Part 39

Up to the year 1871, the manufacturing and agricultural interests of Newport and the towns adjoining had achieved all the prosperity it was possible for them to attain without railroad facilities to enable them to compete successfully with other places in the enjoyment of such facilities. As early as 1848, the Concord & Claremont Railroad Company had been incorporated, and in 1850 the road had been put in operation to Bradford. From Bradford to Claremont the rugged nature of the route was appalling to engineers and contractors, and particularly so to capitalists who were expected to construct the road. The enterprise here came to a stand. Further efforts, legislative and otherwise, to continue the work, were made without success, and for twenty-one years the heavy-laden stages and teams continued to toil on over the weary hills, to and fro, waiting for some able and friendly hand to establish a new order of things, and deliver them. In the meantime, the war of the rebellion, that had absorbed the thought and labor and capital of the country, had come and gone, and "enterprises of great pith and moment," that had long slumbered, were again revived,--day dawned again upon the Sugar River Railroad.

In the year 1866, mainly through the influence of Dexter Richards, then a member of the legislature, and his enterprise as a citizen, the Sugar River Railroad Company, now known as the Concord & Claremont Railroad Company, was chartered. The means to revive and continue the building of the road through to Claremont were furnished by the Northern Railroad Company, aided by large assessments on the towns on the route of the road. The town of Newport, by official act, became responsible for forty-five thousand dollars, or about five per cent on its valuation. In addition to this amount, the further sum of twenty thousand dollars was required to assure the continuance and completion of the work. Of this amount, Mr. Richards became liable for eleven thousand dollars, and other parties interested made up the remaining nine thousand dollars. The assurance of sixty-five thousand dollars from the town of Newport secured the construction of the road through to Claremont beyond a doubt. The road was soon afterward completed, and the first regular train from Bradford to Claremont passed through Newport, September 16, 1872.

It was also through the instrumentality of Mr. Richards, that in July, 1866, the wires of the Western Union Telegraph Company were extended and in operation to this town. Of the one thousand dollars subscribed by citizens of Newport to secure this great facility of communication, three-fourths of the amount were paid by him.

Mr. Richards has identified himself with the friends of education, and Dartmouth College particularly, by the endowment of a scholarship in that venerable and favorite institution of learning. He has also contributed liberally to the support of Kimball Union Academy, at Meriden, of which he is one of the trustees. He is also one of the founders and benefactors of the Orphans' Home, at Franklin, and a trustee of the New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane, at Concord, benevolent institutions that are an honor to our state.

The Congregational church and society, of Newport, of which Mr. Richards has been for many years a member, are greatly indebted to him for their present substantial prosperity. He has identified himself not only with the ample support of the ministry of this time-honored church, its mission work, its charities, local and remote; its Sunday-school,--of which, up to 1878, when he retired from the position, he had been for more than twenty years the superintendent,--but with the improvements and additions to its buildings and grounds, and the erection of its parsonage. At an expense of some two thousand five hundred dollars, he has placed a large and fine-toned organ in the choir, as a memorial of a beloved daughter (Elizabeth) who died in the year 1868, in the twenty-first year of her age.

To complete the list of interests that wait on Mr. Richards for his attention, we find his name as one of the directors of the Eastern Railroad in New Hampshire; and, also, one of the directors of the N. H. Fire Insurance Company, at Manchester. He is the president of the First National Bank of Newport. He was also one of the founders and the first president of the Newport Savings Bank, chartered July 1, 1868, and now in successful operation.

He married, January 27, 1847, Louisa Frances, daughter of the late Dr. Mason Hatch, a long time highly esteemed physician and citizen of Newport. Of the six children born to them in the years from 1847 to 1867, three only survive: Seth Mason, born June 6, 1850, now a partner with his father in the Sugar River mills establishment, in which he has exhibited superior business qualities, and bids fair to become a useful and influential citizen of the town and state. Josephine Ellen, born October 30, 1855, a graduate of the Female Seminary, at Andover, Mass., and the founder of a scholarship in honor of her _alma mater_. During the years 1880 and 1881, Miss Richards, with a party of friends, sought entertainment and culture from an extended tour in Europe, visiting Egypt and Palestine in the course of their trip. William Francis, born January 28, 1867, is now (1882) a student connected with Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass.

The Richards family have a delightful cottage at Straw's Point, Rye Beach, where an unaffected hospitality, as well as the breath of the sea, await their friends during the summer months.

There are several instances in the history of Newport of men who, having acquired wealth in their dealings with its citizens, have removed to more important places to enjoy the spending and investing of their incomes, without leaving behind them any visible improvement in the way of buildings, or a public good of any kind,--nothing but a memory of their insatiate avarice, followed by unsparing criticisms. Such a record can never be made of Dexter Richards. With increasing ability in the way of means, he has manifested a corresponding disposition to improve the physical aspect of his native town. He has placed on the street not only his elegant private residence, but houses for rent, and substantial and sightly blocks of buildings for business purposes. He has improved his factory buildings and grounds, built barns, cultivated lands, produced crops, interested himself in improved breeds of cattle and horses, thus giving employment to many working men and hands, and increased the productive industry of the town and its general valuation in many respects, aside from his manufacturing interest, as indicated by the assessment for taxation. He is by far the largest tax-payer in Newport, and one of the largest in Sullivan county and the state of New Hampshire.

He has managed his private affairs and the public business, as far as it has been intrusted to his care, with superior ability; and now in his mature prime of life, should the state require his further service, his past record and present position would afford an abundant guarantee for the able fulfillment of any future or more important trust.

HON. DAVID HANSON BUFFUM.

DAVID HANSON BUFFUM was born in the town of North Berwick, county of York, and state of Maine, on the tenth day of November, 1820. He was the oldest child and only son of Timothy and Anna (Austin) Buffum. His mother was a native of Dover,--a daughter of Nathaniel Austin. His father--who manufactured furniture and carriages to a limited extent--died when the subject of this notice was but six years of age, leaving also two sisters still younger. Subsequently his mother was united in marriage with William Hussey, and at her death, fifteen years afterward, two children were left as the result of this marriage. Still later Mr. Hussey was united in marriage with Mary J. Hanson, and, at his death, in 1870, two children remained as the result of this union. This presented the rather singular and unusual occurrence, that three children by one marriage and two children by another were _half-brothers and half-sisters_ to two children by a third union, and yet were _in no way related to each other_.

The care of the fatherless six-years-old boy and of the two little sisters still younger was too much for the very slender resources of the widowed mother. The family was broken up, and the "child David" was taken into the family of his father's brother. The next eleven years of his childhood and boyhood were spent with this uncle. He was a country merchant who "kept everything," as the old-time merchants of fifty years ago all did. The boy was taught to work in the store, "to do the chores," and was sent to the district school as opportunity afforded,--which generally consisted of two terms of eight or ten weeks each per year. The Quaker uncle was a kind but sturdy master, and habits of temperance, thrift, untiring energy, steady perseverance, and a love of buying and selling were ingrained into the very bones of the boy. Leaving his uncle when seventeen years old, he made his home with his step-father for two years, during which time he attended two terms at an academy, and taught a country school "to pay his way." At nineteen years of age, in the autumn of 1839, with few dollars and much courage, he commenced as a clerk with two brothers in a general store at Great Falls, in Strafford county, of which place he has since been a citizen. His salary was eight dollars per month and board, for the first six months. At twenty-one he bought out one of his employers, at twenty-three he sold out to the other and erected a brick block which contained three stores, one of which he occupied as a merchant in general merchandise, always keeping abreast of the times, until called to a new business.

The legislature of 1846 granted the charter of the Great Falls Bank, the first in the town, and its originators had got together the one hundred thousand dollars of capital stock by such efforts of labor and persuasion as would astonish the railroad builders and bankers of these days. The directors, December 5, 1846, selected Mr. Buffum as its cashier, which position he held until April 20, 1863. On the 5th of August, 1857, he was elected treasurer of the Somersworth Savings Bank, which position he held for ten years. While he filled these positions, both of which he resigned in order to give his exclusive attention to manufacturing, he had become interested, by way of investments, in real estate, shipping, and manufacturing.

In 1857, Mr. Buffum, in company with John H. Burleigh, organized the Newichawanick Woolen Company at South Berwick, Me., an enterprise at first unprofitable, but which proved to be a financial success. In 1862 he organized the Great Falls Woolen Company with a capital of fifty thousand dollars, which, from fortunate earnings in the next few years, was increased to one hundred thousand dollars; and he has since been treasurer and general manager of it excepting for a period of six years, when he was compelled to withdraw from the active management by reason of impaired health, occasioned by too close application to business, three years of which time he spent in travel.

For twenty years Mr. Buffum has been engaged in the manufacture of woolen fabrics, gradually extending his operations, until, at this writing, he is owner of a felt-mill at Milton, N. H., a partner in the wool-pulling establishment of L. R. Hersom & Co., in Berwick, Me., treasurer and manager of the Great Falls Woolen Company, and treasurer and director of the Newichawanick Woolen Company at South Berwick, Me.; he has also been a director of the Great Falls Manufacturing Company since 1877. He has been connected with the Great Falls Bank, both state and national, from its commencement, as cashier, director, and president, which latter position he now holds; and, with the exception of the first two years, has been connected with the Somersworth Savings Bank as treasurer, trustee, and vice-president.

