Lee Historical Society

In 1861 President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 men to help put down the rebellion.  With the promise of a quick end, many New Hampshire men signed up for a 3-month enlistment.  New Hampshire was one of the first states to form a regiment and immediately formed another with the overflow of recruits.  Many were from Lee.

As we’ve learned over the years, soldiers come home from wars and try to forget what they experienced and the horrors they saw.  But one of Lee’s soldiers wrote home during his time away.  His family saved the letters and donated them to the Lee Historical Society.

Albert Knight was born in Lee on February 4, 1829 to Tamson and Joseph Knight. By 1862, age 33, he lived in the Wadleigh Falls area of Lee with his wife Abigail and 12-year-old daughter, Sarah.  He farmed and apparently had many friends of whom he wrote and expected them to watch over his farm and family while he was gone.   He enlisted in the 11^th NH Regiment in 1862 and was in Virginia by September of that year.  His first letter was about home.

“Tell Sarah to be a good girl and mind her mother….Tell Mother that I often think of her….I saw Ben Stevens last Friday and he is well and sends his love to you all and I saw Alven Legit, he is not well….Tell Charley Coock that he can kill rabbits while I am hunting up the ‘Rabbles’….Tell Lawrence Sanborn that I am coming back to help to finish up haying next July.”

October 23^rd, 1862 found him healthy and with good news.

“Our troops took at HarperFerry 40 men and 80 horses and last night in Maryland our Cavalry took 75 more men. There is no news out here but what you get in papers and you get it before we do….We have a meeting out here every Sunday and prayer meeting evenings and we march to them in companies to hear the minister preach.”

By December, 1862, he was a war-weary veteran.

“December 22, 1862

Dear wife, we have had a great battle out here and our regiment got cut up very bad….We lost a great many…somewhere between 12 and 13 thousand of men….We did not lick the rebels this time nor we never can….They say we could not lick them if we had a million men….I hope that we shall never have to witness such a sight again….Dear wife this war can never be settled by fighting.”

The following begins in a letter from January 11, 1863.  Albert is in Falmouth, VA.

“Dear wife, I now seat myself down to write you a few lines…I have a very bad cold but I hope that I shall get rid of it before long. … I am cooking for the company when I can get anything to cook.  Sometimes I am lugging water….The boys out here think it is a pretty hard place for them and so do I for we do not know when your work is done and when we are layed down at night we do not know but we shall have to be call up for a march or something else….Dear wife I hope that I shall live to see those kind friends that I left behind.  Tell all my old friends not to make fools of themselves as I have by enlisting tell them to stay home…Tell Charles Tuttle to get me a pair of boots to me, tell John Knight to put on a good pair of half soles and tell him to be sure to cut all the oegs out so they don’t hurt my feet.”

On March 5^th, 1863 Albert writes from Newport News, VA.

“My health is not very good.  I have a very bad cold….It is a very sickly place….We have lost 4 men since we’ve been here….Measles is in the regiment.”

Sunday April 12, 1863 Albert sends a letter from Kentucky County, Mount Sterling.

“We rode most of the way by railroad only we rode one day and a night in a steamer we was one week a riding day and night….  I want you to write and let me know whether you got it or not. (his last letter). I wrote for you to send me 15 dollars. If I had got it I could come home, but as I had no money I could not….You spoke about selling the cow.  I think that you had better keep her and hire a pasture and turn her out this summer….I do not know no news to write, we can not get no papers out here.   I want you to write all the news and tell me how the men feel about the draft.”

By August Albert had still not received the 15 dollars and was afraid he would miss his furlough if he didn’t receive it.  He was still in Kentucky in bad health.

August 9, 1864 Near Petersburg.

