History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Part 17

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1168

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HON. MOODY CURRIER, LL.D., the present Gover- nor of New Hampshire and one of the leading bankers and capitalists of the State, has been the architect of his own fortune, and by his energy, clear business fore- sight and indomitable will, has risen from a penniless laborer on the rocky farms of Merrimack County to the present exalted and honorable position he oc- cupies among the citizens of his native State.

The rudiments of his education were acquired at home, in the evening, after the day's work was done, and in this manner he fitted himself to enter Hopkinton Academy. From thence he went to Dartmouth College, where he graduated with high honors in the class of 1834. Hon. Daniel Clark, of this city, also graduated in this class. After leaving college he taught school one term at Concord and one year at Hopkinton Academy, and then became principal of the High School at Lowell, Mass., where he remained until 1841. In the spring of that year, having, in the mean time, read law, he came to Man- chester, was admitted to the bar and formed a part- nership with Hon. George W. Morrison for the practice of his profession. This partnership continued about two years when it was dissolved, and Mr. Currier pursued his profession alone until 1848, acquiring a large and Incrative practice.

During this time he had developed rare skill as a financier, and upon the organization of the Amoskeag Bank, in 1848, was elected its cashier, a position which he retained until its reorganization as a National Bank, in 1864, when he was chosen president of the bank, and is the present incumbent. Mr. Currier has led an active life and has been prominently iden- tified with many of the largest and most successful monied institutions in the city and State. He has been treasurer of the Amoskeag Savings-Bank since its incorporation in 1852, a director of the People's Savings Bank and of the Manchester Mills since their organ- ization. He was a director of the Blodgett Edge Tool Company and a director and treasurer of the Amoskeng Sve Company. He was also treasurer of the Concord

Railroad in 1871 and 1872; has been treasurer of the Concord and Portsmouth Railroad since 1856; pres- ident of the Eastern Railroad in New Hampshire since 1877 ; treasurer of the New England Loan Com- pany since 1874; director of the Manchester Gas- Light Company since 1862, besides holding various other positions of trust and responsibility, in all of which he has been eminently successful.

Notwithstanding he has been actively engaged in the management of large financial operations, he has

The first found time to indulge his taste for literary pursuits, and is one of the most accomplished scholars in the State. While a teacher in Concord, he edited a lit- erary journal and later edited and published a weekly paper in this city. His tastes have led him into the realm of poetry, and in 1879 a volume of his poems was published for private circulation.

Politically, Mr. Currier is a Republican. Prior to 1852, however, he affiliated with the Democratic party, which elected him clerk of the State Senate in 1843 and 1844. He subsequently became a Free- soiler and has been a member of the Republican party since its organization.

He was a member of the Senate in 1856 and 1857, and in the latter year president of that body. In 1860 and 1861 he was a member of the Governor's Council and chairman of the committee for raising and equiping troops to fill New Hampshire's quota of men in the War of the Rebellion. In 1876, Mr. Currier was one of the Presidential electors who cast the vote of New Hampshire for Hayes and Wheeler. In 1884 he received the nomination of his party for the gubernatorial office, and was elected by a majority vote. There were three candidates in the field. He has been married three times, but has no children living.

Mr. Currier is one of Manchester's leading and most honored citizens, and all measures tending to advance the welfare of the city have found in him an earnest supporter.

The Manchester National Bank .- The Man- chester National Bank was chartered in December, 1844, and organized in 1845 with the following directors : Samuel D. Bell, Hiram Brown, Jacob G. Cilley, Isaac C. Flanders, Walter French, William C. Clarke and Nathan Parker. At the annual meeting in July, 1845, the following board of directors was chosen : James U. Parker, Samuel D. Bell, David A. Bunton, Hiram Brown, Jonathan T. P. Hunt, Wil- liam C. Clarke and Isaac Riddle. The bank began operations September 2, 1845, with a capital of $50,- 000, which was subsequently increased to $125,000. The first officers were James U. Parker, president, and Nathan Parker, cashier, both of whom officiated during the existence of the bank.

It was organized as a national bank in April, 1865, under the style of the Manchester National Bank, with the following officers; Nathan Parker, presi- dent ; Charles E. Balch, cashier; Nathan Parker,

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Benjamin F. Martin, Phinehas Adams, Gilman H. Kimball, John H. Maynard, David A. Bunton and Horace P. Watts, directors.

