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 9
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103
CHARLES M. DORR.
C HARLES M. DORR was born at Somersworth, May 31, 1845, and with the exception of ten years spent in Berwick, Maine, has always resided there. He was educated in the public schools of his native city and in the academies at Berwick and West Lebanon, Maine, and has been engaged in the dry goods business during most of his life, first as partner in the firm of Dorr & Hobson and since Febru- ary 1, 1892, as sole proprietor. Mr. Dorr has been a director in the Somersworth National Bank since 1880, and is also one of the trustees of the Somersworth Savings Bank; he is a prominent Mason and served as secretary, junior and senior warden of Libanus Lodge ; is a past high priest generalissimo of St. Paul Commandery, Knights Templar, of Dover, N. H. For two years he was town clerk of Somersworth and for six years one of its supervisors. He has served as moderator and for three terms sat in the house of representatives. He has been a prominent member and president of the Somersworth Republican club and for three years was a member of the Republican state committee. In February, 1890, he was appointed United States bank examiner for New Hampshire by President Harrison, and still retains that position. Mr. Dorr is fully entitled to the success that he has won ; he has worked hard and honestly to achieve it, and the credit due him covers the whole range of his endeavor. In business life he is reckoned as prompt, ready, energetic, honorable ; as a member of the legislature he served with sufficient credit to merit two reelections ; and as United States bank examiner he has followed the prescribed line of his duty with fidelity and renown. He is one of the most enterprising of citizens, one of the most companionable of men, one of the most faithful of officers.
101
HON. HENRY P. ROLFE.
[N' the front rank of the eminent practitioners of the New Hampshire bar stands Hon. Henry P'. Rolfe of Concord, who was born at Boscawen, February 13, 1821. He was educated in the district schools, at New Hampton institute, and at Dartmouth college, where he was graduated in the class of 1848. He studied law with Hon. Asa Fowler of Concord, and was admitted to the bar in 1851. Immediately open- ing an office in Concord, he maintained himself with credit, advancing in professional reputation and influence, and winning in 1869 an appoint- ment as United States district attorney for New Hampshire, and hold- ing the office for five years. During the years 1852 and 1853 he was a member of the board of education for Concord, serving as chairman during one year, and was a representative in the legislature, as a Demo- crat in 1853, returning as a Republican during the stormy years of 1863 and 1864. He has also received other political honors, among them being an appointment as postmaster of Concord from Andrew Johnson. And he served on the lake commission in 1878-89 by appointment of Governor Prescott. He was Democratic candidate for state senator in 1859 and 1860, and Democratic candidate for the electoral college on the Douglas ticket in 1860. He has always been a strong prohibitionst and a total abstainer from the use of tobacco and intoxicat- ing liquors. Mr. Rolfe is one of the Nestors of the New Hampshire bar. His practice extends over the years when intellectual giants stood before the tribunals of the state, and among those men Mr. Rolfe easily maintained himself with credit. In all the branches of his professional service Mr. Rolfe has won conspicuous success. As a counsellor he is unerring and sagacious ; as an advocate his career has been marked with triumph.
105
MAJOR FRED A. BARKER.
F RED A. BARKER was born in Westmoreland, September 16, 1835, the son of Col. Tileston A. Barker and Semira Albee. He secured his education in the town schools, taking a high school course, and at the age of eighteen left home to become an express messenger for Fiske & Co., running from Boston to Burlington. For twenty-five years thereafter he was with the United States & Canada Express Co., with Thompson & Co.'s Express, and with the American Express Co., serving all three companies as agent at Keene. Always an enthusiastic Democrat, he has been advanced in political honors. In 1871 he served on the staff of Governor Weston, with the rank of colonel, and in 1876 was a delegate to the Democratic national convention at St. Louis. In 1883 he was elected a member of the legislature from a strong Repub- lican ward, and for three years was a member of the city council, and for the same length of time served as assessor. During President Cleveland's first administration, Colonel Barker served as United States marshal for the district of New Hampshire, and upon retiring from that position became freight agent of the Boston & Maine R. R., with an office at Keene. In 1861 Governor Berry appointed Colonel Barker recruiting officer at Keene, and he enlisted several hundred men for the war. In 1877, when the state militia was reviewed, Colonel Barker took a great interest in naming and organizing the Keene Light Guard Battalion, Companies G and H of the Second regiment, N. H. N. G. He was elected first lieutenant Company G, and promoted to be quar- termaster and major. Colonel Barker is a man of eminently solid quali- ties and he has displayed in the various positions that he has filled a marked degree of adaptability. In public office he has served faith- fully, and in political campaigns his worth has been time and again manifested. His genial disposition has attracted numerous friends, and the worth of his character has retained them.
106
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COL. JOHN PENDER.
C OL. JOHN PENDER of Portsmouth was born of Scotch de- scent. the son of Hugh Pender and Margaret Lenox Paton, at Southbridge, Mass., June 7. 1843. His parents removed to Ports- mouth when their son was but three years of age, and in the com- mon schools of that city Colonel Pender was educated. His parents were poor, but the undaunted courage of the Scotch lad gave him a prestige even in his school days. In 1853 he began work as a factory boy in the Portsmouth mills, and from that time until now has steadily advanced in the world. He was a member of the Portsmouth city council in 1867 and 1868, of the board of aldermen in 1869 and 1870, and in 1871 and 1872 was a member of the legislature. He entered the Portsmouth custom house in 1873 and remained there until 1885. the advent of the Cleveland administration. Since then he has been engaged in a general insurance business in Portsmouth, classing among his clients the most prominent and best known and wealthiest people of the state. Colonel Pender was a member of Governor Hale's staff, and there received his military title. In 1890 Colonel Pender pur- chased the Portsmouth Evening Post, and has since that time been its proprietor and publisher. He has for many years been a member of the Republican state committee and has been a wheel-horse of his party in all the stirring campaigns that have been fought in and around old . Strawberry Bank." Colonel Pender has won his success by his indomitable courage. Handicapped in his youth, he has overcome obstacles and climbed the pathway of competence. His life has been one of advance, which is not checked as years go on.
107
GEN. DANIEL M. WHITE.
D ANIEL M. WHITE was born at Peterborough, May 4, 1844, and is the son of Isaac D. White and Timnah Mansfield. He was educated in the common schools of Peterborough, at the Peter- borough academy, and at the McCollom institute, and had hardly finished his education when he enlisted as a private in Company E of the First regiment, New Hampshire cavalry, and was promoted to be lieutenant, bearing that rank at the expiration of the war, when he returned home and became a teacher in the public schools of the state, continuing for ten years in that capacity. During the last three years of this time he was engaged in the study of law in the office of Hon. E. M. Smith of Peterborough, and was admitted to the bar in Hills- borough county in May, 1874. In addition to the duties involved by the practice of his profession, he took a deep interest in the develop- ment of the New Hampshire National Guard, and for seventeen years held a commission as an officer in that body. For seven years he was colonel, commanding the Second regiment, and for five years was a brigadier general, commanding the First brigade. And, as a result of his zeal, ability. and untiring efforts in the discharge of his duties, New Hampshire could boast of as good and well disciplined military organization as any state in the Union at the time he retired from the command of the brigade. In 1877 he was appointed by Governor Prescott a member of a commission to revise or draft a new military code for the reorganization and government of the state militia. General White retired from military service in 1889. In 1878 he sat in the state senate, serving with distinction. In August, 1887, Gen- eral White was appointed consul of the United States at Sherbrooke, Canada, and served until March 13, 1890, when he was relieved. Since then General White has practised law at Peterborough.
108
HON. ARTHUR LIVERMORE MESERVE.
RTHUR LIVERMORE MESERVE was born in Bartlett, A April 18, 1838. He was named for Judge Arthur Livermore of Plymouth, who was a friend of the older members of the family. He was educated in the common schools and at home, both of his parents being teachers. He has been a merchant and connected more or less with railroads. He is possessed of literary taste and has written very much for the press. He is one of the leading citizens of his section of the state and has filled all the various town offices many times. He was representative in 1873-74, and was a member of Governor Wes- ton's staff, with the rank of colonel. He was county commissioner of Carroll county from 1875-78 and was a member of the council of Gov- ernor Bell, being elected from his district by a large majority. He has had much to do in building up the village of Bartlett, and has seen it grow from a little farming community to a lively. bustling place. He belongs to the Odd Fellows and Masonic fraternities, being a member of the North Star commandery at Lancaster. He is also a member of the Sons of the Revolution, being eligible by the Revolutionary ser- vice of his great grandfather on his mother's side. On his father's side is numbered George Meserve, who before the Revolution was a collector of both the ports of Portsmouth and Boston. He was also the one who brought over the stamps from England which his neighbors in Portsmouth compelled him to burn, and also hung him in effigy. Colonel Meserve, who commanded a regiment at the siege of Louis- burg in the old French War, was also of the family. Mr. Meserve is not a member of any church, but is inclined to the Episcopal church, whose services he attends.
100
HON. WARREN BROWN.
I N the front rank of the men engaged in the fundamental industry of
New Hampshire, agriculture, stands Hon. Warren Brown of Hampton Falls, who was born in that place August 11, 1836, the son of John Berry Brown and Sarah Murch Leavitt. He was educated in the common schools of the town, at Rockingham academy at Hampton Falls, and at the Phillips Andover academy. During all his life he has been engaged in farming and success has followed his efforts, yet Mr. Brown may boast of honors in another field. Having turned his atten- tion to politics, Mr. Brown was elected to the legislature in 1871 and followed this with a seat in the New Hampshire senate in 1872 and again in 1873. His next advance was to the executive council, where under the revised constitution he sat for the two years embraced in Governor Head's term. In 1884 he was a delegate to the Republican national convention. Mr. Brown as a farmer has been among the first to recognize the value of associated effort, and as president of the New Hampshire Agricultural Society he served for eleven years with un- wavering success, the society under his administration reaching its acme of usefulness and grandeur. As trustee of the New England Agricultural Society he has served for twenty-four years, and is now its treasurer and one of the most valued members of the executive board of that sterling, old-time, yet ever young and vigorous, organization. Mr. Brown realized, too, the value of education to the farmer, and has always been deeply interested in the growth and development of the state col- lege. Serving as trustee of that institution, he did much for its advance- ment during the earlier years of its existence ; and later, as the scope of the institution widened, Mr. Brown, as member of the board of control of the experiment station, keeping closely in touch with the scien- tific progress of the age as related to agriculture, has been largely instrumental in placing the work of the station upon a high, practical, and scientific plane.
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HON. LYMAN DEWEY STEVENS.
L YMAN DEWEY STEVENS was born in Piermont, Septem- ber 20, 1821, and is the son of Caleb Stevens and Sally Dewey. His preparatory studies were pursued in the academy at Haverhill and he graduated from Dartmouth college in 1843. Ile became principal of the Stanstead (C. E. ) academy, where he remained for two years, and later was assistant for a short time to Jonathan Tenney, principal of the academy at Pembroke. While a teacher at Stanstead he deter- mined to study law, and began his studies in the office of E. C. John- son, Esq .. at Derby, Vt., subsequently pursuing them with Hon. Ira Perley in Concord. In October. 1847. he was admitted to the bar and at once opened an office in Concord. In 1868 and 1869 he was mayor of the city. Since 1865 he has been a director in the National State Capital Bank, and has been president of the Merrimack County Savings Bank since its organization. He was also president of the board of trade during that organization's existence. Governor Gilmore appointed Mr. Stevens commissioner to adjust the suspended war claims of New Hampshire against the United States and he was also a commissioner of the state of New Hampshire to attend the dedica- tion of the National cemetery at Gettysburg. He has been deeply interested in religious and philanthropic work, and has been a promi- nent member of the South Congregational church, is vice-president and treasurer of the New Hampshire Home Missionary society, and trustee of Kimball Union academy, of Boscawen academy, member of the board of education in Concord, and trustee and president of the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts. Polit- ical honors have come to Mr. Stevens in the form of the city solicitor- ship in 1855 and 1856, membership in the house of representatives in 1860, 1861, 1866, and 1867, presidential elector in 1872, member of the governor's council in 1881, and of the state senate in 1885.
HON. JOHN W. WHEELER.
H ON. JOHN W. WHEELER of Salem stands easily as one of the foremost men of the state, his prominence being due to activity, service, and success in the various walks of life. Mr. Wheeler was born in Salem, August 19, 1826, and has always lived there. There he has attained his success and his honors. He was educated in common schools, supplemented by attendance at Northfield academy. He early came before the public as the incumbent of various town offices, and in 1868 he first came to the legislature and was reelected the following year. In 1875 he was again in the house, and in the next session he again represented his town. In 1877 he was found in the state senate, and the following year was for a second term a member of that body. In 1881 he entered the executive council under Governor Charles H. Bell and served until 1883. During all these years of pub- lic service Mr. Wheeler sustained himself with credit. He was a faith- ful legislator, and the wishes of his constituents and the doctrines of his party found in him a willing executor. Since his retirement from office Mr. Wheeler has been by no means idle. Added to the cares of his business he has assumed the leadership of his party and has repre- sented his town in every Republican convention and has been a mem- ber of the Republican state committee. He has enjoyed the fullest confidence of the party counsellors and his energy and sagacity have been formidable factors in many a well fought and hard-earned vic- tory. Mr. Wheeler is easily the leading citizen of Salem, and full of years, full of honors, is yet in the arena, as young in soul and as alert in temperament as ever.
