Sketches of Successful New Hampshire Men
favorite recreation. In these excursions he has sought the head waters
of most of our rivers, and become acquainted with the grand and
beautiful scenery of the mountain region. He has learned the haunts and
habits of all the fish to be found in our streams, and of the birds that
frequent our forests. By this method has he renewed his youth, while,
with others of congenial tastes, he has made his knowledge tributary to
the public good, by joint efforts to restore the migratory fishes to the
waters of the state, from which, by artificial obstructions, they have
been shut out. The board of fish and game commissioners for New
Hampshire, of which Dr. Spalding is chairman, is an outgrowth of this
joint endeavor that promises to enlarge the piscatory resources of the
state.
With this record of the number and variety of trusts which are still in
his hands, and the appointments that he must meet daily, and from week
to week, it is evident that the Doctor is still capable of continuous
labor. His grateful testimony addressed to his classmates is, "I have
enjoyed almost uninterrupted health, and a degree of happiness and
prosperity far beyond the common lot." The sources of his good fortune
are not to be sought in extraordinary gifts or peculiar helps. Beginning
life with a sound mind and sound body, he has cherished both by regular
habits and studious industry. By fidelity and painstaking in business,
by generous and considerate treatment of others, by using his influence
and property in befriending the needy and helping young men struggling
with adverse circumstances, by cherishing the friendship of good men in
all classes of society, and in daily recognition of his need of guidance
and wisdom from God,--he has escaped the envy and conflicts which beset
a selfish and ambitious career. Happy in his employments, and enjoying
the good that followed his exertions, men have witnessed his advancement
with pleasure and sought to do him honor. His life illustrates the value
of those personal excellences which all may cultivate, and shows the
readiness of mankind to recognize their worth. To such as are seeking to
do right and serve their generation, the example is encouraging, and
assures us that energy, integrity, and beneficence are not without
rewards.
HON. JAMES A. WESTON.
By H. H. Metcalf.
Much has been written in praise of Manchester, the foremost city of the
state in size and importance, in the extent and variety of its
manufacturing establishments and in the energy, activity, and public
spirit of its citizens. It has been called, also, the "city of
governors," and four of the nine living ex-chief-magistrates of the
state have their residence within its borders; while still another,
residing in the immediate vicinity, is reckoned as substantially a
Manchester man. Yet, after all, but one native of Manchester has ever
held the office of governor of New Hampshire. What is far more
remarkable is the fact, that of twenty men who have been chosen mayor of
Manchester, one alone was born within its limits. He and Manchester's
only native born governor are one and the same,--the subject of this
sketch,--a man who, from the work he has accomplished, as well as from
the distinction he has received at the hands of his fellow-citizens, has
long been accorded a conspicuous position among the representative men
of his city and state.
JAMES ADAMS WESTON was born in Manchester, August 27, 1827. He is a
descendant of the seventh generation from John Weston, of
Buckinghamshire, England, who aided in establishing the colony at
Weymouth (then Wiscasset), Mass., where he went into mercantile
business, being among the first to engage in the colonial trade.
Returning to England a few years subsequently, he suddenly died there;
but in 1644, John Weston, a young son of the deceased, made his way to
America, where he joined some of his kindred who had emigrated in the
mean time. He finally settled in Reading, Mass., and was the progenitor
of the family of which James A. Weston is a representative.[1]
