USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 38
USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Merrimack and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 38
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Mr. Cogswell has been twice married. On February 20, 1851, he wedded for his first wife Mary S. Johnson, of Weare. She died March 23, 1859, leaving no children. On December 10 of the same year he was again married to Eliza L. Sawyer, who was of Quaker parentage, and resided in Weare. By this union there are three sons -- John C., Leander A., and Willis. John C. has been Town Clerk for five years; Leander A is a shoe manufacturer in Manchester, N. H. ; and Willis is a machinist of that city. Mr. Cogs- well is a charter member of Crescent Lodge, No. 66, I. O. O. F., and is also a member of
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the encampment. He has occupied all of the important chairs of both organizations, and represented both in the Grand Lodge and Grand Encampment of New Hampshire. He is especially qualified for the work of initia- tion. Since the organization of the lodge he has assisted in introducing every candidate, including his three sons, to the mysteries of Odd Fellowship. There is probably no man in this part of the State who has taken a greater interest in the order. His initiatory work has been highly complimented by the officers of the Grand Lodge. Mrs. Cogswell is very active in the Rebecca Lodge.
IRAM H. YORK, a well-known farmer of Cornish, has always re- sided in this town on the estate where he was born December 6, 1823. His grandfather, William York, also born in Cor- nish, was prominently identified with the Democratic party of the early days. Will- iam, in many ways the most prominent man in the town, was a noted veterinary surgeon, whose practice covered an extensive district. He was Sheriff of Sullivan County for many years. In the later part of his life he joined the Methodist church. A man capable of much physical endurance, he had a remark- able constitution, which, perhaps, accounts in a measure for his activities in many directions. He died at the age of ninety-five years. He was twice married. His first wife was Esther Hilliard York, and his second was Betsey Choate York.
Uriah York, also born in Cornish, was sent to the common schools of the town. Later he began farm work, in which he continued engaged throughout the rest of his life. He married Betsy, daughter of Stephen Williams; and their five children were: Esther, Hiram
H., Lavinia, John Q., and Allen. Esther became the wife of Mr. Mitchell Coburn, and had one child - Willis, who is now a musician living at Cornish. Mrs. Mitchell Coburn died in 1895. Lavinia is now Mrs. James Lam- berton, of Claremont. John Q., who died in 1891, was a farmer, a mason, and a general me- chanic; and for some years he filled the office of Highway Surveyor. He was twice married. Emmeline Fitch York, his first wife, bore him no children. Esther Corliss York, the second wife, was the mother of ten children, three of whom are living - Hattie, Lillian, and Addie. Allen York lived in Cornish until he was twenty-five years of age, when he moved to Vermont, where he died in 1888 at the age of fifty-one. He was engaged in car- pentering and other mechanic's work, and did some farming. He married Lucinda Owen, and had a family of ten children.
Hiram H. York attended the common schools of Cornish, and then followed in the footsteps of his father by engaging in agricult- ural pursuits. He owns a farm of some one hundred and thirty-five acres, has always been industrious and thrifty, and is now reaping the reward of his labors. He married Eliza A. Walker, and she is the mother of two children -- Elmer E. and Ida E. Elmer married Nellie Richardson, and has three children -- Clayton, Amos, and Marion. He has been a school-teacher, and is now a butcher at Cor- nish and Claremont. Ida married Luman H. Hilliard, of Claremont, N. H., who is engaged in the livery business there. Their children are - Mary Eliza and Ruth Ida.
OHN SHACKFORD KIMBALL was an enterprising lawyer of Boston and a business man of Burlington, Ia. A son of David and Abigail (Perkins) Kimball,
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he was born at Pembroke, N. H., April 28, 1812. His descent from Michael Kimball, who married Bettie Runnells, came through David Kimball of the second generation and David Kimball of the third, who married Abi- gail Perkins. The fifth generation is now represented by John Stevens Kimball. Mr. Kimball's parents died at Pembroke when he was thirteen years old, leaving nine children - Betsey, Asa, Perkins, John Shackford, Abi- gail, Sarah Towle (widow of Timothy Colby, of Concord), Joseph, Mary Lewis (widow of Samuel B. Wright, of Burlington, Ia. ), and Harriet. Of these Sarah and Mary are living. Mary, who was about five years old at the death of her parents, subsequently lived in the family made famous at that time by the noted Prescott murder. Perkins, after spending some time in the printing business, was later employed in the Boston custom-house, and then kept a store in partnership with J. Frank Hoyt in Concord. On retiring from business, he returned to Hopkinton, and died there De- cember 15, 1876. He first married Lydia Reed Wilde, of Boston, a sister of Joseph Wilde, of the well-known firm of Lawrence, Wilde & Co., furniture dealers, Cornhill, Bos- ton. His second marriage was made with Savalla Mason, of Grafton, N. H., who sur- vived him with one daughter, Sarah Under- wood Kimball. Mother and daughter are now residents of Hopkinton, the latter being the present librarian of the Hopkinton Free Li- brary.