The original capital of the bank was $100,000, which was increased, April 2, 1872, to $150,000. Nathan Parker, the first president, has continued as such to the present time, and Charles E. Balch, the first cashier, remained in that position until his death, October 18, 1884. He was succeeded by Wal- ter M. Parker. The present board of directors is as follows: Nathan Parker, Horace P. Watts, Phinehas Adams, B. F. Martin, John H. Maynard, N. S. Clark, William J. Hoyt, Walter M. Parker.

The Merchants' National Bank .- This bank was organized as a State bank under the name of City Bank in 1853 with the following directors : Isaac C. Flanders, William C. Clarke, Oliver W. Bailey, Samuel W. Parsons, Andrew G. Tucker and William H. Hill; President, Isaac C. Flanders; Cashier, Edward W. Harrington.

In 1865 the bank was converted into a national bank under the name of the City National Bank, when Hon. Clinton W. Stanley was elected president to succeed Mr. Flanders, resigned.

In 1876, Daniel W. Lane was elected cashier, to succeed E. W. Harrington, deceased.

The original capital was $100,000, which has been increased to $150,000.

January, 1879, Hon. James A. Weston was elected president, to succeed Hon. Clinton W. Stanley.

In 1880 the name of the bank was changed to the Merchants' National Bank.

The present board of directors are Hon. James A. Weston, John C. French, Hon. Nathan P. Hunt, Bushrod W. Hill, Hon. John M. Parker, Hon. Charles H. Bartlett and William C. Rogers. Officers : President, Hon. James A. Weston ; Cashier, Daniel W. Lane.

The First National Bank was incorporated under the name of the Merrimack River Bank, July 14, 1855, Ralph Metcalf being Governor of the State. The charter was granted for the term of twenty years from July 15th, and was accepted August 1st by the fol- lowing board of grantees: William Whittle,' William G. Means, John HI. Moore,1 Peter P. Woodbury,1 Frederick Smyth, William P. Newell, Timothy W. Little,1 William Patten,1 Isaac Tompkins,1 Isaac W. Smith, Frederick G. Stark,1 John Ordway,1 George W. Converse,1 Josiah C. Eastman, William Shep- herd,1 D. J. Daniels,1 C. W. Baldwin,' Jacob G. Cilley,1 Alonzo Smith,1 David Cross, Phinehas Adams,1 Francis H. Lyford, B. F. Martin, William Richardson,1 Waterman Smith, Frank A. Brown,1 Alpheus Gay, Jr., Joseph B. Clark, John M. Parker, Henry T. Mowatt,1 George W. Bailey, William Per- kins and their associates.

The first meeting of the grantees took place at the

office of Frederick Smyth, No. 4 Smyth's Block. Suitable by-laws were adopted, the capital stock, one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, divided into fifteen hundred shares, and the requisite machinery for the successful working of the new institution was provided.

The first organization was as follows: Directors, William G. Means, William P. Newell, William Whittle, Waterman Smith, John H. Moore, B. F. Martin, David Cross ; President, William G. Means ; Cashier, Frederick Smith ; Clerk, John D. Irving.

The Bank of Commerce, in Boston, was selected as a place of deposit. The discount of notes was author- ized November 1, 1855, and the first Joan was made to the agent of the Manchester Mills. By November 7th the capital stock had all been subscribed and paid in. In 1856 the board of directors was re-elected and in November of that year William Whittle re- signed and Phinehas Adams was chosen in his place, and there was no further change until 1859, when Mr. Means resigned as president, and was succeeded by B. F. Martin, who served one year, and was suc- ceeded by Waterman Smith, who continued until 1884, when he was succeeded by John Frederick Smyth, the present incumbent. John Frederick Smyth was cashier of the bank from its incorporation, in 1855, to 1884, when he was succeeded by the pres- sent cashier, Mr. Charles F. Morrill.

On the 22d of March, 1865, the stockholders voted to reorganize, under United States laws, as the First National Bank of Manchester, and the old board of officers continued until the annual meeting in the following January, when they were re-elected.

The present officers and directors are as follows : Hon. Frederick Smyth, president ; Hon. David Cross, vice-president ; Charles F. Morrill, cashier ; John P. Goggin, elerk ; Directors, David Cross, Joseph B. Clark, Thomas Wheat, Frederick Smyth, F. B. Eaton, Frank Dowst, Joseph F. Kennard.

