A. H. Dunlap.A. H. Dunlap.
As the weary hours of the forenoon wore away, and they began to feel the strain upon their physical strength, the boys consulted together as they walked, as to what refreshments they could afford. The arguments of the occasion are not handed down; but it was decided, considering the low state of the treasury, that a "glass of brandy apiece would do the most good for the money." (The temperance reform had not reached the people then!) So at the next tavern, just above Mont Vernon, they called for the brandy,—which was brought out inone glass,—and they divided it as fairly as they could. Then they passed on to Amherst, and taking a littlesolidrefreshment, such as a country store ordinarily affords,withoutbrandy, and spending an hour for rest, then they started on the eleven dreary miles that lay between that place and Nashua. The younger boy said he "thought the last five miles neverwouldcome to an end;" but theydidend, and Nashua was reached late in the afternoon. I have heard Mr. Dunlap say, that, however many better and wiser boys may have reached that city, certainly a more tired one never did than he! Saturday, April 9, his first day in Nashua in which he was to be so prominent, he spent in looking over the place. On the Sabbath, having been brought up to go to meeting and to the Sabbath-school, he attended Mr. Nott's church, of which he had heard in Antrim. He was turned into a side gallery with a lot of boys; but the solemnity of years was upon him as he looked on that large, strange audience on his first Sabbath of absence from home. The impression made upon him will never be forgotten. That day he cast his anchor in with that people, and it has held ever since. The strange country boy that looked and listened with so much feeling that day is now, after fifty years, one of the leading spirits in that church, while nearly all the vast audience he looked upon have passed away! The poor boy reached the highest place! He early became a member of the church; was deacon in the Olive-street church from 1855 till its recent union with the Pearl-street church; was then chosen deacon in the united or Pilgrim church; and was chairman of their building committee in the erection of the new and stately edifice of 1881.
About that time (1831) "Nashua Village" had begun to attract attention. The Nashua Manufacturing Company and the Indian Head Company were completing cotton-mills. In one of those erected by the latter company, Col. William Boardman was setting up the heavy machinery; and for him the boy of whom we write went to work for hisboarduntil he could do better. The colonel gave him his dinner, and that was the price of his first half-day's work in Nashua. But that afternoon (Monday, April 10,) Ziba Gay, Esq., manufacturer of machinery, sent for him and engaged him for the summer. The boy of thirteen years, and stranger to all, had found a place in the great machine-shop! Here he staid till the fall of the same year, when he left to enter Franklin Academy, under Prof. Benjamin M. Tyler. Remaining at this institution till the spring of 1832, he returned to Nashua and entered the service of the Nashua Manufacturing Company, where he continued till the fall of 1834. Then, being disabled from active labor by an accident, he left, and entered Francestown Academy, under charge of Prof. Benj. F. Wallace. At the close of the fall term he went home to his native town and attended the winter district school, taught by Edward L. Vose, Esq. Here, in a small unpainted school-house on the southward slope of "Meeting-house Hill," he "graduated" in the early spring of 1835. Whether the "graduating exercises" were of a "high order" the record does not say; but certainly they were as rich with promise as some of greater sound and name. And now, after all this varied and often rough experience, A. H. Dunlap was only seventeen years old! Large in body, sound in mind, fearless,independent, upright, and tested by hard discipline, he was just the man to succeed. At once he returned to Nashua and resumed his place in the mills of the Nashua company, where he remained three years. Then at the age of twenty he was made an overseer in the Indian Head mills. In this business he remained till the spring of 1847, when he was compelled to abandon it on account of failing health. Then he was in trade two years in Franklin, N. H. Then (1849) he returned to Nashua and commenced the garden-seed business, in which he has been very successful, and which he still continues under the firm name of A. H. Dunlap & Sons. "Dunlap's Garden Seeds" are known all over the land.
Mr. Dunlap has had the confidence of the people of Nashua, as shown by the many trusts committed to him, and the offices he has held in the city government. He was a representative from Nashua in the legislature of the state two years, 1869 and 1870. In 1858 he was elected railroad commissioner for three years. In 1864 he was chosen one of the presidential electors for New Hampshire, and had the honor of casting one of the electoral votes for that great and good man, Abraham Lincoln, whom all men now have learned to love and honor. He is one of the directors of the Nashua & Rochester Railroad, and is a trustee of the New Hampshire Banking Company.
He has always cherished a deep interest in his native town, and his address at her centennial celebration, in 1877, was among the best of the many able efforts on that occasion. He aided nobly, both by investigation and by gifts of money, in preparing the recently published History of Antrim.