When a young man, John Shackford Kim- ball went to Concord and worked in a bakery. Afterward he entered Hill & Sherburne's print . ing-office, and there learned book and job print- ing. While yet new in this occupation, he gained considerable fame as a card printer by the introduction of enamel work. In his school life at New Hampton, N. H., he was an asso-
ciate of the Hon. John Wentworth, and was one of the founders of the Social Fraternity Library. He was clerk in the old Franklin book store in Concord for a time, and was associated in the printing business with his brother Perkins.
From Concord he went to New Haven, Conn. Later he was for three years a night clerk in the post-office at Portland, Me. While there he read law with District Attor- ney Haynes. Afterward he took the law course at Harvard College, and was associated in practice with the noted Robert S. Rantoul, of Boston. In 1838 he went to Burlington, Ia., where his youngest brother, Joseph, was conducting a general store in company with Nathaniel Chase from Warner, N. H. Mr. Chase soon dying, Mr. Kimball bought out the latter's interest in the business; and he and Joseph were partners till the latter's death. The firm then became J. S. Kimball & Co., the company being his brother-in-law, S. B. Wright, whose wife still resides there. Shortly after starting the business, prompted to the step by his failing health, he retired from the legal profession, and came East in the capacity of buyer for the firm. The sales of the firm in the course of time increased from eight or nine thousand dollars a year to more than one million dollars, this being the largest business of the kind in the State. In 1863 the business cleared above all expenses one hundred and ten thousand dollars upon an in- vestment of three hundred thousand dollars. In 1864 quarters were secured in Chicago, but owing to Mr. Kimball's ill health nothing was done there. He, however, outlived all the partners he ever had except Mr. Wyman, formerly a clerk of the firm, and Erastus Chamberlain, who was sent to the firm from Massachusetts. The former is now the head of the great firm of Wyman, Rand & Co. In
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1866 Mr. Kimball sold out to William Bell, a Scotchman, and retired from the business. In 1854 he purchased a summer residence at Hopkinton, which has since become his per- manent home; but his business interests were still with the Burlington firm. He spent much time in Boston, especially during the winter. Another of his associates in the law business was General N. P. Banks, who had been one of his fellow-students. His services in the legislature were mainly on the Judiciary and Banking Committees. He was an able, persistent, and forcible speaker. He was a careful student, was well read in history, and had attained considerable knowledge of Ger- man, so that in his later life he was able to undertake translations from the German. He paid a bounty to the first ten men who enlisted in Hopkinton, besides advancing the money for the State bounty.
Mr. Kimball married Mary E. Stevens, daughter of Dr. John Stevens, of Goffstown, N. H., afterward a noted physician of Charles- town and Boston. She was brought up in Bos- ton and was married there. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Kimball are: John Stevens, Robert Rantoul, George Alexander, Mary Grace, and Kate Pearl. Both daughters are unmarried and reside with their mother in Hopkinton. Mr. Kimball contributed liber- ally to all the churches, while he had no pro- fessed creed. He did much to assist in local developments, and was most active in all progressive movements. His burial place is in Forest Hills Cemetery, Boston, Mass.
LIAS W. PIKE, of Goshen, an ex-mem- ber of the New Hampshire legislature and a veteran of the Civil War, was born in this town, October 12, 1838, son of Wilson S. and Julia G. (Martin) Pike. His
grandfather, Jarvis Pike, who resided in New- port, N. H., was a prosperous farmer.
