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 9
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JOHN F. JONES.
1855 he was elected Treasurer of the Loan and Trust Savings Bank, a position he held until 1897, when he resigned and was elected President of the Same bank, a post he now holds. In the twenty- live years he lived in Contoocook he settled over forty estates, and acted as Commissioner and Trus- tre in the settlement of a number of others. He was Town Clerk in Hopkinton from 1861 to 1868, and again served in that office in 1875. He was Town Treasurer from 1861 to 1866, and again held this office in 1872. He was a member of the State Constitutional Convention in 1876. Among the other offices he has held are : Treasurer of Merri- mack county; Park Commissioner of Concord ;
Director of the First National Bank of Hillsborough, 1874-'90 inclusive ; Director of the National State Capital Bank of Concord from 1881 to date ; Trus- tee to the Loan and Trust Savings Bank from 1874 to date: Treasurer of the New Hampshire Antiquarian Society, 1872 '97, and President for two years; Treasurer of the Woodsum Steamboat Company from its organization in 1872 to date ; Treasurer of the Manufacturers' and Merchants' Mutual Insurance Company of Concord from its organization in 1886 to the present time. He is a member of Kearsarge Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Contoocook; of Blazing Star Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Trinity Chap- ter, Royal Arch Masons; Horace Chase Council and Mt. Horeb Commandery of Concord, being its Treasurer since 1891 : Edward A. Raymond Con- sistory of Nashua; New Hampshire Historical Society ; and New Hampshire Antiquarian Society. He is a member of the First Baptist Church of Hopkinton and of the Young Men's Christian Association of Concord. He married October 23. 1861, Maria II. Barnard. He has two children, J. Arthur and Charles C. Jones.
KENT, HERVEY, Retired Manufacturer, Exeter, was born in Alstead, New Hampshire, in April, 1818, son of Captain Asa and Polly (Abel) Kent. His grandfather on the paternal side, Isaac Kent. removed from Connecticut to Alstead, where he died in 1833. at the age of ninety-two years. He was a very energetic man, and at seventy-five was as vigorous as most men at fifty. Ile was married four times. On the maternal side, he is descended from the Reverend Alfred Abel, who lived to the good old age of ninety-three. The subject of this sketch attended the public schools of his native town and local academy, working on the farm after teaching school in the winter. He remained on the farm until nearly twenty-one years old, and had his first experience in manufacturing in the Nashua Mills in 1839, receiving three dollars a week as wages. Soon after, he went with one of the over- seers, Benjamin Osgood, to the first mill started on the Stark corporation in Manchester, New Hamp- shire, as third hand in the spinning-room, and was advanced to the position of Second Overseer. When Superintendent Amory Warien went from the Stark Mills to Newton Upper Falls Mills as Agent, he employed Mr. Kent to go with him as Overseer of the spinning, and there he remained four years, removing to Fitchburg, where he hired
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a small mill called the Rockville. He started the mill on a five years' lease in 1845, and was very successful until the tariff changes largely reduced the profits. In 1847 he sold out his interest in the Rockville Mill to his partner, to accept a position with John Smith, as Superintendent and Paymaster at Barre, Massachusetts. Leaving this business at the close of one year, he accepted a position as Overseer of spinning under General H. K. Oliver of the Atlantic Mills, of Lawrence, Massachusetts. There he remained until 1854, when he became Su- perintendent of the Great Falls Mills of Somersworth under John A. Burleigh. He remained there until the hard times of 1857 led to a reduction in the out- put of the mills. He was out of business for some months when he went to Pittsfield, as Agent of the mills controlled by the Dale Brothers of Boston. Then he went to Lewiston, Maine, as Superintendent of the Androscoggin Mills under Agent Amos C. Lockwood, and was there nearly two years, leaving that place to accept the Agency of the Exeter Mills under the Dale Brothers & Company. He held the Agency until 1876, when he became Treasurer
HERVEY KENT.
