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 2
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
tics, but voted for the Democratic nominees from General Pierce to General Palmer. He married in 1892, Mrs. Lillia D. True of Manchester.
BURNS, CHARLES HENRY, Lawyer, Wilton, was born in Milford, New Hampshire, January 19, 1835, son of Charles A. and Elizabeth (Hutchinson) Burns. The Burns family is of Scotch origin.
CHARLES H. BURNS.
The pioneer ancestor, John Burns, was born in 1700, came to this country in 1736, and settled in Milford in 1746, where he died in 1782. His descendants have lived there ever since. Elizabeth Hutchinson traces her descent from Barnard Hutchinson, who in 1282 was living in Cowlan in the County of York. From his eldest son, John, Richard Hutchinson, the pioneer ancestor of Mrs. Burns, was descended. Richard came to America and settled in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1635. Nathan Hutchinson was one of the first settlers on the territory within the present limits of Milford. Ile was the great-grandfather of Mrs. Burns. The subject of this sketch was educated in the common schools of his native town, which were of an unusually high order. He then attended the Apple- ton Academy in New Ipswich, graduating in 1854. He read law with Colonel (). W. Lull in Milford, and was graduated from the Harvard Law School in 1858. In May of the same year he was admitted
to the Suffolk Bar, and in the following October was admitted to practice in the New Hampshire courts. In January, 1859, he commenced practice in Wilton, where he has remained ever since, though a steadily increasing business has necessi- tated his opening an office in Nashua of laté years. He has been connected with many of the most notable cases tried in the state's courts. Although a good lawyer in all branches of his profession, he is especially distinguished as an advocate. He has one of the finest law and general libraries in New Hampshire. In politics he has been a Republican since the organization of the party. His father was a strong worker in the anti-slavery movement, and the son early evinced an interest in public affairs. For years he has been one of the party's ablest orators. In 1864 and 1865, he was elected Treasurer of Hillsborough county. In 1873 and 1879, he was a member of the State Senate, serving during both terms as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Governor Cheney appointed him Solic- itor for Hillsborough county in 1876, and he was twice re-elected to that office. He was a delegate to the Cincinnati National Convention of 1876, representing New Hampshire on the Committee on Resolutions. He presided over the state conven- tion in 1878, making a strong speech against the greenback craze, which attracted national attention. In 1879, he was made Judge Advocate General on the Staff of Governor Head. He was appointed United States District Attorney for New Ilampshire in 1881 and 1885. Although he had not entered the field as a candidate, he had strong support in the senatorial contest of 1883. He is a member of the New Hampshire Historical Society and the New England Historical and Genealogical Society ; an M. A. of Dartmouth ; and a Thirty-second degree Mason. Mr. Burns married, January 19, 1856, Sarah N. Mills of Milford. Of their eight children four are living.
CARBEE, SAMUEL POWERS, Physician, Haver- hill, was born in Bath, New Hampshire, June 14, 1836, son of John Hancock and Annie (Powers) Carbee. His father was of Scotch-Irish and his mother of English descent. He received his educa- tion in the common schools of his native town and. at Newbury (Vermont) Seminary. Later he at- tended Dartmouth Medical College where he was graduated November 3, 1865. He commenced the practice of medicine in Haverhill, November 20, 1865, and has remained there ever since. Dr. Car-
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
bee was County Commissioner of Grafton county from July 1, 1885 to July 1, 1889, Representative from Haverhill in 1895-'96, and was also Surgeon- General on the Staff of Governor Busiel during the
S. P. CARBEE.
same years. From October 26. 1863, to the close of the Civil War in 1865, he was Assistant Surgeon of the Twelfth New Hampshire Volunteers. He served on the School Board for three years from 1887 and became President of the Trustees of Ha- verhill Academy in 1897. He joined Kane Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, Lisbon, New Hamp- shire, in August, 1862, and Franklin Chapter, Lis- bon, New Hampshire, in 1863. He is a charter member of Omega Council, joined the Mt. Horeb Commandery, Concord. New Hampshire, in 1865, and is Past Commander Nat Westgate Post, No. 50, Grand Army of the Republic. Dr. Carbee has al- ways been a Republican. On September 30, 1885. he married N. Della Buck. They have no children.
