HISTORY OF STODDARD, CHESHIRE COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- Information located at http://www.nh.searchroots.com On a web site about GENEALOGY AND HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE and its counties TRANSCRIBED BY JANICE BROWN Please see the web site for my email contact. ---------------------------------- The original source of this information is in the public domain, however use of this text file, other than for personal use, is restricted without written permission from the transcriber (who has edited, compiled and added new copyrighted text to same). ======================================================== TAKEN FROM TWO SOURCES: 1. History of Cheshire and Sullivan Counties, New Hampshire Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Co., 1886, 1073 pgs. 2. Gazetteer of Cheshire County, N.H., 1736-1885 by Hamilton Child, Syracuse, N.Y.: H. Child, 1885, 882 pgs. page 331 & 381 HISTORY OF STODDARD NH [EXCERPTS ONLY] STODDARD lies in the northeastern corner of the county, in lat. 43 degrees 4' and long. 4 degrees 57', bounded north and east by the county line, south by Nelson and Sullivan, and west by Sullivan, Gilsum and Marlow. It was originally granted to COL. SAMSON STODDARD and twenty-four others under the name of LIMERICK, and was incorporated November 4, 1774, under its present name, given in honor of Colonel Stoddard. It has an area of 35, 925 acres, about 1,100 of which is covered by water, and 12,897 under cultivation. By an act passed September 27, 1787, the southwest corner of the town was combined with portions of Gilsum, Keene and Nelson, and incorporated into the town of Sullivan. The surface of the town is exceedingly rough and uneven, so much so, indeed, as to be pictured as "confused hills bearing the appearance of a sea of molten lava suddenly cooled whilst its ponderous waves were yet in commotion." The highest point is Pitcher mountain, in the western part, whose summit, attaining an altitude of 2,170 feet, is, next to Monadnock, the highest in the county. The territory also forms the summit of the highland between the Connecticut and Merrimack [sic Merrimack] rivers, the streams of the western part finding their way into the former, and those of the eastern into the latter. So marked is this water shed, indeed, that the eaves from two of the houses in the town, find their way from the one side into the Connecticut, and from the other into the Merrimac. Scattered among the valleys are numerous ponds, or lakelets, many of which are well stored with the finny tribe and are haunted by the disciples of "Sir Isaac." Of these, Island pond, lying in the eastern part, is the largest. It is studded with small islands, and covers an area of about 300 acres. Long pond, another handsome sheet, lies in the northern part, extending into Washington. Munsonville pond lies in the southwestern part, extending from Nelson. The south branch of the Ashuelot, the principal stream, has its source near the center of the town. Branch river is the next in size, and both afford some good mill privileges. The soil is deep, with a clay bottom, though generally cold and moist, and better adapted to grazing than tillage. 1880 & 1884 POPULATION AND DESCRIPTION IN 1880 Stoddard had a population of 553 souls. In 1884 it had nine school districts and six common schools. Its seven school buildings (one not used) were valued, including sites, furniture, etc. at $1,8500. There were 134 pupils attending these schools, taught by twelve female teachers, at an average monthly salary of $18.60. The superintendent is Edward B. Dodge. DEScRIPTION OF VILLAGES STOddARD is a post village located in the central part of the town, at an altitude of 1,412 feet, being the highest village in the state except Bethlehem. It has one church (Baptist), an hotel, store, school-house, blacksmith shop, two butcher shops, town-hall, grange-hall, and about twenty-three dwellings. SOUTH STODDARD, a post village, located in the southeastern part of the town, has one hotel, store, blacksmith shop, school-house and about ten dwellings. MILL VILLAGE lies about a mile east of Stoddard village. It has an hotel, store, saw-mill, school-house, etc., and about twenty-three dwellings. MANUFACTURES / BUSINESSES THE STODDARD LUMBER CO., locted at the foot of Island pond, off road 24, manufactures dimension lumber, chair stock, clothes-pins, cloth-boards, pail-handles, oil cans, buckets, etc., employing twenty-five men, and doing about $150,000 worth of business per annum. O.D. BEVERSTOCK manufactures wood pulp at Stoddard, employing six men. D. CLINTON PARKER, on road 21, is patentee and manufacturer of the Gem folding chair, a very useful article of furniture. TOWN HISTORY (of STODDARD NH): The settlement of the town was commenced by John Taggard, in June 1768, and about the same time came Reuben Walton, Alexander scott, James Mitchell, Richard Richarson, Amos Butterfield, Joseph Dodge, and Oliver Parker. Mr. Taggard's family suffered many privations, Mr. Taggard being obliged to fetch his grain on his back through the forest from Peterboro [sic Peterborough], a distance of twenty miles. At one time the family, for six days, had nothing to eat but the flesh of a moose. But prosperity at length began to dawn upwards on them, new settlers came in rapidly, and the forest began to melt before them, and the broad cleared acres to appear. Four years after Mr. Taggard came here, in 1773, the town had 215 inhabitants, and the following year the town was incorporated. Eventually it became one of the most populous and enterprising towns of the county, for its inhabitants, thrifty, and well-to-do, sturdy and vigorous in whatever they undertook, it could not help but be a prosperous and growing community. The maximum of this prosperity was probably reached in 1820, when the census returns showed us a population of 1,203 souls, where now is less than 553. The ever insatiable west, the professions, the great cities, and, above all--death, have recognized the sons of this rural