successful as to become a part owner, and to be enabled to begin
business at home.
In the year 1832 he established himself as a merchant at Portsmouth.
Portsmouth has been his home ever since that time; and there he for many
years conducted an extensive mercantile business, his chief business
interests lying in the direction of the foreign carrying-trade. Upon
leaving the sea he soon became foremost in matters that were of public
concern. He was one of the early projectors of the railroad interests of
New England; and, until within a few years, he has taken a large part in
all the enterprises of public import in the vicinity of his home,
including, besides railroads, the enterprises of manufacturing and
banking; and he has been vested always with a large share of the local
trusts, both public and private, which devolve upon the public-spirited
and trusted citizen. He has of late years been inclined to withdraw from
these responsibilities; but of those which he still retains, the
presidency of the Howard Benevolent Society, a position he has held for
over thirty years, and the presidency of the Portsmouth Bridge Company
may be mentioned. He has, however, within the last two years, assumed
the presidency of the First National Bank of Portsmouth, in which he is
largely interested as a stockholder, and in which institution he had
been a director from its incorporation as a state bank. He was for many
years and at different periods a director in the Eastern Railroad
Company, and was the first president of the Eastern Railroad in New
Hampshire, which position he held for twenty-five years. He was also of
the first board of direction of the Portland, Saco, & Portsmouth
Railroad Company, and was the president of that corporation from the
year 1847 to the year 1871. But it is unnecessary to mention all the
public trusts of a corporate nature which have been confided to his
care. His chief claim to public esteem, and that which will secure to
him its most enduring recognition, is derived from his services as the
first "war governor" of New Hampshire.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account