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 4
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largest manufactories of its kind in the country. In 1894 he severed his connection with this enterprise, and is now largely engaged in the lumber business in Rimouski. Province of Quebec. He is President and Manager of the Lisbon Electric Light Com- pany and a stockholder and Director in the Lisbon National Bank. Mr. Libbey is strongly Republican in his political views, but has never taken a very active interest in politics. For several years he was Postmaster at Alder Brook. In 1894 he was a member of the State Legislature. He is a member of Whitefield Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and is a faithful attendant of the Methodist Church. On November 22. 1865, Mr. Libbey was married to Ellen M., daughter of Henry Thomas of Littleton. They have had four children : Blanche T., born September 7. 1866 : Herman T .. born July 6. 1868 ; deceased August 9, 1897; Grace E., born June 13, 1878 : and Ethel M. Libbey. born August 24, 1882.
LISCOM. LEMUEL FRANKLIN, Farmer, Hins- dale. State Senator from the Fourteenth District. was born in Hinsdale, February 17, 1841, son of Lemuel. 2d. and Emerancy (Horton) Liscom. On the paternal side he is of English descent; on the maternal, Scotch and English. The Liscom family can be traced in the old records of Dorchester and Dorchester South Precinct (now Canton). Massa- chusetts, which show that Philip Liscom married Charity Judson in 1701, and in 1708 moved from Dorchester to the South Precinct. His son, Philip, 2d. settled in Rehoboth (now Taunton), and his grandson, Philip, 3d. was a resident of Canton, whose children moved about 1787 to Hinsdale. New Hampshire. Lemuel Liscom, ist. born April 3. 1767. was with his father and brother at the defence of Dorchester and Boston, Massachusetts, in the Revolutionary War, and although he was but twelve years old acquitted himself with credit. He became a farmer and dealer in horses in Hins- dale, and died July 7. 1836. Lemuel, 2d, who was born February 19. 1816, went to Boston in the employ of Lyman & Ralston, the first dealers in hard coal in that city. Subsequently, when he went into business for himself, he was prosecuted for selling coal, on the ground that it was stone; and found it useful to resort to the practice of keep- ing a coal fire in his office all summer to demon- strate the heating power of his wares. After eight successful years he returned to Hinsdale, on account of his wife's failing health, and engaged in
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farming and lumbering. He took a prominent part in town affairs, served as Selectman and Justice of the Peace, and held other town offices. Politically, he was a Whig, and later a Republican. He was a devoted member of the Baptist church, as was his wife, a daughter of Hezekiah Horton, and a kins- woman of Lord Burnham of England. Lemuel F. Liscom, the subject of this sketch, attended the town schools, completing his studies at Kimball Union Academy in 1860. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company A, Fourteenth New Hamp- shire Volunteers, and saw much service. He was on duty much of the first year at the National Cap- ital and along the Potomac; was then transferred to the Department of the Gulf and went with his regiment up the Mississippi. He was at the siege of Petersburg and at the second battle of Malvern Hill: fought in eight engagements in the Shenan- doah Valley; and at Augusta, Georgia, had the satisfaction of assisting Jefferson Davis on board a United States gunboat. He returned from the ser- vice with the rank of Orderly Sergeant. After the war Mr. Liscom was employed by the National Bridge and Iron Works, Boston, becoming Super-
LEMUEL F. LISCOM.
intendent of Construction, and in that capacity hav- ing charge of the building of the train houses of the Boston & Lowell and Boston & Providence Rail- roads. He put in the first iron bridge on the Ver-
mont Central at Dog river, constructed many fine bridges and buildings, and was his own engineer. Mr. Liscom returned to Hinsdale in 1880, to care for his aged parents, and after his father's death bought his farm, on which he now lives. He makes a specialty of hay and tobacco, selling about eleven tons of the latter each year. In 1891-'92, and again in 1893-'94 he served as a Representa- tive in the State Legislature, and in 1897 took his seat in the Senate, having been elected by the largest majority vote ever cast in the district. While in the Legislature he formed the first " Farm- ers' Legislative Council" ever held in the state, its object being to give weight and influence to the agricultural element. He was one of the first to advocate moving the Agricultural College to Dur- ham, in order to secure the Benjamin Thompson school fund, and he has been a warm friend and supporter of the college. During his first term in the House he was Clerk of the Committee of Roads, Bridges, and Canals, and in his second, Chairman of the Public Improvements Committee. As a Senator he is Chairman of the Committee on Claims. In the House Mr. Liscom introduced a bill providing for an electric railroad from Hinsdale to Brattleboro, Vermont, which was defeated. On its second introduction, however, both parties agreed to refer it to the Supreme Court. As a Senator he introduced a measure to give the Con- necticut River Water Power Company a franchise to build a water system across the river between Brattleboro and Hinsdale, for generating electricity and other power. Mr. Liscom is a strictly temper- ate man and a hard worker in the interests of his constituents. In politics he is a Republican. He is a member of the' Masonic Commandery in Keene; of Sheridan Post No. 14, Grand Army of the Republic; of the Red Men; and of the Grange. He married, February 21, 1872, Dollie Amelia, daughter of Orvin T. Mason of Truthville, New York, a woman of noble character, who died March 2, 1896, leaving two children : Flora Dollie, born January 22, 1875, and Mary Edith Liscom, born' October 31, 1878.
