nIn 1880 chosen one of the representatives from Keene to the General\r\nCourt.\r\n\r\nAMOS CROUCH, born in 1769, son of John Crouch, of Boxborough, Mass,\r\nafterwards of Chesterfield, settled in this town in 1802 or 1803.\r\nIn his youth he had no opportunity to attend school; nevertheless\r\nhe learned to read and to write his name.  In his early manhood\r\nhe had to contend with poverty and adversity, but by hard labor\r\nand extreme prudence succeeded in gaining some property.  He was\r\nnoted for his promptness in paying his debts and with him \"the 'first\r\nof the month was always the first day.\" A strict observor of the\r\nSabbath himself, he brought up his children to attend church,\r\nand would not allow them to play or visit on that day. He was married\r\nthree times.  He died August 18, 1861.\r\n\r\nJOHN DARLING, from Winchendon, Mass February 17, 1778, appears to have settled in Chesterfield in 1778, in which year he bought land here,\r\nand settled on what is now known as Barrett Hill.\r\n  He was one of the party that made the famous march to Quebec in\r\n1775, under command of Benedict Arnold, through the wilderness of\r\nMaine.  On this march the men suffered extremely from cold and\r\nhunger.  John used to relate that, having one day found the leg of\r\na dog that had been killed for food, he scorched off the hair and\r\nate every morsel of flesh and skin that he could get from it. He\r\ndeclared that he never ate anything in his life that tasted better!\r\nAt one time, while in the army, he came near dying of small-pox.\r\nHe probably settled in Chesterfield soon after buying his land, he\r\nand his wife (according to a tradition in ths family) coming from\r\nWinchendon on foot. He was an active, enterprising man, and at one\r\ntime, owned an extensive tract of timber-land in the \"Winchester\r\nwoods,\" from which he cut large quantities of lumber, sawing it in a\r\nmill erected for that purpose, then drawing it to the Connecticut and\r\nrafting it down to Hartford. He died March 28, 1824 in his\r\nseventy-third year.His first wife (Sarah BLood of Groton, Mass)\r\ndied in 6 June 1804.  He married 2d, Mrs. Lydia Baker of Westmoreland\r\nwho died September 9, 1815, and third, Mrs. Mary Taylor, daughter of\r\nRev. Abraham Wood.  His children were as follows: JOHN, born December\r\n17, 1778; NAHUM, born August 22, 1781; MONTGOMERY, born April 8,\r\n1785; DARIUS, born June 26, 1787; BOYNTON, born January 23, 1790;\r\nSARAH, born September 23, 1791; MARY ANN born April 31, 1794;\r\nLOUIS born January 2, 1796; and by his second marriage, MIRANDA,\r\nand by his third marriage, HELIANN and JOSEPH.  John Jr. married\r\nNancy Norcoss of Rindge and had born to him 7 children.  His wife\r\ndied October 14, 1862 and his death occurred December 3, 1862.  His\r\nson George W., born November 18, 1818 was the proprietor of the\r\nDarling picnic grounds on Spafford lake and resided on road 51,\r\ncorner 55.\r\n\r\nSAMUEL DAVIS settled in Chesterfield as early as 1766. There are\r\nreasons for believing that he was the son of Samuel Davis, of\r\nLunenburgh, Mass, who was probably one of the grantees of\r\nChesterfield.  He owned much land in Chesterfield at different times,\r\nhaving possession, at one time, of a part of the \"Governor's Farm.\"\r\nHe appears to have removed from this town about 1790.\r\n\r\nMOSES DUDLEY, son of NAHUM, was born October 18, 1794 and married\r\nPersis, daughter of Rev. Allen Pratt of Westmoreland.  From 1817\r\nuntil 1851 he was engaged in tanning at the Centre village, and\r\nafterwards in farming, having purchased a farm in the western part\r\nof the town where he died April 16, 1874.  He was selectman in\r\n1832, 1833, 1835, 1847 and delegate to the constitutional convention\r\nin 1850.  His children were Allen Pratt, Hannah C., Charles P.,\r\nWilliam L. and Persis M.  William L., born December 20, 1824,\r\nmarried Mary Caroline, daughter of Thomas B. and Betsey R. (Mead)\r\nDoak, November 11, 1858.  He was admitted to the bar at Newport in\r\n1846, and commenced the practice of law in Chesterfield the same year.\r\nIn 1849 he went to California and resided in Stockton, engaged in his\r\nprofession.  His children are Elizabeth Mead, born at Mokelumne\r\nHill, Cal., August 16, 1860; Elinor Gertrude born there January 4,\r\n1862; William Little, born at Stockton June 13, 1869, and Mary Frances,\r\nborn at Stockton, November 26, 1872.\r\n\r\nSAMUEL FAIRBANKS was in Chesterfield in 1776, which year he signed\r\nthe \"Association Test.\"  He was one of the town Committee of Safety,\r\nand appears to have been one of the most zealous patriots in the town.\r\nHe was also selectman in 1777.  In his will, made August 9, 1787,\r\nand proved June 16, 1790, he bequeathed all his property to his wife,\r\nfor the support of his children, and named his son Zenas sole\r\nexecutor.  He died April 14, 1790, in his seventy-first year.\r\n\r\nMARSHALL H. FARR, son of Ora Farr, born in Chesterfield January 16,\r\n1817, was a carpenter by trade, and resided in Chesterfield till 1854,\r\nwhen he removed to Canada West (Ontario), where he engaged extensively\r\nin the construction of railway and other buildings.  March 12, 1857,\r\nthe train on which he was riding was precipitated into the Des Jardins\r\nCanal, by the breaking of a bridge, near Hamilton, P.O. and he\r\nreceived injuries that caused his death in a few hours.\r\n\r\nDENNIE W. FARR, son of Worcester and Abial (Kneeland) Farr, born\r\nin Chesterfield January 7, 1840, was serving as a clerk in the store\r\nin Brattleborough Vt, when the Civil War broke out.  He soon enlisted\r\nin the Fourth Regiment of Vermont Volunteer Infantry, and was\r\ncommissioned second lieutenant.  August 13, 1862, he was commissioned\r\ncaptain of Company C., in the same regiment, in which capacity he\r\nserved with honor.  At the battle of the Wilderness, Va., May 5, 1864,\r\nhe was killed by a shot that struck him in the head.\r\n\r\nThe ancestors of the FIELD family of Chesterfield were of old Puritan\r\nstock who settled in Taunton MA early in the colonial times, where\r\nmany of their descendants still live. BETHUEL FIELD, son of NATHANIEL\r\nFIELD, of Taunton, married Sally Lincoln, of Norton, Mass, and settled\r\nin Chesterfield in 1819 or 1820. \"He was someone given to accounts,\r\nbeing a 'Squire' and a prominent man in town matters.\" He died in\r\n1847, Mrs. Field surviving him until 1767.\r\n  JESSIE FIELD, one of their ten children, born November 3, 1811,\r\ninherited his mother's refinded sensibilities and his father's good\r\nsense and mental acument; while Hannah J. Streeter, whom he married\r\nin 1838 possessed tact, energy and executive ability. An unfortunate\r\nfall, resulting in permanent lameness, blighted Mr. Field's future\r\nprospects, and necessitated his removal from the farm in 1846, to\r\nFactory Village, to engaged in a less active occupation, and finally\r\ncaused his death in April 1851, at the early age of thirty-nine years.\r\nHis wife lived at Wilmington Vt.  This was also the residence of her\r\nyoungest daughter, Mary E. Field, born October 6, 1845, who married\r\nJohn R. Buell, a worthy young man of business ability, and a native of\r\nWilmington.  They have three children, Orrin R., a bright, scholarly\r\nlad of thirteen, and Helen M. and Albert J., born in June 1882 and\r\n1884, respectively. Helen M. Field, born September 3, 1840, married\r\nRansford A. Comstock, of Shelburne Falls, Mass, where they lived until\r\nthey moved to Rochelle, ILL in 1871, their present residence. Their\r\nchildren, born in Massachusetts, are Delbert A. Comstock, now 22,\r\npossessing good natural business qualifications, and Percy Field\r\nComstock, born October 29, 1867, who is truly a Field and inherits\r\nhis mother's mental characteristics and literary tastes.  Mrs. F.M.\r\nLeonard, of Taunton, Mass., Jesse Fields youngest sister also\r\npossesses literary ability, having won quite a reputation as a\r\ndramatic and poetical writer.  Albert O. Field, born March 15, 1842,\r\nhas risen, unaided studying the mercantile business, while holding\r\npositions of trust, until qualified as a professional expert\r\naccountant. This work he followed for some years, until his connection\r\nin 1876 with the large clothing firm of Naumburg, Kraus, Lauer &amp; Co.\r\nof New York, in which he is now partner. He is president of the\r\nBook-keepers and Accountants' Institute, of the city of New York,\r\nand highly respected in social and business circles. In 1865 he\r\nmarried Susie Daniels of Keene, who survived only a year, and was\r\nburied with her infant son, born in January 1866.  In 1868 Mr.\r\nField married Eva H. Swan of Chesterfield Factory, a refined,\r\ncultivated, intellectual lady, a graceful writer, and at one time a\r\ncontributor of poetry and fiction to Boston periodicals.  Of five\r\nchildren, they have lost their two sons. Their three interesting\r\ndaughters give promise of rare mental endowments, Grace, the eldest,\r\nbeing at thirteen a good Latin and French scholar. Their pleasant\r\nhome is at Orange, N.J. Near them lives Mr. Field's mother and\r\nsisters, Mrs. Chamberlain, a native of Chesterfield who lived many\r\nyears at the Factory Village, is a lady of refinement and excellent\r\nability. Her daughters Eva and Abbie, graduated with high honors from\r\nWestbrook seminar, near Portland Maine in 1866.  Abbie M. Swan married\r\nGeorge Morse, a native of Stoddard NH. They have one child and are\r\nmedical practitioners of Gloucester, Mass where they reside.\r\nBenjamin Herbert Swan, a graduate of Columbia Veterinary College, NY,\r\nmarried Sarah, dau of Rodney Fletcher of Chesterfield Factory, and is\r\nat present in Colorado.  May Ella Swan is a successful teacher in the\r\nschools of Orange NJ where also, Anna P. Chamberlain is a teacher of\r\nmusic.\r\n\r\nTHOMAS FISK, born 1774, son of John Fisk, of Framingham, Mass, and a\r\ndescendant of Nathaniel Fisk, who came from England, came to\r\nChesterfield in 1807, and settled on the farm now owned and occupied\r\nby his son, John B. Fisk, Esq., building the large house in which the\r\nlatter now lives.  When about two years old he had an attack of\r\nscarlet fever, which caused him to be deaf, and consequently, dumb.\r\nHe learned, nevertheless, to read, and to cipher in the four\r\nfundamental rules of arithmetic.  At the age of fifty years he was\r\nadmitted to the school for deaf-mutes at Hartford, Conn, for the\r\nterm of one year.  He made rapid progress, and acquired knowledge\r\nthat was of great use to him during the remaining years of his life.\r\nHis wife was Lucinda Trowbridge, of Pomfret, Conn.  He died July 25,\r\n1861.\r\n\r\nRODNEY FLETCHER, son of Arad H. and Bethana (Darling) Fletcher, was\r\nborn in Chesterfield November 18, 1826 and married Olive W. Albee,\r\ndaughter of Captain Nathaniel Albee of Chesterfield, November 3, 1847.\r\nHe had one daughter, Sarah E., who was married in 1873, to B.H. Swan,\r\nD.V.S.  Since 1843 Mr. Fletcher resided at Chesterfield Factory,\r\nand worked in the augur factories there, under various firms at\r\ndifferent periods as finisher, having had charge of the polishing\r\nroom, where he had been for more than forty years. Under the old\r\nmilitary regime he was a prominent member of the Chesterfield Light\r\nInfantry, in which organiztion he held a commission four years, and the\r\nlast two commanding the company... For a score and more of years he\r\nacted as undertaker in and about Chesterfield Factory,, and as marshall\r\nat nearly 150 funerals... In the Masonic Order he was Knight Templar.\r\n\r\nREUBEN B. FOSTER SR. was born September 9, 1812, and married Betsey H.,\r\ndaughter of Richard Hopkins June 11, 1832.  He was an employee of\r\nCurrier Brothers at Chesterfield Factory.  He had born to him seven\r\nchildren as follows: James M., Helen M., Mary Jane, Mahalia S.,\r\nReuben B., Frank H. and William E., Reuben B Jr. was born March 17,\r\n1844, married Julia A., daughter of Hosea L. Stoddard February 16,\r\n1869.  He was a mechanic for Currier Brothers at Chesterfield Factory.\r\n\r\nREV. T.L. Fowler [pastor of the Chesterfield Methodist Church] was\r\nsuperintending school committee for a number of years, and also\r\ntaught a term of high school in Factory Village in 1862. He married\r\nin 1843, Miss Mary Folgier Hazzelton of Northfield NH. She lived\r\nabout 3 years, leaving one son, Eugene  A, born February 3, 1845.\r\nIn 1848 he married Nancy M. Giles of Windsor ME. THey have four\r\nchildren--Hershcel J., b. April 23, 1846; Orin R., born May 21, 1851;\r\nOtis L., born April 13, 1853, died Nov 1855; and Manson L., born\r\nFebruary 30, 1859.\r\n\r\nPHINEAS FULLMAN, born February 26, 1749, came to Chesterfield from\r\nWestminster, Mass about 1778.  He married twice, first, Lucy\r\nLampson, and second Mrs. Bathsheba (Britton) Leach.  He died\r\nAugust 4, 1823.  His children were Paul, Asa, Lucy, Myra, Ellis and\r\nAlmira.  Asa, born February 25, 1780 married Lucena, daughter of\r\nJonathan Farwell in 1811.  From May 1815 to 1821 he engaged in trade\r\nat the Center Village, in partnership with Hon. Levi Jackson, after-\r\nwards with Ashbel Wheeler Sr. and alone.  For a number of years he ran\r\na freight boat on the COnnecticut [River] between chesterfield and\r\nHartford.  He also erected a mill on Broad brook, for the manufacture\r\nof lumber. He was selectman in 1815. His wife died November 10, 1817,\r\nand his death occurred December 14, 1870.  George Lampon, one of his\r\nthree children was born July 20, 1815 and married Persis S. Davis\r\nof Holden, Mass, a teacher of music, February 20, 1850. He engaged in\r\nbusiness with his father, on Broad brook until their mill was burned\r\nin July 1853, when he removed to Lowell, Mass, where he remained 8\r\nyears.  He then returned to Chesterfield and rebuilt the mill. He was\r\nalso a surveyor and musician.\r\n\r\nSAMUEL GILSON, born about 1752 appears to have settled in Chesterfield\r\nabout 1791, and is said to have been the first blacksmith at\r\nFactory Village.  