Sketches of Successful New Hampshire Men
spent his boyhood upon one of the rocky farms in Pittsfield. His
opportunities for obtaining an education were very limited, but his
ardent desire to learn impelled him to supplement his common-school
privileges by reading at home, and afterwards to obtain, by working on a
farm summers and teaching winters, the money to pay his expenses for
several terms at the academies at Pittsfield, Gilmanton, and Pembroke.
What he learned at these institutions only fed his ambition to know
more; and, as there was little opportunity for him to gratify his tastes
and aspirations at home, when he became of age he made an arrangement
with J. H. Colton & Co. to solicit orders for their mounted maps. The
tact and activity which he showed in this work led his employers, a year
later, to give him the Boston agency for "Colton's Atlas of the World,"
then in course of preparation; and in this he won another success,
selling over twelve hundred copies of this large and expensive work. In
1855 he was appointed general agent for the house for New England, and
subsequently gave considerable time to the introduction of Colton's
series of geographies into the public schools; and was afterwards
employed by Brown, Taggart, & Chase, and Charles Scribner & Co., in
bringing out their school publications. While thus engaged he was able
to gratify his fondness for travel, observation, and reading; gained an
acquaintance with the leading authors, teachers, publishers, and other
prominent educators, and a knowledge of the local history, industries,
and resources of all the principal towns in New England. He also learned
thoroughly the art of advertising, and of putting books upon the market
in a way to command popular favor.
During the eight years he was thus employed, he made frequent journeys
to Pittsfield, and spent a portion of each season there with his
parents, to whom he was devotedly attached; but in May, 1866, having
been appointed state agent of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance
Company, he established his residence in Manchester, which has since
been his home, though he still retains possession of the beautiful
homestead farm upon which he was born.
Three years later, having become interested in and familiar with the
insurance interests of the state, he conceived the idea of establishing
a stock fire insurance company, and by untiring persistency and zeal
overcame the almost universal prejudice against such an organization,
enlisted in its support some of our most prominent citizens, secured a
charter and the capital stock, and began the business which under his
energetic and prudent directions has since grown to great proportions.
To this company he still gives his undivided time and efforts, refusing
to accept political office, declining all inducements to go elsewhere,
resting entirely content with the success he commands in and from the
company's office. His wide and varied experience has given him a great
insight into business affairs and productive industries, and also an
extensive and invaluable knowledge of men, and these acquirements and
all his native abilities he is bringing to the service of the company in
the enlarged and enlarging sphere of his official duties. That he does
not labor in vain is shown by the fact that the New Hampshire company,
so recently established, has increased its capital stock from one
hundred thousand to five hundred thousand dollars, and its cash assets
to nearly a million, that it commands the countenance and assistance of
many of our most prominent men, and enjoys a national reputation for
prudent management and financial success.
Mr. French has always taken a lively interest in his native town, and,
when the project for building a railroad which would promote its growth
and prosperity took shape, he gave himself heartily to the support of
the enterprise, and it was largely through his efforts that the three
hundred and fifty thousand dollars necessary to build the Suncook Valley
road was secured, by subscriptions to the capital stock and gratuities
from the towns along the line. As one method of helping this work to a
successful completion, he established the _Suncook Valley Times_--a
weekly paper--at Pittsfield and for two years contributed regularly to
its columns a series of historical and biographical articles, which
attracted much attention in the locality, and were widely copied and
read elsewhere. He also at one time published and edited at Manchester a
journal devoted to insurance interests; and in these publications, as
well as in those of the New Hampshire company, has established a
reputation as a vigorous, versatile, and popular writer.
The zeal, fidelity, and success with which he has managed the various
interests intrusted to him have been highly appreciated, and numerous
testimonials have borne witness to the satisfaction of his employers.
The records of the New Hampshire company contain a resolution passed
unanimously by the stockholders, in 1871, in which the unparalleled
success of the company is ascribed mainly to his zeal and efficiency;
and a similar resolution is inscribed upon the books of the Suncook
Valley Railroad.
Mr. French, while not a politician, takes a deep interest in public
affairs, and his help can always be depended on for whatever promises to
promote the public good and the well-being of the community in which he
lives. He is a genial companion, a stanch friend, and a man who wins and
holds the good opinions of a very large circle of acquaintances. He is
a member of Trinity Commandry, Knights Templar, and a director of the
Merchants National Bank.
Mr. French married, in 1858, Annie M., daughter of L. B Philbrick, Esq.,
of Deerfield, and has three children,--Lizzie A., Susie P., and George
Abram,--who reside with their parents.
HON. THOMAS COGSWELL.