“As for me I am not very well but I am alive yet.  I go to the doctor every day but I don’t know as he does much good. But I am in hopes to be better soon…. We have had some hard fighting for the last three months and I think we shall have more of it yet.  But I hope that this cruel war will soon be to an end.  But I don’t much expect it will at present.  We had a hard fight the 30^th of July and did not gain anything by it after all.  I thank God I got out of it alive.  We had one taken prisoner from our company and two wounded.  Sargeant George Caswell of Newmarket was wounded in his left arm and his leg.  He has had his arm taken off since and is doing well.  Thomas Webb was wounded in the left arm not so bad.  We have only 17 men in our company now. That is rather small.  We expect to get paid soon…. Two years of our time is most gone and they owe me most one year’s pay.  I am sorry that they stopped.”

August 25, 1864 Near Petersburg.

I am in the hospital at present but I shall be able to go to the regiment in a few days.  I have been paid for ten months and there is 80 dollars in Concord for you…. I been sick and got run down with diarrhea but I feel nicely now.

September 15, 1864 City Point

I am still sick in the hospital with the rheumatism, don’t seem to get much better.

December 13^th, 1864 Lincoln General Hospital, Washington D.C..

I take this favorable opportunity of writing these few lines to you to let you know that I arrived safe at the hospital and I am in good health at present and I hope these few lines will find you and Sarah ? in the enjoyment of the same.  I present the doctor with the apple sauce and he felt quite satisfied with it.  I was regularly detailed the morning after I arrived here as a day nurse in one of the tents and I can not tell when I shall leave here now.  Give my love and best respects to all enquiring friends.

That is the last letter we have in our collection.  We know that Albert came home to his family in Lee after the war and bought land on Wadleigh Falls Road for $30.  He received a full pension in 1879 due to his “disability resulting from Malarial Poisoning”.  His regiment lost 297 men from battle or disease.  He died at 56 due to consumption.  He is buried with Abigail in Lee Hill Cemetery, his stone carrying the epitaph, “let him rest for his sleep is sweet, no more on the field of battle, shall he march to the drum’s low beat.

From 1862-1901, George Plumer travelled the roads and villages of the surrounding areas of Lee, Durham, Marbury, Exeter, Newmarket, Portsmouth, Rochester and all around, with his pedlar’s wagon. He was a trader, auctioneer, peddler, funeral director, and poet. He was a very literate man and writes of attending ‘Lyceums’ and lectures on Anti-Slavery and other topics after his days work.

George Washington Plumer (1828-1901) was an active player in the economy and the politics of Lee during this era. He ran a general store in South Lee on Demeritt Avenue next to the current intersection of Route 125 and Route 152, and lived in the 1877 Federal-style house just up the hill from there. Beginning before the era of the railroad, he ran a peddling business from this location, and covered routes in Northwood, Nottingham, Newmarket, Exeter, Rye, Long Sands, and other seacoast communities. His peddler’s wagon is now preserved at the Carriage Museum of Skyline Farm in North Yarmouth, Maine. As Mr. Plumer went about his business, which sometimes kept him on the road for six days a week, he kept diaries that included information on where he dined and stayed each evening, as well as weather observations and information regarding his business. Copies of these diaries are on file with the Lee Historical Society and make for many hours of interesting reading.

When the railroad became operational in 1874, Mr. Plumer’s general store became a central attraction in the area. He often used the railroad to travel to Boston to purchase goods and return them to his store. He also ran a shuttle to get local residents to and from the station when they needed that convenience. His store was an oasis for stagecoach riders making their way between the seacoast towns and Concord and other interior locations. In later years, George’s son, William Plumer, joined his father as storekeeper and he continued to run the business after his father’s death. The store sat vacant for many years, except for a short time when Stanley Plumer, George’s grandson, ran a restaurant here. In 2011 the building was restored by Lee resident Fred Schultz and it now serves as a professional office for his business.

Both Mr. Plumer’s house and store are still around today and can be seen on Demeritt Avenue next to the intersection of Routes 125 and 152.

