HISTORY OF BATH, GRAFTON COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE
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SOURCE: Gazetteer of Grafton County, N.H., 1709-1886 by Hamilton Child,
Syracuse, N.Y.: H. Child, June 1886

page 132+
HISTORY OF BATH NH

Bath, one of the fertile river towns of the county lies in the western
part of the northern half of the same, in lat. 44 degrees, 10' and
long. 72 degrees, bounded north by Monroe and Lyman, east by Landaff,
south by Haverhill, and west by the west bank of the Connecticut river.
The town was originally granted by Benning Wentworth, September 10,
1761 to Rev. Andrew Gardner and sixty-one others; but they failed to
comply with the conditions of the charter, and thus forfeited their
grant. On petition of Nehemiah Lovewell and others, a new grant was
made by Gov. John Wentworth, March 29, 1769, in which the limits of
the township were defined.
 [The original document has the wording of those limits, but they are
not included here].

The surface of Bath is in some parts rough and mountainous, though a
large portion of its territory is a fine farming country. Extending
north and south through the town, from the confluence of the 
Connecticut and Ammonoosuc rivers, is a ride of mountainous land
known as Gardner mountain, which renders communication between the
eastern and western portions of the town exceedingly difficult and
toilsome.  To the east, this high land slopes down to form the smiling
valley of the Ammonoosuc, through which that stream winds its sinuous
course, cutting the town in a diagonal direction from its northeastern
to its southwestern corner. Entering the town from the east the
wild Ammonoosuc river traverses its southern portion, falling into the
Ammonoosuc.  In the western part the streams fall into the
Connecticut.  These with their numerous smaller tributaries form the
river system of the town and afford some very fine mill privileges.
The soil of the hills is a reddish loam, resting on a bed of marl; but
in the valleys it is alluvial.  Brick clay of an excellent quality is
abundant.  About one-eighth of the town consists of intervale land.
In several localities large veins of copper ore have been opened, which
appear to be of much value, if properly worked. The Boston & Lowell
Railroad passes through the town, following the Ammonoosuc valley.

DESCRIPTION OF BATH NH in 1885
In 1880 Bath had a population of 1,033 souls.  In 1885 the town had
twelve school district and twelve common schools. Its twelve school-
houses were valued, including furniture, etc., at $4,520.00.  There
were 238 children attending school, 70 of whom were pursuing the higher
grades, taught during the year by two males and fourteen female
teachers, at an average monthly salary of $20.00 for males, and $17.16
for females.  The entire amount raised for school purposes during the
year was $1,519.95, while the expenditures were $1,882.75 with
John P. Demeritt, superintendent.

VILLAGES
  BATH is a post village and a station on the Boston & Lowell railroad.
There is a considerable business carried on here in the shipping of
lumber, wood, potatoes, live stock and wood-pulp.  For the manufacture
of the latter there is a large establishment, which is the only
manufacturing industry now carried on in the village.  Bath was
formerly one of the busiest and most prosperous villages in northern
New Hampshire, but of late has gone into decay. There are two stores
of general merchandise which do a fair business.
 SWIFTWATER is a post village in the southeastern part of the town. It
has a saw-mill, grist-mill, a carding and dyeing establishment,
blacksmith shop and one church.
  BATH UPPER VILLAGE, where a few years ago was a considerable trade,
with physicians, lawyers and quite a population is now only a quiet
hamblet.

*****
BUSINESSES & MANUFACTURES
*****

CONANT & CO.'S PULP MILL, at Bath Village, was established by
William Bancroft in 1872. It is operated by water-power, gives
employment to about twelve hands, and turns out four tons of pulp
per day.

BRYDON SAWYER'S GRIST-MILL, at Swiftwater, has three runs of stones and
is capable of grinding 500 bushes of grain per day.

JAMES M. WILLIAMS'S CARDING-MILL, at Swiftwater, was established by
his father-in-law, Myron S. Woodard, in 1837, who, though the mill
burned in 1845, continued the business until his death, in November 
1884. This is the only carding-mill doing custom work in Grafton
County.

MOFFETT & GARRISON, of Lisbon, carry on a lumber business in this town
at the old "gold mill," near Lisbon line. They manufacture dash-boards
and panels for sleigh fronts and backs by a process of cutting from
the round log. They employ a number of hands. The business, now in its
infancy, bids fair to become a large one.

