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 4
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
35
THOMAS J. WALKER.
T HOMAS J. WALKER, of the New Hampshire World's Fair
commission, was born in Bellville, Ill., March 12, 1856, received a common-school education, and studied law at the Columbian university, Washington, D. C. He was a page in the Forty-second congress, was engaged as a railroad accountant in St. Louis from 1874 to 1879, and for one year thereafter was eastern manager of the St. Louis Journal of Commerce, with offices at New York city. In the fall of 1880 he returned to Washington and became chief clerk of the agricultural division of the tenth census, remaining there until March, 1883, when he was appointed clerk to the United States commissioner of railroads. That office he resigned in 1886, and came to Plymouth and founded the Plymouth Record and a year later ob- tained control of the Northern Herald published at Lisbon, adding to those papers in 1892 the New Hampshire Advertiser, a new project in New Hampshire journalism. In newspaper circles in New Hampshire, and in New England as well, Mr. Walker has become a recognized factor. His columns teem with bright, trenchant, pertinent matter, and have given him a prestige and a standing second almost to none. Mr. Walker has persistently advocated the promotion of the summer resort interests of New Hampshire, and since his appointment as secretary of the board of World's Fair managers, which occurred at the organization of the commission, he has devoted his attention largely to the advancement and development of this branch of the state's resources, giving to an old and hackneyed subject a brightness and a versatility that have called renewed and valuable attention to its possibilities. In 1883, Mr. Walker married Grace E. Parker, daughter of the Hon. Charles Parker of Lisbon. He is a member of Olive Branch lodge of Masons, of Pemigewasset chapter, and of Pilgrim com- mandery.
36
-
HON. EDWIN G. EASTMAN.
H ON. EDWIN G. EASTMAN was born in Grantham, Novem- ber 22, 1847, and was educated in the common schools, at Kimball Union academy, Meriden, and at Dartmouth college, being a member of the class of 1874 in the latter institution. He studied law in the office of Judge A. P. Carpenter at Bath, and in March, 1876, was admitted to the bar. Since September of that year, Mr. Eastman has practiced his profession at Exeter, having been the partner of the late Gen- eral Gilman Marston. In 1876, Mr. Eastman was a member of the house of representatives from Grantham, and in 1889 sat in the state senate. From 1883 to 1887, Mr. Eastman was county solicitor of Rockingham county. In 1891, upon the death of the late Daniel Barnard, Mr. Eastman was appointed attorney-general of the state, and still holds that posi- tion. Mr. Eastman is a typical New England lawyer. His education for the law was not obtained without a struggle, and his position at the bar is merited, and has been accorded him, from the first, because of acknowledged ability. As a public prosecutor, both as county solicitor and as attorney-general, Mr. Eastman has been called to serve in many important and famous cases, and his service has been direct and positive, leaving no stone unturned to reach his desired end. As an advocate, Mr. Eastman has proved himself vigorous and suc- cessful, his natural honesty so impressing itself upon the jury as in- stinctively to prejudice its members in his favor. As a counsellor, Mr. Eastman is sagacious, keen, and conservative ; he never leads astray. Frank, almost impulsive, in judgment, his advice is relied upon with the utmost confidence. In his legislative service he has won equal credit, occupying a prominent and honorable position. As a citizen he is enterprising and respected, and his labors for the advancement of the interests of the community have been earnest and progressive.
37
HON. JOHN J. BELL.
