USA > New Hampshire > History of New Hampshire, Volume II > Part 25
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Judge Livermore, as he was called, owed his advancement to Christian character, natural talents, superior education and integrity. He was not a profound student of books, but he possessed good sense and reasoned shrewdly. He was not lack- ing in resoluteness of will, and the tenderness of his heart atoned for occasional passionateness and prejudice. Compara- tive wealth confirmed his leadership, and natural leadership helped him to get more wealth. He was looked up to as the father of his town, and many voters shaped their political opinions according to those of Judge Livermore. About all that the average voter can do is to choose his leader, and often the choice is forced upon him.
His son, Edward St. Loe Livermore, born April 5, 1762, in Portsmouth, became a prominent lawyer in Concord and Ports- mouth. He was United States District Attorney for the district of New Hampshire from 1794 to 1797 and Judge of the Superior Court from 1797 to 1799. The smallness of his salary, only eight hundred dollars, obliged him to quit the bench and he removed
JOHN T. GILMAN
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to Newburyport. He represented Essex county in Congress from 1807 to 1811, after which he lived in Boston and for a while in Zanesville, Ohio. He died in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, September 15, 1832. His first wife was Mehitable Harris of Concord ; his second wife was Sarah Crease Stackpole of Boston.
Another son of Judge Samuel Livermore was Arthur Livermore, born in Londonderry, July 29, 1766. He studied law with his brother and practiced at Chester, which town he rep- resented in the General Court in 1794 and 1795. He was Associate Judge of the Superior Court from 1796 to 1798 and from the latter date till 1813 he was Chief Justice. On the reorganization of the courts he again became Associate Judge. He was Chief Justice of the court of common pleas from 1825 to 1832, living then at Holderness on the ancestral estate. His aggregate term of judicial service covered twenty-five years. Late in life he removed to Campton. He was representative to Congress 1817-21 and again 1823-25 and State senator in 1821-2. Dartmouth College gave him the honorary degree of Master of Arts in 1802. He died at Campton, at his home called "Cragie Burn" July 1, 1853. He married Louisa Bliss of Haverhill, New Hampshire, and had eight children.2
JOHN TAYLOR GILMAN.
The Gilman family is one of the oldest and most honored of Exeter. It has furnished many men of influence and power in the political history of New Hampshire. Of these none were more prominent than John Taylor Gilman, born in Exeter, December 19, 1753. He received the education of the common schools and the practical learning acquired in ship-building, trade and agriculture, more valuable than theories in the de- velopment of character and strength.
On hearing the news from Lexington in 1775 he marched as a volunteer to Cambridge, stopping only for a night's rest at Andover and reporting for duty the following noon. He read in public the declaration of independence, on its arrival in his native town. He assisted his father, who was colonel of a
2 See the Livermore Family of America, and Judge Charles R. Corning's Biog. Sketch of Samuel Livermore in the Proceedings of Grafton and Coos Bar Association, Vol. I., pp. 365-409.
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regiment, and acted as commissary in supplying food for soldiers in the siege of Boston.
He represented his town in the General Court of New Hampshire in 1779 and the following year was chosen a member of the Committee of Safety. He was a member of the Hartford Convention to consider ways and means of carrying on the revo- lutionary war, riding thither on horseback at his own expense and being absent six weeks, the only delegate from New Hamp- shire. At that time there was not money enough in the treasury of the State to pay traveling expenses. He succeeded General Sullivan as delegate to the Continental Congress, in 1781, and was the youngest man in the assembly. On the death of his father, in 1783, he succeeded him as treasurer of New Hampshire and continued in this office till he was appointed one of the three commissioners to settle the war accounts of the States. He was again elected State treasurer and held the office till he was chosen chief magistrate of his State. For fourteen years he was governor of New Hampshire, a term of office longer than that ever held by any other.
William Plumer expressed his belief that John Taylor Gilman improperly used public funds for private purposes, while he was treasurer of the State, yet no evidences are pro- duced, and the State never lost a penny by him. He succeeded in getting the legislature to raise the governor's salary from one thousand dollars to twelve hundred, and he wanted more and probably deserved it. Governors and other high officials at that time received too little to pay necessary expenses. Hence only the rich could hold high offices. Now the salaries tempt incompetent men and men of small caliber to run for office, and the opportunity for graft is a still stronger temptation. Volun- tary service for the sake of patriotism is not so frequent as in the days of comparative poverty.
