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 16
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PROF. HENRI G. BLAISDELL.
W THEREVER in New Hampshire or New England good music is loved and appreciated, the name of Henri G. Blaisdell is well- known and honored. From earliest youth he has been an ardent wor- shipper at the shrine of melody, and the ability and experience of maturity are now consistently and successfully devoted to raising the standard of musical taste in this part of the country. Mr. Blaisdell was born in Dorchester, October 23, 1849. His musical talents were evident from a remarkably early age, and when nine years old he became the delighted possessor of a violin. Since he was twelve he has devoted his entire life to the cause of music, and boasts to-day a record along this line unequalled by few New Englanders and certainly by none in New Hampshire. The orchestra which bears his name ranks among the finest in America, and its services are in demand throughout a widely extended territory. As a conductor, Mr. Blaisdell's merit and success are unquestioned, and many of the principal musical festivals of New England furnish the best of testimonials to that effect. The high repu- tation achieved by the Concord Choral Union is in a large measure due to his efforts, while the annual meetings of the New Hampshire Music Teachers' association at The Weirs owe no small measure of their suc- cess to his unremitting energy as conductor. He has been for many years choir master of St. Paul's Episcopal church, Concord. Mr. Blais- dell is a writer as well as a musician, and some of his contributions to the periodical press are models of trenchant style and vigorous diction. As musical editor of the Granite Monthly, Mr. Blaisdell has made his department both interesting and valuable.
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GEORGE LAWRENCE BROWN.
G EORGE LAWRENCE BROWN was born in Dunbarton, May Ray.
Y 29, 1852, and is the son of James H. Brown and Nancy Chase He was educated in the common schools of his native town and New London, also taking a course at Colby academy, the "alma mater " of so many of the successful business men of New England. At the age of eighteen Mr. Brown came to Concord, where he entered the employ of C. H. Martin & Co., wholesale druggists, and became thoroughly familiar with every branch of the business. In 1878, so marked had become his proficiency and so great his aptitude, he was admitted to the firm, the name, however, continuing the same as before, and this relation he still maintains. Mr. Brown has felt the cares of an increasing business, yet he has found time on one occasion to serve his party by accepting an election to the house of representa- tives in 1881, where as a member from Sutton he was one of the most prominent members of the minority on the floor of the house. In bus- iness life Mr. Brown is one of the most careful of men, his calm, con- siderate judgment, fortified by his accurate knowledge of the details and necessities of his business, making him a power in the mercan- tile world, and the wide advance of his firm's trade over all sections of the state has been due in no small measure to his foresight and energy. In private life Mr. Brown is highly esteemed. He is a member of the Baptist church, and has won the respect of all those who admire ster- ling worth wherever displayed, and who especially admire the success that attends the exertion of natural integrity and acquired ability.
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HEMAN FISHER ELDRIDGE.
H EMAN FISHER ELDREDGE was born in Chatham, Mass .. April 13, 1852, the son of Heman and Mary (Harding) Eldredge. He was educated in the schools of Chatham, and of Ports- mouth, to which city his parents removed during his childhood. He early became connected with the well known Eldredge Brewing com- pany, in which his father, and his brother, Hon. Marcellus Eldredge, were large owners, and he has now become the sole owner of the stock of this corporation, and is its president, treasurer, and manager, and devotes all his time to its vast business. Mr. Eldredge has no desire to hold office, and though he has been repeatedly urged to allow his friends to elect him senator from his district, and mayor of his city, he has firmly refused to allow his name to be used. Against his wishes he was elected to the legislature from his ward, in 1889, and made a creditable record. He is connected with many enterprises of a public nature, in Portsmouth and elsewhere, is a director of the New Hampshire National bank and the Portsmouth Gas-Light company, in both of which he takes a deep interest. He is a man of genial manner, of unaffected gen- erosity, and deserving of the many friends which he has all over New England.
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GEORGE A. LEIGHTON.
