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 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29
enlisted in Company H, Second regiment. His first six years of ser- vice saw him wearing a sergeant's stripes. At the end of that time he was made a second lieutenant, his commission bearing the date of De- cember 15, 1883. On July 16, 1884, he rose to be first lieutenant, and was made a captain, August 1, 1885. Five years from that date he was discharged by reason of the expiration of his term. But his connection with the military of the state did not cease then, for on February 17, 1891, he was appointed inspector of riffe practice with the rank of major on the brigade staff, leaving that office to accept his present position. General Wellman has won a just recognition in his connection with military affairs in New Hampshire, and his appoint- ment as inspector-general is a reward of merit as well as a compliment. By reason of his years of service in every grade of military activity, he has acquired a thorough and accurate knowledge of the necessities of the brigade. By training and by desire he is enthusiastic for the better- ment of the service. He has but to follow in his new position the course that he has pursued in other places of trust and responsibility. and the results that he desires, the ends that he aims at, will be secured permanently and positively.
8
GEN. WILLIAM D. SAWYER.
G EN. WILLIAM D. SAWYER of Dover, quartermaster-general I on the staff of Governor Smith, is a son of ex-Governor Charles H. Sawyer, and was born in Dover, November 22, 1866. He was ed- ucated in the public schools, and attended Phillips academy, Andover. graduating there in 1885. He pursued his studies in Yale college, and received his degree from that institution in 1889. immediately taking up a business career in connection with the Sawyer woollen mills in Dover. In this corporation General Sawyer holds the highly responsi- ble position of treasurer, and as a collateral business interest he is a member of the firm of F. A. & J. Sawyer, selling agents for the Sawyer woollen mills. Other positions of trust held by him embrace a member- ship in the directory of the Portsmouth & Dover railroad, and a similar position in the Somersworth Machine company. General Sawyer is a Mason, and a Knight Templar. In politics he has taken an active in- terest and has seen service, being now a member of the Republican state committee. General Sawyer married Susan G., daughter of llon. Joshua G. Hall of Dover, and has one child. General Sawyer is one of the leading young men of the state. In religious matters he is a Congregationalist.
9
GEN. STEPHEN H. GALE.
G EN. STEPHEN H. GALE, commissary-general on the staff of I Governor Smith, is a native of East Kingston. He attended the public schools, and finished his education at Kingston academy and at Comer's Commercial college at Boston. In 1864 he embarked in business at Haverhill, Mass., as a manufacturer of boots and shoes. This business he carried on for five years, until, in 1869, under the firm name of Gale Brothers, he became associated with his brother, John E. Gale, in the same line of business in the same city. This firm continued at Haverhill until 1884, when a branch establishment was set up in Exeter, and General Gale went thither to assume charge of it, his brother. with John H. Sanborn, who had been admitted to the firm, taking charge of the Haverhill factory. The two factories at Exeter and Haverhill were conducted in this manner until 1891, when the plant at Exeter was enlarged, and the two branches were consoli- dated at the latter place. This factory is now one of the largest in New Hampshire, and contributes not a little to the energy and prosperity of Exeter. Around it have sprung up the homes of its operatives, and by its pay-roll each month many thousands of dollars are put into circula- tion. Its output is constantly increasing, and its reputation is wide and favorable. General Gale during his residence in Haverhill, was a member of the city government, serving in 1874. He was a member of the Republican city committee, and was also a director in the First National bank of Haverhill. General Gale, during his residence in Exeter, has become actively and intimately connected with the enterprise of the town. He has been public-spirited and benevolent. He has contrib- uted not a little to the success of his party. He has labored for the interests of those associated with him in business. He is modestly self-assertive, kindly, genial, hospitable,-a rare man of rare quality- frank, earnest, and successful.
10
GEN. GEORGE H. ADAMS.