The photo on the left shows Mr. Plumer’s wagon. The photo on the right was taken in the late 19th century. The people in the photo from left to right seated are: C. Huntress, George Washington Plumer, Tim Davis, and G.K. Huckins. The person in the doorway is George’s son, William. Contributed by Scott Bugbee

Oliver Cromwell Gilbert was born in 1832 to Joseph Kelly and Synthia Snowden but not in Lee, NH but much further south, in Howard County, Maryland into slavery, and escaped via the Underground Railroad. He was helped by Abolitionist Quaker Amos Gilbert in Bart Township, Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania, and took his last name. His travels on the Underground Railroad would take him to the Cartland residence in Lee and he would stay there two years. He lived out his life in Philadelphia working as a musician, music teacher and public speaker but returned to Lee to visit the Cartlands.

Mr. Gilbert died on July 11, 1912 at the age of 80 and is buried in Merion Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Oliver’s life is described in the book, “Oliver Cromwell Gilbert – A Life” by Jody Fernald and Stephanie Gilbert. It is available at the Lee Library or can be purchased at the Lee Historical Society or Lee Town Hall.

Below is a likeness of Mr. Gilbert and a clipping of a newspaper article reporting on his speech at the Baltic Methodist Episcopal church in March 1911. Submitted by Scott Bugbee

Henry Tufts was born in Newmarket, N.H., in 1748, son of a tailor and his wife. His criminal career began at the age of 14 with the theft of apples, pears and other “fruits of the earth” and then graduating to stealing “a paper money bill” of a neighbor. He soon went on to stealing horses (which he disguised by coloring them) including the theft and subsequent selling of his own father’s horse. He stole from houses, barns, and stores – everything from silver spoons to livestock and clothes.  His 21st year proved a turning point: He stole his first horse and met his first wife – Lydia Bickford, whom he married when he reached age 22.

Lydia would have nine children with Henry before they split up. The couple moved to the small town of Lee, N.H., and Tufts soon got into trouble for robbing a store. Though he tried to burn the jail in an escape attempt, the prosecutor offered him a deal. If he would serve three months on a ship and pay his wages as a fine, he would avoid further punishment.
Tufts eagerly agreed, but then detoured on the way to the ship to head to western New Hampshire instead. There he worked as a driver at Fort Number 4 in Charlestown, NH. From there he went to Claremont, N.H., and worked clearing land for Enoch Judd.

UNCOUTH WELCOME
Enoch Judd had two unmarried daughters and Henry, naturally enough, married one. The marriage didn’t last long; as news soon reached Enoch that his son-in-law already had a wife. Tufts wrote: “Such being the state of things, I thought it wise to decamp seasonably, so I left Claremont that very evening.”

Returning to Lee, he discovered that news of his second marriage had unfortunately reached Lydia, his first wife. She consequently gave him an “uncouth welcome.”
Tufts robbed another store, for which he received 20 lashes and was clapped in irons. But he had hidden some tools in his clothes and escaped. Tufts made it a point to accumulate an assortment of lock-picks, saws and small tools that he always hid in his clothes. He credits that practice for his many jail breaks over the course of his career.

He had a book was written of his adventures and published in 1807. The title was A Narrative of the Life, Adventures, Travels and Sufferings of Henry Tufts,  This was the first book printed about a criminal and the local citizens were incensed by it. The man who printed the book, Samuel Bragg, had his print shop burned to the ground by angry Dover residents. Mr. Tufts died in Limington, Maine on January 31, 1831 at the age of 83.

The photos on the right are from the 1930 edition of the book showing the cover page of the original edition from 1807, three graphics Henry in jail, Henry drinking, Henry at the gallows, and lastly a copy of the death warrant issued by Samuel Adams.

UNCOUTH WELCOME
Enoch Judd had two unmarried daughters and Henry, naturally enough, married one. The marriage didn’t last long; as news soon reached Enoch that his son-in-law already had a wife. Tufts wrote: “Such being the state of things, I thought it wise to decamp seasonably, so I left Claremont that very evening.”