EORGE A. LEIGHTON was born in Manchester, March 23, T1845, and is the son of Alexander and Lydia Leighton. At the age of six he removed with his parents to Concord, where he attended the public schools until the age of fourteen. Then he went to work on a farm, and remained there until his eighteenth birthday, when he returned to Manchester and entered the Amoskeag Machine shop to learn the trade of a machinist. Here he remained for several years. He enlisted in the army of the United States in 1863, and was hon- orably discharged the same year. He was appointed foreman for the Forsaith Machine company in 1867, and remained with them three years. A number of important patents were granted him in 1881, and he established the business of the manufacture of knitting-machines the following year. In February, 1887, he established the Everett Knitting-Works, since removed to Lebanon, and became president of the corporation, a position that he resigned in August, 1892. and is now engaged in the manufacture of knitting machinery, the product of his shops being largely machines of his own invention or development, and sold throughout America. In May, 1890, he purchased the Kelley's Falls property at Manchester, and organized the electric company, of which he became the treasurer, still retaining that position. He is a member of Louis Bell post and of the Amoskeag Veterans. A man of Mr. Leighton's activity can but turn his attention to public affairs, and though increasing business cares forbade, he accepted a seat in the state legislature, and served through the memorable session of 1887, since then declining public office in justice to increasing business responsi- bilities. As a business man, Mr. Leighton has displayed marked enter- prise and sagacity. The projects with which he has been connected have always been advanced under his direction. He is thoroughly abreast of the times, and has sought for the exercise of his endowed ability, fields of activity demanding special study and attention.
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HON. ROBERT M. WALLACE.
R OBERT M. WALLACE, associate justice of the supreme court of New Hampshire, was born in Henniker, May 2, 1847, the son of Jonas Wallace and Mary Darling. He was fitted for college at Hen- niker academy, and graduated from Dartmouth with the class of 1867. He studied law with the Hon. Mason W. Tappan, late attorney-gen- eral of New Hampshire, and in January, 1872, commenced the practice of his profession at Milford, as the partner of Hon. Bainbridge Wad- leigh, and has made his home in Milford since that time. In 1877, and the year following, he represented Milford in the house of representa- tives, and in 1889 was a member of the constitutional convention. In 1883 he first took office as solicitor of Hillsborough county, and by repeated re-elections held that position until April of the present year. Mr. Wallace's practice, aside from that entailed by his official duties, was extensive, and at the time of his appointment to the bench he maintained an office in Nashua in addition to the one so long es- tablished at Milford. In February of the present year he was appointed judge-advocate-general on the staff of Governor Smith, and in the fol- lowing April received the appointment of associate justice. He has been prominent among the alumni of Dartmouth College, especially in the new movement for alumni representation upon the board of trustees, and was one of the candidates for alumni trustee selected for the first balloting, and received a handsome support. As a private practitioner, no less than as a public prosecutor, Mr. Wallace met with great success. His legal acquirements are broad and flexible. As a prosecutor he has been zealous for the state, yet tempering his zeal with mercy, and has won marked success in this branch of professional pursuits. He ex- celled as an advocate as well as an examiner. Diligent preparation ren- dered him an effective opponent. and a ready mastery of the law, obtain- ed by deep study and minute retention, added to his legal equipment.
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HON. EDGAR ALDRICH.
C NE of the most commendable features of the administration of President Harrison was the excellence of his judicial appoint- ments. Upon the decease of Judge Daniel Clark, it became his duty to select a successor from the bar of this state. The singular unanimity of the members of the bar in recommending Hon. Edgar Aldrich of Littleton opened the way for a most satisfactory exercise of the appoint- ing power. With but two years of service in his high office, Judge Aldrich has developed an exceptional aptitude for its duties. So plainly has this been impressed upon his associates in the United States courts for the Eastern circuit, and so welcome to the bench of the cir- cuit and district courts of other states has he become, that the fact that he is nominally the district judge in the comparatively limited juris- diction of New Hampshire, is obscured by the abundance of his labors in the midst of the most important litigation that finds what may be termed the legal " storm centre " in the United States courts in Boston. He is a native of Pittsburgh, born February 5, 1848, the son of Ephraim C. and Adeline B. (Haynes) Aldrich. At an early age he had acquired an academic education, principally at the Colebrook academy, and entered upon the study of law with Ira A. Ramsey at Colebrook. He was a student and graduate of the law department of the University of Michigan, and was admitted to the bar at Colebrook at the August term, 1868. He remained in practice at that place until January, 1881, when he located at Littleton, which has since been his residence. He was solicitor of Coos county from October 10, 1872, to June 4, 1879, with the exception of an interim from 1874 to 1876, and representative from Littleton, and speaker of the house in 1885. Among his notable arguments before the law courts was that in the Olcott Falls case, involving the constitutional right of trial by jury in equity cases. He was nominated to be judge of the district court February 16, 1891, and confirmed February 20.
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HON. JAMES WALDRON REMICK.