G EORGE H. ADAMS, judge advocate general on the staff of T Governor Smith, is a native of Campton, where he was born May 15. 1851. After the usual training in the public schools he entered Kimball Union academy at Meriden, and fitted for college. entering Dartmouth in 1869. Four years later he was graduated, and at once became principal of the high school at Middleboro, Mass .. where he remained only one year, at the end of that time turning to his chosen profession, the law, as a student in the office of Hon. Henry W. Blair at Plymouth. In 1876 he was admitted to the bar and in that year also came his first political honor in the form of an election to the constitutional convention. This has since been followed by membership in the legislature of 1883 in which he performed the duties attendant upon a prolonged and somewhat turbulent session with great display of zeal and skill. In 1890 he was appointed a deputy collector of internal revenue for this district, and has just now received his appointment on the governor's staff. He is a director in the Pemi- gewasset National bank of Plymouth, where he practises law as the partner of Hon. Alvin Burleigh. General Adams is eminently qualified for the positions that he has held. He is one of the most genial men in disposition, a merry, laughter-loving spirit wins him friends, and back of that lies a measure of ability and a capacity for work that make him a dangerous antagonist at the bar and that fit him to adorn a high place in the esteem of associates and acquaintances. General Adams has long since given promise of success and has long since honored its draft. His law practice has covered every portion of preparation and pleading and his social duties, calling him into every field of activity, have developed the gentlemanly qualities that needed no nurture.
11
GEN. GEORGE COOK, M. D.
G EORGE COOK, M. D., surgeon-general upon the staff of Gov- I ernor Smith, was born at Dover, November 16, 1848, the son of Solomon Cook and Susan Ann Hayes. At the age of seven he re- moved with his parents to Franklin, where his education was begun in the Franklin academy, and was completed in the high school at Concord in which city his parents had taken up their residence, and in Dart- mouth medical college, receiving his degree in 1869. Dr. Cook be- gan the practice of his profession in Henniker, but soon removed to Hillsborough, and after a few years came to Concord, where he has since resided. In medical circles Dr. Cook has taken a high rank, due largely to his studious habits and care. For seven years he was city physician and member of the board of health of Concord; is a member of the New Hampshire Medical society, and has been president of the Centre District Medical society. Since 1889 he has been a member of the United States pension board of examining surgeons, and on the staff of the Margaret Pillsbury General Hospital, and medical officer at the Odd Fellows' Home. Dr. Cook has also been visitor from the New Hampshire Medical society to Dartmouth medical college. His ap- pointment as surgeon-general came almost in the line of promotion, as for different years he was connected with the medical branch of the military service as assistant surgeon, and surgeon of the Third Regi- ment of New Hampshire National Guard, and as medical director with the rank of lieutenant-colonel of the First brigade under Gen. D. M. White. General Cook's membership in secret societies embraces Masonry, Odd Fellowship, and the Sons of Veterans. In religion, he is an Episcopalian, and is a member of the vestry of St. Paul's church. General Cook as a man is esteemed no less highly than as a physician ; for his sterling qualities, the unerring exercise of his keen perceptions, and the unaffected manner of his intercourse with his associates have won him esteem as much as his professional skill has won him admiration.
12
COL. CHARLES H. DUNLAP.
C OL. CHARLES H. DUNLAP of the governor's staff was born at Nashua, June 17, 1853, and has always lived in that city. He is the son of Archibald H. Dunlap, a famous seed-grower, and is asso- ciated with his father in business. He was educated in the public schools of his native city, and as a boy was one of the most popular of Nashua's ingenuous youth. Arriving at manhood, he lost none of his hold upon his associates, and in every field of endeavor that he has en- tered he has found on every hand scores of friends who have been at- tracted to him by his winning qualities. In the conduct of his business, Colonel Dunlap has been rarely successful. Colonel Dunlap's extensive commercial relations extend into every state and territory. From the day of attaining his majority, Colonel Dunlap has been deeply interest- ed in politics, and beginning in his own ward. among those who had known him from birth, he has worked upward, first holding office as selectman, and then passing through other local and municipal offices, through the common council and the board of aldermen, and coming in 1889 to a seat in the house of representatives, where he made many warm personal and political friends, and was a deservedly popular and efficient legislator. Colonel Dunlap is one of New Hampshire's repre- sentative young men. Connected by blood with one of the best and oldest families in the state, his natural ability has been such as to win for him many places of honor and responsibility. By education and taste he is a business man, yet the increasing cares of large interests have not been permitted to dwarf the sunny side of his social nature. and to all circles he is an eagerly welcomed addition.
13
1
COL. FREDERICK C. DOW.
