USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Nashua > History of the city of Nashua, N.H. > Part 44
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Colonel Bowers was twice married: first with Caroline M. Bacon ; second with Abigail E. Bacon. One son was born to him by his first marriage, George P. Bowers.
JOHN FENNIMORE MARSH.
Col. John F. Marsh, son of Fitch Pool and Mary Jane (Emery) Marsh, was born in Hudson, Feb. 1, 1828. He is a grandson of Samuel and Sarah (Pool) Marsh, who were among the early settlers of Nottingham West, now Hudson, and noted as a hardy, industrious and prosperous family. The paternal descent is from George Marsh, who came to America from Norfolk county in England in 1635 and settled at Hingham, Mass. His ancestors on the maternal side were Scotch-Irish and prominent people in colonial days.
Colonel Marsh was educated in the public schools of his native town and at Crosby's Literary institution in this city. His youth was spent upon his father's farm. He was an enthusiast in the military companies of those days, and desired above all things else to enter the mili- tary academy at West Point. Failing to reach the goal of his ambition he enlisted in the spring of 1847 in Capt. George Bowers' company, Ninth United States infantry, (Col. Trueman B. Ransom), and served through the war with Mexico. He participated in all the engagements from the plains of Pueblo to the storming of Chapultepec, where he saw his colonel shot through the head, and wit- nessed the capture of the City of Mexico. Colonel Marsh remained with the regiment until it was disbanded, August, 1848, at Fort Adams, Newport, R. I. Returning
to the avocation of peace, he became a schoolmaster for a short time and then sought the Eldorado of the Pacific going overland, in the spring of 1849, through northern
JOHN F. MARSH.
Mexico as captain of an organization of thirty-seven men who had rendezvoused at Galveston, Texas, where he spent three or four years in the gold mines. In 1855 he was appointed by the government special agent in the postal service between California and New York, and a year later President Pierce, (in whose brigade he had served in the Mexican War), commissioned him post- master at Hastings, Minn., of which place he was mayor in 1859, and where he was in office until 1861.
When the war broke out, his patriotism and military spirit were again aroused, and he entered the service, June 17, 1861, as first lieutenant of company B, Sixth regiment Wisconsin volunteers, and Oct. 25, 1861, was promoted to a captaincy. He was in the battle at Gainesville, and, at the second engagement at Bull Run, was wounded. Upon being appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Twelfth regi- ment New Hampshire volunteers, he resigned his cap- taincy in the Sixth Wisconsin infantry and went to the front in the former command in September, 1862. He was with that gallant regiment at Fredericksburg, and in the battle of Chancellorsville was severely wounded in the hip, from the effects of which he is still a sufferer. Being incapacitated from active service in the field, he was commissioned, Jan. 22, 1864, lieutenant-colonel of the Twenty-fourth regiment United States Veteran Reserve corps; April 20, 1865, he was commissioned colonel of the Twenty-fourth United States colored infantry, which he declined ; March 15, 1865, he was commissioned colonel by brevet, for "gallant and meritorious conduct in the battle of Chancellorsville, Va., May 3, 1863." In the spring of 1864, by order of the secretary of war, he made a special inspection of all the military prisons west of Washington where confederate prisoners of war were confined, reporting to the war department the condition and treatment of the prisoners and as to the efficiency of the troops acting as guards. During the last year of the war he served on a board for the examination of candi- dates for commissions in the military service. His
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comrades credit him with being a strict disciplinarian, and a soldier without reproach.
Colonel Marsh's home, from the time he entered the service in the Twelfth in 1862 to 1874, was in Nashua. In the fall of 1865 he engaged in the manufacture of surface coated paper under the name of the Nashua Glazed Paper company. In 1867 he was appointed United States pen- sion agent at Concord, and in 1868 he sold out his paper business and it was incorporated with the Nashua Card and Glazed Paper company. In 1874 he established the Springfield Glazed Paper company, of which he retains the control and management at the present time. Colonel Marsh is a quiet man who bears the honors to which he is entitled, by reason of the service he has rendered his country and the dangers he has passed, with a modesty characteristic of brave and true men. In civil life he has held many positions of honor and trust. He is a member of Rising Sun lodge, A. F. and A. M., and Meridian Sun Royal Arch chapter of this city; is a companion of the military order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, commandery of Massachusetts.