In local affairs, Mr. Buffum has taken an active and leading part. The same nervous, physical energy which made him the first player in the game of ball in his youth afforded just the qualities needed in the fire department, in which he was always among the foremost, and for many years at the head. He was chosen town clerk in 1843-44, moderator in 1848 and 1857, and selectman in 1846 and 1871-72.

In political affairs, Mr. Buffum has acted with the Whigs and Republicans. In 1861-62 he was chosen representative to the legislature, serving the first year as a member of the committee on banks, and the second year as chairman of the committee on the reform school. In 1877 he was elected to the senate from district number five, and served as a member of the committees on judiciary, finance, banks, and state institutions. In 1878 he was re-elected to the senate, and chosen its president. He was the last president of the senate of twelve members. Of the sixty-two presidents of that body, he was the only one from district number five, or from Strafford county as now constituted. In 1880 he was elected as a delegate-at-large to the Republican national convention at Chicago.

In his domestic relations, Mr. Buffum was happily connected, and his home reflected the results of a successful business career. He was married, January 26, 1853, to Charlotte E. Stickney, daughter of Alexander H. Stickney, one of the old-time citizens of Great Falls. The issue of this union was three sons and a daughter. The wife and mother died March 8, 1868, and the daughter, May 23, 1877. Two of the sons, Edgar Stickney and Harry Austin, are graduates, and the third, David Hanson Jr., is now an undergraduate, of Yale College. Of the two little sisters left fatherless with him, one is the widow of the late Hon. John H. Burleigh, of South Berwick, Me., and the other is the wife of Isaac P. Evans, an oil-manufacturer, of Richmond, Ind. The half-brother is Timothy B. Hussey, plow-manufacturer, of North Berwick, Me., and the half-sister has presided over his household since the death of his wife.

Mr. Buffum received his youthful impressions and early religious training among the Society of Friends, whose tenets have exercised a marked influence upon his career. At Great Falls he has been a regular attendant at the Congregational church, to which he has been a liberal contributor. The many trusts committed to his care fairly prove the esteem and respect in which he has been held by his neighbors and townsmen.

HON. CHARLES ADAMS, JR., A. M.

BY REV. W. R. COCHRANE.

It appears from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. VII., and also from Drake's History and Antiquities of Boston, folio edition, 1854, that "Ap Adam (the Welsh for Adams) came out of the Marches of Wales." Their descendants appear to have lived for many generations in the English shires of Lancaster, Gloucester, and Devon. From the latter, Henry Adams, the first of this family in America, emigrated, and settled in that part of Braintree which is now Quincy, Mass., about 1630. He died there in 1646. Twenty-four generations in the male line are given below, the first seventeen of which are copied from the authorities cited above.

1. Sir John Ap Adam, Knt., Lord Ap Adam, member of Parliament from 1296 to 1307. 2. Sir John Ap Adam Kt. 3. Sir John Ap Adam. 4. William Ap Adam. 5. Sir John Ap Adam. 6. Thomas Ap Adam. 7. Sir John Ap Adam, Knt. 8. Sir John Ap Adam, _alias_ Adams. 9. Roger Adams. 10. Thomas Adams. 11. John Adams. 12. John Adams. 13. John Adams. 14. Richard Adams. 15. William Adams. 16. Henry Adams who settled in Braintree, (now Quincy), Mass., and died 1646. 17. Edward Adams, of Medfield, Mass. 18. John Adams, of Medway, Mass. 19. Abraham Adams, of Brookfield, Mass. 20. Jesse Adams, of Brookfield, Mass. 21. Dr. Charles Adams, of Antrim, N. H. 22. Hon. Charles Adams, Jr., A. M., North Brookfield, Mass. 23. Charles Woodburn Adams, North Brookfield, Mass. 24. Charles Joseph Adams, North Brookfield, Mass.

From Henry Adams (16), who settled in Braintree, descended the presidents. He had a large family besides the Edward named above, and among them a son Joseph, born in 1626, who married Abigail Baxter. These last had a son Joseph, born December 24, 1654. Of this second Joseph, the second son was Dea. John Adams of Braintree. Dea. John married Susanna Boylston, of Brookline, Mass., and their oldest son was John Adams, born October 19, 1735, second President of the United States. His oldest son was John Quincy Adams, sixth President of the United States, and father of Hon. Charles Francis Adams.

