Sketches of Successful New Hampshire Men
Republican party. In common with a majority of the intelligent young men
of the state, Mr. Dearborn entered into this contest with all the zeal,
vigor, and enthusiasm of one whose action is untrammeled by personal or
partisan ends. The campaign which followed was the most brilliant and
far-reaching in its results of any in the political history of the
nation. No idea ever agitated the American mind to which calculating
selfishness was more foreign. Even the great uprising which brought
about the war of Independence was less free from selfish motives. And,
though the general result in the presidential election of that year was
adverse, yet in New Hampshire, as in every state north of Pennsylvania,
the returns clearly showed that the cause of freedom had acquired an
over-ruling strength.
In June, 1857, Mr. Dearborn was united in marriage with Miss Louie
Frances Eaton, daughter of Moses W. Eaton, of Francestown, and
grand-daughter of Dr. Thomas Eaton, a physician of long and extensive
practice, and one of the most enterprising farmers of his time. In 1857
he was elected county treasurer, and re-elected in 1858. It was the
first public position he had held, and its duties were satisfactorily
discharged.
In 1858 he removed to Peterborough, occupying the office of E. S.
Cutter, Esq., who had recently been appointed clerk of the courts for
Hillsborough county. He resided in Peterborough till 1865. During this
time he was in partnership with Charles G. Cheney, and afterwards with
Albert S. Scott, both of whom have since died. He represented the town
in the legislature in the years 1861 and 1862, being a member of the
judiciary committee.
In the summer of 1865 he removed to Nashua, for the purpose of
continuing the practice of his profession. An accidental purchase led to
a change of occupation. The _Nashua Telegraph_ had for many years been
edited by Albin Beard, a genial, witty, and, withal, accomplished
writer. Under him, the _Telegraph_ had acquired a marked local
popularity. He died in September, 1862. Its present publishers were
inexperienced writers, and illy qualified to satisfy the admirers of its
former editor. The _Telegraph_ was rapidly deteriorating in value and
influence. The senior proprietor inquired of Mr. Dearborn what he would
give for his half of the establishment. A somewhat nominal price was
offered, and much to the surprise of Mr. Dearborn was accepted. He at
once entered upon the duties of editor and financial manager. Under his
direction the _Telegraph_ was rapidly recovering its patronage and
influence, but at the end of two years his health failed, and a change
of occupation became a necessity. He disposed of his interest to the
present editor, Hon. O. C. Moore, and resumed the practice of law.
Since his residence at Nashua. Mr. Dearborn has contributed largely to
the improvement of real estate, to the erection, of improved
school-buildings, and in his capacity as member of the board of
education to the reconstruction and greater efficiency of the public
schools. He was appointed register of probate for Hillsborough county in
1868, and held the office till 1874.
For several years he was treasurer of the Nashua & Lowell Railroad, and
is still one of the directors. In his official action he aided largely
in sustaining the measures which have placed that corporation in front
rank of profitable railways.
Nearly twenty years ago, while a resident of Peterborough, he was
appointed, by the governor, one of the Bank Commissioners of New
Hampshire. In that capacity he became acquainted with the extent and
peculiarities of the financial institutions of the state. In 1864 and
1865, he actively superintended, in his official capacity, the
converting of the state banks of discount into the national banks of the
present system. In March, 1866, he was appointed Examiner of the
National Banks for the state of New Hampshire, a position which he still
holds. He is the only person who has filled this position since the
organization of the national banking system.
In the discharge of the duties of Bank Examiner, official fidelity
requires that the investigation shall be thorough and exhaustive. That
during the past sixteen years but a single instance of defalcation has
occurred resulting in loss among the forty-nine national banks in the
state, is pretty conclusive evidence of a diligent and careful
supervision. From the length of time he has held the position, he has
become familiar with the indications of laxity, lenity, negligence, not
to mention recklessness, which mark the first steps of danger to a
banking institution; and his suggestions and warnings to bank officials
have not infrequently been of advantage to the public generally as well
as to stockholders, where no publicity has been gained through the press
or otherwise.
Personally, Mr. Dearborn is not an ostentatious, obtrusive, aggressive
man. He has no fondness for newspaper notoriety, no solicitude lest he
shall be overlooked by the public. In politics and religion he is
liberal and tolerant, conceding to others the utmost freedom of opinion.
Attending to his own duties, it is not his habit to interfere with the
personal affairs of others. But when attacked without reason or
provocation, no matter what his pretensions, his assailant will speedily
find that he has need for a prudent husbandry of all his resources.
Mr. Dearborn is a member of the Congregational church. His two children
are sons. The older, John Eaton, born November, 1862, is acquiring a
business education. The younger, George Van Ness, born August, 1869, is
attending the public schools. His house is pleasantly situated on Main
street, and is one of the desirable residences in the city. Still in the
prime of life, his many friends have no reason to doubt that in the
future, as in the past, he will be adequate to any responsibility which
may devolve upon him.
