USA > New Hampshire > New Hampshire men. A collection of biographical sketches, with portraits, of sons and residents of the state who have become known in commercial, professional, and political life > Part 14
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MAJ. GEORGE RUSSELL LEAVITT.
M AJ. GEORGE RUSSELL LEAVITT, of Laconia, was born in that town November 30, 1857, the son of Almon Curtis and Mary Freeman (Russell) Leavitt. He was educated in the public schools of his native city, at the New Hampshire Conference seminary and Female college at Tilton, and at the Gaskell commercial college at Manchester. For sixteen years to 1890 he was employed by the Boston, Concord & Montreal railroad as telegraph and ticket agent at Laconia, and in the latter year he embarked in the wood, coal, and lumber business at Laconia, and is still engaged in that pursuit. Major Leavitt has been for many years an enthusiast in military affairs, and since 1878 has been connected with the New Hampshire National Guard, enlisting first as a private in Company K of the Third regiment. In 1880 he became quartermaster-sergeant and was afterward promoted to be paymaster. In 1889 he was made brigade quartermaster, and in 1893 was promoted to be assistant inspector-general with the rank of major. In the latter year he was chosen engrossing clerk of the house of representatives, and in that position made a record for speed and accuracy which no incumbent of the office of late years has even ap- proached. Major Leavitt is one of the active young men in an active young city. He counts each acquaintance as a friend, made so by his unaffected good nature and his generous impulses.
175
HON. EVERETT FLETCHER.
E VERETT FLETCHER, son of Hiram Adams Fletcher, for forty-five years a prominent member of the Coös bar, and Persis Everett Hunking, daughter of Dr. Benjamin Hunking, and grand- daugter of Hon. Richard C. Everett, was born in Colebrook, Decem- ber 23, 1848. He obtained his education at the Lancaster academy, and at the University of Michigan ; read law with Fletcher & Heywood, at Lancaster, and was admitted to the bar November 18, 1870. He established himself in practice at Lancaster, and June 11, 1873, formed a partnership with his father under the firm name of Fletcher & Fletcher. This connection continued four years, when the firm of Ladd & Fletcher was formed, his partner being the Hon. William S. Ladd, who at that time had retired from the supreme bench. This partnership continued until the death of Judge Ladd in 1891, the firm name, however, being renewed by the admission of Fletcher Ladd, Judge Ladd's son, to partnership. Immediately upon his admission to the bar Judge Fletcher obtained a large practice, which has continued to the present day. In 1883 he was appointed judge-advocate-general, with the rank of brigadier-general, upon the staff of Governor Hale, and served two years. In 1885 he was appointed judge of probate for Coos county, and still holds the office. In politics he is a Republican, and has served efficiently as a member of the Republican state com- mittee. He is one of the best read lawyers in New Hampshire, a man of sound judgment, untiring industry, and unquestioned integrity. When the last vacancy occurred in the supreme court, his name was prominently mentioned in connection with the position, and had the appointment gone to the northern section of the state he would un- doubtedly have received it. He has filled the important office of judge of probate, to the universal satisfaction of the bar and public. Only one of his decisions has been carried to the supreme court on appeal. and in that instance his views of the law were sustained by that tribunal.
176
HON. JACOB D. YOUNG.
TACOB D. YOUNG of Madbury was born in Barrington, Decem- ber 28, 1823, and was the son of Aaron and Lydia (Daniels ) Young. He received his education in the common schools of his native town and at Durham academy. After completing his education he taught school several years in the towns of Barrington, Strafford, Dover, and Madbury. At the early age of twenty-two he was chosen superintendent of schools of Barrington, and subsequently was elected for several years selectman and town treasurer. He represented the town in the legislature three sessions. He was twice elected county treasurer for Strafford county. In 1868 he moved to Madbury, where he served the town as selectman and town treasurer four years, and in 1888 was chosen a delegate to revise the constitution. In 1876 he was appointed judge of probate for Strafford county by Governor Cheney, which office he still continues to hold. He was a delegate to the first Republican state convention, and has always been a firm believer in the principles of that party, serving fifteen years on the state committee. Judge Young, previous to his appointment to judge of probate, did a large share of the probate business in his section of the county. He has, through his long term of service as judge, undoubtedly gained a larger circle of acquaintances than any other man in Strafford county, and he enjoys the confidence of the entire community.
