USA > New Hampshire > New Hampshire as it is. In three parts. Part I. A historical sketch of New hampshire. Part II. A gazetter of New Hampshire. Part III. A general view of New Hampshire. Together with the constitution of the State > Part 37
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involved. This defeat, however, only served to arouse his latent energies, and, on the whole, was doubtless more beneficial to him than the most brilliant success would have been. That he was possessed largely of that firmness and perseverance which overcomes all obstacles, and welcomes disappointment in a worthy cause, as a noble incentive to vigorous and unwearied action, is evident in the reply to a friend who, fearing lest he might be discouraged, sought to raise his spirits with bright prospects in the future. "I do not need that," he answered; "I will try nine hun- dred and ninety-nine cases, if clients will continue to trust me, and, if I fail just as I have to-day, will try the thou- sandth. I shall live to argue cases in this court house in a manner that will mortify neither myself nor my friends." It was not, however, until after several years of toil that he attained a position of eminence at the bar. His progress was gradual, but sure. In 1829 he was chosen representa- tive to the state legislature from his native town. He was a member of that body four years, the two latter of which he was speaker of the house. He was endowed, in an eminent degree, with capacities adapted to the arduous du- ties and responsibilities of that station - courtesy, firmness, accuracy of judgment, clearness and quickness of percep- tion, that readily separated truth from error, and unravelled the complicated texture of long and exciting debate. His merit as a presiding officer was generally acknowledged. He was elected a member of Congress in 1833, at the age of 29 years - young indeed for the station, as he always has been for every public position which he has occupied. His congressional life, though destitute of brilliant but empty show, was full of labor and usefulness. He was a member of the judiciary and other important committees where the most valuable services are generally attended with the least
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display. He was ardently attached to President Jackson, and entered with zeal and ability into the support of the administration. He was a member of the House of Representatives four years. In 1837, when he scarce had attained the age required by law for such elevation, he was elected to the Senate of the United States. As the youngest member of that body, he took his seat among the greatest of American statesmen, orators, and scholars. Webster, Clay, Calhoun, Benton, Silas Wright, Woodbury, Buchanan, and Walker were his peers.
In that august body his counsels were characterized by so thorough a knowledge of human nature, by so much solid common sense, and by such devotion to democratic princi- ples, that, although the youngest of the senators, it was deemed important by the leaders of his party to submit their plans to his judgment. In 1842 he resigned his seat as senator for the quiet, but to him attractive scenes of private life, in the circle of his old friends and neighbors, and in the bosom of his home. In 1838 he removed from Hillsborough, and took up his residence in Concord, the capital of New Hampshire. On retiring from the Senate he returned to the practice of law, which soon became very extensive. As an advocate he was unrivaled. Courts listened to him with admiration, and juries hung with rap- ture upon his lips. The earnestness with which he en- gaged in the cause of his client, his complete success in making it his own, his honorable bearing, his ability to convince the hearer of his earnest desire to arrive at and establish the truth, are doubtless the secret of his power. His labor, also, in the preparation of his cases was unremit- ting.
In '1846 he was offered, by President Polk, the office of attorney general of the United States, which offer he re-
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spectfully declined, alleging, as the chief reason, his " fixed purpose never again to be voluntarily separated from his family for any considerable length of time, except at the call of his country in time of war." The existence of the Mexican war he regarded as such call, and at once laid aside his long-cherished plans of spending the remain- der of his life in a private station. He enrolled himself among the first in a company of volunteers raised in Con- cord, and went through the regular drill as a private. Soon after he received the appointment of colonel of the ninth regiment, and in March, 1847, was commissioned brigadier general in the army, his brigade being made up of regiments from the extreme north, the extreme west, and the extreme south of the Union. He was present at the battle of Contreras, and all those severe contests which preceded the entry of General Scott, with his victorious army, into the city of Mexico ; and although, in the battle of Contreras, he suffered a severe and painful injury by the falling of his horse, yet he acquitted himself with so much ability as to gain the full confidence of his distinguished leader and afterwards unsuccessful rival in the presidential campaign. After the battle of Churubusco, Santa Anna having sent a flag of truce with proposals for negotiating for peace, General Pierce was appointed, by the commander- in-chief, one of the commissioners to arrange the terms of the armistice. Among officers and soldiers he was re- spected and beloved for his humanity, his independence, firmness, and promptitude, and his readiness to encounter any danger, or submit to any exposure of life or sacrifice of personal comfort. After his return to his native state, in accordance with an act of the legislature, he was pre- sented with a valuable sword, as a testimonial of his valor and warlike conduct.
