USA > New Hampshire > Strafford County > Rochester > History of the town of Rochester, New Hampshire, from 1722 to 1890, Vol. I > Part 36
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In 1861, on the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, he made extensive improvements about the Gonic privilege, and during the seasons of 1863-64-65, laid the foundations and built the present large four-storied brick mill, connecting it with the mill built in 1849. The close of the war brought about a severe depression in business, and the new mill remained idle for several years. He finally closed out all interest in the corporation to Parker, Wilder & Co. of Boston in 1877, as before stated.
In 1863, in connection with Mr. John Hall, Mr. Samuel B. Rindge of Boston, and four others, he obtained the charter for the Cocheco Woolen Manufacturing Company at East Rochester, and helped organize that corporation. He was elected its first president and remained such till his death. He took great interest
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in the development of that fine property, and always evinced great pride in the thriving village that was growing up, and the signs of material, social, and moral prosperity that had sprung into life from the wise forethought and management of his friends, Hall and Rindge, with himself. To these three men is due very largely the credit of making East Rochester a model New Eng- land village.
In 1856 the Farmers and Mechanics' Bank was chartered, largely through his efforts, and located in Rochester village. After a few years dissensions arose in the board of directors, and in 1860, he and his friends having purchased a majority of the stock, a new board of officers was elected and the bank removed to Gonic village, he becoming its president and continuing so till his death. His son, E. F. Whitehouse, was made cashier. When the gov- ernment established the national banking system this bank was merged into the Gonic National Bank, continuing under his management to the day of his death, and shortly after was wound up. The Gonic Five-Cent Savings Bank was established by him. He was one of the original directors in the Nashua & Rochester Railroad, a position he held at the time of his death.
In early life he took much interest in military affairs, and was made quartermaster sergeant of the 39th Regiment in 1826. In 1829 he was commissioned captain and adjutant in the same regi- ment by Gov. Benjamin Pierce, and all through life was an earnest advocate of a citizen soldiery. He was never happier than when attending gatherings where martial music was a feature. It seemed to be the very thing his enthusiastic and energetic spirit craved.
In politics Mr. Whitehouse exercised a leading influence, not only in his own town, but throughout the county and State. In his early manhood he was an Adams man, as the party was known in New Hampshire at that time, and afterwards a Henry Clay Whig, and always a stanch advocate of the American system of protection to home industries as promulgated by the great Ken- tucky statesman. In 1837 he, with John McDuffee, John Chapman, and a few other leading men of the town, was instrumental in wresting the political control of the town from the Democratic party, who had held it for ten years or more previously, and was elected moderator, and representative to the Legislature, that year and the next. When the Know-Nothing party sprung into
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existence, in 1855, he, with other far-seeing men, saw the oppor- tunity to wrest the control of the State from the Democrats, and, entering heartily into that campaign, was a prominent candidate before the convention for member of Congress. He did not receive that nomination, but was nominated and elected a member of the Governor's Council. The following year he was defeated, but re- elected the next year, serving under Governors Ralph Metcalf and William Haile. His keen perceptions of the peculiar situation of political affairs at this time, united with excellent judgment of men, made him an important factor in preparing the way for the Republican party, and from this time to the day of his death he was a Republican of the most pronounced type. In 1876 he was elected a member to revise the constitution of the State, the other members from Rochester being Ebenezer G. Wallace, James H. Edgerly, Franklin McDuffee, and Charles E. Jenkins. On more than one occasion he was favorably talked of for Governor of the State. When the war of the Rebellion broke out he took an active part in everything relating to raising the quota of the town, and in all things pertaining to the comfort and welfare of the soldiers and their families, and gave $100 to the first twenty men who enlisted from Rochester. Though never connected with any church, he was always a liberal friend to all. In early life he was a constant attendant at the Congregational Church, but in 1840 he was instrumental in building the Free Baptist Church in Gonic, and ever after identified himself with that society, giving largely to its support, and for remodeling and rebuilding the same at different times. The hospitable doors of his own house were always ajar, and ministers and laymen always found a warm welcome. Many a worthy minister has enjoyed his hospitality, and, departing, been cheered with more substantial assistance. In the family he was generous, self-sacrificing, considerate, and full of the tenderest affection ; in society, a genial, bright, and generous spirit. This disposition led him to seek public gatherings, and he was frequently to be seen at fairs, camp-meetings, church festivals, and other social entertainments. He was frequently called to preside at public meetings, and always acquitted himselt with tact and ability. Few men have been born in Rochester who have excelled him in deeds of unostentatious charity, or who have more impressed themselves upon the community in every way
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to promote the business interests of the town, or the good of society. Many a young man starting in life has been indebted to him for advice, encouragement, and money, which eventually led them to success as business men; and more than one young man owes his education to the pecuniary aid he furnished gra- tuitously. The pleasant village of Gonic has been almost wholly built up by the manufacturing business he created and conducted for so many years. Everything that was calculated to promote its prosperity received his enthusiastic support. His energy and courage, his public spirit and generous kindness, are worthy the emulation of every young man. He died Nov. 21, 1878, leaving a widow, who died May, 1888. Their children were as follows :
1. Elizabeth Ann married Henry W. Locke, of Gonic, and died 1855, leaving a daughter Fanny, wife of George Johnson, of Boston.
2. * CHARLES SIDNEY WHITEHOUSE, writer of the above sketch, was born at Gonic September 3, 1827. Attended the district school until 1840, when he went two terms to the academy at Center Straf- ford. In the summers of 1841 and '42, he was at the academy in Durham, and in the winters attended the academy in Rochester. In 1843 he entered Phillips Exeter Academy, where he remained two years, and then became clerk with E. & W. Andrews, of Dover. In the latter part of 1846 he went to Lowell as clerk for Benjamin T. Hardy. In January, 1848, he entered the mill of his father to learn the business. Being of an active temperament, he took ear- nest hold of all matters connected with the village, and as soon as he was twenty-one years old, engaged in the political affairs of the town and county. In 1854 and '55, he was energetic in the political revolution, which, resulting in the birth of the Republican party, upset the Democratic party in both town and State. When the presidential campaign of 1856 opened at Wolfeborough, September 8, he joined, with his brother Freeman, George and Smith Scates (two young men from Milton, then at work in Rochester), and Wil- liam Beedle, in organizing a Fremont glee club, and sung at that gathering which was presided over by the Hon. John P. Hale. Mr. Hale was so impressed with the power and influence such singing would exert in a political campaign, that he urged them to con- tinue in the work, and from that date till after the election in November, their services were in constant demand at mass-meetings,
* This sketch prepared by C. W. Folsom.
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flag-raising's, and other political gatherings. He represented Roch- ester in the Legislature of 1862, and was a member of the New Hampshire Senate in 1863-64. For the next ten years he devoted himself to the factory with his father, but all the time was foremost in all matters pertaining to the general prosperity of the village of Gonic, and of the whole town. In 1875 he was nominated by the Republicans of the first congressional district for member of Con- gress, and though he conducted his part of that campaign with vigor and credit to himself, he was defeated by his Democratic opponent, Frank Jones, of Portsmouth. Declining a renomination, which meant an election, in 1877, he devoted himself to manufacturing. In 1875, he assumed charge of the woolen mills at East Rochester, where he remained five years, and then retired from the business. In 1882 he received the appointment of United States weigher in the Boston custom-house, where he remained till he was removed by the Democratic administration in 1886. In 1882 he was appointed by Governor Charles Bell, the first State Auditor under the new law, and was reappointed for 1883. He was also a delegate to the national Republican convention, at Philadelphia, which nominated General Grant for the second term.
Since 1886 he has not been engaged in active business beyond at- tending to his private affairs. Few men have been more active in the politics of the town than he, and he has always been public-spirited in his acts and liberal in his views. In many ways he has served his neighbors and townsmen faithfully and well. He married Ellen Frances Foster, of Norway, Maine, Sept. 30, 1852, and has two children - Walter Barker Whitehouse, born Sept. 25, 1854, now in Chicago, Illinois, and Alice Atherton Whitehouse, born Nov. 9, 1862. The latter married W. C. Sanborn, druggist, and lives in Rochester.
Colonel Whitehouse's life has been one of ceaseless activity. His mental energy, indomitable will, tenacious memory, his habit of investigating all theories before accepting them as facts, and his diligence in studying all intellectual, as well as commercial or polit- ical questions, have marked him out as a predestined leader in society. His sharp insight into the character of the many classes of people with whom his business has brought him into contact, has enabled him to maintain a strong bond of sympathy between him- self and those whom he has employed. Few men have a more
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genuine regard for the common brotherhood of man than he, and to this fact much of his popularity is naturally due.
He has great local pride, and as a recognized leader, quick in thought and prompt in action, he awakens sluggish minds and even old-fogyism into useful activity. His influence induced the people to plant shade-trees and ornament their houses and grounds, till the result is a beautiful little country village. The meeting-house at Gonic was dilapidated, the services thinly attended, and the faithful few much discouraged. Becoming superintendent of the Sunday School, Mr. Whitehouse organized and led a choir, and then very materially aided in rebuilding the present beautiful church edifice. He has been interested and active in school affairs, and in the fire department of the town. To his executive ability as superintendent of the first town fair was due in a great measure its success.
His natural musical gifts have enabled him to create a healthy musical sentiment in the community. As far back as 1842 or '43, he sang in the old Congregational Church on the common. From that time till the present, there has not been an " Old Folks' Concert" or a choral union in the details of which he has not had a prominent part. His earnest work in all these public affairs has not been for notoriety, but to accomplish results for the public good.
He is a writer of no small ability, pleasing and convincing as a speaker, and generally carrying his point.
Rochester has been fortunate in having a citizen so thoroughly public-spirited, and possessed of so solid sense as Charles Sidney Whitehouse.
3. ENOCH FREEMAN WHITEHOUSE, born 1830, was a musical genius. He was one of the finest and sweetest ballad singers the country ever produced. He first traveled with "Ossian's Bards," under the leadership of the noted Ossian E. Dodge. Then he managed a company called " Whitehouse's New England Bards." After a few years at home, he started alone with his guitar, drawing large houses wherever he went. He was afterwards cashier of the Farmers and Mechanics' Bank of Rochester, which became the First National Bank of Gonic. He married Mary Abbie McDuffie Dec. 3, 1861, and was drowned near the Isles of Shoals Aug. 28, 1865.
His power as a singer was wonderful. Few Rochester men have been more widely known and beloved than he. The press was everywhere enthusiastic in his praise. One paper says, " He is cer-
G. FREEMAN WHITEHOUSE.
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tainly a very remarkable singer. 'The Dying Boy,' as sung by him, is one of the best things we ever heard. All seemed to hold their breath in suspense, and every heart swelled with silent and inex- pressible emotion under the sad, plaintive power. To us it was wonderful." Another says, "The unostentatious gentleness of his disposition, the tenderness of his feelings, his thorough sensibility to the emotions of the heart, fitted him admirably for his work, and as a ballad singer he was without a rival in the land. It was his to sway the souls of the throngs who gathered to hear him, as the harp- strings are swayed to sweetest vibrations by the touch of a master- hand."
His personal qualities also attracted many friends. Tender-hearted and generous to the extreme, he was constantly giving away large sums to assist the unfortunate. At the time of the Pemberton Mill disaster, he sang in Salem to a "thousand-dollar house." The next day he went to Lawrence and gave every cent of it to relieve the sufferers. With such rare gifts, such tender sympathies, and such open-handed generosity, it is not strange that his sad death sent a thrill of sorrow not only throughout New England, but to many hearts throughout the land.
4. Emily J. married Joseph Varney, of Wolfeborough, and has a daughter Lizzie.
5. Albert died in childhood.
6. Arthur married Ida, daughter of George Pierce, of Dover, and died leaving one child.
JOHN McDUFFEE.
BY ALONZO H. QUINT, D. D.
To men of their own energetic stock, who, refusing all political preferment, have given comprehensive abilities, sterling integrity, and sagacious industry to the development of business, many New Hampshire towns owe an imperishable debt. John McDuffee's record is in the prosperity of Rochester.
The name itself suggests that strong Scotch-Irish blood which endured the siege of Londonderry, in which were Mr. McDuffee's ancestors, John McDuffee, and his wife, Martha, honored in tra- dition. John and Martha McDuffee had four sons : - Mansfield,
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Archibald, John, and Daniel. Mansfield went to London, England ; the other three came, with their parents, to America, in the cmi- gration which gave New Hampshire the powerful stock of Derry and Londonderry. John, the father of these sons, settled in Roch- ester in 1729, on land on the east side of the Cocheco river, ad- joining Gonic Lower Falls - the farm of eighty-five acres remaining without break in the family, and now owned by the subject of this sketch. The Rochester settler was, as just stated, the father of Capt. Daniel Mc Duffee, and also of Col. John McDuffce, a gallant officer in the old French and Revolutionary wars, lieutenant-colonel in Colonel Poor's regiment -who, never marrying, adopted his brother Daniel's son John, and eventually made him his heir. John McDuffce, the colonel's heir, was a farmer in good circum- stances, married Abigail, daughter of Simon aud Sarah (Ham) Torr, and was father of JOHN McDUFFEE, the subject of this sketch, who was born on the farm once the colonel's, about a mile and a half from Rochester village, on the Dover road, Dec. 6, 1803.
Of course, while working on the farm more or less, he had, for five or more years, the advantage of a good school, kept at the village by "Master " Henry H. Orne (D. C. 1812), of severe discipline and good scholarship, who supplemented the public school with a private one each autumn. Mr. Orne was a very successful teacher, and among the associates of John McDuffee in this school were Thomas C. Upham, Nathaniel G. Upham, John P. Hale, and Noah Tebbets. In 1818, at the age of fifteen, the boy entered Franklin Academy in Dover, the first day of its existence, Thomas E. Sawyer and Richard Kimball being among his associates, and Rev. Mr. Thayer being its principal. Here he fitted to enter college as sophomore, but returned home, and at the age of eighteen went into the store of his uncle, John Green- field, at Rochester. It was a large country store, where every- thing was sold. After two years' experience, being only twenty years of age, he began the same business for himself on the same square ; was successful, and, after two years, took into partnership his uncle, Jonathan H. Torr. During this period he was com- missioned postmaster of Rochester, being not of age when ap- pointed, and held the office until removed on Jackson's accession to the presidency.
In the spring of 1831 he went to Dover and began the same.
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business on a broader scale, first in the "Perkins block," and in the autumn, as the first tenant of the northern store in the new " Watson block," on the Landing, Ira Christie being his next southern neighbor. This locality, now at an end for such purposes, was then the place of business and offices. Steady success con- tinued to reward his energy and industry; but in February, 1833, selling to Andrew Pierce, Jr., he returned to Rochester to settle the large estate of his wife's father, Joseph Hanson, who dying in December previous had made him executor. Mr. Hanson, whose daughter Joanna (by his marriage with Charity Dame) Mr. McDuffee had married June 21, 1829, was one of the three old and wealthy merchants of Rochester, Nathaniel Upham and Jonas C. March being the other two. The settlement of this extended estate and business was completed and the accounts settled by Mr. McDuffee's energy in seven months; and it caused his entire abandonment of trade, although he had been eminently successful.
There was no bank in Rochester. Old traders had some con- nection with the Strafford Bank in Dover, and the Rockingham Bank in Portsmouth. They loaned money instead of getting dis- counts. Mr. Hanson's safe, where he kept all his securities, was a small brick building back of his store, with a sheet-iron door fastened by a padlock. He kept some deposits, however, in Strafford Bank, and was a stockholder in that and in the Rock- ingham Bank. The three principal traders used to go to Boston twice a year on horseback, to buy goods. Mr. McDuffee saw that a bank was needed. He prepared the plans, secured signatures, obtained a charter from the Legislature in 1834, and the Roch- ester Bank was organized with ninety stockholders and a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, later increased to one hundred and twenty thousand, with one hundred and thirty stockholders. Of the original ninety, only one besides Mr. McDuffee now survives. On the organization he became cashier, his brother-in-law, Dr. James Farrington (p. 345), being president. This bank was the frontier bank, no other existing between Rochester and Canada, and it was the first bank which the counterfeits from Canada naturally but uselessly struck. It was a favorite of the people, and was so managed that its dividends were eight or nine per cent. It is well known that the business was really left to the
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probity and skill of its cashier. Cashier for twenty years, on the then renewal of its charter, Mr. McDuffce resigned the cashier- ship in favor of his son Franklin, and became president. The bank did not become a national bank until 1874, and in the six years previous he and his son formed the house of "John MeDuffee & Co., private bankers," took up the old bank's busi- ness, and successfully carried it on. In 1874 they merged it in a national bank, the one being president and the other cashier, as before, and the two taking two fifths of its stock. It is an interesting fact that no bill has ever been issued by either Roch- ester bank without the well-known signature of John McDuffee, either as president or cashier; and he still actively administers the interests of the bank he originated in another form sixty-four years ago.