town... FIRSTS The first grist-mill built in the town stood upon the present farm of Daniel Upton, and was supplied with stones no larger than one can lift. The first tannery was upon the farm of Nathan Stacy, near Mill Village. Another was subsequently built at the corner of the road, near the house; and the next stood in the rear of the Central House. The manufacture of glass was carried on here quiet extensively at one time, the first to engage in the business being JOEL FOSTER, a German. Charles H. Dodge, in removing the sills of his house, in 1881, being one of the houses spoken of as occupying the summit of the water-shed, found a document dated 1778, and two coins dated, respectively 1787 and 1757. Soon after the settlement of the town arose the usual questions and the usual trouble incident to all new settlements. The settlement of the western boundary line (see sketch of Marlow) proved a grevious trouble. The building of a meeting-house, a necessary commitment, next puzzled the heads of the town's statesmen. But finally these troubles were swallowed in the greater trouble of the war with the mother country. THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR The "seditious" conduct of some of the inhabitants seemed to have greatly worried and annoyed the resmaining portion of the little community. Especially was the ire of the Revolutionists directed against one Oliver Parker, who was adjudged a person inimical to the liberties of his country by the committees of safety of Stoddard and Marlow, as set forth in the following copy of a set of resolutions passed by them-- "I. It is the opinion of the Committees that ye sd Parker is notoriously Disafected to the American cause: II. It is the opinion of the Committees that sd Parker is so notoriously disafected that he, the said Parker, be Emediately Disarmed from all instruments of war: III. That the said Parker be confined to the lot of land his house stands on, on penalty of being sent to the Common Goal [sic Gaol] of the county of Cheshire or find good bonds to the satisfaction of the Committee of Safety in the town of Stoddard. IV. All persons are forbid to have Dealings with ye said Parker on ye penalty of being considered Enimies to America." This document was attested by Samuel Gustin, Chairman. On June 5, 1776, another document by the committee, that "John Mather, Joel Gilson, Zachariah Adams, Eli Adams, and William Dutton... seem abettors of sd Parker by their denying the authority of the committee--treating the committee with scurulous languge." On June 18, 1776 Oliver Parker responded to the committee, by a document, "said Committees had not ye least proof of his being inimical to his country, but they proceeded to act as if they did with regard to him merely upon malice, and that he openly Challenges any person or persons whomsoever to prove the least thing against him with respect to his being in any way or manner disaffected to the Cause of Liberty..." and he requested to be "Liberated from ye unjust decree of sd Committees." Parker was committed to jail at Exeter, November 2, 1778, and was later kept under bond not to leave the county. In a document dated June 18, 1766, it was indicated in support of Capt. Oliver Parker, indicating "there was no grounds to found this resolution upon, but that mere malice and falshood directed ye whole proceedings," and they requested that the matter be fairly and impartially determined. This was signed by John Dutton, Jonathan Bennett, Reuben Walton, Moses Kenney, Benoni Boynton, Thomas Adams, Joel Gilson, William Dutton, John Joyner, Asa Adams, Moses Bennett, Joseph Dodge, Isaac Kenney, Daniel Kenney, Samuel Parks, Ebenezer Wright, John N. Mather, Timothy Mather, Richard Emerson, Zachariah Adams and Isaac Barit [sic Barrett]. In 1780 a vote was passed to raise 120 pounds to buy beef for the COntinental army. THE FOLLOWING STODDARD MEN were in the First New Hampshire Regiment: - Samuel Morrison, enlisted January 1, 1777; discharged December 1781 - Richard Richardson, enlisted April 3, 1777; discharged April 5, 1780 - Nathaniel Richardson, enlisted April 3, 1777; died June 24, 1777 THE 1776 WARRANT FOR THE TOWN MEETING states that the meeting was to be held at the "Dwelling house of Ensn John Tenneys" by Isaac TEmple Town Clerk. On Aug 2d 1776, petitioners who signed a document stating that one, Joseph Rounsivile "may not have a Seat in Court," included: Jonathan Bennett, Oliver Parker, John Dutton, Asa Adams, Thomas Adams, Joel Gilson, William Dutton, Isaac Kenney and Moses Kenny. In a document dated June 18, 1776 reporting disorder at a town meeting, the signers of Stoddard included: John Dutton, Daniel Kenny, Moses Kenny, Jonathan Bennett, Oliver Parker, Samuel Parks, Reuben Walton, Ebenezer WRight, Asa Adams, Ephraim Adams, John Joyner, John N mther [not a typo, probably the surname is Mather], Joel Gilson, Timothy Mather, Moses Bennett, Richard Emerson, William Dutton, Zachr Adams, Joseph Dodge, Thomas Adams, Benoni Boynton and Isaac Kenney. On May 22, 1776, the committee of safety [as shown in a document regarding the above Oliver Parker] were as follows: Alexander Scott, Nathaniel Emerson and Amos Butterfield. In a document dated 24 May 1776, regarding a dispute over land, the selectmen of Stoddard are listed as STephen Gee, Nicodeumus Miller, Abisha Tubs, Alexander Scott and Nathaniel Emerson. In a petition of the Stoddard inhabitants, who were living on disputed lands, a document of 1776 shows the names of John N. Mather, Ebenezer Farley, Stephen Twitchel, Ephraim Brockway, Dan Brockway, Timother Mather and Isaac Barritt [sic Barrett]. In a letter dated, "Peterborough Jany 1, 1778" from John Stark, stating that Sargt. John Robbe of Stoddard, was in the engagement at Bennington, under his command, and was wounded and disabled. The same John Robbe was voted at town meeting to being given assistance, and recommended him highly. The House of Representatives on May 23, 1778 voted that he (Robbe) was entitled to half pay and thirty pounds for extra expenses. In a petition