USA > New Hampshire > State builders; an illustrated historical and biographical record of the state of New Hampshire at the beginning of the twentieth century > Part 27
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In Mary F. Berry is found a genuinely representative type of the New Hampshire woman, legion in number, who has made herself a power in formulating and ad- vancing the thought and progress of the community during the past twenty-five years. She has been a woman with a vocation and an avocation, and throughout has shown that she possessed a versatility of talent that en- abled her to win success in any undertaking she essayed. She has that individuality, originality, and personality that leads her to be herself and not the reflection of an- other or others. Her singleness of purpose has made her a woman of convictions and never has she failed to have the courage of those convictions.
Mrs. Berry was born Mary F. Mitchell and her birth- place was Hooksett. Her parents were John H. and Mary G. (Jones) Mitchell. Her school-day life was passed in
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MRS. MARY F. BERRY
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the common schools of her town and at Pembroke acad- emy. From her native Hooksett she went to Massa- chusetts, settling finally in Stoneham. A chief event in her life while there was the entering upon a mercantile career in association with a woman friend. The two associates embarked in their enterprise without capital but with a credit of three thousand dollars with the firm's word alone as security. The enterprise prospered and it was not long ere all financial obligations were liqui- dated.
It was while engaged in operating her store that Mrs. Berry first heard that the attention of the world was called to a new interpretation of the Bible, and that the promulgation of this new idea, destined to speedily be- come a tremendous power, was by a woman, and she also a daughter of the Granite State. Her naturally inquiring and searching mentality and her innate power to grasp and fathom ideas led her to take into consideration the declarations and conclusions of the new teacher, the dis- coverer of the fact that "all causation is mind"; the founder of the church, Mrs. Mary Baker G. Eddy, holding this tenet as a great fundamental. There was that in the new interpretation and reading of the Scriptures that appealed to the heart and mind of Mrs. Berry, but she did not accept and espouse the teaching of Mrs. Eddy without most careful and conclusive investigation and reflection.
Having become a believer in Christian Science mind- healing as formulated by Mrs. Eddy, she entered upon the work with all that zeal, love of purpose, and enthusiasm that have ever been characteristic of her. She became a pupil of Mrs. Eddy as early as 1882 and at the conclusion of the prescribed course of study she returned to her native New Hampshire with the determined pur- pose, and as the first pioneer, of planting the new religion in the land of her fathers. She settled in Manchester, and bravely, yet in a womanly manner, raised the banner of
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her faith and spiritual principles. This was in the fall of 1882, and from that year to the present her heart has never failed her nor her faith laxed an iota in its zeal and devotion. The religion she taught was one that in- cluded the healing of physical illness as well as the lifting up of the spiritual being. Success is the record of Mrs. Berry's twenty years' work in Manchester. The sole pioneer in the state at first, she soon gathered about her men and women of Manchester who accepted the new way of serving their Maker and mankind. Soon a read- ing-room was engaged only to be given up for a still larger one. Outside lecturers and teachers came at vary- ing periods to help the Manchester members and eventu- ally the decision to build a church was reached. In 1898, a lot for the proposed new church was bought for forty- five hundred dollars. In 1900 plans for the construction of the church edifice began to be considered, but it was not until 1901 that the actual work of construction be- gan. A charter for the first "Church of Christ, Sci- entist," in New Hampshire, had been obtained in 1894 with twenty-three charter members. The handsome edi- fice begun in 1901 was dedicated with appropriate ser- vices on Sunday, January II, 1903. The dedication was made possible from the fact that the cost of building had been met to the uttermost cent. This re- markable result was greatly aided by a generous bequest from a departed sister. The total expense was about fourteen thousand dollars. The edifice is so built as to make an enlargement easily practicable to a seating capacity of eight hundred.
At the dedicatory services Mrs. Berry read an inter- esting history of the work in Manchester, and she was likewise one of the board of trustees that supervised the erection of the church.
Aside from her church affiliations Mrs. Berry is active and prominent in all that has to do with the advancement of the material interests of her home city.
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JOHN GAULT
NATHANIEL EVERETT MARTIN.
