USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 15
USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70
Mr. Griffin received his education in the common schools of the county. When twenty years of age he engaged in the manufacture of needles with the Hon. Walter Aiken, remain- ing in that business until 1880. In that year
he and P. C. Hancock began the manufacture of saws, which he has since continued. The firm's product includes patent scroll and hack saws and fine jeweller's saws. On November 7, 1860, Mr. Griffin was united in marriage with Miss Addie M. Burgess, of Jay Bridge, Me., daughter of Nathaniel Burgess, a miller of that place. His children were: George A., who died at the age of seven months; Ralph B. and Ernest L., who are employed in their father's factory. Mr. Griffin is a Mason of Meridian Lodge, No. 60, of Franklin. In politics he is a stanch Republican, and he is now a member of the City Council. He is connected with the Baptist church at Frank- lin. He is much esteemed by friends, neigh- bors, and customers, and is spoken of as one of the successful men of the town.
EANDER W. COGSWELL, an influ- ential resident of Henniker and a na- tive of the town, was born Novem- ber 18, 1825, son of David and Hannah (Haskell) Cogswell. After receiving his education in the academies of Henniker and Francestown, he taught school for several terms. In 1849 he went to California. Re- turning in 1854, he was engaged in a mercan- tile business in Henniker until July, 1861, when he was appointed route agent from Hills- borough Bridge to Manchester.
On the 13th of August, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company D, Eleventh New Hampshire Volunteers. September 4, 1862, he was commissioned Captain of the same company ; and on August 20, 1864, he was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel of his regi- ment. Following the fortunes of the regi- ment in the Ninth Army Corps, he partici- pated in its memorable battles, sieges, and marches. During the last campaign of the
A
126
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
war he was for some months A. A. Inspector- general on the staff of Major-general S. G. Griffin, commanding the Second Brigade, Sec- ond Division of the Ninth Army Corps.
. In 1866, 1867, 1870, and 1871, Mr. Cogs- well represented his town in the legislature. In 1871 and 1872 he was State Treasurer, and from 1876 to ISSI he was one of the Savings Bank Commissioners. He was made a Justice of the Peace in 1876, and he has held several municipal offices. Besides giving much time and thought to public questions and to the discharge of his official duties, Mr. Cogswell has been an active member of various organi- zations. He was elected a member of the New Hampshire Historical Society, and he was President of the New Hampshire Anti- quarian Society. For many years he was Master of Aurora Lodge, No. 43, A. F. & A. M. ; and High Priest of Wood's Chapter, No. 14, Royal Arch Masons. Taking an earnest interest in educational matters, he was often Superintendent of Schools and a member of the School Board for several years under the town system. Mr. Cogswell has also done considerable literary work. He is master of a pleasing style, and is the author of the History of Henniker, N. H., a volume of several hundred pages; and of the History of the Eleventh New Hampshire Volunteers. In addition to these he has published several addresses delivered by him before various so- cieties. On the 17th of May, 1853, Mr. Cogswell married Mary S., daughter of Oliver and Anna (Smith) Pillsbury, since which event he has made his home in Henniker.
P. & C. W. REDINGTON, man- ufacturers of carriage hubs at Roby's · Corner in Warner, have for several years continued a business which was first
established in Wenham, Mass., by Adam Red- ington. Adam Redington, grandfather of Oliver Patch Redington, whose name occupies the place of senior partner in that of the firm, was for many years a manufacturer in Wen- ham. Afterward he removed to Sunapee, Sul- livan County, N. H., where he established a mill, and carried on his work until his death. He was succeeded in business by his son John. John transferred the business to Hop- kinton, and thence to a mill on the North Road in Sutton, where his son, Oliver P., assisted him and learned the business.
Oliver P. Redington subsequently engaged in manufacturing in the town of Andover, this county, two years later locating at Roby's Cor- ner. He started a water-power factory on the Warner River, about three miles above Water- loo, where he continued the manufacture of wooden bowls, adding that of excelsior. Sub- sequently, after enlarging his premises, he began making hubs and clothes-pins on a very small scale. Within a few years he acquired such a large trade in hubs that he confined his attention entirely to their manufacture. For these he uses elm timber, cut in New Hamp- shire, made into blocks, and seasoned by a special process, a large stock being constantly kept on hand. Abbott, Downing & Co., of Concord, use the hubs exclusively. However, seventy-five per cent. of the factory's output is exported on orders received from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and other dis- tant places. During the last five years, in spite of the depressing financial condition of the country, the business has increased fifty per cent.
Oliver P. Redington was a well-read and intelligent man, though not college-bred. Both he and his brother, John S. Redington, were anxious for a college education ; but Oli- ver, the elder, realizing that it would be im-
.
HON. JOHN KIMBALL.
-
£
129
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
possible for both to leave home, relinquished his chance in favor of his brother. Oliver also assisted his brother pecuniarily, so that John was enabled to enter Dartmouth, of which he was a student when his death oc- curred, in the first flush of manhood, with most flattering prospects of a brilliant career before him. Subsequently by close attention to business Oliver acquired a competency. He was a man of positive opinions, clear and courageous in his convictions, and a valued member of the Republican party, which he joined on its formation, having previously been a Whig. He died May 3, 1891.
Oliver P. Redington's first wife, whose maiden name was Betsey Morgan, died about five years before he did. Afterward he mar- ried her sister, Hannah Morgan. His chil- dren, all born of his first marriage, were : Mary Frances, who was educated at New Lon- don, N.H., and afterward taught school for some years in the States of Ohio, Illinois, and l'ennsylvania, and is now the wife of Dr. Samuel J. Hayes, of Pittsburg, Pa. ; Sarah, who was also for many years engaged in teach- ing, having been educated in the Simond's High School, and -is now the wife of C. E. Hadley, the Superintendent of the New Hamp- shire Fruit Company; Annie, who died un- married in 1877, aged twenty-six years; and Charles Walter.
Charles Walter Redington attended Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College at both Manchester and Concord, receiving a fine busi- ness education. The day that he attained his majority he was taken into partnership by his father, forming the firm O. P. & C. W. Red- ington. From his father he learned every detail of the business of which he is now the sole proprietor, having charge in later years of the outside work. On the well-improved farm, where he employs men to do the manual
labor, he carries on general farming, making a specialty of a milk dairy. He is also inter- ested in the New Merrimack Glove Company and the New Hampshire Fruit Company of Concord, each of which he serves as Director. In politics he is an earnest advocate of the principles of the Republican party, and usually attends all party conventions in this section of New England. On March 7, 1878, Mr. Redington married Miss Ida M. Blood, daughter of A. B. and Mary Eveline (Muzzey) Blood. She is a woman of culture, and for some years prior to her marriage taught school in this vicinity. Born in Newbury, N. H., she was educated in Bradford, where her par- ents resided many years.
ON. JOHN KIMBALL, A.M., ex- mayor of Concord, N. H., a man of strong character, sterling worth, and more than ordinary ability, is held in high esteem by his fellow-citizens. He was born in Canterbury, N. H., April 13, 1821, a son of Benjamin and Ruth (Ames) Kimball. The Kimballs have been domiciled in New England for more than two hundred and sixty years, and have given to these States many intelligent and capable men and women. The first immigrants of the name, Henry and Richard Kimball, with their wives and chil- dren, fled from the religious persecutions of the Old World, and found freedom and prosperity in the new. Joseph Kimball, who was of the fifth generation in America, was the great- grandfather of John Kimball. He was born in Exeter, N. H., and died in Canterbury.
John Kimball was apprenticed at the age of seventeen to his father's cousin, William Moody Kimball, to learn the millwright's trade; and, as he had a natural gift for me- chanics, it was not long before he was a
130
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
skilled and competent workman. He was employed as a millwright in Suncook and Manchester, N. H., and Lowell and Lawrence, Mass. In 1848 he took charge of the new machine and car shops of the Concord Rail- road in this city. In 1850 he was master mechanic; and he efficiently acted in that ca- pacity for eight years, turning his attention then from mechanical to other pursuits. In the railroad service his practical skill and sound judgment were in constant requisition, and his training and experience there were afterward used to good account in behalf of the city and State. He gradually became in- terested in various financial and political enterprises, and as his ability became recog- nized greater responsibilities devolved upon him. Thousands of dollars were intrusted to him as guardian, trustee, administrator, and executor, and never was a trust betrayed or slighted; and, to quote from a local paper, "as Treasurer of the New Hampshire Bible Society, the New Hampshire Orphans' Home, and various other such institutions, he has been trustworthy, painstaking, and just." For twenty-six years he has been Treasurer of the Merrimack County Savings Bank. He has been for a number of years a Director of the Mechanics National Bank; and he has filled the office of President of the Concord Gas Light Company, of which he is now Treasurer. In 1880, when the Manchester & Keene Railroad was placed in the hands of the court, the late Chief Justice Doe appointed Mr. Kimball one of the Trustees.