He died in 1826, aged seventy-four years.  His son\r\nCALVIN GILSON married Mehitabel, daughter of Joseph Pattridge in 1810.\r\nTheir children were Prescott W., Louisa M., Luke H., Sarah, and\r\nJoseph P.  Prescott W. born December 21, 1812 married twice, first,\r\nAdeline Whitney who died in 1836, and second, Urania M., daughter of\r\nBenoni Streeter February 2, 1837.  He had born to him two children,\r\nCalvin P. and Adeline L.  The former (Calvin P.) was born\r\nOctober 5, 1839, married Ann E., daughter of Clark Streeter,\r\nMarch 25, 1867, was an auctioneer, proprietor of Gilson's ferry, and\r\nalso a dealer in horses, carriages and harnesses.\r\n\r\nSAMUEL GOODRICH, born in Fitchburg, Mass, September 6, 1788,\r\nson of Abijah, settled in Chesterfield in 1813, on the farm now owned and occupied by Willard Henry, and where he continued to reside till\r\nhis death. He was a man of great industry and perseverance, and his\r\nlife was one of ceaseless activity.  Thought not an extensive farmer,\r\nin comparison with some, he was nevertheless a successful one; and his\r\nsuccess in this respect is a fine illustration of what intelligent and\r\nwell-directed effort can accomplish in overcoming natural obstacles.\r\nHis wife was Hannah Cain of Weymouth, Mass., who he married March 31,\r\n1811. He died January 1 1877. He was selectman 1836, 1837 and 1842.\r\nHe was an influential member of the Methodist church, was deaf for\r\nmany years, yet occupied his seat at church.  His children were Sarah,\r\nHannah, Emily, Joseph C., Abijah, George, and James H.  Joseph C.\r\nGoodrich was selectman in 1849, 1852 and 1853, was town representative\r\nin 1853-54 and died October 27, 1863.  James H., son of Joseph C.,\r\nwas born June 26, 1846 and married Sarah E., daughter of Africa\r\nHildreth October 2, 1869. He served in the Rebellion [Civil War] in\r\nCo. F, 1st NH Vols. He was selectman in 1874 and 1875, was the town\r\nclerk, and a general merchant residing on road 46.  James H., son of\r\nSamuel was born November 10, 1823, married Martha S., dau of\r\nEleazer Randall December 8, 1847. He was selectman and town\r\nrepresentative 1868-69 and resided on Church Street.\r\n\r\nDAVID W. GOODRICH, son of George and Lucinda (Wells) Goodrich, and\r\na descendant of William Goodrich, was from Gill, Mass., settled in\r\nChesterfield about 1810. He was a cloth dresser by trade, and had a\r\nmill on Catsbane Brook, at the West Village.  After following his trade\r\nfor some years, he engaged in farming. In 1838 he married Salome,\r\ndaughter of Benjamin Wheeler.  He died at the \"Kneeland place\" (now owned and occupied by his son, Charles C.P. Goodrich, Esq.) March 22, 1857. His children [David's] were Honor, George W., Lucinda, Mary E.,\r\nCharles C.P., Sarah, David W., William and Ellen.  Lucinda W., born\r\nApril 13, 1818, married 1) in 1838 Noyes, son of John Harris, and\r\nm2) in 1858 William S. Newton, Esq. of Brattleboro, Vt. George W.\r\nwas a manufacturer of flour in Minneapolis, MN.\r\n\r\nSANFORD GUERNSEY, son of Cyril, was born in Richmond June 30, 1820.\r\nHe married Lydia, dau of John Starkey of Richmond, January 20, 1846,\r\nshe being born October 11, 1822. Mr. Guernsey moved to this town\r\nin 1867, and kept the hotel at Chesterfield Factory for 13 years,\r\nwhere he resided. He has an adopted daughter Lydia S., born\r\nJanuary 23, 1868.\r\n\r\nWILLIAM HAILE, son of John and Eunice (Henry) Haile, was born in\r\nPutney, Vt., May 1807.  At the age of about fourteen years he came to\r\nthis town with his parents, but was soon afterwards taken into the\r\nfamily of Ezekiel P. Pierce Sr., with whom he lived till he was about\r\ntwenty-one years old.  Having attended school about two years, he\r\nentered in 1823, Mr. Pierce's store as a clerk.  In 1827 or 1828\r\nhe borrowed a small sum of money and opened a store on his own\r\naccount at the Centre village.  With characteristic sagacity, he soon\r\nforesaw, however, that Hinsdale was destined to become a busy and\r\nthriving town on account of the abundance of power furnished by the\r\nAshuelot River.  He therefore, in 1834 or 1835, removed to that town,\r\nwhere he continued to engage in mercantile pursuits until 1846, when\r\nhe became interested in the lumber business.  In 1849 he began, as\r\na member of the firm of Haile &amp; Todd, the manufacture of cashmerettes.\r\nAfterwards the name of the firm was changed to that of Haile, Frost &amp;\r\nCo., by which name it is know at present.\r\n  Though extensively engaged in business, Mr. Haile took a prominent\r\npart in political affairs. With the exception of two years, he\r\nrepresented Hinsdale in the General Court from 1846 to 1854; was\r\nelected to the New Hampshire Senate in 1854 and 1855, of which body\r\nhe was also president the latter year, and was again representative\r\nin 1856.  The next year he was elected Governor, to which office he\r\nwas re-elected in 1858.  In 1873 he removed from Hinsdale to Keene,\r\nwhere he had built a fine residence.  He did not cease, however, to\r\ntake an active part in business till his death, which occurred\r\nJuly 22, 1876.  Mr. Haile married, in 1828, Sabrana S., daughter of\r\nAzra Walker, of Chesterfield.\r\n\r\nSAMUEL HAMILTON, born in Ireland in 1752, was the son of a linen\r\nmerchant, or weaver, came to Boston about 1772, and settled in\r\nChesterfield sometime between 1780 and 1785. He married Mary, sister\r\nof Dr. Joshua Tyler, May 9, 1775.  He was engaged after coming to\r\nChesterfield in the weaving of linen cloth.  He died February 12, 1810.\r\nHis children were John, Hannah, Hance, Loammi, James, Samuel, Ara,\r\nFanny, Uri and Amadella.  Ara, born May 22, 1789 married twice, first,\r\nSally, daughter of James Robertson in 1815, who died December 1823, and 2d, Almira, daughter of Phineas Fullam in 1824.  He was lieutenant in\r\nCapt. Reuben Marsh'a company, which was station at Portsmouth in the\r\nautumn of 1814.  He was selectman in 1839, 1841, 1843 and 1845. He\r\ndied July 24, 1865.  He had born to him five children as follows:\r\nFrank, Luella A., Frederick M., Frank C., and Vanetta M.  George L.\r\nwas a manufacturer of sash, doors, and blinds at Chesterfield Factory.\r\nHis son Frederick M was born April 29, 1854 and married Addie M.,\r\ndaughter of James C. Farwell, November 4, 1880.  Frank C. was born\r\nNovember 23, 1855.\r\n\r\nPHINEAS HANDERSON, son of GIDEON and Abigail (Church) HANDERSON,\r\nwas born in Amherst, Mass., December 13, 1778. He was born in his\r\ngrandfather's house, which was torn down, when it was more than a\r\nhundred years old, to make room for the Agricultural College. While\r\nhe was yet an infant his parents removed to Claremont, this State [NH]\r\nhis mother making the journey on horseback and carrying him in her\r\narms.  Having obtained what education the common schools of that\r\ntown afforded, he began the study of law in the office of Hon. George\r\nB. Upham. In 1805 or 1806 he settled in this town, in which he\r\npracticed his profession till 1833.  While a resident of Chesterfield\r\nhe frequently held town and State offices.  In 1811 he was\r\nselectman; in 1812, 1813 and 1815 he represented the town in the\r\nGeneral Court; in 1816 he was elected State Senator, an office to\r\nwhich he was re-elected in 1817, 1825, 1831 and 1832. He married, 1818,\r\nHannah W., daughter of Rev. Samuel Mead, of Walpole.  She died\r\nDecember 30, 1863.  In 1833 he removed to Keene, where he continued\r\nthe practice of law.  At the time of his death, in March 1854, he was\r\npresident of the Cheshire bar.\r\n\r\nTHE HARRIS FAMILY--The founder of the Harris family in Chesterfield\r\nwas ABNER HARRIS, a probable descendant of Arthur Harris, who\r\nemigrated from England to America at an early period, and was living\r\nin Duxbury, Mass, in 1640.  ABNER HARRIS, son of Abner, came from Woodstock, Conn.,and appears to have settled in Chesterfield in 1777, and purchased 150 acres of land, being a part of the farm long\r\nbeen known as the Harris farm.  His children were Abner, John, Perley,\r\nElizabeth, Experience, Esther, Tamar, Deborah, Sarah, Lydia, Mary,\r\nThomas, Zerviah and Dolly. His will was proved Ausut 23, 1798.\r\n  One of his sons was JOHN HARRIS, who lived and died in Chesterfield.\r\nJohn married, in 1783, Hannah Colburn, of this town, and had a family\r\nof eleven children, three of whom are now living, the youngest being\r\nmore than eighty years old.  The eldest of the three, WILDER HARRIS,\r\nborn May 11, 1797, now resides in Brattleborough, Vt., but was a\r\nresident of this town till 1865. Wilder married 3 times, first, Harriet\r\ndaughter of John Davis in 1817, who died November 20, 1851; second,\r\nMrs. Nancy J. Wood of Saxton's River Vt July 5, 1854, who died in\r\nDecember 1869; and third, Mrs. Mary J. Clark of Springfield Vt\r\n21 July 1871.  In his earlier years he was a carpenter and worked at\r\nhis trade. Mr. Harris was also interested in the manufacture of\r\nlumber and shingles, in two mills erected for that purpose on Lily\r\nPond brook, near where it empties into the Catsbane.  He removed to\r\nBrattleboro in 1865. His children were George Francis, Broughton\r\nDavis, Gordis Day, and Urban Wilder.\r\n  BROUGHTON D. HARRIS, son of Wilder Harris born August 6, 1822,\r\nmarried Sarah Buel Hollister 24 March 1851.  He graduated from\r\nDartmouth College in 1845, studied law in the office of Hon. Asa\r\nKeys of Brattleboro and then engaged in the newspaper business,\r\nbeing editor of the \"Vermont Phoenix\" for a while, and for several\r\nyears of the \"Semi-Weekly Eagle.\"  In the spring of 1851 he went to\r\nUtah as the first secretary of that territory, Brigham Young being at\r\nthat time governor of the same.  After he left Utah he was appointed\r\nsecretary and acting governor of New Mexico, but this appointment he\r\ndeclined.  In 1847, 1848 and 1849 he was register of probate for\r\nWindham Co, Vt., and a member of the Vermont senate in 1860 and 1861,\r\nbeing also chairman of the senate committee on military affairs. He\r\nwas a member of the \"Peace Congress,\" which assembled at Washington\r\nin 1860 and 1861.  For a number of years he has been extensively\r\nengaged in the construction of railways.  Mr. B.D. Harris was one of\r\nthe incorporators of the Brattleboro Savings bank and a trustee from\r\nits beginning, and also president.  He was delegate at large from\r\nVermont to the Republican National COnvention in 1884.\r\n  Another son of JOHN HARRIS, and brother of WILDER HARRIS, was\r\nJOHN HARRIS JR. He was a farmer in Chesterfield, and married, in 1808,\r\nLuna, daughter of Abel Fletcher, of this town.  He was selectman in\r\n1830-32, and represented the town in the Legislature in 1849-50.\r\nHe died February 27, 1856, aged seventy-one years.\r\n  A third son of JOHN HARRIS SR., was NORMAN HARRIS. He was engaged\r\na number of years in the mercantile business, and in \"packing\" in\r\nCalifornia.  He died at Bellows Falls, Vt. July 22, 1875, aged\r\nseventy-one years.\r\n  Two other sons of JOHN HARRIS SR., EZEKIEL and ERASTUS, were\r\nfarmers in Chesterfield during the greater part of their lives.\r\nBoth died in Brattleborough in 1859.\r\n\r\nCAPT. EBNEZER HARVEY was of Northfield, Mass, in 1758, having come to\r\nthat town from Sunderland. He appears to have removed from Northfield\r\nto Winchester, and from that town to Chesterfield.  September 17, 1772\r\nhe purchased of Elkanah Day,, of this town, a part of house-lots\r\nNos. 5 and 6, in the tenth and eleventh ranges. This land was near\r\nthe common at the Centre village, which was mentioned in the deed as\r\nhaving been conveyed to the town.  In JUne 1777, he was sentenced by\r\nthe \"court of inquiry\" at Keene to be confined to the limits of his\r\nfarm and to pay a fine for alleged hostility to the American cause.\r\nHe appears also to have been a zealous partisan of Vermont in the\r\ncontroversy about the \"New Hampshire Grants.\" He was selectman in\r\n1783 and 1803; representative in 1785.  He was the first postmaster\r\nin Chesterfield commissioned by the United States, holding the office\r\nfrom 1802 to 1810.\r\n  One of his sons, RUFUS HARVEY SR., lived and died in Chesterfield.\r\nFor many years he (Rufus) was a deputy sheriff for the county of\r\nCheshire.\r\n\r\nDR. SOLOMON HARVEY was in Dummerston, Vt in 1773, of which town he\r\nwas clerk several years.  He appears to have settled in Chesterfield\r\nin 1775 or 1776, and to have taken an active part in the affairs of\r\nthe town during the War of the Revolution.  In 1788 he represented\r\nChesterfield in the convention that adopted the Federal Constitution.\r\nHe was selectman in 1789-92; town clerk 1800-17. He probably died in\r\nChesterfield after 1820.\r\n\r\nBENJ. HASKELL was in Chesterfield in 1784. He appears to have settled\r\non Lot No. 12 or 13, in the thirteenth range.  Justice of the peace;\r\nselectman 1784, 1787, 1788, 1798, 1799; representative, 1789, 1799,\r\n1800.  SOme of his descendants now live at Ascott, Lower Canada; but\r\nwhether he himself removed to that town has not been ascertained.\r\nHe removed from Chesterfield, however, between 1815 and 1819.\r\n\r\nGEORGE HAWES, son of John, was born in Barre, Mass. He married\r\nEunice M., dau of JOseph Day of Chesterfield NH in 1858, and lived\r\nin Worcester, Mass where he was engaged in railroad business about\r\ntwenty years. He removed to this town in 1870 where he resided.\r\nHe has an adopted daughter, Bessie B., who was the daughter of\r\nWilliam BEMIS of Brattleboro Vt.\r\n\r\nWILLIAM HENRY is said to have come to chesterfield from Lunenburg,\r\nMass between 1770 and 1776. He married May Conn, who bore him\r\nsix children--May, William, James, Betty, Eunice and Freelove.\r\nJames married Mary, daughter of Gibson Willard in 1798, who bore him six children--Frederick W., Rebecca H., John P., Willard, Mary F.\r\nand Betsey E.  Willard born February 1, 1809 married 3 times, first,\r\nMary B. Shaw in 1834, second Emily dau of Samuel GOodrich 8 Oct 1856,\r\nand third Mrs. Sarah M. Reed of Fitzwilliam in 1877.  