Of sturdy Scotch-Irish ancestry, Nathaniel Everett Martin was born in Loudon Aug. 9, 1855, the son of Theophilus B. and Sarah L. (Rowell) Martin. Mr. Mar- tin's first ancestor in this country was William Martin who landed in Boston in 1732, and made his way thence to Londonderry in this state, where was settled that ro- bust colony of Scotch-Irish emigrants from whom have sprung so many strong and vigorous sons. His great- grandfather, James Martin, was one of the first of that eager band who enlisted in the Revolutionary ranks at the outbreak of the war for independence, and though he died before the new republic had established its cause by arms, he left to his descendants a vigorous Americanism which persisted in none of the race more strongly than in the subject of this sketch.
Mr. Martin received his primary education in the schools of his native town and later took a course in the Concord High school, where his studious habits gave him high standing. He entered upon the study of the law with Sargent and Chase, each of whom it may be re- marked later served with distinction upon the supreme bench of the state, and on Aug. 14, 1879, the young at- torney was admitted to the bar. His practice from the first was lucrative and extensive, and for many years the partnership which he sustained with John H. Albin, ranked as one of the busiest law firms in New Hampshire. In 1899 this relationship was dissolved and a new part-
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nership formed with DeWitt C. Howe, which still exists with a large and remunerative clientage.
In addition to his increasing labors in his profession, Mr. Martin has successfully engaged in many business ventures and has taken an active part in the development of Concord's enterprise and prosperity by opening up large tracts of houselots and by engaging in manu- facturing enterprises. For a time, too, he was a director and the treasurer of the Sullivan County rail- road. As a skilled legal adviser Mr. Martin has frequent- ly been called upon to act as counsel for a large number of towns, and in many important instances of litigation he has served as special counsel for the city of Concord. From 1887 to 1889, he was solicitor of Merrimack Coun- ty, and by his stern and rigorous policy of law enforce- ment he won a reputation for sterling honesty which at- tracted wide support to him and which in following years was of great value in the field of politics.
In 1898, he was nominated by the Democratic party for mayor of Concord, and after a most spirited cam- paign in which Mr. Martin's record as a friend of law and order was brought forward as the main issue by his supporters, he was elected by a liberal margin. His ad- ministration of city affairs was characterized by the same manly qualities which had marked his course as a prose- cuting attorney, and he was frequently considered by his party as a possible candidate for governor.
As a lawyer Mr. Martin's special forte is that of an advocate, and the dockets of Merrimack County bristle with jury cases in which he makes the argument. Mar- shalling his facts with care and presenting them with con- summate skill, he stands in the very front rank of New Hampshire jury lawyers.
Mr. Martin was married March 27, 1902, to Jennie P. Lawrence.
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HENRY ROBINSON
HENRY ROBINSON
Henry Robinson, postmaster at Concord, New Hamp- shire, is a versatile, enterprising and popular official.
He was born at Concord; has been repeatedly elected to the local legislature, including a term in the state sen- ate; has been president of the Commercial club; was formerly postmaster for four years, and mayor for two, and is thoroughly identified with the history and develop- ment of the community.
His father, the late Nahum Robinson, was warden of the state-prison, first construction-agent of the post-office building at Concord, and an extensive contractor and builder, having connection with the erection of the greater number of the prominent buildings and business blocks of the city. His only son, Henry Robinson, mar- ried the only daughter of the late resident United States senator Edward H. Rollins.
With the exception of five years, when Mr. Robinson was pursuing his studies elsewhere under private tutors and at law school, he has continued his residence in Con- cord. He read law in the office of the late Judge Josiah Minot, Attorney-General Mason W. Tappan, and Hon. John Y. Mugridge. He was associated in the successful practice of his profession with Col. Frank H. Pierce, nephew of President Pierce, and afterward with the late Mayor Edgar H. Woodman.