Mr. Dunlap married Lucy Jane Fogg, of Exeter, August 12, 1841. She was the daughter of Josiah Fogg, of Raymond, and grand-daughter of Maj. Josiah Fogg, who came from Hampton and settled, in 1752, in that part of Chester set off as the town of Raymond in 1764. Maj. Fogg was prominent in Chester before the separation; and paid the highest "parish and state and war tax" in Raymond in 1777. The Fogg family is traced back in England and Wales to the year 1112 A. D. The first of the name in this country was Samuel Fogg, who came to Hampton in 1638.
The children of Hon. A. H. and Lucy J. (Fogg) Dunlap are James H., Georgie A., John F., Abbie J., and Charles H.
A. M. Shaw.A. M. Shaw.
Albert M. Shaw, of Lebanon, is a native of Poland, Me., born May 3, 1819. He came to, and has spent most of his active life in, New Hampshire, where a wide field for the exercise of his energy and abilities was open to him. His parents, Francis and Olive (Garland) Shaw, had four children,—three sons and a daughter,—of whom Albert M. is the oldest.
Mr. Shaw's father was a successful merchant, able and willing to give his children the advantages of a fair education, and such special training as would fit them for callings towards which their proclivities and natural abilities inclined them. At the age of twenty, Albert, having acquired such an education as could be obtained in the public schools of his native state, went to Boston and spent nearly two years in the study of civil engineering and practical work for building railroads. He had made such progress that he was engaged to assist in the construction of a branch railroad from the Boston & Providence road to Stoughton, a distance of about six miles, and executed this assignment so well that he was made superintendent of the work of constructing a branch railroad from Natick to Framingham, and afterwards was engaged in the construction of the Old Colony road, which occupied him until 1845.
Previous to this, preparation had been made to build the Northern Railroad from Concord to West Lebanon. He came to New Hampshire in 1845, and engaged in the building of the road, and remained on the road until the entire line was completed. With this road he has been closely identified nearly ever since. For eighteen years he was its civil engineer and road-master; and during the entire time that the late ex-Governor Stearns was its president was his trusted and confidential adviser and executive officer. He has also served in its board of directors, and superintended the construction of its principal branches, including the Sugar River and Peterborough & Hillsborough roads.
The activity of Mr. Shaw has, however, been by no means satisfied with his duties upon the Northern road. Since 1848 he has been engaged in the building of the Kennebec & Portland road in Maine, the Portsmouth road in this state, the air-line road from Rochester to Syracuse in New York, and that from Waterloo to Huntington mines in Canada, besides the building of the Granite hosiery-mills at Franklin, and the carrying to a successful conclusion many private enterprises for himself and others. In 1872 he was called to the important position of superintendent of road-way of the Central Vt., and its branches.
While building the Northern road he became acquainted with Caroline Dearborn Emery, of Andover, whom he married in 1848, and soon after located his home in the beautiful village of Lebanon, where he still resides with his wife and two sons, William F., and Albert O., who are engaged in business near by. His only daughter, Mary Estelle, died in 1870.
The same qualities which have made Mr. Shaw successful in business have given him prominence in social and political life. He has always taken great pride in Lebanon, and has been a leader in most of the projects which have added to her beauty and stability. His support has, from the first, helped establish her schools, strengthen her churches, and sustain her social and charitable associations, and his enterprise has contributed largely to her material prosperity.
In politics, Mr. Shaw is a Republican who works hard, manages shrewdly, and gives liberally, that his party may win. He doesn't like to be beaten, and seldom is. He has done much for his neighbors and friends, and they have lost no opportunity to honor him. In the stormy days of 1862 and 1863, when strong men were needed, he was sent to the popular branch of the state legislature, to which he was returned in 1881. In 1863 he was sent by the governor to look after the interests of New Hampshire soldiers on that ever memorable field of Gettysburg, a duty for which his warm sympathies and his executive ability eminently fitted him. In 1876 he represented Lebanon in the constitutional convention, and in 1878 and 1879 was the state senator from that district. He was appointed a consul to the province of Quebec by President Lincoln in 1864, was a presidential elector in 1868, and in 1877 was one of the three commissioners appointed by Gov. Prescott to build the new state-prison. In all of these positions, his extensive knowledge of public affairs, his tact in dealing with men, and his skill and courage in overcoming opposition have enabled him to acquit himself with great credit, and render those for whom he acted most valuable service. The prison, which is one of the few public buildings in this country that cost less than the estimates, is a monument to his business capacity and strict integrity.
He is a great reader on scientific matters, is interested in books of travel and adventure, especially in those relating to the arctic regions, and gratifies his taste in the collection of a library.