His children\r\nwere--Nathaniel C., Mary E., Lydia A., Hubbard W., Martha J., Ella J.,\r\nEmily J. and John G.  Nathaniel C., born September 21, 1837 married for\r\nhis first wife Augusta M. Snow of Swanzey November 9, 1864 and for his\r\nsecond wife Jennie N. Chamberlain of North Dana, Mass, December 15,\r\n1872.\r\n\r\nJONATHAN HILDRETH settled in Westmoreland as early as 1751 and moved\r\nto this town about 1763, settling on the farm now owned by Watson\r\nWheeler. He was selectman in 1767, 1770, 1779.\r\n  LOTAN, son of Jonathan was born March 29, 1763, married Sarah Pierce\r\nand died June 3, 1812.\r\n  AFRICA, one of his eleven children, was born April 1,1797, married\r\ntwice, first Mariam Blanchard and second, Mary Blanchard, a sister of\r\nhis first wife.  He died June 22, 1869. His children were as follows--\r\nFrances A., Cyrus C., Louisa E., Henry S., Lotan B., John W.,\r\nGeorge L., Elathine A., Christina C., Larkin J., Charles C., and\r\nSarah E.\r\n  HENRY S. HILDRETH (son of Africa) was born March 4, 1826 and\r\nmarried Carrie E. Pettee June 1, 1848.  His only son, Irving A,\r\nwas born June 5, 1850 and married Addie O. Wilber who died September\r\n24, 1874.\r\n  CHARLES C. HILDRETH (son of Africa) was born November 4, 1848, and\r\nGeorge L was born March 31, 1838.\r\n\r\nJESSE HINDS came to Chesterfield about 1805, and settled on a farm\r\nin the southeastern part of town.  CORLIS, son of Jesse was born\r\nNovember 12, 1814 and married Harriet M., daughter of ELisha Hill,\r\nNovember 26, 1846.  His children are--Arthur C., Fernando P.,\r\nHarriet E., Sarah M., Caroline L., Jesse B., Manly H., Louisa L.,\r\nRoyal T., Flora May, Noble A., Ernest W., William W. and Melvin A.\r\n\r\nDAVID HOLMAN settled in Chesterfield about 1805, married twice,\r\nfirst Mehitable Gale, and second, Mrs. Laura (Stone) Henry. He had\r\ntwo children, James, an adopted son, and Ella F. The former married\r\nMary Falkner in 1824 who died August 31, 1841. He died April 28, 1844,\r\naged thirty-five years.  His children were David, Hetta, William,\r\nJason R., Sarah J., Esther M., Cynthia, George and Henry M.\r\n  DAVID HOLMAN, son of James was born January 5, 1825 and married\r\nSarah R., daughter of Ara Hamilton April 27, 1848. He was selectman\r\nin 1879 and 1882. His children are--Frederick H., Alice M., Evelyn A.,\r\nand Gertrude L.  WILLIAM HOLMAN, son of James was born August 2, 1828,\r\nmarried Mary M., dau of Josiah Higgins, April 8, 1851 and had\r\nchildren--Mary Rosetta, b May 5, 1853; Frank M. born December 30, 1854;\r\nFrederick W born Sept 30 1856; George A. b October 26 1858, and Helen\r\nL born March 6, 1861 who died August 3, 1874.\r\n\r\nJOSEPH HOLT came to Chesterfield from Fitchburg, Mass, about 1812.\r\nhis son JOSEPH HOLT JR. married Elizabeth Osborn and died in\r\nChesterfield in 1832. He kept a hotel where Leonard W. Leach now\r\nlives, also where Mrs. L.F. Bonney now lives.  He was also of the\r\nfirm Holt &amp; White merchants, more than 50 years.\r\n  ABEL, son of JOSEPH JR. was born January 15, 1803, married Hepsibeth\r\nJ. Brown of Damers, Mass [not a typo] October 11, 1829, and had born\r\nto him five children.  Of these, JOSEPH was born December 9, 1830,\r\nmarried Mrs. Martha E. Bowen in September 1869 and resided in\r\nChesterfield.  EDWIN A. was born November 3, 1834 and resided in town,\r\nand his daughter, Mrs. L.F. Bonney resided in Chesterfield Factory,\r\nwhere she had for a long time a millinery store.\r\n\r\nRICHARD HOPKINS came to this town as early as 1787, married Lucy\r\nFairbanks and died April 5, 1847 aged eighty-three years.\r\n  THORNTON HOPKINS, son of Richard, married Diantha, daughter of\r\nWilliam Farr, and died in Fitzwilliam about 1855.  William W.,\r\nson of Thornton was born December 21, 1831, married Miranda, daughter\r\nof Squire Streeter, September 12, 1854, was a mechanic and resided\r\nin town. His children are--Fred W., born October 2, 1859; Etta M.,\r\nborn September 21, 1863, and Harry D., born August 18, 1869.\r\n  RICHARD HENRY HOPKINS, son of Richard and Emeline (Lewis) HOPKINS,\r\nwas born in Chesterfield May 9, 1831 and died February 21, 1877. He\r\nreceived a good business education, and then learned the machinist\r\ntrade at Hinsdale NH after which he returned to Chesterfield Factory\r\nand soon engaged in the manufacture of bits and augers for Benjamin\r\npierce, and continued in the business until April 1, 1870. From\r\n1868 to 1870 Fred B. Pierce was his partner, under the firm name of\r\nHopkins &amp; Pierce. He also in company with Horace Howe (who for many\r\nyears had been overseer in a cotton mill) purchased the cotton factory\r\nand converted it into a shop for the manufacture of woodenware, and\r\nunder the firm name of Howe &amp; Hopkins, made spinning wheels, flax\r\nwheels, hatchels [? hatchets] &amp;c., several years.  In April 1870 he\r\nremoved to Hinsdale NH and went into company with G.S. Wilder, under\r\nthe firm name of Wilder &amp; Hopkins, edge-tool manufacturers. In 1872\r\nin company with George C. Fisk, president of the Wason Manufacturing\r\nCompany, car builders of Springfield, Mass., under the firm name of\r\nFisk &amp; Hopkins Paper Co., he built a paper mill at Hinsdale, of which\r\nhe was the successful manager until his death...In 1858 and 1859\r\nhe was elected selectmen by the voters of Chesterfield, and in 1865\r\nand 1866 represented the same in the NH house of representatives. He\r\nwas also a trustee of the Hinsdale Savings bank, a Master mason, and\r\na member of the Congregational Church.  January 6, 1853, he married\r\nEllen M. Newton, who was born October 21, 1831 and died September 26,\r\n1875.  The following were their children--Charles B., born May 16,\r\n1855, resided in Hinsdale and was manager of the Brightwood paper\r\nmill since his father's death; Isabel A., b May 28, 1857, died\r\nSeptember 6, 1858; Herbert H. born July 2, 1861, married and resided in\r\nHinckley, Illinois; Hattie E., born February 24, 1864, and died\r\nAugust 18, 1865; Clara E., born February 3, 1868, graduated from\r\nTilden Seminar June 17, 1885; and George C., born January 10, 1873\r\nand lived in Greenfield, Mass.\r\n\r\nELEAZER JACKSON supposed to have been a descendant of Edward Jackson,\r\nwho came from London, England, and settled in what is now Newton,\r\nMass, as early as 1643, was born May 12, 1736.  In 1767 he was in\r\nWalpole, Mass., but afterwards removed to Wrentham, and thence, in\r\n1771, to Dudley.  He was originally a clothier by trade.  October 6,\r\n1778, he took a deed of 82 acres of land in Chesterfield, upon which\r\nhe settled.  This land is part of the farm on which his grandson,\r\nJay Jackson, now resides, and has always been, since 1778, owned by\r\nmembers of the Jackson family. He was selectman in 1782, 1783, 1787,\r\n1788, 1793-1796, and 1800; representative in 1792, 1793, 1797.  In\r\n1791 he was the delegate from Chesterfield to the convention for\r\nrevising the Constitution of the State [of NH]. He died November 11,\r\n1814.  His wife was Rachel Pond, who he married in 1761, and who died\r\nMarch 12, 1836 at the great age of ninety-six years. His children were\r\nPrudence, Jacob, Jarib, Lydia, Enoch, Elijah, Levi, Wilkes, James and\r\nDavid.\r\n  One of his sons, ENOCH JACKSON, born October 20, 1769, married\r\nMartha, daughter of Andrew Phillips in 1779, and lived on the paternal\r\nfarm till 1837, when he removed to Winhall, Vt., where he died at the\r\nage of nearly eighty-four years. He was a noted pedestrian and seldom\r\nmade use of a horse in performing long journeys.\r\n  His son, JAY JACKSON, (son of Enoch) was born May 15, 1816, the youngest of the eight children, and also the youngest of thirty\r\ngrandchildren of Eleazor.  He was born at the \"Jackson Home\" in\r\nChesterfield, and resided on the ancestral farm, as mentioned above, and is a well-known farmer. He traded in cattle, was a trustee of\r\nChesterfield academy; a member of the NH House of representatives in\r\n1842 and 1844 and of the constitutional convention in 1876. He married\r\nin 1845 Betsey E. Henry of Swanzey, who died i 1870, and in 1872 he\r\nmarried Mrs. Lucy S. Whitney of TOwnsend, Vt. He had at least the\r\nfollwoing children--Laura, b September 12, 1846 a successful and\r\nhighly educated teacher; Robert, born March 3, 1848 a soldier in the\r\nwar of the Rebellion and a seaman, later engaged in mercantile business\r\nwith his brother at Chesterfield Factory; Martha E., born September 5,\r\n1850 and died August 13, 1876; Andrew H. born January 13, 1853,\r\nmerchant and assistant postmaster at Chesterfield Factory; and John,\r\nborn March 16, 1857, died December 27, 1861.\r\n  LEVI JACKSON, son of Eleazer Jackson, was one of the most\r\nintellectual men that Chesterfield has ever produced.  Of him, his\r\nnephew Jay Jackson, writes as follows: \"In a history of the town of\r\nChesterfield, justice to the memory of Hon. Levi Jackson seems to\r\nrequire something more than the bare mention of his name; for\r\nprobably no one has done more for the honor of the town, or to elevate\r\nthe moral and intellectual standard of the community in which he\r\nmoved.  The youthful years of Levi were principally spent in company\r\nwith his father and brothers in clearing up and cultivating their\r\nnew farm; but he manifested a desire to obtain a better education than\r\nthe common schools of that day were calculated to impart, and told his\r\nfather that he thought he might afford to send one of his numerous\r\nfamily of boys to college.  Improving his meagre common-school\r\nprivileges, and dividing the remainder of his time between his labors\r\nupon the farm and his fireside studies, with the benefit of a few\r\nmonths at the then infant institution of Chesterfield Academy, he\r\nqualified himself for college, and entered Dartmouth in 1797, two\r\nyears in advance.  Graduating in 1799, his services were immediately\r\nsecured by the trustees of Chesterfield Academy as preceptor of\r\nthat institution, which position he held for six consecutive years.\r\nDuring this time he academy acquired an enviable reputation as a\r\nliterary institution. Possessing a fine personal appearance, an\r\nunassumed dignity and firmness, yet easy and pleasant in his manners\r\nand conversation, it was said of him that he commanded both the love\r\nand fear of his pupils and the respect of all.  On retiring from the\r\npreceptorship of the academy, he engaged in trade at Chesterfield\r\nCentre, and continued in that business during the remainder of his\r\nlife.  He was a member of the NH House of Representatives in 1808,\r\n1809, 1810 and 1811 and again in 1821; a member of the State Senate\r\nin 1812, 1813, 1814, and 1815; and of the Council in 1816 and 1817.\r\nModest and unaspiring in his depoartment.. the offices of honor and\r\ntrust that he held were unbought and unsought by him, but bestowed\r\non him by an appreciative constituency in consideration of his\r\neminent qualifications for the same. A man of temperate habits and\r\nstrong constitution, in the full strength and vigor of life and\r\nusefulness, and with a prospect before him amounting to nearly a\r\ncertainty, that if his life was spared, he would soon be called to\r\nfill the highest office in the gift of the State, his unexpected\r\ndeath, which occurred August 30, 1821, at the age of 49, was a severe\r\nloss to the town, the State, and the community; and brought deep\r\nmourning upon his family and friends....\r\n\r\nEDWARD JARVIS, son of Edward, was born at St. John City, New Brunswick.\r\nHe married Calista M. Gibson of that city September 16, 1856 and came\r\nto Chesterfield June 29, 1860 and lived near the southern boundary of\r\nWestmoreland, in the house where Mr. Strobridge lived and died.\r\nAfter 3 years he went to Swanzey, and engaged in lumbering in\r\nCalifornia woods.  Three years afterwards he removed to Westmoreland,\r\nand lived on the farm last towned by Sanford Guernsey, and the house\r\nbuilt by Samuel Burt 1st.  They lived there 14 years, when the\r\nbuildings were destroyed by fire. He then removed to Chesterfield\r\nFactory in September 1880 where he keeps a boarding house and\r\nlivery stable. He lived on Main street, in the house long occupied by\r\nJacob White.  His children were four sons and four daughters, viz:--\r\nEugene, born October 17, 1859, died at the age of seven; Peter A.,\r\nborn March 3, 1863, died at the age of four years; Stanley E.,\r\nborn October 17, 1857; Joseph A., b July 1, 1861; Eliza J. b April 10,\r\n1865; Lettica S.V. b December 7, 1868; Ada Corinne, b March 31, 1872;\r\nand Edna M, b January 12, 1875.\r\n\r\nSAMUEL KING, son of DR. SAMUEL KING, appears to have settled in\r\nChesterfield about 1773.  He probably came from Petersham, Mass.\r\nHe was one of the most conspicuous characters in the history of the\r\ntown.  In 1776 he refused to sign the \"Association Test,\" and in\r\nJune 1777, he was summoned before the \"court of inquiry,\" at Keene,\r\n\"as being inimical to the United States of America;\" was tried and\r\nsentenced to pay a fine and to be confined to the limits of his farm.\r\nWhen the controversy about the \"Grants\" was at its height, he\r\nespoused the cause of Vermont, and labored strenuously to effect the\r\nunion of the disaffected towns with that State, and at one time held\r\na commission as colonel in the Vermont militia.  According to the\r\nrecords of the Superior Court of Cheshire County, he was indicted at\r\nthe same time with Samuel Davis, for attempting to break up the\r\nInferior Court in September 1782; but this indictment was quashed.\r\nIn 1781 he was chosen, together with Deacon Silas Thompson, to\r\nrepresent Chesterfield in the General Assembly of Vermont, and was\r\nselectman the same and the following year.  In 1782, 1783, and 1784\r\nhe represented the town in the General COurt of New Hampshire.  He\r\ndied September 13, 1785 in his thirty-fourth year, and was buried in\r\nthe old town grave-yard at the Centre village.  