His character is summed up by Plumer in the following words: "Governor Gilman was a plain, honest man, who did not attempt to conceal his design. He openly and frankly expressed his opinion of men and measurres. He neither attempted to conceal or equivocate in anything that related to his official conduct. He had a high sense of honor and a contempt of sordid intrigue. He considered honesty more useful than
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splendid talents. He moved openly and directly to his object, and was prompt and decisive in his measures. Plain common sense was the most useful and prominent trait in his intellectual character. He loved office and sought for it, but not by flatter- ing the folly, prejudice, or passions of the people."
NICHOLAS GILMAN.
He was son of Colonel Nicholas Gilman and brother of Governor Gilman. Exeter was the place of his birth, August 3, 1755. He entered the army at the age of twenty-one as adjutant of Colonel Scammell's regiment and served throughout the war, being promoted to a captaincy and serving as assistant to Scam- mell after the latter was made adjutant-general.
Nicholas Gilman was a delegate to the Continental Congress 1786-8 and represented New Hampshire in the convention at Philadelphia that framed the Constitution of the United States. Again he served his State as representative to the national Congress from 1789 to 1797, when he publicly declined to be any longer a candidate. In 1805 he was elected a member of the United States Senate and held that office till his death, May 2, 1814. He was one of the presidential electors in 1793 and in 1797. He refused to be a candidate for the office of governor of his State, preferring to remain in the national Congress.
William Plumer has no compliments for him as a politician, and that voluminous scribbler wastes many words in pointing out the defects of his subjects treated in biographical sketches. We are led to question the accuracy and unbiased quality of his judgment. Surely it is not a fault to change one's mind more than once on great political questions, and a manly independ- ence is easily called pride and haughtiness. Nicholas Gilman evidently had the confidence and respect of his fellow citizens to a large degree, else he would not have held political office so many years.
GEN. NATHANIEL PEABODY.
One of the most prominent leaders in the early years of the State was Nathaniel Peabody, born at Topsfield, Massachusetts, March 1, 1741. Through his mother, Susanna Rogers, he was tenth in descent from John Rogers, the martyr of Smithfield. All his education was received from his father, Dr. Jacob Pea-
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body, since he never attended school a day. He had a good knowledge of medicine at the age of eighteen, when his father died. Soon after he settled as a physician in that part of Plaistow which is now Atkinson and gained a high reputation in his profession.
He was active in all that concerned his town, State and nation. His name is at the head of the petition for the incorpora- tion of Atkinson. Governor John Wentworth appointed him justice of the peace in 1771 and he was made lieutenant-colonel in 1774. He was a member of the first and second Provincial Congresses of New Hampshire, and was very active in the struggle for independence. He is said to have been the first officer in New Hampshire to resign his commission in the king's service, and to have been present at the capture of gunpowder and cannon in fort William and Mary, December, 1774. As selectman he signed and certified to the Association Test in 1776. For years he was a member of the house of representatives and of the committee of safety. After the battle of Bennington he and Dr. Josiah Bartlett were sent to look after the sick and wounded. New Hampshire sent him as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1779, where he was made chairman of the medical committee. His papers show that he was highly esteemed by Generals Washington, Greene and Richard H. Lee, with whom he held correspondence.
For twenty-five years he was almost continually in public life, serving his State as representative, senator, brigadier- general and major-general of militia. In 1795 he declined fur- ther election to office because of impaired health and pressing debts. He had spent money generously and had suffered loss by becoming surety for others. His public duties hindered the acquisition of wealth. Unable to pay his debts he was thrown into prison at Exeter, according to then existing law, where he remained about twenty years. He had the "liberty of the jail- yard," by which he could go almost anywhere in the town, and he resided in a private house, practicing medicine sufficiently for the support of himself and wife, as his diary shows. Readers of today wonder why a man who had rendered so much service to the State was allowed thus to suffer and be disgraced because of poverty. His talent for caustic wit and ridicule may have
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alienated friends. He was thought to be somewhat heretical in religious opinions, and he alludes to the Deity as "the Great Occult Primary." That was enough to damn him in the estima- tion of some, and the man who can not pay his debts is always looked upon with suspicion, however unmerited. The reputa- tion of General Sullivan suffered for a similar reason in his last years. The loss of money often means the loss of friends, and the victim who can smile and talk pleasantly to all, with a load of care and injustice on his heart, is a rare character. General Peabody had plenty of critics after he lost his property and some creditors thought themselves wronged. All the good he had done and his distinguished public services seem to have been forgotten by his fellow citizens, in the time of his old age and greatest need of friendship. He died June 27, 1823.3
COLONEL TOBIAS LEAR.
He was born in Portsmouth September 19, 1762, and grad- uated at Harvard College in 1783. When George Washington was in need of a private secretary, Lear was recommended to him by General Benjamin Lincoln. He had already visited Europe and was said to be proficient in French. He lived in the family of Washington sixteen years as a trusted secretary and member of the family circle, acting also as tutor of the two chil- dren of Parke Custis, whom Washington had adopted. When Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the provin- cial army, in 1798, he selected Lear as his military secretary, with rank of colonel. He accompanied Washington in his private walks and journeys and was with him in his last illness. He married successively two of the nieces of Mrs. Martha Washington, his first wife having been a daughter of Col. Pierce Long of Portsmouth.
After the death of Washington the position of consul- general at St. Domingo was accepted by Lear, and in 1804 he was appointed to a similar office in Algiers and held it eight years. In 1805 he was a commissioner to negotiate peace with Tripoli. From 1812 to 1816, the year of his death, he was accountant to the war department.
He accompanied Washington in the latter's visit to Ports-
3 See Biographical and Other Articles, by William C. Todd, pp. 128-153.
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mouth riding in a carriage, while the General rode on horseback, which circumstance led some of the multitude to cheer the sec- retary by mistake.
Colonel Lear won place and promotion by courteousness, diligence, punctuality and attention to his various duties. The assistant of a great man is likely to be overshadowed, yet he contributes more to the latter's greatness and success than is accredited to him in history. The efficient private secretary of a President is as valuable as any member of the cabinet. Some- times the clerk of a corporation is its best manager.
HON. JOHN SAMUEL SHERBURNE.
He was of the fifth generation from Henry Sherburne, one of the earliest settlers of Portsmouth, who married Rebecca, daughter of Ambrose Gibbons, and was born in Portsmouth in 1757. He was graduated at Dartmouth College in 1776. In the Revolution he served in the Rhode Island campaign as brigade major and aide to General William Whipple, losing a leg by a cannon shot. He was a member of Congress, 1793-7 and United States District Attorney for New Hampshire 1801-4, thereafter till his death in 1830 serving as United States District Judge. His son, Colonel John Henry Sherburne, was register of the United States Navy and author of a life of John Paul Jones.
GENERAL BENJAMIN BELLOWS.
He was son of Colonel Benjamin Bellows, who removed from Lunenburg, Massachusetts, to Number 3, or Walpole, and was one of the principle grantees of that town. His first Amer- ican ancestor was John Bellows who came to New England about the year 1635 and married Mary Wood of Concord, Mass. General Benjamin Bellows was born in 1741 at Lunenburg. In early life he was an officer in the militia and was made lieuten- ant-colonel by royal commission in 1768. He served as colonel during the Revolution at Cambridge, thrice marched to Ticon- deroga and was present at the surrender of Burgoyne. Later he was promoted to the offices of brigadier-general and major- general in the militia.
He was chosen town clerk of Walpole when but nineteen years of age and held that office thirty-two years. From early
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life till death he held the office of justice of the peace. He was register of deeds for Cheshire county from the year 1771 till his death. He was often representative of his town in the legis- lature, as well as State senator and councilor. Three times he was appointed delegate to the Congress of the United States, but he refused to accept the office. He was judge of the court of common pleas from 1784 till 1793. He was a member of the convention that ratified the Federal Constitution in 1788.
When prices were steadily rising, during the Revolution, by reason of the fluctuations of paper currency, he maintained a uniform price for everything that he had to sell, thereby sus- taining considerable loss. It was impossible for one to regulate the value of paper notes. His corn and oats did not vary with the currency.
