History of Hopkinton, (Merrimack County) New Hampshire United States of America

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Biographies:

George Hamilton Perkins, naval officer, was born in Hopkinton, N.H., Oct. 20, 1836; son of Judge Hamilton Eliot and Clara Bartlett (George) Perkins, and grandson of Roger Eliot Perkins, and of John and Ruth (Bradley) George of Concord, N.H. His father, a graduate of Norwich university, was judge of probate for Merrimack county, 1855-74. George Hamilton Perkins was graduated at the U.S. Naval academy in 1856, was appointed acting master, Aug. 18, 1858, and served on the Sabine at Montevideo, and on the Sumter on a cruise on the west coast of Africa, 1859-61. He was promoted master, Sept. 5, 1859, and lieutenant, Feb. 2, 1861; was ordered to the Cayuga, fitting out in New York navy yard and commanded by Napoleon B. Harrison . December, 1861, and was second in command of that vessel. Upon reaching Ship Island, March 31, 1862, the Cayuga was made flagship, and with Lieut. Perkins as pilot led the first division of gunboats in the passage of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, April 24, 1862. The Cayuga received the first fire, passed under the walls of Fort St. Philip, sank the Confederate steamer Governor Moore and the ram Manassas, and on the morning of April 25, 1862, led the fleet up the river and captured New Orleans, receiving the surrender of the city with Capt. Theodorus Bailey, the two officers walking alone and unguarded from the wharf to the city hall. He was executive officer of the Cayuga, October, 1862-June, 1863, and was promoted lieutenant-commander, Dec. 31, 1862. He commanded the gunboat New London on the Mississippi, June-July, 1863, and ran the batteries at Port Hudson five times; commanded the New London, which in company with the Cayuga blockaded Sabine Pass from Jan. 22, 1863, and the Scioto on blockade duty off the coast of Texas, July, 1863-April, 1864, when he was ordered north, but volunteered to assume command of the monitor Chickasaw, in the battle of Mobile Bay. When within fifty feet of the stern of the Tennessee he planted 52 11-inch shot on the most vulnerable part of the armored Confederate ram which effected her capture, and he was largely instrumental in the reduction of Forts Powell, Gaines and Morgan. He served as superintendent of iron-clads at New Orleans, 1865-66; as executive officer of the Lackawanna in the Pacific, 1866-69, and in the ordnance department at the U.S. navy yard at Boston, Mass., 1869-71. He was promoted commander, Jan. 19, 1871, and on March 3 was assigned to the command of the U.S. store-ship Relief, to convey contributions to the French, Jan. 29, 1876; He was on duty in Boston as ordnance officer and as lighthouse inspector. He commanded the U.S.S. Ashuelot of the Asiatic squadron, 1879-81; commanded the torpedo station at Newport, R.I., in 1882, and was promoted captain, March 10, 1882. He commanded the Hartford of the Pacific station, 1885-86; was placed on the retired list, Oct. 1, 1891, and was promoted commodore on the retired list, May 9, 1896, for his distinguished services during the rebellion. He was married in 1870 to Anna Minot Weld of Boston, Mass. See "Letters of George Hamilton Perkins, U.S.N.," edited and arranged by his sister and including a sketch of his life. His mother died in Concord in March, 1902. His statue of heroic size executed by Daniel C. French, on the Capitol grounds, Concord, N.H., the gift to the state by his daughter, Mrs. Larz Anderson, was unveiled April 25, 1902, being presented to the state in behalf of the donor by Rear-Admiral George E. Belknap, U.S.N. He died in Boston, Mass., Oct. 28, 1899.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Carlton Chase, 1st bishop of New Hampshire, and 42nd in succession in the American episcopate, was born in Hopkinton, N. H., Feb. 20, 1794. He was graduated at Dartmouth college in 1817, ordained a deacon at Bristol, R.I., Dec. 19, 1818, and advanced to the priesthood at Newport, R.I., Sept. 27, 1820. His ministry was spent at Immanuel church, Bellows Falls, Vt., 1820-44. In 1839 he received the degree of D.D. from the University of Vermont. He was consecrated bishop of New Hampshire at Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 20, 1844, and removing to Claremont, N. H., assumed the cure of Trinity church in that place, which he held for several years. The standing committee of the diocese of New York, after the suspension of Bishop Onderdonk and before the election of Bishop Wainwright, invited Bishop Chase to perform the episcopal duties in that state, which he did with great satisfaction to the diocese, making three visitations, 1850-51 and '52. He published sermons and addresses. He died at Claremont, N. H., Jan. 18, 1870.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Mary Clement Leavitt, temperance missionary, was born in Hopkinton, N.H., Sept. 22, 1830; daughter of the Rev. Joshua and Eliza (Harvey) Clement, and a descendant of that Robert Clement, of Warwickshire, England, who was one of the founders of Haverhill, Mass., 1640. She was graduated at the State Normal school, West Newton, Mass; taught school in Boston, and opened a school for young children. She assisted the evangelist, Dwight L. Moody, at the noon meetings during his first visit to Boston, and took an active part in the work of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, of which slle was an early member. She was president of the Boston union, a member of the Massachusetts state executive committee and a student of the various phases of intemperance. She became a national lecturer for the W.C.T.U. in 1880, superintended work on the Pacific coast, 1883-84, and made a tour around the world, 1884-91, in which her expenses were met by voluntary contributions made while on her mission. She organized eighty-six unions, twenty-three branches of the White Cross league, and in Japan, India and Madasgascar twenty-four men's temperance societies. She visited nearly every country of the Old World, and her addresses were interpreted into forty-seven different languages. She returned to the United States in 1891, and made a similar tour in Mexico and South America, the Bahamas and Jamaica. She is the author of The Liquor Traffic in Western Africa, and other tracts, and an extended series of letters in the Union Signal. In 1891 she was made honorary life president of the World's W.C.T.U. by the first convention of that body, held in Boston. She was still active as a lecturer and preacher in 1901.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Sarah Towne (Smith) Martyn, author, was born in Hopkinton, N.H., Aug. 15, 1805; daughter of the Rev. Ethan Smith. She obtained her education under her father's tuition and was married in 1841 to the Rev. Job H. Martyn of New York city. She resided in New York, 1837-66, and established the Ladies' Wreath, which she edited, 1846-51. Her husband removed in 1851, to Waukesha, Wis., where she resided for a short time, and on her return to New York, she again devoted herself to literary pursuits, writing largely for the American Tract society. She made a special study of the Reformation period. She is the author of: Evelyn Percival, Allen Cameron, Happy Fireside, The Huguenots of France and Jesus in Bethany (1865); Effle Morrison, Sybel Grey, The Hopes of Hope Castle and Lady Alice Lisle (1866); Margaret of Navarre and William Tyndale (1867); Daughters of the Cross, Nettie and her Sister, Wilford Parsonage and Women of the Bible (1868); The Crescent and the Cross (1869); Dora's Mistake (1870), and Hillside Cottage (1872). She died in New York city, Nov. 22, 1879.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor