Portsmouth New Hampshire Biographical Sketches

Transcribed by Jeffrey Tooley

Portsmouth New Hampshire Biographical Sketches extracted from History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire, with Biographical Sketches of many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men. Compiled under the Supervision of D. Hamilton Hurd., 1882.

Elwyn, John Langdon

John Langdon Elwyn, eldest son of Thomas and Eliza Langdon Elwyn, was born at Clifton, near Bristol, England, Feb. 1, 1801. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1819, and was admitted to the bar after having studied law under the Hon. Jeremiah Mason. He began the practice of his profession in Boston, but soon renounced it and returned to his ancestral acres to devote himself to farming pursuits and the study of the languages and literature of many nations. "No one could converse with him a few minutes without being satisfied that he was a scholar, and a ripe and good one.'He was a true lover of 'reverend antiquity,' and he knew better than any one else the history of the Piscataqua and its families. It was amazing to hear him talk of persons six aud seven generations distant. He seemed to have had actual personal acquaintance with them, so thoroughly was he informed of their actions and motives, owing to long familiarity with the identical scenes through which they passed two hundred years before. As he himself says of his grandfather's memory, so his own 'was truly uncommon.' His attach- ment to the home of his maternal ancestors and his fondness for its local history did not prevent his having large acquaintance with that of the discovery and colonization of America. Of the history of England and of the genealogies of its noble families his knowledge was extensive and accurate. It was impossible to hear him discourse on any subject without receiving some information or some hint that was new and useful. He knew something of everything and everything of something. His noble gravity, his dignity, and his venerable appearance will not soon be forgotten."

Mr. Elwyn died in the house built by his greatuncle, and now forming a part of the Rockingham House, in Portsmouth, on Jan. 30, 1876.

Goodwin, Ichabod, Hon.

Ichabod Goodwin, eldest son of Samuel Goodwin and Nancy Thompson Gerrish. was born in that part of Berwick which is now North Berwick, in the State of Maine. He is descended on both father's and mother's sides from families of very great colonial importance. The great-grandfather of Mr. Goodwin, Capt. Ichabod Goodwin, is said by the writer of the genealogy of the Berwick Goodwins, in the Historical Magazine, to have been the most remarkable man who ever lived in that town. He distinguished himself at the battle of Ticonderoga, and we learn from the London Magazine that he was especially mentioned in Maj. Gen. Abercrombie's report to Mr. Secretary Pitt.

On his father's side his ancestors figured conspicu- ously in the wars before the Revolution, and up to the period of the Revolution were of the families upon whom devolved the magisterial work and honor of the times. On his mother's side he is likewise descended from families which for a century, and up to the time of the Revolution, performed a large share of the duties of public office, and some of the most con.spicuous names in the colonial history of Maine and New Hampshire are to be counted among his maternal ancestors.

To mention the names of Champernoun, Waldron, and Elliot, none more familiar to those informed upon colonial history, is but to recall the persons from whom, on the maternal side, he is lineally descended, or with whom his maternal ancestors were closely allied by ties of family connection. The ante-Revolutionary importance of the people from whom he comes is well illustrated by the fact that the name of his maternal grandfather, Joseph Gerrish, stands first on the triennial catalogue of Harvard College in the list of graduates of the year 1752, a class which numbered a Quincy among its graduating members. The significance of this fact, as bearing upon the status of his mother's family at that time, is that the names of the members of the classes of that day are published in the triennial catalogue of Harvard in the order of the social importance of the families to which the members respectively belonged.

