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SKETCHES OF SUCCESSFUL

NEW HAMPSHIRE MEN

Illustrated with Steel Portraits.

MANCHESTER:

JOHN B. CLARKE.

1882.

Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1882, by

JOHN B. CLARKE,

in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.

PUBLISHER'S PREFACE.

This volume contains portraits and biographical sketches of eighty-eight

New Hampshire men whose deserved success in their several callings has

made them conspicuous in the professional, business, and political

world. It should be the first of a series,--the beginning of a work so

extensive as to include similar presentations in regard to all the

prominent men of our state, when it would exceed in value and interest

to New Hampshire people all other publications of a biographical nature.

The glory of our state centers in and is reflected from her great men

and noble women, whose history should be familiar to all who by birth or

association are interested in her fame and welfare, and especially to

those in whose hands rests her future, and who may need the

strengthening influence of their example. To this end this volume will

contribute. Its preparation has occupied a long time, and involved much

labor and expense. My connection with it has been that of a publisher,

whose duties I have endeavored to discharge faithfully and acceptably.

All else is to be credited to others. The sketches are printed in the

order in which they were furnished.

JOHN B. CLARKE.

MANCHESTER, N. H., July, 1882.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

ADAMS, CHARLES, JR. 278

ADAMS, PHINEHAS 166

AMORY, WILLIAM 151

BALCH, CHARLES E. 113

BARNARD, DANIEL 304

BARTLETT, CHARLES H. 33

BARTON, LEVI WINTER 50

BLAIR, HENRY WILLIAM 285

BRACEWELL, JOHN 199

BRIGGS, JAMES F. 294

BRYANT, NAPOLEON B. 187

BUFFUM, DAVID HANSON 276

CARPENTER, JOSIAH 43

CHANDLER, GEORGE BYRON 185

CHANDLER, WILLIAM E. 255

CHENEY, GILMAN 215

CHENEY, PERSON C. 162

CLARK, JOSEPH BOND 179

CLARKE, JOHN B. 311

CLARKE, WILLIAM C. 261

COGSWELL, FRANCIS 177

COGSWELL, GEORGE 204

COGSWELL, THOMAS 160

COGSWELL, WILLIAM 137

COLBY, ANTHONY 251

CROSBY, ASA AND SONS 243

CUMNER, NATHANIEL WENTWORTH 297

CURRIER, MOODY 35

DANIELL, WARREN F. 237

DEARBORN, CORNELIUS VAN NESS 195

DUNLAP, ARCHIBALD HARRIS 264

EDGERLY, MARTIN V. B. 130

FRENCH, JOHN C. 157

GEORGE, JOHN HATCH 98

GILMAN, VIRGIL C. 148

GOODELL, DAVID H. 233

GOODWIN, ICHABOD 133

GRAVES, JOSIAH G. 235

GRIFFIN, SIMON G. 58

HALL, DANIEL 229

HARRIMAN, WALTER 74

HAYES, ALBERT H. 202

HEAD, NATT 223

JEWELL, DAVID LYMAN 63

KENT, HENRY O. 21

KIMBALL, JOHN 89

MARSH, CHARLES 184

MARTIN, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 269

MAXFIELD, RUFUS A. 289

MCDUFFEE, JOHN 153

MEANS, WILLIAM GORDON 103

MINER, ALONZO A. 16

MOULTON, JOHN CARROLL 114

MURPHY, CHARLES M. 67

NESMITH, GEORGE W. 180

NORCROSS, AMASA 37

PARKER, JOHN M. 31

PEABODY, CHARLES A. 209

PILLSBURY, GEORGE ALFRED 39

PILLSBURY, OLIVER 191

PIERCE, THOMAS P. 127

PIKE, CHESTER 123

POTTER, CHANDLER E. 302

PRESCOTT, BENJAMIN F. 281

RICHARDS, DEXTER 271

RIDDLE, WILLIAM P. 307

ROLLINS, EDWARD ASHTON 143

ROLLINS, EDWARD H. 217

SARGENT, JONATHAN EVERETT 93

SAWYER, CHARLES H. 249

SAWYER, JONATHAN 240

SHAW, ALBERT M. 267

SHERBURNE, HENRY C. 69

SMYTH, FREDERICK 106

SPALDING, EDWARD 81

SPALDING, GEORGE BURLEY 291

STARK, GEORGE 9

SULLOWAY, ALVAH W. 119

TILTON, CHARLES ELLIOTT 110

TUTTLE, HIRAM A. 14

WALLACE, RODNEY 56

WALLINGFORD, ZIMRI S. 70

WESTON, JAMES A. 85

WHEELER, SAMUEL METCALF 79

WHITE, JEREMIAH W. 140

WHITE, NATHANIEL 172

WILDER, MARSHALL P. 25

WILLIAMS, CHARLES 47

[Illustration: Geo. Stark]

GEN. GEORGE STARK.

BY H. W. HERRICK.

In the remarkable development of railroad traffic in this country within

the last fifty years, many prominent men of our state identified with

this interest have achieved an enviable success. A leading position

among these representative men will be accorded to General GEORGE STARK,

who, within the last forty years, has been associated with the

successful organization and management of several of the most wealthy

and influential of these corporations. Beginning at an early age with

some of the first of these enterprises in New England, he has been

identified with their history; and he has also had, within the last five

years, a controlling hand in the resuscitation and extension of the

great Northern Pacific line, that will soon span the continent from the

great lakes to the Pacific ocean. This successful business career has

been honorably distinguished, inasmuch as it has, in all its phases,

recognized the sound business principles that govern supply and demand

in the legitimate carrying-trade. As the leading medium between the

producer and consumer, the railroad interest thrives only with the

prosperity and good will of both; and in this, its legitimate sphere,

seeks neither to control production or traffic, except in those

reciprocal relations which contribute to the public good.

The influences attending the early life of Gen. Stark favored the

development of the qualities of character that have made his business

career marked and successful. His father, Frederick G. Stark, was the

son of John, the third of the children of Major-General John Stark, the

hero of Bennington, the latter being, therefore, the third in ancestral

order removed from the subject of this sketch. George Stark was born at

Manchester, N. H., April 9, 1823, a few months after the death of his

illustrious military ancestor. His father at this time occupied the old

manor-house formerly owned by Judge Blodget, originator of the famous

Blodget canal. This time-honored structure has been destroyed by the

demand of modern improvements, and its site, at the entrance of the

canal around Amoskeag Falls, is now only marked by the ruins of the

sheds connected with it. The locks and canals, in connection with like

works on the Merrimack river, were owned by the Union Locks and Canal

Company, and Frederick G. Stark occupied the position of general

superintendent and manager. He was also proprietor of a general-supply

store for river-men and the population adjacent, and was, moreover, land

surveyor for the neighboring country. He also held the position of

general magistrate, and was, withal, the most influential man of the

vicinity, leading in all commercial enterprise and traffic. He died in

1861.

The early days of young Stark were favored with the oversight and

directing influence of an excellent mother,--a lady of genial, kindly

character, rare mental qualities, and showing a benevolent and christian

solicitude both for her own family and general society in the

neighborhood. She died in 1856. Of the four children, Juliet (Mrs. Henry

C. Gillis) died in 1840; Emma (Mrs. J. G. Cilley) died in 1859;

William, the youngest, well remembered as possessing rare literary

abilities, and known as author and poet, died in 1873.

At the age of nine years George was taken from the schools of the

Amoskeag district, and for the succeeding four years studied in the

academies of Pembroke and Milford. His mental culture in these advanced

schools was chiefly in the line of mathematics, yet natural aptitude and

diligence supplied in after life many deficiencies in education. At the

close of his school-days in Pembroke and Milford George returned to

Manchester, in 1836, finding the scenes of his childhood transformed

from their previous quiet to a busy preparation, by engineers and

laborers, for the new city of Manchester. The young school-boy was

placed as assistant with the chief engineer and surveyor, Uriah A.

Boyden, and worked one season on the preliminary surveys for the canal,

factories, and streets of the embryo city. During this season, and a few

years succeeding, when not employed on surveys, he attended the

academies of Bedford, Sanbornton, and the high school at Lowell,

Mass.,--the last being then under the charge of Moody Currier, Esq. In

the autumn of 1836, at the early age of fourteen, he was employed with

the staff of engineers engaged in the locating surveys of the Nashua &

Lowell Railroad. This line, only fifteen miles in length, was two years

in process of building, giving an amusing contrast to the long routes

now located and built in one season. The years 1839 and 1840 were spent

in alternate seasons of field work with the engineers and study at the

academies.

Upon the completion of the Nashua & Lowell road, the enterprising

business men of Concord had ready for the engineers the work of further

locating the line from Nashua to Concord. This extension of thirty-six

miles was commenced in 1841, and our young surveyor, then only seventeen

years old, was complimented with the post of assistant engineer, and

given the charge of portions of the line, both in the surveys and laying

the track. At the close of this service he was employed for a time on

the preliminary surveys of the Northern Railroad.

In 1843, Stark was invited by the Land and Water Power Company of

Manchester to enter its service, make surveys, and superintend the

building of the lower canal. This work was finished in the same year in

which it was begun. The following season we find him engaged on surveys

for the Vermont Central, and subsequently on the Old Colony Railroad,

where he first served as assistant, and afterwards as resident engineer,

in which position he remained until the completion of the work in 1845.

From this period to the year 1847 he was in the service of his old

friend and employer, Mr. Boyden, engaged on surveys and drawings for

mill-work. At the close of his engagement with Mr. Boyden, Stark

returned to Manchester and spent a good part of the season in making

surveys and drawing a map of the compact part of the city, with

reference to drainage. He also made a survey, accompanied with a report,

upon the feasibility of supplying the city with water from Massabesic

lake.

The success of the new lines of railroad in New Hampshire stimulated

interest in this form of investment, and several new roads and

extensions were projected. The Nashua & Wilton and Stony Brook lines

were the first lateral roads built, as feeders to the trunk roads of the

Merrimack valley, and Stark was appointed chief engineer of both. On the

completion of these lines, the Boston, Concord, & Montreal road, which

had been built from Concord to Sanbornton, was extended northward, and

the post of chief engineer was offered to Stark. His health failing in

the summer of 1849, while engaged in this work, he left business cares

and spent several months in recuperation, accepting, in the autumn of

the same year, the situation of treasurer and assistant superintendent

of the Nashua & Lowell Railroad, then under the management of Judge

Charles F. Gove. This position was held until the early part of 1852,

when he received the high compliment of an appointment as superintendent

of the Hudson River Railroad. He had been in this position but little

more than a year when an urgent offer was made to him to take the office

vacated by the resignation of Judge Gove, the superintendent of the

Nashua & Lowell Railroad and its branches. This position, being more

congenial than that of the New York road, was accepted, and he entered

upon the duties of his new situation at once.

In 1857, four years after his appointment to the last mentioned office,

he was offered the post of managing agent of the Boston & Lowell road

and its branches, in connection with the Nashua & Lowell line. The

magnitude of the operations of these two roads, with their auxiliary

lines, was very great, and in their management required executive

ability of the first order. The responsibilities of the position were

onerous, and involved the appointment of superintendents, subordinate

officers, and foremen, determining a code of regulations for their

guidance, the adjustment of time-tables, tariff-rates, and fares, the

purchase of supplies, and many other cares incident to the working of a

complex and extended carrying-trade. The manner in which these duties

were discharged was attested by the smooth working of the organization

in its details, and the satisfactory results to the stockholders. In

this period of service, which included about eighteen years, the great

depot on Causeway street, Boston, was erected under the general

management and supervision of Gen. Stark. In its first inception, this

magnificent building, with its approaches, was intended to furnish

terminal facilities for two or more roads. A contract to that effect was

completed with the Massachusetts Central road. Negotiations were also

entered into with the Eastern Railroad Company for a joint occupancy of

the building, and a proposal was obtained from that company to pay fifty

thousand dollars annual rental, besides bearing a proportionate share of

the running expenses. Stark submitted this proposal to his associates,

recommending its acceptance; but it was declined, on the ground of

inadequate compensation, the president of the Boston & Lowell and Nashua

& Lowell roads saying, in his written reply to Stark:--

"While the income is certainly important to us, we have built

the station for our own accommodation, with our eyes open, and I

think our directors won't flinch from our position and divide

with them, unless they pay well for it."

The unsuccessful termination of this negotiation, and the want of accord

in other matters of general policy between Stark and some of the then

prominent directors of his roads, embarrassed him in his duties, and he

resigned the position of general manager in March, 1875, but retained

his seat in the board of directors until the following year. During his

business connection with the combined roads of the Merrimack lower

valley, the influence of Gen. Stark in developing great public business

interests is recognized by all familiar with the subject. The

far-reaching and comprehensive plans for a direct through line

connecting Boston with the West, realized in 1863 by connection of the

lines of the Merrimack valley, Vermont Central, Ogdensburg, and other

roads, were the direct result of Stark's labors and influence; and he

was manager, for several years, of the line from Boston to Ogdensburg.

Upon leaving his position as general manager of the Boston & Lowell and

connecting lines, Stark was chosen, in the spring of the same year

(1875), by the bondholders of the Northern Pacific Railroad, as one of a

committee of six to re-organize and resuscitate that enterprise, left in

its well remembered dilapidated condition by the financial panic of

1873. After carefully investigating the condition of affairs and the

actual and prospective resources of the road, a plan of re-organization

was submitted by the committee, accepted by the bondholders, and the

road taken out of the hands of the receiver. In September following, a

board of new officers was chosen, in which we find the name of Gen.

Stark as vice-president and director. To these positions he had an

annual re-election until by resignation he severed his connection with

the corporation in 1879. The magnitude of the Northern Pacific road and

its branches is well known to the public; to detail its operations and

resources would require too much space here, even if presented in the

most condensed form. Intended ultimately to connect the great northern

lakes with the Pacific coast, its entire length, when completed, will

exceed two thousand miles,--as long as the combined length of the Union

Pacific and Central Pacific roads. At the time of the election of Gen.

Stark to its management about five hundred and fifty miles of the track

were operated; at the present time nearly a thousand miles of track are

laid, including over a hundred miles on the Pacific coast. After

retiring from active service in the Northern Pacific road, Gen. Stark

established, in connection with his son, J. F. Stark, a banking-house in

New York city.

Though most of his business connections have been in the railroad

interest, Gen. Stark has found time for attention to duties in other

directions. In 1857 he was commissioned, by Gov. Haile of New Hampshire,

as brigadier-general of the third brigade of New Hampshire militia. In

1860 he accepted the post of colonel commanding of the Governor's

Horse-Guards, an organization comprising the _elite_ of the military men

of the State. In 1861, in the capacity of brigadier-general, he received

orders from Governor Goodwin to proceed to Portsmouth and take charge of

the organization of troops, at the opening of the rebellion. The

promptness and efficiency with which this service was performed is still

fresh in the memory of the public, and the state owes the management of

this recruiting station much of the credit attached to New Hampshire for

promptly responding to the call of the general government. At one time

fifteen hundred troops were at this station, waiting orders from the war

department.

Gen. Stark has not been prominent in political life, or identified with

the intrigues and contests of political partisanship. The political

affinities of his ancestors were with the Democratic party, and he has

been identified with it, yet promptly breaking the restraints of

strictly party lines at the call of patriotism, as at the opening of the

late civil war. In the four years succeeding 1856 he represented the

first ward of Nashua in the state legislature, and in 1860 and 1861 was

the candidate of the Democratic party for governor. While at this period

party spirit was embittered and active, and the Republicans largely in

the ascendant, the conservative and popular character of their leader

gave the Democrats a handsome gain in the popular vote.

The qualities of character that contribute to success in large fields of

commercial enterprise are sometimes difficult to define, while their

influence is apparent and is seen and felt by all. A prominent trait is

great deliberation in reaching decisions, yet firmness in maintaining

them. Sagacious insight of character in choosing agents and

subordinates, while holding them to a strict accountability, is also a

quality of executive merit. We see this last trait in a marked degree in

the small sums represented in the items, "damages" and "gratuities," in

all reports of the railroad management of Gen. Stark. Every employe,

from the highest to the lowest position, on roads under his

superintendence, had printed instructions of duties, to which he was

required to assent. Under no circumstances were men retained in

important posts who used intoxicating liquors, and no _cafe_ or

restaurant connected with the stations was allowed to keep alcoholic

drinks for sale.

In _personnel_ Gen. Stark is characterized by a quiet, deliberate, yet

courteous manner that is not disturbed by the varied conditions and

incidents of business life. This trait of an habitual mental equipoise

is a peculiarity that impresses itself prominently on an observer. He

has a natural, unrestrained manner in conversation, and social qualities

that are freely manifested in company with tested and worthy friends. As

a writer of business documents and reports he manifests power, method,

and perspicuity, and his manuscript shows a careful arrangement,

neatness and precision of chirography quite remarkable in one of his

extensive business experience. At the age of fifty-eight he is yet in

the full tide and vigor of business life. His family residence at

Nashua, though showing no taste for ostentation or display, is an

elegant structure in the villa style, furnished with every comfort and

convenience, and adorned with works of art.

Gen. Stark was married, in 1845, to Elizabeth A. Parker, daughter of

Daniel Parker, of Bedford, N. H. She died in 1846. In 1848 he was united

by marriage to Mary G. Bowers, daughter of Col. Joseph Bowers, of

Chelmsford, Mass. His two children are John F. and Emma G. Stark.

HON. HIRAM A. TUTTLE.

BY JOHN WHEELER, M. D.

Hon. HIRAM A. TUTTLE was born in Barnstead, October 16, 1837, being the

elder of a family of two sons. His father, George Tuttle, and his

grandfather, Col. John Tuttle, were also natives of the same town. His

great-grandfather, John Tuttle, settled in Barnstead in 1776, coming

there from that locality in Dover known as "Back River," where a part of

the Tuttle family had resided since the settlement there of their

emigrant ancestor, John Tuttle, who came from England before 1641.

His mother, Judith Mason Davis, is a descendant from Samuel Davis, a

soldier of the Revolution, and one of the primeval settlers of

Barnstead. Brave soldiers of the Davis family from four generations have

represented that town in the four great wars in which the country has

been engaged.

When Mr. Tuttle was nine years of age he moved, with his father's

family, to the adjoining town of Pittsfield, where he attended the

public schools and Pittsfield Academy, while the latter was under the

charge, successively, of I. F. Folsom, Lewis W. Clark, and Prof. Dyer H.

Sanborn.

After having been engaged in several vocations, in all of which he

showed industry and faithfulness, at the age of seventeen years he

became connected with the clothing establishment of Lincoln & Shaw, of

Concord, where he remained several years. The ability and zeal which he

exhibited while there won for him the confidence and respect of his

employers, who established him in the management of a branch store in

Pittsfield, of which he soon became the proprietor. His business

increased gradually at first, and then rapidly till his establishment

had gained an extensive patronage, and ranked among the largest

clothing-houses in the State. It is so favorably remembered by former

residents and patrons that orders are received for goods from distant

states and territories. Mr. Tuttle has also been interested in real

estate. He has built many dwelling-houses, including a fine residence

for himself, and the best business buildings in the village. In many

ways he has promoted the growth, social and business interests, and

general prosperity of his adopted town. He is a trustee of the savings

bank, a director of the national bank, and a trustee of the academy in

Pittsfield.

[Illustration: Hiram A. Tuttle]

When he had attained his majority, in 1859, he expressed his intention

of casting his first vote with the Republicans, although all his

relatives belonged to the Democratic party. The Democrats of Pittsfield

had been victorious and powerful since the days of Jackson, under such

distinguished leaders as Moses Norris, Jr., Charles H. Butters, and

Lewis W. Clark, all being able lawyers, impressive public speakers, and

having popular manners. Mr. Norris, a native of the town, represented it

repeatedly in the legislature, was speaker of the house twice, a

councilor, representative in congress four years, and was elected to the

United States senate for six years while residing here. The ability and

courteous manners of Mr. Clark (now Judge Lewis W. Clark) made him no

less popular than Mr. Norris, with all classes, during the shorter time

he was in business life in town. Seeing in young Tuttle qualities that

might make him troublesome if opposed to them, but useful if in accord

with their party, the Democrats used their most eminent persuasive

powers to induce him to cleave to the party of all his kindred and vote

with the hitherto victorious; but he obeyed his convictions and remained

true to the Republican party. In 1860 the Republicans, though so long

hopelessly beaten, made a sharp contest. When the day of election came,

Mr. Clark was elected moderator, having been a most acceptable presiding

officer for several years. The election of town clerk was made the test

of the strength of the two parties. After a very exciting ballot, Mr.

Tuttle was elected town clerk and the Democrats were beaten for the

first time in thirty-three years. Although Pittsfield has a Democratic

majority under normal circumstances, Mr. Tuttle has received the support

of a large majority of its votes at times when his name has been

presented for position. In 1873 and 1874 he was representative to the

legislature. In 1876 he received an appointment, with the rank of

colonel, on the staff of Governor Cheney, and with the governor and

staff visited the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia. He was elected

a member of the executive council from the second district in 1878, and

was re-elected in 1879, under the new constitution, for the term of two

years.

Mr. Tuttle has been very successful in all that he has undertaken; but

his thrift has never made him arrogant or indifferent. He has cheerfully

shared with others the results of the good fortune that Providence has

granted him. He is an agreeable and companionable gentleman in all the

honorable relations of life. As a citizen, neighbor, and friend, he is

held in the highest estimation. He has furnished employment for many,

and has been kind to the poor, very respectful to the aged, charitable

to the erring, and a sympathizing helper of the embarrassed and

unfortunate. Few men have more or firmer personal friends whose

friendship is founded on kindness and substantial favors received. He

gives with remarkable generosity to all charitable objects presented to

him, and is very hospitable in his pleasant home. Mr. Tuttle accepts the

Christian religion, and worships with the Congregational church. While

he contributes very liberally for the support of the denomination of his

choice, he does not withhold a helping hand from the other religious

sects in his town. In his domestic relations he has been very fortunate.

He married, in 1859, Miss Mary C. French, the only child of John L.

French, Esq., formerly cashier of the Pittsfield bank. Their only

child,--Hattie French Tuttle,--born January 17, 1861, is a member of the

junior class in Wellesley College.

REV. ALONZO A. MINER, D. D.

BY REV. GEORGE H. EMERSON, D. D.

The subject of this sketch owes his name to the grace of one of

England's greatest kings. In the wars between England and France, to

which belongs the renown of Cressy and Poictiers, the English sovereigns

accepted such assistance in munitions and men as their subjects could

proffer. Henry Bullman of Mendippe Hills, Somersetshire, was a miner. He

fitted out a company of one hundred, armed with battle-axes, many of

them laborers in his mines, and presented the same to Edward III. for

his use in Continental conquest. In his gratitude Edward conferred upon

him a coat of arms and gave him the name of "Miner." This honored

subject, and the first of the name of Miner, died in 1359. From him

descended Thomas Miner, who came to Boston with the elder Winthrop in

1630. Charles Miner, of the fifth generation from Thomas, was a

Revolutionary soldier. At the close of the war he removed from

Connecticut to New Hampshire.

A descendant of King Edward's friend, seventh in descent from Thomas,

the grandson of Charles, ALONZO AMES MINER was the son of Benajah Ames

and Amanda (Cary) Miner,--an only son and the second of five children.

He was born at Lempster, Sullivan county, N. H., Aug. 17, 1814.

Grace Miner, granddaughter of Thomas, above named, married Samuel Grant,

Jr., of Windsor, Conn., April 11, 1688. From that union descended

Ulysses S. Grant, ex-President of the United States.

The subject of this sketch inherited neither fortune nor even health.

Mental powers, a constitutional integrity, and a lack of the lower

ambitions came as his only birthright. All else is his by conquest. Till

the years of late boyhood he was an invalid. His opportunities for

education in the village school were very intermittent. His feeble

health and a grave uncertainty as to his ever reaching mature manhood

constantly broke in upon the systematic training of the school. He

filled out the school studies in the invalid's chair at home. None

predicted for him length of days. Even the cautious physician made

thirty years the utmost limit of life allotted him. He, however,

supplemented his broken studies with academic training at Hopkinton,

Lebanon, and Franklin, N. H., and at Cavendish, Vt. Beginning public

life as a school-teacher at the age of sixteen, he took charge of the

village school, alternating this labor with his studies at the

academies. His pupilage at Cavendish was soon followed by promotion. Mr.

John Garvin was the principal. He was a very zealous Calvinist. Young

Miner was a no less zealous Universalist. It was at a time when

sectarian lines were sharply drawn. It was then a custom with zealous

Calvinists to regard Universalists, not simply as unsound in doctrine,

but also as wicked in life and conduct! But Mr. Garvin saw something in

the young pupil that dispelled the prejudice. He took him into

partnership in the management of the school in 1834. In this position

young Miner served a year.

[Illustration: A. A. Miner]

In 1835, certain gentlemen of Unity, proposing to establish an academy

at that village, saw in Mr. Miner, now near his majority, their man. He

accepted their proposition. The school, named the "Scientific and

Military Academy," was for both sexes, with military training for boys.

Four years of his principalship were successful beyond expectation. In

some of the terms the number of scholars reached one hundred and fifty.

August 24, 1836, he was married to Maria S. Perley of Lempster, who

entered the school as preceptress. She has ever been his faithful and

devoted helpmeet.

Not a few of those who have strong sympathy with Dr. Miner's theological

belief are persuaded that there was something providential in his call

to the ministry of the Universalist church,--the service he has rendered

that body being so great, in several regards so exceptional. He does not

appear to have been converted to Universalism. He literally was a "born

Universalist." While anxious friends assigned but a narrow limit to so

frail a constitution, the invalid felt that his place was to be in the

ministry of the Universalist church. Of this he made no secret. It

became a matter of course that on reaching maturity he would become a

preacher of the faith he so deeply cherished.

The success of the Unity school might have fixed another in the

profession of teaching. It had no weight in diverting Mr. Miner from

what he deemed a higher call. Several of his patrons solicited him to

begin his ministry in Unity in connection with his school duties. He

complied. In February, 1838, he preached his first sermon in Chester,

Vt. In the following May he began a regular ministry, preaching half of

the time in Unity, and devoting the other half to a circuit which

included about twenty of the neighboring villages. After six months of

this twofold labor he resigned his principalship; but he was persuaded

to remain yet another year,--all the time filling his appointments on

Sunday. At the New Hampshire convention of Universalists, held at

Nashua, June, 1839, he was ordained to the sacred office. In the

November succeeding he was called to the pastorate of the Universalist

church at Methuen, Mass. Such was the success of his new labors that a

reputation for very exceptional gifts as an orator, logician, and

preacher, spread. It was seen that his call to a larger and more

exacting field of duty was but a question of early time.

In the city of Lowell, the Rev. Abel C. Thomas had met with

extraordinary success as pastor of the Second Universalist church. After

a pastorate of little less than three years he resigned to accept a call

to Brooklyn, N. Y. Certain of his parishioners said to him, in the

hearing of the writer of this sketch, that his withdrawal would be a

calamity to the Lowell parish. Grateful for this tribute he replied:

"Put into the pulpit the man I will name, and I pledge you that the

church shall go on prospering and to prosper." There was a pause and all

ears were both curious and anxious. Mr. Thomas added: "That man is A. A.

Miner." A unanimous call of the committee and of the congregation was

extended. On the first Sunday of July 1842, the Rev. A. A. Miner

preached his introductory sermon as pastor of the Lowell Second

Universalist parish. The prediction of Mr. Thomas proved true. In a

pastorate of six years Mr. Miner greatly strengthened, materially and

spiritually, the church to which he ministered. In cordial co-operation

with the pastor of the First Universalist church,--at first Rev. Thomas

B. Thayer, and afterwards Rev. E. G. Brooks,--he labored with eminent

success. The citizens soon discovered that the new minister was of

"many-sided talents." Then began that drain upon his strength, branching

off, according to his specialties, into as many channels, whereby he has

been, perhaps, as thoroughly and as variously "utilized" as any man of

this period. Then began trusts, official positions on school boards,

charity boards, and every other conceivable board, the faithful

performance of any one of which would have made an average

reputation,--all discharged by one person, and he never having a

thoroughly healthy day, presents simply a marvel.

During an early year of his Lowell ministry, a crisis came in the career

of the Universalist church; and Lowell happened to be its turning point.

There was a Universalist paper published at Lowell, the _Star of

Bethlehem_. It was edited by the Universalist pastors. A third parish

had been founded, and the Rev. H. G. Smith became its pastor. He was

associated with Messrs. Miner and Brooks in the management of the paper,

each contributing over his own signature. About the year 1842 the

Unitarian ministry was suddenly rent by one of its ministers, in

ability, magnetism, and rhetorical skill without a peer among his

brethren,--the Rev. Theodore Parker. He had adopted German rationalism

in regard to the Bible and Christianity, and by the boldness of his

utterances and the felicity of his manner was rapidly forming that

radical wing which to-day appears to dominate in the Unitarian body.

Such a leading was not likely to be restricted to any one sect. Was it

to enter and change the character of the Universalist movement? The Rev.

Mr. Smith showed that he was thoroughly imbued with the new doctrine;

and he was rapidly making converts among the younger members of his

ministerial fraternity. Rev. Messrs. Miner and Brooks, fully persuaded

that the new idea was a false one, thought that they foresaw that its

free acceptance by the Universalist ministry and people would at an

early day endanger the stability of their church. They met the issue

without reserve and with no regard to consequences personal to

themselves. In the pulpit and in the paper they vigorously protested

against the course of Mr. Smith. An anxious discussion followed, and it

spread. It was taken into the ecclesiastical body, the Boston

Association, where a resolution deprecating and protesting against the

"deistical innovation" was passed by a strong majority. This was in

1847. A few years later the writer of this inquired of the Rev. Thomas

Whittemore in regard to that rationalistic excitement. His answer was,

"Miner and Brooks took it in hand at Lowell and the Association killed

it." This episode apparently weakened the Universalist cause in Lowell.

The writer is one of the large number who have no doubt that the

promptness and thoroughness of the Lowell pastors averted a calamity.

May 1, 1848, Mr. Miner was called to the pastorate of the School-street

church, Boston. Having the entire confidence of his renowned senior, the

Rev. Hosea Ballou, he rapidly worked disaffection out of the parish,

thoroughly organized it, got the more than confidence of its leading

members; and he has carried it forward to the present day with a degree

of high success seldom paralleled in any denomination. In the early part

of the year 1851 his people decided to enlarge the edifice. The closing

of services while the reconstruction was in progress gave Mr. Miner an

opportunity to recruit his wasted strength by European travel. In June,

1852, Rev. Hosea Ballou died full of honors. Another call upon his

administrative ability as president of Tufts College led to the

settlement of associate pastors. But, apart from these interludes, Dr.

Miner has been the sole pastor since the death of Mr. Ballou.

In the movement to found Tufts College, of the very small number of

devoted friends, Dr. Miner has not occupied a second place. Subscribing

himself liberally, a few of his parishioners felt the contagion of

example and made generous pledges. The Rev. Otis A. Skinner, D. D., was

the first agent for collecting funds, and with heroic perseverance in

this pioneer work he raised the larger part of $100,000,--the minimum

upon which the work could begin. This, however, was but a beginning. The

assets to-day are not far from one million dollars. The influence of Dr.

Miner in reaching this result has been pre-eminent. The corner-stone was

laid in 1853. Mr. Miner giving the address. On the death of its first

president, Rev. Hosea Ballou, 2d, D. D., Mr. Miner was constrained to

accept the presidency. He was inaugurated, July 9, 1862. Previous to

this, the principal trust, he had served the college as trustee,

secretary, and treasurer. It was largely by his devices that the money

was raised to meet the current expenses during the infancy and the

poverty of the institution.

In 1863 Harvard College conferred upon him the honorary S. T. D. He had

received the honorary A. M. from Tufts in 1861; and that of LL. D. was

conferred by Tufts in 1875. His presidency continued till 1875, at which

date he acceded to the urgent call of his parish, and resigned the

presidency of the college and took the sole pastorate of his church,

which, in 1872, had dedicated the large and costly temple at the corner

of Columbus avenue and Clarendon street, in which it has worshiped from

that date to the present. Again his labor was effective. Out of the

pulpit as well as in it, giving his heart and energy to its interests,

the old parish entered upon a new era of prosperity. A pastor does well

who holds to himself one generation. Dr. Miner now has under his

influence a third generation, and the "spell" is not weakened. In the

period of his pastorates, he has conducted more than one thousand eight

hundred funeral services, and solemnized more than two thousand five

hundred weddings.

On removing to Boston, in 1848, Mr. Miner found himself in the center of

new calls upon his "many-sided" talents. He was seen to be financier,

organizer, popular leader, platform orator. Thence "missions" multiplied

and increased. The limits of this sketch permit but the baldest

statement of his labors, all of which he has rendered with singular

skill. Of course he was put upon the school board of the city. Then the

state made demands, and he is now serving a second term of eight years

on the state board of education. At a dinner given in his honor on

occasion of his departure for a short period to California, the then

Gov. Washburn bore testimony to the inventiveness and far-reaching

wisdom with which he was aiding to advance the educational interests of

the commonwealth. He has been six years chairman of the board of

visitors of the state normal art school. He has served as one of the

overseers of Harvard College. He is one of the "hundred orators," having

delivered the Fourth of July oration in Boston in 1855. Add to such

duties constant lecturing before lyceums, temperance meetings, and peace

societies, his frequent addresses at academic commencements, and

membership of various associations which we have not space to

mention,--how so many offices can be discharged, and all with

acknowledged fidelity, is a question that perplexes. In the way of duty

he has made enemies. But neither friends nor foes ever accused him of

seeking any of these high responsibilities. In every instance the

position sought the man. His pre-eminent gift has seemed to the writer

to consist in speaking to a point and with a view to a particular

effect. When he appeared before the legislative committee to plead for a

state grant to Tufts College, the committee unanimously reported in

favor,--one of the members adding that the eloquence with which the

claim had been urged had convinced the committee that it _was_ a claim.

The late Samuel Burbank of Lowell gave the writer this incident: Dr.

Miner had occasion to address a meeting of stockholders of an insurance

company whose affairs had got into a bad way. When he was through, the

late Samuel Lawrence, turning to Mr. Burbank, said: "That is the

Universalist minister,--well, if he will abandon his pulpit he may have

charge of any of our manufactories at any salary he may ask."

Like his faith, Dr. Miner's interest in the temperance reform is a "born

conviction." From his youth to his present hour, he has never wavered in

his belief that the drinking curse is the giant evil. In the pulpit, the

lyceum, the caucus, on the platform, he has labored to create and

enforce law to resist the ever threatening danger. In politics he makes

it the chief state issue, and in 1878 was the candidate of the

Prohibition party for governor of Massachusetts. In 1867 he led before

the legislative committee the protest against the repeal of the

prohibitory law, in opposition to the efforts of Gov. Andrew. His speech

on that occasion has become an arsenal of facts pertaining to the ethics

and the practicability of the statute. Rev. Theodore L. Cuyler, D. D.,

said to the writer of this: "Your Dr. Miner has made a great speech,--a

very great one: it will never be answered." For ten years he has been

the president of the Temperance Alliance. In token of his great service

before the legislature, the Alliance presented him a costly Dore Bible.

He also had another "token" in the shape of threatened violence and the

defacement of his house. This was meant as dishonor. Dishonor? Could the

apostle articulate his thought, for what titles Jerusalem could have

conferred would he exchange the "forty stripes save one?"

But in all these varied toils, his church and faith have had the

uppermost place. By instinct and habit an extemporaneous speaker, the

one field he has least worked is that of literature with the pen. An

occasional article for the church periodicals and a Sunday-school manual

have at times occupied him. But most of his published works were spoken,

and taken down by reporters. He is one of some half-dozen Boston

preachers who are favorites with the reporters of the Boston dailies.

"Old Forts Taken," his latest publication, was the rhetoric of his "off

hand" speaking, save as the transcript of the reporter may have been

revised. But, whether laboring by speech or pen, he has never permitted

any duty or position to hold other than a second place beside his duties

to the church of his love.

In the movement which has transformed the once scattered societies of

his denomination into a compact, organized, and working church, no one

has rendered a more effective service. Of its first Home Mission he is

literally the pioneer. No one more faithfully represents the

controversial and aggressive spirit of the doctrines of his Church; but

no one has done more to make that church effective for practical

righteousness and Christian worship. He has now reached the decline, not

of his powers, nor of his zeal, nor of his work, but only of his years.

May the evening of his days be as serene and pleasant as his youth and

maturity have been industrious, faithful, and true.

[Illustration: Henry O. Kent]

COL. HENRY O. KENT.

BY H. H. METCALF.

Among the best known of the representative men of New Hampshire, Col.

HENRY O. KENT of Lancaster is conceded a prominent position. The Kent

family is of English origin, the first of the name in this country being

among the settlers of old Newbury, Mass., in 1635. John Kent, a scion of

this stock, died in 1780, at Cape Ann, Mass., aged eighty years. His

son, Jacob, born at Chebacco (now Essex), Mass., in 1726, settled in

Plaistow in this state. In 1760, a regiment commanded by Col. John Goffe

was raised in New Hampshire for the invasion of Canada, one company of

which was officered by John Hazen, captain; Jacob Kent (above named),

first lieutenant; and Timothy Beadle, second lieutenant. This regiment

marched to Number Four (Charlestown), cutting a road through the forest

to the Green Mountains, and thence to Crown Point on Lake Champlain,

where they took water transportation. After a successful campaign they

returned through the wilderness, _via_ the Newbury meadows or the "Cohos

country," with the fertility of which region Lieut.-Col. Jacob Bayley,

Capt. Hazen, and Lieutenants Kent and Beadle were so favorably impressed

that they determined to return and found a settlement. The project was

soon carried out, Bayley and Kent locating on the western, and Hazen and

Beadle on the eastern, side of the river, from which settlements sprang

the towns of Newbury and Haverhill. Jacob Kent died at Newbury, in 1812,

at the age of eighty-six years. He was a noted man in his section,

commander of the first company of militia in the towns of Newbury and

Haverhill "in our province of New Hampshire," as says his commission,

signed in 1764 by Benning Wentworth, which, with his sword, borne in two

wars, is now in Col. Kent's possession. During the Revolution, while

burdened with the cares of the infant settlement, he was an earnest

actor in the scenes which gave us our independence. He was colonel of

the forces in his vicinity, and on the advance of Burgoyne started with

his regiment for the field, and was present with it at the capitulation

at Saratoga. The original homestead is still in the family, Col. Jacob

Kent--a gentleman through a long life well known in the political,

military, and social circles of Vermont--being the present owner.

Jacob Kent, first named, left three sons,--Jacob, John, and Joseph. John

Kent, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, settled in the town of

Lyman, where he died in 1842, leaving four sons and one daughter. The

father of Col. Kent--Richard Peabody Kent--was one of these sons, his

mother, Tabitha Peabody, being a daughter of Lieutenant Richard Peabody

of the Revolutionary army. He is still in active business in Lancaster,

where he settled and engaged in mercantile pursuits in 1828. During this

long career his affairs have been transacted with scrupulous integrity,

exactitude, and honor. Though never in public life, he has always taken

a deep interest in the material and educational welfare of the

community. On the maternal side the ancestry of Col. Kent is traced to

Richard Mann, "a planter in the family of Elder Brewster," who was one

of the colony of the Mayflower. From him descended that John Mann, born

December 25, 1743, who was the first permanent settler of the town of

Orford, N. H., October, 1765. To him were born fifteen children, of whom

Solomon Mann was well known in the state. Emily, second daughter of

Solomon Mann, married Henry Oakes, an active and well known business man

at Waterford and Fairlee, Vt. To Henry and Emily (Mann) Oakes were born

three daughters and a son. One of the daughters, Emily Mann Oakes, was

married to Richard P. Kent at Littleton, June 5, 1832. To this union

there were born three children--sons--Henry Oakes, Edward Richard, and

Charles Nelson.

HENRY OAKES KENT was born in Lancaster, February 7, 1834. He attended

the district school and Lancaster Academy, and graduated from Norwich

Military University in the class of 1854, receiving later the degree of

A. M. He studied law with Hon Jacob Benton, and was admitted to the bar

at Lancaster in May, 1858. Soon after, he became the proprietor of the

_Coos Republican_, and assumed the editorial and business management of

that paper, his strong interest in political affairs and the fortunes of

the Republican party, with which he was actively indentified, impelling

him to this step, in taking which he relinquished the prospect of a

successful and distinguished career at the bar. In the management of the

_Republican_, both financial and editorial, he displayed rare skill and

ability. His leading articles were always strong, vigorous, earnest, and

secured for his paper, notwithstanding its remote location from the

Capital, an influential position among the party journals of the state.

It is safe to say that from the time when he assumed its management

until 1870, when he sold it,--a period of twelve years,--no paper in the

state rendered more efficient support to the party with which it was

allied, or advocated more heartily all measures tending to advance the

material prosperity of the section in which it was located, than did the

_Coos Republican_ under the direction of Col. Kent.

Since 1870 he has attended to a large and growing general office

business, to which he had previously given more or less attention, and

also to the interests of the Savings Bank for the County of Coos, for

which institution he secured the charter in 1868, and of which he is and

has been a trustee and the treasurer. He is also an owner and manager of

the Lancaster paper-mill; is treasurer of the Pleasant Valley Starch

Company, and is president of the Lancaster and Kilkenny Railroad

Company, a corporation organized to develop the resources of the

adjoining forest town of Kilkenny. The encouragement of local enterprise

and industry has, indeed, always been one of his characteristics.

As has been indicated, Col. Kent entered political life as a Republican,

and was an active advocate of the cause and policy of that party, with

pen and voice, until after the election of Gen. Grant to the presidency.

In 1855, when but twenty-one years of age, he was chosen assistant clerk

of the house of representatives, and re-elected the following year. In

1857 he was chosen clerk of the house, discharging the duties of that

office, for three successive years, with a readiness and efficiency

which have never been excelled by any incumbent. In those days the

previous question was not in vogue, and roll-calls were frequent. So

familiar did Col. Kent become with the roll, which embraced over three

hundred names, that he called it from memory, and it is related that,

having called the roll nineteen times in one day, it became so impressed

upon his mind that he called it over at night in his sleep, after

retiring at the Eagle. In 1862 he was chosen a representative from

Lancaster, and served with marked ability, his previous experience as

clerk admirably fitting him for the discharge of legislative duties. He

served that year as chairman of the committee on military affairs; a

position of great importance, considering the fact that we were then in

the midst of the war period. His next appearance in the legislature was

in 1868, when he served as chairman of the committee on railroads, and

again in 1869, when he was at the head of the finance committee. During

each year of his legislative service he occupied a prominent position

among the leaders of his party in the house, displaying marked ability

in debate, and energy and industry in the committee-room.

In 1858 a commission was appointed, by the states of Maine and New

Hampshire, "to ascertain, survey, and mark" the boundary between them.

The line had been established in 1784, and revised in 1825, when Ichabod

Bartlett and John W. Weeks were the commissioners on the part of New

Hampshire. The duty of representing this state upon the commission of

1858 was assigned to Col. Kent, and the work was performed during the

autumn of that year, through the wilderness, from the Crown Monument, as

far south as the towns of Fryeburg and Conway. Col. Kent's connection

with this work is perpetuated in the mountain bearing his name, on the

northeastern frontier, laid down on the state map of 1860, and in

subsequent surveys. In 1864 he was one of the presidential electors of

this state, and from 1866 to 1868 inclusive, he was one of the bank

commissioners.

At the outbreak of the rebellion Col. Kent volunteered in aid of the

Union cause. He was ordered to Concord by Gov. Goodwin, commissioned

assistant adjutant-general, with the rank of colonel, and assigned to

duty in the recruiting service. Raising a company in a few days at

Lancaster, he was ordered to Portsmouth, where he aided to organize and

send out the Second Regiment and to fit the garrison at Fort

Constitution. He continued on duty as assistant adjutant-general (the

only one ever appointed in New Hampshire) until after the earlier

regiments had left the state; but when a call was issued for three

additional regiments from New Hampshire, in the fall of 1862, he was

commissioned colonel of the Seventeenth, which was raised mainly by his

personal efforts and upon the strength of his name, and organized and

thoroughly drilled and disciplined under his command. Under the

exigencies of the service, however, and by orders received from the

secretary of war, the regiment was consolidated with the Second, whose

ranks had become heavily depleted, the men being transferred and the

officers necessarily mustered out, the governor in "general orders,"

regretting the necessity for this action and complimenting the

Seventeenth for its high discipline and soldierly demeanor. As it was,

few men, if any, in the state, did more than Col. Kent to promote the

efficiency of the service, and to maintain the reputation of New

Hampshire for prompt and patriotic effort in the Union cause,--a cause

which he sustained by pen and voice and active personal effort

throughout the entire struggle. He has been connected with the Grand

Army of the Republic since its organization, is past commander of his

Post, and is a frequent and popular speaker at the Veterans' reunions

and on Memorial-day occasions.

Col. Kent was an active member of the organization known as the

"Governor's Horse-Guards," which was formed for parade on the occasion

of the annual inauguration of the governor, in which he held the office

of major in 1860, and rode as colonel in 1863, 1864, and 1865.

In his association with, and labor for, the Republican party, Col. Kent

was actuated by his opposition to the institution of slavery, which he

regarded as prejudicial to the republic. He maintained his convictions

earnestly, yet candidly, in his paper and on the stump. But after the

war and the downfall of slavery, he favored the burial of past issues

and sectional bitterness, and the restoration of fraternal relations, as

essential to the general prosperity of the country. Regarding the policy

of the administration as inimical to such result, he was unable to

sustain it. He therefore disposed of his paper, which as a party organ

he could not conscientiously carry to the opposition, and engaged in the

development and organization of the Liberal movement, which resulted in

the Cincinnati convention and the nomination of Horace Greeley for

president in 1872. He participated in that convention, and was a member

of the National and chairman of the State Liberal Republican committee

in 1872 and 1873. In 1873 the Liberals ran an independent state ticket,

but united with the Democracy on a common platform in 1874. The

resolutions of the Liberal convention, announcing such purpose, were

presented in the Democratic convention by Col. Kent, whose appearance

and announcement elicited strong demonstrations of enthusiasm in that

body. The campaign thus opened, ended in the election of a Democratic

governor and legislature,--a result to which the earnest labors of Col.

Kent largely contributed. In recognition of his efficient services, as

well as acknowledged ability, he was accorded the Democratic

congressional nomination in the third district in 1875, and again in

1877 and 1878. In each of the attendant canvasses, he spoke

continuously, and ran largely ahead of his party vote, especially in his

own town and vicinity. In all subsequent campaigns Col. Kent has

heartily devoted his energies to the furtherance of Democratic

principles, and has been active upon the stump in New Hampshire and

outside the state, and always with numerous calls and large audiences.

Col. Kent is now fully engaged in the direction of his business

concerns, which furnish an ample field for his energies and talent; yet

he has in no degree abated his interest in public and political affairs.

As has been said, he has given earnest encouragement to all enterprises

calculated to promote the material welfare and prosperity of his

section. In the advancement of educational interests he has also been

earnestly engaged. He is a trustee and chairman of the executive

committee of the corporation of Lancaster Academy, and is also a trustee

of Norwich University, and president of the "Associated Alumni and Past

Cadets" of that institution. In 1875 he addressed the Associated Alumni

at their reunion, and in 1876, by request, delivered an address at

commencement which for its eloquence and patriotic sentiments secured

hearty and general commendation. He was, last year, one of the

corporators of the Yorktown Centennial Association, named by the

legislature of Virginia. He has long been prominent in the Masonic

order, having passed the chair in North Star Lodge at Lancaster, and

frequently been district deputy grand master. In 1868 and 1869 he was

grand commander of the order of Knights Templars and appendant orders

for the jurisdiction of New Hampshire. In 1880 he was made the recipient

of a past masters badge of solid gold, from the Masons of his section.

Col. Kent was married, in Boston, January 11, 1859, to Berenice A.

Rowell. They have two children, a daughter,--Berenice Emily,--born

October 31, 1866, and a son,--Henry Percy,--born March 8, 1870. His

religious associations are with the Episcopal church, and he is, with

his family, a regular attendant upon the service of St. Paul's at

Lancaster.

Of fine presence, genial and courteous manners, and strong personal

magnetism, public spirited, generous, and obliging, his popularity in

his section is great, as is evidenced by the large vote which he always

receives when his name is upon the ticket, in his own town. Still young,

endowed with strong mental powers, well known as a writer and public

speaker, ambitious and courageous, it is fair to presume that he will

yet attain still greater prominence and usefulness in public and private

life.

[Illustration: Marshall P. Wilder

_PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY AND PRESIDENT OF THE

UNITES STATES AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY._

Portrait taken at the age of seventy.]

MARSHALL P. WILDER, PH. D.

BY JOHN WARD DEAN, A. M.,

Librarian of the New England Historic-Genealogical Society.

There are few men in our community whose lives afford as striking an

example of what can be achieved by concentration of power and

unconquerable perseverance as does that of Col. WILDER. The bare

enumeration of the important positions he has held, and still holds, and

the self-sacrificing labors he has performed is abundant evidence of the

extraordinary talent and ability, and the personal power and influence,

which have enabled him to take a front rank as a benefactor to mankind.

MARSHALL PINCKNEY WILDER, whose christian names were given in honor of

Chief-Justice Marshall and General Pinckney, eminent statesmen at the

time he was born, was the oldest son of Samuel Locke Wilder, Esq., of

Rindge, N. H., and was born in that town, September 22, 1798. His

father, a nephew of the Rev. Samuel Locke, D.D., president of Harvard

College, for whom he was named, was thirteen years a representative in

the New Hampshire legislature, a member of the Congregational church in

Rindge and held important town offices there. His mother, Anna, daughter

of Jonathan and Mary (Crombie) Sherwin, (married May 2, 1797,) a lady of

great moral worth, was, as her son is, a warm admirer of the beauties of

nature.

The Wilders are an ancient English family, which the "Book of the

Wilders," published a few years ago, traces to Nicholas Wilder, a

military chieftain in the army of the Earl of Richmond at the battle of

Bosworth, 1485. There is strong presumptive evidence that the American

family is an offshoot from this. President Chadbourne in his life of

Col. Wilder, and the author of the "Book of the Wilders," give reasons

for this opinion. The paternal ancestors of Col. Wilder in this country

performed meritorious services in the Indian wars, in the American

revolution, and in Shays' rebellion. His grandfather was one of the

seven delegates from the county of Worcester, in the Massachusetts

convention of 1788, for ratifying the constitution of the United States,

who voted in favor of it. Isaac Goodwin, Esq., in the Worcester

Magazine, Vol. II. page 45, bears this testimony: "Of all the ancient

Lancaster families, there is no one that has sustained so many important

offices as that of Wilder."

At the age of four Marshall was sent to school, and at twelve he entered

New Ipswich Academy, his father desiring to give him a collegiate

education, with reference to a profession. When he reached the age of

sixteen, his father gave him the choice, either to qualify himself for a

farmer, or for a merchant, or to fit for college. He chose to be a

farmer; and to this choice may we attribute in no small degree the

mental and physical energy which has distinguished so many years of his

life. But the business of his father increased so much that he was

taken into the store. He here acquired such habits of industry that at

the age of twenty-one he became a partner, and was appointed postmaster

of Rindge.

In 1825, he sought a wider field of action and removed to Boston. Here

he began business under the firm name of Wilder & Payson, in Union

street, then as Wilder & Smith, in North Market street, and next in his

own name, at No. 3, Central wharf. In 1837 he became a partner in the

commission house of Parker, Blanchard, & Wilder, Water street, next

Parker, Wilder, & Parker, Pearl street, and now Parker, Wilder, & Co.,

Winthrop square. Mr. Wilder is the oldest commission merchant in

domestic fabrics in active business in Boston. He has passed through

various crises of commercial embarrassments, and yet he has never failed

to meet his obligations. He was an original director in the Hamilton,

now Hamilton National, Bank, and in the National Insurance Company. The

latter trust he has held over forty years, and he is now in his fiftieth

year in the former. He has been a director in the New England Mutual

Life Insurance Company for nearly forty years, and also a director in

other similar institutions.

But trade and the acquisition of wealth have not been the all-engrossing

pursuits of his life. His inherent love of rural pursuits led him, in

1832, to purchase a house in Dorchester originally built by Gov.

Increase Sumner, where, after devoting a proper time to business, he

gave his leisure to horticulture and agriculture. He spared no expense,

he rested from no efforts, to instill into the public mind a love of an

employment so honorable and useful. He cultivated his own grounds,

imported seeds, plants, and trees, and endeavored by his example to

encourage labor and elevate the rank of the husbandman. His garden,

green-houses, and a forest of fruit-trees occupied the time he could

spare from business, and here he has prosecuted his favorite

investigations, year after year, for half a century, to the present day.

Soon after the Massachusetts Horticultural Society was formed, Mr.