The town of Gilmanton has always been distinguished for its strong and
able men, who have exercised a powerful influence in the affairs of
their town and state. It has furnished men to fill nearly every position
of trust and honor within the gift of the people of our state, and it
has ever been proud of her illustrious sons. Among the very strong men
of this old town stood Hon. THOMAS COGSWELL, who in the year 1820, at
the age of twenty-one, moved hither from Atkinson, N. H., where he was
born December 7, 1798. He was one of a family of nine children of
William and Judith (Badger) Cogswell, eight of whom lived to years of
maturity. He settled on the farm formerly occupied by his grandfather,
the Hon. Joseph Badger, and with strong hands and indomitable courage
commenced gaining a livelihood for himself and young wife, Mary Noyes,
whom he married just prior to moving here. He soon attracted the
attention of the older settlers, and in a short time became one of the
leading men in the town; and ever afterwards took an active part in all
its local affairs, and for the whole period of his life was honored and
respected by his neighbors and townsmen, and received at their hands
every office within their gift.
There is no position that more truly shows the strength and power of a
man than that of moderator of a New Hampshire town-meeting; but for many
successive years he was chosen to preside over the deliberations of the
annual and other meetings in this, then, large town, and always did so
with great dignity, and to the perfect satisfaction of all. He was also
chosen one of the board of selectmen, and represented the town in the
legislature, and while a member of that body introduced and supported a
bill to repeal the law authorizing imprisonment for debt. For ten years
he was a deputy-sheriff for the county of Strafford, before its
division, and during all this time was actively engaged in the duties of
the office. He was also treasurer of the county for three years. In 1841
he was appointed one of the judges of the court of common pleas for the
new county of Belknap, and held that position until the year 1855, when
the judiciary system of the state was changed. In 1856 he was elected a
member of the governor's council from district number three. He was a
justice of the peace and quorum for over forty years. He was an officer
in the New Hampshire militia, and attained the rank of captain. He was
of Revolutionary stock, his father and seven uncles having served in
that war, and performed, in the aggregate, thirty-eight years of
service.
For seven years in succession he taught the winter term of school in his
district, at the same time performing all the work incident to his farm,
and during his whole life was interested in and a promoter of education.
Gilmanton Academy, an institution established by the efforts of his
grandfather, Gen. Joseph Badger, and his uncle, the Hon. Thomas
Cogswell, with the assistance of many other strong and good men, early
received his aid and co-operation, and he was one of its board of
trustees up to within a few years of his death. In early life he became
a member of the Congregational church at Gilmanton Iron-Works, and was
deacon of the same for many years; and always gave freely of his means
for the advancement of the cause of the Christian religion.
Notwithstanding the many and various duties imposed on Mr. Cogswell by
his almost continuous service in some public position, he was a large
and successful farmer, and by his own exertions added year by year to
his original farm, so that at his death he owned in one tract nearly one
thousand acres of valuable land. He was a great lover of the soil and
was always interested in the cause of agriculture, and was in every
respect a well informed and successful farmer.
He possessed, to an uncommon degree, strong natural powers of mind, and
was capable of grasping difficult questions and giving a good legal
opinion. His mind was essentially judicial, and, had he devoted himself
to the study and practice of law, would undoubtedly have been a leading
mind in that profession. For many years he was consulted by his
neighbors and townsmen upon the troubles that frequently arose between
them, and to his credit, by his clear and practical judgment, saved,
frequently, long and expensive litigation. He was true to every trust
committed to him, and was scrupulously honest and exact in all his
dealings.
In politics, Thomas Cogswell was a Democrat to the end of his life.
During the war of the rebellion, he was a strong supporter of the
government, and a friend and well-wisher of every soldier in the field.
He saw clearly and plain that his duty as an American citizen was to
render all the aid in his power to help carry on and bring to a
successful close the terrible struggle then going on. He was a lover of
his country and delighted in its free institutions; and, although strong
in his political faith, was not a partisan.
Mr. Cogswell was noted for his energy and force of character; and, when
he had once made up his mind as to a certain course to pursue, he never
changed it until he was thoroughly satisfied that he was wrong. He was a
natural leader among men, and possessed the characteristics of a great
general. He was a ready and fluent public speaker, and few men could
better entertain an audience. He excelled in strong common sense, and
could state exactly his position on any subject that interested him. He
was always well informed, particularly on the history of his country and
its many political changes. He was of commanding appearance, and was a
noticeable person in any assembly. He was of an affectionate
disposition, and sympathized with the afflictions of others. He died
August 8, 1868, and was buried in the old historic burying-ground in
Gilmanton near the dust of his illustrious ancestors; and in his death