youngest daughter of Thomas Ingalls, Esq., of Rindge. She died June 20,
1871, leaving two sons. The eldest, Herbert I., born February 17, 1856,
is a graduate of Harvard College, class of 1877; and the younger, George
R., obtained his education in the Fitchburg high school, and a two
years' special course in the Institute of Technology, Boston. They are
both now with their father. Mr. Wallace married, for his second wife,
Sophia F. Bailey, of Woodstock, Vt., on the 28th day of December, 1876.
GEN. SIMON G. GRIFFIN.
BY REV. A. B. CRAWFORD.
GEN. GRIFFIN was born in Nelson, N. H., on the 9th of August, 1824. His
ancestors, as far back as they can be traced, were prominent men in the
communities where they lived, gifted with more than ordinary intellect
and force of character.
His grandfather, Samuel Griffin, Esq., came from Methuen, Mass., soon
after the Revolutionary war, married a daughter of Rev. Jacob Foster, at
that time the settled minister at "Packersfield," now Nelson, and took
up his residence in that town. His superior abilities soon brought him
forward to fill responsible positions, and for many years he represented
the town in the legislature, and held the highest town offices. Both he
and the General's maternal grandfather, Nehemiah Wright, were patriot
soldiers in the Revolutionary army, and both were present at the battle
of Bunker Hill.
His father, Nathan Griffin, was equally gifted with the earlier
progenitors of the race; but, losing his health in the prime of his
manhood, the care of rearing the family of seven children fell upon the
mother. Her maiden name was Sally Wright,--one of the loveliest of her
sex, both in person and character,--and the General owes much to her
wise counsels and careful training. She died recently, at the age of
ninety-four, in the full possession of her mental faculties.
When but six years of age, in consequence of the illness of his father,
the boy was sent to live for some years with his uncle, Gen. Samuel
Griffin, of Roxbury, N. H. He, too, had a decided talent for military
affairs, had been a volunteer in the war of 1812, was prominent in the
state militia, and was fond of repeating the military histories and
descriptions of battles and campaigns that he had read, thus producing a
deep and lasting impression on the mind of the lad. But never, after he
was seven years old, could the boy be spared from work on the farm to
attend school during summer. Ten or twelve weeks each winter at the
district school was all the "schooling" he ever had; but his leisure
hours were spent in reading and study, and, in spite of his want of
advantages, at eighteen years of age he began to teach with marked
success. He had also read much history, and the lives of the great
military chieftains of ancient and modern times; and thus by
inheritance, and by his early training and reading, he had become
unconsciously fitted for the special work before him, and had cultivated
the patriotic spirit and ability for military affairs which have won for
him an honorable place among the distinguished soldiers of our state,
and made him, as confessed on all sides, one of the best volunteer
officers in the war of the rebellion.
Continuing his studies while teaching winters and working on the farm
summers, he mastered all the higher English branches usually taught in
colleges, studied Latin and French, and went through a large amount of
miscellaneous reading. In 1850 he married Ursula J., daughter of Jason
Harris, Esq., of Nelson; but soon after the birth of a son, the
following year, both mother and son died. Returning to his former
occupation of teaching, he took up the study of law, and while thus
engaged represented his native town two years in the legislature,
serving the second term as chairman of the committee on education.
[Illustration: S. G. Griffin
Brig. & Brevet Maj. Genl. U.S.A.]
He was admitted to the bar in 1860, and had just begun the practice of
his profession at Concord when the war broke out. Throwing aside his
law-books, he took up the study of military tactics, joined a company
then forming at Concord, under the first call for troops,--volunteering
as a private, but when it came to organization was chosen captain,--and
finding the quota of New Hampshire full under the first call,
immediately volunteered, with a large number of his men, for three years
or the war, under the second call. Recruiting his company to the
maximum, he joined the Second Regiment at Portsmouth, was mustered into
the United States service in June, 1861, and commanded his company at
the first battle of Bull Run, handling it with coolness and bravery,
although it was under a sharp fire, and lost twelve men, killed and
wounded. It was the celebrated "Goodwin Rifles," Co. B, 2d N. H. Vols.,
armed with Sharp's rifles, by the exertions of Capt. Griffin and his
friends,--the only company sent from the state armed with
breech-loaders.
