History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Part 51

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

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In 1843 Odd-Fellowship was first introduced into New Hampshire, at Nashna, by the formation of

yours truly J. M.white

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NASHUA.

Granite Lodge, No. 1. Mr. Murray was made a member at the first meeting, and has since held every office in the lodge. At the organization of the first encampment in the State (Nashoonon), also at Nashua, Mr. Murray drew lot No. 1, and was made the first member. He has been a delegate to both the Grand Lodge and Grand Encampment several times. He is a member of the following Masonic bodies : Rising Sun Lodge, Nashua, since January 6, 1867, Meridiau Sun Royal Arch Chapter, St. George Commandery, Council of Select Masters and the Consistory of the Thirty-second Degree. He is a member of the New Hampshire Club.

Mr. Murray married, July 7, 1842, Mary J., daugh- ter of Solomon and Sarah (Wetherbee) Wetherbee. She was born at Concord, N. H., April 2, 1821. Their children were George Dana (deceased ; he was in the commissary department of the Army of the Potomac, and was with the advanced troops which entered Richmond at its surrender), Sarah L. (married Wil- liam A. Crombie, of Burlington, Vt., one of the resident managers of the Shepard & Morse Lumber Co .; they have three children,-William Murray, Arthur Choate and Maud Elizabeth), Levi Edwin (married Jane Russell Hopkins ; their children were Marie Louise, Charles Russell and Lizzie Crombie. He was in the lumber business in Springfield, Mass., and Ogdensburgh, N. Y. He died February 18, 1880). Albert C. (deceased), Clarence A. and Charles O. (married Lulu Bemis, and has two children,-George Bemis and Lilian Cushman. He graduated from Tuft's College in 1877, succeeded his brother in the lumber business and is a member of the J. A. Hoitt Company, manufacturing chemists of Nashua).

Since the marriage of his daughter, Mr. Murray has become interested in several financial and busi- ness institutions of Burlington, and is now a director in the Burlington Shade Roller Co.

Mr. Murray has always been noticeable for extreme urbanity and courteousness of manner, in a com- bination, at least unusual, with great force of character and unyielding determination in the face of difficulties, and as evidence of the regard in which he is held by his townsmen, we submit the following extraet from the Nashua Telegraph, March 13, 1884:

" A PLEASANT SOCIAL GATHERING OF NASHUA'S REPRESENTATIVE CITI- ZENS .- Spalding's Hall was last evening the scene of a very social gath- ering and successful surprise, some of the many friends of Mr. O. D. Murray, the former president of the Card and Glazed Paper Co., seizing the occasion of the gentleman's birth-day to present him with an unex- pected testimonial of their regard and esteem. Mr. Murray was decoyed to the spot on the pretense that it was desired by the proprietor of the hall to dedicate the hall again by a select party of gentlemen, and at the proper time Hon. Isaac Eaton, in behalf of the gentlemen, presented Mr. Murray with an elegant and costly gold-headed ebony cane, gracefully expressing the sentiments of respect felt for the recipient by the sixty-six donors. Mr. Murray, though completely surprised, responded most fit- tingly, and 'brought down the house' by his references to the 'first families' of the time of Cain and Abel.

", The company was then invited to partake of an excellent banquet.

" It is rarely that a gathering in Nashua has contained so many of its most prominent citizens and old residents."

JEREMIAH W. WHITE.

On the head-waters of Suncook River, in the cen- tral region of New Hampshire, is the town of Pitts- field. It is limited in extent, undulating in surface, rich in the quality of its soil. Its earliest settlers were sturdy farmers, men and women, who, from infancy, had been accustomed to the hardships and privations of pioneer life.

Among these settlers was Josiah White, who, with his wife of Scottish origin, in the spring of 1775, made his home on the outskirts of an unbroken forest. His son, Jeremiah, succeeded to the homestead. He was I born March 4, 1775; died December 5, 1848. He is still remembered by the older residents of Pittsfield as a citizen who was useful, influential and respected. Of great personal activity and taet in business, genial and generous, an enterprising farmer of the old school, a safe and sagacious adviser, his departure left a place difficult to fill in the business affairs of the vicinity.

