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 27
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32
F. 11. SARGENT.
whom is the subject of this sketch. When Doctor Sargent was but ten years of age his father died, and he at once took charge of the farm, under the guidance of his mother. He was educated in the common schools, and at Pittsfield Academy. His professional studies were begun in the medical department at Bowdoin, and continued at Dart- mouth, from which he was graduated in the class of 188g. He then took a post-graduate course in New York city, after which he returned to Pitts- field, where he established a practice which is large and steadily increasing. He is known as a
194
MEN OF PROGRESS.
man of great independence in thought and action, yet has hosts of friends and few enemies. He has occupied all the chairs in Suncook Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is a very active member. He still retains his interest in farming, has added many acres to the old home- stead, and has brought it up to the condition in which it is one of the most productive farms in the Suncook Valley. In 1894 he bought the Hill prop- erty at the corner of Carroll and Depot streets, and at once remodeled the large building, and in the following year he built another business block upon adjoining land, thus making him one of the largest real estate owners in the town. Doctor Sargent has great energy and executive ability, and has, unaided, attained marked success at the age of thirty-six, through continuous application. He has for years looked carefully after the needs of his mother, in her declining years. In politics Doc- tor Sargent is an Independent. He was married July 25, 1897, to Nellie, daughter of S. J., and Mar- garet Denison Winslow of Pittsfield.
SMITH, WILLIAM BENJAMIN TYNG, Charles- town, was born in Claremont, New Hampshire, March 9, 1842, the third son of the late Reverend Henry Sumner and Mary (Hilliard) Smith. Mr. Smith is a scholar and clergyman by heredity, as well as by education and preference, coming from New England stock, which in an unbroken line for more than a century consecrated its members to the service of the church. His father, the Rever- end Henry Sumner Smith, after a collegiate and divinity course at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, was made Deacon by Bishop McIlvaine in that town, and was ordained Priest by the same Bishop in Trinity church, Cleveland. After laying the foundation of what have since become flourishing parishes in that Diocese, he served a diligent and faithful Rectorship over the old historic Union church at West Claremont, New Hampshire. On the maternal side Mr. Smith is of Scotch descent. His mother's father was the Reverend Timothy Hilliard, of Gorham, Maine. His great-grand- father, the Reverend Timothy Hilliard, born in Kensington, New Hampshire, in 1746, was a grad- uate of Harvard College in 1764, and was ordained Pastor of the Congregational church at Barnstable, in 1771 ; his grandfather, the Reverend Timothy Hilliard, Jr., born in 1776, was also a Harvard man in the class of 1793. He was ordered Deacon in Trinity church, Boston, by Bishop Bass, and
ordained Priest by Bishop Jarvis of Connecticut, June 6, 1805. That the Hilliard family in this country dates from the earliest colonial period and was among the first to settle in Massachusetts, is evidenced by the name Hilliard having been be- stowed upon one of the principal streets of the old college town of Cambridge. Mr. Smith fitted for college at Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, and was graduated from Dartmouth in the class of 1866. He studied Divinity at the General Theo- logical Seminary of New York city, completing the three years' course in 1871. While yet a student at the seminary, he was ordained Deacon, Decem- ber 19, 1869, by the late Bishop Chase, First Bishop of New Hampshire, and after completing his course of study in Divinity he was ordained Priest by Horatio Potter, Bishop of the Diocese of New York. His early training for active life began by teaching in the public schools of Claremont. He was afterwards Principal of the High School of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and a Civil Engineer on the Fort Wayne & Grand Rapids Railroad. In the summer of 1871 he went to Europe, anticipating
W. B. T. SMITH.
much enjoyment in making a tour of the Old World, but was called home early in the following year by his father's fatal illness. He succeeded his father as Rector of Union church, West Clare- mont, assuming the duties June 23, 1872. He
195
MEN OF PROGRESS.
