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 27
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was born, and where most of his life has been spent, the Gault family has made its mark. In 1858 he married Annie H., daughter of Nathan- iel Mitchell, of Hooksett, and has a family of two sons and two daugh- ters. His oldest son, Matthew, is a graduate of Dartmouth college, and is now chief engineer in the sewer department of Worcester, Mass. Youngest son, John, is a student at Dartmouth college. Oldest daugh- ter, Emma C., married A. S. Paine, and lives at Glenwood, Mass. Young- est daughter, Clara G., married Robert W. Skelton, and lives at Mil- waukee, Wis.
360
JAMES E. RANDLETT.
TAMES E. RANDLETT, architect, was born Sept. 5. 1846. in Quincy, Mass., his parents being James S. and Abbie O. (Chase ) Randlett, who moved when he was nine years of age to a farm in beautiful Gilmanton. He enjoyed the regular school advantages of Quincy and Gilmanton till the War of the Rebellion absorbed his interest. and August 15, 1862, he joined Company B. Twelfth New Hampshire volunteers, as a drummer boy, when only fifteen years of age ; was mus- tered into United States service Aug. 30, 1862. as a private. Ile served three years and participated in the battles of Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 13, 1862. and Chancellorsville May 1 and 4. 1863. At the close of the war he learned the carpenter's trade and engaged in business in Con- cord, N. H., where he has since resided for eighteen years. Ile was the first mail carrier appointed when Concord was awarded the free de- livery system, and was keeper of the state house for four years. This posi- tion he resigned in 1890 and accepted a partnership with the well known architect, Mr. Edward Dow, under the firm name of Dow & Randlett. Mr. Randlett is ranked among the progressive men of the capital city. and his practical ability and executive force are very largely felt in the promotion of his firm's affairs. Plans for many public buildings, including the New Hampshire Agricultural college, have been furnished by his firm the past two years, and as an architect his work has more than a state reputation. Mr. Randlett has been prominent in military and fraternal circles, a Republican, a Baptist, a man of earnest convictions, possesses hosts of friends, and has proved himself worthy of important public and private trusts.
361
GEORGE L. THEOBALD.
G EORGE LYMAN THEOBALD was born at Warrensburg, N. Y., on February 6, 1851, the son of Joseph Peter Theobald and Samantha Marsh. His early educational advantages were limited and his boyhood and youth were not exempt from hardships. The days that he would gladly have spent at school he was compelled instead to give to work, finding no task too hard to be undertaken and displaying even in those early days the vigor and energy, and most of all, the deter- mination, of his later years. At the age of nine he began service in a hotel at Luzerne, N. Y., and until he was fourteen years old was em- ployed variously as office boy, steward, and assistant clerk. He then engaged in the express business for himself, and in one year forsook that for travel as a canvasser for the sale of fruit trees and cutlery through New York and New England, until 1876. In that year he came to Concord, and now that he finds himself able to look back with mirth upon those early days, he laughingly tells how he came on foot into the city with little money and few friends. He soon found work and shortly became a mover of buildings, adding to that business, as years went by, general contracting, teaming, and an extensive trade in horses, hay, and straw. Mr. Theobald has been in life a shrewd and highly discerning man and has wonderfully prospered. His business has not been confined to Concord but has extended all over New Hampshire, and he has become largely interested in real estate. Mr. Theobald has been active in poli- tics and interested in all the concerns of his ward and city, and has held various offices conferred by his fellow-citizens, his last public position being a seat in the legislature in 1887. As a secret society man he maintains membership with the Odd Fellows, the Patriarchs Militant, the Red Men, and the Grangers. He has worked untiringly through his whole life, and his intense energies are in no respect abating ; but the daily increasing returns of his labor give him ample satisfaction for his years of toil.
362
LOREN S. RICHARDSON.
L OREN S. RICHARDSON was born in Waitsfield. \'t .. August 10, 1843, and is the son of Elisha Benton Richardson and Betsey (Cutler) Richardson. He secured his education in the com- mon schools, attending the district school in his native town both summer and winter. Being one of eight children. he spent his youth upon the farm, and at the age of twenty enlisted in Company Il. of the Second United States sharpshooters. In June, 1864. he was severely wounded in the left shoulder, at the Battle of Cold Ilarbor, and was mustered out with his regiment in July, 1865, having served with mer- itorious fidelity. At the close of his military service he went to St. Albans, Vt., and engaged as a salesman in a clothing house. For two years he remained there, and in 1867 he came to Concord, where he began business for himself, and has since continued, being now senior member of the firm of Richardson & Adams, the largest clothing house in the city . Honors have come to Mr. Richardson in the political field ; for four years he served his ward as selectman, and for two years as alderman. In 1891 he was elected a representative in the legislature-having held all these offices as a Republican, to which party he has devoted a great amount of his time and energy. He is prominent in Odd Fellowship in all its branches, is a member of the Knights of Pythias, of the Grand Army of the Republic, and of Eureka lodge of Masons. Mr. Richardson is one of the most active and enterprising of Concord's citizens : ever on the alert to seize and hold a new advantage, he has contributed to the prosperity of the city at the same time that he has advanced his own interests. A sunny nature has made him a genial companion, strong integrity has given him commercial standing, and real worth has con- tribnted in no small measure to his success.