In addition to this Rochester interest, Mr. McDuffce was one of the original grantees of the Dover National Bank, and for a short time was a director; but his interest became more in the Strafford Bank at Dover, of which, under its new charter, he was the second heaviest stockholder, Daniel M. Christie being the first. He became a director in the Strafford National Bank in 1870, and still actively holds that position. The stock of this bank has recently sold at one hundred per cent above par.
The Norway Plains Savings Bank at Rochester was chartered in 1851, and Mr. McDuffee became its treasurer, being succeeded by his son Franklin in 1867, and himself becoming president- an office in which he still remains. It is worth recalling, that, although this bank was ordered in the panic to pay out only five sixths of any deposit, it subsequently petitioned for leave to pay, and did credit to every person affected, the remaining sixth.
Mr. McDuffee early saw the advantages of manufacturing to a community. By his own means and a liberal allowance of banking facilities he has greatly aided their development, the first such enterprise in Rochester, the Mechanics' Manufacturing Com- pany, being decided to locate there by the new banking facilities. Mr. McDuffee was a director. Its businesss was the manufacture of blankets, and its successor is the Norway Plains Manufacturing Company. The original company Mr. McDuffee carried safely through the crisis of 1837. The mill property at Gonic Mr. McDuffee bought in 1845, to lease to N. V. Whitehouse, that
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business might not be given up. He held the purchase for about ten years. The effort was successful, and the property was eventually taken by a joint stock company. Stephen Shorey, owning some facilities for manufacturing at East Rochester, came to Mr. McDuffee to see if the bank would advance means to build. Mr. McDuffee at once pledged the means, and the mills were built. A stock company afterwards purchased mills and machinery, and the thriving village of East Rochester owes its prosperity to Mr. McDuffee's liberal policy. Thus have been developed the three principal water-powers of Rochester.
Mr. McDuffee's personal interests in manufacturing were also in the Great Falls Manufacturing Company, in whose extensive busi- ness he was a director for four years; capital, one million five hundred thousand dollars. In 1862 he bought large interests in the Cocheco Manufacturing Company at Dover, and since 1874 has been a director of that corporation. As such, he advocated the erection of the great mill, now No. 1, and the replacing of all the old buildings by new and magnificent mills, unsurpassed in the United States. The remarkable success of this company certifies alike to the sagacious boldness and the considerate policy of its directors.
The need of railroad facilities at Rochester was early apparent to Mr. McDuffee. In 1846 he entered into two enterprises-the Cocheco road, from Dover to Alton Bay, and the Conway road, from Great Falls to Conway - each of which passed through Rochester. In each road Mr. McDuffee was the largest individual stockholder, and of each was the first treasurer. When the Con- way road reached Rochester, Mr. McDuffee resigned its treasurer- ship. The other road, after various difficulties, became the Dover & Winnipesaukee, by the incorporation of the bondholders, and Mr. McDuffee continued to be a director. With "Friend" William Hill, he visited Boston more than thirty times to treat for the lease of this road to the Boston & Maine. The effort was finally successful, and the road, by itself weak, became a fine piece of property. Rochester was thus doubly accommodated; but another avenue was needed, and Mr. McDuffee took part in the Portland & Rochester, which secured a route eastward, of which road he was a director; and he invested liberally in the Rochester & Nashua, which opened a line to the West. The result has been
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