and Agent, which he held until May, 1895, when he resigned in favor of his son, George E. Kent, who has since bought the Pittsfield Mill. George E. Kent is manager of both concerns. The Exeter Manufacturing Company having leased the Pitts-
field Mill, Mr. Kent retires with commendable pride at the results of his thirty-three years' man- agement. When he took charge of the Exeter Mill, the Company had not paid a dividend for eleven years. The stock was sold for two hundred dollars, par six hundred and fifty dollars. The second year the Company paid fifty dollars per share, and continued the same for some thirteen years. The mill, originally, had two hundred thirty-six-inch looms, with mostly old machinery. When he retired, he left there a mill of six hundred forty- inch looms, with a large proportion of the machin- ery new, up-to-date, modern mill, which has run when other mills have been closed. In 1897, Mr. Kent was chosen President of the Exeter Manufac- turing Company, which position he now holds. He is a member of Philips Church, in which he has been a Deacon for about thirty years. He is a Mason and an Odd Fellow, and at one time a member of the New Hampshire Club, and of the Textile and New England Manufacturing Associa- tion. He has never been active in politics. He married, in 1841, Eliza Jane Hanson of Derry, New Hampshire. His children are : Georgia L., Emma J., Cora L., and George Edward Kent, of whom Cora and George survive. Mr. Kent is now over eighty years old, and he says he has never enjoyed life more keenly than at the present time. He may be seen at his old desk one half the time, but gives no orders, and is, practically, retired. He firmly believes in the over-ruling hand of God's special Providence, and that it is not in man to direct his steps. At his age, the future begins to dawn with hope growing brighter day by day, "as the truer life grows brighter every year."
KENNETT, ALPHEUS CROSBY, State Senator, Conway, was born in Madison, New Hampshire, July 27, 1859, son of William and Sarah Eastman (Russell) Kennett. The Kennett family traces its descent from St. Gregory's Kent, who was de- scended from the Royal House of Canute of Den- mark, and settled upon the demesne of Rolla of Normandy in the Var de Saire of that Dukedom. At the time of the conquest, he went over to Eng- land in the suite of William the First. Two knights of the family set sail in 1647 for the Province of Virginia. Mr. Kennett attended the town schools of Madison and New Hampton Institute. His boyhood was passed on a farm, but at seventeen he went to work for the Eastern Railroad as tele- graph operator. He was elected Representative to
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the Legislature in 1895 and 1896; was State Sen- ator in 1897 and 1898. He has rank of Colonel in Governor Ramsdell's staff. In politics he is a Republican. Colonel Kennett married April 13. 1882. Carrie B. Gerrish of South Berwick. Maine.
V. CROSBY KENNETT.
who died October 1, 1882 ; October 31, 1888, he married Lora Ferren of Madison. He has one son, I'rank Eddison Kennett, born October 22. 1897.
LORD, EDWIN HOWARD, Educator and Electri- cian, was born in Springvale, Maine, June 1, 1850, son of Samuel and Sophia Hlight (Smith) Lord. On the paternal side he traces his descent from the Lord family of South Berwick, Maine. Mr. Lord attended the common schools of Springvale, and sonth Berwick Academy for two terms, then going to New Hampton Academy for three terms. Ile was graduated from Bowdoin College in 1871, with the degree of A. B., and took the degree of A. M., from Harvard College, graduating in the class of 1831. From 1871 to 1873 he was Principal of Richmond, Maine, High School; from 1873 to isKo he was teacher of Science in the Lowell, Massachusetts, High School: from 1880 to 1884 he was principal of the Lawrence, Massachusetts, ILigh School: from 1882 to 1886 he was Treasurer and Manager of the Edison Electric Hluminating Com- pany of Lawrence. Since 1887 he has been Princi-
pal of the Brewster Free Academy at Wolfboro. New Hampshire. Mr. Lord was one of the pioneers in the field for the direct application of electricity for many purposes for which it is now commonly used. The city of Lawrence was the first in the world to have its streets lighted wholly by elec- tricity to the exclusion of gas and oil. The Daily American of that city, G. S. Merrill, Editor, was the first daily paper in the world to be published by electric power. while the Pemberton Mills had the first electric freight elevator. All of these were installed by Mr. Lord. It is, however, as an educa- tor that Mr. Lord has done his best work. His suc- cess as an instructor in the Lowell High School soon caused him to be sought by the Lawrence school committee as Principal of the High School in that city. the offer coming without any solicita- tion on his part. During the few years that he held his position he won the good will of scholars, teachers and citizens, for the many qualities which are necessary for a successful High School Princi- pal. In 1887, when the Brewster Free Academy of Wolfboro. New Hampshire, was opened, under
EDWIN H. LORD.