established the Mission and erected the Church of St. John the Baptist at Wolfboro Junction, New Hampshire, in 1876. Two years later he accom- plished a similar purpose in advancing the work of a Mission already established at Woodsville, New Hampshire, and was instrumental in building St. Luke's church in that town. He accepted the Rectorship of St. James's church, Keene, in Sep- tember, 1884, and in 1886 became Rector of Trin- ity church in Tilton. His exceptionally happy marriage to Nellie S. Baker, only surviving daughter of the late Jonathan and Harriet M. (Willard) Baker of Charlestown, occurred June 27, 1888, in St. Luke's church, Charlestown, the Right Rever- end W. W. Niles, Bishop of New Hampshire, offi- ciating. Soon after this event Mr. Smith was in- vited to become Rector of St. Luke's, and after serving acceptably for four years resigned the charge. While a portion of each year is passed in travel and their summers are spent in their beauti- ful camp in the Adirondacks, Mr. and Mrs. Smith continue to make Charlestown their permanent home. The abilities of Mr. Smith as a leader and organizer, as well as in executive directions, aside from his earnestness and eloquence as a preacher, have long and repeatedly been recognized by the Bishop and clergy of the Diocese of New Hamp- shire in his elections to responsible offices and committees ; nor are his talents confined to the ministry, but are equally apparent along educa- tional, official and financial lines. He has accom- plished efficient work as Superintendent of Schools in Claremont : as Deputy to the General Conven- tion of the Protestant Episcopal church for several
terms of three years each, as well as in his position during a period of great financial depression as a Director of the Connecticut River National Bank, and as a Director of the Claremont National Bank in Claremont. Mr. Smith is a man of culture and genial temperament and makes hosts of friends. He is quick in his perceptions, earnest and enthu- siastic in all his undertakings, a lover of art and music, and a brilliant conversationalist.
SANBORN, GEORGE FREEMAN, Druggist, Mere- dith, was born in that place .August 17, 1857, son of George and Sophronia D). (Stockbridge) San- born. He received his education in the public schools of his native town, at the New Hampton Literary Institution, and at Tilton Seminary. In 1880 he established the Meredith News, and pub-
lished it for twelve years. For the past fourteen years he has been in the drug business. Mr. San- born was a member of the Legislature in 1885. He is a member of the Amoskeag Veterans of Manchester. New Hampshire, of which he is Assis
GEO. F. SANBORN.
tant Surgeon : a member of Manchester Lodge, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and of the Royal Arcanum. In politics he is a Democrat. He married December 10, 1884, Charlotte J. French. They have one son : Royden W. Sanborn.
TUCKER, WILLIAM JEWETT, President of Dart- mouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, was born in Griswold. Connecticut, July 13, 1839, son of llenry and Sarah (Lester) Tucker, the seventh in descent from Robert Tucker, who came over in 1635 and settled at Weymouth, Massachusetts. The family is descended from John Tucker, 1066. He obtained his early education at the Academy of Plymouth, and Kimball Union Academy of Meri- den. He became a student at Dartmouth, and was graduated in the class of 1861. For two years after his graduation he taught at Columbus, Ohio, and then took up his theological studies at Ando- ver Seminary, from which he was graduated in 1866. He was ordained and installed Pastor of the Franklin-Street Congregational Church of Man- chester in 1867, a pastorate he held until 1875,
196
MEN OF PROGRESS.
