Health and Longevity in 18th & Early 19th Century New Hampshire

Instances of Longevity in New-Hampshire, with the places of residence, and the time when each person died, and their ages.

YEAR DIED | NAME  | TOWN | AGEold postcard couple in rowboat
1732 William Perkins, of New-Market 116
1736 John Buss, of Durham 108
1739 James Wilson, of Chester 100
1754 William Scoby, of Londonderry 110
1754 James Shirley, of Chester 105
1765 Elizabeth Hight, of Newington 100
1772 Howard Henderson, of Dover 100
1775 William Craige, of Chester 100
1775 Mrs. Craige (his wife) of Chester 100
1775 Mrs. Lear, of Portsmouth 103
1775 Mrs. Mayo, of Portsmouth 106
1787 Robert Macklin, of Wakefield 115
1789 Mrs. Ulrick, of Hollis 104
1790 Mrs. Hayley, of Exeter 101
1791 Jacob Green, of Hanover 100
1791 Widow Davis 102
1791 James Shirley, of Chester 1001793 James Wilson, of Chester 100
1800 Sarah Newmarch, of Portsmouth 101
1801 Ezekiel Leathers, of Durham 100
1802 Abednego Leathers, of Durham 101
1805 Hannah Lovejoy, of Amherst 102
1808 Martha Chesmore, of Dunbarton 101
1808 Daniel Davis, of Allenstown 105
1808 Margaret Bacon 101
1808 Mrs. M’Clench of Merrimack 100
1808 Martha Porter, of Lebanon 100
1808 Catherine Sherburne, of Conway 101
1809 Joshua Foss, of Barrington 100
1810 Catharine Sanborn, of Sanbornton 100
1810 Mrs. Hixon, of Portsmouth 100
1810 Tabitha Bohonnon, of Salisbury 101
1811 Mrs. M’Intire of Goffstown 106
1811 Ezra Deolph, of Hopkinton 102
1811 Mary Bean, of Sutton 100
1811 Nathan Blake, of Keene 100
1811 Benjamin Conner, of Exeter 100
1812 James Atwood, of Pelham 100
1813 Joanna Hixon, of Newington 105
1813 Mary Davidson, of Goffsotwn 100
1815 Anna Leavitt, of Hampton 100
1815 Sarah Morse, of Salem 100
1815 John Shaw, of Holderness 101
1815 John Crocker, of Richmond 100
1816 Elizabeth Richards, of Newington 101
1816 Phebe Dow, of Seabrook 101
1816 Zene, (a negro) of Nottingham 101
1817 Elizabeth Darling, of Portsmouth 102
1817 Elizabeth Pitman of Epsom 100
1817 Abigail Craig, of Rumney 105
1817 Mrs. Bunker, of Barnstead 105
1817 Mary Fernald, of Portsmouth 100
1818 Hannah Foss, of Gilmanton 103
1818 Dorcas Rowe, of Meredith 100
1818 Dye, (of Indian descent) of Exeter 105
1818 Corydon, (a negro) of Exeter 100
1819 Eleanor Pike, of Meredith 101
1819 Jacob Davis, of Sutton 105
1819 William Prescott, of Gilford 102
1820 Dorothy Creighton, of Epping 101
1820 Samuel Downs, of Somersworth 100
1820 Mrs. Cilley of Poplin 101
1821 Jonathan Foster, of Mason 101
1821 Joanna Aplin, of Keene 100
1821 Jane M’Lellan, of Wentworth 100
1821 Mrs. Godfrey, of Deerfield 101
1821 Mary Smith, of Salem 101
1822 Reuben Abbot, of Concord 100
1822 Thomas Walker of Sutton 103

Of uncertain date
Mr. Lovewell, of Dunstable (father to Col. Zaccheus Lovewell), mentioned in Belknap’s History of N.H. vol ii. page 233, aged 120
Mrs. Belknap of Atkinson, age 107
Mrs. Tucker of Rye, age 100
Mrs. Beals of Keene, aged 101
Mrs. Parker, of Chesterfield aged 103
Mrs. Welch of Rumney, aged 100

Besides the preceding list of aged persons who have deceased, there are still living in this state the following persons over 100 years of age:
Tryphena Stiles, of Someraworth 101
Sarah Kelley, of New-Hampton 103
Mrs. Bailey, of Chesterfield 101
Mary Barnard, of Amherst, 101
and the venerable Samuel Welch, of Bow in his 113th year.

The annual average of deaths in New-Hampshire, is estimated at about 3,000. This number has been obtained by taking the mean annual average of a number of towns in different parts of the state for a series of years and making a comparison, by the rule of proportion, between those towns and other towns in the state.

From New-Hampshire Gazette, by John Farmer and Jacob Moore, 1823; page 9-12.

Today, New Hampshire ranks 12th among the states for longevity, the average life span being 79.70 years.

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