Mr. Shaw is a Royal Arch Mason, and takes an interest in the mystic art. He attends the Methodist church, and is a liberal contributor to all that pertains to the success of that society. The worthy poor find in him a sympathizing friend, always prepared to contribute to their necessities in a most liberal manner. He is good to himself, and true and generous to his friends. Mr. Shaw is fond of hunting and fishing, loves the woods and streams for their own sakes, as well as for the relief and rest they afford him; amid the busy employments of his life some part of the season is pretty sure to find him "camped" in the wilds of northern New Hampshire or Maine.
Mr. Shaw has many acquaintances among the prominent men of the day. As a companion he is lively, genial, fond of fun, relishes a joke at the expense of others, and can take one at his own expense with becoming meekness, if it will not be otherwise spoiled.
He is at present engaged in caring for the large property interests which have resulted from so long a term of skillful industry and sagacious calculation.
B F MartinB F Martin
Benjamin F. Martin, who has been prominently identified with the paper-making industry of New England for many years, and is widely known as one of Manchester's wealthy and influential citizens, is the son of a Vermont farmer. His parents were Truman and Mary (Noyes) Martin, whose homestead was at Peacham, where they resided with their five sons and four daughters. Their son Benjamin Franklin was born July 21, 1813, and passed his youth at home, attending the short district schools, and filling the long vacations with farm work and the few recreations that were then open to farmers' boys. He also had the advantage of some instruction at the Peacham Academy, and when he arrived at the age of eighteen was thought to be sufficiently educated in books to begin a business career, to which he was naturally inclined. He accordingly went to Meredith Bridge, now Laconia, to learn paper-making in a mill owned by an older brother. He spent one year in this mill, and then next served as a journeyman in one at Millbury, Mass., where he acquired a thorough knowledge of the business. Mr. Martin then formed a partnership with a brother-in-law, the late Thomas Rice, for the manufacture of paper at Newton Lower Falls, Mass., where he remained until 1844, when he removed to Middleton, Mass., and purchased a mill there, which he successfully operated for nine years. In 1853 he had arranged to locate in Lawrence, Mass., but the inducements offered him to go to Manchester were sufficient to change his plans, and he at once commenced the erection of a mill at Amoskeag Falls. This was soon completed, and in it Mr. Martin carried on for twelve years an extensive and profitable business. In 1865 he sold it to Hudson Keeney, but four years later repurchased it, and continued to operate it until 1874, when he sold the establishment to John Hoyt & Co., and retired to enjoy the fruits of his well directed industry and sagacity.
The demands of his business have left Mr. Martin little time for office-holding; but in 1857 and 1858 he represented ward three in the common council, and in 1860 was a member of the board of aldermen. In 1863 and 1864 he was a member of the state legislature, and also served as a colonel on the staff of Gov. Gilmore. In 1860 he was a delegate to the national convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln.
He was elected a director of the Merrimack River Bank when it was organized, in 1854, and was chosen its president in 1859, but resigned the next year. He was one of the first trustees of the Merrimack River Five Cent Savings Bank, and its vice-president in 1860. He was a director of the Manchester Bank under its state charter, and has since held a similar position in the Manchester National Bank, and is a trustee in the Manchester Savings Bank. He has long been connected with the Portsmouth and Manchester & Lawrence railroads as a director, and since 1878 has been president of the Manchester & Lawrence. He is now president of the Manchester Gas Company.
Col. Martin married, January 3, 1836, Mary Ann Rice, of Boston, a sister of Hon. Alexander H. and Willard Rice, by whom he has had three daughters, Fanny R., the wife of Hon. George B. Chandler, being the only one now living.
Mr. Martin is, in the best sense of the term, a successful business man. He is a master of the art of paper-making, which was carried in his mill to a high degree of perfection. His standing in the commercial world is such as only a long and uninterrupted course of honorable dealing and unexceptional promptness in responding to every obligation secures. He was quick to see the possibilities of his business, always ready to improve opportunities, and judicious in the execution of all his plans.
In Manchester, he is highly honored and respected as a citizen, whose prosperity contributed to that of others, and as a man whose integrity is beyond suspicion, and whose private life is above reproach. He has been a great help to the city in which he has acquired most of his wealth, not only in building one of her great factories in which hundreds of men have found steady and profitable employment, but in giving liberally to her charities and other institutions which have depended upon the generosity of the public, and in discharging all the duties of a public-spirited citizen. He has long been one of the chief supporters of the Episcopal church, where he worships, and a willing helper of the Republican party, with which he has always acted. His home is one of the most elegant in Manchester; and it is the home of good taste, comfort, happiness, and hospitality.
