Overview
One of the earliest families to settle on
Further south the First NH Turnpike crossed forming an
intersection at the Yeaton Tavern, later called in
deeds ‘the road to Northwood.’ The area south of the turnpike was owned by
Stephen Johnson by 1811 and is the area known as Lord’s Mill. The mill was
originally the McClary mill. Across what is now Route
4 to Route 107 was land owned by William Yeaton which
passed down to George Dana Yeaton. The last lot in
Epsom before reaching the
ELIJAH GOVE
The Gove family lived at the top of the
The lot was owned by Simon Greenough of
Moses Gove was born in
Moses died at the homestead in 1809, and his widow Abigail
remained at the homestead until her death in 1840. Elder son Richard sold the
homestead of 200 acres to his brother Elijah, being ‘all the land and buildings
owned by my late father Moses Gove at his decease.’ Elijah and his wife Anstiss (also seen as Anstrus)
raised a family of eight children at the family homestead. They included: Sarah
S., born in 1825 and married Cyrus B. Dow in 1846, son of Moses and Mary (Peaslee) Dow; Hannah F., born in 1827, never married and
resided at the homestead until 1890; Ruth G., born in 1829, was engaged when
she drowned in an accident in 1857; Edward S., born in 1830, married Caroline
Jane Foss at Gonic, NH in 1852; Abigail B. Gove,,
married at Pittsfield in 1852, Samuel Jackson Jones, she, according to the Gove
genealogy, died at the homestead; Elizabeth M., born in 1837 and resided at the
homestead until her death, unmarried; Mary Peaslee,
born in 1841, married Elisha Winslow. Elisha and Mary P. are buried in the
Elijah died in 1857, and his wife in 1872. The property is owned
by his heirs until 1877 when his son Edward S., daughter Hannah F., and Cyrus
F. Dow (son of daughter Sarah and her husband Cyrus B. Dow, both
deceased) sold the homestead farm to Sarah A. Hilliard, wife of Warren
Hilliard, and daughter of Cyrus B. and Sarah (Gove) Dow. The Hilliard mortgaged
the property in 1888, and it was foreclosed in 1892 to the Farmer’s Savings
Bank of
Jeremiah Page and Samuel Brown
Lot 45 near the north end of
Jeremiah Page and his wife Lydia had the following children:
Abigail, born in 1769, married at Epsom, May 13, 1789, Jonathan Bickford, son
of John and Phebe (Johnson) Bickford of Epsom; Sarah,
born in 1770, married at Epsom, November 21, 1793, Levi Berry, resided in
Alexandria, New Hampshire; Reuben, born in1772, married Abigail Berry at New
Durham in 1798 and resided in Somersworth; John, born in 1779, married at
Epsom, September 1, 1799, Huldah Locke, daughter of
William and Abigail (Sanders) Locke and resided on the homestead; Jeremiah,
born about 1781, married Abigail Locke, sister to Huldah
who married his brother, and resided at Alexandria; Daniel, married in 1810,
Betsey Sanders, daughter of William and Sarah Sanders, and also resided at
Alexandria.
John and his wife Huldah added to the
homestead, purchasing in 1806 100 acres of land from Paul Brewster, part of lot
50 and which was the homestead farm of John Bickford and his son John Bickford
Jr. Additionally he purchased land from Daniel Cilley
in 1836, land bounded north by
land of David Philbrick, east by land of John Page
and Daniel Philbrick, south by land of Daniel Philbrick and west by the range road, so called, it being
the westerly end of the Bickford lot and land that Ephraim Davis used to live
on, and all the land that I own east of said range road, to contain 16 acres it
being in the second range of lots.
John and Huldah had children: Hannah,
born in 1800 and married about 1824, John Foss; Abigail, born in 1802, married
at Pittsfield in 1823, Levi Berry, removed from Epsom to Alexandria; James,
born in 1804, married about 1829, a Dorothy Smith; Betsey, born 1806, married
at Epsom in 1827, Samuel Brown of Pittsfield; Jeremiah, born 1808, married
a Cynthia Martin, and died in 1897, buried at the Old Fairview Cemetery in
Northwood; Huldah, born in 1810, married a
Samuel Batchelder; Theodate
H., born 1813, married in 1836, Asa Jewell;
John, born 1816, married Mahala Brown Lane and died
in Iowa in 1874; Sarah, born in 1818 and died in Epsom in 1834; and
Mary, born 1822, married at Epsom in 1839, David C. Fogg.
John Page sold his holdings to his son in law Samuel Brown in
1841. Samuel and his wife Betsey Page had three known children: James, born
about 1829, of which nothing more is known; Susan T., born about 1833 and
died in 1853; and Theodate of which nothing more is
known. What happened to his children remains a mystery. He made bond with
his son James for their care in 1851, and made a second bond in 1863 with a
William Langley. A third bond for the care of he and his wife was made with his
brother Lowell Brown in 1876.
Members of the Page and Brown families are interred in a badly
deteriorated cemetery in a field near the homestead, with most of the stones
illegible.
In 1904, Eliphalet W. French was the
trustee of the bankrupt estate of Mary J. Longa, and sold the homestead to
Albert Barton of Epsom. The property was still in the Barton family in 1982.
John Bickford and Ephraim Davis of lot 50
John Page bought the former John Bickford farm in 1806. Part of
this lot was also where Ephraim Davis made his home.
John Bickford was from
John and Phebe sold their homestead farm
in Epsom to their son John in 1801, leaving Epsom and moving to Meredith. His son John Jr. did not
retain the homestead, selling the 100 acres to Paul Brewster of
Ephraim Davis was listed as of Epsom when he purchased 11 acres of
land in Epsom, part of lot 50 in the second range. He married at
Daniel Philbrick Homestead
Daniel Philbrick of
Daniel was a soldier of the Revolution, his service being
described in his pension application of 1832 - The said Daniel Philbrick
deposeth and saith that he
entered the service the 2nd day of April 1775 and served until the first day of
January 1776 in Col. Poor's Regiment and Capt Moses Leavitts
Company. He further deposeth that he again entered
the service as an orderly Sergeant in 1777 and served three months in Col.
Drakes Regiment and Capt. Moses Leavitts Company, and
was present and assisted in the capture of General Burgoyne. After his servi ce he married at Deerfield, Ruth Merrill (also seen
Morrill), daughter of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (French) Morrill who joined the
Old Daniel Philbrick died April 18, 1835
as described in his obituary - In
Epsom, April 18th, Elder Daniel Philbrick aged 82
years – leaving 10 children, 45 grandchildren and three great great grandchildren. Elder P. had been a professor of the
Free Baptist communion 50 years and came to the grave like a shock of grain
fully ripe in the same hope of entering that rest when the wicked cease from
troubling and the weary are at rest. Elder P. entered the service of his
country during the revolution, was in the battles of Bennington, Stillwater and
Saratoga, and during life was a firm supporter of the Republican form of
government which he fought to establish – an appropriate discourse was
delivered at the funeral by Elder Dyer, from the words "all these died in
faith." He and his wife a buried in a family cemetery on the property.