363
G. SCOTT LOCKE.
SCOTT LOCKE, the efficient city marshal of Concord, was . born in Chichester forty-four years ago, but has lived in Con- cord for the greater part of his life, where he was for twelve years engaged in the wood and ice business. It was while he was engaged in this business that he first became an officer of the law, by appointment under Sheriffs Dodge and Pickering as deputy sheriff. He was also jailer at the county jail. In 1883, however, he removed to Texas, where he still has large landed interests, and for three years was engaged in the cattle business. In 1886 he returned to Concord, and in 1888, though a Republican, he was appointed to his present position by Mayor Robert- son, a Democrat. He was repeatedly re-appointed, and upon the appoint- ment of a police commission for Concord in 1893, Marshal Locke was retained in office. His administration of the police department has been singularly successful. He has introduced new methods of discipline, of drill, of work among his men, and has brought the execution of the law to a high state of perfection. Marshal Locke is married and has one son who bears his father's name. Marshal Locke is an enthusiastic sportsman and his name and fame are familiar to the race-track, where, as an officer of the course, as a driver, or as a patron of the turf, he has been prominent for many years. Marshal Locke is a member of Blazing Star lodge of Masons and is ranked high in the esteem of the citizens of Concord.
364
GEORGE P. WARDE.
G' EORGE PERLEY WARDE, the son of Hon. David A. Warde and Martha S. (Cleaves) Warde, was born in Concord, February 17, 1866, and was educated in the public schools of that city, graduat- ing from the Concord High school in the class of 1885. In the fall of that year he entered the employ of the Boston & Lowell railroad, leaving them soon after to accept a position with the Concord railroad, serving with the latter corporation from the spring of 1886 until 1889, when he went south and became connected with the American association of Lon- don, England, and the Middlesboro Town company, two corporations owning large tracts of mineral and timber lands in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. During Mr. Warde's three years of residence in the South, having returned to Concord in 1892, he was actively identified with the marvellous development about Cumberland Gap, having been no insig- nificant factor in the peopling of the magic city of Middlesboro, one of the few southern boom towns that attained permanence. Mr. Warde returned to Concord in order that he might be with his family, and his activity would not suffer him to remain idle. In that year he organized the Northern Electrical Supply company, and was chosen its general manager, which position he now holds. He at once saw the possibil- ities enveloped in the work of the corporation, and through his efforts his company has extended its business, has increased its capacity, and has won success. Mr. Warde inherits many of the business and per- sonal traits of his father, who was one of New Hampshire's most suc- cessful business men. Young, eager, enthusiastic, Mr. Warde is des- tined to make his mark in business life. The severe tests and criticisms which he is compelled to undergo, by reason of his having embarked upon a business career among those who have watched his course from childhood, have not deterred him from pressing forward in the work that he has undertaken.
365
ISAAC KIMBALL GAGE.
T HERE are some men in every community who, by reason of their constant devotion to the general welfare, fully deserve the title, . " public-spirited." To secure to them some meed of recognition from future as well as present generations, is one of the objects of this work ; and for this purpose it could have no worthier name upon its list than that of Isaac Kimball Gage. Born in Boscawen, Oct. 27, 1818, the son of William H. and Polly (Morrison) Gage, he was educated at the district schools and Boscawen and Franklin academies. In 1841 he engaged in trade in Fisherville, in partnership with Luther G. Johnson, leaving in 1850 to enter the employ of the Essex company at Lawrence. Return- ing in 1854, from that year until 1882 he was a member of the firm of Gage, Porter & Company, saw manufacturers. Since 1857 he has been actively engaged in the insurance business, and is now senior member of the firm of Gage, Buxton & Company, agents for the leading fire com- panies. Aside from these duties, those of an extensive farmer and dairyman at present occupy his time. Mr. Gage's public relations have been so numerous and varied that their mere summary almost exceeds our space limits : ensign in the state militia 1839, member of the first Lawrence (Mass. ) common council 1852 and president of it 1853, treas- urer of the New England Agricultural society 1865-'69, member of the constitutional convention 1876, postmaster at Fisherville 1846-'50, justice of the peace since 1846, notary public since 1883, trustee of Penacook academy during its existence, secretary of the New Hamp- shire Orphans' Home, is but an incomplete list. He has been a member of the New Hampshire Historical society since 1872, and in 1876 was given the degree of A. M. by Dartmouth college. Perhaps his most recent public service was his promotion of the now highly successful Penacook and Boscawen Water Works. In October, 1892, Mr. Gage celebrated the golden anniversary of his marriage to Miss Susan John- son, by whom he has four children, three daughters and one son.
