grandson of the proprietor Dea. James, was born in Londonderry, in
August, 1759. He came here in May, 1774, and began to clear the farm
that remained in possession of the family until 1865. He made successive
clearings each year, and with vigorous hand put up his log
cabin,--though only a boy of sixteen years when he began. He permanently
moved here in 1778. He subsequently had to pay for the most of his land
a second time. Was one of the leading spirits of the town. Was eleven
years selectman, and was four times chosen representative of the town.
Was always on important committees, and was known and confided in by
all. He was chosen one of the elders of the Presbyterian church at its
formation in 1778, though only twenty-nine years of age. For fifty years
he only failed of officiating at one communion. Dea. Nesmith was a man
of great sociality,--up to jokes,--genial, jolly, and good-natured; was
very hospitable and benevolent; anxious for the public welfare; stoutly
in earnest to maintain the faith of his fathers; a man of strong
ability, good judgment, and irreproachable character. He was an honor to
the town he helped to establish. His death occurred Oct. 15, 1845, aged
eighty-six. His first wife was Elenor Dickey, whom he married in 1781.
She was the daughter of Adam and Jane (Strahan) Dickey of Londonderry,
and grand-daughter of John and Margaret Dickey, of Londonderry, Ireland.
She was born Jan. 1, 1761, and died Sept. 17, 1818. He married, second,
Mrs. Sarah (Wetherbee) Hamblin, of Concord, Mass. She was twelve years
of age when she witnessed the battle of Lexington and Concord from her
father's door. She saw those brave men fall, remembered everything, and
was always fond of telling of those first blows for liberty. She died
Jan. 16, 1852, aged eighty-nine. Dea. Nesmith's cabin was burned one day
when the family were absent; and he used to remark, in after years, that
he never felt so poor as then. Yet, undismayed, he went about building
another, being generously aided by neighbors he had himself always been
forward to help. After several years he put up a substantial framed
house, which was burned March 4, 1841, from a spark catching on the
roof. In his old age Dea. Nesmith resigned his office in the church; and
it is spoken of as a remarkable scene, when he stood in the public
assembly and offered his resignation, and then, with trembling voice and
with uplifted and palsied hand, invoked God's blessing on his successors
in coming time. His children were:--
1. JAMES, b. Oct. 5, 1783; m. Polly Taylor April 10, 1810;
cleared and settled west of the pond and west of the Steele
place, on land now George Brown's,--often called the Boyd place;
went thence to Solon, N. Y., in 1822, with six children. There
his wife d. in 1846. In 1852 he m. 2d, Mrs. Susan Clark; moved
to Waukon, Io., and d. there in 1862. He had children:--
_Mary_, (b. in 1811; d. in infancy.)
_Mary E._, (b. in 1812; m. John Stillman of Cortlandville, N.
Y., in 1833; went to Waukon, Io., in 1857, where they now live.)
_Rev. John T. G._, (b. in 1814; studied at Cazenovia Seminary;
m. Harriet N. Taylor; entered the Methodist ministry; was a
faithful and able man; d. while pastor, at the age of 36.)
_Hannah E._, (b. in 1816; m. John Reed; moved to Waukon, Io., in
1857, and d. there in 1877.)
_Abigail S._, (b. in 1818; became second wife of Isaac Barker in
1847; went to Waukon, Io., in 1854.)
_Mark W._, (b. in 1820; d. unm., at Solon, N. Y., in 1848.)
_James A._, (b. in 1822; carried to Solon, N. Y., when an
infant; went thence to Illinois in 1844; m. Laura Post.)
_George W._, (b. in Solon, N. Y., in 1825; m. Mary C. Farrar of
Fairfield, Vt.; resides at Waukon, Io.)
_Dr. Milton W._, (b. in 1828; m. Margaret Donoughue in 1852; is
now physician and druggist at Waukon, Io.)
_Woodbury T._, (by second wife; b. in 1852; remains at Solon, N. Y.)
2. JEAN, now called "Jane," or "Jenny;" b. May 14, 1787; m. John
Dunlap, June 26, 1807, and d. March 29, 1835.
3. THOMAS D., b. March 22, 1789; m. Martha Weeks, March 30,
1813; succeeded his father on the homestead. His first wife d.
in 1828, aged 35, and he m. 2d, Nancy Gregg, Feb. 4, 1830. He d.
Sept. 10, 1841, aged 52. The second wife d. Feb. 9, 1856, aged
63. He was known in town as "Capt. Nesmith;" was captain of the
"Antrim Grenadiers," and was often marshal of the day on special
occasions. He was a useful man, and d. in his prime. His
children were:--
_Robert W._, (b. May 3, 1814; m. Olive Dunlap of Bedford, June
1, 1839; settled in Jefferson, Tex., and d. at Sulphur Springs
in that state, Nov. 28, 1866. He left two daughters: Oriette,
now in the Metropolitan Railroad office, Boston; and Sally Y.,
who m. Com. Decatur Morris, and lives in Little Rock, Ark.)
_Jonathan_, (b. Jan. 24, 1816; m. Marietta F. Morrill of
Franklin, Nov. 15, 1841; inherited the homestead of his father
and grandfather, sold the same in 1865, and two or three years
later moved to Hancock, where he now resides. He was the last of
the name in town. At one time there were three Dea. Nesmiths in
town, known as "Dea. James," "Dea. Arthur," and "Dea. Jonathan,"
and they each had nine children,--making, with sisters and
friends, nearly forty by that name in this place. Jonathan's
children are: Jennie M., who was b. Sept. 23, 1842,--an
excellent teacher; Thomas S., who was b. May 12, 1846, and d. at
the age of three years; Fannie H., who was b. Dec. 8, 1848, and
m. Frank H. Baldwin, June 19, 1876, residing in Keene; Annie M.
T., who was b. Sept. 12, 1852; Abbie Isabel, who was b. Nov. 15,
1854, and d. 1856; Miles G., who was b. Sept. 26, 1857; Addie
M., who was b. Jan. 27, 1860; and John S., who was b. May 5,
1863.)
_Sarah E._, (b. Dec. 24, 1818, m. John W. Buttrick, and lives in
Lawrence, Mass.)
_Miles_, (b. Feb. 2, 1821; went to California in 1849, and was
driver for the California Stage Company; the horses became
unmanageable, and the whole team was thrown down a fearful
precipice near Virginia City, Nev., by which the driver, all the
horses, and most of the passengers were instantly killed. This
sad event occurred in December, 1862.)
_Harriet F._, (b. Feb. 2, 1823, m. Walker Flanders, and lives in
Lawrence, Mass.)
_Martha J._, (b. June 9, 1825; m. Isaac P. Cochran of Windham,
Nov. 12, 1846.)
_Melvin_, (b. Dec. 20, 1830; d. in Sacramento, Cal., Dec. 31,
1853.)
_Hiram G._, (b. Feb. 18, 1833; d. in Jefferson, Tex., in 1857.)
_Nancy R._, (b. Jan. 24, 1836, m. Josiah Melville, and lives in
Nelson.)
4. ADAM, b. March 5, 1792; m. Rebecca Dale; settled in Beverly,
Mass., and d. Jan. 15, 1865.
5. MARY D., "Molly Dinsmore" on town record, b. April 11, 1794;
called "Long Mary," being tall in form; a talented, respected,
and Christian woman; d. unm. April 6, 1874.
6. MARGARET, b. May 4, 1796; d. unm. in 1827.
7. ISABEL, b. March 6, 1798; d. unm. March 8, 1862.
8. HON. GEORGE W., b. Oct. 23, 1800; was graduated at Dartmouth
College in 1820; m. Mary M. Brooks; settled in the practice of
law at Franklin; was long judge of the New Hampshire supreme
court, remaining on the bench until relieved by the
constitutional limitation of years. Is now president of the N.
H. Orphans' Home, and trustee of Dartmouth College; is a man of
noble principles and honored life, enjoying in his old age the
highest confidence and esteem of men. The degree of LL. D. was
conferred upon him by Dartmouth College. He stands among the
best and noblest of the sons of New Hampshire, and is an honor
to his native town.
CHARLES MARSH.
Yankee courage, integrity, and judgment have won no more substantial or
more splendid triumphs in the business world than are reflected from the
dry-goods palace of Jordan, Marsh, & Co., a house whose grand successes
have made it famous throughout the mercantile world. The foundations of
this magnificent establishment were laid in 1851 and 1852, by three
young men, two of whom were natives of New Hampshire. The head of the
firm, Eben D. Jordan, when fourteen years old had gone up to Boston from
his home in Maine, and began his business career as an errand boy, and
in a short time had been promoted to a clerkship, in which position he
made himself master of the dry-goods business, and while doing it became
acquainted with two other young men, Benjamin L. and CHARLES MARSH, who
had left their father's house in Chesterfield, N. H., and sought in
Boston an opening in which pluck, push, and perseverance, unaided by
influential friends or unearned capital, could carry them on to success.