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ELIPHALET S. NUTTER.
E LIPHALET SIMES NUTTER, the second son of Eliphalet and Lovey (Locke) Nutter, was born in Barnstead, Belknap county, N. H., November 26, 1819, and is a grandson of Major John Nutter, who in the War of the Revolution served in the regiment of Colonel Reid. The subject of this sketch passed his boyhood days on the farm of his father, in the town of Barnstead, where he acquired those habits of industry and thrift, which he has so fully exemplified throughout the period leading up to manhood's ripe fullness of years. His life represents one continuous chain of successful application. In 1839 we find him captain in the state militia, then proprietor of a country store in 1844, and postmaster from 1847 to 1855, upon which date he removed to Concord, the capital of his native state, where he established a home and residence, which has been maintained to date (1893), yet during that period he has engaged in business in New York city and Boston, also in Lawrence, Mass. Mr. Nutter was pres- ident of the New Hampshire Central railroad, also of the Franconia Iron company, a large owner in the Atlantic & Pacific Railway Tunnel, at Denver, Col., and is also president of the National Railway & Street Rolling-stock company. Mr. Nutter has found opportunity, even amid the cares of his busy life, to closely identify himself with many patriotic deeds, thereby keeping in touch with the public, one of which was the erection of a monument to commemorate Hannah Dustin and her rescue from cruel captivity, which now stands upon that historic island near the mouth of the Contoocook river. His gen- erous and untiring exertion was a prominent and most essential contri- bution. In 1845 Mr. Nutter married Sylvania M. Blanchard, of Lowell, Mass., and now at their charming home in Concord, they enjoy the fruitful accumulation of a successful life, whose measure of pros- perity is but the honorable reward of sagacious, earnest, and persever- ing activity.
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JAMES F. FELLOWS.
T HE high sheriff of Merrimack county, James F. Fellows, was born in Salisbury, September 26, 1855, and bears his father's name. He attained his education in the town schools of Henniker and at Henniker academy, and at a commercial college in Boston, beginning life as a lumber-man in Andover, gradually extending his business in that line until it now covers Merrimack, Sullivan, and Grafton counties, numbering his enterprises by the score. Mr. Fellows early in his life came into prominence by reason of his alert temperament. His quick discernment, schooled each day by added experience, enabled him to grasp opportunities that had lain unused for years in the path of other men, and he has succeeded in demonstrating, in the face of seeming difficulties, that New Hampshire yet bristles with opportunities for the sagacious and industrious man. This success in business life attracted the attention and the admiration of his townsmen, and though residing in a sterling Democratic community Mr. Fellows has been repeatedly chosen to be selectman of Andover, a testimonial to his worth and efficiency the more highly valued because of its source. Into the larger field of politics Mr. Fellows came in 1892, when he was nominated by acclamation to be the Republican candidate for sheriff of Merrimack county. Entering upon the canvass with the same spirit that had animated his business course, Mr. Fellows conducted a remarkable cam- paign, and though his opponent was strongly entrenched in the position and was supported by the patronage of the office, Mr. Fellows was enabled to win by a minute organization of his forces and a careful attention to the detail work of the campaign, born from the fidelity with which he had attended to his private business. Mr. Fellows by reason of this success has become a man of mark in politics, though he was before prominent in the business world. Yet he will not allow the allurements of the one to draw him from the more substantial rewards of the other.
179
JOHN TILLOTSON AMEY.
JOHN TILLOTSON AMEY was born in Pittsburg, October 16, 1858, and bears the same name as his father. His mother was
Emily Haynes. His educational advantages were limited to the schools of Pittsburg, which he attended in winter, and worked on a farm summers. He followed that line of study and industry until 1873, and in that year became engaged in lumbering operations in northern New Hampshire and Vermont, and up to 1885 was con- nected with the Hilliards, Weekses, Beatties, and other large operators in the business in that section. From 1885 to 1890 he was manager for the Turner Falls Lumber company, and assumed the personal superintendency of their extensive lumber business in New Hampshire, including large drives of logs driven down the Connecticut, and the running of their mills at Stratford. It was as a representative from that town that he came to the legislature of 1889, in which he was an active and useful member, both in general routine work and debate. Mr. Amey retired from the lumber business in 1890, and opened a general insurance office in Lancaster, where he has since that time made his home. His removal from Stratford to Lancaster did not debar him from activity in political circles, however, and in November, 1892, he was elected high sheriff of Coos county, and assumed the duties of the office April 1. Mr. Amey is a bright, keen business man and a sharp, shrewd politician. While with few early advantages he has fought his way along in all the various occupations of his life, he has found in each something to carry him forward ; each task undertaken has been an incentive to another.
