college at the Washington County Academy, Montpelier, and graduated at
the University of Vermont in 1856, being twenty-one years of age. He
read law one year in Montpelier, with Hon. Charles W. Willard, and then
went to Tallahassee, Fla., where he read law another year with Judge W.
C. M. Davis. While in the South, he was a regular correspondent of the
_New York Courier and Enquirer_, of which his brother, James Reed
Spalding, was one of the editors. As such he attended the noted Southern
commercial convention in Savannah, in 1858, where Yancey, Rhett,
Barnwell, and DeBow poured out their hot invective. In the following
year he mingled with the great southern leaders, on the eve of the great
events which were soon to burst upon the country. Doubtless in his law
study and in his intercourse with men in different phases of society, he
acquired that practical acquaintance with human nature which makes
available his instinctive and common-sense power of meeting all classes
of men.
Flattering offers were made him by Judge Davis to remain and enter into
practice with that eminent lawyer, at a large assured income. But Mr.
Spalding had already changed his purpose for life. He returned North,
abandoned the law, and began the study of theology in the Union
Theological Seminary in New York city in 1858. Here he remained two
years. Here, also, he did regular editorial work on the _New York
World_, of which his brother was founder, and subsequently wrote for the
columns of the _New York Times_. This experience enabled him, later, to
write, for five years, a large portion of the editorial leaders of the
_Watchman and Reflector_. While in Union Seminary, his spirit of
independence and industry was so strong that he supported himself
entirely by his literary work. Leaving New York, he entered Andover
Theological Seminary, where, after one year's study, he graduated in
1861. On the 5th of October of that year he was ordained pastor of the
Congregational church in Vergennes, Vt., a position to which he had, in
fact, been called before his graduation, as well as to another field. He
resigned his successful pastorate at Vergennes, August 1, 1864, to
accept a call to the Park church, Hartford, Conn., formerly Dr.
Bushnell's, where he was installed September 28. He resigned that
charge, and was dismissed March 23, 1869, and was installed pastor of
the First church in Dover, September 1, following.
This church is the second in point of age in this state, being organized
in December, 1638, and preceded by Hampton only. The old Exeter First
church itself later, became extinct in 1642, and the present First
church of Exeter dates from 1698 only. The Dover First _parish_ dates
from October, 1633, and is unquestionably the oldest in New Hampshire. A
long line of able men has been on the roll of the pastors of that
venerable church. Under none has it been so strong and so influential as
under Dr. Spalding. Its numbers have largely increased; its pews are at
a constant premium; its pew-occupants number men of the highest
distinction in the state. Three years since, the whole of the handsome
church edifice was refitted at an expense of over twelve thousand
dollars, besides the amount necessary to purchase the pew property, and
no debt remains. An elegant and commodious parsonage has also been
purchased and paid for. Without disparagement to others, it is safe to
say that public opinion accords to Mr. Spalding a foremost place among
the ministers of New Hampshire. Certainly no pastor of the ancient First
church ever had a greater public respect or a deeper personal affection.
His administration of a strong and thinking society goes on without even
a ripple. He has been frequently called to attend distant councils, some
of great and even national interest, and some where delicate questions
required the wisest consideration; and in all cases his calm and
deliberate judgment has had an influence inferior to none. One of these
was the great Brooklyn Council, of national interest, in 1876.
In his preaching, one has to study him to get the secret of his
influence. There is nothing in it to startle. There is no dramatic
exhibition. It is the farthest possible from the sensational. There are
never any protruding logical bones. He never indulges in any
prettinesses of diction. But a critical analysis (the last thing one
thinks of in listening to him) reveals the elements of his power. His
themes are always elevated themes. One sees the most earnest convictions
held in perfect independence and honesty; a natural development of
thought in an always fresh and orderly way; a diction as clear as a
pellucid brook; illustrations drawn from wide observation, always simple
and frequently beautiful; a genial, sometimes intense, glow pervading
his whole discourse; and a dignified but simple manliness throughout.
Fully six feet in height, and with liberally developed physique, he
impresses one at first mainly with the idea of manly strength. But it
takes no great time to see that commanding intellectual abilities are
fully parallel with his physique; and those who hear him, and especially
those who know him, find an equal development of a generous nature which
inclines always to sympathy, and with which he answers, in public and
private, to every appeal to his helpful power. In doctrine he is
understood to hold the main tenets of what is called _old_ theology, but
as forces rather than dogmas, and liberally instead of severely applied.
Mr. Spalding's literary work has been extensive, but mainly upon current
newspaper periodicals. This has given him, of course, a valuable
directness and clearness of expression. A few sermons and other
productions have been published: A sermon on God's Presence and Purpose
in the War, November 26, 1863; a discourse commemorative of Gen. Samuel
P. Strong, February 28, 1864; a discourse on the 250th anniversary of
the settlement of Dover, May 18, 1873; a discourse commemorative of the
character and career of Hon. John P. Hale, November 27, 1873, which the
poet Whittier characterized in the highest terms,--a fine specimen of
judicious analysis, in which he does justice to the pioneer of the
anti-slavery cause in the United States senate,--a justice now lately
apparently purposely ignored out of a desire to magnify a brilliant but
later laborer. The Relation of the Church to Children, November 6, 1873.
The Dover Pulpit in the Revolution, July 9, 1876,--for which he searched
and well used the manuscript of his eminent predecessor, Dr. Jeremy
Belknap. The fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the Conference
of Churches of Strafford county, June 18, 1878. The Idea and Necessity
of Normal-School Training, December 26, 1878. Annual Report of the
Trustees of the State Normal School, June, 1879. Memorial on the Death
of Garfield, September, 1881. Historical discourse on the one-hundredth
anniversary of the Piscataqua Association, October 26, 1881. On the
death of Wells Waldron, November 13, 1881. On the death of John Riley
Varney, May 5, 1882.
In addition, however, to his other work, he has been, and is, the editor
of the _New Hampshire Journal_, a successful weekly in the interest of
the Congregational churches, from which some of his keen editorials have
met with favor throughout the country.
Mr. Spalding was a member of the constitutional convention of New
Hampshire which met January 8, 1877. He represented Dover in the New
Hampshire house of representatives in 1877. He is also a trustee of the
state normal school, by appointment of the governor and council, his
first appointment, for two years, being made in 1876, and his
chairmanship of that board commencing soon after and now continuing. He
became a member of the school committee of Dover in 1875, and still
continues, having been its chairman from 1876. He was chosen trustee and
one of the executive committee of the New Hampshire Missionary Society
is 1873; and still retains each position. He received the degree of
Doctor of Divinity from Dartmouth College in 1878.
Dr. Spalding married Sarah Livingston, daughter of Rev. Dr. John W.
Olmstead, manager and editor of the _Watchman and Reflector_; her
mother, Mary, was daughter of Richard Montgomery Livingston, a lawyer of
Saratoga, N.Y. Their children are Mary Livingston, Martha Reed,
Catherine Olmstead (who died August 29, 1881, aged fourteen), Gertrude
Parker, and George Brown.
JAMES F. BRIGGS.
BY HENRY M. PUTNEY.
John and Nancy (Franklin) Briggs were of that class of working
Englishmen who had the courage to flee from hard surroundings which no
strength could overcome, and seek in a new world, among strangers, a
chance to improve their condition. They were factory operatives at Bury,
Lancashire county, England, where their son JAMES F. was born, October
23, 1827. When he was fourteen months old they took passage on an
emigrant ship for America, and after a rough voyage of more than seven
weeks landed in Boston, March 4, 1829. Going direct to Andover, Mass.,
the father found employment in a woolen-factory there. From that place
he removed to Saugus, where he worked a short time, and from thence to
Amesbury, which was the family home until 1836. In the fall of that year
the father, in company with two brothers, bought a small woolen-factory
at Holderness, now Ashland, N. H., and, having established his home near
by, commenced business on his own account, in manufacturing woolen
cloths. But few operatives were needed to run this mill, and they were
mainly the three proprietors and their children, among whom was the boy
James, then a lad nine years old, who had begun to earn his living in a
factory before the removal from Massachusetts, the family circumstances
being such that all had to contribute to its support as soon as they
were able. He was continuously employed in the mill for the next five
years; but during this time he had learned enough of books to make him
ambitious to know more; and, as the affairs of the family were fairly
prosperous, at the age of fourteen he was sent to the academy at
Newbury, Vt., and afterwards to the one at Tilton. Being an expert
operative, able to take the wool from the fleece and convert it into
cloth, by working in the factory a part of each year he earned the money
to pay his expenses at these institutions one or more terms every year
until 1848, when he arranged to commence the study of law with Hon.
William C. Thompson, at Plymouth; but in February of that year his
father died leaving a family of eight children, six of whom were younger
than James, in destitute circumstances. This affliction, which threw the
care of the family largely upon the young man, compelled him to change
somewhat his plans; but he did not for a moment lose sight of the object
he had in view, and, as he could not enter the law office at Plymouth,
he borrowed books from it and pursued his studies during such time as he
could get at home, for a year, when he entered the office of Hon. Joseph
Burrows, then a practicing lawyer at Holderness.
[Illustration: Yours truly
J. F. Briggs]
In 1849 the family removed to Fisherville, in order that the younger
children might obtain employment in the factory there, and he completed
his studies in the office of Judge Butler, from which he was admitted to
the bar in 1851. A few months later he commenced the practice of law at
Hillsborough Bridge, whither he went a perfect stranger, without money
or reputation. But he had ability and energy, was willing to work, knew
how to live within a small income until he could make it larger, and
little by little he gained clients and friends, who gave him a lucrative
practice, accepted his counsel, followed his leadership, and established
his reputation as the most popular and influential man of the town. In
1856, 1857, and 1858, he was sent by a nearly unanimous vote to
represent Hillsborough in the legislature, where he was at once accorded
a prominent position as a member of the judiciary committee, and the
third year was honored by the nomination of his party for the
speakership. At this time he acted with the Democratic party, and
continued to do so until the war of the rebellion, when he felt that all
loyal men should unite to save the Union and maintain the national
authority, and, having been nominated by the Democracy of his district
for councilor upon a platform which enunciated peace-at-any-price
doctrines, to which he could not assent, he declined the nomination, and
from that day has been an ardent, active, and enthusiastic Republican.
While the Eleventh Regiment was being recruited, he tendered his
services to the governor of the state and was appointed quartermaster on
the staff of Col. Harriman. In this capacity he served through the
battles of Fredericksburg, the military operations in Kentucky, and the
Mississippi-river expeditions which resulted in the capture of Vicksburg
and Jackson, for about a year, when he was prostrated by the malaria of
the southern swamps, and compelled to resign and return to his home in
Hillsborough.
During his absence in the field, and the illness which succeeded his
return, his legal business had become somewhat demoralized, and on the
recovery of his health he concluded to start anew in a wider field of
action in Manchester, to which city he removed in 1871, forming a
partnership with Hon. Henry H. Huse, which still exists. Manchester gave
him a cordial welcome. Her mill operatives and other mechanics greeted
him as an honored graduate of their school, who in his after triumphs
had never forgotten the hard road by which he had journeyed to success;
her lawyers and clients were already well acquainted with his
professional abilities; her soldiers recognized him as an old companion
in arms, and her politicians as an earnest Republican who could and
would be a tower of strength in every campaign. Under these
circumstances he did not have to wait for business or political
preferment. Soon after opening his office he was appointed city
solicitor, and in 1874 he was elected to the legislature from ward
three. Two years later he was chosen senator from the Manchester
district, and in the same year was sent to the constitutional
convention.
