COL. THOMAS P. PIERCE.

"By nature honest, by experience wise,Healthy by temperance and exercise,"

has acted well his part, and so honored his state, and made a name which his descendants will cherish in the years to come.

Thos. P. PierceThos. P. Pierce

Most of the success and thrift which during the past thirty years have attended the manufacturing interests of New Hampshire are due to the untiring industry and intelligent foresight of that class of self-reliant, progressive business men who, starting in life with ordinary advantages, have had the nerve to seize and the capacity to improve the opportunities within their reach. Prominent among this class of enterprising and valuable citizens of this state is the gentleman whose name stands at the head of this page,—Hon. Thomas P. Pierce.

Col. Pierce was born in Chelsea, Mass., on the 30th of August, 1820. He came from Revolutionary stock on both the father's and mother's side. After limited training in the public schools, he learned the trade of carriage and ornamental painting in Boston.

In 1840, the subject of this sketch came to Manchester, which was then springing into existence as a manufacturing village, under the auspices of the Amoskeag Land and Water Company. Three years previous the first improvements were begun, and it was now a bustling town of six hundred families, gathered from every section of northern New England. With much of the rush and recklessness of a newly grown community, there were then germs of that energy which has since made Manchester an eminently prosperous city. Young Pierce, not yet of age, worked as a journeyman at his trade, and by his unvarying courtesy and cheerful spirit was a favorite among his associates. He was an active member of the famous Stark Guards,—a military organization of which Hon. George W. Morrison and Walter French, Esq., were successively in command.

There is no more exhaustive test of a young man's stamina than life in a rapidly growing manufacturing village. One literally goes in and out in the presence of the enemies' pickets, though they may not be intentional enemies. The temptation to excess is constant and persistent. Often the most brilliant and sagacious fall victims. It is to the credit of Thomas P. Pierce that he passed the ordeal unscathed. In the summer of 1842 it was his good fortune to marry Miss Asenath R. McPherson, the daughter of a farmer in the adjoining town of Bedford.

The war with Mexico began in 1846. When it was decided that an army under Gen. Scott should be raised to march to the city of Mexico, it was ordered that a regiment of infantry should be raised in New England. Mr. Pierce at once volunteered as a private, and was soon after commissioned, by President Polk, as second lieutenant of one of the companies of the New England regiment. The command of this regiment was first assigned to Franklin Pierce; but on his promotion to the command of a brigade it was given to Truman B. Ransom, a brave and accomplished officer from Vermont.

Early in the summer the brigade under Gen. Pierce was ordered to proceed to the eastern coast of Mexico, and to land in the vicinity of Vera Cruz, to be ready to co-operate with the main army under Gen. Scott in the march to theMexican capital. The troops disembarked on the 28th of June,—a most unfavorable season of the year. The heat was so intense on the lowlands that to march between nine o'clock in the morning and four in the afternoon was impossible. With the exception of a few of the officers, the entire force was made up of new recruits. It occupied two weeks to secure mules for army transportation. On the 14th of July the movement toward the city of Mexico began, and, on reaching the foothills, every bridge and fortified pass was strongly guarded by hostile Mexicans. There was constant skirmishing, and the enemy, from the cliffs and thickets, made annoying and sometimes dangerous attacks. The climate, the difficulties of marching, and hardships of a military life in a strange country bore heavily on the inexperienced soldiery. Amid these perplexities, the tact, the genial spirit, and untiring attention to the wants of his comrades won for Lieut. Pierce a high regard and strong personal attachment. In the sharp conflicts which occurred on reaching the table-lands, Lieut. Pierce took an active part. At the battle of Contreras, fought August 19, he was personally complimented by Col. Ransom for bravery,—himself soon after a martyr to his personal valor.

Reaching the higher lands, Gen. Scott found the flower of the Mexican army entrenched among the cliffs of Churubusco. To leave the enemy in the rear was to hazard everything; and in the dangerous task of dislodging and utterly routing them the New England regiment bore a conspicuous part. In his report of the battle, Gen. Scott placed the name of Lieut. Pierce on the list of those recommended for promotion on account of gallant and meritorious conduct. The storming of Chepultepec soon followed, in which the New England regiment had literally to cross a succession of ridges and ravines, exposed to a deadly fire from the enemy among the crags. The assault was successful, and the surrender of the Mexican capital immediately followed. In this action, and in the details of patrol service during the winter, while the city was occupied by the American army, Lieut. Pierce was officially commended for the vigilant discharge of his duties.

The campaign in Mexico, with its varied experiences, had, without doubt, a marked and favorable effect upon the subject of this sketch. The novelty of climate and productions, the grandeur of the scenery, and the immense natural resources of that region were not lost upon him. But of still greater value was the experience gained from association with men of large attainments, positive ideas, strong will, and comprehensive views. The majority of the army officers in that campaign were of this character; and the young soldier, at the close of the war, returned home in March, 1848, with higher aims and a better and truer estimate of the duties and responsibilities of life.

