Sketches of Successful New Hampshire Men Part 22

'I know a gentleman, now residing at the capital of New Hamps.h.i.+re, who, at the early age of fourteen, left the paternal roof to become a clerk in a store. Thirty years ago every store was a grog-shop. From that business he entered a hotel in a large town, where liquor was also sold. The inference would be, with most persons, that such positions were very unfavorable to temperate habits. Ruin is almost inevitable to a young man thus exposed and tempted. In the case alluded to, the lad served his apprentices.h.i.+p, and saved both his money and character. He never, in a single instance, tasted liquor, or used tobacco, or handled cards or dice. He pa.s.sed from the hotel to the stageman's box. He drove a coach from Concord to Hanover ten years, I think. Before the building of railroads this was one of the most exposed routes in the state. The day's journey was long, the roads were bad, and the cold was often intense. It was the common practice of stagemen to fortify themselves against the cold by large and frequent potations. They soon lost health and character. They were a short-lived race because of their intemperance. But the subject of my story was true to his principles. In cold and heat he abstained. He resisted all solicitations, and offended n.o.body. He was trusted by all, suspected by none. He was universally popular, always intelligent. He was both a good companion and an honest agent.

He never forgot a commission, never violated a trust. He saved his wages, and supported his parents, who needed his aid.

Mult.i.tudes who had occasion to travel that weary road, still remember with grat.i.tude the pleasant speech, agreeable deportment, and excellent habits of this accomplished stageman.

When the railroad took the place of the old mail-coaches, the trusted and confidential agent and owner of "the old line" was employed upon the new mode of locomotion. He soon entered into the express business, which has been constantly increasing in extent of s.p.a.ce and in quant.i.ty of packages from the first journey of the iron horse till this hour. The honest stageman became the confidential agent of thousands who had messages or property to be conveyed over the road. With the increase of business came increase of wealth. He was no lover of lucre.

Though born in humble circ.u.mstances, and trained to habits of rigid economy, he had an eye for improvements, and a heart for practical beneficence. He acquired property easily, and he gave liberally. Aged parents and needy relatives shared his liberality. He cared for the friends who were bound to him by the ties of blood first, and then for such acquaintances as needed his ready aid. From the penniless boy, without education, he has become a thrifty man of business, bestowing thousands of his hard-earned treasures upon objects of charity of his own choice. How valuable is a character thus formed and matured!

Through all his varied life he has never tasted ardent spirits, or used tobacco in any form. He ascribes all his success in life to his early determination to be both temperate and honest. Such an example deserves commendation and imitation.'

"These lines were written in 1859; and more than a score of years of usefulness, of duties, of benevolence, of affection, and of honor have since filled up and rounded off a life into the completeness of manhood. When he was removed from earth, death claimed a dutiful son, a tender and loving husband, an affectionate father, a devoted brother, and a constant friend.

"Since I came to this city, death has been constantly busy in our midst. None of us who have lived here these thirty years but have witnessed its ravages, s.n.a.t.c.hing from many of us our dearest treasures. He has gathered to himself many of the gifted and the good, whose memories are still fragrant; but the sincere tributes to the memory of Nathaniel White have never been equaled, I fear never will be. No person in New Hamps.h.i.+re has ever had the happy combination of means and disposition to bestow such n.o.ble charities as he. I feel myself privileged, after forty years of constant friends.h.i.+p, to unite my tears of sorrow and sympathy with those of his bereaved family and afflicted friends, and to lay a laurel upon the freshly made grave which covers one of earth's true n.o.blemen.

"How well he filled up all the days of his years with love for and duty to his family, his kindred, and his friends; to the poor, to the downtrodden, to the slave, and to all the unfortunate of earth! He claimed no right or privilege for himself, in the wide domain of nature, that he did not want others to enjoy. Hence he insisted always that the nation should immediately strike the shackles from the slave, and let the oppressed go free. Never himself under the thraldom of rum and tobacco, he wished everybody else to be free from it. He exercised the largest liberty himself, and enjoyed perfect freedom of thought and action in religious, political, and other matters; and he desired every man and woman to do the same.

