Nehemiah Kidder Family from Walpole As It Was and As It Is (1880) Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by MLM, Volunteer 0000130. For the current email address, please go to http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00001.html#0000130 Copyright. All rights reserved. ************************************************************************ Full copyright notice - http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm USGenWeb Archives - http://www.usgwarchives.net ************************************************************************ Surname: KIDDER Source: Walpole As It Was and As It Is by George Aldrich, The Claremont Manufacturing Co., Claremont, N.H., 1880, pages 298-300 KIDDER, NEHEMIAH.--The Kidders are an old family in this country, and many of them have been highly honorable and distinguished in the walks of civil live. The branch of the family of which the following account is given came from England to this country at an early date, at the same time the Kittredge family came. The first that is known of them is that a Mr. and Mrs. Kidder (Christian names not given,) and their children,--two sons, Nehemiah and Lemuel, and a daughter,--lived in Tewksbury, Mass. Nehemiah, m. Abigail, dau. of Dr. Francis Kittredge, and first settled in Tewksbury, but subsequently came to this town, in 1788, soon after the Kittredge family came. She died at the time of the birth of her ninth child, Amy, who was born Dec. 18, 1789, and was cared for by her uncle, Dr. Jesseniah Kittredge. (See David Mead.) Nehemiah and Abigail’s other children were I. Hepsibeth, m. Reuben Fay, of this town, and settled in Windham, Vt., where they lived and died. II. Abigail, m. Asa Stowell, of Rockingham, Vt. III. Ducy, m. John Hardy of Tewksbury, Mass. IV. Polly, m. Joseph Bundy, of this town. V. Joseph, went to Pottstown, Me. VI. Nehemiah, went to Nashua, N.H. VII. Susanna, m. David Searles, of Maine. VIII. Zephaniah, m. Mary, dau. of Ephraim Stearns, and had one dau., Harriet W., who m. George Huntington, Sept. 5, 1854. IX. Abiah, b. Sept. 14, 1786; m. Achsah Winchester, b. Aug. 1, 1787; m. June 10, 1808. Ch. 1st, Abiah jr., b. Oct. 10, 1808; m. Emily Fuller, and settled first in Walpole, but subsequently removed to Belmont. His first wife died, and he married Mary A. Sleeper, of Belmont, Mass. He was one of the ministers, it is said the third, who preached in the Hollow. 2d, Achsah, b. Dec. 5,1809; m. William Wellington, of this town. (See Wellington.) 3d, Jesseniah K., b. June 26 1811; m. first, Mellicent Pratt, of this town; second, Harriet L. Howard, of East Andover, N.H. 4th, Mary W., b. July 11, 1822; m. Clark Hubbard, of this town. Her husband came to a melancholy end. About 1845 he was dangerously sick of typhoid fever, and was in a state of delirium at a house that stands or did stand, some three-fourths of a mile east of the Valley schoolhouse. The attending physician had recently given him a large dose of calomel. A man by the name of Prouty had the care of him, but he eluded the vigilance of Mr. Prouty, in an unguarded moment, and ran from the house in a westerly direction, being immediately pursued by Mr. Prouty, who was unable to overtake him, so that he soon found his way into a large body of woodland lying west of the Starkweather place, and was soon out of sight. Mr. Prouty immediately notified the neighbors, who at once turned out en masse in pursuit of him The day passed, and no tidings of his whereabouts were obtained. The next day a large proportion of the male population of the north part of the town went in search, but their humane efforts came to naught. The pursuit was kept up for several days by squads in different sections of the town till, finally, as no trace of hint was discovered, the pursuit was abandoned. A year or two afterwards Mr. I. F. Bellows, in looking after name stray sheep near the little brook at the head of Newton’s pond, discovered a skull near the Path he was traveling, and on turning it over it seemed to be that of a human being. His feelings were greatly excited on such a discovery, and, on looking about, the entire skeleton of an adult person was seen on the bank a few feet distant, minus the head. The proper authorities were soon notified, and suspicion was entertained by them that the remains were those of Hubbard. When be escaped he had on his pantaloons, vest, and stockings, which his wife recognized as those worn by her husband; when his bones were removed and decently buried. The position in which the bones were found indicated that he died in a sitting posture with his left arm thrown around two sapling hemlocks. 4th, Elvira, b. April 23, 1816; d. young. 5tb, Moses, b. Nov. 14, 1817; m. Laura W. Haven, and is a preacher of considerable celebrity in Woodstock, Vt. 6th, Elvira, 2d, b. Mar. 6, 1821; m. Seth Ross, of Walpole. 7th, Julia A., b. Oct. 29, 1823; m. George Sabin, formerly of Westmoreland. 8th, Joseph, b. July 26, 1825; m. first, Caroline Tuttle, of this town, and second, her sister Susan, with whom he now lives in town. 9th, Emily J., b. Oct. 30, 1829; d. in infancy.