Col. Pierce again engaged in business at his trade, in Manchester, which, in the meantime, had been incorporated a city. In 1849 he became a member of the city government; and in the same year was appointed a member of Gov. Dinsmoor's staff. Upon the inauguration of Gen. Franklin Pierce as president, in March, 1853, he was appointed postmaster at Manchester. This position, in the largest and most prosperous city of the state, was one of unusual labor and responsibility. Col. Pierce filled the office for eight years, and to the entire satisfaction of the citizens of all parties.

On the breaking out of the rebellion, in 1861, Col. Pierce was selected by Gov. Goodwin as commander of the Second New Hampshire regiment, of the three months' troops. Having satisfactorily discharged his duties, he retired after the term of enlistment was changed to three years. The next year, September, 1862, unexpected difficulties having arisen, Gov. Berry telegraphed to Col. Pierce to take command of the Twelfth New Hampshire regiment, thencompleting its organization at Concord. How well he accomplished the duty assigned him was expressed in a statement, signed by the officers of the regiment, at the time of his withdrawal, in the following words:—

"Your generous and patriotic course in assuming temporary command of the regiment during a period of great excitement and confusion, thereby saving it from dissolution and the state from disgrace, merits our admiration and sincere thanks."

In 1866, Col. Pierce removed to Nashua, for the purpose of engaging in the manufacture of card-board and glazed paper. Since then he has been an active member and one of the directors of the Nashua Card and Glazed-Paper Company,—one of the most successful business enterprises in the state, and which, in the variety and excellence of its products, is not surpassed by any corporation of its kind in the country. Col. Pierce is also a director of the Contoocook Valley Paper Company in Henniker, a director of the Second National Bank and president of the Mechanics Savings Bank at Nashua.

In 1874, Col. Pierce was elected a member of the New Hampshire state senate, the only candidate of his party ever elected from that district; and in 1875 and 1876 he was sheriff of Hillsborough county. While unwavering in his attachment to, and support of, the Democratic party, he is not rabid in his policy or partisan in his associations. When President Hayes visited Nashua, in 1877, he was selected by the city government as chairman of the committee of arrangements; and no citizen took a more efficient part in securing a proper observance of the obsequies of President Garfield. He and his family are attendants of the Universalist church.

In his social and domestic relations, Col. Pierce has been fortunate. Of his two children, the eldest, Mrs. Julia M., wife of William N. Johnson, resides at West Henniker, where her husband is a paper manufacturer; his son, Mr. Frank Pierce, is associated with him in business.

A few years since, having purchased the homestead of the late Gen. J. G. Foster, he built a spacious and elegant residence. Situated on an acclivity on the north side of the Nashua river, surrounded by ample grounds and stately trees, it is a home of rare attractions. Col. Pierce is still in the prime of active life, and his past record, as well as his present position, is a guarantee that he will ably and faithfully meet the responsibilities of the future.

In these days of varying fortune in business life, and in this country especially, where property is accumulated or lost more readily and frequently than in any other land, the beneficent nature of the institution of life assurance has come to be very generally appreciated. This institution, which, so far as its general establishment is concerned, is peculiarly an American one, is indeed a natural outgrowth of our social and business system, and is coming to be more fully recognized, from year to year, in one form or another, as the only medium through which men in general business, or most of the avocations of life, may make substantially sure provision for the support of their families or those depending upon them, in case of their own removal by death before acquiring a competency, or after the loss of the same through business reverses or adventitious circumstances. The man who stands before the public as a leading representative of an institution of such importance becomes properly a person of note in the business community; and when he is endowed with those powers and qualities of mind which naturally bring him into prominence in social and political circles and the general activities of life, he may well be classed among those who are esteemed representative men of the times in the state and section wherein he resides, and which is the field of his active labor. Such a man is the subject of this sketch.

Martin Van Buren Edgerlyis a native of the town of Barnstead,—a town, by the way, which has sent out its productions into the world in the form of able, energetic men,—men of strong minds in strong bodies, who have made their mark in the world, and stand at the front in the various fields of activity in which they have engaged. In the domain of law, of theology, of politics, and of general business, the sons of Barnstead hold high rank, as is abundantly demonstrated by reference to the names of Lewis W. Clark, Rev. Alonzo H. Quint, John G. Sinclair, and John P. Newell. Mr. Edgerly was the fifth of nine children—five sons and four daughters—of Samuel J. and Eliza (Bickford) Edgerly, born September 26, 1833. Samuel J. Edgerly was a man of far more than ordinary intelligence and mental activity, who, but for the misfortune of disease, which impaired his physical powers in early life;, would have become unquestionably a leading spirit in public affairs. As it was, he was recognized by all with whom he came in contact in life as a man of strong mind and decided character. He was a descendant, upon the maternal side, and was named in honor of that Col. Samuel Johnson who was one of the early settlers of the town of Northwood, and of whom it is said, in sketching the history of that town, that upon the first night of his abode within its limits he slept upon the ground between two rocks, with a quilt or piece of canvas for covering.