****
SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN
****
The first settlement of the town was made by Andrew Gardner, in 1765,
who located upon a farm between the two villages, and which is still
known as the "Gardner Place."  The following year John Sawyer
commenced a settlement where the upper village now is, and
Jaasiel Herriman located in what is now the lower end of the lower
village.  At that time, it is said, there were, between him and the
Wild Ammonoosuc, four wigwams occupied by Indians.  During this and the
following year, also, a number of others came in, among whom were
Moses Pike, who located at the island at the upper village,
Samuel Martin, Elijah King, Deliverance Sawyer, John Hew and
William Eastman, the latter settling just above the upper village.
Quite a number had come in by 1767, for the proprietors' records
speak of "twenty-two settlers having made their various pitches and
wrought upon them more or less."  Considerable additions were made to
the settlement soon after the granting of the second charter, in 1769,
there being among those who came at that time the following:
John Waters, Benjamin Lee, Joseph Tilden, John Beard, Ezekiel Colby,
Robert Bedel, Abel Chase, Noah Moulton, Edward Bailey, William Belknap,
Benjamin Prentiss, Francis Fullerton, Reuben Foster, John Sandborn,
Ebenezer Sandborn, Daniel Bedel, Samuel Titus, Col. Timothy Bedel
and John Dodge.
  When the Revolutionary war commenced, in 1775, many of the settlers
left, as they were north of the regiment stationed at North Haverhill
to guard against the invasion of savages, Tories and Canadians. The
dangers attending pioneer life here during the war, however, did not
prevent some settlers from coming in before its close, among whom were
Mark Sandborn.  Soon after the close of the war, emigration seems to
have received a fresh impetus, there being among the new settlers
several persons of enterprise and influence, and who for a long time
were leading men of the town, viz: Ezra Child from Woodstock, Conn.
in 1782; Jeremiah Hutchins from Haverhill, Mass. in 1783; Jacob Hurd
from Haverhill, Stephen Bartlett from Newton NH, and Timothy and
Aaron Hibbard from Woodstock, Conn., also in 1784; John and Dudley 
Child, and Amasa Buck in 1786; Henry Hancock, Aaron Powers, 
Roger Sargent and Maxi Hazeltine in 1770; and William and Samuel Lang
came a year or two later.
  The first town meeting was held in 1784, when the following officers
were chosen: John Way, moderator; Capt. Jeremiah Hutchins, Capt.
Ebenezer Sandborn and Ezra Child, selectmen; Aaron Bailey and 
Ezra Child, tythingmen; Jacob Hurd, town clerk; John Merrill and
Aaron Hibbard, fence viewers; Capt. Jeremiah Hutchins, surveyor of
lumber; Jacob Hurd, sealer of weights and measures; Mark Sandborn,
constable; John Merrill, Daniel Mills, Capt. Ebenezer Sandborn,
Dea. John Jewett and David Powers, highway surveyors; Elisha Cleveland
and John Rowell, hog reeves; Moses Eastman, sealer of leather; and
Capt. Ebenezer Sandborn, pound keeper.  Among the "first things" in the
township are mentioned, in the pamphlet history of Bath, the 
following:--
 "The first family that moved into town was Jaasietl Harriman's, in
1766; (individuals had come the year before, but without families).
The first child born in Bath was a daughter of his, named
Mary Harriman; her birth took place December 8, 1766. She married
Simeon Smith of Campton, and died in that town near the close of 1854,
aged eighty-eight years. The first death in town was in the same
family, a little son of Mr. Harriman, two years old, was scalded to
death in 1767.  This child was the first person buried in the graveyard
at Bath village.  The first marriage in Bath, it is said, was that of
John Waters to Hannah Pike, and that all the people in town witnessed
it!  It took place near the commencement of the Revolutionary war, in
the fort on Eastman's meadow, where all the inhabirants were collected
at that period.  The first road made made in 1768, extending
diagonally across the town from southwest to northeast.  The first
bridge at Bath village, over the Ammonoosuc, was built in 1794. The
first mills were built in 1772, near the mouth of Mill Brook. The
first meeting-house was erected in 1803, finished and dedicated in 
1805, and painted in 1806.  The first framed building erected in Bath,
tradition says, was a barn on the farm now beloning to Dwight P. Child,
about 1775.  Not far from the same period, the first framed house in
town was built on Col. Hurd's place, a little north of where the old
meeting-house stands.  The first framed house at Bath Village was built
by Knowles Clark in 1793 or 1794, near where the Congregational
meeting-house is now situated.  The first settler at Bath village, as
already stated, was J. Harriman, and the falls here were formerly 
known as Harriman's falls.  The second was Daniel Mills, who is
supposed to have come about 1783.  Roger Sargent was the next, who came
about 1786.  Near the same time, Elisha Cleaveland settled upon the
plain, a few rods east of the graveyard.  The first settler at the upper
village, was John Sawyer, in 1766; the second was Moses Pike in 1767;
the third was Elisha Locke, about 1771; and the fourth was John Merrill.
The first settler at Swiftwater was Jonathan Cox, in 1816.  The first
corn, pumpkins and cucumbers raised in town were upon the Great ROck,
just below Bath village in 1767.  They were planted by Mercy, a daughter
of J. Harriman, about nine years of age, who carried the dirt in her
apron on to the top of the rock, and there made her a garden. She was
afterwards married to a man by the name of Carr, and died at Corinth,
VT in 1847, aged eighty-nine years.  Chaises were first introduced here
in 1807.  In the inventory for 1808 they are found against the names
of M. P. Payson, S. & J. Hutchins, David Mitchell and Amos Towne; in
1809, against the above, and also Ezra Child, John Haddock,
Aaron Powers, David Smith, and Abraham Thomas; and the next year
against James I. Swan, and Samuel Browning.  Wagons were introduced 
some four years later, about 1811.  Stoves for warming buildings were
first used in this town about 1810.  At the annual town meeting in
March 1811, a vote was passed, 'that the selectmen furnish and put into
the meeting-house two suitable stoves;' this was probably done the
ensuing autumn.  Cooking stoves were introduced in 1815 or 1816. Clocks
were first introduced in 1808.  At that time, three eight-day brass
clocks were brought in and sold.  Lucifer or friction matches were
first used in Bath, about 1834."

BATH DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
After the Revolutionary war commenced, a fort was built on Eastman's
meadow, into which all the families that remained in town were
collected, together with some from Landaff and Lisbon.  No enemy,
however, came to molest them.  During the war, when the population of
the town is supposed to have been more than seventy families, no
less than forty-six of the inhabitants enlisted as soldiers.  The
following is a list of the enlistments:  Timothy Bedel, John Bedel,
Richard Bedel, Obadiah Eastman, Daniel Bedel, Jacob Bedel, Robert Bedel,
William Eastman, Moody Bedel, Joshua Bedel, Jonathan Eastman,
John Foreman, Francis Fullington, Peter Hugh Gammel, Jeremiah Gilman,
Peter Gilman, Samuel I. Gilman, David Greenleaf, Daniel Hunt,
Joshua Hunt, Zebulon Hunt, Ira Hand, Ebenezer Holladay, John Beard,
Cyrus Bailey, Abel Chase, Eliphalet Cleaveland, Elisha Cleaveland,
Solomon Cleaveland, John Dodge, James Eastman, Noah Holladay,
John Jewett, Benjamin Lovekin, John Merrill, Thomas Newman, 
Moses Pike, Moses Pike Jr. John Rowell, Ebenezer Sandborn,
Mark Sandborn, Richard Sandborn, Joshua Sanders, Stephen Smith,
John Waters, David Weeks.