dated Stoddard, November 5, 1782, Richard Richardson stated he was "out in the service of his country in the first three years' service in the present war." In a soldiers order dated May 25, 1784, Josiah Hardy requests payment, stating he was in Capt. Caleb Robinson's Company. OTHER TOWN OFFICERS FROM DOCUMENTS: In 1787, a committee chosen to petition the general court for a tax, was comprised of Israel Towne, Ephraim Adams and Jacob Copland [sic Copeland]. On Sept 8, 1787, a document requesting to build a meeting house was signed by Peter Wright and Israel Town, Selectmen. October 31, 1787, one of a committee to select a spot for the meeting house reported, signed by Thomas Penniman, "for ye Committee" January 1, 1794 in a document requesting a tax for utilities, was signed by Nathanl Emerson. On November 7, 1798 regarding boundary changes, signed by Aaron Matson, Ebenezer Blake, Saml Messinger [sic Messenger], John Henery Jr., Nathaniel Gilson, Timothy Bailey, Ziba Henry, Bani Henry, Nathen --, Ephraim Brockway, Ephraim Brockway Jr., Joseph Brockway, Isaac Barritt, Jesse Farley. Another document dated Dec 6, 1796, regarding disputed boundary changed, signed by Jacob Copeland, Agent for Stoddard. CHURCHES THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF STODDARD was organized September 4, 1787, with seven members, by a council composed of delegates from Keene, Dublin, and Jaffrey. Four days later, on the 8th, by vote of the town, Esq. Penniman, of Washington, Samuel Griffin, of Packersfield (now Nelson) and John Mussey, of Dublin, were chosen as a committee to locate the site for a church building. On the 31st of October they reported that they had selected a spot on the fifteenth lot in the ninth range, upon land given to the town by John Tenney for a church lot and burial ground [at the junction of roads 17 and 20]. In September 1791, the church gave Rev. Solomon Adams a call, but he was not settled. October 15, 1793, Rev. Abishai Colton, a graduate of Yale, was ordainted pastor. He was dismissed in October 1795, and died in Vermont, January 12, 1823. Rev. Isaac Robinson, D.D., the next pastor, was ordained January 5, 1803. He had not the privileges of a collegiate education, but received an honorary master's degree from Dartmouth in 1838, and that of Doctor of Divinity in 1847. He died in July, 1854, in the fifty-second year of his ministry, the very next Sabbath after he had preached a farewell sermon to his church and people and administered the communion. He was succeeded by Revs. Josiah S. Gay, S.L. Gerould, Savage, Ricket, Colburn, Southworth, and the present acting pastor, J.H. Thyng. THE BAPTIST CHURCH was established by delegates from the church at Marlow, of which it had been a part, December 28, 1787. Rev. Isaac Kinney was its first pastor. The society numbered fourteen members when organized. The first meeting-house in town stood a few rods southeast from the Knowlton place, then was removed and enlarged, occupying a site upon the top of the hill, a few rods west of the present location. When the present house was erected, the old one was sold, and was remodeled into the dwelling now owned by the heirs of the Morse estate. ***** BIOGRAPHIES & GENEALOGIES OF EARLY SETTLERS AND PROMINENT CITIZENS ***** ZEBULON BARRETT, a native of Carlisle, came to Stoddard about 1805, with his wife and two sons, LUTHER and CALVIN. He bought the farm where his son CALVIN now resides, on road 23, spent the remainder of his life there, and died at the age of eighty-seven years. After his settlement here he had born to him one son, BENJAMIN F. BARRETT who lives in Pepperell, Mass. CALVIN BARRETT was born in September 1804, married for his first wife, Julia A. Howard of Antrim, who bore him one son, ALBERT F. BARRETT, and for his second wife, Mrs. Nancy Boutwell, of Stoddard. EBNEZER BLAKE From: Pioneer history; or, Cortland County and the border wars of New York. From the earliest period to the present time; Publisher: A.B. Burdick Publication Date: 1855, page 179 SOLON. Lot #74. Ebenezer Blake, from Stoddard, New Hampshire, settled on lot #84. He was a soldier in the American revolution, and was in the battle of Bunker Hill; drew his land in Ohio. JAMES COPELAND was an early settler in the northern part of Stoddard. He married three time and reared a large family of children. Five of his sons spent their lives in Stoddard. HULDAH (Mrs. Nathan Stacy) and PAMELiA (Mrs. Gilman Stacy) daughters of Samuel Copeland now reside in town. GEORGE L. CURTIS was born in Windsor NH November 22, 1825. In 1847 he came to Stoddard and worked as a shipper (by contract) for Scripture, Whiton & Curtis, who then manufactured glass bottles at Mill Village. He continued with them until 1856, when, upon their failure, he formed a parnership with B.F. Messer, and, as Messer & Curtis, manufactured glass bottles three or four years. They also kept a store, and, after the dissolution of the partnership, Mr. Curtis continued the business alone until 1872, when he leased the real estate in Stoddard, went to Nashua and engaged in the wholesale and retail grocery business. His health failing, he returned to Stoddard in 1879, and died December 29, 1882. He held many offices of trust, including town representative. He also dealt largely in real estate. He married Alma L., daughter of Silas Messenger of Stoddard, January 19, 1850. He had born to him five children, of whom four, Frank P., Lester B., S. Grace (Mrs. Mortimer W. Bond), and David S. are now living. Frank P. Curtis was educated at Dartmouth Agricultural college, is married and resides in Greenfield, Mass. Grace Curtis was educated at Nashua and taught school three years. ASA DAVIS came here at the age of sixteen, was a well-to-do farmer, and died in 1873, aged ninety-one years and ten months. His son, ASA was born in 1816, and now resides on road 34. JOSEPH DODGE, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and died of a smallpox, in Philadelphia, PA in 1782. His son, ELIJAH DODGE, born in Winchester NH in 1769, came to this town