The 1858 county map shows the homestead occupied by Daniel’s son
Daniel, and his son, David Morrill Philbrick. Son
Daniel had for a family seven daughters and one son: Abigail, born 1809 and
died young; Ruth M., born 1811, married at Epsom in 1837, Levi S. Mason; Mary,
born in 1813 and died unmarried in 1890; Asenath,
born 1816 and died unmarried in 1890; Abigail (2), born 1818, married in 1849,
Ebenezer B. Sargent; Betsey, born 1821, married
Stephen S. Ring, resided at Pittsfield; David Morrill, born 1823, married Sarah
A. Stearns, daughter of John and Margaret McClary
(Wallace) Stearns; and Almira, born 1825 and married
George F. Buffum.
Daniel died in 1874, his wife Mary in 1868, and are buried in a
family cemetery not far from the family home. He was succeeded on the homestead
by his son David Morrill Philbrick. He and his wife
had the following family: an infant, born and died in 1851; Clara J. born
1852 and married at Epsom in 1869, Frank Buffam, son
of George F. and Almira (Philbrick)
Buffam; Daniel, born 1854, died unmarried in 1896;
David F., born in 1857, died unmarried in 1873; Mary A., born in 1858, married
at Northwood in 1882, George E. Giles; John S., born 1860, married at Epsom in
1887, Eliza Philbrick, daughter of Jackson Clark and
Eliza (Crawford) Philbrick; Susan M., born in 1864,
married William A. Edmunds of Northwood; George Henry, born 1865 and married at
Concord in 1906, Amy Estelle Lull; and Augustus Truman, born 1867 and married
at Barnstead in 1912, Maude E. French.
A brief biography appears in the Hurd’s
Atlas, History of Merrimack County:
D. M. Philbrick was
born August 26, 1823, in the north part of the town of Epsom, N. H. He is the son
of Daniel and Polly (Locke) Philbrick, and grandson
of Daniel and Ruth (Morrill) Philbrick. His paternal
grandfather was a native of Hampton, Rockingham County, N. H., and moved to
Epsom when a young man, and when the virgin forest of the "Catamount"
and surrounding hills was almost unbroken.
The Philbricks belong
to that sturdy, self-reliant and self-contained class of men who have played so
important a part in the rise and progress of civilization in
David M. Philbrick may
be fairly said to stand as a representative farmer of his town and section. He
has all his life made agriculture his chief pursuit, and by constant and
intelligently directed effort he has made it a success. He owns, in various
tracts, about six hundred acres of land, a very large farm for
He is a man who is respected and confided in by
his neighbors and townsmen, and was chosen to represent them in the Legislature
in 1876 and 1877. He has been selectman of Epsom two years, and surveyor of
highways twenty-five years. In politics he is a Democrat.
He married, November 27, 1850, Sarah A.,
daughter of John and Margaret (Wallace) Stearns, of
David Morrill Philbrick
deeded by will, his homestead farm to his son George Henry Philbrick.
George and his wife Amy had three daughters: Olive Laura, born and died in
1912; Priscilla Maude, born and died in 1914; and sole surviving heir, Eunice
Sarah, born 1915, and died unmarried in Epsom in 1981. She inherited the
homestead which she sold in 1966.
Of the three sons of Daniel Philbrick
who received land from their father, Daniel Philbrick
and his descendants occupied land on the west side of North Road. On the east
side, in the area of Chestnut pond, son John was deeded 70 acres of lot 45 and
46 from his father in 1785, where the road ‘leading to Gilmantown’
was ‘the dividing line between John and his brother Daniel.’
John was born at
John Philbrick sold half his farm to
Arnold Thompson in 1821, being ‘the whole of the farm which I now own and
occupy, containing about 100 acres with half of the buildings thereon.’ Arnold
and his wife Phebe had one child, Lewis, born in 1819
and married in 1841, Elizabeth Locke, daughter of Edward and Elizabeth (Meader) Locke of Rochester. Lewis and his wife had five
children: Lydia Meader, born 1843 and married Joseph
Prescott Locke of Epsom, son of Simeon Prescott and Sarah Blake (Cass) Locke;
Sarah Winslow, born 1845, married in 1883, Henry Arnett;
Mary Ann, born 1847, married at Boston in 1871, Wilbur F. Fernald; Henry
F., born 1852, died 1867; and Lucy L., born 1856 and married in 1883, George W.
Friel.
Lewis Thompson died a year before his father, in February of 1862.
His father died in 1863, his mother in 1859, all buried in the
It is not clear when Carpenter sold the Thompson farm, but it was
in the hands of Ephraim Locke of Allenstown and Winthrop Fowler of Pembroke
when it was sold to William P. Babb, then of
William Pickering Babb was raised on
The Babbs kept the farm of 180 in tact
for over thirty years, selling their homestead to Winfred R. Emerson of
Enoch and Newell Brown
Jonathan Brown married Mercy Clough in 1743 at
Jonathan Brown bought land in Epsom from Bracket Johnson of
Greenland, and sold the land to his son Enoch in 1795, being part of lot 50 in
the second range. His wife Elizabeth died in 1798 and is buried in her families pot in the Upper Yard Burial Ground in Kensington.
Enoch died in 1829, and from an obituary was a
wealthy and respected citizen. In the war of the revolution, he marched, (with
the other volunteers from this section of the state) for
In his will, he mentions children John, Stephen, Jonathan,
daughter Mary Carlton and son Enoch. In 1813, their grandfather Stephen Page
bequeaths to his grandchildren, John, Stephen, Enoch, Jonathan and Molly, children
‘of my daughter Elizabeth Brown, deceased.’ Nothing is known of daughter Mary;
son John married Hepzibah Wallace, daughter of
Abraham and Hepzibah (Blake) Wallace and moved to Stanstead, Canada; son Stephen married Lucy Rand, daughter
of Richard and Mary (Haly) Rand and resided at Hill,
New Hampshire; Jonathan is only known of his mention in the wills of his father
and grandfather. Son Enoch married in
Son Newell Brown purchased the homestead from his siblings in
1841. He and his wife Mary had two children: Mary E., born in 1835 and married
Cyrus O. Brown in 1858, whose grandfather was Abel Brown of Kensington and his
wife Sarah Page; and Augustus True Brown, born about 1844 and died in 1868,
unmarried. Newell Brown died in 1877, his wife Mary T. in 1879, with the
homestead passing to their daughter Mary E. and her husband Cyrus O. Brown.
