The Remarkable Orsamus Edson Nute (1820-1907), 2nd GGF

This is the story of an extraordinary, selfless man who endured tragedy and hardship with resilience and courage that would make proud our Nute forebears. It’s as though he called on the strength of all the Nute generations beginning with 18 year-old James who crossed the Atlantic in 1631. At the relatively old age of 44, he took his family out of backwoods Maine and re-invented himself, a farmer who made a fortune in Boston that allowed him to comfortably care for his large family even into their adulthood. His regard for and love of learning led him to teach the children of Woodstock and send his own children to institutions of higher learning, including our great-grandfather who graduated from M.I.T. in 1885. This is the story of Orsamus Edson Nute.

Orsamus Nute (1820-1907)

2nd GGF Orsamus Nute was born in the spring of 1820 in Poland, Maine, the second child and oldest son of Samuel Nute and Betsey Fickett. Orsamus was just a toddler, if that, when his parents moved the family from the Poland farm to Woodstock, Maine, bringing Grandma Rebecca Wentworth along with them.

Before Woodstock. Orsamus’ father, 3rd GGF Samuel, bought the Poland property from his father, Josiah, for $400 but the1814 deed gives little clue to its location in Poland, “a certain piece of land bounded as follows, beginning at the southeasterly corner of lot No. 4 in the second division of lots in said Poland, thence running southeast to the southeast corner of said lot, thence from there two bounds on two lines each extending northwest until it shall contain fifty acres of land, including the roads that now run through said land.”

Six years later, Samuel bought land in Woodstock from his father-in-law, 3rd GGF Jonathan Fickett, perhaps as Jonathan was on hard times. Jonathan’s property in Poland where he had been for 20 years foreclosed in 1819 for failure to pay taxes. Jonathan and family possibly remained in a cabin on the farm after sale to Samuel. Having left the large extended family on Nute’s Ridge, his father dying in 1820, and being an only child, Samuel had no other extended family to help him with clearing and working the Woodstock farm. Samuel’s father, Josiah, may have been ill even when he sold the Poland land to young Samuel, leaving Samuel to do most of the work on that farm. Equally puzzling was why Josiah sold the land to Samuel, his only son, rather than bequeathing it to his only heir. 

One thought is that 22 year-old Samuel moved to Poland on his own and Josiah and Rebecca remained behind in Falmouth until Josiah died in 1820. A bit of support for this alternative is a later deed that identifies Josiah as still being of Falmouth. 

Who's related to who

Move to Woodstock. Samuel married 3rd GGM Betsey Fickett of Poland in 1816 and they had two children over the next four years. Orsamus was but an infant when the young family removed to the hilltop farm on Twitchell Road in Woodstock sometime in 1820.

Samuel and Betsey had two more children in Woodstock, spaced two years apart like the others. Two years later, in 1826, Betsey died leaving Samuel with four young children. Orsamus was but six years old. His grandma living in the home, 56 year-old Rebecca Wentworth, died two years later. 

A step-mother, 34 year-old Polly Davis, entered the family in 1827. Her dad was 5th GGF Aaron Davis and granddad 6th GGF Zebulon Davis, both Revolution veterans.

Like his father, Orsamus was hard-working and resourceful. Lapham’s 1882 History of Woodstock describes him,

Orsamus Nute, born in this town, received his education mostly in the common schools. He was naturally a good scholar, and early became an instructor of the school of his town. He was also a good farmer, and successfully cultivated the old homestead of his father for many years. He filled the office of Selectman and Superintending School Committee, but, being always a Democrat, he could not be elected to any office where party principles were involved.

Marriage to Emmy Ann Stevens. In 1843, Orsamus married 21 year-old Emmy Ann Stevens, daughter of Joseph, also a farmer, from nearby Norway.

Children of Orsamus and Emmy Ann

Samuel Ambrose, b. 1844, died unmarried in Woodstock in 1864, age 20

Mary Elizabeth, b. 1845, m. Willis Tappan Emery, a solicitor, in Boston in 1873, d. 1914 in Boston, uterine cancer, buried in Sanford, Maine

Ellen Maria, b. 1849, m. 1) George Leavitt in Boston, 2) Luther Covington, clergyman in Boston and moved to Seattle, Washington where she died in 1924

Ruth Anna, b. 1852, died unmarried in Boston in 1880, age 28, rheumatic valve heart disease

Emma Frances, b. 1856, died Dec 1857 in Woodstock, age 19 months

The 1850 census shows Orsamus and Emmy Ann living on the farm with Samuel, age 58, and Polly (Samuel’s second wife) as well as the first three children of Orsamus and Emmy. The farm appears to belong to Samuel.

In 1854, Orsamus served as administrator for the insolvency of his father-in law, Jonathan Fickett’s estate on behalf of the widow, 3rd GGM Betsey Bryant Fickett, and her 15 year-old daughter. Indeed, Jonathan remained in debt until his death, leaving Betsey having to ask the court for enough money on which she and her daughter could live.