112
HON. JOHN A. SPALDING.
H ON. JOHN A. SPALDING of Nashua is one of the self-made men of New Hampshire. He was born in Wilton, May 29. 1837, and attended the common schools and Crosby's academy, Nashua, securing there his only education aside from that contained in the vast school of human nature. When but nineteen years of age he embarked in business for himself as a clothing dealer at Nashua, continuing in that line until he was chosen cashier of the First National Bank of Nashua, and entered upon his duties with the organization of the bank, having been its only cashier during the thirty years of the institution's existence. Mr. Spalding's work as a banker naturally has drawn him into other financial enterprises, and he has been a director in the Con- cord railroad and is now a director in the Wilton railroad and in the Worcester, Nashua & Rochester railroad, trustee in City Guaranty Savings Bank, and, in addition, has dealt extensively in real estate. He has also found time to make for himself a prominent place in the political history of the state, beginning in 1865 and 1866, when he represented Ward seven, Nashua, in the legislature of the state. Under the old constitution he was a member of the state senate of 1878, that being the last senate chosen with but twelve members. In 1883 and 1885 he served as member of the governor's council, and in 1885 was elected mayor of Nashua. In 18So he was a presidential elector upon the Republican ticket, and is at present chairman of the police commission of the city of Nashua, having been appointed by Governor Tuttle upon the organization of that body. Mr. Spalding has faithfully followed his career to success ; becoming at an early age identified with a prominent fiscal institution, he has carried along its development upon progressive lines : yet his progressiveness has ever been conservative. In politics Mr. Spalding has also represented a substantial element in his party, and the gratifying majorities that have greeted his efforts as a candidate sufficiently attest the weight of his reputation.
113
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HON. NATHANIEL HAVEN CLARK.
N ATHANIEL HAVEN CLARK was born in Plaistow, February 26, 1826, and is the son of Col. Nathaniel Clark and Betsey Brickett. He was educated at Atkinson academy and in the academy at Pembroke and has spent his life as a farmer and an old-time country miller. Mr. Clark has, however, not been allowed to give his whole attention to the demands of his calling. By the wish of his towns- people he has filled every office in their gift. In 1876 he was a mem- ber of the constitutional convention, in 1878 and 1879 he was a member of the house of representatives, in 1885 he sat in the state senate, and in 1887 was a member of the executive council, firmly declining and almost sternly forbidding his friends to work for his further political advancement. In 1885 Mr. Clark was appointed by Governor Currier a member of the commission to establish and define the boundary line between New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and under his direction this much mooted question has been thoroughly examined in all its bearings and many valuable historical results have been achieved. By his tact he prevented a possible quarrel with our neighboring common- wealth, yet, by his firmness, he secured to New Hampshire what justly belonged to her. The work of this commission is not yet completed and Mr. Clark gives to it his untiring labors for securing the rights of his state. The establishment of the true boundary between New Hamp- shire and Massachusetts is a work of no small import. Carrying with it so much of possibility, and freighted also with a delicacy of manipulation, the problem has called to its solution the rare qualities that Mr. Clark has so clearly displayed in the discharge of his duties. In his hands the state's rights will not be over-ridden, yet his inherent sense of jus- tice will not permit him to seize more than is due.
114
COL. WILLIAM S. PILLSBURY.