Wilder was associated with the late Gen. Henry A. S. Dearborn, its first

president, and from that time till now has been one of its most

efficient members, having two years since delivered the oration on the

occasion of its fiftieth anniversary. One of the most important acts of

this society was the purchase of Mount Auburn for a cemetery and an

ornamental garden. On the separation of the cemetery from the society,

in 1835, through Mr. Wilder's influence, committees were appointed by

the two corporations, Judge Story being chairman of the cemetery

committee, and Mr. Wilder of the society committee. The situation was

fraught with great difficulties; but Mr. Wilder's conservative course,

everywhere acknowledged, overcame them all, and enabled the society to

erect an elegant hall in School street, and afterwards the splendid

building it now occupies in Tremont street, the most magnificent

horticultural hall in the world. In 1840 he was chosen president, and

held the office for eight successive years. During his presidency the

hall in School street was erected, and two triennial festivals were held

in Faneuil Hall, which are particularly worthy of notice. The first was

opened September 11, 1845, and the second on the fiftieth anniversary of

his birth, September 22, 1848, when he retired from the office of

president, and the society voted him a silver pitcher valued at one

hundred and fifty dollars, and caused his portrait to be placed in its

hall. As president of this association he headed a circular for a

convention of fruit-growers, which was held in New York, October 10,

1848, when the American Pomological Society was formed. He was chosen

its first president, and he still holds that office, being in his

thirty-third year of service. Its biennial meetings have been held in

New York, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Boston, Rochester, St. Louis,

Richmond, Chicago, and Baltimore. On these occasions President Wilder

has made appropriate addresses. The last meeting was held September,

1881, at Boston, where he presided with his usual vigor and propriety,

at the advanced age of eighty-three.

In February, 1849, the Norfolk Agricultural Society was formed. Mr.

Wilder was chosen president, and the Hon. Charles Francis Adams,

vice-president. Before this society, his first address on agricultural

education was delivered. This was the first general effort in that cause

in this country. He was president twenty years, and on his retirement he

was constituted honorary president, and a resolution was passed

recognizing his eminent ability and usefulness in promoting the arts of

horticulture and agriculture, and his personal excellence in every

department of life. He next directed his efforts to establishing the

Massachusetts board of agriculture, organized, as the Massachusetts

Central Board of Agriculture, at a meeting of delegates of agricultural

societies in the state, September, 1851, in response to a circular

issued by him as president, of the Norfolk Agricultural Society. He was

elected president, and held the office till 1852, when it became a

department of the state, and he is now the senior member of that board.

In 1858 the Massachusetts School of Agriculture was incorporated, and he

was chosen president; but before the school was opened congress granted

land to the several states for agricultural colleges, and in 1865 the

legislature incorporated the Massachusetts Agricultural College. He was

named the first trustee. In 1871 the first class was graduated, and in

1878 he had the honor of conferring the degree of Bachelor of Science on

twenty young gentlemen graduates. He delivered addresses on both

occasions. In 1852, through his instrumentality, the United States

Agricultural Society was organized at Washington. This society, of which

he was president for the first six years, exercised a beneficial

influence till the breaking out of the late civil war. He is a member of

many horticultural and agricultural societies in this and foreign lands.

Col. Wilder, at an early age, took an interest in military affairs. At

sixteen he was enrolled in the New Hampshire militia, and at twenty-one

he was commissioned adjutant. He organized and equipped the Rindge Light

Infantry, and was chosen its captain. At twenty-five he was elected

lieutenant-colonel, and at twenty-six was commissioned as colonel of the

Twelfth Regiment.

Soon after his removal to Boston he joined the Ancient and Honorable

Artillery Company. In 1856 he was chosen commander of the corps, having

four times previously declined nominations. He entered into

correspondence with Prince Albert, commander of the Royal Artillery

Company of London, founded in 1537, of which this corps, chartered in

1638, is the only offspring. This correspondence established a friendly

intercourse between the two companies. In June, 1857, Prince Albert was

chosen a special honorary member of our company, and twenty-one years

later, in 1878, Col. Wilder, who then celebrated the fiftieth or golden

anniversary of his own membership, nominated the Prince of Wales, the

present commander of the London company, as an honorary member. They are

the only two honorary members that have been elected by the company, and

both were commanders of the Honorable Artillery Company of London when

chosen. The late elegantly illustrated history of the London company

contains a portrait of Col. Wilder as he appeared in full uniform on

that occasion.

In 1839, he was induced to serve for a single term in the Massachusetts

legislature as a representative for the town of Dorchester. In 1849 he

was elected a member of Gov. Briggs's council, and the year following, a

member of the senate and its president. In 1860, he was the member for

New England of the national committee of the "Constitutional Union

party," and attended, as chairman of the Massachusetts delegation, the

National convention in Baltimore, where John Bell and Edward Everett

were nominated for president and vice-president of the United States.

He was initiated in Charity Lodge No. 18, in Troy, N. H., at the age of

twenty-five, exalted to the Royal Arch Chapter, Cheshire No. 4, and

knighted in the Boston Encampment. He was deputy grand master of the

Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, and was one of the six thousand Masons who

signed, Dec. 31, 1831, the celebrated "Declaration of the Freemasons of

Boston and Vicinity;" and at the fiftieth anniversary of that event,

just celebrated in Boston, Mr. Wilder responded for the survivors, six

of the signers being present. He has received all the Masonic degrees,

including the 33d, or highest and last honor of the fraternity. At the

World's Masonic convention, in 1867, at Paris, he was the only delegate

from the United States who spoke at the banquet.

On the 7th of November, 1849, a festival of the Sons of New Hampshire

was celebrated in Boston. The Hon. Daniel Webster presided, and Mr.

Wilder was the first vice-president. Fifteen hundred sons of the Granite

State were present. The association again met on the 29th of October,

1852, to participate in the obsequies of Mr. Webster at Faneuil Hall. On

this occasion the legislature and other citizens of New Hampshire were

received at the Lowell depot, and addressed by Mr. Wilder in behalf of

the sons of that state resident in Boston.

The Sons celebrated their second festival Nov. 2, 1853, at which Mr.

Wilder occupied the chair as president, and delivered one of his most

eloquent speeches. They assembled again June 20, 1861, to receive and

welcome the New Hampshire regiment of volunteers and escort them to

Music Hall, where Mr. Wilder addressed them in a patriotic speech on

their departure for the field of battle.

The two hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of the settlement of

Dorchester was celebrated on the 4th of July, 1855. The oration was by

Edward Everett; Mr. Wilder presided and delivered an able address. On

the central tablet of the great pavilion was this inscription: "Marshall

P. Wilder, President of the Day. Blessed is he that turneth the waste

places into a garden, and maketh the wilderness to blossom as a rose."

In January, 1868, he was solicited to take the office of president of

the New England Historic-Genealogical Society, vacated by the death of

Gov. Andrew. He was unanimously elected, and is now serving the

fourteenth year of his presidency. At every annual meeting he has

delivered an appropriate address. In his first address he urged the

importance of procuring a suitable building for the society. In 1870, he

said: "The time has now arrived when absolute necessity, public

sentiment, and personal obligations demand that this work be done and

done quickly." Feeling himself pledged by this address, he, as chairman

of the committee then appointed, devoted three months entirely to the

object of soliciting funds, during which time more than forty thousand

dollars was generously contributed by friends of the association; and

thus the handsome edifice. No. 18 Somerset street, was procured. This

building was dedicated to the use of the society, March 18, 1871. He has

since obtained donations amounting to upwards of twelve thousand

dollars, as a fund for paying the salary of the librarian.

In 1859, he presided at the first public meeting called in Boston in

regard to the collocation of institutions on the Back Bay lands, where

the splendid edifices of the Boston Society of Natural History and the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology now stand. Of the latter

institution he has been a vice-president, and the chairman of its

Society of Arts.

He was one of the twelve representative men appointed to receive the

Prince of Wales in 1860, at the banquet given him in Boston; also one of

the commissioners in behalf of the Universal Exposition in Paris, 1867,

when he was placed at the head of the committee on horticulture and the

cultivation and products of the vine, the report of which was published

by act of congress.

In 1869, he made a trip to the South for the purpose of examining its

resources; and in 1870, with a large party, he visited California. The

result of Mr. Wilder's observations have been given to the public in a

lecture before the Massachusetts state board of agriculture, which was

repeated before the Boston Mercantile Library Association, the Amherst

and the Massachusetts Agricultural colleges, Dartmouth College, the

Horticultural Society, and the merchants of Philadelphia, and bodies in

other places.

His published speeches and writings now amount to over eighty in number.

A list to the year 1873 is printed in the "Cyclopedia of American

Literature." Dartmouth College, as a testimonial to his services in

science and literature, conferred upon him, in the year 1877, the degree

of Doctor of Philosophy.

The Hon. Paul A. Chadbourne, LL. D., late president of Williams College,

in a recent memoir of Mr. Wilder remarks: "The interest which Col.

Wilder has always manifested in the progress of education, as well as

the value and felicitous style of his numerous writings, would lead one

to infer at once that his varied knowledge and culture are the results

of college education. But he is only another illustrious example of the

men who, with only small indebtedness to schools, have proved to the

world that real men can make themselves known as such without the aid of

the college, as we have abundantly learned that the college can never

make a man of one who has not in him the elements of noble manhood

before he enters its halls."

In 1820, Mr. Wilder married Miss Tryphosa Jewett, daughter of Dr.

Stephen Jewett, of Rindge, a lady of great personal attractions. She

died on a visit to that town, July 21, 1831, leaving four children. On

the 29th of August, 1833, Mr. Wilder was united to Miss Abigail,

daughter of Capt. David Baker, of Franklin, Mass., a lady of education,

accomplishments, and piety, who died of consumption April 4, 1854,

leaving five children. He was married a third time on the 8th of

September, 1855, to her sister, Miss Julia Baker, who was admirably

qualified to console him and make his dwelling cheerful, and who has two

sons, both living. No man has been more blessed in domestic life. We

know not where there would be a more pleasing picture of peace and

contentment exhibited than is found in this happy family. In all his

pursuits and avocations, Mr. Wilder seems to have realized and practiced

that grand principle which has such a bearing and influence on the whole

course of life,--the philosophy of habit, a power almost omnipotent for

good or evil. His leisure hours he devotes to his pen, which already has

filled several large volumes with descriptions and delineations of

fruits and flowers proved under his own inspection.

The life of Col. Wilder is a striking instance of what an individual may

accomplish by industry, indomitable perseverance, and the concentration

of the intellectual powers on grand objects. Without these, no talent,

no mere good fortune could have placed him in the high position he has

attained as a public benefactor. He has been pre-eminent in the

establishment and development of institutions. Few gentlemen have been

called upon so often, and upon such various occasions, to take the chair

at public meetings or preside over constituted societies. Few have

acquitted themselves so happily, whether dignity of presence, amenity of

address, fluency of speech, or dispatch of business be taken into

consideration. As a presiding officer he seems "to the manner born." His

personal influence has been able to magnetize a half-dying body into new

and active life. This strong personal characteristic is especially

remarked among his friends. No one can approach him in doubt, in

despondency, or in embarrassment, and leave him without a higher hope, a

stronger courage and a manlier faith in himself. The energy which has

impelled him to labor still exists.

In closing this sketch, we may remark that a complimentary banquet was

given him, September 22, 1878, on the eightieth anniversary of his

birth. On this occasion the Rev. James H. Means, D. D., his pastor for

nearly thirty years, the Hon. Charles L. Flint, secretary of the board

of agriculture, the Hon. John Phelps Putnam, judge of the Massachusetts

superior court, and others paid tributes to the high moral character,

the benevolent disposition, and the eminent services of the honored

guest of the evening.

Judge Putnam closed as follows: "Our dear old friend, we greet you. On

this auspicious occasion we wish you many returns of your natal day.

_Serus in coelum redeas_,--late may you return to the heavens. And

when that day comes, on which, in the onward march of life you shall

fall by the way-side, may you fall as falls the golden fruit in this

autumn time,--

'Sustained and soothed

By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave

Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch

About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.'"

[Illustration: John M. Parker]

HON. JOHN M. PARKER.

BY WM. H. STINSON.

Among the many worthy sons of the old Granite State who by their

business enterprise, executive ability, and genial manners have won a

position on her honored roll, appears the name of JOHN MCGAW PARKER, who

was born in Goffstown, September 17, 1824, the eldest son of William

Parker by his second marriage, one of the early settlers of the town.

His mother, Hannah Adams, of Derry, was a most estimable lady, whose

christian influence over her family of three children was most enobling.

She was a descendant from that honored and illustrious family whose

representatives were called to the executive head of our nation. She

died February 26, 1869, having reached the age of four score years. We

trace the ancestry of his father to Josiah Parker, who came from England

to Cambridge, Mass., prior to 1700. His son, Rev. Thomas Parker, was the

first settled pastor at Dracut, Mass., where he died in 1765. A son of

his settled in Litchfield, this state, from whose family sprung the

father of the subject of this sketch.

During his early youth, young Parker received such training and

advantages as were offered by the district school, united with the best

of home influences. At the age of eleven years he was placed in the

academy at Hopkinton, by his father, who was desirous of giving his son

the benefit of a business education; the following year he entered old

Derry academy at Derry, where his education was completed.

Displaying much aptitude for business, his father, who was engaged in

the lumbering and the mercantile trade, as well as farming, placed him

in his store as clerk; the succeeding year he was clerk in a store at

Concord, but the next year, 1839, he returned to his home, taking charge

of the business of his father, who was in failing health, and who died

on the 9th of August following, at the age of sixty-four years.

His father's death necessitated changes in home affairs, and in March,

1840, he entered the store of William Whittle, at Goffstown, where he

remained until twenty-one years of age; he then returned once more to

his home and went into the mercantile trade at his father's old stand.

This was in 1843; he continued the same until 1847, when he formed a

partnership with his younger brother, David A., under the firm name of

J. M. & D. A. Parker, which union continues at the present time. In

addition to the mercantile and agricultural interests, they have engaged

extensively in the wood and lumber business, and as the "lumber kings"

in their section of the state their business has grown and developed

into one of no inconsiderable magnitude, requiring the investment of a

large capital which has accumulated through their indomitable energy and

business sagacity, backed by a judgment of such soundness as years of

experience can but give. The building of the N. H. Central Railroad, now

the Manchester & North Weare road, chartered in 1848, added greatly to

their business facilities for the transportation of their wood, bark,

and lumber, which enterprise received their earnest encouragement.

On the 30th of November, 1854, he married Letitia C., second daughter of

the late Capt. Charles Stinson, of Dunbarton, who was born March 9,

1835. Their married life has been a truly happy one, and such a kindly

home as all members of the household will ever revert to with the

fondest of recollections. They have three children: Charles Stinson,

born November 3, 1855; Henry Woodman, born February 26, 1859; Frank

Adams, born June 1, 1866. The two former, Charles and Henry, inheriting

their father's traits of character for business, are merchants at

Goffstown village, while Frank is pursuing his studies at Gilmanton

Academy.

Since the organization of the Republican party, Mr. Parker has ever been

a zealous advocate of its principles, and his abilities have been

recognized most honorably by his political party in their public

preferments. In 1855 he was elected a commissioner for his county, and

re-elected in 1856; and a member of the state senate in 1858 and 1859.

Among his associates in this body were Hon. Walter Harriman, Hon. John

G. Sinclair, Hon. Austin F. Pike, and Hon. John D. Lyman. He represented

his town in the legislature in 1869. In 1876, without consultation and

greatly to his surprise, he was selected as the nominee, by his party,

for councilor from his district, and owing to his popularity received a

majority of the suffrages at the election following, in the face of a

Democratic majority of six hundred in the district the year previous;

and was re-elected in 1877. At the institution of the state board of

equalization, in 1879, he was commissioned by the court as one of the

five members; re-appointed in 1881, and selected as president of the

board.

When the Guaranty Savings Bank of Manchester was organized, in 1879, he

was elected its president, a position still retained; and is also a

member of the board of directors of the Merchants National Bank of the

same city.

Mr. Parker filled the position of postmaster at the Goffstown office

during a period of four years; and he has a wide reputation in all the

surrounding towns as one of the most successful auctioneers, where his

services are ever in demand. Being possessed of a judicious and candid

mind, he is often called to act in the capacity of referee, where his

mature judgment has assisted in the friendly adjustment of disputed and

antagonistic questions which threatened the peace and harmony of

families, neighborhoods, and towns.

His business prosperity enables him to exercise a liberal spirit towards

objects and institutions that tend towards worthy ends; and he is

certainly one of the most industrious of men, whether attending to the

demands of the farm, the store, the lumber interests, selling of

estates, or to the almost countless calls from his public and minor

private duties that come crowding to his immediate notice. In all

matters of a public nature he has ever taken an active interest,

especially in the growth of enterprise in his native town.

Mr. Parker's love for social life allows the years to sit lightly. Of a

happy, open disposition, ever approachable, at his delightful residence

at Parker's station, Goffstown, presided over by his amiable and

generous-hearted wife, a cordial welcome is assured all who enter his

hospitable doors.

[Illustration: Chas. H. Bartlett.]

HON. CHARLES H. BARTLETT.

CHARLES HENRY BARTLETT was born in Sunapee, N. H., October 15, 1833. He

is the fourth son of John and Sarah J. (Sanborn) Bartlett, and is a

lineal descendant, in the eighth generation, of Richard Bartlett, who

came from England to Newbury, Mass., in the ship "Mary and John," in

1634.

The original orthography of the name was Barttelot, which is still

preserved by the family in England, whose ancestral home in Stopham,

Sussex county, has remained in possession of the family for nearly a

thousand years, and the present occupant, Hon. Walter B. Barttelot, is

the member of parliament from that county.

In the same ancestral line is found the name of Hon. Josiah Bartlett,

who, as a delegate in the continental congress from New Hampshire, was

the first man to vote "yea" on the passage of the declaration of

independence, July 4, 1776, and the second to affix his signature

thereto. All the Bartletts whose names appear in the annals of our state

trace their lineage to the same ancestry.

Mr. Bartlett has four brothers,--Joseph S., who resides in Claremont,

and Solomon, John Z. and George H., who reside in Sunapee; and two

sisters,--Mrs. Thomas P. Smith and Mrs. John Felch. His parents are

still living, at the advanced age of eighty-two years, in the enjoyment

of an ample competency, the fruits of a long life of earnest and

cheerful labor, and the practice of a stern, self-denying economy, the

characteristic of the best type of our New England husbandry.

Mr. Bartlett's early life was mainly spent upon his father's farm,

laboring through the summer season and attending school during the

winter. He early developed a decided taste for literary pursuits, and

from childhood devoted a liberal share of his leisure moments to the

perusal of such books as were accessible to him. He also contributed

liberally to the current literature of the day, and showed remarkable

facility in both prose and poetic composition. He received his academic

education at the academies at Washington and New London, after which he

commenced the study of law in the office of Metcalf & Barton at Newport.

He studied subsequently with George & Foster at Concord, and with

Morrison & Stanley at Manchester, being admitted to the bar of

Hillsborough county, from the office of the latter, in 1858. In that

year he began the practice of his profession at Wentworth, N. H., and in

1863 removed to Manchester, where he has since resided. For some two

years he was law partner with the late Hon. James U. Parker, the

partnership terminating with the retirement of the latter from active

business. In June, 1867, he was appointed, by Judge Clark, clerk of the

United States district court for the New Hampshire district, since which

time he has not actively practiced his profession, but has devoted

himself to the duties of his office, which became very onerous and

responsible upon the passage of the bankrupt law, about the time of his

appointment. The holding of this office under the government of the

United States has disqualified him from accepting any office under the

state government. He was clerk of the New Hampshire senate from 1861 to

1865, Gov. Smyth's private secretary in 1865 and 1866, treasurer of the

state reform school in 1866 and 1867. In the same year he was

unanimously chosen city solicitor, but declined a re-election, owing to

his appointment as clerk of the district court. In 1872 he was elected,

as the nominee of the Republican party, mayor of the city, and served

till February 18, 1873, when he resigned in accordance with the policy

of the national government at that time, which forbade United States

officials from holding state or municipal offices. His cheerful

co-operation with the administration in this matter, though at the

sacrifice of a most conspicuous public position, was handsomely

recognized by President Grant, through Attorney-General Williams. His

last official act as mayor was to order the city treasurer to pay the

amount due him for salary to the Firemen's Relief Association. Mr.

Bartlett has been a trustee of the Merrimack River Savings Bank from

1865 to the present time, and a trustee of the People's Savings Bank

from its organization in 1874. He is also a director in the Merchants

National Bank. He was the master of Washington Lodge of Freemasons from

April, 1872, to April, 1874, and now holds the position of United States

commissioner, to which he was appointed in 1872. The only positions of

trust he has held since his appointment as clerk of the United States

court, are as a member of the last constitutional convention, and

chairman of the commission appointed by the governor and council to

investigate the affairs of the New Hampshire Insane Asylum.

Mr. Bartlett married, December 8, 1858, at Sunapee, Miss Hannah M.

Eastman, of Croydon, N. H., by whom he had one son, Charles Leslie, who

died at the age of four years, and one daughter, Carrie Bell, a member

of the Manchester high school.

Clarke's "History of Manchester," from which the foregoing facts are

gathered, closes its biographical sketch of Mr. Bartlett as follows:

"Mr. Bartlett has a keen, well balanced mind, whose faculties are always

at his command. He thinks readily, but acts cautiously, and seldom makes

a mistake. Hence he has been financially successful in almost everything

he has undertaken. He is one of the most practical lawyers in the State,

and was for several years in charge of the law department of the

_Mirror_, giving general satisfaction, and his withdrawal, when his

business compelled it, was a source of much regret to the readers of

that paper."

In 1881, Dartmouth College conferred upon him the honorary degree of

Master of Arts.

[Illustration: Moody Currier]

HON. MOODY CURRIER, LL. D.

Forty years ago, when Manchester, now the metropolis of New Hampshire,

was little more than a wasting waterfall and an unpeopled plain, a few

young men who had the sagacity to see, the courage to grapple with, and

the strength to control the possibilities of the location, made it their

home. One of these was MOODY CURRIER, who was then seeking for a spot in

which a willing hand and a busy brain could carve out a successful

career. His boyhood had been spent upon a farm, where he supported

himself by work during the day, and gratified his desire for knowledge

by studying by the light of pitch-knots in the evening. In this manner

he fitted himself to enter Hopkinton Academy, and by similar methods

worked his way into and through Dartmouth College, where he graduated

with high honors in 1834. During his collegiate course he earned enough

by teaching and other work in the vacations to pay his expenses, but his

graduation found him without funds, and, as the readiest way to lay the

foundation of his fortune, he taught school at Concord one term and the

Hopkinton Academy one year, and then accepted an invitation to take

charge of the high school at Lowell, Mass., where he remained until

1841. Meantime he had read law, and in the spring of that year came to

Manchester, was admitted to the bar, and formed a partnership with Hon.

George W. Morrison for the practice of his profession, which continued

for two years, when it was dissolved, and he pursued his business

independently until 1848. During this time he had acquired a large and

lucrative practice, and while attending to the interests of his clients

had established a reputation as one of the safest and most sagacious

financiers in the young city, which led the founders of the Amoskeag

bank, when that institution was organized, to elect him its cashier. He

accepted the position, and from that time has been prominently

identified with many of the largest and most successful moneyed

corporations in the city and state. He was cashier of the Amoskeag bank

until it was re-organized as a national bank, when he was elected its

president, which position he still occupies. He has been treasurer of

the Amoskeag Savings Bank since its foundation, in 1852, a director of

the People's Savings Bank and of the Manchester Mills since their

organization. He was a director of the Blodget Edge Tool Company, and a

director and treasurer of the Amoskeag Axe Company, during the existence

of those corporations. He was treasurer of the Concord Railroad in 1871

and 1872; has been treasurer of the Concord & Portsmouth Railroad since

1856, president of the Eastern Railroad in New Hampshire since 1877,

treasurer of the New England Loan Company since 1874, and a director of

the Manchester Gas-Light Company since 1862; and has held many other

places of responsibility,--in all of which his prudence, foresight, and

good judgment have grasped the opportunities which have eluded so many,

avoided the whirlpools in which so many have been ingulfed, and secured

for stockholders and depositors regular and satisfactory dividends.

While thus adding to the fortunes of others, he has not been unmindful

of his own, and is one of the wealthy men of the state, able to command

whatever money will buy, and to give liberally to any cause that

commends itself to his judgment. But while it has been the business of

Mr. Currier to manage vast moneyed concerns, the demands of his calling

have not been permitted to choke out his love of books and study. The

literary tastes, and habits of close and tireless application, which

inspired the boy to struggle for and obtain a liberal education, survive

in the man, and have made him a persistent student until he is one of

the most accomplished scholars in the state.

While a teacher at Concord, he edited a literary journal in that city,

and after coming to Manchester published and edited, for several years,

a weekly newspaper. Since he became a banker he has spent much of his

leisure in his well filled library, finding his recreation in adding to

his knowledge of the classics, mastering the problems of exact science,

and exploring the fields of _belles-lettres_. He has written, for his

own amusement, many poems of much merit, a volume of which was published

for circulation among his friends in 1879, and he is a master of the art

of expression in terse and polished prose. His scholarly attainments

were recognized by Bates College in 1880, which conferred upon him the

degree of LL.D.

As a citizen, Mr. Currier occupies a high place in the city with whose

material growth he has been so largely identified. He is an earnest

advocate of whatever tends to her advancement, a judicious counselor,

and a liberal giver. He was one of the founders of her city library, to

which he has made large donations, that, with one of her public

fountains, attest alike his generosity and his judgment; and there have

been few projects for her improvement which have not found in him a

strong and ready helper.

Prior to 1852 he acted with the Democratic party, which elected him

clerk of the state senate in 1843, 1844, but the agitation of the

slavery question enlisted him in the ranks of the Free-soil forces, and

from the organization of the Republican party he has been one of its

most earnest and effective supporters. In 1856 and 1857 he was a member

of the senate, being its president the latter year; and in 1860 and

1861, was a member of the governor's council, and chairman of the

committee for raising and equipping the troops necessary to fill the

state's quota in the war of the rebellion. In this position his business

ability and methods were of great service, and to him, at least as much

as to any other one man, is due the creditable reputation which the

state won in that trying period.

In 1876 he was one of the presidential electors who cast the vote of New

Hampshire for Hayes and Wheeler, and in 1879, had he permitted his

friends to use his name, would have been a prominent candidate for the

governorship in the state convention that year, as he was in the primary

meetings.

Mr. Currier has been married three times. He has no children living. He

resides in an elegant home in Manchester, in which are reflected his

cultivated tastes and ample fortune. Though able to look back upon a

long career, he is in the enjoyment of excellent health and the full

strength of his manhood, and while carrying the business burdens that

would crush most men, finds leisure to enjoy the fruits of his industry,

frugality, and judgment.

[Illustration: A. Norcross]

HON. AMASA NORCROSS.

Amasa Norcross, A. M., of Fitchburg, Mass., was born in Rindge, N. H.,

January 26, 1824. His father, Daniel Norcross, was a farmer in New

Hampshire, and was the grandson of Jeremiah Norcross, the immigrant

ancestor of the family, who arrived in this country in the year 1642,

and settled at Watertown, Mass. Daniel Norcross was a man of sterling

integrity, a large land-holder, and the incumbent of many offices of

honor and trust. His wife, _nee_ Mary Jones, was also a native of New

Hampshire.

Amasa Norcross received an excellent academic education, first in the

academy of his native town, and subsequently in a similar institution at

New Ipswich, N. H. Selecting the profession of law for the life exercise

of his talents and energies, in 1844 he became a student in the office

of the Hon. Nathaniel Wood of Fitchburg, and in 1847 was admitted to the

bar. Since that time he has pursued his professional labors in the city

where he now resides. He is to-day the senior member of the Fitchburg

bar, and for many years he has been a recognized leader of the legal

fraternity in that section of the state.

In 1858, 1859, and 1862, Mr. Norcross was a member of the Massachusetts

house of representatives, having been elected thereto on the Republican

ticket. In 1858 he was a member of the committee of probate and

chancery, of which Governor Andrew, then a member of the house, was

chairman; and in 1859 and 1862 he was a member of the judiciary

committee. In August of the last-named year, he was appointed, by

President Lincoln, United States assessor for the ninth congressional

district of Massachusetts. The district was large, comprising

seventy-two townships. He filled the office with signal ability and

satisfaction for ten years, and until the office of assessor was

abolished by act of congress. In 1862 the authorities of Dartmouth

College conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts.

In the session of 1859, Mr. Norcross was appointed a member of the joint

committee of the senate and house of representatives to examine and

amend the report of the commissioners appointed to codify the laws of

the state. He gave to this work his entire attention for several months,

when report was made by the committee to the adjourned session of the

legislature, held in the autumn of that year. Upon this committee were

several distinguished lawyers, among whom were Gen. Caleb Cushing and

Gen. Benjamin F. Butler. In 1874 he was a member of the Massachusetts

senate and chairman of the judiciary committee of that body. He was also

chairman of the committee on federal relations. To him was assigned the

honor of drafting the report which recommended rescinding the

resolutions of censure upon Charles Sumner which had been passed by the

legislature of Massachusetts. Previous efforts to relieve that

distinguished statesman from that burden had failed; this succeeded. The

rescinding resolutions reached Senator Sumner at Washington a few days

before his death, and doubtless contributed materially to soothe his

last hours.

In the fall of 1876, Mr. Norcross was elected representative to congress

on the Republican ticket, over his political opponent, S. O. Lamb of

Greenfield. In 1878 he was elected a second time, over the candidates

of two political parties. He has been an active member of the Republican

party since its organization, and is now serving his third term in

congress, having been again re-elected in 1880. In the several

conventions resulting in his nomination and election, he was always

supported by the better elements in his party.

Local affairs have always received a proportionate share of Mr.

Norcross's attention. On the organization of the city government of

Fitchburg, in 1873, he received the honor of first election to the

mayoralty of the new city. He was re-elected the following year. In the

administration of its affairs his executive ability was marked.

Necessary public improvements were effected, and all bear tokens of his

excellent judgment and skill. With financial and other public

organizations he has been, for many years, prominently identified. He is

a director in the Rollstone National Bank of Fitchburg, in the Worcester

North Savings Institution, and in the Fitchburg Fire Insurance Company.

The interest of Mr. Norcross in benevolent and educational institutions

has been deep and constant, and he has done much for their advancement.

He took an active part in organizing the Fitchburg Benevolent Union, was

its first president, and he is now one of its life members. For fifteen

years he has been a trustee of the Lawrence Academy at Groton, Mass. By

act of the legislature of Massachusetts he was made one of the original

members of the corporation known as the Cushing Academy, located at

Ashburnham, and by the same act was designated as the member authorized

to call the first meeting of the trustees, of which board he is still a

member. He has contributed largely to the organizing and building up of

this now flourishing academy. For more than thirty years the labors of

Mr. Norcross connected with his large legal practice have been arduous

and continuous.

In June, 1852, he was married to S. Augusta, daughter of Benjamin and

Rebecca Wallis, of Ashby, Mass. She died March 4, 1869.

[Illustration: Geo. A. Pillsbury]

HON. GEORGE ALFRED PILLSBURY.

BY FRANK H. CARLETON.

New Hampshire is a small state, yet her sons and daughters are scattered

far and wide. They have not only built up a prosperous and influential

commonwealth at home, furnishing a talent and genius too great to be

circumscribed by territorial lines, but they have greatly aided in

laying the foundations and building up the newer sections of our

country. Let any person pass through the mighty West, and thence to the

great Northwest which to-day is doing vastly more than any section to

supply the world with bread, and he will be surprised to find the great

number of sons of New Hampshire who have attained reputation, position,

and influence. In the highest ranks of commerce, at the bar, and from

the pulpit, they wield a great influence. Their names are too numerous

to be enumerated, yet it is to but few that the distinction is given of

being distinguished in two states, and these as far apart as Minnesota

and New Hampshire. To this small but honored class belongs the subject

of this brief sketch, GEORGE ALFRED PILLSBURY, one of a family whose

name suggests high qualities.

The family history has been traced as far back as Joshua Pillsbury, who

settled a grant of land at what is now Newburyport, Mass., in the year

1640,--a grant which for over two hundred and forty years has been in

the possession of the Pillsbury family. Following him, next came in the

line of descent Caleb Pillsbury, who was born January 26, 1717, for

several years and at the time of his decease a member of the

Massachusetts provincial legislature. Caleb Pillsbury left a son

Micajah, who was born in Amesbury, Mass., May 22, 1763, and married

Sarah Sargent. The result of this union was four daughters, and four

sons--Stephen, Joseph, John, and Moses. With this family Micajah

Pillsbury removed to Sutton, N. H., where he remained until his death,

in 1802, occupying various positions of town trust. His wife survived

him several years. Of these sons, Stephen Pillsbury was a Baptist

clergyman, who died in Londonderry. The other brothers, including John

Pillsbury, the father of the subject of this sketch, were all

magistrates of the town of Sutton. The youngest sister married Nathan

Andrews, a gentleman well known in the annals of Sutton.

John Pillsbury was born in 1789. He was prominent in the town affairs of

Sutton, being a selectman for several years, and representing the town

in the state legislature. He was also a captain in the militia in those

days of the fife and drum, when a commission had a significance. On

April 2, 1811, he married Susan Wadleigh, daughter of Benjamin Wadleigh,

a settler in Sutton in 1771. Benjamin Wadleigh was a descendant of

Robert Wadleigh of Exeter, a member of the provincial legislature of

Massachusetts. On the maternal side the ancestry was good. The maternal

grandmother was the daughter of Ebenezer Kezar, who, it is related,

concealed the girl whom he afterwards married, under a pile of boards,

at the time Mrs. Duston was captured, in 1697. He was identified with

the early history of Sutton in many ways.

As we have said, John and Susan Pillsbury were the father and mother of

the subject of these lines. They were a hardy, vigorous, and exemplary

parent stock. To them were born five children, to wit: Simon Wadleigh

Pillsbury, born June 22, 1812; George Alfred, August 29, 1816; Dolly W.,

September 6, 1818; John Sargent, July 29, 1827; and Benjamin Franklin,

March 29, 1831. All of the children received the common-school education

of those days; but Simon W., whose natural fondness for study

distinguished him as a young man, gave his attention to special branches

of study, particularly mathematics, in which he became known as one of

the best in the state. He delivered the first public lecture in Sutton

on the subject of temperance. But too much study wore down his health,

and he died in 1836, cutting short a promising future.

Of the other brothers, John Sargent is too well known to need mention.

When a boy of sixteen he became a clerk for his brother, George Alfred,

at Warner, N. H. In 1848 he formed a business partnership with Walter

Harriman in Warner, neither of these two men in those days dreaming that

in the future one would be the governor of a state on the Atlantic

seaboard, and the other of one on the banks of the great Mississippi. In

1854 John S. settled in Minnesota, at the Falls of St. Anthony, around

which has grown up the beautiful city of Minneapolis, with a population

of sixty thousand. He shortly entered into the hardware trade, in which

he built up the largest business in the state, acquiring a fortune,

serving for a dozen years or more as state senator, and finally being

elected governor for three successive terms of two years each, being the

only governor of Minnesota accorded a third term. His entire

administration, which ceased in January, 1882, was a remarkable one,

characterized by many acts of wisdom, chief among which was the

adjustment of the dishonored state bonds issued at an early day for

railroad purposes.

The remaining brother, Benjamin F. Pillsbury, remained in Sutton until

1878, where he filled many places of trust, being elected selectman,

treasurer, and state representative. In 1878 he removed to Granite Falls

in western Minnesota, where he is extensively engaged in the real

estate, grain, and lumber business, and is reckoned one of the leading

citizens of his section.

But we have been drawn somewhat from the subject of this article. As we

have stated, George Alfred Pillsbury was born in Sutton, N. H., August

29, 1816. He received a thorough common-school education in the

rudimentary branches. Of a very quick and active temperament, he very

early in life had a strong determination to enter business for himself.

At the age of eighteen he became a clerk to a Boston merchant. After a

year's experience there, he returned to Sutton and entered into the

manufacture of stoves and sheet-iron ware, in company with a cousin,

John C. Pillsbury. He continued in this business until February 1840,

when he went to Warner into the store of John H. Pearson, where he

remained until the following July, when he purchased the business on his

own account, and continued in it for some eight years. In the spring of

1848 he entered into a wholesale dry-goods house in Boston, and in 1849

again returned to Warner and engaged in business there until the spring

of 1851, when he sold out his interest and went out of mercantile

business entirely. During his residence in Warner he was postmaster from

1844 to 1849, was selectman in 1847 and 1849, town treasurer in 1849,

and a representative to the general court in 1850 and 1851. He was also

selected as chairman of the committee appointed to build the Merrimack

county jail in Concord, in 1851-52, with the general superintendence of

the construction of the work, which was most faithfully done.

In November, 1851, Mr. Pillsbury was appointed purchasing agent of the

Concord Railroad, and commenced his duties in the following December,

having in the meantime moved his family to Concord. For nearly

twenty-four years he occupied this position, and discharged its duties

with rare business ability, showing wise judgment in all his purchases,

which amounted to more than three million dollars, and settling more

cases of claims against the corporation for alleged injuries to persons

and property than all the other officers of the road. He had great

quickness of perception and promptness in action, two wonderful business

qualities, which, when rightly used, always bring success.

During his residence of twenty-seven years in Concord, he gradually

acquired a position which all may envy. Various positions of trust, both

in public matters and as a private adviser, were discharged by him most

faithfully. He was one of the committee appointed by the Union

school-district to build the high school and several other school

buildings. He was also interested in the erection of several of the

handsome business blocks and fine residences in the city.

In the year 1864, Mr. Pillsbury, with others, established the First

National Bank of Concord. From the first he was one of the directors,

and in 1866 became its president, which position he held until his

departure from the state. He was also more instrumental than any other

person in organizing the National Savings Bank in 1867. Of the savings

bank he was the first president, and held the position until 1874, when

he resigned. During Mr. Pillsbury's management of the First National

Bank, it became, in proportion to its capital stock, the strongest bank

in the state. Up to December, 1873, when the treasurer was discovered to

be a defaulter to a large amount, the savings bank was one of the most

successful in the state; but this defalcation, with the general crash in

business, required its closing up. Its total deposits up to the time

mentioned exceeded three million dollars. The bank finally paid its

depositors nearly dollar for dollar and interest, notwithstanding the

large defalcation by its treasurer.

Mr. Pillsbury was elected a representative to the general court from

ward five, in 1871 and 1872, and was appointed chairman of the committee

on the apportionment of public taxes during the session of the

legislature in 1872. For several years Mr. Pillsbury was a member of the

city councils of Concord, and his intimate knowledge of public affairs

led the people to twice elect him as mayor, a position the duties of

which he discharged with that rare ability which had characterized all

his other affairs; and it was during this time that he decided, after

much consideration, and with deep reluctance, to leave Concord and move

to Minneapolis, Minn., where he had already acquired large interests.

When this resolution was made public, it drew forth strong and

wide-spread protests from the citizens and neighbors whom he had served

so long, for they felt the state could illy afford to lose such a man.

But of this we will speak later.

During his residence in Concord he was identified with all measures to

promote the public good. Both by his business judgment and his ready

purse did he aid the benevolent and religious organizations. He was

actively engaged in establishing the Centennial Home of Concord, for the

aged, making large contributions and serving at a trustee. He was also a

generous giver to the Orphans' Home at Franklin, and was a trustee from

the time of its foundation until he left the state. In 1876 he was

appointed, by the city councils, chairman of a committee of three to

appraise all the real estate of the city for taxation purposes. Several

objects attest his generosity and public spirit, among which might be

mentioned the gift to the city of the fine bell in the tower of the

Board of Trade building, and the handsome organ in the First Baptist

church,--a joint gift from himself and his son, Hon. Charles A.

Pillsbury, of Minneapolis. He also made several large contributions

towards building and endowing the academy at New London.

Upon his preparing to leave Concord for the West, in the spring of 1878,

expressions of regret came to him from all sources. Complimentary

resolutions were unanimously adopted by both branches of the city

government, and by the First National Bank, the latter testifying most

emphatically to his integrity and superior business qualities. The First

Baptist church, of which he was an active member during his residence in

Concord, and its society also passed similar resolutions. The Webster

club, composed of some fifty of the leading citizens, also adopted

resolutions regretting deeply his departure. A private testimonial

signed by over three hundred of the leading citizens of all branches of

business, all the members of the city government, all the banking

officers and professional men, was presented, and on the eve of his

departure an elegant bronze statue was presented to himself and wife by

members of the First Baptist church. In church affairs and acts of

private charity he had always shown a strong interest, which drew him

friends from all classes of people.

Coming to Minneapolis he was at once recognized, and from the moment he

established himself there he took an assured position. He at once

entered actively into the milling business (in which he had long been

interested) in the firm of C. A. Pillsbury & Co., composed of himself,

his brother, Gov. J. S. Pillsbury, and his two sons, Hon. C. A.

Pillsbury and Fred C. Pillsbury,--to-day the largest producers of flour

in the world, operating five large flouring-mills with a capacity of

seven thousand five hundred barrels per day. The business of this firm,

while selling a large amount of flour in the United States, has been

gradually directed to the European trade, supplying the foreign markets

with the very best brands of breadstuffs. To-day there is not a European

market in which their flour is not sold extensively and given the

highest quotations.

Mr. Pillsbury, much against his wishes, has been crowded again into

public life in Minnesota, and only a few weeks since, while on a trip to

the Pacific coast, in company with President Villard, to look after the

interests of the Northern Pacific Railroad, he was elected a member of

the city council of Minneapolis. He is also president of the Board of

Trade, vice-president of the Northwestern National Bank, president of

the Minneapolis Free Dispensary, and president of the Minnesota Baptist

State Association.

Despite his years, Mr. Pillsbury has all the activity and impulses of a

man of forty. He is a great friend of young men, aiding them not only by

advice but in a practical manner, and, without seeking popularity,

finding himself beloved by all. In the city of his adoption he has built

himself a handsome residence with spacious grounds. His love for his old

home manifests itself in all his tastes, and in his residence he has

wrought in the beautiful New Hampshire granite brought from his old home

in Concord.

In 1841, Mr. Pillsbury married Margaret S. Carleton, a lady beloved by

all, who has always busied herself in acts of goodness and benevolence.

No one has ever known her but to love her. From this marriage three

children were born, two sons and a daughter,--Charles A., born October

3, 1842; Mary Adda, born April 25, 1848; and Fred C., born August 27,

1852. Mary Adda died May 11, 1849. Charles A. graduated at Dartmouth

College in 1863; has been an active and successful business man in

Minneapolis for the past twelve years, for the last four years has been

a member of the state senate, and is a man greatly respected by all.

Fred C. is a practical business man, possessed of sound judgment, and is

rapidly making his way in the world.

It is needless to speak of the qualities which have given a gentleman

like George A. Pillsbury the position and influence of which we have

spoken. They are apparent to all. Starting with integrity and great

strength of purpose, possessed of a keen perception, a shrewd judge of

men, and an impressive bearing, he has attained an eminence which all

may admire. Well may New Hampshire point with pride to such a man.

[Illustration: Josiah Carpenter]

JOSIAH CARPENTER ESQ.

BY H. H. METCALF.

The men who make and whose lives illustrate the material prosperity and

progress of a nation or people are those, as a rule, whose life and

labor have been devoted in the main to the financial, commercial, and

business interests of the country. Politicians, stump-orators, and

office-holders of long continuance in place and power, may attain

greater celebrity or a wider transient popularity, and move more

effectually for the time being the tide of public sentiment; yet the

influence which moves the deep and silent yet strong and resistless

currents which make for the substantial progress and development of the

race, is that which is exercised by the active, energetic, and

persistent man of business, whose ready and thorough conception of the

demands of industry, trade, and finance, and whose prompt action at

their behest, make him not only the master of his own fortune, but, to a

great extent, that of others. Of this class of men the subject of this

sketch is a prominent representative in this state.

JOSIAH CARPENTER was born in the town of Chichester, May 31, 1829. His

ancestry goes back in direct line to William Carpenter, who in the year

1638, at the age of sixty-two years, embarked with his son William, aged

thirty-three, and his wife, Abigail, and their four children, for

America, sailing in the ship "Bevis," from the port of Southampton,

England, and making their home at Weymouth, Mass. From Joseph, one of

the four children named, the line of descent runs through Benjamin, born

January 15, 1657, John, born March 25, 1691, and John, born January 4,

1728, to Josiah, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, and for

whom he was named. The senior Josiah Carpenter was born in Stafford,

Conn., October 6, 1762, being one of a family of five sons and two

daughters. Himself and three of his brothers served in the patriot army

in the war of the Revolution, one of the brothers being killed while on

sentinel duty at Roxbury Neck. He graduated with the highest honors from

Dartmouth College in the class of 1787, studied for the ministry, and,

November 2, 1791, was ordained and installed pastor of the First

Congregational church in Chichester, which pastorate he retained for a

period of nearly forty years, establishing and maintaining a reputation

for geniality, benevolence, and hospitality which gained for him the

affectionate regard and esteem of his people. Throughout his entire

career as a citizen and a minister of the gospel, he labored earnestly

and diligently to advance every undertaking which had for its object the

public good, or the advancement of the cause of religious truth, as he

understood it. He married, April 13, 1790, Hannah Morrill, of

Canterbury; and their children were Nancy, David Morrill, John Thurston,

Clarissa, Hannah, and Oliver, none of whom are now living.

The second child--David Morrill Carpenter--was born in Chichester,

November 16, 1793, and, after receiving a good academic education,

commenced active life in his native town in the capacity of a country

merchant, which business he followed with much success for many years;

but subsequently turned his attention to agriculture, becoming the

owner of an extensive farm, which he cultivated for several years in a

most successful manner. Notwithstanding the constant demands of his

private occupation, which, as his success demonstrated, were never

neglected, a great portion of his time during the period of his active

life was always claimed by the public duties imposed by his

fellow-citizens. Almost continually for twenty-five years he held one or

more town offices, being several years chosen as the representative of

his town in the state legislature, the duties of which position he

discharged with ability and fidelity. He served as a member of the board

of commissioners for Merrimack county, and was also, for more than

thirty years, one of the trustees of the Merrimack County Savings Bank

of Concord; he was also for a long time a director of the Mechanics Bank

of that city; and was almost invariably in attendance upon the weekly

meetings of the boards of the respective institutions. January 13, 1818,

he was united in marriage with Mary, daughter of Jonathan Chesley

Perkins, of Wells, Maine, who married Hannah Dennett, of Portsmouth,

December 6, 1787, and shortly removed with his young wife to the town of

Loudon in this state, adjoining Chichester, which was then almost a

wilderness, where he cleared up a large farm, became a prosperous and

influential citizen of the town, and reared a family of six children, of

whom Mary, above mentioned, was the fourth. The children of David M. and

Mary (Perkins) Carpenter were Charles H., Josiah, the subject of this

sketch, Clara A., Sarah L., and Frank P., besides two daughters, who

died in early life. In 1850, Mr. Carpenter removed to the town of Epsom,

where he purchased a large farm, in the management of which his son

Josiah was associated with him, upon which he remained until he retired

from active business, in 1858, in which year he removed to Concord,

where he resided until his death, December 9, 1873, seven years

subsequent to the death of his wife, who departed this life, November 4,

1866, at the age of sixty-eight years. A man of wide influence,

universally exerted for good, he lived beloved and died respected. He

had been a soldier in the war of 1812, enlisting at the outbreak of

hostilities, although but a boy at the time; yet, like his father, who

had served in the Revolution, he would never accept from the government

the pension to which he was legally entitled.

Charles H., the eldest son and child of David M. Carpenter, resides in

the town of Chichester, where he has always had his residence, and where

he has won a reputation, not only as one of the successful farmers, but

most prominent citizens, of the town and of the county. His farming

property embraces more than a thousand acres of land. He is also quite

extensively engaged as a dealer in real estate and lumber. Clara A., the

eldest surviving daughter, is the wife of Samuel C. Merrill, a

prosperous flour manufacturer and flour and grain dealer, of Paterson,

N. J., formerly a well known wholesale merchant of Manchester. Sarah L.

married Prof. James W. Webster, of Maiden, Mass., a teacher of

experience and ability, now and for many years past principal of the

Hancock school, Boston, formerly a successful teacher in Concord. Frank

P., the youngest son, is a member of the enterprising and well known

firm of Drake & Carpenter of Manchester, who are extensively engaged in

the wholesale flour and grain trade.

The subject of this sketch,--Josiah, the second son of David Morrill

Carpenter,--although engaged to some extent in boyhood in assisting his

father upon the farm, secured an academical education at Pembroke and

Pittsfield academies, and at the New Hampshire Conference Seminary at

Sanbornton Bridge (now Tilton). Very early in life he manifested an

aptitude for business, and engaged for some time in youth in the

purchase and sale of live stock, not only in this section but at the

Southwest. Returning home from Kentucky about the time his father

removed to Epsom, he engaged with him in extensive farming operations in

that town. He received, soon after, an appointment as deputy-sheriff for

the county of Merrimack, and also for the counties of Belknap and

Hillsborough, which position he held for several years, and in which he

transacted a large amount of business. For three or four years previous

to his father's removal to Concord, the entire management of the farm

was substantially in his hands, which, together with his official

business and individual enterprises in different directions, gave ample

scope for his energy and capacity.

In 1858 the farm in Epsom was sold, and, his father having removed to

Concord, Mr. Carpenter, in April of that year, established his residence

in the town of Pittsfield, having been tendered and accepted the

cashiership of the Pittsfield bank. He discharged the duties of that

position so satisfactorily that upon its conversion to a national bank,

in 1864, he was continued as cashier and also made a member of the board

of directors. He continued his residence in Pittsfield until the spring

of 1877, remaining all the while in management of the bank's affairs,

while at the same time engaging in various lines of business in his own

behalf. Nor did he fail to devote attention to public affairs. Never a

politician, but always a stanch Democrat, he took no little interest in

the success of his party, as well as the welfare of the town and

community. He was frequently intrusted with official responsibilities by

his fellow-citizens of Pittsfield, and represented them in the

legislature in 1862 and 1863.

In the fall of 1863, his health having become impaired from overwork, he

went South to spend the winter, upon the advice of his physicians, going

first to New Orleans, whence he made a trip up the river, where he had a

fine opportunity for viewing the operations of the army in that quarter,

the time being soon after Gen. Butler's occupancy of the city. Later in

the season he visited Cuba, where he remained some time, returning in

the spring greatly invigorated, and with improved general health. He was

elected treasurer of Merrimack county in 1872, and again the following

year, receiving at each election a support considerably in excess of his

party vote. Long prominent in the councils of his party in his section

of the state, he has served also, at different times, as a member of the

Democratic state committee.

In March, 1877, desiring a more extensive field of business operation,

Mr. Carpenter resigned his position as cashier of the Pittsfield

National Bank and removed to the city of Manchester, where, with

characteristic vigor and enterprise, he immediately set about the work

of procuring a charter for and organizing the Second National Bank of

Manchester, of which institution he has been a director and cashier

since its organization. The national bank being well established, he

assisted in securing a charter for and organizing the Mechanics Savings

Bank, of which he has been from the first a trustee and the treasurer.

Both these institutions, under his skillful supervision, have attained a

prosperous and flourishing condition. Aside from his general banking

operations, he has in Manchester, as elsewhere, dealt extensively in

notes, bonds, and real estate, and has been, for the past few years,

quite largely engaged in building. In company with ex-Gov. Smyth, he is

proprietor of Smyth and Carpenter's block, on Elm street, the northern

half of which has recently been completed. This block is four stories

high and basement; has a frontage, on Elm street, of two hundred feet, a

depth of one hundred feet; contains ten stores on the first floor, with

offices and tenements above; and is, beyond question, the largest brick

block in the state in the ownership of any single firm.

Mr. Carpenter has always manifested an interest in educational affairs,

and has been specially interested in the establishment and prosperity of

the Holderness School for Boys, located at Holderness in this state,

under the auspices of the Episcopalian denomination, with which he is

associated. He has been one of the trustees of this school from the

inception of the enterprise, and is also the treasurer. He devoted much

time and personal care to the work of remodeling the buildings at the

outset, and, since then, to their enlargement as the growth and success

of the school has demanded.

September 1, 1858, Mr. Carpenter was united in marriage with Georgianna

Butters Drake, born January 15, 1836, a lady of fine mental capacity and

attainments, endowed with the graces and virtues essential to true

womanhood, and at home alike in the social as well as the domestic

circle. She was the only daughter and eldest child of the late Col.

James Drake of Pittsfield, a prominent citizen of that town, well known

in public life, who filled various responsible offices, including that

of state senator, and who died April 7, 1870. He was a descendant of the

celebrated Sir Francis Drake, the English explorer and naval commander

who was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe, and attained

the rank of vice-admiral of the British navy. The family were among the

earliest settlers of New England, and trace their ancestry more than six

hundred years. The elder brother of Mrs. Carpenter--Frank J. Drake--is

the partner of Mr. Carpenter's younger brother--Frank P.--in the firm of

Drake & Carpenter, heretofore mentioned, while her younger

brother--Nathaniel S.--is in business at Pittsfield.

Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter,---a daughter,

Georgia Ella, born October 13, 1859, an accomplished young lady who

resides with her parents, and a son who died in infancy. Their residence

is a fine brick mansion, among the most substantial in the city, on

north Elm street, at the corner of Sagamore.

Mr. Carpenter is now in the prime of life, though his business career

has already been more extended and successful than that of most men of

similar vocation who have been engaged a lifetime therein. Filling

various positions of trust and responsibility, public and corporate,

with the greatest acceptability; of sound judgment, strong will, quick

perception and a practical, well balanced mind, and unquestioned

integrity of action; enjoying the general confidence of the public, and

in a special degree that of those persons obliged or accustomed to seek

advice or assistance from others, in matters of business,--his success

may indeed be regarded as far greater than that of those ordinarily

known as fortunate business men, while there yet remains, in the

ordinary course of life, ample time for farther successes and greater

achievements.