Dr. Charles Adams, the twenty-first generation from Ap Adam of Wales, was son of Jesse and Miriam (Richardson) Adams, of Brookfield, Mass., and was born in that place, February 13, 1782. His early years were spent on the farm with his father. His education was chiefly acquired in the district school and Leicester Academy. He then taught some two years in Half Moon, N. Y. On his return, in 1803, he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Asa Walker, of Barre, Mass., with whom he remained in practice one year after completing his studies. He came to Antrim, N. H., and began practice in the early summer of 1807, coming to take the place of Dr. Nathan W. Cleaves, whose early and much lamented death occurred in April of that year. Dr. Adams married, February 13, 1809, Sarah McAllister, of Antrim, daughter of James and Sarah (McClary) McAllister. She was a woman of excellent tastes and superior mind, of rare patience in toil and trial, and of a sweet and winning Christian spirit,--all of which made her conspicuously worthy and attractive. She was of pure Scotch descent and strict Presbyterian opinions. She was a mother whose children might well "rise up and call her blessed." Dr. Adams was a favorite in Antrim; was early in town office; was a successful physician; was a great reader, full of information; and was looked upon by contemporaries as an original and able man. He moved from Antrim to Oakham, Mass., in 1816, where he died of old age, March 6, 1875.

Hon. CHARLES ADAMS, JR., A. M., the subject of this sketch, was born in Antrim, January 31, 1810; in that part of the town then known as "Woodbury Village," having only eight or ten houses all told, now the large and flourishing village of South Antrim. Here he had his first schooling, under charge of Fanny Baldwin and Daniel M. Christie, afterwards Hon. Daniel M. of Dover. Of those early school-days he retains a vivid remembrance; and he is the last of that group of scholars, or nearly the last, now living. After removal from Antrim, he continued and completed a common-school education at Oakham; was at a select school six months under Rev. John Bisbee, of Brookfield, Mass.; then he studied eight months with Rev. Josiah Clark, of Rutland, Mass.; and this was the limit of his opportunity for education. Then, though quite young, he was in a store about five years in Petersham, Mass., obtaining much practical knowledge in the course of his work. He is what called a self-made man. Few men can be found better versed in literary matters, or political economy, or the history of our land. He has been familiar with distinguished men, and is one we count winsome in the social hour, with a fund of information on most topics of conversation; with apt quotation, or vigorous repartee ever ready on his tongue. Hence he is one of the most agreeable, genial, and gentlemanly of men. He was some years book-keeper, and afterwards partner, in the immense boot and shoe-manufacturing establishment of North Brookfield (now employing from twelve hundred to fifteen hundred hands), from which company he retired just before the war.

With singular continuance, Mr. Adams has been kept in offices of trust by the people of his adopted town and state. He was clerk of North Brookfield (now of about forty-five hundred inhabitants) ten years; representative in the Massachusetts house four years; on the executive council of Massachusetts four years; treasurer of the state of Massachusetts five years; and member of the senate of that state four years. And in all these cases the office sought the man, not the man the office. The writer of this knows that some of his friends were almost angry with him because he would not consent to run for congress, when the way was clear and an election sure. It is simply the truth to say that he has been in public life more than a quarter of a century; that he is a man of fixed principles and irreproachable character, a vigorous hater of shams and corruption, and held in honor throughout his adopted state.

During his administration as treasurer and receiver-general of the commonwealth, it became necessary, in arranging its financial matters, to negotiate, sign, and deliver in England, a large amount of its bonds, and Mr. Adams was commissioned by the governor and council to go to London for that purpose. After having successfully accomplished the objects of his mission, he took the opportunity of traveling for a short time on the continent of Europe, as well as in Great Britain, and especially in Scotland. In the latter country he had an ardent and loving interest, which was increased by travel there, and has lost nothing in subsequent years. He is a Scotch antiquarian of much reading and research.

Mr. Adams has always been greatly attached to his native town, Antrim,--cherishing with undiminished love the rocks and the hills upon which he looked in childhood. His visits are frequent to the old town; he still retains his membership in the old Presbyterian church; clearly remembers the old faces; loves the old ways; was a great helper in preparing the recent History of Antrim, and was a willing contributor to its embellishment. With all the rest, he has been something of a musician, being a member of the church choir (North Brookfield, Mass.,) more than forty years,--for many years its leader. And in these traits his children follow him, as they are gifted with rare musical taste and skill.

Mr. Adams married, May 8, 1834, Eliza, daughter of Hon. Joseph Cummings, of Ware, Mass.; and they have three surviving children,--Charles Woodburn and George Arthur, of North Brookfield, and John Quincy, of Boston. An only daughter, Ellen Eliza, married Frank A. Smith, and died at West Brookfield in 1866.

The degree of A. M. was conferred on Mr. Adams by Dartmouth College in 1878. And it may be added that such men as Mr. Adams are continually reflecting honor upon our rocky New Hampshire, from which they went forth. Their success goes to prove, that, with an eager mind, good ready common sense, persevering application, and inflexible honesty, the boys of the Granite State may win high places among men. We see by this biography, that, if the _man be good enough_, the place will seek the man. Truth and uprightness, backed by good abilities, are pretty sure to be appreciated.

GOV. BENJAMIN F. PRESCOTT.

BY COL. WILLIAM E. STEVENS.