Forty years ago, when Manchester, now the metropolis of New Hampshire, was little more than a wasting waterfall and an unpeopled plain, a few young men who had the sagacity to see, the courage to grapple with, and the strength to control the possibilities of the location, made it their home. One of these was MOODY CURRIER, who was then seeking for a spot in which a willing hand and a busy brain could carve out a successful career. His boyhood had been spent upon a farm, where he supported himself by work during the day, and gratified his desire for knowledge by studying by the light of pitch-knots in the evening. In this manner he fitted himself to enter Hopkinton Academy, and by similar methods worked his way into and through Dartmouth College, where he graduated with high honors in 1834. During his collegiate course he earned enough by teaching and other work in the vacations to pay his expenses, but his graduation found him without funds, and, as the readiest way to lay the foundation of his fortune, he taught school at Concord one term and the Hopkinton Academy one year, and then accepted an invitation to take charge of the high school at Lowell, Mass., where he remained until 1841. Meantime he had read law, and in the spring of that year came to Manchester, was admitted to the bar, and formed a partnership with Hon. George W. Morrison for the practice of his profession, which continued for two years, when it was dissolved, and he pursued his business independently until 1848. During this time he had acquired a large and lucrative practice, and while attending to the interests of his clients had established a reputation as one of the safest and most sagacious financiers in the young city, which led the founders of the Amoskeag bank, when that institution was organized, to elect him its cashier. He accepted the position, and from that time has been prominently identified with many of the largest and most successful moneyed corporations in the city and state. He was cashier of the Amoskeag bank until it was re-organized as a national bank, when he was elected its president, which position he still occupies. He has been treasurer of the Amoskeag Savings Bank since its foundation, in 1852, a director of the People's Savings Bank and of the Manchester Mills since their organization. He was a director of the Blodget Edge Tool Company, and a director and treasurer of the Amoskeag Axe Company, during the existence of those corporations. He was treasurer of the Concord Railroad in 1871 and 1872; has been treasurer of the Concord & Portsmouth Railroad since 1856, president of the Eastern Railroad in New Hampshire since 1877, treasurer of the New England Loan Company since 1874, and a director of the Manchester Gas-Light Company since 1862; and has held many other places of responsibility,--in all of which his prudence, foresight, and good judgment have grasped the opportunities which have eluded so many,