About thirty Revolutionary soldiers became inhabitants of Bath after
the close of the war, as follows:  Ezra Abbott, George Amy,
William Alexander, David Bailey, Jonathan Baron, Timothy Barron,
Amasa Buck, Edmond Brown, Jesse Carlton, Peter Carlton, Samuel Chase,
John Clement, Thomas Currier, Ezra Gates, Jesse Hardy, Aaron Hibbard,
Timothy Hibbard, Seth Johnson, Jacob Hurd, Samuel Lang, Jirah Martin,
Phineas Merrill, Annis Merrill, Moses Moore, Edward Polland [?Pollard],
Robert Rollins, James Smith, Timothy Stevens, and Glazier Wheeler.

*****
BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES AND GENEALOGIES
*****

JEREMIAH HUTCHINS, one of the early settlers of this town, came here
from Haverhill, Mass. in 1783. He brought with him his family of
twelve children, five sons and seven daughters, and settled in Bath
Upper Village, on road 21.  He engaged in the mercantile trade and
keeping tavern, and was succeeded in the business by his two sons,
Samuel and James.  The other members of the family settled in this
town and vicinity.  Eliza H., daughter of James, married Andrew S. Woods
a lawyer who practiced here many years.  Mr. Woods was born in 1803,
graduated at Dartmouth College in 1825, read law with Ira Goodall, and
was admitted to the bar in 1828. He entered partnership with Mr. 
Goodall, and continued with him until 1840, when he was appointed
associate justice of the Supreme Court. This office he held until
March 1855, when he was appointed chief justice of the State, which
position he held two or three years. In 1859 he formed a partnership
with Harry and George Bingham of Littleton. He died in 1863. His widow
resides with her son at his late residence.  Edward Woods, son of
Andrew, studied law with his father, after having graduated from
Dartmouth in 1856. He was of the firm of Woods & Brigham, this firm
having an office in Bath and one also in Littleton. Mr. Woods is now
the only lawyer in town, his office being located at Lower Village.
He obtained the title of colonel, being on Governor Weston's staff,
when the latter was Governor of the State.  He married Mary, daughter
of John Carlton.

WILLIAM EASTMAN, one of the early settlers of Bath, was a son of
Jonathan and Hannah Eastman, who resided in Haverhill, Mass., at the
time the Indians invaded the town, about 1697, killing man, and taking
others captives, among the latter of whom were Hannah Dustin and
Hannah Eastman. The infant of the latter was killed, and she carried to
Canada, where her husband found her about three years later. William
Eastman was born in 1714 or 1715, married Ruth Chase in 1738, who
died in 1744, leaving three children,--Ruth, Stephen, and William Jr.
His second wife, Rebecca Jewett, had eight children--Obadiah, Hannah,
Azubah, James, Moses, Jonathan, Peter and Amos. William Eastman
located in Bath about 1767, in the northeast part of the town, where
he died November 23, 1790.  William Jr., died in Haverhill, leaving
Stephen and Miriam.  The latter married Capt. John Barber, a Hessian
soldier of the Revolution, and Isaac Barber, of Lisbon, is their
grandson.  Stephen Eastman married Lydia Ford, spent most of his life
in Lyman, and reared seven children--Pamelia, Clarinda, Eber,
Stephen A., Abbie S., Dan and Solenda.  Dan and Eber held in
succession, most of the local offices in Lyman.  Stephen A. was a
Methodist Episcopal clergyman. Obadiah Eastman, son of William and
Rebecca, married Elizabeth Searles of Temple NH, and had children as
follows: Betsey, Hannah, Rebecca, William, Jonathan, Seaborn, Peter
and Stephen R.  He served in the Revolutionary war three years.
Jonathan, son of Obadiah, married and spent his life in Haverhill,
but his descendants are now widely scattered. Hannah Eastman, daughter
of William and Rebecca, married Deacon John Ladd, of Haverhill, and
afterwards removed to Hanover, where some of her posterity now live.
Azubah, daughter of William, married Nathan Judd, and lived in Landaff.
Her daughter, Azubah, married David Brunson, and their daughter
Rebecca W., is the wife of George E. Eastman, of North Haverhill.
James, son of William, born September 24, 1753, with him came to Bath
in 1767, and was the one to whom descended the paternal homestead.
He married Mary Searles, had seven sons and one daughters--James, Moses,
Amos, Searle, Mary, William, Joel and Eber, all now gone except Eber,
whose age is eighty-two years.  James Eastman lived to the age of
ninety-nine years and three months.  Of his children, Amos died in
infancy, James Jr. and William unmarried. Moses married Sally Smith of
Bath.
  His children were Melissa, Hubert, Wilbur F., Calista, Susan, Lucia,
Henry, Ruth and Abbie.  Melissa married Solon S. Southard, and now lives
in Bristol.  Hubert married Louisa Rice and has one son, Wilbur F.,
residing with him in Haverhill, and one daughter, Mrs. John Chamberlin,
of Bath.  Lucia, daughter of Moses, married Moses Abbott, of Bath, and
died, leaving one son, Chester Abbott, of Woodsville.  Henry, son of
Moses Eastman, is a railroad man in Indiana.  Searle, son of James
Eastman, married Rebecca Bailey, and second, Sally Moulton, and had
nine children.  His widow still lives in Lisbon, aged ninety-three
years.  Priscilla M., daughter of Searle, is still living in Lisbon,
the widow of Ebenezer C. Stevens.  Orrin Eastman, son of Searle,
resides at Swiftwater.  Joel, son of Searle, married Ellen Moulton of
Lyman, where he became one of the selectmen, died in Lisbon in 1882,
where his widow still lives.  Joel, seventh son of James Eastman,
married Lucretia Rix, had one son, Alfred W., and both of them died
in Washington, D.C.  Eber Eastman, son of James, the only survivor of
this generation, resides at North Haverhill, aged eighty-two. He has
been a teacher, school superintendent, and town representative in 1843
and 1844.  One accomplishment of which he is justly proud is his
penmanship He has, since eighty years of age, written distinctly the
Lord's Prayer on one-twentieth part of an inch surface.  Moses, son of
William and Rebecca, came to Bath soon after his father, and was 
"sealer of leather" in 1784. He married Azubah Snow, and second,
Lois Martin, and had a large family, most of whom live in Massachusetts.
He lived to the age of ninety-seven years.  Jonathan, son of William
and Rebecca, lived and died in Littleton, rearing four sons--Jonathan,
Simeon, Lewis and Azra.  Amos, the youngest son of William and Rebecca,
lived and died in Haverhill.