Cyrus and Mary sold ‘land in Epsom with the stone and wooden buildings situated
on
The new owners were Benjamin F. and Emma J. Chase of Epsom. Benjamin Franklin Chase
hailed from
Thomas M., also seen in records as Walter Thomas, and John Cotton
Brown were sons of Robert Cochran and Sally F. (Cochran) Brown. In 1922, Robert
C. sold his half to his brother Thomas, who held the property until 1941 when
Oliver C. Lombard, administrator of his estate, sold the property to Susan E.
Brown of Gilmanton. Thomas M. Brown never married, and the new owner of the
land, Susan, was the daughter of another brother, Alfred M. Brown. Susan E.
married Harold B. Yeaton, son of Edson
F. Yeaton, and they sold the land in 1951 to George
E. Jacques and Company of
Levi Brown, William Brown, W.P. Babb, C. O. Brown
Levi Brown, brother to Enoch, bought land across the street from
his brother in February of 1781, the lot being sold for taxes and part of lot
51 in the second range. The lot consisted of 77 acres and originally belonged
to a John Yeaton. Ten years later, Levi, along with
his father Jonathan of Kensington, bought land in part of lots 48 and 49, the
original right of John Blake and John Philbrick, on
the easterly side of
Levi Brown was born about 1755 and married in 1781 a Lydia
Thomson. Little is known of the family, and there are four known children:
Mercy, of whom nothing is known; Abel, born 1782 and married in Epsom in 1807,
Betsey Locke, daughter of Samuel and Mary (Evans) Locke, and resided for a time
at Slab City; Levi Jr., born in 1786, married a Mercy unknown and by will
inherited the homestead; and Benjamin, born in 1792, and probably died before
his father’s will of 1816, in which he is not mentioned. The births of the
three sons appear in the Epsom old town records.
Son Levi sold his portion, less that part of his mother, to
William Brown of Epsom in 1821, who ‘in consideration of love and good will’
sold it to Polly Brown of Epsom, spinster. That same day, Polly deeded the land
to William’s wife, Lucretia B. Brown.
William Brown was the son of John and Salome (Sarah) (Allen)
Brown, who married at Epsom in January of 1821, Lucretia
Billings Gray, daughter of James and Susanna (Parsons) Gray. They had three
children: Mary Lucy, born September 1821, and married in 1847, Joseph Blake
Cass; Susan Elizabeth Parsons, born in 1824 and married in 1859, Alexander B.
Forbes and resided at Byfield, Massachusetts; and
Charles Jeffrey Parsons, born in 1829 and married in 1849, Mary Ann Chapman,
daughter of Samuel T. and Deborah (Dow) Chapman. William and Lucretia probably raised their family on this lot which
they sold of John Babb and his son William P. Babb in 1853. John sold his half
to his son in 1853, being part of lot 50, land and buildings of 100 acres. The
1858 county map shows W. P. Babb living at this house.
It is unclear when William P. Babb sold the property, but it had
to be about 1875 when he bought the old Arnold Thompson farm near Chestnut
Pond. The 1892 county map shows the occupant as C. O. Brown with the next
recorded sale in 1903, when Cyrus O. Brown and his daughter Evangeline, sold
the Levi Brown property, along with that of his brother Enoch, to Octavius J. Bates. The property follows the same purchases
as described in the Enoch Brown deeds.
A biography of Cyrus O. Brown appeared in the
Cyrus O. Brown was educated at Hampton Academy and at Phillips
Andover Academy in Massachusetts, taking a classical course in the class of 1857 . When nearly prepared to enter college, his eyes
became inflamed, and his physician urged him to give up all study and go more
frequently into the open air. Yielding to this advice reluctantly, he abandoned
his hopes of a collegiate career and accepted the position of assistant teacher
in
In politics Mr. Brown acts independently, and votes for the
candidates whom he considers best qualified to hold office. For several years
he was a member of the School Board of Epsom, and his knowledge of educational
affairs made him especially valuable to that department. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are
members of the Free Will Baptist church. A very pleasant interruption in Mr. Brown 's quiet life on his farm was the fortieth anniversary
of the class of '57, held at Andover, June 24, 1897, when all the living
members were invited to Phillips ' graduating exercises of '97 and held a grand
alumni meeting, and when those present partook of a dinner in the spacious hall
of the institution, which was followed by interesting speeches recalling old times.
Perkins Philbrick
and Samuel Brown
The third of three sons of Daniel Philbrick
to have Epsom property deeded to him was Perkins Philbrick.
His portion of Epsom land was south of his brothers Daniel and John, and was
part of lot 52 in the second range. He also received part of lot 47, the
original owners being Elias Philbrick and Samuel
Rand. Perkins married twice, first to Olive Garland the same year he got his
Epsom land in 1785, and after her death in 1803, married Hannah Furnald in July of 1805. He had a total of thirteen
children. Children with wife Olive Garland, all born Epsom: Mercy, born in
1786, married John Pettingill of Epsom, three sons,
and it appears the couple separated; Jonathan, born in 1787, married at Porter,
Maine, Hannah Dennett; Comfort, born in1789, married at Chichester
in 1815, Robert Sanders, son of Robert and Mary (Foss) Sanders, four known
children; Perkins, born in 1794, married Lucy Ham, daughter of John and Lucy (Libbey) Ham, resided at Epsom, four children; Simeon, born
1794, seen as Simon and probably removed to Illinois where he died in 1859 age
65 and had a family of 11 children with first wife Elizabeth Lawrence;
Hannah G., born in 1796, married Moses Osgood McCrillis,
son of William and Hannah (Brown) McCrillis at Epsom
in 1818, she died in 1836 and he remarried; Olive Garland, born in 179, married
Elijah Sanders, brother to Robert and resided at Chichester;
and Jemima (Minah), born in 1803, married in 1824,
Ebenezer Chase Fogg. Perkins first wife Olive died in
1803, and the children with his second wife, Hannah Furnald
were: Oliver, born 1806 and died unmarried in 1821; Joseph, born in 1807,
married Martha W. Ham, daughter of John and Olive (Towle)
Ham and resided in Epsom, he died in 1835 and his wife Martha married second
his brother, John H.F. Philbrick; Daniel, born 1809,
married first a Nancy unknown who died in 1830 having one child, Oliver, born
in 1829 and died in 1830, both buried in the Quaker Cemetery at Pittsfield, he
married second Elizabeth Y. Brown in 1834; Moses E., born 1811, married at
Lowell, Massachusetts, Huldah Butler, and died May
16, 1864 at the Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia, five children; and John
H. F., born 1816, married his brother Joseph’s widow Martha W. Ham, died the
same day as his brother Moses at the Battle of the Wilderness, and buried at
the Fredericksburg National Cemetery in Virginia, three children.
