USA > New Hampshire > Belknap County > Biographical review : containing life sketches of leading citizens of Stafford and Belknap countries, New Hampshire > Part 39
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the Orthodox church. One of his sons, Moses, was a General in the State militia. Jacob, Gardner Cook's father, was also born in Campton. He was a farmer and a miller, was engaged principally in grinding grain, and died in Gilmanton, N. H., at the age of seventy-one. Of his children - six boys and five girls - five are now living.
Gardner Cook acquired his education in the common schools of Campton. He afterward worked for about two years and a half in a bleachery in Lowell, Mass., and then spent about a year in his native town. In March, 1849, he found work in what is now known as the Laconia Car Shops, then just opened, and, as stated above, cut the first stick of timber used there. Nine months later he left to take charge of the Whitcher pail factory. Ambitious and enterprising, he regarded no position as permanent, but was steadily look- ing forward to bettering himself. In 1852 he formed a copartnership with W. H. Leavitt, and started in the lumber business, under the firm name of Leavitt & Cook. The venture prospered, and the partnership lasted thirteen years. Mr. Cook subsequently purchased Mr. Leavitt's share in the business, and eventually took his son, Addison G., into partnership, on which occasion the present firm name was adopted.
Mr. Cook has connection with other im- portant enterprises. He is a stockholder in the Laconia & Lake Village Water Works; a Director in the Laconia Electric Lighting Company ; a Director in the People's National Bank of this city; a Trustee of the Laconia Savings Bank; and was for a time on the Board of Trustees of the Lakeport National Bank.
In 1847 Mr. Cook was united in marriage with Martha Allen. They have two living children, namely : Frank D., of the Frank D.
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Cook Lumber Company of Nashua, N.H. ; and Addison G., the junior member of the Laconia firm of G. Cook & Son. Mr. Cook is a straight Republican and strong Protectionist. He cast his first Presidential vote for John P. Hale in 1845, and was an ardent supporter of Fremont in 1856, and of Lincoln in 1860. In 1873-74 he served as a member of the State legislature, to which he was elected from Gil- ford, serving on the Finance Committee and on the Railroad Committee. It was he who introduced and obtained the passage of the bill for the division of the town of Gilford. A member of Winnipiseogee Lodge, No. 7, I. O. O. F., of Laconia, since 1849, he has held all the chairs in the lodge; and he was a charter member of Laconia Encampment. He has also been a delegate to the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire. Mr. Cook is a member of the Free Baptist Society of La- conia, and he sang in the choir for twenty-five years. An able business man, he has earned a name for doing well all that he undertakes, and he is highly esteemed wherever he is known.
ILLIAM WENTWORTH, a promi- nent and well-to-do agriculturist of Farmington, was born here Novem- ber 10, 1820, son of William Wentworth, Sr. The family, which comes of English origin, is one of the oldest in this section of the county. Mr. Wentworth's grandfather, Jonathan Went- worth, was a pioneer of Farmington. Jona- than came when there was but a little hamlet where since has grown a flourishing and popu- lous township. William Wentworth, Sr., was born in the house which was subsequently his home for the forty years of his life, and where he reared his children. Succeeding to the homestead that his parents reclaimed from the wilderness, he added to its improve-
ments, and was engaged in agriculture until his early death. An industrious, upright, law-abiding citizen, he was held in much re- spect, and exerted a good influence in his community. In politics he was actively identified with the Democratic party. He married Miss Huldah Hussey, who bore him five children, of whom three are living. These are: Micaijah, of Rochester; William, the subject of this biographical sketch; and Ezekiel.
William Wentworth remained on the home- stead until seventeen years old, obtaining his first knowledge of books in the district school, and being well trained to habits of honesty and economy by his parents. After following a farmer's life in this vicinity for a time, he went to Rochester, where he remained fifteen years. In this period he was first employed in the occupation of butcher. Then he kept a grocery and hardware store for three years. Disposing of his store, he opened a livery stable, which he managed about a year. The following seven years were spent in the coal and grain business. At length he returned to Farmington, purchased the Ricker farm, and there he has since resided, carrying on gen- eral farming and dairying with remarkable suc- cess. He has two hundred acres of land well adapted for the crops common to this part of New England, and keeps about thirty head of cattle in his fine dairy, having had at one time as high as one hundred head. The good judg- ment of the proprietor is everywhere apparent on the estate, which compares well, in point of improvements and appointments, with any in the locality.