In 1861 he was promoted to be lieutenant-colonel of the 6th N. H. Vols.,
and joined that regiment at its rendezvous in Keene. The regiment was
assigned to Burnside's expedition to North Carolina, and landed at
Hatteras island in January, 1862. In March it removed to Roanoke island,
and on the 7th of April, Lieut.-Col. Griffin was sent in command of an
expedition, composed of six hundred men with five gunboats, to break up
a rebel rendezvous near Elizabeth City, N. C. Landing at daybreak the
next morning, he attacked and broke up the camp, capturing seventy-four
prisoners, three hundred and fifty stands of arms, and a quantity of
ammunition. On the 19th of April, at the battle of Camden, N. C., he
commanded his regiment, which formed the reserve. At the critical moment
he moved it forward in line of battle, within short musket range, halted
the line, gave the command to fire, and the regiment poured in a volley
with wonderful coolness and precision. The enemy broke and fled, and the
battle was won.
On the 22d of April, 1862, he was commissioned colonel of the regiment.
Assigned to Reno's division, which was sent to aid Pope in Virginia, he
commanded his regiment at the second Bull Run, where it was ordered,
with its brigade, to attack the enemy in a piece of wood. Forcing their
way for some distance, they received a murderous fire in front and from
the left flank and rear. Thinking it must be friends firing into them by
mistake, Col. Griffin took the colors and waved them in that direction,
but the fire only came the sharper; and finding himself nearly
surrounded by an immense force, and deserted by the other regiments, he
gave the order to retreat, and brought off the remnant of his men,
bearing the colors himself.
At the battles of Chantilly and South Mountain he commanded his
regiment; and at Antietam, after one attempt to carry the bridge in
front of Burnside had been made and failed, Col. Griffin was ordered to
make the assault with his own regiment and the Second Maryland. The
charge was gallantly made, but the approaches were difficult, the
enemy's fire destructive, and the column was checked; but
re-enforcements were brought up, and the bridge was carried, and the
Sixth New Hampshire, with Col. Griffin at its head, was the first to
plant its colors on the heights beyond. For gallantry in this action he
was recommended for promotion to brigadier-general. At Fredericksburg he
commanded his regiment, which again suffered severely in the assault on
the heights. Soon after that battle he obtained a leave of absence, and
was married to Margaret R. Lamson, of Keene, N. H., with whom he is
still living, and by whom he has two sons.
Early in the year 1863, the ninth corps was transferred to the
department of Ohio, and Col. Griffin was placed in command of the second
brigade, second division, serving in Kentucky. From there the first and
second divisions were sent to aid Grant at Vicksburg; and, upon the fall
of that city, Sherman moved upon Jackson, Miss., the capital of the
state, driving Johnston before him. While approaching the town, Col.
Griffin was at one time in command of the advanced line, consisting of
three brigades, when a sharp attack was made by the enemy, at three
o'clock in the morning, with a view to breaking our lines by surprise,
but was repulsed with considerable loss. Returning to Kentucky, he took
command of the second division, and marched over the Cumberland
mountains, joining Gen. Burnside at Knoxville. Several regiments of the
corps had been left in Kentucky, and Col. Griffin was sent to conduct
them forward to Knoxville. Before they had started on the march,
however, Kentucky itself was threatened with raids, in consequence of
our defeat at Chickamauga, and Col. Griffin and his troops were retained
for the defense of that state. While on that duty his regiment
re-enlisted for three years, or the war; and in January, 1864, he was
ordered with it to Covington, Ky., where they were remustered into the
United States service, and immediately proceeded to New Hampshire on
their thirty days' furlough, granted by the terms of re-enlistment.