Wilson S. Pike, who was reared to farm life in Newport, removed when about twenty-one years old to Goshen, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits for the greater part of his active period, and died in Septem- ber, 1866. The maiden name of his first wife was Harriett Currier. Her five chil- dren by him were: Mary, now the widow of Ezekiel Bates, late of Cohasset, Mass. ; Ma- hala, the widow of James Homer, who was for- merly in the livery business in Boston; Lo- dema, the wife of William Morgan, a retired jeweller of Providence, R. I. ; Julia, who died in 1849; and Cyrus F., born in 1833, who died at the age of twenty-two years. Wilson S. Pike's second marriage was contracted with Julia G. Martin, of Alexandria, N. H., who became the mother of eight children. These were: Elias W., the subject of this sketch ;. William Henry; Martha, Ezra G., Harriet, and James Homer, who are deceased; Ruth G., the wife of Eben A. Purington, a prosper- ous farmer and a Selectman of Goshen; and Ezra G. (second), who married Emma L. Purington, and is engaged in agricultural pur- suits in this town. Mrs. Wilson S. Pike is still living, and resides in Goshen.
Elias W. Pike was educated in the district schools and at the New London Academy. He was engaged in farming until October 15, 1862, when he joined Company F, Sixteenth Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers, under Colonel James Pike and Captain James Woods. He served in the Department of the Gulf upon the lower Mississippi during the late war, and contracted a severe illness that necessitated his discharge on August 20, 1863. After his return home he settled upon a farm located in the western part of this town, and was there engaged in agriculture until November 20,
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1894, when he purchased his present farm at Mill Village. On this property, which con- tains one hundred and twenty acres of land, he carries on general farming and dairying, raising considerable poultry ; and he makes a specialty of dealing in cattle. In politics he supports the Republican party. His record in the pub- lic service is one of which he has every reason to be proud. For eight years he was a mem- ber of the Board of Selectmen, and he was its Chairman for four years of that time. He has also served as Town Treasurer, Collector of Taxes, and member of the School Board; and he was Postmaster for some time and Census Enumerator in 1880 and 1890. As a member of the House of Representatives in 1887 and 1888 he made himself conspicuous by his able committee work and the zeal with which he labored for the best interests of the State.
On July 3, 1859, Mr. Pike wedded Mary F. Purington. She was born in Goshen, Febru- ary 6, 1843, daughter of Imri and Mary (Lear) Purington, natives respectively of Henniker, N. H., and Goshen. Imri Purington settled upon a farm in Goshen, where he resided until his death, which occurred about the year 1891. Mrs. Pike's mother died within the same year. They were the parents of four children, namely : Mary F., now Mrs. Pike; B. Jennie, the wife of E. H. Carr, a livery man of New- port, N. H. ; Eugene I., who married Luella J. Greggs, and resides in this town; and Emma L., Eugene's twin sister, who married Ezra G. Pike, of Goshen. Mr. and Mrs. Pike have had eight children - Dora M., Etta F., Fred W., Sherman L., Jennie L., Hatch C., Harry E., and Josephine B. Dora M. is the wife of W. O. Sides, 2d, a letter-carrier in Ports- mouth, N. H. ; Etta F. married Frank W. Baker, of Goshen, and died April 15, 1881; leaving one son - Fred W. ; Fred W. Pike, who is a prosperous farmer of this town,
wedded Mary J. Oakes, of Vermont, and has one son - Howard E., born July 31, 1893. Sherman L., who is operating a grist-mill in Newport, N. H., married Bertha J. Russell, of Goshen, and has two children - Bernard T. and Gladys E. Jennie L. is the wife of Er- nest H. Hurd, of Lynn, Mass., and has one son, Harry E. Harry E. Pike and Hatch were twins. The former is a shoemaker in Portsmouth, N. H. Hatch C. and Joseph- ine B. are residing at home. Mr. Pike, Sr., is Master of Pomona Grange, of Sullivan County, and is connected with Sunapee Moun- tain Grange, No. 144, of Mill Village. He takes a loyal interest in the general welfare of the community. Both he and Mrs. Pike are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
OHN W. STAPLES, M. D., a promi- nent physician of Franklin Falls, N. H., and a native of Wells, Me., was born January 25, 1855. His parents, John and Ann (Wells) Staples, also natives of Wells, belonged to families that had lived in that town for a number of generations. John Staples, who was a farmer, spent his life in the place of his birth, and died in 1879. His wife had died in 1877. They had four chil- dren, one of whom died in infancy. The others were: Albert, who died when nine years old; Moses, a farmer in Wells; and John W., the subject of this article.