Orsamus’ dad, Samuel, died in 1855, leaving him the Woodstock hilltop farm. The following year a daughter was born, and Orsamus was instrumental in erection of the a Woodstock church conjointly built by the Methodists and Free Baptists. Orsamus was Methodist.

Photo courtesy of Woodstock Historical Society

Life was good for the 36 year-old Orsamus in 1856. He was the owner of a nice hilltop farm. He taught school and was active in the community. He and Emmy Ann had four young children. Then tragedy begins to strike. Nineteen month-old Emma Frances died in December 1857 and wife Emma died in July 1860 at age 38.

Marriage to 3rd GGM Lovina Dunn Davis. Life seems to get back on track when the 41 year-old Orsamus marries 25 year-old Lovina Dunn Davis 10 months after wife Emma’s death. Lovina was a teacher in Woodstock, the granddaughter of 4th GGF Aaron Davis, Jr. and niece of Orsamus’ stepmother, Polly Davis, who raised Orsamus from age seven.

Orsamus and Lovina soon started their family with the birth of Henry Orsamus in 1862 and our GGF Joseph Edson in 1863. Tragedy struck again with the death of Orsamus’ oldest son, Samuel Ambrose, at age 20 in June 1864.

It seems enough was enough for Orsamus who suffered repeated losses on the hilltop farm, starting with the death of his mother at age six, followed by the deaths of his father in 1855, young daughter in 1857, wife in 1860, and eldest son in 1864.

Very possibly, 20 year-old Samuel Ambrose had been ill for a while and death expected as Orsamus picked up his family, sold the farm, and moved everyone, including step-mom Polly, to Boston within a few months. What a bold move for a 44 year-old who had known only farm life in a backwater Maine town in the mid-1800s! The same could be said for Lovina who had a household of the three offspring from Orsamus' first marriage, two very young children from Orsamus, and was pregnant with the third. Polly, who was also Lovina's aunt, died in Boston in 1873.

By moving the entire family, no more Nutes of the Josiah-Samuel-Orsamus line were left in Woodstock or, indeed, in Maine at all.

Children of Orsamus and Lovina Dunn Davis

Henry Orsamus Nute, b. 1862 in Woodstock, m. Ella J. Ford, died 1924 in Manhattan; attended Boston University School of Law and became a drug merchant with an apothecary in Boston.

JOSEPH Edson Nute, b. 1863 in Woodstock, m. Harriet Gove Wilkins in Boston, d. 1949 in South Dartmouth, MA, graduated M.I.T. in mechanical engineering, head of Fall River Gas Works Company for most of his career.

Edith Rivers Nute, b. 1865 in Boston, m. Clement Milton Hammond, journalist and associate editor of Boston Globe, whom she divorced. She lived with her half-sister Ellen Maria in Seattle and worked as a stenographer until her later life when she went to Ramapo, New York, to live with a sister, Mabel Lavina. They were both chicken farmers; d. 1934 in Monsey, NY.

Ernest Nute, b. 1867, d. 1868 in Boston, inflammation of brain, age eight months

Frank Earnest Nute, b. 1869, d. 1870  in Boston, age 11 months, buried in Nute-Stevens cemetery

Mabel Lavina Nute, b. 1871 in Boston, graduated with a B.A. from Smith College in Monsey, NY, and was to be at Boston University Medical School in 1898-1899. In the 1900 census, Mabel is living in Boston with her father, unmarried. In the 1910 census, she owns a farm in Ramapo, NY, still single with a servant and three hired men. This is evidently the chicken farm above, and where Orsamus spent the last couple years of his life.

A second successful career for Orsamus. What possessed Orsamus the farmer to bring his family to Boston is anyone’s guess. In the 1865 Massachusetts census a year after he arrived in Boston, his occupation is listed as a street sprinkler. Orsamus started with a street watering cart whose important task was to water the graveled streets of Boston, to wet down the mess of horse shit which would otherwise dry, turn to dust, and aerosolize - not to mention what it would do to the gown hems of the Victorian ladies.

From this humble business beginning, Orsamus built a lucrative and prosperous water sprinkler contracting business that would go the way of dinosaurs with the advent of cars. In the 1870 census, 50 year-old Orsamus lists his occupation as street contractor with a business called Nute and Billings and an office at E. Dedham and W. Albany Streets.

The great fire of 1872 in Boston must have caused a fright as it burned within blocks of his business building. The fire is still ranked as one of the most costly fire-related property losses in American history, consuming 65 acres of downtown Boston and 800 businesses and warehouses. 

By 1872, Orsamus was living at the prestigious address of 335 Columbus Avenue in Boston.

335 Columbus Street, Boston, the corner five-story townhouse that belonged to Orsamus

An 1873 Boston Business Directory lists Orsamus’ middle initial as E, perhaps a clue to the origin of Edson as a middle name in the family. The Edson middle name was passed down another four generations to Joseph Edson Nute, Raymond Edson Nute Sr., Jr., and III.

