USA > New Hampshire > Men of progress; biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in and of the state of New Hampshire > Part 18
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There is going to be desperate work to-day, and we need you with us." Dillon replied, " General Hooker needs desperate work done, and has called for volunteers, and I am going." With that, he seized his musket, and joined the forlorn hope. Away they started, and were soon charging across an open field, in the face of a deadly fire from artillery and musketry, leaving many a comrade dead or wounded as they advanced, upon the run. The redoubt was reached; the parapet gained ; and among the first was Dillon to participate in the short, sharp, deadly conflict which insured victory to the gallant band. They captured many pris- oners, and held the fort until General Hooker
M. A. DILLON.
could advance his lines, and take permanent pos- session. Then they returned to their respective regiments, to be acclaimed in deafening shouts the heroes of the occasion, and to take part in the battle that followed, known as the battle of the Williamsburg Road. A week after, while there was a lull in the front of the Second New Hamp- shire Regiment, young Dillon performed an act that exhibited his coolness, as well as his disregard of the peril to which he, without orders, exposed himself. He crawled on his hands and knees through the grass and among the bushes in ad- vance of the line into the enemy's camp, over- heard the details of the plans which Longstreet had determined upon, safely returned, and commu-
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nicated to General Hooker what he had overheard, and thereby enabled that General so to re-arrange his force as to repulse the enemy. This battle was but a prelude to that deadly series of conflicts known as the seven days' fight, which disastrously terminated the Peninsula Campaign of 1862. In these Dillon participated, eliciting from his supe- rior officers commendations for being at all times present for duty, and for the display of the same undaunted courage for which he had early gained an enviable reputation. He also won a place in the hearts of his fellows by timely and tender aid rendered to the wounded, and by the constant and generous acts of comradeship which have made him deservedly popular. At the battle of Grove- ton, or, as it is sometimes called, the Second Battle of Bull Run, August 29, 1862. Dillon again distin- guished himself. and was most seriously wounded. No description can be more graphic than that found in the official reports of the contending Gen- erals. Of the attack of Grover's Brigade, in which was the Second New Hampshire, the Confederate General, Jackson, says: "The Federal Infantry in large force advanced to the attack of our left, occu- pied by the Division of General Hill. It pressed forward, in defiance of our fatal and destructive fire, with great determination, a portion of it cross- ing a deep cut in the railroad track. and penetrating in heavy force an interval of nearly one hundred and seventy-five yards, which separated the right of Gregg's from the left of Thomas's brigade. For a short time Gregg's brigade on the left was iso- lated from the main body of the command; but the Fourteenth South Carolina Regiment, then in reserve, with the Forty-fifth Georgia Brigade, attacked the exultant enemy with vigor, and drove them back across the railroad track with great slaughter. The opposing force at one time deliv- ered their volleys into each other at the distance of ten paces." General Grover in his report says, " After rising the hill under which my command lay, an open field was entered and from one edge of it gradually fell off in a slope to a valley through which ran a railroad embankment. Beyond this embankment the forest continued, and the corres- ponding heights beyond were held by the enemy in force supported by artillery. At 3 p. m. I received an order to advance in line of battle over this ground, past the embankment, enter the woods be- yond, and hold it. We rapidly and firmly pressed upon the embankment, and here occurred a short, sharp, and obstinate hand to hand conflict with bay-
onets and clubbed muskets. Many of the enemy were bayonetted in their tracks, others struck down with the butts of pieces, and onward pressed our line. In a few yards more it met a terrible fire from a second line, which in its turn broke. The enemy's third line now bore down upon our thinned ranks in close order, and swept back the right cen- ter. I tried to turn this flank, but the breaking of our right and center and the weight of the ene- my's lines caused the necessity of falling back, first to the embankment and then to our first position, behind which we rallied to our colors." It was while the Second New Hampshire was doggedly retreating, step by step, and attempting to form a new line, that the enemy in turn made a charge upon them. Dillon singled out the color bearer of the Forty-ninth Georgia and laid him in the dust, but he himself dropped, shot through the lungs. at the same moment. the bullet passing through his body and breaking three ribs. Notwithstand- ing such a severe injury, he finally recovered, re- enlisted and served two years and two months to the credit of Massachusetts. Since his retirement from the army he has been clerk in the United States Treasury Department and has had four promotions. Among the positions he has held, civil, political and military, are, Captain First Company, Union Veteran Corps, District of Columbia, 1885 ; Com- mander George G. Meade Post, Grand Army of the Republic, District of Columbia, 1881-'82-'83 ; Commander of Lafayette Post, Grand Army of the Republic. 