when he was called to the Madison Square Pres- byterian Church in New York city. There he remained until 18So, when he was appointed Bar- tlett Professor of Homiletics in the Andover Theological Seminary, where he remained for thir-
W. J. TUCKER.
teen years, being elected President of Dartmouth College in 1893. Dr. Tucker received the degree of D. D. from Dartmouth in 1875 ; of LL. D. from Williams in 1894, and LL. D. from Yale in 1896. He was Phi Beta Kappa Orator of Harvard Uni- versity in 1893, and was Lecturer at the Lowell Institute, Boston, in 1894. He was Lecturer on the Winckley Foundation, Andover Theological Seminary, in 1897, and Lecturer on the Lyman Beecher Foundation, Yale University, in 1898. He was one of the Founders and Editors of the Andover Review, with which he was connected from 1885-'93. He was the Founder of the An- dover Home, Boston, now known as the South End Home, a social settlement. Doctor Tucker is widely known as an educator and for his scholarly addresses on many occasions of note, both in and out of New Hampshire. Under his administration, as the head of Dartmouth College, he has been attended with marked success, and has been re- warded by a great development of the college. Doctor Tucker was married, June 22, 1870, to Charlotte H. Rogers, who bore him two children :
Alice Lester and Margaret Tucker. He was again married, June 23, 1887, to Charlotte B. Cheever. By his second marriage he has one child : Eliza- beth Washburn Tucker.
THAYER, WILLIAM FISKE, President of the First National Bank, Concord, was born in Kingston, New Hampshire, son of Calvin Thayer. He was edu- cated at the Kimball Union Academy in Meriden. He removed to Concord, and became Clerk in the post-office, was soon advanced to the position of Chief Clerk, and held the place four years. Enter-
W. F. THAYER.
ing the employ of the First National Bank as a Clerk, he was promoted rapidly, and became Cash- ier, and finally President. During his connection with the bank, the deposits and the surplus have been largely increased. The bank has one of the best, if not the most spacious, and well-appointed banking-rooms in New England. Mr. Thayer is) also connected as Director with several prominent corporations and institutions in the state ; a Direc- tor of the Northern New Hampshire Railroad; a Trustee of the New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane; was chosen Treasurer of the Republican State Committee in 1892, and still holds the posi- tion, and since 1879 has been Treasurer of the City of Concord. A Mason and Knights Templar. Married Sarah C. Wentworth.
197
MEN OF PROGRESS.
WALLACE, ROBERT MOORE, Lawyer, Milford, was born in Henniker, New Hampshire, May 2, 1847, son of Jonas and Mary (Darling) Wallace. His father was a well-known merchant of that town, his ancestors being among the pioneer set- tlers of Londonderry, New Hampshire. He was educated in the common school and at the academy in his native place ; entered Dartmouth College at the age of sixteen, and was graduated in the class of '67. Shortly after, he began the study of law in the office of Mason W. Tappan, afterward Attor- ney-General of New Hampshire, and was admitted to the Bar in 1870. The same year he removed to Milford, where he formed a partnership with Bain- bridge Wadleigh, United States Senator, which continued until the latter removed to Boston. Since
R. M. WALLACE.
this time, Mr. Wallace has practiced alone. In 1877 and 1878 he was a member of the Legis- lature and in 1889, a member of the Constitu- tional Convention. He was appointed County Solicitor for Hillsborough county in 1883, and held the position for ten years, when he was ap- pointed by Governor Smith, Associate Justice of the Supreme Bench of New Hampshire. He mar- ried in August, 1874, Ella M., daughter of the late A. F. Hutchinson of Milford. They have three children : Edward D)., Robert B., and Helen Wal- lace.
WASON, EDWARD HIL.L., Lawyer, Nashua, was born in New Boston, New Hampshire. Septem- ber 2, 1865, son of George A. Wason. He was educated at the Francestown Academy and at the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, graduating with the degree of B. S. in 1886. He read law in the office of George B. French of Nashua ; later attended lectures at the Boston University, where he was graduated in 1890 with the degree of LL. B. While pursuing his law studies, he taught at the Main street even- ing school, being Principal for a time. He was admitted to the New Hampshire Bar in March, 1890, and opened a law office at Nashua. He was City Solicitor in 1894 and 1895, and was re- elected June 1, 1896. He was a member of the Common Council in 1896, and was President of the City Council from June 1, 1896, for two years. He is Treasurer of the Nashua Driving Park Asso- ciation, a member of the Nashua Boat Club and City Guards Club. Trustee of the Nashua Hospital Association and of the John M. Hunt Home, and President and Director of the Tarnic Ice Company.