In 1803, Amos Weston, a descendant of John, removed from Reading, with
his family, and settled in Manchester, then Derryfield. He was a farmer
by occupation, and located in the southeastern part of the town. This
Amos Weston was a man of character and influence, and was a member of
the committee, chosen in March, 1810, to petition the legislature to
change the name of Derryfield to Manchester. A son of the above, Amos
Weston, Jr., removed with his parents to Derryfield, and located upon
land adjoining that of his father, clearing up from the wilderness the
farm since well known in Manchester as the "Weston place." He married
Betsy, a daughter of Col. Robert Wilson, of Londonderry, a leading
citizen of the town, whose father, James Wilson, came from Londonderry,
Ireland, more than one hundred and fifty years ago, and settled at the
place now known as Wilson's Crossing. Amos Weston, Jr., was a man of
strong mind and sound judgment, and was much in the public service. He
officiated as town clerk five years; as selectman, fifteen years, being
eleven years chairman of the board; was three times the representative
from Manchester in the legislature; and a member of the constitutional
convention of 1850. From his union with Betsy Wilson--an estimable and
exemplary woman--five children resulted. Of these, the youngest, James
A. Weston, is the sole survivor.
Like most sons of New Hampshire farmers, Mr. Weston passed a
considerable portion of his time in youth in tilling the soil; but
secured a substantial education at the district school and the
Manchester and Piscataquog academies. With a strong aptitude for
mathematics, he soon determined to apply himself to the study of civil
engineering, with a view to making that his avocation in life, teaching
school winters in the meantime. So rapidly did he prepare himself for
his chosen occupation that at the age of nineteen years he was appointed
assistant civil engineer of the Concord Railroad, and immediately (in
1846) commenced work in superintending the laying of the second track of
that road. In 1849 he was promoted to the position of chief engineer,
which he held for a long series of years. For several years, also, he
discharged the duties of road master and master of transportation of the
Concord and Manchester & Lawrence railroads. As chief engineer of the
Concord & Portsmouth Railroad, he superintended the construction of a
considerable portion of the line, as he subsequently did that of the
Suncook Valley Railroad. As a civil engineer, he occupies a place in the
front rank in his profession in New England; and his services have been
in demand far beyond his ability to respond, in making surveys for
proposed railways, water-works, etc. Prominent among the public works
with which he has been connected in this capacity, may be mentioned the
Concord water-works, supplying the capital city with water from Penacook
lake, for which he made the survey, and whose construction he
superintended.
In his political convictions and associations, Mr. Weston has been a
Democrat from youth. Never a machine politician, or even a zealous
partisan, though a devoted supporter of the principles and policy of his
party, he has won and held the personal respect of both friends and
opponents in political affairs; so that, when a candidate for public
office (which he has never been except at the urgent solicitation of
those who regarded his candidacy essential to party success), he has
never failed of strong popular support, measurably exceeding that of his
party strength alone. In 1861 he was persuaded to accept the Democratic
nomination for mayor of the city. Previous to this time Manchester had
almost universally been regarded as a Republican or Whig city. The year
previous to Mr. Weston's nomination the Republican candidate had been
elected by nearly four hundred and fifty majority. He was defeated,
however, by a majority of about two hundred and fifty; while the
following year he came within eighteen votes of defeating the opposing
candidate, ex-Mayor Theodore T. Abbot, who received on a former occasion
a larger vote than had ever been cast for any other candidate.
Again, in 1867, Mr. Weston was pressed into service by his party
associates in the city, as a mayoralty candidate against Hon. Joseph B.
Clark, then mayor, and Republican candidate for re-election. This
canvass resulted in his election by a majority of two hundred and
seventy-two, and by a larger vote than had ever been received by any
previous candidate except that for Mayor Abbot, in 1855. At the next
election the Republicans made a strong and determined effort to regain
their ascendency in the city; but, although they had carried the city
for Gen. Grant for president, at the election but a few weeks previous,
by about six hundred majority, the ward returns at the municipal
election gave Mayor Weston a majority of seven votes over his Republican
opponent, Hon. Isaac W. Smith. The "revising" process was resorted to,
however, and the latter declared elected by twenty-three majority. In
1869, Mr. Weston defeated Mayor Smith by a good majority, and was
re-elected the following year.
Naturally enough, Mayor Weston's remarkable success as the
standard-bearer of his party in the city of Manchester, and the
increased popularity he had secured by wise and efficient
administration of municipal affairs in that large and prosperous
community, suggested him to the Democracy of the state at large as a
most fit and available candidate for the gubernatorial nomination; and
at the state convention, in January, 1871, he was made the nominee of
the party for governor. The election resulted in no choice of governor
by the people, though Mr. Weston received a decided plurality of the
votes cast, and was chosen governor by the legislature in June
following,--the Republicans thus losing control of the state government
for the first time since their advent to power in 1855. Determined to
retrieve their fallen fortunes, the Republican leaders, in 1872, brought
to the front, as their standard-bearer and gubernatorial nominee, Hon.
Ezekiel A. Straw, agent of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, a man of
great resources and unparalleled influence in manufacturing circles, not
only in Manchester, but throughout the state. His defeat of Gov. Weston
in the following canvass was a matter of no surprise to either party;
and his re-election the subsequent year naturally resulted. The
Democracy, however, insisted on continuing Mr. Weston as their
candidate; and in 1874 he secured a handsome plurality, and was again
elected governor by the legislature. In December previous he had
received the unusual distinction of a fourth election as mayor of his
city, being chosen by a majority much larger than he had ever before
received, reaching some six hundred votes. Although there was great
partisan excitement in the state during Mr. Weston's second
administration, his official integrity and thorough devotion to the
welfare of the state were conceded even by his most determined political
opponents; and no man holds in fuller measure the respect and esteem of
the people, regardless of party, than does James A. Weston, the only
living Democrat who ever occupied that position.
In the prosperity of his native city, in every material direction, Mr.
Weston has manifested a deep and abiding interest, and no man has
labored more zealously or efficiently for the promotion thereof. In
illustration may be cited the fact that to his efforts, individual and
official, more than those of any other man, the city is indebted for the
projection and completion of its superior water-works, by which an ample