when a small boy, and always resided here. He married Sarah Jackson in 1793, and reared a family of twelve children, as follows: Elijah, born 1795; Sally 1796; Phebe, 1798; Ansel, 1799; Lydia, 1801; Meroa 1803; Alura, 1805; Nahum, 1807; Warren, 1807; Lyman 1811; Hosea W. 1813; and Rhoda A. 1815. All of these, with the exception of Elijah, Nahum, and Meroa, are living, making their aggregate ages over seven hundred years. SAMUEL FOSTER came to Stoddard from Ashburnham, Mass, in 1799, and settled in the western part of the town. He was a blacksmith and farmer, married Lydia Stearns, of Ashburnham, reared eight children-- three son and five daughters. [2nd entry for Samuel Foster] SAMUEL FOSTER was born in Ashburnham, Mass., February 9, 1776. He was by trade a blacksmith, and married Lydia Stearns of the same town, February 5, 1799. The young couple moved to Stoddard March 1, of the same year, and settled on a farm on some of the highest land in the town, where they lived together sixty-eight years. She died July 1, 1867, aged eighty-six years, and he died April 24, 1868, aged ninety-two years. THey had eight children--three sons and five daughters. STEARNS FOSTER was born December 26, 1799, married February 3, 1825, Cynthia Willson of Stoddard, who died in 1844. In December 1845, he married Mary Fuller of Hancock. He lived in Stoddard many years, following the trade of his father. In 1860 he moved to Keene, where he died, August 23, 1882. His wife, two sons and a daughter survive. him. LYDIA FOSTER was born August 22, 1801, married Dea. Luke Joslin of Stoddard, November 24, 1824. They lived in town until April 1855, when they moved to Keene, where he died June 3, 1875. His widow is still living, at the age of eighty-four years. MARIA FOSTER, born April 29, 1804, married, November 24, 1824, Stephen Wood of Hancock. HOSEA FOSTER, born April 13, 1806 married Mary Rice of Stoddard, November 7, 1833. They lived on the old farm, taking care of his father and mother until their death, when they also removed to Keene. He was killed while after a load of wood, February 7, 1872. His wife, three sons and a daughter survive him. SELINA FOSTER, born July 5 1809, married Mark Bowers of Hancock, February 16, 1830. EMILY FOSTER, born December 19, 1811, married Dea. Edward Haywood of Hancock, October 10, 1833. They lived in Hancock until 1869, when they removed to Keene, where they remained twelve years, when, by reason of failing health, they removed to Hyde Park, Mass, to live with their children. SAMUEL FOSTER, born Nov. 29, 1815, married Mary Palmer of Boston, November 5, 1845, and died in Boston, August 5, 1850. ELECTA FOSTER born July 10, 1825, married James Downing of Marlow, July 15, 1850. They have three sons and one daughter, all of whom are living in Marlow. SIMEON GOULD JR. was of the sixth generation from Thomas Gould, who settled in Charlestown MA previous to 1640. He removed from New Ipswich, where his parents had been among the early inhabitants, to Stoddard about 1790, locating upon the fourth lot in the eighth range. He was a prominent man in town, filling, for many years, the offices of town clerk and selectman, besides serving in other capacities where sound judgement and clear foresight were requisites. He married in 1789, Rhoda Lane, who bore him six children, as follows: NATHAN GOULD (1790-1879), ISAIAH GOULD (1793-1858), RHODA GOULD (1795-1872), LOUISA GOULD (1800), STEPHEN LANE GOULD (1803-1872) and ELIZABETH GOULD (1803-1803). NATHAN GOULD was a farmer and mechanic, and always a resident of town, and for many years lived on lot fifteen, range eleven, but later removed to the village. He followed for many years the occupation of yoke-maker. He was postmaster from 1861 to 1863. He married in 1817, Zilpha Corey, who bore him four children: ALONZO GOULD (1818-1870), who married in 1846, Francis M. Harris; CYNTHiA GOULD (1820) who married John Q. Jones of Marlow; RHODA GOULD (1822-1844), and MARIA C. GOULD (1831-1835). ISAIAH GOULD remained on the homestead for many years, where he was employed in the manufacture of yokes. About 1850 he removed to Keene. He was a man of ability, and was always found exerting his influence in the cause of right. He married, in 1716, Susan Joslin, and their family consisted of eight children: GEORGE W. GOULD (1817); LYMAN GOULD (1819); SOPHRONiA GOULD (1820) who married Asa Davis, being the only representative of the family now living in town; SIMEON GOULD (1822); SUSAN GOULD (1824) who married Brigham Nims of Roxbury; MARIA GOULD (1827) who married Allen Griffin of Keene; CAROLINE GOULD (1832) who married C.H. Carr; and AUGUSTUS GOULD (1834). George W., Lyman and Augustus removed when young men to Norwich, Conn., where they reside. They have been actively engaged in the manufacture of wood-working machinery for many years. RHODA GOULD married in 1813, William Wilson, an extensive farmer, and their family numbered ten: LYDIA WILSON (1814) who married Marcus Davis; WILLIAM D. WILSON (1816) who is at present a member of the faculty of Cornell University; DANIEL M. WILSON (1818-1850); STILMAN WILSON (1820-1883); FREDERICK A. WILSON (1822) who resides in Sullivan; LOUISA A. WILSON (1823) who married Franklin Jones of Marlow; MARTHA M. WILSON (1826-1857) who married Levi Grant; RHODA WILSON (1829-1855) who married Ebenezer Jones; SAMUEL D. WILSON (1831) who resides in Springfield, Mass; and FRANCIS L. WILSON (1837-1856). LOUSIA GOULD married in 1824, Stephen Wilson, and removed to Tyngsboro, Mass, where they reared a family of nine children. STEPHEN L. GOULD married, in 1829, Mary A. Brooks, and located in Providence, R.I. Their family consists of six children. NATHANIEL JOSLIN came here from Leominster, Mass, about 1786, and settled in the western part of the town, upon the farm now owned by his son, STEPHEN C. JOSLIN. He married Susannah Burr, and reared a family of nine children, as follows: Prudence, John, Susanna, Lucy, Dorothy, Nathaniel, Nancy, Betsey, and Stephen C. Only two of these are living, Nancy, residing in Athol, Mass, and Stephen