Chapter X: Part 10

The subject of this sketch was then ten years old, and made fair progress through the several grades to the high school, with which his school-days ended. He removed to Nashua in 1843, but it was not until 1851 that he entered business on his own behalf, at which time he became associated with Messrs. Gage and Murray for the manufacture of printers' cards of all the various kinds, also fancy-colored, embossed, and marble papers, a new business in this country at that time, which business he followed successfully for twenty-one years, and until his close and unremitting application made it necessary for him to relinquish it for a more active out-door employment. Following a natural love for rural affairs, he was not long in possessing himself of a hundred-acres farm in the south part of the city, upon the Lowell road, which he greatly improved, and indulged to some extent in the usually expensive luxury of breeding Jersey cattle, trotting-horses, and Plymouth Rock fowls. He claims to have bred the finest and fastest gaited horse ever raised in New Hampshire. Meantime, having realized the object sought, greatly improved health, and the office of treasurer of the Nashua Savings Bank becoming vacant by the resignation of Dr. E. Spalding, in 1876, he was elected to fill the vacancy, and still continues in this responsible position, with nearly two and a half millions of deposits committed to his watchful care and secure investment.

Never coveting office, still he has rarely refused to perform his full share of duty in the various departments of labor and responsibility incident to city affairs, from ward clerk to the mayor's chair, serving also as assessor, member of the board of education, and is now trustee of the public library, also its secretary and treasurer. To him Dartmouth College is indebted for the Gilman scholarship; and the board of trustees of the Orphans' Home at Franklin finds in him an interested member. He is identified with the mechanical industries of the city, having a large interest in the Nashua Iron and Steel Company, and its local director; also an owner and director in the Underhill Edge Tool Company, and Amoskeag Axe Company; also a director in the Indian Head National Bank.

In military affairs actively he is unknown, his service having commenced and ended with the "Governor's Horse-Guards," enlisting as private in Co. B, and ending as major of the battalion. His interest, however, is kept alive by honorary membership of "City Guards" and "Foster Rifles," of his adopted city.

His strong love for agricultural affairs led him to take an interest in our New Hampshire Agricultural Society, of whose board of trustees he was formerly a member, also one of the trustees of the New England Agricultural Society.

He was a member of the legislature of 1879, serving as chairman of committee on banks and taking a deep interest in the work of that session, and especially zealous in opposition to the taxation of church property. At the present time he is the Republican senator of the Nashua district, and honored by the chairmanship of the leading committee of the senate, the judiciary, no member of the legal profession holding a seat in that body at this time. How well he discharged the duties of this responsible position those can testify who had business with the committee, or those who witnessed his unremitting application and conscientious decisions.

Denominationally he is a Congregationalist, and a communicant with the First church, that was organized in 1685. An interest in its prosperity has induced him to serve as director of the society connected therewith many years, and of which he is now president, and treasurer of the Sabbath-school connected. It will thus be seen that the subject of this sketch fills many positions of responsibility and usefulness which bring no pecuniary reward, without ostentation, and no foul breath tarnishes his fair record.

Our state has among its many honored sons few whose energy, integrity, and discretion have won success in so many directions, and none who command more universal respect among all classes. In business, politics, and social and religious circles he has been and is a leader, whose triumphs shed their blessings far and wide. Few have done so much for Nashua. No one deserves better of the state.

In 1850 he married Sarah Louisa, daughter of Gideon Newcomb, Esq., of Roxbury, by whom he had two children,--Harriet Louise, who married Charles W. Hoitt, an attorney-at-law in Nashua, and Alfred Emerson, who did not attain his second birthday.

WILLIAM AMORY.

WILLIAM AMORY was born in Boston, Mass., June 15, 1804, and is the son of Thomas C. and Hannah R. (Linzee) Amory. He was one of a family of four sons and four daughters, of whom three only--two sons and one daughter--survive. His father, a merchant of Boston, died in 1812; and seven years later his son, then but fifteen years of age, entered Harvard University. He spent four years there, and soon after went to Europe to complete his education. He pursued in Germany the study of law and of general literature for a year and a half at the university in Gottingen, and for nine months at the university in Berlin. He occupied the subsequent two years and a half in travel, and returned to Boston in July, 1830, after an absence of five years. There he pursued his legal studies with Franklin Dexter and W. H. Gardiner, and in 1831 was admitted to the bar of Suffolk county, without, however, any intention of entering upon legal practice.

In that year he was chosen treasurer of the Jackson Manufacturing Company, at Nashua, N. H., and began business as a manufacturer. Without experience, and yet with a mind which study had disciplined and knowledge of the world had made keen, with remarkable energy and enterprise, he was eminently successful, and the Jackson company paid large and sure dividends for the eleven years he continued its treasurer. In 1837 he became the treasurer of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, an office which included at that time, when the plan of creating a city upon the Merrimack was just to be carried out, the responsibility and wisdom of a general manager of the company's interests, as well as the usual financial duties of a treasurer. He held that office from then till October, 1876; was treasurer of the Stark Mills, with the exception of four years and a half, from its organization, in 1839, to 1876; was a director of the Manchester Mills, and its successor, the Manchester Print-Works, from the start, in 1839, till 1871; and has been a director of the Langdon Mills from its beginning, in 1860, and its president from 1874 to 1876. When Mr. Amory tendered his resignation as treasurer of the Amoskeag company, the following complimentary resolutions were unanimously adopted by the stockholders:--

"_Resolved_, That the stockholders of this corporation have
heard with regret of the resignation of their treasurer, William
Amory, Esq.

