GENEALOGY OF WENTWORTH, GRAFTON 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). ======================================================== SOURCE: Gazeteer of Grafton County NH, 1709-1886, compiled and published by Hamilton Child; Syracuse NY, The Syracuse Journal Company, Printers and Binders, June 1886 page 636 WENTWORTH lies in the central part of the county, in lat 43 degrees 51' and long. 71 degrees 55', bounded north by Warren, east by Rumney, south by Dorchester and west by Orford. The township was granted by Governor Benning Wentworth, for whom it was named, to John Page and fifty-nine others, in sixty-six shares, November 1, 1766. Forty-two of these grantees, however, failed to comply with the conditions of the grant, and thus their shares were declared forfeited, and were granted to other parties by a document dated March 13, 1772. Only one or two minor changes have been made in the area of the township since it was originally surveyed, viz: By an act passed January 15, 1787, Thomas Clark, Daniel Clark, Jonathan Herbert and Asa Boynton, with their estates, were severed from Piermont and annexed to this town, and on June 28, 1837, a small tract of land belonging to John Dana Jr., was severed from Orford and annexed to Wentworth. The surface of the 23,040 acres included within the boundary lines of Wentworth is, as compared with that of neighboring towns, moderately level, though sufficiently diversified to form some very attractive and beautiful scenery. A large amount of its territory lies in the valley of Baker's river [the description of which found in the original document is not included here]. The stream rises in the mountains of Warren and Benton, enters this town at about the center of its northern line, and leaves it south of the center of its eastern line, falling into the Pemigewasset in Plymouth. It has a fall of considerable height here, and affords some good mill privileges. The southern part of the town is watered by the south branch of Baker's river, which joins the main branch near Rumney line. Baker's pond, lying partly in Orford and partly in this town, is the largest body of water, though Line and Rocky ponds, small bodies of water, lie in the southern part. Pond brook, the outlet of the first mentioned, affords a number of good mill-sites in its short course to Baker's river. A part of Carr's mountain, having an altitude of 3,522 feet, is situated in the eastern portion of the town, and Mount Cuba, with an altitude of 2,927 feet, rises in part from the western portion. The latter contains an inexhaustible supply of good limestone. Its name was given by one of the early settlers in memory of his dog, "Cuba," which died while accompanying its master on an excursion to the mountain. Some late writers insist on incorrectly calling it Cube mountain, however. Granite of a fine quality is found at the base of Carr's mountain, and iron ore is found in various parts of the town. On the 6th of August, 1856, a destructive freshet occurred here, causing damage to the amount of $20,000.00. It was very violent in its operations, destroying not only the buildings in its course, but undermining their very foundations to the depth of twelve to twenty feet. The origin of the freshet was in two ponds in Orford, one of which emptied into Baker's rive rin this town, and whose outlets have been dammned so as to raise their waters over an extensive surface to the depth of eight feet. It rained two days, during which water fell to the depth of nine and one-twelfth inches, swelling the waters of these ponds so that the dams were swept away, when the waters poured, for three miles, with fury down a steep rocky channel, coming in their destructive course within a half a mile of the village, where they met with an obstruction in a saw-mill, the entire granite foundations of which were swept away. Again let free, the waters continued their devastating course, destroying part of the highway from Orford to Wentworth, sweeping away dwelling-houses, mills, their machinery and dams, barns, sheds--dashing everything to pieces "liked crushed egg shells" and hurrying them down the channel of the river, made new for quite a distance by the violence of the waters. The river was widened nearly ninety feet by the course of the current, and a spring of water which supplied the village was entirely swept away, elaving not even a trace to mark its site. Where was the most active part of the village, nothing was left but a deep excavation, with no trace of the numerous buildings which had stood thereon, while the vast amount of earth carried away by the flood was conveyed onto the fine interval below, overspreading the surface and destroying the value of the extensive grounds it covered. The Boston & Lowell railroad passes through the town, following the course of Baker's river. DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN IN 1885 In 1880 Wentworth had a population of 939 souls. In 1885 the town had eleven school districts and twelve common schools. Its twelve school-houses were valued, including furniture, etc., at $2,470.00 There were 191 children attending school, twenty-two of whom were pursuing the higher grades, taught during the year by two male and sixteen female teachers, at an average monthly salary of $29.00 for males and $20.00 for females. The entire amount raised for school purposes was $1,402.92 while the expenditures were $1,272.50 with John B. Foster, superintendent. VILLAGES OF WENTWORTH NH WENTWORTH is a thriving, industrious post village and a station on the Boston & Lowell railroad, located in the northern part of the town near the falls on Baker's river. It has one church (Methodist), one hotel, three stores, a fine hall owned by Jonathan Stanyan, Esq., a tin shop, wheelright and blacksmith shop, bobbin factory, etc., and about three hundred inhabitants. The village has a number of fine residences, with handsome grounds surrounding them, is nicely laid out, well shaded, and all in all presents a wholesome and attractive appearance. BUSINESS & MANUFACTURES: KNIGHT & CROSBY'S BOBBIN FACTORY, located at the village, was built by them in 1883. It is operated by steam power, gives employment to ten hands and turns out about 2,000,000 bobbins per year. JAMES M. COLBURN & CO's SAW AND GRIST-MILL AND BOBBIN AND CHAIR-STOCK FACTORY, located on road 27, was