Perkins Philbrick was a veteran of the
American Revolution and died in 1838. He and his first wife and some of his
children are buried in a family cemetery nestled in the woods near the
homestead. His second wife Hannah died in 1855, but her burial is unknown or
unmarked. The family occupied the homestead after the death of Perkins, and a
public notice in 1844 mentions a purported last will and testament for Perkins
was presented to the court by son John. The disposition of the homestead is
unclear, but it ended up in the hands of Joseph, grandson of Perkins and son of
Joseph who predeceased his father by three years. Joseph was a minor, and
Jonathan L. Cilley was his guardian who sold the
homestead on his behalf to Samuel Brown of Pembroke in 1852. The deed was
subject to the widow’s right of dower and described as ‘all the farm and
buildings of the late Perkins Philbrick’ and excepting
some 16 acres previously sold to Francis Locke and David Philbrick.
This Samuel Brown is given as Samuel Brown Jr. on the 1858 county
map, and was born in 1804 and died in 1883. He is often confused by Samuel
Brown who lived at the top of
Samuel was the son of John Smith and Rachel (Philbrick)
Brown, she being the daughter of Daniel and Ruth (Merrill) Philbrick
of Epsom. John and Rachel both resided in Epsom with their family of Hiram,
born 1803, Samuel, Nicholas born 1809, Simon born 1815, and David born 1820.
Samuel married about 1835 Sally F. Cochran, daughter of Robert
Scott and Mary ‘Polly’ (Moses) and had children: Sarah M. born 1837 and married
in 1864, Benjamin Fowler, son of Symonds and Lucinda (Holt) Fowler of Epsom;
Robert Cochran, born 1839 and married in 1864, Ann Susan Babb, daughter of
Phillip and Susan (Morrill) Babb of North Road; Thomas M., born 1845, and died
unmarried in 1865; and Walter H., born 1850 and married at Boston, MA, Joseph
M. Warren.
Samuel likely left the homestead to his son Robert Cochran Brown
who is the occupant on the 1892 county map. Robert died in 1926, and in 1928,
his son Thomas M. Brown deeded as a legatee under the will of his father, 136
acres, ‘the homestead property of Robert C. Brown’ to his brother Simon W.
Brown. Simon, who remained single, sold the family homestead in 1949 to Ira and
Doris Clay.
Robert C. Brown married Ann Susan Babb in May of 1864 and had children:
Sybil Harriet, born 1865 and married in 1891, Edward M. Kelley and resided on
North Road; Simon Walter, born 1867, died unmarried in 1954; Thomas Marden, born Walter Thomas in 1869, died unmarried in 1939;
John Cotton, born in 1870, married at Pittsfield in 1895, May S. Knowlton, and
had one child, Robert Mason Brown in 1896; and Alfred Morrill, born 1873,
married at Gilmanton in 1895, Edna Marsh and had surviving children Susan E.,
1896, Mary Hannah, 1898, E. Myrtle 1900, Richard Isaac in 1902.
John & Philip Babb, Trueworthy
Kelley, Lot 53
Neil English bought the Babb homestead in 1973, is an historic
building preservationist and prepared this history of he home for the Epsom
Historical Association.
“…to have, to hold & peaceably to Enjoy…-part
of the 1735 deed, transferring
Babb-Kelley Homestead
The house stands on a part of what was the original Lot #53, in
the second range, laid out at the time of the town’s incorporation, and
granted, through the drawing of lots, to George Keniston
of
The house was probably built by John Babb soon after he bought the
land, although no positive documentation of this has been found. Forty-two
years later, he bequeathed it to his son, Philip, also specifying that his
unmarried daughter, Betsey, be allowed to use the “west bedroom” of the house
for as long as she wished or needed. When, in 1869, Philip sold the house and
land to Trueworthy Kelley, Betsey had to also sign a
deed relinquishing her rights to that one room. Betsey died at 74, unmarried,
and is buried in the Center Hill cemetery with her parents and a brother John.
Another brother, James, was a physician who practiced in Epsom for 15 years,
before moving to
The house is a typical center-chimney cape, with keeping room
running across the back and with the stairs leading up and alongside the
chimney from opposite the front door. It was originally half-a-cape, and as the
Babb family grew, it added, probably around 1820, a dining room, quite formal
with its wainscoting and Indian shutters, another – “the west” – bedroom,
raised 2 steps higher than the other rooms, either to accept the warmth rising
from beneath the adjacent room or to accommodate the high-ceiling dairy cellar
beneath, and a pantry, thus completing the full cape. On closer inspection, the
front door is slightly off-center, and beam construction in the attic differs
between the two times of building. Still later – 1845 or so – the family added
an upstairs bedroom, leaving the rest of the upstairs unfinished.
Probably the house’s most important features are the feather-edged
pine sheathing found in 3 rooms, the subtly elegant woodwork of the dining
room, and the fact that with the exception of the “modern” windows installed in
2 rooms in this century, and the new chimney with 3 fireplaces, the house is
virtually unchanged from the way it was at the time of its construction.
The Babb’s of Epsom descend from Philip Babb of the Isles of
Shoals. Philip Babb of
John and Anna Holmes married at Greenland in 1795 and had
children: William who died at age 2; Lydia Ann, born in 1796 married in 1823
David L. Lang and moved to Ohio; Doctor James, born 1800, resided and
practiced in Epsom, removing to Manchester with his wife Anna M., daughter of
Bickford and Abigai (Locke) Lang; John, born in 1802
and married at Chichester in 1826, Salome Rand,
daughter of Richard and Anna (Lake) Rand, resided on North Road; Elizabeth,
born in 1804 and died unmarried in 1878; and Philip, born in 1807, married in
1841, Susan Morrill of Northwood.
Philip and Susan inherited the homestead through the will of his
father’s will in 1831, with the provision his sister
has a privilege in the house. Their children included: Ann Susan, born in 1842
and married Robert C. Brown in 1864; Leon, born in 1846 and married Mary White
in 1874; Lucinda Holmes, born in 1849 and married Clarence E. Gerrish in 1875; and John Horace, born in 1851 and married
at Deerfield in 1874, Lizzie B. Brown.
The homestead was sold to Trueworthy
Kelley of Pembroke in 1869. Trueworthy Fowler Kelley
of Pembroke married Gulielma Chesley,
daughter of Jonathan Steele and Abigail (Hoyt) Chesley
at
Edward M. Kelley sold the property to his son Edward Roscoe Kelley
in 1934, where they raised their family: Dorothy Frances,
Daniel Philbrick Locke, lots
As
Ebenezer Foss was the son of Job and
Sarah Bickford (Lang) Foss and married a Mary Foss in 1789. He acquired land in
Epsom from Samuel Wallace in 1790, 8- acres of lot No. 3 in the first range,
and about ten years later, part of lot 32 in the same range, an additional 25
acres. He is seen living on the lot in the census of 1830, and by his son
William in 1840. William disposed of the property before 1850 when the occupant
is shown as Daniel P. Locke.
