History of Andover, (Merrimack County) New Hampshire United States of America

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Biographies:

John Robie Eastman, astronomer, was born in Andover, N.H., July 29, 1836; son of Royal F. and Sophonla (Mayo) Eastman; grandson of Ephraim and Lydia (Robie) Eastman, and of John and Lydia (Laha) Mayo; and descended from Roger Eastman, 1611-1694, who came to Salem, Mass., in 1638; and from John Mayo, who came from England in 1639 and was the first pastor of the North church in Boston. He was graduated from the Chandler school of science and the arts, Dartmouth college, in 1862, receiving the degree of M.S. in 1865. He was appointed an assistant in the U.S. naval observatory at Washington, D.C., on Nov. 7, 1862, and professor of mathematics with the rank of lieutenant-commander, U.S. navy, Feb. 17, 1865, and was assigned to duty at the naval observatory. He was a member of the astronomical expeditions to observe the total eclipse of the sun at Des Moines, Iowa, in 1869, and at Syracuse, Sicily, in 1870; and was in charge of a party to observe the total solar eclipse at West Las Animus, Col., in 1878, and of a party to observe the transit of Venus in Cedar Keys, Fla., in 1882. He was general secretary of the American association for the advancement of science in 1883 and a vice-president of the same organization in 1887 and in 1892. He was president of the Philosophical society of Washington in 1889 and in 1898 was elected the first president of the Washington academy of sciences. He was engaged in astronomical work at the naval observatory from Nov. 7, 1862, to Oct. 12, 1898, and during that period prepared for publication the Second Washington Star Catalogue, from observations covering a period of twenty-five years. He was retired from active service in the navy department, July 29, 1898, with the relative rank of captain, U.S.N. He received the honorary degree of Ph.D. from Dartmouth in 1877.

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

Jacob Bailey Moore, author, was born in Andover, N.H., Oct. 31, 1797; son of Dr. Jacob Bailey and Mary (Eaton) Moore. His ancestors came to the United States from Scotland. The son learned the printer's trade in the office of the New Hampshire Patriot at Concord, N.H., and in 1826 became a bookseller and publisher. He married Mary Adams, sister of Isaac Hill, editor of the New Hampshire Patriot, and was taken into partnership. In 1826 he founded and was editor of the New Hampshire Statesman, through whose columns he advocated the claims of John Quincy Adams to the presidential nomination. He was a representative in the state legislature, 1828-29; sheriff of Merrimack county, 1829-33; edited the New Hampshire Journal in 1839, and the same year removed to New York city, where he edited the Daily Whig, 1839-41. He was a government clerk in the post office at Washington, D.C., 1841-45; was librarian of the New York Historical society, 1845-49; removed to California, and was postmaster at San Francisco, 1849-53. He assisted John Farmer in compiling a Gazetteer of New Hampshire (3 vols., 1822-24); and is the author of: Annals of Concord, with a Memoir of the Penacook Indians (1823-26); Laws of Trade in the United States (1840), and Memoirs of American Governors (incomplete, 1846), designated to embrace all the colonial and provincial governors. He died in Bellows Falls, Vt., Sept. 1, 1853.

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