"That a continuous service of thirty-nine years demands from
them an expression of their appreciation of his eminent success,
not only in building up an unequaled and remunerative
manufacturing establishment, but in founding the largest and one
of the finest cities in the state.

"For both these results they tender to him their hearty thanks,
and desire to place this testimonial upon the records of the
company."

In seconding the motion to adopt the above resolutions, T. Jefferson Coolidge, Esq., spoke as follows:--

"The best witness to the services of Mr. Amory as treasurer is
the splendid condition of the Amoskeag company. He took it in
its infancy, when it was poor. There was then but one mill of
about eight thousand spindles. He leaves it, after forty years
of success, with one hundred and thirty-seven thousand spindles,
and more than two millions of quick capital. You have received
in dividends, for forty-two years, an average of eleven per cent
a year; and, if to that is added the increase of the quick
capital, the company has earned fifteen per cent per annum,
without taking into consideration the money spent on the plant.
To put it in another light: a stockholder of one share, costing
one thousand dollars, if he allowed compound interest at the
rate he received on his dividends, would find that his share had
been worth to him eighty thousand dollars.

"The mills themselves are equal, if not superior, to any in New
England, and contain more than twenty acres of machinery floor;
and, although there are many mills in England and some here that
are running more spindles, yet I believe the Amoskeag is the
largest cotton-manufacturing establishment in either country
producing its goods from the cotton in the bale, and turning
them out actually finished for the market.

"I have said enough to show that no one can be more deserving of
a vote of thanks than the retiring treasurer. Let us hope that
he may be preserved for many years to aid in the counsels of the
company, and to assist his successor in the arduous task that
must fall to any man who takes a place which he has filled so
long, so ably, and so successfully."

Mr. Amory married, in January, 1833, Miss Anna P. G. Sears, daughter of David Sears, an eminent merchant of Boston, by whom he has had six children, of whom four survive.

Mr. Amory is a man with whom, more than with almost any one else, Manchester is closely identified, and to whose accurate foresight and comprehensive views a very large proportion of its beauty and success is due. To him, as the manager of the company which gave it its first impulses in life and has ever since assisted its growth, it owes in large measure its wide streets, its pleasant squares, and its beautiful cemetery. He has pursued a liberal policy, and deserves the city's gratitude. As the treasurer of the company, he has met with eminent success. A man of perfect honor and integrity, cautious and prudent, he has looked upon the funds in his possession as his only in trust, to be managed with the utmost care. Herein is to be found the secret of his success. Few men stand better than he in the business world of his native city, or elsewhere. A gentleman of culture, of the utmost polish, with a very pleasing appearance, he enjoys the affection and respect of many personal friends.

FOOTNOTES:

[4] History of Hingham, Mass., by Solomon Lincoln, Jr. Farmer & Brown, 1827.

[5] Arthur Gilman, A. M. Joel Munsell, Albany, 1869.

JOHN McDUFFEE.

By Rev. Alonzo H. Quint, D. D.

To men of their own energetic stock, who, refusing all political preferment, have given comprehensive abilities, sterling integrity, and sagacious industry to the development of business, many New Hampshire towns owe an imperishable debt. JOHN MCDUFFEE'S record is in the prosperity of Rochester.

The name itself suggests that strong Scotch-Irish blood which endured the siege of Londonderry, in which were Mr. McDuffee's ancestors, John McDuffee and his wife, Martha, honored in tradition. John and Martha McDuffee had four sons, viz., Mansfield, Archibald, John, and Daniel. Mansfield went to London, England; the other three came, with their parents, to America in the emigration which gave New Hampshire the powerful stock of Derry and Londonderry. John, the father of these sons, settled in Rochester in 1729, on land on the east side of the Cochecho river, adjoining Gonic lower falls,--the farm of eighty-five acres remaining without break in the family, and now owned by the subject of this article. The Rochester settler was, as just stated, the father of Daniel McDuffee, and also of Col. John McDuffee,--a gallant officer in the old French and Revolutionary wars, lieutenant-colonel in Col. Poor's regiment,--who, never marrying, adopted his brother Daniel's son John, and eventually made him his heir. John, the colonel's heir, was a farmer in good circumstances, married Abigail, daughter of Simon and Sarah (Ham) Torr, and was father of John McDuffee, the subject of this sketch, who was born on the farm once the colonel's, about a mile and a half from Rochester village, on the Dover road, December 6, 1803.

Of course, while working on the farm more or less, he had, for five or more years, the advantage of a good school, kept at the village by "Master" Henry H. Orne (D. C. 1812), of severe discipline and good scholarship, who supplemented the public school with a private one each autumn. Mr. Orne was a very successful teacher, and among the associates of John McDuffee in this school were Thomas C. Upham, Nathaniel G. Upham, John P. Hale, and Noah Tibbetts. In 1818, at the age of fifteen, the boy entered Franklin Academy in Dover, the first day of its existence, Thomas E. Sawyer and Richard Kimball being among his associates, and Rev. Mr. Thayer being its principal. Here he fitted to enter college as sophomore, but returned home, and, at the age of eighteen, he went into the store of his uncle, John Greenfield, at Rochester. It was a large country store, where everything was sold. After two years' experience, being only twenty years of age, he began the same business for himself on the same square; was successful, and, after two years, took into partnership his uncle, Jonathan H. Torr. During this period he was commissioned postmaster of Rochester, being not of age when appointed, and he held this office until removed on Jackson's accession to the presidency.