M. V. B. EdgerlyM. V. B. Edgerly

When a lad of twelve years, Col. Edgerly removed with his parents to Manchester. He attended the public schools for a time, but at an early age entered the service of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, being engaged at first in the mills and afterwards in the machine-shop; but, after several years, becoming dissatisfied with the dull routine of mechanical labor, and desirous of testing his powers in the field of business, in October, 1856, at the age of twenty-three, he embarked in trade as a joint proprietor of a drug-store with Mr. Lewis H. Parker. He was thus engaged but a short time, however, removing the following year to the town of Pittsfield, where he soon established himself in the insurance business, taking the agency of various companies, fire and life. This, it may be truly said, was the actual starting point in his career. He found in this business a field of labor congenial to his tastes, and peculiarly adapted to the development and exercise of the distinctive powers of mind and body with which he is endowed; and he entered into his work with heart and soul. He was not long in discovering the special line of effort to which he was best adapted, and which gave the best promise of substantial success in response to such effort; nor were the managers of the business in question long in ascertaining, from the character of the work already accomplished, the direction in which their own advantage lay; and so it came about in a short time, that after a visit to the company's office in Springfield, made upon the solicitation of the president, Col. Edgerly became exclusively the agent of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, relinquishing all other agencies, and devoting his entire efforts to the interests of the company.

So thorough and satisfactory was the work which he accomplished, that a year later he was given the general agency of the company for the state of New Hampshire, with headquarters at Manchester, to which city he removed with his family, when, in 1863, he was given charge of the business for Vermont and northern New York in addition to this state. Under his efficient management and supervision the business of the company increased to a remarkable degree in the entire territory of which he had control, until the net annual receipts in premiums upon new policies, in New Hampshire alone, had risen from substantially nothing in 1859, when he first commenced work, to nearly seventy-five thousand dollars in 1866, representing the proceeds from the issue of a thousand policies, covering an aggregate insurance of more than a million and a half of dollars. This remarkable success was due, not simply to the work of personal solicitation, in which line Col. Edgerly has no superiors, but more especially to the keen discernment and ready knowledge of men with which he is endowed, enabling him to select proper agents and judiciously supervise their work.

In 1868 he accepted the position of superintendent of the company's agencies throughout the country. For two years he labored as none but a physically robust and mentally active man can, establishing agencies and working up the business of the company throughout the West, while retaining and directing his own special work in the East. This double labor was too arduous, even for a man of his powers, and in 1870 he resigned the position of superintendent, and confined his work to his former field in New Hampshire, Vermont, and northern New York. In September, 1874, however, he was induced to accept charge of the company's agency in Boston, in addition to his other duties, and since that date he has divided his time and labor between the two positions, efficiently directing the work of both, and largely increasing the business at the Boston office. In January last he was made a member of the board of directors of the company which he has so long and faithfully served, and which owes its prosperity, in no small degree, to his intelligent efforts.

Col. Edgerly has been a Democrat from youth, and has ever manifested a lively interest in political affairs, although he has had neither the time nor inclination to enter, to any extent, upon the duties of public position, even had it been in the power of his party to confer the same. He has, however, in suchtime as he was able to command, done a great deal of party work in different campaigns; and in 1874 was elected a member of the board of aldermen, although his ward was strongly Republican at the time, thus demonstrating his personal popularity and the esteem in which he is held in the community where he resides. He has frequently served as a member of the Democratic state committee, and as treasurer of the same, and a member of the executive committee; also, as chairman of the Democratic city committee in Manchester. He was a delegate from New Hampshire to the Democratic national convention at Baltimore, in 1872, which nominated Horace Greeley for the presidency, and was the New Hampshire member of the Democratic national committee from 1872 to 1876. Again, in 1880, he was chosen a delegate-at-large to the national convention of his party. In 1871 he was appointed, by Gov. Weston, chief of staff; and in 1873 and 1874 he held the position of commander of the Amoskeag Veterans, of which organization he has long been an active and popular member. In 1874 he was appointed, by President Grant, an alternate commissioner to represent New Hampshire at the centennial exposition and celebration in Philadelphia.

Actively and closely as he has been engaged in his chosen line of business, Col. Edgerly has lent his aid and judgment to some extent to the encouragement and direction of other business enterprises. He has been many years a trustee of the Merrimack River Savings Bank and a director of the Suncook Valley Railroad, of which latter enterprise he was among the active promoters. He was also, for a time, a director of the City National Bank. In his religious associations he is an Episcopalian, and is an active member and officer of Grace church in Manchester. He is also a member of the Odd Fellows and Masonic bodies in the city of his residence.