Daniel Philbrick
Locke was the son of Francis and Mary (Philbrick)
Locke and was born in Epsom in 1915. He married May 31, 1840 at Epsom Abigail
Fowler, also born 1815 and daughter of Winthrop and Abigail (
The 1892 county map shows Edward M.
Kelley as the occupant of the property, with his father Trueworthy
Kelly occupying the family home across the street on the west side of North
Road. Edward would inherit his father’s land after his death in 1915. The sale
of the property from Philbrick to Edward M. Kelley
gives the property as 100 acres, which he owned for quite some time before it
was sold to his son, George Peabody Kelley in 1940. George and his wife Edna
(Rowe) had a son John Henry, born in 1923. George died in 1964, and his widow, listed
as Esther E. as she was known, sold the homestead in 1972 to C. Spencer Stremlau, ‘the premises conveyed to Edward M. Kelley by
John S. Philbrick.’
John Babb Jr., Daniel Goss, Alvah L. Yeaton home
John and Anna Babb settled on lot 53 and there raised their
family. Once settled he began to purchase additional property. In 1807 he
purchased of Samuel Langmaid, parts of lots 28 &
29 in the first range, 20 acres. The next year he bought additional land in lot
28 from the same Samuel Langmaid, including the
buildings where he was currently residing. At the same time James H. McClary sold to John Babb, listed as cordwainer
and shoe maker, more of lot 28, one acre. Still more of lot 28 was purchased in
1811 from Reuben Sanborn, 9 additional acres. John Babb died in 1831, his wife
Anna in 1841, and they, with much of their family, are buried in the
John Babb was born at Epsom on May 20, 1802, and married at Chichester, February 2, 1826, Salome Rand, daughter of
Richard and Anna (
Warren Yeaton turned the property over
in a little over a year, in 1854 to Daniel Goss. Daniel was born in Allenstown,
his parents, Nathan and Dolly (Grant) Goss, who also resided in New Rye. Daniel
married in 1840, Charlotte McDaniel, a daughter of Robert and Nancy (Keniston) McDaniel, born about 1820. Their two children
were Henry S., born about 1843, a Civil War veteran; and Abby A., born in 1847
and married George S. Little. Charlotte Goss died in 1878, and Daniel married
second, Letitia Davis in 1879. The Goss family
remained in the home for 9 years before selling it back to Warren Yeaton in 1863. Again the house may have been rented or
vacant, as it was not sold until 1882 when
The
The Yeaton Tavern
John Godfrey of Northwood bought two tracts of land in lot 25 in
the first range. One parcel was one half of one acre, located on the south side
of the turnpike where it crossed
John Godfrey seems to have been established as an inn holder
having built his tavern on the half acre lot. He continued to buy land in lots 27, and 56, 57, 58 in the second range. He sells
most all this property in 1808 to Levi Mead and John Harvey, both of Northwood.
Mead and Harvey advertise the holdings of John Godfrey in the
NOTICE is hereby given that all the real estate, formerly owned and
occupied by John Godfrey, lying in Epsom, will be sold at Public Auction on
Monday the 4th day of April next, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, consisting
of about 50 acres of LAND, with the buildings thereof, viz. - A new and
convenient dwelling house, thirty by forty feet, one story high, well finished
with a good cellar under it; a new and convenient Barn, Shed, and a Coopers
Shop, situate on the first New Hampshire Turnpike Road, leading from Concord to
Portsmouth, and on the road leading from Gilmanton to Newburyport, which
renders it an excellent stand for a Tavern or Trader.
Sale to be on the premises, when the conditions will be made
known. – Further information may be had by applying to LEVI MEAD & JOHN
HARVEY of Northwood, - or JOHN GODFREY, living on the premises.
It is bought by Godfrey and immediately transferred the same day
to Ephraim Eastman of Deerfield, being ‘the same land where I now live,
containing ½ acre with all the buildings, the same purchased of John Ham being
in lot 25 in the first range, along with the tract bought of Jethro Pettingil. The deed also
included land from lots 28, 29 and 30 in the first range and land in lots 56,
57 & 58 in the second range. Eastman, who made the purchase in May of 1808,
sold the entire package to Levi Mead, July 21, 1809. Levi controlled the
property, likely renting the running of the tavern, selling the property to
William Yeaton the third of Epsom on September 24,
1813. Yeaton was probably already running the
business.
The tavern was in an ideal location, being where back around 1803
was part of the First New Hampshire Turnpike where it crossed
William was the son of William and Hannah (Towle)
Yeaton, who raised their family on
John Yeaton, born in 1781, had married
in 1802, Rebecca Bickford, daughter of Samuel and Abigail (Cook) Bickford, and
had four children by the time she died in 1811. John married second about 1811,
Betsey Towle, daughter of Simeon M. and Elizabeth (Marden) Towle, and they had a
family of three: Solomon M, born about 1812, married in 1836 Mary A. Hilliard
and resided on Black Hall Road; Sallie T., born about 1814, married at Epsom in
1841, Anthony Lane of Chichester where they resided;
and Warren, born about 1818, who married Catherine A. Yeaton,
daughter of his brother William and Elizabeth ‘Betty’
(Ham).
Deeds show that in 1836, a John Yeaton
Jr., Emeline Yeaton and
Catherine Yeaton, deed to John Yeaton
of Epsom, all their claim to land in Epsom, being a
part of the estate of William Yeaton Jr., late of
Epsom, deceased. Catherine married Warren Yeaton in
1841, and again by deed, John Yeaton, Elizabeth Yeaton and Emeline W. Yeaton, deed ‘land in said Epsom, bounded southerly by the
Turnpike Road, westerly by the Road leading from Epsom to Pittsfield, northerly
by the barn yard and easterly by the garden, on the easterly side of the stable
standing thereon together with all the right and interest in said stable which
we own’ to Warren Yeaton. John Yeaton
died in 1861, his wife Elizabeth (Ham) in 1867.
Warren and Catherine’s family included: Ellen A., born 1841,
married in 1860, Daniel C. Ayer, resided Epsom; William Henry, born 1842, died
unmarried in 1870; Caroline Annette, born 1843, married in 1863, Hiram A. Holmes,
resided Epsom; Thomas M., born 1846, died 1846; Charles A., born 1847, married
in 1870, Ann Drew; John Warren, born 1850, married in 1882, Rowena J. Adams; Alvah L., born 189, married 1886, Etta Bartlett.