In the spring of the year 1831 he went to Dover, and began the same business on a broader scale, first in the Perkins block, and, in the autumn, as the first tenant of the northern store in the new Watson block, on the Landing, Ira Christie his next southern neighbor. This locality, now at an end for such purposes, was then the place of business and offices. Steady success continued to reward his energy and industry; but in February, 1833, selling to Andrew Pierce, Jr., he returned to Rochester to settle the large estate of his wife's father, Joseph Hanson, who, dying in December previous, had made him executor. Mr. Hanson, whose daughter Joanna (by his marriage with Charity Dame) Mr. McDuffee had married June 21, 1829, was one of the three old and wealthy merchants of Rochester, Nathaniel Upham and Jonas C. March being the other two. The settlement of this extended estate and business was completed, and the accounts settled, by Mr. McDuffee's energy, in seven months; and it caused his entire abandonment of trade, although he had been eminently successful.

There was no bank in Rochester. Old traders had some connection with the Strafford Bank in Dover, and the Rockingham Bank in Portsmouth. They loaned money, instead of getting discounts. Mr. Hanson's safe, where he kept all his securities, was a small brick building back of his store, with a sheet-iron door fastened by a padlock. He kept some deposits, however, in Strafford Bank, and was a stockholder in that and in the Rockingham Bank. The three principal traders used to go to Boston twice a year, on horseback, to buy goods. Mr. McDuffee saw that a bank was needed. He prepared the plans, secured signatures, obtained a charter from the legislature in 1834, and the Rochester Bank was organized with ninety stockholders and a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, later increased to one hundred and twenty thousand dollars, with one hundred and thirty stockholders. Of the original ninety, only two besides Mr. McDuffee now survive. On the organization he became cashier, his brother-in-law, Dr. James Farrington (member of the twenty-fifth congress), being president. This bank was the frontier bank, no other existing between Rochester and Canada, and it was the first bank which the counterfeits from Canada naturally but uselessly struck. It was a favorite of the people, and was so managed that its dividends were eight or nine per cent. It is well known that the business was really left to the probity and skill of its cashier. Cashier for twenty years, on the then renewal of its charter, Mr. McDuffee resigned the cashiership in favor of his son Franklin, and became president. The bank did not become a national bank until 1874, and in the six years previous he and his son formed the house of "John McDuffee & Co., private bankers," took up the old bank's business, and successfully carried it on. In 1874 they merged it in a national bank, the one being president and the other cashier, as before, and the two taking two-fifths of its stock. It is an interesting fact that no bill has ever been issued by either Rochester bank without the well known signature of John McDuffee, either as president or cashier; and he still actively administers the interests of the bank he originated in another form forty-eight years ago.

In addition to this Rochester interest, Mr. McDuffee was one of the original grantees of the Dover National Bank, and for a short time was a director; but his interest became more in the Strafford Bank, at Dover, of which (new charter) he was the second heaviest stockholder, Daniel M. Christie being the first. He became a director in the Strafford National Bank in 1870, and still actively holds that position. The stock of this bank (par, one hundred dollars) has this year sold at one hundred and sixty dollars.

The Norway Plains Savings Bank, at Rochester, was chartered in 1851, and Mr. McDuffee became its treasurer, being succeeded by his son Franklin in 1867, and himself becoming president,--an office in which he still remains. It is worth, recalling, that, although this bank was ordered, in the panic, to pay out only five-sixths of any deposit, it subsequently petitioned for leave to pay, and did credit to every person affected, the remaining sixth.

Mr. McDuffee early saw the advantages of manufacturing to a community. By his own means and a liberal allowance of banking facilities he has greatly aided their development, the first such enterprise in Rochester, the Mechanics' Manufacturing Company, being decided to locate there by the new banking facilities. Mr. McDuffee was a director. It was a manufacture of blankets, and its successor is the Norway Plains Manufacturing Company. The original company Mr. McDuffee carried safely through the crisis of 1837. The mill-property at the Gonic Mr. McDuffee bought in 1845, to lease to N. V. Whitehouse, that business might not be given up. He held his purchase for about ten years. The effort was successful, and the property was eventually taken by a joint stock company. Stephen Shorey, owning some facilities for manufacturing at East Rochester, came to Mr. McDuffee to see if the bank would advance means to build. Mr. McDuffee at once pledged the means, and the mills were built. A stock company afterwards purchased mills and machinery, and the thriving village of East Rochester owes its prosperity to Mr. McDuffee's liberal policy. Thus have been developed the three principal water-powers of Rochester.

Mr. McDuffee's personal interests in manufacturing were also in the Great Falls Manufacturing Company, in whose great business he was a director for four years; capital, one million five hundred thousand dollars. In 1862 he bought large interests in the Cocheco Manufacturing Company, and has there remained. Since 1874 he has been a director of that corporation. As such, he advocated the erection of the great mill, now No. 1, and the replacing of all the old buildings by new and magnificent mills, unsurpassed in the United States,--a work now rapidly progressing. The remarkable success of this company certifies alike to the sagacious boldness and the considerate policy of its directors.