1897 ; Founder and Commander-in-Chief Union Veterans Union, 1886-'87 ; Founder and Commander of Medal of Honor Legion, 1890-'91- '93, and member of Harmony Lodge, Free and Ac- cepted Masons from 1864 to present time, and Col- umbia Royal Arch Chapter. He was a pioneer in the organizing of the Grand Army of the Repub- lic. Woman's Relief Corps, Sons of Veterans, the National Reunion Monument Association, formed to erect a monument to the rank and file of sol- (liers, sailors and marines, who served from 1861 to 1865 ; and was a charter member of the Washing- ton Aid Association of the ex-Confederates Sol- diers' Home at Richmond, Virginia. He has trav- eled all over the United States from one end of the country to the other, and has made extensive tours in Ireland. England, Wales, France, Italy, Switzer- land, Germany, Holland, Belgium, but as he him- self declares, he is more sure than ever that " there is no place like home." Mr. Dillon married, July 1, 1866, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, Theresa
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Quinn of that city. They have had five children : Mabel Thaw, who died in infancy; Bessie Quinn (now Sturtevant) ; Rose Collier, Agnes Burchard, and Marie Augusta Dillon (now Rockwell).
DOYLE, JEREMIAH JOSEPH, Lawyer, Nashua, was born in New Boston, New Hampshire, January 23. 1861. son of John and Julia (O'Neil) Doyle. He comes of the good red-blooded County Kerry stock, which does not avoid its share of fighting ; a brother of Mr. Doyle was killed in the Civil War, and an uncle on his father's side served in the Civil War. As a boy he attended the schools of Milford and Amherst, New Hampshire. Later on, he studied
J. J. DOYLE.
law, reading in the office of George B. French for three years, and taking a special course of a year in Boston University Law School. He was admitted to the Bar August 28, 1884, and the next day opened an office in Nashua, where he has since practiced his profession. He has held every office in the gift of the Ancient Order of Hibernians of New Hamp- shire, being Division President for two years, Treas- urer for two years, State President for four, and a Delegate to the National Convention of the order, in Omaha. He was the First Chief Ranger of Court Indian Head, of Nashua, Foresters of Amer- ica, and held the office two years; was Second Grand Chief Ranger of the state, and also Grand
Chief Ranger of the state; attended the National Conventions at Brooklyn and Cleveland, and is now Sub State Deputy, and also a Supreme Trustee of the Foresters of America. He attended the Denver convention in August, 1897, as a member of the Supreme Court of Foresters. He was the First Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus, of Nashua. Mr. Doyle has been very active in poli- tics. He has attended every state Democratic con- vention since he became a voter, and was a delegate to the National convention of 1896, at Chicago, and the only New Hampshire delegate who voted for William J. Bryan, and supported the Chicago platform. For years he has been a member of the State, County, and City Democratic Committees. He has served as Alderman, Representative in the Legislature, and City Solicitor. He married Luella J. Lucier. They have five children : Lillian E., Paul J., Robert J., Mary J., and Jeremiah J. Doyle, Jr.
EASTMAN, JOHN ROBIE, Professor of Mathe- matics, United States Navy, and Astronomer in the Naval Observatory, Washington, District of Colum- bia, was born in Andover, New Hampshire, July 29, 1836, son of Royal E. and Sophronia (Mayo) Eastman. On the paternal side he is descended in the eighth generation from Roger Eastman, who landed in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1638. Jeremiah Eastman, great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, who was born in 1732, and who died in 1802, was in the Colonial Congress at Exeter, from Deerfield, Northwood, and Nottingham, all but one year during the Revolution, and was in the first New Hampshire Constitutional Convention. Mr. Eastman's line of descent is traced : Roger, 1611- 1694; John, 1640-1720; Zachariah, born 1679; Jeremiah, born 1704; Jeremiah, 1732-1802 ; Eph- raim, 1768-1853, and Royal F. Eastman, 1805- 1868. On the maternal side Mr. Eastman is de- scended in the ninth generation from John Mayo, who died in 1676, and who was the first Pastor 'of the North Church, in Boston. Thomas Mayo, great-great-grandfather of Mr. Eastman, was a pri- vateersman in Revolutionary days, and died from the effects of confinement in a prison ship in New York harbor. Mr. Eastman attended the common schools, and the Academy at Andover, and the Academy at New London. He passed through the last two years of the Chandler Scientific School course at Dartmouth College, and was graduated in 1862. His early training for active life was upon
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the farm, but he taught school more or less from 1853 to 1862, inclusive. He passed the examina- tion, and was appointed Assistant in the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, on Novem- ber 7. 1862. On the recommendation of the Super- intendent and of the Assistant Astronomer of the Naval Observatory, he was appointed Professor of Mathematics. United States Navy, with the rank of Lieutenant-Commander, on February 17, 1865, and has been stationed at the Observatory ever since that date, doing astronomical work, except when sent away on special scientific expeditions. Since his appointment as Professor in the Navy, he has been promoted to the rank of Commander and Cap-
