him. I can see him now, as in the early morn, in the dim light
before the dawn of day, he drove up over the frozen hills of
Boscawen, through the drifting snows, buffeting the bleak winds,
and standing erect upon the footboard of his sleigh, with his
six frost-covered steeds well in hand. I remember him as in the
late afternoon or early evening he went dashing down those
fearfully steep hills, called "Choate and Gerrish hills," with
his Concord "coach and six," loaded down with sixteen and
eighteen passengers, and no break to resist the fearful pressure
upon a single pair of wheel-horses. He then had the same quiet,
reserved manners that marked the man all through his long, busy,
and useful life. There was no noise, no brag, no bluster, no
profanity, no tobacco, no rum! He was mild in speech, pleasant
in address, gentle in conduct, quiet in action, diligent in
business, constant in season and out, and faithful to all his
trusts; and every thing he did came fully up to the measure of
his responsibility.
'His life was gentle; and the elements
So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world, "This was a man."'
"The wealth he possessed, and which he distributed with such a
generous hand, came from no ancestral estates. He made his
wealth, and he made himself, and he was emphatically 'the
architect of his own fortune.' He honored his father and his
mother, and his days were lengthened in the land; and if he had
lived till the 17th day of February, 1881, he would have filled
up the number of days which the Psalmist has assigned to manly
life. His example in youth, in manhood, and in mature age is a
valuable legacy to the young man who shall try to imitate it.
"To his wife and children he has left a memory as fragrant as
devotion, tenderness, and love could make; and in the hearts of
his other kindred he has planted a grateful remembrance, which
will find a habitation there as long as their lives shall last.
The beauty, gentleness and sweetness of his domestic life were
only appreciated by those who saw him at home, in the bosom of
his family, and partook of his genial hospitality.
'Wife, children, and neighbor may mourn at his knell;
He was lover and friend of his country as well.'
"It will not be out of place to insert here the language of a
learned and gifted gentleman who knew Mr. White, having formed
an acquaintance with him before the days of railroads, while he
was driving on his route between Concord and Hanover. I refer to
Prof. Edwin D. Sanborn, of Dartmouth College, who used
frequently to ride on the outside of the coach with Mr. White.
The following sketch was published in the Lebanon _Free Press_
in 1859, and was part of an article entitled, 'Good Habits the
Best Capital of the Young':--
'I know a gentleman, now residing at the capital of New
Hampshire, who, at the early age of fourteen, left the paternal
roof to become a clerk in a store. Thirty years ago every store
was a grog-shop. From that business he entered a hotel in a
large town, where liquor was also sold. The inference would be,
with most persons, that such positions were very unfavorable to
temperate habits. Ruin is almost inevitable to a young man thus
exposed and tempted. In the case alluded to, the lad served his
apprenticeship, and saved both his money and character. He
never, in a single instance, tasted liquor, or used tobacco, or
handled cards or dice. He passed from the hotel to the
stageman's box. He drove a coach from Concord to Hanover ten
years, I think. Before the building of railroads this was one of
the most exposed routes in the state. The day's journey was
long, the roads were bad, and the cold was often intense. It was
the common practice of stagemen to fortify themselves against
the cold by large and frequent potations. They soon lost health
and character. They were a short-lived race because of their
intemperance. But the subject of my story was true to his
principles. In cold and heat he abstained. He resisted all
solicitations, and offended nobody. He was trusted by all,
suspected by none. He was universally popular, always
intelligent. He was both a good companion and an honest agent.
He never forgot a commission, never violated a trust. He saved
his wages, and supported his parents, who needed his aid.
Multitudes who had occasion to travel that weary road, still
remember with gratitude the pleasant speech, agreeable
deportment, and excellent habits of this accomplished stageman.
When the railroad took the place of the old mail-coaches, the
trusted and confidential agent and owner of "the old line" was
employed upon the new mode of locomotion. He soon entered into
the express business, which has been constantly increasing in
extent of space and in quantity of packages from the first
journey of the iron horse till this hour. The honest stageman
became the confidential agent of thousands who had messages or
property to be conveyed over the road. With the increase of
business came increase of wealth. He was no lover of lucre.
Though born in humble circumstances, and trained to habits of
rigid economy, he had an eye for improvements, and a heart for
practical beneficence. He acquired property easily, and he gave
liberally. Aged parents and needy relatives shared his
liberality. He cared for the friends who were bound to him by
the ties of blood first, and then for such acquaintances as
needed his ready aid. From the penniless boy, without education,
he has become a thrifty man of business, bestowing thousands of
his hard-earned treasures upon objects of charity of his own
choice. How valuable is a character thus formed and matured!
Through all his varied life he has never tasted ardent spirits,
or used tobacco in any form. He ascribes all his success in life
to his early determination to be both temperate and honest. Such
an example deserves commendation and imitation.'
"These lines were written in 1859; and more than a score of
years of usefulness, of duties, of benevolence, of affection,
and of honor have since filled up and rounded off a life into
the completeness of manhood. When he was removed from earth,
death claimed a dutiful son, a tender and loving husband, an
affectionate father, a devoted brother, and a constant friend.
"Since I came to this city, death has been constantly busy in
our midst. None of us who have lived here these thirty years but
have witnessed its ravages, snatching from many of us our
dearest treasures. He has gathered to himself many of the gifted
and the good, whose memories are still fragrant; but the sincere
tributes to the memory of Nathaniel White have never been
equaled, I fear never will be. No person in New Hampshire has
ever had the happy combination of means and disposition to
bestow such noble charities as he. I feel myself privileged,
after forty years of constant friendship, to unite my tears of
sorrow and sympathy with those of his bereaved family and
afflicted friends, and to lay a laurel upon the freshly made
grave which covers one of earth's true noblemen.
"How well he filled up all the days of his years with love for
and duty to his family, his kindred, and his friends; to the
poor, to the downtrodden, to the slave, and to all the
unfortunate of earth! He claimed no right or privilege for
himself, in the wide domain of nature, that he did not want
others to enjoy. Hence he insisted always that the nation should
immediately strike the shackles from the slave, and let the
oppressed go free. Never himself under the thraldom of rum and
tobacco, he wished everybody else to be free from it. He
exercised the largest liberty himself, and enjoyed perfect
freedom of thought and action in religious, political, and other
matters; and he desired every man and woman to do the same.
Hence, when he arranged his worldly matters, he gave the
ownership and sole control of his business affairs into the
hands of his wife, with whom he had walked life's journey,
thereby giving signal proof of his sincerity that the wife is
the equal of the husband in the sight of God, and should be in
the love, esteem, and regard of man. He often said that the
wife, in the event of the husband's death, should maintain the
same rights and the same relation to the family that the husband
would if the wife were taken away. In his will he made her
responsible to no court or other tribunal. She was only required
to make proof of his will, in order that the ownership of all
his property should vest in her. In all this he recognized the
rights of womanhood as well as the rights of manhood. In this
way he gave proof of his belief that the twain, man and wife,
are one flesh.
"The Centennial Home for the Aged was the apple of his eye; and
yet he made no large bequests to it himself, having perfect
assurance that the wife, who had borne life's burdens with him,
and shared his devotion to this noble benevolence, would be
equally the author of her own charities and the almoner of his.
As a business man and a citizen, his reputation ripened by
integrity. It was beautified by sincere sympathy for the poor
and the downtrodden; it was embellished by his generous
charities; and it was endeared by his gentle and winning
manners. When his final summons came, he had filled out a life
of rare usefulness and of singular success.
"Mr. White was fifty-four years a resident of Concord. In every
thing that made for her welfare he was always the foremost
citizen. Many others did nobly, but he exceeded them all. In a
single matter that vitally affected the city of Concord,[6] in
which the writer was engaged, and in which liberal expenditures
were needed, he contributed more than all the others combined;
and I make mention of this because the people of Concord should
know of his liberality, about which he rarely ever spoke and
never boasted.
"In all his aspirations to make himself an honorable name, and
to do good to his kindred, his friends, his country, and his
race, Mr. White was most fortunate and happy in that he had the
early suggestion, the prompt encouragement, the ready
co-operation, and the ardent sympathy of her who for nearly half
a century kept his home constantly blooming with the
sweet-scented flowers of affection.
"Farewell, noble spirit!
'Thou 'rt buried in light:
God speed unto heaven, lost star of our night!'
We dismiss thee, not to the tomb of forgetfulness and death, but
to a blessed memory, an unclouded fame, and to a limitless
life."
FOOTNOTES:
[6] The retention of the state-house.
[Illustration: Francis Cogswell.]
FRANCIS COGSWELL.
FRANCIS COGSWELL was born in Atkinson, December 21, 1800. He died at his
home in Andover, Mass., February 11, 1880. His death closed a long,
honorable, and useful career. He was a gentleman of the old school,
strong, steadfast, and true. God gave him talents of a high order, and
he improved them all. He was honest, not from policy, but because it was
his nature to be. His ambitions never clouded his convictions of duty,
nor swerved him from the path which his high sense of probity and honor
pointed out; and, after more than fifty years of business activity, and
association with thousands of people in almost every relation in life,
he could say, as he did: "I die contented. I have no ill will towards
any one, and I know of no reason why any one should have any ill will
against me." He loved his family with a love that never wearied and
never forgot; which dared all things, suffered all things, did all
things, that could make for their comfort and happiness. He loved his
books. He was a stanch friend, a kind neighbor, and a generous citizen,
who never left to others the duties he could discharge. In business, he
was sagacious without being a schemer, patient and industrious without
being a slave. He had judgment, foresight, and reliability; and he
worked his way to success openly, steadily, and surely. He died
universally respected and widely and sincerely mourned.
Mr. Cogswell was the son of Dr. William Cogswell, the son of Nathaniel
Cogswell of Atkinson, who was born July 11, 1760, and was married to
Judith Badger, July 22, 1786, the daughter of the Hon. Joseph Badger,
senior, of Gilmanton, N. H., born May 15, 1766, whose children were as
follows:
William, born June 5, 1787; Julia, born February 20, 1789; Hannah
Pearson, born July 6, 1791; Joseph Badger, born August 30, 1793;
Nathaniel, born March 5, 1796; Thomas, born December 7, 1798; Francis,
born December 21, 1800; George, born February 5, 1808; John, born
February 14, 1810, and died August 6, 1811.
Julia Cogswell was married to Greenleaf Clarke, of Atkinson, March 1,
1810. They were the parents of William Cogswell Clarke and John Badger
Clarke, who are sketched elsewhere in this book.
Hannah Pearson Cogswell married William Badger, of Gilmanton, who was
afterwards governor of New Hampshire. Their children are Col. Joseph and
Capt. William, of the U. S. army.
Joseph Badger Cogswell was married to Judith Peaslee, October, 1817.
They had six children, three sons and three daughters: William is a
successful physician in Bradford, Mass.; Francis has been a very popular
teacher, and is now superintendent of schools in Cambridge, Mass.; and
Thomas is a dentist in Boston.
Rev. Nathanial Cogswell married Susan Doane, October, 1825. He was a
settled clergyman at Yarmouth, Mass., a man of great influence, and his
son John B. D. Cogswell has been speaker of the Massachusetts house of
representatives.
William, Thomas, and George Cogswell are sketched in this book.
Francis Cogswell received his early education in the public schools and
at Atkinson Academy, from which he entered Dartmouth College, where he
graduated with honor in the class of 1822. Selecting the law for his
profession, he prepared himself for admission to the bar at Exeter, was
admitted in 1827, and commenced practice in Tuftonborough, N. H., the
same year. He removed, in 1828, to Ossipee. In 1833 he removed to Dover,
and was appointed clerk of the court in Strafford county. Nine years
later he located at Andover, Mass., and became treasurer of the
Ballardvale Woolen Company.
May 16, 1845, he was chosen cashier of the Andover bank, to which
institution he devoted himself with great fidelity until he was called
to the presidency of the Boston & Maine Railroad, in 1856. In this
position, his systematic methods, untiring industry, ability to manage
men, careful regard for the public and respect for its opinions, and
stern integrity asserted themselves, to the great advantage of the
corporation and the approval of its patrons; and his resignation, which
he tendered in 1862, caused wide-spread regrets, which grew more and
more pronounced until 1865, when he yielded to the general demand and
accepted a re-election. His second term lasted until 1871, when he felt
compelled to lay down the heavy burdens inseparable from the office, and
retire from active life.