The need of railroad facilities at Rochester was early apparent to Mr. McDuffee. In 1846 he entered into two enterprises,--the Cochecho road, from Dover to Alton Bay, and the Conway road, from Great Falls to Conway. Each was to and did pass through Rochester. In each road Mr. McDuffee was the largest individual stockholder, and of each was the first treasurer. When the Conway road reached Rochester, Mr. McDuffee resigned its treasurership. The other road, after various difficulties, became the Dover & Winnipesaukee, by the incorporation of the bondholders, and Mr. McDuffee continued to be a director. With "friend" William Hill, he visited Boston more than thirty times to treat for the lease of this road to the Boston & Maine. The effort was finally successful, and the road, by itself weak, became a fine piece of property. Rochester was thus doubly accommodated; but another avenue was needed, and Mr. McDuffee took part in the Portland & Rochester, which secured a route eastward, of which road he was a director; and he invested liberally in the Rochester & Nashua, which opened a line to the West. The result has been that Rochester is a "billing-point," and its various manufacturing interests have felt its impetus.

The beauty of "McDuffee block" in Rochester, built by him in 1868, exhibits the owner's public spirit. It is an elegant brick building of four stories, containing six stores, twelve offices in the second story, a public hall in the third, and a Masonic hall, one of the finest in the state, in the fourth. In the use of the public hall the liberality of its owner to benevolent objects is well known. As a Mason, he joined Humane Lodge on the very day he became "of lawful age."

Of other real estate, Mr. McDuffee has, besides various pieces in Rochester, including such as the Gonic farm, the New Durham "powder-mill" estate of nine hundred acres of land and eleven hundred acres of water; and in Barrington, two hundred acres on Isinglass river, held with a view to future manufacturing needs.

In religion, Mr. McDuffee was brought up under good old Parson Joseph Haven, and has remained a liberal supporter of the Congregational society. In politics, he was an earnest Whig. His first vote was for the electors who chose John Quincy Adams president, and his postmastership was ended by Andrew Jackson. He has always been a decided Republican.

Mr. McDuffee's great amount of labor has been possible only by the vigorous constitution which he inherited. The boy, who, before he left home, "carried the forward swath" in the hay-field, made the man who now accomplishes an amount of work which would surprise many younger men. Monday is always given to the Strafford Bank, at Dover; Tuesday, he presides at the Rochester Bank meeting; Wednesday, at the Savings Bank; and no day is idle.

Of Mr. McDuffee's happy domestic relations nothing need be said. Of his eight children,--naming them in the order of birth,--(1) Joseph, who followed the sea, died (single) on the ocean at the age of thirty-five. (2) Franklin, who graduated at Dartmouth College in 1853, died, after a successful financial career, November 11, 1880, greatly lamented; he married Mary Fannie, daughter of John Hayes, of Farmington, and left two sons, John Edgar (now in the Chandler Scientific Department of Dartmouth College), and Willis. (3) John Randolph, graduated at the Chandler Scientific Department in 1857; was a civil engineer in Rochester, and died single, aged twenty-five. (4) Anna M., is the wife of Frank S. Brown, of Hartford, Conn., of the firm of Brown, Thompson & Co. She has one son and two daughters. (5) Mary Abbie, is the wife of Charles K. Chase, a merchant in Rochester, and has two daughters. (6) Sarah died single. (7) George, the only surviving son, is engaged in extensive grain, mill, and lumber business in Rochester; he married, first, Lizzie Hanson, who died leaving a son; afterwards he married, second, Nellie, daughter of Dr. James Farrington, of Rochester, her father being nephew of Dr. James Farrington, M. C. (8) Oliver, died in infancy.

Judged by the success of his work as the banker, as developing by a liberal and wise help every worthy manufacturing enterprise, and as foremost in the building of the various railways centering in Rochester, it is clear that Mr. McDuffee nobly comes into the list of those spoken of in our first paragraph, whose record is in the prosperity of his native town, where ability, sagacity, integrity, and kindliness have united to make that record, as well as his own personal success.

John C. French]

JOHN C. FRENCH.

Prior to 1870, New Hampshire had no reliable fire insurance company. That she now has one that is "sound, solid, and successful," firmly established in the confidence of the country, and steadily growing in strength and stability, is mainly due to JOHN C. FRENCH, who, in spite of much prejudice and distrust, laid the foundations of the New Hampshire Fire Insurance Company, and has since been its leading spirit and manager.

Mr. French came of sturdy stock. His grandfather, Abram French, was a native of Stratham, where he spent his boyhood and learned the trade of a carpenter and builder, in which he soon became known as a skillful and thorough workman. In this capacity he went to Pittsfield to complete the interior of the first meeting-house in that town; and, when this was finished, erected the buildings upon the parsonage lot for Rev. Christopher Paige, step-father of the "beautiful Grace Fletcher," the first wife of Daniel Webster. Some years later, Mr. Paige removed from town, and the young mechanic bought the place, and in 1796 married Hannah Lane, of Stratham, and established the French homestead, in which he reared to maturity twelve children, and dispensed for many years the hospitality which his prosperity enabled him to provide for a wide circle of relatives and friends. His numerous children and grandchildren ranked among the reliable and thrifty people of that town.