Warren and Catherine lived to old age on the homestead,
Alvah and his wife had children:
Katie Angie, born 1886, married in 1920, Roy W. Lyford; Robert Alvah, born 1888, married in 1927, Blanche E. L. Merrill,
daughter of Herbert I. and Mary Stewart (McDonald) Merrill; William Henry, born
1889, married in 1915, Ethel G. Gray; Warren, born and died in 1891; Roscoe
Solomon, born about 1892, married in 1915, Mary Hargreaves; Mary Lucy, born
1893, married in 1921, Charles E. Bailey of Northwood; John Philip, born 1895,
married in 1923, Jessie Ada Keene; Thomas Rand, born
1896, married in 1923, Augusta Judith Merrill, sister to Blanch E. L. Merrill;
James Edwin, born 1897, married Irene Smith; Albert Frank, born 1898, married
Beatrice M. Wallace; Perley George, born 1900,
married Grace J. Magoon; Herbert Dudley born 1902,
married at Plymouth in 1928, Nellie B. Magoon, sister
of Grace. Etta Bartlett first married Walter L. Swain of Northwood. Alvah and Etta died in 1928, and the heirs, William H.,
James E., Perly G., Herbert D., Thomas R., Albert F.,
Robert A., Roscoe S., Mabel Bailey and Kaate Lyford,
deeded the family homestead to John P. Yeaton.
John Philip Yeaton and his wife Jessie
had children: Catherine, Warren Alvah who died youg, Phyllis Mary, Elizabeth Jane and Theresa. John P.
amassed a large quantity of land, and died in 1961 at which time his heirs (Phylis LaClair, Catherine
Belanger, Theresa Yeaton and Elizabeth Kelley) sold
the homestead in 1963 to Howard C. Saturley. It was
later sold to Philip S., Charles B. and Calvin B. Yeaton.
The property includes a Yeaton family cemetery.
George H. Yeaton wrote about the toll
gate and old tavern in 1963, as well as a short anecdote about Catherine Yeaton. Though it has some inaccuracies, it provides a nice
narrative about the Yeaton family.
THE
TOLL GATE AT YEATON’S FOUR CORNER’S
The North Road was laid out in the year 1761, from Deerfield to
what was at that time the town of Chichester (now
Pittsfield – note, the town of Pittsfield was originally part of the town of Chichester as Pittsfield was not incorporated until the
year 1782, 21 years after the North Road was laid out).
The North road from Thomas Babb’s [Thomas Babb lived at what was
in later years known as the Walter J. Philbrick
place] by way of Pettingill bridge [now known as the
Gulf Brook bridge] and Prescott Hill [the hill on the old turnpike a short
distance below Yeaton’s four corners, easterly. A
short distance beyond ‘Prescott Hill’ the road turned sharply to the left, now
known as the
The first official turnpike built in
In later years when the droves of cattle passed through Epsom on
their way to the pastures in
William Yeaton 3rd, the son of William Yeaton 2nd was born in the year 1783 and died July 3,
1830, age 47 years. As a young man he left his fathers home on the
The original house at the four corners is still standing,
it is on the north side of the turnpike at the corner of the
The large old colonial style house “Yeaton’s
Tavern” must have been built shortly after the turnpike passed through Epsom,
as it is of the style and construction of the early 1800’s. One of the Yeaton Tavern signs had the date 1813 on it, another 1814.
In the old Epsom town records we find that William Yeaton
3rd was given a license form time to time to keep Open Tavern in the town
of
The staunch old house with its wide paneled double doors between
two large rooms, where when they were opened, formed a spacious dance hall used
by the guests at the Old Tavern for a night of dancing, is still one of the old
land marks of Epsom, and if the old house could talk they would tell us much of
the history and the legends of those early days; the gay parties, the romances,
quarrels, business deals, political discussions and plans, together with the
births and deaths that took place within its walls. The narrative would fill a
large volume with interesting reading.
The old tavern with its other buildings and large farm was in the
William Yeaton family for more than one hundred and
fifty years. William Yeaton 3rd and his wife
Betsey, together with many of their descendants are
buried in the Yeaton family cemetery nearby on the
William Yeaton 3rd was the
great-great Uncle of the one who wrote this “brief sketch”. Written
by George H. Yeaton at
Catherine A. Yeaton, the daughter of
William Yeaton 3rd and his wife Elizabeth
(Betsey) Ham, was born January 2, 1820, and died May 26, 1900, age 80 years, 4
months 24 days. Catherine A. Yeaton married on
February 25, 1841, her cousin Warren Yeaton, the son
of John Yeaton and his wife Betsy Towle.
Warren Yeaton was born September 2, 1818
and died November 7, 1890, age 72 years, 1 month, 10 days.
Warren and Catherine lived at “Yeaton’s
Tavern” which was and still is one of the old landmarks of Epsom and the old
House-Block at the corner of the house is still there. Anyone familiar with the
old tavern could show you where the wine cellar is located and which room was
the “tap” or “bar-room”.
A visit to the old cider mill just across the road, where in the
days long gone the horses walking in a large circle, turned the huge wooden screw
that ground the apples into pulp ready for the cider press.
THE
LOCKE ON THE HEN HOUSE DOOR AT “YEATON’S TAVERN”
In later years a man who lived near Yeaton’s
Corner and had several young men at his home, who would not hesitate to steal a
few hens, came to Mrs. Yeaton’s one day and said
“Catherine, I want you to put a lock on your hen house door for I overheard the
boys talking about stealing your hens come night”.
Mrs. Yeaton’s reply was as she looked
her neighbor straight in the eye, “I shall not put a lock on my hen house door
and if my hens are stolen you J_____” calling him by his given name “will pay
me for them”.
Mrs. Yeaton did not lock her hen house,
neither were her hens stolen.
|
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Asa Prescott |
Stephen Johnson and the Prescotts
The land around Lords Mill was part of lots 24 and 25. As late as 1781 Thomas Berry Jr. sold
110 acres on the northwesterly end of the lots to Thomas Berry, who sold it to
Samuel Osgood of Epsom in 1789. Forty acres on the easterly end of lot 25 was
sold for taxes to Samuel Osgood two years prior. Osgood arrived in Epsom
in 1777 buying the McGaffey farm on the
Epsom-Deerfield line above
The only information on the family of Stephen Johnson comes from
some of the vital records of his children. He was born about 1785 in
Stephen Johnson and his family left Epsom in 1826 when he sold his
homestead to Thomas D. Merrill, excepting about 14 acres which he previously
sold to Eben Coe and two acres sold to Nancy
McDaniel. Thomas D. Merrill turned the property over within a few months with Asa Prescott of Epping being the new owner.
