an accomplished daughter of the late J. F. Daniell, a member of the
noted paper-making firm of Peabody & Daniell, and a sister of the Hon.
Warren F. and Frank H. Daniell. They have two children, a daughter and
son,--the eldest, Alice, born August 5, 1871, and Richard Woodbury, born
February 15, 1876. Their home is a fine modern residence, erected in
1877, beautifully located in a bend of the Winnipesaukee river,
surrounded by handsome grounds, with all its appointments conducive to
the comfort of the family and the host of friends who share their
generous hospitality.
Mr. Sulloway is a man of keen perceptive powers and ready judgement, so
that he is enabled to form conclusions upon all practical questions
presented with more than ordinary promptness and accuracy. His opinion
in all matters of public interest and concern in the community in which
he resides is as frequently sought and carries as great weight as that
of any other man, to say the least, and the same also may be said of his
advice in private business affairs. He is frank and outspoken at all
times, and never hesitates to say just what he thinks when called upon
to express himself in any direction. He has many warm friends, and
enjoys a full measure of popularity in social as well as in public and
business circles. He was a moving spirit in the organization of the "New
Hampshire Club," an association formed by New Hampshire men doing
business in Boston, for social entertainment, and has been a leading
member of the same from the start. Endowed with an active mind and
healthy and vigorous bodily powers, he has great capacity for labor, and
will, unquestionably, accomplish even more substantial results in the
future than have already attended his efforts.
[Illustration: Chester Pike]
CHESTER PIKE.
The subject of this sketch was born July 30, 1829, in the town of
Cornish, N. H. Mr. Pike may be said to be possessed of prescriptive
rights in the township of his nativity and residence, for, planted of
others, it was by blood of his blood nurtured into permanence and
prosperity.
As the traits of the parent re-appear in the qualities of the child, so
the annals of the stock from whence he sprang mingle inseparably with
the chronicles of this many-hilled town by the Connecticut. His
great-grandfather and great-grandmother Chase were the first white
persons to settle in Cornish, and in every mention of early citizens
will be found the names of Pike, Bryant, and Chase, whose blood blends
with his. The friendship arising from nearness of residence and a common
industry, which from the first had bound these families together, was
soon strengthened and made permanent by the stronger tie of
intermarriage.
In 1827, Eben Pike, who was the eldest son of Ebenezer and Mary Marcy
Pike, of Cornish, was united in marriage with the daughter of Capt.
Sylvanus Bryant and Sarah Chase Bryant, of the same place. This lady, on
her mother's side, was a cousin to the statesman, Salmon P. Chase, who
for many years represented Ohio in the senate of the United States, and
at the time of his death, as chief-justice of the supreme court, wore
with undiminished honor and dignity the mantle of the great Marshall.
The earliest fruit of this union was Chester Pike, whose life we are now
tracing. A later son, John B. Pike, a mail-route agent between Boston
and St. Albans, an efficient officer and courteous gentleman, is now a
resident of Lebanon, in this state. The oldest son still resides in his
native town and not far from the spot where his grandparents first
settled, in the broad, picturesque valley of the Connecticut, hard by
the village of Windsor, and under the shadows of Ascutney. To one so
located, the relics of the past are objects of enduring interest. The
very hills and valleys must awaken memories of the olden time and kindle
associations of the ancestral home, which will perpetuate the virtues
and the aspirations of the dead. He can but experience something of the
feeling of the descendants of the old families of England, who live upon
their ancient estates, and saunter in the halls of old castles, or under
the shadows of gnarled trees that were planted centuries ago by the
founders of their line, whose ashes long since mingled with, and became
a part of, their inalienable homesteads. The remembrance of the brave
fathers and fair mothers who lived in the heroic past is their richest
inheritance.
In his earlier years, obedient to the custom of the fathers, Mr. Pike
attended the district school. This institution, original to New England,
discharges a function in the training of the young which, to our mind,
some of the methods and more ambitious inventions of modern educators
fail to fulfill. In the district school, if properly taught, are secured
habits of faithfulness and diligence, and a permanent knowledge of
elementary branches, which are of daily practical use in the life of
the people. There, too, the silly conceits and factitious distinctions
of society are broken down, as children see that success is achieved by
brains, not money; by industry, not social standing. In this, sometimes
rough but general intercourse of youth, democratic ways and independence
of thought are acquired, and the seeds of a true manhood and womanhood
are planted. Our system of public schools is in harmony with the
organism of the state, and in them our children imbibe a spirit of
obedience to wholesome, legitimate authority, and so become conservative
of public discipline and order. Men learn to rule by learning to obey.
It was here that Mr. Pike laid the foundations of character.
Later, he was for a time a scholar in the academy at Hartland, Vt. After
a season of study there, he matriculated in that long-time famous and
still existing center of pro-collegiate education, the Kimball Union
Academy at Meriden, N. H. The principal, at that time, was the Rev.
Cyrus Richards, and under his guidance several terms were passed in the
acquisition of the more abstruse learning of the books. But the months
drift by, and at the age of fifteen Mr. Pike graduates from the schools
and passes on to the sterner duties of manhood and of life. The winter
months of the six ensuing years are filled up with the active work of
the pedagogue, and the summer seasons in constant, laborious work upon
the home farm.
During this period he was ripening the lessons of his pupilage and
maturing plans for the future. At the age of twenty-one, Mr. Pike,
though he still spent his winters for some years in teaching, became a
trader in cattle and a merchant in the products of the soil. By his
enterprise in this, his chosen vocation, he reached the position of a
foremost man of a notable class among the farmers of New England.
Familiar from youth with the harvest capabilities of the rich levels and
the sun-warmed hills of Sullivan county, and gifted with a quick sense
to perceive the wants of modern markets, he has, by unusual energy and
sagacity, fitted means to ends, and, with a Midas-touch, turned his
agrarian resources into gold. His success teaches the lesson that the
New England farm has no less potential wealth at present than in times
past, if skill but holds the handles of the plow. Let the modern farmer
cling to the old homestead and the paternal acres, and take counsel with
the progressive science of soil-enrichment; let him employ the same
skill in the cultivation of his farm and the management of his stock,
let him use the same enterprise in utilizing markets, and the same
economy in the disposition of his funds, which are necessary in other
employments,--and his success is sure.
We would here quote from a leading paper of the state a few lines
pertinent to our narrative:--
"Capt. Chester Pike, of Cornish, has one of the largest, if not
the largest, farm in the state. It contains about one thousand
acres of land, divided into wood, mowing, tillage, and pasture
land; forty acres in corn, and seventy acres in wheat, rye,
oats, barley, and potatoes. Last season he raised six thousand
eight hundred baskets of corn. He has one hundred and thirty
head of cattle, three hundred sheep, thirty-seven horses, and
forty hogs, and raises hay enough to keep his stock through the
season, or about three hundred tons. Capt. Pike's farm lies in
the town of Cornish, on the east bank of the Connecticut river,
immediately opposite the farm of the Hon. William M. Evarts,
late secretary of state, situated in Windsor. Vt., which is of
about equal dimensions, and, in fact, the largest farm in
Vermont. Mr. Evarts raises about the same amount of stock, hay,
and produce as Capt. Pike. On both of these farms may be found
all the modern appliances, such as mowing and reaping machines,
seeders for sowing grain, two-horse cultivators for hoeing corn,
most of the work being done by machinery, the same as upon the
largest farms of the West."
Any man might be proud of such a record, but it is only a part of the
truth. In single seasons, Mr. Pike often buys, for resale, from
seventy-five to one hundred and twenty-five tons of poultry, and between
two and three hundred thousand pounds of wool. Besides the above, he has
for many years purchased annually, for the Boston market, in the
interest of the firm of Lamson, Dudley, & Pike, of which he is a member,
great numbers of cattle and sheep. During the thirty years, Mr. Pike has
found an outlet for that restless energy and enterprise which these
pursuits and the occupation of farming and stock-growing cannot exhaust,
in an extensive lumber business. All this, it should be borne in mind,
is in addition to the extensive cultivation and stock-growing on his own
farm.
Notwithstanding the variety and extent of his purely business
transactions, Mr. Pike has also found leisure to fill with efficiency
many stations in the public service. At one period of his career, during
several successive years he was selectman of Cornish. This led the way
to other offices. He who had discharged with faithfulness and skill the
responsibilities in the town, was deemed worthy to be honored with
higher duties, and Mr. Pike found himself, in 1859, 1860, and 1861, the
incumbent of the office of county commissioner for Sullivan county. At
the end of his third term, his fellow-townsmen withdrew him from the
commissionship, which he had ably filled, and made him their
representative to the general court for 1862, and again for 1863. He
made an intelligent and active legislator, and soon became familiar with
the business of the house. The estimate which was put upon his services
and standing in the house is seen in the fact that in his first year he
served on the committee on manufactures, and, in his second year, was
made chairman of the committee on banks, which at the time was one of
the most difficult and responsible positions in the house. If Mr. Pike
did not often attempt to influence legislation by debate, he had what
Wirt attributes to Jefferson, "the out-of-door talent of chamber
consultation," and used it with good effect. The years 1862 and 1863
were two of the most anxious and trying years of the civil war, and
perplexing propositions were brought before the legislature for
solution. There were sharp antagonisms and earnest debates among the
strong men of those sessions; questions of jurisdiction and policy
touching the national defense and the rights of states, new to
legislation and embittered by party rancor, became the subjects of
action; the frequent calls for men and money to meet the demand which
the prolonged and sanguinary conflict made upon the state gave to the
legislation of the period unprecedented interest and importance. Through
it all, no man was more active, more true, or more patriotic, than Capt.
Pike.
In 1863, the subject of our sketch was appointed provost-marshal of the
third New Hampshire district, and during that and the two succeeding
years, when the war-cloud hung heavy and dark on the southern horizon,
he discharged the duties of this delicate and difficult office with
unusual ability, and received from Mr. Frye, the
provost-marshal-general, the highest possible commendation for the
integrity and success with which he administered the affairs of his
department of the public service. Associated with him in this branch of
the military organization, were some of the foremost men of the state:
Hon. Francis A. Faulkner, an able lawyer of Keene, was commissioner, and
Dixi Crosby, the distinguished head of the Dartmouth Medical College,
was surgeon of the board of enrollment; Senator H. W. Blair, Hon. Ossian
Ray, and Col. Nelson Converse of Marlborough were the deputy-marshals,
and Judge W. H. H. Allen of Newport, C. C. Kimball, Esq., of
Charlestown, and Henry C. Henderson, Esq., of Keene, were clerks of the
board. To have conducted the office in a way to secure the respect and
co-operation of such a body of men is in itself a distinguished honor.
In 1866, Mr. Pike received the nomination for councilor of the fourth
councilor district, but declined, and was subsequently appointed United
States collector of internal revenue. His administration of the duties
of this position was deservedly popular with the department at
Washington, and with the people at home, and he remained in it till the
districts of the state were consolidated. In 1876 he was a delegate from
Cornish in the constitutional convention, receiving every vote cast by
his fellow-townsmen.
In addition to these public offices, Mr. Pike has been a director in the
Claremont National Bank for fifteen years, and an active member and
officer of the Sullivan County, the Connecticut River, the New Hampshire
State, and the New England agricultural societies. To have earned and to
have enjoyed the popular favor in a republic and in so many and varied
places of honorable trust, is to have passed the crucial test of fitness
for public life.
Few men of positive character and recognized ability, if in exalted
positions, are so fortunate, in this age, as to escape criticism; but it
will be acknowledged that in all the state and national trusts held by
the subject of our sketch, he has so borne himself as to win the
approval of the authorities, the good will of the people, and the
respect of his friends.
In 1862, Mr. Pike was united in marriage to Amanda M. Fay, the daughter
of Hon. Levi Chamberlain Fay, of Windsor, Vt., a lady of attractive
manners and varied accomplishments. Mrs. Pike has been a most loyal wife
in all the relations of life, and the beloved mother of four
children,--three sons and a daughter,--of whom but one survives, Chester
Fay Pike, a lad of twelve years.
