USA > New Hampshire > Colony, province, state, 1623-1888: history of New Hampshire > Part 58
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The reports issued during General Head's administration not only give the name and history of every officer and soldier who went into the service from the State, but they embrace biographical sketches of all the field officers who fell in battle or who died of disease during the war, together with a brief history of all the organizations, giving their principal movements from their departure to their return home. These books also include the military his- tory of New Hampshire from 1623 to 1861, the data for which were gathered with great perseverance and under many discouragements from various sources in this and other States, and from the rolls in the War Department at Washington, thus making the united reports a work of inestimable value to the present and coming generations, and, at the same time, constituting an
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invaluable contribution to the martial history of the nation. He was the first adjutant-general in our country who conceived the idea of having hand- somely engraved on steel, with attractive and appropriate symbols, and of a size adapted to framing, a memorial certificate to be presented to all surviving officers and soldiers from the State, and to the widows or nearest relatives of those who gave their lives in the great struggle for the preservation of the Republic.
His gubernatorial administration was throughout eminently successful, creditable alike to his own ability and fidelity and to the fair fame of the State which he so honorably served.
During his term of office there arose many important measures and questions whose consideration demanded practical good sense, wisdom, and impartial judgment. The well-known Buz- zell murder case, which finally became one of the most celebrated in the criminal records of the world, had been twice tried when Governor Head entered the executive chair. Buzzell was then awaiting execution, and thousands had petitioned for a commu- tation of his sentence. His Excellency and his official advisers gave a long and patient hearing to counsel for the State and for the defence, and to all others who desired to be heard, and then, after mature deliberation, refused the prayer on the ground that no new evidence had been presented that would warrant the changing of the decision of the court. Buzzell suffered the ex- treme penalty of the law, and the conclusion in his case was sus- tained by legal and public opinion. The project of a new State Prison, which had been successfully inaugurated under his prede- cessor, was carried forward to its completion. The commissioners selected to superintend the work consulted with the governor at every step, and without even a whisper of extravagance or job- bery the building was finished, dedicated, and opened for use, and stands to-day, in thoroughness of structure and excellence of arrangement, second to no other penitentiary in the country. There came before Governor Head many judicial and other ap- pointments, all of which were made with the single aim of serv- ing the highest interest of the State. His administration took its rank in history as one of the purest, wisest, and best that New Hampshire has ever had.
The " Holderness School for Boys " was opened in 1879 as a
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diocesan school in the old mansion of the Livermores, and the venerable church served as its chapel until the erection of a beau- tiful Gothic chapel was demanded. Destroyed by fire in March, 1882, the historic homestead has given place to new buildings specially adapted to the school work. Rev. Frank C. Coolbaugh is the rector of the school, and also of Trinity church in the town of Holderness.
St. Mary's school for girls, in Concord, was opened seven years later, or in 1886, in the mansion occupied by Hall Burgin, Governor Gilmore, and Judge Asa Fowler. The Chase Home for Children, an orphanage under episcopal patronage, was opened in Portsmouth in 1879.
In 1880 Aretas Blood, of Manchester, was chairman of the electors who cast the vote of New Hampshire for James A. Garfield for president of the United States.
Aretas Blood, a descendant of James Blood, an early settler of Concord, Mass., was born October 8, 1816, in Weathersfield, Vt. Having learned the trade of a blacksmith and machinist, Mr. Blood, after having visited the West, settled in Man- chester in 1853, and established the next year the Manchester Locomotive Works. In 1857 he became the agent and manager of the company. Here his mechanical skill, executive ability, and judgment in financial affairs have had full scope for their exercise ; and he has built up one of the largest manufacturing establishments in the State. The works can turn out one hundred and fifty locomotives and fifty steam fire engines every year, and give employment to seven hundred skilled workmen. Over thirteen hundred of these locomotives are now in use. Mr. Blood's financial ability has been called into the service of several manufacturing enterprises and banks.
Mr. Blood has been very successful in business ; and his success in life may be attributed to his stubborn perseverance, as well as his good judgment and remarkable common sense.
Mr. Blood was married September 4, 1845, to Lavina K. Kendall. His daughter Nora married Frank P. Carpenter; his daughter Emma married Dr. L. M. French.