H ON. JAMES WALDRON REMICK, already one of the most prominent of New Hampshire lawyers, was born at Hardwick, Vt., October 30, 1860, and attended the common schools. When nineteen years of age he began the study of law under the tuition of B. F. Chapman, at Clockville, N. Y., later pursuing his studies in the office of Aldrich & Parsons at Colebrook, and Bingham & Aldrich at Littleton. He attended lectures at the Law school of the University of Michigan, and was admitted to the bar in 1882 following his gradua- tion from the Law school. For two years he practised at Colebrook, and was subsequently in the office of Aldrich & Remick at Littleton. In 1885 he formed a partnership with Hon. Ossian Ray, of Lancaster, taking charge of an office for the firm in Littleton. In 1890 Mr. Remick was appointed United States district attorney for New Hamp- shire, the youngest man ever to hold the position, though by no means the least able. In the brief decade since Mr. Remick came to the bar he has shown himself to be a diligent student, a faithful counsellor, and an eloquent advocate. A man of literary tastes, he has gratified his inclinations with wide reading, and has varied the monotony of legal pursuits by frequent appearance upon the lecture platform. where he has won an enviable reputation. Upon the stump in succeeding campaigns Mr. Remick has been invaluable to his party, his youthful enthusiasm, his rare eloquence, and his brilliant presentation of the claims of his party, making for him a reputation second to that of no political orator in New Hampshire. As district attorney Mr. Remick has faithfully applied himself to the duties of his office, and has been a painstaking officer of justice, seeking single-minded to do his duty. As an earnest advocate of all the principles of right living Mr. Remick has been of great service in the field of social reform, giving freely of his time and labor to advance the interests of the community in this regard.
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HON, WILLIAM L. FOSTER.
W ILLIAM LAWRENCE FOSTER was born at Westminster, Vt., June 1, 1823. His great grandfather, Abraham, was a soldier of the Revolution, participating in the Battle of Bunker Hill. His grandfather, while a freshman at Yale college, joined the minute men of Reading, Mass., and fought at Lexington. His father removed to Fitzwilliam, and thence to Keene, dying in 1854. When about seventeen years of age he commenced the study of law with Levi Chamberlain, and in 1844 and 1845 attended the Harvard law school. In the latter year he was admitted to the bar in Keene, and practised in partnership with John J. Baxter, and afterward with Mr. Chamberlain. From 1845 to 1849 he was postmaster at Keene, from 1849 to 1853 he was clerk of the New Hampshire senate, and was a member of Governor Dinsmore's staff, and by that executive in 1850 was appointed state law reporter, holding that position until 1856, and editing volumes 17-19. 21-31, inclusive, of the New Hampshire reports. In 1853 he removed to Con- cord, and formed a partnership with Col. John H. George, Hon. Charles P. Sanborn being subsequently admitted to the firm, from which Colonel George retired in 1867, and which was continued by Messrs. Foster and Sanborn until 1869. In 1854 Colonel Foster was appointed commissioner of the circuit court of the United States, which he held until 1862, when he was elected a member of the house of representa- tives, and was reelected in 1863. October 1, 1869, he was appointed a judge of the supreme court, and October 1, 1874, he was appointed chief justice of the circuit court. October 1, 1876, he was again appointed judge of the supreme court, and resigned that office, July 1. 1881. to resume the practice of law. In 1884 he was appointed United States commissioner. His legal attainments are of the highest order, adding to a profound knowledge of the law a ready adaptability, a keen perception, a graceful and winning manner, presenting in all a complete equipment for the forensic and other conflicts of the court room.
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HON. HARRY BINGHAM.
T HE first legislative service of this distinguished lawyer and party leader was in the state house of representatives in 1861. Since that day his character and service have been universally recognized. He has in his thirty years well earned the distinction of being the intel- lectual leader of the New Hampshire Democracy. A representative or senator in eighteen legislatures, and his party's nominee for United States senator in every legislative election, save two, since 1866, his name has become eminent, in an age of great men and great events, as an exponent of Jacksonian Democracy. In five great national conven- tions he has been a delegate from New Hampshire, and in four he has taken part, as a member of the committee on resolutions, in formulat- ing the statement of principles on which the national Democracy has gone before the people for judgment and finally prevailed. A graduate of Dartmouth under the administration of President Lord, his intellect- ual life is characteristic of the precepts and example of that great educa- tor. Such a man, endowed with great and well balanced mental and physical powers, in a life-time of deep, critical, and well directed study of men, books, institutions, and all the concerns with which a lawyer and statesman is inevitably thrown in contact, cannot fail to mould the opinions of mankind, and to make a deep and lasting impression upon political movements, legislation, and jurisprudence. That he did not commence a career in the great forum of national affairs when he might have been sent to Congress by giving the word in 1855, was because he refused to pay the price of a temporary and secret espousal of a political movement which his honest judgment condemned. What he would have been in the senate or on the bench of the highest court can only be conjectured from what he has been in the less conspicuous, but possibly not less exacting positions, in which he has served his clients, his party, and his state. He was born at Concord, Vt., March 30, 1821, son of Hon. Warner and Lucy (Wheeler) Bingham.