LITTLE, GEORGE PEABODY, Farmer and Stock Raiser, Pembroke, was born in Pembroke, New. Hampshire, June 20, 1834, son of Elbridge Gerry and Sophronia Phelps (Peabody) Little. He is in the eighth generation from George Little who set- tled at Old Newbury, Massachusetts, in 1640. He received his early education at the Lewiston and
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Pembroke academies, and at the Military Institute at Pembroke-a branch of the Norwich Military Academy of Vermont. At the age of eighteen he taught school. The following year he left home to
GEORGE P. LITTLE.
engage in mercantile business at Portland, Maine. Here he remained six years, and then went to Bos- ton for a short time. During the next ten years he managed a photograph gallery at Palmyra, New York. In 1868 he returned to Pembroke, pur- chased the present homestead, and engaged in farming and the raising of blooded stock, making Jersey cattle a specialty for a time. Mr. Little was Deputy Collector of United States Revenue in Pal- myra, New York, in 1866 67, Town Treasurer of Pembroke in 1881 '82, Selectman in 1887 '88 '89. was elected to the Legislature in 1876 and 1877, when elections were annual, and in 18q1; was a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1888; was County Treasurer four years; and is a Justice of the Peace. Ile is a Trustee of the Guaranty Savings Bank of Concord, and also of the Pem- broke Academy. For many years he was Chair- inan of the Executive Committee of the latter, and is now Secretary and Treasurer. He is a member of the Concord Historical Society and the New Hampshire Club of Boston. He is a Thirty-second degree Mason, a Knights Templar, and an Odd Fellow. He is a Deacon in the Congregational
church, and has always been a Republican. On August 22, 1854, he married Elizabeth Ann Knox. They have six children living: Clarence Belden, President of the First National Bank of Bismarck. Dakota, who has been a State Senator since Dakota became a state: Mary Georgiana, wife of James E. Odlin, of Lynn, Massachusetts ; Elizabeth Ellen, wife of I. F. Thurber, of Nashua; Nettie K .. wife of Frank E. Shepard, Concord ; Lucy Bowman : and Clara Frances, wife of Harman S. Salt. of Brooklyn, N. Y. One child, George Wil- lard Little, died in 1858.
LOUGEE, GEORGE WOODWORTH, Physician, Freedom, was born in Effingham, New Hampshire, June 3. 1859, son of Sylvester T. and Ruamah (Burleigh) Lougee. On the paternal side he is of French descent, and on the maternal of English. He attended the common schools of Effingham and Parsonsfield Seminary, and began his professional studies under the instruction of Dr. Augustus D. Merrow of Freedom, long a leading practitioner, and was graduated from Bowdoin College in the medical class of 1883. He was first associated with
GRO. W. LOUGEE.
his tutor, but later established a practice of his own. which has been large and Incrative. For three years he was a member of the School Board of Effingham, and for the same length of time held a
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similar office in Freedom. In 1897 and '98, he was elected a Selectman of the latter town. Since January, 1887, he has been Coroner for Carroll county. He is a member of Carroll Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Freedom ; Carroll Chapter of Wolfborough: St. Paul Commandery of Dover; Costello Tribe, Red Men, of Kezar Falls. Maine ; Prospect Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Freedom, of which he was the first Noble Grand; Mt. Chocorua Encampment of Madison ; Carroll County Medical Society, of which he was President in 1895, and New Hamp- shire Medical Society. He is a Democrat, and has taken a very active interest in politics. On Novem- ber 25, 1885, he was married to Edith Louise Mer- row, daughter of Dr. Augustus D. Merrow. They have two children : Louise Marguerite, born Sep- tember 16, 1893, and Hayes Lougee, born Decem- ber 6. 1896. Dr. Lougee has a very wide circle of friends in and out of his profession.
