USA > New Hampshire > Strafford County > Rochester > History of the town of Rochester, New Hampshire, from 1722 to 1890, Vol. I > Part 42
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From this time his energies were more and more concentrated upon the book business, to which his mind had long been attracted. This must be regarded as really his life work. Into this he has put the matured forces of his manhood. For this work he was peculiarly fitted by natural abilities, by the foundation of a clas- sical education giving him judgment and literary taste, by his business tact and energy, and a practical experience of the markets and the popular tastes. He entered upon this great work of a publishing house not hastily, but first laying carefully the founda- tions. His aim was not merely financial success, but with broader purpose to help mankind. At the start he laid down as a prin- ciple from which there should be no swerving, " Never to publish a work purely sensational, no matter what chances of money it has in it, and to publish books that will make true, steadfast growth in right living." From this principle he has never departed. He has bent the energies of his mind to this one object, to put good whole- some literature into the hands of the people. Turning naturally to the young as those through whom he could best influence
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society, his publications have been largely of Sunday school books. The Sunday school library was a channel through which he could reach the largest audiences of the young. The family and house- hold library was another practical channel of paramount import- ance. In the spring of 1868 Mr. Lothrop selected three men, whose judgment he deemed worthy of trust, and laid before them his plans and purposes, - Rev. George T. Day, D. D., Prof. Heman Lincoln, D. D., and Rev. J. E. Rankin, D. D. While they frankly told him the undertaking was very difficult, his intentions met their cordial approval, and every book since published has been first read and approved by one or more of these men. Establishing his business on Cornhill, the first book published was " Andy Luttrell," which proved a great success. It was well said, "The series of which this is the initiatory volume marks a new era in Sunday school literature." To establish a new publishing house in competition with old and long-known firms, besides new ones ready to contest every inch of ground, required pluck and energy beyond that of most men; but Mr. Lothrop had no thought of failure. He began with a courage that could face the utmost, and a determination that had already won the battle. He had a remarkable instinct to discern real ability in a new writer, and great enthusiasm, which proved a stimulus and encourage- ment to timid beginners. He had a hopeful word for every applicant, and knew how to bring out the best of every one's talent. His before unprecedented offer of $1,000 and $500 prizes for manuscripts seemed a wild experiment to many ; but it proved eminently successful. It would be a surprise to many to read a list of authors, now noted, who brought their first manuscripts to Mr. Lothrop with fear and trembling.
The great fire of 1872 brought him severe loss. A large quan- tity of paper intended for the first edition of the sixteen $1,000 prize books was replaced within two weeks, when it was again lost by another fire; but a third lot was procured and the printing went on with but little delay. It was well remarked in the newspapers that " Mr. Lothrop seems warmed up to his work."
We cannot here attempt to give any impression of the number and variety of his publications in history, biography, and general literature. The names of the most distinguished authors are in his catalogue. Visiting Europe he made the acquaintance of
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George MacDonald, who arranged with him that he should publish the manuscripts of his latest novels before they were issued in England. Thus Mr. Lothrop has published the entire series of his novels. The number of books printed in a single year is upwards of a million and a half. About 1885 "The Interstate Publishing Company" was incorporated in Illinois,. with headquarters at Chicago, and a branch in Boston. The object is educational, especially to supply for schools first-class. literature supplementary to regular school work. Of this company Mr. Lothrop is president, and to it he has transferred some of his- best educational books.
One of his most important enterprises was the establishment in 1874 of the popular magazine for young people, " Wide Awake." After this came "Babyland," a marvel of attractive beauty for the' little ones. Then followed " Our Little Men and Women,". "The Pansy," for Sunday Schools, and "The Chautauqua Young Folks" Journal." All these are full of pure and noble thought, yielding great pleasure and amusement, with excellent instruction. They mark a most valuable new departure in the periodical world.
Hard, unflinching devotion to work, and determination to excel in all that is best, a steady perseverance through discouragement and loss, have brought him well-earned renown and success.