In addition to these, Mr. Cogswell held many other public and private
trusts of great responsibility, in all of which his sterling qualities
were quietly but effectively asserted. He was a director of the Andover
bank for twenty years; treasurer of the Marland Manufacturing Company
for twenty-two years; a trustee of Gilmanton and Atkinson academies, and
of the Punchard free school at Andover; an overseer of Harvard College;
and senior warden of the Episcopal church at Andover, where he was a
constant worshiper for many years. Many private properties were also
committed to his care; and his advice was constantly in demand by his
neighbors and acquaintances.
Mr. Cogswell was a man of pronounced political views, but would never
accept political honors. Prior to the war he was a Democrat; but the
attempt of the southern slaveholders to destroy the Union made him an
earnest Republican, and one of the strongest supporters of the loyal
cause. He was chairman of Andover's war committee, and gave liberally of
his means to her soldiers and their families.
Mr. Cogswell was married, June 8, 1829, to Mary S. Marland, daughter of
Abraham Marland, of Andover, by whom he had eight children. Three of
these--John F. Cogswell, of Andover, at the head of the well known and
very successful express company of Cogswell & Co., Lawrence, Mass.,
Thomas M. Cogswell, of Lawrence, engaged in the same business as his
brother, and Mary M., wife of William Hobbs, Esq., of Brookline,
Mass.,--are living.
[Illustration: Joseph B. Clark]
HON. JOSEPH BOND CLARK.
JOSEPH BOND CLARK, son of Samuel and Betsey (Clement) Clark, was born at
Gilford, N. H., June 21, 1823. He had four brothers and four sisters, of
whom two survive,--Samuel C., a lawyer at Lake Village, and Hannah B.,
widow of the late William G. Hoyt, of Moultonborough. At the age of
seventeen he began a preparatory course of study at New Hampton Literary
Institution, and, after three years, entered Brown University at
Providence, R. I., in 1844, and graduated in 1848. He then spent six
years teaching in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, meanwhile qualifying
himself for the profession of law, some time with the Hon. Asa Fowler,
of Concord, N. H., and with Stephen C. Lyford, of Laconia, from whose
office he was admitted to the Belknap-county bar in 1853. He however
continued for two years longer principal of the Wolfeborough Academy,
and then removed to Manchester, N. H.
Mr. Clark was soon recognized as a moving force among men, was made city
solicitor in 1858-59, representative in the legislature from ward one in
1859-60, and was appointed solicitor for Hillsborough county in 1861 and
again in 1866, holding the office ten years in all. In the midst of his
varied activities the war broke out; he was commissioned as a lieutenant
in the Eleventh Regiment, Col. Walter Harriman, and went to the front to
assist in putting down the rebellion. In March of the succeeding year he
was promoted to the rank of captain, and was wounded in the battle of
the Wilderness, May 6, 1864. He remained with his regiment until the
close of the war, and was mustered out of service in June, 1865. In 1867
he was mayor of the city of Manchester. He has been a director in the
Merrimack River Bank (now First National) and trustee of the Merrimack
River Savings Bank, since their organization, and is a director of the
Nashua, Acton, & Boston Railroad and of the Manchester Horse-Railroad.
He was for several years a director of the First Baptist society of
Manchester, and chairman of the building committee, which erected
probably the finest church of that denomination in the state.
In 1878-79 he represented ward three in the legislature, and was
chairman of the finance committee; and was a member and clerk of the
committee for the erection of the soldiers' monument in Manchester, in
1879. He married, September 12, 1862, Mrs. Mary Jane (Peabody) Smith,
daughter of James H. and Roxana Peabody, of Manchester. She died August
15, 1873, leaving two children,--Mary P. and Joseph M.
This record, so brief and yet so full, will suggest better than any
words the general estimation of Mr. Clark among those who know him.
Undemonstrative and quiet in his manner, cautious and prudent in action,
simple and temperate in habit, he is, above all, a thoughtful and
patriotic citizen, whose vote is given for the best measures, and whose
example lends force to his words. Conservative by nature, he is yet not
slow to place himself on the side of equal justice and truth.
HON. GEORGE W. NESMITH.
[FROM HISTORY OF ANTRIM, BY REV. W. R. COCHRANE.]
JAMES NESMITH, one of the signers of the memorial to Gov. Shute, March
26, 1718, and one of the proprietors of Londonderry, was also one of the
original sixteen that first struck for settlement on the soil of that
ancient town. April 22, 1719. He was a strong man, worthy of respect,
and honored by his associates. Was appointed elder of the West Parish
Presbyterian church, at its formation in 1739. The date of his death was
1767, and his age seventy-five. He married, in Ireland, in 1714,
Elisabeth, daughter of James McKeen and Janet Cochran. This Elisabeth
McKeen was sister of Janet McKeen, Dea. Isaac Cochran's mother. She died
in 1763, aged sixty-seven. The Nesmiths lived in the valley of the Bann
in Ireland, and emigrated to that place from Scotland in 1690. Dea.
James Nesmith had two children in Ireland, and seems to have buried the
eldest child there. Seven children were born to them in America. The
names of all were: Arthur, buried in infancy in Ireland; James, born in
Ireland in 1718; Arthur, born in Londonderry April 3, 1721; Jean, born
March 12, 1723; Mary, born Jan. 24, 1726; John, born Feb. 11, 1728;
Elisabeth, born Jan. 8, 1730; Thomas, born March 26, 1732; Benjamin,
born Sept. 14, 1734.
James Nesmith, Jr., the son born in Ireland, was born early in 1718,
just before embarking for America, and was brought over in his mother's
arms. He married Mary Dinsmore and settled in the northern part of
Londonderry. Though an old man when the Revolutionary war broke out, he
went with all his heart into the struggle against the British; marched
among the minute-men at the first call, and was a participant in the
battle of Bunker Hill. He had children, James, Jonathan, Robert,
Elisabeth, Mary, and Sarah; and died where he settled, July 15, 1793. Of
these six children, we will only say as follows: James, the oldest, was
born in 1744; married Mary McClure (Parker's History is wrong in saying
Martha); was elder in the West Parish church; left children,--William
M., Robert, Isaac, James, Martha, Jane W., and Margaret,--of whom
William M., the first named, married Harriet Willis, and was father of
Hon. James W. Nesmith, long U. S. Senator from Oregon. Senator Nesmith
was born in 1820, married Pauline Goffe in 1846, and now lives in wealth
and honor at Dixie, Ore. The second child of James, Jr., was Jonathan of
Antrim; Robert, the third child, married Jane Anderson; Elisabeth, the
fourth child, married James Cochran of Windham; Mary, the fifth child,
married James McClure of Acworth; and Sarah, the sixth, married Daniel
Anderson of Londonderry.
[Illustration: Geo. W. Nesmith.]
Returning now to Arthur, the third child of Dea. James the emigrant, we
have to say that he was born April 3, 1721. He married Margaret Hopkins,
and settled in the south part of Londonderry; but in later life he moved
to the state of Maine. He had two sons in the Revolutionary army, one of
whom, John, was a captain noted for valor and strength, but died near
the close of the war from effects of excessive exposure and hardship. Of
Jean and Mary, daughters of the first Dea. James, I know nothing. But
John, the sixth child of the emigrant, married Elisabeth, sister of Gen.
George Reed of Londonderry, settled on the first Nesmith homestead with
his father, and died there in 1815, aged eighty-seven. His children
were: James of Antrim; Arthur of Antrim; John, Jr., who married, first,
Susan Hildreth, and, second, Lydia Sargent, and died on the homestead in
Londonderry in 1844; Ebenezer, who married Jane Trotter; Thomas;
Elisabeth, who married Dea. James Pinkerton; Mary, who married John
Miltimore, moving to Reading, Penn.; and Jane, who married Hugh
Anderson. Of Elisabeth, the emigrant's seventh child, I have no data.
Thomas, the eighth child, was born March 26, 1732; married Annis Wilson,
and settled in Londonderry (now the north part of Windham), and had
three children: John, Elisabeth, and Thomas, Jr. Of Benjamin, the ninth
child of the first Dea. James, I have no information of importance in
the present undertaking.