He early developed a taste for politics. In 1879, although one of the youngest members of the state legis-
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lature, he won a reputation which made him a prominent candidate for the speakership at the next session, but preferred an active part on the floor, and his services as secretary of the judiciary committee and as chairman of the railroad committee of the house, during a memorable session, and subsequently as chairman of the judiciary committee of the senate, and as a member of the finance committee of that body, gave him a wide celebrity as a legislative leader and forceful and eloquent debater.
Mr. Robinson, in 1890, was appointed postmaster at Concord, by President Harrison, upon the petition of nearly all the business-houses and the people of the city. The superior postal service which he gave to the Capital city found not only a full appreciation at home, but won for him a commendable reputation elsewhere. The at- tention of the devotees generally of the mail service was attracted to him by his contributions to metropolitan journals and postal publications, and his painstaking dil- igence in the post-office and knowledge of postal affairs were recognized, not only by New Hampshire people, but by the postmaster-general and others in authority at Washington, so much so that at the opening of the Mc- Kinley administration Mr. Robinson was given a high recommendation and a very considerable support for a position as an assistant postmaster-general of the United States.
His first term as postmaster extended under President Cleveland's administration until June 16, 1894, and im- mediately after his retirement he was enthusiastically nominated and elected mayor of Concord, a position which he occupied with great ability and success for two years. During his administration as chief executive of the city. decided changes were made in the interests of business management and municipal betterment. Various abuses were unearthed, and a system of accounting of lasting value inaugurated. The city debt was reduced, wrong-
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doing punished, and safe-guards erected, and his admin- istration is pronounced by citizens, irrespective of party lines, to have been especially commendable.
. Although the law has been Mr. Robinson's profession, he has nevertheless devoted himself much to journalism and literary work. During political campaigns he has been a voluminous contributor to the newspaper press and has been a valued correspondent of the New York Tribune, Boston Globe, Springfield Republican, and other leading journals, also contributing to the local press of the state a vast deal of readable matter of a biographical and miscellaneous character, which has given him high standing as a New Hampshire newspaper man. His nom de plume of "Jean Paul " is known throughout New England, and elsewhere, as that of a vigorous, fearless, original thinker and writer, not only in politics, but in the general field of literature, for which he has a marked taste and adaptation. He has had to do, in a managerial way, with many exciting political campaigns, and he in- variably brings to his endeavors the generous enthusiasm that has characterized his whole life. He is a wide reader, with classic and refined tastes, and an accom- plished critic.
As a personal and political achievement, his candidacy for reappointment to the postmastership, in 1898, was one of the most noted in the history of our local politics, for in the pre-arranged allotment of state patronage he was not included by the powers then dominant in New Hamp- shire. He is one of the pioneers in the establishment of rural free-delivery, his office, inclusive of stations, having at present the largest free-delivery-city and rural- plant in the United States. He is the president of the New England Postmasters' association, a member of the Wonolancet club of Concord, of the Odd Fellows fra- ternity, and various other organizations.
Mr. Robinson is a highly gifted man, turning his
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endeavors easily into various channels with uniform suc- cess. Suave, graceful and eloquent, he has frequently been heard from the platform as a lecturer and political orator, always acquitting himself with credit. A polished . man of the world, a skilful raconteur, he is one of the most companionable of friends.
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HORATIO K. LIBBEY
HORATIO K. LIBBEY.
A splendid example of that type of men who in the past and the present have carried forward the work of developing and maintaining the affairs and purposes of New Hampshire's material life, and thereby made the state the grand commonwealth she has become, is Horatio K. Libbey. In him is seen, in highest per- fection, that trait so characteristic of the generations of New Hampshire men which enables one to devise, to execute and to administer.
His is a genuine New Hampshire ancestry and birth, for he descended from that John Libbey who settled in Portsmouth early in its history. His father, Ezra Bart- lett Libbey, settled in Warren in the White Mountain region, and there the son, Horatio K., was born on Oc- tober 24, 1851. His mother, Eva Kilburn (Sinclair), was a native of Chester, Vermont. It was as a widow that she married Ezra Bartlett Libbey, her first husband having been Calvin W. Cummings. She is yet ( 1903) living with her son, Calvin W. Cummings, in Plymouth at the venerable age of ninety-two and is remarkably well preserved and active.