In all these positions he won reputation and friends to such an extent
that in 1877 he was nominated for congress without substantial
opposition, and elected by a large majority. At the expiration of his
first term he was unanimously renominated, and after an exciting
campaign was re-elected by a majority of eight hundred and forty-nine
over the combined Democratic and Greenback vote. Two years afterwards it
became a question whether he should be returned. The traditions and
prejudices of the district were strongly against a third term. Four
other able and deserving men were ambitious to succeed him, and he
declined to push for the nomination, but accepted a call to take the
stump in Maine, leaving it for his friends to determine whether his name
should be used in the convention. To one of these, who wrote him that he
ought to return from Maine and attend to his canvass, he replied: "I am
assured that I can be of considerable service here, and, as it is of
vastly more importance that the cause shall triumph in this state next
Monday than that I shall be renominated, I must remain and trust to you
and others to decide whether it is best to send me back to Washington.
Whatever that decision may be, I shall be satisfied." The convention met
just after the disastrous defeat of the party in Maine, and when it
appeared that there was only a desperate chance for its nominee to be
elected. It decided that if any man could succeed he could, and a few
days after he took the stump. Manchester, which was counted a doubtful
city when the convention assembled, gave him more than eight hundred
majority, and the rest of the district swelled this to fourteen hundred
and eighty.
In congress, Mr. Briggs has been from the first a faithful, hard-working
member, always in his seat, tireless in serving his constituents,
especially the veteran soldiers, and conscientiously devoted to the
discharge of all his duties. In the forty-fifth congress he was a member
of the committee on Patents; in the forty-sixth, of the committee on
Naval Affairs; and in the present, the forty-seventh, is chairman of the
committee on Expenditures in the War Department, and a member of the
Judiciary and Reform in the Civil Service. No member of the house
commands a more perfect confidence in his associates, and few, if any,
are able to accomplish so much. He succeeds at Washington as he did at
home, by quiet, patient, persistent work, and is satisfied with results
rather than with brilliant outbursts and noisy exhibitions of his
rhetorical powers.
Mr. Briggs married Roxana Smith, the daughter of Obadiah and Eliza M.
Smith, of New Hampton, and has had three children, all of whom are
living. The oldest, a son, was educated at West Point, and served four
years in the army, when he resigned, and is now engaged in the
manufacturing business in Trenton, N. J. Two daughters reside with their
parents in Manchester.
In concluding this brief sketch, written without the knowledge of its
subject, the author feels that it will fail to satisfy those who have
known Mr. Briggs intimately without some direct reference to the
qualities which characterize him in all positions in life. Prominent
among these are his perfect fidelity, industry, steady courage, and
thoroughness. It is natural for him to be true, impossible for him to be
false. He is ambitious, and few prize more highly the honors they win;
but he is incapable of the duplicity, demagogy, and all the cheap
artifices by which some men succeed. His faithfulness to his convictions
does not count cost or query about consequences to himself. He is as
stanch and true a friend as ever lived, and he never cheats those whom
he dislikes or despises. His generosity and devotion to his family are
far-reaching and untiring. He is a public-spirited citizen, a kind
neighbor, and a pleasant companion. He is always approachable, patient,
and considerate. In every cause in which he enlists he is a hard worker
and a free giver. He knows how to wait, and how to look beyond temporary
reverses to the complete triumph which he always believes will crown and
establish the right. He never frets, and never rests until the result is
secure. His private life is without a stain, and the fierce light of the
hottest campaign has disclosed no shadow of a blot upon his public
record. His sympathies are with the people, and his head and hands are
controlled by his heart. These qualities have made James F. Briggs what
he is. They have supplied the place of early advantages, influential
friends, and fortune. They have carried him from the woolen-mill,
working for a few cents a day, to the national house of representatives,
commissioned to speak and act for the largest and richest district in
New Hampshire. They have made him strong at the bar, popular at the
polls, and influential in congress.