Enoch, the oldest son of Abram French, who married, in 1823, Eliza Cate, of Epsom,--a most estimable woman,--and settled on an adjoining farm, was the father of five children. The only survivor of this family is the subject of this sketch, John C. French, who was born March 1, 1832, and spent his boyhood upon one of the rocky farms in Pittsfield. His opportunities for obtaining an education were very limited, but his ardent desire to learn impelled him to supplement his common-school privileges by reading at home, and afterwards to obtain, by working on a farm summers and teaching winters, the money to pay his expenses for several terms at the academies at Pittsfield, Gilmanton, and Pembroke. What he learned at these institutions only fed his ambition to know more; and, as there was little opportunity for him to gratify his tastes and aspirations at home, when he became of age he made an arrangement with J. H. Colton & Co. to solicit orders for their mounted maps. The tact and activity which he showed in this work led his employers, a year later, to give him the Boston agency for "Colton's Atlas of the World," then in course of preparation; and in this he won another success, selling over twelve hundred copies of this large and expensive work. In 1855 he was appointed general agent for the house for New England, and subsequently gave considerable time to the introduction of Colton's series of geographies into the public schools; and was afterwards employed by Brown, Taggart, & Chase, and Charles Scribner & Co., in bringing out their school publications. While thus engaged he was able to gratify his fondness for travel, observation, and reading; gained an acquaintance with the leading authors, teachers, publishers, and other prominent educators, and a knowledge of the local history, industries, and resources of all the principal towns in New England. He also learned thoroughly the art of advertising, and of putting books upon the market in a way to command popular favor.

During the eight years he was thus employed, he made frequent journeys to Pittsfield, and spent a portion of each season there with his parents, to whom he was devotedly attached; but in May, 1866, having been appointed state agent of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, he established his residence in Manchester, which has since been his home, though he still retains possession of the beautiful homestead farm upon which he was born.

Three years later, having become interested in and familiar with the insurance interests of the state, he conceived the idea of establishing a stock fire insurance company, and by untiring persistency and zeal overcame the almost universal prejudice against such an organization, enlisted in its support some of our most prominent citizens, secured a charter and the capital stock, and began the business which under his energetic and prudent directions has since grown to great proportions. To this company he still gives his undivided time and efforts, refusing to accept political office, declining all inducements to go elsewhere, resting entirely content with the success he commands in and from the company's office. His wide and varied experience has given him a great insight into business affairs and productive industries, and also an extensive and invaluable knowledge of men, and these acquirements and all his native abilities he is bringing to the service of the company in the enlarged and enlarging sphere of his official duties. That he does not labor in vain is shown by the fact that the New Hampshire company, so recently established, has increased its capital stock from one hundred thousand to five hundred thousand dollars, and its cash assets to nearly a million, that it commands the countenance and assistance of many of our most prominent men, and enjoys a national reputation for prudent management and financial success.

Mr. French has always taken a lively interest in his native town, and, when the project for building a railroad which would promote its growth and prosperity took shape, he gave himself heartily to the support of the enterprise, and it was largely through his efforts that the three hundred and fifty thousand dollars necessary to build the Suncook Valley road was secured, by subscriptions to the capital stock and gratuities from the towns along the line. As one method of helping this work to a successful completion, he established the _Suncook Valley Times_--a weekly paper--at Pittsfield and for two years contributed regularly to its columns a series of historical and biographical articles, which attracted much attention in the locality, and were widely copied and read elsewhere. He also at one time published and edited at Manchester a journal devoted to insurance interests; and in these publications, as well as in those of the New Hampshire company, has established a reputation as a vigorous, versatile, and popular writer.

The zeal, fidelity, and success with which he has managed the various interests intrusted to him have been highly appreciated, and numerous testimonials have borne witness to the satisfaction of his employers. The records of the New Hampshire company contain a resolution passed unanimously by the stockholders, in 1871, in which the unparalleled success of the company is ascribed mainly to his zeal and efficiency; and a similar resolution is inscribed upon the books of the Suncook Valley Railroad.

Mr. French, while not a politician, takes a deep interest in public affairs, and his help can always be depended on for whatever promises to promote the public good and the well-being of the community in which he lives. He is a genial companion, a stanch friend, and a man who wins and holds the good opinions of a very large circle of acquaintances. He is a member of Trinity Commandry, Knights Templar, and a director of the Merchants National Bank.

Mr. French married, in 1858, Annie M., daughter of L. B Philbrick, Esq., of Deerfield, and has three children,--Lizzie A., Susie P., and George Abram,--who reside with their parents.

HON. THOMAS COGSWELL.

The town of Gilmanton has always been distinguished for its strong and able men, who have exercised a powerful influence in the affairs of their town and state. It has furnished men to fill nearly every position of trust and honor within the gift of the people of our state, and it has ever been proud of her illustrious sons. Among the very strong men of this old town stood Hon. THOMAS COGSWELL, who in the year 1820, at the age of twenty-one, moved hither from Atkinson, N. H., where he was born December 7, 1798. He was one of a family of nine children of William and Judith (Badger) Cogswell, eight of whom lived to years of maturity. He settled on the farm formerly occupied by his grandfather, the Hon. Joseph Badger, and with strong hands and indomitable courage commenced gaining a livelihood for himself and young wife, Mary Noyes, whom he married just prior to moving here. He soon attracted the attention of the older settlers, and in a short time became one of the leading men in the town; and ever afterwards took an active part in all its local affairs, and for the whole period of his life was honored and respected by his neighbors and townsmen, and received at their hands every office within their gift.