Jeremiah Wilson White, son of Jeremiah, was born in Pittsfield, September 16, 1821. The active habits and pure atmosphere of his early life laid the foundation of a sound physical constitution. His educational advantages during childhood were lim- ited to a few months at a distant district school. At the age of fifteen he entered Pittsfield Academy, under the instruction of James F. Joy (a graduate of Dartmouth, and, in later years, well-known as presi- dent of the Michigan Central Railroad). Remaining at the academy two and a half years, Mr. White de- cided to prepare himself for mercantile and active business life, and for this purpose went to Boston and entered upon an apprenticeship in a drug-store. Forty years ago such an apprenticeship was not a sinecure. But Mr. White was not averse to toil, and by assiduous and systematic attention to his duties was preparing the way for future success. He also commenced the study of medicine, and continued it for several years, until he was qualified for profes- sional service.

After the completion of his apprenticeship at Bos- ton he engaged as clerk to Luther Angier, postmaster and druggist, at Medford, Mass., with the agreement that, with proper notice, he could leave to engage in business for himself.

In the summer of 1845, Mr. White, having heard of Nashua as a growing manufacturing town, came here, and, after a few hours' inspection of the place, hired the store which he afterwards occupied for nearly thirty years.

Mr. White, in engaging in trade for himself in Nashua, was aware that a young man and a stranger must encounter severe difficulties in entering upon mercantile life. Many before him had succumbed to the obstacles which he was now to encounter. He did not hesitate. Laying out his plan of business, he examined into the most minute details of its manage- ment. No man was more thorough and painstaking in the discharge of obligations to his customers. His

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labors often extended far into the night. With these habits, added to sound business judgment and fore- sight and a rare knowledge of men, the record of the business life of Mr. White has been an uninterrupted success; and it is in this department of consistent and persistent effort that his example is worthy of imita- tion.

In many of the business enterprises of Nashua Mr. White has taken an active and, in some of them, a prominent part.

Engaging in the transportation and sale of coal on his arrival, he has always been the leading dealer in the trade.

After the close of the war he originated the project of and gave his attention to the construction of the large block of stores on Main Street known as the "Merchants' Exchange," retaining for himself and son the corner store, which he still occupies.

Early in 1875 he conceived the idea of establishing a new national bank, and in the April following ob- tained a charter. The people of Nashua and vicinity, believing in his financial ability, immediately sub- scribed for the stock, and elected him president, a position he continues to hold to the satisfaction of the stockholders and the advantage of the institution.

In addition to the presidency of the Second Na- tional Bank, Mr. White is now recognized as a saga- cious and influential railroad manager.

Since 1876 he has been prominently connected with the affairs of the Nashua and Lowell Railroad as a director and large stockholder.

For many years this road had been connected with and used by the Boston and Lowell Railroad corpo- ration, and, as Mr. White elearly saw, on terms greatly disadvantageous to the stockholders of the Nashua and Lowell Company. The stock had gradually de- «lined below par. To resist so great and powerful a corporation required pluck and energy. To be suc- cessful against such odds demanded a leader daring, prompt and aggressive. Mr. White was the man for the emergency. How well his measures succeeded is realized not only by every stockholder, but in all railroad circles throughout New England.

He is also a large owner and director in the Nashua C'ard and Glazed Paper Company, and a leading stockholder in the White Mountain Freezer Com- pany, of this city.

In the transaction of business Mr. White is not only methodical, but positive. He reaches his con- clusions quickly, and acts upon them with the utmost directness. Having decided upon a measure, he eu- gages in it with all his might, bending all his efforts to make sure of the desired end. Selecting his agents, he accomplishes the whole work while many would be halting to determine whether the project was feasi- ble. A man of so pronounced opinions and prompt action naturally makes some enemies ; but he has no opponents who do not accord to him the credit of an open and honorable warfare. In a word, he is essen-

tially a business man in the full sense of that term, not only in occupation, but in taste and aptitude; he is a representative of that class of American citizens who have won a world-wide reputation for practical sagacity, enterprise and thrift.

Mr. White is in no sense of the word a party poli- tician. Of Whig antecedents, his first vote was cast for Henry Clay, in 1844, for President.

