1821 receipt showing that Nathan W. Adams paid his taxes; signed by Hopley Demeritt, Madbury, New Hampshire

February 16, 1821 receipt signed by Hopley Demeritt, Collector, for the forty cents tax paid by Nathan W. Adams for his property in Madbury, New Hampshire. [On the receipt, his name is spelled "Nathen", but I couldn't find anyone in New Hampshire with that spelling.]


Transcript:


Received of Nathen W. Adams forty cents in full for his tax in my list in Madbury for 1820.
Feb. 16th 1821     Hopley Demeritt, Collector

I wasn't able to find a Nathan W. Adams of Madbury, but I found a Nathan Webb Adams in Newington, New Hampshire, in nearby Rockingham County, and several other men named Nathan Adams in other towns in New Hampshire.   


Nathan Webb Adams appears to be a good candidate for the property owner described here, as he was a prominent citizen of New Hampshire and no doubt had business interests across the state.


Assuming the receipt was intended for Nathan Webb Adams of Newington, New Hampshire, here is what I found from online research, hopefully correct:


Nathan Webb Adams, Esquire, was born 16 May 1756 at Newington, New Hampshire, in Rockingham County, the son of Benjamin, Esq., and Abigail (Pickering) Adams, both of whom were born and raised at Newington, New Hampshire.  His paternal grandparents were Joseph and Elizabeth (Knight) Adams.  His maternal grandparents were James and Mary (Nutter) Pickering.


On 12 February 1783, Nathan Webb Adams married Elizabeth Cole, the daughter of Amos and Elizabeth (Wallingford) Cole.  They raised a family of eleven children in Newington, New Hampshire.  

• James Adams (1784-1821)
• Polly Cole or Coleman Adams (1785-1858)
• Winthrop Adams (1787-1842)
• John Adams (1788-1881)
• Josiah Adams (1790-1871)
• Abigail Adams (1792-1866)
• Betsey Adams (1798-1864)
• Nathan Adams (1801-1821)
• George Adams (1803-1875)
• Ruth Adams (1805-1825)
• William Adams (1807-1850)

Their children all survived childhood, although a son and a daughter died at about age twenty.


Nathan Webb Adams died on 23 April 1831; his widow Elizabeth died 29 October 1848.


Madbury, New Hampshire Tax Collector Hopley Demeritt was born 9 November 1792, the son of John and Deborah (Meserve) Demeritt.  His paternal grandparents were John and Elizabeth (Cate) Demeritt.  His maternal grandparents were Ebenezer and Eunice (Torr) Meserve.


On 9 November 1820, not long before writing the above receipt, Hopley Demeritt married Abigail Snell, the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Caldwell) Snell.  Abigail was born 22 November 1794 at Durham, New Hampshire.  Her paternal grandparents were Thomas and Joanna (Pinkham) Snell.  Her maternal grandfather was William Caldwell; I don't have the name of her maternal grandmother.


I found three daughters and a son for Hopley and Abigail Demeritt, but the son died very young.  

• Elizabeth Ann Demeritt (1824-1911)
• Louisa Maria Demeritt (1826-1910)
• John Washington Demeritt (1827-1830)
• Abigail Jane Demeritt (1831-1904)

Hopley Demeritt died 24 December 1834, on what must have been a crushing Christmas eve for the family, already mourning a son who had died several years previously.  Hopley's widow Abigail died  3 August 1885.


If you have any corrections, additions or insights regarding any of the people described above, please leave a comment or contact me directly.  Thanks!


A map of Madbury, New Hampshire:



View Larger Map




A map of Newington, New Hampshire:



View Larger Map




Thanks for stopping by!
.