CHAPMAN, JACOB, Minister and Echicator, Exeter, was born in Tamworth. New Hampshire, March 11, 1810, son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Folsom) Chapman. He entered Exeter Academy in 1827, Dartmouth College in 1831, and was grad- uated from Andover Theological Seminary in 1839. In 1835 he was Principal of an Academy in Lyn- don, Vermont, and from 1839 to 1841 held a simi-
lar position at Bridgton, Maine. In 1843, he re- moved to Pennsylvania for the improvement of his health and taught about ten years in Myerstown, Lancaster, and Harrisburg, preaching often for churches of different denominations. He became Pastor of the Congregational Church in Marshall, Illinois, in 1852, and remained there twelve years. Returning to New Hampshire, he took charge of a church in Deerfield, where his labors were followed by a remarkable revival. About one hundred and fifty persons were added to the three different churches of the town. After more than six years, in this large parish, his health again failed and he removed to Kingston, where he had long been known as a teacher and preacher. After remaining there for seven years, he removed to Exeter and en- gaged in preparing the genealogies of his ancestors. He published " A Genealogy of the Folsom Fam- ily " in 1882 ; " The Philbrick Genealogy " in 1886 ; " Leonard Weeks and Descendants" in 1889 ; " The Lane Genealogies Volume 1," in 1891, and " Edward Chapman and Descendants " in 1893. He has also written a " History of Kingston, New Hampshire." During his residence in Exeter he has
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JACOB CHAPMAN.
frequently been called upon to preach and has spoken in most of the churches of the county. In 1840, Mr. Chapman married Mary C. Howe, who died in 1869. He was again married in 1871 to Mary E. Lane, of Stratham, N. II.
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
CONANT, HENRY ESTES, Laundryman, Con- cord, was born in Barre, Massachusetts, May 24, 1843, son of George W. and Laura (Cheney) Co- nant. He is a direct descendant in the ninth gen- eration of Roger Conant, who, according to John Wingate Thornton, was the first and only Governor under the Sheffield or Cape Ann charter, as Endi- cott was the first under the second or Massachu- setts charter, and he is by some authorities rec- ognized as the first Governor of Massachusetts. The descendants of Roger Conant have been dis- tinguished in the annals of this country and have made their mark in all the various walks of life.
HENRY E. CONANT.
The great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch was a soldier of the Revolutionary War, and an earlier ancestor, Lot Conant, participated in King Philip's War. It is said by the genealogist of the Conant family that there were more of that family in proportion to their number who participated in the Revolutionary War than of any other family in the colonies. The names of seventy-three are known who served in that war. The ancestry of this branch of the Conant family in England were men of force and character, who rose from their environments to positions of importance and dis- tinction. Henry Estes Conant was educated in the public schools of Barre and Springfield, Massachu-
setts, and Norwich, Connecticut. His father died in 1860, when he was but seventeen years of age. The War of the Rebellion occurring a year later, he enlisted in Company K, of the Twenty-first Massa- chusetts Infantry for three years, and, at the close of his term of service, re-enlisted for another period of three years. Company K was raised wholly in the town of Barre. The Twenty-first Regiment of Massachusetts Infantry was one of the fighting regi- ments of the war. It participated in twenty-two battles besides various skirmishes. In 1864, the regiment was transferred to the Thirty-sixth Massa- chusetts Infantry, and, after Lee's surrender, was consolidated with the Fifty-sixth Massachusetts In- fantry. With the exception of thirty days' furlough at the time of his re-enlistment, Mr. Conant saw continuous service, from July, 1861, until he was mustered out, July 12, 1865. At the time of his en- listment, he was delicate in health, and the hard- ships he endured, which to many of his comrades brought impairment of their constitutions, made him hardier and better able to make his way in life when he returned to civic occupations. He moved to Concord in 1879 and entered the employ of the Concord Steam Laundry, which at that time was the only laundry in the city. After service there for five years he started a laundry of his own, in which business he has been eminently successful. In 1892, Mr. Conant was appointed a member of the Board of Water Commissioners of the City of Concord, for the term of three years, being the first member of the board from the ward in which he resid- ed. In 1894, he was elected to the city government as a member of the Board of Aldermen, and, upon qual- ification, resigned from his position on the Water Board. In 1896, he was re-elected to the Board of Aldermen, being one of the few members to obtain that distinction. He is a member of Blazing Star Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Trinity Chap- ter, Horace Chase Council, Mount Horeb Com- mandery, and of Edwin A. Raymond Consistory.