SAMUEL LANG came to this town in 1783, and settled on the farm now 
occupied by his grandson, William H. Lang, who married, first,
Ellen Titus of Lyman, who died in August 1870, leaving one child, and
second, Emily Titus, sister of his first wife, who has also one child.

HENRY S. LANG, a son of Sherburne and Mehitable (Ricker) Lang, was a
native of this town, born in 1825. His first wife was Martha, daughter 
of Henry H. Lang, and his second wife, Martha Jane, daughter of
John Hibbard, also of this town. He had a family of two sons and two
daughters, and is located on road 19.

WILLIAM H. LANG was one of the early settlers of this town, having
removed hither from Lyman, and having previously came from Portsmouth,
his native place.  He had a family of nine children, of whom his son
Daniel married Hannah Page of this town. They had two sons and two
daughters.  Moses married Calista Clough for his first wife, and
Jane Kimball for his second.  Dudley C. married Ruth M. Cooley, also
of this town, and had a daughter and a son, both of whom are married,
the daughter living in Lisbon, and the son in Webster.  Mr. Lang now
resides on road 21, Bath Upper Village.

ASMASA BUCK came from Woodstock, Conn. to this town in the winter of
1786, by ox-sled conveyance, with his wife and three small children,
one an infant in arms.  Mrs. Buck rode on a meat barrel, with quilts
for cushions, and the barrel is now doing service in the cellar of
Timothy H. Buck, having been in constant use for a hundred years.
Mr. Buck first settled in Swiftwater, but remained there only a short
time, when he removed to road 13, to the farm now occupied by his
grandson, Timothy H. Buck.  Five children were born to him in this
town. Two sons, Horatio and Timothy settled here and spent their
lifetime.  Silas settled at Napoli, NY.  Amasa went to Nunda, NY and
taught school for many years. He founded a college at Milwaukee, Wis.,
where he died.  Timothy H. married Alice Lang, and resides on the old
homestead.  His children are the fifth generation living in the same
house.

JOHN HIBBARD was born in Bath, September 4, 1792, of parents who came
here at an early date from Connecticut. He married Abigail Child, also
a native of this town. He had thirteen children, seven of whom are now
living, only two residents of this town.  Arthur married Mina E.,
daughter of Ebenezer Deming. He died February 17, 1883, leaving six
children. Mrs. Hibbard still resides on road 28.

WILLIAM A. WOODS was born in this town, of parents who came from Ireland
in 1795. He lives on road 7, married Martha, daughter of Samuel Minot,
a native of this town, and has had nine children, of whom only three
are living, viz: Arthur, who married Adaline B. Weeks, daughter of
Dudley Weeks; Andrew J. who lives in Bernardston, Mass.; and Luella W.
who married Charles W. Leighton, and resides in Greenfield, Mass. Two
children died in childhood, and the other four were residents of this
town, excepting Emily, who died in Bernardston, Mass.  Arthur Woods
has four children,--three sons and one daughter.

FREDERICK HIBBARD was born in this town, his father Aaron Hibbard having
been one of the first settlers, taking up a farm which was an unbroken
forest, and building a log hut, on road 3.  His grandson, Charles M.
Hibbard, married Harriet E. Mills, of Boston, Mass., and now resides
on road 20.  They have three children, two sons and one daughter.

TIMOTHY HIBBARD came to this town at a very early date from Connecticut,
and settled near Swiftwater. They had six sons and six daughters, all
of whom lived to manhood and womanhood.  Two of them only are now
living, John C., in Pennsylvania, and David, who lives in this town.
One son, Aaron, married Lydia Morse, of this town, and had a family of
nine children, of whom three sons and two daughters are still living,--
B. Franklin in New York City, Linus M. in this town, and David in 
Warren.  One daughter Mary C. married John Hastings, who died in
August 1878.  His widow now resides with her daughter, 
Mrs. Henry Haddock, on road 8.  Lydia Hibbard married L.F. Ash and
resides in Lisbon.

PHINEAS CHAMBERLIN, one of the three brothers who came to this town
from Newbury VT, and settled on adjoining farms, was grandfather of
Charles P. Chamberlin, who resides on road 15.  Phineas had seven
children--three sons and four daughters. The three sons, Abial, 
Isaac H., and George, all setttled on adjoining farms, and the four
daughters all married and settled so near that their father could visit
all his children in a single day.  Isaac married Jane Lang and had 
seven children, of whom only Charles P. is living in this town. He
married Sarah M. Parker of Haverhill, and they have one son. He enlisted
in Co. G., 11th NH Vols, August 12, 1862, and served nearly three years.
He was taken prisoner at Poplar Grove Church, Va., and was confined at
Salisbury prison five months. He was wounded in the hip at the battle
of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862, from which causes he is a
pensioner.

SETH CHAMBERLIN removed from Newbury VT in 1810, located on the west
side of Mount Gardner, near the Connecticut. Two of his brothers,
Martin and Phineas, also settled on adjoining farms. Seth had a family
of four sons and three daughters, Martin and James in this town.
One of the three brothers, Martin, was drowned in the Connecticut
River in August 1820.  Phineas had five children, of whom John and
Harry live on road 30.  John married Martha Eastman of Haverhill,
Mary is the wife of Samuel Ross, who lives on road 25.  James
Chamberlin married Elizabeth Whiting of Willington, Conn.  They have
three children living, of whom Julia A.E. married Samuel Smith, who
resides on road 28.  Mr. and Mrs. James Chamberlin are the only
couple now living who were in this town and married in 1833.