Mr. Wentworth was married in April, 18448, to Miss Martha Demerritt, daughter of Mark Demerritt, and they have become the parents of five children. Of these two are deceased. The others are: Emma, a resident of New
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York ; Ora, who lives at home; and Mattie, who is principal of the grammar school at Arlington Heights, Mass. Mr. Wentworth has been an adherent of the Democratic party since early manhood. He has always taken much interest in the welfare of his town and county, aiding and encouraging the measures most beneficial in his opinion to the general public. In the year 1842 he was a Represen- tative to the General Court at Concord. He is a veteran Mason, belonging to Motolinia Lodge of Rochester.
OSEPH E. BERRY, a prosperous farmer and for many years Selectman of Alton, N. H., was born here, April 26, 1830, a son of Joseph H. and Polly (Stan- ton) Berry.
Joseph H. Berry was born March 20, 1794. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and drew a bounty of one hundred and sixty acres of land. His father, George Berry, who lived and died in Strafford, then Barrington, N. H., was twice married. The first wife's children were -- George, Benjamin, Susan, Isaac, and Abigail. Joseph H. was the only child by the second marriage. He removed from Straf- ford in 1824. His wife Polly was the eldest daughter of William Stanton, who had seven other children. The Stanton family record is as follows: Ezra, born August 31, 1792; Polly (Mrs. Berry), born September 7, 1794; Sally, born July 15, 1796; Nicholas, born December 9, 1798; Ephraim, born November 20, 1800; Ezekiel, born February 15, 1803; Tamson, born February 2, 1806; Betsey, born October 11, ISIO. Joseph H. and Polly Berry had three children; namely, Sarah, Louisa A., and Joseph E. The father died in 1873, aged seventy-nine, and the mother in 1870, aged seventy-six. Sarah, their eldest
child, died when four years old. Louisa A. Berry has taught school for several years.
After first attending the district schools, Joseph E. Berry took up some of the higher branches of study at Gilmanton Academy, and also at Tilton Seminary, which he attended one term. When he had finished his school- ing, at about twenty-one years of age, he joined his father in carrying on the farm, hav- ing previously assisted between the sessions of school. He now owns the original farm and seventy acres additional. From 1860 to 1866 inclusive, with the exception of the year 1863, he was on the Alton Board of Selectmen, which during those years was obliged to do much extra work on account of the demands of the war, and he and Amos L. Rollins were members of the board when the town raised their war debt. He is a stanch Republican, as was his father.
On October 26, 1853, Mr. Berry married Miss Mary E. Huckins, daughter of John D. Huckins, of Alton. She was born in Mad- bury, Strafford County, N. H., where her parents resided until their removal to Alton in 1837. She had two brothers and two sisters ; namely, Lucy C., Hannah, Andrew, and John J. Huckins. Lucy is married to Durrell S. Chamberlain; Hannah is the wife of Dr. Rufus Pearle, of Milton, N. H. ; Andrew (de- ceased) lived in Alton; John I. resides in Farmington, N. H. Joseph E. and Mary Berry have but one child living, a son, Will- iam H. Their only daughter, Mary Ellen, died when seven years old.
After acquiring a district school education, William H. Berry learned the trade of a blacksmith and wheelwright, serving a two years' apprenticeship with Asa Garland, of North Barnstead. He then began blacksmith - ing on his own account in Alton, also working at farming with his father, and has a good
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business. He has been a Selectman of Alton three years, and is otherwise actively interested in town matters. Upon the organ- ization of the North Barnstead Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, he was chosen Master, and con- tinues to be a member. He is married to Martha A. Garland, a daughter of Asa Gar- land, of whom he learned his trade. She was graduated from New Hampton Institution, and taught several years. Mr. and Mrs. William HI. Berry have two children; namely, Mary Gertrude and Philip Ray.
I S. ANNIS, M. D., a successful medical practitioner of Rochester, was born in Littleton, N. H., De- cember 29, 1856, son of Amasa S. and Mercy WV. (Palmer) Annis, his father being a farmer and laborer by occupation. When the subject of this sketch was quite young, his parents took him to Manchester, N. H., where he spent some years of his early life, attending the common and high schools. Later he was graduated from the Peterboro High School, after which he returned to Manchester and clerked for two years in a clothing store. He next entered the New Hampshire Conference Seminary and Female College at Tilton, where he remained three years. Subse- quently, he began teaching in Jaffrey, Chesh- ire County, and was later thus occupied two years in the Conant High School, two years in the high school in Peterboro, and five years at Harvard, Mass., being principal of the different schools. He then entered the Boston University School of Medicine, where he studied for a year, doing the regular work of two years in one. On leaving the University, he entered Hahnemann Medical College, in Chicago, Ill. Still later he spent two years in a Chicago hospital, and received his Medi-
cal Degree in 1891. The following three years he practised his profession in Chicago, coming to Rochester in 1894.