NEWTON, LEROY ALLAN, Physician, Walpole, was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts, January 28. 1863, the son of Allan Nims and Anna Maria
LEROY A. NEWTON.
(Ferguson) Newton. He attended the common schools of Greenfield, and for two years was a pupil at the high school of the town. At the age of fifteen he obtained employment. and learned the
tinner and plumber's trade, and a little later acquired another trade, that of a watchmaker. While employed by a jewelry firm in Saratoga, New York, he gave much attention to physical culture, becoming a highly successful instructor in this branch in the Young Men's Christian Association gymnasium at Saratoga, and the Glenns Falls gym- nasium. He had read medicine for a year, when he entered the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1892, being graduated in 1895 with the degree of M. D. For a time he practised in Boston, but at the beginning of 1896 removed to Walpole. He is a Charter Member of the Saratoga Gentlemen's Club, and a member of the Saratoga Choral Union, the New Hampshire Medical Society, the Cheshire County Medical Society, and the New Hampshire Surgical Club. He is the author of a number of papers on professional topics. In poli- tics he is a Republican. Mr. Newton was married, September 15, 1897, to Minnie Isbell.
McCOLLESTER, SULLIVAN HOLMAN, Clergy- man, Instructor, Traveler, and Writer, Marlborough, was born in that town December 18, 1826, son of Silas and Achsah (Holman) McCollester. He is of Scotch descent, his ancestor, Samuel McCollester, coming to America as Captain of a company of sol- diers with his brother, who was captured by the Indians, and held as prisoner for some time. They settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Sullivan McCollester now owns and lives upon a farm pur- chased by his great-grandfather, Isaac McCollester, who settled in Marlborough, in 1764. He attended the schools of the town, early developing a strong taste for study, and at the age of fifteen became a pupil in a select school, and afterwards received a thorough academic training in the seminaries at Swanzey, Dublin, Jaffrey, Winchendon, Massachu- setts, and Brattleboro, Vermont. He entered Nor- wich University in the winter of 1847, and was graduated in the summer of 1851. Two years later he was graduated from the Cambridge Divinity School, and took charge of the Mount Cæsar Semi-' nary at Swanzey, New Hampshire. Dr. McColles- ter-the degree of I). D. was conferred upon him by St. Lawrence University (New York) in 1874- had seen practical service as a teacher in Richmond- and Walpole before taking his collegiate course, and proved himself thoroughly fitted for his post at Swanzey. There he did double duty for five years, preaching as well as teaching, organizing two new church societies in different parts of the town,
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which prospered exceedingly under his care. Then for four years he was Pastor of the Universalist societies in Westmoreland and West Chesterfield. preaching part of the time in each town, building up the membership of the societies and increasing their religious zeal. Successful labors in charge of the Valley Seminary showed that his interest in educational matters was as keen as ever. During his residence in Westmoreland, he was elected School Commissioner of Cheshire county, an office he held until 1859. He was also appointed Presi- dent of the State Board of Commissioners. and in the winter visited schools and lectured on education. while in the spring he held Teachers' Institutes. He was called to Westbrook Seminary, near Port- land. Maine. April. 1861. Of this institution he was the head for eight years, his administration being marked by a phenomenal growth of the school, which reached its greatest development under his care. In 1864. he obtained a charter for a Female College. the first State-chartered institu- tion of the kind in New England. In the course of his stay at Westbrook. moreover. he built up a prosperous church. Hard work and a hard climate told upon Dr. McCollester's health, and in the sum- mer of 1866 he found it necessary to lay down his labors for a time and travel abroad ; and two years later he was obliged to give up the school, and seek a region less trying than the Maine coast. His next charge, the pastorate of the Universalist Church in Nashua, brought him more hard work and more success. The congregation grew ; a par- sonage was bought: societies in various depart- ments were formed : and it was with deepest regret that at the end of three years his resignation was accepted. Dr. MeCollester had been called to the presidency of Buchtel College, Akron. Ohio, where for six years he again proved himself an indefati- gable worker in the interests of the college. besides building up a strong church in the city. Ill-health once more forced him to seek rest and change of scenes abroad. but in 1870 he was resolutely engaged in forming a church and building a church edifice at Bellows Falls, Vermont. In less than two years from the time he undertook the work, a strong and united parish was worshiping in a new and commodious edifice. free from debt. His next charge was in Dover, and there he repeated the difficult achievement of turning a weak church into one full of vigor and earnestness. He resigned the pastorate in 1885, and since then has devoted him- self to foreign travel, literary and missionary work,
and the supervision of public schools. He is the author of " After Thoughts of Foreign Travel in Historic Lands and Capital Cities; " " Round the Globe in Old and New Paths:" " Babylon and