In his boyhood life the subject of this sketch went to Manchester, in which city he attended the public schools, and from the first was an apt pupil and early displayed an ability and courage to accept responsibility. In his earlier manhood years he was employed upon the mag- nificent estate in Hartford, Connecticut, of Samuel Colt,
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the inventor of the revolver bearing his name. Event- ually leaving Hartford he was for a time the manager of an estate in Orford. His success in these respective positions was so marked as to attract the attention of others, and in 1891 he was offered the superintendency of the Hillsborough County Almshouse and farm located at Grasmere in Goffstown. This position he accepted on April Ist of that year and still retains the same. He is in addition the master of the Hillsborough County House of Correction, which is managed in conjunction with the county home and farm for the dependent poor.
These institutions considered singly or in combination are an extreme credit to the county and state, and their management reflects the utmost credit upon the admin- istrative abilities of Mr. Libbey. They are the largest of their kind in the state, and their arrangement and equipment are exceptionally efficient.
Mr. Libbey in 1873 married Miss Rebecca J. Huckins, daughter of the late Thomas P. Huckins of Warren. She died May 27, 1903, leaving, beside her husband, two daughters, Bessie A., the wife of William W. Porritt of Goffstown, and Menta B. Mrs. Libbey was one who had greatly endeared herself to all whose privilege it was to make her acquaintance. She had those qualities of heart and mind that won the respect, love and confidence of all, whatever their station in life. The high order of the management at Grasmere, which has been the ad -. miration of all since the administration of Mr. and Mrs. Libbey began, bespeak her faithful help to her husband in his exacting position.
In fraternal organizations Mr. Libbey is a member of Bible lodge, F. and A. M., Goffstown, and of Martha Washington chapter, order of the Eastern Star. He is also a member of junior Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, Grasmere. In political life he is a Republican, and in his religious preference a Congregationalist.
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LYDIA A. SCOTT
LYDIA A. SCOTT.
Prominent among the pioneers in the work of organ- izing women's clubs in New Hampshire, and markedly successful in every aspect of that effort, has been Mrs. Lydia Abigail Scott, who since 1872 has been a resident of the city of Manchester and a valued member of its social, intellectual, and religious circles. First of all she has been a worker, grandly exemplifying in that respect the traditions of her New England birth and character. Her work has been of a nature that has advanced the welfare of others, and made stronger, better and happier the community in which she has moved. Though her special lines of work have been of a public, or at least of a semi-public nature, it is a duty, and her right to have said of her, that in all this time she never neglected or made secondary the interests and demands of her home nor the obligations of an ideal womanhood and mother- hood. Indeed, the ends and purposes of her work were all calculated to elevate and make sweeter and dearer every home influence and action.
Mrs. Scott's birthplace was in China, Maine, where she was born, February 4, 1841. ' Her parents were John L. and Lydia (Carlton) Gray. On the parternal side she is of a sturdy Scotch-Irish descent, a stock known the world over for integrity of purpose, inde- pendence of thought and acuteness of intellent. On the maternal side she descended from a fine old English line noted for its many distinguished members. The
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parents of Mrs. Scott, and their children, constituted a family that played an essential part in the general affairs of their home town. It was an interesting and old-time family of five daughters and two sons. One of the latter, John Carlton Gray, became a noted lawyer in California and for a long time was a justice of the supe- rior court of that state. The other son, Capt. Lemuel Carlton Gray, died in 1880.
In her girlhood years it became the custom of Mrs. Scott to read aloud to her parents from the Augusta Age and other papers of those years, and doubtless this prac- tice quickened her thought, suggested ideas, and devel- oped her mentality, for where can be found a greater educational help for the young than the reading aloud from some sound and stable newspaper or like publica- tions. So apt was Mrs. Scott as a school girl, and so thoroughly practical were her educational acquisitions that at the early age of fifteen years she was given a teacher's certificate, which bit of writing she still retains as a most precious belonging. Those years in which she' passed from girlhood into her young womanhood were years also in which the public mind was actively engaged in the study of many a momentous question and the medium of this study was the newspaper. With one whose mental life was so alert, active and inquiring as that of Mrs. Scott, it was but natural that she should be keenly interested in everything that pertained to news- paper life and creation. It was just as natural that she should drift into newspaper work, and this she did, be- ginning a career that was long continued, able and fruitful of results for the good of the great community that she reached. Her first published writings appeared in the Kennebunk Journal, then under the management of James G. Blaine. As a newspaper worker she wrote for various publications and upon a variety of topics, but
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mainly upon those designed for the furtherance of home and household matters, to character building, and social and intellectual advancement.