MARTIN C. POWERS was born in this town, in 1806, at West Bath, and
lived there until after his marriage, in 1826, to Mary Weeks, daughter
of David and Matilda (Child) Weeks.  His grandfather was Aaron Powers,
whose name is mentioned as moderator of town meeting in 1787.  His
father, Walter Powers, was also born in this town, and pursued farming.
Martin Powers has seven children, six of whom are now living, viz:
Charles resides at Toledo, Ohio; Ellen M. married H.B. Deming, who lives
in Lisbon; Laura W. married Reuben Dow; John M. married Fanny 
Mandeville; Walter married Ellen Cheever, and H.H. who married 
Lucia Weeks and resides in this town.

WILLIAM V. HUTCHINS was a native of this town, and all his life a
resident here. His death occurred in 1875, at the age of seventy-three
years. From twelve years of age he was clerk in a store, and after his
majority, carried on a general mercantile business in Bath village for
forty years. He built the brick store now occupied by D.G.A. Foster,
and was for many years postmaster and town clerk. His wife was
Martha Newell, of Windsor VT. They had five children, three of whom are
living--Zebina N., who lives at Littleton; James R. in Kansas; and
Martha A., who occupies the old homestead in this village.

WILLIAM SOUTHARD, was born at Fairlee, VT October 17, 1805. When eleven
months old his father was drowned at White River Junction. When five
years old the family removed to the village of Bath, then one of the
most thriving places in New Hampshire. Mr. Southard says there is not
an individual now living within a mile of Bath village who was then
living within the same bounds.  After he became of age he engaged in
logging on the Connecticut river for eight years. He has walked from
Hartford, Conn. to Bath fourteen times, often accomplishing fifty
miles per day. In 1838 he located on a farm near Swiftwater, and ten
years ago he bought a starch factory on road 38, which, after he run
two years, was carried off by a freshet in the Wild Ammonoosuc river.
He married Annie Barron, of this town, and has a family of eight
children, of whom one daughter is in Wisconsin, a son and daughter are
in Bay City, Mich., one son is in Texas, two daughters are in Detroit,
Mich., and Lemuel J. and Timothy B. are residents of this town. The
last named resides with his father, on the homestead at Swiftwater.

DAN CLOUGH was a native of Lyman, born in 1814. His parents were
Abner and Nancy Clough. From Lyman the family moved to Bath, in 1821,
and located near the Lisbon line, where they lived for a number of
years. Dan married Betsey Hutchins, of Bath, and had only one child,
Solon H., who now resides with his father on road 11. The latter married
Lizzie Week, of this town, and has four children.

GEORGE MORRISON was born in this town in 1821, his father, William
Morrison, having come here from Post Mills, VT in 1808. He was a
saddler and carried on the trade for a number of years in both the upper
and lower villages, and was deputy sheriff sixteen years. George also
carried on the same business from 1839 to 1858. From 1858 to 1874,
he was deputy sheriff. In 1855 he was selectman, and was elected deacon
of the Congregational Church that year, and has held the office since.
He married Susan Ricker, a native of Bath, and they have had no
children. An adopted daughter died in 1883, at the age of twenty-four
years.

MOSES LANG, a native of Bath, was born in 1816. His father, Daniel Lang,
was also born in this town, and his grandfather came here at a very
early date.  Moses married, first, Calista Clough, of Landaff. She died
in 1856, leaving two sons and an adopted daughter. The two sons live
in Worcester, Mass., and the adopted daughter married William Clough of
Somerville, Mass.  His second wife was Jane H. Kimball, of this town,
a twin and one of a family of fifteen children, of whom nine are still
living. He was captain of Company C., 15th NH Vols, in the late war,
and was mustered our in August 1863. He resides on road 27.

DWIGHT P. CHILD was born in 1810, John Child, his father, having come
hither from Woodstock, Conn., about 1786. John had a family of ten
children who lived to an adult age, and all settled in this town and
have all died here, except two, Dwight P. and Bradley G., who are still
residents, and reside on road 27.  Dwight P. married Nancy Child, of
Exeter, and has a family of seven children, William is a physician at
New Hampton, Henry L. is a dealer in agricultural implements at Sparta,
Wisconsin, Parker M. is in the same business at Neponset, Ill., John D.
married Julia Dow of this town, and is a farmer with his father,
Adaline H. and Jennie M. are also residents with their father, Juliette
married William H. Thom, of Westboro, Mass.  Mr. Child has served his
town a number of years as selectman, collector, and overseer of the 
poor.  He was its representative in the State legislature in 1875 and
1876.  Dudley Child was born in this town in 1819, a son of Dudley 
Child, who came here from Woodstock, Conn. in 1797, and settled on 
road 17.  He had a family of twelve children, four of whom died in
childhood and eight grew up, and all but one of whom settled in this
town.  Dudley Jr. married Hannah E. Hibbard, of this town, and has
three children living.  Lizzie J. married S.W. Belden of St. Johnsbury
VT, Franklin L. resides with his father, and Edwin W. lives in Iowa.

BRADLEY G. CHILD was born in 1818 and married Hannah Child, a native
of Exeter. They had eight children, only three of whom are living--
Charles, residing with his father, Myra, who married Dr. H. H. Hollister
and Flora who married S.W. Plimpton, both residents of this town.
Alice married H. H. Jones and died October 1, 1884, leaving three
children.  Bradley G. Child represented his town in the State
legislature in 1871 and 1872, and was selectman and overseer of the
poor a number of years.

SAMUEL SMITH who lives on road 28 married Julia A. Chamberlin, and has
two sons and four daughters.  Mrs. Smith has in her possession a round
table more than two hundred years old, which is in a good state of
preservation, and is in constant use.  In the family, also, is a silver
spoon of peculiar value, considered as a relic.  It is now the 
property of their daughter, Elizabeth, who is the seventh generation of
the name of Elizabeth who has owned it.  The first presentation of it
was more than one hundred and fifty years ago, or in 1734.