There is no position that more truly shows the strength and power of a man than that of moderator of a New Hampshire town-meeting; but for many successive years he was chosen to preside over the deliberations of the annual and other meetings in this, then, large town, and always did so with great dignity, and to the perfect satisfaction of all. He was also chosen one of the board of selectmen, and represented the town in the legislature, and while a member of that body introduced and supported a bill to repeal the law authorizing imprisonment for debt. For ten years he was a deputy-sheriff for the county of Strafford, before its division, and during all this time was actively engaged in the duties of the office. He was also treasurer of the county for three years. In 1841 he was appointed one of the judges of the court of common pleas for the new county of Belknap, and held that position until the year 1855, when the judiciary system of the state was changed. In 1856 he was elected a member of the governor's council from district number three. He was a justice of the peace and quorum for over forty years. He was an officer in the New Hampshire militia, and attained the rank of captain. He was of Revolutionary stock, his father and seven uncles having served in that war, and performed, in the aggregate, thirty-eight years of service.

For seven years in succession he taught the winter term of school in his district, at the same time performing all the work incident to his farm, and during his whole life was interested in and a promoter of education. Gilmanton Academy, an institution established by the efforts of his grandfather, Gen. Joseph Badger, and his uncle, the Hon. Thomas Cogswell, with the assistance of many other strong and good men, early received his aid and co-operation, and he was one of its board of trustees up to within a few years of his death. In early life he became a member of the Congregational church at Gilmanton Iron-Works, and was deacon of the same for many years; and always gave freely of his means for the advancement of the cause of the Christian religion.

Notwithstanding the many and various duties imposed on Mr. Cogswell by his almost continuous service in some public position, he was a large and successful farmer, and by his own exertions added year by year to his original farm, so that at his death he owned in one tract nearly one thousand acres of valuable land. He was a great lover of the soil and was always interested in the cause of agriculture, and was in every respect a well informed and successful farmer.

He possessed, to an uncommon degree, strong natural powers of mind, and was capable of grasping difficult questions and giving a good legal opinion. His mind was essentially judicial, and, had he devoted himself to the study and practice of law, would undoubtedly have been a leading mind in that profession. For many years he was consulted by his neighbors and townsmen upon the troubles that frequently arose between them, and to his credit, by his clear and practical judgment, saved, frequently, long and expensive litigation. He was true to every trust committed to him, and was scrupulously honest and exact in all his dealings.

In politics, Thomas Cogswell was a Democrat to the end of his life. During the war of the rebellion, he was a strong supporter of the government, and a friend and well-wisher of every soldier in the field. He saw clearly and plain that his duty as an American citizen was to render all the aid in his power to help carry on and bring to a successful close the terrible struggle then going on. He was a lover of his country and delighted in its free institutions; and, although strong in his political faith, was not a partisan.

Mr. Cogswell was noted for his energy and force of character; and, when he had once made up his mind as to a certain course to pursue, he never changed it until he was thoroughly satisfied that he was wrong. He was a natural leader among men, and possessed the characteristics of a great general. He was a ready and fluent public speaker, and few men could better entertain an audience. He excelled in strong common sense, and could state exactly his position on any subject that interested him. He was always well informed, particularly on the history of his country and its many political changes. He was of commanding appearance, and was a noticeable person in any assembly. He was of an affectionate disposition, and sympathized with the afflictions of others. He died August 8, 1868, and was buried in the old historic burying-ground in Gilmanton near the dust of his illustrious ancestors; and in his death the town lost a wise counselor, the poor a generous friend, and the community at large an honest and upright man.

There are four children now living,--Mary C. Burgess, wife of the late Dr. Burgess, now living in Boston, Mass.; Martha B. Batchelder, wife of the late Dr. Batchelder, also residing in Boston; James W. Cogswell, sheriff of Belknap county; and Thomas Cogswell, a lawyer, residing on the old homestead at Gilmanton.

HON. PERSON C. CHENEY.

BY COL. DANIEL HALL.

Person Colby Cheney was born in that part of Holderness, N. H., which is now Ashland, February 25, 1828. He was the sixth child in a family of five sons and six daughters,--children of Moses and Abigail (Morrison) Cheney,--nine of whom still survive.

Of his sisters, Sarah B. is the wife of Rev. S. G. Abbott, of Needham, Mass.; Abby M. is the widow of George Washburn, late of Goffstown, N. H.; Ruth E. is the wife of Joseph W. Lord, of Wollaston, Mass.; Marcia A. is the wife of J. P. F. Smith, of Meredith, N. H.; Hattie O. is the wife of Dr. C. F. Bonney, of Manchester, N. H.

Of his brothers, Rev. O. B. Cheney, D. D., is the president of Bates College, Lewiston, Me., and has mainly laid the foundations of the success and popularity of that excellent institution of learning; E. H. Cheney is the editor and proprietor of the _Granite State Free Press_, Lebanon, N. H.; and Moses Cheney, a manufacturer of paper at Henniker, N. H., is retired from business.

The square, old-fashioned New England house, where the family resided, is still to be seen. It stands in the picturesque village of Ashland, overlooking the valley below, and commanding a view of lofty hills and beautiful scenery. The childhood of the subject of this sketch was passed in this venerable mansion, but his boyhood and early manhood were passed at Peterborough, N. H., where his father was engaged in the manufacture of paper. This gave him an early and intimate acquaintance with the paper business, enabled him to gain a knowledge of all its details, and gave him those habits of industry and self-reliance, which, upon the basis of a strong natural sagacity and force of character, have distinguished his business life. He acquired a fair education in the ordinary branches of knowledge, in the academies at Peterborough and Hancock, N. H., and Parsonsfield, Me.