Returning to Lee, he discovered that news of his second marriage had unfortunately reached Lydia, his first wife. She consequently gave him an “uncouth welcome.”
Tufts robbed another store, for which he received 20 lashes and was clapped in irons. But he had hidden some tools in his clothes and escaped. Tufts made it a point to accumulate an assortment of lock-picks, saws and small tools that he always hid in his clothes. He credits that practice for his many jail breaks over the course of his career.

He had a book was written of his adventures and published in 1807. The title was A Narrative of the Life, Adventures, Travels and Sufferings of Henry Tufts,  This was the first book printed about a criminal and the local citizens were incensed by it. The man who printed the book, Samuel Bragg, had his print shop burned to the ground by angry Dover residents. Mr. Tufts died in Limington, Maine on January 31, 1831 at the age of 83.

The photos below are from the 1930 edition of the book showing the cover page of the original edition from 1807, three graphics Henry in jail, Henry drinking, Henry at the gallows, and lastly a copy of the death warrant issued by Samuel Adams. Contributed by Scott Bugbee.

He was an American soldier and inventor of military ordnance. Born in Lee, New Hampshire, he was the son of John Fabyan Parrott, a United States Senator. He graduated with honors from the United States Military Academy, third of the Class of 1824. Parrott was assigned to the 3rd U.S. Artillery as a second lieutenant. He remained at West Point as an instructor until 1829, then had garrison duty and served as a staff officer in operations against the Creek Indians early in 1836 before moving to Washington, D.C., in July as Captain of Ordnance. He resigned from the army four months later to become the superintendent the West Point Iron and Cannon Foundry in Cold Spring, New York, with which he would be associated for the remainder of his life. In 1839, he married Mary Kemble, sister of Gouverneur Kemble, founder of the ironworks.   While employed at West Point, he and his brother Peter Parrott also assumed management of the operation of the Kemble-owned furnaces in Orange County, New York. The brothers purchased a ⅓ interest in Greenwood Furnace from a minority holder in 1837, and bought it entirely from the Kembles in 1839.

In 1860, he produced the Parrott rifle, which used a rifled barrel to improve the accuracy and distance of artillery and naval gunfire, and was manufactured in several sizes. The largest weighed 26,000 lb. (11,800 kg) and fired a projectile that weighed 300 lb.(140 kg). Parrott guns were extensively employed during the American Civil War by both the Union and Confederate armies.

In 1867, Parrott ended his superintendency of the West Point Foundry to concentrate on the ironworks in Orange County. However, he continued to experiment with artillery shells and fuses at West Point until his death on December 24, 1877 at Cold Spring, New York at the age of 73.

The photos below are of Robert Parker Parrott, one of the Parrott guns, and a Parrott gun shell. Submitted by Scott Bugbee.

‘At peace with God – I trust with all mankind.

Jehovah never made but one Van Dame

For teaching school, an honest fame.’

This is an excerpt from an epitaph on the tombstone of Bartholomew Van Dame, a prominent Lee educator, preacher, philosopher, and person of great intellect, including learning five foreign languages. Van Dame wrote his epitaph and planned his funeral, which took place at the Union Meetinghouse in Lee in 1872.

He wrote: ‘Beneath this turf reposes one who was a stranger in a strange land; but who was surrounded by friends who were cherished in his affections as with a deathless remembrance.’

Van Dame, the stranger in a strange land, was born in Holland June 21, 1807, but he said his spiritual birth was in Lee, New Hampshire. He was orphaned at a very young age, then illiterate, and eventually indentured but went on to rise well above his sad and difficult past to achieve true greatness. He was a small man with a withered right hand and arm due to an accident in early youth. This did not prevent him from becoming a prolific writer with his left hand right up until the time of his death in 1872.

You can learn more about Bartholomew Van Dame in Phyllis Shenefiel White’s wonderful book: “Students Should Not Miss a Day, The Proud History of Education in Lee, New Hampshire.” You can purchase a copy at the Lee Historical Society museum shop, on Mast Road next to the Lee Library. The newly expanded museum is open from 9 to 12 each Saturday until the end of October.

Submitted by Robert Cabral