E. H. WASON.
In 1887, he was chosen Sergeant-at-Arms of the State Senate and was re-elected in 1893, and was Clerk of the same body in 1895. He was elected a member of the Nashua Board of Education in June, 1895, and is President of the Board. He is
198
MEN OF PROGRESS.
at present in partnership with George F. Jackson, the firm name being Wason & Jackson. The firm has a large practice and a brilliant future before it. Mr. Wason is a member of Rising Sun Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, being Past Master of the Lodge, a member of Meriden Sun Royal Arch Chapter, Israel Hunt Council, and St. George Commandery, Knights Templar, Edward A. Raymond Consistory, Aleppo Temple of Boston, and Nashua Lodge Knights of Pythias. Mr. Wason is unmarried.
WEEKS, JOHN WINGATE, Banker, Boston, Massachusetts, was born in Lancaster, New Hamp- shire, April 11, 1860, son of William D. and Mary Helen (Fowler) Weeks. He is a direct descend- ant of Leonard Weeks, who settled in Portsmouth (now Greenland), New Hampshire, in 1657. He received his education in the public schools and academies of his native town. From 1877 to 1881, he attended the United States Naval Academy, and after his graduation, made one cruise as a
JOHN W. WEEKS.
midshipman on the United States Steamship Richmond. The years 1884 and 1885 he spent locating Government lands, and surveying old Spanish grants in Florida. During the following year he was in the real estate business in Orlando,
Florida, and from 1887 to July 1, 1888, he acted as Assistant Commissioner of Lands and Immi- gration for the Florida Southern Railroad. In August, 1888, he removed to Boston to enter the banking and brokerage business, and has remained there ever since with an office at 53 State street. He is a member of the firm of Hornblower & Weeks, who have two memberships in the Boston and one in the New York Stock Exchange. Mr. Weeks has been a Director in the Massachusetts National Bank, the oldest Bank in New England, since 1895, and since 1894 has been a Director in the Newton Street Railway, and a Director and Vice- President of the Central Massachusetts Railroad. He is one of the Trustees of the Newton Land and Improvement Company, and has been President of the Newtonville Trust Company since its organiza- tion in March, 1896. In 1890-'92 he commanded a division of the Naval Brigade, in 1892-'93 a Bat- talion of the Naval Brigade, and since 1894 he has commanded the Massachusetts Naval Brigade. He is the Senior Naval Militia Officer in the United States. In 1896 President Cleveland appointed him a member of the Board of Visitors to the United States Naval Academy. Mr. Weeks is a member of the Middlesex and New Hamp- shire Clubs, of the University Club of Boston, being a member of the Admission Committee, of the Army and Navy Club of Washington, of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution, and of the Society of the War of 1812. In politics he is a Republican. Mr. Weeks was married, October 7, 1885, to Martha A., daughter of John G. Sinclair. They have two children: Katherine S., born August 19, 1889, and Charles Sinclair Weeks, born June 15, 1893.
ANNABLE, EDWIN GUILFORD, Physician, Con- cord, was born in Newport, Province of Quebec, Canada, December 2, 1840, son of Jacob Merrill and Eunice (Dean) Annable. He is of English an- cestry, being descended in the paternal line from Anthony Annable, who came from County Kent in 1623 in the ship Ann, and landed in Plymouth. After living here for seventeen years, he removed to Scituate and later to Barnstable, Massachusetts. He was known in the colony as " Good Man Anna- ble," and was held in high esteem. Ansel Anna- ble, who was in the sixth generation from Anthony and who was the grandfather of Doctor Annable, settled in Groton, New Hampshire, where he lived for some years until, finding the soil too barren and
199
MEN OF PROGRESS.
