Edward SpaldingEdward Spalding
The subject of this sketch, born at Amherst, N. H., September 15, 1813, was the son of Dr. Matthias Spalding, who was of the fifth generation in direct descent from Edward Spalding, who came to New England about 1632, and settled first at Braintree, Mass., removing a few years later to Chelmsford, Mass., of which he was one of the earliest proprietors. Col. Simeon Spalding married, for his second wife, Mrs. Abigail Wilson, whose maiden name was Johnson, the fourth generation in descent from Edward Johnson of Woburn, who came from Kent county, England. Matthias Spalding was one of the youngest of her children, born at Chelmsford, June 25, 1769, and graduated at Harvard College in 1798. Adopting the medical profession, he went abroad to perfect his education by attending lectures in London. Having a natural aptitude for the practice of medicine and surgery, with this superior training, he was soon distinguished for his successful treatment of disease, and his services were widely sought.
In 1806, after the settlement of Matthias Spalding at Amherst, he married Rebecca Wentworth, daughter of Hon. Joshua Atherton, and sister of Charles H. Atherton, an eminent lawyer and father of Hon. Charles G. Atherton, late United States senator. Mrs. Spalding was a woman of a refined nature and elegant manners. Of eight children, Edward was the first son and the fourth child. Favored in his parentage, he was also favored in the circumstances and companionships of his early life. The society of Amherst embraced a number of families of superior talents and education. Among the children of these families he was an active, manly, and generous boy, fond of fishing and athletic sports, and popular with his schoolmates.
When eleven years of age he was sent to Chelmsford, to be under the instruction of Rev. Abiel Abbott. At thirteen, he was one of a company of Amherst lads who became students at Pinkerton Academy, in Derry, then in charge of Abel F. Hildreth, a celebrated master in those days. While preparing for college, he was associated with Jarvis Gregg, Stephen Chase, James F. Joy, and James McCollom, who were subsequently distinguished as scholars, becoming tutors in the college at Hanover, after graduation. In college young Spalding made good use of his opportunities, and counted among his friends and classmates at Dartmouth Rev. F. A. Adams, Ph. D., Prof. Joseph C. Bodwell, D. D., Hon. J. F. Joy, LL. D., John Lord, LL. D., Judge Fowler of Concord, and Rev. E. Quincy S. Waldron, president of Borromeo College, Md.
In the autumn following his graduation, in 1833, young Spalding went to Lexington, Ky., hoping to obtain employment as a teacher. The effort to establish a private classical school in Lexington, though widely advertised, was not successful. The patronage did not answer to the promises of the ambitious prospectus, and, after a trial of a few weeks, the enterprise was abandoned as unremunerative. The West was not to be the scene of Dr. Spalding's life, nor teaching his employment.
Mr. Spalding returned to New England in the spring of 1834, and commenced the study of medicine in the office of his father at Amherst. Heattended three courses of lectures in the Harvard Medical School at Boston, and was graduated at that institution in the summer of 1837. Having spent a few months riding with his father, and observing his treatment of the sick, he decided to enter on what seemed a promising field for a physician at Nashua. Accepting an invitation from the elder Dr. Eldredge, he became a partner with him in practice. After this partnership was dissolved the business increased, and he gained for himself an extensive and valuable patronage. He enjoyed the confidence of a large circle of families, and his success as a physician had given him an enviable reputation. In the meantime he had been called to assume responsibilities of a fiduciary nature, involving such care and labor as seriously to interfere with his professional engagements. The transition to these new employments was the natural sequence of the excellent judgment and rare capacity for business which he manifested. The accuracy and promptitude with which his accounts were rendered to the probate, and the just consideration for the feelings and interests of all persons concerned in the settlement of the estates committed to his trust, brought such a pressure of occupation that he was compelled to relinquish his profession.
He had now been in practice twenty-five years, and satisfactory as his services as a physician had been to the community, he was yet to perform an imperative and valuable service by his judicious management of important trusts and his earnest co-operation in the direction and enlargement of new enterprises. In addition to his engagements in the settlement of large estates, he became interested in banking, manufacturing, and railroads, holding various offices of labor and responsibility in these institutions and corporations. He was for several years treasurer of the Nashua Savings Bank and subsequently its president. He was one of the original projectors of the "Pennichuck Water-Works," of which company he is president. A director in both of the large cotton manufacturing companies which have contributed so much to the prosperity of the city, he has also fulfilled similar duties in other corporations elsewhere. For a time a director, he has become the president, of the Indian Head National Bank.