H ON. JOHN J. BELL, of the state library commission, was born in Chester, October 30, 1827, and is the son of Samuel Dana Bell and Mary Healey. He was educated in the common schools of Exeter, Concord, and Manchester, at Concord and Man- chester academies, and pursued his professional studies in the Dane law school, at Harvard university. He was admitted to the bar of Hillsborough county, in April, 1848, and practised his profession at Nashua, Milford, at Carmel, Me., and at Exeter, where he was judge of the municipal court. In 1876 he was a member of the constitu- tional convention. In 1882 he was chairman of the commission to exam- ine into the condition of the insane poor in New Hampshire. In 1883, 1885, 1887, and 1891, he was a member of the house of representa- tives. In 1885 he was appointed a member of the commission to determine the boundary line between New Hampshire and Massachu- setts, and still retains the position ; and upon the formation of the state library commission, in 1892, Judge Bell was made a member of the board. Judge Bell's business and financial interests are very exten- sive. He is president of the Exeter M'f'g Co., of the Suncook Valley R. R., and of the Exeter R. R. He is also a director in the Concord & Portsmouth R. R., in the New Hampshire Fire Insurance Co., in the New Hampshire Life Insurance Co., and is president of the New Hampshire Historical society, of the New Hampshire library associa- tion, and of the New Hampshire state board of trade. Judge Bell's active practice of his profession ceased with his retirement from the bench, in 1883, yet it will be seen that his retirement is not an idle one. Probably no man in New Hampshire has a more extensive or more ardent interest in the various enterprises that have tended to build up the state. As president of the state board of trade, an or- ganization of which Judge Bell was one of the founders, he has been untiring in his efforts to increase the usefulness of the institution.
38
HENRY M. PUTNEY.
H ENRY M. PUTNEY, the oldest of the eight children of Henry and Abigail Putney, was born in Dunbarton, N. H., March 22, 1840. He fitted for college at New London academy, graduated at Dartmouth in the class of 1861 ; was principal of the Dunbarton high school, and at Manchester grammar school, read law in Concord. and New York city, and was admitted to the Hillsborough county bar. January 1, 1873, he became a member of the editorial staff of the Manchester Mirror, to the columns of which he had formerly been a contributor, and has ever since been employed in that capacity. In 1867-'68, he represented Dunbarton in the state legislature. He was appointed collector of internal revenue for the district of New Hamp- shire by President Arthur, and removed by Cleveland for offensive partisanship. In 1886, Governor Currier appointed him chairman of the railroad commission of New Hampshire, and he was reappointed by Governors Goodell and Tuttle. His third term expires January I, 1896. He has a wife and two daughters, and resides in Manchester.
39
HON. JOHN McLANE.
T O be twice president of the New Hampshire senate is an honor that has fallen to but one man in forty years. That man, Hon. John McLane of Milford, was born in Scotland, in 1852. When two years of age he came to this country with his parents, and has been a resident of Milford for nearly a score of years, where he is engaged in the manufacture of postoffice furniture, in this line of work ranking among the first in the country. Mr. McLane's business success has been won by fidelity and capacity. He has always taken a lively interest in the development of his town and is president of the Souhe- gan National Bank, a trustee of the Milford Savings Bank, and a director of the building and loan association. In 1885, Mr. McLane was a member of the legislature from Milford, and also again in 1887. The first term of his service saw him placed on the judiciary committee and on the committee on towns. In 1887 he was chairman of the in- surance committee and a member of the committee on the revision of statutes. In 1891 he was a member of the senate and was elected to the presidency of that body, presiding with marked dignity and urban- ity. In 1892 he was again chosen to the senate, and in 1893 he was again made president, an honor almost unprecedented. Mr. McLane's public and private life has been characterized by the most rigid and uncompromising honesty of purpose, of deed, and of word. By this characteristic he has achieved his present standing; by it he will win yet more renown. Faithful, conscientious, able, he has carved out already an enduring record in the annals of the state, and the future can add but little to his credit. Above all that could be added in honors would yet stand the man in all the virility of his integrity, in all the honesty of his judgment, in all the nobility of his purpose.
40
CHARLES J. HAMBLETT.
T HE past ten years have brought to the front in New Hampshire scores of young men of mark. Among these may be numbered Charles J. Hamblett of Nashua, who was born in that city in 1862. His parents removed to Milford when he was five years old, and in the public schools of that town he followed the usual course, graduating from the high school in 1881, and subsequently attending a private school and the academy at Francestown, from which he graduated in 1883. He read law with Robert M. Wallace of Milford, and entered the law school of Boston university in 1887. graduating therefrom two years later, having, however, taken the full three years course. He immediately opened an office in Nashua, where he soon won an envia- ble reputation among his associates in the matter of ability and patron- age. Shortly after beginning his practice he was elected city solicitor of Nashua, and was reelected for the years 1891, 1892, and 1893. In 1883, before he had become a law student, he was elected messenger of the New Hampshire senate, and was reelected in 1885. In 1887 he was advanced to be assistant clerk of that body, holding the same position during the session of 1889 also. In 1891 he succeeded to the clerkship, and was reelected in 1893. A young man of ability. he has forced his way forward and upward by his own exertions.