His father removed to Holderness in 1845, having sold his interest to A. P. Morrison; and Person C. Cheney assumed the management of the paper-mill at Peterborough. In 1853 a firm of which Mr. Cheney was a member built another paper-mill at Peterborough; but he soon bought out the interest of his associates, and continued business in Peterborough till 1866.

Mr. Cheney took an early interest in politics, and represented the town of Peterborough in the legislature in 1853 and 1854. He entered ardently into the memorable events of 1860 and 1861, and zealously aided and promoted the preparation of his state for the great struggle to maintain the Union. In due time he offered his personal services, and in August, 1862, was appointed quartermaster of the 13th Regiment, N. H. Vols., and proceeded with the regiment to the seat of war. Joining the army of the Potomac, he rendered faithful service to the regiment and the country until exposure and overwork in the campaign before Fredericksburg brought on a long and dangerous sickness. Barely escaping with his life, he was compelled to resign and return home. He received an honorable discharge in August, 1863. From that time till the close of the war the Union cause at home had no more earnest or efficient friend and champion. In 1864 he was chosen railroad commissioner of New Hampshire, and served three years.

In 1866, Mr. Cheney removed to Manchester, and formed a partnership with Thomas L. Thorpe, as a dealer in paper stock and manufacturer of paper at Goffstown. In 1868 the firm of E. M. Tubbs & Co., of which Mr. Cheney had been a member three years, bought out the interest of Mr. Thorpe, and the business was continued under the name of P. C. Cheney & Co. In 1870 the mill at Goffstown was destroyed by fire, but was replaced by a new mill, and the business enlarged by rebuilding the old mill at Amoskeag village.

Mr. Cheney, upon becoming a resident of Manchester, became at once thoroughly and prominently identified with the development and prosperity of that rapidly growing city; and very soon his business capacity and integrity, his liberal spirit and engaging manners, attracted attention to him as a man not only highly fitted for public honors, but as pre-eminently capable of commanding them at the hands of the people. He was brought forward as a candidate for mayor of Manchester in 1871, and elected by a larger majority than any candidate had received since 1863. He performed the duties intelligently and to general acceptance, but declined a re-election. In 1874, at its organization, he was chosen president of the People's Savings Bank, and still retains the office.

In 1875, under peculiar circumstances, Mr. Cheney became the Republican candidate for governor. In 1874 the Republicans had lost the state for causes which it would not be useful to recite; and the Democrats, having control of every branch of legislation, had used their power to fortify themselves in the possession of the state government, by making new ward divisions in the city of Manchester, and redistricting for councilors and senators, in such a manner as to put their adversaries at great disadvantage, and render it almost impossible to recover the state. Under such circumstances it became absolutely necessary for them to place at the head of the ticket a name of the greatest personal popularity. Such were the prestige of Mr. Cheney, gained by his successful administration in Manchester, his personal magnetism among those who knew him, and his well known energy as a canvasser, that, unexpectedly to himself, he was selected as the standard-bearer of his party, and the result proved how wisely. The hottest campaign ever known in a state proverbial for the violence of its political contests ensued, and there was no choice of governor by the people; but Mr. Cheney had a plurality of the votes cast, although Judge Roberts, his competitor, received the heaviest vote his party had ever polled in New Hampshire. The Republicans secured a majority in the legislature, which elected Mr. Cheney governor. In 1876, Gov. Cheney was again a candidate, and after a canvass which exceeded in intensity even that of 1875, he was re-elected by a flattering majority of the popular vote, which was heavier than had ever before been cast in New Hampshire. Mr. Cheney brought to the office of governor a patriotic love for the state and solicitude for her good name, a clear insight, great executive ability, thorough business habits, and personal dignity, urbanity, and tact of a high order. These qualities, combined with his undoubted integrity and earnestness of purpose, enabled him to give the state a most prudent and successful administration of its affairs. The retrenchment of expenses, so much needed in a period of financial depression following years of sharp distress, was kept steadily in view, and a thorough business system inaugurated in all branches of the government; the affairs of the adjutant-general's office were redeemed from years of neglect and confusion; the state debt was materially reduced; at his suggestion a law was passed requiring vouchers to be filed for all disbursements from the governor's contingent fund; and the finances of the state were left in all respects upon a sound and stable basis. The prominent part of New Hampshire in the Centennial Exposition was due largely to his foresight, his faith in its benefits, and his untiring efforts in its behalf. None who participated in them will ever forget the brilliant success of "New Hampshire Day" at Philadelphia, or the reception of Governor and Mrs. Cheney, during his term of office, to the members of the legislature and the citizens of Concord, at White's Opera House, which was a memorable social event.

Gov. Cheney retired from office with the universal respect and esteem of men of all parties, and has since devoted himself closely to business. On the death of his partner, Dr. Tubbs, in 1878, Gov. Cheney purchased his quarter interest, and thus became sole proprietor of the business. The following year he converted the property of the old "Peterborough Company" at Peterborough, into a pulp-mill, and obtained an amendment of the charter, by act of the legislature, changing its name to the "P. C. Cheney Company." This charter is among the oldest in the state, having been granted in 1833, and bears the names of Charles H. Atherton, Samuel Appleton, Samuel May, Isaac Parker, Nathan Appleton, and others, as grantees. The original charter authorizes the company to extend its operations to any town in the state.