Hon. Charles H. Bell, of Exeter, the Republican candidate for governor, elected in the fall of 1880, was inaugurated in
Aretas Blood
1881]
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June, 1881. As was expected at the time of his election the administration of Governor Bell was marked by the dignity and high character of the chief magistrate.
Governor Charles H. Bell, son of Governor John and Persis (Thom) Bell, and nephew of Governor Samuel Bell, was born in Nov., 1823, in Chester, was educated at Pembroke and Phillips Exeter Academies, graduated at Dartmouth College in 1844, read
CHARLES H. BELL.
law with Bell and Tuck in Exeter, and subsequently, continued with his cousin Hon. Samuel Dana Bell, one of the most emi- nent lawyers in the State, and who for five years held the office of chief justice of New Hampshire. On his admittance to the bar, the young lawyer commenced to practice in his native town. and later removed to Great Falls, and finally settled in Exeter. He entered actively into practice, and speedily manifested abil- ities of a high order and unusual professional attainments, which at once raised him to prominence. In 1856 he was appointed solicitor of Rockingham county, and filled the office for ten years. He was a representative in 1858, and chairman of the judiciary committee. He was re-elected in 1859 and 1860, being elected speaker the last year. He developed rare qualities as a
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presiding officer. With an extended knowledge of parliamentary law, coupled with his native dignity and firmness, he wielded the gavel with such ability and judicial fairness as to make him one of the most popular of speakers.
In 1863 and 1864 Mr. Bell was elected to the State Senate, and during the latter year served as president of that body. In 1872 and 1873 he was again chosen to the House, bringing with him a ripeness and experience in legisla- tive duties that gave to him the leadership of his party, and made him one of its most influential members. In 1879 Mr. Bell was appointed United States Senator, for the special session of that year, by Governor Prescott, to take the place of Bainbridge Wadleigh, whose term of office had expired.
At the commencement at Dartmouth College in June, 1881, the degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him.
The Democratic candidate for governor in the fall election of 1880 was Hon. Frank Jones, of Portsmouth. Mr. Jones was born in Barrington, September 15, 1832. He was a son of Thomas and Mary (Priest) Jones, and a grandson of Pelatiah Jones, a successful shipmaster of Portsmouth. Mr. Jones started in business in Portsmouth, and soon gained a reputa- tion for business sagacity and executive ability. Financially he became the most successful man in New Hampshire.
1 Frank Jones is a familiar name with the people of New Hampshire, and well known beyond its borders. It is synonymous with pluck, energy, and success. He has been four times the Democratic candidate for mayor of Portsmouth, and twice elected to that office-in 1868 and 1869-although the Republican party was in a majority in the city at the time. He was also, for two years, the candidate of his party for State senator, and, though failing of an election, very nearly overcame the decided Republican majority in the dis- trict. In 1875 he was nominated with great unanimity by the Democratic convention at Newmarket for representative in Congress for the First Con- gressional District, and in the election defeated the Republican nominee, Col. Charles S. Whitehouse, of Rochester, although at the previous election the Republicans elected their candidate. Renominated for the next Congress, in 1877, the Republicans made a determined effort to secure his defeat, selecting as their candidate Gen. Gilman Marston, of Exeter, who had won distinction in military as well as civil life, and had been three times elected to the same office in past years ; yet so great was Mr. Jones' popularity and so well satis- fied were the people with his services for the previous term, that his oppo- nents were unable to compass his defeat, and he was returned by a plurality of forty votes over the formidable candidate who had been pitted against him. At the close of his second term in Congress, although strongly importuned to
I H. H. Metcalf.
Frank Jones.
4) Bank Note to Boston
Virgil 6. Silman
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be again a candidate, he positively refused. He was actively interested in the railroad war of 1887. Mr. Jones has acquired a very large fortune, which he uses in a public-spirited way. He built the Rockingham house, the pride of Portsmouth upon the site of the old Langdon house, the home of Woodbury Langdon, a brother of John Langdon, and one of the early judges of the Su- preme Court. The original house was burned in the great fire which devas- tated Portsmouth in 17SI, but was rebuilt by Judge Langdon five years later. In 1830 the place was purchased by a company and transformed into a hotel. Coming into the possession of Mr. Jones it was substantially rebuilt in 1870, and again in ISS4. "The Wentworth" at Newcastle, the island town in Portsmouth harbor, was completed by Mr. Jones in 1879-So.
