Sketches of Successful New Hampshire Men
the state-house, and embraces over four hundred acres of land. For his
adopted home he ever felt and evinced a strong attachment, and to him
Concord owes much of her material prosperity and outward adornment.
Beautiful structures have been raised through his instrumentality, which
render the capitol and the State-House park such attractive features of
the city.
In 1852 he made his first step in political life, being chosen by the
Whigs and Free-soilers to represent Concord in the state legislature. He
was an Abolitionist from the start; a member of the Anti-Slavery society
from its inception. His hospitable home was the refuge of many a hunted
slave,--a veritable station on the under-ground railroad, where welcome,
care, food, and money were freely bestowed, and the refugees were sent
on their way rejoicing. The attic of his house and the hay-mows of his
stable were the havens of rest for the persecuted black men.
In all works of charity and philanthropy, Mr. White was foremost or
prominent. He was deeply interested in the establishment of the New
Hampshire Asylum for the Insane and the State Reform School; in the
Orphans' Home, at Franklin, which he liberally endowed; and the Home for
the Aged, in Concord, which was his special care. The Reform club of
Concord, though not an eleemosynary institution, received substantial
benefits from his generosity; and to him, in a great measure, it owed
its very existence during the reaction which followed the first
enthusiasm.
Besides his extensive interest in the express company, his farm,--which
is one of the most highly cultivated in the state,--his charming summer
retreat on the borders of Lake Sunapee, and his real estate in Concord,
he was interested in real estate in Chicago, in hotel property in the
mountain districts, in railroad corporations, in banks, in manufacturing
establishments, and in shipping. He was a director in the Manchester &
Lawrence, the Franconia & Profile House, and the Mount Washington
railroads, and in the National State Capital Bank; a trustee of the Loan
and Trust Savings Bank of Concord; also of the Reform School, Home for
the Aged, and Orphans' Home, and other private and public trusts.
In 1875, Nathaniel White was candidate for governor, of the Prohibition
party; and he had a vast number of friends in the Republican party, with
which he was most closely identified, who wished to secure his
nomination for the highest honor within the gift of a state, by the
Republican party. In 1876 he was sent as a delegate to the Cincinnati
convention, which nominated Mr. Hayes for president. During the summer
of 1880, he was placed by his party at the head of the list of
candidates for presidential electors. With all these honors thrust upon
him, Nathaniel White was not a politician, although firm in his own
political convictions. The office sought the man, and not the man the
office.
Nathaniel White was blessed in his marriage relations. His history is
incomplete without a narration of the perfect union, complete
confidence, and mutual trust and assistance between him and his wife,
during a married life of nearly half a century. November 1, 1836, he was
married, by Rev. Hubert Bartlett, of Laconia, to Armenia S., daughter of
John Aldrich, of Boscawen, who survives him. Mrs. Armenia S. White is of
good old Quaker stock, descending, in the sixth generation, from Moses
Aldrich, a Quaker preacher who emigrated to this country in the
seventeenth century and settled in Rhode Island: and on the maternal
side, from Edward Dotey, a pilgrim who landed in the Mayflower. She was
born November 1, 1817, in Mendon, Mass., her parents removing from Rhode
Island at the time of their marriage. In 1830, she went with her parents
to Boscawen, where she lived until her marriage. Mrs. White has been her
husband's companion and helper in every good work.
Their children are John A. White, Armenia E. White, wife of Horatio
Hobbs, Lizzie H. White, Nathaniel White, Jr., and Benjamin C. White,
who survive. They lost two children,--Annie Frances and Seldon F.; and
adopted one,--Hattie S., wife of Dr. D. P. Dearborn, of Brattleborough,
Vt.
In early life Mr. White joined the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He
belonged to no other secret society. Anti-slavery societies, temperance
societies, charitable and benevolent societies, woman suffrage and equal
rights societies, and the Universalist society,--in all of these both
husband and wife were deeply and equally interested. During the first
four years of their married life, on account of Mr. White's occupation,
they boarded; for eight years they lived on Warren street; since 1848,
until the death of Mr. White, in their residence on School street. Here
they have meted out generous and refined hospitality to the humble
slave, the unfortunate, and to the most illustrious guests who have
honored Concord by their visits.
Nathaniel White died Saturday, October 2, 1880, having nearly completed
the allotted span of three score years and ten. He was stricken down
suddenly, although, with his usual business foresight, he seems to have
been prepared for the change.