He is a Thirty-second degree Mason. He is also a member of Aleppo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Boston. He is a member of White Mountain Lodge and Past Chief Patriarch of Penacook Encampment of Odd Fel- lows. Upon coming to Concord, he became a mem- ber of E. E. Sturtevant Post, Grand Army of the Republic. He is actively identified with the Society of the Army of the Potomac and of Burnside's Asso- ciation of the Ninth Army Corps. Mr. Conant mar-
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
ried Josephine E. Huntley, daughter of Augustus Dana and Mehitable Jane (Perkins) Huntley of Topsham, Vermont, in Manchester. New Hamp- shire, May 1, 1878. Their only child is Laura Cheney Conant, who was born November 6. 1891. Mr. Conant is one of the substantial citizens of Con- cord. His residence there for a period of eighteen years has made him many friends. He takes an active interest in all public matters and such service as he has had in public life has been marked by patient attention to the public needs. The same industry that he gives to his own business is charac- teristic of his work in public employment and he enjoys the confidence and respect of his fellow citi- zens. He takes great pride in the city of his adop- tion and anything that has for its object the ad- vancement of her interests receives from him cordial support.
CONN, GRANVILLE PRIEST, Physician, Concord, was born in Hillsborough. New Hampshire, January 25, 1832, son of William and Sarah ( Priest) Conn. William Conn was the fourth generation in descent from John Conn, who came from the north of Ire- land about 1712. and died in Groton, Massachusetts, in 1759, at the age of seventy-six. Dr. Conn was educated in the common schools in Hillsborough, and at F'rancestown Academy, after which he spent two years at the Institute of Captain Alden Part- ridge in Norwich, Vermont. His professional edu- cation was received at Woodstock, Vermont, and llanover, New Hampshire, and he was graduated from the Medical Department of Dartmouth College in the class of 1856, and received the degree of A. M. from Norwich University, Vermont, in 1880. He commenced the practice of his profession in Randolph, Vermont, in 1856, and moved to Rich- mond, Vermont, in 1861. In August, 1862, he entered the army as AAssistant Surgeon of the Twelfth Regiment Vermont Volunteers, which was a part of the Second Vermont Brigade ( nine months men) and was mustered out of the service July 14. 1863. He settled in Concord, New Hamp- shire, October 19, 1863. In 1865, he became a member of the Board of Health, and the following year instituted the first sanitary inspection of a whole city that was ever made in the state, and probably the first house to house inspection ever made in this country. After the State Board of Health was established in Massachusetts in 1869, Dr. Conn commenced working for a similar board
in New Hampshire, which was brought about in ISSI. He was chosen its Chairman, and has been its President ever since. In 1877, he was elected Railroad Commissioner and re-elected in 1879. He is a member and Medical Director of the Grand Army of the Republic, Department of New Hamp- shire, was President of the New Hampshire Medical Society in 1881, and has been its Secretary, with the exception of two years, since 1869. He is a mem- ber of the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, the Inter- national Association of Railway Surgeons, the Medico Legal Association of New York, the New
GRANVILLE P. CONN.
Hampshire Medical Society, the Centre District Medical Society, the Strafford District, and an hon- orary member of the Vermont Medical Society. He is also a Mason and Knights Templar, and a mem- ber of the Society of Colonial Wars. In politics he is a Republican. On May 25. 1858, Dr. Conn was married to Helen M. Sprague of Randolph. Ver- mont. They have two sons: Frank Winslow, a civil engineer in Costa Rica, Central America, and Charles Fuller Conn, Treasurer of the Boston Terminal Company, Boston, Massachusetts.
COX, CHARLES EDSON, Warden of the New Hampshire State Prison, Concord, was born in
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
Holderness, New Hampshire, December 2, 1846, son of Walter Blair and Nancy ( Nutter) Cox. He traces his descent on the paternal side, from Scottish ancestors. He attended the public schools of Hol-
CHARLES E. COX.
derness and New Hampton, and the New Hampton Institution. Until he was eighteen, he lived on his father's farm. He was engaged in cattle trading in Concord from 1866 to 1870, when he removed to Manchester, where he continued in the same busi- ness till April 30, 1887, the firm being Cass & Cox. In the following July, he obtained the control of the wholesale beef and provision trade of the G. H. Hammond Company at Manchester, engaging in this business until August, 1896. He was a Repre- sentative of Ward Six, Manchester, in the Legisla- ture in 1885-'86, and subsequently served as Coun- cilman and Alderman from Ward Four. He was appointed Warden of the State Prison, December 1, 1896. He is a Thirty-second degree Mason, a member of Washington Lodge, Mt. Horeb Chapter, and Trinity Commandery ; an Odd Fellow, a mem- ber of Hillsborough Lodge and Mount Washington Encampment ; and a member of Amoskeag Grange. In politics he is a Republican. On November 23, 1867, Mr. Cox was married to Evelyn Mary Ran- dall. They have four children : Walter Randall, Guy Wilbur, Louis Sherburne, and Channing Harris Cox.