C OL. FREDERICK C. DOW, aide-de-camp on the staff of Gov- ernor Smith, is a resident of Manchester, and was born in Pem- broke in 1847. He attended the public schools of the town, took a course in Pembroke academy, and when seventeen years old went to Manchester, where he has since resided and where he began life as a clerk in a shoe store. Three years as a clerk had given him such a knowledge of the business, and had rendered him so valuable to the firm, that he was admitted to partnership, and a year in this relationship. enabled him to purchase his partners' interest. At the age of twenty- one, therefore, he was in sole ownership of the store in which four years before he had found employment as a clerk. This business has grown under the personal supervision of Colonel Dow, and is now the largest boot and shoe store north of Boston, and its proprietor is ranked among the leading men of affairs in the metropolis of the state. He is a trustee of the Manchester Savings bank, and a director in the Manchester National bank. Colonel Dow is married, and has two children. His home in Manchester is one of the most elegant in the city. Colonel Dow's connection with Governor Smith is a long one, having begun when each was a young man laying the foundations of future success. Nor is the connection a personal one only, for they have jointly erected in Manchester an extensive block of apartment houses. Colonel Dow's qualities are attractive. Through energy he has compelled success. Through frankness he has won respect. Through tact he has made friends. Through honor he has kept them.
11
COL. BENJAMIN F. DRAKE.
C OL. BENJAMIN F. DRAKE, aide-de-camp on the staff of Gov- ernor Smith, was born in New Hampton, October 8, 1844. When he was two years old his parents removed to Lakeport, where he was educated in the public schools and French's select school. At the opening of the war he entered the government employ at the Spring- field armory, where he learned a machinist's trade. He was afterward superintendent of two manufactories in Massachusetts, and later was master-mechanic of the Mount Washington railway. In 1878, return- ing to Lakeport, he became a member of the firm of J. S. Crane & Co .. retiring in 1885 to assume charge of the construction of the Lakeport & Laconia water-works, resuming the partnership at the completion of the contract, this time organizing the Crane Manufacturing Co., build- ers of knitting machinery. Of this corporation Colonel Drake is treas- urer, a director, and a moving spirit. Colonel Drake has not limited his attention to his private interests solely, but has been much in pub- lic and corporate service. Ile has been a selectman, sat in the general court in 1883, and was a member of the constitutional convention of 1889. He is a director in the Lakeport water-works, of the National bank of Lakeport, of the Lake Village savings bank, president of the Mutual Building and Loan association, a trustee of the public library. and a member of the Lakeport board of trade. In 1887 he was appoint- ed steamboat inspector by Governor Sawyer. Colonel Drake is a mem- ber of the New Hampshire club, of the Lincoln club, of the Home Market club, and of the White Mountain Travellers' association. In secret society life, Colonel Drake has been and is prominent. He is a Mason, a Knight Templar, and has reached the thirty-second degree : he is an Odd Fellow, a Patriarch Militant, a Red Man, a Knight of Pythias, and present grand vice-dictator of the New Hampshire Knights of Honor. Col. Drake is member from ward six, first city council of Laconia.
15
-
COL. WALTER S. SCRUTON.
C OL. WALTER S. SCRUTON of Hillsborough, aide-de-camp on Governor Smith's staff, is a native of Rochester, and was born January 26, 1865. In the public schools of his native city he obtained his preliminary education, graduating from the high school in 1883. In the fall of that year he entered Dartmouth college and took his degree with the class of 1887. Almost immediately following his graduation he went to Hillsborough, where he assumed charge of the high school, succeeding a college classmate who had died. For two years he retained this position, and then resigned to enter business as a druggist, purchasing a store in Hillsborough. This calling he has since followed. For two years he has served as town clerk of Hills- borough, and has been a member of the board of education. No sketch of Colonel Scruton's life would be complete without reference to his college career, in which he was a conspicuous member of a brilliant class, and was prominent and active in all the varied social and athletic life. He was a member of Psi Upsilon fraternity, and of the Sphinx senior society. In athletic life he was especially prominent. He was a mem- ber of the college base-ball nine for three years, and during his senior year was pitcher on the first championship team that Dartmouth ever boasted, to his work more than to any other being due the winning of the pennant of the American College Base-Ball association. Colonel Scruton has entered actively into the enterprises of Hillsborough. His ready companionship has won for him merited friendships, and he has. reaped the reward in prominent business successes. Progressive intel- ligence has marked his mercantile career, and successive honors await him.