March 7, 1854, Col. Edgerly was united in marriage with Miss Alvina Barney of Danbury, by whom he has had three children, two of whom are now living, a son and daughter,—Clinton Johnson, born December 16, 1857, and Mabel Clayton, born October 18, 1859.

Col. Edgerly is a man of fine personal appearance, genial manners, and a ready appreciation of the demands of friendship and society, as well as those of business. There are few men of greater personal popularity in his city or state, and none who command more fully the confidence of those with whom they are brought into relationship, whether in business or in social life. Yet under fifty years of age, he has, it may naturally be assumed, many years of successful effort yet before him, and many more in which to enjoy the substantial reward of his labor.

ICHABOD GOODWIN. GOVERNOR OF NEW HAMPSHIRE 1859-60.ICHABOD GOODWIN.GOVERNOR OF NEW HAMPSHIRE 1859-60.

Mr. Goodwin is the eldest son of Samuel Goodwin and Nancy Thompson Gerrish, and was born in that part of Berwick which is now North Berwick, in the state of Maine. He is descended, on both father's and mother's side, from families of very great colonial importance. The great-grandfather of Mr. Goodwin, Capt. Ichabod Goodwin, is said, by the writer of the genealogy of the Berwick Goodwins, in theHistorical Magazine, to have been the most remarkable man who ever lived in that town. He distinguished himself at the battle of Ticonderoga, and we learn from theLondon Magazinethat he was especially mentioned in Maj.-Gen. Abercrombie's report to Secretary Pitt.

On his father's side, his ancestors figured conspicuously in the wars before the Revolution, and up to the period of the Revolution were of the families upon whom devolved the magisterial work and honor of the times. On his mother's side he is likewise descended from families which for a century, and up to the time of the Revolution, performed a large share of the duties of public office; and some of the most conspicuous names in the colonial history of Maine and New Hampshire are to be counted among his maternal ancestors.

To mention the names of Champernoun, Waldron, and Elliot, none more familiar to those informed upon colonial history, is but to recall the persons from whom, on the maternal side, he is lineally descended, or with whom his maternal ancestors were closely allied by ties of family connection. The ante-revolutionary importance of the people from whom he comes is well illustrated by the fact that the name of his maternal grandfather, Joseph Gerrish, stands first on the triennial catalogue of Harvard College in the list of graduates of the year 1752, a class which numbered a Quincy among its graduating members. The significance of this fact, as bearing upon the status of his mother's family at that time, is, that the names of the members of the classes of that day are published in the triennial catalogue of Harvard in the order of the social importance of the families to which the members respectively belonged.

At the time of Mr. Goodwin's birth, which was just before the beginning of the present century, the state of things which the Revolution had brought about had had ample time to crystallize. Whether it was through the great changes that under the new order of things had taken place in the political, social, and commercial affairs of the country, or whether from those inherent causes under the operation of which families conspicuous and influential in one period drop out of notice and are lost to the eye of the historian, the annalist, and perhaps even of the town chronicler, Mr. Goodwin's family, at the time of his birth, were simply plain farming people, highly respected within the limits of the little country town in which they lived, but no longer among the noted, or influential, or wealthy people of Maine. The country had, by the close of the last century, taken a considerable stride onward in prosperity as well as in numerical growth, and the bustle and hum of industry, pouring itself into new channels of prosperity,had passed by many of the families which in the earlier era had been the foremost in developing the resources of the country, in leading the yeomanry in war, in presiding over the tribunals, and sitting in council as civic magistrates.

Mr. Goodwin's academic education consisted of several years of study at the academy at South Berwick, an institution having at that time a good deal of local importance, and then, as now, the only school in the vicinity of his birthplace where a fitting for college could be obtained. Shortly after leaving that academy he entered the counting-house of Samuel Lord, Esq., then a very prominent merchant and ship-owner of Portsmouth, N. H., and he became a member of Mr. Lord's family. He here displayed qualities which had been quite conspicuous in his earlier boyhood,—those of energy and assiduity and a very marked capacity for affairs. These qualities, which at the early age of twelve had made him quite a competent and satisfactory manager of the farm of his widowed step-grandmother, who was the grandmother of Mr. Lord, showed later in his conduct as a clerk in the commercial business of the then very thriving shipping port of Portsmouth. Mr. Lord, finding that Mr. Goodwin's business abilities were more comprehensive than the mere duties of a clerk required, placed him as a supercargo in charge of the business of what was then the largest ship owned in the port, the "Elizabeth Wilson." In the present days of railroads, sea-going steamers, oceanic cables, and the commercial complement of these foreign correspondents or agents, it may seem a trivial sign of a young man's capacities to name the fact of his being made the business manager of a ship, especially as ships then went in regard to size; but it is the introduction of these very modern appliances for conducting business which has rendered the responsibility of the delegated management of this species of property comparatively easy. In the days of Mr. Goodwin's early voyaging, the whole discretion as to the conduct of the ship's affairs was vested in the supercargo, except in the brief period of her being in the home port, when the owner resumed his authority and control. In foreign places, among strangers, beyond the reach of opportunity for consultation with his owner, the young man must rely upon himself; must decide upon what voyage his ship shall go, and must be ready to account to his principal upon his return for the results of a prosperous enterprise or a disastrous adventure. It was not long before Mr. Goodwin had learned enough of seamanship to enable him to add to the duties of the supercargo the further business of navigating his ship, so that for several years he was both ship-master and business manager, offices then, as now, rarely combined in one person; for the ship-master is to-day chiefly the navigator and head seaman of his ship, while the business, involving the chartering and the rest, is attended to by a merchant in the port of destination, who is in ready communication with the owner, both by the fast-going mail of the steamship and the quicker method of the ocean cable. Mr. Goodwin's sea life lasted for about twelve years. During that time he had been so far successful as to become a part owner, and to be enabled to begin business at home.