C., of this town. NATHANIEL was a deacon of the congregational church, and died July 9, 1851, aged ninety years. DAVID JOSLIN, with several others, came to Stoddard in 1790, from Leominster, Mass., and settled in the western corner of the town, which has since been known as "Leominster Corner." He was the son of John and Susannah (Carter) Joslin, born April 25, 1765. His father was a captain in the continental army. In April 1781, David being still quite a stripling and of slender build, enlisted for a term of three years. Tradition tells us that with high heels on his shoes and thicker under garments, he was just able to pass muster. [A contract for his enlistment is shown in the original document, dated April 10, 1781 at Leominster, MA, signed by David Joslin. THere was no seal upon the contract , or the signature of a witness, but wrapped up in it was a lock of hair from the young patriot's head]. It is said that he made an excellent soldier, and at the close of the war returned home, receiving the eighteen cattle, according to the agreement of the document. October 23, 1785, he married Becca Richardson of Leominster, by whom he had fourteen children, thirteen of whom lived to have families of their own. He died in Stoddard April 9, 1825, his widow surviving him until October 7, 1849. The first three children were born in Leominster [MA], the rest in Stoddard [NH], viz: BECCA JOSLIN, born March 3, 1787, married Silas Towne of Barrett November 27, 1806 and died November 27, 1848; DOROTHY JOSLIN, born August 24, 1788, died September 21, 1795; PATTY JOSLIN, born January 28, 1790, married David Richardson of Lancaster, Mass, July 14, 1813, who only lived a few years, and November 13, 1821 she married Asa Pierce of Leominster, and she died April 15, 1866; DAVID JOSLIN, born March 14, 1791, married Lucy Knight of Marlow, March 11, 1849 and died in Marlboro NH Oct 31, 1861; SUSAN JOSLIN, born May 23, 1792, married Isaiah Gould of Stoddard, November 5, 1816, lived in the town many years but late in life moved to Keene, and one daughter, Mrs. Asa Davis lives in town; SALLY JOSLIN, born December 25, 1793, married Horace Richardson of Leominister, Mass, March 20, 1817 and died February 4, 1872; DOROTHY JOSLIN, born April 10, 1796, married Dr. Jonathan Knight, January 14, 1817, lived in Stoddard some years and also in Piermont NH, but late in life moved to Manchester, where she died November 17, 1873; LUKE JOSLIN, born December 22, 1797, married Lydia Foster of Stoddard, Nov. 24, 1824, lived on the old place in "Leominster Corner," until 1840, when they moved to a farm near the village, and in 1855 moved to Keene, where he died June 3, 1875, having been for many years a deacon of the church in Stoddard; ELECTA JOSLIN, born July 12, 1800, married Moses Richardson of Stoddard, December 2, 1817 and died in Alstead, June 28, 1881; FANNY JOSLIN, born April 24, 1802, married Noah Blodgett of Stoddard, April 20, 1820 and died in Lowell, Mass March 22, 1874; GILMAN JOSLIN born March 22, 1804, married Mary A. Cline of Boston, Dec 25, 1838, has been engaged in the manufacture of school globes, and is now president of the Atlantic Machine Co. of East Boston; SOPHRONIA JOSLIN, born January 23, 1806, married Allen Giffin of Marlow, May 11, 1834, and died in Keene June 15, 1864; ELIAS JOSLIN born May 26, 1806, married Maria Emes of Dublin, May 28, 1840, was a blacksmith by trade, did business in Stoddard, Dublin and Keene, where he now lives; EDWARD JOSLIN born April 15, 1810, married Sarah H. Thayer of Keene, January 14, 1847, and is engaged in banking and several manufacturing enterprises in Keene, where he resides. DANIEL LOCKE, about a hundred years ago, came from Chelmsford, Mass and made a home on a hillside covered with beech and maple, near what was known for many years as Leominster Court. His childrn were Enos, and five daughters. ENOS LOCKE married Anna Keyes, and the names of the sister's husbands were Green, Adams, Towne, Wilson and Hodgman. ENOS LOCKE settled on the old homestead, had eleven children: Enos, Daniel, Gilman, Francis, Abigail, Sally, Mary, Anna, Lucy and two twins that died in infancy. ENOS was noted for his great industry, and was not only a good farmer, but an excellent cooper, a mechanic in great requrest in those days. Some old men and women remember hearing him play the "cooper's march," so-called, on his barrel while hooping it, with his adze and "driver," a piece of seasoned oak one and one-half inches square by fifteen long. He and some of his sisters lived to a great age. Of his children, there is but one living, FRANCIS LOCKE, who became wealthy by farming before he was fifty, and is now one of the slid and much respected citizens of Claremont. ENOS LOCKE JR., as he was called for nearly sixty years, was quite noted in his early manhood as a school-master, and quite a number of the eminent men of the country took their first lessons in the "Art of Reading," and "Lindley Murray" from him, the most distinguished of all of them being FRANKLIN PIERCE, one of our presidents. He married Harriet Wilson and settled on the old homestead, and both of them lived to be over seventy. Their children were Elbridge W., Susan W., and Edwin R. Susan died in early womanhood, and was noted for her deeds of charity, and acts of kindness to the suffering. EDWIN R. LOCKE has been a prominent citizen of Keene for twenty-five years or more. He will be remembered for his kindly demeanor towards all with whom he had intercourse, and for his many enterprises. He was one of the most prominent dry goods merchants of Keene for many years. He is at present city marshal, a position he has filled quite a few years. He has three children, Ida M., Hattie E., and Edward E., who unless he should have male heirs, will be the last of the Locke family in Stoddard. The most widely known member of the family is ELBRIDGE W. LOCKE, who, as a writer of short poems and songs, a composer of music, and a pubic singer, has a reputation the family may well be proud of. His songs have reached a sale of