366
WILLIS G. BUXTON.
T O become a successful lawyer and the holder of important public positions while still a young man, is a sufficient test of ability and integrity as well as of popularity. That is the success which Willis George Buxton of Penacook has achieved. Mr. Buxton was born in Henniker, August 22, 1856, the son of Daniel M. and Abbie .1. (Whittaker) Buxton. He attended Clinton Grove and New London academies and graduated from the Boston University Law school in the class of 1879. He was admitted to the bar in March of the same year and practised his profession for a short time at Hillsborough Bridge. Removing to Penacook in 1882, and becoming the worthy successor of the late Judge Butler, Mr. Buxton has enjoyed from the first a large practice, which is constantly upon the increase. In consultation and in the active prosecution of cases he is alike successful. In politics Mr. Buxton is recognized as one of the potent forces in his adopted town. For six years he was a member of its board of education and has served as town treasurer and in other local positions. In 1889 he represented Boscawen in the constitutional convention, and for many years has been a member of the Republican state committee. Prudent and saga- cious, yet determined and persevering, Mr. Buxton has a future before him in the law and politics of New Hampshire.
367
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HON. HORACE A. BROWN.
H ON. HORACE A. BROWN was born in Cornish, N. H., Octo- ber 3, 1823. His early life was spent on a farm in Windsor, Vt., and at the age of thirteen years he entered the office of The Dem- ocratic Statesman, and subsequently that of The National Eagle, of Claremont, where he served an apprenticeship of four years. In 1844 he was employed by the Claremont Manufacturing company ; in 1847, in partnership with Joseph Weber, was publisher of The Northern Intel- ligencer ; again for three years in The National Eagle office ; in 1851- 52, pressman for the Claremont Manufacturing company, and in the latter year entered the employ of the New Hampshire Statesman, in Concord, and, with the exception of four years, has been a member of its force ever since. In 1866-'67 Mr. Brown was assessor for Ward Four, Concord, alderman in 1868-69, representative in 1875-76, mayor in 1878-'79, commissioner of highways for the same years, and was for many years secretary of the Republican city committee. In fraternal life Mr. Brown has been highly honored. In Odd Fellowship he passed through the various positions of honor and trust, to the office of grand master, which position he held in 1883. In Masonry, he was master of Blazing Star lodge from 1871-'75, inclusive ; high priest of Trinity Royal Arch chapter in 1873, grand high priest in 1891-'92, and is now prelate of Mount Horeb commandery, Knights Templar. He is also a devoted member of St. Paul's Episcopal church-was a member of the choir for thirty-five years, has been secretary of the annual dio- cesan convention continuously since 1857, is a member of the standing committee of the diocese, and has been a licensed lay reader of the diocese for years. Mr. Brown was married, May 29, 1845, to Miss Sarah S. Booth, daughter of Col. Hosea Booth, of Claremont, and has one son now living. His life has been one of great activity, honorable alike to himself and to the state.
368
JOHN W. BOURLET.
J JOHN W. BOURLET, commissioner of labor, was born in New York City, March 7, 1850, and is the eldest son of the late John W. and Dorothy True (Batchelder) Bourlet. In 1859 he became a resident of Concord, in the suburbs of which he lived for seven years on a farm, receiving such education as the public schools gave in the limited time he was privileged to attend them. In 1866, at the age of sixteen years. he became apprenticed to the Monitor office, and with the exception of a few months, was in its employ until May, 1893, when he was placed at the head of the newly-created bureau of labor by Governor Smith.
