History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 95

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1200

USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 95
USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 95

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).

BENCH AND BAR.

and in nearly every campaign during that time his voice has been heard with effect upon the stump in advocacy of the principles and policy of his party. His first political speeches were made in opposition to the so-called Know-Nothing organ- ization, which gained ascendency in the State in 1855. He has long been prominent in the State Conventions of his party, and has presided at the same on three occasions. He was a delegate from this State in the National Democratic Convention at New York, in 1868, in which he voted through- out for General Winfield S. Hancock for can- didate for President, and was again a member of the New Hampshire delegation in the Cincinnati Convention, in 1880, when General Hancock was made the standard-bearer of the party. In 1884 he was a member of the delegation at Chicago, and an earnest advocate of Governor Cleveland's nomination.

In 1859 he was chosen to represent the people of his native town in the State Legislature, and re-elected the following year. He served in the House as a member of the committees on education and railroads, and took an active part in the work of legislation in all its stages, both in the committee- room and in debate upon the floor. He was sub- sequently the candidate of his party for State Senator in the old Tenth District, but failed of election, the district being overwhelmingly Re- publican. In 1869, Mr. Parker was nominated for Congress, but was defeated by Hon. Jacob Benton by a small majority, and in 1871 was again nominated by the Democracy of the Third Con- gressional District as their candidate for represen· tative in Congress, and, in an active and exciting campaign, defeated his Republican competitor, General Simon G. Griffin, of Keene, although the district was unquestionably Republican at the time. His personal popularity added largely to his strength, very many Republicans in the lower part of the district giving him their votes, includ- ing about one hundred in his own town of Clare- mont. He served in the Forty-second Congress, and was re-elected in 1873 to the succeeding Congress by an increased majority. He is the |

only Democrat who has been chosen in that dis- trict since the last election of Hon. Harry Hibbard, in 1853, and the only man of any party residing in Sullivan County who has occupied a seat in Congress since the incumbency of his legal pre- ceptor, Hon. Edmund Burke, of Newport, whose last term ended in March, 1845.

During the period of his Congressional service he was promptly and continually at the post of duty, and was assiduous alike in his devotion to the interests of the people at large and in respond- ing to the personal solicitations of his constituents for aid in matters connected with the various depart- ments. Corruption was rife at Washington during the time of his service, but jobbery and extrava- gance in every form found in Mr. Parker a persistent opponent. The Congressional Record will show his vote recorded against every job, subsidy and plunder scheme of whatever description brought before Congress during his term of service, and in support of every measure calculated to promote the interests of the masses of the people, and espe- cially in the direction of revenue reform. There and everywhere he has been earnest and outspoken in opposition to those features of the tariff laws calculated to enrich the few at the expense of the many. He was a member of the committee on education and labor, and also of the committee on patents, rendering valuable service in both com- mittees. He took decided ground in favor of reimbursing William and Mary College, Virginia, for losses sustained in the destruction of property during the war, and made a strong speech in the House in advocacy of the bill to that effect. His speech upon the distribution of the proceeds from the sales of public lands for educational purposes is also cited in evidence of his devotion to the cause of popular education, and his desire for the adop- tion of a liberal policy on the part of the general government in that direction.

It was as a member of the committee on patents in the Forty-third Congress, however, that Mr. Parker rendered his constituents and the people of the entire country a service of inestimable value. It was at this time that the patents held by the

HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

great sewing-machine monopoly-a combination of the leading companies entered into for the pur- pose of keeping up the enormous prices of the machines-were about expiring, and a determined effort was made to secure an extension. A power- ful lobby was employed and money without stint was at its command. Every possible argument and appliance was brought to bear upon the com- mittee to secure a report in favor of extension. Mr. Parker, with his unyielding hostility to mo- nopoly and special privilege in every form, was un- alterably opposed to such action from the start, and it was largely through his persistent efforts that the committee finally reported against the extension by a majority of one vote, and the com- mittee's report was sustained by the House. A reduction of nearly fifty per cent. in the price of sewing-machines soon followed,-a result hailed with joy in almost every family in the land. Had Mr. Parker yielded to the pressure, or the seductive influences brought to bear in the interests of this monopoly, as too many men have done in our American Congress under similar circumstances, he might have retired at the close of his term with an independent fortune, but without the self- respect and the universal public esteem which he now enjoys.