In 1880 the company commenced operations for increasing its production by building both a pulp and paper mill in connection with the old one at Manchester. This enterprise has been carried to completion, and thereby doubled in amount an already extensive business. Consequently the corporation, the stock of which is held by Gov. Cheney solely, now owns and carries on wood-pulp mills at Goffstown and Peterborough, and also one in connection with its paper-mill and waste-works at Manchester. Its paper-warehouse is at No. 1104 Elm street. The product of these various establishments, and their monthly disbursements for labor and services, are very large; and it is doubtful if a more important business has been built up in our state by the courage, foresight, and skill of one man. Gov. Cheney is an indefatigable worker, and keeps all the details of his extensive and complicated business within easy command.

He is identified with the First Unitarian church of Manchester, and has been a director and president of the society. He is a Royal Arch Mason, and member of the Altemont Lodge; also a member of Peterborough Lodge, I. O. O. F.

In 1850 he was married to Miss S. Anna Moore, who died January 8, 1858, leaving no children. He married, June 29, 1859, Mrs. Sarah White Keith, daughter of Jonathan White, formerly of Lowell, Mass., one of the earliest of Lowell's manufacturers, by whom he has one daughter, Agnes Annie Cheney, born October 22, 1869. His domestic life is singularly happy and charming. His residence, No. 136 Lowell street, is a home of modest elegance, of courtly hospitality, and the center of a refined circle. It is not too much to say that to the affectionate sympathy, the grace, and fine social tact of his accomplished wife, Gov. Cheney owes not only the enjoyments of a delightful home, but much of the success and popularity of his career.

The bare outlines of Gov. Cheney's life, as above given, convey but a faint impression of the essential quality of the man, and his importance as a factor in the social, business, and political life of his day and generation. It remains to be said that in Manchester his name is the synonym for liberality, public spirit, a generous and helpful charity, and a philanthropy, which, though unobtrusive, loses no opportunity to exert itself for the relief of distress and the elevation of society at large. Of a sympathetic nature, he cares more for others than himself, and no deserving person or worthy object ever solicits his aid in vain. He is prominent in every movement for the public good, and never spares himself, nor grudges the means which his business sagacity, energy and enterprise have gained for him, when work is to be done for a good cause, or help is needed for anybody in poverty or distress.

Mr. Cheney is still in the prime of life, and his useful service, his honorable and upright character, his high and unselfish aims, have made him a power in the state. A brave, true, and honest man, a sincere and warm-hearted friend, of positive convictions, of unflinching devotion to principle, and fitted for any station, he is obviously in the line of succession to still higher honors than have been accorded him. It goes without saying that such a man has hosts of friends; and certain it is that he is second to no man in New Hampshire in those elements of popular strength and confidence which commend men to public service.

An earlier biographer, from whose sketch most of this is derived, appropriately closes his delineation of him with the remark, that "Mr. Cheney may yet be drawn from the seclusion of private life, and the unremitting toil of active business, to lend his aid to the councils of a nation."

HON. PHINEHAS ADAMS.

BY ARTHUR P. DODGE.

Phinehas Adams was born in Medway, Mass., the twentieth day of June, 1814, and comes from the very best Revolutionary stock of New England. His grandfather and great-grandfather participated in the battle of Bunker Hill, and served through that memorable war. He had three brothers and seven sisters, of whom the former all died previous to 1831. Three sisters are now living: Sarah Ann, born in 1816, the wife of E. B. Hammond, M. D., of Nashua; Eliza P., born in 1820, widow of the late Ira Stone, formerly an overseer in the Stark Mills; and Mary Jane, born in 1822, widow of the late James Buncher, a former designer for the Merrimack Print-Works at Lowell, Mass. Mrs. Buncher is the present popular and very efficient librarian of the Manchester public library.

His father, Phinehas Adams, senior, married Sarah W. Barber, a native of Holliston, Mass., in 1811. Her father was an Englishman, who came to America from Warrenton, England, during the Revolutionary war, and married in this country a Scottish lady who came from Edinburgh.

Phinehas Adams, the senior, was both a farmer and a mechanic, and became quite an extensive manufacturer. At a very early date he constructed hand-looms, which he employed girls to operate; and, subsequently, started the first power-loom that was ever established in this country, at Waltham, Mass., in the year 1814.

In this year and in the same town he became a mill overseer, and afterwards gave his whole attention to manufacturing. He resided, when Phinehas was a child, at different times in Waltham and Cambridge, Mass., and in Nashua, to which latter place he removed later in life, and became proprietor of a hotel, the Central House. This business was more agreeable to him, since he had broken several of his ribs and received other injuries from an unfortunate fall.

Hon. William P. Newell, of Manchester, who was agent of the Amoskeag company from 1837 to 1846, was once a bobbin-boy for the elder Adams. This was ten years before the son, who was attending a private school in West Newton, Mass., until 1827, began to work in the mills. In the last-named year, his father became agent of the Neponset Manufacturing Company's mills--which were owned by himself, Dr. Oliver Dean, and others--at Walpole, in the same state; and to this place he removed his residence.