In his will, which\r\nwas made twelve ays before his death, he devised the use of his farm\r\nto his father and mother, and made certain provisions respecting his\r\nsisters and children.  The appraised value of his estate was\r\n2497 pounds, 9s. 4d.\r\n\r\nJOHN KNEELAND, son of Timothy Kneeland, and brother of the celebrated\r\nAbner Kneeland, was born in Gardner, Mass, in 1766 or 1767. He was a\r\ncarpenter by trade, and helped build, in 1790, the large square house,\r\nnear the West village, now owned and occupied by Ira D. Farr.  He\r\nlived a few years after his marriage in Dummerston, Vt., but returned\r\nto Chesterfield in 1797.  He resided many years on the farm now owned\r\nand occupied by Charles C.P. GOodrich, Esq., and which has long been\r\nknown as the \"Squire Kneeland farm.\"  He was a justice of the peace\r\nfor many years, and held the office of selectman longer than it has\r\never been held by any other person since the town was incorporated,\r\nviz: 1806, 1808, 1810, 1812-1816, 1820-26, or sixteen years in all.\r\nHe was also representative 1818-20, 1822, and 1825.  He died\r\nFebruary 9, 1850. He married Polly Johnson in 1791. His children were\r\nPolly, Cynthia, Electa, Lucy, Azra, Abial, Eliza and John W.\r\n  ABNER KNEELAND, the celebrated author and preacher, was a brother\r\nof John and often visited the town.\r\n\r\nBENJAMIN MARSH, son of Rev. Elisha Marsh, came here from Walpole,\r\nabout 1785.  He married Mrs. Hannah Graves in 1788, and died April 7,\r\n1811.  His children were Reuben, Asa, Elizabeth and Mary L.\r\n  REUBEN MARSH was born December 20, 1788 and married Mary, daughter of\r\nJoab Wetherbee in 1815.  He was captain of one of the companies of the\r\n2d Regiment detached militia, station at Portsmouth in 1814, and was\r\nselectman in 1839, 1842, 1844.  He died November 16, 1855.  He had\r\nborn to him seven children, namely--Laura A. H., Mary W., Benjamin\r\nLloyd, Sophira S., Charlotte and Charles, twins, and Helen E.\r\n  CHARLES MARSH, born November 6, 1829, married Julia M. Barrett of\r\nBoston, where he later resided.  He is one of the great firm of\r\nJordan, Marsh &amp; CO., as was also his brother, Benjamin L.\r\n  CHARLOTTE MARSH, twin sister of Charles, married Henry Fletcher in\r\n1849, and resided in Chesterfield on a section of the old Marsh farm.\r\nAbout 1872 the family removed to Brattleboro Vt., Mr. Fletcher being\r\nengaged in the lumber business and milling.  They have three\r\nchildren--Lelia, Helen and William, all born in Chesterfield. Mr.\r\nFletcher was deputy-sheriff of Cheshire county for many years.\r\n  BENJAMIN LLOYD MARSH, son of Captain Reuben and Mary (Wetherbee)\r\nMarsh, was born in Chesterfield, November 8, 1823.  While a young man\r\nhe went to Boston, and became, in 1851, a member of the great\r\ndry-goods firm of Jordan, Marsh &amp; Co., the senior partner of which is\r\nEben D. Jordan.  Mr. Marsh retained his connection with this firm till\r\nhis death, which occurred June 13, 1865, \"Having shared in all the\r\nstruggles, vicissitudes and triumphs of the house.\"  His brother,\r\nCharles Marsh, is still a member of the same firm.\r\n\r\nLEVI MEAD, son of MATTHEW MEAD, was born in Lexington, Mass,\r\nOctober 14, 1759.  He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, came to\r\nthis town about 1801. Soon after the War of the Revolution began he\r\nenlisted in the American army and served during the whole war.\r\nIn 1782 he married Betsey, daughter of Joseph Converse, who settled\r\nin Chesterfield about 1794.  In October 1800 he purchased of Asa\r\nBritton of this town what is known as the \"Mead farm,\" having a\r\nfrontage on the main street, at the Centre village, extending from the\r\nold \"back road\" (leading westward, and now disused) to the \"Dr. Tyler\r\nplace.\" In the spring of 1801 he came to Chesterfield with his\r\nfamily and occupied the next house south of the Tyler place, which he\r\nkept as a tavern.  In 1816 he build the present hotel at the Centre\r\nvillage, long known as the \"Mead tavern.\"  In 1802 he was appointed\r\ndeputy sheriff for Cheshire County, and held this office many\r\nyears.  He died April 29, 1828. He had born to him eight children as\r\nfollows:--Levi, Joseph, James, Bradley, Larkin Goldsmith, Elias,\r\nMarshall S. and Betsey R.\r\n  LARKIN G. MEAD, born in Lexington, Mass, October 2, 1795, was the\r\nson of Levi Mead.  He was educated at the Chesterfield Academy and at\r\nDartmouth College, and then read law with Hon. Phineas Handerson.\r\nFor many years he was a prominent member of the Cheshire bar.  He was\r\na man of culture, and possessed rare business qualities.  He was ever\r\nforemost in promoting the cause of education, and took great interest\r\nin the public schools.  In 1839 he removed to Brattleborough, where he\r\nresided the remainder of his life, and where he continued to practice\r\nhis profession.  He procured the charter for the first savings-bank\r\nin Vermont, now called the Vermont Savings-Bank of Brattleborough,\r\nand was treasurer of the institution about twenty-five years.  In\r\n1846 he was a member of the Vermont Senate.  He died July 6, 1869.\r\nHis wife was Mary Jane, (who he married 2 October 1795) daughter of\r\nHon. John Noyes of Putney, Vt. and Polly (Hayes) Noyes.\r\n  One of his sons is the well-known sculptor, Larkin G. Mead Jr.,\r\nwho was born in Chesterfield, January 3, 1835, but removed to\r\nBrattleborough with his parents in 1839.  In 1862 he went to Florence,\r\nItaly, where he has since resided the greater part of the time.  Among\r\nthe most important of his works are the \"Recording Angel\" the\r\ncolossal statue \"Vermont,\" \"Ethan Allen,\" \"The Returned Soldier,\"\r\n\"Columbus' Last Appeal to Isabella,\" \"Amercia,\" the bronze statue of\r\nAbraham Lincoln, \"Venice, the Bride of the Sea,' etc.\r\n\r\nCALVIN E. NURSE, son of Benjamin, was born in Keene NH March 20, 1825.\r\nHe has resided a number of years in Chesterfield, having previously\r\ntravelled extensively in the United States and Canada as an attache\r\nof a circus company; he was a painter and paper-hanger.\r\n\r\nELI PATTTRIDGE moved here from Mendon, Mass about 1776, and remained\r\nin this town until 1800 when he moved to the northern part of the\r\nstate.  He had born to him nine children, namely--Eli, Joseph, Amos,\r\nMary, Rachel, Charles, Nathaniel, Abel and Adam.\r\n  JOSEPH PATTRIDGE born in 1753 married Sarah Warren of Mendon, Mass.\r\nHe was selectman in 1801, 1803, 1816, 1817 and died in 1817 at the age\r\nof sixty-four. His children were Caroline, Prussia, John W., Mehitable,\r\nJoseph, Simon, Winslow, Sally, Abel, Ora and Samuel J.\r\n  SAMUEL J PATTRIDGE, born November 22, 1800, was the youngest of\r\nJoseph and Sarah (Warren) Pattridge's eleven children; while Lucretia\r\nborn November 9, 1801, whom he married October 25, 1827, was the\r\noldest of Ziba and Nancy (Babbit) Albee's fourteen children.  He\r\nsettled on the paternal homestead, about two miles east of Factory\r\nVillage, and was a succesful farmer. His mother, and also the mother\r\nof Mrs. Pattridge, received their personal care in their last years,\r\nthe former attaining to the ripe age of eighty-nine, and the latter\r\neighty-two.  She was known to say that during the years she had lived\r\nin the home of Samuel, she had no knowledge of an unpleasant word\r\nbetween him and her daughter.  He served the town as selectman in 1868,\r\nwas elected representative to the general court in 1846, and was\r\nre-elected in 1852.  He was commissioned an officer of the Chesterfield\r\nLight Infantry (under the old state militia). Samuel died suddenly\r\non the morning of April 30, 1884. Their children were--\r\nSarah W., born January 10, 1831 married 11 Feb 1851 William R.\r\nBullock of Winchester where they resided and had at least 4 children;\r\nWinslow Albee born 25 October 1838, and went to California in the\r\nspring of 1864 and engaged mostly in mining; on Jan 19, 1869 he\r\nmarried Georgina J., daughter of Henry Woodfield of Grass Valley\r\nNevada Co. California.  In the precinct where he lived, during\r\nelections he was clerk and recorder six years.  He was also deputized\r\nforeign tax collector.  In the fall of 1873 he returned to\r\nChesterfield with his family and settled on the homestead with his\r\nfather, and where his mother later lived.  Their two oldest children\r\nwere born in California, Hattie L. born 1 Jan 1871 and E. Maud\r\nborn 15 December 1872.  Then 3 children born in Chesterfield--\r\nFred W. born 6 Jan 1875, Ida Lucretia b 9 July 1878 and Lyra G.\r\nborn 8 Oct 1880.  He was elected representative of Chesterfield in\r\nthe fall of 1884. He belonged to the masonic order, having attained\r\nto 32d degree.\r\n\r\nSergeant THOMAS PIERCE, the emigrant ancestor of the Pierce family,\r\ncame to this country from England, with his wife, Elizabeth Pierce,\r\nand settled in Charlestown MA in 1634-35. From him was descended,\r\nin the sixth generation, CAPT. JOHN PIERCE.\r\n  CAPT. JOHN PIERCE was born in Groton MA January 26, 1743. He married\r\nTabitha Porter of Groton, and came to Chesterfield from Groton, Mass\r\nbetween 1770 and 1776.  According to tradition, he served in the last\r\nFrench and Indian War (under General Ruggles). When the Revolutionary\r\nWar broke out, he owned a large quantity of land, including five nice\r\nfarms, much of which, it is said, he sacrificed to the cause of\r\nliberty.  Under the order from General Stark he promptly volunteered\r\nand went to Bennington, taking part in the battle (probably as an\r\nindependent volunteer).  Tradition states that he and his two\r\nlieutenants started ahead of the company, and as they neared the\r\nBritish forces at Bennington, they found themselves between a company\r\nof Hessian, who were bathing in a stream, and the main body of the\r\nBritish.  Carefully crawling upon the bathers, who had their arms\r\nstacked, they separated, and representing themselves as three\r\ncompanies, called upon them to surrender, which they did, and they\r\nmarched them as prisoners into the American lines. On coming to\r\nChesterfield, he appears to have located on what is now  the Centre\r\nvillage, where he have kept a small store near where the  stone store now stands. April 19, 1782 he purchased of Samuel Davis Converse, the\r\nwestern half (the other half lying in Spafford's Lake) of lot No. 12,\r\nin the tenth range, on which he built a house.  Here he passed the\r\nremaining years of his life, erecting, after a while, a larger and\r\nmore commodious house near the highway that formerly led from the\r\nCentre village to Westmoreland.  He died July 7, 1812, aged sixty-nine\r\nyears. His widow died April 23, 1831, aged seventy-four years. He had\r\nnine children as follows--William born 1776; twins born 1779; John,\r\nborn 1780; Silas, born 1781; Ezekiel P. born 1785; Ebenezer born 1788;\r\nEsther born 1791; and Lucy born 1799.  All were born in CHesterfield.\r\n  EZEKIEL PORTER PIERCE, son of John and Tabitha (Porter) Pierce was\r\nborn April 20, 1785 and spent the most of his life in Chesterfield.  He\r\nlived at home, working on his father's farm, attending the common\r\nschools and Chesterfield academy until he learned the carpenter's\r\nand joiner's trade.  At the age of 21 he left home, going to\r\nFarmington, Me. where he engaged in drafting and architecture.\r\nMarch 1, 1808 he married Susanna, dau of Colonel Ezekiel Porter, of\r\nFarmington, Me. who was born May 4, 1785. He moved to Chesterfield from\r\nMaine, to live with his mother on the John Pierce homestead, in\r\nOctober 1814. Here he attended to farming, trading and manufacturing,\r\nentering largely into the manufacture of \"patent acceleratory wheel-\r\nheads,\" at the Factory Village, and the manufacture of bits and\r\naugers at West Chesterfield.  About 1821 he purchased the so-called\r\nCook Stand, at the Centre Village and kept a store and tavern there\r\nuntil 1831, when he built the large stone tavern near the lake.\r\nHere he lived the remaining years of his life, keeping the E.P. Pierce\r\nTemperance Lake House. He afterwards engaged in trade for a while at\r\nFactory Village, and in Londonderry Vt.,  The first \"patent\r\naccelerating wheel-heads,\" for spinning wool, that were made in\r\nChesterfield, were manufactured by him at Factory village, probably\r\nabout 1820.  He also engaged to some extent in the manufacture of bits\r\nand augurs.  In 1827 he represented the town in the General COurt.\r\nHe died May 23, 1865, in the eighty-first year of his age. His widow\r\ndied January 11, 1866. He had born to him ten children, viz: Susanna\r\nP., Theresa J., Ezekiel P., Julia A., Lucius D., Horace T.H., Lafayette\r\nW., Andrew Jackson, Augusta E., and Benjamin F.\r\n  SUSANNA P. PIERCE (dau of Ezekiel P.) married Colonel Bethuel Farley\r\nof Marlow November 12, 1840 and had two children--Lucius P. and\r\nDallas J. He died February 9, 1864 and she died July 9, 1881.\r\n EZEKIEL PORTER PIERCE JR. (son of Ezekiel P Sr.) married Sarah E.\r\nWebster of Salem, Mass, May 1, 1844 and has had two children--Georgie\r\nC. and Edward E. and resided in North Woburn Mass.\r\n JULIA ANGELINA PIERCE (dau of Ezekiel P) resided in Chesterfield NH\r\n HORACE TRUMAN HANKS PIERCE (son of Ezekiel P) married Sophia C.\r\nDickinson of Hinsdale June 12, 1850 and his children were Julia L.,\r\nWilliam E., and Frank D.\r\n LAFAYETTE WASHINGTON PIERCE (son of Ezekiel P.) married three times:\r\nfirst Cleopatra S. Barry who bore him one child, Charles L.; second,\r\nMrs. Lydia M. Brooks who also bore him one child, John A.; and third,\r\nHarriet E. Derby and had one child, Thirza B. He practices law in\r\nWinchendon, Mass.\r\n AUGUSTA E. and BENJAMIN F. PIERCE resided in Chesterfield.\r\n LUCIUS DARWIN PIERCE (son of Ezekiel P. Sr.) Esq. was born at\r\nChesterfield August 9, 1820.  In his boyhood and youth he attended\r\nthe common schools and Chesterfield academy. In 1841 he entered\r\nNorwich University (Vt.) gained a commendable proficincy in the\r\nancient languages, and yet while an undergraduate was appointed to\r\nand accepted the position of Professor of Languages, in a seminar in\r\nPortsmouth, Va.  