Person:Byron Rollins (1)

1871 Census: Brome, BROME, QC, age 6, QC, Methodist.

1880 Census: Byron left Canada before the Can 1881 census and arrived USA after US 1880 census.

1900 Census: Manchester, NH, Jun 1865, age 35, Canada, immig 1880, RR brakeman.

1910 Census: Hooksett, NH, Byron H., age 45, married 20 yrs, immig. 1880, Canada, House painter, married to Grace M. Dicey.

1920 Census: Lincoln Park, Hooksett, NH, age 54, immig. 1880, citizen 1885, Canada, house painter.

1930 Census: Leighton Rd., Franklin, NH, 64, married at 26, Canada, citizen 1882, own farm.

A death notice was in Portsmouth Herald, March 6, 1954.

The folling note was prepared by William Bartlett Rollins (1925-1994). Byron Horatio; emigrated to United States in 1881, res. Manchester, N. H. until about 1895 when located in Hooksett, N. H. Worked on railroad until about 1890 when he took up painting and interior decorating which he followed until about 1917 when he became a farmer. While a resident of Hooksett, N. H. was a member of Board of Selectmen and constable for that town. In 1898 he ventured to Klondike in Gold Rush which exploits are covered in the appendix. Moved to Franklin, N. H. in 1924 where he operated a poultry farm until 1943 when he retired. Mr. Rollins was a man of considerable fortitude, having only a fourth grade education, but pursued a career in the railroad which he had to give up when his hearing diminished from the affects of scarlet fever at an early age, then a career in painting which he had to give up when he lost the sight in one eye, to his final career as a farmer during which he married at age 50 and raised five children. Died 1954 at age 89 in Franklin, N. H. Married Grace M. Dicey (1874-1916) of Manchester, N. H. with whom he had no children. Married Rena Eva Kimball, daughter of Benjamin F. Kimball of Franklin, N. H. in 1917. Rena was born Hebron, N. H. 1885, graduated from Plymouth Normal School in 1906 and taught school in Hooksett, N. H. (from Desc. of Wm. Rawlins of Gloucester, page 14)

RECOLLECTIONS OF "POP" by Harrison K. Rollins "POP" was born in 1865 in L'Ange Gardien in the province of Quebec, Canada. He came to Manchester when he was 15 years old. He delivered beer in pails to mill workers at noon to get by. Byron Rollins was married to Gracie mentioned in the article "The Northwoodsman" by Paul Doherty. He lived in Manchester, N.H. The "Gold Rush of 1898" was a great attraction to men of those days Byron returned to Manchester and pursued the trade of Interior Decorator out of Verricks of Manchester. His first wife, Gracie, died. They had no children. When he was about fifty years old he married Rena Kimball, a teacher from Hooksett, N.H. She was twenty years younger than him. Byron and Rena had five children, the last one was born when he was 60 and Rena was 40. The children were: Byron, living, living, Janet, and William. "Pop" died at the age of 89, and he is buried in the Pine Grove Cemetery in Manchester, N.H. I was able to spend considerable time with him in the last years of his life and recall a number of episodes that he told of as follows. Before going to the gold rush he had a special sleeping bag made of felt ( I believe it was wool ) that was manufactured in the Manchester Mills. When traveling up the Artic Red River they stopped at an Indian village. Byron (Pop) told of a sick Indian boy who was quite bad off. He gave the Indians some Sloan's Liniment that he carried with him, and was credited with saving the boy's life. Pop stated that there were seven men with them on the Red River, and that five of them developed scurvy, a very serious illness due to lack of proper food and vitamin C. The sick men were at some time rafted back downstream. Byron (Pop) and one other person stayed and did not develop scurvy. He attributed it to their having a catch of fish frozen in the ice that they ate frequently. When he returned down river he stopped at a Catholic Mission. The priest gave him a raw potato, the best fruit he had ever had! (Also contained vitamin C.) While wintering they had to use Spirit Thermometers because mercury freezes at minus forty degrees F. He mentioned that the temperature dropped as low as -89 degrees F. When he returned to the mouth of the Artic Red River he received a grub stake from the Hudson Bay Co. and some other assistance in returning to civilization. While returning across Canada he spent some time in a German village where German women called "Dunkerboefs" lived. They had been imported as laborers of some sort. He did look for gold while in the Yukon but didn't have good luck. The Klondike and Artic Circle area is known as the "Land of the midnight sun". There is little darkness (night time) during the summer, and little daylight (daytime) during the winter. Inside the Artic Circle daylight lasts 24 hours a day from May to August, and darkness 24 hours a day from November to February. Pop wintered on the Artic Red River just south of the Artic Circle. Compiled by living Rollins (Copy given to HLJ411 by living Rollins at Manchester, NH, October 13, 2000.)

1. ↑ Unknown author. Boston & Maine RR Note, M18 & 278. (post 1890).
2.   Manchester, NH Directories, 1890-93, M246.
3.   Wm. B. Rollins, Bedford, NH. Desc. of Wm. Rawlins of Gloucester, B-R3. (1 February, 1986, Bedford, NH, 03102)
   page 14.
4. ↑ Buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in Manchester, NH.