180
ED COFFIN.
N O public official in this state is more widely known or more uni- versally popular than Ed Coffin, high sheriff of Rockingham county. He was born in Portsmouth, March 31, 1831, the son of James and Nancy (Scriggins) Coffin. He was educated in the public schools of his native city, graduating from the high school during the principalship of Prof. Israel Kimball. When he was thirteen years of age he began to work at printing, and continued until, as he says, he " took an impression on the third finger of his left hand," when he concluded that he had had enough of the art preservative of all arts. He then went to Boston and learned there the trade of a painter, a business which he afterwards carried on with great success for more than twenty years at Portsmouth. Mr. Coffin served on the board of aldermen of the city by the sea for two terms ; was a member of the state legislature for two terms ; and is now serving his fourth term as sheriff of Rockingham county. As indicating his potency as a political factor, and his wide-spread popularity, it may be said that Mr. Coffin is at present the only Democrat upon the long list of Rock- ingham county officials. He was a member of a cavalry regiment in the New Hampshire National Guard from the formation of the brigade until 1883. and in 1878 was promoted from first lieutenant to captain of a company. Whole-souled, hearty, and honest, Mr. Coffin makes many friends and keeps them. His eminent qualifications for the place he now holds he has proved on many trying occasions.
181
HON. DANIEL HALL.
PRUNG from generations of sturdy pioneers, Hon. Daniel Hall was born in Barrington, February 28, 1832. His youth was spent upon the farm with brief intervals for schooling. He fitted himself for college and was graduated from Dartmouth in 1854 at the head of his class. In the fall of that year he entered the public service, as a clerk in the New York custom house, a post from which he was removed in 1858 because of his outspoken avowal of a change in political beliefs. He then studied law in Dover, and served as school commissioner for Strafford county. He was admitted to the bar in 1860. In 1861 he became private secretary to John P. Hale, but resigned to enter the army, receiving a captain's commission in March, 1862. Colonel Hall's army record is a bright one. Assigned to staff duty he served with distinction, particularly in the engagements at Fredericksburg, Chan- cellorsville, and Gettysburg. Failing health compelled his retirement from the field, and he served as provost marshal of New Hampshire until October, 1865. Then he returned to his profession. In 1866 he was appointed clerk of the supreme court for Strafford county, and in 1 868 he became judge of the Dover police court. In 1874, however, he was removed from these positions by a Democratic legislature. In 1876 and 1877 he was state law reporter, producing volumes 56 and 57 of the N. H. Reports. In 1877 he was appointed naval officer at the port of Boston, and was reappointed in 1881. Colonel Hall has always been prominent in Grand Army circles, and " passed the chairs " in that organization in 1892. A man of rare ability, he has often ap- peared as a public speaker, the most notable of his productions being the oration at the dedication of the Hale statue, in August, 1892, which was a most finished, logical, and eloquent review of the great statesman's life and work. In it, rather than in this meagre outline, Colonel Hall finds characterization as a ripe student and rigid reasoner.
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HON. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN NEALLEY.
B ENJAMIN FRANKLIN NEALLEY was born in South Berwick.
Me., October 24, 1839, the son of Benjamin Mason Nealley and Abbie Pray. He was educated in the common schools of his native town, and at South Berwick academy, and at the age of nineteen re- moved to Dover, where he engaged in the dry goods business, follow- ing it with marked success until 1893, when he retired from active par- ticipation in business life. In the city of Dover Mr. Nealley has become identified with many of its most prominent enterprises, having been a director in the Dover National Bank, and a trustee of the Straf- ford Savings Bank. In 1878 he assisted in the organization of the Dover Navigation company, and has been its secretary and treasurer since its incorporation. Mr. Nealley has been prominent in Masonic circles, being in 1886 and 1887 Worshipful Master of Strafford lodge. He is a member of Orphim Council and St. Paul's Commandery Knights Templar. In 1883 Mr. Nealley was a representative in the legislature from Ward 4, Dover, and in 1887 was elected to the state senate from the Twenty-third district. In 1889 and 1890 he was mayor of the city of Dover, and in 1890 and 1891 served as chairman of the City Hall Building committee, under whose direction Dover's magnificent municipal building was erected. By religion Mr. Nealley is a Congregationalist, and is a member of the First Parish Church. In all the years of his residence in Dover, Mr. Nealley has been follow- ed by the continuous favor of his fellow-citizens, who have repeatedly placed him in positions of trust and have frequently elevated him to places of honor and responsibility. In whatever position he may have been placed. as a business man, as a financier, as chief magistrate of a city, or as legislator, Mr. Nealley has had but one purpose, faithful, con- scientious performance of his duty to his constituents. In his hands their views and wishes have found a faithful exponent, a valuable cham- pion.