Hence, when he arranged his worldly matters, he gave the owners.h.i.+p and sole control of his business affairs into the hands of his wife, with whom he had walked life's journey, thereby giving signal proof of his sincerity that the wife is the equal of the husband in the sight of G.o.d, and should be in the love, esteem, and regard of man. He often said that the wife, in the event of the husband's death, should maintain the same rights and the same relation to the family that the husband would if the wife were taken away. In his will he made her responsible to no court or other tribunal. She was only required to make proof of his will, in order that the owners.h.i.+p of all his property should vest in her. In all this he recognized the rights of womanhood as well as the rights of manhood. In this way he gave proof of his belief that the twain, man and wife, are one flesh.

"The Centennial Home for the Aged was the apple of his eye; and yet he made no large bequests to it himself, having perfect a.s.surance that the wife, who had borne life's burdens with him, and shared his devotion to this n.o.ble benevolence, would be equally the author of her own charities and the almoner of his.

As a business man and a citizen, his reputation ripened by integrity. It was beautified by sincere sympathy for the poor and the downtrodden; it was embellished by his generous charities; and it was endeared by his gentle and winning manners. When his final summons came, he had filled out a life of rare usefulness and of singular success.

"Mr. White was fifty-four years a resident of Concord. In every thing that made for her welfare he was always the foremost citizen. Many others did n.o.bly, but he exceeded them all. In a single matter that vitally affected the city of Concord,[6] in which the writer was engaged, and in which liberal expenditures were needed, he contributed more than all the others combined; and I make mention of this because the people of Concord should know of his liberality, about which he rarely ever spoke and never boasted.

"In all his aspirations to make himself an honorable name, and to do good to his kindred, his friends, his country, and his race, Mr. White was most fortunate and happy in that he had the early suggestion, the prompt encouragement, the ready co-operation, and the ardent sympathy of her who for nearly half a century kept his home constantly blooming with the sweet-scented flowers of affection.

"Farewell, n.o.ble spirit!

'Thou 'rt buried in light: G.o.d speed unto heaven, lost star of our night!'

We dismiss thee, not to the tomb of forgetfulness and death, but to a blessed memory, an unclouded fame, and to a limitless life."

FOOTNOTES:

[6] The retention of the state-house.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Francis Cogswell.]

FRANCIS COGSWELL.

FRANCIS COGSWELL was born in Atkinson, December 21, 1800. He died at his home in Andover, Ma.s.s., February 11, 1880. His death closed a long, honorable, and useful career. He was a gentleman of the old school, strong, steadfast, and true. G.o.d gave him talents of a high order, and he improved them all. He was honest, not from policy, but because it was his nature to be. His ambitions never clouded his convictions of duty, nor swerved him from the path which his high sense of probity and honor pointed out; and, after more than fifty years of business activity, and a.s.sociation with thousands of people in almost every relation in life, he could say, as he did: "I die contented. I have no ill will towards any one, and I know of no reason why any one should have any ill will against me." He loved his family with a love that never wearied and never forgot; which dared all things, suffered all things, did all things, that could make for their comfort and happiness. He loved his books. He was a stanch friend, a kind neighbor, and a generous citizen, who never left to others the duties he could discharge. In business, he was sagacious without being a schemer, patient and industrious without being a slave. He had judgment, foresight, and reliability; and he worked his way to success openly, steadily, and surely. He died universally respected and widely and sincerely mourned.

Mr. Cogswell was the son of Dr. William Cogswell, the son of Nathaniel Cogswell of Atkinson, who was born July 11, 1760, and was married to Judith Badger, July 22, 1786, the daughter of the Hon. Joseph Badger, senior, of Gilmanton, N. H., born May 15, 1766, whose children were as follows:

William, born June 5, 1787; Julia, born February 20, 1789; Hannah Pearson, born July 6, 1791; Joseph Badger, born August 30, 1793; Nathaniel, born March 5, 1796; Thomas, born December 7, 1798; Francis, born December 21, 1800; George, born February 5, 1808; John, born February 14, 1810, and died August 6, 1811.

Julia Cogswell was married to Greenleaf Clarke, of Atkinson, March 1, 1810. They were the parents of William Cogswell Clarke and John Badger Clarke, who are sketched elsewhere in this book.

Hannah Pearson Cogswell married William Badger, of Gilmanton, who was afterwards governor of New Hamps.h.i.+re. Their children are Col. Joseph and Capt. William, of the U. S. army.