J. R. EASTMAN.
tain. Professor Eastman served in the trenches about Washington at the time of General Early's raid, July 12 and 13, 1864. He was Vice-President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in 1887 and 1892. In the latter year he was President of the Cosmos Club of Washing- ton, District of Columbia ; and in 1889, he was President of the Philosophical Society, of that city. In 1898, he was elected the First President of the Washington Academy of Sciences. In politics he is a tariff for revenue, gold standard, honest money Democrat. Professor Eastman married, December 25, 1866, Mary J. Ambrose, of Boscawen, New Hampshire.
EMERY, MATTHEW GAULT, the last Mayor of Washington, District Columbia, was born in Pem- broke, New Hampshire, September 28, 1818, son of Jacob and Jane (Gault) Emery. He was one of six brothers, all of whom were born and spent their youth on the farm which had been their grand- father's, and upon which their father, Jacob Emery, was born and spent his life, and where he died in 1868 at the age of ninety-two. The pioneers of the family in this country were two brothers, John and Anthony Emery, who emigrated with their fam- ilies from Romsey, Hants, England, landing in Bos- ton, April 3, 1635, and settling in "Ould Newber- rie " in the Massachusetts colony. It is on record, twenty years later, that John, the great-great-great- great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was fined four pounds, with costs and fees, for obeying the dictates of a kind heart, and a conscience enlightened beyond his day and generation. His offense against the laws of the colony appears to have been the hospitable entertainment of two Quakers, conduct, the enormity of which was increased by his using argument as to the lawful- ness of his course. Although the Selectmen of his town and fifty citizens, a considerable number in those days of sparse population, signed a petition to have his fine remitted, it was not done. Joseph Emery, grandfather of Matthew Gault Emery, served for six years in the War of the Revolution, first as Lieutenant and afterwards as Captain in the Thirteenth Regiment of the New Hampshire Militia. Matthew Gault, grandfather in the mater- nal line. served four years in the patriot army, hav- ing enlisted July 11, 1775, at the age of nineteen. His regiment of rangers, raised by the colony of New Hampshire, served first in Colonel Montgom- ery's division of the Continental Army. Matthew Gault subsequently became a member of Captain McConnell's company with which he marched to Bennington and Stillwater. Matthew Gault Emery attended the best schools and academies of his native town, and his father desired to have his edu- cation completed at Dartmouth College. However, to the disappointment of the father, the son decided to forego a college training and begin business life at once ; and in 1837, when he was eighteen years old, he left his home on the farm and went to Balti- more, where an elder brother was then living. It was in that city that Mr. Emery settled upon his future business, that of a builder and architect. As was customary in those days of thorough and ener- getic preparation for life's work, he began with the
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necessary manual training and patiently served the time required to make himself a skilled stonecutter. He received his first government contract in 1840, going with a force of men to the quarry where he directed the cutting of the stone for the postoffice department building in Washington, District of Columbia. He established his permanent resi- dence in that city in 1842. His residence there having debarred him from participating in the gen- eral elections of the country, he has voted for but one presidential candidate, William Henry Harri- son, whom he saw inaugurated, but he has had a personal acquaintance with all the Presidents except the five preceding William Henry Harrison. Mr.