In the year 1832 he established himself as a merchant at Portsmouth. Portsmouth has been his home ever since that time; and there he for many years conducted an extensive mercantile business, his chief business interests lying in the direction of the foreign carrying-trade. Upon leaving the sea he soon became foremost in matters that were of public concern. He was one of the early projectors of the railroad interests of New England; and, until within a few years, he has taken a large part in all the enterprises of public import in the vicinity of his home, including, besides railroads, the enterprises of manufacturing and banking; and he has been vested always with a large share of the local trusts, both public and private, which devolve upon the public-spirited and trusted citizen. He has of late years been inclined to withdraw from these responsibilities; but of those which he still retains, the presidency of theHoward Benevolent Society, a position he has held for over thirty years, and the presidency of the Portsmouth Bridge Company may be mentioned. He has, however, within the last two years, assumed the presidency of the First National Bank of Portsmouth, in which he is largely interested as a stockholder, and in which institution he had been a director from its incorporation as a state bank. He was for many years and at different periods a director in the Eastern Railroad Company, and was the first president of the Eastern Railroad in New Hampshire, which position he held for twenty-five years. He was also of the first board of direction of the Portland, Saco, & Portsmouth Railroad Company, and was the president of that corporation from the year 1847 to the year 1871. But it is unnecessary to mention all the public trusts of a corporate nature which have been confided to his care. His chief claim to public esteem, and that which will secure to him its most enduring recognition, is derived from his services as the first "war governor" of New Hampshire.

Upon Mr. Goodwin's settling as a business man in Portsmouth, he did not confine his energies to his private business and to corporate enterprises, but soon acquired a large interest and influence as a member of the Whig party. He served in the legislature of New Hampshire, as a member of that party, in the years 1838, 1843, 1844, 1850, 1854, and 1856. He was also a delegate-at-large from that state to the conventions at which Clay, Taylor, and Scott were nominated by the Whigs for the presidency, and was a vice-president at the first two named conventions; and he has twice served in the constitutional conventions of New Hampshire. He was the candidate of the Whigs for congress at several elections before the state was divided into congressional districts. New Hampshire was in those days one of the most powerful strongholds of the Democratic party in the country; and a Whig nomination for any office, determined by the suffrages of the whole state, was merely a tribute of esteem by that party to one of its most honored members. Upon the establishment of congressional districts, Mr. Goodwin received a unanimous nomination of the Whig party for congress at the first convention held in his district. This nomination bid fair to be followed by an election, but the circumstances of his private business prevented his acceptance of the candidateship. In the great political convulsions which preceded the war of the rebellion, the power of the Democratic party in New Hampshire began to decline, while the ties which through years of almost steady defeat in the state at large had been sufficient to hold together the Whig party, now came to be loosened, and out of the decadence of the former and the extinction of the latter party there was built up the Republican party, which gained the supremacy in the state, and which has ever since, with a brief exception, maintained that supremacy. Mr. Goodwin, while in full sympathy with the cause of the Union, which he believed the politicians of the South were striving to dismember, yet felt that perhaps the impending crisis could be arrested through the means of the old political organizations; and he remained steadfast to the organization of the Whig party until he saw that its usefulness, both as a state and as a national party, was gone. He was the last candidate of the Whigs for the office of governor of New Hampshire, and received in the whole state the meager amount of about two thousand votes. This lesson did not require to be repeated. He immediately did all in his power to aid in the establishment of the Republican party in this state; for, although the old-time issues between the Democrats and Whigs had gone by, and new questions had arisen involving the very integrity of the nation, he did not regard the Democratic party as one capable of solving or disposed to solve those questions in a patriotic and statesmanlike way. He was chosen the governor of New Hampshire, as the Republican candidate, in the year 1859, and was re-elected in the following year, his second term of office having expired on June 5, 1861.