Among the tributes to his worth which were called out by his death was a
letter by Hon. H. P. Rolfe, which presents a just and fair estimate of
his character, as follows:--
"I remember Mr. White even before you became acquainted with
him. I can see him now, as in the early morn, in the dim light
before the dawn of day, he drove up over the frozen hills of
Boscawen, through the drifting snows, buffeting the bleak winds,
and standing erect upon the footboard of his sleigh, with his
six frost-covered steeds well in hand. I remember him as in the
late afternoon or early evening he went dashing down those
fearfully steep hills, called "Choate and Gerrish hills," with
his Concord "coach and six," loaded down with sixteen and
eighteen passengers, and no break to resist the fearful pressure
upon a single pair of wheel-horses. He then had the same quiet,
reserved manners that marked the man all through his long, busy,
and useful life. There was no noise, no brag, no bluster, no
profanity, no tobacco, no rum! He was mild in speech, pleasant
in address, gentle in conduct, quiet in action, diligent in
business, constant in season and out, and faithful to all his
trusts; and every thing he did came fully up to the measure of
his responsibility.
'His life was gentle; and the elements
So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world, "This was a man."'
"The wealth he possessed, and which he distributed with such a
generous hand, came from no ancestral estates. He made his
wealth, and he made himself, and he was emphatically 'the
architect of his own fortune.' He honored his father and his
mother, and his days were lengthened in the land; and if he had
lived till the 17th day of February, 1881, he would have filled
up the number of days which the Psalmist has assigned to manly
life. His example in youth, in manhood, and in mature age is a
valuable legacy to the young man who shall try to imitate it.
"To his wife and children he has left a memory as fragrant as
devotion, tenderness, and love could make; and in the hearts of
his other kindred he has planted a grateful remembrance, which
will find a habitation there as long as their lives shall last.
The beauty, gentleness and sweetness of his domestic life were
only appreciated by those who saw him at home, in the bosom of
his family, and partook of his genial hospitality.
'Wife, children, and neighbor may mourn at his knell;
He was lover and friend of his country as well.'
"It will not be out of place to insert here the language of a
learned and gifted gentleman who knew Mr. White, having formed
an acquaintance with him before the days of railroads, while he
was driving on his route between Concord and Hanover. I refer to
Prof. Edwin D. Sanborn, of Dartmouth College, who used
frequently to ride on the outside of the coach with Mr. White.
The following sketch was published in the Lebanon _Free Press_
in 1859, and was part of an article entitled, 'Good Habits the
Best Capital of the Young':--
'I know a gentleman, now residing at the capital of New
Hampshire, who, at the early age of fourteen, left the paternal
roof to become a clerk in a store. Thirty years ago every store
was a grog-shop. From that business he entered a hotel in a
large town, where liquor was also sold. The inference would be,
with most persons, that such positions were very unfavorable to
temperate habits. Ruin is almost inevitable to a young man thus
exposed and tempted. In the case alluded to, the lad served his
apprenticeship, and saved both his money and character. He
never, in a single instance, tasted liquor, or used tobacco, or
handled cards or dice. He passed from the hotel to the
stageman's box. He drove a coach from Concord to Hanover ten
years, I think. Before the building of railroads this was one of
the most exposed routes in the state. The day's journey was
long, the roads were bad, and the cold was often intense. It was
the common practice of stagemen to fortify themselves against
the cold by large and frequent potations. They soon lost health
and character. They were a short-lived race because of their
intemperance. But the subject of my story was true to his
principles. In cold and heat he abstained. He resisted all
solicitations, and offended nobody. He was trusted by all,
suspected by none. He was universally popular, always
intelligent. He was both a good companion and an honest agent.
He never forgot a commission, never violated a trust. He saved
his wages, and supported his parents, who needed his aid.
Multitudes who had occasion to travel that weary road, still
remember with gratitude the pleasant speech, agreeable
deportment, and excellent habits of this accomplished stageman.
When the railroad took the place of the old mail-coaches, the
trusted and confidential agent and owner of "the old line" was
employed upon the new mode of locomotion. He soon entered into
the express business, which has been constantly increasing in
extent of space and in quantity of packages from the first
journey of the iron horse till this hour. The honest stageman
became the confidential agent of thousands who had messages or
property to be conveyed over the road. With the increase of
business came increase of wealth. He was no lover of lucre.
Though born in humble circumstances, and trained to habits of
rigid economy, he had an eye for improvements, and a heart for
practical beneficence. He acquired property easily, and he gave
liberally. Aged parents and needy relatives shared his
liberality. He cared for the friends who were bound to him by
the ties of blood first, and then for such acquaintances as
needed his ready aid. From the penniless boy, without education,
he has become a thrifty man of business, bestowing thousands of
his hard-earned treasures upon objects of charity of his own
choice. How valuable is a character thus formed and matured!
Through all his varied life he has never tasted ardent spirits,
or used tobacco in any form. He ascribes all his success in life
to his early determination to be both temperate and honest. Such
an example deserves commendation and imitation.'
"These lines were written in 1859; and more than a score of