He had more wisdom than book-learning. He studied men and events. Dignity, courteousness, generosity and kindness won for him respect and love. William Plumer describes him as "Industrious, prudent, frugal, honest and humane." He died June 4, 1802, aged sixty-two years.4
SIMEON OLCOTT.
He was born in Bolton, Connecticut, October 17, 1735 and graduated at Yale College in 1761, working at manual labor dur- ing vacations to pay his expenses. After teaching school some time he studied law at Hinsdale. Admitted to the bar in 1766 he opened an office in Charlestown, where he resided the rest of his life. He was opposed to the Revolution as unnecessary and impolitic, but was a firm supporter of the government after the war. He was a trustee of Dartmouth College.
In 1784 he was appointed chief justice of the court of com- mon pleas for Cheshire county, and in 1790 a judge of the superior court, and in 1795 chief justice of that court. His rep- utation was not so much for legal knowledge and ability as for honesty and integrity. To an unusual degree he had the confidence of the people. He practiced self-reliance, prefering to do for himself rather than to employ servants and esteeming any sort of useful manual labor as honorable. Some called him frank, while others said he was blunt. He was so open as to be
4 Walpole as It Was and as It Is, by George Aldrich, p. 195.
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incautious. He was not avaricious, yet accumulated property enough for the comfort of himself and family.
In 1801 the legislature of New Hampshire appointed him a senator in the congress of the United States, to supply the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Samuel Livermore and he held his seat four years, voting usually with the Federalist party and taking but little part in debates.
He maintained health by temperance, regular exercise, abstinence and rest, rather than by resorting to drugs and physicians. With the reputation of an honest and useful man he died February 22, 1815, in the eightieth year of his age.
CHRISTOPHER TOPPAN.
He was born in Hampton, January 18, 1735, son of Dr. Edmund Toppan, grandson of the Reverend Christopher Toppan of Newbury, Massachusetts. In early life he devoted himself to trade and shipbuilding. At the age of eighteen he was in command of a vessel that sailed to Hailifax, but the dangers of the sea led him to prefer activity on land. Both before and after the Revolution he annually built one or more ships at Hampton. He was not in favor of the war with England, took no active part therein, but discreetly argued against it, so as not to give offense. Before he was twenty-one years of age he was' elected as representative of his town. By the colonial governor he was made justice of the peace, lieutenant- colonel in the militia, and judge of the court of common pleas in Rockingham county. After the Revolution he repeatedly filled the offices of representative, senator and councilor. For more than thirty years he held office in the government of the State. As a member of the convention that ratified the Consti- tution of the United States and of the convention that revised the Constitution of New Hampshire he rendered good service.
His prominent features of character were industry, frugality, integrity, self-command, prudence and patience. He never spoke on a subject till he was well informed. Oppositions and criti- cisms did not ruffle him. He was constant and faithful to a few select friends; he manifested no enmity or ill will toward any person. His persistence in plan and purpose continued so long as there was any chance of success, and when defeated he did
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not despond. Is the measure right and attainable? If so, then work for it. His frugality led him to oppose high salaries and the unnecessary expenditure of public money. He was a good judge of men and measures and favored no man for office, who did not possess the requisite qualifications. He died in the house in which he was born, February 28, 1818, in the eighty-fourth year of his age.
AMOS SHEPARD.
He was the fourth son of Jonathan Shepard, who came from Coventry, Connecticut, to Alstead, New Hampshire, in the year 1768. For thirty-five years Amos Shepard was the most conspicuous man in that town, for wealth, influence and public service. He was born in 1746 and died January 1, 1812. His education was limited, though he acquired a knowledge of sur- veying and knew the trade of a joiner.
In the Revolution he served as lieutenant, under General Richard Montgomery, in the expedition to Canada and was present at the surrender of St. Johns and occupation of Montreal. On his return he raised a company and joined the American Army at New York. He moved from Connecticut to Alstead in 1777 and soon opened a store and began the acquisition of a large landed estate. He had branch stores in Croydon, Marlow and Newport and was engaged also in various manufactures, laying a broad foundation for wealth.