DAVID S. REED was born in Barnet, Vt., but excepting two years, has all
his life resided in this town.  His wife was Huldah Moulton, of Lyman,
and their family consists of six sons, of whom Horace E. married
Emma Lang and is a farmer on road 13; Elmer E., Albert M., Abiel S.
and Henry S.L. reside at home with their parents; and James B. is at
Taunton, Mass.  The house in which Mr. Reed lives is one of the first
built in town. Ninety years ago a Mr. Hatch, of Boston, came here and
bought four hundred acres of wood land, and on it built this house, 
with a view to its use as a summer resort.  Soon after the house was
finished Mr. Hatch died, and the farm was sold in parcels.  
Rev. David Sutherland, the first settled minister in the town, bought 
the house and a large farm adjoining, and here he lived while he
preached in the old meeting-house, and died here.  His son John occupied
the farm a number of years after his father's death. The farm has
changed hands but four times in eighty years.

EPHRAIM THAYER was born in Lisbon in 1806, and came to this town in 1869
and located on road 34.  He married Ezuba Quimby, of Franconia, and
five of their eight children are now living, of whom Willis lives at
Victory, VT., Lydia married Levi Bisbee, and Henry, Hibbard and Levi G.
all live in Bath.  Ephraim Thayer, now seventy-nine years of age, has
never been eighty miles from his native town, has never been inside a
railroad car, and since ten years of age has not missed a season's
work in the hay-field, and has used the scythe in mowing every year
since he was fifteen.

JOSEPH SNOW was born in Landaff, in 1798, where he lived until 1838,
when he removed to Bath Upper Village, where he engaged in tavern
keeping for three years.  He afterward built a dweling on road 2,
and resided there thirty years. He married Hannah Noyes, of Landaff,
and had a fmily of ten children, eight of whom lived to an adult age,
and four are now living. Sarah married William Simonds, who lives on
road 34, with whom her widowed mother now resides, at the age of
eighty-four years.

JAMES C. NOYES was born in Landaff in 1820.  His father, Rufus Noyes,
was a son of one of the first settlers of that town. He lived in
Landaff forty-two years. In 1866 he came to this town and settled on a
farm on road 34.  His first marriage was to Betsey E. Coggswell, of
Landaff, and his second to Maroa E. Bowles of Lisbon, who had one son,
a student.  Arabella F., a daughter by the first marrige, married
Timothy B. Southard, of Swiftwater.

JOSHUA M. NUTTER was born in 1818 at Portsmouth, where he lived until
sixteen years old, when he went to Boston, and was there engaged as a
clerk in a grocery store for eight years.  He came to Bath twenty-eight
years ago, locating where he now resides, on road 35.  He married
Sarah Heath, of Bath, and seven of their twelve children are now living,
all in this town, viz:, Joseph M. who married Sarah French and is one
of the selectmen, William S., Joshua a blacksmith at Swiftwater,
Walter, Sarah Corinne, Nathan and James H.

DARIUS W. SIMONDS was born in Landaff in 1809 where he lived until 
after his marriage, in 1834, and the birth of two children. His wife
was Betsey Poor, also of Landaff. In 1866 he removed to this town and
has since been located on road 34.  Their daughter Lizzie died in 1881.
The only surviving child, William, married Sarah Snow and resides
with his parents.

CAPT. STEPHEN MORSE was born in Newburyport, Mass., in May 1751. He
removed to Haverhill about 1790, after having served in the 
Revolutionary war. He settled on Brier Hill, on the farm now occupied
by David Hunt. He married Sarah Bailey, a native of France, and they
were the parents of Moses N. Morse, who was born and died on the same
farm. His son John F. now lives on road 40. He married Susan W. JOhnson,
and their children are Harry M. a lawyer of Lisbon and for a number of
years a partner of the late Judge E.D. Rand, and Frank O. a student at
Lawrence, Mass.

WILLIAM WADDELL was a native of Barnet, VT, born in 1806. In 1840 he
married Emaline Bass, of Lyman, and settled on road 39, in this town.
He died in 1864, leaving six children, one having died before the death
of the father.  Emma married Lemuel Southard of this town, Emily married
Payson Newcomb of Orford, and Harry married Katie Moore of Haverhill.
In 1868 the terrible scourge, diphteria, visited the family, and in
four weeks carried off four of the children, and one grandchild. Among
those who died were Mrs. Southard and Mrs. Newcomb, mentioned above.
Mrs. Waddell's father died the same year, making in that short period
six deaths in the household.

ISAIAH P. KIMBALL was born in Peacham VT, January 12, 1819, his
parents being Isaac and Betsey (Fellows) Kimball. She was a direct
descendant of the noted Hannah Dustin, and it is said that Mrs. William
Varnum, of Malcolm Iowa, a sister of Mr. Kimball, has in her 
possession the home-made cloth in which Hannah Dustin carried home the
scalps of the Indians she slew when she escaped.  The savages, on
entering her cottage, had torn off and carried away the end piece of the
web she then had in her loom, and this was the piece of cloth she took
for the purpose above named.  Mr. Kimball married, March 26, 1844,
Lydia B. Page, of Landaff. They had four daughters, of whom Annette
married Pliny E. Crafts of Bradford VT, Elizabeth married George W.
Forbes, of Greenfield Mass, Ella F. is a teacher and resides with her
mother in Bath village, and Kate J. is a graduate from Mount HOlyoke
Female Seminary.  Mr. Kimball was an architect and builder and died
May 26, 1881 at Formosa, Florida, whither he had gone for the benefit
of his health.