The clerks in employ, in the order of time in which they are named, are as follows :

John D. Irving, now insurance commissioner, Toledo, Ohio ; Samuel T. Foster, died in Washington, D. C .; H. A. Viarly, banker in Boston, Mass. ; George Gage, now bank commissioner for New Hampshire ; George B. Lord, now at St. Louis, Mo .; W. R. Walker, in savings-bank at Concord, N. IL. ; Josiah Morrill, died while in the employ of the bank ; John Porter, resigned on account of ill-health. The charter was obtained against the most strenuous opposition on the part of other resident bankers, and was re- garded as a personal triumph of Mr. Smyth. The fact once accomplished, however, all opposition sub- sided, and the business relations have ever been har- monions with his fellows. His fortunate investments and always conservative management have gained for the bank an enviable reputation, second to none in the State.

FREDERICK SMYTH .- The subject of this sketch was

1 Deceased.

IHISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

born March 9, 1819, in Candia, Rockingham County. His ancestors, as far as we have any record, were thrifty farmers, and he was carly inured to the toils of farm- lite on the homestead, in the northwest part of that picturesque town.

The common school and the High School gave him all they had to give; a single term at the Phillips Academy, in Andover, Mass., completed his brief study of text-books, and his education thenceforth continued in the larger school of men and affairs, For a short time he was a partner in trade at Candia with Thomas Wheat, now a distinguished physician of Manchester. The field, however, was too limited to satisfy his ambition, and in 1839 he sought and found employment in the establishment of George Porter, E-q., who did a large business in the sale of general merchandise in Manchester. During the days of his clerkship he was librarian of a reading club, of which Samuel D. Bell, John A. Burnham, John Porter and others were members, when the North American Review, the Southern Literary Messenger, the Knicker- bocker Magazine, etc., were placed within his reach. This appears to have been the germ of the Manches- ter Athenaeum.

After about two years he entered into company with John Porter, Esq., and bought out his employer. This was the beginning of a brief but successful mercantile career, which terminated with his election as city clerk in 1849. While in trade he was very serupu- lons in regard to his financial obligations. In the panie of 1847 every firm doing business on the street went under, except two, and one of those was that with which Mr. Smyth was connected. Like others. he was compelled to trust out large quantities of goods, and was unable to command much capital. He went to his Boston creditors, frankly told them his situation, said he did not want to fail, and so impressed them with his evident sincerity of purpose that they promised him all the goods and time he wanted. The event justified their confidence, and to-day no man who knows him needs to be told that his word is as good as his bond.

He was elected city clerk by the usual party major- ity, and did his work so acceptably that he was re- elected by a City Council two-thirds of whose mem- bers were politically opposed to him. The American and Messenger of that date said: "This is a com- pliment to Mr. Smyth, which has been well merited by his faithfulness and courtesy during the last year." Hi- manifest efficiency in city affairs, and the thor- ougliness with which he mastered every detail, sug- gested his fitness for mayor, and he was accordingly nominated and elected to that office in March, 1852. He was re-elected for two successive years thereafter, and again at a time of peculiar importance in munic- ipal affairs, in 1864. A distinguishing mark of his first year's administration will ever remain in the trees which adorn our parks and streets. He advo- rated an act of the City Council, which passed in spite

of considerable opposition, authorizing trees to be set on all the public streets, parks and lands, and every year since, with but few exceptions, he has personally inspected the trees, and notified the proper authori- ties when any of them needed replacing. With this good work some, but not all, his successors in office, have sympathized. In July and October of Mayor Smyth's first year the Whig party lost its two great leaders,-Henry Clay and Daniel Webster,-and the attention of the citizens was called to some fitting expression of feeling in both cases by a brief message from the mayor. His first election was by Whig votes over the opposition of Democrats and Free-Soilers ; his second by Whig and Free-Soil votes, and an in- creased majority ; his third with very little opposition, and his fourth with virtually none at all. During his second year the Amoskeag Falls bridge was rebuilt, and parts of Goffstown and Bedford were annexed to the city. The most honorable monument, however, which will stand to his name is the part he took in the foundation of a free public library. In the first instance, the conception belongs to the late Hon. Samuel D. Bell, but it is very doubtful if that idea would ever have been realized without the active and persistent efforts of the mayor. The city government of that day was composed of men mostly practical in their ideas, with but little faith in the value or necessity of literary culture. Workingmen were op- posed to all needless expenditures in city affairs, and it required tact and wise handling to get a measure which called for an annual expenditure of two thou- sand dollars, with a certainty of future increase, framed into a law, and it was largely due to the confidence they had in their chief executive officer that they supported the measure. When Mayor Smyth was about retiring, as he supposed finally, at the end of his third year, the following resolution, offered by the Hon. S. D. Bell, March 7, 1854, was unanimously voted :