In Augusta, Maine, on October 24, 1859, she united in marriage with Albert M. Scott, and lived in Maine's capital city, where her husband was an overseer in a cotton mill, until the close of the war between the states. It was in Augusta that their only child, Hattie Isabelle, was born in 1862. In 1863 Mr. Scott enlisted in the Second Maine Regiment of cavalry. While he was fight- ing at the front, Mrs. Scott, with her true womanly cour- age, faced those dreary days of loneliness with a daring and hope that safely carried her to the day of the glad homecoming of her husband. During the years of her husband's enlistment she resumed school teaching, an ex- perience that tended all the more to develop her innate characteristics of self reliance, fertility of resource and persistency of purpose.
Upon Mr. Scott's return from the war the family re- moved to Whitinsville, Massachusetts. In 1872 a re- moval was made to Manchester, the city that has since been their home.
Not long after her settlement in Manchester she be- came identified wih the local Shakespeare club, an organization destined to attain a truly national fame, and the president of which she was destined to be for many years. It was in Manchester that she early found a fine opportunity to continue her literary work, which she did in a manner that won for her the unhesitating acceptance of her employers and the flattering approval of the read- ing world. In 1880 she became the editor of the fireside department of the Manchester Union and continued as such for five years, in which time she became extensively known throughout the state. At the outset of the organ- ization of the Women's Relief Corps she became an active
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participant in its affairs and destinies. She was a charter member of Louis Bell corps of Manchester. For. two years she was a member of the council, department of New Hampshire, and twice was delegate at large to the National convention of the order. In 1885 she was appointed by the national president, Mrs. Sarah E. Ful- ler, chief of staff and as such was the first woman to hold that office.
Continuing her interest in Manchester women's clubs it was Mrs. Scott who projected the federation of the local organizations and the suggestion became a vital and vitalizing fact.
In 1882 her only daughter united in marriage with Edward Lyon Swazey, a successful ranchman and cattle dealer in Wyoming and later a resident of Kansas City. Mrs. Scott has travelled extensively throughout the length and breadth of the country, becoming thereby acquainted with the varying conditions of the different sections of the national domain. In these maturer years of her life she continues to be the same useful and helpful member of society as ever, and her interest in general affairs is as keen as in her girlhood years.
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JOHN H. NEAL, M.D.
JOHN H. NEAL, M. D.
One of the younger and most successful of New Hampshire's many physicians is John H. Neal, M. D., of Rochester, the son of John and Sarah J. (Lord) Neal, who was born March 20, 1862, in Parsonsfield, Me. Dr. Neal received his education in the public schools of his native town and at the academy at North Parsons- field. Following his graduation from that institution he was for five years a teacher in the public schools of Maine and New Hampshire, at the same time being entered as a medical student in the office of J. M. Leavitt, M. D., of Effingham. He began his professional school work at the Bowdoin Medical school, Brunswick, Me., where he took one course of lectures and received his degree in June, 1886, at the Long Island Cottage hospital, Brook- lyn, N. Y.
Dr. Neal immediately entered upon the practice of his profession in Sanford, Me., where he remained for nine years, at the end of which time he removed to Rochester, New Hampshire, where he has established himself in a lucrative and extensive practice. During his residence in Sanford, Dr. Neal took an active interest in public affairs, and for five years was president of the Sanford board of health. He was the first president of the Sanford build- ing and loan association, which was chartered in 1890, holding that office until his removal from the town and state.
In Rochester, Dr. Neal has been equally interested in
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