Rotheus Edson Bartlett (1841-1924), Rotheus Hayward Mitchell (1823-1891)

Portrait courtesy of Ancestry.com

  The vast annals of the New Hampshire legislature yield another unusual name in Rotheus Edson Bartlett, a Sullivan County resident who served over twenty years as a Newport town selectman and was also elected to the state house of representatives for one term at the turn of the 20th century. The son of Parker and Eleanor Bartlett, Rotheus Edson Bartlett was born in New Boston, New Hampshire on May 10, 1841.

   A student at the New Boston and Francestown Academy, Bartlett signed on for service in the Civil War in August 1862, enlisting in Co. C, 11th New Hampshire Infantry. This regiment would see action at the battles of Fredericksburg, Vicksburg, the siege of Tennessee, and the eventual capture of Petersburg, Virginia. Bartlett, however, would, "owing to exceptional reliability", be consigned to "headquarters work a good deal of the time". Bartlett was honorably discharged in June 1865 and two years later married to Emma J. Merrill (1840-1927), to who he was wed for nearly sixty years. The couple would have at least three children, including two daughters who died in infancy and a son, the Rev. Ernest Merrill Bartlett (1870-1905)

  Following their marriage, Bartlett and his family resided on a farm in North Newport, New Hampshire, and in the early 1890s made his first move into local politics, winning election to the town board of selectmen. He would serve ten years here, and in 1902 was returned to the board, serving consecutive terms until 1908, and from 1914-1920 again was a selectman. Elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives as one of several Sullivan County legislators in 1898, Bartlett served in the 1899-1901 session and during his term sat on a special committee for "new apportionment for the assessment of public taxes."

  In addition to his service in local political office Bartlett was a trustee of the Sugar River Savings Bank and in 1898 became a deacon in the Newport Congregational Church. In the late 1900s, Bartlett would hold the post of road agent and Newport town school board member, serving for an indeterminate length of time. Rotheus Bartlett died in Newport of heart failure on June 4, 1924, aged 83 and was survived by his wife Emma, who, following her death in 1927 was interred alongside her husband and son Ernest at the North Newport Cemetery. 

From the New Hampshire Argus and Spectator, June 13, 1924.

Portrait courtesy of Find-a-Grave.

  The holder of several local political offices in Story County, Iowa, Rotheus Hayward Mitchell was a transplant to that state from Grafton County, New Hampshire. Elected to multiple terms as county surveyor, Mitchell earns placement here on the site due to his election as Judge of Story County in 1865. The son of Horatio and Mary (Ames) Mitchell, Rotheus Hayward Mitchell was born in Lyme, New Hampshire on January 23, 1823.

  Descended from a family who could trace their lineage back to the Pilgrims, Mitchell removed with his family from New Hampshire to New York in 1836 and would attend the St. Lawrence Academy in Potsdam, New York. He learned the trade of millwright during his youth and also began a teaching career that he would follow during the winter months. He married in New York in 1854 to Berintha R. Mott (1827-1864), and the couple's union remained childless.

  In 1856 Mitchell and his wife removed to Story County, Iowa, and within a short period had been appointed as its deputy county surveyor. He would win election as county surveyor the following year, and it would be the first of many times Mitchell would occupy that post. All told he held that office for four terms through 1865, and again from 1874 until his death in 1891. In 1865 he was elected as Judge of Story County and served until 1870.

  Tragedy struck Mitchell in 1864 with the death of his wife Berintha, and in 1866 remarried to Hannah Bixby (1848-1924), who would survive him. The couple had two children, Mary Berintha (1867-1875) and Clara Maria (died in infancy in 1870). He would win reelection as county surveyor in 1874, and in addition to being active in the affairs of the state agricultural college, had a "special fondness for collecting historical books." Mitchell died in Nevada, Iowa on May 15, 1891, at age 68, and was interred at the Nevada Municipal Cemetery.