six hundred thousand copies. Sent to the army by President Lincoln to sing for the soldiers, he became army postmaster and often associated as nurse in the hospitals at the front, and long before the three years of his time with the soldiers that had expired, he was probably known to more soldiers than any other civilian in the country. His book, "Three years in Camp and Hospital," had a large sale, and is more read today than when first published, nearly twenty years ago. The "boys in blue" who saw him mounted on a stump of a tree, with a brigade of three thousand men packed around him, listening to the stirring songs and amusing stories, will never forget him. Always at the front and ready for any duty, he was known as Father Locke and still retains the title among civilians as well as soldiers. His father and mother were excellent singers and no day was long enough to weary the mother of labor or of song. A leader in the church choir, her house was the rendezvous for all musicians, and when Blind Rice, the fiddler, made his annual visit to the town, her house was, for the time being, the academy of music for the town, with free tickets and free suppers to all. His boyhoold home was a free tavern for all beggars, no matter how degraded, there was a word of pity, and a good meal for all who came. Such being the home of his youth, no wonder he has spent his life in song and ministering to the unfortunate. A portion of thirty years of his life has been spent devoted to visiting prisons, and giving free concerts. He is spending his last days in a pleasant home near the soldier's home in Chelsea, four miles from Boston, enjoying the fruits of his industry in the years that are past. He has one child, Emma, who is the wife of Hon. Albert Rowe, of Genesee County, NY. DR. ASHER LOVELAND, the first physician who located in Stoddard, was a self-educated man and was considered an excellent physician. He was chosen to various town offices and died at the age of eighty-three. His son, SAMUEL W. LOVELAND, of Munsonville, aged ninety, was many years a teacher of public schools. AARON MATSON was a native of Plymouth County, Mass. He came to New Hampshire when a young man and settled within the present limits of Stoddard, though at the time he supposed himself within the jurisdiction of Marlow, where he had become an extensive landowner. In the difficulties which arose between the two towns, he gave his influence toward establishing the claim of Marlow, but after the final settlement of the boundary, he was a faithful supporter of his town's interests, and became an honored and respected citizen. Being a man of wealth, ability, and influence, he soon became well known as a public officer, both in town and state. He was for many years town clerk and selectman, also representative; a member of the governor's council in 1819; member of congress from 1821 to 1825; judge of probate 1831-1835. For many years his home was where A.H. Corey resides, but later, with his son, he lived on the "Knowlton Place," where they had erected the present house, keeping it open as a "tavern" for years. He married Frances Carpenter, a lineal descendant from Peregrine White, who was born on the "Mayflower," on its passage to America in 1620. She was a woman gifted with more than ordinary abilities. Their possession enabled her to render her husband efficient aid in the discharge of his public duties. Only one child, FRANCIS MATSON, was born to them. He married Susan Gilson, who bore him one child, ANN MATSON, who married Hon. Edmund Burke, of Newport. Aaron and his wife passed their life in later years near Mrs. Burke, both dying in the year 1855. SAMUEL MESSENGER and his wife came to Stoddard, from Rynham, Mass., about 1799 and settled in the southwestern part of the town. They reared a family of eight children--four sons and four daughters. Mrs. Delia Dodge, the only surviving daughter, resides in Marlow, aged eighty-four years. SILAS MESSENGER, son of Samuel, was born in 1803, married Arvilla L. Copeland and reared eleven children. One son was killed in the late Rebellion, in which two served. SILAS died in 1870, and his widow resides in Connecticut. NATHAN MORSE, the progenitor of the family in Stoddard, was born in Dublin NH November 7, 1806, and was the youngest son of Peter and Deborah (Cobleigh) Morse, who reared a family of four sons and three daughters. His grandfather, Dea. Eli Morse, of Dublin, was the son of Nathaniel Morse of Medford, Mass., who was a great-grandson of Samuel Morse, puritan, who was born in England in 1585, emigrating with his family to New England in 1635, at the age of fifty, in the ship, "Increase," and settled in Dedham MA in 1637. Nathan Morse, the pioneer of the Morse family in Stoddard, inherited many of the family characteristics and much of the independent and heroic blood of his puritan ancestors, who was one of the most prominent among the leading spirits in the original settlement of the town of Dedham MA, who may be named among such renowned men as Elder Everett and Col. John Dwight, who were the ancestors and progenitors of late presidents of both Harvard and Yale universities. At the age of seventeen years, his father died, and while in his minority, Nathan went to Nelson, and there learned the trade of shoemaker. He came to Stoddard i 1828, and there carried on the shoe busiess until his death, September 18, 1854. He married Jane Robbe, of Stoddard, April 1, 1830, by whom he had four sons and four daughters, all of whom are now living, namely: NATHAN R. MORSE, born February 20, 1831, now a physician of prominence at Salem, Mass; EDWARD MORSE, born October 4, 1832; MARY J. MORSE (now Mrs. A.G. Henshaw of Keene NH) born May 6, 1834; MARTIN VAN BUREN MORSE born July 3, 1835; ELLEN E. MORSE, born March 26, 1838; SYLVIA S. MORSE born December 21, 1839; MARTHA MORSE, born August 3, 1841; and GEORGE MORSE born June 13, 1843. Although averse to holding office, Mr. Morse frequently served as school committee, and also on the board of selectmen. In politics he was a Jeffersonian