" Resolved, That the thanks of the trustees of the City Library be presented to the Hon. Frederick Smyth for the early, decided and successful exertions made by him, as chief magistrate of the city, for the estab- lishment of a free public library."

In 1855 he was appointed by Governor Metcalf and Council chairman of commissioners to locate and build a House of Reformation for juvenile offenders, the late ex-Governor Harvey, of the United States Circuit Court, and the late Hon. Hosea Eaton, being his asso- ciates. The signal success of this institution is well known to every intelligent citizen, but many have doubtless forgotten the storm of partisan obloquy through which it was piloted to popular favor. From the first Mr. Smyth thoroughly believed in it, and in his remarks at the dedication, in 1858, he said :

"This institution to-day dedicated supplies a need of the State, that incipient crime may not become confirmed wickedness; that the jail and the prison may not forever harden and fix what they were designed

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to prevent." The importance of this occasion can hardly be over-estimated, if we look at the sad pro- portion of young persons on the criminal list in our own and other States. Ifwe investigate the results of means which it is now proposed to use, that society may be saved from the curse of their vicious lives, and them- selves from the greater curse of mental and moral de- struction, we shall find that the cost in dollars and cents dwindles in comparison into utter insignificance. He was able, also, to announce that "the building had been completed within the amount appropriated, that no contractor had failed to perform his work, that not one cent of the amount had been expended except through legitimate channels and for duly authorized purposes." Governor Haile, in the course of his re- ply, complimented the commission upon the fidelity with which their work was done.

In the years 1857-58, Mr. Smyth was a member of the House of Representatives in the State Legislature, and was also made treasurer of the Reform School, in the good management of which he took great interest. His executive ability and reputation as a good finan- cier caused him to be selected as the treasurer of the New Hampshire Agricultural Society, and the ten years during which he held that place were years of the society's greatest usefulness. He was also a di- rector in the United States Agricultural Society, and manager of the three great fairs held at Richmond, Chicago and St. Louis by the National Association, and also vice-president of the American Pomologieal Society, which, under the lead of the venerable Mar- shal P. Wilder, has done so much to improve Ameri- can fruits.

Meantime, men were not wanting who believed in our mayor's fitness for the highest office in the State, and in the convention which nominated Ichabod Goodwin, in 1859, he stood fourth on the list of candi- dates. In 1860 he was president of the State Repub- lican Convention, and was soon after appointed by Secretary Chase one of the agents to obtain subscrip- tions to the national loan. In 1861 he was appointed as one of the agents on the part of the United States to the International Exhibition at London, where Her Majesty's commissioners made him a juror; by the jury he was made reporter, a position which gave him some advantages not easily obtained in knowl- edge of the exhibition. He wrote some private letters home, and his impressions of matters and things abroad were published in the New Hampshire Journal of Agriculture, then under the editorial man- agement of the writer of this sketch.

It was war-time, as we all know, and he wrote: " in regard to American affairs, I do not think there is a particle of danger of any interference from England, or has ever been ; most people sympathize with Americans and the North. when they understand the issue." It was found on Mr. Smyth's arrival that only three of our commissioners were present, and nothing had been done to place our department in readiness.

Patriotic resident Americans contributed about three thousand dollars, and work began in earnest. Very much of the favorable exhibit we made on that occa- sion is fairly due to a few men who, with Mr. Smyth, did double duty. His position as juror enabled him to do much toward securing a recognition of the merits of goods exhibited by the Langdon Mills, and by the Manchester Print Works, both of which took a medal. He was also, by virtue of his place, admitted to many social entertainments, one of the most interesting of which was that given by Lord and Lady Salisbury, at Hatfields, where he met Gladstone and Disraeli, the two foremost men of England.