Mr. Kimball's father and grandfather were stanch Whigs; and he has followed the family traditions, giving his lifelong allegiance to the Republican party. He was for twenty-seven years Treasurer of the Republican State Com- mittee. In 1856 he was elected to the Com- mon Council of this city. In 1857 he was
re-elected and chosen President of that body. In 1858 he was sent to the House of Repre- sentatives from Ward Five, where he has al- ways made his home since he took up his resi- dence in this city; and he was re-elected in 1859, and presided as Chairman of the Com- mittee on State Prison. From 1859 to 1862 he was City Marshal and Tax Collector of Concord; and his administration was marked by "promptness, accuracy, and close devotion to the interests of the people." In 1862 Pres- ident Lincoln appointed him Collector of In- ternal Revenue for the Second District of New Hampshire, comprising Merrimack and Hills- borough Counties; and during the seven years he held the office he collected and paid to the Treasurer of the United States nearly seven million dollars. He was for eleven years Moderator of Ward Five, an impartial and clear-headed presiding officer ; and for a num- ber of years he served acceptably as moderator of the Union School District.
In 1872 through a popular movement he was elected Mayor of Concord. He was hon- ored with re-election in 1873, 1874, and 1875, annual elections then being the law. Imme- diately after his installation as Mayor a severe freshet injured five of the seven wooden bridges over the Merrimack and Contoocook Rivers. As superintendent of roads and bridges he repaired these structures in such a manner as to demonstrate his mechanical knowledge, re- placing the insecure bridges by substantial structures that defy the wear and tear of time and travel. During his administration the water supply system from Penacook Lake was completed; and he was afterward elected one of the Water Commissioners, and served for fourteen years as President of the Board. While he was Mayor, also, the fire department was invested with new dignity by the city government, the central fire station and other
131
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
buildings of which they are justly proud being erected under the supervision of Mayor Kim- ball. Blossom Hill Cemetery was doubled in size, the main thoroughfares of the city were graded and improved, and stone culverts re- placed the primitive wooden ones which had served for years.
In 1876 Mr. Kimball was elected a member of the convention to revise the Constitution of the State, and served as Chairman of its Com- mittee on Finance. In 1877 an appropriation was made by the legislature for a new State Prison ; and upon the passage of the law, which was a carefully guarded one, Governor Benja- min F. Prescott, with the advice of his coun- cil, appointed Mr. Kimball, Albert M. Shaw, and Alfred J. Pillsbury commissioners to carry the law into effect. Mr. Kimball was chosen chairman of the board. Under these com- missioners the present penitentiary was com- pleted in the fall of 1880, every dollar appro- priated being prudently and judiciously ex- pended. In November, 1880, Mr. Kimball was elected to the State Senate from the Tenth Senatorial District; and when the Senate was organized, in June, 1881, he was chosen Presi- dent. In this honorable position he presided with wisdom, dignity, and courtesy. He was chairman of the committee that built the high school, and he has rendered such services to the cause of popular education that one of the handsomest modern school-houses in Concord has been named in his honor the Kimball School. Mr. Kimball was honored with the degree of Master of Arts by Dartmouth Col- lege in 1884. He is a Director of the Repub- lican Press Association of Concord.
On May 27, 1846, he was married to Maria H. Phillips, of Rupert, Vt., who died Decem- ber 22, 1894. He has since married Miss Charlotte Atkinson, a lady of culture and re- finement. His only child, a daughter - Clara
Maria, born March 20, 1848- was married June 4, 1873, to Augustine R. Ayers, of this city, and has several children.
In person Mr. Kimball is tall, erect, and remarkably well-preserved for a man of seventy-six. He is a total abstainer, and his modes of life are regular. He is firm and decided, with strong confidence in his own judgment ; frank and downright, always giving right the precedence of policy ; somewhat bluff in manner, but never discourteous; open- hearted and free, kindly and sensitive. A careful reader, he is particularly fond of gene- alogical and historical research ; and he speaks and writes with precision. Faithful in every relation of life, public and domestic, he is valued and loved by all. Mr. Kimball has travelled abroad, and is one of the most cult- ured men of the day. In 1843 he joined the Congregational church at his old home in Bos- cawen, N. H. ; and for a great many years he has been a member of the South Congregational Church of Concord, contributing generously to its support.