Daniel Lothrop's first wife was Ellen J., daughter of Joseph Morrill of Dover. She died in 1880 and he afterwards married Harriet Mulford, daughter of Sidney Mason Stone of New Haven, Conn. She is widely known and beloved under her pseudonym, " Margaret Sidney." The author of "Five Little Peppers " will always be a favorite. "The Pettibone Name," " A New De- parture for Girls," and many other stories indicate the unusual. versatility and attractive power of her genius. She has also writ- ten some fine poetry, and is justly ranked among the very best writers of juvenile literature. She is well known also for her interest and activity in all church and missionary work, and is- a prominent contributor to "Life and Light."
The summer home of Daniel Lothrop is the well-known "Way- side," at Concord, Mass., forever fragrant with tender memories of the gentle Hawthorne, whose "study in the tower " is certainly a fitting workshop for " Margaret Sidney." It is worthy of men- tion that the first child born in this house within a century is
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their little daughter, Margaret Lothrop. Here "host and hostess dispense a wide hospitality, for the genial, sunny nature, and warm, responsive friendliness of heart and manner, so marked in each, creates an atmosphere both attractive and wholesome, one that both the new friend and the old are glad to tarry in."
TORR.
Vincent Torr came from England and settled in Dover, on the farm still owned by one of his descendants. His son Simon settled in Rochester in 1775 on the farm still owned by his grandson. A part of the house then built is still standing, and the same old clock which he brought is still in use there. He married Sarah Ham and had four daughters and three sons. The oldest son, John, became John Greenfield (p. 419). The youngest son, Jonathan H., married Sally MeDuffee, purchased the Jabez Dame store, where he carried on the dry goods business with Simon Chase and afterwards John McDuffce as partners. He subsequently traded in Dover and in Portsmouth, and then returned to Rochester, where he died Jan. 25, 1881, at the age of eighty-seven. He re- membered being taken by his father and mother on horseback to Dover, and thence by boat to Portsmouth, to see General Wash- ington, who smiled and patted his head. The second son, Simon Torr, Jr., followed farming and tanning, as did his father before him. He married Betsey, daughter of Thomas Davis, and had four children : - Charles and Simon A., both of whom died young; JOHN F .; and Sarah E., who married Lewis E. Hanson.
JOHN F. TORR, whose portrait is here given, was born in Roch- ester April 8, 1829, and still occupies the old homestead. With very limited advantages for education, yet inheriting many of the qualities of his ancestors, he is highly respected for his energy, financial ability, and business success. He is a Republican in politics, and though never an office seeker has served the town as selectman. March 17, 1868, he married Mary C. Downes of Farmington. Their children are Charles C., Simon A., and George A.
John F. Jor
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CHASE.
Rev. John Chase was a settled minister at Spruce Creek, Kittery, Me., and had four sons : - Josiah, John, Thomas, and Bradstreet. Josiah settled at York, Me., Thomas and Bradstreet remained on the old homestead, John married Harriet Dennett of Kittery and moved to Berwick, Me., which at that time was a wilderness. He had six sons and two daughters : - Sally, Betsey, Thomas, John, Josiah, Simon, Mark, and Abraham.
Thomas and John remained at home, Josiah settled at Liming- ton, Me., Mark at Newfield, Me., and Simon at the age of thirteen was bound out to Reuben Tabor, a hatter, where he remained four years. He then went to Portsmouth and worked with a Mr. Kelley as a journeyman hatter. In the winter of 1805 he attended Berwick Academy, and in the spring of 1806 went to Rochester, being recommended to Joseph Hanson by Joshua Meader, and entered Hanson's store as a clerk, receiving ninety-six dollars the first year. He remained with Mr. Hanson four years, and in 1810 went into business for himself at Milton.
Simon Chase was born Sept. 30, 1786, and married Sarah Win- gate, daughter of Enoch Wingate of Milton, Oct. 28, 1813. He removed to Rochester in 1822, and went into business in company with Jonathan Torr. In 1825 he bought Torr's interest in the business, and built a new brick store. The same year he bought the house on Central Square which was his home until his death, which occurred January 31, 1878. His wife died June 14, 1870. Together with Charles Dennett and James C. Cole he was instru- mental in building the first Methodist Church in Rochester, of which he was an active member (p. 263). He had ten children : - Betsey E., Wingate, George W., John D., Mary Y., Harriet L., Charles K., Sarah F., Maria Josephine, and one who died in infancy.