[Illustration: Chas. Williams]

HON. CHARLES WILLIAMS.

BY O. C. MOORE.

It has long seemed to the writer that the successful organizer of modern

industry deserved a high place in public estimation. The qualities

usually found in such a person constitute as rare a combination as can

be found in any department of human activity. Those qualities are

industry, probity, intelligence, judgment, and executive ability. These

virtues will always be found to lie at the foundation of a well ordered

and prosperous state. When to these are added enterprise and energy,

there is little wanting either to the successful individual or to the

growing community. It is to this class of men that New England owes much

of its pre-eminence to-day. What the pioneer settlers did to smooth the

path for their successors; what the forefathers of the Revolution

contributed to establish a new government and place it upon a

self-supporting basis,--the men who established the industrial

enterprises of New England have done for their posterity and the

perpetuity of republican institutions. If New England should be stripped

to-morrow of her mills, shops, and foundries, and the wealth and

institutions that they in turn have created, New England would be but

little more than an obscure and unenterprising hill country, with a

diminishing population and lessening influence. She would have a noble

and inspiring history, but her glory would be departed.

HON. CHARLES WILLIAMS, the subject of this sketch, belongs to the

untitled American nobility of organizers of industry. He comes of an old

industrial stock, and can trace his lineage back, through six

generations of workers, to a stalwart ancestor in old Wales. The

Williamses formed a large part of the population of Wales, "somewhat

like the O's of Ireland and the Mac's of Scotland." It is an interesting

fact that the ancestor of Oliver Cromwell, in the fourth remove, was a

Williams, known as Morgan ap Williams, of Glamorganshire, Wales, a

gentleman of property, who married a sister of Lord Thomas Cromwell,

afterwards Earl of Essex. Carlyle speaks of the Protector as "Cromwell

_alias_ Williams." The "Encyclopedia Americana" states positively that

the genealogy of Cromwell is traced to Richard Williams, who assumed the

name of Cromwell from his maternal uncle, Thomas Cromwell, secretary of

state to Henry VIII.

However this may be, Richard Williams, the sixth remove in a direct line

from the subject of this sketch, came to America from Glamorganshire,

Wales, in 1632, and settled in Taunton, Mass. Among his descendants were

Hon. John Mason Williams, a distinguished jurist of Massachusetts; Gen.

Seth Williams, of Augusta, Me., a graduate of West Point, and a

distinguished officer in the Mexican war; Hon. Ruel Williams, of

Augusta, Me.; and Hon. Lemuel Williams, a member of congress from

Massachusetts. It is a coincidence of note that the occupation of the

subject of this sketch, as well as that of his lineal descendants,

follows the distinctive characteristic of the Welch ancestry.

Glamorganshire is famous for its iron and coal mines, and its iron-works

are on the most extensive scale, it having sixty blast furnaces, some

of which give employment to six thousand men.

The direct descent from Richard Williams of Taunton is as follows:

Benjamin Williams, settled in Easton, Mass.; Josiah Williams, settled at

Bridgewater, Mass. Seth Williams, the great-grandfather of Mr. Williams,

was born at Bridgewater, May 21, 1722. At the age of eighteen he went to

Easton, Mass., and took up one thousand acres of government land. He

married Susannah Forbes, of Bridgewater, and built the homestead now

standing in Easton. Edward Williams, his son, married Sarah Lothrop, of

Bridgewater, in 1772, still retaining the "homestead," where Lieut. Seth

Williams, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born January 29,

1776. He was a tanner by trade, and took part in the war of 1812. He

married Sarah Mitchael, daughter of Colonel Mitchael, of Bridgewater,

Mass., an active man in the Revolutionary war, and for many years a

member of the legislature from Easton. They were married in 1800, and

lived near the "homestead." They had eight children, Charles, the

present subject, being the third son, born at Easton, August 1, 1816.

The first seventeen years of his life were spent on the farm, receiving

such rudimentary education as could be obtained at a district school. At

the age of eighteen he apprenticed himself to Gen. Shepherd Leach,

proprietor of the "Easton Iron-Works," for the term of four years, to

learn the foundry business, with a compensation of twenty-five dollars

for the first year, fifty dollars for the second, seventy-five dollars

for the third, and one hundred and twenty-five dollars for the fourth.

By the death of Gen. Leach the contract was surrendered; but young

Williams still continued in the employ of his successor, Mr. Lincoln

Drake, until the panic of 1837. In this stagnation of business at the

East, he determined to go West, and purchased several hundred acres of

land near Springfield, Ill. The now flourishing capital of the state was

then represented by a few dwelling-houses, one church, and a small

hotel. This "New West" could then boast of no railroads, and the

difficulty of getting produce to market, which was mainly by flat-boats

down the Mississippi, offered but little attraction to farming, and he

returned East. For two years he was employed in the foundry at North

Chelmsford, Mass., and the subsequent three years in the Amoskeag

foundry at Manchester, N. H.

Mr. Williams came to Nashua in 1845, at the age of twenty-nine, endowed

with good health, correct habits, and an honorable ambition. In company

with his elder brother, Seth, they established the foundry business,

under the firm name of S. & C. Williams, erecting a building eighty by

one hundred feet, and the business commenced. It was in the same year

that two other important and still flourishing industries were begun in

Nashua,--the manufacture of shuttles and bobbins by J. & E. Baldwin, and

the manufacture of mortise-locks and doorknobs by L. W. Noyes and David

Baldwin. This was the day of small beginnings, and only twenty-five

hands were employed in the foundry for several years. The business grew

steadily, however, and everything seemed propitious. On the second of

July, 1849, a fire broke out in the works, and, in spite of all

exertions, the entire property was consumed, including all the patterns.

The total loss was estimated at forty thousand dollars. It was a

staggering blow, as these young men had no insurance. Men of less

courage and energy would have succumbed to such a misfortune; but on the

very day of the fire the work of rebuilding was begun, and pushed with

rapidity, a brick structure taking the place of the wood one destroyed.

The partnership of S. & C. Williams was dissolved in 1859, and the

business has since been continued by Charles. His brother Seth has been

extensively employed in similar business. The business of the Williams

foundry in Nashua has steadily increased, and was never more extensive

than to-day. The pay-roll shows one hundred and twenty-five hands

employed.

Strict attention to business, unyielding integrity, and thorough mastery

of his calling have been Mr. Williams's secret of success. He was one of

five who organized the Second National Bank, and has since held the

position of vice-president of the bank. Mr. Williams was elected a

member of the common council soon after the organization of the city, in

1853, but from that time until 1876 he neither sought nor held any

political office. In this centennial year, however, his party turned

instinctively towards him as its most available candidate for mayor, and

at the nominating caucus he received an almost unanimous nomination. The

nomination was ratified, and Mr. Williams became the centennial mayor of

Nashua. His administration was characterized by the same prudence,

fidelity, and success that have crowned his business career. He was

nominated for re-election, and the nomination was ratified at the polls

by an increased vote and a largely increased majority. One of the social

events of Mr. Williams's term of service was the visit of President

Hayes and his cabinet to the city, and at the mayor's residence, which

was elaborately decorated for the occasion, Mrs. Hayes held a public

reception, which was attended by a great throng of people from the city

and the surrounding towns.

In his domestic relations Mr. Williams has been one of the most

fortunate and happiest of men. In 1846 he married Eliza A. Weston, a

cultivated christian woman, and a devoted wife and mother, daughter of

Capt. Sutheric Weston, of Antrim, N. H.; both are members of the First

Congregational church, Nashua, Rev. Frederick Alvord, pastor. Three

children have blessed the union. Seth Weston Williams, born April 15,

1849, a graduate of Yale College, class of 1873, and of Bellevue Medical

College, New York. After travel and study in Europe he returned to his

native land, and had just entered on the practice of his profession,

with the brightest prospects of usefulness and eminence, holding a

responsible appointment in Bellevue Hospital, when, on a visit to

Portland, he was attacked with congestion of the brain, which terminated

his promising career at the age of thirty. The other children are

Charles Alden Williams, born August 18, 1851, married October 26, 1881,

Kate N. Piper; he was graduated from the scientific department at

Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., under Dr. William Taylor, in 1870, and

further pursued the same course of study at the school of Technology in

Boston, Mass., and will succeed his father in business; and Mrs. Marian

Williams-Viets, born March 4, 1854, married, November 8, 1878, Herbert

Allen Viets, of Troy, New York.

Feeling in himself the want of an early education, Mr. Williams spared

no pains in bestowing superior advantages upon his children, all of whom

received a liberal education. In 1873 he planned a year's travel abroad

with his family, but the critical condition of business in the country

at that time prevented his leaving home. The plan was carried out,

however, under the care of Dr. Seth Williams, the trip covering the tour

of the Continent, and of the Orient as far east as Damascus.

HON. LEVI WINTER BARTON.

BY REV. J. W. ADAMS.

Ancestral excellence is an invaluable legacy. As a rule, "blood will

tell," and the marked physical, mental, and moral traits of a prominent

family are likely to re-appear in many successive generations. And,

added to this hereditary wealth, comes the inspiration of a noble

example, suggesting the possibility and the desirability of worthy,

helpful living. The subject of this sketch was fortunate in this regard.

In the garnered wealth of a vigorous, talented, and virtuous ancestry,

he has "a goodly heritage."

* * * * *

From an abundance of reliable data, we extract only so much from the

genealogical record as is necessary to the integrity of the direct lines

from a very distant past to the present.

LEVI W. BARTON'S parents were Bezaleel Barton, 2d, and Hannah (Powers)

Barton. Let us glance at the _maternal_ ancestry.

The family of Power (or Le Poer, as formerly written) was of Norman

extraction, and settled in England at the conquest of that kingdom by

the Normans, under William, duke of Normandy, in the person of Power, or

Le Poer, who is recorded in "Battle Abbey" as one of the commanders at

the battle of Hastings, in 1066. Soon after, Sir John Le Poer resided in

Poershayse, Devonshire, England.

In 1172, one of his descendants, Sir Roger Le Poer, went with Earl

Stougbon in his invasion and partial conquest of Ireland, where he

greatly distinguished himself, and received large grants of land. He was

the ancestor of a succession of distinguished men, among whom were Sir

Nicholas Le Poer, who had a summons to parliament, in 1375, as Baron Le

Poer, and Sir Richard, Sir Peter, Sir Eustace, and Sir Arnold Le Poer.

The barony, descending by writ to heirs, female as well as male, is now

held by the Marquis of Waterford. The Earl of Lynn, for a term of one

hundred years, and the Marquis of Waterford, were of that descent,

through Lady Catharine Poer. The family was also a distinguished one in

England, from the Norman conquest down. In 1187, Richard Poer of this

line, high sheriff of Gloucestershire, Eng., was killed defending the

"Lord's Day;" and Sir Henry Le Poer distinguished himself greatly as a

commander under the Duke of Wellington. This remarkable family has

outlived the dynasties of the Conqueror, the Plantaganets, the Tudors,

and the Stuarts, and flourishes yet. Since the time of Queen Elizabeth,

they have returned to their early orthography of Power; and finally, in

America, have added the "s," making it Powers.

Walter Powers, the ancestor of all the Powers families of Croydon, N.

H., was born in 1639. He came to Salem, Mass., in 1654. He married,

January 11, 1660, Trial, daughter of Deacon Ralph Shepherd. They moved

to Nashoba, and he died there in 1708. The town, in 1715, was

incorporated by the name of Littleton (Mass.).

[Illustration: L. W. Barton]

Of the nine children of Walter and Trial Powers, the eldest, William,

was born in 1661, and married, 1688, Mary Bank.

Of the nine children of William and Mary (Bank) Powers, William, 2d, was

b. 1691, in Nashoba, and m., 1713, Lydia Perham.

Of the four children of William, 2d, and Lydia (Perham) Powers, Lemuel

was b. in 1714, and m. Thankful Leland, of Grafton, Mass., daughter of

Capt. James Leland. All except the eldest of their children settled in

Croydon. N. H.; and two of his sons served Croydon as soldiers in the

Revolution. Although not an "original grantee of Croydon," he owned

"proprietors' rights" at an early day, and often attended "proprietors'"

meetings at the inn of his brother-in-law, Lieut. Phinehas Leland, as

moderator. He died in Northbridge, Mass., 1792.

Of the ten children of Lieut. Lemuel and Thankful (Leland) Powers,

Ezekiel was b. in Grafton, Mass., March 16, 1745, and m., Jan. 28, 1767,

Hannah Hall of Uxbridge, Mass., who was daughter of Lieut. Edward and

Lydia (Brown) Hall. Levi W. Barton was her great-grandson. They came to

Croydon in 1767. He was a prominent citizen, and held here many offices

of trust. He was a man of industry and indomitable energy. He d. in

Croydon, Nov. 11, 1808. His widow d. Oct. 21, 1835.

Of the seven children of Ezekiel and Hannah (Hall) Powers, Ezekiel, 2d

(the first male child born in Croydon), was b. May 2, 1771. He m.

Susannah Rice, Jan. 18, 1790.

Of the six children of Ezekiel, 2d, and Susannah (Rice) Powers, Hannah

(mother of Levi W.) was b. Feb. 20, 1795, and m. Bezaleel Barton.

Edward Hall (the earliest ancestor of Lieut. Edward Hall, who settled in

Croydon about 1774) was at Duxbury, Mass., in 1637, and d. at Rehoboth,

Nov. 27, 1671. The direct line by generations is: 1st, Edward; 2d,

Benjamin; 3d, Edward; 4th, Lieut. Edward, b. in Wrentham, Mass., July

18, 1727; went with his father in 1740 to Uxbridge, where he held

commissions under the king of Great Britain. He m., Aug. 17, 1747, Lydia

Brown. About 1774 they came to Croydon, N. H., where he was moderator,

March, 1775, tax-collector and constable, 1778, and selectman, 1784,

1785, and 1786. He d. in Croydon, Dec. 28, 1807. His widow d. Aug. 10,

1819. 5th, Hannah, b. Oct. 1, 1749, who m. Ezekiel Powers and settled in

Croydon. At this point the Hall unites with the Powers genealogy, and

the last-named persons were great-grandparents of Levi W. Barton.

The Bartons are of English descent. Without undertaking to be precise as

to the details of kinship, we are able to identify the following as

among their earliest ancestry in New England. Marmaduke Barton was in

Salem, Mass., as early as 1638. Edward was in Salem in 1640. Rufus fled

from the persecution of the Dutch at Manhattan, N. Y., and settled in

Portsmouth, R. I., in 1640, and died 1648.

Mrs. Eliza Barton testified in an important case at Piscataqua, N. H.,

in 1656. Edward, undoubtedly the one living in Salem in 1640, and

husband of Eliza Barton, came to Exeter, N. H., in 1657, and died at

Cape Porpoise, Jan., 1671. Benjamin Barton of Warwick, son of Rufus

Barton, m., June 9, 1669, Susannah Everton. Edward Barton, son of Edward

of Exeter, took the freeman's oath in 1674. Doctor John Barton (probably

son of Doctor James Barton) m., April 20, 1676, Lydia Roberts of Salem,

Mass.

James Barton, b. in 1643, came to Boston, Mass., before 1670. He d. in

Weston, Mass., in 1729. Samuel Barton (probably son of Doctor James

Barton) was b. in 1666. He testified in a witch case (in favor of the

witch, be it said to his credit) in Salem, Mass., in 1691. Stephen

Barton was at Bristol (then in Mass.) in 1690. Col. William Barton, b.

in Providence, in 1747,--who with a small body of men crossed

Narragansett bay on the night of July 20, 1777, passed, unnoticed, three

British vessels, landed, reached the quarters of the English general,

Prescott, and captured him, and for which, history informs us, he

received from congress the gift of a sword, a commission as colonel, and

a tract of land in Vermont,--was a descendant of Samuel Barton and

Hannah his wife, ancestors of the Bartons of Croydon. They were living

in Framingham, Mass., as early as 1690, and moved to Oxford, Mass., in

1716, where his will was proved Sept. 23, 1738. Of their eight children,

Samuel was b. in Framingham, Oct. 8, 1691; and in., May 23, 1715,

Elizabeth Bellows.

Of the children of Samuel and Elizabeth (Bellows) Barton, Bezaleel was

b. July 20, 1722, and m., April 30, 1747, Phebe Carlton, a lady noted

for her beauty.

Of the children of Bezaleel and Phebe (Carlton) Barton, were Phebe (one

of whose grand-daughters was the wife of Dr. Judson), Bezaleel,

Benjamin, and Peter who was b. at Sutton. Mass., Sept. 3, 1763, and went

with his parents to Royalston. Mass., in 1764, where he m. Hepsibeth

Baker, Nov. 12, 1789. Bezaleel Barton and his sons, Bezaleel, Benjamin,

and Peter, served Royalston as soldiers in the Revolution. Bezaleel,

senior, was killed at the battle of Bunker Hill.

Peter and Hepsibeth (Baker) Barton came to Croydon, N. H., in 1793,

where he resided until 1824, when he removed to Sunapee, where he d.

Sept. 24, 1825. He was chosen selectman of Croydon from 1801 to 1805,

inclusive. He shared largely the confidence of the public, and was noted

for his strict integrity. Of his thirteen children born in Croydon,

Bezaleel, 2d, was b. July, 1794, and m. Hannah Powers, daughter of

Ezekiel Powers, at which point the Barton and Powers genealogies unite.

* * * * *

Of the children of Bezaleel Barton, 2d, and Hannah (Powers) Barton, Levi

Winter was b. March 1, 1818.

The father, a man of marked social qualities, and frank and genial in

his bearing, died before the son had reached his majority, and previous

to this business had taken the father from home, so that most of the

responsibilities of the family rested upon the mother. But it is no idle

pun upon her maiden name to say that she was a _power_ in that

household. She exercised a healthful and unchallenged discipline. Her

intuitive vision saw every material necessity of the family; her

unsurpassed executive capacity was equal to every demand; and, what is

quite as essential to the formation of a symmetrical character, her

moral and religious precepts and example compelled a recognition of the

claims of God and man. The sick and the poor of her neighborhood were

often greatly indebted to her for the wisdom of her counsels, the

abundance of her alms-deeds, and the warmth of her sympathy. Universally

venerated and esteemed, she died in Croydon, Sept. 14, 1881, aged 86

years.

Inheriting the best qualities of such an ancestry, molded and inspired

by such a mother, and in boyhood acquiring his fiber in the severe but

practical school of tireless industry, rigid economy, and heroic

self-denial and self-reliance, we might anticipate for Mr. Barton a

character and a career which would place him among the best and foremost

citizens of his state, and entitle him to an important chapter in its

history. We hazard nothing when we say that he has made that

anticipation a reality, and that he has afforded us another conspicuous

example of what the humblest may achieve under the fostering genius of

republican institutions.

His district-school education, often interrupted by demands upon his

manual labor, consisted of ten brief winter terms. At eighteen he

assumed the responsibility of his own education and support. He had no

money, but he had what is better, courage and muscle. He went to work.

His books were always near by, so that, whenever there was a leisure

moment, "the horny hands of toil" would grasp and his hungry mind would

feast upon them. He would brook no discouragements. No hours were

allowed to run to waste. Often on rainy days he would call on his old

friend, John Cooper, Esq., to receive instruction. These efforts,

supplemented by a term under Dr. Miner of Boston, qualified him to teach

in the common schools. But for awile he devoted himself chiefly to

farming.

At twenty-one he married Miss Mary A. Pike, one of Newport's worthiest

young ladies. She died the next year, leaving an infant son, Col. Ira

McL. Barton, now deceased. The death of his wife was a severe blow to

one in whose nature the domestic element is so marked. With the light of

his home gone out, and with his life-plan destroyed, he seemed almost

paralyzed for a time. But the bent steel of his intense personality was

sure to react. The second year after this bereavement he entered Kimball

Union Academy, to pursue a classical course under that distinguished

teacher, Dr. Cyrus Richards. Having but one hundred dollars when he

entered, he was compelled to teach winters and to toil with his hands

during the summer vacations; but his uncompromising zeal carried him

successfully through the three years' course. We cannot repress our

admiration for the young man whom neither bereavement nor poverty could

crush, but who, in spite of the most disheartening circumstances, earns

the right to stand in the front rank with his most brilliant

competitors. This he did.

In the same spirit, and still relying upon his own exertions for means,

he entered Dartmouth College in 1844, and honorably graduated in 1848.

His oration, on graduation, was highly commended by the public journals

of the day. At the commencement and close of the terms, he would make

the journeys to and from college, twenty-one miles, on foot. During his

senior year he studied law with Hon. Daniel Blaisdell of Hanover.

After graduating, Mr. Barton taught five terms in the Canaan Academy,

and at the same time was a law student with Judge Kittredge. During this

period he was appointed postmaster of Canaan. In the early part of 1851

he left Canaan, and completed his legal studies with Messrs. Metcalf &

Corbin of Newport, and was there admitted to the bar in the July

following. In 1854 he formed a law partnership with Hon. Ralph Metcalf,

which continued until Mr. Metcalf was elected governor. He then became

the law partner of Shepherd L. Bowers, Esq., with whom he was associated

until 1859. Notwithstanding his extensive law practice, Mr. Barton has

been engaged, to a considerable extent, in building, farming,

stock-raising, and fruit-growing. No man with equal means has

contributed more to the growth and permanent improvement of the village

of Newport. None Have done more by their own personal industry to

convert rough fields into attractive streets, luxuriant gardens, and

pleasant homes. Taught from childhood to cultivate the soil, he has, all

along through his busy life, found his highest enjoyment in turning

aside from the turmoil of professional labors to the more genial

occupation of agricultural pursuits.

As evidence of his superior legal abilities, and of the public esteem in

which he is held, we point to the following record: He was register of

deeds for Sullivan county from 1855 to 1857, inclusive; county solicitor

from 1859 to 1864; representative to the state legislature in 1863,

1864, 1875, 1876, and 1877; and state senator in 1867 and 1868. During

all these seven years of service in both houses, he was a member of the

judiciary committee, and for five years its chairman. In 1866 he was

chairman of the board of commissioners appointed to audit the war debt

of the state. In 1876 he was a member of the convention which revised

the state constitution; and was chosen Republican elector of president

and vice-president of the United States. Gov. Harriman appointed him

bank commissioner, but he declined the office. Gov. Prescott appointed

him, in 1877, one of the commissioners to revise and codify the statutes

of New Hampshire.

His many friends have fondly hoped to see him elected to congress. It is

conceded that his abilities and his fidelity to important public trusts

reveal his eminent fitness for such a position. But local divisions, for

which he is in no way responsible, have thus far prevented his

nomination. His name has come twice before the nominating conventions,

and each time with a very flattering vote.

When Mr. Barton commenced the practice of law in Newport, he found there

able rivals for the honors of the profession, whose reputations were

well established. I cannot better express the truth than to use the

language of a writer who, speaking of this period of his life, says:--

"The field seemed to be fully and ably occupied, but from the

outset his success was assured. It immediately became apparent

that he would bring to the discharge of the duties of his new

position the same energy and devotion to principle which had

hitherto characterized his actions. From that time to the

present, he has enjoyed the confidence of the public. As

counselor, he is cautious and careful, dissuading from, rather

than urging on, litigation. As an advocate, he is eloquent,

zealous, bold, and persistent. His faithfulness and devotion to

the interests of his clients have often been a subject of

remark."

Mr. Barton's legislative experience began in 1863, that intensely

feverish period of the rebellion. The Democratic party was represented

by its ablest orators and most skillful parliamentarians. They were

artful, bitter, and desperate. The majority could not afford to waste or

misapply its resources. Competent leadership was essential to the

utilization of the Republican strength. Fortunately this was found. It

came from the ranks of the "raw recruits." Wary and watchful, alert and

forcible, Mr. Barton promptly and successfully met the assaults of the

opposition, and sometimes "carried the war into Africa." The house soon

acknowledged his leadership,--a leadership which he maintained at the

subsequent sessions. The soldiers will never forget his fearless

advocacy of the measure allowing them to vote in the field. This cost

him his re-appointment as solicitor; but he was not the man to sacrifice

so sacred a principle for the loaves and fishes of office. In 1875 and

1876 he occupied the responsible position of chairman of the Republican

legislative caucus. In the sessions of 1876 and 1877, the Manchester

_Mirror_, _Independent Stateman_, and other papers spoke in the highest

terms of his service, giving him the credit of punctual attendance,

praiseworthy diligence, and of ably championing the best measures that

were enacted, and pointing him out as a probable candidate for the

national congress. His long and able legislative experience has never

been stained by political corruption, or by the betrayal of any moral

question. John Cooper, Esq., in the _Granite Monthly_ of May, 1879, has

truthfully said: "Through all these years of political life he presents

a record without a blemish."

Mr. Barton is a man of well proportioned, commanding physique, and is

well preserved by temperate living and total abstinence from all

intoxicants and narcotics. He is also a man of fluent and agreeable

speech, of fine conversational powers, and is the inspiration of every

social circle which he enters. At home as well as abroad, in private as

well as in public life, he is the invariable advocate of every moral and

social reform. He is an honor to the Masonic fraternity, whose

principles he worthily represents. He is the warm and helpful friend of

the Methodist Episcopal church, to which he belongs; but he has an

unaffected contempt for all sectarian narrowness. His sense of justice

is intuitive, his sympathy quick, and in its exercise he regards neither

state nor condition. The destitute and forsaken always find in him a

true friend. From boyhood he has been an avowed and uncompromising

opposer of slavery, and of whatever oppresses the masses, whether white

or black. If he sometimes asserts and maintains his opinions with

earnestness and warmth, he never does so with malice. In the advocacy of

what he deems to be just, he is never turned aside by motives of

self-interest.

In 1852 he married Miss Lizzie F. Jewett, of Hollis,--a cultured,

christian lady. Her amiability, good sense, and force of character

render her every way worthy of her distinguished husband. Their "silver

wedding" was observed in 1877, and was honored by a large circle of

friends. Besides other tokens of appreciation bestowed at that time,

Hon. Edmund Burke presented, in behalf of the donors, an elegant silver

service.

Their children are Herbert J., Florence F., Natt L., and Jesse M. The

eldest son, Herbert J. Barton, was born September 27, 1853. He prepared

for college at Tilton, and graduated at Dartmouth in the class of 1876.

He has taught with great success in Providence, R. I., also for two

years as principal in the Newport high school, and, still later, as

principal in the high school of Waukegan, Ill. In 1881 he was admitted

to the bar of Illinois at Chicago, and is now associated in practice

with his father. He married, August 21, 1877, Miss Sarah L. Dodge,

daughter of Leander F. Dodge of Newport, a very intelligent and worthy

young lady. The son has many of the elements which have contributed to

the father's success, and we expect his native state will hear from him.

Florence F. graduated from the Newport high school in 1881, and is a

young lady of fine promise.

In conclusion we remark, Mr. Barton stands well at home. Conscious of

his personal integrity and of the worthiness of his aims, his well

earned honors clustering thickly upon him, beloved by his family and

community, and cheered by the favor of Providence, he may with great

propriety congratulate himself that he has not lived in vain. And as his

physical and intellectual forces seem not in the least abated, we may

fondly hope that his fellow-citizens may for many years to come enjoy

the benefits of his practical wisdom and patriotic devotion; and that

his posterity may as nobly sustain the name of Barton as he has the

names of those from whom he descended.

HON. RODNEY WALLACE.

RODNEY WALLACE, of Fitchburg, Mass., was born in New Ipswich, N. H.,

December 21, 1823. He is the son of David and Roxanna Wallace, who spent

the latter years of life at Rindge in the same state.

Whether the family is of English or Scotch origin is extremely difficult

to decide. If the orthography of the last century is correct, then it is

English; if not, Scotch. The point possesses more genealogical than real

importance. People are free to change their names as they list, and have

always exercised that privilege; and under either garb the name has been

borne by noble and distinguished men in the Old World.

The first of this family who came to this country settled in Ipswich,

Mass. Benoni Wallis removed from this place to Lunenburg, Mass., and

there married, on the 2d of July, 1755, Rebecca Brown, of Lynn. They

continued to reside in Lunenburg until her death, August 25, 1790. He

died March 15, 1792. David Wallis, son of Benoni, was born October 10,

1760. He married Susannah Conn, and died in Ashburnham, January 14,

1842. David Wallace, son of David and Susannah (Conn) Wallis, was born

in Ashburnham, July 14, 1797. He married, July 8, 1821, Roxanna Gowen,

of New Ipswich, and removed to Rindge in 1846, where he died May 29,

1857. She died in Fitchburg, February 27, 1876. In the exercise of his

own right and discretion, he restored what he doubtless held to be the

original spelling of his name, and always wrote it Wallace.

Rodney Wallace, when twelve years of age, went from home to work upon a

farm for the sum of forty dollars for the first year, with the privilege

of attending school eight weeks in the winter; and from this time until

arriving at the age of twenty he worked for wages, attending school from

eight to ten weeks in the winter. His education was thus acquired,

during the few winter months, in the common country schools of that

time. From the age of twenty until his removal to Fitchburg, he was

employed and intrusted with business for the late Dr. Stephen Jewett, of

Rindge, N. H.

In 1853 he removed to Fitchburg and became a member of the firm of

Shepley & Wallace, wholesale dealers in books, stationery, etc., which

firm, under this name and the name of R. Wallace & Co., became one of

the best known firms in this line of business in New England. After

several years of successful management of that business, he withdrew

from the firm, engaged in the manufacture of paper, and connected

himself with several other manufacturing interests in Fitchburg. In

whatever interest Mr. Wallace has been engaged, he has not only been

fortunate in its pecuniary issues, but also in the speedy command of the

confidence and respect of his associates. True moral principle has been

united with unquestioned probity, business tact, and liberal,

intelligent management, and he is held in high estimation, both as a

citizen and as a friend. His usefulness has been approved by long,

earnest, and efficient service; and his liberality, by unostentatious

but generous donations to the support of many laudable undertakings.

[Illustration: Rodney Wallace]

In 1865, Mr. Wallace entered into the business of manufacturing paper

with three other gentlemen, under the name of the Fitchburg Paper

Company. One by one these gentlemen sold their respective interests to

Mr. Wallace, and in 1868 he became sole owner of the entire property.

From that time until the present day he has carried on the business

under the old firm name of the Fitchburg Paper Company. He has, since he

became sole owner, made large additions of land to the property, rebuilt

the original mill and filled it with the most improved machinery,

erected a new mill with the latest improvements of every kind, and built

additional store-houses, etc., until he has increased the producing

capacity from two thousand five hundred pounds per day, to sixteen

thousand pounds of hanging, card, and glazing paper per day of

twenty-four hours. The mills, the ample store-houses, the out-buildings

and dwelling-houses make up a little village, wanting nothing but

distance from the city to claim a name of its own.

For the direction of several monetary and corporate interests his

services have been frequently sought. He has been president and director

of the Fitchburg Gas-Light Company since 1864; a director of the

Fitchburg National Bank since 1866; partner in the Fitchburg Woolen Mill

Company, with the Hon. Wm. H. Vose and Hon. Rufus S. Frost, since 1867;

a director of the Putnam Machine Company since 1864; and has just been

chosen director of the Parkhill Manufacturing Company, recently

organized for the manufacture of ginghams. For several years he has been

a trustee of the Fitchburg Savings Bank, a director of the Fitchburg

Mutual Fire Insurance Company, president of the Fitchburg Board of Trade

(four years), a director of the Fitchburg Railroad Company, and a

trustee of Smith College, Northampton, Mass.

Though thoroughly patriotic and keenly alive to the importance of

current issues, the magnitude of the private and corporate interests

committed to his care would not permit the alienation of close personal

attention from them to political matters, and whatever offices he has

held have sought him, instead of his seeking them.

He was a selectman in the years 1864, 1865, and 1867, and a

representative to the general court in 1874, but declined a re-election

the following year, on account of ill health. He was a member of the

governor's council in 1880 and 1881, and has just been re-elected to

serve in the same position the present year.

Mr. Wallace was married, on the 1st of December, 1853, to Sophia,

youngest daughter of Thomas Ingalls, Esq., of Rindge. She died June 20,

1871, leaving two sons. The eldest, Herbert I., born February 17, 1856,

is a graduate of Harvard College, class of 1877; and the younger, George

R., obtained his education in the Fitchburg high school, and a two

years' special course in the Institute of Technology, Boston. They are

both now with their father. Mr. Wallace married, for his second wife,

Sophia F. Bailey, of Woodstock, Vt., on the 28th day of December, 1876.

GEN. SIMON G. GRIFFIN.

BY REV. A. B. CRAWFORD.

GEN. GRIFFIN was born in Nelson, N. H., on the 9th of August, 1824. His

ancestors, as far back as they can be traced, were prominent men in the

communities where they lived, gifted with more than ordinary intellect

and force of character.

His grandfather, Samuel Griffin, Esq., came from Methuen, Mass., soon

after the Revolutionary war, married a daughter of Rev. Jacob Foster, at

that time the settled minister at "Packersfield," now Nelson, and took

up his residence in that town. His superior abilities soon brought him

forward to fill responsible positions, and for many years he represented

the town in the legislature, and held the highest town offices. Both he

and the General's maternal grandfather, Nehemiah Wright, were patriot

soldiers in the Revolutionary army, and both were present at the battle

of Bunker Hill.

His father, Nathan Griffin, was equally gifted with the earlier

progenitors of the race; but, losing his health in the prime of his

manhood, the care of rearing the family of seven children fell upon the

mother. Her maiden name was Sally Wright,--one of the loveliest of her

sex, both in person and character,--and the General owes much to her

wise counsels and careful training. She died recently, at the age of

ninety-four, in the full possession of her mental faculties.

When but six years of age, in consequence of the illness of his father,

the boy was sent to live for some years with his uncle, Gen. Samuel

Griffin, of Roxbury, N. H. He, too, had a decided talent for military

affairs, had been a volunteer in the war of 1812, was prominent in the

state militia, and was fond of repeating the military histories and

descriptions of battles and campaigns that he had read, thus producing a

deep and lasting impression on the mind of the lad. But never, after he

was seven years old, could the boy be spared from work on the farm to

attend school during summer. Ten or twelve weeks each winter at the

district school was all the "schooling" he ever had; but his leisure

hours were spent in reading and study, and, in spite of his want of

advantages, at eighteen years of age he began to teach with marked

success. He had also read much history, and the lives of the great

military chieftains of ancient and modern times; and thus by

inheritance, and by his early training and reading, he had become

unconsciously fitted for the special work before him, and had cultivated

the patriotic spirit and ability for military affairs which have won for

him an honorable place among the distinguished soldiers of our state,

and made him, as confessed on all sides, one of the best volunteer

officers in the war of the rebellion.

Continuing his studies while teaching winters and working on the farm

summers, he mastered all the higher English branches usually taught in

colleges, studied Latin and French, and went through a large amount of

miscellaneous reading. In 1850 he married Ursula J., daughter of Jason

Harris, Esq., of Nelson; but soon after the birth of a son, the

following year, both mother and son died. Returning to his former

occupation of teaching, he took up the study of law, and while thus

engaged represented his native town two years in the legislature,

serving the second term as chairman of the committee on education.

[Illustration: S. G. Griffin

Brig. & Brevet Maj. Genl. U.S.A.]

He was admitted to the bar in 1860, and had just begun the practice of

his profession at Concord when the war broke out. Throwing aside his

law-books, he took up the study of military tactics, joined a company

then forming at Concord, under the first call for troops,--volunteering

as a private, but when it came to organization was chosen captain,--and

finding the quota of New Hampshire full under the first call,

immediately volunteered, with a large number of his men, for three years

or the war, under the second call. Recruiting his company to the

maximum, he joined the Second Regiment at Portsmouth, was mustered into

the United States service in June, 1861, and commanded his company at

the first battle of Bull Run, handling it with coolness and bravery,

although it was under a sharp fire, and lost twelve men, killed and

wounded. It was the celebrated "Goodwin Rifles," Co. B, 2d N. H. Vols.,

armed with Sharp's rifles, by the exertions of Capt. Griffin and his

friends,--the only company sent from the state armed with

breech-loaders.

In 1861 he was promoted to be lieutenant-colonel of the 6th N. H. Vols.,

and joined that regiment at its rendezvous in Keene. The regiment was

assigned to Burnside's expedition to North Carolina, and landed at

Hatteras island in January, 1862. In March it removed to Roanoke island,

and on the 7th of April, Lieut.-Col. Griffin was sent in command of an

expedition, composed of six hundred men with five gunboats, to break up

a rebel rendezvous near Elizabeth City, N. C. Landing at daybreak the

next morning, he attacked and broke up the camp, capturing seventy-four

prisoners, three hundred and fifty stands of arms, and a quantity of

ammunition. On the 19th of April, at the battle of Camden, N. C., he

commanded his regiment, which formed the reserve. At the critical moment

he moved it forward in line of battle, within short musket range, halted

the line, gave the command to fire, and the regiment poured in a volley

with wonderful coolness and precision. The enemy broke and fled, and the

battle was won.

On the 22d of April, 1862, he was commissioned colonel of the regiment.

Assigned to Reno's division, which was sent to aid Pope in Virginia, he

commanded his regiment at the second Bull Run, where it was ordered,

with its brigade, to attack the enemy in a piece of wood. Forcing their

way for some distance, they received a murderous fire in front and from

the left flank and rear. Thinking it must be friends firing into them by

mistake, Col. Griffin took the colors and waved them in that direction,

but the fire only came the sharper; and finding himself nearly

surrounded by an immense force, and deserted by the other regiments, he

gave the order to retreat, and brought off the remnant of his men,

bearing the colors himself.

At the battles of Chantilly and South Mountain he commanded his

regiment; and at Antietam, after one attempt to carry the bridge in

front of Burnside had been made and failed, Col. Griffin was ordered to

make the assault with his own regiment and the Second Maryland. The

charge was gallantly made, but the approaches were difficult, the

enemy's fire destructive, and the column was checked; but

re-enforcements were brought up, and the bridge was carried, and the

Sixth New Hampshire, with Col. Griffin at its head, was the first to

plant its colors on the heights beyond. For gallantry in this action he

was recommended for promotion to brigadier-general. At Fredericksburg he

commanded his regiment, which again suffered severely in the assault on

the heights. Soon after that battle he obtained a leave of absence, and

was married to Margaret R. Lamson, of Keene, N. H., with whom he is

still living, and by whom he has two sons.

Early in the year 1863, the ninth corps was transferred to the

department of Ohio, and Col. Griffin was placed in command of the second

brigade, second division, serving in Kentucky. From there the first and

second divisions were sent to aid Grant at Vicksburg; and, upon the fall

of that city, Sherman moved upon Jackson, Miss., the capital of the

state, driving Johnston before him. While approaching the town, Col.

Griffin was at one time in command of the advanced line, consisting of

three brigades, when a sharp attack was made by the enemy, at three

o'clock in the morning, with a view to breaking our lines by surprise,

but was repulsed with considerable loss. Returning to Kentucky, he took

command of the second division, and marched over the Cumberland

mountains, joining Gen. Burnside at Knoxville. Several regiments of the

corps had been left in Kentucky, and Col. Griffin was sent to conduct

them forward to Knoxville. Before they had started on the march,

however, Kentucky itself was threatened with raids, in consequence of

our defeat at Chickamauga, and Col. Griffin and his troops were retained

for the defense of that state. While on that duty his regiment

re-enlisted for three years, or the war; and in January, 1864, he was

ordered with it to Covington, Ky., where they were remustered into the

United States service, and immediately proceeded to New Hampshire on

their thirty days' furlough, granted by the terms of re-enlistment.

In the spring of 1864, the ninth corps re-assembled at Annapolis, under

Gen. Burnside, and Col. Griffin was assigned to the command of the

second brigade, second division. On the 5th of May the corps joined the

army of the Potomac, on the Rapidan, and at two o'clock on the morning

of the 6th, Col. Griffin was sent with his brigade to attack the enemy,

and later in the day made a brilliant charge in repelling an attack made

on the second corps. At Spottsylvania Court-House, May 12, Gen. Hancock

made the assault at four o'clock in the morning. Griffin occupied the

right of the ninth corps, on the left of Hancock, though some distance

from him, with orders to support that officer. Promptly at four o'clock

Griffin advanced with his brigade in line of battle, and made directly

for the point of attack indicated by the sound of Hancock's guns. As he

approached, he galloped forward to see just where to make the

connection. Passing out of a wood into an open field, he found Hancock's

troops wild with excitement over their success, but with organizations

completely broken up by the charge they had made. Looking across a

valley to a slope beyond, he saw a large force of rebels advancing

rapidly to make a counter attack. Hastening back to his command, he

brought it forward into position just in time to take that advancing

column in front and flank with a destructive fire. Other brigades came

up and formed on his left, and for five hours a terrific fire was kept

up, and the furious onslaught of three Confederate divisions was

repulsed. The loss on each side was fearful, but Hancock's corps, and

possibly the army, was saved from being swept away, and a victory was

won. By this gallant act Col. Griffin "won his star," being made a

brigadier-general of volunteers by President Lincoln, on the

recommendation of Generals Burnside and Grant, and confirmed by the

senate without debate, reference, or a dissenting vote.

On the 18th he made a reconnoissance with his brigade, and handled it

with coolness and skill in the fights of North Anna, Tolopotomy Creek,

Bethesda Church, and Cold Harbor. On the arrival of the army in front of

Petersburg, June 15, he was placed in command of two brigades, and made

a skillful attack on the enemy's advanced lines at daylight next

morning, capturing one thousand prisoners, fifteen hundred stands of

arms, four pieces of artillery, with caissons, horses, and ammunition,

and opening the way into Petersburg had supports been ready in time. At

the battle of the "Mine" he commanded his brigade, and did every thing

that could be done in his place to insure success; also at the Weldon

Railroad, Poplar Grove Church, and Hatcher's Run.

At the final breaking of the lines in front of Petersburg, on the 2d of

April, 1865, after charging the enemy's picket line and capturing two

hundred and forty-nine prisoners during the night previous, he formed

his brigade near Fort Sedgwick, in column by regiments, with three

companies of pioneers in front armed only with axes to cut away the

_abatis_. Just at daybreak, at a preconcerted signal, in connection with

Gen. Hartranft on his right and Col. Curtin on his left, he led his

column to the charge. Nothing could exceed the coolness and intrepidity

with which officers and men pressed forward under a terrific fire of

grape, canister, and musketry; for our artillery had opened and given

the enemy warning. Tearing away the _abatis_, they dashed over the

parapet, seized the guns, captured hundreds of prisoners, and held the

line. The loss was frightful, but the backbone of the rebellion was

broken; and when the news of the assault reached Richmond, on that

Sunday morning, Jefferson Davis crept out of church and stole away, a

fugitive; and Petersburg and Richmond were occupied by our troops next

morning. For gallantry in that action Gen. Griffin was brevetted a

major-general of volunteers, and succeeded to the command of the second

division, ninth corps, holding that position till the close of the war,

with the exception of a short time while he was president of an

examining board of officers at Washington. He joined in pursuit of the

rebel forces, and his division formed a part of the column that

encompassed Lee and compelled him to surrender. Returning with the army

and encamping at Alexandria, he led his division in the Grand Review, on

the 23d of May; and when the last regiment of his command had been

mustered out, he also, in August, 1865, was mustered out of the service

of the United States.

Gen. Griffin's service had been a most honorable one. Brave, able, and

patriotic, he was always in demand at the front, and his service was of

the most arduous kind. He took an active part in twenty-two great

battles, besides being engaged in numberless smaller fights and

skirmishes, and his troops were never under fire, or made a march of any

importance, except with him to lead them. Yet he never received a

scratch, although he had seven ball-holes through his clothes, and had

two horses killed and five wounded under him in action; and he never

lost a day's duty from sickness,--the result, no doubt, of temperate

habits. As an example of the severity of his service in Grant's campaign

of 1864, he left Alexandria with six regiments, reporting twenty-seven

hundred fighting men. At the close of the campaign he had lost three

thousand men, killed and wounded,--three hundred more than his whole

number,--new regiments having been assigned to him, and the older ones

filled up with recruits.

At the close of the war the government appointed him a field officer in

one of the regiments in the regular army; but he had no desire for the

life of a soldier when his country no longer needed his services, and he

declined the offer. In 1866, 1867, and 1868, he represented Keene in the

New Hampshire state legislature, serving the last two years as speaker

of the house, which position he filled with marked ability, showing rare

talent as a presiding officer. In January, 1866, he presided over the

Republican state convention; and Dartmouth College that year conferred

on him the degree of Master of Arts, _causa honoris_. In 1871 he was

nominated for congress by the Republicans of the third district, but the

opposition carried the state that year, and, although making a good run,

he was defeated by a few votes. Renominated in 1873, he was again

defeated by a small majority.

The habits of study so diligently cultivated by Gen. Griffin in youth

have never been laid aside, but are still kept up in the midst of an

active and busy life, he being engaged in large enterprises in the South

and West. As a public speaker he is able, graceful, and convincing, and

his work always shows thorough preparation, correct taste, and sound

judgment. In a book of Garfield's speeches, with a short sketch of his

life, published by a firm in St. Louis, a few memorial addresses,

selected as the best delivered in the country, are inserted as a

supplement, and Gen. Griffin's, delivered at Keene, and the same day at

Marlborough, is found among them.

In his home, where he is cordially seconded by Mrs. Griffin, there is a

tender and affectionate union of the members, a courteous hospitality, a

library rich in choice books which are read and known, and all the

comforts and enjoyments of a true New England home; and from that home

abundant good works go out that make for the well-being of a community.

[Illustration: D. L. Jewell]

COL. DAVID LYMAN JEWELL.

BY J. N. McCLINTOCK.

The chief industry of the flourishing village of Suncook is the

manufacture of cotton cloth. The China, the Webster, and the Pembroke

mills are three great establishments under one management, built on the

banks of the Suncook river, and operated principally by its power, where

this class of goods is made. About these mills, which give steady

employment to over fifteen hundred operatives, has grown up a

substantial village, with fine public buildings, spacious stores,

elegant private residences, and long blocks of neat tenement-houses,

inhabited by a liberal and public-spirited class of citizens, and

governed by a wise and judicious policy which renders this community

comfortable, attractive, and law-abiding. The man to whose clear head

and skillful hand is intrusted the management of this great corporation,

of such vital importance to the village of Suncook, is a genial

gentleman of forty-five, Col. DAVID L. JEWELL, a brief outline of whose

life it is my purpose to sketch.

DAVID LYMAN JEWELL, son of Bradbury and Lucinda (Chapman) Jewell, was

born in Tamworth, N. H., January 26, 1837. In the midst of the grandest

scenery of New England, under the shadows of the Ossipee mountains, and

in view of bold Chocorua, our friend was ushered to this earthly

pilgrimage. Colonel Jewell is a descendant of Mark Jewell, who was born

in the mirth of Devonshire, England, in the year 1724, and died in

Sandwich, N. H., the 19th of February, 1787. He descended from the same

original stock as Bishop John Jewell of Devonshire.

Mark Jewell came to this country in 1743, married, and located in Durham

this state; he was the father of three sons, Mark, Jr., Bradbury, and

John. Mark. Jr., was the first white man that settled in Tamworth, in

1772, on what is now called "Stevenson's Hill," removing soon after to

"Birch Intervale," as known at the present time. He married Ruth Vittum,

of Sandwich, in 1776; they were the parents of sixteen children. He was

prominent in all town affairs, and sometimes preached, and was

familiarly called among his fellow-townsmen "Elder" or "Priest" Jewell.

Bradbury, son of Elder Jewell, married Mary Chapman in 1806, by whom he

had two sons, Bradbury and David.

Bradbury Jewell, a pupil of Samuel Hidden, was a teacher of considerable

note, and his memory is tenderly cherished to-day by many of his pupils

throughout the state. While engaged in teaching he pursued a course of

medical studies, and in 1839, having completed them, collected his

worldly goods and removed to Newmarket, a place presenting a larger

field for practice. There he commenced in earnest his chosen profession;

but, being of a delicate constitution, the exposure incident to a

physician's life soon told upon his limited strength; he was taken sick,

and died "ere the sun of his life had reached its meridian," leaving his

widow, with two little children, in indigent circumstances, to combat

with a cold and selfish world. A wealthy merchant of the place, having

no children, wished to adopt young David, offering to give him a

college education and leave him heir to his worldly possessions; but

with a mother's love for her offspring Mrs. Jewell refused the offer,

and resolved to rear and educate her children as well as her limited

means would allow. Being a woman of undaunted spirit, she opened a

boarding-house for factory operatives, when factory girls were the

intelligent daughters of New England farmers, who regarded this new

industry a most favorable opportunity for honorable employment.

Having brothers in Massachusetts, and thinking to better sustain herself

and children, Mrs. Jewell removed to Newton Upper Falls, Mass.,

following the same occupation there. In that village young Jewell first

attended school, the teacher of which was a former pupil of his father.

To render his mother more substantial assistance than he could afford

her by doing irksome chores, he went to work in the factory when but

nine years of age, receiving for a day's work, from quarter of five in

the morning until half past seven in the evening, the very munificent

sum of sixteen cents a day, or one dollar a week. He worked nine months

and attended school three, every year, until he was nearly thirteen

years of age, when the close confinement was found detrimental to his

health, and he was taken from the mill and placed on a farm. The next

three years he passed in healthful, happy, out-door work. Returning home

from the farm strong, robust, and vigorous, he re-entered the mill,

where he was variously occupied, becoming familiar with the operations

of the numerous machines in each department, but more particularly those

pertaining to the carding-room, where his step-father, Thomas Truesdell,

was an overseer, learning as he pursued his work, gradually and

insensibly, things that to-day are of incalculable benefit for the

business in which he is now engaged. He little thought, however, when

moving his stool from place to place in order to facilitate his labor,

he would some day be at the head of similar works many times greater in

magnitude than those in which he was then employed. His inherited

mechanical taste developed by his life among machinery, and when he was

seventeen years of age he gladly entered a machine-shop. Here his ready

perception of form rendered his work attractive and his improvement

rapid.

Before completing his apprenticeship he felt keenly the want of a better

education, and determined to obtain it. His exchequer was very low, but

having the confidence of friends he readily obtained a loan, and in the

spring of 1855 he entered the Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, Mass. The

principal, after a casual examination, said: "Well, you don't know much,

do you?" Being quick at repartee young Jewell replied: "No, sir; if I

did, I would not be here." This brief sip at the fountain of knowledge

only increased his thirst for more, and in September of the same year he

entered the state normal school at Bridgewater, Mass., under the regime

of Marshall Conant, a life-long friend and counselor. Mr. Jewell from

the first was a favorite among his classmates,--courteous, genial,

pleasant in disposition, something careless withal; physically vigorous,

and always the first at athletic sports when relieved from study.

Mathematics, of which he was very fond, and natural philosophy were his

favorite branches of study, and free-hand drawing his delight, as

slates, book-covers, and albums attested. While in school he made rapid

advancement in knowledge, and graduated in the spring of 1857, having

acquired, as his diploma reads, "a very creditable degree of knowledge

of the several branches taught therein. Besides these attainments, Mr.

Jewell possesses a tact and skill for rapid sketching and delineation

which give life to his blackboard illustrations."

To show the forethought possessed by him in a marked degree, before

graduating he had secured a school to teach in New Jersey, and the day

after the closing exercises were over he started for his new field of

labor. He taught with great success in New Jersey and also in New York,

some three years. One school of which he was principal numbered three

hundred scholars, and employed five assistant teachers, most of whom

were his seniors in years. Like his father, he gained an enviable

reputation as a teacher, and his credentials speak of him in the highest

terms, as a competent, faithful, and pleasing instructor, and a most

excellent disciplinarian. One superintendent of schools remarks: "He was

the best teacher that has been employed in the town for thirty years."

While engaged in teaching, Mr. Jewell pursued a course of study in

engineering and surveying, and finally determined to follow engineering

as a profession. He gave up school-teaching, left the "foreign shores of

Jersey" and entered the office of R. Morris Copeland and C. W. Folsom,

of Boston. His first work was the resurvey of Cambridgeport. He

afterwards worked in Dorchester and on Narragansett bay. But this new

occupation had just been engaged in when "the shot heard round the

world" was fired on Sumter, and the tocsin of war sounded the alarm.

Surveying, like all other business, came to a stand-still; the compass

was changed for a musket, distances measured by the steady tramp of the

soldiery, and the weary flagman became the lonely sentinel.

About this time the owners of the Pembroke mill and property connected

therewith, in Pembroke and Allenstown, N. H., decided to increase their

business by building a new mill twice the capacity of the one then owned

by them. Knowing Mr. Jewell to be a good draughtsman, having employed

him during the construction of the Pembroke mill, they again engaged him

for like duties. Consulting with their then resident agent, he prepared

the required working plans and drawings for the Webster mill. The work

on the building was soon under way and rapidly pushed to completion.

While thus engaged the agent at Newton died, and the immediate care of

the mills was given to Mr. Jewell until (as the treasurer said) he could

find the right man.

Finishing his work at Suncook, and having conducted the affairs of the

company at Newton in a very satisfactory manner, the treasurer tendered

him the agency of the mills. In accepting the position, his career as

agent began where, fifteen years before, he commenced the work that

fitted him so thoroughly for the successful management of the same. The

mills were in a bad condition, the machinery old, and "run down," and

the owners impatient and anxious. Nothing daunted, however, Mr. Jewell

entered heartily into the business, making such changes that at the time

he tendered his resignation he had doubled the production, and greatly

improved the quality of the goods manufactured. Looms built more than

fifty years ago, and improved by Mr. Jewell, are still running and

producing nearly as many yards per day, and of as good quality, as those

made at the present time. These mills were run throughout the war,

paying for cotton as high as one dollar a pound, and selling the cloth

for thirty-five cents a yard. Mr. Jewell was very anxious to enlist

during the exciting times of war, but was prevailed upon by the owners

to continue in charge of their works, and by the entreaties of his wife,

who was hopelessly ill, to remain at her side.

The treasurer and part owner of the mills at Newton Upper Falls was also

treasurer and large owner of the mills at Suncook. In 1865 the Suncook

company agitated the subject of enlarging their works by the addition of

another mill, and in 1867 active operations were commenced upon the

China mill, which was, when completed, the largest works of the kind

contained under one roof in the state. Mr. Jewell again fulfilled the

office of engineer and draughtsman. The company's agent at Suncook,

wishing to devote his time exclusively to the construction of the new

mill, desired that Mr. Jewell come from Newton several days each week to

look after the manufacturing in the two mills. Thus for more than two

years he acted as agent at Newton, also as superintendent of the Webster

and Pembroke mills.

In 1870, before the China mill had fairly commenced operations, the

agent resigned his position. Mr. Jewell, having at Newton proved

diligent, faithful, and capable, was appointed in his stead. Resigning

his position at Newton he removed with his family to Suncook, and

assumed the management of the triumvirate corporation, June 1, 1870.

Again he was obliged to go through nearly the same routine as at Newton.

The machinery, however, was more modern, but had been neglected,

supplies scantily distributed, and the power was inadequate to the

demand. With indomitable perseverance he has remedied the defects, by

providing reservoirs, more thoroughly utilizing the water power, adding

new and valuable improvements, putting in powerful steam apparatus

capable of running during the most severe drought. He has increased the

annual product from twelve million yards in 1874 to twenty-seven million

yards in 1880, with substantially the same machinery, showing what

tireless perseverance and devotion to duty can accomplish.

Mr. Jewell is one of the directors in the China Savings Bank, Suncook.

He is also a member of the New England Cotton Manufacturers'

Association, and of the New Hampshire club. Mr. Jewell was honored by

being appointed aide-de-camp, with the rank of colonel, on Governor

Head's staff, and smilingly speaks of turning out _officially_ more

times than any one of the other members. He is a member of the Governor

Head Staff Association, an active member of the Ancient and Honorable

Artillery Company of Boston, a member of the Amoskeag Veterans of

Manchester, a member of the New Hampshire Veterans' Association, and an

honorary member of the old Twelfth New Hampshire regiment. He was

elected captain of the Jewell Rifles, named in his honor, but graciously

declined, and was made an honorary member. The Masonic fraternity also

claims him, being an active member of the "Jewell" Lodge, Suncook, also

named in his honor, and of the Trinity Royal Arch Chapter, Horace Chase

Council R. and S. M., and Mount Horeb Commandry, Concord, N. H. He is a

member of the Supreme Council, having taken all the Scottish rites up to

the 33d degree, and is an active member of the Massachusetts Consistory

S.'. P.'. R.'. S.'. 32d degree, Boston, and a member of the Connecticut

River Valley Association.

Colonel Jewell is a public-spirited citizen. To him Suncook is largely

indebted for its material advancement since his residence in this

community. Three times have his presence of mind and mechanical skill

been the means of saving the village from entire destruction by fire. To

him is the place indebted for its very effective water-works to guard

against fires in the future.

In happy combination with the great executive ability of the subject of

our sketch, are a fine literary taste and decided artistic talent. The

former has opportunity for gratification in a library rich in standard

works, and the latter is attested by the exterior architectural

decorations and interior embellishments that beautify his home. In

private life, Col. Jewell is genial, affable and approachable. In

religious thought he affiliates with the Congregationalists; but the

Sabbath is to him a day of rest.

Mr. Jewell married, in August, 1860, Mary A. Grover, daughter of Ephraim

Grover, of Newton, Mass. She died October 16, 1862. He was married the

second time, May 31, 1865, to Ella Louise Sumner, daughter of Lewis

Sumner, of Needham, Mass.

Mr. Jewell has kept aloof from politics, but is a good Republican; and,

should he be the standard-bearer of the party in any future contest, he

could probably lead his forces to victory.

[Illustration: Chas. M. Murphy]

HON. CHARLES M. MURPHY.

BY JOHN B. STEVENS, JR.

We live in days when the success of men apparently born to lives of

grinding toil is a pregnant sign of the times. Such opportunities are

now open to him who has a good order of ability, with high health and

spirits, who has all his wits about him, and feels the circulation of

his blood and the motions of his heart, that the lack of early

advantages forms no barrier to success. A striking illustration of the

truth of these statements is exhibited in the following sketch.

CHARLES M. MURPHY, son of John and Mary M. (Meader) Murphy, was born in

Alton, Belknap county, N. H., November 3, 1835. In 1842 his parents

moved to Barnstead, N. H., and settled upon the Tasker farm at the south

end of the town. Here the child grew in stature, and filled out and

braced his frame by hard manual labor.

Scanty record is left of these years of severe work and continuous

struggle; but there is little doubt that the discipline developed an

indomitable will and sturdy self-reliance--which alone enable poor men's

children to grapple with the world--that under more favorable

circumstances might never have shown their full capacity of force and

tenacity.

Again, it is widely believed--and nowhere more strongly than in opulent

cities and busy marts--that a boy is better bred on a farm, in close

contact with the ground, than elsewhere. He is quite as likely to be

generous, brave, humane, honest, and straightforward, as his city-born

contemporary; while, as to self-dependence, strength, and stamina, he

ordinarily has a great advantage over his rival.

He attended the district school, during the winter terms, until of an

age suitable to leave the parental care, when he enjoyed for two terms

the advantages of the academy at Norwich, Vt. At school it appears that

he was diligent and ambitious, and, from his great physical strength and

natural cheerfulness of temperament, very active in all athletic

exercises. Then began the severe and practical duties of life; and,

being the oldest of four boys, for some years he assisted his father in

educating and advancing the interests of his brothers. John E. Murphy

became a prominent dentist, practicing in Pittsfield, N. H., and

Marblehead, Mass., and died at the early age of thirty-five. Frank

Murphy, M. D., a graduate of Dartmouth College, practiced his profession

in Strafford and Northwood; but died in the very flush and promise of

life, at the age of twenty-nine. Albert Warren Murphy, D. D. S., a

graduate of the Philadelphia Dental College, after one year's practice

in Boston, removed, in 1872, to Paris, France, where his professional

labors brought him both credit and profit. At the expiration of two

years, an active interest in Spanish affairs and a desire to test the

business advantages of the country led him to Spain. He soon settled in

Madrid, and in 1879 was appointed dentist to the royal court.

Relieved from his generous labors at home, the subject of our sketch was

married, at the age of twenty-two, to Sabrina T. Clark, daughter of

Isaac Clark, Esq., of Barnstead, N. H., and for six months tried

independent farming; but, though fully aware what a life full of joy and

beauty and inspiration is that of the country, and not destitute of a

natural taste for rural pursuits, at the expiration of the time named he

surrendered his acres to his father, and with less than one hundred and

fifty dollars moved to Dover and began the study of dentistry with Dr.

Jefferson Smith. To this business he brought the same will power and

ability to prolong the hours of labor which marked his early life, and

in two years was pronounced competent to practice in his new calling.

Dr. Smith soon died, and the recently emancipated student not only

succeeded very largely to his practice, but enlarged and built upon it

till a reputation and an income were secured which made travel and study

easy and profitable. For eighteen years this patient, hopeful man

labored and experimented, adding each season to his knowledge and skill,

losing hardly a day except while studying for his degree at the Boston

Dental College. In 1878, as the result of long and careful study of the

business interests of the country, he withdrew entirely from his

profession and embarked his all in the precarious occupation of a

broker. Here his coolness, sagacity, and equableness of temper found

their proper field, and such a measure of success has followed as falls

to the lot of few men not bred from youth amid the fluctuations of the

stock market. In his new occupation he is indefatigable in procuring

information, and alike keen in discerning new traits in men and shrewd

in contrasting them with those which are more common and better known.

Very naturally the subject of our sketch took a lively interest in

political affairs upon becoming of age. A strong and devoted Republican,

in his adopted city his influence in local politics has been felt for

years. He was a member of the state house of representatives in 1871 and

1873; attached to the staff of Gov. Straw; appointed and confirmed as

consul to Moscow--honor declined; a member of the Chicago convention in

1880, where he stoutly supported Blaine so long as a ray of hope

remained; president of the Dover Five Cent Savings Bank--from a state of

torpor and weakness it has grown under his guiding hand into activity

and strength; elected mayor of the city of Dover in 1880, and recently

chosen for another term; recipient of the honorary degree of A. B. from

Lewis College in 1881. Through all his mature life, Col. Murphy has been

a busy man.

But the energetic and successful are not exempt from the sorrows common

to humanity. Three children, who, if spared, might put off to a distant

day the weariness that inevitably comes with advancing years, died while

young; and finally the partner of all his vicissitudes bade him a final

adieu. His second wife, Mrs. Eliza T. Hanson, widow of the late John T.

Hanson, of Dover, dispenses a gracious hospitality in the spacious and

richly furnished Cushing-street mansion.

In closing we may add, Col. Murphy combines qualities which are

generally found apart,--a love for work amounting to dedication, and a

readiness to assist the unfortunate which seems ingrained. His abode is

full of cheerfulness. No one comes there who does not receive a hearty

welcome; no one departs without feeling as if leaving a home.

[Illustration: Hy. C. Sherburne]

HENRY C. SHERBURNE.

HENRY CLAY SHERBURNE, son of Reuben R. and Sally (Rackleyft Staples)

Sherburne, was born in Charlestown, Mass., December 9, 1830. His father

was a native of Pelham and his mother of Newmarket; so, although born

outside the limits of the state, he is wholly of New Hampshire lineage.

His early education, obtained in the public schools of Boston,

terminated when he was fifteen years of age, at which time he entered

the employ of Holbrook & Tappan, hardware dealers, in whose store he

remained three years.

At the age of eighteen years he gained his first experience in railroad

business, serving as a clerk in the freight department of the Boston &

Lowell Railroad, under his father, who was agent of the upper roads

doing business with that corporation. Accepting a clerkship in the

office of the Concord Railroad, he removed to Concord in 1851. After a

year's service with the Concord Railroad, he entered the employ of the

Concord & Claremont Railroad, where he remained until 1865, a period of

thirteen years.

In July, 1865, after the adjournment of the legislature of that year, of

which he was a member from ward five, Concord, he removed to Boston,

entering into the business of railroad supplies in partnership with his

brother, Charles W. Sherburne. He remained there until March, 1880, when

he was elected president and a director of the Northern Railroad.

During his residence in Boston, in 1876, he was elected president of the

New York & Boston Despatch Express Company, which position he still

holds. In the summer of 1880 he was elected president and a director of

the Concord & Claremont and Sullivan railroads, and subsequently a

director of the Concord Railroad. In September, 1881, he was chosen

general manager of the Boston, Lowell, and Concord railroads, under the

business contracts between those roads. In 1878 he was sole trustee of

the Hinkley Locomotive-Works, upon the failure of that company, and

operated the works for about two years.

He is now a resident of ward four, Concord. He has a wife, and one

son--Henry A. Sherburne, eleven years of age.

ZIMRI S. WALLINGFORD.

BY HON. JOSHUA G. HALL.

Famous as the small farming towns of New Hampshire have been in

producing men eminent in the learned professions, they have not been

less prolific in furnishing young men who have achieved distinction and

borne great sway in what are recognized as the more practical business

pursuits. Inventors, constructors, skilled artisans, the men who have

taken the lead in developing our manufacturing interests and bringing

toward perfection intricate processes, those who have increased the

volume of trade at home and abroad, and have become merchant princes,

have come, as a rule, from the plain farm-houses and common schools of

our thousand hillsides. The stern virtues, the rigid frugality, and the

unflagging industry always insisted on in the home life, supplemented by

the limited but intensely practical learning gained in the district

school, have furnished successive generations of young men compact,

firm, and robust in their whole make-up, strong of body, clear and

vigorous of mind, the whole impress and mold of their moral natures in

harmony with right doing. These men have been a permeating force for

good through all classes of our population, and towers of strength in

our national life. The life of the subject of this sketch is a well

rounded example of such young men.

ZIMRI SCATES WALLINGFORD, the son of Samuel and Sallie (Wooster)

Wallingford, was born in Milton, in the county of Strafford, October 7,

1816.

Nicholas Wallington, who came, when a boy, in the ship "Confidence," of

London, to Boston in the year 1638, settled in Newbury, Mass., where he

married, August 30, 1654, Sarah, daughter of Henry and Bridget Travis,

who was born in 1636. He was captured on a sea-voyage, and never

returned; and his estate was settled in 1684. With his children (of whom

he had eight), the surname became _Wallingford_.

John Wallingford, son of the emigrant Nicholas, born in 1659, married

Mary, daughter of Judge John and Mary Tuttle, of Dover, N. H.; but he

lived in that part of Rowley, Mass., now known as Bradford. He had seven

children; one of these was Hon. Thomas Wallingford, of that part of

ancient Dover afterwards Somersworth, and now known as Rollinsford, who

was one of the wealthiest and most eminent men of the province,

associate justice of the supreme court from 1748 until his death, which

took place at Portsmouth, August 4, 1771. The eldest son of John

Wallingford, and grandson of the emigrant, was John Wallingford, born

December 14, 1688, settled in Rochester, N. H., and became an extensive

land-owner. His will, dated October 7, 1761, was proved January 17,

1762. His son, Peter Wallingford, who inherited the homestead and other

land in Rochester (then including Milton), made his will April 18, 1771,

which was proved August 24, 1773. His son, David Wallingford, settled

upon the lands in Milton, then a wilderness. He died in 1815, being the

father of Samuel Wallingford, who was father of Zimri S.

[Illustration: Z. S. Wallingford]

Upon his mother's side, Mr. Wallingford is descended from Rev. William

Worcester, the first minister of the church in Salisbury, Mass., and

ancestor of the eminent New England family of that name or its

equivalent, _Wooster_. Lydia Wooster, great-aunt of Mr. Wallingford, was

the wife of Gen. John Sullivan of Durham, major-general in the army of

the Revolution, and the first governor of the state of New Hampshire;

she was mother of Hon. George Sullivan of Exeter, who was

attorney-general of this state for thirty years.

In 1825 the father of Mr. Wallingford died, leaving his widow with four

children, of which this son, then nine years of age, was the eldest. At

the age of twelve he commenced learning the trade of a country

blacksmith. When he had wrought for his master as his boyish strength

would allow for two years, he determined not to be content with being

simply a blacksmith, and entered the machine-shop of the Great Falls

Manufacturing Company at Great Falls, N. H., and served a full

apprenticeship at machine-building there, in Maryland, Virginia, and in

the city of Philadelphia.

August 27, 1840, Mr. Wallingford married Alta L. G. Hilliard, daughter

of Rev. Joseph Hilliard, pastor of the Congregational church in Berwick,

Maine, from 1796 to 1827. Their children have been (1) John O.

Wallingford, who was sergeant-major, and became lieutenant in the

Fifteenth N. H. volunteers, in the war of the rebellion; was severely

wounded in the assault on Port Hudson; and was afterwards captain in the

Eighteenth N. H., an officer of great merit, whose death at his home in

Dover, March 23, 1872, was the result of disease contracted in his war

service. (2) Mary C., now wife of Sidney A., Phillips Esq.,

counselor-at-law in Framingham, Mass.; (3) Julia, residing with her

parents.

In 1844, Mr. Wallingford entered the employ of the Cocheco Manufacturing

Company, Dover, N. H., as master machine-builder, and remained in that

capacity until 1849. During that period, Mr. Wallingford and a partner,

by contract, constructed new machinery, cards, looms, dressing-frames,

and nearly everything necessary for the re-equipment of the mills. The

then new and large mill at Salmon Falls was also supplied with the new

machinery necessary, in the same manner.

In 1849 he became superintendent of the company's mills, under the then

agent, Captain Moses Paul, and upon the death of that gentleman, was, on

the first day of August, 1860, appointed agent of the company. He has

continued to fill that office to the present time. Taking into account

the great social and public influence, as well as the recognized ability

with which his predecessor had for many years administered the affairs

of the Cocheco company, the magnitude of its operations, the force and

grasp of mind necessary to carry on its affairs successfully, it was

evident to all familiar with the situation upon the death of Captain

Paul, that no ordinary man could occupy the place with credit to

himself, or to the respect of the public, or the satisfaction of the

corporation.

Fully conscious of the responsibility assumed, and full of the

determination which an ardent nature is capable of, not only to maintain

the reputation of his company but to extend its operations and raise the

standard of its manufactured goods, it is not overstating the fact to

say that in the last twenty years few manufacturing companies have made

greater strides in the extent of their works, in the quality of their

goods, or their reputation in the great markets, than has the Cocheco

under the management of Mr. Wallingford. Always strong financially, its

wheels have never, during that time, been idle in any season of panic or

monetary depression. Honorable, and ever generous to all its employes,

its machinery has never stopped for a day at the demand of any organized

strike. The pride, as well as the main business interest of Dover, Mr.

Wallingford has always made his company popular with the people; its

word proverbially is as good as its bond. The importance of the work is

seen in the fact that the mills were, when Mr. Wallingford took charge,

of a so-called capacity of fifty-seven thousand spindles; it is now one

hundred and twenty thousand; and the reputation of the goods is

world-wide. Twelve hundred operatives are on the books of his charge.

To a stranger to the home life of Dover these results seem the great

life-work of Mr. Wallingford; but such an one, in making up his

estimate, will fail to do justice to some of the elements of character

which have, by skillful adaptation, contributed to so great success. To

one so observing, the marked traits of the individual are lost sight of

in the results of his career. To those only who are personally familiar

with the individual are the real elements of success apparent. Of

course, without the strong common sense and good judgment which we sum

up as "business sagacity," Mr. Wallingford's successes would have been

failures; but, to one familiar with his daily life for a score of years,

it is apparent that the crowning excellence of his life, and the power

which has supplemented his mental force and rounded out his life, have

been his stern moral sense.

Perhaps the most noticeable trait in his character from childhood has

been his love of justice and right, and his hatred of wrong and

injustice in all its forms. Under such a man, no employe, no matter how

humble his position, could be deprived of his just consideration; no

interest of his corporation could be allowed to ask from the public

authorities any indulgence or advantage not fairly to be accorded to the

smallest tax-payer. Had he gone no farther than to insist on this exact

counterpoise of right and interest, as between employer and employe, and

between the interest represented by him and the public interest, his

course would have stood out in marked contrast with the conduct of too

many clothed with the brief authority of corporate power. Had this

strict observance of the relative rights of all concerned been as nicely

regarded by associated capital generally as it has been by the Cocheco

company under the management of Mr. Wallingford and his lamented

predecessor, no "brotherhood" for the protection of labor, no "strikes"

organized and pushed to bring too exacting employers to their senses and

to an observance of the common rights of humanity, would have had an

existence, and none would have had occasion to view with jealous eye the

apprehended encroachment of corporate power on private right. But while

so insisting on justice in everything, no man has a kindlier vein of

character, or a warmer sympathy for deserving objects of charity.

Impulsive, naturally, no distressed individual or deserving cause

appeals to him in vain, or long awaits the open hand of a cheerful

giver.

To a man so endowed by nature, so grounded in right principles, and so

delighting in the exercise of a warm christian charity, we may naturally

expect the result that we see in this man's life,--success in his

undertakings, the high regard of all who know him, and the kindliest

relations between the community at large and the important private

interests represented by him in his official capacity.

Fifty years ago, when the subject of this sketch, a mere child, was

leaving his widowed mother's side to learn his trade, the public mind

was just beginning to be aroused from its long lethargy to a

consideration of the abolition of slavery in the United States. The

sleep of men over the subject had been long, and their consciences seem

hardly to have suffered a disturbing dream. Church as well as state was

a participator in the system, and with unbecoming haste rose up to put

beyond its fellowship and pale the first agitators of emancipation.

Garrison had just been released, through the kindness of Arthur Tappan,

from an imprisonment of forty-nine days in Baltimore jail, for saying in

a newspaper that the taking of a cargo of negro slaves from Baltimore to

New Orleans was an act of "domestic piracy," and was issuing the first

number of the _Liberator_, taking for his motto, "My country is the

world, my countrymen are all mankind;" and declaring, "I am in earnest,

I will not equivocate, I will not excuse, I will not retreat a single

inch, I will be heard."

The agitation of the abolition of slavery, which was to end only with

emancipation, had thus begun. The discussion found its way into the

public prints, and among the thinking circles of all rural New England.

The blacksmith's apprentice read what the newspapers had to say, and

listened to the neighborhood discussions on the great question. His

sense of justice and humanity was aroused, and he adopted the motto and

declaration of purpose as announced by Garrison; and from early youth

till the time when Lincoln's proclamation assured the full success of

the object aimed at, Mr. Wallingford was the earnest friend of the slave

and the active promoter of all schemes looking to his emancipation. With

Garrison, Phillips, Parker, Douglas, Rogers, and the other leading

anti-slavery men, he was a hearty co-worker, and for years on terms of

warm personal friendship.

During the winter of 1849-50, Hon. Jeremiah Clemens of Alabama made a

speech in the United States senate, in which he claimed that northern

mechanics and laborers stood upon a level with southern slaves, and that

the lot of the latter was in fact envious when compared with that of the

former classes. This speech at once called out from Hon. John P. Hale,

then a member of the senate, a reply in keeping with the demands of the

occasion and with the great powers of Mr. Hale as an orator. Soon after,

a meeting of the mechanics of Dover was held, at which Mr. Wallingford

presided, and at which resolutions expressing the feelings of the

meeting toward Mr. Clemens's speech were passed, and a copy furnished to

that gentleman by Mr. Wallingford. Upon the receipt of these

resolutions, Senator Clemens published in the _New York Herald_ a letter

addressed to Mr. Wallingford, propounding ten questions. These questions

were framed, evidently, with the design, not so much of getting

information about the actual condition of the workingmen of the free

states as to draw from Mr. Wallingford some material that could be

turned to the disadvantage of the system of free labor. Mr. Wallingford

replied through the press, February 6, 1850, in a letter which at once

answered the impulsive and haughty "owner of men," and triumphantly

vindicated our system of free labor. For directness of reply, density,

and clearness of style, few published letters have equaled it. It must

have afforded Mr. Clemens material for reflection, and it is not known

that he afterwards assailed the workingmen of the nation.

From the formation of the Republican party, Mr. Wallingford has been one

of its active supporters. Though no man has been more decided in his

political convictions, or more frank in giving expression to them, no

one has been more tolerant of the opinions of others, or more scrupulous

in his methods of political warfare. Despising the tricks of the mere

partisan, and abhorring politics as a trade, he has always been content

to rest the success of his party on an open, free discussion of the

issues involved. Not deeming it consistent with his obligations to his

company to spend his time in the public service, he has refused to

accede to the repeated propositions of his political friends to support

him for important official positions; but he was a member of the

constitutional constitution of 1876, and presidential elector for 1876,

casting his vote for Hayes and Wheeler. He is and has been for years,

president of the Savings Bank for the County of Strafford, a director of

the Strafford National Bank, president of the Dover Library Association,

and a director in the Dover & Winnipesaukee Railroad. In his religious

belief Mr. Wallingford is a Unitarian, and an active member of the

Unitarian society in Dover.

GENERAL WALTER HARRIMAN.

BY REV. S. C. BEANE.

The name of no New Hampshire man of the present generation is more

broadly known than that of WALTER HARRIMAN. His distinguished services

to the state, both in the legislature and in the executive chair; his

honorable service as an officer of the Union army; the important trusts

he has held at the hands of one and another of our national

administrations; and, not least, his brilliant gifts as an orator, which

have made him always welcome to the lyceum platform and have caused him

to be widely and eagerly sought for in every important election campaign

for many years,--combine to make him one of the most conspicuous men in

our commonwealth.

The Harriman family is of English origin. Rev. Ezekiel Rogers, a man of

eminence in the church, was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1590. He

graduated at the University of Cambridge, in 1610. Becoming a dissenter

from the Church of England, after twenty-five years of faithful service,

his ministerial functions were suspended. He says of himself: "For

refusing to read that accursed book that allowed sports on God's holy

Sabbath, I was suspended, and by it and other sad signs driven, with

many of my hearers, into New England." This stanch Puritan arrived on

these shores in 1638. In his devoted flock there was an orphan lad,

sixteen years of age, named Leonard Harriman, and from this youthful

adventurer the subject of our sketch descended, being of the seventh

generation. Rogers selected for his colony an unoccupied tract of

country between Salem and Newburyport, Mass., to which he gave the name

of Rowley, that being the name of the parish in Yorkshire to which he

had long ministered.

The oldest son of Leonard Harriman was massacred, with ninety of his

comrades,--"the flower of Essex county,"--in King Philip's war,

September 18, 1675, at Bloody Brook. The great-grandfather of Walter

Harriman saw eight years of hard service in the French and Revolutionary

wars. His grandfather settled in the wilds of Warner, at the foot of the

Mink hills, but lost his life, by an accident, at the early age of

twenty-eight. His father, the late Benjamin E. Harriman, was a man of

character and influence through an honorable life. He reared a large

family at the ancestral home in Warner, where the subject of our sketch,

being the third son, was born April 8, 1817.

Muscle and intellect and the heroic virtues can have no better nursery

than the rugged farm-life of New England, and the Warner homestead was a

challenge and stimulus to the qualities that were needed in the future

man of affairs. This child of the third generation that had occupied the

same house and tilled the same soil, grew up with a stalwart physical

organization and a fine loyalty to his native town, a deep interest in

its rude history and traditions, and a sympathy with the common people,

which in turn made him a favorite with all. To this day there is to him

no spot, save his present home, to be compared with his birthplace, and

there are no people so interesting and endeared as his old neighbors in

the rugged hill-town. He has recently written a history of Warner, which

is regarded as "one of the most systematic, comprehensive, and generally

interesting works of the kind yet given to the public in the state." The

Harriman home still remains in the possession of the family, and, though

the ex-governor now resides in Concord, he spends many a day in every

year amidst the old familiar scenes. His "schooling" was obtained at the

Harriman district school, and at the academy in the adjoining town of

Hopkinton.

[Illustration: Walter Harriman]

When hardly more than a boy, he made a successful trial of the excellent

self-discipline of school-teaching, and at different times taught in New

Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. While in the latter

state, at the age of twenty-two, he became deeply interested in the

principles of Liberal Christianity (the form of religious faith which he

has steadfastly held to this day), and occasionally wrote sermons, which

were well received from the pulpit, and some of which found their way

into print. It was certain from his early youth that nature designed him

for a public speaker, the rare oratorical gifts which afterwards

distinguished him having shown themselves gradually and prophetically in

the district school-house and the village academy. This tentative

experience in preaching, undertaken of his own motion and without

conferring with flesh and blood, resulted in his settlement, in 1841,

over the Universalist church in Harvard, Mass., where he remained in

active service four years. Returning now to Warner, and soon leaving the

pulpit altogether, he became the senior partner in trade with John S.

Pillsbury, late governor of Minnesota,--probably the only instance in

our history where two young business partners in a retired country town

have afterwards become the chief executives of different states.

In 1849, Mr. Harriman was elected by his townsmen to the New Hampshire

house of representatives, where he almost immediately became prominent

as a leader in debate on the Democratic side. Of his record as a party

man little need to be said, except that from first to last, and whatever

his affiliations, he has shown great independence in espousing measures

and principles which commended themselves to his judgment and

conscience, even when it put him in a minority with his political

associates. In his first legislative term, on the question of commuting

the death sentence of a woman who was sentenced to be hung for murder,

he not only advocated such commutation, but was a leader in the movement

for the abolition of capital punishment altogether, to which purpose he

has ever since stood committed. In the legislature of 1850, he was the

leading advocate of the homestead exemption law, at which time a

resolution was adopted, submitting the question to the people. The

voters of the state gave their approval at the next March election, and

in the following June the act was consummated. No legislature has dared

to repeal it, and the foresight and courage of its authors and earliest

advocates have been so approved by thirty years of experience that it is

doubtful if a single citizen can be found to-day who would desire to

undo their work.

It was no accident or trifling smartness that could give a man

prominence in those two legislatures of a third of a century ago. Among

the men of marked ability, now deceased, who held seats in those years,

were Horton D. Walker, Samuel H. Ayer, Lemuel N. Pattee, Edmund Parker,

Samuel Lee, John Preston, William Haile, Richard Jenness, William P.

Weeks, Thomas E. Sawyer, Wm. H. Y. Hackett, Nathaniel B. Baker, Charles

F. Gove, Thomas M. Edwards, Josiah Quincy, and scores of others, now

living, of equal merit. In this galaxy of brilliant minds, it is no

exaggeration to say that, young as he was, Mr. Harriman was an honored

peer in legislative duty and debate. Besides the two years named, he

represented Warner again in the house in 1858, when he was his party's

candidate for speaker. He also represented district No. 8 in the state

senate in 1859 and 1860. In 1853 and 1854 he held the responsible office

of state treasurer. Appointed in 1856, by the President of the United

States, on a board of commissioners (with ex-Congressman James H. Relfe

of Missouri, and Col. Wm. Spencer of Ohio), to classify and appraise

Indian lands in Kansas, he spent a year of official service in that

inviting territory, then turbulent with ruffianism. Border raids,

burnings, and murder were daily occurrences. But the duties of this

office were faithfully attended to, and no breath of complaint was

overheard against the delicate work of this board.

During the reign of that un-American political heresy, popularly called

Know-Nothingism, in 1854, 1855, and 1856, Mr. Harriman was its firm and

unyielding enemy. In a discussion of this question with Hon. Cyrus

Barton at Loudon Center, Mr. Harriman had closed his first speech, and

Mr. Barton had just begun a reply, when he dropped dead on the

platform,--a tragedy which lingers sadly in the memory of his friendly

antagonist of that day.

The outbreak of the civil war began an era in the life of every public

man in the nation. It projected issues which made party allegiance a

secondary affair. It sent many honest and earnest men across the party

lines, while some of our best citizens simply took their stand for the

time being outside all political folds, independent, and ready for

whatever calls the exigencies of the country might give forth. In that

fateful spring of 1861, Mr. Harriman became the editor and one of the

proprietors of the _Weekly Union_ at Manchester, which heartily espoused

the war policy of Mr. Lincoln's administration for the preservation of

the republic, and thus found himself the leader and spokesman of what

were known as the "War Democrats." He was placed in nomination as a

candidate for governor of the state, at a large mass convention of this

class of voters, held at Manchester in February, 1863, and this movement

resulted in defeating a choice by the people and throwing the election

into the legislature.

No man uttered braver or more eloquent words for the Union cause than

Mr. Harriman, and his tongue and pen were an important element in the

rousing of the citizens of New Hampshire to the graver duties of the

hour. In August, 1862, he was made colonel of the Eleventh New Hampshire

regiment of volunteers. He led this regiment to the field, and was at

its head most of the time until the close of the war, except the four

months, from May to September, 1864, when he was an inmate of

Confederate prisons. With some other captured Union officers, he was,

for seven weeks of this time, imprisoned in that part of Charleston, S.

C, which was most exposed to the fire of the Union guns from Morris

island, but providentially, though that part of the doomed city was

destroyed, no harm came to him from the guns of his fellow-loyalists.

The first set battle in which the Eleventh Regiment bore a part was that

of Fredericksburg, in December, 1862, when, with unflinching courage,

Col. Harriman and his men faced the dreadful carnage of that long day

before Marye's Height, less than three months after their arrival in the

field. The loss of the regiment in this engagement was terrific. Passing

over much (for want of space) that is thrilling and praiseworthy, we

find the Eleventh under their colonel, at the front, in the battle of

the Wilderness, May 6, 1864, when they made a daring and stubborn onset

on the Confederate intrenchments, carrying before them two successive

lines of the enemy's works. But among the five thousand Union men that

were captured in that bloody engagement, the commander of the Eleventh

N. H. was included. Col. Harriman and the survivors of his charge were

present at the final grapple of the war before Petersburg, and on the 3d

day of April, 1865, he led a brigade of nine large regiments (a force

three times as great as the whole American army at Bunker Hill) into

that fated city, on the heels of Lee's fleeing command. The war was now

virtually ended, the surrender of Lee at Appomattox followed six days

afterwards, and the Eleventh Regiment, of proud and honorable record,

was mustered out of service in the following June. Their commander was

appointed Brigadier-General U. S. V., by brevet, "for gallant conduct

during the war," to date from March 13, 1865.

On his arrival home, at the close of the war, Gen. Harriman was elected

to the office of secretary of state, by the legislature then in session,

and he at once entered upon the duties of the office, which he held two

years, and until his promotion to the gubernatorial chair. In the large

Republican convention, consisting of six hundred and seventy-five

delegates, and held at Concord in January, 1867, he was nominated, on

the first ballot, as candidate for governor of the state. One of the

most salient and memorable incidents connected with this period was the

joint canvass made, by amicable arrangement, between Gen. Harriman and

the Hon. John G. Sinclair, the Democratic candidate. Such canvasses are

not uncommon in the West and South; but in New England, and with two men

of such forensic ability as these distinguished nominees possessed, it

was an event fraught with great popular interest, and which drew forth,

possibly, the most earnest and eloquent discussions of questions to

which a New England people has ever listened. Many flattering notices

were given of these discussions. There were thirteen in all. Commenting

on one of the number, a leading newspaper said of Gen. Harriman:

"Soaring above all petty personal allusions, he held the audience as if

spell-bound, and made all his hearers, for the time being, lovers of the

whole country,--of the Union, of liberty, and independence throughout

the world. He spoke not as a politician, but as a patriot, a statesman,

a philanthropist, and his noble sentiments had such power of conviction

that it was impossible to ward off the results by argument." His

election followed by a decisive majority.

The campaign of 1868 occurred at a time when a strong reaction was

setting against the Republican party throughout the country. Fresh

candidates for the presidency were about to be nominated; the

impeachment of Andrew Johnson was in progress; military rule had been

established in the South; utter financial ruin was hotly foretold; and

the dominant party was suffering crushing reverses in many of the

leading states. To add to the discouragements of this party in New

Hampshire, when the municipal elections came on in December, Portsmouth

and Manchester rolled up adverse majorities, and the tide was tending

strongly in one direction. Encouraged by such promising signs, the

Democratic party held its state convention at the early day of the 14th

of November. Their old and tried war-horse, John G. Sinclair, was again

put upon the track, and his election was, by the party, deemed a

foregone conclusion. A long and fierce contest ensued. Gov. Harriman met

his fellow-citizens, face to face, in every section of the state. He

addressed immense meetings, holding one every secular day for six weeks,

and failing to meet no appointment on account of weariness, storms, or

any other cause. He was triumphantly re-elected, obtaining a larger vote

than any candidate for office had ever before received in New Hampshire.

Of Gov. Harriman's administration of the affairs of the state, in its

principal features, with the exacting duties and the keen prudence

required of the chief executive in those days of large indebtedness,

unbalanced accounts, and new legislation to meet the new and

unprecedented demands, his constituents seem to have been hearty and

unanimous in their approval. Their feelings may be summed up and

expressed in the words of the _Boston Journal_, when it said: "The

administration of Gov. Harriman will take rank among the best that New

Hampshire has ever had."

General Harriman was appointed naval officer of the port of Boston, by

President Grant, in April, 1869, which office he accepted after the

expiration of his gubernatorial term in June following. He was

re-appointed in 1873, for a term of four years. The affairs of this

office were conducted in such manner as to preclude any word of

criticism.

Gen. Harriman has engaged in political canvasses repeatedly in most of

the northern states, and in 1872 he participated extensively in the

state campaign in North Carolina. In this latter canvass, the key-note

of the national campaign was pitched, and the result of the desperate

contest there in August made the re-election of Gen. Grant in November a

certainty.

Thousands have warmly testified to the rare oratorical powers of the

subject of this sketch, the _Meriden_ (Conn.) _Recorder_ being one of

the number. That paper says of him: "As a platform speaker, we never

heard his equal. His delivery is fine, his logic clear as crystal, his

manner easy and natural, and his physical force tremendous. With a voice

clear and distinct as a trumpet, of immense compass, volume, and power,

his influence over an audience is complete. He affects nothing, but

proceeds at once to the work in hand, and from the very outset carries

his hearers with him, rising, at times, with the inspiration of his

theme, to the loftiest flights of eloquence."

Gov. Harriman has been twice married; first, in 1841, to Miss Apphia K.,

daughter of Capt. Stephen Hoyt, of Warner, who died two years

afterwards; and again in 1844, to his present wife, Miss Almira R.

Andrews. By the latter marriage he has had three children. Georgia, the

only daughter, is the wife of Joseph R. Leeson, an enterprising importer

of Boston. Walter Channing, the oldest son, married Miss Mabel Perkins,

of Portsmouth. He is a promising and successful lawyer, living at

Exeter, and solicitor of Rockingham county. The younger son, Benjamin E.

having prepared himself for the medical profession at some of the best

schools in the land, took his degree at Dartmouth College in 1877, and

began practice in Manchester. But his health soon failing, after patient

and determined efforts for its recovery, and after attempting in another

place to resume his professional work, he died at his father's home in

Concord, in May, 1880, lamented, not only by his own family, but by a

large circle of devoted and enthusiastic friends. His wife, so early

bereaved, was Miss Jessie B., only daughter of the late Col. Isaac W.

Farmer, of Manchester. A biographical paper read before the N. H.

Medical Society, by Dr. A. H. Crosby (a physician of wide reputation),

and printed, portrays the character of Dr. Harriman in generous outline,

and fine and tender tinting, and from it we know that he was a young man

of high integrity, large capacities for friendship, and superior

equipment for his life-work. There are two grandsons to represent the

family, one in the home of each of the governor's surviving children.

The home of Gov. Harriman in Concord, where he has now lived since 1872,

is a delightful one, and no one enjoys it with more satisfaction than he

himself. A great traveler, by the necessities of his public career, he

has a mastering fondness for quiet domestic life, and never are his rich

stores of experience, his knowledge of men, and his fine sense of humor

with its exhaustless fund of material, more ready at his command than of

an evening in his own house. He writes for various of the standard

publications of New England, and no time hangs wearisome on his mind. He

wears the honorary degree of A. M., conferred by Dartmouth College in

1867. A good citizen and neighbor, a delightful companion, free and

familiar and sympathetic with all persons, his intellectual power now at

high noon, and never better able to serve his time than now, it would

seem that many years of useful activity are before him ere the restful

evening descends.

[Illustration: Sam M Wheeler]

HON. SAMUEL METCALF WHEELER.

HON. SAMUEL METCALF WHEELER was born in Newport, N. H., May 11, 1823. He

was the only son--having one sister--of Albira and Melinda (Metcalf)

Wheeler, who came of families of remarkably vigorous constitution and

decided longevity; and from his ancestry, doubtless, Mr. Wheeler

inherits the intellectual and physical ability which has made him so

careful in breadth of study, and so successful as a legal adviser at the

bar and in legislative debate and action.

Mr. Wheeler's early education was obtained in the seminary at Claremont,

N. H., the military academy at Windsor, Vt., at Newbury Seminary, Vt.,

and in private instruction in the languages.

In 1844 he entered upon the study of law in the office of Walker &

Slade, at Royalton, Vt.; seven months later he entered that of Tracy &

Converse at Woodstock, Vt., where he remained two years and a half; and

for some months afterwards he read law with Hon. Ralph Metcalf, an

ex-governor of New Hampshire, from whose office he was admitted to the

bar in 1847. He commenced practice in Newport, where he remained about a

year. The next four or five years he practiced in Fisherville, and in

1853 he removed to Dover, where he at once entered upon a large and

successful practice, and where he still remains. At first he was in

business connection with John H. Wiggin. Esq., which lasted for two

years. Subsequently, in 1858, he associated with himself Hon. Joshua G.

Hall, then commencing practice, and the law firm of "Wheeler & Hall"

continued for eight years. Since that time. Mr. Wheeler, while having

the assistance made necessary by his practice, has remained without a

partner.

As a lawyer, Mr. Wheeler has long been recognized as a leader. His

natural abilities, strengthened and brightened by patient study, which

has made him familiar with the law and precedents, and his learning,

supplemented by the power to see all the features of a case and a

conscientious devotion to the interest of his client, make him a safe

adviser. His particular success, however, has undoubtedly been in the

trial of jury causes, where his extensive study, quickness of

perception, tact, and forensic ability, and a habit of thought which

grasps particulars into a whole, tending to one strong impression upon

listeners, have been the elements which have made him very strong.

Mr. Wheeler was from the first one of the pillars of Republican strength

in Strafford county; and when the party in Dover has needed some one to

represent it with conspicuous ability it has very often called upon him.

He represented that city in the legislature in 1864, 1865, 1868, 1869,

and 1870, and in 1876 was a member of the constitutional convention of

New Hampshire. In the house, he was on the judiciary committee in 1864,

and its chairman in 1865, also chairman of the finance committee in

1868; and in the constitutional convention was chairman of one of the

four only leading committees, vis., that on the bill of rights.

In 1869 he was chosen speaker of the house, receiving nearly all the

votes of his party in caucus, and much beyond his party vote in the

house. He was rechosen in 1870, again receiving more than the vote of

his party. As a member of the house, he was always recognized as a

leader whose counsel it was safe to follow and whose opposition was

generally fatal; and, as speaker, he was distinguished for his dignity,

courtesy, and knowledge of parliamentary law. He was several times the

leading Republican candidate for congress in the first district, and the

peculiar methods by which other men were put into the place which the

people demanded he should fill have disgraced and weakened the party in

that section ever since.

In the year 1866, Mr. Wheeler received the honorary degree of Master of

Arts from Dartmouth College. He was president of the Dover National Bank

from 1858 to 1874.

Mr. Wheeler married, December 31, 1848, Priscilla E., daughter of Joseph

W. and Phebe (Wheeler) Clement, of Franklin, N. H. They have but one

child,--Helen Maud,--born March 27, 1858. Mr. Wheeler is still in the

prime of successful practice in Dover.

[Illustration: Edward Spalding]

HON. EDWARD SPALDING, M. D.

The subject of this sketch, born at Amherst, N. H., September 15, 1813,

was the son of Dr. Matthias Spalding, who was of the fifth generation in

direct descent from Edward Spalding, who came to New England about 1632,

and settled first at Braintree, Mass., removing a few years later to

Chelmsford, Mass., of which he was one of the earliest proprietors. Col.

Simeon Spalding married, for his second wife, Mrs. Abigail Wilson, whose

maiden name was Johnson, the fourth generation in descent from Edward

Johnson of Woburn, who came from Kent county, England. Matthias Spalding

was one of the youngest of her children, born at Chelmsford, June 25,

1769, and graduated at Harvard College in 1798. Adopting the medical

profession, he went abroad to perfect his education by attending

lectures in London. Having a natural aptitude for the practice of

medicine and surgery, with this superior training, he was soon

distinguished for his successful treatment of disease, and his services

were widely sought.

In 1806, after the settlement of Matthias Spalding at Amherst, he

married Rebecca Wentworth, daughter of Hon. Joshua Atherton, and sister

of Charles H. Atherton, an eminent lawyer and father of Hon. Charles G.

Atherton, late United States senator. Mrs. Spalding was a woman of a

refined nature and elegant manners. Of eight children, Edward was the

first son and the fourth child. Favored in his parentage, he was also

favored in the circumstances and companionships of his early life. The

society of Amherst embraced a number of families of superior talents and

education. Among the children of these families he was an active, manly,

and generous boy, fond of fishing and athletic sports, and popular with

his schoolmates.

When eleven years of age he was sent to Chelmsford, to be under the

instruction of Rev. Abiel Abbott. At thirteen, he was one of a company

of Amherst lads who became students at Pinkerton Academy, in Derry, then

in charge of Abel F. Hildreth, a celebrated master in those days. While

preparing for college, he was associated with Jarvis Gregg, Stephen

Chase, James F. Joy, and James McCollom, who were subsequently

distinguished as scholars, becoming tutors in the college at Hanover,

after graduation. In college young Spalding made good use of his

opportunities, and counted among his friends and classmates at Dartmouth

Rev. F. A. Adams, Ph. D., Prof. Joseph C. Bodwell, D. D., Hon. J. F.

Joy, LL. D., John Lord, LL. D., Judge Fowler of Concord, and Rev. E.

Quincy S. Waldron, president of Borromeo College, Md.

In the autumn following his graduation, in 1833, young Spalding went to

Lexington, Ky., hoping to obtain employment as a teacher. The effort to

establish a private classical school in Lexington, though widely

advertised, was not successful. The patronage did not answer to the

promises of the ambitious prospectus, and, after a trial of a few weeks,

the enterprise was abandoned as unremunerative. The West was not to be

the scene of Dr. Spalding's life, nor teaching his employment.

Mr. Spalding returned to New England in the spring of 1834, and

commenced the study of medicine in the office of his father at Amherst.

He attended three courses of lectures in the Harvard Medical School at

Boston, and was graduated at that institution in the summer of 1837.

Having spent a few months riding with his father, and observing his

treatment of the sick, he decided to enter on what seemed a promising

field for a physician at Nashua. Accepting an invitation from the elder

Dr. Eldredge, he became a partner with him in practice. After this

partnership was dissolved the business increased, and he gained for

himself an extensive and valuable patronage. He enjoyed the confidence

of a large circle of families, and his success as a physician had given

him an enviable reputation. In the meantime he had been called to assume

responsibilities of a fiduciary nature, involving such care and labor as

seriously to interfere with his professional engagements. The transition

to these new employments was the natural sequence of the excellent

judgment and rare capacity for business which he manifested. The

accuracy and promptitude with which his accounts were rendered to the

probate, and the just consideration for the feelings and interests of

all persons concerned in the settlement of the estates committed to his

trust, brought such a pressure of occupation that he was compelled to

relinquish his profession.

He had now been in practice twenty-five years, and satisfactory as his

services as a physician had been to the community, he was yet to perform

an imperative and valuable service by his judicious management of

important trusts and his earnest co-operation in the direction and

enlargement of new enterprises. In addition to his engagements in the

settlement of large estates, he became interested in banking,

manufacturing, and railroads, holding various offices of labor and

responsibility in these institutions and corporations. He was for

several years treasurer of the Nashua Savings Bank and subsequently its

president. He was one of the original projectors of the "Pennichuck

Water-Works," of which company he is president. A director in both of

the large cotton manufacturing companies which have contributed so much

to the prosperity of the city, he has also fulfilled similar duties in

other corporations elsewhere. For a time a director, he has become the

president, of the Indian Head National Bank.

In municipal and town offices he has performed important duties, taking

a lively interest in the progress of popular education. He has been a

member of the school committee a large portion of the time that he has

lived in Nashua, and is now chairman of the board of education. A member

of the New Hampshire Historical Society, his encouragement and

assistance are gratefully acknowledged by several gentlemen who have

been engaged in the preparation and publication of genealogical and town

histories. He has also been actively engaged in building up the city

library, of which he has been a trustee from the beginning of the

enterprise.

Never seeking political preferment, and personally disinclined to the

strife for political distinctions, he was elected mayor of the city in

1864, and served as delegate to the Baltimore convention in the same

year. He was a member of the state convention for the revision of the

constitution in 1876, and councilor for two years during the

administration of his Excellency Governor Prescott, 1878 and 1879.

In 1866 he was elected a trustee of Dartmouth College, a position which

he still retains, and in which he has contributed to the substantial

prosperity of the institution by frequent, unobtrusive gifts, and the

steady service of a loyal and judicious mind. He has also represented

Dartmouth College as a trustee of the College of Agriculture and the

Mechanic Arts during the whole period of its existence as a department

of instruction.

On the 23d of June, 1842, Dr. Spalding was united in marriage with Dora

Everett, second daughter of Joseph and Mary Appleton Barrett, of New

Ipswich, a family associated favorably with the history of the town so

widely known by the character and achievements of its sons. By this

marriage Dr. Spalding had three children, of whom two daughters are

living; the second child, a son. Edward Atherton, died November 10,

1863, aged eleven years and two months. With this exception, the life of

Dr. Spalding has been singularly exempt from afflictive changes. Happy

in the circle of his kindred and the connections formed by marriage, his

home has been a welcome resort to the youth of both families, while the

older generation was tenderly cared for by the thoughtful and continued

ministrations of this son and his companion.

As might be inferred from what has been said of the general esteem in

which Dr. Spalding is held, he has many personal friends among men of

thoughtful and scholarly habits. Himself a student, and thoroughly awake

to whatever affects the nation's welfare, he has been a careful reader

of current history. He has marked the progress of the various moral and

political questions that agitate the minds of the people and shape the

legislation of the country, with deep concern that the issues might be

favorable to the principles of truth and righteousness. A sincere

believer in the teachings of our Divine Lord, he has recognized as a

Christian the claims of the country, as well as the claims of the city

where he dwells. A liberal and constant contributor to the institutions

which are organized to extend the knowledge of Christ throughout the

world, he is known as the patron and advocate of missions at home and

abroad. For many years he has been the president of the New Hampshire

Bible Society. He has cheerfully borne his full proportion of the

expenses incident to the maintenance of the local institutions of public

worship and religious instruction in the church and society with which

he is connected. When the meeting-house of the First Congregational

church was burned, he at once proposed to his friend, Mr. Isaac

Spalding, that they two should each give ten thousand dollars towards

the cost of rebuilding,--a proposition to which Mr. Spalding promptly

assented, thus insuring the immediate erection of the commodious and

pleasant edifice which that church now owns.

With such a variety of offices and engrossing employments still

demanding his attention, we should anticipate that the duties would

become burdensome, and the skillful hand lose something of its cunning;

but the Doctor is still vigorous and works easily. This continued

capacity for labor is doubtless owing to the natural endowments of a man

who has nurtured his forces by avoiding excesses on the one hand, and on

the other by carefully husbanding his strength. He has not only arranged

his business on system, but he has resolutely reserved to himself,

annually, seasons of almost absolute rest. Retaining his early fondness

for fishing, for a few weeks in every year he has resorted to the

mountain streams and inland lakes of northern New England for his

favorite recreation. In these excursions he has sought the head waters

of most of our rivers, and become acquainted with the grand and

beautiful scenery of the mountain region. He has learned the haunts and

habits of all the fish to be found in our streams, and of the birds that

frequent our forests. By this method has he renewed his youth, while,

with others of congenial tastes, he has made his knowledge tributary to

the public good, by joint efforts to restore the migratory fishes to the

waters of the state, from which, by artificial obstructions, they have

been shut out. The board of fish and game commissioners for New

Hampshire, of which Dr. Spalding is chairman, is an outgrowth of this

joint endeavor that promises to enlarge the piscatory resources of the

state.

With this record of the number and variety of trusts which are still in

his hands, and the appointments that he must meet daily, and from week

to week, it is evident that the Doctor is still capable of continuous

labor. His grateful testimony addressed to his classmates is, "I have

enjoyed almost uninterrupted health, and a degree of happiness and

prosperity far beyond the common lot." The sources of his good fortune

are not to be sought in extraordinary gifts or peculiar helps. Beginning

life with a sound mind and sound body, he has cherished both by regular

habits and studious industry. By fidelity and painstaking in business,

by generous and considerate treatment of others, by using his influence

and property in befriending the needy and helping young men struggling

with adverse circumstances, by cherishing the friendship of good men in

all classes of society, and in daily recognition of his need of guidance

and wisdom from God,--he has escaped the envy and conflicts which beset

a selfish and ambitious career. Happy in his employments, and enjoying

the good that followed his exertions, men have witnessed his advancement

with pleasure and sought to do him honor. His life illustrates the value

of those personal excellences which all may cultivate, and shows the

readiness of mankind to recognize their worth. To such as are seeking to

do right and serve their generation, the example is encouraging, and

assures us that energy, integrity, and beneficence are not without

rewards.

[Illustration: Yours truly

James A. Weston]

HON. JAMES A. WESTON.

By H. H. Metcalf.

Much has been written in praise of Manchester, the foremost city of the

state in size and importance, in the extent and variety of its

manufacturing establishments and in the energy, activity, and public

spirit of its citizens. It has been called, also, the "city of

governors," and four of the nine living ex-chief-magistrates of the

state have their residence within its borders; while still another,

residing in the immediate vicinity, is reckoned as substantially a

Manchester man. Yet, after all, but one native of Manchester has ever

held the office of governor of New Hampshire. What is far more

remarkable is the fact, that of twenty men who have been chosen mayor of

Manchester, one alone was born within its limits. He and Manchester's

only native born governor are one and the same,--the subject of this

sketch,--a man who, from the work he has accomplished, as well as from

the distinction he has received at the hands of his fellow-citizens, has

long been accorded a conspicuous position among the representative men

of his city and state.

JAMES ADAMS WESTON was born in Manchester, August 27, 1827. He is a

descendant of the seventh generation from John Weston, of

Buckinghamshire, England, who aided in establishing the colony at

Weymouth (then Wiscasset), Mass., where he went into mercantile

business, being among the first to engage in the colonial trade.