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In June, 1852, the Democratic National Convention met in Baltimore to select a candidate for the presidency, and continued its session during four days. Several gen- tlemen of known and distinguished ability were prominent before that body, and received the zealous and unflinching support of their respective friends. Thirty-five ballotings were held, and it now became certain that no one of those hitherto supported could receive the nomination. At the thirty-sixth ballot the name of General Franklin Pierce was first brought forward in that convention by the dele- gation from Virginia. At the forty-ninth ballot the votes for General Pierce were two hundred and eighty-two against eleven for all other candidates. In November fol- lowing he was elected to the highest office within the gift of the people by an overwhelming and unprecedented ma- jority. At the time of his election he was forty-eight years of age, lacking a few days, being younger than any of his predecessors. The news of his election was received throughout the country with unusual demonstrations of joy and satisfaction. And even among his political oppo- nents in New England, and especially in his native state, not a few were proud to acknowledge the distinguished elevation of one of New Hampshire's most favorite sons. The condition of things at home and abroad render it quite probable that his present term of office will be one of the most eventful and important of any that has yet transpired. It is but just to hope, that in the records of history, as well as in the estimation of posterity, his name may stand high among those of his illustrious predecessors, as well as of those who may come after him.
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JOHN STARK.
Major General John Stark was born in Londonderry, New Hampshire, August 28, 1728. His father was a na- tive of Glasgow, in Scotland, and removed to this country, it is believed, about the year 1719. In 1736 he settled in Derryfield, now Manchester. In 1752 young Stark, while on a hunting expedition, was captured by a party of St. Francis Indians, known also as the Abenaqui, and carried to Canada. . He was redeemed, by a friend in Boston, for the sum of one hundred and three dollars. To pay this he went on another hunting expedition on the Androscoggin. During the French and Indian war, he served in Rogers's company of rangers, and was appointed captain in 1756. Hearing the news of the battle of Lexington, he immediate- ly repaired to Cambridge, where he received a colonel's commission, and on the same day enlisted eight hundred inen. He fought bravely at the battle of Bunker Hill, his regiment forming a portion of the left of the American line - its only defence being a rail enclosure covered with hay.
He went to Canada in the spring of 1776, and in the attack at Trenton commanded the, van of the right wing. He was also in the battle of Princeton, where he exhibited that coolness and daring so peculiar to himself, and which never failed to inspire his men with indomitable courage. In March, 1777, he resigned his commission, and retired to his farm. This was owing to the fact, that, when prep- arations were making to form a new army in the Eastern States to resist the progress of Burgoyne, Congress had promoted several junior officers, while he was left out of the list. The aggravation of this neglect was greatly heightened by the degrading position in which he knew he
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must be placed in the eyes of his brother officers, as well as the soldiers. The main army had gone into winter quar- ters in Morristown, and while many of the officers were enjoying their ease, he returned to New Hampshire to pro- cure recruits ; and having filled his regiments, he returned to Exeter to await orders. Although he chose to be wholly divested of military authority rather than suffer the mortification of supersedure, he nevertheless determined not to desert his country in the hour of peril. He was active and popular, and the Assembly of New Hampshire regarded him as a pillar of strength in upholding the con- fidence and courage of the militia of the state. The As- sembly, notwithstanding the provisions of Congress, offered him the command of its own forces, which he accepted, and once more girded on his sword, and marched to the battle field, stipulating, however, that he should not be obliged to join the main army, but that he might hang upon the wing of the enemy on the borders of his state, strike when opportunity should offer, according to his own discretion, and be accountable to no one but the Assembly of New Hampshire. Joy pervaded the hearts of all when it was known that he had been appointed to the command. The militia cheerfully flocked to his standard, which was first raised at Charlestown, and then at Manchester, twenty miles north of Bennington. There he met General Lin- coln, who had been sent by General Schuyler to conduct him and his recruits to the Hudson. Stark positively re- fused to go, and exhibited the written terms upon which he had consented to enter the field in any capacity. His refusal was communicated to Congress, and that body re- solved that the instructions of the Assembly of New Hamp- shire were " destructive of military . subordination, and highly prejudicial to the common cause ; " and the Assembly