In municipal and town offices he has performed important duties, taking a lively interest in the progress of popular education. He has been a member of the school committee a large portion of the time that he has lived in Nashua, and is now chairman of the board of education. A member of the New Hampshire Historical Society, his encouragement and assistance are gratefully acknowledged by several gentlemen who have been engaged in the preparation and publication of genealogical and town histories. He has also been actively engaged in building up the city library, of which he has been a trustee from the beginning of the enterprise.
Never seeking political preferment, and personally disinclined to the strife for political distinctions, he was elected mayor of the city in 1864, and served as delegate to the Baltimore convention in the same year. He was a member of the state convention for the revision of the constitution in 1876, and councilor for two years during the administration of his Excellency Governor Prescott, 1878 and 1879.
In 1866 he was elected a trustee of Dartmouth College, a position which he still retains, and in which he has contributed to the substantial prosperity of the institution by frequent, unobtrusive gifts, and the steady service of a loyal and judicious mind. He has also represented Dartmouth College as a trustee of the College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts during the whole period of its existence as a department of instruction.
On the 23d of June, 1842, Dr. Spalding was united in marriage with Dora Everett, second daughter of Joseph and Mary Appleton Barrett, of New Ipswich, a family associated favorably with the history of the town so widely knownby the character and achievements of its sons. By this marriage Dr. Spalding had three children, of whom two daughters are living; the second child, a son. Edward Atherton, died November 10, 1863, aged eleven years and two months. With this exception, the life of Dr. Spalding has been singularly exempt from afflictive changes. Happy in the circle of his kindred and the connections formed by marriage, his home has been a welcome resort to the youth of both families, while the older generation was tenderly cared for by the thoughtful and continued ministrations of this son and his companion.
As might be inferred from what has been said of the general esteem in which Dr. Spalding is held, he has many personal friends among men of thoughtful and scholarly habits. Himself a student, and thoroughly awake to whatever affects the nation's welfare, he has been a careful reader of current history. He has marked the progress of the various moral and political questions that agitate the minds of the people and shape the legislation of the country, with deep concern that the issues might be favorable to the principles of truth and righteousness. A sincere believer in the teachings of our Divine Lord, he has recognized as a Christian the claims of the country, as well as the claims of the city where he dwells. A liberal and constant contributor to the institutions which are organized to extend the knowledge of Christ throughout the world, he is known as the patron and advocate of missions at home and abroad. For many years he has been the president of the New Hampshire Bible Society. He has cheerfully borne his full proportion of the expenses incident to the maintenance of the local institutions of public worship and religious instruction in the church and society with which he is connected. When the meeting-house of the First Congregational church was burned, he at once proposed to his friend, Mr. Isaac Spalding, that they two should each give ten thousand dollars towards the cost of rebuilding,—a proposition to which Mr. Spalding promptly assented, thus insuring the immediate erection of the commodious and pleasant edifice which that church now owns.
With such a variety of offices and engrossing employments still demanding his attention, we should anticipate that the duties would become burdensome, and the skillful hand lose something of its cunning; but the Doctor is still vigorous and works easily. This continued capacity for labor is doubtless owing to the natural endowments of a man who has nurtured his forces by avoiding excesses on the one hand, and on the other by carefully husbanding his strength. He has not only arranged his business on system, but he has resolutely reserved to himself, annually, seasons of almost absolute rest. Retaining his early fondness for fishing, for a few weeks in every year he has resorted to the mountain streams and inland lakes of northern New England for his favorite recreation. In these excursions he has sought the head waters of most of our rivers, and become acquainted with the grand and beautiful scenery of the mountain region. He has learned the haunts and habits of all the fish to be found in our streams, and of the birds that frequent our forests. By this method has he renewed his youth, while, with others of congenial tastes, he has made his knowledge tributary to the public good, by joint efforts to restore the migratory fishes to the waters of the state, from which, by artificial obstructions, they have been shut out. The board of fish and game commissioners for New Hampshire, of which Dr. Spalding is chairman, is an outgrowth of this joint endeavor that promises to enlarge the piscatory resources of the state.
With this record of the number and variety of trusts which are still in his hands, and the appointments that he must meet daily, and from week to week, it is evident that the Doctor is still capable of continuous labor. His grateful testimony addressed to his classmates is, "I have enjoyed almost uninterrupted health,and a degree of happiness and prosperity far beyond the common lot." The sources of his good fortune are not to be sought in extraordinary gifts or peculiar helps. Beginning life with a sound mind and sound body, he has cherished both by regular habits and studious industry. By fidelity and painstaking in business, by generous and considerate treatment of others, by using his influence and property in befriending the needy and helping young men struggling with adverse circumstances, by cherishing the friendship of good men in all classes of society, and in daily recognition of his need of guidance and wisdom from God,—he has escaped the envy and conflicts which beset a selfish and ambitious career. Happy in his employments, and enjoying the good that followed his exertions, men have witnessed his advancement with pleasure and sought to do him honor. His life illustrates the value of those personal excellences which all may cultivate, and shows the readiness of mankind to recognize their worth. To such as are seeking to do right and serve their generation, the example is encouraging, and assures us that energy, integrity, and beneficence are not without rewards.
Yours truly James A. WestonYours truly James A. Weston
Much has been written in praise of Manchester, the foremost city of the state in size and importance, in the extent and variety of its manufacturing establishments and in the energy, activity, and public spirit of its citizens. It has been called, also, the "city of governors," and four of the nine living ex-chief-magistrates of the state have their residence within its borders; while still another, residing in the immediate vicinity, is reckoned as substantially a Manchester man. Yet, after all, but one native of Manchester has ever held the office of governor of New Hampshire. What is far more remarkable is the fact, that of twenty men who have been chosen mayor of Manchester, one alone was born within its limits. He and Manchester's only native born governor are one and the same,—the subject of this sketch,—a man who, from the work he has accomplished, as well as from the distinction he has received at the hands of his fellow-citizens, has long been accorded a conspicuous position among the representative men of his city and state.
James Adams Westonwas born in Manchester, August 27, 1827. He is a descendant of the seventh generation from John Weston, of Buckinghamshire, England, who aided in establishing the colony at Weymouth (then Wiscasset), Mass., where he went into mercantile business, being among the first to engage in the colonial trade. Returning to England a few years subsequently, he suddenly died there; but in 1644, John Weston, a young son of the deceased, made his way to America, where he joined some of his kindred who had emigrated in the mean time. He finally settled in Reading, Mass., and was the progenitor of the family of which James A. Weston is a representative.[1]
In 1803, Amos Weston, a descendant of John, removed from Reading, with his family, and settled in Manchester, then Derryfield. He was a farmer by occupation, and located in the southeastern part of the town. This Amos Weston was a man of character and influence, and was a member of the committee, chosen in March, 1810, to petition the legislature to change the name of Derryfield to Manchester. A son of the above, Amos Weston, Jr., removed with his parents to Derryfield, and located upon land adjoining that of his father, clearing up from the wilderness the farm since well known in Manchester as the "Weston place." He married Betsy, a daughter of Col. Robert Wilson, of Londonderry, a leading citizen of the town, whose father, James Wilson, came from Londonderry, Ireland, more than one hundred and fifty years ago, and settled at the place now known as Wilson's Crossing. Amos Weston, Jr., was a man of strong mind and sound judgment, and was much in the public service. He officiated as town clerk five years; as selectman, fifteen years, being eleven years chairman of the board; was three times the representative from Manchester in the legislature; and a member of the constitutional convention of 1850.From his union with Betsy Wilson—an estimable and exemplary woman—five children resulted. Of these, the youngest, James A. Weston, is the sole survivor.
Like most sons of New Hampshire farmers, Mr. Weston passed a considerable portion of his time in youth in tilling the soil; but secured a substantial education at the district school and the Manchester and Piscataquog academies. With a strong aptitude for mathematics, he soon determined to apply himself to the study of civil engineering, with a view to making that his avocation in life, teaching school winters in the meantime. So rapidly did he prepare himself for his chosen occupation that at the age of nineteen years he was appointed assistant civil engineer of the Concord Railroad, and immediately (in 1846) commenced work in superintending the laying of the second track of that road. In 1849 he was promoted to the position of chief engineer, which he held for a long series of years. For several years, also, he discharged the duties of road master and master of transportation of the Concord and Manchester & Lawrence railroads. As chief engineer of the Concord & Portsmouth Railroad, he superintended the construction of a considerable portion of the line, as he subsequently did that of the Suncook Valley Railroad. As a civil engineer, he occupies a place in the front rank in his profession in New England; and his services have been in demand far beyond his ability to respond, in making surveys for proposed railways, water-works, etc. Prominent among the public works with which he has been connected in this capacity, may be mentioned the Concord water-works, supplying the capital city with water from Penacook lake, for which he made the survey, and whose construction he superintended.
In his political convictions and associations, Mr. Weston has been a Democrat from youth. Never a machine politician, or even a zealous partisan, though a devoted supporter of the principles and policy of his party, he has won and held the personal respect of both friends and opponents in political affairs; so that, when a candidate for public office (which he has never been except at the urgent solicitation of those who regarded his candidacy essential to party success), he has never failed of strong popular support, measurably exceeding that of his party strength alone. In 1861 he was persuaded to accept the Democratic nomination for mayor of the city. Previous to this time Manchester had almost universally been regarded as a Republican or Whig city. The year previous to Mr. Weston's nomination the Republican candidate had been elected by nearly four hundred and fifty majority. He was defeated, however, by a majority of about two hundred and fifty; while the following year he came within eighteen votes of defeating the opposing candidate, ex-Mayor Theodore T. Abbot, who received on a former occasion a larger vote than had ever been cast for any other candidate.
Again, in 1867, Mr. Weston was pressed into service by his party associates in the city, as a mayoralty candidate against Hon. Joseph B. Clark, then mayor, and Republican candidate for re-election. This canvass resulted in his election by a majority of two hundred and seventy-two, and by a larger vote than had ever been received by any previous candidate except that for Mayor Abbot, in 1855. At the next election the Republicans made a strong and determined effort to regain their ascendency in the city; but, although they had carried the city for Gen. Grant for president, at the election but a few weeks previous, by about six hundred majority, the ward returns at the municipal election gave Mayor Weston a majority of seven votes over his Republican opponent, Hon. Isaac W. Smith. The "revising" process was resorted to, however, and the latter declared elected by twenty-three majority. In 1869, Mr. Weston defeated Mayor Smith by a good majority, and was re-elected the following year.
Naturally enough, Mayor Weston's remarkable success as the standard-bearer of his party in the city of Manchester, and the increased popularity he hadsecured by wise and efficient administration of municipal affairs in that large and prosperous community, suggested him to the Democracy of the state at large as a most fit and available candidate for the gubernatorial nomination; and at the state convention, in January, 1871, he was made the nominee of the party for governor. The election resulted in no choice of governor by the people, though Mr. Weston received a decided plurality of the votes cast, and was chosen governor by the legislature in June following,—the Republicans thus losing control of the state government for the first time since their advent to power in 1855. Determined to retrieve their fallen fortunes, the Republican leaders, in 1872, brought to the front, as their standard-bearer and gubernatorial nominee, Hon. Ezekiel A. Straw, agent of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, a man of great resources and unparalleled influence in manufacturing circles, not only in Manchester, but throughout the state. His defeat of Gov. Weston in the following canvass was a matter of no surprise to either party; and his re-election the subsequent year naturally resulted. The Democracy, however, insisted on continuing Mr. Weston as their candidate; and in 1874 he secured a handsome plurality, and was again elected governor by the legislature. In December previous he had received the unusual distinction of a fourth election as mayor of his city, being chosen by a majority much larger than he had ever before received, reaching some six hundred votes. Although there was great partisan excitement in the state during Mr. Weston's second administration, his official integrity and thorough devotion to the welfare of the state were conceded even by his most determined political opponents; and no man holds in fuller measure the respect and esteem of the people, regardless of party, than does James A. Weston, the only living Democrat who ever occupied that position.
In the prosperity of his native city, in every material direction, Mr. Weston has manifested a deep and abiding interest, and no man has labored more zealously or efficiently for the promotion thereof. In illustration may be cited the fact that to his efforts, individual and official, more than those of any other man, the city is indebted for the projection and completion of its superior water-works, by which an ample supply of pure water is secured from Lake Massabesic. Various sources of supply had long been considered, but he had been, from the first, an advocate of the Massabesic project, and his influence had done much to secure its favorable consideration. In 1871, while mayor of the city, he had the satisfaction of seeing definite action determined upon in that direction. Having been actively engaged in securing the necessary legislation, and becoming ex officio a member of the board of commissioners established to carry out the work, he devoted his efforts heartily to its inauguration, and no day of his life, probably, ever brought him more sincere gratification than that which witnessed the completion of this important work,—a source of daily blessing to the people of his city, and of just pride to those under whose advice and direction it was projected and executed, among whom he is properly regarded most prominent. He is still a member of the board of water commissioners; is chairman of the board of trustees of the Manchester cemetery fund, a member of the committee on cemeteries, and has long served as its clerk and treasurer.
Gov. Weston served as chairman of the New Hampshire centennial commission, was appointed by congress a member of the centennial board of finance, and his efforts contributed largely to the excellence of the New Hampshire exhibit and the general success of the exposition. He also served as chairman of the building committee of the Manchester soldiers' monument, and has recently been appointed a member of the state board of health, established under the act of the last legislature.