He resigned and returned to Norwich University where\r\nhe graduated with A.B. in the class of 1846.  He studied law in the\r\noffice of Hon. William P. Chamberlain at Keene, was admitted to the\r\nbar in 1849, practiced law at Marlow until November 1853, when he\r\nmoved to Winchendon, Mass and formed a law partnershp with\r\nBenjamin O. Tyler, Esq. He continued for one year then opened an\r\noffice by himself continuing until his death, May 8, 1858. While in\r\npractice in NH he held a commssion as justice of the peace, and at\r\nthe time of his death held commissions as justice of the peace and\r\nnotary public for Massachusetts.  He married Lucy C., daughter of\r\nMajor John H. Fuller of Keene.  His remains are interred in the\r\nJoslin cemetery in Chesterfield.\r\n  BENJAMIN F. PIERCE, youngest son of Ezekiel P. Pierce, was born in\r\nChesterfield, August 1, 1833.  He attended the district school and\r\nthe academy, fitted for college under Professor Lafayette W. Ward, of\r\nWestminster, Vt. and afterwards attended Corner's Commercial college at\r\nBoston. In 1859, he was employed in the counting-room of Gilson's\r\nlast factory in Boston, was in trade in Winchendon, Mass, during the\r\nfollowing year, and later resided in Chesterfield.  He owned about\r\n170 acres of land, a large share being timber land and a saw-mill.\r\nThe making of cider vinegar was a specialty with him. He manufactured\r\ncider jelly, and cultivated choice grafted fruit for market.  He was\r\nthe first successful navigator of Spafford's Lake, having sailed it\r\nabout 10 years, no noteworthy accident having occurred during the time.\r\n\r\nFRANK A. PIERCE, son of Alson and Susanna (Wheeler) PIERCE was born\r\nin Chesterfield, April 20, 1854, and married October 25, 1870,\r\nPersis M., daughter of Snow Printice.  Previous to her marriage she\r\ntaught several terms of school with good success.  She died June 12,\r\n1883.  Mr. Pierce was a farmer, residing on the Ebenezer Pierce\r\nhomestead, and has had four children as follows: Earl, born January 8,\r\n1872; Anna L., born October 26, 1874; Guy L., born January 14, 1878;\r\nand Ida M. born January 11, 1880, died March 6, 1881.\r\n\r\nGEORGE PIERCE came from Smithfield, R.I. to Chesterfield about 1816,\r\nand settled upon the farm now owned by Mrs. Joseph W. Pierce, on\r\nroad 11, where he carried on farming.  He married Sophrona Mann,\r\nof Smithfield RI, who was born June 14, 1785 and was still living in\r\nChesterfield as a centenarian.  The one hundredth anniversary of this\r\naged lady's birthday was observed in proper form by her relatives and\r\nfriends, about 200 guests being present, and on which occasion the\r\nRev. Mr. Fowler read a history of the family, written in rhyme.  Others\r\nof those present made short speeches, read appropriate poems, etc. and\r\nMrs. Pierce, in whose honor her friends had gathered, entertained the\r\ncompany with vocal selections, which were enthusiastically recieved.\r\nMr. Pierce lived on the farm about nine years and then went back to\r\nhis native town to take care of his mother, and after her death he\r\ncame again about 1825 on to his farm, where he lived until his\r\ndeath, August 14, 1876, aged about eighty-three years.  He had\r\neleven children--six sons and five daughters--eight of whom are living.\r\n  BENJAMIN PIERCE, son of GEORGE, was born in Smithfield, RI,\r\nFebruary 26, 1815 and in early life lived with his father on the\r\nfarm. He attended common schools and the Chesterfield academy, taught\r\nschools winters until his marriage, which took place November 15, 1842\r\nto Caroline A. Gale, of Petersham, Mass, when he settled at\r\nChesterfield Factory. Here he was engaged in selling goods manufactured\r\nby Richardson &amp; Huggins, also goods made by Pliny Merrill of Hinsdale.\r\nIn 1853 he bought the bit and auger factory of Barton Skinner and\r\ncommenced the business of manufacturing Pierce's celebrated boring\r\nimplments, until 1882 when he sold out to Currier Brothers.  By his\r\nbusiness tact Mr. Pierce accumulated a large fortune. He also\r\nmanufactured spinning wheels and wheel heads. His wife died\r\nOctober 30, 1882 having had six children born to her, viz.: Fred B.;\r\nCaroline M., married and living at Atchinson, Kan (KS); Nellie K.,\r\nliving with her sister at Atchison; Gracie M., born December 30, 1854,\r\ndied Oct 3, 1873; Alice H. born November 14, 1858 and died Sept 5,\r\n1860; and one son died in infancy.\r\n  JOSEPH W. PIERCE, son of George was born in Smithfield RI and came\r\nto this town (Chesterfield) with his parents when an infant. He\r\nmarried Sarah J. dau of Davis Arnold, who bore him six children,\r\nnamely--Ansel J., Harry A., John M., David W., S. Jennie, and Josie\r\nM. Mr. Pierce died February 27, 1884.\r\n  FRED B. PIERCE, son of Benjamin, was born at Chesterfield Factory,\r\nApril 20, 1845. He married Emma F., daughter of Josiah W. Cook of\r\nAlstead, December 16, 1868 and has one daughter, Maude E., born\r\nMay 23, 1871, a son Frank M., born May 17, 1875, died Sept 18th of\r\nthe same year.  From 1868 to 1882 he was interested with his father\r\nin the manufacture of bits and augurs. In 1877 he established the\r\nbusiness of manufacturing brush-handles, and doing a large business\r\nin Chesterfield Factory...\r\n\r\nWARHAM R. PLATTS, son of Captain Joseph Platts, of Rindge, born\r\nJuly 18, 1792, married Sarah Harvey in 1821, and settled in\r\nChesterfield.  FOr about twenty-one years he was postmaster at the\r\nCentre village.  He was also, for many years, a deputy sheriff for\r\nCheshire county, and for a while sheriff of the county.  He was\r\nalways interested in the affairs of the town and in national politics.\r\nIn 1848 and 1851 he held the office of selectman,, and was town clerk\r\nin 1843-44.  He died February 21, 1871.\r\n\r\nJOHN PUTNAM, born in Winchester May 10, 1761, came to Chesterfield in\r\nhis boyhood, and lived in the family of Ebenezer Harvey Sr.  In 1779\r\nhe enlisted in Colonel Hercules Mooney's regiment, and served for a\r\nwhile.  This regiment was ordered to march to Rhode Island.  In 1801\r\nhe married Mary, the daughter of Joseph Converse, and lived many years\r\nat the Centre village, in the large house that once stood near the\r\nsouth side of the comon, and which was burned about 1845.  THough\r\nhe commenced life in very humble circumstances, he succeeded,\r\nby his sagacity and perseverance, in acquiring a considerable fortune,\r\nowning much timber-land in the Winchester woods.  FOr a number of\r\nyears he was one of the trustees of the academy, and served the town\r\nin the capacity of selectman in the years 1808, 1809, 1820, 1821,\r\n1826.  He also represented the town in the Legislature in 1816, 1817,\r\n1818, and 1826.  He died November 17, 1849 at the age of eighty-eight\r\nyears.\r\n\r\nWILLIAM RANDALL came to Chesterfield from Cranston, R.I. about 1780.\r\nhis children were Eleazar, Anthony, Benajah, and Esther.\r\n  ELEAZAR RANDALL married Martha Staples, and settled in Chesterfield\r\non land given him by his father. His children were Roxana, Prusha,\r\nDiana, Nathan and Eleazer.\r\n  ELEAZER (son of Eleazar) born August 4, 1796 married Clarissa,\r\ndaughter of Benjamin Wheeler in 1815.  He resided many years in this\r\ntown, on the farm which his father-in-law had settled, later owned by\r\nWilliam L. Clegg.  He died in Westmoreland June 17, 1860.  He had born\r\nto him eight children, namely--Diana, Roxana, Eleazer, Sarah Harris,\r\nShubel Hastings, Martha Staples, Abigail Rockwood and George.\r\n  ELEAZAR RANDALL, son of Eleazar and Clarissa (Wheeler) Randall, was\r\nborn in Chesterfield February 27, 1820.  Having learned the\r\ncarpenter's trade when a young man, he engaged pretty extensively,\r\nfrom about 1850 til 1860 in the construction of railway and other\r\nbuildings in Vermont, Western Canada, and Michigan, being associated,\r\nmost of the time with Marshall H. Farr, and his own brothers--\r\nShubel H. and George Randall.  He married 18 October 1846, Elvia\r\nRumrill,of Hillsborough Bridge, daughter of William and Sally (Little)\r\nRumrill. From 1860 till the time of his death he engaged in farming in\r\nChesterfield, on the farm that he had owned and managed since 1850, and\r\nwhich is now owned by his sons, Oran Edmund and Frederick Rumrill.\r\nHe died July 30, 1882.\r\n ORAN EDMUND RANDALL, born December 28, 1847, married Maria N., dau\r\nof Moses N. Smith on April 13, 1871.  She is the author of \"History\r\nof Chesterfield,\" published in 1882.\r\n FREDERICK R. RANDALL born in Chesterfield NH January 29, 1854 married\r\nAlice C., daughter of John A. and Fanniel E. (Barrow) Kathan, of\r\nWestmoreland.\r\n\r\nSILAS RICHARDSON, a descendant of John Richardson, who came to this\r\ncountry from England, was born in Medford, Mass 1748. He appears to\r\nhave settled in this town about 1776, having come from Mendon, Mass.\r\nand settled on land one mile north of the Factory Village. The deed of\r\nhis purchase under colonial government, still preserved, is dated May\r\n1776. He was a soldier of the Revolution, and was called \"Lieutenant\r\nRichardson.\" He was one of the original trustees of Chesterfield\r\nAcademy, and was selectman in 1788, 1793-96. He died in 1803. His wife\r\nwas Silence (or Sileme) Daniels, of Medway, Mass who he married in\r\n1771. His children were: Wilkes, Sarah, Orlo\r\n WILKES RICHARDSON (son of Silas) born December 1772 marrried Mehitable\r\nClark, resided in Chesterfield until 1808 when he removed to Champion\r\nN.Y. He was selectman in 1804 &amp; 1805.\r\n ORLO RICHARDSON (son of Silas) married Nancy Wild, dau of Benjamin\r\nWild, who died April 4, 1872, aged nearly ninety years. He settled\r\nhere and lived in Chesterfield all his life. In 1826-1828, 1834, 1835\r\nhe (Orlo) also held the office of selectman, and represented the town\r\nin the Legislature in 1828-1829. He was also Justice of the peace,\r\nand an active businessman.  He died May 27, 1852.  His children were:\r\nJohn Milton, b. November 25, 1807; Laura, born Jan 28, 1861; Nancy,\r\nborn Sept 1810, died Dec 1, 1857; Edwin, b. Aug 24 1812, married\r\nSarah B. Wheeler of Westmoreland, was a manufacaturer of scythes in\r\nFitchburg MA; Sarah Wild, b Aug 1, 1814, married Col Charles\r\nButterfield of Westmoreland who was a graduate of Kimbal Union\r\nAcademy and a prominent teacher; Silas D., b Dec 10, 1816, married\r\nLura M. Choate, in Orland, Ind., has been practicing physician in\r\nIndiana, Michigan and Iowa, and resides in Chicago; Diana, born\r\nJanuary 1, 1819, married George F. son of Wilder Harris of\r\nChesterfield and died Sep 14, 1871 at St. Albans Vt; Julia A.,\r\nb Sept 6, 1821, married J.W.H. Baker MD, son of Dr. Oliver Baker of\r\nChesterfield; and Lucretia Adeline, b. Oct 4, 1824, died Oct 8, 1828.\r\n JOHN MILTON RICHARDSON (son of Orlo) born November 25, 1807, is a\r\nfarmer and justice of the peace in Chesterfield. He married May 31,\r\n183? Bathsheba D. Hemenway of Framingham Mass.  He was selectman in\r\n1851, 1856 and 1857, representative in 1861 and 1862. An adopted son,\r\nJohn Milo Richardson, born in 1843, married Laura Maria, dau of J.W.H.\r\nBaker.  She resided in Chesterfield some time and has been a teacher\r\nin Davenport, Iowa for several years. He died in St. Alban's Vt of\r\nconsumption October 31, 1871 and was buried in Chesterfield. Their\r\ndau, Julia B. was born in Chesterfield December 3, 1871.\r\n\r\nARCHIBALD ROBERTSON, born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1708, emigrated\r\nto America in 1754 with his wife Elizabeth (Watson) and children,\r\nJames, WIlliam, John (?) and Anna (?).  Archibald and his wife were\r\ndissenters from the old-established Church of Scotland, and joined\r\nwith the \"New DIsciples.\"  Their names appear among those of the\r\nsubscribers for the new book of \"Confession of Faith,\" a copy of\r\nwhich is now in possession of their great-grandson, Timothy N.\r\nRobertson.  They came to Chesterfield (having lived a few years near\r\nBoston) after their son James had settled here, but just how long\r\nafter has not been ascertained.  December 14, 1775, Archibald was\r\nchosen to represent Chesterfield and Hinsdale in the \"Provincial\r\nCongress\" that was to assemble at Exeter the 21st day of the same\r\nmonth, being the first person ever chosen by the town for such\r\npurpose.  After living here a number of years he removed to\r\nBrattleborough or Vernon, Vt.  He died in Brattleborough in 1803.\r\n  JAMES ROBERTSON, son of Archibald Robertson, born in Scotland\r\nMarch 8, 1741, came to this country with his father in 1754.  For a\r\nfew years after coming to this country he worked in Old Dunstable and\r\nvicinity, and, probably, also took part in the last French and Indian\r\nWar.  In the summer of 1762 he came to Chesterfield, and began to\r\nprepare a home for himself and future wife.  The place where he built\r\nhis cabin is about thirty rods west of the present residence of his\r\ngrandson, T.N. Robertson.  When the war broke out between the\r\nmother-country and the American colonies he ardently espouse the cause\r\nof the latter, though a Briton by birth.  In September 1776, he\r\nenlisted in Captain Houghton's company of Colonel Nahum Baldwin's\r\nregiment.  In 1777 he was a lieutenant in Colonel Ashley's regiment,\r\nbut the date of his commission has not been ascertained.  He was, also,\r\nat one time a member of the town \"Committee of Safety.\"  During the\r\ncontroversy about the New Hampshire Grants he was firm in his\r\nopposition to the Vermont party, by some of whom he appears to have\r\nbeen rather roughly treated.  He died March 19, 1830.  His first wife\r\nwas Sarah Bancroft, of Dunstable (now Tyngsborough) Mass.  She died\r\nJune 28, 1798 in her fifty-fifth year.\r\n\r\nELISHA ROCKWOOD, born in Groton, Mass, November 20, 1740 purchased in\r\nChesterfield, in 1769, the larger part of house-lots Nos. 7 and 8,\r\nin the tenth range.  