41
.
HON. PEARSON GOULD EVANS.
H ON. PEARSON GOULD EVANS, member of the senate of 1893 from the First district, was born in Shelburne, August 9, 1838, the son of Fletcher Ingalls Evans and Abigail Wiggin Gould. In the common schools of Shelburne and Gorham he obtained his education, and his youth was that of the ordinary New Hampshire farmer's boy. From his seventeenth to his nineteenth year he worked in a saw-mill, and in 1857 began railroading in the employ of the At- lantic & St. Lawrence railway, now the Grand Trunk, and has contin- ued in the employ of that corporation until the present time. During that length of time Senator Evans has been actively employed, and is now a locomotive engineer on the Portland division of the Grand Trunk railway, covering the road from Gorham to Portland; and to his remarkable credit it is said that for thirty-three years he has covered his route, averaging one hundred miles a day, without an accident, a record unmatched by any man in railroad circles. Mr. Evans, in 1871 and 1872, was elected to the legislature. His course during the ses- sions of those two years was highly commendable, and the long interim between that service and his next in the legislative line was due wholly to the fact that he was unwilling again to serve. In 1889, however, he again came to the house and sat through the session of that year and through the extra session of the year following. He was nom- inated to the senate in the fall of 1892, and was elected by a vote which clearly indicated his popularity. Senator Evans is one of the most reliable of men; his judgment is rarely at fault; the long years of responsibility have made him cautious, yet they have not made him timid. With all the principles of progressive legislation Senator Evans is in hearty accord, and as a legislator renders the same valuable service that has made his life in other respects so highly respectable and so thoroughly reliable.
42
HON. EDWARD WOODS.
H ON. EDWARD WOODS, member of the New Hampshire senate from the Second district, is a native of Bath, the town in which he now resides. He was born October 24. 1835. He was educated in the schools of his native town, was fitted for college at Phillips Exeter academy, and graduated from Dartmouth college in the class of 1856. He studied law with Hon. Andrew S. Woods, and was admit- ted to the bar in 1859. In addition to his legal duties Senator Woods is interested in the Lisbon Savings Bank and Trust company, of which he is president, and holds the same office in the Bath Lumber company. In politics Senator Woods is a Democrat, and as such was chosen a member of the legislature from Bath in 1873 and was reelected in 1874. In the latter year he was selected by Governor Weston as a member of his staff, serving as aide-de-camp with the rank of colonel. In pas- sing, it is worthy to note that nearly every member of this staff has since attained an enviable prominence in the various walks of life pursued by each. As an evidence of the esteem and confidence reposed in Senator Woods by his townsmen, it will be enough to say that for twenty-five years he was treasurer of Bath. Among other honors that have come to him was an election as solicitor of Grafton county, his term includ- ing the years 1889 and 1890. Senator Woods as a legislator displays the qualities that have marked him in other capacities. In him con- stituents and clients find a faithful and conscientious friend. adviser. and servant.
43
HON. NEWTON S. HUNTINGTON.
T 'HE career of Hon. Newton S. Huntington is symmetrically rounded out by a seat in the senate of New Hampshire, after years of service in the lower branch of the legislature. Mr. Hunting- ton was born in Lebanon, August 9, 1822, and for sixty-eight years has been a resident of Hanover, where until his thirty-third year he was engaged in agricultural pursuits, at that time embarking in trade, contin- uing for seven years. In 1865 he organized the Dartmouth National Bank, of which he was chosen cashier, and was elected treasurer of the Dartmouth Savings Bank, holding both of these positions for fourteen years, when he resigned and accepted the presidency of both institu- tions. Mr. Huntington has been signally honored by the citizens of the town in which he has lived so long. He has held every office within their gift. For more than thirty years he has occupied the moderator's desk, has filled every town office, has been called upon in positions of trust and responsibility, and was elected to the house of representatives in 1858, 1859, 1885, 1887, 1889, and 1891 and came to the senate from the Third district with a reputation for legislative integ- rity almost unexampled. Mr. Huntington is a man of wide experience in life, having traveled extensively in this country and in Europe. In local affairs he has always been a leader. Mr. Huntington is a man of scholarly as well as business tastes, and in recognition of this the degree of master of arts has been conferred upon him by Dartmouth college. Mr. Huntington's life has been marked by a most intense integrity. His successive return to office by the almost united voice of the people of his town, speaks louder and truer than any words of eulogy. The confidence reposed in him has never been violated. Called frequently to serve in matters requiring the closest, and at times the most delicate, of judgment, he has met each responsibility with fidelity and has acquit- ted himself with credit.