With all his public and professional work, Gov. Weston has been for several years actively and prominently connected with important business interests. Hewas for some time one of the trustees of the Amoskeag Savings Bank, and some three years since was chosen president of the City National Bank, which was changed to the Merchants National Bank in October, 1880, at whose head he still remains. He was also the prime mover in the organization of the Guaranty Savings Bank of Manchester, which commenced business in December, 1879, of which he is clerk and treasurer, as well as one of the trustees. This institution, under his administration, has been almost unprecedentedly prosperous, and is one of the most solid financial establishments in the city and state. He is treasurer of the Suncook Valley Railroad, and a director and clerk of the Manchester horse railroad, a corporation in whose establishment he was actively engaged. He has been chairman of the finance committee of the New Hampshire Fire Insurance Company from its organization until the present time; vice-president also until the resignation of the presidency by Gov. Straw, in January, 1880, since when he has been president. This flourishing corporation—the only one of the kind in the state, whose capital stock is about to be increased to half a million dollars, and which already ranks with the most prosperous in the country—owes its success, in no small degree, to Gov. Weston's sound judgment and careful management. When, in August, 1880, after protracted litigation, the supreme court appointed trustees for the bondholders of the Manchester & Keene Railroad, who assumed control of the road, Gov. Weston was selected as chairman of the board by which the road has since been operated.
In 1871, Gov. Weston received from Dartmouth College the honorary degree of Master of Arts. He has long been a member of the Masonic order, has taken all the degrees conferred in the Manchester bodies, and is now serving his eighteenth term as treasurer of Trinity Commandry, Knights Templar. For ten years past he has been a member of the well known military organization, the Amoskeag Veterans. His religious associations are with the Franklin-street Congregational church, of which society he has long been an active member and treasurer. His residence has been in his native city from his birth until the present time, with the exception of seven years at Concord, from 1849 to 1856.
February 23, 1854, he married Anna S., daughter of Mitchel Gilmore, Esq., of Concord, a cultivated lady of strong domestic tastes, by whom he has an interesting family of five surviving children,—the eldest born, a son (Herman), having died at the age of four and a half years,—Grace Helen, born July 1, 1860; James Henry, July 17, 1868; Edwin Bell, March 15, 1871; Annie Mabel, September 26, 1870; Charles Albert, November 1, 1878. Their home, at the corner of Maple and Myrtle streets, is a spacious yet modest and tasty dwelling, the abode of domestic comfort and social enjoyment.
Other men in New Hampshire have attained greater wealth and more varied public honors; but when all the elements of substantial success are considered, there are none, certainly, who outrank the subject of this sketch. Cautious, sagacious, and methodical; with a well balanced mind, and executive ability of a high order; scrupulously exact in the performance of every duty and the discharge of every trust, public or private; uniformly courteous in his intercourse with others, and mindful of every obligation to society and humanity,—the ample measure of success he has attained, and the general esteem in which he is held, are but the legitimate outcome of his life and conduct.
John KimballJohn Kimball
A stranger in Concord is at first most impressed by its natural beauties, enhanced by the foresight of the fathers of the town. Nature and art are rarely combined. Beautiful shade trees are on every hand, as they are in many other of the favored cities of the Union. Concord is distinctively attractive in its perfection. The roads and streets are carefully graded; the bridges are substantial and elegant structures; the system of water supply, gas-works, and sewers, unseen, is excellent and complete; the school-houses are appropriate and ornamental; the private and public buildings are well built and neatly maintained; the fire department is exceptionally fine; the property of the city is discretely acquired, and well cared for; the policy of the city is at once progressive and liberal.
To no one man can be given the credit of accomplishing all these satisfactory results; they are the fruits of unity of purpose of the many, guided by a large, public-spirited policy dictated by a few. To no one, however, is the city of Concord more indebted for its material advancement and internal improvement, during the first quarter century of its municipal existence, than to its esteemed citizen, Hon.John Kimball. The name is a household word in Concord. It conveys a meaning to the present generation peculiar to itself. It is the name of a man who, springing from the sturdy yeoman and artisan stock,—from the people,—has won his way, by tireless industry, unblemished integrity, sterling honesty, and sound good sense, to positions of responsibility and prominence.
The Kimball family is one of the oldest in New England. It sprang from
1. Richard Kimball, who, with his wife, Ursula, and seven children, left their home in the mother country, braved the dangers of a stormy ocean, landed on the inhospitable shores of an unbroken wilderness, and commenced a new life, deprived of the comforts and luxuries of civilization, but blessed with political and religious liberty. He came from the old town of Ipswich, county of Suffolk, in the east of England, sailed on the ship "Elizabeth," and in the year 1634, at the age of thirty-nine, settled in Ipswich, in the Bay colony. The next year he was admitted a freeman, which must be accepted as evidence that he was a Puritan in good standing. He was the father of eleven children, and died June 22, 1675. From this patriarchal family most of the Kimballs of New England can trace their descent.
