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 8
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90
GEN. RICHARD N. BATCHELDER.
I N recommending Gen. Richard N. Batchelder, of New Hampshire,
for appointment as quartermaster-general of the army, that dis- criminating military critic, Gen. Francis A. Walker, the historian of the Second army corps, said: " No other man's services can exceed his in the claims they make upon the consideration and gratitude of his countrymen." It is impossible in this brief sketch to give even a synopsis of General Batchelder's military career, a career which won for him the confidence and affection of the commanders of our armies, which advanced him in the volunteer service by rapid promotion from the rank of quartermaster of the First New Hampshire regiment to the responsible position of chief quartermaster of the Army of the Potomac ; which carried him over the heads of six seniors in the regular service, and all of them West Point graduates, when President Harrison was called upon to appoint a quartermaster-general of the army, and which secured for him indorsements and recommendations for that position unsurpassed in the history of the regular army. One of the first of New Hampshire's citizens to volunteer at the outbreak of the Rebellion, he has reached the highest rank in the regular service of any volunteer from this state, and it is not too much to say of him that he is the most efficient quartermaster-general the army has ever had. General Batchelder is the son of Nathan and Peace (Clifford) Batchelder, and was born in the old town of Meredith, July 27, 1832. His parents moved to Manchester in his youth, and he was educated in the public schools of that city. He started out in life in business with his father, and was well advanced upon distinguished civil career when the first call came for troops to put down the Rebellion. With a genius born to command, he has adorned whatever position he has been called to occupy. His life is filled with successes and honors. Loyal in his friendships, his achievements have been without envy among his associates.
91
ADMIRAL JOHN GRIMES WALKER.
J OHN GRIMES WALKER was born in Hillsborough, March 20, 1835. After the death of his mother he came under the care of his uncle, Governor Grimes, of Jowa, and entered the naval academy from that state in 1850. He graduated at the head of his class, and at the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion was a lieutenant. He served with distinguished gallantry at the taking of New Orleans and Vicks- burg, and in almost all the battles on the Mississippi river and its trib- utaries during the years 1862 and 1863, commanding various expedi- tions in which several vessels were engaged. His conduct at Arkansas post, during the siege of Vicksburg, and on the Yazoo river was men- tioned with great praise by Admiral Porter in his reports to the navy department. He also commanded the gunboat Shawmut at the taking of Wilmington, N. C., in 1865, and was engaged in the closing opera- tions of the war on James river. He was always commended for cool- ness, sound judgment, and integrity, and was specially promoted to the rank of commander for gallant and meritorious service. In 1866 he was made assistant superintendent of the naval academy at Annapolis, and in 1873, after a cruise, was appointed secretary of the lighthouse board. This place he filled most acceptably for five years, bringing the work to a high state of efficiency. During a two years leave of absence, from 1878 to 1880, he occupied himself in the management of the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Railroad, but the autumn of 1881 found him-after more sea service-again in Washington as chief of the bureau of navigation in the navy department, with the rank of commo- dore. Here he served eight years, performing the duties of an onerous position with honor to himself and great benefit to the navy. In 1889 he was assigned as rear-admiral to the command of the squadron of evolution, in which our new ships were collected. This squadron was in 1892 merged in the North Atlantic squadron, which Admiral Walker now commands.
92
1
GEN. OLIVER LYMAN SPAULDING.
G EN. OLIVER LYMAN SPAULDING, son of Lyman and I Susan (Marshall) Spaulding, was born at Jaffrey, New Hamp- shire, August 2, 1833. He entered Oberlin college in 1851, and grad- uated in 1855, in which year he removed to Michigan. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1858, and in the same year was elected a regent of the University of Michigan. In July, 1862, he raised a company for the Twenty-third Michigan infantry, of which he was made captain, successively being made major, lieutenant-colonel, and colonel. and brevetted brigadier-general at the close of the war. In 1866 he was elected secretary of state of Michigan, and reelected in 1868. In 1875 he was appointed special agent of the treasury, and made a study of customs matters, and while holding this office was elected to the Forty- seventh congress, serving on the committees on military affairs and Indian affairs, but failed of election to the Forty-eighth congress in a Democratic district by less than fifty votes. In 1883 he was chairman of a commission sent to the Sandwich Islands to investigate alleged violations of the Hawaiian reciprocity treaty. On his return he resumed the practice of law, and subsequently was reappointed special agent. resigning the office in December, 1885. He was reappointed in 1889 by Secretary Windom, and upon the selection of Assistant Secretary Tichenor as one of the general appraisers, he was appointed assistant secretary of the treasury, and given complete charge of customs matters. In this position he was called upon to decide intricate and important questions under the Mckinley tariff law, and was also called upon to ex- amine other important questions requiring the exercise of sound judg- ment as well as the possession of superior legal abilities. During the absence of Secretary Foster he was almost invariably designated as acting secretary, and in the discharge of the various duties he was called on to perform, enjoyed the full confidence of the president and the secretary of the treasury.