In the above narrative, we have done little more than to set down in
order the events in the life of a quiet citizen of one of the country
towns of our state; but, when we consider how much this gentleman has
accomplished and that he is only now at the meridian of life, we realize
that his is no ordinary career, and that New England does not furnish a
long catalogue of men who have so well illustrated the genius of our
institutions, and the possibilities of a sagacious mind that has a fixed
purpose to succeed in the race of life. The man who does difficult work
and wins the love of friends deserves to be honored of all. In all the
relations of public and private life Mr. Pike,--
"By nature honest, by experience wise,
Healthy by temperance and exercise,"
has acted well his part, and so honored his state, and made a name which
his descendants will cherish in the years to come.
[Illustration: Thos. P. Pierce]
COL. THOMAS P. PIERCE.
BY HON. JOHN H. GOODALE.
Most of the success and thrift which during the past thirty years have
attended the manufacturing interests of New Hampshire are due to the
untiring industry and intelligent foresight of that class of
self-reliant, progressive business men who, starting in life with
ordinary advantages, have had the nerve to seize and the capacity to
improve the opportunities within their reach. Prominent among this class
of enterprising and valuable citizens of this state is the gentleman
whose name stands at the head of this page,--HON. THOMAS P. PIERCE.
Col. Pierce was born in Chelsea, Mass., on the 30th of August, 1820. He
came from Revolutionary stock on both the father's and mother's side.
After limited training in the public schools, he learned the trade of
carriage and ornamental painting in Boston.
In 1840, the subject of this sketch came to Manchester, which was then
springing into existence as a manufacturing village, under the auspices
of the Amoskeag Land and Water Company. Three years previous the first
improvements were begun, and it was now a bustling town of six hundred
families, gathered from every section of northern New England. With much
of the rush and recklessness of a newly grown community, there were then
germs of that energy which has since made Manchester an eminently
prosperous city. Young Pierce, not yet of age, worked as a journeyman at
his trade, and by his unvarying courtesy and cheerful spirit was a
favorite among his associates. He was an active member of the famous
Stark Guards,--a military organization of which Hon. George W. Morrison
and Walter French, Esq., were successively in command.
There is no more exhaustive test of a young man's stamina than life in a
rapidly growing manufacturing village. One literally goes in and out in
the presence of the enemies' pickets, though they may not be intentional
enemies. The temptation to excess is constant and persistent. Often the
most brilliant and sagacious fall victims. It is to the credit of Thomas
P. Pierce that he passed the ordeal unscathed. In the summer of 1842 it
was his good fortune to marry Miss Asenath R. McPherson, the daughter of
a farmer in the adjoining town of Bedford.
The war with Mexico began in 1846. When it was decided that an army
under Gen. Scott should be raised to march to the city of Mexico, it was
ordered that a regiment of infantry should be raised in New England. Mr.
Pierce at once volunteered as a private, and was soon after
commissioned, by President Polk, as second lieutenant of one of the
companies of the New England regiment. The command of this regiment was
first assigned to Franklin Pierce; but on his promotion to the command
of a brigade it was given to Truman B. Ransom, a brave and accomplished
officer from Vermont.
Early in the summer the brigade under Gen. Pierce was ordered to proceed
to the eastern coast of Mexico, and to land in the vicinity of Vera
Cruz, to be ready to co-operate with the main army under Gen. Scott in
the march to the Mexican capital. The troops disembarked on the 28th of
June,--a most unfavorable season of the year. The heat was so intense on
the lowlands that to march between nine o'clock in the morning and four
in the afternoon was impossible. With the exception of a few of the
officers, the entire force was made up of new recruits. It occupied two
weeks to secure mules for army transportation. On the 14th of July the
movement toward the city of Mexico began, and, on reaching the
foothills, every bridge and fortified pass was strongly guarded by
hostile Mexicans. There was constant skirmishing, and the enemy, from
the cliffs and thickets, made annoying and sometimes dangerous attacks.
The climate, the difficulties of marching, and hardships of a military
life in a strange country bore heavily on the inexperienced soldiery.
Amid these perplexities, the tact, the genial spirit, and untiring
attention to the wants of his comrades won for Lieut. Pierce a high
regard and strong personal attachment. In the sharp conflicts which
occurred on reaching the table-lands, Lieut. Pierce took an active part.
At the battle of Contreras, fought August 19, he was personally
complimented by Col. Ransom for bravery,--himself soon after a martyr to
his personal valor.
Reaching the higher lands, Gen. Scott found the flower of the Mexican
army entrenched among the cliffs of Churubusco. To leave the enemy in
the rear was to hazard everything; and in the dangerous task of
dislodging and utterly routing them the New England regiment bore a
conspicuous part. In his report of the battle, Gen. Scott placed the
name of Lieut. Pierce on the list of those recommended for promotion on
account of gallant and meritorious conduct. The storming of Chepultepec
soon followed, in which the New England regiment had literally to cross
a succession of ridges and ravines, exposed to a deadly fire from the
enemy among the crags. The assault was successful, and the surrender of
the Mexican capital immediately followed. In this action, and in the
details of patrol service during the winter, while the city was occupied
by the American army, Lieut. Pierce was officially commended for the
vigilant discharge of his duties.
The campaign in Mexico, with its varied experiences, had, without doubt,
a marked and favorable effect upon the subject of this sketch. The
novelty of climate and productions, the grandeur of the scenery, and the
immense natural resources of that region were not lost upon him. But of
still greater value was the experience gained from association with men
of large attainments, positive ideas, strong will, and comprehensive
views. The majority of the army officers in that campaign were of this
character; and the young soldier, at the close of the war, returned home
in March, 1848, with higher aims and a better and truer estimate of the
duties and responsibilities of life.
Col. Pierce again engaged in business at his trade, in Manchester,
which, in the meantime, had been incorporated a city. In 1849 he became
a member of the city government; and in the same year was appointed a
member of Gov. Dinsmoor's staff. Upon the inauguration of Gen. Franklin
Pierce as president, in March, 1853, he was appointed postmaster at
Manchester. This position, in the largest and most prosperous city of
the state, was one of unusual labor and responsibility. Col. Pierce
filled the office for eight years, and to the entire satisfaction of the
citizens of all parties.
On the breaking out of the rebellion, in 1861, Col. Pierce was selected
by Gov. Goodwin as commander of the Second New Hampshire regiment, of
the three months' troops. Having satisfactorily discharged his duties,
he retired after the term of enlistment was changed to three years. The
next year, September, 1862, unexpected difficulties having arisen, Gov.
Berry telegraphed to Col. Pierce to take command of the Twelfth New
Hampshire regiment, then completing its organization at Concord. How
well he accomplished the duty assigned him was expressed in a statement,
signed by the officers of the regiment, at the time of his withdrawal,
in the following words:--
"Your generous and patriotic course in assuming temporary
command of the regiment during a period of great excitement and
confusion, thereby saving it from dissolution and the state from
disgrace, merits our admiration and sincere thanks."
In 1866, Col. Pierce removed to Nashua, for the purpose of engaging in
the manufacture of card-board and glazed paper. Since then he has been
an active member and one of the directors of the Nashua Card and
Glazed-Paper Company,--one of the most successful business enterprises
in the state, and which, in the variety and excellence of its products,
is not surpassed by any corporation of its kind in the country. Col.
Pierce is also a director of the Contoocook Valley Paper Company in
Henniker, a director of the Second National Bank and president of the
Mechanics Savings Bank at Nashua.
In 1874, Col. Pierce was elected a member of the New Hampshire state
senate, the only candidate of his party ever elected from that district;
and in 1875 and 1876 he was sheriff of Hillsborough county. While
unwavering in his attachment to, and support of, the Democratic party,
he is not rabid in his policy or partisan in his associations. When
President Hayes visited Nashua, in 1877, he was selected by the city
government as chairman of the committee of arrangements; and no citizen
took a more efficient part in securing a proper observance of the
obsequies of President Garfield. He and his family are attendants of the
Universalist church.