Joseph Badger Cogswell was married to Judith Peaslee, October, 1817.

They had six children, three sons and three daughters: William is a successful physician in Bradford, Ma.s.s.; Francis has been a very popular teacher, and is now superintendent of schools in Cambridge, Ma.s.s.; and Thomas is a dentist in Boston.

Rev. Nathanial Cogswell married Susan Doane, October, 1825. He was a settled clergyman at Yarmouth, Ma.s.s., a man of great influence, and his son John B. D. Cogswell has been speaker of the Ma.s.sachusetts house of representatives.

William, Thomas, and George Cogswell are sketched in this book.

Francis Cogswell received his early education in the public schools and at Atkinson Academy, from which he entered Dartmouth College, where he graduated with honor in the cla.s.s of 1822. Selecting the law for his profession, he prepared himself for admission to the bar at Exeter, was admitted in 1827, and commenced practice in Tuftonborough, N. H., the same year. He removed, in 1828, to Ossipee. In 1833 he removed to Dover, and was appointed clerk of the court in Strafford county. Nine years later he located at Andover, Ma.s.s., and became treasurer of the Ballardvale Woolen Company.

May 16, 1845, he was chosen cas.h.i.+er of the Andover bank, to which inst.i.tution he devoted himself with great fidelity until he was called to the presidency of the Boston & Maine Railroad, in 1856. In this position, his systematic methods, untiring industry, ability to manage men, careful regard for the public and respect for its opinions, and stern integrity a.s.serted themselves, to the great advantage of the corporation and the approval of its patrons; and his resignation, which he tendered in 1862, caused wide-spread regrets, which grew more and more p.r.o.nounced until 1865, when he yielded to the general demand and accepted a re-election. His second term lasted until 1871, when he felt compelled to lay down the heavy burdens inseparable from the office, and retire from active life.

In addition to these, Mr. Cogswell held many other public and private trusts of great responsibility, in all of which his sterling qualities were quietly but effectively a.s.serted. He was a director of the Andover bank for twenty years; treasurer of the Marland Manufacturing Company for twenty-two years; a trustee of Gilmanton and Atkinson academies, and of the Punchard free school at Andover; an overseer of Harvard College; and senior warden of the Episcopal church at Andover, where he was a constant wors.h.i.+per for many years. Many private properties were also committed to his care; and his advice was constantly in demand by his neighbors and acquaintances.

Mr. Cogswell was a man of p.r.o.nounced political views, but would never accept political honors. Prior to the war he was a Democrat; but the attempt of the southern slaveholders to destroy the Union made him an earnest Republican, and one of the strongest supporters of the loyal cause. He was chairman of Andover's war committee, and gave liberally of his means to her soldiers and their families.

Mr. Cogswell was married, June 8, 1829, to Mary S. Marland, daughter of Abraham Marland, of Andover, by whom he had eight children. Three of these--John F. Cogswell, of Andover, at the head of the well known and very successful express company of Cogswell & Co., Lawrence, Ma.s.s., Thomas M. Cogswell, of Lawrence, engaged in the same business as his brother, and Mary M., wife of William Hobbs, Esq., of Brookline, Ma.s.s.,--are living.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Joseph B. Clark]

HON. JOSEPH BOND CLARK.

JOSEPH BOND CLARK, son of Samuel and Betsey (Clement) Clark, was born at Gilford, N. H., June 21, 1823. He had four brothers and four sisters, of whom two survive,--Samuel C., a lawyer at Lake Village, and Hannah B., widow of the late William G. Hoyt, of Moultonborough. At the age of seventeen he began a preparatory course of study at New Hampton Literary Inst.i.tution, and, after three years, entered Brown University at Providence, R. I., in 1844, and graduated in 1848. He then spent six years teaching in Ma.s.sachusetts and New Hamps.h.i.+re, meanwhile qualifying himself for the profession of law, some time with the Hon. Asa Fowler, of Concord, N. H., and with Stephen C. Lyford, of Laconia, from whose office he was admitted to the Belknap-county bar in 1853. He however continued for two years longer princ.i.p.al of the Wolfeborough Academy, and then removed to Manchester, N. H.