His commission as captain, signed by President Weare, was dated May 4, 1777. He marched to Ticonderoga and served as adjutant of Col. Benjamin Bellows' regiment. Again he marched as captain to check the progress of Burgoyne. Thereafter he rose through the grades of office in the militia to be colonel, brigadier-general and from 1793 to 1806 major-general .
He was a justice of the peace and represented Alstead sev- eral years in the General Court; was a councilor in 1785 and President of the Senate from 1797 to 1804.
His style of living corresponded to his means and position. He had great sagacity and business ability. In his will he bequeathed a thousand dollars each to the Congregational Church at Alford and to the New Hampshire Bible Society.
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JOSEPH BADGER.
General Joseph Badger of Gilmanton was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, January II, 1722. While a youth he served as Lieutenant and Captain in the militia, and was deputy sheriff of Essex County. He removed to Gilmanton in 1763 where he was justice of the peace and in 1771 was appointed colonel in the militia. He was active in the Revolution as muster-master and in fur- nishing supplies for the troops. He served as member of the Provincial Congress and of the convention that adopted the Constitution. His appointment as brigadier-general was in 1780 and as judge of probate in 1784, which office he held thirteen years. He was a member of the State Council in 1784 and 1790-I. He was much interested in the education of youth and did much to found Gilmanton Academy, contributing generously to its funds and acting as one of its trustees for a long time. The church and its ministers and institutions were the constant object of his care and benefactions, and the poor held him in remembrance for his generosity. His whole life was marked by wisdom, patriotism, benevolence and integrity.5
GOVERNOR WILLIAM PLUMER. -
The life of Governor Plumer is so interwoven with the history of New Hampshire for half a century after the Revolu- tion that no extended biography is needed here. In the forma- tion of the State Constitution no man was more influential and contributory. From youth he was an omnivorous devourer of books and in general literature was probably better informed than any other man in the State. Before he was admitted to the bar he was well grounded in the principles of law and con- stitutional government and at an early age in the legislature hesitated not to oppose his opinions to those of his seniors.
He was born in Newbury, Massachusetts, June 25, 1759, of the fifth generation from Francis Plumer, one of the original grantees of Newbury. He removed with his parents to Epping in 1768 and there learned to be a farmer, while reading all the books he could buy or borrow. His health was not very robust, and this may have kept him out of the army. In his twentieth
5 Hist. of Gilmanton, pp. 234-5.
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year he became greatly interested in the preaching of Dr. Samuel Shepherd and united with the Baptist church and was licensed to preach. As an intinerate preacher he was listened to with great interest, and his work was regarded as successful, but after a year or so study and reflection wrought a change in his religious convictions, and he abandoned all thought of spending his life in the Christian ministry. Thereafter he was classed as a deist, and then that word was synonymous with infidel, but Governor Plumer was a firm believer in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. His conflict seems to have been with the assumed authority of the Bible and the faulty interpretations thereof. He always contended for com- plete religious liberty and had respect for the conscientious convictions of others. Had he lived in these times many a church would have received him into good and regular standing, and his life was blameless from the moral point of view. He could not reconcile current theology with reason and the char- acter of God, and we can but admire his boldness and sincerity in the course he took. His inner experiences had harmonized with honest beliefs, and now doubts of an intellectual character dis- turbed his rest. His so-called skepticism was altogether of the head, while his heart remained right. The messenger, the inter- preter, the one among a thousand, did not appear in his behalf, and so William Plumer fought his battles for human freedom, morality and good government outside of the church rather than in it. He was nearer to the truth than the church was at his time. He never withdrew from the real church invisible and militant. He was told that his doubts proceeded from the devil, and that he must not reason about things he could not compre- hend, but must simply believe on authority of others. A mind like his could not possibly so submit to the dictations of men as fallible as himself or more so. Therefore he held fast to his belief in God and immortality and discarded most of the theo- logical notions then current. The errors that he had imbibed in youth and the consequent fiery emotions sometimes arose in memory to haunt him and embitter his speech. He felt a moral indignation toward deceit and hypocrisy. He had no objection whatever to the teachings of Jesus. He was a Christian, and his contemporaries had not sense and breadth enough to recognize it.
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