Dexter RichardsDexter Richards
From the twelve immigrants of the name of Richards that originally came from England to this country, at different times, in the years from 1630 to 1728, have come, as may be seen by the records of the New England Historic-Genealogical Society, in Boston, a great number of descendants, who, from the beginning, have borne a royal part in the toils and trials and hardships of our early time, and who are to-day represented in the learned professions, the arts, commerce, and manufactures, and general business of this great country.
The sixth of these immigrants, in point of time, was Edward Richards, a passenger in the ship Lion, from London, who landed in Boston, September 16, 1632. His brother, Nathaniel, was also a passenger. Nathaniel afterward joined the party of Rev. Mr. Hooker,—a memorable expedition,—and with it traversed the then howling wilderness to the valley of the Connecticut, and was among the founders of Hartford.
Edward Richards was, for a time, resident at Cambridge, Mass., where he married, September 10, 1638, Susan Hunting. He was afterward one of the sixty-two original proprietors of the town of Dedham, near Boston, where he lived, and died in 1684, and where many of his descendants are to be found at this time. We follow the descent of the line from Edward (1), through John (2), John (3), John (4), Abiathar (5), to Sylvanus in the sixth generation, who, about the beginning of this century, moved, with his family, to Newport, N. H., where he settled on a large tract of land in the western part of the township, on what is known as the old road to Claremont. The place is now (1882) in possession of Shepard H. Cutting.
Mr. Richards was, for some years, one of the largest land-holders and tax-payers in the town. In connection with his farming business he kept a way-side inn, where rest and refreshment awaited the dusty and chilly traveler,—man and beast. This was nearly three-quarters of a century before the scream of the locomotive was ever heard in this part of New Hampshire, a time when the people were mostly dependent upon their own resources, in regard to methods of travel and transportation.
About the year 1812, Sylvanus Richards moved to Newport Village, and became the proprietor of the "Rising Sun" tavern, a house originally built and occupied as a public house by Gordon Buell, the father of the late Mrs. Sarah J. Hale, of Philadelphia, the accomplished writer and editor of theLady's Book. It was in this house thatDexter Richardswas born.
Of the four children, all sons, born to Sylvanus and Lucy (Richardson) his wife, was Seth Richards (7), born in Dedham, Mass., February 20, 1792, who grew up to aid him in his business, and ultimately succeeded to the proprietorship of the "Rising Sun." The writer remembers Capt. Seth Richards as a manof great personal activity and tact in business, of irreproachable integrity in all his transactions with his fellow-men through a long and busy life, genial and benevolent, a downright gentleman of the old school, and in his departure leaving a place in the social and business affairs of this community exceedingly difficult to fill. He was often called by his fellow-citizens to fill town offices and places of trust and responsibility, and was chosen as a representative to the state legislature in 1833.
After leaving the hotel he turned his attention to the mercantile business, and was for some time a clerk in the store of Erastus Baldwin, one of the earlier merchants of the town. In 1835, when the Cheneys retired from Newport, he purchased their stock and trade, and the "old stand," and continued the business successfully for many years, or until about the year 1853, when he became interested in the Sugar River flannel-mills,—of which we shall have more to say hereafter,—and finally retired from active life about the year 1867.
Captain Richards married, April 8, 1817, Fanny Richards, of Dedham, Mass., and to them were born, in the years from 1818 to 1834, two sons and six daughters. In regard to the family of Seth and Fanny Richards, we may say that no more pleasant and hospitable home ever opened its doors in Newport. They died in the faith and communion of the Congregational church. Fanny died August 11, 1854. Seth died October 30, 1871.
Of the children of Seth and Fanny Richards, was Dexter, born September 5, 1818, who is more particularly the subject of this sketch. Tracing his genealogy, we find him in the eighth generation from Edward in the line of the American Richardses. To say that Dexter Richards was born with a silver spoon in his mouth would belie the facts in the case; but to say that he comes through a worthy line of ancestors, and that he inherits their good and noble qualities and best abilities, will meet our case at the threshold. He has some time said that he never had any childhood or youth, in the common acceptation of the term; that in his early years his parents were in moderate circumstances, and, being the eldest son of a family mostly daughters, he was called to work, and think of ways and means for promoting their welfare. While other lads of his age were engaged in their sports and pastimes, or enjoying public occasions like the old-fashioned trainings and musters, Fourth-of-July celebrations, or town-meetings and court days, he early manifested a natural tact for business, by engaging in some juvenile enterprise by which to turn an honest penny with the crowd.