Mr. Clark was soon recognized as a moving force among men, was made city solicitor in 1858-59, representative in the legislature from ward one in 1859-60, and was appointed solicitor for Hillsborough county in 1861 and again in 1866, holding the office ten years in all. In the midst of his varied activities the war broke out; he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Eleventh Regiment, Col. Walter Harriman, and went to the front to a.s.sist in putting down the rebellion. In March of the succeeding year he was promoted to the rank of captain, and was wounded in the battle of the Wilderness, May 6, 1864. He remained with his regiment until the close of the war, and was mustered out of service in June, 1865. In 1867 he was mayor of the city of Manchester. He has been a director in the Merrimack River Bank (now First National) and trustee of the Merrimack River Savings Bank, since their organization, and is a director of the Nashua, Acton, & Boston Railroad and of the Manchester Horse-Railroad.

He was for several years a director of the First Baptist society of Manchester, and chairman of the building committee, which erected probably the finest church of that denomination in the state.

In 1878-79 he represented ward three in the legislature, and was chairman of the finance committee; and was a member and clerk of the committee for the erection of the soldiers' monument in Manchester, in 1879. He married, September 12, 1862, Mrs. Mary Jane (Peabody) Smith, daughter of James H. and Roxana Peabody, of Manchester. She died August 15, 1873, leaving two children,--Mary P. and Joseph M.

This record, so brief and yet so full, will suggest better than any words the general estimation of Mr. Clark among those who know him.

Undemonstrative and quiet in his manner, cautious and prudent in action, simple and temperate in habit, he is, above all, a thoughtful and patriotic citizen, whose vote is given for the best measures, and whose example lends force to his words. Conservative by nature, he is yet not slow to place himself on the side of equal justice and truth.

HON. GEORGE W. NESMITH.

[FROM HISTORY OF ANTRIM, BY REV. W. R. COCHRANE.]

JAMES NESMITH, one of the signers of the memorial to Gov. Shute, March 26, 1718, and one of the proprietors of Londonderry, was also one of the original sixteen that first struck for settlement on the soil of that ancient town. April 22, 1719. He was a strong man, worthy of respect, and honored by his a.s.sociates. Was appointed elder of the West Parish Presbyterian church, at its formation in 1739. The date of his death was 1767, and his age seventy-five. He married, in Ireland, in 1714, Elisabeth, daughter of James McKeen and Janet Cochran. This Elisabeth McKeen was sister of Janet McKeen, Dea. Isaac Cochran's mother. She died in 1763, aged sixty-seven. The Nesmiths lived in the valley of the Bann in Ireland, and emigrated to that place from Scotland in 1690. Dea.

James Nesmith had two children in Ireland, and seems to have buried the eldest child there. Seven children were born to them in America. The names of all were: Arthur, buried in infancy in Ireland; James, born in Ireland in 1718; Arthur, born in Londonderry April 3, 1721; Jean, born March 12, 1723; Mary, born Jan. 24, 1726; John, born Feb. 11, 1728; Elisabeth, born Jan. 8, 1730; Thomas, born March 26, 1732; Benjamin, born Sept. 14, 1734.

James Nesmith, Jr., the son born in Ireland, was born early in 1718, just before embarking for America, and was brought over in his mother's arms. He married Mary Dinsmore and settled in the northern part of Londonderry. Though an old man when the Revolutionary war broke out, he went with all his heart into the struggle against the British; marched among the minute-men at the first call, and was a partic.i.p.ant in the battle of Bunker Hill. He had children, James, Jonathan, Robert, Elisabeth, Mary, and Sarah; and died where he settled, July 15, 1793. Of these six children, we will only say as follows: James, the oldest, was born in 1744; married Mary McClure (Parker's History is wrong in saying Martha); was elder in the West Parish church; left children,--William M., Robert, Isaac, James, Martha, Jane W., and Margaret,--of whom William M., the first named, married Harriet Willis, and was father of Hon. James W. Nesmith, long U. S. Senator from Oregon. Senator Nesmith was born in 1820, married Pauline Goffe in 1846, and now lives in wealth and honor at Dixie, Ore. The second child of James, Jr., was Jonathan of Antrim; Robert, the third child, married Jane Anderson; Elisabeth, the fourth child, married James Cochran of Windham; Mary, the fifth child, married James McClure of Acworth; and Sarah, the sixth, married Daniel Anderson of Londonderry.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Geo. W. Nesmith.]