In his deed he was styled a \"clothier.\" He took\r\na prominent part in the affairs of the town during the War of the\r\nRevolution, being one of the town Committee of Safety in 1777. He\r\nalso was selectman the same year and in 1780.  He died February 13,\r\n1832.\r\n\r\nAARON ROYCE came from Rhode Island at an early day. He has four\r\nchildren--one son and three daughters. His son DAVID ROYCE was born\r\nin town (Chesterfield), married Harriet Streeter of Hinsdale NH and\r\nlocated in Hinsdale. After living here and in different parts of\r\nNH and Vermont for several years, he moved to Charleston, Vt. where\r\nhe and his wife both died.  He reared a family of nine children, six\r\nof whom are living. Of these, BURNHAM ROYCE lives in Boston; HARRIET\r\nROYCE married H. Osman and lived in Vermont; CYNTHIA ROYCE in\r\nLyndon, Vt.; CHARLES ROYCE AND cLARK ROYCE lived in Charleston, Vt.;\r\nand LYMAN ROYCE a farmer resides in Chesterfield.  Lyman married\r\nEveline C. Hildreth and has had born to him six children, as follows:\r\nEllis D. of this town; Harriet L., Anna J. and Adelar, who are dead;\r\nIsabel who married H.M. Butler, and Herman D. who is also dead.\r\n\r\nEBENEZER SAFFORD came to Chesterfield about 1780 and settled upon\r\nwhat was known as the \"Dudley farm.\" His children were Luke, Roswell,\r\nand Ebenezer.\r\n  ROSWELL SAFFORD, born November 18, 1784 married Fanny, daughter of\r\nJonathan Farr, in 1809, and had born to him five children--Electa C.,\r\nPhilip, Ebial, Jonathan and Eliza C.\r\n  EBNEZER JR., born October 2, 1787 married Dolly, daughter of William\r\nFarr in 1809 who bore him six children--Mary T., Norman E., Lydia P.,\r\nWatson, Oliver H. and Otis.  Watson, born February 24, 1819 married\r\nCatharine, daughter of ELijah Hildreth September 27, 1843 who bore\r\nhim five children--Leavitt W., born Nov 10, 1844; Ellon A, born March\r\n19, 1849, married Mary R dau of William Holman on February 14, 1871;\r\nCharles H. born June 25, 1854; Frank L., born July 27, 1857; and\r\nEddie A., born December 28, 1861.\r\n\r\nTHE SARGENT FAMILY--The founder of the Sargent family in Chesterfield\r\nwas ERASTUS SARGENT, son of THOMAS, and a great-grandson of Digory Sargent, of Mass.,who was killed by the Indians about 1704, and whose wife and children were captured and taken to Canada.  Erastus\r\nsettled in Chesterfield in 1792 or 1793.  He married Annas, daughter of\r\nWarren Snow, of Chesterfield, and lived many years here, finally\r\nremoving to Stukely, P.Q. where he died AUgust 24, 1847, aged\r\nseventy-five years.  His seven children were--Edwin, Diana, Jason,\r\nEdith, Warren, Angeline, and Alanson.\r\n  One of his sons, Edwin Sargent, was born December 16, 1793, married\r\n27 Dec 1815 to Sally,daughter of David Stoddard, of this town, and lived here most of his life. He resided for a time on the paternal\r\nfarm, then moved to the farm afterwards owned by his son, Oscar E.\r\nHe represnted the town in the General Court in 1842.  He had born to him nine children--Louisa, Emily, Corydon, John H., David W.,\r\nCharles R., Jude S., Oscar E., and Frederich. One of his sons, Charles\r\nR. Sargent, engaged to a considerable extent, in his earlier years, in\r\nschool-teaching; but at the time of his death, which occured in\r\nHinsdale April 2, 1880, he was one of the commissioners of Cheshire\r\nCounty, to which office had been twice elected.\r\n\r\nWAITSTILL SCOTT was in Westmoreland at the time of the Revolution, and\r\ncommanded the company that marched from that town on the occasion of\r\nthe alarm at Ticonderoga. He probably came to Chesterfield between\r\n1815 and 1819. His children were Eunice, Lydia, Waitstill, Rufus,\r\nRhodolphus, Lucy, Lyman, Chester and Justus.  Rhodolphus born January\r\n7, 1780, married twice, first, Lydia Haven, and second Mrs. Diantha\r\nHopkins.  He had born to him eight children--Noyes, born Oct 7, 1803;\r\nHorace; Alonzo born in 1807; Cordelia born August 9, 1809;\r\nRhodolphus, died in infancy; Otis H born May 14, 1826; Romanzo J.,\r\nborn July 9, 1841, married Sarah M. dau of Benjamin B. Faulkner,\r\nMay 15, 1870 is a mechanic in Chesterfield; and George D., born\r\nAugust 20, 1842.\r\n  HORACE SCOTT, son of Rhodolphus married stice and had born to him\r\neight children--Persis M., who married ALonzo Wilson; Horace P;\r\nJames W; Cordelia L; Sarah A; Elizabeth A.; Marcia A and George F.\r\n  HORACE P. SCOTT (son of Horace) born January 18, 1830 married Syrena,\r\ndau of Ebenezer Perry of Keene 4 July 1852.\r\n  JAMES W. SCOTT (son of Horace, and brother of Horace P.) was born\r\nSeptember 18, 1834, and married Mrs. Lydia (Perry) Field.\r\n  OTIS H. SCOTT (son of Rhodolphus) married Maria N. daughter of\r\nJonathan Hill of Swanzey, November 13, 1848.  he had born to him\r\neight children as follows: Stella M. born June 6, 1850; Frank O.,\r\nborn September 14, 1852; Letta G., born February 12, 1857; Herbert W.\r\nborn January 18, 1859; Mary E. born January 28, 1864; Alice G., born\r\nOctober 20, 1865; Emma, born November 3, 1867 and Nora C., born\r\nSeptember 16, 1869.\r\n\r\nWILLIAM SHURTLEFF came to Chesterfield from Ellington, Conn., in 1787,\r\nand died here in 1801.  His wife was Hannah Cady, and one of his nine\r\nchildren was ROSWELL SHURTLEFF, born August 29, 1773.  At the age of\r\nabout nineteen years, Roswell entered Chesterfield Academy, where he\r\nstudied Latin, going through Ross's Grammar in just two weeks.\r\nOne of his mates at the academy was Levi Jackson, who was afterwards\r\nhis classmate and room-mate at Dartmouth College.  After a while he\r\ntook up the study of Greek, and went through the \"Westminister Greek\r\nGrammar\" in one week.  In 1797 he and Jackson entered Dartmouth two\r\nyears in advance, and graduated in 1799. From 1800 to 1804 he was\r\ntutor in that college; from 1804 to 1872, professor of divinity;\r\nfrom 1827 to 1838 professor of moral philosophy and political economy.\r\nFor nearly twenty years he was also college preacher, and pastor of the\r\nchurch on Hanover Plain.  He was a man of great intellectual force,\r\nan excellent teacher and a devoted friend to all young men who were\r\nstriving to obtain an education.  He died at Hanover Feburary 4,\r\n1861 in his eighty-eighth year.\r\n\r\nBARTON SKINNER, son of Timothy Skinner of Westmoreland, was born\r\nDecember 19, 1801 and resided in Chesterfield from 1853 to April 1863.\r\nHe was a manufacturer at Factory Village and was town representative\r\nin 1857-58. He removed to Keene, where he died February 11, 1865.\r\n\r\nMOSES SMITH, the first settler of Chesterfield, was of Leicester, Mass.\r\nin 1738, where he owned land purchased of John Nobels, of Norwich,\r\nConn.  In 1761 he was of Hinsdale, as was stated in the deed of the\r\nland which he purchased in Chesterfield that year.  His wife was\r\nElizabeth --, who died July 20 in her sixty first year.  He was\r\nselectman in 1777, 1771-72.  The inscription on his gravestone is\r\nas follows, \"In memory of Ensign Moses Smith, the first settler in\r\nChesterfield, who departed his life Dec. ye 30th, 1785, in ye 75th\r\nyear of his age.\"  He was buried in the town graveyard, near the\r\n\"river road\" and a short distance south of the residence of\r\nCharles C.P. Goodrich, Esq.\r\n  MOSES SMITH JR., son of Moses Smith, the first settlers, married\r\nin 1768, Phebe, daughter of John Snow, of Chesterfield.  He was one\r\nof the first settlers in the eastern part of the town, having\r\npurchased, December 25, 1764, Lot No. 12, in the sixth range.\r\nHe was lieutenant in 1777, and justice of the peace for many years.\r\nHe was also one of the original trustees of the academy.  During\r\nthe controversy about the \"New Hampshire Grants\" he espoused the\r\ncause of Vermont, and at one time the New Hampshire government gave\r\norders for his arrest.  He held the office of selectman in 1776,\r\n1776, 1778, 1781, 1789-1791.  About 1824 he removed, with his son\r\nMoses Jr. to Pike, Allegheny County, New York, where he died about\r\n1830, aged eighty-eight years.\r\n\r\nJOHN SNOW appears to have settled in Chesterfield about 1762, which\r\nyear he and Moses Smith built the first saw-mill erected in the town.\r\nHe probably lived on or near what was afterwards the town poor-farm.\r\nHe undoubtedly came from some town in Massachusetts.  He was\r\nselectman in 1767, and died May 12, 1777 in his seventy-second year.\r\nOne of his sons, ZERUBBABEL SNOW married Mary Trowbridge of Worcester,\r\nMass., and settled in Chesterfield before 1770.  He was one of the\r\nselectmen in 1773-74 and died April 12, 1795, in his fifty-fourth year.\r\nAnother snow of John Snow, WARREN SNOW, married Amy Harvey, and\r\nsettled in this town in 1769 or 1770 having come from Princeton, Mass.\r\nIn 1777 he was a member of the \"Committee of Inspection and\r\nCorrespondence\" of Chesterfield, and selectman in 1779.  He died in\r\n1824.\r\n  ALPHEUS SNOW, a grandson of Zerubbabel Snow, was born in Chesterfield\r\nMay 10, 1791.  He married in 1815, Salome, daughter of Perley Harris,\r\nof this town.  In his youth he attended school only a few weeks;\r\nnonetheless by private study, he afterwards succeeded in acquiring an\r\nordinary education.  He had a special aptitude for arithmetic, and it\r\nis said that even persons who ought to have been his superiors in\r\nthis branch of mathematics sometimes sought his aid in the solution\r\nof a difficult problem.  When a young man he learned the blacksmith's\r\ntrade, which he followed for many years at the West Village. He also\r\nengaged in farming, living a long time on the farm now owned and\r\noccupied by Horace D. Smith.  He was selectman in 1837-39, 1845,\r\n1849, 1853 and represented the town in the General Court in 1849.\r\nHe died May 28, 1869.\r\n\r\nEBENEZER STEARNS, born in 1776, son of Ebenezer Stearns of Milford,\r\nMass., appears to have come to Chesterfield about 1797.  About 1800\r\nhe opened the first store at Factory Village.  In 1805 the\r\nChesterfield Manufacturing Company was incorporated, of which he was\r\nagent and treasurer most of the time from 1809 to 1821.  He was an\r\nactive, enterprising man, and did much to promote the welfare and\r\ninterests of the village in which he lived.  In 1823-24 he represented\r\nthe town in the Legislature.  He died October 11, 1825.\r\n\r\nDAVID STODDARD may have come from Rutland, Mass.  He appears to have\r\nsettled in Chesterfield about 1767, on the farm now owned and\r\noccupied by Truman A. Stoddard.  Whether he married more than once is\r\nnot known; but the name of the wife who came to Chesterfield with him\r\nwas Joanna --. He was selectman in 1771 and 1772, and in the spring\r\nof 1775 he enlisted in Captain Hind's company of the Third New\r\nHampshire Regiment.  According to tradition, he died while in the\r\narmy.\r\n  One of his sons, DAVID STODDARD JR. married Sarah French, and lived\r\non the paternal farm in town.\r\n\r\nPETER STONE, a descendant of Simon Stone, who came to this country\r\nfrom England in 1635, was born in Groton, Mass, August 25, 1741.\r\nIn 1773 he married Abigail Fassett, of Westford, Mass.\r\nMarch 27, 1777 he purchased, in Chesterfield, of Silas Thompson, the\r\nfarm on which the latter settled (consisting in part, at least, of\r\nlot No. 12, in the thirteenth range. He appears to have come to this\r\ntown with his family in 1778 or 1779.  He built, at an early period,\r\nthe house owned and occupied by the late Charles N. Clark.  In 1790\r\nhe helped establish the academy.  In his efforts to aid others he\r\nbecame involved in debt, and was obliged to mortage his farm, which\r\nhe eventually lost.  Though permitted to remain in the house which he\r\nformerly owned (being old and infirm) he chose not to do so, and\r\npassed his last days in the school-house that stood on the site of\r\nthe present one in School District No. 10.  He died about 1820 (as\r\nnearly as can be ascertained) having survived his wife a number of\r\nyears.\r\n  WARREN STONE, a grandson of Peter Stone, was born at St. Albans,\r\nVt. in 1808, but came at an early age to Chesterfield, whence his\r\nfather and mother had removed but a few years earlier.  His early\r\nyears were spent in manual labor, and in obtaining such education\r\nas the schools of the town afforded.  As he approached manhood,\r\nhowever, the desire to pursue the study of medicine became so\r\nstrong that he resolved to quit the rural scenes of his youth and\r\ndevote his life to that calling for which he had an especial fitness.\r\nAccordingly, he went to Keene and studied a while with the\r\ndistinguished Dr. Twitchell, afterwards attending the medical school\r\nin Pittsfield, Mass., from which he graduated with the degree of\r\nM.D. in 1831.  The next thing to be done was to find a suitable\r\nlocation for practicing his profession.  Endowed by nature with a bold\r\nand enterprising spirit, he at least decided to seek his fortune in\r\nthe far-distant regions of the South.  He accordingly went to Boston,\r\nwhere, October 10, 1832, he took passage for New Orleans in the brig\r\n\"Amelia.\" The brig was wrecked on Folly Island, near Charleston, S.C.,\r\nbut the passengers were rescued, Dr. Stone especially displaying on\r\nthis occasion the firmness and presence of mind for which he was\r\nnoted.  Cholera also broke out among the passengers and crew, from\r\nwhich he, too, suffered with the rest.  He finally arrived, however,\r\nin New Orleans, late in November or early in December, in poor\r\nhealth and with insufficient clothing.  After a while he succeeded in\r\ngetting employment, in a subordinate capacity, in Charity Hospital,\r\nof which he afterwards became assistant surgeon.  In January 1837,\r\nhe was appointed professor of anatomy in the Medical Department of\r\nthe University of Louisiana, and soon afterwards professor of\r\nsurgery--a position that he held until he resigned it, in the spring\r\nof 1872.  In 1839 he established, in connection with Dr. William E.\r\nKennedy, a private hospital.  