DAVIS, SAMUEL WILBERT, Physician and Drug- gist, Sanbornville, was born in Farmington, New Hampshire, February 17, 1864, son of Samuel and Betsy Caroline ( Hayes) Davis. On his father's side he comes of English and Welsh stock, and is a direct descendent of John Erskine, Earl of Mar. His mother's family were of Scotch-Irish descent, his mother being a niece of John Brewster, founder. of Brewster Academy at Wolfeboro, New Hamp- shire. From the district schools of his native town, he was sent to the Farmington High School, being graduated in 1882, and thence to New Hampton. He was graduated from the New Hampton Commer- cial College in 1885, and entered Bowdoin Medical School in 1888, attending, also, the Portland School
SAMUEL W. DAVIS.
for Medical Instruction until his graduation from Bowdoin in 1891. From 1885 to 1888, he had been engaged in teaching. In August, 1891, he began the practice of medicine in Alton, New Hampshire, and July 4, 1893, removed to the town of Wakefield. He has been engaged in professional work in the village of Sanbornville and surrounding country ever since. In May, 1896, he opened a drug store, having passed an examination before the State Board of Pharmacy, and he now conducts the business in connection with his practice. He was a United States Pension Examining Surgeon during President Cleveland's administration. He is a member of the
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
Carroll County Medical Association, the Board of Health in Wakefield, Syracuse Lodge, Knights of Pythias, Unity Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Carroll Chapter of Wolfboro. In politics he is a Republican, but believes in voting for the best candidate for office. On November 19. ISS5, he was married to Annie J. Montgomery of Strafford, New Hampshire. They have two children : Bessie Montgomery, and Charles Samuel Davis.
DONAHUE, JOHN JOSEPH. Insurance Agent, Keene, was born in Keene. New Hampshire, August 7, 1859, son of James and Margaret (Quin- lan) Donahue. He is of Irish descent. His edu- cation was received in the public school at Keene. For six years he was a clerk, a commercial traveler for four years, and for seven years he has been in the insurance business. He is Grand Secretary of New Hampshire, Foresters of America, having been elected January 1. 1896; was Sachem of Pokahoket Tribe, Improved Order of Red Men. Keene, from January 1, 1894, to July i of the same year ; and was the first President of the Monadnock
JOHN J. DONAHUE.
Cycle ('lub after its incorporation. In politics he is a Republican. Mr. Donahue is unmarried.
DEARBORN, SAMUEL GERRISH, Physician, Nashua, was born at Northfield, New Hampshire,
August 10, 1827. son of Edmund and Sarah (Ger- rish) Dearborn. He is descended from Godfrey Dearborn, who came from Exeter, England, in 1638, and settled in Exeter, New Hampshire. His
SAMUEL G. DEARBORN.
maternal ancestor, Stephen Gerrish, came from Bristol. England, and settled in this country at about the same time. He was educated at the Sanbornton (New Hampshire) Academy and at the New Hampshire Conference Seminary. He was graduated from the Dartmouth Medical School in November, 1849, and attended lectures at the Uni- versity of New York and at the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons, New York. When a boy he worked on a farm and afterwards taught school. After a few months' practice in East Tilton, he opened an office in Mont Vernon in February, 1850, removed to Milford. New Hampshire, in 1853. and in 1873 went to Nashua where he has remained ever since. He was a member of the State Legislature of 1867 '68. He was Surgeon of the Eighth New Hampshire Volunteers until Octo- ber, 1863, and of the Eighteenth New Hamp- shire Volunteers from 186; to the close of the war ; Pension Surgeon three years, appointed by the President. General Butler appointed him in 1862 to examine the condition of the hospitals on the Mississippi River below New Orleans and Lake Lapon ; to be present at the battles at Baton Rouge
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
in the spring of 1862, all of which he attended and reported to him. In 1864, he served three months in the army before Richmond, Virginia. He belongs to the Order of the Loyal Legion, is a member of the New Hampshire Medical Society, of the Ameri- can Medical Association, and of the Masonic Lodge at Milford, New Hampshire. In politics, he was a Democrat up to the time of the war; he has been a Republican ever since. On December 5, 1854, Dr. Dearborn married Henrietta M. Starrett. They have two sons: Dr. Frank A. and Samuel S. Dearborn.
