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 25
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WILLIAM F. THAYER.
W TILLIAM F. THAYER was born in Kingston, March 13, 1846, where his grandfather, Rev. Elihu Thayer, D. D., was for more than thirty years the pastor of the village church. Mr. Thayer's parents removed to Meriden in 1855, and there in Kimball Union academy he secured his education, coming in 1865 to Concord to become a clerk in the post-office whierc, soon after being promoted to chief clerk, he remain- ed four years. He then spent a few months in the West, and returned tp Concord, serving for a brief time in the counting-room of the Elwell Furniture company and then entering the employ of the First National bank, and coming through successive promotions to be assistant cashier. cashier, and president. His other financial connections embrace mem- Bership in the directories of some of the most eminent and soundest fiscal institutions. In 1892 Mr. Thayer was chosen treasurer of the Republican state committee and still holds that position. Since 1879 he has been treasurer of the city of Concord. Mr. Thayer is a Mason and a Knight Templar. In the little more than twenty years of Mr. Thayer's connection with the First National bank the patronage of the bank has largely increased, the amount of its surplus has been multiplied. it has moved into the most spacious and elegant quarters of any New Hampshire fiscal institution, it has established itself in new lines of financial enterprise ; it has been progressive in all directions. In the city of Concord Mr. Thayer has won an enviable place in the esteem of the people. Though enterprising he has not been rash, and his judg- ment has been sought in matters of great financial import to the city and its investors. His hand is cver ready to assist those who are below and is never reached out to drag down those who may, perchance, be above.
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HON. MATTHEW GAULT EMERY.
H ON. MATTHEW GAULT EMERY was born in Pembroke in 1818, was one of six brothers, and of a patriotic ancestry, both his grandfathers having been prominent officers in the New Hampshire contingent of the Continental army. Mr. Emery attended the best schools and academies in his native town, and then, deciding to enter an active business life, left the home farm in 1837, coming to Baltimore, where an elder brother was then living. Choosing the occupation of builder and architect, he apprenticed himself as a stone mason. In 1840 Mr. Emery received his first public contract, cutting the stone for the post-office department building. In 1842 he made his permanent residence in Washington, and from that time until 1872 was actively engaged in the execution of public and private contracts, doing much of the stone work on the Capitol, and all of the public buildings. Dur- ing all these contracts, Mr. Emery never had any trouble with his work- men, his liberality to them always securing the best mechanics. Mr. Emery held many official positions under the city government of Wash- ington, being for many years a member of the board of aldermen, and in 1870 was elected mayor as a "citizens' candidate," receiving a majority of 3, 194, every ward giving him a plurality. His inaugural address contained the following sentences : " I am a Republican, but my Republicanism is based on principle, and is not mere partisanship." " I claim no right which I am not willing to accord to all Americans, without regard to race or religion." In the religious, charitable, and business life of the national capital Mr. Emery has been and still is a conspicuous leader. The limits of this article will not permit an enum- eration of the many enterprises covered by these heads in which he is an officer or director.
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HORACE G. CHASE.
H ORACE G. CHASE is a native of Hopkinton. He was born July 9, 1827, and was educated in Hopkinton academy. Ilis father, the Hon. Horace Chase, was a lawyer and for many years judge of probate for Merrimack county, and postmaster, but on account of his professional and judicial duties could give to the office but little personal attention, and installed our subject, who was then but twelve years old. as deputy postmaster. At the age of sixteen Horace became an appren- tice in the mathematical instrument store of Samuel Thaxter & Son, Boston, and remained there until his health failed, when he returned home, and in 1852 followed his brothers to Chicago. In 1855 he became a partner in the firm of Rees, Chase & Co., examiners of real estate titles. A few years later, Mr. Chase, with his brother, bought out the interest of Mr. Rees and continued the business till the time of the great fire in 1871, which destroyed every vestige of the county and court records. Having saved most of their indices to the lost records, Mr. Chase effected a consolidation of his own firm with that of two others engaged in the same occupation, when the business of furnishing abstracts of titles was resumed, confidence in real estate titles fully restored, and the rebuilding of Chicago commenced. The consolidated firms were true to their trust and loyal to Chicago, refusing to sell their indices at any price to a syndicate, who would have withdrawn them from their legitimate uses, and made them solely a source of personal profit. The result can be imagined, when it is remembered that these books contained the sole and only evidences of titles to real estate worth more than seven hundred million dollars. Mr. Chase has been closely identified with the history and growth of Chicago for the past forty years, and with unlimited faith in its future, has improved his opportunities and been very successful as a business man.