In the spring of 1864, the ninth corps re-assembled at Annapolis, under
Gen. Burnside, and Col. Griffin was assigned to the command of the
second brigade, second division. On the 5th of May the corps joined the
army of the Potomac, on the Rapidan, and at two o'clock on the morning
of the 6th, Col. Griffin was sent with his brigade to attack the enemy,
and later in the day made a brilliant charge in repelling an attack made
on the second corps. At Spottsylvania Court-House, May 12, Gen. Hancock
made the assault at four o'clock in the morning. Griffin occupied the
right of the ninth corps, on the left of Hancock, though some distance
from him, with orders to support that officer. Promptly at four o'clock
Griffin advanced with his brigade in line of battle, and made directly
for the point of attack indicated by the sound of Hancock's guns. As he
approached, he galloped forward to see just where to make the
connection. Passing out of a wood into an open field, he found Hancock's
troops wild with excitement over their success, but with organizations
completely broken up by the charge they had made. Looking across a
valley to a slope beyond, he saw a large force of rebels advancing
rapidly to make a counter attack. Hastening back to his command, he
brought it forward into position just in time to take that advancing
column in front and flank with a destructive fire. Other brigades came
up and formed on his left, and for five hours a terrific fire was kept
up, and the furious onslaught of three Confederate divisions was
repulsed. The loss on each side was fearful, but Hancock's corps, and
possibly the army, was saved from being swept away, and a victory was
won. By this gallant act Col. Griffin "won his star," being made a
brigadier-general of volunteers by President Lincoln, on the
recommendation of Generals Burnside and Grant, and confirmed by the
senate without debate, reference, or a dissenting vote.
On the 18th he made a reconnoissance with his brigade, and handled it
with coolness and skill in the fights of North Anna, Tolopotomy Creek,
Bethesda Church, and Cold Harbor. On the arrival of the army in front of
Petersburg, June 15, he was placed in command of two brigades, and made
a skillful attack on the enemy's advanced lines at daylight next
morning, capturing one thousand prisoners, fifteen hundred stands of
arms, four pieces of artillery, with caissons, horses, and ammunition,
and opening the way into Petersburg had supports been ready in time. At
the battle of the "Mine" he commanded his brigade, and did every thing
that could be done in his place to insure success; also at the Weldon
Railroad, Poplar Grove Church, and Hatcher's Run.
At the final breaking of the lines in front of Petersburg, on the 2d of
April, 1865, after charging the enemy's picket line and capturing two
hundred and forty-nine prisoners during the night previous, he formed
his brigade near Fort Sedgwick, in column by regiments, with three
companies of pioneers in front armed only with axes to cut away the
_abatis_. Just at daybreak, at a preconcerted signal, in connection with
Gen. Hartranft on his right and Col. Curtin on his left, he led his
column to the charge. Nothing could exceed the coolness and intrepidity
with which officers and men pressed forward under a terrific fire of
grape, canister, and musketry; for our artillery had opened and given
the enemy warning. Tearing away the _abatis_, they dashed over the
parapet, seized the guns, captured hundreds of prisoners, and held the
line. The loss was frightful, but the backbone of the rebellion was
broken; and when the news of the assault reached Richmond, on that
Sunday morning, Jefferson Davis crept out of church and stole away, a
fugitive; and Petersburg and Richmond were occupied by our troops next
morning. For gallantry in that action Gen. Griffin was brevetted a
major-general of volunteers, and succeeded to the command of the second
division, ninth corps, holding that position till the close of the war,
with the exception of a short time while he was president of an
examining board of officers at Washington. He joined in pursuit of the
rebel forces, and his division formed a part of the column that
encompassed Lee and compelled him to surrender. Returning with the army
and encamping at Alexandria, he led his division in the Grand Review, on
the 23d of May; and when the last regiment of his command had been
mustered out, he also, in August, 1865, was mustered out of the service
of the United States.
Gen. Griffin's service had been a most honorable one. Brave, able, and
patriotic, he was always in demand at the front, and his service was of
the most arduous kind. He took an active part in twenty-two great
battles, besides being engaged in numberless smaller fights and
skirmishes, and his troops were never under fire, or made a march of any
importance, except with him to lead them. Yet he never received a
scratch, although he had seven ball-holes through his clothes, and had
two horses killed and five wounded under him in action; and he never
lost a day's duty from sickness,--the result, no doubt, of temperate
habits. As an example of the severity of his service in Grant's campaign
of 1864, he left Alexandria with six regiments, reporting twenty-seven
hundred fighting men. At the close of the campaign he had lost three
thousand men, killed and wounded,--three hundred more than his whole
number,--new regiments having been assigned to him, and the older ones
filled up with recruits.