Before leaving his native town his liberal tenden- cies had been quickened by witnessing the unwar- ranted arrest, in the pulpit, of Rev. George Storrs, who was about to deliver the first anti-slavery lecture in Pittsfield. The event justly occasioned an unusual excitement, and was the beginning of that agitation which reached every town and hamlet in the Union.

Since the organization of the Republican party, Mr. White has supported it in all national issues ; but is one of the independent thinkers who does not hesi- tate to exercise "the divine right of bolting " when unfit men are put in nomination.

In the winter of 1861, Mr. White and his family left on a southern trip, and reached Charleston, S. C., the last of February, not long after the United States troops, under Major Anderson, were shut up in Fort Sumter by the rebel forces.

Mr. White had letters of introduction to several citizens of the city high in authority, who received him kindly, and, learning that he was a business man and not a politician, were anxious to learn from him the state of feeling among the business men and middle class of citizens at the North. While the statements of Mr. White were far from gratifying, they continued their friendly relations. Previously he had written to his friend, Captain John G. Foster, second in command at Fort Sumter, of his intended tarry at Charleston.

Desirous of an interview with him, he applied to the Confederate authorities at Fort Sumter for a pass ; it was granted him,-a privilege not allowed to any other civilian during the siege. On the following day, March 5th, he went on the steamer "Clinch " to Fort Johnson, to which point Major Anderson was allowed to send his boat, under a flag of truce, for the daily mail. Here a new obstacle was encountered, for the boat was forbidden by Major Anderson to bring any person to the fort; but, with the restriction that he should remain outside with the boat till Cap- tain Foster could be notified, he was permitted to go. The interview was a great surprise as well as gratifi- cation.

Reaching Washington before the bombardment of Fort Sumter and the beginning of hostilities, Mr. White was taken to the War Department and inter- viewed by General Scott as to the determination and strength of the Confederate force at Charleston. Mr. White thought it would require a force of ten thousand men to relieve Fort Sumter, and said so. General Scott laughed heartily, and told him that two thou- sand men would be ample for the purpose.

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In common with most of the leading men at the capitol, General Scott underestimated the pluck and strength of the rebels.

Soon after, when Jay Cooke was appointed govern- ment agent to negotiate the war loans, Mr. White re- ceived the appointment of agent for Nashua and vi- cinity.

In 1846, the year after coming to Nashua, Mr. White married Caroline G., daughter of Caleb Merrill, Esq., of Pittsfield. The marriage was a happy and fortunate one. The young wife was endowed with scholarly and refined attainments, qualifying her for the enjoyment of social and domestic life. Added to this, she possessed a sound and discriminating judg- ment, on which her husband could safely rely. No transaction of any magnitude was entered upon with- out securing her approval. Many of his best and most sagacious moves in business were made at her sug- gestion.

Of their two children, the eldest, Caroline Wilson, died in infancy. The son, James Wilson White, born June 10, 1849, fell a victim to the prevailing disease of this climate, and died in Florida, January 27, 1876. Mrs. White, having survived her children, died, sud- denly, of apoplexy, in 1880. Her memory is cherished by many who knew her worth.

In April, 1881, Mr. White was married, the second time, to Mrs. Ann M. Pritchard, of Bradford, Vt., an educated and accomplished lady and the sister of his first wife. His residence, at the corner of Pearl and Cottage Streets, combines the elements of modesty, taste and comfort.

CORNELIUS VAN NESS DEARBORN.1

As early as 1639, and only nineteen years after the landing of the Pilgrims, John Wheelwright, a dissent- ing minister from England, was banished from Massa- chusetts Bay colony. It is an evidence of the stern intolerance of that day that the only error with which he was charged was "inveighing against all that walked in a covenant of works, and maintained sanc- tification as an evidence of justification,"-a charge not readily comprehended at the present day. There was a minority, including Governor Winthrop, who protested against the sentence, but without avail. Mr. Wheelwright, therefore, gathering a company of friends, removed from Massachusetts to Exeter, in the province of New Hampshire. Among the thirty-five persons who signed the compact to form a stable and orderly colony is found the name of Godfrey Dear- born, the patriarch of the entire Dearborn family in this country.