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WOODBURY L. MELCHER.
W OODBURY LUNT MELCHER was born in Gilford (Ward 6, of Laconia) October 7, 1832, and was fitted for college at Gil- ford academy, graduating from Bowdoin in 1856. For two years he was principal of Gilford academy, and then read law with the Hon. E. A. Hibbard. He was admitted to the bar in 1862, and began prac- tice ; soon after relinquishing his professional duties because of failing health, though he has always retained his connection with the legal fra- ternity, and is now treasurer of the Belknap County Bar association. In 1861 he was appointed register of probate, five years later he was reappointed, and resigned in 1871, in order that he might give his atten- tion to the settlement of his father's estate, of which he was executor. In 1864 he was chosen treasurer of the Laconia Savings bank, and held the position until July, 1885, when he resigned, though he has since consented to act as a trustee and member of the finance committee. He is also a director and vice-president of the Laconia National bank. He served on the school board of Gilford and Laconia for most of the time from 1862 to 1890, when he declined further election. For several years he was president of the Laconia board of education. He was. active in promoting the street railway and the water-works, two enter- prises that have added greatly to Laconia's prosperity, and is now a director in the water-works company. For several years he has been at the head of an insurance agency in Laconia and is a director in the Capital Fire Insurance company, and vice-president of the Merchants" and Manufacturers' Mutual Insurance company, of Concord. Mr. Melcher is a Republican, and as such sat in the constitutional conven- tion of 1889. In religion he is a Unitarian, and is a Mason, a Knight Templar, and a member of the Grange.
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BENJAMIN PIERCE CHENEY.
B ENJAMIN PIERCE CHENEY was born at Hillsborough. August 12, 1815, and at the age of ten years began to earn his living. At the age of sixteen he was driving a stage between Keene. Nashua, and Exeter and while thus engaged the Boston & Lowell rail- road was opened, and in 1842, when the line was extended to Concord. Mr. Cheney embarked in the express business, first as a local agent be- tween Boston and Concord. But from that arose great connections. and the absorption of the companies which he created by the American Express Co., led him into positions of responsibility and trust in the inauguration of some of the greatest and most widely extended express lines and railroads in the country, among them being the Overland Mail, Wells & Fargo's express, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, the Northern Pacific, the Mexican Central, the Vermont Central, and the Northern railroads. Mr. Cheney has lived in an age of great opportu- nities and has been able to take advantage of them. Yet in his success he has been generous. To the state of New Hampshire he presented a statue of her greatest son, Webster ; to Dartmouth college he gave $50,000 for the endowment of a chair, and his other benefactions have been numerous and valuable. His summer haunts are found among the hills and vales of his native state, and she has no small measure of grat- ification in the successes of his life, which he has shown himself so ready to share with others.
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ANDREW BUNTON.
T 'HE story of the career of Andrew Bunton is that of life-long de- votion to the service of a great company ; a devotion so brilliantly successful, as well as thoroughly sincere, as to be rewarded with high position and the entire trust of his employers. Mr. Bunton was born in Manchester, August 6, 1842, the son of Andrew and Lettice (McQuesten) Bunton. He was educated in the public schools of the Queen city, leaving the High school before graduation, however, to go into business. December 1, 1856, he entered the employ of the express company. then Cheney & Company, and has remained in its service ever since, a record of steadfastness and mutual appreciation seldom sur- passed. Beginning as clerk, in 1856, Mr. Bunton rose steadily through all grades of the service, learning every branch of the business with a thoroughness that has been invaluable to him in later life. Upon the death of Col. James S. Cheney, in February, 1873, he succeeded to the position of agent at Manchester, and held it until February 1, 1889, when he was appointed superintendent of the New Hampshire division of the American Express company. This is his present station, and he discharges its manifold duties with an accurate precision and brilliant rapidity that are nothing less than wonderful. Outside of his business duties Mr. Bunton is known far and wide as one whose social tastes are as pronounced as his accomplishments are distinguished. He has been president of the New Hampshire club and is a prominent Knight Templar. Deservedly popular among a large circle of friends and acquaintances, Mr. Bunton's life, whether looked at from its business or its social side, is almost ideal.