At the close of the war the government appointed him a field officer in
one of the regiments in the regular army; but he had no desire for the
life of a soldier when his country no longer needed his services, and he
declined the offer. In 1866, 1867, and 1868, he represented Keene in the
New Hampshire state legislature, serving the last two years as speaker
of the house, which position he filled with marked ability, showing rare
talent as a presiding officer. In January, 1866, he presided over the
Republican state convention; and Dartmouth College that year conferred
on him the degree of Master of Arts, _causa honoris_. In 1871 he was
nominated for congress by the Republicans of the third district, but the
opposition carried the state that year, and, although making a good run,
he was defeated by a few votes. Renominated in 1873, he was again
defeated by a small majority.
The habits of study so diligently cultivated by Gen. Griffin in youth
have never been laid aside, but are still kept up in the midst of an
active and busy life, he being engaged in large enterprises in the South
and West. As a public speaker he is able, graceful, and convincing, and
his work always shows thorough preparation, correct taste, and sound
judgment. In a book of Garfield's speeches, with a short sketch of his
life, published by a firm in St. Louis, a few memorial addresses,
selected as the best delivered in the country, are inserted as a
supplement, and Gen. Griffin's, delivered at Keene, and the same day at
Marlborough, is found among them.
In his home, where he is cordially seconded by Mrs. Griffin, there is a
tender and affectionate union of the members, a courteous hospitality, a
library rich in choice books which are read and known, and all the
comforts and enjoyments of a true New England home; and from that home
abundant good works go out that make for the well-being of a community.
[Illustration: D. L. Jewell]
COL. DAVID LYMAN JEWELL.
BY J. N. McCLINTOCK.
The chief industry of the flourishing village of Suncook is the
manufacture of cotton cloth. The China, the Webster, and the Pembroke
mills are three great establishments under one management, built on the
banks of the Suncook river, and operated principally by its power, where
this class of goods is made. About these mills, which give steady
employment to over fifteen hundred operatives, has grown up a
substantial village, with fine public buildings, spacious stores,
elegant private residences, and long blocks of neat tenement-houses,
inhabited by a liberal and public-spirited class of citizens, and
governed by a wise and judicious policy which renders this community
comfortable, attractive, and law-abiding. The man to whose clear head
and skillful hand is intrusted the management of this great corporation,
of such vital importance to the village of Suncook, is a genial
gentleman of forty-five, Col. DAVID L. JEWELL, a brief outline of whose
life it is my purpose to sketch.
DAVID LYMAN JEWELL, son of Bradbury and Lucinda (Chapman) Jewell, was
born in Tamworth, N. H., January 26, 1837. In the midst of the grandest
scenery of New England, under the shadows of the Ossipee mountains, and
in view of bold Chocorua, our friend was ushered to this earthly
pilgrimage. Colonel Jewell is a descendant of Mark Jewell, who was born
in the mirth of Devonshire, England, in the year 1724, and died in
Sandwich, N. H., the 19th of February, 1787. He descended from the same
original stock as Bishop John Jewell of Devonshire.
Mark Jewell came to this country in 1743, married, and located in Durham
this state; he was the father of three sons, Mark, Jr., Bradbury, and
John. Mark. Jr., was the first white man that settled in Tamworth, in
1772, on what is now called "Stevenson's Hill," removing soon after to
"Birch Intervale," as known at the present time. He married Ruth Vittum,
of Sandwich, in 1776; they were the parents of sixteen children. He was
prominent in all town affairs, and sometimes preached, and was
familiarly called among his fellow-townsmen "Elder" or "Priest" Jewell.
Bradbury, son of Elder Jewell, married Mary Chapman in 1806, by whom he
had two sons, Bradbury and David.