S. H. MCCOLLESTER.
Nineveh through American Eyes ; " and " Mexico, Old and New, a Wonderland." He has corres- ponded for the Boston Transcript, the Boston Jour- nal. the Christian Leader, the Journal of Educa- tion. Portland Transcript, and many other papers. In 1889-'90. he was in the New Hampshire Legis- lature and was Chairman of the Committee on Education. He has been for some years President of the New Hampshire Universalist State Conven- tion, and is an earnest temperance worker and organizer. He has usually voted with the Republi- can party. Dr. McCollester is a Free Mason. belonging to the Blue Lodge in Winchester, the Chapter in Portland. Maine, and the Knights Tem- plar in Keene. On November 23. 1852, he mar- ried Sophia Fanny Knight of Dummerston, Ver- mont. They have had four children : Eda Sophia, Caroline Knight. Lee Sullivan, and Edwin Pay MeCollester. Lee Sullivan McCollester is a clergy- man in Detroit, Michigan, having been Pastor of the Church of Our Father for ten years. Dr. McCollester's life has been extraordinarily busy and useful. Since 1866, he has spent in foreign travel some five years. His object has been to
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
study the people, as well as the lands and places. He has been at five different times in Ireland, Eng- land, Scotland, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy ; once in Russia, Norway, Sweden, and Spain ; twice in Belgium, Holland, and Genoa; three times in Egypt, Palestine, and Turkey; once around the world, spending considerable time in Japan, China, India, islands of Indian Ocean ; went up the Per- sian Gulf to Babylon and Nineveh and through Arabia ; through the United States and Mexico. Hle has visited the Universities of Dublin, Edin- boro, Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, Berlin, Leipzig, Munich, Vienna, Tunis, Heidelberg, Padova, Bologna, Rome, Athens, Bombay, Tokio, etc. He visited many of the public and private schools of these different countries. In all, including our own country as well as foreign, he has been into more than a thousand different schools corresponding to our common schools. He has lectured since 1870 more than nine hundred times in various places on his travels, educational subjects, and temperance. He has attended since he entered the ministry in 1853, eight hundred and fifty-three funerals. He has married rising two hundred couples. During the forty-five years in the ministry, he has preached sixteen hundred different times on Sundays, but his chief work has been done in the seminary and col- lege.
PATTERSON, SAMUEL FOLSOM, Secretary of the American International Association of Railway Superintendents of Bridges and Buildings, Concord, was born in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, January 23, 1840, son of Joab and Mary Lovering Patter- son. He numbers among his ancestors some of the first settlers of the state, men of sterling worth and broad and liberal views, who bore their part in directing the social and political tendencies of the Commonwealth. He received his early educa- tion in the district schools and in the academy at Contoocook. He served three years in the army, reënlisted in 1865, was commissioned First Lieu- tenant, and served until his regiment was mustered out. Before going to the front he was an employé of the Concord & Montreal Railroad, and after the war he returned to the company, becoming foreman of the bridges department and subsequently being promoted to his present position of Superintendent of Bridges and Buildings. He has served the road for thirty-four years with zeal and fidelity. In 1895-'96, he was Alderman from Ward Six, Con- cord, and in 1897-'98, was Representative from the
same ward. He is an Odd Fellow, a member of Rumford Lodge. In politics he is a stalwart Republican, and a firm and practical advocate of temperance. In October, 1864, Mr. Patterson was
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S. F. PATTERSON.
married to Susan E. Hersey, and in October, 1890, to Mrs. Ida M. Paul. He has two children : George H. Patterson and Mrs. Mary H. Ring.