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MYRON J. PRATT.
M YRON J. PRATT, superintendent of the American Express company at Concord, was born at Braintree, Vt., March I. 1831. In early manhood he engaged in mercantile business at Ran- dolph, managing stores in two villages of that town. He left the Green Mountain state in 1849, and became a produce merchant in Faneuil Hall square, Boston, and continued that business until 1857. when he took up his abode in " the wild-woolly west," locating at Wy- andotte, Kansas, as a real estate broker. In 1859 he returned to New England to accept a position with the Cheney & Co. express, and has followed the fortunes of that company through the years of its wonder- ful development, including consolidation with the United States & Canada Express company, and with the American Express company. a continuous service of more than a quarter century. As a messenger he travelled many thousands of miles, having intrusted to his care. upon railway trains, stage lines, and in the offices of the company, un- told millions of dollars in current funds. From 1867 to 1881, with headquarters at White River Junction, as superintendent for the United States & Canada Express company, there were 1, 300 miles of territory under his supervision. The United States & Canada Express company in 1881 located Mr. P'ratt at Concord, as superintendent of the affairs of that corporation in New Hampshire, where by honest business methods, and courteous treatment of patrons and those officially con- nected with him, he has won a remarkable increase of patronage for the corporation he has so faithfully served for the past thirty-two years. Mr. Pratt is thoroughly Republican in politics, and prominent in the councils of his party, notwithstanding the fact that he has ever declined public office. He is secretary of the Lincoln club of New Hampshire. and manifests a lively interest in everything that is conducive to the in- terests of Concord, the capital city of the state of his adoption, to which he is ever loyal.
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HON. RUFUS BLODGETT.
M ANY men have gone out from New Hampshire to find their sphere of usefulness and eminence in every walk of life. Among those who have added renown to the state of their birth is Rufus Blodg- ett of Long Branch, New Jersey. He was born in Dorchester, Octo- ber 9, 1834. Mr. Blodgett received a common-school and an academic education, and at the age of eighteen was apprenticed to the Amoskeag Locomotive Works, at Manchester, where he learned the trade of loco- motive builder. In 1866 he removed to New Jersey and engaged in railroad business and is so occupied at present. He has won eminence in the business world and is now president of the First National bank of Long Branch. In 1878, 1879, and 1880 he was a member of the New Jersey legislature, house of assembly, and in the latter year was a delegate to the Democratic National convention at Cincinnati. In 1887 he was elected to the United States senate, to succeed Hon. W. J. Sewall, and retired from that body March 4, 1893. In the senate Sen- ator Blodgett was conspicuous for the fidelity with which he performed his duties ; a man of eminent attainments in a business sense, he was one of the most energetic members of the senate. His service upon impor- tant committees on the fisheries, manufactures, pensions, post-offices and post-roads was most valuable. Senator Blodgett is a member of one of New Hampshire's most distinguished families and his own achievements in adding to its fame are by no means the least important in the steps by which it has been led to prominence in the genealogies of the state.
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JOSEPH ALBERT WALKER.
R EMARKABLE business success, achieved through honest and legitimate methods, is the record to which Joseph Albert Walker of Portsmouth can proudly point. He was born in that quaint old city by the sea August 13, 1839, the son of Nathaniel K. and Sarah Ann Walker. His education was gained in the public and high schools of his native city, and under the private tuition of Professor William C. Harris. Upon leaving school he went to sea, and during a year's voyage served before the mast. Then he entered the hat and fur store of his father and engaged in that business for several years. He left it to enter the wholesale coal trade, to which he has ever since devoted his energies. Beginning modestly at Portsmouth, his natural adaptation to the business, and his persevering devotion to its interests, caused a natural but remarkable increase in its extent. To-day, Mr. Walker's transactions spread all over New England, and his reputation for integrity and ster- ling business qualities is as firmly founded as it is widely extended. The large fortune which he has accumulated Mr. Walker has not allowed to lie idle and profitless, but has turned it into fresh channels of industrial enterprise. Prominent among the offices which he holds in connection with various corporations, is that of treasurer of the Manches- ter Mills. Mr. Walker has found little time to spare from his manifold business cares in which to engage in the pursuit of politics. He has, however, served as a presidential elector, being chosen on the Repub- lican ticket, and during the past few years his name has often been prom- inently mentioned in connection with the gubernatorial nomination of that party. A genial gentleman, an energetic business man, brilliant. brainy, and forceful, Mr. Walker deservedly ranks as one of New Hampshire's most prominent and most successful business leaders.