2. Richard Kimball, son of Richard and Ursula (Scott) Kimball, was born in England, in 1623, and was brought to this country by his parents, in childhood. He was a wheelwright by trade; married Mary Gott; was the father of eight children; settled in Wenham, Mass., as early as 1656, and died there May 20, 1676. The mother of his children died September 2, 1672.
3. Caleb Kimball, son of Richard and Mary (Gott) Kimball, was born in Wenham, April 9, 1665. He was a mason by trade; was the father of eightchildren; settled for a time at Exeter, N. H., and died in Wenham, January 25, 1725. His widow died in Wenham, January 20, 1731.
4. John Kimball, son of Caleb and Sarah Kimball, was born in Wenham, Mass., December 20, 1699. He settled on the land purchased by his father in Exeter, N. H., and married Abigail Lyford, February 14, 1722. She was the mother of six children, and died in Exeter, February 12, 1737. He afterwards married Sarah Wilson, of Exeter, September 18, 1740. They were the parents of nine children. The fifteen children of John Kimball were all born in Exeter.
5. Joseph Kimball, son of John and Abigail (Lyford) Kimball, was born in Exeter, January 29, 1730. In early life he married, and was the father of two children, but was left a childless widower in a few years. He afterwards married Sarah Smith. They were the parents of nine children. In 1793 he removed to Canterbury, and settled on a farm just north of Shaker Village. In early life he was stricken with blindness, and never looked upon the town of Canterbury, and never saw six of his children. He died November 6, 1814. His wife died March 1, 1808.
6. John Kimball, son of Joseph and Sarah (Smith) Kimball, was born in Exeter, November 20, 1767; married Sarah, daughter of Benjamin Moulton, of Kensington, November 21, 1793; moved to Canterbury, February 17, 1794, and settled on their homestead near Shaker Village, where they resided nearly sixty years. They were the parents of nine children. His wife died April 30, 1853. He died February 26, 1861, reaching the good old age of more than ninety-three years. He was well known throughout central New Hampshire, and did a large business in buying wool.
7. Benjamin Kimball, son of John and Sarah (Moulton) Kimball, was born in Canterbury, December 27, 1794; married Ruth Ames, daughter of David Ames, February 1, 1820, and settled in Boscawen in the spring of 1824, on the farm known as the Frost place, High street. In 1830 he removed to the village of Fisherville, where he died July 21, 1834. He was an active and influential business man. In 1831 he erected the dam across the Contoocook river, and the brick grist-mills standing near the stone factory. He took an active part in all that was essential to the general and religious welfare of the town. In March preceding his death he was elected to represent the town in the legislature, but his health was so impaired that he was not able to take his seat.
8.John Kimball, the subject of this sketch, the son of Benjamin and Ruth (Ames) Kimball, was born in Canterbury, April 13, 1821. In infancy he was taken by his parents to Boscawen, where in early youth he had the educational advantages which the district schools of the town afforded. He enjoyed the privilege of attending the Concord Academy only one year, after which he was apprenticed with a relative to learn the trade of constructing mills and machinery. On attaining his majority, in 1842, his first work was to rebuild the grist-mill near Boscawen Plain. Afterward he followed the same business in Suncook, Manchester, Lowell, and Lawrence. In 1848 he was employed by the directors of the Concord Railroad to take charge of the new machine and car shops then building at Concord. He was appointed master mechanic of the Concord Railroad in 1850, and retained the position eight years, when he relinquished mechanical labor for other pursuits. As a mechanic, Mr. Kimball inherited a great natural aptitude, and has few superiors. His sound judgment and skill were in constant requisition in the responsible office in the railroad service he held for so many years; and the experience and training there acquired have been of great value to the city and state when his services have been demanded by his fellow-citizens.
In 1856, Mr. Kimball was elected to the common council of the city of Concord. In 1857 he was re-elected, and was chosen president of that body. In 1858 he was elected a member of the state legislature; and was re-elected in 1859, serving as chairman of the committee on state-prison. From the year 1859 to the year 1862, Mr. Kimball served the city of Concord as collector of taxes and city marshal. In 1862 he was appointed, by President Lincoln, collector of internal revenue for the second district of New Hampshire, including the counties of Merrimack and Hillsborough, and held the office for seven years, collecting and paying over to the treasurer of the United States nearly seven millions of dollars.
In 1872, Mr. Kimball was elected mayor of Concord, and was re-elected to this honorable and responsible office in 1873, 1874, and 1875. Immediately after Mr. Kimball assumed the duties of this office a severe freshet either carried away or rendered impassable five of the seven bridges spanning the Merrimack and Contoocook rivers. The work of rebuilding these structures devolved immediately upon him, as superintendent of roads and bridges. The Federal bridge and the bridge at Fisherville, both of iron, are monuments of his progressive ideas. During his administration the system of water supply from Long pond was carried on to successful completion, and the purest of water has since been at the command of every citizen. This work required a large sum of money, which was so carefully expended that no one has felt the burden save as a blessing. The fire department was invested with new dignity by the city government during those years. The firemen had their demands for appropriate buildings fully satisfied, and are proud, as is the whole city, of the beautiful central fire station and other buildings of the department, which compare favorably with any in the country.
