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. [Illustration: Thomas Cogswell] 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.