SAMUEL ROSS came to this town from Gilmanton at an early date, and
established himself in the business of cabinet-making, which he
carried on for several years.  Afterwards he removed to Lisbon, where
he kept a tavern for a few years, when he again returned to Bath.
He established a line of stages from Hanover to Lancaster, and another
from Littleton to Plymouth, through the Franconia Notch, which he run
until the building of the White Mountain railroad, which supplanted the
use of stages, and he was one of the directors of the old White Mountain
railroad company. He married Fanny, daughter of Jonathan Smith, who
was one of the early settlers of the town, for his first wife, and his
second wife was the widow of Oliver Smith, of Lebanon, who is still
living.  By his first marriage he had four sons and two daughters of
whom three of the sons are dead.  Julia married Cyrus Eastman of
Littleton, Seraphina married D.K. Jackman of this town, now dead, and
Harvey P., the surviving son, married first Eliza Balch of this town,
and second Lucia W. Eastman of Littleton. He has two sons and one
daughter by his first wife.  He is station agent of the Boston & Lowell
railroad, and ran on this road as express messenger for fifteen years
and was afterwards United States mail agent from Boston to Littleton for
a year and a half, which office he resigned for his present business,
which he has pursued for the past eighteen years.  He is also agent
for the United States & Canada Express Co., and manager for the
Western Union Telegraph Co., in which he is assisted by his son,
Elwood J.  His other son, Samuel, ha been a conductor on the B&L R.R.
two years, between Boston and Fabyans. He is now a farmer on road 25,
married Mary daughter of Phineas Chamberlin.  Mary, the only daughter
of H.P. Ross, married F.H. Rollins, of Plymouth.

HARVEY DEMING, a native of this town, was born in June 1833. His
grandfather was one of the early settlers of the town. He married Mary,
daughter of Ira E. Elliott and they have a family of three sons and one
daughter. He is located on road 23, and owns the ground where the first
meeting-house in town was built, and his present dwelling was one of the
first built in the town.

WILLIAM MINOT was born in this town, October 9, 1814, his father having
come here in 1802, from Concord, Mass., and settled on road 27,
where Mr. Minot now lives.  When his father located here the farm was
nearly all a wilderness, only a few acres being cleared. The first night
spent on the farm, Mrs. Minot thought a hundred wolves were howling in
the woods near them.  William Minot married Emily Weeks, whose father
was a native of this town, and her mother a native of Connecticut.
They have three daughters and one son, all residents with their
parents.  Mr. Minot was born in the house he now occupies.  In 1865
he was selectman, and is prominent in all which concerns the welfare
of the church and society.

JOSEPH A. DAVIS came to this town sixty years ago, and located at
Bath Upper Village in the shoemaking business. He married Priscilla
Merrill, of Lyman, and had five children, one of whom died in
childhood, and one, Samuel M., died at the age of thirty-four.
Phebe M. married Henry Chandler, a minister now living at South Berwick,
Me.  Charlotte E. married Henry M. Peters of Manteno, IL.  Joseph A.
married Parthena E. Haywood of Haverhill, and is a farmer on road 40,
near Swiftwater, and has three children.  On the spot where he resides
a house was burned fifty years ago, and the present one was erected
on the same spot in one week from the time of the burning of the first
building.  The new one was 28 by 48 feet, and preaching was held in it
by Rev. David Sutherland, the first settled minister in town.

JONATHAN BROWNSON was born in Hartford, Conn., and with his parents 
came to Landaff, about the time of the Revolutionary War. He often held
the office of selectman, was elected to represent Landaff in the State
legislature the same year in which Andrew Jackson was elected
President, and was re-elected each of the eight years of his
presidency.  His grandmother came to Landaff also and died there at
the age of 104 years, having lived in three centuries.  His son
Jonathan lives at Swiftwater, a practicing physician. He married
Mary S. Chandler of Haverhill, and has a family of seven children, 
of whom Ira is a physician at Sedalia, MO, Jonathan E. is a miner in
Colorado, John E. is a glove maker at Littleton, William E. is a farmer
in Florida, Mary M. married James M. Watson of Taunton, Mass, and 
Nettie married Rev. C.N. Krock of Enfield.

ANDREW J. LEIGHTON was a native of Newbury VT, born in 1831. His
grandfather came to Sheffield VT from Massachusetts, and afterwards to
Newbury.  The father of Andrew J. had a family of twelve, two of whom
are settled in this town, one in Haverhill, one at Ackworth, one in
Iowa, one in Massachusetts, and two in California.  Andrew J. lives
on road 15, where he is a large farmer.  He married Helen, daughter of
William Bedell, of this town, one of a family of fourteen.  They have
four children living and have lost one.  He is one of the selectmen of
the town, and has held that office ten years.  In 1884 he was elected
to represent bath in the legislature.

JOHN SAWYER was born in Dorchester in 1815, and lived there until five
years after his marrige, to Louisa Johnson, in 1842. From that time for
eighteen years he lived in Rumney, carrying on a lumber business with
farming.  In 1866 he came to this town and located near Swiftwater.
They had eight children, five of whom are now living, of whom
John M. and George H. reside in this town, Charles N. in Manchester,
N.J., Joshua W. in Worcester, Mass, and Amanda L. married Ezra A.
Rodmon, and resides on the old homestead, with her widowed mother.

CHARLES D. ATWOOD was a native of Landaff, the son of David and Julia
Atwood, born in 1847. When three years of age his parents removed to
Lisbon, where they are still living. In October, 1873, he came to
this town and located on road 10.  He married Emma, daughter of
Ephraim and Lucinda Clough, who occupied for many years, the farm on
which Mr. Atwood now lives.  They have four children, three sons and
one daughter.  Ephraim Clough, named above, was a native of Lyman, and
removed to this town  in 1820.

DANIEL WITCHER was born in Benton, formerlly called Coventry, 
January 20, 1827. In 1859 he removed to Landaff, to the locality now
known as Whitcherville, and commenced lumbering, tanning, farming and
manufacturing potato starch, and has followed similiar business for
thirty-seven years. He also carried on a mercantile business in Landaff.
In 1883 he came to this town, where he is carrying on a large business
in the manufacture and sale of lumber. He has a side track from the
Boston & Lowell railroad, known as "Witcher's Landing," at the junction
of the Ammonoosuc and Wild Ammonoosuc rivers.  He represented the town
of Benton in the state legislature, and was often a selectman of
Landaff, and also represented that town in the legislature. He was
influential in getting a highway built, known as the Bungay road, in
the face of tremendous opposition. The road runs from Swiftwater,
Bath, Wild Wood, in Benton, along the Wild Ammonoosuc. It is a great
public benefit, but the building of it was the subject of litigation
for twelve years.  Mr. Whitcher, seeing the utility and necessity of
the road, pushed the matter tenaciously, and finally it was decided in
his favor. Mr. Witcher married Nancy R. Knight of Landaff, and has had
a family of nine children, only five of whom are now living. He is the
ninth of ten sons, and the fourteenth of a family of sixteen children.
 