the provisions of the will of the late John Brewster of Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Trustees, not having decided upon a permanent Principal, asked him to become Acting Principal for a few years. He organized the school, and conducted it with
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such satisfaction to the Trustees that in a short time he was confirmed as Principal without any time limit. This academy, unique in many respects, is a credit to the executive ability of its Principal. Open to both sexes, it presents many problems in government which only a clear head and an impartial mind could solve. The rules are very few. and few of them are laid down in words. The spirit of the institution demands that the pupils shall be ladies and gentlemen, and whatever con- ficts with those standards is to be disapproved. Little espionage, that horror of the average scholar, is employed, cases of discipline are few, and the tone of the school always gives a stranger the im- pression that the students are there for study, pri- marily, and that incidentally, they all manage to have a good time, without detriment to school work. He is a Vice-President of the Sons of Nathan Lord. He is a member of the Kilwinning Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ; of the Club, Lowell ; of the Monday Night Club, Lawrence, and Lowell Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In politics he is a Republican. Mr. Lord was married July, 1873, to Addie M. Decker, of Brunswick, Maine, who died in October, 1873. Mr. Lord was again married November, 1877, to Julia Swift Ben- nett of Lowell, Massachusetts. He has three chil- dren, Ada Jeanette, William Swift, and Mary Ben- nett Lord.
LEWANDO, JOSEPH, Merchant, Wolfboro, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, December 3, 1850, son of Adolph and Emily (Smith) Lewando. He received his early education in the Highland Mil- itary Academy, in Worcester, Massachusetts, and attended the Chemical Department of the Lawrence Scientific School, Cambridge, during the years 1869 and 1870. His father had established at Watertown, Massachusetts, the Lewando Dye Works, for the supervision and charge of which the son was trained. In 1870 he took charge and held the position for five years, when the business not being to his liking, he removed to Mt. Tabor, Ore- gon, where he engaged in general merchandise for eight years, establishing the first store in that place. He conducted a most successful business, and was largely interested in real estate in the town. In 1879, he established the postoffice at Mt. Tabor, receiving his appointment from Postmaster-General Key. In 1883, he returned to the East and settled in Wolfboro, where he conducts a general bus- iness. He served for three years in the New
Hampshire National Guard as Captain of Company K, Third Regiment. He was a member of the Legislature in 1897, when he was Chairman of the Committee on Mileage, and a member of the Committee on Banks. In politics Mr. Lewando is a
JOSEPH LEWANDO.
Republican. He was an alternate to the Conven- tion at Minneapolis in 1892. During the past twelve years he has held various offices in his adopted town. He is a member of Morning Star Lodge, No. 17, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Carroll Chapter, No. 23, Royal Arch Masons, and of St. Paul Commandery, Knights Templar, Dover, New Hampshire. Mr. Lewando was mar- ried September 10, 1875, to Nellie J. Morgan. They have two children, Alice C., and Dolph Lewando.
MELVILLE, HENRY, Lawyer, New York city, was born in Nelson, New Hampshire, August 25, 1858, son of Josiah Henry and Nancy Rebecca (Nesmith) Melville. His ancestors on his father's side were among the first settlers of Charlestown, Massachusetts, and on his mother's among the founders of Londonderry, New Hampshire. The fighting qualities of the stock from which he comes are shown by the fact that he is a member of the Sons of the Revolution by virtue of descent from Privates Josiah Melvin (Melville) Sr., and Josiah Melvin (Melville) Jr., of Concord, Massachusetts ;
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Captain Jonas Minot and Colonel James Barrett of Concord, Massachusetts ; Private James Nesmith and Sergeant Adam Dickey of Londonderry; and Private Josiah Whitney, Jr., and Brigadier-General Josiah Whitney, Sr., of Harvard, Massachusetts ; while he is a member of the Society of Colonial Wars by descent from Captain Thomas Brooks, Captain Jonas Prescott. Captain Jonas Prescott, end .. Captain Timothy Wheeler, Captain James Gregg. Captain James Minot. Colonel James Bur- rett, Lieutenant-Colonel Josiah Whitney, Sergeant Joseph Houston, John Prescott. Adam Dickey, and John Melvin (Melville). He was fitted for college by the Rev. Joseph A. Leach of Keene, and was graduated from Dartmouth in 1879. For two years he was principal of the High School at Win- chendon, Massachusetts, and then spent three years in the Harvard Law School, being graduated with the degrees of A. M. and LL. B. cum laude in 1884. Going to New York he entered the office of James C. Carter, the leader of the New York Bar. He was admitted to the Bar in 1885, and in that year formed business relations with Roscoe Conk-
HENRY MEL.VIL.I.F.
ling which continued until Mr. Conkling's death in 1888. He was a member of the law firm of Dough- erty. Melville & Sweetser until the death of Daniel Dougherty. His present firm is Melville, Martin & Stephens of 120 Broadway. Mr. Melville makes a
specialty of corporation, patent and trade-mark causes, and has figured in some very important cases. He enlisted in the Seventh Regiment National Guard of New York in 1889. and at present is Captain of Company A. Eighth Regi- ment. The state volunteered his Company, and they have gone to the front in the present war. He is a member of the Dartmouth Alumni Association, Harvard Club. Lawyers' Club. Association of the Bar. University Club. Republican Club, Society of Medical Jurisprudence, New England Society, and Order of the Founders and Defenders, as well as the two patriotic societies mentioned above. In politics he is a Republican.