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HON. GEORGE A. BINGHAM.
H ON. GEORGE AZRO BINGHAM was born in Concord, Vt., April 25, 1826, and was educated in the schools of that state. He studied law with Hon. Thomas Bartlett, at Lyndon, Vt .. and was admitted to the bar in December, 1848. He practised his profession at Lyndon until July, 1852, when he came to Littleton, in this state, and became associated with his brother Harry in business, under the firm name of H. & G. A. Bingham, which firm continued until 1870, ex- cepting three years, when the two brothers associated themselves with Hon. Andrew S. Woods and his son Edward of Bath, with offices at Littleton and Bath. The brothers dissolved partnership in 1870, and Mr. Bingham continued in practice alone until 1876, when he was ap- pointed a justice of the supreme court, which position he occupied until October 1, 1880. He then resigned and formed a partnership with Hon. Edgar Aldrich and D. C. Remick, under the firm name of Bingham, Aldrich & Remick. In December, 1884, Mr. Bingham was reappointed and served as a member of the court until March, 1891, when he again resigned, and forming a partnership with his son, George H., resumed the practice of his profession at Littleton. under the firm name of Bingham & Bingham. Judge Bingham is a Demo- crat and was elected a delegate to the national Democratic convention in 1860, twice to the state senate, and the same number of times a member of the house of representatives, and was his party's candidate for congress in 1880. He has been a member of the Littleton board of education, and a trustee of the state normal school. He is a director of the Littleton National Bank, and president of the savings- bank in that town. His clear and keen scrutiny discovers his oppo- nents' errors, and his ready self-possession enables him to take advan- tage of them. Upon the bench he administered justice with admirable impartiality, patience, and industry. At the bar he is an effective advocate, and in private life a most estimable citizen.
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HON. CHARLES H. BURNS.
H ON. CHARLES H. BURNS, a leader of New Hampshire's bar, was born in Milford, January 19, 1835. The public schools and Appleton academy at New Ipswich gave him his early training, and after reading law with Col. O. W. Lull he graduated from the Harvard law school, becoming a member of the Suffolk bar in May, of that year, and beginning his practice before New Hampshire courts in October. His first clientage was won in Wilton, where he has resided since 1859, but he now has offices at Nashua. Early in his career Mr. Burns attracted attention by his varied gifts, and in 1864 and 1865 he was chosen treasurer of Hillsborough county; in 1873 and again in 1879 he sat in the state senate, serving each time as chairman of the judiciary committee ; in 1876 he was appointed solic- itor for Hillsborough county, and was reelected until his service cover- ed seven years. In 1876 he was. a delegate-at-large to the Republican national convention. In 1878 he presided over the Republican state convention. In 1879 he was appointed judge advocate general on the staff of Governor Head ; in 1881 became United States district attorney, receiving reappointment in 1885, and resigning in 1887 to devote him- self to his private practice that was rendered more exacting by increas- ing duties as general counsel of the Boston & Maine railroad. Mr. Burns is also counsel for many other important corporations. He is a director in several banking institutions, is a member of the New Hamp- shire Historical society, and of the New England Historical and Gen- ealogical society. In 1874 he was made a master of arts by Dartmouth college. In all Mr. Burns's life it has been marked by one character- istic and no sketch of him could be complete without a reference to it : he is a superb orator. Before juries, on the stump, in legislative halls, at the bar, on the lyceum platform, and on memorable public occasions Mr. Burns has delighted thousands with his polished periods, facile expression, and graceful dignity of delivery.
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HON. DAVID CROSS.