CHARLES K. CHASE was born in Rochester March 17, 1830. At the age of seventeen he left Warren Academy at Woburn, Mass., and entered his father's store as clerk, and at the end of four years bought the store and business. In April, 1855, he married Ellen M. Burleigh, youngest daughter of John and Phebe Burleigh of Sandwich. He had five children : - Charles S., Grace M. J., Nellie, Jessie, who died in infancy, and Harry W. Dec. 26, 1876,
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he married Mrs. Abbie McD. Whitehouse, daughter of John MeDuffee (p. 367), and had two children, Sarah McD., who died in childhood, and Maud H.
During the first year of the war he was elected one of the com- mittee to pay out the funds due the families of soldiers who had enlisted in the service of the United States. He took a decided and unflinching stand for temperance, rumshops and rum drinking having increased to an alarming extent as one of the results of the war. He was appointed by the town one of a committee of five to prosecute all violations of the prohibitory law (p. 315). They were in a great measure successful in their work, having closed all the liquor saloons in town. The credit, however, was not due to the committee alone, but to the temperance part of the com- munity, backed by the strong arm of the law and the sympathy of the court, especially Hon. Joshua G. Hall, county solicitor, and Judge Doe. They were threatened many times with violence, and Mr. Chase's store was damaged one Saturday night by being fired into with a gun in the hands of some person employed to do it. The shot went the entire length of the store, which did not take fire, as was probably the intention. A reward of two hundred dol- lars was offered by the selectmen of the town for the conviction of the person who did it, but without success. The friends of temper- ance made up the loss to Mr. Chase. At the call of the first State Temperance Convention Mr. Chase was present in sympathy with the movement. Believing in the ballot box as well as the law to suppress the evil, he voted with that party as long as he lived.
In August, 1878, the old brick store built by his father was fired by an incendiary and destroyed with its contents. The loss to Mr. Chase was very heavy, but he was not discouraged. As soon as possible the ruins were cleared away, and October 1, 1878, the foundation was laid for a fine new block. The work was pushed rapidly, and the new store was opened with a new stock of dry goods April 29, 1879.
Mr. Chase soon after retired from business with failing health, and died after a long illness, Feb. 13, 1887. As a trader he excelled in his fine taste in selecting goods, and was widely known for his honest dealing. Many of his customers could never be induced to trade elsewhere.
In polities he was originally a stanch Whig, casting his first
Charles K. Chase
pase
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vote for James Bell for governor, and while his father and brothers voted with the Free-soilers he continued to vote the Whig ticket till the advent of the Republican party, of which he became an active member. He served the town as clerk, and was elected to the Legislature.
He was a member of Humane Lodge of Masons, and also of the Royal Arch Chapter. He was for fifteen years an earnest and efficient member of the Methodist Church, to whom his death was a great loss.
PLACE.
John Place came from Devonshire, England, and settled in New- ington, N. H., about 1688. About 1700 he removed to Rochester, and built a log house not far from the old burying ground on Haven's Hill, where he died at a great age. Richard Place, son of John, is supposed to have come from England with his father. He was a man of great strength and athletic proportions, weighing about two hundred and fifty pounds, and over six feet two inches in height. . He was a terror to the Indians for miles around, and was much respected by his townsmen. He lived to the age of one hundred and five years. A daughter of Richard Place mar- ried Noah Thompson of Berwick, Me. John Place, son of Richard, settled on the Barrington road, where an old cellar can still be seen near the corner on the Roberts homestead where the old road from Rochester abruptly turns to the west. He was born about 1716, and died in his seventy-first year, leaving five children : - David, Samuel, John, Betty, and Susannah. Samuel went to Newburyport, Mass., and afterwards to Portsmouth, and served his country in the battle of Bunker Hill. John settled in the west part of Rochester, and the Rev. Enoch Place (p. 343), Noah, and Moses Place were among his descendants. Betty married Ephraim Ham, grandson of Eleazer, and lived on the old homestead near Gonic. Susannah married the Rev. Jeremiah Wise of Sanford, Me. David Place, known as captain, and afterwards colonel, served as captain in the Revolution (p. 59). He was born February, 1741, and married about 1762 his cousin Susannah, daughter of Noah Thompson of Berwick, Me. He settled on a farm of three hundred acres given him by his father, now known as the " Went- worth farm," on the north side of the old road from Gonic to
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Norway Plains, and then including the "Chesley farm" on Hus- sey Hill. He died May, 1821, and was buried in the old grave- yard just below Rochester village. On this farm his seven children were born and reared : - Mary, James, David, Stephen, Mchitable, Elizabeth, and Isaac. Mary married Barnabas Palmer and removed to Athens, Me. James and David died at the ages of sixteen and six respectively. Mehitable never married, but lived on the home- stead with her brother Isaac. Elizabeth married a Mr. Evans. and lived at Gonic. They had five children, - three daughters, and two sons, Rufus and John. The latter was in trade in Roch- ester for several years. Rufus settled in Macon, Georgia, and married and raised a family there. His posterity still reside there. Isaac, who was given the homestead by his father, Captain Place, married and raised a family of four sons and a daughter. IIis eldest son's name was David, who settled in Dover, and left two sons, - Delmore and Henry. The latter is now teller in the Franklin Savings Bank in Boston, Mass.