183
HON. STILLMAN HUMPHREY.
F ROM Croydon, the birthplace of so many good men, Hon. Still- man Humphrey came to Concord. He was born November 15, 1833, son of John and Charity (Darling) Humphrey, and was educated in the common schools of Croydon and Marlow academy. For a short time he was a school teacher, and in 1852 he came to West Concord and worked for one year in a kit factory. For three years he was clerk in a store at West Concord, and in 1856 he removed to the city proper, where he engaged as clerk in a hardware store with the late Col. David A. Warde. For two years he remained in that position, and since then has been in business for himself in the same store. This firm has passed through several changes of name, yet Mr. Humphrey has always retained his connection with it and his name has led the rest. Since the death of Mr. Warde in 1874, Mr. Humphrey has been frequently honored by calls to positions of high official responsibility, and has served his ward in the legislature, in the common council, and the board of aldermen. He was mayor of Concord for two years, from 1889 to 1891, and for thirty-three years has been clerk of Union school-district. In 1882 he was elected a member of the state board of railroad com- missioners, and in 1893, upon the formation of the board, he was ap- pointed police commissioner for the city of Concord. Mr. Humphrey is also president of the Centennial Home for the Aged, and is vice-pres- ident of the Concord Commercial Club. Mr. Humphrey is one of the best known of Concord's residents. He is a man who has worked his way upward gradually and always meritoriously. He is a man of gen- erous instincts, kindly, sympathetic, genial. He bears an honored name and has added to its honor by his own efforts.
184
HON. HENRY W. CLAPP.
H ON. HENRY W. [CLAPP passed the first eighteen years of his life in Massachusetts, having been born in the town of Easton, in that state. Ile then came to Nashua, where for fourteen years he was engaged in the foundry business. More than thirty years ago he removed to Concord, where he has since resided. His first charge in Concord was the old Cooper foundry, at that time a broken-down concern, but under his management it became a remuner- ative piece of property for its owners, Messrs. Ford & Kimball. with whom he remained until 1882, when he began business for himself under the firm name of H. W. Clapp & Co., and erected a foundry on Chandler street. No insignificant factor in Mr. Clapp's success in busi- ness life has been his ingenuity, as a large part of the output of his firm has been the various devices of which he is the patentee-the well known Clapp grates, sewer castings, and fountains. In 1879 Mr. Clapp held his first public office as an alderman from Ward 6, Concord. In 1880, and again in 1881 he held the same position. and in 1885 the same constituency had him for their representative in the legislature. In 1890 he was the Republican candidate for mayor of Concord and was elected, serving during the years 1891 and 1892. Mayor Clapp's administration was a busy, useful, and productive one for the city. No mayor, during a single term of office, has seen the beginning and completion of more important public enterprises than he. Under his chief magistracy was witnessed the dedication of that noble benefac- tion, the Margaret Pillsbury General Hospital : the erection and dedi- cation of the soldiers' memorial arch that stands at the entrance to the state-house park ; the beginning, the completion, and the use of the present efficient high-pressure water service: the building of the new lower bridge ; the purchase of land for the state library park : the acceptance of Rollins park as a gift to the city : and a large extension of the sewerage system.
185
HON. PARSONS B. COGSWELL.