Bradbury Jewell, a pupil of Samuel Hidden, was a teacher of considerable
note, and his memory is tenderly cherished to-day by many of his pupils
throughout the state. While engaged in teaching he pursued a course of
medical studies, and in 1839, having completed them, collected his
worldly goods and removed to Newmarket, a place presenting a larger
field for practice. There he commenced in earnest his chosen profession;
but, being of a delicate constitution, the exposure incident to a
physician's life soon told upon his limited strength; he was taken sick,
and died "ere the sun of his life had reached its meridian," leaving his
widow, with two little children, in indigent circumstances, to combat
with a cold and selfish world. A wealthy merchant of the place, having
no children, wished to adopt young David, offering to give him a
college education and leave him heir to his worldly possessions; but
with a mother's love for her offspring Mrs. Jewell refused the offer,
and resolved to rear and educate her children as well as her limited
means would allow. Being a woman of undaunted spirit, she opened a
boarding-house for factory operatives, when factory girls were the
intelligent daughters of New England farmers, who regarded this new
industry a most favorable opportunity for honorable employment.
Having brothers in Massachusetts, and thinking to better sustain herself
and children, Mrs. Jewell removed to Newton Upper Falls, Mass.,
following the same occupation there. In that village young Jewell first
attended school, the teacher of which was a former pupil of his father.
To render his mother more substantial assistance than he could afford
her by doing irksome chores, he went to work in the factory when but
nine years of age, receiving for a day's work, from quarter of five in
the morning until half past seven in the evening, the very munificent
sum of sixteen cents a day, or one dollar a week. He worked nine months
and attended school three, every year, until he was nearly thirteen
years of age, when the close confinement was found detrimental to his
health, and he was taken from the mill and placed on a farm. The next
three years he passed in healthful, happy, out-door work. Returning home
from the farm strong, robust, and vigorous, he re-entered the mill,
where he was variously occupied, becoming familiar with the operations
of the numerous machines in each department, but more particularly those
pertaining to the carding-room, where his step-father, Thomas Truesdell,
was an overseer, learning as he pursued his work, gradually and
insensibly, things that to-day are of incalculable benefit for the
business in which he is now engaged. He little thought, however, when
moving his stool from place to place in order to facilitate his labor,
he would some day be at the head of similar works many times greater in
magnitude than those in which he was then employed. His inherited
mechanical taste developed by his life among machinery, and when he was
seventeen years of age he gladly entered a machine-shop. Here his ready
perception of form rendered his work attractive and his improvement
rapid.
Before completing his apprenticeship he felt keenly the want of a better
education, and determined to obtain it. His exchequer was very low, but
having the confidence of friends he readily obtained a loan, and in the
spring of 1855 he entered the Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, Mass. The
principal, after a casual examination, said: "Well, you don't know much,
do you?" Being quick at repartee young Jewell replied: "No, sir; if I
did, I would not be here." This brief sip at the fountain of knowledge
only increased his thirst for more, and in September of the same year he
entered the state normal school at Bridgewater, Mass., under the regime
of Marshall Conant, a life-long friend and counselor. Mr. Jewell from
the first was a favorite among his classmates,--courteous, genial,
pleasant in disposition, something careless withal; physically vigorous,
and always the first at athletic sports when relieved from study.
Mathematics, of which he was very fond, and natural philosophy were his
favorite branches of study, and free-hand drawing his delight, as
slates, book-covers, and albums attested. While in school he made rapid
advancement in knowledge, and graduated in the spring of 1857, having
acquired, as his diploma reads, "a very creditable degree of knowledge
of the several branches taught therein. Besides these attainments, Mr.
Jewell possesses a tact and skill for rapid sketching and delineation
which give life to his blackboard illustrations."
To show the forethought possessed by him in a marked degree, before
graduating he had secured a school to teach in New Jersey, and the day
after the closing exercises were over he started for his new field of
labor. He taught with great success in New Jersey and also in New York,
some three years. One school of which he was principal numbered three
hundred scholars, and employed five assistant teachers, most of whom
were his seniors in years. Like his father, he gained an enviable
reputation as a teacher, and his credentials speak of him in the highest
terms, as a competent, faithful, and pleasing instructor, and a most
excellent disciplinarian. One superintendent of schools remarks: "He was
the best teacher that has been employed in the town for thirty years."