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GEORGE DEXTER BURTON.
G EORGE DEXTER BURTON, the distinguished electrician and J mechanician, was born in Temple, October 26, 1856, the son of Dexter L. Burton and Emily F. Ward. The common schools, three years at Appleton academy at New Ipswich, and a course at Comer's Commercial college in Boston, finished his education so far as schools were concerned, and he at once gave promise of the future by turning his attention to mechanical contrivances, and has since taken out patents upon the Burton stock car,-the best of its class, -- the electric lo- comotive headlight, the Burton system of working metals by electricity, and numerous other letters-patent on different devices. For four years he was treasurer of the Burton Car company, and is now assistant gen- eral manager. He is also president of the Electrical Forging company. In recognition of Mr. Burton's acknowledged ability as an inventor, he has been awarded six gold and four silver medals for improvements in mechanics and electricity, and has had issued to him more than two hundred letters-patent. As an inventor he ranks among the first, and is a fitting successor to that pioneer of electricians who went forth from New Hampshire years before him, but who did not in his field accom- plish more than Mr. Burton in his. Mr. Burton has studied from a humane stand-point, and all of his devices bear the mark of a mind alert to lighten the labors of his fellow-men, or to ameliorate the hard conditions that surround existence in any form.
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HON. LEVI K. FULLER.
N EW Hampshire is Iprodigal of her most noted product, men, many of whom have become the statesmen, orators, and finan- ciers of other commonwealths. The present governor of Vermont, Levi Knight Fuller, was born in Westmoreland, February 24. 1841, the son of Washington Fuller and Lucinda (Constantine) Fuller. Leaving home at an early age, he attended the High school and learned tel- egraphy at Brattleboro, Vt., and the Roxbury (Mass. ) institute, and later served an apprenticeship as a machinist in Boston. In 1860 he became mechanical engineer of the Estey Organ works at Brattleboro, and a member of the firm in 1866; then superintendent of manufacturing. patent expert and inventor, for many years has been vice-president of the Estey Organ company, and aided in establishing and building up its large foreign trade. Through his influence, an international pitch for musical instruments was recently adopted by all the leading makers. In 1874 he organized, and, until his inauguration as governor, commanded the Fuller light battery, Vermont National Guard, the first to receive the new-model United States breech-loading guns, and which regular army inspectors have repeatedly pronounced second to none other in the country. He has held the various town and village offices, sat in the state senate in 1880, was lieutenant-governor of Vermont in 1886. He is a member of various societies-scientific, mechanical, and astronom- ical, having a fine private observatory : is a trustee of religious, bener- olent, and educational institutions, which he liberally maintains, and his election as governor of Vermont is a just tribute to the sterling qualities of his character, his brilliant attainments, his eminent political worth ; an honor coming to few sons of New Hampshire, but to none more worthily. Governor Fuller carried from his home in New Hampshire the basis of a rare manhood, and in the years of his success has dis- played the development of a self-made American citizen to a very marked degree.
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GEORGE A. BARTLETT.