The military spirit of the people of New Hampshire had become dormant, and the militia system of the state had fallen pretty much to decay long before the election of Mr. Goodwin to the office of governor. A slight revival of that spirit, perhaps, is marked by the organization in his honor, in January, 1860, of the "Governor's Horse-Guards,"—a regiment of cavalry in brilliant uniform, designed to do escort duty to the governor,—as well as by a field muster of several voluntary organizations of troops which went into camp at Nashua in the same year. But when the call of President Lincoln for troops was made, in the spring of 1861, the very foundation of a military system required to be formed. The legislature was not in session, and would not convene, except under a special call, until the following June. There were no funds in the treasury which could be devoted to the expense of the organization and equipment of troops, as all the available funds were needed to meet the ordinary state expenditures. The great confidence of the people of New Hampshire in the wisdom and integrity of Mr. Goodwin found in this emergency full expression. Without requiring time to convene the legislature so as to obtain the security of the state for the loan, the banking institutions and citizens of the state tendered him the sum of $680,000, for the purpose of enabling him to raise and equip for the field New Hampshire's quota of troops. This offer he gladly accepted; and averting delay in the proceedings by refraining from convening the legislature, he, upon his own responsibility, proceeded to organize and equip troops for the field; and in less than two months he had dispatched to the army, near Washington, two well equipped and well officered regiments. Of this sum of $680,000, only about $100,000 was expended. On the assembling of the legislature, that body unanimously passed the "enabling act," under which all of his proceedings as governor were ratified, and the state made to assume the responsibility.

During the period of this gubernatorial service, there was a reconstruction of the bench of the highest judicial tribunal of the state; and during that time nearly every position upon that court was filled by his appointment. It is sufficient to say that the exalted rank which that tribunal has ever held among the courts of last resort of the states of the nation, suffered no diminution from his appointments to its bench, such was the good sense and discernment of Mr. Goodwin in making the selections, although himself not versed in the law.

"Waite's History of New Hampshire in the Rebellion" says of him:—

"His administration of state affairs met with universal approval, and he left the office (that of governor) with the respect of all parties. As a member of the legislature and of the constitutional convention, he took a leading part on committees and in debate. His speeches were never made for show. He spoke only when there seemed to be occasion for it, and then always to the point, and was listened to with great respect and attention; for his conservatism and practical wisdom in all matters of public policy were well known. In all public positions he has discharged his duties with fidelity, industry, and marked ability. As a citizen and business man he is public-spirited, liberal, high-minded, and enjoys the unbounded confidence and respect of all."

Mr. Goodwin has always been noted for his kindness to young men, aiding them without stint, both with his purse and his advice in their business difficulties; and he has ever been ready to extend to all his townsmen who needed aid the assistance of his influence, his counsel, and his pecuniary means.

In 1827, Mr. Goodwin married Miss Sarah Parker Rice, a daughter of Mr. William Rice, a wealthy and prosperous merchant of Portsmouth. Of seven children, one son and two daughters survive.

William CogswellWilliam Cogswell

William Cogswell, the oldest of the four Cogswell brothers whose distinguished lives are briefly sketched in this volume, was born June 5, 1787, in Atkinson, N. H. His ancestors were among the earliest settlers of Massachusetts, and persons of quality, piety, and distinction.

His descent is from John Cogswell, who settled in Ipswich, Mass., in 1635, and Giles Badger, who settled in Newbury, Mass., the same year.

His parents were Dr. William and Judith (Badger) Cogswell, of Atkinson.

His grandparents were Nathaniel and Judith (Badger) Cogswell, of Haverhill, Mass., and Gen. Joseph and Hannah (Pearson) Badger, of Gilmanton.

His grandfather, Nathaniel Cogswell, was the son of Lieut. John and Hannah (Goodhue) Cogswell, of Chebacco Parish, Ipswich, Mass. Lieut. John Cogswell was the son of William and Susannah Cogswell of the same place, and William Cogswell was the son of[3]John and Elizabeth (Thompson) Cogswell, who emigrated from Westbury, Wilts county, England, in 1635, and settled in Ipswich, Mass.

His grandfather, Gen. Joseph Badger, was the son of Joseph and Hannah (Peaslee) Badger, of Haverhill, Mass. Joseph Badger was the son of John, Jr., and Rebecca (Browne) Badger, of Newbury, Mass. John Badger, Jr., was the son of John and Elizabeth Badger of the same place; and John Badger was the only son of Giles and Elizabeth (Greenleaf) Badger, immigrants to Newbury, Mass., in 1635.