Democrat, and occasionally wrote resolutions, which were adopted at state conventions. He early became interested in real estate, and at the time of his death was the largest land holder in town. He was pre-eminently an honest man and died at the early age of forty-eight years, in the prime of life, from disease of the liver, induced by colds and over work, esteemed, honored and beloved by all who knew him. His widow, Jane Morse, and family, continued to reside at the old homestead in the Center village at Stoddard until her death in November, 1879, at the ripe age of 76 years. The old homestead still remains intact, carefully preserved by the children, who continue to make their annual pilgrimage to it, as to an earthly shrine. EDMUND RICE came from England to Sudbury, Mass in 1594, and had eleven children and seventy-seven grandchildren. PETER RICE, who was the fifth generation after Edmund, was born August 24, 1791, in Auburn, Mass, married Sally Moore of Worcester, Mass, March 9, 1815, lived in Worcester, blacksmithing until July 1819, and then came to Stoddard and bought a farm of 200 acres of Amasa Fairbanks, where he carried on farming and blacksmithing until he died, Nov. 13, 1829, leaving seven children. He was captain of the 5th Company, 28th Regt. several years and major of the same regiment one year, was deacon of the Congregational church at the time he died. His widow and children carried on the farm until the youngest boy was twenty-one years old, and then the oldest, JOSIAH M. RICE, who was born January 15, 1820, bought the farm and added 200 acres more to it. He still owns and occupies it. He was one of the selectman in 1857 and 1858, and has held some of the different town offices nearly every year since. He was captain of the 5th Company 28th Regiment six years, had a lieutenant colonel commission sent him in 1880, and is now justice of the peace. He married Mary Ann Robinson, of Oakham, Mass, June 4, 1845. They have had no children. [Additional note: according to the 1880 US Census, they adopted a daughter, Mary J. who is found in that census, age 35 living with them. She b. NH. She is probably the Mary Jane HALL, found in the 1870 US census, age 25 living with them]. ZIBA RICHARDSON came here, with his wife and two children, from Franklin, Mass about 1796. Eight children were born to him in Stoddard. His daughter, Susan, who was five years of age when the family came here, married Samuel Copeland. They reared a family of ten children. JAMES ROBB, of Scotch descent, moved to Peterboro, where his son SAMUEL ROBB and other children were born, from Lunenburg, Mass., and came to Stoddard when Samuel was young, locating upn what is now called Morrison Hill. Samuel served in the Revolution, and in 1802 moved to the farm where his grandson, JAMES M. now lives on road 41 corner 43. He married Abigail Alexander of Woburn, Mass., and reared a large family of children. JAMES ROBB, born here in September 1805, married Esther Nahor of Hancock in 1834, and always resided on the same farm. He reared a family of seven children, six of whom are now living, five of them residing in Stoddard. He died November 15, 1884. His widow, who was born at Hancock in 1804, was the sixth child of David and Esther (Peabody) Nahor. She has still in her possession an arm-chair which has descended to her from James Nahor, who brought it from Scotland soon after 1700. MOORE ROBB, son of Samuel, was born here September 23, 1796, and is now the oldest person in town. He married Drucia Barden, who died in November 1857, and had born to him three sons and one daughter, viz: JAMES A. ROBB, of California; OTIS G. ROBB of Iowa; CHRISTOHPER ROBB of this town, and LUCRETIA ROBB, who died in 1881. He has always voted the Democratic ticket, and has never used tobacco. He left home at the age of twenty-one, and worked four years for James Wilson, a lawyer at Keene, when he returned to his native town. He has occupied himself in farming, was one of the first in town to take an interest in the manufacture of glass, and helped build the old "Box Tavern." He now owns a farm in Bedford NH, and 600 acres of land in Stoddard. His son, CHRISTOPHER ROBB, who represents about half the town in valuation, was born November 27, 1827, and married Phebe, daughter of Levi Wheeler of Richmond NH in 1852, who bore him two children. His son died at the age of twelve, and his wife died in June 1876. His daughter, MYRA ROBB, aged twenty-six, cares for her father's boarding-house, near his extensive mills in Cherry Valley, where he employs thirty hands, annually taps 6,000 sugar trees, and keeps a large stock of cattle and horses. He has always worked for the interest of the town, being the foremost among the enterprising men. The mills are the second ones, built upon the spot, the former ones having been burned before they were completed. They turn out cloth-boards, pail-handles, chair stock, bedstead-slats, oil-cans, pails, and all kinds of lumber. The grist-mill is located in the basement of the building. JAMES SCOTT, whose father was an early settler of the town, was born in 1782, and died in 1864, aged eighty-two years. JOHN SCOTT, son of James, served three years in Co. K, 6th NH Vols, married Lizzie Webber, and reared a family of eight children, viz: Ada S., Helen, John A., Carlotta, Mary, Everett E., Clara E., and Elton. EBENEZER STACY, a sailor in the early part of his life, came here from Groton, Mass about 1800. He had four sons and two daughters, all probably from Massachusetts. Three of his sons, William, Abel, and Samuel, and one daughter Sally (Mrs. Lewis Barden) spent their lives in Stoddard. Gilman and Nathan, sons of Samuel, now live in Stoddard. ABEL STACY married Anna Hardy and reared a family of ten children, of whom DANIEL STACY and EBNEZER STACY reside in town. Lyman Barden is a son of Lewis and Sally (Stacy) Barden. DANIEL STEVENS, one of the first settlers of Stoddard, came from Chelmsford, Mass. He participated in the Revolutionary war, and was one of the minute men, was at the battle of