R. J. H. SANBORN, a retired physician of Franklin Falls, was born in Meredith, N. H., September 23, 1830, son of John and Susan (Hubbard) Sanborn. His grandfather, Jeremiah San- born, represented Sanbornton in the first legis- lature, that met in Exeter in 1784. Highly prized by the family are a compass, a book on surveying, and a powder-horn that belonged to Jeremiah, all over one hundred and twenty- five years old. Another cherished relic is a pewter platter that has been handed down in the Hubbard family for two hundred and sixty-five years, since it was brought over from England.
Dr. John Sanborn, the father of the sub- ject of this article, lived in Sanbornton until
132
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
1815. Then he moved to Meredith, N. H., and there practised medicine till his death, which occurred in 1870. His wife died in 1866. Of their four children the third died in infancy. The others were: Jesse Apple- ton, Susan Catherine, and J. H. Jesse was a physician at Plymouth, and is now deceased. Susan Catherine became the wife of Levi Leach, both of whom are also deceased.
Dr. J. H. Sanborn, the subject of this sketch, received his early education in the common schools of Meredith and at Gilmanton Academy. Then he studied medicine with his father and brother, and later on with Dr. Benjamin R. Palmer, of Woodstock, Vt., and the president of Vermont Medical College. At the end of the four years spent in this way he then went to Berkshire Medical College at Pittsfield, Mass., and remained there from 1850 till 1852. He also attended the Medi- cal College at Woodstock, Vt. He received his medical certificate in November, 1852, and then began practice with his father in Meredith. In the following year he went to Alstead, and had been there three years when he returned to Meredith, and practised from 1856 till September, 1862. He was then commissioned as Assistant Surgeon in the army, and continued in service up to July, 1864, when he was honorably discharged on account of physical disability. He returned to Meredith, and was there engaged in his profession until January 20, 1874, when he came to Franklin Falls. Here he has re- mained since, having his office at his resi- dence. He is a comrade of George F. Swett Post, G. A. R., of Franklin Falls; and he is a Royal Arch Mason, having membership in Meridian Lodge, No. 60, F. & A. M. He has always taken an active interest in politics, and has the remarkable record of never having missed an election. He has been a stanch
Republican since he cast his first vote for Fremont, and he is a member of the Congre- gational church at Meredith.
The Doctor was married May 16, 1854, to Elizabeth H. Leach, daughter of the Rev. Giles Leach, a Congregational minister of Meredith. Born March 23, 1834, she died February 18, 1895. Four children came of this union; namely, Giles Leach, Hattie L., Susan Lillian, and Elizabeth Thompson. Giles Leach, born March 26, 1855, died in August, 1855. Hattie L., born June 21, 1856, became the wife of Edgar A. Jones, who is employed in the counting-room at Aiken's Mill. They now reside with the Doctor. Susan Lillian, born in 1861, died in 1872; and Elizabeth T., born in 1873, died January 17, 1887.
HARLES A. NEWTON, a well- to do farmer of Unity and an ex- member of the. State legislature, was born in Plainfield, July 2, 1854, son of General Charles L. and Mary M. (Gilman) Newton. His grandfather, Rufus Newton, was a native of Grafton, Mass., who settled upon a farm in Plainfield, and there resided for the rest of his life. Rufus married Polly Ryder, and reared a family of five children, who are all living. They are: Charles L., Rufus G., Francis J., Adeline, and Ann.
Charles L. Newton was born in Plainfield. When a young man he engaged in farming. He resided in his native town until 1859, when he moved to a farm in Unity; and the rest of his life was spent in this town. He was an able farmer and a citizen of more than ordinary worth and ability. He attained prom- inence in military affairs, and ranked as Major- general in the State militia. General Newton died January 21, 1865. His wife, Mary M. Gilman Newton, was born in Unity, daugh-
133
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
ter of Sewell and Deborah (Comstock) Gil- man, natives respectively of Unity and New- port, N. H. Sewell Gilman, who was a pros- perous farmer, died June 10, 1855; and his wife died January 26, 1869. Their children were : Henrietta, Sylvester, Randolph, Mary M., and Henry. Of these the only survivor is Mary M., who resides with her son. She has had two children, namely : Annie H., born May 28, 1849, who died November 3, 1869; and Charles A., the subject of this sketch.