He is widely known as a printer, and at that time was foreman of the job printing department, which position he had held since 1879. Apart from these duties he has been, since 1884, editor of the Odd Fellows department of the Monitor and Statesman, has been a member of the New Hampshire Press association for several years, and is now secre- tary and treasurer of the National Odd Fellows Press association. In 1887 he was a member of the legislature from Ward Four, Concord, and served as chairman of the committee on printers' accounts, and as clerk of the committee on labor. He was also clerk of the Mer- rimack county convention and was one of the county auditors for two years. As an Odd Fellow Mr. Bourlet has had exceptional prominence. The highest honors of the subordinate and grand bodies have been con- ferred upon him, he having been grand master in 1891-'92, and grand rep- resentative to the Sovereign grand lodge in 1892-93. He is also secre- tary of the Merrimack County Odd Fellows Relief association, and edi- tor and publisher of the Popular Odd Fellow, a monthly review of the literature of Odd Fellowship. In all the walks of life he has reflected honor upon himself and the state.
369
HON. FRANK JONES.
H ON. FRANK JONES, of Portsmouth, was born at Barrington, Strafford county, N. H., Sept. 15, 1832. At the age of seven- teen he engaged as clerk in the hardware and tin business, at Ports- mouth, where by patient industry and honest methods, he opened the pathway to fame and fortune. He soon became partner, and later sole proprietor of the establishment. His life has been one of remarkable prosperity, making him a conspicuous example of " self-made" New England men. In 1858 Mr. Jones became interested in the brewing business, which has under his sagacious management attained to first rank among the breweries of America. Born with the germ of Democ- racy within him, he is always true to its principles. A leader and direc- tor in his party, he was twice elected mayor of Portsmouth, and was a member of the forty-fourth and forty-fifth congresses. Mr. Jones is closely identified with banks, insurance companies, and railroads. He is a director of the Lancaster Trust Company, of the Wolfeborough Loan and Banking Company, and of the National Bank of Portsmouth. He is president of the Portsmouth & Dover railroad, of the Granite State Fire Insurance Company, and of the Portsmouth Fire Association, and has through late years devoted much time to the active duties of the presidency of the Boston & Maine railroad. Mr. Jones is largely inter- ested in hotel property, north, south, east, and west. The luxurious Rockingham at Portsmouth, and the magnificent Wentworth at New- castle, both marvels of modern hotel architecture, are structures of his own design, erected and equipped under his direction. The homestead residence of Mr. Jones, " The Farm," (one mile from the Rockingham ), with its thousand acres inclosed, its hedges and charming grounds, conservatories, etc., is by his courtesy the " Public Garden " of Ports- mouth. His home is New Hampshire, its prosperity his pride, and his life-work has been in aid of its growth and influence.
370
HON. JOHN W. SANBORN.
H ON. JOHN W. SANBORN, born in Wakefield, Carroll county, June 16, 1822, was educated in the schools of that town, and passed his boyhood upon the farm of his father. When twenty-four years of age he began buying, selling, and shipping cattle, also became largely interested in the lumber business. Although nevera lawyer, he was frequently called into counsel by his neighbors and citizens of his county, and had an extensive practice in the settlement of estates. He represented his town in the legislatures of 1861 and 1862 : was a mem- ber of the executive council in 1863. In politics a Democrat, he was elected to the state senate in 1874 and 1875. and president of that body the latter year, and was a member of the constitutional conventions of 1876 and 1890. and has held many official positions connected with the state institutions. He is a director in several railroad corporations. banks, and insurance companies, also the president of the Wolfeborough Loan and Banking Company. During the Civil War he believed in and aided its vigorous prosecution in organizing troops and seeing that his locality seasonably furnished its quota. Financially and otherwise, he contributed toward the raising and equipment of Company A. Thirteenth New Hampshire Volunteers. Mr. Sanborn became interested in the extension of the Portsmouth, Great Falls & Conway railroad, and the building of the Wolfeborough railroad. In 1874 he was appointed superintendent of the Conway division of the Eastern railroad, and upon its consolidation with the Boston & Maine, he became a division superintendent of that great railway system, and in 1892 he was chosen general manager of the system, which position he now holds. Mr. Sanborn is a genial and true friend, whose rugged personality has im- pressed itself upon many an important bit of legislation, as recorded in the history of the business enterprises of New Hampshire.
371
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HON. ALVAH W. SULLOWAY.