Returning to England a few years subsequently, he suddenly died there;

but in 1644, John Weston, a young son of the deceased, made his way to

America, where he joined some of his kindred who had emigrated in the

mean time. He finally settled in Reading, Mass., and was the progenitor

of the family of which James A. Weston is a representative.[1]

In 1803, Amos Weston, a descendant of John, removed from Reading, with

his family, and settled in Manchester, then Derryfield. He was a farmer

by occupation, and located in the southeastern part of the town. This

Amos Weston was a man of character and influence, and was a member of

the committee, chosen in March, 1810, to petition the legislature to

change the name of Derryfield to Manchester. A son of the above, Amos

Weston, Jr., removed with his parents to Derryfield, and located upon

land adjoining that of his father, clearing up from the wilderness the

farm since well known in Manchester as the "Weston place." He married

Betsy, a daughter of Col. Robert Wilson, of Londonderry, a leading

citizen of the town, whose father, James Wilson, came from Londonderry,

Ireland, more than one hundred and fifty years ago, and settled at the

place now known as Wilson's Crossing. Amos Weston, Jr., was a man of

strong mind and sound judgment, and was much in the public service. He

officiated as town clerk five years; as selectman, fifteen years, being

eleven years chairman of the board; was three times the representative

from Manchester in the legislature; and a member of the constitutional

convention of 1850. From his union with Betsy Wilson--an estimable and

exemplary woman--five children resulted. Of these, the youngest, James

A. Weston, is the sole survivor.

Like most sons of New Hampshire farmers, Mr. Weston passed a

considerable portion of his time in youth in tilling the soil; but

secured a substantial education at the district school and the

Manchester and Piscataquog academies. With a strong aptitude for

mathematics, he soon determined to apply himself to the study of civil

engineering, with a view to making that his avocation in life, teaching

school winters in the meantime. So rapidly did he prepare himself for

his chosen occupation that at the age of nineteen years he was appointed

assistant civil engineer of the Concord Railroad, and immediately (in

1846) commenced work in superintending the laying of the second track of

that road. In 1849 he was promoted to the position of chief engineer,

which he held for a long series of years. For several years, also, he

discharged the duties of road master and master of transportation of the

Concord and Manchester & Lawrence railroads. As chief engineer of the

Concord & Portsmouth Railroad, he superintended the construction of a

considerable portion of the line, as he subsequently did that of the

Suncook Valley Railroad. As a civil engineer, he occupies a place in the

front rank in his profession in New England; and his services have been

in demand far beyond his ability to respond, in making surveys for

proposed railways, water-works, etc. Prominent among the public works

with which he has been connected in this capacity, may be mentioned the

Concord water-works, supplying the capital city with water from Penacook

lake, for which he made the survey, and whose construction he

superintended.

In his political convictions and associations, Mr. Weston has been a

Democrat from youth. Never a machine politician, or even a zealous

partisan, though a devoted supporter of the principles and policy of his

party, he has won and held the personal respect of both friends and

opponents in political affairs; so that, when a candidate for public

office (which he has never been except at the urgent solicitation of

those who regarded his candidacy essential to party success), he has

never failed of strong popular support, measurably exceeding that of his

party strength alone. In 1861 he was persuaded to accept the Democratic

nomination for mayor of the city. Previous to this time Manchester had

almost universally been regarded as a Republican or Whig city. The year

previous to Mr. Weston's nomination the Republican candidate had been

elected by nearly four hundred and fifty majority. He was defeated,

however, by a majority of about two hundred and fifty; while the

following year he came within eighteen votes of defeating the opposing

candidate, ex-Mayor Theodore T. Abbot, who received on a former occasion

a larger vote than had ever been cast for any other candidate.

Again, in 1867, Mr. Weston was pressed into service by his party

associates in the city, as a mayoralty candidate against Hon. Joseph B.

Clark, then mayor, and Republican candidate for re-election. This

canvass resulted in his election by a majority of two hundred and

seventy-two, and by a larger vote than had ever been received by any

previous candidate except that for Mayor Abbot, in 1855. At the next

election the Republicans made a strong and determined effort to regain

their ascendency in the city; but, although they had carried the city

for Gen. Grant for president, at the election but a few weeks previous,

by about six hundred majority, the ward returns at the municipal

election gave Mayor Weston a majority of seven votes over his Republican

opponent, Hon. Isaac W. Smith. The "revising" process was resorted to,

however, and the latter declared elected by twenty-three majority. In

1869, Mr. Weston defeated Mayor Smith by a good majority, and was

re-elected the following year.

Naturally enough, Mayor Weston's remarkable success as the

standard-bearer of his party in the city of Manchester, and the

increased popularity he had secured by wise and efficient

administration of municipal affairs in that large and prosperous

community, suggested him to the Democracy of the state at large as a

most fit and available candidate for the gubernatorial nomination; and

at the state convention, in January, 1871, he was made the nominee of

the party for governor. The election resulted in no choice of governor

by the people, though Mr. Weston received a decided plurality of the

votes cast, and was chosen governor by the legislature in June

following,--the Republicans thus losing control of the state government

for the first time since their advent to power in 1855. Determined to

retrieve their fallen fortunes, the Republican leaders, in 1872, brought

to the front, as their standard-bearer and gubernatorial nominee, Hon.

Ezekiel A. Straw, agent of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, a man of

great resources and unparalleled influence in manufacturing circles, not

only in Manchester, but throughout the state. His defeat of Gov. Weston

in the following canvass was a matter of no surprise to either party;

and his re-election the subsequent year naturally resulted. The

Democracy, however, insisted on continuing Mr. Weston as their

candidate; and in 1874 he secured a handsome plurality, and was again

elected governor by the legislature. In December previous he had

received the unusual distinction of a fourth election as mayor of his

city, being chosen by a majority much larger than he had ever before

received, reaching some six hundred votes. Although there was great

partisan excitement in the state during Mr. Weston's second

administration, his official integrity and thorough devotion to the

welfare of the state were conceded even by his most determined political

opponents; and no man holds in fuller measure the respect and esteem of

the people, regardless of party, than does James A. Weston, the only

living Democrat who ever occupied that position.

In the prosperity of his native city, in every material direction, Mr.

Weston has manifested a deep and abiding interest, and no man has

labored more zealously or efficiently for the promotion thereof. In

illustration may be cited the fact that to his efforts, individual and

official, more than those of any other man, the city is indebted for the

projection and completion of its superior water-works, by which an ample

supply of pure water is secured from Lake Massabesic. Various sources of

supply had long been considered, but he had been, from the first, an

advocate of the Massabesic project, and his influence had done much to

secure its favorable consideration. In 1871, while mayor of the city, he

had the satisfaction of seeing definite action determined upon in that

direction. Having been actively engaged in securing the necessary

legislation, and becoming ex officio a member of the board of

commissioners established to carry out the work, he devoted his efforts

heartily to its inauguration, and no day of his life, probably, ever

brought him more sincere gratification than that which witnessed the

completion of this important work,--a source of daily blessing to the

people of his city, and of just pride to those under whose advice and

direction it was projected and executed, among whom he is properly

regarded most prominent. He is still a member of the board of water

commissioners; is chairman of the board of trustees of the Manchester

cemetery fund, a member of the committee on cemeteries, and has long

served as its clerk and treasurer.

Gov. Weston served as chairman of the New Hampshire centennial

commission, was appointed by congress a member of the centennial board

of finance, and his efforts contributed largely to the excellence of the

New Hampshire exhibit and the general success of the exposition. He also

served as chairman of the building committee of the Manchester soldiers'

monument, and has recently been appointed a member of the state board of

health, established under the act of the last legislature.

With all his public and professional work, Gov. Weston has been for

several years actively and prominently connected with important business

interests. He was for some time one of the trustees of the Amoskeag

Savings Bank, and some three years since was chosen president of the

City National Bank, which was changed to the Merchants National Bank in

October, 1880, at whose head he still remains. He was also the prime

mover in the organization of the Guaranty Savings Bank of Manchester,

which commenced business in December, 1879, of which he is clerk and

treasurer, as well as one of the trustees. This institution, under his

administration, has been almost unprecedentedly prosperous, and is one

of the most solid financial establishments in the city and state. He is

treasurer of the Suncook Valley Railroad, and a director and clerk of

the Manchester horse railroad, a corporation in whose establishment he

was actively engaged. He has been chairman of the finance committee of

the New Hampshire Fire Insurance Company from its organization until the

present time; vice-president also until the resignation of the

presidency by Gov. Straw, in January, 1880, since when he has been

president. This flourishing corporation--the only one of the kind in the

state, whose capital stock is about to be increased to half a million

dollars, and which already ranks with the most prosperous in the

country--owes its success, in no small degree, to Gov. Weston's sound

judgment and careful management. When, in August, 1880, after protracted

litigation, the supreme court appointed trustees for the bondholders of

the Manchester & Keene Railroad, who assumed control of the road, Gov.

Weston was selected as chairman of the board by which the road has since

been operated.

In 1871, Gov. Weston received from Dartmouth College the honorary degree

of Master of Arts. He has long been a member of the Masonic order, has

taken all the degrees conferred in the Manchester bodies, and is now

serving his eighteenth term as treasurer of Trinity Commandry, Knights

Templar. For ten years past he has been a member of the well known

military organization, the Amoskeag Veterans. His religious associations

are with the Franklin-street Congregational church, of which society he

has long been an active member and treasurer. His residence has been in

his native city from his birth until the present time, with the

exception of seven years at Concord, from 1849 to 1856.

February 23, 1854, he married Anna S., daughter of Mitchel Gilmore,

Esq., of Concord, a cultivated lady of strong domestic tastes, by whom

he has an interesting family of five surviving children,--the eldest

born, a son (Herman), having died at the age of four and a half

years,--Grace Helen, born July 1, 1860; James Henry, July 17, 1868;

Edwin Bell, March 15, 1871; Annie Mabel, September 26, 1870; Charles

Albert, November 1, 1878. Their home, at the corner of Maple and Myrtle

streets, is a spacious yet modest and tasty dwelling, the abode of

domestic comfort and social enjoyment.

Other men in New Hampshire have attained greater wealth and more varied

public honors; but when all the elements of substantial success are

considered, there are none, certainly, who outrank the subject of this

sketch. Cautious, sagacious, and methodical; with a well balanced mind,

and executive ability of a high order; scrupulously exact in the

performance of every duty and the discharge of every trust, public or

private; uniformly courteous in his intercourse with others, and mindful

of every obligation to society and humanity,--the ample measure of

success he has attained, and the general esteem in which he is held, are

but the legitimate outcome of his life and conduct.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] A genealogy of the Weston families in America, prepared under the

direction and patronage of Gov. Weston, is nearly ready for publication.

[Illustration: John Kimball]

HON. JOHN KIMBALL.

BY J. N. McCLINTOCK.

A stranger in Concord is at first most impressed by its natural

beauties, enhanced by the foresight of the fathers of the town. Nature

and art are rarely combined. Beautiful shade trees are on every hand, as

they are in many other of the favored cities of the Union. Concord is

distinctively attractive in its perfection. The roads and streets are

carefully graded; the bridges are substantial and elegant structures;

the system of water supply, gas-works, and sewers, unseen, is excellent

and complete; the school-houses are appropriate and ornamental; the

private and public buildings are well built and neatly maintained; the

fire department is exceptionally fine; the property of the city is

discretely acquired, and well cared for; the policy of the city is at

once progressive and liberal.

To no one man can be given the credit of accomplishing all these

satisfactory results; they are the fruits of unity of purpose of the

many, guided by a large, public-spirited policy dictated by a few. To no

one, however, is the city of Concord more indebted for its material

advancement and internal improvement, during the first quarter century

of its municipal existence, than to its esteemed citizen, Hon. JOHN

KIMBALL. The name is a household word in Concord. It conveys a meaning

to the present generation peculiar to itself. It is the name of a man

who, springing from the sturdy yeoman and artisan stock,--from the

people,--has won his way, by tireless industry, unblemished integrity,

sterling honesty, and sound good sense, to positions of responsibility

and prominence.

* * * * *

The Kimball family is one of the oldest in New England. It sprang from

1. Richard Kimball, who, with his wife, Ursula, and seven children, left

their home in the mother country, braved the dangers of a stormy ocean,

landed on the inhospitable shores of an unbroken wilderness, and

commenced a new life, deprived of the comforts and luxuries of

civilization, but blessed with political and religious liberty. He came

from the old town of Ipswich, county of Suffolk, in the east of England,

sailed on the ship "Elizabeth," and in the year 1634, at the age of

thirty-nine, settled in Ipswich, in the Bay colony. The next year he was

admitted a freeman, which must be accepted as evidence that he was a

Puritan in good standing. He was the father of eleven children, and died

June 22, 1675. From this patriarchal family most of the Kimballs of New

England can trace their descent.

2. Richard Kimball, son of Richard and Ursula (Scott) Kimball, was born

in England, in 1623, and was brought to this country by his parents, in

childhood. He was a wheelwright by trade; married Mary Gott; was the

father of eight children; settled in Wenham, Mass., as early as 1656,

and died there May 20, 1676. The mother of his children died September

2, 1672.

3. Caleb Kimball, son of Richard and Mary (Gott) Kimball, was born in

Wenham, April 9, 1665. He was a mason by trade; was the father of eight

children; settled for a time at Exeter, N. H., and died in Wenham,

January 25, 1725. His widow died in Wenham, January 20, 1731.

4. John Kimball, son of Caleb and Sarah Kimball, was born in Wenham,

Mass., December 20, 1699. He settled on the land purchased by his father

in Exeter, N. H., and married Abigail Lyford, February 14, 1722. She was

the mother of six children, and died in Exeter, February 12, 1737. He

afterwards married Sarah Wilson, of Exeter, September 18, 1740. They

were the parents of nine children. The fifteen children of John Kimball

were all born in Exeter.

5. Joseph Kimball, son of John and Abigail (Lyford) Kimball, was born in

Exeter, January 29, 1730. In early life he married, and was the father

of two children, but was left a childless widower in a few years. He

afterwards married Sarah Smith. They were the parents of nine children.

In 1793 he removed to Canterbury, and settled on a farm just north of

Shaker Village. In early life he was stricken with blindness, and never

looked upon the town of Canterbury, and never saw six of his children.

He died November 6, 1814. His wife died March 1, 1808.

6. John Kimball, son of Joseph and Sarah (Smith) Kimball, was born in

Exeter, November 20, 1767; married Sarah, daughter of Benjamin Moulton,

of Kensington, November 21, 1793; moved to Canterbury, February 17,

1794, and settled on their homestead near Shaker Village, where they

resided nearly sixty years. They were the parents of nine children. His

wife died April 30, 1853. He died February 26, 1861, reaching the good

old age of more than ninety-three years. He was well known throughout

central New Hampshire, and did a large business in buying wool.

7. Benjamin Kimball, son of John and Sarah (Moulton) Kimball, was born

in Canterbury, December 27, 1794; married Ruth Ames, daughter of David

Ames, February 1, 1820, and settled in Boscawen in the spring of 1824,

on the farm known as the Frost place, High street. In 1830 he removed to

the village of Fisherville, where he died July 21, 1834. He was an

active and influential business man. In 1831 he erected the dam across

the Contoocook river, and the brick grist-mills standing near the stone

factory. He took an active part in all that was essential to the general

and religious welfare of the town. In March preceding his death he was

elected to represent the town in the legislature, but his health was so

impaired that he was not able to take his seat.

8. JOHN KIMBALL, the subject of this sketch, the son of Benjamin and

Ruth (Ames) Kimball, was born in Canterbury, April 13, 1821. In infancy

he was taken by his parents to Boscawen, where in early youth he had the

educational advantages which the district schools of the town afforded.

He enjoyed the privilege of attending the Concord Academy only one year,

after which he was apprenticed with a relative to learn the trade of

constructing mills and machinery. On attaining his majority, in 1842,

his first work was to rebuild the grist-mill near Boscawen Plain.

Afterward he followed the same business in Suncook, Manchester, Lowell,

and Lawrence. In 1848 he was employed by the directors of the Concord

Railroad to take charge of the new machine and car shops then building

at Concord. He was appointed master mechanic of the Concord Railroad in

1850, and retained the position eight years, when he relinquished

mechanical labor for other pursuits. As a mechanic, Mr. Kimball

inherited a great natural aptitude, and has few superiors. His sound

judgment and skill were in constant requisition in the responsible

office in the railroad service he held for so many years; and the

experience and training there acquired have been of great value to the

city and state when his services have been demanded by his

fellow-citizens.

In 1856, Mr. Kimball was elected to the common council of the city of

Concord. In 1857 he was re-elected, and was chosen president of that

body. In 1858 he was elected a member of the state legislature; and was

re-elected in 1859, serving as chairman of the committee on

state-prison. From the year 1859 to the year 1862, Mr. Kimball served

the city of Concord as collector of taxes and city marshal. In 1862 he

was appointed, by President Lincoln, collector of internal revenue for

the second district of New Hampshire, including the counties of

Merrimack and Hillsborough, and held the office for seven years,

collecting and paying over to the treasurer of the United States nearly

seven millions of dollars.

In 1872, Mr. Kimball was elected mayor of Concord, and was re-elected to

this honorable and responsible office in 1873, 1874, and 1875.

Immediately after Mr. Kimball assumed the duties of this office a severe

freshet either carried away or rendered impassable five of the seven

bridges spanning the Merrimack and Contoocook rivers. The work of

rebuilding these structures devolved immediately upon him, as

superintendent of roads and bridges. The Federal bridge and the bridge

at Fisherville, both of iron, are monuments of his progressive ideas.

During his administration the system of water supply from Long pond was

carried on to successful completion, and the purest of water has since

been at the command of every citizen. This work required a large sum of

money, which was so carefully expended that no one has felt the burden

save as a blessing. The fire department was invested with new dignity by

the city government during those years. The firemen had their demands

for appropriate buildings fully satisfied, and are proud, as is the

whole city, of the beautiful central fire station and other buildings of

the department, which compare favorably with any in the country.

Aside from his mechanical skill, Mr. Kimball long since won the enviable

reputation of an able and successful financier. In 1870, upon the

organization of the Merrimack County Savings Bank, he was elected its

treasurer, and has held the office ever since. To him, for many years,

have been intrusted the settlement of estates, the management of trust

funds, and the care of the property of widows and orphans. As treasurer

of the New Hampshire Bible Society and Orphans' Home, he has given to

those institutions the benefit of his financial experience.

For the benefit of the city of Concord, the mechanical skill and

financial ability of Mr. Kimball were fully exercised. During his term

of office as mayor he was one of the water commissioners, _ex officio_,

and president of the board in 1875. He was subsequently appointed a

water commissioner, in 1877, for a term of three years; re-appointed in

1880, and has been president of the board since his first appointment.

Upon the death of Hon. Nathaniel White, Mr. Kimball was elected

president of the Concord Gas-Light Company, having held the office of

director for several years. What little credit is due a member of the

constitutional convention of 1876 is his. He represented the fifth ward

in Concord, and served the convention acceptably as chairman of its

finance committee.

The demand for a new state-prison, in union with the philanthropic ideas

of the age, culminated, in the year 1877, in an act of the legislature

providing for a new state-prison, and granting for the purpose a very

moderate appropriation, hedged in by every possible safeguard. The

governor, Benjamin F. Prescott, with the advice of his council,

immediately upon the passage of the law appointed three commissioners to

carry into effect the provisions of the act. Mr. Kimball was chosen

chairman of the board. Upon these commissioners has devolved the duty of

constructing the massive pile of buildings known as the new

state-prison, commodious for the officers, humane and comfortable for

the inmates, acceptable to the authorities and the people, and within

the limits of the appropriation. In the autumn of 1880 the structure was

appropriately dedicated to its future uses, by fitting ceremony. Col.

John H. George, of Concord, delivered the address, and in closing

said:--

"It is a matter of further and warm congratulation that its

erection has been intrusted to a competent commission; that good

judgment and intelligent investigation have characterized the

plan; that no corrupt jobbery has polluted its construction; and

that for every dollar expended a fair and honest result has been

obtained. And in this connection it is but just to say that the

fitness and labors of the chairman of the board especially

should receive public recognition. To the successful performance

of the duties of his office he brought unusual mechanical skill

and large experience in the construction of public works."

In 1880, when the Manchester & Keene Railroad was placed in the hands of

the court, Mr. Kimball was appointed, by Chief-Justice Doe, one of the

trustees. In November, 1880, Mr. Kimball was chosen a senator from

district number ten, and upon the organization of the legislature in

June, 1881, he was elected to the office of president of the senate, in

importance the second office in the state. As presiding officer, he is

dignified, courteous, and impartial. He carried to the position a fund

of information, a wealth of experience, controlled by sound judgment,

and strong convictions.

Politically, Mr. Kimball is a Republican. For fifteen years, since 1863,

he has been treasurer of the Republican state committee. With him right

takes precedence of policy. It takes no finesse to know on what side he

is to be found. In his dealings he is upright, has confidence in himself

and in his own judgment, and it is hard to swerve him. He is frank and

free in his general intercourse, bluff and often brusque in manner, but

never discourteous. He is a man of large and progressive views, and

actuated by the most conscientious motives. His character for integrity

is without blemish, and as firmly established as the granite hills.

In 1843 he joined the church at his old home in Boscawen, and ever since

has affiliated with the Congregationalists. For many years he has been a

member of the South Congregational church of Concord. He is eminently a

man of affairs,--of acts, not words. His reading is of a scientific

character, varied by genealogical and historical research.

In person, Mr. Kimball is of commanding presence and muscular figure,

inclined to be spare, but of apparently great physical powers. In

private life he is a devoted friend, a kind neighbor, an esteemed

citizen, and a charitable, tolerant, self-reliant man.

In early manhood, May 27, 1846, Mr. Kimball was joined in marriage to

Maria H. Phillips, of Rupert, Vermont. Their only child, Clara Maria

Kimball, born March 20, 1848, was married June 4, 1873, to Augustine R.

Ayers, a successful merchant of Concord. Five children--Ruth Ames, John

Kimball, Helen McGregor, Joseph Sherburne,[2] and Josiah Phillips--have

been born to them.

FOOTNOTES:

[2] Deceased.

[Illustration: J. E. Sargent]

JONATHAN EVERETT SARGENT, LL.D

by J. N. McCLINTOCK.

JUDGE SARGENT, now of Concord, has been well known throughout the state

for more than a quarter of a century. Besides an extensive legislative

acquaintance, he has, as judge of the different courts and as

chief-justice of the state, held terms of court in every shire town and

half-shire town in every county in the state. He has been emphatically

the architect of his own fortune, and by his energy and perseverance has

reached the highest post of honor in his profession in his native state.

He is genial and social with his friends; he loves a joke, and belongs

to that small class of men "who never grow old." He loves his home, his

family, and his books. No man enjoys the study of history and of poetry,

of philosophy and of fiction, better than he, while law and theology

come in for a share of attention,--a kind neighbor, a respected citizen,

a ripe scholar, a wise legislator, an upright judge, an honest man.

In the year 1781, Peter Sargent, the grandfather of the subject of this

sketch, moved from Hopkinton. N. H., to New London, at that time equally

well known as Heidleburg. This locality had been known by this latter

name for nearly a quarter of a century. It was granted by the Masonian

proprietors, July 7, 1773, to Jonas Minot and others, as the "Addition

of Alexandria." It was first settled in 1775, and was incorporated as a

town by the legislature, June 25, 1779. Peter Sargent, who thus moved

into the town two years after its incorporation, was one of ten

brothers, all born in Amesbury, Mass., who settled as follows: Amasa,

Ezekiel, Thomas, and Moses always lived at Amesbury; James settled in

Methuen, Mass.; Peter, Nathan, and Stephen came to Hopkinton, N. H., and

settled there; and Abner and Ebenezer came to Warner, N. H., and settled

there. These ten brothers, with four sisters, were the children of

Deacon Stephen Sargent, of Amesbury, Mass.

[Christopher Sargent, an older brother of Deacon Stephen, graduated at

Harvard, entered the ministry, and was the first settled minister of

Methuen, Mass. His eldest son, Nathaniel Peaslee Sargent, graduated at

Harvard, practiced law at Haverhill, and was for many years a judge of

the supreme judicial court of Massachusetts, and was chief justice of

the state in 1790 and 1791, when he died aged sixty.]

Deacon Stephen Sargent was the son of Thomas, 2d, who was the son of

Thomas, 1st, who was the son of William Sargent. Stephen married Judith

Ordway, of West Newbury, Mass., September 26, 1730; was chosen deacon of

the Second Congregational church in Amesbury, May 10, 1757; and died

October 2, 1773.

William Sargent was born in England about 1602, and was the son of

Richard Sargent, an officer in the royal navy. It is believed he came to

Virginia at an early day, with William Barnes, John Hoyt, and others. He

married Judith Perkins for his first wife, who died about 1633, when he,

with several daughters, was one of the twelve men who commenced the

settlement of Ipswich, Mass., that year. He soon after went to Newbury

and helped form a settlement there; and about 1638 he, with several

others, commenced a settlement at Hampton. He soon after, about 1640,

removed to Salisbury, and was one of the eighteen original proprietors,

or commoners, who settled in New Salisbury, since known as Amesbury. His

second wife's name was Elizabeth, by whom he had two sons, Thomas and

William. He had several lots of land assigned him at different times;

was one of the selectmen of the town in 1667. He died in 1675, aged

seventy-three.

Peter Sargent married Ruth Nichols, of Amesbury or Newbury, Mass., and

came to Hopkinton, N. H., in 1763 or 1764, where they lived some

eighteen years, and raised a large family, and when he went to New

London took them all with him. His children were Anthony, Abigail, Ruth,

Judith, Peter, Ebenezer, Amasa, John, Molly, Ezekiel, Stephen, William,

and Lois. These all came from Hopkinton to New London in 1781, except

Lois, who was born subsequently in New London.

Ebenezer, the father of the judge, was born in Hopkinton, April 3, 1768,

and was, of course, thirteen years old when he came to New London with

his father's family. After becoming of age he procured him a farm, and,

on the 25th of November, 1792, he married Prudence Chase, of Wendell

(now Sunapee), the daughter of John and Ruth (Hills) Chase. They had ten

children, as follows: Anna, Rebekah, Ruth, Seth Freeman, Aaron Lealand,

Sylvanus Thayer, Lois, Laura, Jonathan Kittredge, and Jonathan Everett.

Jonathan Kittredge died young, the other nine lived to mature age, and

five of them, three sons and two daughters, still survive. The parents

always lived upon a farm, securing what was then considered as a

competence, and both died in New London, having lived together more than

sixty-five years.

The following, then, is the order of descent:--

1. Richard Sargent, of England.

2. William, son of Richard, born in 1602.

3. Thomas, son of William, born in April, 1643.

4. Thomas, Jr., son of Thomas, born in November, 1676.

5. Stephen, son of Thomas. Jr., born in September, 1710.

6. Peter, son of Stephen, born about 1740.

7. Ebenezer, son of Peter, born in April, 1768.

8. JONATHAN EVERETT SARGENT, was born at New London, October 23, 1816.

He lived at home, working upon the farm until he was seventeen years of

age, and, being the youngest child, his father had arranged for him to

live at home and take care of his parents, and have the farm at their

decease. The son, however, had little love for the farm, and, as soon as

the care and support of his parents could be provided for in another

way, he arranged with his father that he was to have the remaining four

years of his time till twenty-one, was to clothe himself, and pay his

own bills, and call for nothing more from his father. He fitted for

college at Hopkinton Academy, and at Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, and

in 1836 entered Dartmouth College, having paid his way by teaching

school winters and laboring in vacations. By teaching school every

winter and two fall terms in Canaan Academy during his college course,

he earned enough to pay all his expenses in college with the exception

of $200, which he borrowed of his father, and repaid the same, with

interest, within two years. Though out of college two terms, besides

winters in teaching, and another term on account of sickness, yet he was

always ready at each examination to be examined with his class. He was

elected a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, and graduated, in 1840,

among the first in his class.

Mr. Sargent had long before this made up his mind to turn his attention

to the law as a profession, and he accordingly began the study of the

law at once with Hon. William P. Weeks, of Canaan, and remained with him

till the spring of 1841, when he was advised by his physician to go

South for his health. He went first to Washington, soon after to

Alexandria, D. C., where he taught a high school, then to Maryland,

where he remained a year in a family school, when, having regained his

health, he returned to New Hampshire in September, 1842. He had, upon

his arrival in Washington, entered his name as a law student in the

office of Hon. David A. Hall of that city, and continued the study of

the law under his direction, while engaged in teaching, and he was

admitted to the bar in the courts of the District of Columbia in April,

1842, only about twenty months after leaving college. By the rule of

that court any one might be admitted upon examination, without regard to

the length of time he had studied; and he was examined in open court by

Chief-Justice Cranch and his associates upon the bench, and was

admitted.

After returning home, he continued his legal studies with Mr. Weeks

until the July law term, in Sullivan county, in 1843, when he was

admitted to the bar in the superior court of judicature in this state.

He then went into company with Mr. Weeks at Canaan, where he remained

till 1847, when he removed to Wentworth and opened an office there. He

had been appointed solicitor for Grafton county in November, 1844, while

at Canaan, and he at once commenced a lucrative business at Wentworth;

was re-appointed solicitor in 1849 for five years more, thus holding the

office for ten years, to 1854, performing the duties to the entire

acceptance of the county and the people. He declined a re-appointment.

In 1851 he was first elected a member of the legislature from Wentworth,

and served as chairman of the committee on incorporations. The next year

he was re-elected, and was made chairman of the judiciary committee; and

in 1853 he was again a member, and was nominated with great unanimity

and elected speaker of the house of representatives. He served with

ability and impartiality and to the general acceptance of the members.

The next winter a new man was to be selected as a candidate for senator

in his district, and he was nominated, and was elected in March, in a

close district, by about three hundred majority. He was elected

president of the senate in 1854. He was renominated in the spring of

1855, but the Know-Nothing movement that year carried everything before

it, and he was defeated, with nearly all the other Democratic nominees

in the state.

On April 2, 1855, he was appointed a circuit justice of the court of

common pleas for the state. But in June of that year the old courts were

abolished, mainly upon political grounds, and new ones organized, and

new judges appointed. Judge Sargent received a request from Gov. Metcalf

that he would accept the second place on the bench of the new court of

common pleas. This offer had not been expected, but upon consultation

with friends it was accepted, and Judge Sargent was appointed an

associate justice of the court of common pleas. He acted as judge of the

new court of common pleas for four years, until 1859, when, by a statute

of that year, that court was abolished, and one new judge was to be

added to the supreme judicial court, making the number of supreme judges

six instead of five, as before. Judge Sargent was immediately appointed

to that place on the supreme bench. He was then the youngest member of

the court in age, as well as in the date of his commission. He remained

upon the bench of that court just fifteen years, from 1859 to 1874. In

March, 1873, upon the death of Chief-Justice Bellows, Judge Sargent was

appointed chief-justice of the state, which place he held until August,

1874, when the court was again overturned to make room for the

appointees of the prevailing political party. Chief-Justice Sargent, at

the time of his appointment as chief-justice, had become the oldest

judge upon the bench, both in age and date of commission. His written

opinions are contained in the sixteen volumes of the New Hampshire

Reports, from the 39th to the 54th, inclusive, numbering about three

hundred in all. Many of these are leading opinions upon various

subjects, and show great learning and research.

After the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and the attempt to make

Kansas a slave state, Judge Sargent acted with the Republican party.

Upon leaving the bench, in August, 1874, he was solicited to go into the

practice of the law in Concord with William M. Chase, Esq., whose late

partner, the Hon. Anson S. Marshall, had recently been suddenly removed

by death. Judge Sargent accepted this offer, and thus at once stepped

into an extensive and lucrative practice. This arrangement was made for

five years.

In 1876 he was elected a member of the constitutional convention of this

state. In this convention he acted a prominent part. He was made

chairman of the judiciary committee, the same place held by Judge Levi

Woodbury in the convention of 1850. He took an active part in the

debates and discussions of that body, and wielded an influence probably

second to no one in the convention. He was also elected, by his ward in

Concord, a member of the house of representatives for the years 1877 and

1878.

Early in 1877 steps were taken for a revision of the statutes, and Judge

Sargent was appointed chairman of a committee, with Hon. L. W. Barton of

Newport, and Judge J. S. Wiggin of Exeter, to revise and codify the

statutes of the state. Their work was completed and the statutes enacted

by the legislature, to take effect the first of January, 1879. The

volume was prepared and printed by the committee before the day

appointed. It is the largest volume of statutes ever printed in the

state, and it is believed not to be inferior to any other in any

important particular.

In the fall of 1878, Judge Sargent was invited by a committee of the

citizens of New London to prepare a centennial address, to be delivered

on the one hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town. He at

once accepted the invitation and set about the work, and on the 25th day

of June, 1879, he delivered his address, and the occasion was

distinguished by a larger collection of people, probably, than ever met

in the town upon any former occasion. The address was published in the

_Granite Monthly_, in the numbers for July, August, and September, 1879,

and has been favorably noticed as a work of great labor and research.

Dartmouth College conferred on him the degree of Master of Arts, in

course, three years after graduation; also, the honorary degree of

Doctor of Laws, at its centennial commencement, in 1869. In compliance

with a request from a committee of the trustees, he prepared and

delivered at the commencement of 1880 at Dartmouth College a memorial

address upon the late Hon. Joel Parker, formerly chief-justice of this

state and afterwards professor of law in Harvard College. This duty

Judge Sargent performed in a manner creditable to himself and

satisfactory to the friends of the late Judge Parker. His address has

been printed with other similar addresses in memory of other deceased

judges, graduates of Dartmouth, by other distinguished sons of the

college.

In 1864 he was elected grand master of the Grand Lodge of Free and

Accepted Masons for the state of New Hampshire, and was re-elected the

next year. After this he declined a re-election. He has for many years

been an active member of the New Hampshire Historical Society, and for

the last five or six years has been one of its vice-presidents. For some

years past he has been connected with the National State Capital Bank as

one of its directors. The Loan and Trust Savings Bank at Concord

commenced business August 1, 1872, and in the nine years since then its

deposits have increased to over a million and a quarter of dollars.

Judge Sargent has been president of this bank, and one of its investment

committee since its commencement, and has given his personal attention

to its affairs. In 1876 the New Hampshire Centennial Home for the Aged

was organized and incorporated, and January 1, 1879, a home was opened

in Concord. Judge Sargent has been president of this institution four

years, and has taken a deep interest in its prosperity and success.

About the 1st of September, 1879, at the end of five years from the

commencement of his partnership in business, he retired from the

practice of law. Since he commenced the practice of the law, in 1843,

his residence has been as follows: In Canaan four years, to 1847; in

Wentworth twenty-two years, to 1869; and in Concord since. The judge has

acquired a competency, has one of the finest residences in the city, and

is enjoying life with his friends and his books.

Judge Sargent married, first, Maria C. Jones, of Enfield, daughter of

John Jones, Esq., November 29, 1843, by whom he had two children. John

Jones Sargent, the elder, graduated at Dartmouth College in 1866, and

died in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, October 3, 1870, just as he was ready to

commence the practice of the law. The second, Everett Foster, died

young. For his second wife, he married Louisa Jennie Paige, daughter of

Dea. James K. Paige, of Wentworth, September 5, 1853, by whom he has had

three children,--Maria Louise, Annie Lawrie, and George Lincoln. The

second died young; the eldest and youngest survive.

Judge Sargent is a leading member of the South Congregational church in

Concord, and, while decided in his own opinions, he is liberal and

tolerant in judging of the faith, and charitable in judging of the

conduct, of others. As a lawyer, he was always faithful and true to his

clients, a wise counselor and an able advocate. As a legislator, he has

been conservative and safe. As a judge, he always studied to get at the

right of the case, to hold the scales of justice evenly, to rule the law

plainly, and to get the questions of fact, and the evidence as it bore

upon them, clearly and distinctly before the jury. Any one who attended

the courts where he presided as a judge could see at once that he was

patient and painstaking, industrious and persevering, vigilant and

discriminating, impartial and fearless; and any one who reads his

written opinions will see that they exhibit great research, learning,

and ability.

JOHN HATCH GEORGE.

BY H. H. METCALF.

The man who makes his way to the front rank at the bar and in politics,

and holds his position without dispute for more than a quarter of a

century, must be a person of ability, energy, and sagacity. Especially

is this true in New Hampshire, which, from the earliest period of our

national history, has produced some of the ablest lawyers and the

keenest politicians known to the country. Such a man is Col. JOHN HATCH

GEORGE, of Concord, whose name has long been a household word at every

Democratic fireside in the state, and whose eminent legal position is

recognized throughout New England.

Born in Concord, where he has ever since resided, November 20, 1824,

Col. George is now fifty-seven years of age. His parents were John and

Mary (Hatch) George, the former a prominent, respected, and energetic

citizen, who, though a native of Hopkinton, located in Concord in early

manhood; the latter, a daughter of Samuel Hatch, a leading citizen of

the town of Greenland, among whose grandchildren are included the Hon.

Albert R. Hatch and John S. H. Frink, Esq., both also known as eminent

lawyers and leading Democrats.

Gaining his preliminary education in the excellent public schools of his

native town and in the old Concord Academy, Col. George entered

Dartmouth College in 1840, being then fifteen years of age, where he

diligently pursued his studies for about three years, until the death of

his father compelled his return home and the non-completion of his

college course. The faculty subsequently conferred upon him his

graduating degree, which was followed by that of Master of Arts. Among

his classmates at Dartmouth were several who became prominent at the bar

and in public life, including the late Hon. Harvey Jewell, and Hons. A.

A. Ranney and Horatio G. Parker, of Boston, and the present governor of

this state, Hon. Charles H. Bell.

If young George was unfortunate in the loss of his father, and in the

failure to complete the college course consequent thereon, he was

especially fortunate in being favored with the kindly regard of that

brilliant son of New Hampshire, Gen. Franklin Pierce, who, as a friend

of the family, had become conversant with his qualities and

characteristics, and readily discerned the line of action best

calculated for the development and successful exercise of his powers.

Fortunate as he was, however, in the enjoyment of the friendship of Gen.

Pierce at this time, it may safely be assumed that he never would have

been the recipient of such favor had he not given evidence of the

possession of abilities above the common order. The really great lawyer

has a lofty regard for his profession, and will never be found

influencing any one to enter upon its pursuit who is not likely to honor

the profession and bring credit to himself. When, therefore, upon the

invitation of Gen. Pierce, young George entered upon the study of the

law in the office of the former,--as he did soon after leaving college,

and at the time when that distinguished man was in active practice,--it

was under circumstances every way propitious to that ultimate success

creditable alike to each. During his three years of legal study under

such tutelage, he made that rapid progress which characterizes the

advance of the ambitious and enthusiastic young man, well equipped,

mentally and physically, for the work in hand, thoroughly in love

therewith, guided by wise counsel and inspired by brilliant example; and

when, in 1846, he was admitted to the bar, and entered upon the practice

of his profession in his native city, it was with unusual thoroughness

of preparation.

[Illustration: John H. George]

At the opening of his professional career, Col. George was again

particularly fortunate. Gen. Charles H. Peaslee had long ranked among

the most careful lawyers of the state, and had acquired an extensive

practice. He was a warm friend of Gen. Pierce, professionally and

politically, and, like him, an intimate friend of the George family.

Entering largely into public life, its engrossing duties withdrew his

attention more and more from professional engagements, rendering

desirable a partnership alliance with some active and competent young

man. Such alliance was offered to and promptly accepted by young George,

who thus auspiciously commenced his professional career.

The limits of this sketch will not permit a detailed account of the

progress and success of its subject; but it may be stated, that from his

entrance upon legal practice to the present time all his energies and

faculties have been heartily devoted to the labors and duties of his

profession, in whose performance he has won a high measure of fame, as

well as a fair amount of that substantial reward which the world largely

regards as the prime object of human effort. His connection with Gen.

Peaslee continued about five years, and was followed by a professional

alliance of a similar character with Sidney Webster, Esq., then a young

lawyer of fine abilities and brilliant promise, who has since become

distinguished in legal and diplomatic circles. This partnership

continued till Mr. Webster left Concord to become private secretary to

Gen. Pierce, upon the accession of the latter to the presidency in 1853.

Soon afterward, Col. George formed partnership relations with Hon.

William L. Foster, who subsequently became and long remained a judge of

the supreme court of the state, and with them Hon. Charles P. Sanborn

was also for a time associated. Since the recent resignation of Judge

Foster, his connection with Col. George has been resumed.

Not only in behalf of an extensive private clientage have the

professional services of Col. George been employed, but for many years,

also, in behalf of the public,--he having been appointed solicitor for

Merrimack county in 1849, and re-appointed in 1854, discharging the

duties of the office until 1856, when he was removed for partisan

reasons, the Republican party signalizing its ascendency by a clean

sweep of all Democratic officials. From 1853 to 1858, he was U. S.

attorney for the district of New Hampshire, appointed by President

Pierce.

There are, undoubtedly, many men at the bar, in this and other states,

as well grounded in legal principles as Col. George, and even more

familiar with the text-books, who have fallen far short of the success

he has attained. It is one thing to be able to state abstract legal

principles, and quite another correctly to apply those principles to the

facts in any given case. It has ever been the habit of Col. George, in

the conduct of a cause, to thoroughly familiarize himself with all the

facts and circumstances connected therewith. The mastery of the cause

itself leaves little difficulty in the determination of the law bearing

thereon, and is the strongest guaranty of success in its management

before a jury; and it is in the conduct of jury causes that Col. George

has won the greater measure of his success. Gifted with great perceptive

powers and a ready knowledge of men, and familiar as he ever is with the

cause in hand, in all its bearings, he is never taken at a disadvantage,

no matter how able or alert the opposing counsel. In handling witnesses,

and especially in cross-examination, he has shown unusual tact and

ability. He reads the mind of a witness almost intuitively, and

understands how to bring out the essential facts even from the most

reluctant, and to do so in the manner best calculated to make the

desired impression upon the minds of the jury. As an advocate, he is

equaled by few and excelled by none of our New Hampshire lawyers; yet

his power in this regard consists in the systematic, logical, and

intensely earnest presentation of all the facts which go to make up and

strengthen his cause, and to destroy or weaken that of his opponents,

rather than in the oratory which abounds in eloquently rounded periods

and impassioned appeals. In this connection may well be quoted the words

of one who, knowing Col. George from youth, has written of him as

follows:--

"Intense earnestness, and a faculty of an immediate and powerful

concentration of all his mental faculties on any subject which

interested him, were the predominant peculiarities of the early

manhood of Mr. George. When he came to the bar, he manifested a

power of felicitous language, and a largeness of vocabulary,

which were rarely to be seen even in the most practiced

speakers. He never prepared beforehand the words of his spoken

utterances, either at the bar, in the committee-room, or on the

stump. Whatever he could see and understand at all, he saw and

understood clearly. The strength of his feelings, the enormous

power and range of his vocabulary, added to this clearness of

vision, made mere verbal preparation unnecessary for him. His

speaking was made up of a clear perception of the turning-point

of his case, and then of pungent epigram, sparkling paradox,

rattling attack, vivid repartee, hearty humor, and, when

occasion called for, of a fearlessness of denunciation of what

he believed to be wrong or unjust or unfair, which made him,

even at the outset of his brilliant career, a dangerous

antagonist for the most practiced and powerful members of the

New Hampshire bar."

Though not retiring from general practice, Col. George has devoted his

attention largely to railroad law for many years past, having accepted,

in 1867, the position of solicitor for the Boston & Lowell Railroad, and

established an office in Boston for the transaction of business in

connection with that position. For nearly twenty years previous to that

date he had served as clerk and counsel of the Concord Railroad

corporation, and had already become familiar with the law of railways

and their general relations to the public. To-day there is no higher

living authority upon railroad law in New England than Col. George,--no

man who understands more thoroughly or can state more clearly the

respective rights, duties, and obligations of railroad corporations and

the people, in relation to each other, a general understanding of which

is becoming more and more essential to the fullest measure of our

national prosperity. His public addresses upon the subject, his

arguments before legislative committees, courts, and juries, are models

of clearness and cogency, admirable in construction and convincing in

effect.

Notwithstanding his uninterrupted devotion to the law, Col. George is no

less generally known in politics than at the bar. Well grounded in the

faith of the Democratic party in his youthful years, his intimate

association with Pierce, Peaslee, and other distinguished leaders of

that organization in his early manhood served to intensify his feelings

and convictions in that regard, so he has ever been a ready and zealous

exponent of Democratic principles and a champion of the Democratic

cause, contributing his services without stint in conventions, in

committee work, and upon the stump, doing able and brilliant service in

the latter direction in all parts of the state, and in almost every

campaign for the past thirty-five years. He long since came to be

regarded as one of the most powerful and effective political debaters in

the state. His efforts upon the stump are characterized by the same

earnestness, the same sledge-hammer logic, and the same comprehensive

array of facts, as at the bar. His mode of warfare, political as well

as legal, is of the Napoleonic order. He never assumes the defensive,

and if placed in such position by any combination of circumstances he

soon transforms it into one of active aggression.

From 1851 to 1853, inclusive, Col. George served as chairman of the

Democratic state committee, and again in 1856. In 1852 he was also

selected as the New Hampshire member of the Democratic national

committee, and he was especially active in the campaign, both in the

state and the country at large, which resulted in the election of his

friend, Gen. Pierce, to the presidency. His service upon the national

committee continued until 1860. He was a member of the Democratic

national convention in 1856, and chairman of the state delegation in the

national convention at Cincinnati, in 1880. At the state convention of

his party, in September of that year, he presided, delivering, upon

assuming the chair, one of the ablest addresses ever heard upon a

similar occasion.

His party having been in the minority in New Hampshire for the past

twenty-five years, he has been comparatively little in public office.

Aside from the non-partisan positions heretofore mentioned, he was for

three years--in 1847, 1848, and again in 1850--clerk of the state

senate. In 1853 he was chosen a member of the legislature, but resigned

his seat to accept the office of United States attorney. In this

connection it may be mentioned that in 1855 he was tendered, by

President Pierce, the office of secretary of the territory of Minnesota,

which he at first was inclined to accept, but, after deliberation,

determined to forego the chances for political promotion ordinarily

involved in an appointment of that character, and remain with his

friends and his law practice in his own state. In 1850, Col. George

received the Democratic nomination for congress in the second district,

and again in 1863, when he made a vigorous canvass, and was defeated by

a very close vote. In 1866 he received the votes of the Democratic

members of the legislature as their candidate for United States senator.

Had he deserted his party and allied himself with the majority when the

Republicans came into ascendency, he might readily have commanded the

highest honors in the gift of the state, as others less able than

himself have done; but his position in the honest regard of the people,

irrespective of party, is far higher to-day for having remained true to

his convictions and steadfast and active in their maintenance.

His military title comes from his service as chief of the staff of Gov.

Dinsmoor from 1848 to 1850. He was also for several years commander in

the brilliant and popular organization known as the "Governor's

Horse-Guards." As a popular orator, outside the domain of law and

politics, Col. George also takes high rank. His oration upon Daniel

Webster, at the recent centennial celebration of the birth of that most

illustrious son of New Hampshire, under the auspices of the Webster club

of Concord, is surpassed in power and felicity of expression by none

which the event anywhere called forth.

Col. George was united in marriage, in September, 1849, with Miss Susan

Ann Brigham, daughter of Capt. Levi Brigham, of Boston, who died May 10,

1862, leaving five children, three sons and two daughters. In July,

1864, he married Miss Salvadora Meade Graham, daughter of Col. James D.

Graham of the United States engineers, by whom he has one child, a

daughter. His eldest son, John Paul, graduated at Dartmouth College in

1878, entered the Harvard Law School, and is now a student-at-law in the

office of George & Foster. His second son, Charles Peaslee, graduated in

June, 1881, at the naval school at Annapolis, and is now a midshipman in

the U. S. navy. His third son, Benjamin Pierce, is a member of the

sophomore class in Dartmouth College. His eldest daughter, Jane

Appleton, is the wife of Mr. Henry E. Bacon, and resides in Portland,

Me.; his second daughter, Anne Brigham, is at home; while the youngest

daughter, Charlotte Graham, is at school in Washington, D. C.

The family residence of Col. George is the old paternal mansion on North

Main street, in Concord, wherein he was born. He has also an excellent

farm a few miles out of the city, in Hopkinton, where he makes his

summer home, and where, in his little leisure from professional labor,

he indulges a fondness for rural pursuits, and especially for the

breeding and care of domestic animals, which was one of the

characteristics of his boyhood. Incidental as this may be, his farm is

known as one of the most highly cultivated in the section where it is

located, and his horses and Jersey cattle are the admiration of all

lovers of good stock.

As a citizen, Col. George is public-spirited, and freely devotes his

time and energies to the furtherance of every movement and the advocacy

of every measure which he believes calculated to promote the material or

educational welfare of the community. No man in Concord has done more

than he to advance the prosperity of the city in every essential regard.

The efficiency of the public schools has ever been an object of deep

interest to him; and as a private citizen, as a member of building

committees, and in the board of education, he has given his services

freely in perfecting the admirably equipped public-school system, which

is far from the least of the attractions which render our capital city

one of the most desirable places of residence in New England.

The general extension of the railway system of the state, to which most

that has been accomplished in the development of its material resources

for the last twenty-five years is due, has ever found an enthusiastic

supporter in Col. George, who has been and still is directly connected

with several railroad enterprises in different sections, which have

proved of great local and general advantage.

Few men have more or warmer friends than Col. George. A man of positive

opinions, frankly and honestly declared, he commands the sincere respect

of those with whom he comes in contact in all the relations of life,

private, social, public, and professional. Formidable as an opponent, he

is nevertheless fair and honorable, as he is true and faithful as a

friend and ally. He is a prominent member of the Masonic order, having

attained the rank of sovereign grand inspector-general of the 33d

degree, and a member of the "Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted

Scottish Rite of the Northern Jurisdiction of the United States."

This brief sketch can perhaps be no more appropriately concluded than in

the following language of the gentleman (Sidney Webster, Esq.,)

heretofore quoted:

"Years of incessant toil, while they have diminished somewhat

the energetic temperament and the exuberant animal spirits of

Col. George's youth, and have naturally softened his once blunt

and almost brusque manner in debate, have not diminished the

real force and strength of his genuine character, for character

is just what Col. George has always had. As the ripples of his

experience spread over a wider and wider area, he may have less

and less confidence in the infallibility of any man's opinions,

and less belief in the importance to society of any one man's

action; but Col. George has reached and passed his half century

with his mental faculties and his moral faculties improving and

strengthening, year by year. New Hampshire has to-day very few

among her living sons better equipped to do triumphant battle

for her in the high places of the world."

[Illustration: Wm G Means]

WILLIAM GORDON MEANS.

WILLIAM GORDON MEANS, for sixteen years clerk and paymaster of the

Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, and afterwards treasurer of the

Manchester Locomotive-Works, was born at Amherst, Hillsborough county,

April 27, 1815. He is of the third generation in descent from Col.

Robert Means, who came to New Hampshire from Stewartstown, Ireland, in

1766, and commenced business at Merrimack, with Dea. Jacob McGaw, who

emigrated to this country about the same year. This partnership, which

had prospered, was dissolved when Amherst became the shire town, and

Col. Means opened a store there, in which he prosecuted a successful

business. A man of great energy, he was prominent in the affairs of the

town; elected its representative at the general court three times, also

a member of the senate three years, and councilor for Hillsborough

county, his name is identified with the most important measures of that

period.

Col. Means had a large family. Several of the daughters were married to

gentlemen who subsequently attained great distinction in the learned

professions. Of the sons, Robert became a lawyer, and David McGregor,

who bore the name of his mother (a daughter of Rev. David McGregor of

Londonderry), succeeded his father as a merchant. He married Catherine,

daughter of Hon. Joshua Atherton, who is described as a woman of

vigorous understanding and positive convictions, ready in conversation,

and of sprightly and pleasing manners. By this marriage, David McG.

Means had three sons and six daughters, of whom the subject of this

sketch was the third son and the fourth child, receiving the name of his

uncle, Hon. William Gordon, at that time a lawyer of great promise in

Amherst.

Among his schoolmates, William G. Means is remembered as a quick-witted

boy, fond of adventure, and overflowing with fun. The schools in Amherst

at that date did not furnish advantages of a high order. Aside from the

training of the household, the youth had no superior privileges, except

a few terms at Pinkerton Academy, Derry, then under the care of Abel F.

Hildreth, an eminent teacher. For parts of three years he attended this

school, in company with his brother James, Edward and Alfred Spalding,

E. D. Boylston, and other students from Amherst.

In the autumn of 1830, Mr. Means went to Boston, and entered the store

of Daniel McGregor, then a dealer in dry goods,--finding employment,

after an apprenticeship of four or five years, in the house of Robert

Appleton & Co. By the commercial crisis of 1837, like hundreds of young

men similarly situated, he was thrown out of employment, and returned to

his home in Amherst. These years of service in Boston were not without

their valuable uses, though a new direction was soon to be given to his

capacity for business. He saw the perils that beset the career of the

tradesman, and learned the wisdom of that conservatism which underlies

the avenues of success in mercantile pursuits. While living in Boston,

he became interested in the lady who was subsequently to share his

fortunes and build his house.