Aside from his mechanical skill, Mr. Kimball long since won the enviable reputation of an able and successful financier. In 1870, upon the organization of the Merrimack County Savings Bank, he was elected its treasurer, and has held the office ever since. To him, for many years, have been intrusted the settlement of estates, the management of trust funds, and the care of the property of widows and orphans. As treasurer of the New Hampshire Bible Society and Orphans' Home, he has given to those institutions the benefit of his financial experience.
For the benefit of the city of Concord, the mechanical skill and financial ability of Mr. Kimball were fully exercised. During his term of office as mayor he was one of the water commissioners,ex officio, and president of the board in 1875. He was subsequently appointed a water commissioner, in 1877, for a term of three years; re-appointed in 1880, and has been president of the board since his first appointment. Upon the death of Hon. Nathaniel White, Mr. Kimball was elected president of the Concord Gas-Light Company, having held the office of director for several years. What little credit is due a member of the constitutional convention of 1876 is his. He represented the fifth ward in Concord, and served the convention acceptably as chairman of its finance committee.
The demand for a new state-prison, in union with the philanthropic ideas of the age, culminated, in the year 1877, in an act of the legislature providing for a new state-prison, and granting for the purpose a very moderate appropriation, hedged in by every possible safeguard. The governor, Benjamin F. Prescott, with the advice of his council, immediately upon the passage of the law appointed three commissioners to carry into effect the provisions of the act. Mr. Kimball was chosen chairman of the board. Upon these commissioners has devolved the duty of constructing the massive pile of buildings known as the new state-prison,commodious for the officers, humane and comfortable for the inmates, acceptable to the authorities and the people, and within the limits of the appropriation. In the autumn of 1880 the structure was appropriately dedicated to its future uses, by fitting ceremony. Col. John H. George, of Concord, delivered the address, and in closing said:—
"It is a matter of further and warm congratulation that its erection has been intrusted to a competent commission; that good judgment and intelligent investigation have characterized the plan; that no corrupt jobbery has polluted its construction; and that for every dollar expended a fair and honest result has been obtained. And in this connection it is but just to say that the fitness and labors of the chairman of the board especially should receive public recognition. To the successful performance of the duties of his office he brought unusual mechanical skill and large experience in the construction of public works."
"It is a matter of further and warm congratulation that its erection has been intrusted to a competent commission; that good judgment and intelligent investigation have characterized the plan; that no corrupt jobbery has polluted its construction; and that for every dollar expended a fair and honest result has been obtained. And in this connection it is but just to say that the fitness and labors of the chairman of the board especially should receive public recognition. To the successful performance of the duties of his office he brought unusual mechanical skill and large experience in the construction of public works."
In 1880, when the Manchester & Keene Railroad was placed in the hands of the court, Mr. Kimball was appointed, by Chief-Justice Doe, one of the trustees. In November, 1880, Mr. Kimball was chosen a senator from district number ten, and upon the organization of the legislature in June, 1881, he was elected to the office of president of the senate, in importance the second office in the state. As presiding officer, he is dignified, courteous, and impartial. He carried to the position a fund of information, a wealth of experience, controlled by sound judgment, and strong convictions.
Politically, Mr. Kimball is a Republican. For fifteen years, since 1863, he has been treasurer of the Republican state committee. With him right takes precedence of policy. It takes no finesse to know on what side he is to be found. In his dealings he is upright, has confidence in himself and in his own judgment, and it is hard to swerve him. He is frank and free in his general intercourse, bluff and often brusque in manner, but never discourteous. He is a man of large and progressive views, and actuated by the most conscientious motives. His character for integrity is without blemish, and as firmly established as the granite hills.
In 1843 he joined the church at his old home in Boscawen, and ever since has affiliated with the Congregationalists. For many years he has been a member of the South Congregational church of Concord. He is eminently a man of affairs,—of acts, not words. His reading is of a scientific character, varied by genealogical and historical research.
In person, Mr. Kimball is of commanding presence and muscular figure, inclined to be spare, but of apparently great physical powers. In private life he is a devoted friend, a kind neighbor, an esteemed citizen, and a charitable, tolerant, self-reliant man.