One of the leading members of the State Senate in 1881 was Hon. V. C. Gilman, of Nashua.
Virgil Chase Gilman, a member of the historical Gilman fam- ily, a descendant of Moses Gilman, and a son of Emerson and Delia (Way) Gilman, was born in Unity, May 5, 1827. He was educated at the public schools of Lowell, Mass., and settled in Nashua in 1843. At the age of twenty-four years he embarked in the manufacture of card-board and glazed paper, then an in- fant enterprise in this country, and continued in the business for over twenty years. His health required out-of-door exercise after long application to office work; and he devoted his ener- gies to cultivating a farm, and breeding Jersey cattle, driving horses, and Plymouth Rock fowls. In 1876 he accepted the office of treasurer of the Nashua Savings Bank, which cares for deposits of over three million dollars, and is a director in the Nashua Iron and Steel Company, the Underhill Edge Tool Company, the Amesbury Axle Company, and the Indian Head National Bank. Mr. Gilman has served the city of Nashua in every office from ward clerk to mayor, as assessor, member of the board of education, and trustee, secretary, and treasurer of the public library. In the Senate he served as chairman of the judiciary committee, where his business-like and methodical habits were of great advantage to, and fully appreciated by, the Senate and by the public. Here his sound judgment and ster- ling common sense had ample opportunities for exercise. An active and influential member of the Congregational church, public-spirited in forwarding every good work, his energy, integ- rity, and discretion are widely recognized. In 1850 he married
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Sarah Louise, daughter of Gideon Newcomb, Esq., of Roxbury. Of their two children, one died in infancy, and the other, Har- riet Louise Gilman, married Charles W. Hoitt, a lawyer of Nashua.
At the death of Hon. Evarts W. Farr, in November, 1880, Mr. Ossian Ray, of Lancaster, was elected to fill out the unex- pired term. He was twice re-elected and served until March 4, 1885.
Ossian Ray was born December 13, 1835, in Hinesburg, Vt., and traces his descent from Revolutionary patriots. In 1854 he settled in Lancaster, and at the age of twenty-one was ad- mitted to the bar, and formed a partnership with Hon. Jacob Benton. He has since been associated with Hon. William S. Ladd, Hon. Irving W. Drew, Hon. Chester B. Jordon, and Philip Carpenter. Mr. Ray represented Lancaster in 1868 and 1869, and was solicitor of Coos county from 1862 to 1872. He was appointed United States attorney for the district of New Hampshire by President Hayes. He was an active and influen- tial member of Congress, and ranks very high in the legal pro- fession.
Samuel W. Hale, of Keene, was elected governor in the fall of 1882, defeating M. V. B. Edgerley, of Manchester, the Dem- ocratic candidate, and was inaugurated in June, 1883.
Governor Hale's administration of the affairs of the common- wealth was characterized by dignity, moderation, and prudence ; and he retired from his high office, at the close of his term, with the respect of political friend and foe.
Governor Hale was born in Fitchburg, Mass., in 1823, and in 1845 set- tled in Dublin, removing to Keene in 1859, when he became extensively in- terested in manufacturing enterprises, railroads, and large financial transac- tions.
He was elected a member of the State legislature in 1866, and was re-elected the next year. In 1869 he was chosen a member of the governor's Council, to which position he was re-elected in 1870.
Charles H. Bartlett, of Manchester, was chosen president of the State Senate in 1883. Charles Henry Bartlett, son of John and Jane (Sanborn) Bartlett, and a descendant of Richard Bartlett (of Newbury, Mass., in 1635), was born in Sunapee,
Faithfully forms Ossian Ray
Samuel w. Hele,
American Bash 3 :
Chat "C. Bartlett.
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October 15, 1833. He received an academic education ; studied law ; was admitted to the bar, in 1858; settled in Wentworth, and in 1863 moved to Manchester. From 1867 to his election to the Senate, he was clerk of the United States District Court. He was mayor of Manchester in 1872. Mr. Bartlett brought to his chosen profession of the law a keen, well-balanced mind, with faculties always at command. He was a member of the constitutional convention in 1876, and received the degree of A. M. from Dartmouth College in ISSI.