In March, 1838, Mr. Means became clerk of the Amoskeag Manufacturing

Company at Manchester, taking charge of the books and pay-rolls of the

land and water-power department, then under the direction of Robert

Read, Esq. The city had no existence except in the plans of the

projectors. There was not a mill on the east side of the river, not a

building except the scattered farm-houses; the canal had been laid out,

a site for a cotton mill set off, but nothing was finished. It was

during this constructive period of the city's history that he was

occupied with the oversight of workmen, the execution of land sales, and

the varied duties of the Amoskeag counting-room, thus gathering the

knowledge and experience which qualified him for the important agencies

that have since engrossed his time.

In 1854, desiring a more independent position, he resigned his place in

the Amoskeag company, and united with O. W. Bailey, Aretas Blood, and

Joseph M. Stone in organizing a company for building railway engines. By

the act of incorporation, they took the name of "Manchester

Locomotive-Works." Without adequate capital, and with adverse times, the

projectors of the enterprise had a weary struggle before them. Having no

reputation as builders, and with limited capacity for production, it was

not easy to obtain patronage; but with the pluck and persistence which

deserved success, the proprietors determined to make only first-class

engines. At the end of ten years they had gained a position which

commanded wide confidence, and they then began to divide profits. Since

that time, with occasional interruptions, the business has steadily

increased, so that, in the number, size, and weight of the engines now

constructed, the product of a month often exceeds in value the entire

product of some previous years.

In 1858, Mr. Means was elected treasurer of the Salmon Falls

Manufacturing Company. The mills of this company were in the eastern

portion of the state, and for convenience of access he removed his

family to Andover, Mass., still retaining his place as treasurer of the

locomotive-works, and having an office for the business of both

companies in Boston. Under his management the condition of the Salmon

Falls company was much improved. The capital stock of the company was,

by cash payment to its stockholders, reduced from $1,000,000 to

$600,000. New mills were erected, and the productive capacity of the

concern enlarged by one-fourth, without any assessments or sacrifices on

the part of the stockholders,--a result which illustrates beyond dispute

the good judgment and skill of the management. Mr. Means resigned the

treasurership September 1, 1877.

On the 26th day of February, 1840, Mr. Means was married to Martha

Allen, daughter of Bethuel and Martha (Bent) Allen, of Newton, Mass.

They have had eight children, of whom six are now living,--four sons and

two daughters. The sons, as they have reached manhood, have found

employment in the corporations with which the father is connected.

In politics, Mr. Means has been Whig and Republican. Conversant with the

affairs of government, and a careful observer of public men, he has

manifested a generous appreciation of the good qualities of those with

whom he did not agree. Loving justice, and abhorring the wrongs by which

any class of his fellow-men suffered injury, he strongly adhered to the

principles and steadfastly upheld the policy of the party with which he

voted. In 1854 he was elected representative from ward three in

Manchester, and served one term in the house at Concord. Having removed

from ward three, he was not returned a second time.

In religion, Mr. Means has firmly held to the evangelical system of

doctrine. In early manhood he made profession of his faith by uniting

with the Congregational church in his native town; transferring his

membership to the Hanover-street church in Manchester, and thence to the

South church in Andover, with successive chances of residence. In all

of these places he has proved a stanch friend of the ministry and a

liberal supporter of Christian institutions. A man of clear convictions

and of marked independence of character, he has not stood aloof from the

community, but, cherishing a hearty respect for human nature, he has

taken an active part in the popular movements in behalf of education and

local improvements. To the appeals for charitable aid, whether coming

from individuals or churches or institutions of learning, the response

has been cordial. The establishment of the Means prizes at Phillips

Academy illustrates his discriminating beneficence. In times of

difficulty and depression he has been helpful in bearing burdens, making

good deficiencies, and quietly upholding the cause he had espoused. For

a few years past the family have spent the winter season in Boston; but,

whether in city or country, the man is unchanged. He is still interested

in the welfare of the church and the state, thoughtful of his friends

and former associates, considerate of neighbors, and bestowing sympathy

and assistance where they are needed, seeks to keep alive the ancient

virtues of New England life, and maintain the best standards of service

and citizenship.

EX-GOVERNOR FREDERICK SMYTH.

FREDERICK SMYTH was born March 19, 1819, in Candia, Rockingham county,

N. H. His ancestors were farmers, men and women of thrift and

intelligence. He was trained in the hardest kind of farm labor,

receiving, in addition, such education as the good common schools of

that town could give, supplemented by a brief course at Phillips Academy

at Andover, Mass. With a view to further education, he taught school

several winters, and in 1839 found employment at the store of George

Porter, Esq., in Manchester. Elm street was then a sandy and uninviting

thoroughfare, with only one other store. At the end of the year Mr.

Smyth's employer persuaded him to give up the idea of a college

education and adopt a mercantile life. He soon became a partner in the

business, which was successfully carried on until 1849, in which year he

was elected city clerk,--the beginning of a long official career, local

and national.

In 1852, Mr. Smyth was elected mayor, the city then containing a

population of fifteen thousand. Mayor Smyth's first message contained

many practical suggestions; for instance, that the police or school

committee be empowered to take vagrant children from the streets and put

them in school; that proper sidewalks be constructed and maintained; and

that a special committee be appointed to confer with the corporations in

regard to the introduction of pure water. In May of that year he set

trees on Elm street, the commons, and about land owned by the city. To

this matter the mayor gave his personal attention, and not only at that

time but every year since, with few exceptions, has inspected the trees

and given notice to the proper authorities of any lack. This thorough

attention to detail, and desire for doing the work belonging to his

office personally and not by proxy, was characteristic of Mayor Smyth.

In March, 1853, he was re-elected by an increased majority, and the year

was marked by the annexation of parts of Bedford and Goffstown to

Manchester, and by the rebuilding of the Amoskeag Falls bridge.

The subject of lighting the streets with gas was first introduced to the

attention of the city councils at that time, and a few lamps

experimentally established. The free public library was also urged,--a

recommendation then somewhat in advance of the popular sentiment. It

was, however, advocated by the late Hon. Samuel D. Bell and some others,

and was finally carried through both branches of the city government

without serious opposition. It has resulted in the establishment of a

library of which any city might be proud, and a building for its

accommodation costing, with the recent annex, nearly forty thousand

dollars. A special vote of the trustees at that time recorded their

appreciation of Mayor Smyth's effective exertions in the matter. Having

been a third time elected mayor and with still increased majority, the

annual message of 1854 set forth the working plan of the library,

proposed a change of city charter to allow the consolidation of

school-districts, and again urged the imperative need of a supply of

pure water. At the close of this term of office he declined a

re-election, but was soon appointed, by the governor, chairman of a

committee to locate and build a house of "reformation for juvenile

offenders." His associates in this work were the late Hon. Matthew

Harvey, ex-governor, and judge of the United States circuit court, and

Hon. Hosea Eaton.

[Illustration: Frederick Smyth

GOVERNOR OF NEW HAMPSHIRE 1865-66]

The first report of the commissioners was a vindication of the humane

policy of the state, containing a sketch of what had been done in this

and other countries for the reform of young offenders, with a full

report of progress made. In May, 1858, the house was dedicated to its

purpose with appropriate ceremonies, and the commissioners were

complimented by Gov. Haile for the fidelity with which the task was

accomplished. While engaged in the supervision of this work, Mr. Smyth

represented ward three in Manchester in the legislature of 1857 and

1858. He was made treasurer of the reform school and of the N. H.

Agricultural Society, holding the latter office during ten years of its

greatest usefulness. It was in this time, Judge Nesmith being president,

that Daniel Webster spoke at one of the annual fairs in Manchester to

the farmers of his native state, and Edward Everett made one of those

matchless speeches which lives in perennial beauty like the landscape it

describes. Mr. Smyth was at the same time a director of the U. S.

Agricultural Society, manager of the fairs held by that association at

Louisville, Richmond, Chicago, and Cincinnati, and vice-president of the

American Pomological Society. Such varied activities having brought him

favorably to the attention of people throughout the state, he received

some votes in the convention which nominated the Hon. Ichabod Goodwin

for governor. The next year Mr. Smyth was made president of the

convention. In 1860 he was appointed, by Secretary Chase, an agent to

receive subscriptions to the national loan, and being cashier and

principal business manager of the Merrimack River Bank and of the

savings bank, he invested largely for them in government bonds. The bank

of discount soon after became known as the "First National Bank."

In 1861, Mr. Smyth was appointed by government a commissioner to the

International Exhibition at London, and was then made one of the jurors.

The favorable exhibit made by the textile fabrics of Manchester was in

no small degree owing to the care with which he looked after their

disposal. His appointment gave him unusual facilities for study and

observation in the highest circles of London and England, and he was

also accredited from the various associated bodies with which he was

connected at home to the Royal Agricultural Society. Upon these and

kindred topics he wrote some interesting letters, which were published

in the _N. H. Journal of Agriculture_. He also took a trip on the

Continent, accompanied by C. L. Flint, Esq., secretary of the

Massachusetts board of agriculture. The gathering proportions of the war

at home, however, led him to cut short his travels, and he arrived at

New York, via London, in September. He now gave his time to the care of

the banks, encouraging subscriptions to the national loans, and taking

active part in measures calculated to strengthen faith in the

administration.

In May, 1863, a fair was held in Smyth's Hall in aid of the sanitary

commission, at which nearly four thousand dollars were raised. Mr. Smyth

gave the use of the hall and his personal efforts as chairman of the

committee, sparing no pains to make the occasion successful; and his

enthusiasm and zeal stimulated that of others. After the battle of

Gettysburg and of the Wilderness, he went to the front and gave

efficient aid in caring for the sick and wounded. One result of exposure

to the burning sun and malaria of the battle-field was the first serious

illness of his life. In that same year, when the importance of good

municipal government was felt to be superior to partisan considerations,

at the solicitation of men prominent in both parties, Mr. Smyth allowed

his name to be used as a candidate for mayor the fourth time. He was

elected practically without opposition, and his election had the desired

effect, to give confidence to all classes and stability to the financial

standing of the city.

It has been noticed that he was thought of before this as a possible

candidate for governor, and the feeling had so strengthened that in 1865

he was nominated for that office, his chief competitor in the convention

being the late Hon. Onslow Stearns. The nomination proved a very popular

one, and after an active canvass he was elected by a majority of over

six thousand, the highest given to any man for twenty-four years. Such

support was very gratifying to the governor-elect; but, nevertheless, he

felt that he had undertaken no light task. The state debt, which

heretofore in times of peace seldom exceeded a few thousands, had now

arisen to millions. Moreover, loans must be made in competition with

other states and with the general government. State bonds were hard to

sell at any price, and all the time expenditures were going on. In less

than three months from Governor Smyth's inaugural message he had raised,

by personal solicitation, largely from banks at Manchester, over one

million of dollars, and the credit of the state, strained but not

impaired by its patriotic efforts, was firmly re-established. Much time

in this year was occupied in the reception and discharge of returning

soldiers, and from June until Christmas day, when the last regiment was

mustered out, the state echoed to the tread of the home-coming veterans.

Governor Smyth's correspondence at this time reveals great care taken

for the needs of the men, for inmates of military hospitals, or for

companies unnecessarily detained in camp. In this busy period he found

time to make brief practical speeches at Portsmouth, Milford, and

various other places, each of them calculated to draw attention to the

resources and credit of New Hampshire, and to foster a healthy

confidence in our ability to overcome every difficulty. He also

delivered in Concord the annual address before the New England

Agricultural Society, the late Govs. Andrew of Massachusetts and

Buckingham of Connecticut, with other N. E. governors, being present,

and highly commending the address. This year Governor Smyth was made one

of the corporators of the national asylums for disabled soldiers, and

served on the committee whose duty it was to arrange the working

details, with Gen. Grant, Admiral Farragut, Gen. Butler, Surg.-Gen.

Barnes, Hon. H. J. Raymond, ex-Gov. Todd, and Admiral Davis.

In 1866 he was unanimously nominated for re-election as governor, and,

as before, chosen by a handsome majority. Some events of the second year

are of much interest. The appointment of Dr. Bouton as state historian,

resulting in the preservation and publication of the Provincial Records,

was a peculiarly fitting act; laws in regard to the river fisheries were

carried into effect; and initial steps taken toward the foundation of

the Agricultural College, of which Gov. Smyth is at this date a trustee

and the treasurer. The financial and executive report of the two years'

work is very concisely given in the valedictory address of June 6, 1867.

On two occasions the governor spoke briefly at the annual dinner of the

sons of New England, at Delmonico's in New York, and was very warmly

received. Some of the most influential and respectable papers of the

state advocated his nomination for a third term; he, however, definitely

declined the honor in a letter to the _Statesman_. He was a delegate at

large to the Republican national convention which renominated Gen.

Grant, and was also a member of the last constitutional convention of

New Hampshire. In 1866 he was chosen, by vote of congress, one of the

managers of the military asylums for six years, other members of the

board being Hon. R. J. Oglesby of Illinois, Gen. B. F. Butler, Hon. L.

B. Gunekel of Ohio, Jay Cooke of Philadelphia, and Gen. Martindale of

New York, with the President, Secretary of War, and Chief-Justice, _ex

officiis_, any one of whom had authority to admit to the Homes on

application being made in due form. The proper discharge of these duties

involved a vast amount of correspondence, much travel, and constant

care. Gov. Smyth was re-elected for a second six years' term in 1872,

and was vice-president of the board. In 1878, the house being

Democratic and the senate nearly a tie, Gen. Shields was proposed as his

successor, but failed of an election. Two years later, however, the

Democracy were able to unite on a successor.

Since the close of his term as governor, he has delivered addresses on

several occasions,--one before the Vermont State Agricultural Society,

another at the dedication of a soldiers' monument at Washington, N. H.,

and, later, the "Oration to the Unknown Dead," delivered on "Decoration

Day" before Louis Bell Post No. 3, G. A. R., in 1880; and in 1881, an

address on a similar occasion, at Rochester, N. H.

In 1878 he was appointed, by President Hayes, honorary commissioner to

the International Exposition at Paris. Accompanied by Mrs. Smyth, he

left New York, April 24, in the steamer Russia, for Liverpool. Visiting

London and some English cities by the way, they reached Paris at the

grand opening. Soon after they left Marseilles for Alexandria, Egypt,

and from thence made a tour of the Holy Land, _via_ Cairo, Ismailia, and

the Suez canal, afterward journeying to the Levant, stopping at

Constantinople, Smyrna, Athens, and other points of interest. They were

received with uniform courtesy and attention by officials at the U. S.

legations, and particularly spoke of the interest manifested in their

welfare by Ministers Noyes at Paris, Maynard in Constantinople, Reed at

Athens, Consul-General Fairman at Cairo. Nearly everywhere they seem to

have found friends to smooth the roughness of the traveler's path; and

on their return to Paris, which they did by way of Rome, Switzerland,

and most of the continental cities, it was regarded as an exceptional

piece of good fortune to be present at the memorial celebration in honor

of M. Thiers. Ex.-Gov. Smyth was there also received as a member of the

Stanley club. While thus absent, he wrote a series of interesting

letters, which were published in the _Mirror and American_, and read

with pleasure by a large circle of acquaintances. Since returning from

the East he and Mrs. Smyth have made an extended trip into Mexico,

touching at Cuba by the way. Their experience in that land of the sun

appears to have been equally pleasant with that in other places.

The ex-governor, frequently if not always accompanied by his wife, has

visited almost every nook and corner of our own land except, possibly,

Alaska, and is therefore well qualified to make comparisons. This long

and varied experience in affairs, in acquaintance with men, and in

travel, has made him a very interesting man in conversation whenever he

chooses to indulge in the reminiscences of a not distant past. His house

abounds in tokens of travel, curious and rare bits from many lands, and

he has entertained there, from time to time, many distinguished guests.

Before local associations and to personal friends he has given some

familiar and delightful talks on what he has seen in these vacations of

a busy life. He also pays the penalty of success in other ways, which,

if flattering, are not always agreeable. His advice is daily sought, not

only, as is natural, in financial and political matters, but on matters

more remote from his habits of thought. But, whatever it may be, he

gives cheerfully, and no man more readily lends a hand to those who are

trying to help themselves.

Offices of trust also flock to one who has proved himself capable of

taking good care of his own affairs, and among appointments which he

holds at this date, not before named, are: 'director of the Concord,

Suncook Valley, and Boston & Acton railroads; director and treasurer of

the Manchester Horse-Railroad; vice-president of the New England

Agricultural Society; president and director of the Northern Telegraph

Company; treasurer of the Elliot hospital; cashier and manager of the

First National Bank of Manchester; trustee and treasurer of the

Merrimack River Savings Bank: vice-president of the American Pomological

Society. In 1866 the faculty of Dartmouth College conferred on him the

degree of A. B.

CHARLES ELLIOTT TILTON.

Charles Elliott Tilton, son of Hon. Samuel Tilton, was born in

Sanbornton, September 14, 1827, and in that part set off and

incorporated as the town of Tilton. He received his early education in

the common schools, and at the age of fifteen was put under the

instruction of Prof. Dyer H. Sanborn of Sanbornton Academy. Later he was

admitted into the Norwich University (a military school), where he

remained three years.

When war was declared with Mexico, Gen. Ransom, the president of the

university, was commissioned to raise a regiment, and induced nearly

every student to enlist, offering young Tilton the command of a company,

which honor, through the influence of his father, was declined. About

this date he left home, going to New York, where he remained with his

brother a short time.

He then sailed for the West Indies and South America in pursuit of a

fortune. At this point a business career was inaugurated which for

thirty years called for untiring labor. He visited all the islands,

prospected the Orinoco and Amazon rivers to their head waters, went

overland to Caracas and La Guayra, thence to Maracaybo, St. Martha,

Carthagena, and Chagres. Here he heard of gold discoveries in

California, and proceeded at once to San Francisco _via_ Panama. A hasty

survey of the outlook satisfied him that "merchandising" rather than

digging for gold afforded better chances for success, and on this

foundation determined to build his fortune. In 1850 he went to Oregon,

and in the succeeding year formed a copartnership with W. S. Ladd. Esq.,

for general mercantile pursuits, which continued until 1859. That his

operations were diversified and on a large scale, the public prints of

that era are ample evidence. He was interested in establishing a line of

vessels to run between Oregon and China, one of which, the "C. E.

Tilton," had made the quickest passage from New York to Oregon on record

to the present time. She was subsequently sold to the Japanese

government and by them converted into a man of war, and was finally sunk

in an encounter with the U. S. ship "Powhattan." In 1859 the

banking-house of Ladd & Tilton, Portland, was organized, so favorably

known and generally advertised during the settlement of the presidential

vote of that state in 1876. He remained a partner in this institution

twenty-one years, retiring in 1880.

In all this period Mr. Tilton was interested in many other enterprises

on the Pacific coast and frontier. Among these may be mentioned the

navigation of the Columbia and Willamette rivers. He was one of five who

controlled what has developed into the Oregon Railway & Navigation

Company, with a capital of $24,000,000. He had an interest in the

banking firm of Ladd & Bush, Salem, in the First National Bank of

Portland, and First National Bank of Walla Walla, W. T. At the same time

he was largely engaged in transportation across the plains. He fully

understood the requirements for merchandise in Utah, Montana, Wyoming,

and Colorado. He furnished and dispatched large trains from San

Bernardino, Cal., to Utah, and from St. Joseph, Mo., to Colorado, and

from there to Montana, giving his personal attention to them all. This

was no pastime twenty years ago. A country largely held by hostile

Indians had to be traversed, and few trains reached their destination

unmolested. Desperate encounters frequently occurred, resulting in more

or less loss to life and property, and once ending in the capture of an

entire train by the "Red Devils." Other obstacles had to be met,

incident to such undertakings, like storms, swollen rivers, and

break-downs, which would have seemed insuperable to any one of less

force of character. Realizing what the great West might be, he purchased

land in all the territories, which investments have proved advantageous.

He engaged in many other transactions which his keen perceptions led him

to believe would be remunerative, so that, in fact, there were but few

enterprises of importance connected with the growth and development of

the Pacific slope, whether pertaining to its finance, internal

improvements, or its foreign and domestic commerce, in which the cool

and sagacious subject of this sketch was not a participator.

[Illustration: C. W. Tilton.]

To organize and direct successfully such varied and extended operations,

outlined here only in part, required a mind strong in perception and

purpose. A union of these qualities, with that adventurous spirit which

led the youth of eighteen to the sources of the Orinoco and the pampas

of the Amazon in pursuit of wealth, constituted a mental alliance which

could well measure the possibilities of a new country and avail himself

of their fulfillment.

In all this time Mr. Tilton enjoyed excellent health and immunity from

serious accident. After living amidst the steaming malaria of tropical

lagoons, sleeping by the side of his mustang on the plains, blockaded by

the storms of the Sierras, assailed by the hostile Apaches, he returns

to his native hills unscathed, with a sound constitution and the early

purpose of his will fully accomplished.

Mr. Tilton's munificence has manifested itself most liberally to his

townsmen within two years. In that time he has erected and conveyed to

them a town hall finished in an elegant and substantial manner. It

contains a market and town office, a store and post-office, all

commodiously arranged, no expense being spared which would add to

convenience. They return to the treasury a handsome rental. The hall

proper is easily approached, is finished in hard wood, as is all the

interior of the building. It is artistically frescoed in water-colors

and gilt, lighted with gas, has a stage fitted with drop-curtains,

changes of scenery, a beautiful proscenium, proper furniture, a Steinway

piano, all after the most approved styles. The building, with its

appointments, is the admiration of visitors and the pride of

towns-people. He has placed an iron bridge, the present season, from

Main street to Island Park, costing over eighteen hundred dollars. The

public are allowed at all times to use and occupy this delightful

resort. Its airy summerhouse, built after an European model, surrounded

by works of art, is unmatched in loveliness. For remodeling one of the

village churches he contributed more than three thousand dollars; and

donated five hundred towards an iron bridge between Tilton and

Northfield, which act results in two by the towns named. He expended a

large sum in the purchase of land and improving it for a public park

near by the village, and, including the gift of the fine town hall,

January 4, 1881, must have appropriated forty thousand dollars for the

pleasure and benefit of his townsmen. During this period he has paid

thousands of dollars for improvements on his own premises, giving

employment to a large force of laborers and mechanics.

Mr. Tilton's elegant and spacious residence is situated on an eminence

commanding a magnificent prospect, and overlooks the village that bears

his name. When built, a few years since, it was deemed one of the best

in central New Hampshire. In the last two years it has been materially

improved, while large additions have been constructed, consisting of an

extensive conservatory and aviary on the one side of the main building,

and a spacious drawing-room on the other; it is unequaled in its

appointments, perhaps, in New England. It is twenty-eight feet by

thirty-eight feet in area, and twenty-two feet in height. Seven thousand

five hundred feet of mahogany were used to complete it. To the height of

four feet the most elaborate work in wainscoting is produced, while

pilasters in the same wood, ornate in their design, extend from the

floor on either side and meet in the ceiling above. This arrangement in

finish running at right angles leaves the walls and surface overhead

checked into panels, either square or oblong, each of which is filled

with an individual conception of the artist, but collectively form a

general design. An exquisitely designed gablet holds the porcelain tiled

fire front, its three sides partly filled with French plate mirrors, and

a Swiss styled hooding covers the apex which contains the clock. Carpets

and rugs, drapery and furniture, mirrors and chandeliers, were

manufactured for the room. We know the owner is averse to anything that

attracts attention to himself. The public on proper occasions have had

the pleasure of seeing these premises; and what we have here recited has

been gathered from sources that have been open to all.

Mr. Tilton is cordial and pleasant in his intercourse with his neighbors

and acquaintances, and in feelings and tastes one of the people. The

steel portrait is an excellent one. He is in the prime of manhood and

intellect.

Through life, so far, he seems to have been conscious that his capacity

was for business and not politics. He has never sought or held public

office, and says he never will. The frequent mention of his name in

political circles and sometimes in the press, in such connection, is not

inspired by him.

He comes back to a common welcome after thirty years of incessant labor,

from amidst surroundings, which, if detailed, would seem stranger than

fiction.

Mr. Tilton was married December 29, and sailed in the "Gallia" from New

York for Liverpool, January 4, 1882. We understand it is the intention

of the happy pair, if Providence permits, to stay abroad as long as

pleasure or profit can be derived from their trip.

[Illustration: Chas. E. Balch]

COL. CHARLES E. BALCH.

Charles Edward Balch was born in Francestown in 1834, and is the son of

Mason and Hannah Balch, his mother being a daughter of Joshua Holt, of

Greenfield. His boyhood was spent upon a farm, and his education was

obtained in the common schools and Francestown Academy. When eighteen

years of age he began life for himself as a book-keeper in the dry-goods

store of Barton & Co., in Manchester, and two years later had so

established himself in the confidence of the managers of the Manchester

Savings Bank that he was called to a clerkship in that institution. In

this position his industry, courtesy, and excellent judgment won good

opinions from all with whom he came in contact, and when the Manchester

National Bank was organized, in 1865, he was chosen its cashier, and has

filled this responsible position ever since. He has also been a trustee

of the Manchester Savings Bank since 1862, is a member of its investing

committee, treasurer of the Manchester Gas-Light Company, a director and

member of the finance committee of the New Hampshire Fire Insurance

Company, and a trustee of many large estates. In all these positions,

Mr. Balch has proved himself a sagacious, careful, and safe financier.

The banks to which he has given the most of his time and energies

reflect in their strength and uniform success his honesty, reliability,

and prudence; and those whose funds have been intrusted to his

management have always found their confidence justified by steady and

satisfactory returns.

Mr. Balch is, moreover, a man whose private character is above

suspicion, a citizen whose public duties are never left to others, a

friend whose fealty is never doubted, and an acquaintance whose

courtesy, candor, and affability command universal respect and good

will. He has been too modest to ask, and too busy to accept, political

honors; but his influence has been potent in advancing the party to

which he belongs, and in shaping the policy of the city in which he

resides. In affairs of state and city, as in business matters, he makes

little noise; but his work tells, and his convictions of duty bring

substantial results. He was commissioned a colonel of the state militia

in 1879, and served on Gov. Head's staff for two years.

In July, 1867, Mr. Balch married Miss Emeline R. Brooks, daughter of

Rev. Nahum Brooks, then of Bath, Me., but now of Manchester, who

presides over and dispenses the hospitalities of his pleasant home.

HON. JOHN CARROLL MOULTON.

BY COL. THOMAS J. WHIPPLE.

The ancestors of Hon. JOHN C. MOULTON were among the fifty-six

inhabitants from the county of Norfolk, England, who first settled in

the town of Hampton, then Winnicumet, in the year 1638. The names of

John Molton and Thomas Molton appear in a partial list of these original

settlers, which may be found in "Belknap's History of New Hampshire."

Vol. I. p. 37.

General Jonathan Moulton was a descendant of this family, and the

great-grandfather of John C. Moulton. He was born in Hampton, N. H.,

June 30, 1726, and died at Hampton, in the year 1788, at the age of

sixty-two. He was a large proprietor in lands, and several flourishing

towns in the interior of this state owe their early settlement to his

exertions and influence. This fact is mentioned in "Farmer & Moore's

Gazetteer," published in 1823. When he was thirty-seven years old, the

town of Moultonborough was granted to him and sixty-one others, by the

Masonian proprietors, November 17, 1763. He was already noted for the

distinguished service which he had rendered in the Indian wars, which

ended with the Ossipee tribe, along the northerly borders of

Moultonborough, in 1763. Many of his adventures during this bloody

period have been preserved and transmitted to the present time; enough,

indeed, to fill a large space in this brief sketch. It may be well to

preserve one of these incidents in this record:--

An octogenarian in the vicinity of Moultonborough relates that, during

the Indian wars, Colonel, afterward General, Jonathan Moulton went out

with a scouting party from Dover. After numerous adventures, they met

with and attacked a party of six Indians, near a place now known as

Clark's Landing, on the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee, all of whom fell in

the skirmish which ensued, with one exception. The colonel had a large

dog with him, which, after the affray was over, he placed upon the track

of the escaped Indian. The dog ran on the shore a short distance, and

then struck off on to the ice. The party followed, and as they

approached the entrance of what is now Green bay they saw in the

distance that the dog had the Indian down upon the ice; and when they

got to the spot the Indian was dead,--killed by the dog.

The active services of the general in these border wars had made him, at

an early age, well and favorably known to the leading men of that day.

His numerous raids and scouts, in the region occupied by the Ossipee

tribes, had made him well acquainted with the then wilderness, and with

the adjacent country upon the western shores of the lake, and no doubt

secured to him the land grant which he obtained, in common with many of

his companions in arms. He was rightly placed at the head of the

grantees, by the Masonian proprietors, and the town of Moultonborough,

which was named after him, perpetuates the memory of his rugged virtues

and of his enterprising character. His descendants have been inhabitants

of Moultonborough and of Center Harbor to the present time. After

obtaining this grant, the general devoted much of the remainder of his

life in promoting the settlement and the development of this new

territory. Among other things in this direction, he obtained from Gov.

Wentworth the grant of land now known as the town of New Hampton, which

was formerly a part of Moultonborough gore, and then called

"Moultonborough Addition." The following amusing account of the way in

which Gen. Moulton secured this last grant appears in "Fogg's

Gazetteer," and is to be found in other histories of those early

times:--

[Illustration: John C. Coulton.]

"In 1703, Gen. Jonathan Moulton, of Hampton, having an ox

weighing one thousand four hundred pounds, fattened for the

purpose, hoisted a flag upon his horns, and drove him to

Portsmouth as a present to Gov. Wentworth. The general refused

any compensation for the ox, but said he would like a charter of

a small gore of land he had discovered adjoining the town of

Moultonborough, of which he was one of the principal

proprietors. The governor granted this simple request of General

Moulton, and he called it New Hampton, in honor of his native

town. This small gore of land contained nineteen thousand four

hundred and twenty-two acres, a part of which now constitutes

Center Harbor."

Thus it appears that General Moulton, by his energy and enterprise,

largely contributed to the formation of three towns,--one named New

Hampton, by him; another named Moultonborough, for him; and the third,

Center Harbor, was carved from a part of his grant called

"Moultonborough Addition."

* * * * *

The following is the genealogical order:--

1. Gen. Jonathan Moulton, born in Hampton, N. H., June 30, 1726. Jan. 7,

1749, he married Abigail Smith. He died in 1788.

2. Benning Moulton, son of Jonathan Moulton and Abigail (Smith) Moulton,

born May 21, 1761. He married Sally Lovett, Nov. 7, 1782. He settled in

Center Harbor in 1783, and there died Dec. 23, 1834.

3. Jonathan Smith Moulton, son of Benning Moulton and Sally (Lovett)

Moulton, born at Center Harbor, Dec. 14, 1785. He married Deborah Neal.

He died Nov. 15, 1855.

4. JOHN CARROLL MOULTON, son of Jonathan Smith Moulton and Deborah

(Neal) Moulton, born in Center Harbor, Dec. 24, 1810. In addition to the

ordinary opportunities of the district school, in his native town, he

attended Holmes Academy at Plymouth, N. H., where for several terms he

pursued his studies under the instruction of the late Samuel Burns, who

ranked among the foremost teachers of his time. To perfect himself in

mathematical studies, for which he showed an early and natural aptitude,

he placed himself under the tuition of Master Dudley Leavitt, the noted

"almanac-maker," who, for many years, opened an annual term of high

school in Meredith, where he taught all the advanced branches of

mathematics to pupils, who in that day flocked from every part of the

country to place themselves at the feet of this great mathematical

Gamaliel. These studies he ardently pursued far beyond the limits of the

ordinary academical course, and they seem to have impressed upon him a

permanent proficiency often called for and manifested in the various

large business transactions with which he has been connected for so many

years. During the intervals of schools he assisted his father--who was

in trade and a large farmer--as clerk and general assistant in his

extensive business. In 1831, at about the age twenty, he opened a store

and commenced trade at Sandwich. N. H., where he remained about a year,

when he returned, and resumed the same business at Center Harbor.

July 15, 1833, he married Nellie B. Senter. He then opened a hotel in

what has since grown to be one of the famous boarding-houses at Center

Harbor, and, with the aid of his brilliant and accomplished wife, united

the duties of landlord and merchant, which employments he continued

there for several years. In 1836, Lake Village, N. H., began to attract

attention as a place of large prospective business, and Mr. Moulton left

Center Harbor, and opened a store at that place. He also engaged in

manufacturing, and continued in these employments for several years.

In 1841 he removed to Laconia, then known the world over as Meredith

Bridge, and took charge of the Belknap Hotel. This being the only stage

house of that lively place, it was usually inundated with the stream of

public travel peculiar to those times. He continued this business about

two years, when he opened a bookstore and an apothecary-shop in a

building which stood on the site now occupied by the post-office and the

national bank. He was soon after appointed postmaster,--in the latter

part of Tyler's administration; was re-appointed by President Polk,

through whose term he held the office, which he continued to do a short

time during the term of President Taylor, when, being a life-long

Democrat, he was removed. He was re-appointed by President Pierce, and

also by President Buchanan, during whose terms he held the office, which

he continued to do a short time under President Lincoln, when he was

superseded by the appointment of a Republican. Thus he held the office

of postmaster during part of the terms of three Republican, and the full

terms of three Democratic administrations, making his term of office

about sixteen years in all. The duties of his long term of service were

performed in a manner universally acceptable and satisfactory to the

public.

In 1848 the Boston, Concord, & Montreal Railroad was built and completed

from Concord to Plymouth. In anticipation of this event the firm of

Charles Ranlet & Co. built large and extensive car-works at Laconia,

which they designed particularly for the construction of freight-cars.

The firm commenced and carried on the business until the decease of the

senior partner, in 1860, when the works were suspended. In 1861, Mr.

Moulton became a partner, and by his great energy and business capacity

has developed a large business, which employs some two hundred men, most

of whom are skilled workmen. The monthly pay-roll is about eight

thousand dollars. The works have been repeatedly enlarged, and several

extensive buildings erected, to accommodate the increase of business.

For several years, passenger-cars of the finest style and finish, as

well as freight-cars, have been built at their works, and their annual

gross earnings are to be reckoned at several hundred thousand dollars.

In February, 1881, these car-shops, with most of their machinery and

contents, were burned to the ground, only some of the out-buildings

being saved. Before the ruins were done smoking, lumber began to be

hauled upon the ground, and in thirty days from the fire cars were being

built in new shops which had been erected on the old foundations. Mr.

Moulton was then over seventy years of age, and was well able to retire

from business, with an ample competence, to the quiet repose which most

men desire as the closing blessing of an active and arduous life.

In 1871 and 1872 he was chosen senator from district number six, and

performed his official duties with his accustomed promptness and

fidelity, and to the satisfaction of his constituents. He was also

elected councilor for district number two in 1874. In 1876 he was one of

the delegates to the Democratic national convention held at St. Louis,

which nominated Samuel J. Tilden for the presidency, and in the ensuing

presidential campaign was one of the candidates on the Democratic ticket

for elector.

In 1865, rapid growth of the manufacturing, commercial, and other

business interests at Laconia and Lake Village suggested to him the

great need of added financial facilities. To meet these demands, it was

necessary to procure a charter from the government to establish a

national bank at Laconia. Almost insurmountable obstacles to success in

this enterprise were encountered, and finally overcome. The charter was

procured, and the bank established, largely by the active and persistent

labor of the subject of this sketch. Upon the organization of the

Laconia National Bank, he was chosen its first president, and has

continuously and acceptably held the position to the present time. It

may well be said, that the impartiality with which the accommodations of

this bank have been extended to promote all hopeful enterprises has done

much to advance the growth and prosperity of the place.

For several years, Mr. Moulton was a stockholder in the Gilford Hosiery

Corporation at Laconia. In 1868 he became sole owner of the entire stock

and property. He has steadily continued its successful operation, with

an annual product of one hundred and twenty thousand dollars, until now.

The factory employs about one hundred and fifty hands, mostly females,

at the mill, and gives employment to many households in the surrounding

country. Mr. Moulton and Benjamin K. Thurston are joint owners of the

extensive flouring and grain mill of Laconia. He is also a large owner

of the stock in the Laconia Gas-light Company, and has done much to

place this important pioneer enterprise upon the solid basis it now

holds among the public improvements of this growing town.

Mr. Moulton is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is

one of the charter members of Winnipisseogee Lodge No. 7, which was

established at Laconia in 1842, and is now one of the Uniformed

Patriarchs of the order.

His domestic and family relations are as follows:--

July 15, 1833, he married Nellie B. Senter, of Center Harbor, who was

the daughter of Samuel M. Senter. Her ancestor, Col. Joseph Senter, and

Ebenezer Chamberlain were the first settlers in that town in 1765 and

1767. She died Nov. 18, 1860, at Laconia. Five children were born to

them, of whom three survive.

Edwin Carroll Moulton was born May 25, 1834, and died Nov. 13, 1867. He

married Augusta Ranlet, of Laconia, daughter of Charles Ranlet; and

their only child, Nelly Augusta Moulton, still survives. He was an

active business man, full of promise, and many friends still cherish his

memory.

Samuel Moore Senter Moulton was born Aug. 1, 1837, and resides at

Laconia. May 2, 1861, he enlisted, and served in the New Hampshire

volunteers. July 26, 1861, he enlisted in the regular army of the United

States, and served three years during the rebellion, with the mounted

troops. Since the war he is employed as book-keeper, clerk, and

paymaster in the car factories above referred to. He was one of the

selectmen of Laconia for the years 1868 and 1869; and was representative

of the town to the legislature for the years 1876 and 1877. He married

Martha B. Thurston, daughter of Benjamin E. Thurston, who is well known.

He served as representative to the legislature from the town of

Moultonborough in Carroll county, for the years 1867 and 1868, after

which he removed to, and now resides in, Laconia, which town he

represented in the legislature in 1881. He was also high sheriff of

Belknap county in the years 1874 and 1875.

William Hale Moulton was born July 20, 1844, died March 10, 1849.

Horatio Francis Moulton was born Jan. 24, 1848. During the war he was

three years in the United States navy. He was one of the naval cadets,

and intended to pass his life in the United States service, but was

prevented by pulmonary disease. He married Ella S. Melcher, of

Springfield, Mass., daughter of William Melcher, and has a family of

three young children. He is superintendent of the Gilford Hosiery

Company, and has been so for many years.

Ida Lettice Moulton, was born June 4, 1850. She married Joshua B.

Holden, of Boston, Mass., and they have a young family of four children.

Mr. Moulton married his second wife, Sarah A. McDougal, Aug. 18, 1866.

Her many virtues and useful charities have endeared her to a large

circle of warm friends.

The lives of men who are absorbed in the exacting duties of many

diversified and burdensome pursuits are not crowded with incidents which

interest remote posterity; but the successful and many-sided enterprises

of such men exert a wide and beneficial influence in their day and

generation. Such a man is Mr. Moulton. He has always been an

open-handed, public-spirited citizen. To him, and to two or three

others, we owe the building of the finest church in Laconia and the

support of a liberal ministry. Long after he has passed away, the town

of his adoption will continue to exhibit many evidences of his liberal

contributions to whatever tended to promote the growth of the town, the

prosperity of its business, or the public welfare.

[Illustration: A. W. Sulloway]

HON. ALVAH W. SULLOWAY.

By H. H. Metcalf.

From an industrial, as well as a political standpoint, the town of

Franklin has long occupied a prominent position in the state. Highly

favored by nature with the facilities most conducive to the development

of manufacturing industry, there has grown up within its limits, or been

attracted thereto from other localities, a large class of citizens

possessing the enterprise, energy, and sagacity requisite to the most

advantageous use of those facilities. There are, indeed, few among our

New England towns of corresponding size, which include among their

inhabitants a larger number of active and successful business men, or

whose progress has been signalized during the last quarter of a century

by a more substantial industrial development.

ALVAH W. SULLOWAY is one of the best-known, most practical, energetic,

and public-spirited among the enterprising business men of this

prosperous and progressive town. While the state of Massachusetts has

drawn from our midst a large proportion of the men whose labors have

brought the prosperity and distinction which that proud old commonwealth

enjoys, she has given New Hampshire in return some of her own sons,

whose efforts have contributed in no small degree to advance the honor

and welfare of the state of their adoption. Among these is the subject

of this sketch. Born in Framingham, Mass., Dec. 25, 1838, Mr. Sulloway

is now in his forty-fourth year. He is the only son and eldest child of

Israel W. and Adeline (Richardson) Sulloway, to whom three daughters

were also born, two of whom are living, one unmarried, and the other the

wife of Herbert Bailey, Esq., a prominent manufacturer of the town of

Claremont. Israel W. Sulloway is a native of Boston, and sprang from

revolutionary ancestry on both the paternal and the maternal side, his

mother being a Woodbury of Salem, daughter of Capt. Israel Woodbury, who

served in the patriot army throughout the war for independence. He

engaged in manufacturing service in youth, and was for some time an

overseer in the Saxonville woolen mill. When his son Alvah was about ten

years of age, he removed to the town of Enfield in this state, where he

engaged in the manufacture of yarn hosiery. Here he introduced the

process of manufacturing the celebrated Shaker socks by machinery, being

the first manufacturer to engage in the enterprise, where he established

a prosperous business, which he carried on about sixteen years, when he

sold out to his son-in-law, Mr. Bailey, and retired from active life,

locating at Waltham, Mass., where he still resides. In his father's mill

at Enfield, Alvah W. Sulloway gained that practical knowledge of the

business in which he has since been engaged, which constituted the sure

foundation of the success he has attained therein. He secured a good

academical education at Canaan, Barre, Vt., and the Green Mountain

Liberal Institute at South Woodstock; but spent a considerable portion

of his time between the age of ten and twenty-one years in active labor

in the mill, thoroughly familiarizing himself with the various

processes in hosiery manufacture, and the general conduct of business in

that important line of industry.

Upon attaining his majority, with that ambitious and independent spirit

which so generally characterizes the youth of New England, and to which

the development and prosperity of all sections of our country are so

largely due, Mr. Sulloway determined to go into business for himself.

His purpose received the ready sanction and encouragement of his father,

and after due deliberation he formed a partnership with Walter Aiken of

Franklin, in the manufacture of hosiery. The partnership continued for

about four years, when it was dissolved by mutual consent, and another

firm was organized, which put in operation a new mill. This firm

consisted of Mr. Sulloway and Frank H. Daniell of Franklin, who carried

on business together until 1869, when Mr. Daniell withdrew, and Mr.

Sulloway has since been sole proprietor. The mill is situated upon the

lower power of the Winnipesaukee, opposite the mills of the

Winnipiseogee Paper Company, the power being used in common by the two

establishments. The building is of brick, three stories high, with

basement, contains four sets of woolen machinery, with about

seventy-five knitting-machines, and furnishes employment for about

ninety operatives, besides a large number of women in the vicinity, and

surrounding towns, whose labor is required in finishing the work which

the machines leave incomplete. The goods manufactured are the Shaker

socks, or half-hose, of which about three hundred dozen pairs are

produced daily, giving an annual product of about one hundred and fifty

thousand dollars. The monthly pay-roll averages about two thousand five

hundred dollars, aside from the amount paid for outside labor.

Mr. Sulloway is a business man in the true sense of the term, and as

such he has been thus far eminently successful. But while devoting his

energies and ability to the development of his own business interests,

and thereby indirectly conferring large benefit upon the community in

which he moves, he has never failed to contribute, by direct personal

effort, to the advancement of all measures of public utility and

material progress; and to his labor and encouragement, personally and

pecuniarily, as much as to any other among its many enterprising and

public-spirited citizens, the town of Franklin is indebted for the

advanced position which it holds, when regarded from a business, social,

or educational standpoint. He was a prime mover in the organization of

the Franklin National Bank, which went into operation in November, 1879,

and has been president of the institution from the start. He has also

been a trustee of the Franklin Savings Bank ever since its

establishment, and for several years past a member of the committee of

investment. In 1880 he was chosen a member of the board of directors of

the Northern Railroad, which position he still holds.

In politics, Mr. Sulloway is an ardent Democrat, an earnest and

enthusiastic worker in the party cause; and his labors in this direction

have been largely instrumental in bringing his party into ascendency in

Franklin, which was for many years one of the hardest-contested

political battle grounds in the state, numbering, as it does, among its

citizens several of the most active leaders of the two great parties. In

1871, although the town was then decidedly Republican, he was chosen a

member of the state legislature from Franklin, and was re-elected the

following year. In 1874, and again in 1875, he was elected to the same

position. In the legislature, as everywhere else, he proved himself a

thoroughly practical man, devoting himself actively to business, and

leaving speech-making to those inclined to talk rather than work. In

1871, he served on the committee on elections; in 1872, upon railroads;

in 1874 was chairman of the committee on manufactures, where his close

acquaintance with manufacturing interests fitted him for most efficient

service; and in 1875 was again a member of the elections committee. In

1874, when the Democratic party managers set to work systematically to

win a victory in the state, Mr. Sulloway was nominated for railroad

commissioner upon the ticket headed by James A. Weston for governor.

Although there was no choice by the people in the election that year,

the Democracy won a substantial victory, in that they secured a majority

in the legislature, and the election of their candidates for governor

and railroad commissioner followed at the hands of that body. To this

triumph of his party in the state, the energetic labor of Mr. Sulloway

in the general conduct of the campaign contributed in no small degree.

As a member of the board of railroad commissioners for the term of three

years, the last year as chairman of the board, he rendered the state

efficient service, carrying into his official labors, so far as they

extended, the same practical sagacity and judgment exercised in his own

private business.

In January, 1877, Mr. Sulloway was nominated by the Democracy of the

second district as their candidate for congress, against Major James F.

Briggs of Manchester, the Republican nominee. The district was strongly

Republican, and that party had a popular candidate in the field; yet Mr.

Sulloway, with no expectation of an election, made a vigorous canvass,

and ran largely ahead of his ticket. He was also the candidate of his

party in the district at the next election, and again in 1880, making

lively work for his successful opponent, Major Briggs, on each occasion.

He has been an active member of the Democratic state committee for more

than ten years past, and for the greater portion of the time a member of

the executive committee of that body, having direct charge of the

campaign work. He was a member of the New Hampshire delegation in the

national convention at St. Louis in 1876, which nominated Samuel J.

Tilden for the presidency, and was an enthusiastic supporter of the

great New York reformer, not only in convention, but also in the

subsequent campaign in which he was actively engaged as a member of the

Democratic national committee from this state. In 1880 he was again a

delegate to the national convention of his party, at Cincinnati, where

Gen. Hancock was nominated, and was again elected as the New Hampshire

member of the national committee, holding the position until the present

time.

In religion, Mr. Sulloway is an adherent of the liberal faith. He was

reared a Universalist, and is now an active member of the Unitarian

society in Franklin, a young but flourishing organization which is

already taking active measures for the erection of a fine church

edifice. In this organization, as in business and politics, Mr. Sulloway

is an earnest worker, and his labor and encouragement have contributed

materially to its success. He is a trustee of this society, and, with

Governor Bell, a vice-president of the New Hampshire Unitarian

Association. He is also a member of the board of trustees of the

Unitarian Educational Society, under whose auspices the liberal

educational institution known as Proctor Academy, at Andover, is

conducted.

In 1866, Mr. Sulloway was united in marriage with Miss Susan K. Daniell,

an accomplished daughter of the late J. F. Daniell, a member of the

noted paper-making firm of Peabody & Daniell, and a sister of the Hon.

Warren F. and Frank H. Daniell. They have two children, a daughter and

son,--the eldest, Alice, born August 5, 1871, and Richard Woodbury, born

February 15, 1876. Their home is a fine modern residence, erected in

1877, beautifully located in a bend of the Winnipesaukee river,

surrounded by handsome grounds, with all its appointments conducive to

the comfort of the family and the host of friends who share their

generous hospitality.

Mr. Sulloway is a man of keen perceptive powers and ready judgement, so

that he is enabled to form conclusions upon all practical questions

presented with more than ordinary promptness and accuracy. His opinion

in all matters of public interest and concern in the community in which

he resides is as frequently sought and carries as great weight as that

of any other man, to say the least, and the same also may be said of his

advice in private business affairs. He is frank and outspoken at all

times, and never hesitates to say just what he thinks when called upon

to express himself in any direction. He has many warm friends, and

enjoys a full measure of popularity in social as well as in public and

business circles. He was a moving spirit in the organization of the "New

Hampshire Club," an association formed by New Hampshire men doing

business in Boston, for social entertainment, and has been a leading

member of the same from the start. Endowed with an active mind and

healthy and vigorous bodily powers, he has great capacity for labor, and

will, unquestionably, accomplish even more substantial results in the

future than have already attended his efforts.

[Illustration: Chester Pike]

CHESTER PIKE.

The subject of this sketch was born July 30, 1829, in the town of

Cornish, N. H. Mr. Pike may be said to be possessed of prescriptive

rights in the township of his nativity and residence, for, planted of

others, it was by blood of his blood nurtured into permanence and

prosperity.

As the traits of the parent re-appear in the qualities of the child, so

the annals of the stock from whence he sprang mingle inseparably with

the chronicles of this many-hilled town by the Connecticut. His

great-grandfather and great-grandmother Chase were the first white

persons to settle in Cornish, and in every mention of early citizens

will be found the names of Pike, Bryant, and Chase, whose blood blends

with his. The friendship arising from nearness of residence and a common

industry, which from the first had bound these families together, was

soon strengthened and made permanent by the stronger tie of

intermarriage.

In 1827, Eben Pike, who was the eldest son of Ebenezer and Mary Marcy

Pike, of Cornish, was united in marriage with the daughter of Capt.

Sylvanus Bryant and Sarah Chase Bryant, of the same place. This lady, on

her mother's side, was a cousin to the statesman, Salmon P. Chase, who

for many years represented Ohio in the senate of the United States, and

at the time of his death, as chief-justice of the supreme court, wore

with undiminished honor and dignity the mantle of the great Marshall.

The earliest fruit of this union was Chester Pike, whose life we are now

tracing. A later son, John B. Pike, a mail-route agent between Boston

and St. Albans, an efficient officer and courteous gentleman, is now a

resident of Lebanon, in this state. The oldest son still resides in his

native town and not far from the spot where his grandparents first

settled, in the broad, picturesque valley of the Connecticut, hard by

the village of Windsor, and under the shadows of Ascutney. To one so

located, the relics of the past are objects of enduring interest. The

very hills and valleys must awaken memories of the olden time and kindle

associations of the ancestral home, which will perpetuate the virtues

and the aspirations of the dead. He can but experience something of the

feeling of the descendants of the old families of England, who live upon

their ancient estates, and saunter in the halls of old castles, or under

the shadows of gnarled trees that were planted centuries ago by the

founders of their line, whose ashes long since mingled with, and became

a part of, their inalienable homesteads. The remembrance of the brave

fathers and fair mothers who lived in the heroic past is their richest

inheritance.

In his earlier years, obedient to the custom of the fathers, Mr. Pike

attended the district school. This institution, original to New England,

discharges a function in the training of the young which, to our mind,

some of the methods and more ambitious inventions of modern educators

fail to fulfill. In the district school, if properly taught, are secured

habits of faithfulness and diligence, and a permanent knowledge of

elementary branches, which are of daily practical use in the life of

the people. There, too, the silly conceits and factitious distinctions

of society are broken down, as children see that success is achieved by

brains, not money; by industry, not social standing. In this, sometimes

rough but general intercourse of youth, democratic ways and independence

of thought are acquired, and the seeds of a true manhood and womanhood

are planted. Our system of public schools is in harmony with the

organism of the state, and in them our children imbibe a spirit of

obedience to wholesome, legitimate authority, and so become conservative

of public discipline and order. Men learn to rule by learning to obey.

It was here that Mr. Pike laid the foundations of character.

Later, he was for a time a scholar in the academy at Hartland, Vt. After

a season of study there, he matriculated in that long-time famous and

still existing center of pro-collegiate education, the Kimball Union

Academy at Meriden, N. H. The principal, at that time, was the Rev.

Cyrus Richards, and under his guidance several terms were passed in the

acquisition of the more abstruse learning of the books. But the months

drift by, and at the age of fifteen Mr. Pike graduates from the schools

and passes on to the sterner duties of manhood and of life. The winter

months of the six ensuing years are filled up with the active work of

the pedagogue, and the summer seasons in constant, laborious work upon

the home farm.

During this period he was ripening the lessons of his pupilage and

maturing plans for the future. At the age of twenty-one, Mr. Pike,

though he still spent his winters for some years in teaching, became a

trader in cattle and a merchant in the products of the soil. By his

enterprise in this, his chosen vocation, he reached the position of a

foremost man of a notable class among the farmers of New England.

Familiar from youth with the harvest capabilities of the rich levels and

the sun-warmed hills of Sullivan county, and gifted with a quick sense

to perceive the wants of modern markets, he has, by unusual energy and

sagacity, fitted means to ends, and, with a Midas-touch, turned his

agrarian resources into gold. His success teaches the lesson that the

New England farm has no less potential wealth at present than in times

past, if skill but holds the handles of the plow. Let the modern farmer

cling to the old homestead and the paternal acres, and take counsel with

the progressive science of soil-enrichment; let him employ the same

skill in the cultivation of his farm and the management of his stock,

let him use the same enterprise in utilizing markets, and the same

economy in the disposition of his funds, which are necessary in other

employments,--and his success is sure.