Charles A. Newton, having begun his edu- cation in Unity, completed it by attending school in Meriden for two terms. His father's death, which occurred when Charles was about eleven years old, caused him to undertake the management of the farm while still young; and his early experience has proved exceedingly beneficial to him. He now owns two hundred acres of fertile land, which he devotes to general farming and dairy- ing ; and he keeps an average of fifteen cows. In politics he is a Democrat, and he is a lead- ing spirit in local affairs. He was a Select- man in 1887, Supervisor for a number of years, and represented this district in the legislature in 1889 and 1890. He was Chair- man of the Board of Selectmen from 1891 to 1897, and he has been Moderator at town meetings for the past six years.
On February 17, 1886, Mr. Newton was united in marriage with Speedie A. Clough. She was born in Newport, February 17, 1865, daughter of Reuben M. and Sarah (Griffin) Clough. The father, who was a native of Unity, died in February, 1888. Mrs. Clough, who was born in Newport, N. H., and is now residing in Unity, has had three children - Abbie, George G., and Speedie A. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Newton are : Charles Stark, born April 19, 1887; Perlie A., born
January 20, 1894; and Annie A., born Febru- ary 22, 1896. Mr. Newton is an Odd Fellow of Sugar River Lodge, No. 55, and Stony Brook Encampment, of Newport; and he is connected with Sunapee Mountain Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, of Goshen, of which he was Master in 1896.
EORGE E. SHEPARD, of Franklin village, who is a prominent lum-
berman of Merrimack County, was born March 28, 1840, son of George and Abi- gail (Hill) Shepard. The grandfather was Ebenezer Shepard, a farmer and a lifelong resident of New London, N. H., where his son George was born. George Shepard became a farmer, and lived in Wilmot during forty years of his life. He made his home at one time in New London, N. H., and later moved to East Andover. His wife, Abigail, was the widow of Edmund Chadwick and a daughter of Edward Hill, a carpenter of West New- bury, Mass. She died leaving three children. These were: Emery B. Chadwick, now de- ceased, born of her first marriage; Mary A. Shepard, born of her second marriage, April 18, 1834; and George E., the sub- ject of this sketch. Mary became the wife of D. M. Hazen, a confectioner of Cambridge- port, Mass., and has six children - Frank, Katie A., Mary E. (deceased), George E., Willie W., and Abbie.
George E. Shepard was well educated in the academies at Andover and New London. At the age of twenty he commenced to learn the spinner's trade in the woollen factory of John- son & Colby at Wilmot, N. H., and remained four years there. Then he bought an interest in the mill, when the firm name became Colby, Shepard & Co., who were manufact- urers of hosiery and full cloth. Six years
134
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
later he sold his share, and bought of Richard Messer a sixth-interest in the scythe manu- factory at Scytheville, New London. He was stock buyer and salesman for about three years, when, again selling his interest, he re- turned to the woollen industry, removing with Mr. R. O. Messer to East Andover, with whom he manufactured hosiery for three years. Then he was engaged in the lumber business with his cousin, J. Eli Shepard, at New Lon- don for three years, after which he became the wood and tie agent of the Northern Railroad, later receiving the appointment of purchasing agent for the Boston & Lowell Railroad, with which company he continued for four years. After returning to East Andover, he was en- gaged in the lumber business with several different parties until in 1892, when he went into partnership with Walter S. Carr and Mr. Neal. This firm has an office at Franklin. Mr. Shepard bought his present home, known as United States Senator Austin F. Pike Homestead, where he has lived since Novem- ber 25, 1893. He is the President and a Director of the Beecher Falls Furniture Com- pany at Beecher Falls, Vt. In January, 1896, when the Mayo Knitting Machine and Needle Company was organized, Mr. Shepard became a member. He is a Director of this company, also of the First National Bank; and he is a Trustee of the Franklin Falls Savings Bank.
Mr. Shepard has been twice married, on the first occasion to Miss Mary A. Johnson, of North Weare, N. H. She died in October, 1885, leaving no children. On January 1I, 1887, he contracted his second marriage with Carrie S. Seamans, of New London, daughter of Daniel S. and Frances Mary (Dodge) Sea- mans. Her mother died March 19, 1892 ; and her father now resides in New London. Their four children were: Frances Abbie, who died at the age of nineteen; Carrie S., now
Mrs. Shepard; Etta Pearson, who married Bradford J. Dunbar, a salesman residing in Malden, Mass. ; and John A., who married Kate McDonald, lives in New London, and has four children -- Daniel D., George L., Agnes, and Frances Mary. Mr. Shepard is a stanch Republican. He is connected with the King Solomon Lodge, No. 14, F. & A. M. He is a Director of the Concord Axle Com- pany in Concord, N. H. His many business interests have placed him among the leading men of Franklin and Franklin Falls.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.