the prospects too poor to meet the needs of a grow- ing family, he moved to Newport in the Province of Quebec, Canada, in or about 1820. He settled in a complete wilderness, but a few years of per- sistent effort served to clear the land of a heavy growth of timber and to transform it into one of the finest farms of the region. His son. Jacob Annable, was about eight years old when the fam- ily moved from Groton. He remained on the home farm and in January, 1836, married Eunice Dean, whose mother was Susan Russ, in direct line from Henry Russ who came from Hingham. Norfolk county, England, in 1633 or 1635. The family of Jacob Annable consisted of six children, three sons and three daughters. Doctor Annable was the second son. The years of his boyhood and early manhood were spent at school and at light farm work. The seven years following were spent in New Hampshire and Canada until the spring of 1868, when he removed to Concord. For a number of years he engaged in various pursuits, following no fixed purpose until the summer of 1877, when, after much serious thought, a plan was earnestly considered and faithfully carried out, to devote all spare time to study in preparation for his future profession. Courses of study were con- scientiously pursued. in anatomy, physiology and chemistry, and then a lecture course was taken at Dartmouth College. The next year was spent at the University of Vermont, where his degree was given. Deciding upon Fitzwilliam, New Hamp- shire, as a location for practice he there formed a partnership with Doctor Silas Cumings. a ripe scholar and skillful practitioner. The partnership of three years was cut short by the death of Doc- tor Cumings, but it was of long enough duration to establish the confidence of the people. After nearly seven years of practice in Fitzwilliam, he removed to Norwich, Vermont, in June, 1886, at the solicitation of relatives there. He very shortly built up a good business, extending over a large territory in Vermont and New Hampshire. Here he had under his care the celebrated case of dry gangrene of Gideon Lord, a man seventy-two years of age. The gangrene extended to the lower mar- gin of the knee-cap, and Doctor Annable cut away first the muscle and finally the diseased bones and in a short time healing began. In less than six months a healthy stub was formed and later a peg leg was attached that did excellent service for the nine years of life remaining, In June. 1891, Doc- tor Annable removed to Concord, desiring a more
concentrated practice. His health had become somewhat impaired by his labors in Norwich. Dur- ing the last four years, a good practice has been established and a fair promise for the future seems in a fair way to be realized. He is a member of
E. G. ANNABLE.
the New Hampshire Medical Society, also of the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons, and of the White River (Vermont) Medical Society. He is an Odd Fellow, a member of Rumford Lodge of Concord. Doctor Annable married June 9. 1863. Louisa Maria Farwell, of Robinson, Province of Quebec, youngest daughter of William Farwell. Crown Land Agent of the Government Lands of the Province of Quebec. They have four children: Edwin Walter, born in Eaton, Province of Quebec. May 29, 1864, who married Gertrude Paige of Downers Grove, Illinois, and who is at present Pastor of the First Baptist church of Millegeville, Illinois ; Angela Dean, born in Robinson, Province of Quebec, April 20, 1866, and who married Henry Roberts ; Alice Louisa, born in Concord. New Hampshire, April 18, 1871, and who married C'ur- tis Chamberlin in October, 1894 ; and Bessie Far- well Annable, born in Norwich, Vermont, Septem- ber 30, 1887. Doctor AAnnable has five grand- children : Neil and Lawrence Annable ; Gladys A. Roberts, and Harold C. and Louisa Merle Cham- berlin.
200
MEN OF PROGRESS.