Colonel Marsh has been twice married ; first, Jan. 22, 1849, with Harriett L. Warren, daughter of Cyrus and Susan (Winn) Warren of Hudson, who died Dec. 21, 1875 ; second, Aug. 1, 1878, with Mrs. Ida M. Phillips. Five children, all by his first marriage, were born to him; two sons who died in infancy ; Kate Aubrey, at Hudson, Aug. 3, 1853, died at Montreal, Canada, March 20, 1872; Susan Isabella, at Hudson, May 18, 1855, died at Springfield, Mass., Nov. II, 1884; Frank W., at Hastings, Minn., Oct. 5, 1858, now residing at Springfield, Mass. An adopted daughter, Mrs. Nella Phillips Shuart, lives at Roch- ester, N. Y.
ELBRIDGE JACKSON COPP.
Col. Elbridge J. Copp, son of Joseph M. and Hannah (Brown) Copp, was born at Warren, July 22, 1844. His ancestors came from the north of Ireland early in the seventeenth century, and settled at what afterwards be- came widely known as Copp's Hill, Boston. Members of the family became pioneers in the settlement of New England, and it is through the branch that made their homes in New Hampshire that the subject of this sketch traces his paternal lineage. On the maternal side he is a direct descendant of the Putnam family of Connecticut, his mother being a great niece of Gen. Israel Putnam of Revolutionary fame.
Colonel Copp obtained his education in the common and high schools of Nashua. In 1861, although then but sixteen years of age, he enlisted as a private soldier in the ranks of the Third regiment, New Hampshire volun- teers. In 1862 he was appointed sergeant-major of the regiment and soon after was promoted to a second lieu- tenancy. His soldierly bearing, faithfulness under trying circumstances, enthusiasm and superb courage when the battle was on, won the admiration of his superiors in rank and secured for him a commission as adjutant of the regiment in 1863. He was then but eighteen years of age and was the youngest commissioned officer in the ser- vice who had risen from the ranks as a private. Colonel Copp served for a time as assistant adjutant-general on the staff of Colonel and acting Brig .- Gen. Louis Bell, who was killed at Fort Fisher, and held his commission until mustered out in October, 1864, on account of disability from wounds.
That he was not a carpet knight or a soldier who shirked the bugle call to battle there is abundant evidence in his gallant record, a record that does honor to his native state, and in which he has every reason to take pride. At Dru- ry's Bluff, in front of Richmond, while under a murderous fire, he was wounded in the shoulder, but so earnest was he to be with his comrades of battles and hardships, so devoted was his patriotism, that he joined his command before his wound was fairly healed, and was again in his saddle when the movement was made at Deep Bottom. In this terrible and unsuccessful assault made by Haw- ley's brigade, and when inside the enemy's fortification, he was shot through the body and left among the dead. His feeling was, as he once said to the writer of this sketch, that only his head remained to him and that his wound was mortal. He was rescued by a member of
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ELBRIDGE J. COPP.
General Hawley's staff, and was one of but few of his regiment among the hundred or more who were wounded in the engagement and escaped being taken prisoner. Under skillful treatment at the Chesapeake hospital, at Fortress Monroe, he recovered so as to be removed to his home. He has never fully recovered from his wounds and is often a great sufferer for weeks at a time.
Following the war Colonel Copp traveled for a time in the West for a Chicago and Indianapolis book concern, but finally wearying of the road, he settled in business in Nashua with his brother, Capt. Charles D. Copp, a gallant veteran of the New Hampshire Ninth. In 1878 Colonel Copp was appointed register of probate for Hillsborough county, a position which he has filled with such marked ability and courtesy that he has been elected biennially ever since. He has not, however, in the years since the war, abated any of his military ardor. On the contrary,
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HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. H.
he was commissioned captain of the Nashua City guards in 1878, and by drilling and discipline gave it a standing second to none in the state. In 1879 he was promoted to the rank of major of the Second regiment, New Hamp- shire National guard; a few months later he was advanced to lieutenant colonel, and in 1884, upon the promotion of Col. D. M. White to a brigade commander, was commis- sioned colonel. When his five years had expired he was urged to accept a new commission, but believing this would be unfair to other deserving officers who had earned promotion, he declined the honor. Even then his interest in the military of New Hampshire did not cease, for he at once assumed the task of organizing a stock company, and by the most zealous labor succeeded in erecting in Nashua the finest armory in the state. He is a member of the Congregational church, Ancient York lodge, A. F. and A. M., Pennichuck lodge, I. O. O. F., John G. Foster post, G. A. R., and the Massachusetts commandery of the Loyal Legion. As a citizen he is active in all good work for the public weal; as a friend he is steadfast and true, and in his home life he is the ideal American gentleman. Thus, in Colonel Copp, Nashua, New Hampshire and the country has a veteran as patriotic, brave and true "as ever, 'mid fire and smoke, planted the victorious standard of his country on an enemy's walls ; " as a citizen to know is to respect.