In early manhood, May 27, 1846, Mr. Kimball was joined in marriage to Maria H. Phillips, of Rupert, Vermont. Their only child, Clara Maria Kimball, born March 20, 1848, was married June 4, 1873, to Augustine R. Ayers, a successful merchant of Concord. Five children—Ruth Ames, John Kimball, Helen McGregor, Joseph Sherburne,[2]and Josiah Phillips—have been born to them.
J. E. SargentJ. E. Sargent
Judge Sargent, now of Concord, has been well known throughout the state for more than a quarter of a century. Besides an extensive legislative acquaintance, he has, as judge of the different courts and as chief-justice of the state, held terms of court in every shire town and half-shire town in every county in the state. He has been emphatically the architect of his own fortune, and by his energy and perseverance has reached the highest post of honor in his profession in his native state. He is genial and social with his friends; he loves a joke, and belongs to that small class of men "who never grow old." He loves his home, his family, and his books. No man enjoys the study of history and of poetry, of philosophy and of fiction, better than he, while law and theology come in for a share of attention,—a kind neighbor, a respected citizen, a ripe scholar, a wise legislator, an upright judge, an honest man.
In the year 1781, Peter Sargent, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, moved from Hopkinton. N. H., to New London, at that time equally well known as Heidleburg. This locality had been known by this latter name for nearly a quarter of a century. It was granted by the Masonian proprietors, July 7, 1773, to Jonas Minot and others, as the "Addition of Alexandria." It was first settled in 1775, and was incorporated as a town by the legislature, June 25, 1779. Peter Sargent, who thus moved into the town two years after its incorporation, was one of ten brothers, all born in Amesbury, Mass., who settled as follows: Amasa, Ezekiel, Thomas, and Moses always lived at Amesbury; James settled in Methuen, Mass.; Peter, Nathan, and Stephen came to Hopkinton, N. H., and settled there; and Abner and Ebenezer came to Warner, N. H., and settled there. These ten brothers, with four sisters, were the children of Deacon Stephen Sargent, of Amesbury, Mass.
[Christopher Sargent, an older brother of Deacon Stephen, graduated at Harvard, entered the ministry, and was the first settled minister of Methuen, Mass. His eldest son, Nathaniel Peaslee Sargent, graduated at Harvard, practiced law at Haverhill, and was for many years a judge of the supreme judicial court of Massachusetts, and was chief justice of the state in 1790 and 1791, when he died aged sixty.]
Deacon Stephen Sargent was the son of Thomas, 2d, who was the son of Thomas, 1st, who was the son of William Sargent. Stephen married Judith Ordway, of West Newbury, Mass., September 26, 1730; was chosen deacon of the Second Congregational church in Amesbury, May 10, 1757; and died October 2, 1773.
William Sargent was born in England about 1602, and was the son of Richard Sargent, an officer in the royal navy. It is believed he came to Virginia at an early day, with William Barnes, John Hoyt, and others. He married Judith Perkins for his first wife, who died about 1633, when he, with several daughters,was one of the twelve men who commenced the settlement of Ipswich, Mass., that year. He soon after went to Newbury and helped form a settlement there; and about 1638 he, with several others, commenced a settlement at Hampton. He soon after, about 1640, removed to Salisbury, and was one of the eighteen original proprietors, or commoners, who settled in New Salisbury, since known as Amesbury. His second wife's name was Elizabeth, by whom he had two sons, Thomas and William. He had several lots of land assigned him at different times; was one of the selectmen of the town in 1667. He died in 1675, aged seventy-three.
Peter Sargent married Ruth Nichols, of Amesbury or Newbury, Mass., and came to Hopkinton, N. H., in 1763 or 1764, where they lived some eighteen years, and raised a large family, and when he went to New London took them all with him. His children were Anthony, Abigail, Ruth, Judith, Peter, Ebenezer, Amasa, John, Molly, Ezekiel, Stephen, William, and Lois. These all came from Hopkinton to New London in 1781, except Lois, who was born subsequently in New London.
Ebenezer, the father of the judge, was born in Hopkinton, April 3, 1768, and was, of course, thirteen years old when he came to New London with his father's family. After becoming of age he procured him a farm, and, on the 25th of November, 1792, he married Prudence Chase, of Wendell (now Sunapee), the daughter of John and Ruth (Hills) Chase. They had ten children, as follows: Anna, Rebekah, Ruth, Seth Freeman, Aaron Lealand, Sylvanus Thayer, Lois, Laura, Jonathan Kittredge, and Jonathan Everett. Jonathan Kittredge died young, the other nine lived to mature age, and five of them, three sons and two daughters, still survive. The parents always lived upon a farm, securing what was then considered as a competence, and both died in New London, having lived together more than sixty-five years.
The following, then, is the order of descent:—