The Republican majority of 1883 were unable to elect a United States senator until after a long contest. The candi- dates offered to the suffrages of the legislature included the leading men of the party. At length the legislature elected Austin F. Pike, of Franklin. He died during his term of office in 1884.
In the fall election of 1884, Dr. Jacob H. Gallinger, of Con- cord, was elected to represent the Second Congressional District, and was re-elected in 1886. Dr. Gallinger was born in Cornwall, Ontario, March 28, 1837. At the age of twelve years he entered a printing office, and at the age of eighteen he commenced the study of medicine in Cincinnati. In 1860 he settled in Keene, and two years later in Concord. He represented Concord in the legislature in 1872 and 1873 ; was a member of the consti- tutional convention in 1876; State senator in 1878 and 1879 ; president of the Senate during his last term; and chairman of the Republican State Committee since 1882. Dr. Gallinger is one of the most popular and successful campaign orators in the State. As a speaker he is rapid, direct, and practical, has an ex- cellent voice, and always commands the close attention of his audience. He is also a facile and effective writer, and has fre- quently been called upon for public addresses on topics aside from politics. As an organizer he is noted for his executive ability. As a physician he has a large practice.
Hon. Moody Currier, of Manchester, was inaugurated gov- ernor in June, 1885, having been elected the preceding fall.
Governor Currier was born in Boscawen in April, 1806. He is the architect of his own fortunes. He was brought up on a farm in Bow, but early evinced
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an insatiable desire for information. He fitted for college, and graduated at Dartmouth in 1834, read law with Hon. Daniel Clark, and engaged in literary pursuits. He settled in Manchester in 1841, and became cashier of the Amos- keag Bank in 1848 at its organization. He is still connected with the insti- tution as well as other large financial interests. He was clerk of the Senate in 1843 and 1844, senator in 1856, president of the Senate in 1857, councillor in 1860 and 1861, chairman of the war committee of the Council during the first fifteen months of the Rebellion. In that position he exhibited great ability and energy, and rendered efficient service to the State and the nation. He entered with his whole soul into the business of raising and equipping troops, and won great praise from all parties for his efforts in this direction. The first eight regiments of infantry, a battery, four companies of cavalry, and three companies of sharpshooters were organized, equipped and sent to the front with the utmost despatch while Mr. Currier was at the head of the war committee. In compliment to him, the rendezvous of the Eighth regi- ment at Manchester was named " Camp Currier."
Governor Currier has an ardent temperament and versatile talent. His practical judgment is shown in the success of the banking institutions which he has managed for many years, and also in the success of the various other enterprises with which he has been connected in an official capacity. He is method- ical and cautious in his habits, and has always sustained the reputation of being honorable and upright in all his business relations. He maintains a high rank as a scholar, and, unlike many other men who have enjoyed the advantages of a liberal education, he has throughout his whole life taken a strong inte- rest in the study of literature, science, and philosophy. He retains a taste for the ancient classics and is quite familiar with French, German, and other modern languages. He has written many pieces of poetry, creditable in taste and composition. By industry and prudence he has acquired a handsome fortune, and his residence is a model of taste. He is liberal in his gifts to worthy objects and especially to those which relate to intellectual culture.
His administration of the affairs of the State was marked by the prudence, sagacity, and caution so characteristic of him all his life ; and he retired from office at the close of his term with the respect of all.
At the fall election in November, 1886, Rev. Luther F. Mc- Kinney, of Manchester, the Democratic candidate for Congress-
Sallinger
Moody barrier
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man in the First District, was elected. Dr. Jacob H. Gallinger was re-elected in the Second District.
In the fall of 1886 Charles H. Sawyer, of Dover, was the Republican candidate for governor. The Democrats voted for Colonel Thomas Cogswell, of Gilmanton; the Prohibitionists voted for Col. Joseph Wentworth, of Concord. His Excellency Governor Sawyer was elected by the legislature, and inaugurated in June, 1887. 1 He does not owe the estimation in which he is held to the doings of his ancestors. He has earned his own po- sition in the world. Yet he cannot fail to feel an honorable pride in the fact that he is sprung from a line of energetic and in- genious workers, who made themselves useful and respected in their generations.