Colonel Copp was united in marriage June 9, 1869, with S. Eliza White, daughter of James and Rebecca (McConihe) White of Nashua. Two daughters were born of their marriage: Charlotte Louise, married Frederick B. Pearson ; Edith Alice.
JAMES GRANVILLE MCDONALD.
James G. McDonald was born in Gorham, Me., Oct. 3, 1832, died in Nashua, Feb. 19, 1893. He was a son of James and Abigail (Sturgis) McDonald, and a direct de- scendant of Brian McDonald of the McDonald clan, who came to America from Glencoe, Scotland, about 1686. The descent includes John McDonald, who married the daughter of an English clergyman and settled in York county, Me., and Joseph McDonald, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, who was a soldier in the Revolu- tionary War. His grandmother, Rachel (Webb) McDon- ald, was the daughter of Eli Webb, of Windham, Me., also a Revolutionary soldier, whose ancestors came from Redriff, Eng., early in the eighteenth century. On the maternal side he was a descendant of Jonathan and Tem- perance (Gorham) Sturgis, English settlers of Gorham, Me., (which place was named in honor of Colonel John Gorham, father of Mrs. Sturgis), and James and Mary (Roberts) Sturgis. James Sturgis and Benjamin Roberts, his great-grandfathers, were Revolutionary soldiers. They were all worthy people and their descendants have honored the state, fought in the battles of their country, and filled high positions in the nation.
Mr. McDonald was educated in the public schools of his native town. He learned the stone mason's trade and became one of the best known contractors in New Eng- land in that line of business. He built some of the heaviest stone abutments, piers and bridges on the Port- land & Ogdensburg, the Boston & Maine, the Concord & Claremont, the Pemigewassett Valley, Portland & Rumford Falls, and other eastern railroads, and laid the foundations of several of the largest cotton and pulp mills
in New England. Mr. McDonald resided at Gorham until he was thirty-three years of age, after that at New- port, Newton and Sandown, coming to Nashua in 1873
JAMES G. McDONALD.
and making this place his home until his death. Al- though interested in everything pertaining to the ad- vancement of Nashua, he did not, owing to the fact that his business was elsewhere during certain seasons of the year, take a conspicuous part in municipal affairs. His great ability, however, was recognized by the people and he was elected street commissioner for the year 1892. He was a man whom everyone highly regarded, for he was generous, social and upright in all his dealings. Mr. McDonald enlisted April II, 1863, at Portland, Me., in the Seventeenth regiment, Maine volunteers, and served until the close of the war. He was a York rite mason of the thirty-second degree and member of Edward A. Ray- mond consistory. He was also a member of Granite lodge, I. O. O. F., Watananock tribe of Red Men, Nashua lodge, K. of P., and John G. Foster post, G. A. R. In re- ligious affiliation he was a Universalist.
Mr. McDonald was united in marriage March 13, 1853, with Emily F. Parker, daughter of Isaac and Anne (Floyd) Parker of Gorham, Me. Mrs. McDonald is of English descent. Three children were born of their mar- riage : Angie, born Dec. 14, 1858, died July 9, 1863 ; Etta, born April 29, 1864, died May 30, 1865; Annie, born Oct. 4, 1865, married Frank A. Rogers.
ALBERT N. FLINN.
Albert N. Flinn was born at Biddeford, Me., October, 1846. He is a son of Samuel and Clarice (Langley) Flinn. During his youth he lived with his parents at Holyoke, Mass., Davenport, Ia., and Chicopee, Mass., and, in 1857, became a resident of Nashua. He obtained
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his education in the common schools in the places where his parents had their home and by private study, obser- vation and experience. In September, 1861, he enlisted
ALBERT N. FLINN.
in the Fourth regiment New Hampshire volunteers, and he followed the fortunes of that command in all its hard- ships and privations, participating in all its battles and skirmishes, and was mustered out September, 1864. Mr. Flinn followed the occupation of a merchant both before and after the war. He was employed for a time, 1865, as a clerk in a store in Savannah, Ga., then went into the grocery business for himself at Mt. Vernon, Ga. Tiring .of the South he returned North and went into the dry- goods business at Manchester. Six or seven months later he left Manchester and went to Chicago, where he fol- lowed the same line of trade until 1867, when he returned to Nashua and has since had his home here. He has been employed as a clerk and has been in the drygoods busi- ness in company with Charles F. Stetson, under the firm name of Stetson & Flinn, and he has been a busy man in several enterprises and in public affairs. Mr. Flinn rep- resented Ward Four in the board of aldermen in 1884 and 1885, and July 28, 1885, was appointed postmaster. His administration was marked with many added improve- ments and conveniences, including the introduction of the letter carrier system, that were highly satisfactory to the public and gave him such popularity that upon the return of the Democratic party to power he was again appointed, June 17, 1894, to that responsible position, the duties of which he discharges with courtesy and efficiency. He believes in the future of Nashua and is a liberal con- tributor to the things that aid the people. Mr. Flinn was for some years the treasurer and manager of the Aerated Oxygen Compound company and a director in the Secur- ity Improvement company. He is a communicant of the Episcopal church and is a member of John G. Foster post, G. A. R.
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Mr. Flinn has been twice married : First, in 1870, with Augusta Adams, daughter of Charles and Hannah (Greeley) Adams of Hudson, who died in 1874; second, Sept. 4, 1877, with Elizabeth Kent Noyes, daughter of S. Homer and
Annie E. (Wadleigh) Noyes of Nashua. One son was born to him by his first marriage : Albert Adams, born in July, 1871.
JAMES STEELE.
James Steele was born at Antrim, Dec. 12, 1839. He is a son of James and Susan (Monahan) Steele, and a grand- son of Samuel and Nancy Steele, early settlers of Antrim. On the maternal side he is a descendantof John and Annie Monahan of Francestown. Mr. Steele was educated in the public schools of his native place. He came to Nashua in 1852 and his home has been here ever since. When the Civil War broke out, in 1861, he was among the first to enlist. He served three months in the First regi- ment, New Hampshire volunteers, and when his term expired re-enlisted in company F, First New Hamp- shire heavy artillery, in which command he endured the dangers and hardships of war until the close of the conflict in 1865. Since the war he has been engaged in several enterprises, but about twenty years ago he settled down as a dealer in pianos, organs and musical merchan- dise, and is now one of the leading merchants of the city, doing a prosperous and lucrative business, which is annually increasing in volume, having already attained such magnitude as to place him among the leading dealers in his line. Mr. Steele is a stirring, thriving citizen whose proverbial good fellowship has gained him a mul- titude of friends. He is a member of the board of trade and a citizen who can always be counted on to contribute more than his just proportion, both in money and labor, to the things that advance the interests of individuals and the city. In fact, Mr. Steele is a loyal Nashuan every day in the year. He is a member of Pennichuck lodge, I. O. O. F., and the New Hampshire club; he attends the Main Street M. E. church.
JAMES STEELE.
Mr. Steele has been twice married : first, 1859, with Jennie P. Chamberlin, and second, 1892, with Adaline S. Estey. He has one son by his first marriage, Fred A. Steele, M. D., who resides in Ipswich, Mass.
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HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. H.
GEORGE WASHINGTON BADGER.
George W. Badger was born at Compton, P. Q., May 16, 1832. He is a descendant in the eighth generation of Giles Badger, who came to America from England in
GEORGE W. BADGER.
1643 and settled at Newbury, Mass. The descent (see memoir of Badger family ) is John Badger, married Han- nah Swett, merchant at Newbury; John Badger, Jr., married Rebecca Brown, merchant at Newbury ; Joseph Badger, married Hannah Peaslee, merchant at Haverhill, Mass .; General Joseph Badger, born at Haverhill, 1722, married Hannah Pearson, settled at Gilmanton, an officer in the Revolutionary War, judge of probate court Straf- ford county, member of state council 1784, 1790 and 1791, an active and efficient officer and a friend and supporter of the "institutions of learning and religion," died in Gilmanton, 1803 ; Major Peaslee Badger, born in Haver- hill, Mass., 1756, moved to Gilmanton with parents 1765, married Lydia Kelley of Lee, major in the militia and was prominent in the affairs of the state, died at Gil- manton, Oct. 13, 1846; Thomas C. Badger, father of the subject of this sketch, born in Gilmanton, married Mary Crosby of Lyme, and in his early manhood took up a tract of land at Compton, near the line between the United States and Canada, where several of his children were born. The memoir from which the foregoing was compiled, shows that members of the family in every generation have filled high stations in all the professions and have honored their ancestry in field, forum and the private walks of life.
Mr. Badger was educated in the public schools of Hat- ley P. Q., to which place his parents removed when he was a child. At the age of twenty years he settled in Manchester, where he took up the trade of an ornamental and fresco painter and remained employed until 1860, when he came to Nashua and established himself in the same business, in which he has remained till the present time. Mr. Badger has decorated the interior of many churches, public and private buildings of the state, and has always stood at the head of the profession. He has
also attained something more than a local fame as an artist in oils on canvass; his pictures of game birds, fish and animals, painted from life froin subjects captured by himself, for he is a keen sportsman, an enthusiastic lover of the rod and gun, as well as a great admirer of the beautiful in nature, exhibit him as one who is richly endowed with true artistic impulses and possessed of far more than ordinary powers of expression and skill in delineation.
August 23, 1862, he enlisted in company I, Thirteenth regiment, New Hampshire volunteers, and went to the front in that command. He was honorably discharged April 7, 1863. Mr. Badger served Ward Four three years on the board of selectmen, was a member of the common council in 1874 and 1875, and of the board of aldermen in 1876 and 1877. He has also represented his ward five or six years on the board of inspectors of the checklists, in the legislature in 1879 and 1880, and on the board of assessors in 1892, 1894, 1895 and 1896, declining a nomina- tion in 1893. Mr. Badger is a member of Rising Sun lodge, A. F. and A. M., Meridian Sun, Royal Arch chapter, Israel Hunt council, St. George commandery, .K. T. and is a Scottish Rite mason of the thirty-second degree, being a member of Edward A. Raymond consistory. He is also an active member of John G. Foster post, G. A. R. As a citizen he has always been earnest and efficient in advocacy of the causes of the people, quick to respond to the needs of the distressed and a man who can be relied upon to do his full share in whatever promises to advance the interests of Nashua. He is a Congregationalist.
Mr. Badger was united in marriage in October, 1853, at Nashua, with Philista Miller, daughter of Thaddeus and Hannah (Ewell) Miller of Sutton, P. Q. Two daughters were born to them, Helen, born 1855, died 1856; Clara E., born 1857, married Fred S. Platt of Plattsburg, N. Y., now residing at Poultney, Vt.
FRANK GARDNER NOYES.
Col. Frank G. Noyes was born iu Nashua, July 6, 1833. He is a son of Col. Leonard W. and Ann Sewall (Gardner) Noyes. (For genealogy see biographical sketch of his father). Colonel Noyes was fitted for college at Phillips' academy at Andover, Mass. He entered college in 1849 and was graduated in 1853. Colonel Noyes read law in the offices of Rufus Choate and Sidney Bartlett in Boston, and attended lectures at the law school of Harvard univer- sity, where he was graduated with the degree of LL. B. in 1856, and was admitted to practice in the courts of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Immediately there- after he settled at Clinton, Ia., and formed a co-partner- ship with Nathaniel B. Baker, ex-governor of New Hamp- shire, remaining in active practice of the law till Sumter was fired upon in 1861. Then the blood of his patriotic ancestry was aroused and he offered his services to Gov- ernor Kirkwood, the famous war governor of Iowa, and was commissioned aide-de-camp on his staff. During the year that followed he had an active part in organizing troops, and then President Lincoln commissioned him commissary of subsistence with the rank of captain. He went to the front at once and served throughout the war, participating in most of the important campaigns in the west and southwest, notably in the battles of Shiloh, Helena, Yazoo Pass and Vicksburg. After the capture of Vicksburg he went to New Orleans with the thirteenth
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army corps to which he was attached, and was engaged in the fight at Mobile bay when Farragut made his famous passage of the forts. In May following he was ordered to Galveston, Texas, where he served as chief of his depart- ment, on the staffs of General Granger and H. G. Wright, when he was honorably discharged in November, 1865, having been promoted by the president to be chief com- missary of subsistence, thirteenth army corps, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In March, 1867, he was ap- pointed consul to Panama, and in 1868 he returned to Iowa where he engaged in manufacturing and remained until 1879, when he returned to Nashua.
Colonel Noyes since returning to Nashua, has not prac- ticed his profession. He has given his time to the care of his property, to the advancement of city improvements, to the service of his com- rades and other mat- ters incepted for the general welfare of the people. He was mus- tered in John G. Foster Post, G. A. R., in 1889. In 1891 he served the state department as inspector, in 1892 he was elected senior vice department comman- der, and at the twenty- sixth annual encamp- ment in 1893, he was chosen department commander by a very large majority. He also served on the staffs of Generals Alger and Veazey, comman- ders-in -chief of the National encampment in 1890 and 1891. In 1891 Colonel Noyes was unanimously elected president of the New Hampshire Veterans' association. He was one of the early mem- bers of the military order of the Loyal Legion, and has been a companion of the New York commandery more than twenty-seven years. Besides this Colonel Noyes is a Free Mason, and before returning to Nashua for some time captain -general of Holy Cross commandery, Knights Templar of the jurisdiction of Iowa.
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