H ON. DAVID CROSS was born in Weare, July 5, 1817, the son of David Cross and Olive Kimball. Ile was fitted for college at Hopkinton and at Phillips Andover academy, and graduated from Dartmouth college in 1841. He studied law in the office of Willard Raymond at Troy, N. Y., with Hon. Daniel Clark at Manchester, and in the Harvard law school, and was admitted to the bar in 1844 and has since continued in active practice. At the bar Judge Cross soon took a high stand. In 1852 and 1853 he was city solicitor of Man- chester. In 1848 and 1849 he was a member of the house of represen- tatives, and also in 1856, 1876, and 1877. In 1856 he was appointed judge of probate for Hillsborough county, and held office until 1874. From 1865 to 1872 he was United States pension agent, at the same time maintaining his position at the bar. From 1855 to 1865 he was a director of the Merrimack River State Bank, and has been a director and vice-president of the First National Bank of Manchester since its organization. He has also been for more than thirty years a trustee of the Merrimack River Savings Bank. Judge Cross has con- ducted his practice at times in partnership, but for the most part alone. For forty years he has been a guide and friend to many a youthful aspirant for legal honors. He is the president of Hillsborough county bar and in 1892 was president of the Southern New Hampshire Bar association. Dartmouth college in 1891 conferred upon him the degree of LL D.
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OLIVER E. BRANCH.
LIVER E. BRANCH was born at Madison, Ohio, July 19, 1847. His father, William W. Branch, and his mother, Lucy J. Bartram, were of New England stock and early pioneers of the Western Reserve. Born and reared in the country, working on the farm in summer and fall, he attended district schools and academies until he was nineteen, when he began teaching. He finished his prepa- ration for college at Whitestown (N. Y.) seminary, and graduated with the highest honors and most brilliant record of his class at Hamilton college in 1873. He was principal of the Forestville free academy for two years ; graduated at the Columbia college law school in 1876; was at once admitted to the bar, and joined his brother in business at 102 Broadway. He soon came into the front rank of trial lawyers, and had a large litigated practice, being general counsel for two of the great sewing machine companies. He married Sarah M. Chase of Weare, only daughter of John W. Chase, in 1878, by whom he has three sons and one daughter ; moved to Weare in 1883, and was employed to edit the National Series of Speakers ; was elected to the legislature in 1886 and became widely known for his remarkable speech on the "Hazen bill." In the session of 1889, he was Democratic candidate for speaker and again distinguished himself, particularly in his efforts to secure the adoption of the Australian ballot law, which he then first brought before the legislature. In the litigation which involved the organiza- tion of the legislature in 1891, he was one of the counsel employed by the Democrats and made the principal argument at the law term. Since coming to New Hampshire he has had a large and lucrative practice, and has won many notable victories. He is an accomplished lawyer, equally at home in the trial of causes and the argument of questions of law, studious, diligent, thorough, persistent, a polished orator, and a debater of rare powers of analysis and expression.
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HARRY G. SARGENT.
H ARRY G. SARGENT was born in Pittsfield, and is thirty-three years of age. Almost all of his life has been passed in Concord, where he attended the public schools, graduating from the high school in 1878. He then entered the office of W. T. & HI. F. Norris as a law student, and later attended the law school of Boston university for a year. Returning to Concord he resumed his studies with Hon. John Y. Mugridge and was admitted to the bar in 1881. After his admission to practice he was for a time in the office of Jackman & Larkin, but he soon returned to the office of his old preceptor, Mr. Mugridge, and re- mained there until the latter's death. Mr. Sargent early made a favor- able impression upon the public by his first professional work, and pub- lic confidence in him was attested by his election as county solicitor in 1886, followed by an election as city solicitor of Concord, which latter office he has since held by continuous reelections. Mr. Sargent's prac- tice is an extensive one, calling him constantly before courts of all classes of jurisdiction both within and without the state. As counsel be- fore legislative committees he has often appeared in behalf of various clients and interests, and has had a marked influence before every tribunal that he has addressed. During the session of 1891, he made an argu- ment in Representatives' hall in opposition to the Mount Washington bill, and since that time, he has been engaged as counsel for Coe & Pingree in the suits in the state and circuit courts which involve the title to the summit of Mount Washington. During the same session of 1891, when Austin Corbin was seeking to buy for a million dollars the state's interest in the Concord railroad, Mr. Sargent, as counsel for Mr. Corbin, was associated with Hon. Wayne MacVeagh, ex-attorney general of the United States. These were rare honors for so young a man, yet deserved ; for Mr. Sargent is a thoroughly equipped lawyer, with a richly stored mind, a quick perception, a readiness and resource that have won him just successes and will win him more in days to come.
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