We would here quote from a leading paper of the state a few lines

pertinent to our narrative:--

"Capt. Chester Pike, of Cornish, has one of the largest, if not

the largest, farm in the state. It contains about one thousand

acres of land, divided into wood, mowing, tillage, and pasture

land; forty acres in corn, and seventy acres in wheat, rye,

oats, barley, and potatoes. Last season he raised six thousand

eight hundred baskets of corn. He has one hundred and thirty

head of cattle, three hundred sheep, thirty-seven horses, and

forty hogs, and raises hay enough to keep his stock through the

season, or about three hundred tons. Capt. Pike's farm lies in

the town of Cornish, on the east bank of the Connecticut river,

immediately opposite the farm of the Hon. William M. Evarts,

late secretary of state, situated in Windsor. Vt., which is of

about equal dimensions, and, in fact, the largest farm in

Vermont. Mr. Evarts raises about the same amount of stock, hay,

and produce as Capt. Pike. On both of these farms may be found

all the modern appliances, such as mowing and reaping machines,

seeders for sowing grain, two-horse cultivators for hoeing corn,

most of the work being done by machinery, the same as upon the

largest farms of the West."

Any man might be proud of such a record, but it is only a part of the

truth. In single seasons, Mr. Pike often buys, for resale, from

seventy-five to one hundred and twenty-five tons of poultry, and between

two and three hundred thousand pounds of wool. Besides the above, he has

for many years purchased annually, for the Boston market, in the

interest of the firm of Lamson, Dudley, & Pike, of which he is a member,

great numbers of cattle and sheep. During the thirty years, Mr. Pike has

found an outlet for that restless energy and enterprise which these

pursuits and the occupation of farming and stock-growing cannot exhaust,

in an extensive lumber business. All this, it should be borne in mind,

is in addition to the extensive cultivation and stock-growing on his own

farm.

Notwithstanding the variety and extent of his purely business

transactions, Mr. Pike has also found leisure to fill with efficiency

many stations in the public service. At one period of his career, during

several successive years he was selectman of Cornish. This led the way

to other offices. He who had discharged with faithfulness and skill the

responsibilities in the town, was deemed worthy to be honored with

higher duties, and Mr. Pike found himself, in 1859, 1860, and 1861, the

incumbent of the office of county commissioner for Sullivan county. At

the end of his third term, his fellow-townsmen withdrew him from the

commissionship, which he had ably filled, and made him their

representative to the general court for 1862, and again for 1863. He

made an intelligent and active legislator, and soon became familiar with

the business of the house. The estimate which was put upon his services

and standing in the house is seen in the fact that in his first year he

served on the committee on manufactures, and, in his second year, was

made chairman of the committee on banks, which at the time was one of

the most difficult and responsible positions in the house. If Mr. Pike

did not often attempt to influence legislation by debate, he had what

Wirt attributes to Jefferson, "the out-of-door talent of chamber

consultation," and used it with good effect. The years 1862 and 1863

were two of the most anxious and trying years of the civil war, and

perplexing propositions were brought before the legislature for

solution. There were sharp antagonisms and earnest debates among the

strong men of those sessions; questions of jurisdiction and policy

touching the national defense and the rights of states, new to

legislation and embittered by party rancor, became the subjects of

action; the frequent calls for men and money to meet the demand which

the prolonged and sanguinary conflict made upon the state gave to the

legislation of the period unprecedented interest and importance. Through

it all, no man was more active, more true, or more patriotic, than Capt.

Pike.

In 1863, the subject of our sketch was appointed provost-marshal of the

third New Hampshire district, and during that and the two succeeding

years, when the war-cloud hung heavy and dark on the southern horizon,

he discharged the duties of this delicate and difficult office with

unusual ability, and received from Mr. Frye, the

provost-marshal-general, the highest possible commendation for the

integrity and success with which he administered the affairs of his

department of the public service. Associated with him in this branch of

the military organization, were some of the foremost men of the state:

Hon. Francis A. Faulkner, an able lawyer of Keene, was commissioner, and

Dixi Crosby, the distinguished head of the Dartmouth Medical College,

was surgeon of the board of enrollment; Senator H. W. Blair, Hon. Ossian

Ray, and Col. Nelson Converse of Marlborough were the deputy-marshals,

and Judge W. H. H. Allen of Newport, C. C. Kimball, Esq., of

Charlestown, and Henry C. Henderson, Esq., of Keene, were clerks of the

board. To have conducted the office in a way to secure the respect and

co-operation of such a body of men is in itself a distinguished honor.

In 1866, Mr. Pike received the nomination for councilor of the fourth

councilor district, but declined, and was subsequently appointed United

States collector of internal revenue. His administration of the duties

of this position was deservedly popular with the department at

Washington, and with the people at home, and he remained in it till the

districts of the state were consolidated. In 1876 he was a delegate from

Cornish in the constitutional convention, receiving every vote cast by

his fellow-townsmen.

In addition to these public offices, Mr. Pike has been a director in the

Claremont National Bank for fifteen years, and an active member and

officer of the Sullivan County, the Connecticut River, the New Hampshire

State, and the New England agricultural societies. To have earned and to

have enjoyed the popular favor in a republic and in so many and varied

places of honorable trust, is to have passed the crucial test of fitness

for public life.

Few men of positive character and recognized ability, if in exalted

positions, are so fortunate, in this age, as to escape criticism; but it

will be acknowledged that in all the state and national trusts held by

the subject of our sketch, he has so borne himself as to win the

approval of the authorities, the good will of the people, and the

respect of his friends.

In 1862, Mr. Pike was united in marriage to Amanda M. Fay, the daughter

of Hon. Levi Chamberlain Fay, of Windsor, Vt., a lady of attractive

manners and varied accomplishments. Mrs. Pike has been a most loyal wife

in all the relations of life, and the beloved mother of four

children,--three sons and a daughter,--of whom but one survives, Chester

Fay Pike, a lad of twelve years.

In the above narrative, we have done little more than to set down in

order the events in the life of a quiet citizen of one of the country

towns of our state; but, when we consider how much this gentleman has

accomplished and that he is only now at the meridian of life, we realize

that his is no ordinary career, and that New England does not furnish a

long catalogue of men who have so well illustrated the genius of our

institutions, and the possibilities of a sagacious mind that has a fixed

purpose to succeed in the race of life. The man who does difficult work

and wins the love of friends deserves to be honored of all. In all the

relations of public and private life Mr. Pike,--

"By nature honest, by experience wise,

Healthy by temperance and exercise,"

has acted well his part, and so honored his state, and made a name which

his descendants will cherish in the years to come.

[Illustration: Thos. P. Pierce]

COL. THOMAS P. PIERCE.

BY HON. JOHN H. GOODALE.

Most of the success and thrift which during the past thirty years have

attended the manufacturing interests of New Hampshire are due to the

untiring industry and intelligent foresight of that class of

self-reliant, progressive business men who, starting in life with

ordinary advantages, have had the nerve to seize and the capacity to

improve the opportunities within their reach. Prominent among this class

of enterprising and valuable citizens of this state is the gentleman

whose name stands at the head of this page,--HON. THOMAS P. PIERCE.

Col. Pierce was born in Chelsea, Mass., on the 30th of August, 1820. He

came from Revolutionary stock on both the father's and mother's side.

After limited training in the public schools, he learned the trade of

carriage and ornamental painting in Boston.

In 1840, the subject of this sketch came to Manchester, which was then

springing into existence as a manufacturing village, under the auspices

of the Amoskeag Land and Water Company. Three years previous the first

improvements were begun, and it was now a bustling town of six hundred

families, gathered from every section of northern New England. With much

of the rush and recklessness of a newly grown community, there were then

germs of that energy which has since made Manchester an eminently

prosperous city. Young Pierce, not yet of age, worked as a journeyman at

his trade, and by his unvarying courtesy and cheerful spirit was a

favorite among his associates. He was an active member of the famous

Stark Guards,--a military organization of which Hon. George W. Morrison

and Walter French, Esq., were successively in command.

There is no more exhaustive test of a young man's stamina than life in a

rapidly growing manufacturing village. One literally goes in and out in

the presence of the enemies' pickets, though they may not be intentional

enemies. The temptation to excess is constant and persistent. Often the

most brilliant and sagacious fall victims. It is to the credit of Thomas

P. Pierce that he passed the ordeal unscathed. In the summer of 1842 it

was his good fortune to marry Miss Asenath R. McPherson, the daughter of

a farmer in the adjoining town of Bedford.

The war with Mexico began in 1846. When it was decided that an army

under Gen. Scott should be raised to march to the city of Mexico, it was

ordered that a regiment of infantry should be raised in New England. Mr.

Pierce at once volunteered as a private, and was soon after

commissioned, by President Polk, as second lieutenant of one of the

companies of the New England regiment. The command of this regiment was

first assigned to Franklin Pierce; but on his promotion to the command

of a brigade it was given to Truman B. Ransom, a brave and accomplished

officer from Vermont.

Early in the summer the brigade under Gen. Pierce was ordered to proceed

to the eastern coast of Mexico, and to land in the vicinity of Vera

Cruz, to be ready to co-operate with the main army under Gen. Scott in

the march to the Mexican capital. The troops disembarked on the 28th of

June,--a most unfavorable season of the year. The heat was so intense on

the lowlands that to march between nine o'clock in the morning and four

in the afternoon was impossible. With the exception of a few of the

officers, the entire force was made up of new recruits. It occupied two

weeks to secure mules for army transportation. On the 14th of July the

movement toward the city of Mexico began, and, on reaching the

foothills, every bridge and fortified pass was strongly guarded by

hostile Mexicans. There was constant skirmishing, and the enemy, from

the cliffs and thickets, made annoying and sometimes dangerous attacks.

The climate, the difficulties of marching, and hardships of a military

life in a strange country bore heavily on the inexperienced soldiery.

Amid these perplexities, the tact, the genial spirit, and untiring

attention to the wants of his comrades won for Lieut. Pierce a high

regard and strong personal attachment. In the sharp conflicts which

occurred on reaching the table-lands, Lieut. Pierce took an active part.

At the battle of Contreras, fought August 19, he was personally

complimented by Col. Ransom for bravery,--himself soon after a martyr to

his personal valor.

Reaching the higher lands, Gen. Scott found the flower of the Mexican

army entrenched among the cliffs of Churubusco. To leave the enemy in

the rear was to hazard everything; and in the dangerous task of

dislodging and utterly routing them the New England regiment bore a

conspicuous part. In his report of the battle, Gen. Scott placed the

name of Lieut. Pierce on the list of those recommended for promotion on

account of gallant and meritorious conduct. The storming of Chepultepec

soon followed, in which the New England regiment had literally to cross

a succession of ridges and ravines, exposed to a deadly fire from the

enemy among the crags. The assault was successful, and the surrender of

the Mexican capital immediately followed. In this action, and in the

details of patrol service during the winter, while the city was occupied

by the American army, Lieut. Pierce was officially commended for the

vigilant discharge of his duties.

The campaign in Mexico, with its varied experiences, had, without doubt,

a marked and favorable effect upon the subject of this sketch. The

novelty of climate and productions, the grandeur of the scenery, and the

immense natural resources of that region were not lost upon him. But of

still greater value was the experience gained from association with men

of large attainments, positive ideas, strong will, and comprehensive

views. The majority of the army officers in that campaign were of this

character; and the young soldier, at the close of the war, returned home

in March, 1848, with higher aims and a better and truer estimate of the

duties and responsibilities of life.

Col. Pierce again engaged in business at his trade, in Manchester,

which, in the meantime, had been incorporated a city. In 1849 he became

a member of the city government; and in the same year was appointed a

member of Gov. Dinsmoor's staff. Upon the inauguration of Gen. Franklin

Pierce as president, in March, 1853, he was appointed postmaster at

Manchester. This position, in the largest and most prosperous city of

the state, was one of unusual labor and responsibility. Col. Pierce

filled the office for eight years, and to the entire satisfaction of the

citizens of all parties.

On the breaking out of the rebellion, in 1861, Col. Pierce was selected

by Gov. Goodwin as commander of the Second New Hampshire regiment, of

the three months' troops. Having satisfactorily discharged his duties,

he retired after the term of enlistment was changed to three years. The

next year, September, 1862, unexpected difficulties having arisen, Gov.

Berry telegraphed to Col. Pierce to take command of the Twelfth New

Hampshire regiment, then completing its organization at Concord. How

well he accomplished the duty assigned him was expressed in a statement,

signed by the officers of the regiment, at the time of his withdrawal,

in the following words:--

"Your generous and patriotic course in assuming temporary

command of the regiment during a period of great excitement and

confusion, thereby saving it from dissolution and the state from

disgrace, merits our admiration and sincere thanks."

In 1866, Col. Pierce removed to Nashua, for the purpose of engaging in

the manufacture of card-board and glazed paper. Since then he has been

an active member and one of the directors of the Nashua Card and

Glazed-Paper Company,--one of the most successful business enterprises

in the state, and which, in the variety and excellence of its products,

is not surpassed by any corporation of its kind in the country. Col.

Pierce is also a director of the Contoocook Valley Paper Company in

Henniker, a director of the Second National Bank and president of the

Mechanics Savings Bank at Nashua.

In 1874, Col. Pierce was elected a member of the New Hampshire state

senate, the only candidate of his party ever elected from that district;

and in 1875 and 1876 he was sheriff of Hillsborough county. While

unwavering in his attachment to, and support of, the Democratic party,

he is not rabid in his policy or partisan in his associations. When

President Hayes visited Nashua, in 1877, he was selected by the city

government as chairman of the committee of arrangements; and no citizen

took a more efficient part in securing a proper observance of the

obsequies of President Garfield. He and his family are attendants of the

Universalist church.

In his social and domestic relations, Col. Pierce has been fortunate. Of

his two children, the eldest, Mrs. Julia M., wife of William N. Johnson,

resides at West Henniker, where her husband is a paper manufacturer; his

son, Mr. Frank Pierce, is associated with him in business.

A few years since, having purchased the homestead of the late Gen. J. G.

Foster, he built a spacious and elegant residence. Situated on an

acclivity on the north side of the Nashua river, surrounded by ample

grounds and stately trees, it is a home of rare attractions. Col. Pierce

is still in the prime of active life, and his past record, as well as

his present position, is a guarantee that he will ably and faithfully

meet the responsibilities of the future.

COL. MARTIN V. B. EDGERLY.

BY H. H. METCALF.

In these days of varying fortune in business life, and in this country

especially, where property is accumulated or lost more readily and

frequently than in any other land, the beneficent nature of the

institution of life assurance has come to be very generally appreciated.

This institution, which, so far as its general establishment is

concerned, is peculiarly an American one, is indeed a natural outgrowth

of our social and business system, and is coming to be more fully

recognized, from year to year, in one form or another, as the only

medium through which men in general business, or most of the avocations

of life, may make substantially sure provision for the support of their

families or those depending upon them, in case of their own removal by

death before acquiring a competency, or after the loss of the same

through business reverses or adventitious circumstances. The man who

stands before the public as a leading representative of an institution

of such importance becomes properly a person of note in the business

community; and when he is endowed with those powers and qualities of

mind which naturally bring him into prominence in social and political

circles and the general activities of life, he may well be classed among

those who are esteemed representative men of the times in the state and

section wherein he resides, and which is the field of his active labor.

Such a man is the subject of this sketch.

MARTIN VAN BUREN EDGERLY is a native of the town of Barnstead,--a town,

by the way, which has sent out its productions into the world in the

form of able, energetic men,--men of strong minds in strong bodies, who

have made their mark in the world, and stand at the front in the various

fields of activity in which they have engaged. In the domain of law, of

theology, of politics, and of general business, the sons of Barnstead

hold high rank, as is abundantly demonstrated by reference to the names

of Lewis W. Clark, Rev. Alonzo H. Quint, John G. Sinclair, and John P.

Newell. Mr. Edgerly was the fifth of nine children--five sons and four

daughters--of Samuel J. and Eliza (Bickford) Edgerly, born September 26,

1833. Samuel J. Edgerly was a man of far more than ordinary intelligence

and mental activity, who, but for the misfortune of disease, which

impaired his physical powers in early life;, would have become

unquestionably a leading spirit in public affairs. As it was, he was

recognized by all with whom he came in contact in life as a man of

strong mind and decided character. He was a descendant, upon the

maternal side, and was named in honor of that Col. Samuel Johnson who

was one of the early settlers of the town of Northwood, and of whom it

is said, in sketching the history of that town, that upon the first

night of his abode within its limits he slept upon the ground between

two rocks, with a quilt or piece of canvas for covering.

[Illustration: M. V. B. Edgerly]

When a lad of twelve years, Col. Edgerly removed with his parents to

Manchester. He attended the public schools for a time, but at an early

age entered the service of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, being

engaged at first in the mills and afterwards in the machine-shop; but,

after several years, becoming dissatisfied with the dull routine of

mechanical labor, and desirous of testing his powers in the field of

business, in October, 1856, at the age of twenty-three, he embarked in

trade as a joint proprietor of a drug-store with Mr. Lewis H. Parker. He

was thus engaged but a short time, however, removing the following year

to the town of Pittsfield, where he soon established himself in the

insurance business, taking the agency of various companies, fire and

life. This, it may be truly said, was the actual starting point in his

career. He found in this business a field of labor congenial to his

tastes, and peculiarly adapted to the development and exercise of the

distinctive powers of mind and body with which he is endowed; and he

entered into his work with heart and soul. He was not long in

discovering the special line of effort to which he was best adapted, and

which gave the best promise of substantial success in response to such

effort; nor were the managers of the business in question long in

ascertaining, from the character of the work already accomplished, the

direction in which their own advantage lay; and so it came about in a

short time, that after a visit to the company's office in Springfield,

made upon the solicitation of the president, Col. Edgerly became

exclusively the agent of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance

Company, relinquishing all other agencies, and devoting his entire

efforts to the interests of the company.

So thorough and satisfactory was the work which he accomplished, that a

year later he was given the general agency of the company for the state

of New Hampshire, with headquarters at Manchester, to which city he

removed with his family, when, in 1863, he was given charge of the

business for Vermont and northern New York in addition to this state.

Under his efficient management and supervision the business of the

company increased to a remarkable degree in the entire territory of

which he had control, until the net annual receipts in premiums upon new

policies, in New Hampshire alone, had risen from substantially nothing

in 1859, when he first commenced work, to nearly seventy-five thousand

dollars in 1866, representing the proceeds from the issue of a thousand

policies, covering an aggregate insurance of more than a million and a

half of dollars. This remarkable success was due, not simply to the work

of personal solicitation, in which line Col. Edgerly has no superiors,

but more especially to the keen discernment and ready knowledge of men

with which he is endowed, enabling him to select proper agents and

judiciously supervise their work.

In 1868 he accepted the position of superintendent of the company's

agencies throughout the country. For two years he labored as none but a

physically robust and mentally active man can, establishing agencies and

working up the business of the company throughout the West, while

retaining and directing his own special work in the East. This double

labor was too arduous, even for a man of his powers, and in 1870 he

resigned the position of superintendent, and confined his work to his

former field in New Hampshire, Vermont, and northern New York. In

September, 1874, however, he was induced to accept charge of the

company's agency in Boston, in addition to his other duties, and since

that date he has divided his time and labor between the two positions,

efficiently directing the work of both, and largely increasing the

business at the Boston office. In January last he was made a member of

the board of directors of the company which he has so long and

faithfully served, and which owes its prosperity, in no small degree, to

his intelligent efforts.

Col. Edgerly has been a Democrat from youth, and has ever manifested a

lively interest in political affairs, although he has had neither the

time nor inclination to enter, to any extent, upon the duties of public

position, even had it been in the power of his party to confer the same.

He has, however, in such time as he was able to command, done a great

deal of party work in different campaigns; and in 1874 was elected a

member of the board of aldermen, although his ward was strongly

Republican at the time, thus demonstrating his personal popularity and

the esteem in which he is held in the community where he resides. He has

frequently served as a member of the Democratic state committee, and as

treasurer of the same, and a member of the executive committee; also, as

chairman of the Democratic city committee in Manchester. He was a

delegate from New Hampshire to the Democratic national convention at

Baltimore, in 1872, which nominated Horace Greeley for the presidency,

and was the New Hampshire member of the Democratic national committee

from 1872 to 1876. Again, in 1880, he was chosen a delegate-at-large to

the national convention of his party. In 1871 he was appointed, by Gov.

Weston, chief of staff; and in 1873 and 1874 he held the position of

commander of the Amoskeag Veterans, of which organization he has long

been an active and popular member. In 1874 he was appointed, by

President Grant, an alternate commissioner to represent New Hampshire at

the centennial exposition and celebration in Philadelphia.

Actively and closely as he has been engaged in his chosen line of

business, Col. Edgerly has lent his aid and judgment to some extent to

the encouragement and direction of other business enterprises. He has

been many years a trustee of the Merrimack River Savings Bank and a

director of the Suncook Valley Railroad, of which latter enterprise he

was among the active promoters. He was also, for a time, a director of

the City National Bank. In his religious associations he is an

Episcopalian, and is an active member and officer of Grace church in

Manchester. He is also a member of the Odd Fellows and Masonic bodies in

the city of his residence.

March 7, 1854, Col. Edgerly was united in marriage with Miss Alvina

Barney of Danbury, by whom he has had three children, two of whom are

now living, a son and daughter,--Clinton Johnson, born December 16,

1857, and Mabel Clayton, born October 18, 1859.

Col. Edgerly is a man of fine personal appearance, genial manners, and a

ready appreciation of the demands of friendship and society, as well as

those of business. There are few men of greater personal popularity in

his city or state, and none who command more fully the confidence of

those with whom they are brought into relationship, whether in business

or in social life. Yet under fifty years of age, he has, it may

naturally be assumed, many years of successful effort yet before him,

and many more in which to enjoy the substantial reward of his labor.

[Illustration: ICHABOD GOODWIN.

_GOVERNOR OF NEW HAMPSHIRE 1859-60._]

HON. ICHABOD GOODWIN.

BY FRANK GOODWIN.

Mr. Goodwin is the eldest son of Samuel Goodwin and Nancy Thompson

Gerrish, and was born in that part of Berwick which is now North

Berwick, in the state of Maine. He is descended, on both father's and

mother's side, from families of very great colonial importance. The

great-grandfather of Mr. Goodwin, Capt. Ichabod Goodwin, is said, by the

writer of the genealogy of the Berwick Goodwins, in the _Historical

Magazine_, to have been the most remarkable man who ever lived in that

town. He distinguished himself at the battle of Ticonderoga, and we

learn from the _London Magazine_ that he was especially mentioned in

Maj.-Gen. Abercrombie's report to Secretary Pitt.

On his father's side, his ancestors figured conspicuously in the wars

before the Revolution, and up to the period of the Revolution were of

the families upon whom devolved the magisterial work and honor of the

times. On his mother's side he is likewise descended from families which

for a century, and up to the time of the Revolution, performed a large

share of the duties of public office; and some of the most conspicuous

names in the colonial history of Maine and New Hampshire are to be

counted among his maternal ancestors.

To mention the names of Champernoun, Waldron, and Elliot, none more

familiar to those informed upon colonial history, is but to recall the

persons from whom, on the maternal side, he is lineally descended, or

with whom his maternal ancestors were closely allied by ties of family

connection. The ante-revolutionary importance of the people from whom he

comes is well illustrated by the fact that the name of his maternal

grandfather, Joseph Gerrish, stands first on the triennial catalogue of

Harvard College in the list of graduates of the year 1752, a class which

numbered a Quincy among its graduating members. The significance of this

fact, as bearing upon the status of his mother's family at that time,

is, that the names of the members of the classes of that day are

published in the triennial catalogue of Harvard in the order of the

social importance of the families to which the members respectively

belonged.

At the time of Mr. Goodwin's birth, which was just before the beginning

of the present century, the state of things which the Revolution had

brought about had had ample time to crystallize. Whether it was through

the great changes that under the new order of things had taken place in

the political, social, and commercial affairs of the country, or whether

from those inherent causes under the operation of which families

conspicuous and influential in one period drop out of notice and are

lost to the eye of the historian, the annalist, and perhaps even of the

town chronicler, Mr. Goodwin's family, at the time of his birth, were

simply plain farming people, highly respected within the limits of the

little country town in which they lived, but no longer among the noted,

or influential, or wealthy people of Maine. The country had, by the

close of the last century, taken a considerable stride onward in

prosperity as well as in numerical growth, and the bustle and hum of

industry, pouring itself into new channels of prosperity, had passed by

many of the families which in the earlier era had been the foremost in

developing the resources of the country, in leading the yeomanry in war,

in presiding over the tribunals, and sitting in council as civic

magistrates.

Mr. Goodwin's academic education consisted of several years of study at

the academy at South Berwick, an institution having at that time a good

deal of local importance, and then, as now, the only school in the

vicinity of his birthplace where a fitting for college could be

obtained. Shortly after leaving that academy he entered the

counting-house of Samuel Lord, Esq., then a very prominent merchant and

ship-owner of Portsmouth, N. H., and he became a member of Mr. Lord's

family. He here displayed qualities which had been quite conspicuous in

his earlier boyhood,--those of energy and assiduity and a very marked

capacity for affairs. These qualities, which at the early age of twelve

had made him quite a competent and satisfactory manager of the farm of

his widowed step-grandmother, who was the grandmother of Mr. Lord,

showed later in his conduct as a clerk in the commercial business of the

then very thriving shipping port of Portsmouth. Mr. Lord, finding that

Mr. Goodwin's business abilities were more comprehensive than the mere

duties of a clerk required, placed him as a supercargo in charge of the

business of what was then the largest ship owned in the port, the

"Elizabeth Wilson." In the present days of railroads, sea-going

steamers, oceanic cables, and the commercial complement of these foreign

correspondents or agents, it may seem a trivial sign of a young man's

capacities to name the fact of his being made the business manager of a

ship, especially as ships then went in regard to size; but it is the

introduction of these very modern appliances for conducting business

which has rendered the responsibility of the delegated management of

this species of property comparatively easy. In the days of Mr.

Goodwin's early voyaging, the whole discretion as to the conduct of the

ship's affairs was vested in the supercargo, except in the brief period

of her being in the home port, when the owner resumed his authority and

control. In foreign places, among strangers, beyond the reach of

opportunity for consultation with his owner, the young man must rely

upon himself; must decide upon what voyage his ship shall go, and must

be ready to account to his principal upon his return for the results of

a prosperous enterprise or a disastrous adventure. It was not long

before Mr. Goodwin had learned enough of seamanship to enable him to add

to the duties of the supercargo the further business of navigating his

ship, so that for several years he was both ship-master and business

manager, offices then, as now, rarely combined in one person; for the

ship-master is to-day chiefly the navigator and head seaman of his ship,

while the business, involving the chartering and the rest, is attended

to by a merchant in the port of destination, who is in ready

communication with the owner, both by the fast-going mail of the

steamship and the quicker method of the ocean cable. Mr. Goodwin's sea

life lasted for about twelve years. During that time he had been so far

successful as to become a part owner, and to be enabled to begin

business at home.

In the year 1832 he established himself as a merchant at Portsmouth.

Portsmouth has been his home ever since that time; and there he for many

years conducted an extensive mercantile business, his chief business

interests lying in the direction of the foreign carrying-trade. Upon

leaving the sea he soon became foremost in matters that were of public

concern. He was one of the early projectors of the railroad interests of

New England; and, until within a few years, he has taken a large part in

all the enterprises of public import in the vicinity of his home,

including, besides railroads, the enterprises of manufacturing and

banking; and he has been vested always with a large share of the local

trusts, both public and private, which devolve upon the public-spirited

and trusted citizen. He has of late years been inclined to withdraw from

these responsibilities; but of those which he still retains, the

presidency of the Howard Benevolent Society, a position he has held for

over thirty years, and the presidency of the Portsmouth Bridge Company

may be mentioned. He has, however, within the last two years, assumed

the presidency of the First National Bank of Portsmouth, in which he is

largely interested as a stockholder, and in which institution he had

been a director from its incorporation as a state bank. He was for many

years and at different periods a director in the Eastern Railroad

Company, and was the first president of the Eastern Railroad in New

Hampshire, which position he held for twenty-five years. He was also of

the first board of direction of the Portland, Saco, & Portsmouth

Railroad Company, and was the president of that corporation from the

year 1847 to the year 1871. But it is unnecessary to mention all the

public trusts of a corporate nature which have been confided to his

care. His chief claim to public esteem, and that which will secure to

him its most enduring recognition, is derived from his services as the

first "war governor" of New Hampshire.

Upon Mr. Goodwin's settling as a business man in Portsmouth, he did not

confine his energies to his private business and to corporate

enterprises, but soon acquired a large interest and influence as a

member of the Whig party. He served in the legislature of New Hampshire,

as a member of that party, in the years 1838, 1843, 1844, 1850, 1854,

and 1856. He was also a delegate-at-large from that state to the

conventions at which Clay, Taylor, and Scott were nominated by the Whigs

for the presidency, and was a vice-president at the first two named

conventions; and he has twice served in the constitutional conventions

of New Hampshire. He was the candidate of the Whigs for congress at

several elections before the state was divided into congressional

districts. New Hampshire was in those days one of the most powerful

strongholds of the Democratic party in the country; and a Whig

nomination for any office, determined by the suffrages of the whole

state, was merely a tribute of esteem by that party to one of its most

honored members. Upon the establishment of congressional districts, Mr.

Goodwin received a unanimous nomination of the Whig party for congress

at the first convention held in his district. This nomination bid fair

to be followed by an election, but the circumstances of his private

business prevented his acceptance of the candidateship. In the great

political convulsions which preceded the war of the rebellion, the power

of the Democratic party in New Hampshire began to decline, while the

ties which through years of almost steady defeat in the state at large

had been sufficient to hold together the Whig party, now came to be

loosened, and out of the decadence of the former and the extinction of

the latter party there was built up the Republican party, which gained

the supremacy in the state, and which has ever since, with a brief

exception, maintained that supremacy. Mr. Goodwin, while in full

sympathy with the cause of the Union, which he believed the politicians

of the South were striving to dismember, yet felt that perhaps the

impending crisis could be arrested through the means of the old

political organizations; and he remained steadfast to the organization

of the Whig party until he saw that its usefulness, both as a state and

as a national party, was gone. He was the last candidate of the Whigs

for the office of governor of New Hampshire, and received in the whole

state the meager amount of about two thousand votes. This lesson did not

require to be repeated. He immediately did all in his power to aid in

the establishment of the Republican party in this state; for, although

the old-time issues between the Democrats and Whigs had gone by, and new

questions had arisen involving the very integrity of the nation, he did

not regard the Democratic party as one capable of solving or disposed to

solve those questions in a patriotic and statesmanlike way. He was

chosen the governor of New Hampshire, as the Republican candidate, in

the year 1859, and was re-elected in the following year, his second term

of office having expired on June 5, 1861.

The military spirit of the people of New Hampshire had become dormant,

and the militia system of the state had fallen pretty much to decay long

before the election of Mr. Goodwin to the office of governor. A slight

revival of that spirit, perhaps, is marked by the organization in his

honor, in January, 1860, of the "Governor's Horse-Guards,"--a regiment

of cavalry in brilliant uniform, designed to do escort duty to the

governor,--as well as by a field muster of several voluntary

organizations of troops which went into camp at Nashua in the same year.

But when the call of President Lincoln for troops was made, in the

spring of 1861, the very foundation of a military system required to be

formed. The legislature was not in session, and would not convene,

except under a special call, until the following June. There were no

funds in the treasury which could be devoted to the expense of the

organization and equipment of troops, as all the available funds were

needed to meet the ordinary state expenditures. The great confidence of

the people of New Hampshire in the wisdom and integrity of Mr. Goodwin

found in this emergency full expression. Without requiring time to

convene the legislature so as to obtain the security of the state for

the loan, the banking institutions and citizens of the state tendered

him the sum of $680,000, for the purpose of enabling him to raise and

equip for the field New Hampshire's quota of troops. This offer he

gladly accepted; and averting delay in the proceedings by refraining

from convening the legislature, he, upon his own responsibility,

proceeded to organize and equip troops for the field; and in less than

two months he had dispatched to the army, near Washington, two well

equipped and well officered regiments. Of this sum of $680,000, only

about $100,000 was expended. On the assembling of the legislature, that

body unanimously passed the "enabling act," under which all of his

proceedings as governor were ratified, and the state made to assume the

responsibility.

During the period of this gubernatorial service, there was a

reconstruction of the bench of the highest judicial tribunal of the

state; and during that time nearly every position upon that court was

filled by his appointment. It is sufficient to say that the exalted rank

which that tribunal has ever held among the courts of last resort of the

states of the nation, suffered no diminution from his appointments to

its bench, such was the good sense and discernment of Mr. Goodwin in

making the selections, although himself not versed in the law.

"Waite's History of New Hampshire in the Rebellion" says of him:--

"His administration of state affairs met with universal

approval, and he left the office (that of governor) with the

respect of all parties. As a member of the legislature and of

the constitutional convention, he took a leading part on

committees and in debate. His speeches were never made for show.

He spoke only when there seemed to be occasion for it, and then

always to the point, and was listened to with great respect and

attention; for his conservatism and practical wisdom in all

matters of public policy were well known. In all public

positions he has discharged his duties with fidelity, industry,

and marked ability. As a citizen and business man he is

public-spirited, liberal, high-minded, and enjoys the unbounded

confidence and respect of all."

Mr. Goodwin has always been noted for his kindness to young men, aiding

them without stint, both with his purse and his advice in their business

difficulties; and he has ever been ready to extend to all his townsmen

who needed aid the assistance of his influence, his counsel, and his

pecuniary means.

In 1827, Mr. Goodwin married Miss Sarah Parker Rice, a daughter of Mr.

William Rice, a wealthy and prosperous merchant of Portsmouth. Of seven

children, one son and two daughters survive.

[Illustration: William Cogswell]

REV. WILLIAM COGSWELL, D. D.

By Rev. E. O. Jameson.

WILLIAM COGSWELL, the oldest of the four Cogswell brothers whose

distinguished lives are briefly sketched in this volume, was born June

5, 1787, in Atkinson, N. H. His ancestors were among the earliest

settlers of Massachusetts, and persons of quality, piety, and

distinction.

His descent is from John Cogswell, who settled in Ipswich, Mass., in

1635, and Giles Badger, who settled in Newbury, Mass., the same year.

His parents were Dr. William and Judith (Badger) Cogswell, of Atkinson.

His grandparents were Nathaniel and Judith (Badger) Cogswell, of

Haverhill, Mass., and Gen. Joseph and Hannah (Pearson) Badger, of

Gilmanton.

His grandfather, Nathaniel Cogswell, was the son of Lieut. John and

Hannah (Goodhue) Cogswell, of Chebacco Parish, Ipswich, Mass. Lieut.

John Cogswell was the son of William and Susannah Cogswell of the same

place, and William Cogswell was the son of[3]John and Elizabeth

(Thompson) Cogswell, who emigrated from Westbury, Wilts county, England,

in 1635, and settled in Ipswich, Mass.

His grandfather, Gen. Joseph Badger, was the son of Joseph and Hannah

(Peaslee) Badger, of Haverhill, Mass. Joseph Badger was the son of John,

Jr., and Rebecca (Browne) Badger, of Newbury, Mass. John Badger, Jr.,

was the son of John and Elizabeth Badger of the same place; and John

Badger was the only son of Giles and Elizabeth (Greenleaf) Badger,

immigrants to Newbury, Mass., in 1635.

It may be said of his ancestry, in general, that they were a religious,

intelligent, liberty-loving, and an enterprising people. By reason of

ability, integrity, piety, and attainments, many of them have been

called to positions of municipal, military, political, and

ecclesiastical duty and eminence, and have excelled in the learned

professions, in the halls of legislature, on the field of battle, and in

the Christian pulpit.

From such choice Puritan stock, having in his veins the blood of the

Thompsons, the Greenleafs, the Brownes, the Goodhues, the Peaslees, and

the Pearsons, as well as of the Cogswells and the Badgers, it is not

strange that he and his no less eminent brothers should be found among

the distinguished men whose portraits adorn and whose biographies fill

the pages of this volume.

William Cogswell was born only a few years after the victory of our

great struggle for national existence and independence. His rural home

was far up the side of one of New Hampshire's grand old hills, sloping

southward and crowned with a New England meeting-house. He was born

where he could breathe to heart's content the pure air of heaven, look

off upon scenery of landscape wide, varied, and grand. His early life

was beneath the shadow of the best religious and educational

institutions, which his father had been the prime mover in

establishing. In full sight of his early boyhoood's home was the academy

which said to country boys of those days. The door is open to you here

to enter a college course and find your way into the learned

professions. The lad heard the invitation, seized the opportunity, and

eagerly pursued his preparatory studies at Atkinson Academy, then under

the charge of John Vose, Esq. He entered the sophomore class of

Dartmouth College in 1808, maintained a high rank of scholarship during

his course, and was honorably graduated in the class of 1811.

Before entering college, William Cogswell received deep and abiding

religious impressions which ripened into a personal religious

experience, and during the vacation of his junior year, September 23,

1810, he made a public confession of faith and united with the

Congregational church of his native town. After graduation from college

he taught in the academy of his own town, in Essex, Mass., and was one

year principal of the Hampton Academy. While teaching in Essex, Mass.,

he had, for a pupil in the classics, a lad some ten years of age, whose

name was Rufus Choate. This Rufus Choate was heard of in later years.

Meanwhile, occupied with teaching, Mr. Cogswell pursued somewhat his

theological studies, having his eye on the Christian ministry. At the

end of two years, he found that his labors in school and studies out of

school had told seriously upon his health. Acting upon the advice of his

physician and of his minister, he procured a good saddle-horse and a

license to preach the gospel in destitute parts, and galloped off toward

the northern wilderness of his native state, in eager pursuit of health

and men's souls. In both these objects he was successful. He regained

his health, and under his earnest presentation of the gospel a large

number of persons were hopefully converted to Christ, and Christian

institutions planted in the then spiritual wastes, which have since

blossomed as the rose and borne fruit to the glory of God. Upon his

return, Mr. Cogswell completed his professional studies under the

instruction of Rev. Daniel Dana, D. D., of Newburyport, and Rev. Samuel

Worcester, D. D., of Salem, Mass. After preaching a few Sabbaths, he

received a unanimous call to become the pastor of the South church in

Dedham (now Norwood), Mass., which he accepted, and was ordained and

installed over that church, April 26, 1815.

At this time, Mr. Cogswell was twenty-seven years of age, a man of fine

personal bearing and manners; his warm christian spirit and deep

religious experience spoke in the very lineaments and expression of his

open, intelligent, and winning countenance. His qualities of mind were

the best, his education thorough, his grasp of truth vigorous, his views

scriptural and discriminating, and his faith in God and Revelation

implicit.

His ministry in South Dedham lasted fourteen years, and was of

unmeasured benefit to that church, at once stimulating to its religious

life, educating to its members in scriptural doctrine, and successful in

bringing men to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour.

Mr. Cogswell was a preacher whose clear-cut statements, whose logical

order, conclusiveness of argument, and persuasiveness of appeal made him

a power in the Christian pulpit. Quite a number of his sermons were

requested for publication by his congregation; and in those days when

the printing of a sermon meant that it was something of rare merit. He

had been settled in South Dedham some three years, when he married, Nov.

11, 1818, Miss Joanna Strong, the youngest daughter of the then late

Rev. Jonathan Strong, D. D., of Randolph, Mass.

In 1829, being urgently called to important services in connection with

the American Education Society, to the regret of his people and with

personal reluctance, he resigned his pastorate to enter upon these new

duties; and, accordingly, was dismissed December 15, 1829, and removed

to Boston, where he resided for some years. So important were his

labors and so successful in this new field of effort, that January 25,

1832, he was chosen, with great enthusiasm, to succeed Dr. Cornelius to

the secretaryship of the society, which office he filled with fidelity

and acceptance until he resigned in 1841 to accept a professorship in

Dartmouth College. In 1833, Mr. Cogswell received from Williams College

the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and in 1837 was chosen one of the

trustees of Andover Theological Seminary. He removed to Hanover, N. H.,

and entered upon his duties as professor of National Education and

History in Dartmouth College. This position he resigned in 1844 to

accept the presidency and professorship of Christian Theology in the

Gilmanton Theological Seminary.

Rev. Dr. Cogswell for many years had been engaged in editorial work, and

was much interested in historical and genealogical researches. In 1846

he retired from his connection with the seminary, about to be

discontinued, and gave himself exclusively to literary pursuits, except

that he usually preached on the Sabbath. In the few remaining years of

his life he performed a vast amount of literary labor, and became known

very widely, and was honored with a membership in nearly all the

historical societies in this country and in Europe.

Rev. Dr. Cogswell published several works, viz.: a Catechism on the

Doctrines and Duties of Religion; a Manual of Theology and Devotions;

the Theological Class Book; the Christian Philanthropist; and Letters to

Young Men Preparing for the Christian Ministry. All these works passed

through several editions. His published editorial works were: Four vols.

of the American Quarterly Register, 1837-1841; New Hampshire Repository,

2 vols.; the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. I.;

New Hampshire Historical Collections, vol. VI. He published, also,

various miscellaneous writings.

Rev. Dr. William and Joanna (Strong) Cogswell had four children.

The eldest, a daughter, died in infancy.

William Strong Cogswell was born in South Dedham, April 11, 1828, and

died April 6, 1848, at the age of twenty years. He was a young man of

rare ability and brilliant promise. At the time of his death he was a

member of the senior class in Dartmouth College.

Mary Joanna Cogswell was born June 6, 1832, in Boston, Mass. She

graduated at Gilmanton Academy in 1851; married, September 20, 1858,

Rev. E. O. Jameson, who is now (1882) pastor of the First Church of

Christ, in Medway, Mass.

Caroline Strong Cogswell, the youngest child of Rev. Dr. Cogswell, was

born June 3, 1840, in Boston, Mass. She was educated at Gilmanton

Academy and Holyoke Female Seminary, and has been a successful teacher

in the public schools.

Rev. Dr. Cogswell, at length, under the taxing pressure of a busy

editorial service, and crushed by the great loss of his only and very

promising son, found his health giving way, his usual vigor forsaking

him, and it became only too evident that the end of his earthly life was

approaching. He continued, however to accomplish more or less literary

work, even up to the last few days before his death, which occurred

April 18, 1850. The funeral service was on the following Sabbath,

conducted by Rev. Daniel Lancaster, who preached a memorial discourse

which was subsequently published.

Rev. Dr. Cogswell's life was eminently busy, laborious,

self-sacrificing, and honored. His earthly work was faithfully and nobly

done; his death triumphant, and heavenly reward sure.

FOOTNOTES:

[3] For full account of John Cogswell, whom tradition calls "a

prosperous London merchant," see "Cogswells in America," soon to be

published.

JEREMIAH W. WHITE, ESQ.

BY HON. JOHN H. GOODALE.

On the head-waters of Suncook river, in the central region of New

Hampshire, is the town of Pittsfield. It is limited in extent,

undulating in surface, rich in the quality of its soil. Its earliest

settlers were sturdy farmers, men and women who from infancy had been

accustomed to the hardships and privations of pioneer life.

Among these settlers was Josiah White, who, with his wife of Scottish

origin, in the spring of 1775 took up his abode in the outskirts of an

unbroken forest. Years of hard labor followed, which at length brought

to him and his family the comforts of a rural home. Of his sons,

Jeremiah White, the father of the subject of this sketch, succeeded to

the homestead. He was born March 4, 1775, and, passing his life amid the

scenes of his earlier days, died December 5, 1848. He is still

remembered by the older residents of Pittsfield as a citizen who was

useful, influential, and respected. Of great personal activity and tact

in business, genial and generous, an enterprising farmer of the old

school, a safe and sagacious adviser, his departure left a place

difficult to fill in the business affairs of the vicinity.

JEREMIAH WILSON WHITE was born in Pittsfield, September 16, 1821. The

active habits and pure atmosphere of his early rural life laid the

foundation of a sound physical constitution. His opportunities for

education during childhood were limited to a few months at a distant

district school. At the age of fifteen he entered the Pittsfield

academy, under the instruction of James F. Joy, a graduate of Dartmouth,

and in later years well known as president of the Michigan Central

Railroad. Pittsfield village had a thrifty and vigorous population, and

among her ambitious and talented young men were several who have since

been conspicuous in public life. One became United States senator;

three, judges of the supreme court in their respective states; and one,

founder of the system of public instruction now in successful operation

on the Pacific coast. Remaining at the academy two and a half years, Mr.

White, then in his seventeenth year, decided to prepare himself for

mercantile and active business life. Adopting the plan which appeared

most feasible, he went to Boston, and entered upon an apprenticeship in

a drug-store. Forty years ago a mercantile apprenticeship in that city

was not a sinecure position. But the young man was not averse to toil,

and by assiduous and systematic attention to his duties was preparing

the way for future success. Added to his other duties he began the study

of medicine in all its branches, and continued it for several years

after, until he was qualified for, and, if occasion had required, could

have entered upon, professional service.

Finishing his engagement at Boston, he engaged as clerk to Luther

Angier, postmaster and druggist at Medford, Mass., with the agreement

that with proper notice he could leave to engage in business for

himself. Early in the summer of 1845, Mr. White believed that that time

had arrived. He had never visited Nashua, but had heard of its

reputation as a growing manufacturing town. A few hours' inspection

settled the question, and before leaving he hired the store which he

afterwards occupied for nearly thirty years.

[Illustration: Yours truly

J. M. White]

Mr. White, in engaging in trade for himself in Nashua, was aware that a

young man and a stranger must encounter severe difficulties in entering

upon mercantile life. Many before him had succumbed to the obstacles

which he was now to encounter. He did not hesitate. Laying out his plan

of business, he examined into the most minute details of its management.

He was never idle. No man was more thorough and painstaking in the

discharge of obligations to his customers. His labors often extended far

into the night. In fact, he lived in labor, and thought no plan complete

till its execution was secured. With these habits added to sound

business judgment and foresight and a rare knowledge of men, the record

of the business life of Mr. White has been an uninterrupted success; and

it is in this department of consistent and persistent effort that his

example is worthy of imitation.

In many of the business enterprises of Nashua, Mr. White has taken an

active, and in some of them a prominent, part. Engaging in the

transportation and sale of coal on his arrival, he has always been the

leading dealer in the trade. After the close of the war he originated

the project of, and gave his attention to, the construction of the large

block of stores on Main street, known as the "Merchants' Exchange,"

retaining for himself and son the corner store, which he still occupies.

Early in 1875 he conceived the idea of establishing a new national bank,

and in the April following obtained a charter. The people of Nashua and

vicinity believing in his financial ability immediately subscribed for

the stock and elected him president, a position he continues to hold to

the satisfaction of the stockholders, and the advantage of the

institution.

In addition to the presidency of the Second National Bank. Mr. White is

now recognized by the public as a sagacious and influential railroad

manager. Since 1876 he has been prominently connected with the affairs

of the Nashua & Lowell Railroad as a director and large stockholder. For

many years this road had been connected with and used by the Boston &

Lowell Railroad corporation, and, as Mr. White clearly saw, on terms

greatly disadvantageous to the stockholders of the Nashua & Lowell

company. The stock had gradually declined much below par. To resist so

great and powerful a corporation required pluck and energy. To be

successful against such odds demanded a leader daring, prompt,

aggressive. Mr. White was the man for the emergency. How well his

measures succeeded is realized not only by every stockholder, but in all

railroad circles throughout New England.

In the transaction of business, Mr. White is not only methodical but

positive. He reaches his conclusions quickly and acts upon them with the

utmost directness. Having decided upon a measure he engages in it with

all his might, bending all his efforts to make sure of the desired end.

Selecting his agents, he accomplishes the whole work while many would be

halting to determine whether the project was feasible. A man of so

pronounced opinions and prompt action naturally makes some enemies; but

he has no opponents who do not accord to him the credit of an open and

honorable warfare. In a word, he is essentially a business man in the

full sense of that term. Not only in occupation, but in taste and

aptitude, he is a representative of that class of American citizens who

have won a world-wide reputation for practical sagacity, enterprise, and

thrift.

Mr. White is in no sense of the word a party politician. Of Whig

antecedents, his first vote was cast for Henry Clay, in 1844, for

president. Before leaving his native town his liberal tendencies had

been quickened by witnessing the unwarranted arrest, in the pulpit, of

Rev. George Storrs, who was about to deliver the first anti-slavery

lecture in Pittsfield. The event justly occasioned an unusual

excitement, and was the beginning of that agitation which reached every

town and hamlet in the Union.

Since the organization of the Republican party, Mr. White has supported

it in all national issues; but is one of the independent thinkers who

does not hesitate to exercise "the divine right of bolting" when unfit

men are put in nomination.

In the winter of 1861, Mr. White and his family left on a southern trip,

and reached Charleston, S. C., the last of February, not long after the

United States troops under Maj. Anderson were shut up in Fort Sumter by

the rebel forces. Mr. White had letters of introduction to several

citizens of the city high in authority, who received him kindly, and,

learning that he was a business man and not a politician, were anxious

to learn from him the state of feeling among the business men and the

middle class of citizens at the North. While the statements of Mr. White

were far from gratifying, they continued their friendly relations.

Previously he had written to his friend, Capt. John G. Foster, second in

command at Fort Sumter, of his intended tarry at Charleston. He was now

desirous of an interview with him. Applying to the Confederate

authorities for a pass to Fort Sumter, it was granted him,--a privilege

not allowed to any other civilian during the siege.

On the following day, March 5, he went on the steamer Clinch to Fort

Johnson, to which point Maj. Anderson was allowed to send his boat under

a flag of truce for the daily mail. Here a new obstacle was encountered,

for the boat was forbidden by Maj. Anderson to bring any person to the

fort. But, with the restriction that he should remain outside with the

boat till Captain Foster could be notified, he was permitted to go. The

interview was a great surprise as well as gratification.

Reaching Washington before the bombardment of Fort Sumter and the

beginning of actual hostilities, Mr. White was taken to the war

department and interviewed by Gen. Scott as to the determination and

strength of the Confederate force at Charleston. Mr. White thought it

would require a force of ten thousand men to relieve Fort Sumter, and

said so. Gen. Scott laughed heartily, and told him that two thousand men

would be ample for the purpose. In common with the most of the leading

men at the capital, Gen. Scott underestimated the pluck and strength of

the rebels. Soon after, when Jay Cooke was appointed government agent to

negotiate the war loans, Mr. White received the appointment of agent for

Nashua and vicinity.

In 1846, the year after coming to Nashua, Mr. White was united in

marriage with Miss Caroline G. Merrill, oldest daughter of Caleb

Merrill, Esq., of his native town. The marriage was a fortunate and

happy one. The young wife was endowed with scholarly and refined

attainments, qualifying her for the enjoyment of social and domestic

life. Added to this, she possessed a sound and discriminating judgment

on which her husband could safely rely. No transaction of any magnitude

was entered upon without securing her approval. Many of his best and

most sagacious moves in business were made at her suggestion. Of their

two children, the eldest, Caroline Wilson, died in infancy. The son,

James Wilson White, born June 10, 1849, fell a victim to the prevailing

disease of this climate, and died in Florida, January 27, 1876. Mrs.

White, having survived her children, died suddenly of apoplexy in 1880.

Her memory is cherished by many who knew her worth.

In April, 1881, Mr. White was married the second time to Mrs. Ann M.

Prichard, of Bradford, Vt., an educated and accomplished lady and the

sister of his first wife. His residence, at the corner of Pearl and

Cottage streets, combines the elements of modesty, taste, and comfort,

and is the abode of a happy home circle.

[Illustration: E. A. Rollins]

HON. EDWARD ASHTON ROLLINS.

BY PROF. E. D. SANBORN.

The early settlers of New Hampshire were of pure English origin. They

possessed that "large, roundabout common sense" which John Locke

ascribes to the English people. A few leading families planted the first

colonies, founded the state, and ruled it for more than a century. The

Rollins family held a prominent place among the settlers of southern New

Hampshire. James Rollins, the ancestor of most of the men who have borne

that name in the state, came to this country as early as 1632, and

finally settled in Dover.

The name Rollins, or Rawlings, is very ancient and honorable in England.

Its origin is variously explained by antiquarians, but it can very

naturally be traced to Rollo, who conquered Normandy and made it a

kingdom, A. D. 912. William the Conqueror was the seventh in descent

from the brave hero of Scandinavia. The descendants of Rollo followed in

the train of the Conqueror, and were afterwards found in all parts of

the United Kingdom. All the different families had nearly the same coat

of arms, each indicative of their martial origin. The escutcheon is a

shield with three swords in the center, and above it a human arm holding

a fourth. The history of the race reveals their heroism, energy, and

perseverance. The name we have chosen to illustrate represents a genuine

scion of the old tree which for nine hundred years has drawn its

vitality from the Scandinavian stock. Having said enough to show that

Rollins is composed of the Northman name "Rollo," and the Saxon "ing,"

meaning child or descendant, we will speak briefly of the early life of

the subject of this sketch.

EDWARD ASHTON ROLLINS was born in Wakefield, December 8, 1828. At the

age of seven, his father, Hon. Daniel G. Rollins, removed to Great

Falls, a village of Somersworth, and during much of his life was in

public office. He was repeatedly elected to the legislature of New

Hampshire, was for many years judge of probate for Strafford county,

till he reached the age of seventy years, which, by law, terminated that

office; he was also, for many years, president of the Great Falls &

Conway Railroad Company. In all his official relations he acquitted

himself with unsullied integrity. His son, Edward Ashton, was,

therefore, trained to know the relations and duties of a business man.