JAMES H. JOHNSON was born at Bath, June 3, 1803, engaged in the 
mercantile business at the Lower Village in 1817, was appointed
deputy sheriff in 1824, and served two years, then resumed the
mercantile business at Lisbon, in company with Ira Goodall, Esq., and
remained at that place eleven years, married in 1828, Jane Hutchins,
daughter of Col. James Hutchins of Bath, and had six children, of whom
only one is living. Col. Johnson was appointed paymaster of the 32d
State militia regiment, in 1826, and afterwards served as adjutant,
and then colonel of the same regiment. In 1836 he was elected State
representative from the town of Libson, and served two years, was then
chosen as State senator for two years, and afterwards was elected to
the Governor's council, in which office he served two years. In 1839
he returned to Bath and engaged largely in the lumber business, owning
the saw-mill and nearly all the water-power of the village. In 1844 he
was elected member of Congress, and again in 1846, serving two terms in
the House of Representatives. In 1847 he married Miss Sophia Orne
Edwards of Springfield Mass. They have three children, two sons and a
daughter.  The eldest son, J. Howard, graduated as a civil engineer
at the scientific department of Dartmouth College in 1870 and the
ensuing year he went to Peru and entered into the employment of 
Henry Meiggs, the railway king of South America. In 1874 and 1875 he
surveyed and built the highest known railway in the world, which
connects Arequipa with Dwyco, which was called the City of the Sun,
when the Incas ruled Peru.  In 1877 he married Miss Martha B. Childs,
of Cleveland, Ohio, and they reside at Lima, Peru, where Mr. Johnson
owns a large ice factory. His eldest daughter married William G. White
of Chicago, and his youngest daughter married Dr. N.C.B. Haviland, of
Rochester VT.

REV. DAVID SUTHERLAND, the first settled minister in the town, was born
June 19, 1777 at Edinburgh, Scotland. His childhood and youth were
spent in the place of his nativity. He served an apprenticeship in a 
printing office; at the age of sixteen became hopefully pious, and when
nineteen years old entered a Theological seminary and studied for the
Christian ministry. Having pursued the usual course of study, he
graduated the last week of the eighteenth century and commenced his
ministerial life the first Sabbath of the present century. After
laboring as a minister in Scotland for nearly three years, he received
an invitation from a Scottish farmer in Barnet, VT to cross the
Atlantic and preach in his neighborhood. In compliance with this
invitation he left his native country in the spring of 1803, and with
his beloved companion came to the United States. His wife was
Anna Waters, born in Scotland, December 22, 1774. Her talents, her
education and devoted piety eminently fitted her for the duties of a
pastor's wife, and for extensive usefulness in the Lord's vineyard.
In April 1083, she was united in marriage to Rev. D. Sutherland, and
after a married life of nearly fifty years, died February 3, 1852,
aged seventy-seven years.  She was the mother of seven children, one
of whom died in infancy, another at the age of nineteen. Mrs.
Sutherland was a rare woman, sustaining most worthily the relations of
a wife, a mother, a friend, a neighbor, a member of society, and of
the Church of Christ. Her many lovely and excellent qualities greatly
endeared here to her friends, caused her to be universally esteemed and
beloved, and have sacredly embalmed her memory in many bosoms. Having
preached in Bath several Sabbaths in 1804, Mr. Sutherland recieved a
call to settle, in May 1805, which call he accepted and immediately
removed from Barnet, VT to this town.  In October following (as soon
as the meeting-house was finished) he was installed as the first pastor
of the churhc, and first minister of the town, eighty years ago. He
resigned this pastoral office in 1843, but continued to preach in
different places nearly every Sabbath up to 1854. His last sermon
was delivered fifty-five and a half years after he commenced his
ministerial labors.  He died July 25, 1855, at the gae of
Seventy-eight years, one month and six days.

MYRON S. WOODWARD, a grandson of Hon. James Woodward, one of the early
settlers of Haverhill, was born July 24, 1803, in Haverhill.  At the
age of sixteen years he was apprenticed to the trade of cloth dressing
and wool carding, in Bath, at which he worked for a number of years.
He married Caroline Hutchins, of Bath Upper Village in 1829. About that
time he bought a cloth dressing mill in Lyman, which he carried on for
three years. He then removed to Swiftwater, and built a mill for his
reguilar business, in 1837. This business he carried on until his
death, October 8, 1884. He held various town offices, being a justice
of the peace nearly fifty years, was selectman three years, and also
collector. He had three sons and two daughters, of whom Ira E. is a
wool carder and carriage maker at Lancaster; Mary J. Married
James Williams who succeeded to Mr. Woodward's business at
Swiftwater; Horace J. lives at Cold Water, Mich.; Laura E. married
J.O. Gifford of Haverhill; Arthur was a soldier in the late Rebellion,
enlisting at the age of sixteen, in the 1st NH Cavalry, was taken
prisoner June 29, 1864 on Wilson's raid, and died in Charleston, S.C.
October 4, 1864, probably starved to death in a rebel prison.

***
CHURCHES in BATH, NH
***

THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH--The first church formed in Bath was in 1778,
on the Presbyterian platform. After the Revolution ary war, several
prominent families came from Massachusetts, who were of the Puritan
stamp, and in 1791 a Congregational church was formed in its stead,
consisting of nineteen members. The first minister called was Rev.
Ebenezer Cleveland, by the proprietors of the town in 1784, but Rev.
David Sutherland was the first settled pastor in 1805. Till the year
1803, meetings were held in barns and dwellings; but the people then
concluded to build a church, which was completed in about two years,
at a cost of $3,000.00.  The present edifice was built in 1874, at
a cost of $7,000.00.  It is a wooden structure, capable of seating 400
persons, and valued, including grounds, at $9,000.00.  The society now
has 103 members, with Rev. John P. Demeritt, pastor.

(end)