M. G. EMERY.
Emery's work as a contractor and architect on pub- lic buildings in Washington brought to him applica- tion for his services from all parts of the country. He did much of the stone work of the Capitol, and cut and laid the cornerstone for its extension in 1851 when Daniel Webster delivered the oration. He also cut and squared, free of expense, and on July 4, 1848, himself laid the cornerstone of the Wash- ington monument, for which he received the thanks of the Board of Directors in a series of resolutions, having among its signers, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and Robert C. Winthrop. When the capstone of the monument was set in place, in 1884, marking the completion of the great work, Mr.
Emery was one of the invited guests. Before the breaking out of the war, Mr. Emery had organized a militia company of which he was made Captain. His commission, signed by President Lincoln and Simon Cameron, then Secretary of War, bears date of May 16, 1861. His company did patrol service for the protection of the government buildings until the arrival of the volunteer troops. During the war, Mr. Emery was Treasurer of the New Hamp- shire Soldiers' Aid Association, and took charge of the sick and disabled soldiers from his native state, in the discharge of these duties having occasion to visit Gettysburg and other battlefields. Early in the war he gave up his home at Brightwood, a northern suburb of Washington, for the use of the army. Being the highest point of land in that part of the country, it was made a signal station, and many were the messages transmitted between it and the dome of the Capitol. As he was known to take a deep interest in the improvement of the city, the services of Mr. Emery were much sought in various offices under the local government. He was for several years a member of the Board of Aldermen. In 1870, after a memorable struggle, he was elected Mayor as a citizens' candidate by a majority of three thousand one hundred and ninety-four, every ward giving him a plurality of votes. He was the last Mayor of Washington, the territorial form of government, which had long been under consid- eration, being finally adopted by congressional enactment before his term of office expired. In his inaugural address as Mayor, Mr. Emery said, "I am a Republican, but my Republicanism is based on principle, and is not mere partisanship. I claim no right which I am not willing to accord to all Americans without regard to race or religion." It is a matter of record that he scrupulously redeemed the promises of his inaugural address, and fulfilled all the duties of his office with great credit and ability. In 1872, at the end of thirty years' labor in the business of builder, contractor, and archi- tect, Mr. Emery, in accordance with a resolution formed at the time of entering upon that business, disposed of his interest to his brother, Samuel Emery, and has since devoted himself to other enterprises. Mr. Emery has always been known for his active personal interest and undertakings of a religious and charitable nature. He was one of seven persons who organized the Metropolitan Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church of Wash- ington, and for nearly thirty years has been Presi- dent of its Board of Trustees, a body of which
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General Grant was a member. He was a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution, and was for a long period Trustee of Dickinson College at Carlisle. Pennsylvania. For many years he has been a Regent and Vice-Chancellor of the National Uni- versity. He is also a Regent, one of the incorpo- rators and Treasurer of the American University. For about twenty years he was Treasurer of the Associated Charities of the District of Columbia. He aided in 1854 in procuring the charter of the Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and was made its Treasurer, and has served continuously since that time as a Director and is now its President. He was for some time President of the Franklin Insur- ance Company and of the National Capital Life Insurance Company ; a Director of the Metropoli- tan Insurance Company, and first Treasurer of the Metropolitan Street Railway Company. He aided in organizing the Washington Market House Com- pany, of which he has been President for many years. He was long a Director of the United States Electric Lighting Company of Washington, serving for part of the time as Vice-President. At an early date he was a Director of the Patriotic Bank, and afterwards, in connection with Mr. Fitz- hugh Coyle, established the Bank of the Republic, of which he was a Director for eight years, for one year being the acting President. He was elected Presi- dent of the Second National Bank in 1877, and has held the position ever since. He was one of the organizers and for twenty years a Director of the National Savings Bank, and he is now a Director in the National Safe Deposit, Savings and Trust Com- pany, its successor. He is also a Director of the American Security and Trust Company and one of its Executive Committee. The home of the Emery family in Washington is one of a row of three houses built in 1860 by Stephen A. Douglas, John C. Breckinridge, and Senator Rice. The house was not entirely finished when the war broke out and was used by the government for hospital purposes. After the close of the war the house was completed, and was soon after bought and presented to Gen- eral Grant by his friends. Here he lived until he went to the White House as President. The house was afterwards bought and presented to General Sherman. It was then purchased by Mr. Emery and has since been his home.