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was requested to " instruct General Stark to conform him- self to the same rules to which other general officers were subject whenever they were called out at the expense of the United States." The Assembly, however, and Gen- eral Stark, remained firm in the position they had taken ; and the sequel proved that what had been termed military insubordination was productive of great benefits to the country. General Stark was acting under no selfish mo- tives. He had been long experienced in the sudden and unlooked-for movements of frontier war ; he was perfectly familiar with the country ; he knew better than Congress possibly could what measures, under the circumstances, were most conducive to the public welfare ; and all his acts were regulated in strict accordance with such knowl- edge.
The battle of Bennington was fought on the 16th of August, 1777. During the day previous, the rain had fallen in torrents ; but at the dawn of this eventful day, the clouds dispersed, and all nature lay smiling in the warm sunlight of a fresh summer morning. Early in the morning both armies were in motion. General Stark had ' arranged a plan of attack, and, after carefully reconnoi- tring the enemy at the distance of a mile, proceeded to act upon it. A body of two hundred men, under Colonel Nichols, was sent forward to attack the enemy's left in the rear, while another detachment of three hundred, under Colonel Herrick, were directed to fall upon the rear of the right wing, and to effect a junction with Nichols before making a general attack. Another body was ordered to march towards the right front of the enemy, in order to draw the attention of Colonel Baum, the commander of the British forces, to that point. The action commenced at three o'clock in the afternoon, by Colonel Nichols, who
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marched up through a deep-wooded ravine, and fell vigor- ously upon the rear of the enemy's left, which consisted of a body of Hessians strongly intrenched. At the moment of the first firing from Nichols's detachment, the other por- tions of the American army advanced to the attack, and General Stark, who, with the main body, was awaiting the movement of Nichols, now threw himself upon his horse, and shouted to his men to advance. They at once pressed forward towards the hill, where a body of tories was in- trenched, and having gained its summit, the whole field of action was within their view. The heights were wreathed in the smoke of the cannon and musketry, and along the slopes and upon the plain the enemy was forming into battle order. It was at this moment that General Stark uttered that laconic speech, so familiar to all our readers. " See there, men," said he ; " there are the redcoats. Be- fore night they are ours, or Molly Stark must be a widow." These words brought forth a mighty shout of applause from the eager troop, which greatly disturbed and terrified the loyalists in their works below. The Americans displayed the most undaunted courage. With their rusty firelocks, scarce a bayonet, not a single piece of cannon, they ven- tured to attack five hundred well-trained regulars, fur- nished with two pieces of artillery, in an advantageous position, completely equipped, and aided by one hundred Indians. Scarce had the Americans gained the field before a reenforcement of the British arrived, and again the con- flict was renewed. But success followed the American arms. Seven hundred of the enemy were captured, among whom was Colonel Baum, their leader. Four pieces of brass cannon, two hundred and fifty dragoon swords, several hundred stand of arms, eight bass drums, and four ammu- nition wagons were taken. Two hundred and seven of the
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British were slain. Of our men, one hundred were killed, and about as many wounded. The horse of General Stark was killed under him, but himself was not injured. The total loss of the enemy, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, was nine hundred and thirty-four, including one hundred and fifty-seven tories.