Asa Prescott was born in
Ellery C. Kelley was born in Pembroke and married Frances V. Tuvts in 1866. Ellery died in 1878 and his wife married as
her second husband, George Bodwell. George and
Fannie, as Francis was seen in most records, sold the home in 1884 to Benjamin
an F. of Deerfield, who sold the home to Jeremiah Witham of Northwood in 1888
and bought the former Enoch Brown homestead on
William H. Dickey
Stephen Johnson bought his Epsom land in 1811, and in 1815 sold to
William H. Dickey 30 acres and one twenty fourth part of McClary’s
mill, part of lot 24. Additionally, Isaac Osgood deeded him 30 acres and a
similar share in the mill, part of lots 24 and 25. Two years later in 1817,
Moses Osgood deeds him one half acre ‘beginning on the old road that crosses
the turnpike leading to Northwood’ excepting the buildings which were in the
possession of John Tarlton.
Thomas D. Merrill was appointed guardian of William Dickey, a
minor, in 1819 (Rockingham County Probate file #8048) in which it was stated he
was ‘reputed son of Hanover Dickey of said Epsom.’ This may have been a bit
scandalous as Hanover Dickey was well respected and a selectman from 1819 to
1825. Hanover married Lydia Osgood in 1799, William Dickey, who later is seen
as William H. (perhaps H for Hanover?) died in June of 1820 age 26, putting his
year of birth as about 1794, before the marriage of Hanover to Lydia. William
H. Dickey married in
William’s widow Betsey married as her second husband, Jesse Emerson,
son of Mark and Molly (Hutchings) Emerson of Epsom, at
Thomas D. Merrill, who was appointed the guardian of William H.
Dickey, was also the administrator of his estate, and sold in 1821, part of the
estate to William Yeaton Jr., inn holder, part to
James Babb, and the small half acre with the house to Simon A. Heath. James
Babb purchased the small lot from Simon A. Heath in 1823, and Babb sold the
same to inn holder William Yeaton the following year.
Also in 1823, Jesse and Elizabeth Emerson sell 30 acres to Thomas
D. Merrill, land in Epsom
bounded northerly on the turnpike road leading from
McDaniel, Hoyt and John Grant
A descendant of Robert McDaniel wrote a short typescript paper on
the family of which one page survives which gives the only known overview,
enough to make a pretty complete view of this little known and researched
family. It starts with a previously unknown son, Robert.
Robert had brothers, John,
Sam and Thomas Curtis McDaniel. Find your grand-uncle Curtis is one of these
with the McDaniel dropped.
Daughters of Robert McDaniel and Nancy Kenison
or Keniston: Mary Maria married John Griffin - whence
the writer.
Lucretia McDaniel married John Yeaton, whence Ben Yeaton;
Charlotte McDaniel married David [Daniel] Goss, when Gossville
and Henry Goss no children and Allie [Abbie] Goss
married __ Little - one son.
Ann McDaniel married Stephen Avery of Barnstead, whence fifteen
children, seven sons in the War of Rebellion, and one daughter Susan McDaniel
married William Willy and was the first woman lecturer about here.
John Griffin, husband of Mary Maria McDaniel, in the latter part
of his life lived on the back road leading from the old turnpike from Epsom to
Robert McDaniel was a father to Mary Maria who married John
Griffin, my grandfather; and Robert McDaniel, my great-grandfather on
grandmother Griffins side of the house, was also a soldier in the War of the
Revolution, and a long line there of Scotch Ancestry.
The earliest mention of the family is the marriage in Epsom of
Robert McDaniel of Pembroke to Nancy Keniston of
Epsom on February 7, 1799. In 1801 they received a warning out of town, but are
shown in the census of 1810 living near the Pettingill’s
off
Robert and Nancy sold their home to
The Robert McDaniel family included: John, born 1800, married at
Pittsfield in 1820, Sally (Sarah) Langley, daughter of Joseph and Hannah
Langley, resided in Durham where she died in 1856, and probably
remarried; Lucretia G., born in 1801, married
at Epsom in 1820, John Yeaton, son of William and
Sally (Pettingill) Yeaton,
resided near Rout 107 in Epsom; Mary Maria, born January 14, 1802, married John
Griffin, son of John and Martha (Rand) Griffin of Northwood, who resided late
in life next to the McDaniel house; Susan W. married at Epsom in 1824, a
William Willey, nothing more known: Ann C., married at Epsom, Stephen Avery,
and mother of some 13 children; Samuel, married at Epsom in 1828, Eliza French,
and died in Epsom, May of 1846; Robert C., born 1815, married a Mary Young and
resided at Wakefield, New Hampshire; Jonathan Curtis, born about 1818,
married 1844 a Harriet Elizabeth York, who in 1853 changed the family name to
Curtis, he becoming Thomas Curtis and owned land in the Mountain District,
apparently left Epsom with the family; Charlotte, married in 1840 at Bow,
Daniel Goss, son of Nathan and Dolly (Grant) Goss and died in Epsom in
1878; Abigail born about 1822, married William H. Webb at Epsom in
1847; and Nancy A. who married Freeman (also seen Truman) Stockman in
1844 at Epsom, and died in 1887.
Joseph Hoyt married Almira G. Dresser,
and with a family of 5, bought the former McDaniel house from Charles and Mary
Emerson in 1859. The house was sold in 1876 to an Addie L. Hoitt of
The home next door to the McDaniels,
occupied by their daughter Mary Maria and husband John Griffin, does not appear
by 1892.
John McDaniel and John F. Sullivan
The 1840 US Census finds John McDaniel with a family of two sons
and three daughters living near his parents, Robert and Nancy. A school roster
for
The family moved to
Deeds show that in 1887, Olive J. Edmunds of Northwood, with
Martha O. and her husband John F. Sullivan of Epsom, sell the lot to Martha’s
brother William A.; and a similar deed of 1891 Olive J., then widow of William
H., and son William A. and his wife, sell the land to sister Martha O.
Sullivan. The 1892 map shows two houses next to each other on this lot,
occupied by John Sullivan. The lot is on the old First NH Turnpike on the
border with Northwood. The property, still 22 acres is sold by William A.
Edmunds to Albion Bartlett of Lynn, MA in 1920.
Daniel P. Locke
The 1858 map shows a second residence owned by Daniel P. Locke
(the other is on North Road) on land he bought from Philip Babb in 1853, part of lot 24 in the first range
bounded on the south by land of Samuel Lord, on the west by the old road
leading to Northwood on the north of land of Warren Yeaton,
and on the east by Northwood and Deerfield line, containing 20 acres. Locke owned the property for over
thirty years, selling in 1886 the 20 acres to John M. Parker of Goffstown.