It may be said of his ancestry, in general, that they were a religious, intelligent, liberty-loving, and an enterprising people. By reason of ability, integrity, piety, and attainments, many of them have been called to positions of municipal, military, political, and ecclesiastical duty and eminence, and have excelled in the learned professions, in the halls of legislature, on the field of battle, and in the Christian pulpit.

From such choice Puritan stock, having in his veins the blood of the Thompsons, the Greenleafs, the Brownes, the Goodhues, the Peaslees, and the Pearsons, as well as of the Cogswells and the Badgers, it is not strange that he and his no less eminent brothers should be found among the distinguished men whose portraits adorn and whose biographies fill the pages of this volume.

William Cogswell was born only a few years after the victory of our great struggle for national existence and independence. His rural home was far up the side of one of New Hampshire's grand old hills, sloping southward and crowned with a New England meeting-house. He was born where he could breathe to heart's content the pure air of heaven, look off upon scenery of landscape wide, varied, and grand. His early life was beneath the shadow of the best religious and educational institutions, which his father had been the primemover in establishing. In full sight of his early boyhoood's home was the academy which said to country boys of those days. The door is open to you here to enter a college course and find your way into the learned professions. The lad heard the invitation, seized the opportunity, and eagerly pursued his preparatory studies at Atkinson Academy, then under the charge of John Vose, Esq. He entered the sophomore class of Dartmouth College in 1808, maintained a high rank of scholarship during his course, and was honorably graduated in the class of 1811.

Before entering college, William Cogswell received deep and abiding religious impressions which ripened into a personal religious experience, and during the vacation of his junior year, September 23, 1810, he made a public confession of faith and united with the Congregational church of his native town. After graduation from college he taught in the academy of his own town, in Essex, Mass., and was one year principal of the Hampton Academy. While teaching in Essex, Mass., he had, for a pupil in the classics, a lad some ten years of age, whose name was Rufus Choate. This Rufus Choate was heard of in later years.

Meanwhile, occupied with teaching, Mr. Cogswell pursued somewhat his theological studies, having his eye on the Christian ministry. At the end of two years, he found that his labors in school and studies out of school had told seriously upon his health. Acting upon the advice of his physician and of his minister, he procured a good saddle-horse and a license to preach the gospel in destitute parts, and galloped off toward the northern wilderness of his native state, in eager pursuit of health and men's souls. In both these objects he was successful. He regained his health, and under his earnest presentation of the gospel a large number of persons were hopefully converted to Christ, and Christian institutions planted in the then spiritual wastes, which have since blossomed as the rose and borne fruit to the glory of God. Upon his return, Mr. Cogswell completed his professional studies under the instruction of Rev. Daniel Dana, D. D., of Newburyport, and Rev. Samuel Worcester, D. D., of Salem, Mass. After preaching a few Sabbaths, he received a unanimous call to become the pastor of the South church in Dedham (now Norwood), Mass., which he accepted, and was ordained and installed over that church, April 26, 1815.

At this time, Mr. Cogswell was twenty-seven years of age, a man of fine personal bearing and manners; his warm christian spirit and deep religious experience spoke in the very lineaments and expression of his open, intelligent, and winning countenance. His qualities of mind were the best, his education thorough, his grasp of truth vigorous, his views scriptural and discriminating, and his faith in God and Revelation implicit.

His ministry in South Dedham lasted fourteen years, and was of unmeasured benefit to that church, at once stimulating to its religious life, educating to its members in scriptural doctrine, and successful in bringing men to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour.

Mr. Cogswell was a preacher whose clear-cut statements, whose logical order, conclusiveness of argument, and persuasiveness of appeal made him a power in the Christian pulpit. Quite a number of his sermons were requested for publication by his congregation; and in those days when the printing of a sermon meant that it was something of rare merit. He had been settled in South Dedham some three years, when he married, Nov. 11, 1818, Miss Joanna Strong, the youngest daughter of the then late Rev. Jonathan Strong, D. D., of Randolph, Mass.

In 1829, being urgently called to important services in connection with the American Education Society, to the regret of his people and with personal reluctance, he resigned his pastorate to enter upon these new duties; and, accordingly, was dismissed December 15, 1829, and removed to Boston, where he residedfor some years. So important were his labors and so successful in this new field of effort, that January 25, 1832, he was chosen, with great enthusiasm, to succeed Dr. Cornelius to the secretaryship of the society, which office he filled with fidelity and acceptance until he resigned in 1841 to accept a professorship in Dartmouth College. In 1833, Mr. Cogswell received from Williams College the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and in 1837 was chosen one of the trustees of Andover Theological Seminary. He removed to Hanover, N. H., and entered upon his duties as professor of National Education and History in Dartmouth College. This position he resigned in 1844 to accept the presidency and professorship of Christian Theology in the Gilmanton Theological Seminary.