44
HON. CHARLES HAVEN DAMON.
H ON. CHARLES HAVEN DAMON, member of the senate of 1893 from the Fourth district, was born in Lowell, Mass., Sep- tember 16, 1851, the son of Warren Damon and Adeline F. Blaisdell. He was educated in the common schools of Campton, in which town he now resides, and when seventeen years of age, began work in a retail grocery store at Lowell, Mass., serving there in different capacities for ten years ; then going to Boston, where he entered the wholesale grocery business as a travelling salesman, in which capacity he is at present employed by the firm of John F. Nickerson & Co. Mr. Damon's residence, as has been noted, is in Campton, where he has received many substantial tokens of the esteem of his fellow-citizens. In 1889 he was chosen a member of the constitutional convention and his work during the session of that body was so meritorious as to secure for him an election to the house of representatives in 1890 where Mr. Damon was arrayed upon the right side of every question. taking a prominent part in the work of the session, speaking infre- quently but always forcibly, and making himself a factor in all the pro- ceedings of the session. In 1892 he became a candidate for the state senate for the remodelled Fourth district, and after a spirited campaign. in which were opposed to him some of the strongest elements of the party, Mr. Damon was nominated and his nomination was followed by a ready election. Coming to the senate, the advantage of his previous legislative experience was at once noticed, and his work has been of great value to his constituents. He has kept a watchful eye upon the proceedings of the session and has been found always ready to speak promptly and efficiently upon the subjects that lie close to his heart. Senator Damon in the course of his business career has been brought in contact with men in all parts of New England, the experience thus gained giving him a wonderful knowledge of human nature. He is a Mason and Odd Fellow.
45
HON. FRANK K. HOBBS.
H ON. FRANK K. HOBBS, who sits in the New Hampshire senate of 1893 as the member from the Fifth district, is a native and life-long resident of Carroll county. He was born in Tamworth, November 4, 1841, but is now a resident of Ossipee. He was edu- cated at Wolfeborough and at the New England Masonic institute at Effingham. During the war for the preservation of the Union, Senator Hobbs saw service in Company F, Eighteenth New Hampshire volun- teers, and was mustered out as an orderly sergeant. Since the war he has been variously employed. For one year he travelled as salesman for Stowe, Richardson & Parker, dry goods merchants of Boston ; and has been engaged in the lumber business, and as a merchant. He is now occupied in farming. Senator Hobbs was always a Democrat, and as such has been elected by his fellow-townsmen to hold every office in their gift, serving as member of the school committee and as selectman for three years. In 1875 he began his legislative service as a member of the house of representatives. In 1877 he was returned by his constituents and again in 1878. In 1880 he was elected again to the same position, but was unseated. In 1881, however, and again in 1885 he was in his place as representative from Ossipee. Through all these years of service in the lower house, Senator Hobbs has become remarkably well equipped for the duties of the senate chamber. There are few measures of public importance that have not, in some form or other, passed beneath his legislative eye in the lower branch. Hence his services are doubly valuable. His vote records the decision of a well balanced judgment strengthened by years of experience in matters of public import relating to the common welfare.
46
HON. GEORGE ALBERT HATCH.