93
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GEN. JOAB NELSON PATTERSON.
T HE long lines of the boys in blue, who fought so bravely and died so nobly, if need be, for their country, are fast thinning out ; and it becomes highly desirable to preserve in permanent form the record of their valiant service. Very few can boast a longer or more honorable "following of the flag" than General Joab Nelson Patterson. Born in Hopkinton, January 2, 1835, the son of Joab and Mary (Lovering) Patterson, he was educated at Hopkinton academy and the New Hampton institute, and Dartmouth college, where he grad- uated in the class of 1860. Enlisting as a private, April 22, 1861. he served the Union cause faithfully and well until mustered out, December 19, 1865. He was in twenty-four engagements, from the first Bull Run to the taking of Richmond, and rose rapidly through the different degrees of rank until March 13, 1865, he was appointed brevet briga- dier general for "courage in battle and good conduct throughout the war." Upon the establishment of peace General Patterson took up his permanent abode in Concord, and represented the capital city in the legislature of 1866. From March, 1867, to December, 1886, he served as United States marshal for the district of New Hampshire. In June, 1889, he was appointed second auditor of the United States treasury, a position which he filled with credit until the change of administration brought him a successor. He is now successfully engaged in the life insurance business at 1,326 F street, Washington, D. C. After the close of the war General Patterson held a brigadier's commission in the state force. When the militia was reorganized, however, he retired and had no active connection with the citizen soldiery again until April 18, 1879, when he was commissioned colonel of the Third regiment. His valuable service in that position, and later as brigadier-general of the First brigade. N. H. N. G., is still fresh in the minds of all.
94
COL. CARROLL DAVIDSON WRIGHT.
ARROLL DAVIDSON WRIGHT was born in Dunbarton. July 25, 1840. He was educated at Tubbs's Union academy. at Washington, the Cold River academy, at Alstead, and the academy at Chester, Vt .. and also in the High school at Reading, Mass. In 1860 he began the study of law with Wheeler & Faulkner of Keene, but concluded his studies in Boston. In September, 1862, he enlisted at Keene as a private in the Fourteenth New Hampshire regiment, but was made a second lieutenant of Company C in that regiment just before it departed for the seat of war in October. In December, 1863. he was made adjutant of the regiment, and in December, 1864, was commissioned as its colonel. On account of illness he resigned in March, 1865, and later on returned to the study of law, and was admit- ted to the New Hampshire bar in October, 1865. He did not com- mence practice until August, 1867, and then at Boston. In the same year he was admitted to the bar in Massachusetts; also to practice in the United States courts. He was elected to the Massachusetts sen- ate in 1871, and served during the sessions of 1872-73. In June, 1873, he was appointed chief of the Massachusetts bureau of statistics of labor, and served until September, 1888. He was a presidential elector in 1876. He took the state census of Massachusetts in 1875 and 1885, and was also supervisor of the United States census of 1880 for the state. In 1885 he was commissioned by the governor to investi- gate the public records of towns, parishes, counties, and courts, and in January, 1885. he was appointed United States commissioner of labor. Mr. Wright still holds this position. He was lecturer during 1879 on phases of the labor question at the Lowell institute, in Boston, and in 1881, at Harvard, was university lecturer on the factory system. He has been university lecturer on statistics and other subjects at Johns Hopkins and other prominent American universities.
95
JACOB RICHARDS DODGE.