In 1841 he was unfortunate enough to\r\nlose one of his eyes from \"a specific inflammation contracted from\r\na child.\"  When the war broke out in 1861, Dr. STone was appointed,\r\nby the Confederate authorities, surgeon-general of Louisiana, in\r\nwhich capacity he rendered very efficient service.  After the\r\noccupation of New Orleans by the Federal forces he was imprisoned for\r\na while by General Benjamin F. Butler.\r\n As a surgeon, Dr. Stone possessed remarkable skill, and\r\nsuccessfully performed the most difficult operations.  He was, in\r\nfact, \"the admitted head of the profession in the Southwest.\"  He\r\ndied in New Orleans, December 6, 1872.\r\n\r\nSTEPHEN STREETER JR., son of Stephen and Starah (Chamberlain) Streeter,\r\nwas born December 7, 1782, about which time his father and mother\r\ncame from Oxford, Mass to Chesterfield. He was locally celebrated as\r\na poet, being noted also for his retentive memory. Some of his songs,\r\nepigrams, and longer poems were very popular with his contemporaries,\r\nand he well merited the appelation of the \"Bard of Streeter Hill.\"\r\nHe died May 22, 1864 having never married.\r\n\r\nNATHAN SYMONDS, son of Thomas and Lydia (Pratt) Symonds, was born\r\nin Rindge, July 6, 1807 on what is known as the \"Symonds farm.\"\r\nHe is a descendant of John Symonds who came from England, and was\r\nresiding in Salem MA in 1636, being of the seventh generation counting\r\nJohn Symonds as first.  Nathan was brought up under religious\r\ninfluences, his mother being a devout woman... He married Eliza Herrick\r\nJuly 3, 1831. They came to Chesterfield March 31, 1837 settling near\r\nthe \"Channel\" south side, where Dr. Butler now lives. He worked at\r\nforging bits, for Richardson &amp; Huggins, continued the work for the\r\ndifferent firms until 2 or 3 years before his death, which occured\r\nsuddenly of apoplexy, on the morning of December 26, 1882. Mrs.\r\nSymonds died March 2, 1881. They were a united, home-loving couple.\r\nEddie Buzzell, who married their granddaughter, M. Lizzie (daughter\r\nof Charles and Elizabeth Chase, of Westmoreland) lived on School\r\nstreet in the house where Mr. Symonds died, and where they lived,\r\nabout 20 years.  Charles T. Symonds, born in Keene February 21, 1835,\r\nwent to Chelsea MA in 1858 where he was in the employ of the gas\r\ncomopany, 16 years, being for 11 years treasurer, and of which\r\ncompany he was a prominent stockholder. He died September 16, 1871.\r\nAnn F., born June 14, 1847 died in infancy. Amelia A., born in\r\nRindge Feb 17, 1833 went to Chelsea, Mass in 1858. She lives in the\r\nfamily of Hon. Erastus Rugg, who married her father's sister, and\r\nto whom she stands in their affections a daughter. She is a consistent\r\nmember of the Methodist church. She has for many years been\r\nsaleswoman in the establishment of A.B. Richardson, much of the time\r\nhaving charge of a portion of the business.\r\n\r\nSILAS THOMPSON, of Dunstable, Mass, purchased in Chesterfield, March\r\n12, 1766, lot No. 12, in the thirteenth range, and probably settled\r\non the same soon after.  This lot formed part, at least, of the farm\r\nwhich he sold in 1777 to Peter Stone Sr.  After selling this farm\r\nhe lived on the one now owned by Henry J. Dunham.  He took a\r\nprominent part in the affairs of the town and the church, being one\r\nof the deacons of the latter.  Together with Colonel Samuel King,\r\nhe represented the town, after its union with Vermont, in the\r\nAssembly of the State.  In 1770 he was selectman and in 1776 coroner\r\nfor Cheshire County.  His wife was Abigail Bancroft.  He died April 25,\r\n1806 in his seventy-second year.\r\n\r\nJOSEPH TITUS, came to Chesterfield in 1777 from Douglas, Mass, soon\r\nafter his marriage to Mary Bigelow, and cleared and put in thorough\r\ncultivation one of its most rocky, hillside farms.  He was fourth in\r\ndescent from Robert Titus who came from near Stanstead Abbey,\r\nHartfordshire, England in 1635, and finally settled on Long Island.\r\nThe immigrant was a family of some note [more in original document\r\nnot included here]. The children of Joseph were Lucy, Lydia, Joseph,\r\nMartin, Mary, Demmis, Isaac, Samuel, Anna and Ezra, but two of whom\r\nsettled in this town or state.\r\n  EZRA TITUS, son of Joseph and Mary (Bigelow) Titus was born in\r\nChesterfield, January 15, 1789.  Being of a studious turn of mind and\r\nfond of mathematical studies, he is said to have applied himself so\r\nassiduously to these in his early years as to have seriously\r\novertasked his brain--a circumstance which caused him to change his\r\ncourse of life.  He, nevertheless, following school-teaching to a\r\nconsiderable extent, and acquired the reputation of being one of the\r\nbest teachers of his time.  After his marriage he also engaged in\r\nfarming in this town, and for a while held a colonel's commission\r\nin the New Hampshire militia.  He also held the office of selectman\r\nin 1836 and 1847.  His wife was Electa, daughter of John Kneeland,\r\nEsq.  He died March 25, 1869.  His children were Elvira E., Ezra B.,\r\nAlfred W., Arvilla E., Marion M., John O., Herbert B., Adele E.,\r\nand Eleanor M.\r\n   One of his sons, Herbert B. Titus, was born in the old farm house\r\nbuilt by his grandfather, and long since demolished.  At the age of\r\nfourteen he taught his first school of forty scholars, sixteen of whom\r\nwere older than himself. Teaching and work upon the farm alternated\r\nwith study at the academy at West Brattleboro Vt, Chesterfield and\r\nMeriden until 1854, when he entered Yale College where he remained but\r\na single term, the death of a relative who had promise pecuniary\r\nassistance... He resumed teaching and farming in 1859 and was\r\nappointed county commissioner of common schools.  In April 1861,\r\nhe was holding a teachers' institute in Keene, when, his name was first\r\nupon the list for a volunteer company (when President Lincoln called\r\nfor troops during the Civil War) to Company A., of the 2d NH Regiment.\r\nRe-enlisting for 3 years, he was commissioned its second lieutenant.\r\nAfter the Battle of Bull Run, in which his bravery and perfect\r\ncoolness under fire were conspicuous, he was promoted to 1st\r\nlieutenant and assigned to command of another company. Served as\r\njudge advocate of a general court martial from January 1, 1862, as\r\na signal officer until July following, then notified of his\r\nappointment June 14, 1862 as Major 9th NH Vols, then being raised.\r\nPromoted to Lieut-Colonel August 26th.  At the battle of South\r\nMountain he directed a charge of his regiment which broke the\r\nenemy's line and decided the fate of the date on that part of the\r\nfield.... He was promoted to Colonel November 22, 1862... Volunteering\r\nas a private soldier, he was at Appomattox, in command of a brigade of\r\nten regiments, including the sixth, ninth and eleventh New Hampshire.\r\nHe was commissioned Brigadier General U.S. Vols, by brevet from\r\nMarch 13, 1865, \"for gallant and meritorious services during the war.\"\r\nAfter the close of the war he was employed for nearly 3 years as a\r\nspecial agent of the government mainly in connection with the\r\ncollection of captured and abandoned property in the Southern states,\r\nand the recovery of Confederate ships in England and France.  Still\r\nsuffering from the exposures of army life, he engaged in his favorite\r\noccupation of farming for two years in Virgina, and then commenced the\r\npractice of law. He had been specially employed on behalf of the\r\nGovernment in some important cases, and by the French government in\r\ncases before the French and American claims commission.  The firm was\r\nHovey &amp; Titus, Washington, D.C. with an office in New York City,\r\nwhere he resided for at least 3 years.  He had also been interested in\r\nmining operations in the Black Hills, and New Mexico, where he had\r\nspent several months, and in other business enterprises.\r\n\r\nJOSIAH TORREY, born October 7, 1758, came to Chesterfield from\r\nUpton, Mass, about 1785 and settled in the eastern part of the town\r\non the farm afterwards owned and occupied by his grandson, Levi\r\nTorrey.  He married twice, first, Lydia Fisk who died in 1806,\r\nand second, Anna, daughter of Israel Amsbry.  He died January 25, 1832.\r\nHe had born to him eight children namely--Samuel, Joel, Anna, Levi,\r\nJemima, Polly, Nathaniel and Fanny.\r\n  SAMUEL TORREY (son of Josiah) born August 12, 1782, married Mary\r\nCook November 21, 1815, who bore him seven children as follows--\r\nMaria, Levi, Lucius, Mary M., Marshall, Lucretia and Elvira.\r\n  LEVI TORREY (son of Samuel) born March 2, 1820 married Polly,\r\ndaughter of Squire Spaulding May 3, 1847 and had born to him three\r\nchildren--Mary M., born January 26, 1848; Lucius L., born May 1, 1853;\r\nand Frank W. born November 5, 1856.\r\n\r\nFRANCIS TUTTLE came here from Winchester about 1859. He married\r\nSarah J., dau of John Beal of this town October 6, 1857, and has\r\na family of six children as follows: George A., born September 7, 1859;\r\nFrankie, born February 22, 1863, and died May 22, 1864; Fred M.,\r\nborn March 27, 1867; Willie R., born April 29, 1870; and Charlie A.,\r\nborn January 27, 1876.\r\n\r\nDR. JOSHUA TYLER came from Brookfield, Mass, and settled in\r\nChesterfield, probably between 1776 and 1781.  He located at the\r\nCentre village, where he built a large house in which his son,\r\nRolston G. Tyler, lived many years, and which is now occupied by\r\nSewall F. Rugg.  He practiced his profession in this town many years.\r\nHis wife, Judith Ayres, died August 11, 1854, aged ninety-one years.\r\n\r\nLAWRENcE WALTON was in Chesterfield as early as 1770, and died here\r\nNovember 28, 1795, aged seventy-eight years.  His children were as\r\nfollows: Elisha, Nathaniel, Peru, Sarah, Lucretia, Margaret, Deborah,\r\nand Elijah.\r\n NATHANIEL WALTON, a son of Lawrence Walton, married first Mary,\r\ndaughter of Eli Pattridge,of this town, and second, Jemima, daughter\r\nof John Sanderon, and settled here in the \"New Boston\" district on the farm later owned by Charles M. Davis.  He was a blacksmith by trade,\r\nand noted for his extraordinary physical strength.  It is said of him\r\nthat he could pick up his anvil by the horn and carry it some distance.\r\nHe was also a celebrated wrestler, and is said to have rarely found his\r\nmatch.  He died April 25, 1817, in his sixty-first year. His children\r\nwere Elijah, Azariah, Nathaniel, Polly, Lovilla and Rachel.\r\n  ELIJAH WALTON, son of Nathaniel, married Joanna, daughter of Shadrack\r\nHerrick and died September 24, 1861. His children were David Stoddard,\r\nThirza L., Lafrinda, Sophronia, Lovell M., George P. and Caroline M.\r\nDAVID S. WALTON, son of ELIJAH, married Elizabeth, daughter of Abel\r\nEaton, April 22, 1830 who died August 22, 1850, and for his second\r\nwife, Catharine H. Brandt, of Darby, PA, November 19, 1853 and reared\r\nseven children.  He was a stone mason, and built the Episcopal church\r\nin Keene, the old jail and other prominent buildings.  After the death\r\nof his first wife he engaged in building railroad bridges in Pennsyl-\r\nvania, but soon after his second marriage returned to Chesterfield\r\nFactory where he died March 11, 1882.  Mrs. Walton later resided in\r\nPhiladelphia. Their children (daughters) were May E. (Mrs. Jude S.\r\nSargent of Keene); Ellen O. (Mrs. Lorenzo Stebbins of Hinsdale);\r\nSebette S., died in 1860; Sarah H., died 1838; Harriet A. married\r\nProctor Roberts of Boston; and Martha Clementine married P. Frank\r\nAmidon of Hinsdale. His only son, David Stoddard Walton, was born at\r\nChesterfield Factory, April 5, 1842 and spent the earlier years of his\r\nlife in the immediate vicinity of his birth. He attende the district\r\nschool and one term in Chesterfield Academy. David S. Walton entered\r\nthe employment at Hinsdale of Newhall &amp; Stebbins machinists in 1859\r\nat the age of 17. During the Civil War he joined at West Randolph Vt.\r\nThe First Regiment of US Sharpshooters (Beradn's Sharpshooters). He\r\nserved with his regiment until after the capture of Yorktown, where he\r\nwas sent to a hospital for illness then sent home on furlough to\r\nrecover his health. He shortly rejoined his regiment in Virginia, but\r\nagain due to failing health he was sent home and given final discharge.\r\nIn 1864 he went west to seek his fortune, arriving in Chicago IL he\r\nfound employement at his trade in the shops of the Illinois Chicago\r\nrailroad, then later moved to Beloit, Wisconsin as superintendent of\r\na large paper manufacturing establishment. After this he removed to\r\nNew York city as superintendent of a company owned by Mr. B.E. Hale\r\nin a new industry of printing wrapping paper, and was admitted to\r\npartnership. When Mr. Hale died in 1877, Mr. Walton owned a half\r\ninterest in the business, being known as B.E. Hale &amp; Co. After Mr.\r\nHale's death, Mr. Walton continued in partnership with Mr. Hale's\r\nwidow, being the sole manager of the business, then later purchased\r\nthe widow's interest and the firm became D.S. Walton &amp; Co.  Mr. Walton\r\nalso had an interest in an establishment at Petersburg, Va devoted to\r\nthe manufacture of wood veneers, butter boxes, etc. and also in a paper\r\nbag factory and a paper-mill. In connection with the latter he opened\r\nanother extensive sales department in New York.  Mr. Walton married\r\nMary A. Shove, of Beloit, Wis, May 17, 1871 and their four children\r\nare David S., born July 10, 1872; Edith S., born November 2, 1876;\r\nHarold L., born November 9, 1879; and Rudolph L, born March 19, 1883.\r\nMr. Walton is a deacon of the Munn Avenue Presbyterian Church at\r\nEast Orange. His beautiful home, \"The Beeches,\" is one of the finest\r\nin that part of New Jersey.\r\n  One of his sons, NATHANIEL WALTON JR. was a farmer\r\nof Chesterfield, and served the town as a selectman twelve years,\r\nviz 1822-25, 1827-29, 1834, 1842-44, 1846.  He was also a represenative\r\nin the General Court in 1844 and 1846.  He died April 12, 1872.