Since the close of his Congressional service Mr. Parker has devoted himself exclusively to his large and constantly-increasing law practice.

As a citizen he is eminently public-spirited, heartily supporting all schemes of local improve- ment, and all public enterprises calculated to ad- vance the interests of the town and the welfare of the community. He is liberal to a fault, and never hesitates to contribute to any object for which his aid is sought, unless convinced that there is hypocrisy and sham, or some sinister pur- pose involved. For hypocrites and pretenders, whether in politics or religion, in public or in private, in business or in social life, he has a thorough and ardent contempt. In the cause of education he has taken a strong and active interest from youth. He served for two years as superintending school committee in his native town, entering enthusias-

tically into the discharge of his duties in that capacity. He has also been for several years a member of the Stevens High School committee and a trustee of the Fiske Free Library.

In religion, Mr. Parker adheres to the liberal faith, being a constant attendant upon the services of the Universalist Church in Claremont, and superintendent of the Sunday-school connected therewith, which position he has holden continu- ously for the past twenty-four years. He is recognized as a prominent member of that de- nomination in New England, and in 1872 and 1873 was president of the New Hampshire State Convention, and is at the present time president of the State Sabbath-School Convention of Univer- salists. He also presided at the New England anniversary festival in Boston in 1873. In 1883 Tufts College conferred the honorary degree of A.M. upon him, and at the same time elected him one of the trustees of the college, which position he now holds.

He is and has been for many years a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity in this State, being an active member of the Grand Lodge and of the various local organizations. He is now, and has been for the past fourteen years, Eminent Commander of Sullivan Commandery of Knights Templar, at Claremont.

In 1861, Mr. Parker was united in marriage with Miss Caroline Lovisa Southgate, of Bridge- water, Vt., a lady of culture and refinement, en- dowed with rare social graces and domestic virtues. They have one child, a daughter,-Lizzie South- gate Parker,-born June 17, 1865. Their resi- dence on Broad Street is one the finest in the beautiful village of Claremont, and is in the fullest sense the abode of domestic happiness and the seat of a generous hospitality.

Few men in the State of Mr. Parker's age have won equal success in professional and political life ; fewer still have gained, in equal degree, the per- sonal regard and friendship of their fellow-men. This success has resulted in no small degree from the predominance of the democratic element in his nature, his social good-fellowship and perfect

La Colby

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frankness and sincerity in all things. In his inter- course with men he bestows the same consideration upon the poorest and humblest as upon the rich and exalted, and his hatred of the false distinctions set up in society is only equaled by his general contempt for all classes of hypocrites, bigots and pretenders. Yet comparatively a young man, having scarcely attained the meridian of his phys- ical and intellectual powers, he may look forward to a long career of usefulness and honor, supple- mentary to the eminent success which he has already achieved.

ARTHUR CHASE was born at Bellows Falls, Vt., October 21, 1835. He is a son of Bishop Carlton Chase ; graduated at Norwich University in 1856; read law with George Ticknor, in Claremont ; graduated at Cambridge Law School, and was admitted to the bar in 1859. He has never been much in the practice of his profes- sion.

HERMAN HOLT was born at Woodstock, Vt., September 7, 1845 ; fitted for college at Kimball Union Academy ; graduated at Dartmouth Col- lege in 1870; read law with Judge B. H. Steele, of Vermont; was admitted to the bar in 1873, and has since been in practice in Claremont.

HON. RALPH METCALF was born at North Charlestown November 21, 1796, and was the oldest son of John Metcalf, a thrifty farmer. He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1823; studied law with Henry Hubbard, of Charlestown, after- ward Governor of New Hampshire, Richard Bart- lett, of Concord, and George B. Upham, of Clare- mont; was admitted to the bar in 1826, and opened an office at Newport. In 1828 he went to Binghamton, N. Y., where he was in practice until 1830, when he returned to Claremont. In 1831 he was elected Secretary of State, which of- fice he held until 1838. He then went to Wash- ington, D. C., and was in the Treasury Depart- ment, under Levi Woodbury, Secretary of the Treasury, until 1840, when he returned to New Hampshire, and went into practice at Plymouth, where he remained a few months, and then came to Newport, where he had his home until 1855,

when he came to Claremont, built a fine residence on Broad Street, now owned by William Breek, and spent in it the remainder of his life. He represented Newport in the New Hampshire Leg- islature in 1852 and 1853. In 1845 he was ap- pointed register of Probate, which office he held until 1851. In 1852 he was chairman of a com- mittee to revise the laws of the State. He was elected Governor of New Hampshire in 1855 by the people ; was a candidate for the same office in 1856, when there was no choice by the people, and he was elected by the Legislature. He died at Claremont on August 26, 1858.