16
1
HON. EZRA S. STEARNS.
H ON. EZRA S. STEARNS, secretary of state, came to that office in 1891, richly endowed with the character and attainments necessary to sustain the exacting requirements of the position. He was born in Rindge, Sept. 1, 1838, and has always resided there, being edu- cated in the public schools, by private tutors, and in Chester, N. J., where he studied and taught at the same time. For several years he was man- ager and editor of a newspaper at Fitchburg, Mass., and before that was connected with publishing houses in Boston, New York. and Phila- delphia. Mr. Stearns, in 1876, published a history of Rindge, follow- ing it in 1877 with a history of Ashburnham, Mass., works of great value in point of historical accuracy and literary skill. Mr. Stearns has always been actively, ardently, and prominently a Republican. In 1864, 1865. 1866, 1867, and 1870 he represented Rindge in the legislature. He served in the state senate in 1887 and 1889, and in 1891 was holding a seat in the house of representatives when he was elected secretary of state. For more than twenty years Mr. Stearns has been moderator in Rindge. In the legislature, Mr. Stearns could not fail to take an active part. In debate he was keen, incisive, ready, with a wealth of satire that was both dreaded and admired. His committee assign- ments were always laborious, and therefore important ; but he shirked none, winning credit in the committee-room equal to that attained upon the floor. Among the duties of Mr. Stearns's first term as secretary of state, was the inaugurating of the Australian ballot system, an arduous task. Its completion without an error was a rare tribute to the secre- tary's methodical and careful conduct of the office. Mr. Stearns is a widely read, scholarly man, and the degree of master of arts, which he received from Dartmouth college. in 1887, was a merited tribute to a studious, cultured gentleman, who assumes nothing that is not won, and who concedes nothing that is not due.
17
COLONEL SOLON A. CARTER.
F OR twenty-one years, with the exception of 1874-'75, a year of Democratic control, Colonel Solon A. Carter has been treasurer of the state, his renominations in Republican caucuses coming as a matter of course, without dissenting voice. Why, then, multiply words? That fact speaks too plainly for amplification. Colonel Carter was born in Leominster, Mass., June 22, 1837 ; since 1859 he has been a resident of this state, first making his home in Keene, where he was superin- tendent of the Keene gas-works. In September, 1862, he went out as a captain in the Fourteenth New Hampshire regiment. His service lasted till the close of the war, and he was mustered out in August, 1865, with the rank of captain of staff, having served, however, in 1864, as assistant adjutant-general of volunteers. Colonel Carter's service was a brave and active one. He fought in many of the most severe engage- ments of the war, among them being Petersburg, the campaign before Richmond, the Fort Fisher expeditions, Baylor's Farm, and the capture of Wilmington. This service was not unrecognized, for, after the close of the war, he was brevetted by President Johnson, for gallant and meritorious conduct on the field, major and lieutenant-colonel of volunteers. At the close of the war he returned to Keene and was en- gaged in clerical work until called, in 1872, to the office that he now holds. In addition to his service as state treasurer, Colonel Carter has seen public life as member of the legislature in 1869 and 1870. Col- onel Carter's conduct of the treasury has been a creditable life-work. The burden of his labor has been always great, and for much of the period of his incumbency he performed the work of the department unaided, or nearly so, with no thought of lightening his load. In 1891 the legislature provided him with a deputy,-a mark of appreciation too long delayed.
18
FRED GOWING.