At the time of Mr. Goodwin's birth, which was just before the beginning of the present century, the state of things which the Revolution had brought about had had ample time to crystallize. Whether it was through the great changes that under the new order of things had taken place in the political, social, and commercial affairs of the country, or whether from those inherent causes under the operation of which families conspicuous and influential in one period drop out of notice and are lost to the eye of the historian, the annalist, and perhaps even of the town chronicler, Mr. Goodwin's family, at the time of his birth, were simply jilain farming people, highly respected within the limits of the little country town in which they lived, but no longer among the noted or influential or wealthy people of Maine. The coun- try had by the close of the last century taken a considerable stride onward in prosperity as well as in numerical growth, and the bustle and hum of industry pouring itself into new channels of prosperity had passed by many of the families which in the earlier era had been the foremost in developing the resources of the country, in leading the yeomanry in war, in presiding over the tribunals, and sitting in council as civil magistrates.

Mr. Goodwin's academic education consisted of several years of study at the academy at South Berwick, an institution having at that time a good deal of local importance, and then as now the only school in the vicinity of his birthplace where a fitting for college can be obtained. Shortly after leaving that academy he entered the counting-house of Samuel Lord, Esq., then a very prominent merchant and ship-owner of Portsmouth, N. H., and he becaine a member of Mr. Lord's family. He here displayed qualities which had been quite conspicuous in his earlier boyhood, those of energy and assiduity and a very marked capacity for affairs. These qualities, which at the early age of twelve had made him quite a competent and satisfactory manager of the farm of his widowed step-grandmother, who was the grand- mother of Mr. Lord, showed later in his conduct as a clerk in the commercial business of the then very thriving shipping port of Portsmouth. Mr. Lord, finding that Mr. Goodwin's business abilities were more comprehensive than the mere duties of a clerk required, placed him as a supercargo in charge of the business of what was then the largest ship owned in the port, the "Elizabeth Wilson." In the present days of railroads, sea-going steamers, oceanic cables, and the commercial complement of these foreign cor- respondents or agents, it may seem a trivial sign of a young man's capacities to name the fact of his being made the business manager of a ship, especially as ships then went in regard to size ; but it is the intro- duction of these very modern appliances for conducting busiuess which has rendered the responsibility of , the delegated management of this species of property comparatively easy. In the days of Mr. Good- win's early voyaging the whole discretion as to the conduct of the ship's affairs was vested in the supercargo, except in the brief period of her being in the home port, when the owner resumed his authority and control. In foreign places, among strangers, beyond the reach of opportunity for consultation with his owner, the young man must rely upon himself, must decide upon what voyage his ship shall go, and must be ready to account to his principal upon his return for the results of a prosperous enterprise or a disastrous adventure. It was not long before Mr. Goodwin had learned enough of seamanship to enable him to add to the duties of the supercargo the further business of navigating his ship, so that for several • years he was both shipmaster and business manager, offices, then as now, rarely combined in one person ; for the shipmaster is to-day chiefly the navigator and head seaman of his ship, while the business, in- volving the cJiartering and the rest, is attended to by a merchant in the port of destination, who is in ready communication with the owner, both by the fast-going mail of the steamship and the quicker method of the ocean cable. Mr. Goodwin's sea life lasted for about twelve years. During that time he had been so far successful as to become a part owner, and to be ena- bled 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 retiring from the sea he soon manifested a large public spirit and interest, and became in a short time foremost in the affairs of the day which 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 publicspirited and trusted citizen. He has of late years been iuclined'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 has 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 and Portsmouth Railroad Company," and was the president of that corporation from the year 1847 to the year 1871. But it is un- necessary 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.

Upon Mr. Goodwin's settling as a business man in Portsmouth, he did not confine his energies to his private business and to corporate enterprises, but soon acquired a large interest and influence as a member of the Whig party. He served in the Legislatures of New Hampshire, as a member of that party, in the years 1838, 1843, 1844, 1850, 1854, and 1856. He was also a delegate at large from that State to the conventions at which Clay, Taylor, and Scott were nominated by the Whigs for the Presidency, and was a vice-president at the two first-named conventions, and he has twice served in the Constitutional Conventions of New Hampshire. He was the candidate of the Whigs for Congress at several elections before the State was divided into Congressional districts. New Hampshire was in those days one of the most powerful strongholds of the Democratic party in the country, and a Whig nomination for any office determined by the suffrages of the whole State was merely a tribute of esteem by that party to one of its most honored mem- bers. Upon the establishment of Congressional districts, Mr. Goodwin received a unanimous nomination of the Whig party for Congress at the first convention held in his district. This nomination bid fair to be followed by an election, but the circumstances of his private business prevented his acceptance of the candidateship. In the great political convulsions which preceded the war of the Rebellion the power of the Democratic party in New Hampshire began to decline, while the ties which through years of almost steady defeat in the State at large had been sufficient to hold together the Whig pilrty now came to be loosened, and out of the decadence of the former and the extinction of the latter party there was built up the Republican party, which gained the supremacy in that 'State, and which has ever since, with a brief exception, maintained that supremacy. Mr. Goodwin, while in full sympathy with the cause of the Union, which he believed the politicians of the South were striving to dismember, yet felt that perhaps the impending crisis could be arrested through the means of the old political organizations, and he remained steadfast to the organization of the Whig party until he saw that its usefulness, both as a State and as a national party, was gone. He was the last candidate of the Whigs for the office of Governor of New Hampshire, and received in the whole State the meagre amount of about two thousand votes. This lesson did not require to be repeated. He immediately did all in his power to aid in the establishment of the Republican party in that State, for although the old-time issues between the Democrats and the Whigs had gone by and new questions had arisen, involving the very integrity of the nation, he did not regard the Democratic party as one capable of solving or disposed to solve those questions in a patriotic and statesmanlike way. He was chosen the Governor of New Hampshire, as the Republican candidate, in the year 1859, and was reelected by the same party in the following year, his second term of office having expired June 5, 1861.

The military spirit of the people of New Hampshire had become dormant and the militia system of the State had fallen pretty much to decay long before the first election of Mr. Goodwin to the office of Governor. A slight revival of that spirit, perhaps, is marked by the organization in his honor, in January, 1860, of "The Governor's Horse-Guards," a regiment of cavalry in brilliant uniform, designed to do escort duty to the Governor, as well as by a field-muster of several voluntary organizations of troops, which went into camp at Nashua in the same year. But when the call of President Lincoln for troops was made, in the spring of 1861, the very foundation of a military system required to be established. The nucleus itself required to be formed. The Legislature was not in session, and would not convene, except under a special call, until the following June. There were no funds in the treasury which could be devoted to the expense of the organization and equipment of troops, as all the available funds were needed to meet the ordinary State expenditures. The great confidence of the people of New Hampshire in the wisdom and integrity of Mr. Goodwin found in this emergency full expression. Without requiring time to convene the Legislature, so as to obtain the security of the State for the loan, the banking institutions and the citizens of the State ten- dered him the sum of §680,000 for the purpose of en- abling him to raise and equip for the field New Hamp- shire's quota of troops. This offer he gladly accepted, and averting delay in the proceedings by refraining from convening the Legislature, he, upon his own responsibility, proceeded to organize and equip troops for the field, and in less than two months he had dispatched to the army, near Washington, two wellequipped and well-officered regiments. Of this sum of 8680,000 only about $100,000 was expended. On the assembling of the Legislature that body unanimously passed the "Enabling Act," under which all his proceedings as Governor were ratified, and the State made to assume the responsibility.

During the period of this gubernatorial service there was a reconstruction of the bench of the highest judicial tribunal of the State, and during that time nearly every position upon that court was filled by his appointment. It is sufficient to say that the exalted rank which that tribunal has ever held among the courts of last resort of the States of the nation suffered no diminution from his appointments to its bench, such was the good sense and discernment of Mr. Goodwin in making the different selections, although himself not versed in the law.

In Waite's "History of New Hampshire in the Rebellion" we find the following estimate of Mr. Goodwin as a public man and as a citizen and business man: "His administration of State affairs met with universal approval, and he left the office (that of Governor) with the respect of all parties. As a member of the Legislature and of the Constitutional Convention, he took a leading part on committees and in debate. His speeches were never made for show. He spoke only when there seemed to be occasion for it, and then always to the point, and was listened to with great respect and attention, for his conservatism and practical wisdom in all matters of public policy were well known. In all public positions he has discharged his duties with fidelity, industry, and marked ability. As a citizen and business man he is publicspirited, liberal, high-minded, and enjoys the unbounded confidence and respect of all."

Mr. Goodwin has always been noted for his kindness to young men, aiding them without stint, both with his purse and his advice, in their business difficulties, and he has ever been ready to extend to all his townsmen who needed aid the assistance of his influence, his counsel, and his pecuniary means.

In 1827, Mr. Goodwin married Miss Sarah Parker Rice, a daughter of Mr. William Rice, a wealthy and prosperous merchant of Portsmouth. Of seven children, one son and two daughters survive.

Langdon, John, LL.D.

John Langdon, LL.D.. Tobias Langdon, of Keverel, in Cornwall, was commissioned as ensign by King James II. and sent to New York. When he came to Piscataqua we do not know precisely, but he was living very early where his son was born. Tradition has it that his remains repose in the sequestered district, a few hundred acres of which, on the southern side of the creek Sagamore, are still in the hands of his descendants. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Sherburne, who came over with Capt. John Mason in 1632. Capt. Tobias Langdon, their son, owned the garrison-house at the head of the creek, and is buried hard by. He married Mary Hubbard, of Salisbury, in Massachusetts. John, the youngest of their seven sons, married Mary, daughter of Kinsley Hall, of the Exeter combination. He has left the name of an honest yeoman; the bringing up of his two sons, Woodbury and John, was, however, taken from his hands by their ambitious mother.

John Langdon, the subject of this sketch, was born in December, 1739, and was in due time sent to the school of the celebrated Maj. Samuel Hale. His memory was truly uncommon, for we have heard him spout Pope's Homer to children with great spirit when past seventy. Turning from his paternal acres to the counting-house of John Moffat, Esq., a merchant in Portsmouth, he so won his confidence that Mr. Motfatt in his later years intrusted to him the conduct of his affairs. He then went to sea in vessels of his own building. Having joined the popular party, he helped to seize, in December, 1774, the English military stores in a fort of the Piscataqua, of which the powder was used at the battle of Bunker Hill. In 1775 he was sent delegate to the Continental Congress, and again in 1776. But his name was not affixed to the Declaration of Independence, owing partly to his being sent home again to act as agent of the secret committee for building vessels of war. The "Ranger," in which John Paul Jones started on his dashing career, was built and fitted out by bim. As an officer of volunteers he found time to go to the campaign of Saratoga; and after offering his whole fortune to promote the cause, he .personally aided Gen. Stark to gain the victory at Bennington.

In the dark days that succeeded the Revolution Mr. Langdon was always in some office. He was twice chosen president of his native State, and dele- gate to the convention which framed the Constitution of tlie United States, and to the State Convention which accepted it. He was then chosen senator of the United States. The first Congress met in New Yorlv in 1789. Senator Langdon was chosen president of the Senate for the occasion, and there being neither President nor Vice-President installed, he thus became the first acting President of the United States, and as such informed Gen. Washington of his election. Mr. Langdon married Miss Elizabeth Sherburne. They had an only daughter, who became the wife of Thomas Elwyn, Esq., of Canterbury, England. After leaving Congress he was chosen Governor of the State five times. Late in life he became a member of the old North Church. He lived for many years in the house built by himself and still standing on Pleasant Street, and died there September the 20th, 1819.¹

¹ This account is wholly taken from a pamphlet written by the late John Elwyn, Esq., of Portsmouth

Simes, William

William Simes, the honored subject of this sketch, dates his ancestry in this country to John Simes, who came to Portsmouth from England in about the year 1736. He died, leaving six children, one son and five daughters. The son, Joseph, was a prominent citizen, and was chairman of the Board of Selectmen in 1776. He had ten children, six sons and four daughters. The sons were as follows: John, Thomas, Mark, William, George, and Joseph.