NILES, WILLIAM WOODRUFF, (Protestant Epis- copal) Bishop of New Hampshire, Concord, was born in Hatley, Lower Canada (now the Province of Quebec), May 24, 1832, son of Daniel Swit and Delia (Woodruff) Niles. His father's family is said to have been originally Irish, his ancestors having been carried away captives to Wales about 1172, because of their refusal to submit to the English rule in Ireland. John Niles (then spelled Niel commonly, though originally in Ireland Nials) came to New England in 1634. From him Bishop Niles is descended in the seventh generation. Wil- liam Woodruff, his mother's father, married Ruth Porter of Farmington, Connecticut, who was in the fifth generation from Robert Porter, one of the settlers of Farmington, from which Robert was also descended Noah Porter, the late President of Yale University. The Porters appear originally to have lived in England at Wroxall Abbey, and in Hatton and Haseley, in Warwickshire, William W. Niles attended the Charleston Academy in Hatley and Derby Academy in Vermont, but he studied largely alone in a beautiful country, with books to read and suggestions from a highly intelligent father and mother. His home was deep in the country, two miles from a village even, and the boy found his surroundings admirably fitted for meditation. Later on he had the experiences of " keeping school" and " boarding around" for five terms before going to college ; and those afforded him as a tutor in college for a year after graduation, and as a teacher for two years in the Hartford High School. \ further useful part of the training for active life was, no doubt, the habit in later youth and early manhood of mingling much with people, and largely with persons having very varied notions. religions and political. He was graduated from
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Trinity College, Hartford, in 1857, and from Berkeley Divinity School in 1861 ; was ordained Deacon by Dr. Williams, Bishop of Connecticut, in 1861, and ordained Priest by Dr. George Burgess, Bishop of Maine. in May, 1862. He was Rector
WILLIAM W. NILES.
of St. Philips Church at Wiscasset, Maine, for three years ; then Professor in Latin in Trinity College for six years. For the last three of these years, and when he was elected Bishop of New Hamp- shire, he was also Rector of St. John's Church at Warehouse Point. He was for a time editor of the Churchman. He was consecrated Bishop in St. Paul's Church, Concord, on St. Matthew's Day in 1870, by the Presiding Bishop, Dr. B. B. Smith and by the Bishops of Connecticut, Maine, and Albany, Dr. J. W. Williams, Bishop of Quebec, joining in the laying on of hands. Bishop Niles received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Trinity College in 1870, and later the same degree from Dart- mouth, and from Trinity the degree of Doctor of Laws in 1896. While in college he was a member of Psi Upsilon Fraternity. He is President of the corporation of St. Paul's School in Concord; St. Mary's School for Girls in Concord ; of Holderness School for Boys, Plymouth, New Hampshire; a Trustee of Trinity College, and of the General Theological Seminary in New York; for many years President of the Alumni Association of the Berkeley Divinity School at Middletown ; President
of the Orphans' Home at Concord, and the New England Episcopal member of the Board of Mana- gers of Domestic and Foreign Missions at New York. He was a member of the Committee of the General Convention for revision of the list of chap- ters of Scripture to be read in church ; of the Com- mittee of revision of the Prayer Book and of that for the revision of marginal readings in the Bible. Bishop Niles was married in St. John's Church, Hartford, June 5, 1862, to Bertha Olmsted, a descendant from James Olmsted, one of the settlers of Hartford. His children are: John Olmstead, Edward Cullen, Mary, William Porter, Daniel Swit, and Bertha Niles.
MACK, WILLIAM BARKER, Physician, Exeter, was born in Bellows Falls, Vermont, January 26, 1852, son of William F. and Elizabeth A. (Barker)
WILLIAM B. MACK.
Mack. He comes of good old New England stock. He was educated in the common schools of Bellows Falls, and at Norwich (Vermont) Academy and Dartmouth College. In 1874 he entered Dart- mouth Medical College, from which he was gradu- ated in 1877. In 1878 he opened an office. in Dover, New Hampshire, and practiced there two years, when he removed to Salmon Falls, New Hampshire. After remaining there for eight years, he went to Exeter, where he has remained until the present time. Ile is one of the Attending Physi-
-
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cians of the Exeter Cottage Hospital. In politics he is a Republican. In 1881. Dr. Mack married Evelyn M. Dennett. They have one son: Walter Barker Mack, fourteen years of age.