EMMONS, GARDNER BATCHELDER, State Senator and a successful business man of Concord, was born in Bristol, New Hampshire, February 18, 1847.
son of Horace M. and Maria (Batchelder) Emmons. On the paternal side he comes of a family which has been identified with the history and develop- ment of Bristol for over one hundred and fifty years, while the Batchelders have been residents of Reading, Massachusetts, for two hundred and fifty years. Mr. Emmons attended the public schools of Bristol. completing his course of study in the New Hampton Institute at the age of eighteen years. For two years he was employed in a provision store in Bristol, removing from that town to Concord. Subsequently he established himself in business in Tilton. In 1871, he returned to Concord, where he has since been engaged in the meat and provision
G. B. EMMONS.
business. He is half owner of the Concord Coal Company ; a Director in the Concord Street Rail- way Company ; a Trustee in the Union Guaranty Savings Bank, and a Director and leading spirit in the Concord Cattle Company, the headquarters of which are at Miles City, Custer county, Montana. Hle has served four years on the Board of AAldermen in Concord, and in 1889 he was a member of the House of Representatives in the Legislature. He was nominated in 1896, for State Senator by acclam- ation, and was elected by a larger majority than had been received by any of his predecessors. Mr. Emmons is a voter in Ward Six, in Concord. In politics he.is a Republican. For a quarter of a
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century he has been a member of the First Baptist Society of Concord, and for seven years acted as Trustee and Treasurer. He has long been con- nected with White Mountain Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a member of the Wonolancet Club, the leading social organization of Concord. Mr. Emmons was married, November 26, 1868, to Sara Jane Flanders, of Concord. They have four children, three of whom are living : Harry G., a dry-goods merchant in Concord ; Oscar F., also residing in that city, and Harriet D. Emmons.
FERREN, EBENEZER, Retired Merchant, Man- chester, was born in Goffstown, New Hampshire, February 12, 1817, son of Ebenezer and Mary (Eaton) Ferrin. His father, who was born in Goffstown, January 24, 1780, was a son of Philip Ferren, who was the First Lieutenant of the First Company of the Ninth Regiment of New Hamp- shire militia, served in the Revolution, and passed the famous winter at Valley Forge. In the mater- nal line, Mr. Ferren traces his descent from the
EBENEZER FERREN.
John Eaton family of Haverhill, Massachusetts, John Eaton being a descendant of Francis Eaton, who came over in the " Mayflower " in 1620. His grandfather on his mother's side, Samuel Eaton, was a Revolutionary soldier and fought at the
battle of Bennington under General Stark. Mr. Ferren attended the common schools at Goffstown and was graduated on the road, selling goods and in trade. He began his business career May 27, 1837, traveling until August, 1845, when he- opened a dry-goods and carpet store in Manchester, and there remained in business until 1865, when he retired. Between 1848 and 1851 he bought consid- erable real estate, which appreciated handsomely. He has never held any political office, and has always refused to ally himself in any way with machine politics. He is a man of very strong con- victions and is quoted as saying, " I have a God that is worth more to me than all the money that is made." Mr. Ferren has given much thought and study to the history of the Crucifixion, and is convinced that he has established beyond doubt the exact location of the points of greatest interest to the Christian world in and near Jerusalem. He has always been a temperance man, and in his politics is a Prohibitionist. He was a delegate to the Convention of that party in Indianapolis in 1888 and to the Tenth National Temperance Con- vention at Saratoga Springs in July, 1891. He belonged to the Sons of Temperance as far back as 1847. He is a member of the First Congrega- tional church of Manchester, and was Treasurer of the Sunday-school for ten years, from 1883 till 1893, when he resigned. He married August 7, 1849, Adelaide E. Badger.
FERGUSON, JOHN, Physician, Manchester, was born in Ireland, in 1829, son of David and Cath- erine Ferguson. He received his English and classical education from the Order of Jesuits, of which his uncle, Charles Ferguson, was President. After completing his medical and surgical studies in Ireland, he obtained a position as Surgeon on an Atlantic mail steamer. Those in the old coun- try had then but a crude idea of the United States and Doctor Ferguson's first visit to New York sur- prised and pleased him greatly. Visiting one of the medical colleges, he went to the dissecting room, always a favorite place with him, and intro- duced himself to the students, then at work upon a cadaver. Venturing some criticisms and sugges- tions upon their work, which they took with perfect good nature, he was overheard by the Demonstra- tor, who questioned him with regard to himself, and offered him the position of Assistant Demon- strator should he decide to settle in the States. His contract with the steamer expiring soon after,
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