William Simes, the subject of this sketch, was the eighth child of George Simes and Nancy Hardy, and was born in Portsmouth, N. H., April 9, 1806. Early in life he manifested an unusual degree of business activity, and after serving an apprenticeship in Portsmouth and Boston, in 1827 he went to Pernam- buco, South America, where he was in business about one year. On his return to America, in October, 1828, he commenced the grocery business in his native town at No. 1 Market Square. His enterprise and straightforward dealing soon placed him in the front rank of the leading business men of Portsmouth, an honor justly deserved. This was in a day when a very large country trade came to the city, and the wholesale department of his business was a leading feature. As an illustration of his activity and alertness, it is related of him that when in business on Market Square, the farmers from the neighboring towns, however early in their arrival on summer mornings, would find Mr. Simes ready to take their produce in exchange for his goods, and before the majority of his townsmen had breakfasted he had often done a no small amount of business.

He continued this business, occupying the same store, until 1860, over thirty years, when he disposed of his interest to Messrs. Moulton & Blaisdell, and purchased a farm in the neighboring town of Greenland, where for a short time he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. He returned to Portsmouth in 1867.

He was elected mayor in 1861, aud again in 1862, declining positively a nomination for a third term. He presided over the affairs of the city during that trying period, the breaking out of the Rebellion, and assisted with the same energy that had marked his business career in raising the quota of troops to send to the defense of his imperiled country. Never was a man more conscientious and faithful in the discharge of a public trust. He attended all appointed meetings of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen when in town, frequently sending to remote parts of the city to secure a quorum for the transaction of important business.

Politically he was originally a Whig, and later a Republican. He was not, however, a partisan, and in his administration of city affairs was guided solely by the principle that the city should be served by the best men.

He was chosen one of the corporators of the old Portsmouth Savings-Bank in 1850, a trustee in 1855, and in 1869 was elected its president. He devoted himself with rare diligence to the interests of this institution, and every depositor felt that his money was as carefully used aud as safely kept as though he handled it himself. During the savings-bank panic of 1878 many large sums of money were left on deposit, not because the depositors felt great security in the savings-bank system, but because Mr. Simes assured them personally that the bank was sound. They did not doubt his word, knowing full well that nothing would tempt him to misrepresent the true state of affairs. He was also a director in the Rockingham National Bank, and president and treasurer of the Faith Home. Like his father, and in fact nearly all his ancestry for three generations, he was an active member of the Universalist Church, and at the time of his death was warden and treasurer of the parish, and a deacon and treasurer of the church.

It may be truly said that William Simes was loved and honored by his native city. In the various positions which he was called upon to fill, whether of a business, trust, or political character, he was always noted for his unswerving integrity and undeviating honesty. Firm in his convictions of right and'wrong, he never entertained a thought of compromising his well defined principles in any relation whatever. He was one of the most courteous and pleasant of men, and was in all respects an estimable gentleman and good citizen. He was the open hand in every time of calamity and need, the ready giver to those private charities which enlist so deeply the sympathies of true men. He gave cheerfully, as though it was God's treasure which he was permitted to disburse. He belonged to no order or association; his home and his church were his sufficient rest. A long life, growing steadily upward from deep roots of religious principle, genial and kind in its outward expression, and without a stain of doubt or dishonor, leaves to the world its precious memory, while it seeks the wider and higher services and fulfillments of the life eternal, which even here was more real to him than mortal sight.

He died May 15, 1880, from the effects of a fiill received the day previous.

Oct. 2, 1831, Mr. Simes married Olive Bourn Laighton, eldest daughter of Capt. James Laighton, of Portsmouth. She died June 9, 1871. Their family consisted of six children, three daughters and three sons. The daughters and James T. are deceased, the sole survivors of the family being Joseph S. and William, who are merchants and importers of tea in the city of Boston.