Orsamus owned most of a block on Dorr Street in 1873. In 1889, his son Henry and son-in-law, Willis Emery, joined him in a project to “drive 12 piles on the northerly side of the sea wall in Charles River, at the foot of Hereford Street in the city of Boston…for the support of a water tank.”

Tragedy revisited Orsamus and Lovina in 1868 with the death of an eight month-old son and 1870 with the death of an 11 month-old son. A little over ten years later in December 1880 he lost his 28 year-old daughter Ruth Anna from rheumatic heart disease and wife Lovina, 40, from pericarditis within two weeks of each other.

Home invasion robbery. The Boston Globe reported two "notorious and successful burglars" were arraigned and pleaded guilty to breaking and entering the 335 Columbus Avenue address at nighttime and stealing silverware and clothing. One was sentenced to 3 years prison and the other to 6 years.

Business reversals. All was not smooth sailing for Orsamus in Boston. He declared insolvency in 1875 and bankruptcy in 1894. A tenant renting the 335 Columbus Avenue building had fitted the ground floor as a drug store, but was probated as insane in 1899, and the family filed to restrain the Nutes (Orsamus and Henry O.) from foreclosing and evicting him. The Nutes were apparently successful as Henry O. is listed in the 1902 Boston directory as running a drug merchant business out of the 335 Columbus Avenue address himself.

Another marriage. Censuses show Orsamus usually had one to two servants living in the 335 Columbus Avenue home with whatever kids needed a home. He married again in 1890 at age 69 to widow Lydia Beal Collamore Smith, age 45, but 72 year old Orsamus was no longer at the 335 Columbus Avenue address. The 1900 census shows Lydia living in a boarding house and no longer with Orsamus. 

The last years. The marriage relationship with Lydia seems to have been brief. Boston directories show 72 year-old Orsamus living with daughter Mary Elizabeth as early as 1892, and the 1900 census shows 80 year-old Orsamus living at 32 Yarmouth in Boston with Mary Elizabeth; her husband, Willis Emery, Orsamus' former business partner; Orsamus' divorced daughter, Edith; and unmarried daughter, Mabel. Mabel was supposed to have entered Boston University Medical School in 1898, but the census does not show she is either a student or working.

Sometime between 1900 and 1905, daughters Edith and Mabel moved to Ramapo, New York, where Mabel bought a chicken farm. It is noteworthy that Mabel was living at her chicken farm in Ramapo within seven years of graduating from Smith College seven miles away.

 A 1901 Boston directory lists Orsamus as “removed to Woodstock.” His son, Henry Orsamus, is using the 335 Columbus building, probably the ground floor, for his pharmacy. An August 1902 Fall River Daily Evening News article reported "the family of Joseph E. Nute recreating at South Paris, Maine." A reasonable assumption could be they went to visit 80 year-old Orsamus who returned to his hometown to live with family, probably his sister Mary Jane Billings and her daughter, Ladusca Wing. The relationship must have been close as Mary Jane had named one of her sons after Orsamus.

Mary Jane died in 1904, and by 1905 Orsamus is living with daughters Edith and Mabel in the hamlet of Viola, part of Ramapo, New York, where he died in 1907, age 87, with interstitial nephritis. The year after Orsamus died, Edith and Mabel went on holiday by steamship to Panama. Edith died in 1934, age 69, and Mabel, the baby of the family, in 1956 at age 84.

Not surprisingly, Orsamus maintained ties with Woodstock after leaving for Boston. He had a lifetime of friends in Woodstock, and was a local boy made good. His photo was featured in the 1882 History of Woodstock by Latham.

Burial in Woodstock. Orsamus’ and Lovina’s strong ties to Woodstock are manifest in their decisions to be buried in the family cemetery on the farm rather than in Boston, and to bring their three deceased children back to Woodstock for burial.

Nute Obelisk and 12 foot stones at Nute-Stevens cemetery in Woodstock

Family member names inscribed on obelisk, many poorly legible

Sometime before his death, Orsamus arranged for an obelisk to be erected in the Woodstock Nute-Stevens cemetery. One side of the monument lists his name and those of his two wives, Emma and Lovina, with birth and death dates. Another side lists names that are mostly illegible, but one is the name of his grandmother, Rebecca Wentworth. From either side of the monument is a line of 12 small foot stones with initials of family members buried here: Samuel, Betsey, Polly, Rebecca, Orsamus, Emma, Lovina, Emma F, Samuel A, Ernest, Frankie E, and Ruth A. The latter three died in Boston and must have been brought back to Woodstock for internment with their father and mother. 

Current house on Nute farm at end of Twitchell Road

We are fortunate to have the original form completed by Orsamus in his own handwriting at the request of GGF Joseph Nute when he was working on the Nute Genealogy. A copy of the Nute Genealogy is at the New Hampshire Historical Society and I have a copy. Joseph's papers from his work on the Genealogy with Percy Nute and Orsamus' granddaughter, Amy Emery, were donated to the New England Historical and Genealogical Society in Boston.