J ACOB RICHARDS DODGE was born in New Boston, New Hampshire, September 28, 1823. His education was obtained in common schools and academies, in Richard Boylston's Farmers' Cabinet office in Amherst, in teaching, in journalism, and in technical and scientific investigation. Though not a college graduate, he received in 1880 an honorary degree of A. M. from Dartmouth college. From 1845 to 1849, inclusive, he taught an academy in Mississippi, and during the five years following he was editor and co-proprietor of the Nashua Oasis, and afterwards editor and publisher of the Ameri- can Ruralist, at Springfield, Ohio. In 1861 he went to Washington, and through the long session of the first war congress was senate reporter for the National Republican and also for the National Intelli- gencer, which was still under the management of Colonel Seaton. On the organization of the department of agriculture he was offered a posi- tion, at the suggestion of the Ohio delegation in congress, including Senators Ben Wade and John Sherman. For four years following, he was employed in editorial and statistical work, and was also connected with the New York Associated Press as congressional special; he became statistician of the department, May 6, 1866, in which position he remained until March 31, 1893, except about three years in which he was in charge of the agricultural statistics of the tenth census, and in expert service in the bureau of statistics of the treasury department. In 1873 he spent the summer in Europe, on an investigation of the statistical methods of the principal governments, and as honorary com- missioner to the Vienna World's exhibition, appointed by direction of President Grant. In 1887 he made a supplementary investigation in London, Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Vienna, and Rome, attending in the latter city the sessions of the International Statistical institute, of which he is an original member.
96
HON. FRANK D. CURRIER.
H ON. FRANK D. CURRIER. In the line of alert, progressive, and brilliant young men of the later generation in New Hamp- shire, Hon. Frank D. Currier occupies a prominent position. He was born in Canaan, October 30, 1853, and educated in the public schools of that town, Kimball Union academy at Meriden, and Dr. Dixon's school at Lowell, Mass. He first studied law in the office of Pike & Blodgett at Franklin, but was admitted to the Grafton county bar from the office of George W. Murray of Canaan in November, 1874. Imme- diately entering upon the successful practice of his profession in his native town. he continued there until May 19. 1890, when he was appointed naval officer of customs for the district of Boston and Charles- town by President Harrison. Mr. Currier during his professional career in New Hampshire was conspicuously prominent in the politics of the state. He was a member of the house of representatives in 1879. clerk of the state senate from 1883 to 1886, was elected a mem- ber of the senate in the latter year, presiding over that body through the session of 1887 ; was secretary of the Republican state committee in the four campaigns from 1882 to 1888, and a delegate to the Repub- lican national convention in 1884. Mr. Currier is a Mason, a member of St. Andrew's Royal Arch Chapter and of Sullivan Commandery Knights Templar. Mr. Currier possessed, to a remarkable degree, the model qualities for a vigorous and honorable career. Called, at an early age, to a prominent position in the councils of his party, the duties devolving upon him were most faithfully executed. As a public official and a legislator he has displayed the brilliant qualities that have marked him in other fields of endeavor. A winning and graceful orator, he has frequently appeared upon the political stump and as an after-dinner speaker, and achieved renown no less marked than that which has distinguished him elsewhere.
97
HON. JAMES E. FRENCH.
H ON. JAMES E. FRENCH, collector of internal revenue for the district of New Hampshire, was born at Tuftonborough, February 27, 1845, and is the son of James French and Evaline A. Moulton. In 185 1 he removed with his family to Moultonborough, and has made his residence in that town since that time. He was educated in the common schools of Moultonborough and at the seminary at Til- ton. School days over, Mr. French was a clerk in the store of his father for several years, and was also employed as clerk in the years 1864 to 1869 at Plymouth, Centre Harbor, and Great Falls. In 1869 he returned to Moultonborough to enter upon trade for himself, continuing therein until 1884, in the meantime occupying several positions of trust and responsibility. Having been active in politics, Mr. French was rewarded with many positions of honor and dignity, serving as post- master of Moultonborough from 1873 to 1884. Under the old statutes he was elected railroad commissioner of the state of New Hampshire and served from 1878 to 1883. He sat in the legislature as a member from Moultonborough in 1878 and again in 1879. In 1882 he was appointed a deputy collector of internal revenue and served until 1886. In 1887 he was a member of the New Hampshire state senate, and in November, 1889, was appointed to his present position, his district covering the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Mr. French has a remarkably acute mind, trained by constant intercourse with human nature in almost every phase of its existence. His intuitive perception is remarkably keen, and indeed this may be called his chief characteristic. Rapid in thought, quick to seize upon an emergency, Mr. French has lifted himself to successive high positions, and in each of them he has acquitted himself with credit. His present position is meritoriously bestowed, and in it Mr. French is serving with the same ability that has won for him his successive promotions.