FRANK H. BROWN is a son of Oscar J. Brown ; was born in Claremont February 2, 1854; was educated at Worcester Military Academy and Dartmouth College ; studied law with Judge W. H. H. Allen ; graduated at the Boston University Law School ; was admitted to the Suffolk County bar ; practiced two years at Concord, since which he has had an office at Claremont

IRA COLBY was born at Claremont, N. H., Jan- uary 11, 1831. His parents came from Henniker, N. H., and settled in Claremont immediately upon their marriage, which took place April 17, 1827. His father was a native of Henniker, and his mother of Essex, Mass., from which place, when she was eleven years of age, her father re- moved to Henniker, to prevent his sons from be- coming sea-faring men. The family on both sides are of purely English descent, and numbers, in its various branches, many persons of distinction. His mother's family-name is Foster. They are the descendants in direct line from Reginald Fos- ter, who came from Exeter, Devonshire, England, and settled in Ipswich, Essex County, Mass., in 1638. It is said, in the Granite Monthly, July, 1882, in an account of the descendants of Joseph Stickney, paragraph 220, that the family of this Reginald is honorably mentioned in " Lay of the Last Minstrel" and " Marmion." His father was one of the most successful and enterprising farm- ers of his town ; was honored by his town as one of its selectmen and representatives ; was a most useful citizen, and died at the age of seventy

HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

years, with no stain upon his character or reputa- tion.

The subject of this sketch was brought up upon the farm,-that best of all schools in which to learn industry, frugality and self-reliance. He early developed a love for books, but had no ad- vantages beyond the old-fashioned district school until seventeen years of age. When about twenty years of age, and while attending school at Mar- low Academy, he began to turn his attention to a college course of study. He completed his academical course at Thetford, Vt., and entered Dartmouth College in 1853, graduating in the class of 1857. During the winters from the time he began his academical course to his graduation from college and for one year thereafter he was engaged in teaching, first in his own State, after- wards in Massachusetts and in Waukesha, Wis. In September, 1858, he was duly admitted, as a student, into the office of Freeman & McClure, at that time the leading lawyers of Claremont. Af- ter two years of study he was admitted, on exami- nation, to the bar of Sullivan County. He com- menced practice in the office where he had studied, made vacant by the death of Hon. M. C. Mc- Clure and the retirement of Mr. Freeman from business. With the exception of a partnership of three years at the first, with Lyman J. Brooks, Esq., and about four years afterwards, with A. T. Batchelder, Esq., now of Keene, he has been alone in business, and has occupied the same office for twenty-seven years. He has numbered among his students now in the successful practice of their profession, Hermon Holt, now of Claremont, A. T. Batchelder, of Keene, N. H., F. Perry, of Des Moines, Iowa, and G. E Perley, of Moorhead, Minn. He was always a Republican in politics, and, in the times of the Rebellion, was an active and zealous supporter of the cause of the Union. He was a representative in the Legislatures of 1864-65, a member of the State Senate in 1869-70, of the Republican National Convention in 1876, and again a representative in the Legislature of 1881-83. For the entire time since 1864, by ap- pointment and election, with the exception of two

years, he has held the office of solicitor of Sulli- van County. He has for many years been one of the loaning agents of the Sullivan Savings Insti- tution, located at Claremont ; has, for ten years, been one of the committee of Stevens High School, and is one of the trustees of Fiske Free Library.

June 20, 1867, he married a most excellent lady, Miss Louisa M. Way, daughter of Gordon Way, Esq., of Claremont, and sister of Dr. O. B Way, of that place. They have one child living, Ira Gordon Colby, now thirteen years of age. In re- ligion, Mr. Colby is a Methodist, as was his father. For many years the father was one of the board of trustees of his church, and the son, upon his death, succeeded to, and still holds, the same office.