Sometime before 1904 John M. Parker died, and his widow Letitia,
with children, sold the property to Charles S. Hall of Epsom. None of the deeds
specify any structures, and the house is gone by the county map of 1892. The
disposition of the property by Charles S. Hall is unknown.
McClary’s and Lord’s Mill
Andrew McClary is seen in deeds as early
as 1728 as a millwright, prior to his moving to
Once Samuel Lord had the McClary mill
shares, he began to buy up the rest of the shares,
primarily through an agent he hired named Lowell Sanborn. Among the names of
those selling their shares were the shares of Jesse Emerson owned by Thomas D.
Merrill; Perkins Philbrick; William Yeaton Jr., Eben Coe; and
David Osgood through Thomas D. Merrill. The mill rights passed from Samuel to
his son Henry Augustus (who went by Augustus Lord), with some of Samuel’s heirs
deeding portions in 1860. Both Samuel and Augustus hailed from
William Yeaton to George D. Yeaton
William Yeaton, born about 177, probably at
William Yeaton married at Epsom on March 14, 1799, Sally Pettingill, daughter of Ephraim and Huldah
(Batchelder) of Epsom. The Pettingills
arrived in Epsom before the Revolution, and after William married Sally,
probably lived for a time in the Pettingill household.
Ephraim Pettingill deeded 49 acres of lot 26 to his
son-in-law in 1800, which excluded an acre he had sold to his son Jethro and where his house stood. At about the same time
William bought land in Epsom being part of lot 22 in the first range ‘beginning
at the southwesterly corner of Pettingill’s Bridge
which crosses Little Suncook, then to run northwesterly on said river, then
south easterly to the road that leads from the main road to the saw
mill.’ Five years later James H. McClary sell
William part of lot 21, all the land on the southerly side of a road of 62
acres, and on the same day, William sells the land to Ephraim and Huldah Pettingill for their use
during their natural lives. In 1811 he buys 5 acres of Michael McClary in lot 22, probably part of the mill lot. The large
lot of 62 acres appears to be back in the hands of William Yeaton
after the death of Ephraim Pettingill, and his land
in lots 21 and 22 comprised his homestead farm.
William Yeaton died in 1816, leaving a family of mostly minor
children, and unmarried daughters. His will of 1816 names his wife Sally, her
sister Hannah, daughters Hannah, Sarah, Lucretia, and
Susanna. The only son, John, received the bulk of the estate. Of the daughters
names, nothing is known of Sarah or Susanna, as for the others, Hannah, born in
1800, married Samuel Prescott at Epsom in 1819; Lucretia
married a William Porter and resided in Massachusetts; and John, who inherited
the homestead, married at Epsom in 1820, Lucretia G.
McDaniel, daughter of Robert and Nancy (Keniston)
McDaniel who lived nearby.
The 1858
map shows across the river, near the mill, a William Yeaton
and a shoe shop across the river. This may be part of the property mortgaged by
William Yeaton in 1852, being then a carpenter shop
on land owned by Samuel Lord, occupied by William Yeaton,
finished outside.
John and
his wife had a large family: Malinda, born in 1821, married at Northwood in
1843, Jedediah Weeks; William, born in 1822, married
at Deerfield in 1846, Mary Jane Stearns, daughter of John and Margaret McClary (Wallace) Stearns of Deerfield; Sarah Elizabeth,
born in 1823, married at Epsom in 1847, James Sanborn, son of Deacon James and
Abigail (Pearson) Sanborn of Epsom, and she married two additional times; John
Gardner, born I 1825, married at Dedham, MA Martha C. Corbett; Mary Green, born
in 1827, married at Dedham, MA, Charles Arthur Coburn; Charles H., born in
1829, married at Dedham, MA, Julia Fletcher; George P., born in 1831, died at
New York City in 1853, unmarried; Alvah Tobey, born
in 1834, married at Deerfield in 1854, Martha A. Furnald;
Myra L, born in 1835, married at Strafford in 1853, Henry W. Sherburne of
Northwood; Lucy Ann, born 1938, married at Epsom in 1859, Samuel T. Dow; and
Benjamin B., born about 1839, married at Pittsfield in 1859, Mary Elizabeth
James of Pittsfield.
John Yeaton deeded to his youngest son Benjamin in 1845, all the land I own on the southerly
side of the
Benjamin
B. Yeaton died in 1886, and his widow Mary E., of
Benson Ham Farm
When
Epsom laid out its original lots, they did not start right at the border of the
line between
Benson
Ham in his will mentions his wife Martha, daughter Agnes Stevens, Peggy
Marston, Jane Ham, Martha Ham, Elizabeth Ham, children of his son George W.,
William and Peggy, and finally son John. Benson Ham married at Epsom in 1759,
Martha Wallace, daughter of George and Margaret (McClary)
Wallace. He died in 1802, his wife Martha in August of 1833, with the couple
having the following children, whose births are in the old Epsom town records:
Agnes, born 1760, married a Mr. Stevens, and of whom nothing more is known;
John, known as Captain John, born 1763, married at Epsom in 1787, Lucy Libbey, daughter of Isaac and Margaret (Kalderwood)
Libbey; George Wallace, born 1765, married at
Epsom in 1790, Margaret Dickey, daughter of David and Rachel (Hanover) Dickey,
and died in 1797, his widow married second, Joseph Cochran of Pembroke;
William, born 1767, died 1770; Margaret (Peggy), born 1769, married in 1796,
Simon Marston; Anna, born 1771, died in 1789; Jane, born 1774, died unmarried
in 1818; Martha, born 1776 and married at Epsom in 1816, Joseph Lawrence; and
Elizabeth, born 1784, known as Aunt Betty, who died unmarried in 1878.
John and
his wife Lucy decided not to keep the farm and sold the homestead, including 32
acres in Epsom and an adjoining 50 acres in Deerfield, as well as all the first
range lots, to Bradbury Cilley of
Samuel Plumer Cilley, born in Nottingham
in 1795, and married at Epsom in 1827, Hannah W. Critchett,
daughter of Thomas and Margaret (Wallace) Critchett.
They had three children: Joseph R., born 1831, died unmarried in 1865; Daniel Thomas, born in 1834 and married at Chichester in 1859, Lydia Ann Babb, daughter of John and
Salome (Rand) Babb; and Hannah Plumer, born 1837 and
married first at Chichester in 1858 Elbridge Lyman
Swain who died in the Civil War, and she married second, in 1871, Charles
Augustus Steele. Samuel P. and his wife Hannah likely lived on the farm until
they sold the 150 acres to Joseph Veasey of
John B.
Demers was born in
John B.
Demers died in 1926 and his widow Rose sold the old Benson Ham farm to Herbert
D. Yeaton in 1931.