In company with C. L. Flint, Esq., secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture, he visited Franec, Germany, Switzerland and Italy, and managed to compass a great deal of sight-seeing into a brief space of time. While at Rome, tidings from home were far from assuring, and Mr. Smyth deemed it his duty not to prolong his tour. He landed at New York in Sep- tember, when matters had already begun to take on a more favorable look for the Union. He was then cashier and principal financial manager of the Merri- mack River Bank, of which he is now president, and also of the Merrimack River Savings-Bank. His faith in the government led him to invest largely in bonds and to accept the charter for the bank of discount, which thenceforth became the First National Bank of Manchester. At that time few monied men or banks in town cared to follow his example, but the event justified his sagacity. Mr. Smyth's course in finance has been strictly conservative ; he has never dabbled in fancy stocks or in merely speculative matters for himself or for his bank, and the reputation thus ac- quired enabled him, as will be seen, to lift the State from a condition in which it was compelled to pay exorbitant interest to one not inferior to that of any in the Union.

In May, 1863, a fair was held at Manchester in aid of the Sanitary Commission. Mr. Smyth was chair- man of the committee, and gave the use of his hall and his zealous personal efforts to promote its success. The sum raised was about four thousand dollars. In the years that followed he did his best to keep up the spirit and courage of the people. With others, he went down to the battle-field of Gettysburg, and labored among wounded and dying soldiers, and, in consequence of exposure at the time, was confined to a sick-room all the ensuing fall. In May of the next year, however, he again went to the front, and after the battle of the Wilderness rendered efficient aid as before. He has since received many testimonials of gratitude from men who owed, under God, their lives to him on that occasion.

In this year (1863) he was again elected mayor of Manchester, under what circumstances and to what end, let another say. The Daily Mirror and LImeri- can, of November 28, 1864, in it> leading editorial, said,-

HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

" A year ago this month the Governor and Council of New Hampshire wisely recommended the towns and cities of this State to cash the Government bounty of $302, payable in installments, and fill up their quotas. The advice was taken. It took between three and four millions of dollars of ready money to carry out the idea. It drained every bank, and made, for the time being, the best securities seem of no account in raising money. Manchester was in trou- ble; she needed more funds than could be had, and, with all her wealth, seemed like a beggar. . .. In this critical condition of financial affairs the question of mayor of this city came up. The field was can- vassed again and again, and each time the report would be . Hon. Frederick Smyth is the man, but he won't take it.' It was a necessity that the chief executive of the city should have the confidence of business men and be familiar with financial matters. Finally, the pressure was so great that some of our leading citizens went to him and convinced him that it was his duty to accept of the onerous position one year. He reluctantly assented, with a distinct under- standing that he should not again be called upon for that place. Some ten years ago he was three times elected to fill the office of mayor, each year with increased majorities, and time had shown that his municipal record grew higher and brighter as new opportunities to judge of its merits presented them- selves, and a year ago he was elected for a fourth term without show of opposition, an event unprecedented in our municipal history, or in that of any city in the

State. It was a wise choice. From the moment he took the mayor's chair harmony prevailed in every department of the city government. He is a peace- maker. He believes that a 'honse divided against itself cannot stand,' and has the power of discerning almost intuitively the average sense of mankind, what is generally ealled common sense, and hence is a natural leader of the people."

Such was the opinion and the feeling concerning Mayor Smyth at home, where he was best known. But this feeling, also, had obtained to a considerable ex- tent throughout the State, and his friends had for some time determined to present his name as a candidate for the highest office in their immediate gift. In the Republican Convention, therefore, of January, 1865. he received two-thirds of an informal ballot, which was then made unanimous by acclamation. He was elected by a majority of over six thousand, the largest majority given to any Governor for twenty-four years. He entered upon no easy task. The State was begin- ning to feel severely the stress of the time. Gradually a great debt had accumulated, regiment after regiment had been promptly equipped and sent into the field, the banks had advanced money quite to the extent of their courage, and nearly to that of their ability. In the open market we met the gold bonds of the govern- ment, free from taxes; the same trouble pulsed through all the arteries of the body politic, and the people of a

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History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Part 17

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis Number of Pages: 1168

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1168