WILLIAM BRANCH. 44. WILLIAM TARLTON (Elias, Elias", Richard1), born in Portsmouth or Rye, Nov. 23, 1752. He married, first, Betsey Fisk (born Jan. 29, 1762; died Nov. 4, 1791); and, second, Polly (Mary) Melvin (born June 20, 1776), daughter of Benjamin Melvin, of Chester. His name appears in a list of those who had improved land in Orford in 1772, and also in a list of the young men of Orford the same year, when he was but twenty years old. He soon moved to the adjoining town of Piermont, for in 1774 he was keeping a tavern on the turnpike road in that town, five or six miles from the Connecticut river and near a beautiful sheet of water about two miles long and nearly a mile wide, to which he gave the name of "Tarleton Pond." This was his home for the remainder of his life. "He was a man of large ability, intelligence and influence, and held many positions of trust and honor in town, county and state." His position of tavern keeper was one of considerable rank and influence in those days. The old sign is now in possession of his grandson, Amos Tarleton, who lives in the adjoining town of Haverhill. It is made of a single oaken board, beautifully painted. On one side at the top is the name ‹‹ William Tarlton," at the bottom "1774," and between is a painting of General Wolf in full uniform with drawn sword. On the other side is a representation of " Plenty." On a pay roll of Capt. Edward Everitt's Company in Colonel Bedel's Regiment, June 24, 1776, is the name Sergt. William Tarlton. Dec. 15, 1777, he received a captain's commission in Colonel Timothy Bedel's Regiment. This regiment was on duty upon the upper Connecticut river frontier, raised for frontier duty or Continental service, as occasion might require." *See "History of Haverhill," N. H., 1888, pp. 105 and 348. 1 After the war he was appointed Colonel of the Thirteenth New Hampshire Militia. He was selectman of Piermont, 1788; member of the commission to revise the state constitution, 17911792; presidential elector, 1804 and 1808; member of the state legislature, 1807 and 1808; and high sheriff of Grafton county, 1808-1813. He acquired considerable wealth and had much political influence in the Democratic party, with which he acted. He died Mar. 19, 1819, aged 68. "A beautiful and appropriate monument marks his resting place" in the Ladd Street cemetery. His widow removed to Concord, where she died June 7, 1826, aged 55. A marble slab with suitable inscription marks the place of her burial in the "Old Cemetery" at Concord. i. 101. ii. 102. iii. 102. iv. 102. V. CHILDREN BY FIRST WIFE, BORN IN PIERMONT. William, Jr., b. Oct. 22, 1780; d. June 26, 1814. Josiah, b. Aug. 27, 1787; d. Dec. 11, 1820. Mary, b. Nov. 17, 1789; d. Feb. 10, 1819. vi. Caroline, b. 1791; d. Nov. 4, 1791. CHILDREN BY SECOND WIFE, BORN IN PIERMONT. Ann, b. Oct. 29, 1793; d. Sept., 1843, in Alabama. Samuel Bradley, b. Aug. 13, 1797; d. Sept., 1818. i. William Tarlton lived with his father and was preceptor of Haverhill academy. He died, unmarried, at the house of his sister in Wentworth, aged 33. ix. Samuel B. Tarlton left home in 1817 and went with his uncle, William B. Melvin, to Natchez, Miss., where he became preceptor of a school, but died within a year of yellow fever. "He was a young man of more than ordinary abilities." 100. AMOS TARLTON" (William1, Elias3, Elias2, Richard1), born in Piermont, Mar. 14, 1783. Married, Feb. 18, 1806, Theodora (born Dec. 19, 1782), daughter of Deacon James Ladd, and granddaughter of Hon. Ezekiel Ladd, one of the early settlers of Haverhill, N. H. Soon after marriage he went to farming in the adjacent town of Warren, and while living there was chosen representative to the state legislature. On the death of his father, he removed to the old homestead, where he was living in 1855. The building of a new road turned the travel away from the hotel, and it was closed before 1850. Finally the buildings were destroyed by fire. He spent his last days with his son in another part of the town, and died Dec. 1, 1864, and his widow, Apr. 10, 1875. 106. i. ii. 106. iii. iv. V. vi. 107. vii. CHILDREN. Henry, b. June 6, 1812, in Warren; d. Feb. 26, 1895. Arthur, b. May 24, 1820, in Warren; d. Dec. 5, 1891. Mary Jane, b. Sept. 27, 1826, in Piermont; d. Nov. 10, 1889. V. Arthur Tarlton went to California at the time of the earlier gold craze, in 1849, drifted around from place to place till he finally settled in Columbia, Tulman county, where he remained till his death. He was superintendent of the water works there, and also sexton of the cemetery; he laid up some His death was money, and had a great many warm friends." caused by sunstroke. Unmarried. vi. Amos Tarlton was born at the old homestead in Piermont and lived there till he was thirteen, when he went to the Haverhill academy, in the adjoining town, for several years. At eighteen he obtained a situation in a furniture store in Boston. Health requiring a change, he next worked for three years in a hotel near Boston. He then kept the hotel at Chelsea Beach, afterwards called Revere Beach, and now known as Point of Pines. In |
