Dr. Francis Kittridge Family from Walpole As It Was and As It Is (1880)

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Surname: KITTREDGE
Source: Walpole As It Was and As It Is by George Aldrich, 
        The Claremont Manufacturing Co., Claremont, N.H., 1880, pages 303-305

KITTREDGE, FRANCIS, DR. It is curious to note how some incident, seemingly trivial at the time, 
and wholly disconnected with what follows, changes the whole aspect and condition of an individual’s 
future life. Following is a case in point. More than a hundred years ago, (the precise time not known,) 
one of the Bellows family of this town broke his leg, and as surgeons were not plenty in the vicinity, his 
friends were forced to the alternative of sending to Tewksbury, Mass., to procure one. There they 
found Dr. Francis Kittredge, who came to Walpole, set the bone, and stayed till his patient was out of 
danger. During his stay, he was persuaded to take up a lot of land and remove to Walpole. He selected 
the farm now owned by Charles E. Watkins, which was then an unbroken forest. He had by his wife, 
Abigail, sixteen children, several of them dying in infancy. Dr. Frank, as he was called, was a celebrated 
"bone setter," which in those days was a special gift. In connection with his son Jesseniah, the 
celebrated salve, known at the time as "Kittridge grease," was prepared, which was highly valued for its 
supposed healing properties. He was famous, as was also his son, Jesseniah, in treatment of old sores 
and chronic complaints in general. How many of Dr. Frank’s children were born in town has not been 
ascertained nor how many lived to maturity. Their ages are not known, and consequently cannot be 
methodically arranged. He died April 17, 1808, aged 80 years and she died Feb. 15, 1812, aged 82. 
Ch.
I. Stephen, b. 1765; m. Elizabeth Eaton, May 16, 1791; d. July 25, 1800. He was a physician, 
probably studied with his father. His ch. were 1st, Stephen jr., b. Oct. 3, 1791; became a 
doctor and went to Cincinnati and died early 2d, Roswell, b. May 8, 1793; who also was a 
physician, and went West, and died young. 3d, Betsey, b. Dec. 24, 1794. 4th, Sukey, b. Dec. 
5, 1795. 5th, Ebenezer Eaton, b. Feb 3, 1799. He studied medicine and went to Louisiana and 
become owner of a large sugar plantation, and accumulated a colossal fortune. He was alive at 
the commencement of the Rebellion, but has since died.
II. Paul, was a physician, m. Rebecca Martin in 1809, and settled in Chelmsford, Mass. He had 
one child, Paul Crosby, who was b. here April 7, 1809
III. Francis, a physician, who m. Sybil Bundy in 1806, and settled in Woburn, Mass.
IV. Rhoda, m. Amaziah Porter in 1789, and lived in Langdon.
V. Achsah, m. Job Giddings in 1794, lived in town and had four or more children.
VI. Molly, m. Robert Earl in 1796.
VII. name unknown, m. a Crosby and died in town.
VIII. Elizabeth, m. Amos Godfrey, of Westminster, Mar. 13, 1803
IX. Abigail, m. Nehemiah Kidder, the progenitor of the Kidders in this town.
X. Mrs. Beckwith;
XI. Jesseniah, b. 1764; m. Lydia, dau. of Thomas Bond, of Brookfield, Mass. This is the Dr. 
Jesseniah who built the house now standing on the old Kittredge homestead and was the father 
of a large family belonging to the generation preceding the one now on the stage. He seemed to 
have a prophetic vision of the future wants of coming generations, when he made architectural 
beauty subordinate to magnitude of proportions, which has since been realized in the shelter of 
two large families since the Kittredge family left it.
The Dr. was a lame man, and he used to ride in an old-fashioned two-wheel carriage, in the summer, to 
make professional visits, which the inhabitants called a quill wheel. The old carriage was recently in 
possession of Elias W. Knowlton. His old bells that he used in winter, which could be distinctly heard a 
mile, were recently in the possession of some of our townsmen. He had an extensive practice although 
he lived contemporaneously with doctors Sparhawk, Holland and Johnson.
His children were 1st. Sally, b. April 27, 1794; she never married. 2d, Lydia, b. April 29, 1796; m. 
Francis Fisher, a commission merchant of Boston. 3d, Jesseniah, b. Feb. 24, 1800. He studied 
medicine with his father, and, after completing his professional studies, commenced practice in his native 
town, which he continued uninterruptedly for more than forty years, when the infirmities of age and other 
reasons caused him to relinquish it. He moved first to Keene, and subsequently to Belmont, Mass., 
where he lived with his daughter Helen, till he died, in 1877. He was conscious of his coming dissolution 
and watched the ebbing tide with interest and calmness. From time to time, as the sand in the glass told 
the passing hour, he would feel of his pulse and remark the probable time he could live, and continued 
to do so until he became unconscious. The Dr. was for a long time a mason, attaining to a high position 
in the craft, on account of his historic knowledge in masonry and his social standing. In the temperance 
cause he was an exemplary pattern, never having drunk a glass of intoxicating liquor, as a beverage, in 
his lifetime. In 1851 he represented the town in the legislature and for a score or more of years was 
town treasurer. In his daily intercourse with his neighbors, he was genial and talkative; as a physician he 
was careful and attentive, and his exemplary life made him honored by his peers and respected by the 
young. He married Mary B., daughter of Leonard Stone, of Watertown, Mass., by whom he had five 
children. (1) Thomas, who died in China. (2) Helen, who m. David A. Russell. (3) Sarah, who m. Lewis 
J. Colony, and (4) Samuel, who m. Harriet, dau. of Milan Harris. 4th, Thomas Bond, b. Feb. 17, 1802; 
m. Caroline A., dau. of Moses Smith, Hartford, Conn. He graduated at Harvard, studied medicine with 
his father and Dr. Moses Hale, of Troy, N.Y. He attended lectures in Boston and took his diploma in 
1826, and commenced practice in Claremont, N.H., but for the last twenty-nine years has resided in 
Keene, and has been a pension examining surgeon since 1863. He has three children, two sons, Asahel 
S. and Henry G.; his daughter’s name is Jessie. 5th, Eli Bond, b. Aug. 2, 1804; d. in 1825. He was a 
promising medical student at the time of his death. 6th, Millicent, b. Sep.; 16, 1806; m. Leonard Bisco. 
(See Bisco.)