The public school in district number two afforded him an opportunity for learning the rudiments of knowledge, which was eagerly improved, summer and winter, as he could be spared from other duties. When about eighteen years of age he finished his education, so far as schools are concerned, with a term or two at a high school in Lebanon, under the tutelage of the late eminent Prof. Edmund R. Peaslee. Mr. Richards has, therefore, never been through with what is termed a regular course of study, and comes to us with no diploma from college or hall. The most important part of his education has been acquired outside the schools, in the great university of active life, and is of the most practical character.
Politically, he was reared in the Democratic faith; but, when the union of the states was assailed, the action of the Democratic party in regard to the great questions of that day not being in accord with his views he withdrew from it, and affiliated with the Republican party, just then commencing its career. The ranks of this great party, that has for more than twenty years dominated in this country, were greatly augmented and strengthened by such acquisitions from the Democratic party; men who arose in their might, declaring the patrioticsentiment of their old leader and hero, Andrew Jackson,—"The Union must and shall be preserved."
In regard to his public career, Mr. Richards was many times, when quite a young man, elected to serve on the board of selectmen. In the years 1865, 1866, and 1870, he represented the town in the state legislature. In 1871 and 1872 he was a member, from this district, of the executive council, and about that time a delegate to the Republican national convention at Philadelphia, that nominated General Grant for his second term of the presidency. In 1876 he was a delegate to the convention for revising the constitution of the state; and, so far as his official course is concerned, from the beginning it has been distinguished by eminent ability and the strictest integrity. The "spoils," so-called, have never been his object in accepting offices of trust at the hands of his constituents. He has found his reward more in the faithful and conscientious performance of his duty.
In regard to the business career of Mr. Richards, we may say it has been characterized by great industry and enterprise, on a basis of good judgment, and in a spirit of fair dealing throughout. We have already alluded to his early inclination to buy and sell and get gain in a small way, as a boy, and in this respect the child foreshadowed the man. During the years of his minority he was the faithful and efficient coadjutor of his father in all his plans and purposes, and particularly so when Capt. Seth Richards succeeded to the mercantile business at the old Cheney stand, about the year 1835. In the management of this business the son was a most important factor, and on coming of age became a partner with his father. The business was well managed and profitable, and with it came prosperity to the Richards family, and to Dexter Richards the foundation and assurance of future successes in life. About the year 1853, Richards & Son came to be interested in a flannel-mill in Newport, that, possibly, had not heretofore been very successfully managed. The history of this concern may be briefly stated as follows:—
The Sugar River mills were built in 1847, by Perley S. Coffin and John Puffer. About the year 1853, Richards & Son (Dexter) succeeded by purchase to the original interest of John Puffer, then owned by D. J. Goodridge. On the retirement of the senior Richards, in 1867, changes were made by which the entire establishment came into possession of Dexter Richards, Mr. Coffin retiring from the concern with a handsome fortune.
In the prosecution of the business up to this time, the parties interested had been singularly favored by circumstances that brought disaster to many other firms and business men throughout our northern towns and cities. We have reference to the great civil war that about this time (1861-65) so much disturbed the commerce of the country. Of the gray twilled flannels produced by the Sugar River mills, a large stock had accumulated at this time. The goods were well adapted to the wants of laborers, and particularly the soldiers in the Union army. The war created a demand; prices appreciated; the machinery was kept running night and day; the flannels found ready sale as fast as they could be produced; and the success of the Sugar River mills was henceforth assured. In the mean time, the establishment had been greatly enlarged and improved, and was turning out about eight hundred thousand yards of flannel yearly.
In 1872, Seth Mason Richards, the eldest son of Dexter Richards, a young man just entered upon his majority, was admitted to a partnership with his father. Enlargements and improvements have continued from time to time, and the condition of the establishment at this date (1882) may be stated as follows: Dexter Richards & Son, proprietors; capital stock, $150,000. S. M. Richards, superintendent; Arthur R. Chase, secretary. It gives steady employment toeighty-five operatives; runs eight sets of cards, forty-four narrow looms, fifteen spinning-machines; works up two hundred and eighty thousand pounds of cotton and wool, and turns out annually nearly one million yards of gray twilled flannel. The trade-mark (D. R. P.) of these goods is well known, among dealers and others, throughout the country, and the products of the factory find market and ready sale through commission merchants in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago.