F ROM the town of Sutton many men have gone forth to make their mark in life, among them is William S. Pillsbury of Lon- donderry. He was born March 16, 1833, the son of Rev. Stephen Pillsbury, a Baptist minister. He was the sixth lineal descendant from William Pillsbury who came from Straffordshire, England, and settled at Dorchester in 1641. Colonel Pillsbury passed his youth in Sutton, and at the outbreak of the war enlisted in the service of his country in Company I of the Fourth New Hampshire volunteers, in which com- pany he was first lieutenant, and served also in Company A of the Ninth New Hampshire regiment. His last year of military service was passed in the capacity of ordnance officer in the first brigade of Hard- ing's division, engaged in the defence of Washington, with headquarters at Fort Reno. His title of colonel comes to him from having served on the staff of Governor Prescott. For more than twenty years Colonel Pillsbury has been engaged in business at Derry Depot as a shoe man- ufacturer, where from year to year he has seen a gratifying yet deserved increase in the business of his firm. In politics Colonel Pillsbury has always been a Republican, and as such served as county commissioner for Rockingham county, and was elected to the house of represen- tatives in 1874. In 1888 he was chosen a member of Governor Goodell's council from the Third district, where his business training. his cool, clear, calm, and considerate judgment, made him a valuable adviser in the administration of state affairs. Colonel Pillsbury's career falls nothing short of unqualified success, due wholly to his own efforts, based wholly upon his own sagacity. and conserved wholly by his own prudence. These qualities stamp a successful man in any capacity, and through all the experiences of his life, in his private business and in public business, Colonel Pillsbury has displayed these qualities with conspicuous consistency.
115
COL. FRANK C. CHURCHILL.
TT was in the town of West Fairlee, Vermont, August 2, 1850, that I Col. Frank C. Churchill, of Lebanon, was born. He lived in that town until 1868, and for two years after that was a resident of Lyme, N. H., and since 1870 has lived in Lebanon. Colonel Churchill was educated in the common and select schools and at Thetford academy. His business career was begun as a travelling salesman, and in this capacity he continued for many years, even after he had embarked in business in company with Hon. William S. Carter in the manufacture of shirts and overalls. While engaged as a commercial traveller, Col- onel Churchill visited nearly every state in the Union, and acquired an acquaintance with men and affairs, and above all with human nature, so extensive and varied that, united with his innate sagacious qualities, it has enabled him to compel success in whatever he has undertaken. Though evincing a lively interest in public affairs, though always a Republican and always acting, Colonel Churchill persistently declined preferment until 1888, when he yielded to the solicitation of his friends and was nominated to the executive council, being elected by a phe- nomenal majority. As an adviser of Governor Goodell during the term of his administration, Colonel Churchill's counsel was prudent and was always heeded. He served upon all the important committees of the council, and was secretary of the commission appointed to superintend the erection and dedication of the statue to Gen. John Stark. During Colonel Churchill's term in the council, he was chosen chairman of the Republican state committee, though not a member of that body, and conducted the campaign of 1890 with a brilliancy and shrewdness, with a capability and fidelity, and an integrity that has been rarely equalled in the political annals of the state.
I16
HON. SHERBURNE R. MERRILL.
H ON. SHERBURNE R. MERRILL was born in Newbury, N. H., January 2, 1810. When he was eight years old his father removed to Croydon, and in 1825 to Peeling (now Woodstock). N. H. The following year his father died suddenly, and the boy was thrown upon his own resources at sixteen years of age. For three years he worked upon farms in Croydon and vicinity, and at the age of nineteen set out for Boston to seek his fortune. He remained in that city seven years, attaining there by industry and frugality his first start in life. For the next sixteen years he resided in Woodstock. N. H., where he was engaged in farming and manufacturing. In October. 1852, he removed to Colebrook, where he had previously had large business dealings, and resided there until his death, which occurred April 9, 1891. During his residence in Colebrook, Mr. Merrill was extensively engaged in many important business enterprises. Although not robust in health his temperate and regular habits enabled him to accomplish an immense amount of work. As manufacturer, merchant. and financier, he was uniformly successful. In early life he was con- nected with the old state militia, serving as captain of a company from 1841 to 1849, and afterward was promoted to the rank of major and colonel. In politics he was a life-long Democrat. He represented the town of Woodstock in the legislatures of 1850 and 1851, and Colebrook in 1872 and 1873. For two terms he was a member of the state senate, and in 1889 was elected a member of Governor Goodell's council, the only Democrat to sit in that body. Mr. Merrill was a man of strong convictions and rugged honesty of opinion. In him his party had a tried and true representative. The blunt honesty of his nature sought frank expression, nor would he be satisfied with less from his oppo- nents. To the town of Colebrook he was a tower of strength. For many years he was a trustee of Colebrook academy, and a trustee of the Methodist society from the building of its church.
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