P ARSONS BRAINARD COGSWELL was born at Henniker, January 22, 1828, the son of David Cogswell and Hannah Has- kell. His boyhood was spent upon the farm and his education was obtained in the common schools, supplemented by an occasional term in the academy and a short attendance at the Clinton Grove school. In the fall of 1847 he entered the office of the Independent Democrat in Concord, remaining there until the spring of 1849, when he began a three years service in the office of the New Hampshire Patriot. From 1852 to 1854 he was employed at his trade, and in March of the latter year formed a partnership with A. G. Jones, as a book and job printer, afterward conducting the business alone until February 1, 1864. May 23, 1864, in company with George H. Sturtevant, he established the Concord Daily Monitor, the first permanent daily paper published in Concord, which was afterward consolidated with the Independent Dem- ocrat and New Hampshire Statesman, and is now published by the Republican Press Association. From the establishment of the Monitor Mr. Cogswell has been connected with the paper, as local, associate, and managing editor and editorial writer, wielding a vigorous editorial pen, yet contributing with grace and vivacity to all the departments of the journal. In 1858 he was elected a member of the school commit- tee of Union school-district, and in 1859, upon the reorganization, became member of the board of education and has been continuously a member of the board ever since, serving as president for several years and for eighteen years as financial agent. In 1872 and 1873 he was a representative in the legislature. From 1881 to 1885 he was public printer, has been an auditor of state printer's accounts, and was one of the board of trustees of the state library at the time that institution began its later development. He is a member of the New Hamp- shire Historical society, and was for four years its secretary.
186
HON. E. J. KNOWLTON.
F OR twenty years Hon. E. J. Knowlton has waged for himself the battle of life, counting among his honors at thirty-six triumphs that others have achieved only by a life-time of exertion. Mr. Knowl- ton was born in Sutton, August 8, 1856, the oldest of eight children. In 1873 he went to Manchester and entered the office of the Manchester Union as a printer. passing thence to a reporter's desk and rising to be city editor whence he was called to another field of activity in Feb- ruary, 1890, to become secretary of the board of trade. In this posi- tion he displayed a marvellous grasp of affairs, a remarkable analytic scope of execution, followed by phenomenal results. So prominently indeed did his work call him to public attention, that in the fall of the same year he was called by the Democratic party, to which he had always given his allegiance, to become its standard-bearer in the approaching mayoralty contest. This call was too unanimous to be disregarded. and he accepted the duty implied by the nomination. So faithfully was this duty done that he was triumphantly elected in a city overwhelm- ingly Republican and his first term was followed by a renomination and a reelection. As chief magistrate of the Queen city Mayor Knowl- ton has shown himself unspoiled by place. For him public or private position had but one watchword-duty. And this has been the main- spring of his life. By absolute fidelity he won his successes, aided not a little by a personal popularity engendered by that noblest of attributes -a frank and genial honesty. It is perhaps out of place to speak here of possibilities, yet Mayor Knowlton is a marked man. With the
golden years before him and a stainless record behind, he has won the right to press forward and upward. The fond hopes of his friends centre about him too persistently to be disregarded, and he may look eager-eyed into the future, assured that it can hold for him higher place and great power no worthier tribute to his ability than that already written down in the hearts of those who know him best.
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HON. FRANKLIN N. CHASE.
H ON. FRANKLIN N. CHASE was born in Andover, Massa- chusetts, November 16, 1865, the son of Seth Chase and Mary Spellman. He was educated in the public schools of his native town and in the Carney Commercial college of Lawrence, Massachusetts, be- ginning life in 1880 as a telegraph operator and serving in that capacity for two years. From 1883 to 1885 he was a station agent, and in the latter year became manager for the Baltimore & Ohio Telegraph com- pany at Haverhill, Massachusetts. In 1886 he came to Great Falls as ticket agent of the Boston & Maine railroad, and in 1891 was promoted to be New England passenger agent for the same corporation. In 1892 he received another promotion to be assistant general passenger and ticket agent of the road. In 1889 and 1890 he was treasurer of the town of Somersworth, and from the same town was sent to the legislature in 1891 and 1893. When the town of Somersworth was incorporated as a city Mr. Chase was made the candidate of the Dem- ocratic party for its first mayor and was elected, being not only the first mayor of the youngest city of the state, but one of the youngest of mayors in any city of the state. Mr. Chase has won his present posi- tion in the business and political world by steady, sturdy application to work. Promotion has come to him in the line of his chosen career by reason of his merit, and his popularity has advanced him along the political path. He has been called upon to fill important positions for one so young, and he has acquitted himself with credit at each advance.
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