DRESSER, LORIN A., Merchant, Berlin, was born in Albany. Maine, March 13, 1866, son of Jacob and Sylina (Beckler) Dresser. His parents
LORIN A. DRESSER.
moved to Berlin in 1879, and he received the common school education of the town schools and then took a course at the South Paris Academy. He entered the employ of the Berlin Mills Com- pany as clerk in its general store, remaining with the company eight years. He was afterwards employed by C. C. Gerrish & Company, and Stahl Brothers, and filled all demands made upon him by these progressive firms. His work at these different stores fitted him admirably for the posi- tion which he was soon called upon to fill, that of Manager of one of the largest dry-goods and fur-
nishing stores in the city. He started in business August 22, 1895, leasing a store in the Clement block and purchasing a small but carefully selected stock of dry and fancy goods. In six months he was obliged to have an addition built to meet the demands of his increasing business. In October, 1896, he leased another store, and by throwing all together, has one of the best equipped stores in . Coös county. Mr. Dresser was elected Councilman for Ward Three in March, 1897, when Berlin became a city. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Ancient Order of United Work- men. He is a Congregationalist. In politics he is a Republican. On October 1, 1888, he married Emily D. Jewell of Berlin. Three sons were born to them: Clarence Jewell, Norman Bates, and Jacob William Dresser.
EMERSON, JAMES EDWARD, Rector of the Roman Catholic Church at Gorham, was born in Stoneham, Massachusetts, son of Daniel and Cath- erine (Morris) Emerson. His father's ancestors were of English descent and his mother's of Irish, He was educated in the public schools of Lowell.
JAMES E. EMERSON.
Massachusetts, at the University of Ottawa, Canada, from which he was graduated in 1884, and later at the Laval University of Quebec, Canada, being graduated in 1888. In 1891 he was Chancellor of
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
the Diocese, Rector of the Cathedral at Manchester in 1895, and is at present Rector at Gorham. Since locating there he has built a new church.
EASTMAN, CHARLES FRANKLIN, Merchant and Banker. Littleton, was born in Littleton, October 1. 1841, son of Cyrus and Susan French (Tilton) East- man. His ancestry is English. He received his education in the common schools of Littleton, in Thetford (Vermont) Academy, in Kimball Union
CHARLES F. EASTMAN.
Academy of Meriden. New Hampshire, and later at the Eastman Commercial College, Poughkeepsie. New York. Ile has been a Director in the Little- ton Savings Bank since 1884, was its Vice-Presi- dent from 1890 to 1895. and has been its President since that time. He has been a Director of the Littleton National Bank since 1888; of the Eastern Banking Company. Hastings, Nebraska, since 1896 : of the Nashua Trust Company from 1890 to 1892 : of the Granite State Fire Insurance Company, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1887 and 1888; and was Director and Clerk of the Profile & Fran- conia Notch Railroad from 1881 to 1889. In 1890- 93 he was Selectman of his town ; Representative in 1893-'944: Commissioner of the Littleton Highway Precinct in 1891-92 : Commissioner of Littleton Vil- lage District in 1893-95; Treasurer of the U'nion School District, 1885-'94; member of the Board of
Education, 1882-94: Trustee of the Littleton Public Library, 1891-96. and Secretary of the Board of Trustees during these years. He is a Thirty-second degree Mason, and was Worshipful Master of Burns Lodge, No. 66. Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, in 1892-93, and Eminent Commander of St. Gerard Commandery. Knights Templar, in 1895-'96. In politics Mr. Eastman is a Democrat, and in 1882 was nominated for Treasurer of Grafton county. and in 1896 for State Senator in District No. Two by the Democratic conventions, but declined both nominations. On September 15, 1875. he was mar- ried to Mary Ida Taft, daughter of Richard Taft. They had two children : Richard Taft and Ida Taft Eastman. On March 4. 1891, he was a second time married to Mary Rebecca Colby, daughter of John D. Colby.
EVANS, ALFRED RANDELL, Lawyer and Bank President, Gorham, was born in Shelburne, New Hampshire. March 21, 1849, son of Otis and Mar- tha D. (Pinkham) Evans. His paternal great-grand- father served under Washington at Cambridge and his mother's father. Captain Daniel Pinkham, built
ALFRED R. EVANS.
the Pinkham Notch road in the White Mountains. The subject of this sketch received his early educa- tion in the common schools, in the Lancaster cad- emy, and at the Nichols Latin School, connected
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
with Bates College .-- at Lewiston, Maine. He was graduated from Dartmouth College in the class of 1872. In April, 1875, he was admitted to the Coos County Bar, and has practised law in Gorham ever since. He was chosen President of the Berlin Na- tional Bank upon its organization, February 18, 1891, and still holds the office. On January I, 1895, he was appointed Judge of Probate for Coos county. He was a member of the Legislature in 1874- 75 and 1878. He is a member of the Maynes- borough Club, Berlin, and of the New Hampshire Club, of Boston. Hle attends the Congregational Church, and is an active member of the Masonic Fraternity. In politics he has always been a Re- publican. On June 1, 1880, Mr. Evans was mar- ried to Dora J. Briggs. They have no children.
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