JOHN WENTWORTH McALLASTER, son of John and Anna (Steele) McAllaster was born at Amherst, N

JOHN WENTWORTH McALLASTER, son of John and Anna (Steele) McAllaster was born at Amherst, N.H. in 1784 (g.r.), and died 1 May 1849, aged 65 years, at Rochester, Vt.

He married at Hillsborough, N.H. 20 June 1805 (v.r.), LOVINA M. JONES, daughter of Benjamin and Jemina (Boynton) Jones of Hillsborough. She was born there about 1785, and "while walking out, dropped dead in the road," at Whiting, Vt. 17 Sept. 1858 (v.r.).

No surname of Wentworth has been found in the McAllister family. It seems possible, however, that John Wentworth McAllister was named for John Wentworth, Governor of New Hampshire from 1767 to 1775. His gravestone states that he was born in Amherst, his mother's home town, but he was raised in Antrim, N.H. where his father was a blacksmith. In April 1804 he was listed as John Wentworth McAllister, husbandman of New Boston, N.H. in a deed purchasing 48 acres of land in Antrim of Thomas Bell (Hillsborough Co. Deeds 70-318). He was living in Antrim when he married in 1805.

On 23 April 1808 he sold his property in Antrim (Hills. Co. Deeds 79-110) and moved his family to Hancock, Vt. His parents and most of his brothers and sisters eventually did likewise.

Hancock town records (Book 1, page 357) show that on 18 Dec. 1809 "John W., Levina, Ira, Julenna and Nianna McAlister" were ordered to depart the town of Hancock, a formality dictated by the selectmen to all newcomers so as not to incur any financial responsibility for them. Records show no land transactions for John W. in Hancock, but he is shown as living there, engaged in farming, at the time the 1820 census was taken. Prior to 1830 he settled in neighboring Goshen, Vt., later West Rochester, and presumably resided there until his death.

On 11 Jan. 1832 John W. signed a promissory note for $4.74 to John Amy and Jason Wing of Rochester for value received. By 23 June 1834 he had defaulted and Justice of the Peace E. D. Briggs ordered his goods attached or "for the want thereof take his body if to be found within your precenct." Two days later he was arrested by the sheriff, but Horace Rust paid the bail and became surety. Two more attachments were issued on 14 July and 19 Sept. 1834 and the account seems to have eventually been settled.

In 1840 John W. was still living in Goshen, on a farm of 240 acres, 210 of which were in the Town of Chittenden, which he sold to his son William Ira McAllister of Whiting on 24 Sept. 1842 for $400. That same day he agreed to pay all current and future taxes for which William agreed to lease the farm back to his father for "one dollar...together with the good will I have to him and his wife" for the remainder of their natural lives (Goshen Deeds 3-464). This area became part of Rochester in 1847 and is now a part of the Green Mountain National Forest. Most traces of farmland have long since disappeared.

It was probably on this farm where John W. died in 1849. No probate record exists for him. If one did exist it was destroyed in the fire at the Addison County Court House in 1852. His widow and unmarried daughter Lovica removed to Whiting where they were listed living together in the 1850 census.

The 1880 History of Antrim, N.H., by W. R. Cochrane lists the family of John W. McAllister, identifying his 13 children. John Wentworth McAllister was listed as a stonemason in a biography of his grandson Eli. N. McAllister and is said to have been "highly esteemed by the community." He and Lovina are buried together in the Community Church cemetery in Whiting, Vt. overlooking the fields towards New York State.

Children:

i. William Ira b. 20 Sept. 1805, Antrim, N.H.; m. Orlena Brown

ii. Julia Ann b. 13 Jan 1807, Antrim, N.H.; m. Asa Kidder

iii. Vienna b. 23 Jan. 1808, Antrim, N.H., m. Alvah Russ

iv. Perlina b. 23 Mar. 1809, Hancock, Vt.; m. J. Manning Tenney

v. Permelia b. 1811, Hancock, Vt.; m. Horace W.

vi. Orrilla b. 1813, Hancock, Vt.; m. Jehial Austin

vii. Hiram b. 1 Oct. 1814, Hancock, Vt.; m. Olive Brown

viii. Sophronia b. 17 June 1816, Hancock, Vt.; m. Samuel W. Parsons.

ix. Adaline b. 1817/18; d. 15 Aug. 1840 (g.r.), ae. 22 yrs., unm.; bur. Whiting, Vt. with parents

x. Sylvester b. 11 Feb 1820, Hancock, Vt.; m. Mercy Munger

xi. Milo b. 14 Apr. 1821, Hancock, Vt.; m. Abigail L. Goodrich, Eunice (Goodrich) Estey, and Harriet Jane (Coates) Belden

xii. Lovica b. 9 July 1824, Hancock, Vt.; d. 30 Apr. 1858, Rochester,Vt.(g.r.), ae. 33 yrs., 9 mos., 21 dys., of epilepsy, unm. 1850 census for Whiting, Vt. lists her as "insane"

xiii. Philena b. 13 Mar. 1826, Hancock, Vt.; m. George Piper

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Gravestones of John Wentworth and Lovina M. (Jones) McAllister

The McAllister plot is behind the Community Church in Whiting, Vt. It is on a hill sloping down away from the church. The graves face away from the church and look over the fields toward New York state.

His grave reads: John W./ McAlister/ died May 1st/ 1859 AE. 65 yrs./ was/ Born Amherst, N.H./ 1784/ Reader thou to must die.

Her grave reads: Lovina M./ Wife of John W./ McAllister/ Died Sept. 17/ 1858 AE 73 yrs./ Surely in the midst/ Of life we are in death.

Gravestone of Adeline McAllister, daughter of John Wentworth and Lovina M. (Jones) McAllister. In 1840, at the age of 22 years, she was the first of the 13 children to die.

Lucy Vienna McAllister Haven, daughter of William Ira and Orlena (Brown) McAllister, and granddaughter of John Wentworth and Lovina M. (Jones) McAllister. Born in Whiting, Vt. in 1831; died in Big Lake, Minn. in 1912.

George H. McAllister, son of Sidney C. and Josephine (Hurbert) McAllister, and great grandson of John Wentworth and Lovina M. (Jones) McAllister. Born In Illinois in 1857; died in Chicago in 1925. He was a member of the Chicago Fire Department.

Residence of James Manning and Perlina (McAllister) Tenney in Stockbridge, Vt. next to Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. Perlina was the daughter of John Wentworth and Lovina M. (Jones) McAllister.

Residence of Capt. Samuel W. and Sophronia (McAllister) Parsons, 84 Myrtle Street, Manchester, NH. In 1979 it was the Woitowski Funeral Home. Sophronia was the daughter of John Wentworth and Lovina M. (Jones) McAllister.

Gravestone of Sylvester McAllister, son of John Wentworth and Lovina M. (Jones) McAllister; Bluff City Cemetery, Elgin, Ill.

Stone reads: McALLISTER/ M/ SYLVESTER McALLISTER/ FEB. 11, 1820 - OCT. 27, 1899/ ---/ HIS WIFE MERCY MUNGER/ FEB. 27, 1822 - SEPT. 8, 1896