98
COL. THOMAS P. CHENEY.
T HOMAS P. CHENEY. It is no small matter to have been prominent in a state of prominent men for a generation, and Col. Thos. P. Cheney boasts of that distinction. Colonel Cheney was born in Holderness, February 24, 1833, and was educated in the Holderness high school and the New Hampshire Conference seminary at Tilton. He was actively engaged in business until the outbreak of the war, when he enlisted in the army of the United States and served in Company A of the Sixth New Hampshire volunteers, being mustered out as a lieu- tenant. After the termination of his military service, Colonel Cheney was appointed deputy sergeant-at-arms of the United States house of representatives, and served in that position until he was appointed super- intendent of the railway mail service in the New England states, which position he held for fifteen years. Retiring from this position, Colonel Cheney was appointed by President Arthur to be pension agent at Con- cord, and held the position until 1886, when he was removed by President Cleveland. In the fall of that same year Colonel Cheney was elected to the house of representatives from Ashland, and served through the exciting session of 1887, taking a prominent part in the deliberations of the house. In 1889 he sat in the senate from the Plymouth district, and in that body his eminence in political and legislative work was by no means diminished by his record there. In 1890 Colonel Cheney again returned to the pension office, this time by appointment from President Harrison, and now holds the position. Colonel Cheney's earlier political career was crowned with honors won by great activity for his party, and in 1859 he first held office as door-keeper of the state house of representatives. Under President Lincoln, Colonel Cheney served as postmaster at Holderness. He was a member of the house of representatives, representing Holderness, in 1865 and 1866, and delegate to the Republican national convention in 1868.
99
COL. CONVERSE J. SMITH.
C ONVERSE J. SMITH, special agent of the United States treas- ury department, and in charge of the New England special agency district with official station in Boston, is a native of Plainfield. His early life was spent in Meriden, and he was educated at Kimball Union academy, graduating in the class of 1866. Mercantile business was selected as an avocation and in 1868, after a year's service in the country store of Converse Cole of Meriden, a clerkship was obtained with Messrs. Warde, Humphrey & Co., leading hardware merchants of Concord. After several years of service, upon the death of the senior member, Hon. David A. Warde, a new copartnership was formed under the firm name of Humphrey Dodge & Smith, which continued until 1889, when Mr. Smith retired. During the twenty-one years Mr. Smith was the travelling salesman of the firm, and naturally acquired a wide acquaintance, which extended far beyond his native state. In the years of 1884 and 1885 he was a member of Gov. Samuel W. Hale's staff, with rank of colonel, and was a member of the legislature in the years 1889 and 1890, representing in part the city of Concord. Colonel Smith has given considerable attention to journalism, and for two years was the regular New Hampshire correspondent of the Boston Daily Traveller. In the fall of 1890 the honorable secretary of the treasury appointed Colonel Smith a special agent of the treasury department, and six months later promoted him to the charge of the district, one of the largest territorially and considered one of the most important in the country, a position requiring great executive ability and a thorough knowledge of customs laws. Special agents of the United States treas- ury department, who have represented New Hampshire in the past, are ex-U. S. Senator Aaron H. Cragin, ex-Gov. B. F. Prescott, and Hon. Harry Bingham.
100
COL. JAMES A. WOOD.