[Illustration: Nath. W. Cumner]
NATHAN WENTWORTH CUMNER.
BY J. W. FELLOWS.
The ancestors of the Cumner family were of English origin. The name is
first discovered in the period following the supremacy of the Norman
rule,--the return from the dynasty of the Conqueror to the ascendency of
the English-Saxon line. It was first spelled Comnor, and later Cumnor,
meaning "hospitality to strangers," or a "place of hospitality," and
comes through the Saxon branch. To this period may be referred the
formation of many English family names,--often derived from some
unimportant circumstance, or suggested by personal characteristics.
These became marks of distinction, new titles to manhood, and were
proudly bequeathed by father to son,--"inherited sur-names."
During the century following the loss of Normandy, the Anglo-Saxon, as a
written language, having been banished from courts and superseded in all
legal papers by the Latin, became dearer to the common people as a
spoken language, preserving their cherished objects and transmitting
leading sentiments. It increased its power and volume by building new
terms and means of expression, and particularly by multiplying its
patronymics. In a comparatively short space of time the language had
become vernacular, and fairly entitled to be styled English, rich in the
idioms and proper names of its own creation and outgrowth.
"The history of words," says Trench, "is the history of ideas," and he
might have said of people and nations. They are not only the "vehicle of
thought," but they tell anew the story of their times and enrich the
great body of history with countless incidents of value and importance.
In studying their genealogy, the English-speaking people find the
starting-point of many an illustrious name in the peculiar circumstances
of those mediaeval times,--the natural product of the mingling of
different tongues, and the constant struggle between feudalism and
servitude.
The famous old manor-house, Cumnor Castle, so celebrated in romance,
once enjoyed the rent-fee and service of a large body of retainers, and
carried for many a year, by reason of its feudal allotments, a numerous
vassalage. Its walls have long since fallen into shapeless ruins, but
the lands of its tenantry now embrace the beautiful village of Cumnor.
The families bearing this name have not been numerous in England, but
have maintained their lineage with remarkable directness. The earliest
trace of these people shows that they belonged to the industrial
classes,--the guilds-people, who in the latter part of the seventeenth
century had attained such prominence as to nearly control the business
interests of the great metropolis, and to whom the Lord Mayor of London
was pleased to say on a memorable occasion, "While our gracious nobility
are the leaf and flower of the kingdom, ye are the sturdy trunk and
branches."
The subject of this sketch belongs to the third generation in America.
His grandfather Robert Francis Cumner came to this country when about
fifteen years of age, under circumstances of a very interesting
character. In June, 1774, while walking in the streets of London, he
was seized by a "gang of pressmen" from the ship Somerset, sent out to
recruit his Majesty's marine. He was carried directly on board, forced
to become one of the crew, and do the duty of a common sailor. He was
not allowed the privilege of communicating with his friends, and no
tidings from him or knowledge of his situation were received during the
long cruise of the Somerset in distant waters, until she appeared in
Boston harbor and took part in the battle of Bunker Hill. Her position
and the service she rendered the British troops on that memorable day
are well known in history. From her decks came the first fatal shot, and
under the fire of her guns the broken and retreating ranks of royalists
found protection.
The scenes of that bloody struggle made a deep impression upon the mind
of young Cumner, and fixed his determination to take no part in the work
of subjugation. Circumstances fortunately soon favored his settled
purpose. The Somerset not long after the battle "got aground," probably
somewhere in the lower part of Massachusetts bay. During their efforts
to get afloat, some of the crew went ashore, among them the Cumner boy,
who immediately availed himself of the opportunity to escape from his
unwilling service. While following the highway into which he first came,
near the shore where lay the stranded Somerset he was overtaken by a
Quaker on horseback, who, learning his situation and purpose to obtain
his freedom from the "British yoke," invited our young hero to "get up
behind," and, throwing his gray cloak over the lad, soon carried him
beyond the king's power.