Stephen Place was born March 26, 1770, and married in 1799 Eliz- abeth Chesley, whose father, James Chesley, lived to over one hun- dred years of age. His father gave him the " Chesley farm," where his children were born. He afterwards built a house in Gonic, where he died April 9, 1858. He and his wife lie buried in the graveyard at Gonic. They had seven children : - Eliza F. married William S. Ricker of Rochester; Susan A. married N. V. Whitehouse (p. 355); Charles; James H. married Lydia A. Chesley of Rochester; Isaac married Abigail Willey of Durham; David married Caroline Crockett of Dover; and Mary Jane married Samuel J. Varney (p. 400). Charles Place married Maria G., daughter of James Willey of Durham, and had eight children, the third of whom,
JAMES FRANKLIN PLACE, was born at Gonic Jan. 16, 1837. At- tending the village school at Gonic till fourteen years of age, he then removed with his father to Lawrence, Mass., where he com- pleted a course of study in the Oliver High School. He then went to Boston and was employed four years in the grocery store. of I. S. Trafton on Harvard street, in whose family he lived. Mr. Trafton was deacon in the Christian Church on Kneeland street, a. member of the City Government, and a very prominent and active anti-slavery Republican. Young Place here received his strongest.
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political impressions, and as an editor years after made use with telling effect of many points remembered from the earnest political discussions in Trafton's store.
In 1860 Mr. Place returned to Lawrence and formed a co-part- nership with C. A. Dockham in the publication of the "Daily Journal" of that city. This business venture lasted till just before he established the "Rochester Courier" in 1864 (p. 186). In the meantime he spent a year in the army in Louisiana, being assigned to clerical duty in the Brigade Quartermaster's Department of the Third Division under General Banks (p. 227). This position gave him special opportunities for his constant newspaper correspondence. While before Port Hudson he was captured by a raid of Confed- erate Cavalry, but was soon released. He was among the very first to enter Port Hudson after its surrender, and sent early details of the capture to his paper.
The "Rochester Courier," which he established on returning . from the army, he soon placed on a paying basis, and took an independent and active part in local and State politics. In 1866 he was appointed postmaster at Rochester, but resigned in about a year, having purchased a half interest in the "Journal " at Bid- deford, Me.
In 1868 Mr. Place removed to San Francisco, Cal., where he entered upon a career of great business prosperity, as a member of the firm of " Berry & Place," and afterwards of the house of "Treadwell & Co.," extensive dealers in machinery and agricultural implements. After fifteen years, his partners having died, he dis- posed of his business and returned to New York City, where he has since been engaged in superintending the manufacture and sale of machinery of his own invention.
While publishing the " Rochester Courier" Mr. Place married Miss Sara Potter, a graduate of the same school he attended, and daughter of George W. Potter. They have two children, a daughter Laura, born in Rochester Sept. 2, 1866, and a son Clarence, born in Oakland, California, Nov. 2, 1872. Two other children, Ethel, the second child, aged three and a half years, and the youngest, an infant girl, lie buried in "Mountain View " Cemetery at Oakland.
Mr. Place is a Republican of the old school, and intensely Amer- ican in all his views, - a cardinal principle of his being never to
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buy anything not made in his own country; a believer in a strong federal government, - a Nation, and a State subordinate thereto; a tariff' for protection only, a one-term presidency, and an educated ballot. He still frequently contributes to the press, but close ap- plication to his private business prevents his taking that prominent part in public affairs for which he is eminently qualified.