H ON. GEORGE ALBERT HATCH, member of the senate of 1893, from the Sixth district, was born in Meredith, July 17. 1848, the son of David P. Hatch and Adeline N. Swain. He was educated in the common schools of his native town, and in early life, following the completion of his school days, he spent a considerable time in New York city as a collector of bills, and since that time has been engaged as a druggist in Laconia, and in Boston, Mass., though he is now retired from active commercial life and is engaged in real estate business in the thriving city by the lake. Since Mr. Hatch was twenty-one years old he has maintained a legal residence in Laconia. and has always taken an active part in the politics of the community. At present he is chairman of the Democratic city committee, a position that he has filled with remarkable fidelity and ability. In 1876 and 1877 he held his first office, that of town clerk, and in the two years following was a member of the legislature. Since then he has declined proffered candidacies for office although he was placed upon the ticket in 1892 as candidate for senator and was elected. Senator Hatch is prominent in Masonic circles, being a Knight Templar and a thirty- second degree Mason. He is a past presiding officer in Union Chapter and Pythagorean Council at Laconia. He received his commandery de- gree in Mt. Horeb commandery at Concord, and was made a thirty- second degree Mason in the Edward A. Raymond consistory at Nashua. In the senate Senator Hatch was a working senator, serving his constit- uents with remarkable industry. As the senator from the district embracing Laconia, much of the important legislation of the session had a deep interest for his constituents and Senator Hatch carefully guarded those interests. He was infrequently heard in debate : yet in the councils of the senate, in the committee-room, and in personal conver- sation, he was one of the influential members of the body.
47
P
HON. SHEPHERD L. BOWERS.
H ON. SHEPHERD L. BOWERS of Newport, who represents the Seventh district, in the New Hampshire senate of 1893, is a native of Acworth, and was born December 13, 1827. In the two towns named has always been his home. He was educated at Kim- ball Union academy, Meriden, at Thetford academy, Vermont, and at Dartmouth college. He read law with Hon. Asa Fowler at Concord, and immediately established himself in practice at Newport, where he has ever since been actively engaged in the practice of his profession. From 1861 to 1871 and from 1876 to 1882 he was registrar of probate for Sullivan county, and from 1886 to 1890 was county solicitor. In 1864 he was a delegate to the Republican national convention and in 1884 was alternate in the Republican national convention, in Chicago. In 1866 and in 1885 he was a member of the house of representatives, and at each session was a conspicuous member, serving at the latter date as chairman of the committee on revision of statutes. In the senate Senator Bowers is chairman of the judiciary committee, and takes an active and leading position in debate. Mr. Bowers has always been a Republican and has always taken a high place in the councils of his party, serving for many years as a member of the state com- mittee and as member of the executive committee for Sullivan county. He is deeply interested in the growth and development of Newport and is president of the Newport Improvement company. Mr. Bowers has found time in the midst of an active professional career to gratify a cultivated literary taste, and as a result of wide reading many pleasing essays and lectures have sprung from his pen. As a debater many an antagonist has felt his steel in the rush of parliamentary discussion or at the bar. Senator Bowers has been twice married, his first wife dying in 1861. He has three children, two sons and a daughter, the oldest son being at present a member of Dartmouth college.
48
HON. GEORGE S. PEAVEY.
T HE member of the New Hampshire senate from the Eighth district, Hon. George S. Peavey, was born in Greenfield, Feb- ruary 14, 1835, and was educated in that town and in the academies at Washington, Hopkinton, Pittsfield, and Hancock. Senator Peavey has always resided in Greenfield since the close of his school days, and has been actively and prominently identified with the progress of the town, having been for many years member of the firm of C. F. & G. S. Peavey, which is largely interested in the real estate business and handles thousands of cattle and sheep throughout the season, and which has an interest in almost every concern of the community. In all that has pertained to the town of Greenfield, Senator Peavey has had more than a proportional share, having been willing himself to ad- vance the town's interests by any means within his power. He has held all the offices in the gift of the town, and in the councils of his party has been prominent, having been its candidate for senator on two occasions. He, with his brother, was one of the promoters of the First National Bank of Francestown and both were directors and held a tenth part in the stock of the bank at the time it was voted to close it up in 1891. Senator Peavey's legislative experience has been marked by a long lapse of years, he having first come to the legislature in 1867, accepting a reelection in 1868. From that time, until his present appearance upon the floor of the upper house, his increasing business cares have precluded his acceptance of political office that would de- mand so large a share of his attention as would a faithful performance of senatorial duties. Yet with his increasing years has come increasing confidence, and that Senator Peavey has been enabled at last to lay aside for the time being the pursuit of private interests in order to serve his constituency, is a result more gratifying to them than to him.
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.