CRANE, JOHN SUMMERFIELD, Manufacturer, Lakeport, was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, February 3, 1834, son of Luther and Rebecca (Manter) Crane. On the paternal side he is descended from an old family of Canton, Massa-
J. S. CRANE.
chusetts; on the maternal side he traces his descent from ancestors resident in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and is a direct descendant of Gov- ernor Bradford of the Massachusetts Colony. Mr. Crane received a common school education and attended the Berwick Academy in Maine. While he was at school, his skill in drawing attracted attention, and a gentleman, impressed with his talent, offered to educate him as an artist. Young Crane, however, did not avail himself of this oppor- tunity, but at the age of fifteen shipped on a clipper bound for India. The voyage lasted twenty-two months, and gave the youth a trip around the world, besides curing him of his longing for a life at sea. For a year he was busy learning the trade of a machinist at Salmon Falls. Then he removed first to Lawrence, and then to Lowell, where for a year he had charge of a sewing- machine factory. Subsequently Mr. Crane resided for a time in Manchester. After a Western trip in search of a promising business opening, he went to Lakeport in 1857, where he was employed by Thomas Appleton in the hosiery business. In
1862, he formed a partnership with William Pepper, the firm being Crane & Pepper, to build knitting machines. In 1864, Mr. Crane became Superin- tendent of the Winnepesaukee Hosiery Company, in which he was a part owner, and in 1865, having meanwhile bought out his partners, sold the works to R. M. Bailey. In 1879, he became connected with Walter Aiken of Franklin in the proprietor- ship of the Gilmore Revolving Diamond Stone Dressing Machine. Mr. Crane in 1872 bought an interest in a plant for the manufacture of circular knitting machines, the firm being Crane & Peaslee. In the following year, Mr. Crane patented a machine for making shirts and underwear, and this industry was added to the firm's business. In 1878, the firm became J. S. Crane & Company, and in 1890 was incorporated under the name of the Crane Manufacturing Company, J. S. Crane, President, M. L. Crane, Secretary and Treasurer. He represented Laconia in the State Legislature in 1875, and Gilford in that of 1878. He was one of the incorporators and is now a Director of the Lake Village Savings Bank; he is a Director and Vice-President of the National Bank of Lakeport. In politics he is a Republican. He is a Mason and belongs to various Masonic bodies up to the Thirty-second Degree. Mr. Crane married, in 1856, Clara J. Smith of Nashua. He has one child, Mazellah L. Crane.
COLE, EDMUND CHASE, Editor of the Kearsarge Independent and Times, Warner, was born in Mil- ton Plantation, Maine, October 5, 1845, son of Laurenson and Lucinda (Spofford) Cole. He is of English descent. His great-grandfather was a Revolutionary soldier, and his grandfather and father held the ranks, respectively, of Colonel and Captain in the state militia. Mr. Cole attended the common and select schools in Milton and adjacent towns, and prepared for college at Nor- way and Hebron Academies. He was a student at Colby University through Freshman year, but took the remainder of the college course at Bow- doin, from which he was graduated in the class of 1871. In the fall of that year he became the first Principal of Simonds Free High School at Warner, a position he held for three years. Mr. Cole began the study of law, as supplementary to his educa- tion in August, 1874, and continued it for the next three years, in the course of which time he taught for one term in Marlow Academy and for three terms in Contoocook Academy. Altogether he has
201
MEN OF PROGRESS,
to his credit as an instructor thirty-six terms of successful work in the schools. In pursuing his legal studies, Mr. Cole spent considerable time in the office of the late John Y. Mugridge in Concord, but though he grounded himself well in the law, he never applied for admission to the Bar. In the fall of 1878, he bought in Portsmouth the equip- ment of a printing-office and removed it to Warner, and subsequently began publication of the Kear- sarge Independent, the first issue of the paper bearing date of April 4, 1884. In the following December he bought the subscription list of the Hopkinton Times, published at Contoocook, and changed his paper's name to the Kearsarge Inde- pendent and Times. This journal continues to prosper, and is now in the fifteenth year of its pub- lication. Mr. C'ole has been a member of the School Board for many years ; for four terms was Supervisor of check list; was Postmaster during the last year of President Arthur's administration ; and at present is a member of the Board of Health, Vice-President of the Trustees of Pillsbury Free Library, and a local police officer. and is an ear-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.