Lexington, served until the war closed, and died at an advanced age, leaving three sons and three daughters. The sons, HENRY, JOHN and DANIEL STEVENS, settled in Stoddard. JOHN STEVENS was born December 15, 1779, married Azubah Proctor, daughter of Capt. Azariah Proctor, of Chelmsford, Mass, was a successful farmer, both he and his wife being devoted christians. He died May 14, 1840, and his wife May 28, 1840, aged sixty-four years, leaving five children--two sons and three daughters. JOHN STEVENS,born in 1811, died October 13, 1865. He was a farmer. Azubah Stevens married Gilman Scripture of Nelson and died March 11, 1852 aged forty-three years. PHEBE STEVENS married Daniel Petts of Nelson, who died December 3, 1856. He was proprietor of the Forest House at Marlow, at the time of his death. EPHRAIM STEVENS, born April 12, 1814, married Mary A. Scripture, daughter of Capt. H. Scripture of Nelson, and granddaughter of Capt. Samuel Scripture, of Revolutionary fame. He was chosen captain of Light Infantry in 1846, received commission as colonel 28th Regt in 1850, was chosen collector of taxes in 1843, and selectman in 1847, which office he held seventeen years, being chairman of the board fourteen years, town treasurer twenty years, represented the town in the general court in 1859, 1860, 1872 and 1874, also in the constitutional convention of 1876. CAPT. STEVENS has been a successful farmer, and has the confidence and respect of a large circle of acquaintances. HON. GEORGE STEVENS, who died in Lowell, Mass, early in June 1884, was born in Stoddard, October 23, 1824. He was a member of an old-fashioned New England family, the eighth of twelve children, a patriarchal household, sustaining, in the midst of poverty and toil, the high character and religious traditions of the Puritan life. His father died early, but his mother survived to the great age of ninety years, dying but two or three years ago. GEORGE early became a member of the church. When he was twelve years old his family removed to a farm in Hancock NH where he attended the Hancock academy. Subsequently he taught school and attended Phillips academy at Andover, and was graduated from Dartmouth college in 1849. He followed teaching and reading law for a few years, and married, in 1850, Elizabeth R. Kimball, daughter of James Kimball of Littleton, Mass. In 1854 he went to Lowell, Mass., and continued his law education reading at the office of William A. and Daniel S. RIchardson, and in that year was admitted to the bar. He has been clerk of the police court, associate justice of the same court, member of the legislature i 1858-1859, district attorney for Middlesex county [MA] two or three terms, and has held, though unsought, many other honorary religious and political offices. He was in many ways one of the noblest and best men who ever went away from Stoddard. JOHN TAGGARD came here from Peterboro, in June 1768, felled the trees upon the land where Henry W. Reed's store now stands, and returned to Peterboro. In the fall he burned the trees, sowed the land with grain, and left it until the following spring, when he took his wife and came here through the woods, a distance of seventeen miles. He brought an old-fashioned wooden plow, and his wife a bag of corn-meal on her back. He first built a bark house, but soon built a framed house, about fifty rods from the house of the late Deacon Pitchers. He set out a white rose bush, which is still living, and which is about the only thing left to mark the spot of the location of the first settler. Two children were born to him, a son and a daughter. The son, JOHN TAGGARD JR. was the first child born in the town. ISRAEL TOWNE came to Stoddard with his wife and two children about a hundred years ago, and settled about a mile south of the center of the town. His father, ISRAEL TOWNE, also came with him. He reared a family of nine children, two of whom, Ebenezer and Lucy, are living, the former in Boscawen NH, and the latter, Mrs. Samuel Upton, in Marlow, with her daughter, Lucy T. Downing. LUMAN WEEKS was born in Peru NY, March 26, 1818, married Cynthia M. Pike of Marlow NH and located in Stoddard in 1840. He drove the stage from Marlow to Hancock until March 1844, then from Stoddard to Boston until 1850. He then built his glass-works at South Stoddard, and carried on the business for twenty-three years, manufacturing bottles, demijohns, etc., and giving employment to a number of hands. He moved to Keene in the fall of 1873, where he has since resided. He has been selectman of Stoddard several times, and represented the town in 1864-65 and in 1873. WILLIAM DEXTER WILSON, D.D., L.L., D., L.H.D. is one of the natives of Stoddard who have made a decided mark on the world. He was born here February 28, 1816. After the usual training in the common schools of his native town, he entered the academy at Walpole, in the autumn of 1831. In the autumn of 1835 he entered the Divinity school connected with Harvard university, and graduated in 1838. In 1849, Geneva college gave him the degree of Doctor of Divinity (D.D.); in 1868 Bedford university of Tennesse (now extinct) gave him the degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.); in 1872, the regents of the University of the State of New York gave him the additional honorary degree of DOctor of Literature (L.H.D.). Dr. Wilson has long been one of the most prominent lights in theological and educational circles. DR. NATHANIEL WORCESTER came to Stoddard from Jaffrey NH, married Lucy Fox, and practiced medicine in this town for several years. He died at the age of forty-two years, leaving a family of four children, as follows: George, Charles, Mary and Abbie. GEORGE WORCESTER lived here all his life. MARY WORCESTER married Azel Hatch and lives in Alstead; ABBIE WORCESTER married Jonathan Green, and lives in Griggsville, IL; and CHARLES WORCESTER married Harriet N. Barker of Stoddard and now resides in Walpole. The latter has one son, C.C. who married Mary A. Grant, of Goffstown, and has two children, George L. and Clarence G. (end)