originally built about one hundred years ago, and came into the hands of the present senior proprietor's father in 1844. The factory turns out 75,000 feet of lumber, and ten car-loads of bobbins and chair-stock per year, while the grist-mill has two runs of stone and does custom work. E.M. BLODGETT'S GRIST-MILL, off road 13, has one run of stones and grinds about 8,000 bushels of grain per year. E.S. CHANDLER'S SAW-MILL, on road 35, was built in 1864, and came into the present proprietor's hands in 1876, who turns out about 150,000 feet of lumber per year. O.Q. COLE'S CARRIAGE SHOP, located at the village, was built by him about fifteen years ago [from 1885]. He manufactures about twenty new wagons and sleighs per year, and does a general repair business. SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN OF WENTWORTH NH The settlement of the town was begun in 1776 by a Mr. Smith, and it was incorporated November 1st of the same year. The first child was born in 1771, and the first frame house built in 1772. Many of the early settlers came from Massachusetts. The first town meeting was held at the house of Capt. John Aiken, July 29, 1779, when the following officers were elected: Maj. Enoch Page, moderator; John Aiken, town clerk; Ephraim Day and Joseph Smith, selectmen; Maj. Enoch Page, constable; and Richard Pillsbury and Hugh McLellen, surveyors of highways. EARLY SETTLERS AND PROMINENT CITIZENS EBENEZER GOVE came to Wentworth from Hampton NH, about 1774 or 1775. He came in company with Enoch Page, one of the original grantees of the town, and was one of the first settlers here. In 1787 he located upon the farm where hsi grandson David now resides, and lived there until his death in 1840. He married twice and reared a family of seven children. His sons, Enoch, Winthrop, Edward and William, all occupied the old homestead until their death. Mr. Gove took an active part in town affairs, was selectman, &c. His son Winthrop was selectman many years, and William represented the town in the legislature. The former reared a family of five children, three of whom are living, as follows: Mrs. Dolly Marden of Plymouth, and David and Ebenezer, both of this town. [Note: the 1790 US Census of Wentworth, Grafton Co NH shows Benjamin, John, Joseph and Molly Smith households] URIAH COLBORN / COLBURN [this is the original spelling in this document, however the 1810 US census clearly shows this name as COLBURN] came here, from Massachusetts, at an early day, and settled in the southern part of the the southern part of the town, where he cleared a farm. He reared a family of five children, four of whom are now living. Joseph, Uriah and Mehitable live in this town, and Joshua A. resides in Rumney [NH]. James F., son of Uriah Sr. died in 1880. His two sons, James M. and Joseph A., live in this town. JEREMIAH SMART, son of Samuel, was born in Wentworth in 1788, and died in 1860. Three of his sons are now living in town. His grandfather was one of the first settlers of Rumney [NH]. ISAAC CLIFFORD, was one of the early settlers of Wentworth, located in the northeastern part of the town some time previous to the Revolution. He reared a large family of children and died in 1823, aged seventy-seven years. ---- SMITH came to Wentworth some time previous to the Revolution, and settled in the northwestern part of the town, where he cleared a farm. He reared a large family of children, but none of his descendants of the same name reside in town. His daughter, Mary, became the wife of Zachariah Clifford, one of the early residents of the town. SAMUEL CURRIER came to Wentworth from Hampstead NH at an early day and located on road 7. He was a Baptist minister, and was thought to be the first minister in town. He died here about 1802. He had four sons, Aaron, David, Samuel and Daniel. His son Aaron came here with his father, but removed to Corinth Vt., where he lived twelve years and then returned to Wentworth. He engaged in the tanning business, which was established by his uncle. He also engaged in manufacturing, owned a grist-mill, a saw-mill, and a cloth-dressing mill. He took an active part in town affairs, was selectman, town representative, &c. He reared a family of twelve children, only four of whom are living, namely, Mr. Parney Haines, Mrs. Sally Currier, and Ezra B., of this town, and David D. of Lawrence, Mass. His son Samuel also carried on the tanning business for a number of years, and also engaged in farming. Of his three children, Samuel G., Lorenzo W. and Eunice, the first two are living and engaged in farming. Lorenzo W. is a surveyor, and has represented the town in the legislature. SAMUEL MOORE was born in Sanbornton in 1780, removed to Dorchester at an early day, engaged in the mercantile business at Dorchester Corners about two years, and then moved to Wentworth. He was a school teacher, and was for many years engaged in trade. He was town representative for Wentworth and Rumney in 1813, and represented the town of Wentworth in 1836-37. He was selectman, and was town clerk sixteen years in succession. He married Mary Thomas, of Sanbornton, and reared a family of seven children, only one of whom, William H. is still living. He died October 3, 1862. William H. was born in Wentworth, in 1811, lived for a time in Massachusetts and in Concord NH, and in 1849 went to California, where he remained seven years. He then returned to this town, and has been engaged in farming. He represented the town in the legislature in 1866-67, was town clerk six years, selectman seven years, superintendent of school committee, etc. JOHN FOSTER came here from Rumney about 1814, locating upon the farm where his grandson, Noah B. Foster, lately lived, and resided there until his death. His son John came to the town with him, and lived here until he died, in 1884, aged seventy-three years. One son, John B. lives in town, and Noah A. died in June 1885. MOSES KNIGHT moved to Landaff from Connecticut at an early day and located in the eastern part of the town, where he died. His son Moses was born in Landaff, where he lived most of his life, was a farmer, and die din Lisbon [NH] in 1878. Three of his four children are living, namely, Mrs. Caroline Bartlett of Libson [NH]; Mrs. Fanny Morse of Iowa, and Ezra C. of this town. Moses Jr. represented the town of Landaff in 1861-62, was selectman, etc. (end)