Mr. Colby stands high in his profession through- out the State. A's a lawyer he has always been a hard worker and a close student. Being an easy and natural speaker, he addresses the court and jury with great ability and success. His practice has been extensive, and he has been engaged in most of the important trials in Sullivan County for many years.

He is now actively engaged in a large and lu- crative practice. It is not alone in the practice of the law that Mr. Colby excels, but as a popular speaker he has few equals in the State. He ex- hibited marked ability in this respect in the Leg- islature of New Hampshire during the several sessions when he was a member. As a Republican he has always commanded the respect of the lead- ing men of his party.

As a citizen Mr. Colby has always taken a lively interest in the prosperity of his town and State. He is public-spirited, a friend of all educational movements and an carnest worker in behalf of all institutions that tend to advance and elevate the people.

PHILANDER CHASE FREEMAN was born in Plainfield, N. H., August 27, 1807. He was a son of Benjamin Freeman, born in Plainfield in 1782. His grandmother, on his mother's side, was a daughter of Dudley Chase, one of the first settlers of Cornish, N. HI. She was also a sister

OBalen

BENCH AND BAR.

of Bishop Philander Chase, of Illinois, for whom he was named. He fitted for college at Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, N. H. ; entered Ken- yon College, at Gambier, Ohio, in 1825, and gradu- ated in 1829. He studied law with Judge J. H. Hubbard, at Windsor, Vt., and for a short time was associated in business with him. He removed to Claremont in 1835 and engaged in the practice of his profession at that place, in what is known as the Lower village, that being at that time the business centre of the town. He very soon ac- quired an extensive and lucrative business, and early took rank as one of the leading lawyers in that part of the State. He was a pains- taking, fair-minded and upright man; a man of sound judgment, a good and safe counselor. He possessed, in a very marked degree, the respect and confidence of the community. He was quiet and unassuming in his manners, a thorough gentleman of the old school, and extremely kind and generous towards the junior members of his profession. He was, for a short time, in business with Hon A. B. Wil- liamson, of Claremont ; also, with J. H. Fuller, Esq., who afterwards removed to Chicago and be- came one of the most distinguished lawyers in that part of the country. He was for a number of years, in the latter part of his professional career, associated in business with Hon. Milon C. Mc- Clure. At the death of Mr. McClure, in 1860, he retired from the active practice of his profession. He held many positions of trust and responsibil- ity ; he was honored by his town as their represen- tative in the State Legislature, and was police jus- tice for a number of years,-from the formation of that court ; he was also, for many years, clerk of the Sullivan Railroad corporation. In religion, he was an Episcopalian, and from 1849 to the time of his death he was one of the trustees of the Protestant Episcopal Church in New Hampshire. He was also the agent in New Hampshire for the trustees of donations of the Protestant Episcopal Church. In whatever position he was placed, he conducted himself with the utmost fidelity and good judgment. He was twice married,-first,

April 30, 1838, to Sarah Norton, who died April 25, 1844; and second, June 4, 1846, to Martha Smith Norton, who still survives him. He had two children by his first marriage and none by his second. One of these died in infancy, and the other, Frederick N. Freeman, at twenty-eight years of age. He was a young man of much promise, a graduate of Norwich University and had studied the profession of law with his father. The loss of this son bore heavily upon him. After a protracted illness he died April 20, 1871.

EDWARD DIMICK BAKER .- The Baker family is an old one in England, and comes from the common people of long ago. The name denotes the business followed in the early days in Eng- land. Many of the name won honorably the privilege of wearing arms, and they did good ser- vice in fields of battle and in peaceful pursuits. They were noted for persistence in what they con- sidered right and duty, and did not change from a position taken or an opinion formed without pretty good reasons. In the fifteenth century the Baker family possessed considerable property in the north of England, and were known as an in- dustrious and thrifty people. In 1650, at Ayles- bury, County of Bucks, there were a great num- ber of the name, who became followers of George Fox, the Quaker, and with him suffered impris- onment by the order of Cromwell.