P ERHAPS one of the most widely known New Hampshire men in Washington is George A. Bartlett. Having held the position since 1881 of disbursing clerk of the treasury department, paying out some $6,000,000 yearly, many people have a most pleasant recollection of him. Mr. Bartlett is the second son of a family of four children of Richard and Sally (Fellows) Bartlett, and was born at Kingston, April 23, 1841. His ancestors on the paternal side date back to the time of " William the Conqueror," and on the maternal side were prominent in New Hampshire affairs, his uncle, Moses Fellows, having been the first mayor of Manchester. Mr. Bartlett supplemented his district-school training with a course at the Kingston academy, the principal being Thomas W. Knox, afterward war correspondent of the New York Herald. When sixteen years of age Mr. Bartlett left home to go to Law- rence, Mass., as an apprentice to E. W. Colcord, who had gone there from Kingston and established a belting business. At the breaking out of the war he enlisted with the second company of the Fourteenth Massachusetts infantry, on May 20, 1861, for three years. Mr. Bartlett participated in all the battles of the regiment, being recommended for promotion for bravery on two occasions, but declined promotion, pre- ferring, as he expressed it, to " stay with the boys." His life in Wash- ington commenced in 1866, when he entered the paymaster-general's office. Some two years later he resigned. In 1871, he again entered government service as a clerk in the treasury department, soon rose to the grade of $1,800, and in 1881 was appointed by Secretary Windom to the responsible position he now holds. Mr. Bartlett is a 32 degree Mason, and a member of the Mystic Shrine. He also takes great interest in the District militia, having organized the Treasury guards, and hold- ing the rank of major of the department battalion. He is a member of the various veteran organizations, and is always actively interested in all gatherings of New Hampshire people in Washington.
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PROF. GEORGE H. BROWN.
PROF. GEORGE H. BROWN was born in Hill, June 1. 1847. and secured his education in the public schools of Ilill, at the New Hampton institute, and at the Detroit Optical college, in which institution he received his professional training. Professor Brown's early life was spent on a farm, and he has always retained a great love for progressive agriculture, having put into practical operation the tenets of his faith as owner of the well known stock farm in Tilton, the " Brook Hill " farm, where he demonstrated that agriculture as a pur- suit, even by proxy, is not without its reward in New Hampshire. De- spite his present retirement from active participation in agricultural pursuits, Professor Brown is still the owner of a number of high-bred promising horses. the mementoes of his devotion to practical agricul- tural development. In Tilton Professor Brown stands among the lead- ing citizens It was largely through his efforts that the Tilton and Northfield Fire Insurance Co. was formed, and of that institution he was president for a number of years. He has held several town offices, including a seat in the legislature in 1878 and 1879, and for several years has been a director in the national bank at Tilton. In profes- sional pursuits he is justly ranked as one of the most skilful in New England ; from his first entrance into the professional field as an opti- cian, he has commanded the highest patronage, and upon his prescrip- tion books are found the names of the best families of New Ilamp- shire.
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HON. STEPHEN GORDON NASH.
I T is a great debt that the bar of Massachusetts owes to New Hamp- shire, for a remarkably large number of its most illustrious lights own and love the Granite state as the scene of their birth and educa- tion. Prominent in the long line is the name of Stephen Gordon Nash, son of John and Abigail Ladd (Gordon) Nash, who was born in New Hampton, April 4, 1822. He was fitted for college at the local institu- tion and graduated from Dartmouth in the celebrated class of 1842, having entered at the early age of 16. He engaged in teaching after leaving college, first at New Hampton, where he had charge of the classical department, and later at Franklin, as principal of Noyes acad- emy. Here he began his law studies with that celebrated gentleman of the old school, Judge George W. Nesmith. Subsequently he removed to Boston and entered into general practice there, being admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1845. In 1855 the superior court of Suffolk county was credited with a jurisdiction higher than that of common pleas, and Mr. Nash was appointed one of its first judges. This position he held for four years, until the formation of the present superior court, when he resumed general practice. He is now the only survivor of the judges of the superior court of Suffolk county, who were Messrs. Nelson, Abbott, Huntington, Charles Allen, and Morton. Judge Nash was a member of the Massachusetts house of representatives in 1855, and travelled extensively in Europe in 1859-'60 and again in 1883. He was married in 1860 to Mary, daughter of Edward Upton, Esq., of Wakefield. Their two sons died in childhood. The story of Judge Nash's life is that of long years entirely devoted to the diligent and successful prosecution of a noble profession. Both as a member of the bench and of the bar, he has constantly shown himself the possessor of qualities that win admiration and esteem. The hoary head of old age is surely, in his case, a crown of glory.
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