His father's example was his pole star. With his eye fixed on that, and

with the inherited virtues of industry, energy, and prudence, he could

scarcely go astray. He studied both books and men. The common school

promoted his native love of learning, and occupied his youthful days.

For a higher class of studies, he attended the academies of Rochester

and Gilmanton. In 1847, at the age of nineteen, he entered Dartmouth

College. He immediately received the place for which he was fitted by

nature and culture. His character for sobriety, earnestness, and

devotion to duty was already formed, and, as the poet hath it,

"character is destiny." The best men in the class sought him as a

companion. His teachers saw and aided his love of learning. None made

greater progress; none were more highly esteemed; none ranked above him.

Those kindred virtues, industry, economy, integrity, and devotion,

always attract watchful eyes and win loving hearts. The path of duty and

honor often lies hid even to the wise and prudent. Cromwell said, in the

height of his fame, "No man often advanceth higher than he who knoweth

not whither he goeth." The threads that run through the web of our life

are carried by shuttles driven by an invisible but unerring hand. A

little incident in the college life of Mr. Rollins illustrates this

assertion. Walking one day with some college friends, he was met by

President Lord, who, beckoning him to him, desired him to call at his

study at a particular hour. This was the good doctor's usual method in

summoning delinquents for discipline. The companions of Mr. Rollins

rallied him upon his approaching interview; but hear the result. With no

little anxiety, he met the president at the hour named, who said to him:

"I have received a request from a distinguished gentleman in Baltimore,

desiring me to send to him a young gentleman of the first rank in

scholarship and character to be the private tutor of his sons. I have

concluded to offer the place to you." After consultation with father and

mother, at home, he decided to go. He found a delightful home, and

formed friendships which have lasted till this day, and essentially

modified his whole public life and determined his occupations. In his

friendships, he follows Shakespeare's advice:--

"The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,

Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel."

Classmates, teachers, preachers, and neighbors are remembered and

reverenced according to their worth. They not only enjoy his

hospitality, but, if overtaken by want or misfortune, share his purse.

Old and faithful servants, too, are not forgotten.

Mr. Rollins enjoys society; and in every social circle he gives more

than he takes. He is the life of company; conversation never flags when

he is present. His humor plays like sunshine over the surface of

society. If any one fails to make his contribution to the wants of the

occasion, he is roused to duty by a merry sally of humor from Mr.

Rollins; and he is more likely to make himself than his neighbors the

subject of his wit or satire. Like Charles Lamb, he holds the wires

while others draw the sparks, which always move but never shock their

feelings. Nobody is wounded, but all are animated. He can deliver an

appropriate speech at any meeting in church or state, after dinner or

after a session. The young and the old seek his company. Some of his

warmest friends have been very aged men. The venerable Horace Binney

lived to be ninety-six years of age, and he corresponded with Mr.

Rollins till the last days of his long and useful life. Some of his

letters deserve to be written in letters of gold, to be read and enjoyed

by all lovers of truth, virtue, and religion. Rev. Dr. Barnes, also,

kept up a neighborly intercourse with Mr. Rollins, by calls and letters,

as long as he lived. Mr. Rollins's religious life was nourished by the

notes and discourses of Albert Barnes, whom he loved as a spiritual

father. Every Christmas was sure to bring to the good doctor a reminder

of this relation.

To perpetuate home affections and keep alive a love of New England

institutions, in the winter of 1881, Mr. Rollins, with a few friends,

formed a New England society in Philadelphia. Their first meeting was a

distinguished success. The proceedings were published in pamphlet form

and were widely read. The speeches were wise and witty; that of Mr.

Rollins, the first president, was full of pertinent allusions and

patriotic sentiments. It was received with enthusiastic applause. His

remarks, in the introduction of other orators, were beautifully adapted

to the men and the occasion.

The extent and variety of Mr. Rollins's business relations make it

impossible to characterize them with brevity. Integrity and fair dealing

have marked his whole career as lawyer, commissioner, banker, and

railroad manager. His motto is, "Live and let live." The pecuniary

interests of friend, neighbor, client, trader, relative, or stranger are

never prejudiced by partisan opinions. An opponent and friend stand, in

business relations, on the same foundations. His large experience in

money matters creates the impression that he is a safe adviser in the

purchase of stocks; he is, therefore, often importuned to decide for

others questions of investment. Where men are known to be honest and

faithful in handling money, even strangers ask no other security for

their property.

Such is the law of association that binds together honest and honorable

business men. Large pecuniary enterprises prosper in their hands,

because they fear God and love justice and truth. Of every such man it

is said, "Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." So God ordains.

This title, "_in office_," covers nearly the whole professional life of

Mr. Rollins. After six years of successful practice of the law, he was

elected to the legislature of New Hampshire from Somersworth. He held

this relation for three years; during the last two, 1861 and 1862, he

was chosen speaker of the house. It was a period of great excitement,

the very outbreak of the civil war. Though young and inexperienced, he

acquitted himself with the highest credit to himself and honor to the

state. At the close of this responsible and difficult work, he was

appointed, by President Lincoln, cashier of the bureau of internal

revenue; and the next year, deputy commissioner of the same department.

In 1865 he was made commissioner of internal revenue, one of the most

responsible positions that any citizen of our country has ever been

called to fill. The office was new, important, and burdensome. No finite

mind could comprehend and control at once its multitudinous relations.

Its net-work covered the whole territory of the United States. The

property of the entire country was subject to its inspection and

taxation. More than a million of dollars, every day, were received into

the treasury from six thousand agents, for whose official integrity the

head of the department was responsible. In new cases, the commissioner

was often obliged to act as law-maker, judge, and executive. The cases

admitted of no delay. The safety of the state required prompt decisions.

These sprung up as intuitions. In his official report, made to congress

in November, 1865, the commissioner says: "When it is recollected that

the present generation only know by tradition or obsolete statutes that

taxes have ever been imposed in this country on articles of their own

manufacture, and the objects of internal traffic, or upon the various

crafts and professions in which they were employed; and when, too, it is

considered that the revenue collected for a single year ending June 30,

1865, amounts to a sum nearly or quite equal to all the receipts of this

government, from whatever sources, from its organization to the year

1812; and when it is further considered that this amount was contributed

at a time when the commercial marine of the country had been nearly

destroyed and more than a million of men had been withdrawn from the

productive pursuits of life,--we may not only be justly proud that the

material strength of the country has been fully equal to the burden, but

that it has been borne so quietly and so willingly." This office was

administered wisely and well, by Mr. Rollins, till March 8, 1869, when

President Grant assumed the reins of government. Failing health then

admonished him to retire from the distracting cares of the office of

commissioner. At the time of its resignation, as many of his subordinate

officials as could come together adopted resolutions of respect and

confidence in honor of their head. The first resolution expresses the

opinions of the whole country, including cabinet officers and senators,

as well as their own. It is thus written:--

"_Resolved_, that the integrity, fidelity, ability, and untiring

devotion to the duties of his office which Mr. Rollins has

exhibited, have inspired in us feelings of profound respect for

his sterling qualities as a man and an officer; and that we

especially admire the genial disposition which he has uniformly

manifested toward us, amid all the cares and perplexities of a

difficult and a burdensome office, held, much of the time, under

peculiarly trying circumstances."

The remaining resolutions are cumulative of these expressions of

confidence and esteem. No testimony could be more honorable to a well

spent official life.

The religious life of Mr. Rollins, from boyhood to age, has been as

strongly marked as his official career. He believes in doing, not in

seeming; in practice, not in profession. He can speak as well as work

for the truth. When the pastor needs help, he addresses the people. When

the poor of the church or congregation need aid, he heads and carries

the subscription paper. He has never lived in a place where he has not

taught a Bible class; and worthy young men who have learned in his

classes have often received promotion in business through his influence.

He is always present at the stated meetings of the church.

"Punctuality," says the old maxim, "is the essence of virtue." Mr.

Rollins believed in the importance of punctuality; therefore he was

never missed from the place of duty. In college he was never absent or

unprepared; in office, in the bank, in public assemblies, the hours of

business are promptly observed. In church, too, the times and places of

worship are conscientiously observed, and if a delinquent neighbor, who

has failed to be present when church affairs, temporal or spiritual,

were discussed, meets him on a subsequent day, he is carefully

questioned with regard to his health!

The family is the unit of the state. Good families make good

communities, good cities, and good nations. A single good family is a

light shining in a dark place. The history of the world is the united

histories of illustrious families. The history of the church is the

history of holy men. The Scriptures record the deeds and words of the

best men our earth has known. Eliminate from the Bible the actions and

opinions of kings, prophets, and apostles, and the records of our race

become unintelligible. When we find a faultless and worthy Christian

household, we do well to present it to the public for contemplation and

imitation. One such household we venture to describe. Mr. Rollins's

house is beautiful of situation, at the corner of Spruce and Fortieth

streets, in West Philadelphia. Its liberal grounds, numerous trees,

shrubs, and flowers make it very attractive to the eye of the stranger.

When once introduced to the interior, every guest who has any music in

his soul would be delighted to sing "Home, sweet Home" from early morn

to dewy eve. Every room invites you to repose; every picture that looks

upon you from the walls bids you welcome. It is impossible for one who

has enjoyed the hospitality of the house to describe it fully without

encroaching upon the sacred privacy of domestic life. This house was

long the home of the now sainted mother, who only a few months ago was

bidden to go up higher, and left the husband and children desolate. The

house seems like the shrine of a departed divinity. The furniture was of

her selection, the walls and mantels were adorned by her handiwork; and

when changes or additions are now made to the internal conveniences of

the home, the first question asked is, "What would mother choose if she

could speak to us?" Her spirit seems still to hover over them.

Sidney Smith said, "There can be no handsomer furniture than books."

Every room, every nook and corner of the house, is furnished with new

books. The room specially devoted to library uses has a selection of

books in every department of reading, sufficient for the instruction and

pleasure of any man of refined taste and culture. Amid the thousands of

volumes gathered, the most precious of them all to the family and their

friends are two volumes written by Mrs. Rollins not long before her

decease, entitled "New England Bygones" and "Old-Time Child Life." To

one born in New England seventy years ago, the pictures of New England

scenes are inimitable; they stir the blood of age like a trumpet. These

books are the creations of true genius, and will live when all the

contemporaries of this gifted woman are dead.

Enough has been said to reveal the attractions of this delightful home.

Every word has been dictated by a life-long friendship. The sterling

qualities of the subject of this sketch constrained me to portray them,

and the half has not been said. When the elders of the Jews were sent to

Jesus by the Roman centurion to intercede for his sick servant, the

highest commendation they could name was this: "For he loveth our

nation, and hath built us a synagogue." He was patriotic and religious;

he feared God and loved his neighbor. No higher test of moral worth can

be named. Let all public men be judged by this standard; and among them

our good friend whom we have sketched, we doubt not, will hold a high

rank. And if at any time the President of the United States should be

seeking for a man for financial secretary who is honest, capable, and

experienced, a multitude of voters would cry out,--Edward Ashton Rollins

is the man!

VIRGIL C. GILMAN.

VIRGIL CHASE GILMAN was born in Unity, Sullivan county, New Hampshire,

May 5, 1827, and was the third of a family of eight children born to

Emerson and Delia (Way) Gilman.

Emerson Gilman was the oldest son and the first of twelve children born

to Stephen and Dorothy (Clough) Gilman, who were married September 5,

1793. This was his second marriage, he having married Anna Huntoon, by

whom he had nine children, some of whom died in infancy. Stephen Gilman

was a native of Kingston, and served as a cavalry officer in the war of

the Revolution. He was a descendant of Moses Gilman, who was one of

three brothers,--Edward, John, and Moses,--who emigrated from Hingham,

England, early in the sixteenth century.

In 1827, it was said:[4] "Edward Gilman's descendants are as

numerous as the sands on the seashore. There is hardly a state

in the Union where they may not be found. The family have been

in civil office from the time our colony became a royal province

to the present time. John Gilman was one of the first counselors

named in President Cutts's commission, and died in 1708. Col.

Peter Gilman was one of the royal counselors in 1772. Hon.

Nicholas Gilman was counselor in 1777 and 1778. Hon. John

Gilman, in 1787; while the present venerable John Taylor Gilman

was fourteen years, eleven in succession, our highly respected

chief magistrate. His brother, Nicholas Gilman, was a member of

the house of representatives in congress eight years, and in the

national senate nine years. Our ecclesiastical annals have,

also, Rev. Nicholas Gilman, Harvard College, 1724; and Rev.

Tristram Gilman, Harvard College, 1757, both respected clergymen

and useful men."

These words are quoted in substance from Mr. Lincoln's work. "If

he had written forty years later" says the author of "The Gilman

Family in England and America,"[5] "he would have found the

family still more numerous and many additions would have been

made to his list of prominent men bearing the Gilman name. The

family of Gilmans is not one furnishing a few brilliant

exceptions in a long list of commonplace names. Its members

appear generally to have been remarkable for the quiet home

virtues, and rather to have desired to be good citizens than men

of great name. To an eminent degree they appear to have obtained

the esteem and respect of those nearest to them, for sound

judgment and sterling traits of character."

Emerson Gilman followed the trade of clothier until the introduction of

machinery supplanted the hand process, when he, after pursuing the

business of farmer for a few years, removed to Lowell, Mass., in 1837,

relying, upon his strong and willing hands to find support for his large

family and give his children the advantages of education which that city

signally afforded.

[Illustration: Virgil C. Gilman]

The subject of this sketch was then ten years old, and made fair

progress through the several grades to the high school, with which his

school-days ended. He removed to Nashua in 1843, but it was not until

1851 that he entered business on his own behalf, at which time he became

associated with Messrs. Gage and Murray for the manufacture of printers'

cards of all the various kinds, also fancy-colored, embossed, and marble

papers, a new business in this country at that time, which business he

followed successfully for twenty-one years, and until his close and

unremitting application made it necessary for him to relinquish it for a

more active out-door employment. Following a natural love for rural

affairs, he was not long in possessing himself of a hundred-acres farm

in the south part of the city, upon the Lowell road, which he greatly

improved, and indulged to some extent in the usually expensive luxury of

breeding Jersey cattle, trotting-horses, and Plymouth Rock fowls. He

claims to have bred the finest and fastest gaited horse ever raised in

New Hampshire. Meantime, having realized the object sought, greatly

improved health, and the office of treasurer of the Nashua Savings Bank

becoming vacant by the resignation of Dr. E. Spalding, in 1876, he was

elected to fill the vacancy, and still continues in this responsible

position, with nearly two and a half millions of deposits committed to

his watchful care and secure investment.

Never coveting office, still he has rarely refused to perform his full

share of duty in the various departments of labor and responsibility

incident to city affairs, from ward clerk to the mayor's chair, serving

also as assessor, member of the board of education, and is now trustee

of the public library, also its secretary and treasurer. To him

Dartmouth College is indebted for the Gilman scholarship; and the board

of trustees of the Orphans' Home at Franklin finds in him an interested

member. He is identified with the mechanical industries of the city,

having a large interest in the Nashua Iron and Steel Company, and its

local director; also an owner and director in the Underhill Edge Tool

Company, and Amoskeag Axe Company; also a director in the Indian Head

National Bank.

In military affairs actively he is unknown, his service having commenced

and ended with the "Governor's Horse-Guards," enlisting as private in

Co. B, and ending as major of the battalion. His interest, however, is

kept alive by honorary membership of "City Guards" and "Foster Rifles,"

of his adopted city.

His strong love for agricultural affairs led him to take an interest in

our New Hampshire Agricultural Society, of whose board of trustees he

was formerly a member, also one of the trustees of the New England

Agricultural Society.

He was a member of the legislature of 1879, serving as chairman of

committee on banks and taking a deep interest in the work of that

session, and especially zealous in opposition to the taxation of church

property. At the present time he is the Republican senator of the Nashua

district, and honored by the chairmanship of the leading committee of

the senate, the judiciary, no member of the legal profession holding a

seat in that body at this time. How well he discharged the duties of

this responsible position those can testify who had business with the

committee, or those who witnessed his unremitting application and

conscientious decisions.

Denominationally he is a Congregationalist, and a communicant with the

First church, that was organized in 1685. An interest in its prosperity

has induced him to serve as director of the society connected therewith

many years, and of which he is now president, and treasurer of the

Sabbath-school connected. It will thus be seen that the subject of this

sketch fills many positions of responsibility and usefulness which bring

no pecuniary reward, without ostentation, and no foul breath tarnishes

his fair record.

Our state has among its many honored sons few whose energy, integrity,

and discretion have won success in so many directions, and none who

command more universal respect among all classes. In business, politics,

and social and religious circles he has been and is a leader, whose

triumphs shed their blessings far and wide. Few have done so much for

Nashua. No one deserves better of the state.

In 1850 he married Sarah Louisa, daughter of Gideon Newcomb, Esq., of

Roxbury, by whom he had two children,--Harriet Louise, who married

Charles W. Hoitt, an attorney-at-law in Nashua, and Alfred Emerson, who

did not attain his second birthday.

[Illustration: W. Amory]

WILLIAM AMORY.

WILLIAM AMORY was born in Boston, Mass., June 15, 1804, and is the son

of Thomas C. and Hannah R. (Linzee) Amory. He was one of a family of

four sons and four daughters, of whom three only--two sons and one

daughter--survive. His father, a merchant of Boston, died in 1812; and

seven years later his son, then but fifteen years of age, entered

Harvard University. He spent four years there, and soon after went to

Europe to complete his education. He pursued in Germany the study of law

and of general literature for a year and a half at the university in

Gottingen, and for nine months at the university in Berlin. He occupied

the subsequent two years and a half in travel, and returned to Boston in

July, 1830, after an absence of five years. There he pursued his legal

studies with Franklin Dexter and W. H. Gardiner, and in 1831 was

admitted to the bar of Suffolk county, without, however, any intention

of entering upon legal practice.

In that year he was chosen treasurer of the Jackson Manufacturing

Company, at Nashua, N. H., and began business as a manufacturer. Without

experience, and yet with a mind which study had disciplined and

knowledge of the world had made keen, with remarkable energy and

enterprise, he was eminently successful, and the Jackson company paid

large and sure dividends for the eleven years he continued its

treasurer. In 1837 he became the treasurer of the Amoskeag Manufacturing

Company, an office which included at that time, when the plan of

creating a city upon the Merrimack was just to be carried out, the

responsibility and wisdom of a general manager of the company's

interests, as well as the usual financial duties of a treasurer. He held

that office from then till October, 1876; was treasurer of the Stark

Mills, with the exception of four years and a half, from its

organization, in 1839, to 1876; was a director of the Manchester Mills,

and its successor, the Manchester Print-Works, from the start, in 1839,

till 1871; and has been a director of the Langdon Mills from its

beginning, in 1860, and its president from 1874 to 1876. When Mr. Amory

tendered his resignation as treasurer of the Amoskeag company, the

following complimentary resolutions were unanimously adopted by the

stockholders:--

"_Resolved_, That the stockholders of this corporation have

heard with regret of the resignation of their treasurer, William

Amory, Esq.

"That a continuous service of thirty-nine years demands from

them an expression of their appreciation of his eminent success,

not only in building up an unequaled and remunerative

manufacturing establishment, but in founding the largest and one

of the finest cities in the state.

"For both these results they tender to him their hearty thanks,

and desire to place this testimonial upon the records of the

company."

In seconding the motion to adopt the above resolutions, T. Jefferson

Coolidge, Esq., spoke as follows:--

"The best witness to the services of Mr. Amory as treasurer is

the splendid condition of the Amoskeag company. He took it in

its infancy, when it was poor. There was then but one mill of

about eight thousand spindles. He leaves it, after forty years

of success, with one hundred and thirty-seven thousand spindles,

and more than two millions of quick capital. You have received

in dividends, for forty-two years, an average of eleven per cent

a year; and, if to that is added the increase of the quick

capital, the company has earned fifteen per cent per annum,

without taking into consideration the money spent on the plant.

To put it in another light: a stockholder of one share, costing

one thousand dollars, if he allowed compound interest at the

rate he received on his dividends, would find that his share had

been worth to him eighty thousand dollars.

"The mills themselves are equal, if not superior, to any in New

England, and contain more than twenty acres of machinery floor;

and, although there are many mills in England and some here that

are running more spindles, yet I believe the Amoskeag is the

largest cotton-manufacturing establishment in either country

producing its goods from the cotton in the bale, and turning

them out actually finished for the market.

"I have said enough to show that no one can be more deserving of

a vote of thanks than the retiring treasurer. Let us hope that

he may be preserved for many years to aid in the counsels of the

company, and to assist his successor in the arduous task that

must fall to any man who takes a place which he has filled so

long, so ably, and so successfully."

Mr. Amory married, in January, 1833, Miss Anna P. G. Sears, daughter of

David Sears, an eminent merchant of Boston, by whom he has had six

children, of whom four survive.

Mr. Amory is a man with whom, more than with almost any one else,

Manchester is closely identified, and to whose accurate foresight and

comprehensive views a very large proportion of its beauty and success is

due. To him, as the manager of the company which gave it its first

impulses in life and has ever since assisted its growth, it owes in

large measure its wide streets, its pleasant squares, and its beautiful

cemetery. He has pursued a liberal policy, and deserves the city's

gratitude. As the treasurer of the company, he has met with eminent

success. A man of perfect honor and integrity, cautious and prudent, he

has looked upon the funds in his possession as his only in trust, to be

managed with the utmost care. Herein is to be found the secret of his

success. Few men stand better than he in the business world of his

native city, or elsewhere. A gentleman of culture, of the utmost polish,

with a very pleasing appearance, he enjoys the affection and respect of

many personal friends.

FOOTNOTES:

[4] History of Hingham, Mass., by Solomon Lincoln, Jr. Farmer & Brown,

1827.

[5] Arthur Gilman, A. M. Joel Munsell, Albany, 1869.

[Illustration: John McDuffee]

JOHN McDUFFEE.

By Rev. Alonzo H. Quint, D. D.

To men of their own energetic stock, who, refusing all political

preferment, have given comprehensive abilities, sterling integrity, and

sagacious industry to the development of business, many New Hampshire

towns owe an imperishable debt. JOHN MCDUFFEE'S record is in the

prosperity of Rochester.

The name itself suggests that strong Scotch-Irish blood which endured

the siege of Londonderry, in which were Mr. McDuffee's ancestors, John

McDuffee and his wife, Martha, honored in tradition. John and Martha

McDuffee had four sons, viz., Mansfield, Archibald, John, and Daniel.

Mansfield went to London, England; the other three came, with their

parents, to America in the emigration which gave New Hampshire the

powerful stock of Derry and Londonderry. John, the father of these sons,

settled in Rochester in 1729, on land on the east side of the Cochecho

river, adjoining Gonic lower falls,--the farm of eighty-five acres

remaining without break in the family, and now owned by the subject of

this article. The Rochester settler was, as just stated, the father of

Daniel McDuffee, and also of Col. John McDuffee,--a gallant officer in

the old French and Revolutionary wars, lieutenant-colonel in Col. Poor's

regiment,--who, never marrying, adopted his brother Daniel's son John,

and eventually made him his heir. John, the colonel's heir, was a farmer

in good circumstances, married Abigail, daughter of Simon and Sarah

(Ham) Torr, and was father of John McDuffee, the subject of this sketch,

who was born on the farm once the colonel's, about a mile and a half

from Rochester village, on the Dover road, December 6, 1803.

Of course, while working on the farm more or less, he had, for five or

more years, the advantage of a good school, kept at the village by

"Master" Henry H. Orne (D. C. 1812), of severe discipline and good

scholarship, who supplemented the public school with a private one each

autumn. Mr. Orne was a very successful teacher, and among the associates

of John McDuffee in this school were Thomas C. Upham, Nathaniel G.

Upham, John P. Hale, and Noah Tibbetts. In 1818, at the age of fifteen,

the boy entered Franklin Academy in Dover, the first day of its

existence, Thomas E. Sawyer and Richard Kimball being among his

associates, and Rev. Mr. Thayer being its principal. Here he fitted to

enter college as sophomore, but returned home, and, at the age of

eighteen, he went into the store of his uncle, John Greenfield, at

Rochester. It was a large country store, where everything was sold.

After two years' experience, being only twenty years of age, he began

the same business for himself on the same square; was successful, and,

after two years, took into partnership his uncle, Jonathan H. Torr.

During this period he was commissioned postmaster of Rochester, being

not of age when appointed, and he held this office until removed on

Jackson's accession to the presidency.

In the spring of the year 1831 he went to Dover, and began the same

business on a broader scale, first in the Perkins block, and, in the

autumn, as the first tenant of the northern store in the new Watson

block, on the Landing, Ira Christie his next southern neighbor. This

locality, now at an end for such purposes, was then the place of

business and offices. Steady success continued to reward his energy and

industry; but in February, 1833, selling to Andrew Pierce, Jr., he

returned to Rochester to settle the large estate of his wife's father,

Joseph Hanson, who, dying in December previous, had made him executor.

Mr. Hanson, whose daughter Joanna (by his marriage with Charity Dame)

Mr. McDuffee had married June 21, 1829, was one of the three old and

wealthy merchants of Rochester, Nathaniel Upham and Jonas C. March being

the other two. The settlement of this extended estate and business was

completed, and the accounts settled, by Mr. McDuffee's energy, in seven

months; and it caused his entire abandonment of trade, although he had

been eminently successful.

There was no bank in Rochester. Old traders had some connection with the

Strafford Bank in Dover, and the Rockingham Bank in Portsmouth. They

loaned money, instead of getting discounts. Mr. Hanson's safe, where he

kept all his securities, was a small brick building back of his store,

with a sheet-iron door fastened by a padlock. He kept some deposits,

however, in Strafford Bank, and was a stockholder in that and in the

Rockingham Bank. The three principal traders used to go to Boston twice

a year, on horseback, to buy goods. Mr. McDuffee saw that a bank was

needed. He prepared the plans, secured signatures, obtained a charter

from the legislature in 1834, and the Rochester Bank was organized with

ninety stockholders and a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, later

increased to one hundred and twenty thousand dollars, with one hundred

and thirty stockholders. Of the original ninety, only two besides Mr.

McDuffee now survive. On the organization he became cashier, his

brother-in-law, Dr. James Farrington (member of the twenty-fifth

congress), being president. This bank was the frontier bank, no other

existing between Rochester and Canada, and it was the first bank which

the counterfeits from Canada naturally but uselessly struck. It was a

favorite of the people, and was so managed that its dividends were eight

or nine per cent. It is well known that the business was really left to

the probity and skill of its cashier. Cashier for twenty years, on the

then renewal of its charter, Mr. McDuffee resigned the cashiership in

favor of his son Franklin, and became president. The bank did not become

a national bank until 1874, and in the six years previous he and his son

formed the house of "John McDuffee & Co., private bankers," took up the

old bank's business, and successfully carried it on. In 1874 they merged

it in a national bank, the one being president and the other cashier, as

before, and the two taking two-fifths of its stock. It is an interesting

fact that no bill has ever been issued by either Rochester bank without

the well known signature of John McDuffee, either as president or

cashier; and he still actively administers the interests of the bank he

originated in another form forty-eight years ago.

In addition to this Rochester interest, Mr. McDuffee was one of the

original grantees of the Dover National Bank, and for a short time was a

director; but his interest became more in the Strafford Bank, at Dover,

of which (new charter) he was the second heaviest stockholder, Daniel M.

Christie being the first. He became a director in the Strafford National

Bank in 1870, and still actively holds that position. The stock of this

bank (par, one hundred dollars) has this year sold at one hundred and

sixty dollars.

The Norway Plains Savings Bank, at Rochester, was chartered in 1851, and

Mr. McDuffee became its treasurer, being succeeded by his son Franklin

in 1867, and himself becoming president,--an office in which he still

remains. It is worth, recalling, that, although this bank was ordered,

in the panic, to pay out only five-sixths of any deposit, it

subsequently petitioned for leave to pay, and did credit to every person

affected, the remaining sixth.

Mr. McDuffee early saw the advantages of manufacturing to a community.

By his own means and a liberal allowance of banking facilities he has

greatly aided their development, the first such enterprise in Rochester,

the Mechanics' Manufacturing Company, being decided to locate there by

the new banking facilities. Mr. McDuffee was a director. It was a

manufacture of blankets, and its successor is the Norway Plains

Manufacturing Company. The original company Mr. McDuffee carried safely

through the crisis of 1837. The mill-property at the Gonic Mr. McDuffee

bought in 1845, to lease to N. V. Whitehouse, that business might not be

given up. He held his purchase for about ten years. The effort was

successful, and the property was eventually taken by a joint stock

company. Stephen Shorey, owning some facilities for manufacturing at

East Rochester, came to Mr. McDuffee to see if the bank would advance

means to build. Mr. McDuffee at once pledged the means, and the mills

were built. A stock company afterwards purchased mills and machinery,

and the thriving village of East Rochester owes its prosperity to Mr.

McDuffee's liberal policy. Thus have been developed the three principal

water-powers of Rochester.

Mr. McDuffee's personal interests in manufacturing were also in the

Great Falls Manufacturing Company, in whose great business he was a

director for four years; capital, one million five hundred thousand

dollars. In 1862 he bought large interests in the Cocheco Manufacturing

Company, and has there remained. Since 1874 he has been a director of

that corporation. As such, he advocated the erection of the great mill,

now No. 1, and the replacing of all the old buildings by new and

magnificent mills, unsurpassed in the United States,--a work now rapidly

progressing. The remarkable success of this company certifies alike to

the sagacious boldness and the considerate policy of its directors.

The need of railroad facilities at Rochester was early apparent to Mr.

McDuffee. In 1846 he entered into two enterprises,--the Cochecho road,

from Dover to Alton Bay, and the Conway road, from Great Falls to

Conway. Each was to and did pass through Rochester. In each road Mr.

McDuffee was the largest individual stockholder, and of each was the

first treasurer. When the Conway road reached Rochester, Mr. McDuffee

resigned its treasurership. The other road, after various difficulties,

became the Dover & Winnipesaukee, by the incorporation of the

bondholders, and Mr. McDuffee continued to be a director. With "friend"

William Hill, he visited Boston more than thirty times to treat for the

lease of this road to the Boston & Maine. The effort was finally

successful, and the road, by itself weak, became a fine piece of

property. Rochester was thus doubly accommodated; but another avenue was

needed, and Mr. McDuffee took part in the Portland & Rochester, which

secured a route eastward, of which road he was a director; and he

invested liberally in the Rochester & Nashua, which opened a line to the

West. The result has been that Rochester is a "billing-point," and its

various manufacturing interests have felt its impetus.

The beauty of "McDuffee block" in Rochester, built by him in 1868,

exhibits the owner's public spirit. It is an elegant brick building of

four stories, containing six stores, twelve offices in the second story,

a public hall in the third, and a Masonic hall, one of the finest in the

state, in the fourth. In the use of the public hall the liberality of

its owner to benevolent objects is well known. As a Mason, he joined

Humane Lodge on the very day he became "of lawful age."

Of other real estate, Mr. McDuffee has, besides various pieces in

Rochester, including such as the Gonic farm, the New Durham

"powder-mill" estate of nine hundred acres of land and eleven hundred

acres of water; and in Barrington, two hundred acres on Isinglass

river, held with a view to future manufacturing needs.

In religion, Mr. McDuffee was brought up under good old Parson Joseph

Haven, and has remained a liberal supporter of the Congregational

society. In politics, he was an earnest Whig. His first vote was for the

electors who chose John Quincy Adams president, and his postmastership

was ended by Andrew Jackson. He has always been a decided Republican.

Mr. McDuffee's great amount of labor has been possible only by the

vigorous constitution which he inherited. The boy, who, before he left

home, "carried the forward swath" in the hay-field, made the man who now

accomplishes an amount of work which would surprise many younger men.

Monday is always given to the Strafford Bank, at Dover; Tuesday, he

presides at the Rochester Bank meeting; Wednesday, at the Savings Bank;

and no day is idle.

Of Mr. McDuffee's happy domestic relations nothing need be said. Of his

eight children,--naming them in the order of birth,--(1) Joseph, who

followed the sea, died (single) on the ocean at the age of thirty-five.

(2) Franklin, who graduated at Dartmouth College in 1853, died, after a

successful financial career, November 11, 1880, greatly lamented; he

married Mary Fannie, daughter of John Hayes, of Farmington, and left two

sons, John Edgar (now in the Chandler Scientific Department of Dartmouth

College), and Willis. (3) John Randolph, graduated at the Chandler

Scientific Department in 1857; was a civil engineer in Rochester, and

died single, aged twenty-five. (4) Anna M., is the wife of Frank S.

Brown, of Hartford, Conn., of the firm of Brown, Thompson & Co. She has

one son and two daughters. (5) Mary Abbie, is the wife of Charles K.

Chase, a merchant in Rochester, and has two daughters. (6) Sarah died

single. (7) George, the only surviving son, is engaged in extensive

grain, mill, and lumber business in Rochester; he married, first, Lizzie

Hanson, who died leaving a son; afterwards he married, second, Nellie,

daughter of Dr. James Farrington, of Rochester, her father being nephew

of Dr. James Farrington, M. C. (8) Oliver, died in infancy.

Judged by the success of his work as the banker, as developing by a

liberal and wise help every worthy manufacturing enterprise, and as

foremost in the building of the various railways centering in Rochester,

it is clear that Mr. McDuffee nobly comes into the list of those spoken

of in our first paragraph, whose record is in the prosperity of his

native town, where ability, sagacity, integrity, and kindliness have

united to make that record, as well as his own personal success.

[Illustration: Very truly yours--

John C. French]

JOHN C. FRENCH.

Prior to 1870, New Hampshire had no reliable fire insurance company.

That she now has one that is "sound, solid, and successful," firmly

established in the confidence of the country, and steadily growing in

strength and stability, is mainly due to JOHN C. FRENCH, who, in spite

of much prejudice and distrust, laid the foundations of the New

Hampshire Fire Insurance Company, and has since been its leading spirit

and manager.

Mr. French came of sturdy stock. His grandfather, Abram French, was a

native of Stratham, where he spent his boyhood and learned the trade of

a carpenter and builder, in which he soon became known as a skillful and

thorough workman. In this capacity he went to Pittsfield to complete the

interior of the first meeting-house in that town; and, when this was

finished, erected the buildings upon the parsonage lot for Rev.

Christopher Paige, step-father of the "beautiful Grace Fletcher," the

first wife of Daniel Webster. Some years later, Mr. Paige removed from

town, and the young mechanic bought the place, and in 1796 married

Hannah Lane, of Stratham, and established the French homestead, in which

he reared to maturity twelve children, and dispensed for many years the

hospitality which his prosperity enabled him to provide for a wide

circle of relatives and friends. His numerous children and grandchildren

ranked among the reliable and thrifty people of that town.

Enoch, the oldest son of Abram French, who married, in 1823, Eliza Cate,

of Epsom,--a most estimable woman,--and settled on an adjoining farm,

was the father of five children. The only survivor of this family is the

subject of this sketch, John C. French, who was born March 1, 1832, and

spent his boyhood upon one of the rocky farms in Pittsfield. His

opportunities for obtaining an education were very limited, but his

ardent desire to learn impelled him to supplement his common-school

privileges by reading at home, and afterwards to obtain, by working on a

farm summers and teaching winters, the money to pay his expenses for

several terms at the academies at Pittsfield, Gilmanton, and Pembroke.

What he learned at these institutions only fed his ambition to know

more; and, as there was little opportunity for him to gratify his tastes

and aspirations at home, when he became of age he made an arrangement

with J. H. Colton & Co. to solicit orders for their mounted maps. The

tact and activity which he showed in this work led his employers, a year

later, to give him the Boston agency for "Colton's Atlas of the World,"

then in course of preparation; and in this he won another success,

selling over twelve hundred copies of this large and expensive work. In

1855 he was appointed general agent for the house for New England, and

subsequently gave considerable time to the introduction of Colton's

series of geographies into the public schools; and was afterwards

employed by Brown, Taggart, & Chase, and Charles Scribner & Co., in

bringing out their school publications. While thus engaged he was able

to gratify his fondness for travel, observation, and reading; gained an

acquaintance with the leading authors, teachers, publishers, and other

prominent educators, and a knowledge of the local history, industries,

and resources of all the principal towns in New England. He also learned

thoroughly the art of advertising, and of putting books upon the market

in a way to command popular favor.

During the eight years he was thus employed, he made frequent journeys

to Pittsfield, and spent a portion of each season there with his

parents, to whom he was devotedly attached; but in May, 1866, having

been appointed state agent of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance

Company, he established his residence in Manchester, which has since

been his home, though he still retains possession of the beautiful

homestead farm upon which he was born.

Three years later, having become interested in and familiar with the

insurance interests of the state, he conceived the idea of establishing

a stock fire insurance company, and by untiring persistency and zeal

overcame the almost universal prejudice against such an organization,

enlisted in its support some of our most prominent citizens, secured a

charter and the capital stock, and began the business which under his

energetic and prudent directions has since grown to great proportions.

To this company he still gives his undivided time and efforts, refusing

to accept political office, declining all inducements to go elsewhere,

resting entirely content with the success he commands in and from the

company's office. His wide and varied experience has given him a great

insight into business affairs and productive industries, and also an

extensive and invaluable knowledge of men, and these acquirements and

all his native abilities he is bringing to the service of the company in

the enlarged and enlarging sphere of his official duties. That he does

not labor in vain is shown by the fact that the New Hampshire company,

so recently established, has increased its capital stock from one

hundred thousand to five hundred thousand dollars, and its cash assets

to nearly a million, that it commands the countenance and assistance of

many of our most prominent men, and enjoys a national reputation for

prudent management and financial success.

Mr. French has always taken a lively interest in his native town, and,

when the project for building a railroad which would promote its growth

and prosperity took shape, he gave himself heartily to the support of

the enterprise, and it was largely through his efforts that the three

hundred and fifty thousand dollars necessary to build the Suncook Valley

road was secured, by subscriptions to the capital stock and gratuities

from the towns along the line. As one method of helping this work to a

successful completion, he established the _Suncook Valley Times_--a

weekly paper--at Pittsfield and for two years contributed regularly to

its columns a series of historical and biographical articles, which

attracted much attention in the locality, and were widely copied and

read elsewhere. He also at one time published and edited at Manchester a

journal devoted to insurance interests; and in these publications, as

well as in those of the New Hampshire company, has established a

reputation as a vigorous, versatile, and popular writer.

The zeal, fidelity, and success with which he has managed the various

interests intrusted to him have been highly appreciated, and numerous

testimonials have borne witness to the satisfaction of his employers.

The records of the New Hampshire company contain a resolution passed

unanimously by the stockholders, in 1871, in which the unparalleled

success of the company is ascribed mainly to his zeal and efficiency;

and a similar resolution is inscribed upon the books of the Suncook

Valley Railroad.

Mr. French, while not a politician, takes a deep interest in public

affairs, and his help can always be depended on for whatever promises to

promote the public good and the well-being of the community in which he

lives. He is a genial companion, a stanch friend, and a man who wins and

holds the good opinions of a very large circle of acquaintances. He is

a member of Trinity Commandry, Knights Templar, and a director of the

Merchants National Bank.

Mr. French married, in 1858, Annie M., daughter of L. B Philbrick, Esq.,

of Deerfield, and has three children,--Lizzie A., Susie P., and George

Abram,--who reside with their parents.

HON. THOMAS COGSWELL.

The town of Gilmanton has always been distinguished for its strong and

able men, who have exercised a powerful influence in the affairs of

their town and state. It has furnished men to fill nearly every position

of trust and honor within the gift of the people of our state, and it

has ever been proud of her illustrious sons. Among the very strong men

of this old town stood Hon. THOMAS COGSWELL, who in the year 1820, at

the age of twenty-one, moved hither from Atkinson, N. H., where he was

born December 7, 1798. He was one of a family of nine children of

William and Judith (Badger) Cogswell, eight of whom lived to years of

maturity. He settled on the farm formerly occupied by his grandfather,

the Hon. Joseph Badger, and with strong hands and indomitable courage

commenced gaining a livelihood for himself and young wife, Mary Noyes,

whom he married just prior to moving here. He soon attracted the

attention of the older settlers, and in a short time became one of the

leading men in the town; and ever afterwards took an active part in all

its local affairs, and for the whole period of his life was honored and

respected by his neighbors and townsmen, and received at their hands

every office within their gift.

There is no position that more truly shows the strength and power of a

man than that of moderator of a New Hampshire town-meeting; but for many

successive years he was chosen to preside over the deliberations of the

annual and other meetings in this, then, large town, and always did so

with great dignity, and to the perfect satisfaction of all. He was also

chosen one of the board of selectmen, and represented the town in the

legislature, and while a member of that body introduced and supported a

bill to repeal the law authorizing imprisonment for debt. For ten years

he was a deputy-sheriff for the county of Strafford, before its

division, and during all this time was actively engaged in the duties of

the office. He was also treasurer of the county for three years. In 1841

he was appointed one of the judges of the court of common pleas for the

new county of Belknap, and held that position until the year 1855, when

the judiciary system of the state was changed. In 1856 he was elected a

member of the governor's council from district number three. He was a

justice of the peace and quorum for over forty years. He was an officer

in the New Hampshire militia, and attained the rank of captain. He was

of Revolutionary stock, his father and seven uncles having served in

that war, and performed, in the aggregate, thirty-eight years of

service.

For seven years in succession he taught the winter term of school in his

district, at the same time performing all the work incident to his farm,

and during his whole life was interested in and a promoter of education.

Gilmanton Academy, an institution established by the efforts of his

grandfather, Gen. Joseph Badger, and his uncle, the Hon. Thomas

Cogswell, with the assistance of many other strong and good men, early

received his aid and co-operation, and he was one of its board of

trustees up to within a few years of his death. In early life he became

a member of the Congregational church at Gilmanton Iron-Works, and was

deacon of the same for many years; and always gave freely of his means

for the advancement of the cause of the Christian religion.

[Illustration: Thomas Cogswell]

Notwithstanding the many and various duties imposed on Mr. Cogswell by

his almost continuous service in some public position, he was a large

and successful farmer, and by his own exertions added year by year to

his original farm, so that at his death he owned in one tract nearly one

thousand acres of valuable land. He was a great lover of the soil and

was always interested in the cause of agriculture, and was in every

respect a well informed and successful farmer.

He possessed, to an uncommon degree, strong natural powers of mind, and

was capable of grasping difficult questions and giving a good legal

opinion. His mind was essentially judicial, and, had he devoted himself

to the study and practice of law, would undoubtedly have been a leading

mind in that profession. For many years he was consulted by his

neighbors and townsmen upon the troubles that frequently arose between

them, and to his credit, by his clear and practical judgment, saved,

frequently, long and expensive litigation. He was true to every trust

committed to him, and was scrupulously honest and exact in all his

dealings.

In politics, Thomas Cogswell was a Democrat to the end of his life.

During the war of the rebellion, he was a strong supporter of the

government, and a friend and well-wisher of every soldier in the field.

He saw clearly and plain that his duty as an American citizen was to

render all the aid in his power to help carry on and bring to a

successful close the terrible struggle then going on. He was a lover of

his country and delighted in its free institutions; and, although strong

in his political faith, was not a partisan.

Mr. Cogswell was noted for his energy and force of character; and, when

he had once made up his mind as to a certain course to pursue, he never

changed it until he was thoroughly satisfied that he was wrong. He was a

natural leader among men, and possessed the characteristics of a great

general. He was a ready and fluent public speaker, and few men could

better entertain an audience. He excelled in strong common sense, and

could state exactly his position on any subject that interested him. He

was always well informed, particularly on the history of his country and

its many political changes. He was of commanding appearance, and was a

noticeable person in any assembly. He was of an affectionate

disposition, and sympathized with the afflictions of others. He died

August 8, 1868, and was buried in the old historic burying-ground in

Gilmanton near the dust of his illustrious ancestors; and in his death

the town lost a wise counselor, the poor a generous friend, and the

community at large an honest and upright man.

There are four children now living,--Mary C. Burgess, wife of the late

Dr. Burgess, now living in Boston, Mass.; Martha B. Batchelder, wife of

the late Dr. Batchelder, also residing in Boston; James W. Cogswell,

sheriff of Belknap county; and Thomas Cogswell, a lawyer, residing on

the old homestead at Gilmanton.

HON. PERSON C. CHENEY.

BY COL. DANIEL HALL.

Person Colby Cheney was born in that part of Holderness, N. H., which is

now Ashland, February 25, 1828. He was the sixth child in a family of

five sons and six daughters,--children of Moses and Abigail (Morrison)

Cheney,--nine of whom still survive.

Of his sisters, Sarah B. is the wife of Rev. S. G. Abbott, of Needham,

Mass.; Abby M. is the widow of George Washburn, late of Goffstown, N.

H.; Ruth E. is the wife of Joseph W. Lord, of Wollaston, Mass.; Marcia

A. is the wife of J. P. F. Smith, of Meredith, N. H.; Hattie O. is the

wife of Dr. C. F. Bonney, of Manchester, N. H.

Of his brothers, Rev. O. B. Cheney, D. D., is the president of Bates

College, Lewiston, Me., and has mainly laid the foundations of the

success and popularity of that excellent institution of learning; E. H.

Cheney is the editor and proprietor of the _Granite State Free Press_,

Lebanon, N. H.; and Moses Cheney, a manufacturer of paper at Henniker,

N. H., is retired from business.

The square, old-fashioned New England house, where the family resided,

is still to be seen. It stands in the picturesque village of Ashland,

overlooking the valley below, and commanding a view of lofty hills and

beautiful scenery. The childhood of the subject of this sketch was

passed in this venerable mansion, but his boyhood and early manhood were

passed at Peterborough, N. H., where his father was engaged in the

manufacture of paper. This gave him an early and intimate acquaintance

with the paper business, enabled him to gain a knowledge of all its

details, and gave him those habits of industry and self-reliance, which,

upon the basis of a strong natural sagacity and force of character, have

distinguished his business life. He acquired a fair education in the

ordinary branches of knowledge, in the academies at Peterborough and

Hancock, N. H., and Parsonsfield, Me.

His father removed to Holderness in 1845, having sold his interest to A.

P. Morrison; and Person C. Cheney assumed the management of the

paper-mill at Peterborough. In 1853 a firm of which Mr. Cheney was a

member built another paper-mill at Peterborough; but he soon bought out

the interest of his associates, and continued business in Peterborough

till 1866.

Mr. Cheney took an early interest in politics, and represented the town

of Peterborough in the legislature in 1853 and 1854. He entered ardently

into the memorable events of 1860 and 1861, and zealously aided and

promoted the preparation of his state for the great struggle to maintain

the Union. In due time he offered his personal services, and in August,

1862, was appointed quartermaster of the 13th Regiment, N. H. Vols., and

proceeded with the regiment to the seat of war. Joining the army of the

Potomac, he rendered faithful service to the regiment and the country

until exposure and overwork in the campaign before Fredericksburg

brought on a long and dangerous sickness. Barely escaping with his life,

he was compelled to resign and return home. He received an honorable

discharge in August, 1863. From that time till the close of the war the

Union cause at home had no more earnest or efficient friend and

champion. In 1864 he was chosen railroad commissioner of New Hampshire,

and served three years.

[Illustration: P. I. Cheney]

In 1866, Mr. Cheney removed to Manchester, and formed a partnership with

Thomas L. Thorpe, as a dealer in paper stock and manufacturer of paper

at Goffstown. In 1868 the firm of E. M. Tubbs & Co., of which Mr. Cheney

had been a member three years, bought out the interest of Mr. Thorpe,

and the business was continued under the name of P. C. Cheney & Co. In

1870 the mill at Goffstown was destroyed by fire, but was replaced by a

new mill, and the business enlarged by rebuilding the old mill at

Amoskeag village.

Mr. Cheney, upon becoming a resident of Manchester, became at once

thoroughly and prominently identified with the development and

prosperity of that rapidly growing city; and very soon his business

capacity and integrity, his liberal spirit and engaging manners,

attracted attention to him as a man not only highly fitted for public

honors, but as pre-eminently capable of commanding them at the hands of

the people. He was brought forward as a candidate for mayor of

Manchester in 1871, and elected by a larger majority than any candidate

had received since 1863. He performed the duties intelligently and to

general acceptance, but declined a re-election. In 1874, at its

organization, he was chosen president of the People's Savings Bank, and

still retains the office.

In 1875, under peculiar circumstances, Mr. Cheney became the Republican

candidate for governor. In 1874 the Republicans had lost the state for

causes which it would not be useful to recite; and the Democrats, having

control of every branch of legislation, had used their power to fortify

themselves in the possession of the state government, by making new ward

divisions in the city of Manchester, and redistricting for councilors

and senators, in such a manner as to put their adversaries at great

disadvantage, and render it almost impossible to recover the state.

Under such circumstances it became absolutely necessary for them to

place at the head of the ticket a name of the greatest personal

popularity. Such were the prestige of Mr. Cheney, gained by his

successful administration in Manchester, his personal magnetism among

those who knew him, and his well known energy as a canvasser, that,

unexpectedly to himself, he was selected as the standard-bearer of his

party, and the result proved how wisely. The hottest campaign ever known

in a state proverbial for the violence of its political contests ensued,

and there was no choice of governor by the people; but Mr. Cheney had a

plurality of the votes cast, although Judge Roberts, his competitor,

received the heaviest vote his party had ever polled in New Hampshire.

The Republicans secured a majority in the legislature, which elected Mr.

Cheney governor. In 1876, Gov. Cheney was again a candidate, and after a

canvass which exceeded in intensity even that of 1875, he was re-elected

by a flattering majority of the popular vote, which was heavier than had

ever before been cast in New Hampshire. Mr. Cheney brought to the office

of governor a patriotic love for the state and solicitude for her good

name, a clear insight, great executive ability, thorough business

habits, and personal dignity, urbanity, and tact of a high order. These

qualities, combined with his undoubted integrity and earnestness of

purpose, enabled him to give the state a most prudent and successful

administration of its affairs. The retrenchment of expenses, so much

needed in a period of financial depression following years of sharp

distress, was kept steadily in view, and a thorough business system

inaugurated in all branches of the government; the affairs of the

adjutant-general's office were redeemed from years of neglect and

confusion; the state debt was materially reduced; at his suggestion a

law was passed requiring vouchers to be filed for all disbursements from

the governor's contingent fund; and the finances of the state were left

in all respects upon a sound and stable basis. The prominent part of New

Hampshire in the Centennial Exposition was due largely to his foresight,

his faith in its benefits, and his untiring efforts in its behalf. None

who participated in them will ever forget the brilliant success of "New

Hampshire Day" at Philadelphia, or the reception of Governor and Mrs.

Cheney, during his term of office, to the members of the legislature and

the citizens of Concord, at White's Opera House, which was a memorable

social event.

Gov. Cheney retired from office with the universal respect and esteem of

men of all parties, and has since devoted himself closely to business.

On the death of his partner, Dr. Tubbs, in 1878, Gov. Cheney purchased

his quarter interest, and thus became sole proprietor of the business.

The following year he converted the property of the old "Peterborough

Company" at Peterborough, into a pulp-mill, and obtained an amendment of

the charter, by act of the legislature, changing its name to the "P. C.

Cheney Company." This charter is among the oldest in the state, having

been granted in 1833, and bears the names of Charles H. Atherton, Samuel

Appleton, Samuel May, Isaac Parker, Nathan Appleton, and others, as

grantees. The original charter authorizes the company to extend its

operations to any town in the state.

In 1880 the company commenced operations for increasing its production

by building both a pulp and paper mill in connection with the old one at

Manchester. This enterprise has been carried to completion, and thereby

doubled in amount an already extensive business. Consequently the

corporation, the stock of which is held by Gov. Cheney solely, now owns

and carries on wood-pulp mills at Goffstown and Peterborough, and also

one in connection with its paper-mill and waste-works at Manchester. Its

paper-warehouse is at No. 1104 Elm street. The product of these various

establishments, and their monthly disbursements for labor and services,

are very large; and it is doubtful if a more important business has been

built up in our state by the courage, foresight, and skill of one man.

Gov. Cheney is an indefatigable worker, and keeps all the details of his

extensive and complicated business within easy command.

He is identified with the First Unitarian church of Manchester, and has

been a director and president of the society. He is a Royal Arch Mason,

and member of the Altemont Lodge; also a member of Peterborough Lodge,

I. O. O. F.

In 1850 he was married to Miss S. Anna Moore, who died January 8, 1858,

leaving no children. He married, June 29, 1859, Mrs. Sarah White Keith,

daughter of Jonathan White, formerly of Lowell, Mass., one of the

earliest of Lowell's manufacturers, by whom he has one daughter, Agnes

Annie Cheney, born October 22, 1869. His domestic life is singularly

happy and charming. His residence, No. 136 Lowell street, is a home of

modest elegance, of courtly hospitality, and the center of a refined

circle. It is not too much to say that to the affectionate sympathy, the

grace, and fine social tact of his accomplished wife, Gov. Cheney owes

not only the enjoyments of a delightful home, but much of the success

and popularity of his career.

The bare outlines of Gov. Cheney's life, as above given, convey but a

faint impression of the essential quality of the man, and his importance

as a factor in the social, business, and political life of his day and

generation. It remains to be said that in Manchester his name is the

synonym for liberality, public spirit, a generous and helpful charity,