The first ancestor of Edward Dimick Baker, of whom there is any known record, was Jeffrey Baker, of England, where his son Joseph was born, June 18, 1655. It is quite probable that the persecution of the Quakers, above alluded to, may have had something to do with his coming to this country, where he became an early resident of the New Haven colony. His son, Joseph, born April 13, 1678, was twice married,-first, to Hannah Pomeroy, by whom he had two sons, Joseph and Samuel; second, to Abigail Bissell. By this marriage he had nine children,-John, Hannah, Jacob, Abigail, Ebenezer, Daniel, He- man, Titus and Abigail. Joseph (2d) died in 1754, and his wife, Abigail, in 1768. Heman

HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

(third generation), born April 27, 1719, married Lois Gilbert, November 24, 1747. They had nine children,-Heman, Anna, Deborah, John, Oliver, Abigail, Lois, Delight and Lydia.

Heman (4th) was taken prisoner by the British at New York, September 15, 1776, with one Joel Smith, and after three months' confinement both died of small-pox. Heman died January 21, 1777, at the age of twenty-nine years.

Oliver Baker (4th) was born at Tolland, Conn., October 5, 1755. He received a medical educa- tion, purchased a farm in Plainfield, N. H., where he was one of the earliest settlers, and practiced medicine and managed his farm during his life. He married Dorcas Dimick, March 23, 1780, and had eleven children,-Heman, Diantha, Zina and Lina (twins), Oliver, Semantha, Dimick, Dorcas, Lodema, Elizabeth and Mary. Dr. Oliver Baker died October 3, 1811. Dimick Baker was born in Plainfield, N. H., March 18, 1793. While some of his brothers became physicians, he became an extensive and successful farmer. Married Hannah Colby, and had five children, of whom Edward D. was the second.

Edward Dimiek Baker was born at Meriden village, in the town of Plainfield, N. H., April 21, 1827. His father's farm being within half a mile of Kimball Union Academy, Edward had the ad- vantage of five years' attendance at this popular school, of which he made good use, working upon the farm during vacations and teaching winters. When twenty-one years of age the subject of this sketch began the study of law at Enfield, N. H., with Hon. Nathaniel W. Wertgate, now of Haver- hill, N. H. He taught district schools winters and a High School autumns, and attended a telegraph- office, making the most of his time. He com- pleted his legal studies in the office of Hon. Henry A. Bellows, late chief justice of New Hampshire, and was admitted to the bar in Sullivan County in July, 1851; very soon after which he opened an office at Cornish Flat, where he continued in practice until October, 1855, when he removed to Claremont and formed a law partnership with Hon. A. F. Snow, which continued until Septem-

tember, 1857. He passed the summer of 1857 near Topeka, Kan., then returned to Claremont, where he has since been in the active practice of his profession. He married, November 12, 1851, Elizabeth Tieknor. They have no children.

Mr. Baker is a well-read, painstaking, careful and able lawyer He is earnest and industrious in the preparation and trial of causes entrusted to him. He prefers to keep his clients out of law - suits rather than involve them in protracted liti- gation. He always advises a fair and honorable adjustment of differences between parties, rather than the certain expense and the uncertain results at the hands of courts and juries. He has some of the Quaker elements of thrift and adherence to well-formed opinions, inherited from his ancestors, in his composition. Mr. Baker has considerable taste for literary pursuits, has read extensively and has been an occasional contributor to the pub- lic prints.

In politics, Mr. Baker was always a Republican, though he was a delegate from New Hampshire to the mass convention, in 1872, which nominated Horace Greeley for President, his associate dele- gates being Colonel Henry O. Kent, of Lancas- ter, and Hon. Wm. H. Gove, of Weare. He has three times been chosen one of the representatives of Claremont in the New Hampshire Legislature, and is one of the present members; has been a member of the Stevens High School committee and held some other minor offices. Mr. Baker is a large owner of real estate ; has been a successful financier ; has been always ready to accommodate his neighbors in want of pecuniary or other aid, and seems to take pleasure in helping those in need of assistance.

ALBERT SCRIPTURE WAIT was born at Chester, Vt., April 14, 1821. He is a son of General Daniel and Cynthia (Read) Wait. His father was an ensign in the War of 1812, a major-gen- eral in the Vermont militia, and before the Mor- gan excitement a prominent Free-Mason. The subject of this sketch studied law with the late HIon. Daniel Kellogg, at Saxton's River village, Vt .; was admitted to the bar in Windham County,

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History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 95

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis Number of Pages: 1200

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1200