OSMAN B. WARREN.
OSMAN B. WARREN is the present quartermaster of Sampson Post, G. A. R. He was born in Rochester, Sept. 15, 1845. His parents were James and Lydia Warren. His father was well known as a Methodist minister, both in this section and in Maine. As soon as Mr. Warren became old enough he attended the public schools, where he remained until 1860. He then went to work for George Johnson & Co., one of the first of Rochester's shoe firms, who then manufactured in Dodge's building, at the lower end of the village. He afterwards left this firm and went into the employ of E. G. & E. Wallace, the well-known shoe manufac- turers, where he remained until August 1, 1862, when he enlisted as a private for three years in the Ninth New Hampshire Volun- teer Infantry, and was mustered in at Concord, August 11. He left the State August 25th and arrived in Washington the 27th. The regiment encamped on the estate of General Lee, which is situated on Arlington Heights, on the Virginia side of the Poto- mac river. September 1st the Ninth Regiment was assigned to the First Brigade, Second Division, Ninth Army Corps. September 14, 1862, Mr. Warren took part in the battle of South Mountain, Md., and on the 17th in the terrible slaughter at Antietam. Later on he was in two skirmishes, once at Wheatland and once at White Sulphur Springs, Virginia. He participated in the battle of Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862. In March, 1863, he went down the Potomac to Fortress Monroe and camped at Newport News, on the James river. From there the regiment was ordered to Coving- ton, Ky. Then they went down on the Kentucky Central Railroad to Lexington and Nicholasville, and drove the famous rebel general, John Morgan, and his raiders from the State of Kentucky. In June, 1863, the Ninth Corps was ordered to re-enforce General Grant at Vicksburg. They landed at Haines's Bluff, twelve miles
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in the rear of Vicksburg, facing that part of the Confederate army commanded by General Johnson. Mr. Warren was present at the surrender of Vicksburg July 3, 1863. The Union army then followed Johnson to Big Black river, where a battle took place in which Mr. Warren participated, and he was also present in the battle of Jackson, Miss. In the middle of July they were again ordered to Kentucky, and from thence to Eastern Tennessee for the purpose of relieving General Burnside. At Knoxville Mr. Warren was promoted to orderly sergeant. In the spring of 1864 they were ordered to join General Grant's command at Wash- ington. On May 5th and 6th they took part in the terrible battle of the Wilderness, one of the fiercest of the war, in which thirty thousand men were sacrificed. In this battle they were on the left of the line under command of General Burnside. On May 12, 1864, at the battle of Spottsylvania Court House, Mr. Warren was taken prisoner in a charge upon the enemy's intrenchments. He was marched from the battlefield to Gordonsville, Va., where he took the cars to Lynchburg, and from thence he was taken to Danville, Va. At the last named place he, in company with twelve hundred prisoners, was confined in an old tobacco ware- house until May 24. He was taken to Andersonville, Ga., the worst prison pen of ancient or modern times, a name to be re- membered throughout all time with the utmost horror. The sufferings he endured during these long months, and saw others endure, are too horrible to relate. Here he remained until the latter part of September, when he was taken to Charleston, S. C., and, in company with other Union prisoners, was confined in the city under fire of the guns from Morris Island. He was kept at Charleston until the latter part of October, when he was removed to the famous Florence prison, South Carolina, remaining here until February, 1865, when he was sent into the Union lines at Wil- mington, N. C., under parole. Mr. Warren was then sent to parole camp, Annapolis, Md. Here he was furloughed and sent home in the latter part of March, 1865. He was discharged from the United States service at Concord, N. H., in June, 1865, and came home with a war record which few men are able to excel.
Mr. Warren was a charter member of Sampson Post No. 22, and was its first quartermaster. He has been commander three terms. He was a delegate from the Department encampment to
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the National encampment when it met at Indianapolis, Ind., in 1881. He was elected representative to the Legislature from this town in 1875 and 1876. He served on the committee on military affairs. He was appointed postmaster of Rochester by President Hayes March 25, 1878, and was reappointed by President Arthur March 31, 1882. In this position he served faithfully until Sept. 1, 1886, when, under the administration of President Cleveland, he was ordered to "step down and out."
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