Forty years before, he was born in Exeter, England, and in 1637 landed at Massachusetts Bay. He lived at Exeter ten years, and in 1649 moved to Hampton, built a framed house, which is still standing, became a large land-holder and town official and died Febru-

ary 4, 1686. Few men of the early settlers have left a family name so widely represented as Godfrey Dear- born. His descendants are numerous in every county of New Hampshire, and are to be found in every part of New England.

It is worthy of note that among the descendants of Godfrey Dearborn the practice of medicine has been a favorite occupation. Benjamin Dearborn, of the fifth generation, graduated at Harvard in 1746, and entering upon a successful practice at Portsmouth, died in his thirtieth year. Levi Dearborn had for forty years an extensive practice at North Hampton, and died in 1792. Edward Dearborn, born in 1776, was for half a century the medical adviser of the peo- ple of Seabrook, and acquired a handsome estate. General Henry Dearborn, who gained a national rep- utation by his brilliant services in the Revolutionary War and as the senior major-general of the United States army in the War of 1812, was practicing phy- sician in Nottingham when summoned to join the first New Hampshire regiment raised in 1775. To-day sev- eral of the ablest physicians of the State bear the name.

Toward the middle of the last century the Dearborn family had been quite generally distributed through Rockingham County. Peter Dearborn, the great- grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Chester in 1710. Of his children, Josiah, born in 1751, married Susannah Emerson, the daughter of Samuel Emerson, Esq., a substantial Chester farmer, who was a man of such judgment and integrity that he was chosen to fill the various town offices of Ches- ter and to decide nearly all local controversies beyond review or appeal. Young Dearborn learned the trade of a shoemaker, but, on the breaking out of the Revo- lutionary War, entered the army as a private, and was stationed at Portsmouth under Colonel Joseph Cilley. Afterward he did honorable service, first as a private and then as a lieutenant, in Northern New York, and finally closed his enlistment by an expedition to New- port, R. I., in 1778.

Returning from the war, he and his family found a new home thirty miles westward, in Weare. It was not an unfitting location. With its sixty square miles still mostly covered with a dense forest of oak, maple, and beech, with its uneven surface nowhere rising into high hills, it had a strong soil, which, when eul- tivated, yielded large crops of hay and grain. It was already a growing township, and thirty years later be- came one of the four leading farming towns of the State. Here Josiah Dearborn passed his life, raising a family of twelve children, ten of whom were sons. Samuel, the fifth son and father of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1792. The district-school system was not organized in New Hampshire until 1806, and the children of that time had scanty opportunities for instruction. Samuel Dearborn and his brothers were reaching manhood, when farming in the Eastern States was depressed by the recent war with England and

1 By John II. Goodale.

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HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

the occurrence of several cold summers. Migration westward had commenced, and the Dearborns for a time debated the expediency of a removal to the Western Reserve. They at length decided to locate in Vermont, and, from 1814 to 1820, five of the broth- ers and a sister removed to Corinth, a town in the eastern part of Orange County. Here Samuel Dear- born settled upon a farm, soon after married Miss Fanny Brown, of Vershire, whose parents were na- tives of Chester, N. II., and here he passed a long and useful life. He died December 12, 1871, in the eight- ieth year of his age. His wife had died in 1836. Of scholarly tastes, he was for many years a teacher of winter schools. An active member of the Free-Will Baptist denomination, his religion was a life rather than a creed.

Cornelius Van Ness Dearborn, the son of Samuel and Fanny Dearborn, was born in Corinth, Vt., May 14, 1832. Ilis name was in compliment to the then ablest statesman of the State, who had filled the offices of Governor and minister to Spain. Cornelius was the youngest but one of seven children. His childhood was passed in a strictly agricultural community. Cor- inth, lying among the foot-hills of the Green Moun- tains, is one of the best farming towns in Eastern Ver- mont. Without railway facilities, with scanty water- power, its inhabitants depend for a livelihood upon the products of the soil, from which by industry they gain a substantial income. Few in Corinth have ever ac- cumulated more than what is now regarded as a fair competency, and very few have encountered extreme poverty. A more industrious, law-abiding, practically sensible people would be difficult to find.