This victory was hailed with joy throughout the country. It was an effectual check to the boasted progress of Bur- goyne, weakened his strong arm, and revived the spirits of the Americans. The conduct of General Stark was fully vindicated. He had earned the reputation of a wise, able, and successful commander. The voice of the country was loud in his favor, and even forced Congress to bestow upon him the honors which had heretofore been, at least, un- wisely withheld. On the 4th of October, a vote of thanks to him and his brave army was passed, and he was ap- pointed a brigadier general in the army of the United States. He also served in Rhode Island in 1778 and 1779, and in New Jersey in 1780. In 1781 he had the command of the northern division of the American army. In 1818 Congress voted him a pension of sixty dollars a month. He died May 8, 1822, aged ninety-three. He was buried in Manchester, and a costly monument now marks the place of his rest. He was a true patriot and a worthy citizen. When his country was out of danger, he sheathed his sword, and quietly retired to the private walks of life, refusing all public offices and employments ; thus teaching, by his example, that the spirit of patriotism and military greatness does not necessarily seek political eminence and renown.
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HORACE GREELEY .*
Horace Greeley was born in Amherst, New Hampshire, on the 3d day of February, 1811, and therefore is now about forty-four years of age. Like many Americans, he is of mixed descent. His father's ancestors were English, and his mother, whose maiden name was Mary Woodburn, was a descendant of a Scotch-Irish family, the head of which, John Woodburn, settled on a farm in Londonderry, New Hampshire, about A. D. 1720. The Scotch-Irish were descended from Scotch Presbyterians who had settled in Ireland, and were of that party which opposed James II., and vigorously defended the town of Derry against the Stuart forces during the civil commotions which attended the English revolution in 1788-9. The early days of Horace Greeley, like those of the great body of American children, were passed in toil. His father was poor, and could not afford " the luxury of idle children." The con- sequence was, that Horace enjoyed but very few advantages for education. After he had attained his seventh year, he was a constant laborer upon the not very productive farm of his father, attending the common school two or three , months of the year during the winter season. " As a stu- dent, he never saw the inside of any academy, seminary, or select school." But in spite of these disadvantages, young Greeley, when at the age of fifteen he entered a Ver- mont printing office, was probably far better fitted for the calling than most boys who have enjoyed the privileges of a regular education. By his own exertions he had sur- mounted difficulties which to many would have seemed insuperable. At the age of eleven he made application to
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be admitted, as an apprentice, in a printing office in White- hall, New York, but was refused on account of his youth, and lack of strength adequate to the position. Four years later he became an apprentice in the same business in Poultney, Vermont, where he remained until June, 1830, when the paper was discontinued. In August, 1831, then a few months short of his majority, young Greeley arrived in the city of New York, where, in the course of a few years, he was destined to play so important a part in the great drama of life, the closing scene of which is by no means yet enacted. Few who saw the raw and indigent youth, poor and coarsely clad, with but a few pence in his pocket, as he landed from a towboat at the foot of Broad Street, would have imagined that they were looking at one who was to control great parties and masses of men, over whose writings myriads of people were daily to pore, and whose opinions and suggestions were to be matters of the greatest consideration to presidents, cabinets, senators, authors, and all who aim at playing leading parts in the game of life. It is not often that fame and wealth have started from smaller or more humble beginnings.
For about eighteen months he worked as a journeyman printer in the city of New York. His labors were un- steady, for it was not his good fortune to find constant em- ployment. In the spring of 1833 he went into the printing business with another young printer named Storey. In a short time after Storey was drowned, and his place was supplied by a Mr. Winchester. The business, under this firm, was very successful. In 1834 Mr. Greeley added to the establishment a newspaper called the New Yorker. Though it commenced with only ten subscribers, it in time reached to a circulation of nine thousand. Mr. Gree- ley's political life may be said to have commenced in 1834,
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when the country was convulsed by the difficulties and embarrassments which grew out of the removal of the de- posits from the United States Bank. In the discussions of these all-absorbing topics, Mr. Greeley bore a prominent part ; and although himself a radical of the most decided stamp, yet his views were conservative on this as well as - until recently, at least - upon all political questions. When the great contest of 1840 was opened, Mr. Greeley was found among the foremost in the formidable phalanx of whig laborers.