Up to the year 1871, the manufacturing and agricultural interests of Newport and the towns adjoining had achieved all the prosperity it was possible for them to attain without railroad facilities to enable them to compete successfully with other places in the enjoyment of such facilities. As early as 1848, the Concord & Claremont Railroad Company had been incorporated, and in 1850 the road had been put in operation to Bradford. From Bradford to Claremont the rugged nature of the route was appalling to engineers and contractors, and particularly so to capitalists who were expected to construct the road. The enterprise here came to a stand. Further efforts, legislative and otherwise, to continue the work, were made without success, and for twenty-one years the heavy-laden stages and teams continued to toil on over the weary hills, to and fro, waiting for some able and friendly hand to establish a new order of things, and deliver them. In the meantime, the war of the rebellion, that had absorbed the thought and labor and capital of the country, had come and gone, and "enterprises of great pith and moment," that had long slumbered, were again revived,—day dawned again upon the Sugar River Railroad.
In the year 1866, mainly through the influence of Dexter Richards, then a member of the legislature, and his enterprise as a citizen, the Sugar River Railroad Company, now known as the Concord & Claremont Railroad Company, was chartered. The means to revive and continue the building of the road through to Claremont were furnished by the Northern Railroad Company, aided by large assessments on the towns on the route of the road. The town of Newport, by official act, became responsible for forty-five thousand dollars, or about five per cent on its valuation. In addition to this amount, the further sum of twenty thousand dollars was required to assure the continuance and completion of the work. Of this amount, Mr. Richards became liable for eleven thousand dollars, and other parties interested made up the remaining nine thousand dollars. The assurance of sixty-five thousand dollars from the town of Newport secured the construction of the road through to Claremont beyond a doubt. The road was soon afterward completed, and the first regular train from Bradford to Claremont passed through Newport, September 16, 1872.
It was also through the instrumentality of Mr. Richards, that in July, 1866, the wires of the Western Union Telegraph Company were extended and in operation to this town. Of the one thousand dollars subscribed by citizens of Newport to secure this great facility of communication, three-fourths of the amount were paid by him.
Mr. Richards has identified himself with the friends of education, and Dartmouth College particularly, by the endowment of a scholarship in that venerable and favorite institution of learning. He has also contributed liberally to the support of Kimball Union Academy, at Meriden, of which he is one of the trustees. He is also one of the founders and benefactors of the Orphans' Home, at Franklin, and a trustee of the New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane, at Concord, benevolent institutions that are an honor to our state.
The Congregational church and society, of Newport, of which Mr. Richards has been for many years a member, are greatly indebted to him for their present substantial prosperity. He has identified himself not only with the amplesupport of the ministry of this time-honored church, its mission work, its charities, local and remote; its Sunday-school,—of which, up to 1878, when he retired from the position, he had been for more than twenty years the superintendent,—but with the improvements and additions to its buildings and grounds, and the erection of its parsonage. At an expense of some two thousand five hundred dollars, he has placed a large and fine-toned organ in the choir, as a memorial of a beloved daughter (Elizabeth) who died in the year 1868, in the twenty-first year of her age.
To complete the list of interests that wait on Mr. Richards for his attention, we find his name as one of the directors of the Eastern Railroad in New Hampshire; and, also, one of the directors of the N. H. Fire Insurance Company, at Manchester. He is the president of the First National Bank of Newport. He was also one of the founders and the first president of the Newport Savings Bank, chartered July 1, 1868, and now in successful operation.
He married, January 27, 1847, Louisa Frances, daughter of the late Dr. Mason Hatch, a long time highly esteemed physician and citizen of Newport. Of the six children born to them in the years from 1847 to 1867, three only survive: Seth Mason, born June 6, 1850, now a partner with his father in the Sugar River mills establishment, in which he has exhibited superior business qualities, and bids fair to become a useful and influential citizen of the town and state. Josephine Ellen, born October 30, 1855, a graduate of the Female Seminary, at Andover, Mass., and the founder of a scholarship in honor of heralma mater. During the years 1880 and 1881, Miss Richards, with a party of friends, sought entertainment and culture from an extended tour in Europe, visiting Egypt and Palestine in the course of their trip. William Francis, born January 28, 1867, is now (1882) a student connected with Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass.
The Richards family have a delightful cottage at Straw's Point, Rye Beach, where an unaffected hospitality, as well as the breath of the sea, await their friends during the summer months.
There are several instances in the history of Newport of men who, having acquired wealth in their dealings with its citizens, have removed to more important places to enjoy the spending and investing of their incomes, without leaving behind them any visible improvement in the way of buildings, or a public good of any kind,—nothing but a memory of their insatiate avarice, followed by unsparing criticisms. Such a record can never be made of Dexter Richards. With increasing ability in the way of means, he has manifested a corresponding disposition to improve the physical aspect of his native town. He has placed on the street not only his elegant private residence, but houses for rent, and substantial and sightly blocks of buildings for business purposes. He has improved his factory buildings and grounds, built barns, cultivated lands, produced crops, interested himself in improved breeds of cattle and horses, thus giving employment to many working men and hands, and increased the productive industry of the town and its general valuation in many respects, aside from his manufacturing interest, as indicated by the assessment for taxation. He is by far the largest tax-payer in Newport, and one of the largest in Sullivan county and the state of New Hampshire.
