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

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Local History Notes:

NASHUA, formerly Dunstable, an important manufacturing post-town of Hillsborough county, New Hampshire, 40 miles N. N. E. from Boston, is situated at the continence of the Nashua river with the Merrimack, and at the terminus of the Lowell, the Worcester, the Wilton, and the Concord railroads, by which it has communication with the principal cities and towns of New England. The Nashua river has a fall at this place of 65 feet in about 2 miles, affording a vast hydraulic power, which has been greatly improved for manufacturing purposes. Its volume is 180 cubic feet per second in the driest season. A canal, with locks of solid stone, 82 feet long, and 24 feet high, connects the waters of this stream above the falls with those of the Merrimack. Nashua has long been distinguished for its manufactures, which are very extensive, and embrace articles of almost every description. Among the numerous corporations may be mentioned the Nashua Manufacturing Company, chartered in 1823, with a capital of $300,000, which has since been increased to $1,000,000. This company has at present four extensive mills, which give employment to about 1000 operatives, having charge of 37,450 spindles, 1089 looms, consuming annually 10,000 bales of cotton, and producing 13,000,000 yards of prints, shirtings, &c. The company also have a large machine shop, in which several hundred hands are employed. The sales of the Nashua Iron Company amount to $175,000 per annum. The entire quantity of cotton fabrics annually produced is about $18,000,000 yards, and the total capital employed $1,480,000. The total capital invested in the various manufactures is upwards of $2,000,000, and the number of operatives engaged about 1000 males and 1300 females. The receipts of the post-office amount to about $3000 a year. There are in Nashua, 7 churches, 3 newspaper offices, and a bank. In 1842 the township was divided, and the part lying chiefly On the N. side of Nashua river, received the name of Nashville. A bridge connects the two places. Nashville also has 1 bank. Population of the township, 5820.

Biographies:

Edward Lord Clark, clergyman, was born at Nashua, N. H., Feb 3, 1838. He was graduated at Brown university in 1858 and was ordained to the Congregational ministry in Boston, Aug. 8, 1861. In 1861-62 he was chaplain of the 12th Massachusetts volunteers, and in 1863 was graduated at Andover theological seminary. He was installed pastor of the First church, North Bridgewater, Mass., in 1863, and remained there until 1867. In 1867-72 he was pastor at New Haven, Conn., resigning in the latter year to accept a call to the Presbyterian church of the Puritans, New York city. In 1893 he became pastor of the Central church, Boston, Mass. Williams college conferred upon him the degree of D.D. in 1880. He is the author of Daleth: Egypt Illustrated (1863); Record of Inscriptions in the Burial Grounds of Christ Church, Philadelphia (1864); Israel in Egypt (1873).

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

Benjamin Kendall Emerson, geologist, was born in Nashua, N.H., Dec. 20, 1843; son of Benjamin Frothingham and Elizabeth (Kendall) Emerson. He was graduated at Amherst in 1865; studied in Berlin, and at G?ttingen where he took the degree of Ph.D. in 1869, and was assistant in the German geological survey in 1869. He made geological studies in Switzerland, Saxony, Bohemia and Norway; was instructor in geology and zo?logy at Amherst, 1870-72, professor of those branches, 1872-88, and professor of mineralogy and geology from 1888. He was elected a member of the German geological philosophical society; the American academy of arts and sciences; the Society of naturalists of eastern United States; and the National geographical society. He was a vice-president of the American association for the advancement of science in 1896; vice-president of the geological congress at St. Petersburg in 1897; and president of the geological society of America in 1899. He was made assistant geologist of the U.S. geological survey in 1887. He was married, April 2, 1873, to Mary Annette, daughter of the Rev. Erastus and Charlotte Frelinghuysen (Allen) Hopkins. Her great-great-grandmother was Esther, sister of the Rev. Jonathan Edwards; her maternal grandfather was the Rev. William Allen, president of Bowdoin college, and among her maternal ancestors were Eleazar Wheelock, founder of Dartmouth college, the Rev. Thomas Allen of Pittsfield, known as the "fighting parson," and William Bradford, the second governor of Plymouth colony. Mrs. Emerson died at Amherst, Mass., July 31, 1897. Of their children, Charlotte Frelinghuysen was graduated A.B., Smith, 1895; Benjamin Kendall was graduated A.B., Amherst, 1897, and M.D., Harvard, 1898; and Edward Hopkins was graduated A.B., Amherst, 1899. Professor Emerson is the author of monographs including: Geology of Old Hampshire County; A Mineral Lexicon of Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden Counties in Massachusetts; The Geology of Southwest Berkshire; and Geological Maps and Descriptions of Eastern Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, Hampden and Worcester Counties, Mass., besides furnishing valuable contributions to geological knowledge to both European and American scientific journals.

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

Charles Sumner Howe, educator, was born in Nashua, N.H., Sept. 29, 1858; son of William Ramsdell and Susan Dorcas (Woods) Howe. He attended the public schools of Boston, and the Franklin, Mass., High school; was graduated from Massachusetts State college and Boston university, B.S., 1878, and was a graduate student at Johns Hopkins university, 1882-83. He was principal of Albuquerque (N.M.) academy, 1879-81; adjunct professor of mathematics at Buchtel college, Akron, Ohio, 1883-84; professor of mathematics and astronomy there, 1884-89, and was appointed professor of mathematics and astronomy at the Case School of Applied Science, Cleveland, Ohio, in 1889. He was elected a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1885 and fellow of same in 1891, and a member of the American Mathematical society in 1891. He was married, May 22, 1882, to Abbie Amelia Waite, of North Amherst, Mass. He received from Wooster university the degree of Ph.D. in 1887.

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

Stephen Greenleaf Bulfinch, clergyman, was born in Boston, Mass., June 18, 1809, son of Charles Bulfinch, architect. He was graduated from Columbian college, Washington, in 1826, and later from the divinity school at Cambridge, Mass. He was ordained to the Unitarian ministry, and in 1830 settled over a parish in Augusta, Ga., where he preached for seven years. He afterwards removed to Pittsburg, Pa., and in 1839 to Washington. D. C., remaining there until 1845, when he took charge of a church at Nashua, N. H., removing to Boston in 1852. He wrote numerous religious poems and published Contemplations of the Saviour (1832); Poems (1834); The Holy Land and its Inhabitants (1834); Lays of the Gospel (1835); Communion Thoughts (1852); The Harp and the Cross (1857); Honor, or the Slave-Dealer's Daughter (1864); Manual of the Evidences of Christianity (1866); and Studies in the Evidences of Christianity (1869). He died in Cambridge, Mass., Oct. 12, 1870.

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