Rev. Dr. Cogswell for many years had been engaged in editorial work, and was much interested in historical and genealogical researches. In 1846 he retired from his connection with the seminary, about to be discontinued, and gave himself exclusively to literary pursuits, except that he usually preached on the Sabbath. In the few remaining years of his life he performed a vast amount of literary labor, and became known very widely, and was honored with a membership in nearly all the historical societies in this country and in Europe.

Rev. Dr. Cogswell published several works, viz.: a Catechism on the Doctrines and Duties of Religion; a Manual of Theology and Devotions; the Theological Class Book; the Christian Philanthropist; and Letters to Young Men Preparing for the Christian Ministry. All these works passed through several editions. His published editorial works were: Four vols. of the American Quarterly Register, 1837-1841; New Hampshire Repository, 2 vols.; the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. I.; New Hampshire Historical Collections, vol. VI. He published, also, various miscellaneous writings.

Rev. Dr. William and Joanna (Strong) Cogswell had four children.

The eldest, a daughter, died in infancy.

William Strong Cogswell was born in South Dedham, April 11, 1828, and died April 6, 1848, at the age of twenty years. He was a young man of rare ability and brilliant promise. At the time of his death he was a member of the senior class in Dartmouth College.

Mary Joanna Cogswell was born June 6, 1832, in Boston, Mass. She graduated at Gilmanton Academy in 1851; married, September 20, 1858, Rev. E. O. Jameson, who is now (1882) pastor of the First Church of Christ, in Medway, Mass.

Caroline Strong Cogswell, the youngest child of Rev. Dr. Cogswell, was born June 3, 1840, in Boston, Mass. She was educated at Gilmanton Academy and Holyoke Female Seminary, and has been a successful teacher in the public schools.

Rev. Dr. Cogswell, at length, under the taxing pressure of a busy editorial service, and crushed by the great loss of his only and very promising son, found his health giving way, his usual vigor forsaking him, and it became only too evident that the end of his earthly life was approaching. He continued, however to accomplish more or less literary work, even up to the last few days before his death, which occurred April 18, 1850. The funeral service was on the following Sabbath, conducted by Rev. Daniel Lancaster, who preached a memorial discourse which was subsequently published.

Rev. Dr. Cogswell's life was eminently busy, laborious, self-sacrificing, and honored. His earthly work was faithfully and nobly done; his death triumphant, and heavenly reward sure.

On the head-waters of Suncook river, in the central region of New Hampshire, is the town of Pittsfield. It is limited in extent, undulating in surface, rich in the quality of its soil. Its earliest settlers were sturdy farmers, men and women who from infancy had been accustomed to the hardships and privations of pioneer life.

Among these settlers was Josiah White, who, with his wife of Scottish origin, in the spring of 1775 took up his abode in the outskirts of an unbroken forest. Years of hard labor followed, which at length brought to him and his family the comforts of a rural home. Of his sons, Jeremiah White, the father of the subject of this sketch, succeeded to the homestead. He was born March 4, 1775, and, passing his life amid the scenes of his earlier days, died December 5, 1848. He is still remembered by the older residents of Pittsfield as a citizen who was useful, influential, and respected. Of great personal activity and tact in business, genial and generous, an enterprising farmer of the old school, a safe and sagacious adviser, his departure left a place difficult to fill in the business affairs of the vicinity.

Jeremiah Wilson Whitewas born in Pittsfield, September 16, 1821. The active habits and pure atmosphere of his early rural life laid the foundation of a sound physical constitution. His opportunities for education during childhood were limited to a few months at a distant district school. At the age of fifteen he entered the Pittsfield academy, under the instruction of James F. Joy, a graduate of Dartmouth, and in later years well known as president of the Michigan Central Railroad. Pittsfield village had a thrifty and vigorous population, and among her ambitious and talented young men were several who have since been conspicuous in public life. One became United States senator; three, judges of the supreme court in their respective states; and one, founder of the system of public instruction now in successful operation on the Pacific coast. Remaining at the academy two and a half years, Mr. White, then in his seventeenth year, decided to prepare himself for mercantile and active business life. Adopting the plan which appeared most feasible, he went to Boston, and entered upon an apprenticeship in a drug-store. Forty years ago a mercantile apprenticeship in that city was not a sinecure position. But the young man was not averse to toil, and by assiduous and systematic attention to his duties was preparing the way for future success. Added to his other duties he began the study of medicine in all its branches, and continued it for several years after, until he was qualified for, and, if occasion had required, could have entered upon, professional service.

Finishing his engagement at Boston, he engaged as clerk to Luther Angier, postmaster and druggist at Medford, Mass., with the agreement that with proper notice he could leave to engage in business for himself. Early in the summer of 1845, Mr. White believed that that time had arrived. He had never visited Nashua, but had heard of its reputation as a growing manufacturing town. A few hours' inspection settled the question, and before leaving he hired the store which he afterwards occupied for nearly thirty years.

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