MITCHELL, ABRAM WHITTEMORE, Physician. Epping, was born in Lempster, New Hampshire. February 8. 1862, son of Andrew J. and Mary M. (Whittemore) Mitchell. His paternal grandfather was William Mitchell of Acworth, New Hampshire, and his maternal grandfather. Amos Whittemore of Wilton. New Hampshire. He received his early education in the district and High schools of his native town and in the Newport High School. During this time he worked on his father's farm and taught in the district schools until he entered the Kimball Union Academy, Meriden. New Hamp- shire, where he spent one year and was graduated in 1883. Subsequently he was Superintendent of Schools and Principal of the High School at Lemp- ster and Principal of Marlow AAcademy. From the time of his graduation until the fall of 1885, he studied medicine with Dr. Carl A. Allen of Acworth
BR.VMI W. MITCHIE.L.I ..
and Dr. Marshall Perkins of Marlow. He then spent one year in the Medical College of Burlington, Vermont, and one in the Medical Department of the University of New York, from which he was gradu- ated in 1887. He attended the Post-graduate Medi-
cal School of New York from October to December in 1895. After practicing medicine and surgery at Harrisville, New Hampshire, from April. 1887. to April in the following year, he removed to Epping where he has since remained. He is Physician to Rockingham County AAsylum, Almshouse and Jail at Brentwood. He was a member of the State Legislature in 1897. He is a Mason, a member of Sullivan Lodge, and an Odd Fellow, member of Geneva Lodge. Dr. Mitchell is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Epping. In politics he is a Democrat. On October 17, 1888. he was married to Hattie F. Perkins of Marlow. They have three children : Avis W., Karl P. and Richard AA. Mitchell.
NIMS, FRANCIS ORMAN, Real Estate and Lum- ber Dealer. Keene, was born in Sullivan, New Hampshire, January 10. 1846, son of Frederick B. and Harriet (Wardell) Nims. He comes of a family which has distinguished itself in the military service of the country. On the paternal side his great-grandfather. Colonel White, served in the Revolutionary War seven years. His father was for several years a Captain in the State Militia. An uncle, Colonel O. F. Nims of Boston, was com- mander of the famous Nims Battery before and during the Rebellion. The subject of this sketch was educated in the common schools of Sullivan ; remained on his father's farm until he was twenty years of age ; served a year's clerkship in Keene. and with his brothers, G. H. and M. W. Nims, es- tablished a meat and provision business which was conducted successfully until 1884. Since then he has been a dealer in real estate and lumber. He is a large owner of property in Keene and Marlborough. He has always taken a keen inter- est in military affairs. In 1877. when Company G, the city's first company, was formed in Keene, he was one of its original members, and he is now the only one remaining with a record of continuous service. In 1878 he was appointed Corporal, in 1879 Third Sergeant and Second Sergeant, and in 1880 First Sergeant. July 27. 1883, he became Second Lieutenant, and in December of the same year. First Lieutenant. July 24. 1884. he was elected Captain of the Company, which from 1884 to 1889 had the highest rank of any company in the state. August 1, 1889, he was commissioned Major of the Second Regiment, New Hampshire National Guards, of which he was Major five years. In August, 1891. Major Nims was detailed by the
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Governor to command the Battalion, to attend and represent the state at the dedication of the Ben- nington Battle Monument. He was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel August 31, 1894. Colonel Nims has received many compliments for guard
FRANCIS O. NIMS.
duty and efficiency in handling troops, and for the excellence of discipline of his command. In politics he is a Democrat. For five years as Over- scer of the Poor of the city of Keene, his adminis- tration was marked by judgment and economy. Hle married, in 1870, Ella L. Hall, daughter of Oliver and Marietta (Watkins) Hall of Walpole.
PIKE, ROBERT GORDON, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire, Dover, was born in Rollinsford, New Hampshire, July 28, 1851, son of Amos W. and Elizabeth M. (Chadbourne) Pike. On the paternal side he is descended from John Pike, an emigrant from England, who settled in Newbury, Massachusetts, in 1635. John Pike's great-great-grandson, the Reverend James Pike, preached his first sermon October 23, 1726, and in the following year began to preach to the people in that part of Dover, which in 1729 was set off to form the town of Somersworth. From the latter town, in 1849, was set off the town of Rollinsford, wherein the meeting-house in which he preached was situated. Ile was ordained as the first Pastor
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