Charles H. Sawyer is a lincal descendant of John Sawyer, a farmer of Lincolnshire in England, one of whose sons, Thomas, emigrated to this country about the year 1636.
Phineas, the great-great-grandson of Thomas, and the grand- father of Charles H. Sawyer, bought in Marlborough, Mass., a century later, a water privilege and mills, to which he afterwards added a cotton factory ; a difficult and hazardous undertaking at that early day.
Jonathan Sawyer, the youngest of his twelve children, was born at Marlborough, Massachusetts, in 1817. He went with his mother and other members of the family, when he was twelve years old, to Lowell, where for the next few years he attended school. He was a member of the first class that entered the high school of that city, having among his mates Hon. Benjamin F. Butler, Gov. E. A. Straw, and G. V. Fox, assistant secretary of the navy during the civil war. On account of a severe sickness, young Sawyer at sixteen years of age left school, and while recruiting his health made a visit to his brother, Alfred Ira Sawyer, who, after some experience as a dyer at Amesbury and Great Falls, had come in 1824 to Dover, where he was operating a grist-mill, a custom carding and cloth-dressing mill, converting this last into a flannel-mill. Jonathan remained in Dover two years, going to school and
I Gov. C. H. Bell.
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working for his brother. In the fall of 1835 he returned to Lowell. His mother, for the purpose of conferring upon her son a more complete education, sent him to the great Methodist school at Wilbraham, which at that time was a most flourishing preparatory school for the Wesleyan University at Middletown, Conn. Here he remained two terms, when, at nineteen years of age, returning to Lowell, he went into a woollen establishment as a dyer. Afterwards he went into this business on his own ac- count, and continued in it until 1839.1
Forty years ago Dover received Jonathan Sawyer, then a young man full of hope and ambition, honesty and executive ability, whose career has done so much to advance the prosper- ity of his adopted home. He found on Bellamy river a small water-power, about which to-day is built one of the largest and most prosperous manufacturing establishments within New England, the products of which are welcomed in a million American homes. He gathered about him a score of working people at first, whose pay was small in those early days of free trade. But when our government threw its protecting arm and fostering care about the infant industries of the country, the es- tablishment prospered and grew. Willing hands found ready work. The fame of the goods became widespread ; new mills were built ; new machinery was introduced ; new operatives were employed. The profits of the business were embarked in it enlargement, until five hundred busy workmen found employ- ment. While their number was increasing the pay had doubled. He is still a principal and active proprietor of the Sawyer Wool- len Mills, in the enjoyment of health, competence, and the res- pect won by a life of honorable exertion and spotless integrity.
Charles H. Sawyer, the eldest son of Jonathan and Martha (Perkins) Sawyer, was born in Watertown, N. Y., March 30, 1840. At the age of ten he was brought by his father to Dover, and acquired the basis of his education in the excellent public schools of that place. When he became seventeen, his father, who designed him for the hereditary calling of manufacturing, placed him in the flannel-mill as an ordinary hand, to enable him
I Rev. Dr. George B. Spalding.
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to form a practical acquaintance with the various and compli- cated processes required to transform the rough fleece into the finished fabric. Here he supplemented his book education by the education of work, observation, and experience. Step by step he rose to the higher grades of employment, mastering every de- tail of the business as he went, until at the age of twenty-six he was appointed superintendent of the establishment. He soon be- came interested in large financial operations. Though so diligent a man of affairs, Governor Sawyer finds the time for mental cultivation. His library contains the best books of solid value, and he has made himself acquainted with their contents. On all subjects of public interest and practical importance he keeps thoroughly informed, and has well-considered opinions. Nat- urally somewhat reticent, he never obtrudes his views ; but when they are sought for, they are found to go straight to the mark, and to have behind them all the force of rare sagacity and careful thought. He makes no pretentions to oratory, yet ora- tors might well envy the impression which his plain, convincing statements command. In the recent panic caused by the with- drawal from the State of foreign insurance companies, it was mainly Colonel Sawyer's calm and clear demonstration of the feasibility of a manufacturers' mutual system of home insurance that quieted the needless feelings of alarm.
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