\r\nOne of the sons of Nathaniel Jr. MILO WALTON, became a prominent\r\ncitizen of Amity, Maine, where he engaged extensively in fruit-culture.\r\n\r\nSUMNER WARREN, son of Increase Warren of Westmoreland, married\r\nLuthera Willard of Charlestown NH Sept 30, 1841. He resided many years\r\nin Chesterfield Factory, was a tanner and very successful in business;\r\nhe was town clerk in 1845 and contributed largely to the building of\r\nthe Union church, and lately resided in Keene. He had five children,\r\nthree of whom died young. The eldest, LYMAN H. WARREN, born June 26,\r\n1842, enlisted in Sep 1861 in the 17th Reg US Infantry, distinguished\r\nhimself... and was rapidly promoted to captaincy. He was wounded in the\r\nfoot at the battle of Chancellorsville. After the war he was stationed\r\nat Houston, Texas, where he died September 18, 1867 and was buried in\r\nChesterfield Factory.\r\n\r\nPETER WHEELER, born probably about 1733, served seven years with\r\nCaptain Patch, of Littleton, Mass, as an apprentice to the trade of\r\ncarpenter and joiner.  He married Olive Davis, and lived a while in\r\nLittleton.  July 23, 1762 he purchased in Chesterfield lot No. 9,\r\nin the fifteenth range; and January 22, 1766, house lots No. 1 and 2,\r\nin the twelfth range.  He settled where Russel H. Davis now lives,\r\nnot far from the brook that bears his name.  It is said that he\r\nhelped build the \"old meeting-house,\" and that he took an active\r\npart in promoting the welfare of the town.  He appears to have died\r\nabout 1814. His children were--Lydia, Peter, Jane, John, Ephraim,\r\nJonathan, Olive, Samuel and Sally.\r\n  PETER WHEELER (son of Peter Sr.) born in 1762 married Sarah, daughter\r\nof Amos Hubbard, who bore him twelve children, namely--Hubbard, Sophia,\r\nMaria T., Sally, Samuel, Laura, Philena, William, Warren, Ward, Watson,\r\nand Arminda.\r\n  JONATHAN (son of Peter Sr.) was born September 30, 1770 and married\r\nLavina, daughter of Aaron Fisk in 1802, who bore him 3 children--John,\r\nLouisa, and Addison. JOHN, born August 6, 1802 married Rosea Hall,\r\ndaughter of Demmis and niece of Ezra Titus, in whose family she lived\r\nuntil her marriage.  His children were Olive D., John A., Jonathan F.,\r\nHoyt H., Francis W., Ann V. and Norman F.\r\n  JONATHAN F. (son of Jonathan above) born May 22, 1827, married\r\nMary A., daughter of Elias Brown and has had born to him five children\r\nas follows:--George B September 12, 1848; James F. May 5, 1852;\r\nElias E. February 24, 1855; Gustina M. August 11, 1859; and Norman F.\r\nFebruary 2, 1861.\r\n  Hon. HOYT H. WHEELER (son of Jonathan) was born on the home farm,\r\nAugust 30, 1833.  He taught school for several years in this and in\r\nneighboring towns, was admitted to the bar of Windham Co. VT in 1859,\r\nand commenced the practice of law with the late Hon. John E. Butler,\r\nat Jamaica Vt. He was representative from that town to the Vermont\r\nassembly in 1867, and was a member of the senate of that state in\r\n1868 and 1869.  In 1869 he was also elected judge of the supreme court\r\nof Vermont, which office he held by successive elections until he was\r\nappointed by President Hayes, judge of the United States district\r\ncourt, for the district of Vermont, March 16, 1877. He resided in\r\nBrattleboro Vt. \r\n\r\nASHBEL WHEELER, son of Benjamin and Sarah (Harris) Wheeler, born in\r\nthis town November 26, 1785, married Diana, daughter of Eleazer\r\nRandall (1st) and settled here.\r\n  For many years he was a well-known merchant and distiller at the\r\nWest village, being also engaged, a part of the time, in farming.\r\nCOmmencing business with little or no capital, save his own native\r\ntact and shrewdness, he succeeded in acquiring a considerable\r\nfortune.  He was also a violin-player and in his early and middle\r\nmanhood was extensively employed to play at balls and \"kitchen-\r\ndances.\"  The store which he established in the West village was\r\nextensively patronized, and was long one of the principal stores in\r\ntown.  He died June 20, 1866.\r\n\r\nBENJAMIN WILD, came to Chesterfield NH from Norton, Mass in the\r\nautumn of 1801 and settled in the eastern part of town. His wife was\r\nSarah Babbitt, who died in Chesterfield in 1826, in her seventy-fourth\r\nyear, he dying soon after in his seventy-ninth year.  His children were\r\nSally, John, Nancy, David, Nathan, Abigail and Elsie.\r\n  NATHAN WILD, son of Benjamin Wild, born in Norton, Mass. June 14,\r\n1787, came to Chesterfield with his father in 1801.  In his youth\r\nhe had a fondness for mathematical studies, which he pursued at\r\nhome, with the assistance of his brother David.  Nathan applied\r\nhimself assiduously to the study of surveying and astronomy, and\r\nsoon became one of the most skillful surveyors in the State, and\r\nan astronomer of considerable proficiency.  After his marriage he\r\nsettled on a farm situated near the present stage-road leading from\r\nFactory village to Keene, about one mile from the former place.\r\nThis farm is at present owned by Rev. T.L. Fowler. He now engaged\r\nnot only in practical farming and surveying, but in the publication\r\nof an almanac, known for a while as \"The Improved New England\r\nAlmanack and Ephemeris,\" and afterwards as \"The Farmer's Mechanic's\r\nand Gentleman's Almanack.\"  He appears to have begun the publication\r\nof his almanacs about 1819, and they were generally, though not\r\nalways, printed by John Prentiss, at Keene.  Not only was Mr. Wild\r\na practical farmer, surveyor, astronomer and almanac-maker, but he\r\nalso held several important civil offices.  He was selectman from\r\n1820 to 1825, and representative in the General Court in 1831 and\r\n1832.  In 1834 and 1834 he was a member of the New Hampshire Senate.\r\nHis wife, whom he married August 18, 1814, was Rachel Newcombe.  She\r\ndied in Greene County, Ind. in 1840.  He died in Chesterfield March 5,\r\n1838 and his body was interred in the village cemetery at Factory\r\nvillage.\r\n  His son, Nathan R. Wild, was also a surveyor and civil engineer.  He\r\nmarried in 1838, Marie E. Wood, a granddaughter of Rev. Abraham Wood,\r\nand removed to Green County, Ind., in 1840, where he died April 7,\r\n1851, in his thirty-sixth year.\r\n\r\nCAPTAIN SIMON WILLARD, probably from Winchester, appears to have\r\nsettled in Chesterfield about 1788.  He married, about the same time,\r\nMolly King, the widow of Colonel Samuel King.  He lived in this\r\ntown till about 1813, when he removed to Winchester, where he died\r\nat a great age.  He represented Chesterfield in the General Court\r\nin 1794-96, 1801-7 or ten years in all.\r\n\r\nREV. ABRAHAM WOOD, a descendant of William Wood, who came to this\r\ncountry from England in 1638, was the first settled minister of the\r\nCongregational Church of Chesterfield. His ancestor, William Wood,\r\nwas the author of a book entitled, \"New England's Prospects.\"\r\nRev. Wood's grandson, PRofessor Alphonso Wood, the botanist wrote\r\nthe following sketch about this grandfather: \"Rev. Abraham Wood was\r\nborn in Sudbury, Mass. 1748 (Sept 26); was educated in Harvard\r\nUniversity, and graduated with the class of 1767.  June 4, 1771\r\nhe married to Sarah Loring, of Hingham, Mass., granddaughter of\r\nthe Rev. Israel Loring, and both were soon on their way by a\r\nperilous journey, into the then all-pervading wilderness of New\r\nHampshire.  Here, in the town of Chesterfield, 1772, he began a\r\nministry which was to continued without interruption unto the end of\r\nhis days. His annual salary was fixed at 80 pounds, and assumed as\r\na town charge...in person Mr. Wood was of medium height with a full\r\nhabit, smooth face, florid complexion and an attractive face, as shown\r\nin a life-size portrait painted by Belknap.\"  He died October 18,\r\n1823.  His widow survived him twenty years, and died in Indiana at\r\nthe age of ninety-three years.\r\n  One of his sons, ABRAHAM WOOD JR. lived many years in\r\nChesterfield on the paternal farm, and was town clerk from 1818 to\r\n1833.  In 1839 he removed to Greene County, Ind., where he died\r\nSeptember 24, 1846.  His wife was Patty, daughter of Asa Dutton, of\r\nDummerston, Vt.\r\n  PROFESSOR ALPHONSO WOOD, son of Abraham Wood Jr. was born\r\nSeptember 17, 1810.  His first fifteen years were spent at home in\r\nthe old manse, dividing his time between rural occupations and study\r\nin the village school and the academy.  After this his winters were\r\nemployed in teaching village schools in other towns--notably in\r\nKeene, Walpole, Claremont, Fitzwilliam, Vernon, Newburyport--until\r\nthe date of his graduation at Dartmouth College in 1834.\r\nImmediately after this event he was called to Kimball Union Academy,\r\nat Meriden, as teacher of natural science and Latin, where, with an\r\ninterruption of one year only, he remained during the next fifteen\r\nyears.  This one year he spent at Andover, Mass, in the study of\r\ntheology, endeavoring to fulfill the long-cherished purpose of his\r\nparents.  But his theological training was cut short by a peremptory\r\nsummons to return to Meriden.  Soon after this, Mr. Wood was licensed,\r\nafter examination, by the Sullivan County Association as a preacher\r\nof the gospel, but his ministry was confined to the army of\r\nstudents that filled the academy (from town hundred to three hundred)\r\nand occasional services in the neighboring churches.  It was during\r\nhis resident in Meriden that he first conceived the purpose of\r\npreparing a class-book of botany.  The purpose arose very naturally,--\r\nfirst from his excessive fondness for the science, and secondly,\r\nfrom his felt necessities as a teacher of natural history.  Devoting\r\nhis leisure hours and vacations largely to botanical excursions\r\nand studies, seven years passed, till 1845, when the \"Class-Book\"\r\nwas first issued.  The work was not stereotyped, being with the\r\npublishers a mere experiement, and only fifteen hundred copies were\r\nprinted.  A demand unexpectedly great soon exhausted his edition.\r\nIn preparing for a new issue, Mr. Wood passed the spring and summer\r\nof 1846 in the Western States, whither his parents had then removed,\r\nbotanizing in the prairies and barrens, in order to extend the\r\nlimits of his flora as far west as the Mississippi River.  He was\r\naccompanied by his wife, Lucy, and son, Frank Alphonso, then two\r\nyears old.  In the spring of 1849, on account of impaired health, he\r\nresigned his connection with the Kimball Union Academy, and entered\r\nthe more active service of civil engineer in the construction of a\r\nrailway from Rutland, Vt. to Albany, NY.  From 1852 to 1858 he was\r\nengaged in teaching in Cleveland, Ohio and at College Hill near\r\nCincinnati.  In 1858 he established, in connection with Mr. Covert,\r\nthe Terre Haute (Ind.) Female College; but in 1860 removed to\r\nBrooklyn NY.  The \"Class Book\" was now an important interest.  To\r\nextend the area of its flora, Professor Wood had made an exploration\r\nof the southern states, lasting six months of the year 1857. In\r\n1861 he opened the Brooklyn Female Academy, but was again induced by\r\nlove of his favorite science to resume his investigations.\r\nAccordingly, he embarked for California in October 1865.  In the\r\nPacific States he sojourned one year in constant travel, surveying\r\nthe mountain, the mines, the rocks, the peoples, and espcially the\r\nplants of that glorious land, from San Diego to Puget's Sound,\r\nand returning, by the way of the Isthmus in November 1866.  In the\r\nspring of 1867, having transferred his interests in Brooklyn, he\r\nonce more collected his family into a new home in the village of\r\nWest Farms, a suburb of the city of New York (and now annexed to\r\nit) on the north.  Here he suffered affliction in the death of his\r\nwife Lucy.  While he resided at West Farms, Professor Wood was\r\nemployed in revising and republishing his botanical works, and\r\nin performing the duties connected with the chair of botany in\r\nthe New York College of Pharmacy.  He sometimes also preached,\r\nas openings in the churches occurred.  He was the author of the\r\nfollowing works, which are all published at present by A.S. Barnes\r\n&amp; Co: The \"Class-Book of Botany,\" \"Object Lessons in Botany,\"\r\n\"The Botanist and Florist,\" \"Monograph of the Liliaceae of the United\r\nStates,\" \"The Plant Record,\" \"Flora Atlantica,\" \"How to Study\r\nPlants\" (written cojointly with Professor Steele).  Professor WOod\r\ndied at his home at West Farms, after a short illness,\r\nJanuary 4, 1881.\r\n\r\n(end)<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>HISTORY OF CHESTERFIELD, CHESHIRE COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE &#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;- &#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;- Information located at http:\/\/www.nh.searchroots.com On a web site about GENEALOGY AND HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE and its counties \u00a0TRANSCRIBED BY JANICE BROWN Please see the web site for my email contact. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vhist.com\/chs\/history\/gazetteer-of-cheshire-co\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":127,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-582","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vhist.com\/chs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vhist.com\/chs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vhist.com\/chs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vhist.com\/chs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vhist.com\/chs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.vhist.com\/chs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":584,"href":"https:\/\/www.vhist.com\/chs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/582\/revisions\/584"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vhist.com\/chs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vhist.com\/chs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}