Dr. Annis was married October 9, 1889, to Miss Lucy M. Walbridge, daughter of the Rev. William H. Walbridge, of Peterboro. He has two children - Burnham Walbridge and Jennette Emily.
Dr. Annis is a member of Harvard Lodge, No. 60, I. O. O. F., of Harvard, Mass. ; the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts; Union En- campment of Peterboro; Humane Lodge, No. 21, A. F. & A. M. ; the Mount Aaratt Senate, No. 603, Knights of Ancient Essenic Order ; and the. Chicago Medical Society. He and his wife are members of the Unitarian church.
ILLSWORTH H. ROLLINS, who is ex- tensively engaged in lumbering along Lake Winnepesaukee, and is one of the most prominent young business men of Alton, was born in this town, October 26, 1861, son of Enos G. and Adeline (Piper) Rollins. His paternal great-grandfather was one of the earliest settlers of Alton, and Jere- miah, the father of Enos G., lived and died here. Both the great-grandfather and grand- father followed the occupation of a farmer. Enos G. was also engaged in agriculture; but in addition he did a fair-sized business in lumbering for some years. He is now retired, and makes his home with his son, Ellsworth H. By his first wife, Adeline, who died in 1885, he was the father of three other children ; namely, Charles P., Carrie B., and George W. Charles went to Michigan, where he is a farmer, is married, and has children. Carrie B., now residing in Alton, married Frank HI. Carpenter, who is in the painting business. George W. is married and engaged in farming in Alton. On December 24, 1886, the father
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contracted a second marriage with Miss Lois Chase, daughter of Nathaniel Chase, of Alton. No children were born of this marriage.
After attending the district schools of Alton, Ellsworth H. Rollins was for a few terms a student of Wolfboro Academy. He subsequently worked at farming with his father until the spring of 1884, when he pur- chased the steamer "Mayflower." This he ran successfully for several years, doing freighting and general work on Lake Winne- pesaukee. In the spring of 1889, he pur- chased a half-interest in a livery business with F. P. Hobbs at Wolfboro. A year later he engaged in the lumber business with Ches- ter Twombley, under the firm name of Twombley & Rollins. He has also devoted considerable time to buying and selling horses, making his purchases chiefly in the West and in Canada. In the fall of 1891, he took charge of the Savage Hotel, and con- ducted it for a year, but retaining his interest in the lumber business. He has given his time almost exclusively to it during the past few years. Early in December, 1896, he completed the erection of a new residence, two and one-half stories in height, and supplied with furnace heat and other modern con- veniences.
The Republican party has in Mr. Rollins an indefatigable worker, and the town of Alton one who is devoted to her interests. In the spring of 1891, he was elected Selectman ; and he was re-elected in 1892 and again in 1893. In 1892 he was elected to the State legislature from Alton, and served two years. He is now a member of the State Central Re- publican Committee, and Chairman of the Republican Executive Committee in Alton. During the past five years he has served as a delegate to State, County, and Senatorial Conventions. He is both a Justice of the 1
Peace and Justice of Quorum. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, having membership in Royal Arch Chapter, of Farmington, and to the Knights of Pythias of Alton. The future holds for few persons brighter prospects than for Mr. Rollins, who is well deserving of all the recognition he has received from his townsmen.
ILLIAM WATERHOUSE, M.D. one of the oldest physicians in Strafford County, having been born August 28, 1816, over eighty years ago, is still engaged in active practice in Barrington, his native town. His parents were Jeremiah and Susan (Twombley) Waterhouse.
John Waterhouse, his great-grandfather, said to have been an Englishman by birth, was the first of the family to come to Barrington, settling near Green Hill, on the place now owned by Irving Locke. Jeremiah Water- house, son of Timothy, and grandson of John, spent his life in Barrington. He was the father of six children, namely : Timothy, who died when fourteen years of age; Maria, who died at eight years of age; Alexander; Will- iam; Jeremiah, whose death occurred in 1890; and William, of this sketch.
