History of Bedford, (Hillsborough County) New Hampshire United States of America

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Biographies:

Joseph Emerson Worcester, philologist, was born in Bedford, N.H., Aug 24, 1784; son of Jesse Worcester (1761-1834). His father is the author of the MS. "Chronicles of Nissitissit" and of newspaper contributions. Joseph E. Worcester worked on a farm; was graduated from Yale, A.B., 1811, A.M., 1814; subsequently taught in Salem, Mass., resided in Andover, Mass., 1817-19, and afterward in Cambridge, Mass. He was married in 1841 to Amy Elizabeth, daughter of Professor Joseph McKean of Harvard. He edited the Americana Almanac. 1831-43, and published A Geographical Dictionary, or Universal Gazetteer, Ancient and Modern (2 vols., 1817, rev'd ed., 1823). He received the honorary degree of A.M. from Harvard, 1820, and that of LL.D. from Brown, 1847, and from Dartmouth, 1856; was a member of the Massachusetts Historical society, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the author of the following: A Gazetter of the United States (1818); Elements of Geography, Ancient and Modern (1819); Sketches of the Earth and its Inhabitants (1823); Elements of History, Ancient and Modern, a textbook (1826); Epitome of History (1827); Outlines of Scripture Geography (1828); His lexicographical work includes an edition of Johnson's "Dictionary" (1828); an abridgement of Noah Webster's "American Dictionary" (1829); and the original works: Comprehensive Pronouncing and Explanatory English Dictionary (1830; enlarged edits. 1847, 1849, 1855.) Universal and Critical Dictionary of the English Language (1846); Dictionary of the English Language (1860), the first published illustrated dictionary, and left in MS. a journal of his European trip in 1831. His "Memoir" was written by Ezra Abbot (1867). He died in Cambridge, Mass., Oct. 27, 1865.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Zachariah Chandler, senator, was born in Bedford, N. H., Dec. 10, 1813; son of Samuel and Margaret (Orr) Chandler. He attended the common school of Bedford and the academies at Pembroke and Derry, and in 1833 removed to Detroit, Mich., where he commenced trade as a dry-goods dealer, with a capital of one thousand dollars, furnished him by his father in lieu of a collegiate education. His business steadily increased and he eventually acquired a large fortune. He was an abolitionist and helped support the "underground railroad." In 1851 he was elected mayor of Detroit as a Whig, and in 1852 was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Michigan. He was also Whig candidate for the U. S. senate in 1853. In 1854 he participated actively in the organization of the Republican party. He was elected U. S. senator, Jan. 10, 1857, to succeed Senator Cass, receiving eighty-nine votes against sixteen cast for Cass, and took his seat March 4, 1857. He was a chairman of the committee on commerce after March, 1861. In March, 1858, he opposed the admission of Kansas, under the Lecompton constitution, in a speech before the senate, and the same year made a written agreement with Senators Wade and Cameron in which they combined against Senator Green of Missouri, who had threatened an attack on Senator Cameron for words spoken in debate. He gained notoriety through a letter written to Governor Blair, Feb. 11, 1861, in which he said, "Without a little blood-letting the Union will not in my estimation be worth a rush," and which he was called upon to defend on the floor of the senate. He contributed generously to the support of the war, was in favor of confiscation measures, opposed short-term enlistments and expressed himself as sorry that the President did not call for five hundred thousand men, rather than seventy-five thousand. On Dec. 5, 1861, he moved the resolution which resulted in the appointment of a joint committee on the conduct of the war, of which he became a member, but declined the chairmanship. This committee opposed General McClellan's military management. and on July 16, 1862, Mr. Chandler made a powerful speech in which he assailed that officer's competency. He was re-elected to the senate in 1863, and made, in 1864, a vigorous campaign for the Republican ticket. He was re-elected to the senate in 1869, and in 1874 he made a speech against the inflation of the currency, and was uncompromising in demanding a prompt return to specie payments. On Oct. 19, 1875, President Grant appointed him secretary of the interior, to succeed Columbus Delano, resigned, which office he held until the close of Grant's administration, March 4, 1877. Upon Isaac P. Christiancy's resignation as United States senator from Michigan in February, 1879, Mr. Chandler was elected to fill the vacancy. His most noted speech was made on March 3, 1879, at 3:30 in the morning, when a bill granting arrears of pensions to veteran soldiers in the Mexican war was under consideration, which would include in its provisions the possibility of a pension to Jefferson Davis. Mr. Chandler was very severe in his denunciation of Mr. Davis, and his speech aroused excitement in the senate, and brought his name prominently before the public as a presidential candidate. In the campaign of 1876 he was made chairman of the Republican congressional committee. On Oct. 31, 1879, he addressed the Young men's Republican club at Chicago, Ill., and was found dead in his room the next morning, the result of a cerebral hemorrhage. The date of his death is Nov. 1, 1879.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor