History of the city of Nashua, N.H., Part 70

Author: Parker, Edward Everett, 1842- ed; Reinheimer, H., & Co
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Nashua, N.H., Telegraph Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 652

USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Nashua > History of the city of Nashua, N.H. > Part 70

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GEORGE YEATON SAWYER.

says a member of the Hillsborough county bar, "I should say they are owing to Judge Sawyer's happy faculty of expression and the fact that he was a magnificent pen- man and could compose and write with great rapidity- a little verbose, but dignified, learned, logical and judicial." Judge Sawyer's knowledge of law and his great intellectual capacity often caused embarrassment to the presiding justices, and it was no uncommon occurrence to hear the interrogatory from the bench: "Will Judge Sawyer state how he understands the law," or "How does Judge Sawyer understand the law as applicable to the point in controversy?" These qualities made him a marked man in New Hampshire, and caused his services to be eagerly sought in - all cases where large sums of money or other important inter- ests were in issue. It was also these qualities that marked him as a member of the commission to re- vise the laws, and it is to his judicial understanding, with that of Asa Fowler, -Judge Bell, chairman of the commission, being incapacitat- ed from labor by sickness-that the state to-day owes the fact that in symmetry and en- tirety they are equal to those of any state in the union. As an advocate he was plain and compre- hensive, confin- ing himself close- ly to the law and evidence, and never lowering his high standard to defame a witness or catch the ear of the multitude. In addressing

jury, it was the speech of a matter-of-fact man to men whom he quietly persuaded to believe the facts as he understood them. Among the many notable cases in which Judge Sawyer was counsel was the case of the State vs. Edwin W. Major, who was hanged for murder. His defence was masterly and every point was shaped in completeness. Some idea of the man and his power may be obtained from a scene in that famous trial. Said the Court: "I make the suggestion, Judge Sawyer, to save

Judge Sawyer was united in marriage in Meredith Bridge, now Laconia, N. H., October, 1834, to Emeline, second daughter of Daniel Tucker of Laconia. She died Sept. 16, 1891. Seven children were born of this mar- riage : Emeline Augusta, died in infancy ; George Yeaton ; Charles Albert, died in the army in 1863; Helen Mary, married Elisha B. Hubbard, Aug. 27, 1873; Clara Hazle- ton; William Edward, died in infancy; Alice, married Fred W. Estabrook, Nov. 5, 1879, died Nov. 21, 1893.

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HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. H.

WILLIAM WALLACE BAILEY.

Hon. William W. Bailey was born in Hopkinton in 1829. He is a son of Thomas and Jemima (Smith) Bailey. His great grandfather, Humphrey Bailey, was probably a descendant of John Bailey, who came from Hampshire, Eng., about 1640 and settled at Rowley, Mass. His great grandfather and grandfather, Thomas, moved from Hav- erhill, Mass., to Hopkinton about 1771. They were sturdy and respected farmers and resided there until their death. On the maternal side he is a de- scendant of Moody Smith, a Revolu- tionary pensioner, who came from Danville to Hop- kinton about 1780.

Mr. Bailey at- tended the district schools of his na- tive place and was a student at Pem- broke academy and the New Hampshire con- ference seminary at Northfield, where he fitted for college. He en - tered Dartmouth college in 1850 and was graduated in the class of 1854. Mr. Bailey read law in the office of George & Foster, Concord, and com- pleted his course of study of this profession at the Albany, N. Y., law school, where he was graduated in 1856 with the degree of LL. B. Following his graduation he set- tled in Nashua, and has continued in practice to the present time. Mr. Bailey is a sound and able lawyer, having the confi- dence of the court, his associates at the bar and has a numerous client- age. He served the city as solicitor in 1884, during which time its legal interests were faithfully cared for.

Mr. Bailey, like many another citizen and attorney of Nashua, has been a good deal more than a professional man among the people. He has been active in public affairs, and that he has the confidence of his fellow-men is shown in the fact that he represented Ward one in the legislature in 1863 and 1864, and was supported by his

party for state senator in 1867 and 1868, for presidential elector at large on the democratic ticket in 1884, and for member of congress in 1886. Mr. Bailey served the state as trustee of the New Hampshire College of Agricul- ture and Mechanic Arts from 1871 to 1876, and the city of Nashua for several years as member of the board of education, and as trustee of the public library from 1873 to the present time. In all these positions he has rendered the state and this community faithful service ; his integrity and singleness of purpose never having been called in question. He

was director and president of the Wilton rail- road company from 1871 to 1874, when he was elected a director of the Nashua & Lowell railroad, having been re- elected every year since then, and has also been treasurer of the corporation since. 1891. He was president of the Nashua Savings bank from 1879 to 1895, also a direc- tor in the Indian Head National bank and the Hillsborough mills, being presi- dent of the last named company. Mr. Bailey is a member of the First Congrega- tional church, the New England His- toric Genealogical society, and presi- dent of the State Library associa- tion. He is a member of Rising Sun lodge, A. F. and A. M., of which he was the worshipful master in 1862 and 1863, and is a Scottish rite Mason of the 32d degree.

W. W. Bailey ey

Besides attending to the duties of his profession he has found time to devote to the preparation of articles of historic interest, which he has read before the New England Historical society.

Mr. Bailey was united in marriage in 1858 with Mary B. Greeley, daughter of Alfred and Mary (Webster) Greeley, and a descendant of Andrew Greeley, who was born in England and came to this country early in the seventeenth century, settling at Salisbury, Mass. Four

HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. H.

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children have been born of their marriage: Marion G., who died in 1867, at the age of eight years; Caroline W., graduated at Wheaton seminary, died Aug. 21, 1891 ; William T., graduated at Dartmouth college in 1861, and Helen G.

HENRY BRIDGE ATHERTON.

Capt. Henry B. Atherton was born at Cavendish, Vt., Sept. 21, 1835, and is the youngest son of Jonathan and Roxana (Ives) Atherton. Captain Atherton's father was fifth in descent from the emigrant, James Atherton, who came about 1635 from Lanca- shire in England to Dorchester with his kinsman, Maj. Gen. Humphrey Atherton, who succeeded Sedg- wick in the com- mand of the mili- tary and naval forces of the Bay colony. Charles G. Atherton, late

United States sen- ator from New Hampshire, was also fifth in de- scent from the same emigrant an- cestor, James. Mr. Atherton's moth- er, Roxana Ives, was the only daughter of Capt. Elihu and Phebe (Hall) Ives and was born in Lud- low, Vt. She was a cousin of the late bishop, Silli- man Ives of South Carolina and the late N. K. Hall of Buffalo, United States District judge, a member of President Fill- more's cabinet, and she was also a lineal descendant of the emigrant John Morse of Connecticut, who was the ancestor of George Kennan, the author, of Prof. S. F. B. Morse and of Chan- cellor Kent. She was educated at a young ladies' school in Middlebury, Vt., in which town her only brother, Isaac, attended college, and before her marriage she taught school. She was a good wife and devoted mother and her many noble qualities of mind and heart endeared her to all who knew her. She lacked but a few weeks of being ninety-four years old when she died in 1890.

H.B. atherton.

Jonathan Atherton, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Massachusetts, served in the Revo- lutionary army, married Nancy Bridge and removing from Harvard, Mass., became one of the first settlers of Cavendish about 1782, and was the first representative elected to the legislature from that town. He was a farmer and also practiced law until his death in 1826. His son, Joseph, was a lieutenant in the regular army and served in the War of 1812. The son, Jonathan, a man of marked ability and great decision of character, of simple tastes and fond of reading, preferred the free and inde- pendent life of the New England farmer of the last generation and continued to re- side on the broad acres where he was born until his death in 1875, at the age of eighty- seven.

Captain Ather- ton obtained his education in the public schools of his native place, at Black River academy, Ludlow, Leland seminary, Townsend, and Dartmouth col - lege where he was graduated with the degree of A. B. in 1859. Among his classmates in college were Dr. Edward Cowles, Dr. Phineas S. Conner, John Davis, B. F. Hayes, Prof. E. R. Rug- gles, Asa W. Ten- ney and Wheelock G. Veazey.

He read law in the office of Joseph Sawyer in Alton, Ill., for a short time and subse- quently in the office of John F. Deane with whom upon admission to the bar he entered into partnership. He took a year's course at the Albany Law school where he received the degree of LL. B. in 1860. Among his associates at the law school were Sena- tor William F. Vilas of Wisconsin, Gen. W. G. Veazey of the Interstate Commerce commission and Senator Red- field Proctor of Vermont.

Before he was fairly settled in the practice of his profession the Rebellion broke out and he offered his services to the governor of the state who requested him

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HISTORY OF NASIIUA, N. H.

to raise a company. IIe received recruiting papers Aug. 12, 1861, and on the following day began the work of en- listment. In fourteen days his company was full with nearly twenty men to spare. September 3 he was elected captain and on the twenty-first of the same month his company was mustered into the United States service at Brattleboro as Company C, of the Fourth Vermont volun- teers and the regiment left the next day for the front.

This regiment formed a part of the famous First Ver- mont brigade and with General Hancock's brigade was in the division of Gen. "Baldy " Smith. They were sta- tioned across the Potomac at Camp Griffin near Lewins- ville, Va., and during the fall, winter and the next spring took part in General Mcclellan's peninsular campaign. At Lee's mills on Warwick Creek, April 16, 1862, Captain Atherton, while in command of his company attacking the enemy's position, was severely wounded by a minnie bullet in the right groin. He also received a scalp wound from a piece of shell at the same time. Having in conse- quence become disabled from active duty he resigned on the twelfth of August, 1862.

Oct. 27, 1862, he removed to Nashua to take the edito- rial charge of the New Hampshire Telegraph, which paper he conducted until April, 1864. He then resumed the practice of his profession which he has continued up to the present time. From 1866 to 1872 he was in partner- ship with the late William Barrett. For two years he was treasurer of Hillsborough county and from 1872 to 1876 postmaster of Nashua. In 1867 and 1868 and again in 1885 and in 1887 he was a member of the state legislature, serving the last two terms on the judiciary committee and as chairman of the committee on national affairs.

Captain Atherton was a delegate to the Republican Na- tional convention at Chicago in 1884. At the beginning of President Harrison's administration he was appointed land commissioner for Samoa under the treaty of Berlin, and through his old comrade, Senator Redfield Proctor, then secretary of war, he was also offered the governor- ship of Alaska, both of which he declined. In 1890 he was elected member of the board of education for four years, and in 1893 and 1894 he was president of that body. Captain Atherton is a member of Rising Sun lodge, A. F. and A. M., and is also a Scottish rite Mason of the 33d and last degree. He attends the service of the Pilgrim church.

As an attorney Captain Atherton is among the leading members of the New Hampshire bar. He prepares his cases with great care and presents them with tenacious regard for his clients' rights. In argument before a jury he bears himself with dignity and discusses the evidence he has submitted in a clear and forcible light. Captain Atherton, however, is more than an attorney. He is a man of learning in the great field of general knowledge, a thinker and an essayist who develops his subject in terse expression that shows his newspaper training. Besides this he is an earnest and lucid public speaker, both on political and other themes, and has made many Memorial Day addresses that have instructed his comrades and other auditors and won for him general approbation. Captain Atherton is a member of John G. Foster Post, G. A. R., and one of its past commanders:

Captain Atherton was united in marriage at Ludlow, Vt., Jan. 7, 1861, with Abbie Louise Armington, daughter of Dea. Samuel Laton and Eunice (Watkins) Armington. Her grandfather, Stephen Watkins, was a soldier in the

Revolution. She was a graduate of Black River academy in Ludlow, where she also taught before her marriage. She was a member of the Baptist church in that town- the church of her parents-from which she never severed her connection. After a long and painful illness she died at Nashua, Dec. 8, 1896. The children of their marriage are Maud, born in Nashna, Aug. 2, 1863, married Almon W. Griswold of New York, Sept. 23, 1885; Grace, born Feb. 8, 1869, married William F. Hazelton, M. D., of Spring- field, Vt., Dec. 29, 1892 ; Robert, born Sept. 26, 1872, died Aug. 1, 1873; Anna H., born July 2, 1876 ; Henry Francis, born Aug. 3, 1883.

GEORGE ALLEN RAMSDELL.

Hon. George A. Ramsdell was born in Milford March II, 1834. He is a direct descendant of Abijah Ramsdell, who was born in England in 1695, and in early manhood came to America and settleed at Lynn, Mass., the line continu- ing through Abijah, 1730; William, 1766, married Mary Southward ; William, 1803, married Maria A. Moore; to himself, 1834. These worthy sires were noted for strength and ruggedness of character. Captain William, 1803, being a man of rare intellectual capacity and possessed of a gift that enabled him to utilize his varied knowledge of men and things for entertainment and instruction at short notice and in addresses of power and eloquence for a man who was not a speaker by profession. On the maternal side he is a descendant of John Moore, who came from England in 1638 and settled in Sudbury, Mass., in the same year. The lineage is traced through six generations to Humphrey Moore, D. D., 1778, who married Hannah Peabody, to the subject of this sketch in the eighth generation. The genealogy intermingles on his father's side with the Hawthornes and other promi- nent families of Massachusetts, and on his mother's side with Francis Peabody, who settled in Hampton as early as 1635 and was the immigrant ancestor of George Pea- body, the philanthropist, and other noted families of New England.

Mr. Ramsdell obtained his primary education in his native town and was fitted for college at Appleton aca- demy, now McCollom institute, Mont Vernon. He com- pleted a year at Amherst college, but was compelled by reason of delicate health to retire at the end of his sopho- more year. His ambition, however, to fit himself for a useful career did not end here. After a season of rest he entered the office of Bainbridge Wadleigh at Milford and read law. He completed his profession in the office of Daniel Clark and Isaac W. Smith at Manchester, and in 1857 was admitted to the Hillsborough bar. Soon after he located at Peterboro where he remained six years in active practice. In 1864 he was appointed clerk of the supreme court of Hillborough county and removed to Amherst, where he resided till 1866, when the records were moved to Nashua and he became a resident here. In 1887 he resigned the office mentioned and resumed the practice of his profession, forming a copartnership with Lyman D. Cook, under the firm name of Ramsdell & Cook. The firm continued in business three or four years, when banking responsibilities made such a demand upon Mr. Ramsdell's time that he gave up his court practice and became directly identified with the City Guaranty Savings bank as its treasurer, at the same time continuing as pres- ident of the First National bank. The duties of clerk of the court took Mr. Ramsdell out of active practice and,

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HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. H.

therefore, he has not been known as an advocate before juries. His legal acumen, however, has been recognized by the bar and every justice of the supreme court in the past twenty-five years has appointed him referee and auditor in a large number of important and perplexing civil actions. In this judicial capacity he has visited every county and all the large towns in the state. Mr. Ramsdell's ability and impartiality in weighing evidence has never been called in question, and although he has determined many causes, often involving large pecuniary interests in which it frequently hap- pened that bitter feeling was engen- dered, there have been but few ap- peals from his judgment and no aspersion relative to motive. This honorable record was recognized by Gov. John B. Smith, who, on the death of Judge Al- len in 1893, tend- ered him a seat on the supreme bench, which he reluctantly de- clined. Meantime Dartmouth col- lege honored him with the degree of A. M. But Mr. Ramsdell has not devoted his time

public library, and many other places of trust and re- sponsibility. In 1870, 1871 and 1872 he was a member of the legislature. He served upon the judiciary and other important committees, and won an enviable reputation as a careful and painstaking law-maker, a luminous and convincing debater and a man whom no influence could swerve from the path of duty. In fact many of his con- stituents remember with pride his staying qualities in in the great struggle in the house in 1871, when, Bain- bridge Wadleigh having spoken on the previous ques- tion till his voice failed, and need- ing a substitute to hold the floor till morning, Mr. Ramsdell stepped into the breach and spoke six hours with scarce- ly an intermission. In this and many other trying epi- sodes in that re- markable legisla- tive body, as in the performance of duty as a citi- zen, he has been a leader of the peo- ple and a fearless advocate of what he believed to be right. Mr. Rams- dell was a working member of the constitutional convention of 1876 and represented the third district in the governor's council in 1891 and 1892. In the Republican guber- natorial conven- tion of 1894, com- posed of nearly eight hundred delegates, he re- ceived a flattering vote, and in the convention of 1896 he received the distinguished hon- or of being nomi- nated by acclama- tion and without a dissenting vote. In the election that followed he was chosen governor by the largest majority (17,977) ever given a candidate in the history of the state.

. and attention wholly to the in- tricate problems and science of the law. He has ad- ministered upon a large number of private estates, and carried many responsibilities in connection with personal and cor- poration invest- ments, the wisdom of his judgment be- ing apparent in the fact that those who have relied upon his sagacity have never had cause to regret it. He has been identified in the temperance movement and responsive in everything incepted to promote the moral well-being of society and guard the home. Mr. Ramsdell was the orator at the dedication of the modern town hall buildings in his native place in 1870, and for some time past has been engaged in gathering material for a history of the town. Mr. Ramsdell's public career includes ten years' service on the board of education, twenty years as truste of thee

Bakamodell

Among the minor yet equally important positions in which Mr. Ramsdell has served the people of Nashua and the state may be mentioned that of president for ser- eral years of the board of trustees of the State Industrial school at Manchester and trustee of the Orphans' home at Franklin, being at the present time a member of the

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HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. H.

last named board. He has been many times earnestly solicited to stand as the republican candidate for mayor of the city, but owing to onerous duties in the positions mentioned, and the added fact that his duties as president of the First National bank, treasurer of the City Guaranty Savings bank, director in the Wilton Railroad company, in the Peterborough railroad, in the Jackson company, in the Nashua Manufacturing company, besides other clients whose interests he must guard in the supreme and pro_ bate courts, the management of the ancestral farm at Milford and prop- er attention to his private affairs, he has been com- pelled to decline the honor. *

in Londonderry about 1719. Four children have been born of their marriage: Harry W., born Feb, 1, 1862, married Mary L. Scott, daughter of Col. Charles Scott of Peterborough ; Arthur D., born Aug. 2, 1864; Charles T., born July 6, 1866, married Jessie M. Austin of Denton, Tex. ; Anne M., born Dec. 8, 1873.

EDWARD EVERETT PARKER.

Hon. Edward E. Parker was born in Brookline, Jan. 7, 1842. He is a son of James and Deverd (Corey) Parker and a

Mr. Ramsdell was made a Mason in Altermont lodge, A. F. and A. M., at Peter- borough, while residing there and is now a member of Rising Sun lodge in Nashua and a Scottish rite Mason of the 32d degree in Edward A. Raymond con- sistory.

In his religious convictions he is a liberal Congrega- tionalist and a member of the First church of that denomination in Nashua. Nei- ther his religious, social or masonic life are marked or marred by display or a forbidding spirit. The sum- mary, therefore, of Mr. Ramsdell's career is valuable to the readers of this work in im- pressing a useful lesson upon the mind of genera- tions to come, and as a reminder that the better way of life, and the surer hope of happiness is in keeping in close touch with the teachings of the book of books.

Es. E. Parker.

Mr. Ramsdell was united in marriage in November, 1860, with Eliza D. Wilson, born Sept. 5, 1836, and daughter of David and Margaret (Dinsmore) Wilson of Deering. She is a descendant, paternally, of David Wilson, and maternally of John Dinsmore, both of whom were immigrants in the Scotch-Irish colony that settled

descendant, both paternally and maternally, from English families that came to this country about 1660 and settled in Tyngsborough and Groton. His was grandfather one of the first settlers in Brook- line. He held many important trusts in the town government and was its second representative in the legislature fol- lowing its incor- poration in 1779. His grandmother, Sarah (Boynton) Parker, was a de- scendant of John Boynton and Wil- liam Boynton who came to America from Yorkshire, Eng., and settled in Rowley, Mass., in 1638, and whose children and chil- dren's children have been promi- nent in every sta- tion of life. His maternal great grandmother, Prudence (Cum- mings) Wright, wife of David Wright of Pepper- ell, Mass., com- manded the band of patriotic women of that town who arrested the notorious tory, Col. Leon- ard Whiting at Jewett's bridge in April, 1775, on the morning after the fight on Lexington green, as he was on his way from Canada with dispatches for the British in Boston. The news of the British's march was brought into Pepperell by Dea. John Boynton, an ancestor of Mr. Parker. The minute men responded and marched imme- diately. The women resolved that no enemy of the

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country should pass the bridge. They met, organized and chose Mrs. Wright as commander. The next morn- ing, dressed in men's clothes and armed with pitchforks, scythes, etc., they assembled at the bridge under the command of Mrs. Wright. The clatter of horses hoofs soon announced Whiting's approach ; he was seen, recog- nized and arrested, and the disloyal dispatches found in one of his boots. The dispatches were forwarded to the committee of safety at Cambridge and he was sent as a prisoner to Groton, Mass., and is said to have been con- fined during the rest of the war. A granite tablet, appro- priately inscribed, commemorative of the affair, erected by Mrs. H. A. Pevear of Lynn, Mass., a granddaughter of Mrs. Wright, now stands by the highway at the west end of the bridge.

Judge Parker, like the boys of the forties, attended the district school. He then became a student at Phillips' Exeter academy. In 1863 he left Phillips and entered Appleton academy at Mont Vernon where he was gradu- ated in 1863. Meantime he determined to serve his country, and Aug. 20, 1863, enlisted in the United States navy. He was detailed on board brig Perry-the last sailing brig admitted to the service-and was soon ap- pointed yeoman of the vessel, a position which he con- tinued to hold till he was discharged from the service, at Philadelphia in October, 1864, by reason of the expiration of his term of enlistment. In the spring of 1865 he returned to his books with a determination to complete his education. He entered Colby academy at New London, graduated there in the summer and entered Dartmouth college in the autumn, where he was gradu- ated in the class of 1869, being the centennial poet at the commencement exercises in that year. Following his graduation Judge Parker accepted the position of princi- pal of Warrensburg academy at Warrensburg, N. Y., and held the position one year, when he resigned and returned to New England to become principal of the high school at Wareham, Mass. Meantime he decided to make the law his profession, and so he resigned his position at the end of his first term and entered the office of Thomas Cunning- ham at Warrensburg, N. Y., where he remained six months. Returning again to New England and feeling the necessity of saving money with which to pursue his studies, he accepted the position of principal of the high school at Middlesboro, Mass., and taught one year.

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History of the city of Nashua, N.H., Part 70

Author: Parker, Edward Everett, 1842- ed; Reinheimer, H., & Co Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Nashua, N.H., Telegraph Publishing Company Number of Pages: 652

Author: Parker, Edward Everett, 1842- ed; Reinheimer, H., & Co
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Nashua, N.H., Telegraph Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 652