I T is a marked honor to succeed while yet young to important pub- lic position. This marked honor belongs to Fred Gowing, super- intendent of public instruction, who was born in Medford. Mass., December 6, 1860. the son of James Gowing, Jr .. and Elizabeth Jane Caswell. He was educated in the public schools of Medford, and entered Tufts college in 1877, receiving the degree of bachelor of arts in 1881. He immediately entered the ranks as a teacher, begin- ning first in the district schools at Barrington, and coming thence to the high school at Wilmington, Mass., and then to the Cottage Grove College Preparatory school, at Poughkeepsie. N. Y., then as principal of a grammar school at Lawrence, Mass., and at Haverhill, Mass .. until he was called to the head of the Mount Pleasant school in Nashua. where he achieved a pronounced success as an educator and a disci- plinarian, and in 1890 was selected to be superintendent of the schools of Nashua, remaining in that position until the winter of 1893. when he was unanimously selected by Governor Smith and his council to succeed Hon. James W. Patterson as superintendent of public instruc- tion. Mr. Gowing's family is one that for two centuries has been identified with New Hampshire, and he is thoroughly in touch with the public school movement in the state. By his youthful enthusiasm. no less than by his solid attainments and experience, he is qualified to take up the work of his eminent predecessor, and to carry it forward even more symmetrically than before. Mr. Gowing, though elevated to a very important position, yet retains that innate modesty that has been the charm of his life. A distinctly self-possessed man, possessing a marked courtesy and gentleness, he is eminently qualified. aside from his mental gifts, for the office to which he has been chosen, and the earnestness with which he has laid hold of his new work is the most happy promise of the success that is to follow him in years to come.
.
HON. JOHN C. LINEHAN.
T is a divided allegiance that Hon. John C. Linehan gives to the land of his birth and the state of his residence, yet neither can complain, for to one he bears the tender loyalty of a son, to the other he yields the fruits of his activity. Colonel Linehan was born in Ire- land in 1840, and came to this country in 1849, residing since 1852 in Penacook. At that time he began to earn his own living in the cotton mill at Penacook, and in five years' time he passed through nearly every department of cotton manufacture. Then he assumed charge of the box department of Rolfe's sash and blind factory in Penacook, remaining there from 1857 to 1861, when he entered the army and enlisted in the Third New Hampshire. He returned home in 1866, engaged in the grocery business at Penacook, continuing-with partner or alone-until 1890. Colonel Linehan was always a Republican, and his activity caused him to be elected to the city government, where he served in both branches, and in 1886 he was chosen a member of the executive council, serving till June, 1889. In 1890 he was an agent of the eleventh census to compile the manufacturing statistics of Concord and vicinity, and in September of that same year he was appointed by Governor Goodell insurance commissioner, to succeed Hon. Henry H. Huse. Since the close of the war, Colonel Linehan has been greatly interested in Grand Army matters. He was first commander of the post at Penacook, and department commander of the state in 1883-'84. He was president of the New Hampshire Veterans' association in 1885-'86, was a member of the national pension committee from 1884 to 1888, was junior vice commander-in-chief of the national G. A. R. in 1887, and is a director of the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial asso- ciation. Colonel Linehan's first term as insurance commissioner was marked by the enactment of the Barber law, directed against the opera- tion of the so-called endowment orders in New Hampshire.
20
.
JAMES OTIS LYFORD.
J TAMES OTIS LYFORD, son of James and Mary 1. (Mclane) Lyford, was born in Boston, Mass., June 28, 1853. He was edu- cated in the Boston public schools and at the New Hampshire Con- ference seminary at Tilton. He read law in the office of Sanborn & Clark, of Concord. and was admitted to the bar in 1880. lle practised two years at Tilton, when he was appointed law clerk in the Interior Department at Washington. He resigned his position in that depart- ment to become the confidential clerk of General R. N. Batchelder of the U. S. army, which place he held until appointed bank commis- sioner of New Hampshire, by Governor Sawyer, in 1887. In 1889. upon the reorganization of the bank commission, he was appointed its chairman, and served until 1892. when he was re-appointed by Gover- nor Tuttle for another term of three years. In addition to these posi- tions, Mr. Lyford was elected a member of the constitutional conven- tion of 1876 from the town of Canterbury, being one of its youngest members. He was a member of the legislature of 1893 from Ward 4. Concord, served upon the judiciary committee, and was the leader of his party in the house. This summary conveys no idea of Mr. Lyford's work : for aside from his highly creditable career in office, he has made himself prominent in the journalistic field by his editorial connection with the leading newspapers of New Hampshire, and as political editor of the National Republican at Washington. He is an interesting speaker, and his services are always in demand in political campaigns, upon the stump, or in service in the committee head- quarters. This sketch would be incomplete not to contain at least a reference to his work upon the bank commission, and to the creditable manner in which he has discharged the duties of his office. He found the commission at the date of his first appointment without method. without records, without influence: and he has brought it into the confidence of the people and of the banks.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.