He has managed his private affairs and the public business, as far as it has been intrusted to his care, with superior ability; and now in his mature prime of life, should the state require his further service, his past record and present position would afford an abundant guarantee for the able fulfillment of any future or more important trust.
David Hanson Buffumwas born in the town of North Berwick, county of York, and state of Maine, on the tenth day of November, 1820. He was the oldest child and only son of Timothy and Anna (Austin) Buffum. His mother was a native of Dover,—a daughter of Nathaniel Austin. His father—who manufactured furniture and carriages to a limited extent—died when the subject of this notice was but six years of age, leaving also two sisters still younger. Subsequently his mother was united in marriage with William Hussey, and at her death, fifteen years afterward, two children were left as the result of this marriage. Still later Mr. Hussey was united in marriage with Mary J. Hanson, and, at his death, in 1870, two children remained as the result of this union. This presented the rather singular and unusual occurrence, that three children by one marriage and two children by another werehalf-brothers and half-sistersto two children by a third union, and yet werein no way related to each other.
The care of the fatherless six-years-old boy and of the two little sisters still younger was too much for the very slender resources of the widowed mother. The family was broken up, and the "child David" was taken into the family of his father's brother. The next eleven years of his childhood and boyhood were spent with this uncle. He was a country merchant who "kept everything," as the old-time merchants of fifty years ago all did. The boy was taught to work in the store, "to do the chores," and was sent to the district school as opportunity afforded,—which generally consisted of two terms of eight or ten weeks each per year. The Quaker uncle was a kind but sturdy master, and habits of temperance, thrift, untiring energy, steady perseverance, and a love of buying and selling were ingrained into the very bones of the boy. Leaving his uncle when seventeen years old, he made his home with his step-father for two years, during which time he attended two terms at an academy, and taught a country school "to pay his way." At nineteen years of age, in the autumn of 1839, with few dollars and much courage, he commenced as a clerk with two brothers in a general store at Great Falls, in Strafford county, of which place he has since been a citizen. His salary was eight dollars per month and board, for the first six months. At twenty-one he bought out one of his employers, at twenty-three he sold out to the other and erected a brick block which contained three stores, one of which he occupied as a merchant in general merchandise, always keeping abreast of the times, until called to a new business.
The legislature of 1846 granted the charter of the Great Falls Bank, the first in the town, and its originators had got together the one hundred thousand dollars of capital stock by such efforts of labor and persuasion as would astonish the railroad builders and bankers of these days. The directors, December 5, 1846, selected Mr. Buffum as its cashier, which position he held until April 20, 1863. On the 5th of August, 1857, he was elected treasurer of the Somersworth Savings Bank, which position he held for ten years. While he filled these positions, both of which he resigned in order to give his exclusive attention to manufacturing, he had become interested, by way of investments, in real estate, shipping, and manufacturing.
D. H. Buffum.D. H. Buffum.
In 1857, Mr. Buffum, in company with John H. Burleigh, organized the Newichawanick Woolen Company at South Berwick, Me., an enterprise at first unprofitable, but which proved to be a financial success. In 1862 he organized the Great Falls Woolen Company with a capital of fifty thousand dollars, which, from fortunate earnings in the next few years, was increased to one hundred thousand dollars; and he has since been treasurer and general manager of it excepting for a period of six years, when he was compelled to withdraw from the active management by reason of impaired health, occasioned by too close application to business, three years of which time he spent in travel.
For twenty years Mr. Buffum has been engaged in the manufacture of woolen fabrics, gradually extending his operations, until, at this writing, he is owner of a felt-mill at Milton, N. H., a partner in the wool-pulling establishment of L. R. Hersom & Co., in Berwick, Me., treasurer and manager of the Great Falls Woolen Company, and treasurer and director of the Newichawanick Woolen Company at South Berwick, Me.; he has also been a director of the Great Falls Manufacturing Company since 1877. He has been connected with the Great Falls Bank, both state and national, from its commencement, as cashier, director, and president, which latter position he now holds; and, with the exception of the first two years, has been connected with the Somersworth Savings Bank as treasurer, trustee, and vice-president.