To a weekly paper, the publication of which he com- menced in New York, he gave the name of the Log Cabin. Considering all the elements which entered into the spirit of this contest on either side, no better name for a " cam- paign paper" could have been devised. It had an im- mense circulation, and its influence was almost unbounded. In the spring of 1841, just as the whig party had estab- lished their leader in the chair of state, Mr. Greeley resolved to commence the publication of a cheap daily journal in New York city. The first number of this paper, styled the New York Tribune, was issued on the 10th of April, 1841 - by a singular coincidence, the very day which was observed as one of public mourning in New York on account of the death of President Harrison. From that time to this the circulation of this paper has been immense, so that it now justly stands as one of the leading journals of the world. In 1848 Mr. Greeley was an ardent sup- porter of Henry Clay for the presidential nomination, and came into the support of General Taylor, who received that nomination, with a good deal of reluctance. In the autumn of that year he was chosen a representative to Con- gress, to fill a vacancy which had occurred in the district of which he was a resident. His efforts at reform, especially
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on the mileage question, were too direct and earnest to se- cure to him great popularity, insomuch as legislators are generally conservative upon all questions of retrenchment.
In social matters Mr. Greeley is thoroughly radical, and subscribes to some of the views of the celebrated Charles Fourier, respecting the division of labor, &c. The great moral reforms of the day have found in him a sincere and zealous advocate ; and it would not, indeed, be surprising if, at times, his zeal should overpower his discretion - a failing common to men who to honesty of purpose unite warmth of head and heart. The amount of labor which he performs from week to week is almost incalculable, as will readily appear to any who knows any thing of the New York Tribune - to say nothing of the large portion of his time taken up in lecturing in various parts of the country, in attending great political meetings, &c. To pass a final judgment upon his peculiar views or writings at the pres- ent time, when great and unforeseen changes are the fixed law of social existence, would be as unfair as to submit a case to the jury without giving the defendant an oppor- tunity to state the grounds of his defence. To judge of this man correctly, his mission must have been fully closed, his pen must have written its last word, and the immortal must have separated from its mortal habitation.
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JOHN P. HALE .*
John P. Hale was born in Rochester, New Hampshire, on the 31st day of March, 1806. His father bore the same Christian name, but was born in Portsmouth, Rock- ingham county, just previous to the declaration of inde-
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pendence. He held a lieutenant's commission in the army, at the hands of General Washington. The middle name, Parker, came from his father's maternal progenitors. His mother was Lydia Clarkson O'Brien, only child of William O'Brien, an immigrant Irishman, who died a prisoner of war at the early age of twenty-three. He was of the heroic stock from which sprang William Smith O'Brien. William O'Brien and his brother will be found honorably mentioned in Cooper's Naval History, as performing a daring feat of volunteer heroism in the capture of a British vessel, which had seized a lot of lumber at Machias, Maine, and which it was carrying off without leave or license. In 1834 the subject of our sketch was united in marriage with Lucy H. Lambert, by whom he has two living chil- dren, both daughters.
John P. Hale, the father, was a lawyer. He died at Rochester, in the height of his professional usefulness, at the early age of forty-four. Fortunately, the mother of our subject survived her husband, and was permitted to watch over and direct the development of her son, until she had the pleasure of not only seeing him enter successfully upon a career of professional usefulness, but also into political life, under circumstances well calculated to gratify maternal ambition, as the subsequent facts of our sketch will indi- cate. She died in 1832, at the age of fifty-two years.
Mr. Hale's primary education was partly obtained at the common schools of New England - those nurseries of a natural democracy, in which the children of the rich, from reading the same lesson from the same book, seated side by side in the same unostentatious school room, come to regard the children of the poor as the equals they really are in a common fatherhood, and to retain that regard in after years.
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