John W. Staples received his early education by attending the district schools in the winter season. In the summer he worked on the farm. He afterward went for two terms to private schools; and when fifteen years old he entered South Berwick Academy in Maine, graduating in the class of 1872. On leaving the academy, he became a student of Dart- mouth College, and there graduated in 1876.
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Then he took the medical course at Vermont University, where he remained until ISSo, re- ceiving his degree when twenty-five years old. In that year he began practice in Franklin Falls, where he has since been located. He has also an office in Tilton, N. H.
The Doctor was married January 25, 1882, to Miss Martha L. Kimball, daughter of Ezra S. and Elizabeth (Colburn) Kimball, both of Haverhill, N.H. They have one child - Charles Wells, born August 29, 1884, who is at home. Dr. Staples has an excellent prac- tice in the village, and sufficient patients in Tilton to occupy about two or three hours each day. He has been a member of the School Board for six years, and he has also served acceptably for several years on the Board of Health. He is a Republican in politics, and both he and his wife are members of the Uni- tarian Society. He has been successful in life, and is highly regarded in the community.
ENRY M. BAKER, of Bow, Merri- mack County, lawyer and Congress- man, and son of Aaron Whittemore and Nancy (Dustin) Baker, was born in Bow, January 11, 1841. He comes of patriotic and heroic ancestry. His great-great-grandfather, Captain Joseph Baker, a Colonial surveyor, married Hannah, only daughter of Captain John Lovewell, the famous Indian fighter, who was killed in the battle of Pigwacket, May 8, 1725. A few years later the township of Sun- cook, or Lovewell's town, which included much of the present town of Pembroke, was granted by Massachusetts to the surviving par- ticipants and the heirs of those killed in that battle. As its boundaries conflicted with those of the town of Bow, chartered May 10, 1727, by Governor Wentworth, of New Hamp- shire, the grantees never received the full
benefits of the grant. The resulting conten- tion was terminated December 13, 1804, when that part of Bow east of the Merrimac River was annexed to Pembroke and Concord. The Colonial heroine, Hannah Dustin, was a maternal ancestor of Henry M. Baker. Another maternal relative was Walter Bryant, who surveyed many of the townships and the eastern boundary of the State, and was promi- nent in Colonial affairs.
Captain Baker's son, Joseph, married a de- scendant of one of the Scotch Covenanters, and settled in Bow. He was among the first to locate there, and the acres he cleared and cultivated are a part of the family homestead. He was a soldier in the Revolution and a man of energy and influence. James Baker, son of Joseph, married a grand-daughter of the Rev. Aaron Whittemore, the first clergyman settled in Pembroke. Of their six children Aaron Whittemore Baker was the eldest. When his father died from injuries accidentally re- ceived, he was only twelve years old, an early age to take up the burden of life. However, resolutely meeting the responsibilities he could not escape, and with the aid of his mother, he managed so that the younger chil- dren were well educated, and the farm was successfully cultivated. He was a man of sterling integrity, of advanced thought, a bitter opponent of slavery, an ardent advocate of temperance, and the friend of the friend- less. His wife, Nancy Dustin Baker, a lady of high character, sweet disposition, and great talent, was generally beloved. Of their chil- dren the only other survivor is John B. Baker, of Bow, a member of the legislature of 1897.
The Hon. Henry M. Baker attended the schools of his native town, the academies in Pembroke and Hopkinton, the New Hampshire Conference Seminary at Tilton, and Dart- mouth College, graduating from the last-
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named institution in 1863. Three years later .he received the degree of Master of Arts. Soon after graduation he commenced the study of law under the direction of Judge Minot, of Concord. Early in 1864 he was appointed to a clerkship in the War Department at Wash- ington, D.C., and a few months later, at his request, was transferred to the Treasury De- partment, where he filled different positions of trust and responsibility for several years. During this time he continued his law studies, and, having entered the law department of the Columbian University, graduated as Bachelor of Laws in 1866, and was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. In 1882 he was admitted to prac- tice in the Supreme Court of the United States: For several years he practised his profession at the seat of national government, where he soon obtained a large clientage, and was engaged in many important cases. His practice was varied, requiring close applica- tion to details and a knowledge of many sub- jects not included in the ordinary course of professional work.