In 1852, Messrs. Jordan and Benjamin L. Marsh established the firm of
Jordan, Marsh, & Co., and the next year Charles Marsh, then a clerk in
the store of Pearl, Smith, & Co., was admitted as a partner. The house
began in a small way; it had behind it little but the splendid courage
and the remarkable abilities of the three young partners; but these were
sufficient to win a fair share of business, and a reputation which was
better than money, and in a short time it was firmly established in the
confidence of the mercantile world and the good will of the public. In
eight years the business had grown to two million dollars per annum, and
since that time it has steadily and rapidly increased, until the firm
controls the dry-goods market of New England, and, in many lines, of the
entire country.
The elder Marsh died in 1856, leaving his partners to carry on and
complete the grand enterprises he had helped project and begin. His
brother still remains to share with Mr. Jordan the triumphs of the firm.
In the early days of the business, Charles Marsh was an active salesman,
and was accounted one of the best ever known in Boston. Afterwards, he
took charge of the wholesale department, which has since been and still
is under his personal supervision.
In commercial circles and in the store he has a clearly defined and high
rank as a manager, with rare combination of talents. His coolness, his
thorough knowledge of the business, his level-headed judgment, and
organizing and executive capacity are abundantly attested in the great
and rapid growth of the wholesale business. He is a balanced man; and
how necessary this quality is to success in an enterprise of this
magnitude, only those who have seen houses go to wreck for lack of it
can tell. The elements of personal popularity in his character, and his
extensive acquaintance throughout the country, help to explain his
success. For nearly thirty years his steady hand has been felt at the
helm, and yet he seems to-day only in the prime of his powers.
[Illustration: Chas. Marsh.]
[Illustration: G. Byron Chandler]
HON. GEORGE BYRON CHANDLER.
The subject of this sketch is a member of a family that has long
occupied a prominent and honorable place in New Hampshire history. His
parents, Adam and Sally (McAllister) Chandler, were worthy
representatives of the strong-minded, able-bodied, industrious, and
successful citizens who in the early part of the century tilled the
farms and shaped affairs in our farming towns. They resided upon a
fertile farm in Bedford, which was the birthplace of their four
children. Of these, the three sons--Henry, John M., and George
Byron--are all citizens of Manchester, and are now engaged in the
banking business. The only daughter is dead. The boys spent their
boyhood upon the farm, doing their share of the work; but their parents
were solicitous that they should be fitted for some more profitable
calling, and gave them all the school privileges of the neighborhood,
which were afterwards supplemented by academical instruction at several
state academies.
His home work, his studies at Piscataquog, Gilmanton, Hopkinton, and
Reed's Ferry academies, and his duties as a teacher at Amoskeag,
Bedford, and Nashua, occupied the boyhood of GEORGE BYRON CHANDLER until
the age of twenty-one, after which he spent one year as a civil engineer
in the employ of the Boston, Concord, & Montreal Railroad.
In the spring of 1854 he decided to devote himself to a business instead
of a professional career, and, coming to Manchester, entered the grocery
house of Kidder & Duncklee as a book-keeper. The next year he was
offered a similar position in the Amoskeag Bank, which he accepted, and
filled so acceptably that eighteen months later he was promoted to the
teller's counter, and remained there until the organization of the
Amoskeag National Bank, in 1864, when he was elected its cashier and
entered upon the discharge of the duties of this responsible position,
which he still holds. That he has won in it the continuing confidence of
its managers, who are among the most sagacious of financiers, and the
hearty approval of its numerous owners and patrons, is the best
testimony to his fidelity and efficiency. His success in this capacity
led the trustees of People's Savings Bank, when it was organized, to
select him as its treasurer, and the success of this institution is
another reflection of his patient and skillful work. These two banks, of
which he is the chief executive, are among the strongest in the country;
and it is much for him to be proud of that they have grown so great in
resources and public confidence during his administration.
Mr. Chandler has also been prominently, honorably, and profitably
identified with many other financial enterprises which have been
conspicuous for their success. He has been the treasurer of the New
Hampshire Fire Insurance Company since its organization in 1870; he was
for five years a director of the Manchester & Lawrence Railroad, and has
been for several years its treasurer; he was a director of the Blodget
Edge Tool Company and of the Amoskeag Axe Company, during their
existence; and he has been for years constantly intrusted with numerous
private trusts involving the management of most extensive and important
interests.
Mr. Chandler has an ample fortune, and a large income which he scatters
with a free hand. He gives liberally and buys freely. The
representatives of a worthy object who appeal to him for aid seldom go
away empty. His residence and grounds, which occupy an entire square,
are among the most costly and attractive in the city, and are noted as
the home of good taste, elegance, and hearty hospitality. He is a leader
in social life and active in city affairs. For several years he has been
an officer of the Amoskeag Veterans, and is now president of the New
Hampshire Club, composed of the leading business men of New Hampshire,
which he was largely instrumental in organizing. He has read much, and
traveled extensively in this country, and has a wide acquaintance with
its distinguished men, and a valuable knowledge of the resources,
customs, and characteristics of its several sections, which he has often
been called upon to utilize for the benefit of others in lectures before
schools and also in addresses before public assemblies.
From his early days Mr. Chandler has been an active member of the
Unitarian Society in Manchester, and has served for years as one of its
directors and president. Like other organizations with which he has been
identified, this has been frequently indebted to him for liberal
donations in money and a zealous support in many ways.
In 1874, the Democratic party of the Manchester district elected him to
the state senate, where he served with credit to himself and the city.
He declined a renomination.
In 1862, Mr. Chandler married Miss Flora A., daughter of Hon. Darwin J.
Daniels, an ex-mayor of Manchester, who died in May, 1868, leaving an
infant daughter, who did not long survive her mother.
His second wife, who now presides over his mansion, is the only daughter
of Col. B. F. Martin, of Manchester, to whom he was married in 1870.
Three children--Benjamin Martin, Alexander Rice, and Byron--are the
fruit of this union. Of these, the oldest and youngest are living.
[Illustration: N. B. Bryant.]
HON. NAPOLEON B. BRYANT.
BY HON. J. M. SHIRLEY.
The subject of this sketch was born at East Andover, N. H., on February
25, 1825. His mother was of Revolutionary stock, and from one of the
oldest families in town; and was one of those sunny-souled "Mothers in
Israel," who, half a century ago, were alike the glory and honor of our
New England homes. His father was a man of high character and fine
natural endowments; but was in straitened circumstances. As there was no
lawyer in that part of the town where he lived, nor within several
miles, he acted as a magistrate, trial and otherwise, for many years;
and his services were sought in making deeds, wills, and contracts,
formulating notices and the like, organizing voluntary corporations,
settling the estates of deceased persons, and in this class of business
usually intrusted to lawyers. His son grew up in this atmosphere, the
influence of which, with his father's strong desires, determined the
choice of his profession.
The world lavishes its praise upon, and often loads with honors, the
self-made man, for that implies a successful one. It too often forgets
the rugged path which leads thereto, and the hard discipline--the heroic
treatment that so often kills--which enables him to attain that
position. As a rule, it crowns with honors the victors as they sweep the
summit-heights, but furnishes no headstone for the dead that mark the
ascent and block the pathway.
Young Bryant had the hard lot so common "among the hills;" but he had
health, hope, courage, ambition, and the glow-fire of a fervid
imagination, which enabled him to succeed when others
"By the wayside fell and perished,
Weary with the march of life."
Until ten years of age, he had the limited educational advantages
afforded by the district school, gaining one term at a private school
when about seven, by walking two miles and a half each way, daily, to
attend it. At ten he entered the high school at Franklin, taught by
Master Tyler of Andover, an author of some note and a teacher of high
repute in those days, and remained for half a term,--all that the
limited means of the family would permit. A similar privilege was
accorded at eleven and again at twelve. At the age of fourteen he
borrowed money enough of a relative to defray the expense of an entire
term at Boscawen Academy, then under the charge of Mr. Ballard, of
Concord, a graduate of Dartmouth, giving his note therefor, which he
repaid with interest at the end of three years. Here he studied
trigonometry and surveying, and for several years afterwards earned
considerable sums to aid him in prosecuting his studies by surveying in
his own and adjoining towns. When fourteen he "cast off the lines" and
assumed the entire burden of his support and education. To aid in this
work he commenced teaching when fifteen, and taught every winter until
he left college. Thus lacking means, he drifted about, a term at a time,
among the various academies in the state, at Concord, Claremont,
Gilmanton, and New London, until he entered New Hampton, joining a class
which was to fit for college in one year from that time. Here, through
the kindness of the faculty, he took the studies of the freshman year,
entered the sophomore class at Waterville at the same time his
fellow-classmates entered as freshmen. At the academies and in college
he developed an intense passion for debate, and took a leading part in
all the lyceums at home and the societies connected with the various
institutions of learning he attended, to which he undoubtedly owes much
of the freedom and ease that have since characterized his efforts on the
hustings and at the bar.
When he was about twelve, his father gathered at his house the _debris_
of what had been an excellent town library. The son reveled in this
feast of good things, reading everything from Goldsmith's "Animated
Nature," to Paley's Philosophy. With boyish enthusiasm he devoured the
pages of Rollin, without the slightest idea, that, except when the old
Jansenist relied upon others, he was reading romance instead of history.
This gave a new impetus to his desire for what was then termed a
"liberal education." At twenty-two he entered the office of an eminent
law firm---Nesmith & Pike--at Franklin, and after something less than
two years' hard study went to Harvard Law School, from which he
graduated in 1848; was admitted to the bar of Grafton county at the
November term of the same year, and, having opened an office at Bristol
in that county in November, 1848, upon his admission, entered upon the
active practice of his profession.
At twenty-five he was elected one of the commissioners of the county of
Grafton and held the office for three years, being chairman of the board
two years. At twenty-nine he was appointed prosecuting attorney
(solicitor) for that county, and discharged its duties with marked
efficiency. In 1853 he removed from Bristol to Plymouth; and from that
time was engaged on one side or the other of nearly every important
cause there tried by the jury.
The county of Grafton was created in 1771. It was a large county and had
for its shire towns Haverhill on the Connecticut and Plymouth on the
Pemigewasset. It had at the outset, as it now has, a bar of exceptional
character and ability. Some of the greatest forensic and legal battles
of the century--like the celebrated Dartmouth College case of national
reputation--were lost and won here. Over the highest court, Smith,
Richardson, and Parker, a triad of illustrious chief-justices presided,
followed by Gilchrist, Woods, and Perley, but little less distinguished.
Here, in the olden time, Jeremiah Mason, the foremost jurist of his day,
Daniel and Ezekiel Webster, the Sullivans, and their compeers, "rode the
circuit" after the custom in the mother country. These great advocates,
after exhaustive preparation; spoke to crowded court-rooms, the people
flocking to these entertainments like men to a feast. Then oratory was
in demand at the bar; but now, in its place, is required a dry summary,
as terse and pointed as an auditor's statement of accounts.
When Mr. Bryant became actively engaged in jury trials, the bar was not
what it once was, for Livermore, Olcott,--the father-in-law of
Choate,--Woodward, and others were in their graves; Woods and Wilcox
were on the bench; Ira Perley had removed to Concord; and Joe Bell had
left the state. But there were Goodall, with his varied experience and
eventful life; Felton, active, precise and mathematical; Duncan, whose
earlier efforts were regarded by competent critics as at least equal to
those of his famous brother-in-law, Choate; Harry Hibbard, scholar,
lawyer and statesman; that dark haired "giant of the mountains,"
Bingham; Bellows and Sargent, since chief-justices,--headed by their
acknowledged leader, Josiah Quincy, one of the most practical,
sagacious, and clear-headed men in the state. Here, too, occasionally
came Perley, with combative blood, incisive speech, and immense law
learning, to enter the lists with that child of genius and prince of
cross-examiners and advocates, Franklin Pierce. It was no child's play
for a young man to withstand the "cut and thrust" of such, and contest
for supremacy with them before twelve men.
Lawyers know that those who are almost invincible before a referee,
auditor, chancellor, or the full bench, are often failures before a
jury. Nothing tests or taxes a lawyer's nerve, knowledge of men, tact,
readiness, fertility in resource, and the power of reconstruction or
combination, like a jury trial, and he only who has been through
it--unless it be the woman who is so unfortunate as to be his wife--can
fully appreciate the strain of the minute and laborious preparation
which precedes, the anxious days without food and nights without sleep
which attend the progress of the trial, and the collapse after the
verdict, especially if it be an adverse one, when a young practitioner
is pitted against one of the leaders. It is a hard experience; but it
schools him in his work, and enures him to the hardships of campaigning.
Mr. Bryant tried his first cause before a jury, against Mr. Quincy, and
won. The veteran congratulated his youthful opponent and predicted his
success at the bar. At the next term he was pitted against his old
instructor, Mr. Pike, and one of the judges wrote his father a note
highly complimenting the efforts of the son in that important and
exciting trial.
In 1855, Mr. Bryant removed to Concord and entered into partnership with
Lyman T. Flint, Esq., who had assisted him at New Hampton in fitting for
the sophomore year. His practice soon extended to Belknap and
Hillsborough, while he retained his hold in Merrimack and upon his old
clients in Grafton, where he attended the courts as before.