C OL. JAMES A. WOOD was born at Alstead. May 24. 1832. and is the son of Amasa and grand-son of Benjamin Wood, a soldier of the Revolution. He was educated in the East .Alstead high school, the South Acworth high school, at Marlow academy, and at Kimball Union academy, Meriden. He taught several terms of district school, and was engaged when a young man as an auctioneer, convey- ancer. administrator, and executor of estates in Acworth and vicinity. In 1871 he became connected with the Republican Press Association as general agent, and for nearly twenty years continued with that cor- poration, visiting in that time every town in New Hampshire and acquiring an intimate personal acquaintance with nearly every business and professional man in the state. In politics Colonel Wood has been one of the most active Republicans in the state. For thirty years he was a member of the Republican state committee, and for seventeen years, with the exception of one campaign, represented Sullivan county in the executive committee and took an active part in the management of the campaigns. For twenty years he has been moderator in the town of Acworth, and has held the office of selectman. For eleven years he was postmaster at South Acworth, and in 1875 and 1877 was a mem- ber of the state legislature. In 1875 and 1876 he was a member of the staff of Gov. P. C. Cheney. In March, 1890, he was appointed con- sul of the United States at Sherbrooke. Canada, and was succeeded in July of the present year.
IOI
HON. HENRY ROBINSON.
FOR the past few years Concord, a small city, has enjoyed a metro- politan postal service. This is due entirely to Hon. Henry Robin- son, the postmaster, who was born in Concord, July 14, 1852. He was educated in the schools of the city and studied law at the Boston law school and with Minot, Tappan & Mugridge. He was admitted to the bar in 1875, and by his talents won a high place in its membership. In 1879 he was a member of the legislature, and his youth did not pre- vent him from exerting great influence in the house. In the next session he also had a seat, being the only member from Concord to be reelected . This session he served as chairman of the railroad committee. In 1885 he was a member of the state senate, and, although the youngest member of that body, was chairman of the judiciary committee. The next years of his life he devoted to his profession and to general literary work. In the summer of 1890 he was appointed to his present posi- tion. As postmaster, Mr. Robinson brought to the discharge of his duties the generous enthusiasm that has marked his life. His ideal was the best in point of efficiency and completeness. His quick perception sought many points for improving and diversifying the service, and he has given to Concord postal facilities far beyond those enjoyed by any other community of like size and importance, not hesitating to draw largely upon his own resources to supply what he deemed to be demanded. Mr. Robinson is a highly gifted man, turning his endeav- ors easily into various channels with uniform success. Suave and graceful and eloquent, he has frequently been heard upon the platform as a political orator and on other occasions, always acquitting himself with marked credit. A polished man of the world, a skilful raconteur, he is one of the most companionable of men. Mr. Robinson was married in 1878, to a daughter of the late United States Senator Edward H. Rollins, and has five children.
102
HON. ELIAS H. CHENEY.
E' LIAS H. CHENEY was born at Holderness, now Ashland. January 28, 1832, and is the son of Moses Cheney and Abigail Morrison. He was educated in the Holderness high school, New Hampton institute, and at Phillips Exeter academy. Having ended his school days he served an apprenticeship in the office of the Peter- borough Transcript, and in 1853. when his apprenticeship was ended. became editor and proprietor of the paper. In 1855 he removed to Concord and became publisher of the New Hampshire Phoenix and was subsequently engaged in the office of the New Hampshire Sentinel at Keene and the Sullivan Republican, at Newport. In 1861 he pur- chased and has since owned the Granite State Free Press at Lebanon. Mr. Cheney as a newspaper man has been foremost in the great histori- cal movements that have taken place during his editorial career. A fearless and able exponent of the truth, he has stood for the right in many a fiercely contested battle, and in the field of politics has achieved many a notable triumph. He has held office infrequently, because of his disinclination. In 1867 and 1868 he was a member of the house of representatives, and in 1885 was a member of the New Hampshire senate from the Third district. January 6, 1892, he was appointed con- sul of the United States at Matanzas, Cuba, and still holds that position. his paper being conducted by his younger son. As a journalist, Mr. Cheney has figured nobly, because of the intense virility and breadth of his conceptions. To him no task has been too arduous, no duties too severe when, as always, he has espoused the right. Puritanically con- scientious, he has achieved his prominence by the sheer weight of his intellect. by the uncompromising rectitude of his conscience, and by the severe logic of the situation which he has oftentimes created in behalf of the cause that he has championed.
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