In local affairs, Mr. Buffum has taken an active and leading part. The same nervous, physical energy which made him the first player in the game of ball in his youth afforded just the qualities needed in the fire department, in which he was always among the foremost, and for many years at the head. He was chosen town clerk in 1843-44, moderator in 1848 and 1857, and selectman in 1846 and 1871-72.
In political affairs, Mr. Buffum has acted with the Whigs and Republicans. In 1861-62 he was chosen representative to the legislature, serving the first year as a member of the committee on banks, and the second year as chairman of the committee on the reform school. In 1877 he was elected to the senate from district number five, and served as a member of the committees on judiciary, finance, banks, and state institutions. In 1878 he was re-elected to the senate, and chosen its president. He was the last president of the senate of twelve members. Of the sixty-two presidents of that body, he was the only one from district number five, or from Strafford county as now constituted. In 1880 he was elected as a delegate-at-large to the Republican national convention at Chicago.
In his domestic relations, Mr. Buffum was happily connected, and his home reflected the results of a successful business career. He was married, January 26, 1853, to Charlotte E. Stickney, daughter of Alexander H. Stickney, one of the old-time citizens of Great Falls. The issue of this union was three sons and a daughter. The wife and mother died March 8, 1868, and the daughter, May 23, 1877. Two of the sons, Edgar Stickney and Harry Austin, are graduates, and the third, David Hanson Jr., is now an undergraduate, of Yale College. Of the two little sisters left fatherless with him, one is the widow of the late Hon. John H. Burleigh, of South Berwick, Me., and the other is the wife of Isaac P. Evans, an oil-manufacturer, of Richmond, Ind. The half-brother is Timothy B. Hussey, plow-manufacturer, of North Berwick, Me., and the half-sister has presided over his household since the death of his wife.
Mr. Buffum received his youthful impressions and early religious training among the Society of Friends, whose tenets have exercised a marked influence upon his career. At Great Falls he has been a regular attendant at the Congregational church, to which he has been a liberal contributor. The many trusts committed to his care fairly prove the esteem and respect in which he has been held by his neighbors and townsmen.
It appears from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. VII., and also from Drake's History and Antiquities of Boston, folio edition, 1854, that "Ap Adam (the Welsh for Adams) came out of the Marches of Wales." Their descendants appear to have lived for many generations in the English shires of Lancaster, Gloucester, and Devon. From the latter, Henry Adams, the first of this family in America, emigrated, and settled in that part of Braintree which is now Quincy, Mass., about 1630. He died there in 1646. Twenty-four generations in the male line are given below, the first seventeen of which are copied from the authorities cited above.
1. Sir John Ap Adam, Knt., Lord Ap Adam, member of Parliament from 1296 to 1307.2. Sir John Ap Adam Kt.3. Sir John Ap Adam.4. William Ap Adam.5. Sir John Ap Adam.6. Thomas Ap Adam.7. Sir John Ap Adam, Knt.8. Sir John Ap Adam,aliasAdams.9. Roger Adams.10. Thomas Adams.11. John Adams.12. John Adams.13. John Adams.14. Richard Adams.15. William Adams.16. Henry Adams who settled in Braintree, (now Quincy), Mass., and died 1646.17. Edward Adams, of Medfield, Mass.18. John Adams, of Medway, Mass.19. Abraham Adams, of Brookfield, Mass.20. Jesse Adams, of Brookfield, Mass.21. Dr. Charles Adams, of Antrim, N. H.22. Hon. Charles Adams, Jr., A. M., North Brookfield, Mass.23. Charles Woodburn Adams, North Brookfield, Mass.24. Charles Joseph Adams, North Brookfield, Mass.
1. Sir John Ap Adam, Knt., Lord Ap Adam, member of Parliament from 1296 to 1307.2. Sir John Ap Adam Kt.3. Sir John Ap Adam.4. William Ap Adam.5. Sir John Ap Adam.6. Thomas Ap Adam.7. Sir John Ap Adam, Knt.8. Sir John Ap Adam,aliasAdams.9. Roger Adams.10. Thomas Adams.11. John Adams.12. John Adams.13. John Adams.14. Richard Adams.15. William Adams.16. Henry Adams who settled in Braintree, (now Quincy), Mass., and died 1646.17. Edward Adams, of Medfield, Mass.18. John Adams, of Medway, Mass.19. Abraham Adams, of Brookfield, Mass.20. Jesse Adams, of Brookfield, Mass.21. Dr. Charles Adams, of Antrim, N. H.22. Hon. Charles Adams, Jr., A. M., North Brookfield, Mass.23. Charles Woodburn Adams, North Brookfield, Mass.24. Charles Joseph Adams, North Brookfield, Mass.