M ANY of New Hampshire's most noted men are natives of other
states. Such a man is Alvah W. Sulloway who was born in Framingham, Mass., Dec. 25, 1838, and he has resided in Franklin since 1860. He was educated in the common schools, at the Green Mountain Liberal Institute at Woodstock, Vt., at Barre (Vt. ) academy, and at Canaan academy. A considerable portion of his time between the ages of ten and twenty-one was spent in his father's hosiery mill at Enfield, and at the age of twenty-one he came to Franklin and formed a partnership with Walter Aiken, which continued four years, when Mr. Aiken was succeeded by Frank H. Daniell who continued until 1869, since which time Mr. Sulloway has been sole proprietor and principal owner in the Sulloway Mills corporation which has been recently formed. Mr. Sulloway has had an active career in railroad circles, having been since 1880 a director in the Northern railroad corporation, and its president since 1885, and a director in the Boston & Maine railroad since 1889. Since 1879, the year of its organization, he has been president of the Franklin National bank. In politics he has been more than ordinarily prominent also, beginning in 1871 as a member of the legislature, fol- lowed by a reelection in 1872, 1874, and 1875, and by a position as railroad commissioner from 1874 to 1877, membership in National con- ventions since 1876 and of the Democratic National Committee since 1876 and in the New Hampshire Senate in 1891. To speak of Mr. Sulloway one must mention always his immense energy. Few men in New Hampshire would have been able to cope successfully with the vast amount of business that he has undertaken, and few men could have dealt so promptly and so correctly with the details of all the various interests. No brief record of his career can show that career. To understand and to measure its success would require an intimate knowl- edge of the most important political and financial transactions in New Hampshire for a score of years.
372
O
HON. CHARLES A. SINCLAIR.
C HARLES A. SINCLAIR was born in Bethlehem, Aug. 21, 1848, and is the son of Hon. John G. Sinclair. He was educated in New- bury, Vt., at Sanbornton Bridge, and prepared for college at Phillips Exeter academy. He entered Dartmouth with the class of 1871, but did not graduate. From 1869 to 1873 he made his residence in Little- ton, and since the latter date has lived in Portsmouth, where he has been actively engaged in business, coming in later years to be closely identified with the railroad corporations of New England, having been president of the Worcester. Nashua & Rochester railroad since 1884. president of the Manchester & Lawrence railroad since 1887. and direc- tor of the Boston & Maine railroad for a number of years. He is, more- over, a director in many other financial institutions of great importance. In 1871 he was a member of the staff of Gov. James A. Weston, and in 1873 served in the legislature as a representative from Littleton. In 1889 and in 1891 he was a member of the New Hampshire senate, and in the latter year was his party's candidate for United States senator. In 1893 he was again returned to the house of representatives. In addition to his other business connections, Colonel Sinclair has been for several years proprietor of the Portsmouth Evening Times, and has cordially approved the enterprise of that paper's managers in forcing it to the front among New England newspapers. Colonel Sinclair is one of the busiest as well as one of the most successful of men. His whole time is taken up with his multifarious business connections. As presi- cent of railroads, as a hotel proprietor, as a business man in general, as financier, as a manufacturer, Colonel Sinclair's business interests cover the whole of New England in their scope : yet so deftly does he manage them, and so closely has he organized their various interests, that their burdens sit lightly upon him. Colonel Sinclair is a genial man, and has attached to himself a host of devoted friends, who have made his inter- ests their own.
373
HORACE E. CHAMBERLIN.
H ORACE E. CHAMBERLIN was born in Newbury, Vt., Novem- ber 20, 1834, and is the son of John E. Chamberlin and Laura Willard. His education was obtained at Bradford (Vt. ) academy and at Newbury seminary, and his entire life, since leaving, has been spent in railroad service, beginning first as agent of the Boston, Concord & Montreal railroad at Littleton, where he remained for seven years, fol- lowed by service in a similar capacity at Burlington, Vt., for one year, and then for six years at Rutland, Vt., as general freight agent of the Rutland railroad, followed by nearly twenty years of service as superin- tendent of the Concord railroad, following the consolidation of that rail- road with the Boston, Concord & Montreal railroad with two years' ser- vice in a similar capacity. Then he resigned, becoming a year later act- ing superintendent of the Concord division of the Boston & Maine rail- road, during the absence of Hon. George E. Todd in Europe, and after six months of service, succeeding the latter gentleman as superintendent of the division. In all the years of Mr. Chamberlin's devotion to one calling he has developed a remarkable degree of ability in railroad work. Holding almost from the first a position requiring the display of executive judgment, he has gone on with increasing success and ease of execution. The smallest details of railroad management are known to him and the larger necessities of traffic are met and overcome. Mr. Chamberlin is one of the group of men who have watched almost the entire growth and development of New Hampshire's railroad systems ; to him its railroad history is an open book and from its pages he has conned the lesson of experience and has applied it in daily life as exemplified by his conduct of the interests committed to his charge.
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