The sons of the Granite State are noted for their love of home and for attachment to the hills, valleys, lakes, and rivers which make that State so picturesque and beautiful. Wherever they roam, or however long absent, they turn with loving devotion to the old homesteads, and greet with equal joy old friends and accustomed scenes. Though nec- essarily absent for months at a time in a period of several years, Mr. Baker has never ceased to be a resident of his native town ; and no year has passed without a visit to the old home, to mingle with his neighbors and friends and enjoy its pure air and beautiful scenery. He has always been an aggressive Republican, and every general election has found him at the polls. No demand has been
made for his aid or services that he has not promptly met. As a campaigner he has few superiors. No efficient plan for the develop- ment of our material, social, educational, political, or religious interests or reputation is without his approval or hearty co-operation. No son of New Hampshire is more jealous of her good name and high standing in all that constitutes a worthy commonwealth than Mr. Baker. At every opportunity he has been earnest in his advocacy of State aid to her public libraries, institutions of learning and of charity, and for the preservation of her his- torical records and objects of patriotic interest.
In 1886-87 Mr. Baker was Judge Advocate General of our National Guard, with the rank of Brigadier-general. He was nominated in the Merrimack District by acclamation as the candidate of his party for the State Senate in 1890. It was close fighting-ground; for in the two preceding elections there had been no choice by the people, and in the last election the Democratic candidate had received a plu- rality. General Baker took personal charge of his campaign, and won a great political victory, running largely ahead of the general ticket. While in his district the Republican candidate for governor had a plurality of only seventy-six votes, he received a plurality of one hundred and fifty and a majority of seventy-five votes. At the same time his energetic canvass contributed greatly to the general success of his party, and its control of the legislature that year was largely due to him. In the Senate he was Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, a member of several other important committees, and the Chairman of the Joint Special Committee on the Revis- ion, Codification, and Amendment of the Public Statutes of the State. He took an active part in all the proceedings of the ses- sion, became the Republican leader, and was
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recognized as a forceful and logical debater, well informed upon all public questions.
General Baker was elected Representative in Congress from the Second District in 1892 by a good plurality, reversing the Democratic victory in the preceding election. In 1894 he was re-elected by a plurality more than four- teen times greater than that of 1892. In the Fifty-third Congress he was assigned to the Committees on Agriculture and on the Militia. In the next Congress he was a mem- ber of the Committees on the Judiciary and on the Election of President, Vice-President, and Representatives in Congress. He was active and faithful in committee work, and was Chairman of one of the standing subcommit- tees of the Judiciary Committee. Several important matters were reported by him.
His principal speeches in Congress were made in opposition to the repeal of the Federal election laws, on the Methods of Accounting in the Treasury Department, in favor of the Purchase and Distribution to the Farmers of the Country of Rare and Valuable Agricult- ural and Horticultural Seeds, on the Tariff, on Protection not Hostile to Exportation, on the Necessity of Adequate Coast Defences, on the Criminal Jurisdiction of the United States Supreme Court, and on Civil Service Reform. Several of these speeches were printed in pamphlet form, and many thousand copies of them were distributed. Mr. Baker was a fre- quent participator in the general discussions of the House, and the Congressional Record shows his views upon every important subject of recent national legislation. He was not again a candidate for re-election.
General Baker has been heard upon the stump frequently, and is active wherever he can aid his party. His campaign speeches are distinguished for fairness, the entire absence of abuse, and for a clear and vigorous pres-
entation of the policy and platform of the several parties. He is a member of the New Hampshire Club, and has spoken before it on several occasions in advocacy of the educa- tional, historical, and business interests of our State. His remarks in favor of the substitu- tion of silver or silver certificates for the United States and Treasury notes now in cir- culation, but to be cancelled as silver or silver certificates are issued, were printed, and attracted considerable attention. In religion he is a Unitarian. He is a Mason, a Knight Templar, and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He has made valuable contributions to the New Hampshire Historical Society, of which he is a member, and has established prizes in Dart- mouth College. He has been an extensive traveller in America and Europe, and a close student and keen observer. An independent thinker, he investigates every subject upon which he is called to speak or to act. He is a good organizer, is not discouraged by opposi- tion, and possesses high executive ability. He has achieved no success he has not earned.
OHN TYLER was well known in Claremont as an inventor and builder. He was a son of John Tyler and a grandson of Benjamin Tyler, both eminent mechanics. Benjamin, who settled in Clare- mont in the spring of 1776, built the first dam across the Sugar River at West Claremont, and was for many years one of the most public- spirited men in town. The History of Clare- mont gives the following facts concerning his grandson : -
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