When four years old young Dearborn met with the saddest loss of childhood,-a mother, whose intelli- gence, forethought and womanly virtues had been the life and light of the household. He early joined his older brothers in the labors of the farm, attending the district school for a few weeks in summer and ten or twelve weeks each winter. When fifteen years old Ite attended the spring term of the Corinth Academy, and continued at intervals for several terms later. In the winter of 1848-49, his seventeenth year not yet completed, he taught the school of a neighboring dis- triet. His success warranted his continuance as a teacher in the vicinity for the five following winters. Continuing his farm labors in summer, he, in the mean time, developed a mechanical capacity in the making of farm implements and the erection of buildings,-a natural aptitude which has been of great service in maturer years.

Soon after attaining the age of eighteen Mr. Dear- boru determined to enter upon a course of study pre- paratory to a professional life. Before leaving Corinth he commenced the study of law with Rodney Lund, a young man who had commenced practice in the viein- ity. In March, 1854, at the suggestion of his mater- nal uncle, Dr. W. W. Brown, he came to Manchester, and renewed his law studies in the office of Hon. Isaac !

W. Smith, with whom he remained till his admission to the bar, in the fall of 1855.

In December, 1855, he opened an office at Frances- town. The town afforded a safe opening for a young practitioner, but not one for large profits. There was a time, after the close of the War of 1812, when the trade of Francestown village exceeded that of any other locality in Hillsborough County. But the open- ing of the railroad to Nashua, and soon after to Man- chester, entirely changed the centres of trade and bus- iness, and left Francestown to become a respectable and very quiet village.

Hitherto Mr. Dearborn, while entertaining positive views, had not actively participated in political dis- cussion. But the year 1856 witnessed the consolida- tion of the anti-slavery sentiment of the country. It had already so far concentrated its strength in New Hampshire as to have secured the State government and a unanimous representation in Congress. The nomination of John C. Fremont for President, in the summer of that year, hastened the organization of the anti-slavery elements of the entire North under the name of the Republican party. In common with a majority of the intelligent young men of the State, Mr. Dearborn entered into this contest with all the zeal, vigor and enthusiasm of one whose action is un- trammeled by personal and partisan ends. The cam- paign which followed was the most brilliant and far- reaching in its results of any in the political history of the nation. No idea ever agitated the American mind to which calculating selfishness was more for- eign. Even the great uprising which brought about the War of Independence was less free from selfish motives. And, though the general result in the Pres- idential election of that year was adverse, yet in New Hampshire, as in every State north of Pennsylvania, the returns clearly showed that the cause of freedom had acquired an overruling strength.

In June, 1857, Mr. Dearborn was united in mar- riage with Miss Louie Frances Eaton, daughter of Moses W. and Louisa S. Eaton, of Francestown, and granddaughter of Dr. Thomas Eaton, a physician of long and extensive practice, and one of the most ex- tensive farmers of his time. In 1857 he was elected county treasurer, and re-elected in 1858. It was the first public position he had held, and its duties were satisfactorily discharged.

In 1858 he removed to Peterborough, occupying the office of E. S. Cutter, Esq., who had recently been ap- pointed clerk of the courts for Hillsborough County. He resided in Peterborough till 1865. During this time he was in partnership with Charles G. Cheney, and afterward with Albert S. Scott, both of whom have since died. He represented the town in the Legislature in the years 1861 and 1862, being a mem- ber of the judiciary committee.

In the summer of 1865 he removed to Nashua for the purpose of continuing the practice of his profes- sion. An accidental purchase led to a change of oc-

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HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY. NEW HAMPSHIRE

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NASHUA.

cupation. The Nashua Telegraph had for many years been edited by Albin Beard, a genial, witty and, withal, accomplished writer. Under him the Tele- graph had acquired a marked local popularity. He died in September, 1862. Its present publishers were inexperienced writers, and illy qualified to satisfy the admirers of its former editor. The Telegraph was rapidly deteriorating in value and influence. The senior proprietor inquired of Mr. Dearborn what he would give for his half of the establishment. A some- what nominal price was offered, and, much to the sur- prise of Mr. Dearborn, was accepted. He at once en- tered upon the duties of editor and financial manager. Under his direction the Telegraph was rapidly recov- ering its patronage and influence, but at the end of two years his health failed, and a change of occupa- tion became a necessity. He disposed of his interest to the present editor, Hon. O. C. Moore, and resumed the practice of law.

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History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Part 51

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