William Waterhouse laid the foundation of his education in the district school and at Strafford Academy. He then entered the of- fice of Dr. Jefferson Smith, of Dover, with whom he read medicine one year. Following that, he studied for a year at Dartmouth Col- lege, and subsequently at the University of the city of New York, Medical Department, where he was graduated in 1842. Returning to Barrington, he engaged in practice here for ten years; in 1852 he went to Farmington, where he remained a year; and from there he went to Tewksbury, Mass., in the last named place holding the position of Assistant Super-
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intendent of the State Almshouse for two years and a half. From Tewksbury he went to Bos- ton and attended a course of lectures in that city, and in 1857 he again came to Barrington, where he has now practised for forty years. On February 26, 1849, he married Miss Martha W .. Buzzell, of Barrington. They have no children.
Dr. Waterhouse is a stanch Republican in politics. He voted for William Henry Harri- son for President in 1840, and for Benjamin Harrison in 1888. For eight years the doctor has been Superintendent of the Barrington schools. He served as Town Clerk five years, and has been Justice of the Peace over forty years. He is a member of the Strafford Dis- trict Medical Society ; also of the New Hamp- shire State Medical Society. Dr. Waterhouse attends the Congregational church, toward whose support he is a liberal contributor.
OHIN DOW, a prosperous farmer of Barnstead, was born here, July 11, 1825, son of Timothy and Mary (Hodg- don) Dow. His grandfather, Simon Dow, came to Barnstead from Durham and cleared quite a large piece of land, making a good farm for himself and his descendants. Simon Dow's six children were : Jeremiah, Timothy, John O., Betsey, Hannah, and Margarette. Timothy Dow, who was a well-to-do farmer and an influential man of affairs, held many offices of trust. In the State militia he held a commission for twenty-four years, and rose to the rank of Major-general. He was a strong Democrat, and was much interested in civil and military matters. His children were: Charles Hodgdon, Pamelia, and John. The first of these is the subject of another sketch, wherein may be found fuller details concerning the family and its connections.
John Dow, the youngest of his parents' chil- dren, attended the district schools of his native town for the usual period of his boy- hood. After finishing his schooling, he went to Roxbury, Mass., and there worked with his brother Charles at brick-making for a few years. Then he returned home and took up farming in company with his father. He has since resided on the home farm, which subse- quently became his by inheritance. He has carried on the farm most successfully, and has made extensive additions to the place. For seven years he was Selectman of the town, being Chairman of the Board for four years of that period. In 1863-64 he was in the State legislature; and while there he was on the Committee on Insane Asylum Business. Hc has been Auditor and Supervisor, and has held other minor offices. A prominent Democrat of the town, he is actively interested in polit- ical matters. The high estimation in which he is held is attested by his wide circle of friends and his popularity with all.
Mr. Dow was married December 30, 1849, to Mary J., daughter of John Lang, who was a son of William Lang. Mr. and Mrs. Dow have had three children - John C., Fred, and George W. When he was eighteen years of age, John C. went to Boston, Mass., where he was employed by William H. Dow, a manu- facturer of fertilizers. After the death of his employer, he succeeded to the business, and his brother Fred joined in partnership with him. They built up an extensive trade in Cambridge and Medford, Mass., manufactur- ing phosphates, fertilizers, and the like. In 1894, Fred, whose health had become im- paired, went to several places in the hope of restoring it, and seemed to improve somewhat at Colorado Springs. He spent a summer at the mountains; but he failed again, and died in March, 1896, aged thirty-six. He left a
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widow and one son, Frank R. John C. now carries on the business. He is married and has one child, Fred H. George, the third son of John Dow, works with his father, is Post- master of North Barnstead, and a prominent member of the grange. He married Edith M., daughter of Horatio H. Shackford, who was a son of Seth Shackford. Mr. and Mrs. George Dew have had two children - William H. and Mary E. William H. died some time ago.
LBERT GALLATIN FOLSOM has been President of the Laconia Savings Bank for over a quarter of a century, President of the People's National Bank since its incorporation in May, 1889, and is the old- est Odd Fellow in Laconia. He was born October 12, 1816, son of Jonathan and Sarah (Rowe) Folsom, and comes of an old New Hampshire family.
Jonathan Folsom was born in Dover, N. H., but settled at Meredith Bridge, now Laconia. He was a carpenter by trade, and was also a farmer. Opening a wayside inn on Pleasant Street as early as 1813, he successfully man- aged it for a number of years. The house is now the residence of Mrs. Atkinson. He owned the land as far as the depot on Main Street and Pleasant Street, which then consti- tuted part of the old Providence road. He was a popular and prominent citizen and repre- sented the district in the State legislature in 1832. He was a member of the North Congre- gational Church. His death occurred in 1872, in his ninety-fourth year. He and his wife, who was a daughter of a Mr. Rowe, of Gilford, N. H., were the parents of eleven children.