ROBINSON, HENRY, Lawyer and Journalist, Ex-Mayor, Ex-Postmaster of Concord, was born in that city, July 14, 1852, son of the late Nahum Robinson, Warden of the New Hampshire State Prison. Nahum Robinson was a contractor and builder, who did much toward the advancement of the city of Concord. He was the first construction agent of the post-office building, superintended the erection of the fine railway station, and was in fact the Building Agent of the Concord Railroad for ten years. Henry Robinson attended the public schools of Concord, and studied under private tutors at Boston and elsewhere; attended the Boston Univer- sity Law School ; and later returned to his native city to pursue his legal studies with the late Judge Josiah Minot, Attorney-General Mason W. Tappan and John Y. Mugridge. He was admitted to the Bar in 1875. In the successful practice of his profession he was associated with Colonel Frank H. Pierce, a nephew of President Pierce, and also
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with Edgar H. Woodman. Mr. Robinson early developed a strong liking for politics. In 1879 he was elected a member of the Legislature, and since then he has repeatedly served in that body. In ISSt he was a strong candidate for Speaker. but withdrew in the interest of his father-in-law, the late United States Senator Edward H. Rollins, who was a candidate for re-election. In 1883 he was a member of the Senate. In both branches of the Legislature he served upon important committees. being Chairman of the House Railroad Committee at the time of one of the most memorable contests in New England, and Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the Senate. although he was its youngest member. He was active in all legislative proceedings, and gained the reputation of an able debater. In May, 1890, he was appointed Post- master of Concord. He served four years and achieved great success in the conduct of the office. In 1895 he was elected Mayor of Concord, and served two years. In spite of the many other demands upon his time he has written much and well. for newspapers and for the periodical press.
.
HENRY ROBINSON.
Is a political writer he has been especially active. and his nom de plume of " Jean Paul" has become exceedingly well known among New England newspaper readers. He has been a voluminous contributor to journals out of New England as well
as in it, and has been on the staff of the New York Tribune, Springfield Republican, Boston Globe and other leading newspapers ont of New Hampshire, while he has furnished to the press of the state a vast amount of readable matter. He is the author of many papers on non-political topics. While Postmaster he prepared a number of articles upon subjects connected with the service which brought him the commendation of the Postmaster General. As a lecturer he has been very successful. In religion he is liberal. In politics he is a Republi- can. Mr. Robinson was married October 10, 1878, to Helen M. Rollins, only daughter of Senator Rollins. They have seven children.
RUSSELL, FRANK WEBSTER, Merchant, Ply- mouth, was born in that town June 22, 1847, the son of William Wallace Russell and Susan Carleton (Webster) Russell. He comes of a family whose members have distinguished themselves in the mili- tary service of their country. His father, a mer- chant of Plymouth for fifty-five years, was the son of Moor Russell, who was a soldier in the Revolu- tionary War, and who was in peace a successful farmer and merchant, and the founder of the busi- ness now conducted by his grandson. Moor Rus- sell's wife. Betsey Webster Russell, was a daughter of Lieut. Colonel David Webster, who commanded a regiment of militia in the Revolution. Still a gen- eration further back Pelatiah Russell of Litchfield, New Hampshire, served as a Lieutenant in the " Old French War." Mr. Russell attended the schools of Plymouth until he was ten years old, and later he studied in a private school at Concord, Phillips Academy, Andover, the Mayhew and the Latin schools of Boston, the High School at Detroit, Mich- igan, and the Collegiate and Commercial Institute at New Haven, Connecticut. He was appointed a C'adet at the United States Military Academy at West Point, being graduated June 15. 1868. He was a Second Lieutenant in the Sixth Cavalry, serv- ing with his regiment at New Orleans and on fron- tier duty in Texas, Kansas and the Indian Terri- tory. Upon resigning from the army he returned to Plymouth. In 1872 and '73 he was interested with his brother. William W. Russell, Jr., and Hazen D. Smith in the manufacture of buck gloves, and in February of the next year, became book- keeper for Webster. Hull & Company. merchants. This firm was succeeded in 1875 by Webster, Rus- sell & Company, which still continues in business. Mr. Russell, who was the junior member at its
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formation. is the surviving partner. He served in the New Hampshire National Guard on the staff of General Daniel M. White, brigade commander, as Captain and Aide-de-Camp from May 28, 1884, to December 11, 1885, and as Major and Assistant Inspector-General from December 11, 1885, to
FRANK W. RUSSELL.
May 15, 1889. He is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, Cavalry Society Armies of the United States, United States Cavalry Associa- tion, Military Service Institution, Olive Branch Lodge, No. 16, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Pemigewasset Chapter, No. 13, Royal Arch Masons, Omega Council, No. 9, Royal and Select Masters of Plymouth, and Pilgrim Commandery, Knights Tem- plar of Laconia. In politics he is a Republican. Mr. Russell was married October 1, 1873, to Louisa Webster Hall. Two of his children, Clara Louise and Mary Louise Russell, died in infancy. His eldest son, William Wallace Russell, is a bank clerk at Wells River, Vermont, and another son, George Moor Russell, is a West Point Cadet. His other children, Susan Carleton, Walter Hall, Louis Webster, and Frank Henry Russell, are attending Plymouth schools.
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