COL. JOHN BRACEWELL, A. M.
BY REV. GEO. B. SPALDING, D. D.
The subject of this sketch was born June 18, 1837, in Clitheroe,
England. Clitheroe is a busy cotton-manufacturing town on the Ribble,
and in the greatest cotton-manufacturing district of the world,
Lancashire.
The father, Miles Bracewell, from his early boyhood had been engaged in
printing calico, having served his apprenticeship with James Thompson &
Sons, who owned and managed the Primrose Print-Works. James Thompson was
a famous manufacturer, his enterprise and liberality being known
throughout Europe. For many years Miles Bracewell had charge of the
"color department" in the Primrose Print-Works. He afterwards went into
business for himself, and at the time of his death was the senior
partner and principal owner of two print-works,--one at Oakenshaw and
another at Kersal Vale.
It was while the father was in the service of James Thompson, that JOHN
BRACEWELL, then a very small boy, was regularly apprenticed to this
distinguished manufacturer. The institution of apprenticeship, in
anything like its English thoroughness, is little practiced in this
country. For a long period in England the term _apprentice_ was applied
equally to such as were being taught a trade or a learned profession.
The term of seven years was regarded as much a necessity for the learner
in any craft, as for the scholar seeking to attain the degree of doctor,
or master in the liberal arts. Although the laws which formerly made the
apprenticeship compulsory have been abolished in England, yet the
principle is universally recognized there in the form of a voluntary
contract. Of its immense advantages in the way of securing the most
thorough knowledge, and highest skill in the learner, no one can doubt.
Mr. John Bracewell, who probably to-day holds the foremost place among
those engaged in his business in this country, is a living argument for
the excellence of the apprentice system. He began his tutelage as a lad.
He began at the lowest round in the ladder of his advancement, and was
long and rigidly held at each last until he could safely mount the
higher one. There was a very superior French chemist employed in the
Primrose Works, and no little of the boy's studies were under him.
When eighteen years of age, Mr. Bracewell had established such a
reputation for proficiency in the mysteries of color that he was offered
a fine position in a great carpet manufactory in France, but his father
advised him to decline this flattering offer, feeling that the
responsibility was too great for one so young. That subtle but
irresistible influence which for so many years has been drawing such
tides of population from Europe to America was already settling the
question as to the country where this young man was to work out his
great success. Only a month after he had declined to go to France, he
received and accepted the offer of a position as assistant manager in
the Merrimack Print-Works, Lowell, Mass. There he remained five years
and a half, winning for himself a distinguished reputation by the energy
and skill of his management. Certainly it argues some unusual qualities
in his work while there, some extraordinary gifts and capacities in his
nature, that could have led the Cocheco Manufacturing Company to call
this young man of twenty-three years of age to its most responsible
position, that of superintendent of its print-works. There were no less
than thirteen applicants for this office. The directors, with entire
unanimity, made choice of this youngest of them all, and gave to him the
unlimited charge of the most important department of their great
industry. Soon after entering upon his new duties, Mr. Bracewell took
advantage of the suspension of work in the manufactory, made necessary
at that period of the civil war, to enlarge his scientific knowledge by
attending lectures on analytic chemistry at Harvard College. He studied
with great thoroughness this science during a five months' course, and
at the same time directed the many repairs and changes which were being
made in the print-works at Dover. With the beginning of the year 1861,
Mr. Bracewell took up his residence in Dover. The remarkable enterprise
and judgment of the new manager made themselves at once felt. For just
twenty years he continued in his position. These years witnessed a
series of brilliant successes. He showed himself to be a genius in his
profession. To his originating, creative mind he joins an unusual power
of adapting to his own uses suggestions coming from whatever source. By
his sheer abilities, his indomitable energy, his quickness of insight,
his tireless perseverance, and his perfect command of the minute details
of every branch of his work, Mr. Bracewell soon lifted the Cocheco goods
to the very head of their class, and held them there to the last day of
his service. The production of the print-works very nearly quadrupled
during this period.
In 1864, Mr. Bracewell was married to Mary Harriet Hope, of Lowell,
Mass., whose noble character death has made the more precious to many
friends. There were born to them three daughters and one son, all of
whom are living.
During Mr. Bracewell's residence in Dover he endeared himself to all
classes of people by his large-hearted liberality, his great geniality,
and his keen personal interest in whatever affected the welfare of the
city or the condition of every individual in it. He was an ardent
supporter of his church, which he greatly loved, and every good cause in
the community. He was quick to suggest, and ready to lead any movement
which was helpful to the material and moral advancement of Dover. With a
view of benefiting the city, and also as a sound investment for his own
advantage, Mr. Bracewell built, in 1879, a substantial and attractive