Albert Gallatin Folsom is the only survivor of the family. He was born in the Pleasant Street home, and was educated in the common schools of Meredith Bridge, as Laconia was
then called. As a boy he was continually ail- ing, and was not able to attend school regu- larly. When he was about eleven years old, he went to Portsmouth, his parents thinking the change might benefit him, and there he was engaged for some time in the store kept by his brother, Josiah Gilman Folsom. Commercial life seemed to suit him and bring out his latent energies, and his brother eventually went West, leaving him in charge of the store. In 1836 he returned to Laconia, and entered the employ of James Mulineaux as clerk in a coun- try store on Mill Street ; and three years later he purchased Mr. Mulineaux's interest. He had sole charge of the business for some time, and then, admitting Mr. George F. Bosher as partner, established the firm of Folsom & Bosher. In 1857 he purchased and moved into the Gove Block, and he subsequently had a clothing store at Sierra Gordo Place. In 1 860 the partnership with Mr. Bosher was dis- solved, and in 1861 Mayor Smith became his partner, the firm becoming Folsom & Smith. Eight years later Mr. Folsom sold his share in the business to Mr. Smith.
As a business man Mr. Folsom's methods are sagacious and prudent, and he has the con- fidence of all with whom he has dealings. He has long been identified with the prosperity of Laconia, and many of his works will live after him. He built the Folsom Block in 1861, was associated with Mr. Smith in erecting the Smith Block on the opposite side of Main Street. He opened the Folsom Opera House in 1862, and he was one of the organizers of the Laconia Street Railroad Company. He sold his share in this enterprise five years ago, but has been again drawn into connection with it, having been elected President of the corpo- ration in January, 1896. He has been identi- fied with the Laconia Savings Bank nearly sixty years, becoming a member of the board
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of trustees about 1841. He was elected Presi- dent of this bank in IS71, and has been a member of the investment committee since that year. Mr. Folsom has a farm of seventy acres, which he finds pleasure in superintending.
HIe has been twice married. His first wife, who was Olive B. Robinson, of Gilford, N. H., bore him four children, one of whom is living, a daughter, now the wife of Mayor S. B. Smith. Mr. Folsom's second wife was, before marriage, Miss Imogene F. Harris, of Fran- conia. She, also, has one daughter, Alberta, twelve years of age.
Mr. Folsom is actively interested in politics as a Republican. He has taken thirty-two de- grees in Masonry, and belongs to Mount Lebanon Lodge, No. 32, F. & A. M., Union Chapter, R. A. M., No. 7, Pilgrim Command- ery, K. T., and Edward A. Raymond Consis- tory at Nashua. As an Odd Fellow he has held all the chairs in Winnipiseogee Lodge No. 7, of Laconia, and belongs to Laconia En- campment, No. 9. Mr. Folsom was the last Captain of the Winnipiseogee Guards, an inde- pendent militia company that was quite noted in its day. He was ensign in the State militia and was commissioned Captain in the Twenty- ninth Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers, by Governor Page in 1841. In religious belief he is a Congregationalist. Though in poor health until he was twenty years old, he is now remarkably well and appears much younger than he actually is.
ILLIAM W. CUSHMAN, the Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners of Strafford County, and the proprietor of an extensive livery busi- ness in Dover, was born February 26, 1841, in the town of Avon, Franklin County, Me., son of William C. and Sarah (Rollins) Cush-
man. His father, who was born and reared in Franklin County, Maine, after his marriage settled on a farm in Avon, and there was en- gaged in agriculture until his demise, which occurred January 5, 1890, at the age of seventy-four years. In his political affilia- tions William C. Cushman was a strong Re- publican, and took an active part in the organ- ization of that party. He was much respected in the community for his integrity, and was one of the foremost members of the Universal- ist church of that locality. His wife, Sarah, also a native of Franklin County, and an es- teemed member of the Methodist Episcopal church, is still living on the old homestead in Avon, an active and intelligent woman of fourscore years, scorning assistance in the per- formance of her daily household duties. To her and her husband ten children were born; namely, William W., James E., Jonathan, Mary Etta, Sarah E., Cora, George F., Lizzie, Addie, and Emma. James E. was killed at Morris Island. Mary Etta, Lizzie, Addie, and George F., are also deceased.
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